Pluto Syndrome

“How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. John 3:9

We have all lived through learning something that shook us. Something that we believed and thought was true was disproven or we were told it was wrong. For many of us that is the scary times in our lives, for others it’s the greatest moment of our lives. Many times these things are new discoveries or miracles in our minds. Now put yourself back 2000 years ago.

I know that most of the people that read the words that I have written are Christian. Many of you are probably very strong in your faith and no one can shake your faith. You could listen to Mormons for weeks and not be shaken or question your faith what so ever. God has blessed you with the foundation that he calls us to have, one built upon rock.

Now 2000 years ago, let us see ourselves as Jews instead of Christians. We have been told that a Messiah would come and save us. And just like today I’m sure that many of us see the world as being so bad that it has to come soon because it can’t get much worse. So we hope, but we see our world as we do and realize that there is nothing we can do about it, just as we could do nothing about the Romans that conquered us.

We go to synagogue and we pray, we keep our laws the best we can. Many of us are hoping that the Messiah will come soon to rescue us from the rule of Rome. We’re good Jews though and hold to our covenant the best we can. We want to be free from the rule of Rome so bad, but we know that it would take God himself to free us from Rome.

We have made up our minds in our fantasies of who and what this Messiah will be. We know that the Messiah will be something beyond belief. God in the flesh, wow. His beard must be perfect and take no grooming. A Jew’s Jew.

So we hear stories and rumors about this man down at the river talking about the Messiah coming soon. We want to believe, but we’ve heard his kind before. They are the crazy ones that yell on the corners holding signs. They are all crazy, he doesn’t even wash his hands properly, he can’t be Jew, let alone someone that God has given sight to.

A little more time goes buy and this carpenter’s son starts teaching that the Law is wrong. Even more that he is the Son of God in the flesh. This is not a Jew’s Jew, he’s no Messiah. That’s what your friends say. He is teaching all the wrong things, and he’s not here to free us from Rome. He is not what you pictured the Messiah as, he can’t be him.

Would we really believe the story unfolding before us? Would we believe that Jesus was really the son of God? That would be like us today believing the story of John Smith. He is adding to the bible, and the bible says that you cannot do that. We can read so many other Christian books to add to our faith as long as they are not adding to the Bible itself we are OK.

What do you think writings like these are doing? Building upon the word of God, but I’m not saying that this is the Book of Joe, stick it in there between 3 John and Jude. But let us go back to Jesus. He was an amazing man, we saw him do miracles, we try to corner him with biblical teachings and he knows the word better than most of us do. But he’s a carpenters son, this can’t be the Messiah.

How hard would it be for us to believe? Each society had their own beliefs and today is no different. Christianity is the largest religion in the world, but yet there are so many people that still do not believe. I want you to think about how hard it would be to believe when you are raised told that those Christians are crazy, they believe in things that Science cannot prove.

I mean let us be honest here, what is your opinion on the sacrifices that Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses make? Is it crazy that the watchtower denies their followers birthdays? Mormonism’s diet is very strict. We as Christians, what do we think of these sacrifices? They aren’t godly because our bible doesn’t say to do these things.

Let me tell you a secret, the same book that we use to guide our belief is the same book that the Jehovah’s Witnesses use to prove their way of life. It is all about interpretation of God’s Word. Am I saying that they are right? No, I can’t believe in that. I cannot believe that only 144,000 people will be allowed into heaven and be with God.  How do I view their personal sacrifices? I think that it is impressive that they believe strong enough to deny themselves of things like that. I am also glad that I am not called to sacrifice in that way.

Going back two thousand years ago, how hard do you think it was for Nicodemus to go seek out Jesus? How hard do you think it was for him to believe Jesus? God opened his heart and lead him to believe, but I don’t think it was that night that it all sunk in, because if that was true I doubt he would have asked some of the questions he had asked later in the gospel.  When our world is shaken to the foundation, it is hard for us to grasp onto everything.

These world changes can happen and they happen every day. Every atheist that sees that God is real, it happens. Every time a Pagan realizes that the Gods they serve are not truly Gods, it happens. Every time a Satanists realizes that Satan is not God, it happens. Every time a non-believer is added to the fold, it happens.

The more solid our foundation in what we are believing now the harder it is to turn from it. If you want to imagine what it was like for Nicodemus, just think about what if the Mormons are right for a moment. That’s all you need to do to put yourself in Nicodemus’ shoes. Now come back to what you believe God is God and Jesus is Jesus.  For Nicodemus to believe Jesus, it took something in his heart. He believed.

Now there are new discoveries nearly every day, but we can handle new understanding and knowledge when we know that we don’t know what’s there. It is when we believe we know what is real, that is when it is hard. It is not hard for us to believe in finding another planet in space that is similar to earth. It’s not hard to believe in discovery of a new star, but you downgrade Pluto from a planet to a lesser classification and that’s hard to believe.

What would happen to your faith if another sentient life form was discovered on many of the near earth planets out there? Would you doubt God’s word? You shouldn’t, nowhere in the bible does it say that he didn’t create man on more than one world. Man might look a bit different somewhere else, but it doesn’t matter, it’s not a faith thing.

So why talk about this? There are millions of people out there that know what they believe just as strongly as we know and believe in Christ. How do you reach them? You can’t only God can. Do you hate child that does not know things? No we teach them. Sometimes all we are called to do is cast a few seeds in the direction of the lost. Live by example and tell them why you believe. Look for opportunities to get to know people and have relationships with them.

You have to invest yourself into people’s lives a bit. Love first, let God be God. You realize that you do not have to tell someone that they are a sinner or damned to fulfill God’s commandments? You can love people as you would desire to be loved without mentioning God. It is when they ask how or why that you can let them know the how or why. That how or why, we all know, is God. Love first, let God be God. Cast the seed and let God water it.

“Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” D. Elton Trueblood

Pain: the Shortest Path to God

“I’m in pain. I’m in deep trouble. God, save me and keep me safe.” Psalm 69:29 NIRV

There is nothing else in the world that will get a non-believer to pray to God quicker than pain. Physical, emotional, mental it doesn’t matter the stronger the pain the more prayer is involved. I find it funny that men and women every day that do not believe in God turn to him when they are hurting and cannot find a way to get around the problem at hand.

Psalm 69 is one of those psalms that just cry out for the hurting, lost, confused or those in trouble. It is a call and prayer for when you see no other way out. It is moments like these that people realize that we are not Gods and we cannot fix these things on our own. I think it’s a reaction that is hard coded into our being.

For a woman they say the worst pain one can feel is childbirth; for a man kidney stones. That’s physical pain, but there are hurts that we can have that run much deeper than these. Physical pain is something that I have always had a great tolerance for. It’s those pains that you can’t touch; those are the pains that get me.

Pain can call us to a quick call to Jesus, rarely is it not a scream or yelp that would be seen by most as vain. Pain can put us on all fours lamenting to the father to make the pain go away, even if we think he’s not real. People will cry out to him hoping that in this moment there is something more than them to help ease their pain.

There is a power in pain that is found rarely outside of it. When we are hurting in this way there is a vulnerability that can break even the strongest of shells. It is those times that we are but a child crying out to our mother or father to make the pain better. A child learns this because when they hurt and they are screaming it is mom or dad that picks them up and comforts them. It’s natural for the parent to do this.

So when we are older, we still yearn for this. Mom has not been able to pick me up and pack me for a long time, but it’s not mom that I cry out for anymore. It’s not dad either. I cry out to God because I know now that Mom and Dad cannot take care of all the pains that I feel. Today it’s just physical pain of a kidney stone moving around, but I cry out to God to help me through this.

In that pain I plead to God more than I do with just about anything else. That reaction is something that is biblical. The more we hurt the more we cry out to our God. The more guilty we feel for something that we have done; the more grim our earthly situation is; the more we cry out to God. Why?

Why is because we feel so weak and helpless in these situations and we realize the truth that is all through the bible, nothing we do can be done without God. Our weakness is amplified by our pain and with that weakness we draw on the one we should be drawing on for everything. God tells us to bring everything to him. Every hurt, every joy, every question, bring everything to Him. Prayerfully consider each and every action that you take.

It seems like a lot, how can God have time to answer my every question? Because he’s God and he loves you. We can turn to him when we are hurting so much easier because we know we are powerless to do anything about the pains that we are going through. It’s when we are strong and well that our pride keeps us from going to God.

God wishes to be involved in all that you do. There is nothing that you should do that God does not wish to be involved with. God’s not there just for when we hurt, he is there always. God created us and gave us gifts and talents, and he loves to see what we do with them. He calls us to glorify him and lift up his name in celebration.

Every busted knuckle, stubbed toe, twisted ankle is a reminder that God is right there. Why did he create pain? Sin required it. I do not see it completely as a punishment; I think he intended it to be a reminder to us that he is there. That may seem a little sadistic to a lot of folks, but think about it. When we have ran from our God that loves us, and refuse to turn to him, it is only in times of great pain that we reach back to him.

Pain is not a pleasant and happy thing and I’m not trying to make it out to be. Pain hurts, that’s why it’s pain. How many times do you need to touch that hot eye before you remember that it hurts to touch it? How many times do you need to try to fix that absence within you with sex before you realize that it doesn’t work? How many times do you need to hurt before you remember that God is right there?

God doesn’t want us to hurt. He wants us to be with him and love him. He wants us to converse with him always and daily. He wants us to be ever present in his glory. But we can’t do that when we are trying to do it ourselves.

We are the little kids that refuse to let their parents help them reach something that is just outside their reach. We are the teenager that thinks we know best. We are the adult that is too stubborn to listen to someone that is younger teach you a better way to do something. We are the Christians that cling too hard to tradition to realize that we are missing the point of Grace.

The law cannot save us; the Grace of Jesus Christ is something that you cannot earn. The Law cannot stop someone from hurting. The law teaches us a great number of valuable things, but it cannot replace Jesus; it cannot replace grace.

That does not mean that we skip the law. We still have to be told, “Don’t touch that it’s bad for you,” enough times to realize that it’s bad for us. Pain is just that reminder from the law that God is there and with that comes the fact that you don’t have to be perfect, you have Grace. Pain is just another way to get us to let go of the wheel and open up the possibility that God is real. Pain is a reminder that we are not God. Pain is the annoying teacher who you could not stand, but are so thankful you experienced it because of what she taught you.

“The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.” Aristotle

GodForgives.Us

After the Cross

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:1-2

To continue with the theme of the recent articles, I wanted to discuss what’s next. We have walked the journey to the Cross and accepted Christ and have been baptized for our rebirth. Now what?

To start I want to reflect for a moment over Galatians 6 for a moment. Each of us have been caught up in a sin that we cannot seem to break free from. Paul talks about his affliction of the flesh and Peter tells us about the things that he wishes he would do he does not, but the things he desires not to do is what he ends up doing instead.

Galatians gives us some instruction on how to help our family with this cycle, but I think of a bigger thing with this verse. I mean this verse can go down to someone that has a habit of telling white lies to allowing his thoughts dwell on sinful desires a bit too much. Many times we are able to forgive the person that is having this issue and able to take up the advice in Galatians 6 and gently restore the person.

What if the sin they were caught up in was something “more” than lust driven thoughts? What if it were as extreme as Rape? What if it was Murder? What about Armed Robbery? Can you or I gently restore that person? Well Jesus calls to us to do the same thing in these cases as well. Sin is sin, it’s black and white. There are no varied degrees of sin, you have sinned or you have not sinned.

But we have a hard time not putting these sins on a scale. Cannibalism certainly seems a lot worse to the human mind and to me than telling your friend that you were at the mall instead of at your house when they called and you didn’t feel like talking. But lying is sin. Cannibalism would certainly be a sin, and well sin is sin.

This mindset that there are sins larger than others is a hard thing to get beyond. There are so many emotions that weigh into the process. As human beings the more fear that something puts into our hearts makes whatever it is worse than something that we don’t really fear. Stealing a bottle of water is a lot less scary than a home invasion.

It’s only human, but for us to start looking at what is next for us, we have to start realizing that sin is sin, and grace is grace. If we are saved by grace for the totality of our sin, why cannot someone else be reconciled by the same God that gave you forgiveness? If he sees all sin as sin, and has informed us of this fact, how can we not accept that?

If you have committed the least of these then you have committed the greater as well. All of us have committed rape, murder, and idolatry in God’s eyes based on this one passage. Is that taking the passage out of context a bit? Perhaps, but I don’t think I am taking it too far out of context there.

Jesus was proving a point with similar things. He was proving that we cannot be saved by the Law that only Grace could save us. We all fell short of the Law, and that’s why he came and died for us. We have already accepted that forgiveness and grace from him. We met him at the cross and were baptized in his blood that washed us clean.

What’s next? Allowing ourselves to forgive ourselves and begin our walk with Christ. Before we can love others as we love ourselves, we have to actually love ourselves. For some people that will be harder than others. Some of us love ourselves a little too much and that just means we have to love others a lot more in the process.

This was something that was particularly hard for me to do. Forgive myself for all the people that I had hurt and all that I had done against Christ and his people. All the lives that I had touched in a harmful way and being a tempter, making people question everything that they thought they knew to draw them into darkness.

As a Satanist it was my goal to build up a base of followers that was able to tear down the grip that God has on the souls of the world. Christianity is the number one religion in the world, and I wanted to tear it all down. During my time as a Satanist, many people that I had worked with had committed suicide or spent time in mental hospitals.

The fact that I blasphemed God’s name daily and God said it is forgotten, I love you anyway. That kind of love is amazing. God loves us to the point that no matter how far you have drifted from Christ he will open his arms and welcome you home. That love is what drove me back into his arms and drove me to make life changes to ensure that I did not find myself back in that dark place again.

But how can someone that now has morals forgive himself for that kind of harm. I cannot help but feel that I am responsible for the suicides of people that I was teaching. How do you get past that? How do you forgive yourself for that? One day at a time, embracing God’s love and his mercy. It is through his grace and his love that I have been resurrected.

The man that I once was is long dead, but the memories are still there. My body and soul is marred with scars, scars are wounds that have healed but have left a mark. Khalil Gibran says this about scars, “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Thomas would only believe that Christ had returned from the dead after he saw the scars on the wrists of Christ.

Remember that it is not the scars that are important; it is the fact that those wounds are healed. God is a God that heals our wounds. But not every wound heals to the point that there is no scar. Through these scars you have your story and testimony. An abusive relationship leaves scars on both people. We walk around with perfect masks hiding the numerous scars that we have on our hearts and souls.

If we focus too much on that and not the fact that they are forgiven, and work daily to allow ourselves to be transformed by the Holy Spirit and forgive ourselves, then what point do those scars have? They will just be a friendly reminder of the times that you have failed.  The greatest way we can use these reminders is going back to Galatians 6. Remember your scars and use them to help someone else with their restoration.

The deeper the scar the longer it hurts and the more tender it is. You remember the pain caused by that scar and you now have strength by coming through the other side of that wound. You survived and have power in your scars if you choose to use it. Allow these wounds to heal and become scars then use these scars to help others with similar wounds.

Helping others heal and showing love to others is fulfillment of Jesus’s new commandments to us. What’s next? Many of us have a lot of healing that we have to work through. Others of us have stories to tell of God’s grace and mercy. Others of us just need to love on people to make sure they know that Christ is not point at you with a hot poker to burn you for every wrong that you have done.

What you do with your scars is up to you. If you just want to use them as reminders of things not to do again if great. If you want to use them to help others, that is great. What Jack didn’t realize in Fight Club was that he already had scars. So what can you do with your scars?

“There is something beautiful about all scars of whatever nature. A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and healed, done with.” Harry Crews

http://GodForgives.Us

Lord Cleanse Me, Again...

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:11-12

Baptism is one of the acts that we go through in order to become a Christian. It is the recreation of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It is the symbol of us being washed clean of all sins. We all agree on baptism being something of an important thing, and if you have gone through it, you have felt why it is so compelling.

Many times in life we wish for the slate to be washed clean, a fresh start. Sometimes we move across the country to start up again. Other times we change churches, spouses or hair color. Something that marks us as a different person than we were. We are trying to do something different to break a cycle that we feel we are stuck in. With the information age in full swing, this is becoming harder and harder to do.

There is one place we can always turn to get a fresh start and that is God. Bathed in his glory and his grace through the death of Jesus Christ, we are washed clean through him. We get a fresh start every time. We can screw up every day and ask for forgiveness and we get it every single time. That is fact, but this does not always carry over to the rest of the world.

The world says, “Hey I know you, how about another drink? No? Oh, come on for old time sake. That a boy, I knew you had it in you.“  The world knows the flesh, and all the weaknesses. That cute redhead that has your number; the buddy that has the hook up or that website that is just a click away, we all have our weakness or addiction. Sometimes it’s food. Sometimes it is something that happened years ago.

We have shown the world that we are not the same, but it doesn’t care. God does, and those that see you through the eyes of Christ will notice it. God forgives, the world forgets. The world even puts in little ways to help itself forget. Expunging your criminal record, if you can, is just like it never happened. That is why we were given Grace.

The Law holds record of all of our wrongs. Through grace our wrongs are forgotten. There are so many times when I was walking lost that a yard stick was put up to me and I was told how many ways I fell short from God’s Grace, which was a lie. No one falls short of God’s Grace, you simply have to allow yourself to receive the gift of forgiveness and Grace. The law condemns and grace redeems.

The sentiment of God Forgives and the World Forgets is this, God gives us grace and wishes us to be part of his family, but the world has built little boxes and containers for everyone to be in, and these boxes are exclusive. You have to be part of the club to be accepted. Look at country club membership. You have to pay a lot of money to just apply and even then most are invitation only. To be part of God’s Country Club you have to accept a gift given freely. Everyone can afford that, but not the country club.

“Oh I see here that in 1984 you had some domestic violence and a DUI in 1992. I think this might be a problem, we can’t let your kind in here.” Having a problem can get you put into boxes that the world easily puts people in. You are a criminal for getting caught for something that many people have done but not gotten caught. You had a girlfriend that was 2 years younger than you in high school. Daddy got mad when he caught you with his little girl, now you’re a sex offender.

Well now you and she are married, but you are still a sex offender and have to report it when you move to a new area. You can’t even pick your own kids up from school. But hey in 10 years you can petition to get it forgotten.  In the meantime you struggle to find work, face judgment around every turn, and even some churches ask you to find somewhere else to worship.  

You killed a couple when drinking and driving, and well that put you in a place that you had never thought you would be. You’ve got friends at the country club that can help you out, but still you killed two people. You are now a monster. You call your buddies at the country club and they have turned their back on you. Your perfect life just crumbled, but I’ve got good news. You want some help getting the vision of those two people lying dead while you were waiting for the police to arrive.

 You want to remember, but be forgiven. You remember to keep you from doing it again. But now that you know the cost of your problem, you want to be forgiven. God will forgive you, all you have to do is ask, he’s waiting on you. It is your choice. All you have to do is accept him and he will cover you. He will help carry your burden and help you make better choices.

Does that mean that those two counts of vehicular homicide go away? No the World wants to ensure that you are punished for that. What can you do with this now? How long will this follow you? Welcome to the bad box, criminal. But inside that box is where you go, murderer. But God tears those boxes apart with his forgiveness.

Those of you that are reading this that are not in those boxes. What can you do to help people that are? The world wants to keep these people in pain and suffering for as long as it can. The world has policies to protect the world through harming people that made a mistake in life, sometimes very large mistakes. Where is God’s grace in the earth? Through his people.

This is the message I have today. If you are in HR or a policy maker at a company, what can you do to give people a new chance? A bar fight can cost people for up to 8 years. Having sex before marriage at crucial ages can cost you 10 to 15 years. How did this world become like this? We must protect ourselves because everyone is trying to hurt us. We must save what is ours because the world is evil. If we give Bob another chance he’ll do the same thing, and we covered it up well this time, but twice… we can’t do that.

The world is an evil place, but that does not mean that grace is not there. That does not mean that Jesus is not here with us. No, it just means that we have to fight a little harder to get God’s light to shine through. Fear is a tool and a weapon that keeps us in darkness, but where God is darkness must flee. I want to call out to each and every Christian. Do what God has called us to do; let his light shine through in everything we do and everything we touch.

The world can change, but it takes people to fight for the change. And a fight does not have to be one of violence, in fact that way will assure that we will lose. Grace, mercy, peace, love, compassion, these are the tools that we must use to make the changes to make this world a world that knows the true voice of God.

How can you help? Before you hold up a ruler to the strange boy that decided to go to church today, try talking to him. Before you condemn the girl that you have seen walking down the roads and getting into cars with men she does not know, talk to her. How many weeks do you tithe time?

16 hours and 48 minutes is 10 percent of the time that we are given each week. That’s before sleep. That’s a lot of time right? How are you going to get that in? Well church probably takes care of 2 to 4 hours of it. So let’s put that down to 12 hours to get covered over 6 more days.

 So you mean that to tithe time you have to give 2 hours a day and almost 5 on Sunday? How long is your morning commute? Give it to God. Now you have one hour a day to give to God. 30 Minutes over lunch, hey you were going to McDonalds anyway, why not get that lady counting pennies some food and talk with her. You may be surprised at what kind of Good you can do for someone with just a couple dollar burgers and a little time.

You want to impact someone on a level that is massive? Write a few letters to people in jail offering them a chance to talk with someone that doesn’t know them. Some of these people are cut off from everyone as soon as they go behind bars; families turn on them, isolated. Be Christ for them. Offer them conversation and allow it to lead to more.  Instead of protesting an abortion clinic, how about spend time with a girl that is facing a hard decision. Find out why she would be willing to kill her unborn child. Why her life is so desperate that she feels that this is the only place she can turn.

We are not promised tomorrow. How can we not do something for God every day? God gave it to us, what can we do with it? Who can you take to the river and baptize? Who can you show the light of God? You know how good it felt to go under the water and become a new person. How can you not share that with someone who needs the Love of Jesus? What can you do? Write a letter. Take a homeless person out to dinner. Pray for an open heart and open eyes and God will give you a chance to serve.

John had no idea that Jesus would come to the river and bless him with the chance to take him under the water to be cleansed and freed from the sinful body that our perfect God was encased in. John was blessed that day, because John got to be the hands of God and baptize Jesus to set his feet upon the path to the cross for us. We all were blessed by the living water. So what’s next? You like it? Share it.

“If you learn from defeat, you haven’t really lost.” Zig Ziglar

Faith: A Journey by Grace

“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift – not from works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

I had a wonderful conversation about God yesterday, during the conversation a question was asked to me. What would you say is the most important thing for people to know concerning with the Spiritual forces and demons? The answer was Faith, but it was not that short of an answer.

Faith is one of our greatest tools that we have as Christians. How do we know what we know? Well that philosophical question is a rabbit hole that goes very deep, but the answer for that to me is we put faith in what we believe we know. We put faith in what we believe. I don’t care what faith you have, your belief and the faith in that belief is where you will draw strength from it.

Jesus said that the faith the size of a mustard seed you can make a mountain jump into the sea. That alone should tell us just how powerful faith is. In the Armor of God, Paul states the Shield of Faith as the most important piece of that armor. Through our faith we do many things that we would not do.

Why is faith so important? Faith is the foundation of belief. We put faith in something and that develops into belief. Through our faith we are saved by Grace. Grace is something that we are given, and the only way we are able to measure up as it were. As we build our faith we draw closer to God and as we draw closer to God, we desire to do the things that God wishes us to do more.

This makes me think about the statement in James about Faith without works is dead. Why is faith without works dead? If your faith is alive and producing fruit, works is a byproduct. Works is part of what you are growing for the harvest. If you are going through a lull in your faith and striving to revive it, I’ve got a good idea for you. Go back to your Grey Door, that symbol that you have of the turning point in your life.

Once you are back at that Grey Door, pray for guidance and read the bible. Maybe you should read the Armor of God prayer for a few days. As you do these things you will begin to travel the spiritual path that you blazed before. Open your heart and allow your faith to build. As it builds you will find that there are opportunities to help out and do things that God wishes for us to do.

Some of us get tasks such as writing, or teaching. Others it may be a mission trip. It all depends on the spiritual gifts that you personally possess. Even more than that it could be something small and simple that does not seem to be your forte, but there is an opportunity there that will open the next door or show you the path that you missed or were not ready to travel down.

God has a plan and path for us, but it is only through our Faith that we can do these things. As your faith grows so does the desire to use the spiritual gifts that you have. Is your place warming a pew? No, it never is. There is always more for you to do.

Each of us has a story to tell and a walk to walk. Each of us is blessed with some kind of gift. What stops us from completing the tasks that we are given to complete? God provides us with all things that we need. If he has a purpose for us, he will provide us with the way to complete these tasks. It may be through the generosity of others, or it may be through some other process or procedure that he has in store for us.

These things cannot pan out if we do not have the faith that they will pan out. With that faith comes a calm peace that builds strength. We know that we have set our feet upon a firm foundation, we have taken refuge here in the storms, and we have the Faith in what we have seen and been told. We know that God does not let us go without things that we need. If God has a need for us to do something, this becomes a need for us. God does not let us go without what we need.

So how can you and I find our paths in all of this? This is the current struggle that I have. I do not see where my path is leading me, but I have Faith in the one that laid out the path before my feet. I know that the road will take me where I belong, because it always has. I have faith, and that faith has built the desire to do the works that God has called me to do.

I write because it is a gift that I have been given. What have you been given? How can you do the things that you have been called to do? Well that is part of the process. The opposition desires us to not complete these works that we have been called to do. They want us to be crippled by fear and depression. Perfect Love drives out fear, and that love is built on Faith.

You say that you don’t know what gifts you have. What are your strengths? How can you use them for God? Congratulations you have discovered one of your spiritual gifts. I say one of them because many of us have a lot of things that we are good at. Remember Jesus was a carpenter. I know a lot of people around that have things they need that would be a blessing if they were repaired.

So you are a mechanic and a Christian, good. How many times have you passed someone on the side of the road that was broken down? Maybe each of those times was a chance to be Jesus for someone in a desperate situation. It might be you that God is sending to be Jesus to not only save them from their physical problem, but also to tell them about God and share the Good news.

Maybe you are a lawyer. I’m sure there are plenty of desperate people that you can reach out to in bad situations to share with them what God has done for you and through you. Talk about being someone’s savior and then telling them that it wasn’t you that saved them, but It’s Jesus that can save them. A fisherman can feed people.  Maybe make a blanket forthe poor like St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Shrewsbury, PA.

The Starks say the truth, “Winter is Coming.” A warm blanket for someone in winter; talk about being Jesus for someone. What is your gift? What can you do for someone? How can you be Jesus for someone? Let me tell you from experience, writing a complete stranger that is locked away in Jail can bring that person hope. Hope can kindle a fire that can spur them to make life changes that they had not made before.

We are put here to Glorify God and how can we do that if we only spend our time around other Christians? How can we show others the glory of God and the power of Faith and Grace if we do not get out and do the things that God has asked us to do? Who knows, God might move you to the Caribbean to do his good work.

Through Faith and by the Grace that dwells within us, all is possible. What is keeping you where you are? What is stopping you from taking your next step for God? Why have you not taken that step that will lead you on such an adventure that you may have never dreamed possible?

“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step” Lao Tzu

Safe Salvation

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ~Ephesians 6:10-12

I begin with a disclaimer on this topic, for it is controversial to an extent. This, as with all the topics I am writing about, is from my understanding that God has given me. So I start with a question. Do you believe Christians are safe from the Demons once we have accepted Christ? Let’s think about this from a biblical sense for a moment. Now let’s think about our lives and the struggles that we have faced since becoming Christians. Again, I ask, “Are we safe from Demonic influence once we have accepted Christ?”

I would love to say Yes to this question, but alas, I cannot. So let us begin with the rest of the passage from the quote above. It is from the Armor of God payer found in Ephesians 6:10-20. As we look over it and the target audience. This was written for the Ephesians church, it was written for Christians as an empowerment of ourselves to help us stand against demonic influence and direct assault.

So clearly if once we were saved and baptized in the blood of Jesus Christ we were safe from their assaults we would not need such powerful words and prayer.  This is not to scare you so much as make you aware. Many Christians and non-Christians walk through life oblivious to these influences. To an extent there is a protection for those that are truly innocent and blind to things, but that only goes so far.

Through my time practicing the occult, I opened myself up to learn and know things that humans were not meant to know and see. With each of these things, I opened myself up to what was hidden in this corner or that corner by cutting away the hedge of protection that kept me safe from it. A wall is only strong and safe as long as it is intact. Each one of these journeys I knocked a whole in the wall that was keeping me safe.

Demons are smart, they are cunning, so they are always looking for ways to get through these walls, and then sometimes God feels we need to learn a lesson or be tested in a way that allows something through to influence us. For a biblical truth of that all you have to do is look at Job.  This demonic influence can go all the way to possession. It is very hard for a demon to possess a Christian follower, but it is possible.

Each of us have our vices, as our flesh is made of sin. They begin with these vices and look to see if we will give in to their influences. If we slip, then they continue to push until they get in. I believe that some of the failed relationships of Christians are a direct result of this kind of influence. The flesh is weak, so our spirit must be strong.

Again we go back to the Armor of God. Each part is something that we must do. The prayer is instruction for us. First we learn why we need it. Our true struggle is not against flesh and blood, it is against the world, this dark world. The world has embraced sin as a way of life. In fact we are warned of being of the world and told again and again that the flesh that we wear is dead and filled with sin. Baptism cleanses the soul as a bath cleanses the flesh.

It does not stop there however, our enemies are in the heavenly realm as well. This passage may seem odd to a lot of people, but I must remind that Heaven and Hell are both in the Heavenly realm. They are beyond the physical world and cannot be touched by the flesh. That is the meaning of the Heavenly Realm in this passage. It is the spiritual world, the non-physical world, that space between and in-between all things.  That’s why the whole armor is important.

The belt of truth, we must carry truth with us and allow it to be spoken from us and about us. The truth is both a talk about being honest as well as being honest about what you have been through. It helps protect us from the spirit of lies as well as protects our mind. The breastplate of Rightousness, be as righteous as you can be in all you do. It is also the piece of armor that is most visible. Walk the walk of Jesus and do what was commanded of you.

This will help us from getting in situations that we will likely succumb to our fleshy weakness. Shod your feet with the Gospel of Peace; we must know the gospel and be ready to share it as well as allow it to be a marker for ourselves. Spread the word of love and compassion. And above all else carry with you the shield of faith.

The shield of faith. This becomes our symbol of protection. This is what we must use to put out the flaming arrows that are shot over the wall we talked about earlier. We must take great care in building our faith, repairing our shields and keep that with us always. Each and every day we must tend to it for it is what keeps us safe from attacks.

Upon your head the Helm of Salvation; we must believe in our salvation and know the power held within that salvation. We are saved through the blood of Christ, we must not doubt that fact. Carry with us the sword of the spirit which is the holy word of God. Read your bible, carry those words with you.

To quote Tyrion Lannister from “A Game of Thrones” the mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone.” Reading and meditating on the word of God daily keeps your Sword sharp for when the enemy gets beyond the wall and our shield is not holding up, it is through the use of the word of God that we will defeat our foes. But we cannot go into battle naked. A sword alone will not save us.

All of this would not be needed if we were fully and truly safe from the evil spirits. Through this we are prepared to go into battle. This is part of what prepares us for Spiritual Warfare, but not all of us are soldiers. But by no means am I saying to ignore these powerful instructions.  Look deeply upon these words and their true meaning.

So how do you protect yourself from evil? I’ll quote a website that I came across this morning:

(11) How do I protect myself from evil?

Regular prayer and sharing with others in prayer, and worship that upholds the overcoming of all that is evil through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Believing in the continuing presence of the risen Christ brings protection and peace. Also avoid occult practices that expose you to control by forces beyond yourself.

That sums things up pretty nicely. If you notice that last part, “Also avoid occult practices that expose you to control by forces beyond yourself.” I cannot stress that more. As you go through and learn about yourself and look for who you are in Christ, I urge you to avoid this, unless you feel a calling from God himself to learn about this.

I opened myself up to it and it drug me down as a slippery slope all the way to worshiping the enemies of God. There is something to be said for rites and rituals; you can find them in all branches of religion. They have great power, be mindful of them, you can use them to help and for harm.  May God be always with you, and share the Love the Christ spoke of.

Change of Season

24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save their life[f] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.26 What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.Matthew 16:24-27

As summer gives way to fall, we enter a change of season. The term change of season is something that we can overlook fairly easily, but what does a change of season in one’s life truly mean? I have been talking and praying about a lot of things in my life. Upon writing this I have been a Christian for 5 years, and God has done so much for me during this time.

Has this five years been easy? No, but they could have been much harder. Something has begun stirring within me over the past few weeks and it goes back to my trip to visit my parents and the place I called home for years. It was a good reminder for me to see where I came from once more and see just how far God has taken me. Much more than that; it was pointing to me just how far that I still need to go.

We each carry with us stories about our faith, our lives and who we are. These stories are parts of who we are today and who we have come to be in Christ. However, they do not define us. They speak to who we were and the journey that we have traveled. It is how all of these come together and what we allow God to do with them that truly begin to define us.

Even then it’s not a true image of who and what we are and who and what we are to become. Only God knows the path that we are to walk and still with that, we have the choice to go forward or stay where we stand. Each crossroad that we come to can potentially become a change of season within our hearts and souls. Each person that we come in contact with is another chance for us, or them, to do God’s work. The trouble that many of us have is seeing the path in which we are to walk, or even hear that we have something to do.

God speaks to us in many different ways; sometimes it is bold and loud and cannot be ignored. Other times it is a mere whisper. How do we know? How can we tell what is our own mind and what is the voice of God? For that sometimes we have to go back to our roots. Sometimes the only way forward is to look to the past.

Looking to the path that I have traveled; to reading the words that God has blessed me with before; has helped me focus on the journey. I look to my parents. I look to my challenges in life. I look to the times that I failed. I looked to the times I thought I had succeeded. I have looked and realized that some of my failures where not truly failures, but they were things that God put in my path to help build me to be the man He needed me to be. The same goes for successes, influences, people, places, experiences and even when I became a Satanist.

All of this has purpose, all of these things built upon the prior to help shape me as a person. As I bear the cross that is my sins of the past, those sins that I have been forgiven of, but I am still held against them. The world is of Sin and will hold onto sin as long as it can. I have something the world does not have however; I have the Grace given to me by God. I also have a rare experience that many do not have, and with that it gives me a rare responsibility.

It is not an unusual thing that we are given an interesting path and story to help do the things that God wants us to do. God will use these things to lead others to him. With this also comes a truth. We all must face the demons we know to bring light to those in the darkness. We all must take up our cross and follow God. It is a command that was given to us by Jesus to become his disciples. I have a great group of Christians around me to provide me encouragement and guidance. One of these men was a man that reached out to me when I was locked away in Jail and was trying to relearn who Christ was. One of the biggest things he speaks about is dying to yourself.

You must die to yourself to become more like Jesus. You deny what the flesh desires to look at things more like Christ. It is great advice. But with this comes another truth. When you die to yourself, you must not forget who you are either. Your identity in Christ is very important, because it is who God has made you to be. Sometimes it is harder to find out why God has made you go through things like he has and even harder to accept it. Harder still, seeing the path that you must walk to do what God wants you to do.

Sometimes all we can do is Pray and delve into God’s word. Through this attunement we can see and hear God’s voice and plan a bit better. All of this comes together to build the world around us. What has God blessed you with? What skills have you been given? How can you use these gifts to do what God wishes you to do? I leave with a quote that holds more than a little truth for me, and if one truly thinks about it, it probably does for you as well.

“The path to paradise begins in hell.” ~Dante Alighieri

Standing for Beliefs

“If you do not believe in something you will fall for anything.” That quote is one that I’m sure everyone has heard more than once. It’s sound advice. We all also have heard stories of people that stood up for what they believed in no matter what the cost. Some of these stories appall us, others yet, excite us.

The moments that really take hold are the ones that inspire awe in us. These range from Rosa Parks to Ghandi to the founding fathers of this county. They also go to people that are less known such as the monks that set themselves on fire in protest, to the man in Gastonia, NC that robbed a bank for one dollar just to get medical treatment. They can be figures that will be remembered for ages to come like Jesus Christ, to the man that will be forgotten tomorrow.

As Christians we are told that by our faith we shall be known. We are told there is a way that we should act. Look through the first few books of the New Testament and we are slammed with expectations. Jesus tells us to be more like him each and every day. To do that we must go against the grain of society, culture and modern thought. To go even further, we have to go against the policies of the companies in which we work for. But to do that costs. We have to go against injustice, reach out and help people.

Paul went to jail for the rest of his life, when with a few simple words, he could have lived as a free man. Jesus went to his death with Pilot trying to get him to phrase “Truth” in an angle that lead to un-truth, when he could have so easily said something to set him free. Rosa Parks could have given that white boy her seat. What kept them from taking the easy way out? It wasn’t right, it was against their ideals. They stopped accepting, “Well that’s the way it’s always been done.”

Just because that’s the way it was done does not make it right. Today the world is in uproar. Look all over the world and there are protests and people fighting for change because things today are not right. When a man is turned away from a hospital because he does not have the money to get the surgery that he needs, that is just not right. But yet we support the systems that make this possible and accept that is the way of it.

I understand the concept of obeying the laws of the land, but do we have to accept them? What if a law goes directly against something we believe in? What if it goes against a teaching in the bible? Do we still accept it? We give unto Cesar what it Ceaser’s, but when do we do like Moses and make them let out people go? How many of you do not like what is on TV these days, but still have cable? If you do not like something, but you accept it and continue to let it come into your home… who’s at fault?

The world is not our own and our bodies are made of sin and are of this world. Newton’s laws of physics proves that change takes action and is hard. “An object at rest will remain at rest.” Even bigger than that, “An object in motion will remain in motion until it meets equal and opposite force.” So, if we are in a routine of sin, it takes at least as much effort to stop. So what does it take to turn us in the other direction? To change what we are doing instead of just stopping, well it takes more. You have to put in more effort to make a life change than the force effecting us in sin.

 That is why I believe that as Christians many of us continue accepting the way the world is. Think about how hard you would have to push back to get the entire world to change from the way it is currently going? That would be humanly impossible, alone. That is why we have another idea ingrained in our heads. We are each part of a greater whole. We cannot be as big of an impact as Jesus by ourselves, it requires all of us working together to make this change.

This change that I am talking about it not just a single change, no it is a complete change. We must stand up for our ideals, our beliefs, and more importantly for one another. “This fight is one that we cannot win alone,” said Dane Johnson. He is exactly right as well. We are fighting a world that wants us to accept the way things are. It wants us to be a cog in the machine and just live life according to the way things are planned out for us.

I mean we have our lives plotted out for us in a simple checklist:

Go to school, get good grades, graduate, go to college, get a job, get married, get a house, have a family, send them to school, make sure they continue to do the checklist, pay taxes along the way and die.

Along the way we get little add-ins that society tells us we have to do to be accepted. Dress a certain way, eat certain things, get credit cards, go in debt. I mean even as we look at the way the financial market is right now. We have to have credit to buy a house, a car or even to have certain jobs. Yet the bible tells us PLAINLY to not lend nor borrow. As we get in debt, we use it to live beyond our means, which leads us to more debt.

So are you a Christian? Do you live by these models? Why?

I am tired of hearing Christians say, “It’s the way society is, and we can’t change it.” I say that if we are going to be more like Jesus, YES we can change it. Do not accept that the world is broken and just “Paint over the wallpaper.” We are being that are told to go into the world and make disciples of the world. If the world were disciples then the world would change.

Do not accept the status quo. Do not accept that’s the way things are. Do not do it because I said so. Do it because it is what Christ asked us to do. Help your fellow man, and help see the love of God. We can change the world; we have been as a people for thousands of years. Let’s not stop today, let’s not stop now.

If you do not believe in Corprate Greed, stop Supporting It! If you don’t want crap on your TV, stop Watching It! If you are against the Debt System, stop using it! If you do not like a company, stop shopping with them. Do not accept that’s the way it is, or I have to because society tells you to. Take a step closer to Christ. If we continue to support the system that is degrading society and pulling it further and further away from what God would want, we are just as guilty when we fall into line. Make a change starting with the person you look at in the mirror each morning, then to your home, then in how you live your life.

Make changes in your life, and make a difference in the world. Opinions always welcome.