NTC Day 19 - Help me with my unbelief...

My memory verse for this week:
"Therefore, let us stop passing judgement on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way." Romans 14:13

NTC Day 19
Mark 9-10 and 1 Corinthians 5-7

"I do believe! Help me overcome my disbelief!" (Mark 9:23)

Faith is never perfect. It is often mixed with unbelief. Sometimes you need to realize what you don't know or understand so you can search for the understanding you need. That is the case for me today. I have found such peace and joy while reading the NTC in the past few weeks. I am constantly finding new things in verses I have read many times. Today, while still finding joy, my heart is troubled by how much I still have to learn.

I write these messages everyday as my way of reaching out to the world and spreading the good news of God's plan for the salvation of his beautiful human creations who have such messes of their God-given lives. 

While I just speak what is in my heart, I realized once again that I have SO MUCH TO LEARN! I am not a pastor...I really do not have the training to teach anyone about God's word. What if what I say and how I interpret what I read in God's word is wrong? So, dear friends, please take what I say with a grain of salt. (Funny that I use the word salt. Mark 9:50 talks about salt being good, unless it loses its saltiness...I don't want to lose my saltiness!)

All week long, (and really the theme of my blog) I have been talking about how we are not to judge one another. Well...1 Corinthians 5 talks all about how the church is to exercise spiritual discipline over those who claim to believe in Christ. Paul says that claiming to be Christians while continuing to live an immoral life is degrading and wrong and might put their testimony in question. 

Paul goes as far as saying that the church is to hand those Christians who are living immoral lives over to Satan so their sinful nature will be destroyed and they will be moved to repent and be saved. 

I have to admit that I am troubled by this because it sounds like the church is given the right to turn sinners away from the church...we are ALL sinners aren't we? I thought all sins were sins...it didn't matter the type? 

I don't like the thought of "cherry-picking" from the Bible...taking and putting into practice only the parts I like and disregarding the parts I don't like. I do believe that the Bible, ALL OF THE BIBLE is God's word and he breathed his breath into the men who wrote all parts of it. So...I have a lot to learn about how God feels about sins and immoral behavior and what God considers immoral behavior. 

Just like the man in Mark 9:14-32, I have faith, but it it isn't perfect and I need help with my unbelief.

What I do know...we are treat all others with love. Jesus said that besides loving God, this was the greatest commandment. So, perhaps this love comes into play with HOW we discipline those believers in the church living in immoral ways....how we treat them...how we judge them...

I have a lot to learn...