Mission Faithwalk

            Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.   Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. (Proverbs 4:23-27) “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?    You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)   Some people think that the heart is a well of good, clear water, and the only guarding it needs is to protect it from evil outsi...

                 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11) “If you love me, keep my commands .” ~Jesus (John 14:11)           Someone recently suggested that in our discipline of celebrating the sabbath, we should do what makes us “come alive in God.” From today’s verse, it might be understood that we are to be unresponsive to sin but responsive to God.  If we love God, we are to obey Him, which we can only do if we are alive to Him or in Him.           The same person (or another person the same video) suggested that keeping the sabbath could include playing basketball with your kids, taking a nap, or hanging out with friends and family. Again, anything that makes you “come alive in God” is an acceptable part of the discipline of sabbath-keeping. But this ...

                 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13) What sort of men were the disciples? In Acts 4, the Pharisees and Sadducees considered the “ordinary.” By ordinary they probably meant poor, educated to the lowest level considered acceptable (what we’d call “high school.”) We know four were fishermen. One was a tax collector. The rest, we can only guess. The religious officials looked down on them as nobodies. And they were – that was the point. But as we face life today, there are folks who think like the Pharisees and Sadducees. Anyone who isn’t “educated” is considered a nobody. Interestingly enough, this is the opinion stated by groups that used to be known for wanting inclusivity. The same folks who used to want to fight for the rights of the marginalized now reject ...

               Do not spend your strength on women, your vigor on those who ruin kings. (Proverbs 31:3) Some time ago, I wrote about the more famous section of Proverbs 31, and pointed out that while it was advice given a son who happened to be king, it could easily be advice of a father or mother to a daughter.  It is advice from a Father who is King, to sons and daughters who are princes and princesses. Also some time ago, I wrote about the idea of vampires, those people, places, and things that suck the life out of you. They may make promises, but they bleed you dry. Translated, then, the verse may be read “Do not spend your strength on men/women, your vigor on those/that who/which ruin princes/princesses. My first thought was that right now, there are no men on whom I feel tempted to spend my strength or vigor. In fact, it seems to me that one of my challenges is a fear of spending strength or vigor in, with, on, or for an...

            “ Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told. (Habakkuk 1:5) As we look around, we see all sorts of things that are amazing. We have hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, wildfires, wars, people hating, and all manner of evil. We also see folks helping folks, the possibility of paralyzed people walking again, of mechanical arms, legs, and hands, discoveries, love, and beauty. There are parts of the world where Christianity is growing. It’s all mixed together and it all amazes us – or should. We know what He’s done in the past. We have read what He’ll do in the future, and we suspect that now is part of that future, but it’s not an immediately happy future from our perspective. We feel like Habakkuk, asking how God can allow it all.  But in all that we look at as evil, God is able to - and does – use people we think are mon...