This episode contains some bonus teaching that had to be left out of my recent "fireside chat" sermon about the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. It's a perspective being offered for those who think, "Christians should be standing up for Christianity like that! We should be silencing our enemies and defending God's honor in the public square with the same kind of counter-attacks that Islam uses to defend their religion."

Simply put: I don't think that's right. And this episode explains why I believe that.

This message—the second in a series on prayer—highlights four concepts that can be observed about prayer from when the disciples asked Jesus to "Teach us to pray."

1. Prayer is not wholly natural. It's a skill that must be learned.
2. Prayer is meant to be continual—and ever-present part of our lives.
3. Prayer is both ritual and response. It's not just vain repitition, but sometimes it is repetitious.
4. Prayer works in two worlds, bringing the temporal world to bear before God and bringing the eternal world to bear before us.

How should Bible believers think about the events in Israel right now? Should we be concerned that the end of time is coming near? Should we be in solidarity with the Jewish people because we have a shared faith with them? Should we be expecting Christ to come and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem? Or should Christians see both groups—Hamas and Israel—as being too violent and therefore both sinful?

This message, which was more like a 'fireside chat,' addresses a lot of those questions in simple form, but hopefully with enough depth to be helpful to all Biblically-minded people trying to navigate these enermous issues.

In this message, I'm starting a new sermon series on prayer. And this introductory message just drives home the purpose and importance of the fact that we have the privilege of talking to God.

In John 6, Jesus fed 5000 people with one kids' lunch. And the Jews who saw him perform that miracle understood something about him that went a layer deeper into God's plan than what he could do with loaves and fishes. They saw a prophet for whom they had waited for a long time.

This talk, given as a meditation before communion, tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion as it might have been seen through the eyes of Simon of Cyrene — the man who was forced to carry Jesus' cross. It's historical fiction, so some liberties have been taken, and some extra-biblical events and perspectives have been added. But great care was taken to make sure that nothing was done that interferes with or undermines the truth of the Biblical narratives.

I hope that your heart is touched by thinking about the Crucifixion from what might have been a first-person viewpoint.

Individuals and churches have the same tendency: To receive God's blessings in any number of ungrateful or arrogant ways. This message reminds us, based on some of Moses' words from Deuteronomy, that true gratitude allows us to enjoy the blessings we receive and the God who gives them.

At Northside, we're gearing up to start a new study among our adults on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. With that in mind, here's a throwback recording of a class that I taught to introduce the book of Proverbs and to give a few general reminders about how to read wisdom literature.

I hope that it piques your interest in this great segment of Biblical literature and that it causes you to go get out the book and read through it afresh.