I appreciate Nathan's Fee quote. I agree - I've heard other people say similar things. I heard Joy Dawson say something like, "I can tell what kind of relationship with God a person has by listening to them pray." I've found this to be true in my life - I mean, when I listen to myself pray. I can learn so much by listening to someone pray. For instance, Lou Engle, if you've never heard him pray you really should get your hands on a recording. I have some and there are some on the web I could point you to. Anyway, it's late and since I haven't taken the time to write as much as our friend Nate I thought I should at least post a quote. I heard this on one of the Ravi Zacharias podcasts, The Lecture was given by someone else (I forget) and it was titled, "Media, friend or foe?" This quote definitely made me pause and look at my own life. How often are movies the first thing I want to talk about? The thing I get excited about? The thing I make time for on a weekly basis? I know it's all a matter of perspective and priorities but I need to be careful to be aware of where my heart is.
“As ironic modern worshippers we congregate at the cinematic temple. We pay our votive offerings at the box office. We buy our ritual corn. We hush in reverent anticipation as the lights go down and the celluloid magic begins. Throughout the filmic narrative we identify with the hero, we vilify the anti-hero, we vicariously exult in the victories of the drama and we are spiritually inspired by the moral of the story. All the while believing that we are modern, techno-secular people devoid of religion, yet the depth and intensity of our participation reveal a religious fervor that is not much different from that of religious zealots.
-Jeffery Hill (a non-Christian), Life, the Movie
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Uhmm...how we pray! What about Asaph in Psalm 77? What could we tell about him?
I think we have to be careful about that...because what we begin to do is draw lines. Borderline Pharisacal. If that person doesn't pray a certain way or exude the right kind of passion or persona, then they must or mustnt be a certain kind of person with God?!
Um...I believe what Fee is saying is that we can find out what a person believes about God. Not so much what their life in Christ is like. I need to point you to the collection of sermons. He really is saying lots about how we are we think of God as binary not trinitary. We seem to not give the spirit his due. I just need to give you the sermons, they are wonderful.
okay, I see what you're saying. You can take that statement a little too far. But I think what Joy Dawson meant was that we have a relationship with God, right? When you're tight with someone you talk with them a certain way. When you're not real close with someone you talk a different way. When there are tensions in the relationship you talk a certain way. I know there are many kinds of personalities also and not everyone needs to sound all passionate in the typical sorts of ways. It has to do with the things you say, the way you say them, or the way you can't even think of, or be moved to say anything. It doesn't mean you have to say alot either. I just meant that it's a window into someone's relationship with God. I don't neccessarily use this (or recommend this) method solely to gauge where someone's at with God - but it does help if you do happen to hear them pray. There are many other ways to gauge things - discernment, wisdom, etc. - okay, i have to help with Wesley. Love ya.
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