This past Sunday, Pastor Hunter Gillis concluded our Unshakeable series with a message titled “The Tension of Excellence,” drawing from Daniel 6 and Jeremiah 29. He reminded us that Daniel’s faithfulness in exile wasn’t flashy—it was marked by consistency, integrity, and excellence that distinguished him, even in a hostile culture. Pastor Hunter emphasized the tension we feel as believers called to live with conviction and character in environments that may resist our faith. He outlined a vision for living well in that tension: cultivating an incorruptible mind transformed by God’s Word, hardworking hands committed to serving as unto the Lord, and a faithful heart that remains connected to Jesus in prayer. Just as God called the exiles in Babylon to flourish and seek the good of their city, we too are invited to thrive where we’ve been placed—not by conforming, but by faithfully standing out.
✍️ Notes
It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom. At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” Daniel 6:1-5 (NIV)
⭑ Fighters & Followers
⭑ Flourishers
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Yes, this is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them,” declares the Lord. Jeremiah 29:4-9 (NIV)
⭑ An Incorruptible Mind
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 (NIV)
⭑ Hardworking Hands
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)
⭑ A Faithful Heart
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:4 (NIV)
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed. Luke 5:16 (NIV)
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