Daniel

We've been working through the Book of Daniel at church for the last month. It's the first time as a preacher that I've preached through a book of the Bible instead of preaching on specific topics. It's been an adjustment and in parts it's gone well and other times I've been confused and struggling to mix in the historical info and commentator analysis with the practical application stuff. But ultimately it's been a good stretching and a great learning curve. I'm developing that passion for the life-changing truth of the Text that was lacking for me before. I always liked hearing from the Word but it was mostly just verses from here and there thrown together but when you start to read the stories thoroughly the truth really starts to come out.

As far as things from Daniel that have stuck out to me:
-King Neb's advisors, magicians, enchanters etc never seem to be able to come through They hold these positions of wisdom but yet when answers are needed they know nothing. Who are the voices of wisdom that we listen to that aren't from God? How many magicians, enchanters, advisors are we listening to that don't really know what they're talking about.
-Daniel and his friends make the choice to follow God every time no matter the potential cost. That blows my mind and challenges me big time. I can't even seem to make many of the little decisions in God's direction because I get afraid of the costs. So much to learn.
-I'm once again drawn to the issue of prophecy. So much of the Bible is filled with books by prophets (such as Daniel) and stories of the impact of prophets. My conservative-evangelical-non-charismatic church upbringing never once talked about prophecy. My current church tries to get a little bit of a grasp on it but it's still in the background. Where does prophecy fit in? How can we sort of ignore it in a present day context given it's major impact in Bible history? Just something running through my mind...