Couples that are dating will often talk about having a great “connection.” But in a survey developed by a doctor in psychology and family science and refined through over 4 million surveys in the last 35 years, there wasn’t a single question about connection.
I don’t think enough about how I think. Throughout the day I carry on dozens of conversations in my head and entertain a host of passing thoughts that range from dull to dangerous. Proverbs 4:23 compares the heart to the headwaters of a river or the groundwater of a spring: Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. The proverb has always been vivid to me probably because I grew up hearing environmental lessons about how factory pollution was causing acid rain and killing our planet. So I can picture a clean, pure spring being poisoned at its source and affecting everything that flows from it. It’s a clear warning to guard your heart but leaves me unclear about how to actually do it.
I love our church family and there’s no place I’d rather be on a Sunday morning. But I deliberately took time to visit other congregations during my vacation. Learning from other churches and getting to know the rest of the body of Christ is important to me as a pastor. Over the last several weeks I got a wide spectrum of worship experiences. None of the denominations was baptist. From Anglican to Christian Reformed to Brethren, the churches all had different traditions but were thoroughly evangelical, teaching Biblical messages focused on Scripture. From a church that met in a park, and another in a modern facility, to another that gathers in a building that dates to the 1800’s, it was clear that there is a great variety in church building aesthetics. I’m still trying to shake the image of the pastor preaching from his lawn chair.
