Mission Faithwalk

For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. (II Corinthians 5:14-15)                 The world teaches us that in order to be fully alive, we must be authentic, we must seek and find personal fulfillment in whatever speaks to us. If you feel it, it must be true and you and therefore to deny it is evil… as long as the it in question has been approved by the world. And, because those who feel things that haven’t been approved by the world can be identified as an oppressed minority, the range of things that the world approves seems to be growing quickly.                 It shouldn’t be a surprise that Scripture teaches against this. I can’t think of many religions that don’t have so...

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:7)           There’s an inspirational quote that’s been around for a while: “Jacob was a cheater, Peter had a temper, David had an affair, Noah got drunk, Jonah ran from God, Paul was a murderer, Gideon was insecure, Miriam was a gossip, Martha was a worrier, Thomas was a doubter, Sarah was impatient, Elijah was moody, Moses stuttered, Abraham was old,… and Lazarus was dead. God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED!”           We could add to this. Moses didn’t just stutter, he was a murderer. The Jewish people as a whole were disobedient, rebellious, and idolatrous. Rahab was a harlot and a traitor. Tamar played the harlot to seduce her father-in-law, Judah; Judah broke his promises, Most of Israel’s sons were ready to kill Joseph, but sold him into slavery because that ...

fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)                 Have you ever considered what was going through Jesus’ mind on the way to Jerusalem? During the walk to Golgotha? I know that the pain, and the anticipation of the pain must have been beyond explanation. From the research I’ve read, the word excruciating comes from the practice of crucifixion. But somehow, Jesus took both those journeys.   I’m told child-birth is also painful, but women face it willingly. Soldiers go off to fight in strange lands, risking life, limb, and sanity in what amounts to a hell.                  In Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning , he contends that when one knows one’s why one can endure any how . Given that he ...

          Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:12)           Now this is eternal life : that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent . (John 17:3)           Do you feel like you have the eternal life? Christians believe that we are given eternal life when we become Christians, but I suspect most of us think of it more as something that begins when we die than something we can hold on to today. Eternal life is that someday thing when we get to sit on clouds and take up harp-playing. (And somehow, we’ll be good at it because, after all, we’ll be perfect.)           No, I don’t think it works that way. I think today’s second passage gives us a better pictu...

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good. (Psalm 14:1)           Biblegateway.com posted today’s passage as a rather obvious April Fool’s Day jab, but by the time you read this, it will be April second, but it brought to mind an issue worthy of discussion. It has been said that an atheist has no natural authority on which to base their morality. I suppose some people have expressed that to mean that Atheists are incapable of being moral or good. Another alternative is that some Atheists have deliberately misconstrued it as a claim that Atheists are incapable of being moral or good as a strawman argument.            Let me state, therefore, that I am in no way claiming that Atheists are any more incapable of being moral or good than any other person. Because some are pursuing an evangelistic agenda to convince others that Atheism is ...

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)           Three times in the past two days, and at least one more time in the past week, the subject of the heart has been flung in my face. Twice this morning. I suspect God is trying to tell me something, but at the moment, I’m grinding my teeth. The third time, we were talking about the full armor of God. When the subject of the belt of truth came up, I mentioned that in the culture in which the Bible was written, the guts were considered the seat of emotions. The teacher said that he’d get to that in a moment, and when he discussed the breastplate of righteousness, he told us that the heart was the seat of emotions. I didn’t correct him or kill him.            The second time, John Eldridge got it closer to being right. He noted that the heart is the seat of the self, and its voice is emotions. That, at leas...

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength   he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms . (Ephesians 1:18-20) God loves you; you matter to him. That is a fact, stated as a proposition. I imagine most of you have heard it any number of times. Why, then, aren’t we the happiest people on earth? It hasn’t reached our hearts. Facts stay lodged in the mind, for the most part. They don’t speak at the level we need to hear. Proposition speaks to the mind, but when you tell a story, you speak to the heart. We’ve been telling each other stories since the beginning of time. It’s our way of communicating the timeless truths, passing them down. (John Eldridge, Waking the Dead , p. 24)   ...