Courageous Faith

The natural goal of fear is to promote self preservation - a fight or flight response. For a Christian, however, fear can take you from a place of faith and power to a place of anxiety and shut down the Mission of Jesus when people most need it. So how do we address the waves of fear and despair that continue to billow from every direction? Recognize that in as much as I am fear-filled, my life is still my own. It seems like many ministers are spending a lot of time telling their people how to apply their faith to "protect themselves" from the current "threat." In listening to this, it strikes me that the focus is placed on the individual and counterproductive. I don’t fault anyone for concern, but “faith” for self-preservation denies three important truths: 1) If I have given my life to Christ, it is no longer my life to worry about. 2) An inward-focused church is not a mission-focused church. 3. God's faith working by love within us is for others! 1) I

Faith moves mountains; Jesus said so in Mark 11:22-24 . If you take a look at the word “faith” in a New Testament dictionary you will find that at its root, possessing faith simply means being convinced or persuaded about something . In the context of Jesus’ statement , m ountain-moving faith comes from being persuaded by God that He can do what he says He can do! [a] The Lord, by His Holy Spirit, is working to persuad e hearts towards His desired outcomes for this region. As hearts are persuaded, people begin to agree with the Lord and one another. He instills a common and all encompassing vision and His vision is His strategy for the church. It is essential that every believer seek to be persuaded by the Lord and filled with His passion and purpose if we are going to see the mighty move of His Spirit here. A move of God Is much more than and event, too. It constitutes a litera l change in the spiritual landscape of a region! While a n event concludes when the chair

Amos 3:3 poses one of the most important questions in all of scripture: “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” (NKJV). The obvious and logical answer to the question is no, two cannot walk together unless they agree. In the context of walking with the Lord, however, the deeper question is who is supposed to agree with whom? Everyone has desires; they are innate to the human condition. God, the creator of all life, understands the human condition. He also understands that what is innate to us is not necessarily beneficial to us. God, in His great love, seeks only the best for all of His creation. The problems in the world do not exist because of a complacent or passive God, but because of the willfulness of men — believer and unbeliever alike. God says, “Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short that it cannot save; nor is His ear so dull that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1). God has taken action to save and bring His blessing to the world through Jesus. Man, however, has

I think engineering is a fascinating field. I’ve had the pleasure of working with engineers on a number of public works projects during my years in local government. From street construction and flood control, to water lines and sewers, I was always amazed at how the engineers would consider the variables surrounding a project, run the calculations and come up with a final design to build something that actually worked. Engineers combine experience with industry standards to account for every foreseeable situation that could affect the construction process as well as the long-term use of whatever they are designing. Projects are always designed to withstand the maximum potential use of the finished product, such as the maximum weight that a bridge must bear at any given point. While the focus of architecture is on aesthetics, functionality and other design elements, engineering brings “exactness” into the creative process. The engineer makes sure a building can withstand the forces