Mission Faithwalk

               Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.   (John 10:7-9) What we think of as a sheep’s pen is not what the folks in Jesus’s time and area thought of. It wasn’t a fence with a wooden swinging gate. It was a wall of loosely stacked rocks, and the entrance was where the shepherd sat and slept. For Jesus to refer to Himself as the gate for the sheep would not have gotten a “Say, what?” from His audience. This also makes more sense of the notion that hirelings being not as likely to protect the herd. If the sheep weren’t yours, and you were being stared down by a pack of wolves, would you stand your ground? I suspect I wouldn’t, partly because I’m too weak t...

            When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen not only because I see it but because by it I see everything else.” C. S. Lewis (Is Theology Poetry?   Reflections: Christianity Makes Sense Of The World - C.S. Lewis Institute ) It seems that my Bible platform is going to go through Jesus’s “I Am” statements, and that’s fine with me. And again, maybe I’m the only one who hasn’t understood them in the past, but I don’t think so. The statement, “I’ve seen the light” or “I saw the light” tends to be understood either as my having come to Christ for salvation, or having otherwise repented because we’ve finally come to realize our error. It’s the candle in the window that leads us to safety. And I won’t say that aspect of it doesn’t exist. ...

                  Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty . (John 6:35)           I have to admit that this is one of the verses in Scripture that unsettles me a little. It’s not a deal-breaker with God because my failure to be 100% with what the Bible says is not required any more than my being 100% with any person. It’s entirely possible that I’m the one missing the puzzle piece. A lot of people would say that this passage is easy. Jesus was referring to Himself as the bread of life, so the bread in question is spiritual or figurative. It doesn’t mean that if those who come to Him choose to fast for forty days that their stomachs won’t growl and they won’t lose weight. It also doesn’t mean that groceries will appear in the cupboard.           ...

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...

                 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6) It has been a tough few days. Wednesday night, my “good” knee became my “bad” knee in a melodramatic incident. I handled the emergency fairly well, I think, but it’s taken several days to my knee to recover to the point that it has, which isn’t quite where I’d like it. I had downs and ups about an assigned article and my story, but I thought I was doing better. On Sunday morning, my pastor preached a great sermon about hope. Then I came home, and things slowly failed to be as productive as I wanted. It doesn’t help that I started into a process online that just can’t be simple. No great surprise, really. But by bedtime, I had spiraled down into anxiety. No great surprise, really. I prayed. I whined. I screamed in silence. And this morning I got up with my...

                 At the end of every seven years you must cancel debts. (Deuteronomy 15:1) This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.   Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. (Romans 13:6-8) How long has it been since you cancelled debts? I know we love the idea of having our debts cancelled. Buy a brand-new house and vehicle and pay on them for only 7 years. Or, better yet, buy them at 6.5 years through the cycle and only pay for 6 months! I don’t think it would work that way, but we like the idea. And, as for the forgiving debts others owe me, well, I don’t have the money to lend, so that is a non-issue. ...