Success is believing is the title of the next chapterin Liberating Ministry from the Success Syndrome. Here their refrain is the slightly tautologous ‘believe what you believe’. What they are getting at is the idea in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God. And so they identify two ‘areas’ of belief – a belief in God, and a belief that ‘he rewards those who earnestly seek him’.
A belief in God is a belief that God exists. It seems axiomatic, but as Kent reviews his attitude and approach during those dark days, he sees that while he didn’t consciously reject those beliefs, he had lost the sense of the reality of those beliefs. He calls on us to focus on four aspects of God (or more particularly, Christ) as the object of our belief – that he is creator, sustainer, goal, and loving head. Of course we could add many more (Christ as redeemer, for example). Nevertheless, the point made is valid. Too often we can get lost in serving God, essentially domesticating him to the God we talk about at Bible Study, sing catchy little ditties to on Sunday, or urge people to trust in. We can lose sight of the bigness of God, of his omnipresence, his sovereignty, his omniscience, the perfection of his will, etc. I think the Hughes are calling on us, in sense, to be lost in wonder before the majesty of our triune God.
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