Treasure In Clay Jars

I have had a similar experience on a several occasions over the last few years to my "saying grace" or simply put thanking God for my meal before I eat. In my travels, if I am eating among a group of people, it is invariably in a corporate setting, and usually among a group of largely non-Christian colleagues, or at least colleagues who rarely identify themselves to me as being Christian. The experience to which I allude is one of someone remarking how they think it takes "so much courage" to pray over my food in the presence of business colleagues. To be fair, I understand this sentiment. I understand the motivation behind saying it, and I acknowledge the reality to which it speaks. Those of us who pray over our meals are simply acknowledging God as the supplier of our food. Then why the supposed courage? Well I suspect it is in part the legacy that "my religion should be private", an inference that many people grew up with in such denominations as Catho

As we enter into the election cycle this fall that will determine the party that controls the US Congress for at least the next two years, there is a lot of talk currently about whether the Republican Party is more closely aligned with true Christian values, or whether in fact it is incompatible to be a Christian and be a Democrat at the same time. While I truly believe neither of the two primary US political parties represent true Christian values in their governing philosophies, writer Jack Kinsella writes a very persuasive article on the subject of the natural tendencies of many in the Democratic party . As the Bible says: "I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, h