Time on my hands

Well, it appears I will have more time on my hands to blog - and maybe catch up a bit, since I've posted so little lately. Here's my up-coming status, for those who care...

It appears that I have only 285 days left to work in the next 1.5 years - a rule hurdle that can often be overcome if a) you're a needed asset, which I am told that I am, and b) there is money available in the budget. Right now I am suffering from the latter hurdle. Thus, I will work every other month for the next 1.5 years.

Despite it being a 50% pay cut, I am grateful. I will be able to focus on church development much more in the coming months, which excites me. God has had us on a pretty amazing wave lately and I am looking forward to riding it with much more of my attention.

So in the meantime, I have sworn off politics - at least sworn off making posts on FB and offering inordinate focus on political issues. This makes room for what really stirs me. Starting with next Monday I will be going to Pakistan to preach! After that, who knows, but I know that diving deeper into faith lies in my future.

I've heard from the critics of faith - critics whom I thought adhered to the same set of belief statements I have held for a couple decades. It's disappointing. It seems that my friends outside of Christ expect this kind of faith of me, while many of my Christian friends have nothing but critique to offer.

I believe this is from disappointment - Those within the faith are disappointed with what they perceive as lacks in God's provision for them at points of need. It is masked by intellectual fervor for Scriptures, caution against rogue preachers and even carefully theologized explanations of God's failures in their lives. Of course, I am not intending to slam, but these are the categories from which I see critiques coming. But I cannot find in Scripture what they find. Or, more correctly, I have seen that what I previously found - that which they currently espouse - was incorrect and subject to the same theology-from-experience trap to which I used to fall prey.

I'm going to be more simple in the future and just trust the evidence. After all, having been a detective, and having lived highly skeptical of all claims until evidence was provided, I think it only right to trust Occam's Razor. When I look at what Jesus did, repeatedly, I see evidence of healing, power, miracles. When I compare the nay-sayers' theology to those of great faith, I see worked out the same message on many posters: Those who say something is impossible are usually silenced by those in the process of doing it.

There is evidence enough that Jesus intends to heal,  evidence enough of miracles happening daily when faithful people pray, and evidence enough of a spiritual world just beyond our sight, trying to claw its way into our reality, that I would be a fool not to invest more time into investigation. I would also be a fool to continue to listen to the critics. Perhaps there is a reason why those who are not in Christ seem to bend their ear toward people of true, unhindered faith. After all, when you know you may need someone's prayers one day, do you want the ones who theologize why God CANNOT do a thing, or do you want the prayers of those who have no doubt that not only CAN He, but that HE WILL?

So I will spend my time and my mental and emotional (and spiritual) effort believing for the impossible. Since I like to be right, it's the perfect occupation. There are plenty of people already saying it's not possible. What better place to be right, repeatedly? :)

IHg, Chris