Posts tagged as:

faith

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January 26, 2010

written by Stephan Joubert

Is faith primarily about my own spiritual growth — my own deepening, and my inner battle against sin? Or does faith stretch wider than such personal matters? Does faith affect my daily relationship with others? Does it make a practical difference to the way I treat a waitress or servant, and how much I tip them? Or how I address the person at the supermarket pay point? Does my faith in Christ attribute to my level of concern with polluted water sources, or the fact that the earth is being heated up by poisonous gasses? Does it make a deeper impact on the world and other people’s lives than simply my attendance at bible studies, gatherings, or sermons in my own congregation? If not, then it’s about time that my faith gets relevant in the real world. What does all my piety help if it only makes me a better person, but no one get’s any benefit from this? Then I’m missing the point.

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Believe the Message

December 15, 2009

written by Dries Cronje

After John was arrested, Jesus went to Galilee preaching the Message of God: “Time’s up! God’s kingdom is here. Change your life and believe the Message.” – Mark 1:14-15 The Message (emphasis mine)

Okay, so here, in the first instruction Jesus gives in the Gospel according to Mark, we hear that we need to believe the Message. ‘Believe’ is a verb, just like ‘know’ is a verb. The two are very different verbs… Many people today think of believing in much the same way as knowing. They think you believe something if you are certain of it, with or without any concrete proof or deep understanding. This isn’t wrong. It’s one of the nuances of faith or belief. However, it leaves little room for healthy doubt. We need to wrestle with what we believe…

We have glimpses of the Message of Jesus. We hear stories and parables, accounts of miracles, and questions rather than answers. Perfect stuff for faith. Not so for knowledge. One of the most important things we need to do is to wrestle with this information, to question it, to doubt it, and misunderstand it on our way to some deeper understanding. That’s faith or belief, and a more complete picture of what it truly means to believe. If you just know something, no wrestling or questioning is required.

Listen to what Pete Rollins had to say about this in one of his video teachings.

 

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Put your faith on the table

October 8, 2009

written by Stephan Joubert

Stephan JoubertIn the film “Amen”, two German priests asked their cardinal during the Second World War: “Wouldn’t it help if all German Christians adopted the Jewish religion so that it could force the Nazis to stop their cruelty and inhuman deeds against the Jews?” When their suggestion was dismissed as foolish, one priest decided to become a Jew for the same Jesus that he loved with his whole heart. Eventually he was executed in Auschwitz. Perhaps the greatest sacrifice isn’t to give up your life for the Lord. Perhaps, it’s rather putting your faith in Him on the table. Actually, it’s more than that… It’s what Paul did — putting his place in eternity on the table to contribute to the salvation of other believers. It’s so easy to sing about everything we’re prepared to offer to the Lord. Isn’t this sometimes just pious church talk?

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