Mission Faithwalk

                   Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,    older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (I Timothy 5:1-2)                 It’s been said that we live in a therapeutic world, but we also live in a culture that focuses greatly on education. Our goals are to make people healthy and intelligent, according to our definition of those terms. Generally, that means that they will think like we do (whoever “we” are). And lots of those who consider themselves elite enough to treat and educate others seem to have some particular ideas about what healing and teaching others is supposed to look like. Oddly, it’s not the way they would want to be treated by their therapist or taught by any parent or teacher out there, but they somehow think tha...

                 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground . (Psalm 143:10)                 A level path doesn’t go up and down, lean from side to side, or have lots of ruts or rocks. So, no mountain tops, no deep valleys. Easygoing but probably boring and generally not a description of reality. Life is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, off-balance moments, and ruts and rocks that seem to appear from nowhere just as you put your foot down.                 God can make our path perfectly flat and boring, but He usually doesn’t, and as a result, people sometimes get angry at a God who seems to have lied to them. The reality is that God makes no promise to guarantee level ground. That’s the plea of the psalmist. Once again, David’s enemies were making his life mis...

                 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)   Sin: violation of divine law, offense against God; moral wrongdoing," also "injury, mischief; enmity, feud; guilt, crime, misdeed," ( Sin - Etymology, Origin & Meaning ) In your own words, what is sin ? For some people, sinning is breaking the rules, either the Ten Commandments or the seven deadly sins: wrath , greed , pride , envy , sloth , lust , and gluttony . Sins are stuff some powerful but arbitrary individual decided he/she didn’t like. When I was in college, someone explained that the Greek term comes from archery, in which “sin” was the failure to hit the bullseye and/or the distance by which one missed. For most of us, that would seem a little silly. I mean, if you miss a bullseye by 0.01 inches, while that does convey the idea of sin as imperfection, it’s still likely to kill the animal, and it’s still so much better than th...

                 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here . (Exodus 33:15) It’s tempting to be jealous of the Israelites. They had the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to guide them. We have the still, small voice and circumstances. Yes, God has done an excellent job of guiding me. By that, I mean there have been times when I have see, heard, or felt the guidance. But that’s not the same as a pillar of cloud and of fire. You can see that, and if it turns left, there is no doubt you’re supposed to turn left. With the still, small voice and circumstances, faith is needed. God isn’t the problem; we are.  What if we’re not understanding or worse, what if we’ve misunderstood? As I look at this verse, I am tempted to put God to the same test. I want His presence to be somehow manifested to me, so that I can see, hear, or feel and have confidence. The situation isn...

                   “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.   “Late...

                 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)                 There is a character in the story I’m writing who was inspired, at least a little, by Hagar. He was in a bad situation and met a god he calls “the God Who Sees,” and his life has changed. He met my main character, and in their most recent conversation, she mentioned trying to find the answer to who she is. His answer ties back to his life-changing experience of encountering the “God who sees me.” I don’t intend to try to build some big theological something out of my story, as if my story holds the answers to the mysteries of the ages. It’s just that he’s right. Who we (think we) are tends to depend on who we see looking at us. When the boss is looking at us, we’re good employee...