Saturday!
Today is going to be quite a Saturday. I have been spending much time this week watching Free Speech TV, BBC, and other truthful, non commercial news sources that show the horrors of what is going on in IRAQ. Did you know that the Iraqi death toll is now over 700,000 people? That’s genocide. Well, there is much more to be said, but I’m saving all of that for my Next book, which has now become the complete focus for my summer projects. I know, I said I had all of those other projects to do, and I still do, but this has to come first. It has become quite obvious that the social justice that only Christianity can bring about must be exposed for the truth that it is. Jesus wasn’t just the savior of the world, but also a bringer of great social change. The early Christians had a phrase called PAX ROMANA (it wasn’t theirs exclusively). This literally means Roman Peace. There was a period in history, from about 27BC to 180AD in which there was minimal expansion of the Roman Empire, and relative peace in the area. The Christians believed that this was due to the Birth of Christ, and the prayers of the saints. That is roughly 200 years of peace. There is much more to be said in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pax_Romana about it, although, after reading it, I think that it is a little skewed. I’m sure that Caesar Augustus would say that he started a political trend that brought the peace. It is always a matter of perspective. I happen to believe in the whole Pax Romana thing myself. I think that the most powerful force on this earth is the will of Christ, who, in the Glory of God has the ultimate authority in all things. IF we, as Christians set ourselves against the dark forces of this world, we would surely make an impact. I do think that the fear of persecution is so strong that there are few who are willing to make radical changes. This must change. This must pass before us and never come back again. I think, speaking from my own corruptible heart that we are too much in love with this world. Our love for our lives, and the lives of those of us we love, is so strong, that we are not willing to sacrifice them for the sake of the Cross of Christ. We are not raising our children to understand that they may very well be in a world that will kill them for their faith. As this Autocracy that we live in continues to grow, and the police state that we live in now becomes more and more evident to the public, the stronger stance we as Christians will have to take against it. We cannot let our freedom of expression to preach God’s truth, to live God’s will, and to share God’s faith with others, to be taken away. I read an article, that there is a bill in congress that either is coming up, or currently being debated, that says preaching from the pulpit that homosexuality is sin, will be considered a hate crime, and thus against the law. Regardless of how you feel about homosexuality, preaching that sodomy is sin is a matter of faith. I understand the stand point. If Christians get to say that sodomy is sin, the KKK will be able to say the bible indorses slavery, because Paul taught how to be a better slave--But our ability to express our relgion, based on the bible, in this country should not be taken away, especially since our Christian solution to the issue is to pray and love all people, no matter what sin they have in their lives--Although this is a total leap for biblical purest, it still could be made a case. So, it seems, that someday, one of my books, or essays, or articles, may put me in jail. So be it; but am I raising the my daughter to understand these things? I hope so. She does understand what happened to other Christians in other parts of the world in other times throughout history. Right now I am not forcing it upon her that she will grow up and be killed for her faith, but this is not far from where we are at now. You say that isn’t the case? Well, not more than 60 years from now, several types of Christians were being stuffed in ovens, along with others of ancestral faiths for not denouncing their God. In fact, JW’s were the forerunners for persecution in Germany, and this country at the same time. JW’s were being lynched, castrated, and physically abused by people in this country, just for their faith and their lack of willingness to go to war. IN THIS COUNTRY! Don’t think that as fascism grows our rights as Christians will not disappear. Oh, don’t be deceived. There are Church of Christ preachers that think that George Bush is an honest man. It is this kind of simplistic, inexcusable naiveté that will bring about our heaviest persecution. The lack of spiritual discernment of some, will indeed bring about persecution for those who maintain their divine obligations. It is simply whether or not we conform. I ask myself, what have I already conformed to that I don’t have the right perspective about that is leading me down a wrong path. Several months ago, I had started asking my spirits Father to show me “Truth”, and not perception, in not so many words. I started asking that HE open my eyes to what is really going on this world, and what it is that I need to be praying for (paraphrasing, I do not remember the exact words it was that I prayed on that day I started). I have become overwhelmed by what I have been shown. It has all come so quick and straight up, that sometimes I need to dumb down and watch Disney channel with my daughter so as to give my mind and heart a break. I can’t imagine what is going to happen when all those orphans in Iraq, who had to watch their parent being blown to bits in front of their faces, are going to do when they grow up. They will be haters of this country. They will experience, and are now experiencing, vast amounts of PTSD, ADHD, Depression, and out right psychotic rage. I feel heart broken for all those people.
Don’t get me wrong, yes, I feel heart broken for all the children who have lost parents in this country too. In fact, I feel the same for all children around the world. I think that we forget to love the people of the world, especially when we are at “war” with them, regardless of the wars legality.
I digress: I am spending this day fully focused on my new book. I am just editing and revising J&M16. There is stuff in there that I want to get rid of, and there is stuff in there that needs some tweaking. Since I started asking God for truth, my focus has changed. I realize that Christians can make significant changes in this world. Not just in prayer, our most powerful weapon, but also in passive non-resistance to the workings of this world. Our only resistance to the evils of this world is merely to draw closer to Christ. For so many years, I have worked hard inside my heart and mind to say that there is a gap between the “world” and the “kingdom of God” (aka the church), but now I see that we as Christians must be in the world, but not of the world. This earth must be a foreign land to us. This world must be a place that we don’t fit in, in order to gain our greatest hope of joining God eternal. We must learn not to love this world. We must learn not to love this life more than we love Christ (John 17!)
Bring on the Funk!
Since my last post, I have finished “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale, and to say the least, it is the best book I have ever read. Truly when I was finished I felt terrific, and a week later, I still feel terrific! It is so very positive, and infectiously so…I just loved it! I highly recommend it! What is disturbing is that much of what Rhonda Byrne used in “The Secret” is almost word for word verbatim out of Peale’s book. I’m like, “Didn’t Byrne’s editor ever read this book?” Seriously, some of it is pure plagiarism. However, Rhonda Byrne’s book left out the most important factor in Peale’s book: Jesus Christ! Peale talks of prayer and refers to scripture persistently throughout the book, while “The Secret” is the concept of faith, without Jesus; the “Pagan” style of faith.
22And Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. 23Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses."
This scripture in Mark 11 is pretty cool straight up. And I would like to think that asking for stuff from God is just a matter of believing that he is going to give it to you, like it says here…
Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";
This one is in Matthew 9. I look at these scriptures that Peale uses, stating that it is OUR faith that limits the power of Christ in our lives. I see that and I think, “Lord, I believe, help me believe.”
I mean, I have faith, much faith, but then again, I barely have any at all. I’m strong, but also weak. I live righteously, only as a sinner can…I hope you understand.
You see, I know the above scriptures, and want to apply them, but I also know this:
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
Here, in 1 John, John allows us to understand the full power of asking for something from God, and that is if it is according to HIS will. Now, this might apply, in context, to our salvation, and not apply to the other two scriptures. In that same way of thinking, perhaps that Matthew 9 scripture might just apply to healing? Upon further faithful prayer, further bible study, and seeking wisdom from others who know the bible extremely well just might shed some light on the issue. Perhaps the devil has been using one scripture wrong in my life just to get me to limit my own faith. I know that he has done that before in my life, I just don’t want to be susceptible to it again. Oh, Oh, much prayer, and perhaps fasting…
When it comes to bible, I know there is always room to grow. What is funny is that so many people on the pulpit say something along the lines of ‘If I am teaching something wrong, I want to be the first to know’, and when I point things out, I get told that my POV is just that, a POV, and ‘thanks for sharing’ nonsense. I know that a great deal of what I understand as the scripture is non “Christian” traditional, but it is definitely NOT worldly. In fact, my understandings of many scriptural discrepancies make more demands on one’s heart and faith. Trust is what I call it. There comes a time when we must simply trust God. We must simply let go of our grip on what we know, and just trust. Trusting can be very difficult, especially when the stakes are high…to be sure; but it none the less will be needed in order for our faith to grow.
There are humanistic understandings of some scriptures that produce efforts which can be measured by certain amount of statistical data. Of which, we can take this data, and measure it against other data, and use that as our measure of faith. With that, our faith can be measured with tangible means; with something you can see and logically come to conclusions about. Although we don’t see this in the bible, there are still many churches that justify this method with scripture. There are several problems with this way of thinking: 1…not done in the bible. Mentioning how many people were fed or how many people were converted is just a sign of the miraculous evidences and confirmations of God’s new revelation, nothing else. IT wasn’t used to measure the faithfulness of the church, nor the amount of work/effort that was being put in to the church. 2. …not effective to producing Spiritual fruit. Although there can be little doubt that reaching out to our friends and neighbors is the desire of God, church growth is not ever mentioned in the bible as being “fruit”. However, the fruit that the bible does mention is in a familiar scripture to the Campbell-ites, regardless of faction, and that is Galatians 5:22-26--
22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
By living in the Spirit and bearing fruit, love, joy, peace, etc., our testimony will be our lives; not a clever invitation made on colored card stock inviting people to church. It is our lives that demand our evidences of holiness. However, there is room for that invitation to church, but it is hallow until they know that you care. As a Christian, our lives should stand out like a righteous thumb…holy and pure. That is spiritual fruit. The demands of a highly charged evangelistical microcosms production of “high traffic” environments can be more discouraging than encouraging; more so if the talents of the “house church” are not a personal eclecticism that draws people into themselves through charisma and charm. Not everybody has the same talents, so if group A is baptizing one or two people a month, or week even, and group B has a hard time showing up all the time (whether it be talents or the demands of life), then when it comes time to handing out the accolades, group B will feel great discouragement, and have very little motivation to stay. However, if both groups were obeying this Galatians scripture, and the others like it, then everybody is happy, and baptisms just happen. That takes trust. That takes NOT leaning on your own effort, and just letting God work. That doesn’t mean you don’t open your mouth, but it does mean that when we are working so hard that we don’t have time to bear the fruit of the Spirit, then we are in sin, and not doing God’s will. This is all speaking from personal experience, and the multiple “house churches” I led while in the ICOC, and the fruit that we bore, many of whom are still faithful to the ICOC and/or to God!
BUT, I digress! Having faith that something will come to pass, in your heart, can be challenging. IT is like this four day film school in this year’s Comic-con International (included in price of convention membership). I can totally see us there. I can see Carla getting bored on the convention floor and her feet hurting her, needing to sit down. I can see the Awe in Emily’s face looking at all those huge major publishing company’s booths and all the pounds of free stuff that you get at this thing. I can also see both of them on Coronado Beach, chilling and tanning, waiting for my call from getting out of class. I can imagine us going to the Zoo, Mission Beach and the board walk. I can see them exploring Balboa Park and their multiple museums as I am learning the basics on how to write for television and cinematic theater. This needs to happen. Carla needs the time off, Emily needs to break out of this small town environment and get a sense of what real life is like. San Diego is also where she was born, and being a California native myself, I want her to get in touch with that. But most of all, as I am in summer break, between quarters at Ohio University, of which I am majoring in creative writing, I really want to go to this four day film school thing. I think that it would take me in a long way. I am a quick and easy learner.
Again, digressing; I need to have the faith that we will be going to this Comic-Con. I need to have the faith that God will find a way. I want the faith. Y’see, I do believe that if it is the will of God, then I and my family WILL go, no question, I just don’t know if it is God’s will. I FEEL as though we are going, deep down I sense a joy in my heart from the fact that we are going, and I can see us going, but there is still just a tiny bit of wandering if it can all be real. (the money is just not there YET!) So, I need to obey the scripture that “Power of Positive Thinking” points out, and just know it will come to pass. That is awesome. I see I need more prayer. It would all be for God anyway…yes, I’d love to see San Diego, the city of my dreams, but, this film school would look good on a cover letter, which might open some doors that might get me a chance to turn in my scripts for my pilots to a production company. Then, I could write television with a certain righteous element in it; not to mention my books and graphic novels, all of which are going to be my service to God. This is how We have already started school. I do the work, God brings the victory. I got all A’s this quarter too, I just don’t yet know my GPA. But, it is God’s doing, and HE is the Father of Victory, the Holy One, the King and Country, the Provider of good things, the Granter of wishes, the Merciful Creator! It all happens in HIS time and for HIS purpose. May I always obey HIS will!
So, I highly recommend the Power of Positive Thinking to anyone. It so, so, so lifts your spirits and brings you out of your funk. Whooo’s got the funk; bring on the funk, oooooh whooo’s got the funk; bring on the funk! N
