Forged By Faith

Isaiah 29:13 NIV The more we never really do. It’s the very same as what’s caused this distance now found between us and both who we were created to be, the better we were meant to remain, and He who created us in the image of the better we’ve both never been but also somehow manage to still believe is out there waiting somewhere for us to track down what’s then always impossible to find by feet that don’t move and souls that gave up believing they should. Indeed, we’ve all become but frozen in this place of a faith that allows for us to go on as unchanged as we delight to be. Each of us so retired from trying to improve our own lives that all we do anymore is seek to inspire those around us to give up working on or in theirs as well. And why? Because we've each now long been disciples of dishonesty, learning only the burning of one another to the ground via the flame of our making a name that's all our own, and yet this always done by just us living alone only a life all but o...

Isaiah 30:10 NIV When confronted with confrontation from among a cancerously cantankerous culture one has but two considerations: Cower until you concede or chase courage until things change. Even if things never change. Here. Because that’s the overall trajectory of life both promised in the Word and debated, denied, declined and decried amongst the world. It’s proven, unequivocally and ultimately undeniably that all manner of life as lived within this land is eventually aimed outward in that we’re spending time that’s running out, we’re all called to come both out of ourselves and out of these surroundings, and eventually that we are all going to be venturing out of this world and of this life and thus of this life as lived like this world to be liked by this world so as to share in their fear of that finality perhaps not being quite so final after all. That’s what underscores all this agitation that otherwise undermines all good efforts given unto good works aimed at achieving a bet...

2 Timothy 4:3 NIV I think it’s fairly safe to say that we’re past the whole “will come” part. The time has come. This time has come. This foretold period of intense idiocy. This time of fellowship based on foolishness. This time of friendship built upon frivolity and fear of feelings. This time of ego only entertaining the erroneous expressions of errant emissaries. This time we've been warned about in which people will no longer put up with sound doctrine has reared its extremely ugly head, and the ability to simply shrug it off or pretend it isn't all that bad has ended. I was rethinking the past few posts last night trying to think of what needed to be discussed next and this one hit me like a haymaker. The fear of man, the attitudes with which we'll unfortunately be faced in our efforts to try and help those around us learn of a love that exists to accomplish more than mere happiness and comfort, and the warnings of persecution that we’re beginning to see the birth pang...

1 Peter 1:16 NIV When I was a kid, I wanted to be just like my dad. He used to be an area supervisor for a local convenience store company, and he'd always wear dress clothes and button-down shirts and ties, and so I did too. Apparently I'd button my little dress shirts up all the way to the top button, top it off with a clip-on, and walk around like a little version of my dad. He's the hardest-working, most family oriented man that I know, and I have such a deep appreciation for everything he does and everything he has helped me learn. And I'm thankful that God gave me such a good dad to learn from and be encouraged by. But then the day came when I didn't put a dress shirt on. I didn't grab that clip-on tie. I didn't try to copy my dad. I didn't do everything he did or say everything he said. I started changing. I started making different choices. And as I grew up, those choices grew more different, more unique, more like me and less like him. And I thi...

2 Kings 5:11 NIV How many times have we been instantly upset because something didn't go how we expected it to go? Safe to say that we've all been there countless times! We dream up these grand illusions of these perfect circumstances and remain completely unaware of the fact that we're probably just setting ourselves us to be disappointed. Life never goes how we expect it to go. And when it comes to our faith, well, we may as well throw everything we thought we knew out the window and prepare to be surprised. It’s not that we don’t trust God’s plans. It’s not that we don’t want His will to be done. It’s often just that we want His plans and His will to go along with our expectations. Our expectations make sense to us. We’ve spent plenty of time tinkering and tweaking our desires and goals so that they fit just right with what we understand. If it doesn’t make sense to us then it makes us doubt everything. If something doesn’t go according to our plans then we’re liable to ...

Hosea 6:6 NIV We're all so used to thinking that we have to do everything by the book in order to earn something in life. We've been told so many times that if we check all the boxes and dot all the i's then we'll be able to earn what we're hoping to find. And I think that same idea has managed to creep into our faith as well. As a result it's so easy to get lost in the requirements that we think we need to meet. But the fact is that God isn't looking for us to check all the right boxes. He doesn't expect us to do everything absolutely perfect all the time. He knows that we're prone to making mistakes and messing things up to the point that we need a miracle to find our way out. So to think that we can manage to earn His love or acceptance is only creating this impossible hurdle for us to climb over. Faith is about more than our church attendance record. It's about more than our ability to memorize Scripture. It's bigger than making sure we s...