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Faith vs. Trust - Fides vs. Pistis By Kenneth Schortgen, Jr.

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So then trust [cometh] by hearing, moreover hearing by the [spoken] word of God.   Romans 10:17 Recently I wrote an article on the Wisdom of Faith that the Lord and the Holy Spirit showed me as I have journeyed in the wilderness the last 8 months, and the scope of His Wisdom opened doors to the truth and understanding of Faith I could never dream of on my own. However, shortly after receiving His Wisdom on the three stages of faith, I was led to discover that most believers are in bondage because of the very word faith. It isn’t implied that believers MEANT to do this, on the contrary, the bondage was inflicted by the very translators of the New Testament going back to the time of Nicea. When we look at the New Testament, and see all the scripture that have the word Faith in them, they look innocuous don’t they? And in fact, they seem to RESONATE within us as being what the Lord wants us to do as we strive towards righteousness. Mat 6:30 Wherefore, if God so...

Is God the real "Bad Teacher"?

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When thinking about the best teachers in my life I notice a common thread, they were patient, they were caring, they believed in me, they never gave up, they never caused me to feel shame no matter how block headed I was at times, they always had a word of positive reinforcement for me, and they would go over things with me, with no complaints, as many times and is took for me to get it and then share in my joy when I had the "aha" moment. They treated me in a way that I wanted to reach my true potential, I wanted to exceed expectations, I wanted to bring them a smile, and I wanted them to know what they invested in me wasn't wasted. An experience like that really sticks with you. I had my share of bad teachers as well. They were impatient, I would feel ashamed when I made a mistake, I felt like I could never do good enough, they were short, very brash about things, made you fearful to mess up, weren't someone you could go and ask questions, no matter how sorry I...

Inviting spiritual warfare

You know, I realize that the enemy does attack us frequently, I will never, ever, say he doesn't, but I'm not far from being convinced that some go through much more spiritual warfare because they focus so much on spiritual warfare and it completely infiltrates and fills their beliefs to the point where their world revolves around spiritual warfare and they end up inadvertently opening a door to t hese attacks. I base this on the experience of focusing completely on God's love, peace, mercy, and grace and letting it so infiltrate and fill your beliefs to the point where you end up walking and living out a love, peace, mercy, and grace that most people, even Christians, don't understand or find confusing. Your whole world revolves around God's love, peace, mercy, and grace and no matter what comes against you, that's what manifests itself in your life and actions.

Eating meat sacrificed to idols

If eating meat sacrificed to idols is ok according to His Word, then eating halal foods, dressing up for Halloween, and having a Christmas tree doesn't make a Christian a pagan. If you have a problem with it you have a weak conscience, it doesn't make those who indulge in these things satanic or false Christians in the least bit. Out of love Christians should not purposefully flaunt these things i n front of those who take offense, and those who take offense also should not actively seek out those who do these things to complain about it. Put simply, this theology of man that keeps being spread at various times of the year and causes nothing but puffed out chests, false judgments, accusations, and discourse needs to stop, it's not Biblically supported. Read: 1 Cor. 8:1-13

God's will is to heal

In the Bible Jesus spoke the words that God's will is to heal, so when we come across those needing healing instead of speaking in these long speeches, reasoning, begging, bartering, cajoling God, and asking him "if it's your will", simply speak the word and walk in faith that it is done. We are to be His hands on earth, we walk in faith and trust that what He has promised is done and accomplished, He takes care of the details of how, when, where, and the outer evidence.

Understanding God's Grace

I still marvel at how quickly the thief on the cross understood God's Grace and how some after many years, or decades, still don't understand God's Grace.

Great commission

The great commission requires you to actually go to where the lost are and love on them, not lock yourself away with the found and judge them. Food for thought.