Mission Faithwalk

                 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. (Ecclesiastes 11:5) At the time this was written, how a body is formed in the womb was a mystery to at least 99% of the people in the world. In spite of advances in science and claims of knowledge, the percentage is probably still correct. Oh, we may cite such things as germinal stage, embryonic stage, and fetal stage, or claim that something doesn’t happen until week Q, but even much of that involves arbitrary distinctions and nearly “magical” handwaving. This is the same problem with those scientific “experts” who so often issue dire warnings about the environment. Much of what we think we understand simply scratches the surface, yet they pronounce that all matters are clearly understood, and their list of actions is the only possible solution. But I have seen “scientific” solutions to ecological problems cause

              So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.    But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. (II Peter 3:14-18) A few weeks ago, we were told that some senators were coming to visit the garden center. We cleaned windows, floors, bathrooms, under the register desks, and

                      But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.  The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:8-13)   With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a

                 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:11-13) I was going to continue in II Peter, and I’ll probably go back there tomorrow, but I struggled with a recurrent attitude problem this morning, and this passage came to mind. I don’t know quite how I stumbled into “Boo hoo, I’m such a failure,” but there I was, ankle-deep in the muck. I started praying honestly about the situation. The truth is that I am a failure. I told Him that the only way I could not be a failure (in my own eyes) would be for me to be as perfect as God. Then I corrected myself. The only way I could be a success in my own eyes would be to be better than God. Not pos

                 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking.    I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. (II Peter 3:1-7) Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.  (George Santa

                           These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”   If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” (II Peter 2:17-22) But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher

                 Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from the Lord.    But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish. They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.   With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!    They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and

                 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;   if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless    (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—   if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.   This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority . (II Peter 2:4-10) How many minutes, days, or years passed between when t

                      But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.   (II Peter 2:1-3) This is something people don’t understand. Let’s start with the fact that Peter wasn’t writing only about the Church here, even if he thought he was. No matter what group you examine, if there are not currently false teachers, there have been and will be.  If you have not been a false teacher, you probably have been or will be. Some false teachers believe what they’re saying. If you show them evidence of the truth, they’ll repent. Others know they are de

                 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective . (James 5:15) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness . (I John 1:9) Oooo… Shows like Maury Povich, and memoires are popular because we like to hear all the salacious details as some confesses their sins. And making it a competition can be exciting. But oh… the idea of telling someone, anyone, or everyone that we have done something, have something, or are something for which they would be justified to reject or condemn us… that’s hard. However, have you ever spent time trying to keep a secret? Trying to hide or pretend that everything is fine when it’s not? One of the ways sin traps a person is by making the person ashamed or afraid to admit it has power. This is the reason people in AA begin with, “My name is ________, and I’m an alcoho

                 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit . (II Peter 1:19-21)   “I can see that you are a prophet.” (John 4:19 b)   Prophesy: the ability to receive a divinely inspired message and deliver it to others in the church.               I used to believe that prophecy had to do with foretelling the future. That made the comment by the woman at the well confusing to me. Jesus hadn’t told her anything about the future. He told her about her past and present. It came as a relief to me when I learned that prophecy is “just” receiving and

                 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.   He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”   We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain. (II Peter 1:16-18)   Mountaintop experiences. God caused His glory to pass by Moses on the mountain, and Moses got to see His “back.” Elijah ran to a mountain to get away from Jezebel, and God spoke to Him in a still small voice. Jesus took Peter, James, and John onto a mountain and was transfigured before them. Then there was Daniel in the lion’s den and his three friends in the fiery furnace with a fourth person. And let’s not forget the pillar of fire and pillar of cloud at the Red Sea or the time they spent at the holy mountain. It’s easy t

                   So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.   I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things. (II Peter 1:12-15)   As people reach a certain point in their lives, they sometimes become concerned about their legacies. Good parents may not think in terms of “legacies,” but they still hope to raise children who will be good. This is what Peter was writing about here. He longed for the people who read the letter to be changed by what he said and to be his legacy. But it wasn’t so much about its being Peter’s legacy as it was about the content of the legacy. There were things he wanted others to know and to remember, and he wrote his letters to give

               Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ . (II Peter 1:10-11) Calling. Election. Both have to do with our being selected or chosen to do, to have, or to be something. I don’t know if everyone longs to know their calling or to confirm their election, but I suspect that many do. The idea tends to send our thoughts into realms of influence, power, fame, and fortune. I mean, what possible good would it do to “call” someone to be a stocker at a grocery store or to flip burgers at a fast-food place? This is another case of our focus being turned in the wrong direction. Our calling and election is in cultivating faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love in our lives. It’s about what we do where we are with what we have. We are

                 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)   The first of the characteristics listed in 2 Peter 1:5-7 is faith . I’m debating with an atheist and at the moment, the issue revolves around the terms belief and  faith. Her question this morning was why one had to have faith in order to believe in a god. In the Bible, the word they translate as belief is transliterated pistis . The word they translate as faith is transliterated pistis. Or, if I have the form of the word wrong, it is derived from that root word. Effectively, belief equals faith. The dictionary tries to differentiate between them by describing faith as “complete” belief but what do we then do with Jesus’ driving out a demon from the son of a father who said, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)? What do we do about Jesus’ claim that if we have faith t

                   For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:8) One of my passions (compulsions) since 2020 is becoming competent. I want to be able to take care of myself so that I’m not a burden to others and so I can help those who need it. I’m trying to learn about gardening and all sorts of practical skills toward that end. But what today’s verse suggests is that the faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection, and love mentioned in yesterday’s passage will prevent me from being ineffective and unproductive in my knowledge of Jesus Christ - and by extension, in my knowledge of everyone else.      The two ideas go hand-in-hand. If we are going to be effective in my knowledge of Jesus Christ or others, learning how to do practical things will increase our ability to act on our faith, do good, control ourselves

                   For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;   and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting they have been cleansed from their past sins. (II Peter 1:5-9) Yesterday, the points were that living a godly life isn’t necessarily as complicated, difficult, or dramatic as we may make it out to be, and that God is, has, and makes available all we need to live a godly life. In today’s passage. So why does Peter start listing off qualities we’re supposed to “make every effort” to add to our lives? Isn’t that the opposite of what he said yesterday? If someone gives you a tool

    His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.   Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desire s. (II Peter 1:3-4)   I’ve told the story before of arguing with God (in the logical, not the emotional sense) about not being a jogger, or a poet, or “good enough” or “ready” because I didn’t have something, didn’t do something, didn’t something something necessary to be whatever I was denying. Then this verse says that God has already given me everything I need for a godly life. Oh, maybe He gave everyone else what they needed. Clearly, He missed me in the shuffle. Someone else must have a double dose. I’m exaggerating - a tiny bit. I suspect I’m not the only one who thinks, “I have everything I need? Is He crazy?” Just to start with, I don’t

              Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”     “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5) The Bible makes it clear that Eve was deceived. In Under Cover , John Bever points out that the first thing the serpent does is to change the focus from all that she could freely do to the one thing she was told not to do. He went on to suggest that God was withholding godhood or equality with God from her, when the truth is that equality with God simply isn’t possible. One must be les

                 Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them . (Hebrews 7:25)   In some ways, the ancient pagans had it easy. They had statues to show them their gods. That’s probably one of the reasons the Roman Catholic Church got so into crucifixes and stained-glass windows. Another reason was to depict the stories told in Scripture to people who couldn’t read or didn’t have books. The Jews were commanded not to make images to represent God. Eventually, He sent His own representation and Representative, who lived sinlessly, taught, performed miracles, died, and rose again. Only 20 years later, however, Paul was chiding the Corinthian church for getting hung up and divided over Peter, Paul, and Apollos.    We’re still doing the same thing today. Whether it’s preachers, teachers, celebrities, athletes or their teams, scientists or other experts, or politicians, we choose our champions and are ready to g

  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Matthew 6:25)   Yesterday, I listened to a three-part discussion between John Ortberg and another clinical psychologist on this passage, and remembered a time years ago when I realized that I was literally worrying about nothing. I recognized that what I was doing was worrying. I asked myself what I was worrying about - and could not come up with an answer. I was (and am?) so in the habit of worrying that even without a locus, I was just doing what came naturally. As I’ve shared before, I also tend to worry about “missing my exit” whether on a road trip (thank God for GPSes!) or in life. God has made it clear to me that He won’t let me miss my exit. But I’m in a time of life that feels like I’m trying to figure out what I’m supposed to be when I grow up - and the problem is that I think I have to b

                 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” (Luke 11:18)   It’s not unusual for me to read several books at a time. My side reading is a book by John Bevere, Under Cover . The topic in the chapter I’m reading is the definition of sin, which comes down to any deviation from God’s will. If God said to take the dog for a walk at 6:45, if I left at 6:44 or 6:46, it would be sin. It seems like a petty example. Is God really the sort of God to condemn a person to Hell for not leaving on schedule?  The answer is “no” and “yes.” Leaving off schedule isn’t so much the issue as choosing to leave at a time other than what God said and standing in judgment of God based on whether or not He would condemn someone to Hell for doing so. More importantly, if you had an employee who regularly decided to show up late or whenever the whim took him, would firing that employee be an arbitrary fit of temper on your part, or would the responsibility be t

                 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’   “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied. “The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” (Matthew 13:24-30) The book I’m reading set me off on the “spring” theme and I’m a gardener, so I’m going to camp out on the subject until I find something in the book I’m intere

                 You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. (Isaiah 48:6)                Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (John 12:24)   Spring is almost here. I know that for some, it’s been here since March 20, or it’s been here for a couple of weeks. But the end of April is when work picks up at the garden center where I work, it’s when the panic sets in about my own gardens. And it’s beginning of a “new year” in my life, when, in the next week, I officially become one year older than I was last week. We have also (finally!) finished slogging through the winter part of the book I’m reading.           I hope that spring is also almost here spiritually. I’ve been slogging through the winter of dreams in the book I’m reading, and with my dreams. Like a kernel

                 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry . (Colossians 3:5)               No pun intended, but it may seem as though I’m beating a dead horse. Today’s chapter in Journey of Desire seems to cover the same material. We need to have dreams. We’re supposed to have desires. But God keeps interfering. John Eldridge talks about five years in which he tried to go fly fishing. The first year, there was a blizzard. The second year, thunderstorms ruined the fishing. Someone opened the dam the third year, and again ruined the fishing. Drought hit the fourth year and the fifth, the fish just didn’t bite. Later, as he drove by a piece of property, he thought, “I could really be happy here without God.” (p. 100.) That’s when he realized the problem. As he put it, “God must take away the heaven we create, or it will become our hell.”             That sentence sums up what he’s

                 The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint.           The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in human form, human form in all its glory that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.  It is used as fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.” From the rest he makes a god, his idol

                 The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you…” And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (I Kings 19:7 & 9-10)   Today’s topic isn’t one I would wish on anyone. After Elijah had been God’s instrument of miracles and judgment, Jezebel threatened his life, and he ran away. Life was too overwhelming. I’m not a psychologist but having finished big projects and having spent enough of my life dealing with depression, I suspect he may have been depressed. He’d worked hard, and there were still unvanquished threats. He hadn’t won. It wasn’t rational, but that didn’t mean he could just shut the feelings off. There