Dungeons and Dragons, a Gateway to Evil?

“But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when fully grown, gives birth to death. Do not be deceived, my beloved.” James 1:14-16

In a recent conversation I was asked about what influence Dungeons and Dragons had on my fall from Christianity to Satanism. Now for a lot of people this is simply an absurd question, but there are many people that remember the Satanic scare and the blame of Dungeons and Dragons in some murders and such. These things have taken hold in the mind of some Christians to the point that they can see D&D as a gateway drug to Occultism and Satanism.

For me, this was not the case. Yes I grew up playing Dungeons and Dragons and reading fantasy novels of swords and sorcery, but I don’t think that these things had that much impact in my life choices to follow the road to the Occult. There were a lot of reasons and influences in my fall from grace, if you will.

I was raised and taken to church by my mother up until I was five. We lived in Eastern Kentucky at that time and we moved to Tennessee at that time. When we moved my mother did not find a church so we stopped going to church until I was asked if I wanted to go to a Youth Group at a church when I was in 5^th grade. Mrs. Harris I thank you for that. Women English teachers have been some of the most influential people in my life.

I started going and by the time I was 11 I had been saved and baptized, but even by this time I had seen things that I didn’t talk about because people thought I was a weird enough kid as it were. I didn’t think that telling people that I have seen people walking around bridges and I knew they weren’t really there would not help my case for being normal, whatever that really means. When I was baptized things were not exactly as I had expected them to be.

I was attacked spiritually with waking visions, audible voices and typical schizophrenic activities. Of course when an 11 year old kid tried to explain this to my preacher, he thought I was telling stories or acting out for attention. Whatever the reason, I was not believed. If my preacher would not believe this spiritual thing that I was going through there is no way that my mom and friends would believe me.

So I felt isolated and alone and tried to deal with it on my own and eventually gave up. I thought at that time it was a Baptist thing. So I started researching on my own and learning what I could, but I was not going to church anymore. I was angry at God the situation and everything else about what I had gone through.  Eventually I just let go and gave up.

I would come back to it every few years but at that time I was seeking a higher understanding and enlightenment. I was changing and had a reputation for being an angry boy who would get into fights. I didn’t have too many friends and ended up reading more about Dungeons and Dragons than playing it.

My searches and studies had taken me to looking at the older religions. I was trying to find a truth among what people believed as long ago as I could find. I would look for themes and understanding and I found a few “truths” about the power that human beings have. A few of these are validated even in Christian thought. The biggest was that humans have dominion over spirits.

Humans have power of spirits. So spirits are real, and I can make them do what I want. I knew that spirits were real; I had seen them and felt them. By this time I was focused more on the power of the mind and not really concerned with fantasy stories. Then someone told me another truth that I knew but was looking for validation for. Magic is real.

This was not the sorcery magic from Fantasy novels. It was more akin to force of will and the ability to affect the world through your will. So I tested it, and it worked. I didn’t realize at that time I was already prey to demons and other energies that were leading me down the road to Satanism. The only thing that Role Playing games did for me was put me in touch with my wife.

I had studied magic and occult for a while and got involved with a few guys that practiced the darker arts, which showed me how to spot demons for the first time. Well these demons were just tormented spirits mostly, but I was still naïve. It would be years before I would be calling myself a Satanist.

What role did these games have in my fall? Not much of anything really, in fact that was the first thing to completely go when I converted to Satanism. The sinful man knows only toil. There is no rest for the wicked. All those saying are very true. I worked, lived and breathed sin. Rolling dice on Friday night and eating Cheetos did not condemn me. My actions and belief condemned me.

Video games did not corrupt my spirit. Rejection, judgment and condemnation corrupted what was supposed to be love. Isolation allowed me and the demons to do all the harm in the world to me. An abusive first marriage didn’t help things, and a lack of having time to play games and have fun certainly didn’t help. I had no release and was so obsessed with what I had become that I was blind to how stupid it all really was.

1^st Corinthians chapter 10 holds a truth I learned on that path as well. The deities that pagans worship are demons. I found that truth when I was a Satanist and it was an essential passage to help draw me back to Christ. That truth was very much needed for me at that point.

What got me on that road? Being isolated, judged, condemned, hated, outcast, different, and too smart for my own good without the wisdom to see how foolish I was. There is a whole list, but movies, video games and Dungeons and Dragons are not things on the list. Could it for someone? Yeah, but more times than not it is a collection of things.

I fully believe that it is not one thing that drives people from Christ and into any other direction they go. It is a collection of influences that draw us down into the darkness. For without the light of God we live in darkness. I am always nervous talking about my fall. I used Christian writing to learn more about demons many times. I know that temptation and curiosity can lead to further studies into the dark, and it’s dangerous.

In several movies, philosophies and stories there is a message that has led to the warning that I give now. Nietzsche I think says it best, “And if you gaze for long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.” Don’t go there… just don’t. Not for the sake of understanding. Don’t open those doors, leave them alone because each one you open lets something know who you are and gives you more you have to fight.

Spiritual Warfare is hard enough without a Smite Evil spell in our back pocket. No matter how long you play D&D you will not be able to throw fireballs. No matter how many times you read Harry Potter you will not produce the patronus charm. And if you think these things are evil, but approve of Narnia because the author was a great Christian Scholar I feel you may want to reconsider the prior. Stories, games and movies do not make people evil.

If you do not know love, you will replace it with hate. A bully will create more evil than every book that has been written. A bully can be more dangerous than the “Satanic Bible” by Anton LeVey. The story that the Satanic Bible preaches is one that we hear every day. We are in control of our lives and can do what we wish. We are an army of one.

We hold the true power, and thus our own little gods. But let me tell you friends, there is only one God, and his son died for us all. He came to tell us to love God and love others. You can try to drive the car all you want, but if you want to get where you’re going, you might want to give dad the wheel.

“D&D was a training ground for our imagination.” Vin Diesel

Don't Fear the Silence

“Happy is the person who meditates on wisdom and reasons intelligently,

Who reflects on his heart and on her ways and ponders her secrets,

Pursuing her like a hunter, and lying in wait on her paths;

Who peers through her windows and listens at her doors;” Sirach 14:20-23

That old saying, “You have two ears and one mouth because you are supposed to listen twice as much as you speak,” is great advice. Today we are a people that have every kind of impulse and distraction in front of us. You could say that it is so hard to get a quiet moment, let alone a quiet moment with God.

All through the bible we are told that we are supposed to be quiet and meditate on God’s word and listen to his voice, guidance and instruction. Today we have T.V.s with hundreds of channels and have access to distractions and noise at the click of a mouse or a swipe of a smart phone. Knowledge is right at our fingertips and we are a culture of ADHD. In all of that how are we supposed to find quiet?

This topic brings to mind one of my favorite books, Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk. In this book the author writes about how we are addicted to noise and sound and has some really great quotes about life in general. It is a great philosophical read about the human condition. One of my favorite quotes from the book is a reference to 1984 by Orwell:

“Big Brother isn’t watching. He’s singing and dancing. He’s pulling rabbits out of a hat. Big Brother’s busy holding your attention every moment you’re awake. He’s making sure you’re always distracted. He’s making sure you are fully absorbed.”

With propagandas in our face every second of every day it is no surprise that we have become so absorbed with consumerism. Marketing says that we have to get the message, ploy or product in front of as many people as often as you can afford to. The world wants your attention and we give it to the world. To raise our children we must make sure that they not only go to school but have one or two after school programs that keep them busy and four hours of homework every night. That’s what they need to stay out of trouble.

If we are to meditate on God’s word daily, what does that mean? Does that mean Yoga? What is the draw of yoga besides the things the world tells us? It is a stress reduction technique and much more. It is a way to relieve stress, tension and offer peace. It is a really healthy thing that is needed in this world right now. Many people that cannot take time out to just have some peace and quiet to be with themselves and the ones they love will sit and be quiet in this activity.

At least they are getting a few moments of peace. When is the last time you sat and listened to the rain fall outside? When was the last time you just sat quietly and cleared your mind of everything that was going on in it? We need quiet. It is in this quiet that we hear God’s voice most clearly.

The man in the bible that is thought of as being the most wise human being in the bible is Solomon. God poured wisdom into him like a fount. I find it funny that he says more than anyone else the word Meditate. Webster defines Meditate as spending time in quiet thought for religious purposes or relaxation. Be quiet and listen.

You cannot listen when you speak. You must hold quiet so you can hear. Turn off the TV, close the computer. Turn off the phones, tablets and game systems. Take a deep breath and as you exhale clear your mind of everything you are keeping track of. Say a prayer to God and then just sit quietly for a minute. May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance (Jude 1:2). It’s there for you, but you just have to be willing to accept it.

Peace is a gift from God just as Salvation is, but like Salvation we have an obligation to seek it and hold quietly upon it. With a world of distractions how can we as a people be listening to God? Do we wonder why the world has grown so far from God and we hesitate to call ourselves Christians because we don’t want to be associated with some people that call themselves Christian. Oh I’m Christian but I’m not that kind of Christian.

We cannot serve the world and serve God. We cannot listen to the world and listen to God at the same time. We cannot talk and hear at the same time. Stop waiting for your turn to speak and take your long past turn to listen. God is waiting on you to turn your face to him and you can’t if your face is staring at Wolf Blitzer, the latest reality show, or the stock market. How hard is it to kiss your spouse without looking at them?

How hard is it to love someone that you are ignoring? It’s impossible. It is also impossible for you to receive love when you are similarly distracted. Take a walk and be with God. Maybe you need to start a little closer to the flesh and take a walk with your family, or just have dinner with them. Spend time with them by spending time with them, not occupying the same room with them to be distracted by, “Whoo hoo new building!” or checking what crops need to be harvested in Farmville.

How can you draw closer to the blood that you share in your home if you have no interest in learning about them? We are noiseaholics and have allowed ourselves to become fully taken in by the distractions of the world. You are strange when you say that you don’t watch TV or don’t have Netflix. We must share the love of Christ with others, but we also have to have the time to receive it ourselves. The importance of being quiet and sitting with God and then being with other people is without paramount.

How can we Love God with all our heart and Love others as we love ourselves if we do not take the time required to actually love them? I’m not talking about dedicating more time to study of God’s word, but that helps. What I’m saying is for one day, one night, one hour turn off all distractions and just be. Take a minute or hour to be with God and then do the same with those around you. Loving others requires interaction with others.

No matter how successful you are, you can still find yourself lonely and alone even when you are surrounded by people. No matter how poor you are, you can spend a little time with the Lord or with another person to share the love that we all have been given. Love doesn’t cost any amount of money and money can only complicate it.

The greatest gift that you can give your wife is love and affection. The greatest gift you can give your husband is love and affection. The greatest gift you can receive from God is Love. Love is all that God asks in return. Can Candy Crush love you? Will Farmville teach you anything about God’s plan for us? Can WoW give us peace, mercy and love? What is distracting you from being in love? What is keeping you from peace today? Turn it off. God has a plan for every problem. No matter how big the bug in your code, you won’t figure it out until you step away from it. God’s there in that too.

One hour, give it a try… at worst you just wasted an hour of the day, we do a lot more than that flipping channels or on youtube watching cats do silly things. How bad can it be to waste it on God?

“There are worse things you can do to the people you love than kill them. The regular way is just to watch the world do it. Just read the newspaper.” Chuck Palahniuk, Lullaby

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

Packing: How do you trust God?

“Don’t take along gold, silver or copper for your money-belt. Don’t take a traveling bag for the road, or an extra shirt, sandals, or walking stick, for the worker is worthy of his food.” Matthew 10:9-10

When preparing for a trip it seems like we have so much we take with us. We have to make sure we have enough clothes, shoes, more clothes for activities and well shoes for that too. We have to make sure we have some way to communicate and pass the time in the lull, not to mention enough money to get what we need and a few things we want.

But, what else do we take with us? Expectations, worries and concerns. There are so many stories in the bible about trips and journeys and most of us will not take a trip as big or impressive as half of those in the bible. What did most people in the bible take with them? Most of these people took the clothes on their backs and very little else.

We can start by looking all the way back to Exodus, yeah they took all their belongings because they were moving to a new place not knowing where they were going, but they didn’t take with them enough food for the journey. Quite frankly, they had no clue how much food they would need to take. What did God do for them? He rained food for them to feed them.

Now one thing that has held constant is that most of us still take worry and concern with us. Even as we step out and knowing that we are traveling to do something that God wishes us to do, there is still concern.  We trust God, but still our flesh keeps us from trusting completely. What then? Why do we all fall so short from what God wishes for us?

Most of these trips, especially the spiritual ones, are made to help us draw closer to God. We are told not to worry so many times in the bible, but we are never told not to question. In fact we are told to question everything to test it to see if it is Godly or if it is something to cast aside. 

With Spiritual journeys we typically carry with us a lot more than physical journeys. We carry not only worry, but doubt and then there is the luggage from our past. We carry with us every time we have fallen, every time we have struggled to stand. Is this a bad thing? It depends on your perspective. If you focus on it as a doubt and a list of all the times you have failed or you have been failed, then it’s a bad things. If you carry it with you as a reminder of how many times you have fallen on your face and eventually gotten back on your feet, or how many times God has been there, then that is a positive reassurance for you.

There is a lot that goes on in every day life that packs on a lot of negative energy, emotion and habit. So to combat all of this what do we do? How do we prepare for the world and what it has for us? Well if we look at the lessons that we are given from God’s word, then we have what we need. We have instructions. When you rise, put God in your heart with a prayer.

Start the day with a conversation with God to prepare you for the day. Second spend a few minutes while you are getting some coffee in your system to read a few passages from the bible, even if it is one or two chapters. While you are on your commute, talk with God about whatever is on your heart. These are all things that you can do.

Just like exercise for the body daily is great for keeping your body in shape. Do a few bible curls to strengthen the soul. A few mind games or puzzles for the mind. That is one thing from eastern philosophy that is spot on, true strength lies with not only the body, but the mind and soul as well. The mind and body must expand to the spirit or soul or it is not complete.

We humans are three parts of one whole, and from that an extension of the one true God. We are body, mind and soul. Father, Son and the Holy Spirit; three parts of the same whole. So strengthen that which is your weakest you cannot focus on the weakest part, but the other two will help you strengthen the weakest part. A knee is not just two bones meeting; there is muscle and ligament with that muscle. If you have a weak ligament you have to work on the muscle to help it out.  

So when we are gathering together things for a journey, you have the physical needs as well as the mental and spiritual ones. Careful how you pack your bags though, if you pack in too much you leave no room for the chance encounters that can be life changing, and no room for new things to be added to your life.

God uses all journeys in a multitude of ways. It is only after we have gone through them do we come close to getting what God intended for us. Sometimes it is many years down the road before we have developed the wisdom to understand what we have gone through and why. So I leave you with a question to answer for yourself.

What have you gone through in your life that you still cannot understand why you did it or had to go through it? Pray and open your mind to see if there was a lesson that you learned through it. Was there a higher purpose for it?

“A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.” Bruce Lee

Prey or Prayer, You Decide

“Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:6

Prayer is one of those tools that we have been given by the Father as a way to let him know what we are struggling with. I have always found it interesting that we are instructed to pray about things that God knows about. God knows we are hurting. God knows when we are happy. God knows what we are truly struggling with even when we do not. So why has God given us this instruction again and again?

Prayer is our quiet time with God for one. Also, God wants us to talk with him and walk with him in all things. There are many relationships that are described in the bible about what our relationship with God is. The most common one is a parent child relationship. God is the Father and as a Father, a good father, he wants to know when we are hurting and what is on our hearts and minds.

A lot of times my father would know when something was bothering me and would know what it was, but he wanted to hear it. My father was a good man, God is still working on bringing him in to be his son, but my father always strived to be a good man. We have and still do talk a lot about what is going on and he probably knows what’s in my head a bit more than just about anyone else, except maybe my wife.

I’m able to talk to my father after years or working at it. With my dad I have shared things that I would not share to close friends sometimes. A lot of my friends still do not know the kind of life I have lived and the things that I have gone through in my life. Life has been a very interesting road for me, one that turns frequently.

I always said that I would take the road less traveled when I would read that famous poem by Robert Frost.  That road was grown up and was not the easiest road, but it was a road that called to me. I have to say honestly and truthfully I have walked the road less traveled by. I’m not sure Frost realized just how hard of a road that road could be.

The problem with taking a road that not a lot of people take is most of the time there is a good reason why people don’t travel down a road. The road is probably more hazardous, harder to travel. It may go into a bad neighborhood or have a bridge that closes frequently. It may take you to a town called Dunwich for all we know. You want to know the dangers of traveling roads that most don’t take, that is a good read for you, “The Dunwich Horror” by H.P. Lovecraft.

So let us travel down that road a bit. The road just looks overgrown at first, a little more hilly but manageable. The road becomes a bit more rocky and has a bridge that seems less than stable, but it holds up. We continue along and find that it goes down into a deep valley. It’s winter and the road has some ice on it, so going down it’s the concern. You don’t want to cross that bridge again and it looks like there are lights up ahead, so we travel on.

We begin to travel down the hill and make it into a small town that looks different. It’s a town and has all the things that we need at the moment. There is food and shelter from the storm that is brewing. The place has a queer look about it though. At first the people ignore you, and then they take interest in you. Finally someone welcomes you in. She seems friendly enough.

 She wants to know where you’re from and what you do and all the pleasantries of a normal place.  She offers you something warm to drink and eat. More importantly she wants to talk with you. Something still tells you that this isn’t a place you need to be. Do you listen or do you stay with the nice pretty woman that seems to want to talk with you.

Well it’s pretty bad outside, so why don’t I stay for a while. She offers you some wine, and then it’s late and you’ve had a bit too much wine so she offers you her bed. The wine has polluted your mind and your judgment, so you make the bad decision.  A little more, you find that is how most come to stay in this place. The sun doesn’t get down here so often, but it has everything you need.

This place is always cold and the hills leading out are always covered in ice, so it’s hard to get back out. The road to this place was hard enough to keep you from wanting to go back, and the road ahead is much harder it seems. So you stay a while, and the longer you stay the harder it is to leave. You find that this pretty, kind woman is really something a lot more hideous on the inside. You realize that this is your Hotel California.

Now in this place, dark, cold and alone, you have reached bottom. How do you begin to climb out of this pit? And what does any of this have to do with prayer? Everything.

The only way that you can begin to climb out of this pit is through prayer. You have walked a path not well traveled and have mistakenly gotten lost. You have found yourself in a place that does not see the face of God and when it does it only comes around every few thousand years. Prayer is your way out. Calling out to the Father and letting him know that you are lost and you need his light to guide you home.

You call out that the roads are iced over and you cannot climb them. God the Father sends the Sun to melt the ice. You begin to climb, but it is still not easy. The ice has melted and the dirt road is now mud. But at least you can begin to climb. You travel up and out of this hell that you have been in.

 You climb to the top of the mountain that surrounded this place and can once more see the sun. You can see how far you have come and how far from the path you have traveled. You only realize after you are no longer lost just how lost you were. The path that you missed was grown up a lot more than the rest of the road. Now you see the way out, but it will be very easy to get lost once more. So you use prayer as your guide to keep you safe.

These people are not happy that you left them and they seek to grab you once more, so you pray to keep you safe. You also pray a prayer of thanks to the Father who sent the Son to make a path of redemption for you. You are walking among enemies with snares and traps, so you pray. You are alone, so you pray.

1^st Peter speaks of how often and of what we should pray. Pray in all things and cast all your cares on the Lord your God. How do we stay strong in our Faith? Through prayer and supplication. How do we stay faithful to God? Through Prayer which builds upon Faith. What do we do when we have concern, hurts, or worry? Through prayer all things are possible.  So how then do we strengthen our prayer? Through drawing close to the Lord our God through study of his word and praying always.

In the Whole Armor of God, Paul states that the most important piece of the armor is the Shield of Faith. Faith, why is faith so important? Through Faith our prayers are stronger and through faith our trust in God is stronger. Faith is the most powerful tool that we have against sin, evil, ourselves. However we have one thing stronger, but it is no tool, and we can only access it through Faith. Prayer in faith our Lord hears our calls, and faithfully following will lead us out of our darkest situations.

That does not mean that bad things will not happen. That does not mean that God will not tear apart countries if it serves a greater purpose, but God protects those that have faith in him. All of Paul’s faith did not free him from prison, but did it allow him to spread a message that touches millions today. It did not save Christ from the Cross, but his sacrifice made all Gentiles Jews in the eyes of God. We are all his chosen people. He is our father and we use Prayer as our phone to call him up and talk with him. Prayer keeps us from becoming prey.

“The Edge… there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.” Hunter S. Thompson