Mission Faithwalk

                 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) This wasn’t the passage I had in mind for today, but it’s the one shared by my Bible platform, and let’s just say that it’s a concept that I want to be (and that I hope is ) central to my life. According to Jesus, it’s half of the greatest commandment. If we’re to have a mission in our lives, this is it. If we’re to have a ministry, this is its foundation and core. Having said that, I have to return to my “no magic” idea. Functionally, “god” refers to anything that provides the foundation of our lives and beliefs. This means not all gods have to be personal. Science can be a god. Self can be (and very often is) a god. And even if you hate that god, if you don’t turn to another god, you’re still loving that god because your a...

                 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.   After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” (Matthew 4:1-3) As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you, (Galatians 4:13) Perhaps, because He is Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus’s calendar had written across the forty days immediately after His baptism, “Forty Days Temptation.” Maybe He knew exactly what was coming. Most of us don’t expect that when we have taken on some sort of ministry, the next seven days, weeks, months, or years will be spent uncomfortably wandering around, hungry, and under attack. What does any of that have to do with ministering? How are we to serve God or help anyone else if we’re sick, homeless, poor, improperly educ...

                 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (II Timothy 2:20-21) If you know a quilter or sewer, you’re likely to have encountered those sheers . You know, the ones that if you touch them, you’ll get something ranging from the stink-eye to an assault. Those sheers are only for cutting cloth, and maybe only for their use in cutting cloth. They’re lovely, wonderful people, until you touch those sheers . As a gardener, I have some of the same issue. There are containers that are only for use for herbicides, and others that may not be used for that purpose. I certainly wouldn’t want to use one of my cooking pans to make soap (one of the ingredients is lye) or ev...

            Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?”         Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Then John consented. (Matthew 3:13-15)   Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:    “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. (Matthew 23:1-3)   “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. (Matthew 5:7)   Jesus’ ministry didn’t start off with a fireworks demonstration signaling the start of something new and different. His life started ...

                   In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea   and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”    This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,     make straight paths for him.’” (Matthew 3:1-3) Continuing to think about ministry, today’s passage doesn’t use the word, but it describes what John the Baptist did. He fulfilled the prophecy in Isaiah 40:3. He prepared the way for Jesus. This wasn’t a joyous task, necessarily. His job was to call people to repentance. There would be joy over those who repented, but “Repent” just isn’t a happy message. “The kingdom of heaven coming near” might be seen as either good or bad. It certainly would mean changes in the status quo. The point is that our ministries may not be what we expect them to ...

              He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (II Corinthians 3:6) Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. (Psalm  8 :2)           An idea that has been wandering through my head for months involves ministry . If I am going to change my perspective about my writing, the Master Gardeners, or my involvement in church, in my neighborhood, or at my job, I need to stop examining Exhibit Me, and figure out how to do whatever it is God wants me to (or even that I want me to), I would do well to learn what it means to minister. The basic definitions concern taking charge (administering), representing, and serving.           Ther...

                 Jesus wept. (John 11:35) Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn . (Romans 12:15) But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, (Matthew 5:44) My Bible platform chose a passage I’ve written about more than once in the past ten years. If they continue in the passage tomorrow (as they probably will), I may return to them, but today’s verse came to mind as an alternative. It’s not a verse I think is really explored much, so, why not? To put the verse in context, Jesus had received word that his friend, Lazarus, was sick. We don’t know how far Jesus was from Bethany, but instead of packing up and hurrying there, He had announced that this sickness wasn’t “unto death” and the ministry team had remained where they were. Sometime later, Jesus had said that Lazarous had fallen asleep and He was going there to wake him. When ...