Reality bites!

   

     Ok, let's talk a little about reality today for those of us who claim Christ as Lord and Savior.  We are in the world but not part of it.  So says the scriptures.  And so daily do you find yourself in a kind of alternate reality?  No, not the multi-verse, our singular verse, here and now.  I would call it a double verse.  One is a dark version controlled by "Authorities in high places" bent upon doing everything that they can to subvert this other verse.  The light one.  We as Christians have been translated so to speak,  to think and act in this one.  For Christ has overcome the world, and we must also.  What kind of work environment do you have to face everyday?  One peopled by those filled with apathy, self-interest, negativity, gossip, I could go on, but this is enough to talk about.  Because this in itself is enough to be a constant barrier or thorn in our side to living in the light.
   Case in point.  As a Christian, we are commanded to forgive trespass, and we do.  We are asked by our Lord to do this daily, and for life.  We are also to be  light in the world and resist the temptations to act as we once were, like those with the traits mentioned above.  So when do we have the right to bow out?  And seek a better work environment, less adversity, less hassle, and more light?  I say when you have reached the point of tipping, and no longer make a significant difference where you are.  If at all possible we must balance the scales.  I see a great rise in evil, not only in individuals, but nationally, and globally.  The levels of animosity we have seen in our own two-party system is on display daily.   A large majority , those with "some" Christian leanings have abandoned common sense and have gone over to the "dark"
verse and supported people that demonstrate character that is abhorrent. This is nothing less than deception, and can be nothing else.
     What we carry inside of us is a powerful witness that at some point in human history, something went amazingly right.  The kingdom of God showed up!  It  broke into our world of misery and sorrows and great disappointments and suddenly there was hope.. hope that for thousands of years was lost.  And warfare ensued, and combat was necessary.  Light and dark.....our reality....our battlefield....can you see it?

me and my dog

Happy t day. walking along on a quiet cul-de-sac my dog and I and enjoying a moment alone.  The woods surrounding our street smell fresh with the remains of a slowly melting snowfall last week. My neighbors are  sitting on the pavement cuddling their pet turkey.  AAH!  While most of the nation is eating  another turkey for dinner!   What a  nice difference , peace! 

But to you who are listening...

     "Though seeing, they will not see, though hearing they will not hear."  Jesus spoke in parables to those he deemed "not hearing or seeing."  Something in their hearts was limiting them from open eyes and open ears,and  in their current  condition they were unable to get what Jesus was saying.  To those who were actually listening, it required an openness of heart and a willingness to consider something new.  That is what it takes to begin the journey in the Christian walk.
     Those who came to Jesus, in his day were those who were the poor, diseased, sinners, blind and deaf and also those with impure spirits.  Jesus was compassionate, always, willing to accommodate these people.  However, in the synagogue the day he began his ministry, he read from the scroll of Isaiah...."this day this scripture Is fulfilled in your hearing."  He announced that he was the one Isaiah was talking about, and it caused quite a stir among those assembled.  For he said he came to deliver.. the blind, the lame, the weak and the poor.  And he further said not many were saved in the days of Elijah when famine and drought came upon them but to only a widow. All because a prophet in not accepted in his own hometown. 
     Jesus is so much more than a Prophet.  He is the way, truth, and the life.  All these attributes lead to life.  If we listen, and do according to his commandments to Love one another, unconditionally.  Accept those you might deem unworthy at first meeting and cease to wrangle with those who might differ in thought.  And be willing to give an account of the good news, "within" that Jesus died for. 

"As long as i live in the tent of this body"

     As  the above scripture above states....we live in a temporary tent.  As hard as it is to fathom this type of thinking I believe it is so. We take it from the Greeks that physical body is everything.  From our westernized  thinking we do all that  we can to promote a physical health and vitality to keep us in the here and now.  But what about the hereafter?  Peter assures us that he is soon to depart this world,as Jesus had told him. And he makes no bones about it and even the language he uses seems uncannily serene!  Wow!  If only we could be as him and accept that fact.  We are really spiritual beings,  engaged in a physical experience. Wrap that around our thinking, and things begin to make sense.  The temporal world is not as real as the spiritual world we are heading to.  Case In  Point.  Think about all of the miracles Jesus performed. They were absolutely mind blowing.  The supernatural always invaded the natural.  Including the pouring out of the spirit on pentecost.  He was showing us something of God's kingdom. A kingdom that has a very different set of physical laws.  Ones that defy , our physical laws here on Earth.  Walking on water, calming the seas,  increasing food ( bread and fish) out of nothing. And healing all manner of ailments and diseases.  So, we are headed to a place that he prepared for us and we better be ready.
     How? By heeding his simple commandments. Love one another as I have loved you. And,  by putting on goodness, knowledge, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection,  And finally love.  If we do these things, Peter assures us we will abide abide and attain the kingdom. Peace.

A Case of Conscience vs The Law of The Land, and Christian perspective

     When do we disobey law? Is it when we discern it is amoral, unjust, political, or based on ethical beliefs?  What should a Christian do?  Well I for one growing up in the Age of Vietnam and selective service that was mandatory for all 18 year old that posed a significant challenge for me.  I of course knew what I would do. Disobey the Law of the Land, preserve my life and ruuuuuun!  Why?  Number one, I was afraid, two I did not want to kill people I did not know, and three from the standpoint of common sense, a small Asian country thousands of miles away with a totally different culture was not a threat to our very large and strong country.  Values aside I did not buy in to the Domino Theory of Communism.  Especially since many of the people we fought for years were farmers, living simple lives and the war imposed was between their own people.  North vs South. sound familiar?  Still it was complicated, A totalitarian government is unjust.  And they still remain so today.
     I was not Christian then, but now am.  But there still exists laws that are unjust, either economically motivated and  judicially enacted that cause questions of conscience to bear.  Case in point, a Colorado baker was sued by two people because of a refusal to serve them, a cake.....harmless, yes but should one be forced by a law to do something against conscience? This case pitted a Christian against the secular world view of sexual orientation and ended up in high court.  The baker won.  It was ruled in his favor on the basis of "hostility toward religion."   It did not end there, the Civil rights commission (Colorado) "doubled down" and again had their sights on him when he refused another cake making request this time definitely offensive in nature.  So as a friend suggested, it need not go that far in extremes to one, sue someone over a cake..but rather why not just go to another place who will make one? Why be contentious. One wonders at motive, and true intent.  If it was an AR 15 sold to a minor or mentally unstable person ....then I would be concerned...it's deadly, requires permits, background checks etc. etc. etc. and it kills (or rather the person does), a cake does not. 
     So can we build tolerance into law?  And a common sense approach to civility in a democracy, that is subject to a litigious society?    Thirty eight years ago when I was a newly  believing Christian, I had my first ethical  challenge.  I worked for a year in a delicatessen as a cashier, in November on my one year anniversary, the owners opened up another small shop on the same property to sell, tobacco products, lottery tickets and what I then would call Pornographic magazines.  That's all they sold and they wanted me to work there.  I said no, because it was against some beliefs I now held. And new ones to me.  So I was told not to come to work for two weeks  and that I was not needed . I Was not fired and I did not quit.  So now I was needing income and suddenly had none and I qualified for unemployment compensation, but since I was in limbo placed there by my employer, he contested my status to receive that income.   Ethics now on display, the secular vs the religious....I was granted a hearing by an Administrative Law judge and won my case. I was unfairly discriminated against.
     But the consequences required my seeing it through, poverty was at issue and my income at stake as well as temptations that directly conflicted with  my ethical stance as a Christian.   Getting another job was not that easy in a recession ( the 80's). And I held my ground.   Looking at these issues now and especially the case against the Christian Baker, it requires a thoughtfulness and a tolerance on both sides.  "Intolerant laws lead to anger, resentment, sedition."  So said Baruch Spinoza, about government.  "The most tyrannical government will be one where the individual is denied the freedom to express and communicate to others what he thinks."
     We live in a time when extremes are in full view and action.  And we have a President bordering on the fascist, end of the spectrum, let alone on a dictatorial bent, who fancies himself friends with totalitarian regimes.  The driving force of those who support his agenda includes a very large number of Evangelical Christians who have chosen to look the other way on many serious ethical  lapses on full display.  I wonder if they would have supported Nero?     Peace......
   



                 True religion is this....feed the poor, take care of the widow, the orphan, the                                            fatherless,the stranger in your land....."  favor no one above another,

     
 
   
   

Through a Christian lens ; reaping and sowing

     I choose to see things through a Christian lens.  By this I mean a viewpoint taken with ethical teachings by Christ and not necessarily a morphed and inclusive of teachings from the viewpoint of  denominational churches as in organized religion. 
     Which brings me to the point of reaping and sowing.   If one plants corn, one would not expect to reap peas. You would look for what you planted and nothing else.  In planting a garden various seeds could be planted and a mix would then spring forth.  And maybe some weeds would be mixed in as well.  Not to worry, they can be identified.  So as in nature a bee is a bee and a bear is a bear and a wolf is a wolf and nothing else can be determined from what it appears to be!  It has it's own characteristics and is differentiated by it's own nature and it is visible.
     Why then are we not?  What has become of us?  Why are we not satisfied with what we are?  Are we to be chameleons of the human race? Ever changing because we can?  I wonder. 
     Choice seems to be the biggest factor along with cultural norms that are being expressed in ever different ways.  Choice, the ever present factor with us from the beginning. And there was a beginning, a linear state of time we are hemmed in by it and it is like no other restrictive force that we face.  Our mortality.  And what do we do with our mortality?  We bend it, try to extend it, ignore it, and obsess over it. After all our minds seem to conjure up the infinite and we are finite.  So our choices mean everything to us, here in our democracy, we are free to expand and choose things we never could before. 
     Is this OK? Is this raising up new and ethical issues we have never encountered before?  I think so.  It causes us to examine our closely held beliefs of what is acceptable and also raises a new need to examine basic rights of ours and the ethical treatment of those we find different.  Undoubtedly it causes divisions. 
     We are indeed a complicated species.  Endowed with reason above and beyond that of the animal kingdom we have "subdued the Earth" and much more. 
     We conquer and change things, some good some I say not so good.  If then I have chosen to hold certain beliefs, then it is not for others to judge from the external the inward within me,  they cannot know for certain.  That is reserved as a Christian belief for (God alone).  But, we must as humans get along with one another, strive for the good of all, certainly reap some good things and expect good things to follow, (even if you hold atheistic or agnostic views) why harm one another?  Why sow dissent, division, and hold so fervently to beliefs that they become destructive? 
     I think with this new cultural changing we are now in and with nationalism and fascism on the rise we need to step back and realize the dangers ahead.  It is a sowing caused   from a discontent within and with that nature we can only reap the consequences.  Don't expect anything else.  Peace.

Collecting Life; Viewpoints

          Life is short;  And along the way of this life we collect our various viewpoints.
They shape shift, and transform in many different ways depending upon the circumstances we are in at the time and the people who influence us as well.  I call this "collecting life."  Lord knows I have changed opinions and stand points many many times along the way.   For  me I depend upon others to gain understanding.  For too long I was an Island, alone and pondering life's many peculiarities by myself.  I have found refreshing times in listening to others and forming opinions with a deft hand by integrating their insight with my own.  Although I may not agree with everything, it is a wonderful experience to gain.  Wisdom is something I have always wanted to gain, and treat it as a close ally and friend.  This is because I had not so much as to call my own.  Essentially fatherless and without guide, I always looked with longing at those who seemed to possess it in  great abundance.
     Now I relish listening with an open ear and sifting the gems that perhaps I will hear and add to my internal being.  It is a strange thing to be a Christian and sort of feel like we are living backwards. By this I mean that as a Christian we are constantly being renewed in our minds by a close relationship with Christ.  This renewing is called "putting on Christ" and putting off the old man, so to speak.  Though my body ages, and I can visibly see the years adding up to an eventual  end, the internal renewal I feel is bewildering, but greatly appreciated.  I don't feel at all my age of 63 years.  And this surprises me.  When growing up, the only reference I had was my grandfather and he definitely fit his age.  Now that I have reached his age, and compare each if us it baffles me. 
     I cannot but help but wonder if living in Christ adds a dimension of "youth" that  belies age and helps us along the way.  My curiosity is so much more boundless than when I was a twenty year old.  Seems to me that It does not make sense.  Save for the fact that the working of the Spirit, adds a dimension I had not counted on. 
     So I gladly accept the new and curious things that I collect along the way and add it to my being.  How does one translate this to another?  The re-generation of the Holy Ghost is a complete transformation of being.  We are changed here and now both mind and body, and our thinking takes on magnitudes and levels not thought of before.  I greatly appreciate other Christians, and "Philosophers" who have reached pinnacles of thought  I have not and that  share graciously with me.  It opens the mind to other perceptions and avenues to facilitate change. 
     So I will continue with an open mind and heart to see where this leads.  For now it is an interesting journey.   Peace.........

MYSTICAL MADNESS; TRANSCENDENTAL JOURNEYS & SPIRITUAL CHAOS!

     RE-THINKING, RE-IMAGINING, RE-STORING, THOSE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN WARPED......US>>>>>>




     I was contemplating.......thinking........journeying.......in my mind.   and guess what....
it's a mess.  Thoughts abound, unbound, free roaming, UN-ending, mystical madness, transcendental journeys, spiritual chaos..... that's where I was....where am I going?

Who has the truth?  Shall I  step into this?  Try this avenue? Pursue this street?  Try this stuff?  Is this the way? OMG! Endless pursuits of roads to take.....
they all offer. something...but what?

     That is the million dollar question?  I live in an area of spiritual pursuits...a town called Manitou or Great Spirit...In Ute Indian.  Great Spirit is a recognized trait of this area.  And it seems that a lot and I mean a lot of people gravitate here for something, natural springs for healing waters, spiritual peace, eclectic living nirvana etc. etc.  freedom from the norms of life.  An old hippie town.  Pot is legal, tie dye shirts, and jeans exist as a symbol of the 60's not forgotten.  Of times remembered and held tightly onto.  Liberalism is the antithesis of conservatism a few 4 miles away the so called capital of Evangelicanism.  Focus on the family is premier for thought molding among conservatives.  But here, there survives a mentality of "against the grain" and a tight knit community activism that sustains this little mountain town nestled below the magnificent Pikes Peak Mountain.  In between here and there there is a stretch of road known as no man's land...that transients and homeless travel night and day.  A grim reminder of a survival , hard to keep.  And that is my point in  all of this.........Where do we find the life that eludes us?  For surely money, jobs, cars, music, whatever.....can't be the all in all?
    So mystical madness, transcendental journeys and spiritual chaos  and all of our journeys to find our peace in the many offerings available to us , what are we to believe?  And how do we know when we find it?  For me it took 24 years and some introductions to the many who and shared their  truth.  Some I immediately outright rejected as crazy, and to far "out there ," for me. Some were tantalizing, and I wanted to explore, but afraid. others required massive change or adherence to dogma I did not think was true.  And so, after many such things I found a Spiritual walk,  and in-filling I could trust. and it was historical. And proven.   Christianity... and I mean true Christianity. not a westernized, tele-evangelized version we see so much of.  But a bare bones version of the good news....Christ preached.  It's worth seeking out.  It's definitely a life changing road that all others cannot compare to.  I leaves them high and dry.    It will astound you!  For it covers all of the issues that flow from the human heart!...Peace
   
   

TRUE NORTH

If there ever was anything true it's this:

In loss of direction there's true north: Christ

In loss of hope there's  an anchor : Christ

In the darkness that surrounds: there's light in Christ, the light of men

In the tumult and endless noise there's peace, not as the world gives: but in Christ

In the race to achieve and stay on pace with the world: there's rest in Christ: striving is met with grace

In brokenness  there's a repentance that leads to life

In loss: there is gain, in Christ

 If I am dead to sin: I am made alive in Christ

I run the race so that I may win: this is the vision of every athlete and it must be also be true with us:


True Christian..........peace to you.

Timeless or not?

Event after event

A parade of thought

What of my being if not distraught?

For a moment in time

Is my body to me

What is next but  a  divinity?

I know not what lies beyond

I know but here and now becomes

My my mind perceives what my eyes do not

Reality beckons and the great unknown

To one who holds keys so bold

As if to go beyond the fold

I await the great mystery

Salute the ones who’ve gone before

Times pursuit has me now

This body of mine sowed in just ground

Of what becomes of my knowledges gained

For earth and sky have I attained

A house prepared not just for me

All hope ahead .....eternity

Mind pics: snapshots

At any given time capture a moment like a camera

while driving in a car a chance to see two on their knees planting and weeding

a garden

peace, green, silent thoughts,

drive along further, scenery changes,

city, noise, sirens, ambulance

hurts, ears, wonder about someone in trouble,

down along the road, a rabbit, white tail, black eyes,

innocence, silence, inward fear, runs...

we pass by,

further on,  red lights, green lights, should I go? should I stay? 

We go...

we've arrived, lots of people, hurrying, self absorbed, fun anticipated....

Movie tonight! 

Whose reality?

Verse upon verse

In this mult-universe

Am I really here?

Do I really count?

I really can not converse in this multi-universe

Somethings keeping me here

On this planetary sphere

On this singular plane

I really can’t complain

What I do not see

Stirs a faith in me

For I trust in one

Who is the only one

To live once again

Returned from death’s grim grin

I awake once more

With life filling every pore

What’s this I feel?

My very first meal

Sitting down In simplicity

With a peace, serendipity........

How does God get in? Or in other words...reveal himself to an individual?

          This question is one of those that is foremost on my mind at times.  One, because I have accepted Christ as the one God has chosen through which he makes himself known. And two, because I have grown children that do not yet accept that proposition as I do.  And I want them to.
     So I know that from the New Testament words that by "hearing the word" one has to accept it as truth and then act on it in a very personal way.  The American or Westernized Church has made it at times less than palatable to accept this as truth. Because it has methodically in its methods taken away much of the mystery of a very personal searching and made it  into a methodology instead.  It has formed in its very organized way places of worship to come into and "find God" either by traditional means IE, preaching ( of which I do not condemn) or by meeting numerous Christians at once, say in a mega-church and finding some hopefully common ground.  Most times though, common ground is all but uncommon because of the UN-believers state of being at that time.  The ground has to be fertile for acceptance. That is the rub!
     I am a frustrated Christian I must say!  I have spent the better part of 35 years, (mostly wandering from Church to Church) in hopes of finding  the Gospel presented in a way that is not offensive, programmed, pigeon-holed minded, forcing a square peg into a round hole etc. etc. and I am weary.
    So for the last 9 months I have been in the company of like minded Christians, and exploring the nature of individual walks and experiences of each of us and searching out a better way of behaving and in sharing a faith that is very real. Community based and actionable within our own abilities, and of course Gods. 
     I was very young when I began questioning the very nature of who I was, where I belong and like Pilate, to finding out the answer to "what is truth?'  
    For me it was the age of 24 when I was greatly surprised.  
     Believing in Christ is difficult.  I say this because there is not a single way to come to him that is preferred over  another. Except that one has to realize the cost, the totality, of one's surrender, and the extended journey until one's death!  It definitely does not revolve on a single admission and recital of a simplistic prayer many endorse.  It is heavy, it is, responsible, logical, exhaustive in it's requirements and yet filled with abandoned  joy when it does happen. That is the wonder of it.
    So it with a guarded and hopeful waiting and prayerful too, that I watch out for my children in the hope of revelation.  How will this come about? I have no idea.
     There are so many ideologies out there that call to us and each one representing a possible spiritual renewal of some sort that can divert a truth.  And this may divert for years.....until fertile ground is met with a truthful seed!   
    So in my short journey the last nine months I have been pleasantly surprised at the stories and depth of character I have found that waters my soul and keeps me persevering.  I do not disdain the Church at large because it is the working of God and a  counter culture to harmful beliefs. Woe, that the harmful beliefs come disguised as a Church! And do serious harm instead of a Gospel of "Good News."
     I fear that things must change within mainline Christianity or there will be a continued exodus of those who are weary and find no God at all within the walls.  
     I submit that over all, preaching a word that is true to form, UN-adulterated, and filled with the Holy Spirit is the way to proclaim the news of a savior that is just as powerful and revealing as the one the disciples encountered.  It is a recipe that needs no new ingredients.  I have hope that my children will find out. I do not think God needs my help to do this other than being prayerful.  And believing that he is much better at it than I!  After all it only took one genuine person who came and shared at a moment when my ground was torn up and  I was receptive and in need of harvesting.   Peace.  
     "Post script.....'I sense the change coming  and  in light of those "Christians" who blindly follow agendas rather than follow truth  and toss aside critical thinking  in favor of and Anti-Christ natured person..........vile, blasphemous, and liar.   Scary....there must be distinction for true followers.' 
    
  

Rock hard

Step back and don't look back

Turn around and step on new ground

A pillar of salt is what you'll be

If you return to what you were

Don't lament of things gone by

Just relent and repent

Turn the cheek

And don't repeat

A new man complete.

Intersections

     Possibilities exist, and therefore...anything can happen.  So in our lives, we travel in spheres, connecting, UN-connecting  and re-connecting with those close and those far away.  But what about those chance meetings that are a game changer? Life as we knew it, drastically and alter ably changed us and the course we were on.  For example. Thirty plus years ago I was a young and new transplant to a small northern NY town. Also unemployed and untrained in  new beginnings.  So one day, I set out to earn some money the only way I knew and that was cheap labor. I walked the new and unfamiliar streets and chanced upon a Victorian house badly in need of a fall leaf raking cleanup. I knocked on the door,and I had the job, in just a few minutes. After about two hours and a much needed break, I settled on the backyard steps and ate a small lunch and a few minutes later a young man comes by and introduces himself, and says something to the effect...meaning I now had his job!  I don't remember what I replied, but I knew sheepishly I kind felt bad for him. Though he did not know how badly I needed the money.  I was broke. I had no Income and I had come to realize my apartment living was in jeopardy. Eviction was close at hand. I dont remember much of the words between un in those short moments, but I vividly remember his demeanor.  Friendly, calm, sort of peaceful. Much , much different than the way I was feeling.  That stuck with me.
     Fast forward three or so months later, and we met again in a small non_ descript church my girlfriend and I picked out of the yellow pages! (Remember those).
Apparently he had prayed for me, after meeting me and so....you fill In the blanks.
Chance?  Murphy's law, (anything that can happen will happen?)  Anyway suffice it to say, life course altered. I became Christian and so did my girlfriend .I was already a searcher but had rejected many of the Christian things I had been exposed to because I felt it was empty and presented entirely wrong.  This man however was real, sincere, and remarkably   composed for one so young. 
     It was a bitter sweet time because, I lost his friendship due to erroneous doctrines, and he was more or less told to leave. 
    But if not for him, and that chance meeting on a fall day, perhaps my searching would have dragged on for years. We eventually  re_connected, and still remain friends the oldest I  have, and we both remain commited Christians despite some churches that we have found to be wanting.  In other words, the institutions of men, may be flawed as we are as well, but God is faithful.   What he does, he does well!
Peace.

The beauty without for all to see:

The  invisible breath
Caresses tips of green
Swaying to and fro
Giving glory to the one
The beautiful majesty
On full display
Effervescent, fully pleasant
Silent claps to the one
Known alone by its song
Evermore, forevermore,
Lasting, everlasting,
To the Great, I Am

The great brain drain...do you not have homes to eat in? (Paul the Apostle)

The inherent need to feed
On the bread of those in need
Reveals a marked vanity
That calls to question your  sanity
Quick, Turn about face
And Absolve your disgrace
For the grain you Ingest
Belongs to your guest.........

What? The?

vice president pence
he makes no sense
a silent man is he
he is invisible
a smile so quizzical
a smile he wears with glee
in shadows he glides
quite sure with pride
he swells his chest you see
yet for all the clamor and all the glamour
 he stands behind the flea........(.*see post yesterday...* "Flee bitten")

Flea Bitten

look what my money has done to me,

they say i'm dumber than a flea,

yes I can jump,

i'm just a chump you know, my name is --TRUMP,

i'm egotistical,

and that's statistical,

i'm encircled and surrounded,

my men i've dumbfounded,

they say yes and mean no,

they're just my play-dough,

i'm mean when outta green,

you're brown,

you see my frown,

and I'll hit you when you are down,

mom's and pop's it don't matter

i'm just gettin fatter and fatter,

i'll wall you off ,

slander and your name,

it's just my major game,

despots and autocrats,

my friends out there,

understand my orange hair,

it's just mirage,

smoke and mirrors,

until I fire the next barrage,

so this is what I am for all to see,

I really am just a flea,............flick!............gone..............

Riding high

Come  down off thou  high horse

To see thou are off course

Thy blinders ride high

Covering thy seeing eye

Lower thy knee

And humble thy steed

And then shall see

From sea to sea

Mind

It was a chance to unwind 

And clear my mind

To see with new eyes

The thing I had wrought

More than my son

And so much more

Possibilities, within, expressed without

I finally saw the invisible man

Standing before me 

With breath of life

So inquisitive, curious and bright

With friends alike

And With fire they strike

Instilled within a fearless drive

No evidence at all of a selfish pride

Trees

Skeletons outstanding

Eyes misunderstanding

Overcome by nature's harsh

October to March


On silent winds

Bursting forth

In jubilant girth

Vibrant greens, with sweet perfumes

Glory and wonder in newborn birth

Hope & Love, Bound together....never fails.....

                                              Out of the dry, dry earth, something  green,

                                                       Springing up, towards the light,

                                              Appearance of death seen, with eyes so blind,

                                                               Ever to rise, once again,

                                                          Hope, glory, fused with love,

                                                        Ours to behold, scales unfold,

                                                  Newness of creation, inventive and fresh,
         
                                                            Death releases, ceases it's hold,

                                                              God's bold plan, on the move..........

                                                           Never give in, to thoughts within
                                                                   
                                                          Dour and dark, they must subside,

                                                          We have become the welcome, Bride.

1 Cor. "Are you not acting like mere humans? Are you not mere humans?

     This is a statement to the first Century Church of the newly formed Christian Church of the Corinthians.  Paul have learned that there was infighting between it's members on who is following who.  They have quickly aligned themselves with "sides" for whatever reasons, and became adversarial. Paul quickly lets them know their error.  They have reverted to a base understanding,  a hierarchical stance of who to follow.  They have become not of one mind as Paul had taught and preached.  Instead he pulled  out the term "mere human" as if to shake up their understanding of what they had really become and who they had par-taken of.  Of Christ's Spirit, and not of men.  Christ was Deity and had imparted some of that "like" Deity in each one who was a believer.  In other words, Paul sought to teach them with Spiritual words, taught by the Spirit.  A new thing.  Foolishness to the wise of this world.  God had taken the poor, downtrodden, and not "wise who were many" and turned the world upside down with a new way to understand God's purposes for mankind.  Paul always preached a crucified Christ and also a risen, Christ, so that the Gospel would not lose it's power and message.  He strenuously preached a Gospel not of eloquent words so as to strip the Gospel of it's Spiritual power to redeem and restore men.  Restore to what, you ask?  Not to be mere humans.....
     In C. S. Lewis's book, Mere Christianity, he, in one chapter, lays out the premise that what God begets, are God-like, and what man begets are man-like or human in other words.  So The Son of God, Christ, led Captivity captive and created a whole new thing, Spirit filled people, with Spirit filled understandings, and we were meant to come away with new reasoning's. So no small wonder of Paul's strong letter to those he founded in Christ.
    We in this Century have created or have been subjected to a "worldview" of Christianity that has morphed over centuries I believe to become weaker and less effective gospel bearing representatives of our Lord.  This has taken centuries to get where we are, and most likely will take "much time", if we have, it to fully understand how far removed we are from the First Century beliefs of those forerunners before us.  Fortunately, I have lately been in circles where this is understood and new teachings are about.  This is refreshing.
     You see, if we continue to debase all that is Spiritual and bring it down to a level of our understanding, then we lose a gift of God, not only in it's power to redeem but, loss of a real binding of Spiritual strength of being in one mind, with one another.
   Following men blindly can lead to some trouble of which I have been acquainted.
  That is not to say, we must not follow men, ( it is necessary) but, we must be wiser that we sometimes are.  For there are wolves in sheep's clothing, still seeking to lead astray those who are "unwise."
     If then we can be of the mind that we have become "more that Mortal"  in that the resurrection is a reality and we will rise like Christ, then we are more that "mere humans", and must act accordingly.  However, living this out is harder in our twenty- first century with all it's trappings of post-modernism's  thought we have absorbed.
   

Indelible words; Marks upon the soul

"Well you have long ones" (legs)  In response to my wanting to help an old time missionary (85 years old)  to further the gospel in passing out literature. (tracts.)

"Save your money"  (In offering to help.)

"We were never here for the lost" (" God wanted a body of people here.") Finding out many many years later that we would never reach out for the "lost." as ministry.!

"Your too nice." After buying groceries for a sick sister.!

"Better get yourself into a church...or risk becoming a false prophet!." After telling  my best friend and Elder I could no longer support his vision of a closed Christian ministry that excluded people.

"We are done being the moving company."  Being told they would no longer help us to move, a few blocks, after we moved 2200 miles to support their ministry and build a Church.

"You came in the back door." After returning to the Church we spent 17 years in  after leaving the the one mentioned above because of  exclusion.  We then left permanently  after seeing the same traits of those we left.

"The Spirit has no memory." (Really,  Christ can't remember what he just said and did?)

"We are going to have a community garden, with lodging for brothers and sisters." Not..!

"We are going to build on the hill." Not.!

"We are going to have a bus ministry." Not..!

"We cannot build with them." ( Couldn't build with any churches in the area!)

"God would not have us swallow and idol."  ( In building with another Church after much preparation and thought."

"We cannot help you, ( with money to save our house 300.00 dollars.) You have not been able to show responsibility in your budgets! ( We never had enough to budget.)

"You cannot get married yet,  you have to learn how to be "single first in the Lord." We waited 5 years!.........under the false teaching to be single. (Paul said forbid not those who want to marry.!)

     These are the marks on the soul we ( my wife and I had to endure at the hands of the Elder ship  in a non-denominational church in which we spent 17 years helping to build community, with weekend  labor all free and all given with the right intentions.
  Most of the things listed above that we labored for and gave money for never transpired.  Every year a "different vision" was promoted and offered to a group of people who honestly gave 110 percent and more to create a Christian community in the mold of the first century church.  15 to 20 houses were built with  exceptional skills over the course of 17 years from men and women who wanted  freedom and spiritual life in a setting that was almost ideal.  Over the course of those many years something went terribly wrong and many of those who had given their all were driven away by  that same elder ship under the guise of "correction" and many lost for a time their sanity because of intense loss of property and friendships cultivated over almost two decades.  We ourselves lost  friends, babies, and a house and cars, all because of some twisted doctrines intertwined with Christian ones that skewed belief into a cultish-Christian inward turned church.

     This should never happen. This was a pre-eminent doctrine known as the "shepherding" movement of the early and late eighties.  Doctrines of submission, separation of sexes, (what men do and what women do...) how much we could work (40 hours) anything more would be without  faith that God would provide, even though the leadership themselves never lacked because they received the tithes from the people.  Who could marry who and who could build on "the farm" was regulated even though all gave to see the vision come to fruition.

     We were totally given over, we were 18 and 23 years old when we joined what we thought was a great Church. I was 41 and my wife was 36 when we left. With nothing, except the wonderful children 2 and 3 years old that would never have to experience what we did.......Thank God for his mercy!   And thank God for those we met in another State familiar with false teachings and doctrines that destroy and warp minds.  These teachings came out of a Pentecostal  doctrine that was legalistic to the max, and presented as if  it were not.  "We were highly "Lorded" over  and the scripture clearly states we are not to do so to one another. This was so because the "gentiles" Lorded over themselves, and Peter (1st 5:3) cautioned against this, for the new Christians. 

  Now twenty one years later....after experiencing many, many Christian Churches, we find that it is exceedingly hard to embrace any one because of the current climate. As we now know many evangelicals voted for and helped elect Trump regardless of the may flaws  and moral failures in the man, they obviously ignored, in favor of  furthering their agenda.  A Christian that truly followed Christ would never have done so.  There are so many anti-Christ traits on full  display in that one person. Could it be that we (the church and those in it) are in the time that scripture for tells that many would be deceived?  And could it be that the Devil is fully active in the Church so subtly that doctrines are twisted ever so artfully so as not to be noticed? I believe so and have experienced it.  So with caution I regain my mind with open thinking, and peruse the scriptures with ever increasing caution and follow as closely as possible to Christ's teachings and glean from them a better accuracy and not from our twenty first century..."nationalistic imbued", gun toting mix of Christianity so prevalent and on display  in our society.  If we have to fight to save our children from assault weapons in our schools and have Christians defend the 2nd amendment blindly, while they die, then our values are truly not Christ like.  Politics should not come first while lives are at stake.  The children are shaming, I hope (those in Washington)  in doing the right thing.  I exhort them not to give up!!  The children...

     While I and my wife continue to believe in the Good word of the Gospel, it is hard to attend any kind of Church and knit with a church that is unable to separate its Christian dogma from it's political and dangerous leanings.  While it was said that "religion is the opiate of the people" we need to heed it's deeper meaning often not known...in it's full context..."Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people." Attributed to Karl Marx. "Die Religion...Ist das Opium des Volkes.

 Religion as it had become in the days of Christ was oppressive and Christ wanted to set people free.  Therefore, Christ did   what the law never could, give life.  Religious law is dead works.....So all those who follow en-masse (as a group, simultaneously as one...be careful who and what you follow.

Measuring Up...

     There is now therefore; no condemnation in Christ........



     There are all  sorts of way to measure things, especially in our society. In a given day, how many times do you make a judgment...of anything?  I can tell you, hundreds of times.  Now I am especially concerned with the judgments we make of one another and of strangers. The words above, from Paul's letter in  the New Testament concern the Law of Sin and Death. Doing the things we do not want to do but do anyway, and doing the things we want but do not.  I think this can be stretched to our judgment of others as well.  For God does not look at man as a man does to man on the surface, but looks intently and deeply into the heart.  It is for this reason we are forgiven, all of us, there is no impartiality. (Apprehending this forgiveness is a whole other story.)  In other words if we have been, as I have been, on the receiving end of some one's unjust judgment and categorically "pigeonholed" say, as someone undeserving of love, of respect, of anything kind at all, then we  (and I) miss the mark  and (Sin).
     When in the course of our daily lives we go about our business and perhaps whether inadvertently or on purpose involve ourselves outside our "normal sphere" of activity we may become closer to those we judge to be "different."  Whether it be those outside societal norms, such as the homeless,  or even the rich, or just those who are not daily in the sphere we normally travel in we easily  judge.  And in doing so we may find our hearts callous. We just might overlook common dignity, respect, love and measure incorrectly.
    And so As Christians, we must know not to submit to that and rise above the tendency and not condemn ourselves and fall into that trap as well.  We always will fall short.  And because we now have Christ's righteousness as our own, and not our own,  we can walk with heads a little higher, a little less bent over and carry empathy instead.

   
   
     

i've gone nuclear!

Oh, it hurts!  Yes I admit it. When things happen that I don't especially like, such as being used, abused, taken advantage of etc, etc, etc. Then when I don't have a grip on my emotions, POW! Nuclear fission takes place right inside my mind and then my emotions kick in and then mass explosions occur. And I hate it.  Now I don't always go this route, but I'm human and so, it happened  this weekend. one after another and I could not shake the events or put the cork back in the bottle or the bad genie back in the bottle.  Out it came and all the gunk with it.  But, thanks be to God, as some say... I can be washed in the blood of Christ that heals that sort of thing.  Yes it is not a mind game but a peace that eventually wins out over such things as this.  Think Peter and you get what i'm saying.  He was a man of intensity and a man of simplicity and a man that needed forgiveness he did not give himself.  But Jesus did.  Do you love me he asked?  That is the million dollar question. I do and I know why I do....do you?   Because often enough I cannot forgive myself the things that come out of my heart or mouth.  @#%^^%% yeah like that! PEACE.

Skin for Skin

"Skin for skin" said the Devil in the presence of the Lord God.  This he said about Job as he was about to tempt him with the very loss of his health. 
   The Devil roams about. Seeking to destroy by any means possible.  And how should we respond?  By resisting.  Not retaliating as we would so like to do.  By letting our prayers go up to the throne room of our Father and telling him please help us. 
   Again I was kicked in the teeth today.  Happy new year.....I will lose a home in the next several weeks and be forced into a very small apartment that I came from 6 months ago.  Just goes to show the self centeredness and a heart that waxes and wanes according to mood.  I guess we were warned that these days would come, and to be aware of people who would despite fully use us, as Jesus warned. 
   Not only did I give everything I could to help a person but I put forward my Christianity daily on the altar of giving as I should and was repaid by this act.  As yesterday's blog, noted, I will continue to do what I have to to sow the good things in the midst of a world so corrupted by blindness and evil. Peace
 I pray that God can use even this for good. somehow......