All too often I think pastors see themselves as lumberjacks. They go into a church and look at the problems as trees that need to be chopped down. They fire up their massive chain saw and start cutting into the tree to bring it down. They grab their ax and start hacking away until the problematic tree lies on the ground.

In truth, it turns out that people often define conservative, not by a set of objective doctrinal criteria, but by a number of unwritten rules. These days, it doesn’t seem to matter what doctrines you hold (trinity, election, atonement, christology, etc) but how you voted in the last election and whether your children attend—fill in the blank—type of school.

I think one of the weakest areas of the Christian life for many is prayer. We seldom spend significant time in prayer unless we find ourselves in a period of suffering or trial. Under such circumstances we might regularly engage in prayer. But if public prayers are any indication of our private prayers, I think one of the most deficient areas in a Christian’s prayer life is the absence of adoration in our prayers.