Share the Vine

But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19 HCSB

In the Book of Mark chapter 5 we are told the story of Jesus driving out a legion of unclean spirits from a man tormented by them. This story is one that I find interesting in many different ways. One the story shows the power of God through Jesus Christ and then the biggest part of it to me is what Jesus tells the guy when he begs and pleads to come with him. Why would Jesus not let this man come with him?

For this we must look at what we are given to do with our lives even today. God wants each of us as his Disciples to spread the good news. Does this Good News stop with the four books known as the Gospels? No, it begins there. The Good News must continue and our stories add to the testimony of Jesus and validating the fact that he is the Living God.

We are still fruit on the vine.  We partake of the fruit of the vine in remembrance of what Christ Jesus did for us. Only through this act do we provide the next generation of our brothers and sisters the fruit of the vine that they need to hear to bend the knee to the God we love so much. But that is only one part of this story.

Jesus came to this region and as soon as he landed the demons came and bowed a knee to Jesus. Now to quote a great preacher that spoke about this story, “This guy was so bad that they had tried to chain him down and he busted the chains. So they ran him off to the graveyard where he couldn’t hurt anyone but himself.” *

He would cry out day and night and beat himself with rocks. The demons had given him supernatural strength, at the cost of who he was. That’s something I can relate to in my walk. When these demons come into you, they change who you are. They change you down to your thoughts. So this man had been plagued by these demons for such a time that he was exiled from his friends and family. The demons finally had what they wanted, they had isolated him completely.

These demons would have probably caused this man to die and they would drag him to the pit with them had Jesus not shown up. As soon as he saw Jesus, he ran to him, but it was not him that did the running. It was not him who cried out to Jesus. In Verse 7 it says, “And he cried out with a loud voice, ‘What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!’

Interesting, now this is not the first time a demon had acknowledged Jesus in such a way. In fact every time that we have a detailed account, they all know who Jesus is. Not only do they know but they are afraid of him. They begged to God for Jesus not to torment or torture them. Jesus had full authority over them. They begged and pleaded for Jesus to not send them away from this place.

Jesus had no reason to give these demons anything. These demons had done so much harm to this man that sending them beck to hell where they belonged would have been perfectly fine. What does Jesus do? He grants them their prayer. Think about that for a moment.

The Demons prayed to God and to Jesus and begged Jesus to not be sent away but allow them to go into a heard of swine. And Jesus answered their prayer and allowed them what they wanted. Jesus showed mercy on even the demons.

Now the demons in the swine ran the swine right into the sea where they drowned. This didn’t make Jesus too popular with the locals. The men who tended the swine ran into town to report what they had seen, and well the mob was gathered. As they came they saw the Frankenstein grade monster sitting at Jesus’s feet in clothes, which makes one wonder how he had been running around when possessed, and of a right mind.

So this Jesus guy fixed Frankie by sending the demons in swine, the swine had played lemmings by running into the sea, and now Frankie was clothed and not so crazy. That made them scared. I wonder which part of all that really made them afraid and why. There are so many reasons why these people would be afraid, but they had no reason to be afraid. Then again they didn’t know Jesus, not yet anyway.

Our God in the flesh showed mercy to demons and answered their prayer, but then moments later, the man that had been plagued by them he denied that prayer. Again the man wanted to go with Jesus, so thankful for what Jesus had done for him. Jesus knew that Frankie had a lot of work to do for him, but he could do more work for Jesus here.

The words that Frankie needed to speak would serve those around him best. The same people that probably tried to chain him up to keep him safe would need to see what Jesus had done for him. The family that had mourned him would have to see him live again. Only through that would these scared villagers come to know how silly it was to be afraid of Jesus.

But going back wasn’t enough, no, he had to tell his story. A living testimony, to provide these people with the fruit of the vine that was not yet harvested. The command issued to Frankie would be one of the flagstones for the foundation of what we are called to do with our own testimonies. We do not speak it to make ourselves feel better. No, we do it to help give God the grace in our shortcomings or pitfalls.

God will get the Grace in all things. Frankie provided people with the blood of Christ before we were called to remember Christ Jesus for his sacrifice. Frankie got to be the lifeblood and helping hand to allow others to know Jesus. And that is what we are each called to do. To be a disciple we must go out into the world and speak to what God has done for us and through us so others may know how good the fruit is. So others may know Jesus the way we do. So go be Frankie today, tomorrow and until the work is done.

*Quoted from Jeff Walling pastor at http://prcoc.org Check out his sermons on their website.

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.

Power of Words

It’s not what goes into the mouth that defiles a man, but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man. Mat 15:11

The power that our tongue has is one that is hard to understand. How such a small part of our body as a whole has so much power that it is a constant warning throughout the entire bible. This is something that I did not understand until after I began going through counseling and preparing for Deliverance Ministry.

The topic of Deliverance Ministry is a touchy one for a lot of people, but it is one of the reasons I’m doing as well as I am doing right now. During my life wandering spiritually I spoke many things that harmed me and my soul. There are things that I allowed for the sake of understanding, knowledge or power that wounded me deeply.

I profess with my word that these things were wrong and I know that now, but when you are wandering in the dark it’s hard to tell friend from foe. My first steps were in tests. If this flame will change color then there is truth to these words. I wanted to see a response, and I received one. Well if that worked what else will work?

Down the slope I went until I began to allow spirits, demons, into my being. I swore oaths turning myself over as a vessel for the evil ones to use. With these words I allowed them to do with me what they would. It was depravity after another as I carved out sections of who I am and who I was becoming to allow them to do with me what they will.

For my seeking I did receive knowledge and wisdom through my folly. However, by knowing the names of demons, they also learn yours. As you go deeper and deeper into the abyss you see things that you cannot unsee. You learn things that you cannot forget. And you do things that you cannot undo. I had become a man filled with Hate, Lust, Anger, Destruction and filled with dreams of a truly violent death and being happy with it.

I am very glad that things happened when they did. God is good. He warned me to turn away, but I would not listen. Who knows how many demons where walking around in my flesh at any point in time. Was I hearing voices? No… just thoughts. Was I schizophrenic? No… Possession is much different from that. When you open yourself up to the demonic host, you get what they want… not what you want.

All of this was done with words. I swore oaths. Dedicated myself to thoughts and uttered blasphemies. Many of them I can still bring to mind even now. I have not spoken those words in over 5 years, but I still hear them. I denounced my salvation, my right and privilege as a child of God. But even with that, God did not give up on me.

I was the wayward son, lost in the depths of the ocean. He was waiting on me to make my choice and to say the words that he told me to say. All I had to do was ask for forgiveness.

As a fool’s tongue leads to strife and folly (Proverbs 18), only with wisdom gained from folly did I see how much of a fool I had become. I had to be put in a situation where there was nothing to distract me from the truth. I needed my Grey Door.

Upon my release from my Grey Door, my journey was only still beginning. I was a new child of God once more, but my tongue had still opened doors that were not yet closed. I had not done this alone either, and because it was with a union of souls with my wife. We had to be separated for God to begin working on us.

We began receiving counseling. We had a church that supported us as we were a challenge to the leadership of the church. Thank God for Providence Road Church of Christ (http://prcoc.org). We were going to Celebrate Recovery on top of the therapy. Our counselor quickly realized that we were outside her area of expertise and had found someone in the area that works on people with Occult pasts.

Clay Barnes met with us. He was the one that shined the light of the true power of words. In the first session I found myself renouncing oaths with the same verbiage that I used when speaking them. They had to be the same in order to close the doors that were opened. He too felt that we needed something rare. He suggested Deliverance Ministry.

We went into it and again had to be separated. The spirits within myself and my wife could not be removed is we were together. We went through six one-hour long sessions before we were turned back over to Clay. It was a very long process and we came a long way. Still It’s been three years since we finished with that and only now am I speaking about the power of words.

Still now, still so young in Christ with everything that I have seen and gone through. James knew what he was talking about:

“So too, though the tongue is a small part of the body, it boasts great things. Consider how large a forest a small fire ignites. And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is places among the parts of our bodies. It pollutes the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is set on fire by hell” James 3:5-6

So what’s next? It is time for the truth to spew forth from my mouth. With that said. Mind your tongue; do not let it become wild and untamed. My journey is not one I wish any of you to follow. I was Christian, then nothing. I then became Wiccan then a practitioner of Witchcraft. From there I became a Satanist. I became a leader for the enemy. Then I became nothing once more, which was better than what I was, and then once more a Child of God. I came back home and the Father was waiting for me.

If I can blaspheme his name, renounce his gifts, spit on his image, walk with those that would stand against him and make friends among the demons of hell and he forgives me…. I know he would forgive you.

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

Where's Your Seed?

The old parable that calls back to me on many occasions is the one about the three different kinds of soil. You have the seeds cast in with rocky soil; thrown among the thorns; thrown to the way side, and then finally you have the good soil. The parable has always been taught to me to be about the condition of someone’s heart when you or someone approaches them about the message of God. For me I get a little bit of a different message about this passage.

Something that always rang to me is how much tending needs to be done to make the soil good soil. For a long time I have seen myself to be the seed that was thrown among the thorns. It’s got good dirt, but the thorns make it difficult to grow. Looking through life that is how much of my life has been. I get a good spell right after the garden’s been weeded. Go for a while then the thorns grow right back up around me.

Let’s be clear, none of us were gifted with the perfect soil. Everyone that has started a new garden will know that no patch of ground is perfect. Things were growing there before, there are rocks in the dirt and many times it takes many years of tending before you have good dirt. Now that is not to say that it does not help to have the soil prepared for you. I see this as people that were raised in good Christian homes. That does not mean that your seed cannot fall to the wayside, and certainly doesn’t mean that if left alone that thorns and weeds cannot creep back into the garden.

The biggest issue with good healthy dirt is that it is good healthy dirt. Thorns and weeds love to grow in the same place as fruits and vegetables.  You must always tend to your soil. But back to what I’m talking about today. Each of us has inherited this plot of soil that is who we are. This is our heart, mind, body and soul. There are many things that factor into how hard, rocky, thorny or good our soil is. A strong seed can grow in nearly any condition. It’s just harder.

Why is it important to know what kind of dirt you have? Well once you know what you are working with you will know how much work will needed to be put into it. Also the more work you put into it the better it will grow. Any dirt can become good dirt. It takes TLC. The worse your dirt is the more you have to do to fix it. That is part of how we grow as Christians, and as people for that matter.

I started out with really fertile soil, yeah there were plenty of rocks in it, but it had been worked for me for a few years to start out life. The problem is, it was left untended for a good number of years. By the time I first walked to Christ, I had plenty of rocks still there and the weeds had taken over. But the dirt was fertile.

The seed took root and grew. The weeds had been cleared out enough for this one seed. That wasn’t enough. The weeds liked the dirt and grew back up. Well then I began to ignore it even more and threw more junk in the garden. Bottles, cans, distractions, magazines, people and many other things were thrown in this place. I then realized how much of a mess all that had become wanted to pave over it with something else.

Shopping around I found the thing that was as different from the garden as I could. The salesman was good, “You want knowledge, wisdom, understanding and power… I’ve got all that for you. All you got to do is add a little water, mix it up and poor it over all that and you’ll never see it again. Once you’ve done that you can do whatever you want. Risk free! Satisfaction Guaranteed! No conviction, just pleasure and indulgence.”

“Hell yeah, where do I sign!” was my reply.

Hell indeed. So now this fertile ground was covered in a slab of concrete. When I fell I hit this concrete and it did not give way. Jesus then showed up with a sledgehammer and a shovel. You’ve got the dirt down there, all we have to do is get back to it and get it cleaned up. Here I’ll help. Jesus then began breaking the concrete.

If you have read the “Grey Door” then you know this portion of the story. For 115 days Jesus pounded away at the concrete. Somewhere in there I began to help. We got back down to the soil and started clearing it out. Man it has been hard work. Still 5 years later, people still see all the junk in my garden. Those that do not know Christ says, “Man what a mess you are. I can’t help you.”

This is not my concern though… The story that I have to hear to keep my strength is with the ones that look at my garden and say, “Wow, you’ve come a long way. You’ve got a ways to go, can I help. If you need another shovel just let me know.” These people are my brothers and sisters. My garden is still a mess, but it’s a work in progress. Luckily God loves works in progress just as much as he loves the well-tended gardens.

Mark 4:3-9, Ecclesiastes 4:7-12, 1 Timothy 1:12-17, 6:12-16

Won't Back Down

Have you ever had those moments that struck very powerfully in your mind. Today I had one of those moments. Standing in church singing and praising the Lord with all the horrible sounds that I could muster, when I closed my eyes to pray as I sang along. A line from another song came to mind and an image stood clearly in my mind.

The song was “Won't Back Down” by Tom Petty. The line of course was, “You can stand me up at the gates of hell and I won't back down.” Powerful words, but paled in comparison to the image that joined it. A truly scary image, scary for what it symbolizes.

I saw myself standing in that dark cavern that I have traveled through in my mind so many times in my past. Standing there at the threshold, at the gate was myself standing in chainmail with a very large white shield with the red cross on it. Cross helm and white sir coat with the always known red cross. Standing there I plunged a flag into the ground with and stood very strong and proudly. It was so impressive looking so large and strong and powerful. I looked as if I were a human wall with a look upon my face so sure that nothing held behind that gate would get past me.

Images similar to these have not been too far from my face in recent days. They come in different forms and shapes, but still with this power and strength that I do not possess. That is what is so scary about this image, the strength that one would have to have to stand there like that knowing what horrors await. Strength that no mortal possess. It is so humbling to see these images for me.

The Lord makes all thing possible, this truth I know. I have walked through those fires and seen their faces and know their names. Through this darkness they too know my face. My name. They know the pride, the anger that once was held within me. They know the weaknesses of my flesh. They know my lusts and desires, they know me better than I know them. They know that I once toasted a glass to their honor and their power, and stood as opposition to God.

In the end their promises of power were without ground. They could provide temporary strength, only for periods of time that God allowed. Through my own desires to be more than a human, my body mind and soul were torn asunder. I look at who I was then and do not recognize that face. They made a monster out of me and I relished in it. My faith in them was strong, so strong that I thought, no I believed that I could walk into heavens gates and tear God from the throne.

Talk about delusional. They do not have this power and they cannot give it to any man, woman or child. And now with this image in my mind. I was too weak to stand that vigil for the demons of hell. This is the same flesh, the same bones and the same blood. How can God expect that of me?

God knows my heart and he knows the good that I would love to do. He knows that I weep over the hurt that I have caused in the past. Even though I am forgiven for it, I still weep knowing all those lives that I helped destroy. The pain that I have caused to my family, friends and those that looked to me as a leader. They looked to me to guide them and give them strength. I lead them only to destruction, the same road that I was going down.

How then, in such a short amount of time, can I stand so strong for the Lord? Am I strong enough to do this? Only God knows. That is the message here. It is not about me and my past, but know this. Through all the bad that I have done, God is now getting the Glory just as he will. God's hand was the only one that could reach down and pull me out of the flames. Only his grace in good enough and strong enough to break my heart. He wrestled me and made me give it all to him.

Do I have the strength to stand at the gates of hell and not back down? Do I have the strength to stand vigil as someone to bring hope and courage to those that have none? Do I have the wisdom to know what to say to those that are going down the road I traveled? The answer is simple, No.

No, I do not have this strength. My flesh is weak and is built in sin, there is no strength in these bones, blood and mind. That is where the wicked fail. They believe that these temporal forms can bi given the power to combat things that are eternal.

“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him so that body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” Romans 6:5-11

Only through Faith in Christ Jesus shall we know the strength and power that God will grant. That power is through knowing that we stand with the one true God. Through his grace mercy and peace will we be empowered to do things that are far beyond what we may do. This is not a cry to say that if you want power become a Christian. No on the contrary, through realizing how weak we are, we learn that the power of God through Christ is insurmountable.

Will I stand so vigil? With the Lord of Heaven and earth beside me, behind me and in me. Of course I will. So long as I don the armor of faith and stand on the pillar of faith that is the foundation of all that we are. God is the Lord of Heaven and Earth, he became flesh in the Son Jesus Christ, whom lived the perfect life and sacrificed himself for those that could not live perfect.

Even Aristotle said that perfection is akin to a force that cannot exist here in this world even for a second. This world is broken and to be perfect you will transcend to something more and beyond all that we know. In our lives we will see these moments within ourselves for only seconds when we stand beside ourselves in disbelief. In those moments, Praise Lord that you have received the grace and glory to do his work in all you do.

I stand in opposition of what the demons in hell wished for me. If they had their way, I would probably be with them now, dead. Through that death my soul would forever be lost and held beneath. But God pulled me from that hell, and placed me here. He redeemed me and Justified my actions and made me upright. Not perfect, just as flawed and broken, but upright. There is a difference.

Those of you that feel as if you are being swallowed by the flames of hell. Know that I have stood in those flames. I willingly walked into those fires and am being prepared to possibly do the same, with a different agenda. Only God knows what he has in store for me. But I will stand with you if you ask of it. Give me your hand and together we can find a road back to more solid ground. I'll walk with you for a while, until I can get you to someone that can take you the rest of the way.

The fires became a home for me once and I stand against them now. Lord give me the strength that I do not possess. As you prepare me for what is to come, help me become more able to stand with those that are hurting. Guide me to know what to say or where to go, so all those that have lost their lives around me can have a little more hope, and find peace in you. Too many have died not knowing your love or feeling abandoned by the world, or their pride kept them from reaching out. Lord you know my heart, I know you are preparing me, I know that you will use me. Lord give me the strength that I do not have.

I leave with the prayer for the full armor of God:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore Take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. ~Ephesians 6:10-17

A Question of Human nature

I have always thought much about people and why they do what they do. It was always hard for me to imagine how for so long that pain and suffering has existed. Receiving the question of why do people write viruses over and over, for me there is many answers, but it comes down to one. The answer is, because they can.

It is the same answer for many things. Why do people hurt one another? Why do people steal, when they do not need it? Why must the strong always oppress the weak? Why must there always be a struggle? Humans are greedy people. We want what we do not have, and, by nature, are not happy with what they have.

Greed is the root of so much that is wrong with our lives and our world. The world is a big place, but each day we try to make it a little smaller. Someone once said, in response to the question of why World Domination will never occur. The answer was, “The world is too big, and the people are too different for any one group or ideal to dominate it all.”

Many have also said you cannot change the world, but you can change yourself and help change the things you touch. Now from this point your mind could be going in many different directions, but primarily along two different paths, negative and positive. So is the reason the world becoming smaller is so someone can control it? Or as we touch so much more and so many more people, can we not more effectively change more that we touch?

But what does this have to do with viruses? How to viruses spread? Everyone knows how a cold spreads, through contact. Viruses the same way. Ideas are humanities greatest virus. They spread as one to the other. If an idea takes hold, a notion, it can spread like wildfire. We see this every day in every facet of our lives. The idea that certain clothes look cool to the idea that this diet will work for you, to the idea that this person or that person knows what they are talking about.

These ideas build our society, and society, a lot of times, define our world. We are in an information age, so now more than ever is the concept true that Ideas are some of the most powerful and dangerous things out there. We have seen this in popular culture going back for some time. Inception was not the first, and neither was the Matrix. George Orwell's 1984 showed us an idea of control.

We flash back quite a way to the ideas that changed the world. From, “Fire good!” to Jesus might know what he's talking about to, E=MC2 is a good recipe for a weapon, to if we hook computers together they are much more powerful, to hey what if I could take my phone with me. Ideas change and shape our world and our lives.

Hey if a man letting himself get struck by lightning can change the world... why can't you? I mean really think about it, Ben Franklin, indisputably one of the most revolutionary men in history really shone with the great idea of being able to harness electricity, but what did he do. “Hey guys watch this! I'm gonna tie a key to this kite to prove that electricity is real.” I mean seriously, how could ANYONE think that was a GOOD idea?

If ideas such as leaving fruit juice out too long will and drinking it will get you drunk can be accepted not only as good ideas, but major industries. Why could more fruitful ones take hold? Well they can, but the trick in this age is getting people to take on ideas that they will not make a profit and will not get them more attention. How many of you, honestly, would not jump on board with an idea that would without a doubt make you a millionaire in a year with no consequences?

How about this one, taking on the belief of an idea that would get you labeled crazy if it promised you eternal life? I bet you would for sure if you didn't get this eternal life after you died. Death is scary for most of us. Here is the problem, we want to see that there is proof of this good idea before we will take it on ourselves.

This is understandable, it is a rare kind of person that wishes to be the first to do something that could be labeled as a bad idea, but man we all want to be the first to do something that is considered a good idea. All reward with No risk. Sorry life is not so easy. Yes you can live life in such a fashion, always taking the safe road and sticking with the status quo. The Status Quo does not equal change however. If you want to change things, you really have to be willing to take that step out there and be the first.

If you want to change yourself however, this is even more difficult. You have to be willing to change how YOU do things, and do things that are against the routines that you have developed. Anyone that has been addicted to anything will tell you how hard that can be. Our bodies are influenced by our environment. Part of our environment is our history. We learn how humans have existed for as long as we have been, and we accept that is the way of things. So what if you want to believe something that is contrary to what you were taught to believe? That's hard.

Pearl Bailey had a wonderful quote, “You cannot belong to anyone, until you belong to yourself.” Now for me, what this means is you have to know who you are and be yourself before you can truly know why you believe in what you believe in. You have to develop your own idea of how the world is, and how you are. You have to walk through these fires before your faith can truly belong to you and it's not just borrowed from someone else. Only then will your walk be true.

So moving to the heart of things. What do you want our world to be like? Loving, accepting, one without war and strife? You want a world without oppression? As Michael Jackson said, “You have to start with the man in the mirror.” World change begins with you. You want others to desire to be a Christian, give them reason to with your walk. “Faith without works is meaningless.” “May they know that you are my children because they see me in you.” If you really treated others with love and you loved them as you loved yourself... most of us wouldn't call anyone anything horrible. Now if you are like me and have a bad habit of talking to yourself... well I can be less than kind to myself, but hey I still love me every chance I get.

How about we start walking with the love of God instead of trying to do his job and walking with a yard stick to see how everyone else just doesn't measure up. May God be with you in your heart and your soul. And let's keep taking that red pill and see the world for what it is, so we can begin to make it the world that Jesus would love it to be. We have to be in this world, but not of it.