Faith: More Than Mere Confidence

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I used to say that a synonym for faith is confidence. Although correct, that comparison falls far short of the way the Bible uses the term “faith.” Taking a look at Hebrews chapter 11, it is evident that faith is more than strong conviction or confidence in God. It is confidence demonstrated through determined and loyal action. Especially in the face of adversity we can demonstrate such an outstanding quality. Like tempered glass or tempering metal (which makes them stronger), the Bible refers to endurance and the “tested quality” of our faith as producing a mature, morally strong Christian who is “sound in all respects, not lacking in anything.” –James 1:2-4

See also: Consider It All Joy

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A Convenient Time

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Luke 4:13, “So the Devil, having finished all the temptation, departed from him until another convenient time.” (Also translated "opportune time")

What was “convenient” about that particular time to tempt Jesus? Verse 2 of the same chapter indicates that Jesus was (understandably) hungry. Satan, knowing this, made the very first temptation that of selfishly using the powers Jesus had in order to miraculously make instant food for himself. Although he was hungry, Jesus demonstrated mental alertness and moral resolve.

Scripture does not mention that Satan found any other convenient time to make a direct challenge to Jesus. But that one episode helps me to see that Satan looks for “convenient” times in all of our lives as well. That made me ponder the question, “What convenient times come up in people’s lives that the opportunist Satan would try to take advantage of to weaken our resolve, discourage us, or make us act contrary to the direction given us in God’s Word, the Bible?”

Here are some I thought of, perhaps you can think of others: In the three tests Satan put Jesus through, Satan saw an opportunity in …

1) Perceived physical weakness (the need for food and to maintain our health). With our imperfections, sometimes our health issues can extend into emotional and mental stresses. We can begin to doubt that anyone cares for us (including God), that we are worth anything, that there is anything worth living for. All of those are our imperfect "heart" talking, but Satan can take note of the "opportunity" by making things appear more gloomy than they really are.

2) Self-worth (our desire for prominence or even to be valued more than scripture indicates we should expect).  Satan tried to draw this out of Jesus in all three tests.  In suggesting he turn stones into food, he suggested Jesus has the right to use his powers to feed himself. In suggesting he accept all the kingdoms of the world, Satan fed on the human desire for greatness. In suggesting Jesus fool-heartedly throw himself off a high place, Satan wanted Jesus to misuse his relationship with his Father to protect against stupid actions.

3) Moral. (When people think of morals, they usually think of truth verse lies, sexual misconduct, murder and such things. Yet all of the temptations Satan gave Jesus were also moral. Arrogantly trusting in our own ability, the desire to be “someone” important, the desire for wealth, the desire for the adrenalin rush that excitement and sporting activities that could result in physical harm are all moral issues.)

4) Personal understanding of scripture and life. When Satan quoted from Psalm 91:11,12, he misapplied it as an excuse to engage in life-threatening action. (Luke 4:9-11). He does the same thing to us. For example, when we read at 2 Thessalonians 3:10 "If anyone does not want to work, neither let him eat." and further we read 1 Timothy 1:8 "Certainly if anyone does not provide for those who are his own, and especially for those who are members of his household, he has disowned the faith and is worse than a person without faith," we might wrongly conclude that employment is more important that our relationship with Jehovah and hence become irregular in our Bible reading, our meeting attendance and our ministry. When we think that way, we are forgetting Jesus’ response to the first temptation Satan threw his way. Jesus said “Man must not live on bread alone.” That was a quote from Deuteronomy 8:3 which continues to say we must live not only on food but more importantly on God’s Word. In other words, our obedience to God’s direction is more important than what we perceive to be a necessity. In short, if a personal understanding of something we read in scripture results in taking us away from service to our God, jeopardizes our loyalty to God or anything that can put us at odds with God, the opportunist Satan has made good use of the situation and conveniently hurt us spiritually.

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Justice-A Weighty Issue

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Speaking of God and his dealings with mankind, Proverbs 16:11 says: “The just indicator and scales belong to Jehovah; all the stone weights of the bag are his work.” (Other versions) Yes, both the scales and marker (the "just indicator") and every stone in God's bag is just, fair and right in his dealings with mankind. Likewise, we ought to have a “complete stone-weight” in our dealings with others. (Proverbs 11:1. Other versions)

Understanding what this meant was common to adults back when Proverbs was written. But today, most people only encounter scales in grocery stores and hospitals. In stores, they are either electronic (built into most register scanners) or in bulk and produce departments. Essentially, the stones were probably the predecessors of weights we use on some scales. I don’t know what form of checks-and-balances were used to verify a valid stone-weight back then. Perhaps there was one stone held as the “standard” and merchants brought their stones to try to match against that standard as close as possible. (There were other means of deceptive weighing besides using incorrectly weighted stones. This article merely considers stones because of the scriptural reference.)

Overall, the main concept being conveyed is fairness in our dealings with others. Impartiality and truthfulness are necessary in our treatment of others in order to receive God’s approval.

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Sly Wolves

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It never ceases to amaze me how those I meet are so quick to condemn my faith but have nothing to offer in place of it. Oh sure, they’d probably love if I came and joined their church, but based on the way they treat me, I’m certainly not attracted to that. Would you want to associate with a religion that right from the get-go does nothing but tells you what a loser you are? Me neither. Recently I was told I’d been deceived. I responded that for there to be deception, there would have to be motive. Money isn't the motive because we follow Jesus’ directive regarding our preaching work, “you received free, give free.” We don't charge people for our literature. We don't pass collection baskets. We don't require a tithe. (Matthew 10:8) He defended the right of other religions to require tithing. (I later learned he is a pastor at his church.)

During all our discussions, both in person and through email, he continually tried to find fault with Jehovah’s Witnesses and nit-picked everything I said. At one point during an in-person meeting, he showed me a Greek-language Bible that was amalgamated using numerous fragments (not an uncommon practice). He had learned to read Greek, so he could directly translate it to English. It was very impressive. But he tried to make a point about the punctuation it used compared to the punctuation in the New World Translation. He pointed to his Greek-language Bible as an authority showing the real punctuation. I politely listened and nodded, but I knew he was not telling the truth. When I got home I found three websites that have nothing to do with Jehovah’s Witnesses—all of which confirmed what I vaguely remembered—Greek did not have any punctuation. So the use of punctuation by all translators and original-language renderers is subjective and, to some degree, a form of interpretation. When I pointed this out to him, he didn't like that. I guess he thought I would swallow his lie hook, line and sinker.

At first I thought he sincerely wanted my responses to his challenges. I even acknowledged that he brought up some very good questions that deserve an honest answer. But when I attempted to respond, I discovered his real intentions. He wasn’t interested in anything that might exonerate us. He was fully convinced we are wrong. His only purpose was to raise sufficient doubt in my mind so I'd stop serving the one true God. 

I researched one other issue he raised that he said gave indisputable proof that Jesus is God Almighty. It all centered on the Greek word “proskuneo” which, when rendered in English, can be translated “worship, obeisance,” or even “prostrate.” It comes from two root Greek words meaning “towards to kiss.” His faulty argument was that since Jesus permitted others to do this toward him, he was accepting worship, therefore proving he was God. The problem with that thinking is that he was using a very narrow definition of the word. When I found an occurrence of that word where Jesus used it in an illustration about a man begging for mercy from another man, that blew his whole argument out of the water. Although I’ll be the first to admit I am not a Greek scholar by any means, I do own some well-respected reference works that made this an easy discovery. Maybe he thought I’d be too lazy or dumb to research this. He boasted about his degree from his studies. The fact is, the message in the Bible was never intended to be intellectualized. God and his son, Jesus, both worked with common folk, down to earth folk. True religion, true faith, was and is a matter of a personal relationship with God, something anyone with average intelligence can grasp. The message in the Bible was to average people that could understand simple concepts. (Downloadable PDF with more extensive analysis)

Still, I was happy for this experience. I even thanked the man and I meant it with all sincerity. He helped me once again reaffirm my faith and see how others so slyly try to twist scriptures for their own benefit.

Here are the links to the three websites regarding Greek and punctuation:

http://greek-language.com/grklinguist/?p=657

http://www.baptistboard.com/archive/index.php/t-20749.html

On this next link, notice the 7th paragraph, the one under the heading: "Strong's Hebrew/Greek Dictionary.

http://www.churchofgoddfw.com/women/w_love.shtml

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Take Pleasure In Weaknesses

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2 Corinthians 12:10 (NWT) Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in cases of need, in persecutions and difficulties, for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful. (Other versions)

At times we may feel apprehensive or inadequate in our ministry, especially when we are challenged to defend our beliefs by people we meet. Still, Peter encourages us to "sanctify the Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense before everyone that demands of you a reason for the hope in you, but doing so together with a mild temper and deep respect." (1 Peter 3:15) (Other versions)

So, coming back to Paul’s words, what we can learn is to not be afraid to be "weak".  In other words, be willing to put ourselves in an uncomfortable situation so that the spirit of God can be our power and not our own learning and abilities. The fact is that the best potential new believers come from those that were adamantly opposed because these tend to research more diligently. For example, Paul himself was a persecutor of the early congregation of Christians. So don't shy away from challenges. You may actually have found yourself a new future brother (or sister) in the faith.

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What Is Our Motive

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While out speaking to people about the Bible, I met a man that sincerely believed I had been misled by the teachings of the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society. What impressed me about this man was his mild spirit, respectful conversational style and willingness to allow me to explain. Most that I meet that feel we are deceived resort to insults, take an arrogant “I’m better than you” stance, and refuse to allow me to make any defense. They just want to tell me what a loser I am, while elevating their viewpoints.

I traded email addresses with that man because I sensed a sincere and kind disposition. In fact, he stated what I normally require of anyone that wants to talk—it must be a two-way conversation and it must be respectful. In my first email, I commended him for his wonderful personality. I mentioned that it reminded me of Paul’s counsel to Timothy in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 2, verse 24. Essentially, we need to be peaceable, even under the most disagreeable situations.

I am recounting here the points I made regarding why I believe it is untrue that we are deceived followers and expanding on that.

In order for there to be deception, there must be a motive to do so. From the viewpoint of agnostics and atheists, the motive of many (if not most) religions is financial gain. So let’s take a look at that first.

Unlike other religions, all our activities (both local and global) are supported by unsolicited voluntary donations. There is NEVER a collection basket passed at ANY of our services. If you scroll down to the “Fast Facts” section on the “About” page from the jw.org site, you will see that we are active in more than 230 “lands.” Yet whether it be a prosperous or deprived land, we freely share the good news both in the public outreach (our “ministry”) and at our meeting places. The only time in the 42 years that I've been one of Jehovah's Witnesses that I have ever heard anything about money is under two specific conditions: 1) The accounts report that is read monthly, and 2) a talk about once a year on how donations can be made and what they are used for. At one time I was the person in charge of collecting and depositing the donations, so I know firsthand how donations are managed.

Another thing that impressed me is that we do not have paid clergy. We call all male believers “brother” and female believers “sister” regardless of what responsibilities they have in the congregation. How do those that have been assigned as teachers make a living? The same way that everyone else does in the congregation—they hold down a secular job. (There are some in the congregation that I am in that are retirees drawing a pension.) But the main point is that absolutely none are paid for the services they render the congregation from congregation donations.

Finally, (with regards to financials) is the matter of the donations from the public. My personal experience is that I give away about a dozen or so magazines every month without even asking for a donation. (We are encouraged to ask for such, but I’ve never felt comfortable doing so.) In 42 years I’ve been a Witness, I think the donations from the public I've received, all of which I pass on to the congregation donation box, have amounted to less than $50.  But the literature is just one aspect. Not to be forgotten or overlooked is that we have to pay from our own funds for the gas and other incidentals in bringing this message to people. While we live in the communities we serve, those like myself that are active in the ministry 3 to 4 times a week find gas costs adding up. So nobody is in this for the money.

But money is not the only motive for religions to have a following. Some just like the “head trip” of being able to control people. Is that something the Watchtower is interested in? If you read websites written by dissenters, they would have you believe that is true. Some would have you believe supporters are nothing but mindless robots spreading the message. I’m not exactly sure what motivates such slander but it is a completely false charge. Yes, the Watchtower does publish articles that are intended to help its adherents grow in godly qualities. What religion do you know that doesn’t try to direct the flock? Jesus worked hard to teach the truth to others. The first-century Christians (the writers of the Greek scriptures or, as some call it, the “New Testament”) wrote extensively about Christian beliefs and how to live. For those that think giving guidance and counsel are bad things, I can only ask what other honorable purpose a religion could possibly have. If power and prestige were motivating factors within our faith, you’d expect to see men of prominence bill-boarding their names all over the place. Yet that is not the case. While many Bible translators and publishers of religious material have no problem in putting their names all over the materials, the writers of our publication readily give credit to God who is the source of the real message of hope.

So money and riches are not a motive. Neither is power and prestige. When people I’ve met run out of all other excuses, they usually go with, “Oh, you guys are just servants of the devil. You’re only desire is to mislead. You don’t care about anything else.” I’m usually left flabbergasted, and speechless. But even if I could respond, before I can respond, I usually get the door slammed in my face. That charge is so completely unfounded that it demonstrates they are merely mimicking something they’ve heard before. They make no attempt to substantiate the claim, they just puppet it. Jesus said “by their fruits you will recognize” who is really serving God and who is not. So what are the fruits of Jehovah’s Witnesses? We are the only global religion that lives by Jesus’ words not to engage in war. We are the only global religion that practices on a global scale giving freely of the Bible’s message to all we meet. I might be mistaken about this one, but I think we are the only religion that globally recognizes what medical science has said for years—that smoking is bad. We teach that a loyal servant of God cannot be defiling his body with this habit. We teach moderation in lifestyle, devotion to God by reading and adhering to the Bible. We teach tolerance and understanding. I could go on listing many other features, all of which are admirable qualities. No, we are not perfect individuals. We readily admit we are imperfect. But individually and collectively we comprise a fellowship that is a real joy to be a part of.

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French Press: Making Coffee With the French Press

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Most product instructions I read today are poorly written and do not address the whole process but merely the technical operations. Recently I bought a French Press and was dismayed with the poorly written instructions, so I wrote my own....

 Introduction

The French Press, like the crude camping method of merely boiling beans in a pan, relies on course-ground beans in order to extract the oils and aromatics from the beans. The difference with the French Press is that the strainer is, effectively, built into the device. However, it cannot and does not filter out small sediment which is a natural by-product. The filter will also become un-usably  plugged if anything less than course-ground coffee is used. This means you cannot use coffee beans that have been ground for a drip system and especially not an espresso machine.

Things You Will Need

The French Press

Microwaveable Coffee cup

1 tablespoon measuring spoon

Course-ground coffee

The following instructions assume you are making coffee for one mug. The 34-ounce Bodum French Press I am using is capable of making two mug’s worth of coffee at a time.

Steps

·         Fill your coffee mug with water and microwave to just below boiling point. (About 2-^1/2 minutes)

·         While the water is being heated, if you are using whole beans, grind them coarsely, using one tablespoon of beans per mug of coffee.

·         Remove the strainer/lid combination from the Press.

·         Empty the ground beans into the French Press.

·         When the water is heated, pour it into the French Press and stir gently preferably with a wooden spoon. WARNING: Using a metal spoon may crack and break the fragile glass of the Press.

·         Insert the strainer/lid into the Press. GENTLY and SLOWLY press down. WARNING: Do not use fast or excessive pressure. This will cause the heated water to jet out of the top of the Press.

·         With the strainer still lowered, pour your coffee into your coffee mug.

·         Add whatever you normally do to your coffee such as sweetener and milk. (Note: Adding cold dairy to the coffee may make it lukewarm. To fix, merely microwave for about 30 seconds.)

Clean Up

·         Remove the strainer/lid from the Press. Brush off the bulk of the sediment from the strainer into the trash, then rinse.

·         Add water to the carafe of the Press and swish the beans and then dump down the toilet. Wash the carafe in the sink taking care not to crack it.

  

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