This is an article I had sent to me and as I read through it I could understand it point by point and thought it good - point by point .... My reflection will be in tomorrow's post ...
*****
This Is Why You Shouldn't Wait For Someone To Make Up Their Mind
I used to think that waiting for someone you love to be ready is the ultimate form of flattery and the ideal declaration of love. It’s how all epic love stories unfold and those who waited are finally rewarded for their patience when their lover comes back to them, then I had a very simple epiphany- the most epic love stories start when two people decide they like each other, they want to be with each other and they want to make the relationship work. Love is not always going to be easy and there will always be compromises, but having to wait for someone for months or years to finally decide to give you a chance should not be one of them.
Admit it, you don’t know what you are waiting for. Are you waiting for a declaration of love? Are you waiting for someone to change? Are you waiting for someone to recognize how loyal and patient you are? Are you waiting for a sign? Whatever it is you are waiting for should not keep you waiting if it’s truly worth it and you should always ask yourself if you are waiting for something that may never happen.
Waiting for someone means that you are okay with that person treating you like you are not important or that you don’t deserve their time.
Waiting for someone means that you don’t value yourself enough to realize that if someone cares enough, they will not keep you waiting or wondering. You are choosing to blind your own eyes from seeing the truth that will eventually blindside you.
Waiting for someone is not a sign of strength or loyalty, it’s a sign of denial and ignoring what you already know to be true. You will continue putting them on a pedestal they don’t even know they’re on, you will continue investing your all on nothing.
Because when you lose a person for whatever reason you are going to realize that you are on your own, and that you waited months or years for someone who didn’t end up fulfilling the prophecy you created for them. Sometimes patience is a waste of time.
Waiting for someone means that you are pouring salt on your own cuts and acting like it doesn’t burn. It means that you have agreed to be the person they “settle” for after exploring all other options. It means that you are surrendering yourself to rejection over and over again and acting like it’s the natural process of waiting.
Waiting for someone means you are pushing away people who are willing to give what you are waiting for and they are willing to give it to you immediately. It means you are telling the whole world that you do not deserve the
respect and love that you give others, that you are willing to compromise the most precious parts of yourself for someone who doesn’t even try to give a little bit more.
As much as you deserve to be rewarded for your patience and as much as you deserve someone who comes back and finally claims you, this is not always the case. You shouldn’t set aside yourself for anyone else, because when you lose a person for whatever reason you are going to realize that you are on your own, and that you waited months or years
for someone who didn’t end up fulfilling the prophecy you created for them. Sometimes patience is a waste of time.
If you must wait; wait to be chosen every day, wait to be reminded that you are special, wait to be loved in the way that you constantly love, wait to be taken seriously and wait for someone who doesn’t keep you waiting, because you know that you deserve better than waiting around for someone to make up their mind.
Written by Rania Naim
This article has been republished from Thought Catalog.com
May 31, 2016
May 30, 2016
Memorial Day
One of the things which drew me to this little town in northwestern USA, is that it had a memory. Not much of one anymore, but once it did and evidences still exist of that memory.
When World War I broke out, an unbelievable 1,438 children of this town would die ... about 10% of the population! There are no numbers for how many were sent, just how many died.
That loss had a huge impact on this area.
They ran a series of plantings - 1,438 Dutch Elm trees for twelve miles to Seattle on a memorial drive. Mid-point on the drive is a wall erected to memorialize those lost, all of the names originally on brass plaques, but now in plastic because the drug addicts of the area can not resist selling the plaques to the brass recyclers! And, the brass recyclers can not resist the profits of public theft ..... Today, there are no survivors of World War I, lost to the passage of time. But, the horror what they faced still exists in photographs and in print.
This photo of today, is attended by the town's only survivor from World War II. Yeah, time marches on and soon, even they will all be gone and we will have generations then with no memory what so ever. And I dare say, no honor either.
Search out a veteran in your area and just take a few moments of your time to thank them for what they sacrificed ... I will be hunting down little Tony, the beggar I see occasionally on the streets - rather innocently screwed over by life and left to fend for himself almost penniless. He was in most of the heavy Pacific battles in WWII and this is the honor awarded him ...
They ran a series of plantings - 1,438 Dutch Elm trees for twelve miles to Seattle on a memorial drive. Mid-point on the drive is a wall erected to memorialize those lost, all of the names originally on brass plaques, but now in plastic because the drug addicts of the area can not resist selling the plaques to the brass recyclers! And, the brass recyclers can not resist the profits of public theft ..... Today, there are no survivors of World War I, lost to the passage of time. But, the horror what they faced still exists in photographs and in print.
This photo of today, is attended by the town's only survivor from World War II. Yeah, time marches on and soon, even they will all be gone and we will have generations then with no memory what so ever. And I dare say, no honor either.
Search out a veteran in your area and just take a few moments of your time to thank them for what they sacrificed ... I will be hunting down little Tony, the beggar I see occasionally on the streets - rather innocently screwed over by life and left to fend for himself almost penniless. He was in most of the heavy Pacific battles in WWII and this is the honor awarded him ...
May 28, 2016
May 27, 2016
Visiting Family
As you read this, I am madly packing to fly back to Colorado.
Originally, when I made these reservations months ago, the idea was to visit with family and friends in the Denver area ... Well, best laid plans it seems.
My last living, of the long line of step-mothers, was put into an assisted living home down in Westcliffe - a long drive down to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where she lived most of her life. She will be close to some family whom vacation there. I will be checking in to how she is doing and what she needs.
Then, in the opposite direction is one of my boys up in Fort Collins, whom I already had told I was going to be bombing by to say hi and see he young family and children. Sigh.
And, even further south than Westcliffe, is a town of Alamosa, where a long time friend has fallen and broken her collar bone! I hear she is despondent and suicidal - so, must swing by there as well!
So, all I now get to see is the inside of a car flying from one end of Colorado to the other in five days! Aaaaargh!
Best laid plans as they say.
Please be in prayer for my sanity, the right words at the right time as a witness to all and continued healing for my leg!
See you again in June, but I have posted stuff all through next week. Hope it is interesting.
ciao bella!
Originally, when I made these reservations months ago, the idea was to visit with family and friends in the Denver area ... Well, best laid plans it seems.
My last living, of the long line of step-mothers, was put into an assisted living home down in Westcliffe - a long drive down to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where she lived most of her life. She will be close to some family whom vacation there. I will be checking in to how she is doing and what she needs.
Then, in the opposite direction is one of my boys up in Fort Collins, whom I already had told I was going to be bombing by to say hi and see he young family and children. Sigh.
And, even further south than Westcliffe, is a town of Alamosa, where a long time friend has fallen and broken her collar bone! I hear she is despondent and suicidal - so, must swing by there as well!
So, all I now get to see is the inside of a car flying from one end of Colorado to the other in five days! Aaaaargh!
Best laid plans as they say.
Please be in prayer for my sanity, the right words at the right time as a witness to all and continued healing for my leg!
See you again in June, but I have posted stuff all through next week. Hope it is interesting.
ciao bella!
May 26, 2016
About Me
As I continue to slog through this never ending pea soup between my ears, giving me glimpses only of a past but no real memory, nor sense of ownership of anything which does pop up. I am bummed out.
I am incapable of even counting out my heart medications and plopping them in a week long dispenser. The mistakes I find are innumerable! And I do not know why I even take some of them! I assume they are mostly for my heart which now sports four stents, which allowed for the surgeries on my leg - which was eventually lost. Sigh ...
One of the teachers I worked with last year, when I was substituting for a science class, I ran across at my favorite little Mexican cantena. I had no clue whom he was and I know he even came to the hospital at least once after one of those six surgeries!
The lady whom had encouraged me a few weeks ago, I had mentioned in a post, I decided I would thank her because that encouragement last Sunday was timely and helped me through a rough week. Nope could not even remember her name nor what she looked like! Was she at church on Sunday? No idea ... sigh.
So short term memory needs work, perhaps supplements?
Long term memory is still crippled.
After nine months, I recognize, not actually know:
Most of my family, still missing a daughter though
Two of my old "friends", but they are not really - I "know"
How to drive
Most of my passwords and computer ids, about eight are completely lost so far
That I am an artist
I am a Christian
That I like Jefferson Nickels
That I have three nationalities
That I have almost no hope for a future
But,
Huge pieces of my life have not even a vague definition at all
I can not remember my dead relatives, I know they exist, but ...
I remember nothing of my 25 years in college at night
No memory of having had a career, or why I get royalties from IBM
I have no common sense and no one to help me
I have no sense of what it means to be a Christian
That later one is a real pain.
From my adoptive Dad last week, I learned that I produced Bible Studies for 40 years.
I lead, everything from Junior High through Retiree class in all manner of Biblical subjects
And I now have no ministry left
But, the Holy Spirit empowers me - I recognize that much, though it freaked me out a bit at first!
Its gifts are still meaningful to me.
But, I have no clue what to do with what it reveals
So, I pray ...
Yup, not much at home between the ears.
A gaping wound where a heart ought to be
A fine, quick mind, with good memory retention for what I learn now.
And the mystery continues, who am I really?
I am incapable of even counting out my heart medications and plopping them in a week long dispenser. The mistakes I find are innumerable! And I do not know why I even take some of them! I assume they are mostly for my heart which now sports four stents, which allowed for the surgeries on my leg - which was eventually lost. Sigh ...
One of the teachers I worked with last year, when I was substituting for a science class, I ran across at my favorite little Mexican cantena. I had no clue whom he was and I know he even came to the hospital at least once after one of those six surgeries!
The lady whom had encouraged me a few weeks ago, I had mentioned in a post, I decided I would thank her because that encouragement last Sunday was timely and helped me through a rough week. Nope could not even remember her name nor what she looked like! Was she at church on Sunday? No idea ... sigh.
So short term memory needs work, perhaps supplements?
Long term memory is still crippled.
After nine months, I recognize, not actually know:
Most of my family, still missing a daughter though
Two of my old "friends", but they are not really - I "know"
How to drive
Most of my passwords and computer ids, about eight are completely lost so far
That I am an artist
I am a Christian
That I like Jefferson Nickels
That I have three nationalities
That I have almost no hope for a future
But,
Huge pieces of my life have not even a vague definition at all
I can not remember my dead relatives, I know they exist, but ...
I remember nothing of my 25 years in college at night
No memory of having had a career, or why I get royalties from IBM
I have no common sense and no one to help me
I have no sense of what it means to be a Christian
That later one is a real pain.
From my adoptive Dad last week, I learned that I produced Bible Studies for 40 years.
I lead, everything from Junior High through Retiree class in all manner of Biblical subjects
And I now have no ministry left
But, the Holy Spirit empowers me - I recognize that much, though it freaked me out a bit at first!
Its gifts are still meaningful to me.
But, I have no clue what to do with what it reveals
So, I pray ...
Yup, not much at home between the ears.
A gaping wound where a heart ought to be
A fine, quick mind, with good memory retention for what I learn now.
And the mystery continues, who am I really?
May 25, 2016
Evening With Father
If you are a long time reader, you understand that the relationship between my father and I was at best homicidal and at the worse, well, prisons are filled with people just like him. Yeah, not a raging success.
When I was about 30, I got to thinking that I really did not have a solid footing on what being a Christian "man" was all about. I had no role model as a youth concerning manhood and though I had been a Christian for 12 years by then, there were no role models I could ever find. So, I looked around and appraised the manhood which surrounded me then and was still quite unimpressed. But, there was this old guy, my Sunday School teacher whom was quite impressive. But, he was not real impressed with me. He was solidly Western Belief system and I am Reformation theology trained - nails on a chalkboard around each other.
So, one Sunday, I screwed up my courage and confronted him and his wife after church and told them that I was adopting them as my Christian parents - because I really need help understanding Christian living. I was not asking, I was telling them! He was singularly unimpressed and told me I was a moron, she was smothered me in hugs and kisses! But, as time wore on, he came to understand that he had as much a need for me, as I for him.
Now, 31 years later and three years without having seen each other, I had a chance to spend an evening with them. The three years in which my leg has been a serious problem, has also been serious health issues with both of them! And numerous surgeries on both sides.
And we talked of our years apart and our years together.
He commented that my studies, all of which were okayed by him before I ever gave them, were awesome. I was flattered, I was touched he even remembered them.
And he talked about his early life ...
I knew that he loved race boats, did not realize that for 25 years he built and raced hydroplanes. Two of those years he won the championships. Four times he set speed records. And we poured through his photos. All of the big names in racing, some of whom I had also known, were there. We talked boat design and hull performances, engines and disasters.
And I remembered ever so slightly Reuben, grandmother's final husband. He loved race boats, he held for decades speed records with his boat, Little Miss Labor Pains (because the paint job was a nightmare to have created!). And some of Reuben's friends, were also my American father's friends.
It was an evening of rest for my soul. It was warm and comforting to be in a circle of family. Reuben I had loved, Paul I do love - both in racing, both having a large impact on me. And some German cooking! Which was great since I have to relearn how to cook, sigh.
As I am rebuilding a life from having lost everything between my ears, it is amazing to me to see how things I had not known before, tied together.
You might want to pray for Paul and Lynn, they are elderly and at that point where assistance is needed. I am not the one for that, I can barely walk to their front door much less up the 18 steps into their house! And they both have major health issues ...
When I was about 30, I got to thinking that I really did not have a solid footing on what being a Christian "man" was all about. I had no role model as a youth concerning manhood and though I had been a Christian for 12 years by then, there were no role models I could ever find. So, I looked around and appraised the manhood which surrounded me then and was still quite unimpressed. But, there was this old guy, my Sunday School teacher whom was quite impressive. But, he was not real impressed with me. He was solidly Western Belief system and I am Reformation theology trained - nails on a chalkboard around each other.
So, one Sunday, I screwed up my courage and confronted him and his wife after church and told them that I was adopting them as my Christian parents - because I really need help understanding Christian living. I was not asking, I was telling them! He was singularly unimpressed and told me I was a moron, she was smothered me in hugs and kisses! But, as time wore on, he came to understand that he had as much a need for me, as I for him.
Now, 31 years later and three years without having seen each other, I had a chance to spend an evening with them. The three years in which my leg has been a serious problem, has also been serious health issues with both of them! And numerous surgeries on both sides.
And we talked of our years apart and our years together.
He commented that my studies, all of which were okayed by him before I ever gave them, were awesome. I was flattered, I was touched he even remembered them.
And he talked about his early life ...
I knew that he loved race boats, did not realize that for 25 years he built and raced hydroplanes. Two of those years he won the championships. Four times he set speed records. And we poured through his photos. All of the big names in racing, some of whom I had also known, were there. We talked boat design and hull performances, engines and disasters.
And I remembered ever so slightly Reuben, grandmother's final husband. He loved race boats, he held for decades speed records with his boat, Little Miss Labor Pains (because the paint job was a nightmare to have created!). And some of Reuben's friends, were also my American father's friends.
It was an evening of rest for my soul. It was warm and comforting to be in a circle of family. Reuben I had loved, Paul I do love - both in racing, both having a large impact on me. And some German cooking! Which was great since I have to relearn how to cook, sigh.
As I am rebuilding a life from having lost everything between my ears, it is amazing to me to see how things I had not known before, tied together.
You might want to pray for Paul and Lynn, they are elderly and at that point where assistance is needed. I am not the one for that, I can barely walk to their front door much less up the 18 steps into their house! And they both have major health issues ...
May 24, 2016
SPAM
(For those of you just tuning in, understand that I was born a tri-national as the result of the Cold War paranoia. I am American, German and Swiss.)
And today ... what does this mean? A letter from the National Cremation Society:
"Dear Kris,
You have served our country well and earned America's respect. Through the years you trusted that you made the right decisions when you needed to. ... " blah-blah-blah for two whole pages about my service to America!
It is an offer for cremation and burial for Veterans.
Okay, I realize that I have no memory from before October 17th, 2015 - but I had been writing a book. In the book were sufficient triggers for me to remember what the US Army tried to do to me in 1973 and it was only thanks to a German citizenship that their efforts were to be frustrated after years in court! There were NO records to have ever existed over any involvement with the US Army, the ensuing lawsuits against me by the US Army, nor the set up I had experienced (apparently I was to have been assigned to Israel at the time). Which brought up the question over what the Army was suing me over - since there was no supporting evidences and I was not in the military, nor even a US citizen at the time! Yeah, the Army lost in the third and final suit against me and I assumed my nightmare with those freaks was finally over.
But, it was not. About every ten years I get an I hate you mail from some branch of the US Government. I particularly appreciated the State Department's move to strip me of my citizenship in 1984 - and it was the Department of Defense whom killed that move by the State Department! Unexpected moves by all parties. What was my horrible crime to earn my expulsion back to Germany in 1984? I wrote a letter to my family to see how they were doing ... yeah ... go figure!
Now, I have a Veterans cremation benefit? How, why, huh? No one should have ever been able to put me in the same place, at the same time, as the US military. How or why would anyone even suspect I would be an American Vet?
If this was the only occurrence or even the only company contacting me, I would not really care but it seems I have somehow ended up on a Veterans list somewhere, somehow. I even thought about applying for my "veteran's death benefit" but I just was not born with the dishonest gene. LOL
Maybe this is just SPAM, sent to everyone, but I have gotten three of these now from this company, and other SPAM from many more, so I must really wonder. Were it not for my caution with anything having to do with the US Government, I probably would not be so paranoid!
But, I do wonder ...... Some day will I get the same from the Swiss or the Israeli governments?
LOL :)
*****
I hate SPAM, more so, spam on my computer, in my emails, anywhere it occurs! And I have a 30 gallon recycle can for junk mail which gets about two-thirds to completely filled weekly! Gees!And today ... what does this mean? A letter from the National Cremation Society:
"Dear Kris,
You have served our country well and earned America's respect. Through the years you trusted that you made the right decisions when you needed to. ... " blah-blah-blah for two whole pages about my service to America!
It is an offer for cremation and burial for Veterans.
Okay, I realize that I have no memory from before October 17th, 2015 - but I had been writing a book. In the book were sufficient triggers for me to remember what the US Army tried to do to me in 1973 and it was only thanks to a German citizenship that their efforts were to be frustrated after years in court! There were NO records to have ever existed over any involvement with the US Army, the ensuing lawsuits against me by the US Army, nor the set up I had experienced (apparently I was to have been assigned to Israel at the time). Which brought up the question over what the Army was suing me over - since there was no supporting evidences and I was not in the military, nor even a US citizen at the time! Yeah, the Army lost in the third and final suit against me and I assumed my nightmare with those freaks was finally over.
But, it was not. About every ten years I get an I hate you mail from some branch of the US Government. I particularly appreciated the State Department's move to strip me of my citizenship in 1984 - and it was the Department of Defense whom killed that move by the State Department! Unexpected moves by all parties. What was my horrible crime to earn my expulsion back to Germany in 1984? I wrote a letter to my family to see how they were doing ... yeah ... go figure!
Now, I have a Veterans cremation benefit? How, why, huh? No one should have ever been able to put me in the same place, at the same time, as the US military. How or why would anyone even suspect I would be an American Vet?
If this was the only occurrence or even the only company contacting me, I would not really care but it seems I have somehow ended up on a Veterans list somewhere, somehow. I even thought about applying for my "veteran's death benefit" but I just was not born with the dishonest gene. LOL
Maybe this is just SPAM, sent to everyone, but I have gotten three of these now from this company, and other SPAM from many more, so I must really wonder. Were it not for my caution with anything having to do with the US Government, I probably would not be so paranoid!
But, I do wonder ...... Some day will I get the same from the Swiss or the Israeli governments?
LOL :)
May 23, 2016
Indwelling of the Holy Spirit
I shudder at this topic, so many have a whacked view of the subject, thanks to the paganism of the American Theological schools, which has yielded non-Christian churches galore! But then, you already know or suspect your church is pagan .... if I anger your regularly.
Please take the time to research the reference verses! Only then will you be able to formulate a correct view of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14 - 4:6
Christianity is defined in part by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Indwelling is someone, in this case the Holy Spirit, living in you.
This does not mean you are under the control of, because you usually do have a choice to comply with the Holy Spirit's leading or not. So you are not a possessed robot! But, I will say, just to buffer that with the word usually. Because, I seen times - when witnessing, when you do and say things that never would have happened except that the Holy Spirit had a goal in mind - and you were just the tool. For example the REAL use of the gift of Tongues: speaking a language known to the listener but not to you! Well, I was awed, hundreds came to salvation that day because of this. But, that is by far the rarity amongst the Holy Spirit's ministry in you as a believer.
In verse 16 - emphasized is the point of: this is in you!
Please see:
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 2:22
1 Corinthians 3:16
2 Corinthians 13:5
In verse 17 through 19, comes the question: Does the spiritual life come from within you or outside of you?
Jesus' intention is to completely reside in us
The result is our ability to grasp how full/completely this love is
Why would it not work this way?
Please see:
1 Corinthians 6:19
2 Corinthians 6:16
Ezekiel 36:27
In verse 20 and 21, we find the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives mentioned.
The power seems to be limited to bringing glory to the Jesus and the church through the generations.
Yet we find in the pagan "christian" church that it is an expression of conceit bring glory only to the person.
And, often in direct violation of usage of the Gifts of the Spirit!
Please see:
Ephesians 5:18
Romans 8:11
Galatians 5:22
Romans 8:15
1 John 2:27
Now what? Well Ephesians 4:1-6 ...
You know the presence of the Holy Spirit, when all three aspects are present:
Unity amongst believers
Love amongst believers and for the lost
Peace ruling over the Church and in the Christian's lives
Please take the time to research the reference verses! Only then will you be able to formulate a correct view of the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 3:14 - 4:6
Christianity is defined in part by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Indwelling is someone, in this case the Holy Spirit, living in you.
This does not mean you are under the control of, because you usually do have a choice to comply with the Holy Spirit's leading or not. So you are not a possessed robot! But, I will say, just to buffer that with the word usually. Because, I seen times - when witnessing, when you do and say things that never would have happened except that the Holy Spirit had a goal in mind - and you were just the tool. For example the REAL use of the gift of Tongues: speaking a language known to the listener but not to you! Well, I was awed, hundreds came to salvation that day because of this. But, that is by far the rarity amongst the Holy Spirit's ministry in you as a believer.
In verse 16 - emphasized is the point of: this is in you!
Please see:
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 2:22
1 Corinthians 3:16
2 Corinthians 13:5
In verse 17 through 19, comes the question: Does the spiritual life come from within you or outside of you?
Jesus' intention is to completely reside in us
The result is our ability to grasp how full/completely this love is
Why would it not work this way?
Please see:
1 Corinthians 6:19
2 Corinthians 6:16
Ezekiel 36:27
In verse 20 and 21, we find the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives mentioned.
The power seems to be limited to bringing glory to the Jesus and the church through the generations.
Yet we find in the pagan "christian" church that it is an expression of conceit bring glory only to the person.
And, often in direct violation of usage of the Gifts of the Spirit!
Please see:
Ephesians 5:18
Romans 8:11
Galatians 5:22
Romans 8:15
1 John 2:27
Now what? Well Ephesians 4:1-6 ...
You know the presence of the Holy Spirit, when all three aspects are present:
Unity amongst believers
Love amongst believers and for the lost
Peace ruling over the Church and in the Christian's lives
May 21, 2016
May 20, 2016
Life, To Be
Life to strive towards ......
But, I think that I have to be on more stable emotional grounds than I currently am ...
May 19, 2016
Resurrection
So about a dozen of us were sitting around and the topic or the resurrection came up. Not sure why, I think one of the people were working on issues surrounding death. I think with his aging folks, it is playing upon his mind ...
So, you live your life ... and you wake up dead ...
Yeah, you don't go to sleep, you are summoned before Jesus.
And then what?
Well, we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with Jesus.
We know that one criminal on the cross was told he would be in Paradise with Jesus, that day.
So, how is it we can be with Jesus, before God, and there is still a resurrection?
In Matthew 27:52, dead believers (Jews at this time) have arisen from their graves and were seen walking around Jerusalem. Presumatively, they were put back to death. We have writings that the Rabbis had those raised from death, such as Lazarus, hunted down and disposed of. Which is to say a "natural" death, such as being stranded in a sinking boat while bound. Yeah, natural.
For us, as Christians, post Jesus resurrection,
Luke 14:14
John 5:28-29
We have a resurrection of the bad, whom at taken to judgement and then there are the Just, well they are raised up to life.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Dead arise from the grave and the living are caught up in the air.
Revelation 20:4
Dead in Christ (Messiah) are raised to rule with Him for 1000 years.
Revelation 7:9-14
The affliction we are rescued from.
And, Revelation 20:11-15, the white throne judgement, rapture, the left behind, the saved during the tribulation. Depressing when you understand the future for mankind and its pride with which it stands before God - to the point of even blaming Him for their affection due to their own deeds!
Well, just a continuation of yesterday's thought and how a random conversation turned into an interest study ...
So, you live your life ... and you wake up dead ...
Yeah, you don't go to sleep, you are summoned before Jesus.
And then what?
Well, we know that to be absent from the body is to be present with Jesus.
We know that one criminal on the cross was told he would be in Paradise with Jesus, that day.
So, how is it we can be with Jesus, before God, and there is still a resurrection?
In Matthew 27:52, dead believers (Jews at this time) have arisen from their graves and were seen walking around Jerusalem. Presumatively, they were put back to death. We have writings that the Rabbis had those raised from death, such as Lazarus, hunted down and disposed of. Which is to say a "natural" death, such as being stranded in a sinking boat while bound. Yeah, natural.
For us, as Christians, post Jesus resurrection,
Luke 14:14
John 5:28-29
We have a resurrection of the bad, whom at taken to judgement and then there are the Just, well they are raised up to life.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18
Dead arise from the grave and the living are caught up in the air.
Revelation 20:4
Dead in Christ (Messiah) are raised to rule with Him for 1000 years.
Revelation 7:9-14
The affliction we are rescued from.
And, Revelation 20:11-15, the white throne judgement, rapture, the left behind, the saved during the tribulation. Depressing when you understand the future for mankind and its pride with which it stands before God - to the point of even blaming Him for their affection due to their own deeds!
Well, just a continuation of yesterday's thought and how a random conversation turned into an interest study ...
May 18, 2016
Life After Death
My father did not believe in the concept of an after-life. I personal feel that this was based upon his desire not to have to face a Creator/God/Judge for his life. So much easier to believe in nihilism, if you were a Nazi to the day you died. And this from a man, whom was a Jew ... Go figure!
John, my favorite Apostle, I read this writings often, if not continually (now that I have lost all memories!) He wrote in John 15:4-6, that we are to ABIDE in Jesus .... Abide? How does one do that? Well ...
Mark 12:18-27
You have been given a worldview, test it!
How do you now see all things?
How do you now react to what you encounter?
The Sadducee's held that there was NO resurrection of the dead, nihilists like my father. NO afterlife. They were the privilege class. They believed in the Torah alone. The Temple was everything to them! As a group, they were destroyed with the Temple, by the Romans.
They ask Jesus a question based upon the assumption of a resurrection, they did not believe in!
(you have to appreciate the irony here!)
You have a future - anticipate it!
Jesus replied:
You are in error
You do not know your Scriptures
You do not know God
Power raises the dead
God is the God of the living
You are mistaken
And they assumed that marriage exists in Heaven, which is not supported by Scripture!
You have a promise - trust it!
Remember the burning bush?
God said, I AM, not I was ..... *
Know your Scriptures!
Psalms and Job and Isaiah:
God is in this world
Living matters ...
...
* the concept of God identifing himself as, "I AM", can be taken a few different ways in English.
I AM, whom I AM.
I AM pre-existant, non created.
I AM in essence the lifeforce.
The concept of a past tense does not exist as He exists in past, present and future. In time and out of time.
So understand that God, was being revealed by Jesus as a very real force whom knew exactly what He was doing - and they (the Sadducee's) had better as well!
So across almost 40 years of my father's exposure to a Christian Kris, I never was able to get through to him that I believed God is real, that just the ability trust in Jesus' payment was enough to cover his lifetime of failure before God. It was not until I went to Russia twice to adopt four children, that he suddenly understood I was for real and he might be wrong. I will never know on this Earth if he finally choose to do the right thing and reconcile with God - it is possible, and I sure hope for his eternal sake he did, It would be nice to see more than just my grandmother in Eternity ...
Of course, first up will come the resurrection ...
John, my favorite Apostle, I read this writings often, if not continually (now that I have lost all memories!) He wrote in John 15:4-6, that we are to ABIDE in Jesus .... Abide? How does one do that? Well ...
Mark 12:18-27
You have been given a worldview, test it!
How do you now see all things?
How do you now react to what you encounter?
The Sadducee's held that there was NO resurrection of the dead, nihilists like my father. NO afterlife. They were the privilege class. They believed in the Torah alone. The Temple was everything to them! As a group, they were destroyed with the Temple, by the Romans.
They ask Jesus a question based upon the assumption of a resurrection, they did not believe in!
(you have to appreciate the irony here!)
You have a future - anticipate it!
Jesus replied:
You are in error
You do not know your Scriptures
You do not know God
Power raises the dead
God is the God of the living
You are mistaken
And they assumed that marriage exists in Heaven, which is not supported by Scripture!
You have a promise - trust it!
Remember the burning bush?
God said, I AM, not I was ..... *
Know your Scriptures!
Psalms and Job and Isaiah:
God is in this world
Living matters ...
...
* the concept of God identifing himself as, "I AM", can be taken a few different ways in English.
I AM, whom I AM.
I AM pre-existant, non created.
I AM in essence the lifeforce.
The concept of a past tense does not exist as He exists in past, present and future. In time and out of time.
So understand that God, was being revealed by Jesus as a very real force whom knew exactly what He was doing - and they (the Sadducee's) had better as well!
So across almost 40 years of my father's exposure to a Christian Kris, I never was able to get through to him that I believed God is real, that just the ability trust in Jesus' payment was enough to cover his lifetime of failure before God. It was not until I went to Russia twice to adopt four children, that he suddenly understood I was for real and he might be wrong. I will never know on this Earth if he finally choose to do the right thing and reconcile with God - it is possible, and I sure hope for his eternal sake he did, It would be nice to see more than just my grandmother in Eternity ...
Of course, first up will come the resurrection ...
May 17, 2016
Catch Up
So, life continues, whether one is comfortable with that idea or not ... LOL!
Eurovision is now officially over and my Sunday run up of my favorites, pretty much covered the bottom of the European voting system's final choices! Yeah, I was, and still am, amazed. The Ukraine won with a presentation that was truly forgettable. Sigh. I could understand Russia, my favorite, not winning because really it was the video that made the presentation not the singers ability - though he has the talent, it just was not represented by the song. But Australia should have been a clear winner!
And from what I can find on the internet, it seems that politics have once again played a heavy hand in deciding winners and losers. The Ukraine is the underdog to Russia's aggression. It probably did not help that Putin decided to oust the remnants of the Cossack's from the Crimea only a few weeks ago - the singer is a Cossack ... oh, to be fair, I ought to have said "Cossack" because the real Cossacks ALL have a very common appearance, and I have two Cossack girls (and a close Cossack friend - all the same!). If the singer, Jamala, is of Cossack descent - it was with a whole lot of gypsy and Russians ago (cough, cough, cough!). Be that as it may, I am sure she was happy with the results of her anti-Russian song.
Politics, its is all about politics, just like the Olympics anymore. Sigh.
Some of you may remember from the previous blog (thoughts from the little apple), about my interviewing with Mad Magazine when I was in high school. Don Martin had come to Denver to meet me, as he had liked my material! It was my lack of drug levels which concerned him! Of all his characters, I was addicted to: Captain Klutz. What can you say? It is me! And I found a copy of the book and have just be howling with laughter ever since. Yes, something is tremendously wrong between my ears!
I also liked Spy vs Spy and the magazine satire presentation of movie scripts. Some of them were quite good - others no so much - base, rude and cheap humor. But, then that was what Mad disintegrated into by the end of the 1970's. So sad, they had some real talent there for a while. Mad TV, was nothing more than gutter humor even Benny Hill would have known he could not get away with! But, I guess with enough drugs, anything can seem like a good idea. At the time.
My leg is beginning to heal ever so slowly from the damage done to it two weeks ago when an idiot in a Camaro thought I needed to be splattered across the hood of his car. It was intentional, God will give him what he deserves as pay back. But, I would like 10 seconds with that car and my pocket knife ... okay, same ten minutes with a baseball bat in a dark room alone with the driver ... ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
We celebrated a very late Cinco de Mayo. Swedish Rocket Scientist, Gaelic Girl, Youngest Daughter and Oldest Daughter (with kids in tow) all chewed their way through a pile of food me and Swede produced! It was good as long as one ignored the continual GG negative influence. So: Carne Asada, home made tortillas, home made guacamole, home salsas and a black bean, refried beans. Fresh cilantro was from my micro garden. It was awesome, I ate way too much and I am still hurting around the belt line!
I caught the finances up with where they needed to be and that gave me the freedom to take care of the mother's day gifts! I took my mother to lunch and refused to bite on any of her triggers she is constantly putting out there to start a fight over. It was not a rewarding event and she refused to even open her present! What ever .... My step-mother will be shortly receiving a Harry & David's gift basket at her retirement home. I hope she gets it! And finally to my mining partner's wife, some greeting cards she can use with her card ministry in her church. :) Adoptive mother of mine will be getting flowers, which she loves, on Friday. Whew! A little late, but better than never! I got all of the important women covered.
As I write this, I am a bit weepy as I received a letter from my favorite Aunt in Switzerland. She is just the kind of woman I wish had been in my life as I was growing up: Christian, honest, loving, motherly - scratch that from all of the female influences in my life except for my Great Aunt, but she was not a Christian. So, I slowly chugged through the letter, my German remains all but extinct in my brain since October - but at least I got the idea. And my other Aunt, whom was the only sister father had growing up also wrote. It is stunning how much she looks exactly my father! If father were to have anything other than a military haircut! Both of my aunts complimented me on my willingness to fight through these hardships I have been presented with.
Thinking of that, I hear the same thing from a great many women and two men, in the church on Sunday, at how they can not believe what I have struggled through these past three years (since the accident) and only remained positive. Well, six major operations and loosing a leg is nothing compared to having your soul jerked out through your nose because all of your friends betrayed you in a mass exit from your life. Some would say well then the friends are right and you are wrong - but I know the truth behind what they think they know. Disappointing the willingness to assume and never discuss or ask, just condemn and walk away. Well, one could say I am better off without them in my life. So very odd, so amazing.
One person actually touched me and told me to hang in there .... The number of times ANYONE has touched me since the last operation, with the exception of medical staff, I can count on one hand! Yeah. And I was shaken by the affect of someone actually touching me ... that probably expressed more meaning than anything they could have ever said! And I never thought they could have been old enough to remember "hang in there" .....
So, the end of my ramblings this day. Hope yours goes well and you can remember me in prayer, I still have a long ways to go before I can restart life.
Eurovision is now officially over and my Sunday run up of my favorites, pretty much covered the bottom of the European voting system's final choices! Yeah, I was, and still am, amazed. The Ukraine won with a presentation that was truly forgettable. Sigh. I could understand Russia, my favorite, not winning because really it was the video that made the presentation not the singers ability - though he has the talent, it just was not represented by the song. But Australia should have been a clear winner!
And from what I can find on the internet, it seems that politics have once again played a heavy hand in deciding winners and losers. The Ukraine is the underdog to Russia's aggression. It probably did not help that Putin decided to oust the remnants of the Cossack's from the Crimea only a few weeks ago - the singer is a Cossack ... oh, to be fair, I ought to have said "Cossack" because the real Cossacks ALL have a very common appearance, and I have two Cossack girls (and a close Cossack friend - all the same!). If the singer, Jamala, is of Cossack descent - it was with a whole lot of gypsy and Russians ago (cough, cough, cough!). Be that as it may, I am sure she was happy with the results of her anti-Russian song.
Politics, its is all about politics, just like the Olympics anymore. Sigh.
I also liked Spy vs Spy and the magazine satire presentation of movie scripts. Some of them were quite good - others no so much - base, rude and cheap humor. But, then that was what Mad disintegrated into by the end of the 1970's. So sad, they had some real talent there for a while. Mad TV, was nothing more than gutter humor even Benny Hill would have known he could not get away with! But, I guess with enough drugs, anything can seem like a good idea. At the time.
My leg is beginning to heal ever so slowly from the damage done to it two weeks ago when an idiot in a Camaro thought I needed to be splattered across the hood of his car. It was intentional, God will give him what he deserves as pay back. But, I would like 10 seconds with that car and my pocket knife ... okay, same ten minutes with a baseball bat in a dark room alone with the driver ... ggggggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
We celebrated a very late Cinco de Mayo. Swedish Rocket Scientist, Gaelic Girl, Youngest Daughter and Oldest Daughter (with kids in tow) all chewed their way through a pile of food me and Swede produced! It was good as long as one ignored the continual GG negative influence. So: Carne Asada, home made tortillas, home made guacamole, home salsas and a black bean, refried beans. Fresh cilantro was from my micro garden. It was awesome, I ate way too much and I am still hurting around the belt line!
I caught the finances up with where they needed to be and that gave me the freedom to take care of the mother's day gifts! I took my mother to lunch and refused to bite on any of her triggers she is constantly putting out there to start a fight over. It was not a rewarding event and she refused to even open her present! What ever .... My step-mother will be shortly receiving a Harry & David's gift basket at her retirement home. I hope she gets it! And finally to my mining partner's wife, some greeting cards she can use with her card ministry in her church. :) Adoptive mother of mine will be getting flowers, which she loves, on Friday. Whew! A little late, but better than never! I got all of the important women covered.
As I write this, I am a bit weepy as I received a letter from my favorite Aunt in Switzerland. She is just the kind of woman I wish had been in my life as I was growing up: Christian, honest, loving, motherly - scratch that from all of the female influences in my life except for my Great Aunt, but she was not a Christian. So, I slowly chugged through the letter, my German remains all but extinct in my brain since October - but at least I got the idea. And my other Aunt, whom was the only sister father had growing up also wrote. It is stunning how much she looks exactly my father! If father were to have anything other than a military haircut! Both of my aunts complimented me on my willingness to fight through these hardships I have been presented with.
Thinking of that, I hear the same thing from a great many women and two men, in the church on Sunday, at how they can not believe what I have struggled through these past three years (since the accident) and only remained positive. Well, six major operations and loosing a leg is nothing compared to having your soul jerked out through your nose because all of your friends betrayed you in a mass exit from your life. Some would say well then the friends are right and you are wrong - but I know the truth behind what they think they know. Disappointing the willingness to assume and never discuss or ask, just condemn and walk away. Well, one could say I am better off without them in my life. So very odd, so amazing.
One person actually touched me and told me to hang in there .... The number of times ANYONE has touched me since the last operation, with the exception of medical staff, I can count on one hand! Yeah. And I was shaken by the affect of someone actually touching me ... that probably expressed more meaning than anything they could have ever said! And I never thought they could have been old enough to remember "hang in there" .....
So, the end of my ramblings this day. Hope yours goes well and you can remember me in prayer, I still have a long ways to go before I can restart life.
May 16, 2016
Jungle Book
I got the grand-kids over the weekend, so I decided to take the mice to the movies ... but which one to see?
I finally decided on The Jungle Book. Mostly well done CGI and old fashioned animation but with a living child playing the major role.
Well, the theater was almost empty, about 10% full it seems and a senior citizen, plus two under age 9 children came to $70! Of course that included popcorn and small drinks! eepah ....
The movie as an enjoyable frolic through make believe jungle places for them but over all a highly recommended film.
I am not going to critic the movie, any more than I would any other children's cartoon ... like Woody Wood Pecker. But, it does have an interesting social angle hammered in over and over and over again. It was a refrain used by both Lenin and again by Hitler, in Germany, it directly gave birth to the Brown Shirts and then the SS. But, since no one will catch this phrase, because no one knows history, nor the roots of the Vril, Communism and National Socialism - well, that is the cost of being willfully ignorant ... (of course, now you know you can read about the Vril and see what I mean!)
Go, enjoy, do not worry ... no one will catch the slip in this culture ...
Also covered are Earth water cycles, effects of fire and the problem of incompatible animals. The tiger is a bit cruel and violent, and since no one will know what a gigantopithecus is ... why go there in the film or in this write up? Heck if I know ... but I for one am sure they still exist in the wilds of North America ...
I finally decided on The Jungle Book. Mostly well done CGI and old fashioned animation but with a living child playing the major role.
Well, the theater was almost empty, about 10% full it seems and a senior citizen, plus two under age 9 children came to $70! Of course that included popcorn and small drinks! eepah ....
The movie as an enjoyable frolic through make believe jungle places for them but over all a highly recommended film.
I am not going to critic the movie, any more than I would any other children's cartoon ... like Woody Wood Pecker. But, it does have an interesting social angle hammered in over and over and over again. It was a refrain used by both Lenin and again by Hitler, in Germany, it directly gave birth to the Brown Shirts and then the SS. But, since no one will catch this phrase, because no one knows history, nor the roots of the Vril, Communism and National Socialism - well, that is the cost of being willfully ignorant ... (of course, now you know you can read about the Vril and see what I mean!)
Go, enjoy, do not worry ... no one will catch the slip in this culture ...
Also covered are Earth water cycles, effects of fire and the problem of incompatible animals. The tiger is a bit cruel and violent, and since no one will know what a gigantopithecus is ... why go there in the film or in this write up? Heck if I know ... but I for one am sure they still exist in the wilds of North America ...
May 15, 2016
Eurovision 2016
Yes, it is that time of year again, when the BBC and Eurovision try to shoot themselves in the foot yet again! Well, they have not selected a winner as of this writing, so perhaps this year they can count all of their fingers and toes after the weirdness is over.
One common theme across all of the presentations is that there is hardly any originality! In the following links you will see what I think are the best of the 42 so far, but there are copies of Bull Dog, Katey Perry, Justin Timberlake clones, etc. However, the ones I have picked are because they are not like ALL of the others! Yeah, pretty much the other 34 very much all sound a-like, look a-like, sing through their nose a-like! What ever is with this current problem of people with deformed septims singing - representing their country?!?!?!? A whole lot of nose jobs and perhaps a tune might be carried ... but then we need talent as well ...
Kris' top 8 picks, in no particular order other than the best is at the end, enjoy!
Ireland:
Germany:
Albania:
Bosnia:
Australia:
United Kingdom:
Slovenia:
Russia (my choice of winner):
One common theme across all of the presentations is that there is hardly any originality! In the following links you will see what I think are the best of the 42 so far, but there are copies of Bull Dog, Katey Perry, Justin Timberlake clones, etc. However, the ones I have picked are because they are not like ALL of the others! Yeah, pretty much the other 34 very much all sound a-like, look a-like, sing through their nose a-like! What ever is with this current problem of people with deformed septims singing - representing their country?!?!?!? A whole lot of nose jobs and perhaps a tune might be carried ... but then we need talent as well ...
Kris' top 8 picks, in no particular order other than the best is at the end, enjoy!
Ireland:
Germany:
Albania:
Bosnia:
Australia:
United Kingdom:
Slovenia:
Russia (my choice of winner):
May 14, 2016
Musical Saturday Morning
I thought about saying nothing about this as a lead in, but then, oh what the heck!
I have an affinity to James Bond from three different angles. Ian Fleming was my pen-pal until his death, his quiet memory of me in Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, his wife sent me his author's copy. My father always claimed that much of Bond was really about his life - it was only after his death we found out just how much of the stories really did follow father's side career for the Americans. The third side? Sorry, but you could can find out after my death! HA-HA-HA-HA! (Like I would ever write about that!)
For Your Eyes Only, was the most blatant of the Bonds, in regards to my father's work. Of course all of the names, some of the places, and the real secret were changed for the movie. But, my sister and I knew where father was, not what he was doing - but it was suspicious enough to put us into overdrive pouring over newspapers and radio broadcasts looking for something that should require the presence of father bouncing around the Mediterranean region.
So, decades later, as I settled back in my seat, sucking on an Icee - and suddenly the name plate of the St George's floated into view ... I literally blew Icee right out my nose!
Looks like someone else knew about what went on that summer as well ...
So, my favorite film of the Bond series. Witty, funny, forehead slapping fun ride! Oh and let us not forget the opening, Sheena Easton with her gorgeous voice, seated behind a piano, wearing an evening gown and making everyone wonder - what exactly was she wearing ... or ... not!
I have an affinity to James Bond from three different angles. Ian Fleming was my pen-pal until his death, his quiet memory of me in Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, his wife sent me his author's copy. My father always claimed that much of Bond was really about his life - it was only after his death we found out just how much of the stories really did follow father's side career for the Americans. The third side? Sorry, but you could can find out after my death! HA-HA-HA-HA! (Like I would ever write about that!)
For Your Eyes Only, was the most blatant of the Bonds, in regards to my father's work. Of course all of the names, some of the places, and the real secret were changed for the movie. But, my sister and I knew where father was, not what he was doing - but it was suspicious enough to put us into overdrive pouring over newspapers and radio broadcasts looking for something that should require the presence of father bouncing around the Mediterranean region.
So, decades later, as I settled back in my seat, sucking on an Icee - and suddenly the name plate of the St George's floated into view ... I literally blew Icee right out my nose!
Looks like someone else knew about what went on that summer as well ...
So, my favorite film of the Bond series. Witty, funny, forehead slapping fun ride! Oh and let us not forget the opening, Sheena Easton with her gorgeous voice, seated behind a piano, wearing an evening gown and making everyone wonder - what exactly was she wearing ... or ... not!
May 13, 2016
Which Is More Important
The local church is in the midst of trying to define its "brand" - oh, so important in this day and age you know! (that was sarcasm!) A brand for the church? How about Jesus, and Him crucified, and Him resurrect from the grave, and His LOVE - our love to all peoples!!!!! Oh, how insensitive of me to pick an image so politically incorrect. This leadership of this church is solid, until they are gathered together and then stupidity such as worry about public brand image becomes a concern!
The church has been doing well. They attribute this to God and His blessing on the church.
Conversely, Joel Osteen does quite well and I do not for a minute believe that he represents the God I know! eepah!
The church is doing well enough that the question arises, "can we give the elders of the church discretion over say, $25,000 without prior approval by the congregation?"
Why?
"Well, it is not that much money in today's culture and barely a fraction of what we take in."
My eyebrows go up ....
For example?
"Well, a tree falls on the building or the youth pastor needs a big/better/newer car ...."
Well, we have insurance for the first problem and if the staff can not afford a vehicle then we ought to adjust their salary, accordingly, not buy them a car!
"You know what we mean, why can't we spend without prior approval?"
Why?
What is so important that you can not wait to get the approval of the trustees?
"But, but, but, the trustees do not meet that often! We have immediate needs (that were not in the budget apparently) and we can not wait even weeks much less months!"
For example?
"Starting up of a new ministry opportunity or getting a much needed assistant pastor ..."
And there we have it.
The pastor is back on his I want an assistant campaign. No he does not need an assistant, there is no need for this, he wants it because his mentor, Rick Warren, continues to tell him he needs this to be successful. Too bad our church is not Rick Warren's, our ministry is not Rick Warren's, we are to be what God moves us to be - not Rick Warren. But, just try and get that through the pastor's head! You can't.
Quietly I commented that God told us not to go into debt, and if we did, then to get out of debt as fast as possible - not to hire more staff, not to start more ministries, etc ... get out of debt!
Utter silence filled the room, and then -
"Okay, now back to expenditure approval for items not on the budget ...... "
Welcome to the new paganism of the Western Theological Church, where God does not reign, man does. The best of intentions, without God, is nothing but pure evil ...
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The church has been doing well. They attribute this to God and His blessing on the church.
Conversely, Joel Osteen does quite well and I do not for a minute believe that he represents the God I know! eepah!
The church is doing well enough that the question arises, "can we give the elders of the church discretion over say, $25,000 without prior approval by the congregation?"
Why?
"Well, it is not that much money in today's culture and barely a fraction of what we take in."
My eyebrows go up ....
For example?
"Well, a tree falls on the building or the youth pastor needs a big/better/newer car ...."
Well, we have insurance for the first problem and if the staff can not afford a vehicle then we ought to adjust their salary, accordingly, not buy them a car!
"You know what we mean, why can't we spend without prior approval?"
Why?
What is so important that you can not wait to get the approval of the trustees?
"But, but, but, the trustees do not meet that often! We have immediate needs (that were not in the budget apparently) and we can not wait even weeks much less months!"
For example?
"Starting up of a new ministry opportunity or getting a much needed assistant pastor ..."
And there we have it.
The pastor is back on his I want an assistant campaign. No he does not need an assistant, there is no need for this, he wants it because his mentor, Rick Warren, continues to tell him he needs this to be successful. Too bad our church is not Rick Warren's, our ministry is not Rick Warren's, we are to be what God moves us to be - not Rick Warren. But, just try and get that through the pastor's head! You can't.
Quietly I commented that God told us not to go into debt, and if we did, then to get out of debt as fast as possible - not to hire more staff, not to start more ministries, etc ... get out of debt!
Utter silence filled the room, and then -
"Okay, now back to expenditure approval for items not on the budget ...... "
Welcome to the new paganism of the Western Theological Church, where God does not reign, man does. The best of intentions, without God, is nothing but pure evil ...
Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’
23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
May 12, 2016
Lives Matter
I live four blocks from the area hospital, convenient for me seeing as how I manage to be in there constantly! Though have managed to survive seven months now without setting remaining foot in there! It might be a record.
I also live on top of a hill and about three blocks downhill from me is an old abandoned elementary school which has been scraped flat as the local school district wants to build a new school - only the taxpayers disagree. And, this vacant lot is used by the hospital as a helicopter pad for ferrying patients to the Seattle trauma center.
As I lay in bed one night last week, a helicopter was circling the area. Probably waiting for the ambulance to get to the landing pad. I felt sorry for whom ever it was, they had to be in bad condition. It was prom night at the local high school - probably a car accident. sigh ...
Next day, on the news was the story of a 17 year girl, shot and killed by her 17 year old boyfriend. The helicopter had actually been searching for the boyfriend, whom it turns out had run back to his apartment.
This is not a large community. She lived within four blocks of me, as did her boyfriend. Now she was dead and he will be facing adult charges for murder and then Federal charges for possession of the pistol used to kill her.
I took my daily walk and did not realize that it would take me past her place of death. I stopped short. Probably her mother had wired a picture of her on the fence by the sidewalk she had died beside. A small vase and a flower. I was struck by the simplicity, I understood the message too well ...
One of my acquaintances called and asked if I knew about the shooting. I commented at what a waste of life this was. "Well, it was a black shooting a black as usual ..."
I actually looked at my cell phone, I could not believe what I heard! Yes, both of them were African descendants but what does that matter when we are talking about the preciousness of human life?!?!?!?!
I commented that they were both human beings and my little town is easily half of African descent. "Yeah, but they are black ..."
I hung up. Thank you liberal press and a bigot for a President to take American back to where it was when I was born! This is pure racism and bigotry is not one of the Fruits of the Spirits folks! I was and still am simply outraged that anyone's death should be written of as, 'they had it coming, they were black after-all'! Just the thought turns my stomach! I wonder if their remarks would have been the same for a Hispanic, or an Oriental, or American Indian, or even a transplanted Swiss-German?!?!?!?!
KayLynn is dead, a week before mother's day. Imagine the pain inside of her family!
A young man, overcome by who knows what, is imprisoned for now. In this small community, his family must be devastated.
As I returned on my walk, I saw the little memorial had grown. And like all such memorials, will be hauled off one day. The memories eventually fading. And the racism expressed to me now by many, unfortunately will live on - in an area and culture where such has not existed since the 1890's ......
I am officially embarrassed to even live here ....
I also live on top of a hill and about three blocks downhill from me is an old abandoned elementary school which has been scraped flat as the local school district wants to build a new school - only the taxpayers disagree. And, this vacant lot is used by the hospital as a helicopter pad for ferrying patients to the Seattle trauma center.
As I lay in bed one night last week, a helicopter was circling the area. Probably waiting for the ambulance to get to the landing pad. I felt sorry for whom ever it was, they had to be in bad condition. It was prom night at the local high school - probably a car accident. sigh ...
Next day, on the news was the story of a 17 year girl, shot and killed by her 17 year old boyfriend. The helicopter had actually been searching for the boyfriend, whom it turns out had run back to his apartment.
This is not a large community. She lived within four blocks of me, as did her boyfriend. Now she was dead and he will be facing adult charges for murder and then Federal charges for possession of the pistol used to kill her.
I took my daily walk and did not realize that it would take me past her place of death. I stopped short. Probably her mother had wired a picture of her on the fence by the sidewalk she had died beside. A small vase and a flower. I was struck by the simplicity, I understood the message too well ...
One of my acquaintances called and asked if I knew about the shooting. I commented at what a waste of life this was. "Well, it was a black shooting a black as usual ..."
I actually looked at my cell phone, I could not believe what I heard! Yes, both of them were African descendants but what does that matter when we are talking about the preciousness of human life?!?!?!?!
I commented that they were both human beings and my little town is easily half of African descent. "Yeah, but they are black ..."
I hung up. Thank you liberal press and a bigot for a President to take American back to where it was when I was born! This is pure racism and bigotry is not one of the Fruits of the Spirits folks! I was and still am simply outraged that anyone's death should be written of as, 'they had it coming, they were black after-all'! Just the thought turns my stomach! I wonder if their remarks would have been the same for a Hispanic, or an Oriental, or American Indian, or even a transplanted Swiss-German?!?!?!?!
KayLynn is dead, a week before mother's day. Imagine the pain inside of her family!
A young man, overcome by who knows what, is imprisoned for now. In this small community, his family must be devastated.
As I returned on my walk, I saw the little memorial had grown. And like all such memorials, will be hauled off one day. The memories eventually fading. And the racism expressed to me now by many, unfortunately will live on - in an area and culture where such has not existed since the 1890's ......
I am officially embarrassed to even live here ....
May 11, 2016
In Condemnation of Religious Leaders
I was reading in Mark 12:1-12, Sunday during all of the singing. I really do not care for the entertainment portion of the American church's service agenda. A whole lot of "me-ism" and too little theism ... as Dutchman's oldest son summarized one of my rants long ago.
So, I am thinking on this passage in Mark and how I remember in Theology school this was correlated with Israel's about to occur trashing at the hands of the Romans. And yet, as I read it with a fresh mind and considered what Jesus said, it was not Israel that was being condemned.
As the parable goes:
A man buys a vineyard.
Tenants are brought to care for the vineyard.
Servants come to collect the owner's share.
The son comes to collect the owner's share.
Taking in account:
Isaiah 5
Jeremiah 7:25
Ezeikel 38:17
Amos 3:7
We Find that:
God is the owner.
Israel is the tenant.
The Prophets were the servants.
and we know from history that,
Jesus is the slaughtered son.
1. God is incredibly patient with us!
Think on this, Isaiah wrote circa 800bc centuries before Israel was to be destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians! At any time Israel could have repented ...but their religious leaders failed to turn the people back to God ...
And now, eight centuries later, Israel is right back where they were in Isaiah's time. Corrupt religious leaders, the people fall away from God and His patience gets tried ... eventually, and then there is no recovery.
2. We are rotten renters!
Left to our own choices, we are rotten without Jesus!
In the culture and the times, should a landlord not have a heir, then the property became the tenants in the event of his death. ".. let us kill him and it will be ours ...".
We can live as we want
We can do was we want
And eventually, there is no "god" in our lives due to our disbelief and making ourselves, "god".
3. Jesus is victorious
... in the end ... surprise!
Jesus tells them he will destroy the tenants and give it to others.
And they got the point ...
Of course, in history we can look back and see that the trashing Israel received under the heel of the Romans was complete and well documented by Trajan, Josephus and others. It makes for thoughtful reading when you remember you are reading about God dealing with His people and their corruption within the faith He required of them. He cleansed the land of them ...
But, it was the Rabbis and the Pharisees which were being condemned here - how do I know that? Because the vineyard was cleared when the curtain, separating the Holy of Holies from Temple - was torn. The Spirit of God was loosed from dwelling in a Temple of those whom did not even believe in It any longer. And the Holy Spirit was granted to the new followers of Jesus. The Temple was replaced by whatever aspect of man was now in-dwelled upon Jesus' resurrection.
And I know in my own heart, I probably would have made a great Jew, back in the day, as would have most of my friends. Then that trashing would have been ours as well! Something I think on often - we culturally, spiritually and personally are no more faithful than those whose blood was to run out of the gates of Jerusalem! And so undeserving of becoming a home for the Holy Spirit ...
So, I am thinking on this passage in Mark and how I remember in Theology school this was correlated with Israel's about to occur trashing at the hands of the Romans. And yet, as I read it with a fresh mind and considered what Jesus said, it was not Israel that was being condemned.
As the parable goes:
A man buys a vineyard.
Tenants are brought to care for the vineyard.
Servants come to collect the owner's share.
The son comes to collect the owner's share.
Taking in account:
Isaiah 5
Jeremiah 7:25
Ezeikel 38:17
Amos 3:7
We Find that:
God is the owner.
Israel is the tenant.
The Prophets were the servants.
and we know from history that,
Jesus is the slaughtered son.
1. God is incredibly patient with us!
Think on this, Isaiah wrote circa 800bc centuries before Israel was to be destroyed by the Assyrians and Babylonians! At any time Israel could have repented ...but their religious leaders failed to turn the people back to God ...
And now, eight centuries later, Israel is right back where they were in Isaiah's time. Corrupt religious leaders, the people fall away from God and His patience gets tried ... eventually, and then there is no recovery.
2. We are rotten renters!
Left to our own choices, we are rotten without Jesus!
In the culture and the times, should a landlord not have a heir, then the property became the tenants in the event of his death. ".. let us kill him and it will be ours ...".
We can live as we want
We can do was we want
And eventually, there is no "god" in our lives due to our disbelief and making ourselves, "god".
3. Jesus is victorious
... in the end ... surprise!
Jesus tells them he will destroy the tenants and give it to others.
And they got the point ...
Of course, in history we can look back and see that the trashing Israel received under the heel of the Romans was complete and well documented by Trajan, Josephus and others. It makes for thoughtful reading when you remember you are reading about God dealing with His people and their corruption within the faith He required of them. He cleansed the land of them ...
But, it was the Rabbis and the Pharisees which were being condemned here - how do I know that? Because the vineyard was cleared when the curtain, separating the Holy of Holies from Temple - was torn. The Spirit of God was loosed from dwelling in a Temple of those whom did not even believe in It any longer. And the Holy Spirit was granted to the new followers of Jesus. The Temple was replaced by whatever aspect of man was now in-dwelled upon Jesus' resurrection.
And I know in my own heart, I probably would have made a great Jew, back in the day, as would have most of my friends. Then that trashing would have been ours as well! Something I think on often - we culturally, spiritually and personally are no more faithful than those whose blood was to run out of the gates of Jerusalem! And so undeserving of becoming a home for the Holy Spirit ...
May 10, 2016
When Life Gets Tough
Man what a last few days!
It can best be summed up for me as: Blessed are the peacemakers because everyone will hate them in the end and do their best to trash them! Yeah, it has been one of those long weekends.
We can start it off Thursday with "she whom hates my guts", going off yet again on me - all about how I am the one whom has caused all of her problems in the past 7 years. She spewed hate for about half an hour and stomped stormed up to her room. Much later, I, in the depths of sadness because I have no where to go, I have no "out" from this misery I trug through, cleaned up my prosthetic and washed down what is left of my realleg. I wheeled myself to my room on my kneeling scooter - only to find that "she" had piled all of her laundry on top of my bed - and one legged man had to remove it all out of my way and the scooter's way so that I could just lay down! This unfortunately too regular an occurrence.
Friday, the kids decided on a dinner out with Gaelic Girl, which I get to host of course. Naturally, the the event was not up to GG's satisfaction, since she is in full hate mode, the kids were not up to snuff as one was missing - whom was her favorite. She really could not comment on my drawing I gave her (" what is with this? you promised to never draw again!") Nothing like praise this artist has never had to experience.
Saturday, my leg was swollen and so the prosthetic would not go on. Oh such joy. But, GG went off to a crafting day with her friends. So, I had peace and quiet. Legless, but peace and quiet.
Sunday, I did manage to get to church by getting up 2 hours early, icing my leg and it finally went on in the final seconds before church! I offered to take GG to a ladies brunch for official mother's day, but this only angered her more and I apparently needed an additional trashing and told how everything that is happening to her is my fault ("may God curse you in the after-life since He does not see fit to do so here!", with great joy!) I just bit my lip and was reminded how years ago Dutchman had commented he felt sorry for me because she was going down and it might take my physically failing for her to finally see herself as she is! A Chinese curse? Hope not! I just want to eventually be as far from this psycho as possible! Sigh ...
But, for now, I go through the motions of life, while I see daily the evidences I have nothing left in this life.
Monday it took only 3.5 hours to get my leg on. But I did manage to get an appointment with the artificial leg guy. Then I missed the appointment with the real leg guy so now must wait until mid-June. Sigh. I failed at an easy dinner - I am just aghast at how much my mind has lost due to the amnesia!
So I end a very sucky five days in a row of complete failure ... I just need the voice of a friend - which I am sure does not exist any longer - - - and yet - - - God continues to fire passion in my heart! A passion I can not act on. A passion I do not fully understand. Yet it exists when I do not and at night I can cry my tears for the loss of my future I so strongly desire to start but can not ..... sigh ....
Well, enough whining, time for a BIG pain killer and hope that it does .....
It can best be summed up for me as: Blessed are the peacemakers because everyone will hate them in the end and do their best to trash them! Yeah, it has been one of those long weekends.
We can start it off Thursday with "she whom hates my guts", going off yet again on me - all about how I am the one whom has caused all of her problems in the past 7 years. She spewed hate for about half an hour and stomped stormed up to her room. Much later, I, in the depths of sadness because I have no where to go, I have no "out" from this misery I trug through, cleaned up my prosthetic and washed down what is left of my realleg. I wheeled myself to my room on my kneeling scooter - only to find that "she" had piled all of her laundry on top of my bed - and one legged man had to remove it all out of my way and the scooter's way so that I could just lay down! This unfortunately too regular an occurrence.
Friday, the kids decided on a dinner out with Gaelic Girl, which I get to host of course. Naturally, the the event was not up to GG's satisfaction, since she is in full hate mode, the kids were not up to snuff as one was missing - whom was her favorite. She really could not comment on my drawing I gave her (" what is with this? you promised to never draw again!") Nothing like praise this artist has never had to experience.
Saturday, my leg was swollen and so the prosthetic would not go on. Oh such joy. But, GG went off to a crafting day with her friends. So, I had peace and quiet. Legless, but peace and quiet.
Sunday, I did manage to get to church by getting up 2 hours early, icing my leg and it finally went on in the final seconds before church! I offered to take GG to a ladies brunch for official mother's day, but this only angered her more and I apparently needed an additional trashing and told how everything that is happening to her is my fault ("may God curse you in the after-life since He does not see fit to do so here!", with great joy!) I just bit my lip and was reminded how years ago Dutchman had commented he felt sorry for me because she was going down and it might take my physically failing for her to finally see herself as she is! A Chinese curse? Hope not! I just want to eventually be as far from this psycho as possible! Sigh ...
But, for now, I go through the motions of life, while I see daily the evidences I have nothing left in this life.
Monday it took only 3.5 hours to get my leg on. But I did manage to get an appointment with the artificial leg guy. Then I missed the appointment with the real leg guy so now must wait until mid-June. Sigh. I failed at an easy dinner - I am just aghast at how much my mind has lost due to the amnesia!
So I end a very sucky five days in a row of complete failure ... I just need the voice of a friend - which I am sure does not exist any longer - - - and yet - - - God continues to fire passion in my heart! A passion I can not act on. A passion I do not fully understand. Yet it exists when I do not and at night I can cry my tears for the loss of my future I so strongly desire to start but can not ..... sigh ....
Well, enough whining, time for a BIG pain killer and hope that it does .....
May 9, 2016
What Is Fellowship?
As part of my amnesia, I find that I retain only a rudimentary knowledge in and of myself concerning Christianity. Yeah, I know I am a Christian, nope can not tell you why, can not tell you anything about coming to salvation, only fuzzy pictures in my mind of my conversion experience (thank you Debby Kramer, where ever you are!), baptism in the LaPush River with my friend Maureen Fraher, Easter 1974. Yup that is about it. No memory of over 40 years of teaching! So, starting over from scratch it seems!
The need for, the requirement for Christian fellowship is important in our lives - to grow, to learn, to live! Without it, well, you are not going to last long as a Christian and find yourself a bit sideways from where you thought you would be ...
Philemon 1-7
Verse 1: Paul is in prison and is writing to a house church of friends.
Verse 4: Paul is in prayer for them.
Verse 5: Paul hears of their love and faith.
Verse 6: Paul prays for their witness.
Verse 7: Paul is joyful for the witness of Philemon amongst the family of God.
Wait a minute! What the heck does this have to do with fellowship?
Philippians 1:1-8
Verses 1-2: In essence, all are workers
Verses 3-4: Fellowship means praying for one another
Verses 5-7: Fellowship means serving together
Verse 6: Fellowship means trusting God together
Verses 7-8: Fellowship means Grace and affection
So we can see that Paul was in fellowship with those in Philemon's house church.
Paul was in fellowship with those in Philippi.
So, whom are you in Christian fellowship with?
Whom do you pray for regularly?
Whom do you support one way or another?
An interesting thought ...
The need for, the requirement for Christian fellowship is important in our lives - to grow, to learn, to live! Without it, well, you are not going to last long as a Christian and find yourself a bit sideways from where you thought you would be ...
Philemon 1-7
Verse 1: Paul is in prison and is writing to a house church of friends.
Verse 4: Paul is in prayer for them.
Verse 5: Paul hears of their love and faith.
Verse 6: Paul prays for their witness.
Verse 7: Paul is joyful for the witness of Philemon amongst the family of God.
Wait a minute! What the heck does this have to do with fellowship?
Philippians 1:1-8
Verses 1-2: In essence, all are workers
Verses 3-4: Fellowship means praying for one another
Verses 5-7: Fellowship means serving together
Verse 6: Fellowship means trusting God together
Verses 7-8: Fellowship means Grace and affection
So we can see that Paul was in fellowship with those in Philemon's house church.
Paul was in fellowship with those in Philippi.
So, whom are you in Christian fellowship with?
Whom do you pray for regularly?
Whom do you support one way or another?
An interesting thought ...
May 7, 2016
Musical Saturday Morning
I sit still in a daze, a week now.
I thought of how this new life is far from what I had expected. Black is white and wrong is right. All is upside down in this world. People have proven that I was actually never wrong - before or after the change. And approaching from a standpoint of love is never enough. And silly me had thought that was the basis of a relationship - not the totality.
And this is a special Saturday, a first Saturday and I need a 1980's tune. So, I looked backwards, to the time when I did not know what an ordinary world really was. To a time when I struggled to understand ... when I thought if only I could be human I could understand, I could be understood. And God made the changes in me to make me fully human - a complete and utter miracle! He gave me a heart, He gave me need, He showed me love in all of its forms - which I tried to understand, always misunderstood. And I found myself reviled on all sides, close became distant, distant disappeared - and the hardest stroke was the silence.
I had lived in an ordinary world, where all was dead, nothing existed - except the rare glimmer of something beyond the horizon. Where I could never reach. But, now I can - and all is not as it seemed back then, nor imagined ...
I thought of how this new life is far from what I had expected. Black is white and wrong is right. All is upside down in this world. People have proven that I was actually never wrong - before or after the change. And approaching from a standpoint of love is never enough. And silly me had thought that was the basis of a relationship - not the totality.
And this is a special Saturday, a first Saturday and I need a 1980's tune. So, I looked backwards, to the time when I did not know what an ordinary world really was. To a time when I struggled to understand ... when I thought if only I could be human I could understand, I could be understood. And God made the changes in me to make me fully human - a complete and utter miracle! He gave me a heart, He gave me need, He showed me love in all of its forms - which I tried to understand, always misunderstood. And I found myself reviled on all sides, close became distant, distant disappeared - and the hardest stroke was the silence.
I had lived in an ordinary world, where all was dead, nothing existed - except the rare glimmer of something beyond the horizon. Where I could never reach. But, now I can - and all is not as it seemed back then, nor imagined ...
Came in from a rainy Thursday on the avenue
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV, and the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you
Thought I heard you talking softly
I turned on the lights, the TV, and the radio
Still I can't escape the ghost of you
What has happened to it all?
Crazy someone say
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away
Crazy someone say
Where is the life that I recognize?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Passion or coincidence once prompted you to say
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now prides gone out the window
Cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
"Pride will tear us both apart"
Well now prides gone out the window
Cross the rooftops, run away
Left me in the vacuum of my heart
What is happening to me?
Crazy someone say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away
Crazy someone say
Where is my friend when I need you most?
Gone away
But I won't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Papers in the roadside tell of suffering and greed
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Besides the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk
Fear today, forgot tomorrow
Besides the news of holy war and holy need
Ours is just a little sorrowed talk
(Just blown away)
And I don't cry for yesterday
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
There's an ordinary world
Somehow I have to find
And as I try to make my way
To the ordinary world
I will learn to survive
Every world is my world
(I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
(I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
Every world is our world
(I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
(I will learn to survive)
Any world is my world
Every world is our world
May 6, 2016
Prayer Requests
There is an interesting man in the church I attend, a loner whom goes out of his way to talk to me. I realized early on that the reason behind this is that I took some guys shooting with me when my little arsenal arrived here and well that is the stuff legends are made of. I think that was the day I was letting guys shoot my guns, even my politically incorrect one :) It was a fun day but I inherited a few guys after that whom are shooters but just not with me that day. I also figured out that doing that was a mistake in this paranoia driven culture. So most guys love me, most women think I am Satan incarnate. :)
So the man whom seeks me out has a wife but she is rarely seen, so back in August, when I could walk and go to church for one of the few times in 2015, I asked him about what was up with his wife. And oh, did he ever dump that one one me!
She is an alcoholic, in a huge way - with a capital A! Apparently far worse than my own great-father of whom drunken legend are made of and there is nothing which can be done for her it seems.
So, Sunday was an update: body mass now so low she can no longer walk. She has been through rehab now 13 times! and can not stop drinking. Luckily, because of her weight problem she now can not get alcohol - but I doubt that is a positive to her interaction with her husband. He has tried to get her back in rehab for round 14 - but she is so abusive that they turned him down last week. And he is pretty sure she is going to die and there is nothing he can do to help her because she does not want help.
Sad part is - she is a really nice person, as is he, but no ability to not take a drink.
Also it turns out that her parents live across the street from me and four houses down, her brother diagonal to them across an intersection, her niece across the street from her father on my side of the block and their cousin across the street from me!
Now the cousin, I knew back in the 1970's, back in my youth pastor days - he was a youth pastor with a Lutheran church a few miles from here. We used to do youth events together. And I saw him on crutches the other day, so I waddled over to see him (hopped?).
Seems he went on a binge - undefined - other than it shot his sugar level past the point of death (so had to be alcohol) and his spine died! Yeah, good-bye nervous system! So, I gave him a month's worth of the trial drug which restored my spinal system after its severing. That was two weeks ago, last night I saw him still on crutches but he was moving his legs to match the alternating rhythm of the crutches! Not weight bearing but no long worthless lumps of meat hanging off his waist line! So, Praise God!
But, Steve has continued need for prayer as he is completely disabled due to this!
And if you remember my recovering body as well, thank you. Prayer is all that sustains me - I know this for a fact - just do not know whom to thank.....
So the man whom seeks me out has a wife but she is rarely seen, so back in August, when I could walk and go to church for one of the few times in 2015, I asked him about what was up with his wife. And oh, did he ever dump that one one me!
She is an alcoholic, in a huge way - with a capital A! Apparently far worse than my own great-father of whom drunken legend are made of and there is nothing which can be done for her it seems.
So, Sunday was an update: body mass now so low she can no longer walk. She has been through rehab now 13 times! and can not stop drinking. Luckily, because of her weight problem she now can not get alcohol - but I doubt that is a positive to her interaction with her husband. He has tried to get her back in rehab for round 14 - but she is so abusive that they turned him down last week. And he is pretty sure she is going to die and there is nothing he can do to help her because she does not want help.
Sad part is - she is a really nice person, as is he, but no ability to not take a drink.
Also it turns out that her parents live across the street from me and four houses down, her brother diagonal to them across an intersection, her niece across the street from her father on my side of the block and their cousin across the street from me!
Now the cousin, I knew back in the 1970's, back in my youth pastor days - he was a youth pastor with a Lutheran church a few miles from here. We used to do youth events together. And I saw him on crutches the other day, so I waddled over to see him (hopped?).
Seems he went on a binge - undefined - other than it shot his sugar level past the point of death (so had to be alcohol) and his spine died! Yeah, good-bye nervous system! So, I gave him a month's worth of the trial drug which restored my spinal system after its severing. That was two weeks ago, last night I saw him still on crutches but he was moving his legs to match the alternating rhythm of the crutches! Not weight bearing but no long worthless lumps of meat hanging off his waist line! So, Praise God!
But, Steve has continued need for prayer as he is completely disabled due to this!
And if you remember my recovering body as well, thank you. Prayer is all that sustains me - I know this for a fact - just do not know whom to thank.....
May 5, 2016
Who Is Your Authority?
I continued thinking about yesterday's post for many hours and thought, "Yeah, I need to say more ..."
All of my kids, at one time or another, even in unison howled, "You are not my boss!" Well, on the one hand they were approaching this from the viewpoint of I am not their biological father, I am not Russian (save for a little on my Grandmother's side, and they did not choose me! So, I should have no input or over ride of their desires! Those whom fought the hardest - are my most ardent supporter within the family - because I never led them incorrectly - and always in their best interest.
So, I would laugh, they would get angry, if not turn beat red and blow their stack while cursing me out in Russian! LOL, well I still think it funny.
Mark 11:27-33
Mark 12:13-17
Jesus did a good job of trashing the outer court of the Temple, leaving the question in the Rabbi's lips, the populous' mind and to the Disciple observers:
Who is in Authority?
Jesus ALWAYS!
Authority comes FROM Jesus.
Evidenced by:
Nature obeyed Jesus
Demons obeyed Jesus
Sickness/disease/handicap obeyed Jesus
Jesus has the authority:
Matthew 7:29
Matthew 8:9
Matthew 9:8
Matthew 28:18-20
The Crowd NEVER!
Mark 11:27
Mark 12:13
Jesus is seen as a real threat by the religious leaders.
Enemies within the Jewish system came together to plot an end to Jesus.
They sought to trap him ...
They tried flattery.
The Government MOSTLY!
The tax Jesus was asked concerning was a head tax, to be paid because you were alive to the Emperor, using a coin declaring Ceasar to be the god!
And, Jesus called them on their hypocrisy! You use this coin to buy and sell - so pay your taxes with it!
Romans 13:1 - you must pay
But, many rebel.
1. God is the authority
2. State is the authority
3. God and State are the authority, but State comes first
4. God and State are the authority, but God comes first
Correct approach is 4.
You obey the State when it does not come in conflict with God (what the Bible clearly states!).
When is it okay to disobey?
And here we have the topic of my very first book! It is a very real subject and complex, but let us distill this down to:
Anytime you are told to disobey God - then be disobedient to the State!
Told not to meet.
Told not to pray.
Bibles are outlawed.
Told you must kill.
Told you must compromise your faith/beliefs.
Told you may not give.
etc - all examples from just my lifetime!
Make your stand only in God's love for mankind,
Witness of His love to whom you address,
Be a physical threat to no one,
Proclaim Jesus Gospel - His cross and resurrection alone.
AND THEN - be willing to take the consequences of your statement of faith .....
All of my kids, at one time or another, even in unison howled, "You are not my boss!" Well, on the one hand they were approaching this from the viewpoint of I am not their biological father, I am not Russian (save for a little on my Grandmother's side, and they did not choose me! So, I should have no input or over ride of their desires! Those whom fought the hardest - are my most ardent supporter within the family - because I never led them incorrectly - and always in their best interest.
So, I would laugh, they would get angry, if not turn beat red and blow their stack while cursing me out in Russian! LOL, well I still think it funny.
Mark 11:27-33
Mark 12:13-17
Jesus did a good job of trashing the outer court of the Temple, leaving the question in the Rabbi's lips, the populous' mind and to the Disciple observers:
Who is in Authority?
Jesus ALWAYS!
Authority comes FROM Jesus.
Evidenced by:
Nature obeyed Jesus
Demons obeyed Jesus
Sickness/disease/handicap obeyed Jesus
Jesus has the authority:
Matthew 7:29
Matthew 8:9
Matthew 9:8
Matthew 28:18-20
The Crowd NEVER!
Mark 11:27
Mark 12:13
Jesus is seen as a real threat by the religious leaders.
Enemies within the Jewish system came together to plot an end to Jesus.
They sought to trap him ...
They tried flattery.
The Government MOSTLY!
The tax Jesus was asked concerning was a head tax, to be paid because you were alive to the Emperor, using a coin declaring Ceasar to be the god!
And, Jesus called them on their hypocrisy! You use this coin to buy and sell - so pay your taxes with it!
Romans 13:1 - you must pay
But, many rebel.
1. God is the authority
2. State is the authority
3. God and State are the authority, but State comes first
4. God and State are the authority, but God comes first
Correct approach is 4.
You obey the State when it does not come in conflict with God (what the Bible clearly states!).
When is it okay to disobey?
And here we have the topic of my very first book! It is a very real subject and complex, but let us distill this down to:
Anytime you are told to disobey God - then be disobedient to the State!
Told not to meet.
Told not to pray.
Bibles are outlawed.
Told you must kill.
Told you must compromise your faith/beliefs.
Told you may not give.
etc - all examples from just my lifetime!
Make your stand only in God's love for mankind,
Witness of His love to whom you address,
Be a physical threat to no one,
Proclaim Jesus Gospel - His cross and resurrection alone.
AND THEN - be willing to take the consequences of your statement of faith .....
May 4, 2016
John's Letters On The Apostasy
As Christians, especially in this day and age, we are blasted from all sides by influences and media - mostly non-Christian in nature, presenting us with cultural values so superior, to follow, to lead us astray from the path established by Jesus and well worn by our predecessors. But, we are not unique in that regard, from Christianity's earliest moments apostasy has been attempting to lull believers away from The Way, to an accommodating life of being led by lies and man. In fact, there was a point in early Christian history when it was eclipsed by those whom sought other ways to God, than the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus.
And in what is today's Turkey, poor Turkey, Christianity only survived because the Apostle John had taken up residence there! Even at that, every attempt was made to kill him by the Romans - grueling work in the mines of Patmos (a sure death sentence! but we got the Book of Revelation from that one!) to being boiled alive in oil! Well, he kept on surviving. And as he aged, he lost the ability to travel to visit his churches and so had to be carried on a litter by volunteers - no we are not talking about paved roads, think goat trails here and an old frail man in a chair with two poles, being held aloft by perhaps six volunteers for mile after mile after mile! Yeah, he probably talked a lot, so a great chance to learn from the mouth of the last one whom had been there and walked those miles with Jesus, had cared for Jesus mother Mary, etc.
So, in John's Second Letter, we find barely a note. To one of his churches, a church were love was encouraged to abound but did deceivers as well. Deceivers whom are not representing Jesus, nor the Church's best interests, but their own. And so John warns his children not to listen to these men whom are not teaching the Gospel but a message which is foreign. Do not even think of supporting these people, John warns!
Today, we call these men Gnostics, they sought to confuse the church with "hidden" knowledge. Salvation by Jesus' death and resurrection was not enough - you needed to be circumcised, you needed to follow the Law of Moses, you needed something else - the "hidden" knowledge only they could share with you! Not so unlike many church movements even to this day!
In John's third letter, again barely a note, an encouragement for supporting missionaries. But, even in a Church that seems to be getting it right, a man named Diotrephes had risen to power and was on an ego trip. Heck we can see that daily in many churches or on TV - men driven by power, riches, the limelight, whatever - but not God, nor glorifying God. More interestingly, not recognizing that John is the authority over THE Church! And perhaps worse of all: he throws those out of the church whom would support missionaries! Wow, talk about a power trip!
I wonder if your church has problems with Gnosticism? Does it believe that salvation is more than just confession and baptism? Forms of baptism are an issue? Magic words in the confession? Special classes required? Evidence of the Holy Spirit (tongues) been added to the salvation formula? Are there dietary restrictions? Behavioral (not within reason!) expectations? Is there hidden knowledge on what will get you that car or beautiful home? Special baptisms for "levels" within the faith? Is there anyone between you and Jesus that you must go to in order to reach God? If any of this is true - and oh so many more variations - welcome to Gnosticism!
And Gnosticism ultimately destroyed the early church in Turkey.
As I write this, Turkey has again began another extermination of the Armenian believers in Turkey and what used to Armenia. These are Christian believers being killed, their churches flattened, their homes and property seized or destroyed! And yes, there is still snow on the ground - so these people are hard pressed to survive.
Lift up these people in prayer and for the end of Ottoman repression against Christians. Pray for Turkey to find once again its Christian roots. Pray for the end of Gnosticism in Turkey and in the Christian Church and in your own church! I certainly pray constantly against the rise of this my own church! It rears its ugly head all of the time but the faithful are blind and do not see that best of intentions are not what God wants ...
And in what is today's Turkey, poor Turkey, Christianity only survived because the Apostle John had taken up residence there! Even at that, every attempt was made to kill him by the Romans - grueling work in the mines of Patmos (a sure death sentence! but we got the Book of Revelation from that one!) to being boiled alive in oil! Well, he kept on surviving. And as he aged, he lost the ability to travel to visit his churches and so had to be carried on a litter by volunteers - no we are not talking about paved roads, think goat trails here and an old frail man in a chair with two poles, being held aloft by perhaps six volunteers for mile after mile after mile! Yeah, he probably talked a lot, so a great chance to learn from the mouth of the last one whom had been there and walked those miles with Jesus, had cared for Jesus mother Mary, etc.
So, in John's Second Letter, we find barely a note. To one of his churches, a church were love was encouraged to abound but did deceivers as well. Deceivers whom are not representing Jesus, nor the Church's best interests, but their own. And so John warns his children not to listen to these men whom are not teaching the Gospel but a message which is foreign. Do not even think of supporting these people, John warns!
Today, we call these men Gnostics, they sought to confuse the church with "hidden" knowledge. Salvation by Jesus' death and resurrection was not enough - you needed to be circumcised, you needed to follow the Law of Moses, you needed something else - the "hidden" knowledge only they could share with you! Not so unlike many church movements even to this day!
In John's third letter, again barely a note, an encouragement for supporting missionaries. But, even in a Church that seems to be getting it right, a man named Diotrephes had risen to power and was on an ego trip. Heck we can see that daily in many churches or on TV - men driven by power, riches, the limelight, whatever - but not God, nor glorifying God. More interestingly, not recognizing that John is the authority over THE Church! And perhaps worse of all: he throws those out of the church whom would support missionaries! Wow, talk about a power trip!
I wonder if your church has problems with Gnosticism? Does it believe that salvation is more than just confession and baptism? Forms of baptism are an issue? Magic words in the confession? Special classes required? Evidence of the Holy Spirit (tongues) been added to the salvation formula? Are there dietary restrictions? Behavioral (not within reason!) expectations? Is there hidden knowledge on what will get you that car or beautiful home? Special baptisms for "levels" within the faith? Is there anyone between you and Jesus that you must go to in order to reach God? If any of this is true - and oh so many more variations - welcome to Gnosticism!
And Gnosticism ultimately destroyed the early church in Turkey.
As I write this, Turkey has again began another extermination of the Armenian believers in Turkey and what used to Armenia. These are Christian believers being killed, their churches flattened, their homes and property seized or destroyed! And yes, there is still snow on the ground - so these people are hard pressed to survive.
Lift up these people in prayer and for the end of Ottoman repression against Christians. Pray for Turkey to find once again its Christian roots. Pray for the end of Gnosticism in Turkey and in the Christian Church and in your own church! I certainly pray constantly against the rise of this my own church! It rears its ugly head all of the time but the faithful are blind and do not see that best of intentions are not what God wants ...
May 3, 2016
Nickels By The Ton
I did well several years ago selling off my coin collection but I have also been picking up coins as well. A very eclectic collection todate, to say the least!
My main interest has always been Jefferson nickels. Of course, with complete amnesia I can not tell you why I liked him, why I liked the US Mint nickels nor even what I already have! So, this past weekend, I dug out one of my boxes and began sorting through it. :)
I quickly figured out on Friday that I needed some form of a database to keep track of what I was finding. So, I pulled up my old Dbase 3+ software from antiquity and ... it does not actually run under today's technology ... sigh ... it wants an environment with two 5.25 inch floppy drives! So that left only Word or Excel to do the listing in, I opted for Excel. It was a bit nerve wracking since I was having to do this with no manual - who knows where they are! But, I got a nice layout that tracks dealers, purchasing information on all of the coins, the nickels, the proof varieties, the errors I have collected, Washington State nickel tokens used a century ago during coinage shortages and then eclectic things like: artistic commemorative medals.
And the great sorting began.
Rather quickly I realized that I have quite a few duplicates in just the proof nickels I was working on. I guess I can either sell those at a fall show or off to my coin dealer friend. How many 1962 proof nickels does one need?!?!?!? And, why on Earth did I buy so many? Are they rare? I must find out! But, I have only opened one box so far! And surprisingly I have quite a few of the rarest of the Jefferson nickels! I may have known or guessed at the time certain varieties would be rare and indeed 1994 and 1997 had special issues with a satin texture, only 25,000 of those it seems were made! I guess I own a percentage of those strikes! So, they should sell!
And, I surprised myself that I did own one of what I think is America's high point in coinage: the 1925 Norse American Centennial on a thick flan!
If you are interested, my second choice for most beautiful coin from the US Mint is the 1937 Oregon Trail Commemorative!
Yeah, those were made the era when coinage was an art form and the US Mint produced some great pieces, but these two were the best of the best - well except the $20 gold piece! But, who has that kind of money? LOL.
It will take me weeks to completely dig through just this one box and I have three more to sort through as well! So, lots to keep me interested in as I rest and recover between long walks and exercise periods!
My main interest has always been Jefferson nickels. Of course, with complete amnesia I can not tell you why I liked him, why I liked the US Mint nickels nor even what I already have! So, this past weekend, I dug out one of my boxes and began sorting through it. :)
I quickly figured out on Friday that I needed some form of a database to keep track of what I was finding. So, I pulled up my old Dbase 3+ software from antiquity and ... it does not actually run under today's technology ... sigh ... it wants an environment with two 5.25 inch floppy drives! So that left only Word or Excel to do the listing in, I opted for Excel. It was a bit nerve wracking since I was having to do this with no manual - who knows where they are! But, I got a nice layout that tracks dealers, purchasing information on all of the coins, the nickels, the proof varieties, the errors I have collected, Washington State nickel tokens used a century ago during coinage shortages and then eclectic things like: artistic commemorative medals.
And the great sorting began.
And, I surprised myself that I did own one of what I think is America's high point in coinage: the 1925 Norse American Centennial on a thick flan!
If you are interested, my second choice for most beautiful coin from the US Mint is the 1937 Oregon Trail Commemorative!
Yeah, those were made the era when coinage was an art form and the US Mint produced some great pieces, but these two were the best of the best - well except the $20 gold piece! But, who has that kind of money? LOL.
It will take me weeks to completely dig through just this one box and I have three more to sort through as well! So, lots to keep me interested in as I rest and recover between long walks and exercise periods!
May 2, 2016
Jesus' Only Prayer Request
Matthew 9:37
The Laborers are few.
But, there is a great need for the harvest!
Pray for the harvest!
That means it is near!
Matthew 10:1
Laborers are called!
Not in general but by name!
God will call you and you alone!
Laborers are given authority!
Over what will oppose them!
Matthew 10:5-6
Laborers are given clear instructions.
For the Apostles, it was to the House of Israel alone!
No gentiles.
No Samaritans.
Israel first!
Matthew 10:7
Laborers are given a specific message.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Matthew 10:22
Laborers are expected to endure.
Hatred
Persecution
Death
Torture
Loneliness
Matthew 10:26-31
Laborers are free from fear.
Not controlled by it.
Yes, you will fear.
Death comes as your reward.
The Laborers are few.
But, there is a great need for the harvest!
Pray for the harvest!
That means it is near!
Matthew 10:1
Laborers are called!
Not in general but by name!
God will call you and you alone!
Laborers are given authority!
Over what will oppose them!
Matthew 10:5-6
Laborers are given clear instructions.
For the Apostles, it was to the House of Israel alone!
No gentiles.
No Samaritans.
Israel first!
Matthew 10:7
Laborers are given a specific message.
The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!
Matthew 10:22
Laborers are expected to endure.
Hatred
Persecution
Death
Torture
Loneliness
Matthew 10:26-31
Laborers are free from fear.
Not controlled by it.
Yes, you will fear.
Death comes as your reward.
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