A Non Controlled Burn

The Non-Controlled Burn

7/23/14

Fire is sometimes known as a controlled means in order to make larger fires inept if the conditions ever become ripe for burning.  But in order for this control burn to occur it must be strategically placed so that the right amount of and is subject to the fire and will not turn into a devastating inferno.  These types of fires are created by those who understand the need to prevent future problems and will only allow certain amount of acreage to succumb to the flame.  Yet there are numerous countries that that are deliberately set ablaze and those inhabitants fail to recognize the reasons why their land is on fire.  It is in this situation that we lose many of our founding items and sometimes even our lives not even recognizing the reality of the current situation.

Sometimes when a tragedy strikes the people that are involved in the tragedy show their true colors and it may become obvious quickly that these colors may not be the prettiest of sorts.  Of course humans may not act the best during these times and these actions can be understood but if certain features arise towards the public in any way, they do stand out.  For instance it has been well documented that when large storms or devastating ones plow through an area many people loot the area of items that have been left vulnerable in the damage.  While this is a common act it is still considered to be illegal and should be handled accordingly.  And it is through this type of belief that others see and should understand that their principle of stealing dominates their opportunistic desires.  Many times when these types of natural disasters occur we cannot contain the damage that ensues because we do not have the capability to physically control its effects.  But we do have the capability to withstand a moral judgment within ourselves afterwards and to respect someone else’s loss, or even our own.

A little over a year ago an interesting event occurred within our neighborhood and when this event transpired it not only involved our specific street but part of its commencement occurred half way across town as well.  There is no physical way possible to understand these two events without knowing that God had something to do with what transpired that evening.  And up until the other night I had no idea that God was going to use this event as a subject of one of His articles.  The events not only serve on a personal level but it also contends with the current reactions to our nation’s spiritual status and how we as a people are responding on each level.  I do not make light of this specific event nor do I take lightly the current situation of our nation, western societies and the spiritual status of the Church.  It is clear that God is trying to give as many examples as possible to His people, and for the ones that He chooses to use to communicate these examples, to help us see what is about to transpire if we do not change our ways immediately.

On a warm night last year my wife and I were sitting on our couch and watching a movie.  It was a typical evening at our house with everyone fulfilling their nightly activities.  Not much had transpired that evening and we were progressing through our movie quite nicely.  Mom and dad were out of town for a few days and were not scheduled to be back in town until later.  All of their security devices were set on their normal settings and up until that evening did not sound.

As our movie was getting to its high point our phone rang.  I found this not too unusual because sometimes my parents call during the later evening hours just to check in with us.  According to the caller ID I immediately recognized it as one of mom and dad’s neighbors.  My guts kind of tightened a tad because I figured that an alarm was going off.  As soon as their neighbor communicated that their alarm was going off I hung up the phone and began to get ready to go over to their house.  Before we could get out the door that same neighbor called back and said that the alarm had stopped and everything looked ok from their point of view.  I told him that I would still be over in a few minutes to check things out and to see what or if anything had occurred.  I also figured that I would meet the police over there as well since their alarm system is tied to the local authorities.

Mom and dad live a couple of miles away from our neighborhood so by the time we had changed clothes and drove over there a good chunk of time had passed by.  I fully was expecting to see police cars at the house when we turned into their subdivision but as soon as we did our eyes focused upon a dark and empty street with only the streetlights illuminating the area.  On the outside of the house nothing seemed out of place and as we turned the corner again to pull up into the driveway once again nothing out of the ordinary greeted our presence.  The alarm was not sounding and all looked like it was under control. 

We opened the garage door and nothing was a mess or missing.  We opened the door and the normal setting alarm began to chirp which means that it was still active and under its normal conditions.  The appropriate code was put into the system and the alarm was deactivated.  Our search of the place began outside with a thorough inspection of the grounds and area making sure we checked the windows just in case some type of object had penetrated the window glass, al laws secure on the outside.  We continued inside the house checking each door and room for anything unusual or missing, yet all we found were the undisturbed settings as they had been left when mom and dad left.  Our searching for any sign of intrusion or destruction continued for about 30 minutes, for we wanted to make sure that all areas were covered and to see if any law enforcement personnel would show up too.  Which I found really interesting that no one showed up with the exception of bonnie and I.

After we had felt like we had covered all bases we called mom and dad and let them know what had transpired.  They too found it unusual that no one from the police department had shown up and said that they would follow up with the security service in the morning.  After a few adjustments on the system we closed and locked every door once again and reset the security system as we closed the garage door behind us.  We sat in the driveway another few moments and then pulled out and began the short drive home.  We continued to try and analyze what had occurred and to try and figure out some kind of explanation as to why things went down as they did.  We came to no real definitive conclusions to these questions and when we pulled back up into our driveway walked into the house with no finalization of the events.

We then briefly told the girls of what we have learned and then proceeded to go back downstairs and finish our movie.  It still had a bit to go before it was done but we did not mind since it was a good program and that we did not want to leave ourselves hanging until the next day.  The hour was late but we did not care, the end of the movie was in sight.  After a while the movie was completed and one of the girls had wanted Bonnie to help her for a bit in her room, so she proceeded to go into the girls’ room to help and as usual they shut the door behind them.  I came upstairs to the main floor and stood at the top of the stairs for a moment.  As soon as I did I had a weird feeling that swept over me but I could not understand why or what.  I took a quick glance outside the window and all seemed calm so I continued towards the kitchen, my original destination.

As soon as I turned the corner from the kitchen I had the same weird sensation or feeling once again.  I did not look outside this time but proceeded up the stairs to our bedroom to take a look outside from our bedroom window.  Our bedroom is a bit higher and can see other areas of the street from that height but most of the time nothing different is noticed.  But this time was different.  As I scanned the street from left to right everything seemed normal until I got to the house that sits diagonally across the street from us.  Behind the closed curtains I saw a flickering light that was almost the same width of that window.  I stood there for a second and gathered my wits and my mind finally processed things well enough to trigger my adrenaline and to comprehend that there was a fire in that house.

I ran away from the window and opened the door to the girls’ room and abruptly told bonnie to call 911 because there was a fire across the street.  I already had my shoes on and was out the door before her phone call was made.  From the time I first saw the flames until I was outside was only a few moments but the flames had increased dramatically and was actually climbing the walls of the house; I know this because the curtains that had been drawn but now were gone.  As I jogged towards the house my mind was racing wondering if anyone was awake enough in the house to realize what was transpiring.  I knew how many occupants were in the house and I also knew at that moment neither one of them were outside.

I hit the road still eyeballing the flames which were climbing the dry wood by the second and contemplating my next move if I did not see anyone within the next few seconds.  As soon as I crossed the road and went up to the driveway I saw the man of the house come stumbling out and to be honest I was slightly relieved because if I hadn’t without hesitating I knew what my next move would be.  I grabbed his arm and began walk with him backwards and set him down on the concrete wall that ran alongside the driveway.  I asked him where his mother was and he replied that he did not know.  I then looked up at the house knowing what I should do and had to make a decision.  Just then I heard a small pop to which I knew what was occurring the oxygen tanks were beginning to explode and I knew the larger tank would be next.

I then turned my attention to the man and told him to stay there and don’t move until I returned.  I straightened myself upwards and took one step towards the house and saw the mother come out of the house.  I was relieved in the fact that the choices had been made and that everyone that I knew lived there was out.  I ran to her and asked her if there was anyone else in the house and was immediately relieved to hear the word “no” come from her lips.  I brought her to the concrete wall and sat her down next to her son and then another small explosion rocked the house and I knew that it was time to get them across the street.

As I was helping the woman up the man asked if I could go into the house and get his cigarettes, the question stunned me but I ignored it as I was getting both of them up to move them.  The lady walked on her own but I had to be a little more involved in getting the man across the street, in fact as we were walking down the driveway he stumbled a bit as he was trying to turn around and look at the house and asking me again if I could go get his cigarettes.  I still did not answer him and continued to drag his un-cooperating body across the street.  By then some of the neighbors were out in the street trying to see if they could help but none was to be found since the blaze had already swept up and had engulfed the entire house.

When we reached the other side of the street I placed both of the occupants on a stone in the neighbor’s yard and once again asked them if anyone else had been in the house and the same answer came from their lips.  As soon as I had asked that question the large boom that I was expecting occurred and flames erupted from the window of the house and spewed their heat into the yard.  After I had turned back around to the people I knew that I had to warn the other neighbors of what was going on but for the third time the man asked if I could go get his cigarettes from the house and after I said “no” for the third time he immediately stood up and began to walk towards the house to which I had to grab him and literally force him to sit back down.  By then the police had arrived and was completing the task that I wanted to do, making sure that everyone else on that side of the street was up and out of their houses.

The fire department arrived and did an excellent job of putting out the fire along with the police department.  The scene across the street was a bit more hectic since the man of the house was determined to get back into the house to retrieve his cigarettes.  Not once did he ask about his mother or if the house was a total loss, for you see when a person has been drinking and smoking good things just disappear from the area.  He had no idea of what was going on and his mind was so far gone that all he could think about was one topic and that was his cigarettes.  Hours after wards while he was on our porch step he continued to cry out for his addiction and never addressed the reality of what had just happened.

The lady of the house had her own conception of what occurred and would not admit that her son had fallen asleep on the couch while drinking and smoking which was the ignition to the entire house catching aflame.  She continued to deny this fact eve after the fire marshal had declared the final, and obvious, cause of the fire that basically destroyed the house.  The reality of the house the lady understood but she could not be a true witness to what actually occurred for she had blinders on where it concerned her son.  The son could not get past his cigarettes long enough to warrant a reasonable explanation as to what occurred that night, nor did he ever care enough to find out where his mother was going to live now.  As this man was getting up off my couch early the next morning his final words to me as he was walking out was if I had a cigarette to which I refused to answer the question again.

While I have used and mentioned my name many times in this setting I am not the object or the subject here.  What needs to be understood is how things transacted that led up to the end result of a house, the defining point of a family being destroyed by the habits were harbor.  It is these habits which drive our lives into a fantasy world that if not checked will drive us from reality itself.  As this example shows the habits of one person was personally responsible for destroying their house, even though many other people, friends and family members had warned him time and time again about his practices.  It was a cruel decision to make and that decision was followed up with a devastating result for the family.  Not only did it destroy the house but the man died a few days later from final complications of the smoke and fumes from that event; now his decision cost him an eternal choice.

God is not picking on this one particular person but He is using this example to let His people know that our selfish and personal habits are having a direct affect upon our lives and on the lives around us.  We may not understand this principle but we need to place our noses and hearts back into the Word of God and to grasp this concept.  All of us, each and every one of us has some type of habit that we need to get rid of so that we may open our spiritual eyes better to what is going on around us.  I admit that some of my petty little habits take me away from my writings or my listening time to my patients and I need to change this immediately.  While I have never said much about that night I could have taken the heroes stance but I didn’t.  The experience scared me to death and I hope I never have to face something like that again, but if was not my choice to burn down the house but it is my choice to burn down my inner house if I do not change things.

As the early Church began in the houses and dungeons of the Roman society it grew from a plague of compromises that it invited into its sanctum.  Yes the Church grew and it was allowed to exist within the confines of public security.  Yes, she built magnificent temples and buildings in the name of God that graced every city within the empire.  Yes, the Church was able to grow beyond the Roman Empire and spread the good news to those who were willing but it was also through these compromises that she lost her defining edge that Jesus had commanded and demonstrated while He was alive on earth.

I am going to quote a portion of the book entitled “The Early Church” by Henry Chadwick in order to illustrate this point concerning the Church.  We must remember that the first Christians that were on this earth were Jews and this is a huge point of reference that we need to keep in mind:

            Quote:  “The first Christians were Jews.  They differed from their fellow-countrymen by                           their faith that in Jesus of Nazareth the Messiah of the nation’s expectation had                                             now come.  They took it for granted that his coming, being a fulfillment, must be continuous with the               past revelation of God to his people and could not mean a break with the old covenant made with                 Abraham, symbolized by circumcision, or with the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai.  If                           something new had happened, it was the action of one and the same God, Creator of the world,                   Lord of history, the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the twelve patriarchs.  His new word to his               people must be consistent with that spoken in the past by the prophets.”

                          “Because of this deep sense of continuity, various ideas and attitudes  characteristic of                     traditional Judaism became and have largely remained integral to the structure of Christian thought.                The Jews believed in God’s election: God had chosen Israel to be an exclusive society, uncorrupted             by heathen influences, yet with the two qualifications that this particularity of providence was not                   grounded upon any merit in the people chosen but in the sovereign, inscrutable will of God, and that               Israel was called to exercise a priestly function in relation to mankind as a whole….the Jews adopted             a negative attitude towards pagan religion, which they regarded as the cult of evil spirits.  In Greco-               Roman society they were a race apart, the object of some degree of vulgar distrust and at times                     hostile prejudice.”

 

                                    Pg. 9

What does this passage have to do with the Church of today?  This Jewish foundation should be the model for how the Church sheds her grace to the world.  God is not saying that we should all give up pork and attend Saturday Sabbath services but God is saying to His people that we should separate ourselves from the world and to live differently from the world at all times.  For the last bunch of centuries the Church has allowed worldly habits within its walls so that she can be accepted within the world’s realm.  She has prostituted herself to lusts that encourage worldly gain and popularity, far beyond the reaches of the true concepts of God’s Holy Walls.  Through these compromises the Church has basically rendered herself helpless to a dying world and labeled as hypocritical when it comes to fulfilling the mission that Jesus commanded of her.

What is most terrifying about these actions of the Church is that she does not consider them to be sinful or harmful to her in any way.  In fact she welcomes them with open arms in order to increase her stabilization within the world, which is total opposite of what God wants from His beloved.  There is a specific purpose as to why Jesus came to this earth and while the Jewish people fail to recognize this it is a divine truth straight from the heart of God.  It is through these compromises that our enemy has been able to throw devices in our pathway large enough to stop the truth from being told.  We must never, never forget that in order for the truth to be told it must be the solid and proven truth and in no circumstance or direction be coupled with a worldly lie.  For if it is so then the truth is a lie when it is tested.

When compromises are accepted then its fruits can be deemed as contractual.  We can see this through the early church and the acceptance that she gained through the Roman Emperor Constantine.  While Constantine’s motives may have been noble and true within his eyes, his truths opened many doors for our enemy to enter.  If God has said to separate yourself from the world then there is a reason for this and that reason is because the world is set in its ways and will never change them, for it cannot due to the fact of its spiritual leader.  When Constantine was the leader of the world at that time he did bring the Church out of the darkness of the underground, but in order for this to be accomplished the Church had to make concessions to which she should have never done.

Through these compromises the Church has allowed herself to become subject to the world instead of being a light to the world.  She has given up so much of her independence and freedom from the world that she is now unknowingly bound to the world’s laws.  What is ironic about this setting is that the world laughs at the Church in this status even though she has adopted some of the world’s beliefs.  It is sad to think that the Church cannot see this mockery of herself in action and not understand why it is unfolding.  She is in a sad state of affairs when her main goal is a debate on legalizing homosexual priests and ministers into God’s house when God’s Word CLEARLY states what that type of belief brings to the table.  Why is this even coming into question?  It is because of the acceptance of the world into the sacred walls of God’s temple.  And this pattern shall not change until the Church burns to the ground or we open our spiritual eyes and realize the truth once again.

What about on the national level and how does this level come into play when dealing with habits that can cloud our hearts?  This is a specific question that is not even being addressed today and I would dare to say that it is not even really being thought about either.  Our society is moving at breakneck speed in trying its best to separate itself from God as fast as it can.  What is amazing is that the Church has no way of ignoring this because it has been sucked up into the controversy due to her own choices.  It is obvious that our enemy has a grasp on this world and is having a field day with everything that he is changing.  These changes are a progression and it is a constant progression that has only one goal and that is to annihilate God from every part of our existence.

The national setting yields this concept into a far scarier truth, yet its reality is hidden from the each individual based entirely upon the fact that the human which is part of a nation chooses to ignore the deep meaning of what the nation is trying to gain.  It is very clear that most nations today want to impose their own ideologies upon each individual according to what they deem necessary and then promote that ideology as the sole truth.  If we look at this closely we will see that the world brings into play a biblical concept, a concept of the tithe. 

Tithing is of course one of the major hang-ups of people that attend church.  Many of church going people have no real intentions of paying tithes on a continual basis; ask any minister and they would confirm this fact.  Many people are blind to the idea and truth that if they continually tithe that the blessings of God would multiply greatly and that His Kingdom would likewise advance and it is this issue that our enemy uses in reverse against us.  Our enemy does not care that you give God 10 percent of your time for he understands that no one can have any type of true relationship when only given that much of your time, attention or heart.  Look at the news and everything that it portrays and while you are conducting that research look at the overall amount of attention God receives in public life.  You will be amazed that about only 10 percent of every public story relates to God and most of that percentage is of a negative nature.

If one completes this study they would know that this society and every other society that supports “democracy” are currently sprinting towards pushing God out of its way.  They fail to recognize that while they are screaming at the top of their societal lungs to keep God out of things the problems within the world’s environment continues to increase and their failure to understand this proportionate leverage shall be the root cause for our overall destruction. 

The habits that our society has chosen over God are quite clear and evident today.  It does not take too long for one to walk outside of their house and to see all of these habits being put on display, just go to any downtown market or place of shopping, the advertisements give it away.  We have so blatantly become self reliant upon ourselves as a society, all in the name of progress.  And it is through this progress that we will continue to incorporate our societal habits upon ourselves so much so that we follow its course right over the edge of the cliff that it is pulling us towards.  While there is nothing wrong with human progress, it is the base upon which said progress is founded that makes all the difference.  If the base of that progress is placed upon human limitations then it is guaranteed that the end result will be pain and suffering.  As our earthly progressive stance continues so will our habits that accompany this progression and if you think about it for a while you will understand this fact.

To what extent will we continue this behavior and do we even understand how dangerous these habits and beliefs are?  If an individual can cause a complete destruction of a family home or a corporation, just think about how devastating such habits can wreak upon a society even if good intentions were initiated.  We choose to accept a habit within our existence, no matter what level of example one wishes to use.  It is through these habits that we physically and / spiritually express ourselves and it is through these habits that we follow when challenged. Some of you reading this article may not have a problem with the direction that our societies are headed and that is your choice.  However, I hope one day, before it is too late, that all of us see and understand the reality of these selfish and directional choices (habits) that we are making, for if we do not and even if we continue to purposefully blind ourselves from the truth their consequences will ring loud and true.

One last thing concerning habits before I move forward and that is if we have too much faith in our habits it will automatically and systematically cloud our ability to make clear judgments when related items arise.  Our habits see only one side of an issue, the one that we agree with or hide behind.  This truth alone is almost unthinkable on a personal level yet we readily accept new beliefs and laws strictly based upon our habits in our society too; it does not paint a pretty picture, especially when everyone wants to prove themselves correct when it comes to others. 

Is there a difference between how God would burn away our problems and settle our nerves then what the world has to offer?  There most certainly is and this burning is very controlled and will only take away what is corrupting our lives and allow our true beings flourish once again as it was created to do.  When we try the burnings of the world there can only be one end result and that is our total destruction, see the world does not know you and cannot relate to you on the creation level, so all it can do is to wipe away the entire organism or at least leave it so severely damaged that the life within can never return.  Total destruction is the work of our enemy and it is a slow burn that will destroy not only your individual life but anyone else who you are around.

This concept also includes the Church s well and it is visible by how she is responding to the world’s suggestions.  As I mentioned before this is not a new concept in Church history but it is an area that we must understand and change immediately for we are about to become severely burned, starting with our hands and feet for that is what we are using to reach into with a blinded heart and spirit.  The Church is in a very dangerous state and it is our responsibility to wake up and to hear the voice of God once again before the Church body is totally consumed with the wrong fire.  Our enemy does not care if we are individually blinded or even spiritually blinded; it is his goal to rend us useless for the mission that we were created for.

Lastly the national level of burning arises and presents itself as a hotbed of desire and progress.  It is easy to infiltrate a nation whose goals are to keep out any influence of the Church; so that was the thought but as we now know some of the Church body is now accepting worldly standards instead of taking a stand for God’s Word.  What does this mean?  It means that our enemy now has his kingdom warriors on both sides of the aisle and has penetrated the very existence of our entire lives.  A nation spiritually divided or blinded spiritually cannot function in terms of God’s Kingdom and is automatically pushed back into a submissive state.  This is exactly what our enemy wants and it is exactly what we are inviting him to do, all in the name of progress but in reality all we are doing is separating ourselves from our Creator and setting up our own judgment.

There is a way out of this and hopefully one day the Church will wake up and once again begin to preach the truth from her pulpits so that our cells may become spiritually smart again.  It is this concept that needs to be adhered to and understood and no longer be ignored.  We need to stop and repent of the direction that we have allowed ourselves, the Church and our nations to walk in.  I do not care which denomination you heed from nor do I care if which nation you call home, it is time for every person who calls upon the name of the Lord for help to drop their denominational boundaries and to retrieve their Bibles and to once again study the Word of God. 

There is a reason that the Word says to hide it within our hearts; grasp this concept and truth and we will be compelled to destroy our enemy once again.  God love you, the individual.  God also loves each nation that has ever been present on this earth and He most definitely loves His Church.  It is our choice to turn and face Him once again, for if we do not we are surely condemn ourselves to a non controlled burning very soon.  God’s burning way of the junk of the world is the only way possible for us to thrive as we were meant to be, for all other paths lead to a dense jungle.

DLB