What does it mean to have faith?

In order to answer that question, we need to know what faith actually is. The Bible gives a clear definition of faith in Hebrews 11:1. 

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." 

In addition to being the substance of the things we hope for, it’s the evidence of the things we can’t see. Faith doesn’t leave room for doubt, God gives us that deep sense of ‘evidence’ in our heart. 

Let’s take an example: 
If you’re ready to jump out of a plane that’s bound to crash into a mountain, and you have a parachute in your bag. You might not be able to actually see the chute itself, but it’s there. You know it’s there because you trust the one who prepared it for you (or you might even have prepared it yourself). 

This is just like faith.

So here is a question? 
How useful is it for you to simply acknowledge that the parachute existed and was on the plane, but not take it and put it on before leaving the plane!

Sadly, this is very common when we compare the parachute to the Lord Jesus.  Many people believe the facts about the Lord Jesus. They recognise that He existed, died on the cross and rose again, but don’t feel a need for a “parachute”.  They believe they’ll be fine without Jesus in their lives. 

They know the parachute is there for them on the plane, but don’t feel the need for it. They think that by spreading their arms and legs, they’ll manage to stop the fall. 

No matter how much you spread your arms and legs, or how light you are, you know as well as I do what’s going to happen to someone who jumps out of a plane without a parachute. 

This is the same with Christianity, many people believe that their good works will be enough, but the Bible says in Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

We need to have faith and trust in the work of Jesus on the cross.

Then there’s those who say: ‘’well, I don’t really know if we’re going to crash or not, but we’ll see’’ (in other words: ‘’I don’t really know what comes after death...’’). 

Well, the Bible is very clear on that subject. We read in Hebrews 9:27. 

"It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment." 

If you are found guilty on judgment day and have not accepted Jesus as your personal Saviour: you are bound to an eternity in the lake of fire. 

What about those with great theories or philosophies? Will these not save us in the end? 

Well, you might as well jump out of a plane with a backpack full of books, theories and dictionaries, than trust in the theories of men. 

If you jumped from a plane with a bag full of books the fall is going to be even worse: like the surprise many “intelligent men” will have after death.

Not believing in God is the same as jumping out of the plane without a parachute. Crazy!

Make sure you have your parachute on your back and open it! 

It’s useless all folded up, so it is with faith. Believe in God and let it be seen. 

Tell people that parachutes are available, and don’t let them jump without one. 

Like in Psalms 105:2. 

“tell of all his wondrous works!” 

Love,

Jimmy

Growing like a baby

“Like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow” 1 Peter 2:2

Hi everyone, this is a big hello from me and Mona to you all. It has been a few months since camp, the days are getting darker and it is almost bonfire night! For Mona and I, we are busy getting ready for a big change in our lives as we are expecting our first child in February and we are not the only helpers who are expecting (or have just had) babies in the next few months!

Every week we get emails from very helpful websites telling us what to expect in this week of the pregnancy and how big our baby is now. They have an unusual way of describing how big the baby should be though! To help us understand they compare the baby size to a fruit. So in the early days it was the size of a seed, then later it becomes the size of a blueberry, then a raspberry etc. Some of these descriptions were a bit strange and really tested my knowledge of fruit! 

For example, is a passion fruit really much different to a large plum? Some of them were really surprising, like the week when the baby apparently turned from the size of a grapefruit to the size of an apple. Surely a grapefruit is bigger than an apple?! Has our baby shrunk?! But after a few months it is becoming obvious that our baby is definitely growing fast!

Once they are born it does not slow down much! We have neighbours who have just had a baby about 3 months ago and I am sure that baby must have doubled in size in the last few weeks! 

How to grow as Christians...

In the Bible, Peter compares the growth of a baby to the way that we should be growing as Christians. God wants us to grow in our Christian lives and to really grow fast! But how do we grow? 

Well, how does a baby grow? It drinks milk, and lots of it! And if it doesn’t get it’s milk then everybody knows about it! 

Peter uses this example to show what our appetite should be for our spiritual food, the Bible. As the baby longs for the milk, so we should long to read God’s word. This is the only way that we will grow as Christians. The more that we spend with the Lord in prayer and reading his word, so the more we will grow in our Christian lives. 

The best way to do that is to make sure that we get into really good habits, just like we do at camp in our quiet times. To spend time every day in a set routine of prayer and reading the Bible is a great way to guarantee to grow spiritually and is something that all the helpers could not recommend enough. There is an old chorus that puts it like this: ‘read your Bible, pray every day, if you want to grow’.

How amazing would it be if we could all double or triple in size (spiritually) by the time of camp next year? :) 

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:18

Much love,

Al