Welcome back to my blog, I almost started off by saying, “Welcome back to Pastor Tom’s blog,” but realized the awkwardness of addressing myself in the third person. The beauty of writing this blog is that it allows me an outlet for the thoughts I have during the day, and maybe even to share some of my humor with each of you. Or my lack of humor if you don’t find something funny that I do. One thought that I have had is some of you have asked me specific questions about the blog. In person is always great to ask, but if you prefer I am available by email at pastortom@gracebaptistct.com, and I will try to answer all the emails I receive.
Last night I was reading through the Book of Daniel, and one particular verse struck my which was Daniel 6:10. The context surrounding the verse was that the government commissioners and satraps convinced King Darius to sign an agreement forbidding any petitions or worship of any other gods outside of the king. Perhaps the most exhilarating part of verse ten is when it states, “Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed…” (NASB). It was at that point that Daniel went to petition the Lord. He knew that there is only one God, and that the repercussions for his praying and worshipping God could be death. Do we read that and say, “Well, that is good for Daniel, I would never stop doing what God calls me to do because of something?” I wonder if that is so? So many will say that the church is to be counter cultural. What does that exactly mean? It occurred to me as I have been preparing a sermon series for the fall on spiritual disciplines, that this lands directly within the realm of Revelation 22:19. Are we as Christians, taking things away from the Word of God to meet the wishes of the world? Daniel was counter culture, are we?