Mission Faithwalk

  However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived”— the things God has prepared for those who love him— (I Corinthians 2:9) Some folks would say that I have a pretty vivid imagination. I have to be careful what movies I see because my mind doesn’t let go of images even if I tell it that they aren’t real. I write fantasy stories for crying out loud, complete with magic and dragons! But, when it comes to imagining what God has in store for me, not only do I lack the imagination required according to this verse, but I tend to think in the same old rut. That’s all right, though, at least when it comes to the imagination described in this verse. But the other sort of imagination, the one that’s stuck in a rut, that’s the one that needs to be picked up, shaken off, and put on its feet again. And that comes back to the vision thing. As I keep thinking about the next six months, and the next year, I’m beginning to feel a lit

               Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. (Philippians 1:12-14) There’s a story about a man to whom a number of bad things happened, and each time, his neighbors commiserated with him. How terrible that this should happen. I don’t remember all the details, but one of the calamities was that his son broke his leg. And as a result (as I recall) when the army showed up, they didn’t take the son away as a soldier. There are probably many versions of this story out there. You probably have yours. It was terrible when each of my parents died, but each time, I have grown stronger as a person. When my position at the courthouse was

             And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,   filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11) It's the time of year for traveling, so I’m going to take the easy way out and just move forward in Philippians rather than trying to find a different passage to write about in advance. I generally try to get blogs written in advance when I’m going to be traveling, so I only have to share them with social media and e-mail recipients. I noted recently that it’s on my heart to seek God’s vision (or assignment) with regard to the places I live. I want to know what God wants me to do next year in Florida, and more immediately, what He wants me to do in Erie this sprimer (spring & summer.) In general, I know He wants me to trust Him more, but thi

  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:4-5) There was a popular saying years ago, “Please be patient, God isn’t finished with me yet.” I tended to think that some people resorted to it as an excuse for not bothering to try to curb bad behavior. At the other end are the people who flip out if you happen to prove less than perfect – according to their definition of perfect. Then there are the people who don’t notice their own imperfections much, while others fret over them. I think I go back and forth between those last two. There are things about which I’m not as concerned as I should be, and there are things I fret about. And sometimes, I just fret. And the idea that someone might pray with joy for me, or consider me a partner in the gospel – ludicrous. O

                 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9) For many, confession involves going to an authority of the Church or the court and admitting that one has done something wrong or getting up in front of an audience and proclaiming that one has done something (generally) shocking. I’m not sure how long it has been used in these senses. Maybe always, but it is derived from Latin terms meaning “together” and “to say, to speak.” That might involve going to someone and speaking to them about something, but another possibility is that the idea was to speak in agreement with someone. When we confess, then, our goal should be to say the same things about what we have done as the one to whom we’re confessing. It’s not just, “I’ve sinned” but “I’ve sinned, I agree that it’s wrong. I’m rejecting that way of life and walking with you.” But as you read today’s passage, there’s something important

               For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:33)           Yesterday, someone on social media brought up the subject of God loving unconditionally. As usual, I had to ask what he meant by unconditional love. For some, I suspect it means universalism – that everyone goes to Heaven no matter what they do or how much they hate God. They’ll get there and say, “Oops, I guess I was wrong” and instantly become a wonderful citizen of the celestial city. For others, it means that God loves us no matter what we do, but part of the way He loves us is by allowing us real freedom, along with the consequences of our application thereof.           I have the same problem with this verse. What do we mean by a wage? As others have pointed out, it’s payment for something we’ve done. If we have done our part and we don’t receive our wages, we can accuse the person who owes us in court, demanding that they pay up – and maybe eve

                 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) Now this is  eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.   (John 17:3)           Today’s Biblegateway.com verse harkens back to Monday’s passage and the discussion of the condition of being blessed as not being magical. I suspect that it’s not that God sprinkles blessings down on people after they’ve persevered under trial or somehow proven that they love Him. Rather, it’s that those who love Him already have the crown of life. That’s what the verses in John make clear.           The trials under which we must persevere aren’t to earn God’s blessing of eternal life. They are a consequence of h

                      Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should. (Ephesians 6:17-20) Today’s BibleGateway.com passage starts us into a discussion of the armor of God that I’ve already shared at least twice, so I decided to jump to the end of the discussion, to a passage that tends to be given less attention than it should. We’re all acquainted with the idea of taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, but we tend to stop there, and treat the words following as separate, closing thoughts. But what if it’s not “…which is the word of God. And pray…” but “…

                 “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.   “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.   They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:5-8) This passage reminds me of the passage in Deuteronomy where the people of Israel stood on two mountains. The Levites read out blessings and curses, and the people responded, “Amen” (So-be-it.) One of the struggles some people have with the ideas of blessings and curses is that they see them as magic, or as something that is done to a person as a result of the

            Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (1 Peter 2:2-3)  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 through wordless groans.  (Romans 8:26)   Professor-Emeritus Glenn Sunshine shared a post recently in which Kago Keotshwaetse said, When a baby suckles at its mother's breast, a vacuum is created within which the infant's saliva is sucked back into the mother's nipple, where receptors in her mammary gland read its signals. This "baby spit backwash," contains information about the baby's immune status, causing the mother's breast milk to adjust its immunological composition. If the mammary gland receptors detect the presence of pathogens, they compel the mother's body to produce antibodies to fight it, and those antibodies travel through

                 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)   This is another of those pesky verses that get quoted too often. I’ve referred to it recently without going into depth, so when it came up as the verse of the day, I had to sigh. But, as I said when I referred to it – what if? What would we look like if we actually had those in our lives? What if we wanted what is best for each person we encounter? What if we truly believed that God will meet our needs? What if we stopped fighting with God, and to the extent possible, with other people? What if we put up with the things we encounter, even though it’s hard? What if we loaned others our strength? What if we did what we know to be right and useful? What if we kept our words? What if we didn’t use any more strength and power than we needed to (which might be quite a bit l

               May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)   I spent the morning pulling the weeds out of my new garden beds and planting most of the remaining potted plants. There’s still maintenance and clean-up to do – leveling the border stones, cleaning the pots and tools, etc., but it’s basically done. I also have basically finished raising 19 monarch caterpillars. They’ll be in their chrysalises so all I have to do is wait for them to emerge. There are a few little caterpillars still munching, but the big push is over. Both plants/gardens and butterflies seem to be symbols of hope. With plants, I can understand it because they provide food and oxygen. I’m not sure why we respond so positively to butterflies. Perhaps there is an instinctual understanding that butterflies tend to signal a healthy environment. I know they’re also colorful, cute, and carefree, but I

                 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:1-3)   This is another of the many passages that we either love or hate – or sometimes love and hate. It’s really humiliating. Consider the number of people who flock together to denounce Christians (and especially Conservative Christian) as “sheople” or “sheep.” I’ve chuckled at some of these people. First, they proclaim themselves to be the enemy of these sheople. But one of the main enemies of sheep is the wolf – or wolf pack. So as they proclaim the sheople to be dangerous, the image that comes to mind is of a sheep holding a wolf up against a wall and bleating, “Baa-lieve!” But that doesn’t make it any less humiliating. Consider the stereotypes for sheep. Cute and cuddly as a lamb, but dumb as a brick once it grows up. It follows along where it’s calle

                   But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  (Colossians 3:8)   There, but for the grace of God, go I. (attributed to John Bradford)                  But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, … (Matthew 23:13,14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29) And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. (Matthew 21:12)   Some people will tell you that if you raise your voice or speak tones that aren’t “sweetness and light” that you’re a bad Christian. Other people justify their anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech based on Jesus’ rebukes of the pharisees and His clearing the temple. How do we balance verses like Colossians 3:8 with what we see Jesus do in the Gospels? The first step is to examine the Gospels. There are instances in which Jesus speaks sharply

                     Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.   Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus .(Philippians 3:12-14)   One of the things we sometimes hear as Christians is accusations that we are hypocrites. I think people assume that if we call ourselves Christians, we assume that we are perfect. What’s more, they assume that we’re perfect and are delighted or disgusted to discover that we aren’t. When we discover (again) that we’re still not perfect, we add tend to be dismayed and disgusted. It not only disgusts me that I’m not perfect, but it disgusts and dismays me how little it bothers me that I’m not perfect. I’m more upset about giving a wrong answ

                 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust (2 Peter 1:5-8)   Reason. Vision. Hope. These have been the topic of discussion but in what should we hope? What should our vision be? What reason do we have to see or to hope? Today’s passage addresses part of this. His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness. In our knowledge of Him, we will find the things we need for life and godliness. Too often, our hope breaks when “life and godliness” doesn’t come easy, or roadblocks get in our way. But we were never promised that life and godliness would be easy. It’s the “not easy” that seems to draw our focus. It’s like lo

               but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; (I Peter 3:15) Uh oh, there’s that word again: hope. Peter assumes in this verse that there is hope in us. What hope is in you? To hide from hope because having it is the #1 best way to end up being crushed?   What’s worse, Peer tells us we’re to make a defense for our hope. It’s hard to defend something you don’t have (or won’t admit you have.) It’s terrifying to defend something in which you have no trust. How effective a defense are these? “Um, I don’t.” “Um, I don’t know.” “Because…” “Because that’s what I believe.” “Because that’s what (or how) I feel” “Because my parents (pastor, scientist, government official) said so.” “It’s just what I believe. I can’t help it.” As pointed out over the past couple of days, hope has to have reasons. Revelation, light, experie

            Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)           … Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105)             Keeping the law makes one happy? We’re back to the rats in the vats. If someone could have communicated instructions on how they could escape or survive, quite likely fewer rats would have died. Where the rats had light, revealing a potential for escape, the rats lived longer.           In my own life, I generally feel happier and more in control when I have a clue where I am, what I am supposed to be doing, how to do it, etc. In other words, I really prefer having laws or instructions. I know some people prefer to keep options open for as long as possible, but part of the point is that there are options and it is known what they are. There is some measure of light.           And then there are the folks who reject the light. We all do it. We shoot ourselves in the

              Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV) Today, let’s move to the second phrase: the people perish . It’s easy to imagine that this refers to individual people dying for lack of vision or hope, like the rats in the vat in the dark. And there could be something to that. In the dark, the rats would hear and smell, but not see one another. I don’t recall how many rats were in the dark vat, but would one rat in the vat have died faster than two, three, or ten? Would one rat in the lighted vat die faster than the two, three, or ten in the dark? How much of the life-giving hope was gained from the light, and how much from other rats being nearby, acting with rodent courage? The first question, then, is whether people primarily describes individual people, or a group of people, whether a family, a church congregation, or a nation. While an individual who is unrestrained may not commit legal crimes, chances

                Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV) When Solomon wrote of a vision and people perishing, what was he taking about. Some of the translations and interpretations of this verse suggest that vision refers to a revelation from God. Generally speaking, God’s revelations to man are statements of reality past, present, or future, personal or general, general or specific. It is information that guides and informs our thinking. This information either produces a positive response, or a negative response. In either case, our embracing or rejecting it generates hope in us. We either hope for it to be or hope to avoid it. So now we’re back to the experiments with the rats in the vats. Those without light died quickly. Those with light, which revealed a possibility of escape even though it was impossible to achieve, the rats swam many times more hours. Where there is no hope, rats and people die more quick

                 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV) It’s unusual for me to use a passage in the King James Version, but I think this is the version in which I learned this verse. At least, I learned it in a version that used the word perish , and that’s part of the focus I feel the need to explore in this Battle Bible verse. Before we explore the passage, a note about the reasons for it being the verse for today. The first reason is that I’m coming to the end of my time in Florida. In a way, this is the last 2.5 weeks of December for me. I’m preparing for a new year. It doesn’t help that a month after I get home is my birthday, so I have two “new years” beginning a month apart. It’s time to set goals and figure out what in the world I’m supposed to do with my life. The second reason is that we’ve completed a contentious election season in the park, and there is a sense that we need to heal and come together a

  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. (II Corinthians 1:3-4) Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times . (Matthew 18:22)  (the note on this verse says  “or seventy times seven times.”) Compassion. We seem to follow a couple of trends when it comes to compassion. One is that no one can possibly understand how I feel, the depth of the pain. Usually, this claim deals with anyone who hasn’t suffered the exact same thing. If you haven’t suffered from chronic illness, or mental illness, or the loss of some specific relationship, or whatever,  you can’t possibly relate to – or comfort someone who has one of those. Another is that if you are suffering, or if someone who is suffering has your sympathy for some reason, then no one else’s suffering compares. The

               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 139:23-24) I’ve said before that this passage used to be a big problem for me because I was so sure that God would be disappointed in what He found. At the same time, when I worked at Sears, I discovered that I’m visually oriented, and often felt the need for an assistant manager to come to look at what I’d done, to make sure it was right and to make sure I wouldn’t get in trouble. I remember taking things out to show my father (even when I was over 50!) so that someone in the universe could acknowledge it. More often than not, I got an “Oh? Yep.” Sometimes a “That’s nice,” but it was without any real interest. That was the way Dad was. Now, I find myself posting stupid pictures of baskets that I’ve dry-brush painted and announcing the number of projects I’ve completed. Sadly, if you hide what you’re doing, it’s

                 Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago . (Isaiah 25:1) Isaiah lived in the eighth century BC, almost 3000 years ago. As I read this passage this morning, the part that stood out to me was “things planned long ago.” It’s embarrassing, but I found myself thinking, “Wait, they had that concept way back then?” Yes, and David lived six hundred years before Isaiah, and Adam and Eve long before David, and there are at least hints of a plan going all the way back to Genesis 3. I was going to confess to temporal snobbery, and that might be there, but the positive side of it is that this morning, I’m once again impressed with God’s action through time, His involvement with people, His wisdom, His power, and – oddly – His proximity. He has done wonderful things and continues to do wonderful things. Those wonderful things might not be things we enjoy or approve, but they

           These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) Sometimes when I set goals, I make a list of things I want to accomplish and think of any one of those goals maybe once per week, usually when I am failing. Other times, I reach one or more of the goals because I focus on them obsessively. It doesn’t seem to matter whether I have a goal. What matters is when the goal has me. The problem is with that word “obsessively.” It seems as if only one goal can have me at a time, but when it does, look out. Last month, I made a list of projects I wanted to accomplish by the end of March. Some were tiny. I wanted to review the use of a word that was used twice in my story. Two minutes was more than enough to complete it. But because my goal was to complete as many of those tasks as possible, I got more tha

                      No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.  Be strong and courageous , because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.   “ Be strong and very courageous . Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous . Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:5-9) There’s an old saying about when God says something once… when God says something twice…when God says something three times… I don’t remember how it goes, except th