A Doctor Needs the Sick

“But the Pharisees and their scribes were complaining to His disciples, ‘Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?’ Jesus replied to them, ‘The healthy do not need a doctor, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” Luke 5:30-32

How often do you see a doctor when you are well? How often do you see a councilor when you are in your right mind? Do you frequently call up a lawyer or a bail bondsman? Unless you have a friend that is one of these things, you would probably keep your interaction to the absolute minimum. How much time do you spend with the Lost? Are all your friends members of your church? How much time do you spend telling people that believe in Christ about Christ?

Now we know that Jesus spoke at synagogues from time to time, but where did he speak and perform his miracles most often? Always at church, or with his church friends right? No. No he was in the streets and on hillsides. He spoke to the people that were not at church the most. Look at his chosen disciples, how many of them were leaders of the synagogues? Yeah, so if we are going to be Christ-like where do we have to be? With the people.

Now then we get to the question of what people and which people. Well for each of us we have come from different places and walks of life. Our past shapes how we learn God to be. The walk that we walk with Christ shows us what God can do. Those of us that found God while locked in a cell can see how God can use a place like that to His Glory. Those of us that were saved from a drug overdose can see how God can use that to His Glory.

Those little wake up calls in life are when we see God for who he is. I’m not talking about every earth shattering event in your life. I’m talking about every day in life. The music you listen to, the hobbies that you have, and the books you read are all things that you can use to establish relationships with people. We are given a charge by God to be his ambassadors. Before people will listen to us about God they really have to be seeking or have a vested interest in hearing our story.

“How come you are always smiling and happy? You’re in Jail shouldn’t you act like it?” Not when you know that God has control of the situation and it will end exactly as he wishes it to end. “Come on man, you listen to Heavy Metal and dress like that and you go to Church? You don’t actually believe that crap they preach on Sunday do you?” God uses us all. Judge not or you will be judged. You will be measured by the same measure you put to others. God uses all.

I grew up listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd, AC/DC, Bad Company among many other things listed as Classic Rock. I also listened to Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Megadeth which eventually lead me to KoRn, Staind, P.O.D., Type O Negative  and many other bands of that era.  Why do I bring this up? Well for one of my first examples of Christians going to where Christ is needed. The Whosoevers is an organization that are set to influence those that they have influence with to share what God has done in their lives and what God can do in theirs.

The lead guitarist of KoRn, Brian Welch, better known as Head, gave his life to Christ quit drugs and actually ended up quitting the band to play music for Christ. P.O.D. was actually a Christian band, but very few actually knew it. The name of the band is Payable On Death. These people are involved with this movement that is growing.

They hold concerts and worship services to talk to people that would not come to church. They are taking the word of God to these people. They are a great example of going to the sick. They are not the only ones. Missionaries I do not discredit what you are doing, you are doing what God has called us to do as well. You are bringing the word of God to people that would not be reached otherwise. It is because of you that people are becoming educated to Christ.

The second group that I wish to speak about are those that do Prison Ministry. These people walk into environments that most would be scared to go to. They are casting seed and water to people that life would say are in the worst situation that one can be in. I would disagree with that statement, but many that find themselves in this place see it as a low point in their life. Sometimes the lowest parts of their lives.

You are going into places to shed light upon these lost souls that have little hope. So many people in these places turn to the Word of God when they would not touch it otherwise. There are many of these people that will not step foot in church once they get back out, but there are those that will try and hold onto the Word to keep them from going back down the roads that they have walked down before. Then there are those that God will fully change. Again, the sick in need of medicine that is the Truth of the Word of God.

Now I recently watched a sermon by Steven Furtick, the pastor for Elevation Church. He had a quote in his sermon that really rang true with me, “Truth registers best on the other side of complexity.” Only after you have crossed the chasm do we really know how hard the chasm was to cross. So you know best how God works only through what God has done in your life. You get a good idea with close friends and family going through hard times, but nothing substitutes life experience.

If you have not been addicted to drugs or alcohol you have a good idea how hard it can be to break free from that addiction, but you don’t know. If you haven’t been through jail, you can imagine what it’s like, but you don’t Know. There is power in that knowledge. God will use what we have been through to get his greatest glory out of us. So how were you sick?

Was it sex? Was it alcohol? Was it abuse? Was it addiction? Was it disbelief? Was it anger? Now who can benefit most from hearing your words? People that are like you were might be a good place to start. Could it be the people that you were going through this stuff with? How about your own family? Now that you have been shown the Grace of God, who can you share that with? What talents do you have and how can you use them for God? That’s what God calls us to do. Use what we can to share his story and his glory.

What has he done for you? Are you healthy now, or do you still struggle with things? I don’t care if you have been raised in church all your life and have been a Christian all your life. There is something that you have had to struggle with in your relationship with God. 

You have a story to tell.  If you have a story of addiction, abuse or personal weakness you should check out a local Celebrate Recovery to visit and see what people have to say. You will be encouraged, and even more you might be able to encourage others.

You have a talent, how can you use it for God? Talk to your friends, family, or your church to see if there is something going on. Is there an outreach that another church in the area is doing that you feel called to participate in? It’s not your church, but that’s part of our problem. We are all part of God’s body. You feel the calling to do something and someone else is involved with it, get involved.

We can busy ourselves to the point that we cannot listen to what God might want for us. You have too many obligations at your Church to do what God is telling you to do… you might want to check in on that. The message is simple, how can you glorify God? Where can you be a doctor? Where can you be a friend to those in need? Where are the sick that you are called to help? What can you do to share the God of your life with others?

What can you do to love others and show them God’s Grace?

Secondly, be careful who you judge for you cannot see their heart. Which of these would you think are Christians or closest to God?

Billy Joel –The Piano Man

Demon Hunter– Dead Flowers

An open heart ready to do God’s work is one of the greatest things in the world. Open your heart to glorify God and ask yourself then God what can you do to Glorify God and tell the story of how God has been influential in your life.

“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world.” Joel A. Barker

Fear: Sin's Greatest Tool

There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. 1 John 4:18

One of my favorite movies of all time has a quote about the topic that we are looking at, “Fear will keep the local systems in line.”  This was spoken in Star Wars: A New Hope by Grand Moff Tarkin. Within the empire he was most likely the third most powerful man. This statement is one that has been quoted most commonly as “Fear will keep them in line.”

These words are words of control. How are they going to keep control with Fear. Why does this work? Charles Stanley says it this way:

“Fear stifles our thinking and actions. It creates indecisiveness that results in stagnation.”

Fear has been with us longer than nearly any other emotion that we have today. We look back to when Adam and Eve first sinned; they hid themselves because they were scared. As we have gone along humanity has learned how to use this as a tool for oppression and tyranny. If people are afraid then they need someone stronger than them to protect them.

Fear comes from many places, ignorance being one of the strongest of these places. Today we are crippled as a society in fear. We can look at the news and become terrified at how horrible our world has become. People live in gated communities to help them feel safe. People are so afraid of people that we will not extend a helping hand.

We are too afraid to answer the pleas of a woman that is escaping her rapist. We are too afraid to answer the door to a dying man and furthermore call the police and state that someone is trying to break in and hurt you. We do not answer to help anymore. We do not answer the calls of people in panic. Forget the parable of the Good Samaritan; we are so much worse than that now.  We are afraid that the man lying in the ditch is going to hurt us.

Do any of us remember what FDR was talking about when he said the quote, “The only thing wehave to fear is fear itself.”? It was 1933 we were at the end of the Great Depression. Unemployment was at 33% and things were looking very grim for the United States.  Fear is what was keeping us from coming out of it, or so FDR stated.

Fear is crippling to the spirit. It is only as strong as we allow it to be though.  Perfect love casts out fear. All through the Psalms we hear about how we have nothing to fear, well except God’s wrath if we anger him. The news has made their mark on the modern culture by scaring us into accepting what ever laws will protect us.

There is a long history of media being used by the leaders of countries to convey propaganda. It’s been happening for as long as media has been in existence. Fear has led to man-kinds greatest follies in my opinion. The Holy Inquisition, slaughters around the world. We fear our neighbors so we make war with them. You can see these themes in movies, books and in history. Well we were scared so we attacked or ran.

So I would like to focus on a couple of non-political things with this message and you can take it where you wish from there. In Charlotte there was a man who had ahorrible car accident, he was lucky to survive it. He goes to the nearest house that he could see pleading for help. The people in the house called the police and told the police that there was someone trying to break into their house. Police arrive on scene and the nearly dead man runs to them for help. The police officer panics and shoots the guy 10 out of 12 times.

Second, a rape victim escapes a car where she had been raped for a while. She runs nearly naked to a house to get help. As she pleads to the couple inside to help her saying that she had just been raped, they call 911 refusing to let her in because of fear. A representative of the police department had this to say, “unfortunately fear dictates the response anymore not knowing if you’re being set up for other criminal activity.”

The man in the first story lost his life. The woman in the second story was saved. But in both instances we were too afraid to help someone. Now let us look to God and ask if this is what he intended for us. It is not. We were supposed to be freed from the chains brought upon us by sin. Fear was introduced first with sin and with freedom of sin also comes freedom of fear.

So what else does Fear prevent us from doing? Jesus gave us two commandments which were rewrites of the original 10. Love God with all that we have and Love others as we love ourselves. If we are afraid of our neighbors we cannot love them, thus we cannot uphold the Lord’s commandments. Fear is keeping us right were Satan wants us. We are crippled in fear. Fear is an embodiment of darkness. Love is am amplification of light.

Darkness cannot exist where there is light. Fear cannot exists in a heart of pure love. We are still imperfect beings in bodies of sin, so we must tell our bodies no and stand against fear. We cannot become the people God wants us to be so long as we allow fear to dominate our lives, minds and cultures. We cannot destroy terror by weapons. Only through love will we conquer fear and terror. War is not the answer, it never has been. We cannot stand as one nation under god so long as we fight those that are different from us.

God is for Jew and Gentile alike. The love of God is for us all and we are given command to go into the world and spread the good news, not the bad news. Go into the world and love these neighbors near or far as you would love yourself. Today, if you do nothing else, say something positive or help someone just because. Love someone even if you have to start with yourself. Only then can you start shaking off fear.

If you are Christian, talk to someone that is not of your faith. Ask a Muslim to tell you of their faith ask them why they chose to walk that life. Who knows this may open a door for God to use to build a bridge in your life. If nothing else it will help you affirm your belief in God and show love to someone else who might need it. Or even more it may start changing a perception that Christians are war mongering hate machines. Funny, how many Christians would be taken back if they knew that’s what others see us as.

The thing that you fear the most, learn something about it. Do not let the voice of hell shape your worldview by creating misconceptions of what people really are. Just get up and get out… shake off the bondage of fear. So many of us are crippled and just as Jesus told many crippled and dead, “Get Up, Stand.” That’s all you have to do, stand and take a few steps for God. For all that God has done for you, how can you deny him the one thing. Spread his message and love someone. It’s not as hard as you think.

“Every adventure begins with the first step.” JRR Tolkien, the Hobbit.

Reflection: Looking at your chains.

“Let us tear off their chains and free ourselves from their restraints.” Psalm 2:3

Recently I returned home for a visit. The visit was planned to revitalize my heart and soul and sometimes all you have to do in order to get away from the woes troubling you is return to your roots and have some quiet time with the Lord. The trip was really good for me; just what the soul needed.

On this trip, without realizing it when we planned it, I passed by the place I was first saved and baptized. It had been 19 years since those days. Now when you look back it’s always a dangerous thing if not done with care. We are warned all through the bible to not look back only look to the Lord and where your feet are being lead. Once you are bathed in the blood of God the person you once were is dead.

We humans have an odd habit of visiting with the dead. We visit people we miss and loved, how many times do we visit the person we once were like this? All the time you hear stories of “Glory Days” remembering fun things or events, but that’s not exactly what I’m talking about. I’m more talking about visiting with your old self like visiting the dead.

How many times have you visited a grave and talked to the grave in hopes that the person could hear you? On this trip I did a little of this. Many times have I mentioned that after I was baptized the first time I was tested and I failed those tests and ran.. Well there is a lot to that story. Looking to the church I was first saved at and then looking at the river that I was baptized in it done something to me. It made me sit quiet with the Lord and ask why I had to go through what I did.

Sitting with the Lord, I reflected on my growth. God has done a lot with the mess that was me. Growth is a hard thing. It costs a lot to grow. It takes time, dedication, challenges and struggles. But it also takes breakthroughs and victories. Man times we humans get caught up in the negative that has happened and do not focus on the good that comes from our past. Looking at what we learned from the Glory Days is just as important as the struggles and hardships in our lives.

We did not learn how to love in a day. We did not learn how to do anything in a day. But as we grow and learn, and you hear this a lot in sports, a lot of times you have to get back to the basics to move forward. That’s what this trip was for me. It helped me strip it down to the basics. They are basic foundations that you have in order to build upon.

Job 4:17-21 speaks about having a weak foundation; one without wisdom will cause the house to crumble.  Stronger still is 1 Corinthians 3:5-15:

What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. Now the one planting and the one watering are one in purpose, and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s coworkers. You are God’s field, God’s building. According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one must be careful how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on that foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work burned up it will be lost, but he will be saved; yet will be like an escape through fire.

Growth can only come through God. Each of us go through a lot of things to get to where we are.  This passage also speaks to something else. Our work will be tested by fire, and if our work is not strong enough it will burn up, we will survive but it will be like coming through the fire.  I have survived through Christ and only by God’s grace which I did not deserve.

Now the image with this story is a place in Kentucky, where I am from. The very town I was born in, well where the hospital was at anyway, has a tourist attraction above it called Chain Rock. The story goes that this rock, which is massive in size, had broken free from the mountain. They had feared the possibility of the last few things holding it there would break free and this boulder would roll down the mountain and destroy much if not all of the town.

The people built a huge chain, large enough that you can walk across it without much difficulty, and literally chained the boulder to the rest of the mountain. That must have been a scary time for these people, but what does that say to you about faith? To me it sounds a little like this, “Lord, I trust you, I do, but just in case I’m going to do a few things just to make sure. It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m just being careful.”

Now the further irony to this, the rock never broke free from the mountain and moreover the mountain has now built back up around the boulder securing it in place. The city of Pineville, KY is safe once more. It brings to mind Peter walking on Water. It was all about his faith that allowed him to do as Jesus had done.

Too many times do we restrain our faith and trust in the lord with Chains. There comes a time in our lives that God calls us to cast off our chains and shackles to be free in his grace. Now as we grow with a slaves mind, this is scary. When a Slave does these things it leads to death if we’re lucky and if we are not then it leads to torture and torment, or at least embarrassment.  God calls for us to cast off the changes of slavery that this world has put us in. Only if we do this can we walk with purpose and be one with God.

When God calls to us in this way, he has something for us to do. It may be as small as buying someone some shoes, a meal or going out of your way on your way home to give you a chance to touch a life that you would not meet otherwise. Sometimes it is a Mission trip to another country or just to the local homeless shelter. It might be to allow a perfect stranger in your car or worse… Into your Life! What God can do through you and with you is ultimately up to you and your dedication to the Lord.

No one can serve two masters, so do you wish to keep on the chains of slavery that this world has you under or will you cast them aside to allow God to use you? Will you walk on Water or drown? Will you chain down your faith or let God take care of your problems? All of this is up to you, how much will you allow your chains to keep you from God’s Grace and keep you from sharing this Grace with others?

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