Mission Faithwalk

                  But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7)                 Maybe it was because Saul was tall. When Samuel went to anoint the new king of Israel, his first inclination was toward a tall, good-looking member of the family. God chose the youngest member, the “runt” of the litter, who probably didn’t have anything against him (to the external eye) except that he was the little brother, and everyone picked on the youngest as the “nobody, nothing” of the family.                 We all do it. Put aside the rabid accusations of the various -isms. Yo...

                     Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)                 While this verse wasn’t specifically on my mind this morning as I walked, it could have been. I interrupted my routine of prayer with a heartfelt need for God to help me in every area of my life. I was hit with the general (and often reached) conclusion that I am a complete failure in every area of my life. Of course, that tends to be because I’m not doing everything completely right (to my specifications). This verse would have fit right in, because I am not being the Christian I think I should be. I’m not doing everything Scripture says. Like everyone else, I’m deceiving myself. And I do so far too often.                 As I whined at God about wh...

                 You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. (Psalm 119:114)                 “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver; “don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”   C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe                 For a time, we heard a lot about the idea of being a safe person or place. In fact, there was a time when people put safety pins on their clothes to make sure others could identify them as a safe person. A safe person is generally identified as someone who will validate the opinions of the other person as true, unless, of course, the opinions of the other person don’t happen to include the idea that the opinions of all other people are true....

              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 ...