Monthly Archives: October 2014

October 5, 2014

Faith Is The Victory

By Joe

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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
1 John 5:1-5

The above verses, which state that faith is the victory, is a well-known verse. But the way in which we often interpret it tends to skew the meaning. Most of us think that we are being told that if we have enough faith we will press through to the victory. In short, we think that it is faith that carries us into any victory.

But wait. Read this verse carefully. It really does not say that our faith carries us into any victory. Rather, this verse states that faith is the victory. Faith itself – the reality of faith in us – that is the victory. Anything else that comes about because of this faith is not the victory, but the faith itself is the victory. We can grow in faith as we follow Christ, and such faith endures suffering. Such faith also sees us through to ultimate victory in Christ.

Consider two apostles, John and Peter. John writes, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith.” (1 John 5:2-4)

Peter gave words of blessing to those who were already undergoing suffering, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”(1 Peter 5:10) Why does our faith overcome the world and end in victory? Because the God of all grace will “restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish” us until the end. Peter concludes in verse 11, “To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” God can strengthen and restore us because all authority and power belong to Him for all of eternity. There simply is nothing Satan can throw at us that can destroy our faith if our faith is constant and rooted firmly in Christ.

I have watched people go through all kinds of challenges in life and challenges to their faith. Nothing is more devastating than being rejected by your family or faith because of your sexuality. Whether others look at their sexuality as sin or just part of life, it is our live to us, calling us to faith greater than what is in themselves. While no one can control their future, they can respond with faith in the Word, the Lord, and His plan for their lives. This does not relieve our pain, but helps us through their pain and the realization of God’s love.

Faith was never designed for us to demonstrate how strong we are or show how much we could accomplish. Faith depends upon and displays God’s strength, giving us assurance that victory will be ours. This victory is not a victory we earn; it’s a victory we enter. It is Christ’s victory. This is why victory is assured if we trust Christ. It’s His victory already won. This is why Paul could write, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)

This first thing that came to mind when I read the verses above was the song “Faith Is the Victory.” I have always loved this song. We can overcome the world with our faith. There is a lot of evil in this world and things may not always go our way, but faith in Christ is our victory.

Faith Is the Victory
Words: John H. Yates, 1891
Music: Ira D. Sank­ey

Encamped along the hills of light,
Ye Christian soldiers, rise.
And press the battle ere the night
Shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the foe in vales below
Let all our strength be hurled.
Faith is the victory, we know,
That overcomes the world.

Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.

His banner over us is love,
Our sword the Word of God.
We tread the road the saints above
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith, they like a whirlwind’s breath,
Swept on o’er every field.
The faith by which they conquered death
Is still our shining shield.

Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.

On every hand the foe we find
Drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of ease be left behind,
And onward to the fray.
Salvation’s helmet on each head,
With truth all girt about,
The earth shall tremble ’neath our tread,
And echo with our shout.

Faith is the victory! Faith is the victory!
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.

Leave a comment | posted in Religion

October 4, 2014

Moment of Zen: Relaxing

By Joe

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How to unwind and relax after a long day at work in four steps.

Step 1: Loosen tie and unbutton shirt.
Step 2: Find a comfortable place to rest.
Step 3: Pull up something interesting on the Internet.
Step 4: Do what feels natural.

Leave a comment | posted in Moment of Zen

October 3, 2014

Educational Pun

By Joe

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Leave a comment | posted in Education, Funny

October 2, 2014

Grading

By Joe

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There is one thing that I truly hate about teaching: grading. Students always want to know if you’ve graded their test, and my usual nap swear is that I’m working on it. Grading is one thing that is a constant in the teaching profession. It really doesn’t matter if you teach college or high school, you still have to grade. I have a large stack that needs to be graded right now. I even brought it home to grade, and I despise bringing home work. By the end of the day, I can’t stand to look at another paper. I especially find it exasperating when I’ve said something many times in class and the students stills don’t know it. Nothing drives me insane quicker than to spend time preparing for class, doing my best to make things interesting, and the students just don’t care.

Apathy is the ugliest disease in America. I think seriously think that apathy will be the downfall of America. Students, and you see it in their parents too, want to be told how to think and what to think. The problem is that they listen to the wrong people. If they’d only listen to me, this world would be a better place. Haha!

Seriously, though, it is frightening how little students care these days. It’s scary how little respect they have for anything or anybody. It worries me that America’s youth want to only do the minimum. So few of them have the desire to be better, just average at best.

More and more, I’ve been thinking that I am just not cut out to teach high school. I just don’t have the patience or the energy. I much prefer to teach college, but so few jobs are out there and so many applicants vying for the same job. The whole thing becomes discouraging.

Leave a comment | posted in Education

October 1, 2014

Will They, Or Won’t They?

By Joe

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The nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court met behind closed doors on Monday to consider whether they should take up the hotly contested question of whether states can ban gay marriage.

The court has seven cases pending before it concerning bans in five states: Virginia, Utah, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Indiana. If the court agrees to take one or more of the cases it has the chance to rule when, if ever, gay men and women in the 31 states that now bar them from marrying could get marriage licenses.

An announcement on whether the court will hear the same-sex marriage dispute could come later this week. But given the weight of the controversy and that the justices only in recent weeks received the petitions, an announcement could come at a later point. The court officially reconvenes next Monday for its new term, which runs until the end of June.

The justices are due to discuss the cases as they weigh hundreds of petitions that have piled up during the court’s summer recess. The discussion is private. The court takes a case if four or more of the nine justices vote to hear it.

Gay marriage is legal in 19 of the 50 U.S. states. Judges in 16 other states have issued pro-gay marriage rulings, most of which have struck down bans. The bans have remained intact while litigation continues.

Supporters of gay marriage say the bans violate the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of equal treatment under the law.

State officials defending the bans counter that the Constitution does not dictate how states should define marriage and that there is no deeply rooted legal tradition that supports a right to gay marriage.

Although all seven cases raise the key question of whether states can ban gay marriage, they are all slightly different. If the court does decide to consider the issue, it could take one case or several.

The court could also decide to take no action on the cases at this stage. If the court were to decline to take them, appeals court rulings that struck down the bans would go into effect and other bans in certain states would likely fall as a result, but there would be no national ruling.

Across the country, a wave of court rulings favored arguments for gay marriage, prompted by the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor. In that case, the justices struck down a key part of a law called the Defense of Marriage Act that restricted the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples for the purposes of federal benefits.

If the Supreme Court agrees to hear at least one of the pending cases, oral arguments would be heard early next year and a ruling would come by the end of June. Additional lawsuits testing other state bans are also in the pipeline.

From
Supreme Court Meets To Consider Taking Gay Marriage Cases. By Lawrence Hurley
http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5900122?ir=Gay%20Voices

Leave a comment | posted in News