Be Still And Know

John 17:20-21 This is an amazing prayer. Within moments Jesus would be betrayed by Judas and arrested by Roman soldiers and Temple guards. Jesus knew exactly what was going on but, in the middle of it all, he calmly prayed this prayer to his Heavenly Father. He rejoiced in the unity they enjoyed together and longed for his followers to have a similar experience. It is a tragic truth that the Church has never experienced much unity. There are said to be more than 45,000 different Christian denominations in the world today. The variety is staggering in terms of what they believe and how they worship. People find their way into different denominations for a wide variety of reasons. I used to think that people would support one particular denomination because of strong doctrinal convictions, but it is much more complicated than that. Some people attend a particular church because it’s close to their home or because a friend goes there. My father’s family was split along gender lines. His mothe