Pastor Prince

In Daniel 1:8-20, Daniel and his friends are settling into lives as exiles in Babylonia.  They've received Babylonian names, and King Nebuchadnezzar has enrolled him in his school to train them to serve in his court.  He wanted them to have the best, so he ordered that they be fed with food from his own personal supply. But Daniel refused to eat the food.  The text says that he didn't want to "defile" himself.  We don't know what he found defiling about the food.  Books like Leviticus describe those laws.  But the precise reason why he didn't partake isn't important because the food represents more than food.  It represents Babylonian culture, particularly parts of that culture that opposes God's commands. Daniel and his friends eat only "vegetables and water" for ten days.  At the end of that time, they look better than those who ate the king's food.  Not only that, the king examines them and admits them into his service. They

Today, many Christ followers are reeling from the rapid pace of cultural change.  Those of us who are older sometimes think we fell asleep and awakened in a foreign land! The scriptures offer examples of people who found themselves in similar circumstances.  Among them are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, young Jewish exiles who lived in Babylonia.  The Babylonian king brought them from their land to his, and trained them to serve in his court.  Despite this, they maintained their identities as members of God's covenant people. Early Christ followers found themselves in a culture that didn't support their beliefs.  New Testament writers like Peter (1 Peter 1:17) and the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:13), admonished Christ followers to live as exiles and strangers in this world.  They were in the world, but they were citizens of God's eternal kingdom.  They were to live by the values of that kingdom, even when they conflicted with those of their surround

Some of the worst manifestations of bad Christians take place in the midst of church conflict.  We would think that Christ followers would behave better in working out their differences, but oftentimes they don't. I've experienced lots of church conflict, beginning with one of the churches I grew up in.  Back in the early 1970s, the church had more than a thousand in attendance.  Now, the church hangs on by a thread, with a few dozen people worshipping in a sanctuary that seats about a thousand.  The church's neighborhood has transitioned, but it's fate was sealed decades before by a terrible church split.  Thankfully, I wasn't there for the worst battles, but it grieves me that such a great church destroyed itself.  For some reason, God called me to minister in an era of prevalent church conflict.  My denomination split, and the church I currently serve split, mostly about the denominational split. Church conflicts handled badly are costly to the work of