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Pastor for Diversity and Tolerance Christ's Rottweiler
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What is Faith? -
10-10-2020, 10:41 PM
If someone says “My faith is strong”, what does he mean? What is Faith? I ask you to consider this because I was asked this question by a member of the congregation.
Often, the response is “Faith is believing something you cannot prove is true.”
I have always found that to be a poor answer as it seems to imply that there is somewhere in the universe a person who does not know that God made, did, does, and will do everything that happens. The question arises also as to why you should want to prove it true. Are you more likely to go to heaven if you know that all Polar Bears are left-handed?
I have never been to Australia but I am quite willing to accept that there is an Australia -- there are Australians (e.g. Ray Comfort). I therefore cannot have any “faith” in their being an Australia as I have proof.
No, my friends, “Faith” is much more than believing something you cannot prove is true. Let us take The Holy Trinity as an example. “Three in One”. It is not a statement: it is a revelation of God Himself. Or Jesus walking on water. He cured the dead; He Himself was dead and became alive. All apparently impossible to understand or believe. Who can prove these and, more to the point, why would anyone want to? All you have to do is believe them.
Arguments rage in the unintelligent, atheists, demoncrats, catlicks, and others possessed by demons about the level of proof that there is a God (or indeed, any gods) but as God says, and here I agree with Him – Job:21:18: They are as stubble before the wind, and as chaff that the storm carrieth away.
Simple.
We can see from learned books that the human, unintroduced to Christ and His Magnificence, may have difficulties accepting things if he his allowed to insist on “proof.” Among the list of “Approved books” in Landover Christian Library, (despite there being no mention of God in it), there is a copy of George Orwell’s “1984”. (For those who do not know, Orwell was a life-long Republican living in England. The book is a prediction of life under mild Socialism, or what American would be like under a Democratic government. Atheists are in charge and they have no moral compass.)
There is one passage that stands out. Our Hero, Winston Smith, has been arrested on unspecified charges and is being interrogated with the aid of an electric shock machine:
Quote:
'How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'
'Four.'
'And if the party says that it is not four but five--then how many?'
'Four.'
The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle of the dial had shot up to fifty-five. The sweat had sprung out all over Winston's body. The air tore into his lungs and issued again in deep groans which even by clenching his teeth he could not stop. O'Brien watched him, the four fingers still extended. He drew back the lever. This time the pain was only slightly eased.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four.'
The needle went up to sixty.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four! Four! What else can I say? Four!'
The needle must have risen again, but he did not look at it. The heavy, stern face and the four fingers filled his vision. The fingers stood up before his eyes like pillars, enormous, blurry, and seeming to vibrate, but unmistakably four.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four! Stop it, stop it! How can you go on? Four! Four!'
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Five! Five! Five!'
'No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?'
'Four! five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!'
'Sometimes, Winston. Sometimes they are five. Sometimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane.'
'Again,' said O'Brien.
The pain flowed into Winston's body. The needle must be at seventy, seventy-five. He had shut his eyes this time. He knew that the fingers were still there, and still four.
'How many fingers, Winston?'
'Four. I suppose there are four. I would see five if I could. I am trying
to see five.'
'Which do you wish: to persuade me that you see five, or really to see
them?'
'Really to see them.'
'Again,' said O'Brien.
Perhaps the needle was eighty--ninety. Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain as happening. Behind his screwed-up eyelids a forest of fingers seemed to be moving in a sort of dance, weaving in and out, disappearing behind one another and reappearing again.
'How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?'
'I don't know. I don't know. You will kill me if you do that again. Four, five, six--in all honesty I don't know.'
'Better,' said O'Brien.
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The puzzle of the book is, of course, why Winston Smith was so insistent on believing such a minor point as “'How many fingers am I holding up?” Does it matter? Is there any point in being stubborn? Insisting that you are right and know everything?
The story ends with Winston Smith realising that not everything needs an explanation – some things are simply "the way things are" if you have faith.
All Smith was being asked to do was to have a little faith on such a small matter. Of course, the number of fingers is quite unimportant when compared to the significance and truth of the many miracles and wondrous happenings of the Bible.
And so when we ask, “What is Faith?”, we must ask ourselves “What does God ask as far as faith is concerned?”
Before I answer that, it is worth remarking that Faith contains within it all supernatural realities in a remarkable richness and variety. Knowing this, we can say that God asks that we approach Faith in particular with humility and reverence, and most importantly that we do not rely on human reasoning, which ought to be set to one side, but rather we should simply firmly hold to divine Revelation.
In short, “Faith is what God says it is.”
All God asks is that you accept what He said, and give Him the love that asks no questions. And that avoids all the trouble of an eternal afterlife being tortured and roasted which puts Winston Smith’s problems with thinking into some sort of perspective.
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True Christian™
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-11-2020, 03:19 AM
Thank you Pastor Bathfire for another inspiring sermon. Although I completely agree that no proof is needed to justify faith, for those who insist, they can find all of the proof they want in the Holy Bible (KJV 1611 version, of course) and in The Art of the Deal.
The problem with proof is that it limits your options for what the truth is. To take a recent example, imagine what would have happened had President Trump listened to the scientists and doctors, with their "standards of evidence," about COVID. Our economy would be in shambles and hundreds of thousands of unnecessary deaths would have occurred. Because President Trump ignored the proof and instead had a little faith, we're in great shape, especially since the President personally discovered the miracle cure, hydroxychloroquine.
Draft Freehold, Iowa Mayor
Johny Joe Hold
for Vice President in 2024
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Distinguished Professor of Prayer Healing and Creation Zoology (Baraminology) Victim of atheist scientific persecution
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-11-2020, 05:03 AM
Indeed, an inspired sermon that resonates in the bosoms of all True Christians™.
What about those who are of other religions: Hindoos, Catholicks and other Muslims, evolutionists, the Prince Phillip cult etc. etc.? "They also have faith" is an ignorant exclamation often uttered by these false believers. How do we discern not only faith® but TRUE Faith™ from false ones, as people have been known to justify any position imaginable with simple Faith® including female equality, mixed marriages and sodomistic behaviors. How? By examining the KJV Bible, of course!
Isaiah 46: 9-10
Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Thus, our Faith™ is the benchmarked Faith™ that all others should bow to. Q.E.D.
Yours in Christ,
Elmer
2 Kings 18:25 - Am I now come up without the LORD against this place to destroy it? The LORD said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-14-2020, 10:46 PM
True Faith isn't just a gaudy 80's pop song.
It's unwavering, unquestioning loyalty to Our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:57-62 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
59 And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.
62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
I have three loves in my life - My family, my President, and my God, and Jesus always comes first. Faith is sacrifice, like the sacrifice He made when they nailed Him to a cross. We mustn't betray His faith in us, in thought, in word, in action.
1 John 1:7-10
6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-15-2020, 01:35 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha Chung
True Faith isn't just a gaudy 80's pop song. It's unwavering, unquestioning loyalty to Our Savior, Jesus Christ. I have three loves in my life - My family, my President, and my God, and Jesus always comes first.
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Dear Miss Martha: If the comes first in your life, then why have you placed after your family and the President? I hope that this has been just an oversight on your part, as we do take our dedication and devotion to Almighty extremely seriously here at . I mean, we do have our standards to maintain (surely, this you can see,) and whilst our families and our blessed President Trump are -- indeed -- very, very important, we must remember that the is ALWAYS first and foremost!
Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the thy with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
Matthew 6:33 " But seek ye first the kingdom of , and righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
(Mrs.) Isabella White
Hebrews 10:19 "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the of "
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-15-2020, 01:43 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Isabella White
Dear Miss Martha: If the comes first in your life, then why have you placed after your family and the President? I hope that this has been just an oversight on your part, as we do take our dedication and devotion to Almighty extremely seriously here at . I mean, we do have our standards to maintain (surely, this you can see,) and whilst our families and our blessed President Trump are -- indeed -- very, very important, we must remember that the is ALWAYS first and foremost!
Matthew 22:37 "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the thy with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
Matthew 6:33 " But seek ye first the kingdom of , and righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."
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Hello dear Mrs. White. I put God on the end of my sentence to emphasize His importance; that the last is certainly not least, in fact, comes first in leaving a lingering residue of importance on the mind of whom comes upon my post to read.
Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.
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Completely CRAZY for the Lord
True Christian™
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Re: What is Faith? -
10-15-2020, 06:58 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Martha Chung
Hello dear Mrs. White. I put God on the end of my sentence to emphasize His importance; that the last is certainly not least, in fact, comes first in leaving a lingering residue of importance on the mind of whom comes upon my post to read.
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I see. That would be His Omega persona?
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