Mission Faithwalk

            Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)           The heart represents the will in ancient literature. It is not the only part of us that makes decisions or acts, but it is the subject today. Two ideas come to mind. The first is that we need to guard our hearts from the other parts of ourselves. The heart, mind, soul, body, spirit, and relationships should work together, but how often does what we want over-rule any choice that our will might make. How often does social or peer pressure dictate to us? Our biases sometimes get in the way of what we think we should do, and would do if it weren’t for them .           At the same time, while we may wish to say that we didn’t make the choice we made, we did. We are still responsible. Our hearts are likely to have given in with far too l...

              Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe. (Proverbs 29:25)           I could be wrong, but I suspect most people will claim they aren’t afraid of man. I also believe their actions would prove that statement to be incorrect. I have read statistics that claim that as much as 98% of people fear public speaking. Some fear it to the point that it is a psychological issue for them. As much as 85% of Americans are afraid to be wrong. Both of those fears are based in fear of people. Similarly, even among those who claim to fear God, I have grave doubts that their actions would prove it. We are too quick to say, “God will forgive.” He will, but we take it as our due and sometimes seem to consider that the problem is not with ourselves, but with God. If he weren’t so hypersensitive, anti-diversity, or closed-minded, He wouldn’t need to forgive us. I...

                 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)           The blessing isn’t magical. God doesn’t necessarily look at a person who is being persecuted and say, “Poor thing. I think I’ll bless her.” He can. Of course, He can. But that’s not the only way to understand this passage, and it may not be the best way. Blessings don’t have to be “magical.”           Jesus referred to the prophets because they were included in the list of Jewish heroes. Don’t we all grow up wanting to be like our heroes? Even as adults, aren’t there folks we wish we could be or be like? The prophets were persecuted and killed, often by the J...

              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, (Philippians 1:9-10)           Let’s suppose (and keep it simple) that someone who claims to love you bought you a present in a color you hate. The next gift was a piece of equipment for a sport/hobby in which you have no interest (and neither does the giver.) And what would happen if the lover continued to do this sort of thing even after being corrected? I’m not talking about a problem with his/her memory over which he/she has no control. It’s that the person just doesn’t bother to learn your interests. This is at a surface level. Suppose the person was a serial cheater or otherwise regularly violated your moral code and didn’t care that it bothers you. Would you still claim the person loved yo...