I watched “Crazy Rich Asians” last week, a romantic comedy that was reviewed as one of the best films of 2018. One of the supporting characters gets to make her “hero’s speech” near the end of the movie as she walks out on her husband, who was having an affair. The trouble is, what she says is exactly backward.

Decision-making is hard for many people, including me. Here’s something for you to consider about Christian decision-making that might make things a lot harder because it adds one more element to consider. Or it just might make some decisions easier . . .

Last Sunday in church we talked about remaining in Jesus as if your life depended on it. Because it does.

But how?

In the year 1535, Peter Beskendorf—Martin Luther’s barber and friend—asked him for suggestions concerning prayer. Luther responded with a letter titled, A Simple Way to Pray.

Next week is Valentine’s Day, named for a Christian martyr from the third century. Almost nothing is known about this man except that he was killed for his faith on February 14th, A.D. 269 and buried in Rome.

Cold, hard cash is hard to find at my house these days. That’s not because of any economic downturn, but because my wife and I simply don’t use cash anymore. The checkbook is likewise getting dusty in a kitchen drawer. All our spending is by credit card.

So do my wife and I use our credit card to give our church offerings?

You may be scared to come to church next week. You may be angry that this could happen. You may be sad for the families and friends in that community. You may be worried about safety. I understand.

In this world, it may seem better to close our eyes and ears to the evil!  Horrendous evil struck Las Vegas and it fills the news and radio today.  Where is God?  Why?  What are we to learn? 

Here are some things to think about.

Many Christians have never been taught how to meditate on the text of the Bible. We have all heard many encouragements to read the Bible every day, but sometimes that feels like a chore rather than a joy.

During Bible study last Tuesday morning we talked a little bit about how to pray. There are many models and rubrics for prayer. The most important is the seven-part model given us by our Lord himself. It's not necessary to repeat the Lord's Prayer word for word, but you may expand each of the petitions to include more personal detail and context on any given day.

Here is another model—one of my personal favorites.