Forged By Faith

Colossians 4:5 NIV “for which I am in chains” I wonder what our world would be like would that we could share in what Paul seemed to see even in his captivity. What might it be to feel that kind of urgency to continue doing something that meant so much that not even prison was allowed to alter our passion? What if we could see through the chains we wear unto the beauty of our being here able to share stories of our too having held them so as to help others see that we have a Savior who came to destroy them? What might we have to say if that was the story we felt we couldn’t help but share? What if the Gospel was the story we felt we simply had to share no matter when, no matter where? It’s these sorts of questions that I find my mind asking my heart in what’s been a now long-fought fight between my head and my hope as was for a long time held inside a heart that just wouldn’t listen to anything anyone else had to say. For in that way all I felt I had to say was this story about what ma...

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...

Hebrews 12:1 NIV To know that you've been held back from a life of deeper meaning and more meaningful purpose is altogether gut-wrenching. But to know that millions around you may never care to know true freedom as it exists only on the other side a wrongly lived life laid down is as devastating a realization as a human mind can consider. Because along this narrowing path unto which we’ve been called, it's not just our freedom which is found. No, so too do we find that too few others care to find theirs. And yet, despite the division deepening between us and a world we remain in though no longer of, that the weight of that saddening realization remains firmly in place no matter where we go or how hard it becomes to speak the truth in a world in love with lies testifies to the true purpose of our very existence. It's not what we've always thought it was. We're not here for all we've always assumed we were. Our lives are indeed not our own, and yet that's a tr...

Isaiah 43:19 KJV Eventually all which has been lost, left set adrift atop a sea of uncertainty and sorrow, will wash up onto the beaches of what may well feel a war-torn reality. It’s just inevitable. Inevitable because it's promised by He who authored reality and the inevitability of eternity into being. Thus it's something that all of us either have or will experience for ourselves at some point. Problem is that that point seems to have at least some hinging upon the decision between our embracing the willingness to embrace it or our continuing to swing over onto the opposite path where we simply continue trying to avoid it for as long as possible. Now don't get me wrong, I do understand why we want to avoid the crippling fall back into the reality from which we've been running. It's because it's crushing to see the many missteps and missed opportunities now forever a part of our story written by our pride thinking we had both the right and the ability to stea...

Proverbs 10:17 NIV As much as seeking wisdom isn't a soloist's pursuit, the rewards gleaned profit more than merely a lone individual. Sadly, society has devolved into such selfishness that we’ve broken beyond a point from which there may be no return where now even the idea of faith and the wisdom upon which it’s built is seen as a hobby undertaken alone for the benefit of only a single person. And as we move forward delving deeper only into ourselves, we’re losing the communal aspect of what the church is supposed to be. There’s this selfishness innate within each of us that is of such alarming depth that we've likely not the ability to realize the countless opportunities we're given to share life with others in such a way that allows us all to mutually benefit from the blessing of edification. All too often, we simply resort to shrinking back into these reclusive little hideouts we've carved in life in order to keep us safe from having to do anything we’ve lost t...

Psalm 37:30 NIV Many may see themselves wise within their own eyes, but if they fail to prove wise unto those within earshot, their lofty opinion of themselves may well hasten the fall of another. You’ll have noticed we’ve been talking quite at length about wisdom of late. That’s because we live in times wherein wisdom is seen as something uniquely definable by each individual. So many people writing so many false truths into their lives, but not stopping with themselves, seeking to also graft their ideologies into the hearts and minds of those around them. And it’s this indescribable insanity against which we must rage if we’re to come anywhere close to standing for anything decent. Let alone if we’re to actually uphold such a calling as we’ve been given. Contrary to common conceptuality, wisdom isn’t a solitary pursuit. It’s a communal commonality not able to be determined by any one person within that community. Wisdom is a gift handed down from the One who authored truth, the truth...