I have often thought about the true meaning behind “Walking With God”. Actually more than just thinking about it, I have tried to figure out how we as Christians can accomplish this seemingly daunting task. What does walking with God really look like to the average person? If we really boil it all down and get rid of all the surface characteristics and look only at the root, I think we would see the true essence of walking with God….communion. I’m not talking about observing the Lord’s Supper, I’m referring to experiencing true communion with God…having that relationship with God that comes from the goal that God has for your life being the same as the goal that you have for your life.

So the question is, how do we get to that point in our lives…that point where we care so much about what God wants for us that we lay our own desires aside? The truth is there is no magical formula, no quick fix, no super prayer that you can pray that will get us to that point overnight. The only way we can do this is by making one right, God-centered decision at a time. We should all have a desire to walk with God…to commune with Him. Let’s start by making one good decision at a time.- Pastor Jeremy

Christian Living

I have been thinking a lot lately about the conscience. This is a topic that I plan on studying even more in the near future, but I thought I would share my thoughts so far. Wikipedia defines conscience as “an ability or a faculty that distinguishes whether one’s actions are right or wrong”. I have often heard it said that a good way for Christians to live their life is in obedience to their conscience. Encarta World Dictionary says that obedience to conscience is “behavior according to what your sense of right and wrong tells you is right”. Is this really the way we should live our lives?

In order to answer this question we have to determine if the conscience is or can be influenced by outside factors. When I look at the definition given by Wikipedia, the question that comes to mind is this, ‘what is the bases of one’s view of right and wrong’? Again, this is something that I am just in the beginning stages of studying, but there are some surface conclusions that we can draw. I believe it is safe to say that that conscience can be and is influenced by outside factors such as life experiences, education, friends, and even church. As long as all of those influences are in complete agreement with Scripture, then the conscience can be trusted. However, the reality is that these influence are not consistent with Scripture. Sometimes even the teaching that is received from our churches is not in agreement with the Bible. If this is reality, and it is, the only conclusion to draw is that the conscience cannot be used as the basis of determining a course of action or as a way of making decisions.

Many times we may say that we don’t want to do something because it contradicts our conscience. But if our conscience has been trained by teaching that is in disagreement with Scripture, whether too liberal or too legalistic, we are actually living a life based on every influence in our life other than Scripture. My conclusion, as of this point in my study, is that the conscience cannot be trust and should not be relied upon. It is nothing more than a voice in our ear that speaks to our sense of right and wrong not necessarily what Scripture says is right or wrong.

– Pastor Jeremy

Christian Living