Faith
What would our lives look like if we had more faith? This is the focus of this delve blog category as we explore Biblical truths we probably know in our heads but haven't yet allowed to fully penetrate our hearts and transform our lives.
Monday, 14 July 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
If you love me, you will obey what I command... whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me... If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching... He who does not love me will not obey my teaching..*
It took me a long time to get my head around these verses. Firstly, as soon as my parents used the phrase, "If you love me...," I was like, "Oh, oh, I'm not going to like this." So why would Jesus use this kind of bribery unless he was asking something I wasn't going to like?
Monday, 07 July 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
Two guys are sitting in a coffee shop chatting about the week's news events, swapping opinions about everything from the footie results on the back page to the latest news on the front page. Soon they start talking about the stories that have particularly impacted them recently: the violence in Zimbabwe, the death of the first female British soldier in Iraq and the rising global cost of rice that is increasing the number in poverty.
The heaviness of the conversation causes it to peter out and a reflective silence comes over the two. After a minute or so, one of the guys speaks up, "Why on earth does God allow all this suffering and war and poverty to exist in the world? Why doesn't he do something about it?"
Monday, 23 June 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
Of all the classic Bible stories I heard as a child in "Sunday School," I wish the calling of the disciples* had been explained better to me. I don't know about you, but to me it was presented in a way that left me with the impression that Jesus was some kind of cross between a charismatic leader like Martin Luther King Jr. and the man in the Lynx adverts!
It didn't make sense to me. Why did these guys give up everything for a man they didn't know much about?
Monday, 16 June 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
Do your folks have a spice rack? Imagine being asked to go through it and count out a tenth of each spice to give to God! How much time and effort would that take?!
The Pharisees in Jesus' day took the Law (Genesis through Deuteronomy) very seriously. So when it says in Leviticus 27:30 that, ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord,' the Pharisees sought to obey this to the letter...
Monday, 09 June 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
Wouldn't it be funny if a key to life was found in a Disney movie and championed by a singing Warthog and Meerkat? While I wouldn't suggest that not worrying results in a problem-free existence (we will still face problems), it would however radically transform how we reacted to those problems.
Monday, 02 June 2008 01:00 | and posted in Faith
I quoted Philippians 1:6 to a guy called Mike who I was praying for a couple of months ago and he found it really encouraging. People nearly always do.
In fact it's one of those verses that are easy to misuse. Many times in the past I have slipped it into my prayers so I sounded "spiritual" or to cause an emotional reaction in the person I was praying for. Both were about selfish gain rather than a desire to share God's love and blessing with another. Slowly I am learning to pray over people only what God prompts me to say.
