Faith, it is an all in proposition.

Early this morning, long before the sun came up, I was outside praying, meditating, and pondering the realities of life. I was thinking of some of the daily challenges that we each face, and I stumbled upon the thought that I hope I have enough faith to deal with the challenges that will come my way today.

Suddenly, it was as if it was daylight all around me, lit by the HUGE cartoon lightbulb that appeared above my head. Not literally, of course, but it was almost that dramatic. The veil was lifted and the the view was clear. There are no degrees of faith, you either have faith or you don't.

The dictionary defines faith as; "great trust or confidence in something or someone." Great confidence, not some level of confidence, but great confidence. That does not leave much room for doubt.

I remember one time while driving through Central Mexico, with a pastor on the way to a mission trip. We were behind a slow truck on a twisty mountain road and we were lamenting the need to pass this truck. He looked over at me as we started into a blind corner he hit his left blinker and said,"Randy, tienes, fe?" (Randy, do you have faith?) He was just kidding, but there was a time of silent counting in all of our heads, waiting to see if a car or truck would come flying around the corner that would have represented our death. For the record, it would not have ended well. My kids and I often play that game now to pass the time while driving.

But that game in the car defines faith, a blind trust in a yet to be determined outcome. But in that game, and in life, it is a yes or no proposition. There are no degrees or maybes. You are all in or all out. It does not mean you can't think about your decision, but at some point faith requires a firm commitment. Are you in or are you out? Do you have what it takes to pull into the other lane?

So my challenge to each of you today is "tienes fe?" Do you have faith? Well... do you? If so, put your turn signal on and move to the other lane, as life is a journey and you are already on the highway. Of course this blog is about religion and spirituality, but I truly believe that this applies to every part of our lives!

Yhea God!

Hold Strong

As the economy weakens and we all feel the pinch. Hold strong to you christian values. It is easy to get side tracked by the fear of upheaval. But remember that the Lord has promised to be with us ALWAYS and to provide for our every need. He is faithful to this. Where we get caught is that our every desire and our materialistic tendencies are not always in convergence with our Heavenly Fathers definition of needs.

Does God care that we have to down-size, I believe so, in that he hates to see us unhappy. I figure this is much the same for him as it is for us to watch out kids learn some of life's tough lessons. It is not that he cares about our life style, but he does care about our life and all that encompasses it.

It is times such as these though, where we become vulnerable to the serious temptations. Divorce rates rise, domestic violence increases as do alcoholism and many other wanton practices as we try to self medicate our souls. The problem lies in that it is not our souls that are hurting, but our human egos and insecurities that are coming into full bloom. It is these time that we need to rely on faith and the scriptures to pull us through.

Hear oh Israel, trust in the Lord your God with all you mind, all your body, all your soul and all of your strength. That verse says it all. The shema, from early on in the old testament to right this second those words have been applicable. Never doubt, have faith.

So what I am asking is that we all bow down as ask the Lord to provide what we NEED in these times and then rely on Him to come through. During all that, live your life in peace and do not let worry and strife destroy who you are. Love your family more, learn to enjoy again the small things and release your need for material goods. He is in control and these times are just a blip on the radar screen of eternity.

Yhea God!