The Logic of Faith: A Journey of Understanding

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Step 1:

Foundation for Faith

Step 2:

Preparation of Self (for Faith)

Step 3:

Forgiveness

Step 4:

Communication

Step 5:

Relationships

Step 6:

Service

Step 8:

Prayer/Releasing Your Faith

Step 9:

Prophecy

Step 10:

Vision

Step 11:

Challenge

Step 12:

Believe

Acknowledgments

My greatest acknowledgment is to God; He looked down upon me and saw me dressed in filthy clothes and said to His angels, take off his filthy clothes, put a clean turban on his head and clothe him. He then said to me, If you will walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge of my courts, and I will give you a place. I had no idea putting on new clothes would be so uncomfortable, even painful, but I now realize that it was absolutely necessary, and glorify God for honoring me and counting me worthy to be a man of faith.

I also acknowledge God’s assistant, my wife Phyllis; after almost twenty years and counting, I maintain my zeal in expressing to God my appreciation for this precious gift He presented to me.

To God’s special assistant, my son Ryan, I thank him for helping me to see where I needed to grow and to remind me that it is okay to play and laugh out loud.

To God’s angel and assistant, my son Nathan, I am thankful for learning this great lesson of faith through him.

To God’s witness of the power of faith, my son Corban, the result of what happens when you believe.

Finally, I acknowledge and express gratitude to everyone who either directly or indirectly participated in my development in God, whether by words or deeds (whether positive or negative), communication or noncommunication, please know that you were used by God to move me along and promote my thinking and to elevate my faith, and for that I am grateful.

Introduction

As a concept, or perhaps to the cynic, logic and faith are oxymoronic in nature—contradictory or incongruous words that do not go together. The ratio could be what oil is to water, logic is to faith. A cynic or pessimist may say that faith is illogical and that faith is what people hold on to when they are not able to see clearly or when nothing around them is making sense. To what may be a surprise, there is biblical agreement with the previous statement, recorded in Hebrews 11:1, Now, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (NIV). Simplistically, faith is activated when the mind cannot conceive or possibly fathom the outcome. Hence, The Logic of Faith is written to the seasoned and the unseasoned, the new believer and the veteran, the saved and the unsaved. This last notion may surprise some, but The Logic of Faith deals with principles centered on faith; noting that principles exist beyond someone’s belief or acceptance. For example, gravity is a principle, and as long as you are on earth, then you must abide by the principle; simply stated, gravity is the force that pulls an object down after it has been thrown upward. Unfortunately, there are those who, under some powerful influence, have plunged to their death in attempts to defy the principle of gravity. Another example is the principle of reciprocity; this principle is one of mutual exchange; i.e., give and it shall be given back to you. If you do something nice for someone else, then someone will do something nice for you; this could be the giving of money or even your time, helping someone paint or decorate his or her house, or even helping him or her move into the house; when it is time for your house to be painted or for you to move, someone will be there to help you. Keep in mind, reciprocity is not necessarily receiving from the person to whom you gave but centers on the idea that your good deed will not go unrewarded. The message here is that principles are set in stone and cannot be violated; you cannot break or change the principle, but you can only hurt or hinder yourself by going against it. Like gravity and reciprocity, faith is also a principle.

There are many, perhaps thousands, of books on faith whose primary focus is to evangelize, thereby bringing emphasis to one’s relationship with God; e.g., You must believe and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal savior. Although the importance of this relationship with God should never be overlooked nor its relevance underestimated, The Logic of Faith takes a look at the components that are beyond this basic tenet of faith. The Bible supports this writing, as it states in Hebrews 6:1–3: Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so. Therefore, The Logic of Faith deals not only with faith and its characteristics, but also details how to see faith at work and expounds upon the notion of walking in faith; it allows one to discover faith in his or her circumstances and causes one to rise like an eagle above the storms of life as he or she is elevated in faith.

Finally, the full title of this book is The Logic of Faith: A Journey of Understanding. I outlined the components of faith, but I believe it is necessary to highlight the subtitle as well. As it is implicit to life, faith is a journey that we all take. The reason tarot cards, palm readers, séances, and Ouija boards have become so popular is that, fundamentally, people have faith that something exists beyond what is seen. Even Oprah Winfrey has connected to this idea with the Getting in Touch with Your Soul portion of her show. Everyone has faith in something and, therefore, is taking this journey; however, the key component to the subtitle is not the journey but rather the understanding. It is not enough to have faith or to know that you are on this journey; it is necessary to understand why you are on this journey. Hopefully the answer will become clear or clearer as the journey continues, because a journey of faith never ends.

As we go through the steps, I hope that you will receive the revelation for your travels and understand that your experiences are designed to teach and prepare you for your purpose. If I can be so bold, I pray that your mind is open to new possibilities as you accept this invitation to join me on this journey of understanding.

Step 1:

Foundation for Faith

As I described in the introduction, I am not laying a foundation for belief in God, but there are a couple of fundamental components that are necessary to discuss. Genesis 1:1 begins, In the beginning God … The Bible begins this way to establish the origin of life and creation. On the most basic level, this comes down to acceptance, as there is no true scientific proof (there is speculation) that life was formed in another way. The main reason that there is no proof is that God created it all; besides, if the theory of evolution were true, I would hope we would continue to evolve beyond man. Through all of the horrible things we have done as a people, evolution, which is about survival, would clearly move us beyond the destructive nature we currently possess. Nonetheless, this writing is not about creation as a matter of debate or science; however, it does include creation based on the basic components of faith. Now God, being sovereign, split himself into three in order for the essence of God to be embraced by man; this would first allow God to come through woman (not evolve from a righteous monkey) in the form of Jesus.

Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, took on the persona of man so that man could learn that it was possible to be pure and holy in a world full of evil. Jesus faced every temptation that we face today but remained unblemished until the end. Remember the woman who was caught in the act of adultery and brought before Jesus—He did not look at the ground just to play in the dirt; as a man, He did not need or want to look at this naked woman. Despite the powerful example Jesus set before us, He was limited in one respect; Jesus could only be in one place at a time as He was restrained by the physical nature of man. Therefore, the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, came forth. So as Jesus was nearing the end of His earthly reign, He told the disciples, When I go, I will send the Comforter to you. The Holy Spirit represents the omnipresent nature of God, as He is everywhere; it is the Holy Spirit who showcases the gentle nature of God as well as the power of God through the anointing. God’s decision to reorder Himself for the purpose of man is the perfect example of what we should be doing as servants of Christ; i.e., reordering ourselves in order to effectively carry out our service to God, our service in church, and our service to man. Keep this in mind as the image of God is discussed.

As alluded to at the opening of this step, God created the heavens and the earth, the moons and stars, day and night, the animals of the air and sea—you name it, God created it. On the sixth day of this process, God said, Let us make man in our image. The us is Jesus and the Holy Spirit; the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit is found in Genesis 1:2b: And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. For the evidence of Jesus at this meeting, see John 1:1–2, which records, In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God in the beginning. He was with God in the beginning. In the last sentence, He is the Word and the Word is Jesus. So, as Jesus lived and began to speak the Word, in actuality He was speaking about Himself; likewise, as Jesus is talking to God as our chief intercessor, He is talking to Himself, which means that He knows what to say on our behalf because He knows what the Father wants to hear. Although God separated into three, the unity and oneness among them was unimpaired and therefore allowed for harmony and success in whatever they did. The underlying lesson here is rooted in the power of agreement. We as a people should pattern our lives after Father God, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit to obtain this power, for through agreement there is nothing that cannot be accomplished. However, the story of the tower of Babel is the perfect example of how to wrongly apply this principle of agreement.

Genesis 11 states that the world had one language and a common speech. They said to each other, Let us build…—the same words of agreement in God’s meeting. Unfortunately, they wanted to make a name for themselves, and through their common speech they agreed to make a tower that reached the heavens; the underlying purpose also was to make it so they could not be scattered over the earth. Effectively they were saying that they did not need God and simultaneously had demonstrated a lack of faith in God. This event takes place after the flood, and therefore this tower would have prevented them from being swept away should God cause another flood. Apparently they did not accept God’s promise to never destroy mankind again by water. Although their agreement allowed them to be effective in their goal, it also provoked God to do what they were trying to prevent; this self-fulfilling prophecy came true when God called another meeting with Himself, which resulted in the confusing of the language, thereby ending the agreement, and scattered them over the face of the whole earth, which ended the power of agreement. Confusion and babbling are the result of two or more persons or a people not in agreement; at the core of the disagreement someone may be implying that he or she is God or knows better than God. I know that sounds extreme, but think about what is happening in periods of disagreement or arguments. Usually there is a lot of pride in the air and a lack of sensitivity to someone else’s needs or concerns; beyond that there may be insults, unforgivingness, bitterness, slander, and abuses of all kinds—all of this says that one is not with God, as all these components are in contrast to who God is and who He wants us to become; after all, we were made in His image. See, when God said, Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness, He was making a statement concerning the spirit of man. The image of God is not about the physical; it is about the spirit. This is why no person or people have a monopoly on God. When God created man in His image, He did not make one more special than the other. God is not a respecter of persons, although He does give honor to those who are servicing His people. People who are properly positioned in heart will enjoy the pleasure of God’s favor.

Again, God is not a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of position. A properly positioned heart allows for God’s grace to go into overtime to allow the Holy Spirit to work on the heart’s imperfections. As children of God, we as a people should strive toward perfection, as the Bible encourages us to be perfect. However, based on our humanity and the inherent limitations, we often fail to completely follow the order of God. Proverbs 24:16 records, Though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again. This proverb completely demonstrates the inherent and problematic nature of man and the awesome nature of God; this is why we must confess our sins and why God’s mercy is renewed every morning. The constant battle between the spirit man and the flesh most often results in the flesh being victorious. Confessed and denying alcoholics, drug addicts, and even marijuana users all want just one more hit, even if trying to deal with the addiction; then there is the gossiper who wants to tell just one more thing; the liar seemingly cannot help himself; the abuser or bully still wants to control with fear and intimidation; the person with pride only wants to receive the credit and recognition—the flesh (more pointedly, sin) wins out more than we are willing to admit. However, through the grace and mercy of God, sin becomes an option.

Genesis 4 tells the story of Cain and Abel. To summarize, they each brought an offering to the Lord for sacrifice. Abel brought the best that he had and found favor with God; Cain’s offering was not pleasing to the Lord, and this upset him as he did not have favor with God. In verses 6–7, God says to Cain, Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do what is wrong, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. As it is written, Cain killed Abel. Now, God already knew, but He questioned Cain as to the whereabouts of Abel; this was to determine if there was anything redeemable about Cain, and his answer proved that sin had mastered him. Cain responded, Am I my brother’s keeper? He talked with so much contempt and ignorance, for if he understood anything, he would have known that the answer to that question is yes! We are each other’s keeper and therefore have a responsibility to support, protect, pray for, and love one another. Cain failed to master sin, but we, in today’s environment, have Jesus Christ, who died for our sins (even the sins of tomorrow) and died to sin once and for all. As is found in Romans 6:11–14, In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master because you are not under law, but under grace.

Sin, the giving in to the desires of the flesh for short-term pleasure while risking everything that you would otherwise want to protect, does not have to be a part of who you are. If you are thinking, I do not want to sin, but I cannot seem to help myself or I do not want to do it but I end up doing it anyway—then you are operating under the law of sin. The law of sin says, Why not? If it feels good going down, if it feels good going in, if it feels good coming out—if it feels good, why not just do it? Operating under this law is the ultimate compromise of your spirituality and relationship with God; to operate under this law is to deny Jesus Christ, the law of Spirit of life that set you free from the law of sin and death. It has incorrectly been said that to follow Jesus is to lead a boring life: no drinking, no smoking, no partying, and no sex—just go to church and get right with God. This is not condoning the listed items but is just an acknowledgment that it is possible to have clean or pure fun. I remember years ago, as I was growing up in DC, I was standing outside with one of the guys in the neighborhood, and he pointed to a girl who was walking by and made the comment, Leave her alone; she is saved. I asked him, What does that mean? He said, It means that she cannot have sex until she is eighteen. Ignorance was commonplace where I grew up; praise God for his divine protection, even when I did not know him. Anyway, there are some requirements that you must follow to be a servant or disciple of Christ. Likewise, there are requirements to be a servant of the devil (anything contrary to God is the requirement); consciously or otherwise, this decision is made by how you live your life. Fundamentally, this comes down to which law you will follow—the law of sin versus the law of the Spirit of life, Jesus Christ. The confusion comes in the interpretation of these laws. The issue is not whether you can or cannot drink, but rather it is what (and why) are you drinking? It is not whether you can or cannot party and have fun, but rather why are you partying and how are you defining fun? If in your drinking, partying, and having fun you are maintaining a righteous relationship with God (according to God) and are not having a negative impact on anyone, especially a new believer in Christ, then God will not violate your will, and I do not offer any condemnation. I do, however, offer a caution, but first let me point out that the drinking I am referring to is limited to wine. Clearly there is a biblical basis for this, and even for medicinal purposes wine has a proven track record in relaxing the body. My caution can be explained by example. Some friends of ours were having a gathering to which I was invited; within their custom, it is normal to have a glass of wine with or after the meal. The expression When in Rome, do as the Romans do" came to mind, and I joined in the custom to a small degree. For me, that little bit of wine gave me a serious buzz, as if I had been binge drinking. I quickly concluded that that wine was not for me, but I could not take issue with them and their custom. Imagine the people in France rejecting the gospel because they could not drink wine. Notwithstanding, if someone in the room was struggling with alcohol, then, despite the custom, for the sake of this person the wine should not be brought out. Although everything is permissible, not everything is beneficial, and sometimes customs may need to be set aside to save a soul. This exercise of free will is our choice; a choice that God in His sovereignty decided to give us.

This choice separates us from animals—a lion will kill a zebra because it is hungry and needs to eat. This killing is not out of anger or malice or jealousy; it is because of God’s order and the lion’s instinctive nature that this killing takes place. There is no murder within the animal world, as they are obeying the law; murder is a decision only among those who should possess the ability to reason. Even in that, God allows the decision to be made, and, even if inconsistent with His purpose, the unfortunate consequence of that decision is allowed to be carried out. Surely it is not God’s plan to have the people that He created rise up and murder one another, but when God decided to make us in His image, we were given the ability to choose and, therefore, became independent. This is why the Bible says, Whosoever will, let him come. Our independent will, based on our hearing, should cause us to seek God. Thus, every day, consciously or subconsciously, an independent decision is made to serve God or not. If the choice is not to serve God, then be careful to remember that the law of the Spirit is only dangerous or harmful to those who break it or do not abide by it. See, God’s desire is for us to be independent such that we can legitimately do for ourselves, but we also must follow the principles of God and continue to recognize God’s sovereignty and acknowledge that he is responsible for all.

Allow me to clear up a possible misconception; being independent does not mean you get to do what you want, go where you want, and say what you want; being independent means accepting that you can do what you want, go where you want, and say what you want but recognize that there are principles and precepts which effectively override your independence. For example, independent thinking says, If you do something to me, then I am going to do something back to you. The principle of forgiveness preempts your independence because this principle tells you to release the offense. Independence is neither selfish nor one-dimensional; as a matter of application in action, independence is unselfish and multidimensional. This is because true independence causes you to deny what would be a natural inclination and results in you not thinking about yourself but instead focuses you on a greater principle that may be at work. This dynamic becomes even more interesting as one grows in independence. For example, a small child learning to walk recognizes that his or her balance may not be there and will look for the security of an assuring hand; as time passes the child becomes more independent and not only will not look for the hand but will pull away if an attempt is made to hold the hand. This transition is powerful because the child is communicating a learning that has taken place, but the parent may falsely be experiencing rejection. In this process, it is not that the child does not need you but that the child needs you differently. So, maybe you do not need to hold a hand, but the child does need you to be close by for assurance. This applies not just with little children but also with big children (adults)—principles are the same for all, although they may be carried out differently. However, there is a great snare to true independence—a snare that usurps all decisions made and destroys the honor of ever having obtained independence; this snare is called insecurity.

The only thing more dangerous than an insecure person is an insecure leader; the obvious notion here is that insecurity promotes a sense of uncertainty in those who are around you. Insecure people