Midweek Josh Talk

One of the most humbling moments of my submitted life occurs when I approach God in prayer. I know who God is and if I pause too long I get overwhelmed by the question of why He would bend His almighty ear to my words. I know I'm not alone in this feeling. A key aspect of this difficulty is believing that I need to get my life together before I pray. God, in His holiness, surely does not want to hear from someone who is in the middle of stumbling through their circumstances, right? Not to mention the fact that God surely would be able to hear my words better if my actions weren't getting in the way. I mean, I can't come to Him about life's specks until I remove my own plank, that's for sure... or is it? When Jesus taught us how to pray He said our first two words should be, "Our Father." It is on this teaching I must build my entire understanding of prayer. Obviously, I don't have to begin every single prayer with those two words but I do have to...

There is no other name like the name of Jesus. This morning I read John 1:1-18 with the Interns and we talked about the impact of knowing Jesus. What has it meant for my life that I know the truth? Not just that I believe in the concept of absolute truth, not that I think there is a truth that makes more sense to me because of how I feel, but I know the truth. I know Him personally and knowing Him has transformed my life. At this point in time, understanding the comprehensive effect of Christ on my life, I was challenged to try to define the spark that started the ball rolling and what I discovered is that the spark still exists. Most people who know me these days know that I love studying. Anyone who knew me fifteen years ago knew that I despised studying. When I looked closely at this change I was able to point to the fact that knowing the truth has given me the motivation for studying. I have always been interested in world religions and philosophy but my interest always seemed to...