Mission Faithwalk

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. (John 1:12-13)           Identity politics is all the rage right now. Our experience as a human being doesn’t matter. What matters is our experience as a Black, a White, a Latin, an Asian, a Native American, a Neuro-normal, a Neuro-Diverse, a Cis-gender, a Heterosexual, a member of the LGBTQI spectrum. [1] I’m listening to White Fragility , and it’s a little more interesting than I thought it would be, but it ultimately follows a slight variation on the path made popular by Marx. Instead of the poor, oppressed whatever (who are identified by the fact that they don’t feel like they’re in charge) rising up to dominate, the nasty Bourgeoisie are being called to grovel in the dirt and cede the power in question.           What the author seems to be discussing is worldviews

  “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.     Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.   In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16) This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Every day, every day, every day, every way, “ I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” (C.S. Lewis)           What does light do? It shines, of course, but a light shining really doesn’t do anyone any good. It might be pretty, but unless it is shining on something. In today’s passage, our light (whatever that is) is supposed to shine on our good works. But if our light

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, like a champion rejoicing to run his course. It rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other;      nothing is deprived of its warmth. (Psalm 19:1-6)   since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.     For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse . (Romans 1:19-20) The scholars claim that God speaks to us in many ways, but the main two are th

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)           Yesterday’s post may have made it sound as though we can go through life without a care, singing “lah dee dah” and God will take care of everything. Scripture and experience who that’s not the case. If you think about it, the level of letting go required for yesterday’s post is hard work. A day in which I accomplish all I need to, should, and want to is a good day. A day in which I am not in control feels like a failure.           This means that the goal toward which I need to press onward is letting go or dying to self. That’s not the only goal I should have, but it’s a good example. The second issue is, of course, attitude. So often, we view these goals for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus as negative things. Read the following quote in the saddest, most bored, put-upon voice you can, “If I must…” How often is this our response to things we thin

Now to Him who is  able  to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, (Jude 1:24)           Today has been one of those days that happens when you’re making other plans. I like to write these blog posts in the morning, and it’s 4:15 pm. It feels like I’ve gotten nothing done because my to-do list is still long and what I’m doing now should have been done 7 hours ago. The things I did do needed to be done, or I wanted to do them but not today. Today was supposed to be different. But, this morning, one of my prayers was that God would direct me, to accomplish through me what He chose to. And then everything went caterwonky. Not bad, just not what I had expected. It’s hard to believe God choreographed it because it doesn’t have any big God-moments. Just life.           Today’s passage says that He is able to keep us from stumbling. It says he can make us stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy. What

And we know that  God causes  all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are  called according to  His  purpose. (Romans 8:28)           This is one of those verses that people love to quote at the wrong time. They wait until you’re in the middle of a crisis that is devastating your life, and pounce on you with it. Most of them mean well, but I suspect at least some of them are hoping that by quoting the passage, their responsibility to you is done. Everything will be all better now.           This morning, someone asked a question about what good has come out of the pandemic. I said that my initial reaction was “Well, duh, none!” But immediately, things started coming to mind. If it weren’t for the pandemic, I probably wouldn’t have gone into my “I’m not prepared for emergencies” phase. I’ve made a few purchases that I think wise moves. Things like fire extinguishers. And when there’s an emergency, we need to be resourceful, so I’ve tried to lear

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy. (Proverbs 27:6)           Today’s subtopic from Love As A Way of Life  is honesty. Mention honesty, however, and you’re likely to be told to tone it down. Make it nice. Give a winner’s ribbon to the person who comes in last. Give money to someone who hasn’t earned it. Tell whatever lie you need to so that the person you claim to love feels good about himself/herself.   You’ll also get told, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” Perhaps the problem is that we should care enough to tell them the truth even if it makes us look uncaring. It should never be our goal to hurt or harm anyone, but not telling someone the truth is hurting them .   Lying to people is killing them with thousands of tiny stabs. None might kill them by itself, but infections are more likely, scarring is guaranteed, and the slow loss of blood from the accumulation of stabs steals life. Dr. Cha

Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice . (Psalm 112:5)           Today’s passage is the one provided by BibleGateway.com as their verse of the day. The topic provided by Gary Chapman in Love is a Way of Life is generosity. I’m going to take that as a confirmation that God wants me – and maybe you – to ponder generosity today.           According to the dictionary, to be generous is to show a readiness to give more of something than is strictly necessary or expected. Technically speaking, Mr. Chauvin was generous in his abuse of Mr. Floyd. The Democrats are lavishly generous in their hatred for Mr. Trump. He reciprocates in kind, but since he’s one man, and the Democrats number nearly 46 million, his generosity is like a pebble on the beach of Democratic sand. Likewise, it’s amazing how generous we tend to be with other people’s money. I think it’s clear that this is not the sort of generosity we’re advised to practice.

When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:   “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited.   If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.     But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests.     For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7-11)           “Humble” is another of those words with a bad reputation. Some seem to believe that the humble person sees himself/herself as a worm in the dust, unworthy, incapable, insignificant, useless, hopeless. A sycophant. C.S. Lewis said that a humble per

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matthew 7:12)           The next topic in Dr. Chapman’s list of habits or characteristics of love is courtesy. He describes it as treating others like friends. He goes so far as to suggest that we should treat people as if we were extroverts (people people) and they are our friends. Reaching out to them, engaging them – not only being active participants in the relationship, but regularly initiating interactions, remembering to send birthday cards, thank-you notes, etc. This description doesn’t seem helpful, and not only because I’m an introvert who thinks it rude to impose myself too often on people (if I’m trying to be courteous.) Someone once pointed out that when a family member spills a glass of milk, they get reprimanded and rebuked. When a guest does, it’s no big deal. We smile and clean up. It seems to me that friends might not be reprimanded and rebuked, but

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves li ttle.” (Luke 7:47) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.     It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.     Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.     It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)           We love to think of ourselves as being loving. So far, Gary Chapman has connected kindness and patience with love. Both connections begin the description of love in I Corinthians 13. But that passage never uses the words forgive or forgiveness . It does, however, tell us that love isn’t self-seeking. When we don’

Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32)           Sunday morning, my pastor preached about patience.   It is also the subject of the next chapter in Gary Chapman’s book. Ever since I have either been hypersensitive about it, or God is revealing to me just how little I have. Like many people, the pandemic has me a little stressed, especially because it seems to me that people are being unreasonable and abusive. It doesn’t help that halfway through the night last night, Grace went into one of her “I want to go out and stay out” routines. I don’t think it’s safe for her to be out for hours at night, even with a fenced-in yard, but she began her campaign: jump off the bed, jump on the bed, try to stand on me, or put her head across me in a dominance move, pant mumble, start the whole cycle over again. I took her out, brought her in, and the game began again. Locking in the room, or out of the room didn’t help. I finall

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.   Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)           Yesterday, our conversation about kindness began with the complication of not being a people person. There are other areas of complication. One is motivation. There are some folks who think it doesn’t matter what your motive are, as long as the other person benefits. Scripture makes it clear that such is not the case. That was one of the reasons Jesus rebuked the Pharisees – their deeds might be good, but their hearts were corrupt.           For some kindness is a means to an end. Back when the Gay Rights movement was beginning, homosexuals launched a “see how kind we are?” campaign. In his book, White Guilt , Shelby Steele relates an incident in which a white man was irritated at how little gratitude the Blacks showed him, after all he’d done for them. P

          Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.   Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4:31-32)           I’ve started reading Love as A Way of Life , by Gary Chapman. Today’s chapter was on developing the habit of kindness. He says, “Kindness means noticing someone else and recognizing his needs. It means seeing the value in every person we meet.” (p. 16) Someone else described kindness as lending someone your strength.           Noticing other people’s needs? Half the time, I barely notice other people. I set out this spring with the goal of waving at the drivers of cars as they come toward me. I’m still doing it (which is kind) but I can’t tell you how many times my brain has kicked in with, “Um, Karen, that was a car that just passed you.” I’m the person who can walk by my sister and her young son and think, “Cute kid, looks familiar.” Someti

         You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit . (Isaiah 14:13-15) “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.   “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.     (Genesis 3:4-6) This morning, a friend shared something found on Facebook “Unpopular opinion: white people love dogs so much because deep down they miss owning slaves. They love the owner and mastery

Some  trust   in  chariots and some  in  horses, but we  trust   in   the  name of  the   Lord  our God. (Psalm 20:7)            Can I rephrase this? I don't want to be heretical, but what comes mind is "Some trust in politicians and some in scientists, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."          Or, "Some trust in intellect and some in feelings, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."           Or, Some trust in good deeds and some in good intents, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.             Or, “Some trust in CNN, and some in FOXNews , but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."             One last one. “Some trust in what their hearts tell them and some in what their minds tell them, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."           Your turn. "Some trust in __________ and some in __________, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God."          It's when we're stressed tha