“Prayer did not rescue Jesus from the cross; it instead prepared Him for it; it did not not remove the darkness ahead; it provided hope in the dark. Prayer did not shield Jesus from betrayal; instead, it covered Him from despair. We know that Jesus had a lot going against Him, but in prayer, a higher power was at work for Him. This power would not only make Him victorious, but banish fear fom His heart as well.” JesusFearPrayerCourageOvercomer Book:The Amazing Side Effects of Prayer Source: The Amazing Side Effects of Prayer
“It was not easy for Paul to stand as a mirror and confront Peter's bias towards the Gentiles. He even had to address Barnabas as well, who got swept up in group-think. The majority of the members, including Peter, were satisfied with the way they treated Gentiles. Paul, however, advocated strongly against the evident injustices. Being a Paul and addressing difficult topics on race is what the Church needed then and still needs today. Generally, as a church, we are comfortable with the Peters but feel somewhat awkward around the Pauls because the Pauls push us into an uncomfortable realm. The Pauls are rare but are more precious today than silver and gold.” ChurchCourageRacismInjusticePeterBoldApostle PaulDifficult Conversations Author:Shaun Brooks