Two Sides to Each Story

Two Sides to Each Story

10/30/13

When a story is told the characters involved in that story have their own ideas about what transpired.  It matters just as much for each side of a story to be told and to be heard when explanations are needed to understand what exactly occurred.  This type of base provides for any good book, comedic movie, musical production or life story.  No one will ever walk through life without having some type of encounter with negativity or painful situation.  It is only fair that one sees both sides to a story and understands what exactly happens all around us.  We must keep this concept in mind when we are experiencing life’s trials and understand that there is always one good side and one side that opposes you and it is our choice as to which to live amongst.

Having two sides of a story is a popular concept and one that we like to use for our own advantage.  There is not one of us out there in the world who has come into contact with a person who has had an idea about how we should handle a certain situation and has given provided their input to which we have politely said thank you and then did something totally opposite of what has been suggested.  While this represents a choice to us it also presents us with another side of an issue to look upon.  Most of the time we have already made up our minds about the existing situation before we arrive at that moment we have to make a decision that we might not be able to change. 

How wise is this of us when we do not consider any other alternatives to our problems or conditions?  And we must honestly ask ourselves if we are in the correct mindset to see any other way out of things.  Everything that we do in life, no matter if it is a physical or spiritual decision there is always another counsel that we might take into consideration.  It is also popular to make sure that we do things on our own and that the decisions we make are strictly done for our benefit instead of others around us.  How much do we rely upon our selfish decisions to pave the way for our lives instead of listening to wise counsel before we begin another path in life? 

When we refuse to seek counsel from others eventually we will forget that there is an option and when we place ourselves into this one-sided category we must then abide by the decisions that we have made for if we do not then we can be labeled as a “waffler,” wishy-washy or even unstable in decision making abilities.  Our pride then takes over and we must follow through on our words no matter if we know that they are wrong.  No matter what it takes we must never come to this conclusion about our decisions for when we reach this verdict it is hard to reverse course and seek other counsel to see another point of view. 

I myself can be used as an example of this type of one-sided guidance.  Listening to my friends about a decision can be one of the easiest positions to take yet that does not mean that it is the correct or best direction to follow.  I did this many times when I was young and based some of my worst decisions possible on that advice and as I look back upon those decisions I realize that I should have taken and heeded other counsel instead of believing one-sided advice.  It is easy to place the pride issue into motion and to make sure that our pride is protected at that moment, but what about a few hours, days or months down road will our pride stand strong of be hurt when the truth is shown after the dust settles.  One may find out that more conclusive advice would have helped back then instead.

A similar reaction of details to certain human engagements happens when an auto accident occurs.  There are at least two sides to an accident and it is necessary that both or all sides be taken into consideration before passing judgment as to who was at fault.  People involved in accidents can prove to be terrible witnesses since they are caught up in the accident itself and if at all possible the police hope that there are eyewitnesses that can give another angle on the stories of the participants.

I have witnessed a few accidents in my life and I know on one of these accidents what the participants were saying and what I saw occurring were different.  Is it a human error or is it just trying to blame someone else for a mistake that had been caught?  Either fashion could have been playing out but it is when other opinions and insight is available that reality can be placed into motion and the truth be recognized by all.  It is important that we heed the advice of others and to listen to what someone else who is not directly involved with the situation has to say.  If the authorities at the scene had ignored my eyewitness account of the events, would that have been fair to everyone involved in the accident?  Yes, one side may always prevail but is the truth been told accurately?  I believe that some type of animosity might be warranted if both sides involved or every side witnessed was not taken into consideration.

I could go on and give thousands of examples that could represent my point on choosing or listening to other people who have different opinions or sides to stories, but the main point I wish to make is that the world has an opinion about your life and it weighs heavy with friendly advice that might seem to encourage you to pursue your dreams and pleasures in a worldly manner.  There are currently over 7 billion people in this world and I can guarantee that if you asked some of these people in your age category, your financial situation, or in any other category of your life and they will give you some different opinions and some would even be similar to your views, but how many of them would be totally opposite to what you wanted and would you even consider their advice?

More importantly for us to understand is that the world has one job and that is to stay functioning as long as it can before it implodes.  The world has its own king and the king of this world does not wish to see you learn the truth about life, only what he wishes you to believe is the truth according to what his domain can present to you on a consistent basis.  A while back I wrote an article that dealt with the subject of having the home field advantage and how difficult it is for a travelling team to win a game at an opponent’s field.  I also stated that the king of this world has the same type of advantage when it comes to your life and about the decisions that you have to make when it concerns the ways of the world versus the ways of God.  It is commonplace that the king of the world places people with “friendly” advice for your questions in your path in order to reinforce his ideas and beliefs within your life.  It is also understandable that he allows you enough access to worldly truth to make your decisions seem more practical and meaningful on an intimate level.  What he does not tell you is that those choices and decisions that he throws in your direction are all one-sided and have one meaning for your life.

The king of the world will even allow you to have a belief in God and some knowledge of His word yet feed you enough worldly propaganda to keep God’s Word in your thoughts but never allow them to penetrate your spirit and heart all the while influencing you that this type of categorical sequencing of God within your life is ok to accept.  When you place the worldly decisions and influences into this type of category it is not difficult to see what I am trying to get across to those who are reading this article.  How many true worldly intentions entirely include God and His ways? Another good question to ask is if the world revolves around God, does it?  The clear answer is no, so then what does the world revolve around?  The concepts of the world and the laws of the world revolve around self and what the majority of the people “want” and when “God is involved” in these decisions it is strictly on a superficial basis to which He is usually thrown out as soon as the elections of each person’s decisions have been made known.

Since you and I are a part of this world then that means we automatically fall into a category of having to live in this world.  So our inherited circumstances force us to face this type of “sided” choices on a moment by moment basis, for we are not excluded from this scene by any means.  In truth we are the centerpiece or the true subject that the god of this world wants to deceive and to make sure that we do not fulfill our destiny in life.  And it is at this point that we must make the choice to listen to sides of the story that we are currently “reading” at that moment.  The world will argue that its ways are best for you and that God should not be sole decision or side that one must heed, but I beg you to look at what the world has to offer you and also to look at the alternative and seek Godly counsel so that both sides of the issue can be made known.

This concept of worldly sided advice does not wash with anything God desires for your heart and life.  It needs to be understood and then placed in our forethoughts that God and the world cannot coincide with each other.  It is impossible for both to live together and this fact was proven shortly after mankind was placed inside the Garden of Eden.  Our physical lives can be based upon the fact that we are functioning creatures with the capability of making choices for our lives.  We all love life and yet all of us at some point have difficulties within our lives that make us question our existence.  But when these situations occur why do we continue to accept what the world provides us as the truth to continue?  Why do we allow our lives to be defeated and deny ourselves the truth of why we are here?  It is because we do not want to have God within our thought patterns and to keep His Word within our hearts, yet that is the only way that we will ever get the true answers that we are looking for daily.

The world will provide a totally opposite choice and side of your story than what God will provide.  It is the job of the world to provide a way for your decision making that will look like it is the best opportunity, no matter what is spoken at that moment.  But while we are making that choice to speak have we considered the other side of the story and allowed God’s advice to be heard?  When we listen to Godly advice and rely upon God’s Word for the governance of our decisions and choices we can only separate us from the world and begin to live freely within God’s intended thoughts for our lives.  The world only provides short term and deadly answers for us while God’s paths provide an array of lifetime learning about life itself and how to sustain and maintain a happy and healthy life while upon this earth.  We might not always be in the right with the story that is before us but we can be clear that God’s side will turn out for the best for everyone involved.

God’s source to us is His Word and the examples that He has provided through the contents of this great book.  There are thousands of examples within its cover that can give us great ad heartfelt advice in any circumstance that we may face.  It is not enough to just read the Bible but we need to study it and to place it within our hearts.  If we place God’s Word into our heart that means that we understand what those words are meaning to us and how through the experiences of those people involved in those stories came to the decisions and conclusion that they wrote about.  They understood all sides of the issues and then came to a decision.  What I find so fascinating about the Bible is that it contains both sides of the stories and the decisions that each side made.  The conclusions of those stories can be read about as well, both the good and the bad.  See, even God does not leave out details from those stories, He includes everything.

If we place the world in our hearts we will always find conflict within our lives due to the fact that we were created by a Holy being.  There is nothing holy about the world and therefore, that is where the conflict lies.  God desires a relationship with you and He has provided that avenue through His word and through His son, there is no other way.  The world will provide for you a temporary solution and I cannot deny that fact but all God asks you is to take into consideration His side of the story and to make your decisions based upon all of the facts that surround you instead of just accepting a one sided offer.  God loves you, the world does not.  God has provided a way of escape the world wants to enslave you.  Listen and hear both sides of the story, for it is your eternal story that you are fighting for.

DLB

Barking Under the Covers

Barking Under the Covers

10/27/13

We all know the power and the influence a bark of a dog can have on those that are approaching their surroundings.  We have heard many stories of the ferociousness sounds that one can interpret from this type of setting, but what about when a dog barks and cannot be seen?  How effective is that sound to our ears, especially when that scenario is repeated each time we walk by that spot.  The same concept goes along with the authority of the church and the attitude she has with her ability to ward off potential enemy attacks.  We need to re-evaluate our position within society and come out from under the covers and return to our watchdog positions through God’s eyes and not our own.

The famous mailman story comes to mind when we talk about dogs and how their barks are intimidating to humans.  If a person asks a mailman or mailwoman if they have encountered a raucous hound during their career then it would be guaranteed that they would have at least one horror story to tell.  Dogs are a common way to protect a person’s land or house for the presence of a dog always invites a person to have caution within their steps as they approach the area in question.  It is also known that dogs have keen senses and it seems like their memory banks have an endless amount of storage for they might not see a particular person for months and then have the same reaction as previous times when that person appears again. 

The dog’s bark serves as a warning to anyone who is coming into what they consider their territory.  Usually when a person is allowed into the house then the majority of the time the barking stops and the sniffing procedures begin but that does not mean all is well.  One must still be o guard while they are in the house for the dog may not always feel comfortable in the welcome setting as you are.  The bark of a dog is a penetrating sound and even if the dog is very tiny its decibels can penetrate through a door and travel to a few houses down the street.  If people are paying attention they too will become aware of what is transpiring at the neighbors’ houses or property, which can serve as a good response of protection if needed.

It is also known that many dogs and their barks have intimidated burglars, predators and other malicious minded individuals in their attempts to break into personal facilities.  It has been recorded many times in the legal logbooks of society that people’s attempts to break into houses have been thwarted by these specific noises, so much so that in some cases one of the mechanisms that security systems has is the voice of a big dog barking when things seem amiss.  The question that quickly runs through an intruder’s head is if the sounds are for real or are they mechanical and the majority of the burglars do not stick around to find out.  Kind of like the old Clint Eastwood movie of when he asked the bad guy if he felt lucky or not.

Many of you know that we have two miniature Dachshunds as our puppy choices.  I have written about them a few times in the past but they are hilarious at times and informative at other times.  This time is an informative one in such that even though they are the same breed of animal their barks are totally different.  Both of them are loud when they are barking which you would not think would be the case for being such small dogs but they have a nice set of lungs on them that shine every time they let out a yelp.  Dachshunds are actually hunting dogs and were bred to chase and hunt badgers which are in themselves a ferocious animal, so Dachshunds need to been loud and curious at the same time. 

Within my house the morning times for our puppies is not the most active in that they sometimes like to sleep in even though the normal human activities are in full stride.  Heidi which is our youngest and biggest dog usually gets up earlier than Gizelle does.  Gizelle is, if you remember, the one who has the damaged cerebellum and has balance problems, but that no effect on her ability to bark.  Gizelle is small enough to sleep in our bed with us, in-between us actually and there she stays all night and sometimes for a good portion of the morning as well.

There are times that the normal human activity within the house can trigger Gizelle’s ears even when she is located upstairs and under a thick covering of blankets and sheets on the bed.  It is funny because the noises that she is hearing indicate to her that something is not quite right within the house but she does not know what it is so her natural tendency is to bark.  It makes the scene funny because the noises that she hears are all coming from known family members who continually are around her, yet she lets out a muffled bark that is barely recognizable to our human ears.  She knows that there are sounds present and should know who and where the sounds are coming from but for whatever reason she lets out a bark, like she is trying to warn us that strangers are around.

We in the house do not put much faith into these types of barks and there is no way that a person walking in front of the house could hear her bark either, even if her intended bark was towards the person or people outside, which every time she does this type of bark there are no strangers around the house or yard.  Our typical reaction is to laugh at her for a moment and we even go upstairs to see if she is ready to get up and join the group, but most of the time she is still under the covers and has no inkling of getting out of the bed.  So we allow her to continue to sleep and enjoy her alone time in the bed.

I have also mentioned before that the authority of the Church is comparable to that of a barking dog when it comes to the warnings against intrusions of the world.  Not that the Church should take a militant stand against the world physically but should sound off against the world spiritually and vocally according to God’s eternal Word.  There is a defined line of personal property that humans have that serves as a boundary for anyone who is trying to cross over and when someone does approach that line many of us have defensive mechanisms in place to warn those approaching that they have been noticed.  The Church has this boundary as well and it is called the Divine Law of God and it is recorded in the Bible.  It serves just that, as a warning to all of us that God has a defined line or boundary that He must abide by and when humans or any other being approaches that line, watch out, He has to let us know about His position.

God has ordained the Church to be this protection service in that she must understand what God has defined and not to stretch the boundaries in any way or means for if she does then the opportunity for a breech in the boundary is possible.  God has allowed the Church to be the messenger of His love, hope and restoration and this message should be told each time someone presents themselves to our boundary.  As I have stated above, not in a militant stand but one out of forgiveness and love.

However, the situation changes course when the enemy decides to attack the established boundary.  This is the time that the Church needs to recognize that an attack is coming and that our eternal and spiritual defenses should be put on alert, or if you wish allow the dogs to bark loudly at the uncertain presence approaching our lines.  This is why our “dogs” should be up and alert to all of the dangers that are being presented to our boundary and not hidden beneath the covers not understanding what is actually going on around us.

See, if we are under the covers we do not know what sounds we are listening for because we are in our comfort zones and not paying attention to the details around us.  We “bark” at the ones within the household and ignore the potential problems or invaders that are outside looking in and taking notes.  It is in this condition when we allow the enemy to approach our boundary and allow him to search our defenses and if he does not meet resistance then he believes that he has the authority to advance into our property, which he does because we allow him this access.  He looks upon our actions as a door and if it is open then that means he has the ability to walk in and take whatever he wishes, no matter what is there.

When the enemy hears no warning signs from the Church he assumes, and rightly so, that he can do whatever he wishes.  First of all one must keep in mind that the world is his playground and his home field and only can we defend against him if we understand that we are separated from this world and must keep up our defenses in order to protect ourselves from dangers that approach us.  If we fail to see this recognition then we are doomed and might as well go hide under our blankets and bark harmlessly at whatever sound we hear.

As our family thinks it is funny when Gizelle barks from under the covers so will our enemy when he walks through our doors with devastating results within the Church.  Have we lost the ability to recognize who our enemy is and what he has the capability of doing to the Church if we allow him this access to our inner sanctum?  I argue that the answer to that question is a definite YES!!!  I base this answer upon this fact; look at what is going on around the world today.  Look at the choices that the world is continually placing in front of our lives and what is the response of the Church to these?  Silence, is her response and it is a complete travesty for God’s Laws for mankind and one day we will be held accountable for our choices.

It is recorded that our enemy has to flee even if we have no idea of what to say as long as we remember just one word, this scenario will come true.  That one word is a name, the name of Jesus that is it.  However, if we are muffled and hiding underneath the covers, as we are now we can scream that name as loud as we want but it will have no effectiveness due to the fact that we are not standing up according to what God requires of His Church.  You want protection, then get on the front lines and bark when strangers approach, be annoying to the enemy and let the other portions of the Church know when intruders are approaching.

In no manner am I making fun of Gizelle or her condition but I am pointing out a huge fault within the Church and her boundary system.  The Church has lost sight of her definition and has incorporated herself with the world.  This incorporation has allowed the Church to be lied to in that she believes the world when it ways to her that it is ok be go and be warm and comfy under the covers, for it shall leave her alone while she is asleep.  And the Church has bought this lie!!  We the Church are sound asleep and warm while the world continues its onslaught of our boundaries and infiltrating our ranks.  It is time that we wake up the dogs per say and begin to bark loudly once again.  When we do this the enemy will think twice about attacking and once he sees our dogs, that is God’s Word, within our house, awake and on the job, he will flee from our midst and we will once again be able to defend ourselves and then return to the world with a truthful answer to our problems.

We need to recognize our current state and see what we are voluntarily choosing to allow our enemy to do within our boundaries.  We have allowed him to overrun our lines and take a foothold within our perimeter, the perimeter that God has created for our defense from our enemy.  The time is now that we need to take back what our enemy has destroyed and to allow God to restore us so that we can be what we were created to be in this world.  It is our destiny to have dominion over this world and that includes everything that the world stands for but we shall never achieve this status until we allow God back into our defenses.  We have chosen to hide under the covers and bark and our enemy will allow us to continue this act for as long as time exists for he has listened to that sound for a long time and he understands that it means absolutely nothing.

Allow God to restore our lives and to bring back the authority that He has given us.  Not by any violent means physically but to raise our defenses up once again for the battle is raging and we need to stand up and fight for the restoration of our boundary.  Then and only then can our enemy be defeated in his place and pushed back as God has intended for us to do.  Restoration is a great process and it is a healing process and when we allow God to complete this task within our spirits and lives we will be made strong to withstand the approaching and attacks from our enemy and prevail against the gates that our enemy has built around us.

It is not my intention to fight the Church but to wake her up from her slumber and to set into motion what she was created to do.  She has become a weak entity that ahs believed the lies from the world.  She has forgotten her first love and the sacrifices that He made for her so that she may live abundantly in this place.  Our enemy has robbed her of her desire for truth and has condemned her on a wide scale for her worldly actions.  Yet she refuses to rise to the occasion and rid herself from the chains of slavery that she has voluntarily put upon her hands and feet.  She knows the truth and what the truth will do for her if only she will once again listen to her Creator.  I love the Church with all of my heart and it disturbs me as I watch her writhe in her voluntary captivity.  She can change and must change her choices for if she does not, she will surely die and millions along with her will suffer the same consequences.

DLB

Separation Gap

The Separation Gap

10/27/13

The human race has a production line of division that becomes widened with each generation.  Each new generation of individuals has their own ideas about how they wish to live, work and worship and each view can have individual drastic effect upon each one as well.  Many of us do not realize that while we are supposedly progressing with humanity we are creating a separation between our forefathers and ourselves.  It is this separation gap that many times causes division within families that prove to never heal.  It is even more important that we understand that there is a huge dark gap that separates us from God and until we understand the bridge that crosses that gap, our lives are doomed for destruction.

Many years ago my father was going to become an engineer.  He has the perfect mathematical mind that no doubt would have brought him a tremendous career in some specific type of engineering.  Being an engineer was basically all dad ever wanted to be while he was growing up, and that was evident from the classes that he took in high school and then during the beginning semesters of college.  He was well on his way to becoming an engineer when God called him to become a minister.  Dad was familiar with the ministry since his father had been a minister for many years, but up until God called him to preach dad really had no desire for this line of work.

God gave dad a vision one night in the form of a dream.  I cannot describe the intricate details of the dream but I am going to try and do my best to give some of the story in order to lay the foundation for this article.  The dream has stuck with dad all of these years and he even talks about it to this day.  It is a moment in his life that changed him forever and he has never been the same since.  Quite a change from being an engineer to a minister, but God does work in mysterious ways for the good of man.

In dad’s dream he was standing on a hillside.  He noticed that there were many people running by him and reaching the top of the hill and then disappearing.  Dad also noticed that a huge cross was placed at the top of the hill but the people were ignoring it and just disappearing as soon as they passed the cross.  As dad began to walk up the hill he noticed that as soon that the people reached the top that they actually disappeared which as soon as he reached the top he looked beyond the cross and realized that after the cross was a large cliff that led downward.  He continued to watch many people reach this point of the hill and just simply continue their running right over the edge. He then asked God why are these people just running off the cliff, why do they just stop, don’t they know what is happening?  That is when God spoke to him and told him that telling people about Him was going to be dad’s job.

This dream broke dad’s heart and at the same time it set a fire within his spirit to let as many people know about God and about the blood of Jesus that he possibly could.  I know that dad struggled with moving us around a lot but I have no regrets whatsoever about the decisions that mom and he made during his ministry years.  All dad wanted to do was to tell the world about God and that there was a way of escape from sure spiritual and eternal death.  I have many fond memories from my traveling days with my parents and I have been richly blessed through their ministry. 

I know that technically I am not a preacher but God has chosen me to write things that are along the same lines as my father’s dream.  I did not understand or comprehend this concept until this morning, 25 October 2013, as I was walking across the now famous hospital parking lot that I grace each day.  My writings have been based upon numerous topics and to be honest God has really blown my mind with some of the topics that He wishes me to write for you.  I do not question these topics I just do what I am asked but know that I have been given many topics and have been shown numerous things to write about so I have a feeling that I am not going to retire from writing any time soon.  God is in control and I just transcribe what He has said to me.

If you have read any of my past articles you will know that there some out there that deal with the life of Christ and what His life represents to us.  I have started a series called the Covered Bridge and it is this concept that God has shown me some details about Christ’s life that has blown me into pieces.  I am not going to deal with these specifics in this article but I do wish to address the gap that man voluntarily created and to try and place it into perspective with another demonstration and how Christ is the only way for us to cross this gap to God.

As I was walking across the parking lot this morning I was beginning the trek up the ambulance slope to its emergency loading area.  Now it has been summer time here and up until a few weeks ago there had been no cold weather present in this area.  However, the gravel that the maintenance crew had used last winter to keep the ambulances from sliding down the ambulance ramp had still been present.  I had passed this scene many times and had looked at all of the gravel and the patterns that it made many times over the summer, but had not made any connection.  Seems kind of weird eh, why would anyone be looking at gravel for patterns. J

On my second trip across the ambulance ramp I took notice once again of the gravel that I was about to step on.  I noticed a unique pattern of part of the gravel and I immediately remembered that I had noticed this pattern for some time but really had never “noticed” it before.  What is amazing is that I had noticed this pattern before the summer actually began.  Now, you might not think that I was paying attention too much about the path that I took but what one should know is that from June till October I was not working in my normal position, I was working in the main lab and did not make this walk every day. 

I have included a picture of the pattern that I saw this morning at the beginning of the article and you can refer to it as you read along if need be.  Anyway, as I passed by the gravel I thought to myself that the pattern formed was weird and how there was a gap that formed curved lines in the middle of the pattern.  On one side of the pattern were placed many gravel bits and they seemed to line up and crowd up to each other until they reached an imaginary line and ten stopped.  On the other side of the gap was the same appearance of gravel basically in the same formation.

The gap in between the two sides of gravel collections was convoluted and twisted in form and ran the length of the pattern or shape of the formation.  What I found interesting about the gap was that it was clear there and if you look at the picture above you will notice that all along the gap there is not one bit of gravel within the gap.  It is a complete separation from the two sides and there is nothing that links the two sides as well.  It is a complete and total separation and unless I, someone else or some other vehicle comes along to close this gap it shall remain in this condition.

I refer you back to my father’s dream and when he was looking over the side of the cliff and watching people just run over the edge and not stop.  If you picture this scene you will notice that if dad turned and looked back behind him at the people running or walking up the hill that they would be scattered abroad and not really grouped tightly together until the edge of the cliff approached.  This represents people coming from many directions and coming together as their time ends.  Look at my picture and you will see the same thing on the one side of the gravel.

Dad mentioned that he saw these people running over the cliff and just falling without any way possible of stopping them after they had ran off the cliff.  In other words he could no longer see them after they had made the decision to complete their journey, or in laymen’s terms they physically died.  This represents the gap that man decided to create for ourselves when we chose to ignore God’s law in the Garden of Eden and do things on our won.  And as far as we can see down and across there is absolutely nothing that life represents in that gap.

The cross stood tall and strong at the top of the hillside where dad and God conversed and where the many people ran by as they fell off the cliff.  I have no idea what dad and God actually said to each other but I do know that God did reaffirm in dad’s dream that the cross was the only way that people could be stopped from running over the edge of the cliff with the result of certain death.  I do not know if dad thought about the cross and what occurred on that cross as a bridge across that gap but I do know that as time has passed in my life dad has referred to the cross as a type of bridge; plus the Bible gives us a detailed example of this with the ripping of the veil as Jesus died.

Returning back to the gravel, on the other side of the gap is another “gathering” of gravel and then as you continue to view the pattern towards the right you will notice that the gravel once again spreads out like it is being thinned or dispersed as you look further to the right. I find this very interesting that once the gap has been overcome there is life on the other side of the gap.  There is life on the previously mentioned side of the gap as well, but nothing inside the gap.  That gap was created by man and thus it cannot be bridged by man no matter how hard one tries.  You also notice that the cross stands on the first side of the gap and not on the other which means that God has provided a true way of crossing that gap and even though the cross is tall and can be seen from a distance it has been strategically placed as a last resort if one chooses to get to that point in their lives.

Whatever takes place while people are in the gap, no one alive knows.  I do know that I have done some pretty stupid things in my life and even though I am a human and deserve nothing from God or the rewards that He has in store for me, I do not ever want to compromise my position in Christ the day that my life finds that gap and I cross over to the presence of God.  I have no clue how eternity works or living in a spirit flesh life but I do know that there is a way that I can live eternally with God and not ever have to worry about an enemy ever again, and it is through the cross and what occurred on that cross that gives me this assurance.

The other side of the gap represents the lives that are in heaven and are with God.  It would be logical for a number of lives to be at the edge of the other side of this gap after they have been transformed into eternal beings.  It also demonstrates that actual life is present in heaven because the gravel is dispersing which means that they no longer care to stay at the edge of the gap and they will continue their journey in life as it was meant for us to do.  So, to answer a few questions about a certain issue concerning heaven, it does not look like we will be floating around with wings with a harp and doing nothing but playing music for each other, we will be alive and able to do things. Sadly however, that means that those who do not choose eternal life with God will also be alive but somewhere in that gap that we created, totally separated from God; remember there is always two sides to every story.

It is the bridge that God has shown me to write about and if one reads all of my past articles they will understand this pattern that God has given to me.  There is no way that I am trying to upstage my father’s dream for it is a gift from God to him and it is a mission that was born within my father many years ago.  But during a conversation that my parents and I had a few months ago, I believe now that mom and dad can see where my ministry is headed.  It is not an upstage of my father but an extension of his ministry that God began in his spirit a long time ago.  It may never be from behind a pulpit but the words that God has shown me and the message that He has given me to share with as many people as possible, is the exact same as what He showed my father. 

I have no doubt that my father heard the voice of God in that dream for the same message has been given to a dirt bag of a human being which would be me.  I still have trouble contemplating what God sees in me that would deem me worthy of telling His message to others, but for whatever reason God has chosen me to carry on His words of hope, love and life to a world that is desperate need of Him.  There is no doubt that God has defined His ministry in me through the written word and it is those words that He has given me to give to a world that is literally falling off a cliff, is the continuation of the ministry that God gave to you both.  I love you mom and dad with all of my heart and I thank you every day for your influence in my life, you did a job well done!!

DLB

Loss of a Nation's Heart

Loss of a Nation’s Heart

10/27/13

Holidays are a special time of the year where we gather to celebrate certain ideas of our lives.  Holidays are important to nations because it represents certain details of a nation’s history that are deemed important.  Important enough that how people celebrate their nation’s holidays can give others around the globe an idea of how important their country actually is to their lives.  And since this importance in stature, holidays then can demonstrate how the country’s heart condition is and how long that country may survive.

I realize that holidays are not the only concept and condition that can represent the state of a country.  And to be honest, even though I have not researched much on this topic I do not know if there are many papers or even books written about how the country celebrates its holidays versus the condition of the country’s heart, but it is a concept that God showed me to write about and for the reader to think about and to search their own heart and see just what kind of an example they are showing to the world when our holidays roll around each year.

There is no question that God has richly blessed this country and for centuries now this country has stood out as a beacon of leadership for the rest of the world to notice.  Our history may be short in comparison to the rest of the world but it has been inundated with so many promises, blessings and growth that even the most skeptical person on the planet must contend that a higher power had something to do with our rise; but this skeptical person must also realize that the higher power person can take away everything that have been given and promised just as easily because of our own selfish designs and desires.

Each nation has at least a few national holidays that is celebrated on a recurring basis.  These holidays may be celebrated once a year, twice a year or every other year but they are celebrated in such a manner that represents the reason why the holidays were created for that nation in the first place.  These dates that are set aside are done so in a manner to which the people of that nation will take time out of their daily routines and remember the trials and heartaches that their nation went through in order to establish their nation as it is today.  Now, I understand that not every nation is in the same state of function as the USA is but no matter what condition a country is in or proclaims, the people of that country are patriotic and understand its nation’s history.

History is a subject that many of us, including myself, absolutely hated while we were attending school.  The preconceived concepts of a history class or course is that it will be filled with memorization about dates and past periods of time that have nothing to do with the relevance of today’s world.  How far from correct is that concept yet it is more prevalent today than probably ever before.  Plus, when we understand the importance of something we tend to more readily learn about those concepts instead of memorizing them because of the importance and love that we have for that particular subject.

I truly believe that it is ploy from our enemy that this concept about history is so well documented and accepted within the minds of students, simply because our history no matter on what level will always be used against us by others including our great accuser.  So one would naturally think that if our accuser uses history against us that maybe we should take our history seriously and what better way would that be completed if we remember the true reasons of why we celebrate our holidays.

I understand that our country celebrates many holidays and we use these days and weeks to take off work and supposedly spend time with our families but the deep question that needs to be asked is if we are doing this request from the bottom of our hearts and not just for show.  I believe that we can know this answer by the way we look at our holidays along with our actions when take the time off.  I am not going to touch on all of our holidays for there are numerous but the ones that I am going to address are major ones and the ones that I have been associated with my entire life.  I also have to admit that I have not always been so appreciative of these national holidays but I have changed my attitude towards them due to what my eyes have witnessed over the past few decades concerning these days.

The first national holiday I am going to talk about is Memorial Day.  Many of our children have not been taught the true meaning of this holiday and why it is important in our history.  When one asks others about Memorial Day for the most part you will receive a response that has something to do with barbecue, the end of school or the weekend that marks the beginning of summer.  While all of these responses are correct and they are not bad in nature many of the people questioned do not bring up the fact about the true meaning of the holiday.

Memorial Day is one of our more important holidays in that it was created after one of the darkest periods in our nation’s history. Decoration Day as it was first known after the completion of the American Civil War and was dedicated to the memory of all the soldiers who had perished on both sides of the civil war.  It was created as a time of not only remembrance but also as a time for reflection and bringing back together a nation torn.  Thousands of men died for their beliefs and no matter which side of the war a family hailed from, everyone within the nation was somehow affected by this tragic war.

It was not until the 20^th Century that Memorial Day was extended to every soldier from our country that had died during a war and it was proclaimed as a day when many family members of service men and women who have died in battle to place flags and flowers upon their headstones as a reminder that their sacrifice has not been forgotten.  A sad note to this holiday is that many people today do not understand, and some do not even care, about the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

The 4^th of July is a huge holiday within this country and is also a popular concept within almost every country around the world.  This holiday represents our independence from Britain and all of the men and women who gave their lives to ensure freedom for everyone who desired it.  Thousands of men died a gruesome death so that their children and grandchildren could know and appreciate the meaning of the word freedom. 

The 4^th is usually celebrated with food and fireworks both symbolizing the heart of American know-how and ingenuity to make things work for the better for everyone.  This holiday is probably one of the most important ones since if there were not people in our past that had the guts enough to stand up to those who they believed were subduing and harming the stability and vitality of the newly established nation, the country as we know it at present moment would not be recognizable.  I thank God every day for the men and women who worked painstakingly and agonized over a period of years to create the Constitution and everything that it represents so that tyranny cannot ever truly and legally flourish again.

Recently I was involved in a conversation about our country’s history and what life was like for our founding fathers.  And a young person who was also in on this conversation was giving her opinion about the founding fathers and how they should have done things differently.  I looked at this young lady and I asked her a question and that question was as follows:  “Can you name any of the founding fathers of this country?” Because of the way she was trying to explain her belief about the founding fathers it was not surprising to me that she could not name any of them.  Furthermore I asked her “if she could name the first three Presidents of the country” and she could not even do this either.  Another young person did not know who we won our independence from either.  With these questions not being able to be answered, one really has to wonder about the heart of nation and its condition of strength and stability.

This is what I fear about this last paragraph.  This young lady, who I love tremendously, was never taught this type of detailed information about her own country.  This is the excuse that she had and she had not pursued anything further because she did not deem it important enough to know about.  Many of us understand who Hitler was and everything that he did to the world while he was in power.  Many of us do not realize that Hitler was absolutely fascinated with the history of his country and all of the countries that influenced the culture and lifestyle of Germany.  He deeply loved his country and the German way of life.  Somewhere along the way his hatred of how other nations treated his country after a bloody defeat got into his head and took over and the rest is well known history, as they say.

My point is this, and I point out some other questions at the same time.  If a person who loves their country and understands their country’s history then becomes a head of that state, then turns on the world is it possible to forgive the misguiding of her / his actions on an overall basis?  Before you answer that question think about it for a moment and include all historical possibilities, ten give it an answer.  On the other hand, you take a person who has no belief in their nation’s history and do not even understand their country’s origins and allow them to become a head of state and then they do the exact same process as Hitler did to the world, is their forgiveness just as easy?  And will this path prove forth as the future of the leaders of that country as well?

The next holiday that I wish to talk about is Labor Day.  For most of the young people in this nation Labor Day means the end of summer and a return to school.  It is considered by many to be the last summer holiday and one that marks the beginning of harvest season.  Labor Day was established in the 1800s mainly for recognizing the ability, capability and dedication of the American worker and everything that he / she has done for the advancement of American industries.  Unions heavily celebrate this day and have a deep long running interest in its creation as a holiday.  Some of the people in the country do not agree with the policies of the unions but they have established some great working conditions for countless people over the decades, even though some of their means of accomplishing these conditions were not on the up and up.

Labor Day celebrates all those who have worked their buns off for this country and have gone to work every day and turned out the best product available.  These people come from every line of work and each one of them should be proud of the work that they have produced.  With the worker’s dedication to their employer this nation was built as one of the mightiest industrial producing nations and everyone associated with this status should be applauded.  So, even though the entire holiday meaning may not suit everyone’s fancy, it still is a great holiday and should be remembered as time passes on by.

Columbus Day was a huge hit when I was young but if you ask a young person today about this holiday you will probably end up in an argument.  The controversy of what Columbus did for this hemisphere is unquestionably extraordinary and we should keep that in mind as we continue to bash this man and his service to his country.  Christopher Columbus was not from this country and was not a founding father of this country per say.  Yes, he did employ some strange behaviors in this hemisphere and yes his followers brought slaves, disease and other foul issues to this side of the earth, but how would things have been different if CC did not explore this side when he did?  Ever wonder how things would be if he was denied the funds to make the voyage or had got lost and ended up dying at sea?

The questions I have for those of us who do not like CC and everything that he did for this part of the world is this.  Have you started out and made an adventure like he and his crew did and if you have then did you use the exact same equipment and means that CC and his crew used?  Did you have to fend off vicious tribes and ferocious animals while walking through dense and unexplored territories?  Did you spend months at a time at sea and endure the natural watery elements that it had to offer?  When did those boys have time to bathe???? 

I cannot argue that these men did some stupid, ridiculous and questionable acts while they were over here.  However, they also brought with them a new way of life for all of us today and began thousands of boys and girls dreaming of the new world and many of these kids grew hopes of living or exploring in the new world one day.  All of the optimism and desire to learn new things drove the inhabitants of Spain and other countries of Europe to advance their conditions on others, this too had its positives and negatives but it was the desire to learn that makes this holiday special and unique in its own way.  And if we continue to detail out the bad things about CC and his voyage, then our heart’s ambition to learn is also threatened.

Now for the “meaty” portion of this article. J  Thanksgiving has always been a time for thanks and for everything that the summer has produced for our families.  Harvest is almost over for most people and it is time for families to gather and celebrate all of the blessings that we have had over the past year.  Thanksgiving traditionally has marked the beginning of the official holiday season in this country and with this holiday being the first one on the calendar is usually heavily celebrated.

When I was a kid my parents taught me the basic concepts of Thanksgiving and how the pilgrims came over to the new world and after the harvest season was complete included all of their neighbors in this feast.  Everyone helped out during those days in order to make the harvest a success so everyone was invited for the feast afterwards.  It took a while for me to realize that the food that we have today was not the exact same type of food that they had back in the 1700s which when I learned about this, it came as a slight shock to my system. The word togetherness comes to mind when this holiday is mentioned because when the concepts of this time were created everyone had to rely on each other to get the job completed.  There were no family enemies and those that did not deserve to be included in the complete gathering.  Everyone, including their differences, understood that there was a job to do and that it had to be done in order to survive.

Football, football, football is usually the war cry when Thanksgiving comes around now-a-days.  Now, being a huge football fan I do not complain about this time of year because during the week of Thanksgiving there are usually games on almost every day of the week; many school rivalries take place during this time.  I am not going to condemn any sporting activity because I do support these types of activities however, if these activities do infiltrate and take over the true meaning of this holiday it should be well noted that the heart of this holiday has been violated.

How guilty do we feel about overeating on this holiday?  Most of us, myself included fall into this category.  But as soon as Thanksgiving week is over our guilt and gluten turns into another rush for Christmas is just as few weeks away.  But how should we feel about celebrating Thanksgiving when we do not believe in what the country stands for or where it has come from?  What about the one being that gave us the opportunity to celebrate this holiday?  We have become so hypocritical concerning this holiday in that we are still enjoying the fruits of our labor but are ignoring and pushing out the one person who has allowed us to have all of these things.  Where have we gone wrong and will we ever realize that if we do not change our hearts about this holiday, this holiday will soon be lost because of our current actions.

To include another angle concerning our current actions for many years now people in this country have been trying their best to group Thanksgiving and Christmas together as being just “the holidays”.  I believe that this idea is preposterous and should be immediately dismissed because it would totally destroy the individual histories of both holidays and further weaken the heart and spirit of our nation. Thanksgiving has became a target practice for those people who live in freedom and exercise their “right” to have their opinion but do not respect what the holiday represents nor do they respect those who do wish to truly celebrate this historic and Godly holiday.

Christmas continues to be the bull’s eye holiday for billions of people around the world.  My approach to this holiday is going to be two fold in that I will be directing my words to both sides of the stream including those who wish to ban this holiday and to the people who religiously celebrate it.  I probably should make this portion of this article a standalone article but I am going to include it here so I have to keep the information as condensed as possible.

For as long as I can accurately remember there has been a movement to rid the official name of Christmas and to replace it with a number of other names.  One of the more popular choices has been for the usage of the word Xmas.  I understand that not everyone in the world believes in God and what the life of Christ means to others.  God also understands this and accepts this view from these people but just for the record that does not mean that He has stopped loving you.  Anyway, it is a direct hit on this holiday for anyone to suggest that its name be changed and that it should reflect a more secular theme rather than a Holy theme.

One of the loudest arguments that some people take part in about Christmas is about the actual time of the birth of Christ and how that the 25^th of December is not the date of His birth.  I hope I am not bursting any bubbles here but that statement is actually true that the birth of Jesus probably did not occur on this date.  But it is not the date that matters; we could celebrate Christmas on June 15^th or May 17^th or any other date on the calendar, even February 29^th if we wish.  The date of the holiday is not what is in question but when someone brings up this point it should present a clear message to those around that, especially if the person really is annoyed about the holiday, about what is present within their heart.  God does not care which day of the year a person celebrates Christmas, in fact as Christians we should celebrate Christmas every day of the year, which would definitely represent the true spirit of Christmas.

The art of giving gifts from the heart of people has gone by the wayside.  Commercialization of everything about Christmas has overtaken the world with the blessings that we have been instilled with.  I can see the progression of this phenomenon on the day after Thanksgiving when most of the stores have a huge sale on the popular items that they believe will be given as Christmas gifts.  Now, I have participate in this event and have received some great gifts for others at this time so I cannot argue against its concept but year after year you hear about or witness many people fighting over these items, some even risking jail time in order to obtain a gift before someone else does.  Where is the heart of this action?  If this is the motivation and determination that is displayed for a specific gift, just think what attitude that child or friend is going to inherit after the gift is given to them.

Now for the “other hand” of the Christmas holiday.  We all know that Christmas time represents to hundreds of millions of people around the world the pinnacle of the Christian faith.  I have recently gained more knowledge of the Advent calendar and what each day symbolizes and represents.  I still have questions about these meanings but that is not the issue of this article.  In all reality the Church herself has embraced the concept of commercialization when it comes to Christmas.  Not so much in the monetary side of things but where it comes to the heart of what Christmas represents.

The heart is an individual organ which beats differently yet specifically for each person.  If a person leads and accepts with their heart they are more likely to not hide any feelings for their cause.  Christmas is a special time of the year and should be celebrated as one chooses, but if that person does not share the good news and the true meaning of Christmas to others, where is the individuality of the heart?  If we do not share this news then we have accepted the commercialization of Christmas just as others have and are now eligible for a defamation of the holiday due to our coldness towards the meaning of the holiday.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving gifts to people at Christmas, it is encouraged and is actually the heart of what Christmas means.  However, the holiday itself cannot be watered down by anyone, because it is just that important.  If we choose to continually mass give our effectiveness of true giving that comes from the heart, will be lost.  Take the time to get to know the people that you give gifts spend time with them and learn what they need instead of what they want.  This act of giving comes from the heart and not from the mind and is exactly what Jesus did when He came to this earth.

The Church should be ashamed of herself for the actions that it has portrayed towards the world concerning Christmas.  The Church should be shouting to the entire world the true meaning of Christmas and what the roots of the holiday represent.  There is nothing wrong with attending Christmas choir concerts, communion services, choral groups or even walking down the street singing Christmas carols with the youth group but if we do not complete these activities with a sincere heart and a giving heart our fruits are dead and cannot be used for their intended inhabitants.  Say no to the commercialization of Christmas and to the renaming of this holiday for when we allow this to continue, we will look back one day and notice that our heart is not welcome in this holiday either, which means our heart no longer beats for God.

The last holiday that I am going to talk about is New Years.  It’s party time!!!!  New Years Eve is a festive time and almost every culture in the world stops for a few moments on December 31^st and parties a little bit hoping that the next year will bring better fortunes than the last did.  For most of us in the modern world this wish has been granted for many centuries now but there are still some areas of the world who choose to live in the past or with simple measures as their means of survival, more power to them for they are more likely to understand the true concepts about this holiday than we fast paced societal people would. 

This holiday represents many things to the world and if known it has its roots from an old heritage.  Now I do not know if the ones who created this holiday understood what it represents and to be honest neither did I until a few years ago.  But a new year is just that a new year.  Which means that everything in your personal world should start anew or start over, right?  Well the Jewish New Year which has been around for far longer than our concepts of a new year celebration has been actually has a very deep rooted meaning about the New Year and what is expected from those who celebrate it.  I am not saying that we all should become Jewish or accept the ways of Jewish law but their New Year celebrations are quite intriguing.

The Jewish New Year goes deeper than the normal party like atmosphere that we in the modern or western world adhere to.  I know for a fact that people in Israel do celebrate the New Year, on 31^st of December as well however, the traditional Jewish New Year goes into forgiveness and how one cannot really be “accepted” into the next year until he / she forgives others for the wrongs that have been done to them.  This is a true and correct meaning concerning the holiday of New Years.  What a blessing it would be, a real reason to dance and celebrate if one knows that your debts have all been cancelled.  You know, I have heard that phrase somewhere before….

Maybe we should take another look at this holiday as well and take it to heart that there is more of a meaning about this day than just food, dancing, partying and football.  I know that New Years Day is very popular in my family and our tradition on this day goes back to my elementary school years.  I would not trade these memories for anything, even when some of those years were not so happy for me. Celebrate your freedom in God while you are dancing the night away or watching the football game on TV.  Choose life and speak life into the coming year and I guarantee that the next year will be better than the one before.  For when you speak life, the heart is involved and it demonstrates to those around you that you have hope in the coming year and that you trust in God for that hope to come to pass.

I know that I have skipped many other national, state and local holidays and festivities but I believe I have made my point with the ones that I have chosen to talk about.  I am not against all of the things that the families do on holidays for I participate in as many of them as possible.  My intentions here in this article is one of the heart and how that while we are playing around on these holidays we need to make sure that our heart is still involved in the center of things.  God has allowed all of us to have a celebratory time in our lives, in fact the Bible states that God commands us to be happy; yes, a Jewish holiday.  But God also wishes that we keep Him in the center of our lives and to give thanks to Him for life itself and to do our duty and to remember why these holidays exist and to hide them within our hearts, providing we still have a beating heart.  For if we choose to ignore the ways that we have become a nation then as one of the old popular songs says, we will fall for anything that comes our way.

DLB

Contaminated Blood

Contaminated Blood

10/25/13

Blood serves as the sole organ that keeps us alive and going.  It is important that we have the other vital organs but without blood none of our other organs could survive.  The importance of blood also depends upon the source of our blood and how it is created on a continual basis.  Yet, with all of these life giving mechanisms at work, our blood is still contaminated enough to one day shut down and eventually die.  But there is one source of blood that we have access to that will provides us with eternal life and forgiveness where it concerns the contamination process of the blood that flows through our bodies.

Blood is a fascinating organ which is complex in some functions and simple in function in others.  The very thought of how blood and its constant volume flowing within our bodies at a continual yet safe speed is almost incomprehensible.  I have been in the laboratory for almost thirty years now and the concept of blood and its functions still baffle me from time to time.  We humans have learned so much about our lives through the study of blood and we have come to understand of just how important blood means to our survival.  However, we still take the content an function of blood for granted and use our surrounding supply of blood to gain time when in need and forget about the true blood that is necessary for us to have eternal life away from this world.

I am going to look at a few concepts about blood in this article in which I will do my best to clarify the importance of blood and how the generation of blood, blood volume and destruction of blood all pertain to how the eternal blood of Jesus relates and corresponds with our knowledge of blood.  So, hang tight and I will do my best to keep it as simple as possible….on the human blood side that is.  If we understand a few concepts about the human blood we will have a better grasp on the importance of Jesus’ blood within our lives as well.

The life cycle of the blood cell in our body begins in a small cavity within our bones and is termed the marrow of the bone.  This cavity is accessible to humans and the most abundant area of liquid marrow is appropriately housed within the hips of the human, which also serve as the area in which human females give birth; I believe that another article will arise from this point as well.  The liquid portion of the marrow is the portion of cells that create every cell that is floating around in your veins and arteries and the creation of each cell is uniquely defined as the cells grow and slightly mature before they are forced through the openings and placed into the bloodstream.

After the blood cell has been created it is put into the bloodstream where its growth process is not complete, in other words it is still learning about its environment as it begins its specific function of its “life”.  As the blood cell floats around picking up molecules and then distributing them to other areas in the body, its growth process continues and eventually the cell feels that it can accomplish any task that it can absorb through its walls.  At this point in a cells life it has reached its maturity status and can act upon any function that the body needs.  The cell is full of life and can serve as a transport device or carrier service for almost any substance needed.

The cells that are created in the marrow are destined to travel throughout the entire body and deliver their supplies within their walls to other parts that need what they have to give.  They are not stingy with their supplies nor do they go by a place in need and ignore it and travel to a friend’s house and deposit their stores to them instead.  They travel into dark places to deliver their nutrients to the innermost crevice of an organ, even to those organs that the organ that they are supplying might be the center of their own destruction in due time.

The mature cell is vibrant and energetic and displays its full power and authority as it flows through the vessels at breakneck speed.  It makes hundreds of trips throughout the body in one single day and does not complain about what it does.  But as time moves forward the cell, even though it completes it’s efficiently and completely begins to slow down a bit.  AS this period begins the cell notices younger ells that have joined him on his path and it thinks back for a bit to remember that not too long ago he had that much energy.

Soon the aged blood cell encounters a dreaded cavity.  The blood cell never really has liked coming into this dark cavity in the first place but it always did so with efficiency and determination to deliver what was needed for that moment.  When the blood cell enters this cavity this time it knows that something is not right because the cavity closes and traps the blood cell, along with millions more in the same age category as it is and the blood cell is flooded with a fluid and breathes its last respiration cycle.  The entire life cycle has just been completed and then as soon as it began it ends.  Some unique material within the cells and / body starts a process in which the cell and body are contaminated enough to end the cycle of life at a certain point.  Human can only guess when this point in time is, but we continue to complete our jobs as much as possible until that time.

The blood cell proves itself as a sufficient supplier of nutrients to the body for a specific time only.  Yet, for scientists studying the life cycle of the human being, they still cannot figure out how the body works entirely.  Scientists still do not know the complete origins of the human body nor can they figure out how such an intricate machine whose structure was made for immortality at one point in time ceases to function and just stops.  There are those out there, who believe that God created the human body, and I am included in that group but even we have to admit that we have no clue of how the body works entirely.  Nor have we figured out what the “sin effect” has on our cells besides death.  What makes the cells age or just stop working?  Why do cancer cells appear?  These and millions of other unanswered questions concerning our bodies are ones that our finite minds may never understand yet we plug on to try and find a reason.

Scientists might have made huge strides in transplant therapy and in blood transfusion therapy but eventually the body says, I have had enough and it is time for me to quit.  At this point the blood within the body still lives and completes their cycles until all of their energy is used and then every portion within the body ceases to exist as a living being.  The human toll is brought out and reality has taken over and the blood begins to cry for a renewal and this is where God steps in and takes control of the situation.

Even if there was an endless supply of blood throughout the world to indefinitely fuel the human body how could anyone afford to have such a constant infusion?  Nothing would be yours for if your cells could not sustain the demand, then eventually every cell in your body would not be yours.  There needs to be a covering blood production that can provide a life that never ceases, one that would guarantee eternal existence without any interruption or conditional seasons to follow.  What a joy that would be if this was possible.  I have some good news for you.

There is a blood supply that can provide this type of eternal life without any pain and suffering.  It has no end and it is offered to whoever wants it.  There are no conditions to accept it just give up yourself and live as the provider of this blood did.  There is no way we could ever replicate it ourselves because our bodies would automatically reject it.  See, the blood that I am talking about is part human and part pure.  No matter how pure a human race may believe they are their blood still contains impurities that will eventually cause it to die.  But the one who has supplied the eternal blood comes from both the Holy and the human which if one stops and thinks about it can be the only answer to our death sentence.

There have been many suggestions that variations exist that could offer us redemption and salvation but when it boils down to all the true facts, there is only one way that has been deemed necessary for eternal life to be created and then instilled within our lives.  There is no greater gift that can be given when there is hope at the time your physical life comes to an end.  It is this mixture of pure and human blood that covers us if we choose its power over our lives.  This blood fills our veins and covers our bodies with a spiritual protection that allows us to have access to God and to know what eternal life really does provide.

Christ’s blood replaces our old blood and breathes life into our spirits so that we may have hope and peace no matter what comes our way.  This blood separates us from the world and drives out the impurities that cause our lives to suffer and to writhe in pain.  This blood supplies with every ounce of needed nourishment to our spirits and our bodies so that we may ooze with joy and happiness to a dying world.  This blood heals our hurts and our emotional disappointments that has beat down upon us for decades and this blood can heal our land if we only just accept it and take it as our own.

It is important for us to do our best to understand every detail of Christ’s blood and what it means for our eternal lives.  It is not enough for us to just know about the blood that Jesus shed for us, for our enemy knows that general detail.  It is what Jesus’ blood represents, how it covers and the many other things that it does in and for our lives that we need to grasp and to hold onto with all our might.  If we just know about and not learn about the blood of Christ and everything that it symbolizes to us, then we cheapen its meaning and eventually will lose its effects from our lives.  Blood is a life giving source not a mere liquid that serves as only volume control and we must never forget this concept of life.  There is a reason that the American Red Cross’ motto and creed states for us to give blood for it gives life to others.  The Church should heed this secular message and place it into our spirits and give the eternal source of life to those around us.

It is fascinating of just how important blood is to the body and what the body does when the blood volume is depleted.  We need to understand just how important the blood is to our spiritual life as well.  It is not a coincidence that God chose the shedding of blood as the symbolic sacrament when the ancients were walking the earth.  Nor was it coincidence that blood would be represented as the life giving atonement process for a person’s entire life.  God purposefully intended that His only Son be the one that shed His blood of everyone on earth that they might know God in an intimate way just as Adam and Eve once did.  So there is no other way for a Holy and pure God to close this gap between man and Himself unless it was done through blood and in order for this restoration to be complete, God had to mix His own blood with man and leave us a symbol of redemption that passes all understanding.

DLB

The Purpose of Sharps Containers

The Purpose of Biohazard Containers

10/23/13

I have worked in the medical field for approximately thirty years now I have witnessed some pretty horrific human conditions when they have been presented into the appropriate setting.  There are certain procedures that medical workers have to complete before, during and after these types of situations arise and after things have settled down there is a process of cleanup that requires some specific guidelines to be followed so that the immediate area is considered medically safe once again.  There are certain used objects that can be placed in general trash but there are other instruments that need their own certain containers for added protection.  The same type of conditions need to be met when God takes over our mess and begins His cleanup of our lives.

Being in the medical field for a good portion of my life I have had the opportunity to witness many bloody and gruesome scenes within the emergency room setting.  Many of them I remember because of their graphic images that my eyes held within view.  While some of the fine details of these scenes have escaped me I know that somewhere buried within my mind they are still present and with the awesome capabilities of the human brain they could reappear at any time.  But I have placed my trust in God that He has taken these memories and graphic images and has cleaned them up over time and at the same time placed them into my memory bank as a reminder so that one day I might be a further witness to those who do not believe that humans can get injured while completing any task that they have undertaken.

As I stated in my opening paragraph there are certain articles of waste that can be placed into the general trash.  These items everyone understands present no real biohazard threat to the community and can be destroyed in the normal ways that are accepted by authorities. However in certain manufacturing and medical settings there are items that are exposed that can cause harm to others if they make contact with certain surfaces and then come into contact with humans and it is these items that need to have their own containers to ensure that further exposure does not occur after the product or setting has been completed.

The medical field has a product called sharps containers which are thick plastic and serve to protect others from getting poked by sharp objects that have already been used in some sort of capacity on the human body.  It is well known within the medical community that all blood and body products are considered to be biohazardous and could present dangerous results to other people if they become directly exposed to these fluids.  However, it may not be commonly understood to the general public of how dangerous it might be if a person comes into contact with another person’s body fluids and to what potential that contact might have later on down the road.  No matter what the situation provides, it is always a good practice to have things checked out if one is exposed to another person’s inner sanctum of bodily fluids.  This practice should be conducted routinely anyway, since we never know exactly what we encounter throughout the day, for we may not always see the flu virus that we come into contact with, you know the one that the person forty feet in front of us released as they coughed. 

We all have to keep in mind that our bodies are controlled compartments all inclusive in one outside structure which serves as the boundary for all of our daily functions.  With this concept I am going to keep my example of special containers secluded within a specific setting, which is inside the hospital.  In the laboratory it is common practice that phlebotomists use needles to obtain the samples needed in order to complete the required tests that the physician has ordered.  Now, in some countries it is a common practice that once the needle has been used it can be washed and used once again on another patient.  That practice is not recognized in this country and in the majority of the countries but one must understand that it is still practiced and presents a huge danger to the public.

The process of drawing blood has its own set of rules that the phlebotomist must adhere to in order to be compliant with the laws of the land.  I am not going to go into details about the pre draw and actual drawing steps of this process but I am going to focus on the after steps of the drawing procedure.  After the needle is out of the patient and the patient drawing is over the needle is then immediately covered with a plastic tip and deemed safe to lay down so that the phlebotomist can appropriately wrap up the patient’s draw site. However, even though the used needle is deemed safe it still needs to be placed into the proper container so that it cannot be accessible to anyone else ever again.  This can only be correctly completed if the needle is placed into a sharps container.

The sharps container represents the final containment field that the used needles will remain in until they are disposed of properly by the deemed necessary methods.  The governing medical bodies have accepted a process in which the used sharps can be disposed of without further exposing anyone else of the potential effects that a poke with one of these used needles might present.  This process is a wonderful procedure and it completely takes care of any additional exposure possibilities if done in the proper manner.  The process is not a fast one but it takes some time to complete but once it is started and then completed, the threat is completely over.

Now, as one might suppose there are those in the world that have different ideas for the final outcome of these used sharps.  It is widely recognized that people have minds and sometimes they allow their minds to overtake their habits and then must find ways to supply these habits.  So, one great way that a drug user can obtain cheap needles is to find where these sharps containers are located and take them. These people’s minds have developed ways to reopen these sealed containers in order to wash the used needles and to use them for their own purposes, whether to sell them to others or to use for personal gain.  This seems quite an odd thing to do but we all know that once the human mind has made the choice to do something, not much will stop the human from accomplishing their goal.  But rest assured that the majority of the used sharps are taken care of, are used only once and then properly disposed of when coming to the hospital. 

However, let us look at some issues here that we can attach ourselves to when it comes to our problems and how we take care of them.  It has been said that when we are accepting the world’s standards within our lives that we are slaves to the world, so put that in place as a habit and that there are things that the world gives us that allow us to become addicted to which means that at some point we will have to go out and search for a supply or supplier.  This does not mean drugs per say but in an overall sense it does mean a substance that can have the same effect on our lives as a drug.

If we do not recognize our “need” for worldly things and continue to seek out its supply, then we consider our waste as being general trash and our lives continually in denial that we have a problem, all the while exposing everyone else to the slave conditions that we are living within.  See, we do not even have to say anything to anybody because others have eyes and noses too.  What further complicates the problem is that the majority of the people that you come into contact in public suffers from the same slave type conditions and therefore further exposes you as well.  This setting becomes a conglomeration of spiritual diseases that our enemy wants us to be inflicted with.  It is of dire importance that we recognize that there is no general trash that our lives create.  This trash is all sin and sin only comes in one size, shape, smell and in only one category.

On the other hand, if we do recognize that our “need” for worldly things is upon or within us it is our responsibility to remove this type of waste properly.  Then we must remember to allow the appropriate authority to remove our waste from our lives according to His ways and divine laws of restoration.  It is also important that we understand and remember that our waste is toxic to our lives and cannot stay within our bodies for if we allow it to remain then its toxicity will eventually destroy our entire will to live and thrive as we were created to do.

There is only one person and one way that this trash and waste can be removed from our lives and only one way that this toxic and biohazard waste called sin be permanently placed into the appropriate container and then destroyed.  God has provided a way so that this process can be completed with one simple choice.  The process of the removal of the waste in our lives may hurt for a while but the hurt should remind us of what that waste and used product was doing inside our lives on a constant basis and how important its removal is to our state of living.

Our enemy does not like to see things that he has placed into our lives removed from its temporary home, which means that he will make it possible for someone else or another situation arise that would try and to reinstate that object or chain within our lives.  He serves as the one who steals this container and then finds away to reopen it and to use the infected and old objects that have been consumed and re-enter them into our existence.  This is a continual practice that he uses and for the most part is effective on those who do not understand this process.  When one reads the story in the Bible about how demons re-enter into the body this concept should be kept in mind.  It says that if a person likens the demon or spirit back into their lives it will bring others with it when it returns.  Which brings up the question of how many other needles are present within in one sharps container?  Even the smallest sharps container can hold up to 10 needles if needed.  So the entire mixture or potential mixture of all the body fluids into one needle is a possibility.

Cleaning up after a trauma situation or after any procedure that involves blood, can pose to be a tedious problem.  The process of cleaning up our lives in which every detail of our past and present exposures can be effectively rendered gone can only be erased by one method and that method is totally out of our hands.  If future exposures are to be limited or prevented this process must be completed so that the contents of our lives cannot be used against us again.  We would love to believe that once our lives have been cleaned up that all of our problems are over but this reasoning soon dissipates when the next issue presents itself in our lives.  This is not a time for us to question God’s ability to clean up our lives but an opportunity for Him to continue the cleaning process within our lives so that we may remain free in Him and not subject to the world’s junk and disease that it wishes to keep us tied into.

While we are still on this earth the potential that we have to advance God’s Kingdom, no matter if we understand it or not, represents a major problem to our enemy.  It is his job to make sure that our old needles be kept lying around or thrown into the general trash, for as long as he can keep this “light hearted” philosophy about sin within our individual world, then he has access to those contaminated needles and therefore can use them against us or anyone else that he sees fit at any given moment.  When we allow God to correctly clean up our used needles then He is in control over the final process in which those needles are destroyed.  We also must focus our efforts on the fact that even though the old needles in our lives might be used against us by our enemy, the one who cleaned up our needles has no record of them ever being present.

This portion of the contamination cleanup is the best because once the cleanup process is allowed to be completed, the purification process, or restoration process as it is known as, begins.  This process can only be accomplished by one who has the authority to clean up the mess in the first place.  Only one who understands the entire situation and what has occurred can know where to dispose of and how to dispose of the used needles of our lives.  The only One who knows how to dispose of our needles so that they may never be used against us again has written the policy of how this process can be made possible.  This eternal and pure person also understands that there is no difference from what the world regards as general trash but considers everything destructive within our lives as contaminated needles which can eternally harm us and bring destruction to our current lives as well.  It is His desire to clean up every aspect of contamination within our lives and to dispose of it into the proper sharps containers so that He can totally annihilate it from our lives.

It is important for us to recognize that sin is sin no matter what or how the world wishes to categorize it.  We need to make permanent note that there is no level or degree of sin, for sin is sin, period.  We must ignore the issues of the world for they do not have any control over us as long as we wish God to be in control of our lives.  It is our choice to allow God to clean up the needles within our lives and for Him to place them into the appropriate containers.  As in the medical field it is not worth it in the long run to ignore the proper clean up procedures and believe that it would be easier to pay the fine down the road if aught, for all of us will eventually get caught and none of us knows when that time will be.  Most of all it is essential that we understand, comprehend, think about, know without a shadow of doubt that there is only one way for our cleanup process to be completed correctly and that is through God, through His son’s blood alone.  So, allow God to dispose of those needles correctly and allow Him to begin the restoration process in your life and you will find yourself secure in all aspects once again.

DLB