Faith in the Unseen

faith_unseenSometimes I find myself begging God to reveal Himself personally to me. There are times, I refuse to step out in faith because I do not know how things will turn out. In essence this demonstrates my refusal to trust God. Perhaps God is looking for those who will trust Him and believe His words without seeing Him do anything miraculous in their life. Maybe God wants to see who really understands what it means to walk by faith and not by sight. The life of faith that believes what God says without miracles, without seeing, hearing, feeling anything of the divine.

Who was Jesus?

whowasjesus There are a lot of people who have opinions on who Jesus was. Some say that He is a good teacher, others say that He is a prophet or a profound philosopher. There are those who state that Jesus is God. One way or another Jesus has been the most talked about man who has ever lived. There are more debates on who Jesus really was, more books written revolving around His life than any other man who has ever lived. Jesus Himself stated He was one with the Father and that He is one with God Himself.

Come and See…

comeandsee If you close your eyes, you can almost sense Philip’s excitement.  He had just found the long-awaited Messiah.  He had seen Him with his own eyes.  In pure joyful anticipation he runs to find his friend, Nathaniel, and exclaims,  “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” (John 1:45)  It had only been a little bit earlier when Philip had met Jesus and had heard the words from the Messiah’s mouth, “Come, and you will see.”

The Chief End of Man: Conclusion

chiefendofman2 “It is for a very different reason that religion cannot occupy the whole of life in the sense of excluding all natural activities. For, of course, in some sense, it must occupy the whole of life. There is no question of a compromise between the claims of God and the claims of culture, or politics, or anything else.” (C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, pgs. 53-54)

The Chief End of Man: To be Reconciled to God

chiefendofman3 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. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

The Chief End of Man: To Please God

chiefendofman Why do we keep looking to our own fulfillment to gage whether we are living up to our purpose in life? Would not the author of life be a better judge of whether or not we are doing what we were designed to do? Perhaps when our happiness is rooted in the happiness of God we would find fulfillment. Oh that we would seek to not just understand the heart of God but that we would ask Him to give us His heart. Oh that we would imitate Him in every way and in every step.

The Divorce of the Sacred and the Secular

divorce_3 Now, the numerous parallels and similarities between this song and the seventh chapter of the epistle of Romans written almost two-thousand years ago astound me. This seemingly secular (pagan) band and God’s word both agree about a common human experience–it is an experience I believe the evangelical Christian world refers to as “sin”. Should I throw this song in the recycle bin on my desktop because it never references God or Jesus, and doesn’t leave much room for hope in being redeemed from the nagging plague of sin? I don’t think so.