Many people talk about faith in religious terms as in “What “faith” are you?” While that is an appropriate way of using the term there is a general definition of faith and we find it in the Bible in Hebrews 11:1 “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” We all exhibit faith from the moment we wake up. We hope that we can make it to work or we hope that we don’t get sick, etc. We go about our day with the confidence in those things we hope for.
Yet this kind of faith only keeps us going day to day in our daily routine. We were called to be more then we currently are, so why do we settle for less? Some say the more you risk the more you can gain. I say that the bolder your faith the greater things you will accomplish. The Bible tells us this kind of faith is the one that helps us literally move mountains. Some say that is impossible, I say it is just that very few have had that kind of faith.
If we want our families to be stronger, our communities to be thriving loving places, our churches to grow, and our world to be a better place then we need faithful men and women of all backgrounds of all traditions to rise up to the occasion.
I ask this question of our readers. Where are those who by faith believed in God’s word being true simply because the Bible told them so?
Where are the faithful Abraham’s who left their comfort zones for an unknown future simply because God said to go?
Where are the Noah’s who defied the label of crazy, who were obedient simply out of trust and faith in God?
Where are the Sarah’s who fought through their disbelief and found an unwavering faith in that God would do the impossible?
There are very few men and women today who qualify to join this historic and infamous list of Biblical heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11). Now days it seems everything needs to be proven scientifically and that faith is irrelevant. How about those few who prove their faithfulness simply by the way they live out their faith? There is no scientific method to test that. Yet by looking at their lives we see the evidence of their faith.
One person I knew personally deserves to be listed among the greatest men and women of faith in our lifetime. Her name was Betty Lightcap Dando. Betty was 89 years old when the Lord called her home on Sunday, July 27. This past week Brandywine Baptist hosted the viewing and funeral service for Betty Dando. Betty was the most amazing woman. She was short in stature but stood tall in her faith. She was a matriarch in her family. She loved and cared for every single one of her children, their spouses, the grandchildren, and everyone she came in contact with.
Like the men and women of faith in the past, Betty exhibited a tremendous amount of faith in God. Betty was a fighter all the way until the end. Betty was faithful to her family, a faithful member of Brandywine Baptist Church for the last 55 years. Yet, even more important than these things, Betty was faithful to Jesus Christ. Like others before her and hopefully many after Betty lived by the motto following Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through our faith in Christ who strengths us.
Our future as a nation, as communities, as families is only as strong as our faith. Let us then have that same faith that our founding fathers had when they embarked on this American experiment. The same faith that led many of our biblical heroes to do what seemed like insane assignments at the time — the same kind of faith that allowed Betty Dando to persevere all these years and fight the good fight until the end. Let us remember that Jesus promises us that whoever has faith, whoever believes in Him will not only be able to do what He has done, miracles and wonders, but even greater things. This is the kind of faith we all need now.
About Rev. Marcos O. Almonte
Rev. Marcos O. Almonte is senior pastor at Brandywine Baptist Church, the oldest Baptist Church west of Philadelphia. Pastor Marcos is a graduate of Palmer Theological Seminary with more than 10 years working with families with an expertise in theology, trauma and addictions. Pastor Marcos and his wife Mary have three children, Carmen, Joseph, and Lincoln.
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