We're Just Here to Help You.

Actually, the government was set up to help us defend ourselves against foreign invaders, manufacture our currency, control interstate commerce, and levy taxes when needed to supplement shortfalls in the treasury.  Now, we are all familiar with what it has actually become. Ignoring possibly the greatest Constitution ever written, politicians and others have helped themselves to the treasury, while creating self perpetuating empires.  These demigods hold court, write law, vote themselves raises, and generally ignore anyone who would challenge them.  Now, they have started to punish those who are opposed to their Oligarchy.  

Our fore fathers would dust off their muskets, if they could, and rise up out of the grave to quell the unfettered take over of our government by subversive politicians bent on forcing us into abject socialism.  The poor are always the excuse, but not one communist/socialist government has elevated the plight of the poor.  The poor will always be poor.  However the earning class under these regimes are brought down, and the only ones with wealth and power are the heads of government.  

Outside influences have played a major role in foisting an unvetted and unqualified Manchurian Candidate into the role of President of the United States.  The plan was set in motion years ago when a dupe with no principles and a good speaking voice was found.  He was pushed through the educational system and lower level politics while making little or no contribution in either venue.  Then shortly before the election, foreign investors poured huge donations (disguised of course) into the campaign coffers.  They also manipulated investments to cause a drop in the stock market to make it look like the Republicans had caused economic collapse.  This, along with a complicit national media on a campaign to destroy and discredit the sitting president, made fertile the political field for a socialist crop to take root . The role of the Democrat controlled legislative bodies and an insipid judiciary protected the global garden from those who should have been providing the weed killer.  Unprincipled Americans everywhere have made it difficult to argue in favor of anything else with their unbridled theft.  

We have ignored the principles of the one true God and have thumbed our noses at his precepts, choosing instead the worship of  creation.  Without God's principles, a free society cannot survive.  The Godly ideals of self control and personal responsibility are but fleeting notions when left solely to the devices of unrepentant human participants.  Not believing or failing to make a choice will not exempt anyone in the final judgement.  We are in danger of facing severe judgement for mocking of the things God.  More than anything else we could  humble ourselves before God and pray for his mercy.

Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.
  - Laurence J. Peter

Spiritual Things

I am taking on a difficult task this morning. I am going to attempt to explain some spiritual truths as clearly as I know how in the confining medium of a blog post. My sources of information are the Bible, my own personal experience and study. This is a lattice work to be filled in by the reader. I am tempted to suspend the comments section, for this post only, because I am not seeking affirmation or argument. I am posting my beliefs. If everything were explainable or provable we would not have a faith based belief system.

God is the creator of all things.
God created man with a spiritual component that makes him different from all other created beings.
God wants to fellowship with man.
Man was created with his spiritual component in tact and placed in an idyllic setting.
Man was also created with a physical component and a free will.
Adam (the first man) chose to yield to his physical (carnal) yearnings in an attempt to gain equality with God.
Adam's selfish behavior fell short of God's plan and made it impossible for God to have fellowship with him.
Sin is best defined as falling short of the mark.
God cursed the rest of mankind (Adam's seed) with a spiritual death penalty.
God provided the Ten Commandments to define the mark for man.
God had a plan in place to redeem his creation in the person of Jesus Christ.
The time was not right for the redemptive work of Jesus to take place and the Old Testament is an account of how God confounded the world with unlikely servants who made it possible to bridge the gap between creation and the coming of Jesus. Old Testament prophesy is right on the mark.
When the time was right God sent Jesus Christ to be born of a woman. He was not of Adam's seed, but of God's seed.
Jesus Christ did not fall under the curse of Adam's seed and therefore was the perfect man necessary to pay the penalty for that curse. He was God and man together.
Jesus Christ willingly fulfilled his role as the sacrifice for Adam's (and all mankind's) original sin.
Jesus lived, ministered, was crucified, died and rose again.
Once again man could have fellowship with God directly by accepting the sacrifice provided by his Son, Jesus Christ.
All human beings are under the curse and therefore in need of accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. We are saved from the curse and not our individual sins, so no matter how perfectly we may see our lives, we are still in need of redemption.
Once we've accepted the gift of grace from God in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ then our relationship with God is restored. No one can end this relationship.
However, we still have our physical/carnal component in tact and can choose to ignore God's direct influence through our spiritual side and fall short of the mark. This does not destroy the relationship, but it can ruin the fellowship. Just as a child stays well away from a parent when he has done something he knows is wrong, so we feel ashamed and want to hide from God when we miss the mark. When Christians choose to follow their carnal leanings, they can behave just like non-Christians and subject themselves and other believers to ridicule by those who don't believe.
Hell is eternity outside God's presence.
God provided the sacrifice and he gives us the simple faith necessary to believe things that seem unbelievable.
I accepted God's gift in Jesus Christ when I was ten years old. I received God's assurance and peace that it was real at that time and I still feel that assurance.
Life's experiences can make us bitter and leave us feeling unworthy, but remember God doesn't see things the way we do. We can't explain God.
He is the Creator and he deals with His creation as He sees fit. He just asks us to trust him and come in simple faith to accept His gift of grace. He even provides the faith we need when we give up on trying to do things our way. If you feel there has to be more to life than what you've experienced so far, that's God gently telling you to look up.

Mans' Physical Journey

With slight variations, all men make the same physical journey. The difference comes in how we choose to relate to our creator, God. Just because you profess not to believe, doesn't mean God isn't real. All men have within them a carnal and spiritual nature. Our spiritual natures separate us from the rest of creation and make us unique. The picture of Fall leaves, and the series of three Haiku deal with the physical journey. I will follow this post with an explanation of the spiritual journey tomorrow.

Twisting leaf in wind.
Green, it moves with limb and twig
youth has strength to spare.

Twisting leaf in wind.
Red, it leaves its lofty perch
color to be seen.

Twisting leaf in wind.
Brown, it’s blown from place to place
no one knows it’s there.

Dennis Price

The Great Shepherd

Special thanks to Tom Wigley of Wigger's World for this beautiful pastoral scene. Tom photographs his area of England for us to enjoy and when I saw this picture, it put me in mind of Psalms 23. Many are probably familiar with this song written by David. I am including it without verse designations using the Living Bible transliteration.

Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need. He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most. Even when I'm walking through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for your are close beside me, guarding, guiding, all the way. You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest; blessings overflow. Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home.

Peace starts with a smile.

Remembering Who We Are

It is Sunday morning, dark outside, and I'm the only one up. The ambient noises are really part of the silence because I've tuned them out. Throughout the week we share scenes captured by camera, or memory and sometimes comment on their significance. Or, we rant about things over which we feel we have very little control and draw some comfort in knowing that others have similar thoughts. I know some of you who come and read here do not share my faith in Jesus Christ, and I know on my most eloquent day I could never convince you otherwise. Just know when you feel like there has to be more to life than what you know, there is. In Psalm 46:10 we find these words; Be still and know that I am God. Words for both the believer and the non believer.
When you have exhausted all your earthly strength in trying to make sense of all you see and hear, that's when you'll find God. The difference in the message of Jesus Christ is, it calls for worship of the Creator. All the other religious messages throughout time have called for worship of some aspect of creation. So today just be still. Quit fighting life. Let yourself go. God has always known who you are, and where you are. My prayer is for all of us to have a peace filled Sunday.

Paths

I am a very visual person. Pictures, live scenes, and pictorial memories stimulate my imagination. On this Sunday morning, the picture of this quiet path brought to mind peacefulness. Peace - those moments when we are sufficiently tranquil to allow ourselves to think of God. We are so busy in this information age gathering information, analyzing, and worrying about the future, we are rarely peaceful. I'm glad I was brought up in a home where Jesus Christ was presented as the way to find a relationship with God. My parents set the example and lived their lives in a fashion which later caused me to make a personal choice to follow the same path. They were not perfect. They showed me that God can use imperfect people to do wonderful things for others. I just an old sinner saved by grace and I live with my old nature. That nature comes to the surface on occasion and I'm sure if you happened to be nearby when it does, you could wonder about my sencerity. That's the great thing about my chosen belief system - God loves me in spite of my warts and moles. I intend to go to a chruch building this morning to meet with others who are seeking solace, finding renewal, wanting companionship, habitually attending, searching for wisdom, and proclaiming the worthship of our creator. We often measure ourselves by others, and sometimes they disappoint us. I like the idea of one day out of the week being set aside for rest and focus on a creator God who is much bigger than anything else we encounter, and who is able to understand this sordid mess we call life. I believe God is in charge, and although we can't understand all that we see, He does.

If we discover a desire within us that nothing in this world can satisfy, also we should begin to wonder if perhaps we were created for another world. C. S. Lewis (1898 -1963) Mere Christianity

Sunday Morning

Where do you worship? Since the beginning of time man has felt the need to acknowledge something bigger than himself. I think the need to do this was placed in our beings by the Creator. I made a profession of my faith very early in my life, and through the years I have been convinced by personal experience that it was the right thing to do. I will go to a church building this morning to proclaim the worthship of my Creator. It is a time to look outside myself and acknowledge God's presence. I will meet there with others who are seeking to understand just how we are to fit into the greater scheme of life. We come together dispite our warts, moles, and wrinkles and remind ourselves that our role as believers is to serve our fellowman. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. We are a motley crew, divided by many denominational differences, personal prefrences, sects, and orders of worship, but only one faith. The important thing to focus on is how this faith is to affect us. The writer of Galatians, the apostle Paul, says in Chapter 5, vv. 22 & 23; But, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control. Against such thing there is no law. I have at times allowed myself to forget what my purpose is and I have permitted my own selfish interests to get ahead of my servant's role. It is difficult living with a dual nature. That's why I choose to make my weekly trek to a building set aside for that very purpose, and fellowship with others who struggle daily with similar personal battles. I hope you have a wonderful week.

NOT IN THINGS


Accumulating wealth won’t satisfy.
They are not ours these things we seek to gain.
But all are gifts delivered from on high.
And apt to leave us quickly as they came.

So we should love more,
pray more, share more
with our neighbors
as we’re blessed.

Thanking God for all that he has given.
Food and shelter as he sees we need it.
Teaching us the meaning of contentment.
Accumulating wealth won’t satisfy.