Loving the Greek…..

March 1, 2020 faithfulwon Leave a comment

I wrote this back in 2012. I thought it good enough to reblog.

The New Testament was originally written in Greek since that was the “English” or “lingua Franca” of the the first century. So I thought it would be a good idea to learn the NT or Koine Greek some years ago. I must admit though that the vast range of English translations we have seem to capture most of the nuances of the Greek word meanings as far as I can tell. But I am no expert.

There are a few things that the NT Greek does bring out:

1. The simplicity of the language John uses compared with Paul. It is really very easy to read John’s gospel and letters in the Greek especially in comparison to Paul’s. It is a real and compelling miracle to see the depth of meaning and the deep subjects that John is able to explore with so few words. I really don’t know…

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General Principles, History of Faith

Abraham and Isa…

Aside February 21, 2020 faithfulwon Leave a comment

The blog below is based on imagining what Abraham, Isaac and God were thinking during the working out of that astonishing command from God to Abraham that he should sacrifice his son (Genesis 22, cf. Hebrews 11:17-19).

faithfulwon

Abraham and Isaac: Father and Son

It was a very long trudge up Mt. Moriah as Abraham went to sacrifice his son to his God. He was thinking about it as he went along. He knew that it was a common enough thing among the gods of the people’s around him for them to ask for such sacrifices. But somehow he had hoped it would be different with his One. And then there was the confusing thing about that promise that through Isaac all his descendants would be named. If there was one thing certain about the God Abraham served, it was that He kept His promises. “I bet you He is going to raise Isaac from the dead!” thought Abraham to himself. That encouraged him a bit…. until he thought again about raising that knife….

Trudging along with Isaac beside him. How was he going to explain this to…

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General Principles, good news, History of Faith

All things you ask believing

February 1, 2020 faithfulwon Leave a comment

There are several statements that Jesus makes about asking in faith:

“And all things, whatever you ask in prayer believing you will receive.” (Matthew 21:22 see also Matthew 7:7-11, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:9-13, John 14:13, 15:7,16b)

The emphasis in these statements of Jesus is asking the Father in faith knowing who He is. Nothing is impossible for God. We want His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven – he will always answer our prayers if it is His will.

Jesus illustrates how this works by His prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39, 42). There was absolutely no question that Jesus could receive all the faith required to ask and receive. However, even He didn’t receive what He asked for from His Father – that this cup be taken away from Him. Jesus gives the answer to why this was the case: “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matt. 26:39) and “Your will be done” (Matt. 26:42).

God works all things according to the counsel or purpose of His will (Eph. 1:11). It becomes important then to find out what that is when we are asking God for something. One of the surest ways we know we are praying according to His will is that we will receive the faith to see it happen when we do. We will “know” as John puts it in 1 John 5:14,15 (cf. Heb. 11:1). If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

I have come across many situations both in my own life and in the life of others where prayers are not answered with a yes. Too often our prayers are us telling God what we want rather than listening first to hear what He wants (Eccl. 5:1).

You can rest assured that only His will will be done. Our aim is to find that out and fulfill Jesus wonderful prayer “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matt. 6:10).

If we come to God with our will only in prayer without listening to what He wants we will only see random, sporadic answers to prayer – sometimes we will be in line with what God wants, often we won’t.

We may know the Scriptures concerning healing for instance (Psalm 103: 3b, Isaiah 53:5) and so know the general desire of God to heal but, as Jesus showed when He was at the pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-9) not every sick person is healed. Similarly, it is God’s desire that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 2:4), however we know from Jesus statement about Judas (the son of perdition John 17:12) that not everyone is saved.

I believe we should be seeing more healing and at least some resurrections from the dead. Likewise God wants to save this country and every person in it. It is up to us all to start that conversation with God about individuals we know and find His answers.

Team Hope CSA

Team Hope CSA 2020: Transnistria

January 16, 2020 faithfulwon 1 Comment

This post is the first in a series related to the Team Hope Christmas Shoebox Appeal 2020. In this time of physical contact restrictions the appeal has had to move online for this year which leads to some unique challenges. The needs have never been greater in the recipient countries so please #TeamUpForTeamHope and contribute generously to the appeal this year.

Vanya sat on the end of the bed looking subdued. A crowd of mainly strangers were piling into the bedroom he shared with his mother and 3 siblings, one of whom was only a few months old.

Despite the understandable fear of such an intrusion none of them were going to turn away these strangers for they had been welcomed in with some members of the local church. Team Hope have been working with Yuri and the Church of Christ Saviour for nearly 15 years. This year they shipped 17,000 shoe boxes to Transnistria, each one a welcome passport into the heart of a child.

Vanya opened his box and began to loosen up a little. He gave a wow when he saw a picture from the child in Ireland that had put the box together. The best present though was the sunglasses. He put them on and was slow to take them off. He looked cool. And he smiled.

I had heard something of his story before we entered the hovel he called home. His father was an abusive alcoholic who had caused his mother to miscarry. My heart went out to any son of such a man even before I went in.

After handing him the shoe-box I dropped to the floor beside him. I so wanted him to know that the picture his dad had given him of what God was like was so false. But what could I do in such a short time? I prayed and played with him a bit, looked into his eyes and encouraged him with unintelligible words.

There was a nod as we were about to leave as if he had understood something.

I hope he will continue to understand that God his Father loves Him into eternity. There is much hope that he will: Team Hope’s partners in Transnistria are exceptional people. They have a fervent love that carries them throughout the country bringing hope and love wherever they go. Despite their own poverty they are overflowing with joy and abundant giving.

I went out into the car and took a while to process my emotions. And yes I wept.