Having spoken in the last two weeks about the relational nature of prayer, which involves a recognition of the nature and character of God, Broughton Knox moves on to examine the nature of prayer itself. Is it surprising to find that prayer consists of requests?
So much of the Bible is redundant.
In John 1:1, we read these words:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This is not new information. Nor is this, in the following two verses:
I hate unanswered prayer. This is not just because I want what I pray for—although that would be nice!—but because my unbelieving heart takes unanswered prayer as an opportunity to doubt God. Here are some examples:
I pray for my son's only close friend, whom we've lost contact with, to call. He doesn't.
I pray that I'll be able to find my car keys so I can get the kids to school on time. They're late.
I pray that my husband will get over his illness; after all, he needs to teach the Bible and care for our family. He stays sick.
I pray that my excited, expectant three-year-old will see a kangaroo on the way home. There's no wildlife to be seen.
I pray that my mood will lift. I stay discouraged.
These are all trivial prayers, and I could give you much bigger examples. But, oddly, I find it easier to trust God with the bigger things. It's the small prayers that trip me up.
I played and refereed soccer as a kid, but I prefer to watch Rugby League. So apart from the World Cup, I don't watch much soccer these days.
That means I was unaware of the full extent of Alex Ferguson's achievements as Manager of Manchester United, until I noticed that their 0-0 draw with Arsenal last week to win the English Premier League had seen their club draw equal with Liverpool as record holders for the greatest number of titles.
Under Ferguson's stewardship, Man U have won eleven English Championships. Eleven! In addition, there were two European Champions Leagues, and five FA Cups among 25 trophies in all. Ferguson is the most successful manager in British football history.
But what's any of that got to do with ministry?
According my trusty Oxford American Writer's Thesaurus, the following are synonyms for ‘pedant’: dogmatist, purist, formalist, quibbler, hair-splitter, casuist, sophist and nitpicker. Given that theologians study dogmatics, doesn't that tend them towards pedantry? And if so, how could I say in my last post that church planters need to be theologians in order to contextualize the gospel?
Theologians are as risk-averse as actuaries, so how can they contextualize the gospel successfully?
Grimmo's post on changes to the words of Wesley's famous hymn put me in mind of another equally significant change to an equally famous hymn.
In the first verse of ‘Rock of Ages’, we are used to singing:
Be of sin the double cure: cleanse me from its guilt and power.
But this is not what Augustus Toplady wrote.
Broughton Knox was famous among his students for his ability to summarize Christian doctrine succinctly. In this second part of a seven-part series, he speaks of the way that prayer involves a deep recognition of the nature and character of God.
The coincidence of approaching summer holidays (we're in the northern hemisphere!), living in a ‘lifestyle-focused’ culture, and reading Nehemiah has got me thinking about the topic of rest. It's not a particularly recent thought for me, or for humanity in general; since ancient times, rest has been a great concern for people—perhaps another indication that we are indeed created in the image of our creator, who is himself a God who rests (Gen 2:2).
I've just wandered upstairs to my desk, leaving the teenagers in front of a new inter-generational quiz show that pits the Baby Boomers against Gen X and Gen Y. It seems like harmless enough fun. Hey look, 3D movies were big in the 50s! Roller blading was the 90s! Who can do the robot?
But the programme brought back to the surface a subversive thought that I've been harbouring for some time. Is it just me, or does anyone else out there suspect that the broad generalizations that are flung around about the supposed characteristics of Gen X and Gen Y are basically vacuous?
For some reason (now lost in the fog that descends regularly on my neural pathways), I was reading the words of Wesley's ‘O for a thousand tongues’ the other day. I don't remember why I was reading, but I do remember being struck by what I read: “Jesus, the name that calms our fears ...” I was sure that it wasn't quite right. Sure enough, it wasn't; Wesley actually penned “Jesus, the name that charms our fears”.
I thought to myself, there's a church planting lesson in that.
Stephen Jackson on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Sam Freney on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Marty Foord on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Dianne Howard on The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel!
Mike Bull on Daniel 2-7, Harry Potter and Narnia
The Sola Panel is dead; long live the Sola Panel! by Tony Payne (4 comments). Regular Sola Panel readers will no doubt have detected a little slowness and quietness over the past six weeks or so. … more
Kids’ culture watch spot: Facing fear by Gordon Cheng (3 comments). By popular demand (two people asked), here is my next script for a culture watch spot I did with the kids … more
Daniel 2-7, Harry Potter and Narnia by Gordon Cheng (1 comment). It's a Sunday as I write this, and I'm speaking on Daniel 2 and 7 later this morning at a friend's … more
A constituent on same-sex marriage by Sandy Grant (34 comments). Last year, the Australian Parliament agreed that its Members of Parliament (MPs) should seek the … more
A tribute to John Stott by Sandy Grant (2 comments). Friends, I'm not ashamed to say I shed a tear when I opened up my computer on Thursday morning to read … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 3): On giants’ shoulders by Scott Newling (26 comments). This is the third post in this series; you can read part one, and more
Bible reading with kids by Sandy Grant (0 comments). I was asked for recommendations for resources that would encourage parents to read the Bible with their kids, especially … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 2): Stepping aside (not out) so others can step up (not in) by Scott Newling (3 comments). This is the second post in this series; you can read the first post, Unassuming … more
One more sip of the coffee by Tony Payne (8 comments). Sandy Grant is a man of integrity. Back in the early days of Sola Panel, I wrote a post … more
Talkin’ ’bout my generation (part 1): Unassuming generations by Scott Newling (30 comments). There is a model of ‘intergenerational theological decline’ that has been doing the rounds of late, and perhaps you … more
Paul is one of the Staff Editors at Matthias Media. He is married to Cathy and has three fantastic kids. He loves student ministry, reading, writing music and playing the saxophone, and is looking forward to meeting Jesus face to face.
