Buckhannon WV, December 9th

If failure disqualified people the Bible would be 3 pages long; Peter denied Jesus with cussing: Jesus didn’t fire him, he made him a Shepherd (John 21:15-19); Paul LITERALLY murdered Christians: Jesus said, ‘He is my chosen instrument’ (Acts 9:15); David committed adultery and murder: God still called him ‘a man after my own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14); Moses killed a man and ran: God still called him to lead Israel (Exodus 3); Samson broke vows, chased women, drank, and fought out of rage: God still used him at the end (Judges 16:38-30).

           Regardless of what you’ve done in the past: you didn’t disqualify yourself; you didn’t break something God can’t fix, you didn’t shock him, you didn’t surprise him, and you definitely didn’t change his affection for you. Let me be 100% open and honest here: I often see my failures and wonder ‘why does God stay; why do you love me, Lord; who could ever love someone like me; why do you chose me God; why me Lord?’ But the facts are the facts: God saw the entire story from beginning to end before he ever called me and he still said,

 ‘I want him.’ and he says that to all of you reading this, as well, today; he is saying, ‘I choose him, and her, and her, and him, and this person, and that person.’ He doesn’t choose us reluctantly; not out of pity, not because nobody else is available, and (most definitely) not because we’re less broken than others. No, God wanted me, and you, knowing EXACTLY how messy, inconsistent, reactive, emotional, sharp-tongued, sinful, and chaotic we would be.

   Why? Because that’s grace! Not the soft and squishy fake grace people talk about, but real grace: the kind with blood on it; the kind that cost him something. God doesn’t love us because we behave; God loves us because he chose us, and his choosing isn’t fragile. I sometimes think, ‘I’ve messed up so bad; why does God still care?’ But in doing so, I’m ignoring where God said, ‘I will never leave you or forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5); ‘Where sin multiplied, grace overflowed far more’ (Romans 5:20); ‘He who began in a good work in you will carry it to completion’ (Philippians 1:6).

   So, why does God still care? Why me? Because God chose you on purpose; because God loves you with intention; because God redeemed you fully; because God is forming you daily; because God isn’t done with you yet. If you were the always clean, polished, never fails, always calm type? You wouldn’t have the voice you have now; you wouldn’t have the grit; you wouldn’t have the empathy; you wouldn’t have the fire; you wouldn’t have the authenticity; you wouldn’t have the connection to people like you do

Your past is not a stain: it’s your training ground; your flaws aren’t proof of God leaving: they’re proof that you (and we all) need God; and the fact that you care to even ask this question? That’s evidence the spirit is alive and active in you; dead hearts don’t wonder why God still cares: soft hearts do.

At the Appalachian Post, all Faith & Life analysis follows a strict Sola Scriptura method grounded in the earliest manuscript evidence, the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek languages, and the historical context in which each passage was written. We allow Scripture to interpret Scripture, avoid denominational bias, and base every conclusion solely on what the biblical text itself says as preserved in sources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint Greek, and early New Testament manuscripts. Our aim is to present God’s Word faithfully, using original-language grammar, historical background, and manuscript accuracy, without personal opinion or modern cultural interpretation, so readers encounter Scripture as it was given, preserved, and understood by the earliest believers.

Primary First-Hand Sources Used

• Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia (BHS)
  Standard critical edition of the Hebrew Masoretic Text for all Old Testament passages.
• Septuagint (LXX) Rahlfs-Hanhart Edition
  Used only where cross-checking Greek OT wording clarifies OT citations used in the NT.
• Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece (NA28)
  Critical edition of the earliest available Greek New Testament manuscripts.
• United Bible Societies Greek New Testament (UBS5)
  Companion critical text used for NT variant comparison.
• BDAG: Bauer-Danker-Arndt-Gingrich Greek Lexicon
  Used for definitions, continuous-action tense analysis, and semantic range.
• HALOT: Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament
  Used for Hebrew word meaning and contextual range.
• LSJ: Liddell-Scott-Jones Classical Greek Lexicon
  Used for Greek nuance where NT words carry classical or Septuagint usage.

Secondary Tools Used

• Strong’s Concordance (original Hebrew & Greek index numbers only; no commentary)
• Morphological parsers for Greek and Hebrew (tense, stem, aspect, mood)
• Interlinear comparison software using manuscript-based textual lines