The Deep Reader

New Post, New Titles to Read.

2009-08-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

It has been roughly two years since I last blogged here. Since I am taking the fall off from school, I decided to pick up where I left off. My reading material for the rest of the summer, and into the fall, will be three books primarily, plus the bible in various versions and the Septuagint. This first book is "The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia--and How It Died", the second one is "The Forge of Christendom: The End of Days and The Epic rise of the West", and the third one is in my wife's van and I can't remember the name of it, but I'll catch that up soon. It is about the year 381AD and what took place in the church. These three choices I got from the History Book Club. I also have a membership to the Science Fiction Book Club. I love these book clubs. You get a dynamite price and selection, and it helps me focus on certain topics that I want to address. I was buying all kinds of books at www.seedsowers.com and considered myself under the tutelage of Gene Edwards. This man has much to say and I dig where he is coming from. Some of his understandings of scripture are different than mine, but that is not an uncommon thing in Christendom. But am moving on to other things...thus these new books. Under Gene Edwards, I discoverd that I don't know church history at all like I thought. There is so much out there that I haven't seen. I have studied some early Christian writings, and thought I knew something, but I was humbled out. Mister Know-It-All me has highly underestimated my self induced education. So, now I read. By the way, Gene Edwards newest book, "Revelotionary Bible Study" is excellent and I highly recommend it...big time. It will change your whole understanding of Paul's letters, and see that his letters aren't stand alone trestices on Christian theology...no no no...when you read Paul's letters in the order in which he wrote them, it is clear that they are narratives of the mission field he bravely forged. Edwards has written several books on early church life. He talks freely about the ignorance involved in the general population, and the illiteracy rate. He talks about how a Christian gathering would include some filthy dirty stinking brothers and sisters, who were completely unfamiliar with the stories of the Old Testament and most of the Gospel themselves. He writes how Galatians was the first written piece of Christian literature that was cannonized. In fact, Galatians was written and circulated before the first Gospel (the one Mark wrote). He talks of how some of what Paul was talking about wasn't always church life, but local laws and edicts. BUT, mostly, in his books, he talks of house churches and the importance of Spirit inspired worship and not dictated worship leaving no room for the Spirit to work. All of this rang true to me. Reading his works have been refreshing and fun. I have grown some, but mostly, I was validated in my own conclusions and reinforced in what I have come to know as the truth. Truly I owe it to my friends and family to record all of these changes in me and my thinking. So, in the next year, look for my new book, probably on the POD lulu.com. Who knows, maybe we'll find a real publisher.

Ron Paul and Conspiracy Theory

2007-08-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

I saw something on Youtube last night that made you guess if the next statement was from Bush 43 or Hitler, I didn’t get it write needless to say (meaning that I gave Bush the benefit of the doubt). Anyway, then they had some comparisons to political agendas and the similarities. Youtube is an interesting thing. There is a lot of Youtube that is completely fictional, and in fact, there are individuals and groups that are intentionally trying to create good, passable fiction, just like a writer, movie maker, or artist does. I call them “Tubers”. These tubers are masters of their craft. Some of them are film students who are trying to pull an Orson Wells and create a national hysteria from their work, some are so obvious that it is just bad, or worse than bad, “B” movie want-to-be’s. There are also many good things about Youtube. One of which is the attention that presidential candidate Ron Paul is getting. Yeay Ron Paul! I think if you search him and listen to what he has to say, and already have a sober judgment as to the damage that Bush 43 has done to this country, then you will see that Republican Candidate Ron Paul could actually save this country from itself. Only if we could have a fair election process that wasn’t totally corrupt. Anyway, you tube is also a great source of information that is not tainted by commercial agendas from corporate masters. You literally can’t trust cable and network news to bring you the truth as to what this country's government is doing to the world, and how we are in truth, really the bad guys of the world. We are working to take over the world under the Neo-cons, who in fact only are a front for the New World Order and so forth. Now people look at our country and think that we are sheltered from less civilized country. Hey, we may have better plumbing than most of the world, but our sheltering is really our own naïveté brought on by our endless hours of watching television. Television is our master. We spend hours bowing down to it and worship what ever it tells us as truth. If you believe what you believe politically from what you know from Television, chances are you are deceived. There are news sources that are trying to tell Americans the truth; they are trying to get our attention and break through the barrier. There are organizations trying to reach out to the citizens of this country to let us know that if we don’t act, then we are just as guilty of the war crimes being committed by Gb43 as he is. Truly there is a different dynamic in our current situation that I haven’t seen before. I have a brother who is a historian, and he could most likely recall some time in history that is similar to now, but I can’t. I can’t remember a government who wanted to conquer or have military and political influence over the whole planet. They plan, they say is to have everybody chipped by the time my daughter is my age, and no chip, no nothing: job, money (a paperless society), health care, education, food, water, air, utilities, trade of any kind. Of course there will be reactionary people who will band together and create mini-cultures that will live off the planet with self sufficiency, and so forth. Gosh, this sounds like a science fiction movie. Well, with youtube, that is your gamble; what to, and not to believe. Just because our current media news broadcast agencies have massive agendas, doesn’t mean resources like youtube are any more reliable. I also know that if something like this supposed one world order comes about, it will happen gradually and we will barely know any better. That is how Satan works on our relationship with God: slowly and with patience. But, the devils know that their time is almost up. That is something that the Illuminati don’t know. They think they have time, as they always have, and have no reason to think otherwise. But we have nothing to fear other than the Wrath of God. I remember bringing this up to my mentor type person called my discipler (ICOC) when becoming a Christian in bible study. He looked with a curious look on his face and said, “I guess we’ll just have to study the bible with them too!” I laughed. It was so basic and true. Regardless of what is going on in the world, we will always have our divine responsibilities and obligations, even if it brings us great harm or death. The simplistic nature of God’s will is brilliant, as to the fact that we don’t have to panic as to what may come or go, because we are not of this world! This world is not our home, and all is only temporary. They (insinuating the world) may come and take our homes and possessions, or even separate us from our family, but the truth is that they will never take our hearts and souls. The love we have for God and our families will undoubtedly be challenged again and again, good or bad, but by holding out, we, the Christians, win, as the Father through Christ our Victors! So, whether you hold on to SIMPLEX SENTENTIA COMPLECTUS or not, we still MUST hold on to the reasonable understanding (if the cross makes sense to you) that this world is not our home, and we will always be threatened by it. This is a basic biblical promise of Christ, undeniably! If you hold on to every conspiracy theory there is, the basic truth remains, “This world is not my home and I’m just a passin’ through. My treasures are laid up, somewhere beyond the blue. The Angels beckon me from Heavens open door and I don’t feel at home in this world anymore!”

Think critically, live simply, and love always...

2007-08-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

As I sit here at my key board, as I have more times than I can count, it is 5:45AM. The sun still is threatening to rise and the moon can still be seen. This time of day has its own blissfulness about, in a way that seems as though one is still dreaming, and the world is about to begin again, for the first time again. It is quiet outside, except for the two dogs in the neighbors yard that bark for me to come over. Sometime when the neighbors are gone, I’ll throw cold hot dogs over the fence. They don’t feed those dogs very well, and have almost no contact with them. It saddens me. They are beautiful animals, but are slowly learning to not trust humans. I thought that right was only reserved for us. I suppose that thought is a lot like us humans, totally self centered.

But this time of the day is where I do most of my soul thoughtfulness thinking, and where life seems complicated the most, but the solutions seem easier. The simplicity of a life lived where one works and learns and raises their children to love, and to know that love is the core value in life, not gain of any kind, is the true value and gain. Gain is what makes life complicated. Striving for gain is when the world goes to war. Not just the kind of wars like what is going on in Iraq, those poor souls, but it is the gain that is fought over in our neighborhoods, work places, schools, clubs, and churches. We are searching for gain in property, and seeking gain in stature, in pride, in financial security (ignoring the teachings of Jesus), and in prestige. We want to be financially secure, spiritually secure, and socially secure. And, in searching for those gains, we turn to outer, or peripheral, judgment and measures to build a foundation of the pursuit of this gain; through politics, church, family, money, or status.

By involving ones self in these external dependences we fall into the trap of thinking our problems in life are external in the first place. Truthfully, our reliance on our own ability to fulfill our divine potential is far greater than having a retirement plan, or a great deal of property. Retirement plans can go out of operation at anytime. Money can go as easily as it came, or even more so. Property, when it comes down to it, can be claimed by our federal government at anytime for any untold reason. Status, reputation, and class are always a few days away from each other. If a man looses his fortune, his friends forget him. If a man gains a fortune, he forgets his friends. It is a never ending battle of backwards and forwards. Living simply doesn’t mean thinking simply, or being simple in ones religion or ethics. The relationship that a person has with themselves pertaining to an external divine intervention, which translates internally through the transcendence of conversion must come not simply. This is a lesson that I have learned the hard way. Although I do not contend my conversion, it was done simply. Issues of righteousness were cut and dry, black and white, light and dark. Although the base of Christianity is to be the dichotomy of living in the light and escaping the dark, issues of righteousness can deem to be complicated. Some say simply, I read, I obey, I die, I live. While others might say; read what? Obey what? Die how? Live when? Being holy isn’t just abstaining from sin, but in fact requires acts of righteousness. “Isn’t that the same?” No it is not. According to the teachings of the Great Master, our best obedience is to offer mercy to those who don’t seem to deserve it. That is the second actually, the first, according to the scripture is to love your fellow Christian with all you life, living and in death. This is what the whole scripture is about.

The simplicity is that God wants us to do only two things, Love Him, and Love your neighbor. Both of these are defined by the entire bible. That is where the critical thought comes from. One MUST educate your self as much as possible, and rely on your faith as it is at the time in which it manifest itself. My faith today is totally different than what it was 20, 15, 10, and 5 years ago. 26 years ago, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins. 26 years ago, I didn’t know what sin was. In fact, I was quite naive for many years after that in many ways. I have always wanted a simple life, craved it in fact, but, I have never allowed that to happen. Then, 18 years ago, I was baptized again, for the first time, again. This time it was a true conversion. But still, even to this day it is hard to relax. For some reason, I carry the weight of the world around my neck, as if to yoke myself into slavery of concern. The beauty that is Earth, and all things created are rarely enjoyed, in my case, because I am deeply concerned for the well being of my fellow man. This complicates my thinking and heart tremendously. I rage at the injustices that transacts in this world. I loath with passion the abuse of religion that transpires day to day; using God as the reason to have your holy war, when in truth, no war is holy. No cause for war is holy, and reasons for death in masse are not holy nor justified. Yet, we have our titles and our ideals, and idols, in which we justify war (as an example). To many, this issue of war is simple, and the reasons are sound, this is what I call simplex sentential complectus.

We want our wars to be simple; to be issues of light and dark, black or white, but they are not. At the end of the last century (starting with the Spanish American War), life and reason became play things to the extremely wealthy, and joining financial bodies began to pull the harp strings of the western world. This is what has lead us to so many of our conflicts, including WWII. These issues are so complex, and have so many avenues of venture, that it is almost impossible to get the “BIG” picture. But the example of WWII is a good one. The case was that Hitler wanted to rule the world, and we had to stop him. That is a very simplistic outlook on that particular war, but yet, when asked, so many people will generate that particular opinion. The truth of the matter is that it was in every participants best financial interest to go to war. There is far too much detail to try to explain this any further, but the point is, it is not so simple as to putting a stop to Hitler.

Today there are many of the same types of thought processes. I have met people who take our current president at face value. 5 minutes of internet research can tell you that this is ignorance and a desire to live and think simplistically at its finest. Oh how easy life would be if all of our politicians were so righteous as George Walker Bush. How cut and dry life would be. It is easy to pick a side in life when issues are simple, black and white, light and dark as it were. The problem is that type of thinking leads to a malignant apathy towards all people Iraqi. Should we continue our war in Iraq? Yes! Those people need us and democracy to lead them into a better life! Right? Oh, if only things were that simple. The US Military has killed over 700,000 Iraqi soldiers and citizens since 2003. That isn’t mercy, that’s annihilation; murder in masse. We are commanded to obey the demands of Christ, which is to LOVE our enemies. Regardless of the outcome, we should have been giving the Iraqis all that it needs in order to live life in a Christian way. “What about Suddam?” Again, the issue is not so simplistic. However, true change comes by conversion, and if you want to change the world, then convert it. That extremely complicated task, is really the simple answer to the problem. The Christian life is simple, and yet complicated. The concepts of pleasing God are simple, but getting to that position can be a complicated path.

No longer should we try to be simple in our thinking…trying to live life in embracing simple thoughtfulness. It is not until we can use all of our brains, and think critically, can life and its decisions become quite simple. And that will always lead you to love. So, in the interim, “Think Critically, live simply, and love always…”

A few things on my mind...

2007-07-27T10:57:00.000-07:00

Working on my self imposed assignments and projects this summer (I think that if I had known my wife would’ve had the summer off, then I would have taken summer classes) I find that I am drained and dry. I still wish to finish J&M16 before September classes start, but my mind is dry. My spirit is a little drained. I burned hard and fast thus far this summer, and now I am almost ash. One reason is that I haven’t been reading much. I’ve been Youtube-ing Flight 93, 9/11 exposed, and stuff like that. It is amazing what you can find. Did you know that the Bush oil dynasty supplied oil for the Nazi’s during WW2, and were almost brought up on War Crimes, but the issue got mysteriously put aside, to never be brought up again. Did you also know that on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a flight 93 out of Boston landed in Cleveland, and there was no wreckage at the wreckage sight in PA? Al of this is documented accurately, but given no public attention by the cable or network news channels, just local news. There is so much to be found when exploring YouTube . It is truly amazing how easily we are manipulated by what we see on TV. I mean, if you think that what I just said is a bunch of lies, then you are easily manipulated, but if you believe otherwise, then you are probably a little easily fooled also. But we tend to believe majority thought. I think that it is just a natural to believe majority thought as water is to find the least path of resistance. I call it simplex sentential complectus; meaning Embracing simple thought, or a simple way of thinking. I think that not wanting a complicated world can be desirable. I think especially here in this country when we are being fed fast McFood and Everybody Loves Raymond reruns, with a hundred channels on cable or satellite, politicians who talk about simple front issues of war and environment, education and immigration, meanwhile all the free illuminati style world banks, including the Federal Reserve have their own agendas as to what we should be doing in this country. Putting Band-Aids on simple political issues, like combat withdraw should be deferred to the true issue of the need to revamp our entire foreign policies and public opinions on how we treat others internationally. The illuminati’s want us to talk about emigration, and have GWB be forgiving in policy, so as to one day, merge North America to one big country. Instead of watching CNN, FOX, and MSNBC, we should be boycotting them until they start neglecting their corporate mandating and manipulations of the press, and have an honest press that is really doing investigations and reporting. Hurrah for the free press, of which there is very little in this country. Did you know that over 700,000 Iraqi’s have died as a result from the war since 2003? And only less than 5,000 Americans. Not to belittle any bodies death, but don’t we do that? Don’t we belittle the value of Iraqi life. Aren’t most of this nation truly bigots when we want to support the war, which is illegal according the Nuremburg trials and UN policy. We as a nation are committing war crimes everyday in Iraq, and there are thousands of Iraq war veterans who are willing to testify in congress right now, even to international courts if necessary. Why don’t we mourn the loss of ¾ of a million people who all have dreams, hopes, desires, to be wed, parents, grand parents, homes, cable tv, electricity, running water and plumbing, a roof over their head, the feeling of safety that only comes with peace. What our current administration is doing should be tied in an international court. Our new Democratic Congress was the great hope to put an end to all this madness, and they have failed miserably. Someone must stop the insanity. As Christians, we must pray fervently that there is peace. We must not support the war in any fashion; even if that means depleting funds to the soldiers. That is how the Vietnam conflict eventually came to an end; Congress just stopped paying for the war. The biggest way to change things is to rally, to form organized, non violent protesting.

Anyway, I started reading a book about Zionist called, “Zionism in the age of Dictators”, by Lenni Brenner. IT is an extremely dry read; but basically he blames the holocaust on the Zionist, much like many of us Blame the terrorist attack on this country in 2001 on the Neo-Cons and NWO supporters. The book says that the pro-Semite organization in fact had been feeding anti-Semitism in Europe and America for a century before the Holocaust, just so they could get a separate Jewish state in Palestine. In fact, he has evidence that there are certain Zionist parties that collaborated with the Nazi’s and local Fascist political organizations, in order to incur the holocaust, showing that there is almost no price that will not be paid in order to gain power. Well, I don’t think that that is too far out as to what happened in 9/11. Before you start attacking me for having this position, you better first do your homework.

One thing is also for sure, as Christians, we are not to get too wrapped up in the affairs of the world. I think that we have an obligation to vote, but not necessarily should ally ourselves with a political party. IT is a tough call as to what that balance is, but we must find it. I find that if I get too wrapped up in these matters, I lose my zeal for personal righteousness, and want to get totally socially progressive, and political. But I am commanded that if it is up to me, live in peace with everybody, and that starts here at home. Even in church there are opportunities to find divisions due to political alliances, and that to me is sad. Perhaps if political affiliations causes divisions, then it should be denied all together. In fact, I don’t see why we shouldn’t all be politically aligned, other than sin and simplex sententia complectus.

But I digress, watching you tube is different than reading. It is faster, and brings more information quicker. As to where a semi-adequate writer will tell what he has to say, several times over, and over, before moving on is quite boring to me. I know personally that they are taught in College to write to a certain format. Intro, body, conclusion. So, you say what you are going to say, you say what you want to say, then say what you just said, and thus you have a book. Each chapter of the book has the same set up. It is dreadfully boring, but that is the nature of Non-fiction. In truth, I have more books to read than ever. But, if I read fiction for fun, during the day, I feel guilty for wasting time. If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat, and idle time is opportunity to sin; so, I watch what I read and when. I know that the spirit of those scriptures apply even to a guy like me, who only has two or three really good hours a day to do stuff. I am blogging today, and I’ve been writing for this blog and the other one since ten, it is now almost two, and I am wiped out. I will need to rest before Vacation Bible School tonight. I tell you, I know that it is completely traditional and mocking the world to do it, but it is an evangelism home run. There are people in this town who do almost every church’s VBS all summer, so they can keep their kids occupied. We thought about sending Emily to some of the other VBS’s, but due to the veracity of our faith we decided not to. But the membership of our church is around two hundred, and we’ll get almost that many kids alone during this process. All their adult parents show up to drop off and pick up, and usually need very little encouragement to stay on for the day, even to volunteer for setting up snacks and stuff like that; plenty of time to have conversations about church and faith and all kinds of stuff. IT is an evangelism bonanza! I know, I know, at first I was like, “Everybody else does this, and we look like just another denomination…”, but then, over the past four years, I’ve seen some great things happen out of VBS, and think that it is very cool! I remember VBS as a kid, and those memories are fond ones, and inevitably lead me to where I am today, so I say, do VBS!

So, I am going to put down the book on the history of Zionist in the 19^th and 20^th century, and their disastrous plot to gain their own land of Government in Palestine, because I have enough things in today’s world to worry about. Moreover, my Master says that we should not worry about tomorrow, because each day has its own worries, and we need only know that God is going to take care of us if we continue to seek Him out; ‘nuff said.

2007-07-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

I just got tagged by Salguod. He is probably my best e-friend, and one of my closest most trusted friends in life. I trust him more than…say…95% of all Christians I know. His judgement and reasoning skills are superior to mine, and his level head has often kept me from going into parallel universes (figuratively speaking).

Okay, so the challenge is to list 8 things that you, a reader, probably don’t know about me. That’s tough because I’m pretty straight forward, but let’s try…

1.) Well, my freshman year in high school, I was promised a 4 year, full scholarship (in word only) to Arizona State University for band. I had become, as a freshman, one of the top tubists in my region, and I was told nationally, but I think that was just to boost me up. Well, to one of my biggest regrets in my life, I quit band shortly there after. I just wasn’t equipped to be doted on like that, and the pressure got to me…
2.) Also, at that same time, one of my classmates was sneaking blackberry brandy out of his folks house, and coming over in the late afternoons, and we’d walk the back allies of our neighborhood getting mildly drunk. The combination of the two is what really got to me
3.) My senior year in high school, I was turned down by the Denver Institute of Art for admittance. My Portfolio was accepted, but my grades were too low
4.) Also, by this time, I was drinking vodka in big gulps in school, and frequently taking LSD in class. Sadly, it got worse before it got better.
5.) In ’95 or ’96 I met a contact for Disney studios animation dept, and had an opportunity to showcase my portfolio for work. This would have involved moving to Orange County Calif., but at the time we were living in San Diego County (just one county over), but (here is the hard to understand thing unless you were there) I was advised that if I moved up there, I would not be supported by the ministry to “transfer” membership because I wasn’t “spiritual” enough (saying it sounds a bit cultish, I know, and it felt like it too, but if you were in that environment, it made sense). Anyway, that really broke the barrier in my pride, and led me to humbling out enough to get right with my girlfriend at the time, and later that year we got engaged; so it all worked out.
6.) Shortly after my wife gave birth, she fell asleep (in the delivery room) and the nurses were giving us a minute alone. Out of the window you could oversee the Pacific Ocean and San Diego Bay. It was morning so the sun was reflecting silver off of the water. I held my child up in the air towards the sight, and prayed to God, devoting my child to Him, and pledging her raising to His desire and Will.
7.) It has been a secret desire to move to London someday, and live there at least ten years—the thing is though, I’ve never been to London.
8.) Lastly, if every project I have ever started were finished right now, I’d have five or six novels, three or four graphic novels, four TV pilots, four TV reality show proposals, seven or eight comic book scripts, and three or four more books of poetry, all finished. I loose enthusiasm, then gain it back again later, only to loose it again later, and back and forth endlessly.

That’s it. I don’t know if you all know any of those things or not, but to the best of my ability those are the ones I listed. There were five or six more, but they couldn’t be listed without harming others, so, ‘ter ‘tis.

I don’t really know who else to tag, that Salguod didn’t, so I’ll have to get back to you on that…

This week...

2007-07-02T05:05:00.000-07:00

It is Monday morning and I am facing a week of relatively unknown events. I know what it is that I want to do, but I face what I want to do right now—I am overwhelmingly in love with God, so my options, due to that irreversible force of both devine and fleshly will and desire, is simply to spend time with God. I do this several ways. The first is to read the bible. But that is a dilemma for me. You see, what God has to say is in many ways demanding. His will for our lives is to obey Him, love Him, and never forsake Him. There are times when I fear what He will ask of me. I know the price—and sometimes I think that I am far too in love with my life, than to give it over. This is a basic struggle of wills and won’t. The price of freedom has always come at a high cost. I think of all the lives that have been lost for political and religious freedoms, and it is a death toll immeasurable. But my fight today is the fight of spiritual freedom. I want to be lethargic, to give in to my flesh, and cheat God out of the opportunities that could be provided today through me. Today, not only can I have a morning devotional, I can also invite someone to church, share my faith with anybody, influence my daughter for the better, and more so, be ready to surrender my life to the point of death. The goal is to resist sin, even if it means costing my life to do so, hence Christ Jesus. Someday’s, like today, I’m just not feelin’ it. BUT, then I remember that late night in November, it was one in the morning, and I confessed, not only that Jesus is the Son of God, and died on the cross for me, and moreover, I confessed that Jesus is the Lord of my life. That late night/early morning, I pledged myself to God, and the ultimate ruler of my life. I pledged myself to surrender my will to Christ, and not just because it was the right thing to do; not just because I wanted my sins forgiven (an overwhelming sensation at the time), but because I fell in love with God through out the previous three or four months, and I fell hard. I had just sacrificed every friend I had, and was literally starting my life all over again. I committed to making the Christians my friends, and my discipler my mentor. I was ready to learn, grow, and make God proud. I was fired up! I was eager and prayerful! I was happy—happy to love unconditionally and not be hurt. I was healing. I had fallen in love with two different women, both amazing, both rejecting me. My best bud and I were heading in two different directions, and frankly, had spent so much time together, we couldn’t stand each other. Then there I was, standing in a lighted pool, of which I had to jump the gate just to get in. The man who had befriended me, and taken me through the bible passages need in order to learn what God wanted from me, and he, a foot shorter than me, after my confession, baptized me. After which, all the brothers went to bed—“congratulations brother, I’m going to bed now”—although discouraging at the time, within two weeks later I understood why they wanted to go to bed and not go to Denny’s and get coffee and celebrate, which I did on my own. The life of a college student, and Christian, is chaotic and exhausting. But, I loved every minute of it. Not college, but being a Christian on the campus of ASU. Although I was completely blinded to the truth, that time of my life was desperately needed in order to gain the discipline that I was so desperately needed. Now, almost twenty years later, I am a college student again (summer break), and still a Christian, living more to the truth than ever before. And that takes me back to this morning. It is that discipline that I need now in order to get off my duff at this computer, and go have my quiet time with God.

Saturday!

2007-06-30T05:38:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-06-09T05:43:00.000-07:00

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

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Positive-Thinking-minature/dp/0762412550/ref=sr_1_6/002-4832573-3257655?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181394011&sr=8-6

Not so "Secret" after all...

2007-05-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Okay Kids, its time to see what Big Daddy P. is reading. It’s been a few weeks, and life goes on. First, I want to give an update on “The Secret” which I finished. I enjoyed reading this book, but only to a degree. During the whole reading, I felt this great sense of conflict in me. At first I thought that it must have been my own frustration of not being able to concentrate the way I perceived they were talking about in the book. Then I realized that I had fallen into the trap that I had warned others about, and that was GREED! That’s right, it just goes to show you that this lame duck is human after all. Not only did I feel the greed, I spent energy on “thinking and feeling” material things. Sure, I wanted the good things in life too, but it was the material things that I found myself wanting. ONE, that is because I have a corruptible heart. TWO, it was because of the way that the book is structured. Although there seemed to be a relative positive message in “The Secret”, in the end, it taught that material things are good, IF you find your inner peace first. Well, due to my devotion to God, that can’t happen. God rejects the world, as do I. I know that there are well-to-do Christians, and in fact, biblically they serve a purpose, and perhaps one day I’ll be one, but I know that I have to earn it. I think this because it would mean an honest earning, and not a conjured one, that I could faithfully prevail spiritually at that point; which leads me to my next point. After slowly, thoroughly, and carefully reading the Secret, I have come to the conclusion that to apply the basic principles, as prescribed in the book, is toying with black magic and conjuring. What? That’s right. I know that it is a far cry from my last entry, and I’m not even saying that the law of attraction doesn’t work. Scripturally, nowhere does it say that magic doesn’t work, it’s just that God makes it clear that the “Practice of magic” is a sin, and deplorable to Him. In this spirit, and many other reasons that lay in the bible and in the writings of the early Christians, I believe that using the law of attraction, as notably prescribed in the book, is a type of conjuring i.e. black magic.

Now, that doesn’t mean that positive thinking is a bad thing, or even focusing on positive things is wrong. I’m not some sadist who hates all things of what the earth has to offer, and a loather of comfort, far from it. In true Christian form, Paul writes that we should think positively about things: “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable --if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” This is a fantastic scripture. But it is a far cry from fantasizing yourself rich. I know, advocators of the Secret will say it is much more than fanaticizing. It is acting and believing what you want is to be real. But the Secret teaches that there is nothing wrong with being a millionaire, when God specifically said that it is hard for the rich to be faithful. The Secret says not to live a sacrificial life for it creates resentment—this couldn't be farther from the truth if it is done in the name of Christ and for the purpose to the Cross. The core of Godly love is self sacrifice, servitude and sacrament. Self sacrifice builds resentment if you are doing it for selfish reasons, and that is the core of “The Secret”, selfishness.

Now with THAT being said, I am about to start reading “The Power of Positive Thinking” by Norman Vincent Peale. I bought an old paperback copy at an estate sale Friday, and I just started it this morning. I am also reading “How To Write for Television” by Madeline Dimaggio; “The Russians’ Secret” by Peter Hoover and Servuei V. Petrov; and “How to Invest $50 to $5,000: The Small Investor’s Step-by-Step Plan for Low-Risk, High-Value Investing” by Nancy Dunnan (which is really a really good and empowering read). My therapist is convinced that “Lost” the television show is based on Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, so I am starting that this week also. Later today I should wrap up “Do Followers of Jesus fight?”. It is a nice little booklet, but I have been reading it too on and off, I just need to finish it. It is very interesting. It teaches and has a good argument for non-resistance. BUT, from what I remember from “The Politics of Jesus” by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. that Jesus wasn’t just non-resistant, he was passive-resistant. There is a difference, really a big difference. However, at this point I feel that I am getting a much more rounded feeling and thinking for the issue. I am starting to become interested in the Anabaptist and what their history and teachings are all about. No, I’m not interested in becoming a Mennonite, but, never-say-never. I still might someday end up back in the ICOC? Who knows (I doubt that very much, but, never-say-never. I guess that would depend on how much false doctrine they shed.)

Well, that is it for now, as far as my reading material. What are you reading?

Chech out my update!

2007-04-19T11:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, it is get caught up time. There are three things that we need to get caught up on. The first is what is the P man reading? The second is, “What is the P man listening to?” And the third is “What is the P man going to read and listen to?”

We will start with the first topic. Probably the premier thing that I am reading is “A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs” by David Bercot. You may or may not be familiar with Brother Bercot; he is the author of the renowned “Will the Real Heretic Please Stand Up?” It is a fabulous book that basically points out that most of what is taught as Christianity today was considered heretical by the early church. Anyway, this Dictionary thingy, a 700 page volume, is a true treasure and a must for anybody who wants to be in the clergy, or anybody who is a Christian. One must remember that the words of these brothers, some of whom were disciples of the Apostles, are not scripture. However, that being said, they provide valuable information on the thinking and practices of the early church. I highly recommend it. It is quite revealing in the matter of what the first and second century churches practiced and taught in scripture, compared to the Alexander Campbell restoration various off shoots teach. There are some profound differences. One must muster the courage to explore ones faith, without fear of losing what may be unsound dogma. I’ve learned that it may very well be better to fellowship with a strong loving assembly, who doesn’t have all the buttons buttoned, and still maintain a distinct and profound faith. Unity can come with the simple will to stay peaceful with anybody that is willing to love Christ, worship Christ, and serve Christ. Fellowship will seem “worldly” to many people who have been a part of a dynamic emotionally charged environment, but we must remember, what the scripture says and demands may not be what you think it is. We mustn’t replace truth with emotional highs and lows. Biblical early church Christians were really quite quiet and peaceful with all. They were hard workers, who however, did not pay homage to Caesar. I think today of how many “Christians” think that our current Caesar is somebody to pay homage. Hey, I’m a patriot, but to Jesus, not this country that I am blessed to live in. I pay taxes, I am a contributor in my community, I keep the peace with my neighbors and show my concern for their well being, but yet, my loyalties lay with Christ, first, foremost, and forever!

My previous post spoke of the small tracts and booklets that I have also been reading. I am going over them again in my spare time (huh? I have spare time?). I just started reading two new books: the first is “We Don’t Speak Great Things – We Live Them” by Mark Felix and Justin Martyr. Really they are just collected writings of these two men, put in one volume. The book starts with Mark Felix’s “Octavius”, and then goes to “The First Apology of Justin Martyr”. Although you may be familiar with Justin Martyr, who was one of the most profound and important early Christian scholars, you may not have heard of Felix’s Octavius. Felix was a lawyer, and he writes a fictions situation where Christianity is being defended in court. It is very cool. I look forward to really sinking my teeth into this one.

The second book I am reading right now is “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne. If you have not heard of this book, then you haven’t been paying attention in the media. First it was a movie, or which I did not see, but now it is in book form. The DVD is at the Wal-Mart that I bought the book at, and will probably go back and buy that. It is a reletivly profound book of which the topic is the “Universal Law of Attraction”. It is extremely interesting, and except for a few points, it doesn’t contradict scripture. There are some philosophical differences, as the origins of the Universe, but we cant’ hold ignorance against people, God will do that in his own time. It is definitely philosophical, but it is also quite reasonable. I think that the law of attraction is a valid concept. I tend to, in a worldly point of view, filter my law of attraction through my relationship with Jesus Christ, but the point is still well taken. Now, before I completely advocate this book and concept, I must first finish the book. The basic concept applied to my life would mean that I attracted seven years of suffering in my life, and can just as easily end it, simply by attracting the right, for a lack of a better word, mojo (mojo translated into our essence = thoughts, feelings, and spirit.). But I think of how my life has gone over the past 20 years, and I can’t help but think that there is some validity to this argument. Now, I do absolutely believe in the sovereignty of God; in that sovereignty God has created this universe as it is, and there are undeniable scientific evidences in existence that can make this “law of attraction” seem very reasonable. Let’s just say, I am interested in exploring this all the more. I suppose I will get back to you I say, if you are a Christian, of whom is secure in your faith and bible knowledge, there is very little harm in reading this book. However, if your faith is new and young, then I recommend that you hold off on reading this book until you bible faith and knowledge is stronger.
“You can’t tell me what to do!”
That is true, but please, I think that you would be greatly confused about this book if you read it now. Here is what I mean. The Law of Attraction basically states that you attract to your life whatever you dwell on emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. If you want, then all you have to do is focus on it in a positive way with all your mojo, and you’ll get it. If this is true, and you are filled with spiritual immaturity, and still crave the life of the world, then you will get it. Being a Christian, I want to attract Godliness in my life, and I believe that according to this law, and scripture, that it is exactly what will happen. I want to attract love, peace, kindness, generosity, charity, and stability. I want to be a giver, and a grateful person, who contributes to my family, church, academic environment, and my neighborhood. But, if you still desire the “world” (meaning greed, immorality, material exesses, and idolatry) then you will attract them, and your relationship with God will suffer. You will become increasingly dissatisfied, and eventually give up on your quest to please God. The bible states that if you delight in the Lord, then he will grant the disires of your heart. This IS the law of attraction restated. Jesus says whatever you ask in my name, you will receive. Again, restated. But if you ask for evil, Satan, who disguises himself as an angel of light, will be glad to grant your wish. Again, the law of attraction restated. I may see it in a different light than some of these philosophy professors and teachers in the book, but the concept is sound. So…I look forward to also finishing this book as well. I am of course also reading essays in my writing class, of which I must write about. And I am also reading a great deal of Art History. We are now in the High Italian Renaissance.

Now, what am I listening to? I have been listening to sermons and teaching of David Bercot. I am fascinated by his search for Christianity, and how it is dynamically different than mine, but we have come to almost all the same conclusions. His back ground is Anabaptist, and he currently is a Mennonite. He refers to his faith as Primitive Christianity. I like this term, and have attracted myself to it. I now refer to my faith as Primitive Christianity. I may not live as a Mennonite as he does, meaning I like the use of my computer and like to watch television and such, but abandoning 1800 years of sin and satanic manipulation of the Church, while still keeping track of the observance of an Apostolic lineage, is attractive to me. I know that sounds confusing, but if you want to know what I mean, just email me. I would basically send you the CD’s that I have listened to. Again, these CD’s can be found at scroll publishing. I have also been listening to Miles Davis. I am going to be direct. In all my years in training as a musician, actor, illustrator, painter, writer, poet, sculptor, and worship singing, I have never known artistic freedom until I listened to Miles Davis. I feel artistically freed by listening to his CD “Milestones”. I also recently have been listening to Joe Satriani’s “Surfing with the Alien”. I had this CD years ago, but purchased it recently. Wow did I forget how seriously good this dude is on the guitar. He is amazing. I also just finished watching and listening to the 1987, four hour long musical, called Upside Down. It was a musical produced by some very talented people in the ICOC in 1987, in Chicago, and let me tell you, this musical will make you laugh, cry, and both at the same time sometimes. It is dramatic, comedic, artistic, creative, and delightful. The whole musical is based on the Bible book of Acts, plus some liberties taken by some early Christian writings concerning what happened to Peter and Paul in their martyrdom. The next to the last scene, if you have a heart at all, will make you weep in joy and inspiration. Not once, in the ten plus times I have seen this musical, have I not wept. Carla recently purchased our copy on DVD at www.dpibooks.org. If you don’t have an ICOC background, then I recommend the 1994 edition. It is just done in much better quality. It is condensed, but if you don’t know the difference, then the new one is preferred. It is just that the original 1987 version is what Carla and I grew up with, and we like it better. Now we get to share this with our child, and it is just lovely.

What am I going to read and listen to? Well, as soon as I am done with the two books that I am reading currently, I want to start reading a recent acquisition called “The Russians Secret.” It is a book about the underground Christian movement of second century style Christianity while the Russian Orthodox Church prevailed publicly. I am greatly interested in how they practiced Christianity all those thousand years while the Orthodox Church reigned. According to the copy on the back of the book, their thinking is different than the American and Anglican Churches during this same time. They make it clear that it includes much martyrdom and suffering. Hey, it Christianity baby, what’d you expect?

As to what I am going to listen to? I don’t have a clue. I’ll probably get back to my Vivaldi, Mozart, and Brahms. These three composers tend to stimulate my mind the most. Oh, I have also been listening to Count Basie and Rosemary Clooney. Wow does she have the pipes. Her jazz is just amazing. Truly, she is one of the greats. If you have a recommendation, I’m up to hearing it. I’d like to hear something new, but not any, at all, hip hop, bee bop, or metal. Maybe I’d be interested in some blues, Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney, or even some new pop that I’m not familiar with?

Well, that sums it up for now. I’ll check back in a couple of days with a new update. Till then…

Wisdom found in the past...

2007-04-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

Letter 5
Peace Comes through Simplicity and Obedience

Learn to cultivate peace. And you can do this by learning to turn a deaf ear to you own ambitious thoughts. Or haven’t you yet learned that the strivings of the human mind not only impair the health of your body, but also bring dryness to the soul. You can actually consume yourself by too much inner striving. And to no purpose at all! Your peace and inner sweetness can be destroyed by a restless mind. Do you think that God can speak in those soft tender accents that melt the soul, in the midst of such inner confusion as you permit by that endless, hurrying parade of thoughts going through you mind? Be quiet, and He will soon be heard. The only principle you need to be concerned about is to be scrupulously obedience
You have been asking for comfort and peace. But you do not understand that you have need led to the brink of the fountain and are refusing to drink. Peace and comfort can be found nowhere except in simple obedience. So, be faithful in obeying even when you do not understand, and you will soon find that the rivers of living water will flow, as God has promised. You will receive according to the measure of your faith: much, if you believe much; nothing if you believe nothing and continue to listen to your own restless thoughts.
You dishonor the meaning of Christian love when you suppose that a man who truly loves God could ever be worried about these trifles which are continually clamoring for your attention. Christian love goes straight to God in pure simplicity, knowing that these trifles are no problem to Him. Satan is the one who torments us with trivialities. And he often transforms himself into an angel of light and bothers us with endless self-examinations and an over-sensitive conscience which allows us no peace. I’m sure you know by experience that trouble and spiritual danger which Satan can bring upon you in this way. But you can be victorious. Everything depends upon your faithfulness in repelling his first advances.
If you will learn to be honest and simple in your desires, I think you will be more pleasing to God than if you were to suffer a hundred martyrdoms. If there is anything you should be concerned about, it is simply you own hesitation in offering a sacrifice so right in the sight of God. Can true love hesitate when it is required to please its Well-beloved?

Written by Francois de Salignac de la Mothe Fenelon, Archibishop of CAmbrai, Written to advise a few select believers in the court of Louis the XIV in the late 1600’s.

I think that this writing is extremely profound. I’ve been studying the writings of Christians of little pocket remenants over the centuries of Europe, and I found a book by this guy. It is a series of letters he wrote a select group of people who were trying desperately to stay righteous in a royal court of immorality and corruption. His letters are intense, and written by an mature Christian. This particular letter hit me hard. I had spent so much time trying to analyze myself that I had at many times lost sight with what God really wanted. I totally feel for the advances of Satan.
I think back in my years in the ICOC and how it was the ongoing past time to constantly be reexamining our own hearts to make sure we were “right” and righteous at all times. We took some writings of Paul, and proof-texting them into our own paradigm to fit what we had been told they meant. We would confess even the slightest little whim of a little thought of a slight amount of potential temptation in order to not let our hearts drift into sin. There was perpetual self-examninations, not to mention having “D-Times” were a group of guys would sit around in a room and confess all their sin (a good thing) but then we would asail upon each other with rebukes, corrections, and instructions. We would be brutal in our opinions of each other in the name of brotherhood and proverbial “Iron sharpens iron” mentality. We would be consumed with it. Well, this trade mark mentality has left its mark on me, and I continue to barrage myself, always looking to see if my heart is right. I am now going to take Fenelon’s advice and just be quiet and let the voice of God be heard.

I am also reading a booklet, or tract called The Triumph, Peace, and Power of True Christianity: An Early Tract of Defenselessness and Fidelity to Christ, by Pilgram Marpeck. Pilgram Marpeck was a Christian in the early mid 1500’s, and he was responding to Martin Luther’s brutal resolve to hem in violence with violence. Martin Luther showing his hand by ordering the deaths of thousands of revolting peasants who were only responding to the disappointment of the lack of social reform promised by church reform. There were a group of Anabaptist that was taking arms to defend themselves from this violence, and Pilgram Marpeck wrote this tract in response. It is powerful indeed. It is amazing what these people had to say, and how the purity of the scripture was embraced by small select groups throughout Europe during over the years.

It is also amazingly simplistic and obvious non-violence and passive resistance are unquestionably the truth and way of the true Christian when it is laid out like these brothers do. The third book I am reading is Do Followers of Jesus Fight? by Edward Yoder and friends. This was published originally in the 1940’s, and it is 54 questions frequently asked concerning Christian responses to relative questions concerning Christians and their responsibility to Christ when violence is inflicted on them. Many of those questions I have asked myself. These wonderful publications can be found at http://www.scrollpublishing.com/ and they are only a few dollars each. Again, I highly recommend them.

All this is in response to a request made by my bestest buddy John, and we are together going to research the total church in its entire history. So far I am off to a good start.

David Bercot

2007-03-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I updated my blogs. I think one reason for this is because I get the feeling that nobody is reading them. I know that you should blog for yourself, but the truth is that one reason a person would publish their own diary is to be read. I know that with blogs, a person needs to really get out there in the blog community and be interactive and get your URL out there. I only visit a short amount of other people’s blog’s, and there are several reasons for this. One of which is that, in all honesty, I don’t really want to hear what they have to say. I understand that this is completely disrespectful, and I suppose that I reap what I sow. I read and read these other blogs and usually find the same humanistic reasonings and observations, that are to one degree or another a regurgitation of the same opinions as the other people that they are all linked to. I think that it is very common in the blog-o-sphere to find a link ring of people who share like minded opinions. Perhaps I need to find a diversity of thinkers and link them to what I have to say. I think perhaps there is very little interest in what I have to say, and I can understand this. I tend to be very dogmatic, a little intense, mostly making matters a point of seeing only black and white, very little room for gray areas, and I really, really tend to preach. This usually doesn’t make for very interesting reading. But ranting is one of my favorite past times. This is partly due to my excessive spare time. The bible warns of this dilemma be a potential vessel for idleness and evil, so I personally must be careful. School starts up again today, and I am very glad.

I have been reading! Last month I read two C.S. Lewis books: Mere Christianity, and The Great Divorce. Both of which are extraordinary. I highly, highly recommend Mere Christianity to anyone who considers themselves a Christian. He gives us a definitive essay on Christianity and it basic foundations. He talks of Christian life, and the differences to be found in a Christian and other non believing individuals. It is both motivating, and validating. It is beautifully written, and easy to read. He does however get quite complex in his intellectual tackling of some hard to deal with issues. Through out the book, there is little guessing as to the fact that Christianity is the thinking persons faith, and also the soft hearted persons faith. He talks of what we do to allow our hearts to harden to Christ and lays it out like an x-ray. This book is essential to anybody not just claiming to be a Christian, but to somebody who is interested in becoming a Christian. There is just one point in which Mr. Lewis and I differ, and that point is the issue of war. Since I have discussed this in a previous post, I won’t get into it right now.

The Great Divorce is a fictional account of a man who travels between hell and heaven, and during that time he faces a variety of situations that show him how we can make the wrong decisions with our relationship with God, and how we can exclude ourselves from God’s grace. Although, the heaven and hell in this book are more conceptual than biblically realistic, he really drives the point home. The Great Divorce is a quick and easy read, and a mandatory read for anybody who wants to examine their own heart. It can be challenging at times, and allowed me to see my own spiritual weaknesses. It is an excellent book.

I have also been taking time to read this http://www.deerparkwashingtondisciples.net/believers/main.php web site, and have been fascinated with how they are almost exactly what, why, and how I feel and have concluded on my own through bible study and life experiences. The more I read the website, the more I think, “These people have been reading my mind.” I think that the cool thing is that I have come to almost all of the same conclusions that this group of people have come to. I still have trouble trusting though; I am confident that my trust issues are from my religious past.

My past is curious to me. In almost all my stages of Christianity, I was full on convinced that what I was doing was the complete truth; more so, truth that I was willing to die for. I am still willing to die for my faith in Christ, for that is my Christian duty, but I tire of this juggling of the paradigms. I have only been a member of the Disciples of Christ, International church of Christ, and the mainline church of Christ. However, I have visited fellowships of charismatic churches, catholic churches, and Methodist churches. I have also studied with the Jehovah’s Witness’, the Mormon’s (on dozens of occasions), and Baptist’s. I have read up on many other types of Christian faith. Keeping all that in mind, I can faithfully say that one of these “Christian paradigms” are no less better than the rest of them. They all have major biblical fundamental flaws in them. This is frustrating to me. So much so that I felt that there must truly be very few who seek God for His sake (for the promise there in is that you will find wisdom when you do that), and not for self. Then I found this Home fellowship group. http://www.deerparkwashingtondisciples.net/believers/main.php and I can’t find anything that they say on their website that I disagree with. There are a few things that make me leery, but I’m sure that is from my scared heart. But my point is this: what if I find out in the future that even this group is not what the bible requires. I think that all I can do is do what my heart says is right according to what I understand in the bible and go from there. Regardless, I am going to start having our own worship service in our home on Sunday’s, and will start inviting people to join us. I am inspired by the brothers in this home fellowship group, who refuse to name themselves, for the bible didn’t either. I am inspired by their deep bible knowledge and their rich knowledge in church history. They refer to a publishing company at www.scrollpublishing.com which is really the publishing company of David Bercot (author of “Will the Real Heretic Please Stand up?”). They have some great deals on many publications, and a whole series of lectures by brother Bercot himself. I think that I will be making a few purchases there soon.

Due to a research deal I made with my bestest buddy, I have been reading a great deal of writing of the early church fathers, and I see that there are vast differences in what the condoned and condemned and what is practiced in modern day “Christian” practice. Currently I am reading a book called, “A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs” edited by David Bercot. It is quite a book (just over 700 pages), and filled with excellent organizing of topics. Although I have had this book for some time, you can order your own copy at www.scrollpublishing.com.

So, if you are a Christian, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the home fellowship website and what they have to say. Here is to studying…

Ahhhh...nuts

2007-03-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

I read this morning, after seeing something in the news, that Macadamia nuts are toxic to dogs. This news is literally coming 10 hours after feeding my dog a small handful of Macadamia Nuts. She hasn’t shown any symptoms, like rear leg weakness, vomiting, and tremors, thank goodness, so I am quite glad about that. However, I guess if I fed her more she could have really gotten sick. Look at this for more info http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=macadamia+nuts+dogs&btnG=Google+Search
and there are plenty of options to find. They say that chocolate macadamia nuts are really bad for dogs…rrreeaaallllyyy…duh…

Our Highest Potential

2007-02-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

The Highest Potential is almost immeasurable. Not even the cold vastness of space has and will stop us. Of course we’ve had help in certain areas; whether they are divine and/or celestial. We have created a way to destroy our own planet. Should we ever master interplanetary space travel, we have the opportunity to destroy other planets also. A little closer to home, we have found ways to halt, cure, or even reverse almost every disease known to human kind. We have means – although very little interest – to explore the deepest depths of our oceans, and the highest peaks of our mountains. We have means to travel the expanse of our planet, through flight, in almost one whole day. We have created the internet; a way to communicate with anybody on this planet in seconds! Perhaps that is even our reverse Babel. That would mean the reversal of one of God’s most significant curses (seriously I don’t think that is the case, but it makes for a good argument).
But are any of these potential greatest achievements our highest potential? We also have the extremely efficient ability to kill. Regardless of serial killers, there is the military. Israel has the highest technical military in the world. China or perhaps North Korea has the largest Army in the world. And we as a country have the highest fire power of any army in the world. Killing has become an art form for us. Watching the History Channel is enough to convince anybody of these things. As a race, we have a long history of killing each other.
We have other means of killing each other besides war. We have poverty and disease. Many times these two elements are hand in hand; but not always. Common diseases like polio, hepatitis, small pox, and malaria have vaccines, but because of poverty, people die from them everyday. Poverty, and lack of education, and a lack of moral based highly financed institutions create environments where sexually transmitted diseases are rampant. More children in Africa are now dieing of HIV/AIDS than starvation. The main reason that is, is because they are being born with it. I heard on TV one time that 14 Children, on the continent of Africa are dieing every second. That is intense. Over a thousand children have died since I started righting this article ten minutes ago. Poverty, the abundance of HIV/AIDS, and untreated diseases such as polio and hepatitis could all be ended in around twenty years (according to Bono on the Oprah show). That is an intense thought. Not only in Africa could this happen, but world wide. Instead of using our armies to fight for democracy, or the spread of religion, we should be fighting regimes that halt and interfere with the end of poverty. I do have to admit, that war might be the solution, but it is not one that I advocate. Taking lives to save lives is hardly an answer, unless it is a permanent solution, I suppose.
I have had my thoughts of pacifistic-ness versus a biblical out look on war challenged. My thinking is how can you love an enemy by killing, interrogating, or imprisoning them? If you are supposed (biblically speaking) treat an enemy the way you would want yourself treated, then I suppose also that it would be gentle and righteously. However, in reading C.S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, I have been highly influenced to think otherwise. His argument stands at this (I find it a little complicated): To love your enemy, you must love them as you would love yourself. If you love yourself as a Christian, then in respect to God, say, if you murdered someone, then you would want yourself judged guilty and take the biblical responsibility and have yourself punished to death (I am terribly sorry for the offensive run-on sentence). He says, “It is therefore, in my opinion, perfectly right for a Christian judge to sentence a man to death or a Christian soldier to kill an enemy…It is no good quoting ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ There are two Greek words: the Ordinary word to kill and the word to murder.” He goes on to say that Christ used the word murder in the three gospels that he talks about it. Lewis says that he has been told that there is the same distinction in Hebrew. He furthers his argument by saying that not all sexual intercourse is adultery, and that Jesus, when talking to soldiers, never once condemned them for being a soldier. Then Lewis says, “War is a dreadful thing, and I can respect an honest pacifist, thought I think he is entirely mistaken.” He furthers his argument, and it is a little back and forth, but I have such high respect for C.S. Lewis that I have to seriously consider his argument. He mentions that we should wish our enemy well, yet when in war, we should kill him.
Now that I write all this out, I see that his thinking is somewhat flawed. How can we love somebody, like we love ourselves, while killing them, if they are our enemy at war, and wish them well? How can we serve them while killing them? The only way we could kill, in consideration of Lewis’ argument, would have to be by considering our enemy evil. If he is evil, then he would deserve death. Granted, the bible does mention that we are by nature evil, and all deserving the wrath of God, sans Christ; but, that would be an extremely self-righteous thing. I suppose that if I am a “Christian” soldier, and they are not, then they are still in their unrighteousness, and at that point killing them would be the work of God.?! I really am still just as confused. Obviously I need to pray on this and continue to study the scripture.
Regardless, I think that our highest potential is that of the final Act of Christ as a man, and that is to take on the punishment of the sins of mankind, even though we don’t deserve it. Jesus was murdered for the sake of our essential need for the forgiveness of mankind, by God. We, by nature deserve what Jesus got, and even more so, the destruction of our souls. He did this for people who will not even in there lifetime ever react to what he did. This IS our highest potential; to die for the well being of people who hate us. This is to me, one of the dark secrets of Christianity that nobody wants to talk about. It doesn’t make rational sense if that is true, but yet, that is what Jesus did.
The bible mentions that this concept won’t make sense to the non-convert. It says that the person who doesn’t understand what Jesus really did will not understand what we should do for others. I believe that this is true. In fact, I don’t expect my own family to understand this concept, being that I am the only bible bases Christian in my immediate family (not my wife and child, but my brothers and parents).
To give ones life for someone is difficult. One time, I mentioned to my ultimately best friend, that I was being challenged by loving one of the Christian leaders in my life. In what I can see, his hypocrisy is rampant. However, I still feel that if the opportunity came that he could only live by my dieing, I would take that opportunity. I would die for the salvation of his soul. The challenge by my BFF was “If you can die for him, then you should be able to live for him.” That is where the ultimate challenge comes in. It is far easier to say that you’d take a bullet for someone, then to say that you will be devoted to them and their well being – much harder. When he said this, I felt challenged beyond what I have ever felt before. In fact, to confess, I still work hard and not judging this brother (in the Lord!).
So, what are we to do with this Highest Potential? First, we must work hard at fully understand the secret of the Cross of Christ. Then, we must examine our own lives’ and make the changes of heart that we must make; of course this can only be done through the study of scripture, prayer, and a willingness to please God. I think that unless we are never exposed to Christ, and I would say even then, we all are able to fulfill our Greatest Potential: the giving of our life for another.

City of Glass

2007-01-31T08:42:00.000-08:00

January 31, 2007

Two weeks ago I decided to buy a graphic novel from Amazon.com. The one that I choose was “City of Glass” by Paul Auster, adapted by Paul Karasik and David Mazzucchelli. They previewed a couple of pages online and it looked pretty good. At the least it would be something that I haven’t read before. It was a good read, and an interesting exploration of mixing thought and images.
This book was a project taken on by Art Spiegelman – author of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale”; a Pulitzer Prize winning work, not to mention other numerous prizes. I have great respect for Mr. Spiegelman, and his work. City of Glass is much like Maus in several ways. One way is that the art is highly stylized; with powerful usage of black and white. This is far from a superhero Trade Paperback. Spiegelman worked on this project like a movie producer, only in comic book form.
I do want to issue a warning that there is some adult content and foul language. It makes the point in the book, and is powerful in its usage; but as a Christian, I feel as though I should warn you as a reader.
I will try my best to describe the story. The main character is an ex-poet, turned mystery writer. He receives a phone call, which leads him to an adventure of him posing as a detective, and taking on a case. This whole investigation reveals the protagonist’s weakness’, and in the end, almost leading him to his destruction. During the course of all of this, there is some extremely well thought out and challenging dialogue that draws you in with its philosophical and mentally transcending narrative. One thing that I thought was clever is that the author puts himself into the novel as one of the characters. I think that I like that and will have to use it in the future. Paul Auster is a somewhat well known mystery writer, and the protagonist meets him in order to seek advice on how to handle the investigation.
The book is about one hundred-thirty pages long. I read it and absorbed the art work in under two hours. If I just read it, I could probably read it in under an hour. It was a really fun read in that I hadn’t read anything like it before. I mean not only in novels have I not read anything like this, but also in graphic novels. I highly recommend this book if you are a graphic novel purist. It is a real quality and fascinating work. It says on the inside cover that it was chosen as one of the 100 most important comics of the century. Truthfully, the way that I found it is that there are several people on Amazon.com that have list of the top ten or top twenty must read graphic novels ever, and this one came up on several list. If you are looking for something new, and are burnt out on comics and their general dreary blended generic reading, check this book out. I think that you will like it.

New Blog to Share

2007-01-22T08:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I have a new blog, again, that I have started. This one requires less writing than the other two. Please chech it out - The Prayer - Thanks!

What am I Reading?

2007-01-21T10:31:00.000-08:00

What am I reading? That is a good question. I feel as though the appropriate question should be what am I not reading. I am just starting my fourth Kate Morgan/Dewey James murder mystery this month. Actually, it is four murder mysteries that I have already read, but only three Kate Morgan. I have also read “The Peanut Butter Murders” by Corinne Holt Sawyer. Although I like the septuagenarian protagonist Dewey James, I really, really liked the two female protagonists’ in the “The Peanut Butter Murders”; those two are also in their sixties. These two are really very funny characters, and make for good detectives and are good for more than a few laughs.
I am also spending three or four hours a week reading my Art History text book for school. It is quiet a bit to absorb, but well worth it. I am learning quite a bit about Roman Art and Antiquities. It is fascinating and a welcome education. I’ve always wanted to be somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to the history of art, and now at least I will know some basics. I have an excellent Professor. He is witty and vastly intelligent; and should I say extremely thorough.
The two recreational books I ordered with a little surplus student loan money are another Reverend Al Miles book (Domestic Violence – What Every Pastor Needs to Know), and The Essential Werewolf by Night by Marvel Comics. The Werewolf by Night is Volume One and covers the first 21 issues of the comic, plus his debut in the second through fourth issue of Marvel Spotlight, and his guest appearance in The Tomb of Dracula #18, and Marvel Team-up #12. Marvel Team-up is Spiderman plus a second hero. It is a great collection and a great deal of fun. Of course in the “Essential” collection of Marvel comics, it comes in a thick huge volume, printed in black and white, and printed on newsprint. That keeps the price down, but doesn’t neglect the art quality and story. What I like about these big collections is that you can really see the evolution of the comic book, and exactly how far things have come over the past thirty years; but that just makes for all the more fun in reading it.
The Reverend Al Miles book is actually the precursor to the other one that I read and felt so inspired from. I look forward to reading it, but the challenge will be the emotional toll it takes to read such a thing. The first one that I read, “Violence in Families; What Every Christian Needs to Know”. took a great deal out of me. Reading testimonial after testimonial is emotionally exhausting for me, so I am kind of waiting to read this new one. However, I told my friend that I would support her efforts and cause, and in my deepest heart, I intend to. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard.
Now, what am I going to read in the future? Well, one of my bestest buddies from Columbus, OH has highly recommended Douglas Jacoby's book The Quiver. I haven’t read a Douglas Jacoby book in some time, and I look forward to it. Everything related to Douglas Jacoby can be found here - http://www.douglasjacoby.com/ .
Then finally and most importantly I am reading the bible. I do have to admit that my bible time has diminished. Well, I am repenting of that. I do have a sober understanding that an education without the balance of prioritizing my relationship with God can be toxic. I see everyday how knowledge can corrupt as much as it can set you free. As the old Stan Lee/Spiderman quote goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
I have been studying the concept of war (again) in a biblical perspective. I believe that I have made it quite clear in other blogs and such that I think that this current war is a terrible mistake, blunder, and tragedy. It was a created war that only feeds the greed of a select few, including this new stance the President is taking, which is not supported by the military, Congress, and the American public, and would only feed the machine better known as Halliburton. But the more important issue is that many “Christian” conservative (which definitively means “wanting to conserve the status quo”) people and leaders actually think that George Bush is somewhat spiritual. Tragic! I have come to the conclusion that to biblically support the war is a violation of the will of Christ. The scripture make it plain that we, as Christians, ordained by God, are unequivocally supposed to lead peaceful lives, and in fact, create peace whenever possible. I know that the usual point that many Christians bring up is Hitler. Well, although that is a tired point, it is a valid point. There is no doubt that what The Third Reich was doing was entirely evil, and they needed to be stopped. But the reality is that not very many people are true BIBILCAL Christians, and the reality is that wars like that are fought by nations of a high moral fiber versus the destructive evil. The deeper truth is that no one and no cause including violence is the responsibility of a Christian. War is an action and reaction of the “WORLD”. Also, the truth of the matter is that if everybody were a Christian, there would be no war. That is how we know that war is stemmed in Evil, and not only the Evil of Satan, but also the evil of man.

Jesus, the Church, Husbands, and Wives

2007-01-13T23:03:00.000-08:00

Jesus, the Church, Husbands, and Wives

Ephesians 5:21-33 - 21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
This is often considered the defining scripture in the bible, pertaining to marriage. It is true that there are principles here that have to do with marriage, however, verse 32 makes it clear that Paul, lead by the Holy Spirit is referring to the relationship of the Church and Christ. It is important to remember that the marriage principles in this scripture are scriptures of a marriage to describe the Church, and not scriptures of the Church describing Marriage. It is vital that you adopt this paradigm in order to understand the intent of the scripture; with a necessity of abandoning traditional harmful paradigms.

In verse 33 Paul writes, “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” There can be no doubt that Paul is under the assumption that the self love of the husband is healthy and vibrant. Being a true man is to have the character traits of Jesus, which includes honor, caring, integrity, servitude, and self-esteem (more on this later). In no way is it the Spirit of God for a husband that hates himself, lacks caring, honor, etc. is suppose to treat his wife with such sinful attributes. This scripture is not a permission slip for a man to abuse his wife, considering that abuser is filled with self loathing, dishonor, cowardliness and hate. Are we as a Church supposed to treat Christ in a sinful way? Does Christ treat the Church in a way contrary to the rest of scripture in context? Absolutely not!

In verse 25 through 27, we see that the love and leadership that a husband is supposed to provide is a leadership of self-sacrificing spiritual action with the only goal of making her “radiant”, “holy”, and “blameless.” It is not to treat his wife as to create “stain(s)”, “wrinkle(s)”, and “blemish(s).”

Radiant – “present her to himself as radiant”. This is a concept that an abusing husband is blatantly disobeying, thus in need to repent. Presenting a wife to himself is to feed her spiritually, cloth her with kindness, and ravish her with the precious gem of humility (see Colossians 3:12-16 for the roles that Christians and Christ play with each other)
Holy – Read 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8 to have a better understanding of what is holiness. Holiness means to be set apart in God and His commandments. Obvious this is not the case with someone who abuses another person, especially one how twist scripture to meet his own unhealthy, destructive behavior (2 Peter 3:15-16).
Blameless – Innocence of sin is the one who indulges in Christ through conversion and a faithful life.
Stains, wrinkles, and blemishes are words used to describe something unclean, dirty, and marked (abused). Is this how the abusing husband should treat his wife? Absolutely not!

In verse 24 it talks of submission. It says, “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.” The key component in this scripture is in the first half of the sentence. It says “as the church submits to Christ”- Does Christ sin? Do we submit to the sins of Christ? It is impossible because Christ is blameless. As a church we submit to Christ authority as our savior and example of self-sacrificing love and servitude; not in the sin of violence, hatred, and the cowardliness of beating, tirading, or raping someone physically weaker than them.
Verse 21 states, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” This precedes the rest of this commandment. To revere Christ is to obey, submit to his authority and examples, honor him, and exude His qualities’; be it either the husband or wife.

Conclusion
There is absolutely no biblical authority to abuse anybody. There is no excuse for the abuse, nor the abused to submit to the abuser. This is not a biblical concept. Peter writes, “…our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Peter 3:15b-16) Husbands (or spouses), or clergy, or laity that use this scripture, or others like it, to force a women to submit to an abusive husband “twist” the scripture, to their own destruction.

Violence in the Families, What Every Christian Needs to Know

2007-01-01T10:28:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked by a friend of mine if I would participate in being a scripture advisor on a website of a local organization advocating the rights of women who are victims of abuse. I was quite honored by this request, and accepted the responsibility. She recommended a book by Reverend Al Miles tilted “Violence in Families; What Every Christian Needs to Know”. It is a fascinating book. I have several thoughts on this book and hope to express them as clearly as possible, without putting my foot in my mouth.

First, I had to realize that I had a very unhealthy outlook on the victimization of people who are subjugated to abuse, particularly female from male, teen or adult. I too had the harmful and unhealthy thinking that, yes while nobody deserves to be abused, still, somebody who subjects themselves to it, by maintaining a relationship with the abuser reaps what they sow. This is a traumatically sinful view point, and I have come to realize that I need to repent. The point that Miles makes is that many of these women who are being abused by their spouses are seeking consolation from their spiritual leaders at church, who advocate the sanctity of the marriage bond, over the need to dissolve the environment of abuse, if it pertains to divorce. Having a desire to please God, they take the wrong understanding of scripture as gospel, and stay in these marriages. These women who love Christ are undergoing torture just so they can go to heaven, as it were. Miles also points out that many times, these clergy will attribute the fault of this abuse to the victim herself, as in “What are you doing to bring this on?” After reading this book, I have come to the conclusion that this is a disgrace to God and his people.

One thing that I do find disquieting about Miles’ book is his liberal and generous entitlement to anybody claiming to be a Christian, as to really being a Christian. He even goes as far to say that there are some men that are good Christians, except for the fact that they verbally, sexually, and physically abuse their wives. And that these men simply need help in overcoming this issue. This is a horrifying conclusion. I know for a fact, as is written in scripture that if anybody is doing anything in that manner, is far from being a vessel of the Holy Spirit. You simply would not be able to do such things and continue to have the Spirit of God continue to be in you. If you are a coward that has a need to abuse the women in your life, and manipulate the fellowship with deceit and false witness as to seem to be a “good” Christian, then you are NOT a Christian. I think that Miles has some fundamental misunderstandings as to what the scriptures teach concerning Christianity. Either that or perhaps the Authority of scripture is not as reaching in Reverend Miles’ spirit or contrition in relationship to Christ. Over and over again he refers to these men, who claim to be Christians, and are abusers, to actually be Christians. Sadly, this understanding continues through out the examples of the book, even to the point of the victims testimonials refer to their own husbands as Christians. I don’t blame Miles for this misunderstanding as much as I blame modern Christendom’s general acceptance that one only has to claim faith to have faith. This is a traditional view point, and most unbiblical.

The book makes it clear that there is no clear cut answer to these dilemma’s of abuse and what should take place. He points out that many times, scripture is the reason that many men justify the abuse, and thus the woman feels trapped. He also makes it clear that confronting the abuser often makes it worse for the victims later.

As scripture advisor for this new project, and after reading this book, some things concerning the scripture have come to light, and I am ready to bring my conclusions to bear. This will require writing up a few “Bible studies” that will be useable for the victims of these situations to bring to their husbands or non compassionate or understanding clergy. I will also be publishing these studies here on this blog.

I have come to the conclusion that this whole matter, of being a victim’s rights advocate is the benevolent focus of my time and financial donation, at least of the next half decade, or further. Abuse is the most inhumane undertaking a person can perpetrate. Having somebody who you love and are suppose to trust, be your biggest source of pain and cruelty is one of our greatest tragedies as a species.

On a side note: I find it completely presumptuous and arrogant to refer to yourself as a “Reverend”. Taking on the title of one who should be revered is elevating yourself above those around you to a higher “spiritual” status. Generally I find this to be an undeserving title. Also keep in mind that the Apostles and Angels are unwilling to accept the praise of man, so why should these so called “Reverends”? Just a thought…

The One True Way

2006-12-28T08:11:00.000-08:00

I read the July 2006 article here - http://www.barnabasministry.com/index.htm - and was fascinated. He talks of “One true way-ism” as it were. He brings up some terrific points, including a paragraph that talks of the relentless pursuit of one true ways. Take a look:

Never-Ending Pursuit of One-True-Ways
As an attempt to get around some of the problems with one-true-wayism (such as addressing known problems with the system), people involved in this can get caught up in a treadmill of always pursuing the latest one true way. This goes beyond a reasonable periodic inventory of beliefs and practices that characterize a healthy spiritual system. It becomes either a game of spiritual one-upmanship, where the objective is to always be the best or latest, or a form of restless, persistent spiritual tinkering. The former is a symptom of pride more than of spiritual nobility, and the latter reminds me of an old saying we had in the defense business: "In the history of any project, there comes a time to shoot the engineers and get on with production."
I think that this is something that I have to constantly guard my heart against. I seem to have an insatiable appetite and consistent discontent in what I see as what should or should not be practiced in today’s modern Christiandom. I am always looking for the “right” way to think and worship and praise, and so forth. The irony is that while I am consistently looking for these things, I continually pray, read, and share my faith on a regular basis. I think that there is a pride in me that wants to always be right, and that I suffer from its effects in my relationship with my current church. I find flaws in dogma, leaders, interpretations, and practices. I also think that there is a part of me that gives in to fear. I had at one point given my life and soul to a particular way of thinking, and it turned out to be as distructive as what Brother John here in this article describes; not only in my life, but in the life of hundreds of thousands of people. I don’t want to allow myself to trust again, for fear of getting demolished, so I put up my guard and assume that my own understanding will help me see the light in the end. This is pure fallacy. Moreover, the pride is sin and dissatisfying to the Master, so of which I must repent. I have also come to realize that I don’t go to church in faith that the church is “true”, which is a part of that afore mentioned sin. But the scripture also says that if we don’t do it in faith, it is sin. So, ergo, I must repent.

I also think that this article is good for its mention of the fact that Christianity is a flexible as the difference of people that are Christians. This couldn’t be more true. John suggest that perhaps there is no pat answer for what is the one true way, and that the pursuit of the one true way is a fallacy; that there is no such thing as the one true way.

I appreciate this article immensely and feel as though I need to read it a few more times to get the best of it. I’d love to hear your thoughts?

The Politics of Jesus, by Obery M. Hendricks

2006-11-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

Of the thousands of things that I am grateful for, in this weekend holiday, one is for the book that I just finished. This book of which I speak has been quite entertaining, but more so, educational. This book has given me an opportunity to look at the gospels in a way that I had never thought of. Also this book provides a detailed explanation of what life was like for the Jews of first century Palestine, under Roman rule. This book? It is The Politics of Jesus by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr.

I suppose that I had not really given serious thought to how Jesus impacted the Jews and the social culture of that area during his life time. I suppose that my focus has been so much on Jesus’ will for us as individuals, and our lives spiritually, that I haven’t taken the time to realize just how radical His teaching were politically.

Thanks to Brother Hendricks, I have such a deeper understanding of Jesus’ teachings, specifically the Sermon on the Mount. I had thought that the individual, of which Jesus cares so much, had so much to learn about their own spirituality through the teachings of Christ when given that day. Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and so forth. It seems as though I have been under the wrong impression of what these teachings were really addressing.

My impression of the Sermon on the Mount is that Jesus’ call for Christianity is a call for a passive mind set. Don’t strike back no matter what! Resist and evil person! Go the extra mile, and so forth. But, let me show you a glimpse of the insight that Hendricks has…

“But when we look more closely at the Gospel account we see that Jesus counseled not resignation, and passivity, but a definite action: to offer the other cheek. Why? Because by taking an action, the powerless and the oppressed became more than victims; they became actors who asserted their humanity, their somebodyness. By turning the other cheek they took back their dignity and refused to be defined by those in power. Instead, they defined themselves, and their self-definition was this: that they were not inferior beings, and they would perpetuate that fiction by hanging their heads. Rather their voluntary submission to additional insult said, “Strike me again if you life, insult me again, but I no longer care what you think of me. I now define myself.”
Thus turning the other cheek made a bold statement of equality of humanity and self-worth. Even if those who were dominated were struck again, it was on their own term; the had dictated the action. In the sense that the one striking and the one being struck were no both active participants in the act, thy had become equals. In a word, turning the other cheek was an act of self-determination.”

This is really insightful. But I suppose I should set this up more. Hendricks goes into great detail as to how significantly oppressed the Jews were at the time. The Jews, who were not Romans citizens, shared very little personal freedoms in their life. For example: Jesus says that if someone ask you to walk a mile, walk with them two. The history of this that Hendricks shares, is that it was a Roman custom to force a Jew to carry the soldiers packs and supplies for a mile, then they would release them and choose somebody else, and do it again. This humiliated the Jews. In fact, this practice was so customary, that it became legislation in the Roman congress. Jesus is saying that if you are asked to walk one mile, walk the other, thus negating the humiliation, by saying, I choose to walk this extra mile, and that is in my own personal agenda, thus, taking the power away from the legionnaire (or whom ever), and putting it back into the Jew. His arguments go on from there, and are very powerful.

I never realized how empowering the teachings of Jesus were, considering I do not feel oppressed or impoverished. I think that after reading this book, I might consider myself to be exploited, oppressed, and impoverished, but only because of the powerful persuasion of Hendricks argument. But, it was empowering for the first century Jews, and for sure one of the main reasons that He (meaning Jesus) was so incredibly popular for those first couple years. Jesus wasn’t passive, he was passive resistant. He resisted the Roman oppressing by giving back the personal power and the individual, and stripping the power of the oppressors.

This is a whole new perspective for me. I suppose know full well what the social and political scene was during Jesus’ lifetime is a serious advantage. Although his teachings are timeless, the were so very applicable and accessible to the first century Jew.

Hendricks finds it hard to grasp some of Paul’s teachings, considering what his understanding of Jesus’ core message was. Paul talks of recognizing your government and paying due recognition. He finds that Jesus’ teachings don’t encourage this. He does however point out that Paul, as a Pharisee and Roman citizen would have been raised in an environment of privilege, as to Jesus was born in a small Jewish town, and raised in the country, and appealed to the country people. I however think that it is God’s grace that Paul was chosen personally by Christ to lead the evangelistic efforts of the gentiles (as does Paul). Paul’s background and personal history gave Paul an advantage to reach out to others like him. The balance is perfect. I think that Hendricks’ difficulty is could simply be solved with a few personal bible studies.

Although Hendricks does have some terrific points of view, a reader should try not to let his few, but definite, mistakes in his understanding of scripture. One such mistake is that he thought it was Peter who was nicknamed the son of thunder, when we know it was James and John; and if fact Peter was Simon’s nick name. He also has difficulty with understanding why John the Baptist would call Jesus the ‘lamb’ of God. This again shows that he is more academic that spirit based, if you can understand that. Hendricks has served as Professor in several theological seminaries, and schools. Being that the case, we can easily forgive him (for we know that seminary is an excellent place to have ones personal faith destroyed).

Hendricks also goes into Modern politics, and offers some insight into politicians who show no personal piety, that do great things socially, and other presidents that show much personal piety, and have shown little or no interest in the needs of Americans in the low income bracket. He talks of how the needs of people should be seen as a holy thing. He shows that Jesus treated the needs of people as a holy thing. I appreciate what Hendricks has to say, and agree with almost all of it.

Over all, I consider this book, “The Politics of Jesus” by Obery M. Hendricks, Jr. to be an essential read for anybody who is a Christian, or would like a fresh perspective on the life of Jesus. You may not agree with every thing that Hendricks has to say, but you will be blown away by his point of view. I easily give this book five stars (out of five). If you know me personally, then I say to you, you must read this book, because I am so looking forward to talk to somebody about what he has to say.

You can find this book here - THe Politics of Jesus - There is another book by the same title by John Howard. That is not the book that I am endorsing.

Love...

2006-11-08T07:33:00.000-08:00

I read this entry http://www.salguod.net/weblog/archive/001156.shtml in a blog that I read, and I found it simply profound. Just when you think that you are alone in your convictions and thoughts, you find that you have unity with rare, but there are allies, as it were. Not that one isn’t an ally if you don’t see it my way, in fact, it is just the opposite. So, I ask myself, what is the solution to this issue. The great Christian Church is in deep, deep despair, and there doesn’t seem to be a solution. I think that this point in the history of the Christian movement was discussed by Christ and the Apostles, via the Holy Spirit in the written word.

Look here in Matthew 7:15 on… “15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

I think of that chap in Denver, who was leading one of the most influential evangelical churches of the country, and he got caught with his pants down. His sin was ousted by his homosexual partner, concerning having an affair with him, and doing crystal meth together. This man, whom was supposed to be a religious, moral, and spiritual leader in the Christian faith and his sin, was out of control. It is no wonder that there are those who are completely frustrated with modern Christiandom, and seek other avenues of faith. But I think that this scripture in Matthew is pretty self explanatory. Good trees bear good fruit, and bad to bad. This leader is bearing bad fruit, period, so what will Jesus, or what does Jesus say? “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Lawlessness is sin, evil, following Satan, and so forth.

The old expression you can’t judge a book by its cover couldn’t be truer, but yet sometimes the spine will also give it away; if that makes any sense? There are so many “Christians” out there, but yet, not many at all. Acclimating Christiandom is a far cry from being one. I know that there is an expression that religion can be a crutch, well, I agree with that. RELIGION is a crutch; but being a true Christian is extremely difficult at times. It is not burdensome, just sometimes a challenge. It’s funny what a person can go through and still remain the loving person that God calls for, and how quickly we can give in to our sinful natures. The difference from a Christian and a religious person, is that the Christian is all about the Cross of Christ. Every thing has to do with the sacrifice made on the cross, everything! When viewing anything in life, or in confrontation, or challenge, or even in ease and luxury, it is all about the cross of Christ. But the religious person will use blanket platitudes to justify their actions, and excuse themselves from dealing with reality. It is easy to avoid dealing with serious matters of the heart and mind when you can brush it off because it is of “the world”. It is also just as easy to excuse your sin with the old platitude, “Christians are not perfect, just forgiven”, or “Hate the sin, love the sinner” and so on.

The greatest challenge of the Christian is to act, think, and be responsible for ones own actions and heart. What I’m talking about is the most destructive forces in the world; sin! Sin is selfish, self destructive, ego centric, narcissistic, and most of all, self elevating towards choosing self over God. Sin is an act of rebellion. Sin has always come at a price. When Adam and Eve became aware of the knowledge of Good and Evil, what did God provide for them? Animal skins. Cain and Able? The blood sacrifice was greater than the vegetable offering; and it continues through out the bible, all the way to Jesus on the cross, a one time sacrifice for all mankind. Life is in the blood, the bible says, and the price of sin has always been blood. Sin likes to be marginalized. Sin likes to be forgotten, and over looked. Sin likes to hide in our hearts and souls, deep where nobody can see it. Sin likes to find the arrogant and the proud. It runs from the contrite and humble. It flees from the confessions of the subservient to God. It hates the light, and loves the dark.

It says in John 3:19-21, “19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. 21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”
It is hard to deal with the sin in your life, but it can be done when you consider the cross in all things. The only way one can over come your sin is to come to the cross, and find motivation to always obey God. I think that one of the things that many “Christians” don’t like to hear, is the word “Obedience”. But yet, it is essential…

1 John 3:4-6, 21-24 “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.” “21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. 22 And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. 24 Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.”

Obedience is essential Christianity, but what is it that we are to obey? It isn’t rocket science, it is simple. But it is more than JUST loving one another, it is also believing in the name of Jesus Christ. It would be “nice and cozy” to think that God’s universal message is just to simply love one another, but that is impossible with sin in the picture. There is a reason that we must believe in the name of Jesus Christ, and that is because it is only through him that we can be saved.

But think how earthly loving one another is! There is no room for ethereal ethical emotional transcendences’ when it comes to being a Christian. No my friend, it is so much more. It is physically meeting each others needs, and sacrificing ourselves for the well being of one another. In stead of being selfish, it means that we mow our neighbors’ yard if we can and they can’t. It means getting up an extra hour early to give that co-worker, who hasn’t been blessed with a car, a ride to work. It means talking to that old guy in the corner of McDonalds during breakfast, just so he will have some company. It means buying groceries for your neighbor who is bed ridden. It means sending anonymous cash to somebody you know who, where just $20 could make a big difference, really needs it.

Through our faith in Christ, we must act on opportunities both revealed and created to be charitable. Love isn’t just being nice and caring, if fact, that is just an expression of empathy. Love comes in action. Love is being nice and caring, but not just the face value of being nice and caring, but the will behind and the follow through. Look at what James has to say…

James 2:8-19 “8 If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well; 9 but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors. 10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. 14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!”

Nothing could be truer when it comes to Christianity when they say that actions speak louder than words. I don’t think that what God has in mind for our lives as Christians is what modern popular Christiandom theory practices. Modern Christiandom focus’ on church growth, doctrinal differences, worship models, and philosophies and correct paradigms. I read something on the weekly publication of my church that made me sad. It was our annual bring your neighbor day, and on the inside cover of the little brochure thing stated what makes us different than all other churches. It listed: dedication to the restoration movement; not a denomination (which isn’t really true, just Google Alexander Campbell); mission work; belief in the bible teaching of One God expressed three ways; baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week; autonomous congregation; biblical leadership of elders, deacons, preachers, and teachers; salvation by grace through faith received upon obedience to God’s Word, eternity of Heaven for the righteous and eternity in Hell for the sinner (which I think is biblically inaccurate, well, I know it is…); and that the bible is the inspired, infallible Word of God, the sole authority and guide in religion with the motto – Speak where the bible speaks, and be silent where the bible is silent. There were a few other mentions concerning teaching plain bible truth, not something culturally popular, to worship and live so that God would be glorified and edified, and not that man might be entertained or amused. Then, after four paragraphs of these statements, it says, “Again, thanks for being with us. Let us know how we may serve.”

It’s like, okay, here is us being really combative (although I agree with almost all of it), and love ya by the way. I mean, talking about missing the elephant in the room. Sure, it is good to have conviction, but this isn’t what Jesus had in mind when it came to representing himself. I’m sure of it! In lieu of this most excellent post of Salguod’s, I would even say that the thing in the church publication is divisive if anything. Are we so determined to be right that we completely miss the boat? It comes to a point as to where the institution becomes more important than the will of Christ. It’s the wagon pulling the horse, or the tail wagging the dog…

One cool thing is that every month, the church publishes its previous month’s budget, down to the last penny. That is really way cool. But the sad thing is that we maintain a 30 + thousand dollar balance, and give the average of $100.00 a month in benevolence. Granted, we receive benevolence from the church three or four times a year, mostly food, but there is almost NO outside the church giving. It saddens me deeply. I have approached the eldership on this issue, months ago, and to this day, there seems to be no difference. There are so many people in this area that need help, and yet they don’t get it. A couple of churches in the neighboring town have a daily lunch and dinner, but we do nothing. We have the facilities to do something like that, but we don’t. No free store, no free dinners, nothing. This is one of the reasons that I became disillusioned by my last church. They collected a weekly benevolence, but when we asked for help on a regular basis, we started being refused, simply because the couple of brothers “in charge” of that part of the ministry, thought that I should be working, and that is why we shouldn’t receive any more help. Regardless of how unbiblical that attitude is, it became unpractical for us, and we were more or less forced to move where the help was. Now, we are incredibly grateful for what the FcoC has done for us, and I completely believe that the elders have my best interest in mind, but what of our community? It is quite frustrating for me.

Our “unifier” as it were, or the “factor” that will heal modern Christiandom is the love of our neighbors, and the love that we have for each other. The example in James that talks of loving your neighbor, isn’t conversion, it isn’t correction of doctrine, it isn’t baptism, it isn’t church history, it isn’t conditional giving, it is meeting the needs of others, period. I’m not talking like the Salvation Army or the Red Cross, but I’m talking about a nation of selfless people. I’m talking about a brotherhood under the name of Christ that is unbreakable by opinions and differences.

I have never seen a perfect church. I’m not talking about sinless, no, I’m talking about dogmas, doctrines, practices, and paradigms. I think that because we are human, we don’t need to seek such a thing, but my point is that no one is better equipped than any other. All modern Christian churches, as far as I have observed, are equally inadequate, in the thinking that if you break one law, then you are as much as a law breaker as one who breaks ten laws. Granted, some churches are way out there, and many are harmful and damaging, but who is to say that those that seem to be less damaging aren’t in fact all the more damaging?
Now, where do I go from here? That is yet to be determined, but I’m open to suggestions. I think that going to church is important, but many times, attending the church I attend goes against my conscience and faith. BUT, I really don’t know of a church that wouldn’t do that. That is MY challenge…

Home Sick!

2006-10-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

I was filling my need to reminisce about San Diego here - http://www.camzone.com/ - and looking at the beaches and zoo and stuff like that, and just wanted to thank God for the chance to have lived there at all. My wife is determined to never live there again, so, vacation is about the only chance I’ll have to being there again. I think that is why I don’t want to go to Hawaii! I think once I’m there, I’ll never want to leave. Perhaps it is idolatry in my case, because sometimes, I long for California more than I long for almost anything else. Perhaps the Eagles were right?

Typed in a hurry!

2006-10-02T08:14:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading a book called, “Truth Be Told, Exposing the Myth of Evolution”, and it is very good. It is written in Text book form and a teachers answer sheet was included with it. I bought it a seminar that was held at my local Church. I have been through the first couple of chapters, and it is very good. It is written, I would say, at the seventh or eighth grade level; which is perfect for explaining things to your potential teen child convert. I’ve decided that I will start reviewing it with Emily during her fall, holiday, and spring breaks, then finish it during the summer. Then, when she turns thirteen (she is now nine), we will go thru it like it is written in text book form, doing the chapter reviews and quizzes and such. It is an excellent book.

The first chapter list the challenges of Evolution and the basic laws of nature co-existing. For example, they cover the big bang theory. First it states clearly what the big bang theory is, then it talks of three basic irrefutable laws of nature. The first one being the law of cause and effect. Then it reviews the first two laws of thermal dynamics. The first law of Thermal Dynamics is that energy and matter are not created nor destroyed, they just change from one form to another. Secondly, the second law of Thermal Dynamics states that matter and energy are moving toward a less usable, more disorderly state called “entropy.” SO there are several things that the book talks about. One of which is where did the “cosmic egg” come from, meaning, if nature becomes more and more disorderly, then there is a conflict with nature with the big bang and cosmic egg theory. Was nature created, or was it always in existence. If it is always in existence, then there should be no order at all, much less the ever evolving earth with according to evolution should become ever more complicated, i.e. “Evolution is a fully natural process…by which all living things, past or present, have since developed, divergently and progressively.” (quoting George Gaylord Simpson, a well known evolutionist) So the questioned posed is how can thing become progressive, yet disordered. How can we become more complicated, while the rest of the Universe is become more disorderly. Well, they say that the evolutionist response is that the second law of Thermal Dynamics doesn’t apply to Earth, just to closed systems which do not receive any outside energy. Since the Sun is always bathing the Earth with energy, then it is not a closed system and the law does not apply. There are two problems with this, first it ignores the fact aht no one has ever seen a true “closed” system in nature, except perhaps the Universe itself. According to this book, every system that we study is in some way being acted upon by energy from other systems, and yet the second law still dominates every system that has been observed in the Universe. Secondly, When energy is added to a system, is normally causes the system to deteriorate more quickly if here is no way to use and control, the energy, For instance, suppose you have a shopping cart full of computer parts, and you leave them out in the Sun, exposed. Will that energy from the Sun create a new computer, or will it slowly make those parts unusable? Although the Sun beats down on earth everyday, there is still entropy increasing and things go from order to disorder. it is a pretty good argument. Then it goes to talk about intelligent design and things like that. As I continue to read, I’ll continue to mention it here on this blog.

Any comments?

Dino's, more later...

2006-09-24T03:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight (yesterday night, it is a quarter to 6am Sunday morning) there was a lectureship at church about evolution verses creation, and it was awesome. This brother went right into it, and defended the Word fervently. He talked of integrating the evolution theory with creation account of the bible, and laid it out why that was a bad idea. Then, he pointed out all the holes in evolution theory and evidences. Then he explained dinosaurs, and his thinking is mind blowing, but not entirely new. My buddy JohnE had expressed similar thoughts. So this guy, Brad Harrub, starts to show all the anthropological evidences (that’s right, anthropological, NOT Archeological) of dinosaurs on earth. It was fascinating, and much of what was presented, I had never seen before. The guy does have his Ph. D. and seems to be relatively educated (truthfully he is quite bright!). Anyway, I am going to have to go back over the tapes in order to really try to give a good explanation here, but I will. Good stuff!

Finishing the New Testament!

2006-09-10T13:36:00.000-07:00

I finished reading the whole New Testament last week. So it took me about three weeks to read it and absorb it in as a whole body of work. It is quite impacting to read the whole Text straight thru and reading everyday and not stopping. It puts a great deal of perspective in the whole deal and brings some things home. One thing that I was taught, and had always assumed was the truth, was that Jesus was separated from God on the cross. I had never second guessed this before until it was mentioned on a lesson I heard on a website that somebody had given, and when he said that, after I just read the whole New Testament, it sounded wrong. So I asked him to provide the scripture that gave him that conclusion. As it turns out, the bible doesn’t say that Jesus was separated from God on the cross, but if you look at some different scriptures, you come to that conclusion. You can find in scripture that Jesus became sin for the world. You can also find one that says sin separates us from God. And then there is that statement from Jesus on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Well, it turns out that the scripture used for sin separating becoming sin for the world, also can be interpreted as Jesus became the “Sin offering” for the world. Then, elsewhere, John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God (as does other parts of the bible, including the book of Revelation). Well, to take the whole perspective that Jesus became our Passover Lamb, permanently (Hebrews), then it goes to say that he was just the sacrifice for sin, and not sin. In fact, the bible says that Jesus fulfilled the Law of God, but then it says that the law is what defines sin, but that Jesus freed us from the law when He died on the cross, thus fulfilling the Law (Old Testament). Anyway, Jesus also told the thief on the cross that he would be in Paradise with Him. How did Jesus go to heaven if he was separated from God? Plus, when he said that phrase about being when Jesus says, “…why have you forsaken me?” He is actually fulfilling Psalm 22 which is being fulfilled as he quotes it. I believe that it was a statement of faith. I believe that when He was on the cross He was obeying the will of God, and in fact never sinned (Philippians 2).

Anyway, there are several other matters that I have come to conclusions with. One of which is that I don’t think that ANY of the book of Revelation has to do with ANYthing happening today, or anything past early church history. I believe it was probably completely fulfill by the end of the mid-second century. I think that it is similar to the book of Daniel, where if you look back on history, you can tell that the prophecies we from God and glorify God in his divine abilities and nature. There is a terrific book out there called “The Kingdom of Heaven” by F. W. Mattox that I highly recommend. He is a Mainline church of Christ person, but the history in his research is extremely interesting to us Christians (or at least it should be!).

Another conclusion I have made, is that the Beatitudes in Matthew 5-7 are addressed to first century Palestinian Hebrews. So often, we look at the scripture that says, “You are the salt of the earth…” and as Christians, we think that He is addressing us. But in fact, I think he was talking to the Jews. The Jews were the Salt of the earth, and salt, losing its flavor is referring to the Jews loosing their righteousness, or something like that. The “flavor” being the fact that they have the Law, and no other nation did. It is congruent with the rest of the stuff being said there. For example, them being the light of the world giving light to the whole house on the hill. Let your light shine before men…then he goes straight into, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” Oh, did you say that the Law and the Prophets were the topic? Oh, I see, we are talking about the Law and Prophets (the Hebrew bible!). This is further confirmed the further you read right there. Actually, right after that he reinstates the Law, but with the heart in mind. It is quite a thing.

Anyway, I have also started reading a book called the Poet’s Tutor or something like that. It basically quotes the greatest twenty poets of American History and their poetry; about 20 poems each, including the long ones. It is a great book that came in with a group of books that my wife bought me.

Read all Four at Once!

2006-08-26T11:54:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday afternoon, and I’m in the middle of Romans. I think at this point that I might actually make it. My family went up to Columbus today, and because of life, I wasn’t able to make it, but plan on going next weekend anyway. So I have the whole day to read. But I really don’t like to be away from my family at all. Regardless, I have to absolutely recommend that everybody on this planet read all four gospels in one reading, or maybe two. But get it all done in two or three days. It really changed my life and made a huge impact on me. I feel closer to Christ than ever, and more impressed with Jesus (maybe more in awe of) than ever. He is amazing and the things that He did are just incredible (I was going to say unbelievable, just to make the exaggerated point, but truly, I do believe in the miracles that Jesus did, as a testimony for Himself, as Himself. I also believe the Brothers who through the Spirit wrote about these things. After I read the gospels, I read the book of Acts. Normally I would say that the things that happened in Peter, John, Mark, Paul, Silas, Barnabas, and the others lives are pretty amazing. I mean Paul is just intense. But, they pail in comparison to Christ (of course), but I even mean in reading about them. I know that the Apostles did what they did in Christ name, but they just aren’t as interesting and dynamic as Jesus. It kind of felt like loosing steam. That’s funny, huh?

Well, it’s off to Romans and the rest. I hope to hit Hebrews before bed tonight. I had an interesting conversation with one of my family members, and that person believes that the bible is a bunch of gibberish and nonsense. That it is a bunch of unrelated phrases all stuck together. Well, I know that the Proverbs can seem like they are unrelated, but in the scheme of things, they aren’t. Anyway, this broke my heart because of whom this person was to me growing up (and even today), and to be so ignorant of scripture when it is what I am all about, is crushing. I am confident that the preacher we had when I was a child in Horton, KS, did substantial damage to what my (this) family member believes, and that is tragic.

We used to play with the PK’s, there were three of them (twins and a younger brother), and although I was closer to the twins age, because I was the younger brother, I got stuck with their younger brother (although we were excellent play mates). Anyway, their father believed that the Old Testament was a bunch of Jewish folk tales that existed in order to teach us lessons, and that it really wasn’t historical fact (he had very little faith in miracles). My family member has stuck to this thinking since then. It truly breaks my heart. Although I shouldn’t take it personally, because this person relationship with God and the scripture is their business, between them and God, and if this person refuses to acknowledge that the scripture is really the inspired Words of God, then it is probably something they need to do in order to live with themselves. It’s funny that years ago, when I first was converted in 1989, I was 21 at the time, this family member accused me of joining this “radical” group because I felt guilty of all the things I did to them. This is totally true to an extent. But I think many people don’t feel guilty enough. Repentance is a Jesus thing, well, let me restate that, forgiveness is a Jesus thing, and the world doesn’t get it (like it says in the scripture); true forgiveness!

I have a friend in my Poetry club who doesn’t know why, if God is so loving, why He would send His only son to die for him, or anybody. Wouldn’t his Son’s life be more valuable to Him than a bunch of strangers who don’t love Him back? This brother poet literally doesn’t get it. I don’t really blame him. I know God will, but that is not my place. Anyway, this guy is a senior, and has had a rough life, and forgiveness is hard for him to get. I know he knows how to, because of his current SO; but as far as he is concerned, I don’t think he sees his value to God. Well, this get’s me thinking about me and if I see my value to God. Obviously the Gospel addresses this issue, thoroughly, and I suppose that if only more people would read the scripture, and believe, the world would be a better place. So, like I said, I highly recommend that everybody read the four gospels straight through!

Doh!

2006-08-25T05:34:00.000-07:00

Somehow, all of my bookmarks got erased. That is about three or four year’s worth of book marking. I probably filled it beyond any limit there is and it crashed or something. I book mark almost anything that I would at anytime want to possibly revisit. I don’t know where they went, but I wish I did.

One Church in our hearts?

2006-08-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

A day and a half ago, I set out to read the entire New Testament within 24 hours. I really didn’t know what I was thinking. You can’t read the gospel like book text. It is amazingly powerful, and passionately breath taking. I started Sunday night at 8pm, and as of now, Tuesday, August 22, 2006 at 10:40am, Eastern, I have only gotten to the 18th chapter of Luke. I spent probably 7 to 8 hours yesterday, reading, but I have found myself re-reading many passages over and over, and having to take things in perspective. There really are quite a few similarities in the Gospel’s, and through that perspective, I am learning a great deal.

One thing I am learning is that one must make the decision to either “spiritualize” scripture, or read it as it was written, for the times. What I mean by this is that there are several places where HE attaches his teachings about the Kingdom in present tense, to that generation (Jesus’, Peter’s, and John’s generation). Usually, I am accustom to looking at a scripture and thinking that it applies regardless; but I am becoming convinced that it is inappropriate to do so. So, I guess what I mean by “spiritualize” scripture, I mean that we take scripture and make it relevant, regardless of how it is written, a.k.a. intended. In that thinking, I have gotten much clarity on things, knowing that it was addressed to “Jews” in the first century Palestine, in all of their traditions and dogma’s, and religious outlooks.

I am coming to another conclusion. I still am holding out to finalize what I am thinking, but basically, there is a great deal of the gospel that is directed to the Apostles and Jesus’ direct disciples, that I think is not relevant to us, other than it is there to validate the Kingdom and what happened in the book of Acts. I think that by spiritualizing scripture, we have (meaning in the “Christian” community in general) come to some erroneous conclusions.

Here is something that I was taught since I was a baby Christian (1989). The passage is Luke 17:20-21. Jesus is describing the Kingdom (a common occurrence for Jesus) and he says, and I quote, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation: nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ for indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Now, I was taught that this scripture meant that the Kingdom is in our hearts, and not a physical kingdom. This is not a correct understanding of this scripture. When Jesus says, “within you.” He is actually saying (otherwise could be interpreted as:) “among you.” or , “in your midst.” In context, He was addressing the Pharisees. The proper application is that the kingdom of God cannot be placed (exnay on the unay ootray urch-chay. By the way, look also at Mark 9:38-41 which reads: “Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”) and we constantly place it. Literally, he was telling those men that the kingdom was among them. I can only think that this means that the Pharisees, being leaders of the law, had the scripture and so forth in their midst, or even people in their midst who are disciples of Jesus. But, we can’t take that scripture and apply as we do without spiritualizing it and saying that the kingdom is in our hearts.

This is just a small example of what I mean. It is intense. So, I have readjusted my goal, and now I am out to read the whole New Testament in one Week. That makes my due date this coming Sunday at 8pm. At that time, I will get back to you and give an update. I hope that this whole exercise bears much fruit. Truthfully, at this time, my faith has been built up tremendously; and I am more in Awe of Christ than ever! What a blessing we have to have our own copy of the scripture!

i rEAD sOMTHING rEALLY dEEP tO dAY, AND HERE 'TIS

2006-08-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

It is a poem written by a Kentuckian Poet named John G. Warren:

The Reflection

As I sit by the window, all I can hear is that dog.
I came to this secluded cabin to do myself in,
not to listen to some yappin' dog.
I wish he would leave - that dog -
for he is not what I need.
What I need is a reason to live.

He's getting louder now. I scribble with anger:

dog dog dog dog dog
Then I see the refection. It really says

god god god god god

I really like this poem. In a certain way, I can relate to it. I too have looked for meaning, or deeper meaning in mundane things during times of great trial. For one, I am glad that this man found what he was looking for, and that he lived to tell about it. Also, I think that this relatively profound poem will make a statement to other. It is a powerful poem, and I like the repitition in it. The message I get from that is that this man's attempt to do himself in, was hesitated by the noise that the dog was making, and he saw that it was God trying to get his attention. It is hard to tell if it was God for sure, it just may have been a random event serving a greater purpose. But I don't beleive in random consequences. I know that every step we take is guided graciously by God, for the bible says that we choose the path, but God decides the steps we take.