Theft of Human Artwork

Theft of Human Artwork

4/26/14

No matter what others may say, all of us will leave some type of mark on the world when our physical lives have ended.  It does not matter if we are rich, famous or just another everyday “Joe or Jane” who graces the same hallway for years upon end, this fact remains true.  Each one of us represents an individual piece to this puzzle called life and each of us plays an equal part in its fitting and completion.  It is very important for us to understand that we cannot complete these vital roles in the world if we allow ourselves to be taken apart bit by bit.  That is why it is also imperative that we understand that we must not allow our enemy to trick us into involuntarily or voluntarily giving up our lives for the common good of the world.  We are unique in every way imaginable and it through this uniqueness that God uses to be a light unto the world, not for us to allow the world to take it away from us.

For as long as I can remember I have dedicated my mind, heart, and soul to the medical field.  I have ignored many other areas of the human’s interests and basically focused my entire being to healing people.  However, the things that I have been taught over the past few years is that each person is an individual piece of artwork that can never be duplicated and while I admit that not every painting, drawing or portrait catches the inner portions of my heart and soul, I must acknowledge that God is showing me things about the individual that gives me a better understanding of why we can be classified as artwork and also how we are voluntarily allowing our lives (artwork) to be whisked away and destroyed in a systematic manner.  I must acknowledge that if God has a specific plan for each one of our lives this means that each person is an individual and unique piece of art that may appeal to one group of people yet not so much to another.  But this is where the beauty of this fact arises, in that since there are billions of us walking on this earth the potential for someone affecting another person or group of people is far greater than with only a select few people.  However it is imperative that we understand that no matter how we view each work of art that all of us have a responsibility to “sell” ourselves to a dying world.

Ever travel down the same path over and over?  We call ourselves seeing everything that can possibly be noticed on our repeated path but at some point you realize something different?  I was walking down one of the hallways in the hospital a while back and I noticed that there was a painting on the wall that had been taken down.  This particular painting had been present on the wall ever since we had reopened the building for the additional hospital services.  This hallway is located in the building that I work in and I pass through this hallway at least twenty times throughout my work day.  I cannot specifically state that I noticed this specific painting each time I made my way down the hall but I can say that the day I noticed the painting missing.  There was an empty space present and it did not take me too long to figure out that a painting was missing.  I am not going to say that it was stolen or that it has been placed into another portion of the building but it did bring into my heart a perfect example of one’s identity being lifted from its proper place.  Whichever the case may have transpired the work of art is missing from its intended place and the original placement is bare without its individual work.

Paintings and art work have drawn the fiercest critics and at the same time brought the preeminent competitors for centuries.  Anyone who knows a thing or two about the art world understands that each painting or drawing portrays a story, usually one that the artist is trying to convey about her or himself.  Whether a painting represents a portion of the artist’s life, a picture of one of their lovers or tries to convey the serene setting of a spring day the price of the art and the dedication that it took to create the painted image always makes the work priceless to the one who completed the work.  It does not matter if the entire public views the work as a masterpiece or not, the creator artist knows that the finished work is a masterstroke of genuine beauty.  It also does not matter what one says about the creation the master will stand by the work until the day comes that the subject of that beauty lives no more.  Then comes the true testament of the artwork for even though the subject of the painting is gone the frame and the portrait itself shall always remain.

When a person views a piece of art they may draw their own conclusions about the worth of the piece.  I understand this concept because some of the works of art that don our halls are nicely priced and when I look at them, then notice the price I politely and quietly continue my journey down the hall.  On this side of the coin it is hard for me to understand why a piece of artwork values for so much money, but this example of my lack of knowledge is exactly what I wish to convey to those who do not understand this side of our lives.  The artwork is not always worth much in monetary terms but the sentimental value of the piece cannot be measured in terms of value since the importance of the artwork is a cornerstone of the person’s existence. 

The artwork defines this person and it is a portion of their lives that they look at on a daily basis for remembrance, guidance and love of life.  It has a deep meaning in which if taken cannot be substituted for and surely cannot be replaced with another gratuitous replica.  This artwork can only be described as you, and individual masterpiece that is made up of ideas, concerns, emotions, and feelings of all types which are wrapped up into one complete person.  And we need each part of our lives to be intact in order to function as a human being so that we can defend ourselves when we are attacked or to love completely when that one person comes along in our lives that sweeps us off our feet and it also allows us to discern when the times are true and when they are false.

As I have alluded to in the above paragraphs, you are an individual that has no equal.  Just as a single piece of artwork, each person that has had the opportunity to understand life represents this type of perfect construction.  Since I am comparing a human being to a priceless work of art, this means that all of the surrounding circumstances of our lives should account for something as well.  Ever heard of an art heist?  If a person or group of thieves values a physical work of art enough to steal it, the potential monetary value of such works could bring literally millions to certain markets around with world.  So, why wouldn’t one believe that your life be just as important stolen also?  There have been numerous books, movies, short stories and music written and composed about this topic, which in itself has attracted many millions of dollars.  I guess this means that there are plenty of people out in the world that wish to steal your inner and outer portions of your artwork which would effectively tarnish your portrait as well; and that is exactly what our eternal enemy wishes to accomplish in our lives.  

Some of you might remember that I am a huge World War II buff and that I cannot get enough information about any topic on the subject.  It has amazed me of how many different areas of WWII there are which do not include the actual blood and guts of combat that is usually discussed in books or viewed on television series.  It was few years ago that I had finally grasped the notion that art played a huge role in the Nazi regime and that they actually fancied the artwork of other nations and plotted ways to obtain these priceless works of art even before the war broke out.  When a person completes a painting or other work of art it comes from their heart but when a person who is driven by greed or lust looks upon this pure work of art, it only wants one thing and hat is to take it from its rightful place.  This is exactly what the Nazi party did with tens of thousands of art treasures and even today there are still thousands of art collections that are unaccounted for because of this type of thievery.

I had read a few articles on how the Nazis had taken some pictures and other works of art from Jewish houses, businesses and communities when they deported them to their new “work” environments, and when these people were taken from their homes and other living environments they were instructed to leave the majority of their belongings in place and that these items would be there when they returned from their newly found work.  These acts continued to baffle me that these people did not intimately question the fact that they were being loaded up into large trucks by the hundreds and that they could not understand what actually was occurring to their lives.  These people actually believed what the soldiers or other agents told them about their belongings and about their immediate living situations so they allowed themselves to be taken away from their possessions.  The Jews were actually being led away from their possessions to go to another place of residence while the ones who “showed” them to their new places of residence stole every bit of valuable possessions from their homes, villas and communities.

It took a while before God showed me the correlation of this type of activity and how it is relevant to our individual lives today.  While the Holocaust and slavery of the Jewish people proved to be a horrific event in human history that type of holocaust is currently ongoing in our lives today.  We have allowed this type of thievery to take place in our lives in the name of freedom, choice, and rights.  We have placed so much emphasis on ourselves and what we personally want in life that we have forgotten what the laws of the world really stand for.  It is these laws that we are bowing ourselves down to and voluntarily giving up our inner ink that we need to paint our artwork.  The world does not care about our lives nor does it wish to help us out in any way.  It will take from us our inner strength and give us heartache and pain in return for our precious inner paint.

We read almost every day that somewhere in our country a house, group of houses, local store or like in our nearby town that a bank was robbed.  These acts of theft are so common now that many of them do not make the daily or evening news and they must be placed on one of the back pages of the local or city newspaper.  Why is a theft of another person’s property become so unimportant and not worthy of front page headlines?  It is because the world must indulge itself on stealing just enough from humans that we do not realize it until it is too late to recover what is lost.  In other words, a small portion of the paint needed for our personal portrait has been taken from the human, so small a one that we do not realize that it is gone until we need it for something.  See, our lives are alive and in constant design and if we allow our enemy to continually take from our lives, then we shall never know or understand what our portrait can represent to others.

I remember a story about when I lived in Salinas, California.  I was only in the third grade but I did kind of know what was going on around me.  I remember that I received a bike as a gift for some occasion.  I loved that bike it got me around the neighborhood faster than I could ever have walked and it was great to ride along the sidewalks with my friends.  Salinas was not the best of places back in the 70s and to be honest I do not know about now either.  However, my parents at that time always told me not to leave my toys, books, or in this case my bike out where someone could take it if I were to be called away for some reason.  Well, one time I was riding around the neighborhood and my parents asked me to go somewhere with them for a few minutes.  I said that I needed to put my bike up but they said it would be fine right up next to the garage, so I left it there.

We were not gone very long but when we returned my bike was gone and it was nowhere to be found.  We looked for it for hours and did not even see a trace of it.  I was devastated about my loss and my parents felt terrible.  Circumstances happened and someone stole my bike and I knew that my parents and I would not ever make that mistake again.  I do not hold my parents in contempt for any reason and that is not part of the topic of the article, the theft of the bike is and how even though the object of importance is in close proximity to you the object can still be stolen without warning.

We have seen many movies and documentaries about people who run drugs throughout the world.  We have also witnessed standoff between police and burglars and you can throw in bank robbers into that mix.  We sit in amazement to watch a person or people defend their actions after they have demanded another person’s possessions or after the act of theft has occurred.  I myself sat fascinated one day as I watched a man repeatedly shoot at police officers after he had attempted to rob a bank in a certain community.  The event did not end until the man ran out of ammunition and was changing firearms when the police had no other option than to end this man’s life.  Think about this setting for a moment and try and understand that when our enemy approaches us this is exactly what he is trying to accomplish.  He cares nothing about you or what your surroundings offer, all he wants is for you to be destroyed and taken out of this world before you can complete your perfect portrait and present it to the world.

The person or people who take things from you are willing to fight for their actions.  When you try and claim your own belongings they will threaten you and even kill you if necessary.  A small town Mexican mayor found this out a couple of a while back when she was beaten to death in what is considered to be a drug related case in which she stood up for her beliefs against drugs being ran through her community.  The enemy will stand up for themselves when the wronged person actually tries to correct the situation.  But why were these people allowed to control the situation and take things from her and the community that they were operating within?  I do not know many details about this woman’s life but I wonder if her portrait was completed according to her inner ink and what God had for her life before she met Him face to face?  What permanent legacy did she leave for her family and community?  This is why it is so important that we understand that we are unique for a reason and it is for this reason alone that our enemy will take our inner ink and paints.

Now to the point of this article and that would be you and I.  Our enemy has stolen many aspects of our lives and we have not stopped long enough to realize what is actually missing from our inner beings.  Pieces of your life have been taken from you without you even knowing that you were even considered being a target.  We have allowed our lives to become so busy and distracted that we have forgotten to turn our alarms on when we are going about our business.  It is ironic because we have devoted so much attention to our outer bodies that we have totally ignored our enemy walking into our hearts and robbing us blind of what actually defines our lives.  All of these things have been taken because we have not read about our enemy and what he wishes to accomplish and one of the main things he wishes to accomplish is to steal your life away from you and rendering you torn apart.  He does not care about how much he takes from you nor does he care about how you will feel afterwards all he wants is what God has given you as a life and as a human being.  We are a living portrait, artwork if you wish to describe it, that God has created and each one of us has a specific purpose for our design.

All of these pieces that our enemy has taken from you, we have allowed to be voluntarily stolen and he has no intentions of returning them to you.  In fact he will fight you with all his might when you realize what is actually been taken.  This is a hard situation to go through for all of us realize that at some point in our lives we stop and look around and realize just what we have lost due to our lack of understanding of our enemy.  For many of us, we never have understood who our enemy was for we have not believed in his existence.  This is the perfect setup for the human being because if one does not believe in an enemy then he has legal and free will to our lives and he will take full advantage of this fatal misunderstanding.  Our enemy does not care anything about you.  He is only out to destroy you from the inside out since he knows that your body is already doomed the only thing that is eternal is your spirit and that is what he steals from on a continual basis.

In every case that I am aware of, including mine, each person has stated in their own words that they feel like they have been violated or feel dirty in some manner.  Their privacy has been invaded and probably many other descriptions could be used.  It is then that the realization that someone has taken a part of them that now cannot be truly replaced.  I also understand that even if the items that have been stolen are recovered many of the people that have been robbed do not want them back due to the dirty feeling that the get when they look at the items.  This too can be related to the things that have been stolen from our inner lives.  This feeling that we have is a prime example that God is a complete God and that when He formed us He understood our potential and the service that we could provide to the world.  It is this completeness of God that our enemy seeks out and tries to wipe out from our life.

Here is a truth that we all need to understand.  If we continue to allow our enemy to take from us what is not his and then continue to deny that his presence exists, then we must realize that once a part of our unique artwork is stolen from us we cannot get that portion back.  It is gone forever and will never be a part of more than our thoughts and wishes.  Everything that God designed us to be is stored within our lives and while we might not totally understand all of its capacities within our lives, it is there and in God’s timing He will show each one of us why He placed that ink or paint within our lives.  But if we continue to deny His presence and the presence about our enemy our lives will be ripped apart by the choices that we make and the allowances of thievery that we voluntarily give forth.

However, there is a process in which those stolen pieces of artwork can be restored into our lives once again.  They are our pieces of artwork that only one person can provide us with.  God understands our lives and He knows the exact damage that we have allowed to occur within our lives.  God is a complete God and He knows exactly where we are at, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Only God can restore the ink, paint and tools that we need to complete our personal portrait.  If we try to accomplish this work we shall fail every time and end up hurting ourselves even more, for we cannot place nor replace the necessities that are required for our personal painting.  Yes, God installs these within our lives and even if we allow our enemy to take them from us God can replace them in the proper order that we need to begin our masterpiece once again.  Some of these paints and inks might be a little different and the may be the same, but whatever way God chooses to replace them know that each instrument of your portrait is specifically selected and spiritually made for you and you alone.

We now need to stop and look at our inner beings, our spirit, to see what damage has been allowed to occur and then once we have assessed the damage we do not need to be ashamed of our mistakes but we do need to understand what has taken place and what actually has been lost and when this realization occurs, we cannot help but feel these emotions.  God has not left us while we were being robbed, He allowed us to make the choices concerning our lives on our own.  He has not left us and He shall never leave us.  He stands ready to restore what has been lost as long as we come to Him with an honest and open heart.  It is a learning process and the restoration will not be completed overnight but I can guarantee that once you accept the process you will feel the repairs that are ongoing within our life and it will not be too long until you see your inner paints at work once again.

DLB

Original Composition

Original Composition

4/9/14

When we think of a composition we automatically veer towards the music industry.  And while this would be a safe assumption we must take into consideration that most objects that we recognize are made up of many elements with themselves form a composite.  Our bodies are one giant compound of organic material that needs many different types of molecules all working together in order to complete the necessary tasks that we require to live each day.  It is fascinating to me to study the human body and to try and understand all of its coordinated functions that readily depend upon each other for survival.  If only we could have this same realization about our Creator, all of our problems would simply fade away.

Most of you know that I love history.  Many of my articles have dealt with history and how mankind has fumbled, kicked, muddled and raced through history.  While mankind tries to perfect their individual lives we tend to prove that life sometimes represents a four letter word and not the desired diamond that we so wish to create.  Many of us throw our wishes to the wind and give up on becoming something great within society while we look at others with absolute jealousy and loathe their every success.  How as individuals does other people’s successes define us, or should that process even be a part of our thinking?  We need to keep in our forethoughts that each person is created for a specific purpose and each purpose has its own design which will provide the world with another portion of the great solution of why we were created.

Ever since I was a little boy I have been involved in music.  I have played instruments all of my life and I have listened to almost every genre of music that has been written.  How music strikes my ears and then infiltrates my soul and spirit I might never understand completely, but all I can say is that there is no other greater physical feeling than I can receive than when I hear some type of music that I enjoy being played.  Classical music is my favorite genre and I listen to it almost every day.  If you ask my parents, wife or children all of them will say that my entire demeanor changes when I am listening to this style of music.

Has anyone ever asked you this question?  If you were able to complete the one thing that you have always desired to do in your life, and you had every resource available to you, what would that one thing be?  The answers to this question would surely vary so widely that it would be difficult to group them all together, but this point alone demonstrates how individualistic we humans are and how great it is to be unique in this manner.  I too have an answer for this question and I have always stuck to this answer and I really do not believe that my answer will ever change, especially since I am kind of fulfilling what I have always wanted to do.

My answer to this question would be to complete a four movement symphony.  As I stated above classical music has meant so much to my life and its presence in my life has helped pull me through some difficult times.  I do not know what I would do if the availability of music was taken from my world, but I trust that as much of it that I have listened to over my four decades of life that I could recite some of these works from memory if needed.  While my love for music grows each day, composing a musical work is still way beyond my comprehension.  The people who lead, direct and compose music utterly amaze me since it is those people who truly lead and organize others together to produce a wonderful sound together.

I have no idea if I will ever have the time or ability to complete my dream of a musical composition, but in another way God is allowing me to fulfill my dream and that is through writing.  While my articles are not musical in the physical sorts, they are a composition that fulfills a destiny that God had in store for my life.  If someone would have asked my five years ago if I would be continually producing articles for others, I would have laughed in their face and then would have followed up with my dream of writing music and how that dream would be more readily acceptable in my head.  Up until a few days ago I did not make any connection to these examples and how they accurately fulfill my dream of composing.

Writing a book, article, short story, manuscript, etc is very similar to composing music.  All of these examples have to accurately coordinate so that the reader understands exactly what the composer is trying to convey.  While my writing is not considered to be of a professional caliber, it does get its point across to someone out there and that is exactly why I write.  I so not ever know what will ever become of my writings nor will I probably ever understand to what effect it may have on an individual, but I do know that God shows me things to write, whether it is on a personal level or a general one, and I complete what He shows me, for I know He directs my words in such a manner that will appeal to someone that needs them.

Writing has become my musical composition and it is an instrument to which God uses through me to speak His words to others.  I have watched many performers use beat up and old instruments and when they are played produce the most elegant sound to any ear that is around.  I trust that the words that I use in these writings produce that same sweet and inspiring tune so that God can use them in a person’s life.  While my writings are not in musical notes they are my composition and a fulfillment of my life long desire to compose and I just pray that by the time I reach the age of 80 years old, that I will have completed the first chord of the first movement of my four part symphony.

I do not believe that I would have ever understood what God wanted me to do with my life if I had not been listening for the truth.  I look at many lives each day and I notice how much pain they are in without even speaking a word to them.  I have been witness to so much heartache and death over my tenure in the medical field that if I had the capability to remember every detail of these people’s lives I could write continually nonstop until the day I take my last breath.  I often wonder if any of these people know God and what their life means to Him and to the overall plan that He has for them.  I also ponder the thought of how everyone else’s life would be different if that one person who is feeling miserable all of the time understood that he / she had a specific purpose for the world, instead of being lied to an believing that they were just put here to occupy space.

In such an unsettling time in our world, it is so vital that every one of us understand that our lives have a specific meaning and it is our duty to find this true meaning.  The world cannot afford to have wandering souls trolling up and down the streets gazing out at the thin air and sucking in uninhabitable standards for themselves.  How can we face reality when we are accepting this type of activity in our lives?  How can we function if all we wish to do is to deter reality for a few hours or so; then a few more hours, and so forth?  What kind of composition is this and what will be the end result of this work effort?  I do not believe that it is difficult to contemplate this outcome.  This destroys the very essence of our lives and annihilates the uniqueness that we have within our lives.

I understand how easy it is to lose oneself in our selfish wants instead of focusing upon the specifics of our individuality.  But these specifics are the items that define us and serve as the foundation of our gifts to the world.  With everything that is occurring in the world today I can easily understand why it would be less difficult to hide the truth and fill our rooms with the ambiance of peace, tranquility and love.  But this type of state does not fulfill our true destiny and the reason why we were created; it only serves our feelings and toots our own horns instead of fine tuning our instruments for the conductor.  I challenge you to stop polishing your bells and look up to what the conductor has for you to play.  It will take some practice but I guarantee that the end result will be a true witness to a dying world.

I hated to practice my piano lessons.  There was nothing about my practice sessions that I enjoyed.  It took time away from me playing outside, playing in organized sports or spending time with my friends.  However, the only thing that it did keep me from doing was my actual homework but I could not count this as too much joy for I did not like the alternative too much.  Not many people like to spend the added time practicing what they already believe to know, yet when one does practice they sharpen their skills and become a better student and player all at the same time.  This is exactly what we need to do with our lives and the only way that we can effectively find out what our composition to the world is, is to listen to our conductor.  How many years do we waste listening to our enemy and his goons in order to deter our true calling in life, this is a huge issue that we need to recognize and then realize so that we can begin to fulfill our own purposes.

I have been involved in the medical field for almost 30 years of my life and I have enjoyed each and every one of them.  I have been in Delta, Colorado for almost 22 years now and have been working the laboratory for all of this time.  I have served in many capacities during my tenure including the evening shift, day shift, Oncology and even serving as the Phlebotomy Supervisor for three years.  I would not trade anything for my experience at this facility and I am so proud to have been associated with this organization for as long as I have been here.

During my time as Phlebotomy Supervisor I had many duties that I was responsible for, and one of my specific responsibilities included all of the creation, maintaining and updating of policies.  When I took over that position there were very few official policies in place and many of the ones that were needed had to be written.  I had no idea at that time that this step in my life was actually a training mission that God had for me.  Up until this point I had no desire to write anything or write about anything but in this position I was forced to write things. These policies had to be factual, correct and specific yet at the same time they required my workers to understand everything that was involved with these policies.  My workers had to understand each detail of the policies in order for them to adequately and correctly complete their job.  I had no idea that a few years after I took another position within the laboratory that God would use those writing skills that He no doubt developed through my Phlebotomy Supervisor position.

The most funny and ironic portion of my time as Phlebotomy Supervisor was that while I was creating and developing my writing skills for my profession, God was instilling me principles about His future for my life without me even knowing it.  And to be honest during my tenure in this post I was not really following God like I should have been, yet He was taking care of me and guiding me all at the same time.  I cannot argue this point even though at the time I had no idea of what was being developed within my life.  I do thank God for the opportunity that I had in that position and I now kind of understand the path that I took and not the path that I wanted.  For even though I was not following God in all categories of my life, I was still following the ultimate dream of my life and those separate entities within my life I clearly see now.

As our bodies need each element within to function in coordination with the other similar elements so do our lives with God.  We can spend a lifetime searching for what we want to do with ourselves and not even come close to an answer.  We must keep our hearts open to God and to His ways for our lives for it is the job of our enemy to make sure that we keep our focus upon ourselves instead of the truth.  All God asks of you is for you to seek His ways with an honest heart.  A person cannot find God if he / she does not ask with an honest heart.  Seeking God through human ways is an anomaly and God will show you quickly that His ways are not ours.  But it is at this realization that brings God closer to mankind and mankind closer to God.  Just as God created you as an individual person He will respond to you in an individual manner.

The only way that we will ever understand our true purpose in life is if we turn our hearts back to God.  In a world where people are asking questions about their lives every second of each day, it is astounding to think that the majority of them immediately reject God and His ways.  While it is hard for me to believe that people reject God’s truths, it is not hard for me to understand why those same people ignore God because of the idiotic standards and past crimes that people of God have committed.  I am appalled at the content of some churches today and the messages that they portray towards the world.  These actions only flame up more questions and burn a hardening ash within their spirits, further separating them from the One who has the capability to change their lives.

Each one of us was created as an individual and uniquely made in order to fulfill a divine purpose.  Our enemy will go as far as using God’s house and His name in order to destroy this purpose.  God and His Word are the only answer that can ensure that our purpose be fulfilled.  It is not the man or woman that stands behind the pulpit, nor is it a leader of a country.  God is that only person and it is He who has created the entire universe as we know it and it is He that has created you.  God will allow you to search in every corner of the world for your truth but guarantees you will not find your fulfillment until you turn back to Him.  God is the person who originally composed you and therefore is the only one who can show you to your perfect four part symphony.

DLB

The Dire Question for the Church

The Dire Question for the Church

4/5/14

This topic is guaranteed to step on some toes but it is one that needs to be addressed by each and everyone who considers themselves a part of the Church.  There are no denominational walls for this topic nor are there any regional artifacts that have to be taken into consideration.  It is strictly a question that one needs to answer in order to define their stance and presence within the Church that Jesus established and not the church that man has tried to ordain based upon human ideologies.  The question is a simple one yet it has the implications of life and death, and with the events surrounding our global community that probably means both physical and spiritual conditions.

I have been reading about the time period of 1774 through 1790 and all of the history that transpired through our nation’s borders.  The bravery of the colonists, both men and women, who had the courage to take a stand for their freedoms through their lives and what it meant to an entire nation to complete this task.  I was reading about the First Continental Congress that convened in 1774 and what their actions meant to the colonies and to Great Britain.  The idea of men standing up against a ruling king and demand that he rescind his troops, truncate his laws for the colonies, and play “fair” when it comes to taxes and other legal aspects of colonial rule.  The mere thought of electing such men to serve as delegates to this sort of rebellious event would warrant severe punishment to those that participated in the election process, not to think about what might happen to those who were elected.

The First Continental Congress did not convene for too long of a time but the signal that they sent to Britain was a beacon that could not be shut off and that was evident to the world that the cause of the colonists would not be denied.  Immediate response of distrust, anger and vile reparations soon followed from the king and those responses only deepened the wounds that had been opened from the first onset of strikes.  No colonist would escape the hatred and forced living conditions that Britain had placed upon them yet there were those who still defended the practices of their rulers and refused to participate in such rebellious events; but they too were included in the violence against the colonies, for no one was exempt.

The colonists then formed a Second Continental Congress and followed it up with a Third Continental Congress and with each session they brought new demands and regulations for Britain to concede.  At every turn Britain laughed in their faces and placed harsher conditions upon the colonists with the idea in mind that the more punishment that was being doled out the faster that they themselves would quell the uprisings and end their rebellious activities against the Crown.  Whether British Intelligence ignored the threats of the colonists’ demands or simply believed that the colonists were not strong enough to fend for themselves in such manners.  Both sides of the story are well documented and both sides are well debated but in the end it was strictly up to the colonists in how they would respond to the continual threats and harsh demands placed upon them by their distant rulers.

As most of us know that the next few years of our nation’s past were very rough and the decisions that were made in order to ensure our freedom from the distant rulers took nothing less than absolute bravery from each and every one who stood their ground in those decisions.  The tensions were so high that the men, women and children who actively participated in this campaign had effectively signed their own death warrants because of the decisions that they had made.  These decisions were not easy for everyone to make, for each person within the colonies understood completely what was at stake and at the same time fully understood what their decisions meant for themselves and for their families, possibly for generations to come.

Of course there were those that did not believe or could not believe that either side of this issue would ever go as far as to point a rifle at the other in order to demand their own wishes.  As history records this type of belief has dominated throughout humanity’s brains even while their families are burying those that refused to set up the entire scope of the human mind and set it into play.  It is ok to have these types of wishes, thoughts and hopes but one must draw the conclusion that when one deals with humans, one must always take into consideration every step that might be played out.

A further complication appeared when it was revealed that one third of the colonies wanted freedom, one third was indifferent about the situation and the last third wanted no part of the freedom movement and vowed their loyalty to the Crown.  This setting is a prime example of when there are more than two people in a room everyone knows that those people will not agree upon everything is questioned. Gaining or trying to gain independence from a ruling entity does not come cheaply and usually comes with great sacrifice.  While I believe that deep down inside basically every colonist knew that freedom was necessary not everyone of them was willing to accept the desire and the fight for that freedom.

The fight for freedom was long and hard with many disappointments along the way.  Many lives were at stake and many lives were taken in defense of this freedom and truth that the colonists desired.  Yes, there were still those who did not like the conditions that were being enforced upon their lives yet they refused to fight for the defense of this concept.  They still lived and accepted the results of this freedom after the tough situations were finished.  Their fight for freedom cost many lives and tens of thousands of families were affected by the outcome of that cause.  The colonists put behind their differences in order to unite themselves against a common enemy, which is exactly the purpose of why the Church was designed. 

Whether one draws the same conclusion to our country’s beliefs of not, the outcome was a great reward for those who sought after true freedom from a slave mentality.  Even though this country and its inhabitants were not officially considered slaves, their lifestyles of oppression and occupation did exist and it widely recognized that each move was under governed control.  How many of you understand that this type of setting is exactly what the Church has voluntarily drawn herself into?  I can guess that there are not many of you out there since the spiritual voice and the heart of the Church is dead quiet on the matter.

It is obvious that the Church does not see the dire circumstances that she is living in, nor does she feel the urgency in which God is telling her to get up and to leave the situation that she has created for herself.  There is a reason that the Church was created and there is a divine purpose for her existence on this earth, yet I also strongly believe that we have allowed selfish desires in overcome our true mission, even though we claim to be doing the will of God.  The early Church is a prime example of selfish desires and wants especially when it came to glorification of themselves.  How many programs of conversion arose from such thoughts and plans of mankind were exemplified to the dying public just to say that one had found the truth in one God.  The concept of relationship with God was thrown out the window in order to preserve the boundaries of religion, all of course was based upon uncertain historical beliefs and practices, instead of seeking God for true divine guidance.

How many fractures did this belief of self worthiness cause within the ranks of the Church?  This evidence cannot be denied even from the early church fathers.  Who would ever believe the truth that comes from the same mouth that says one must repent but even after you repent one must pay a certain amount of monetary servitude in order to be granted “free” access to God’s Kingdom?  I could list thousands of skirmishes, battles and wars all based upon the name of God and each time could refer to the lack of relationship those horrific events instilled.  Oh, we have got the divisive portion of God’s Revolution down and how we have thoroughly polished these divisions.  Many of us are actually proud of these divisions that lie between us, some even work to deepen the division while having a smile upon their physical and spiritual faces; of course, all in the name of God.

Will there ever come a time that the Church wakes up enough to hear the voice of God again and to hear what His message to His Church is?  The colonists fought battles on both sides of the war issue, one side being the British and the other side being themselves in order to muddle their way through a difficult decision.  The Church is fighting amongst herself in order to see who the best is and who can come up with the best plan of acceptance.  To be unified does not mean that one or another person is correct about a situation or belief, if fact what a unified Church means is that they have a common goal of proclaiming Jesus Christ as the savior to the world and that they represent Him through a daily life of holiness as an example to this dying world.  They do not pin themselves up within the walls of a building but go out and be a light to this darkness that surrounds the world.

It is this type of light that the colonists had to use in order to free themselves from the tyranny that the British was subjugating them under. It was this type of lifestyle that the Jewish nation lived under while working for the Egyptians, even though friendly terms had been the founding of those conditions.  Take for example the slaves that were brought over to this country and how they were tricked and lied to in order to voluntarily leave their homeland and mission in life.  It is these same conditions that the Church functions in with the world today. 

The Church has voluntarily succumbed to the lies of the world in order to be accepted by the world.  Do you understand what that means?  It means that at one time the Church understood that there was a difference in her status than from the world.  But for some reason, and there is a long list of them, she has forgotten this difference and has accepted the list of reasons within herself in order to be accepted by the world instead of being different from the world.  It is these items on the list that we have stared at for a long time and through the constant tugging of the world have allowed our eyes to take a serious look at the items instead of keeping our focus on the difference that God has set as our standard.

The colonists understood that they were different than the British and would not accept the British ideas and rule over their lives.  But as long as they continued to live in division their cause floundered and only caused further tensions for everyone.  The Church is in the exact same place with the exact same principles in play.  She is set apart from the world and is the prime example of what God wants from humanity, an individual relationship that is like no other.  God wants nothing to do with religion, He does not want anything to do with human theology all He has ever wanted is to have a relationship, a true relationship with His creations.  Having a relationship with us would be the ultimate slap in the face to His enemy and to ours for He understands that nothing else matters after the initiation and growth of this relationship.

The colonists grew together after they accepted each other and were placed within a common cause.  They understood that they had differences still, but those were placed upon the back burner so that the real cause of their lives could be fulfilled.  This is exactly what we are to be doing against our enemy.  Yes we will have differences but we must drop those petty and humanistic views and engage in the truth of what we as the Church are supposed to be doing.  Christ said that He was a sword and He was / is correct.  He will divide and He is supposed to divide.  And what He is supposed to divide is us from the world so that we may restore the line of communication with God so that we may understand His desire for a relationship.

It was evident that the colonists had the capability and the know how to gain their independence.  The main question for them was if they had the true desire to get up and stand together and get the job done.  This situation presents two questions about the colonists with the first question being if the colonists could muster up enough inner guts to realize that they could actually make a difference in their lives. Answering this question forms the foundation of our drive and how we will act or react to the future and in the case of the colonists it was a life or death answer that ensued.  The same goes for the Church in that she must realize that she does have the authority to get up out of the mud that she has placed herself into and take that first step to regain the life that her bride requires from her.  Now at this point the choice is still hers to make, just as the colonists did and as in the time of the colonists, the answer that the Church gives will mean life or death. This is a huge question that all of us have to answer about ourselves at some point in life, but while it is a huge question it is not the dire question that both the colonists and the Church must answer.

The dire question for the colonists was that even though they understood the task before them, and that they knew things were going to be tough they still had to ask themselves and then answer themselves if they had the willingness to set forth in motion their desires and mission. The colonists had very little to work with in terms of supplies but they did everything they could to muster enough support and supplies to get the job done over time.  It was not easy by any means and many of those who fought suffered greatly and many did not return to their families intact.  But it was a price that they were willing to pay for their freedom and to tell the truth of what was occurring within their lives.  What about it Church?  Do you / we have the desire to actually fulfill the mission that we have been given to do?  We have everything that we need to get the job done yet we continue sit back and refuse to get the job done.

Accepting the ways of the world into our doors is not what God has commanded us to do.  Yes, we should accept those people who are sinners and want to hear the truth about their lives but we cannot allow sin to voluntarily sit in the pews and solidify its presence within the Church without attending to its corruption.  Something to think about here and that is if we do not address the sin that is rampant within our own church walls then how can we truthfully call out sin while we are out in the world?  It cannot be done and it is this situation that begs the Church to answer the dire question.  Are you going to stand up and change your direction and focus and to use the gifts that God has provided for you, to go out and change not only your standing but those who want a true change as well?  In other words, whose revolution are you going to support, yours or God’s?

DLB

Choosing Darkness

Choosing Darkness

4/2/14

How is that when we are afraid that we revel in our present darkness but refuse to turn on a light for guidance?  Many of us have tried our best to stumble around a room when it is dark believing that we know exactly what and where everything is located.  The same lies true for when we are scared and are in the same conditions, instead of turning on a light to equal the setting we hide and hope that conditions change on their own.  What about living in prolonged darkness, do we actually become used to that condition or just oblivious to what is around us?  It is important for us to understand that living within these dark conditions will affect our physical and spiritual lives and bad outcomes will ensure in both circumstances if we do not change the playing field.

The majority of us have some type of fear or animosity when it comes to the dark.  Many childhood memories of being afraid in the dark rattle our minds and for some bring back severe crisis situations that stir up deep hidden emotions from within.  I am not an exception to this rule and my troubles with the dark began when I was in Salinas, California; approximately in the 5^th grade.  When I was a youngster I was not the most fearless person in the world.  I had my childhood hang-ups of course but on almost every level I proved myself to be very cautious especially when it came to the areas of the unknown or uncertain conditions around me.

There were no horror movies that had penetrated our household nor were there any type of horrific monster themes that were allowed in my room, so on that aspect of open doors, those settings was closed.  The normal routine was followed by everyone in the house and I was comfortably tucked into my bed.  My room door was mostly closed with a small crack left open as always and up until that night I paid no attention that my closet door was open.  No matter what the conditions might have been, I still had a human brain and it functioned quite normally in the fact that at one point in time I had a nightmare.  This dream I had entailed that someone was trying to get to me while I was trying to sleep.  In my dream whoever the person was came from out of the closet in order to obtain his access to my sleeping world but for whatever reason I decided to wake up at that very moment and hear what was going on.

I was frightened like never before and really had no clue of what to do next.  I knew that my glasses were on the table next to me but I dare not leave my bed for fear of giving the intruder direct access to my physical being.  Confusion ruled the moment so in my young human decision making I did what any other human would do and that was duck my entire body under the covers and screamed for help. It was not too much longer until my parents came into the room and immediately turned on the light, asking me what the problem was. After I was convinced that it was friendly voices I was hearing I moved the covers from my face and took a quick glance around the room and then did my best to focus my eyes on my parents.

As I looked around the room I noticed that nothing was out of its place and that there was no evidence that anyone had been in my room. I stared at my closet door and then asked one of my parents to look inside the closet for that is where the person came out of.  After a thorough search, mainly to comfort me, my parents said that there was nothing wrong with my closet and that I had nothing to worry about any longer.  I asked that they would close my closet door just to be sure, which they did without any hesitation.  Reluctantly I agreed that they could go on with their evening activities.  At that moment I was not thinking about that as soon as they reached my door that they would turn off my light again but that moment became very interesting as soon as it arrived.

I felt myself being in the exact same predicament as before my parents rushed into my room a few moments before, scared and restless and having nothing else on my mind but surviving the night.  I eventually calmed down enough to fall asleep and did not have any more bad dreams that night, but as soon as I hit the floor in the morning I made another sweep of my closet making sure that no one was present inside my room except for me and the necessary items that I had in my room.  Being a youngster I did not even think about that it was light outside nor did I think about that when my parents came into my room the night before that the first thing that they did was to turn on my light.  I was just concerned about how dark it was and who I believed was trying to get to me while I was alone in my room.  I really have not had too many more nightmares throughout my life and I usually sleep pretty well each night, but I must confess that even today my closet door still has to be closed each night.

We all know that the majority of the crimes that are committed around the world occur at night.  It does not matter if they are within the confines of a house or building or they occur in the open air, the nighttime seems to be the better setting since the victim is usually at the disadvantage because of the dark conditions.  The criminal has the best opportunity because they know exactly where you are and has sought you out without you knowing about their presence close by.  Add the darkness to the setting and they have the perfect ambush setting to complete their thievery.

I find it kind of amusing that no matter what the situation might be, we humans like to stay within the confines of the dark instead of trying to reach the safety of a light source when times are troubled.  However, I guess if one tries to function within those limits then e question begs if we deserve to be treated in this frightful manner?  Do we enjoy these settings with a sense of pride in order to fit in with society or do we just take glory in our settings without taking comfort in our security?  Being left in the dark is an old cliché that really defines this type of condition and one that needs to be addressed since if we allow this physical darkness to thrive around us we must remember that we will allow spiritual darkness to infiltrate our lives as well.

It is a proven fact that when a person is placed in a dark setting their senses becomes limited.  Their perception of the surroundings becomes obscured and they are placed at a disadvantage when it comes to their security.  As in the example of my bad dream the first thing that my parents did when they entered into my room was to turn the light on.  A novel concept eh, why didn’t I think of doing that? Turning the light on in my room leveled all fields that were in play at the moment.  If someone was in my room my parents would have seen who it was and would have turned the tables of the situation.  But in reality no one was there and everything was in order, just as it should have been.  But I could not see this until that light was on, even though I did not have my glasses on at the time I could see enough that I knew nothing was out of place.

Our eyes are a wonderful organ that gives us so many advantages over obstacles.  And with our eyes having the capability to adjust at night to allow more “light” into our eyes when our surroundings are dark, it gives us the ability to navigate in dark conditions.  However, even though we can see our surroundings after our eyes adjust to the dark, we still cannot know every detail that is around us.  We miss so many things when we are walking at the dark or if we are sitting in a dark room.  While this is a natural form that we must endure it still places us in a “setup” position if we are not careful.  Not many of us tend to wander around the streets at night, for we all know that this setting places us in a very dangerous position.  Even if we change our patterns or course, we are still at a disadvantage for even with the change of pace or timing, we still cannot see those who are lurking about.

So if the darkness is not a friendly environment why do we continue to harbor ourselves within its provisions?  Have we lost the consciousness that being in the dark is a security risk and even if we try and hide ourselves from the things that go bump in the night that as long as we do not take measures to change the light settings that our circumstances will not be on the level?  There are a couple of passages in Psalms that I want you to refer to and they are Psalms 88:12 and Psalms 143:3.  Both of these passages use the word dark in them but while the English language has problems discerning between different origins of words, the Hebrew language does not.  What also is fascinating about these words is that they are related to each other and represent a progressive attachment to our lives.

In the Psalms 88 passage the word dark is used as the physical kind or the darkness that represents night, or a room with the lights turned off.  The verse also refers to the wonders of God and everything that He has provided for us.  If we are scared in this type of darkness and do the common human thing by hiding under our covers as I did when I had the bad dream, we are sunk.  We have no choice but to accept our current surroundings as fact if we do not level our playing field.  The only way that I could have understood that no one was in my room that night was when my parents turned on the lights and so goes the exact same setting of our physical lives.  If we choose not to turn on the light source that provides us with a guiding light, we will always live in fear and will not be effective for what God has commanded us to complete.

The passage in Psalms 143 refers to another type of darkness but one that involves a more direct and long term condition.  The word used here for darkness refers to a death, destruction type of setting which is an advancement of the word “dark” used in the previous verse. This darkness represents a progressed state and one that has permanent results on a person or group.  We can relate this type of darkness to spiritual darkness for it takes time for the physical to infiltrate the spiritual.  Once this infiltration occurs, our spiritual side becomes direct targets for lethal attacks on our lives.  Our enemy does not care what conditions we are in nor does he care what situations we are enduring, he will use our status against us at any opportunity that presents itself.

If our enemy recognizes that we are not willing enough to turn on our physical lights to reveal the truth about our surroundings, then he will take the authority by which we give him and begin to work on our spiritual darkness.  Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not our enemy watches us and knows how we are going to respond to thins as they occur in our lives.  Humans do this on a physical basis so why wouldn’t our enemy use this tactic on our spiritual lives as well?  This progression is a logical process and it is one that we have allowed to continue until we have become so engrossed with our distorted dark surroundings that we actually feel comfortable walking in the dark. The longer that we walk in these dark conditions, our distortion will eventually open the door for a perverted spiritual darkness which provides an open season upon our spiritual beliefs.

There is a specific reason that God has said that we should separate ourselves from the world.  Living in the darkness is a huge reason as to why this truth is a fact and that we should not gamble with the world’s acceptance for any reason.  Look at the Church and the condition that she is in today.  She has done her best to follow the leaders of the world and their accomplishments according to the world.  She has left her calling from her groom and has chosen to abandon her light source.  It is time that someone (the Church) stands up and turns on that light, for if the light is not activated our hope is gone.  We have become comfortable enough to ignore what the scriptures have taught us and in this realm of beliefs we have forgotten that God will include the Church in whatever trials and shaking that He must do in order to grab our attention.

I was talking with one of our good family friends the other night and he told me that everyone has some type of fear when it comes to the dark.  He told me a quick story about when he was young and that not many people that he knows have had the same type of fear at some point in their lives.  He also said that God must have placed this fear of the dark into our lives so that we may recognize these conditions when they present themselves.  What a beautiful concept and such truth from him, and Him.  This recognition and fear factor is a part of God’s completeness and demonstrates that He has instilled into our lives every aspect of security and protective needs that we need to survive the world, not to join it.

Spiritual darkness also incorporates the blindness of our eyes to the signs and wonders that God has provided for us as warning signals to what the condition of our lives, the Church and individuals have become.  It is imperative that we turn on God’s light within our lives so that we can understand what is exactly transpiring around us and to stop our enemy from stealing our livelihood and willingness to thrive as God’s Kingdom.  It is time for each one of us, the Church and our nation to repent and to turn from our wicked and darken ways.  The only way that peace and prosperity will ever return to our physical hearts and to our spiritual hearts is if we complete this task and to turn form our current status of lying in the dark.  Restoration does not and cannot be completed in the dark; it must have light in order for the process to be correctly administered.

This status can only mean one thing.  You and I need to lose the world’s darkness and turn on the light of God.  There can be no life without the light of God in our lives.  His light provides us with every security measure needed in order to maintain a healthy physical and spiritual life.  If you choose to continue in the world’s darkness, it will be proud to lead you down a dead end path.  The other choice is to read history, follow mankind’s actions from the past and see where our beliefs are taking us, but when these are placed in the light, God will surely provide the necessary answers of how to defend ourselves against the world.  But restoration can only occur if we stop, turn from our ways and allow God to intervene and shine His light into our lives.

DLB