Category: unchurch

The universality of Trust

All mankind shares a trust/faith process.  The trust/faith process is autonomic and constantly operating.  This process is as vital as a heartbeat; we accomplish nothing without it.  We understand this trust/faith process as learning.  This  process begins with everything we do for the first time.   To learn something we must first try that something to initiate this process.  Trust and faith increase each time that something is repeated until more trust is no longer needed, until you believe, then all future use of that something is done with faith alone.  Repeating in order to build trust is no longer required when you have enough faith.  We don’t have to build trust each time we add 1+1 or re-prove it, we believe it is 2 and have faith in that.  We only have to learn to trust walking until we believed we could walk and did so with faith from then on.  Progressing from this trust/faith process, to belief, is automatic with repetition and time.

Faith in the Word of God uses the same process; the one God created us with.  Everything about the trust/faith process applies to the Word of God.  In order to learn any of God’s Words we must use it for the first time to initiate the trust/faith process.  Repetitive use will increase trust and faith until you believe, after which you have faith; all that’s needed.  Using the same Word of God repetitively initiates the trust/faith process with each use, building more trust and faith in the Word and its use until you believe and have faith, with no doubt about it.

Matthew 22:36-40 provided me infinite opportunities for building trust and faith in His Word once God showed me how to find them. I fell in love with Him and His impeccable advice that became instantly available through His Word.  I wanted more and began using Acts 20:35.  The same process initiated, my trust and faith grew in these Words  until Thursday, March 28, 2019 at about 9:30 a.m.  I had enough proof and completely believed the Word of God, and received within me the promised Holy Spirit.  In the time it took to take one step down from the porch I was born of the Spirit.  I had gained enough trust and faith using only a few of His Words to believe all of them.  Each use required consultation of my heart where God has written His Laws, along with my mind for reasoning.  The result is loving  God and His Word with my whole heart, my whole mind, and my whole soul.

KOOTENAY UNCHURCH

Reasonings

Chapter 2

Reasonings or ideas, go along with the Lessons and are the thoughts that went into them.  I have struggled trying to decide which one is the horse and which one the  cart.  I wanted to introduce HOW we are going to begin trusting His Word but hope people use the ‘Reasonings’ at the same time.  The ‘Reasonings’ focus around many ideas churches have that I found so confusing it just causes more doubt.   They can leave you wondering how am I supposed to believe this?

The answer is trust.  You can only believe someone or what they say, as much as you trust them.  Christians have developed enough trust in God’s Word, they believe and accept His Word even when it is beyond their current knowledge.  Non-Christians have not learned to trust His Word and cannot believe, accept, or understand it like a Christian can.  If you’re a non-Christian searching for God at church, you may be awash in ideas you struggle to trust or believe.

Someone has to teach others how to begin trusting His Word.  Everyone has heard of God and His Word, sadly though only those that learn to trust it will learn from it.  So, just as the Bible tells us in Proverbs 1:7 Fear (old testament word referring to reverential trust) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

KU tries to overcome some of the things non-Christians have heard at church but don’t trust.  I don’t mean people mistrust His Word but if it is combined with messages only Christians might be able to comprehend it can certainly muddy up the waters.

One of the ideas impressed upon in churches is that our faith must be based on the entire Bible and it is the reason they teach the entire Bible.  I can see how a Christian upbringing may help some believe this but for most of us, it’s an  impossibility.  Not an idea to build trust on. It would compare with having to trust math based on all the math ever known.  That is just not how we learn to trust things.  For me, a non-Christian, I have learned to trust His Word the same way I have learned to trust everything else in life; from the beginning and a little bit at a time.  Compare for yourselves things you have learned to do.  Do you have to be able to ride your bike in the Tour de France before you can have faith or confidence in it?  If you ride it only to school and not to the grocery store does that mean you don’t trust the bike yet?  Do you have to know all that mathematics can do before you trust it or have confidence using it?

To say that our faith in God must be based in the entire bible is an irrational statement.  It does not come with any proof.  To say that our faith can be based in the entire bible is a rational statement accepted by Christians everywhere who would confirm they do not know the whole Bible.  This implies that their faith is not dependent on knowledge of the entire Bible but based on what they currently know, trust, and believe.  The statement that you can have faith in the entire Bible includes everyone in life.  The statement that your faith must be based in the entire Bible excludes…everyone?  Perhaps churches could clarify just what they mean in a rational way when they say this.

It’s easy to see how confusing this statement can be if not clearly defined and how discouraged newcomers to God’s Word might feel.  Church sermons would mean more to people if they were rational, providing clearly defined proof.  The things to build trust in.

Discovering how we Trust Anything

KU encourages all readers to spend as much time as possible proving to themselves that their faith and confidence in anything, does not depend upon all the available knowledge there is  about a subject.  Proving this to yourself will also prove your trust in God’s Word does not have to be based on the entire Bible anymore than anything else we learn to trust in life.  In fact it will open the door to realizing your trust in His Word begins the moment you use it for the first time, just like your first bike ride.

So, if you are searching for God at a church and hear about having to base your faith on the entire Bible please disregard this information.  Christians may understand this differently and prosper from the idea but, for anyone trying to learn to trust His Word and begin having faith, it simply does not apply.

KOOTENAY UNCHURCH