Questions of Faith

You may hear stories about the denominations that preach about the faith teaching, and I have heard preachers dispute it and I have heard preachers teach it.  One of the beliefs of the faith teaching is the power of healing.  I used to be the kind of person who believed in the faith teaching, now I wouldn’t say I’m against it, but I am sceptical about those who preach it.  They say pray the prayer of faith and you will be healed and I believe this to be so.  But my question is why are so many not being healed.  If the day of Pentecost has come and is now, why are so many sick and dieing among us?  If God is a God who heals shouldn’t they be healed? 

I have been to churches where I knew people who were sick and they were prayed for and then they were healed and I know it was supernatural.  I also know people who were prayed for who were sick and they remained sick. What is the difference?   Is prayer measured differently for different people? 

I am beginning to wonder if the prayer of faith only works when God gets credit.  People pray in the name of Faith, but to me they forget the name of Christ. Who gets credit if we pray and give credit to a teaching?  Its not Jesus.  If you look up the word gospel in the dictionary, one of the definitions is to teach the teachings of Jesus.  If every time someone who prayed for another to be healed became healed,  woulden’t the one who was praying feel prideful over time?  It seems to me every time Jesus healed, He had a crowd, so he would be sure God would receive glory and he wasn’t in a place where people already believed. 

Peace Be With You

Life can be hard.  Sometimes it feels as if its overwhelming.  You may be working two jobs and taking care of your family by yourself.  The kids may ask a million questions and have all these needs and wants.  Plus all the other things that add on to our lives that cause it to be stressful.  It might get to a point where we don’t feel like we have the patience to deal with the things in life after a while. 

This reminds me of a time when Jesus after his death said to the disciples, “peace be with you”.  When I read the Bible,  I don’t put myself in the place of the people.  The gospels don’t really tell us of all the problems the disciples went through, but is very vague.  The death of Christ might have been the piece of straw that broke the camels back. 

The Bible leads me to believe that the crucification of Jesus was too unbearable for the disciples.  They thought that He was there to redeem them and free them to a new kingdom on earth.  They must have thought about all the time they invested in by following Christ and now there is nothing to show from it.  He was the strong leader and now he was gone. Their lives have fallen apart and there was nothing on earth to heal that.  Their leader was vanished from the face of the earth and everything they were taught from Him was dead to them too. 

But Christ returns to them and from the grave and says, “peace be with you”.  Before He says this, they were in mourning and perhaps questioning their purpose and life as a whole.  When Christ returns to give them this message, their whole demeanor changes.  All of a sudden they have hope and are empowered to take on the world again.  They just needed a little motivation. A sentence so small, it changed their lives forever.

Perhaps your life feels like everything is caving down on you and you just can’t take it any more.  Christ came here, to give peace to all man kind.  If you need peace.  All you have to do is ask.  If you don’t believe in Jesus, try it anyway.  What do you have to loose.  If it doesn’t work, then tell your friends that the Bible is a lie.  If he is God, he will deliver, and if He does let someone else know. 

The Last Holocast

I remember when I was in elementary school, probably fourth or fifth grade, and the teacher was teaching us about the devastation of WWII.  We were reading the book Anne Frank and the teacher took us to the restroom, which probably had the measurements of 5X5 ft.  There were about 25-30 of us in our class, we just read how the Jewish people had to board the train and how some had barley enough room to breath. There was no room to lay or sit, only to stand up strait for days until their destination.  When we entered the restroom, with the door shut, I noticed that it was getting hotter and how everyone was next to each other so tight that we were touching each other, I’m one to like distance.  During this time, our teacher told us that we had more room than the people during the Holocaust and how they had to stay in their position for days. Children didn’t know where their parents were and spouses didn’t know where their spouse was.  It was a time of trial and test. Our teacher told us the reason she wanted us to understand this time was so that nothing like this would happen again during our time or the future.

During my youth at this age, I remember going to church and being taught about the end of times.  Its like that’s all we were ever taught.  We watched movies about the mark of the beast and how the rest of the world treated those who were saved. I pictured it in my mind it would be like what the Jews went through, only worse.  These people in the end of times did only what the society told them to do, they had no choice to speak freely or voice their thoughts. It would be a time of bondage and trial, and I couldn’t picture being there. 

When our teacher told us we were being taught about the Holocaust so it wouldn’t happen again, I remember thinking how the Bible taught that there would be a time like this again, only I pictured it as being worse. 

I pictured people coming to my house with guns and asking everyone if they were Christians and how the neighbors would tell the authorities who was Christians.  I pictured this time as a time with no law, no amendments, and full of hate of a religion, but why? Because a group of people believe differently than others? It was taught as if it were to happen during my life.  Perhaps it will. 

 If it is to happen during my life, then why would the world hate this religion? What did they do that was so wrong?  If you ask me, they are as much like the world than you might think.  They do the exact same things and have the same sins. 

In order for the coming of Christ to occur and the Antichrist to rise up, surly the Church must do something radical. Something that is noticed to all the world.  In order to be hated for their belief they will have to act out their faith.  When they do, the world will see heaven on earth.  Those opposed to Christ will hate what they see and those who are of the faith will rise up. 

I am one to believe the book of Revelation is a book of encouragement and not a book to scare Christians. Many times in the Bible, it tells the believers to encourage each others in the Lords return.  I think that we have forgotten to do this. So, I encourage you to be ready during these times and remember to keep your faith.  Help those in need and visit those who are unable to get out and visit others.  This is the love of Christ. 

Does Location Matter?

You live life to your best ability and then you die, right? Why do I feel like I’m not in the right place and that life is miserable?  I moved so I would be in a different place to be happy and the same misery haunts me.  I enjoy life, but it is so miserable to me, I don’t feel like I’m living. I feel like I’m missing something.  I feel like I should be at a different city and I don’t want to move because of the cold.  Is this normal?

It is very rare that I get any feeling at all inside.  When I do it stronger than I can bear.  I deal with physical pain and mental pain, but when there is the slightest feeling in my heart, Its hard to bear it.  It becomes too much and I don’t know how to deal with the feeling. 

I read an article about whether or not God causes pain or suffering to his followers. They were mentioning the reasons why God would and does cause suffering to His people and they gave verses so I take it as reliable evidence.  The one that caught my attention was He does it to catch our attention.  Perhaps I haven’t given Him the attention He deserves, but I am a person of conviction and moral.  Isn’t that all we need to be?

Las Vegas

I was watching the show Las Vegas on television the other night and part of the show was about a contest that the casino was having where the contestants had to keep one of their hands on the vehicle the longest in order to win the truck.  One of the contestants on the show was a religious woman who called in her church choir to the event, and in this particular scene it shows the woman and the choir singing songs to God.  I’m not saying that singing songs to God in public is wrong.  But I do believe that there is a time and a place for that.  This woman in this show ended up causing a huge scene and eventually ended up taking her hand off the truck because “the Spirit” got on her.   

This show sort of gives me an idea as to what our culture sees Christians as.  I believe that the Christian faith has become a joke to society.  I just don’t get it.  Being Christ-like does not mean that you have to scream and yell “repent” to everyone you see.  Most people probably wouldn’t know what that means anyway.

I’ve notice while reading the gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke and John) that Jesus was always trying to build a relationship with the “sinners” and Jesus always seemed to get in an argument with all the church leaders.  It seems like now, from what I’ve seen, that the church has turned what Jesus taught us around and now its shunning the ones who needs a helping hand and receiving the church’s hypocrisy.

Has the Pastor become a God?

Throughout my life I have always heard about the role of the Pastor.  The pastor is the Shepard of the  flock, who guides the sheep (the followers) to the way of life which God has for them.  These people with the role of the Pastor always sound to be in a higher position than they rest of the followers and I don’t think that is right.

Keep in mind that I am making statements about my personal experiences.  I have in the past watched people praise the Pastor of the church as if they were God Himself.  I guess they forget the passage in the Bible, “for all have fallen short of the glory of God”.  I would think they would take into consideration the headlines in the news about the pastors and priest who have went to jail and got in trouble with the law because of their problems that they have faced in their personal lives.  I am not mentioning this to bring them down, but to show that they are just like you and me.

I think it is important to notice this issue so we don’t put these people in this role in a position that they can’t handle.  When we do this, I believe we put them above God. Not to mention how this can cause us to feel as if we have no part to God’s purpose in this life. 

Religion

Questions concerning my religion always arise within me. Questions that I ask myself are usually thoughts about doubt, disobedience, and unnecessary traditional obligations that we are taught to continue in our religious atmospheres that we live in.  But religion doesn’t help us unless our religion is based on conviction rather than tradition. 

I remember as a child I was told I was to go to church, but when I had a question that I didn’t agree with or had questions about those around me didn’t give me answers, they instead based my beliefs on their religion.  I think it would have been best if they would have admitted they didn’t know an answer.

I’m sure there are many people like me who have had questions like me.  When people have questions concerning which route to go in their religious journey, I think it is best to be encouraging and open minded.  Because of people who are stuck in religious tradition, it has in the past pushed me away from seeking more of who I am and who God is. 

I believe the Bible, but whatever is in question we must as a body of Christ take a stand and be open minded to what others around us are saying and we must be less critical with our answers.  The Bible doesn’t answer every question that there is on the face of the earth, if it did everyone would be following it with out question.