Mission Faithwalk

Jesus replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." (Matthew 22:37)             If you're constructing a building, you lay the foundation first. If you're like me, you want to say "Yeah, yeah, yeah... can we start talking about the Palladian windows and the color of paint for the walls? Let's get to the 'good stuff.'" The foundation is key. Without it, the rest is a waste of time. God created the universe. He designed how it functions. To reject Him, to ignore Him, to pretend there is no connection between the universe and Him requires that the foundation of anything we build is built on a lie. It is doomed to failure. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," you might say. "We've got that. We're Christians." Even Christians miss this. We miss it by miles. The moment we say, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," we've missed it. I'm not belaboring the point just to use words. Thi

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.   If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. (I Corinthians 13:1-4)             "Oh God, do I have to go there?"   It would seem that's where I'm going, and I don't know how long I'll be there, but I'm inviting you to go with me. The subject of community building isn't one with which I can claim any real knowledge. I'm deliberately and purposely ignorant. If it has to do with people, well, I have a list of people you can call. They like people. They know what to do with "strays." Give them thirty minutes and they can have a party or a meeting put together. At least, that's the way it seems

This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:22-24)           Were it not for my friend Justin, I'm not sure I would ever have discovered this. Yesterday in Sunday School, he was leading a discussion of these verses. He asked for definitions so I checked my computer Bible program, and discovered that the Greek word for "righteousness" is dikaiosune. The Greek word for "justified" is  dikaioumenoi. You don't have to know Greek to be able to notice that the words have dikaio in common. The menoi  part of justified is related to the Greek word meaning "to abide, to remain."          Justin's definition of "righteousness" was "the act of doing what is in agreement with God's standards." If righteous

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.( Colossians 3:12)           Once upon a time, Frank Sinatra's "I Did It My Way" was the anthem of the age. It seems to me that Katy Perry's "Roar" fills that role today. The chorus begins, "I've got the eye of the tiger," which was a song by Survivor from 1982. A couple phrases later she sings, "'Cause I am the champion," which brings to mind Queen's song from 1977, "We Are   The Champions." Next, she announces that "you're gonna hear me roar," which harkens back to Helen Reddy's "I Am Woman, Hear Me Roar," from 1975. The video (if I remember correctly) includes swinging on a vine, a la Tarzan.           Many people have disliked Mr. Sinatra's song because of its arrogance, but within the song, he admits he's made mistakes and takes at

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (Romans 12:2 NASB)               Sometimes it seems hard to figure out what God's will is. Sometimes, I'm sure that I'm going to miss His direction. Once, when I was whining at Him about my belief that I was going to do just that, He brought my early days at college, when someone I didn't know approached me to talk about a survey that I hadn't taken (another Karen on my floor had.) Did I miss God's direction there? No. He brought to mind the day I started working toward my masters' degree. Did I miss His direction there? Well, no, that was pretty clear. Event after event in my life in which His direction was evident followed those. Then He asked, "So what makes you think I'll let you miss the next one?" When He puts it that way.... Part of our struggle is tha

Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness. (Genesis 15:6) For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."  (Romans 1:17) We live by faith, not by sight.  (II Corinthians 5:7) Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The righteous will live by faith." (Galatians 3:10)     "How do you know?" Believe it or not, this ha been an issue of debate for centuries. Someone once challenged me to read David Hume's "Cause and Effect" ( Cause and Effect) The essay maintains that it is impossible to know that a given event or factor causes another. While there are some mathematical relationships that can be reasoned out, the bread that apparently nourished you yesterday may in fact poison you today, for all you know. What I recall of the conclusion is that with regard to knowing, it was d

Give thanks to the LORD , for he is good; his love endures forever . (Psalm 106:1, 107:1)               I don't want to give thanks. I don't like giving thanks in the same old way for the same old things that I've been given every day of my life. To me, it is like those things a person says with the social requirement that the next person finish it: "God is good..." It's like those posts on social media, "if you love God, your country or anyone else, like or share...." or "If you aren't ashamed..., like or share or type _____" and if you don't like, share, or type whatever, you're proclaiming that you don't love and are ashamed. No, it's not that I'm not thankful, or don't love, or are ashamed. I just don't like empty, rote, soul-less responses provoked by someone or something "ringing a bell" or providing another Pavlovian stimulus. This is the traditional error.             Mine is the mo

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD'S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." (Lamentations 3:21)               Last night's word of the day was "promise." As I thought about it, I decided that I need to do a lot more thinking about it. One of the ideas that has come to mind is that a promise is a key to hope. Today's passage is about promises and hope. The Lord has promised Himself to us. He is our portion. We can wait for Him because it is in the waiting that hope grows. Every moment brings us a moment nearer to our receiving something of Him. His love will get us there. His compassions never fail. Not just a compassion - a plurality of compassions. We are lavished with compassion. His faithfulness is not just sufficient, it is great.             My internal pic

Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored (Titus 2:3-5)         I was raised in the 60s and 70s, which was an era in which there was a lot of noise made about women's rights. The push at the time was to throw off the rule of oppressive men, get out of the home, build a career of one's own - to be one's own woman, answering to no one. As the years went by, economics replaced emancipation as the reason most women went to work. As a single woman, that's why I went to work. Someone had to pay the bills. What I found, unfortunately, is that work wasn't emancipating. For the last 18 years that I worked, my soul felt eaten away. I didn't have a husband ruling ove

Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (Galatians 3:24-25)            Sometimes, I just have to laugh at what God does. This morning, as I explained to people who haven't talked with me over the past couple weeks, I shared my suspicion that once the doctor gives me permission to go back to wearing a shoe on my left foot, it's not likely I'll refrain from doing things I probably should not do. The boot reminds me that I'm supposed to be restricting activity levels. It makes it difficult to do things I shouldn't be doing.   A good pair of walking or work shoes would probably protect my foot nicely, but it would be required to protect my foot from a wider variety of circumstances. As much as I want to be rid of the boot, there's part of me that knows me too well. That part of me says, "Keep the boot."        In one of my Sunday Sch

                Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. (Genesis 6:11-13)               Sometimes, people as how a "good, loving God" could destroy a people or even a world. The first problem with this is that it's illogical. It's a reductionist false dichotomy. It says that God can either be good and loving, or He can destroy. He can't do both, especially at the same time. The second problem with this is that it is often presented deceptively. The picture such people tend to give is that the people selected for destruction were some sort of noble savage. OK, they might have had a couple moral foibles, but generally speaking, they were just like us, but without technol

  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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)        Yesterday morning, I found myself in   a room with a TV on, starting with newstainment, running through   a Court reality , a quiz show and finally a panel style talk show.   I spent part of the morning trying to work on this essay, trying   to pick a passage, trying to put my thoughts together. Needless to say, until I decided to write about the fact that all the words and noise, I was too distracted to come up with anything. This isn't the first time something like this has happened. I can tell stories about catching ads or things said on TV that my

Trust in the L ORD and do good;   dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD ! Trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil (Psalm 37:3-8)           Puzzles are fun. You stare at the pieces for what seems like hours. You try putting them together in every possible way at least 10 times and nothing works, then suddenly....   you discover what you've been missing. With a puzzle, those 'A-Ha!" moments come with a sense of victory.   In life, puzzle pieces coming together often unlock challenges.             I have been holding on to the puzzle of trust for a long time.

  "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." (Psalm 23:4) "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" (Matthew 14:30) "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me." (John 15: 18-20)    “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.”

                “ If you love me, you will obey what I command ." (John 14:15)             Several weeks ago, I shared with some women in a Bible study my struggle with the idea of trust. It's not that I don't trust, it's that I don't trust that I trust. As with so many other abstract (not physical) things, if you can't put it on a table for me to examine and compare with what I do or have or am, I can't tell you that I do or have or am that thing. The positive aspect of this problem is that because I can't put trust on the table and say, "Yep, I do that," I can't put trust in my list of personal achievements. It cannot become a work on which I base my standing with God. The negative aspect is that I tend to focus my attention on the struggle, instead of on God.             Yesterday, as I was reading Renovation of the Heart , by Dallas Willard, I came to a line that I had highlighted when I read it before: "Concretely, we

            Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!”             Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:22-23)             Yesterday I saw a post on Face Book saying that militia membership is on the rise and that they are aiming for the level of professionalism that will allow them to "push back" against those who are seeking the destruction of America. This is not the first time such a thing has been mentioned. There are people who seem eager to bathe in the blood of the infidels, who also call themselves Christians. Their answer to everything they perceive to be a threat seems to be physical violence. Like Peter, they proclaim, "This shall never happen...!" Like Peter, they are ready to draw their swords and start swinging at heads. (John 18:10) What glory they will w

I thank my God every time I remember you.   In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy   because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,   being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)         Are there days when you are sure you lie every time you claim to believe in God and that you've given your heart to Him? Are there times when you're convinced that you've deluded yourself and that your life is one big, fat, ugly joke - but you're not sure whether it's on the world or on you and you haven't a clue what the punch line is? What about all those things you think you should have done and should be doing that don't begin to fit into your life? What about those good works that are supposed to shine like a candle and glorify Your Father in heaven? These are thoughts that haunt me more often than I care to admit.