What is your faith all about?

Where do we stand on faith? I mean us, the Methodists, er, the evengelical Methodists? Those who have faith, you know?

Peter Bohler once told John Wesley, “Preach faith till you have it.” Uncomfortable thought isn’t it? But if we try to limit God’s work in other people’s lives to what we think is normative based on our own limited experiences, aren’t we being unfair at best and self-centered at worst? Doing that might be the safe choice, but it doesn’t make it the right one.

I read yesterday once more about the prediction of the Rapture that a radio minister has put out. You know, the one that says May 21 is the end of the world.

We scoffed immediately, didn't we? We laughed after that, didn't we? Did we do that because we don't believe someone can rightly predict such a thing? Or did we do that becuase we don't actually believe there will be an end of the world, rapture, and on and on?

Ask yourself that question seriously?

Do we believe God can heal? Do we believe God heals? I get hung up somewhere between those questions, frankly.

Do we believe Jesus is coming again? Do we believe He is coming in our lifetime?

Do we believe God directs our lives when we allow Him to? Do we believe Jesus died for our sins? Really? Do we believe He was raised from the dead?

We rail at the very questions, don't we. Of course we believe the last two. It's the others we have problems with, huh?

What is faith? Do we really have it? What difference does it make in our lives? Someone out there should answer these questions for me so that we can answer them all together.