Mission Faithwalk

                 Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished . (Proverbs 17:5) Mock: tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner Mockery runs rampant in our society. Some would justify themselves with the notion that they don’t mock the poor . They mock stupid people who think to highly of themselves. They mock the “Kool-Aid” drinkers, the sheeple, the evil and idle rich…you know, Those folks. The ones who deserve to be mocked, shamed, ridiculed, isolated, relieved of their children, sterilized, forced to do what’s “right,” and perhaps locked away. Those aren’t the poor. Aren’t they? Are they not, in the eyes of their mockers, lacking the essential currency that would make them acceptable? If they are not the equals or the betters of those who mock them, are they not poorer, no matter what category of poverty the mockers might want to establish? And...

                 “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  20  So then, you will know them by their fruits.   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.   Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I ...

                   What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.   Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  (Romans 8:31-35) The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die!   For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5) John Or...

                  Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2 NSAB1995)                   Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. (3 John 2 NIV)                 Same verse, two versions. Normally, I share NIV, but I learned this verse with the word prosper in it, and it seems to be missing something without it. I have to begin by saying that I’ve been experiencing this verse for the last seven to ten years. I will admit that I have prospered, at least according to the judgment of some, but I didn’t feel prosperous. It always felt as if I were under someone’s heel or thumb. I won’t bother with the d...

                 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18 But Jesus remained silent. The high priest said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.” (Matthew 26:63) Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!"   (Acts 5:29) If you don’t know the story, King Nebuchadnezzar had built a statue of himself, and issued an irrevocable command that anyone who didn’t bow down to it on command was to be thrown in a fiery fu...

                   This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (I John 4:10)                 Two ideas come to mind about what this verse says. The first is the idea of the dying god. There are a number of supposed gods who died and rose again, including Adonis and Osiris. For this reason, some dismiss Jesus’ death and resurrection as Christianity stealing an overused trope as a means to power. This idea faces two problems. In the stories of the other dying gods who rose again, it was not as a sacrifice for anyone’s sins. If it was associated with anything, it symbolized the seasons. Like the plants, the god died and returned in the spring. That made life more convenient for people, but it didn't change anyone's eternal fate. In addition, the deaths and resurrections w...