Going through it

 I was, not too long ago, sitting, thinking, contemplating, and meditating, in other words, doing nothing. So as I sat doing nothing, I started counting my blessings and unfortunately not so blessed events in my life.  As is the “nature of man” the negatives in my mind started to outnumber or “outshine” the positives. I, in time, found myself diddling my toes in the pity pool. Over the years I’ve found the natural progression of self-pity is; 1) cooling the feet and toes in the kiddies wading pity pool. When that gets comfortable 2) we go knee deep, then 3) waist deep and if not checked in time, we 4) dive in head first into the pity pond. The thing about the pity pond is the water is stagnant.  More fresh water comes in but the only exit is through evaporation and dissipation into the atmosphere doing no more good other than slowing the “global warming” process. (I joke) Don’t get me wrong, there is life in stagnant pools but the longer you tread water in a stagnant pool the more you realize that the life surrounding you is slimy moss and bottom feeding creatures basically nibbling on your toes waiting for you to sink. The pond will eventually overgrow with vegetation cutting off the sun ending the process of photosynthesis, a process of life to the life below. Wasn’t that just a happy cheery thought?

So, there I was, diddling my toes knowing if I diddled too long the process would just take over. Not wanting to go there, I started to pray. My private prayers are rarely eloquent orations as I was always taught that prayer is just conversation with my Abba Father. They are more than the conversations I have with my dad which are basically long periods of silence occasionally broken by belching and/or flatulence. I speak in tongues to Abba and speak in abdomen to my dad. What the heck, we understand each other. So I’m praying to Abba Father, basically a heartfelt cry for help and a relatively lengthy period of peace so as to gain a little rest and relaxation in order to recover and regroup. I’m well aware and firmly believe that true peace comes at the end of the story which is actually the beginning of a new and better story. So, I’m praying for peace, which by the way could be as dangerous as praying for patience, and then the phone rings.

It’s my other mother, a mentor, a sister and friend calling for my wife who is not at home at the time. Hmm, interestingly convenient!  Well, she makes the mistake of asking “how’s things goin’?”, so I unload. She’s used to me so the “unloading” doesn’t seem to phase her.  When I stop to take a breath, ready for round two, she speaks and an actual conversation starts.  We swap “war stories” with tales of woe and testimonies of victory.  I know what battles she’s been fighting as we are sharing similar battles in different geographical locales. The gist of the conversation was that, right now, we’re all “going through it” in one way or another, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, physically, financially, or socially. Some in one or two areas, some all of the above, but regardless, we’re all going through it. Family, friends, brothers, sisters, relations and unrelated, we are all going through it. The magic phrase was “it’s all in how we deal with it as we’re going  through it”  We part ways after about 15~20 mins. and it’s then I noticed I had pulled my feet out of the pity pool. Sweet! Thanks A.A.W.

Later that day, I’m mulling over all the information gleaned from the “conveniently timed call to my wife” and I started getting several scriptures and scriptural thoughts related to the situation. We’re all going through it. How many times in life do we say “nobody knows what I’m going through” or” I’m all alone in this thing.” Does this feed a deep seated human need to stand out or be unique? Just asking.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says,” What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”. (NIV)That verse and the whole book of Ecclesiastes  is attributed to King Solomon and it is definitely filled with juicy nuggets pertaining to life. But the point is, just when you think you’re  the Lone Ranger and nobody knows what you’re going through or how you’re feeling, just remember, several thousand years ago someone was smart enough to realize, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”. It has happened, it is happening, and it’s going to happen again, to somebody somewhere. You are not alone.

1Corinthians 10:13a, says “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind”. (NIV) We may not know the particulars of your situation but the names aren’t important, what’s important is the situation is similar or the same. You are not alone in this. Someone somewhere has gone through the very thing that’s running through your mind and emotions in golf shoes.  For those times when it seems all so overwhelming, you’re not going to make it, “I can’t take it anymore”, the (b) part of 10:13 is,“ And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, H e will also provide a way out so that you can endure It”. You’re saying, nice verse but I’m not being  tempted, I’m going through it. Well yes, yes you are being tempted. You’re being tempted with anger, hatred, fear, depression, feelings of inadequacy and low self esteem and many many more. You may be tempted with giving up or giving in to any number of tormenting emotions that will do little to help you but aid to drag you to the bottom of the pity pond, where the bottom feeders dwell. The term “going though it” reminded me of one of the more famous chapters in the bible, the 23^rd Psalm. The whole psalm can be a great comfort but verse 4 in particular comes to mind. “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me”.  First off the “yea” is not “yippee”! I suppose it can and could mean yippee if you realize what going through the aforementioned valley will gain for you on the other side of said valley. The implication here is that, you will at sometime, somewhere go through the valley. The writer of this psalm was another king, David, in fact he was the father of the previously mentioned king Solomon. I suggest you read about the life and times of King David to find out what “going through it” really means.  As he went through the valley he knew God was with him so he feared no evil. Know this God is with you, fear no evil. There is a country song that says, “ When you’re going through hell, keep on going.” And a Christian cliché says “if you’re going through the valley of the shadow… don’t set up camp” Point being, “going through…” implies a non-permanent residential status.

Several years ago I was listening to a guest speaker at church and went forward when he had an altar call. It’s too long ago to remember the particulars but the basic “word” he had for me was “don’t worry, you’re still under construction”. I remember it being a great comfort at the time but many years later does it still apply? I mean, has construction stopped? It must have stopped, I’m getting pretty beat up over here. The Spirit started talking again, this time about construction.  I have been in construction in one form or another for over twenty years. What have I learned and how does it apply?  This could take a while, I’ll keep it short. 

As the Spirit showed me, the physical process of constructing a building starts with preparing the ground which involves digging, scraping chopping and cutting in order to make the land level and graded for drainage and most importantly, pouring a solid foundation.  Digging, scraping etc. can be considered, under close observation, acts of violence. To build buildings there is pounding, cutting, welding and so on and so forth. Each individual act is a serious violent act. Stay with me here, it’s not as strange as it sounds. All these acts of violence are orchestrated by a project manager. The project manager knows when to do what, who he wants to do it and how long it will take. All goes smoothly and quickly if outside influences are kept to a minimum ie. labor disputes, getting proper permits etc. How does a project manager know how to do what he does? He reads the plans/prints and knows how to apply them to the job at hand.  

So as I’m thinking on this and the word over me, ”you’re still under construction”, it comes to me. In life, we’re all under construction. There will be pounding, burning, digging, cutting, metaphorically speaking in our lives.  Who is your project manager? Who drew up your plans.  Ready for this?

God drew up your plans, Jesus is the “scale model “of how we’re supposed to end up, the Spirit is the project manager, and yes the bible is the “blue print”.(no blue prints anymore, now blueline)

We’re all under construction, we’re all going through it. In life there will be pounding, cutting and unbearable heat. Remember Ecclesiastes 1:9: You are not alone in this, someone else has gone through it and is going through it. 1Corinthians 10:13, You can get through this, there’s always a way out. Psalm23:4 God is with you in the valley. (yea!)

That being said, what can we do, oh what can we do? Glad you asked.  Let the construction begin!  James 1:2-6( I believe one of the more difficult verses to apply to life) “…Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work , that you mat be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith without  doubting…” 2Peter 1:5-8  “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”.  

Let’s face it, after about age 25, physically speaking, it’s all downhill from here.  You can slow it down and delay it but it is inevitable, the body will return to the earth. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. It may take 120 years but that’s the future for the physical body. It is the inner man, the spirit man that is eternal. It is the spirit man that is constantly under construction, constantly building. The physical man is under a maintenance contract. Diet and exercise, two accursed words, but true. You need to focus on both spirit and body but if you focus on spirit first, oddly enough, the body seems to fall in line. Build the spirit man up, you’re going to hang with him a whole lot longer than the physical man.
Back to my prayer for peace. Its been said that, like patience, you never want to pray for peace because you'll be thrown into situations that require the one thing you feel you need the most. As an example, if you pray for patience or peace, you get children. You get my meaning.
You have  "building project"or some emotional/mental need. First you have to remember that Jesus is the "Chief cornerstone" or foundation of the project.Ephesians 2:20 Continue to lay the foundation with. John 14:27 "Peace I leave you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." That would be the "cornerstone" talking. Then you go to Philipians 4:6-7. "Do not be anxious about anything. but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And it's just that simple. Yeah, right! It does take time, it does take consistent work, but it does work. I especially like "the peace of God which transcends ALL understanding" This means when you're up to your A_ _ in alligators, you count it all joy(James 1:2) and continue to empty your personal swamp. All those around you will think you're crazy when you 're not being bothered by the bottom feeding reptiles and go on about your business and life, while they're uselessly beating the alligator with sticks. As I said earlier, Jesus is our "model" and He was well aware of what lay ahead for Him and yet He always appeared to be at peace. Mark 4:37-40 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern of the boat sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him,"Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quite, be still!" Then the wind died down.He said to his disciples,"why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" Smackdown! His peace transcended all understanding, he was asleep during a storm that had others in fear for their lives. We  have that peace available to us John 14:27 we can have that peace during the storms of our lives, during the construction projects while we're getting hammered, cut up, chopped,sliced and diced. How? Psalm23:4 It is His intention for us to go through... It is our job to remember this and practice it daily.

So the moral of the story is talk to the project manager, pray to God  and the Spirit, in the Spirit in Jesus name.  Read the prints/plans for yourself, read your bible. It’s more than a nice book to have on your coffee table. The length of time it takes to complete the project depends on how closely you follow the plan and listen to the project manager. Don't forget, even after you think the project is done, there will always be maintenance and upgrades.

We are all a work of art. There is an Eifel tower,  Taj Majal, Great Wall or Pyramid in each of us.

Finally Philippians 1:6, “Be confident of this very thing, that he who started a good work in you will perform it until the Day of Jesus”

He started it, He’ll finish it and He ain’t done with you yet!

Off to see the Wizard

Off to see the Wizard

So there I was, waking up at 3 in the morning to do what I’m told the majority of men my age do at 3 in the morning, whether we want to or not. This has been going on for a few years so I’m relatively used to it, the concern I have is when the “cares of the world” jump me when I’m trying to return to the land of Nod. At these times, usually after a few minutes of wallowing in the muck and mire of the “cares”, I will turn to prayer. I thank the Lord for what I have, what He’s given me, what He’s not given me and the disasters He has helped me avoid. After about 5 to 10 minutes of this, I’ll generally get back to sleep.

On this particular night, after the going through the process, I asked the Spirit of  wisdom, knowledge and understanding  how to deal with the particular “cares of the world” that were attacking this time. Much to my surprise, the Wizard of Oz came up strong in my spirit. Yeah that Wizard of Oz. Now I know that there are people much more spiritually knowledgeable and have a closer walk with the Lord than I, but I have been in this ”game” for quite some time and the one thing that still irritates me after all these years is why the Lord just won’t speak plain English to me, why is it always a guessing game? I am, I suppose, in good company when I know that Jesus spoke to His chosen people in parables. Some might say riddles. Jesus would explain to the 12 disciples if they asked during their down time. I believe He spoke in parables in order to force the people to “noodle it through” to get understanding on what He said. Anything worth having is worth working for.

So, the Wizard of Oz it is. As I put a think on it and ask the Spirit to PLEASE  ‘splain how this pertains to the subject at hand. What do I get? I get the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion.  Okay, He’s going to make me work for it.

 I’ve never read the L. Frank Baum 1900 novel but the movie has been around since 1939 and has generally played on TV twice a year as long as I’ve been alive. Point being, I know the story. There are six major characters in the story. They are, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin man, the Lion, the wizard, and the witch. Although Dorothy was the main character, her three partners in the adventure, I believe, were to be my focus.

The first character Dorothy came upon was the Scarecrow, then the Tin Man then the Lion. So taken in order, the Scarecrow was an individual stuck in a corn field and was fairly ineffective at scaring crows. His complaint was, ”if I only had a brain”.  Next, she came to the Tin man, who was frozen in the woods due to a lack of lubrication. Being stiff and hard on the outside and hollow on the inside, his complaint was, “if I only had a heart.” Finally the Lion found in the jungle attempting to scare the adventurers only to “back down” when a little girl stood up to him. His cry was, “If I only had courage.”   

As I looked back over the movie, each one of these characters exhibited the characteristic they thought they were missing and so badly wanted. Not only that but each one exhibited the characteristics that their fellow travelers so badly wanted. Each one showed big buckets of compassion for their new friend Dorothy. You just gotta have heart, when dealing with the “flying monkeys” of this world or else you’ll just  give up when facing  adversity. Knowing and seeing a need and taking care of said need regardless of recognition or reciprocity, just because it needs to be done, is a definition of “heart”.

To a child, at the time, Margret Hamilton, the wicked witch of the west, had to be one of the scariest characters in film.  Seriously, she was right up there with Kong, only less hairy and in color, all green with a huge beezer complete with wart. As a figure in the movie she was the most feared  person in the Technicolor world and was the template for movie witches for years. If you noticed, the all knowing all seeing, all powerful Wizard of Oz never tried to take her out and I don’t mean to dinner. She had to be one bad….. rhymes with itch. And yet the scarecrow, tin man and lion endeavored to confront her for the sake of their friend Dorothy. They were, all three scared. That was obvious but they went anyway. They were again displaying “Heart” not only that, but also courage. I’ve heard it said that courage is the absence of fear. I prefer the saying that courage is “doing it afraid”. Depending on the circumstances, no one will not be afraid to a certain extent from time to time, It’s what do you do at that time, flight or fight that makes the difference. And finally, the logistics of the “siege” on the witch’s domain took wisdom and knowledge. In other words Brains.

All these things made for an exciting childhood movie that has stood the test of time. Who knew there was a lesson to be learned several decades later?

When our intrepid adventurers returned to the Emerald city and the Wizard with the prize of the witch’s broom, the city rejoiced and partied. I personally believe the wizard didn’t expect them to return and now he had to “pay up” on his end of the deal.

They all, through their actions, showed to the world that they already had the things they wanted most in life, brains, heart, and courage. What was missing, why did they not see that they already had what they wanted the most?  The wizard, in his wisdom, met each character at their need.

To the scarecrow, that so much wanted brains, the wizard declared that the thing that the most intelligent people had others didn’t, was a diploma. Basically, he gave an outward symbol of an inward condition. To the Tin Man he gave a testimonial or someone expressing what his actions have already stated. The Tin Man had empathy, sympathy and compassion long before the wizard giving him a testimonial and a heart shaped clock. But again, he gave an outward symbol of an inward condition. To the Lion, the wizard gave a medal. The Lion had proven his courage by “doing it afraid” He was obviously afraid to go to the witch’s castle but did it anyway with his friends for a friend, exhibiting great courage.

Whatever we desire, intelligently, emotionally, or spiritually, is already in us. It’s there. It may be hidden or disguised, it may even buried deep down under years shame, confusion, bad teaching or battered and beaten by the world or whatever but it’s in there.

 Genesis 1:27 says “God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female. Created in Gods image? I’m pretty certain He’s no dummy. First and most obvious, He’s the creator of the universe, duh, and if there was an instruction manual needed for that, He would have been the one to write it. Secondly, Exodus 31:3,4 says, “ …and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to devise cunning works….”. This was given by God to a gentleman named Bezaleel who’s name translates as “protected one or under the covering, in the shade of”.  If we’ve accepted Christ then we’re protected ones, under the blood.  1 Corinthians 2:16 “… But we have the mind of Christ.” So we got the brains.

John 3:16 says that “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son….”. The God kind of heart, self sacrifice. John 15:13, Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Giving of yourself to others. Empathy, sympathy and compassion, you gotta have heart.

As for courage, I refer to Joshua 1: 6, 7, & 9. “Be strong and of good courage…”, “only be thou strong and very courageous…” and “Have I not commanded thee? Be thou strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed…” God won’t ask it from you if He hasn’t first given it to you. At the birth of Christ, Luke 2:10, “And the angel said unto them, Fear not:…” Later in John 16:33, “… in this world you will have trouble. But take heart!(have courage) I have overcome the world”

We were/are made in the image and likeness of our creator. Science will argue over the physical aspects of that comment but I’m speaking spiritually. While we did take a major detour after the “fall” we do have the ability to get back on track by accepting the ransom sacrifice of Jesus. With the covering of Christ, we once again are in the image and likeness of our heavenly Father. (that has never actually changed)We are His kids. As such we have what we need to do what He wants. How can I say that? Luke 11:11, says so. “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a serpent instead.” “Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?””If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?” And if, just if you don’t believe you have “it” in you, just ask for it. Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

The Scarecrow Tin Man and Lion had all that they needed all along, always had. They just needed someone to point it out to them, an external sign of an internal condition. That’s where the wizard came in. A diploma is not necessarily a sign of intelligence, just as a testimony and medal aren’t signs of having a heart or courage.

In this day and age, common sense does not seem to be all that common.  A “higher education”, while a good thing to have, if it is not accompanied by the common sense needed to apply it to life, you’re still a Barista or burger boy. Don’t get me wrong, I believe all honest work is honorable, but after 4 to 6 years of advance schooling, you can do better. I had a friend that never ceased to amaze me with his knowledge of just about everything mechanical, electrical etc. Without formal education, at the time, he was able to see a problem, analyze it and fix it with just general knowledge in a lot of different areas. He was able to apply the knowledge he had to whatever situation he was facing. That is “Brains” and it was/is in him.

Back in 1973, I met a young man, brand new in the Navy, like myself, waiting for his first duty station or transportation out to it. We were on Crete for several days with little to do other than indulge in the local indulgences and all that that entails. After going to our respective ships, we cruised into a rather nasty storm resulting in very high seas that caused the ships to roll so badly that there were footprints on the bulkhead. It was nerve racking to say the least. There was an incident on my friend’s ship which resulted in a man being washed overboard. “It was a dark and stormy day” and because of the very high seas, the ship couldn’t get a boat in the water to rescue the man whose condition was bad and getting worse. My new found friend, as the story goes, saw the difficulty in getting the boat in the water, saw his shipmate unconscious and quickly floating away. So with no regard for conditions or his own safety, he grabbed a lifejacket and dove in. He saved the man’s life. Meeting back in port, I asked about the incident and although I don’t remember his exact words (forgive me it was 1973) his response was something like, “someone needed to do something”. Courage was in him, I have no doubt. To quote Bruce Willis in Live free or Die Hard, “That’s what makes you that guy.” Courage is doing what needs to be done, whatever that may be, regardless.

As for Heart, I need go no further than looking to my wife. Talk about heart. As a really small example of her large heart, while driving the local freeways, if we see police or firemen or EMTs screaming down the road at a high rate of speed, lights blinking and sirens howling, my first response is, “great, this will screw up traffic!” My wife takes a much different attitude and starts to pray for the “first responders” and the situation in general. While watching news reports of tragedies, man made or natural, her exhibition of compassion, empathy and sympathy for those suffering is enormous. Hopefully I will eventually glean a small portion of that heartfelt compassion for people from her.

So, if these characteristics are already in us, why do so few of us use them? I don’t know, do I look like Dr. Freud?! I’m writing this as a means to think and meditate on that very question. According to scripture, the children of Israel, prior to entering the “promised land” sent 12 spies into the land to see what they were going up against. Numbers 13:33 tells of what 10 out of 12 felt about what they found there.  (33)” There we saw the giants (the descendents of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Only two men, Joshua and Caleb, knew who they were and who their life support system was. Ten others were scared because of what they saw and they saw themselves as less than what they were. They all just finished time in the wilderness and this after 400 years of slavery in Egypt, surviving rather well, and still the challenges they faced were supposedly more difficult than the life they just endured? So the results were another 40 years in the wilderness. Maybe they liked the desert, I just don’t know. It’s easy to say a few thousand years after the fact but I would expect that experiencing the miracles of God in the wilderness would be enough inspiration to charge on into and take over the Promised land for our own. Wow, attitude and perspective.

The long overdue moral of the story is; in a very generalized sense, the old testament is a history book. It gives us God’s original intent for our lives, which was a personal relationship with Him.(Genesis) Okay that got screwed up, so the rest of the Old Testament was a history of God trying to get our attention so we’d want to and try to restore that relationship with Him. That didn’t go so well so the Old Testament prophets told us of the “coming one” that would restore right relationship with God. The gospels are the story of that Man and His desire for a relationship with Him. The books & letters of the New Testament express the, who, what, when, where, how and why of a relationship with Jesus and the return to the original intent of relationship with God. That being realizing we were/are made in the likeness and image of God with all that that entails.

Does God need to consult the manual? Nope.  “We have the mind of Christ and hold the thoughts feelings and purposes of His Heart.” 1 Corinthians 2:16 amplified

Did God or Jesus balk at doing the hard or the scary thing? Don’t think so.  “For God has not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” 2Timothy 1:7

Does God lack compassion or love for His children? Absolutely not!  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life”. John 3:16  Do we love like that? Well do we?  “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for another”. John 15:13

Being human (a sorry excuse but the only one I can come up with) we are easily deceived by the enemy. We are always quick to believe the worst in ourselves and others. John 10:10a, “The thief comes only to steal kill and destroy”. We need to remember the second half of that verse which is, “…but I come that they may have life and have it more abundantly.”

So, going back to the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion.  I can at this point in time only assume that they were not only listening to but also believing the voices they were hearing. Voices saying; “I’m stupid and ignorant. I have no heart and I’m hard on the outside and hollow on the inside, or I’m just a coward and will never compare to others”. From personal experience I know those voices are very difficult to overcome, difficult but not impossible.(I’m still working on them) What the wizard gave them, once again, was the outward proof of what was and had always been on the inside.  Revelation 21:11 says “And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony…” In other words we can overcome the enemy, the great deceiver, the father of lies, when he comes to steal, kill and destroy us with his lies about us, by accepting the blood of Jesus and by testifying of the things God has done and is doing in our lives.

Sometimes we need to see the external evidence ourselves of what everyone else sees in us for us to see what we have internally that everyone else sees. You see? The word of God says it’s in us, we need to believe it is in order to see it ourselves. For some knot heads, myself included, “Seeing IS believing” while for some blessed others, “Believing IS seeing.” Life is an on-going project, the more you believe, the more you see and the more you see the more you believe.

Next; the spiritual implications of the 1981 classic movie Caveman with Ringo Starr and Shelley Long.

Denominational Thinking

For years now I’ve wanted to know, just which church is Jesus coming back for.  Can anybody tell me? Seriously,  ‘cause then I’ll go to that church religiously, so to speak, and listen to who they tell me to listen to, read what  they tell me to read and do whatever they tell me to do, knowing that I’m in Jesus’ one and only favorite special church.

I’ve read both the old and new testaments more than a few times in the last 30 years I’ve been riding in this Christian rodeo and I’ve never been able to find just which denomination gets the Messiah’s, personal endorsement. The Old Testament has a tendency to lean towards the Jewish way of thinking but I believe they’re still waiting for the first coming instead of the Messiah’s return.  Jesus, in the Gospels, tells us the “how” to be the church but not “who” specifically is the church.  Okay he does tell us, but He doesn’t put a denominational name to it. The books following the gospels, starting with Acts and going to Revelation, describe in detail the trials, tribulations and lessons taught and learned of the first church, but still no denominational title for the church Jesus is coming back for.

  I can only surmise that, back in the day, as time went on men would translate to others what they were told or heard, adding their own spin to it, as most story tellers do. Eventually, as the stories were told and retold, they changed, intentionally or unintentionally.  Men and women, being the humans they are and the written word not available to all people, or the ability to read for that matter, people didn’t get the Word “O” God as it was originally presented.  Opinions varied on various aspects if not all of the gospel and prophetic teachings of the Old Testament. Some would believe a little or a lot, some of this but not that. “This letter makes sense but, ain’t no way can I believe that prophesy.” “He couldn’t possibly have meant what He said”, and on and on and on.  

So the people that thought they had a lock on the meaning and or definition of the Word would put their spin out as “gospel” or divine revelation and insight to the Word of God. Do not for one second think I’m judging their love of the Lord Jesus and God, I’m not. As previously stated, some for example, just couldn’t get behind the “tongues” thing, so for them it’s out of their doctrine. Others believed that God’s people shine brightest when poor, so the message of God’s prospering his kids was tossed out. Some think you can work your way to salvation and others  say it’s by grace alone. Do you want to talk about “drinking poison and handling snakes”?  Really, it’s not for me, but some interpret the first part of Mark 16:18 in such a way to prove their faith.  And so the “Denominations” were born. The majority did what they did and how they did it because of their love of the Lord. Some, I dare say for fame and fortune, men being human, but the majority, out of the love of God. They just couldn’t believe some of the things Jesus did or said, red letters or not.

So what constituted being a Christian in the “First Church”? Following the teachings of Christ. No, really, that’s it. They were Christians, nothing more. Christian, being defined as “little Christs” or “Christ like”. There were never any names or adjectives added on such as, Baptist, Evangelical, Presbyterian, Catholic, Pentecostal, Assemblies, or Word of Faith and there was nothing to be Reformed at the time so that was out.  It was just Christians following the teachings of Christ.  Charlie Daniels, (yes that Charlie Daniels), had a line in one of his songs on the album The Door, “They didn’t have no denominations, they just called themselves the body of Christ”  If Charlie Daniels can figure it out, why can’t the book smart, college educated denominational leaders?

Unfortunately the early Christians didn’t have the benefit of Jesus’ words in red. So how could they possibly know what to do? But wait, they did have the benefit of walking and talking with Jesus for three years of His ministry or at the very least hangin’ out with the guys that were hangin’ out with Christ for three years of His ministry. And some still had trouble understanding what He was saying. (parables, don’t cha know)

 Today, so many of the mainstream denominations think they have “The One True Doctrine” and if you don’t follow them, you’re going to burn. Which brings me back to my original question, which church is Jesus coming back for? A few years back, my wife and I were led to attend various churches in our area in order to see what was going on in the body and possibly find a new church home. We started with churches closest to our house and branched out further from home week by week regardless of denomination or affiliations, as long as it was Judeo/Christian. One thing that they all seemed to have in common was that they all believed in Jesus. That He is the Son of God and was/is one part of the Trinity. Oh yeah, salvation was through believing in Him and His sacrifice on the cross and accepting Him as our personal Lord and Savoir. My studies and readings all lead me to believe that the salvation thing was the whole purpose of God coming to earth in the human form of Jesus. These different doctrines, as in Wesleyan, Lutheran, Assemblies of God, etc. and various non-denominational churches all share one reoccurring theme, Jesus and salvation through Him and Him alone.

When I read the Old Testament, I see types and shadows of the story of Jesus, His sacrifice, our deliverance along with other messianic supporting themes. The prophets told of His coming down to the smallest details. One can only assume, at least I can only assume that Jesus and His sacrifice on the cross and our salvation through Him is the focus of the Bible. If we can agree on that at last statement, then why, can’t we get along as one church? Why do we focus on our denominational differences and not the one thing that ties us all together?  An analogy I’ve always felt fit the situation is, “FOOD”! Jesus is the main course of the meal, the steak & potatoes if you will, or Portobello mushroom if you’re a vegan and the things we seem to disagree on are the side dishes, gravy and desert. They don’t make a difference in our receiving our salvation but they do make this life tastier, more fulfilling and much sweeter.  Brother, I don’t give a rip if you don’t want gravy on your “taters” or pie and ice cream for desert as long as you get fed the substance of the meal. The meat of the message, Jesus.  And I’ll thank you to keep your opinion of my love of gravy to yourself.

Oddly enough some people just can’t accept the Gospel as written and have to translate it to suit themselves and  criticize everyone else’s walk with the Lord when it doesn’t line up with their interpretation of the Word.

Matt. 18:3 and Luke 18:17 tell us to have a child-like faith and receive the kingdom of heaven as a child. (my paraphrase) What exactly does that mean? 

If you are a parent, just look at your own children. If you are a loving parent, meaning not abrasive and or abusive, your children will believe what you say and do what you say because they know you love them and have their best interests at heart. Our Heavenly  Father is just that, “Nuthin’ but luv” and He has our best interests at heart. If He says it’s so, we can believe it’s so.  He’s not trying to trick His kids into doing anything. Although some, I believe due to a lack of faith, believe that God is more of a puppet master than father, just  yankin’ our strings watching us jump, rather than being loving, caring and concerned with our well being. He is a father guiding and directing us through life because He really does know best. (Thank you Robert Young) Oh, and don’t forget, there is some disciplining involved in parenting also. If you ask King David, he’d tell you to take God’s discipline rather than the worlds. It will work out better for you in the end.

If you haven’t guessed yet, I’ve for years, belonged to the non-denominational denomination. I’m one of those “suckers” that takes the Bible literally as written and look to the Holy Spirit for any necessary interpretation or definition. Why? Because We’ve prospered and have lived in health even as our souls prospered (3John 2) for 30 years. I can quote you a plethora of scriptures that apply to specific situations that we have passed through in our lives but for time and space, I’ll move on.  

Anyway, if you approach the Word, Kingdom, Son and Spirit of God as Jesus says we are supposed to, with a child-like faith and if God is to you Abba Father as well as the all knowing, all seeing, all powerful, omnipotent, creator of the universe, it’s really not that difficult to take Him at His word. If He says “you will have what you ask, if you believe you receive”,(Mark 11) why not ask, believe, and receive? He told us to!  If He says “give and it shall be given unto you…”, (Luke 6)why not give? He said you could! You were just going to spend it on pizza and beer anyway. If He says “your faith has healed you….” (all over)Why not live healed? I guess a lot depends on if you really believe the Bible is the word of God. (By the way I paraphrase a lot, I know)

Now, if the Bible is the word of God and you believe it to be, and Jesus says/said “… a house divided will not stand!” Why are there so many Christians intentionally trying to divide the House of God by picking at the peripherals instead of celebrating our main common beliefs? Mainly our belief in Jesus and salvation though Him. Especially in this age and time. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the world is pointing at the church and shaking is global head. It’s pointing and laughing because we can’t get along with ourselves. The political world is doing is best to muzzle and put a leash on God by means of legislation against the Church. (As a side note, there is nothing in the constitution about “separation of church and state”. The first amendment was put there to protect the church from the state not protect the state from the church.) What are the denominations doing? Fighting  “Doctrinal wars” among themselves, showing the world that they believe the commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt 22:39) was more a suggestion than a commandment. James 1:8 says “because of doubt and a lack of faith, we are like a double- minded man, unstable in all our ways.” Denominational thinking has the church “double-minded” and is showing itself to the world to be unstable.

God made a big move in Florida a few years ago, unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. There were thousands, if not tens of thousands in attendance from all over the world. Lovers of Jesus,  praising and worshipping, all with one focus.  We were with Australians, Norwegians, English, Irish, Spanish, South Africans, Germans and so many others. It was great! So what happened?  To put it simply, Good tidings were preached to the poor, the brokenhearted were healed, liberty was proclaimed to the captives, and those bound were loosed and healings in every meeting. I have to admit that I went in with a cynical eye because I have trust issues when it comes to these things. But I was allowed to “see” shortly after arrival. What were the denominations doing? Pointing fingers at the chubby, bald, tattooed biker preacher with an aggressive way of “laying on hands” and screaming that this “outpouring” could not be of God, just look at that so called preacher. Ain’t no way! They really kicked the divisive talk into high gear when they found out he left his wife. I’m certain they were all smiling self-righteously while yelling “adulterer and fornicator”, because Lord knows that kind of thing would never happen in their church!!(Would somebody please read the OT Bible!) The denominations were so busy looking at the man of God and how he differed from their sense of normal and how he didn’t fit in their box, they missed the huge move of God that left Florida and spread around the world. I’ve got news for the denominations. The man was human. As I read it, our God has a tendency to use flawed humans to carry out His work here on Earth. It’s not the way I’d do it but I’m not God. About a year after Florida and I was still hearing about the chubby bald tattooed preacher that left his wife but no mention to the spiritual fires started around the world from the Florida spark!  As another side note; No one ever mentioned, in all the YouTube internet clips about Todd Bentley’s aggressive style, that the people he “touched” were healed. Of course not, because then it would be harder to say he was a “bad man” now wouldn’t it?

So now please tell me, which church is Jesus coming back for? Can anybody tell me? Seriously,  ‘cause then I’ll go to that church religiously, so to speak, and listen to who they tell me to listen to, read what  they tell me to read and do whatever they tell me to do, knowing that I’m in Jesus’ one and only favorite special church. If I can’t get an answer I guess I’ll just keep reading the Bible, pray and ask the Holy Spirit for assistance in the hard parts.

After saying all this I must also say that I do see a need for the variety of Denominations. God made a beautiful big world and we’ve slowly filled it with bunches of people. Not everybody sees, hears or reads things the same way. (refer to the Tower of Babel story, it’s near the front of the book) So such variety needs variety. Not everyone will receive Jesus the way I did, and without getting into it, they should really thank God for that bit “O”mercy. The apostle Paul wrote the Corinthians on the matter in 1Cor 3:4-9.  For one says “I am of Paul” and another “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal? (5)Who then is Paul and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one. ……..(9)For WE are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.  See that “WE”? It’s all inclusive.  Not just followers of Paul or just the followers of Apollos, but WE.  Also in Romans 12: 4 - 6, For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function,  so we being many are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. Having  then gifts differing according to the grace given to us, let us use them;…. So let’s celebrate variety and diversity of thought but not forget the central binding theme. Jesus and His sacrifice.

The denominations had best get over themselves and come together as one real soon ‘cause the “red letters” say this rodeo is going to get real rough real soon with bigger bulls, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically trying to “stomp” on you.  It’ll be nice to know just who has your back, who’s standing along side you and just which clown is going to step in front of the bull for you or take the barrel for himself.

I Am- X3

I was out on the deck at 6:00 am having coffee the other morning. At that time there's not enough light to read so I indulge in "meaningful" conversation with God. Meaningful translates to me telling Him what He already knows and telling Him what I think He should be doing personally, locally and around the world. I do eventually come to my senses and begin to thank Him for His blessings past, present, and future as well as just thanking Him for being Him.
 I enjoy watching my yard change shapes and colors as the sun comes up and can't help but praise and thank God for that blessing too. By the time I reach the bottom of the first cup, it's light enough to read so I get the second cup and pull out my devotional and bible. After reading the "dailies" and spending a little time in Romans, I pull out a list of "confessions" or as I like to call them, the "I Ams". This is a list of personality and character traits and basic truths that we as Christians are or at least should be realizing we are in Christ. The list comes with scripture references to help "see if these things are true".
I'm about half way down the list with I am blessed, I am set free, I am strong in the Lord, I am, I am, I am....and it is then the Spirit speaks to me and leads me to Exodus 20:7 the third of the ten commandments, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain....." I have to ask just what he's talking about because I'm not "god damnin'" anybody or anything and even with more texting lately, I'm not "OMGin'" if I can help it. So why is the Spirit throwing a "thou shalt not" at me? As an answer He takes me to Exodus 3: 13&14
 13 Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’ ”
Moses realizes that God's people can be a stubborn, questioning bunch so "the God of your fathers" might not be enough to get them moving. He asks what is God's name and the answer is "I Am". Strongs definition of Jehovah is #s 1961/1933 " to be, to become, to exsist, self-exsistent, to have, to happen, or I Am. So when the bible, the Word of God, inspired by God/ Holy Spirit, calls God; Jehovah Jireh(provision/provider) God is saying" I am provision, I will provide".When it reads Jehovah Rapha (health, healing, healer) God is saying," I am health and healing," or Jehovah Shalom(peace), "I am Peace" and the definition of Shalom is "nothing missing, nothing broken".
Now here's the head slap. If we, you and I, say "I am so poor I can't even pay attention,or I am so sick, I'll never get well, or I am worried about this or that...", are we not taking the name of Jehovah, I Am, in vain?
 A nugget to chew on.  Strong's definition of vain;1891 be worthless, 3576 to lie, deceive, 5014 to be hollow; be foolish, 7386 empty, 8267 untruth; sham, 1500 without reason or effect, 2756 useless, 2757 fruitless discussion, 2761  to no purpose, 3150 meaningless talk, 3152 profitless, futile, and many more.
I have to ask, "How can I or how dare I compare my "I Am" to God's "I Am"? And the Spirit takes me to Genesis 1:26; Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion.....We are made in God's image and likeness. His words can(and should be) our words and our words should be His words.
Alrighty then. If we, you and me, are to say "I am so poor,or I am so sick, or I am worried about this or that., we are, by definition, taking His name, Jehovah/Yaweh/ I Am, in vain. Aren't we? We are saying that our "I Am's" are greater than God Jehovah's name, and His "I Am" is a sham, empty, useless, meaningless talk etc., etc.,etc. It might make you want to think about what you say and how you say it.
When Jesus' disciples ask Him to teach them to pray  He said in Luke 11:2  “When you pray, say: 
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name......." Hallowed means; holy and honored,  4720 sanctuary of deity, 6942 to be, make clean, 6944 sacred place or thing, 37 to purify or consecrate.
His name, Jehovah,/Yaweh /I Am, is Holy, to be honored. pure, and sacred. To contradict what He says with our own "I Am" is attempting to take away from Him and that just cannot and should not be.

It's funny, there are hundreds if not thousands of self-help books in the world from hundreds of authors and the majority of them if not all, tells us if we change our words we can change our lives. If we change the way we think, speak and ultimately act, we will change our lives. If we were to "do a 180" and go from negative to positive in thought word and deed, our lives can't do anything but improve. And that is the "secular" world speaking for the most part. Some of the "self-help" authors do have Christian/religious backgrounds but the presentation is secular.
The bible has been telling us these things for several thousands of years, long before the term "self-help" was first used. But if we were to do as it says and agree with God and His words, think as He thinks, and speak as He speaks, to the world, we will be religious fanatics or we're blasphemous heretics to the religions that are happy with their small slice of their biblical pie.

I had heard a teaching once from a man from Africa. The one thing I came away with from his message was. "There are the facts and there is the truth" The fact is that you may not have enough money right now to pay your bills, but the truth is that "your needs are met according to His riches in Glory". The fact may be that you have a temperature of 103 with a hacking cough, but the truth is,"by His stripes, you were healed". The facts may be that you are depressed, angry and confused, but the truth is, "the peace of God which passes all understanding keeps and preserves your heart and mind." and "you have the mind of Christ and hold the thoughts feelings and purposes of His heart."
All this because; God's name is I Am Provision, I Am Health and Healing, and I Am Peace. and so much more.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord, thy God in Vain.

My proof reader/wife says she likes and agrees with what I  just wrote. She really had only one correction and that had to be a first. The question she had for me was, "What are you going to do with it?". Well I'm going to post it for all to read or anybody that wanders by the blog to read. She says "No, how are you going to apply it to your life?" "God gave it to you." I hate it when she does that! Sometimes the greatest distance anything can travel is from the head to the heart, about 12+ inches. Practical application is difficult but not impossible. I am trying and will continue to try to make this a part of my life.I know I can do it just as can you because the truth of word of God says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" and "The greater one lives in me, and greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world." Beside that my God, Jehovah(I Am)-Nissi, my victory and my banner, says I can.

Jehova-Nissi; God gives us victory against the flesh, the world, and the devil.Our battles are His battles of light against darkness and good against evil

Ex. 17:15-16, Deut. 20:3-4, Isa. 11:10-12, Eph. 6:10-18

As a side note, post script and/or addendum; The X3 in the title is for the fact that I had totally lost the first two attempts to get this down. Ordinarily after two attempts I would have been aggravated, irritated and some other "ated" words and would have quit. This wouldn't get out of my head, so X3 it is!




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Guns and Responsibility

As much as I enjoy shooting, I hope that I never have to use any of my weapons to defend myself from anybody, but I will if necessary.  As my guns sit in closets and drawers collecting dust (figure of speech) I can’t for the life of me, figure out how after owning gun(s) from age 8, how I have not as yet killed myself or someone else for that matter. Amazing, considering that according to some, merely owning a gun leads to death of somebody. In all of history no one has ever died in a horrible manner other than sickness, disease or old age until the invention of the gun. The closer I get to it the more I realize how nasty old age can be. Being a fan of the History channel, I was able to vicariously experience the “Black Plague” that all of Europe experienced in the dark ages and a third of Europe’s population died.

 The first chronicled murder in the Bible was Cain killing his brother Abel.  I believe he used a 38 special and did a “triple tap”, two to the chest and one to ……..no, that’s not it. Probably a stick, rock or his bare hands. Then there was the genocide of the Philistines  perpetrated by that religious fanatic Samson that killed thousands with a Glock 19 and a Benelli  12gauge. No, wait a minute, that was the jawbone of an ass. Right now I’m pretty certain I’m being called an ass by some. I can only say, in my defense, that sarcasm is a truly unappreciated art form.

As previously stated, I have owned a firearm in one form or another since the age of 8. That means about 50years of gun ownership with no accidents, injuries or deaths, except for the unlucky “flea ridden” disease carrying varmints that were unfortunate enough to cross my path. What am I doing wrong? I must be one of those statistical anomalies I’ve heard about because, according to some, guns and gun ownership is nothing but bad news waiting to happen.

The problem, as I see it is that people are giving an inanimate object power over themselves. CLICHÉ ALERT “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people. “ A gun is lifeless, a gun sitting on a table is a metal mechanical device with wood, plastic, or neoprene grips. It does nothing, it means nothing, it doesn’t eat drink ,or breathe. It just takes up space. Why do people hate guns? “Well, they kill people” No, as my “smart ass remarks in the opening paragraph prove, you don’t need a gun to kill people. GROSS ALERT Hypothetically, if a man walks into a movie theater, school, or restaurant with a baseball bat. He will be able to crack quite a few skulls and kill a few people before somebody steps up and challenges him. No shots being fired. Replace the bat with a long knife or sword and you may have a few more deaths. Still that bat or sword, sitting on a table, hurts no one. The worst it does is it takes up space. Not until a supposedly higher life form picks it up ”with intent to do harm” do they become a weapon. Any and most every object has the potential to be a weapon . It is the person wielding the object that determines its purpose, good or evil.  CLICHÉ ALERT; “When guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns”. A carpenter’s hammer in the hands of a master carpenter can build and create objects and structures. In the hands of someone lacking a basic level of morals, character and conscience, it’s a weapon for gaining entry to your house or crack open your cranium if you try to stop him. A plumber’s pipe wrench in his hands is a tool for repairing things. In my hands, a good reason to call a plumber. In the hands of someone less noble than myself or said plumber, is a heavy metal object used to persuade someone to give up their goods. A surgeon’s scalpel is also a tool used to heal, in my hands a reason to quickly find a band aid and again in another’s an implement of destruction. All three sitting on a table with no one around to pick them up and use them are nothing more than an object lesson in the definition of matter, “anything that has mass and takes up space”. So it is with a gun. Should we outlaw hammers and wrenches?  When hammers are outlawed, will only outlaws have hammers? Definitely keep sharp objects away from me.

BORING STATISTIC ALERT!
In 2011, 160,000 people died from lung cancer. Of that number, 125,522 were smoking related and second hand smoking related deaths were up 20 to 30%. Gosh, it appears that smoking kills and not only kills the user but the person next to the user. Someone should do something to stop this senseless killing. I know, let’s make tobacco illegal, better yet, let’s keep it legal and tax the crap out of it!
93 people a day die in auto accidents. In 2011, 32,367people died needlessly in car wrecks. Of those, 11,000 were drunk driving related. I say we outlaw the “death machines”. We can’t? No, we can't. The President just spent billions of dollars bailing out the manufacturers of these vehicles of doom? Well maybe we should at least outlaw drinking and driving. It is illegal? If it’s illegal, why do they sell alcohol where they sell gas? That’s confusing. Well people are going to drink anyway and they have to drive so let’s make it more convenient for them.
Innocent life, (here we go), This year alone there were 1,205,418 abortions and 2,424 yesterday alone. This was a dynamic number as it changed several times while I was writing the stats down. These were all done in the name of “Choice” and someone’s right to choose. We’ve known for some time now, the process we have to go through in order to conceive a child. I believe there is also a "right to choose" prior to conception and we need to take responsibility for those choices we make. But, but ,but, what about rape and incest? Sorry less than a 10^th of a per cent of recorded abortions are because of rape and incest.
Cars are inanimate objects until a human starts the engine and a bottle of booze is harmless until the lid comes off and is consumed. The demon weed, tobacco, wouldn’t kill anyone if no one put a match to it. Abortion, I’m sorry but the male genitalia has been blamed for way too much in American society. Why aren’t these numbers more widely reported? Why don’t these numbers assault the American psyche. One reason is we like our cars, we like our booze we like our “innocent sinful”(there’s a contradiction) behaviors. But to appease our self righteous consciences we allow ourselves to “pick the atrocities” we will rage against. "Abort a baby but Save the Whales" We rage against the death of innocents by a gun or rifle and blame the gun. They are just inanimate objects taking up space. An inanimate object that in the hand of a trained, responsible person can provide food and safety for many. In the hand of another, take safety, peace and life from many. But make no mistake, it is an inanimate object with no will of its own. We believe it’s easier to blame the gun, to “control” the gun.
We have spent the last several decades teaching young people that it is okay to be disrespectful, irresponsible and undisciplined. We’ve taught them that everybody is good and a winner and no one loses. If they act up, we drug them. Gaining a sense of accomplishment and achievement means you’re “better” than someone else, and we can’t have that.  God help us if we should tear them away from their video games, like “Grad Theft Auto” and go outside to face reality. When these little social experiments gone wrong get out in the real world, they’re lost, dazed and confused.  When life doesn’t work out the way they were taught it would be, they rage and rebel, and we blame the “tool” they use to express their rage and rebellion. We certainly can’t blame them, they are after all merely the product of our imaginations. We can’t blame ourselves because that would be admitting fault and that just doesn’t feel good. We blame the gun.


One more boring statistic. It’s about the civil war in Rwanda in the 90’s;
Beginning on April 6, 1994, and for the next hundred days, up to 800,000 Tutsis were killed by Hutu militia using clubs and machetes, with as many as 10,000 killed each day.

The Hutu, now without opposition from the world community, engaged in genocidal mania, clubbing and hacking to death defenseless Tutsi families with machetes everywhere they were found.

The killings only ended after armed Tutsi rebels, invading from neighboring countries, managed to defeat the Hutus and halt the genocide in July 1994. By then, over one-tenth of the population, an estimated 800,000 persons, had been killed.

Death of innocents is not pretty, where was the outrage. 10,000 a day killed with clubs and machetes. Well that wasn’t America and there were no guns involved? Except, Guns stopped the killing. Is there a small lesson there?

Blame the man wielding the weapon for making it good or making it evil. Do not blame the weapon for making the man good or evil. Somebody needs to take responsibility for their own actions, and they better do it soon. "I am a lover not a fighter but I will fight for the things I love"

Letter to a friend

Thank you for your response, I do like “spirited” conversation.  I guess my original response to your “WTF”, was a little vague but I hadn’t intended this to go any further. I will explain, I hope, a little better.

I refuse to “give politics a rest” because I believe, for far too long now the average citizen has been “giving politics a rest” and because, we the people haven’t been watching our elected officials close enough, we find ourselves $16 trillion in debt and we have more states than just California on the verge of bankruptcy. All because we the people weren’t vigilant and “gave politics a rest”, taxes are high and going higher, especially in Cali. The number of welfare and food stamp recipients is high and getting higher. Unemployment is at an all time high and as you pointed out, businesses are leaving Cali. in droves.

I am continually surprised at how much the average citizen knows and/or doesn’t know about their government federal, state or local. Some can recite team stats for the last 20 yrs for their favorite football team. Some are so involved with their teams that they will beat you bloody if they think you disrespect their team. These people are still looking for the pole at their polling place or wondering if polling that goofy sport from Europe? Do not get me wrong, I’m not picking on all sports fans. I enjoy sports as a diversion too, but whether or not my favorite team wins or loses does not have as a long lasting effect on my life and family as the decisions made supposedly on ”my behalf” by the elected officials in Sacto. or DC. More not less attention needs to be paid to what they are doing and how they are doing things “in our best interest”. I really wanted a couple of million $$ to study Tattoo removal or a couple million $$ for the study of the mating habits of the Mendocino Banana slug. These things are obviously vitally important issues facing our state and nation and we can “rest” easy knowing our elected officials have our best interests at heart. The definition of Politics; poli=many, tics=blood sucking insects. I rest my case, we can’t rest.

If I can, in some small way, get somebody’s interest up about what’s going on in politics by posting or reposting something on Face Book, I will. If I either “piss them off” or support what they already think, they end up with more knowledge on the subject and they can dig further for themselves. I believe that in the times we’re in, we best be more informed as to what is going on in our name, on our behalf, by our government officials. I believe Face Book was originally meant to be a vehicle for communication whether it is about last nights Bar B Que, telling the world about Jesus, or talking about the “Knot heads” on Capital Hill, people will be talking, and that’s a good thing. Then again, thanks to FB, e-mail and texting, the art of conversation is slowly dying, but that’s for another time.

I see by your brief comment and from your previous posts that we are on opposite sides of the “aisle”, and that’s fine, I can live with that. I’m pretty certain I can blow most of your arguments out of the water but I doubt I’ll ever change your mind on any of them. I also see where we agree in general terms on some things. That’s the commonality of politics and religion. See, there is no separation of church and state. J We can agree to disagree. We can continue the discussion if you like but you are the one that wanted to "give it a rest".

Good talking with you.

Second Class Citizen or Equal

I’ve been watching the news of the goings on in Egypt and the Middle East.  One of many stories that has stuck out has been the assassination attempt by the Taliban on a 14 year old girl. A 14 year old girl, really guys? Feelin’ manly are ya? What’s her crime? Was she a member of a girl gang wanted for burglary, robbery, assault or murder? Nope, just a little Pakistani girl wanting to go to school as well as wanting all girls to be able to  go to school. Ooooo ! Dangerous….scary! Best stop her before this situation gets out of hand!  Another story was that Egyptian women were being raped and beaten in great numbers, to the point that most were no longer going out side their homes. The story has it that the wonderful gentlemen’s club, the Muslim Brotherhood was paying gangs to do it. What was behind this? They were protesting a “legal” decision made by the Brotherhood’s man Mohamed Morsi. In fairness the brotherhood was also paying gangs to beat on men that were protesting Morsi. That’s the kind of democracy some in our govt. feel we need to support.

Ever since we, years ago, put boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, we’ve heard horror stories of the atrocities perpetrated on girls and women, as well as men, in the name of their “peaceful” religion. Everything from the bold fashion statement of the Berka (which objectifies them just as much as posing nude, only at the other end of the spectrum) to family honor killings. Ahh yes, the religion of peace! Another question comes to mind from all these news stories; Where’s the outrage from the women’s groups in America? Where is NOW, where are the feminists, those bold women battling on the front lines for women’s rights? If ever there was a time and reason for them to speak up it is this and now. They are obviously really too busy helping women that are already healthy, educated and employed cover up their lapses in judgment and sexual indiscretions to bother with women forced to wear bags over their heads and shoveling camel dung for a living. Now maybe, just maybe, I just haven’t seen them because the media is not giving them the air time it used to. That thought will be for another time.

  

Quite a few years ago, I attended a Promise Keepers convention and was surprised to see the protests outside the stadium. The protesters really need to choose their battles better. If they had done a little research they would have found that the Promise Keepers organization was urging men and teaching them how to, be better men, husbands and fathers. Now there’s a real threat to women and society. Then there was a protest of the results of a Southern Baptist conference, I refer to the one around 2003 where the media reported the outcome was “wives need to submit more to their husbands” and not much else.  I have to cut them a little slack on this because I’m not certain the main stream media with their “love of the Christian church” reported it correctly. They could have the transcripts and recordings and with reporters in attendance, still “spin” it to make it look like the Spanish Inquisition. My point being, there is more outrage with the way the Christian church and organizations like Promise Keepers supposedly look at and treat women, than the outright blatant abuse of girls and women in the Middle East and elsewhere.. 

Because of the unique ability of some in the media and certain women’s groups to pass judgment on things they apparently haven’t a clue about, I thought I might vent a little about how marriage in the Christian church is being treated in the media and by some groups. Especially how women are treated as second class citizens in the Christian marriage. I will probably lose a few points on my “guy card” but what the heck, I haven’t been to a “He-man Women Haters Club” meeting in years.

In defense of the Promise Keepers; what’s wrong with men taking more responsibility for their actions towards their wives and families? Only the truly paranoid would see something wrong with that. After all, feminists have for years been complaining about how men are undisciplined, irresponsible, beer swilling chauvinist pigs. Why they even burned their bras as a sign of protest and liberation. (?) Obviously anytime a group of men get together, they are planning on how to enslave their girlfriends, wives and women in general. The fact that their girlfriends and wives suggested, recommended, or asked them to go, has little to do with it.

In defense of the Southern Baptists; I can only assume that the media did their usual self-serving job, reporting only the portions that made a good story or promoted their point of view. As I see it, although we have some denominational differences, the truth is truth and I will present it as I see it.

A woman’s place, as written in the Bible, has long been misunderstood. To begin to understand, we must first start at the beginning.

Genesis 1:27 says “ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

The word “man” in this verse translates from the Hebrew as human being, species or mankind. Not the male of the species, it is also spelled Adam. Go figure. The word image translates to resemblance. God created him male and female He created them.

God created mankind to resemble Him, male and female. Male and female all rolled into one tidy bundle. God is neither male nor female, but both, male and female. In Genesis 1:26 God creates man, the essence of man the spiritual being.  In Genesis 2:7 God creates from the “dust of the Earth” the physical being and breathed into his nostrils the “breath of life”; and the physical man became a living being. God injected into the physical man his essence, or spiritual self and man became the total package, spirit and body.

In Genesis 2:18 God says, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” Please notice how He said a “helper”, not a slave or servant. Also this “helper” was to be comparable to him. In other words; his equal.

So, our man Adam checked out all the birds, cattle, and critters, and every beast of the field. “ But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” Gen. 2:20.  This means that no matter the brain capacity or supposed language skills of the porpoise or the problem solving skills of the chimpanzee or any other characteristics of any other animal, none were found worthy to be compared to Adam, or mankind. Nor should they be!

So, having found no worthy helper in the animal kingdom, God gets creative again.(‘cause He can do that) Genesis 2: 21&22  “The Lord caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep; and He took one of his ribs and closed up his flesh in it’s place.” “Then the rib which the Lord had taken from man, He made into a woman and He brought her to the man.”

God took the “total package man” with the male/female spirit being, split it in two gave each its own body and there you have it boys and girls, boy and girl. The only way to give man a helper comparable to himself was to take a part of him, out of him and make another being. Not take the bad and leave the good, or take the good and leave the bad. Just take a part of one and make another.

  Notice all Gods creatures were made from the dust of the Earth except the woman. She was the only one brought out of an existing being. Just an interesting point. There’s an old wives tale/urban myth that women have one more rib than men because of the whole Adam’s rib story. Nope, we be equal, in that particular anatomical area.

Verse 23 has Adam saying “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; and she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.” There is no servant, slave, or second class citizen to be seen. Sounds pretty equal so far. Verse 24 says “ Therefore a man shall leave his mother and father and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

I hope you noticed that it said that when a man is joined to his wife, they shall become one flesh.  Any first year anatomy student can see that certain physical differences between man and woman were made to compliment each other. They shall become one flesh; the total package once again like before chap. 2: 21. Think about it.

Notice that it doesn’t say a man and a man or a woman and a woman, a boy and his dog or a girl and a girl’s best friend. (diamonds ?)  It says a man and his wife. There is not now nor will there ever be a relationship like that of a husband and wife. The two, when done properly and according to Gods will, will compliment and complete (thank you Jerry Maguire) each other so that they become as one flesh. Even worldly scholars mention how a couple becomes more like each other as time goes by in mannerisms and characteristics, and sometimes physical appearance.

Still, ain’t seeing no second class citizen.

I’d be willing to bet that there are darn few people that haven’t heard the story of the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, the apple and the snake, so I’ll move on. The punishment phase of the story is a little less known. In Genesis 3: 16 it says “ I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain, you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.” Bummer! For those keeping score, read Gen. 3:17-19 to see that Adam didn’t get away clean himself. Among other things, ol’ Adam went from “tending” to “toiling” in this world. The difference between “getting to”and “having to”, one you enjoy doing the other you have to do to survive.  It is however; quite obvious that it was not Gods original intention to have the woman be the servant to the man. Refer back to Gen.2: 18. It was only after the “original sin” and the woman’s part in it did that come about.

To recap;

God created mankind in His own image. (spiritually speaking) He then made the physical man out of the dust of the Earth. He wanted to give man a companion, but could not find one equal or comparable to him out of all the critters on Earth, furred, feathered, or finned. So God split the spiritual being in two, made a new body for the new kid in the garden. When the two are united in a God ordained fashion as husband and wife, the two become one once again.  Division came into the Earth with the original sin and has been trying to split man and woman, husband and wife ever since.

In Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:25, and Luke 11:17, Jesus is quoted as saying, “… a house divided against itself cannot stand.”  When the institution of marriage and the family is divided against itself, you end up with single parent homes, improper parental role models, children growing up confused about their roles in life, children growing up too soon or thinking they are adults, without any sense of respect, responsibility, or self discipline. A broad generalization I know, but read the newspaper and prove me wrong.

Deterioration of society due to the deterioration of the family due to the deterioration of the God ordained relationship between husband and wife, man and woman.

Oh what can we do, what can we do?!

Glad you asked.

Romans 5: 12 says “… through one man sin entered the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because all have sinned…”. Romans 5:18&19 says, “Therefore through one mans offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one mans righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For by one mans disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one mans obedience many will be made righteous.”

In other words, because Adam and Eve sinned, the world is in the mess it’s in. But because Jesus submitted to Gods will, submitted to persecution and death, we do not have to live in this mess we’re in. Jesus has restored the equal relationship between men and women. Because of His submission to the will of God on our behalf, the two can once again become one. The catch is, we have to submit to Jesus which is also the will of God.

Ephesians 5:21 says we should “submit one to another in the fear of the Lord.” In other words, we should all make ourselves available to serve each other. You to me, him to her, and she to he. We should all be ready willing and able to help meet the needs of our brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. Submitting is not a bad thing in and of itself. To whom or what you submit to is what determines if the submission is good or bad. I heard Bob Dylan song once with a verse that fits well right here. “You’re going to have to serve somebody. It may be the devil or it may be the Lord, but you’re going to have to serve somebody.” Thank you Mr. Zimmerman.

Jesus’ whole life teaches us about submission. Here is the Son of God, the son of the creator of the universe, meeting and serving the needs of anyone and everyone that believed and had faith. He healed the sick, fed the hungry, and as an object lesson, washed the feet of His disciples, in order to teach them submission. Jesus says in Matthew 20: 26-28, “ … whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave, - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus submitted His life to Gods will and died that we might live.  So when you read Ephesians 5:22 “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as though unto the Lord” This is the verse that most men love to quote in reference to marriage and then they forget to read on. I know a couple of supposedly Christian (not my call to make) men that rode that pony all the way to divorce court. They do however, prove the concept of “sowing and reaping”, sow division reap division, with a harvest of 30, 60 or 100%

 You may ask why wives have to submit and husbands don’t? Well, they do, remember verse 21 and in Eph. 5:25 we see that the Lord wants “husbands to love their wives as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it.” (Many men get temporary blindness at verse 25 and only recover around chapter 6) So what all did Jesus’ love for the church include? Only total dedication and selflessness even unto death. If you’re keeping score, wives are told to serve their men, but husbands are told to die for their wives. That would mean total dedication to her even unto death. Who gets the theoretical dirty end of that stick? Then to emphasize the mans responsibility to his wife, verses 28 & 29 ; So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hated his own flesh but nourishes it and cherishes it even as the Lord the church.  Verses 28 and 29 definitely bring it back around to Genesis 2:21 & 22 and then 23, “bone of my bone , flesh of my flesh.”Except for that dying part it may sound cut and dried and relatively simple. Be advised, the learning curve is huge! But it can be done.

John 10:10 says “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” For the Christian relationship to prosper and flourish, acceptance of and submission to Jesus is essential. Relationships can, have, and will work with only one partner having accepted Jesus, but it will not work as well, and will be more of a struggle. Non-Christian marriages can and do work, but I wouldn’t want to go up against those odds today. Just check out the divorce rate statistics. I know, the divorce rate for supposed Christians is as high, but know this; just as hanging out in a garage, doesn’t make you a car; going to church once a week, doesn’t mean you’re living a Christian life. Relationships work better when you work Gods plan instead of you own.

Amos 3:3 asks the question, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?”

Matthew 18:19-20 says, “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Imagine Jesus, right there with you in your marriage, giving you the answers you need and serving just like He teaches us to do, just because two agree as one.

What does the Bible say about husbands, wives, and marriage? You certainly won’t find out by reading the paper or watching the news, so I’ll give you a few verses to chew on.

Proverbs 5:18

Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

Proverbs 12:4

A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones.

Proverbs 14:1

Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.

Those last two verses seem to say that a wife has some power over not only her life but her husbands as well. Please use it wisely.

Proverbs 18:22

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord.

Proverbs 19:14

House and riches are the inheritance of fathers: and a prudent wife is from the Lord.

Being considered a gift from God sure doesn’t sound like a second class citizen to me.

Proverbs 31:10-31 clearly defines the modern woman of today, hard working, resourceful, intelligent, shrewd businessperson. Check it out.

10.  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

 11.  The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

 12.  She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

 13.  She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

 14.  She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

 15.  She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

 16.  She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

 17.  She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

 18.  She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

 19.  She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

 20.  She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

 21.  She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

 22.  She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

 23.  Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

 24.  She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

 25.  Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

 26.  She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

 27.  She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

 28.  Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

 29.  Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

 30.  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.

31.    Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Ecclesiastes 9:9

Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity.

Malachi 2:14,15

…the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.

…and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.

1Peter 3:1

Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;

A verse used by some men in an attempt to save their authoritative position as “lord of the Manor” is 1 Timothy 2:12 “But I do not permit a woman to teach nor to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.”  The problem I have with this is we’re not talking about “authority over “someone but equality with someone and, it’s not a problem but an observation, Paul clearly states “I do not permit….” There are several places in scripture where Paul interjects his personal feelings into his Spirit inspired teachings & letters but he also separates it from the rest of what he is saying. “I find this a faithful saying…” or “I would that all be as me…” but be sure he makes it known that they are his feelings. Consume that as you will.

I know some Christians that do believe in the total submission of the wife to the husband, and I believe it is okay to do so, as long as both and especially the wife is in agreement to those conditions. If she doesn’t agree then the “house is divided” and it will not stand. That is not to say that the wife always has to be in agreement with the husband. The husband needs to be in agreement with the wife too. Husbands, if you are going to insist on submission, remember “…as Jesus loved the church and gave Himself for it.” They are after all equals, and they are partners.

 Can two walk together unless they are agreed?

… and they shall become one flesh.

And there you have it, good luck with that.