For believers, the issue of faith is foundational to everything. So, at regular intervals, I set aside time to revisit the components of belief, and the nature of faith.
James: The Polyvalence of Belief
Most people do not care about what you know, they want to know that you care.
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Gospel of John: Emergency Council Meeting
Faced with the same evidence, some were moved to belief, and some were hardened in unbelief. And yet God’s purpose for Messiah still advanced. Even with free will, no person can alter God’s divine plan. As one commentator put it, Nothing people can do will thwart or alter the sovereign will of God, and nothing God does ever sets aside the free choice of people.
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Gospel of John: Belief or Abandonment
In the face of either receiving a hard truth because it comes from God, or rejecting a hard truth and therefore having to reject God, Peter spoke for himself and ten of his companion disciples when he said they would accept Jesus as a package deal. He did not realize it, but he was not speaking for all.
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Gospel of John: The Big Reveal
Just as Jesus was one with the Father’s will and God’s power, so you and I, the more we willingly meld our wills with the Lord’s, will receive God’s vision, all the things God has planned for us, and the power to do it all.
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Gospel of John: From Faith to Faith
Relief may feel like satisfaction for a while. But true satisfaction, the deep and lasting kind, can only come through faith in Jesus, personally relating to Jesus and responding to him in faith, living it out because you believe.
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Gospel of John: Gauntlet Dropped
A superficial faith reduces Christianity to a philosophy, a formula, a system of rituals. A superficial faith keeps worship on Sunday and has real life on the other six days. It says that religion is something private, a matter of opinion, a sidebar to the things of life.
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Gospel of John: Two Responses
Life versus Death Light versus Darkness Love versus Hate Belief versus Unbelief.
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The Book of Generations: Two Beginnings
And my next question to myself is how what I support reflects that truth? How much of my church’s budget, for example, a budget I regularly contribute to, is spent on a terrific worship service Sunday morning compared to developing, sustaining, and handing on depth and breadth of relationship with our Lord? Compared to caring for our community, and our earth? What concerns our church governing board the most—money? Numbers of people on a Sunday morning?
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Love God With All Your Mind
As I reflect on my own faith, I have to ask myself in what ways does my life reflect my statement that nothing is more important to me than relationship with God, and passing that on to the next generation? How does the way I channel my resources, the way I prioritize my energy, and my focus, the way I live out my dailies, reflect what I say is my conviction?
