As I shared in an earlier blog post, I came into a saving knowledge of Jesus because people I met were living an uncommon Christian life. They believed that it’s God’s will to heal (anyone), and it’s God’s will to prosper (anyone), and that God will fill (anyone) with the Holy Spirit (including the ability to “speak in tongues”). They believed God will answer prayer, and that a life of faith should be the common life.
My First Days
I was privileged, in the first days and months of my Christianity, to be exposed to teachings that were fresh and alive and exciting. Some call these teachings “Word of Faith”… some refer to it derisively as “Fake It ‘til You Make It” Christianity”… still others call it a cult. But as the years have progressed it’s been interesting to see more mainstream preachers and authors begin to reach vast audiences with the same things I began to learn while still a “baby” Christian.
The “Word of Faith” message is a message that radically changed my life. And it’s the message I attempt to proclaim in the pages of this blog.
Extreme Faith
Sure… The message of Faith has been taken to extreme. I’ve seen it, and such teaching has caused a lot of damage to the lives of some in the Body of Christ.
That Stuff Doesn’t Work!
And there are many who received the same teachings I received who later recanted and said, “That ‘faith stuff’ didn’t work for me, so therefore it must be wrong.”
The Balance
The problems stem from those who haven’t taken the time to fully understand the scope of what the Bible says about faith. As such, many “faith preachers” teach things that are not Biblically sound. Many preach something they heard but haven’t lived, so the teaching comes from more of a text-book knowledge of the subject rather than through a working knowledge obtained through hands-on application. Some have heard only part of the message and have run with it, but they fail because they missed a vital piece of understanding.
I can’t say that I’ve been fully successful in my faith endeavors, but I have leaned a lot of what works because I’ve purposed to work with it. If something doesn’t work the way I expect it to, I go to prayer to find out why. I keep experimenting with what I know until I gain a working understanding of the principles of faith that apply to the area of life I’m dealing with.
If it’s in the Word it will work, if you know how to work it.
I’ve made my mistakes. But the Bible says you can become wise by learning from the mistakes of others.
I don’t know that I will want to expose all my mistakes in my blog posts, but I intend to expose much of what I’ve learned so you don’t have to make the same mistakes I made.
Will that make you mistake free? Not likely. Anyone who begins to learn something new will make mistakes… but one who learns from a good teacher can avoid many of the common mistakes.
Stick with me… Let me help you.
by 
)
by