KEESEE HAS TOO MANY Es

If You Aren't Thinking It...

2010-10-08T08:45:00.002-05:00

...You won't say it. From MSNBC:

"California’s Democratic candidate for governor thought he had hung up the phone when he began a discussion of battle tactics with an aide in which derogatory language toward women was used. TODAY’s Natalie Morales reports."

When will people (politicians) learn that people won't find out about all the bad things you're saying and doing IF YOU AREN'T SAYING OR DOING THEM AT ALL?!?

Ecclesiastes 12:14: "For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil."

Fattened for the Slaughter

2010-06-24T10:33:00.005-05:00

I was recommended by a friend to purchase a specific audio version of the NKJ version of the Bible, so I did. One of the things I learned from listening to it was that the chapters, section breaks and individual verses formatted into the Bible, not to mention the long-winded run-on sentences popular in the New Testament (much like this one), have caused me to lose something when reading the Bible. The audio version just flies along and you're forced to hear the context of each topic in its entirety without stopping. Yeah, I miss a lot of the details that I get from reading, but it paints a better overall picture of what purpose the author is trying to portray as each book is read.

That said, I was listening to James today and something stood out to me in chapter 5 that I didn't notice before. It begins with:

¹ Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

So some rich people were having some problems, to say the least. Clearly, these were people that were leaning on their riches rather than on God and were pretty impressed with themselves, but those riches were clearly temporary. God states what He thinks of such behavior in verse 4:

⁴ Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

The word "Sabaoth" is a Greek-rendered version of the Hebrew word for "hosts". Hosts, in the context of the Old Testament, were also referred to as the armies of God. To paraphrase, "God has heard about your treacherous behavior; prepare for a whoopin'."

The next verse has something interesting in it that gets discussed in the first three verses, but this stands out to me because of the imagery it presents:

⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.

Just think about that for a second... Cattle probably think they've really hit the jackpot when they enter the feed lot. Food is constantly given to them anytime they want it. Just eat and eat and eat and eat for weeks on end... Nummy! Then one day, it's time to take a walk. "Oh, okay, I'd rather keep eating, but I probably do need the exercise seeing as how I put on 100+ lbs in the last few months." Next thing it knows, it's corralled down a few chutes with a few other fattened friends and... Well, the rest is obvious.

After verse 6, which I'll get to below, the audio version of the Bible kept on reading to verse 7, which is separated from this first section using a different header in the text.

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Notice how it starts with "Therefore", which clearly shows it to be a continuation of the proceeding section on rich people's attitudes and actions. In previous chapters, James is admonishing the Church to have a humble attitude and to tame their tongues. Here, he tells them that their materialism--and really, this section describes anyone who's overly materialistic, not just the richest among us--should be replaced with patience... Patience in waiting for the good gifts God has in store for us. Don't constantly seek to be better than the Joneses or add to our pocketbooks, our business "empire", our collections or our toys. Ecclesiastes 5:10-17 has an eye-opening view of this kind of pursuit of wealth.

¹⁰ He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.
¹¹ When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?
¹² The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
¹³ There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
¹⁴ But those riches perish through misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
¹⁵ As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.
¹⁶ And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And what profit has he who has labored for the wind?
¹⁷ All his days he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.

The point is that the numbers we see in our bank account can easily come to represent power and security we think we possess through material goods. Clearly, according to the above passage, those pursuits are empty and temporary. We've seen enough MCIs, Enrons, Bernie Madoffs to know that's true. They hurt us because they take our eyes away from the One who can give both riches and joy in the life to come. James exhorts that we must patiently wait for God to provide what we need when He finally sees that we're ready for it. "Establish your heart" in the humbling fact that God knows what's best for us and when.

Haughty materialism is not an effective path to living a godly life. It's fun while it lasts, but it leads us to a not-so-fun judgment. It has caused many people enamored with their power and wealth to treat "lesser" people with disdain and disrespect while employing an attitude of wishing such foolish, "lesser" people would simply go away--once they're done with the gardening, of course. Note verse 6:

⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Do you think the rich people James was speaking to or about were murdering their servants? Surely in the world, that was occurring! However, I think another point that can be made here that applies to us non-murderers is that selfishly acquiring objects can easily lead to a spirit of murder--that is, wanting someone to cease existing for reasons of hatred or disdain. Does this seem like a bit of a stretch?

⁹ Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door!

James warns the Church to stop griping about fellow brethren--something materialistic individuals are guilty of--due to vanity (over what we own), jealousy (over what they own) or a competitive spirit ("I'll get the best of you!"). Grumbling against another potential son of God is a spirit of murder (Matt. 5:21-22) and James wants us to be aware of that attitude and destroy it. I will demonstrate how materialism translates into a spirit of murder by destroying an entire society a little bit later.

So who can we to look to as an example of the kind of conduct James is talking about?

¹⁰ My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. ¹¹ Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

The prophets patiently endured some awful hardships and tests brought on directly by their work with God. Yet they are esteemed by God as blessed. And let's face it, when we consider today what they went through (peruse Hebrews 11 just to review a few), they've likely earned our respect, too. Righteous Job lost everything he had except his wife and some not-so-consolatory friends. Yet after a hard-learned lesson, he received double what he had before, yet had the godly character and wisdom built to appreciate and share it even with those same friends afterward.

God does not want us to refrain from riches or success. Nor does God despise us for desiring and working towards getting material things. But He does want us to build and utilize His holy characteristics, including a meek and thankful spirit, as we do. We follow His lead in our labors because His character is the very essence of joy, peace, quality and richness. And He is well-acquainted with what happens to our desires when He is removed from the picture. They mutate...

Materialism without God's character is pure selfishness, and selfishness leads to poverty and death. This is outright suicidal when you think about it. Yet God wants to save us from death, so He wants us to destroy selfishness in our labors. Note the shift in behavior He requires in Ephesians 4:28:

²⁸ Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.

"Hey, burglar-dude! Stop robbing Quik-E-Marts, get a job and give it to the poor!" Much like tithing, finding a job, working hard at it and giving of that money to the poor seems counter-intuitive to the foolish. "How am I supposed to make money by giving it away?" the Burglar-Dude asks. This is uncommon sense, really. Successful people always cite the characteristic of drive, hard work, resiliency, resourcefulness and perseverance as primary reasons they're successful, which is contained in the part about laboring in an honest manner. But being charitable adds to our labor God's spiritual law that we are to love our neighbor. Stealing simply reinforces lazy habits, hurts others in the process and promotes distrust among society.

There are many proverbs about dishonest scales and weights. Looking at the business world today shows thousands of corporations and individuals trying to shortcut, lie, misrepresent, scam and outright steal money and goods from others. Proverbs 30:15: "The leech has two daughters--Give and Give!" Those who engage in such practices have seen short-term gains, prompting other fools and simpletons to follow in their footsteps.*

*My favorite such story is the guy who's selling a video on how to make thousands of dollars a month FROM YOUR OWN HOME! In the video, he tells his customers--future millionaires, all of them--to make a video and commercial to sell others on how to make thousands of dollars a month FROM YOUR OWN HOME!

What will happen when we find out that products, services, business practices and ethics of those claiming to serve our best interests have been cheapened just for the sake of a quick buck? Sadly, that has already happened. These companies--not to mention the nations housing and, at times, protecting and supporting them--are beginning to fail due to distrust and grumbling by their customers and partners. All of society as we know it is crumbling beneath our feet and our destroyer is our own lust for more.

All of this from the selfish desire for more riches and material objects that God says are fleeting. "[Y]ou have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter." Indeed, it makes us wonder who is actually performing the slaughter--God or ourselves. Regardless, let's follow James' sound wisdom and seek a patient spirit in our labors and establish our hearts in His ways so that we may embrace God's bountiful riches in peace and joy in the time to come.

Can I Get a Witness?

2010-02-01T13:36:00.019-06:00

[This post is mainly me just exploring some words and is quite in-depth for, to be honest, such an obvious conclusion. It follows my line of thinking from my initial reasons for studying into this topic, then moves onto things I think I learned. Read it all if you dare!]

Strange Words

Growing up in the Church of God, I never really witnessed the other styles of church services that are out there. In fact, the church seemed to go to great pains to denounce any practices that were reflective of common stereotypes of false worship of Jesus Christ. This included the choice of words that those churches typically used. As a result, I always got a chuckle out of anyone that could do a good Southern preacher impression, saying something along the lines, "Ah have ex-or-cized the de-mons!" or "Have you found Jesus, son?"

There were many common sayings in Protestantism that just seemed to get overused to the point that they became common to my ears as a kid, but I never really knew what they meant; words like "justified", "providence", "redemption", and the list goes on and on. Other words like "holy", "good" and "true" have been hijacked by the human language to be more man-centered than God-centered, which leads to philosophical questions like "What is truth?" and "Whose version of good?" Once I came to this realization, I had to go back to re-learn what all these words meant in their proper context.

Enter in the words "testimony", "testify" and "witness", which are used over 300 times in the New King James Version of the Bible. I knew the meanings of these words in the context of a courtroom, but to me, they didn't seem to mean the same thing in a religious setting. I mean, if a defense attorney stood up in the middle of trial and asked, "Can I get a witness?" he'd probably lose the case.

"Testify, sister! Testify!" is cried out at some church services. But outside of that setting, I'm curious as to why that would be something worth praising another over. Really, it seems as though the only time appropriate to use these words is when we're taking someone to trial or having our own deeds put under the microscope of judicial review. I rarely get too happy when I'm seated before a judge.

Perhaps I’m just being purposely obtuse…

Definitions

So I decided it was time to look into the definitions of these words. After all, they are used throughout the Bible in ways not commonly phrased in today's courts, right? My findings were not as surprising as I thought they might be. First, the technical dictionary definitions. To "witness" simply means to provide firsthand evidence of. "Testify" simply means to make a statement based on personal knowledge or belief, generally to be used to as evidence or proof. This is exactly what I would attribute to these words from the standpoint of a courtroom.

In churches everywhere today, it takes on a similar meaning, but—to me, anyway—it's completely different in context. In these cases, Webster's dictionary and others state that "witnessing" and "testimony" are more of an expression of "a strong belief, especially to make a declaration of faith".

My question is to whom? For what purpose? On a street corner banging your Bible on a soap box? Who's going to listen to you? I suppose in decades and centuries gone by, this individual may have gotten more attention than the kooks who do this today. [It did work for the Apostle Paul's in Athens: see Acts 17:17.]

If "testifying" occurs in a church, well, this is simply preaching to the choir. I mean, do those present in church need more proof? I'm not saying this is all bad, mind you. We do the same things by announcing miracles and healings which are meant to increase our faith. But if this is a major portion of your church service, it feels more like patting each other on the back for continuing to believe in Jesus for one more week. Hallelujah!

So as I read through the list of examples of the word "witness" throughout the Bible, I find, in most cases, that it is indeed the "evidence" context of the word. For example, the concept of "bearing witness" in a trial-like setting is used somewhere around half of the time in the Bible. Back before they had forensic evidence like we have today, a person's word and some scant evidence was all that could really be held against anybody.

[Exhibit A: This bloody coat of many colors is evidence of the victim's death along with the testimony of the victim's brothers. Exhibit B: The prosecution witnessed the defendant's hairy arms through touch alone and the defendant testified that he was Esau.]

In God's law, we find that He requires at least 2-3 eye-witnesses to testify against someone in order for them to be found guilty. It is up to the judge, perhaps, to determine if they were delivering false testimony. Even in Jesus' trial, the stories of the false witnesses had to somewhat agree before the Sanhedrin—who wanted Christ dead—even thought about handing Him over to Pontius Pilate. Really, it wasn't until Jesus Himself affirmed that He was the Son of God that they convicted Him.

Elsewhere, I find unusual statements like, "For God is my witness..." and "I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit" and so on. What kind of witnesses are these supposed to be if they're not technically present to tell us? Should I believe your conscience?? John writes about an equally perplexing exchanging in chapter 8. I mean, could you imagine the following discourse taking place in a court of law today?

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, “You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true.”
¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ¹⁵ You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ¹⁷ It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”
¹⁹ Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”
Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

Christ established that He had two witnesses of His authority, but then follows that up with the fact that the Father wasn't known to the party He was trying to convince. How was this expected to convince the highly skeptical Pharisees? Yet Jesus was performing amazing miracles that were unlike anything anybody had ever seen or written about up to that point, so His witnessing was backed up by strong evidence.

Also, in many places in the Bible, inanimate objects are said "to be a witness" for something, generally a promise or covenant. This is the case with Abraham and Abimelech over the area of Beersheba in Genesis 21, and between God and Israel in Deuteronomy 4:26.

"So what's the point, Mike?" you may ask yourself. Good question. Let's summarize what we've learned up to this point. The words "witness" and "testimony" are used in the Bible as firsthand evidence in a trial. But they are also used to bind agreements, build faith among the people and exhort others that what God or His servants are saying is true.

Viewpoints

God has predestined a small group of people to be His followers at this time. Being omniscient, He knows the time in our life that we will most likely receive His word, hear His witnesses and come to the conclusions He desires us to come to. Naturally, we go on to a lifetime of learning to find out what is RIGHT, GOOD and TRUTH (capitalized to mean God's perfect version of these words). Of course, it's not the TRUTH that is changing, but rather we are continually uncovering more of it and throwing out the counterfeit versions Satan and this world has deceived us with.

Because we are only eyewitnesses of evidence of godly GOOD, and not its entirety, we must be mindful in how we witness to others. And this is where God instructs us to obtain a sound mind—the mind of Christ—to rightly divide the TRUTH from the stuff people merely call truth. So how do we convince someone else that our mind is sound and our message is worth listening to?

We could compare witnessing the TRUTH of God to somebody new to believing someone who's claiming to have seen a UFO. Both God’s TRUTH and UFOs are equally foreign to this world, but many claim to have some belief in them to one degree or another. So if someone claims to you that they've seen a UFO, what would convince you that they had? Would it be just their word? How detailed their story is? How about the sober-mindedness of the individual? Would you require physical evidence, like pictures or video? In practice, UFOgraphers have produced all of the above and more, yet there are still many more skeptics than believers.

The Church of God’s function of preaching the gospel is kind of like this. We are presenting material that to most will just seem odd or just flat-out wrong. Even Mr. Armstrong initially reacted to the Sabbath with incredulity. Some will find the Gospel fascinating whether it's our take on prophecy, Biblical truths they didn't see before, or how it answers questions they've always had. But as with the parable of the sower, many of these individuals stay interested for a time until some other distraction, the cares of this world or Satan pull them away. But it does serve a purpose: to get people's attention directed to the Truth of God so their minds are primed to receive it when the time is right.

Back to our UFO example, what if you went out and saw what the other believers did? That might be pretty compelling. Even the greatest skeptic would have a hard time explaining that away, but they may look for every scientific argument they can find to cast doubt on what they experienced. Most people would be compelled to share their story—far more so than the average believer who hasn't witnessed a UFO.

God's calling is more like this example. In my own calling, he began doing things that were beyond natural explanation. The Bible began to come alive to me in a way it hadn't before. I begin to get angry at the actions of this world, and I was sad at its ignorance. Then I got angry with my own inability to live up to God’s commandments. My prayers seemed to get answered over and over and questions I had in my mind got answered by a conversation I had with someone the next day. Coincidental and weird things!

It's here where the average person being called begin to sense there's a little more to this whole Sabbath/Holy Day/unclean meats/tithing/10 Commandments thing. However, they have to understand that this calling isn't happening to everybody else. But now we're at an impasse. Like the guy who didn't believe in UFOs before he saw one, we have a choice to make: Do I tell others or do I keep my mouth shut and let it drive me nuts? Do I seek out others who have seen similar things? What do I do? You know that it would appear crazy to everyone else, but you saw it with your own two eyes! Surely I'm not crazy, you say.

The Developing Witness

God tells us that His Holy Spirit produces in us a sound mind (II Tim. 1:7) rather than the blinders those trapped in this world have over their eyes. We shouldn't fear this new knowledge even though we will likely appear freakish to others. Over time, we come to see that we must fulfill the requirements Paul outlines in Romans 12:1-2:

"¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Here, we’re given the purpose of why God is working specially with us. We have to prove that His way of life that we're witnessing is real. And yes, it will be a sacrifice, but one that's highly acceptable and notable to God—you know, the One who rules the entire UNIVERSE.

So we ask, as Paul did on the way to Damascus, "What will you have me do, Lord?" The rest of Romans 12 gives us that answer. We are to join His body, the church, and serve within it. This says that God, having called us for a specific role in His body, must begin training us to fulfill that role. At first, we are students. But over time, the Holy Spirit may lead us to various other roles. The whole way, we cannot forget to continue to "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God".

In other words, no matter what position we receive, from babe in Christ to apostle, we must recognize that we haven't been shown the entire TRUTH yet, just the pieces needed to do our job. We grow—or read about a portion of God's eternal nature, take time to figure it out and practice it, and then see how it really works in real life. Another part of our role in the body is learning to care about the people of this world so much that we provide them with evidence of God working in our life, whether through example or by explaining. We must learn to do these things both individually and within the greater context of Christ’s body—the church.

It's a learning process. Others will challenge us and we will receive trials to refine our understanding. Step by step, we'll remove our feet from walking with this world, and that will cause others to take notice. We are showing evidence of Christ living within us. Paul makes this point in Romans 5-7 where he discusses that keeping God's word is proof of its authenticity because it creates the perfect man. Our mistakes and missteps of following God's perfect word will also be used as a witness. Paul states that our inability to keep the law proves its righteousness, too, in that our carnal nature couldn't begin to ascribe to the perfection of God’s law and character without His help.

This is why we must remain humble. We really don't know whether the evidence we're presenting in each moment of our life is really the Truth or just carnal self-righteousness. That is, until the Holy Spirit which is working and living within us lets us know. Over time, we'll begin nailing down those things that keep get hammered into our minds and they become readily-accessible knowledge and understanding. Other times, we'll just think figured something out, but will be proven wrong when we find we actually just stepped out on our own understanding.

Paul gives us good advice in how he chose to witness to others. He tells us in I Corinthians 2:

" ¹ And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. ² For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. ³ I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. ⁴ And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

This is just after he rebukes the Corinthian church for being sectarian. Are we representing Christ in the way he would want, or are we showing off like mere men? Either way, we are an example and people are watching.

A Spiritual Witness

Let’s look at John 15. “I AM the True Vine…” What does this have to do with witnessing? Read further to verse 5:

“⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered…”

If we really think about what’s being said in John 15, we see that our spiritual growth is directly tied back to Jesus Christ. We bear spiritual fruit only by being attached to Him. Even His body—the church—is Christ’s, which grows through His direct intervention. Spiritually-speaking, our ability to sustain anything in a spiritual manner comes from the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and Christ leading and guiding that growing process—not other human beings.

Peter, Paul, James and John spend much time talking about how contentions, strife, poor examples and sin can inhibit spiritual growth because they are distracting and destructive to our physical mind and body, which can take our thoughts and hearts away from focusing on God. That is, they have an effect on our emotions, stress levels, etc. But it’s only when we choose to let these things affect us that we remove ourselves from the True Vine and degrade spiritually. In other words, if other people attack us, that is not a valid reason in God's eyes for us to fall away.

Romans 7-8 explains this a little more. The spiritually-discerning nature of the Holy Spirit can use contentions and strife to demonstrate sin’s awful power over us. For example, if contentions arose between brethren, the Spirit may use that opportunity to point out that the source of the problem is one with attitude. This will resonate far more clearly and personally than just reading about fighting in the Bible. After experiencing it firsthand, we are repulsed by our actions. This is certainly not promoting sin, but rather shows how the Holy Spirit magnifies sin’s effects in our own lives and on humanity as a whole. It is at this point that we can begin seeing sin as horribly as God does and begin to destroy it. However, if we refuse to repent and continue to provide a home for sin—nurturing rather than destroying—we will be distracted by it and wither away from the True Vine.

We see that no other member of mankind other than our own self can distract us away spiritually from Jesus Christ; not a parent, a friend nor a minister. This idea is bolstered by I Corinthians 10:13 in that God will not allow us to be tempted more than we can handle. Matthew 10:28 tells us to not fear man, but God. Psalm 118:6 and Hebrews 13:6 ask, “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

It is in this way that the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ are a spiritual witness to us—when we accept their help and surrender to their will.

Free Will

The apostles were firsthand eyewitnesses to Jesus Christ's life, teachings, death and resurrection. They were most qualified to accurately describe what He had said and done because they were right there with Him. And Jesus sent them the Holy Spirit to remind them of Christ’s words and to further show how they were to teach others. If miracles, signs or teachings were done through them, these actions were evidence of God's power. The prophets also spoke and performed similar miracles for ancient Israel’s sake through the Holy Spirit and God speaking through them. All of God’s servants’ roles throughout the Bible were to provide evidence that God exists and that He has specific instructions for mankind to follow.

Yet what I find interesting in no matter what any of them say, mankind still has the freedom of choice to do whatever they want. We all agree that if a witness testifies something, that testimony doesn't somehow become the de facto truth and all must agree in its correctness. Rather, it is simply placed in front of somebody and that’s it. No matter how much persuading, reasoning, logic or evidence that's there, it is up to the other person to accept or deny it as fact.

WOW! Or perhaps... "Duh!" But this is key: YOU don't have any power over what that person chooses. And even crazier still: neither do the prophets, the apostles, the Bible, Jesus Christ nor God. Now, it is true that Christ can be awfully persuasive when He chooses to be. Pictures of a mountain quaking with awesome lightning displays and trumpets shouting louder and louder might get your attention in a way that O.J.'s bloody glove might not. But even then, people can choose to reject God—and He has allowed for this in His plan.

The point for you and I is that we—when it concerns others—can ONLY be a witness to them. We can do no more. In my mind, this takes a great deal of the weight off my shoulders, similar to Jesus saying how His burden is light. We are not responsible for other people's decisions—they are.

We are not off the hook, though. Our testimony to others is required by God once we surrender our will to Him. And this testimony must take the form of a tireless and lifelong pursuit to a) provide ample evidence of God's existence, b) prove that the Bible is His Word, c) teach the correct way to understand and study it, d) reason with and exhort others to change their lives, e) live our lives as an example to our neighbors, f) and proclaim the Good News of the wonderful Kingdom of God to come to all nations, etc. But it ends where our words and example meet other people's eyes, ears and brain.

Summary

Those called by God are witnesses to the Truth, and these witnesses can only state the things they've seen and experienced. Others, who may or may not have experienced such things, can only guess if their word is true. Christ—the Word, Truth and Light—declared that His witness is TRUTH because He is the only one who knows TRUTH, outside of His Father. This is precisely why we need Christ living in us at all times. It is also precisely why—the moment we realize we're trying to take over—we need to stop ourselves and return to Him. No one else, if we are firmly planted on the foundation of Christ, can take that away from us unless we allow it.

When Jesus, Peter, Paul, Stephen and many others spoke in front of mass audiences, before kings, councils and judges, Who was witnessing? Likewise, when we are speaking to others, or just simply living our lives in the midst of other people from any background, who is witnessing? What evidence are we putting forth? The testimony that resonates the most with any one individual isn't important—that's for God to worry about. Our job, simply put, is to be a witness. But it must be accurately based on the powerful witness of God the Father and Jesus Christ testifying about a kingdom of love, joy and peace for all who are a part of it.

“Can I get a witness?” The whole world will soon desire one.

I Was Just Trying to Help!

2010-01-21T09:50:00.005-06:00

With the extremely terrible and difficult situation in Haiti, many are reaching out to help their fellow man. Donations range from pocket change to millions of dollars, food, clothing, tents, diapers, and other immediate needs. However, like 9/11, Hurricane Katrina and other disasters, some are sending food that spoils en route, fur coats and winter jackets to hot climates, and other items that are either not useful or actually hinder the aid efforts.

This article goes into a lot more detail about such issues. It's an interesting read because it shows that even good intentions can often times prove to be a hindrance in desperate times. Note this quote from the article:

No question, the two church-goers from New Jersey had the best intentions in the world when they arrived in Port-au-Prince this week to help victims of Haiti’s killer earthquake.
Trouble was, [best intentions were] all they had in a land where food, water, shelter and transportation are at a desperate premium, said Laura Blank, a disaster communications manager on the ground for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian aid group with long ties to the country.
“They seemed very eager and very passionate about helping the people of Haiti, but they didn’t have a ride to get out of the airport,” said Blank, who had to direct the pair to assistance.

It is described that 40,000 such people show up to volunteer their time at major disasters, but many times do not have the skills or resources to properly help. In fact, due to their lack, they oftentimes become part of the very group needing help!

The article goes on to discuss how a 59-cent can of tuna or veggies can be cheap for us to throw in a donation box, but due to its packaging's size and weight, it may cost up to 80-cents to a dollar of additional donations to send it. Whereas the aid groups who have warehouse contacts to buy in bulk for far cheaper than the average citizen has access to or ability to donate. It turns out that giving money to these larger organizations can be the most efficient way to help those in need even though these organizations have 5-30% of administrative costs taken out before help ever gets sent. This can seem counter-intuitive, but the average person needs to get all the facts before giving.

This is not to say that these aid groups want to stamp out the giving nature of people. Rather, it's how folks give that is most effective and helpful. When we give and serve others under any circumstance, we must prepare ourselves to give in a manner that's most helpful for those whom we're giving to. Sometimes our best intentions can make a situation less than ideal or perhaps pile on additional trials for those we're attempting to serve. The writer goes on to say:

From volunteer medical teams who show up uninvited, to stateside donors who ship boxes of unusable household goods, misdirected compassion can actually tax scarce resources, costing time, money, energy — and lives, experts say.
“Everyone wants to be a hero. Everyone wants to help,” said Dr. Thomas Kirsch, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Refugee and Disaster Response. “It’s not the way to do it.”

"Misdirected compassion"... Yikes. Good intentions are wonderful, but we must consider the needs and feelings of those we are serving before doing so. It's a popular notion to think, "Of course others want my help." But do they? We should ask ourselves several important questions before choosing the way we're planning on aiding others. What are all the costs associated with my helping? Do I need to factor in time, additional money and resources, even borrowing from the very people I'm planning on serving in order to help? Is my timing right, or should I hold off? Am I offering something they would find usable? Am I the best person to help in this situation? Will my help actually be a hindrance? Would I want me to help if I were in that same situation?

Please don't think that I want to stop people from giving. On the contrary, we're commanded by God to do so. Jesus Christ commanded us to love our neighbor and gave us plenty of examples of His own service to mankind. He gave us parables about serving others, including the good Samaritan. He warns us that those found not feeding the hungry, visiting those in prison, clothing the naked, etc. will not be in the Kingdom. My purpose here is to take those good intentions and transform them into the most effective force possible. Simply acting in any case with minimal to zero planning is simply unwise.

Consider some of these more common forms of serving... If you're entertaining others, have you planned and prepared enough in advance so you can have maximum time with them? Do you have enough food and room for all your guests to be comfortable? If not, perhaps a having a smaller group over or meeting elsewhere might work better. Perhaps bringing food you've prepared to their home might be better.

If having people stay with you for a weekend, do you have enough beds and bedding to house them? Will all guests have enough privacy for prayer and Bible study? Are there any issues with "appearance of evil" to others; not just to those in the church, but by our example amongst neighbors? Just because you're comfortable with the situation doesn't mean your guests are. It's worth it to ask in advance to be sure.

Purchasing food or necessities for someone? Perhaps checking with a friend or relative to verify that it meets their needs. They may not have the resources or abilities to cook certain things (us men can barely operate the microwave). Others may have dietary restrictions.

God tells us to correct one another in love, which can be considered a service if it improves our relationships, or stops one from breaking apart. Need to talk with someone about a problem? Matthew 18 describes how to approach someone who has offended us, not others. If this is the case, this chapter also describes the attitude we are to have; that of a child with the willingness to be gentle, yielding and understanding. If it's not directly an offense against me, then it's worth it to consider if I'm the one who should be doing the talking. Bringing it up would potentially make that individual aware of the issue, but it might spark an even bigger conflict that has nothing to do with me.

Similar to this notion is giving advice. I'm not sure of the origin, but my brother-in-law said it to me: "Is that what really needs to be said? Is now the time to say it? Am I the one that should say it?" There's a time and place for everything and we need to give extra thought to advising others (myself included here).

Service is a vital part of the Christian's life. However, the act of giving mustn't be a self-serving act with no consideration given to those we are helping. Many today give to get that "feel good" feeling or to be seen by others, and while I don't believe most of us think in that way, we may be too wrapped up with the idea of doing good that we fail to do so in the end. Take the extra effort to analyze the situation fully before launching into action giving heed to love our neighbor in the process. If you're unsure, pray about the situation. Pray about it either way, really. God desires and will turn us into compassionate and effective servants when we allow Him to.

...And Apparently That's Not All That's Contagious...

2010-01-20T09:43:00.004-06:00

Blaming others for problems encourages others to do the same. See this article.

I blame Satan and society...

Self-Control Is Contagious

2010-01-15T16:28:00.001-06:00

Here's an interesting read: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34881243/ns/health-behavior/. They say a lack of self-control is also contagious, too.

"He who has, more shall be given him. He who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away from him."

Patience and Perception

2009-09-22T12:47:00.011-05:00

Okay, so I'm pondering something... How much of a wait-and-see attitude should a Christian have? What role does experience play in determining the "spirit" of a person's actions, a current event, etc.? How long should we wait before drawing conclusions on any fruits we perceive?

I'm interested because having a balance in two vital areas--that is, with patience and perception--is both a foundation for and true sign of building godly wisdom and character. However, being short on supply of either one or having a false variety thereof has caused millions to be blinded to the Truth.

Allow me to explain what it is that I currently think I think of these two qualities...

There seems to be varying levels of patience and perception (based on our experiences). Perhaps there are better words for what I'm describing, and maybe typing this out on a blog will flesh out those terms. One way to define these terms is to start with extremes: the person with much patience and little perception will wait and wait to draw a conclusion on a matter until they just accept the consequences of having not done anything when everything has finally unfolded. The person with much perception and little patience will sense the faintest whisper of a wind blowing similarly to their previous experiences and immediately draw conclusions that the same is happening now. The former is the typical frog in increasingly hotter water analogy and the latter is your wackiest conspiracy theorist. Certainly, this doesn't even begin to show the many varieties of patience and perception/experience nor even their good side, but it can show the flaws of having a false variety of each one.

To demonstrate some of the other sides of these two qualities, I'll try to describe them with examples. I am reminded by those older than me that "I haven't been around as long as they have to experience these things that they're seeing." And I believe them, I really do. On the other hand, the ever-optimistic, open-minded youth or rarely-judging pacifists seem to have peace, joy and a gentle spirit in their lives. Personally, as I grow older, I have tended to lean more on my experiences to help make quicker judgments of a situation. Still, I attempt to hold off some before making my final judgment to verify that my perception of the situation is indeed correct (I said attempt...).

A patient-only individual may have an opinion, but is waiting for further validation before acting. A perceptive-only person probably had their minds made up long ago and wondered what took so long for everyone else to catch up. Yet the perceptive-only person may have missed crucial information that wasn't initially presented and make a rash decision. The patient-only person may never find the validation they're looking for and take lumps for not acting decisively earlier.

Several years ago, the Worldwide Church of God was taken over from the inside and turned inside out. It was a terrible experience for all, but it was indeed experience-building. Based on everything I've read and everyone I've talked to, many lessons were drawn from each of these experiences. Some folks took the approach to wait it out and patiently see what God would do within the church He raised through Mr. Armstrong, allowing themselves to drift back into worldly Christianity as the Worldwide Church of God transformed itself into Grace Communion International over the decades to follow. Others, being badly scalded personally by this enormous trial, have ran in fear from all organized religion and point the finger accusingly at any who continue to live or teach such a "god" who would allow such a thing to occur. Of course, there are many, many shades of gray between these two extremes.

Similarly in politics, war, prophecy and religion, experience and education are especially needed, as is patience. Many people I know took one look at Barack Obama and immediately knew what kind of man he was by his words and his politics, while others want history to judge his actions. (NOTE: I'm not passing judgment on either camp here, just noting them.) The same goes with George W. Bush, the Iraq War and the recession as well as the future of Jerusalem, Germany, the Catholic Church, and even the Church of God.

Some with much godly experience may see the Church as having shed several of the problems of the past. Others with much experience** have identified loose bricks in the House of God that reek of the sins of the past.

**As a side note, it appears to me that some men with extreme cases of relying too much on their so-called perception have practically turned themselves into prophets and apostles, if they're not already declaring themselves to be so. These people are so sure of their predictions, even if done under the guise of "I've seen this all before" or even "God has given me special insight to know this."

Some with patience have learned from enduring such difficult trials and have gleaned a great deal of knowledge from the lessons each has taught. Others with a more complacent patience have come to the point of not worrying about nor praying for the problems of others because doing so might require some introspection on their part as well. I've seen people refuse to "judge" others because doing so would be hypocritical. We probably shouldn't be so patient with our own sins just because we're supposed to be patient with others. What are we hiding or not overcoming? Paul says we shouldn't want grace to abound for our sins' sake (Romans 6).

Why am I talking about all this? Because I want to figure out the right balance of each of these vital characteristics and make sure that I'm not misidentifying each one for something quite different. I would like to have the patience and mercy to be willing to let God work with every individual to perfect them in His image regardless of their current state. Yet I also understand that God will eventually draw a line in the sand when someone's character is set and their mind cannot be changed by Him or anyone else. Final judgment will take place.

Next, God expects me to make decisions with limited information at times to test me and I can't always have the time that I might want. Other times, He wants to see if I'll act upon my selfish desires or emotions of the moment or patiently dig deep and rely on past experiences to realize what a poor decision that would be. Other questions I've asked are: Will I let God and Jesus Christ lead Their Church? Will I leave in the case of apostasy? Will I scour for problem areas in others or will I get on my knees to pray for any problems that happen to come to my attention?

Also, combining these two characteristics is a powerful concoction. Together, we can draw on our experiences while patiently allowing our minds to sift over all available knowledge that's available, whether through seeking advice, researching and studying the subject in the Bible and asking God personally for help. Whatever mood we're currently in can color our perceptions. Patience can smooth out the erratic nature of our emotions and help us to see the larger picture by analyzing things through a variety of emotions and experiences. Humans are generally incapable of more than just a few emotions or memories at any given time, so repeated exposure to these things while not coming to one quick decision can help us verify that our original perception was or was not the right one.

Perception is absolutely required to make any kind of stand in our lives and it requires us to thoroughly re-analyze our experiences over a lifetime against a backdrop of fellow members' perceptions to build a more complete picture. This is why a Church is required in the first place--in order to allow the various parts of the body of Christ to share their individual growth and knowledge to edify, encourage and grow the Body. Our perceptions need to become the Body's perceptions and the Body's perceptions need to become ours.

As it is, the Body is constantly adding new members, and thus new parts, and this requires patience to help them draw closer to the stature of the fullness of perfection that is our Elder Brother. Our experiences can help us remember what it was like being in their position, if there are similarities, and sympathize with them...even drawing us closer to them by desiring to help them along. Of course, the opposite occurs when someone with more experiences than ourselves offers us a hand in our current trials and lack of understanding some issue.

Anyway, that's me getting all of this stuff off my mind. I suppose the wisest people of all are the most experienced folks around that still practice a great deal of patience in coming to a full judgment, even distrusting their own human nature until God delivers His perfect understanding to them. May each one of us continue to work towards that...

Ownership

2009-08-25T09:33:00.006-05:00

Building on my last post about appreciation, I wanted to write a little about how I've grown in appreciation for things I didn't necessarily highly value at earlier points in my life.

Perhaps each one of us can look back and remember being told to do chores around the house and how much we loved to do them (not). I couldn't watch TV on Friday night or Saturday morning or attend any of the school holiday parties. I remember having to sit still in church as a preteen, taking notes and looking up scriptures while my school friends were out playing team sports and riding their bikes. I remember my first experiences on the job not exactly being the most exciting. I have heard over and over from friends a co-workers--and I might have uttered more than once myself--that we work to live and not the other way around.

Yet one of the main lessons I've learned in life is that anything worth having is worth working for. 'Work' here can probably mean anything we've put effort into or perhaps even struggled through. While I didn't like doing chores for my parents, I did find, upon moving to my own apartment, that I had certain expectations of cleanliness and kept my place fairly tidy. When I started working, a nice Sabbath rest and spiritual recharge proved to be a huge relief after a long week in the world's grasp..

And on my motivations in my career... Well, let's just say that it took more than a few years to get through my thick skull that hard labor was actually good for me. In those years, I annoyed my first manager quite a bit to the point he would drag me to a private room for one-on-one meetings. There, and in my annual reviews, he would tell me that I lacked "ownership," which to me was a nebulous managerial term meaning I needed to work nights and weekends for no additional pay. (I was never lacking for cynicism...) But in order to appease my manager and keep my job, I prayed to God that I might learn good work habits and become a profitable servant.

Over time, I switched teams and got handed several projects that I became the "expert" of. In other words, nobody else wanted it, it was new, or I brought it with me from my old team. My clients would need something quickly and I had to build it for them with timeliness and quality. Several of them would forward on their appreciation for my efforts. Then another issue might arise with a different project or I'd receive a new one, and the cycle would continue. This same cycle occurred on my first team, but now I was suddenly aware of what true "ownership" was; it was responsibility for something that I had invested a great deal of time and effort into and got a great deal of appreciation out of.

There's a word here that's very significant: 'invested'. The difference between cleaning my parents' home and my own was that I was invested in my place. That's not to lessen the wonderful lessons I was taught by doing chores as a kid. But when you search for a house or apartment, sign all the paperwork, move all your stuff, decorate, pay rent and utilities, lock up and protect your place, it's a whole different ballgame. When they're my projects, they were far more important to me.

Likewise, rather than just getting rest on some random day of the week, the Sabbath became a whole day to invest in God, just as the Bible says He has invested in me. I attend services with like-minded brethren and invest in them, too. And as we study, pray, fast, meditate, serve, encourage and edify, we are investing in the soon-coming Kingdom that Christ Jesus will set up shortly on this earth!

'Work' takes on a different meaning for me when I am invested. Rather than drudging from deadline to deadline, each job has meaning and there are important lessons that can be derived from most every activity. When invested, I take the role of a servant leader to my manager, minister, clients, co-workers, brethren, and even strangers in that I will volunteer to do whatever it takes to give them what they need to thrive. More accurately, God places us in a position and hands us expectations spelled out over the duration of our calling, baptism and conversion, similar to a business. It should be our privilege to serve in this way and take ownership for what we're invested in.

Appreciation

2009-08-21T10:35:00.005-05:00

I'd like to say a few words about appreciation today. And no, not the kind of appreciation that my home's value is unlikely to be receiving lately. Google's definition is, "understanding of the nature or meaning or quality or magnitude of something." 'Understanding' here, to me, is more than just an acknowledgment of something we think is good or helpful, it is also the deep feelings of value associated with something.

For example, I find God's Law, the Bible, wisdom and other spiritual concepts to be good and helpful. But I seem to have a stronger emotional reaction to physical things, perhaps a nice condo at the Feast, a fancy sports car, a fine wine, expensive clothes or shoes, a quality vacation, etc. I'm not saying that the spiritual things aren't better, as they obviously are. I'm referring to the fact that given my actions, I seem to be more naturally drawn to the physical than the spiritual. That said, I also recognize that when the Holy Spirit is truly working with me, it's far and away the most powerful experience I've had. But over time, while the memory of that experience remains, the feelings fade, as it does with the physical.

This comes as no surprise to me when I think about it. But the problem I'm having is that I don't think about it all that much. Sure, I study, pray, try to find ways to serve and what not, but I still find the pulls of the flesh more tempting. In order to do these spiritual things, I've had to make them habitual. I've gotten to the point that I've derived real value out of these activities, but when push comes to shove, I'd rather go shop for a new stereo than read an extra couple of chapters. "Oh, you wanted to hang out tonight? Okay, I can fast some other time." And so forth.

In other words, I'm okay with the daily routine of prayer, Bible study, etc., but in order to grow my current plateau, I think I need to increase the worth I place on spiritually-based activities in order to increase the amount I want do them versus the purely physical--or the kinds of things that are simply carnal pleasures. Carnal doesn't necessarily mean bad things, just not things that help you grow in grace and knowledge. I figure if I learn to grow in my desire to do these spiritual tasks and perhaps lessen the excitement I feel for the others, I will choose the eternal over the temporary. Or to steal the other meaning of the word 'appreciate', which is to grow in value, I'll appreciate my appreciation.

Talents

2009-08-11T15:53:00.014-05:00

I was having a conversation with a friend about motivation the other day. During it, we were discussing a personality type that seems to put forth a lot of effort towards some stated goal, but rarely seems to finish the job. I told him I was at a loss for how one could encourage such individuals, so he suggested that I take a closer look at the parable of the talents. He thought this tale would be a good way to illustrate some important points on productivity. This suggestion prompted me to reread the parable of the talents within the context of motivation and productivity and their importance to God. The more I read and thought about it, a good number of helpful lessons became apparent.

First, let’s get the context of this story. Matthew 25:15 states, “And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability.” The word ‘ability’ here signifies that the master knew how much each servant was capable of based on past performance. He obviously knew the servant to whom he gave five talents could handle a larger amount of responsibility and the servant given two talents with somewhat less.

The servant receiving only one talent was entrusted with the least. Perhaps the master knew this servant’s character displayed a clear lack of motivation judging by his past work as we will see later. It may have been a test for him, but that is speculation. We do know that he only gave him one talent, so his ability was deemed to be smaller than the others. Based on that understanding, we find out what the servant actually did with his money; he buried it in the ground (v18). It is possible that he had hoped God would tremendously bless him by growing a money tree, but that, too, is speculation.

Why did the last servant not do anything? Verses 24-25 give us his explanation: “Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.” “See? No harm done. You got your talent back, even!” It’s not exactly clear what the servant was really afraid of, but it is clear he wasn’t fearful enough to actually have done anything with the money. Verse 26 shows the master’s reply to this excuse: “You wicked and lazy servant,” – obviously, the master wasn’t pleased that his servant did nothing with his money – “you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed.”

The master explained that the servant’s clear understanding of his expectations should have motivated him to work rather than stop him from working. “So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.” Here, the master implies that the servant should have known to at least use bankers. It appears likely that the servant was educated enough to know this, but he simply refused to take the first step. It is imperative to begin working in order to gain momentum; otherwise we are merely dreaming and hoping. That is the first lesson we can glean here: Take one step.

If the last servant would have taken this first step, he would have already met the stated criteria of his master – to grow his investment. In doing so, he theoretically would have talked with the bankers and perhaps found other ways to invest his master’s money. He could have learned on the job while gaining knowledge and experience each step of the way. He had the opportunity to become a more profitable servant, but chose to pass it up because of a lack of motivation, true fear and respect for his master’s expectations.

Although the parable doesn’t say so, the master likely gave the last servant many chances to prove his worth before this final opportunity became the last straw. He ordered his other servants to “cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (v29). The second lesson is: if we won’t work, it won’t be pretty.

If we aren’t willing to work with God, He can’t work with us. “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” (Amos 3:3). When we enter our covenant relationship with God, He expects us to do His will and become more like Him (John 15:14, Heb. 8:10). The consequences of not holding up our end of the bargain is destruction, yet it is mercifully so. We could not be happy living in a giving, sharing, loving and everlasting Kingdom such that God is preparing for us if we’re not willing to put forth the kind of effort required for it to stay that way.

Ecclesiastes 9:10 simply states that “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with [all] your might.” If one isn’t putting their full effort into each task they undertake, they likely won’t get the best results. If our whole attention isn’t given to the task at hand, there might be lessons that go unlearned and knowledge that is missed. Certainly, we cannot expect God to bless us to the fullest if we are only partly devoted to Him. Nor can we truly say that something wasn’t meant to be, or “God’s will,” if we didn’t really try our best. This is the third lesson: If you’re going to work, work hard.

The other servants did just that. The second servant, judged to be slightly more capable than the last servant, was given two talents by his master. He took that first step – and likely many more – worked hard, and earned double his master’s investment. “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them” (Matt. 7:20). His reward? Verse 23 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.” He was complimented for his hard work and given a portion of his master’s sizable inheritance. To summarize, there are two lessons here: we are judged by our fruits, not just our desire and effort, and hard work pays off.

While highly celebrated by his master, the second servant wasn’t quite as industrious as the first servant, who was given five talents and earned five more through trading (v20). This servant was judged by the master to be a go-getter and self-starter. It has been said that if you want something done, give it to the busiest person. The first servant was that kind of individual. This is demonstrated by verse 28: “So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.” This describes the sixth lesson: accomplishment generates a greater desire to produce more.

This hardly seemed fair to the other servants in the parallel account, who stated: “Master, he [already] has ten minas” (Luke 19:25). But the master replies: “For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matt. 25:29). This practice might not appear fair at first glance, but it can be explained as the only fair way.

To illustrate, one point must be made about the kind of person the first servant was. These personality types are many times the top men of organizations or governments, much like a CEO, president or leading evangelist. They hone their efforts to become as efficient as possible. Every task undertaken is organized and prioritized so it gets done with quality. And they always try to keep the big picture in mind in order to keep themselves focused and moving in the right direction. People with this mindset do not sit around waiting for someone else to schedule a meeting or worry about every last detail. Rather, they get to work knowing they have plenty more to do later.

In essence, this industrious servant was of the pedigree that God could trust with that high level of workload. He displayed the motivation required and used his God-given talents to perform the job at hand. The lazy servant, if given such responsibility, would have likely caved under the pressure! It could be said that the second servant wouldn’t have even liked having that much responsibility, but was productive enough to handle and enjoy the amount he was given (Luke 19:19) because it better suited his skills and personality. God doesn’t need everyone to be CEOs and presidents, but he will test our character to see what we can handle. Similarly, each one of us must be motivated and productive in order to prove to ourselves what abilities we have. Positions in the Kingdom of God will match our skill set. The final lesson we can take from these profitable servants is: God prepares us for our perfect job.

We learn much about where we’ll fit in God’s awesome plan through our efforts in this physical life. The parable of the talents teaches us that motivation breeds productivity, responsibility, skills and knowledge that are required by God to rule in His Kingdom. These attributes, once started upon, will continue to increase asymptotically until they match God’s eternally flawless character. Finally, we will receive our inheritance, as He declares in Matthew 25:21: “Well done, GOOD and FAITHFUL servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”

Be Diligently Vigilant

2009-06-13T10:29:00.020-05:00

I heard a story a long time ago about a guy, we'll call him Bob [his name was NOT Bob :) ] that was crossing the street, when all of the sudden, he was shoved in the back by a stranger. Knocked down by the incident, he furiously got up and found his assailant. This man, obviously winded, asked, "Are you okay?" Puzzled, Bob retorted, "Not after you knocked me down!! What were you thinking?!" The other man, obviously taken aback by this comment, replied, "You were almost hit by a speeding car! Crazy drivers these days!" "But I didn't see any car," Bob muttered, confused himself. "Well," the man said with a smile on his face, "I don't suppose you do see the car that hits you most times, do you?"

I remembered that story after thinking about getting caught off guard by sudden frustrations and temptations in my life. Wondering what to do about these problems as they catch me unaware along with the resulting filth I produce reminded me of I Peter 5:8-9. It states, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith..." I've heard and read this passage what seems to be hundreds of times, and occasionally, a fuller picture of what this scripture is really stating stikes me. However, recently, events have caused this and other passages like it to hit me more like a ton of bricks.

See, normally, I'm focused on the "your adversary the devil" part, and honestly, I think I look out for the more obvious evil attitudes or actions that would come from him. However, after analyzing myself and situations I frequently get myself into, I've realized more and more that we are to be vigilant against the far more subtle everyday occurrences influenced by the attitudes and confusion that Satan unleashes on this world.

Quick aside: Now, some of you (or the one person that may actually read this blog (thanks!!)) may be stating, "Duh." But epiphanies sometime hit us emotionally more than intellectually, and this is one of those occasions for me. When things strike at my person or emotional base, it causes me to seriously dig deep with real questions and begin a process of change. Whereas when I just intellectually understand something, it's generally more like, "That's such a cool idea! Ooh, look! A pretty bird!" And my mind is onto the next distraction, ala James 1:22-24 (the mirror passage).

But this whole concept much deeper than that to me, so I'll attempt to go into the line of thinking that led me to it (feel free to follow along if you'd like). It started out by analyzing some of the sins I've been having serious trouble overcoming. One thing I've learned from meditating on these sins is that knowledge helps us understand why we do things, but it doesn't necessarily help us to stop. So once I was satisfied with the fact that I had mostly understood why I was committing these sins repeatedly, the effects of them on me, my loved ones, and God, the spiritual fruits and gifts required to overcome them and even how those fruits helped and blended with God's other fruits and gifts to make life so much easier... (I'll take a deep breath now from this run-on sentence...) ...I started to look for the solution on how to actually stop committing them.

But upon trying to stop several times, I was led to understand that really didn't want to overcome these sins. I mean, I knew I needed to, and I know God requires us to act on what we know, otherwise it's sin to us. Yet I was being completely stubborn.

So I figured the way to gaining back this desire to change for the better was to study how to overcome stubbornness. I mean, the Bible has the answer for all of these kinds of questions, right? What I found shouldn't have surprised me, but it did... The Bible merely points out that people are stubborn and foolish, similar to the way it points out that people are prideful, arrogant, liars, fornicators, drunkards, idolators, etc. There was no way to "ease" out of being stubborn, no mantra I had to chant umpteen-thousand times, and asking God to "change me" over and over again, ala the persistent widow, wasn't going to work quite the way I hoped... <*sigh*> All it points out is the same solution for each and every one of our problems: humble yourself to God, allow Jesus Christ to work within you and, finally, simply DO what He tells us to do, wherever we learn it. I had to just man up and do it. A great quote that goes with this concept is given to us by Master Yoda, "Do or do not. There is no try."

I always take my advice from Muppets, don't you?

A physical example of this could be the day some of us look in the mirror or look down at our gut and say, "Wow, I need to exercise." And that thought quickly passes as we head to the fridge. Then a few weeks down the road, we finally get really sick of it and we might attempt a few sit-ups or take a long walk. But the follow-up is lacking. Finally, we realize that we need to get into a routine of exercise. Once again, it lasts for a while, but busy-ness, distractions, stress and just being utterly tired get in the way. Besides, that cheeseburger looked waaaay too good. But we learned how much better we could feel by trying...

Then it finally hits some of us. Real change can only take place when we notice that it's our entire lifestyle that needs to change. The kind of food we eat, the amount of sleep we get, the kind of exercise we do, the stresses we have, even the people we spend time with... It's at this point that it all becomes clear, and yet we have to make a choice: Am I really going to change my whole lifestyle, or am I going to go back and just be satisfied with what annoyed me so much before?

I give this example because it demonstrates that physical and spiritual problems can be viewed - and resolved - in much in the same way. The moment I realized I had to go all out kind of scared me, and yet it gave me clarity that I needed to go forward with the Just Do It attitude. There is no try over the long run...

So how in the world, after doing whatever bad habits we've done for who-knows-how-long (hence why Paul calls it the OLD man) do we suddenly change everything surrounding an issue? I mean, sure, if I did every right and good thing at once, it would be wonderful. But the initial inclination to stop at the first sign of any inconvenience is ridiculously high. It takes a ton of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual energy to get this fully-loaded cargo ship turned around in rough seas!

It was going to take all the will power I had, obviously. And then something else hit me... I was reading some old sermon notes how Jesus Christ had to constantly guard against evil in His life. Think for a moment about how difficult His job was. Sure, He had a ton of wisdom, experience and help. Yet if He messed up even once, ONCE, it ruined everything. How did He do it? By constantly having his guard up and being ready for anything. He never once let down, even while relaxing with His best buds over a glass of wine.

Coincidentally, I have said some of the meanest things to my friends over a glass of wine. I noticed that because of my comfort level, I felt I could say anything to them or about others and they would understand. Yet I keep finding out that harsh words from a good friend are like arrows shot through the heart. And looking back, those statements were rarely necessary. It's funny how, at least in my life, I treat perfect strangers better than I do my own family and friends a lot of times.

I finally saw that I, too, had to begin to get my guard up in all situations. I had to turn on my active sonar and begin scanning the world around me for possible tripping points. I had to anticipate what to do in case something happened. If I am particularly susceptible to some problem, then I need to have thought about how to stop it before it has an opportunity to present itself. Then when it occurs, I need to immediately act upon that!

When driving, most of us have learned to be defensive drivers. I've had cars come out of nowhere into my lane before when I didn't even have an inclination that they might. Similarly, I've had the most innocent situations erupt into a temper tantrum or a sin-fest. If I'm going to go all out, I have to be vigilant and always ready to counter temptation, no matter what shape it comes in. For example, I heard one minister say that we have to be in a constant state of forgiveness just in case somebody offends us.

Perhaps I should permanently keep my foot in my mouth so I stop myself from re-inserting it.

And of course, Jesus, in His off-time, went and prayed, sometimes entire nights. He never strayed from His Father in order that He would be guarding against those things that were really a problem, not just man-made ideas about what's bad. He was intimately familiar with the Scriptures (seeing as how He inspired them, Himself) so He wouldn't counter with the wrong words or actions. And if He knew to do something, He always did it.

I, who started this life as a mere mortal, get access to the same resources, too. However, I have to gain understanding and habits gradually over time by experience, advice, embarrassment and more embarrassment until we're finally sick of whatever we've become. Or we can choose to do what we're told in the same spirit as that of a child. Unfortunately, the older I get, the more stubborn I seem to become. Or as a friend recently put it, my conscience has become that much more seared from habitually choosing the wrong thing, and it is far more difficult to find out what's wrong with me, much less change. I guess it's in my best interest to make sure I'm in the right mold before the cement completely dries, so to speak. Otherwise, God will have to get out his trusty pick axe.

So I finally got back around to our opening scripture in I Peter 5. Be SOBER. Be VIGILANT! Sober (or nepho in Greek) means to abstain, be discreet or watchful. Vigilant (or gregorgeuo) means to keep awake, or also watchful. Satan is constantly throwing stumbling blocks into our path in obvious and sometimes completely obscured places to us. What may be obvious to a friend, we are blind to. We must, at all times, be in a state of awareness of what's going on around us regardless if we're amongst hungry lions or sleeping lambs (isn't that where it's easiest for hungry lions to attack?). Satan is always on the prowl regardless of how much we let our guard down.

I found another scripture that talks about being sober-minded: the qualifications of an elder in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1. It's interesting how the job of a shepherd requires constant watchfulness. They are having to watch out vigilantly to defend their flock from outsiders trying to destroy or chase off members. Ministers must not be given to wine or quarrelsome, yet be gentle, hospitable, unmaterialistic and filled with self-control. These qualifications are to keep the overseer, himself, from doing damage to the flock. That said, the responsibility on the shoulders of each minister is that much heavier than that which is on us laymembers. And God even states that teachers are held to a stricter judgment (James 3:1) in a similar way that Jesus was held to the highest standard possible. Any falter would have greater consequences on God's people. Yet ministers are generally more humble, teachable, serving and loving than I have ever hoped to be. Why? I believe it's because they see the tremendous amount of responsibility placed on their shoulders and the seriousness of their role causes them to remain on high alert as Christ did.

These are the men responsible for actually living up to the "true religion" James points out in his epistle. Their job requires them to get to know all the members, visit the elderly and those in prison, go and annoint those who may be on their death bed, and in some cases, watch them die. They assist people with counseling and carry the burden of each person's issues in confidence without being able to "vent" to others about it. And they have to deal with troublemakers and make tough decisions on how to deal with such individuals. Yikes! Oh, and they speak and write and plan activities, camps and Feast sites from time to time, too.

How about me? Does my life carry the same kind of weight? Do I have a great deal of responsibility placed on my shoulders, too?

I believe the way we individually answer that question will guide how much we're vigilantly anticipating each word or action that comes our way. Heroes and champions have a way of rising to the challenge and God is making champions today. The weapons of God's warriors can be found in Ephesians 6:13-18 and other places. Will we bend our will towards him so He can bend us straight? Will we ask Him to show us what we need to see?

How clearly do I want to see? On one hand, the less blinded I am, the more vigilant, the more responsibile and the more accountable I'm expected to be, which requires more work and diligence. On the other hand, we are to be promoted by God to a position far higher than earthly ministers. And we are to let Christ live in us. If He is truly living in us, then He will cause us to walk as circumspectly as He did.

It's a tall order. I already have that uneasy feeling like there's no way I can maintain it for all that long. And yet, like a muscle being exercised, the pain will subside and we will grow stronger. And like a healthy person, I know I won't look at junk in the same way I did before. God wants us in His Kingdom and He'll stop at nothing to get us there. But it's we that have to be willing to ACT on what God is teaching us today along with tireless, ceaseless anticipation for what this world has to throw at us next.

You Can't Fix Chrysler By Fiat...

2009-05-04T09:11:00.003-05:00

I've attempted to stay out of the political mess for awhile now (mainly by not blogging), but this comic seems to summarize my latest view on the Presidential administration as of late. I've taken a wait-and-see approach when it came to President Obama. I actually liked many of the things he was saying early on because they actually sounded like ideas that were thought out and well-reasoned. He seemed to stress personal responsibility, parental help on education, a renewed focus on domestic issues that required common sense, not just money being thrown at them, etc.

I didn't necessarily enjoy how the media and a mass of people fawned all over him with the idea that he would answer their every heart's desire. I also didn't like the Republican response (equaled by the Democrats during the Bush administration) that everything the man says must be wrong and countered by an opposing idea. But, after all, that is American politics.

But as this comic sort of demonstrates, and as many people opposing Mr. Obama have "known", he has spoken one thing and done something different on a number of occasions. The most recent one that irked me was the restructuring of Chrysler. Fundamentally, I have no problem with letting that ship sink (I have owned two Dodge Stratuses and they both had major quality issues). When President Obama forced their hand into making the tough decisions quickly and decisively, something they should have been doing for the last several years, I applauded him.

However, what has come of the situation is disconcerting... Just before bankruptcy started last week, the government offered the major debtholders 30 cents on the dollar repayment and very little control over the company after the company exited bankruptcy. Perhaps that should have been enough for them seeing as how they made a poor investment and the government was offering them an out. But the government was trying to save this company, and thus it makes more sense to try to stay on-board and try to recoup their losses... Hopefully far above 30%. Some of these lending institutions noted that the only companies who were applauding the government's plan were those who were already given government money (TARP), whereas those who stayed out of the housing and credit mess were going to lose their hat over this deal. These untarnished groups called themselves the "Non-TARP Lenders to Chrysler." So they decided to say no to the deal feeling it wasn't a good one while noting there were strings being pulled on those companies who were already hand-tied by the government. One article snarkily stated that "the government in essence called the group's bluff - since lenders are worse off in bankruptcy than outside of it." Bluff?? This is no standard bankruptcy! (I'm no expert in business bankruptcy, but I seem to recall the fact that in a standard Chapter 11, most lenders get a first dibs in whatever is sold off.)

Let me to further demonstrate some of the stench eminating from this deal: The party posed to receive the largest portion of this whole deal just happens to be the group largely associated with the company's demise (outside of the old leadership's ineptitude): the United Auto Workers union! A 55% share to be exact. The same group who strongly supported Mr. Obama, and hundreds of other Democrats, on their way to office, I might add! Granted, some sources say that even a majority share of stock in the company won't get the UAW more than one seat at the board member table and hardly the ability to run the company, as seen in previous deals with United Airlines and other companies.

What's interesting here, however, is the fact that the greed of the union will cause it to almost immediately have to sell off its share of those stocks just to pay for the pensions and retirees' health benefits it tirelessly worked for over the last several decades. Many of those shares will be sold to Fiat, an Italian automaker who specializes in smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles (which I'm ecstatic over after driving a 50 mpg turbo-diesel car in Wales for the Feast), who will take controlling share of the company and hopefully prop it back up into a respectable company once again. This isn't necessarily a sign of the Beast power rising as Germany has already tried to revive Chrysler, via the Daimler Group, and failed.

I may be stretching, but this all sounds metaphorical to me... Think about it: Political wranglings over greed and special interests of a mismanaged organization leading to failure, requiring help from a foreign conglomeration who won't be able to untangle the major issues that got them into the mess in the first place. Thus causing this foreign entity to eventually dismantle it, sell off the profitable parts and destroy the rest due to its unsupportable weight. Hmmm, that sounds like the predicament the U.S. is finding itself in. Okay, that's probably trying to read too much into it. :) Stay tuned to find out...

Dirty, Dirty Swine

2009-04-24T09:54:00.004-05:00

Another interesting development in the flu department... The swine flu is going around both in Mexico and in a tiny population in California. Now, we've been pummeled with information about the bird flu for the last several years. But last year, Mr. Weston posted something interesting on the Living Youth web site that I had never encountered before. He stated that while the flu originates with birds, it takes pigs to make into something that becomes more human transmissible. I kind of put that on the shelf until I had more time to research that, but this article on MSNBC sort of restated that assertion:

"Scientists keep a close eye on flu viruses that emerge from pigs. The animals are considered particularly susceptible to both avian and human viruses and a likely place where the kind of genetic reassortment can take place that might lead to a new form of pandemic flu, said Dr. John Treanor, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Rochester Medical Center."

I wouldn't call that an outright declaration that the flu came from people eating pigs (which are declared unclean for human consumption by God, if you haven't heard). But it certainly backs up Mr. Weston's earlier assumption. Anyway, it was something I found interesting...

Faith and Credit

2009-03-06T09:48:00.004-06:00

Have you ever read something and shuddered? Boy, I just did. Basically, the FDIC, the federal insurance agency for covering deposits held by banks going out of business, stated this week that they will likely run out of money by the end of this year without new, higher fees charged to those banks that are still solvent. In other words, the agency that gives the federal government the ability to say, "Don't freak out and rush your bank, we've got your deposits covered," may not be able to do so without a lot of help. That in itself is a shudder-able statement...

However, the wonderful congress of the United States, who lately seem to have figured out that money does indeed grow on trees, "'cuz as long as we got us some paper, we can print all we want!", have proposed to borrow out an additional $500 BILLION to help the FDIC. The spokesman for the FDIC had this to say on the subject (and thus, the shuddering followed closely behind):

The FDIC is "backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government," Gray said. "We can and always will be able to meet our obligations to depositors."

I think that speaks for itself, but allow me to point out two words that are clearly frightening - "faith" and "credit" - especially in regard to the United States government. I don't know about you, but my "faith" in the United States government, much less its financial ability to do anything, makes me want to pull my money out of the banks and hide it under my mattress. However, it's the "credit" of this country that will make such an action pointless since we will likely be paying $200+ for a loaf of bread in the next couple of years if we keep wrecklessly spending money like we are. And that's assuming the nice countries out there who obviously only have our best interests in mind keep buying all that debt up.

So to follow those two words in their context with, "We can and always will be able to meet our obligations to depositors" just seems preposterous unless taken in the context that your deposit will be completely worthless by the time you withdraw it.

I dunno, I'm sure I'm overreacting, but pulling piles of bills worth hundreds of billions of dollars out of our behinds seems to be getting ridiculous, and I don't care how well or targeted you spend it. I have no idea how this will all catch up to us in the end, but the vision of men grabbing their stomach and loins in a similar way to labor pains begins to come to mind. Wailing and gnashing of teeth?? Dentists will be capping a lot of them assuming they could even get paid for their services.

End of Rant

Snitch

2009-03-02T09:57:00.004-06:00

This post is kind of a follow-up to a post I wrote back in April entitled "Duuuuuuude!". So I'm reading the morning news and come across this quote in an article about Mrs. Clinton's exploits in the Middle East:

"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed doubt Monday that Iran would respond to the Obama administration's diplomatic initiatives toward Tehran on nuclear and other issues, a senior State Department official said.
Clinton made the statement in a private meeting with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who had expressed to Clinton a concern among Persian Gulf nations that Obama might make a deal with Iran without full consultation with U.S. allies. The official who described the exchange spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private."

And we wonder why Iran doesn't trust us. Aside from the thought that Mrs. Clinton may have wanted this information leaked, although such reasons I cannot fathom at this point, I think there are two interesting things to learn here.

Point one, don't be a talebearer (Prov. 11:13). I think that's obvious. Why such an individual would want to reveal issues of national security on such a delicate issue is beyond me. Perhaps this individual felt this point was so obvious, so it would not infringe on future talks. However, we're dealing with a new President and cabinet and his opinions and methods may differ from those of his predecessor. Keeping this kind of information close to the vest, especially with allies who could possibly make a difference in smoothing out issues with a nation we have such a volatile relationship with, seems to be the wisest course of action here. We may have our inclinations of what another nation, or individual, may do, but we don't know for sure, so it's probably not worth spilling the beans until they've had a fair opportunity to prove otherwise.

Which leads me to point two: Why did this even get said in the first place - even in private? As someone who has regularly shared and overshared my thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics and issues, including on my closest relationships, I can relate with Mrs. Clinton in her dealings with Iran. Iran is seemingly a weird nation with a weird culture to her and it's making weird, seemingly chaotic and self-destructive decisions, so she's simply expressing her disbelief to a confidant. However, as I have more recently learned, if something is said in confidence, you better hope the individual you said something about won't mind, because they could easily hear about it later. So measure your words carefully. Not everybody, as we have seen, has learned point number one above, so it's very possible to have something spoken in secret blabbed to everybody, including the subject of the secret. Matthew 10:26 states that God will one day make known the thoughts and actions that we try to hide. Which, when I think about it, SUCKS!

Of course, Mrs. Clinton didn't need to act completely naive towards this situation with Iran as though she were some sort of Pollyanna, but she could have at least displayed some hope in reconciliation with them. After all, isn't Hope and Change the key buzzwords of this current administration? And similarly, I think it is worthwhile to have more hope in our friends and relatives around us - to give them the benefit of the doubt and allowing them to change should they be doing so. After all, one definitely difficult lesson I've had to learn recently was the difference between my theory of what someone is thinking and doing and actually knowing what someone is thinking and doing. Keep the theory to yourself and that person may surprise you! And hey, I like pleasant surprises. Just insinuating that they're going to screw it up like they always do will just turn an opportunity for expressing confidence in someone to grow and change into a self-fulfilling prophesy of repeated failure.

Hopefully, Mrs. Clinton's words, carelessly repeated by a talebearing "official", do not ruin an opportunity, regardless of it's likelihood, to reconcile our relationship with Iran.

[Follow-up: Having more carefully read the article, it's the Associated Press journalist that seems to have put the negative spin on Mrs. Clinton's words. Her words are carefully chosen as diplomats usually do (my favorite, Mr. Clore's description of Pres. Obama's ideology: "He has a compelling narrative." Brilliantly worded to reveal exactly what it is rather than how he feels about it). The quote: "We have no illusions, Mr. Chairman, that even with a new administration, looking to try to engage Iran in a way that might influence its behavior, that we can predict the results... Our eyes are wide open on Iran." So perhaps, shame on the media, too, for being reckless with word choice on what our Secretary of State actually said rather than just reporting how it made them feel.]

One Reason I'm Sick

2009-02-24T10:50:00.003-06:00

Nutritionists have been discovering more and more about Omega-3 fatty acids lately, but I hadn't read anything like this before about them. Basically, in the Good Ol' Days when cows and chickens grazed the pastures for their food, choosing the choicest green grasses and plantlife over years rather than months, they ate a larger amount of cellulose that provided our dairy products and meat with omega-3s. However, today, we're just packing farm animals together and feeding them wheat, soy bean, seed oil and corn. These ingredients contains fats from the other fatty acid, omega-6, which is more rigid and used shape our cells. Omega-3s are more flexible and help us fight inflammation among other things (that's what the article said, anyway). That said, the average diet 100+ years ago before the days of commercial farming had a ratio of 1:1 omega-6 to omega-3 ratio. Today's ratio is more like 20:1... Which might explain why food allergies (inflammation), asthma (inflammation), cancer (mutation and then inflammation) and, of course, my IBD (inflammation is the first word) are all on the rise. They've even linked it to diabetes, depression and heart disease. Crazy...

The article states that they're going to fortify future foods with omega-3s, which should help turn things around. However, I always wonder what additional catalysts, enzymes and other useful ingredients those cow and chicken (and of course, a current source: small, fatty fish) by-products provided to us we're missing. I guess I trust God's design more for some reason. I'm grateful our scientists are figuring this stuff out now and hopefully we'll see some turnarounds in the future for these problems. However, just like a few years ago when they discovered ulcers were caused by bad bacteria overgrowth, they went crazy in prescribing a certain kind of antibiotic that got rid of the ulcer-producing bacteria. However, in doing so, they killed off the same or similar bacteria cultures that were SUPPOSED to be there for to regulate and help the lungs and respitory system, thus causing asthma-like symptoms... Something else I contracted and have since gotten over (for different, but possibly similar reasons) thanks to exercise and better eating habits.

After reading Mr. Apartian's article "Have You Had the Mumps... Yet?", I get the sense that while I can blame the food industry along with our own ignorance of these biological complexities, I need to really evaluate if I really have a greater role in eating right. Perhaps all the restaurants and grocery store meat and produce are lacking in the nutrients we require, but should I blame someone else and then go ahead and eat? There are other options, as Annette and others have pointed out. Even if you don't have land to plant a garden, you can work together with those to those who do in planting one, assisting with the work, in order to get a healthier food supply. Rachel and I started buying our own beef from a farmer, one who unfortunately uses commercial farming practices, but nonetheless, we've know it's possible to find a farmer who doesn't since we've left the idea of grocery store meat behind for the most part. When we lived in a townhome, we had friends store meat for us until we had money to purchase a deep freeze.

These are just ideas I have running around my head. Perhaps we in the Church really do need to analyze far more where our food comes from and realize that we have a large role in our own deteriorating health and can actually do something soon to stop it. Doing so may give us a food supply when our current source of food has shortages. And while the health gains may not be immediate, I've always been told that we're reaping today what we've sown 5-10 years ago, how much more true that could be 5-10 years from now when the food supply may be just a few molecules away from almost being plastic... Perhaps that's an overstatement, but I'm not willing to take a chance on it anymore. For those of us with inflammation problems, diseases, cancer, heart problems and stroke, or those who will, the time is now to start changing.

KC Weekend Update

2008-12-18T16:49:00.002-06:00

Well, we're T-minus a week and change until the KC weekend begins. Thanks for those of you who registered. Right now, official numbers hover right around 190 guests signed up and 230 local brethren. My guess is there may be up to 50 to even 100 not registered that are coming. Or it could be that numbers really are down this year because of the economy or Charlotte's regional weekend, too. Either way, that's 420+ people all descending on one place for several days of fun and fellowship. A mini-feast, I've been told several times.

We have 9 volleyball teams as of this writing and 8 basketball teams for competitive sports, so there should be some fun games there. If you still don't have team after midnight tonight, then you'll get to play recreational volleyball, join in on the children's activities, or bring a board game or deck of cards and play with friends. We might also need some help with scorekeeping or linesmen on the sports if you would like to volunteer.

Anyway, we look forward to having everyone out, and if any of you need anything, please let me know.

Kansas City Regional Family Weekend

2008-11-07T16:21:00.003-06:00

Yeah, we're having it this year... December 27th and 28th. The details can be found here at the lcgkc.org site. Please read over the entire announcement since there are a lot of details and potential registration and sign-up forms, especially if you'd like to participate in sports or the card tournament. For those who occasionally monitor this blog and get far more traffic on your own, please feel free to post this info. I'd like to get this out ASAP so we can get a feel on numbers this year.

A few things to note...

Registration: we have a deadline to register by December 7th because we have a deadline with a local hotel, the Comfort Inn, at that time. So those looking for a discounted rate on hotel, this is your opportunity. That and it's the holidays, so who knows how quickly that place could get filled up. But it's just one exit from the meeting hall for all activities, so the convenience can't be beat. If you need housing with brethren, you'll need to register that early, too, so you can ensure that you get a place to stay. It's first come, first serve. Also, please consider, if you're planning on staying more than just Friday and Saturday night, that people do work and it costs money to feed guests. So you might need to check around to different places for additional accommodations for those days beforehand or afterwards.

Payment: Yes, we're asking for money in advance this year. The Lee's Summit Rec Center was completely rebuilt and is much larger, giving us more options in terms of space and activities. However, it has come at a larger price. So in order to pay back those folks who are giving the Church a temporary loan to cover costs, we ask for prompt payment, if you can afford it. $5 is all we ask, up to $25 per family. Payment details are in the announcement.

Sports: Please start talking to your friends about putting together teams now, come up with a catchy name and SIGN-UP! The rule this year is you will not be able to play in the competitive sports if you don't sign up a team. That means 4 people per basketball team and a minimum of 4 people per volleyball team, although 6 is probably preferred. Basically, we want to give our planners and organizers far more time to get a good tournament set up. Also, please sign up for only one competitive sport so there aren't any scheduling problems. The deadline is more lenient than registration, December 18th. If you don't sign up for competitive sports, then we have a spare volleyball court for recreational volleyball, which will just be people jumping on a court and having fun. So if you're a competitive volleyball player, I recommend that you get on a team. :) If you're between basketball games, or out of a tournament, then this is a great option to keep playing. Also, we have the gym all day, so there may be more opportunities to play later in the day if we chose to put together full-court basketball if the numbers work out. But I'm not promising anything just yet... :)

Dance: The dance was just decided today that it will be costume-themed. So dress up! The reason it took so long to figure out is because I was approached by several folks who didn't appreciate some of the costumes in years past. Call them uptight or grouchy but I saw some of the same things... If you're planning on wearing something super tight, revealing, "acceptable by today's standards" or offensive, then I or someone else reserve the right to make you take it off. If we have a good showing, then perhaps I won't be approached again in the future. Sure, someone will always get offended, but we as Christians are supposed to go to certain lengths to make sure that doesn't happen. Thanks for your cooperation in advance with this. A "theme" may come out in the next week or two, but because my creative juices haven't been flowing lately (I threw out "The Kingdom", "The 80s", "People Mr. King Impersonates", and Gary Jones' request of "All Elvis").

Card Tournament: We're trying something new this year to get people involved in a more social activity besides straight fellowship. We're hoping to split the tournament into two smaller tournaments so people can play in one and dance the other half, or talk, or play in both. This may be a good way to meet new people. As of right now, the game is likely 10-point pitch, which even I learned after just a few hands. You'll change partners as you win or lose, meet a bunch of fun people and and have a blast! But if you'd rather dance or chat, so be it...

Children's Activities: We will have them Saturday night and Sunday, for those with 2-12 year olds who might get bored with cards or dancing.

Anyway, spread the word. I'm having Rachel put together a Facebook announcement and there should be a church announcement coming out shortly, too. Yes, we're pretending to be organized this year... :) See you there!

Slight Correction

2008-09-05T15:45:00.005-05:00

Okay, so I thought my last post was making an interesting point, but as I considered it more, there's a disconnect between exposing the holes in our perception and being a false witness. I mean, if you outright lie to me about something I'm completely ignorant of, I have no information to compare to in order to determine its legitimacy. That individual didn't weasel through our perception at all, unless we just gullibly believe anything we hear, see, or sense, in general. So really, the two concepts of our perceptions being deceived and false witnessing are connected at the moment when our minds decide what to do with information when we receive it.

For example, let's say someone we don't know says something we know nothing about. It could be the complete truth, partial truth, or a flat out lie. "Bob got drunk last night," the person says. Or perhaps, "Spain has the world's largest cathedral." We may immediately put the information in a holding pattern until we can verify for ourselves. Or we might use what common sense we have on the subject to determine. Or we may look to visual cues to help us, such as the talebearer's eyes, their style of their dress, the amount they're sweating, the tone of their voice, etc. Either way, that information of the whole event has been inserted into our mind, the statement, the tone, the look, or whatever. What are we going to do with it?

With a magician, he may use illusion to make you think he walked through a wall or made a bird disappear. Our senses and brain scream at us saying that it couldn't have happened. But we just saw it with our own eyes. Or we just saw what the magician wanted us to see. Deception is tricky (haha!) that way. If a pathological liar chooses to try and deceive us, how ready are we to believe it? Not likely. How about our own mother or father or spouse? Far more so. Even our children? "I didn't do it!" How ready are we to put every thought we have about what we sense to the test? In the end, and this may seem weird to say, we choose to be deceived. I'm not even sure I fully agree with that statement. So maybe I'll rephrase it to something like, we choose to continue to be deceived. It's the old, "Fool me once..."

So how does this apply? If we see a minister walking out of a bar with a woman, we may be flabbergasted. Now, do we have a bit of a grudge against him and want to see him mess up? If so, we might think to ourselves, "I always knew he wasn't that good." Or if we know he's a good person, do we confront him and see what really happened? As it might turn out, the minister may have been helping remove the woman, who was having severe personal problems, from a bad situation. Do we bother to find out, or do we continue to live with whatever we think? Or if it's none of our business, do we try not to dwell on it? Do we tell someone else about it?

Similarly, if we've been keeping Christmas or Sunday all of our lives and find out about the Sabbath and Holy Days, what do we do? "Well, I prefer getting gifts and not riling up the family, so I'll stay put," some might say. Others may see the Truth and follow it, realizing that it produces much more long-term happiness than the lie did.

I bring this up because as I learn more as a Christian, I have found that I become, for lack of a better term, un-ignorant about something sinful that I like to do. In other words, God reveals to me His righteous judgment on something and waits to see how I handle it. He even throws in memories of the countless times that the very action hurt myself and others, memories I didn't see in this new context, even though it might have been pleasurable for the moment. Satan found a way to blindside me for years through the loopholes in my perception, whether it was fooling my senses, using my selfish pride or attacking my lack of knowledge and wisdom. However, once called, God supplies us the insight, the way the "magic trick" works, so to speak. Once we know the trick, is it still as incredible to us? Now that we know, should we continue to sin or poke around in places and ways we know we shouldn't?

For me, magic acts have become less mysterious because I know some of the techniques used by illusionists. However, it's fun to watch these talented magicians perform their act flawlessly on others. It's even more amazing when they catch me looking and make me fall for something. But when it comes to Satan, the Master Illusionist, it's not so fun watching him pull a fast one on humanity. And it's unfortunate that I still participate in activities I know are wrong just because of passing pleasure or habit. They certainly aren't nearly as fun anymore. But I always seem to find happiness when I choose to give up the sin that God has enlightened me to understand.

So my question is, when you find out how a Satanic trick works, what are you going to do about it?

The Hand Is Quicker Than The Lie

2008-09-03T15:56:00.008-05:00

I'm a big fan of illusion. I grew up watching David Copperfield and really wanted to learn about levitation and the rubberband trick. I love Penn and Teller and how they infuse comedy with their magic. I'm even a little interested in how some people seem to illicit mind control over others and lead them down paths of thinking, only to amaze that person who fell for it.

Yes, there's also something unusually sinister about illusion. I refrain to call it magic because that has more of a supernatural connotation. And God also warns us to stay away from sorcerers, witches, mediums, diviners, 'observers of time', or enchanters, and the like. Interestingly enough, the word in the King James for 'observers of time' is 'anan', which figuratively means to act covertly. Something isn't right... It may thrill us, but some magic can creep us out. I remember sitting with my uncle watching David Copperfield have some unseen force pulling him into "The Bermuda Triangle", and my uncle stating, "THAT is demonic..." Haven't we all seen a magic trick that was just a tad creepy in its presentation that made us wonder if they didn't have some evil spiritual help?

Yet as someone who has studied illusion and "magic" (there, the quotes will mean so-called magic from here on out), it's nothing more than being one, or ten, steps ahead of the audience. The right hand moves in a certain way distracting what the left is doing. The pretty assistant keeps you from noticing the magician. Curtains hide trap doors and mirrors minimize or maximize the look of space. No, even the super-creepy Criss Angel, Derren Brown and David Blaine just have something up their sleeve, and you'll notice they don't exactly go up to the brightest folks in the world to perform their street act. And they have plenty of assistants and research that goes into each illusion.

However, after reading a report on neurological science and how our brains make assumptions about the world around us, and how that perception can be manipulated by illusion, I'm not so sure my uncle was completely wrong. A scientific society invited magicians to present their tricks of the trade, like the Amazing Randi, Teller (yes, he talks) and others. After reading their reports and watching some of the video demonstrations, I saw how feeble our minds can be when trying to comprehend all the information that is constantly buzzing around us.

For example, a video camera will record visual data in the same way our eyes do. But our brain may focus on only one part of what we're looking at. We can always go back and focus on other areas of a video recording, but our brain may not completely remember what we didn't focus on. Similarly, we can block out background noise in a large crowd and focus our attention on someone talking to us, or tune them out when our favorite song comes on over the speaker system. Time passes quickly or slowly, or we may not notice the pressure of our uncomfortable shoes over time.

We even make assumptions about what we are able to focus on. We assume we know what others are thinking or doing, or where the plot of the movie is going, etc. It is those assumptions that allow illusionists to deceive us. In fact, Teller even stated that the more a person feels like an expert on magic, the more he knows he'll be able to deceive him. Think about that for a moment. Something about over-confidence being a stumbling block...

Of course, we go to "magic" shows to be entertained. We want to be tricked as much as we want to know how the trick works. However, this seemingly-harmless exploitation reveals a much darker side of these loopholes in our perception. To me, it began to shine a light on a hidden, secret and destructive sin. The 9th Commandment states that we should not bear false witness, a statement that goes way beyond just lying. 'False witness' can also mean to present something less than the whole truth or to withhold something in order to deceive. Lying, in its traditional sense, is to directly speak an untruth. When we are a false witness to others, they often feel betrayal. I believe this is partly because, whether we know about our neurological shortcomings or not, we are shocked that our perception of reality is not as on steady of ground as we thought it was. God has given us all a sense of trust in others that is built in.

In studying civilization, one can find that a few things are absolutely required in order for us to live peacefully together. First, you must not expect your neighbor to murder people, otherwise you won't have neighbors and everyone will live in fear. Second, you must trust your neighbor not to lie most of the time, otherwise agreements, contracts and business could not be sustainable. Society cannot function at all without these two vital principles. Thus, even though we know that people lie from time to time, we still innately trust one another and expect people to tell the truth. Society breaks down little by little with each untruth.

To put it another way, if you study up on the psychology of eye-witnesses and their reliability, most are shocked to find that eye-witnesses are terrible at recalling minor details of a crime, individual or location, even major details. Personally, I don't have a problem with that, and I'll explain why in a little bit. To me, it's the amount of rock-solid trust we put in eye-witnesses that bothers me. I watched a video where a room full of law students have a fake burglar come into the classroom and steal an item right in plain sight and they're later told it's an experiment. But when each student is asked to give specific descriptions of the burglar and what he stole, the stories are widely varied. It's no surprise that God tells us that we need two or three witnesses to prosecute someone, because obviously if people shared the same story, that increases its likelihood of being true. But people conspiring together to witness falsely can easily foil this, and that breaks down society, too. Hence why it's nice that God sees all things.

So some of you might be asking now if I think "magic" or illusion is essentially being a false witness. Personally, I still love the mystique of it all as well as the psychology that comes with it. But logically-speaking, it appears to be false witness, with the exception being that most in the audience should know that it's just a trick... right? Much in the way that the aliens in Galaxy Quest didn't know that the Earth actors were, well, acting, it could be an honest misunderstanding that someone might mistake someone that calls themself an 'illusionist' is somehow practicing the black arts. Some magicians do try to put on an air of, "Wow, this is so Satanic...", and those magicians should probably be avoided by true Christians. After all, should we desire to deceive others and cause them to become more skeptical and cynical when in the end, we just say, "Oops, it's just a trick" (Prov. 26:19)? After all, wasn't that innate trustful nature and innocence that God gives us all what led my uncle to blurt out what he did to the "magician" on the screen? I will admit, it did look, well, less than natural. But in the rubberband trick? Nah... Just a good illusion.

Overall, though, there are holes in our ability to perceive. Being a false witness takes advantage of these holes. God allows us to make a choice between truth-telling and protection of the self through false witness. He made us able to deceive others, but only if we choose to do so. And if we choose to do so, others are greatly hurt by it, all while the effects ripple outward to all of society as trust breaks down and innocence is lost. We are designed, it seems, to have gaps in our ability to interpret what our senses take in and then make assumptions based on those interpretations, and exposing those gaps hurts greatly. Unfortunately, the short- and long-term effects of betrayal are not just an illusion... But then again, neither is God's law magic. It's the simple and plain and out-in-the-open truth.

The Great Escape

2008-08-14T15:50:00.002-05:00

[I'll issue a little warning at the beginning of this entry: This is a line of thinking that I feel and haven't completely nailed down yet, logic-wise. I'm not even sure if it makes total sense. Perhaps just typing it out will help, I dunno. Anyway, here goes...]

So I work in a nerd profession with a nerd degree, thus it makes perfect sense that I work with many a geek and nerd. One commonality among the nerd populous is their love for sci-fi, fantasy and role-playing genres, whether that be movies, books, comics, short stories, games, etc.

I have listened as people explain their passion for these subjects and the ridiculous number of sub-categories contained within. I have one friend that can remember most any plot from The Twilight Zone, another who has memorized every character, alien and spacecraft in Star Wars and Star Trek, yet another who spends countless hours playing Dungeons and Dragons, and the list goes on and on. I listened to these zealots recount the countless technologies and societies described in these mediums, how those technologies affected those involved, the psychological, philosophical, economic, political and comical ramifications of each involved.

I have also seen countless hours spent by these friends keeping up with their nerd-dom hobbies. Three nights this week with the DnD group, spare time learning High Elvish, catching the latest on Cowboy Bebop, analyzing the ramifications giving Data a chip that gives him emotions, wondering if Asimov forgot anything in his AI laws, spending weeks on the Everquest and World of Warcraft servers...

I've always been fascinated by the kinds of conversation I can have with these fanboys and the kind of deep thinking that accompanies these alternate realities they spend so much time in. Do you have the idea that controlling all crime and weapons will cease societies ills? We have a movie that takes that to the nth-degree. Want to see what a completely technological future looks like? Here's a book... Want to see where wars will take us if we continue on? Here's Terminator. What if every human had everything they wanted... What would we spend our time on? There are short stories chronicling that ideal. What if we mixed medieval society with some of modern technology? Vice versa?

But to tell the truth, I always got kinda weirded out on most of this stuff... Sure, having an escape from time to time is okay; sports, games, family recreation, books, daydreaming, etc. But for many of these acquaintances, well, they took sci-fi and fantasy to a whole new level. If they weren't playing one, they were reading or watching the other. And again, I understand that addictions happen for people who like sports, romance novels, politics, playing the stock markets, the entertainment industry, gambling, etc.

Because many sci-fi topics encapsulate philosophy, psychology, society, economics, technology and science, which interest me, it was a lure to listen and participate somewhat. There was depth. But the more I look at the immersion that people get into any side activity, I keep getting the feeling that people are dying to remove themselves from their own life and the reality that is around them. It was more entertaining to think about the democratic process falling apart in Star Wars leading to a dictatorship Empire than watching it happen in our current world. It's better to dream about battling orcs than battling this world's problems. It's better to have a game persona that we add strength and magic points to rather than improving our social, financial and moral well-being. It's easier to discuss evil and totalitarianism personified in the Joker and the Borg than solving issues of gray areas such as Middle East terrorism and communism.

Yes, we all need respite from the difficulties of life and dive into our various escapes. But identifying just how much our escape has become our preferred existence is important to note... Using yet another comic/sci-fi example (as there are many, hence why it's an enjoyable outlet), Neo's day job was more of an illusion than his hacker nightlife that questioned "reality's" true identity. However, with any addiction, we find that these escapes simply become opiates that dull the senses and distract us from our true goals. Moral issues become blurred, black and white appear more grey, and the vanity that is mankind's philosophy gets us so confused that we can't debate our way out of a wet paper sack lest we break some nonsensical fallacy. Or perhaps we simply can't turn off the TV, shut down the game, close the book, or turn off our imaginations, even.

Again, I'm not really trying to say that this whole nerd genre is evil and everybody who participates in any form is inherently evil... But it stands to reason that we need to evaluate the level of involvement it has taken in our lives, just like with any other interest. I've heard it put that people escape to fantasy because it sure beats the doldrums of reality. But I've also seen time and time again that truth is stranger than fiction. God's philosophy is far superior to any futurist writer. Our spiritual battles with the demon kingdom make Sauron and his armies look like a joke. The descriptions of the Eternal's visage, throne, four living creatures and other spiritual beings simply send chills down my spine when I truly try to consider them beyond just the words.

Anyway, if you have anything to add or have any rebuttals, comments are welcome... Again, this is more a feeling I have than actual, reasoned-out thought. I'm sure I fall into the same category on many of the same escapes that affect us all, this is just one that I haven't been able to nail down what's bothered me about it for quite some time.

Courage

2008-08-04T16:22:00.002-05:00

In Kansas City, we have a wonderful sports writer named Joe Posnanski, who recently wrote an article on courage being discussed by battle-tested soldiers in a class he was facilitating. Near the end of the article, he asks the class what they think real courage is, not the kind in sports, but the kind displayed on the battlefield when your life is on the line. Some of the points of the article were:

“You’re going to be scared,” said another. “There’s no way around that. But you have to go through it so you can tell yourself: ‘OK, that fear wasn’t that bad; it wasn’t enough to paralyze me. I can perform my duties even feeling scared.’ ”
They agreed that physical fitness is a big part of courage. “If you’re fat and out of shape, your courage cannot hold out on a battlefield,” one said. “It has nothing to do with how brave a person you may be. You can’t hold out, because you are fighting your own body in addition to fighting the enemy.”
They also agreed that certainty galvanizes courage. The surer you are of what you are supposed to do, the more courageous you feel. “This is why we train so hard,” a soldier said. “We train until it becomes automatic. You don’t want to think in that moment on the battlefield. You want to react like you have been trained.”
Finally, they said that courage comes from confidence, from an unshakable conviction that what you are doing will succeed.

Wow. You can take those comments of these battle-tested soldiers and apply them so easily to our current and coming spiritual battles. From these comments, I have learned:

That fear of trials is normal, but that I must learn how to accept it and continue onward.
That I must train; mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually. If my mind or body gives out during the rough times ahead that we in the Church know well in advance are coming, then I haven't done my part. That's why Bible study, prayer, fasting and meditation are so important. But it's also important to physically go do what I know to do. True religion is doing. And training will enable all of us to react automatically in the right way when fear has taken hold of our mind and body.
"Certainty" of the task, or believing that what I'm doing is actually correct; proven from God's Word. You don't want to question your beliefs when you're standing in front of a king or ruler with your life on the line. Prove them now while discussing and teaching with others.
Confidence -- or faith in God that He will do as He promises. There will be a Kingdom set up and Jesus promises those who follow Him will receive an office in it. And we will be responsible for training the rest of the world in the same way. Do I believe it? Will I believe it if my life is hanging in the balance?

Even though we in God's Church don't participate in mankind's wars, we can learn some lessons from these soldiers. For even God stated to His people:

"Be strong and of a good courage. Do not fear nor be afraid... For Jehovah your God is He who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you." -- Deut. 31:6

Quote of the Day

2008-07-22T16:17:00.002-05:00

"People don't change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat."

A Diagnosis

2008-07-21T09:32:00.003-05:00

Hi folks... I wonder if anyone still checks this page anymore after my inability to post anything for the last month or more. With parenting, I've discovered that I have a lot going on, but not much of it is of any interest to anybody except those going through the same things, or those who've already have gone through the same things and want to laugh at our pain. :)

Anyway, I finally got some news on my stomach ailments after buffeting back and forth between dozens of possibilities for months. It appears that I have a wonderful bacterium called Clostridium difficile. Feel free to peruse the Mayo Clinic's informational page if you have a strong stomach. (After reading it, you'll realize why I don't...) As of this moment, I don't know if I have the antibiotic-resistant variety, but I have no reason to believe that I do.

That said, with some strains of C. diff hitting the headlines lately as the new "super bug" along with MRSA and others, it's sure nice to know that I could be counted among the statistics. :) It just shows that mankind's ways still lead to death and I've contributed my fair share along the way. But sometimes, we're just in the path of previous generation's sins against God. In this particular case, it's a mixture of both. God tells us plainly about quarantine and washing up in His Laws, and even though Israel didn't know about Germ Theory way back then, God did. Our knowledge of it today sure hasn't made us any wiser about it (hence the ridiculous amount of antibiotics that I've been prescribed that possibly got me in this position in the first place). But if previous generations would have followed these laws, the problems we have with germs today wouldn't exist. If I had followed them, I would have had a higher chance of not getting one of them.

So to me, this all seems to point to the idea that no matter how much knowledge mankind has gathered that somehow "proves we don't need God anymore", we still very much do. I for one, am one silly child who stuck my hand in the fire and found out it burned rather than listening to my Father who already told me so... regardless of what actually makes the fire hot.

More Is Less?

2008-06-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

My dear wife sent me an article from the NY Times about how southern Spain is rapidly drying up into a desert for several reasons. Obviously, the first reason cited is that temperatures have risen more there than the world average and they're not getting the rain they're used to. However, what's interesting is that because so many businesses and people are still flush with cash, that region is still booming in development, meaning new water-thirsty golf courses, casinos and other tourist attractions. People are building their homes next to the beautiful beaches, as would anyone in such an attractive area. They want their lawns and trees lush and green. Farmers are planting more water-hungry crops like lettuce, strawberries and corn rather than the standard olives, lemons and figs that the area is known for.

The appearance of a strong economy is actually soaking up the resources available to that area faster! The water manager for that area says he can only allow 30% of the government-allocated water to go to each of the properties, businesses and farms due to the shortage. That has caused corruption with people digging hundreds of illegal wells and setting up a black market for water. Government loopholes allow people to claim that planting several trees in their yard makes their property a "farm", thus increasing their water consumption. The regulators are accepting these claims in order to make an extra buck on the side. The area has already outgrown the available resources and yet the government is still allowing the area to be further developed. This cycle cannot last forever.

This same cycle is happening all over the world. In the U.S., areas like California, Nevada, Arizona and Colorado are having or have had booming population growth that is unstustainable. In the last decade, we have been seeing the fruits of packing so many people in arid areas, which is much like how fruit would look in any arid area. The drying of the land has contributed to far more landslides and forest fires, which isn't helped by the fact that more people trying to get away from the city are moving the boundaries of that city to the hills and forests.

Due to the incredible growth of the last several centuries, mankind vainly figured it could engineer it's way out of these kinds of problems. Indeed, God blessed Abraham's, Isaac's and Jacob's children in a way that has made the rest of the world not only jealous, but envious to the point of copying our current land-leeching tactics or just outright taking our resources by bad financial policy and greed by our own country's government and businesses.

I recently heard about the so-called "water/diamond paradox" which is to say that diamonds are fairly useless overall, and yet they are priced extremely high, whereas water, which is useful in almost every way imaginable to sustain life, is priced ridiculously cheap. All in all, a booming economy may lead us to the illusion of prosperity where greed and lust eventually sucks the most precious resources out from under us because we continually take them for granted. The wonderful time-saving gadgets, fancy restaurants, huge homes and fast cars won't amount to much if we are completely starving and parched. "...But do not hurt the oil and the wine." God tells the black horseman to allow the most useless junk that we desire to be plentiful when our actual needs of basic food and water become completely scarce.

So keep an eye on the rivers, water tables and wheat production instead of the overall financial economy. Money, goods and prosperity are quickly becoming just a mirage on the desert that mankind has created for itself.

[UPDATE: I just read another article in the KC Star that says that irrigation artificially cools the air in that local area, so farmland hasn't felt the full effects of any warming trends that may be occuring elsewhere. However, many of the aquifers that help irrigation in places like Colorado, Kansas, California, even large parts of Asia, are drying up requiring more energy from fossil fuels to retrieve what's down there. That, in turn, continues to add CO2 to the air. So warming could be compounded by several degrees, on average, in rural areas as irrigation water begins to dry up.]

Gut Reaction

2008-05-05T14:29:00.005-05:00

I've been dealing with chronic stomach problems for the last several months. I've been annointed for each issue and have prayed for God's healing. I truly do believe what James says in the 5th chapter of his letter about going to God's elders and trusting in Him to heal me. In fact, I saw someone else immediately relieved of some intense pain in my own home just last week after getting annointed. I've also done my due diligence on the web in research, visited several doctors about some of my shorter- and long-term problems. I'm trying to establish both a possible direction to take for a cure as well as determining what to pray for God to heal.

Sickness of any kind isn't fun. These particular problems are especially frustrating because it's really not all that painful, but nothing is quite right. And most of my symptoms could point to, or eventually cause bigger problems if not corrected. In fact, I still have no idea of the cause. All of this comes at a time when doctors are finding the latest in antibiotic-resistant strains of an old microbe commonly found in the stomach and intestines that causes many of the same problems as I have.

I state all of this for a couple of reasons... First, I don't have a problem with doctors and what they try to do. But obviously, they can't heal major organs, have difficulty with the bacterial world, don't fully understand how the brain and attitude affect health, and so on. They can't even diagnose many problems today. But when they can, doctors are helpful and can extend life beyond what may have been possible decades ago. Pharmeceuticals are both a blessing and a curse. They promise to cure you at the same time have some side effects and interactions with other medicines that can be worse than the original complaint. Case in point, it's possible that antibiotics and a medical procedure I had a few moons ago may have very well caused my current ailments.

Second, I trust God. I believe that I have the faith of Jesus Christ working with me, helping me to believe in the Father more and more every day. I've seen and heard of miracles and, as the Apostle John tells his audience over and over again in his gospel, he hopes that we believe more strongly as a result.

But then some doubts hit me... Questions and thoughts arise in my mind like, "Didn't Jesus heal to help people believe in His ministry, and as a result, His Father, to follow Him? Wasn't He doing it to establish His Church, or act as a witness against those who still wouldn't believe in spite of great works?" Or, "The pattern seems to go that God only heals those in dire situations or those needing more faith at a rough time in their lives." Or, "Mr. Armstrong had so many healings because God was raising up the Philadelphia era of the Church, yet tells us to 'hang on' in this age because we will have little strength (perhaps meaning miraculous power)." Or, "God, even though I totally know he can heal, hasn't healed several chronically ill people I know lately. Perhaps He's waiting for a time closer to the Tribulation or the Kingdom, itself."

But James 5:14-15 comes back and slaps me upside the head. Perhaps the early 20th-century Church was successful for other reasons. Perhaps people had more faith back in Jesus' and the apostles day. Then I have to think about what an annointing really is. It's total submission to God and His government. It's us, once again, surrendering our will in exchange for His. Even if God has chosen not to heal me or others at this time, it doesn't mean He's not fulfilling His purpose in us.

One of my biggest attributes is I'm a problem-solver, and I like to think and work quickly to get stuff figured out. The down side to this trait is I get impatient with a lack of results, but doggedly press on. With your stomach, however, as my wife continually reminds me, steadiness, diligence and patience are key. Whereas I'm changing my diet, moving onto some new theory as to what's broken, adding stress each week this goes on, realizing that stress isn't helping, slowly relaxing from that stress, wondering and pondering why diligence has to take so stinkin' long. Is waiting only going to allow some more terrible illness I have but don't know about continue to eat me up?

Finally, I realized that I really wasn't putting this whole problem fully in God's capable hands. Similar to detaching my entire abdomen, handing it to Him and saying, "Here, see what you can do with this." Of course, I really wish that I could do that, physically-speaking. What stinks is that some of us are really hands-on folks who have a can-do attitude about everything and that makes it difficult to allow God to tackle our problems for us. "Oh, don't worry about that, God, I'll handle it." Others trust that only doctors and physical medicines, potions, herbs, spas and chiropractors can fix them. Many tend to believe any competent-sounding person claiming to have a cure. Well, they very well could, but perhaps it's best to allow God to lead you to the right cure and sit tight while He does. Other times, in the case of especially difficult times that lie ahead when doctors won't know what to do, we will only be able to rely on God to save us.

But we read that God's yoke is easy and His burden is light. Right now, my burden is feeling heavier than I'd prefer it be. Recognizing I'm trying to do this all on my own is the first step, and trust me, I've pretty much ignored it for a long time. "Yes, I know we need faith." Okay, act on it. "Okay, I believe STRONGER." No, quit trying to do everything yourself. Surrender. Hand it over.

I truly believe that I could learn to apply this in every avenue of my life: relationships, character-building, finances, parenting... And as it turns out, in many areas where I have succeeded, that's what I've been doing. Don't worry about finding that job, God will provide. Don't even think about how you'll get out of this situation, God is 5,000 steps ahead of you, so you should wait for His answer. Search for the lesson in this trial, God's placed one in there for you somewhere. Place my whole being, and everything that comes with it, in God's hands.

My stomach's not better yet, but this has certainly put it more at ease.

Supply and Demand in a Scarcity Market

2008-04-30T10:55:00.003-05:00

Okay, I need help from you economically-brilliant folks out there. I just read this article that Mr. Wheeler posted on Mr. Smith's blog talking about scarcity markets and their impact on prices. I'm having trouble understanding the markets for, well, pretty much everything right now. And my main purpose is to try and put my understanding of prophecy surrounding the Four Horsemen and the Olivet Prophecy in a better context, at least to what information we currently have. So the gist of my question is:

Why is demand so high for basic resources right now?

Is it because there's a shortage of actual raw materials (unprocessed oil, grain, rice, copper, etc)? And/or is it because there's a shortage of production even with an abundant supply of raw materials? And/or is it purely psychological due to a shift in the balance of power, the falling dollar and rising nations of China and India and their resource demands? Is it all real need or just fear that we might need more resources in the future? Are things priced higher because demand rose suddenly when producers weren't expecting it and they're struggling to keep up? I understand the issues surround oil reserves, recognizing that tar sands, deep earth drilling and other new reserves deemed unprofitable until lately due to the price spikes. But do food and materials have the same issues? (I know we've already discussed corn here previously, too...)

And if we're not short on reserves for these various raw materials, but just lacking production or delivery methods, will catching up lower the market prices back to "normal" quickly? Are producers dragging their heels even though there's plenty incentive to hire more, drill more, dig more, make more, etc. with the higher prices? Or is there just too much fear that rapidly increasing production will rapidly decrease demand, thus bankrupting producers?

More importantly, if there isn't a shortage of raw materials, will these unstable markets create a shortage? Will they create famine? Will they cause nation to rise up against nation to fight for available resources? Will deep earth drilling cause major earthquakes? (Okay, that one's just me being silly, so don't take me seriously...)

It all makes me wish I took macroeconomics in college... It seems obvious that we're heading down the path of prophecy of the Bible, but I'm interested in thinking about just how it might all flesh out while we're getting there. Any input or perspective would be appreciated.

Psychology of the Two Trees

2008-04-25T14:44:00.004-05:00

I read this recent blog entry of an occasional writer for Newsweek, Wray Herbert, and thought his points are excellent. Basically, his point is that the human mind switches between thinking in two basic ways: 1) thinking in absolutes, black and white, the gist of the matter, and 2) analytically, or relativistically, carefully weighing both sides of an issue and then choosing.

Traditionally, children think in the #1 category. Young adults think more in the #2 category as they come out of their teens and begin questioning all the things they were taught as children, figuring out who they are and attempting to find their place in this world. As people age more and more, they begin thinking more and more in the #1 category again, and view the younger adults as more idealistic rather than realistic. For example, a child is told that getting drunk is bad for you, so they believe it and stay away. Young adults may reconsider this attitude if they happen to spend time around drinkers of alcohol and become sympathetic to excessive drinking, even doing it themselves. Having learned hard lessons in their younger days, more mature individuals may once again have proven that, indeed, getting drunk is bad.

The above blog entry goes on to say that teenagers show some interesting results in behavior associated with each type of thinking. Teens are at a fine balance between the two categories as their minds grow and absorb tons of new information, perspectives, advice, independence, etc. So when asked questions on the subject of the risks of sex to determine which category of thinking they fell into, those whose thought more analytically about the risks, carefully weighing both sides, tended to be the ones who took more risks with sex. Whereas the group that thought more globally about it, "sex has risk, so don't have sex", they were far less likely to begin.

I think what I find fascinating is that as children, we are told very simple instructions on how to behave. When we are older, we learn why those behaviors were good even though our younger minds were incapable of understanding the full reasons behind them. We even go on to teach many of the same lessons to our own children. It reminds me of where Jesus tells His disciples that they must become as little children in order to enter the Kingdom of God. Follow God's instructions without question and then learn why.

Adam and Eve were also given simple instructions. But when given an alternate viewpoint on the matter of the two trees by the serpent, Eve probably began thinking deeper about the two sides of the issue, weighing the risks involved, hence the, "...and when she saw it was good for food..." part. I think that's where most of mankind's troubles begin. When something as black and white as God's instructions is presented to man (I mean, He's THE source of all good, right?), does one do it or does that person begin rationalizing? Do we surrender to His will and reasoning, or begin adding our own while not remembering that God's intention is to help and save all of mankind?

When people think of the smartest in the world, they might think of deep thinkers like Albert Einstein or Socrates or Plato who turned the world upside down with their perspective-changing ideas. And yet, when God thinks of the greatest people in the world, He tells us it is those who tremble at His Word and humbly do as He says... Many times without question.

As somebody who enjoys pondering many of life's questions, usually beyond what would be considered reasonable, I fall into the trap of thinking that more thinking is better. Indeed, aligning with God's thinking is better, but we can only gain His mind by first obeying what He instructs us to do. Granted, don't kill curiosity... But rather, don't be curious in the first place in that which God clearly states, "This is the way, walk ye in it."

Farming Politics Prior To A Famine

2008-04-24T16:41:00.002-05:00

This article just floored me. Basically, Congress is on the verge of passing a new farming bill. This occurs during a time when prices for crops are at an all-time high, and yet are extremely volatile. Farmers stand to make a bunch of money due to demand for corn-based ethanol, but are dumping other crops at a rapid pace to dive into this emerging market. Hence the volatility for other crops... No one knows what's going to happen this year on the markets, and just imagine if a major drought or other issues arise to decrease our supply.

But what really struck me just how Congress is replying to this increasing chaos in the farming markets: They're doing nothing. Nothing much, that is, and some congressmen are raging mad. Others, who come from states that give subsidies to farmers, don't have the support to take away the federal gifts appropriated to their constituents. Just look at this section:

"But even strong proponents of the bill, like Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat
of Iowa and chairman of the Agriculture Committee, concede that farm
interests are deeply entrenched and that there is little appetite for change
among many farm state lawmakers, especially when it comes to the direct
payment program.

The direct payments are based on the amount of land that certain farmers own, and Harkin, who has sought to eliminate the payments, said that many recipients of the money then use it to acquire more land and qualify for more payments.

"It's like the black hole in space that astronomers talk about, everything gets sucked in and nothing ever comes out," he said.

"This is the black hole of agriculture. It doesn't make sense, but farmers continue to get it." Harkin said there was not much he could do because, "I don't have the votes," adding, "People love free money."

Isn't that depressing? Leadership not willing to not only do what it takes to alleviate some of the stress caused by these markets on farmers (see this article for more on that subject) but on food prices, food availability, and whether or not this whole ethanol thing is really good for Americans in the first place! (On a side note, one place I read said that even though ethanol/gasoline mix (E85) is cheaper, $2.89/gal as opposed to $3.50/gal for unleaded, figuring in its inefficiencies on our engines (lower mpg) raises it's adjusted apples-to-apples comparison with gas to $3.65. And it may be worse for the environment.) So basically, people like free money and may not vote for you next time around, so don't fix anything and let the whole system tear itself apart. Nice.

Baseball: Read This... Quick!

2008-04-07T14:26:00.003-05:00

Please hurry, for this article will only be funny for another couple of days or so! (The Royals are winning their division while Detroit, the odds-on favorite is 0-6. Of course, there are still like 156 games left to play...) I don't usually post on sports, but this is funny stuff...

Who Leads Europe?

2008-04-04T16:13:00.003-05:00

Henry Kissinger once asked, "Who do I call if I want to reach Europe?" According to a Harris Interactive poll made for the International Herald Tribune, that answer is clearly becoming Germany. Click here to look at an image displaying what each country polled thought. It looks as though every country in Europe believes that Germany has a leading role while Americans believe Britain does.

Duuuuude!

2008-04-03T09:34:00.006-05:00

As I read over the news each day, I constantly encounter a word or two that, when I read them, I first think that they give credibility to the article and read on... But then I'm reminded that both are words that really means nothing. Those words are 'officials' and 'official'.

I talk to my wife, who is a journalism major, about this every once in a while. Since I wasn't regularly reading newspapers before, oh, let's say, 1988 (more like 2001), I have no idea how long this practice has been going on. But I would guess that the practice of using these words grew significantly after the Watergate scandal. For us young pups who weren't alive back then, some "official" called a reporter back then and leaked the whole story to the press about President Nixon having his people stealing some Democrat paperwork from the Watergate hotel in D.C. That "official" had a name of "Deep Throat". Of course, that reporter never told anyone who his source was, but fortunately, a slurry of evidence came forth proving that the President did indeed order the raid.

Again, this is my guessing here, but journalists everywhere probably saw this confidante witness technique used successfully and cheered, "Now I can publish anything anyone says as long as I don't say exactly who said it! What would be a good word to use here..." And the word officially became 'official'. Its definition is, roughly, someone somewhere who probably knows what they're talking about, but we won't bore you with the details of their actual name.

And call me picky, but this is probably where the downfall of modern journalism really picked up speed. I mean, really... What do you and I normally call someone who tells us some unsavory secret about somebody or something without telling us first who exactly said it first? That's right, a gossip. And isn't that what's going on in sentences like this: "Many Pentagon officials say that the War in Iraq is failing." Or "An official from the company stated that the executive was indeed having an affair." And it sounds official, doesn't it? Of course it does, that's what the word means! Some even say "senior official" to make it more legitimate.

Just for the fun of it, sometimes I like replace 'officials' with 'some dudes' and see how legitimate it sounds then. "According to some dudes down at the Justice Department, the case represents only a small facet of an intelligence-gathering operation... blah blah blah" Pssssh! Says who??

Granted, it isn't bad everywhere it's used, but there are some news stories that don't have as much as a single source outside of 'some dude' who told the reporter their thoughts and the reporter turns around and spews it to us like it was fact. How much 'news' is really gossip and opinion in a thinly-veiled disguise that appears on the surface to be vigorous fact-finding and research? Find out at 10!

The Cold Reality of Fear

2008-03-26T13:43:00.009-05:00

Some recent experiences have caused me to think some about the times leading up to Christ's return and our preparation now. In one experience, I was driving on relatively safe winter roads when I encountered some dangerous, ice-covered bridges; seven or so in a row. After realizing that the first bridge wasn't safe, I continued to slow down over each successive bridge and came to realize that I had no control over my car on any of them. The whole time there were cars and trucks strewn all over the shoulders of the road or wrecked on the bridge railings. By the last 2-3 bridges, I had built up a lot of fear and was no longer thinking, but merely reacting. I was in another situation involving road rage only two weeks later and had similar results. There was no time to think, only react and do everything that my experience told me to do in that situation, right or wrong.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to watch it or not, but Tom Cruise's movie War of the Worlds sent chills up my spine when I saw masses of people running for their lives and doing anything it took to escape the invading alien forces. People murdering each other just to steal a minivan, children and adults alike only able to scream and run or stand and stare in horror. There was no trace of rational thought and no one was really able to flee the powerful army. It struck me that this could be a representative picture of the coming tribulation and Day of the Lord that will soon be upon the whole world.

When we have control over our minds, humans are capable of so much. We can dream, plan, grow and build. We can act and behave any way we want. We can even convince ourselves to overcome just as we can act convincingly that we are someone we may not be. However, when we lose control over our minds from fear or sudden change of situation, we are reduced to our basest thoughts and actions.

I believe this is one major reason why it's so important to study God's Word, to meditate on it day and night, and why we must regularly put it into action. On those icy roads, had I been a 16-year old from a warmer state, it's quite possible I would have ended up with a busted front bumper or in the median. But years of experience driving on icy roads (as well as God watching my back) taught me not to overcorrect my steering, to not quickly brake or accelerate, etc. Those were my "instincts", so to speak.

Similarly, what kind of faith, knowledge, wisdom, character and habits we form today may very well be ultimately tested in the biggest trials to come to mankind. Make no mistake, we will have some part in tests and trials leading up to the Great Tribulation. The first 4-5 Seals of Revelation will most likely be opened during our lifetimes where we live, much in the same way that the Israelites were allowed to experience the first several plagues on Egypt. And at the same time of greater stress on this world, there will be powerful signs from false ministers. Matt. 24:24 - "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders; so much so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the elect."

One way that the elect will be deceived is by not being prepared mentally or spiritually for such a situation. How could we possibly prepare for what's described as the worst time in human history in which there can be no precedent? Well, put simply, God tells us to surrender our will to Him, do as He instructs and grow in grace, knowledge and character. We must do this until it is firmly ingrained in our brains and habitual. Then and only then will He see us through it.

Ask yourself: What words come out of my mouth when I hit my thumb with a hammer or stub my toe? What transpires in my mind when someone really ticks me off? What do I say or think about others when they're not around? How about my boss or minister? Do I secretly or publicly sin and can't stop? What makes me think that I will somehow magically change when fear takes over? Quite frankly, if we can barely hide these things under normal conditions when mustering all our self-control, we will most definitely revert to our true nature when this world is falling apart around us.

(As a side note, this is why I've been harping so much about government lately. Many believe that they can ridicule or ignore God's ministry and human leaders and yet still fully submit to Christ when He returns. This is false reasoning simply because Christ is using mankind's governments today to test our willingness to grow in submission and servant leadership. "Why do you say 'Lord, Lord' and do not the things which I say?" This is similar to watching how your date treats your waiter in order to determine how she treats people in general, including you. Following the same premise of habit-forming, it is wise to practice the same form of government in the Church that Christ will set up in God's Kingdom rather than being led by our own will or electing others, essentially giving them our own permission, to lead us.)

I approach things from this angle only to show that it will be extremely difficult to enter God's Kingdom. As Mr. Reynolds once said in a sermon, "Gaining entrance into the Kingdom of God is not as easy as falling off a log." Understated, but well put. Similarly, only in-depth Bible study, fervent prayer, regular fasting and deep meditation on God's ways, will and Law, followed by real action, will train our brain to react correctly when under great duress, as well as normal, everyday situations. Not doing these things... well, we probably won't be as wise and brave as we'd like to think. To know where you currently stand, analyze how well you handled your last real trial, not just what you learned from it.

For an example of how meditation can permanently change how we do things, note what religious and medical folks are learning about the brain. An interesting article in Newsweek discusses the Dalai Lama's "interest in neuroscience. A few years ago the Dalai Lama was visiting an American medical school and watched a brain operation. Afterwards, he chatted with the surgeon, telling him how his scientist friends had patiently explained to him that all of our thoughts, feelings, memories, dreams and other mental activities are the products of electrical and chemical activity in the brain. But he had always wondered something, the Dalai Lama told the surgeon. If electricity and chemistry can produce thoughts and all the rest, can thoughts act back on the physical stuff of the brain to change its chemical, electrical and other physical properties?"

Back then, the surgeon said no. "The brain produces and shapes mental activity, the brain surgeon said; mental activity does not alter the brain." However, today, scientists think otherwise. Repeated experience, thought and meditation about a particular activity causes the brain to persist in that activity even when not actively meditating or thinking about it. For example, thousands of hours of meditation for having compassion on the entire world leads Tibetan monks to "an enduring change in the brain which persist even when the brain is not meditating: it looks as if thousands of hours of meditation ramps up activity in the brain's empathy region, and keeps it ramped up even when you are not engaged in meditation." In other words, it's always primed and ready for empathy and compassion. It's one of their brain's first reaction to any stimuli.

Similarly, if we regularly study, meditate and act on God's Word, our brain will be ramped up and trained to react to every situation with righteous character rather than our selfish, sinful way. Consider it strength training, for it really is. Our mind will learn to filter out the trash that this world produces and see it for what it truly is. If we mimmick King David's meditations in Psalm 119, we may one day also be a "man after God's own heart". All tests and trials in our lives both help us to see problems with our current path as well as gauge how well we're letting Christ live in us. Would I react to my sins like King David did in Psalm 51? Sometimes these trials can catch us completely off guard and we get a glimpse into how we might react to an awful crisis of the worst kind, the kind coming soon.

Habitually practicing and learning God's way will create godliness, virtue, righteous character and faith that will see us through future trials. I take these two scriptures very seriously: Rev. 6:17: "For the great day of His wrath has come, who shall be able to stand?" and Luke 18:7-8: "And shall not God avenge His own elect who cry day and night to Him, though He has been long-suffering over them? I say to you that He will avenge them speedily. Yet when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" There's a lot of hesitation in those two passages. If we aren't trying to overcome day and night, we may very well stumble in the time leading up to the Day of Wrath if we revert to our carnal nature, at least to the amount we still have.

I learned through my recent experiences that fear and trembling can truly expose my true character and heart. Obviously, the same can be said through the humble and respectful awe we have towards our God when we fear and tremble at His Word.

King David Lineage Strikes Again?

2008-03-25T15:54:00.006-05:00

Well, if that old WWCG theory about how English kings and US presidents are direct descendants of King David is true, I have potentially bad news for you. According to an Associated Press article, Barack Obama has quite a number of US Presidents in his lineage, more so than Hillary Clinton or John McCain. This could mean nothing, but who knows?

Obama has a prolific presidential lineage that features Democrats and
Republicans. His distant cousins include President George W. Bush and his
father, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman and James Madison. Other Obama cousins include Vice President Dick Cheney, British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill and Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

Possible Prophecy Potential

2008-03-25T13:46:00.002-05:00

I've heard about the Pope calling for inter-faith conferences before to discuss problems in the Middle East, but similar calls are now coming from Saudi Arabia! Seeing as how hard-line Saudi Arabia is on Islamic issues and that they're one of many nations still not diplomatic with Israel, this could be a huge development. It may one day bring a short-term peace to Jerusalem which could allow the Jews to begin sacrificing again. Keep watching...

Since It's an Election Year...

2008-03-24T12:42:00.002-05:00

...Here's an old article by Dr. Hoeh about attitude towards government, especially concerning those in leadership roles. It's a bit long, but I feel it's air-tight in respect to how we view our newly-elected officials, or even dictators in other nations. Enjoy!

The Plain Truth - January, 1964

The Christian Attitude --
RESPECT Government Authority

How should you treat officials with whom you disagree? What are
your obligations, as a Christian, to the government under which
you live?

by Herman L. Hoeh

WHAT is your duty toward the government under which you live? Should you resist Supreme Court injunctions? What about "peaceful demonstrations" and "sit-ins"? Do you owe respect to officials with whom you may disagree? Should you pay taxes to political office-holders even when they abuse their high offices? Are officials responsible "to the people," or to God? Which?

What Does Scripture Say?

This generation has grown up in an atmosphere of utter disrespect toward authority. You see it everywhere -- both in the home and in public life. It's high time to realize there is a JUDGMENT coming. It does make a difference how you act toward those in authority. YOUR BIBLE explains the relationship of Christians to human governments. But how many of YOU know what it says?
Notice Romans 13:1-7: "LET EVERY SOUL BE SUBJECT unto the higher powers. For there is NO power but of God: the powers that be ARE ORDAINED OF GOD. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: AND THEY THAT RESIST SHALL RECEIVE TO THEMSELVES DAMNATION! This is not just Paul speaking. It is Jesus' directive to Christians for all time, for every generation. Notice it! "They that resist" -- those who refuse to submit to authority -- "shall receive to themselves damnation." That's not just the penalty for assassination or for murdering a policeman who is protecting the peace. That's the penalty for ANY who RESIST constituted authority. That's the awful judgment God renders on those who incite civil strife, or who create incidents by so-called "peaceful demonstrations" or "sit-ins" or bombings of churches and schools.

Continuing: "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: for he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. WHEREFORE YE MUST NEEDS BE SUBJECT, not only for wrath, but
also for conscience sake. For this cause PAY YE TRIBUTE ALSO: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. RENDER THEREFORE TO ALL THEIR DUES: TRIBUTE TO WHOM TRIBUTE IS DUE; CUSTOM TO WHOM CUSTOM; FEAR TO WHOM FEAR; HONOR TO WHOM HONOR.
Instead of preaching this truth from the Bible, most ministers preach their own words about "getting out the vote," or "supporting a Christian candidate." "It is your duty," they say.
This is not what Jesus or the apostles taught. The REAL Christian duty is NOT to mix with political affairs of this world, but to be subject to authorities -- to show RESPECT for
those in public office. You are to be SEPARATE FROM the world, although living decently and respectfully in it (John 17:15, 16). The time to CHANGE this world is at the coming of Christ. And it will take Christ to do it.

Does Government Authority Come from the People?

Government authority and power are ORDAINED OF GOD. They are not derived "from the consent of the governed" -- the people. Your Bible says so! "There is NO authority but of God." "The authorities that exist are ordained of God." Human beings seem to reason that because men may be elected or appointed or may seize power, that their only authority proceeds from the people that supported them. And the people like to have it so because it puts the people IN THE PLACE OF GOD! This is an age when men don't want to acknowledge the God
who rules in earthly affairs. The clergy is failing to preach the truth. Almost everyone is as ignorant of this power as was Pontius Pilate. Jesus had to tell Pilate that the authority
vested in him came from the Almighty. Notice that Pilate reasoned just like people today: "Then
saith Pilate unto him, Speaketh thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I HAVE POWER to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?" Jesus answered, "Thou couldest have no power at all against me, EXCEPT IT WERE GIVEN THEE FROM ABOVE" (John 19:10-11). Since all authority is ordained of, or allowed by, God, we are to be SUBJECT to human governments. In respecting that authority, we are showing respect to God. Anyone WHO RESISTS THE
AUTHORITY OF HUMAN GOVERNMENTS IS ACTUALLY REBELLING AGAINST GOD WHO ORDAINS THAT AUTHORITY. This applies not only to CIVIL authorities, but equally as well to any person in a position of authority, whether a school teacher or a foreman in a factory.

Thinking Up an Excuse

It is only human nature for people to think of an excuse to rebel against God. It doesn't matter how evil men in office may be. It is GOD who will judge them! God ordained rulers to punish evil works and protect the obedient. Even though officials may be elected or appointed by the people, THEY ARE ACCOUNTABLE ONLY TO GOD WHO PERMITS THEM TO EXERCISE AUTHORITY. Persons in responsible positions may fail to properly fulfill the responsibilities of their offices -- to punish wrong deeds and preserve order. They may even in some cases corrupt the government. But as long as God permits them to be in authority and to remain in office, you are commanded to REMAIN in subjection to the divinely ordained authority which they hold.
You pay respect to God when you respect men who hold office by God's permission and authority. Since it is God who sets men in office, it is HIS responsibility to remove them. One who does violence to public office -- or one who approves such an act -- is trying to steal God's authority as supreme ruler. It is so hard for human beings to conceive this principle because nearly everyone has been deceived from childhood into believing God has nothing whatsoever to do with the civil governments of this world. Perhaps you were never told that THE RIGHT TO EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER HUMAN BEINGS IS SOLELY THE PREROGATIVE OF THE DIVINE CREATOR. Human beings do not inherently have the right or the ability to rule properly over fellow human beings. But God is a God of order, not confusion. Since men won't
submit to His own government and laws, He has given permission IN THIS AGE, before the return of Jesus Christ, that men may exercise authority in all phases of life.

Example of Saul and David

Human beings in authority sometimes serve themselves and the devil, but the OFFICE is ORDAINED OF GOD! You honor the person BECAUSE OF THE OFFICE which he holds, even when his deeds may be evil. Consider the case of Saul and David. King Saul obtained his
position from God, as do all rulers. Saul was disobedient to the Eternal and David knew it. Did David therefore rebel and seek to organize the people to remove him from office?
No, he did not -- not even after God had chosen and anointed him to replace Saul as king. Instead, David said this: "The Lord shall smite him; or his day shall come to die; or he shall
descend into battle and perish. The Eternal forbid that I should stretch forth mine hand against the Eternal's anointed" (I Sam. 26:9-11).

Notice that David recognized the fact that it is GOD'S RIGHT to put persons out of office. It could not be the people's right since the people have never been given the right in God's sight
to put such men INTO office in the first place. David respected and honored and submitted to the office which Saul exercised. He left it in GOD'S hands to remove him from office AT THE APPOINTED TIME! Christians must do the same.

Nebuchadnezzar had to learn this truth, and it took him seven grueling years. He finally admitted after gaining his sanity that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth up over it the BASEST OF MEN (Daniel 4:17; 2:21).
Even if God decides to place in office the least capable and the basest men -- because of the sins of the people -- who are we to condemn the wise judgment of God? AND STRANGE AS IT MAY BE, SOMETIMES THE PEOPLE, IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO MAKE THEMSELVES WISER
THAN GOD, ELECT THE LEAST CAPABLE MAN, WHICH IS ACCORDING TO THE PLANNED FOREKNOWLEDGE OF THE ETERNAL GOD. God never approves corruption or abuses by office-holders. But it is God, not you, who will judge them. Your obligation is
to respect THE AUTHORITY OF THE OFFICE.

Is Submission Always Obedience?

There are certain powerful churches, particularly in Europe, but also in America, which teach that human government is not only of divine origin, but that respect for authority and
submission to officialdom means TOTAL OBEDIENCE TO LEADERS and even dictators.
This teaching is absolutely FALSE! Jesus' words in Matthew 23:2-4 are quoted to support this
terrible error. In speaking to the multitude and the disciples, Jesus said: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: ALL therefore WHATSOEVER they bid you observe, that observe and do ..." It is at this point that these denominations stop quoting the words of Jesus to give the impression that you must obey everything that a person in authority commands. But what did Jesus continue to say? "But do NOT ye after their works: for they say, and do not." There it is. Those Jewish religious leaders taught part of the truth, but they themselves were not obeying the truth. Therefore Jesus had to instruct the people that the RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY of the scribes and Pharisees must be respected. They were to observe whatever truth was preached, but they were NOT TO FOLLOW THE ERROR.

In Acts 4:19 you are given the true Bible definition of "submission." The disciples had just been commanded to DISOBEY God. What did they say to the authorities? That OBEDIENCE to God
is more important than obedience to men. Notice, however, that the apostles did not resist them. They SUBMITTED to the PENALTY imposed by their accusers (Acts 5:40).

Thus you have the true relationship that should exist between every Christian and the human government under which he lives. You are to honor and respect authority and SUBMIT TO EVERY ORDINANCE OF MAN. ONLY when obedience to human rules and regulations would violate the laws of God should you steadfastly decline to obey. But even then YOU MUST RESPECTFULLY SUBMIT TO THE PENALTY. So said the apostle Peter.

What Peter Commanded

The apostle Peter recognized the importance of Christians' relationships to human government. He had the courage to preach the truth. Here is what he said: "SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO EVERY ORDINANCE OF MAN FOR THE LORD'S SAKE: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. FOR SO IS THE WILL OF GOD ... Honor all men. Love the
brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king" (I Pet. 2:13-17). Take careful note of his wording. "Submit yourselves to every ordinance." Peter did NOT say, "OBEY every ordinance." Of
course not, He knew that many human regulations are wrong. God expects all Christians to obey human regulation whenever and wherever possible, and always submit to the penalty in case
obedience to human law would be sin. We should never rebel or use violence even if we know human governments are making wrong decisions.

Christians are to be examples of submission to government regulations, no matter how childish or absurd some stipulations may be. "Be subject to principalities and powers ... to be ready to every good work, to speak evil of NO man" (Titus 3:1, 2).

Is It Wrong Even to Speak Evil of Officials?

It is a common practice for people to resist government regulations and to accuse office-holders, whether the President or the corner policeman. This supposed "right" of the people is
abominably misused. There is a righteous limit to the "freedom" of speech. The Bible sets that limit by commanding you to refrain from speaking evil of dignitaries. Solomon said you are not to curse officials even in your thoughts (Ecc. 10:20).

It is reproachful to Christ as well as a dishonor to His authority for Christians to hurl or to repeat NEEDLESS ACCUSATIONS against rulers. This, of course, does not mean that you can't say anything about a man's mistakes. Rather it means that no gossip or misrepresentation of facts which damage a person's character or prestige is to be repeated.

Christians should not fight the government in its own courts as certain deceived religious sects sometimes do. Rather submit, and patiently pray for God to change the circumstances according
to His will. Most Christians ought to pray more earnestly that their minds and hearts would be free from slanderous thoughts, NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE PERSON SEEMS TO DESERVE THEM. The righteous Michael the archangel even refused to accuse Satan. He calmly said, "The Lord rebuke thee." Only the UNGODLY dig up evil to throw needlessly at their enemies (Prov. 16:27).

There is also another important point which has often been overlooked. In Romans 13:4, you read that Christians are to "be afraid" of government power, if they have committed evil. Yet
Jesus taught us not to fear man, but rather fear God (Luke 12:5). How can you reconcile these verses? By the fact that Christians are NOT actually to be afraid of the men in office, but rather "OF THE POWER" which they wield by God's permission. You fear their authority because they are the servants or revengers of God to curb crime. In reality, then, you are only fearing the power of God who gave this authority to rulers. When you do good, you "may boldly say, 'The Lord is my helper, and I will NOT fear what MAN shall do unto me"' (Hebrews 13:6).

Is the Payment of Taxes Necessary?

Now comes an often-misunderstood part of this vital message. Should you pay taxes if you are a Christian? If so, why? Paul said that Christians MUST PAY TAXES, CUSTOM DUTIES AND
TRIBUTE to those in authority. Why? "For they are God's ministers," His servants, "attending continually upon this very thing." It is their job, their work to regulate society and to punish crime. Government costs money. Officials are worthy of their hire. Because of covetousness, especially when income tax or land tax bills appear, some seize upon the words of Jesus in Matthew 17:24-27 as an excuse for failure to pay taxes. Notice what Jesus really said: Christians, being free and heirs of the Kingdom of God, should not be required to pay tribute to a FOREIGN government, "notwithstanding, lest we should offend them ... give unto them" the tax. Yes, Christ commands you, just as Paul did, to pay taxes. And you should not pay them grudgingly, either. It is the right of leaders to receive remuneration for their duty. But what if
officials are not performing their duty properly or are squandering tax money for private ambition? Are you still to pay taxes? Certainly. You are not the one to judge whether he is worthy of his hire. As long as any person is in office, you are to honor that office by submitting to it. It is so easy to forget that human beings are not the judges of one another -- that God is the
Judge. Officials are not responsible to the people but to God. Your responsibility ceases once you have honestly paid the tax or the duty. It is the official's responsibility to see that he properly administers the money.

Although this is the day of exorbitantly high government costs and subsequent high taxation, you should never fear that God may fail to provide the amount necessary to conform to state,
Federal or local laws. Jesus provided Peter with the extra tribute money beyond the normal increase (Matt. 17:24-27).

Prayer for Officials

In the days of the Roman Empire, when Jesus was training his disciples, it was the custom of the government to COMPEL PEOPLE TO CARRY MAIL and goods belonging to the Empire. Jesus referred to this forced practice when he said, "Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain" (Matthew 5:41). Notice that Jesus taught submission, not resistance.

Today the government does not compel its citizens to bear this responsibility. How thankful are you for this fact? It is so easy to forget the benefits of an ordered society -- the postal service, and the various agencies of protection, to name a few. So easy to neglect Paul's admonition that supplications, prayers, intercessions, AND GIVING OF THANKS, be made for all men: for kings, and FOR ALL THAT ARE IN AUTHORITY; that we may lead a life in godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (I Timothy 2:1-3).

God has established earthly governments TO KEEP ORDER until His Kingdom comes. It is your commanded duty to submit to their authority patiently, excusing the obvious faults inherent in
human leadership. No HUMAN government can be perfect. It may even be required of you by God to suffer unjustly when you have to obey God rather than man. But you must submit to that penalty. All human history is a record of the tragedy of human governments which God is about to replace by sending Jesus Christ to establish the Kingdom of God and bring us peace and security. Let's pray for that day!

Another Shocker

2008-03-21T10:11:00.002-05:00

'Tis better to give than to receive?? Surely not! "New research reveals that when individuals dole out money for gifts for friends or charitable donations, they get a boost in happiness while those who spend on themselves get no such cheery lift." I wonder if giving does even more than tingle the happiness nerves? Perhaps more research needs to be done...

Niiiiiice

2008-03-20T09:41:00.003-05:00

Nice guys DO finish first!! W00t! Maybe this "God" character knows what He's talking about after all!! (My philosophy professor once argued with me about how the Christian faith was "impractical"... "Turn the other cheek? Okay, how many times? You'll be miserable and lose everything you have if you let people continue to punish and take from you!")

Pet Doctrine Obedience School

2008-03-17T10:10:00.008-05:00

One thing that almost every person in the Church of God has in common is the fact that we all have certain pet doctrines. I have two: one is a pomeranian and the other is a ferret, figuratively speaking. They may appear all cute and cuddly, but don't get too close... They bite.

Seriously, I've heard all kinds of pet doctrines over the years. Some are just personal beliefs that are more theory than theology. Others cause complete disruption in the Church. And of course, there are all colors, shapes and sizes in between. They're breeded and custom fit for your way of thinking and your personal experiences. Need some examples?

The atmosphere was a fine mist around the earth that blocked harmful UV rays that allowed man to live 900+ years. It caused the Flood. Or...
Mankind had much of the same technology we do today at the Tower of Babel, and that's why God gave them over to different languages, so we wouldn't genetically engineer ourselves into super beings. Or...
Conspiracies are real! Or...
The correct understanding on the calendar is... [insert pet doctrine here]. Or...
Views on new moons, make up, eating out on the Sabbath, reading other church's material, how to keep the Sabbath, how to count Pentecost, what the gospel is, what the Work of God is, what kind of government is best today, who's the end-time Elijah, when is Christ returning, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera (there's that Latin in italics again).

Did I hit one of yours? Some pet doctrines are completely provable. Some are disprovable. Some are interesting thoeries. Some are nice thoughts and good suggestions. Some are working toward the right direction, but are part of a larger spiritual understanding yet to be discovered.

This post is not written because of, or for, any one individual out there (you're so vain... :-D). It affects most everyone in God's Church, including several of my friends and family, as well as myself. Pet doctrines have been at the center of sharp divisions since the apostle's time; since humans have lived, really. People attending the same group can have wildly differing views on subjects thought to be well understood. Others know they don't agree with their group's doctrines on a subject, but they "go along" knowing that one day "they'll see it God's way [MY way]." So what can we do about these pet doctrines?

Identify Pet Doctrines

I think, first, we must identify which of our beliefs are pet doctrines. Do we believe the same as CLEAR and PROVABLE teachings of the Bible, the Church, our minister or our fellow members? Regular Bible study and fellowship about godly principles will help you see where you're in agreement with God's Church. If you find yourself not agreeing with a church doctrine, or part of the sermon, talk with your minister about it. Make sure it isn't just a misunderstanding on your part. If you are still in disagreement, then dig deeper, seek more counsel and pray for understanding and a teachable spirit.

The Church of God is to live a separate way of life than the world (in the world, not of the world). However, the feeing of joy/pain associated with separating from the world for a righteous calling and purpose can lead some to feel that any separation from a majority position to one of the minority justifies that their own thinking is more righteous than others around. This can become a vicious cycle leading to stay-at-home churches. "My wife and I are still in agreement, but I'm starting to wonder about her, too." Granted, just because a majority believes something doesn't make it true, as is the case with the world. However, "in the multitude of [wise, righteous] counselors [led by the Holy Spirit, shown by their obvious fruits,] there is safety." Loners are rarely right, either, nor is being alone healthy for growing in grace and knowledge. Even finding others who agree with your pet doctrine isn't a guarantee, for "if the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the ditch."

Are your ideas firmly attached to the "trunk of the tree", or are they limbs and leaves? Are they vital for salvation, or are they just interesting side points? Will people enter into God's Kingdom without your understanding on a doctrine? Do they regularly cause problems with the ministry or other members?

Put It To The Test

Another vital step is to test our pet doctrines. It's really not a bad idea throughout your lifetime to subject every one of your beliefs to an intense proof study from time to time. After all, if they're correct, what do you have to lose? Pride? We should all be getting rid of that nasty characteristic.

For fact-based beliefs, it doesn't hurt to bounce ideas off of experienced members who know their Bibles well. Also, get the history and context behind the verses you're using. Prove it from multiple sources. Don't use the most obscure Greek word that happens to fit your idea. If possible, ask a Greek or Hebrew scholar who doesn't have a religious agenda to interpret. Be willing to say, it may not be totally provable until Christ explains it to us. II Tim. 2:14-16 - "Put them in memory of these things, charging them before the Lord not to dispute about words to no profit, to the subverting of the hearers. Study earnestly to present yourself approved to God, a workman that does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. But shun profane, vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." Do your babblings, er, I mean, ideas increase ungodliness, that is, Satanic confusion?

For faith-based beliefs, use this simple scripture: "Test (or prove) all things. Hold fast to that which is good." Get rid of what isn't helpful or good. In other words, DO it. Test your belief by acting on it. Don't just keep vocalizing it ad nauseam. I John 3:18 - "My children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth." And I John 2:3 - "And hereby we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments." Don't shrug off God's people who don't agree with you by labeling them as "weak", ala I Cor. 8. Rather, suffer them, as the rest of the scripture says. Live and let live. If your tested belief works well repeatedly, then let your example show it. Let the fruits of such faith shine through. It may take months or years for others to notice, but it's far better proof if someone sees your example and grasps it because they've "experienced" it. But be honest with yourself if it doesn't produce the fruit of righteousness. v19-20: "And in this we shall know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him, that if our heart accuses us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things." God will show us if we are wrong, too, if we are listening carefully and praying for His will to be done. Humility is vital -- are you proving YOUR point or God's?

How Does Your Attitude Affect Others?

One must analyze whether their pet doctrine is a confident labrador, a quivering chihuahua or a growling, biting rottweiler. Has your belief on a subject caused fierce division even among those who taught you? Are you afraid to share your idea with others in fear of ridicule? We should always seek the truth, regardless of how it makes us look. God's Word always leads to a better life, right? "All things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose." I John 2:3 stated above says to "know that you know" God's ways. Be confident in your beliefs, but they should also edify and encourage others.

God's ways ultimately cause unity, not division. Even if your pet doctrine is God's doctrine, God surely doesn't want you misrepresenting Him by acting like a pompous jerk in presenting it. Phil. 1:15-16 - "Some indeed even preach Christ because of envy and strife, and some also of good will. Those, indeed, preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely..." Even though Paul rejoices that the gospel is being preached, I'm sure he would have rather not had to defend it because of those individuals' attitudes, as he states, "...supposing to add affliction to my bonds." Paul was imprisoned for his teachings, yet did not strive with his captors. There is a difference. Being disfellowshipped is not righteous suffering. More than likely, someone who was cast out of the Church was striving and causing division rather than "the leaders not admitting that a lay-member was right."

Remember, it took decades before Mr. Armstrong changed his position on counting Pentecost. But he did recognize his error. Are you willing to wait? As long as gross sin or apostacy is not being committed, is it really worth leaving over? Is the present course going to cost the Church its salvation, or are you just personally hurt by being slighted for the moment? Did a minister or authority figure step on your toes?

Rather, discussing your beliefs with loving, gentle patience will help your point be made. Every adult and child would rather feel that they are being taught for their own well-being rather than their correction, even though they may be one in the same. However, when it is felt that someone is merely being contentious and vain, it becomes easy to tune out. (The Author recognizes that he has been tuned out many times before, too. He is trying to be less preachy... Honest!) Rebuke may be necessary at times, but ask yourself, "Am I the one that really should be doing the chastizing? Is this individual even ready to hear this right now? Will they accept it in their current level of understanding?" Again, does the presentation of our ideas cause strife with others? Is our attitude divisive?

And always remember, it's okay to agree to disagree with people. Some people just won't see it your way for now. There may be a difference in personal interpretation or life experiences. It's better to still have a open, loving relationship with your brethren rather than being seen as one always stirring up trouble or never letting something die. Are you going to have more success as a saint being right or being patient and allowing people to see the Truth in time? Again, if no one sees it your way, take another step back and re-evaluate. Ask for help doing so. Being humble and honest with yourself is hard when you're right all the time, I know. :)

Partial Truth

As most of us already know, God's word is layered with a lot of depth, which is why we are instructed to continue to study it regularly. We do this to remember basic doctrines and to keep our understanding in perspective, but we also study to apply our most recent life experiences to God's word. I have found that my perspective as a teenager was different than when I became employed, or when I became married, or now that I have a son. Surely those who have experienced 50+ years in the Church will have much more understanding than that.

Someone who is new to a subject may have only uncovered a little of the complete picture of the rich spiritual meaning contained therein. Here is a silly example of this: One may say, "We should study our Bible on the Sabbath." Yes, but we can also fellowship, too. "NO! We must STUDY! You're doing your own pleasure!" Hopefully no one has encountered this particular argument, but similar, narrow-minded viewpoints have been made on a variety of subjects. An individual is not narrow-minded because they are simply unaware of subject matter, but if they are unwilling to hear and contemplate new or differing understanding than their own. Mr. Smith made the analogy of an ant walking on the Mona Lisa. "This is all black right here where I'm standing." **Picks the ant up high above the painting** "Oooh, I didn't know all THAT was there!"

As good Bible students already know, study ALL relevant scriptures on a subject. By reading through the entire Bible regularly, you may run across something that wasn't found by using Strong's or a topical reference. Regular discussion with other faithful members will bring out perspectives that you may not have considered before. God created the Church with this purpose in mind. "Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

Let's Hear the Conclusion, Already!

Pay careful attention to each point Peter states just before his death to the entire Church: II Pet. 1:5-8 - "But also in this very thing, bringing in all diligence, filling out your faith with virtue [praiseworthy actions], and with virtue, [God's, not your own] knowledge; and with knowledge self-control [watch what you say and do], and with self-control, patience [allow people grow and understand at the rate God is leading them], and with patience, godliness [righteous and holy fruits will shine through], and with godliness, brotherly kindness [are you displaying gentleness and kindness, or are you divisive?], and with brotherly kindness, love [even shown to the world and your enemies?]. For if these things are in you and abound, they make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

When we have pet doctrines, we must make sure that they are indeed God's truth. We must watch how we present these ideas. Even if our intentions are good, we must inspect the fruits of our attitude towards our pet doctrines. We must also inspect our attitude when others present their ideas to us. Amazing truth can come from anywhere. But so can junk. If you feel something is absolutely necessary for salvation, do it! "For he who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin." But allow your example shine to those who may not agree with you. And be willing to admit when your way didn't work and learn from that. Search for the entire truth on a subject... It will take a lifetime, and even then, we won't come close to what God knows.

God expects us to take the gift of Truth that He has given us and use it for the edification of others, not only for our own selves. If we isolate ourself from others because of our pet doctrines, we may become no different than the crazy cat lady down the street. However, if we "live peaceably with all men, as much as depends on you", we shall lie down with the Lamb in God's Kingdom.

Wars And/Or Rumors of Wars??

2008-03-06T09:39:00.002-06:00

Gotta love those crazy dictators... er, democratically-elected leaders. Señor Chavez is posturing rather loudly with Ecuador playing along all while Colombia is protecting their people from a organization that has been terrorizing its people for 20+ years. You gotta love a name for a terror org like FARC 'cuz it's just screaming for a B action movie with Jean Claude Van Damme. This all seems like a similar setup to hairy situations the US was in while I was growing up... Granada, Panama, Noriega going crazy... It even harkens back to the Castro and Cuba, Viva La Revoluçion with Che Guervo, et al. It's been a while since South, Central or Caribbean America has blown up full scale into some kind of crisis that actually could have ramifications for the US. Venezuelan oil not only affects us (we import something like 15-25% of our oil from them), but refineries all over the region, including impoverished Caribbean nations, can only refine that kind of oil. It will also quickly take away the incredible amount of money that gives Chavez the power he currently enjoys. A poor, miserable people will only suffer a lunatic for so long. Meanwhile, the US is only really supporting Colombia in all this, so we have to defend them in case of attack assuming no one else comes to their aid prior to war.

Can the US handle another military front? Is Chavez working in tandem with Iran somehow on this to stretch us thinner than we already are? If we get involved with Venezuela, will that tick off OPEC? Stay tuned...

What's Your Job Description?

2008-03-05T09:28:00.004-06:00

Do you often wonder what your role is in life? In the Church? In a given occupation, there's usually a job description that goes with it. That description may require an individual to have several differing skills that all mesh into one job description. One example is housewife. Some have said that housewives must be an experienced babysitter, educator, counselor, psychologist, nurse, chef, interior designer, gardener, house cleaner, among many other roles. All of these roles fall under the same job description. Most jobs have multiple roles that must be mastered, or at least be proficient in, in order to be successful.

Every once in a while, it's good to review what God's job description is for each of us individually. I Cor. 12 discusses how each of us have various talents, gifts, works and ministries, and yet they all should seamlessly fit together within Christ's body. Sometimes several roles are similar. There are certain roles that all members of the Church have. There are certain skills that ministers, laymembers, or evangelists should have.

However, God loves a diversity of personalities, talents and viewpoints. My job description as a laymember may be much different than another laymember just as one minister may serve a different role in the Church than another minister. A minister's job description is obviously different than a laymember's. One minister may be better at humor and counseling while another may be better at researching history and reading Greek. I happen to be good at logic and computers while someone else may have skills in teaching and music.

The overriding point here is that God has called us for a purpose and He will use and develop the talents that each of us have in the way He needs. Growing up, I noticed that I was fascinated by many topics and have tried to gain understanding and skill in most of these areas. But lately, I notice that only specific talents and abilities are being used in my life. In fact, areas that I have never developed or thought were weaknesses are growing and are being used more and more.

That's not to say that the various talents we have that don't seem to match the "king and priest" job description must be tossed out. For example, I can't possibly see how my love of origami, volleyball and sketch art would fit. But neither could I have seen that my grandfather giving me logic word puzzles when I was 8 would develop my mind to become a computer programmer. Another example is that our love of games and sports teach us how to enjoy fellowship. Music and art teach us order, proportion, style and beauty. Telling stories may make us better speakers. These are in addition to Bible study, prayer, meditation and fasting, which add knowledge, sound mindedness and righteous judgment, among many other things, to our character.

Take stock of the various talents and responsibilities that you have. Then notice what skills you have been developing lately. Note where you've been asked to serve in Church or at work. Check to see if there are any patterns between all these. Read the scriptures to see how your roles coincide with roles in the Bible. God spends a lot of space defining the roles of deacons and elders, of servants (employees) and masters (bosses), of husbands, wives and children, along with the kings, priests, Levites and whole nations. Note the character and qualities of a Christian that Christ describes on the Sermon on the Mount. These are roles and characteristics that God wants us to develop on our job description!

It reminds me of a story that C.S. Lewis wrote in his book Mere Christianity. This isn't a direct quote, but basically states that when we surrender our lives to God, we can use the analogy of fixing up a house. We may be a quaint home that needs some paint, a little foundation work and some sanding here and there. Then all the sudden, God comes in with a sledge hammer and begins knocking down walls. HE wants to build a mansion or add a wing, whereas we were content with what we were. The question remains, are we allowing God to transform us so we can one day match His job description for us?

I believe it is important to know what our job description is because it directs our energy in the right direction. I've sat in a few year-end reviews where my boss told me I had many things to work on, that I wasn't living up to the full job description. Once they were right there in front of me, I could work on them. It became clear what I was supposed to be doing and I became more valuable to my boss and my company as a result.

It is important to note what our job description doesn't include. That's not to say that we don't go out and try to be a profitable servant by doing something benefitial for our boss. But we certainly don't attempt to do our bosses job. That mindset will lead us to criticize our boss and it will set him on edge. And we'll have spent more time thinking about how he should be doing his job (or how we could be doing it) rather than doing our own. II Thes. 3:11 warns against being a busybody which contributes to neglecting work. This doesn't only have to include our workplace, but can include Church and family as well. Rather, do what your job description says to and you will find more peace in your life (v12). V13 states, finally, that we should not be weary in doing well, in hard work. For that is our calling. We should be profitable servants in what we are given to do (Matt. 25).

Finally, it must be understood that as we grow older, wiser and more experienced that our roles in our job description will change. Some will be ordained deacons and ministers. Some will retire. Some will make more money to financially help out the Work and fellow brethren. Others will have more time to pray for the brethren, or prepare food and visit those in need. God may give us the gift of a wife or husband or child. He may take one away from us. As I heard in a post-Feast sermon this last year, God isn't promoting or demoting us, He's simply giving us a different role in the Body of Christ. We are still important and necessary as long as we stay faithful to Him.

All in all, our life's job description is very important in maintaining a right direction, using our energy wisely and preparing us for our future job in God's Kingdom. What we do today has every bit of importance for how we turn out tomorrow. Though our job descriptions may be different, all of us in God's Church have the same objective for our work. Completing the parable of the profitable servant, Matthew 25:34 states that Christ will welcome those who completed His job, "Come, blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

This Little Piggy Cleaned the Orchard

2008-03-05T09:20:00.005-06:00

Pigs doing their jobs... Amazing. "The little guys moved through like a pack of Hoover vacuums." They were eating rotting apples in order to rid an orchard of a worm and its larvae that, in past years, have been treated by a pesticide. That pesticide is dangerous to the food supply and ground water, so they're phasing it out. In order to find a replacement, one apple-grower has been trying out various animals to rid his orchard of fallen, larvae-filled apples. Apparently, this "innovative" farmer says his grandfather used pigs way back when... "I think if my granddad was alive today and he saw how excited I am about doing this and this information that we're gaining on this," said Koan, "he would just look at me and say, 'Man, you're stupid. You didn't know that?'"

Pass the pork chops, please!

Pics

2008-02-28T15:08:00.008-06:00

Well, we went to the Joplin family social and costume dance a couple of weekends ago. Here are some pictures I snagged of some real characters there:

Whoever this guy is, don't let him near your Doritos.

Don't we all want to do this to the ref some games??

"Ah do declare, whatevah will Ah do with mah hair?" (as maniacal Daddy looks on at his creation...)

Follow-Up to Am I Addicted?

2008-02-26T08:54:00.003-06:00

Apparently, the drug companies only showed some of the results of their drug tests on anti-depressants, so a group of researchers, using the Freedom of Information act on the FDA, got all the data on 5 or 6 of the most-used pills. The results are in... Apparently, in the double-blind tests, where even the doctor didn't know who was getting the real drug or the placebo, both worked almost equally well. Only in super severe cases did the anti-depressant really make more of a major difference than the placebo. The researchers concluded that since a sugar pill can make you slightly happier, too, then the patient can likely be treated without drugs at all!

Some people may be shocked by this (looking at the comments after the article), but I'm not. As I discussed in my previous post, Am I Addicted to Happiness?, dealing with difficult times or drastic changes in our lives need to be faced head-on. We do get down from time to time and need a pick-me-up, which requires action when we notice we are feeling this way. However, the kind of pick-me-up we choose is extremely important. If we choose something temporary and empty, like alcohol, drugs, partying, sex, TV, video games (until 5am), we aren't really going to get over it. As Mr. Burson once said in a sermon, depression (not just sadness, but emptiness and a loss of purpose, drive and energy) is a lack of God in our lives that has been filled instead with complete selfishness.

I found a fairly useful article on MSNBC that has some techniques that I've used when feeling out of it, and some have been preached in church: here (please excuse the cussing in the title). It discusses changing how we think: "We are not disturbed by the events, but by the views we take of them." If there is anything good, pure, etc., think on these things! I've said it before, but if you're in a trial and recognize it, you can always thank God for the trial and figure out what you can be learning from it rather than getting upset or down by it.

Other techniques mentioned in the article are:

Be curious
Think fast
Give thanks
Change your tape (don't replay the same negative thoughts over and over again)
Analyze your thoughts, are they logical?
Don't dwell
Act happy
Speak up
Talk to strangers
Do a good thing (serve others)
Shift your social network (perhaps your current friends are keeping you down)
Work it, baby! (Exercise)
Breathe deeply
Enjoy the outdoors
Eat healthy fats
Drink water

The fruits of the Spirit that are joy, peace, goodness and love require work on our part. They require fellowship and actively monitoring what enters our minds and exits our lips. They require healthy bodies, healthy emotions and a healthy spiritual connection with God. Prayer, Bible study, fasting (especially when depressed) and meditation bolster these simple techniques even more. Knowing that you are doing what's good and right will help us sleep at night... And they'll help keep you fulfilled.

The Personality of Our Creator

2008-02-20T14:40:00.002-06:00

On a camping trip a couple of years ago, Mr. Smith stated that by looking around at nature around us, we can get a glimpse of the kind of Creator God is. "The heavens God's glory do declare...", et al. That is, we can see His personality, His likes, His preferences, what He considers pure and good and clean all around us. So I was thinking it would be cool to come up with a list of adjectives or short phrases that describe the creation, and in short, describe our great God.

Diverse, balanced, pure, simple, yet complex. Orderly. Humongous, miniscule, everything in between. Significant. Detailed. Beautiful. Artistic, creative, ingenious, amazing. Intuitive. Peaceful, tender, tranquil, subtle, comforting, uplifting. Bright, colorful, shining. Powerful, strong, luminescent. Awesome, unexpected, imaginative. Reproducing, plentiful, bountiful, generous. Humorous, hilarious, precious, delightful. Genuine. Layered, in-depth. Musical, harmonious, poetic. Cyclical, timely. Flowing. Sensible. Repairable, healable. Instinctual, law-abiding, structured. Loving, caring, familial. Good. Perfect.

Feel free to throw in some more...

Attention All Single (And Married) Men!

2008-02-13T10:58:00.001-06:00

Click here to find out what really makes women happy... :-D

Am I Addicted to Happiness?

2008-02-04T13:54:00.000-06:00

In today's society where people pop a pill for just about anything, depression and anxiety medications have been huge sellers for the pharmaceutical companies. Society has taken sorrow and grief and re-labeled them as a clinical illness that must be treated. The official book for diagnosing mental disorders, the DSM-IV, has these symptoms for depression: for two weeks or more you feel sad or empty, you display insomnia or sleep too much, you have difficulty concentrating and eating, you are generally lethargic and don't feel like doing anything.

I don't know about you, but I've had friends and relatives die, I've been broken up with, I've had best friends move away, I've had lots of stress at work, and so on. These are normal issues that normal people have had for thousands of years, and yet psychologists and society seem to push people to get over it quickly. It may take years to grieve a lost parent or child, and yet there is a sense of making people feel like they're stuck in the past for doing so. "Move on, marry again, get back to normal!"

In fact, there are some who claim that if you're not constantly in the pursuit of happiness, there's something wrong with you! Self-help books and motivational speakers were all the rage not too long ago. "Be happy! Go fulfill your dreams! You can be a star! You can have what YOU want now!" Self-confidence, self-help, self-taught, Do-It-Yourself. Turn that frown upside-down, it's time for personal achievement and fun!

Because most people in developed nations have few real life-threatening worries (i.e. food and water shortages, homelessness, joblessness, poverty) and yet have much free time and enough money and resources, they feel that the pursuit of happiness is the most important thing to accomplish in life. Although some go overboard trying to find the next high with drugs, alcohol, loose sex and debauchery of all kinds, the pursuit of worldly happiness doesn't stop with reckless behavior. It can be seen in very normal material activities, from buying things to having constant communication with friends and family to feeling accepted amongst peers. We all want to get bigger and better homes, cars, electronics, clothes, etc. We want instant communication or we constantly travel near and far so we can always be around friends and family. We try to blend in, yet stand out with our clothes and actions. Doing these things helps us feel more secure and happy temporarily, but they rarely fill the insatiable appetite for wanting more after the high of doing so has worn off. "I left my friends and I'm depressed, so I'll just travel to see them again next month. Why don't I call them now?" "This car is good, but I want a nicer one."

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing bad about enjoying the blessings we've been given. However, it is the expectation of "needing" to have these things that is the problem. Humans continue to feed their various addictions, even if they seem perfectly normal to the rest of society. And yet, like most addictions, they are unhealthy and damaging. People expect to be happy and want to be constantly entertained. Something must be wrong if not. What's wrong is that their quest for happiness masks a giant hole in their innermost being, and nothing physical can fill that hole.

In society's constant pursuit for happiness, it is depressing that the way most are living today is a way of complete covetousness. There exists a fine line between the principles of Ecclesiastes 9:7-9, where one enjoys and is content with the fruits of their labor and God's blessings, and an attitude of selfishness and covetousness. I always believed covetousness centered around directly wanting what someone else had. However, it really centers around pleasing the self with anything the self desires. It is raw carnality. As rich as America is, its citizens have all this time to desire all these wonderful goods and services we have available. So many people get anxious or depressed when they can't have what they want. Some work very hard to overcome their shortcomings in order to get more for themselves. Others might pop a pill, have another drink, or vent to friends in order to let off steam when we can't have what we want.

Let me tie this back in with the first paragraph or two about sadness... So many today are in such a pursuit of happiness that they do everything in their power to kick guilt, sorrow, meekness, humility and grief to the curb. I always got confused when Christ or Paul or others tell us to be sad and to humble ourselves. Yet I was taught by this world to try and be happy! In the Beatitudes, God states that only the lowly and meek in heart and spirit would enter His Kingdom. But why does God want us to feel bad some of the time and not good all the time? Won't His Kingdom be filled with joy?

The answer to the last question is, of course, yes. But we endure and grow through difficult times in order to build character. As it turns out, sadness, shame and pain are powerful tools. Humility is too, as most of you know. When friends and family have passed away, I am that much more aware of what is truly important because I have lost something that is incredibly important. When I've had friends move away or been broken up with, I am that much more reflective of what that person meant to me. When I sinned against someone and lost a friend, I see where my way gained nothing. I've gained valuable perspective going through these trials.

Instead of trying to cover up the pain (and rather than wallowing in self-pity, on the other extreme), we can learn valuable lessons about just what kind of person we really are. We can take time to see whether our choices and decisions have led us up to this current state of grief and difficulty, then steer our future actions in a better direction. When we lose someone we love, do we now take the time to recognize who is important among the living and show them so? I remember going to a funeral where the individual died suddenly, and everyone there was inconsolable. However, I've also been to a funeral where everyone spent much quality time with the individual in her last few months, and her radiance left us all smiling even after she was gone. We made time for one another and it showed!

God tells us there will be trials. Pain exists because it is friction against God's perfect way. Therefore, if you feel pain, you should examine if it is something you -or others, or this world's sinful ways - have caused. Then you can take steps to making sure you eradicate those tendencies in your own life. One thing that can make any trial easier is to look for the lessons to be learned by it. There is always something.

It is similar to physical pain. I freak out when I'm hurting and don't know its source. "Is it appendicitis? Do I have cancer? Do I have an alien about to pop out of my belly?!?" And yet with mental, emotional and spiritual pain, rather than find all the sources, we further damage and harden our minds against growth by ignoring the cause.

Christ said to count it all joy when various trials fall on us. God is showing that He cares for us because of the valuable lessons and growth we are being led to. He said that we should take punishment patiently, even when we don't deserve it. I remember the story about how the apostles all rejoiced after being beaten for Christ's sake in Acts 5:41. They were able to determine that they were acting in accordance with God's will for them and saw that their punishment furthered the Work of God! In this case, they had a clear conscience.

And that's what grief and sorrow can teach us if we heed the lesson. There will always be pain in Satan's sinful world. But there is pain caused that we are responsible for by our own sins, and there is pain that stems from the sins of all others on this planet. Both reverberate off of everything in their path slowly destroying this physical world. However, we can learn and grow from both. Seeing our own faults should make us feel shame and godly guilt, then lead us to repentance and good works. The grief and pain that the sins of this world inflicts upon us and others should help us to fervently pray for God to clean up this mess by sending His Son quickly to this world.

Ignoring and masking pain, guilt, sorrow and shame in favor of our own pleasure and happiness only makes it all worse. Heeding it will begin healing it. As Luke 6:21-23 states: "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy. For behold, for great is your reward in Heaven."

Randomocity

2008-01-25T09:08:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Today I figured I would give you an Alex Trebek-like potpourri of stuff floating around my mind. Don't be scared... It's perfectly harmless.

Parenthood is wonderful. If you're thinking about having kids and are worried about having to give up so much of your own time in order to do so, well... That's the whole point! When I stopped and thought about what I did with my free time, I realized i didn't do much with it. Rather, spending my time raising and teaching a child who mirrored my personality and every move would be a far better way to spend my time. If you're looking to improve yourself, look no further.
There were some lay-offs last week at my company. As I watched some of my good friends get affected by these events, I realized how much each of us individually would be affected by the awful events that could easily take place any year now. It won't just happen to the world, or just to our country, it'll happen to us personally! How will I handle that??
With this bank in France losing just over $7.1 billion because of one company-employed trader worming his way around their 5-layered security measures, what does that do for people's trust in the banking system worldwide? First it was here in America with our loose lending practices. Now banks are losing and writing off billions left and right! They're freely accepting money from Asian and Arab governments to stay afloat! Our markets and economies are all based on faith. While it used to be "In God we trust", our economy and materialistic way of life have replaced that trust. Americans used to assume on faith that neither will ever be taken away. Quoting R.E.M., it will be interesting to see if people begin losing their religion...
Speaking of the economy, at some point, you just have to let the various markets adjust. Sure, I'd love to see my house double in value every 2-10 years. But that's not sustainable. When no one can afford a home and people have to take out ridiculous loans in order to get one, it's time for something to change. And yet, here we are throwing more borrowed money at the over-inflated economy with this stimulus plan. If the government would only allow the capitalist motto of "supply and demand" carry forth even a little bit, it might right itself and spare us from swift correction (read: depression). However, with our lack of patience and "the government can fix it right now" mentality, we may not get the luxury of an economic soft landing.
Young people are the future of the Church. We really should continue in the example that our elders have set for us and serve as an example to the younger kids. Unlike every generation's desire to "do one better" than previous generations, we can heed Biblical instruction to lean on our elders' understanding and wisdom as we are slowly allowed to serve more. We have lots of energy and zeal, so let's blend it with our elder's experience in order to produce great things! So don't be afraid to throw out ideas, discuss them with more experienced people and then follow through by organizing events, socials, etc. Let's own our ideas and ACT!

Do any of you have any random thoughts floating around in your head? I'd like to hear some...

Similarities

2008-01-18T16:00:00.000-06:00

Lately, I've been reading through the major and minor prophets. The first couple of times I read them, I thought they were pretty repetitive. God would instruct one of His prophets to tell His people their sins against Him. God gave Israel and Judah chance after chance to stop and turn back to Him. He warned them to stop creating and worshiping idols, quit the sexual immorality, partying, drinking, visiting fortune tellers, and cease the false prophesying. He threatened them with sieges and captivity time after time. Sometimes the prophets were heeded, sometimes they were thrown into the stocks or prison and sometimes they were flat out killed. This goes on and on for both Israel and Judah until each is destroyed and carried away.

In today's day and age, I listen to people discuss their beliefs as to why the Worldwide Church of God broke apart. As I've noted before, there were abuses of power, wicked men who forced their way into power, and all sorts of atrocities going on in Pasadena as well as around the world in the various church areas. Mr. Armstrong began this Church with a great deal of faith, but as the Work grew, and subsequently, the Church itself, teaching and administrating such a large group of people became extremely difficult. Yes, there were many faithful brethren. There were thousands that had attended for 10, 20, 30, 40+ years and were continuing to grow spiritually. They embodied the kind of character that Mr. Armstrong was instructed to teach and encourage in God's Church. But there was also a growing spirit of complacency as the Church grew. Many didn't live as we were called to do. They were baptized, but no real repentance seemed to take place over the long haul. Many continued to smoke, drink, party, beat their spouses, hold grudges and commit adultery and fornication. Among a growing majority, there was little repenting and acting on the message that was being preached week in and week out. For some, prayer was only fervent in times of desperation while Bible study was only done when new and interesting topics were introduced. Fasting happened once a year on Atonement. At one point late in his ministry, Mr. Armstrong had doubts that more than 10% of God's Church "got" was God was trying to accomplish through them!

Are the two subjects of ancient Israel's fall and Worldwide's collapse all that different? In both cases, here were God's people, as a whole, called for a holy purpose and not living up to that purpose over the long haul. God wanted Israel to be an example to the nations around of the kind of prosperity, peace and joy that could be had while living God's way. Similarly, we in God's Church were called to also be an example, infused with the Holy Spirit to guide us even more than Israel. We were to preach the entire Truth to as many people of the world that we could. However, just as God would also destroy Israel for their breaking of His covenant as an example to the nations around, I believe the same happened to Worldwide for our disregard of His new covenant with the Church.

It's important here to look a little deeper as to why both groups failed. Many people have come to understand that God broke apart His Church because of our transgressions. However, the actions taken by many of the groups that split off from Worldwide seem to show that there is a blurring of the lines between God's role and man's role in the whole ordeal. I have heard many say that Mr. Tkach and others weaseled their way into the top human roles of the Church by fooling Mr. Armstrong. As a result, many new churches were created with governments consisting of democracies, oligarchies and outright anarchies in order to prevent these types of events from occurring again. It's almost as if they're insinuating that these men somehow sneaked under God's nose, too!

Remember, this is still GOD'S Church! Jesus Christ is the active head! As we see from Scripture, no man assumes power in this world without God's say so. Even if men do sneak into leadership positions, God knows those men's thoughts way before their actions are played out and He has full power to allow or disallow those coups of power to occur. He also has the power to kick that man out of office. He has the power to put the right people in office should that man go astray. His timing may be different than ours, but His will is always done!

Just like ancient Israel, both the leadership and the people played their roles in separating from God. The kings and ministers should have set the right example for the whole assembly to follow God. Some did, some didn't. Likewise, every man and woman had their part to play in staying faithful regardless of what the kings or ministers decreed. This is why God commanded families to pass down the stories of the first Passover and other miracles to demonstrate God's awesome power and to build trust and faith in the Eternal. Even when Elijah felt all alone, there were still 7,000 who hadn't bowed a knee to Ba'al. Both Israel and the Church received many extra blessings and promises when they obeyed. But to those who are given much, much is expected. The Church, instead of prospering, was coming apart at the seams due to sin, corruption and complacency, like the nation of Israel, and God had to show both who was in charge!

Reading through the prophets' tales in the Bible, I try to imagine how they felt about the whole situation. Here they were, being obedient and righteous while their whole world was falling apart around them. They all prayed fervently for God to relent from His furious anger. Daniel, in chapter 9, is extremely heartfelt towards his beloved nation decades after they were in captivity. Yet even then, most of the prophets suffered right along with the people. They went through the sieges. They starved alongside everyone. They were taken captive or left in the desolate landscape that Jerusalem became after the Chaldeans scorched it to the ground. Through all of it, although exhausted and extremely unpopular, the prophets remained close to God and did as He instructed them to do, no matter how difficult. Meanwhile, evil kings, priests, prophets and the 70 elders all led the nation to their doom while the people themselves were unfaithful and sinful. No matter the warning, none were heeded.

And yet after all the failures of the nation, God did relent and restored a small remnant of His people to the Promised Land. He reinstalled the exact same Levitical priesthood and allowed a governor to rule Jerusalem again when they returned from captivity. Ezra 6:18-20 states that the priests were set in their sections and the Levites in theirs. But what's important to note is verse 20: "For the priests and Levites were purified together, all of them purified." In order to serve in this great capacity, God had to purify the new leaders, just as He did when Israel first came into the Holy Land. The people had sinned and sinned and sinned and never repented until God finally overthrew them! Then they had time to think about what they did and turn back to God. Finally, God installed His government the way it should have been to begin with.

The reason for the fall of Judah and Israel wasn't the system of government. It was the fact that the people defiled themselves! The leaders defiled themselves! They weren't pure. The PEOPLE stopped keeping their end of the covenant. And while this seems obvious on the surface, so many churches today haven't learned that God's system of government has not failed! God's Work has not changed! He has simply done what He said He would do if they weren't bearing fruit. For Israel, Ezekiel 15 says that those branches not bearing fruit would be thrown in the fire. For the Church, John 15:6 has the same warning. God never says the Church or its purpose would be cast in the fire!

Just like the prophets in ancient times, we have been specially chosen to do a job that was given to us by God the Father, Himself! It's the most important job in the world, especially at these dangerous end-times. Let's not allow feelings of betrayal destroy our sense of direction and our VISION. This job will be difficult and will contain extreme challenges as we draw closer to the great tribulation. It will require real faith in God that He is still and always in charge, and that He will see His purpose through to the end.

The prophets were called to be a witness to and against Israel and Judah. God saw these special men through their difficult jobs. Similarly, God will see us through while we proclaim His gospel of the Kingdom as a witness in all nations, and then the end shall come!

Lessons From a Vision

2008-01-17T13:43:00.001-06:00

I was reading through Ezekiel the last few days, and when I got to chapter 8, my Nelson's NKJV Study Bible had an interesting commentary on what God was showing Ezekiel. If you don't remember Ezekiel 8, the basic premise is that God took Ezekiel up in the spirit (in a vision) back to Jerusalem to show him the atrocities that were occurring in the Temple... There were idols set up in the entrance and courtyard, and after Ezekiel dug a hole in a wall, he saw images of every beast and creature imaginable carved on the wall on the other side. Inside, the 70 elders of Jerusalem, the top leaders, were offering up incense to these pagan gods. Other women, like the elders who were hiding themselves, were weeping for Tammuz, a pagan god of fertility, because they could not bear children. A far cry (bad pun intended) from Samuel's mother... And there were another 25 men with their backs turned to the Temple facing the east bowing down towards the sun!

We all understand that God is mad because here were His people breaking His first two commandments, probably along with many others, in worshipping these gods and images. What made the Study Bible commentary interesting was what these wicked people thought and why. Some of these people were worshipping outside in broad daylight. And yet, there were many terrible acts going on in private. Verse 12 states, "And He said to me, Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his image room? For they are saying, God does not see us; God has forsaken the earth." In other polytheistic cultures in the Middle East at that time, gods were thought to have human-like characteristics. The Greek gods and goddesses in the old movie version of "The Odyssey" come to mind. They were so far removed from God that they thought He, YHWH, the LORD Eternal, could not peer into to closed, dark rooms to see what they were doing! They recognized God was still there, but continued on!

I drew from this commentary one of the many reasons God does not want us worshiping made-up gods and images, other than the fact that it's stupid, pointless and leads to rebelliousness: It causes us to drag God down to our human level. And it will only hurt us when we do...

God is invisible and silent to us in this age, so people who aren't close to Him through prayer and Bible study will naturally not understand His awesome power and character. But once we are called to be His special people and draw closer to Him, we must cast off what's around us and point our attention on what's above (Col. 3:2). However, if God is believed to be on our level ("What if God was one of us?" Blech!), then He can't see our every doing. He can't help, clothe, feed or house us. He can't forgive us of our sins and help us overcome. He can't overthrow Satan. He can't resurrect us into eternal life. We slowly, but totally, lose faith in Him, His power and His incredible plan for all mankind. Our weakened faith then leads us to try and go it alone with our own human reasoning.

Today, most Christian religions worship physical objects as Jesus Christ and God the Father. Santa Claus, the Easter bunny, crosses, pictures, Christmas trees, yule logs, etc. "remind" people of their god. As shown above, physical objects worshiped as God merely make the Father and Jesus Christ less god-like in our minds! They take on a more human personality; one we are comfortable with. This personality doesn't judge us, but rather accepts us as we are. This god does not get angry at us for sinning against it. We project our own weak human experiences and reasoning to some inanimate object that we bow down to and worship as our god.

It doesn't take a logic major to see that this "god" is merely our own self.

Draw Close To God

2008-01-06T10:25:00.001-06:00

Mr. Wells gave an excellent sermon yesterday, and I figured the notes were worth typing up here for anybody to read. There's nothing new here, but these are good principles to guide us as we get closer to T-Day (Tribulation).

I Thes. 4 states that we must awake and look at our current spiritual condition. II Cor. 6:14 and II Tim. 3:1 - Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Do we see the state of this world and its many problems? How does that affect us? Are we willing to flee its attitudes and its actions? This world denies God's power and instruction although they talk as though they know Him. Men continue to learn endless knowledge, but never come to an understanding of God's way. Rather, they follow a perverted form of truth -- Satan's. Regardless, we cannot leave the true knowledge that we are called to receive and live according to.

James 4 discusses how man's opinions and false knowledge cause disputes, fighting and wars. Why? Because of our selfishness, lust and covetousness! Our jealous nature causes so many problems. We want what others have! However, we don't get these desires because we don't ask God with the right attitude IF we ask at all! Self-will rules many of our lives and most do not surrender to God. God resists a proud and "I know better" attitude. However, He gives more earnestly to those who truly humble themselves and seek God. We need to fully submit to God and resist the accusational attitude of Satan.

Only God can fully judge and solve our problems, so only total faith in Him will allow us to come to a lasting solution. It is usually when we ask for God's intervention that He is more likely to intervene. We should ask believing that He already wants to help and has a solution... We are merely catching up with His plan. However, if we don't ask, we are, in essence, asking God to intervene in a way and at a time that we may not be asking for!

Recognize (v. 9) that life is not all about our rewards, pleasure or happiness. We must be willing to see the awfulness of the world and its need for God. Many times, we require trials to really be humbled when we aren't willing to humble ourselves. Deaths of friends and family, sickness, war, fear, persecution, extreme poverty and natural disasters will get our attention and make us take note of our spiritual condition for a time. But again, God would rather us humble ourselves, which will last longer.

Stop speaking evil of others and purify your mind from condemning, unclean and perverse thoughts. I Pet. 5:5 speaks in a similar manner to James. Submit to elder, wiser and more spiritual people. Solid people. Surrender your willfulness to everyone! In other words, stop talking and do more listening. Even when people aren't as old or experienced as you, at least hear them out (think of Job's story) and deeply think about what was said. Be willing to be entreated or reasoned with! He who humbles himself will eventually be exalted by God.

Col. 2:20 - How we humble ourselves must not be purposely visible just to impress others, like monks taking vows of silence and celibacy or fasting with sackcloth and ashes. We must, rather, be clothed with humility, saturated by it!

I Peter 5:6-10 - Satan is waiting to pick off the sick-minded and spiritually weak members of the flock like a lion would. Rather, cast your cares, concerns, worries, disputes and problems on God because He wants to help! But sometimes He requires us to have the willingness to ask Him or change ourselves through a humble attitude while seeking His will in the matter. We cannot just ask for something to be solved the way we want it to be. God is willing let us suffer until we get this principle, but only to perfect, establish, settle and strengthen us. Our first reaction to every problem in our life should be to bring it before Him seeking His will!

Matt. 5:3 - The beatitudes are a description of godly humility we need to overcome and grow and change. We cannot have pride or vanity. We must mourn this world's and our own sins. We should be teachable and yielding all while hungering and thirsting for God's very nature. Have mercy on others and be more than willing to forgive them. (When a decision of judgment or mercy arises, err on the side of mercy.) Seek a pure heart and cast out selfishness and evil thoughts. Make peace with others! Allow yourself to be persecuted without causing it yourself. Finally, rejoice and be glad for God's ultimate reward. It will be ours if we do all these things!

Real Maturity

2008-01-02T16:48:00.001-06:00

Have you watched much TV lately? Ever listen to the conversations of fellow students or workmates? I really am sick and tired of immaturity displaying itself in perverted humor, over-sexualization, petty hatred and jealousy, vanity over looks and what so-and-so has that I don't, not to mention grudges that ruin people's lives in today's day and age. When have we entered "adulthood"? What is real maturity? I have noticed that even people that are 30-60 years of age still in many ways act like children if they don't get their way. I regularly read the news, or at least the media's opinion on the news, at best, and see human nature at its finest. Does wisdom really come with age? Do people really ever learn from their mistakes?

Mr. Rice's Notebook has a great discussion on emotional maturity (chapter 5). Mr. Rice was the mailroom manager at Ambassador College and gave regular Bible Studies to the students. Below is his list on several immature behaviors:

Being moody and depressed too much of the time.
Crying, pouting, losing temper and screaming over trivial matters.
Being late for appointments or allowing pleasures to get in the way of school assignments or other responsibilities.
Staying up too late at night when you should be getting your rest — then sleeping in too late for classes or work.
Staying in bed and calling in sick when you feel a little tired or down, rather than disciplining yourself and putting your responsibilities first.
Getting mad if you aren't the center of attention and the most popular person around. Or, getting irritated and insolent when you don't get your way.
Being demanding of other people and feeling that they should cater to your desires and
needs first.
Buying on impulse — failing to consider the price, or whether you have the resources.
Failing to say "NO" to yourself — giving in to your desires and wants without restraint —
disregarding the consequences.
Failing to reason out a situation or problem from beginning to end before making a
decision — acting first and thinking later.
Being easily influenced by others, instead of using your mind and making your own decisions.
Daydreaming — wasting your time in a world of fantasy and make believe instead of
thinking constructively.
Reacting emotionally and falling apart in an emergency. Failing to collect your wits and act
with a clearthinking head after the initial blow has passed.
Finding fault with everything and everybody, instead of trying to get along with people. In
other words, being generally negative and critical toward life.
Using the excuse that since you're a woman and therefore more emotional (especially at
certain times of the month), you don't have to keep your emotions in tow.
Failing to take the blame or being too stubborn to admit it when you are wrong.
Feeling inadequate and easily discouraged — particularly when associating with peers who
are self-assured, multitalented and successful.
Other general manifestations:
a. Shyness — loner-type
b. Fearful of taking new steps
c. Impetuous
d. Self-indulgent
e. Insensitive and inconsiderate
f. Whines, complains and cries easily
g. Overly concerned with your health
h. Moody, changeable, unstable
i. Easily offended
j. Accusing
k. Competitive — win or else — always have to be first
l. Argumentative and intolerant
m. Impatient — everything must be "now" — never later
n. Sarcastic and cynical
o. Unable to be serious and level-headed
p. Disorganized
q. Unable to concentrate
r. Irresponsible-and undependable

Do any of these apply to you? Several did to me. So what are we supposed to do about them? Well, first we must understand what emotions are. Mr. Rice states, "Emotion is the energy which makes the mind work — it supplies the energy for survival. Emotions — physical and mental feelings — are necessary for life and stimulate you to behave in a certain way. In that sense, we are all emotional people." Mr. Sena once stated in a sermon that knowledge may help us to understand a principle, advice, or even see a flaw in ourselves, but emotion is required to change it. Learning to hate sin, for example, helps us to eradicate it from our lives. Our love for God, parents and friends, on the other hand, cause us to want to do nice things for them.

The key, according to Mr. Rice, is channeling that emotional energy in the right direction. Let's say someone really ticks you off. Do the retaliatory actions course through your veins right past your brain and straight out your mouth? Or do you take the opportunity to think about whether your perfect comeback will, in fact, make the world a better place for you having said it (thanks, Marshall)? Mr. Rice covers a number of ways you can become more mature in your thinking. He states the following areas to begin with:

Analyze yourself
Grow in confidence and esteem
Learn to discipline yourself
Overcome self-consciousness
Overcome self-centeredness
Eliminate self-pity (self seems to be an issue, doesn't it?)
Learn to be a good loser
Don't be flippant and scatter-brained
Select a mature model to follow (he uses Proverbs 31 for women)
Learn to think before you verbalize your feelings (bingo for Mike)
Learn to be flexible (not necessarily like a gymnast)
Take control of your life and learn to be tolerant of others

I'm all about lists today, so here's what he states an emotionally mature individual's fruits are:

Composed.
Reserved.
Purposeful.
Has sense of values.
Goals defined.
Able to cope with crises.
Cultured and refined.
Able to control anger and settle differences.
Patient.
Determined.
Capable of facing unpleasantness and frustration.
Humble.
Joyful and happy.
Compassionate.

So there you have it. These really are keys to living life better with God-like character. Many of these characteristics are listed in Mr. Armstrong's list of 7 Keys to Success. Really, it's just letting go of the immature human-nature and taking on a godly maturity. I hope this helps, it sure has helped me.

Importance of Government - Part II

2008-01-02T11:29:00.000-06:00

Human beings are born immediately into the one of the most, if not the most, effective form of government at birth. A father and mother bring a child into the world and immediately begin to nurture and teach a child in the way he or she should go. There's no questioning that a baby needs its parents. Without that care, an infant would surely die. As the child gets older, that toddler looks up to his parents as his natural leader. After all, they've always been there for him and they have always taken care of him. They have fed, clothed, taught, cuddled and loved their offspring and now they begin forming boundaries and rules as he needs them. That child is expected to follow the rules. Punishments or rewards are handed out as needed if those rules are broken or kept. Over time, the child begins to learn the reasons why those rules are in place and begins to think broadly about their applications in other aspects of his life.

Roles are in place even at the parental level. The father should be the leader of the family, yet taking into consideration the good of the whole family, not just his own desires. Husbands submit to various forms of leadership in their life, too, including God the Father and Jesus Christ. He should love every member of his family and gives guidance and instruction to them all while imparting a sound mind because he rules with fairness and consistency. The mother should the nurturing side of this team, submitting faithfully to her husband while loving him and building him up, yet she is able to run the family when he is away. Parents should also know their roles and be comfortable in them to provide stability for their children.

Throughout the whole process, the parents are living according to a higher purpose in their lives. They are submitting to their Father in the same way their son or daughter is submitting to them. They still require nurturing, teaching, love and correction even as adults. God created the family as a version in miniature of His government in His coming Kingdom. Good parents will accept their place as God's children and raise their children with that same understanding. If they truly love their children, parents will hand down God's instructions to their children as well as teach them God's awesome purpose for all of mankind.

Parents establish rules for their children as they grow old enough to obey. Why? One reason is for our benefit. "Don't touch the hot stove", "get to bed", "do your homework", "say thank you" are all things we have heard growing up. Parents don't want their children hurt, exhausted, stupid or inconsiderate. On top of this, boundaries make us feel safer. Dr. Fall stated in his booklet and articles on parenting that not having rules is comparable to crossing the Golden Gate bridge without barriers. It would be a lot more stressful knowing that you could easily fall several hundred feet into the bay just by a simple steering mistake! Similarly, kids that don't have rules in place and have them reinforced are far more stressed out. They have far more problems with learning, playing with others, sharing, building relationships, etc. if they didn't have proper boundaries as children. Likewise, as rules are made by parents, they aren't meant to be questioned. "You'll do it because I told you to!" If your child is headed toward the street and a car is barreling down towards him, there is no time to explain the situation to them. You will simply yell his name and hope his upbringing taught him to turn around and listen. We should learn and teach obedience first... we will gain understanding later, generally by doing an act repeatedly in obedient trust. If the child listens and stops, he will see the speeding car whiz by and will learn a valuable lesson: don't play near the street. He will continue to confirm another lesson without knowing it: listen to your parents; they know what they're talking about. As children listen more, they grow in understanding, wisdom, common sense, knowledge, respect, and many other things simply by doing what they are told! Many parents expect their children to follow them "as long as you're under MY roof!"

Similarly, God has laws and rules for us to follow. By design, He created and modeled the family after His government. Similarly, His laws and commandments are for our good, for our learning, and for our growth. Our parents are human and sometimes make mistakes, but God never does. Likewise, we become older and more independent in our thinking and actions, so once we leave our parents' "roof" we tend to look after ourselves. However, as begotten children of God, we are not full-born sons of God just yet, so we will always depend on Him in this human life. By following God's rules and laws, we learn obedience and respect. Just as He predicts in the Bible over and over again, to paraphrase, "Follow Me and you will prosper. However, if you don't, you'll be punished and will fail." As we follow God, we see blessings. This proves to us that God is a Being of His word! It builds greater faith that He can and will do all that He says He will. If we refuse to follow Him, eventually, we will suffer as a result. This reinforces the exact same principle. It makes us see just how small we are and how just and wise He is. Humility, faith, mercy, love and justice come from God.

God is a perfect parent and perfectly fair. He tells us in advance what He expects us to do and what He will do through His Bible, His prophets, apostles and His Church. His rules are perfect and are meant to be followed. This is the Law for His government! He instructs us to live His way for the same reasons our parents do: for our benefit, learning, growth and education as well as to build solid relationships and contentment. Yet He teaches us for one more major purpose that our parents can't: to be in His Kingdom!

God created His Church in order to bring these things to pass! We are His children and He treats us better than we would treat our own bodies and selves. The Bible tells us to think of God's Church as the body of Christ with the stated purpose of preparing for His Kingdom. So let's analyze what the human body does... The body is composed of many parts, each with its own purpose. However, they are all put together working as a team for the overall purpose stated above. The eye and the mind and the foot and the hand and the heart all have different purposes, but if they are all trained on the same goal, that goal can be achieved far easier than if they are all doing different things. Playing basketball, for example, would be more difficult if the heart were at a resting rate, which wouldn't supply the rest of the cells in the body with enough oxygen. If the hand were at rest, you couldn't shoot. If the foot didn't move, you couldn't get to the basket. If the eye isn't looking at the basket or the opposition, it can't tell the mind what it sees. Then the mind can't tell the foot which direction to travel or how fast the heart should be beating, or the hand to shoot!

But even if the body is working in harmony, none of this can happen if the body starves to death. So we eat and drink spiritual food for growth while we are alive. We each must individually overcome. However, because we are individually human, we do get old and die knowing that God can individually resurrect us to be in His Kingdom. However, the Church as a whole does not die, God says so! How does the human body replenish itself? By taking food, water and air, elements of the outside world, and processing them so they become part of the body! Just as each cell in the body is replenished by the body (feeding the flock), we must also be used by God to preach and baptize people from the outside world to keep the Body of Christ alive with those whom God is calling. And if a cell or part in the body dies or no longer produces fruit, the body disposes of it. Otherwise, that part can become a cancer and damage the whole body. So must the Church be replenished by new members, feed its existing ones good food, and resolve issues that arise, first and foremost by counsel and correction, and on the rare occasion by disfellowshipping a member. The body of Christ is capable of growing, healing itself and getting rid of destructive elements.

Christ's Body does as Christ Himself did when he was alive as a man. His work was to do the will of His Father, so must we. Christ built up His Church by training men and women in His way. He taught the commandments of God. He preached the gospel to those places around Him and instructed the apostles and 70 others directly to preach to the world. Those apostles appointed evangelists like Timothy, Titus and Phillip to build new up the church in various areas by preaching to the public and appointed elders and deacons in those places to keep them going. Elders administered and taught each church while deacons served the widows, orphans and elderly in each area. The same applies today. When God set up the old covenant over Israel including the priesthood and temple worship, that same priesthood and temple worship was instituted after Judah returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. Likewise, we follow the same form of government today that Jesus set up in the new covenant apostolic times.

What is our attitude towards God's government and His people? I was speaking with Mr. Millich the other day, and he said that our attitude towards government should be one that desires to follow what God commands. Had God told us to feed His sheep through anarchy, we should do so. He did not. Had God said to preach the gospel through democracy, we should do so. However, He did not. He gave us this form of government with established roles, rules and order, similar to the family structure, so our attitude should be to follow God's instruction. When men don't follow God, as stated above, they fail. In the same right, men in leadership positions that don't follow God will also fail, but they unfortunately lead lead the Church astray. Both are deceived and fall into the ditch. Just as "one man" government in Worldwide failed because of errant men, so will the democracies, anarchies and militaristic forms of government ran by errant men today will fail. Do we see the difference between errant systems and errant men? Sometimes there are both and sometimes it's only one. However, those imperfect leaders who try to lead by God's government are still down the pecking order from Jesus Christ who is the Head! It wasn't the Church that failed in the apostacies that have occurred to the Church from Paul's time to ours, it was the men that failed. God's government did not fail, it was the men who led the Church astray. But notice, God always righted His ship! How do you know? The Church is still here.

In the same way, God is in charge of His ministry and leaders. The Bible states that God appoints and overthrows kings and rulers of nations regularly. Men who place themselves over nations, God tears down. He used Pharaoh's and Nebuchadnezzar's own attitude to carry out His will. Even the apostles and prophets weren't perfect, but God used them powerfully! What makes us think that God isn't doing the same with His ministry? When a man falters, God uses that failure to teach him, us and anybody else watching that only HIS way works. God used Israel in this same way as an example when they were a success (as under Solomon) and as a witness against them (as in the captivities, see Jeremiah 22:8-9).

So we should trust God's choices for the ministry over us. God will remove men from power that totally abuse it. He will remove men from power that take it for themselves. Maybe not on our timeline, but He will. Yes, on occasion God may give us the choice to leave a corrupted or deceived group of people and try to relocate where God's people are, but only when a complete and total removal of the Truth has taken place in the current organization, not for some lesser transgression. And when locating, not choosing, God's Church, we should look towards God's government to determine where He has placed His name, both on the style of government and which individual is at the top. Did that man make himself a leader, or did God (and by extension, God's Church) choose him to be in that position? We do not choose our parents and God does not allow us to build Him an alternate church! If a parent fails us, we can't just get rid of them. When an elder or evangelist fails us, do we pray to God to help him? Do we pray that God's will be done, not our own? Do we hope that leaders will succeed or do we errantly desire that they will be rebuked by God because they trespassed against us?

How do we apply God's form of government in our own lives? We have all heard of servant leadership. A good father shepherds his family as he leads it. It is true that God places men in various roles to be in charge over aspects of His Church. However, there are times where various other roles may need to be heeded under certain circumstances. For example, I like to think of the parking attendants at some of the larger Feast sites. If a teenager has an orange vest on and a flashlight waving people to their various spots and a minister drives up to him, who has the right to decide where that minister parks? God's government gave that young man the role to organize the parking lot. It's a role he's been given. A humble, teachable minister practicing God's governmental style will heed that attendant's instructions. God even used 3 young boys to teach a king about God's power in Daniel 3. Know the roles that God has set up and obey the role and office as they apply to you. Likewise, we should seek advice from those wisest on a subject. On financial matters, a master businessman. On family matters, your parents or a successful family. On church matters, a minister.

Ephesians 4 tells us that the very purpose of God's leading roles in His Church are for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry and edifying of God's people. They have a special purpose to correct, counsel and edify us to perfection. They have been given an extra measure of Holy Spirit to do this. Do they apply everything in the Bible perfectly? No... Do we agree with God's governmental correction up to the where it begins to point out our flaws and shortcomings? Is it then too personal? Was a minister too harsh in the way they approached you? People leave the Church over this! It is vital that we think about this! Just like a good father and mother, God is looking out for all of our best interest and wants to see how we handle unjust judgment, too. There are many scriptures that discuss correction and rebuke, especially in the Proverbs... Matthew 18 doesn't just discuss correction from the ministry, but from all our brethren! Do we allow our brother or sister in Christ to righteously apply God's law to help us go on to godly perfection?

Just as we should have a loving family relationship, we need to be edifying, praying and rooting for all of God's people, including His chosen leaders, to succeed. We need to ask God to help His called-out people to teach this world His ways as a witness to them. Only God calls, but He can use our witness to aid in that calling. Is that our desire? To be fully yielded to God so He can use us any way He wants? Even Pharaoh might look back at how God used him in exhalting Israel, God's people, and be glad that he was used for such a special purpose. Let us each be glad that God has called us into His Church in order to use our talents and personalities in the way that HE chooses, for HIS purpose in HIS government! In the end, the whole world will ALL win as a result. THAT, my friends, is the importance of government.

The Truth About Truth

2007-12-17T09:28:00.000-06:00

When I was in college, I took a few classes on philosophy and logic on top of my computer science courses. Some of these classes had very similar themes to my computing theory courses since computers themselves are basically logic boxes. But it pounded in my head more than just 1s and 0s, true and false. The neat part about philosophy is it teaches you methods of representing facts and truth. It will also show you how to unravel cleverly-worded arguments to show where they are lacking. Philosophy often times gets a bad rap because of the ideas that certain philosophers have as well as the endless arguing and debate that stems from human reasoning. But knowing how to reason and clearly present an idea or principle can really help one shine their light to the world and help out our neighbors.

If you find yourself in a discussion of a Bible topic, or any topic for that matter, just having the Truth doesn't always win people over automatically. Rather, your approach is supremely important in helping people to see things in a clearer manner. Or in some cases, it may help you see things in a clearer manner. In either case, learning certain philosophical techniques to debate will help you better see all sides to a point, or find flaws in an argument and help you to point them out. They will also help you to stay calm and collected and help you to draw the most from any discussion on most any topic.

First, let's examine some ways on how to NOT make a point, or find a weakness in a point being made. An erroneous argument is what's known as a fallacy. One kind of fallacy is called a 'red herring' argument. This occurs when someone takes the argument in a completely different direction than what you were presenting. A red herring is often done out of a misunderstanding, but it can be done purposely, too. "My opponent has shown his record on abortion through his votes in Congress." "Yes, but you voted no on my defense bill!" When discussing topics, keep in mind what point you're trying to present and make the effort to steer the conversation back to that point until it's been made if it's important enough. I use metaphors quite a bit to describe an idea in a different light sometimes and have had people begin to argue against the metaphor itself!

Scott Adams, the writer of Dilbert, said, "I’ve noticed that a lot of people, if not most, have sharp disagreements with what they hallucinate to be my opinions... Anyway, I’m trying out my new favorite response to the people who get angry over their hallucinations of my opinions: 'I agree with your analysis of your hallucination.'" This is called a 'straw man' argument. One makes up a completely different argument than what you're presenting, attributes it to you, then makes you argue that point instead. Rather than address a point directly, one instead argues a distorted view of that point. This distorted view could sound similar to the idea being made, but it is not that point. If you see this happening, take the time to fully listen to the metaphor or story or point, ask questions to fully grasp it, then address what they mean. Allow people to finish their thoughts. You won't lose a discussion just because someone keeps talking. Too many times we attack word choice rather than ideas and concepts. But I will address that point a little later.

Many times, I hear people dismiss an argument because of one's character. There's possibly some wisdom to this in the case of certain opinions, but if one who occasionally drinks too much says the sky is blue, is he wrong? This fallacy is called ad hominem. You'll hear this all the time in election years. Candidate A: "I will introduce a bill that will put more money in our schools." Candidate B: "But you dropped out of college, so that can't be true!"

Then there are appeals to popularity, the majority, authority, common practices, etc. This fallacy occurs when someone claims that because a large group of people do something, they can't be wrong. Or if a leader or trusted source says something, it must be true. While the statement or idea itself may be true, the fact that a majority or expert says it does not make it so (with the occasional exception, that is God and those who He speaks through).

Ever hear of circular arguments? Here's one: Bill: "God must exist." Jill: "How do you know?" Bill: "Because the Bible says so." Jill: "Why should I believe the Bible?" Bill: "Because the Bible was written by God." As you know, the Church tries to prove God's existence both in and out of the Bible as well as nature, much like we prove that God wrote the Bible by its fruits and the fact that prophecy is fulfilled in various ways. Again, God does exist and the Bible was written by Him, however, how you present it may very well detract someone from believing it. Satan has crafted far more cunning circular arguments to keep people distracted in this world. One of my favorites concerns baptism: I have to get rid of my sins before I can get baptized. One will never get baptized if they think this way.

Some people confuse cause and effect: A and B regularly occur together, therefore A causes B. In my last blog entry, I was attempting to show an example of this occurring, possibly. We need to look into things closer to see if something really is the cause of something else. Perhaps there's something going on behind the scenes that we're not thinking about. "People that regularly attend church are healthier." This statement does not take into account that most sick people do not attend church! God tells us over and over again to get all the facts surrounding a matter before making a decision. If we take the time to carefully consider a situation from many angles, we might begin to see cause and effect playing out completely differently than what was initially thought.

A common problem when discussing sensitive topics is the meaning of words. Take time to understand the meaning of a word someone is using. So many words in the English language have grown to have such different connotations in just a few decades time. Someone being a "gay" person in the 50s is far different than today. Describing the "Work of God" may mean slightly different things to different people. Some people may not fully understand a word's true meaning even if they've heard it thousands of times. I know many of Paul's writings use legal terminology to describe God's relationship with us. Words like 'grace', 'sanctification', 'gospel', 'justification', etc. are thrown around all the time in religious settings, but many do not know their full meanings. If you find yourself going around in circles, be sure that the terminology's definition is agreed upon, or find a better choice of word to use.

As said above, many times in a discussion one can be put on the spot with a new idea or understanding and may not have the time to carefully craft their next statement. Give people the benefit of the doubt and ask questions to help them better define their position rather than tearing down a half-constructed idea. The whole point to discussions and debate is to learn. If we are motivated to learn the full Truth, then we will allow others to teach us as much as we are willing to teach others. It helps to carefully think about an point before presenting it, but sometimes we can also help finish another's statement if they can't quite put it together themselves. We must work together to build better understanding and grow in knowledge.

Yes, there are those out there who will try to merely WIN an argument and have no desire to listen or learn. Apply Proverbs 26:4 in this case: Do not answer a fool in his folly, lest you also be like him. But if you have to apply verse 5 instead, use the tools above to dismantle the argument so you are not fooled by it.

But for those who are willing to learn, let these tools along with a humble spirit help you to weed out fallacies and diligently search for the Truth. Any arguments?

Meat Eaters Get Last Laugh

2007-12-13T10:18:00.001-06:00

Here's something that sounds true, but you nutritionists can correct this Newsweek report if it's wrong or misleading. Apparently, it's never been proven that diets high in saturated fat and heart disease are related.

"The first scientific indictment of saturated fat came in 1953. That's the year a physiologist named Ancel Keys, Ph.D., published a highly influential paper titled "Atherosclerosis, a Problem in Newer Public Health." Keys wrote that while the total death rate in the United States was declining, the number of deaths due to heart disease was steadily climbing. And to explain why, he presented a comparison of fat intake and heart disease mortality in six countries: the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Italy, and Japan.

"The Americans ate the most fat and had the greatest number of deaths from heart disease; the Japanese ate the least fat and had the fewest deaths from heart disease. The other countries fell neatly in between. The higher the fat intake, according to national diet surveys, the higher the rate of heart disease. And vice versa. Keys called this correlation a "remarkable relationship" and began to publicly hypothesize that consumption of fat causes heart disease. This became known as the diet-heart hypothesis.

However, the results only took a sampling of the overall data:

"At the time, plenty of scientists were skeptical of Keys's assertions. One such critic was Jacob Yerushalmy, Ph.D., founder of the biostatistics graduate program at the University of California at Berkeley. In a 1957 paper, Yerushalmy pointed out that while data from the six countries Keys examined seemed to support the diet-heart hypothesis, statistics were actually available for 22 countries. And when all 22 were analyzed, the apparent link between fat consumption and heart disease disappeared. For example, the death rate from heart disease in Finland was 24 times that of Mexico, even though fat-consumption rates in the two nations were similar.

"Naturally, proponents of the diet-heart hypothesis hailed the study as proof that eating saturated fat leads to heart attacks. But the data was far from rock solid. That's because in three countries (Finland, Greece, and Yugoslavia), the correlation wasn't seen.

The differences seen might also possibly be related to other foods of those countries' diets: processed foods like enriched white flour and sugar. Here is how our body typically handles saturated fats in natural foods:

"Although more than a dozen types of saturated fat exist, humans predominantly consume three: stearic acid, palmitic acid, and lauric acid. This trio comprises almost 95 percent of the saturated fat in a hunk of prime rib, a slice of bacon, or a piece of chicken skin, and nearly 70 percent of that in butter and whole milk.

"Today, it's well established that stearic acid has no effect on cholesterol levels. In fact, stearic acid — which is found in high amounts in cocoa as well as animal fat — is converted to a monounsaturated fat called oleic acid in your liver. This is the same heart-healthy fat found in olive oil. As a result, scientists generally regard this saturated fatty acid as either benign or potentially beneficial to your health.

"Palmitic and lauric acid, however, are known to raise total cholesterol. But here's what's rarely reported: Research shows that although both of these saturated fatty acids increase LDL ("bad") cholesterol, they raise HDL ("good") cholesterol just as much, if not more. And this lowers your risk of heart disease. That's because it's commonly believed that LDL cholesterol lays down plaque on your artery walls, while HDL removes it. So increasing both actually reduces the proportion of bad cholesterol in your blood to the good kind. This may explain why numerous studies have reported that this HDL/LDL ratio is a better predictor of future heart disease than LDL alone.

More prime rib baked with butter for me, please!! It sounds like the truth is, people that eat foods high in natural saturated fats (i.e. more flavor) also tend to eat other foods that have lots of highly processed ingredients that are also yummy and delicious. Some of these processed ingredients also happen to break down into very sticky stuff that adheres to artery walls. I've read elsewhere that once these sticky substances anchor down, they act as a hook, think velcro, to gather otherwise healthy lipids in the system and build up more of a blockage. I don't know how much of that is based on solid medical fact, but in my non-trained, I-just-learned-about-healthy-eating-yesterday mindset, it makes sense.

While the ancient Israelite diets consisted mostly of grains, fish, figs, olives, veggies and the like, the Levites would probably be eating a lot more red meat than the average Israelite seeing as how that was their portion. I couldn't see God trying to purposely give His priests heart attacks because of their jobs... I'm just theorizing here, so don't rip off my head if I'm way off. :) But either way, it certainly seems to adhere to the health laws that God put out there a long time ago and Mr. Armstrong, among others, revised for our day and age... Everything in moderation, eat clean foods that can spoil before they do, and stay away from processed stuff.

Germany and Religion

2007-12-07T11:33:00.000-06:00

Apparently, Germany is considering banning the religion of Tom Cruise, Scientology, according to several articles, one found here. They say it goes against their constitution by being a "cult" that exists only for the purpose of making money. I wonder what kind of ruling they might make for the Church of God, should we ever have a more visible presence there...

Importance of Government

2007-11-20T14:45:00.000-06:00

A long time ago before I was baptized, a few years after Worldwide split up, I remember talking with a few friends about what the differences were between the churches and why we were separate. Two of them emphatically said, "It's all about GOVERNMENT!! It's SO important!" Back then, I had no clue why they thought so. In fact, the mere reason they had no real understanding themselves to back up their claim showed they were parroting what they heard from others, they themselves not proving it. However, since then, I've begun to understand what true government should look like and how it should operate. Perhaps they were right after all...

To this day, government remains a divisive issue. Many people watched as "one-man government" tore apart all that was built up over many decades in the Worldwide Church of God, and many promised they'd never let any man rule over them again. Many remember being completely mistreated by ministers, deacons, evangelists and so on who were many times overstepping their bounds and misusing the office God gave them. From that perspective, the decisions to play it safe with government or to just stay away from it altogether seem totally justified. Other men seemed resolved to grasp onto their power and rule even more hard-headedly... er, hard-handedly over their followers.

I was old enough when the church split up to understand some of the problems with Worldwide but I was too young to remember or ever know what we once were and how we had dove to such depths spiritually over time. Sure, I heard plenty of the horror stories about church areas, Ambassador College, Headquarters and some of the leading men in the church. I don't think anybody doubts it anymore... GOD split up His church for our many trespasses against Him in the same way He scattered Israel. These stories I heard made me sick, and yet for some reason, I wasn't completely shocked by them. After all, these leaders were human.

There were times where I didn't like the fact that some men felt the need to reiterate over and over again that they were in charge. I felt like if you were in charge, people would want to follow you. Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with people being in a leadership position... I usually get along with bosses, ministers, my own parents, older folks, etc. I was taught respect as a child.

But what irked me even more were people that started to show disrespect to the leadership. I watched as many of the church brethren I knew as they began to mock Mr. Armstrong and every other minister they could lay into. Then they started in, if they already weren't, on the President, Congressmen and other political figures. Some of my thoughts on government really got jumpstarted when I had to give an Attack speech in Spokesman's Club on how God's people are to respect, follow and obey ALL forms of leadership. I found this to be true all over the Bible. Obedience to leaders is the same as obedience to God. He places all in power and He removes them, too. Soon these brethren's opinions seemed to scream so loud that I rarely heard a single godly phrase come out of their mouths anymore. Just gossip and mudslinging... And these were the people still attending one of the branches of God's church! Yes, there are false leaders and we need to be careful, but we can't immediately assume anyone we don't agree with is one. Judge by fruits rather than by sight and opinion alone.

Now I saw why some men were having to assert their leadership; no one would follow God's true servants anymore. "I don't like him or his style, therefore he's a false minister!" People used to mock the Two Trees sermon that Mr. Armstrong reportedly gave a hundred million times near the end of his life. I wouldn't know, I was 7 when he died. The irony there was that a major point of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was it represented how fleshly carnality behaved vs. the Tree of Life being God's way. We choose one or the other. Romans 8:7, the great baptism scripture, states that the carnal mind is at war against the Holy Spirit, both trying to take over our mind. Carnality, in essence, is mankind wanting to do what's right in his own eyes (I Cor. 2-3), it's my decision, my way. God's way is choosing to follow Him and His commandments. The choice is following who we want vs. following who God has placed over the church to lead.

I found some old booklets from Dr. Hoeh, one entitled How Far Does Church Government Extend Into Your Life? In one section titled "You Must Decide Whether This is God's Church", he writes:

We must first of all come to a knowledge of where God's teaching is.
We must find those whom GOD has sent. Unless we have found those whom God has sent, how are we going to know that what is preached is true?

In today's church climate, this would seem to involve taking what we know to be the "truth" and searching for someone preaching that. However, many end up looking for someone who is fascinating to them, someone whose preaching stirs them to action, or someone who preaches and agrees with their own version of God's truth and government (Judges 18, for example). In other words, they allow themselves to be deceived by their pride or what they want to hear!

Everyone in the church learned at a different rate, meaning that all are at different places in spiritual growth. Some are new in the faith and some are more spiritually mature. How does God handle this disparity in understanding? Government! Dr. Hoeh writes more:

How, then, does God regulate those things which we must do together IN UNITY if we do not all grow spiritually at the same rate? How are we going to have unity in the Church if as individuals we cannot all understand all things alike without assistance? The answer is that we must be led, governed, ruled by the government of God -- guided by Him into truth!

...But how were they to know what was right in God's eyes? The answer is that God set rule and authority in His Church to determine the difficult matters for the people. We read of this rule and authority specifically in Acts 7:35.

Notice how the people in the Old Testament Church first regarded God's government, His rule and authority. "This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of
the angel which appeared to him in the bush." I want you to notice. The people did not accept God's government through Moses. They were carnal.

The degree to which individuals accept God's government is illustrative of the degree to which they are converted and changed from their natural carnal mindedness to the mind of God and the Spirit of God. When people say, "Well, I think I ought
to decide this for myself," when it is not their decision, they are merely illustrating carnal mindedness. And to be carnal minded is death. Rather than taking our version of the truth and finding a church or minister to follow, we need to use these following guidelines, supplied by Dr. Hoeh, to find GOD'S Church:

The first thing that all of us must do is to decide whether or not THIS IS GOD'S CHURCH. We must come to know where God's Church is. The Church of God has been given a commission. Jesus said He will be with us always, even to the end, or consummation, of this age. We know that the Church that God uses is one in which CHRIST IS. It is the Church which fulfills the commission of Christ, not some other mission. It preaches the Kingdom of God, not a social gospel... It is the Church which yields itself to all the Scripture. A Church which obeys God and which has Jesus Christ as its Head and living in its members.

After we have found God's Church using these principles, we submit to His authority and those He has placed in charge - no ifs, ands or buts about it. If we truly have faith, God will correct those who are walking errantly, including YOU and I!

How should God's church's government be ran? Like the US military? NO! Mr. Ray Clore gave an excellent sermon about the detriments of governmental styles such as democracies and military rule. I won't go into all of them here, but on the military side, he stated that those under such strict "do as I say NOW, Mister!" ruling will generally have little faith, little knowledge, little confidence, and they will lack the ability to make sound judgment or decisions. Why? Because someone has always told them what to do! They will be more likely do as a leader says and if/when it should fail, they will only blame the leader for their lack of success. They will not lift a finger without getting special dispensation from the minister.

God's government is a familial government. One in which, yes, there is one man in charge, but his chief concern is the well-being of the family. He cannot be challenged on his final ruling, but his final ruling will take into account everyone's thoughts, ideas, opinions and counsel. He rules first and foremost from God's Word and commandments. This leader will seek wise counsel and learn to become wiser and more knowledgeable. Sometimes, his mind will be subject to change. He will listen to his followers, like a father would his children, and go along with their ideas from time to time to empower them and help them become more independent and to build character. He is loving, caring, gentle, kind, patient, generous, faithful, peaceloving and zealous. He always does what's best for all the sheep. He does not have favorites. He sees people by their fruits, that is, their actions and deeds, and gently but firmly chastens and rebukes those who are stubborn. He judges righteously.

This style is so different than what many saw in certain times and areas in Worldwide. But it did exist. From many who were close to him, Mr. Armstrong was this way. Those who didn't know him perhaps think otherwise. Many times, this is simply a reflection of their own character they put on him. As of late, I have personally seen more and more men growing in the attitude of a loving father in our church. I have seen the bossy, rude, selfish, truly power-hungry men storm off and some are long gone, along with brethren of the same attitude. The further away one crawls from the trunk of the tree, the closer they get to the nuts. The same applies here, I believe.

Those who believe we only need to show love and encouragement obviously have brats for children. Children need boundaries, just as we brethren in the church do. Think about it... My father ordered me at an early age to say "Yes sir" and "Thank you" when I was being selfish and ungrateful. Was I respectful and thankful upon being ordered back then? No... But I became that way by doing those things. The same goes for how God's ministers set rules and guidelines and traditions in the church today. Spiritually new people hear the "do this" and "do that" and by their faith, they should do so. To not do so and question shows our carnal nature. Once we do so, we see over time why we were told to do so. If we're still confused, then do as I did as an annoying 5-year old kid: ask why! As it becomes part of our habit and nature to obey God's word through His church, we begin hearing those same commands in a different way and see deeper into the messages being given... The explanations become more plain and obvious to us. We begin to understand at God's level rather than at a carnal level. We see that by simply doing what God tells us through the Bible and his ministers, we always seem to end up better off than we were otherwise. If not, then perhaps it is time to check our attitude. Do we question decisions by our ministers? If so, what are we trying to prove to Whom??

When I was taking my philosophy class in college, I could totally see this being interpreted as brainwashing. I know better. I choose to follow God's way. He sets before us life and death. "Therefore, CHOOSE LIFE!" God commands. At any point, we can walk away. And at that point, we choose to walk down the path that leads to death. As I read from Genesis to Revelation, I always see God stating that there is no other way than His way that we can and should live. When people don't, to the degree that they know better, He punishes them. When they do, great blessings come. This applied to the priests, the prophets, the kings, the apostles, ministers, deacons and us lay people. His will is set out, it does not change. It is our job to follow it.

Anyway, I highly recommend Dr. Hoeh's booklet on government. You can find it here.

Another Chance to Rant!

2007-11-14T09:34:00.000-06:00

Okay, here's something you may or may not care about since many of you don't own a house ("where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also"). I find it interesting just how unscrupulous some of the American banks are being right now with this whole sub-prime housing mess. Sure, it's boring finance stuff, but it has been a red flag to not only investors here, but all around the world that the American economy isn't all it's cracked up to be, in fact, it's cracking at the seams.

In an article on MSNBC today, I read that 1 in 31 homes are being foreclosed on in Ventura, CA. Even here in KC, the foreclosure rate is 1 in 234, 80% higher than a year ago. The article states that Countrywide Financial, the largest lending business in the US, wrote $3.3 billion last October in sub-prime loans. This October, that figure is down to $42 MILLION. That's only 1.27% of the previous figure...

Something right there stinks in my mind. Of course, with all of these foreclosures coming on the market so rapidly, and with that number sure to continue to rise as last year's numbers begin to take a toll, there will be a new market for Countrywide and other lenders: the refinance market. Congress is pushing hard to get lenders to work with homeowners so people don't lose their homes. The government wants lenders to offer fixed-rate mortgages to these folks. They want Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, government ran, privately invested lenders that own more than 40% of all bank notes in the US, to buy out these loans to lower the risks for these banks in the short-term.

In other words, these same companies who just got chewed out so badly for the sub-prime mess are going to be bailed out even when, for the moment, they aren't injured badly enough to put the bigger culprits out of business. Then they want these same greedy, selfish companies to offer homeowners, who are about to lose their homes and are completely desperate, the same homeowners whose credit ratings are taking a nose dive, and offer them a chance to refinance.

I see the conversation going a little like this: "Okay, okay, so we screwed you. Sorry... Hey, I have an idea! Here's a refinance plan that won't be like the last one! It's a fixed-rate loan. You probably couldn't afford it when you were looking last time, but now that the variable interest rates are through the roof, they don't look so bad now, do they? Of course, you'll be paying a much higher fixed interest rate because we can't trust you since you couldn't pay your last mortgage."

Homeowner: "Whatever, you suckered me once, but I'm desperate, so whatever you put in front of me, I'll sign, seeing as that's what got me in this mess in the first place."

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to put all the blame on the banks. When moneychangers and dove sellers were dealing in God's house, there had to be a market for them to be there, otherwise they would have gone elsewhere after a while. Some people, for whatever reason, don't read the fine print or do basic research when they're about to spend 1/4 - 1/2 of their monthly income on something that they'll be paying on for the next 15-30 years!

But in the end, these same lenders who made these lousy deals available are now cashing in on even more money for the problems they themselves caused and are being bailed out by the government to do so when they should have gone out of business for being ran so stupidly. A. maz. ing. They will be responsible for sinking this economy even more than it already is.

When you read Micah 6:10 - 13, you see what God has coming for these types of people:

"Can I forget any longer the treasures of wickedness in the house of the wicked, and the scant measure that is accursed? Shall I acquit the man with wicked scales and with a bag of deceitful weights? Your rich men are full of violence; your inhabitants speak lies, and their tongue is deceitful in their mouth. Therefore I strike you with a grievous blow, making you desolate because of your sins."

And to the people foolish enough to take these kinds of loans:

Proverbs 22:7: "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender."

I don't think people in debt realize just how much of a slave they could become. God will judge this nation for our selfish, get-ahead-at-all-costs lifestyles among many other things. I just think the whole thing stinks and implore those of you who don't own a home yet, but who might in the future, to greatly consider what you're getting into. Get advice, talk to many banks, get a trustworthy agent, etc., etc. etc.

Proverbs 4:5-6: "Get wisdom, get understanding; forget not; nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she shall preserve you; love her, and she shall keep you."

No KC Weekend This Year :(

2007-10-16T13:53:00.000-05:00

From Mr. Millich -

We will be cancelling our annual Kansas City weekend so that we can
defer to a special anniversary weekend in Charlotte, NC. Sorry for any
inconvenience this may cause. We will be planning for a social later.
Details about the Headquarters activity will be sent out from there.

Leavin' On a Jet Plane

2007-09-25T10:16:00.000-05:00

Hey peoples!! We're taking off today for the Feast in Newport, Oregon. The journey begins by taking a 7-hour plane ride with a newborn, then driving 2-1/2 hours tomorrow with that same infant. Hopefully ears pop and naps are taken. I hope your Feasts are profitable and enjoyable!

On a semi-related note, the KC weekend will take place this year on the last weekend in December. New Years is on a Tuesday, so if you can take off Monday, it'll be a 4-day weekend. No costume dance this year, though. I'm being told by the powers that be that it'll be a formal dance (obviously suit and tie or nice dress are allowed). But if you feel like dressing up like James Bond or a prom queen, then I suppose you could call it a costume dance...

It's Happening...

2007-09-20T14:07:00.000-05:00

You gotta love an article that begins with "The world dumped the dollar on Thursday...". It almost begs to be followed by something equally trite-sounding: "...and Angelina dumped Brad on Friday." The latter, of course, being the major headline news in the States. The euro is beginning to resemble the pound, the Canadian dollar is on par with our own greenback and even the peso is starting to laugh. "Hey esé, you look so stooooo-peeeeed!"

Man, Gas Prices Are High...

2007-09-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

...Just look at my piggy bank:

20 Years to Life

2007-08-30T10:14:00.000-05:00

No, this isn't about Michael Vick. Apparently (pun intended as you will soon see), having a kid is a long-term job. Not that I'm complaining... What's funny, though, is that many existing parents will want to wrap up their whole experience, whether it be 6-months or 20+ years, into short pieces of advice for us newbies. They state the obvious: "Your life will change" or "It's the end of the world as you know it." Some are nebulous: "You have no idea what you're getting into... But it's great." In fact, many times existing parents will tell you some terrible story about raising kids, then end it with, "...but don't worry, it's totally worth it." My favorite is the whole 'watch out' stuff. I was told by my boss the other day, "Yeah, they seem easy now, but after 3-months you'll be screaming." Another person says just the opposite, "The first three months are awful. But don't worry, it's all worth it." But when people actually see the baby and hold him, we get good, useful advice and people are far more willing to hand out optimism. Babies just do that to some folks, I guess, unless they're screaming. :)

Rachel and I are doing pretty well with parenting so far. And I'm just taking it one day at a time. I'm still sleeping, I just don't expect to get 8-hours, much less consecutive hours of sleep. But it's not bad at all, just different. Rachel gets to nap off and on when Joshua allows her to. In my 3+ weeks of parenting, I can only say that never expecting the same thing helps.

The nice parts about parenting so far are things like the sounds he makes, which are many. I think he'll end up like his old man and do impressions and sound effects... He snorts a lot when he's eating, so that could pose a problem when he's on a date in the future. He's starting to interact a little better now and his eyes don't drift off in every direction like they used to. In fact, he looks at me a little strange when I cross my eyes at him. I had no idea how to hold a baby when he first came, but I had that down after a few days. I felt better when I saw my brothers-in-law doing the same thing... And they had Kevin around as a baby. Kevin looked scared to hold the baby, but then again, so did Peder. "Being an uncle is weird!" Yeah, try being a dad. :)

But overall, it's been fun. A learning experience, sure, but my prior priorities probably could have used some adjusting anyway. They are probably still adjusting. They will probably be adjusting for a long time... Anyway, here's another family photo:

He's Here!!

2007-08-08T23:37:00.000-05:00

Joshua Michael Keesee was born at 5:52 AM on August 7th, 2007. He weighed a mere 9 lbs. 3 oz. We was 21 inches tall, if you felt like holding him upright. But he will resemble a Moluf/Keesee hybrid, ie, tall, goofy and weird. I haven't gotten a lot of pictures from my camera yet, but here's one that my cousin Kasey took from yesterday:

Are We There Yet?

2007-07-25T13:58:00.000-05:00

I guess this baby will get here eventually... However, Rachel is ready to get that baby out of her now. I don't blame her since I wouldn't want a 25 lb. lead weight strapped to my belly every day. On the other hand, her belly doesn't scream or soil itself, so there's that side to consider. I don't have to change her belly at all. There's nothing stopping the inevitable, it's just a weird waiting game.

A Crappy 4th of July Analogy

2007-07-06T10:42:00.001-05:00

Wow, two posts in two days... And most of you won't read this for weeks to come 'cuz I've been so lazy lately. Oh well. It's relavant today while I type it. :) Anyway, I was asking a local friend about where in Grain Valley to watch fireworks on the 4th. He said that sitting on your back porch would be the best. Now, in my old home town a few miles away, there were folks setting off hundreds of dollars of fireworks all around, but in Grain Valley, it's flat enough to get a great view to see all around. Basically, I got more than a 180-degree view of some of the most awesome amateur fireworks displays I've ever seen! I mean, people were forking over tons of money for the stuff I saw. We packed half of the Moluf family on my tiny deck to watch (the other half had left to drive home). At one point, Kevin asked me how much all of the 40 or so displays we were able to see must have cost totalled up. "Oh, at least $10 grand and probably much, much more..."

So that got my mind on this pathetic analogy: Watching those fireworks reminded me of the American economy. Really... We pump a bunch of money in buying worthless stuff with the single purpose of making us say "Oooh, ahhhh. Coooool!" Think of all the gadgets Americans buy each day... HD-TVs, computers, video games, cell phones, iPods, iPhones, Hummers, Corvettes, etc. After 9/11, we were told to keep spending money just to keep the economy from collapsing. We've heeded that request way too well. Of course, the rest of the world looks at the way we're dropping Ben Franklins at the fireworks tent or warehouse and say, "Dat'sa ridiculoso!" But later on, they look at all the amazing results of the fireworks and they get hypnotized the same way we do. So they invest their money in our country's tireless effort to increase our debt so they can watch the show, too (and earn a tidy profit). And like the fireworks, most of the crap we buy is made in China and they're laughing all the way to the bank as our money goes up in smoke.

The show was beautiful... while it lasted.

Life in the Fast Lane

2007-07-05T16:00:00.000-05:00

It's been a long while since I posted last. I even had some great stuff to talk about on here since then, but life has been busy lately. First things first, I flew to Miami on business. My company makes hospital software and we were installing it in the 17th largest hospital in the US. So we sent planners down for several years to get it drawn up, then installers for a year or so, then trainers for the last few months. Finally, the job of 250+ of us was to walk around the various hospitals, clinics and other such places and make sure they were able to use it the first 2 weeks it was up. For those who don't know, doctors and nurses are not trained in computers, they are trained in treating people, so our system is more of a distraction and sometimes a hindrance for them.

I got placed at a clinic in north Miami (to the left) in a part of Little Haiti where the main language is Creole. Notice the barbed wire around the place... Yeah, being the only white boy in town had a certain air of... well, security wasn't the word. So I trained these folks for a whole week and tried to help transfer their minds from their old, "easier" system, to the "new-and-improved" system. The first day, I was teaching one gal how to point and click. It took 20-30 minutes to schedule one person. It used to take less than a minute. Frustrations were high, I didn't know the process, life was less than fun at the time. Basically, I'm an engineer (read: programmer monkey), and they had me pretending to be an expert, a trainer, a hand-holder, a receiver of yelling and complaining, a calming force, a help desk, etc., etc., etc. By the end of the week, I had done all that and also played the role of a plumber (the urinal kept flushing until an inch or two of water was on the floor), a printer repair person, a psychologist ("Zee old system ist merely a feegment of your eemagination. Dee new seestem eest better."), and a delivery boy (lunch needed to be served to the lead administrator a couple of days since she was working longer hours than me).

By the end of the week, I had helped them to finally be able to teach each other how to use the system (see right for proof). It was pretty cool. I mean, I'm not a teacher, but I got a good lesson in how to help others learn. The first thing I learned: Don't expect anything. Sure, have objectives you want to teach. You want to set goals. But don't be shocked if most don't learn them. Don't be shocked if nobody cares (you teachers out there are laughing at me). I was fortunate enough to have a very patient (pun intended) clinic, so teaching them useful stuff was difficult, but it seemed to take hold over time.

I learned through all of this some things that I will definitely keep in mind when/if I get to teach in the future (perhaps even in the Kingdom). Again, have little to no expectations of progress. People learn at their own rate. Just plow ahead... with a plan.... sorta. Be flexible. I was all over the place in the clinic learning their jobs as they learned my system. I'll had to learn how people learned and then taught them accordingly. In the Kingdom, we'll have a lot of information and wisdom, but we'll be dealing with people who don't. Always be positive. Adults need constant praise. Putting them down is a no-no, or so I've been told. Especially when humility isn't on their to-do list to learn that week. :)

In other news, I'm still having a baby. Rachel is one month out from the due date, or at least that's what the latest estimates are. We've finished our Bradley Method class (or Lamaze for Hippies), we've toured the birthing ward and Rachel has had her baby shower. Needless to say, reality is truly setting in. If I hear, "Your life will never be the same" one more time I think I'm going to punch a wall (you parents out there are laughing at me). Of course, that will get me out of changing diapers the first month or so, right? Nah, I'm looking forward to it in many respects. It's just hard when you hear existing parents sound like schizophrenics when they tell you about parenting. "Oh it's great. The greatest thing ever. RUN! YOUR LIFE WILL BE MISERABLE FROM LACK OF SLEEP!!!!" Of course, the constant lack of sleep possibly turned them into schizoids, so this blog should take an interesting turn starting next month, assuming I have time to post again.

The Illusion of Competition

2007-06-01T13:09:00.000-05:00

I was having lunch with a friend today and we were discussing problems with governments, society and our individual thinking overall. I was trying to come up with a reasonable explanation of the underlying problem with people's thinking and why these problems continue to occur. We came up with one possibility...

We brought up a philosophy of competition called Game Theory that describes how people consider their opponent's next move in order to gain more for themselves. Every game that I've played generally follows this theory in some way, hence the name. One example is that a nice player will always lose to one who's willing to take advantage of that niceness. Another is to be willing to lose a little bit to gain a lot. Yet another is to play tit-for-tat, or only strike out when attacked. Or in a win-win situation, let's say where there's a bundle of money on the table with several opponents sitting around it, do you grab all you can as fast as you can, everyone getting some, but some getting far more than others (usually the ones with the advantage of longer arms or bigger hands). Or do you try and talk the table into splitting it all evenly if you're at a disadvantage? Even then, how do you know that they will be fair in doing so?

So how does this tie into mankind's problems today? In an article I found earlier, the author took this theory a step further than just games and said that in our desire to compete, some people take a short-term approach and others take a long-term approach. Do you try to take as much as you can now, taking advantage of people's weakness or kindness, or play a strategy that will win in the end regardless of making some sacrifices? In one example, if you travel to a third-world country, you might have street merchants jump all over you trying to sell you a worthless trinket. Many tourists throw money at them just to be left alone, however, they've learned their lesson not to go down that street again. However, you go to your local Target and quality merchandise is just sitting there, no one hassles you, you get what you want and go. Which model of sales develops long-term customers? The author proceeded to broaden that concept to whole cultures and how some countries' leadership try to address the current problems or address short-term problems in order to look good now or to calm growing disorder. Whereas more successful countries tend to pass laws that have future generations well in mind regardless of the pain those laws may cause right away.

Criminals, delinquents and spoiled brats tend to have that 'take all I can', 'have fun right now' mentality whereas more well-balanced, mature folks have a more patient attitude in order to have better benefits later on.

This all seemed to make sense... Except then I had a nagging thought: This is all based on COMPETITION! People using varying strategies to get ahead of others. Some just flat out silly, some far more complex or even sinister.

So I asked my friend, who is more atheistic than religious, if he knew of any cultures that didn't value competition the same way we in capitalistic societies do. As I expected, he couldn't think of any. Neither could I. Even in the most simple villages in Africa, there is probably some form of competition to eat more of the lion, or have the most children to carry on your namesake, or to take from others just stay alive. However, we in the U.S. thrive on this idea. Capitalist nations teach that competition is the best way to foster growth, innovation, ideas and most of all: money. The "Good Life". It was this type of thinking that came up with evolution, and it's this type of thinking that views everything we see in nature as following those competitive rules. We love our sports and athletes as well as shrewd business billionaires who continually vie to be the most rich.

So I wondered about what God thought of competition. Could it be that He doesn't think much of it at all? I mean, He has His Law that we are supposed to follow. There are True Values which we are supposed to keep. Since these ideals are as built into the universe as gravity, could it be that the individuals and societies that get closest to keeping God's way of life are rewarded the most? I'm not saying God is fooled by those who act nice just to get ahead. He knows our intentions. But it's not a stretch to think that He would still reward us for good behavior to prove the point that His way works. I've heard there are many CEOs and executives who read Proverbs even though they aren't overly religious men. There's just solid truth there. Are there times where the U.S. or other nations happen upon the best way to do things by building character after a huge war, let's say, or suffering through a Great Depression, and are humbled to do things in more virtuous, courageous way? Or are we stuck with the image of Michael Douglas in the movie Wall Street saying, "Greed is good. Greed works."?

Is competition as a force for improvement just an illusion? Do capitalist societies like America succeed prosper because of competition and democracy (majority rule), or because God promised Abraham a great nation and we as a nation try to keep similar versions of God's laws? My opinion is that leaving God behind for our professed gods of competition, democracy and capitalism will be the death of us.

But we're so inundated with competition in our daily lives that we naturally argue that it's necessary. Some may argue that the best athletes are so because of competition. I would agree with that in many cases. But to what purpose? Do we play sports just to win? How does a highly-competitive individual act when they lose? Would a more helpful reason to play sports be to get good exercise, build camaraderie, skills, talents and sportsmanship? Perhaps teaching and playing with less-skilled players with a patient attitude? To learn how to vent frustration properly? Even to learn how to lose with grace??

Some may argue that the best companies are the most competive, like Microsoft or Wal-Mart. However, those very same practices that got them there are slowly killing them. Companies who follow Wal-Mart's scheme underpay employees with little to no benefits, underbid suppliers because of their size and buy from suppliers in foreign countries that exploit workers and children. All while giving the customer lower prices, many times at the expense of quality. Microsoft pays well and has wonderful benefits, but I've been told that you shouldn't expect much of a home life. 70-90+ hour weeks are common-place in uber-competitive software and other white collar companies. And both destroy smaller businesses with pleasure. However, companies who cater to their employees and their families, to the customer, and deliver high quality and good customer service suffer some expenses to do so, but many times are far more successful than their competitors. CostCo vs. Sam's Club (Wal-Mart) comes to mind.

This blog entry is starting to get to excess, so I'll try to wrap up here. Basically, with our fleshly bodies being fairly self-contained and self-centered (Romans 7:23), competitive and selfish behavior seems to be natural to this world. The god of this world, Satan, probably helped make that one of the standards of behavior (think Cain and Abel), so there's definitely some truth there. However, I don't believe that's the expected behavior that God wants from us. God's way is unchanging, His Laws are perfect, His character flawless. Who can compete with that?? The answer is obvious. And when it becomes obvious that there's no competing with God's standards, surrendering to Him becomes much easier. It also makes it easier to deal with other people, I think, with a less-competitive attitude. Let God provide a job rather than competing for it. Let God feed us. Let God handle a difficult situation. Use His form of non-competitive leadership which focuses on helping others rather than worrying about our own position and power. It probably starts to make everything easier once we dump all the garbage this world has fed us in that regard and follow Him completely and whole-heartedly. 'Cuz let's face it, God could kick our butt in a game of basketball. :)

Brawny Brain Building

2007-05-24T10:37:00.000-05:00

Every once in awhile, I find a cool article on personality-building. Since I'll be having a kid of my own soon, it seems even more pertinent to figure out how we develop personality, character and talent in an uplifting and edifying way. That said, this article from Newsweek discusses some recent tests that prove some age-old techniques in building confidence and a desire to grow in people, especially children.

Basically, they gave an IQ test to two sets of children. To one group, they told them they did a good job and how smart they were. To the other group, they told them they did a good job and how hard they must have worked to get the score they did. The first group tended to view their accomplishment as a level of achievement that is fixed and can't be changed. The second group believed that their efforts got them to where they were and continued to push forward to new learning and growing. The first group even began lying about their scores because... well, read the article.

In another test, the therapist told one older group of children that the brain is a muscle and can be built stronger. The other group was told nothing. Obviously, the first group went on to work hard to grasp higher mathematics. The other group is now in prison... Oh wait, no, that's not right.

Anyway, it was interesting to see that not only do you need to praise your children and encourage them, or even friends and loved ones, but how you encourage people is very important, too. Or maybe I'm just full of all this phony-baloney, new-age psychology junk. Or maybe everyone already knows this but me... OH, I'M SUCH A LOSER!!!! GIVE ME SOME SORT OF DRUG TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!!!!!!! I'm okay now.

Gas Prices

2007-05-14T10:12:00.000-05:00

If you're one of those people tired of paying high prices in gasoline and forward on emails about boycotting certain gas retailers, think again. Most experts say that won't have any impact on the market except to the individual owners of the gas stations themselves. Instead, according to this article, we must look at our own driving practices and change them, even if ever so slightly, to make a difference. The two points? Simple:

Quit driving like a jerk (gunning the accelerator and braking at the last minute).
Slow down (you don't have to be grandpa out there, just keep your RPMs lower on average).

That doesn't seem terribly hard. Apparently, even a 1% decrease in demand will settle down a simmering market much like turning down the stove slightly will stop water from boiling over (using the author's own metaphor). So if you can save even one gallon a month in gas by observing and changing your driving behavior, you can actually help make a small dent in demand. And a 7% decrease, which is what we had from August last year to January this year, dropped prices almost a dollar! Spam this info to the world instead of gas boycotts...

Kansas City, Here I Come!!

2007-05-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

So any more of you single people moving here? Man, it's raining men... AND women! I think I've counted 5 new people that are moving or have moved out here (Cherie just got here tonight), and that doesn't even count Infinity who's moving only 100 miles to the east of here. We're glad to have ya'll, so let us know and we'll leave the light on for ya' (even if you're just passin' through).

Seared Brains, Anyone?

2007-04-25T10:15:00.000-05:00

Have you ever noticed that when you make a mistake and realize it, you have a kind of, "Oh crap!" reaction? Did you ever notice any kind of shock, feeling of dread or painful sensation with that? According to some new research found in this Newsweek article appropriately titled, "Oops, I Did It Again", there's a part of the brain that alerts us when we make the same mistakes over and over again by sending out a negative reaction, or electric shock. It comes from the part of the brain called the anterior cingulate cortex that signals what psychologists call ERN, or "error related negativity." Of course, there's a flip side to this. If you constantly make the same mistakes over and over again, the ERNs begin to weaken. This is possibly why some people never learn from their mistakes. If you tend to reason around errors in your life now, you are essentially rewiring your own brain to ignore them in the future, too. So when we say we're just having fun now and will change later, you may completely lack the physical ability to care or be shocked by your own actions in the future to effectively do something about it! This brings a whole new meaning to "searing your conscience", doesn't it? :)

The study also noted that "the subjects who were most impulsive and antisocial had EEGs that were quite different from those who were low on these traits." This points to the importance of self-control and fellowship with others of like minds. Of course, the human brain is capable of being rewired to send stronger signals for our mistakes as we correct our behavior while following God's way of life and building character. I'm sure a physical component of "building character" is reprogramming our brain to reward us when we do the right thing and to sting us more when we make mistakes. This is vital for raising kids, too (as I will soon learn). That's probably one of the main reasons why King Solomon wrote about learning proper values in our childhood years, "Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6).

What Could Bee the Problem?

2007-04-23T16:05:00.000-05:00

I stumbled upon this artice earlier about large populations of honey bees used to pollinate various crops are disappearing for unknown reasons. The article mentions that it doesn't necessarily affect staples, but certain veggies, fruits and nuts. I guess it's widespread enough that they're going to hold congressional hearings about it. I'm sure that will do a lot of good.

Slightly Lighter Topic...

2007-04-19T10:40:00.000-05:00

...OK, not really. But the last topic was probably too heavy and too vague to really discuss. So I'll try something different. The one thing the media keeps coming back to on this shooter in VA is how odd and different and morbid his thinking was... and it was. But many newscasters sat there in complete shock about his behavior and asked why more people didn't do anything about it. I sat there in disbelief, too. Do these people really know what modern schools and kids are like??? I went to school with 10-15 kids that acted like Cho did. Some of them did carry guns. Some of them would never look you in the eye. They wrote awful poetry and sick stories and kept to themselves or their small group of odd friends. I even befriended some of them later on because I, too, was in that "not accepted by normal people" group for awhile (probably not the smartest thing I ever did, but I'm pretty accepting of just about anyone who's willing to be friendly).

Chris Matthews on MSNBC told one of Cho's suite mates that in his day at college, they would never have put up with a roommate that never talked or never looked at them in the eye. "I guess you have much more respect for diversity than we did." I took that to mean he would have beat him up or changed rooms or reported him or something. I think anymore, we're so used to people being weird, slightly off or just plain out there that we don't pay it as much attention as we should. People not from this generation must not have an idea of how much anti-social people are out there in this modern world. And having been out of the school system for over 6 years and high school for over 10, I'm sure it's even stranger than when I was there. Oh sure, people would still get beat up physically or verbally for being odd in my HS days, but there was definitely a shift to just completely ignoring those same people in college.

I have a couple points to make from this observation:.

One, this world has definitely changed and is rapidly changing toward the worse. That has been obvious for quite some time.
Two, these kids that think and act this way are more and more turning inward until they block out everybody who reaches out to them, even in subtle ways except those who "understand them". Thus, they block out family and many times friends who genuinely want to help them and rather befriend angry, bitter kids who share the same viewpoint (Columbine boys), or worse, go completely loner on us (ala Cho or Ted Kaczynski). Most folks, in turn, don't pay attention to them because they're weird or because they say or do awful and strange things. I'll hear many of these kids repeatedly say, "I don't care," but you know they do. Otherwise they wouldn't be seeking the kind of attention they do. This cycle continues until a major lashing out occurs at a society they feel completely torn away from and mocked by. Analyze that last statement more carefully: they walk away from others and then get frustrated and angry when others don't try to understand them, care about them, follow them, etc. See how selfish that is? And yet, that is the very attitude that causes so many people to do their own thing and never return. It's a powerful Satanic device.
Three, (I feel like I should be using the numbered list now instead of bullets), what are you and I doing to reach out to these personalities? I'm a sucker for people that had to feel the same way I did growing up... Picked on, alone, etc. I wrote the occasional angry poem about rich kids and people's attitudes of superiority and snobbery. But even if we don't understand or relate to these people, we can still impact their lives. I remember a fairly popular guy in HS that would take the time to talk to me a few times just to be friendly. All the others usually ignored me or picked on me. But he showed me that people can be nice. What if you (I'm making the large assumption that you're "normal" and nice) did the same to someone strange to you? Maybe you'd give that person enough hope not to dive into selfish, inward, suicidal or even murderous rampaging behavior. People who have these tendencies need hope. They need solid friends. They're drowning in a sea of angst, anger and loneliness and need rescue. Perhaps we can't rescue them, but at least we can inspire them not to go completely over the edge.

So look out for the kids who never says anything to anyone or keep their distance... Say hi or smile at them even if they don't return it. Try to make them laugh or strike up a conversation. Keep at it. We all need friends and acquaintances, some are just better at making them than others.

Demons

2007-04-16T15:34:00.000-05:00

It is truly terrible to hear about the latest news coming out of Virginia. With all the shootings that have happened over the last decade, I've occasionally wondered if demons have been at work in any or all of the individuals responsible for these heinous crimes. I know we in the Church use that explanation sometimes, especially in the wake of our own terrible tragedy. But having only heard ministers discuss this topic from time to time about some weird happenings at a dorm in Big Sandy, or a haunted house, or some deranged person at some Feast site, I haven't really figured out how we know when it's a demon and when it's just a weird person or a strange coincidence that our mind tries to comprehend. How many mentally insane people out there are demon possessed? How many are epileptics like the one Jesus healed? Are we chalking up demon possession to "abnormal psychology" too much? How can we possibly "test the spirits" as we are instructed to do in Scripture? As the end times come closer and closer, we're told that demons will be running rampant more and more and it's something I don't know hardly anything about. I know it's difficult to answer these questions, and it may be God's inspiration that we are even able to discern spirits. Thoughts or comments?

The Past Few Weeks...

2007-03-22T10:02:00.000-05:00

...Have been slightly busy. And we have company staying with us this weekend to top it all off. But that's something to look forward to, in my mind. Finally... Slaves to help us unpack more! :)

We closed on the condo just before we left to fly down to Dallas to spend the weekend with Marshall. Yes, I realize that a vacation is not the most rational thing to do in the middle of moving, but I seriously didn't think we'd have a buyer by then, much less be moving the week afterward, so we booked some ridiculously cheap fares. All in all, it was good to get away and rest for a bit. We had a good 4-days of rest and relaxation except when I was helping Marshall change his tire only an hour after getting into town. I told him that road sucked... :) An iPod back-light makes an excellent flashlight, by the way. But a weekend of disc golf, some social time and catching up on sleep really made the follwoing week easier to bear.

We got home and had to really get crunching on the house. Our condo's buyer closed last Wednesday, and we closed on our house Thursday. It was a little disconcerting that we technically didn't have a place to live for 24 hours, but that's the way things go. But the buyer graciously gave us until the following Sunday to get our stuff out. While at Marshall's house, Rachel and I were convinced that garage floor paint was a good idea, so I invested in the stuff and set out to "get it done Thursday night". Well, if you ever try that endeavor, forget about it. After pouring oil-remover, spray washing the floor 4-5 times, squeegeeing after each time, super scrubbing the entire floor with some sort of solvent, then spray washing another time or two, then finally putting in some floor crack putty, that was the evening. Friday afternoon, we didn't get much done either, so Saturday night was going to be the big push to get everything fully packed and the floor painted. The floor was painted, and we threw down decorative "flakes" on top of it. If you ever have the chance to watch grown men trying to throw down what appears to be sparkles in a manly fashion... well, it can't be done. "Ssssssthparkles," I kept saying as I threw flakes on the floor with a nice lissssthp. The fumes didn't make us any less loopy. Meanwhile, Rachel was packing as fast as a 5-month pregnant woman can, but eventually called it a night.

The next morning came, and I realized that I still had a bunch of packing left to do. So I spent 30 minutes gathering electrical stuff, cords and computers into boxes. Then I was off to get the U-Haul. However, the place wasn't open at the 9:00 opening time I was promised. I attempted not to freak out since I legally had to be out of the condo that afternoon, and called a buddy that I knew had access to a box truck. Fortunately for us, someone finally showed up 20 minutes late looking, shall I say, a tad ragged. So I got a 26-foot truck and had a blast driving that around. We got a few more helping hands than I was expecting and got everything into the truck and several cars. Time to head over to the new house... Let me tell you, driving a 26-foot truck empty is fun, but fully loaded? I have a new-found respect for truck drivers when they drive slowly now. We got everything unloaded and had committed ourselves to going to Todd and, now, Barb Lee's wedding. But first, we figured it would be a good idea to make sure we had somewhere to sleep that night. So we constructed the bed. It was the most unorganized move we've had yet, but I think we've accumulated twice as much stuff since the last move.

This week, we've been knocking out a room or two over a few nights and our house is slowly coming together. I discovered that when you have DSL, it's nice to have a phone line where you're putting the computer. Of course, that was a gross miscalculation on my part, expecting there to be a phone line in every part of the house, like, say, the downstairs. Wireless networking to the rescue. We've overcome a few bugs, but we've been seriously blessed by this home and are grateful for all the help that people provided over the last couple of weeks. If anything, their presence kept us sane. I've been looking forward to the day that I can just come home, feel at home, and sit back and relax without worrying about some task I have to do, and that moment looks to be just over the horizon.

On another note, Rachel went in for her ultrasound yesterday. It appears that we have an active little baby boy! Which might explain Rachel's stomach pains the last several days... I guess he lodged his spine next to her ribcage, so I'm sure that's fun. So next on the list of things to do: names. These have been our ideas so far:

Martin Skor Keesee
Farrell Keesee (say it out loud)
Satchel Keesee (ditto)
Kasey Keesee just seems too goofy.

Rachel has vetoed any of the top 20 names of the last two years. So it appears that I have a challenge in front of me. Hey, I named a ferret and a pomeranian, so how hard could a little boy be? Ah, I know, Intra Keesee. Della Keesee? Feel sorry for my child...

We're Getting A Home!

2007-03-01T15:51:00.000-06:00

Just another way to show that if you ask God for help with something, He comes through!

We've been searching for a house for the past month or two and have had our townhome on the market for about 4 weeks. There are 20 others on the market within a mile of us, and we've only had one person look at ours... A guy who works at the same company I do, Cerner, who wanted someplace a little cheaper than ours. Well, out of nowhere, my real estate agent calls Monday and asks me to get some paper and a pen. So she tells me that the same guy had a deal with the condo down the street that was way underpriced, but it fell through. The condo was in a divorce situation and they were pretty much giving everything including the kitchen sink for the grand price of $100K. Of course, we couldn't afford to offer that (we wanted more like $106K). But as it turns out, neither could the other condo… I guess the gal selling it didn't understand the concept of real estate fees, roughly 3-6% of the total sale of the home. Oops. So she would have had to pay to sell it. So my real estate agent put together this low-ball offer for the guy to attract him to our court. Since she's basically both our agent and his, she was willing to take a hefty pay cut on our house since she knew she'd be getting a chunk from the house we'd be buying. And we're getting the buyer a furniture gift card to buy some furnishings to make his moving process a little easier. Long story short, we went and looked at a house again Tuesday night and wrote up an offer. Yesterday, they accepted it. We'll be moving March 18th in an effort to get this guy a place fast since he's living on someone's couch for the time being. So packing will begin fast and furious here in the next few nights.

Basically, we bought a front-to-back (California) split with 3 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths and enough entertaining space for the family or any friends that come visit us… Even a nice yard for Wookiee. And it's in a safe neighborhood, too, so Rachel can run with the baby without worry. So over the next couple of weeks stress levels will be high and availability will be low... But I'm pretty excited about finally getting our own place. That's right, I'm gonna crank the stereo and enjoy my first non-attached neighbor moment. :)

Thoughts on Dating and Marriage

2007-02-16T20:48:00.000-06:00

If you haven't heard lately, there are more and more people with fiancees lately (as well as ladies with babies). It's pretty cool if you ask me. Not even a year and a half ago, some of these people were looking around at the Feast saying that the church single's scene was just like high school. I didn't blame them necessarily, it can be, but I often wondered what made it that way. I mean, I have no real clue, honestly.

I was different (and still am in more ways than one) in that I got to get married to a great gal at an earlier stage in life. In a way, I did everything wrong growing up and still managed to get it right in the end. I dated way too early in and out of the church, mostly out, and pretty much threw anything that Mr. Weston told us to do out the window. Not out of rebellion, but because I was a romantic little moron. I would listen to the Righteous Brothers and sing Unchained Melody, dreaming of the day where I could be dancing with the woman of my dreams to it. I would go to Y.O.U. dances and look for that girl at age 13 and yet I was a tad too nerdy to get anyone to notice me... Or so it seemed. Desperate would be a good word for it. I would envy the guys who were able to ask a pretty girl to dance, but I was too dumb to figure out real confidence. "Everyone looks stupid, Mike, just go do it anyway," I would tell my 13-year old self today.

By 16, I gained that confidence, but still remained the same old romantic. And this time, I could play the romantic music. I taught myself how to write poems. I learned to dance at SEP camp when hardly anybody came back and knew how to swing dance (or they just didn't want to). I put my best foot forward to every girl that I figured would give me a chance, and some did. But with worldly girls, you have to take the good with the bad, and I did. After struggling with several relationships from 16 to my first two years in college, I had completely destroyed my innocence. Sad... And yet, the romantic inside me stayed lit up. Literally... See, romantics have this tendency to overindulge in love, in poetry, in music, in wine... Anyway, I didn't do myself any favors. To put it simply, not have a steady girlfriend in my life set my confidence level back to that of that silly little 13-year old kid. I realized that I wasn't being honest with myself or with the girls I was friends with. It was time to change.

From then on, I tried to be myself. I wasn't a poet, I was a nerd. I liked corny, warped humor. I liked Unchained Melody, but I also like Metallica and Phil Collins and UB40. The girl I was to marry had to fall in love with those sides of me. All of me. I could still be the romantic, but that wouldn't carry us through the long-term. However, I did later realize that the romantic in me always seemed to keep the opposite sex as a positive force in my life. I never let a bad relationship ruin my image of what a wonderful mate I would eventually need. I would hear a romantic song (stupid 80s music) and it would make me want a long-term companion. Someone to balance me out. A woman who sees me as I am and loves me for it. A marvelous lady who tells me that I'm worth so much to her. It's that loving nature that a woman had that I needed. In the end, it wasn't romanticism, it was a total appreciation for the significance a woman made in my life that made it such a powerful force.

They always say behind every good man is a great woman... You can't tell me that George Washington didn't have Martha at home telling him just how much of a stud he was. She also told him so about not brushing his teeth enough. Women keep us humble, too. :) Great men can't stay great if they're tyrants.

So I've given you a small slice of my life story on dating and marriage, but I wanted to draw a couple of conclusions from these stories. I've heard plenty of theories on dating in the church in the last several years. In the end, I can't honestly put myself in your position if you're currently single and wondering what's wrong with the opposite sex in this church. I was 21 when I met my future wife and 23 when I married. But I can tell you this: Fully appreciate what a man or woman could do in your life. Realize your short-comings and understand that God, through His endless sense of humor and mercy, will pair you up with someone who will change you, if you allow Him to. If you feel that the problem lies with the opposite sex, you're wrong. I've generally found that if someone sets me off, it was often times just as much my attitude problem in the end as it was theirs. Or if it was their attitude, not everyone is like that, so move on to someone else. I've also found that being appreciative of the opposite sex can make you want to spend the right kind of quality time with them talking about the right kinds of things. If you notice only tight abs or a fair face, you'll treat them that same way. But if you see your completed self in the opposite sex, a total image of God's character, then you will treat them as such and they will respond in kind.

It was fairly common that my female friends would respond positively to me when I was putting my best effort to make them feel comfortable, to be the center of my attention, and using my natural talents to show off. Cuz that's what us guys do. :) And then occasionally screw up so the girl would find something to fix. :) God wants us to find true joy and love in our lives. We do need to fix ourselves first (giving up evil habits, getting baptized, getting over past bad relationships, etc.), but then we can put our whole self into a positive relationship with the opposite sex and maybe one day find a spouse that helps us build perfect godly character.

VP of Pain

2007-02-14T13:48:00.000-06:00

When entering the political arena, it's good to learn a little self-defense, whether it be used against character assasination, libel, or even physical harm. However, our Vice President has taken it to a whole new level. Moral: Don't mess around with Dick Cheney.

This Little Piggy Part 2

2007-02-01T16:26:00.000-06:00

Okay, sorry, the last time I had ingrown toenail surgery, most of the nail was removed. It turns out that there was a tiny piece left and I had more surgery today to get that removed. Pain is a funny thing sometimes... It's now going on 5 months since I first got this thing. Sorry, nothing interesting to see here. Oh, and Rachel is pregnant.