Mission Faithwalk

                 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (I John 2:1)                 Advocate: one who defends or maintains a cause or proposal : one who supports or promotes the interests of a cause or group: one who pleads the cause of another ( ADVOCATE Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster )                 “And how does the defendant plead?”                   We might plead “innocent” because what we did wasn’t wrong in our eyes, or because we didn’t know we were doing something wrong.  We might plead “guilty” but with extenuating circumstances. While we’re stammering, offe...

                 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36) The theme at BibleGateway.com seems to be endurance, and it’s a good theme, because it goes against everything we want for ourselves, even if it is precisely what we hope for lots of other people. We don’t tend to want to keep going when the going isn’t pleasant. “Good” people should only have to endure good things. For the rich, those with whom we disagree, and other and various sundry wicked people, we tend to think in terms of repent, endure, or perish. It’s the whole idea behind karma. The problem is that reality doesn’t work that way. In fact, part of the proof that a person is good is that they remain good even while enduring pain, difficulty,  and injustice. That’s what Jesus did, and as His disciples, we’re supposed ...

                 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4) I’ve said what I’m going to say before, but sometimes, we need a reminder. We like to think that anything that happens to us that we don’t like is evil. And, we might be right, but the thing about evil, or even about hard things that aren’t evil, is that they build resilience. They build perseverance, which builds character, which gives us the capacity to hope. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know this. At least, we think we know this until something tough or evil comes along. Yesterday, I went to the doctor’s for a check in more than a checkup. As a result, I ended up making a phone call to set up another appointment. Yep, the medical merry-go-round. Both the people I talked to congratulated me on making the decision to get my knee replaced. I know it’s a good dec...

                 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)               All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)                 To be a Christian means to be a student of Christianity. To be a Muslim means to be a student of Islam. To be a scientist means to be a student of science. Whatever philosophy, religion, worldview, etc., you happen to claim, simply claiming to be one doesn’t make you one. They all require study, obedience, and the rejection of other, rival perspectives. The prob...

                 May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (II Corinthians 13:14) We know there’s a Trinity out there that we don’t understand, and Scripture isn’t really clear about which one is supposed to do what. In other words, they’re not exactly definable or controllable. This is one of the things I think is attractive about a pantheon. Mars/Arez is the god of war. Ceres is the goddess of grain. Hermes/Mercury is the god of medicine. If you have a need, you pick the god who has authority over that matter. It’s like choosing the right store. But God doesn’t work that way. He’s a package deal.  You get all three or you get none. You can’t pit them against each other. There’s no competition, no disagreement. If you don’t like the answer one member of the Trinity gives, it’s a waste of time going to a different member in hopes of a different answer. De...

                  Be glad, people of Zion, rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given you the autumn rains because He is faithful. He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before . (Joel 2:23)                 This was the verse chosen by BibleGateway.com for the day. I try to use them so I’m not writing about the same things all the time. It’s also a verse I’d like to hold God to. In fact, I’d like Him to provide summer rains, too. Of course, the passage makes it clear that it wasn’t a promise, and it was specific to Zion, not to me on a hill over one of the Great Lakes, where water is available whenever we want it, as long as we pay the price. So the verse might not seem to apply to me, or to you wherever you are.                ...