Mission Faithwalk

            The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. (Acts 3:13-15)             A Jewish friend of mine mentioned that the Pope Benedict has stated that the Jews didn't kill Jesus. The Jews as a community didn't hand Jesus over to be killed. That was done by an elite group of Jewish leadership. It seems to be a long-standing tradition that the same people who shouted "Hosanna" on Sunday were the ones shouting "Crucify him!" on Friday morning. With the secrecy and early hour of the trials, this isn't likely. The trials were probably over by 9 am. I ...

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)   He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD'S will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light└ of life ┘ [1]   and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify...

And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;   but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)              Why did Jesus have to die? I have a book somewhere that lists fifty reasons why Jesus came to die, but I think this is one of the biggest of those reasons, and it's the one with which most people have the most trouble. I mean, really, the death penalty for eating an apple? And what about me? I mean, I'm a goody two-shoes. I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't swear, I go to church most Sundays and even read my Bible and pray between times. I even pick up other people's litter.           OK, I'll admit, there was that time in Office Max when I was sure that if I had had a gun, I'd have attempted to commit mass murder, but that was thirty years ago ...

“Know and understand this: From the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One, the ruler, comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.(Daniel 9:25) Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!   See, your king comes to you, righteous and having salvation, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9) O LORD , save us; O LORD , grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD . From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. (Psalm 118:25)         These are passages I should have shared yesterday. If you went to church, you probably heard about them. Yesterday, the Church celebrated the anniversary of Jesus' riding a d...

       Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness .(James 3:17-18)           Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul; if you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off . (Proverbs 24:14)           You don't have to watch the news to know tha...

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)            “What is it you want?” he asked.             She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”          “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”            “We can,” they answered (Matthew 20:21-22)                 Jesus answered, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me.” (John 21:22)          As long as yesterday's di...

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)             One of the broad areas of disagreement in our society is over the concepts of faith and God. Some people think it is foolish to have faith or to believe in God. Others believe it is foolish not to have faith or not to believe in God. Philosopher David Hume wrote about causes, effects, and faith back in the 1700s. He concluded that it was impossible to know that an effect was actually caused by the cause and that said cause would always produce that effect. Just because the bread you ate for breakfast keep you alive, does not mean that eating bread for breakfast tomorrow won't result in your death. The fact that said bread has repeatedly kept you alive and has never killed you is not actually proof that it will continue to do so. You could develop...