Introduction
I have been uneasy about how the evangelical megachurches, and almost every small church that wants to be a megachurch (which is almost every small church), focuses on entertainment and waving shiny objects to lure people in to to hear the gospel. And then it throws out the challenge to live an extraordinary life as defined by the celebrity pastor's understanding of what it takes to build his church. Nothing evil or bad, but it seems it completely misses the mark and delivers a BPA-free copolyester water bottle that features a double wall to keep your water cool and reduce condensation rather than the actual living water Jesus offers. Living a life of faith and becoming a disciple of Jesus is not about celebrity, programs, following the crowd or attending services.
This blog will explore what the Bible says about practical living. What did Jesus, Paul and the other writers tell us about how to live our daily lives? I think we will find it is more like Paul's instructions in 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, than what is promoted from the big stage:
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.
Matthew B. Redmond (not the Christian singer) has written a wonderful book, The God of the Mundane, which includes this quote from Henry Tuckerman:
There is a strength of quiet endurance as significant of courage as the most daring feats of prowess.
This will be the approach I take knowing that for now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.