If faith without works is dead, how about works without faith?

Many of us believe that all we need to do is believe in God and study the bible and this should be good enough to make us  candidates for Heavenly rewards.  What we ignore is the part of the Bible that states  ’Faith without works is dead.’   To me, that means that I can believe until I’m blue in the face but if I do nothing about it, then my faith is useless.   Dead.  Which makes sense.  Why it makes sense?  Well with genuine faith and belief in Him comes the need to be like Him.  If we want to be like him then we have to exhibit good works.

Now if my faith is dead because I have no works to back it up,  how about if I do good works BUT I have no faith and/or belief in God?  I am a good person, right?  My works show that I am, so where do I stand?  That’s a good one.  One that we hear often.   I think that indeed if I go out and do good deeds, without a doubt, I am a good person.  Not Godly, but good.  So don’t I get some sort of reward for doing good? Maybe a free pass to Heaven?  Well consider this, you have a son who you love very much.  You give him whatever he wants and treat him as good as any kid would want to be treated.   Unfortunately, your son does not acknowledge you or love you.  He couldn’t care if you live or die.  But on the flip side, he is great doing his chores and homework.  He is otherwise a good boy.  Would you be satisfied?  Would his works be good enough to make you ignore the fact that he couldn’t care less about you?

My take.   And you, keep up the good work.

 

Related articles

• Faith Without Works is Dead (selfeducatedconservative.wordpress.com)
• Are We Saved By Works? (preacheroftruth.com)

Goals and Resolutions

I gave up on resolutions a few years ago.  I used to make them like they were a batch of cookies.  Made so many that by January 2nd, I would forget what I was supposed to do or not do.  By March, I would forget them all.  They were fun to make but a pain in the butt to keep.

Read the Bible daily, exercise more, eat better, don’t listen to gossip, and that’s for one year.  Like I said, I never got too far from home plate.  Now I set goals instead of resolutions.  What’s the difference?  Well by setting goals, I can afford the odd stumble or even a fall or two.  As long as I keep my goal in sight and keep striving for it, then I’m ok.  I don’t beat myself up as much as I would do for a broken resolution.

Now some of you might say, ‘But aren’t they both one and the same?’ Not really.  You see, at least in my interpretation, a resolution is a formal intent or a will to do something.  A goal is basically the result you hope to attain.  So instead of making a bunch of hard-to-keep resolutions, I can now make a goal that could maybe envelope them.  A goal to maintain a specific weight would mean exercising and eating right but will also leave room for little hiccups like a day off from exercising or an evening pigging out on pizza, without the guilt.   Get where I’m coming from?

It reminds me of a runner in a marathon.  He falls and hurt himself but he gets up and heads for the finish line.   When he crosses, it would not matter how many spills he had or how many times he walked.  What matters is that he crossed that line.

Whether you made resolutions or goals for the new year, make them realistic and don’t go too overboard.  I have a friend that would always have these big and drastic resolutions.  He once said he was quitting coffee altogether.  ”Buddy, why don’t you just cut back your daily consumption instead?”  I said to him.  He didn’t listen and no, he didn’t quit drinking coffee…well maybe for a couple of days.

So whether you are setting goals or making resolutions, I hope they are/were realistic.  Don’t be too drastic as I don’t think any of us could change who we are in one year.  I know, I have tried.

Happy New Year to you and yours!

Related articles

• 5 Reasons Why New Year’s Resolutions Don’t Work (transformationalchoices.wordpress.com)
• You: Top 10 Strategies for Making Your New Year’s Resolution Stick (lifehacker.com)
• Realistic Resolutions (imconfident.wordpress.com)
• My 2013 New Year’s Resolutions (christianitymatters.com)

Casting the first stone

A Mexican standoff. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.”   We all know this Biblical saying.  But imagine what a boring world it would be if we subscribe to it.   None of us are without sin, even if we do not kill, we may lie.    Sin is sin, isn’t it?   if I am to judge my kleptomaniac neighbor, he also has the right to judge me, so  what we have here ladies and gentlemen, is a Mexican standoff.  No stones will be cast today.  You may now proceed to your homes.

In this day and age, casting the first stone is a luxury not readily affordable.  There is a race to get to that first stone and prizes are awarded.  Well at least so it seems.  Everyone’s fingers are pointed at everyone else but themselves.  We see the guy creeping on his wife but our own spousal abuse is overlooked.  As long as we are not cheating, it’s all good.  Sin that is highly visible takes precedent over sin that is behind closed doors and that makes it easier for the closeted sinner to cast the first stone.

Isn’t it funny that casting that first stone is almost the same as being the first one with the correct answer?  We all want to be the one who outed the sinner.  ’I caught him red-handed’ is a triumphant cry, worthy of a trophy but our hands stay in our pockets for fear that they too might be seen to be red.

So why is it so much easier to cast the first stone even if we do not fit the criteria of a qualified stone caster?  Why is it easier to ignore our own failures while pointing out those in others?  Is it even possible for us to first look at ourselves before we look at others?  I fear not.

I don’t know how to pray!

When my then wife-to-be said “I don’t know how to pray” in the early stages of our relationship, I was taken aback.  I had asked her to say a pray for a reason I cannot remember and that was her response.  I could not fathom how someone so smart  could not say a simple pray.

I am from a staunch Catholic background so you could say I was born praying.  Everyone of my friends prayed.  Whether they meant it or not was a whole new different thing but they sure knew how to talk to the Big Guy.  This fooled me into thinking that everyone knew how to pray.

If you are one of those unfortunate ones who find it difficult to offer up prayers to GOD, just think of him as one man rolled into three of the most influential people in your life.  Your parent, your teacher and your doctor. (I am not sure how important any of them are to you but we’ll go with them as they are for most people.)

As your parent, tell him how much you love him and how you feel. Be honest, your parents know you and most of the time, know what’s on your mind before you tell them.  They wait for you to come to them.  So open up and feel free to cry on their shoulders. It’s what parents are for.

As your doctor, tell him what symptoms you are experiencing.  How would you like him to address your ailment? Whatever you tell your doctor is confidential so be candid. He can’t help you if you are holding something back. Let him know how you feel, what bothers you.

A teacher is one who guides and shapes our path in life.  As your teacher, study your textbook, (The Bible) and get ready to discuss with him.  Go to him with questions.  You may not understand everything but he does. It is his book so ask him what he meant by this or that.

My wife is now a Christian and prays publicly and often.  And to think, I questioned our relationship when I found out she didn’t know how to pray.

Related articles

• A Praying Husband (thechristianpundit.org)
• “YOU” have just been prayed for AMEN! (godowned.wordpress.com)
• (prayer) warrior thursday (awomanforhim.wordpress.com)

At World’s End

Just when I thought I had read and heard all the ‘end of world’ predictions, yet another ‘expert’ has made a bold prediction as to when earth will meet its demise. He is a university professor no less. Which makes is forecast all the more credible. (insert sarcasm).

From the Mayans to the half crazed nut Harold Camping who keeps changing his predictions daily, we are constantly bombarded with doomsday predictions by those who lives are so empty that they spend time trying to decipher a code that has been decoded eons ago.  The solution is in the Bible for all the read.  NO ONE KNOWS THE TIME NOR THE HOUR WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME.  Sounds like plain English to me and needs to translation.  That alone is all one needs to know and not buy into the hogwash.

Now it begs the question, why the are we so consumed with this doomsday? For some of us, our world could be ending as I write, in the next day, month, year or whenever.  For others, it could come while they are engaged in their daily activities, whatever they are.  Either way, we should not fret ourselves because  bluntly, it’s really none of our business when the world will end.  We can do squat about it so who really cares? We should make the most of each and every day and live it as though it will end today. (To a degree that is. Don’t get carried away now).

Saying this, I have decided to jump into the fray.  Toss my hat in the ring so to speak. I am making a prediction that the world will end when we least expect it.  And I am sticking to that. In the meantime, I’ll assume the pray position and thank HIM for allowing me another day to use at my leisure.  Like making dumb and pointless doomsday predictions.

Just my take.

Related articles

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/forget-mayan-2012-prediction-expert-says-world-ends-091007928.html

• Mayan prediction of 2012 apocalypse ‘a marketing fallacy’ (news.nationalpost.com)
• Prepare for the Complete Destruction of the Universe with These Mayan Countdowns (suburbanmen.com)
• Forget Mayan 2012 prediction, world will end in 500 million years (thestar.com)
• Doomsday 2012: Meet the families convinced Mayan calendar predicts end of world (dailymail.co.uk)