Years ago, I was listening to an interview on NPR that startled me. The man being interviewed was the Director of The Center for Compassion and Altruism in California. (By the way, Altruism is the unselfish concern for others. And I have no memory of the interviewee.) The rest of this blog is my best recollection of this interview.

“I became a Christian after studying altruism,” he said. That got my attention! He went on to say, “I believe Darwin and evolutionary science are largely correct in the animal and natural world, but I believe they are wrong regarding humans. And here’s why.”
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I’ve had times when I’ve been so tired, angry or discouraged that I either couldn’t pray or it just felt hypocritical to do so.

Sometimes the source of my spiritual dryness is obvious to me. It’s either sin in my life that I self-righteously thought I have a right to commit because someone hurt me deeply. Other times I’ve been disappointed with God, and just didn’t see the point of asking him for anything, just then.

I can’t be the only one who holds back on spending time with God because “prayer just isn’t working for me.”

So, I thought it might be helpful to share how God enabled me and will enable you to move forward, even when we don’t feel like praying.
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Edited from a published article by David Bentley Hart

It was in 1983 that I heard the distinguished Greek Orthodox historian Aristeides Papadakis casually remark in a lecture at the University of Maryland that the earliest Christians were “communists.” In those days, the Cold War was still casting its great glacial shadow across the cultural landscape, and so enough of a murmur of consternation rippled through the room that Professor Papadakis — who always spoke with severe precision — felt obliged to explain that he meant this in the barest technical sense: New Testament Christians lived a common life and voluntarily enjoyed a community of possessions. The murmur subsided, but his comments triggered a lively debate and caused great discomfort.

Not that anyone should have been surprised. If the communism of the apostolic church is a secret, it is a startlingly open one. Vaguer terms like “communalist” or “communitarian” might make the facts sound more palatable but cannot change them. The New Testament’s Book of Acts tells us that in Jerusalem the first converts to the proclamation of the risen Christ affirmed their new faith by living in a single dwelling, selling their fixed holdings, redistributing their wealth “as each needed” and owning all possessions communally. This was, after all, a pattern Jesus himself had established: “Each of you who does not give up all he possesses is incapable of being my disciple” (Luke 14:33).
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Evangelicals love the phrase “word of God” and when we use it, the most common meaning is the Bible. The Bible is the word of God. That’s true, but the real meaning is so much richer than a book.

Why is understanding this so important? Because many younger evangelicals are drifting away from the Old Testament as an authoritative voice in their life and are embracing Jesus teachings alone as their “word of God.” As spiritual mentors we’ll need to remind them that for roughly 3,500 years all scripture has been the word of God.

So, when Christians use that term, we mean;
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