I AM
Exodus 3:14: And God said to Moses, “I AM THAT I AM” (I am because I am, I am the ever becoming One), and you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me. “Am” is from the verb for “to be”. Several more times in the ensuing chapters, God continues to refer to Himself as “I AM” in the process of getting Moses to understand and trust Him. Not knowing the Hebrew word for the ever being one… I continue.
The word “I” in the Greek is the term “ego”. And as we know, everyone has an “ego”. That part of us that says, “I am number one in my world”. Is there a similarity and are there differences from what is said in Exodus 3 and how I view myself?
In Isaiah chapters 40 – 46, repeatedly, God refers to Himself as “I AM”, and says, “I will share My glory with no one else”. He is the only One with the characteristic of “ever being”, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, as revealed in Genesis chapters 1 &2, “Let Us make man in Our image”. Not three God’s, but One God revealed in three Persons. So, I contend that the great “I AM” is revealed and consigned to only One.
In the New Testament, Jesus refers to Himself and “I AM”. In the Gospel of John, these statements start in chapter 4:14, 26, 32, 38; chapter 5:34, 36, 43, 45; chapter 6:35, 40, 41, 48, 51, 63, 70; Of course the most famous and most quoted is John 14:6, “Then Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me’”. That is a pretty bold and narrow statement. But, when you take the essence of all religions and compare them to Christianity, it looks like this; religion says, do the best you can and it will all work out in the end. While Christianity says, your worthiness is like filthy, dirty rags (those of a woman during her menstrual cycle), and you need someone who is pure and righteous that will take the dirt and filth and destroy it and make you pure and righteous. How would you like it if the person in front of you in the line of trillions of people was the last one “good enough” to make it in on his own “good works”? Or, would it be easier to rationally think through the facts and come to the conclusion that you needed some “outside help” to get to heaven?
That thought brings me to the alter-ego statement, “I think, therefore I am”. If we are created in the image of God, then we have the capacity to think and reason, just as He does; and we are and do. The problem comes with the “fall of man” and the sin nature we all have; some may want to deny that sin problem, but we all have the propensity to want our own way, do our own thing and command our own destiny. And those things are simply the proof of sin. We think with a distorted view and cannot see the truth of our situation. Thus the statement becomes, “I think, therefore I AM”!!! I am the ever becoming one. Yet, we all die, another proof of sin. The egotistical person or persons will come up with, “Well, dying is just part of the evolutionary design so the next generation can move us farther along the path”. Yet these people deny design, because that supposes a “Designer”, a God, and that means responsibility to that God and they really get things distorted and in a lot of cases contradictory. Don’t get me started on “global warming” or the newer phrase, “global climate change”; climate changes, and it happens all around the world, the globe, which is the basic definition of climate. The Bible says somewhere, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools”. The Book of Proverbs contrasts the wise man and the fool. By reading it “you” may become a wise man.
I think, therefore I am, type of person must then think, now let’s think, I created me and everything else. But then the question becomes, “If you created it why can’t you control it”? It may seem that the One and only true God is not in control as we see wars and calamities all around the world, but He is. It is because He made us with the freedom to choose, and with only one choice, we condemn ourselves. That choice is, “to do it my way”. God is in control, but He is not controlling. If you look closely at all recorded history, you will find patterns. Patterns revolve around certain people groups. And even within those people groups, there are two types of people, those who obey and those who don’t. Obey who or what? The answer is those who obey God’s laws and standards, and those who don’t. But does that then lead us back to my obeying mean good works? No, because you can’t obey perfectly, again, because of our own ego, and that because of sin. That’s why God is the Creator and sustainer of all that is. That also shows us that we need someone to intercede for us, before the presence of that One, True and Holy God, revealed in three persons. And if you have not understood that up to this point, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, one God revealed in three persons. It is only within the power of the Holy Spirit living within us that we could ever hope of being “good enough” to even stand in the presence of God.
Ego is a dangerous thing to live with. It needs to be put into subjection under the One who allowed it to be. In Christianity, is the only way and truth and life, Jesus, who allows for the proper side of ego and lets it, function in a good and constructive manner. I know whereof I speak. You see, I once was blind to the truth, but now I see. To the age of almost thirty, I was in full control of my own life, but it was out of control. So, was I really in control? Or was I just “playing the game” as so many others were? Yes, I was just playing the game. Then I heard about the life I had been trying to live, that God offered. But the problem was I had to give up control. Was I willing to do that? Was I willing to give up, “I am” for “HE IS”? That’s your choice.
Thanks for listening,
Ron
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
Preparing For War
I was going to title this “Going to War”, but I didn’t, for a reason that will be forthcoming.
Going to war precludes that you have prepared. Only those who have “signed up” will go through the proper training that will prepare them for war. Today, in 2011, many wars are going on around the world, more than at any other time in the history of the world. These fighters or warriors, have all had some kind of training, some very technical while others will just point and shoot. I will be the first to admit that war is ugly and a disgusting thing, but there are right and wrongs in this world. But some people just don’t like other people, because of race, religion, or a dozen other ridiculous reasons. It is wrong to commit murder, the taking of another person’s life for no reason; and then there is war, which is defending one’s own life and property. Your “rights” stop at the end of my nose.
Back to the training part: Proper training will, in most cases, assure victory. Plans, equipment, strategy, personnel and execution will produce success. The main problem with victory and success is that casualties will occur. The main point of “Basic Training” is to create a unit, defined as “many parts working as one”. That process is done by stripping away “self” from the individual and rebuilding a bond with other members. Some of you may have seen the movie, “Band of Brothers”, that’s what it’s all about. Something happens when people share things in common and have a common goal and purpose. Not everyone will be doing the same job or task, but all will do his part to accomplish the mission. The mission is bigger than the “sum-total-of-it’s-parts”. Some army’s will look disheveled or rag-tag, while others will be decked out in the finest of uniforms. Think of the movie “Braveheart”, here you had a bunch of farmers, going up against the King’s finest, in full “battle array”. A modern saying is, “It’s not the dog in the fight, but it’s the fight in the dog, that makes the difference”. Preparation starts in the heart and in the mind. Do I believe in what I’m fighting for? What am I willing to give up something (self), to defend what is right and true? What will it cost me to prepare for my mission?
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, that the “body (one) is made up of many parts (hundreds or thousands; millions or billions if you break it down to the cellular level). Each part has its own thing to do, but when done properly, functions with other parts, doing something different, functioning with other parts, that makes the whole thing “work”. Oh! Did I mention… God caused it to be. I could get off on just talking about how complex and complicated the body is, but that is not my point. The bonding agent in the human body is called laminin. Under the microscope it looks like an x with one leg longer than the other three, thus the shape of a cross, interesting.
Back to the war and the battle: That’s almost like, “back to the future”, where the war and the battle will take us. Remember “Doc” saying when the picture or writing was erased from the paper, “Of course, your future isn’t written yet, nobody’s is”, another reason to prepare now. We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.
So… how are you preparing for your future? Are you preparing spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically? And then… what does each look like?
Spiritually: Do you have a good handle on the word of God? Do you continue to read and dig and study to know God? Or, do you read just to have more knowledge? Steven Hawking has been considered one of the most brilliant men over the past decade, yet he knows nothing about God, at least I have never heard him or his narrator say anything about the great God and creator of the universe. The Bible tells us over and over, that we are to be like Him, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me, do you want more and more of God’s kindness, learn to know Him better and better. If you don’t know Him better than you did last year or last month, you are not seeking Him. Romans 12:1,2 “Therefore, I urge you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world: but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.
Mentally: Does anyone lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives abundantly. That is from the book of James in the New Testament. The entire book of Proverbs is full of the wisdom of Solomon, on about every topic you can imagine. This wisdom is about life and how to live it, and in some cases, how not to live it. It won’t tell you if you should buy a new car, but it will give you strong guidelines as to how to make such decisions.
Emotionally: I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “He really doesn’t have his heart in it”. That’s your emotions. Do you go around in a “hap-hazard” or “willy-nilly” way, with no real purpose or direction? I know that from time-to-time we all have those days when we think, “I really don’t care what I do today, or what happens today”. But a lifetime of this kind of thinking is not good for one’s mental or emotional being. What’s your heart telling you? Do you need to get it engaged? In The Gospel of John Chapter 21 verse 15 - 17, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these? Peter answered, Yes Lord You know I love You? Jesus answered, Feed My lambs.” Then Jesus said to him again, “Peter, do you love Me? He answered, Yes Lord You know I love You. And Jesus said, Tend My sheep”. And then a third time Jesus asked him, “Peter, do you love Me? And Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time, Do you love Me? And Peter said to the Lord, Lord You know all things and You know that I love You. Jesus said, Feed My sheep”. So my question is, “Do you love the Lord? Is your heart in it, all of it”?
Physically: I am trying to get my body, what there is left of it, back into better working condition. I know I will never be able to do what I did when I was in my
20’s or even 30’s, but I can be better than I am now. The physical has a lot to do with the other three areas mentioned above. Stuff goes on in the body, chemical reactions, that create and cause the mind and the emotions to function better. The last thing you want to do is withdraw or sit idle and do nothing, which is what happens if we get depressed. We just want to sit and click the clicker. “I want someone else to fix me, but I don’t want to do anything about it”. A verse that is coming back to me more frequently, these days is found in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, Chapter 12 verse 5, “If you have run with men and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do, in the thicket of Jordan”? I believe this verse speaks to more than the physical, but if you walk around the block and get tired, what are your chances of running a marathon? Come on… get busy!
Are you “chomping at the bit” to get into the game? Are you getting ready to get ready? If the “Coach” were to call you for that “last second shot”, are you ready? If not, what are you waiting for? Get engaged, head, heart and gut. Some of you need to “suck it up” and get busy. Not just for busyness sake, but get to know Him and let Him direct you where He wants to use you.
War is hell… but someone needs to stand up and fight for what is right! By the way, I wrote a peace entitled, Head, Heart, Gut, if you haven’t read it, let me know and I will send it to you, reskew@aol.com, or check out my blog, reskewsquad.blogspot.com, for other writings that may inspire you.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
I was going to title this “Going to War”, but I didn’t, for a reason that will be forthcoming.
Going to war precludes that you have prepared. Only those who have “signed up” will go through the proper training that will prepare them for war. Today, in 2011, many wars are going on around the world, more than at any other time in the history of the world. These fighters or warriors, have all had some kind of training, some very technical while others will just point and shoot. I will be the first to admit that war is ugly and a disgusting thing, but there are right and wrongs in this world. But some people just don’t like other people, because of race, religion, or a dozen other ridiculous reasons. It is wrong to commit murder, the taking of another person’s life for no reason; and then there is war, which is defending one’s own life and property. Your “rights” stop at the end of my nose.
Back to the training part: Proper training will, in most cases, assure victory. Plans, equipment, strategy, personnel and execution will produce success. The main problem with victory and success is that casualties will occur. The main point of “Basic Training” is to create a unit, defined as “many parts working as one”. That process is done by stripping away “self” from the individual and rebuilding a bond with other members. Some of you may have seen the movie, “Band of Brothers”, that’s what it’s all about. Something happens when people share things in common and have a common goal and purpose. Not everyone will be doing the same job or task, but all will do his part to accomplish the mission. The mission is bigger than the “sum-total-of-it’s-parts”. Some army’s will look disheveled or rag-tag, while others will be decked out in the finest of uniforms. Think of the movie “Braveheart”, here you had a bunch of farmers, going up against the King’s finest, in full “battle array”. A modern saying is, “It’s not the dog in the fight, but it’s the fight in the dog, that makes the difference”. Preparation starts in the heart and in the mind. Do I believe in what I’m fighting for? What am I willing to give up something (self), to defend what is right and true? What will it cost me to prepare for my mission?
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, that the “body (one) is made up of many parts (hundreds or thousands; millions or billions if you break it down to the cellular level). Each part has its own thing to do, but when done properly, functions with other parts, doing something different, functioning with other parts, that makes the whole thing “work”. Oh! Did I mention… God caused it to be. I could get off on just talking about how complex and complicated the body is, but that is not my point. The bonding agent in the human body is called laminin. Under the microscope it looks like an x with one leg longer than the other three, thus the shape of a cross, interesting.
Back to the war and the battle: That’s almost like, “back to the future”, where the war and the battle will take us. Remember “Doc” saying when the picture or writing was erased from the paper, “Of course, your future isn’t written yet, nobody’s is”, another reason to prepare now. We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future.
So… how are you preparing for your future? Are you preparing spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically? And then… what does each look like?
Spiritually: Do you have a good handle on the word of God? Do you continue to read and dig and study to know God? Or, do you read just to have more knowledge? Steven Hawking has been considered one of the most brilliant men over the past decade, yet he knows nothing about God, at least I have never heard him or his narrator say anything about the great God and creator of the universe. The Bible tells us over and over, that we are to be like Him, and those who seek Me diligently will find Me, do you want more and more of God’s kindness, learn to know Him better and better. If you don’t know Him better than you did last year or last month, you are not seeking Him. Romans 12:1,2 “Therefore, I urge you brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world: but be transformed, by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.
Mentally: Does anyone lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives abundantly. That is from the book of James in the New Testament. The entire book of Proverbs is full of the wisdom of Solomon, on about every topic you can imagine. This wisdom is about life and how to live it, and in some cases, how not to live it. It won’t tell you if you should buy a new car, but it will give you strong guidelines as to how to make such decisions.
Emotionally: I’m sure you have heard the phrase, “He really doesn’t have his heart in it”. That’s your emotions. Do you go around in a “hap-hazard” or “willy-nilly” way, with no real purpose or direction? I know that from time-to-time we all have those days when we think, “I really don’t care what I do today, or what happens today”. But a lifetime of this kind of thinking is not good for one’s mental or emotional being. What’s your heart telling you? Do you need to get it engaged? In The Gospel of John Chapter 21 verse 15 - 17, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me more than these? Peter answered, Yes Lord You know I love You? Jesus answered, Feed My lambs.” Then Jesus said to him again, “Peter, do you love Me? He answered, Yes Lord You know I love You. And Jesus said, Tend My sheep”. And then a third time Jesus asked him, “Peter, do you love Me? And Peter was grieved because He asked him the third time, Do you love Me? And Peter said to the Lord, Lord You know all things and You know that I love You. Jesus said, Feed My sheep”. So my question is, “Do you love the Lord? Is your heart in it, all of it”?
Physically: I am trying to get my body, what there is left of it, back into better working condition. I know I will never be able to do what I did when I was in my
20’s or even 30’s, but I can be better than I am now. The physical has a lot to do with the other three areas mentioned above. Stuff goes on in the body, chemical reactions, that create and cause the mind and the emotions to function better. The last thing you want to do is withdraw or sit idle and do nothing, which is what happens if we get depressed. We just want to sit and click the clicker. “I want someone else to fix me, but I don’t want to do anything about it”. A verse that is coming back to me more frequently, these days is found in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, Chapter 12 verse 5, “If you have run with men and they have tired you out, then how can you compete with horses? If you fall down in a land of peace, how will you do, in the thicket of Jordan”? I believe this verse speaks to more than the physical, but if you walk around the block and get tired, what are your chances of running a marathon? Come on… get busy!
Are you “chomping at the bit” to get into the game? Are you getting ready to get ready? If the “Coach” were to call you for that “last second shot”, are you ready? If not, what are you waiting for? Get engaged, head, heart and gut. Some of you need to “suck it up” and get busy. Not just for busyness sake, but get to know Him and let Him direct you where He wants to use you.
War is hell… but someone needs to stand up and fight for what is right! By the way, I wrote a peace entitled, Head, Heart, Gut, if you haven’t read it, let me know and I will send it to you, reskew@aol.com, or check out my blog, reskewsquad.blogspot.com, for other writings that may inspire you.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Procrastination – Preparation – Perseverance
Let’s get some basic definitions down before we start.
Procrastination: to put off doing or to postpone habitually
Preparation: the act or process of preparing
Perseverance: the act of persevering, continued, patient, effort
Several questions come to mind: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Some witty but stupid answers also come to mind: Who am I? I am me, I always have been for as long as I can remember. Why am I here? I am here, because, I am not there. Where am I going? Crazy, do you want to come.
Procrastinate… now! Don’t put it off another minute. Never do today, what you can put off until tomorrow. Some people just don’t want to deal with making tough decisions. So, they just put it off, and put it off, and put it off. What if I’m wrong? What if it doesn’t work out? What if they don’t like me? Sometimes, life is just hard. We get to a point where we say, “I’m between a rock and a hard place”. By continually putting off making decisions, we get to the point of learning “the hard way”. Sometimes others will not have the time to wait, because they need a decision, they will no longer wait on us to make that decision, and they will make the decision for us. Then we have to deal with their decision and we may like that even less.
Preparation: Then you have those who… are always preparing! They have list after list, after list. They can tell you what you need for every event or occasion. But, they themselves, could not “put on” said event or party. I often think of the husband and wife who are going on a two week vacation. I ask the question, “Can a wife fill a suitcase so full that the husband cannot lift it”? The answer is yes and no. Yes she can, but even though the husband cannot lift it, he will find a way to get it to the car, out of the car, to the airplane, out of the carrousel into the rental car, out of the rental car and into the hotel. All without saying a word about how his wife over packed.
And that brings me to perseverance, what a segway. The husband has had to persevere with continuing, patient, effort.
By now, you are probably asking, “When is he going to get to the spiritual stuff”? Right now!
From day one, in the Bible, men and women have put things off, things that didn’t seem important at the time. When Noah was building the ark, the entire world was mocking him. “It’s going to what”? “What’s rain”? “Man, you’ve been at this for a loooong time, and we haven’t had on drop of water from the sky”. When Moses went up on the mountain, the people “went to hell in a hand-basket”. They didn’t wait and pray as they should have. They continually wanted what they had left in Egypt. They kept telling themselves, “Things were soooo much better back there”. Like living in slavery for 400 years, making bricks with no straw, wandering in the desert for 40 years because of unbelief and disobedience. And then, after living in the land of milk and honey they said, “Give us a King”! OOPS! About which I wrote another paper on that very topic. If you did not receive it let me know and I will forward it.
But now that we live in the 21st century, things are different. We are much more sophisticated, much more educated, much more aware of things going on around the world.
What types of things do we procrastinate about? How about Bible study, prayer, worship, tithing, caring, sharing you faith, and you fill in the blank, surely you have thought of something.
How are you preparing spiritually? You never know what type of adventure is around the next corner. Do you know enough or do you know enough to know you need to know more? Read it slowly, it will come to you.
When you get to a tough time in life, will you bail? Or will you stand firm? Ephesians 6: 10 – 20. This passage talks about putting on the “full armor of God”, in order to pray and stand firm; so that… you will be able to stand up against rulers, and powers and authorities, and world forces, and spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places, and yes, the devil himself. I guess this is a follow-up to my last writing, Preparing for War. This current writing’s title has been in a list of writing topics for at least a year. That list has over fifty titles, and most has been written on.
So, where do you find yourself? Are you procrastinating? Are you preparing? Are you persevering? How would you convince me of your position? Procrastinators in Noah’s day found themselves scratching at the door of the ark… after the door was shut. Some of the people who worshiped the “golden calf” died when the desert opened up and thousands were swallowed up. The people who wanted a king, got what they were asking for, and lived in fear.
Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7 are called the Sermon on the Mount. Ask, seek and knock are the keys to this passage. You are to ask Him. You are to seek Him. You are to knock at the door of His throne. And then be amazed at His leading and guiding words, back to you. But you have to slow down long enough and be quiet enough to hear “His still small voice”. Isaiah 30: 15 says this, “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you shall be saved. In repentance and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and trust (confidence) is your strength is you strength.” Are you ready for the ending, you had better sit down… “But you were not willing”. When I was a kid, one hundred miles per hour was fast. Today, with “bullet trains and Concord jets and space shuttles”, one hundred miles per hour, is slow. What does it take to be willing? Maybe my next writing, who knows?
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Let’s get some basic definitions down before we start.
Procrastination: to put off doing or to postpone habitually
Preparation: the act or process of preparing
Perseverance: the act of persevering, continued, patient, effort
Several questions come to mind: Who am I? Why am I here? Where am I going? Some witty but stupid answers also come to mind: Who am I? I am me, I always have been for as long as I can remember. Why am I here? I am here, because, I am not there. Where am I going? Crazy, do you want to come.
Procrastinate… now! Don’t put it off another minute. Never do today, what you can put off until tomorrow. Some people just don’t want to deal with making tough decisions. So, they just put it off, and put it off, and put it off. What if I’m wrong? What if it doesn’t work out? What if they don’t like me? Sometimes, life is just hard. We get to a point where we say, “I’m between a rock and a hard place”. By continually putting off making decisions, we get to the point of learning “the hard way”. Sometimes others will not have the time to wait, because they need a decision, they will no longer wait on us to make that decision, and they will make the decision for us. Then we have to deal with their decision and we may like that even less.
Preparation: Then you have those who… are always preparing! They have list after list, after list. They can tell you what you need for every event or occasion. But, they themselves, could not “put on” said event or party. I often think of the husband and wife who are going on a two week vacation. I ask the question, “Can a wife fill a suitcase so full that the husband cannot lift it”? The answer is yes and no. Yes she can, but even though the husband cannot lift it, he will find a way to get it to the car, out of the car, to the airplane, out of the carrousel into the rental car, out of the rental car and into the hotel. All without saying a word about how his wife over packed.
And that brings me to perseverance, what a segway. The husband has had to persevere with continuing, patient, effort.
By now, you are probably asking, “When is he going to get to the spiritual stuff”? Right now!
From day one, in the Bible, men and women have put things off, things that didn’t seem important at the time. When Noah was building the ark, the entire world was mocking him. “It’s going to what”? “What’s rain”? “Man, you’ve been at this for a loooong time, and we haven’t had on drop of water from the sky”. When Moses went up on the mountain, the people “went to hell in a hand-basket”. They didn’t wait and pray as they should have. They continually wanted what they had left in Egypt. They kept telling themselves, “Things were soooo much better back there”. Like living in slavery for 400 years, making bricks with no straw, wandering in the desert for 40 years because of unbelief and disobedience. And then, after living in the land of milk and honey they said, “Give us a King”! OOPS! About which I wrote another paper on that very topic. If you did not receive it let me know and I will forward it.
But now that we live in the 21st century, things are different. We are much more sophisticated, much more educated, much more aware of things going on around the world.
What types of things do we procrastinate about? How about Bible study, prayer, worship, tithing, caring, sharing you faith, and you fill in the blank, surely you have thought of something.
How are you preparing spiritually? You never know what type of adventure is around the next corner. Do you know enough or do you know enough to know you need to know more? Read it slowly, it will come to you.
When you get to a tough time in life, will you bail? Or will you stand firm? Ephesians 6: 10 – 20. This passage talks about putting on the “full armor of God”, in order to pray and stand firm; so that… you will be able to stand up against rulers, and powers and authorities, and world forces, and spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places, and yes, the devil himself. I guess this is a follow-up to my last writing, Preparing for War. This current writing’s title has been in a list of writing topics for at least a year. That list has over fifty titles, and most has been written on.
So, where do you find yourself? Are you procrastinating? Are you preparing? Are you persevering? How would you convince me of your position? Procrastinators in Noah’s day found themselves scratching at the door of the ark… after the door was shut. Some of the people who worshiped the “golden calf” died when the desert opened up and thousands were swallowed up. The people who wanted a king, got what they were asking for, and lived in fear.
Matthew Chapters 5, 6, 7 are called the Sermon on the Mount. Ask, seek and knock are the keys to this passage. You are to ask Him. You are to seek Him. You are to knock at the door of His throne. And then be amazed at His leading and guiding words, back to you. But you have to slow down long enough and be quiet enough to hear “His still small voice”. Isaiah 30: 15 says this, “For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, ‘In repentance and rest you shall be saved. In repentance and rest you shall be saved. In quietness and trust (confidence) is your strength is you strength.” Are you ready for the ending, you had better sit down… “But you were not willing”. When I was a kid, one hundred miles per hour was fast. Today, with “bullet trains and Concord jets and space shuttles”, one hundred miles per hour, is slow. What does it take to be willing? Maybe my next writing, who knows?
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Sunday, March 27, 2011
The Estate – The Legacy
Having been a Co-Executor of an Estate for the last ten months of a very dear friend, and it ain’t over yet, I have learned a lot about life and a lot about stuff. When this dear friend went home to be with the Lord, all of the “things she held dear” stayed here on the earth. All of her plans, thoughts and wishes came to a screeching halt. Not really, because of her will, but we were left with the task of finishing up and finalizing those wishes and plans, to the best of our ability.
Some of you may have seen or heard of the T.V. shows about hoarding. I consider our friend as a “collector with a purpose”. You see, hoarders, buy, find, keep, and clutch to things for themselves. Our friend was a friend to many and knew the needs of those friends. She also had a heart for foreign missions. So she would find someone who had something they may be throwing out and rescue it for another friend who had that need. It was never for herself. She would have a bazar and buy and sell all kinds of stuff, from T-shirts to turnips. She would take or send box loads of hats, clothing and trinkets to missionaries and missions around the world. And yet, at her passing, her two-car garage was packed wall to wall, front to back, basically floor to ceiling with stuff. Plus one whole bedroom was packed with boxes. So, as Executors of her Estate, we wanted to fulfill her wishes and plans for the things she left behind.
Over the past ten months, we have had side splitting laugher and mumblings of disgust all in the same day, sometimes the same hour, as we went through box after box, after box, after box, after box and I could continue that phrase for the rest of the page. My wife and I have made a commitment to not leave this type of situation for our children, and they have told us so.
Estate: the assets and liabilities of a dead person. Legacy: anything handed down as from an ancestor. In her estate she had stuff that needed distributed, she had things that were worth something and stuff that was junk. She had financial assets and financial liabilities. The stuff is almost all distributed or thrown away. As for her legacy… that will live on in the hearts of many. Most of what she did is known only by the person who received the gift. But, isn’t that enough? She never climbed or clamored for the spotlight. She just went about… doing good. She is and will be missed by many.
How about you? Are you busy planning your estate, your 401k’s, your retirement plans, your vacations? Or, are you developing a legacy? The old saying, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul”, is very, very true. Are you busy building your life plans and how you will retire? Another saying is, “The one who dies with the most toys, wins”. Are you teaching your children that the most important thing is living well and retiring well? Do you want them to grow up just like you? Most of us want our children to have more for than we had, but more of what? Is it just money and stuff? Is it power and prestige? What will they pass on to their children? What lifestyle? What mindset? Are you building a legacy or are you just passing on an estate? The legacy has nothing to do with stuff! It is about the mindset, the character, and the integrity of a person. Thus the saying, “Do your givin’, while you’re livin’, so you’re knowin’, where it’s goin’”. You can only pass on a legacy while you are living. Yes, the memories of you will continue, but you’re done.
Will your legacy be, “Oh, he/she was a really great guy/gal”. Or will it be said of you, “He/she really affected my life. He/she helped me through a tough time. He/she gave me hope and told me about Jesus.” Two things will remain after the last person has died, (if you can perceive such a thing), God’s word and Jesus. So, when you die, what will you take with you? The bumper sticker says it like this, “No Jesus, no peace-Know Jesus, know peace”.
You, in normal circumstance, pass on financial and physical stuff. You have to make it a choice to pass along the character and the integrity, and the spiritual legacy. And that is only accomplished through massive amount of prayer. The powers that be in the Psychiatric field tell us we are basically good and some, a few, will have tendencies to do bad. The Bible tells a different story. It says that we are all bad and need a Savior, to save us from our badness. This truth has to be explained to our families and friends, in order to live a better life and have a legacy not just an estate.
I hope you can make the “jump into hyper-space” with me. I just heard a preacher on the radio talking about being satisfied. I think that has a lot to do with inheritance and legacy. Please take the test below.
Answer 1 to 5, 1 being very dissatisfied, 5 being very satisfied. Please be honest, no one will see but you.
1.How satisfied are you with life in general? 1 2 3 4 5
2.How satisfied are you with your job? 1 2 3 4 5
3.How satisfied are you with your marriage? 1 2 3 4 5
4.How satisfied are you with your Church? 1 2 3 4 5
5.How satisfied are you with God? 1 2 3 4 5
This test was given in an upper class, evangelical church in a very affluent city. He went on to say that, most people in the class where this test was given answered mostly 2’s some 1’s and very few 3’s or above. Why is that? His sermon and point was most people have a vague or casual relationship with God. They bury themselves in work, activities, and, as I call it, stuff. We say, “I must be doing well, look at all the stuff I have”. The busier I am the better. I don’t have time to sit and be quiet, it drives me nuts, I’ve got to be doing something. When all the time, that is what the Lord wants us to do, be quiet and listen to Him. Can I leave a true spiritual legacy to others, it I don’t have it for myself.
So, what are you leaving for you family and friends? Are you leaving an estate or a legacy? If you need help changing you 1’s and 2’s and 3’s to 4’s and 5’s write me an email, I think I can help.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskew@aol.com
Having been a Co-Executor of an Estate for the last ten months of a very dear friend, and it ain’t over yet, I have learned a lot about life and a lot about stuff. When this dear friend went home to be with the Lord, all of the “things she held dear” stayed here on the earth. All of her plans, thoughts and wishes came to a screeching halt. Not really, because of her will, but we were left with the task of finishing up and finalizing those wishes and plans, to the best of our ability.
Some of you may have seen or heard of the T.V. shows about hoarding. I consider our friend as a “collector with a purpose”. You see, hoarders, buy, find, keep, and clutch to things for themselves. Our friend was a friend to many and knew the needs of those friends. She also had a heart for foreign missions. So she would find someone who had something they may be throwing out and rescue it for another friend who had that need. It was never for herself. She would have a bazar and buy and sell all kinds of stuff, from T-shirts to turnips. She would take or send box loads of hats, clothing and trinkets to missionaries and missions around the world. And yet, at her passing, her two-car garage was packed wall to wall, front to back, basically floor to ceiling with stuff. Plus one whole bedroom was packed with boxes. So, as Executors of her Estate, we wanted to fulfill her wishes and plans for the things she left behind.
Over the past ten months, we have had side splitting laugher and mumblings of disgust all in the same day, sometimes the same hour, as we went through box after box, after box, after box, after box and I could continue that phrase for the rest of the page. My wife and I have made a commitment to not leave this type of situation for our children, and they have told us so.
Estate: the assets and liabilities of a dead person. Legacy: anything handed down as from an ancestor. In her estate she had stuff that needed distributed, she had things that were worth something and stuff that was junk. She had financial assets and financial liabilities. The stuff is almost all distributed or thrown away. As for her legacy… that will live on in the hearts of many. Most of what she did is known only by the person who received the gift. But, isn’t that enough? She never climbed or clamored for the spotlight. She just went about… doing good. She is and will be missed by many.
How about you? Are you busy planning your estate, your 401k’s, your retirement plans, your vacations? Or, are you developing a legacy? The old saying, “I’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-haul”, is very, very true. Are you busy building your life plans and how you will retire? Another saying is, “The one who dies with the most toys, wins”. Are you teaching your children that the most important thing is living well and retiring well? Do you want them to grow up just like you? Most of us want our children to have more for than we had, but more of what? Is it just money and stuff? Is it power and prestige? What will they pass on to their children? What lifestyle? What mindset? Are you building a legacy or are you just passing on an estate? The legacy has nothing to do with stuff! It is about the mindset, the character, and the integrity of a person. Thus the saying, “Do your givin’, while you’re livin’, so you’re knowin’, where it’s goin’”. You can only pass on a legacy while you are living. Yes, the memories of you will continue, but you’re done.
Will your legacy be, “Oh, he/she was a really great guy/gal”. Or will it be said of you, “He/she really affected my life. He/she helped me through a tough time. He/she gave me hope and told me about Jesus.” Two things will remain after the last person has died, (if you can perceive such a thing), God’s word and Jesus. So, when you die, what will you take with you? The bumper sticker says it like this, “No Jesus, no peace-Know Jesus, know peace”.
You, in normal circumstance, pass on financial and physical stuff. You have to make it a choice to pass along the character and the integrity, and the spiritual legacy. And that is only accomplished through massive amount of prayer. The powers that be in the Psychiatric field tell us we are basically good and some, a few, will have tendencies to do bad. The Bible tells a different story. It says that we are all bad and need a Savior, to save us from our badness. This truth has to be explained to our families and friends, in order to live a better life and have a legacy not just an estate.
I hope you can make the “jump into hyper-space” with me. I just heard a preacher on the radio talking about being satisfied. I think that has a lot to do with inheritance and legacy. Please take the test below.
Answer 1 to 5, 1 being very dissatisfied, 5 being very satisfied. Please be honest, no one will see but you.
1.How satisfied are you with life in general? 1 2 3 4 5
2.How satisfied are you with your job? 1 2 3 4 5
3.How satisfied are you with your marriage? 1 2 3 4 5
4.How satisfied are you with your Church? 1 2 3 4 5
5.How satisfied are you with God? 1 2 3 4 5
This test was given in an upper class, evangelical church in a very affluent city. He went on to say that, most people in the class where this test was given answered mostly 2’s some 1’s and very few 3’s or above. Why is that? His sermon and point was most people have a vague or casual relationship with God. They bury themselves in work, activities, and, as I call it, stuff. We say, “I must be doing well, look at all the stuff I have”. The busier I am the better. I don’t have time to sit and be quiet, it drives me nuts, I’ve got to be doing something. When all the time, that is what the Lord wants us to do, be quiet and listen to Him. Can I leave a true spiritual legacy to others, it I don’t have it for myself.
So, what are you leaving for you family and friends? Are you leaving an estate or a legacy? If you need help changing you 1’s and 2’s and 3’s to 4’s and 5’s write me an email, I think I can help.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskew@aol.com
Sunday, January 30, 2011
If All Roads Lead to God…?
Let’s look at the question posed by the title above. Many people in today’s society think that, if you are looking for God, you can find him anywhere. The nature lover says, “I can find God when I’m out walking in the woods or climbing a mountain, I just feel so close to him. God is nature.” Others say, “I worship god and my ancestors, because we are all one in the cosmos”. Some say that oxen are god’s and should not be harmed. While others believe we are on an eternal journey and come back in this life as other beings and animals until we attain our own godhood. Which one would you like to follow in your search for God?
Then you have the three main religions of the world, each saying that there is only one God, those religions being, Muslims, Jews and Christians. Of course you have varying sects or denomination in each. Each say that their religion is the only way to God, yet all differ and are exclusive from one another. If all roads lead to God, what should it matter? Only your eternal destiny is at stake.
In the following, I will attempt to make things simple and plain. I am not attempting to “bash” anyone, I am just trying to give you some facts and let you make the decision, “Do all roads, really lead to God”? There will be depth of facts and nuances that I will not discuss because of time and space of this document. If you want more of these facts I recommend two books (volumes), Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. This work was written while trying to disprove Christianity. As a result Josh McDowell came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
Islam or Muslim’s believed Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Koran is their “holy book”. Within its pages followers are told that only Arab Muslim’s are accepted by Allah and all other people are infidels and are not worthy to live and should be killed. And that they are the only true “road to God”.
Judaism has been around for a long time. Their founders are Abram (Abraham), Isaac, and Jacob (Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel) and that’s where the name of the nation comes from, more commonly known as the Jews. Then you have Moses who brought the “slaves” out of Egypt and took them to the ‘Promise Land’. In that journey, they went through the Arabian dessert where Moses received the “Ten Commandments”, on Mt. Sinai. These Ten Commandments were the foundation of their belief system; also the sacrifice of animals, shedding of blood, for the taking away of their sin. Their “holy book” was the Torah. They learned the there was only one God and His name was Jehovah. He was the Creator of the Universe and they were to look for the Messiah, the one who would save the people from their sin. Sin, you say? Yes, remember the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how the snake tricked them into eating the “apple”. That was sin, going against the law and rule of God, choosing one’s own way. So, if you say, I will choose my own way to God, my own “road” is that not sin? Much more could be said, but if you are interested call me, information will be listed at the end of this writing.
Christianity is a continuation of Judaism. Remember I told you that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, God had said He would send the Messiah, one who would take away their sin. Not only theirs, but the sin of the entire world. You see, all humans are related to Adam and Eve and thus have the infraction of sin on their lives and need to be forgiven. So, the Messiah would be sent from God as the only satisfactory sacrifice for the sin of the world, Jew, Gentile, Arab, Muslim, Hindu, Aztec, African, Buddhist; in other words, all the people of the earth. This Messiah had been prophesied or foretold from that day in the Garden, in Genesis 3:15. Christian’s “holy book” is the Bible that includes the writings of the Torah, what is called the Old Testament, and the writing of Jesus’ followers, the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. These facts can be learned and confirmed in the book mentioned by Josh McDowell.
The Torah and the Bible talk about a Messiah who would take away the sin of the world. He would do that by dying on the Cross as God’s one and only satisfactory sacrifice for sin, the shedding of blood. This is the fact of God reaching down to man to forgive his sin. It is not about being good or good enough to warrant God’s forgiveness. You have probably seen the guy at football games with the rainbow wig holding the sign, John 3:16; some may even know what that Bible passage says. If you don’t, it says, “For God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Read Genesis chapters 1,2,and 3, then read The Gospel of John chapters 1,2, and 3.
All roads lead to God? Have you ever considered what God has to say about that? “You shall have no other gods before Me”. Can a Muslim get to heaven by killing people who don’t believe the way he does? Can a Buddhist get to heaven by worshiping his ancestors? Can a Hindu get to heaven by worshiping oxen as someone who is traveling back to this world as an ox on his way to his own deity? Can a Pantheist who says all things are God, get to heaven? Only Judahism and Christianity talk about and deal with the thing called 'sin". All of these roads cannot possibly ultimately lead to God when they oppose each other. Not to mention the atheist who says, there is no god and we evolved from the apes. Two atoms, whizzing through space collided, and that began it all. Where did the atoms come from?
So, is there a true “Road to God”? I believe there is. It is God’s way, not mine. Jesus, the Messiah is God’s one and only way to heaven. If I’m right (and I believe I am) I will make it to heaven based on the finished work of God in Jesus. Then you will spend eternity separated from God. If I am wrong, and you are right, I have lived a life I am not ashamed of and have been at peace with “my God” for many, many years. And I will see you in “Heaven”. By the way, Who created Heaven? Was it man or God? Should not the Creator have a say in who will be allowed in?
Those who think that “all roads lead to God” have probably not read any of the “holy books” of any of the religions. They think they know it all.
If you have questions write me at reskew@aol.com.
Let’s look at the question posed by the title above. Many people in today’s society think that, if you are looking for God, you can find him anywhere. The nature lover says, “I can find God when I’m out walking in the woods or climbing a mountain, I just feel so close to him. God is nature.” Others say, “I worship god and my ancestors, because we are all one in the cosmos”. Some say that oxen are god’s and should not be harmed. While others believe we are on an eternal journey and come back in this life as other beings and animals until we attain our own godhood. Which one would you like to follow in your search for God?
Then you have the three main religions of the world, each saying that there is only one God, those religions being, Muslims, Jews and Christians. Of course you have varying sects or denomination in each. Each say that their religion is the only way to God, yet all differ and are exclusive from one another. If all roads lead to God, what should it matter? Only your eternal destiny is at stake.
In the following, I will attempt to make things simple and plain. I am not attempting to “bash” anyone, I am just trying to give you some facts and let you make the decision, “Do all roads, really lead to God”? There will be depth of facts and nuances that I will not discuss because of time and space of this document. If you want more of these facts I recommend two books (volumes), Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell and More Evidence that Demands a Verdict. This work was written while trying to disprove Christianity. As a result Josh McDowell came to know Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
Islam or Muslim’s believed Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet. The Koran is their “holy book”. Within its pages followers are told that only Arab Muslim’s are accepted by Allah and all other people are infidels and are not worthy to live and should be killed. And that they are the only true “road to God”.
Judaism has been around for a long time. Their founders are Abram (Abraham), Isaac, and Jacob (Jacob’s name was changed by God to Israel) and that’s where the name of the nation comes from, more commonly known as the Jews. Then you have Moses who brought the “slaves” out of Egypt and took them to the ‘Promise Land’. In that journey, they went through the Arabian dessert where Moses received the “Ten Commandments”, on Mt. Sinai. These Ten Commandments were the foundation of their belief system; also the sacrifice of animals, shedding of blood, for the taking away of their sin. Their “holy book” was the Torah. They learned the there was only one God and His name was Jehovah. He was the Creator of the Universe and they were to look for the Messiah, the one who would save the people from their sin. Sin, you say? Yes, remember the story about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and how the snake tricked them into eating the “apple”. That was sin, going against the law and rule of God, choosing one’s own way. So, if you say, I will choose my own way to God, my own “road” is that not sin? Much more could be said, but if you are interested call me, information will be listed at the end of this writing.
Christianity is a continuation of Judaism. Remember I told you that because of the sin of Adam and Eve, God had said He would send the Messiah, one who would take away their sin. Not only theirs, but the sin of the entire world. You see, all humans are related to Adam and Eve and thus have the infraction of sin on their lives and need to be forgiven. So, the Messiah would be sent from God as the only satisfactory sacrifice for the sin of the world, Jew, Gentile, Arab, Muslim, Hindu, Aztec, African, Buddhist; in other words, all the people of the earth. This Messiah had been prophesied or foretold from that day in the Garden, in Genesis 3:15. Christian’s “holy book” is the Bible that includes the writings of the Torah, what is called the Old Testament, and the writing of Jesus’ followers, the New Testament. Christians believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies about the Messiah. These facts can be learned and confirmed in the book mentioned by Josh McDowell.
The Torah and the Bible talk about a Messiah who would take away the sin of the world. He would do that by dying on the Cross as God’s one and only satisfactory sacrifice for sin, the shedding of blood. This is the fact of God reaching down to man to forgive his sin. It is not about being good or good enough to warrant God’s forgiveness. You have probably seen the guy at football games with the rainbow wig holding the sign, John 3:16; some may even know what that Bible passage says. If you don’t, it says, “For God so loved the world, He sent His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”. Read Genesis chapters 1,2,and 3, then read The Gospel of John chapters 1,2, and 3.
All roads lead to God? Have you ever considered what God has to say about that? “You shall have no other gods before Me”. Can a Muslim get to heaven by killing people who don’t believe the way he does? Can a Buddhist get to heaven by worshiping his ancestors? Can a Hindu get to heaven by worshiping oxen as someone who is traveling back to this world as an ox on his way to his own deity? Can a Pantheist who says all things are God, get to heaven? Only Judahism and Christianity talk about and deal with the thing called 'sin". All of these roads cannot possibly ultimately lead to God when they oppose each other. Not to mention the atheist who says, there is no god and we evolved from the apes. Two atoms, whizzing through space collided, and that began it all. Where did the atoms come from?
So, is there a true “Road to God”? I believe there is. It is God’s way, not mine. Jesus, the Messiah is God’s one and only way to heaven. If I’m right (and I believe I am) I will make it to heaven based on the finished work of God in Jesus. Then you will spend eternity separated from God. If I am wrong, and you are right, I have lived a life I am not ashamed of and have been at peace with “my God” for many, many years. And I will see you in “Heaven”. By the way, Who created Heaven? Was it man or God? Should not the Creator have a say in who will be allowed in?
Those who think that “all roads lead to God” have probably not read any of the “holy books” of any of the religions. They think they know it all.
If you have questions write me at reskew@aol.com.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Human Beings
In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible goes on to tell us that He created all other things, land and sea, sky and air, sun and moon and stars. Then He created the things to inhabit these spaces, beasts of the fields, birds for the sky, and fish for the sea. Then He created His “crowning achievement” (if you can call anything that God does, an achievement), He created man, male and female He created them. Of course our evolutionary friends will have great problems with this thesis. To them, two random atoms whizzing through the universe, collided and the spark of life began. At this point, I have two questions: 1) Where did the two atoms come from? 2) Where did the universe come from? There was probably nothingness and then something happened and then the two atoms collided and then the universe happened and then nothing turned into something. That makes it perfectly clear doesn’t it, or does it make it more foolish? I assume that most evolutionists and atheists don’t want to think about the possibility of there being a God, because if He is, then they are responsible to Him for all they do. And they don’t want to do that.
Anyway… back to the future…. We are created and we are responsible to Him. He created us with love and purpose. Love because we were created in His image. Purpose because He wanted us to reign over His creation. Personally, I think that all the created things were created in full maturity. If you would have cut down a tree in the “Garden of Eden” you would have been able to count ten, twelve or twenty rings of age or even more. And the same would be true for the other plants and animals.
I really am trying to get to my thesis, which is human being. We really are His crowning glory, because of being created in His image. Of course, I do not think that God looks like me. There is something unique about this likeness, but I can’t explain it. And neither can anyone else. But, we are something special and love beyond our imagination.
This thing about being human beings is simply this; we are human beings not human doings. I think God wanted us to “be” more than He wanted us to “do”. Does that seem to make sense to you? I’m sitting here writing and listening to some music on my computer. The music combines and enhances what I’m writing. You will probably be surprised to know it is a kid’s album, not by kids, but for kids. Its title is The Polka Dot Bear by Barry McGuire, way back in the 1980’s. But, isn’t that what God wants us to be… kids? We can’t do anything for ourselves, we must rely on Him. And that’s called being, not doing. Unless you become as a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a simple love relationship. Do I love Him enough to surrender and submit? Will I say, “Not my will, but your will be done”. If the relationship is not growing, the being is not growing. He breathed life into us, His life, and His being. His likeness should be more and more in control. When he Holy Spirit, I assume you know that the Holy Spirit was given to you when Jesus became your personal Savior. You can find this in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17; along with some other important things. Anyhow… the Holy Spirit works in our lives, as well as the rest of the world, to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. He convicts us to make us more like Jesus, that being thing, being like Jesus, not doing more things to make “me” feel better because “I” have done all of these great things. When we “be” we “do”. When we “do” we don’t necessarily “be”. But this being happens only by submitting to the Holy Spirit.
Let me interject at this point another side-bar, side light or whatever you want to call it. God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am”. Thus, referring to Himself as the “ever being one”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am”. If we are to become like Jesus, then we need to be in the process of being and becoming. We will never become or be God, but our likeness can be restored. The relationship needs to deepen every day. Do I love God more and more each day? Do I see my sinfulness more clearly every day? Am I sorrowed by that sinfulness more and more? Not that I have achieved the point I want to, but I strive to be less and Him more. Like John the Baptizer said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. By the way… John was not a “Baptist”. (A touch of humor there).
Three books I have recently read or am in the process of reading, The Wright Brothers – Overland Stage, by Tim Wright. This is a book about the local Indy band and its successes and failures, from Tim’s perspective. This is Tim’s own personal striving to “get to the top” of the music industry. So much of self was interjected into life, he and the band forgot about their Christian roots and how to allow God to direct the paths. Another book is Radical by David Platt. David had to go to a Southeast Asian country and see “church” done in such a different way that when he came back to the USA he was shocked to see how he had been following the American Dream and playing “church”, and he was the “Head Pastor” of the church. Now he is in the process of changing the “way he does church”. The third book is The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer. This writer has an interesting perspective, having written his book in 1948. His main thesis is that people, the church, have left their pursuit of God for the American Dream. They have lost their awe of God and replaced it with the comforts of the world. And in doing so have lost the zeal and affection for God. Their thinking is something like this, “Oh I leave the tough stuff for God to take care of, and I can handle the little stuff”. God is not an American. We think that God has to do it the “American Way”. God’s own words are these, “Without Me you can do nothing”. When will we ever get this through our thick skulls? It’s not about me; it’s about Him and Him alone, His will, His way, His purpose. Our part and our only part is listening and obeying.
If we are to become like Jesus and we are, Jesus life was boiled down to this, “Not to do My will, but to do the will of the One who sent me”. “And the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. We are to serve and to be obedient.
I think I’m done, but who knows? My challenge and questions are few. Are you a human being or are you a human doing?
Ron
In the beginning… God created the heavens and the earth. The Bible goes on to tell us that He created all other things, land and sea, sky and air, sun and moon and stars. Then He created the things to inhabit these spaces, beasts of the fields, birds for the sky, and fish for the sea. Then He created His “crowning achievement” (if you can call anything that God does, an achievement), He created man, male and female He created them. Of course our evolutionary friends will have great problems with this thesis. To them, two random atoms whizzing through the universe, collided and the spark of life began. At this point, I have two questions: 1) Where did the two atoms come from? 2) Where did the universe come from? There was probably nothingness and then something happened and then the two atoms collided and then the universe happened and then nothing turned into something. That makes it perfectly clear doesn’t it, or does it make it more foolish? I assume that most evolutionists and atheists don’t want to think about the possibility of there being a God, because if He is, then they are responsible to Him for all they do. And they don’t want to do that.
Anyway… back to the future…. We are created and we are responsible to Him. He created us with love and purpose. Love because we were created in His image. Purpose because He wanted us to reign over His creation. Personally, I think that all the created things were created in full maturity. If you would have cut down a tree in the “Garden of Eden” you would have been able to count ten, twelve or twenty rings of age or even more. And the same would be true for the other plants and animals.
I really am trying to get to my thesis, which is human being. We really are His crowning glory, because of being created in His image. Of course, I do not think that God looks like me. There is something unique about this likeness, but I can’t explain it. And neither can anyone else. But, we are something special and love beyond our imagination.
This thing about being human beings is simply this; we are human beings not human doings. I think God wanted us to “be” more than He wanted us to “do”. Does that seem to make sense to you? I’m sitting here writing and listening to some music on my computer. The music combines and enhances what I’m writing. You will probably be surprised to know it is a kid’s album, not by kids, but for kids. Its title is The Polka Dot Bear by Barry McGuire, way back in the 1980’s. But, isn’t that what God wants us to be… kids? We can’t do anything for ourselves, we must rely on Him. And that’s called being, not doing. Unless you become as a child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. It’s a simple love relationship. Do I love Him enough to surrender and submit? Will I say, “Not my will, but your will be done”. If the relationship is not growing, the being is not growing. He breathed life into us, His life, and His being. His likeness should be more and more in control. When he Holy Spirit, I assume you know that the Holy Spirit was given to you when Jesus became your personal Savior. You can find this in the Gospel of John, chapters 14-17; along with some other important things. Anyhow… the Holy Spirit works in our lives, as well as the rest of the world, to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment to come. He convicts us to make us more like Jesus, that being thing, being like Jesus, not doing more things to make “me” feel better because “I” have done all of these great things. When we “be” we “do”. When we “do” we don’t necessarily “be”. But this being happens only by submitting to the Holy Spirit.
Let me interject at this point another side-bar, side light or whatever you want to call it. God revealed Himself to Moses as “I Am”. Thus, referring to Himself as the “ever being one”. Jesus referred to Himself as “I Am”. If we are to become like Jesus, then we need to be in the process of being and becoming. We will never become or be God, but our likeness can be restored. The relationship needs to deepen every day. Do I love God more and more each day? Do I see my sinfulness more clearly every day? Am I sorrowed by that sinfulness more and more? Not that I have achieved the point I want to, but I strive to be less and Him more. Like John the Baptizer said, “He must increase and I must decrease”. By the way… John was not a “Baptist”. (A touch of humor there).
Three books I have recently read or am in the process of reading, The Wright Brothers – Overland Stage, by Tim Wright. This is a book about the local Indy band and its successes and failures, from Tim’s perspective. This is Tim’s own personal striving to “get to the top” of the music industry. So much of self was interjected into life, he and the band forgot about their Christian roots and how to allow God to direct the paths. Another book is Radical by David Platt. David had to go to a Southeast Asian country and see “church” done in such a different way that when he came back to the USA he was shocked to see how he had been following the American Dream and playing “church”, and he was the “Head Pastor” of the church. Now he is in the process of changing the “way he does church”. The third book is The Pursuit of God, by A. W. Tozer. This writer has an interesting perspective, having written his book in 1948. His main thesis is that people, the church, have left their pursuit of God for the American Dream. They have lost their awe of God and replaced it with the comforts of the world. And in doing so have lost the zeal and affection for God. Their thinking is something like this, “Oh I leave the tough stuff for God to take care of, and I can handle the little stuff”. God is not an American. We think that God has to do it the “American Way”. God’s own words are these, “Without Me you can do nothing”. When will we ever get this through our thick skulls? It’s not about me; it’s about Him and Him alone, His will, His way, His purpose. Our part and our only part is listening and obeying.
If we are to become like Jesus and we are, Jesus life was boiled down to this, “Not to do My will, but to do the will of the One who sent me”. “And the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”. We are to serve and to be obedient.
I think I’m done, but who knows? My challenge and questions are few. Are you a human being or are you a human doing?
Ron
Human Beings Part Two
With all of this stuff rattling around in my head, I must continue.
Human beings, they are more being than doing this is the key. Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. He also says, “I Am the way, the truth and the life”. Thus, knowing Him is the essential part of the entire equation. If you are not in the pursuit of knowing Him, you are not in the pursuit of “being”.
As I have read the book Radical, I have come to some conclusions. I think it starts out strong, but falls away in the end. What do I mean by that? In the first two chapters or sections, David Platt describes his experience in the Far East. He is finding people who have a hunger for God’s word and is amazed at how far the people travel to hear God’s word. They walk or ride bicycles for miles, even a full day just to hear the word, spend several if not many, 10 or 12 hours in listening and asking questions. Then they ask if they could do it again tomorrow. David is astonished and amazed, and also tired from a very long day of interaction. But he agrees to continue to teach the next day. This seems to happen day after day after day. The interesting thing is that these people are not asking how Americans “do church”; they are asking and begging to be taught the word. They are not asking about the latest music trends or what the latest Christian Books are. They are saying, “Teach me the Bible”.
To me this is another part of the “American Gospel” that is lacking in substance. We, the American church look for the next best seller or the next conference, in order to help us in our short comings and our problems. The answers are given to most problems, “Well, just do more, or try harder; you’re not having enough quiet time, you’re not praying enough”. These are not bad in themselves, but how do they help us “be”? Am I interested in getting the next wrist band or the next t-shirt or the next syllabus? Again, conferences are not bad in themselves, but some people have every book and every CD on their shelves, they have a t-shirt for every day of the week, but nothing is going on in their heart. They are not becoming! I also wrote a paper on “Head, Heart, Gut”.
The weak part of the book Radical is that, when David returns home to the USA, he sees a different kind of American church than when he left and a far different kind of church than in the Far East. So he starts teaching on “going into all the world and preaching the gospel”. Here is where I think the departure starts; people are encouraged to look at their lives and see what they can do without and think of how they can reach people in other lands with the gospel. Again, let me say, this is not a bad thing, but it misses the entire point of David’s time in the Far East, and I think David loses sight of what he was being taught by God (not that I know what God was trying to teach him). But as I was trying to think through and process my way through his book, it seems that the emphasis was on the hunger for God and His word. Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or, are we looking for a way that makes us look like we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Do we know the difference? The Apostle Paul makes the statement, “If I give all I have to feed the poor and do not have love, I am nothing”. Thus, it is a heart problem!
Clean and unclean things…. It is not what goes into a man that defiles him; it is what proceeds from within (out of the heart).
I cannot tell you what God is telling is you to do other than; He wants you to be holy, not happy. Holy is a state of being, happy is defined by situations and circumstances, again, “being” or “doing”. Believe it or not, you can be holy without being happy. One short interjection: The “Be Attitudes in Matthew 5 says “Blessed” this not to be confused with happy. I have heard so many people and even pastors say that it means happy. That word goes far beyond happy, and if I am not happy does that mean I am not blessed?
Back to Radical: Just my opinion… it seems that David jumps off and begins a series on “Going”. And that seems to lead to busyness and not righteousness. The pastors in the Far East were not looking for people to come to build something (even though there is nothing wrong with that), they were looking for people to come and teach them the Bible.
We need to be challenged to read and study our Bibles and be “transformed by it”, the entire thing Genesis 1 through Revelation 21. We need to get to know the God of the Bible; Who He is and how He works, then get to know Jesus and who He is, and then the Holy Spirit in the same way. Constantly asking the Lord who He wants us to become and then what He wants us to do, where He wants us to go.
Would we be willing to walk for a day to hear the word taught? Would we go if the band was not going to play? Would we go in stealth so as to not be seen? Would we feel comfortable packed like sardines in a small room with one 40 watt light bulb hung in the center of the room. Dear friends, this is radical. What would you do if there was no music, no band for worship, just two hours of your Pastor teaching through the Bible? Then you took a fifteen minute break for bathroom breaks and something to drink. Then the teaching would start again for another two hours.
I know I’m short on scripture in this writing, so here goes…. Let’s look at two and maybe more passages to see what the progression is in “being” and “doing”.
Isaiah 6:1-13 (You can read the entire thing for yourself) In the year that King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple… “Then I said (Isaiah) woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips… Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I, send me!” And He said, “Go and tell the people.”
First, Isaiah, saw the Lord. My question to you is, “Have you seen the Lord in this way?” Maybe not in the physical sense, but have you had an intimate, eye opening, revelation of the Lord and how magnificent He really is. Second, was your response, “I am a man/woman of unclean lips?” Third, then did you submit to “being” before “doing” or going? Even though Isaiah had been God’s prophet for many years, he had a new experience, which changed him for the rest of his life. God said go tell the people. What was God asking Isaiah to tell the people? “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of the people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim… lest they repent”. You see; God knew their hearts and that the people would not repent, so He told Isaiah to stop preaching to them. Thus and therefore, we must be about going, before God says, ‘It’s too late, stop preaching”. When I first turned my life over to Jesus in 1974 I did not know any of the things I am writing about today. I have grown and changed and have become more aware of how Holy God is and how sinful I am. If you knew me like I know me, you would probably not want me as a friend. But if I knew you like you know you, I wouldn’t want you as a friend either.
The next scripture is from the New Testament: Matthew 18:1-27 (Again you may read the text for yourself). Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane where He was praying before His crucifixion. The soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword. Remember that Peter was a fisherman not a soldier; “doing’ not “being”. Peter followed Jesus to the courtyard of Caiaphas and waited at a distance. This is where Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had warned him. It is purported that Peter went out a wept (Not in the text); the sorrow of the sin of “not doing” and “not being”.
Our Bible study group studied one of the passages that David Platt uses in book; Luke 14:25-35. Again you can read this for yourself, the essence is counting the cost, choosing to love the Lord more than brothers and sisters, building a tower without calculating the cost whether you can finish it or not, and going to war against a more powerful enemy. David’s conclusion was from verse 33 saying, “So therefore, no one can be My disciple who does not give up all his possessions”. Does Jesus mean this in a true physical sense? Or is He trying to get at your heart? Is he trying to get at “your being” or at “your doing”?
In all of our being and doing, Who’s reputation is at stake? Anyone who undertakes a multi-million dollar building project and can only complete $100,000 worth did not calculate the cost very well and his reputation is ruined. If I say I am a Christian and I love Jesus and I am going to do great things for Him and fall flat on my face, whose reputation is at stake? If I make bad decisions it still reflects on Him.
I thought I was done when I wrote American Dream and the American Gospel. Next I wrote American Dream 2. Then I wrote the paper Aaaaand Their Off. Then I wrote Human Beings. Now with Human Beings 2 about to be finished, I am still in the pursuit of God and His answers for me.
This line of thinking may go on for quite some time, but for now, the summary, not a conclusion, the real conclusion is up to you, is this; I can only take these thoughts and ponderings and musings before the Lord for myself and ask Him, who He wants me to be and then what He wants me to do.
I am wrestling with the Lord on all of this; I think I am beginning to walk with a limp. If any of these writings have moved you, you need to take the information to the Lord and ask Him to reveal Himself and His will for your being and doing. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Ron
With all of this stuff rattling around in my head, I must continue.
Human beings, they are more being than doing this is the key. Jesus says, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free”. He also says, “I Am the way, the truth and the life”. Thus, knowing Him is the essential part of the entire equation. If you are not in the pursuit of knowing Him, you are not in the pursuit of “being”.
As I have read the book Radical, I have come to some conclusions. I think it starts out strong, but falls away in the end. What do I mean by that? In the first two chapters or sections, David Platt describes his experience in the Far East. He is finding people who have a hunger for God’s word and is amazed at how far the people travel to hear God’s word. They walk or ride bicycles for miles, even a full day just to hear the word, spend several if not many, 10 or 12 hours in listening and asking questions. Then they ask if they could do it again tomorrow. David is astonished and amazed, and also tired from a very long day of interaction. But he agrees to continue to teach the next day. This seems to happen day after day after day. The interesting thing is that these people are not asking how Americans “do church”; they are asking and begging to be taught the word. They are not asking about the latest music trends or what the latest Christian Books are. They are saying, “Teach me the Bible”.
To me this is another part of the “American Gospel” that is lacking in substance. We, the American church look for the next best seller or the next conference, in order to help us in our short comings and our problems. The answers are given to most problems, “Well, just do more, or try harder; you’re not having enough quiet time, you’re not praying enough”. These are not bad in themselves, but how do they help us “be”? Am I interested in getting the next wrist band or the next t-shirt or the next syllabus? Again, conferences are not bad in themselves, but some people have every book and every CD on their shelves, they have a t-shirt for every day of the week, but nothing is going on in their heart. They are not becoming! I also wrote a paper on “Head, Heart, Gut”.
The weak part of the book Radical is that, when David returns home to the USA, he sees a different kind of American church than when he left and a far different kind of church than in the Far East. So he starts teaching on “going into all the world and preaching the gospel”. Here is where I think the departure starts; people are encouraged to look at their lives and see what they can do without and think of how they can reach people in other lands with the gospel. Again, let me say, this is not a bad thing, but it misses the entire point of David’s time in the Far East, and I think David loses sight of what he was being taught by God (not that I know what God was trying to teach him). But as I was trying to think through and process my way through his book, it seems that the emphasis was on the hunger for God and His word. Jesus told His disciples, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”. Are we hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or, are we looking for a way that makes us look like we are hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Do we know the difference? The Apostle Paul makes the statement, “If I give all I have to feed the poor and do not have love, I am nothing”. Thus, it is a heart problem!
Clean and unclean things…. It is not what goes into a man that defiles him; it is what proceeds from within (out of the heart).
I cannot tell you what God is telling is you to do other than; He wants you to be holy, not happy. Holy is a state of being, happy is defined by situations and circumstances, again, “being” or “doing”. Believe it or not, you can be holy without being happy. One short interjection: The “Be Attitudes in Matthew 5 says “Blessed” this not to be confused with happy. I have heard so many people and even pastors say that it means happy. That word goes far beyond happy, and if I am not happy does that mean I am not blessed?
Back to Radical: Just my opinion… it seems that David jumps off and begins a series on “Going”. And that seems to lead to busyness and not righteousness. The pastors in the Far East were not looking for people to come to build something (even though there is nothing wrong with that), they were looking for people to come and teach them the Bible.
We need to be challenged to read and study our Bibles and be “transformed by it”, the entire thing Genesis 1 through Revelation 21. We need to get to know the God of the Bible; Who He is and how He works, then get to know Jesus and who He is, and then the Holy Spirit in the same way. Constantly asking the Lord who He wants us to become and then what He wants us to do, where He wants us to go.
Would we be willing to walk for a day to hear the word taught? Would we go if the band was not going to play? Would we go in stealth so as to not be seen? Would we feel comfortable packed like sardines in a small room with one 40 watt light bulb hung in the center of the room. Dear friends, this is radical. What would you do if there was no music, no band for worship, just two hours of your Pastor teaching through the Bible? Then you took a fifteen minute break for bathroom breaks and something to drink. Then the teaching would start again for another two hours.
I know I’m short on scripture in this writing, so here goes…. Let’s look at two and maybe more passages to see what the progression is in “being” and “doing”.
Isaiah 6:1-13 (You can read the entire thing for yourself) In the year that King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on the throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple… “Then I said (Isaiah) woe is me, for I am ruined. Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips… Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I, send me!” And He said, “Go and tell the people.”
First, Isaiah, saw the Lord. My question to you is, “Have you seen the Lord in this way?” Maybe not in the physical sense, but have you had an intimate, eye opening, revelation of the Lord and how magnificent He really is. Second, was your response, “I am a man/woman of unclean lips?” Third, then did you submit to “being” before “doing” or going? Even though Isaiah had been God’s prophet for many years, he had a new experience, which changed him for the rest of his life. God said go tell the people. What was God asking Isaiah to tell the people? “Keep on listening, but do not perceive; Keep on looking, but do not understand. Render the hearts of the people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim… lest they repent”. You see; God knew their hearts and that the people would not repent, so He told Isaiah to stop preaching to them. Thus and therefore, we must be about going, before God says, ‘It’s too late, stop preaching”. When I first turned my life over to Jesus in 1974 I did not know any of the things I am writing about today. I have grown and changed and have become more aware of how Holy God is and how sinful I am. If you knew me like I know me, you would probably not want me as a friend. But if I knew you like you know you, I wouldn’t want you as a friend either.
The next scripture is from the New Testament: Matthew 18:1-27 (Again you may read the text for yourself). Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane where He was praying before His crucifixion. The soldiers came to arrest Jesus and Peter tried to defend Jesus with a sword. Remember that Peter was a fisherman not a soldier; “doing’ not “being”. Peter followed Jesus to the courtyard of Caiaphas and waited at a distance. This is where Peter denied Jesus three times, just as Jesus had warned him. It is purported that Peter went out a wept (Not in the text); the sorrow of the sin of “not doing” and “not being”.
Our Bible study group studied one of the passages that David Platt uses in book; Luke 14:25-35. Again you can read this for yourself, the essence is counting the cost, choosing to love the Lord more than brothers and sisters, building a tower without calculating the cost whether you can finish it or not, and going to war against a more powerful enemy. David’s conclusion was from verse 33 saying, “So therefore, no one can be My disciple who does not give up all his possessions”. Does Jesus mean this in a true physical sense? Or is He trying to get at your heart? Is he trying to get at “your being” or at “your doing”?
In all of our being and doing, Who’s reputation is at stake? Anyone who undertakes a multi-million dollar building project and can only complete $100,000 worth did not calculate the cost very well and his reputation is ruined. If I say I am a Christian and I love Jesus and I am going to do great things for Him and fall flat on my face, whose reputation is at stake? If I make bad decisions it still reflects on Him.
I thought I was done when I wrote American Dream and the American Gospel. Next I wrote American Dream 2. Then I wrote the paper Aaaaand Their Off. Then I wrote Human Beings. Now with Human Beings 2 about to be finished, I am still in the pursuit of God and His answers for me.
This line of thinking may go on for quite some time, but for now, the summary, not a conclusion, the real conclusion is up to you, is this; I can only take these thoughts and ponderings and musings before the Lord for myself and ask Him, who He wants me to be and then what He wants me to do.
I am wrestling with the Lord on all of this; I think I am beginning to walk with a limp. If any of these writings have moved you, you need to take the information to the Lord and ask Him to reveal Himself and His will for your being and doing. I welcome your thoughts and feedback.
Ron
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
I’ll Have That To Go Please
In our instant society we rarely have the time or take the time to sit down and eat together. We have “too much on our plate” to sit still for more than ten or fifteen minutes. Even in the “sit down” restaurants there are always to take it to our houses and eat it there. There is “Car-Side To Go”, “Curb-Side To Go”, the normal “Drive-Thru”. If the drive thru is backed up you can always go inside and ask for it to go. Slogans develop for these methods, “Have it your way”, and if you’re old enough, “Takehomeasack”. One of our normal eating places is “behind-the-wheel”, and that is located wherever our GPS tells us we are. Should we not be more concerned about when and where we eat?
Is it not the same with our spiritual life? “Hey Jesus, could I get that to go, I really don’t have time to sit with you for very long, I’m really, really busy.” To get to know someone, you need to spend time with them. When you spend time with someone you get to understand them and what is important to them. You learn more about their personality and the way they think. You begin to understand their passion.
Let’s say, you’re at work and your boss wants to have a meeting to discuss a new product line or a new process for that product line. You go in, pen in hand, and pay close attention, take notes, ask questions. You do this in order to go back to your work station or office and prepare to relay these ideas and changes to your co-workers. What if you told your boss, in about ten minutes, “Hey, I’m really busy and I have other work to do, I’ll catch up with you later and we can finish this.” You just wouldn’t do that… would you?” Your boss knows what you have to do and is concerned about developing the entire company and you are just a small part of the entire process. In essence, he is saying, “Here is how I want you to develop and build your part of the company, and this is a very important part of the finished product.”
Is that how we are responding to Jesus? He is offering us a part in the process and development of building His church and we are saying to Him, “I’m really busy and I can’t put in that much time to “Your” project right now.” First of all I would say that we have not spent enough time with our “Boss” to find out Who He is, and what His passions are.
Then there is the matter of execution. If we have spent time with Him, how do we execute the task He has given us? Let’s take for example, Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and remember, I am with you, even to the ends of the earth.”
According to a friend, Keith Green, in a song about this passage, he writes, “Jesus commands us to go, it should be the exception if we stay; It’s now wonder we’re moving so slow, when God’s children, refuse to obey, feeling so called to stay”. “But, I’m too young… I’m too old… I’ve got these bills… I’m not healthy enough… I don’t have enough training….” Remember, He is the one in charge of this company and He sees the bigger picture and knows the final product. He just wants you to be the part of something really big and really great. He just wants you to do your seemingly small part. Going doesn’t necessarily mean “around the world”. It could mean “across the street”.
In the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8 we are told to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest parts of the earth. The old saying goes like this, “Grow where you’re planted” and I add, “If someone uproots you and plants you somewhere else, grow there”. Another song just came to mind by the group First Call, the main line or chorus goes like this, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future”.
This Christian life is not for the faint of heart. It is for the one who has a “child-like” faith and is willing to say “Yes” to the One Who is worthy. This life is not a “bed of roses” and don’t let anyone tell you it is.
Will you tell Jesus, “I’ll have mine, ‘to go’, meaning, yes I will go, across the street or around the world”.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
In our instant society we rarely have the time or take the time to sit down and eat together. We have “too much on our plate” to sit still for more than ten or fifteen minutes. Even in the “sit down” restaurants there are always to take it to our houses and eat it there. There is “Car-Side To Go”, “Curb-Side To Go”, the normal “Drive-Thru”. If the drive thru is backed up you can always go inside and ask for it to go. Slogans develop for these methods, “Have it your way”, and if you’re old enough, “Takehomeasack”. One of our normal eating places is “behind-the-wheel”, and that is located wherever our GPS tells us we are. Should we not be more concerned about when and where we eat?
Is it not the same with our spiritual life? “Hey Jesus, could I get that to go, I really don’t have time to sit with you for very long, I’m really, really busy.” To get to know someone, you need to spend time with them. When you spend time with someone you get to understand them and what is important to them. You learn more about their personality and the way they think. You begin to understand their passion.
Let’s say, you’re at work and your boss wants to have a meeting to discuss a new product line or a new process for that product line. You go in, pen in hand, and pay close attention, take notes, ask questions. You do this in order to go back to your work station or office and prepare to relay these ideas and changes to your co-workers. What if you told your boss, in about ten minutes, “Hey, I’m really busy and I have other work to do, I’ll catch up with you later and we can finish this.” You just wouldn’t do that… would you?” Your boss knows what you have to do and is concerned about developing the entire company and you are just a small part of the entire process. In essence, he is saying, “Here is how I want you to develop and build your part of the company, and this is a very important part of the finished product.”
Is that how we are responding to Jesus? He is offering us a part in the process and development of building His church and we are saying to Him, “I’m really busy and I can’t put in that much time to “Your” project right now.” First of all I would say that we have not spent enough time with our “Boss” to find out Who He is, and what His passions are.
Then there is the matter of execution. If we have spent time with Him, how do we execute the task He has given us? Let’s take for example, Jesus’ words in Matthew 28:18-20, All authority has been given to me in heaven and earth, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I command you; and remember, I am with you, even to the ends of the earth.”
According to a friend, Keith Green, in a song about this passage, he writes, “Jesus commands us to go, it should be the exception if we stay; It’s now wonder we’re moving so slow, when God’s children, refuse to obey, feeling so called to stay”. “But, I’m too young… I’m too old… I’ve got these bills… I’m not healthy enough… I don’t have enough training….” Remember, He is the one in charge of this company and He sees the bigger picture and knows the final product. He just wants you to be the part of something really big and really great. He just wants you to do your seemingly small part. Going doesn’t necessarily mean “around the world”. It could mean “across the street”.
In the book of Acts, chapter 1, verse 8 we are told to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the remotest parts of the earth. The old saying goes like this, “Grow where you’re planted” and I add, “If someone uproots you and plants you somewhere else, grow there”. Another song just came to mind by the group First Call, the main line or chorus goes like this, “We may not know what the future holds, but we know Who holds the future”.
This Christian life is not for the faint of heart. It is for the one who has a “child-like” faith and is willing to say “Yes” to the One Who is worthy. This life is not a “bed of roses” and don’t let anyone tell you it is.
Will you tell Jesus, “I’ll have mine, ‘to go’, meaning, yes I will go, across the street or around the world”.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Friday, July 16, 2010
American Dream Part 2
Just to refresh your memory, hermeneutics is the key to all studies.
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
Member vs Membership
My references books for this next portion are Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and the New World Dictionary, and, oh yes, the Bible, The New Analytical Bible, KJV, and the New American Standard Bible.
The New World Dictionary defines member in this fashion: 1. a part or organ of a human or animal body. 2. a part of a plant, considered with regard to structure or position rather than function. 3. a distinct part or element of a whole, of a mathematic equation, 4. a person belonging to some association, society, community , party etc.
Membership: the state of being, or status as a member, 2. members collective, 3. the number of members.
The New Analytical Bible’s definition of member: part of the body.
Membership: The New Analytical Bible does not contain the word “membership”.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Member: no definition is given; membership is not listed as a word used anywhere in the Bible.
The discussion should be over at this point, but I press on.
There are only three references in the Old Testament for the words member or members. There are thirty-four references in the New Testament for member or members. Most of the references are in Romans and I and II Corinthians
I have heard it said by many preachers that I admire, “Let the plain things be the main things and let the main things be the plain things”.
I truly believe that we are members of the body of Christ; all, at any time of history, from any point around the world, who have named the Name of Jesus as their Savior. Although there are many and very close similarities in the two words, the act of “becoming a member” or on a “membership role or list”, I do not believe it is a biblical idea, dogma or mandate. I am active in a local expression of the “Body of Christ” because He has placed me there. I am there for a reason, sometimes I know why and sometimes it is not revealed until I have been there for a “season”. That main reason for my being there is for “body building”, of which I wrote about in an earlier paper. It is not for my glory or my lording over others, I am part of the body and to glorify the Lord, no one is more important than any other as defined in I Corinthians 12, even the Pastor. We all just have different forms and functions. When did Paul, Peter, James or John really talk about becoming a member of a local body of Christ? All of their writings were focused on knowing Jesus and keeping the faith. They taught about the sovereignty of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. None of them talked about membership or being on a list. Other that Paul who told a church to put widows on a list in order that they would not be left out and not be properly taken care of.
If I come and declare my allegiance to a particular local gathering as to God’s calling of me to this body, is that not the same as “becoming a member”? Just to be put on a list and declared by others that they accept me as part of their “body or fellowship”, seems anti-climactic. If I give my time, talents, energy and tithes to this local expression of the body of Christ, and pray for its leadership, does that not mean I am a member of that local expression of the body of Christ?
This brings me to the next point of eldership and church government. I believe that an Elder led body is scripturally correct. A “voting membership” is not a biblical doctrine. Thus, why have a “membership role”? If I don’t “get to vote”, do I “get a say” in the issues that will affect me and my family? Then the question becomes, “Do the Elders (shepherds, pastors) know their “flock” well enough to lead or judge rightly, the condition of the flock and lead them in a correct manner? Do the shepherds move about in the congregation to touch, feel and sense the needs as a shepherd of a flock of sheep would do? Do the shepherds feel as though they are the “ones with the knowledge” and they alone know what God is doing? And that brings me to, are the shepherds not just a “part of the body”? And what part? Do they not need the other seemly members also, as described in I Corinthians 12? I have attended churches which had both typed of leadership and considered myself as a member of each body. Neither type has done a very good job of informing the members or asking for prayer about major issues and direction for the church.
I have been told by both types of leadership that “they considered me as part of the overall leadership team of the church” and yet, none of the “elders or pastor” have asked my thinking on any issue. And I had attended and been considered as a member for 10 and 20 years respectively.
We really do need each other! I guess I’ve just been around too long and seen too much in the “body politic” of many different churches, and the control of money, time and people. I have seen too many churches over the years that have used many different types of leadership and membership to not speak out.
Just an old man’s ramblings; what do you think?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Just to refresh your memory, hermeneutics is the key to all studies.
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
Member vs Membership
My references books for this next portion are Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, and the New World Dictionary, and, oh yes, the Bible, The New Analytical Bible, KJV, and the New American Standard Bible.
The New World Dictionary defines member in this fashion: 1. a part or organ of a human or animal body. 2. a part of a plant, considered with regard to structure or position rather than function. 3. a distinct part or element of a whole, of a mathematic equation, 4. a person belonging to some association, society, community , party etc.
Membership: the state of being, or status as a member, 2. members collective, 3. the number of members.
The New Analytical Bible’s definition of member: part of the body.
Membership: The New Analytical Bible does not contain the word “membership”.
Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance: Member: no definition is given; membership is not listed as a word used anywhere in the Bible.
The discussion should be over at this point, but I press on.
There are only three references in the Old Testament for the words member or members. There are thirty-four references in the New Testament for member or members. Most of the references are in Romans and I and II Corinthians
I have heard it said by many preachers that I admire, “Let the plain things be the main things and let the main things be the plain things”.
I truly believe that we are members of the body of Christ; all, at any time of history, from any point around the world, who have named the Name of Jesus as their Savior. Although there are many and very close similarities in the two words, the act of “becoming a member” or on a “membership role or list”, I do not believe it is a biblical idea, dogma or mandate. I am active in a local expression of the “Body of Christ” because He has placed me there. I am there for a reason, sometimes I know why and sometimes it is not revealed until I have been there for a “season”. That main reason for my being there is for “body building”, of which I wrote about in an earlier paper. It is not for my glory or my lording over others, I am part of the body and to glorify the Lord, no one is more important than any other as defined in I Corinthians 12, even the Pastor. We all just have different forms and functions. When did Paul, Peter, James or John really talk about becoming a member of a local body of Christ? All of their writings were focused on knowing Jesus and keeping the faith. They taught about the sovereignty of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. None of them talked about membership or being on a list. Other that Paul who told a church to put widows on a list in order that they would not be left out and not be properly taken care of.
If I come and declare my allegiance to a particular local gathering as to God’s calling of me to this body, is that not the same as “becoming a member”? Just to be put on a list and declared by others that they accept me as part of their “body or fellowship”, seems anti-climactic. If I give my time, talents, energy and tithes to this local expression of the body of Christ, and pray for its leadership, does that not mean I am a member of that local expression of the body of Christ?
This brings me to the next point of eldership and church government. I believe that an Elder led body is scripturally correct. A “voting membership” is not a biblical doctrine. Thus, why have a “membership role”? If I don’t “get to vote”, do I “get a say” in the issues that will affect me and my family? Then the question becomes, “Do the Elders (shepherds, pastors) know their “flock” well enough to lead or judge rightly, the condition of the flock and lead them in a correct manner? Do the shepherds move about in the congregation to touch, feel and sense the needs as a shepherd of a flock of sheep would do? Do the shepherds feel as though they are the “ones with the knowledge” and they alone know what God is doing? And that brings me to, are the shepherds not just a “part of the body”? And what part? Do they not need the other seemly members also, as described in I Corinthians 12? I have attended churches which had both typed of leadership and considered myself as a member of each body. Neither type has done a very good job of informing the members or asking for prayer about major issues and direction for the church.
I have been told by both types of leadership that “they considered me as part of the overall leadership team of the church” and yet, none of the “elders or pastor” have asked my thinking on any issue. And I had attended and been considered as a member for 10 and 20 years respectively.
We really do need each other! I guess I’ve just been around too long and seen too much in the “body politic” of many different churches, and the control of money, time and people. I have seen too many churches over the years that have used many different types of leadership and membership to not speak out.
Just an old man’s ramblings; what do you think?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Saturday, July 3, 2010
The American Dream and The American Gospel
Hermeneutics
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
My writings come from a fertile and active mind. The inspiration comes from a variety of conversations, musings, or thought processes. All, to me, have a meaning and purpose in order to clarify a position or standard by which to live and conduct ones life.
Most of my writings will take a course like this; inspiration, thought, prayer, study and prayer. Then, after several days, when I have time, I will sit down at the computer and begin to write. Sometimes, as I write, even more thoughts and perspectives come to me. Sometimes, like now, my computer is doing crazy things and I will save what I have and shut it down and go back to bed. I do most of my writing between 2 and 5 AM. Which explains a lot, right?
All of my writings, as of late, are based on a Biblical doctrine (truth) and a belief that I hold because of study. What “bugs” me most, is the thinking today in the “church” (as a whole) is this “Americanized Gospel”, as if, “If works in America it will work anywhere”. For instance… the prosperity gospel or name it and claim it. Now if I take that topic and try to make it work in the rest of the world, the people in third world countries will be very disappointed in the outcome. Why? Because they have no financial means to start the process. But then, those proclaimers will tell them, “You don’t have enough faith”. Am I making sense or is it just the 3:30 AM blues?
In other words, I take what the Bible says to determine what I believe. I don’t take what I believe and find something in the Bible that sounds like that and make it fit. That’s where I’m going in this writing. Will, what I believe the Bible says; work, no matter where it is preached? Paul and the other Apostles wrote in the first century, we are reading it and living our lives according to it in the twenty-first century. Are we understanding it and living it as the Apostles wrote it? Do we let the Bible speak for itself, Genesis through Revelation, in context as God intended?
If King David had wives and concubines and Solomon did also, then doesn’t it seem right that I can do the same? I’m stretching to make my point. Many people say, “I think there is sufficient evidence to build my case”. I am into “Building the Body” (which is a previous writing) rather than “building my case” (which I am trying to do now). That is really not “my case”, but determining what the Bible really says about a topic.
To my main thesis for this writing….
The American Dream and The American Gospel
My Pastor inspired this part of my writing. How does the
“American Dream" fit into the “church”, or does it? Has the “American Dream” crept into the church and caused the “American Gospel”?
Peace and prosperity have become “by words” in the church today. America has lived in a time and place that supplies that type of “peace and security”. Thus, it only allows the church to slip, slide and relax into a false state of ease and comfort. And, if “you” are not in that place of ease and comfort, then there is something wrong with you.
Do you think “Christianly”? Do you live “Christianly”? Would you live the same way if you were a missionary in Thailand or in the Congo in Africa, or in China? How would your surroundings affect your thinking? Would you be more aware of you lack of food and water, “normal food and clean water”? Where would your “American” thinking be then? What is “normal” anyway?
Does normal depend on location and culture? I think it does. Thus, should the gospel become “normal” to fit the culture? As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, “may it never be”.
So then, my question to ponder is this, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? Can you find, in a hermeneutical sense, reasons for why you live the Gospel the way you do? Do not stretch to find a few verses to meet your needs and discard the other verses that oppose your selected viewing area. My next question is this, “What will the “church” allow to come into their midst and take up a place of importance?
My daughter just emailed me a web link from a good Christian organization about “The Emergent Church” and asked what I thought? I’d like you to meet her sometime. She’s a thinker, she’s a studier of the Bible and she loves her dad. Anyway, I told her, The Emergent church is nothing new, it is just “repackaged” for the 21st century, and straight out of hell. If you’re not familiar… it’s a come as you are and we will not judge you, you’re just as good as we are and “I’m OK and so are you”. Yes, Jesus is cool, but we aren’t going to make you follow our beliefs or make you feel uncomfortable.
Back to my point… Is that thinking, “Biblical or Cultural”? From where I sit, it is not Biblical. Then there’s “tolerance”. Well, didn’t Jesus teach tolerance? With statements like, “I Am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me”. I say, no, He did not teach tolerance. Why do you think the middle-east has been torn apart for thousands of years? Why don’t the Muslim’s tolerate the Jews? Everyone asks the Jews to tolerate the “Palestinians’” and the Muslims, why does tolerance not work both directions?
Back to the Church….
I have a quiz I like to have people take which asks the question, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? This quiz has about thirty questions. It has some silly questions like, Should the carpet in the sanctuary only be red? Try asking that question in a little village in a remote part of Africa that has dirt floors and a thatched roof. But some of the questions are ones that most Christian should not have trouble with answering, “Biblical”. Yet some miss those questions. Why???
1. They don’t know (read) the Bible to begin with
2. They have never been taught that they are responsible for their own growth.
3. They have been caught up in the rhetoric of easy believe’ism.
4. They have believed that they are Americans and the “bad stuff” is for those other people.
5. They have bought into the “American Dream in the American Church” syndrome.
6. They have never encountered the true Jesus of the Bible. The one who was a bloody mess from the beating. The one who hung on the cross in agony.
The American Dream has crept into the church and has distorted the True Gospel. In II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Paul tells it like this, “Now we request of you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not quickly be shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by spirit or a message or a letter as if from us that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”. The types of things mentioned above are just a few examples of that apostasy and the process by which the gospel has been altered. I could never understand how or why people could “walk away from Jesus”, but now I see more clearly that they never really “knew” Him. And this will remain one of the mysteries of the Bible, one of the things that only God knows; did they or didn’t they… but what if… I think they… they said… they came to church all the time…. But only God knows the heart of a man, and He will judge him rightly.
So then, have you been on the slippery path of the “Americanized Gospel”? Or, are you staying true to the Bible and its true teachings? Does a little buzzer go off in your head when you hear a Pastor or Preacher talk about the best way for you to become prosperous? If you’re sick and you Pastor tells you it’s your fault and if you only had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick. Do you believe him?
I’m looking for someone to tell me how to become more like Jesus. How about you?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
reskew@aol.com
Hermeneutics
The study of interpretation of the Bible; the study of the principles of Biblical exegesis
I believe this means, to take all of what the Bible references on a topic and interpret them in a fashion that is consistent with the theme and context of the word and the text. (And if it ain’t there, don’t say it is). The word exegesis means out of, not in to. What do I get “out of” what I read, not what can I read into what I read.
My writings come from a fertile and active mind. The inspiration comes from a variety of conversations, musings, or thought processes. All, to me, have a meaning and purpose in order to clarify a position or standard by which to live and conduct ones life.
Most of my writings will take a course like this; inspiration, thought, prayer, study and prayer. Then, after several days, when I have time, I will sit down at the computer and begin to write. Sometimes, as I write, even more thoughts and perspectives come to me. Sometimes, like now, my computer is doing crazy things and I will save what I have and shut it down and go back to bed. I do most of my writing between 2 and 5 AM. Which explains a lot, right?
All of my writings, as of late, are based on a Biblical doctrine (truth) and a belief that I hold because of study. What “bugs” me most, is the thinking today in the “church” (as a whole) is this “Americanized Gospel”, as if, “If works in America it will work anywhere”. For instance… the prosperity gospel or name it and claim it. Now if I take that topic and try to make it work in the rest of the world, the people in third world countries will be very disappointed in the outcome. Why? Because they have no financial means to start the process. But then, those proclaimers will tell them, “You don’t have enough faith”. Am I making sense or is it just the 3:30 AM blues?
In other words, I take what the Bible says to determine what I believe. I don’t take what I believe and find something in the Bible that sounds like that and make it fit. That’s where I’m going in this writing. Will, what I believe the Bible says; work, no matter where it is preached? Paul and the other Apostles wrote in the first century, we are reading it and living our lives according to it in the twenty-first century. Are we understanding it and living it as the Apostles wrote it? Do we let the Bible speak for itself, Genesis through Revelation, in context as God intended?
If King David had wives and concubines and Solomon did also, then doesn’t it seem right that I can do the same? I’m stretching to make my point. Many people say, “I think there is sufficient evidence to build my case”. I am into “Building the Body” (which is a previous writing) rather than “building my case” (which I am trying to do now). That is really not “my case”, but determining what the Bible really says about a topic.
To my main thesis for this writing….
The American Dream and The American Gospel
My Pastor inspired this part of my writing. How does the
“American Dream" fit into the “church”, or does it? Has the “American Dream” crept into the church and caused the “American Gospel”?
Peace and prosperity have become “by words” in the church today. America has lived in a time and place that supplies that type of “peace and security”. Thus, it only allows the church to slip, slide and relax into a false state of ease and comfort. And, if “you” are not in that place of ease and comfort, then there is something wrong with you.
Do you think “Christianly”? Do you live “Christianly”? Would you live the same way if you were a missionary in Thailand or in the Congo in Africa, or in China? How would your surroundings affect your thinking? Would you be more aware of you lack of food and water, “normal food and clean water”? Where would your “American” thinking be then? What is “normal” anyway?
Does normal depend on location and culture? I think it does. Thus, should the gospel become “normal” to fit the culture? As the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, “may it never be”.
So then, my question to ponder is this, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? Can you find, in a hermeneutical sense, reasons for why you live the Gospel the way you do? Do not stretch to find a few verses to meet your needs and discard the other verses that oppose your selected viewing area. My next question is this, “What will the “church” allow to come into their midst and take up a place of importance?
My daughter just emailed me a web link from a good Christian organization about “The Emergent Church” and asked what I thought? I’d like you to meet her sometime. She’s a thinker, she’s a studier of the Bible and she loves her dad. Anyway, I told her, The Emergent church is nothing new, it is just “repackaged” for the 21st century, and straight out of hell. If you’re not familiar… it’s a come as you are and we will not judge you, you’re just as good as we are and “I’m OK and so are you”. Yes, Jesus is cool, but we aren’t going to make you follow our beliefs or make you feel uncomfortable.
Back to my point… Is that thinking, “Biblical or Cultural”? From where I sit, it is not Biblical. Then there’s “tolerance”. Well, didn’t Jesus teach tolerance? With statements like, “I Am the way, the truth and the life and no one comes to the Father but by Me”. I say, no, He did not teach tolerance. Why do you think the middle-east has been torn apart for thousands of years? Why don’t the Muslim’s tolerate the Jews? Everyone asks the Jews to tolerate the “Palestinians’” and the Muslims, why does tolerance not work both directions?
Back to the Church….
I have a quiz I like to have people take which asks the question, “Is it Biblical or is it Cultural”? This quiz has about thirty questions. It has some silly questions like, Should the carpet in the sanctuary only be red? Try asking that question in a little village in a remote part of Africa that has dirt floors and a thatched roof. But some of the questions are ones that most Christian should not have trouble with answering, “Biblical”. Yet some miss those questions. Why???
1. They don’t know (read) the Bible to begin with
2. They have never been taught that they are responsible for their own growth.
3. They have been caught up in the rhetoric of easy believe’ism.
4. They have believed that they are Americans and the “bad stuff” is for those other people.
5. They have bought into the “American Dream in the American Church” syndrome.
6. They have never encountered the true Jesus of the Bible. The one who was a bloody mess from the beating. The one who hung on the cross in agony.
The American Dream has crept into the church and has distorted the True Gospel. In II Thessalonians 2:1-3, Paul tells it like this, “Now we request of you, brothers, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him, that you may not quickly be shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by spirit or a message or a letter as if from us that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction”. The types of things mentioned above are just a few examples of that apostasy and the process by which the gospel has been altered. I could never understand how or why people could “walk away from Jesus”, but now I see more clearly that they never really “knew” Him. And this will remain one of the mysteries of the Bible, one of the things that only God knows; did they or didn’t they… but what if… I think they… they said… they came to church all the time…. But only God knows the heart of a man, and He will judge him rightly.
So then, have you been on the slippery path of the “Americanized Gospel”? Or, are you staying true to the Bible and its true teachings? Does a little buzzer go off in your head when you hear a Pastor or Preacher talk about the best way for you to become prosperous? If you’re sick and you Pastor tells you it’s your fault and if you only had enough faith, you wouldn’t be sick. Do you believe him?
I’m looking for someone to tell me how to become more like Jesus. How about you?
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
reskew@aol.com
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Body Building
In my younger days, starting in high school, I lifted weights. It was just something that the athletes did to help in development and train for sports. It was not part of the schools program; we had to go to a local gym that specialized in body building for body building competition.
There were different types of programs depending upon what you wanted to accomplish. In all of the programs, there were the basics, exercise, nutrition and rest. I can remember the season of life I was in and the purpose for lifting, which is not the topic of conversation for now.
My regimen went like this; Monday, Wednesday and Friday were lift days. This meant that on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I rested. The diet went something like this; I would leave work and hit McDonalds. I would order three hamburger patties and a chocolate shake, no bun, no pickles, no catsup. This caused quite a stir for the first two to three weeks. “You can’t just order the meat; you have to get the bun also”. Different days and different crews is why it took so long. Eventually, when they saw me coming, my order would be ready. After my workout, that took about two hours, I would go eat dinner.
Weight lifting workouts went something like this; stationary bike for about 10 minutes (warm up), squats and leg lifts (lower body), then arms and chest (upper body). The regimen was heavy weight, few repetitions, for building mass in the muscles. For definition or cut, it would be light weight and many, many repetitions’. In that framework were sets, usually three sets of ten or three sets of fifteen.
Most exercise or weight loss trainers will tell you that if you have a partner your workout will be easier; it’s that encouragement and accountability thing.
The manager of the gym told my workout partner and myself that he had never seen anyone “bulk up” as fast as we did, and he was a “professional body builder” himself and performed in body building competition. I will admit, we were committed to body building and each other.
Of course there is a point to my writing.
If you will turn with me in the Bible to Ephesians the fourth chapter and the eleventh verse, I will begin. Context: Paul is writing to the Ephesians to instruct them about the way they should live their lives when they become Christians and what God has done to enable them to do so. In verse one Paul instructs them to “walk in a manner worthy of your calling”, that of being a Christ follower.
Ephesians 4: 11,12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, and to the building up of the body of Christ”.
These people are your partners in your spiritual workout. These are the people who instruct you and guide you in your own maturing in Christ-likeness. These are the people who feed you, develop you, set out a regimen or a program for you to follow and learn the ways of Christ; in order that, you may grow to the point of feeding yourself and then move on to become one who instructs others; that you may become one who develops others and help them get stronger and wiser in their walk with the Lord.
And that brings me to the a few more verses. Ephesians 4: 13, “to the attaining of unity”. Unity doesn’t mean sameness. As in the military, a unit could be a squad, it could be a platoon, it could be a company; many members with one goal or purpose.
Ephesians 4:14 “no longer tossed about by waves or carried about by doctrine, or trickery of men”. In other words, you will know the truth about Jesus and not be persuaded by men that there are “other truths” you should know about.
Ephesians 4:16 “the whole body is being fitted and held together, for the proper work of the body”. God has a plan and a purpose for the “Body of Christ”, the body as a whole, and each individual member. Don’t think you are not important. In I Corinthians 12 Paul discusses the body and the functioning of the body by use of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit”. In this passage he declares, if we were all an eye where would the sense of smell be? This is another topic for another day.
But for now, ‘We really do need each other”. Stay close to others, don’t wander off, don’t get caught up in the philosophies of man, don’t mix the Bible with the other religion’s teaching or the worlds teaching. Find that person or a group of people who you can encourage and be encouraged, where you can be accountable and hold others accountable. Don’t forget to rest… rest in the ever loving arms of the Savior, Jesus.
So, what do you say, you ready to partner-up? Let’s do some “body building”!
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
In my younger days, starting in high school, I lifted weights. It was just something that the athletes did to help in development and train for sports. It was not part of the schools program; we had to go to a local gym that specialized in body building for body building competition.
There were different types of programs depending upon what you wanted to accomplish. In all of the programs, there were the basics, exercise, nutrition and rest. I can remember the season of life I was in and the purpose for lifting, which is not the topic of conversation for now.
My regimen went like this; Monday, Wednesday and Friday were lift days. This meant that on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday I rested. The diet went something like this; I would leave work and hit McDonalds. I would order three hamburger patties and a chocolate shake, no bun, no pickles, no catsup. This caused quite a stir for the first two to three weeks. “You can’t just order the meat; you have to get the bun also”. Different days and different crews is why it took so long. Eventually, when they saw me coming, my order would be ready. After my workout, that took about two hours, I would go eat dinner.
Weight lifting workouts went something like this; stationary bike for about 10 minutes (warm up), squats and leg lifts (lower body), then arms and chest (upper body). The regimen was heavy weight, few repetitions, for building mass in the muscles. For definition or cut, it would be light weight and many, many repetitions’. In that framework were sets, usually three sets of ten or three sets of fifteen.
Most exercise or weight loss trainers will tell you that if you have a partner your workout will be easier; it’s that encouragement and accountability thing.
The manager of the gym told my workout partner and myself that he had never seen anyone “bulk up” as fast as we did, and he was a “professional body builder” himself and performed in body building competition. I will admit, we were committed to body building and each other.
Of course there is a point to my writing.
If you will turn with me in the Bible to Ephesians the fourth chapter and the eleventh verse, I will begin. Context: Paul is writing to the Ephesians to instruct them about the way they should live their lives when they become Christians and what God has done to enable them to do so. In verse one Paul instructs them to “walk in a manner worthy of your calling”, that of being a Christ follower.
Ephesians 4: 11,12 “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, and to the building up of the body of Christ”.
These people are your partners in your spiritual workout. These are the people who instruct you and guide you in your own maturing in Christ-likeness. These are the people who feed you, develop you, set out a regimen or a program for you to follow and learn the ways of Christ; in order that, you may grow to the point of feeding yourself and then move on to become one who instructs others; that you may become one who develops others and help them get stronger and wiser in their walk with the Lord.
And that brings me to the a few more verses. Ephesians 4: 13, “to the attaining of unity”. Unity doesn’t mean sameness. As in the military, a unit could be a squad, it could be a platoon, it could be a company; many members with one goal or purpose.
Ephesians 4:14 “no longer tossed about by waves or carried about by doctrine, or trickery of men”. In other words, you will know the truth about Jesus and not be persuaded by men that there are “other truths” you should know about.
Ephesians 4:16 “the whole body is being fitted and held together, for the proper work of the body”. God has a plan and a purpose for the “Body of Christ”, the body as a whole, and each individual member. Don’t think you are not important. In I Corinthians 12 Paul discusses the body and the functioning of the body by use of the “gifts of the Holy Spirit”. In this passage he declares, if we were all an eye where would the sense of smell be? This is another topic for another day.
But for now, ‘We really do need each other”. Stay close to others, don’t wander off, don’t get caught up in the philosophies of man, don’t mix the Bible with the other religion’s teaching or the worlds teaching. Find that person or a group of people who you can encourage and be encouraged, where you can be accountable and hold others accountable. Don’t forget to rest… rest in the ever loving arms of the Savior, Jesus.
So, what do you say, you ready to partner-up? Let’s do some “body building”!
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
WHY?
So… what’s the big idea? What’s the problem? Can’t I ask why when I want to? I’ve been doing it all my life!
Anyone who has been around children, even for a short period of time, will have to answer the question, “Why?”
Last night our Bible study watched a video from James McDonald called simply, “Why?” He started with a true story about a man whose great desire was to be a “full time” missionary and worked hard to get ready to serve and raise his support. He purchased his ticket, said good-bye to his parents and got on the plane to fly to his assignment. The plane crashed within hours of its departure and he was killed. The parents received a letter from their son, which he had written just moments before he got on the plane. Just a note scribbled on a magazine page he had torn out, that said something to the effect, I love what I’m doing, I love you. In the middle of the magazine page was a bold print of one word… “Why?”
The discussion after the video was about the “Why” questions in our lives. Is it proper to ask God “Why?” Or, “God, why me?” Or, “God, do you really know what You’re doing?” Or the, “What have I done to deserve this?” Of course we think about all the bad things that happen to us. “Why do I have cancer? Why did my child rebel? Why did my business fail? Why did I lose my job? Why did my spouse walk out? But God, aren’t You supposed to protect me? They said, If I trust in Jesus, everything would be fine!
These types of questions and statements are designed to limit God. He can only do things that make sense to us. But, but, but…, I read this scripture that said, He would take all my diseases, and heal all my sickness. And He said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Then, why do I feel all this heaviness, sadness and sorrow?
It’s because you are thinking like a normal human being and you are looking for the easy way out. You have been taught, wrongly, to read the Bible for what you can get. You have never been taught to read the Bible for what it says, fully and completely in its context for the truth that God has shown over and over. Why did the Israelites go through so many hard times? Because they did not listen to what god was telling them. They did the “cafeteria” method of religion; I can go down the line and choose whatever I want.
I think we need to ask the question in a different manner. Why can’t God be God? After all, didn’t He create everything? Maybe some will even have a problem with that statement, but then that would make you God… I don’t think so…. Ask Job. Even though he was upright in the sight of the Lord, he was still a sinner, one of the created beings.
I digress…. God has to be God and He has to have a “master plan”, which He says He has. Some familiar scriptures, Ps 139, I formed you in your mothers womb. Jeremiah 1, I knew you before you were born. Jeremiah 29, I know the plans I have for you. These verses were all written in times of sorrow and doubting and confusion for the writer. They were all asking the question, “Why?” Our “hero’s” of the faith all ask the question. All of our hero’s got the same answer that we get. “Do you love Me? Do you trust Me?
Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Some of you know his answer, “Lord… I like you a lot”. Jesus asked a second time, “Peter, do you love Me”? Peter’s answer was, “Lord I really have great affection for You”. The third time, Jesus asked, “Peter do you love Me”? Peter could only reply, “Lord, You know all things”. We know that Jesus was using the word agape signifying an “all out, unconditional love for Him”. Peter’s best response was, “Lord, You know all things”. Because He does. That’s what we rest in. We don’t rest in what we can figure out or scheme around, but we rest in Him.
The Names of God and of Jesus are an essential study or just getting the poster that has the names on it is good to read from time to time. Just a few, Alpha and Omega, He is the first and the last, the One Who was and is and is to come. I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit. Jehovah-Jirah, my provider.
My basic “why” question is, “God, why did you choose me”? Jesus says, No one comes to the Me unless he is drawn by the Father. He also says, You did not choose Me, but I chose you. So, What in Your loving providence, happened, that You chose me?
I love the old adage, “When everything else fails, read the directions”. Do you read enough of the Bible, which means all of it Genesis to Revelation, to know the God Who wrote it? Or are you still using it for the flowery fluff just to make you fell good? Do you know that hard times will come? Do you know the God who will get you through those hard times? Has he been faithful in the past? Is that not an indication that He will be faithful in the present and in the future?
I hope I have given you some things to think about. I hope I have given you someone to think about.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
So… what’s the big idea? What’s the problem? Can’t I ask why when I want to? I’ve been doing it all my life!
Anyone who has been around children, even for a short period of time, will have to answer the question, “Why?”
Last night our Bible study watched a video from James McDonald called simply, “Why?” He started with a true story about a man whose great desire was to be a “full time” missionary and worked hard to get ready to serve and raise his support. He purchased his ticket, said good-bye to his parents and got on the plane to fly to his assignment. The plane crashed within hours of its departure and he was killed. The parents received a letter from their son, which he had written just moments before he got on the plane. Just a note scribbled on a magazine page he had torn out, that said something to the effect, I love what I’m doing, I love you. In the middle of the magazine page was a bold print of one word… “Why?”
The discussion after the video was about the “Why” questions in our lives. Is it proper to ask God “Why?” Or, “God, why me?” Or, “God, do you really know what You’re doing?” Or the, “What have I done to deserve this?” Of course we think about all the bad things that happen to us. “Why do I have cancer? Why did my child rebel? Why did my business fail? Why did I lose my job? Why did my spouse walk out? But God, aren’t You supposed to protect me? They said, If I trust in Jesus, everything would be fine!
These types of questions and statements are designed to limit God. He can only do things that make sense to us. But, but, but…, I read this scripture that said, He would take all my diseases, and heal all my sickness. And He said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Then, why do I feel all this heaviness, sadness and sorrow?
It’s because you are thinking like a normal human being and you are looking for the easy way out. You have been taught, wrongly, to read the Bible for what you can get. You have never been taught to read the Bible for what it says, fully and completely in its context for the truth that God has shown over and over. Why did the Israelites go through so many hard times? Because they did not listen to what god was telling them. They did the “cafeteria” method of religion; I can go down the line and choose whatever I want.
I think we need to ask the question in a different manner. Why can’t God be God? After all, didn’t He create everything? Maybe some will even have a problem with that statement, but then that would make you God… I don’t think so…. Ask Job. Even though he was upright in the sight of the Lord, he was still a sinner, one of the created beings.
I digress…. God has to be God and He has to have a “master plan”, which He says He has. Some familiar scriptures, Ps 139, I formed you in your mothers womb. Jeremiah 1, I knew you before you were born. Jeremiah 29, I know the plans I have for you. These verses were all written in times of sorrow and doubting and confusion for the writer. They were all asking the question, “Why?” Our “hero’s” of the faith all ask the question. All of our hero’s got the same answer that we get. “Do you love Me? Do you trust Me?
Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Some of you know his answer, “Lord… I like you a lot”. Jesus asked a second time, “Peter, do you love Me”? Peter’s answer was, “Lord I really have great affection for You”. The third time, Jesus asked, “Peter do you love Me”? Peter could only reply, “Lord, You know all things”. We know that Jesus was using the word agape signifying an “all out, unconditional love for Him”. Peter’s best response was, “Lord, You know all things”. Because He does. That’s what we rest in. We don’t rest in what we can figure out or scheme around, but we rest in Him.
The Names of God and of Jesus are an essential study or just getting the poster that has the names on it is good to read from time to time. Just a few, Alpha and Omega, He is the first and the last, the One Who was and is and is to come. I am the vine and you are the branches, if you abide in Me, you will bear much fruit. Jehovah-Jirah, my provider.
My basic “why” question is, “God, why did you choose me”? Jesus says, No one comes to the Me unless he is drawn by the Father. He also says, You did not choose Me, but I chose you. So, What in Your loving providence, happened, that You chose me?
I love the old adage, “When everything else fails, read the directions”. Do you read enough of the Bible, which means all of it Genesis to Revelation, to know the God Who wrote it? Or are you still using it for the flowery fluff just to make you fell good? Do you know that hard times will come? Do you know the God who will get you through those hard times? Has he been faithful in the past? Is that not an indication that He will be faithful in the present and in the future?
I hope I have given you some things to think about. I hope I have given you someone to think about.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
What If – What Is
Only one letter is different in the title, but that one letter will describe a world of difference.
Last night I was talking to a friend, which may shock some of you that I have a friend, at Bible Study. Yes I study the Bible, it is not a book that occupies a space on the table or sits on a shelf somewhere. Any way, I had shared part of my life’s story about how I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior. The story included the fact that I had been married for two and a half years in the late ‘60’s, that’s the 1960’s not the 1860’s, I old, but not that old. I came to know the Lord in 1974 and shortly after that the Lord revealed to me my shortcomings in the marriage. I told the Lord, “She is somewhere in California and I don’t know where. Have her call me in the next week and I will ask forgiveness for my faults in the marriage.
I must insert here that she left me while I was at “Summer Camp” in the National Guard, for two weeks. I came home and she told me she wanted a separation. This action turned into her living with another man for several months and then she moved to California with him. When she left for California, I filed for a divorce. And the rest is history.
Back to my story…. I told the Lord, “Have her call me within the next week and I will ask for her forgiveness”. She called two days later. I had moved two or three times in those eight or ten years, so you have to know, “It’s a God thing”. I did what I said I would do and asked her forgiveness and she told me it was all her fault and it was OK. I went back to my mistakes and faults and asked again for her forgiveness. She accepted it request and started to cry and said she had to go. That was in the spring of 1975.
I did some Bible study about a year and a half later, on the topic of marriage and divorce, which would have been in late 1976. Let me first say that God hates divorce. It is a ripping and tearing of the flesh of the two that have become one. The scar is always there and the wound is very deep, even if they are not Christians in the true Biblical sense; and more-so in the true Christian marriage. My marriage to that woman was before I was a Christian, but the scar was deep and the nerves were pulsing.
She called me in, I think 1978, and was back in Indy and asked if I could go to her father’s funeral with her. I told her no, because I had remarried in July of 1977. The phone call was very short after that.
This is where the “What if” comes into play. In 1987 or so, she called me and told me she had finally gotten this “Jesus thing”, and had asked Jesus to be her Savior. My mind began to play the “what if” game. What would have happened if I had waited for her to come to know the Lord? Would God have been more please if we were to remarry and start life together again? I had to stop myself from playing that game. There are no “what if’s” in God’s economy. I couldn’t let it happen then and I can’t live my life today, “playing that game”. I would not have the great kids I have or the great in-laws and
out-laws I have. Not to mention the wonderful G’kids I have. Life would have been totally different. And I don’t think I could live with that.
That brings me to “What Is”…. When I did my study on marriage and divorce, I took that information and made life decisions based on God’s Bible. I did not make decisions on how I felt that day. My feelings change based on several influences and I would probably make some bad decisions if I did not “run it past God’s guidelines”, the Bible.
I must now look at and live my life according to His word and the leading of His Holy Spirit. There are no “What If’s” in the Bible. There is an abundance of “What Is”. So, “What is” in your life? Are you playing the game and falling for the temptations of what might be? There are always answers if you are willing to look for them. Then you have to have the courage to live by them.
I have been studying the Bible for nearly to 36 years, I am not a Biblical Scholar, but a serious student of the Bible. If you have question about your life and things that don’t seem to be right, drop me an email, reskew@aol.com title it “Life Questions”, some of your emails might go to spam, so I need to know I need to answer it.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Only one letter is different in the title, but that one letter will describe a world of difference.
Last night I was talking to a friend, which may shock some of you that I have a friend, at Bible Study. Yes I study the Bible, it is not a book that occupies a space on the table or sits on a shelf somewhere. Any way, I had shared part of my life’s story about how I came to know Jesus as my personal Savior. The story included the fact that I had been married for two and a half years in the late ‘60’s, that’s the 1960’s not the 1860’s, I old, but not that old. I came to know the Lord in 1974 and shortly after that the Lord revealed to me my shortcomings in the marriage. I told the Lord, “She is somewhere in California and I don’t know where. Have her call me in the next week and I will ask forgiveness for my faults in the marriage.
I must insert here that she left me while I was at “Summer Camp” in the National Guard, for two weeks. I came home and she told me she wanted a separation. This action turned into her living with another man for several months and then she moved to California with him. When she left for California, I filed for a divorce. And the rest is history.
Back to my story…. I told the Lord, “Have her call me within the next week and I will ask for her forgiveness”. She called two days later. I had moved two or three times in those eight or ten years, so you have to know, “It’s a God thing”. I did what I said I would do and asked her forgiveness and she told me it was all her fault and it was OK. I went back to my mistakes and faults and asked again for her forgiveness. She accepted it request and started to cry and said she had to go. That was in the spring of 1975.
I did some Bible study about a year and a half later, on the topic of marriage and divorce, which would have been in late 1976. Let me first say that God hates divorce. It is a ripping and tearing of the flesh of the two that have become one. The scar is always there and the wound is very deep, even if they are not Christians in the true Biblical sense; and more-so in the true Christian marriage. My marriage to that woman was before I was a Christian, but the scar was deep and the nerves were pulsing.
She called me in, I think 1978, and was back in Indy and asked if I could go to her father’s funeral with her. I told her no, because I had remarried in July of 1977. The phone call was very short after that.
This is where the “What if” comes into play. In 1987 or so, she called me and told me she had finally gotten this “Jesus thing”, and had asked Jesus to be her Savior. My mind began to play the “what if” game. What would have happened if I had waited for her to come to know the Lord? Would God have been more please if we were to remarry and start life together again? I had to stop myself from playing that game. There are no “what if’s” in God’s economy. I couldn’t let it happen then and I can’t live my life today, “playing that game”. I would not have the great kids I have or the great in-laws and
out-laws I have. Not to mention the wonderful G’kids I have. Life would have been totally different. And I don’t think I could live with that.
That brings me to “What Is”…. When I did my study on marriage and divorce, I took that information and made life decisions based on God’s Bible. I did not make decisions on how I felt that day. My feelings change based on several influences and I would probably make some bad decisions if I did not “run it past God’s guidelines”, the Bible.
I must now look at and live my life according to His word and the leading of His Holy Spirit. There are no “What If’s” in the Bible. There is an abundance of “What Is”. So, “What is” in your life? Are you playing the game and falling for the temptations of what might be? There are always answers if you are willing to look for them. Then you have to have the courage to live by them.
I have been studying the Bible for nearly to 36 years, I am not a Biblical Scholar, but a serious student of the Bible. If you have question about your life and things that don’t seem to be right, drop me an email, reskew@aol.com title it “Life Questions”, some of your emails might go to spam, so I need to know I need to answer it.
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
The Truth About Relatives
There is a new “reality” show on T.V. now, 2010. I don’t know what the name is, but some of the stars are Lisa Kudro, Spike Lee, and Brook Shield. I have not watched it; I only have seen the “trailers” and advertisements for it. But, these people look for their relatives from decades and centuries past and see how they have come from a long line of kings and queens. If I’m wrong, someone please let me know. I doubt if any of these stars will find a scoundrel in their family tree.
If I were to say to you, “How many of you are related to “Jack the Ripper?” would you raise your hand? What about Gingis Kahn? What about Mao? Even if you are not oriental, could your search bring you to a point in history to show you are related. I have heard of many family tree searches that lead to kings and queens and people of prominence being found by the person doing the search. None tell you that you come from a long line of “gypsies, tramps and thieves”.
And there are some that tell you, “Your first ancestors were apes”. It is that evolutionary strand that runs through all of us. Darwin told his followers that, “If my theories are found to be wrong in the future, discount all that I have said or thought”. And many have, but some kept the myth, the lie, alive for their own purposes. But, no one from that “camp” tells you that about Darwin. Yes, apes have a similar DNA and the word “similar” is the key. The term for a “word studier” escapes me at the present, it begins with and “e”. The word similar does not mean “the same” or “identical”. It more describes things that are closely related, and that seems to be related to our topic. There are distinct differences and not interchangeable in DNA structure. No, I’m not a scientist, but I play one on T.V. You don’t have to be a scientist to think logical about many issues outside your expertise.
Example: The space scientists are looking for water on Mars or one of the other planets they have landed and “planet exploration devise”, a robot. Because they know water is a key to maintaining life, as we know it. My thinking is this: What does it take to make water? You need some H’s and some 2’s and some O’s, then these elements have to be connected in the right form or fashion. The scientist can’t make the connection in the laboratory, so why does he think he can make the connection in space? Oh yes, one other thing. When we do send a man in space what does he take with him? He has to take some H’s, some 2’s and some O’s. He has to take along water and oxygen. If there’s no oxygen there can be no water. Does that make sense?
That’s the type of thing I am talking about when it comes to relatives. If you look back you will find some really bad people in your past. It may not take but a few generations. If your last name is James, are you related to Jesse James? If two people have the same last name are they related? If one is of Caucasian descent and the other is of African or Asian descent? How did it happen and where did it all start? I thought you’d never ask.
I am not sure if I have written anything, lately, that did not turn to the spiritual side of things. I take everything to the Bible and see if it makes sense from that perspective. Why, you ask? If you want a thorough explanation go to Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. My short version is this. It was written over a period of about 4000 years, by 40 authors, with varying roles and occupations from Kings to doctors, to shepherds, and fishermen, on two continents, and is the explanation of God’s story about man. And one more, small item, it is without contradiction.
Back to relatives: We’re all in this together. It is explained over and over in the Bible. In the beginning… God…. Then it tells us that He created man and woman. Them be our relatives. You can read the “begat’s” in Genesis. But then, God became angry with “those men” (several decades later), and destroyed the earth with a flood, saving only eight, Noah’s family. Then… them be out relatives.
But to my point…. Why should we find some scoundrels in our family tree? It is because of the other issue about our relatives. That is the sin issue. God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because they disobeyed Him and broke the relationship of love, obedience and trust. God gave them the tree of life and the tree of good and evil, as we now call them. They chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If then, they would have eaten from the tree of life; they would have spent eternity in the state of disobedience, sin, with no way out. So, God removed them from the Garden to protect them. In that process, He made a sacrifice, a blood offering. From that point on, man was a scoundrel. That’s the long – story – short.
So, don’t believe everything you hear and see on T.V., or the internet, even my stuff, read the books…, the what? Do people read anymore? I mean books. But, that’s another topic for another day. I think there are more people today who are illiterate than in times past. They read blogs and face book and twitter, and opinions about opinions. They read anything except the material that presents the facts.
By the way… my blog is: reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Other responses can be sent to reskew@aol.com
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
There is a new “reality” show on T.V. now, 2010. I don’t know what the name is, but some of the stars are Lisa Kudro, Spike Lee, and Brook Shield. I have not watched it; I only have seen the “trailers” and advertisements for it. But, these people look for their relatives from decades and centuries past and see how they have come from a long line of kings and queens. If I’m wrong, someone please let me know. I doubt if any of these stars will find a scoundrel in their family tree.
If I were to say to you, “How many of you are related to “Jack the Ripper?” would you raise your hand? What about Gingis Kahn? What about Mao? Even if you are not oriental, could your search bring you to a point in history to show you are related. I have heard of many family tree searches that lead to kings and queens and people of prominence being found by the person doing the search. None tell you that you come from a long line of “gypsies, tramps and thieves”.
And there are some that tell you, “Your first ancestors were apes”. It is that evolutionary strand that runs through all of us. Darwin told his followers that, “If my theories are found to be wrong in the future, discount all that I have said or thought”. And many have, but some kept the myth, the lie, alive for their own purposes. But, no one from that “camp” tells you that about Darwin. Yes, apes have a similar DNA and the word “similar” is the key. The term for a “word studier” escapes me at the present, it begins with and “e”. The word similar does not mean “the same” or “identical”. It more describes things that are closely related, and that seems to be related to our topic. There are distinct differences and not interchangeable in DNA structure. No, I’m not a scientist, but I play one on T.V. You don’t have to be a scientist to think logical about many issues outside your expertise.
Example: The space scientists are looking for water on Mars or one of the other planets they have landed and “planet exploration devise”, a robot. Because they know water is a key to maintaining life, as we know it. My thinking is this: What does it take to make water? You need some H’s and some 2’s and some O’s, then these elements have to be connected in the right form or fashion. The scientist can’t make the connection in the laboratory, so why does he think he can make the connection in space? Oh yes, one other thing. When we do send a man in space what does he take with him? He has to take some H’s, some 2’s and some O’s. He has to take along water and oxygen. If there’s no oxygen there can be no water. Does that make sense?
That’s the type of thing I am talking about when it comes to relatives. If you look back you will find some really bad people in your past. It may not take but a few generations. If your last name is James, are you related to Jesse James? If two people have the same last name are they related? If one is of Caucasian descent and the other is of African or Asian descent? How did it happen and where did it all start? I thought you’d never ask.
I am not sure if I have written anything, lately, that did not turn to the spiritual side of things. I take everything to the Bible and see if it makes sense from that perspective. Why, you ask? If you want a thorough explanation go to Josh McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict. My short version is this. It was written over a period of about 4000 years, by 40 authors, with varying roles and occupations from Kings to doctors, to shepherds, and fishermen, on two continents, and is the explanation of God’s story about man. And one more, small item, it is without contradiction.
Back to relatives: We’re all in this together. It is explained over and over in the Bible. In the beginning… God…. Then it tells us that He created man and woman. Them be our relatives. You can read the “begat’s” in Genesis. But then, God became angry with “those men” (several decades later), and destroyed the earth with a flood, saving only eight, Noah’s family. Then… them be out relatives.
But to my point…. Why should we find some scoundrels in our family tree? It is because of the other issue about our relatives. That is the sin issue. God removed Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because they disobeyed Him and broke the relationship of love, obedience and trust. God gave them the tree of life and the tree of good and evil, as we now call them. They chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If then, they would have eaten from the tree of life; they would have spent eternity in the state of disobedience, sin, with no way out. So, God removed them from the Garden to protect them. In that process, He made a sacrifice, a blood offering. From that point on, man was a scoundrel. That’s the long – story – short.
So, don’t believe everything you hear and see on T.V., or the internet, even my stuff, read the books…, the what? Do people read anymore? I mean books. But, that’s another topic for another day. I think there are more people today who are illiterate than in times past. They read blogs and face book and twitter, and opinions about opinions. They read anything except the material that presents the facts.
By the way… my blog is: reskewsquad.blogspot.com
Other responses can be sent to reskew@aol.com
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Sunday, April 4, 2010
The Battle Within
Dream 2
I was trying to get some key people together to go over the plans for the new year in ministry. Those who had been involved with the ministry last year and said they would help this year. As people started showing up I knew there was not enough room to hold them all, actually more came than I expected. And to my surprise, many whom I did not even know. I talked to someone I did know and decided to move the meeting to a place that had more space. But that got confusing, because the person I talked to had two offices and we couldn’t understand which office we were talking about.
Then the band showed up. Not a full complete band, but what seemed like a “pep band”, drums and horns. I asked them to stop playing and they continued to finish up the song they were playing and slowly, but very slowly, drug out the ending in a long drone. Finally, I had to start collecting the drummer’s sticks so they would stop playing. I was very angry and the longer it went on the angrier I got.
After that I tried to get everyone’s attention and as I got the attention of a few some others would start up conversations on their own. I would concentrate on that group and another would start up. Finally I had everyone’s attention, but I heard talking from the hallway behind me. I made a request that, “If you can’t see me, move into the room where you can, we have plenty of room”. The people in the hall, busted down the wall to walk through instead of walking around the corner. Now I would have to pay for the repairs to the wall when we got finished. And I got angrier. Then the conversations started again and pats of the band began to play again.
Then I woke up…. I heard these words, “Write down what I have to say”.
This is My church! I am trying to get them to see and understand the mission I have for them. I am trying to gather together those who have been faithful in the past and give them instructions for the future. The true battle is about to begin and they need to listen and be aware of many things. More people have come to the meeting than were invited. They were invited by people I invited, but I did not invite them. Those are the one’s who are causing the confusion and creating the distractions. Many are having conversations among themselves and I am not in the midst. Their planning looks good, but I am not in the plans. Their musicians are very talented, but they take no time for Me. They play their own tune and create music that I am not pleased with. I have sent people to correct and instruct them, but they don’t listen to their advice, as I have instructed. Those talking outside in the hall are those I wish to hear My message. Instead of walking in My ways and in My directions, have come in their own way and have cause more destruction in doing so.
Yes, I am very angry! I have talked and instructed and warned and begged, but few would listed to Me. My path is narrow and My words will divide. I did not say, “Build it they will come”. I said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”.
I did not say, “Can’t we all just get along”? I gave absolutes and not merely suggestions. I did not say, “Be tolerant of one another”. I said, “Love your enemy and pray for him”.
Yes, oh yes, in the midst of all of My anger, I heard a small one crying out in the middle of the night, and I went to comfort him. I held him in my arms and sang sweet songs to him. I gave to him spiritual food, and soothed his soul. I looked at him and saw the smallness of his frame. I saw the weakness of his being. I loved him, and told him so.
Goodnight,
Sleep soundly,
Jesus
Dream 2
I was trying to get some key people together to go over the plans for the new year in ministry. Those who had been involved with the ministry last year and said they would help this year. As people started showing up I knew there was not enough room to hold them all, actually more came than I expected. And to my surprise, many whom I did not even know. I talked to someone I did know and decided to move the meeting to a place that had more space. But that got confusing, because the person I talked to had two offices and we couldn’t understand which office we were talking about.
Then the band showed up. Not a full complete band, but what seemed like a “pep band”, drums and horns. I asked them to stop playing and they continued to finish up the song they were playing and slowly, but very slowly, drug out the ending in a long drone. Finally, I had to start collecting the drummer’s sticks so they would stop playing. I was very angry and the longer it went on the angrier I got.
After that I tried to get everyone’s attention and as I got the attention of a few some others would start up conversations on their own. I would concentrate on that group and another would start up. Finally I had everyone’s attention, but I heard talking from the hallway behind me. I made a request that, “If you can’t see me, move into the room where you can, we have plenty of room”. The people in the hall, busted down the wall to walk through instead of walking around the corner. Now I would have to pay for the repairs to the wall when we got finished. And I got angrier. Then the conversations started again and pats of the band began to play again.
Then I woke up…. I heard these words, “Write down what I have to say”.
This is My church! I am trying to get them to see and understand the mission I have for them. I am trying to gather together those who have been faithful in the past and give them instructions for the future. The true battle is about to begin and they need to listen and be aware of many things. More people have come to the meeting than were invited. They were invited by people I invited, but I did not invite them. Those are the one’s who are causing the confusion and creating the distractions. Many are having conversations among themselves and I am not in the midst. Their planning looks good, but I am not in the plans. Their musicians are very talented, but they take no time for Me. They play their own tune and create music that I am not pleased with. I have sent people to correct and instruct them, but they don’t listen to their advice, as I have instructed. Those talking outside in the hall are those I wish to hear My message. Instead of walking in My ways and in My directions, have come in their own way and have cause more destruction in doing so.
Yes, I am very angry! I have talked and instructed and warned and begged, but few would listed to Me. My path is narrow and My words will divide. I did not say, “Build it they will come”. I said, “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”.
I did not say, “Can’t we all just get along”? I gave absolutes and not merely suggestions. I did not say, “Be tolerant of one another”. I said, “Love your enemy and pray for him”.
Yes, oh yes, in the midst of all of My anger, I heard a small one crying out in the middle of the night, and I went to comfort him. I held him in my arms and sang sweet songs to him. I gave to him spiritual food, and soothed his soul. I looked at him and saw the smallness of his frame. I saw the weakness of his being. I loved him, and told him so.
Goodnight,
Sleep soundly,
Jesus
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Clue
Disclaimer
Usually the disclaimer is written at the bottom of the document and in font to small to read with the naked eye. But I, being an honest and forthright man, place it at the beginning. To whit…, I haven’t a clue how my brain works. A thought or word or picture pops in and the little synapses’ just start their processes and I can’t stop them until I write something down on paper.
The word “clue” popped into my brain upon waking early this morning about 4:30 am. Soon, I found myself thinking in this vain… Who did what to whom, with which, and where and how and why? Of course I was thinking in regards to the board game Clue.
But then, the question was… Was Mrs. White the victim or the suspect? It was obvious that the Ballroom was the place and it was done with the Candlestick. If… Mrs. White was the victim, then who was the suspect? Or if she were the suspect, then who was the victim? We seem to be missing one other person. As the old radio program stated, “The Shadow Knows”.
I think we go through life with a similar question lurking in the “back of our minds”. Who did what to whom, with which and for what reason? Those who know me know I’m going somewhere with this, others “don’t have a clue”.
Of course I am talking about our relationship with God. There are things that are not fully explained in the Bible. Some things are not revealed so we would trust Him and “walk by faith”. Other things are just because He is God and we are not. My pursuit goes on….
The age old argument about predestination and free will is where I’m going. There are great scholars on both sides of the argument. I am not one of them. I have a simple answer, which is not simple and is not the answer. It is this… God knows the ultimate reasons for what He does and why He does it. I am only guessing. But I will tell you what I think and why I think it. There are Calvinists and Armenians. The Calvinist says, “God does it all and you have nothing to do with it”. The Armenian says, “You have free will and can choose God or not, it’s all up to you”. Well, I am a “Cal-Menian”. I use to think it was a 50% - 50% deal, where God did half and I did half. Over the past 30 plus years, I have slid in my thinking to 95% God and 5% me. Yes, I still have free will, but I see more and more in scripture that God works in the hearts and minds of men to draw them to Himself.
Yes it is obvious that in Genesis 2, God gives man the right to choose, I do not deny that. And as they say, “The rest is history”. We see what the consequences of free will are. But yet, the all knowing God worked His will, in spite of the stupidity of man. He kept calling them to return to Him, which we know as repentance. You’re going the wrong way, turn around, do a 180, come back to Me. Some did, the called, the elect, the chosen. Some didn’t, because of their own free will.
In 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance.
Other scripture for your study, if you are interested:
Elect - Isaiah 42:1, Isa 45:4, Isa 65:9, Mat 24:22, Lk 18:7, Rom 8:33, 2 Tim 2:10,
1 Pet 1:2 and 5:3
Chosen – Joshua 24:22, Psalm 33:12, Prov 16:16, Isa 66:3, Mat 20:16, Mark 13:20,
John 6:70, Jn 15:16, Acts 9:15, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, 1 Peter 2:4, Rev 12:14
Draw – John 12:32
I don’t expect you to be persuaded to my way of thinking. Like I said, it has taken me over 30 years to get to this point in my walk with God, by faith, trusting Him for the things I can not see, the things I can not understand and the things I can not change.
With Love,
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
PS: So, was Mrs. White the victim or the suspect?
Disclaimer
Usually the disclaimer is written at the bottom of the document and in font to small to read with the naked eye. But I, being an honest and forthright man, place it at the beginning. To whit…, I haven’t a clue how my brain works. A thought or word or picture pops in and the little synapses’ just start their processes and I can’t stop them until I write something down on paper.
The word “clue” popped into my brain upon waking early this morning about 4:30 am. Soon, I found myself thinking in this vain… Who did what to whom, with which, and where and how and why? Of course I was thinking in regards to the board game Clue.
But then, the question was… Was Mrs. White the victim or the suspect? It was obvious that the Ballroom was the place and it was done with the Candlestick. If… Mrs. White was the victim, then who was the suspect? Or if she were the suspect, then who was the victim? We seem to be missing one other person. As the old radio program stated, “The Shadow Knows”.
I think we go through life with a similar question lurking in the “back of our minds”. Who did what to whom, with which and for what reason? Those who know me know I’m going somewhere with this, others “don’t have a clue”.
Of course I am talking about our relationship with God. There are things that are not fully explained in the Bible. Some things are not revealed so we would trust Him and “walk by faith”. Other things are just because He is God and we are not. My pursuit goes on….
The age old argument about predestination and free will is where I’m going. There are great scholars on both sides of the argument. I am not one of them. I have a simple answer, which is not simple and is not the answer. It is this… God knows the ultimate reasons for what He does and why He does it. I am only guessing. But I will tell you what I think and why I think it. There are Calvinists and Armenians. The Calvinist says, “God does it all and you have nothing to do with it”. The Armenian says, “You have free will and can choose God or not, it’s all up to you”. Well, I am a “Cal-Menian”. I use to think it was a 50% - 50% deal, where God did half and I did half. Over the past 30 plus years, I have slid in my thinking to 95% God and 5% me. Yes, I still have free will, but I see more and more in scripture that God works in the hearts and minds of men to draw them to Himself.
Yes it is obvious that in Genesis 2, God gives man the right to choose, I do not deny that. And as they say, “The rest is history”. We see what the consequences of free will are. But yet, the all knowing God worked His will, in spite of the stupidity of man. He kept calling them to return to Him, which we know as repentance. You’re going the wrong way, turn around, do a 180, come back to Me. Some did, the called, the elect, the chosen. Some didn’t, because of their own free will.
In 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but for all to come to repentance.
Other scripture for your study, if you are interested:
Elect - Isaiah 42:1, Isa 45:4, Isa 65:9, Mat 24:22, Lk 18:7, Rom 8:33, 2 Tim 2:10,
1 Pet 1:2 and 5:3
Chosen – Joshua 24:22, Psalm 33:12, Prov 16:16, Isa 66:3, Mat 20:16, Mark 13:20,
John 6:70, Jn 15:16, Acts 9:15, Ephesians 1:4, 2 Thes 2:13, 1 Peter 2:4, Rev 12:14
Draw – John 12:32
I don’t expect you to be persuaded to my way of thinking. Like I said, it has taken me over 30 years to get to this point in my walk with God, by faith, trusting Him for the things I can not see, the things I can not understand and the things I can not change.
With Love,
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
reskewsquad.blogspot.com
PS: So, was Mrs. White the victim or the suspect?
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Head - Heart - Gut
What goes on within a person that determines who they are and who they become?
Thus my title, head, heart and gut. It starts in the head with the increase of knowledge. This knowledge comes from reading, watching, and studying a particular subject, be it math and science, art and literature, economics and government, or medicine and the psycho-sciences. Depending on how you are “wired” (and that’s a totally deep subject of its own), your interests will cause more and more desires, and more and more knowledge of that particular subject.
After you get more and more knowledge, you have a decision to make. What will I do with this knowledge? Is it just random knowledge or will the study lead to new discoveries? Will I create a game like Trivial Pursuit? Will I discover the newest “black hole”? But most of all, who am I becoming by the results of this knowledge? Even though, “It’s not about me” … “It’s about me”. Who I am as a person will greatly determine what I do with all the “head knowledge” I have accumulated.
Thus, it becomes a heart issue. You know, that deep “thing” within all of us, that makes us… us; different from all others, that persona, that personality, that ego, that soul. The phrase, “I am what I eat” is better described as “I am what I think”. As I often use the Bible as a reference, because it has so many good thoughts on life, one passage says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. That thinking is not just the intellectual aspect, but that deep seated, inner person.
Which brings us to the gut. What is it, in your life that keeps you going? What keeps you motivated? What deep churning within you seems to have you restless? What keeps you unsettled in your longings? That’s the “gut” issue. I’m not saying you stay up nights worrying, but there is that unrest in your soul, “gut”, that there is more. Then, the term ‘gut check” comes to mind. To me that means, something is not right and I need to take a step back and refocus and rethink all that’s going on. I need to get back to basics and look at the issue from a new perspective. What are the basics that you return to when things seem “out of sorts”?
A few things come to mind.
1. There is a God. The world is too complex to have “just happened”. Some say that random atoms collided and that started it all. Where did the two atoms come from? What would have happened if three atoms collided simultaneously? What was the DNA of those two atoms? Can the DNA of a rock be the same as that of a person?
2. This God has plan and purpose for His creation. Our responsibility is to find this God and find his plan and purpose. Again the Bible, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth His handy work”.
3. Man took it upon himself to try to run things and ruined things. Interesting words run and ruin… the only difference is the “ I ” in the middle.
4. God’s purpose was not thwarted. Enter Jesus, “stage left”. And as they say, “the rest is history, His Story”.
What’s your gut telling you?
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
What goes on within a person that determines who they are and who they become?
Thus my title, head, heart and gut. It starts in the head with the increase of knowledge. This knowledge comes from reading, watching, and studying a particular subject, be it math and science, art and literature, economics and government, or medicine and the psycho-sciences. Depending on how you are “wired” (and that’s a totally deep subject of its own), your interests will cause more and more desires, and more and more knowledge of that particular subject.
After you get more and more knowledge, you have a decision to make. What will I do with this knowledge? Is it just random knowledge or will the study lead to new discoveries? Will I create a game like Trivial Pursuit? Will I discover the newest “black hole”? But most of all, who am I becoming by the results of this knowledge? Even though, “It’s not about me” … “It’s about me”. Who I am as a person will greatly determine what I do with all the “head knowledge” I have accumulated.
Thus, it becomes a heart issue. You know, that deep “thing” within all of us, that makes us… us; different from all others, that persona, that personality, that ego, that soul. The phrase, “I am what I eat” is better described as “I am what I think”. As I often use the Bible as a reference, because it has so many good thoughts on life, one passage says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. That thinking is not just the intellectual aspect, but that deep seated, inner person.
Which brings us to the gut. What is it, in your life that keeps you going? What keeps you motivated? What deep churning within you seems to have you restless? What keeps you unsettled in your longings? That’s the “gut” issue. I’m not saying you stay up nights worrying, but there is that unrest in your soul, “gut”, that there is more. Then, the term ‘gut check” comes to mind. To me that means, something is not right and I need to take a step back and refocus and rethink all that’s going on. I need to get back to basics and look at the issue from a new perspective. What are the basics that you return to when things seem “out of sorts”?
A few things come to mind.
1. There is a God. The world is too complex to have “just happened”. Some say that random atoms collided and that started it all. Where did the two atoms come from? What would have happened if three atoms collided simultaneously? What was the DNA of those two atoms? Can the DNA of a rock be the same as that of a person?
2. This God has plan and purpose for His creation. Our responsibility is to find this God and find his plan and purpose. Again the Bible, “The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows forth His handy work”.
3. Man took it upon himself to try to run things and ruined things. Interesting words run and ruin… the only difference is the “ I ” in the middle.
4. God’s purpose was not thwarted. Enter Jesus, “stage left”. And as they say, “the rest is history, His Story”.
What’s your gut telling you?
Following the Shepherd,
Ron
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Amnesia
I went to sleep praying and woke up with a head ache. I must have prayed toooo hard.
You see, I have a lot on my mind at this point of my life. We’ve just entered the year 2008 and life is going in a different direction than I had imagined.
All of that brought me back to the lifelong question, “Who am I”? Which reminds me of several movies I have seen which depict people who have suffered accident or loss, or injury or disease and have lost their identity. They can’t remember who they are.
Many methods are used to help them try to regain their true identity. Some are seeing old friends, hearing favorite songs, eating favorite foods, visiting familiar places, going back to childhood surroundings and the worst, shock therapy.
What will it take for me to regain my true identity? Would I even know if I found it? How will I begin the journey? Do I even want to find out?
I started out life at an early age and close to my mother. Life began in a small mid-west town and at a time when the streets were still dirt roads. When you got off the highway which ran through the town, you were on a dirt or gravel road. Things like this are part of who I am, good, bad or indifferent. The two room school house that housed six grades, three in one room and three in the other. One teacher for each room. Many moves from our small town to the capital city and back again and as a child, never knowing why. This is a part of who I am. Amnesia would have been preferred to some of the memories, but … it’s part of who I am.
I’m going to take a large leap to another dimension, that of a spiritual nature. I must never forget or have selective amnesia about who I am spiritually. The price was too great and the suffering too intense for me to forget. The Crux of the matter, is the crux of the matter. The Cross, an instrument of death. We wear it around our necks with the glimmer of high polished gold or sterling silver on a chain to match. As one of our Pastors said last week, “Would you wear an “electric chair” around your neck, or a “hangman’s noose”, or a “guillotine”? Where do I find my true identity? How do I find my true identity? Who am I? Who’s am I?
God gave us an incredible gift, that of free will, an ability to choose. If you have ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior, you still have choices. The choices are, to obey or to disobey. You can never say, “Oh, I forgot”, or “I didn’t know” or have “selective amnesia”. You are accountable from day one of your spiritual journey about the choices you make. You can’t blame it on your parents, or your teachers, or your boss, or your spouse. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live within you and He will lead you into all righteousness. No Excuses. Now the choice is yours. Shock therapy or obedience?
Jan. 4, 2008 Ron E.
I went to sleep praying and woke up with a head ache. I must have prayed toooo hard.
You see, I have a lot on my mind at this point of my life. We’ve just entered the year 2008 and life is going in a different direction than I had imagined.
All of that brought me back to the lifelong question, “Who am I”? Which reminds me of several movies I have seen which depict people who have suffered accident or loss, or injury or disease and have lost their identity. They can’t remember who they are.
Many methods are used to help them try to regain their true identity. Some are seeing old friends, hearing favorite songs, eating favorite foods, visiting familiar places, going back to childhood surroundings and the worst, shock therapy.
What will it take for me to regain my true identity? Would I even know if I found it? How will I begin the journey? Do I even want to find out?
I started out life at an early age and close to my mother. Life began in a small mid-west town and at a time when the streets were still dirt roads. When you got off the highway which ran through the town, you were on a dirt or gravel road. Things like this are part of who I am, good, bad or indifferent. The two room school house that housed six grades, three in one room and three in the other. One teacher for each room. Many moves from our small town to the capital city and back again and as a child, never knowing why. This is a part of who I am. Amnesia would have been preferred to some of the memories, but … it’s part of who I am.
I’m going to take a large leap to another dimension, that of a spiritual nature. I must never forget or have selective amnesia about who I am spiritually. The price was too great and the suffering too intense for me to forget. The Crux of the matter, is the crux of the matter. The Cross, an instrument of death. We wear it around our necks with the glimmer of high polished gold or sterling silver on a chain to match. As one of our Pastors said last week, “Would you wear an “electric chair” around your neck, or a “hangman’s noose”, or a “guillotine”? Where do I find my true identity? How do I find my true identity? Who am I? Who’s am I?
God gave us an incredible gift, that of free will, an ability to choose. If you have ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior, you still have choices. The choices are, to obey or to disobey. You can never say, “Oh, I forgot”, or “I didn’t know” or have “selective amnesia”. You are accountable from day one of your spiritual journey about the choices you make. You can’t blame it on your parents, or your teachers, or your boss, or your spouse. When you become a Christian, the Holy Spirit comes to live within you and He will lead you into all righteousness. No Excuses. Now the choice is yours. Shock therapy or obedience?
Jan. 4, 2008 Ron E.
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