Meet Justin! This past Christmas, Justin became the proud owner of a 2009 Pontiac G6. Justin lives right where he was raised … Baltimore, Maryland, the murder hot bed of America.
Meet Billy and Sarah Humphrey. Billy and Sarah Pastor Pathway Church of God and run City of Refuge, Baltimore. Billy pastors right where he was raised, Baltimore, Maryland, the murder hot bed of America.
These three individuals met many years ago and they have developed a strong and lasting bond. They met, not by accident, but because someone had the basic understanding that true Christian faith must eventually bear fruit. In other words, daily application of scriptural knowledge must be applied by professing Christians if the world is going to believe that Jesus Christ who the Bible says that He is. The Apostle James said it this way, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:17). Better stated, Jesus is still dead to a nonbelieving world when they observe people of faith every day who profess Jesus, but do not follow that belief with action.
City of Refuge, Baltimore, is a place where faith is put into daily practice. When you walk on the grounds, what you witness are people who put their faith into action through something known as “works”. Here, they feed hungry people, clothe scarcely cladded people, house homeless people and minister to hurting people. They also do this … share the greatest message mankind has ever heard, salvation through Jesus Christ.
Justin accepted Jesus Christ under this ministry. Justin is a young man whose greatest support system is the Church. He doesn’t get it from home because to him, home doesn’t have the same meaning as it does to millions of others. There is no white picket fence, two car garage or community center for youth to socialize in. His picket fence consists of abandoned cars, his garage consists of parking on the street and the community center is better suited for the latest drug deal or trick turned by local prostitutes. According to Pastor Humphrey, Justin’s story can be any one of a thousand stories of youth in Baltimore. The problems are many, but the Church of God has a lighthouse there that is making a difference, one person at a time.
For a young person to begin the climb out of poverty, they must get a good paying job. In order to get that job, they need to be trained with a skill that will cause an employer to want to hire them. Then, to get that job, they must have transportation of their own. Public transportation simply isn’t good enough for most employers to hire a young person from the inner city. Employers need employees that they can count on to get to work on time every day.
The struggle that young people have in cities like Baltimore can be multiplied throughout America and around the globe. In Justin’s case, works showed up on time. The Church of God family went to work. Monies were raised and a call was made to a friend of the Church of God that owns car dealerships. Ken Jones is a man who understands the powerful combination of faith combined with works. He found a car for us, checked it out for us, assisted in the purchase of the car and at his expense, delivered it to us in Maryland just before Christmas.
In addition, for a 19-year-old from inner city Baltimore, the least expensive liability insurance we could find was around $2,000.00 for six-months. But what would be a game-stopper for most people, was just another opportunity for faith to produce some more works. Sure enough, twelve Pastors, congregations and individuals from the Delmarva-DC region put their faith to work and paid the insurance for Justin’s first year.
What is the point of this story? Simply this … you can say that you have faith and you can preach that you believe the Bible, but until your faith becomes visible action, there is no proof of your belief system. Again, James says it this way, “but someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (James 2:18). I am not saying that you are saved because you do works. I am saying that you do works because you are saved. Faith in Jesus Christ produces visible, tangible acts of love and kindness to the world.
Most everyone that I know loves fruit. You may prefer some fruit over others (I’m not a grapefruit fan), but by and large, we all have fruit that we love to enjoy. The world may not always say it, but they love to see the Christian faith produce fruit as well. Christian faith, lived out visibly before others, produces fruit. According to John, faith acted out specifically does two things: (1) it glorifies God; and (2) allows others to determine if Christians are real or fake, based on the fruit that they produce. John 15:8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Our Heavenly Father is glorified when His children produce visible fruit. In addition, we move from “might be” or “could be” to “will be” disciples once we begin producing this fruit.
Think about it this way. What good is faith without obedience? James says that even the demons in hell believe. They even take it a step further than most and “tremble” (James 2:19) at what they believe. For the Christian, faith is taking God at His Word and obeying Him even when you don’t fully understand it or fully comprehend it. Obedience is the process where “works” are applied and lived out in our daily lives. Until I have obeyed, I have not really trusted. When I do not obey God, I’m saying, “God, I really don’t trust you. I really don’t trust your Word. I know what you have said, but I’m going to do it differently.” It is not those Christians who just “heard” that are found faithful, but rather, it is those who have heard and obeyed. They are the truly faithful ones. The “sons of God” are those who are continually led by the Holy Spirit. That is what the Word tells us when it says, “as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14).
The ingredients of faith are simple. The Word must be HEARD. Romans 10:17 says that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” To have faith, you must know what God HAS said and what God IS saying. Faith comes “by hearing”, not by “having heard”. Secondly, the Word must be BELIEVED. Hearing God’s Word is absolute, however, acting upon what you believe and hear is mandatory. People that do not believe are not dealing with an intellectual problem, they are dealing with a moral problem. It is not an issue of the head, it is an issue of the heart: “ Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.” (Hebrews 3:12). Faith is a response to God Himself. God created my eyes so that my eyes would respond to light, my ears so that they would respond to sound, my nose so that it would respond to the world of aroma, my hands so that they would respond to feeling, and my spirit so that that I could respond to Him. Finally, the Word must be OBEYED. Faith has always been linked to obedience. Faith that does not lead to obedience is not the lifestyle of a true disciple of Christ. The two go hand in hand. Just as light and heat are automatic by-products of fire, works and obedience are automatic by-products of faith.
There are many people just like Justin in the world and they too need the Church to act upon the faith that Christ has imparted to them. As the Hymn writer John H. Sammis penned: “When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word, what a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will He abides with us still, and with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.”
(L -R) Billy, Sarah, Justin, Teresa & Stan
Justin Mills