Journey Of Faith

The following is from January 9, 2009. The topic is faith as it relates to fundraising for mission trips, something I am engaged in as you read this. It was much less complicated when Jesus sent His guys out!

Yesterday, my sophomores took the quiz over Luke 9:1-17 as shown below. Our bonus question was a prayer request. If the student asked me to pray for someone or something, they would receive the equivalent of a correct answer on the assignment. Lauren Redden, a wonderful tenth grade young lady, put this on her paper: "Pray for Coach Hawley to have better faith!" Now, that might seem like an odd thing for a sixteen year old girl to ask for but there was reasoning behind her supplication. It had to do with the quiz. Scroll down and read question number two on the quiz directly beneath this entry. I'll wait for you.

The question, applying to Jesus' apostles who were about to depart on a mission trip, was, "How much money were they to take?" The correct answer is NONE. Jesus told them to go empty-handed. I then explained my biggest concern before my mission trips is raising funds. I have been blessed that in my thirteen combined mission trips to Honduras-Haiti-China, I have only needed to come up with about $1,000 of the roughly $17,000 the missions have cost. My family and friends, along with several anonymous donors, have allowed me to go to places I would not have dreamed of in my youth. To make a point, perhaps facetiously, I told the kids that if I really had faith, I would go to Houston's Intercontinental Airport without a ticket or reservations for some foreign destination, and let the Lord take over. Hence, I told Lauren she needed to pray for me and that was what she was responding to. We discussed whether or not I would end up out of the country under that scenario. It was split fifty-fifty among the youngsters. Some felt that the Lord would provide my means for transportation because I had the faith to launch out. Others took the position that faith also requires the believer to do their part. We were in a hurry so we left it at that, maybe to delve deeper into the matter in the future.

Is there a difference between rational faith and blind faith? Was Jesus being facetious when He spoke of moving mountains with our belief, small as a mustard seed? Or was he being literal in admonishing us to leap into the unknown because we trust His promises? John praises those who help missionaries. Is that the Father's method of answering prayers, to open the hearts of others so they can assist in spreading the Gospel? My students struggle with the realities of faith in daily life and so does their instructor. With that being said, I will be sending out my Honduras letters in the next few weeks to mailboxes belonging to several of you! And remember the words of Miss Lauren Redden as you close this website; "Pray for Coach Hawley to have better faith!" Speaking as one who knows, he needs it!

Applicable quote of the day:
“Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.”
Martin Luther King, Jr

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com


Gospels
Quiz
Luke 9:1-17
NAME _____________________

1. Which did Jesus give the Twelve the power to do? _____
a. preach the kingdom of God
b. drive out demons
c. heal the sick
d. all the above
2. How much money were they to take? _________________
3. They were supposed to move around from house to house. TRUE-FALSE
4. What should they do if not welcomed in a town? _______
a. curse the town
b. shake the dust off their feet
c. pray for the town
d. destroy the town
5. What was Herod’s reaction when he heard about Jesus? ______
a. angry b. sad c. perplexed d. jealous
6. People were saying Jesus might be: _______
a. Jeremiah b. John the Baptist c. Moses d. all the above
7. Herod wanted to see Jesus. TRUE-FALSE
8. When the apostles returned, Jesus took them to a town called: ______
a. Nazareth b. Bethlehem c. Capernaum d. Bethsaida
9. Jesus was angry at the crowd for following him. TRUE-FALSE
10. Who suggested sending the crowd away? _______
a. the Twelve b. Jesus c. Herod d. Pilate
11. How many loaves did they have? _______
12. How many fish? _____
13. How many men were present? _______
14. Jesus had the crowd sit in groups of about ________ each.
15. Jesus gave thanks before he broke the bread and fish. TRUE-FALSE
16. How many baskets of leftovers were picked up? _______


KEY: 1. d. 2. none 3. FALSE 4. b 5. c 6. b 7. TRUE 8. d 9. FALSE
10. a 11. five 12. two 13. five thousand 14. fifty 15. TRUE 16. twelve

God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
http://www.hawleybooks.com/
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com