I’ve heard it said that “prayer began in a garden” (meaning the Garden of Eden), but I don’t think that’s true. In the simplest sense of the word, prayer is people communicating TO God. In Eden, there was two-way communication between God and people, what would be better termed “communion”. Prayer began when face-to-face communion ended, as Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Since that time, man has done a lot of praying.
As the Bible records it, prayer took place in many places: in open fields, in the wilderness, under the stars, in tents, under trees, from the belly of a big fish, in temples and in gardens. It would be hard to contend that one place was better than another (more acceptable to God, that is) as a place of prayer. However, if Jesus preferred certain types of places to pray while He walked the earth, it can be inferred from scripture that it was mountaintops when in the country and a garden when in the city. Repeatedly the Gospels tell of Him rising early, going to lonely places and mountain tops to pray. In the city (Jerusalem), he apparently had His prayer and fellowship hang-out as well; just outside Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley, at the base of the Mount of Olives in a garden called Gethsemane. How do we know He frequented this place? John tells us that is how Judas knew where to lead the guards to arrest Jesus. (John 18:1) Continue Reading »
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Gardens are full of rich Biblical significance. There are several different uses of the term ‘garden’ in the Bible. Often it is an agricultural application, referring to vineyards, groves of fruit trees or vegetable plots. (Jeremiah 29:5 , Deuteronomy 11:10 ). In other applications, it is primarily an outdoor environment; a place of beauty for gathering and entertaining (Esther 1:6, Ecclesiastes 2:5). There are also places where God refers to His people as His planting, His garden (Isaiah 5:7, Isaiah 61:3). It was in a garden that God chose to first put His highest creation – people. And gardening was the first occupation given to people (Genesis 2:15).
The location of Eden per the account in Genesis 2 is where several rivers came together, two of them being the Tigris and Euphrates. This would place Eden in modern day Iraq; not what most people today would envision as a garden setting! But the land was not always this way. Continue Reading »
Tags: Environment, Green Design
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When I get a new album that I really like, I tend to play it repeatedly until it plays in my head independent of any listening device. Such has been the case with Phil Wickham’s latest release, Heaven & Earth. The opening song, Eden, poetically expresses a longing to return to a place of origin and beauty here on earth, where God Himself is very near and intimate.
My awareness of God began at the age of 15 while alone in a stretch of virgin forest in the north woods of Maine. The place was like an outdoor cathedral. Tall trees stretched heavenward with arching branches to form a continuous canopy above, while a thick carpet of velvet moss spread out across the forest floor. Sunlight streamed ethereally through dancing leaves, creating patterns and hues like the play of light through stained glass. The sound and feel of the faint breeze on my cheek was like an intimate whisper. And there was a fragrance that is hard to describe; earthy, yet fresh, clean and pure. It seemed to me as if I had entered something sacred; a holy place. I laid face up on the moss floor for an hour or so, taking it all in. I felt a peace and tranquility that I had never experienced before. From that experience, I began to cherish and seek out the beauty of nature and the great outdoors. Though it would be another year and a half before I would come to know the Creator of that place, His creation had spoken to my soul. Continue Reading »
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Temple University's Baptist Temple
It’s funny, the things that exist right under your nose that you’re unaware of. Knowing that I’m involved with helping churches build facilities, a fellow Temple University alum sent me an e-mail this morning which explains how the original church – The Baptist Temple – and the grounds which became Temple University were paid for. It all starts with the faith of a child and her 57 cents!. What a lesson the churches we work with can learn from this. I think of Jesus words in Matthew 18 about being the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. May we all learn to be more child-like in believing what God can do – even during an uncertain earthly economy. Please read the following excerpt from a sermon by Temple University’s founder.
“THE HISTORY OF FIFTY-SEVEN CENTS”
Sermon By Russell H. Conwell, Sunday Morning, December 1, 1912.
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I’ve heard it said that “prayer began in a garden” (meaning the Garden of Eden), but I don’t think that’s true. In the simplest sense of the word, prayer is people communicating TO God. In Eden, there was two-way communication between God and people, what would be better termed “communion”. Prayer began when face-to-face communion ended, as Adam and Eve were banished from the garden. Since that time, man has done a lot of praying.
