What he said to them, and how she answered

By Chaplain Mike

As the young couple stood before the minister, dressed in wedding finery, room filled with well-wishers, a life stretched out before them, this is what he said to them.

“A reading from 1 Corinthians 13:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

“As you prepare to make your vows to each other, these words about love from the Bible can guide you in understanding the nature of what you are promising.

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Why Is Faith So Hard?

I have friends who not long ago risked all on the call of God, and lost everything. Let’s call them Seth and Emily. They clearly heard God call them to give up all they had and move to another country for a specific task. (I’m sorry I can’t be more detailed, but this is their story to tell, not mine, so I can only sketch it for you.) They sold or gave away most everything they had accumulated over the years, packed up what was left, and went with their four young children to a country half way around the world.

At first they hated everything about where they lived. Oh, they put on a brave face and tried to find the good, but it was so different from what they were used to, so strange and hostile that it took all of their emotional strength to make it through each day. After a few months they had made some friends. Then they became connected to a group of believers who helped them in the transition. Several months later, they were starting to feel settled–a bit–in their new home.

Then the roof caved in. The task they went to accomplished turned out to be a poison that infected their entire family. Not a real poison, but it might as well have been. It was devastating. Why would God call them to such a place when it was doomed from the beginning? Seth and Emily went about the task of giving away all they had accumulated in this land and returned to the States. Their lives were shattered. They went in faith, faith in the God who called them, and God let them down. When Seth came home, he thought, Maybe I’ll check out what these neo-atheiests have to say. So he read Dawkins and Hitchens. After coming to the conclusion that they were clouds without rain, Seth turned his eyes warily back toward God. This couple now limps through their days, wondering how they will make it.

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Violent Faith

We began our look at the subject of faith by asking a simple question: What if Jesus really meant it when he told his disciples things like, “Ask whatever you will in my name and it will be done for you.” What if he did not lay any other rules or requirements on them than this? And if so, does he mean it for us still today?

I believe that not only does he mean it still, he commands us still to ask and believe and receive. If we do not have faith, we cannot please God. Read Hebrews chapter eleven. Yes, we have faith when we believe God for the forgiveness of our sins, for our entrance into eternity with God himself. But we must continue to exercise faith daily in order to please him. We must believe, according to Hebrews, that He Is. We must believe that He Is when only He Is can make a difference. We are asked at times to believe for something that is, frankly, impossible. We have to trust God to do things, at times, that are beyond the natural–thus, supernatural. We have to believe He Is in times when only He Is can save the day.

And it is in times like this when we believe boldly that the kingdom of God is taken by force.

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What Makes A Christian?

A story in this past Saturday’s Ramblings talked about President Barak Obama’s confession of faith in Jesus. He called himself a “Christian by choice.” Yet some of this community refuse to believe he is a true believer. Some think that he has not made a good, complete confession.

My point today is not decide if our president is a true believer or not. No—I want to know what you think makes anyone a believer. Just what makes one a Christian? Is it a specific group of words that must be confessed? A certain set of beliefs that must be embraced? Are there outward actions, such as baptism, that are requirements before one can be “saved.” What is the bottom line for one becoming a Christian?

Now, here are the rules. You may share your thoughts freely. But you may not put anyone else down for their thoughts. Let me clue you in on something, ok? You are not God. And because you are not God, you don’t have all the answers. It is a good thing for you to listen to what others have to say, even if you don’t agree with them. You may ask questions to clarify what others say. You may respond that they are causing you to rethink your position. But if you try to argue against someone’s else’s ideas in this post, your comment will get deleted. My finger is hovering over the “moderate” key. Don’t make me use it.

What makes one a Christian? Your comment should be short enough to fit on the back of a Chick tract. Anything longer than that, and you are probably thinking too hard. Ok, iMonks, have at it. The floor is yours.

Beasts In The Kingdom

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, … Genesis 3:1,2

Scripture is a masterpiece of understating and reporting extraordinary happenings with the most matter-of-fact declarations. This Genesis passage is a good example. In the reading of it, we mostly focus on the deception that is taking place, but stop for a moment and consider this: A serpent spoke to Eve and without batting and eyelash, she spoke back to it. What’s up with that?

A creature spoke in Eden and there is no indication that Eve thought it astounding. In my mind, this begs some questions. Was it a common occurrence for animals to speak in the Garden? Did God create man and beast to be able to communicate verbally?

There are several reasons these possibilities may be likely. That the account is recorded in Scripture is certainly one reason. Those who tend to think the Bible is filled with cultural mythology will disagree. However, if God is intent on communicating with the people he created to be in fellowship with him, he’s likely to be direct about it. As our Maker, he’s intimately acquainted with the limits of our intellects and imaginations.Continue reading “Beasts In The Kingdom”

What If He Meant It?

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22 NIV).

As parents of teenagers know, it’s not the purpose of the errand. It’s the opportunity to spend time with a creature who at times seems to be completely mute. Who knows if this might be the time when they actually speak? So when my son asked me to take him shopping for some pants for Homecoming, I readily agreed. (To take care of any suspense, pants were purchased, and he had a good time at the dance with his girlfriend.)

It was when we were on our way home that he spoke the words that still haunt me.

“Some years ago I stopped praying when Jesus didn’t answer my prayer. I read where Jesus said we can have anything we ask for. So I asked for a million dollars. When I didn’t get it, I stopped praying. Now I realize that Jesus didn’t really mean that. He meant when we ask for the right things. We have to follow the rules. We can’t just ask for anything.”

I was pretty quiet the rest of the ride home. Was my son right? Jesus certainly couldn’t have meant what he said, right? We have to follow the rules before our prayers are answered, right?

Or … or what if Jesus really meant what he said. What if Jesus could be taken at his word. What if we really did receive what we ask for in prayer. What if …

I want to spend the next couple of days looking at the topic of faith. This is not going to be an academic study. I just want to see what God expects of us when he tell us to “believe,” to “trust,” to “have faith.” This seems to be very important to God. It always has been.

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Lord, Increase Our Faith

I’m an editor by trade. Ok, that’s one of the things I do. I have waded through hundreds of manuscripts, fiction and non-fiction, trying to use the right words to help the author say what he really means to say. It’s not that authors are dumb. Well, it’s not that all authors are dumb. Sometimes they are thinking of something, but just don’t quite translate their thoughts into words. A section is missing. And it is my job as an editor to point out that there is something missing.

If I were editing today’s Gospel reading, Luke 17: 5-10, I would circle this passage in red and send it back to the author with a note reading, “Help me understand how these two thoughts connect, please.”

5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.”

6 The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and thrown into the sea,’ and it would obey you!

7 “When a servant comes in from plowing or taking care of sheep, does his master say, ‘Come in and eat with me’? 8 No, he says, ‘Prepare my meal, put on your apron, and serve me while I eat. Then you can eat later.’ 9 And does the master thank the servant for doing what he was told to do? Of course not. 10 In the same way, when you obey me you should say, ‘We are unworthy servants who have simply done our duty.’” (Luke 17: 5-10 NLT)

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How The Whole Town Threw Us A Wedding

Editor’s Note: We typically run a classic post from Michael Spencer at this time on Saturday afternoon. But this essay from Damaris Zehner is just too good to postpone.  We will have a classic post from Michael again next Saturday. For now, enjoy one of the best feel-good stories I have read in a long time.


Our twenty-fifth wedding anniversary was just a few weeks ago.

Andy and I met as Peace Corps volunteers in Liberia in 1985.  We had six weeks together in training, with 90 other Americans and some wonderful Liberian trainers.  We knew we liked each other right away, but we hardly had time to get to know each other in the midst of the mob.  There’s a photograph of us taken by a friend of ours – at least he was until that point – up in a tree, illuminated by a glaring flash.  We had thought it was one place we could have a little privacy.

Then we were assigned to different towns, he to Zwedru, I to Gbanga.  They were no more than 150 miles apart, but the one road that connected them was the consistency of oatmeal in the rainy season.  It could take a week to travel the distance, and sometimes the road was impassable.  There were no phones, of course, and no internet.  We wrote letters to each other, adding on to them day by day until we heard of someone who was traveling to the other town and could take them.  At least one of my letters was over forty pages long.

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Saturday Ramblings 10-2-10

Well, well, well. We have had a busy week here at the iMonk ranch. Many of our posts have collected more than 100 comments from you and yours. Several have had more than 200 responses. My, my—you all have been very busy! It’s time to relax, pour a cup of coffee (make mine black, please), put your feet up and get ready to ramble. Why? Because it’s Saturday.

“And I think also understanding that, you know, that Jesus Christ dying for my sins spoke to the humility we all have to have as human beings — that we’re sinful and we’re flawed and we make mistakes, and that we … achieve salvation through the grace of God.” That’s a pretty straightforward Gospel message, don’t you think? But there are many who, even when they hear this, will not believe the one who said it is a Christian. They will insist he is lying and not believe him. Why not? Simply because of his political leanings. How is it that we are so judgmental? And why do we allow one’s politics to dictate whether or not we except that one as our brother or sister? You can read about this person’s profession of faith here and here.

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Difficult Scriptures: Genesis 6:1-4

Well, iMonks, based on the comments we have received for our post regarding life on other planets, it seems you have a curiosity about speculative things, the stuff science fiction is made up of. So here is a verse for you to wrestle with that is just up your alley.

1 Then the people began to multiply on the earth, and daughters were born to them. 2The sons of God saw the beautiful women and took any they wanted as their wives. 3Then the Lord said, “My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years.” 4 In those days, and for some time after, giant Nephilites lived on the earth, for whenever the sons of God had intercourse with women, they gave birth to children who became the heroes and famous warriors of ancient times (Genesis 6:1-4, NLT).

Who are the “sons of God” taking wives in verse two? And just who were their offspring, these “giant Nephilites”? Are their any descendants of these creatures still among us? Name some of these heroes and famous warriors for us, if you can.

Perhaps the most intriguing issue is verse three. In between these sons of God taking wives and giving birth to giants, the writer of Genesis tells us God imposes a limit on the number of years a man may live. What does this have to do with the Nephilites? Just what is going on in this passage?

If I didn’t know better, I might think Ray Bradbury was involved in all of this somehow. Or Robby the Robot.

It just does not compute.