Mission Faithwalk

                        Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. (Proverbs 27:1)                   Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Matthew 6:34)                 Scripture warns us about boasting about tomorrow and about worrying about tomorrow for roughly the same reason. We aren’t in control of what will happen tomorrow. This isn’t the same as not planning. It might be better to say that it is planning with one’s ego or emotions firmly attached. Another way to put it might be to say that planning is OK, but not trusting God is not.                 Th...

                 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near . (Isaiah 55:6)                 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)                 God is omnipresent. He’s everywhere. Why should we have to seek Him? How can we not call on Him while He’s near, since He’s always near? Of course, when you get absorbed in a book, you can be physically present with someone, but also be a million miles away. Or when you’re angry with someone, you may be in the same household, but you’re distant. Parents may “stand back” and allow a child to struggle. They seem to be distancing themselves from the child, but it teaches the child things ...

                 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (I Peter 1:3)                 Something happened this morning that isn’t unusual to me, but that connects to this verse, at least after a fashion. As the communion crew finished prepping for tomorrow, one of the team collected stuff to throw out. She’d already flattened the box, which wasn’t of interest to me, but there were two gizmos that, when pressed down on the grape juice bottles, formed a handle so one could pick up two at the same time. I asked for those gizmos. If they do what I want them to, they’ll make watering plants easier. We’ll see.                 I say this isn’t unusual becaus...

                 Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.  (Proverbs 29:25)                 What are you afraid of? Chances are good, you’ll answer with something like spiders, snakes, death, or public speaking. You might suggest something like lions, tigers, bears, or Great Whites. The key involved is that these all provoke great aversion. I used to stop gardening once the spiders showed up on the plants. I’ll admit that I’m not likely to want to swim in the ocean, especially off the coast of South Africa and if there were a tiger on the loose in my area, I’m not likely to sit outside, even knowing that tigers are rarely man-eaters. That’s one kind of fear.                 And someone could have that sort of fear of other people, while ot...

                                   “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)                 Let’s start with the obvious. This does not say that we should take pleasure in being abused by others. It is not a call to be masochists. Insults, persecutions, and lies aren’t meant to produce rejoicing. Instead, it’s the stuff behind the insults, persecutions, and lies that should make us rejoice. It’s what’s behind or beneath the insults, persecutions, and lies that should lead to rejoicing. Jesus was insulted, persecuted, and lied about. The prophets were insulted, ...

                 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) Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6) A friend told me her story with the verse from Proverbs above. She had thought it meant that we should train a child in the direction we wanted them to live. She realized that it was more about teaching a child in accordance with the child’s personality, abilities, etc. I suspect both are true. We should teach children both what is right and good, and according to their proclivities. If you have a child with mechanical skill, teach him/her mechanics. Don’t demand that a child who loves to cook ignore the stove and learn to repair an engine. But at the same time, teach a child that...

              My times are in your hands; deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me . (Psalm 31:15)                 The etymology of the word enemy comes from “not” and “love.” An enemy, then, is someone who doesn’t love you. But what does it mean to love you? There seem to be two keys. Someone who loves you wants what is in your best interest and wants to be around and pay attention to you. That means that the person who wants to kill you is your enemy, but so is the person who claims to love you, but who encourages you or manipulates you to do things that aren’t really good for you. Those “friends” who encourage sexual activity outside of marriage, drinking “a few beers,” trying drugs, watching some porn, eating unhealthfully, or other sins, are your enemies. They may claim to be friends.  They aren’t. They may claim to love you. They don’t. And...