Jim wrote:
Fundamentals of a Christian Faith: Recognizing the Basics

There are certain fundamentals, basic concepts, principles, root elements
that are common to any genuine Christian faith. These basic convictions and
ideas do not originate in us or stem from anything common to human nature
(in its present state). They come from God. They are truth in its purest
form, glimpses of divine reality. They are eternal actualities often not
clearly seen or understood by human beings living in the chaotic
environments of planet earth. Yet these seedlings of the real, flashes of
spiritual truth, are scattered about freely and sometimes firmly planted in
human hearts.

Don't be misled by my choice of words. Since I use the word, "fundamental,"
some may think I'm talking about a kind of theological stance, a position
taken by scholars of ancient theological texts and philosophical arguments.
But why would anyone in the real world want to do that? We have bills to
pay and other crises to deal with at home, at school, at work. Our friends,
neighbors and loved-ones need attention and help. We need to know how to
deal with the present and sometimes very persistent problems of daily
living.

No, I'm talking, as I said earlier, about real truths that come down to us
from God Himself. These truthful ideas and convictions are given to us by
God's own Holy Spirit. More important, they're not given only to those who
already know God by faith in Jesus Christ. They are offered to anyone, to
everyone. Unbelievers may have great difficulty holding onto such divine
truth. But when a human being is born again, having come to genuine faith
in Jesus Christ, and is suddenly and wonderfully immersed in the very
Presence and power of God by Christ, through the Holy Spirit, then the
things we once dimly hoped for shine forth with more perfect brilliance,
crashing through the darkness.

What are these simple basics, these fundamentals of genuine Christian faith?
Let me list some of the things we know by the Spirit of God:

1. There is a God -- the Creator, Mind, and Ultimate Power behind the
universe.

2. God is truly good, righteous, and just.

3. God is truly all-powerful, able to accomplish anything.

4. God is faithful. Every promise, every word of God is truth.

5. God is mighty to save and rescue all who call on Him.

These truths are basics which undergird all genuine Christian faith. They
enable us to reach out and embrace all the truth of the Old and New
Testaments, all the promises made regarding Jesus Christ our Lord.

These basic truths are revealed, expanded on, and expounded on throughout
the Holy Scriptures. The enemy of our souls will attack these basic
principles more than any other conviction we may hold. To give up -- or
waver -- on any one of these is to lose the life and power behind everything
else we may claim to believe.

We may (and we do) form various church doctrines around these truths. If
we're wise, we will anchor our hopes and convictions in the Holy Scriptures,
the very writings of the Holy Bible -- inspired and preserved by the Spirit
of God. But even if we don't have a Bible, the Spirit of God still speaks
these things to our hearts, refreshing our hope and renewing our
understanding, as we daily seek God's face and will for our lives. Of
course, until we're born again, by faith in Jesus Christ, we won't grasp
much of what God is saying.

Lost in Darkness

Our spiritual journey out of the darkness of is often long and harrowing.
Without Christ Jesus the world is in complete spiritual darkness, even
though many people do firmly believe that there is a God. An easy way to
understand this is to picture someone who has wandered all their lives, lost
in the depths of an immense underground cavern. That's exactly how you and
I are until we finally came to face to face with Jesus Christ, surrendering
our lives to Him.

Take a moment to picture life without God as a journey through that giant
cavern.

There's no light down there, in that world beneath the ground. Always lost
and blind, we stumble over every obstacle, every rising and falling of the
cave's floor. Sometimes we hear things in the dark, but we cannot tell if
the noise represents danger or not. We're filled with fears and dreads,
knowing that a single wrong step will send us hurtling into a pit or onto
the jagged rocks.

When we first begin to hear the faintest sounds of very distant music (of
children laughing and singing and dancing), we doubt naturally ourselves,
thinking that we must be imagining things or, worse, finally losing our
minds completely. Yet as the gentlest breeze in the otherwise stagnant
black cave seems to come and go, we sometimes catch more of the music and
the sounds of distant laughter. Never quite enough to be sure that the
sounds are not coming from our own minds, our own wishful thinking.

There it is again, a song of rejoicing, a child's voice. But no, it's gone
again. No sounds but those of our own staggering footsteps, our own
breathing, and the dripping of the cavern's many waters.

More than anything else, we are always aware of how alone we are. Even when
others are near, we cannot see them or be sure of where they are. The
darkness isolates us all as we make the journey through the wolrd beneath
the ground.

By chance (or so it may seem) we one day find ourselves able to hear a
little more of the music. But in the perfect darkness and despair of the
cave we have finally turned toward the faintest breeze, in the direction of
those occasional happy sounds of another world, a world above the ground, a
place in the bright sunshine, a whole world filled with colors, and rain,
and many sights and sounds. If such a place can even exist.

For us, down in the black cave, there's never any real evidence of this
other world. Nothing we can prove. There is no image of it that we can
see, no proven tale of how wide, and open, and perfectly wonderful it is.
Yet we find ourselves daring to hope, and we (unconsciously, at first) inch
forward, hoping to feel the slightest movement of air on our face, and
trying to catch even a single note of that wondeful melody.

Obstacles and setbacks abound.

No journey in life is a perfect advance toward the things we long to see and
know. There are always stops along the way, and sometimes wrong turns.
Sometimes there are injuries and other delays. At other times we're
distracted by empty promises of pleasure or amusement. And sometimes we
find places of relative comfort, where we may feel safe. We may hide there
for a long time, or even make plans to remain there until we reach the end
of this life.

So it is for those lost in the deep, deep caves of darkness and unbelief.
There are days of strong hope and days when all hope seems foolish,
ridiculous, wholly unfounded and useless. Sometimes our weary hearts simply
give up. For many of us there are hours given to rage. There are also
nights and days that run together, when we're sure that we'll simply die
alone, lost forever in the unbreakable darkness that soaks deeply into our
every thought and feeling and whispering hope.

Even so, we find ourselves inching forward, even on days when all every hope
has vanished. After all, what else is there for us to do? So we continue
to wander alone in the dark, thirsting for the music, starving for the
singing, and for the sounds of delighted children. Sounds and songs that
promise sunshine and starry nights, ideas of trees swaying in the wind. So
onward we go, pushing ahead in the dark. As we wander, we find ourselves
hoping to one day see a sunrise, or the pale moon high in a night sky. We
dream of white clouds against a blue sky, of high and jagged mountain peaks,
and a sea that stretches out far beyond the horizon. These hopes and dreams
pull us ever onward and upward in the vast and endless darkness of our
world.

Without being aware of it, we make progress.

Now we can sometimes hear whole songs. We listen in the darkness to the
games played by laughing, running children. We find ourselves imagining the
dances of whole communities, all holding hands, and moving first this way,
and then that way, as they sing about the goodness of light and life and
simple happiness.

Now we direct our steps according to the sounds, and we can more certainly
feel the fresh air breeze that has become much stronger. We can smell
living things. Pine trees and flowers and cedar and juniper. We smell the
salt sea, and the rain on the rocks and soil and grass. Meadows and wide
valleys and endless open prairies send their fragrances down to where we
are, and we find ourselves believing, hoping, taking firm steps, resisting
the doubts with courage. We've become resolute, convinced by sure promises
that find deeper and deeper root in our hearts.

So real now is the world above us that we often feel as though we're living
above the ground even while we creep along in complete darkness. Our minds
and hearts are filled with images given substance by the singing and
laughter, by the strong fragrances of life, and the powerful promises of a
world bathed in light.

But what's this? A sharp and sudden upward turn of the floor, very steep
and strewn with loose rock, alarms us. We can't see or feel to climb. We
stumble and fall with every attempt. It seems impossible and we begin to
think about giving up, going back. Maybe we can find some other way.

That's when we see it. At first, we stare in amazement. Above us we see a
tiny patch of light, like a single shining star. And just beyond that tiny
bright window we can hear music and the beautiful words of a song we now
know by heart. And in the distance we hear children at play, and more
adults laughing.

And is that? Yes it must be. The wondrous sound of wind in the tree tops,
millions of leaves and needles rustling together.

As our eyes slowly adjust, the speck of light above enables us to faintly
see the cavern wall before us. Here and there are small recesses where we
may be able to gain a hold, and make our way up. We give it a try and we do
make progress for a short distance. Before long, though, we find that we're
stuck. Below us is total darkness. Above us, just out of reach, is the
first light of another world. We search and search, but cannot find a way
to move any higher up the wall. Our fingers are trembling with fatigue,
trying to grip the smooth rock.

Frustration and despair once again take hold of our hearts as we hang there.
All those promises of life and light now -- again -- seem empty, void of all
truth. The bright hopes we allowed to live and grow in our hearts now seem
so stupid, so pointless, so childish and vain.

When we can no longer keep the despair inside we cry out, raging against the
darkness, raging against all the pain in our miserable lives, and raging
against everything that ever offered us the hope of something real,
something meaningful, something truly good. As we cry out in the darkness,
we cannot hear when the singing above us stops. We can only hear our own
shouts and cries as they echo endlessly off walls and pillars of stone,
forever.

Just then, overhead, there's the muffled noise of running footsteps, and
voices saying, "Over here! It's coming from here!" And then the tiny light
above us gets bigger as eager hands grab hold of soil and grass and stone,
pulling away the covering, and opening the way down into the cave. Before
we can understand what's happening, strong hands reach down and grab hold of
our arms, pulling us swiftly upward into the brightness and fresh air.

Squinting at the brilliance, spitting and sputtering to get loose dirt out
of our mouths and eyes, we catch a glimpse of our first sunset. Impossible
colors fill an endless sky, turning clouds first red, then pink and orange
and gold and violet. Trees are all over. All kinds of wonderful trees.
There are flowers growing in huge clusters of color. And everywhere, we now
realize, we're surrounded by the delighted faces of so many beautiful
people!

Only later do we learn that every one of those happy people were also once
rescued, just as we were, from the darkness of vast caves of darkness and
despair. No wonder they sing so many songs about the light. No wonder they
dance and so much rejoice in the life above the ground. The whole world is
filled with happy faces, singing hearts, rejoicing voices, songs and dances
of victory over the darkness. In time we'll discover that the journey may
be along many different passageways of darkness, but the progress and
eventual rescue is often very much the same. Strong and eager hands
reaching down into the black despair, hauling up another lost soul.

The spiritual reality is much the same.

Jesus is the only one strong enough to pull a lost soul up out of a lifetime
of darkness. He saves us from our own dark thoughts, our own dark despair.
He gives us His own perfect peace, His own perfect Spirit, His own unending
joy.

Certainly life on earth, for any believer in Jesus Christ, is not perfect.
We still have good days and bad days, as all people do. Even in Christ
still need to grow up in wisdom, in understanding, in maturity and
discerning. But at least now we walk in the light, as He is in the light.
We're no longer prisoners and slaves of darkness.

Hold onto the basics, the fundamentals, the roots of our faith.

Believe God. Learn from Him each day. Discipline your mind to read and
absorb the truth of Scripture each day.

Apply everything your learn in Scripture and in the Presence of God. Walk
closely with Jesus and you will never again become a victim of the darkness,
no matter how the enemy may rage against your life and faith.

Jesus is the light we need. He is the life we crave. And He alone is the
way to every good thing we still hope for in God. Cling to the Lord in good
and simple faith. Trust in His goodness, His faithfulness, His power to
save and keep what is His.

God's best to you through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Jim
www.goodwordusa.org

Amen and amen :-)

May the LORD bless you for showing your love toward others and for HIM,
in Jesus' most precious and holy name :-))

Will be available to "glow" and chat about this and other things like
cardiology, diabetes, cooking and nutrition that interest those
following this thread here during the next on-line chat (02/02/06) from
6 to 7 pm EST:

http://tinyurl.com/cpayh

For those who are put off by the signature, my advance apologies for
how the LORD has reshaped me:

http://tinyurl.com/bgfqt

Prayerfully in Christ's love,

Andrew
http://tinyurl.com/8juld

What about the parts about whoring your daughters? Marrying pre-teens?
All the incest and fraud?

Go READ the bible, son. Then come back and tell me you still want to
follow it.

--Blair

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
What about the parts about whoring your daughters? Marrying pre-teens?
All the incest and fraud?

These are the human sins documented by human hands.

Go READ the bible, son.

I have many times with the LORD's help.

Then come back and tell me you still want to
follow it.

It remain my choice to continue following the LORD, Whom I love with
all my heart, soul, mind and strength :-))

Will be available to "glow" and chat about this and other things like
cardiology, diabetes, cooking and nutrition that interest those
following this thread here during the next on-line chat (02/02/06) from
6 to 7 pm EST:

http://tinyurl.com/cpayh

For those who are put off by the signature, my advance apologies for
how the LORD has reshaped me:

http://tinyurl.com/bgfqt

Prayerfully in Christ's love,

Andrew
http://tinyurl.com/8juld

Blair P. Houghton wrote:
What about the parts about whoring your daughters? Marrying pre-teens?
All the incest and fraud?

Go READ the bible, son. Then come back and tell me you still want to
follow it.

--Blair



Would you rather trust a historical text that was sanitized of all the
icky parts? (hint: Genesis 19 is history, Ezekiel 23 is extended metaphor)

Bob

Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....


welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

pgluth1 wrote:

Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....


welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

Mail filters are wonderful tools. Mine keeps a log of all the posts i
never see, who sent them and its full of only 2 people, chung and sheldon.

One sort of admires their perverse commitment to their particular
absurdities but that don't make me interested in reading their garbage.

During the last chung inundation i also filtered those non rfc types
from other groups responding to him. They seem to have stopped doing so.

BTW Mr. President, are yo aware that you have your system set to request
e mail from the news group RFC? ordinarily i would not have sent this to
you in e mail as well as group but my machine tells me this is what you
so desire.
---
JL

Jeez. Stand by for the obligatory "sorry if the truth hurts, please
forgive my iniquities" reply.

"pgluth1" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....


welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

And you will learn that only one kill-file isn't sufficient for that person
DDD
Cheers
Pandora

Pandora a écrit :

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....

welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

And you will learn that only one kill-file isn't sufficient for that person

My killfile is like Chung-ky's ability to ignore polite entreaties to
desist...bottomless. It is like those little cells in prisons where
you dumped the prisoners and forgot them...oubliettes in French.

"Pandora" wrote in message
...

"pgluth1" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....


welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

And you will learn that only one kill-file isn't sufficient for that
person
DDD
Cheers
Pandora



Isn't *that* the truth! Jeez. How many ID's does this guy have?

kili

pgluth1 wrote:
Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;

Really don't know whether you do or not. I don't eat breakfast at my
church.

don't preach in my kitchen!

I am not the OP of this thread. Nor have I preached:

http://tinyurl.com/8juld

Take your spam elsewhere....

My response to you is not spam. However, this is a global earthquake
advisory.

welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

Sorry my posts bother you so terribly. Please forgive all my
iniquities.

Will be available to "glow" and chat about this and other things like
cardiology, diabetes, cooking and nutrition that interest those
following this thread here during the next on-line chat (02/02/06) from
6 to 7 pm EST:

http://tinyurl.com/cpayh

For those who are put off by the signature, my advance apologies for
how the LORD has reshaped me:

http://tinyurl.com/bgfqt

Prayerfully in Christ's love,

Andrew
http://tinyurl.com/8juld

"kilikini" ha scritto nel messaggio
.. .

"Pandora" wrote in message
...

"pgluth1" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

Dear "DR." Chung:

I don't make breakfast in your church;
don't preach in my kitchen!

Take your spam elsewhere....


welcome to my plonk-file - simply because of you, I've actually had to
learn how to use it!

And you will learn that only one kill-file isn't sufficient for that
person
DDD
Cheers
Pandora



Isn't *that* the truth! Jeez. How many ID's does this guy have?

Yes! It's true! I kill him every day DDD
Pandora

kili