CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
& LIVING

Was blind, but now I see.

3 : 3 March 2004

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  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports to thirumalai@bethfel.org or send it by regular mail to:
    M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
    6820 Auto Club Road #320
    Bloomington, MN 55438 USA
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Copyright © 2001
M. S. Thirumalai

TRANSFORM YOUR DOUBTS!
Pastor Ted Hegre


FAITH AND DOUBT

Negative feelings can be faith-starters!

Faith never appears until there has first been doubt. And doubt can be useful if we utilize it properly.

There are many books that attempt to show us how to rid ourselves of doubts and negative feelings. But, the fact is, fighting negative reactions only increase their power. We don't need to get rid of negative feelings. Instead, we must learn the secret of transforming negative feelings into positive faith and productive action!

THE STARTING POINT OF REAL FAITH

While it is true that to believe in doubt is to be held by doubt; nevertheless, the starting point of real faith is down at the bottom of doubt.

All about life is negative. The purpose of these negative things is to bring us to the point of desperation. In desperation all our self-sufficiency is gone. And self-sufficiency is usually the biggest hindrance to our faith.

FACE YOUR DOUBTS SQUARELY

So, we must face our doubts squarely, let them crush us to the level of desperation, and then transform the doubts by deliberately looking away from both ourse4lves and our circumstances to the God who can supply us with confidence.

If faith is faith at all it was born in the darkness. It is much like turning the lights out within your home so you can look out through the windows and see the silver moonlight that was invisible to you while the lights were still on. The only difference is that in the case of faith we do not turn our own lights out. The pressure of adverse surroundings does it for us. But when the light goes out we have three options before us: We can struggle against the darkness (and only succeed in becoming more aware of it). We can succumb to the darkness (and reconcile ourselves to the dismal prospect of being permanent doubters). Or, we can use the darkness as an occasion to fix our attention upon the author of our faith, God himself. The third choice brings light out of darkness…faith out of doubt.

PRACTICE THAT TRANSFORMS THE HABIT OF DOUBT

Christ has put us in situations full of frustration, despair, and difficulty in order to give us the opportunity to practice this transforming habit.

Think of the ways in which this principle works:

  1. No sinner is ever converted until he sees himself to be lost.
  2. No immoral person sees purity for what it is until he realizes how corrupt he is.
  3. No sick person cries out to God until he perceives the danger of his disease.
  4. No needy person ever understands that God is his source of supply until he knows the awful unreliability of human economic systems.

So, thank God for feelings of insecurity, doubt, and bankruptcy. Then, thank God that you want to be like Him. And remember, He spent thirty-three years transforming negative ideas and negative forces into triumphant faith and never-to-be-forgotten miracles.

And He is just the same today.

CLICK HERE FOR PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION

WARNINGS FOR AMERICA - LESSONS FROM ISAIAH | ARE YOU HURTING | DON'T TELL ME, CONVINCE ME - How to Persuade the Readers of Your Fiction? | TECHNIQUES FOR TIMES OF TESTING |WHEN A CHRISTIAN SAYS, "I'M DEPRESSED" | TRANSFORM YOUR DOUBTS! | RAISING GODLY YOUNG PEOPLE IN A GODLESS SOCIETY | Introducing SHARING YOUR FAITH WITH A BUDDHIST | Introducing IF I GAINED THE WORLD | Introducing GODWRESTLING | Introducing MAXIMUM IMPACT SHORT-TERM MISSION | HOME PAGE | CONTACT EDITOR


Bev Cooley
E-mail: bev.cooley@bethfel.org


Short Term Missions Conference



Short Term Missions Conference


Pastor Hegre

  • As a young man anointed by the Holy Spirit, Ted Hegre (1908-1984) and his wife Lucille, along with four other young couples, began an adventure of faith nearly sixty years ago. God gave them the vision to give up their personal belongings, and live in a community to train, send, and support missionaries around the world, and to establish a literature ministry in Minneapolis. These ordinary men and women did extraordinary things because they simply followed the call. Ted Hegre's exposition of the Message of the Cross is still a very valid study for us to live in faith.
    In this article, Ted Hegre exhorts us to put aside our doubts and put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, as the all sufficient cause and reason. This article is presented to us by Bev Cooley, bev.cooley@bethfel.org. Please contact her for further infomation about the ministry of Bethany International, founded by Pastor Ted hegre.

If I gained the World, a novel by Linda Nichols


Godwrestling Faith, a spiritual development book by Mike Evans


Sharing Your Faith with a Buddhist, a book on evangelism by M. S. Thirumalai


Short Term Missions, a book by Roger Peterson, et al.




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