The Rock Church

Pray and Post a Guard

Nehemiah 4:9 — “But we prayed to our God and posted a guard day and night to meet this threat.”

At our Men’s Nights this year, we’ve been studying Nehemiah. He returns to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall — and immediately faces opposition. Enemies threaten, intimidate, and scheme. Nehemiah’s response is one of my favorites in all Scripture: “We prayed to our God and posted a guard.”

That’s it. Prayer and action. Dependence and responsibility. They didn’t choose between spiritual and practical. Instead, they did both. Some people only pray. Others only act. Faithful believers do both.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church

If You Can’t Be Kind, Be Quiet

I recently taught at church about how to treat fellow believers when we disagree politically. Christians who differ on such issues should always do so with a spirit of kindness, graciousness, and understanding. Indeed, this spirit honors King Jesus.

I know a little bit about conflict. Like everyone else, I’ve had my fair share of personal skirmishes with my wife, kids, family, co-workers, teammates, etc.  Additionally, for the past 33 years, I have been called in to help hundreds of other people resolve their broken relationships. In fact, just this past week, I had the opportunity to help resolve a dispute between two dear friends. Fortunately, humility carried the day, and all was well.

Posted in A Word from the Pastor by The Rock Church