| quote of note |
| “The nature of a paradigm is such that it cannot change unless it is replaced" - Sarah Sumner |
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| Thursday, November 12, 2009 |
| Psalm 27:14 Waiting on the Lord |
| Read this passage this morning:
Psalm 27:14 "Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!
Why is it so hard to wait for God? I feel like I have been waiting for some resolution in a few areas in my life. Not that these things are going to kill me, but I feel that God is close to answering, to coming through, and then...he doesn't. At least not in the way I think. Not even in any way. So....my thoughts are that God is having me wait.
The thing about waiting is, it takes faith. Maybe thats why I don't want to wait, because I don't have the faith I should in God. Shouldn't "wait" be a good enough answer for me if I trust God? If I trust God to care for me I would know that when he has me wait it is for a purpose, for my own good, for something better than I have pictured or planned for. Yet, here I sit, waiting and hating it. God increase my faith in you.
Labels: faith, psalm 27, waiting |
posted by Unknown @ 8:47 AM   |
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| Tuesday, June 10, 2008 |
| Faith - A Poem |
It's there I know it
at least I think I know it
I know it has grown
despite my lack of feeding it
it searchs for food
searches for nourishment
showing great resilience
taking the little it's been given
it survives
it does not recieve enough
but it gives everything
its roots are deep
growing around and through
the concrete of doubt
reaching sunlight
giving blooms of hope
beauty flowering
in the midst of weeds
at times it seems distant
even separate from me
yet I am reminded
I'm not feeding it
its feeding me
- ben thomasLabels: doubt, faith, poetry |
| posted by Unknown @ 10:47 AM |
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| Sunday, April 13, 2008 |
| Head and Heart |
Just read Mark 6:34-44, you can read it here. It got me thinking of how we view resources. When I say resources, I am not just talking about money or material resources, but time, energy, wisdom, knowledge, as well as other things. In this passage Jesus expands the present resources to far exceed the needs of the people. The disciples were not sure what to think, even after it happened, because it doesn't make much sense when this type of thing happens.
We have all grown up to learn basic math skills accompanied by an unconscious understanding of the law of physics. In our world resources are scarce, although not so much in America, even so, we know that when something is gone it is gone. Yet Jesus breaks these aforementioned rules of creation and stands them on their head. The resources that these disciples posessed seemed limited but turned out to be so much more in the hands of the one in which "all things were created".
Now to me. My wife and I have been talking today about where God might be leading us in a few ways, and quite frankly I have looked in the basket and there just doesn't seem to be enough bread and fish to feed these dreams. I am very much a "seeing is believing" type of person, although I try to see with eyes of faith. I have a history of being "skeptical" about the miraculous even when it happens to me. Don't get me wrong, my theology holds within it an understanding of God's miraculous ways. I believe he can heal, mend, create, fix, provide, give wisdom, and much more. But I think the problem with this is where the belief comes from: my head.
I overheard a very wise woman today saying to group of people that true faith is in the head and the heart. If it is only in the head it doesn't work. Sure we can know with our heads that God can do anything, but do we believe with our hearts? So, I know (intellectually) that God is fully capable of taking what little time, resource, and energy Tif and I have and expanding it in an unexplainable way, breaking all the rules of physics and the space time continuum, because he is by definition God. But do I believe with my heart? This is a whole other leap. Knowing requires an understanding of theological concepts. Believing demands an investment of expectation. Can I expect something that seems so unlikely up against the laws of nature?
So, I pray today that God help my heart catch up with, teach, and compliment my head. For it is in both that faith is born. We can't do with out either. Labels: faith, knowledge, miracles |
| posted by Unknown @ 10:34 PM |
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| Tuesday, February 27, 2007 |
| Those Bones, those bones, those...dry bones... |
 So they found the box that held the bones of Jesus? I remember the first Philosophy of Christian Religion class that I took in seminary from Dr. Jerry Walls, and how he asked the question, "What would it mean to your faith if the bones of Jesus were found?".
So what would it mean? It would mean that he didn't bodily rise and ascend to heaven. It would mean that Jesus wasn't the "first fruits" of resurrection like Paul said he was; and it would mean that a basic foundation of the Chrsitian faith was false.
No need to worry though, for it seems pretty clear with even a brief look at the evidence that this box didn't hold Jesus' bones. Dr. Ben Witherington wrote a good article here. If you didn't know, Dr. Ben wrote James the Brother of Jesus a book with Hershel Shanks about the recent find of the James', the brother of Jesus, ossuary. Interestingly enough, the so called "Jesus ossuary" was found 20 years ago. It has been explored now for almost thirty years. It is pretty clear for reasons Witherington mentions in his article that there is no truth to it being Jesus of Nazareth's burial box. But the question remains. If Jesus' bones were found what would it do to your faith? Labels: archeology, faith, Jesus, ossuary, Witherington |
| posted by Unknown @ 11:49 AM |
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