The name remains the same...

   So, coming back from a little hiatus... i'd like to say... i was purposefully taking some time off, but i just kinda shut down... i still trudged along, moving and breathing, like i would reply when someone asked how i was... 'been better, been worse, but i'm still moving forward'. In  that, my purpose was forward, but at the same right, I felt like... well... i guess it's better to describe... p.s. this is also the point where some of you may decide to come a nd fit me for my own little white jacket... please make sure that it is clean... so that when i am hugging myself i won't worry about the strange spot on it... 

    I have had so many dreams, both waking and sleeping... like a battle scene from Braveheart... both sides... pensively waiting... standing on the field... a great valley, the valley winds and twists... the center of the valley has got to be at least a mile across... on each side of that... long rolling slopes that lead to each side and at the peaks short hills... atop the hills on each perspective side, the armies lining the hills... waiting... watching... wondering... in that these are not the modern day military, much more like the armies of Narnia and Middle earth... armor... battle axes... great blades glinting in the sun when it has the moments to peak through the torn sky... great dark clouds with sporadic flashes of lightning type bursts... and yet it doesn't seem to be lightning... it's almost as if the sky itself can feel the anticipation of the ensuing battle. As i look to the east and the west the armies span farther than my eye can see...  The warriors move back and forth slowly, like the start of a brush fire, just smoldering, the embers slowly getting brighter. As the perspective energy pours out through each side the murmur becomes a roar... every one on each side can feel the anticipation of the battle that is to ensue... and off in the distance... the horn sounds... 

    As the horn sounds it seems to almost come from no where and yet every where... and the n the drums start... a deeply soulful cadence... pounding and ringing off of the hills... it almost seems as if our hearts sync with the drumbeats... perforating our souls and pumping through our hearts like napalm... my body feels like it is on fire, and yet not in a burning way... in a powerful way... like i have never felt before... and at once... both sides step forward... and the cadence starts... a deafening roar... like nothing i have ever heard... earshattering and yet not... like the drums it rises and falls... a language that i have never heard before... and everyone knows it... step by step it gets louder and louder... my mouth bellows forth with the same gutteral sounds... and as the words come, I understand them... 'We shall rise and fight by Him, We shall fight and die by Him, He has taken back the keys, we fear no death. The Lion is here, we fight and die for Him'. The emotions are unexplainable... step by step... the pace quickens... the cadence continues... i can see the other side seemingly doing the same and yet they are completely drowned out by the sound that comes from us. As I look to the sky it seems that all of nature has joined in our cadence, the flashes that had come from above before have become beyond expression. The flashes have become in unison with us and the crashing thunder to accompany it now accents the cadence... at about halfway down the hill i realize that the earth shakes with each step... i look behind us and like fire ants coming from their hives there are others still coming over the tops of the hills... to the right and left as far as the eye can see warriors on both sides on the move... the pace has progressed from a causal walk to a purposeful march... the sound is deafening... and then i hear through the lines... 'it is time'... 'it is time'... 'it is time'... we are almost to the end of the slope... and as I look into the plain that is the center of the valley... I hear another horn sound... and in one swift movement... i hear the sound of weapons being drawn... the sound of that itself is deafening out of shear number of them... and then silence... both sides almost frozen in time almost like some sort of grotesque game of red rover, then I feel it... stirring in me... and it seems that everyone else around me feel the same... and in the flash of a blade comes the cry... it seems as if every single being that i march with bellows in unison...  'We shall rise and fight by Him, We shall fight and die by Him, He has taken back the keys, we fear no death. The Lion is here, we fight and die for Him'. Then we charge... I hear what sounds like a thousand fighter jets above me... and as I look up... i realize that it is not jets... it is millions, if not billions of flaming arrows been fired from somewhere behind us flying out to meet our foes... 

and then i wake... 

so how was your day?

Seven

    "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by the others. Truly I tell you, they have recieved their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what the right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you."   - Jesus Christ -Matthew 6:1-4
   
    The needy, who are the needy? I have often looked at this verse and let it burn itself deeply into my soul. Is Jesus talking only about the poor? I prefer to believe He is talking of anyone in need. The NLT says, "Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven." I think that says it very plainly. I have always looked to the 6th chapter of Matthew to guide me in the things that I must do to try and maintain my path with following the teachings of Christ. In that, I fall very short every day. I stumble, scrape, scrap, and scratch, my way through the day. I forget, and look past some of these things often, but I do put my best foot forward in that.So, basically to me, when you do good deeds, it's only for you and God to see.
     In my work, I see many people who work with other people and then proceed to say 'LOOK WHAT I JUST DID!!!', it often reminds me of an old character from the late night sketch comedy 'Mad TV'. His name was Stuart, he was characterized as a say 8 year old, who would shout, 'Look what I can do!!!', and then proceed to do nominal tasks or skills. Is it pride? Is it desperation for acknowledgement? Is it the need for advertising for fundraising? Is it American culture? Is it a conglomeration of all of the above?
     We are called to serve, we are called to share the love that we were so freely given. I mean, this is the right in the middle of the sermon on the mount. I like to think of Jesus as any modern day speaker, in that there is an order to speaking, just like a meal. There is the appetizer, something to get people into whatever is being said. There is the meat and potatoes, which is the stuff that is supposed to stick to your ribs. Then finally there is desert, the topping to it all, to settle in and finalize it.
     In that, there is, right in the middle, the meat and potatoes, 'Don't do your good deeds publicly , and yet time and time again, we choose to be Stuart, 'LOOK WHAT I CAN DO!!!'. Screaming to the masses, as loudly as we can, just so that we can be possibly heard above the ascending crescendo of the world. Time and time again we take pictures, videos, or any other type of shameless self plug so that we can try to bee seen, Yet, the only one that wants to see it, is God Almighty himself.
     In the times that this was worded, there were mostly the ultra rich, and the ultra poor. In that, here's some perspective, if you have any change in your pocket, you are in the top 8% of the world's wealthy. I know you may say, well, I don't have any change in my pocket. Do me a favor, next time you go out, look on the ground, I'm sure sooner or later, you will find a penny. That's the American perspective, we leave a coin on the ground that if we pick it up, we are among the top 8% wealthiest. Yeah, think on that for a while. I did.
     So many in that day would make a display of what they were doing to show just how much they 'believed', to show how devoted they were, and yet, they were the ones that John the Baptist called a 'Brood of Vipers', and Jesus chastised on multiple occasions. How many of us do that today? I know I have been guilty of it.
     Whatever we do in life, God knows it. And yet, we still continue to say, 'Look what I can do!'. Today as I was making sure I placed my quotes and so on, I like to check everything that I quote, usually in various sources, just to make sure I get it right. I looked up a couple of 'Stuart Mad Tv' videos on Youtube, and I have to wonder, When we do make a display of our deeds, is that how we look to God?


                     I just have to wonder.



             

Five

      Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. James 1:26

      Okay, today I am going to cover words, words, in my opinion are some of the most powerful movements in the universe. Why? 
     Well, for those who believe, I think we can all agree in the fact the God made us in His image. In that, I would lean towards Genesis, as we look into the creation story, we see time and time again the power of words. Verse 3, And God said "let there be light," and there was light. Verse 6 and 7, And God said, "Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water." So God made vault and separated the water from under the vault from the water below it. And it was so. Verse 9, And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." And it was so. Verse 11, Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to the various kinds. And it was so. Verse 14 and 15, And God said, "Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and and days and years, let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on earth." And it was so. Verse 20, And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky." Verse 22 And God said, "Let the land creatures produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. Verse 26, Then God said, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 
      So, in the first 26 verses of the bible, 10 of them directly speak of God speaking, and then the others, are Him naming the things He created. So, the entire opening of the bible to me, not only tells of creation, but the power of words. Let's face it, He's God, He could have snapped His fingers, waved a mighty wand, clapped, blinked, winked, or pretty much anything else to create everything, and yet He spoke. For me, that is the power of words. 
      Verse 26 speaks of being made in His image. In that, I will jump way forward into the book of Matthew,  when Jesus says, "if you have the faith of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Once again, the power of words, and yet I feel we often forget that power. We use words to cut down and not heal, we are quick to talk badly of someone, but not quick to commend or comfort one. My son once said, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words cut through my soul.", a quote that has often haunted me. How many times have I used words to tear someone apart, how many times have I dodged a chance to heal by my words, or even just say a simple 'Hi' to a stranger. 
      In delving into this I found something very interesting. I will set up this to the best of my view. Matthew, Mark and Luke, three books that show the life of Jesus from three different perspectives. They were all different men with different backgrounds, and yet, you find this.

      Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  Matthew 24:35

      Heaven and earth will pass away,  but my words will never pass away. Mark 13:31

      Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. Luke 21:33

     Okay, first of all, for those who don't delve into the disciples, they often fought like cats and dogs, Jesus broke up more than one disagreement between them, and yet, this quote struck a chord deep within all of their souls, not paraphrased, word for word. No difference. I know that it speaks of Christ's words, and in that I understand, but there were often much deeper meanings in that, and for me, I look at it this way, Jesus call us His brothers and sisters, God calls us His children, and the bible says we are created in His image, and from personal experience, I know that spiteful angry words can leave a wound that stays open when the physical wounds heal. So, please choose your words carefully, For we have the power to create or destroy with them, and the words we speak may never pass away. 

   "For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." - Jesus Christ

Four

 Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven, give us this day our daily bread, and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us... 
   I can't tell you how many times I have said that series of words, especially when working in the recovery realms, 'forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us'. Yet, it wasn't until recently that I really delved into it. As I understand it, if I don't forgive those who wrong me, God won't forgive me. 
   I attempted to delve further into it. In that, I found, 
   
'For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive you.' - Matthew 6:14-15. 

  I found it interesting that this verse is not only the direct words of Christ, but is is also the next two verses after the Lord's Prayer. In that, I feel that it was Jesus himself stating the importance of forgiveness, that in the prayer, that was the first thing that he chose to reiterate. For those who read about the lack of exclamation points in Hebrew culture to accentuate importance, this is twice in probably the same breath. Yet, would it be found any more? Yup, in fact there is a full parable about it only a few chapters later. 
   Long story short, a king decided to bring his accounts up to date with the searvants who had borrowed money from him, one of them owed him 10,000 bags of gold. In some translations it is said 10,000 talents. In that, I searched out a talent, it is the equivalent of  75 pounds. So, he owed the king 750,000 lbs. of gold, or in 'now' equivalent, he owed the king $1,352,250,000. So, over a billion dollars. The king knew the servant didn't have the dough, and so he ordered the servant, his wife, his children, and all his stuff to be sold so that he could regain some of what was owed. The servant plead his case to the king, and in that, the king was so moved that he decided to cancel the debt. 
    So this servant is free and clear, and he continues to go on with his life. Shortly after that he runs into one of his workmates, who owed him 100 pence(KJV). Okay, it was more than likely a silver shekel, which is said to weigh approximately 1/4 ounce, so with today's market, it would be the equivalent of $800. When the first servant sees his debtor, he proceeds to rough him up, and then press charges against him so that he is place in prison until he could repay the debt. When the king found out what the first servant had done, he decided his fate, he repealed the forgiveness and had him not only placed in prison, but tortured until he could pay the debt back, which in reality, was not possible, so I'm betting that the servant lived out his days in prison, being tortured by his captors. One quick perspective, the Romans were in power at the time. They were the masters of torture and death, they had refined it an art, and Jesus made sure to say that the first servant was tortured, not just jailed. 
    With all of this told, there is one more verse to this chapter, in the words of Christ, 
    'This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother and sister from your heart' - Matthew 18:35
     For me, this is often the hardest part of my walk, forgiveness like love is supposed to be unconditional, and in that, many who know me, know that holding grudges was one of the things that I was once good at. I would often joke that I was still looking for the doctor who spanked me, and he was gonna pay when I found him. Time and time again, I struggle with this, but I know that in that, God has graced me with forgiveness, and what kinda idiot would I be not to be thankful. In that, I feel it is my duty to pay it forward, and as hard as it is, to forgive as I would want to be forgiven. 

Three

    When we talk of the teachings of Jesus Christ, we are called to love, to reflect His love. We are not called to judge those or impose laws on those who do not know Him. We are called time and time again to love, to love unconditionally. In Hebrew there is no exclamation point to express importance, so in that, repetition is used. The more it is repeated, the more importance it holds, and if it is repeated 3 times, it is declared to be of the utmost importance. The example I was given by the person who taught it to me was this, say someone would say 'never, never, never,' in Hebrew, to properly translate that to English would be, 'no, never, not ever, never under any circumstance.' The first time, it is important, the second time, it is something that should be never forgotten, the third time, it should be imprinted on your soul. In that, 'love one another', is used 11 times in the New Testament. 
     I feel that so many of us have established so many conditions on which we 'love one another'. It has become tainted in so many ways we can't count. We are quick to condemn those who don't know Chirst, and yet, we are to do no such thing. We are called to love them, and that's it. The times when condemnation is used in the New Testament, is only when there are those who have already come to the faith, not before. We attempt to impose and enforce 'God's will and laws' on those who don't even have a relationship with Him.Even in Leviticus, a book which lays down some very strict laws and guidelines for the Israelites to follow says the same thing. 
     
     Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. - Leviticus 19:18

     The foreigner residing amongst you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. - Leviticus 19:34

     That's twice in just that book, and as some of you know, Leviticus is a pretty hard-line approach for laws that the Israelites were to follow. 

     Time and time again we are told to love unconditionally, especially when it comes to those who don't know Christ. We are called not to judge. We are called to not impose laws that we ourselves cannot follow. 
In the council of Jerusalem Paul is quoted saying
     
     Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke neither we nor our ancestors could bear? - Acts 15:10
     
     And that was for the believers, not the non-believers. In the gospels, the only time Jesus reprimands people is when they are doing something incorrect within the walls of a church or are believers who are perverting the word for their own purpose. He NEVER reprimanded a non-believer for the lives that they led before they came to faith. He just loved them, and in that I believe that when it comes to dealing with non-believers, we are called not to open our mouths in any way shape or form of judgement. We are just commissioned to love them. 

   
   

Two

     I had written out 7 different things that I found let's say interesting, in that, I was given some other things to write about. So instead of those things, I will be writing about some other things. I will still bring them out as the time is right, but I feel guided to bring this first.

     In the past few weeks I have heard time and time again about 'the candidates'. My opinion, words about either candidate, and the state of the country, is kinda like words about your senior high president and the state of your high school grades. The most discouraging thing to me, that no one could just deabte, they had to go forward on some type of attack, when, let's face it, this country, economy, so on and so forth didn't happen overnight. It was a long time coming, it was not over either political party, I find both have faults, but it was over Greed, Gluttony, Lust, the list goes on and on. We did it to ourselves, and we just can't seem to face that reality. Everyone got greedy, and only a few profited from it for long term. We can all look back on when we had more, and was it more wants or needs? I could rant on that alone all night, but I wont.

     My point, we are busy to blame everything else when we serve a God who commands us to call to Him. We serve a God who says, 

    "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes what he says will happen, it will be done for him." - Mark 11:23

   

 What do you think His power can do for a governmental shift?

    

 What do you think He can do for a state of an economy?

    ...for every animal of the fores is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. - Psalm 50:10

He says things like...

        

     Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know -

 Jeremiah 33:3

And yet we as Christians can't get it together enough in these United States to even see that? I heard no general call to prayer from any and all sides to help us seek the leader that God ordained, I heard no call that we must get together and discuss what our course of action should be as a whole, when it comes down to it, we will talk over and over again about partisan politics, but will avoid at all costs the giant rifts between churches. 

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. 

1 Corinthians  1:4

As I see it, we need to get our poop in a group, sure we may not agree on some things, but when it comes to the teachings of Christ and the movements of the Holy Spirit, I believe we need to press in so we can move forward. There is food appearing in the Philipines, and limbs growing back through the power of God. For all of you with ministries, how affective would it be for you to show God's strength and power by coming to that faith. The turning around and simply saying, 'This is the living God that I serve.' I bet you'd peak people's interest. The truth is, that is the God that we serve, we just need to press in, now more than ever. 

One

   I feel like there are some things that I have to get off of my chest. First of all. 

Acts 15 Verses 22-29

22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

Farewell.

     Ok, now to preface this. Most of us are considered Gentiles, if we are not Jewish, then this would apply to us if we choose to follow it. Now in that there was a great discussion within the church as in what to do with these new believers, since they were not raised in Jewish customs, would the laws of Jewish custom now apply to them? How would these people dress, look, act, and so on and so forth? 
     In that, they put together the ultimate biblical think-tank. They took the question far and wide, travelling dusty roads and byways to make sure everyone had some input into this great accord. There was much discussion, "Would they need to be circumsized?", Would they have to abide by all the laws of Moses?", and I'm sure there was plenty of debate. In the end, they all came together and sat down and wrote out the rules that Gentiles should adhere to to be 'Good Christians'.
      The rules? Are there pages and pages? Are there bylaws and stipulations? Addendums? Ratifications? Are there side articles?
      There are four. It would fit on a post it note, and there are no bylaws, stipulations, addendums, ratifications, or any of the such.
      
Those four rules are:
1. Don't eat food off of idols
2. Don't drink blood (actual blood)
3. Don't eat meat from a strangled animal
4. Abstain from sexual immorality

     Those the only for rules that have ever been installed by the greatest thinkers of the bible, some were men who had walked alongside of Christ himself. In that, they knew the man, they knew His heart. They had traveled far and wide to ask all that they could in "what does it take to be a 'Good Chirstian'", and that is exactly what they came up with. 
      So yeah, those are the four rules, and anything else, is quite simply not a rule. Are there other guidelines to 'following'? Of course, but in choosing to follow Christ's teachings there is an insatiable will to continue in finding the other things. Of course, as long as you "love they God with all they heart, mind, body and soul" and "love thy neighbor as thyself", you will just find yourself striving for a better you. But when it gets down to it, 'four rules' no more, no less, and in that... yeah. Do with it what you will. I love each and every one of you, and God does too. LLLAKYFOTPA XD