Forged By Faith

Matthew 10:38 NIV What are you willing to lose? That question has been rolling around my mind for several days now. Contrary to what some out there are teaching, a life of faith isn't one of worldly gain. Giving our lives over to Jesus doesn't mean we'll find fame, fortune, comfort, or acceptance. We've touched on that over the last few days. Most recently, yesterday's post discussed this opportunity we have to become undignified among those who have no problem pointing out our foolishness and their opinions about our faith. But all too often, we tend to find ourselves catering far too much to the preferences and pressures of the world around us. And it's hard to keep from it. This place has all of these expectations that everyone is expected to adhere to in their lives. There's this modus operandi amongst this society that tells us how we're expected to live, what we're allowed to believe, and what we had better agree with. But the thing that we as

2 Samuel 6:22 NIV There’s a rather sad reality that I believe we’re seeing unfold these days. I'm afraid that we're losing our willingness to look like fools. We're losing the courage to be judged for living with a childlike faith that seems silly to much of the world around us. We're losing the joy, the excitement, the peace of this Gospel that we've been given. We're giving them all away in this ongoing effort to satisfy this innate desire to fit some mold and blend into the crowd and simply live with a faith that's basically unnoticeable to those around us. We're becoming scared, but what is it that we're scared of? I think one of our biggest fears when it comes to our faith is the realization that it doesn't make sense to those on the outside. It makes us look foolish to live our lives according to what many consider a bunch of antiquated ideas and nonsensical rules and this fairy tale of a story that only a child would believe in. There has

1 Chronicles 15:29 NIV I want to share with you one of the rules that I live by: This world will judge you anyway, so give them something to judge. You see, the church today is seeking to make itself seem appealing and accepting and loving, as it should, but I’m terrified that we’re starting to go about it the wrong way. We’ve all seemingly become scared of offending people and being judged for sticking to the Word of God that is never going to be popular in this world. And so we’re starting to see little concessions being made in this effort to avoid coming across as the staunch and brazen soldiers of faith that we’re truly called to be. We just don’t want to turn people away from faith, but if we allow ourselves to resort to sharing lies or covering the truth in order to achieve that goal, then we’re doing more harm than good. It's one thing to be curious as to what other people may say about us or what they may think about the choices we make. We’ve all done that to some extent

Matthew 7:21 NIV Are we living as servants to the Kingdom of God or merely as slaves to the court of public opinion? Do we have hearts set on fulfilling God's will, completely forsaking any and all outside influence? Are we willing to face the hatred and stinging rebuke that's sure to come with speaking truth in a world that's built to run on fallacy? Are we truly bold enough to stand upon the Word of God knowing that it likely means we'll have very little company? Are we willing to lay down our lives and cast aside our innate desire for comfort, or are we maybe trying a little too hard to find our way to some middle-ground between faith in Christ and fear of man? I think that sadly, many are seeking that middle-ground. They're trying to find some feasible way to live a life of faith that pleases God yet also doesn't invoke hatred and strife from a society that's devolving away from Him. They've gotten it in their minds that they can create this version

Galatians 1:6 NIV Why is there such a willingness to distort or pervert the true Gospel of Christ? Not out in the midst of a fallen world, trust me, I get that part. I completely understand why people flee from the message of the cross and the required repentance that our faith demands. This place doesn't want anything to do with being upright, honorable, responsible, moral, compassionate, or even kind. Common decency fell dead along the road a long way back and society just kept right on going. So I understand why the message our faith is built upon garners no interest in this dumpster fire of a society. But what I'm talking about is within the church body itself. Why are so many people who are willing to bear the title 'Christian' seemingly unwilling to bear the kind of life that a follower of Christ is expected to uphold? Why are so many willing to take things out of context, gloss over certain topics, and blatantly say that some things aren't wrong when the Bibl

2 Corinthians 2:17 NIV Nothing to hide. Nothing to gain. Nothing to lose. That literally hit me yesterday right after I hit the post button to share yesterday's message. And I thought on it for a lit bit and actually deleted yesterday's post so that I could add it on at the end. There are so many who seem to have an angle or an agenda or a hidden motive for sharing God's word. But if we're trying to gain something personally, then I'd say that it's a fairly safe assumption that we're going about this all wrong. You see, everything we do in life already brings some air of outside influence. We can't help but wonder what others may think of whatever we may say or do. We wonder how we'll be received. We wonder if we should edit or tweak or alter something in order to make it more acceptable and appealing to those on the receiving end. After all, most of what we do is done in order to accomplish something. And if our words or actions are ignored or deeme

2 Corinthians 2:4 NIV Yesterday we discussed the fact that Christ didn't come to this earth to bring condemnation or unleash God's wrath upon humanity. He came to bring salvation. He came to offer hope. He came to share a message of forgiveness of sin and the gift of a new life spent serving something far better than our depraved selfish desires. He came to help us all see that there is a better way than the one in which we've spent our entire lives living. He came to set us free through a truth that holds the power to break chains, tear down walls, and bring the dead to life. However, somewhere along the line that message got all distorted and jumbled and confused as we realized that it simply wasn't popular. It's a message that every believer desperately wants everyone to hear and take to heart because we know the life-changing power it holds. We've felt the freedom. We've experienced the renewal. We've been able to learn to see life in a completely ne

John 3:17 NIV Yesterday we discussed what we're fighting against and what we're fighting for, and the very important difference between the two. Unfortunately, it's a difference that tends to be misunderstood. Those misunderstandings come because we're here doing something different than the status quo that the wicked masses have decided upon following. We're here carrying a message that is offensive to those who are accustomed to believing in lies and living according to the deception of sin. Unfortunately, our task will be met with hatred and strife as those outside of our faith are unaware of the definition of love we’ve been given from our Father through our Savior. Sadly this world thinks that disagreement means condemnation. They have settled for equating love with acceptance. People have chosen to believe that those who don’t agree with their choices or actions simply hate them and don’t want them to be happy. Those who are lost in the dark don’t understand t

Ephesians 6:12 NIV Our charge to share the Gospel in this place is one that is sure to bring all sorts of different challenges. It will inspire confrontation. It will lead to misunderstandings. It will cause strife and strain and struggle. We will face opposition and a whole horde of those who take our sharing of God's truth as a personal attack on them because it confronts the lies that they’ve allowed to form the foundation of their existence when in reality it's an attack on the sin in which we've all been lost and held captive. But as hard as it may be, and as difficult as the odds may seem, and as often as people may take it wrong, it's a duty that we simply cannot ignore, avoid, or take lightly. You see, one of the biggest issues we face in sharing the Gospel is that people have learned to hate truth. They have gone for so long only listening to only what affords them the ability to remain delightfully lost in the dark where they feel as if they can do anything th