Mission Faithwalk

                   I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.   (I John 2:12-14)             Years ago, I read a science fiction story written from a Christian perspective. The only other thing I remember about the story is that I didn’t like the ending because the hero died without accomplishing whatever it was he was supposed to accomplish, but he was welcomed into heaven as a hero – not because he was martyred, but because he was faithful. I’ve grown up a lot since then, but I have to admit, I have some problems with seein

                Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.   (I John 2:8-11)           If we asked what “love” means yesterday, we must also ask what “hate” means today. The Greek word used is transliterated miseo. Think: misogynist, misanthrope, etc. We could make a list very similar to the one about love for hate. We use it for a lot of things, from our favorite foods to the politicians we oppose. For these reasons, I suggest that hate should be given the reverse of the meaning I gave for love: Hate is a consuming fire. It is an unquenchable desire for what is not in the best interest of the behated (potentially for what is in the worst inter

           Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining. Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.(I John 2:7-11)             “I love _________.” (Name your favorite food)             “I love _________” (Name your favorite celebrity, someone you’ve have never met)             “I love _________” (Name your child or a child to whom you’re related.)             “I love __________” (Name a pet or your favorite animal.)             “I love ___

          We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:   Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. (I John 2:3-6)                       “If you love me, keep my commands." (John 14:15)                 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”                  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 22:36-39)          Here’s a radical notion: love is not about enjoying someone’s company. It’s not about feeling good. It’s about submission. It’s about self-sacrifice. It’s about seeking what is best for the loved one, not pleasing

          My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:1-2)             Don’t you just love the hero in stories, who arrives when he’s most needed and saves the day? I hate to think that I might be a romantic at heart, but I often wish for a knight in shining armor to ride in, fix whatever situation I’ve broken, and generally, to ride away again until the next time I need him. Except for the riding away part, that’s Jesus’ role.            When we separate ourselves from God, He is the one who speaks in our defense. I have yet to hear of this role being filled by the leaders of any other religion. Mohammed, Buddha, the Dalai Lama, the two hundred million Hindu gods – as far as I know, none of them defend anyone. Jesus alone has paid the pr

                If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 1:8-2:2)             Sin is a “four-letter word. In fact, you can use variations on lots of four-letter words and people won’t blink an eye, but say that something is a sin, or that someone has sinned, and you’ve committed an unforgivable sin, unless the sin of which you’re accusing them involves obvious harm to someone (pedophiles, animal abusers, child abusers, rapists, mass shooters… OK

           This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (I John 1:4-7)             Everyone thinks of I John as being about love, but he doesn’t begin there. He begins with light (just as he begins in the Gospel of John.) I believe there is good reason for this: love is not blind. Infatuation and lust are blind, but love is not. In order to have fellowship with God, in order to love God and to best receive His love, we must walk in the light. It is only then that we can have fellowship with one another. It is only then that we can be purified. Being purified is necessary in order to love as well and as fully as possible.           Don’t misunderstand me. I am not say

                That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. (1 John 1:1-4)             I am a trivial person. I’m a treasure hunter, and my treasure is information. I look at it, sometimes clean it up a little and put it together with other pieces that seem to fit together with it, and evaluate it… and when the opportunity comes, I share it. Of course, if you’re starting from a different premise, you’re not likely to value the tidbits I share. One of those bits of trivia is that it takes two thous

          … the remainder of the Jews who were in the king’s provinces also assembled to protect themselves and get relief from their enemies. They killed seventy-five thousand but did not lay their hands on the plunder. This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy. That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other. (Esther 9:16-19)             On the day appointed that the Jews were to die, they banded together and defended themselves. Seventy-five thousand people died out in the provinces, and more than five hundred died in Susa. Xerxes even let Esther extend the self-defense for a day in Susa, but they did not touch the plunder. It was

                That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.           Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.            Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.                 “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people?

                That same day King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. And Mordecai came into the presence of the king, for Esther had told how he was related to her. The king took off his signet ring, which he had reclaimed from Haman, and presented it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed him over Haman’s estate.           Esther again pleaded with the king, falling at his feet and weeping. She begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman the Agagite, which he had devised against the Jews.            Then the king extended the gold scepter to Esther and she arose and stood before him.                  “If it pleases the king,” she said, “and if he regards me with favor and thinks it the right thing to do, and if he is pleased with me, let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces. For how can I bear to see disaster fall on my people?

          Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen.   The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life.             Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining.            The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?”             As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face. Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A pole reaching to a height of fifty cubits [ b ] stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.”             The king said, “Impale him on it!”   So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided. (Esther 76b-10)               I’m a little uncertain about this pas