Mission Faithwalk

              Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come— yes, let them foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”       (Isaiah 44:7-8)                 Now and again, atheists or agnostics ask for proof of God’s existence. There were times when I tried to present evidence, but it didn’t matter what I provided. They had already made up their mind to reject it. Their goal was entertainment. They wanted to get me to “jump through hoops” to try to come up with something when they had already made up their minds to say, “Nope, try again” every time.      ...

                  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)                 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve. (2 Corinthians  11:15-16)                 This is one of those “non-magical” passages. Jesus didn’t say that we become lights of the world, but that we are lights. Every one ...

                   Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews 11:1-3)                   Let’s consider. According to Scripture, the universe was created about 6000 years ago and within a week was a fully functional, “mature” universe. According to Sciencism (the belief that whatever they call “science” automatically has the only answer), the universe is either eternal (steady state), oscillating, or came into existence 14 billion years ago, probably due to the Big Bang. I don’t care what other possibilities you might propose for how the universe was formed. The point really is that you weren’t there and neither does anyone else ...

              I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)                 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.    I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,    and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3: 7-11)       ...

                  Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ( Hebrews 12:1-2)                 Another of those well-loved passages. We imagine ourselves in a spectacular race, as spiritual Eric Liddells with our heads thrown back, crossing the finish line and winning the gold. We imagine the audience consists of God, plus the angels, plus the Christians who have gone before us, and maybe some Christians alive around us. And we think we need their applause and cheers (and we may well be right!) What we don’t tend to consider is that our audience isn’t limited to those listed above. It also includes the demons, our enemies, and those who are wondering what’s going on. ...

                   Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.   When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”   But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”  Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son...