When We Say Goodnight

At the end of the day

Do we mean what we say

When we say, "Good night"?

For one never knows

As the next day shows

Whether everything is alright

As a thief in the night

Ones demise may come

Tomorrow is not promised

And won't be there for some.

Did we tell them we care?

Or share any love?

Did we do good toward them?

Or out of mind did we shove?

Did we know of their problems?

Or care of their pains?

Know of their needs?

Help them to gain?

The Good Book says

To love neighbor as I

To go out of our way

Put our needs aside

For at the end of our days

It is not what we own

But how we treated others

The love the we've shown

We do not know 

If the kindness we share

Is the last thing done

To another who's there

We may never know

The influence we've had

Or if our love shared

Helped make someone glad

At the end of the day

Do we mean what we say

When we say, "Goodnight"?

For one never knows

As the next day shows

If everything is alright.

Hype-eractive

In these days of information access, people who want your attention for whatever reason seem to always go to the extremes to get it.  Fear mongering and over exaggeration have become the means of advertising by which they draw people in to watch their show or click their link.  Often these hyped up headlines are used to deceive as well. 


In a way, the internet has turned into this side show carnival with all of the callers out there trying to get you to stop at their booth and play thier game....  maybe you will win a prize.  If you enter their tent, you just might see the most amazing freak you have ever seen.  Go to the big top and see all the entertainment to excite and amaze you.  You will be amazed by what you see.


A lot of these hype headlines are hooks to draw you in.  See this little puppy.  What he does next is amazing.  then you waste 2 minutes of your life watching some dog play with a bird or something or other.  Or in the political realm you might see something like, what Obama just did will make you mad.  Then of course you have to click and find out what it is.  Sometimes it is not even a story, but just a headline.  Other times you find out, maybe after believing it, that it was a fake story put out by some sort of "satire" page.  Yet other times it ends up being a propaganda piece trying to convince you of the evils of the other party.  There is so much bull it is hard to tell where the grass is.


The problem with this sort of thing is that it makes people jaded.  It all begins to look alike and people tune it out.  Then when something comes along the really IS important, nobody believes it, nor are interested in it.  They just think it as being more bologna.
 

Most people just buy their own brand of bologna.  They believe what they want to believe and any evidence to the contrary is just denied offhand because they see it as just a different brand of bologna that they don't like.  The left will never believe anything from Faux news, nor will those on the right accept an MSNBC description.  It is all the hyped up and dishonest propaganda that makes people like this. 


Similar things happen in my favorite genre of weather.  News outlets put out scare tales of some impending doom coming from the next storm that never come to pass or live up to the hype.  Then after a while, people just stop believing it.  That can cost lives. 


Perhaps it was the memes that began this whole thing.  I remember when people first started using them.  A picture with a little phrase on it seems to hold more sway on peoples thoughts than any television advertisement ever could.  People pass them around like crazy in the social circles.  It doesn't matter whether it is truth or not, just that it sends out the right messages and puts thoughts into peoples heads.


Most of it really boils down to money.  All those clicks and reads generate revenue for the things being promoted.  Money is power.  Power is control.  Control is money.  It is an endless circle, just as any carnival is, to separate you from your money... and control. 


Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.

Drama in the Weather

I suppose the world of weather is not unlike the rest of the world.  There are always people ready to criticize, ready to pounce on an error, ready to believe that their own knowledge or skill is superior to that of another, and that others don't know what they are talking about.  Maybe it is just a sign of the times, or of the upcoming generation, but it feels like that this is getting worse and worse as time goes along. 

In the weather world, this sort of criticism is far more critical.  People get upset because a forecast did not occur exactly as predicted in their driveway.  It doesn't matter that the forecast was right for the region and occurred exactly as expected, if that rain did not fall on their yard, you are an idiot.  Most of these types of people really don't know anything about the weather to begin with.  They don't understand that predicting the future isn't exactly easy.

The ones that are worst though are those folks who think they know something.  Well, they do know something about weather and have experience and training, but, they don't seem to think they have the same predictive limitations that face us all. 

About a week and a half ago, for example, someone had made a report to the local weather service office of observing a rotating wall cloud.  Another amateur meteorologist jumped all over the report and ridiculed the person because they thought the conditions were such that this would not happen.  They figured it had to be some idiot who had no clue what he was looking at made an erroneous report.  Oh and did the people pile on their FB post all piling on the stupid person who made that report.  There was one problem with this...  The person who made the report was correct.  I had observed and filmed it prior to the report. 

There also seems to be a rigidity in folks that expects other people to be perfect.  Good example happened to me last night.  I was going through weather data for the upcoming weekend and based on what I had observed and read put out my forecast.  Within a number of minutes I was getting more feedback on that one post than I had gotten in weeks of correct forecasts. One of the pages I was getting info from had not fully updated their information when I viewed it so I saw two days of weather information that was supposed to be one.  It was changed after I had viewed and gone over the info.  Ooops, I goofed  (or they did), and the forecast 3 days out was wrong. 

That one minor and correctable error brought people out of the woodwork with criticism.  Why?  People are so quick to criticize others while excusing themselves.  People need to recognize their own imperfection and extend the same courtesy of excuse to others that they claim for themselves.  It is a principle that extends beyond weather and into every facet of life.

Jesus Christ had put it this way in Luke 6:31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.  I don't think most people like to be criticized, or made fun of, or have the inevitable mistakes pounced on.  I think we would like people to gently point out and/or correct our errors, be forgiving of the gaffs we may make, and to be praised for the good work we do.  What a monumental world changing thing it would be if people would follow that one simple verse.

Getting Angry

Psalm 97:10 Ye that love the Lord, hate evil:  The beginning part of this psalm verse gives a Godly perspective on getting angry.  We who are believers should get angry when we see evil occurring.  We have a right to be angry about evil doings.  Proverbs tells us the same thing, Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil:.


We are given some precautions when it comes to being angry.  Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:  Our anger should be in control.  When we get angry, we should not be flying off the handle and acting impulsively.  We are to maintain right thinking even though we are angry.  Often in life people let anger get the best of them and then bad things happen.  We see an example of this in the racing world recently where an angry driver wanted to after another driver and ended up getting run over and killed because his anger overrode his common sense.


Another thing that often happens in our anger is that we take matters into our own hands.  This ties in with the impulsiveness and loss of common sense that can occur when angry.  We often want to mete out punishment on the one we are angry at.  But we need to remember that we serve God, and we are not him.  Romans 12:19 Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Let God take care of the matter.  We don't have to do anything to anyone other than letting it be known we are angry and why.  (part of not letting the sun go down).  If something needs to be done, let God do it.  He can take care of it much better than we can.


Ephesians 4:31 tells us to, Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:  Get the anger out of your system right away.  Don't let the sun go down on it.  Give it to God to take care of and move one.  All of the things listed in this verse can derive from holding on to anger.  We take matters into our own hands and we start saying things we shouldn't, and/or talking about it to others which stirs up division.  Over time this leads to bitterness and a hard heart.  We end up being miserable.  This miserable mindset also leads to physical ailments as well.  It hurts us far more than it ever hurt the person we were mad at.


The following Ephesians 4 verse reminds us to get back to a Godly attitude.  32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.  But, you don't know what this person has done!  You don't understand how long this has been going on!  God does.  He knows everything.  He sees the situations.  As believers we have to trust that Romans 8:28 ...all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.


No one said it would be easy.  It is never easy to see evil flourish, especially if you are on the receiving end of it.  Imagine how Joseph could have felt all those years, being thrown in a pit, then sold as a slave by his own family, falsely accused and imprisoned, forgotten about, alone...  Then one day, years later, it all came to fruition.  Joseph never would have been ready for that if he had let anger grow into bitterness.  Instead, he constantly trusted the Lord and did things in a godly manner and was blessed through, not out of, the difficult situations he encountered. 


When we get angry, take it to God in prayer.  Tell God how you feel.  Express yourself to Him fully.  David in the Psalms often prayed in anger at the wicked and asked for God to send wrath upon evildoers.   One light example is in Psalm 40:14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.  David does get harsher in his requests too.  Letting it out to God gives us relief from the stress and peace in our minds.  Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.


In prayer too, if we are listening and not just jabbering (lol), we might receive instruction in how to deal with a situation.  I was recently praying about a situation that made me angry and while I stopped and listened, a verse popped into my head, Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.  It was not a resolution to what I was dealing with, but it was a reminder of the importance of my own conduct in the matter and refocused me on what I should be doing, rather than getting sidetracked by what made me angry.


In conclusion, It's OK to get angry for the right reasons.  just don't hold on to the anger.  Let it out in a Godly fashion. Hand it over to God and let him deal with it.  Move forward, continuing to do what God wants us to do.  This way we won't cause ourselves further grief and we can trust that God will resolve the manner in the best possible way (but that may be different that what we think should be done).


Matthew 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

The Babies Bathwater

Often times we wonder where it is that we strayed.  Not just personally, but collectively.  There was a time where the gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in His word the Bible was the foundation for us as individuals, families, communities, regions, states, and as a nation.  It was such an infused part of most everyone lifestyles and our overall culture that Christianity and the United States were seen as inseparable.  


Now we look around today and see all manner of ungodliness occurring and accepted as normal.  Our own leader has even declared that we are no longer a Christian nation, and he is right.  In the void left by peoples lack of personal responsibility as forged by their fear of the Lord, government has stepped into that role as God and savior of the people.  Because of peoples immoralities, government has had to make laws that infringe upon every aspect of our lives.  We as a people can no linger be trusted to do what is right.  Sadly though, those same people are in the government trying to tell us what is right.


We know the situation we are in, but we do wonder how we got here.  The last couple of weeks and a little light bulb action from above and I think I can put a finger on a least a good portion of what happened.  I've talked to a lot of different people from a lot of different churches and other beliefs as well as no belief at all.  It seems like everyone has their own doctrine, and it has gotten to the point where unless you are in lock step with what the other believes, you are a heretic, a false teacher, someone to be shunned.  The Love of God does not reside with many any longer.  The Gospel of Christ has been replaced with doctrines of men.  We are full of pride and arrogance.  We are backbiters, and lovers of self.  I say these things with great shame.


This I don't believe is an accident.  The enemy has always set about to divide and conquer.  Many of the divisions are like long lasting feuds that linger on and on even to the point where no one remembers what really started it, but they all know their talking points and have their preconceived ideas to label each other with.  It's gotten to be a free for all or a witch hunt where everyone is pointing fingers and yelling FALSE TEACHER!  


I think this goes on because we are so woefully illiterate biblically.  Many folks know the scriptures... the ones that support their church doctrine.  Show them some others that contradict that and hoo boy, thems fightin words.  Others know so much that they literally can't see the forest through the trees.  They have gone to colleges and were taught under liberal professors who sliced and diced, shaked and baked that Bible so much that it was left looking like a lump of unrecognizable slop.


This fear of false teachers is a big one.  We have whole segments of the gospel torn away because we are afraid of false teaching.  This is where we throw the baby out with the bathwater.    Many folks are horribly weak in faith because they threw out the scriptures about faith because there was a word of faith false teaching.  So as to avoid going anywhere near there, they throw out the teachings on faith.  Because we have charlatans running around with their miracle circus', many throw out completely that God can and does work supernaturally in our lives and will heal and deliver us.  People are so afraid to be under the law that they want to throw out the law completely as if it did not exist.  then there are others who throw out everything God says about prospering us in our lives because they are afraid of the false prosperity gospel.  And it goes on.


The only way to safely navigate oneself through all of this mess is by getting into the word themselves and setting aside the teachings of the church or a particular teacher and do so with a sincere heart in asking God to reveal the truth to you.  The Holy spirit will guide the sincere heart in the path to take and safely guide us through the dark and dangerous forests of doubt, disbelief, and skepticism. 


Will it be an easy journey?    No.  Friends, family, strangers, everyone might accuse you, negate you, get mad at you, deny you, abandon you...  and yes, there are times where they could even hurt or kill you for the sake of the truth of the Gospel.  Remember that it was the religious folks that put Jesus to death.  Jesus assures us that for His sake people will indeed hate you and persecute you.   He tells us to count it all joy when this happens.  The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth is all that matters though.  Jesus said He is the way, the truth, and the life; no man going to the father but by Him.  You won't get to heaven following a church doctrine or a teaching of men.  


Read your bibles, and talk to God as you do.  Let your questions and concerns be known to him.  His spirit will answer a sincere heart.

Presenting Truth

Proverbs 27:6
Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.


As believers in Jesus, we are commanded to be as truthful as we know how to be.  Never are we told to lie about anything.  In a truthfulness, being that blatantly honest does not necessarily win you any accolades or rewards.  In many cases, the truth being told is reviled and scorned, and you, the messenger, end up being at the end of a scathing attack.  The truth is not something everyone wants to hear.


People generally become most offended when the truth presented bumps up against the way they see things.  When a truth is presented that contradicts their own view, it puts them in a position where they have to admit that they may be wrong.  We humans tend to have a lot of pride, and are not willing to concede the possibility of being wrong. 


It may very well be that the truth being told will go up against where another has put all their hope and trust.  The truth is not just offending pride in this case, but is rattling the very foundations of what another is holding on to for dear life.  The truth threatens to tear down their entire view of the world and destroy all that they were putting their trust in.  And if it was an only hope, the person is afraid that there is nothing else left to hold on to, that all hope will be lost. 


In either case (or any I missed), truth brings out a negative response from the one who is offended with it.  It triggers a fight or flight response as a defense mechanism.  Often times both occurs.  A person confronted by a truth they do not wish to hear will fight the idea, and try to ruin the credibility of the messenger.  They will try to deflect this truth and make it about the messenger.  They may just dismiss it altogether so as not to have to deal with it.


I think this issue can be summed up well when we look at the 5 stages of grief.  The 5 stages of grief are commonly accepted as follows:
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance


When a person is first confronted with a truth that contradicts them, they will go into denial, and then anger rather quickly.  They don't like the truth.  they don't want to hear that truth.  They are offended by that truth.  They will lash out against it.  This is where most of the conversation ends.  People usually end the conversations at this point.   They will say something like, well, we will just have to agree to disagree. 


The bargaining stage is something that may or may not occur later on.  They may take to heart the truth that has been told, or they may just go back to denial and move on.  This is where the Holy Spirit is at work.  As someone wrestles with truth in their mind and heart, they are no longer wresting with the messenger, but the message.  They have begun dealing with the truth.  They might slip back and forth with more denial and anger, or slip ahead into depression, but that is part of the bargaining. 


The depression stage is where one gives up the struggle.  They are not angry any more, they can't deny the truth, and they can no longer negotiate or argue it away.  They know what the truth is.  They are now there.  At this point they either shut it all of and go back to permanent denial, or they move on and accept the truth, embrace it, and go with it.


In the end, this is what truth does to us.  Whether it is the truth about our mortality, which is where these stages were coined after, our salvation, or whether it is some other truth we are confronted with.  As messengers of truth, believers are often dealing with the front lines, or the first stages in the above process.  Sometimes we are put in a position with friends or relatives where we can be involved in assisting with the other stages.   As ministers of God, sometimes we are brought in during the bargaining and depression stages to assist in moving on to acceptance. 


In the end, truth is what matters.  We can't shy away from speaking the truth.  We can't be afraid of receiving the wrath of others for sharing truth.  We are servants of the Most High God, and it is He who is doing the work, through the messengers, and in the lives of those who hear truth.  We are to just be obedient servants and speak the truth in as much as we are given it, and to do so in as loving a way as we know how.  It is not easy, but obedience is always rewarded in some fashion.


Acts 26:25
But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness.

Dear Diary

I was walking along, minding my own business, when all of a sudden something caught my eye that seemed out of place.  Indeed it was something that was out of place.  It was some sort of binder that had gotten left behind by someone.  Forgetting that I had been minding my own business I began investigating the object.


The outside was covered with doodles and band names and such.  There were little flowers and puppy dogs and the like drawn randomly around.  It seemed pretty obvious that this belonged to a teenage girl.  Upon holding the item, it appeared to be extra heavy to one side.  Feeling around it seemed like a small book size.  I was thinking maybe something like an ipad; something of value.  I probably needed to find if there was some sort of lost and found nearby, or some sort of official place for this to go.  Curiosity got the best of me though and I thought I had better look inside to confirm my suspicions and see if there was any sort of identification that would reconnect this lost item with its owner. 


I unzipped the zipper and opened up the binder thing.  Sitting there staring at me was a little red book with silver edged pages titled with big bold letters....  My Life. 


Ok, so what would you do?  Of course I totally abandon the "minding my own business" and opened up the book and found myself reading the diary of a teenage girl.  For some reason I felt a little giddy about the possible entertainment I might come across.  Stories of puppy love?  Perhaps a little juicy gossip about a cheerleader?  Or how boring the history teacher was?  That is not what I found.


On the first page I opened to, I began reading about a friend of this girl...  how she had been bullied by others in the school...  how she had committed suicide because of the bullying.   I began reading about the pain and confusion of this girl trying to figure out why bullies could be so mean to drive someone to kill themselves.  I read of the loneliness and emptiness this girl felt by her friends absence, and the anger at those who could not leave her friend alone. 


I closed the book.  I could not read any more.  I cursed myself for having let my curiosity get the best of me, and cursed the bullies who could cause so much hurt to others.  I said a silent prayer for the girl who wrote out her feelings there, never expecting that anyone besides herself would ever read those words. 


It hit me hard too because I could relate to this story.  I was once a victim of bullies, and their relentless attacks.  It ruined my middle school years all the way until late my sophomore year.  I hated going to school to have to face it every day.  No one seemed to understand.  No one was there to support me.  Day after day, the jokes, the pranks, the physical abuse....  I did not think it would ever end.  That is where that girl was who committed suicide. 


I wish for her that someone had known.  If there had been someone who would have helped her through, helped her to feel loved, helped her to feel she was not alone.  Did her parents know?  Or did they just seem to pile on top of it?  Did her friends know?  Or did they just seem dismissive?  Did anyone try to share the love of Christ with her?  For me those were all no's as I went through my own private hell.  She could not take it anymore and snapped, ending her life.  I snapped too, but lashed out on the bully.


We need to watch out for others.  We never know what a person is going through.  We will never know if a kind word or gesture in a given moment could be a life saver.  We never know if showing and sharing the love of Jesus might at a moment be preventing another suicide.  If you see bullying say something.  Don't be afraid to step up and defend the person being bullied.  It is never cool to call people names, or belittle them, or abuse them in any way.  It is evil. 


Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 
Love others in the same way Christ loved us, putting them first, and ourselves last.
Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth, only that which will lift others up.
Don't be selfish.  If someone has a need, meet it if you can.  If they are hungry, feed them.  Thirsty? Give them a drink.  Need clothes?  give and share. 
Love is patient, kind.  It is not jealous.  It does not boast of self, or brag.  It does not act badly, nor is it selfish.  It is not easily provoked.  Love thinks no evil nor has fun in doing wrong, but instead rejoices in truth.  It bears all, believes all, hopes all, endures all.  Love never fails.
Those are all scriptures and are bully beaters.  Do good to those who use and abuse you.  Let God take your vengeance, for it is His.  Pray for the bullies.


How is that possible?  You don't know what they have done to me?  Maybe not, but there is one who does.  His name is Jesus.  He was bullied, beaten, abused, mocked, made fun of, and chased away.  And He was God.  He could have at any time called down legions of angels to stop others.  He did not though.  He still loved those who hated him without a cause.  Jesus had done no wrong to anyone, but was hated so much he was put to death.  He did this to save you.  He knows just what you are going through.  Believe on Him and you will be saved.  Trust in Him and He will enable you, through His spirit, to be able to be obedient to loving your enemies and doing good to those who persecute you.  And you have His promise that you will never be alone for He will never leave you nor forsake you.
 

So Frustrating!

Something just isn't right.  For the past several days, in fact, nearly a week now, I have been feeling very unsettled.  Things have been bothering me, annoying me.  My patience is very thin.  I have been finding myself going around upset.  This is not like me.  Normally I am a very positive person, upbeat, happy, and making jokes.  What is going on?

Seems like lately I have been bombarded with stupid.  Not just your average everyday stupid, but some real hardcore stupidity.  I got people who don't care about their job, doing things wrong and it doesn't even concern them.  I've got vandals messing up my work area.  Things are breaking and not getting repaired.  I have multiple bosses giving conflicting orders and me taking the blame from each for doing what the other said do.  People are acting like jerks for no reason.

Recently it has just been like a tsunami of stupid has flooded into my life and I seem powerless to be able to do anything about it.  I'm being battered by the idiotic debris and sucked under by the turbulence of imbecility.  I'm trying to gasp for air as I bob above the surface for a moment only to be pushed under again by some other ridiculousness pushing me down.  HELP!  Dwayne the bathtub!  I'm dwowning!

Psalm 46:10 (a) Be still, and know that I am God:

Amid all the turmoil and craziness that continues to overwhelm me, I took my 15 minutes break, grabbed a chair, and sat silent in a closet, praying and thinking.  No great revelation came to me, but a peace came to me that I had mot felt in a while.  I was calm again; relaxed.  I felt some of the joy return.  I was energized.  The weirdness no longer worried me.

I think that is just a little mini lesson for me to do what I often forget to do, and that is just to be still and know the God is God.  He is in control of it all.  He knows what is happening always and when we love, trust, and obey Him, He will cause everything to work to our benefit.  So how is all the recent madness going to be worked for my benefit?  haven't a clue.  That is for God to do.

Psalm 28:7  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

I Am SOOOO MAD!!!

Romans 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.

Boy, this is a hard saying.  Sometimes it just no longer lies within me to keep my peace.  tonight was one of those nights.  My nemesis thorn in the side for the last 9 years crossed the line.  I let them know in no uncertain terms that they had done so.  I asked the boss to intervene and asked that it go up the chain of command.  9 years and nothing has changed, nothing has been done. 

People have praised me for being able to put up with so much for so long, but there are limits.  We all have our limits.  Some days our fuses are a bit shorter than other days and it takes less to light those fuses, and they burn faster.  It was just the wrong day to try pulling passive aggressive stunts on me; the wrong day to swear at me and make false accusations in half under your breath but loud enough to hear tones. 

As I sit and look at these verses in Romans 12, it gets harder though.  What God is asking me to do in the word is beyond me at times.  it is not what I want to do.  It is not what I feel like doing.  I'd like to be able to go back behind the woodshed and open up a can of whoopass.  That is not what the word says to do.  Oh Lord help me in my weakness. 

This little segment of Romans 12 starts out with this admonition, 17 Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.  When we get mad, we are not supposed to act like the world and try to do something to the other person in a sneaky or underhanded way.  No backbiting.  No lying in wait to set them up.  We must be honest in our dealings.  Ephesians 4:26 Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:


We go past our opening verse now to verse 19: Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.  Along with the part of not returning evil for evil, we should not avenge ourselves.  Perhaps snapping back in anger was a bit of that, I'm not sure.  Telling the boss?  It is what we should do in the situation.  Taking it silently for so long is sometimes beyond me, so I must ask for God's spirit to infuse me the right things to do. 


Verse 20: 20 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.  This verse parallels the word of Jesus when he said,  Matthew 5:44  But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;  Oh, that is so hard and I try so hard to be like this. This kind of attitude can only come through the Spirit of God.  It does not lie within me to do so. 


This part about pray for them I am hit with in this situation.  This person has been my sworn enemy from almost my first day at the job and for reasons that have nothing to do with me.  In thier head I am somehow at fault for some percieved wrong years in the past that he cannot seem to let go of.  It strikes me at the moment that when we pray for people, especially our enemies, we begin to see them as Jesus sees them, a lost soul in need of a savior just as we were. 


verse 21 concludes: Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.  This is hard too, but we cannot let evil people and their ways get the better of us.  Being the humans we are, we can only appeal to the holy Spirit to empower us to not be overcome of evil.  It is also the Holy spirit that will reveal ways and empower us to to good to overcome the evil.


I don't wish any ill will toward this person, but I do pray they would just go away or change.  One or the other.  I suppose with Gods sense of humor, I would be the one through which this instrument of change should come about.  Things cannot remain as they are though.  I am at my limit of being able to live peacably with this person.  I've tried the doing good to them.  I'm tired and wanted to rant a bit and end up led into a lesson of how I should be acting in this situation.  Praise the Lord. 

Does the Church have it Backwards?

Colossians 2: ¹⁶ Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
¹⁷ Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.


Most of the time when people use this verse, they are generally making the case that we are no longer under the law, that the law has been done away with, and that we therefore no longer have to be obedient to what God has said through the law.  But, is this what the passage is really saying?


I propose that it may be saying just the opposite of what most people use it for.  It may just be saying to let no man judge you for KEEPING the Sabbath and FOLLOWING the dietary commands, or using the Jewish calendar to denote holy days and keeping them.  Some of the biggest debates in Christendom surround the idea that we need to be obedient to the whole Bible.


Many Christians today have been taught that they no longer have to do what the bible says to do because certain parts of the Bible have been done away with.  Is this so?  Christians often use the previous verses to substantiate their claims.  
 

¹³ And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
¹⁴ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
¹⁵ And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

The argument is that the OT laws were blotted out.  The truth is, what was blotted out was the penalty for violation of Gods commands.  Jesus himself said,  Matthew 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  That fulfilling was His substitutionary death in our stead.  In no way were any of Gods commands declared null and void.  

 

this easy believism and grace without responsibility is what has watered down the churches message.  It has destroyed the witness of Christians.  Rather than being separated from the world through obedience to God, the church has become part of the world, nearly indistinguishable from unbelievers.  The rates of sin within the church are just as high, if not higher, than outside.  

 

There is no more fear of Yahweh in believers any longer.  The salt has lost its savor and is being trodden under foot.  Every vestige of our heritage as Christians is being removed from society.  Over the last 50 years God has been removed from nearly every institution.  Where have the Christians been?  

 

Believers!  It is time to repent and return unto the way of the Lord.  Time is short and the harvest is ripe.  Turn away from the lie of grace as a license and do as thou wilt churchianity.  It is time to submit yourself to do what God has commanded you to do.  We serve a might God, not the other way around.  God is not our magic genie to make us feel all warm and fuzzy and give us the things we want.  We are His servants who are to do as HE commands of us.  Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.  ² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Be Prepared

This blog is going to be rather short and to the point.  Folks, be prepared.  

I went to the store this week just before a potential snowstorm.  I went at the last minute, even as the first flakes began falling.  I got off work at midnight and went to my local wal-mart to be sure i had some cat food so I would not run out and have the cat mad at me.  This is what I found.














This was just a simple snow storm.  People ravaged the store of supplies.  What happens if it is a far more serious crises.  Are you prepared for empty store shelves that won't be stocked any time soon?  I was shocked to see this in the midwest, a place known for snow storms.  It is like everyone panicked.  In a REAL national or regional emergency, this is what will happen.  There is no more than a 3 day supply of food connected to grocery stores.  If transport is cut off, there will be problems.  Be prepared.  Learn how to garden, forage naturally, hunt, fish.  Learn how not to be dependent on what a society provides.  Learn to be self sufficient, and in the right ways.  There will be enough marauding bands of starving people willing to take from others.

Dietary Reaping and Sowing

Galatians 6:7

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Normally when we think of this verse, we think of people who have done some very bad things.  I see this verse often used with adulterers, or thieves, or some other such obvious criminal or sinful behavior.  This is a principle that goes far beyond just the obvious though and can be very subtle.  Even things that don’t seem so bad can have consequences that are quite negative that sneak up on a person. 

 

One of these things is our diet.  We hear all the time about what we are supposed to eat, but we are bombarded with what we can eat.  For the Bible believer one reads about what to eat and what not to eat in the scriptures, but tells himself that it no longer applies.  We are free from the law and can eat whatever we want to eat as long as we eat it by faith.  I’ve heard that.  I’ve even said it myself a time or two.  We are not as free as one would think though, when it comes to dietary law or principles found in scripture.  We reap consequences from eating unclean things.

Food today is far removed from the food people used to consume even 100 years ago.  It is processed with all sorts of chemicals that are foreign to the natural state of the food.  We even create foods today that do not occur naturally.  All of these unnaturally processed and unnaturally generated foods were not designed to work in the nourishment and strengthening of our body.  The intent may be there, but our bodies were not designed to function with these unnatural items.  

 

Many people today have a McDonalds and microwave diet.  They are in a hurry and just are thinking of filling the belly while they are on the run to do something else.  They are not thinking about the food, what is in it, how it was made, or what it might do to them.  Just fill the gut and run.  We as a people are reaping the results of that in record obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, and many other maladies that is related to the food we eat.  I am not immune myself and am reaping some high blood pressure as a result of years of eating non-foods.

Many of the foods we eat today are not designed to keep the body running so much as they are designed to keep us buying a particular product.  I read an article once that a company researched that best configuration of a sugar molecule that would be the most appealing to people so they could cram their product with it and subconsciously get people addicted to the product.  Repeat sales is the name of the food business.  
 

In recent years, companies like Monsanto and others have even been making unnatural combinations of foods in a laboratory, genetically altering plants and animals in ways that could never occur naturally or even with selective breeding.  They have cornered our market with their unnatural foods that other places in the world will not even allow into their countries.  No studies have been done to see what effects these foods might have on humans.  Looking at the rises in various diseases that were once rare gives at least a clue.


I am going to meet what I have sown by putting my trust in the Lord.  In the Bible is outlines a diet that is good.  God would not order a diet that was bad for us.  God wants the best for us so I am (finally) going to trust Him on His word and learn to eat the way God intended us, and had ordered his chosen people to eat.  Going by the reaping and sowing principle God set, I expect that this change to cure me of my high blood pressure and take care of most any other malady that I may have as a result of poor nutrition.  Forgive me Father for not recognizing this sooner