Mission Faithwalk

              The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (II Peter 3:9)    Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,             To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. (II Peter 1:1-2)   Yesterday, one of the key points in my Sunday School class was that grace isn’t just about salvation. We are saved by grace, but (as my teacher said), it’s like the late-night infomercial hosts keep saying, “Wait, there’s more !” [1] That’s the phrase I heard in my mind when I read yesterday’s Biblegateway.com verse. When we read it, we tend to think in term of the Lord being patient with those who need salvation, not wanting any to perish, but wanting them to come to repentance. But the sec

            But do not be afraid of them;  remember well what the  Lord  your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt. (Deuteronomy 7:18) I usually write about this in December, but events brought it to mind in the past few days. I have been gardening for years, and every spring, I go through   the same stress. I need to get the plants in the ground now and it doesn’t matter that it’s only April 1 and we’re likely to get cold weather and possibly snow at least a couple more times. I’m not alone in this. The garden center where I work was busier in April than it is now. Once I do get them in the ground, it seems like I spend forever agonizing. They aren’t growing. Whine, kvetch, groan, moan, whimper, grouse and stamp my not so little feet. I’ve failed again. Not only have I failed as a gardener, but in so doing, I’ve failed as a butterfly nurturer. A few days ago, my mind finally informed me that my garden is finally taking shape. It’s beginning to be a garden. I’ve started harvesting

            Then Jesus said to his disciples,  “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.     For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.   What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Matthew 16:24-26) The first step in any discussion is the definition of terms. People like to skip this step, but it’s important. The key term in today’s passage is “soul.” Most of the reading I’ve done about souls has been by, or has been influenced by, Professor Dallas Willard. He defines a soul as “that dimension of a person that interrelates all other dimensions so that they form one life.” [1] He goes on to say that the soul is not the person. It is “the deepest pat of the self in terms of overall operations.” [2] What the soul coordinates includes thoughts, emotions, body, will, and relations with

            When they reached the Valley of Eshkol, they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. (Number 13:23) Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so,    and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. (John 2:7-11) This is one of those cases when things have come together for me. When t

              Who can hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?” declares the  Lord . “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” declares the  Lord . (Jeremiah 23:24) You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you,  Lord , know it completely. (Psalm 139:2-4)           The remaining challenge to my homework for the week is to think more magnificently – and therefore more truthfully – about God. The goal is to become a person who believes and therefore experiences God. In other words, the goal is to grow closer to Him, to be in a relationship with Him. A lot of this goes back to the question of trust, and of course, I don’t trust my trusting.           The first passage above was the verse of the day at Biblegateway.com. The second includes my favorite part of one of my favorite passages in Scripture because it specifically addresses God’s re

             But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. (II Thessalonians 3:3) I tend to disagree with people when it comes to the subject of spiritual warfare. Some folks like to declare that Satan has attacked them. I suppose that in a general, vague way, they’re correct. He attacked Adam and Eve and that attack has produced the heartache of the word. He sends his minions out to attack people, and so it might be said that he is attacking them indirectly. But it seems to me that after his original attack on Adam and Eve, he could just as easily have sat back and never done another thing except play gin rummy with his minions, and we humans would do all that is necessary for us to destroy ourselves. Even if he and his minions are active   (and I believe they are,) I am simply not sufficiently influential to require much additional attention. The devil doesn’t have to make me do what I do. I do evil that I think up or desire, of my own fr

  And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work . (II Corinthians 9:8)           So far, we’ve covered two principles from my homework drawn from this passage: 1.      A life without lack is a gift, not a merely human accomplishment 2.      God’s sufficiency covers it all – all we need in all our circumstances The second principle is also the first reason why God blesses us, so that we have all we need. The third principle is the second reason God blesses us: “the point of a life without lack is to free us to engage in sharing that life.” We are blessed so that we may abound in every good work, blessing others as we have been blessed or using the blessings we’ve received. I fear modernity has caused us to lose this last principle. We tend to think in terms of building programs or machines to automate the blessing of others with as little personal expense as possible. We tend to think

            And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work . (II Corinthians 9:8)           The first principle drawn from this passage in my homework was that a life without lack is a gift, not a merely human accomplishment. It’s something given to you with a twofold purpose. The first of those is today’s focus: “God’s sufficiency covers it all – all we need in all our circumstances.”           The automatic response to this sort of statement follows one of two patterns, both of which begin with a sigh. The words may vary, but the meanings are there. First, “But He didn’t prevent the circumstances,” and second, “But He didn’t miraculously fix the circumstances.”           I’ve written before about my negative response when a friend said the characters in the first Lord of the Rings movie were noble. Noble? How can they be noble? They’re filthy. I could and should have added that they we

            And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (II Corinthians 9:8)             Continuing my look at my homework, the instructions list three principles drawn from the passage. The first is “God is able to make all grace abound toward me. A life without lack is a gift, not a merely human accomplishment.” This morning as I consider this idea, something I’ve shared (and I’m 99.9% sure I didn’t come up with it myself,) the idea that kindness is lending someone your strength, came to mind. We cannot give someone else our strength, we can only use it on their behalf, or loan it to them. To give it to them would require that we somehow lose it ourselves, while they gain it. Technically, loan isn’t even the right word, because when we loan something, we tend to expect something in return, but it’s closer than give.           I found grace defined as “courteous goodwill.” But goodw

  And God is able  to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need,  you will abound in every good work. (II Corinthians 9:8)           This verse begins the homework for my Sunday School class this week, and I begin it with the same concept I faced last week. We all know that God is able, but are we willing to even try to believe that He is able and willing ? While I’m not facing my most negative thought patterns today, I know that there are times when I am convinced that God is able and willing to do all this verse says, but when it comes to His doing to for me , well, I’d only ruin it if He did. I know I “shouldn’t think that way” but I do at times, so I’m going to approach it from that perspective as practice. Let’s make it tougher still. How can I believe that God is willing and able to bless me abundantly on a day of the week (Sunday) when I’m supposed to be resting and contemplating Him – not doing the “this, that, and the other” that ar

                  “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!”   Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”             I should have expected it. I probably did expect it. In March, I faced the trauma of moving back north. That’s OK. I’m sort of used to that. Then I faced the trauma of getting a job in April. Just about the time I have settled in, the busy season has ended, and last week I worked four days. This coming week, it’s three days, and the week after, it’s two. Part of me says “Hurrah!” because now I’ll have time to catch up on stuff at home. Maybe I won’t be so tired I can’t think to write. Yay! Yay! Then I look around the house, at all that needs to be done, at all that could be done

            Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.   “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—   “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” (Ephesians 6:1-3)             We’re on the lead-up to Fathers’ Day, and true to form and tradition, those who have to come up with verses and passages to share or to address are picking passages like the one that follows today’s, which tells fathers all about how they should behave. “Don’t exasperate your children,” the passage tells us, because on Fathers’ Day, it is apparently important to tell fathers what a bad job they’re doing. I think church buildings would collapse if a pastor were to parade the fathers in his congregation across the platform, sharing their praise for the job they’ve done in the last year. On Mothers’ Day, at least some mothers get flowers, or are honored by the flowers their children wear to take the sting out of the “Let me t

             Praise the  Lord , my soul;  all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the  Lord , my soul,  and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  (Psalm 103:1-5)             The next piece of my homework involves the benefits listed in today’s passage. The first step, of course, is to list the benefits: 1)      Forgiveness of sins 2)      Healing of diseases 3)      Redemption of life from the pit 4)      Crowns with love 5)      Crowns with compassion 6)      Satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Next come the crucial questions. What causes us to forget them? How can we remind ourselves? The immediate answer that comes to mind is one I’ve ranted about many times. Pain, fear, anger, frustration, an