Tag: <span>faith</span>

Once upon a time I scheduled a Heart Catherization. No heart problems had been found in the echo-cardiogram –EKG had also been fine. Cat-scan had revealed nothing heart wise and stress test was inconclusive. Concerned because of some chest pain when hiking, I persevered through these tests at the request of my appointed Cardiologist. I was sure nothing would become of the current exam. I awoke to the gentle doctor’s straight but assuring face. His message was simple, “there is nothing we can do for you here.” “Stints are not possible; you have two total blockages and one 90%” “What do you suggest?” was my astonished response. “You might consider by-pass surgery.” I hesitated, “how does that happen?” “Hang on for a minute.” The kind doctor left the room. He reappeared, “do you want to go tomorrow?” “yes.” So began my journey defining year in the month of March. Whisked…

“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.  Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.”  Romans 14:1 -3 ESV Simple to the Christian, yet profound in application, the verses pertain to the faith-convictions of believers. Guard your faith, O Saint, but do not qualify brother or sister’s faith according to your personal prejudice. Neither scorn or dispise your counterpart. Paul applies this to food choices, observance of days, and then life and death of both weak and strong. “Henry Alford commentary remarks: there is, (even in Christianity), “a want of broad and independent principles, and a consequent bondage to prejudices.” Vincent adds, “Censoriousness is the peculiar…

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.  For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? ” Hebrews 9:11-14 How do we gain awareness of life? What are “dead works,” as described in Hebrews 9:14? What does a purged conscience look like? What does it mean to serve the living God? First, we operate by the mercies of God. see Romans 12:1-2. Eleven previous chapters of the epistle of Paul to the Romans explains the mercies of God. In Chapter 1, God’s righteousness is said to…

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:10  Through the Holy Bible we understand that “all” men were the objects of Christ’s dying. 1Timothy 2:4 teaches, “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” and 2Peter 3:9  follows, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ and 1 John 2:2:  “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. ” see John 3:16, 1 John 4:10 But what of man’s requirement? — Faith is the whole of the requirement. Ephesians 2:8  teaches us, “For by grace…

” Contrary to popular expectation, Christianity offers no simple solution to man’s problems or to the integration of his personality; it does promise the abiding presence of Christ…..There is no offer of ease, but the promise of grace for the experience.” Morris A. Inch from his book, “Psychology in the Psalms.” As an illustration of this premise I thought of the story of Jesus, walking on the water. Matthew 14 records this for us. “Immediately (Jesus)  made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds.”  “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, “ The disciple were sent on ahead. The crowd which Jesus had been teaching were dismissed. Jesus went alone to be with His Father. The excitement of being with Jesus…

  “So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.  Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.  And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”  And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had…

…For those who are in Christ Jesus. The King James writers saw fit to add the words, “who walk not after the flesh…” This addendum is not in the original text. Why? Because Paul meant what he said, “there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus — period.” We must see that the unconditional statement, “no condemnation,” provides the only deliverance from an indwelling sin principle, a Law principle, an impotent “will” and a slavery to it all. Paul’s answer, and ours, is the miracle of Jesus Christ our Lord. Yes, Jesus alone solved the “sold under sin” dilemma as He became sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21, took it to its death and burial, rose out of death, ( sin did not revive,) and offered to us “newness of life” and all this “in Christ.” Our answer to the frightful double-minded “willing to do good, yet…

“In short, no one can purge him or herself from all faith assumptions, and assume an objective, belief-free, pure openness to objective evidence. Hume There is no “View from nowhere.” “…all reasoning is based on prior faith commitments to which one did not reason.” Heidegger, Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty. “…reason depends on the faith that our cognitive senses — our eyes and ears, our minds and memories, are not tricking us.” “…the declaration that science is the only arbiter of truth is not itself a scientific finding, it is a belief.” Evans All quotes taken from “Making Sense of God” by Timothy Keller So? Though a tough truth to swallow, reasoning requires faith. Let’s explore this farther. The Bible attributes to man a bearing-witness conscience. Romans 2:15 etc. A faculty for discerning, it accuses or excuses.  All men have this faculty of passing judgment on their actions. It acts according to the…

How does Joy fit into the scheme of Christian living? “.. on March 18 Mr. Chollet locked the garage door of his New Hampshire house, climbed into his BMW, and turned on the engine. He left behind a note that read, “Please forgive me, but the thought of going through the torture of living is just too much to bear.” “Some successful entrepreneurs have a fear that they won’t be able to reproduce or sustain earlier achievements. Gerald Kraines, a psychiatrist who treated Chollet, said, “They’re on a treadmill where they can never savor their success, because they have to keep working harder. Many Christians feel the same way. They think that they must keep working harder for the Lord and forget to spend time with Him.” ministry127 Nehemiah 8:10  tells us: “neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” They were rebuilding, and saw favor…

Romans 12:1,  “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God…” Proverbs 20:28,  “Mercy and truth preserve the king: and his throne is upholden by mercy.”                                                                                    Romans 14:4, “…to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” A person stands, is upheld, and his rational service is founded, in something he does not deserve. Paul the Apostle beseeches men, by the mercies of God… William Newell comments, “We must believe that these divine mercies have persuasive powers over our wills.” “It is not that we can move our own wills; but that faith in God’s…