At a time when millions appear to be caught in the throes of the Faith-Prosperity Movement, subscribing to the notion that Christians should be reaping financial rewards in this life, I’m quite sure these verses aren’t regularly referred to in such circles. For such it can be an exceptionally hard thing to come to terms with the fact that a fixation on money is actually evidence of one’s discontentment with Christ. You either believe that in spite of modest financial resources by the world’s standards He is always with us, never forsaking us, or you don’t and show it by embracing such false doctrines as those twisting Scripture so as to make money a priority. Like most things in life for Christians, it’s a test of faith, a way of establishing that we AREN’T afraid because of our reliance on Him as our sole and ultimate help.
(more…)

It’s unusual to encounter parents who do not have a vision for the kind of person they want their children to be. The parameters and direction of their discipline is often fueled by that vision, to not just produce a minimally acceptable “citizen” who behaves according to the norm, but whose feet are set upon the path to achieve what was envisioned. The topic of discipline is brought up here not as a reminder that God won’t turn a blind eye to sin or wrongful behavior, but in the context of having a greater plan for His children: “holiness” and “righteousness“.
(more…)

One of my endearing personality quirks which has been known to drive some people cuckoo is my obsession with analyzing the lyrics of songs sung at church. I hold to the radical belief that musical style isn’t very important and whether it’s a modern chorus or an ancient hymn or something in between, the lyrics should be based on biblical truth. Recently I began obsessing over a worship team’s choice to use a song whose main tag line, repeated over and over throughout the song, is “I surrender to Your love”. As nice sounding as it may be, it’s not a phrase or concept that I can find in Scripture. And I would suggest that it distracts away from the stated truths that we should surrender to His will, surrender to His Word, or to fight against sin’s every influence. Nowhere in Hebrews does the author question the need for Christ’s love, only the proper response to it which is most often characterized by the word “endure”.
(more…)

Abraham is one of the most often used examples of biblical faith. He is someone who left the old life, lived as a pilgrim going about as God directed during his days on earth, and never returned to the old life but established a foundation for obtaining and doing God’s will. As per the definition of faith in Hebrews 11, Abraham lived seeing and believing in God’s promises to the degree that he treated them as having already been accomplished, even though most of them would not ultimately arrive until well after his departure from this earthly life.
(more…)

As I’ve often pointed out before, both the Hebrew and Greek words for “faith” can also be translated “faithfulness”. To fully understand the proper context it’s often helpful to mentally switch between those words so as to derive the true biblical meaning of “faith’. In the case of this entire chapter devoted to the topic, it’s also useful to note what each and every example given has in common: perseverance. The biblical examples of faithfulness demonstrated their “assurance of things hoped for” and their “conviction of things not seen” by continuing in spite of the external appearance of their earthly circumstances.
(more…)

As I’ve pointed out before, repeated polling data where American Christians are concerned indicate no statistical difference on nearly every issue of morality between those who regularly attend church and those who don’t. There’s no difference in the divorce rate, the incidence of adultery, or nearly any other condition addressed in God’s Word indicating that neither group actually regards the authority of Scripture. And yet God’s Word in both Testaments clearly provides the expectation that the evidence of someone having a right relationship with God is a life so changed from the heart that one is “born again”; that is, so different going forward that people who knew them before the experience can hardly recognize them after. But what happens when this isn’t the case?
(more…)

One of the things I believe we’ve in general lost sight of is how we’re supposed to come together before the Lord, prepared instead of seeking to BE prepared or motivated. In the way that modern church services are carried out, the planners of such services see it as part of their responsibility to get the crowd in the right mood, to use music and such to change whatever attitude the congregants came with into something more suitable. I dare say that most congregants these days expect it to happen this way as well. But the biblical teaching, established first in the Old Testament and confirmed in the New is that each person is supposed to be living faithfully to such a degree that when they come together, they’re already properly prepared to worship and engage Him from a right heart.
(more…)