The Price of Truth

8/17/14

We all want the truth to be played out in our lives.  This concept is a natural one to be fulfilled but when this reality comes along some of us figure out real quick-like that the truth can hurt sometimes and not be the fairy tale that we had hoped it would be.  Sometimes the truth reveals that lies have been told and the resulting information can be devastating.  Telling the truth is one of the more powerful statements that humans can project towards others and should be administered at all times.  We have found that many of the human races have not told the truth about countless items and our faith in humanity has been shaken as a consequence.  As a final result we should understand that there is one who shall never tell a lie and that only He can provide an truthful and exact statement every time and He is the one that we should be following, not mankind.

I usually use historical examples in my articles but this time I am going to use a personal one.  It will be about a portion of my life and how each choice made by a human could, eventually or will have an effect upon others sometime down the road.  Many of you know that I am adopted and this part of my life actually came to be when I was a baby.  For most of my very young life I had no idea that I was adopted and really could not understand it if I was told about it either at that age.  However, what I have learned later in life is that some people around the area that I had lived at that time might have known about my adoption but did not say anything about it.  When the truth came out decades later the pieces fit into place on all sides of the story.  I was so thankful that I really did not have to deal with many of these questions and finger pointing simply because throughout the years of my life my parents were open and honest with me about where my “start” in life actually began.

I am not going to dive into the many details of my adoption process right now, those will come at a later date but I am going to focus on the truth of the entire situation and how it has affected all sides of the situation.  It is the utmost of importance that the truth is told in every situation because one day you never know what will play out and how things will turn when real questions are asked.  It kind of goes along the lines of the following: be sure your sins will find you out.  While I am not going to actually portray this phrase in the article, it does coincide with the topic at hand and should be kept in mind while reading.

I was scrolling through a social networking page the other night and ran across a story about a new law that came into effect and how wonderful it was that these people had access to their records enough to try and locate their birth families.  On the surface this seems quite a step in reconciliation and closure in many lives but when one begins to dive into the past, sometimes the truth does not fan well for everyone.  Many people have hidden the truth for a reason and while the innocent are usually caught in the middle of the issue their lives are at stake just as the original participants of the story.  Some people may not like to hear this type of “negative” comments about this setting but it is the truth and it needs to be heard.

I was so lucky and at the same time I am so thankful and proud that my adoptive parents told me as much as they could about my birth mother and family as they could.  They did not overwhelm me when I was 10 years old with all of the details that they knew about, they gradually informed me about things as I became old enough to understand the entire picture.  I had no inclination of the magnitude about what was occurring on the other side of the story, the one that involved my birth family for they were actually being told or in this case not told, a different story.  This part of my life is exciting to me for it has opened my eyes to many more aspects of the human mind and the human heart that I had not even known existed before.  The truth also helped me cope with some of the shock that I have to admit was there and it also allowed me to pursue things in a slow and cautious manner which has helped me to understand the entire process.

At what cost does telling the truth pay?  Is it a high cost or is it a cheap bargain price that can be easily obtained and then thrown away?  People would like to believe that the prices is a cheap one and that when things get tough or go bad that they can easily toss it aside and move on with their lives.  As all of us has found out this belief I not the case and within our lives it burns to know the truth and at times boils over into our outer shells and displays itself in its own unique manner.  We also come to the conclusion that if the truth was told right from the start things might have played out better in the long run but like every other human being we use our existing circumstances and settings to dictate what we say and do in order to fulfill our own personal desires.

If the truth had been told to my biological family earlier, how would they have handled it?  Would our relationship be any different or would just we be further down the road with our families?  The truth may not always be easy to discuss and to be honest not everyone involved in certain circumstances wants to know the entire truth about what has transpired, but later on it has been proven countless times that the truth always comes out in its own timing.  From the conversations that my brother and one of my sisters have had it was very difficult for them to have not known the truth for almost four decades.  While it was difficult for them they also stated that it did not surprise them given all of the questions and off the wall circumstances that had been presented to them over the years.  They have also stated that they were upset at me for coming into their life at a later time which is a product of them not being told the truth.  All of these statements are ok and honest and they needed to be let out, and think about all of the other questions it has raised in their lives since that time.

Over the years I have said that the truth can hurt sometimes.  It is also agreed upon that not everyone wants to hear the truth especially when the outcome is not good news.  But let us look at it in this aspect, which would be better for the human psyche, the truth upfront or the truth later on down the line?  If a person knows what he / she are up against from the beginning then it is easier to accept the reality of the consequences that follow.  If one chooses to tell a lie or to hide the truth by using another method, what better purpose does it serve other than it eases the current situation?  It all goes back to the days of when we were kids and the baseball was hit through the window of a neighbor’s house.  Most kids simply watched it happen and then took off towards home when they realized what had just occurred.  Ultimately denying that they were ever there, even though many cars slowed down to watch the pick-up game as they passed by.  What good comes out of this?  If you ask my brother and one of my sisters not much; especially when the subject has to do with a major question that involves part of the family.

How has it become so important that we rely on humans the major questions that arise within our lives?  It is easy to turn to a friend who would be sympathetic to the cause at hand or to present it to a group that you know will be accommodating to your specific view.  But once again what good does this do for our inner beings and how will this type of justice affect our long term survival?  When we base our choices and decisions upon flawed intervention it becomes a desperate act that only can provide disaster as a solution.  I am not saying to ignore others and do things on your own but we need to be wise in our counsel and to pick those people who will be honest with ourselves and just not provide the feel good answer we wish to hear.  It is also a must that we continually ask God for direction and help during these times of trouble, for it is His wisdom and guidance that helps us get through each day.  If we are diligent in asking God for His guidance He is faithful and just to provide for us.

If a person is grounded in God’s Word they will know just how the responses are from those who understand God’s Word and from those who do not understand as well.  Truthful priorities come from individuals and present themselves to others whether we realize it or not.  We all want to look good in front of the “camera” and when this time comes along we tend to embellish the situation.  What good does this do?  It is not telling the truth nor is it providing pertinent information to those who might actually have a direct interest in the situation.  God has never and shall never embellish the truth when it comes to anything.  His word is better than gold and it does not matter how much you try and water it down it shall be honest and steadfast.  His Word has stood the test of time and it shall continue this perfect mark as long as God allows us to have a choice in the matter.

In the question of those who are seeking to find the truth concerning their biological family, I encourage you to do so.  But please be aware that the results that you may find might not be what you expect them to be.  People do things for a reason and we all should keep this in mind; however, good luck to each of you and I hope happiness will follow your journey.  For those of you who want the truth about life, I beg you to try God and to allow yourself to establish a relationship with Him.  He is the only one who can provide you with the absolute truth about any question that you have and when you ask, sometimes the answers are quite hilarious.  We need to remember that the word truth itself is a Kingdom word and every time the word truth is used correctly it sheds light upon the darkness.  No wonder our enemy likes to hide it from us so much.

The price of truth can mean utter chaos, it can mean the ultimate tranquil moment or somewhere in between.  Truth can lead to hatred for centuries and it can be linked to the greatest restoration process humanity can ever expect.  All sides of this word have been noticed, carried about, written about, sung and even preached yet we still strive to fulfill that word’s deepest meaning each day.  The price of truth is very high no matter how one looks at it and the price cannot be any higher when it is directly staring you in the face.  Personal truth is just as important as a national truth and each one cannot survive without each being arena being shared.  Lies built upon lies shall fall at some point and eventually the truth stands tall, so why not just build upon the truth instead and save all of te pain and destruction until then?

God shall always tell the truth no matter what your circumstances may be, but also know that it is for your own good and for a better result because no matter what you are going through you do have a future.  The truth can be hard to tell and on the other hand it can be hard to swallow as well.  Truth be told, God loves you and wants to see you live in the truth at all times.  Seek Him and you shall know the truth, seek others and place your trust in humanity and lies will be the fruit of your labors.  We must never forget that truth is a choice no matter what the events present and it is so important that we never forget that God is in the restoration business and it gives Him great joy to see His children living in true freedom!

DLB

Coming Soon and Its Backseat Mentality

Coming Soon and Its Backseat Mentality

8/13/14

In a Christian’s heart the one main hope that we carry is the fact that Jesus has promised to return for His Bride one day.  As we watch things in the world unfold and the meanings that these events signify, it is not too difficult to become a little bit more excited about this truth concerning Jesus’ return.  However, what kind of excitement is actually rising up within us and to what extent do we really care?  From the looks of the condition of the Church and all of the inhabitants that grace their doors each week, I say that our excitement is not of God and of the true mission that we have been commissioned to complete.

I recently had a conversation with my mother concerning all of the small steps that the world, and the Church is taking towards fulfilling what God has said needs to occur.  She stated that even though we have kind of understood what was going to take place and while it was exciting to witness at times, it also presented a very eerily feeling inside our spirits.  To see things come to pass when one already knows about them in advance is very scary and can pose major nervousness within a person.  Yet while those nerves are tense they are somehow comforted that everything is ok and that all is under control. So, we do what every other human should be doing, we sit and wait and watch what occurs next and hen jot that bit of information down and occasionally look back at the progress the world has made in proving God correct.

We all love to wait, right?  The short and simple answer to that one is no!  But if we stop and look at it we wait on many things each and every day.  We wait in lines at the bank or for a store to open so that we can purchase a specific item.  Waiting on a doctor to arrive or simply just waiting on a letter from a friend to arrive in our mailbox and waiting on dinner to finish baking can seem like a lifetime.  All of these environments prove that a human has to wait for almost everything and that very little actually arrive instantaneously.  The question remains as to what we do while we are waiting on the store, food or letter?  Do we sit around and go to the mailbox every 10 minutes and hope that the letter has arrived?  Many of us do and I have to confess that I have done this on occasion.  Can this type of physical activity predict how we respond to Christ’s returning and our willingness to accept God’s Laws within our lives?  The answer to that question is yes.

As a kid I remember that sometimes we would have the opportunity to go to Colorado for Christmas.  One set of grandparents lived in the Four Corners area of that state and when it was time to visit them all of us would be excited to see new country and to spend time away from home.  Vacations are always a fun thing and it was even more thrilling for this boy when those trips came at the holidays.  I knew that when the news was broken to me about where we were going and when we were going I became very excited and for whatever reason I made sure that all of my friends knew that I was headed to Yanyad’s place for Christmas.

Now, most of my friends had no clue what a Yanyad was but it did not take them too long to figure out that we were going somewhere for Christmas.  This excitement of mine I could not contain and I had to tell someone about it before I exploded with untold information.  Then the day arrived that we were to leave and reality set in, we had to drive to Colorado and since most of my life was spent in the South, that drive was not going to be a short one.  The majority of our trips took two long days of driving to reach this golden place of holiday bliss and by the second long day I was ready to be out of the car and to reach the final destination.  But as mile after mile crept along those famous words filtered out of my mouth “are we there yet?”  There was nothing that I could do to change the time of our arrival so I had to sit and be patient while the destination inched closer and closer.  And while my excitement could barely be contained and my patience wore thin there was absolutely nothing that I could do to shorten the already specifically designed road towards that destination.

A few decades back there was a very popular Christian artist by the name of Andrae Crouch.  While the majority of the South knew who this man and knew of his ministry it was not until one specific song that he wrote called “Soon and Very Soon” did his name be known throughout the country and many parts of the world.  The song was a wonderful piece of music and there is no question that it was a message from God’s own heart to His people.  I am not going to write out every word of the song and if you are not familiar with this song I hope that you will go and look up the song and its words, for I know it will be a witness to your spirit.

“Soon and very soon we are going to see the King”.  “No more crying there we are going to see the King”.  No more dying there we are going to see the King”.  These words are the basic foundation of the song and what a marvelous and truth that these words portray to those who listen to them.  If these words do not cause excitement and hope to rise from within our inner beings then I have no idea what will, and to be honest that is exactly what those words are supposed to do.  But to what level are these words being portrayed to our spirits and has the enemy used these words to hide the true excitement that they should be displaying?

Do not get me wrong please, this song is an excellent song and its message still rings loud today but it is what those words say to our hearts and what the enemy has done with them that is of concern.  One of our founding hopes in Christ is that He is coming back one day and while no one shall ever know when that day will be, it is that unpredictability that should bolster this song’s true meaning.  The song states that one day very soon we will be meeting God and Jesus and everything that is associated with His Kingdom.  Yes!!!  This is exciting news and rightly so, but what have we done with those words?  Have we hid them inside our lives and ignored another simple song that says “this little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine”?

As I was sitting in the car waiting to arrive at my grandparents’ house, I was basically biding my time and not being real productive with it either.  I had knowledge about a certain event yet could not have the opportunity to share it with anyone because the occupants in the car that I was riding in also knew what was coming up soon.  In this example the excitement had to be kept within and in the beginning of the trip I could hardly sit still because I had this information in my head yet could do nothing about it.  As time went along the feeling of urgency and excitement began to fade and the reality of the drive overtook my enthusiasm.  Then boredom becomes an issue and the frustration level sets in and then it is time to start looking for something else to entertain us while we wait.  And is this situation something that we have noticed within the pews of our churches?  Definitely!!

What type of excitement should the song mentioned above bring to the table and in our lives?  Yes, it is supposed to bubble up within us and to spill over so that others may see, but if this type of excitement is occurring while we are sitting on the pews and not where we are supposed to be, then given a certain amount of time we will find out that this excitement will fade, just as mine did sitting inside that car waiting for the arrival time; the source of the excitement if you wish to say.

How are we supposed to act then?  Take for instance a newly engaged person.  How many times have you been approached by a person showing off the ring that has been provided for her?  All of us have had that experience before whether it is on the giving or receiving end of this situation.  One can feel the enthusiasm and excitement as that person sticks her hand in front of her friends’ faces and in those whom she does not even know.  She wants everyone to know what has just occurred and how happy and excited she really is about what has happened in her life.  The future bride is excited with the plans and the recent news that has graced her heart and she is not ashamed of what is about to take place in her life either. 

This example actually presents a very clear picture as to how we are supposed to be acting as the Bride of Christ.  After the engagement ring has been issued then there is a bunch of steps that need to be taken in order for the bridal party to be ready for her special day.  This is a long process and one that cannot be properly completed in a few short moments.  If the future bride stays on course and follows the pattern that she sets out she and her groom will find that everything works out smoother and everything is in place when the wedding event arrives.  If the bride waits and does not prepare adequately for this day, even minor details will seem overwhelming and could even jeopardize the ceremony itself.

It is not too demanding of oneself to understand the differences between the two examples of excitement above.  Both are readily witnessed in our personal worlds and both can be examined if we place the setting into our church walls.  It is dangerous enough that we have this backseat mentality in our own lives but with this concept reigning in our lives it has infiltrated and is now flourishing within the Church herself.  How so?  I am glad you asked.  It is stated very clear about what our mission is and how we are to spread the gospel in the dying world.  This CANNOT be done while we are sitting in the pews and hiding our personal excitement and waiting for it to eventually fizzle out.  Yet with all of the negative stories that we all read about in the news, one cannot help but to think that the Church has lost its edge somehow and this is one of the major reasons why.

When Jesus said to go into the world He meant it.  He did not mean to go into the church and sit there until He returns; which brings up something else that we need to think about and that is that for those of you who believe that this plan of sitting back and waiting for the return is ok, guess what, you will be sitting there in that same place after Jesus makes His return.  That is not a judgment, it is a fact for the Bride of Christ for there is nothing lazy, stale or dull about the Bride and sitting around only represents those qualities.

We need to ask forgiveness of our sinful behavior and get off our duffs and go into the fields that God sees as a harvest.  We have lost that harvest mentality and have replaced it with a backseat mentality.  See when I took those trips to Colorado I rode in the backseat and had to wait until the destination arrived.  I was able to do nothing but sit and become bored and frustrated and as long as I was incapable of doing anything active, I was completing my assigned task for that trip.  Think about this and ask yourself if you have been sitting in the backseat and not doing anything for the mission of Christ.

God bless those who are willing to stand up for God’s Laws and commission and thank God for those who are not ashamed to be different from the world.  I pray that we open both our physical eyes and spiritual eyes so that we can see what we as a Bride have become for I can guarantee that Jesus shall not receive us in this condition.  Allow God to restore our excitement for His return once again but this time let us understand what we are to be doing with this excitement.  We cannot afford to hide this excitement for the world needs to hear this message of life and if we cannot bring this message into the world, then who will?

DLB

To Ban or Not to Ban

To Ban or Not to Ban

8/11/14

Are we tired of the word “ban” yet?  In my book it is right up there with the word “protest” for both words do not accomplish much except for further division and more hurt.  And do we really understand the true meaning behind this word and the purposes behind it, and what does God say about its usage?  These questions should raise our awareness a tad more along with our responsibility to work harder not to have to put these types of words into play.  But so far we have yet to figure out this part of life’s equation and press onward in a splitting manner.

I can hear it now, it is about time that he addresses a current topic and supports the cause to rid our society of this type of filth.  While this subject is a heated area within our country and society today many of us are totally missing the root or core problem here and to be honest this topic and all of its issues is a direct reflection of the Church’s inability to complete the mission that she was given.  Uh oh, he is not going to be on the side that we thought he should be on.  If you have not read my article called “Is God Pro Choice?” please do so before you continue with this one.  One must have an understanding about some things concerning God so that we can understand the entire “ban” issues that are before us.  And once we understand this basic knowledge it should be very clear that we have fallen down on the job in our mission.

From the beginning of God’s Word there has been a presence of humanity and while not every detail has been precisely written down God has given us the ability to reason things out as to what occurred; reading between the lines so to speak.  Man had a choice to obey God’s one command, and we did not.  Throughout human history people have had the opportunity to follow and obey our own laws and those that are morally sound, but we still do not.  I can safely say that as long as humans are walking around on this earth our patterns of rebellion and law breaking tendencies will continue, this is a safe conclusion.  It does not matter if you chose to use the Bible as this source of context or not, humans will disobey at some point in their life.

One of the more hot topics of today is of course the personal freedoms that some believe are in jeopardy.  It does not matter which side of the coin you wish to support you will have followers and haters.  Protesting and wanting a ban on something is not a new concept and it is easy to find such references in both biblical and secular texts and I will give both types of examples in this article.  I will also give the reason why the Church has failed in her mission as well and how she has become weak because of her ignorance to the knowledge of God and His Kingdom.  And through this topic I can even justify that the Church does not even believe in God’s authority over His own creation because of our actions.

Banning the gay community is one of the more specific “bans” that is gracing our society today and it is not the answer.  Our society is not allowing this issue to drop and through the divided sides the circumstances and arguments are becoming more detrimental each day.  We scream democracy for everyone and don’t threaten my rights but don’t you find it odd when the one side cannot or refuses to acknowledge the other side’s opinion?  I am not taking sides here in this article but my intent is for us to see that both sides are placing all of the true cards out on the table and then allowing the societal commoners choose accordingly.

Is the acceptance of the gay community and this type of lifestyle run parallel with God’s Laws?  The answer is “no”.  But according to the world’s standards this type of lifestyle is acceptable and is now being heavily promoted.  Both laws are in play here and both sides can learn from each other but we have forgotten the civility of this subject and have thrown “our rights” as the front running statement and have lost the defining edge of the truth.  Then the question becomes of how can we understand the truth especially if we are refusing to place all of the facts onto the table and then allowing those people to choose which side to participate and agree with.

The biblical example I am going to use is one that many people know about and that is Sodom and Gomorrah.  I am not going into many details here but when we read this passage and see what it says we must acknowledge the fact that a gay society existed and flourished as the norm.  At no time does this passage mention or even suggest that those people did not have a choice in which type of lifestyle they lived but according to the words within this passage the people of these cities were allowed to live in this manner, up to a certain point.  It was not man who destroyed the cities but it was God for the hearts of those people became complacent enough with His ways that God had to do something about the conditions that they believed in.

How do we know that it was their choice to live in this manner?  That answer actually occurs before the destruction of the cities began at a meeting and dinner with Abraham.  It is through this setting that it becomes clear that the people of those two cities had a choice for it was Abraham who argued about the number of righteous people within those walls and if he did not know that at one time there were people that lived there who knew God and lived by His ways then Abraham could not have asked God to spare the cities.  This also confirms that God does not “ban” anything He allows us to choose our path and even gives us time to think about our choices and change them back to His ways.

This issue today is still highly debated and from what it seems the battle lines have been drawn quite heavily, and from the way that we folks have addressed this issue, they are rightly so drawn in this manner.  We have the church groups all over the country and in other countries as well crying out that they wish to ban the homosexuals and their lifestyle being forced upon their lives.  While this could be deemed as a noble idea in some organizations, it does not spread the true meaning of our mission.  I have illustrated one biblical example already but will use Jesus as a second.  Jesus hung out with these people and while He did so told them about God and His plan for their lives away from their sin.  God continued to give them the facts and then allowed them to make their own choice.  Jesus did not ban anything and if you want to know the truth, the only thing Jesus came close to banning was some of the activities that went on inside the temple.

Banning anything is a cop-out and serves no purpose but division.  I also will inform you that it is a lazy approach to finding a solution as well.  In times past the Church has used her status and power to direct the decisions of many people and this practice has not stopped even in recent times.  Watching these church groups protesting and demonstrating across the land pains me at the least and infuriates me at the most.  I can almost see Jesus over turning their signs with His pure reactions all the while telling them that their tactics are wrong and that they are serving as a detriment to His Kingdom instead.  How can you win someone over to your cause if you protest them in anger?

The reason that banning is a cop-out scenario is that it takes no one on one effort at all to make a sign and scream at someone else but it does in order to talk with others and to establish a relationship trust between each party.  It is a choice to protest and it is a choice to talk with, both are applicable when dealing with humans, but only one of those choices actually has the opportunity to bear good fruit.  Banning people, groups or organizations is done by spot laws and ideas not ones that are thought through carefully and if someone takes the time to think through something then they will have a better understanding about the other side before a divisional tactic is made.

If the Bride of Christ wishes for others to come to know Him as their Savior, then it is our duty (mission) to go to the people and to be a witness, not a ban, to them.  This is the part of the bride issue that the Church has also lied to herself about, in that the bride’s hands should not be dirty and that a spotless bride means not to play in the dirt.  Well, we have to remember that each one of us is made up of dirt and in order to witness to people effectively we must have to interact with the people that do not share the views of God, which means we have to get our hands dirty.  Please, think about this for a while and grasp its meaning.  If we do not work correctly, then we cannot believe in its meaning or in the results that our work produces.

Since there have been many protests and other issues concerning the gay population of the world I chose this example to use within my article.  However, that is not the only issue that I could have chosen that has the same connotations attached to a cause.  Taxes, regional conflicts, abortion, religion, immigration could be other examples that I could use as examples.  To my Christian friends who read my blogs you must understand that these issues shall never leave our societies and if continued misunderstanding about their causes and results remain, on opposite parties of the issues, nothing but deepening division shall remain.  I am not saying to dry out our mouths and hearts concerning the fields of these issues, but if we are really going to make a difference in people’s lives we must change our tactics and begin to truly help these people instead of trying to ban them and the horrific procedures that they are voluntarily choosing to participate in.

It is our responsibility to know the details of what actually occurs to the spirit and body when these issues overtake our minds and hearts.  The root of the problem is our enemy and it is through his tactics of lying that makes these issues what they are today.  If one looks back into history, they will see that the gay issues are not new to our society nor are any one of the examples that I gave above.  Humans are predictable in their actions and how they respond and one can trace this human protesting and banning to some of the first laws ever recorded.  If we try and ban a certain choice that humans have made popular or into law then we have failed in our responsibility as Christians to teach what is wrong and at the same time hate what is influencing them all wrapped up in the love of God projected by our knowledge of God.

There is no evidence within God’s Constitution that suggests that we ban anyone or anything from our lives or from listening to the truth.  God’s Constitution does however make it very clear that humans have a choice in what they bring into their lives and how they deal with that substance afterwards.  It is also very clear that God has the final say in everything according to His perfect ways and not through our amendments that we try to establish within His Constitution.  It is our responsibility to allow sinners within our church walls and it is also our responsibility to teach them that sin is sin and that sin cannot function within God’s Laws.  God has never forced Himself upon anyone and in like manner we as humans should never force God upon others either.  However, we should set an example towards others and then be a light unto the world set into motion through truth.

It is also known through God’s Constitution that our enemy will tell a half truth in order to make his point concerning God.  If one does not properly understand God’s Constitution and what it is saying to our lives, then it becomes impossible for us to explain His message to others and it becomes just as annoying and irritating to those who struggle with the presented truth.  Jesus stood His ground when it came to the religious leaders of His day and yet He had time to show compassion, with truth, to those who did not have anything to do with the Kingdom.  Our enemy wants us to accept sinners into our church walls and then let them sit there, God wants us to bring in the same people and then tell them that God loves them and that sin is sin.

I am not here to condemn any person for their beliefs but I shall stand up for God and do my best to show and to teach others that God is real, He does exist, we do have an enemy and that our choices make the entire difference as to what our eternal lives shall live.  Christians, stand your ground but never condemn or ban anyone from the Kingdom.  Always be open with them and tell the truth always.  In order for you to do this correctly and in love, you must understand God’s Constitution.  Give the people who actually want to know God a fighting chance, not to fight amongst everyone.  Yes, there will be those who just want to argue to pacify their own territory, let them but always show love to them and tell the truth always.  It is time that the people within the church walls know who God is and what He stands for in our lives.

God never banned anyone He always gave them plenty of time to see the truth before He had to act accordingly.  This previous statement is a truth and it cannot change.  It has happened in the past and it will happen again in the future.  God is a complete God and His ways are everlasting.  I apologize for the behavior of the Church and everyone representing God that comes to harm or to divide people.  Many people may not like what I am saying and that is ok.  These words are from God and all He desires is for each one that does not know Him to give Him a chance; this includes those who have sat in the pews within a church wall and know absolutely nothing about God as well.  Stop the banning and the hateful protests against people and organizations and try to talk with them and tell them why you believe in that certain way.  They might not listen or respond in a negative way, but you never know your tone might just set into motion a willing heart.  It is time for us to be tough on our enemy and to shed light upon his lies, not towards those who have fallen into his traps.

DLB

Time to Ponder Our Truth

Time to Ponder Our Truth

8/8/14

No matter what time frame in history is read one has to stop and wonder how come the people of that era did not see what was about to occur in their immediate worlds?  Just as interesting is that once we have read these past articles of wisdom we continue to ignore them and set into motion the same ignorant paths that the people in history chose.  We look at our world today and see many wars and angry people roaming back and forth trying to make themselves happier, yet all we see are new fires being started almost every day.  World situations seem pretty tough right at the moment but the question remains how will things be when conditions are ripe for a total and global disaster? With all of the despair now, one should keep in mind of how things will be if we are not prepared for a coming shaking.

I have written about a terrible shaking in some of my article topics a while back and if you have not read them I hope that you will do so for they have some very revealing knowledge about what will happen when things start to go south.  It has been said that people believe they know how others will act in every circumstance and while that is an utopist philosophy it is one that we cling to and hope for most of the time.  This belief also keeps our sanity intact when we see new conflicts arise around the world and in our own personal lives for we still have trust in our fellow humans to keep a level head about them.

But what happens when the world takes a terrible turn because of our own doing?  This type of setting places our stability into an entire different light, one that is not so bright when you stop and think about things for a while.  Humans like to believe that we are all in this together and this is a correct statement but an increasing majority are becoming of the mindset that we alone can overcome our worries and problems.  None of us can argue that many advances in medicine, technology, science and hundreds of other fields have come into play over the past few thousand years and all of these things have been great but it has placed within our lives a false sense of security since we have forgotten who actually gave us the ability to make all of these new technologies.  What happens when another catastrophic event occurs like the Wall Street Crash or a global shortage of food occurs?  We would like to believe that with our current population that we could turn towards our resources and revive once again the ability to provide for our families.  But we as a race soon realize that this crash is not going to be recoverable any time soon and that it is digging deep into each one of our lives to which some of us may not survive?

I read recently where there is a radical Islamic group that is doing its best to take over a large part of the world and to install another Islamic Caliphate.  To many this creation of this type of state is no big deal and they cannot understand why it is making so many headlines.  For now, this group has no immediate bearing upon our country for it is not even close to our borders, but these same people have also forgotten that we have read about this activity and therefore it has already been introduced into our mind’s border which brings this event close to our personal hearts.  These groups of warriors wish to eradicate every other religious belief from that part of the land and to give no one any other choice but Islam to live under.  Their policy is death to those who do not comply with their demands, no options, no choices and no other way. 

This group of warriors that I have mentioned is not a desolate group acting upon pure impulses, for it is well known that they have already demonstrated themselves as a well organized and well financed body that has a specific goal in mind and up till now have executed their plans quite well to achieve this goal.  Why is this important to us over here in the western portions of the world?  Because those people that are inflicting mass horror on thousands of lives have a goal and a determination to enforce the end results of that goal upon everyone in the world and up until the very second that you read this article we have not done one iota to stop them from obtaining their destination.  This is a stressful situation and one that brings much pain to those around the world since many have family or distant relatives living within that region.  All of this activity just heaps on more troublesome and worrisome conditions to our lives which if allowed can attribute to our destruction in all areas.

We must keep one important fact about the world in our minds and we must never forget it either.  This fact is that humans inhabit the entire world and it is our common bond of humanness that is the basis for everything that we know.  We are all in this together and it does make a difference when we do not understand this fact.  There are certain conditions that we can ignore because we live thousands of miles away from each other but we must stop and look at the bigger picture here and realize that while those isolated issues are important to some the overall global picture and issues should be addressed more seriously or in time, when things really hit the fan, these personal issues shall spill over into the mainstream world and wreak havoc on a biblical proportion.

This too can be traced back into history and even specifically to leaders of “civilized” nations.  Take Nero for example, he was one of the more famous or infamous emperors of the Roman Empire.  He was also notorious for some of the laws and decrees that have ever been passed upon a society yet he was allowed to continue his reign for quite some time.  Nero failed to recognize the state that his empire was in and refused to address the issues that gripped the land.  While these issues at first were isolated and small they were left unattended and they became a major factor in everyone’s lives including the Christians. 

Many who have read about or have been taught about this time period know that the climax of his reign was marred by a huge fire to which it almost destroyed the entire city of Rome.  It has been taught that Nero just sat around writing music and playing his harp while Rome burned, it has also been suggested that he did not care about what transpired during those days and did not do anything else but try and blame others for what was occurring.  We know that Nero did specifically blame the Christians for the destruction of Rome but as time has settled many sources have stated that anyone could have started that fire.

But the blame continued and within Nero’s uncontrolled rage began a venturesome campaign to rid Rome and much of the world as possible of the Christians.  This persecution was horrendous on any level and while the persecution was unimaginable it only paved the way for an even more heinous persecution just a few decades later.  This small group of issues produced one of the more gruesome amounts of bloodshed known to man and from what is transpiring on this planet today, looks like will continue the escalation of the bloodshed once again.

I want to bring to your attention a few things that are currently occurring within the world stage and while some of these do not hit close to home try and think about the scale on which these events are on now and then place them on a worldwide level where everything is rampant.  Ever watch a basketball game and one team is behind but not too far behind that they could still win the game?  What happens? Even though it is a controlled situation the players on the court begin to change tactics and to try and switch the score of the game by using desperate measures.  While both teams have tried to prepare for these circumstances, the tactics often word and the game proves to be tense at the end.

A few weeks ago a woman in Oregon went missing.  Most of you read about this and heard all of the pleas that went out for her return. How many questions were thought about or raised while this precious life was missing?  While this lady was living in another part of the country, it might have seemed small to a person living in Tennessee it was an event that captured many of our hearts.  As the story continued to unfold the pleas continued and more details emerged and some of the questions were answered and with those answered raised further questions.  The tragic pile up of that story hit the airwaves with a shock and brought back into motion the concepts of human life and exactly what pressure it can pose on a seemingly stabile person.  Times were not bad for that family and while they probably would have liked to have more in their life I can guarantee that they would much rather have their daughter, wife and mother back with them.

A story that has received about the same amount of coverage but has recently been quiet is that of a marine wife that went missing some time back.  This woman was young and had been pregnant but suffered a miscarriage along the way.  She was pregnant again but some questions had been raised concerning another man that was a part of her life.  As time has gone along in this story, numerous bits of information concerning the past of this lady and how she wanted life to be, have painted a dimmer picture of what might have happened in her case.  But, we have no final answer in this story as of yet so we will wait to see if anything transpires in the future but the same holds true that someone out these will be affected by the final outcome of this story and other than the normal young person’s adjustments to a certain new life not many major issues were present in her life either, just choices that became important.

Another story that got some attention these last few days occurred in Chicago.  A man that had been demoted at work approached the CEO of the company and then shot him for reasons that made no sense to those of us who understand our own actions.  The man then turned the gun on himself and ended his life without any remorse or judgment from his peers.  As in the other examples above many of the details of this story may never make the news but the gist of what occurred is not hard to recognize.  As I look at this story I came to the conclusion that this person was not prepared for what had transpired within his life and for whatever reason he felt like he should take matters into his own hands.  Yet he could have chosen to take another path and do things differently but once again not all of the details are known and his choice was to take his own life along with shooting another.  Even though times may have been tough for this man and it is true that the economy is still on shaky ground, things could have been different for this man and really should have been by his own abilities.

In reading these examples of isolated situations it would seem easy to place these all into a small category and set them aside as just human failures that have nothing to do with our overall society.  But let me pose something to you and I want you to think about this for a while and then draw your own conclusions about what I am going to say.  While it may seem that these people were anonymous in comparison to the “famous” people of the world their lives still mattered to others and they deserved to live accordingly.  While the tragedies of these families made the spotlight under overall normal conditions of the world, what kind of events would the human drum up if things were really bad?  How would the human react in order to survive and I mean REALLY survive?  The examples that I have given here all have destructive results under “normal and stable” conditions, the question I just posed is begging to be answered or at the very least publicly addressed.

Given the above question and the fact that the common denominator of that question is the human being, one must wrestle with the fact that humans cannot really be predicted as well as one might wish; therefore, we must also consider how we will respond when these worldwide bad conditions take effect.  How can I say this statement and be accurate about its content?  Look at history, both secular and biblical and you will see just how right God is when He has warned us to change our lives and hearts.  A popular saying in our country or at least in this part of our country is we are living the dream and it is another day in paradise, but what would we do if the dream and our paradise no longer exists? 

How does the equation change when we throw the world market, and by this I mean the world and its inhabitants, into the mix?  When we look at history we can see just how proportionate human actions and reactions are compared to the stability of their environment, and by environment I mean their surroundings.  Then you place these surroundings on the global scale and what do you have?  It has been many decades since the Great Depression and there are very few people still living that understood what it was like to live in those conditions.  I have to be honest and say that I have not read much on this subject but what I do understand is that everyone was in bad shape, not only in this country but all around the world as well. 

Take all of the bad acts that humans are involved in today.  Personal and political scandals all over the globe, economies of the world are struggling to maintain their competitive edges, human organ trafficking is still present, of course wars and conflicts on a global scale continue to rule many nations and the rise of immigration situations and the ever popular and largely growing industry of human sex trafficking all present a dismal view of our planet.  I do not like to use the phrase “a standard” in these instances but how would people respond if the economy of the world was not available to support these and many more vices and crimes that we contend with everyday?  How do you think people would react to and to what extreme would they go if they did not have the ability to produce enough money to buy the basics of life?  The normal human response is to survive at all costs because none of us wish to die; even though we may have accepted this fate it is still hard to swallow and when forced we as humans will push back in whatever way possible in order to survive.

Talk about tense times!!  What would you do in order to protect your daughter from being raped by a gang of people looking for food? Would you be prepared enough and have a leveled response in your heart in order to take care of what needed to be done or would you watch as your daughter was raped and then your house ripped apart by strangers who care nothing about you all in the name of searching for food.  Do not believe it will happen to us?  Neither did Europe and parts of Asia when WWII was ongoing.  Neither did Africa, Australia or South America either.  We cannot forget that humans will act accordingly to their situations to survive.

Another common denominator that we must consider is God and how the world viewed God during all of those times.  It is evident in both secular and biblical histories that when God is taken out of the human investment, voluntarily I might add that humans suffer.  We cannot argue that the world’s population is the largest ever and it is continually growing.  So if this is true that means that the potential of grotesque measures by humans on each other would be on a much larger scale could unfold.  Do not believe me?  Ask any Rwandan about how quickly people can turn to deadly and brutal violence against fellow countrymen and countrywomen.  It is possible and it shall happen.

It has been predicted that another great shaking shall come to this country and I believe it to be so.  To what extent I have no idea but with the ways that this country and the other countries of the world have adopted, I believe it shall be a great falling; to the core.  As of this moment we can avoid this catastrophe from occurring but also as of this moment we have no intentions of returning to a godly State. Remember God is a complete God and that if His judgment is upon one area, the providers and followers of that area will suffer His judgment as well.  This is something that we need to keep in the front portions of our brains; the followers of said area will be included.

I trust that all of the ones who are reading this article understand how important these times are how things can be reversed and changed if we come together and return back to God.  Look at the world and we shall see nothing but a controlled chaos right at the moment but what happens when the “controlled” portion of the chaos gets removed?  This has been predicted and it shall come to pass, so why are we literally sprinting towards this world catastrophe and not towards the real and legitimate answer for our lives?  You take all of the times that the world has been thrust into stressful situations and combine them with the acceptance and knowledge of God you will find that things could have definitely been a lot worse.  Many say how could God allow something like this to occur and the answer is simple it was our choice. 

During the past not everyone believed in God nor did they wish to accept His ways, God understood this back then and He continues to understand this concept today.  Remember, God is a complete God and He looks upon every heart to understand the situation of mankind so He must include all of the heart and while not everyone believed in Him He did see their respect for those who did and He took this into consideration.  The same ideology can be placed upon our lives today, and it is, as to how we look upon God.  There is no question that God is not welcome in our society nor is He in many of the other societies of the world.  Now, enter that portion of the equation and see what you come up with.  Some will not care because they still do not believe in God; He understands this.  Some will not care because they cannot stand anyone who sees things differently from the world and popular views; God understands this.  There are others that wish to know God as best as they can; God understands this.  God also understands that there are many more opinions about life and about Him out there as well.

Given the examples and words that God has shared with us in this article, understand what is about to occur and understand just how severe our shaking shall be.  God shakes from the core outward, for God looks upon the heart so must He judge from the heart outward. What is the heart of our matter?  Look into yours and see, then take a look at what our country’s heart lies within and there you will find what God shall shake.  These isolated and individual circumstances that some of us face now-a-days will become enormously enhanced. 

There are two very important instructions that are before us.  The first is that if we do not change our ways our shaking shall be great and will bring previously unknown conditions to this world, both personal and global.  The second instruction is that we can avoid this if we only repent and allow God to restore our lives back to the way He designed them.  In either situation we choose know that it is OUR choice.  I would love to say that I am optimistic about our societies changing but I have to be realistic and say that I doubt we shall change one degree from our current path.  There are dates in play here and it does not seem like the world cares enough to try and understand what they mean.  Most people do not like history because in their opinions all history talked about were dates, but there is a reason that God uses dates and it is actually for our own protection, security or failures.

So I guess the ISIS group in northern Iraq, parts of Lebanon, Syria and Turkey do have a prominent presence in our lives.  And all of the personal suicides and unfortunate murder / suicides do have meaning to me and to you.  They all represent the small advancing towards the large and unless we stop now these patterns and events will not only increase but expand exponentially around the world.  God loves you and He wants us to live in a provided and secure life and if we do not return our heart’s focus back on Him, we shall never see our world the same again.  So in reality our future is now and it is strictly our choice as to how things will unfold.

DLB

An Empty Shell

An Empty Shell

8/7/14

Ever wonder why the Church is facing so many problems in today’s world?  There is a simple answer to this question and if one accepts this answer it will rip their spirits apart in pain and agony.  The problem of this answer is that many of the people involved within Church walls do not wish to even address the question, and this evidence in itself is begin noticed by the world yet ignored by the Church.  It is time that we turn our hearts back to God and to understand the path that the Church is currently on and the change that is needed in order to resurrect our mission within our hearts.  We have perfect examples that our physical eyes can see when it pertains to this subject, yet we ignore the truth about our existence and our mission and press to please the world.  Repent, Church or our hope in Christ will vanish just as our nations shall.

I have mentioned before that our town had a church fire some years back.  It occurred late one night in one of our old churches, in which the building was a historical landmark at the time.  I remember standing there on the street corner along with about two hundred other people watching the firefighters do their job, and then listening to my father silently pray for God’s Church and then testify that that was the first time that he had witnessed a fire within that denomination’s walls in a long time.  He was not referring to the building nor was he referring to any portion around the denomination, but he was quoting one of his sermons about the fire of God tempering our lives so that we may stand strong when our enemy attacks our lives and how that holy fire has been lost within our lives.

As the days and weeks past after the fire, many people continued their observation of the building.  I remember that when I drove past that church during the day that there would be someone standing around just gazing up at the burnt walls, talking to someone else, taking pictures or some even crying.  I figure that many of those people had some type of history in that church building but I do know that there were those that just came by to watch and wonder at the old building lying waste and empty and without a true destination.  At that time the Church still had some punch left within her walls and she had not really accepted many of the ways of the world, yet to my ignorance that opinion was a superficial one from the Church for within her God was beginning to stir up the embers to burn away the filth and vile worship that He smelled.

Look at how the people of the world look at the Church of today.  They stand outside of its walls and stare with empty eyes and wonder how could something so small have such a great affect upon someone’s life?  They open the doors of the church buildings now and sit in the pews with their worldly ideas and beliefs and mock what God says about human life and sin.  They are not ridiculed at all for their sins, which they never should be but at the same time they are not told the truth about those sins either and just allowed to feel free to object when a challenge comes their way.  What type of power does the church have as those people stand outside and look up at the walls of the Church and recognize nothing inside those walls.  They are left just as empty and the contents from within those walls so why would they even wish to be a part of the Church’s truth, especially when the Church herself cannot even figure out the truth any longer?

Recently I was scrolling through one of my social network pages and I came across some pictures of some old church buildings that had been built in ancient and medieval times in Ireland.  They were beautiful pictures of some of the landscape of Ireland and within this landscape were old stone churches that had no insides to them at all and some of the buildings did not even have a complete wall at all.  While these stone buildings cannot be expected to withstand centuries of wear and tear and continue its complete standing but they were great to look at.  It was obvious that these buildings had not been used for quite some time and also no one had any intentions of reviving them to their original status.  Every so often I would run across more pictures of similar buildings and would just be amazed at their beauty and their emptiness.  Then one day God decided to show me something about those old buildings and when He revealed it to me it literally broke my heart and I fell to the ground and cried for a while.  I usually do not promote any social network in my articles but if you get the opportunity to visit the FB page of “Pictures of Ireland” you can see for yourself the gorgeous pictures of the old church buildings that I am referring here.

What God showed me was that He built His Church for a reason and gave mankind the authority, through His Son, to proclaim His message of repentance, redemption, restoration and His completeness for all of humanity. We have overtaken His Church with our own individual and humanistic motivations and have turned His Church and His authority into a bunch of crumbling old stone buildings with no inner life residing within its walls.  God placed it within my heart to look at those buildings in another light and ever since that day, when I see one of those beautiful pictures of another crumbling church I cannot help but think about the true condition of His Church today.  Not just the buildings that house its members but the Church herself and how those empty and desolate buildings represent us as well.  It breaks my heart to see our current conditions being in this manner, but as I survey what the Church is proclaiming I completely understand why God showed me this status.

A person could say that these old buildings are from a time long past and that their emptiness means nothing to today’s world.  And while that seems like a logical way of looking at things let me direct your attention to the city of Colorado Springs, Colorado and more specifically to a church building that was built in 1872 by four brothers and was named Payne Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church and it represented the first black church in Colorado Springs and it served as the cornerstone for the black community of that town.  It is now scheduled to become a brewery and will be known as one of the largest breweries in Colorado.  What happened to the life that flowed from that place of worship and why does another type of flowing occupy it?  Which kingdom wins in this situation and why doesn’t it alarm us?

The metropolis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has been in the news lately concerning its questionable financial and moral ethics within the confines of its Archdiocese.  Many stories have been accredited to this organization and while many good deeds have been provided for the inner city they have been totally overshadowed by the immoral acts of priests and the laity within the infrastructure.  One cannot ignore the obscenity that has transgressed the walls of those buildings nor can one accept the policy of acceptance and hiding these acts for decades.  Now some of these beautiful buildings are being lay empty because of the declining numbers of followers and worshipers that wish to attend the provided services.   I personally am not Catholic but I do not see this as a Catholic problem, I see it as a Church problem whose spiritual eyes have been turned away from God’s truth.  Instead of the public and secular media having the free for all to annihilate this Archdiocese for only the bad things, why haven’t we originally focused upon the good towards people which would have kept us from this type of publicity in the first place?  Once again the question of which kingdom wins in this situation and begs to be answered and understood.

Just last week I read that a Diocese in New England is closing some of its church buildings for good.  Some of the people are distraught because they have attending worship services in these buildings for decades and now have to change churches because of the declining numbers of people.  Along with the reduced number of people comes reduced finances and once a proud Diocese can hardly afford to keep all of its doors open much longer.  Some of these buildings are now up for sale and will be sold to the person or group that wishes to do whatever they please with the building.  It is hard for me to believe that God takes this situation lightly and will no doubt remind us of our actions in the near future.  Is it true that our declining attendance in church is due to the fact that we are increasingly becoming a nation that does not believe in God?  With the population of this country still increasing it looks like there is no other explanation that can be legitimately offered for this reason.  Really?  The richest country ever to grace the planet does not care enough to find it necessary to fulfill enough of its mission to keep its physical doors open?  Which kingdom is winning?

The question that remains is this: do we recognize that the pictures of the abandoned old stone walls of these churches resemble our lives as the current church today?  This is one of the more sickening questions that we even have to address about ourselves?  It is the world that we are supposed to recognize being in this condition, not the Church.  The next question that follows is this: will the Church ever understand that we are in this condition or have we gone too far down the worldly road to recognize this truth?  These are tough questions but they are ones that need to be asked and addressed for if we do not then there is no reason why we should keep any church door open for the mission of the heart is dead. 

What is the difference of how these buildings came to be?  Nothing!  All stand empty and void of the mission that they were commissioned to complete.  Compare this with our lives for it is our rear ends that occupy these seats and pews.  If we throw away all of the denominational garbage and focus on the true meaning of the Church then we can grasp this concept of why God chose these pictures to get His point across to His people.  These decrepit old buildings is a direct reflection of what truly lies within our walls, not only in the church buildings themselves but also within our hearts, and together these two settings paint a valid portrait of what the Church is like when it is gazed upon by an on looking world.  This tears me up inside to think that the Church is in this shape.  And knowing that this is how God is beginning to see this progressive conditioning as becoming our norm goes beyond words.  How can we continue to crank out priests and ministers who have no desire to keep the Word of God hidden within their hearts so that they can provide the full truth with a clear conscious?  What is the difference from abusing ministers versus us allowing our hearts to accept the world’s standards within our churches?  Nothing!!  All of these questions and the true answers reflect a sick and dying Church that needs to repent and to allow God to restore herself back to life again.

I have written about the completeness of God in some of my past articles but it is a topic that I must bring up again because it is very important that we understand how God’s completeness works.  Yes the country that we live in has never been bigger and richer, nor has each individual country had more opportunities to provide for their inhabitants.  Yes, poverty and illness still riddle the world and there are still governments that do not allow their citizens to enjoy the freedoms that others reside in, but the potential is there and we still do not take the true measures to secure those benefits for people.  God understands this and while we have been generous with our wealth to those who agree with our philosophy we have held back those spiritual blessings and physical gifts based solely upon our selfish creeds.

God began His investments in humans so that everyone could experience His blessings.  Even those who did not believe in Him He sent His messengers to be a witness to their societies and while some believed some did not and God allowed it to occur.  God also understood that those who He called His own would reject Him and this too He allowed due to free will and choice.  But in every instance God at one point had to reel in the human and to once again show the human who was in control.  It was up to the human to understand this action from God and to understand that the ways of the human are not the ways of God and that in order to live a proper life we need to keep the ways of God.

The Bible also mentions an entire desolate land mass of dry bones which basically reiterates the old stone buildings in the pictures that I saw.  Those buildings at one time represented life and so did those bones that were just lying around in the ground.  Don’t you think that it is time to restore life back into these church walls and into the walls of our hearts?  There is nothing wrong with accepting sinners into the church, that is what we are supposed to do but if we allow them to sit there and not be told the truth, our walls have been knocked down a little bit more and our mission stalled even further.  It is time for us to clean the Church and to restore the holy cleanliness one again so that we can apply the Word of God to each person who seeks it and to stand up strong against the attacks that our enemy brings.  God is faithful and just to hear our prayers and He is also just to restore us from our faults.

DLB

Being Chosen

Being Chosen

8/1/14

This word that we commonly use has a special meaning yet I know that many of us randomly throw this word around and not recognize its true identity.  Being chosen for a responsibility is one of the more humbling experiences a human can experience and the task given to tem should never be taken lightly.  God set into motion this concept through His creation of our lives and through this choosing He gives us the authority to complete the specific mission.  It does not matter what level this choosing might be, always know that it has a perfect solution for God’s Kingdom.  Being chosen is not a picking from a group of people, great consideration has been placed upon this decision simply because God the Father created you just for this purpose; you are special for a specific reason.

Remember when we were kids and a bunch of us would get together and play games that required teams?  This setting really comes to life in elementary school and it brings to mind a certain time in my life where this situation played out, and to be honest when I look back at it I understand that through my actions and selfish desires hurt some of my friends as well.  I do not know how many of you know about the old game called nation ball.  It is a glorified and modified name for dodge ball.  There are two teams and they line up on opposite ends of the large squares and then the opposing team throws a ball at the line.  If a person gets hit with the ball they are out, if they do not then they stay in the game until they are the lone remaining person; those were the simple rules of the game.

Why we called it nation ball and who made up the game I have no idea, it may just be a California thing because as soon as we moved from there I never heard about the game anywhere else.  The teachers would have the task of choosing two people to be the captains and then those captains would choose their team.  Of course the object of the game was to win so when it came time to pick the team our minds focused squarely on the people that would be the most agile and hard targets to hit…..NOT!!  Being of our age and not understanding the true concepts of the game beyond “not getting hit with the ball” we had no understanding about the concept of choosing a team instead of picking one.  It also explains why that our teachers would be laughing at us sometimes as well.

Looking back at those days and remembering some of the nation ball games that I participated in, I remember that most of the teams that I played for basically had the same kids on them.  It did not matter who the captains were when it came time to pick the teams many of us would be on the same team almost every time.  We had no concept other than who could physically play the game, nor did we care about who actually played to win the game either, we simply picked our friends and those who could be agile enough not to get hit.  Funny thing was that the ball that we used for this game was a large soft rubber one and when you threw it and it hit someone it would always ricochet around and hit two or more people at one time so some of the “agile” players would get knocked out early and have to leave the game. This is an example of the difference between picking a person and choosing a person and it is huge difference that is important for us to understand when it comes to what God has planned for our lives and what the world deems as picking a person to participate.  And it is through this concept that we as Christians lose the true concept of these words and the meaning behind them.

Being picked one will always know the reason why a person is picked...one does not always understand the reasons why one is chosen.  A good example of this is how God chose David as the leader of God’s personally created nation of Israel.  We read about this story in the book of I Samuel where God tells Samuel to go to the house of Jesse and there the true king of Israel will be chosen from his sons.  Now, in my house I have no sons but I have four beautiful daughters, which makes things a little bit tense at times.  Within these four lovely souls come a wide array of personalities and to be honest they represent the entire range that a personality can be defined, with two of them defining the opposite ends and the other two defining the in between margins. I know that when I was growing up my brother had to really think about why mom and dad decided to have another kid, it happens to every older sibling and I know it occurs in my household as well.

Approximately forty seven years ago a certain boy entered into this world.  This boy had no idea of what his mother went through in order to bring him into the world and it was not until he was an adult that he fully understood this entire setting.  But even as I was being formed in my biological mother’s womb God was preparing my mother for the future both hers and mine.  It was through an act of love for my life that she allowed me to live with my only parents that I have ever known.  At that point in my life none of us knew that there was to be anything “special” about me until it was realized that I was chosen for these set of parents and that my coming to them was strictly a miracle in itself.

If one is honest, we must admit that it is impossible for us to understand this type of knowledge about our lives.  How can someone be chosen for a task when they are fresh out of their mother’s womb?  Our finite minds cannot comprehend this action nor can we entirely function in its sovereignty.  What humans can do is try their best to walk within the guidelines that God has chosen for us and to do our humbly best each and every day.  The inner human heart shall never be understood by the world and even when we study it, it shall pass by us without knowing its full capacity, yet God knows each and every detail about our heart even before we were created and that is what it means to be chosen by God.

Rebekkah is my youngest and I am the youngest in my portion of the Bishop family as well and it is no secret that the older siblings plot heinous things upon the youngest sibling just because they feel that they are missing out on something because of their presence, this is nothing new.  However, I must also admit that we youngest of the family can be a little weird and unusual when it comes to our thoughts and ideas and while there is nothing wrong with this our older siblings might think otherwise at times, which can be a partial explanation as to why Jesse did not include David among the lineup when Samuel came to locate God’s chosen King.

The sons of Jesse were mighty and strong and evidently had the physical features that could define a strong king but God spoke to Samuel to overlook these physical qualities and to search the heart of the young men in order to know which one God desired for this mission.  One by one Jesse’s sons stood before Samuel and one by one God remained silent.  Samuel knew that there were not many sons that remained yet God held His heart quiet and even after a second pass, God remained silent.  After every son that was present was passed over by God, Samuel asked Jesse if this was all of his sons, which Samuel already knew that it was not because God had already shown him that one of the sons was to be king.  Jesse said that the youngest was out tending sheep and was not present, and Samuel told Jesse to go and get him.

When David appeared God said to Samuel that this was the one who was to be King of Israel and the one that God had chosen.  God could have picked anyone of Jesse’s sons to rule over Israel simply on their appearances, stature and physical qualities alone but it was the heart that God was looking at and not just the physical abilities.  This is the prime example of why God choose people and does not pick them.  God had things already planned out for David and in order for Him to fulfill His promise to Israel He had to complete His choosing through the human process.  Normally the firstborn of a family would be considered the leader or heir of such a responsibility, but God overlooks this human obligation and seeks out the heart who is most qualified for the plans that He needs completed, and in this case it was the youngest not the eldest.

What is the difference when it comes to picking a player for your team and allowing the world to dictate what you have to offer?  Not much to be honest because both concepts differ little.  When you are picked for a team for the most part it is based upon your talents and not what is in your heart.  How many multi-million dollar contract offers are given to short players coming out of high school or college; not very many and there is a reason for it.  There is nothing wrong with a smaller person playing a sport but when you place them up against taller and stronger players they cannot compete at that level.  However, if you think about it the best coaches of any sport come from those who played the game, understood it yet knew they basically had no chance of making it as a player on the higher level.  And this comes down to the main question of which setting is more important, the player or the coach?

The world cannot choose you for it cannot conceive your inner abilities, only what you present to the table.  The world is very limited in its scope of your life and we should always remember this fact.  We seem so busy running around trying to please the world and its beliefs that we even forget who we are and what our inner being stands for; this is exactly what the world wishes for you to do give up your inner being for its own selfish existence.  What will the world provide for you in return, have you ever asked yourself that question before?  It is an important one yet the true answer is short and to the point; nothing.

Your heart is the determining factor that separates you from the world.  Along with the spirit that is within you these two vital institutions give us the existence of uniqueness.  There is no way that the world can even begin to understand you, for it did not create you nor does it know your heart. When an object, person, company refuses to understand your personal desires and livelihood there is no way that they can honestly say that they have “chosen” you.  Also the world has no idea about your true and present life which means all that they can know about is your past, which should bring into your mind another being that has only that capability; it is not by coincidence that the two run course together either.

Being picked for a team according to worldly and physical standards will make an individual proud of themselves for it will reassure them that they are at the top of their game or expectancy.  In many ways this is a good thing but if these ideas become embedded within our hearts pride will take over and demands will begin to flow from within.  The opposite is true for those who are chosen.  People that are chosen will be scared to death because according to the definition of being chosen those people have passed a test and have been noticed for specific qualities that reside from within.  People who are chosen are never comfortable with what the projects that they are completing, for they understand that there is a purpose for their presence and the things that they complete affect many people on many levels.

Our enemy does however understand our potential and through this understanding he will do his best to make God’s plan for our lives is delayed as long as possible.  The further he can separate us from God the better his chances of establishing his ways as our priority.  When God chose Moses to lead the nation of Israel out of bondage Moses questioned God’s decision on a continual basis yet God did not waiver once bit in His choice.  God chose me to write and for the majority of my life I despised writing and wanted nothing to do with this art.  Of course we will have questions of why God chose us for the things that He has blessed us with and that is ok, but as I continue to pen these articles my questions are answered when I look back over God’s words and understand that someone, somewhere needed to hear them.

The words I share with you scare me to death at times, but I cannot argue with them for they are not mine but God’s.  We are the only tools that He has to reach His people and if I can help in that mission, I am going to do my best at all times.  God says for us to repent and to change our ways and He will be faithful and just to restore our land.  Don’t believe our land is sick?  Take a look around at your land and what do you see?  It is your land that God has chosen to heal and to provide the necessary living conditions to produce everlasting life for others around you.  God chose me to convey this message to you and now it is up to you to make up your heart’s beat to God’s calling.  God chose you for a special work; heed His words and understand that He loves you eternally.  The world cannot know your heart, only your past and this means that it can in no way understand you enough to choose you for anything eternal, only God can do this.

DLB