RUMINATIONS OF A REVEREND

Faith. It's a name we give to children. It's a theme of ancient hymns as well as contemporary pop songs. It's even used as a comprehensive term for a person's religious beliefs (e.g., "What is your faith?"). As believers, the very term that identifies us stems from the word 'faith.' "To believe" is mereley the verb form of the noun "faith" in the Greek. So believers are essentially people of faith. But what does that phrase mean in society today? Last night the President gave an address from the oval office dealing with the BP oil spill crisis and the administration's response to it. At the close of his speech, he made some remarks to inspire hope to Americans. However, his words highlighted the subtle tragedy concerning the "faith" of many Americans. He stated, "It’s a faith in the future that sustains us as a people. It is that same faith that sustains our neighbors in the Gulf right now." After a brief ref...

Well, I'm extremely overdue in my posting. I could make excuses like "the dog ate my blog," but that wouldn't exactly fly in the computer age. However, if you've read my earlier post about my dog, maybe I could get away with that excuse. But I will refrain from the excuses and simply dive into a new (overdue) blog. I was praying this morning and thinking about how I can most effectively help people grow in their relationship with Christ when the phrase "As a man thinks, so is he," popped into my head. So I did a google search. As a result, I found a similar phrase in scripture. In the NASB , Proverbs 23:7 states, " For as he thinks within himself, so he is ." The KJV translates the verse in a similar fashion , but other versions translate it differently. You would read in the NIV , " for he is the kind of man who is always thinking about the cost ." The Hebrew term translated 'thinks' or 'thinking' refers more accur...