Reasonable Faith -

Everywhere I look there are restless souls. We are restless at home, at work, at school, at play, at church and everywhere in between. Our growing problem with insomnia seems to indicate we are even restless at rest.

TV evangelists can be convicted of lying, cheating and misappropriating funds and be back on air in no time, all thanks to grace. I know of church leaders and ex-pastors involved in adulterous relationships, and, you guessed it, their favourite topic is grace.

The word ‘know’ is quite ambiguous. The old King James translation of the Bible used the word ‘know’ in this way: ‘Adam knew his wife Eve and she conceived’. Does that mean knowing someone is all about sex?

Apparently, as a born-again, blood-washed Christian I am dead to sin (Romans 6:2). Romans 6:6 goes so far as to say sin has been ‘brought to nothing’. I am no longer its slave. All this sounds great on paper but in the flesh and blood world where I live things don’t seem to be turning out like Romans describes. I have prayed, claimed and confessed those scriptures and, as of the moment I write this, I am anything but dead to sin…

Unfortunately, some Christians have ignored the mind, falsely believing that the intellect and rational thought would diminish faith and spirituality. So they replaced thinking with feeling. Altar calls and feel-good experiences are poor substitutes for reading, study and meditation. Mindless Christianity produces a fragmented, ignorant world-view that’s open to heresy and superstition…

You are required to worship if you want the presence of God in your life. Worship is everything; it’s what the Christian life is all about. So what is true worship? By now all the non-musical people should have breathed a sigh of relief because true worship has nothing to do with music…

Jesus never went after a crowd. He went after the individual. He didn’t pursue the multitude. He pursued the person. Jesus’ secret to attracting a multitude was the person in the multitude. I’m not saying we shouldn’t have PR, promotion, attractions or whatever is the latest, but Jesus’ first cause - His focus was, and still is, the individual…

When I question people who are bored with their faith I inevitably discover that they don’t meditate, pray or read too much. They are not into seeking. They are like gold prospectors who are not prepared to dig. How much treasure do you expect they will find with that attitude? If you don’t seek, it’s guaranteed, you won’t find…

I’ve also heard song leaders in church say things like, ‘You’d better get used to praising Him, heaven is going to be like this for eternity’. Please tell me it’s not so! A church service that lasts forever? ‘Amazing Grace’ is a grand old song and contains wonderful truth but there are only so many times you can sing that thing. ‘Ten thousand years’ may be a bit long…

Religion causes people to do crazy things. It has often tarnished the reputation of the church and given many people an excuse for rejecting God. It is no surprise then to find out from reading the gospels that Jesus hates religion…

Reincarnation to the Hindu is still a mystery. They don’t know who or what is coming back. But to the Christian the mystery has been revealed

A personal relationship with God differs from one with a fellow human being. The characteristics of love and commitment still need to be present, but a relationship with God departs normality because we can’t see Him. We see the evidence of Him everywhere, but we can’t directly see Him. So what makes a relationship with God work?

Marriage is an important decision but there is one that far exceeds it: your decision to follow Christ. What do you need that will make that commitment last until death does part you from this earth? From reading the Bible and observing great men and women of the faith I would have to say it’s the character quality of endurance…