Craig's Jason Haskell Links Faith to Daily Life in New Column

Steamboat Springs —The morning air on the Western Slope carries that familiar dry chill. It settles over Craig, moving past the high desert scrub toward the mountains. Inside local churches and living rooms, a different kind of atmosphere is taking shape. It has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with belief.

Jason Haskell wrote in a recent column for the Craig Daily Press, outlining what he calls "the way into life and the way of life." His argument is straightforward. The mechanism is not just a ticket to heaven. It is the operating system for daily existence.

"H Faith is the way into the family of God," Haskell wrote. "It is also by faith that we receive eternal life."

He points to Ephesians 2:8. The text says believers are saved by grace through faith. Haskell breaks it down further. Grace provides the salvation. Faith receives it. They are not the same thing. Grace is the gift. Faith is the hand that takes it.

This distinction matters for locals who treat religion like a checklist. You can do all the works. You can pay your tithes. You can show up on Sunday. If you lack faith, Haskell argues, you miss the point.

"We are not saved by our works, but by the grace of God, received through faith," he noted.

The column references Galatians 2:16 to drive this home. Justification comes through faith in Jesus Christ, not the law. This is a hard line. It separates belief from behavior.

Haskell also tackles the concept of eternal life. Many assume it starts after death. He says otherwise. Eternal life is present tense. It begins when you believe in Christ.

John 3:16 supports this view. God gave His Son so that whoever believes shall not perish but have everlasting life. 1 John 5:11-12 adds that this life is in His Son. Have the Son, have the life. Don’t have Him, don’t have it.

The practical application is where things get interesting for the average person. Haskell argues that help and supply from God are available every day. They go unused because people don’t live by faith.

"Faith accesses grace," he wrote. "Faith receives whatever the grace of God offers."

Without faith, those offerings remain potential. They are not experiential. You have the option, but you don’t have the reality.

He uses Abraham and Sarah as examples. God promised them parents of many nations. They were old. Sarah was barren. Hebrews 11:11 says Sarah considered God faithful to His promise. Romans 4:20-21 says Abraham did not waver.

They didn’t just believe God existed. They believed His word was true for them. That is the distinction Haskell draws. Believing God to be truthful is different from believing in God. Even the devil believes in God, he notes.

The column suggests that living by faith means accessing specific promises. It is not just trusting that things will work out according to God’s will. It is receiving what God has already said.

This perspective shifts the burden from human effort to divine access. It suggests that the resources for life are already there. They are just waiting to be tapped.

Haskell’s message is dense with scripture, but the core idea is simple. Faith is the key. It opens the door to God’s family and keeps it open for daily life. For those on the Western Slope, dealing with isolation and distance, that access might be more valuable than ever.

The question is whether locals are just going through the motions or actually tapping in.