Thursday, November 30, 2006

Imaginary Friends

Imaginary friends - My myspace.com page reads that I have 3 friends. According to what it shows in terms of thumbnails, links or anything else in the friends listing I only have two.


I thought I was past the imaginary friend stage, but I guess not, at least not according to myspace. http://www.myspace.com/southplatte



Author Unknown.....

I got the following in an email - I have no clue who originally wrote it to give proper credit - but the Lord knows who it was and I pray they are blessed.

A Christmas poem to remind us to say Merry Christmas!

How the "Left" Stole
Christmas


Twas the month
before Christmas
When all through
our land,

Not a Christian
was praying,
Nor taking a
stand.

See the PC
Police had taken away,
The reason for
Christmas - no one could say.

The children
were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds
and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt
people's feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th
is just a " Holiday ".

Yet the
shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks
down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from
Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was
changing, something quite odd!

Retailers
promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to
sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were
hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe's the
word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and
Staples and Penny's and Sears
You won't hear
the word Christmas; it won't touch your ears.

Inclusive,
sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that
were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle,
Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on
Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !

At the top of
the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate
Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke
not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to
speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift
of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for
the season, stopped before it started.

So as you
celebrate "Winter Break" under your "Dream Tree"
Sipping your
Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your
words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS,
not Happy Holiday !

When you're wrong.....

I know that many of you, like me, hardly ever feel you are wrong. Well, to that end, I am wrong. Was wrong, and realize now that I completely, and utterly almost ruined a very good thing.

Truly, a blessing in disguise, an opportunity to let Christ's light shine through me.

For all my mistakes, my blunders, my disobedience, the Lord still has showered blessings beyond comprehension on myself and my family. Many times we feel that blessings come in the form of monetary or material items, while it is true they can be, more oft than not, they are situations, circumstances and things that just open our eyes, nudge our hearts. Times come though, that it may be a form of monetary blessing, unexpected, or a material item that is sorely needed.

We then take that blessing, and use it as a tool to let Christ's light shine through us, to others. That is a blessing in and of itself - to be able to take what Christ has given us, and use it to glorify Him - as it should be.

This month, okay it's only November 30, but tomorrow is December 1 and I am talking the month of December, take 5 minutes a day to reflect on all that you have, and not just monetary or materalistic. Take into account situations that have shown you Christ's light, or allowed you to show Christ's light and works in your life to a family member, a friend, a stranger. Reflect on the salvation of your soul, that of your neighbor. Take 5 minutes to do something for someone other than yourself, to be a blessing in disguise to them. Take that 5 minutes just to reflect upon the greatness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let's let Christ's light shine through us so bright this month, that we change the world for His glory.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Eye Openers

(Please note, this post was originally started November, 28th, 2006.)

While working today, I was priviledged to a wonderous eye opener.

It's not that we carry out our daily lives in oblivion, but that we have grown to be the calloused point of societal ignorance.

It is this point, that when we carry our daily lives in such mundaneness, that we find we hate life, ourselves; yet very rarely ever escape what we have created, being blinded to that which has been given us to manage, carry-out, perform for Him. We play the game, knowing that in the end our side wins, but in the internal struggle we lose. We lose parts of us, parts of our faith, parts of our family and friends.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Define Crazy....

Define Crazy:

Working out for one hour, three days a week, performing aerobic, conditioning and strength training on those three days for a complete well rounded workout practice.

Eat healthy meals, low in fats and cholesterol.

Then destroy it all by smoking a pack and half of cigarettes a day, and drinking a six pack of beer every other day.

It makes me think of this analogy:

Take a 1964 1/2 Mustang, trick it, fix it, paint and put all the conditioning into it, then take it out every other day on a dirt road in the country, drive it about 60 mph, do some 360s in it, go splash through some mud and just tear it up in general.

Then repeat that every day and on the odd days washing it, cleaning it, fixing it, and conditioning it.

Pretty crazy huh? Yeah, but the car is an inanimate object that accomplishes nothing for Christ, while the body is the vessel His light travels through in this dark old world.

At least years ago when I drank and smoked I tried not to pretend to do "healthy" things in all other aspects of my life....such as I never took issue about drinking tap water because of all the "pollutants" in it. Okay, wait a minute, I did to do that....I bet you didn't know that about me huh? I refused to drink the water in my old town because it was "nasty", yet I smoked, I drank and did other things at that time in my life. I don't think the water has anything on the damage the smoking, drinking had on me.

Have you ever met or known someone who was like that? They would ingest smoke "pollutants", alcohol "pollutants", yet turn around, eat tofu (because red meat has too much garbage and bad stuff in it, or cows are gross to eat), refuse to drink the tap water and think that they actually stood for something?

Maybe if we all kept Christ as the center of our focus we would all stand for something, all the time. I know that is something I need to work on, everyday, standing up for Christ. The rest will all handle itself because we are taught that with Christ at the center of our focus, he takes us through all things.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Boxes? What boxes?

I have wanted to write about boxes, limiting boxes and boundaries for quite some time, as probably mentioned earlier.

In thinking of recent events, what kind of Boxes do you think that Ted Haggard will have to deal with in going forward from his currently situation? Do you even want to fathom that? I do not.

Why? Because I hate limiting boxes, and boxes abound when someone makes poor choices. Too many times people act as though they have never made a poor choice, or that their choice was not as poor as your choice. Similar to the illustration below about hypocrites:

Matthew 6 verses 1-7 Illustrates this point to a degree:

1
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
2

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
3

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
4

That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
5

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6

But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7

But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

That they may be seen of men. Think of that for a moment - the profoundly simple truth of it. Man places limiting boxes on people, not God.

For I was once told I could expect never to be much within a church as a servant. Maybe a Sunday School teacher, a choir member and such, but never a deacon, surely not a Youth Pastor, and most definitely probably not ever a Pastor, and that if, beings I felt I was being called into the ministry, that was what I felt I should be, but could never be, I would never be in the "Perfect" will of God. I could be in the "Good" will of God, but not the perfect will.

I almost stopped serving right then and there - in some areas, many areas I did stop serving. I kept two things going, and that was because I could see the impact and the change in lives because of them. I also knew the consequences would be much more than I could bear if I quit it all together.

See, these type of boxes, limiting boxes, take the Lord right out of the Servitude of a church member. Of a fellow Christian. Of a son or daughter, parent or grand-parent. Let's take a look at the reasoning behind the killing of my servitude.

I married a divorced woman. A woman who divorced her husband partially because of an affair she was having with me, and partially because her marriage was long done and over. That's it. Right there. I had an affair, with the woman I later married. Sound similar to David? Yup, but in my human mind I can say, I never killed my wife's husband (or ex-husband). Did David continue to serve as king and serve God? You bet he did, were there consequences? Yes, and we have had to face our own consequences, and it hasn't always been something that went wrong with us, but something with the kids that you just knew was there to teach you a lesson about what you did. See, the way I see and understand it now, I did no worse than David and I did no better than David. We both committed adultery. A Sin. From there unto confession, repentance and the forgiveness, life is nothing but tribulation, something I speak from personal experience and something that was written about David for proof. Doesn't matter if I ever killed anyone, one Sin is the same as a thousand - it is wrong from all angles.

Hmmm.....let's take a look at Paul. Goodness, he was a piece of work wasn't he? He was a Christian killer, going around purposely killing anyone who proclaimed Christ or God, or anything to do with it. Man, that is brutal to use a modern term, horrendous, atrocious. Yet, the better part of the New Testament was written by who? Paul. Did he still serve God after his crimes? Sure! Did he pay a price for those crimes? Sure.

David and Paul both had their Servitude, and God did not box them in, he led them where he wanted them, how he wanted them and as far as they were willing.

Can you imagine for 2 minutes what would happen in the modern day church if Paul or David said they felt called into the Ministry? What would happen if they said they felt God calling them to something more than just sitting in a Pew? What if they felt called to sing in choir? To be a deacon (would you nominate them??)? Or if they felt called to pastor a church, would you be one of their members?

Or would you say they had no right to be there because of choices they had made previously, which in your focus on their Sin rather than your Sin, you give no regard to God's will?

I know what I would say and do. I would treat them just as any other person I met - I would call them my brother in Christ, lift them up in prayer and allow God to work in their lives, not try to force my working on their lives.

Boxes are made by man, as God has shown us that Sin is Sin. There is no distinction made between murder, adultery, lying and thievery. An impure thought is just as wrong as an affair, as pointed out in Matthew 5:28 "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." How many pastors have had an impure thought? Just because they are pastors doesn't make them immune to is, as Ted Haggard proved. Yet too many pastors, deacons and elders can and unfortunately do sit and place a box on their congregation members and dictate where, how and why they can serve God, based upon their past choices - acting the hypocrite as though they have had no past, and currently do not fight with struggles to live a pure life.

My friend Jamey has a prayer request on his blog about the pure life in regards to the Ted Haggard situation, and the fact that the devil is out to get anyone and everyone. To quote "What has happened should be an example to all that anyone can fall into gross sin. No one is exempt from Satan's vices."

No one is exempt from Satan's vices. No one. Not the pastor, not the deacons, not the elders. It is one thing to point the sinner in the direction of forgiveness and repentance. It is another to condemn them for their Sin or past, which is no worse nor better than your Sin or past.

Jesus, speaking to the woman taken in adultery, says "Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more." (John 8:10)

Jesus hung upon a cross on Calvary, to be spat upon, beaten, pierced, and crucified unto death, to have the cup of Sin poured in Him, to have the Father turn from him. Why? For His love for us was meant to free us from the condemnation of the Lake of Fire. Not to box us into not being able to accomplish that which he calls us to do.

The Problem With eBay

This is a bit off-topic, and more a rant than a mindless-mind-babble...but oh well.

Do you know the problem with eBay? Crooks.

You try to sell a decent item, at a decent price and next thing you know the buyer is demanding you refund shipping charges that were not even incurred (he refused to send the item back for repair, thus no shipping charges were incurred), or he is going to complain to eBay that you sold stolen merchandise.

Whoa - wait a minute. Who's the crook here? I bought an item, tested it, it worked okay with a few errors, I stated the errors, sold it AS-IS and now he is going to claim I sold him stolen goods, that I knew about the problem, and I should comply or he will dispute the charges with PayPal, file a claim to eBay about me selling a stolen item and take me through the wringer?

I don't think so.

First, I have the contact info of where I purchased said item from, second I have years as a tech to back up my testing, third I offered to repair it, but he refused because it would cost "too much to ship it back", fourth he now demands I "refund" the shipping charges that he "would" have paid had he sent it back.

Wow....whoa....wait.

No. I don't think so. Huh, uh! Get lost!

Anyway, I told him that if he really felt I sold stolen goods he could contact the law enforcement agency and my attorney rather than eBay. Or he could go through eBay and find out the same information that the law enforcement and my attorney would tell him.

Either way, I have little faith in selling items on eBay anymore.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Sin, Servitude and Views

Okay, I am finally getting around to post about what I talked about earlier, Sin, Servitude and Views of each.

One of the best things that we, as Christians do, is claim that we are followers of Christ. That we look to Jesus for our model to try to mold ourselves around. That is what we are supposed to do according to the scripture, is be Christ Like. (1 Peter 2:21, KJV)

One of the worst things that we, as Christians do, is claim that we are followers of Christ. That we look to Jesus for our model to try to mold ourselves around. That is what we are supposed to do according to the scripture, but the Scripture is full of people who failed, even though they were full of the love of Christ, they were servants of God, and did wondrous things in the name of God.

David, a man after God's own heart, failed miserably, and had much misfortune flow down through his lineage. Why? Sin. One little three letter word. Sin. See, four letter words are commonly referred to as being bad in our society, you know the "cuss" words. But they are merely the larger smoke screen for the issue at hand, that is known as Sin. Now, before you think I am getting all "Holier Than Thou" on you, ponder this for one minute - Having Christ is not a free license to behave however you want to, however it is the ticket to be able to abide with Him for all eternity, no matter what horrible things one may have done. No matter what.

Okay, so where does that leave us, or take us? Well, God sees Sin as Sin - it is all wrong, and all punishable by eternal separation from God by being cast into Hell. Salvation, by belief that Christ died for all humanity's sins, from the first one committed to the last one at the end of normal human existence as we know it and Christ has come to rule, and the old beguiling serpent the Devil is banished forever, is the key to be able to stay with God forever. Hmm... The basic idea that we come to then, is the fact that Salvation does not excuse Sin, nor does Salvation make it okay to Sin. Salvation means we understand that we have failed the Father, and the only through Christ's intervention, the Son, do we have communion with God the Father. Salvation means that we understand that glancing at a woman in lustfulness is just as wrong as killing.

God does not place levels on Sin. Humans place levels on Sin. The little white lie, is still just that, a lie.

With that in mind, how about servitude? With Sin, you have the wrong servitude - have you ever noticed the people that would just rather sit back, wish they were partaking in the work of the Lord, but they don't? Then a few days, weeks, months or even years later they are completely broken, by Sin? Servitude has no place for Sin and Sin has no place for Servitude.

I personally know when my heart is in the wrong direction, my Servitude, or willingness to serve God in His way, not mine, is lessened. It is weakened. It is destroyed and tore down by Satan, and Satan eats me for lunch that day, binding me, my thoughts, and my actions. I think that happens to us all, and the only way to get past it is to recognize that hey, the quick little thought of "Stupid, idiot drivers..." can be the simple start to something much worse....what if Christ would have said "Stupid, idiot sinners..." and sped around and passed us up? Whew...we would not have a choice of where we end up then when this mortal life is over.

Let's take a minute and pray, for clarity of though, clarity of heart and clarity of wisdom from God, and that through Christ we can strengthen those around us to have better Servitude, to stray from the all damaging Sin that breaks that Servitude and allow Christ's light to so shine through us, we make people wonder what it is we have inside of us, opening up the door to show them how being forgiven leads to Servitude, and Servitude leads to carrying out the Lord's will for our lives, and that we can change the world by sharing our Saviour with them.