Why Do We Say This Is A Friendly Blog

GET REAL---

Just finished reading one of the most profound and profoundly
disturbing writings ever- Ann Rice, the world renowned and
internationally recognized author - has disclaimed the church-
but has claimed Christ!  Look what author Rice says, with
respect, is she has fought the hypocrisy of the church about
issues which are close to her heart, and she's just tired of the
plastic way that they are handling it- so- she says that she
is going to follow Jesus- not the hypocrits? WOW- people
can we please take this as a valid wake up call?

Oh Boy- here we go...

This isn't one of those blistering attack articles on the church-
Ann Rice, has said - really, all that needs to be said there-
and we all feel the issues.  I don't know a single Christian
who doesn't honestly evaluate where they stand.  Yes I
do know some folks who frankly are better at acting the
act than being in the show- if you know what that means-
you ain' one- because when you are in the show- you don't
have time to sit idly by and condemn folks- it isn't worth
it- my knees can only take so much "Lord forgive me
for being judgmental, when judgement belongs to only
You- You are the only one worthy to sit on the throne."




Thanks for the music...but...
We have a lot of work to do, still,  and the most of that work begins
by bending our knees, by humbling ourselves; yes, it's true we are
surrounded by arrogant, thieving, lying, lovers of self, lovers of money;
shameless -ignorant- beyond unbelievable heathens; but you know,
what they need is what we have, love.  Only when the love we have
is the kind of love that someone as profoundly thoughtful as Ann
Rice, who has faced so many trials, says that she accepts the
teachings of Christ, but can't deal with the way the church is,
then perhaps we need to put a question mark on that love?

Folks where the heathens were outside the walls - have we
invited them in to be - just like us- or have we become,
just like them? 

Pray with me, won't you:  "Jesus we are
at a loss for words at Your splendor, at Your wonderful
grace; Lord we know You are Love, we don't understand
that - not really, until we have to give up all for You, and
Jesus, even then, we don't know what it was like to be You,
for You were alone when You shouldn't have been; the
very people whom You had literally led to be knowers of
Your truth, they became filled with fear, when they should
have been filled with awe at the power of Your name- so
Jesus we ask You for grace and forgivness, we're just
like them; we sin, when we needn't and we don't love
as we should, and we want to do better at it Lord, so
we ask You, in the name of the Father - God, to help
us become more bent kneed and less pridefully freed
from the yoke which You provide evenly upon us
in Your greatness.  -En domino Patris, et Filli,
En Spiritus SAncti.  - Amen

Power of the Heart and You

Scientific American

Heart Power...

It wasn't long - if you think about it,
between then time it occurred to you
that this whole oil spill mess was a
bigger deal than anyone thought;
and, it began to seep into your life,
through the media, through your friends
conversations, and through the
heightened fear of what would take
place.  It wasn't long, was it?  We're pretty
sensitive to each others hearts,
and that makes your
heart and our heart, powerful.

If your browswer doesn't allow this video

click here to see it

We Are Family...

Power of the Heart and You is about who you are,

not alone, just you, but who you are when you 

combine the family that you belong to, which is

you and other Christian's, with the larger, much

larger family you have that exists in a place that 

is beyond comprehension in it's beauty- the ancients

called it shamayim- the place which was the abode
of God.  It takes a strong heart and much power
to get up there, it really does.  Think of the strength
of Moses, the strength of all whom you know
in the Bible- they were strong, often, savagely so.
Mountain of God

It takes a lot of strength and power and heart
to get to the abode of God, only here is where
some have a real problem, no human can have
that much strength- because they have been
weakened by their lack of heart to render to
the mark, so they miss the mark, and that is
called sin- it is impossible without the power
of God, for even the strongest human heart
to make it to, shamayim  tell us, is your heart
in the right place for the power of your needs
to be met, especially when it comes to the
abode of God?

You'll Catch How Funny This Is In A Sec...

Walkin' with a friend - they asked me-

jesuscaritas.info

"so do you pray every day?"
Now- they know me- so they know-
it ain' just once a day, and
every day, it's like 7,000 million
times a day- get real!  Good grief,
people who are like me- have to
spend serious knee time!  And-
in the end, all that knee time, will
be good for my knees, unlike
other stuff that I do which they
tell me ain' good for my knees.
NOW- what were you thinkin' just now, hmm? 

See even a totally serious evangelistic type dude, can have a little
sense of humor?  My wife tells me that I shouldn't try to tell jokes,
which is a pretty good indicator that I'm actually hilarious...look
I live in a world where there are three dogs, five cats and my
wife and daughter...NOW- you figure it out- do I pray---oh
yeah...I pray alright...

Well here is one you may not have put together because we
so focus on the God of joyless overwhelming power- ya know,
smite your butt God- the absolutely all powerful, if you hiccup
wrong God who is going to just wipe you out- if you aren't just
totally all the time perfectly repentant- yeah, that God- well,
guess what- not according to Jesus!  Hard to picture as some

catholic-convert.com

might find it, Christ had a simply wonderful sense of humor-
and He showed it all the  time. 

"Lord we gotta go get some food, they're hungry,
what're they gonna do to us, what're
they gonna say about us..."  Jesus- cool -
totally in control-
I can actually see Him wink at
Peter who was probably
thinking the same thing, and John
standing there listening
by Jesus, but not joining in, so
who was doing all the
"oh my - what do we do now(s)"?  Hmm...heck of a
question isn't it?  Go ahead...I had to, check John 6,
Mark 6:30- or Matt 14, or Luke 9-anyhow- catch
the depth of this, "Wow Jesus what are we going to
do here," and it was really said like "what are you-
going to do here..."  I just love his answer becuase it's
so cool, "let's feed them."  Good idea huh?


Now just to give you a glimpse of this eternal style of humor-
see there is a difference between you and I and He-
He is from eternity, and He went back to eternity-
you and I birthed into mortality and will end up in
immortality- we just don't see stuff the same- which is
good- because catch this, every day that any person,
anywhere - reads the Bible- what is taking place?
They are getting....wait for it...FED- wow- talk
about a sense of humor!  He did- feed us, didn't He?

What Lies Beneath

         Deadly Truth 

Ever wonder why it is that after the cold is over

you get the sniffles and the runny nose?

You probably know, what is happening is that
the cold virus, Rhino, entered your body,
you weren't aware of it, but your bodies
defenses went to work attacking the invaders
and what we see in the end result is the cold.
As the anti-bodies of that battle result,
your body has to get rid of them, and they
have to exit - and we see that as the
symptoms we call, a cold.

You're Getting Warmer...

In the last decade we've seen an enormous change in the
belief systems of Christianity.  Catholicism has been
challenged from within and without by circumstances of
it's own creating; and some which aren't,priest's who
prove to be all too human, and sinful;
and without by the way that society
responds to such.  Isn't it odd, however, that with all the
churches that go on, day in, day out, running soup kitchens
and providing help to the elderly and schools for the
children, run by good Catholic's and others, what we
hear about, and what is empahsized in our minds is
the deviant behavior!  Good news, isn't news, and we
forget that Christianity has very real enemies in very
powerful positons in the media industry.

For the fundamental Christian, belief systems are being
challenged in entirely new and different ways- ways which
if they were aware of those ways, they'd likely try to do
something about them, but for the most part, fundamental
Christian's are blissfully unaware of the truth that is
being hidden from their eyes.  Eyes which have become heavy
with the sleep of the contented, and their ears which
are now deluded with voluminous cellular traffic and
noise all around them; and so, those who have eyes
to see, don't, and those who have ears to hear, don't.
Can I back this up- as Sarah Pailin would say,
"You betcha."

Gee I Feel Warm And Fuzzy..

Don't get confused by the facts, know the facts, and don't
get misled by the chatter, realize it's just chatter- but
don't fail to take note that the enemies of Christianity
are the point of this writing.  Far too many Christian's
have quit praying for empowerment against an enemy
that hates them - they aren't capable of fighting this
enemy- they are overpowered- because this enemy
will have to be defeated by God, yet, without the
prayers of Christian's to go into the war aware, and
come out of the war, aware, what happens is a bunch
of Christian soldiers who stand naked in front of an
onslaught of evil.  Why then would it shock anyone
that the way in which faith is operating daily appears to
be changing in an unfavorable way?  Lets put it this
way- do you pray for power from on high to confront
and overcome the enemy every day? 

Integrity - The What Factor

Image from Holy waters blog

Imagine feeling so in touch with God that you knew
what God was doing?  So that the distance between
you and God were so small that you knew what God
was up to?  You'd be smiling, and walking around saying
"well that makes sense, because I know what God is
up to,"  you'd have a sense of being in a family that
was moving toward an accomplishment and you'd have
fewer doubts about how the direction was going, because
you'd know, "yup, that's God, He told me this is what
He was going to do."

After about a week or two- you'd become familiar with
God- you'd know precisely what He was going to do-
and God, would become, family.  Think about that-
because according to what the New Testament says
that is precisely how close you and God are supposed
to be.  What that means is, if one of you has moved,
it might not be God?

The distance one travels from home is what often
determines the closeness or distance you have as
a member of the family.  Our sisters live in Illinois,
several states away, and so dad talks to them
sometimes every day, sometimes every other
day, but he only sees them when they come home.
We live here, we get to see dad every day, and
most days that is great, but on some days, well
being honest, we kind of wish he'd wait a day,
give us a chance to catch our breath before he
comes over to straighten out the world. Ever
know a family like this?


God is with the believer 24/7 in a way that cannot
be explained, but goes far beyond mere vocal
contact, and those who have experienced this
presence of God know Him as the Holy Spirit.
When a person is missing the mark, however,
which is called sin; the Holy Spirit is silent in
the midst of that distance from God; they have
moved.  After the sin the Holy Spirit is actively
seeking to restore the lost relationship; this would
be the daily call to the sister in the other state.
Once the sister comes home, however, dad can
once again, give her a hug.  God loves hugging
His children.  God's focus is on such, and He
loves it when your focus and His focus agree.

Gal 4:6

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

The Wave Means More Than It Seems

The Wave- a sports attendance, and I'd guess,
concert attendance spectacle, the person
next to you jumps up and you do to- and
as everbody does this, all over the
stadium, it turns into a graphic wave
when seen from a distance.  What a
modern phenomenon of what has
been taking place since time immemorial, a
gigantic wave of those who decide, consciously
decide to give up their pride and arrogance
toward their maker
and come on board- the wave. 

Why do we say pride and arrogance have to go?  The
problems which come with displaced pride interfere
with the growth of a disciple.  The problem of arrogance
blinds a disciple to service.  Being a disciple simply
means that you will learn from the one doing the
teaching.  But it is there, at the concept of learning,
where most discipling today, breaks down- because
you can't pretend to learn, you either learn or you do
not- it's not a gray area where you can pretend that
you get it, but you don't? 

This is why science and law
are so much more apealling to people than spiritual
and mystery, a certain sort of person will gravitate
to both.  Like the guy in the store who can't decide
to buy a Snickers bar or an Almond Joy- but he tends
to buy Snickers more frequently.  Some people tend
to want to follow rules and feel comfortabe when they
are told what to do- while others tend to want to
think for themselves and find boxes uncomfortable.

Law and science are boxes, great big gigantic boxes
with numerous measures attached to them.  God
on the other hand, has no box, no limitations, no
definitions - other than, He is.  This will take some
disciples on flights of universal sized seeing- while
others it will shrink them back in the fantastic and
immeasurable questions of humanity- why is there
pain, why is there suffering- and the answers to those
questions- when answered by science- and law,
indicate a nice well formed box that says that it is
mans fault. 

The box feeds back into the box- but
when it comes to God- as one might suspect- there
are no easy answers.  So it is with limitless thoughts,
there are no easy answers, in fact, some things may
not have an answer, and that would be the ultimate
mind blowing experience for some- why- they believe
that you have to have an answer? 

Job's friends in
the Hebrew tale, believed that Job was full of sin and
so he suffered, they believed he had to have at some
time been arrogant, so he deserved to suffer- but
when God decided to settle the matter, He let Job
know that everything beyond Job's capacity was
the beginning of God's and Job hadn't considered
such as being possible.  What followed was, silence.

"Wave bye bye, Johnny, that's it, wave."

So Now It Really Is Time To Get Real

You know I love my atheists- first off,
they're in a really bad spot- you see,
if they are right- I'm an idiot who has
eaten good food, had some really
cool friends, experienced
respect on massive levels, felt emotions
that are so deep
and so profound that children cry
with me- AND- loved
and been loved beyond belief-
none of which because I'm
in any way cool at all- but because my Savior-
our Savior- and they're Savior if they'd smart up,
Jesus, died on the cross.
So if they're right- well, tough life I've had- but if I'm
right- it will not be a happy Sulphuric smell which fills
their nostrils after they hear the trumpet
and they will hear it- oh then, well now, won't
be a happy time for their prideful mouths which
laugh at us and curse at us now- will it?  So I say
"bless them- they sure are smart, and wow- are we
ever stupid who believe in the name of Jesus!"  Now
here is where they usually jump off and start ranting
and raving at what an idiot I am, they forget, this
might not be my original matieral, although the
example coming up is...oh yeah...it surely is...
outlandish- as it might ---be...

What's worse is- they are so morbidly bound to old ideas
of science- as THEY DEFINE it- they are so closed into
their box of senses and so called DATA- which if they
weren't blinded by the awesome light of the reality that
they claim they believe in, they'd be able to see that
it is only in the last several hundred years that humankind
has even had remote sense of life, to begin to discover
what God had waiting for humankind to begin to define!
They are so locked into dumb designed around the
measurable and the process and the timing and the
heated mix (look fast, those are all scientific things)
that they can't see the grander truth all around them-
bless my soul they're stupid!  On top of which they
get to laugh at my stupidity while they begin the
process of welcoming Hell?  Intriguing- there it is;
that they do not believe in, which is fascinating
considering that not one of them can tell when they
will die- and further the process!  Blind to the super
obvious before their eyes they choose
to pretend to be wise.

So let's have a last really hardy laugh at how superior
the atheist mind set is- you see here is what they
are saying- that just as dice tumble out of your hand
and will always hit sixes straight up, "don't'cha'know"-
so it is that a man will release millions of Spermatazoa
into the female- with a waiting and chemically exacting
oocyte which it will then bind to!  If anywhere in the
chain of process just one little speck of interaction is
off- guess what- no baby - NOW- they actually believe
that all that takes place just by...luck and happenstance?
It's sort of like believing that if I go to New York City
tomorrow with a pin- and drop it in the middle of
Times Square- you'd be able to follow right behind
me, "don't'cha know" - and fall down on your fanny
and stab yourself in the butt with it!  Same odds as
they are playing them!  Little do they realize that
Darwin whom they almost relegate to the level of
a God was not only wrong on so many fronts in
his analysis- and he knew it, and expressed that
very doubt- but he could not, Darwin could not-
explain the differential's which science revealed
between the obviously somehow evolved and the
ever so elusive human- Darwin himself knew that
man- was somehow uniquely and oddly unnatural
in his specie surviving!  You'd think they'd even be
smart enough to figure out what a so called scientist
who actually was a statistician (if you get right down
to it- Darwin was more statistician than he was
Botanically blessed) pointed out himself about the
ever present error in his data!  Man alive- even I'd
be smart enough to realize- oops- there's an error there!

Oh yeah- I'm the stupid one
alright...Jim Elliot said it this way:
"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep
to gain what he cannot lose."  And Jim dear Christian
as you know- was as usual, doing what?

The Best of the Best

Leadership is a learned art, it can be modified,
it can be taught.  Jesus taught 12 men now to
be leaders, one of those men decided he didn't
buy it- the other eleven bought it to such an
extent that they died as a result of the teaching
and changed the world forever.  This teaching
at this link  [CLICK HERE] is by a leader
in the field of how to get people to cope with
crisis- but more importantly to Christian's
today- how to adaptively lead.  Professor
Heifetz is amazing in his insight and ability
to make a very difficult subject make sense.

What Would You Do?

Atheists are some of my best contacts of late,
at least they are honest- when they don't like
you, they just say so, right to your face, up

front and honest. Now that's not how Christian's
are being, of late, they have been rather subtle,
the animosity that some feel toward others isn't
being addressed, instead, what is being said,
is far more damaging- because it isn't being
said to Christian's - it's being said to non
Christian's like my atheist buddies.

"Well she might think she's serving God acting
like that, but all's she's doing is making
herself look good." - Wanna take a guess
who that was about? Might shock you- the
lady they were discussing has an internationally
recognized ministry to millions world wide.

What am I saying- what my Pastor said from
the pulpit this morning- Billy Graham has
asked aloud if the churches of America are
filled with saved people, or, people who
can't admit they don't have the goods, the
real relationship with Christ that can
stand the heat of battle? So that question
gets answered by someone who says:
"My money does a lot to help this church
and I don't like how the people who
think they run it, act, towards me- I
should get a say in how things are done
and I'm sick and tired of them not even
acting like it matters, so the next time
it comes time to give, they won't get my
money."

If you knew the church they were
talking about- you'd be shocked beyond
measure, as it seems anything but a church
that would be unwise in it's use of funds?

We're at a crossroads in Christianity- my
sense is that this is so, as at no other time
in the history of Christianity, I believe
that those who believe better learn very
quickly how to resolve their personal matters
with each other, as it clearly states in
the New Testament- because what is happening
is a shame upon the modern church, which
hasn't earned it- but the vocal minority are
really giving the quieter more service oriented
majority, a sad representation in the market of
the world that doesn't know Jesus.

Just A Little Wake Up Call

Suppose Hell came on slowly- not quickly, abruptly-
like a person who has cancer, they've had it for a
while, they don't know it, they go to the doctor,
the doctor says, "we've found (note that-found) a
tumor," huh, that's almost now a standard sentence
that we all recognize; isn't it? Did it happen over-
night, no, it begins with a cell that goes rogue (note
that title- it's important) and starts to continue
to grow, without ceasing, a rampant, out of control
cell- a cell without regulation (note that concept)
a cell which won't stop growing. OK- there we are-
the whole Enchilada - it looks to the doctor and
the patient, like it's just now happened, but the
doctor knows, it's been growing for some time.
Suppose Hell came on slowly- not abruptly what
might that look like?


The Bible does describe Hell- and then people with
keen senses of power, and other motives, take
over and begin to tell you what the Bible says-
now- you have to decide, are you smart enough to
get into it and really find out what the Bible
says- about Hell, or are you going to trust what
someone tells you about it? Have those who have
read "Going Rogue," (there's that word again)
really understood what they are reading?

We can't possibly cover it in this time together,
now would I want to, it's too painful, and who
would want to send a gift of pain to someone?
But on the other hand, a friend many years ago,
found me smoking (there's that word-found)and
confronted me about smoking, and the issue that
he raised with me, was raised in such a way that
I had to ask myself about stopping, and then
ultimately I had to ask Christ about stopping,
and then ultimately, it stopped.

That pattern is a pattern that it seems
to me is all through the most horrific
of imaginable tales, the Bible. What happens
when the evil that is greed and power and lies
masked as a concept of FREEDOM- that would be,
life without regulation and restraint (there's
that concept), begins to leak into the rest of us?
Someone who is an atheist said that they couldn't
love a God who was bloodthirsty and a tyrant, as
He appears in the Old Testament, what my response
is to that is, He wasn't instigating He was in
response to a Hell which comes on slowly- and
the fight is still going on. And what these so
called smart people are doing is making the truth
of the black and white nature of evil, gray, so
that you and I and others who might have sense
enough to combat them, won't, and Hell will
come on slowly.

Up and Coming - Growth Versus Stagnation

The young man in this video is Nick Vujicic, who
inspires those who have normal bodies, because
he does not.  So they look at Nick and wonder
how in the world does he do what he does.  But
the truth is, what he is talking about has nothing
to do with external things at all:

What makes hope? Where does hope come
from? Nick is talking about the nature
of the inner person? Are you in touch
with that person who won't give up? The
message you need to take with you today
is- finish strong.

The Lazy Christian?

There are a few things that make sense given our current
climate of faith - and especially among those who like

to believe they are evangelical Christian's; a rough house form of fundamental Christian known for being active and actively outspoken about Christ. Like those who write in and say how much they enjoy this writing and reasoning and want to share it with their friends, or even send me an email to send it to- which is you,
isn't it?

It makes sense that they would share their faith, somehow?
That just makes sense, if we're going to proclaim the faith,
then it ought to be that we would be sharing that with
others?  Another thing that is known, and would seem
to make sense, we take a stand, when something is
obviously way out of line with what we believe , we
take a stand. Don't we take that stand, now and again?

And most fundamental Christian's have
seen times when such became necessary.  So one thing
that doesn't make sense is what Jim Rohn talks about
in this video- see what you think?  Then after you
watch it, we'll see where we want to go with this.



Jim talks about the ultimately negative life,
ugly, sick, broke and stupid.  It's sad but you
can't help but laugh at how he puts it- and here
is the real interesting thing- for over a year now
we've been running this site- many, many people
have dialed in, taken a look, said they liked what
they read, and even said they were going to relay
to their friends the sites address- but they didn't
comment- and they didn't send in any emails
to forward it to- and they just were, well, maybe
intellectually challenged, but, when it came to making
anything happen off what they read, they just,
evidently didn't think it was important, or worthwhile?

My own opinion is that it may be we've become,
lazy Christian's- nothing is really back up against
the wall on the line, so, the danger seems remote,
so we aren't alarmed, so we've taken an "well I'll
wait and see," attitude about it.

What happens then is that those who could be
hearing this word, don't. Those who might be
intrigued by some of our rather "off the wall,"
but nonetheless fundamental issues, don't become
aware of them.  Finally what takes
place is the articles eventually cease- the news eventually
fails to get out, and really, the people who need it
most, well, they don't get it.  It's sad really - becuase
just as it happens with this written and video mode-
so it goes in life.  The disconnection that exists
from no participation here is modeled in the life,
and lives, which also disconnect- how about your
life, are you connecting or not?

Good - Best - Better

Don't you judge the worth of what you get by how it is?

The end result?  Forget the buying, although those who
do the "live the moment," thing would have you be
all giddy while you are shopping, let's be the other way,
normal, and realize we like the end product to be
real and good and worthwhile.  All over this nation
of America folks are waking up to the challenge
of being real, and getting involved or losing what
we've worked so hard to achieve.  So that we have
good - what might be best, and what is better?

Last night the Mocha frappe machine at McDonald's
ran out just as it was my turn, so they gave me a full
frappe for the price of a medium, and apologized
because the machine ran out and it was time to
clean it!  Liked that end result.  What might happen
if the hypocrit machine, call that normal church
culture in America, on love in God through
Christ toward us and us toward loving others,
ran out(!) and we gave them a full instead of a
medium dose of God's love?  Wonder if they'd
love the end result and be as happy as that
silly frappe made me?  Wouldn't that be better?

Short and Sweet

You have probably not heard too many people
say it like this, because most folks who
believe in the ministry of Jesus, believe
it was three years long; I don't, here's
why- careful reading of the scriptures
reveals that Jesus called disciples,
then began his ministry, with a sign.

Near as I can tell, the usual preparation for
the betrothed Jewish male, was one year,
roughly, depending upon when the father
of the husband determined that the
room he prepared for his bride, was ready.  Numerous
times in the New Testament, Jesus refers to no man
knowing the time of His return, except the Father-
seems to me Jesus was very conscious of the fact
that His ministry needed to coincide with the way that
people would understand the real marriage taking
place. 

"Yes," you ask, "but what about the disciples, he was
with them three years..."  My take on this is a very
hard one but it seems to me He called them before
His ministry actually began, then began to emphasize
to them his death, as his year of betrothal to His
bride came to be a reality, which consumated at
the cross. 

It's a theory, but if you read the New Testament
carefully my sense is you'll see friends who become
closer and closer to Jesus and to each other as the
time for Him to die as a sacrifice draws near. 

"Ok, let's say you're right, so what?"

It's about making disciples...for many who claim
to follow Jesus sell a great brand of fire insurance,
but the loving relationship they are supposed to
build with their disciples, just doesn't happen. 
Reading the New Testament with eyes that see
love, friends and time in a new light, and the
declared ministry in a new realm of time, will
have eyes to see, and ears to hear, what
maybe, they have not seen or heard before?

What You See

So many times you and I have heard people preach sermons speaking of vision as if though it were bad- or, not a part of faith?  Now here my word means the literal act of beholding- of looking, of taking in an
image and processing it.  You and I live in a world where such is necessary for us to live and survive-
unless we learn a set of skills which are no longer
involving the use of sight.

Many preachers and teachers make
the mistake of separating the Bible
and it's truths out of the realm of the senses-
insisting, as it were, that the Bible is extrasensory
and God demands extrasensory behavior.

Such statements aren't in the Bible, which contains
a great many statements about the use of our faculties,
to the glory of God.  In fact let me go so far as to say
that the Bible insists that we marshal all our energy
into the realm of hearing and believing God that is
defined by the things which ought to be, but aren't.

That really, finally and ultimately this is what the
mysterious language (to us) of Hebrews in the
New Testament is asserting.   The meanings from back
then must be brought into the present as to meaning
in order to rightly understand what the speaker
was really getting at.  Just as "ah get a Coke man,"
meant to get stoned in the early years of America
because Coke really contained a small amount of
the Cocaine as part of it's formula, when today it
means, take a break, or stop what you're doing.

The meaning is roughly the same, but not exactly the same.
Truth is, that's what happens when you try to get the
language of the book of Hebrews into modern
English in America, it's pretty tough, but it can be done.

Hbr 1:1

¶

God, who at sundry times and divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,

Already the language becomes mysterious because we
have to stretch back to the Old Testament- NOW-
is it time to speak of writings and sayings and God-
perhaps so.  God - the final ultimate question each
person gets to individually deal with, God - is He-
or isn't He- and how do you know?  Some people
really do not believe in God- and some people want
to believe that they believe in God- and the difference
is what all the fighting is usually about.

Then there is a third class of folks, who really do belive in God-
in fact, they know God.  God - ageless, timeless, and
consistent- God who is changeless, God who is - and
who was, and who shall ever be.  This is God who
told Moses that He was always going to be and had
always been, and so "Tell Pharoah, that I've always
been, tell Pharoah that I am right now, and tell Pharoah
that I will always be."  Here is what most folks miss
in that statement- it's about the Sun God RA of Egypt,
that they believed had a beginning, and so real God
let them know in this statement, "your RA is a false
set of human constructs, I AM real."

Why'd He do it?  Why did God break into Egyptian history and
send Moses to that country?  We'll begin to deal with
that question a little this week, because the answer
to it, may be as important to you as it was to Moses.
Oh- what's such a big deal about that?  Moses was
out in the back land of the bad lands desert- alone,
or so he thought, until God busted into his life
and described how the God he had never really
trusted (RA) wasn't a God at all, and that he,
Moses, had been right to doubt that...Hmm, now
you are interested a bit, huh? 

When People Are Not Honest

I used to laugh as a pastor and tell people from the pulpit that if they were "stabbin me in the back, it was cool, I had a big back, and they weren't stabbin somebody else, who maybe couldn't handle it as well."  Only guess what, not everybody is big and just comes right up to your face and says, "hey, I don't like you and what you said, (or did)." 

Now what happens is, they do
something on the sly, they tell little inuendos about
you.  Nothing big where someone would get all
excited and say, "well gosh I can't believe you'd
say something like that about them."  No no, they
are much slicker than that, they jab the blade in
a little at a time- makes 'em feel big I guess, I
don't know- I try not to go down that road - but-
and here's where it gets weird- it's hard not to.

This is maybe something that you face as a person
who wants to walk with Christ.  As you get closer to
Christ, the forces which can seek to drag you away from
His power, try their best to do it, because really, at
the final bell, who's opinion counts?

Now I know how that is easy to say,

but hard to live- ultimately though,

if we can keep from striking back, keep from becoming

small minded little insignficant people such as those who

don't have guts enough to say things derogatory to

your face, but rather, destroy you behind your back,

if you can become larger than they and not strike back,

Jesus will empower that effort. 

No I don't really understand what that means,

only that it can happen

and you can actually get to where arrogant and ignorant

people who believe they can destroy you, are really

only, sadly, destroying themselves.  At that point you

begin to do what it seems Jesus was frequently doing-

you go off somewhere by yourself and ...pray.

A Devoted Effort

She had always said that he was lazy, he hadn't

fought with her about it, he knew in some ways
she might be right; but he also knew that there
is a difference between being occupied in a
mental problem, and lazy.  Being occupied in a
mental problem, is one thing that appears to
others as if though you aren't doing anything,
ever been there?  Ever struggled with a mental
problem moving it to this side, and then to the
other, trying to find a different angle where it
will work?  For our foreign readers you may
not relate to the dissapearing middle class, but
right now in America a lot of people are having
to really concentrate mentally on funds that are
getting slowly eroded.  To someone who didn't
realize the mental strain they were under they'd
look like they were, lazy.

It isn't just that appearances can fool us, we are
fooled by plenty of things, loud sounds can
fool us, beliefs in things that go bump in the
night, can lead to us believing all sorts of things
that simply aren't true.  Often it's more fun to

believe in a wild but emotionally satisfying myth
than to know the truth- one of my heroes from
the Old West is largely myth, Doc Holiday - it
is hilarious how much myth is attached to him,
and yet, don't we somewhere like the idea that
he was faithful to Wyatt Earp?

What's that got to do with being devoted to God?
Oh you kind of already know, how often if people
saw your life would they think you were being
lazy as you paused to spend time with God? 
What's that, oh you want to know who I was
talking about- the man- oh my goodness, you
already know if you think about it, come on-
who do you think of when you think of great
thinkers- maybe the greatest of all time?  O.K.,
here is the final hint anyone might need -
E=Mc2?  That's right - Albert Einstein was
often thought of as being lazy, but he wasn't,
he was, thinking.  Today my hope is that you'll
take time to think about God.

Trouble

She said, through her teary eyed spasmed breathing,
that she hadn't intended that they have that fight;
they always fought about money, and she hadn't
wanted to say anything to him about it, but last
night when the electrical bill came in and it was
so high; she just "lost it," and so this morning,
she cried, the last thing I said to him was; "why
can't you get a decent job you're a bum." As
he drove off to his job as a janitor.

Often in life we honestly think we have lots
of time to say and do nice and good things,
an associate dropped bye the other day and
said that they knew someone wasn't feeling
well, and rather than drive off, we stopped
right then and took a moment to pray for
them.  Another close associate said that
it seemed like things were turning around
in my life, and without even thinking or
having to think, it was easy to explain to
him that praying friends were the reason.

One of my close associates is undergoing
persecuction so enormous, and so behind
the back (stab in the back); that it would
be hard for me to believe it was possible-
were I not giulty of such loose comments
on occasion, myself!  Without even giving
it a moments thought we, meaning you and
I, will dive into why somebody is doing what
they are doing, and we don't have a clue
honestly, as to whether that is right or not?
Ever wonder if we might be persecuting them
behind their back by such loose conjecture?
My prayer is that today when someone
wants to play that game with you, instead
of taking part, stop them, and say- "we don't
know that for sure, and its just not right to
participate in such talk without knowing."
Watch the shocked look you get.

Oh, what's that you say, "what about the
janitor- the first part of the story?"  He was
a faithful janitor who always made it to
work on time, which is why he was in the
basement of World Trade Center one when
the first plane hit.  He made it, and from the
lesson she learned that morning, his wife
and he have become very much closer-
because he was one of the fortunate survivors
of the 9/11 attack. 

You're under a 9/11 type attack today in your
spiritual life, don't give in to the forces which
are trying to destroy you, or worse, your
ability to share with others what Jesus means
in your heart...

Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God,
the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.