Hope & Faith - They're Electric! (Revisited)

Several years ago, I wrote an article that became a blog post:  Hope & Faith - They're Electric!

http://lightseekerok.blogspot.com/2009/06/hope-and-faith-theyre-electric.html

A few weeks ago, Pastor Tim Stemple began a series of messages based on Gary Carpenter's Face to Face document, "The God of Hope."  During the first message, the Holy Spirit gave me an analogy that illustrates the electric nature of the relationship between Hope and Faith that should help people who might still have a problem understanding the concepts presented the original blog post.  Almost anyone should be able to understand this illustration, and remember it, because it is based on something that people are familiar with - something that people have held in their own hands.

Think of Hope as a battery for a handheld device.   It could be a flashlight, cellphone, radio, MP3 player or any handheld item that runs on electricity.  A battery, or battery pack, is a great example of Hope for one reason: it contains potential.  The chemical composition of a battery's parts differ in their electrical characteristics in a way that creates an electrical potential.  However, no electrical current will flow until the battery is connected to a circuit.

The handheld device represents Faith because it contains the circuit that will use the current from the battery.  But, even when the battery is inserted into the device, the current doesn't flow until the device is switched on.  The switch is your will.  You must choose to use your Faith to allow the current generated by your Hope to work.

Notice a couple of things here.  A battery has potential whether or not it is in or connected to the device.  The device is useful only when the batter is in it.  The battery without the battery is useless, and the device without the the battery is useless.

I hope this illustration is tangible enough to make these concepts clear to you.

I am sure that most people have enough experience with battery-operated devices to know that batteries run down, and some batteries are rechargeable.  This brings me to some good news - our Hope is rechargeable!  (1 Cor. 14: 4; Jude 20)

Actually, batteries are never really charged or discharged.  As a battery is used, chemical changes take place inside the battery that converts some of the electrolyte (the stuff between the terminals) into crystals that resist the flow of current.  At some point, this internal resistance will grow to the level where it blocks the flow of electricity.  The battery still has potential, but not enough to overcome the resistance.  This resistance represents unbelief.

"Rechargeable" batteries can be made be made useful again by passing a current through them in the reverse direction.  This creates heat that melts the crystals and lowers the internal resistance of the battery.  Prayer, especially praying in tongues, is the current that melts our unbelief.  Sometimes, we need more prayer than usual to overcome our unbelief.  That's where fasting comes in, if we see fasting as praying instead of eating.

Why Amateur Radio: A Lesson For Believers

During this morning's 10 AM service, towards the end of the worship, I wasn't thinking about ham radio, but a thought about ham radio popped into my mind.  Then the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to the spiritual significance of that thought.

This afternoon, I wrote a short piece for a ham radio bulletin that I produce, and then included it in a post on my general blog, Random Contact.  The piece is entitled "Why Amateur Radio?"  Here is that post:

This is an excerpt from the TRO Signal Bulletin for 02 SEP 12:

As ham radio leaders are fond of reminding us, amateur radio is a hobby.  Most people that become hams do so because they enjoy doing things with radios.  Ham radio offers many opportunities to have fun, as well as chances for education, personal development, and fellowship.  But why should the government continue to allow ham radio to exist?

Much of what we do can be, and is, done by professional technicians and engineers.  If anyone wants to work with radios, they can go to school to get the training or education they need.  

Most of the professionals design, build, and maintain the communications systems used by the military, law enforcement, fire service, emergency medical, emergency management and other government agencies, as well as the broadcast industries that keep the general public informed.  Don't forget those that work to keep both the landline and cellular phone systems going. These systems do work most of the time, and nowdays, we see more and more interoperability incorporated into these systems.  In light of how well these system perform most of the time, someone might question the need for amateur radio.

But what often happens to these systems in major emergencies and disasters?  They fail, due to damage to the equipment, loss of power, or they become overloaded by the amount of traffic they have to handle immediately.

When this happens, the professionals concentrate their efforts on restoring and repairing these systems.  But vital messages still need to be passed.  The professionals don't have the time to handle this traffic.  What is obviously needed is a backup system already in place or easily deployable.  Amateur radio is that system.  That's why, "When All Else Fails...."

Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator, recognized this at a recent conference, where he said, "But when you need Amateur Radio, you really need them."

For more about this conference and Fugate's remarks, go to this website:

http://nyc-arecs.org/last_line.html

The TRO Signal Bulletin is a text-only publication that I produce on behalf of the Tulsa Repeater Organization, and I send it out over the club's WA5LVT Yahoogroup.  It focuses on ham radio events and activities in the Tulsa, Oklahoma area.  To receive the Bulletin, you can sign up at the WA5LVT Yahoogroup here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WA5LVT/

"When All Else Fails...." refers to a catchphrase developed by the ARRL (American Radio Relay League), "When all else fails, Amateur Radio."  This emphasizes the fact that government and non-government responding agencies often have to rely on ham radio when normal communication systems go down during earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.  Hams are able to do this because they take the time to gain knowledge of radio systems, they have their own equipment, they maintain their own equipment, and they develop and maintain their communications skills.

But what is the spiritual significance of this?

Think of the fivefold ministries as the equivalent of the professionals spoken of in this article.  That's how religion often depicts them anyway.

Now equate natural and man-made disasters with spiritual warfare and/or opportunities for ministry, especially attacks on the whole Body of Christ.  During these times, the "professionals" might not be available to help people with their needs.  Someone needs to be able to fill that gap!  Who will that be?

As hams step in with their own equipment, their own technical knowledge, and their own skills to fill a very important need in a critical situation when the professionals are not available, so must believers take the time to pursue their own relationships with the Father, to develop their own faith and character, so that when the fivefold ministries aren't available, they will be able to meet the needs presented to them!  This applies whether the needs are the believer's own needs, or the needs of others.

Known Confessions - Why?

The purpose of confession is to "call those things that be not as though they were." (Rom. 4:17 KJV) This is what Abraham did when God changed his name from Abram to Abraham. He went from a lifetime of calling himself "exalted father" to "father of a multitude." Any man can be exalted to fatherhood by adoption, and sometimes we refer to early pioneers in various fields as "fathers" of their fields. But only one who has produced offspring from his own loins can become a father of a multitude.

Many have trouble 'calling those things that be not as though they were' because they are used to stating things as they currently are. Calling things into existence seems to be occultic, a denial of reality, or an obsession with fantasy, and therefore futile.

The operation of faith eventually calls for confession. Faith can grow only so much before it needs to be expressed through words and actions.

With Known Confessions, if you have problems with confessing the Word, you start by confessing basic truths that you already "know," but you have trouble remembering or applying. Known Confessions can also include positional truths that you have yet to walk in, but you accept as truth because they are in the Word. For example, here is the opening paragraph of my Known Confessions:

God loves me unconditionally. He cannot love me any more than what He already does, neither can He love me any less than what he already does. He is Love, and He does not change, so His love for me will never change. I cannot do anything to make Him love me any more than what He already does, neither can I do anything to make Him love me any less than what He already does. His love for me is based on what He is, not on what I do or don't do.

The eventual result of confession is to build hope in you heart, then turn hope into faith, and then the truth becomes manifest in your life.