Mission Faithwalk

Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes? You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:34-35)             Every once in a while, I find myself amazed by the fact that for years, a group of people in Harrisburg, PA have allowed me to own and control a multiple-thousand-pound object that can move around very quickly. I’m not saying anything about my driving skills. I’m equally amazed that whoever gave you your license did so.            As a writer, wondering is part of my job description. Right now, I’m wondering how in the world my heroes are going to get out of the mess into which I’ve gotten them. (OK, they helped.) Wondering is fun. I believe that the capacity to

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer .” (Mark 21:21-22)   Have you ever heard of George Muller of Bristol, England? Back in the 1800s, he believed he was being led to start an orphanage. The Ashley Down Orphanage cared for 10,024 children over the years. He started 117 schools which provided educations for more than 120,000 children. All of it was done by prayer. His policy was that he never asked anyone but God for anything. No fundraising. No awareness campaigns. Nothing but prayer. He wrote of times when the residents of the orphanage would sit down for dinner with no food available. As they said grace, a cart would arrive with what was needed. That’s just one example. Read his autobiography ( The Autobiography of George Muller.)   

   In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:26-27)            There are times that I pray some terrible prayers. I ask God to take my father’s life quickly. I don’t want him to die soon, but when he dies, I want him to die quickly. It’s a terrible prayer because it’s partly motivated by my feeling unequal to the task of caring for him during a long, slow decline. I don’t want to watch him suffer. When I pray those prayers, I feel uncomfortable, even ashamed. I know God knows my motives aren’t pure – but there is love in that prayer.   I don’t know what’s best for Dad. I know what I think would be best, and I pray accordingly.           The Spirit helps us in our weakness. I may not be praying as I ought, b

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Ephesians 3:16-21)             I seem to be stuck on movie references. What comes to mind today is a scene from Crocodile Dundee. As I recall it, a young thug pulls a switchblade on the hero. Dundee looks at it and says, “You call that a knife? That’s not a knife.” He draws his own and says,

          “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.”            Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:23-24)              And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him (Hebrews 11:6)             Prayer is all about so many things, and one of the big things that prayer is all about is faith. God can do all things that are not self-contradictory. [1]   God could have done everything everyone has ever asked Him to. He is wise enough to choose not to. For me, this is the issue of faith. Oh, I believe that God could have given me that job, or that husband, or that miracle, or that victory…. It was within His godly capacity. He didn’t give them to me, or at the very least, He didn’t give them to me in a way that I recognized them or approved. Life would have been so much easier if He

Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”    When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:24-26)   This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him (I John 5:14)   “Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:19-20)   I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:3-8)               In Scripture, two charges have been made against God repeatedly and effectively. The first is that He is acting against His own nature (e.g. Abram’s plea for Sodom and Gomorrah) and the second i

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil (I Thessalonians 5:16-22)   Minister: A member of the clergy, especially in Protestant churches (in certain countries) a head of a government department (archaic) a person or thing use to achieve or convey something           Who is your minister? Who are your ministers? How many of them do you have? Are they all professionals? When you hear the word, do you think in terms of members of the clergy or heads of government departments, or do you think in the archaic sense: a person who serves you and helps you to achieve or convey something? Or, are the perhaps the buddy who makes you laugh and feel good about yourself once a week?           What does your minister have to do with today’s passage

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:36-38)   “He who has compassion of soul has eyes, first of all, to see the things which excite compassion. He who has no eyes to see the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the wants and woes of humanity, will never have compassion for humanity.”   E. M. Bounds           We tend to think of compassion for others as a hygienic thing. You see a starving kid on desperate poverty on TV and you mail in a check once a month to help that kid have a better life. You read about the number of people in America who don’t have much and you campaign for the government to expand programs. You watch a video on social media about a dog that has been rescued from deplorable conditions, cleaned up, healed an

The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever. The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; (Psalm 19:7-10)               In one of the episodes of the original Battlestar: Gallactica, Starbuck was on some world and working a bunch of kids. The kids started talking about God’s judgment. I don’t remember the conversation well, except that Starbuck said something about God being lenient about some things in his life. Knowing Starbuck, this statement got smiles. Yes, God would have to be lenient with Starbuck. Likewise, though for different reasons, God will need to be lenient with me, and lenient with you.             That’s what many people think, that God will just have

  I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground. I am the LORD who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be holy, because I am holy. (Leviticus 11:44-45)             I just watched and shared a video in which a husband taught one of his friends that he doesn’t help his wife with chores. He does the chores because he is part of the household, because he is taking responsibility for himself, and because it provides a good example for his children. In other words, he was fulfilling his side of the relationship. As I think about it, I tend to be like the friend in my relationship with God. I want Him to do all the work, while I reap the rewards of a nice life. This morning’s reading on prayer was about consecration, which Mr. Bounds defined as “the human side of holiness.” In other words, it’s something we do because we are part of the household of God. We’re

Depart, depart, go out from there! Touch no unclean thing! Come out from it and be pure, you who carry the vessels of the LORD . (Isaiah 52:11)             Have you ever fallen in with the wrong crowd? Have you been talked into doing something you later regretted?   Have you ever been concerned about your child or younger sibling doing these things? We may differ on precisely who the wrong crowd is, or what the regrettable thing might be, but I think we’ve all been there, done that. It’s a natural part of loving: you want what is best for the loved one and want to protect, to separate, him/her from harm, even if they are not wise enough to appreciate it.           When it comes to God and His Thou Shalt Nots , we often feel like that beloved person. We resent the restrictions. When He says “Be holy, as I am holy,” we turn away – sometimes even shake our fist at God because we don’t want to be that impossibly good person, quietly wandering around a cloister, praying 26 hours per

“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)             “… ya got trouble, folks! Right here in River City. Trouble with a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’…” [1] (and with B, C, D, E, G, V, and Z,) and those stand for less than a third of the possible initials for trouble. Oh yes, we have trouble. Right now, specifically, I’m having trouble with keeping the tone of this blog serious. Trouble is a serious subject. Our lives are full of trouble like little vermin, breeding thousands from one seemingly overnight. We want to transport them all to a Klingon ship where they’ll be “no tribble at all.”            Troubles come in all shapes and sizes, there are TROUBLES, Troubles, troubles, right here in River City. As often as not the “horse” that trouble rides in on is often a person who we thought loved us or the person who is offering to fix our troubles. As

I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs. (Psalm 69:30-31)   Somewhere along the line, I got the idea that praise is given for what someone is , while thanksgiving is given for what someone does.   That distinction probably isn’t really that clear, but it is useful because it demonstrates at least three important points. The first is critical: both praise and thanksgiving are connected to reality. They tell the truth. It acknowledges that something has happened; someone has been or done something. Even if we are thankful that something has not been done, not doing is a form of doing. Praise and thanksgiving are just us being honest. The second truth it demonstrates is that there is a person behind the being and doing. It is not only appropriate to reward a person for what that person does, but also to reward that person for what sort of person that person is. That rewa

  No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money (Matthew 6:24)      I learned to like football when I was in college, thanks to roommates and friends. After college, football seemed to get in the way of more and more of what I was doing. I would coach with such exuberance that my Chow would come into the room huffing and looking around to see whom she was supposed to “Get.” A few minutes later, I’d sneak out during an ad to work on something on my computer, and discover that somehow, we had gone from the middle of the second quarter to the beginning of the fourth. For comparison, there were several of my friends who religiously wore team shirts, owned Terrible Towels, and knew the rules of the game well enough to know what each player was supposed to do, what teams were in which league and how the teams stood in the stats. I have friends who are even part of

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.   I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’           “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’           “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:10-14)           “I’m just as good as you are.”           “I deserve respect!”           “I’m proud of being ______________”           “I’m a ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________ god(dess)”           “Don’t you know who I am?”            “LOOK AT ME!” That’s what we hear and say with every breath. Our society seems to be frantic

Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:19-22)           Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39a)             But           I have been told that whenever you say “but” you are telling you audience that everything you just said was a lie.           This morning’s reading about prayer deals with holiness. God says that we are to love Him with all our hearts, all our souls, all our minds and all our strengths. Wholly. Not holding anything back. Jesus said that if we

if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (II Chronicles 7:14)           Last summer some people at my church gathered on a weekly basis to pray about the upcoming election. There were people there who didn’t know for whom they would vote. There were people there who knew. We didn’t pray for the victory of any named candidate or party, but rather for the victory of the candidate and the party who would do what needed to be done. We prayed about issues. We prayed for wisdom. Today’s passage was the foundation of those prayer meetings. Unfortunately, they seem to have stopped once the election was over.           As I consider this passage this morning, one of the things that comes to mind is that it is not “If my persons,” but “If my people.” I agree that we should pray as individuals. I agree that we should pray as famil

  For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path . (Psalm 119:105)              When I was in Toastmasters, one of the criticisms I heard repeatedly was that I have weak closes to my speeches. I don’t finish with rousing calls to action. I got the same criticism when I worked retail. They kept telling me I have to assume that the sale is mine, to take control of the situation and keep moving toward my goal until I was told “no” three times. Some people think I’m strong because I come across like the stereotypical pit bull when it comes to standing for something that I believe to be good or right even when others think it abundantly clear that I’ve lost.             What they don’t notice is that while they claim I am pushing my religion down their throats, I