Last Sunday at NFC, we continued our race through the Old Testament, trying to get enough grasp on history so that we can better understand the book of Micah. I chose Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the temple as the text, a chance to look at the wonderful way Solomon captured the whole world being God’s concern. This was the best Israel got…and it wasn’t all that good. Solomon had to build the temple on the backs of the people, enslaving some and taking advantage of the rest.
I have to give credit to Shawn McConaughey for the pioneers and settlers theme that ran through my words. He and Gil George at Boise Friends looked at those ideas much more deeply, and I just stole the basic idea for this message.
Our services weren’t out of the ordinary: no yelling, no fights. 😉 But in second service, during a prayer experience and during open worship, we definitely had a “gathered” meeting. I leaned over to someone and said, “This place is smoldering with God’s fire! I wonder when it’s just going to burn?”