Are We Better?

Greetings:

 

            In discipleship Journal, Don McCullough wrote: “John Killenrude tells about the manager of the minor-league baseball team who was so disgusted with his centerfielders performance that he ordered him to the dugout and assumed the position himself.

            “The first ball that came into center field took a bad hop and hit the manager in the mouth. The next one was a high fly ball, which he lost in the glare of the sun – until it bounced off his four head. The third was a hard line drive that he charged with outstretched arms; unfortunately it flew between his hands and smacked his eye. “Furious, he ran back to the dugout, grab the centerfielder by the uniform, and shouted, ‘You idiot! You’ve got centerfield so messed up that even I can’t do a thing with it!’”

            How many times does it take getting bumped on the head, before we realize others may actually now more than we do? How many cars have we men tried to fix, winding up taking it to a garage? How many times have men tried to put something together without instructions? And, how many times have women tried cooking something without recipes, only to put a grimace on everyone in the families face at the dinner table.

            Perhaps the greatest infraction might be trying to explain God to someone without having a clue as to what you’re trying to convey. But, this type of self-instruction is encouraged by mainstream religious leaders. They send uninformed minions out by the thousands to say whatever it takes to bring someone through the doors of their church. Christ wants witnesses, but informed witness, not programmed soldiers for particular denominations.

            There is a gospel of the Kingdom of God; there is a message to be spread across the world, but it needs to be understood without bias or influenced by greed. The history of the church is full of self indulgent men, who teach a form of subservient religion which was never meant to be. Christ directed us where to find the answers to mysteries, but it’s up to each individual to search, we don’t need someone else stepping in for us.

 

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Please

Greetings:

 

            My parents were sticklers about us being polite to our elders and grown-ups. A proper amount of respect towards adults was always demanded from us children, there was no such thing as talking back or disrespect. Please and thank you was the beginning and end of nearly all our conversations, nothing less was expected in our home, school, and any other place we might find ourselves. So, in the spirit of my up-bringing I thought I would attempt an exercise in politeness towards my government.

            Would you please tell me why it’s a good idea to control every aspect of everyone’s life, and thank you? To be as polite as I possibly can; I must say, I don’t want to participate. I know you think you care, but it’s not necessary for you to know everything about me; so, please leave me and every other law abiding citizen alone, thank you.

            Please, quit taxing beyond our abilities to pay. I ‘m confident you’re in dyer need of more revenue, but you have everything we’ve got and you keep spending more and more. You expect us to tighten our belts and contribute, but when will it be your turn to cut your budgets and live on almost nothing? We would be grateful for your participation in this matter, thank you.

            Please don’t ask me to accept the murders of unborn babies; it makes me sick to think of how many children have perished at the foot of the god of promiscuity. I know you believe it’s just an unwanted thing unexpectedly produced from a night of guiltless pleasure, but it greatly bothers many of us because we view life begins at conception, thank you.

            Please, let us worship the way we have always worshiped, I’m certain it’s not any of your concern as to why we feel one way or another based on our view of the bible. Thanks for your version, but I have already decided what’s true and what’s not,

without the help of any regulatory body or foreign nation, thank you.

            Thank you, for listening to these few words of protest, please feel free to abide by any of these suggestion, and one more thing. Could some of you sit down and for once earnestly read the constitution of the United   States? I think you might find it very useful when in the future you decide to get a little pushy, like you have been lately. Please take this in the spirit it was given and remember, it’s “We the People,” and if there is any adults in Washington, would one of them please read this to Congress, and the President, Thank You!

Thanksgiving 2013

Greetings:

This is a special time of year when thanks are offered for the graciousness of our creator. It’s a special gesture of love directed at our personal God and the blessing we’ve received throughout the year. It’s a demonstration of our Christian roots as a collective nation amid an avalanche of anti-God rhetoric. The day begins with cooking the mea afterwards, the meal’s set, all the family and friends finally arrive, its then time to give thanks to God.
The outpouring of prayers of thanks will unequal the gravy slathered across the dinner table in an unholy rush of this yearly feast in so many homes. Cheap turkeys, rolls, and accouterments make for fine dining irregardless your beliefs. Governments become the main beneficiary in many homes this time of year, and the local food bank has taken on the roll of the divine spirit, dolling out fishes and bread. It’s time to give thanks, but some confusion may be extant of whose providence is extending its hand over what’s been so generously given them. Checking the dictionary for the word God, it isn’t described as federal and local government; but sadly, it’s the roll it plays in many homes in our current environment.
The Macy’s parade will be no match against the onslaught of charities on TV begging for money to help feed the poor. Displaying images of emaciated children, dogs, cats, and any other humans or animals capable of tearing at our heart-strings will comprise an endless chorus of ads shown. They will compete for your time and money on this day set aside for giving thanks for blessings received. We shouldn’t forget the less fortunate in our society, but neither should we be made to be felt guilty of our blessings.
TV, WILL BE KING, and football will be the highlight of the day. Your favorite team wins, it’s been a great Thanksgiving, if it loses, the meal was great but the rest of the day was dreadful. Some will cope with too much to drink a dare the road putting life and limb in danger, not to mention a possible run-in with the local police.
From the time we give thanks for our meal until the sun sets, Christ is slowly pushed to the back of our minds. We walk into the home, joining family and friends asking Christ presence, when it’s over Christ is nowhere to be found. This Thanksgiving, keep Christ in your home the whole day, the blessing you’ll receive from His presence will astound you. Man’s blessings may save you for a short while, but God’s are for an eternity. Be safe and watchful, and have a good Thanksgiving, Christ Bless you.

The Crippled Goose

Greetings:

 

            Once on a beautiful spring day a young couple was walking in a park by a clear shimmering lake. As they meandered around the edge of the water, they noticed a crippled goose on the bank. Its wing was broken from a shotgun pellet and couldn’t fly. The young couple felt sorry for the goose and decided to attempt a rescue. They managed to corner the bird between the both of them, and while the young man held the goose, the young lady went for the car.

            After a while they managed to get the bird into the trunk of the car fearing to put it in the front, because the goose may start thrashing and cause an accident. They arrived at the animal shelter feeling pretty good; they proceeded to take the goose into the building. They began to tell the person at the counter of their rescue of the goose and wanted to know where to leave the large bird.

            The counter person asked the young couple for their permits. Stunned, the young couple replied, “they had no permits.” They inquired about why they would need any kind of permits to rescue a goose. The counter person told the couple; they needed an environmental permit for capturing wild animals. They needed a permit for transporting such animals. They needed paperwork showing legal ownership of the bird, and last of all; they needed a background check to see if they owned any guns. Because, if they owned a shotgun, it might have been them that caused the birds’ injuries to begin with, then there would be fines and confiscation of guns to deal with.

            The young couple beside themselves managed to convince the counter person to let them leave with the bird, promising to take care of it some other way. As the evening came to a close, the couple finished their supper and reminisced a while over their day.

The young man said to the young woman, “ I’m going to check one more time before we go to bed, just to make sure I didn’t leave any feathers on the ground in case someone checks on us.” The young lady replied back, “Yes, and I’m going to put the leftover goose in the refrigerator for tomorrow.”

            This is a fictional story made-up by my imagination. You didn’t know that. There is more truth in this story then you may realize. If it isn’t this bad in your community now, just wait, it will be. Hope your turkey is legal this Thanksgiving; if not, eat it anyway and bury the evidence.

Pray Christ kingdom comes soon and restore some sanity back into this nation.

Truth

Greetings:

 

            My truth, your truth, who’s truth, is real? Is truth the cosmic ball that never sits in a stationary position for any amount of time?   Is time a factor in determining truth; does truth differ two-thousand years ago from truth today? Is truth more relevant for the poor and under advantaged, and does the rich, and more affluent have an unmentionable right to define truth? These are questions that plague the mere mentioning of truth; so, who’s truth matters?   

            We know the highest leaders of our nation lie, and the old clichés about politicians lying isn’t just fables, it seems, they do lie. Why should we fall for their deceptions, elections, after elections, but we do! Do we as humans inherently trust in promises, or is there something more sinister at work in the human nature? Is it a real truth, folks will vote themselves more government benefits, no matter the person?       It may be the way of the world today; the truth in our culture which gives us a different definition of what, “is” is. Does it matter, words are created to convey specific meanings, and instead the hazing over of one mere word, becomes a monumental deception.

            Has truth of Christ traveled the same crooked road the world has been on for so long? Has religious guides been dazzled by the same graft as our worldly leaders? Has truth been substituted for more promises as long as they preach the desire of their constituency?

            Are we that gullible to accept in our minds someone else’s version of truth, while our eyes see something different and our ears hear clearly the reverse? Obviously so, just as in our government, its been working well for the established religions of today.

It takes courage to look at real truth, but it takes conviction to believe what you see; maybe next time you read your bible, you’ll see the real Christ!

 

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A Crumbling House

Greetings:

 

            Suppose the walls of your house were shacking with age, the roofs above you were trembling, and the house (now worn out and wearied) was threatening to immediately collapse? Would you not leave with all haste? Look the world is changing and passing away! It testifies to its ruin now-not by its age-but by the end of things. (Cyprian 250AD)

            1750 years ago early Christians feared the end was approaching quickly upon them. The early church was persecuted for their beliefs as Christians and accused of all kinds of crimes ranging from incest to cannibalism. They were thrown to the lions, beheaded, and executed in all sorts of gruesome manners. With all the demonizing, persecutions, and creating of martyrs, a strange thing occurred. The Christian beliefs grew more rapidly in the face of death.

            If the end looked very near in their day, how much closer is it with all that is occurring in our time? With destruction on an unbelievably massive scale; unlike any other time in recorded history. We see wars, rumors of wars, pestilence and disease in an unprecedented volume. The world is crumbling before our eyes, not unlike the house in the quote above. And what are we worried about as a nation; what does Hollywood think?

            Perhaps the death of our culture will bring back the vigor for many who finally may look at the truth like the early Christians. Perhaps there will be a renewed awakening towards a desire to be what Christ always wanted us to be. The belief the end of the age is near, perhaps will be the driving force for some to open their eyes and accept the will of Christ, perhaps!

Diamonds And Gold

Greetings:

 

            Two of the rarest minerals found on earth are at each ends of the spectrum in regards to hardest. Diamonds are the hardest known mineral and gold is on the softer side of all known minerals. Diamonds are formed by enormous amounts of pressure and heat over many years concentrated upon carbon deposits. Gold is said to come from the stars, because scientist can’t see a natural way it which it’s formed here on earth.                    

            These elements are vigorously sought after and highly desired. Owning large sums of both would classify a person wealthy by any standard. Empires, Nations, and Kingdoms have fought to possess both for thousands of years. Millions of lives have been lost in pursuit of these minerals. Great sorrow for many has unwittingly been imposed on them in the pursuit of nations to gain them.            

            The process of creating diamonds is similar to the creation of Christians. One must be subjected to enormous amounts of pressure from the outside world bearing down daily ensuring true quality. The pressure creates an unbreakable but brilliant exterior and beauty unlike any other mineral. A diamond must be shaped and carved to create the perfect stone.

            Gold is synonymous with Christians as well; its capacity to be malleable makes it useful for many things. It doesn’t corrode like many other metals and preserves its brilliant color. Gold melts at a lower temperature but the heat refines the gold becoming more pure with each refining.

            We as Christians must be rare, brilliant, hard, soft, shaped, able to bend, and refined to the purest form. The world’s pressure shapes us, and one day perhaps we will be back among the stars.

Christ is looking for the rare in man, not common, everyday character. He is searching for those who hard concerning his doctrine but soft in his mercy; is that someone you?

 

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Mud People

Greetings:

 

            The author, “Charles Allen” once wrote. One difference between a sheep and a hog is that, when a sheep falls into a mud-hole, it is uncomfortable and struggle to get out. When a hog falls into a mud-hole, he wallows in it and enjoys it.

            Life is full of mud-holes, and quite frequently we find ourselves in one; the question then becomes are we sheep or hogs? Do we enjoy where we’ve landed or do we struggle to rise above our misfortune? If we’re use to mud-holes, perhaps we don’t realize what a wonderful world there is outside of the slushy, gooey, sticky mess. Perhaps normal has become the mud-hole for many, and like the hog are content to live their life in the wallow.

            Hogs are unclean in so many ways. God made them into garbage disposals; they eat discarded trash and help clean our environment and were never meant to be eaten. On the other hand, sheep were created clean and beneficial in wool and meat. Humans seem to want to gorge on the unclean and totally disregard the good in front of them. But, like the hog, mud is becoming increasingly more and more appealing to many, both in food and life.

            Why obey the bible, because if you do, it means you have to leave the mud-hole. It means you’ve become uncomfortable with insertions the law is done away with, and the God of the Old Testament is irrelevant.  It means all sixty-six books are relevant to our lives today. It means the Father matters and the Son. It means, religion is more than just mans traditions, and the focus turns back to Christ.

            The book of Enoch is mentioned several times in the bible, and he says there is a class of angels that call man mud-people. Is it because were mad from dirt like Adam, or because we like to wallow in mud? May be, its both, and maybe Christ needs to return before the mud consumes the human race.

 

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Easy

Greetings:

 

            Have you even known someone who always makes life look easy? Work, play, family, it doesn’t matter; everything just seems easy with them. They are successful in business as well as home life. They have friends who admire them, and truly want to be a part of their lives. They have co-workers who worry when they don’t show up for work or are out sick for more than just a few days.

            What you may not see or realize, is how hard they work in order for their lives to appear easy. They’ve done everything they’re expected of, education, dedication, family, and special attention to integrity, honesty, and appreciation of others. Those attributes are the hallmark of an easy looking life built on hard work.

            I dedicate this reminder to my step-father, (Alvin Wille) who died yesterday, (11/01/2013) from complications of heart failure. He was one of those who appeared to have an easy life. My family and I know the effort he put forth for the façade of easy to cling to him. We also know how hard he worked to make all our family lives just a little more easy.

            The hardest part of knowing someone whose life looked easy is seeing them leave your life for the last time. You feel as though they are taking with them a secret they learned long ago about life, and you no longer have any opportunities to learn how they made life look so easy. Maybe we should have listened to what they had to say, when we had the chance to hear, and maybe we should have spent a little more time with them instead of complaining how hard our own lives are.

            Easy is just another word along with many others defining with them someone who has touched our lives in a very special way. We’ll miss Alvin Wille, life will be a little harder but memories will come, easily making us smile one more time.

 

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