Everything That's On My Mind - Christian Living|Faith

A lesson in faith and devotion

Pastor Bob — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 19:39:32 GMT

I left everything behind me, not only family. When you decide to convert to Christianity or any other religion from Islam, it's not (enough) to just say goodbye and leave, you know? It's not like that. You're saying goodbye to culture, civilization, traditions, society, family, religion, God — what you thought was God for so many years! So it's not easy. It's very complicated. People think it's that easy, like it doesn't matter. Now I'm here in the U.S. and I got my freedom and it's great, but at the same time, nothing is like family, you know. To lose your family —

For me it was a duty from God to announce his name and praise him (around) the world because my reward is going to be that he's going to do the same for me. So I did it, basically, as a duty. I (wonder) how many people can do what I can do today? I didn't find any.

So, I had to be strong about that. That was very challenging. That was the most difficult decision in my life and I didn't do it for fun. I didn't do it for anything from this world. I did it only for one reason: I believed in it. People are suffering every day because of wrong ideas. I can help them get out of this endless circle ... the track the devil (laid) for them.

Mosab Hassan Yousef
Son of a Hamas leader who has publicly announced his faith in Christ

Mighty in the Land

Pastor Bob — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:02:22 GMT

How would you react if a freak accident took your entire family from you in an instant? If you're anything like me, your honest answer would be...not very well. Especially if that accident is what some people call an "act of God". That's exactly what happened to my friend Robert Rogers almost five years ago. His story is summarized in an article in the current issue of Charisma Magazine. Robert and I were good friends in college at Anderson University. He was kind enough to come all the way up from Cincinnati when I married Lori and I was honored to be in attendance when he married Melissa. I haven't stayed in close touch with him over the years, just Christmas cards and such, but he remains an inspiration to me. Whenever circumstances begin to weigh me down, I try to remember the faith Robert has exhibited despite this tragedy and my troubles seem insignificant.

Robert now devotes himself full-time to ministry and to his Mighty in the Land Foundation. The foundation's goal is to sponsor orphanages around the world. You can support this foundation through donations or by buying Robert's CDs. (He's the most talented pianist I've ever known, and I've known quite a few talented pianists.) He's also recently published a book, Into the Deep, that tells his story. It's a great reminder that no matter what happens to us, God's grace is sufficient.

Singing the Blues

Pastor Bob — Sun, 07 May 2006 01:01:24 GMT

“But you see, David was the first blues singer. As well as praising, he was there shouting at God—you know: ‘Where are you when we need you?’…‘We’re surrounded’…‘Your people are starving’…‘Are you deaf?’ That type of thing. He’d be wailing, this militant mind, this poet musician with enough faith to believe he had a deal with God…believed it enough to get angry when it looked like He wasn’t coming through.”

~Bono

I've loved the blues for a long time. Even before I knew what the blues was, I loved the blues. There's something cathartic about the blues. It's raw, it's passionate, it's not quite under control, it's a little bit threatening. Most of all, I think I love the blues because it's honest. There are no pretensions, it is what it is...like it or not.

The Psalms are like that. Some of them are very raw and dangerous. We get a little uncomfortable when David starts calling down judgment from heaven on his enemies. It doesn't sound very "Christian" to call down fire upon the heads of your enemy. It's even more difficult when David questions God, wonders where He has gone.

All this makes me think about the definition of faith. Growing up, I got the impression that "having faith" excluded such thoughts. People of faith were perpetually happy people, everything was always great. Perpetual smiles and "isn't God good?" always on their lips. Now I'm not so sure. If David truly was a "man after God's own heart", then must we at least wonder if the "whining" Psalms are appropriate for the life of faith as well? Maybe you can be a person of faith and still feel depressed every now and then. Maybe Bono has a point. Maybe getting a little upset every now and then is a sign that we really do believe in God's promises. We're just a little impatient waiting for them to come to pass.

Ah, patience, now there's the rub.

So now I'm thinking that a little blues every now and then is a good thing. The key is to be more like David. No matter how bitter his complaint, he rarely closed a Psalm without a reminder of God's goodness and faithfulness, and an exhortation to patience. So we can sing the blues, as long as we don't give up hope. After all, suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character...hope. I think I may need to get that tattooed on my thick skin someday.