"Faith is just Christian Guts"

Dr. Averbeck went down a rabbit trail in class last night, but it was spiritually encouraging. He went moderately off topic to discuss what faith is. His main point was

"Faith is just Christian guts!"

He went on to say that it is the guts to trust God and endure through the hard stuff for Him because He asked.

I might add that faith is living courageously for God. It is laying it all on the line just to obey! It is leaving yourself so exposed that if Yahweh doesn't show up, you're cooked. But it is more than just taking a risk. It is knowing that despite how much it looks like a risk, it's really not, because of Who God is and what He has said and what He promises to do! Hebrews 11.1 puts it like this:

"Faith IS the metaphysical reality of the things being hoped for, the proof what the stuff that's not seen"

That means that faith is like having it before you have it, its like being sure of what you can't see. When we trust God for the things we're hoping for (that is the things He's called us to hope for, not the stuff we want to hope for like finding a winning lotto ticket (but who wants dirty money?) or finding that special someone), that means that on the deepest possible level we already have it, although we are still waiting to have it on every level. It means the things we don't see yet, but want to, when we trust we have seen them. For example, if we trust in Christ, we have the proof that we will see Him, the faith is the proof. It is all the proof we need that He is real. However, trusting like this does take guts, so let's get gutsy and trust!

Yahweh is God's First Name, So Let's Stop Calling Him "Sir"

So the Gospel Coalition has an article giving some reasons for why we should translate יהוה as "Yahweh" as opposed to "LORD." I completely agree. I also think however that it is helpful for those who are reading their Bible to know what their translations are trying to accomplish.

I just wanted to add to what the article will say that it may be helpful to understand the discussion in light of how we address people in English. In English, most people have a first name and a last name, some have a middle name or even middle names. Additionally, in English, some people have titles such as "Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Rev., etc." Also, there are words that function as respectful ways of addressing people, such as the above, yet there are some others that are used in some situations, such as when trying to be extra respectful we may ask, "Can I help you, sir/ma'am?" Others have positional titles, such as "General Manager, Judge, President, Queen, etc." We would normally not consider "Mister" or "Sir" or "President" someone's name. However, "lord" is in fact a title that functions halfway between "mister" and "president." So if you watch a movie that emulates some old school English, you may hear, "Yes, m'lord." Or if you go to England today, you can visit the House of Lords with Lords so-and-so and so-and-so. The thing is that יהוה is a name, not a title. Moreover, this causes problems with the Name יהוה (Yahweh) is right next to the title אדני, which means "my lord." You can't really say "The LORD my Lord." Anyways, the article will on to explain more, my point is just that the times your Bible reads LORD in all caps, it is trying to translate God''s Name, the Name He goes by, just like I go by Anthony. Yahweh is the Name God goes by, but you may not have known that because many Bibles translate God's personal name, His given name (He gave it to Himself). In English, we would pronounce and spell God personal Name as "Yahweh."

Please click the link below to get a better handling of the issue as well as some reasons for why the translation of "LORD" came up in the first place as well as reasons for using and enjoying the using of God's Personal Name, Yahweh.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/10/01/getting-gods-name-right/