Do We Deserve This?

Do We Deserve This?

3/28/13

Ever want to react to some of the comments and attitudes that are portrayed towards the church and everything that she stands for?  Those who care for the church feel the pain that these actions do to us and how they are received by the church.  The attacks on the church have increased over the past decade or so in this country and from the trends, it does not look like the attacks will stop anytime soon.  Are these attacks warranted and are they the result of some past deed that the church has done or not done?  The answers may surprise you.

I must interject my usual saying here when I am going to talk about the church and her current status.  I still want it known that I love the church with all my heart and it is my utmost desire to see her flourish through God and His Kingdom.  There is no other way to survive this world other than the Kingdom of God and it is imperative that we understand what is transpiring against His Kingdom and just why it is being allowed.  In no way do I wish to see the Church undergo constant bombardments and attacks from our enemy but as most of us understand even while the Church is asleep she will be attacked because of her present and future potential.  I only wish to speak to her the words that will allow her to review her current positions and to re-establish her commission that was given to her when Jesus was on earth.  This is meant not only for the church as a whole but also for each individual who considers them to be a Christian.

When you read church history one can gather that it has been through many tumultuous events in its life.  Many of these events were justified and just as many of them were not justified, but in whatever instance those battles were fought over many millennia.  The battles that the church faces today are still real and they continue to grow on a daily basis.  This does not allow for any real rest within the church and everyone who is associated with the church feels the pressure that is mounting.  There are both physical and spiritual forces that are out to break the walls of the church in order to destroy her on all levels.

I know that some of you have read Church history and have thought about all of the atrocities that we have committed over the centuries.  And with this type of legacy it is not hard to imagine that our enemy is going to remind us of this on a routine basis.  For those of you that are old enough to remember the early 1980s well, you will recall a time when it was popular to be a Christian and live in a Christian and conservative manner.  There was nothing wrong about professing your beliefs towards others and feeling like it was not going to be shoved back in your face and the start of an argument.  However, during this time period Christians began to have a sense of authority that they were right and that everyone else in the world was wrong.  This concept was reinforced since people were flocking into churches by the thousands each week.  So our level of “I am better than you” grew exponentially just as our congregations did.

Is there anything wrong wit a large congregation? No there is not.  Is there anything wrong with being proud about being a Christian?  No there is not.  Is there anything wrong with serving God in such a manner that it separates us from the world?  No there is not.  But there is a problem when our attitudes conform to the same likeness as some of the early Christian beliefs that plagued our planet centuries ago and the majority of us have missed this type of attitude that we have portrayed to the world during the past few decades.

I am going to do a few comparisons about the church and the world and it may take me a while to complete this so please be patient but know that every word is relevant for today and it needs to be addressed, considered and acted upon before we lose many of the privileges that all of us thrive in today.  I am going to start with the Church and then go to the worldly aspects of things.

With the exception of a few short stints in history, the overall Church has enjoyed full cooperation within the world’s societies.  The Church has gained in prominence and stature as time has advanced for it has helped many people to cope with various devastating occurrences.  But the Church has also provided us with excellent examples of how not to do things to people.  I have touched on this subject in some of my past articles and it is well known throughout the world about how the Church has conducted some of its business when it comes to decisions about things.

When one examines the history of the Church in its younger years it takes a familiar form of behavior, one of a teenager.  There were many years that the Church really did not know how to act but was trying its best to set a place for herself in the world.  We all know that teenagers throughout the world have an inferiority complex that they all try and break out from and when this occurs it is not always a smooth process.  There are many arguments with the authority figures within their lives and many whimsical decisions that they make often fall back on them as opportunities of learning.  But on the other hand we also know that sometimes these results only fuel the fire within their hearts and they do not heed the advice that has been given to them and they continue on the current path that they chose.  This was so the case in the early days of the church and to be honest we really have not learned from that mistake centuries ago.

Whereas the Church did not continue its pouting stage it became angry and violent towards the ways of those who disagreed with it and then sought and took revenge on those who did not comply with its mandates.  In other words, the Church has sat back and instead of trying to correct its behavior and change to accept those who have different views we have shunned these people and forced them to accept the ways of the world.  Remember there are only two choices that can be made in life and if one does not choose God then the other is automatically chosen, no matter how good a person sets out to be.  The Church has exemplified this example and has now created, with the help of its past, a culture of God that is distant and separated from the core beliefs of the church herself.

It is easier to talk about things in the world rather than separating yourself from worldly behavior.  It is easy to talk about compromise rather than taking a stand.  Both of these instances requires a stand against things that the world accepts on a daily basis, but it is not the people that we should take a stand against, it is the spirit that we need to address and accept as the true force behind the behavior of the world and not doing this is reverting back to the teenage stage of the church.  We must continually provide ourselves as being a witness to the setting apart from this world in a very loving manner.  We do not need to portray ourselves as better than anyone else in the world as the younger church did by murdering thousands of lives for appearing opposite that the church.  And one more thing before I move on in this article, if we do not change our attitudes and things becomes testy again, the world will not allow us to be the ones to enforce their vengeance upon them, it will be the other way around.

The church will take things on the chin and if no one has noticed it yet, that process has already begun.  It is our enemy’s way of letting us know that he realizes that shape that we are in and the maturity level that we currently harbor.  He understands that he controls this world and everything that goes on within its confines.  He also knows that it is our job to shine the light into the world and in order for him to keep us in check he must constitute blow after blow in the eyes of the physical.  Our enemy loves to make things seem like there is only one level of the playing field, the physical.  And when he can allow us to keep that idea in mind he can be effective in spreading his lies to God’s people.  You notice that he works loudly through the physical realm but silently through the spiritual.  There is a reason for this because if every human ever got wind that the spiritual actually is eternal, then our enemy would be in real trouble….oh wait that is what we are supposed to be doing, right?

During the times that the church was in power, so to speak, the church really prospered in the world.  Its lifestyle was that of luxury and great fortune.  The acceptance of this lifestyle was generally widespread since the governments allowed the church immunity in exchange for their loyalty and support to the law of the land.  What a concept that set the foundations of church failure in reaching the world for Christ, but it was set in stone and the birth of the teenage years of the church began.  The church enjoyed a dominance over the world for centuries that was unchecked by any spiritual conscious from God.  Yes, the church did good things during this time but when you look throughout history people who are famous for ding horrific acts also have been praised by others for accomplishing many good deeds within the communities.

The attitude of the church finally had worn thin with the people of the land.  They began to shy away from the church and everything that it stood for which was allowing our enemy’s plan to be perfectly played out with the full cooperation of the church.  The church had no clue about what was transpiring since it was so wrapped up in its own status and wealth.  The church had totally lost focus of its role within the world and what its functionality was supposed to be and the church did something to overstep its bounds, the government reined it in and set forth further laws limiting it from actually performing what it was commissioned to do.  The church’s status, attitude and presentation of itself to the world kind of reminds me of a modern state that we all know and live within today.

It is common knowledge that civilization began before the actual development of the church.  Both entities have grown by leaps and bounds over time, none of this can be denied.  But what may people fail to think about that even though people lived without churches for millennia the concept of church and its purpose was meant to take the lead in humanity.  And since we have provided a church that conforms to the world instead of leading the world we can argue that the current situation that the world is in today is our fault since our commission was from the one person who created the entire life process that we know.  It has been said many times in our lives and that is when an event occurs there are always two sides of the story and in this case the same is true there are two sides that are in play here and if one side is not being pushed forward the other side is, there is no stalemate or standstill possibilities.

Since both entities represent their own values each must maintain their integrity in order to equip their followers to survive the encounters that would test their beliefs.  The world has not let up in this task and with the help of its leader has done an excellent job in selling its mannerisms to everyone in the world.  The world has followed the lead we have freely chosen to give it and the church has no one to blame but herself.  There is a reason that Jesus commanded us to go into the world and spread the gospel.  It was not a suggestion but a command.  Jesus did not command too many things while He was on this earth, so you know it must have been important enough for Him to state our mission in this way; for Jesus knew that if the church did not do this that the world would seize the high ground and take over the hearts of the world.  Now, look around you, read history and follow current trends and notice who is winning the war.

The world has done nothing wrong according to what the church has let it.  It was our responsibility and the church has failed miserably to follow the commandment of God.  Now, doesn’t that sound like a teenage behavior?  Want to know why I know this is a fact?  It is because I have the guts enough to stand up and let everyone know that I fell into this category because I was a typical teenager.  I know how they operate because I was one a while back and I have teenagers now running around my house, and they too believe that I have no clue about what they are up to.  But I continue t call out for them to obey and to fulfill my commandments, not in anger but in love and so does God towards His church.

The world has successfully partitioned to what the church can and cannot say within what is socially accepted.  The church has allowed herself to be placed into a dark ally all alone in a gang filled neighborhood that is ripe for her taking.  And what is so appalling is that she recognizes this aspect and conditions and she is actually having fun while walking down this corridor.  She actually believes that if she can blend in well enough with society that she will not be harmed.  Take an honest look around at the churches and see what type of conditions they portray.  Be honest with yourself as well also see where you fit into this dark and senseless portrayal of life.  I find it amazing of how the church ahs believed the world when it proclaimed safety as long as conformation to its ways is adhered to, what a set up that the church has voluntarily accepted. 

Our enemy has set the stage for another round of embarrassments for the church and he is counting on the fact that we do not realize our status within the world while the contestants line up for the fight.  We have no choice but to wake up and to realize what is happening around us.  It is a fact that man can choose to change his laws to accommodate his current thinking.  It is also common knowledge that man can enact laws which try to seduce the church into believing and then using those laws against it when the time is appropriate.  All of these instances come from our enemy who has a powerful hold on the world’s ideologies.  The laws and ideas that isolate the church should be a wake up call for everyone within the church.  There is a reason why this is occurring and unless we change our way of believing and seeing it will be not too much further down the road where the existence of the church will be changed forever. 

The church and the world are two living entities that exist within the planet and they represent polar opposites of each other, or they should that is.  We the church have created the position that we are in today and it is our responsibility to correct this stance as soon as possible.  It is our response to what the world is throwing at us that will determine our future as an organized church.  The world has followed the footsteps that we have shown them and it is time for us to change our current path before it is too late.  God loves the church with all of His heart and so do I. 

It is time for the Church to realize that our heart is no longer up for sale to the world.  It is time that we recognize our need for restoration to the command of Jesus of spreading the gospel throughout the world and to take a stand against the ways of the world.  It does not matter that it have been two years or almost two thousand years, restoration is what the church needs in order to shine the light of Jesus to the world.  Separate ourselves from the world and claim the passion of Christ once again in our hearts for this is the only way to ensure that the church stays strong for our children and our grandchildren.  This act will also provide us the spiritual strength that we need to withstand the trials that we will face over the coming days, weeks, months and years.

DLB

Relationships

Relationships

3/27/13

Many of us read the Bible and try and figure out why God chose specific people to spread His message that He desires a relationship with mankind.  The same occurs in today’s world as well and in both instances it seems like God chooses the most obscure methods to convey His words by using these men who are considered worthless or on the sidelines of society.  But this method represents the importance that God does care for even the little people of the world and the He wishes to be with even them on a daily basis.

All of humanity desires to have a relationship of some kind with as many people as possible.  There is no way that we can establish ties with people if there is not some kind of communication and interaction with others.  Even if a person does not really wish to have direct interactions with people at some point they will be forced to concede their hermit behavior and accept others into their personal surroundings.

There are numerous levels of relationships that we can choose to have with other people.  One of the most common levels is that of a business relationship.  Businesses all around the world have to have communication and other types of interactions with people in order to keep their business operating and functioning.  This type of relationship usually does not allow for personal knowledge of each other but it still provides a level of information about each other that some general acceptances can be made about others.

Distant friendships or an acquaintance is another type of relationship that really does not have direct and constant contact with those who we might recognize when we are walking down the street in our local town.  Also these people would fall into a category that when one of their children became sick or got injured in a sporting event we would know them well enough to ask them about their conditions but not much more would be warranted.  And further these would be people who you would see at church or in the grocery store on a routine basis but still do not know the intimate details of their lives.

Then there is the type of relationships that all of us desire the most which are ones that develop over a period of time and the development of the relationship continues to grow at a steady pace for many years and hopefully a lifetime.  These type relationships are far and few between and when found should be cherished and nurtured because not many of these types of relationships will come around.  These relationships are lifelong friendships where that friend knows you inside and out and even knows when something is wrong in your life, even if they have not any communication about the problem.  In these relationships the heart is involved which requires growth and grooming, which is an important aspect of this type of relationship.  These relationships are ones that develop between husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, two or four friends that have stuck around no matter what your circumstances were at the time, and God.  Yes God fits into this category and I will delve into that area a bit more in a bit.

In human terms having a relationship with someone, on any level, represents acceptance and we all want to be accepted in life.  All of us look different, sound different and even come from various cultures which create an interesting mixture within our societies.  But this diversity does not mean that we have to isolate ourselves when we come into contact with those that we do not get along with, we still have to live with these people and it is important that we find some common ground, or relationship, in order to function together.

Humans also have a wonderful feature about them that places a twist into these relationship patterns and it is called the gift of choice.  For some reason humans love to stir up controversy in their own lives and in the lives of others.  The capability of having this type of activity has allowed humans to act as human wrecking balls and we have loved the option so much that we have perfected this choice as an art for thousands of years.  It is the one gift that actually divides and conquers the human race all at one time.  It is alive and well within our lives today and from all indications we have no intentions of impeding its perfection levels within our society.

I find it fascinating to read about how much energy we spend trying to implement the destruction of relationships amongst mankind.  We convey our feelings through the usage of choices, which is a wonderful aspect of human life, but we then go overboard with these choices as abuse their meaning by manipulating conversations, potential relationships, and even relationships in order to maintain our choice.  And I find even more fascinating and silly sometimes of how humans behave when people do not share the same ideas as others do.  This is a part of our nature and we should not allow this type of behavior become a destructive and divisive force within our lives.

The gift of choice can come with a huge price as well.  We are currently witnessing this occur on a wide scale level throughout the world and no better of an example is that of Cyprus.  The level of relationship in this situation is on many levels and it all has to do with trust.  The government of Cyprus has dug itself a huge hole financially and has been told to correct it immediately or face expulsion from its overall governing organization.  So, the government of Cyprus decided to alleviate this situation by freezing all of the bank accounts of those who had accounts and will now take money from their accounts to pay off their national debt.  In other words, the government is literally robbing the people, a good ole’ western style bank robbery if you wish to place it those terms.

This was a choice of the people to trust the government with their wages and it also sets into play a line that now can be followed by other governments to pay off their debts; as many times as they wish I guess.  But let us think about how many times we ourselves have done this type of activity to one or more of our friends.  All of us have fit into that category in some fashion, with some of us performing this “accomplishment” more than once.  It does not matter what level of relationship you are speaking about, once the trust is betrayed it is very hard to trust that person on the same level again.  So I guess that what the government of Cyprus has done is just a continuation, or progression, of the individual human mind that we have done for thousands of years.  Think about the progression process here and then stop for a minute and think about what could be the next step that could happen.  Scary, eh.

This act of betrayal or choosing not to have a relationship with others is a pattern item that we can see in many areas.  It is a part of the choice apparatus that we have been blessed with.  For God to create in us this option of choice was a stroke of genius, and we as humans will never truly and completely understand, also we use this option on a constant basis but it is one that we have no immediate realization of its ultimate authority within our lives.  For instance, most of us do not realize that even though we have the option to choose who we have a relationship with God does not have that option and I thank Him daily that He does not.

When God created us He set us apart in a very unique manner.  He gave us many tools to help us get through this live and choice is one of them, along with relationships.  It is amazing to see how these two phenomena interact with each other in our lives and seeing the product of this interaction being portrayed to the public.  In a world that boasts about how educated we are, we continually fail to see this simple interaction that causes so much strife between individuals and cultures.  And since we do not recognize that God does not have this option we also forget that it is our enemy who is actually manipulating these interactions in order to divide us further from God and each other.

Since God does not have a choice in this manner He must have had to come up with an idea of how to insure that we understand that He cannot choose to abandon us.  Being human we continually experience life circumstances that bring us disappointment and none hurt worse when they come from another human, so being the loving creator that He is, God created an act that symbolizes His commitment to our lives.  This commitment is called a covenant.  The word commitment proves to be a disservice to the entire concept of covenant but there are few words in the modern languages that could accurately describe the level of relationship that it entails.

I will not be going into the covenant side of things in this article but I want to line out the basic concepts of just how serious God is about developing, keeping and having a relationship with us.  There are some things about God that our finite minds cannot comprehend, this is a fact that we must accept and some of these characteristics of God can be difficult to explain in terms that we can understand.  Having a covenant is one of them in the case that a covenant cannot be broken, only violated.  God is Holy in every way possible which means once He establishes something He cannot undo it and He has applied this fact to His “commitment” to humans.

The examples of covenant in the Bible deal with how much God is willing to invest into our lives but many of us fail to see this aspect.  The act of covenant deals with God actually committing to defend our relationship with Him with His life.  Think about this for a moment.  God is eternal and can never die, in any form, shape or fashion yet He would lay down His life for us to reach out and show us just how far He would go to keep our relationship with Him.  When God introduces covenant to man He consumes the offering that is prepared per His instructions.  He has a waiting period for the person to make the choice to accept this relationship based upon the limited knowledge that man can have about God.  He gives a symbol of the relationship to man so that everyone will know just how important the relationship is and to what extent God will defend it. 

The part we always look at and focus upon is the fact that if we violate this covenant God has the authority to destroy our lives in such a manner that even our own individual molecules will never be able to acknowledge their existence again.  Since God is eternal that leaves only one party of the covenant that has the capability to make the choice to leave or to violate it and that party would be the human.  We know that we will violate it, this is a fact and there is nothing that we can do about it.  However, since God created us and loves us so much, He is willing to accept us back into covenant as long as we are willing to give up the issues that are responsible for the violation.  In other words, we have to give up self in order to fully live in His light.

Another concept comes into play at this stage of the game and that is humans will now ask why God would do something like this.  It is a logical process because man possesses the inner conscious that continues to show us our mistakes.   It is the way God shows us that we cannot be dependent on anyone else other than Him.  It is His ways that are just and true and no matter how hard we try man’s ways are flawed and selfish in nature.  Covenant is an excellent way to take all the pressure off of our lives so concerning relationship because it automatically sets the level as intimate, personal and Holy all at once. 

Another type of human relationship anomaly that I will mention here, is the way humans wish to have a relationship with others but keep the level of that relationship at a distance.  Many of us like to enter into these relationships because it is safe and there is no real commitment that is involved on both sides.  However, we know that these types of conditions actually do the same amount of damage or for some even more damage when they fall apart.  This is another choice type relationship that is available for the human, but it does not apply to God in any way.  God does not do things half way which is a blessing in disguise for us.  God loves us without borders and His covenant stretches to us in the same manner.  God cannot love us from a distance for if He could love in this manner His ways would be considered flawed.  God loves us through His heart and His love grows for us each day of our life.  WE may choose to keep God at a distance but God does not reciprocate the gesture.  He continually looks at our hearts and touches parts of our hearts in a way that allows us to know that He is still there.  God will never force His love on to our lives, the acceptance of His ways are still our choice.

I have written this not to condemn personal relationships and to place any doubt about having human relationships with each other.  Human relationships will have their ups and downs and this will not change.  In fact having a good relationship with another person is a prime example of what kind of relationship God wishes to have with us.  However the difference is that God will never forsake His relationship with us unlike the human patterns that can present themselves.  Relationships are what strengthen the human heart and that is why it hurts when they go wrong but fly when they grow.

God shall never run from us, He will run towards us if we allow Him to do so.  His covenant relationship with us is eternal and eternally bonded to Him without exceptions.  God desires a personal and intimate relationship with each and every one of us, not one that will falter or die off at some point in time but one that is full of life and freedom that cannot be described.  The job of our enemy is to provide the opposite in our lives and so far he has done a masterful work in this area.  For those who do not know that God wants to have a relationship with you He does, and for those who have known this but have not adhered to it, He is ready to restore that relationship with you. 

DLB

Spiritual Abortions

Spiritual Abortions

2/23/13

This topic is going to probably hit some nerves but it is something that needs to be addressed and it needs to be placed into these words for us to understand just how important the restoration of the Church, so I really have no opening paragraph that describes the subject.  Just allow God to penetrate your heart as you read these words and ask God to allow you to understand the comparisons with the Church and why God has chosen to use this subject as an example of the importance of this process in our lives.  Please remember that these words are coming from God and I am just the delivery boy who is willing to place this all out on the table for everyone to think about.

Please understand that I have no animosity towards the church in any way with me writing these words.  Please understand that I love the Church dearly and want nothing more to see her flourish as she should and was commissioned.  But we have done our share of hurting and crippling people for way too long and God wants us to understand that He is in the restoration business and not in the destruction business.  I am struggling to write this article since I know not everyone will understand it nor will they comprehend the significance of the examples that will be portrayed and most importantly some may not even conceive the burden that God desires for us to have for the lost. 

As most of you know, I am an avid history enthusiast.  I spend most of my spare time searching for, reading about and writing down historical events that I find interesting.  I have not always been this fascinated with History and to be honest like almost every other student in the world I hated the subject for most of my educational years.  But a few years back I began to expand my knowledge in a few areas of history that I kind of found interesting, but really could not narrow one specific area down to dig deeper into.  I had no idea that God was actually turning me in a certain way that would open my mind and my heart up to Him in a way that I could actually use history in some manner.

I continued my search for a popular history subject that would appease my newly found desires that would not run out of information to study.  But as I continued my searching God was pointing me, or trying to point me in the direction towards Church History.  I would passively look at some of the books, articles, and notes that dealt with this particular subject and would take an interest in them but I did not really take it seriously.  But God was persistent in His pointing and continued to poke me with the idea of Church History.  So, I continued my quest in another direction like a good human would but God did not give up His pursuit.  I continued my argument against Church History and actually told God that it would be boring if I studied this line of history.  All of this was due to the fact that I was misinformed about everything that occurred within the church and since then I have come to the realization that I will never run out of information to read and write about the church.  I have also figured out that God is going to use me in this area to speak to those people who have become disillusioned where it comes to the church, a daunting but fascinating task.  Two things I must say to you for you to consider.  The first being that anyone who has not had a true passion about history has made that boring comment and I totally understand where you are coming from about history, and the second thing is never, never, never tell God something is boring, especially something that He wants you to pursue.

As I slowly gave in to God and the desires He had for me I began to notice a pattern about the Church and how it dictated herself in the world.  So I began to buy more books and read more articles on overall church function.  I did not limit my research to any time frame or period but just allowed God to direct me as I dug into the framework of the church.  I then read some passages in the Bible and found out some things that I had never thought about before.  In both accounts, the subject is the same, the people.  In both accounts, things transpire that we today either ignore or place blame in other directions which do not serve justice to what God wants to say to the people that He so lovingly created.

The Bible writes about hundreds of examples of human activity that we interpret as judgments of God and blame Him for the consequences that have occurred.  But in reality, it is the actions of the people that have caused those things to happen to their lives.  Yes, God allowed them to occur that is not of any question but it was not His fault because it was our choice to go our own way and to do our own thing.  And I am convinced that if God had never written the Bible until these times, He would have provided many more instances of a similar nature to write about for future inhabitants of the world.

On the Church History side of the issues, we have the exact same scenario that has been played out for over two thousand years now.  These examples include men and in some cases women in leadership positions taking out their beliefs of religion and pouring it out on those who do not believe exactly as they do.  There are thousands of examples of this and even today it has not ceased to ease on many levels.  There is a huge difference in recognizing sin and punishing sin.  It is not our responsibility to punish sin in the name of God but it our responsibility to try and do our best to help others to recognize their sin and to guide them through their walk with God, no matter what happens.  There is absolutely no way that God can proceed with His restoration process in those people who we have virtually crucified because of the lies that the world has told them.

Let me ask you a question.  How could you accept someone’s teaching of change if you have been constantly informed that you are worthless, wrong, stupid, shunned and then kicked out of that same atmosphere by the same someone who is trying to tell you about another way of life?  There is no way that any person or group of people are even going to listen to you.  And, if I were those people you bet I would do my best to discredit that someone as much as I could because of the hateful and hurtful words that they gave to me.  Why should I agree with anyone who demeans my life in a way that condemns my mistakes and errors instead of saying it is ok and that there is a way to correct them.  This is the area and the example that I wish to write about in this article.  The church has done a fabulous job in putting to an end of many a spiritual life with this type of attitude towards those who are “not of the same belief” as us.

In the past two thousand years or so the church has not been discriminatory about who it punishes for not agreeing with the current beliefs.  You look at the early centuries and the church itself was persecuted in a horrible manner and one would automatically think that since the church was treated in this way that it would be the last entity to treat others in this style, yet we have embraced this conduct and have taken it to extraordinary lengths just as the ones who persecuted the church, all the way up to the justification of the death of a human.  And as time progressed we the church, have adapted this suffering policy to those who do not believe in a certain way and turned it into a means of sacrifice for the purity of the Church.  Why?  Jesus came to give life to the people so why does the church take that life away?

So now the enemy of God has a beautiful weapon to use against the church and the ironic thing is that it comes “in the name of God.”  Talk about an opportunistic situation that will work to the advantage of the one person who masterminds the destruction of the human being simply because of the potential he / she has.  And I am going to take some things a step further and say that the church herself has delighted in granting this option to our enemy and that this fact of the killing of people in the name of God actually is the foundation of a very controversial subject that grips the entire world today.

It has been generally accepted by the majority of mankind that we human beings are spiritual in nature.  There is something about us that we know that differentiates us from other things on our planet and it has nothing to do with how we look or talk.  We have not and will not fully understand this level of supernatural capacity within ourselves but most of us can agree that we are spiritual creatures and that we need to have our spirits worship something to satisfy that longing within our inner compartments.  By all of us understanding that we have this spirit within us means that we know that it must be fed in order to survive.  This spirit is the defining essence within us that allows us to be in communication with our creator. 

Another aspect of our spirit is that if we do not feed it with the correct food, it will begin to search for other sources of substance that will sustain its being.  This is where our enemy takes over and begins to tempt us with other types of spiritual food in order to infiltrate our lives on a spiritual level.  See, our enemy is a spiritual being so of course he is going to attack his “likeness” first.  This is a dangerous process in which can come in many forms, even in a physical form.

Satan loves to use a person’s past against them.  And our pasts are things that we have done, correct?  So they are physical in nature, right?  Ok, so if the church portrays this type of manner towards others then why wouldn’t our enemy use the same tactics in allowing more people to become separated from the truth?  Therefore, our enemy has the authority to use the church in such a manner to fulfill his goals in our destruction, not only for the present time frame but for the future as well.  Parents, have you ever told your kids not to do something or to do something because you have done things in the past that you have regretted?  Same concepts are in play here but instead of just one or two people involved, it is billions throughout time.  It has been a perfect setup and the church has fallen for it hook, line and sinker.

Let me take a short jaunt from the subject at hand for a moment to set the stage of what God is saying here.  Stay with me, it is going to become interesting. J  I was born in 1967 in Little Rock, Arkansas.  Most of you know that I was adopted when I was a baby.  The process in which my adoption was completed is nothing short of a miracle and there is no question that it was ordained by God.  I first want to say that I love my birth mother dearly for if it was not for her willingness to have me I would not be here writing today and the message that God wants His Church to hear might not be presented.  Secondly, I want everyone to know just how special my parents are to me and how much I love them and to let everyone know that they did an excellent job in raising me.  So, a portion of this article is about adoption and how it represents a part of the restoration process when I could have easily been thrown out or away.  This was the easy part, now comes another truth.

As we all know a major event took place in 1973 when abortions became legal in this country.  That court decision changed the course of history for the entire world.  This landmark decision has created a deep division within the different nations of the world and even within the church itself.  Do you find that it is a coincidence that this law is effect and how it relates to the church?  Everyone makes choices in their lives and some of those choices are made in haste and some are thought out but in whatever decision a consequence is made that will affect a future of someone.  So true is the decision of the church to kill innocent people because they do not have the same beliefs as they feel are correct.  All men have failed and will continue to fail until the ultimate failure comes upon us.  But who is for mankind to say when that time has come for another based upon his beliefs?  And with this decision of death based on beliefs we have given justification for others not to associate with what God actually desires life.

While it is not my intention to talk about abortions in this article concerning whether the procedure is right or wrong but it is my intention to talk about abortions and how the Church actually provided the groundwork for a process called spiritual abortion.  WHAT????  How dare I say that?  I cannot make a statement like that without an explanation so here it is.  Spiritual abortion is a logical step and there are many factors that support this statement. 

I will repeat my statement at the beginning of this article in that I am totally in love with the Church and everything that She has been commissioned to do, and wish no further division amongst her, but in all honesty, we have failed miserably in the task that Jesus commanded us to do.  We have placed personal ideas and concepts ahead of Biblical principles in order to establish our own authority and power in the world.  Look through Church History and study the issues that have precipitated this action.  The Spanish Inquisition is one example of this and how the decision of one church created havoc in tens of thousands of lives and produced a rippling effect throughout the world that is still felt today.  During this time, many beliefs and even cultures were threatened with annihilation simply because one did not believe in a certain manner or even agree with everything that was fed to them by the leaders of that organization.  Humans in other parts of world history did the exact same thing in the name of purity that had nothing to do with religion or God, so this is another example of both sides being demonstrated by the same concepts.

We need to address the restoration of these women who have endured abortions, for they are hurting and are in need of truthful and loving help that only God can give to them.  The same goes for the people that have been hurt by the church and it is time that we need to reach out to these people in order to restore what God wants for their lives.  God desires a personal relationship with each and every person in the world but because of our past actions and the legacy that we have laid, it is more important now than ever to end this spiritual abortion legal claim over our hearts.

The abortion process is a procedure that is voluntarily completed and a decision has to be made for it to be completed, in other words, it is a choice.  So was the choice of the church to destroy the lives of people who loved God so much that they wanted to believe in their own ways as Jesus freely gave them.  Instead, we as the Church instilled a growth pattern of death aimed at those who were practicing their individual desires through Christ that technically did not line up with the doctrine of the times.  You want an example of why the spirituality of the church is dead, we created it and now we are reaping it.

This is not about feeling sorry for the church or to gain sympathy for the church, the opposite is in fact, true, this is a call to battle against the enemy who we have allowed to create this culture of death within our lives.  Death is not our defining nature but it is the life that God gave us through His spirit within us that defines our being.  We must take back the authority of life and allow God to take away the spiritual authority of death that lingers over the Church.  We as humans may have allowed our enemy to penetrate our thinking and rationale for many years but we need to let God take back over and restore what we have lost.

As in the procedure of an abortion, the Church cannot take back the product that it has done to those millions of people throughout history and it is not necessary for the Church to dwell on our past.  However, it is vital that we remember our past and all that it represents and to never allow those events to infiltrate our ways again.  We cannot do this alone but must rely on God to restore our ways back to His ways so that we may come alive and give birth to the Church that Jesus established upon His birth, life, death, and resurrection.  I find it very convincing that Jesus should call His Church His Bride, for it is the woman who gives birth to the world and so it should be within the spiritual realm as well.  I guess there is no other need for an explanation as to why the Church is in decline all over the world huh.

This is not a call for further separation between man and the church it is a call for us as the Church to stop our human disciplines and hear the groans of the hurting people once again.  There are billions of these people out in the world and each one of them has a reason to know God.  This process is not about religion but about the one thing that each person in the world desires and that is to have a real relationship.

Anyone want a solid foundation to call abortion murder, there it is.  Anyone want a solid foundation as to why abortion is a popular choice in the world today, there it is.  Anyone want a beginning point of the concept of abortion, there it is.  It all boils down to the Church and the concept that a human in a position to make such final decisions based on beliefs.  Wonder why we as individuals are called temples, this article is an example.  The human is not the only entity that its past is being used against them, but as in the individual the church can change its future too.  There is hope but we must give up everything that the world has infiltrated and the only way to do this is to accept our sins and allow God to restore the purity once again.

See the importance of the restoration of the Church now?  See why God is calling for us to come back to Him and to re-establish a relationship with Him.  This is a good reason of why we need to hear what God is saying to us because there are millions of people who are watching what the Church is doing and they are voluntarily separating themselves further and deeper away from the Church and they have every reasonable argument for this action.  They may not understand why they have this authority but our enemy has given them the rocks to throw and they are picking out the biggest ones that he has provided.  It is not our place to spiritually abort the people who have had a troubled past and we definitely do not have the authority to spiritually torture these people until they conform to our ways.  Because as history has shown, these people will voluntarily die instead of “conforming” to the ways of the authoritative church, both physically and spiritually.

The enemy does not like to give back the ground that he believes that he has a right to and this is now evident that the church is part of his territory.  The fight is on and the battles are just now being planned and initiated.  It is time to study God’s Word and prepare ourselves for the inevitable.  However, we cannot do this task unless we are restored and purified through God alone.  It is time to allow God to restore our life producing capabilities once again.  The bride needs to be awakened and to become alive through the process in which She was created for which is to bring life into the world and to restore our dominion over the earth.  It is time that we get our affairs in order and separate ourselves from the world once again.  Help those who need it and win back those people who we have forsaken and trust God that He allows our hearts to be filled with a light that shines as an eternal beacon for those who are looking. 

DLB

How Do You Fit In?

How Do You Fit In?

3/23/13



We have all stood in front of a mirror in an outfit and asked ourselves if we look fat and some of us have stood in that position and asked would our kids wear this outfit in public.  These types of questions are common place in western society and it drives many of us to look around us and notice what others are wearing or not wearing to provide answers for these questions.  But what about the other aspects of the world and how do they reflect on our beliefs and principles and do we even recognize that some of these aspects are wrong.  There is not much we can do about living in this world but it is our responsibility to understand that there are things that the world offers that we should stay away from for it only clouds our differences from the world.

My family and I recently visited my brother and his family in Arizona.  It was a great visit and we did many things in the short period of time that we were down there.  My brother lives in a very large town and there are many things to do, with very little time concerns.  I live in the opposite conditions in which my town is very small and even the city a few miles away is nowhere close to the size of the town my brother resides in.  So my time constraints are relevant to our lives.

One day while we were there all of us went to one of the large malls that was close by my brother’s house.  We had been to this mall before but it was a local attraction so we decided to invade it once again this year.  It is a fairly large mall with a huge variety of shops inside and one could almost spend all day in this mall and not really hit every store, in other words the ladies would love it.  There were people everywhere and one could not walk without bumping into someone every few feet or so.  It was your typical large mall setting.

The boys took off in our own direction and we were mainly interested in talking about things that had occurred since the last time all of us had visited and the ladies went off in their own direction to shop for things that they felt like they could not get back home; all to which is a normal outing.  As the day progressed “us” boys found ourselves at one end of the mall that had some specialty shops that are considered by most to be popular shops to visit.  I decided not to join the other boys for this adventure and at that moment I began to look for an empty bench that I could occupy.  After locating one, I said that I would be right over there sitting on the bench and will wait till they get done with their looking around in the shop.  It was not a large bench but a nice comfortable one in which I could rest a bit before continuing down the hall with the other boys, or so I thought.  Never believe God takes a vacation when you take a vacation.

This is where God decided to have me participate in a little survey about humans and what their hearts say to everyone else.  Being in the medical field I know that a survey or study does not and cannot be accurately completed in just a few minutes and it takes a long time to get the specifics down but God does not operate in the time frame of mankind and it was obvious that He wanted to show me something about the heart and how it functions.

He brought the scripture about bring a part of the world to my mind and then asked me to look at the people that passed by me.  He asked me to look at the shops that they were entering and leaving and to assess their hearts as they did this task.  Seemed simple enough since I could quickly estimate that the majority of the people that I was going to be looking at would not be Christians, but not knowing the actual details of their lives made this survey even more specific in which I will share in a moment.

See the survey is not about how they were dressed or how they conducted themselves while they went into certain types of shops.  It was not even about how they walked or talked as they walked down the halls of the mall, but it was about how they portray themselves on the level of their hearts and did they even recognize how they were responding to the world by their actions.

We all know that the world promotes its own agenda and that agenda is considered to be what is acceptable for everyone.  We also understand that this agenda will include thousands of ideas and proposals in reality not everyone will agree with, but for the most part will accept as “the norm” and move on with their lives.  But this acceptance process by humans is what the core of the survey was that God wanted me to see.  We accept many things in mass and do not give a second thought about them and for the majority of the time can complete this without suffering any worldly consequences.  However, the real question at hand here is what about the consequences to our hearts and the damage that is secretly done when we allow these actions to infiltrate our lives on a regular basis.

Let me take for instance the modern look that the girls are told to wear now.  Anyone who has been to the grocery store, the mall or even a local restaurant will immediately know what I am going to briefly describe.  The articles of clothing that the majority of the girls in western society leave hardly anything to imagine, not just for the boys but for anyone else who comes into contact with these ladies.   Why does the world promote this type of personal presentation of oneself in public?  Because it is the popular thing to do to make each person acceptable to others eyes.  It lures people towards them and allows people to like them for what they are wearing all the while not having the responsibility of getting to know these people personally.  It is a surface acceptance that the world uses in order to achieve their acceptance plan, but it only isolates and destroys everything that is pure within their lives.  And when this event occurs that person’s heart becomes jaded to reality of what is about to happen in their lives, what has happened in their lives and what is happening in their lives.

Is wearing clothes that are considered modern or “in style” considered to be the reason a person changes their views about things?  Obvious answer is no, however the reactionary views of others could be one of the motivating factors that cause this young person to think differently.  Another example is smoking and the question of is a person addicted to cigarettes after their first one, or second one?  The answer is no but that decision to smoke a third one could be the one that changes their minds and further the process.  See where I am going?  Do not take me wrong looking nice and dressing conservative is just as tempting as hardly covering your skin, it just does not let the public think that you are a follower instead of a leader when you “walk” differently.

How many things of the world do we either voluntarily or unknowingly allow into our lives that provide this jaded heart condition?  Most of us find things irrelevant or non provocative in manners that would have such an affect on our hearts, yet these things are presented to us each and every second of the day.  How long will it take until you begin to walk and talk as the world does?  What will it take you’re your mind to conform to the world’s thinking and begin to accept its ways.  It is those people that God wanted me to see and to look at as I sat there on that bench for approximately twenty minutes.  It was those people who at one time probably understood that God loved them and wanted them to have a different life than what the world had to offer, or they could have been in the category that has never heard God’s message to them but are so blind to God’s ways now that it would take a complete miracle for them to change their heart towards God.

It was those people that God sees as a field of ripe harvest and it also a field of His church people that are falling victim of the same lies that the ones who have never heard of the gospel are falling for.  Our enemy has done a fabulous job in hiding and masking the real truth about the world to all who have been alive on this earth.  What is most amazing is that we have voluntarily held open the doors to our hearts in order to be accepted and to have friends in the communities that we live in.  We have gone to great lengths to make ourselves popular and totally “hip” with today’s culture that our parents are doing the same activities as their children.

It is these hearts that God wanted me to see and for me to ask my own self if I am falling into that category of accepting the world as my own.  One must be pretty honest with themselves to accomplish this task because we all know that it is human nature to deliberately overlook things that might make us squirm or realize the truth, especially when the truth is staring back at you in your own mirror.

Now why would anyone intentionally wish to look for their impurities?  This is a concept that is foreign to the human in that it is a natural desire for the human to hide as much of their past and present as possible.  This is a normal process and to the mind a good concept, it limits what others can hold against you.  There is one problem with this however and that is it is difficult to open up about things when a true relationship begins to develop.  This is where God comes to the rescue.

All of us are aware that we cannot change our past even though we try to forget what we have done.  With all of the modern technological information available to the public, it serves as another reason to keep our minds, mouths and hearts shut to others.  But when we attempt to accomplish this process we actually place ourselves into a slavery condition and it is of the worst kind.  We are a slave to our past and it is a personal slavery since it is our life that we are placing into those chains.  We become so locked up within ourselves that it is basically impossible to have any type of true relationship so we begin the compromise stages of the heart to try and compensate for our own actions.  This is a procedure that our enemy uses to gain control of our foresight and our own hope in life and for many of us throughout the world it is an effective weapon to limit the relational ties with God.

It is not God’s desire to watch you make the choice of the world, for He understands what that choice will lead you into and what troubles it will cause within your life.  God has never promised anyone an easy road in life and this goes especially for those who choose Him over the world.  God loves you with all of His heart and it is a pure heart and a pure love and that is what He desires that you experience in life through Him.

So I ask you to examine your own heart.  Look at the ways of the world and then seek to find any of those traces within you.  If you find some do not be ashamed or scared of them but ask God to take them from you and to restore your clean heart once again.  This process will be painful at times but in the end it shall be worth every uncomfortable moment.  Then when you walk around the mall, school halls, or restaurants people will automatically know that you are not in step with this world and that you are different in every way possible.

Ask God to help you look in those areas that you fear and ask Him to take away all of the blinding factors that allow us alone to overlook.  He guarantees that He will not leave us during this process, He also guarantees a personal freedom from this blinders that cause so much inner paint and torment in our lives.  And additional perk to this process is that He will allow you to see the truth in what the world is trying to accomplish in your life and how devastating those concepts are to our hearts.  The most glorious thing about this process is that God will allow the restoration of your heart to occur as well and this brings spiritual freedom to your life in an extraordinary manner in which everyone will notice.






DLB

The Permanent Landmark

The Permanent Landmark

3/20/13

All of us have referred to our life as a journey and it is easy to use this analogy when referring about one’s life.  We also use the length of a trip and weather patterns to describe our current conditions as we travel and none of can leave out the landmarks which we have past and use them as a reference point when describing road conditions.  It is these landmarks that we use to obtain short goals on a long narrow road and some of these landmarks we even totally ignore.  But we do have one landmark that always stands out to us and it is our choice to heed its information but watch out when the landmark is present that means there is something interesting just around the corner.

There is a road that my family and I traveled on many times during my life.  Since my father is a minister we lived in various parts of the country, which is a common trait of a preacher’s family.  However, that does not mean that other members of our family moved around like we did and in this case my grandparents on my mother’s side did not move very much.  They were farmers and had lived in the same general area ever since I could remember.  There were a few house changes but nothing to the extent of thousands of miles away.  They pretty much had perched in one of the more interesting parts of the country, in my opinion.

My immediate family and I had been witness to many parts of the country including California, Texas, Arkansas and Tennessee.  This is a limited list of places that I have lived but it will suffice for this article.  In each of these areas of the country meant another route that had to be taken when we had the opportunity to visit my grandparents in Colorado or Utah.  The destination was basically the same but the way we had to get there changed depending upon the way we were approaching.  What was amazing to me was that no matter which direction we arrived from, whether it was from the east or the west of the country we always ended up on the same highway, and same direction traveling on said highway, every time we made the trip.  It was just because of the geographical location of all parties involved that allowed for this trek to be achieved.

Our family did not get out to this part of the country very often but when we did my parents made sure that we spent a great deal of time with everyone out in the area.  The adults would talk about and discuss numerous issues while we kids would be outside playing either in the snow or out in the fields depending upon what season we were visiting in.  It did not matter how long we stayed or what the weather was all of us would always leave refreshed and satisfied about the visit.

The long portion of the trip was actually the travel portion and back in the 70s and 80s the numerous two lane highways proved to be very long to this kid.  I know that the rest of my family had similar thoughts and feelings but they usually accepted this fact and took the ride in stride.  As we would progress towards our destination certain landmarks would appear which would signal a response in all of us that we were that much closer to Yanyad’s house.  Each passing hour provided another familiar landmark and the passing through each city and town added to the coming excitement of arrival.

The amount of landmarks and natural scenes were and still are numerous to this day.  God has provided a wonderful view of natural creations for us to stare at and wonder about how they were created.  But there is one landmark that has stood out to me ever since I was a little kid.  It is not a natural landmark but a human made one.  I have never stopped to take a picture of this thing nor have I even found out what the landmark serves the land for.  All I know is that it is visible when traveling in both directions and it provides me with a sense of security and position like no other landmark has ever provided.

As I had stated above there really was no set time during the year that our family took a vacation, so we would make these trips to Colorado or Utah throughout the year.  And in keeping with the time of the year we would occasionally run into the patterns of Mother Nature.  In the summertime the rain storms would provide a soaking and large monsoonal rain drops that would slow our progress down tremendously.  The same patterns would occur in the winter time but in these instances snow would be the precipitation that greeted our arrival.  And I cannot forget the sunshine either for many of our trips to this area the sun was ever present and the ruler of the day.

As I reflect on the trips in which we encountered bad weather I can remember that all of us were a tad nervous about the road conditions.  Me being a kid I was constantly asking questions about the weather and generally bugging my parents about how much longer until we were there.  As I have grown older I have realized that this pattern was my way of dealing with my uncertainties about the trip.  At the same time I remembered all of the times that the weather was not factor but still bugged my parents with the how much longer questions, I guess at that point in my life I was being a typical kid.

After we had reached the Four Corners area of the country I knew that it would not be too much longer until we were in Cortez.  Back in those days Cortez was a small community but still had signs of life during the wee hours of the day and night.  This town meant that it was just a few miles further until we reached my grandparent’s house and freedom from riding in this car.  However, even though it was just a short distance to their house this last stretch of territory would always drag out and it felt like forever until we arrived at our destination.  This is where that one landmark stood out to me and as soon as we hit Cortez the idea of seeing that landmark would pop into my head and my eyes would constantly be glued out the windshield of the car waiting to find it. 

It was at this time with my mind and eyes focused on seeing the landmark that the travel seemed to be the longest.  It would seem like the landmark would never arrive and in my mind the journey would not be close to ending until my eyes saw the landmark.  What is most interesting about this landmark is that it on the top of a small hill so one would think that it would be easily recognizable from a distance.  But it is not visible in that way since there are many other small hills and valleys that one must cross before you reach this specific area, but once you reach it and you are paying attention to the road one cannot miss it.

Once you peak the hill before the landmark you can see the landmark if the weather conditions allow but in those times of bad road conditions you might not see it until you are right upon it.  The landmark is actually a large metal pipe that stretches above the road and crosses the road entirely.  As you approach it is actually looks like it comes out of one side of the hill, crosses the road and then goes back into the other side of the hill.  As far as I know it has always been there but I have idea of what service it provides other than the fact that when my eyes saw this pipe my mind automatically triggered that the journey was almost over and that everything was going to be alright.

Every human travels along a specific road that defines our life.  And everyone understands that life will always present obstacles in this road that makes life seem interesting at times.  There is no way that we can deviate from this road of life even though we try our best to complete this impossible task.  The road that we travel on is specifically set and we must complete this journey and it does not matter what the road conditions and weather report tell us.

When these bad road conditions begin to present in our lives it is a natural response to begin to look for landmarks that will help us along our journey.  It is a common theme for us to enter into a panic mode while we are beginning the looking process.  We are able to look for these landmarks because we have had the capability of noticing the surrounding landscape when our road conditions are good.  However, when times of stress or problems arise in our lives we as humans have a tendency to lose the grip of what is around us and focus on things that are right in front of us.  This too is a natural process and quite rational when times are not flowing as they should.

While we creep down our troubled road we begin to feel a bit more confident in the condition that we are in and we begin to search for some type of familiar sign that would provide us with a sense of direction and to allow us to know where we are exactly.  All we find is that the conditions that are affecting our roads continue to become worse and there seems that no end in sight.  All of the natural landmarks that we have previously identified we cannot see so we feel like we are all alone while traveling down this road.

This is far from the truth and what is sad is that many people continually see the one true landmark that can guide them through this harsh time but chose to ignore its beacon of help.  This beacon is the only landmark that one can recognize that will let a person know exactly where they are and will provide a path of safety no matter where they are located.  Every path a person takes and every road that a person journeys down this one true landmark will always be present, in good road conditions and in bad road conditions.

What is amazing is that most of the people in the world “drive” by this landmark and do not really pay attention to its message or its content.  They continue their journeys alone and hope that all will be ok, even though they understand that at some point in their travels problems will arise.  Not knowing about this landmark creates so many ordeals that could be avoided and simply knowing about the landmark and ignoring it might even prove to be deadly somewhere up the road.

No matter what the road conditions were when we are traveling down our roads of life, it is imperative that we know and recognize and be looking for the one true landmark that can provide us with safety, comfort, peace and exact location while we complete this journey.  That one true landmark is God and He has provided His one true landmark to guide us with all hope and covering for our journey.  It is a landmark that one can easily ignore if they wish but it is an all knowing landmark to those who chose to accept its light within their lives.

All of us can fit into one of the categories that I have mentioned and many more of us can fit into other categories that I have not mentioned but no matter what category you group yourself into God waits to restore that communication line with you so that you can heed the warning landmark as you approach the danger, see the landmark as you reach the danger and to follow the landmark as you pass through the danger.  And once you have completed the storm or bad conditions you can experience the restoration process that the landmark has to provide.  My advice to you is not to ignore the landmark that can save your eternal life and please do not scoff at its rays of light as you pass by it.  This landmark is placed there for a reason and that reason is because the creator of everything loves you and desires to have a personal relationship with you.

DLB