Mission Faithwalk

What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. (Romans 7:7-8)             Imagine yourself driving down a lonely road out in the middle of nowhere, just enjoying the view and listening to a good song or story on the stereo. Along the side of the road, you notice a white sign with big numbers on it. You look at your speedometer . You're doing fifteen miles-per-hour more than the speed limit. Do you speed up? Do you ignore the sign?   Do you resent the sign? Do you reduce your speed a little? Do you realize your error and conform to the law? Do you go a little crazy and contact the police department in the area and mail the fine in?           I tend to resent the sign

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)               Some people say that all religions are the same.   There are superficial ways in which they are correct. All religions give some ideas about how one should interact with the god(s), with one another and with the universe. Many of these directions are obvious and therefore they are found in many religions. Today's verses show why Christianity is not like the other religions or philosophies.             If you study the religions of the world, one of the things all but Christianity have in common is that it is left to the follower of the religion to achieve whatever is needed for salvation, or to reach heaven (by whatever name.) This is precisely what one would expect from a religion designed by people. Somehow, people can and must do it on their own. It might take several lives, but ultimately, it&

      Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD , I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds’ feet, a nd makes me walk on my high places.... (Habakkuk 3:17-19a)           He said, “ Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD .”   (Job 1:21)           These verses came to mind recently as a friend talked about a song that was part of her wedding. ( Link: Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord ) As I read them again, I read them in light my circumstances, and I think they are going to be my verses for the next couple months.               Once, I had hinds' feet. I enjoyed running. My body won't tolerate running any more but I'

         His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"           "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." (John 9:2-3)              Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort; who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God . (II Corinthians 1:3-4)           Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons .(Hebrews 12:7-8)                     "Why?" Some people claim that this is a question one should never ask God. Their belief is that "Why?" requi

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.... In speaking of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, his servants flames of fire.” (Hebrews 1:3,4 &7)              If you light a match in a dark room, it can seem pretty bright. Light it in a room with  the lights on, you'll notice the color but not really the light. The overhead lights or lamps drown the light of the match. Open the curtains at midday and sunlight will often make the lights unnecessary. The light from the sun drowns the light from the ceiling light. Its apparent magnitude (what we see) is -26.74.The sun is an unimpressive star in terms of size and light. If it were 32.6 light years away (I don't know why the scientists

                “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)           Yesterday afternoon, I saw a report that the Supreme Court of Colorado has refused to hear the case of the Christian baker whose First Amendment rights have been violated to placate people whose agenda is to suppress religious expression that disagrees with their dogma. I'm not surprised. We shouldn't be surprised when the world behaves in a worldly manner.           Why do we keep expecting the world to do what is right? Why do we keep looking to the world for solutions to these problems? Jesus told us that we would have tribulation. Our peace does not and cannot come from the world. If our pleas, prayers and petitions are to the government, or to the people of the world, then they will receive glory for their answers.           Instead, we should be praying to the One we desire to

For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD . Repent and live! (Ezekiel 18:32)           At the moment, I am listening to the bell tones of the responses of people to a Face Book post. The news has just reported that a man who brutally beat a woman to death and killed at least one of her dogs has been found dead in his cell. Immediately, the comments celebrating his death rolled in. As I noted in my response, what he did was deplorable beyond belief. His victims in no way deserved what happened to them. But I cannot and will not celebrate his death or join in denying (even to myself) his humanity.           There are people who celebrate deaths of others. Some of them we call serial killers. Some of them we call barbarians. It is just as evil for Americans to celebrate another person's death as it is for the Muslims to dance in the streets over the deaths of Americans. We have no more right to decide someone is not human or doesn't dese

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. (Philippians 4:5)             This verse is right in the middle of some well-known and well-loved verses. It seems sometimes that this is how we read them: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.         These verses follow a passage in which Paul asks a "fellow yokesman" to help two women who weren't getting along to get along. They seem to provide wisdom in how to get along and to be at peace. If I were to write it as a formula, it would look like this:           Rejoice in Him +        Let your gentleness be evident to all +        Remember that God is near (omnipresent) +        Don&

“I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes. (Genesis 46:3-4) I've heard that Scripture says "Do not be afraid" 365 times. We're also told not to worry or be anxious and to be courageous.   I suspect I am not alone in my confession that I tend to feel afraid and anxious. I'm a world class worrier. I can worry about nothing, literally nothing. I've caught myself doing what one does when one worries and asked myself what I was worrying about, and failed to come up with any answer. This morning, I found myself feeling a little afraid about my upcoming surgery. My problem isn't with the idea of the surgery itself. It's dealing with the challenges of recovery. As I examined the situation, a couple things stood out. First, my fear and anxiety here is

                He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away. (Matthew 16:2-4)             If you talk to an atheist or even an agnostic about God, chances are pretty good that at some point in the discussion, they will charge that if God appeared where, when, and how they dictate, that they would never doubt again. They somehow think that they are wiser than the Israelites who made an idol at the foot of the mountain on which God and Moses were talking. What had them so frightened they couldn't endure it became so ho hum that   even thought it was still doing on, they walked away.           The atheists

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD . (Psalm 119:1)               Can you imagine going through a day in which you did everything morally right, nothing morally wrong and lived in complete harmony with the laws of the universe? Imagine spending the day being joyful, thankful, loving, honest, truthful (not quite the same thing), disciplined, self-controlled, patient, kind, gentle, generous... even when things aren't going according to your plan.            Recently, I heard someone talking about living according to the Ten Commandments, and how freeing it would be. He noted that the world's reaction to this idea is negative. At the very least, it would be boring, difficult, and even dangerous. We might not take the world's perspective on the "big ten" but when it comes to the petty details of eating according to the needs of our body and not with our desires, or reading, watching or listening to only th

Your word, O LORD , is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.                                                                                     Psalm 119:89 If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.                                                                                     Proverbs 26:27               According to Prof. Bart Ehrman (University of NC at Chapel Hill) there are more textual variations in the manuscripts of the New Testament than there are words. [1] If you accept what he says without thinking and investigating, you'll likely join him in thinking that the Bible is unreliable, that Psalm 119:89 is a lie.             One of the reasons that there are so many textual variations is that there are so many manuscripts. There are 274 Uncial [2] manuscripts, 2555 Miniscule [3] manuscripts and 2280 Lectionary manuscripts. There are 10 thousand non-Latin translations   and 8000 Latin translations (V

            When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”                 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”                 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”                 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”                Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. (Matthew 16:13-20)             There are some people who teach that today'

            Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.             During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.              But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”             “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”                 " Come,” he said.             Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”

                One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”             Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.             When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am

            The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”   When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus.                 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”             They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?”               “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”             So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus.             Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter ). (John 1:35-42)               I love to imagine scenes