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Mocking vs Teaching
You may be shocked to find out how many of us mistake mocking for teaching.Could you be one of those people? Read Faith Explored latest article to find out.
http://faithexplored.com/2014/09/stop-mocking-and-start-teaching/
http://faithexplored.com/2014/09/stop-mocking-and-start-teaching/
Share The Faith!
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Have we Mortgaged our Faith?
Check out our latest article to find out http://faithexplored.t15.org/2014/09/have-we-mortgaged-our-faith/.
Valley of the Shadow of Faith
Valley of the Shadow of Faith
If your facing a hard time in your life or know someone who is. This article may be helpful.
Scared to Heaven ? Focus on the journey not the destination
Faith is the journey that so many of us have been missing. In its place Christian leader's seem to be focused on selling their followers on the absence of the destination of hell. Should this be the focus of the christian community? So many of us have heard ministers talk about the topic for years. This seems logical right, no wants the burn in flames for ever. Nor would they want a loved one to suffer such a fate. However there is something very lacking with this type of thinking.
Imagine a man about to propose to his sweetheart. He gets on his knees, and looks deeply into her eyes and asks her to marry him. Shortly followed by his explanation of why if she says no her life will surely be miserable. I don't know about you, but to me this method of message conveying would push me away, not draw me closer.
The issue is not with hell's existence, nor the fact that it can be so often mentioned in most religious circles. We find the issue with the rationality behind the presentation of its sale. Far too often we find it within the salvation message, if not entirely. Are we saved by grace, through our fear of hell? Obviously not, or Paul's words in Ephesians would have read much differently.
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Ephesians 2:8
Through faith we are saved by Gods grace. Then why is faith not the focus of the salvation message? I believe this is because faith is so poorly understood. Often times a great deal of the well meaning ministers stick with what they obviously know hell. At the same time inadvertently steer clear of the critical important and less understood faith.
Now don't get me wrong here. I understand the word faith is far from a hot button that gets people upset. If anything hell would fit such a description far better. It is not like faith is not mentioned at all, or that it isn't presented fairly often. Faith is however sold far short of its true worth. Tossed around and giving away as nothing more then a blind belief in something unknown.
If you have not read my previously post titled Genesis of Faith. I would encourage you to do so now by clicking on the link below. This article lays the foundation for understanding the true meaning of faith.
But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin Romans 14:23
Faith is so important that even converting to Christianity for any other reason then faith could be looked at as sin. As believers we are not only challenged to believe in him, and present to mankind reason for our father in heavens right to reign on his throne. We must also make an undeniable case for putting all our trust in God to be the best candidate for the job of God. This can not be done without a correct understanding of faith, for this is faith. Regardless of how many times an individual is scared by the presentation of hell, such a presentation will never make a case for a person to come to our God in faith as intended.
Genesis of Faith
Genesis of Faith
I view faith as one of the most misunderstood terms in of the christian faith its self. This is very strange giving the term faith is so obviously vital to the description of our belief. However whats more startling is its grand importance to being a true believer. It would be like a race car driver not knowing what a car is. I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be counting on that guy doing well in the race. In the same way can a christian do well in the race of the christian faith without the understanding of what faith is?
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
Before you read any further stop for just a moment and think about what faith means to you.
Often times people will say it means believing in something you have no let seen. Others will take it a step further and say faith is when we display with our deeds that we truly believe what we say we do. This would be like investing in companies stock that you believe will do well. These responses are not completely wrong, but not completely right either. After all isn’t our god more important then the stocks that are sold on wall street.
What is faith then? Well it all started in the beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,
3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:1-3:6
Where did Adam and Eve go wrong? At one time I believed it was as simple has they ate the forbidding fruit. However now I realized there is much more to what is being described here in Genesis. We all know what they did, but why they did it is what is important. Its not the what’s but the why’s that really define a person. Genesis 3:5 is where we find our answer.
They believed they would be like God. We can’t fault them for this fact alone. For they were deceived by the serpent. However when Adam and Eve both choose to bite into the fruit, they proved they did more then believe.
Man kinds first couple wanted to be their own God. Accountant’s usually don’t ask other Accountant’s to do their taxes. In other words they thought they could be there own god and have no need for the true God. This my friend is where faith comes into play, and where the first couple went wrong.
When God asks us to have faith in him, he means much more then believing he exists. Adam and Eve after all certainly believed he existed. They walked and talked with him in the Garden. The missing piece is as simply trust. To be specific trust in God to be the best candidate for the job of God. If you were presented with the throne of heaven. God says to you pick who ever you may including your self to sit upon it . Who would you pick? Sadly Adam and Eve licking faith choose themselves. When we say we have faith in God. Not only are we saying we believe he is God, but he should be and no other.