More Faith Please

This past Sunday, I lost my cell phone.  The last place I remember having it was at the grocery store after church.  Since then, I looked EVERYWHERE for it.  I called it over and over, searched my house, my car, my office at LIFE, even went to the grocery store and all the neighbouring stores to ask if anyone had turned anything in.  Nothing.

I talked about this on the radio two days ago, and got lots of helpful calls and tips...but still, no phone.  Then a friend emailed me this:

Tim, I know someone who knows where your phone is......

God does!!!!!!....He will show you!

I saw the first line of that email and I was so elated!  Finally, someone who knows where my phone is!  Then I saw the second line...and I wasn't too happy.  In fact, I was irritated.  I thought, Urg, I know God knows where my phone is!  But a lot of times I pray and nothing happens, so is He really going to bring my phone around?  Besides, I've looked everywhere in my house, I can't hear it vibrating, and it's two days later and no one has turned  it in.  So let's face it.  It's lost.  And I was literally 100% sure nothing would happen.

A couple of hours later I was sitting in my office and I thought, "Okay, I really should pray.  My friend is actually right."  (I had been praying about it since Sunday, but not as intentionally as I decided to do it at that moment.)  So I prayed then, and when I got home from work, I talked to my wife and mentioned the email, and we prayed again, intentionally.

That evening, my wife walked past our couch and stepped on something that was under it...and lo and behold, the phone!!!  I could not believe it.  I couldn't believe that it was in my house.  I couldn't believe that we'd actually found it.  And I couldn't believe that God actually heard our prayer and brought it to us.  I felt so much joy...and a bit of shame for not trusting God to answer my prayer.

It served as a great reminder for me that yes, God is in control, and yes, He does care - even about the small things.  I actually have something else in my life that I'm a bit nervous about right now, so this phone incident has served as a reminder of God's presence, and because of that presence, I have a lot more peace.

I hope this helps you out if you're nervous about something.  Pray!  God does care!

Grief turns to joy with God

This was a tough week.  Last Sunday, an incredible young woman from my church was involved in a car accident and she passed away.  Talented, athletic, literally brilliant, infectiously warm, and a lover of God.  Amazing girl from an amazing family.  It was a jarring, heartbreaking loss.  There's so much to say about her, but I want to focus on a bit of a different aspect below, so you can get a brief synopsis about Amanda here - http://www.thebarrieexaminer.com/2014/01/07/amanda-kelsall-killed-sunday-in-vehicle-crash

I went to the funeral today, and it's amazing how God works.  In the midst of tragedy and heartache, each of her family members took the opportunity to talk about her love of Christ during their eulogies, and then to tell of how Christ's strength was keeping them strong.  They were witnessing!  They were laughing!  They were full of joy!  They were excited for their daughter/sister in heaven!  It was incredible to see their faith and their strength.  About 1,000 people were at the funeral, many non-believers, and they heard the message of Christ loud and clear - several times from many speakers.  That in itself was a testament to Amanda's faith and legacy.

I really can't say enough about this girl and this family.  I had so much respect for them before this all happened...I didn't think it was possible to gain even more respect for them, and yet here were are today.  Meanwhile, her boyfriend is in hospital with serious injuries.  I have just as much respect for his family (who also go to our church).  Both families are truly anchored in God, I have always looked up to both, and both have always inspired my faith in the past, and even more so now.

In the end, there were two things that captivated me today, shared by Amanda's family.  One was her determination to excellence.  No matter what she did, she gave it her all.  1 Corinthians 9:24-27 says that we run a race, but only one wins.  We should run to win, and train our bodies for that - we push our hardest and strive for our best, and it's all for God.

The second thing was that we have no fear in death.  As Christians, we really do have no fear in death because death means something better for us.  Philippians 1:21 - "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  The family got that message across clearly.  In fact, if there was one thing that was comforting all week, it's been picturing Amanda having the time of her life in heaven, and just waiting for everyone here back on earth to join here.  She's thrilled right now, and we as Christians have no fear in death because we have something better that awaits us!

Still, it is hard for those left behind right now.  We will miss her and grieve with the family.  But Christ is our strength and our joy, and her family did so well to remind us of that today.

Money - where's the balance?

I've often wrestled with this question and I've been thinking about it again this week.  Where's the balance when it comes to working a lot to make enough money, and trusting God to provide?

I know many people who work 2-4 jobs to make sure they and their families live a comfortable life - not necessarily wealthy, but comfortable.  That means they can take a vacation, put their kids in sports and music lessons, go out to dinner once in a while, etc...  They still trust in God of course, but financially they're pretty secure.  It's nice because they feel good and they are providing for their families.  (Just to clarify, they still make sure to spend time with their families)

But my question is, is that too much?  Do we need all those extras?

The other way to live is to trust that God will provide for those who love Him.  So work one job where you make enough to pay the bills and that's about it, and then trust God for the rest....

I wrestle with this.  I don't know where the balance is - I'm not sure where we as Christians should stand.  Christians around the world (who are far more passionate about Christ than we are in the west) would likely say it's all about God, so give everything to Him and trust Him to provide - forget the luxuries.  Should we think the same way?  Isn't the whole point of this life God and spreading His good news?

Perhaps it's different for every Christian, and I think it likely is.  In fact, I think it can change in one's lifetime.  At one point in your life you could be in a position where God is telling you just to trust Him to provide, and then there are other times when He gives opportunities for you to make lots of money.  So perhaps we each have to find the balance for ourselves.

As I said, I wrestle with this, so leave me a comment, let me know what you think!

What does it for you?

This week I asked the question on air, what does it for you?  What anchors you in your Christian faith?

It's something I'm glad I have an answer to.  For me, it's nature.  I can't look around me, look at the intricacies of my body, look at how absolutely massive the universe is, and think that it's an accident.  And that thought keeps me rooted in my faith.

I'm sure there will be some who read this who think, "That's crazy!  It should be your faith, or that Christ died on the cross, or your personal experiences with God that root you in your faith!"  I wish it was that simple for me.  I'm that guy who questions everything - which is both a blessing and a curse.  It's hard for me to use any of those as my anchoring point.  For me it starts with nature, knowing that there had to be divine inspiration behind everything we see and don't see around us...that keeps me rooted and allows me to grow my relationship with Christ.

For those of you who are nature geeks like me, or want an example of what I'm talking about, my small group is working through a series on creation by Louie Gigglio, and it is fantastic.  One thing he talked about is the size of the Milky Way Galaxy.  If it were the size of North America, then our solar system would be the size of a quarter in comparison.  Think about that!  Craziness!  And then to think that ours is just one of literally countless of other galaxies out there (thousands, millions, BILLIONS)?  And each galaxy has billions of stars!! And each galaxy is thousands/billions of light years away!!!  Okay, I see I'm losing you.  Think about it this way - light travels around earth 7.5 times in one second, and 5.88 trillion miles a year.  If another galaxy is 16 million light years away for ours...well you do the math on how huge the universe is...  And then finally, to think that God holds the universe in his hand (Isaiah 40:12)....  Yep, my mind is blown again.

So back to my question - what does it for you?

Is the Bible true?

A couple days ago, I posted a question on the LIFE facebook page - how do you know the Bible is real and/or true?  Generated some great discussion, although most of the answers were the same - "faith".

Faith is a great answer and is obviously one of the absolute cores of Christianity, but is there more?  What about physical proof?  I'll explain what I mean in my answers below.  Here's how I personally know the Bible to be true:

1) Common sense - the world around us is too perfect, the universe too incredible, the human body too complex for it all to be an accident. Science has been studying them for thousands of years and continues to do so , and with all the modern advances we have, we still don't know how the human body works (what makes the heart tick), how the universe started (the big bang is a theory), etc. And the more we discover, the larger and more complex we realize everything is.  And them more that comes to light, the more it seems to me that it can't be an accident - and that it's more proof that God exists.  (It's funny how science always changes too - one day this is 'the truth', the next day we've made a new discovery and it's actually 'this' instead...and tomorrow it will be something new.  The Bible doesn't change like that)

2) Faith - I know I was saying above that there could be more, but to be honest, this is the most crucial part of it.  No one can disprove your story. That's your PERSONAL experience of what God has done in your life, and that can't be argued. If God has changed your life, helped you to break a habit, done miracles in, through, and around you...then tell it!  People can't argue that God miraculously healed you, or brought you out of an addiction, or saved you from suicide.  Tell your story of God's work and touch on you. And live it, people will see the change.  "Your life is the only Bible some people will read."

And finally, but where I think we are lacking:

3) Research - I truly believe that as Christians we don't know enough about what proof exists TODAY of the Bible, myself included.  There are lots of great resources like Answers in Genesis, Creation.com, Louie Giglio (looks at creation and the universe), and Ravi Zacharius (he's apologetics, but good stuff!)  Archaeologists are constantly making discoveries that reaffirm the Bible.  And, the bible we have today is remarkably identical to what was written in the dead sea scrolls (found in 1947). 

*** One key note though - BE CAREFUL with research.  There will always be someone smarter than you who will win an argument.  And regarding the body of proof, not everything has been discovered.  I've been told that proof of King David wasn't found until 1993.  Does that mean he didn't exist before that proof was found?  Of course not.  But trying to argue based on evidence alone before the '93 discoveries would have been a lot more difficult.  Same deal today for things that have not been discovered yet.

In the end, I think all of these are crucial aspects to have.  They all complement each other.  And it's good to be well rounded, to be able to discuss on many different fronts instead of just one.  I write these things based on where I am, and I know I could be a lot more educated.  What about you?