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<\/p>\nJames 2:14 (The Voice)
\nBrothers and sisters, it doesn’t make any sense to say you have faith and act in a way that denies that faith. Mere talk never gets you very far, and a commitment to Jesus only in words will not save you.<\/p>\n
As I began to write this particular post, my daily verse from Thomas Nelson’s latest translation, “The Voice” came into my inbox. I am not normally a big fan of James, maybe because it so often cuts right to the bone. Martin Luther in fact did not really see a need to include it in the Bible. However with any book or verse in the Bible should not stand alone but be taken in context of the chapter, verse and the entire Bible. As Luther took a stance on his interpretation of scripture, he firmly believed that scripture should be used to interpret scripture, thus not allowing any single piece of scripture to stand alone. \u00a0Each piece of scripture is backed up by other scripture and the Bible as a whole.<\/p>\n
You might be wondering if I got off on a tangent at this point, if you recall the title of my post, “Faith growth in times of disparity”. That’s okay, for a moment I thought I had too. For the last eleven weeks, I have had a wonderful opportunity to take part in a course called Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). As part of this, I was a Chaplain Intern at a major hospital in Chicago. At times in my life and to be honest even as late as just prior to starting CPE, my faith ran into doubts. However, during the entire\u00a0experience\u00a0and beyond, I found that all that I had faced, death, others doubts, lack of acceptance, being taken advantage of, \u00a0 etc. was nothing but faith growing.<\/p>\n
While I was faced with many opportunities to doubt it was in those moments that I never doubted. \u00a0I know that the Spirit took those moments to turn them into good. \u00a0At least good for me and I am sure others as well. \u00a0I had nothing but my faith to turn to. \u00a0Others were counting on me to guide them in their times of troubles and doubts. \u00a0The Spirit took me by my hand, lifted me out of the the clutches of the doubts of the spirit, the clutches of the devil and made me strong.<\/p>\n
Psalm 23:4-6 (ESV)
\n4\u00a0Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
\nI will fear no evil,
\nfor you are with me;
\nyour rod and your staff,\u00a0they comfort me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
5\u00a0 You prepare a table before me
\nin the presence of my enemies;
\nyou anoint my head with oil;
\nmy cup overflows.
\n6\u00a0 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
\nall the days of my life,
\nand I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
\nforever.<\/p>\n
I truly felt as if the Lord was walking side by side me and at times carrying me through all the troubles of the day. \u00a0It is through these\u00a0disparities\u00a0of life that my faith has grown and doubt has been lifted away from me. \u00a0If life were a bed of roses, how could I learn to\u00a0strength\u00a0of my Lord and dependence upon the Lord for all that I do. \u00a0I could not and that is the entire point. \u00a0Eventually even the roses begin to wither and die and we must face\u00a0despair\u00a0at some point. \u00a0I find myself grateful for all that I faced and all that I will face because I know I can face anything with Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"