Mission Faithwalk

             For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.   For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline . (II Timothy 1:6-7)           Before I begin, as you read this, I will either be waiting to pull out or on the road. I’d appreciate prayer. OK, I’m trying not to weep as I start this post, because the instant I read it, my mind pressed the button to play an old, familiar song. It has words like “What gift?” … “I ain’t got none.” … “I’m a nobody who can’t do nothing right” …   “Have you seen my career trajectory?”   OK, everyone, pull out your tiny violins and start playing. And the really sad thing about it is that if someone else were to start with the same pity party (on their own behalf) I wouldn’t respond well.           I’m not going to say it’s a lie. I suspect it’s a case of misidentification or of bad definitions. I have no gifts from God because I

                 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Mathew 6:33) “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3)           The other day I wrote about blessings and included the second passage above as part of the text. I want to come back to it today in terms of the first passage. Jesus told us that if we seek His kingdom and His righteousness, that food, drink, and clothing would be provided to us. I can’t help but think of the story told that when Sir Walter Raleigh tried to use his own business and property as an excuse for not doing what Queen Elizabeth 1 told him to, she told him that if he would see to her business (the kingdom,) she would see to his.           This begs the question of what it m

           “But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,   bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.   If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them.   Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.     Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31)           No, I don’t live up to this standard. I can’t even say I consistently try, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good standard; just that it isn’t an easy one. The inspiration for today’s post came from chapter seven of Life Without Lack , which discusses our love. One of the things Prof Willard wrote about was the charge made by some people when they are dealing with a spiritual or psychological counselor: “You only love me (to the extent that you do) because it’s your job.”           I’ve struggled with this for years, and my

               The  Lord  had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.   I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1-3)           These are the verses I mentioned yesterday. Since 2015, when I first started taking Dad south for the winter, these have been my “Leaving Erie” verses. At first, I was really going to a physical land I didn’t know. Florida? All I knew about Florida was that it was too hot, too flat, too muggy, too buggy, too sandy, and had critters that would eat my dog. And yes, it is all those sometimes, and sometimes, quite often. Zephyrhills? It’s a little more than a wide place in a highway, but you can hear roosters crow while you stand outside of the library, which is less than 100 feet fr

            You have searched me,  Lord , and you know me…  Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:1 & 23-24) Today’s passage is the first and last verses of my favorite psalm, chosen because of the request for God to search me. I can remember being afraid of the idea of God searching me. I reasoned that if He searched me, He would discover all of the ways in which I disappointed Him; all of the ways in which I am a sinful wretch and (probably more important to me) a failure. The differentiation is significant. It didn’t seem to bother me as much that He would find that I’d lied. It bothered me significantly that He might discover that I was mistaken, or that I’d not accomplished as much in a day as I should have. I was never one of those who would go so far as to tell someone I’d lied so I didn’t have to admit being mistaken, but the feeling was there.

              So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.   (Hebrews 10:35-36)           Someone posted something on social media this morning asking about our young folks having lost their faith. I answered that I don’t think the young have lost their faith. Either they never had any or they’ve moved their faith to something else. Sadly, when we “lose” faith, we may not realize what we are shifting our faith to. It could be the government, teachers, or even some vague “lack of belief” that ultimately is faith in oneself if in no other sense than that one believes one is capable of discerning when and if one encounters something in which one can have faith.           Keep in mind that faith can be either positive or negative. You can have complete faith that someone who has murdered several times will murder again. You can have faith that the government wil

               When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)     “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. (Matthew 5:14-15)   Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. (Romans 5:3-4)   God does not speak only for us and our purposes, nor does he speak primarily for our own prosperity, safety or gratification. Those who receive the grace of God’s saving companionship in his word are by that very fact also fitted to show humankind how to life. They and they alone are at home in the universe as it actually is. (Willard, Dallas, Hearing God , pp 145-146)   I keep coming back to the

            Do not conform  to the pattern of this world,  but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing  and perfect will . (Romans 12:2)   According to Ryan Denison, “ In America, faith-based groups contribute more than  $316 billion in savings  to the US economy every year. In addition, congregations, religious institutions, and faith-based businesses contribute roughly  $1.2 trillion of socio-economic value  to the country, which is the equivalent of the world’s fifteenth largest national economy. ” How the church can bless the culture into spiritual awakening ( How the church can bless the culture into spiritual awakening (denisonforum.org) ) According to Prof. Rodney Stark, religious influence in America likely saves Americans $2.1 trillion dollars per year in terms of reduced crime (imagine if all the religious folks committed the same crimes as everyone else at the same level as everyone e

            The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.     For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:8-9)              When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,   and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.   (Luke 9:1-2)   After this the Lord appointed seventy-two [ others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.     He told them,  “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.   Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.   (Luke 10:1-3) God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,   so tha

  And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light…And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water… And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear… Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds…And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,   (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14)   God said more, but the point is that when God speaks, things happen. While our language may be imprecise, God’s words have energy. They have power. They are effective. In a limited, lesser way when we speak, things happen. Our words have energy and power and are effective. People used to take pride in the idea that their word was their bond, and they said they’d do it, it kept their word. We still l

  Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Ephesians 4:29)             Who’s up for a challenge? Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths… Un-whole-some. “ Not characterized by or conducive to health or moral well-being: ” That which is not tending to make whole, complete, healed, well. For some, this means to stop dropping f-bombs, or saying “damn.” Maybe to avoid the 7 words that used to be banned on TV. But as I’ve said before, while reducing the negatives is a good thing, it only brings us toward zero. We should get rid of unwholesome talk, but even better is to add wholesome talk.           I’ve already written about what a big challenge this is being to me. Do I believe what I claim to believe? Does everything work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose? If so, why are we complaining about ou