Thoughts on Faith
-
Walking in a Manner Worthy to Our Calling
“Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called” Ephesians 4:1 (ESV) “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” Colossians 1:10 (ESV) This word worthy is used to mean “as if you deserve it”. “Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord”, boils down to: you have received God and His gift and now walk as if you deserve it. As Christians we know that what we deserve is death because of our sin (Romans 6:23) and that the eternal life which we have received is not…
-
The Blindness of Judgement
“By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
-
Why Should I Care About God?
Sometimes we think of God as a far off being who takes no interest in our lives. We don’t think of Him as caring about our worries, desires, problems, and joys. We know that Jesus is supposed to be our best friend, God like our daddy; but this is just head knowledge that doesn’t serve us very well when deep down we think that God is actually just waiting to catch us out when we do something wrong.
-
Oh You of Little Faith
Who do you trust in? Think about that seriously. Do you trust your mom, dad, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, best friend, cousin, teacher…? Do you trust God? If you said no, I would encourage you to read this But I would guess you said yes. I mean after all, most of the people reading this blog have made a major decision: the decision to trust in God for their eternal salvation. You have decided that for a future you cannot see, cannot know about with absolute certainty, cannot fully comprehend because our entire human mindset only views that which begins and ends. You have trusted God for that eternity believing…
-
Why Should I Pray
I am a very logical and curious person and sometimes this can be to my detriment. It can also be difficult for the people around me because I will not be convinced that I should do something until it makes sense to me. This means that sometimes I won’t do something that I have been told I should be doing if I don’t understand why I should do it. Because I didn’t understand it, I have neglected to pray for a large portion of my life. I have wondered, for a long time, “Why should I pray?” Maybe you have a similar personality to me, or maybe you’re a new…
-
The Humanity of Bible Characters
When I was a kid, I had a belief. You might think this belief is weird or strange or doesn’t make sense. But I had it, nonetheless. My belief was that I was the only real human being in existence. Everyone else around me, including my parents, were robots. Why this huge amount of robots? Well, because God didn’t want me to be lonely so he provided me with some company. Also, don’t worry, I always had a good theology and so of course there had been another human on earth at one point and that was Jesus Christ (the incarnation is important). So why did I think that other…
-
The Blessing of Simple Bible Reading
As a Bible student I spend a lot of time studying certain topics in the Bible in depth. I’ll focus on specific passages or specific doctrines and do a lot of studying and learn a lot about that singular thing. The problem is that sometimes I land up feeling like I am losing grasp on the Bible as a whole. I get so bogged down on the particulars of the story that I forget about what the story tells me from a simple read through. Today, while I was at a young adults Bible conference, I had the privilege of going through God’s word with a group of like-minded people…
-
Run to Jesus
“That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord he put on his outer garment for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.” – John 21:7, ESV After Jesus’ death he appeared to the disciples. In this verse we see how Peter reacted to seeing Christ again. He threw himself into the sea to get to Jesus as fast as possible. I think this is a great picture of how I need to react towards Christ. I need to be ready to fling myself into His open arms. My love for Him should…
-
Lord Use My Personality
I was sitting at the table at my friends house, old enough now to be considered one of the adults but not quite old enough to be part of the central conversation. I was on my best behaviour, because my friend just happens to be the pastor’s daughter and her guests just happened to be missionaries who were visiting for lunch. In the middle of dessert, the missionary wife turned to my friend and complimented her on her gentle and quiet spirit and how she had such a calm way about her. I smiled, all the while thinking two things: 1. that was such a missionary thing to say, no…
-
Follow Me as I Follow Christ
When I was 14 years old I went on a camp that I didn’t want to go on. It was a Christian camp with a bunch of people I didn’t know. I had been saved for several years by that stage but had just begrudgingly moved to a new church and was not very happy with God. I went on the camp to please my parents but I was completely determined to not have fun. On the fourth night of the five day camp I dedicated my life to the Lord and it changed me. I made the commitment that whatever God wanted me to do with my life I…
