Where Is the Faith?
2010-02-24

Let's try this again, Lord. You know, I started one yesterday, but had to stop to go get food for Christi and Stephanie. And then the rest of that evening went pretty sour. So I'm trying again today. I shouldn't get interrupted this time. I'm asking again for you to show me something new about you today. Give me some wisdom. Draw me close to you.


I'll start with a prayer from the Presidential Prayer team site.

President Targets New Effort to Improve Education
At a meeting yesterday with state governors, President Obama spoke about new efforts to improve education for college and for jobs. Obama plans to create college and career-ready standards in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Last year the president challenged states to develop standards and assessments that could encourage children to work hard to graduate from high school prepared for college and the workplace. The president is calling for a redesigned Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The act aims to better teacher preparation to improve classroom instruction. The goal is to help states improve education to successfully prepare students for college and the workplace. �America�s prosperity has always rested on how well we educate our children�but never more so than today,� said President Barack Obama.

Pray for our President to choose to reinforce our nation�s education system. Pray that values and our nation�s Christian heritage return to educational curriculums.



Psalm 29:3-9

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters.
The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.
The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf and Sirion like a young wild ox.
The voice of the LORD flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD makes the deer give birth and strips the forest bare, and in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The first thing we have to keep in mind is that these Psalms were, in fact, songs. So if this one doesn't exactly read easily, you might try to think of it in terms of being sun in a congregation. Of course, it might be hard to come up with an appropriate melody, but if you are familiar at all with Middle Eastern music you might be able to hear it.

Anyway, the point of this Psalm is the mighty power of God exhibited in nature. "All of nature trembles at the sound of His voice." Everything that happens in this passage is attributed to the voice of God. "In our day, we think of man as being bigger than he is and God as being smaller than He is. This distortion makes us lose perspective on what is important and causes us to major on minor issues. We major in minor issues when we reduce the mystery of the Godhead to a raionalistic system, when we get wrapped up in external behaviors rather than in internal reality, and when we explain Christianity in numbers rather than by an intimate relationship with the Lord. We need to hear again the voice of Almighty God as it resounds like tympani rolling, cymbals crashing, and brass bands playing fanfares--all climaxing in one eruption of praise and a might crescendo of glory."

Wow. Very well put by Don Wyrtzen in A Musician Looks At the Psalms!



Micah 7:18

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Matthew Henry says this: "The meanest and most feeble, who have just begun to trust the Lord, are as much entitled to be protected as those who have long and faithfully been his servants. It is our duty to defend the afflicted, who, like the Gibeonites, are brought into trouble on our account, or for the sake of the gospel. Joshua would not forsake his new vassals. How much less shall our true Joshua fail those who trust in Him! We may be wanting in our trust, but our trust never can want success. Yet God's promises are not to slacken and do away, but to quicken and encourage our endeavors." (From commentary on Joshua 10:7-14)

That one statement, "We may be wanting in our trust, but our trust never can want success" hit me right between the spiritual eyes. Here's what I got out of that. We need to trust God, that is true. But whether we do or not, he still comes through for us! Do you get that? His actions and the outcomes of the situations in our lives are really not dependent on our trust! They are dependent on our mighty God!

I just got goosebumps.



Matthew 10:9-10

Acquire no gold nor silver nor copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, nor two tunics nor sandals nor a staff, for the laborer deserves his food.

Here, Jesus has just called out all of his apostles, and is about to send them out through the land.

"Jesus commanded the apostles not only to refrain from charging fees for their services, but also not to amass a great amount of wealth in advance of their mission. They were to proceed with empty money belts and were not even to take a bag or sack for food.
"The apostles were also to go forth with a minimum of other provisions. That meant leaving behind extra clothing, footwear, and protective equipment. They were simply to trust their Lord for the provision of whatever else was needed."
(Quoted from John MacArthur in Daily Readings From the Life of Christ)

Oh, my. I don't even know where to start. Can we honestly look at our practices today and say that we are following the teachings of Jesus in this area? We have a good friend who is a missionary in South America. We send him support every month. But he couldn't even begin his ministry down there until he had dredged up a certain amount of support. In other words, the money had to precede the ministry.

If we set out on a mission following these teachings of Jesus Christ in today's world, we would be railed against as insane. We would probably be restrained by our "loved ones" and potentially put in some kind of institution. "That's crazy!!" "You can't do that, it would never work!"

But it did. The disciples returned from that mission rejoicing!

Where has our faith gone? Does it all tie in with the attitude in the first segment of this journal, that we believe we are bigger than we really are and that God is smaller than he really is??

I've really got to do some meditation and searching after this.



Lord, forgive us for falling so far away from your teachings. Our modern churches have failed in many ways, becuase we have gotten distracted by minor issues, building huge, expensive palaces for worship while millions of people go hungry. We are obsessed with budgets, spending money on things that aren't really important. We can't embark on a ministry unless we are sure we have enough money to do it. We have very small faith, which is an almost infinite sin, because we have an infinitely large God.

Help me to exercise more faith in you, Lord. I praise you that, no matter what my level of trust is, you are going to come through. You are just and trustworthy. You will not fail. But I must also remember that my will is not yours. On the contrary, your will should be mine. Whatever your will is, that should be my will, too. Help me to line up with you in all that you do.

I know that you will glorify your Name, Lord, and I want to do the same. As I prepare for a special time of worship this Sunday, I pray for great wisdom. Let me not approach it with any kind of "agenda," save what you want. I pray that you direct the entire service Sunday.

I praise you for Justin's successful surgery, and am grateful for all the prayers of the saints in this matter. I pray that his recovery will be swift.

I pray, also for opportunities and decisions that Rachel must make. Give her your wisdom in these matters, and I pray that she will seek your wisdom.

Protect our pastor, Bill, as he travels to Ohio this weekend.



I'm going to be thinking about my faith and how it affects my ministry. I'm going to be pondering how we, as the Church, can change the course of a huge boulder that has been rolling out of control for quite a few centuries. Only God can do it.

Grace and peace, friends.



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