Mission Faithwalk

"In the beginning, God..." Genesis 1:1      Beginnings are exciting. They are filled with potential and mystery.   Traditionally this is the day we begin a new year, with new resolutions for how we're going to do what we haven't done all the years that have gone before. In a way, today is the day on which we hope to become "new creations" unlike the old us of even moments before.      A few days ago I mentioned the idea of mission statements, with the universal part of our mission being to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. We must put God at the beginning of everything...and in the center of everything.... and He must be the end toward which we travel. My overarching goal of this year is to make the song in the link below the prayer of each day of the year: Be Thou My Vision For those who don't know this song, here are the lyrics that can be used as your praye

Finding Truth Nancy Pearcey (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2015   276 pages + Notes) Rating:   8 of 10        In what I would consider a supplement to Total Truth , Ms. Pearcey provides her readers with a systematic way of comparing the truth claims of various world views with the truth claims of Christianity. Her explanations are clear enough that someone who is not a philosopher can understand them. (The philosophers don't make it easy.)   While it is designed for the use of Christians, I think it would be useful to anyone trying to make sense of the subject. If I read it over - probably more than once - I think I'll get the ideas sorted out.          I'm trying to decide whether I'd recommend reading this one first, or Total Truth. Both are books I'm glad to have in my library. Finding Truth (Amazon)

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. (Psalm 119:16) “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” Charles "Tremendous" Jones      During this time of preparation for the new year, I would be remiss if I neglected to write about reading. Consider for a moment Charles "Tremendous" Jones' claim. In a way he's saying the same thing twice, because reading the books you read is a means by which you can associate with people across all time and around the world. To read books is to sit at the feet of your heroes      Of course, that means the most important book that you can read is the Bible. Some people make it their goal to read through the Bible in a year. Others choose to read a chapter or a page per day. Some suggest that you read until something speaks to you or impresses you.   One of my pastors likes to read with a specific goal in mind. He ke

The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation   and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. " (Genesis 12:1-3) " Pushing Against The Rock" Author Unknown  There once was a man who was asleep one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light and the Savior appeared to him. The Lord told him He had a work for him to do, and showed him a large rock explaining that he was to push against the rock with all his might. This the man did, and for many days he toiled from sunup to sundown; his shoulder set squarely against the cold massive surface of the rock, pushing with all his might. Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling his whole day had been sp

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Galatians 6:9-10)        Wouldn't it be nice to get paid for the work we do as we do it? If there's not already an app for it, an app could be made that would allow you to monitor your bank balance minute by minute as you went through the day. Wouldn't it be nice to be paid for the value you add to your company instead of a small percentage thereof?   And wouldn't it be nice to do the work once - to spend one day at work and to be paid for the rest of your life for it? As wonderful as these sound, few of us expect such things to happen. We get paid less than the value our work brings to our employer, as long after that value is produced as the employer can manage and   with no residual income.       Still, somehow we think it wro

  "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained,                                                        B ut happy is he who keeps the law." ( Proverbs 28:18)  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all of your mind, and with all of your strength.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31)         The word "vision" in the passage from Proverbs refers to prophetic revelation of the word of God. What it says is also true of less exalted visions. Mental pictures of a desired end provide the motivation for self-control (or keeping of a law) which ends in happiness. A mission then becomes the achievement of the vision. In Seven Habits of Highly Effective People , Steven Covey wrote that one found one's mission by asking three questions: What do I want to be? What do I want to do

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 )      Years ago, I had something in my life that was hindering me. I don't recall what it was but at the time it seemed terribly important. What I remember is that I went to God with it in clenched fists. I told Him that I could not let it go, but that if He wanted me to not have it, He was welcome to come pry my fingers from it and take it. I took it to Him daily. On some days, I could almost loosen the grip with one hand. On other days, it was the other hand. Sometimes, it was not at all. Eventually, I found that I could take that thing to Him with open hands.        The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews challenges us to throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. This is much the same idea as releasing. So

      When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua,   “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan from right where the priests stood and to carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”                 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD . When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)                     I love Christmas music. It's one of the I love most about Christmas. Even when every other piece of Christmas seemed ruined by the world, I enjoyed good Christmas music. But, as much as I love Christmas music, there are a few songs an

       This blog began as a means of sharing with those who cared to know some of what is going on in my life and mind as I begin this journey. I suspected that over time, it would develop and grow along with me. Some of that development is beginning to take shape. The look is changing a little. As I figure out how to do it, it is going to change further. I may end up switching platforms or even figuring out how to do my own webpage. For the moment, the focus is going to be a change in content. I have already begun adding book reviews, and that will continue. I am planning to add what I will loosely call a devotional aspect. Sometimes it may look like a normal devotional, some won't. I hope those will be profound blessings to those who read them. There will also be trivia according to my interests and as the Spirit leads. I expect the begin the devotional entries soon, to lead into the new year.          Your comments, compliments, criticisms, suggestions and ideas are welco

                Sometimes, Grace is a patient, focused puppy. This afternoon as we had our outside time, I noticed she was watching something: a pink balloon being driven back and forth along the ground by the wind. She watched as it rolled closer, then flew further away again. Her concentration was focused entirely on that balloon. I didn't matter. Her ball didn't matter. People walking or riding bikes past our site didn't matter. Barking dogs didn't matter. In a dog's simple way, she was praying that the ball would come to her and she was content to watch and wait until it did. Now, of course, this isn't the only kind of puppy prayer she prays - sometimes she dances, sometimes she refuses to budge, and sometimes she's vocal. This time, she watched. I didn't think the wind would cooperate, but it did. The balloon rolled within reach. One nose, one paw and it burst. She didn't quite know what to make of the transformation.            This fall

                Abraham pitched his tent in the land he was promised, and lived there for years without any of it becoming his. We know that he had doubts and "concerns" because he voiced them. I've been wandering around in the land of words, pitching my writer's tent in articles, stories, and poetry. In each I feel like a stranger. The words flow from my finger tips onto the screen only to be deleted. "Garbage!" my inner critic hisses.                 Such is the life of a writer, I know. I also know that my inner critic is wrong. At least, I think it is wrong. The writing may not be good, but the ideas are. I find myself in a valley of the shadow of doubt. As a shadow, it is not the real doubt, but an insubstantial quantum thing with distorted shape. There are no specifics, and nothing with which to grapple. It is in one place, then another. It dissipates and divides only to reform again. Its reality is in its absence of reality. Light reveals it to