Correctly understanding what faith truly is is vital to a walk that pleases God for God says, "Without faith it is impossible to please him." People frequently misunderstand what faith really is. In this teaching Dan shows how it is not some metaphysical force or some special magical power of the mind. Jesus has called us to do his works today in this world but if we don't properly understand what faith is, we will never be able to do those works. In addition to faithfulness or allegiance, one  basic understandings of the Greek word "pistis" is that it simply means to trust or to have confidence.

As far back as Genesis 4 God warned Cain about sin. God uses the figurative of speech of personification when he warns Cain, giving him an indication that sin is like a predatory cat, one that is seeking an opportunity to pounce and devour us. The warning is to take heed, be careful in what we do and how we act so that we can take preemptive steps to avoid the sin that crouches at our door.  God also gives great encouragement that when we do right we are accepted but we must be very careful because when we do wrong then sin we seek opportunity to devour us. We must learn to be honest and call out sin for what it is. When we sin we must take full responsibility it, then we confess it, repent (meaning change) and then grow through it. In this teaching Dan gives some very practical examples of things we can do to master the sin that is crouching at our door. 

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Jesus tells us that it is from the heart of a person that come the thoughts and intentions of our actions, which is why God tells us that we must take great care to guard our hearts. THe best way to do this is to be aware of the two major pathways into a person's heart. In this teaching Dan explains these two pathways and how they directly influence our heart. Unfortuantely, amny of the problems we see today are the result of peole not being more careful in these two areas,a nd with knowledge of them we can guard and protect what is in our hearts.

How do we show God that we love Him. It's one thing to say we love God and quite another to show Him we really love Him. In this short teaching Dan inspires and encourages us to live a life of loving others, one by one as we fulfill the many commands to love, encourage, and care for one another. When we do this we transform our thoughts of loving God into tangible deeds and this is how we show God we love Him.

In this final teaching Dan examines the second type of wicked person, what God calls in Herew the Nabal. The wicked are known by the destruction in their hearts. This kind of person is an extreme from of wickedness and evil. They are corrupt in all their ways and they work against God. They are indifferent to the pain and suffereing they cause., They lack empathy and copmpassion for others. In this teaching Dan identifies clear "nabalish" behaviors that we must be aware of so that we can avoid the destruction they sow and avoid their ways. The nabal is the most extremeform of evil. There is no amount of reproof or intellectual interruption that we can do that will help them. Their conduct reveals planned cunning and we must avoid them. 

 

When we do unreasonable things we must interrupt it. We must avoid being stubborn fools and train oourselves to avoid the path of the wick and be, what God says, is the wise.

In this teaching Dan Gallagher explores a level of wicked bevaior that is characterized by mocking. When a person becomes a mocker they have entered a serious stage of wickedness that God gives very stern warnings about. THis is the kind of person that God says has destruction in their heart. They seek to destroy others through words by hertful words that tear down their reputation with slander and malice. This is a sero=ious level of behavior and we must avoid it at all costs. In this teaching Dan also clearly explains the serious methods that must be employed when dealing with mockers.

The third type of fool is a stubborn fool. This is the person who knows what thye should do, they refuse to do it, and they are stubborn about it. God equates a stubborn fool to the kind of person who is like a dog who eats his own vomit. This is the kind of person who actually is beginning to take pleasure in evil. As we follow the path of foolishness we now can see how a person is increasing in pride and sinful behavior. In this teaching Dan gives some very pratical examples and also the sever actions that are required to correct this type of foolishness. It should give us pause when we see that this is the largest type of foolishness that God addresses in Proverbs.

THe HEbrew word 'eviyl' is properly translated as an unreasonable fool. This is the kind of person who knows what to do but just decides not to do it. Everyone is at times an unreasonable fool and the proper correction for this type of behavior is not instruction like for the simple fool, but an increased level of corrective action. IN this episode Dan Gallagher discusses the characteristics of the unreasonable fool and gives many scripture verses that describ eit and it's correction.

In the Bible God uses five different Hebrew words to describe fools and wicked behavior. Understanding the difference between these types of fools helps all of us identify follishness in ourselves and others. In this episode Dan Gallagher specifically discusses the nature of a Simple Fool.