Tonight we listened to a talk by Tim Keller on spiritual gifts. Afterwards, we had a good discussion about the talk and the subject of spiritual gifts. I wanted to open this up to continue that conversation.
What are you thoughts on spiritual gifts?
Were there any thoughts about the talk that you didn't get a chance to share tonight?
Do you feel like you have a good handle on what your spiritual gifts are?
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Announcements 5.24.08
Monday May 26th - 2:30 pm Memorial Day Cookout at Jenny Profet's House
(1413 E Jones St, Raleigh 27610)
What to bring:
chairs/blankets
side dishes and desserts
beverages
outside games
She will have hot dogs but if you want to grill something else then bring that along. Please try to RSVP so she can be sure to get enough.
Sunday June 1st - ONE SERVICE starting today - 10:00 am
Newcomer's Reception after the service. Let me know if you are interested in representing our homegroup and attending this for about 20 minutes or so...mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Wednesday June 4th - No HG meeting at our house this week :)
Thursday June 5th - Durham Bulls Game 7:00 pm... more details to come
Wednesday June 11th - Home Group Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Weekend of June 13-15th (I think) - Guys in our HG going to the mountains..talk to one of them for more details...
Saturday June 14th - Race for the Cure...It is a 5K in Raleigh. We did it two years ago and it was fun besides the fact that I hurt my ankle. :) But let everyone know if you go sign up because maybe we could get a bunch of us to go walk or run
Wednesday June 18th - Home Group Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Sunday June 22nd-29th - WIHN week
Wednesday June 25th - No HG Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place this week... instead we will probably be making dinner together with the WIHN Families
Saturday July 12th - Drag Bingo - More details to come as it gets closer... Contact Bernie for more information... bernardnewton@gmail.com
Sunday July 13th - Next Leadership Development Meeting 4:00-6:00 pm...mark it on your calendars! :)
Friday, May 16, 2008
Announcements 5.16.08
Saturday May 16th and 17th - Amanda and Mike are moving TODAY - Here are the plans...
Sunday May 18th - Africa Hope Center Meeting - 10:30 am...they are meeting the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at the Visio Dei Building
It is John Enzor's birthday..wish him a Happy Birthday when you see him!
Wednesday May 21st - Homegroup Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Memorial Day Weekend - someone should have a cookout or something :)
Wednesday May 28th - Homegroup Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Sunday June 1st - Newcomer's Reception after the 2nd service. Let me know if you are interested in representing our homegroup and attending this for about 20 minutes or so...mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Wednesday June 4th - It is the 1st Wednesday of the month...we are looking for someone to organize dinner again..let me know if you are interested mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Weekend of June 13-15th (I think) - Guys in our HG going to the mountains..talk to one of them for more details...
Saturday June 14th - Race for the Cure...It is a 5K in Raleigh. We did it two years ago and it was fun besides the fact that I hurt my ankle. :) But let everyone know if you go sign up because maybe we could get a bunch of us to go walk or run
Sunday June 22nd-29th - WIHN week
Saturday July 12th - Drag Bingo - More details to come as it approaches... Contact Bernie for more information... bernardnewton@gmail.com
Sunday July 13th - Next Leadership Development Meeting 4:00-6:00 pm...mark it on your calendars! :)
Thank you for learning, loving, and giving within our community!
Smile...
Mandy
Friday: We figured it would make more since to start at 6pm, since most don't get off work before then. Between 6 and 7 you can stop over at the apartment (4804 Crockett Ct, Raleigh, NC, 27606) and pick up a car load, then head over to the house (1112 Lombar St, Raleigh, NC 27610). If you can't make it til after 7pm, call my cell #440-371-6353 and see where we are, or just go to the house. We will order some pizza in thanks for all your help.
Saturday: We pick up the u-haul truck at 8am, so we will probably start loading at 8:30am at the apartment. We need between 4-6 guys/ strong girls :), to help with the big stuff. We should be done by 11am. (We don't have that much stuff).
TOMORROW Saturday May 17th - Meg, Cara, Barry, and (someone else I forget) have graduated and they are having a Graduation "Kegger" Party. Everyone from HG is invited so if she left you off the evite.. she apologizes. She tried to add everyone's emails on there. Check out the evite for more informationSunday May 18th - Africa Hope Center Meeting - 10:30 am...they are meeting the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at the Visio Dei Building
It is John Enzor's birthday..wish him a Happy Birthday when you see him!
Wednesday May 21st - Homegroup Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Memorial Day Weekend - someone should have a cookout or something :)
Wednesday May 28th - Homegroup Meeting at Mandy/Daniel's place
Sunday June 1st - Newcomer's Reception after the 2nd service. Let me know if you are interested in representing our homegroup and attending this for about 20 minutes or so...mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Wednesday June 4th - It is the 1st Wednesday of the month...we are looking for someone to organize dinner again..let me know if you are interested mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Weekend of June 13-15th (I think) - Guys in our HG going to the mountains..talk to one of them for more details...
Saturday June 14th - Race for the Cure...It is a 5K in Raleigh. We did it two years ago and it was fun besides the fact that I hurt my ankle. :) But let everyone know if you go sign up because maybe we could get a bunch of us to go walk or run
Sunday June 22nd-29th - WIHN week
Saturday July 12th - Drag Bingo - More details to come as it approaches... Contact Bernie for more information... bernardnewton@gmail.com
Sunday July 13th - Next Leadership Development Meeting 4:00-6:00 pm...mark it on your calendars! :)
Thank you for learning, loving, and giving within our community!
Smile...
Mandy
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Recap 05/09/08
Wednesday night we held a discussion about how and where the home group is going. Before I get into that, there was some discussion about the AIDS Walk and Ride after which the following conclusions were made:
1. It might be nice for some folks with the gift of hospitality to man (and/or woman) a rest station for the bike ride. Rest stations are simply stations at which the riders rest and recoup with snacks and such from the previous leg of their journey. Scott said that it really made a difference to ride in on a station that was up and cheering the riders on as opposed to just lounging around in chairs. The riders really like to feel welcomed to the rest stops. This is one really easy way to be a positive part of the event next year.
2. Entertainment. I didn't notice as this was my first event of this nature but as I understand it, the walk lacked a certain "pizzazz". There should have been sword swallowers and flame jugglers dodging the little Shriner's mini cars as the walkers made their way around the city. Maybe next year we can spruce it up a little, huh? Anyone know how to twirl a baton?
3. Mo' people, mo' money. This year we raised just under $6,000.00 after setting a goal of $5,000.00. I think a total of 36 people participated. Not bad, but we can do better. Those numbers put us in third in the overall standings for total dollars raised.
Okay, on to the meeting.
This discussion was born out of the leadership development meeting that took place on Sunday the 6th. The purpose of the discussion was to take stock of where we are as a home group and discuss ways that we can make it a place to facilitate our growth as learners, lovers and givers. There was a lot of focus placed on the learner aspect with some loving and giving sprinkled in. Here goes. (I'll try to format this in a way that doesn't make this feel like trying to swallow a whale.)
1. Is home group a place that we should feel comfortable bringing newcomers?
It was mentioned that someone who visited with us didn't really feel like the group was "open", meaning that they didn't feel welcome. This is a problem. We should all be making an effort to welcome an embrace anyone who comes in the door. Let's try to be aware of that going forward.
2. How are the studies going?
We have been studying "children's stories" from the Old Testament through the lens of an adult and we got some feedback on how that's been going. Some say it has been enjoyable and lessons have been learned, but there were also folks who weren't a fan of this particular study. Some people tend to learn better from the inductive study we did before this one.
Also there was a desire to see more follow-up with the studies we've been doing. We need time to process what we've been learning. A lot of us are learning so many different things from different places that it's difficult sometimes to really let the lesson sink in and become part of your life.
3. Should we structure Wednesday's to allow us to rehash and pick apart what was taught on Sunday morning?
The rebuttals to this were (1) that this may put undue pressure on the teacher to come up with something since there are only 2 days between Sunday and Wednesday and (2) that this plan would be dependant on the teachers attendance during the Sunday gathering.
The solutions to this were (1) the teacher could take notes during the sermon and simply facilitate a discussion based on questions that either the teacher created or ones that may be embedded in the Sunday teaching and (2) this could be as simple as the teachers communicating if they will not be in attendance on a given Sunday and ensuring that someone was available for the task. After posing solution "1" the question arose of should our teaching be more lecture or more discussion? Thoughts on this included that we should tailor the teaching style to the character of the group and let "structure submit to spirit".
If we did this the Wednesday night meetings might look a little like this:
4. Should we let the teaching be driven by our experiences of loving and giving to those around us?
This is an alternative to question 2 in so far as it would fill our time with something different than Sunday's teaching. This would be valuable however for a few reasons.
a. We would be speaking directly to struggles and issues that people are having in their attempts to live out the lessons learned.
b. This would imply that we carve out time in our Wednesday night meeting to share our experiences with one another which would result in us having the opportunity to know each other on a deeper level.
c. This would provide the opportunity for the teacher to challenge us in a given area and the experiences of those challenges can be shared at the next meeting and so on.
5. Should we spend time learning what our giftings are?
It was mentioned that this type of thing may be a little to personal to handle in a group this size. It may be overwhelming for some folks to take that journey in this setting.
There was probably more that I didn't capture on paper but, seriously, did you even read this far? If you see anything I missed feel free to leave it in the comments.
There will be more discussion about the leadership development meeting as well as planning for the upcoming WIHN week this summer at our next meeting. Until then...
1. It might be nice for some folks with the gift of hospitality to man (and/or woman) a rest station for the bike ride. Rest stations are simply stations at which the riders rest and recoup with snacks and such from the previous leg of their journey. Scott said that it really made a difference to ride in on a station that was up and cheering the riders on as opposed to just lounging around in chairs. The riders really like to feel welcomed to the rest stops. This is one really easy way to be a positive part of the event next year.
2. Entertainment. I didn't notice as this was my first event of this nature but as I understand it, the walk lacked a certain "pizzazz". There should have been sword swallowers and flame jugglers dodging the little Shriner's mini cars as the walkers made their way around the city. Maybe next year we can spruce it up a little, huh? Anyone know how to twirl a baton?
3. Mo' people, mo' money. This year we raised just under $6,000.00 after setting a goal of $5,000.00. I think a total of 36 people participated. Not bad, but we can do better. Those numbers put us in third in the overall standings for total dollars raised.
Okay, on to the meeting.
This discussion was born out of the leadership development meeting that took place on Sunday the 6th. The purpose of the discussion was to take stock of where we are as a home group and discuss ways that we can make it a place to facilitate our growth as learners, lovers and givers. There was a lot of focus placed on the learner aspect with some loving and giving sprinkled in. Here goes. (I'll try to format this in a way that doesn't make this feel like trying to swallow a whale.)
1. Is home group a place that we should feel comfortable bringing newcomers?
It was mentioned that someone who visited with us didn't really feel like the group was "open", meaning that they didn't feel welcome. This is a problem. We should all be making an effort to welcome an embrace anyone who comes in the door. Let's try to be aware of that going forward.
2. How are the studies going?
We have been studying "children's stories" from the Old Testament through the lens of an adult and we got some feedback on how that's been going. Some say it has been enjoyable and lessons have been learned, but there were also folks who weren't a fan of this particular study. Some people tend to learn better from the inductive study we did before this one.
Also there was a desire to see more follow-up with the studies we've been doing. We need time to process what we've been learning. A lot of us are learning so many different things from different places that it's difficult sometimes to really let the lesson sink in and become part of your life.
3. Should we structure Wednesday's to allow us to rehash and pick apart what was taught on Sunday morning?
The rebuttals to this were (1) that this may put undue pressure on the teacher to come up with something since there are only 2 days between Sunday and Wednesday and (2) that this plan would be dependant on the teachers attendance during the Sunday gathering.
The solutions to this were (1) the teacher could take notes during the sermon and simply facilitate a discussion based on questions that either the teacher created or ones that may be embedded in the Sunday teaching and (2) this could be as simple as the teachers communicating if they will not be in attendance on a given Sunday and ensuring that someone was available for the task. After posing solution "1" the question arose of should our teaching be more lecture or more discussion? Thoughts on this included that we should tailor the teaching style to the character of the group and let "structure submit to spirit".
If we did this the Wednesday night meetings might look a little like this:
- Hang out
- Recap Sunday's teaching (for those who are new or weren't at the Sunday gathering)
- Discuss
- Challenge (optional)
It's worth mentioning also that if we do change to this new format that we will keep the same flexibility in our Wednesday meetings. Just because we would be discussing Sunday's message doesn't mean that we would need to teach every Wednesday. There will still be room for social and mission-based activities.
4. Should we let the teaching be driven by our experiences of loving and giving to those around us?
This is an alternative to question 2 in so far as it would fill our time with something different than Sunday's teaching. This would be valuable however for a few reasons.
a. We would be speaking directly to struggles and issues that people are having in their attempts to live out the lessons learned.
b. This would imply that we carve out time in our Wednesday night meeting to share our experiences with one another which would result in us having the opportunity to know each other on a deeper level.
c. This would provide the opportunity for the teacher to challenge us in a given area and the experiences of those challenges can be shared at the next meeting and so on.
5. Should we spend time learning what our giftings are?
It was mentioned that this type of thing may be a little to personal to handle in a group this size. It may be overwhelming for some folks to take that journey in this setting.
There was probably more that I didn't capture on paper but, seriously, did you even read this far? If you see anything I missed feel free to leave it in the comments.
There will be more discussion about the leadership development meeting as well as planning for the upcoming WIHN week this summer at our next meeting. Until then...
Monday, April 28, 2008
Recap 04-23-08
[This is pretty late. My apologies.]
Last Wednesday we talked about the story of Jonah and the Great Fish*. Here are some words we found that describe Jonah:
Prophet, Rebellious, Scared, Reluctant, Not Compassionate, Worshipper of God, Hebrew, Honest/Confused, Suicidal, Depressed, Refreshingly Normal, Angry, Hardheaded
Some commentary on a few of those:
Refreshingly Normal: He had to hit rock bottom before "remembering" God. How many of us need this type of experience to be reminded that we depend on Him?
Depressed: I thought it was interesting that someone noted that Jonah exhibited the signs of a depressed individual. He seemed suicidal and also probably slept a lot (see Jonah's reaction to the storm on the sea).
Angry: He seemed to harbor some deep resentment and hatred toward the people of Nineveh. We found out that these people were the Assyrians who did some pretty horrific things to the Israelites including throwing babies off of the temple and killing any other Jews they could find. So it's easy to understand where his anger comes from.
We also spoke about how God appears in the passage. Here are some words we found to describe Him:
Sovereign, Merciful
Sovereign: The verse that states, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy." came to mind. God can pretty much do whatever he wants even in spite of us or our motives.
Merciful: God is merciful even to those people who violently opposed Israel. Who are the people in our lives that we think do not deserve mercy?
Here are some lessons that we took away from the passage:
1. Don't be so concerned with yourself and your own plans that you miss God's miracles.
2. Think about the Ninevites next time you hear someone say, "Let's just nuke 'em. Let's just turn that place into a parking lot."
3. Do we think about the people we don't like (or even hate) and think that they are made in the image of God?
4. It's easy to call yourself a worshipper of God, but much harder to actually "follow" him.
5. What we want is not always what God wants.
6. Who are the Assyrians in our lives? Who are we bitter towards? Who would we like to see destroyed?
7. Sometimes we like to "sit on the hill and watch others be destroyed". Especially those who hurt us. What is God trying to teach you in the metaphor of the "gourd"?
It was noted that this may not have actually been a "whale" as commonly thought. That's not a commentary on anything. Just interesting.
Last Wednesday we talked about the story of Jonah and the Great Fish*. Here are some words we found that describe Jonah:
Prophet, Rebellious, Scared, Reluctant, Not Compassionate, Worshipper of God, Hebrew, Honest/Confused, Suicidal, Depressed, Refreshingly Normal, Angry, Hardheaded
Some commentary on a few of those:
Refreshingly Normal: He had to hit rock bottom before "remembering" God. How many of us need this type of experience to be reminded that we depend on Him?
Depressed: I thought it was interesting that someone noted that Jonah exhibited the signs of a depressed individual. He seemed suicidal and also probably slept a lot (see Jonah's reaction to the storm on the sea).
Angry: He seemed to harbor some deep resentment and hatred toward the people of Nineveh. We found out that these people were the Assyrians who did some pretty horrific things to the Israelites including throwing babies off of the temple and killing any other Jews they could find. So it's easy to understand where his anger comes from.
We also spoke about how God appears in the passage. Here are some words we found to describe Him:
Sovereign, Merciful
Sovereign: The verse that states, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy." came to mind. God can pretty much do whatever he wants even in spite of us or our motives.
Merciful: God is merciful even to those people who violently opposed Israel. Who are the people in our lives that we think do not deserve mercy?
Here are some lessons that we took away from the passage:
1. Don't be so concerned with yourself and your own plans that you miss God's miracles.
2. Think about the Ninevites next time you hear someone say, "Let's just nuke 'em. Let's just turn that place into a parking lot."
3. Do we think about the people we don't like (or even hate) and think that they are made in the image of God?
4. It's easy to call yourself a worshipper of God, but much harder to actually "follow" him.
5. What we want is not always what God wants.
6. Who are the Assyrians in our lives? Who are we bitter towards? Who would we like to see destroyed?
7. Sometimes we like to "sit on the hill and watch others be destroyed". Especially those who hurt us. What is God trying to teach you in the metaphor of the "gourd"?
It was noted that this may not have actually been a "whale" as commonly thought. That's not a commentary on anything. Just interesting.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Announcements 4.23.08
Hey everyone..here are some announcements from last night..it was great seeing everyone!
Saturday April 26th - Drag Bingo - It is this Saturday and we are going to play Bingo this time and not really volunteer. So you need $15 to play and Contact Bernie for more information... bernardnewton@gmail.com
Wednesday April 30th - Homegroup Meeting our house 7:00 pm
Saturday May 3rd - Aids Walk + Ride SIGN UP here
If you are going to be in town this weekend...go SIGN UP - seriously!!!
Sunday May 4th - Leadership Development - 4:00 - 6:00 pm at the Visio Dei Building If you are going our HG is suppose to bring desserts. So bring a yummy dessert to share!
Newcomer's Reception - after the 2nd service..let me know if you are interested in going and representing our HG
Africa Hope Center Meeting - 10:30 am...they are meeting the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at the Visio Dei Building
Wednesday May 7th - Homegroup Meeting our house...we are suppose to do dinner this week so if anyone wants to organize this let me know...mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Saturday May 17th - Amanda and Mike are moving - They are planning to move that morning and will need some help. So put it on your calendar. They plan to start on Friday afternoon (16th) and evening and have to go pick up some new furniture that night so if you are free on Friday they could use your help as well. :)
Saturday May 17th - Meg is having a Graduation "Kegger" Party. Everyone from HG is invited so if she left you off.. she apologizes. She tried to add everyone's emails on there. Check out the evite for more information
Saturday April 26th - Drag Bingo - It is this Saturday and we are going to play Bingo this time and not really volunteer. So you need $15 to play and Contact Bernie for more information... bernardnewton@gmail.com
Wednesday April 30th - Homegroup Meeting our house 7:00 pm
Saturday May 3rd - Aids Walk + Ride SIGN UP here
If you are going to be in town this weekend...go SIGN UP - seriously!!!
Sunday May 4th - Leadership Development - 4:00 - 6:00 pm at the Visio Dei Building If you are going our HG is suppose to bring desserts. So bring a yummy dessert to share!
Newcomer's Reception - after the 2nd service..let me know if you are interested in going and representing our HG
Africa Hope Center Meeting - 10:30 am...they are meeting the 1st and 3rd Sundays of each month at the Visio Dei Building
Wednesday May 7th - Homegroup Meeting our house...we are suppose to do dinner this week so if anyone wants to organize this let me know...mrsdanielglennsmith@gmail.com
Saturday May 17th - Amanda and Mike are moving - They are planning to move that morning and will need some help. So put it on your calendar. They plan to start on Friday afternoon (16th) and evening and have to go pick up some new furniture that night so if you are free on Friday they could use your help as well. :)
Saturday May 17th - Meg is having a Graduation "Kegger" Party. Everyone from HG is invited so if she left you off.. she apologizes. She tried to add everyone's emails on there. Check out the evite for more information
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Recap 4/16/08
Today we revisited the story of Daniel in the lion's den, wonderfully facilitated by our own Daniel, thanks Daniel!
Daniel pointed out that there were three main people in this story- King Darius, the satraps, and Daniel.
The basic (really basic) story goes like this: Daniel was a really intelligent, moral person that was part of the inner circle of governors or "satraps." King Darius even wanted to make him the leader of all the lead governors. This pretty much made the other satraps jealous, and they wanted to find a way to get rid of Daniel. So they watched him closely for any mistakes. But they could find nothing. Pretty amazing.
So they found a way to trick king Darius into getting rid of Daniel for them. They convinced the king to make an irrevocable law that anyone worshiping any god other than King Darius will be put to death. Daniel had such strong faith that he still worshiped God, without hiding it. They caught him and sent him into the lion's den (how did they get the lions in there anyway?).
King Darius seems like an easily manipulated kind of guy, and also prideful and arrogant. He was easily convinced that there should be a law to make people worship him. But then he seems to know something about the power of God also. He tells Daniel that he hopes his God will save him when he seals him into the den.
And God does. And then the king puts the conspiring satraps and all their wives and children in there instead. They were ripped to shreds! yikes!
The satraps seem like jealous, power-hungry men that wanted their own glory over what is right. But we see that in the end, their jealous schemes that were supposed to help them get ahead in the world ended up backfiring. It lead to the suffering and death of their loved ones as well. Same thing in our lives- jealousy often leads to our own suffering. Even if we scheme to get something from someone that we want, it often doesn't ease that burning feeling that jealousy creates in our hearts.
Looking at Daniel, we thought about what it means to be a Christian in the workplace. Daniel lived in religious excellence not for selfish gain, but because of his faith. He openly showed his loyalty to God, and stayed reliant on God even in his success. Would we openly go against the law of the workplace to show our faith in God? And would we remain loyal to God even after we gained success in the workplace?
We looked at Daniel's prayer life. He prayed three times every day. Maybe this is how he stayed focused on God despite his personal success. Today, we talk about the spiritual disciplines, prayer being one, and that sometimes they turn into just a habit that doesn't mean anything. I wonder if Daniel ever prayed just out of habit, or was he pure in his worship and love of God? There's a note in the story that God judged Daniel while he was in the den and found him pure. Maybe this shows his pureness of heart through prayer.
One last idea that we touched on was the idea that Daniel faced a dilemma- give in to satan and worship King Darius, or follow God and be put to the lions. Would we be willing to face the lions in order to defy satan? What are the lions in our life-- things that we fear so much that we give in to the easy temptations of satan... What things can we do to stay focused on God in those temptations?
Daniel pointed out that there were three main people in this story- King Darius, the satraps, and Daniel.
The basic (really basic) story goes like this: Daniel was a really intelligent, moral person that was part of the inner circle of governors or "satraps." King Darius even wanted to make him the leader of all the lead governors. This pretty much made the other satraps jealous, and they wanted to find a way to get rid of Daniel. So they watched him closely for any mistakes. But they could find nothing. Pretty amazing.
So they found a way to trick king Darius into getting rid of Daniel for them. They convinced the king to make an irrevocable law that anyone worshiping any god other than King Darius will be put to death. Daniel had such strong faith that he still worshiped God, without hiding it. They caught him and sent him into the lion's den (how did they get the lions in there anyway?).
King Darius seems like an easily manipulated kind of guy, and also prideful and arrogant. He was easily convinced that there should be a law to make people worship him. But then he seems to know something about the power of God also. He tells Daniel that he hopes his God will save him when he seals him into the den.
And God does. And then the king puts the conspiring satraps and all their wives and children in there instead. They were ripped to shreds! yikes!
The satraps seem like jealous, power-hungry men that wanted their own glory over what is right. But we see that in the end, their jealous schemes that were supposed to help them get ahead in the world ended up backfiring. It lead to the suffering and death of their loved ones as well. Same thing in our lives- jealousy often leads to our own suffering. Even if we scheme to get something from someone that we want, it often doesn't ease that burning feeling that jealousy creates in our hearts.
Looking at Daniel, we thought about what it means to be a Christian in the workplace. Daniel lived in religious excellence not for selfish gain, but because of his faith. He openly showed his loyalty to God, and stayed reliant on God even in his success. Would we openly go against the law of the workplace to show our faith in God? And would we remain loyal to God even after we gained success in the workplace?
We looked at Daniel's prayer life. He prayed three times every day. Maybe this is how he stayed focused on God despite his personal success. Today, we talk about the spiritual disciplines, prayer being one, and that sometimes they turn into just a habit that doesn't mean anything. I wonder if Daniel ever prayed just out of habit, or was he pure in his worship and love of God? There's a note in the story that God judged Daniel while he was in the den and found him pure. Maybe this shows his pureness of heart through prayer.
One last idea that we touched on was the idea that Daniel faced a dilemma- give in to satan and worship King Darius, or follow God and be put to the lions. Would we be willing to face the lions in order to defy satan? What are the lions in our life-- things that we fear so much that we give in to the easy temptations of satan... What things can we do to stay focused on God in those temptations?
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