Where are we heading or are we there now?

(Picture is a 7 month old aborted baby)

A newspaper article about a murder. A murder that will most likely not make the news headlines, not raise so much as an eyebrow on the national news. It won't, but it should.Why should this murder be more important than hundreds of others that go unnoticed every day?Because the case of Shanice Williams is a barometer of where this nation IS ... not where it is going ... but where it is. Here's the sad story of her death.

J. Michael Sharman, Editorial ColumnistPublished: February 10, 2009

Sycloria Williams’ baby girl, Shanice, died shortly after childbirth. The physician who was supposed to have attended Ms. Williams at the facility, “A GYN Diagnostic Center” in Hialeah, didn’t show up. No one else at the clinic, including the owner/operator, BelkisGonzolez, held a medical license of any type and when Sycloria went into labor and delivered her premature baby, no staff member called 911, a neonatologist, or any medical or rescue personnel.

After Shanice was born, Ms. Gonzolez cut the umbilical cord but did nothing else to assist her for the five minutes she lived, and when she died, Gonzalez put the baby in a plastic biohazard bag and threw her in the trashcan. A day later, the police received an anonymous call from a pay phone outside of the clinic stating that a baby had been killed there by employees and the baby’s remains were still on the premises. The police came but could find nothing. Later, the police got another anonymous tip that the baby’s remains were on the roof of the clinic, but the body wasn’t there when they searched. A final anonymous call was made, and this time police found Shanice’s decomposing corpse in a cardboard box.

Sycloria was 18 years old, single and 23 weeks pregnant. She decided she did not have the maturity or resources to care for her child. She paid a down payment of $800 on a $1,200 abortion fee, and The Miramar Women’s Center referred her to Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique who met with her and gave her Laminaria (a drug that dilates the cervix) and three other prescription medications to set her body in motion for the relatively late-term abortion.
Dr. Renelique told her he would meet her and complete the abortion the next day at “A GYN Diagnostic Center”, a Hialeah clinic under the same ownership. Renelique didn’t show up, but the drugs he had given her kept working and the unlicensed staff gave her more medications, and Shanice was born on the floor of the clinic. At that point, as Sycloria’s attorney, Tom Pennecamp, says, “She came face to face with a human being and that changed everything.”

Two weeks after Shanice’s death, the clinic operator, Belkis Gonzalez, was arrested on two felony counts of related to the unlicensed practice of medicine – but not in Shanice’s case. These two counts stemmed from a report that had been made to police two years earlier on November 16, 2004 that “The Miramar Women’s Center” and “A GYN Diagnostic Center” had two unlicensed persons, Robelto Osbourne and Kieron Nisbet, performing abortions. Osbourne’s medical license had been revoked on August 17, 2004 and Nisbet never had been fully licensed in Florida. Osbourne pled guilty on September 23, 2005 and Nisbet fled to Trinidad with arrest warrants issued against him.

Two other clinic employees, Joselin Collado and Adieran Rojas were both charged as part of that investigation and in 2006 pleaded guilty to practicing medicine without a license. The clinic, “A GYN Diagnostic Center”, has now finally surrendered its license and closed.

One of the documents that the Miramar clinic gave to Sycloria was a notice that Dr. Renelique had no current medical malpractice insurance. Renelique’s address of record is in Woodmere, New York 17 and according to state records there, he has made at least five medical malpractice payments in the past decade.

On February 6, 2009, two and a half years after Shanice’s death, the Florida Board of Medicine unanimously voted 19 to revoke Renelique’s medical license. The Homicide Division is still investigating but no criminal charges have yet been filed.

Shanice's body was recovered by police, an autopsy performed, confirming she was breathing on her own when she died.If this doesn't bother you about where we ARE as a nation, I don't know what will.What's worse is that Shanice's mother has hired an attorney and has filed a lawsuit. Maybe she should. But I have very little sympathy. She was old enough to do the deed, but living with responsibility is now a rare thing.What really should happen is this. She went for an abortion, she took the medicine, she went to the clinic. As long as she didn't have to see her daughter, she was willing to let her baby be killed because ... Shanice was an unwanted pregnancy, an inconvenience and hardship.The reality is Shanice's mother should be prosecuted for murder. Along with the doctor, the clinic owner, and anyone else who assisted.But that won't happen.Why?Because our nation has become so desensitized to killing babies, that we don't really care about it any more. And we're so easily swept with emotions of sympathy for a struggling mother who just had "no other way out." But now, she is having a hard time with it having looked her baby in the face.But the truth is, we don't really care about Shanice or her mother.

We care more about bigger issues than throwing babies out in the garbage: like the economy, hard times, unemployment, stock prices.Where do you stand? Is the economy more important than protecting little babies like Shanice? Is money a bigger "moral" issue than innocent, helpless babies? Is protecting little babies like Shanice more important than money? You say, "Yes"? Well, I have one other question for you.

Did you help elect President Obama? Yes or no? If so, why? Certainly not because of his willingness to protect Shanice. No, he has a 100% track record against protecting babies like Shanice.In fact, he ACTIVELY opposed the "Born-Alive Infants Protection Act" (BAIPA). I don't mean he just voted against it. He campaigned against it. But for some reason, a whole lot of people didn't care about the Shanice's in this world, and voted for him anyway. Why? Was it for money? Because of economics? My question to you is this.

If you voted for President Obama, was your reason only skin deep? Was it just because the way he looks. Just because he has a nice wife and two pretty girls and had the right skin color to make history. Quite frankly, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing people who claim to be Christians praise Mr. Obama and glow with pride at having elected the first black President. And don't point fingers at President Bush or McCain or anyone else. They all made plenty of mistakes, too, which we have criticized when appropriate.

This is about taking a hard look at S-E-L-F and examining where we are, why we do what we do. It is a shame and humiliation on our country that we can't reason and think any deeper than skin color ... still. No, we really haven't come very far.Racism is alive and well in 2009 ... it just has a different look. And just like some white people were guilty who turned the other way when black people were lynched and persecuted merely because of their skin color ...... so are those guilty who turned a blind eye to the innocent children being murdered, the corruption of the family, the CONTINUING degradation of morality ... and SUPPORT those who ACTIVELY campaign for what is EVIL and against what is RIGHT in the name of history. That's all.

Why Don't We Stand Up?

I just seen this article (off Yahoo’s games site) this morning. Isn’t it so sad that when Christians cry “foul” or “we’re offended” we are ridiculed and chastised as being intolerant or forcing our beliefs down the throats of people. Or maybe we just do not support our beliefs by our compromising so much and not focusing on becoming “holy as he is holy”? Maybe we are just too scared to say anything? Or maybe we just do not care? Or maybe ……..? Note that my comments are not against the video game, because I do know anything about the game. Nor, is it directed against the Muslim group that protested. Nor am I really complaining about Sony. I guess what I am really doing, is praising the Muslim group for standing up for what they believe. I wonder just what the outcome would have been if we, as Christians were offended by this game’s contents and made such a protest?

The webpage link is: http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/religious-outcry-sparks-littlebigrecall/1257227

Religious outcry sparks LittleBigRecall
New PlayStation game soundtrack unpopular with some Islamic groups
By Mike Smith
ADVERTISEMENT

LittleBigPlanet, one of this year's most-anticipated PlayStation 3 releases, won't be arriving in stores next week as expected.
The "social platforming" game is already gathering rave reviews, but it hasn't proven popular with one Muslim group, which issued a complaint to the game's publisher Sony concerning one background music track. Performed by award-winning Malian musician Toumani Diabate, the song quotes two verses from the Qur'an. Many Muslims consider the mixing of music and scripture to be deeply offensive.
Although the game is already pressed, packaged, and reportedly sitting in the back rooms of many worldwide retailers awaiting its original Oct. 21 debut, gamers eager to get hold of it will have to wait at least another week while the offending content is expunged. Updated versions of the game are expected to be shipped to stores during the week of October 27.

LITTLEBIGPICTURES

"Sorry for the delay, and rest assured, we are doing everything we can to get LittleBigPlanet to you as soon as possible," commented Patrick Seybold, Sony's US director of Corporate Communications, in a statement on the company's PlayStation blog.
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Posted: 17 Oct 2008

Is It A Hard Saying?

Over the next few posts, I will be showing the text of a chapter from a book that I have just read. I will not reveal the author or the book title until after I have posted the complete chapter. For all of those who have been arguing and stressing the fact of needing to be relevant in today's society, to those who have hinted that we need to lower our standards to reach the world to those who feel that the church is almost a hopeless"club", please read these pages. Share your thoughts. Let me know how you feel about this in regards to the above statements.

I want to stress that this writing is not mine, but being that I have posted it, I must be endorsing it.

The title of the chapter is: "Is It A Hard Saying?"

In a former article I said that the want of an infusion of power from on high should be deemed a disqualification for a pastor, a deacon or elder, a Sunday school superintendent, a professor in a Christian college, and especially for a professor in a theological seminary. Is this a hard saying? Is this an uncharitable saying? Is it unjust? Is it unreasonable? Is it unscriptural?
Suppose any one of the Apostles, or those present on the day of Pentecost, had failed, through apathy, selfishness, unbelief, indolence, or ignorance, to obtain this outpouring of power. Would it have been uncharitable, unjust, unreasonable, or unscriptural, to have accounted him disqualified for the work which Christ had appointed them?

Christ had expressly informed them that without this infusion of power, they could do nothing. He had expressly commanded them not to attempt the work in their own strength, but to tarry at Jerusalem until they received the necessary power from on high. He had also expressly promised that if they tarried, in the sense which He intended, they should receive it “not many days hence” (Acts1:5). They evidently understood Him to command them to tarry in the sense of a constant waiting upon Him in prayer and supplication for the blessing. Now, suppose that any one of them had stayed away and attended to his own business, and waited for the sovereignty of God to confer this power. He of course would have been disqualified for the work; and if his fellow-Christians, who had obtained this power, had deemed him so, would it have been uncharitable, unreasonable, unscriptural?

Is it not true of all to who the command to disciple the world is given, and to who the promise of this power is made, if through any shortcoming or fault of theirs they fail to obtain this gift, that they are in fact disqualified for the work, and especially for any official position? Are they not, in fact, disqualified for leadership in the sacramental host? Are they qualified for teachers of those who are to do the work? If it is a fact that they do lack this power, however this defect is to be accounted for, it is also a fact that they are not qualified for teachers of God’s people; and if they are seen to be disqualified because they lack this power, it must be reasonable and right and Scriptural so to deem them, and so to speak of them, and so to treat them.

Who has a right to complain? Surely, they have not. Should the Church of God be burdened with teachers and leaders who lack this fundamental qualification, when their failing to possess it must be their own fault? It is truly amazing to see the obvious apathy, indolence, ignorance, and unbelief that exist on this subject. They are inexcusable. They must be highly criminal. With such a command to convert the world ringing in our ears; with such an admonition to wait in constant, wrestling prayer till we receive the power; with such a promise, made by such a Savior, held out to us, a promise of all the help we need from Christ Himself, what excuse can we offer for being powerless in this great work? What an awe-inspiring responsibility rests upon us, upon the whole Church, upon every Christian!

Apologetics at the Post Office

Today, December 4th, I was standing in line at the local post office when a well dressed middle aged woman came up to the counter and asked the clerk for some Christmas stamps. The clerk replied by telling her that the only ones she has left are religious. To this, the lady exclaimed, “I do not want any religious themed Christmas stamps for my Christmas cards. Christmas does not having anything to do with religion or anything religious. It is just another misinterpreted Christian focused holiday like Easter.”

This proclamation caught my ear and attention. It raised my curiosity to the peak to where I just had to see what she was going to do next. As I took my time addressing an envelope I watched her stuff some cards into envelopes and prepare them for sending them on to her Christmas card list recipients. As I glanced at the pile of cards yet to be processed, I read the opening on what seemed to be on each one. On the front of the card it read something like this, “May the Christ of Christmas Fill Your Life with His Love and Peace. May You and I Never Leave Him Out of Our Lives”.

I could hardly believe what I was reading and what she was challenging herself and those who would be receiving her Christmas cards. Was this the same woman that just a few moments prior made the bold proclamation that Christmas is just another misinterpreted holiday and it has nothing to do with religion? Yet here she was telling people to not let the Christ of Christmas be left out of their lives.

I must admit that my religious blood began to boil. I could feel the apologetic arguments starting to formulate in my head. My pulse started rising with anticipation for the soon to be confrontation with this woman who dares to eliminate Christ from Christmas. I could hear my preacher mind saying, “Now it your time to stand up”. I was so ready to let her have it. But then.....

But then …, I realized she was correct in some of what she was saying to the postal clerk. I strongly disagree that Christmas is a misinterpreted Christian holiday, but I do agree with her in a principle. Christmas is not really about religion. It is about our heavenly Father desiring so badly to a restored relationship with people; people like you, me and this lady that he gave us a gift of life.

As I pondered these thoughts another came up. She was wrong in saying that Christmas had nothing to do with religion. Christmas has everything to do with religion. Why was her statement wrong? I feel that it was wrong based upon the thought that for several centuries, religion was proclaimed and demanded. That this religion was hammering people from experiencing the desired relationship that God had for people. Religion flies airplanes into buildings, causes people to stumble, miss out on the beauty of God and his love, and misunderstand the meaning of Christmas (and Easter).

So there I stood, in a theological debate with myself. What conclusion did I come up with? This … “May Christmas bring us to realize the value of religion so we can truly understand the value of a relationship with God based upon his unmerited favor and saving grace.” So does Christmas have anything to do with religion or not? I guess we could debate it for a long time. So either way, may the Christmas season bring us deeper and more connected in our relationship with our loving heavenly Father

Oh what happen to this lady, you may ask? Well I do not know. All I know as I was standing there thinking she finished her task and walked out of the post office. I was awakened from my thoughts by a person asking me if I was finished with my spot at the counter.

My prayer for her and the recipients of her Christmas cards is the same for all of us. “May the Christ of Christmas (and Easter) never be left out of our lives”.

I Love My Church

Realizing that there will be several individuals that will read this blog who are attendees of my church, Life in Christ Fellowship, I am tempted to misstate my feelings in this post. However, I will resist buttering up my people and just tell the truth from my heart.

As the title states, I do love my church. I daily thank and praise the Lord for such an awesome privilege of serving them as their pastor. I have been here for almost 1 year now. The days have gone by very quickly and for the most part smoothly. Has it been all a bed of roses? No, it has not. There have been days and situations that have irritated me, as flies do horses on a humid summer day. There have been days in which I pulled the window shades and locked the doors because I needed recovery time.

But, the whole balance of all days has been totally awesome and fulfilling. It is amazing how just a year ago, both Debbie and I were totally drained by the abandonment and rejection that we went through at our previous pastorate, but now we both feel whole. I can truly say, I am now longer just content in the place of ministry but I am truly and completely happy. What an amazing feeling that is!

I have been praying and searching my heart to make sure I am in balance with God’s will for the path of LICF. He has so graciously burdened my heart and soul deeply for these people. The burden goes beyond just those who are a part of our congregation, but I can honestly say without any reserve, it goes to those who WILL be a part of our church. Does that make sense? It is different that the burden for the whole community. I wish I could explain it further.

Because of this burden, it brings me to some restlessness dealing with the ministry of the church. I just want my people to deeply and freshly experience an invigorating moving of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I deeply believe that God wants to pour down upon us and do a mighty thing in our midst. So often through the account of the early church this happened only when the people were gathered together in a central location with their hearts, souls and minds united in focused upon God. I am greatly perplexed by the lack of commitment that people have at times to the gathering together of the Body of Christ. I know God can bless and move in people’s lives in their private times of individual worship, but why is there the abandonment of the Body gathering? I have asked a few other pastors about this, and they too have the same question.

Offer food … and they will come. Have music practice they will come to that, but leave prior to the studying of God’s word. Why?

To my people who read this. Please know and hold on to this thought. I LOVE YOU WITH ALL THAT I AM. I just desire that we all experience together (all of us and those who come along later) the awesome, glorious, refreshing, empowering, cleansing, leading, healing, equipping and so forth power of God! If today, this point of time in the history of our church, we who are the current people of the church do not make a re-focusing desire to the ministry and events of the church, what will that tell those who come along later? If they see us sitting in the second chair instead of the first chair, they will be taught that it is ok to remain distant in their commitment.

It was explained to me this way some time back. Today’s church people (I am not just referring to those who attend LICF) treat their commitment to the church and its ministry like leaving a tip on the table. I ask … how long could we get away with the paying of our restaurant tab by just leaving a tip in the table? Once … twice? NO we have to pay the total of the bill or we will be in trouble.

Why is it so often believers feel they can get away with just leaving a tip and not paying the whole tab? (No I am not talking about paying tithes).

There is a great debate among many church leaders about the church not being relevant to the world around her. But I ask are you as a believer making yourself relevant to the church? Maybe that is the question that should be addressed 1st? If the world could see that the believers believe in the local church and its ministry, they may ask, “What is going on that makes people so committed?” If the world could see the Church excited about being the Church, I believe that they, the world, would get interested and feel that they too need to be a part. You see, it is human nature to go where the excitement is taking place. I am not talking about pure emotionalism. I am taking about the church getting excited about being the Church. Being excited to be the messenger of the Message. The world around the local church needs to experience that is still the tool of God’s design to exclaim the truth to those with out the truth!

Yes I love my church. Because of this love, it brings me to my knees daily as I intercede for them before the throne. I just want us all to experience together; all that God wants to do in our midst. I simply refuse to believe that we have seen, heard or experience it all. I believe the best is yet to come. But are you going to be there to experience it together or will you have to hear about it in the 6 o’clock news report?

I love you, LICF. I am blessed and honored to be called your pastor.

Here Is God

This is an article that I place in our last monthly newsletter for our church. It is exciting to see God working among and through us. As you read through this, think of areas in your life in which you may be experiencing the unknown or new borders of new territority. Places of testing or the stretching your faith. Remember, "Here is God".

An interesting map is on display in the British Museum in London. It's an old mariner's chart, drawn in 1525, outlining the North American coastline and adjacent waters. The cartographer made some intriguing notations on areas of the map that represented regions not yet explored. He wrote: "Here be giants," "Here be fiery scorpions," and "Here be dragons." Eventually, the map came into the possession of Sir John Franklin, a British explorer in the early 1800s. Scratching out the fearful inscriptions, he wrote these words across the map: "Here is God."

Ahead of us are days and territories in which we have not been entered before. They have the potential to scare us away from processing what God has in store for us, as they did to the Israelites when they approached the Jordan River the first time. But let us remember that in these new places that God leads us into, “Here is God”.

We will be called to invest ourselves, our time, our talents and materials as we possess the new land. We will question our selves at times, wondering if we can do it. Will we be able to go beyond the known and walk beyond the boundaries into the unknown? We hear the voice of God calling us, but yet uncertainty rests in our minds. But let us remember that in these new places to which God calls us to enter, “Here is God”.

New opportunities will develop to share the glorious message of the Gospel. We will be called into new places of ministry and service. Lives will come across our paths that are looking for hope. Brokenness will be displayed. We will be challenged to show them the love of Christ in ways that will cause us to step outside of our comfort zone. Each time, the calling out of the church by the issuing of the Great Commission rings powerfully in our heart, yet fear will seem to try to paralyze us. But yet let us remember that in these new opportunities of service for the Kingdom, “Here is God”.

Here is God. What a glorious proclamation and reality. So what if there will be giants, fiery scorpions or dragons in the days ahead, God is there and we are in His hands.

Depending upon God

We often hear and use the phrase … “Just depend upon God and you’ll make it.” Or, “My trust and dependence is upon what God can do.” Have you said these or something similar? Just what do we mean when we say we are depending upon God to see us through?

Life is filled with a vast amount of opportunities to stand still and see God do great and mighty things. But do we stand still long enough to see them? How long is long enough? Our relationship with Christ is based upon having faith in him and believing in what He says he’ll do is what he will do. We accept this when it comes to our salvation, but how deep does it run in living it out day by day?

When we hear and read the wonderful words of scripture and we are often over-whelmed with emotion as we ponder upon themes such as: “I know the plans I have for you, thus says the Lord ….” Or, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Or, “Our Lord never sleeps nor slumbers.” But just how far can we or do we trust him to fulfill his plans in our lives because he will not leave or forsake us because he is always alert concerning us?

We all, including myself, need to increase our “belief level” when it comes to depending upon God. We all too often get impatient and forge ahead by taking the reins out of God’s hand and in some form or the other tell him, “Let me show you how to do this.”

If this does not reflect upon you in any way at all, great …just tell us how you do it. But if this reflects upon you life in some form, let me suggest the following.

We all depend upon something for our main resource. For some, it is personality; for others, knowledge; still others depend upon past experiences. We often run off the strength of that main source until we come to the end of ourselves and then cry out to God. What are you depending upon God to do? The ability to find that answer is very easy to discover. Those things you are praying for are the things you are depending upon God to do. Those things which you are not praying for, you are doing on your own.

We cannot do life (ministry) upon our own. Prayer is a requirement. If you want to test your commitment to praying for your life (seeing your dependence upon God), do this little exercise. Rate yourself from 1 – 100 on praying for guidance (applying your dependence) in the last month or even the last year. Now put a percent sign after that number. The result: that is the level of the percent of your dependence upon God’s capability to care for your life.

Caught By the Hand of God

Caught By the Hand of God
Psalms 37:23-24


It was a cold and dark winter night when the phone rang, awaking me from a peaceful sleep. The initial thought that passed though my mind was “not what?” The day leading up to this greatly sought after rest was filled with many tasks that ran from encouraging a grieving family, to sermon preparation then onto the monthly board meeting that seemed to have lasted beyond any reasonable length of time. When I finally made it to bed, sleep quickly and gratefully came.

As the phone was answered, I quickly recognized the sound of distress and fear. On the other side was the voice of Alice. Through the sound of tears and scrambled words, I heard her say, “Pastor, we need you to over here right away. Jim is threatening me and the kids again and I am afraid that he is going to hurt us.” A river of thoughts passed through my mind from, “Why me?”, “Can this wait till tomorrow?” to “Do I need to call the police?”

I splashed some water on my face and pulled myself together. As I stepped out into the cold Michigan winter night, the sleep quickly left my eyes. I did not fathom that within the next 5 minutes I would be face to face with death. I entered Jim and Alice’s humble mobile home to find Jim standing there with a handgun pointed at his wife’s face as the 3 children cowardly huddled behind her. You talk about 911 praying, I found myself doing just that. Not a large amount of words, but very sincerely crying out to God “You got to take care of this!” At that point, I did not even know if I would see my wife and children ever again. However, as I approached Jim and Alice, I sensed the very powerful company of the Spirit of God with me. I stepped in front of the gun and began to intervene in behalf of that family. After a few minutes, Alice and the children left and headed over to her family. But yet, I stood there with Jim and his gun.

I do not remember all that was said that night, but I remember very clearly the end. For the next few hours, with the gun pointing at me, I began to share with Jim the story of the wonder, amazing and freeing power of the grace of Jesus Christ. To be there was a terrifying experience though it was a very empowering. To know that I was in the hand of God that night has repeatedly brought great strength to me since then. However, the greatest awareness was by the end of that night, to know that Jim was caught by the hand of God. As the hours waned on, the loving embracing of God was being extended to Jim. To watch Jim come to the realization that God loved him is beyond words. As Jim invited Jesus into his life, was and is, one of the greatest moments in my pastoral experience. There are several more details that took place that night that adds beauty to it. And the follow-up with the family … well let’s just say it required a tremendous amount of work.

Caught in the hands of God. Wow … what a powerful and beautiful thought. As we travel down life’s pathway, both as individuals and as a church, let’s remember that the outstretched hand of God is available. He catches. He holds. He protects. He hugs. Oh the wonderful hands of our Father. Are you there?

Belief Level

The following is an excerpt taken from Bob Buford’s book, “Finishing Well, what people who really live do differently". It is a discussion between him and Dr. Dallas Willard in regards to the thought “is there something more?”

The Knowing/Doing Gap

… the church has always taught the importance of surrender, yet we don’t (perhaps can’t) let go of our own desires and ambitions in order to let God take control of our lives. The mere thought of that gives all of us pause.

I said, “What you seem to be describing, Dallas, is a knowing/doing gap, that even what we know, what we’ve been taught, what we heard in sermons, what we read in books, doesn’t seem to be a viable reality for most Christians. There seems to be a chasm between our knowledge and our ability or willingness to do it.”

“That’s very true,” he said, “and I would even put it in these terms: We know about these things but we do not believe them. Too many Christians profess to believe them because we are expected to, but profession of belief doesn’t carry the action. Only real belief carries action. We live in a context where millions and millions of professing Christians do not believe what they profess because they’ve been taught that the important things is to profess it whether you believe it or not. Just think of the words of the apostle James: ‘You do not have because you do not ask God’. Our faith is not strong enough to believe and to expect God to answer. Consequently, this gap of faith and action creates a severe problem.”

“That’s very troubling, isn’t it?” I said. “It’s obviously true, just as you said. But it’s such a strong indication of the modern church.”

“Unfortunately,” he said, “historically we have emphasized professing certain things, and sometimes people have died for not professing them. The religious wars were all about this. In recent times, evangelicals have stressed professing faith – not necessarily having it but professing it. As a result, many people don’t think of death as a joyous trip to a world that is so much better than this one. Most Christians are terrified by the thought of dying.”

For Discussion:

Do we really believe what we profess? Is there really a difference or is it just a different way of saying the same thing. If there is a difference, what effect should it have on our lives?

In my pastoral ministry, I see and can relate to the above excerpt and say that many professing Christians have a shallow (either by choice or by lack of teaching) belief level. They have set through many class room teachings, heard many sermons and studied many materials but yet there seems to be a lack of deep spirituality in their lives. Why is this? What is the effect in their lives and the life of the Church?
Please share your thoughts and let’s discuss this issue.