Tagged: Rob Phillips

Protestant pastors view Islam with suspicion

The following story was released April 23 by LifeWay Christian Resources.

By Rob Phillips

Protestant pastors in the U.S. have a negative view of Islam and more than half agree with Franklin Graham’s statement that Islam is an “evil” religion, according to a just-released study by LifeWay Research. More than four in 10 agree that Islam is dangerous and promotes violence.

Graham, son of Billy Graham, stirred controversy in 2001 by saying Islam is an “evil” religion. Recently, Graham called Islam offensive and wants Muslims to know Jesus died for their sins. In response, the U.S. Army yesterday rescinded an invitation to Graham to speak at a May 6 prayer service at the Pentagon, calling his comments “not appropriate.”

Most Protestant pastors, however, agree with Graham according to a telephone survey of 1,000 church leaders conducted March 1-9, 2010, before the current controversy.

The survey included questions about the differences between the religions, giving the respondents the opportunity to choose between positive and negative descriptors.

“When given the choice, they consistently chose the negative descriptions,” explained Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay Research. “This should not surprise us – Protestant Christianity is, in a sense, a competing faith, and that comes through in the survey.”

Protestant pastors were asked which is closer to their beliefs: Graham’s widely reported comment that Islam is “a very evil and a very wicked religion,” or former President George W. Bush’s remark that “the Muslim faith is based upon peace and love and compassion.”  

Forty-seven percent of the pastors surveyed believe Graham’s assessment of Islam is accurate, and an additional 12 percent agree with both Graham’s and Bush’s statements. Twenty-four percent agree with the former president’s statement. The rest could not decide.

“This means a majority of Protestant pastors chose statements that agree with Franklin Graham’s statement,” Stetzer said. “Of those who chose only one statement, respondents agree with Graham over Bush at a 2-to-1 rate.

“Franklin Graham’s belief about Islam is a mainstream view among Protestant pastors.”

Additionally, those identifying themselves as evangelical are more than twice as likely to agree with Graham’s assessment of Islam.

Other findings:

  • Three out of four pastors disagree with the statement, “Christians and Muslims pray to the same God” – 69 percent disagree strongly.
  • Eighty-two percent say Islam is “fundamentally different from Christianity.”
  • Forty-two percent agree that Islam “promotes violence.”
  • Four in 10 say the religion is “spiritually evil.”
  • One in three says Islam “promotes charity.”
  • Twenty-eight percent consider the religion “relevant today.”

However, a minority of pastors, especially those from mainline denominations, hold a more positive view of Islam.

One-quarter of all pastors agree “the Islamic religion is a relevant and viable religion for today,” including 11 percent who strongly agree. Similarly, 19 percent say Islam is “spiritually good” and 16 percent characterize the religion as “tolerant.”

Those who strongly agree they know a Muslim personally are more likely to agree with Graham that Islam is “evil” (43 percent) than with Bush’s statement that it is a religion of “peace and love and compassion” (28 percent). Despite agreeing that Islam is an “evil” and “wicked” religion, those who strongly agree they know a Muslim personally were more positive in their reaction to statements about Islam promoting charity and being spiritually good.

“We should not say that Protestant pastors are uniform in their view and in no way does this study show they think that Muslims are bad people, but it does show concerns about the religion and its impact,” said Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research.

Regardless of their views about Islam, six in 10 pastors agree that Christianity and Islam should seek to coexist in America.

“This is not the first survey to look at the perception of Islam,” explained Stetzer. “Pew and others have pointed to negative perceptions among the American people. However, it is important to consider the religious view of the leaders of the largest faith group in America: Protestants. The fact is Protestant pastors tend to hold a negative view of Islam, but they also believe they should seek to coexist.”

LifeWay Research is an evangelical polling organization in Nashville, Tenn. More details of the study may be found at www.lifewayresearch.com.

Methodology: LifeWay Research commissioned Zogby International to conduct a telephone survey of Protestant pastors March 1-9, 2010. The completed sample of 1,000 phone interviews with senior pastors, ministers and priests provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed ±3.2 percent.

Catch the Kingdom at Walmart

I was grateful this morning to receive word from my good friend Phill Burgess at CrossBooks that Walmart.com is now carrying a select number of CrossBooks titles including The Kingdom According to Jesus: A Study of Jesus’ Parables on the Kingdom of Heaven. The book explores 17 parables of Jesus having to do with the kingdom of heaven and, I believe, is helpful in personal or group Bible study. Earlier this month, The Kingdom won a first-place award from the Baptist Communicators Association.

Check it out at Walmart.com.  The book also is available at CrossBooks, LifeWay Christian Stores, Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. If you read the book, be sure to post a review. I’d very much like to hear your critique.

The Great Impostor

This article first appeared in Baptist Press.

He was known as “The Great Impostor” and inspired a 1961 film by the same name.

Ferdinand Waldo Demara impersonated everyone from physicians to monks and thus achieved notoriety. He began his nefarious career during World War II by borrowing his Army buddy’s name, going AWOL and faking his suicide. A string of pseudo careers followed. He was, among other things, a sheriff’s deputy, a doctor of applied psychology, a lawyer and a child-care expert.

He was best known for masquerading as a surgeon aboard a Canadian Navy destroyer during the Korean War, successfully completing a string of operations. His final gig: serving as a Baptist minister.

Demara’s life is a fascinating but sad story of one man’s quest for respectability. His success as an impostor also exposes the soft underbelly of a society whose people are easily duped by one who talks smoothly and claims to serve the greater good.

For Christians, Demara’s story is a warning to be on guard against those who disguise themselves as “servants of righteousness” (2 Cor. 11:15). But how can we know a religious impostor when we see one? The apostle Paul gives us three clear markers in 2 Cor. 11:4. False teachers proclaim “another Jesus … a different spirit … a different gospel.”

To illustrate, let’s look briefly at three of the largest and most successful religious systems in the world today: Islam, Mormonism, and the Watchtower (Jehovah’s Witnesses) – all of which are growing worldwide and teach unbiblical doctrines concerning Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the gospel.

Islam

Jesus. Muslims say Jesus was one of God’s greatest prophets but inferior to Muhammad, who brought Allah’s final revelation to man (the Koran). The Koran denies that Jesus is the Son of God, and any Muslim who believes in the deity of Jesus has committed the unpardonable sin called shirk – a sin that will send that person to hell. Muslims believe Jesus is the Messiah, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life and is coming back one day – but only to establish Islam throughout the earth. They do not believe He died on the cross but was called to heaven by Allah before His death and was perhaps replaced by Judas Iscariot or someone else who looked like Jesus.

Holy Spirit. Islam denies the deity and personhood of the Holy Spirit, whom the Koran describes as “the angel which brought revelation,” according to Mualana Muhammad Ali in The Holy Koran with English Translation and Commentary. The Koran also calls the Holy Spirit “Gabriel” (2:97) and the “Faithful Spirit” (26:193).

The gospel. Islam teaches that Christ was neither crucified for our sins nor resurrected; therefore salvation cannot possibly be attained through faith in Christ. In fact, sin is not man’s problem. Man is sinful by act only, not by nature. Original sin is viewed as a “lapse” by Adam. People are not really fallen in their nature; they are merely weak and forgetful. Sin is thought of in terms of rejecting right guidance. It can be forgiven through repentance. No atonement is necessary. Salvation in Islam is a combination of works and fate. Muslims pursue the five Pillars of Religion and hope Allah is kindly disposed toward them.

Mormonism

Jesus. Jesus preexisted in heaven as a spirit child of Heavenly Father (Ehohim) and one of his goddess wives (as did Lucifer and all pre-existent human beings). He then took on a human body through sexual relations between Heavenly Father and Mary. Jesus is one of three gods in the Mormon godhead, although Mormonism recognizes the Trinity only as one in “purpose,” arguing instead for a multitude of gods.

Holy Spirit. Mormon.org says the Holy Spirit “witnesses, or testifies of the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and reveals and teaches truth.” Sounds orthodox, but historically Mormon leaders have offered more disturbing views of the Holy Spirit. For example, founder Joseph Smith taught that:

  • The Father, Son and Holy Spirit “constitute three distinct personages and three Gods.”
  • “The Holy Ghost is yet a spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body as the Saviour did or as the gods before them took bodies.”

The gospel. Jesus’ atonement secured “salvation” (meaning resurrection) for nearly all people, but “men will be punished for their own sins” (Article of Faith #2 by Joseph Smith). People may earn “eternal life” (godhood) by “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel,” meaning works (Article of Faith #3 by Joseph Smith).

Godhood is the goal of Mormonism. According to fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow, “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become.”

The Watchtower

Jesus. According to Watchtower teachings, Jesus was the first and direct creation of Jehovah God. Jesus then created all “other” things (Col. 1:16 New World Translation). Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the Trinity, speaking of Jesus as “a god” or “mighty god” but not divine. They deny His incarnation, death on the cross (he died on a “torture stake”) and physical resurrection. Jesus returned invisibly in 1914 and is working today to overthrow Satan’s kingdom.

Holy Spirit. Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that “holy spirit” (always lower case) is the invisible active force of God that moves His servants to do His will. They deny the personhood and deity of the Holy Spirit, proclaiming such beliefs to be inspired by Satan.

The gospel. Salvation in the Watchtower is a combination of faith and works, but there is no eternal security and virtually no hope of today’s Witnesses ever entering heaven, which is reserved for the 144,000 in the “anointed class.” The “other sheep” may, through faithfulness to Watchtower teachings and hard work, be brought back to life after an indefinite period of soul sleep and populate Paradise Earth. Jesus’ death is seen as a ransom paid to Jehovah that removed the effects of Adam’s sin on his offspring and laid the foundation of the New World of righteousness.

In each of his roles, Ferdinand Waldo Demara, “The Great Impostor,” was confronted with the truth – in some cases by the persons whose identity he had stolen – and exposed as a fraud. For Christians who encounter an array of false teachings today, our best defense is the truth of God’s Word.

The writer of Hebrews put it best: “For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart.  No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him  to whom we must give an account” (4:12-13).

Why some people miss the kingdom of heaven

This column first appeared in Baptist Press Dec. 28, 2009

Coming out of a restaurant one frosty autumn day, I pulled my jacket collar tightly up under my chin and walked briskly toward my car – only to find it wasn’t there. Three phone calls and $119 later, I retrieved my car from impoundment. “Didn’t you see the sign?” chided the cashier as he handed me my keys. “It says No Parking in Alley.”

I had missed the sign but legally was without excuse. As a result, there was no way to escape the consequences – a gentle reminder of a greater truth: Of all the things we miss in life, the greatest tragedy is missing the kingdom of heaven. And yet people throughout the ages have missed the opportunity to enjoy the everlasting benefits of God’s glorious reign.

You might think it’s easy to miss something that the New Testament describes as a “mystery” (KJV) or a “secret” (HCSB). But actually, missing the kingdom of heaven requires a deliberate act of the will. Consider three reasons some will miss the kingdom.

1. They don’t see it. Jesus told Nicodemus that unless a person is born again, he or she cannot see the kingdom of heaven, let alone enter it (John 3:3-5). It takes the regenerative work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart to make one a child of the kingdom.

Lest we become fatalistic and blame God for not saving everyone, Jesus tells His disciples that the lost can’t see because they refuse to see. Quoting Isaiah, the Savior says, “For this people’s heart has grown callous; their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn back – and I would cure them” (Matt. 13:15 HCSB). While the immediate context of this verse is a reference to unbelieving Jews in Jesus’ day, the truth of hardened hearts is universal.

The apostle Paul adds that Satan gladly keeps lost people in the dark as “the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). But for those who hear the gospel and receive it by faith, the Father “has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son He loves” (Col. 1:13).

Simply put, people don’t see the kingdom because they choose not to see it.

2. They don’t want it. In the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23) Jesus compares human hearts to soil to illustrate varying degrees of readiness to receive the kingdom. Some hearts are hardened and defiant like the footpaths winding through ancient fields; others are shallow and uncommitted like rocky soil; still others are worldly like thorny ground. In each case those who hear the message of the kingdom prefer the barrenness of their own lives to the abundance Christ promises to those whose hearts are yielded like fertile soil.

In another parable, Jesus tells of a nobleman who travels to a far country to receive authority to be king, entrusting his affairs to his servants. Meanwhile, his subjects hate him and send a delegation after him saying, “We don’t want this man to rule over us!” (Luke 19:14). When the nobleman returns, he compensates his servants according to their stewardship and then turns his attention on those who have rejected his authority: “But bring here these enemies of mine, who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter them in my presence” (Luke 19:27).

The nobleman, of course, is Jesus, and the subjects who hate Him are the Jews of His day who should have received Him gladly. Instead, in fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, the Messiah is “despised and rejected” (Isa. 53:3). The apostle John is more specific: “He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him” (John 1:11).

Luke 19:27 may be seen as a dual prophecy in which Jesus foretells the destruction of Jerusalem and the Diaspora in 70 A.D., as well as the final judgment of unbelievers – all those who want no part of Jesus’ kingdom – before the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15).

Many will miss the kingdom, not because they can’t see it, but because they don’t want it.

3. They can’t stand it. The New Testament is full of stories of people who “try” the kingdom but ultimately prefer to cast their lot with Satan’s competing domain. In the parable of the unmerciful servant (Matt. 18:21-35) Jesus makes the point that true followers of Christ take on His character, while pretenders ultimately show that their hearts were never changed. In the parable of the vineyard owner (Matt. 21:33-46) stewardship of God’s kingdom is taken away from Israel and given to the church. And in the parable of the wedding banquet (Matt. 22:1-14) a guest is bound hand and foot and cast out of the kingdom because he prefers his filthy rags to the white garment (the righteousness of Christ) offered by the king.

What these parables illustrate is that many people will stake a claim in the kingdom of heaven on false pretenses – some, by virtue of their heritage; others, by their association with Christianity, such as church membership; still others, by their own righteousness. In every case, these pretenders have “tasted the heavenly gift” (Heb. 6:4) but found they can’t stand the thought of bending the knee to the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Like the rich young ruler, they go away grieved. Like the Antichrist’s followers, they shake their fists toward heaven and defy God. And like the self-righteous, they argue that their works – in the name of Jesus, no less – are sufficient justification for entrance into the kingdom, yet the King responds: “I never knew you!” (Matt. 7:23).

Many will miss the kingdom, not because they can’t see it or don’t want a piece of it, but because their hearts are so set against God they can’t stand it.

The ultimate question is how one enters the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is remarkably clear: “Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). Christ has done all the work. Our proper response – the only acceptable response – is to hear and believe. We miss the kingdom only when we choose not to see it, not to want it, or not to stand it.

Copyright 2010 by Rob Phillips

Isaiah 40: On Wings Like Eagles

Isaiah 40: On Wings Like Eagles (audio/ mp3)

Isaiah 40: On Wings Like Eagles (study notes and worksheet / pdf)

Prologue

Where we are:

Part 1: Judgment Part 2: Historical Interlude Part 3: Salvation
Chapters 1-35 Chapters 36-39 Chapters 40-66

When this takes place:

Chapter 40 begins the second major section of Isaiah and its prophecies deal less with Judah’s immediate plight than with its future deliverance and the worldwide impact on the coming of Messiah. This chapter likely is written late in the prophet’s life. It features “greater mellowness of style and tone” and is “less fiery and more tender and gentle than the former part” (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, David Brown, A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments, S. Is 40:1).

Key verse

Isa. 40:31 – [B]ut those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not faint.

Quick summary:

Captivity in Babylon is inevitable (see Isa. 39:7) but so is God’s graciousness to His people. Once He has judged the citizens of Judah for their idolatry and wickedness, He will restore them to their homeland and ultimately bring peace to the nations through the reign of the Messiah. When Isaiah writes these words, Judah still has a century of turmoil ahead and then 70 years of captivity in Babylon. Isaiah writes to encourage the people to live righteously in the present, confident in the sovereignty of God and comforted by the promise of future restoration.

Take note

This chapter highlights eight attributes of God, according to H.L. Willmington: 1. His mercy (vv. 1-2); 2. His glory, which includes a prophecy of John the Baptist as the forerunner of Messiah (vv. 3-5); 3).His eternality (vv. 6-9); 4. His gentleness (v. 11); 5. His omnipotence (vv. 10, 12, 26); 6. His omniscience (vv. 13-14); 7. His sovereignty (vv. 15-17, 21-24); and 8. His uniqueness (vv. 18-20, 25) (The Outline Bible, S. Is 40:18-20).

God’s Greatness, Man’s Comfort (Isa. 40:1-26)

Deliverance is coming (vv. 1-11). No doubt a time of trial is upon the people of Judah, and harsher days are coming. The Mosaic covenant makes it clear that God will bless His people if they obey Him; however, if they are rebellious He will curse them and eventually cast them out of the land (Deut. 28:15-68). A century from now Jerusalem will be sacked, the temple destroyed and the people carried away into captivity. But Isaiah’s message of comfort – the word “comfort” is used twice in verse one for emphasis – looks beyond this time of discipline to the day when the people’s sins are pardoned and they return to their homeland. The term “double for all her sins” (v. 2) does not mean the people are being punished more harshly than they deserve; rather, they are experiencing the “full” or “sufficient” level of discipline to carry out God’s purpose of purging them of idolatry (see, for example, how “double” is used in Isa. 61:7).

The “voice” in verse 3 is Isaiah’s in the immediate context. The citizens of Judah are in a spiritual wilderness, and the Lord’s prophetic voice through Isaiah calls them to repent and prepare for the coming of the Lord. In its fuller context, verses 3-5 speak of John the Baptist, as all the Gospel writers attest (Matt. 3:1-4; Mark 1:1-4; Luke 1:76-78; and John 1:23). In calling the people to “prepare the way of the Lord,” Isaiah draws on the custom of Eastern monarchs who “send men before them to prepare their way by removing stones, leveling rough places, filling up hollows, cleaning up trash and litter, and generally making the road pleasant and easy for the distinguished travelers and guests” (Manners & Customs of the Bible, Bridge-Logos Publishers, S. 361). Isaiah is not promoting works-based salvation. People are not saved from their sins by “cleaning up” their lives. Rather, their renewed faithfulness to the Lord is the result of His chastening work in His children’s lives.

In verses 6-8 another voice is heard. This time it is the voice of the Lord, urging Isaiah to “cry out” a message of contrast between man’s feebleness and God’s faithfulness. People are like grass or wildflowers that shoot up in the spring but fade beneath the blazing summer sun. In the same way, even the strongest people wilt beneath the “breath” of the Lord, who is sovereign over His creation. This should be a word of comfort to God’s people as they endure captivity in Babylon. God’s promises will never fail. He will restore His people to their homeland once He has finished correcting them.

The redeemed of Judah are instructed to climb out of the valley and ascend to the heights of Jerusalem, declaring the Lord’s victory. The defeat of the Babylonians will result in a restored homeland for God’s people. Even more important, the day is coming when Messiah

will defeat Satan and sin, restore sinners to a right relationship with God and reign on the throne of David. The nations will flood to Mt. Zion and pay homage to the King. Just as God wins battles by His strength (v. 10), He comforts people by His gentleness. Isaiah compares the Lord to a shepherd, who protects His flock, gathers the lambs in His arms, carries them in the fold of His garment, and gently leads the nursing ones. The image of the Lord as a shepherd is a major theme of Scripture and is most appropriately applied to the Messiah (see, for example, Ps. 23; Jer. 31:10; Ez. 34:12-14, 23, 31; Micah 5:4; John 10:11, 14-16; 1 Peter 2:25; 5:4).

God has no equal (vv. 12-26). This section of Isaiah’s message is meant to comfort the Lord’s people by reminding them that the God who created all things remains sovereign over His creation. The rhetorical questions Isaiah presents in verses 12-14 to encourage God’s children are similar to the questions God poses to Job, leading him to repent “in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). Isaiah makes several points in this passage. First, the created order belongs to the Lord. Figuratively speaking, He holds all the earth’s waters in the palm of His hand and measures the starry heavens in the distance between His thumb and little finger (v. 12). Second, all wisdom and understanding belong to Him; He has no need of human or angelic counsel (v. 13). Third, the nations of the world are subject to Him. They are like “a drop in a bucket” or “a speck of dust on the scales” (v. 15).

Against this backdrop of God’s creative power and unchallenged authority, Isaiah illustrates the foolishness of those who trust in idols made of the earth’s elements, which God created, using skills that God gave them. “Who will you compare God with?” the prophet asks. “To an idol? To something that a smelter casts, and a metalworker plates with gold and makes silver welds for it? To one who shapes a pedestal, choosing wood that does not rot?” (vv. 19-20). Isaiah answers his own questions first, and then the Lord speaks. “Do you not know?” the prophet says. “Have you not heard? … God is enthroned above the circle of the earth … He stretches out the heavens like a thin cloth … He reduces princes to nothing and makes the judges of the earth to be irrational” (vv. 21-23). Then the Lord thunders, “Who will you compare Me to, or who is My equal?” (v. 25).

Isaiah closes this section with a call to the people to look up in wonder at the night sky. The Lord created the countless starry host and has given names to each of the blazing orbs, as the Psalmist notes in Psalm 147:4. Equally amazing, and incredibly comforting, is the knowledge that “Because of His great power and strength, not one of them is missing” (v. 26). In the face of invading armies and beneath the heavy hand of cruel captors, the citizens of Judah should look up because God will yet deliver them. “And if you ever feel so small that you wonder if God really cares about you personally, remember that He knows the name of every star (Isa. 40:26) and your name as well! (See John 10:3, 27.) The same God who numbers and names the stars can heal your broken heart” (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Comforted,  S. Is 40:1).

Man’s Weakness, God’s Strength (Isa. 40:27-31)

This chapter ends with a problem and a promise. The problem is this: Having forgotten God’s wondrous attributes, the Israelites conclude that He neither knows nor cares about them. The promise is that if God’s people will only ask, He will restore their strength so that they soar like eagles and run like deer. D.A. Carson writes, “The wrong inference from God’s transcendence is that he is too great to care; the right one is that he is too great to fail” (New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, S. Is 40:27).

Isaiah calls the people by the familiar names “Jacob” and “Israel,” reminding them not only of their ancestry but of the unique name the Lord gave Jacob (Gen. 32:28). If “the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth” can wrestle all night with Jacob, He can certainly sustain the Israelites in their time of need and keep His covenant promises to them. The prophet reminds them that the Lord “never grows faint or weary” and that “there is no limit to his understanding” (Isa. 40:28). Isaiah’s testimony of God’s faithfulness – “He gives strength to the weary and strengthens the powerless” (v. 29) – is echoed by the apostle Paul as he struggles with his “thorn in the flesh.” Though he pleads with the Lord three times to remove the “messenger of Satan” tormenting him, the Lord replies, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Paul concludes, “Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weakness, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So because of Christ, I am pleased in weaknesses, in insults, in catastrophes, in persecutions, and in pressures. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:9-10).

Closing Thought

Warren Wiersbe notes: “‘I can plod,’ said William Carey, the father of modern missions. ‘That is my only genius. I can persevere in any definite pursuit. To this I owe everything.’ The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. The greatest heroes of faith are not always those who seem to be soaring; often it is they who are patiently plodding. As we wait on the Lord, He enables us not only to fly higher and run faster, but also to walk longer. Blessed are the plodders, for they eventually arrive at their destination” (Be Comforted, S. Is 40:1).

Copyright 2009 by Rob Phillips