Mission Faithwalk

Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, (Ephesians 6:13-14)        I've heard it said that if God says anything once, we should listen, if He says it twice, we should really sit up and pay attention. What should we do when He says it three times? My suggestion? STAND. The full armor of God makes it possible for us to stand our ground, and to keep standing when we've done everything else. For that reason, we need to stand with that full armor in place. The answer may seem obvious, but what is the function of armor? It protects the body so that one isn't killed, of course. Why? So that you can fight. Standing in battle is not having two feet on the ground and your hands at your sides. Standing is holding your own in battl...

  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms . (Ephesians 6:12)       I'm reading I Never Thought I'd See The Day , by Dr. David Jeremiah. I chose the passage in Ephesians before I read the chapter I'm reading, but Dr. Jeremiah makes a point that fits the text. We tend to forget we're in a battle or we don't understand what it means that we are in a battle. Even when we remember that we are in a battle, we can lose track of who and what the enemy is. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. it's not against people, though people are involved. We know what to do when the battle is against people. You use physical force and physical weapons. When American entered World War II, it didn't just send its military personnel. It scaled up production of   the things the military personnel would ...

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting . (Psalm 139:23-24)         There's a story recorded in Matthew 15:21-28 and Mark 7:24-30 that seems to me to be about two tests. Jesus and his disciples had been working for a long time. Jesus' cousin, John had been beheaded. The Pharisees were causing problems. Jesus' solution was to take the disciples on a vacation to the land of Tyre and Sidon.          As I picture it, the disciples knew that if anyone came to Jesus with a need, Jesus would set up shop and start helping. It wouldn't matter if that person was a pagan. They surrounded him not only to hear what He might say, but to keep others from approaching. Then, someone spotted a woman coming toward them. Was it the look in her eyes, or the way she walked that gave her away? Clearly, she had b...

If only you would slay the wicked, O God! Away from me, you bloodthirsty men! They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name. Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD , and abhor those who rise up against you? I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies. (Psalm 139:19-22)      From yesterday's crescendo, it seems to me this section begins with a sigh. If only these terrible people didn't exist. If only they would leave me and mine alone. If only those who oppose God would just die. If only things could be the way they should be, whatever that may mean to you.   If only a knight in shining armor would come along and make everything right. If only we could be the knight who goes out against the dragon, Wrong.   If only everything worked the way it should. We sigh with David.        These adversaries weren't just people who hated David or wanted his kingdom. They...

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. (Psalm 139:17-18)               Last week our choir sang a song that included dynamics. There were places we were supposed to sing more loudly and places we were supposed to sing more quietly. All songs have them, even if they're not written in the music. They're in our sentences when we talk, too. It seems to me that this song has been building to the forte that is right here.   This seems to me to be the exuberant "Yay, God!" that David has been building to.       What excited him more than God's omnipotence, His omniscience and His omnipresence? God's thoughts. Those big "alls" were praiseworthy. They revealed what God is, namely, God. His innumerable thoughts   - those revealed who God is, namely, God. Th...

All the days ordained for me were written in your book                 before one of them came to be.(Psalm 139:16)      For years before GPSes were available, I told people that I wanted a gizmo for my car that I could give an address, and it would direct me: "Turn right 1 mile...turn right .5 miles...turn right .25 miles...turn right 200 feet....turn right now....you missed the turn dummy!" Unfortunately, now that they exist, I find them less than helpful because...well, if you've used one, you know why. They're probably still better than I am by myself. I've never gone on a tour where all you have to do is show up at the door and follow along. Sometimes I think they'd be very interesting. Sometimes I think they'd be frustrating because I wouldn't care about some of the places we'd go, while I would be very interested in going some of the places we don't go.    ...

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.                                                                                       (Psalm 139:13-15)       Here is a God who can reach into secret, intimate plac...

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,  even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:7-12)      After spending some time considering God's omniscience, His knowing  all, yesterday we turned to the second of the big three "alls": omnipresence, His being everywhere. It's another way in which He is the God who sees. He's there, of course He can see.        There's a book by a lay monk (the sort who was limited to the more practical stuff done around the monastery) cal...

You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue You know it completely, O LORD . (Psalm 139:2-4)              One of the reasons I love this psalm so much is because it somehow seems more personal than most of the rest of Scripture. It seems to me that often, Scripture is God's Word to us . We're just the big herd of sheep, and this ewe is just one of millions, unknown otherwise. We matter. I don't.   This psalm not only doesn't suggest that idea; it rejects the idea forcefully.          One day as I meditated on this passage, an image came to mind of God sitting on His throne, going about His business, doing whatever it is God does on His throne (Have you ever considered what God does on His throne?) when suddenly, He raises a finger an...

 You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm 139:5-6)          This is another of those scary wonderful passages. We tend to not like to be hemmed in. When I got somewhere that has audience seating, I make it my goal to be on an end, so that there is only one person beside me. Often, I try to sit in back so there's no one behind me that I'll bother if I decide to stand up or leave. I tell people it's because of my back, but that's not the whole truth. I don't like feeling hemmed in. Strangely, there are a couple exceptions. I don't mind having someone next to me if I'm against a wall. Escape may require that I go past many people, but the wall provides a sense of security. I also don't mind being in places other people might consider claustrophobic, as long as there aren't people hemming me in.     ...

O LORD , you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise;.                                                                                                                 Psalm 139:1-2a          This is the beginning of a much-loved psalm. It's another wisdom song and it's one of my favorites. This is another passage that I suggest you pray aloud and pay at...

Personal Note        In the past week or two, things got difficult in a bad way. The power cord to my laptop died. No power, no battery recharge. When I'd looked for a replacement before, the place I went said we could order one for $50+ but that they might have one for less. They didn't. I went to a different place and they ordered one for about half that, but it took almost a week to come in. After I got the new cord, I discovered that my laptop could no longer find the flash drive on which I had been keeping every thing. All my files from home, all the work I'd done since coming to Florida. For some reason, it didn't bother me quite as much as I thought it would. I managed to track down two of the files and figured that I could recreate most of the recent material. I took the flash drive to my technowizards... their technical description of the situation? It's toast.        In the past week, things got difficult in a...

If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30) For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD . Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:32)          Yesterday morning, I came across this picture from Ligonier Ministries. I heartily recommend Ligonier to people. It's a great ministry if you don't mind thinking and learning. Not surprisingly, the meme brought Hell to mind. Many people think in terms of Dante's Inferno   when they think of Hell. They imagine a horror movie version of a medieval torture chamber, with demons punishing people for their sins. Some people add God looking on in glee to this picture. The Bi...

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?   You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. (Psalm 8:3-5)          Every now and again, I see something on the Internet that repeats a message by Carl Sagan - that we are one of potentially millions of species that live on less than 30% of a boring, nothing of a little rock orbiting a boring little star in an unimpressive "backwater" arm of a galaxy that really doesn't measure up to most of the impressive galaxies in our galactic cluster, which is only one of untold number of clusters that make up the overall universe, which is, after all, only one of an unimaginable number. Considering all of the grandeur around us, we should be humble and consider our own...