FLOYD

Proverbs 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.”

Proverbs 20:24, “Man's steps are ordained by the LORD, How then can man understand his way?”

I never cease to be amazed at how orders are steps and interactions in this perfect murmuration creating such beautiful blessing for His children.

On Thanksgiving Day 2016 I need to run to the convenient store, but the closer ones were all closed. I ended up a few miles down the road when I found a store open. Walking in, I encountered a fellow who had just finished cleaning the bathrooms. Seeing him prompted me to ask if he cleans bathrooms for a living. He said, “I will do anything.” Something about that statement and the man stirred the Holy Spirit within me. I knew at that moment that the extra miles were because God has something instore, but having loved God for so long, I knew not to predict what.

His name is Floyd, and I invited him to come to my store and clean the bathrooms there as well. I didn’t ask for his number, just told him where my store is and asked him to show up, and the very next day he did. I asked of course about is background. He was a layoff victim from the oil field doing small engine repair until his truck and tools were stolen. Of course, there was no insurance, and he explained how he would do whatever he could in walking distance of his home to make money. He would pick up cans, began cleaning the bathroom of a gas station near his home until he saved up $500 to buy a truck that barely runs, and looks worse. He told me a horrific story of how he ended up with sole custody of his adolescent son. But in it all he remained optimistic. He expressed his faith in God, and how God was taking care of him. His work ethic, faithfulness, and honesty are not found in many individuals of any economic level. Over the coming weeks, what started out as cleaning bathrooms once a day turned into nearly a full-time job.

It was no time when Floyd had completed all the projects I had for him and had worked himself out of a job when one of my employees asked if he could refer Floyd to a local municipality for a job. Gladly I agreed. Far be it for me to ever stand in the way of a blessing from God.

Now can you guess what happened? Floyd got the job, plus a significant raise from what I was able to pay him. He also drives a City vehicle, has health insurance at no cost to him, and continues to grow where he has been planted.

None of this is happenstance. Had I not been sensitive to the Holy Spirit I would have never talked to Floyd. Had my employee not been sensitive to the Holy Spirit he would have never referred Floyd. Had Floyd not loved God, well then who can even guess the outcome. What is clear, is that God will direct our steps. What is clear is that God is working for our good.

If reading this today you are Floyd, then know that God’s help is already in motion. In your struggle continue to grow into Christ, walk in truth and integrity, and your blessing will appear. If you are not in distress, be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. No one ever knows the true blessing that is released with a conversation or act of kindness.

Lessor of Two Evils

Phillipians 3:12 , “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.”

James 3:2, “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well.”

I am writing this 4 days before the 2016 United States Presidential Election featuring Donald Trump v. Hillary Clinton. And clearly this is the most divisive election certainly in my lifetime, but perhaps in the history of this great nation. I too, like most of American’s have been torn in whom to vote for. Hillary clearly has gotten away with criminal activity any other citizen would serve serious time for, and Trump clearly has many personality traits that could be dangerous, and a proclivity for immoral sexual behavior. So with this confusion I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. I weighed not voting, voting for a third party candidate, and voting for both Hillary and Trump.

My anger was that the Media for the third election cycle in a row selected the republican candidate most likely to be defeated. My candidate was Ted Cruz because I perceive him to be the most genuine and righteous. I was angry with the supposedly conservative party, the Republicans… and I wanted to send a message to them to get their act together.

And after weeks of praying. Weeks of complaining to the Father, I decided to listen instead of speaking. And it was then the Holy Spirit stirred in me this… “You are not focused on the true enemy.” I was looking at men, at organizations, at political parties and elite people of immense power. None of which are the problem. The problem… the enemy… is Satan. Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

And so changing my focus, I ask the Father, “what about these men (and women)?” And without hesitation the Holy Spirit replied, “They are all men, none are perfect accept Christ.”

In this revelation I know what I have to do. I have to vote for a human being, and pray for God’s will to be done. I have to choose the lessor of 2 evils in that they are all sinners, and I have to vote against Satan and his agenda. Jesus taught us in John 8:44, “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Who is the biggest liar? Who is forcing Satan’s agenda of acceptable sin? Who is pushing for the one world order, which is Satan? Who is the criminal? Who is the murderer?

Christ hung on the cross as a criminal, but was in fact blameless. Satan is a criminal in fact and deed.

For me the choice is clear. I don’t understand it, but I have peace about my vote. I have peace that I have made the decision that Christ wants me to. 

Creation & Science (Genesis 1:26-31) Part IV The Creation of Man

Genesis 1:26-31 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

At this point in the creation story God has prepared time and space, along with the heavens and the earth. He has created the earth’s ecosystem, and is now going to plant mankind onto the earth. For those unfamiliar with the creation account of Genesis, there are actually two versions of the creation. Genesis 1 through Genesis 2:3 being the first. The second account of creation begins in Genesis 2:4. Why God chose to allow two separate accounts to be immortalized in the Bible is up to speculation. For me, I have always viewed the first account as an overview, and the second version more of an in-depth look.

So without the Garden of Eden, without the creation of Adam first and then Eve, without the detail to be explored later, let us look at the importance of this passage.

First and foremost is the fact that God created mankind “in Our image,” and “according to Our likeness.” And even though these phrases contain multiple English words, they are in fact only two distinct Hebrew words in the original text. As single words they do allow us to dissect “Our” or “image” or “likeness.” Theologians argue “Our” is the trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Image and likeness are often equated with our bipedal human form, and our intelligence. I would argue this… “Our” is irrelevant in terms of whether the Father was describing Himself as a triune God, or whether He was referring to heavens inhabitants before the creation of what we know as our universe. But “image” and “likeness” infer some traits that make us uniquely created by the Divine. When God created us in His “image” he created us with both a soul and spirit. Jesus told us “God is Spirit.” He also said our spirit must be born again. The totality of our being shares within it this “image.” With regards to the “likeness” of God we were created with a free will. Our soul was enabled to make choices. Yes later sin enters the world through a bad choice, but from the beginning God made us with the potential to have a soul that can last beyond time and into infinity, and He gave us a free will for a single purpose. That purpose though not defined in the passage is to love Him. God loves us, and our creation in His “likeness” allows us to, of our own free will, love Him back.

The rest of the passage is our command to “be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” Strangely enough God gave us the ability to reproduce other souls. Not coincidentally, sex drives much of the adult population. Sure Satan and sin corrupt this command. But the driving force was placed inside of us by God Himself.

I won’t spend a lot of time on the rest of the passage, but it should suffice that God could have just as well said, now go and survive, and create.  God’s work is finished, now it is time for His creation to create.

Conversations with The Devil

John 7: 37-38, “…Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’’"

Lately I have allowed external pressure to bear down on me. My sleep is restless, my mind is in a constant grind, and my body is weak from the mental struggles. My spirit is calm and peaceful, but the world presses in on my flesh testing my soul.

This struggle lead to a conversation with myself this morning, that might has well have been a conversation with the devil. The internal dialog said, “you have never succeeded… look at all your failures… they doubt you for good reason… look at the money you have lost in your lifetime, ten people could have retired if you had not taken the risk.” The conversation was as real to me as Eve’s conversation with Satan at the Tree of Knowledge. But GOD…

Resisting my thoughts I turned to God. It was there the Holy Spirit recited to me Ecclesiastes 3, “There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven – A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to morn and a time to dance. A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. A time to search and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; a time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.” There is a time, and today is that time for my innermost being to flow rivers of living water. Today is a day for birth, it is a day of healing, it is a day of laughter and dancing, it is a time to embrace (what really is nothing more than a pruning), it is a day to search and keep, to sew together, to speak, to love, and to labor.

It is a day to stand firm against fear and paranoia. It is a day to continue because God has said, “keep going my son, this is just a season.”

Today is a Jeremiah 29:11 day where the Lord says, “For I know the plans I have for you… plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”

Today is a Romans 8 day, “And we know that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, to those called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son…” Today my soul grows stronger, to be conformed to the image Christ whether by choice or by force.

It is here where I breathe deep… letting the air release from my lungs I am bathed in the peace of God. I am embraced in the arms of the Father. I am energized, determined… fear is gone… I am alive in Christ. To linger here is my sole (and soul’s) desire. Tears of joy interrupted with the image of a father setting his son on the ground, patting him on the butt, and saying “go get them boy.”

Imagination? Believe what you want. I know the truth.

Self-Reflection

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”

There is so much about walking with Christ in salvation that is important.  Perhaps this message from the Apostle Paul is one of those critical things that we must do as Christians on a daily basis.

We too often fall into judging and blaming others without looking at ourselves. Christ was constantly addressing this human flaw whether it was in Matthew 7:1 where He said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Or in John 8:7 when our Lord said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” How often can a person be honest with themselves? Who among us can look within our own heart and be honest about our own flaws, which are sin in so much as our character does not perfectly align with the character of Christ.

Trust me, just as we see the flaws in another, they see our flaws as well. Therefore it is critical to be in state of constant HONEST reflection of our character so that we will not fulfill Jesus’ admonishment in Matthew 7 & Luke 6:41 where He said, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” We must do as Paul says and not only recognize the Christ that is in us, but we must also recognize the character flaws that are not Christ.

Are we quick to anger? This is not Christ. Are we judgmental? This is not Christ. Are we constantly blaming someone else for who we are, or how we act? This is not Christ. Jesus from His very birth was persecuted. If anyone deserved to have a bad attitude about life, or an excuse for bad behavior it was Him.

Do we lack peace, and find ourselves in a constant state of stress and worry over finances, children, spouses, work, etc. This is not Christ in us. This is the testing of our character, and to see if through self-reflection and self-examination we will allow the Holy Spirit to perfect Christ’s character within us.

Mind you that I do not believe a single Christian goes through life trying to harm anyone. Many with good intent offer “constructive” criticism or “godly” advice when, if they would honestly examine their own heart in comparison to Jesus, they would find the evil they are confronting is their own ignorance and lack of understanding. This good intent is rejected because the hypocrite in us all outshines the good intentions.

Or do we suppose that our ability to pretend in public has become the sinless, perfect character we project? We can pretend all we want, but Jesus reminds us in Mark 4:22, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.” Truth, included the absolute truth of our character and the magnitude of Christ within us will be revealed. We must examine ourselves! When we truthfully examine ourselves, when we confess to the Father in prayer we will experience the forgiving power of God’s grace. We will become like the woman in Luke 7:47 where Jesus describes this affect, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

If we will test and examine ourselves our contributions to humanity will be love, not constructive criticism. Our contributions will be empathy and forgiveness, not judgment and advice. If we will get truthful with ourselves then we will with are very life not only be a disciple, but disciple others into the love of the Father, and into relationship with Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And I write to myself for I am a sinner with many flaws. I also know that I will always be a sinner, that I will NEVER arrive. But through self-reflection, through honest prayer to my Father I am decreasing so that Christ may increase. This is my path. Will you join me?

Self-Reflection

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?”

There is so much about walking with Christ in salvation that is important.  Perhaps this message from the Apostle Paul is one of those critical things that we must do as Christians on a daily basis.

We too often fall into judging and blaming others without looking at ourselves. Christ was constantly addressing this human flaw whether it was in Matthew 7:1 where He said, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.” Or in John 8:7 when our Lord said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” How often can a person be honest with themselves? Who among us can look within our own heart and be honest about our own flaws, which are sin in so much as our character does not perfectly align with the character of Christ.

Trust me, just as we see the flaws in another, they see our flaws as well. Therefore it is critical to be in state of constant HONEST reflection of our character so that we will not fulfill Jesus’ admonishment in Matthew 7 & Luke 6:41 where He said, “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” We must do as Paul says and not only recognize the Christ that is in us, but we must also recognize the character flaws that are not Christ.

Are we quick to anger? This is not Christ. Are we judgmental? This is not Christ. Are we constantly blaming someone else for who we are, or how we act? This is not Christ. Jesus from His very birth was persecuted. If anyone deserved to have a bad attitude about life, or an excuse for bad behavior it was Him.

Do we lack peace, and find ourselves in a constant state of stress and worry over finances, children, spouses, work, etc. This is not Christ in us. This is the testing of our character, and to see if through self-reflection and self-examination we will allow the Holy Spirit to perfect Christ’s character within us.

Mind you that I do not believe a single Christian goes through life trying to harm anyone. Many with good intent offer “constructive” criticism or “godly” advice when, if they would honestly examine their own heart in comparison to Jesus, they would find the evil they are confronting is their own ignorance and lack of understanding. This good intent is rejected because the hypocrite in us all outshines the good intentions.

Or do we suppose that our ability to pretend in public has become the sinless, perfect character we project? We can pretend all we want, but Jesus reminds us in Mark 4:22, “For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light.” Truth, included the absolute truth of our character and the magnitude of Christ within us will be revealed. We must examine ourselves! When we truthfully examine ourselves, when we confess to the Father in prayer we will experience the forgiving power of God’s grace. We will become like the woman in Luke 7:47 where Jesus describes this affect, “For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

If we will test and examine ourselves our contributions to humanity will be love, not constructive criticism. Our contributions will be empathy and forgiveness, not judgment and advice. If we will get truthful with ourselves then we will with are very life not only be a disciple, but disciple others into the love of the Father, and into relationship with Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit.

And I write to myself for I am a sinner with many flaws. I also know that I will always be a sinner, that I will NEVER arrive. But through self-reflection, through honest prayer to my Father I am decreasing so that Christ may increase. This is my path. Will you join me?

Creation & Science (Genesis 1:14-25) Part III

Genesis 1:14-25 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years;        and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so.    God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.         Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.             God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

As with Part II of this series I would refer you once again to Dr. Kent Hovind a.k.a. Dr. Dino. He has some very fascinating things to say you about the moon and the heavens. One thing worth noting is that science has so often argued that the universe is billions of years old. And yet the moon’s orbit around the earth linearly increases by fractions of an inch every year. The result being that if the earth is billions of years old then the moon would have originated from somewhere inside the earth’s crust, and would have had to launch from the earth’s surface. Same goes for the oceans. Oceans have a linear, measurable increase in salinity every year. In other words the oceans get a very tiny fraction saltier every year. If the earth was billions of years old, then the oceans would be as salty as the Dead Sea.

All of which is irrelevant to a man’s salvation, but important in the order of creation. So God creates time and space, He then creates the universe, earth, and commands the earth to bring forth vegetation. Now he is making an environment that is habitable to other life forms. Stars are formed, and our galaxy is interacting with time and space so as to fix the orbits of the planets and stars. Perhaps it is here where God causes the earth to wobble thus giving us the seasons, and the moon is placed in orbit creating tides. From these tides water is allowed to circulate, moving nutrients, and oxygen. From the seasons the earth is now regulating its temperature… all in preparation for life.

And then behold in fifth day God commands the waters to create life. “Let the waters teem with life,” He says. “Let birds fly above the earth…” Then He commands the creatures, “Be fruitful and multiply…” Yes it all is God’s creation as verse 21 indicates, but there is no mention of the mechanism. He commanded and the earth created. Neither support nor denial of evolution, and yet evolutionist acknowledge this order. The vegetation came first, and something crawled out of the ocean next. That’s the basic theory. And yet a book written thousands of years before Darwin has the exact order already laid out. This is not genius, this is divine knowledge place with mankind so that they would know God did it, when science later would learn the order, and seek to understand the mechanism.

It’s the Journey not the Destination

John 19:30, “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”

Having not written in so long my heart is overflowing with so much of what has been my conversations with the Father. And today a series of events, starting with Mary Kemp’s facebook post of “Confessions of a Pastor’s Wife” led to the outflow of this post.

Why do we as human beings get so caught up in ourselves and our emotions? Why do we get so focused on a destination? Even more so I wonder why the Bible does so little to address our emotions that really are such a huge controlling factor in our lives? Have you ever stopped and taken a deep look into what controls and influences your emotions on a daily basis? How much of our anger, emotional exhaustion, sadness, impatience is present because we have encounter obstacles to our destination of peace, happiness, financial success, the perfect family, the perfect marriage… the perfect anything?

It ought not to be this way. If Christ coming to the earth was about dying on the cross, then why wasn’t He nailed to it as a baby? If Christ’s only destination was salvation to a corrupted world, why did He rise from the dead? Christ coming to earth was about His journey here. It was about the words He said. It was about the people He met. It was an example in the trials He faced. How must the Son of God have felt when He could not heal someone, as was the case in His hometown. Christ felt pain. He felt emotion otherwise we would not know of His compassion. We would not know of His fear in the Garden of Gethsemane. Without Christ’s journey we would not have seen His human emotional despair on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me.”

Mary Kemp, whom I love, has for a very long time been in her husband’s (whom I also love) battle with cancer. Today her post, like so many before lays bare her emotional struggle with the journey. She knows and acknowledges God’s grace and mercy, but like us all, there seems to be the loss of focus that we have to be IN the journey. In the storm is Christ. In the tragedy is the shaping of our soul. So very very difficult to embrace, and even more difficult to understand.

How many of us have felt like Mary when she writes, “"There is a lot riding on this, Lord. People are watching us and seeing how we handle the pressure and how we respond to well, basically everything.” How many people think the answer is the destination beyond the storm.

If our actions (sin), or inactions (disobedience) are the source of our journey, then let us repent quickly. But if our journey is out of a pure heart, if it is based on walking in righteousness, then may that journey preform every work it has to do on our soul. Let us SHARE in Christ suffering.

I will tell you that Dusty and Mary are not on this journey alone. There truly is “a lot riding on this.” But it is not riding on the destination. It is riding on the journey. We all have the same fate in life. But we all have different journeys. Dusty is a God fearing man, and pastor of a very large church. Perhaps the journey the congregation shares with them is that they must learn to keep their eyes on God and never a man. Perhaps they need to more deeply explore their own souls. Perhaps there is someone out there whom God has commanded to pray but has not. Who knows? But in the journey is Christ, and Christ alone. And it is Him in the journey for all of us. Most certainly their journey purposefully includes emotional breakdowns, so that they can know Him more. It certainly includes Mary bearing her soul, that we all may benefit and ourselves know Him more. But don’t let any of us think for one moment that another’s salvation or relationship with God relies in our hands or with our actions, or with our journey. That was paid once and for all, and that responsibility and reward lies only with Him because of His journey.

Christ on the cross was not the destination. But a beginning of a new journey where He can walk with all of us, not just the twelve. Now you and I are in the boat of life with Jesus. Sometimes it is in a storm. Where is Christ? Is He asleep? Is He walking on the water? Is He praying? I can’t answer any of these questions for you, but I MUST ask myself these questions about my journey.

I will close with something equally as important. We do not get to question other’s journeys. But we can reflect on how their journey applies to our very own soul. And we must question our journeys to find Christ either exposed or hidden in them.  

Just as Christ could have been crucified as a baby, God to could call us to heaven immediately upon salvation. But He does not. The life we walk, the journey we take is good for our soul. As I preach to myself… we must learn to embrace the journey. A concept I am only infrequently acquainted with.

Creation & Science (Genesis 1:6-13) Part II

Genesis 1:6-13 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

There is a man who went to prison for not paying his taxes by the name of Dr. Kent Hovind a.k.a. Dr. Dino. Aside from not practicing Christ’s words in Luke 20:25, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's…” Dr. Dino has some of the most convincing arguments of proving up the Bible in terms of creation v evolution. If this is a subject that fascinates you then I would encourage looking up his YouTube videos and listening to them with the understanding that only Christ and the Father speak the complete truth. But fascinating arguments none the less.

That said, Dr Hovind argues that this scripture refers to the earth being encased in a water bubble. That above the atmosphere was a gigantic bubble of water. Remember, there was never rain on the earth until the time of Noah’s flood. It was this bubble burst was the primary cause to the biblical flood. It too would have led to higher oxygen content of the atmosphere, which would have led to reptiles and other living things growing to enormous proportions. For Dr. Dino this explains the dinosaurs, which too are mentioned in the bible.  

Moving into day 3 of the creation story I am drawn to one key statement by God. He said, “Let the earth sprout…” This theory of evolution, and it is just that… a theory and not a FACT, is not in conjecture completely contradicted by the word of God. God said, “Let the earth sprout…” He did not say ‘I will make plants,’ He commanded the earth to do it. How can the earth do that? Perhaps the mechanism is some evolutionary process? Perhaps something else, but why do Christians doubt the infallibility of the word of God based on incomplete science.

My point is that life has enough distractions without allowing some ungodly intellectual to convince you that thier human reasoning, and study of science can every compare to expanse and greatness of a God who not only created the universe, but set everything in it in motion.

The smartest man I have ever know personally was a Catholic Priest and my high school math teacher. His name was Father Leininger. He told us that he read a novel a night. When asked how he did it he said, “Do you have to sound out every letter in a word to say it and comprehend it? Well I first taught myself to read two words at a time, and then three words at a time, and then a sentence in the same time it takes to read a single word.” Eventually he trained his brain to read a whole page at a time. And we even tested him on this, and it was remarkable that he could read a whole page in a second and then answer detailed questions about its content.

This impossible task was accomplished with the human brain, and yet even the highest IQ individual is a complete imbecile when compared to the understanding, comprehension, capabilities, reason, judgment, love of the Father. God will never be found to be a liar, whether we understand His words of not. But there is plenty of science to prove God, though so many are unwilling, or unable to accept it. Our tasks as Christians is to approach with faith, positive faith, patiently waiting to understand the truth. Until then, we should question science in view of the Bible, and not the Bible in view of science even though the Bible will stand any test given it.  

Father Leininger

Creation & Science (Genesis 1)

Genesis 1:1-5 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.”

One thing that I really don’t see a lot of in the Christian world is the discussion of Genesis. But as a child I attended a Church of Christ private elementary school, and in every chapel period we heard another story from the Old Testament. These were valuable lessons that stick with me today some forty-five years later. Additionally we were taught that the Bible is the infallible word of God. That every word is true and inspired by God. So as I aged and was confronted with science and the educational system, it led me to questions. Questions of the infallibility of the Bible as the word of God. In Catholic high school I was taught that scripture was not necessarily perfect, but perfect for instruction, for symbolism, for the Christian, but not necessarily completely factual. But I would argue that it is indeed infallible. That not one word contradicts observations by Science. So let’s begin here, it what very well may be a multipart series.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” God existence is eternal. He never had a beginning, and never will have an end. He is not bound by time and space. And in Genesis 1:1 we see that God is creating time and space as understood by Albert Einstein. He created the dimensions. He created a space outside of his plane of His existence in that moment. God, in this act, created Gravity… gravity being the interaction of energy with time and space. So God’s first act in the creation of the universe we know was to create the canvas for which to paint it on. He created time and space, and by default gravity.

“The earth was formless and void…” There was no earth, there was only time and space which to the writer most likely appeared as water. God moved over the surface of time and space. Or perhaps literally this new dimension of time and space was born out of God’s manipulation of water. Clearly I do not understand the literalness of this verse, but at the same time my lack of understanding does not make it any less true. The point is time and space was created first, and there was nothing but time and space.

“Then God said, ‘Let there be light…’” Here God might have well said, ‘E=MC²” “Let there be light” as said by God, established the law by which energy would interact with this new creation of time and space. E=MC² dictates that when Energy exceeds the speed of light (C) then mass is formed. Yet until just recently science dictated that the speed of light could not be exceeded. However recent discoveries suggest that our universe is expanding faster than the speed of light, which offers plenty of explanation as to how mass is formed. And so not God has the canvas of time and space, the paint of the transformation of energy to mass, and his creation of the universe as we know it is about to begin. But first he must separate the light form the darkness.

The darkness, most likely know by science as dark matter, remains but a theory with no concrete evidence of fact. But certainly to come, and certainly the God particle comes from this one line of scripture.

“God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” This act of God call an evening and a morning a day will be critical later in study of Christianity and Judaism. A God day starts at sun down, not midnight. 

Peace

Matthew 10:34-39, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves sone or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it."

I was at lunch the other day with my Dad, and as his tradition he blessed the food. But in that prayer he asked God for peace. Immediately Matthew 10 came to mind, along with an understanding of what Jesus was teaching us.

Regardless of your beliefs; life has difficulties. As I write this I have a step-son in jail, 3 friends in epic struggles with cancer threatening their lives a too early an age. Another friend struggles with being left by his love. And I am sure you can come up with your own examples of peace robbing distress. These difficulties, these challenges are very much the sword Jesus describes. Luke called the sword "division." But this division that on the surface appears as turning family member against family member are really nothing more than God dividing our traditions, our teachings, our idea of religion from what is truly a living relationship with Him. Are you... are we... standing on a tradition taught to us because of the family we were born into? Or are we standing on a vivid relationship to the Father. If we are standing on a real relationship then by necessity of our soul and character we must have a life that confronts "healing doctrines." If we stand on relationship then by necessity we must have a soul changing life that confronts "prosperity doctrine," ministry doctrines, being saved by works, church attendance, tithing, sin and all other things that were meant to lead us to God and relationship; but that have been exploited and misused by "religion" and tradition. The division divides truth from fiction. The division is proving our soul, it is refining our soul's relationship to the father.

John 14:26-27, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."

Christ again reminds us that our peace is not going to be found in family, or suedo families like churches, local groups, or others at all. In those things there are too often traditions. Helpful as they are in leading to Christ, they are not Christ and we each must individually walk our own path. My cross is not your cross. My path is not your path. But if I seek God, if I faithfully step today where He says step, then I am listening to His teacher the Holy Spirit. Circumstances and the path may be scary as hell... but my soul has peace. In this we fulfill loosing our lives to find it for His sake.

Be blessed, and peace be with you.

It’s Not What You Do… It’s Who You Know

Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will says to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”

I think that I could write another book based on Chapter 7 of Matthew, but today I choose to focus on just these 3 versus. And the reason is that with the Pope visiting the US today, I can’t help but look back in my life and look at the false importance I gave to Ministers and ministry. Too often I believed that a particular Pastor was closer to God than I could ever attain myself. Even in my own self-worth I valued casting out demons, and seeing God’s miracles of healing over my relationship to Him. I wanted to see the miracles, and if I am truthful wanted others to see the miracles so that I could judge myself, and be judged by man as being closer to God.

But man’s judgments… even our own judgments, do not count in our relationship to God. We cannot ask ourselves if our jobs have importance. We cannot count on our pious acts to afford us eternal life. On the contrary we must ask ourselves, do we know Him? Or perhaps we should ask, does He know us?

And so as the Pope visits attracting millions to his masses. As Catholics faint in his presence, I wonder aloud. Does Pope Francis know God? Does he have a relationship with Christ? Though truly the answer is none of my business as I do not follow him, I also wonder aloud, do I know Him?

To that question I have a resounding answer, YES!

What is your answer to the question of, do you know Him? Do you know God the Father? Do you know His Son?

If you cannot say without qualifier, “yes” then by all means look for someone who teaches knowing Christ.

Being Pope does not mean you know Christ. Being a convicted felon does not mean you do not know Christ. That is a question that can only be answered in your heart.

What I can tell you with certainty, is that if you want to know Him. If you will seek Him, you will find him. (Matt 7:7) Seek HIM!

The End Times

Psalm 125:1-2, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forevermore.”

There are a lot of good people in this world that believe we have hit the “end times.” People worried about a myth of “global warming.” Others afraid of the Mayan Calendar, and Planet X causing massive global floods. Others believe America is going to hell in a handbasket because of Gay Marriage, and liberals in control of the government media complex. Isis, Iran, radical Islam have many in fear, or looking for Christ return.

If these are your concerns, if these thoughts consume you… cause you to hoard food, ammo, or make survival plans, then I would challenge you to stop and reflect on your relationship to God. If you think a homosexual getting “married” has anything to do with your own salvation then turn inward. Examine your own heart, and call out to God for wisdom. Proverbs 2:6, “For the Lord Gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

To those who think global violence is a sign of Christ return, for those who “fear” the tribulation, I would remind you of Jesus’ own words. Matt 24:6, “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are NOT frightened, for those things must take place, but THAT IS NOT YET THE END.”

For those worried about floods, either by Planet X of Global Warming… God will not be found a liar. Genesis 9:11, is as true today as it was the day He spoke it. “I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood destroy the earth.”

For those who think Gay Marriage is the end of America, please read John 8. Sin is sin is sin. There is no distinction between adultery, homosexuality, lying, or any other sin. And yet Christ said, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone…”

Have faith. Have faith that does not worry about predicting the future, but trust in God being in complete control of it. Believe what Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…”

Love God, and everything else will take care of itself.

Never forget Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.”

The end is not near, no nearer than it was a thousand years ago. Pursue God, love God, and you will be undeterred by these distraction. You will stand in confidence on your day of judgment.

Poverty is Curable

Matthew 26:11, “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me.”

I used to read this scripture in the light of pie economics. Pie economics being the world is a pie, and if someone has, then by necessity someone cannot. In other words, my slice of pie keeps you from having any. But once I realized that the world’s resources are not a pie, and nothing is ever used up, it is only moved I turned to inflation to argue that the poverty is incurable.

Inflation in its simplest form is too many dollars chasing after too many goods. So if we took a room full of people ½ poor, and ½ rich and after 12 hours with no food gave all the poor people $100, what would happened when someone brought a pizza in for sale? The richest man would buy the pizza for thousands, and sell off small bites for $100 each. And thus the rich get richer and the poor are once again poor, as inflation eats up what the poor man has. And so logically, in a finite world Jesus’ statement of always having poor stands correct.

Problem is that Jesus did not say that Poverty was incurable.

Reality is that no resource is exhaustible. It simply moves from one place to another, and the value of resource is nothing more than its recovery and transportation costs. I.e. water. We drink water, then we excrete water which goes to a treatment plant, to a stream, evaporating, making clouds and raining somewhere. Or the aluminum can… the aluminum is dug out of the ground, made into a can, that eventually ends up in a landfill… where one day it can be dug out of the ground again when the cost to recover raw aluminum is too great. Or oil even… pulled from the ground, refined, and ultimately burned where it is broken down into carbon and other elements that enter the atmosphere, and except for the extreme costs could be recollected and reconstituted into oil once again. And it is in this cycle that we see what wealth, and its antithesis poverty are about. Wealth is having resource move through your local, your hands at great velocity, versus poverty which is resources moving very slowly. We don’t get to keep anything… it just flows through us.

Velocity is the difference between wealth and poverty. And in such it is possible to increase the velocity so that anyone could become wealthy, and if not wealthy certainly with less lack.

And so Jesus was not saying poverty is incurable, but that we would “always have the poor with” us. He was saying that we will always have people in the condition of poverty. There will always be people on the earth are in positions of resource scarcity.

So how in a modern area where any person can be anywhere in a matter of hours, and at most days are there places, even in modern America can there be places where resources do not move with any velocity? How can people in the middle of metropolitan areas find themselves in a desert? Or how can people in the middle of a desert find themselves well satisfied?

The answer I believe is spiritual. Spiritual not in the since of blessing versus curse, but spiritual in the sense of where God chooses us to be. Because in an instant God can open up resources. In an instant He can change the velocity of resources (including money) that flows through your hands. What is important is not wealth or poverty, but in Christ there are wealthy and poor. What only matters is Him. We must have Christ whether poverty is cured or not. We must have Him whether we have resources or not.

Paul wrote, “To me, to live is Christ.”

And of this scripture T. Austin-Sparks wrote, “In the wilderness the whole of our natural life is brought out, and we come to know our weakness and emptiness; that we have nothing. Thus it is that we now find everything in Christ and so can go over and possess. What is the secret of possession, of coming into our inheritance? It is that we have come to the place where all things are "in Christ" and He is everything – our very Life and being. Our flesh is cut off and we know as the deepest thing in our being, that unless God does everything in us by His Spirit, all is of no value. We must come to an end of our own working in order to come into His fullness. It is so easy to sit down in our weakness and nurse ourselves, but the Lord says at that point, "Arise and possess." Your inheritance is not here on earth, it is in Christ in the heavenlies; not in yourselves, your fullness is in Him. It is ever His Fullness over against your emptiness; His Strength over against your weakness; your inheritance is all He is, as typified to Israel by the land flowing with milk and honey.”

Poverty is cured in Christ. But if in poverty, understand its blessing. To be emptied is to be given the opportunity to discover that we are nothing, and that Christ is everything. To cross through the wilderness is to be prepared in your soul, in your character for the inheritance.

Life Is Really Not That Hard

James 4:5-7, “You ask and you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: "He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us"? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

I have such a wonderfully fresh perspective of this passage, though perhaps James can be read a little harshly. But what was going on in these followers was life. There were people bitching and complaining. Life was good for some, and for those that life was hard on they were jealous and envious. Truly nothing different from today, and truly nothing different from what has been in my heart in my own struggles.

Why me God?

Have you ever said that?

God I am in need, and look at that person over there… they have so much and don’t deserve it.

But it is God’s grace that He allows life to cause us to submit to Him. It is a miracle that we who want the world instead find turmoil that brings us to the very end of ourselves.

All we want is God’s blessings, and in turn get hardships… This hardship too is God’s blessing. It is compelling us to come face to face with our own inadequacies, and to bring ourselves into the submission of the Omnipotent God. When we allow life’s hardships to humble us we also find the grace of God.

When we find ourselves in these hardships the natural reaction is to try and get out of them as quickly as possible. But the spiritual action should be to submit to God, to get behind Him, to find out what is His next step. God cannot move us to the end or the hardship without us walking each and every step behind Him to the exit. We must complete what He has for us in the moment… we must seek first the kingdom of God in the moment, in the circumstance… then “all these things will be added to you.” (Matt 6:33) 

Follow Me

Matthew 10:38, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.”

This past year has been an absolute odyssey of learning to actually follow Christ. Key word being “Follow.”

Like most I want the blessings of God. Like the devout I pray constantly. Like the charismatic I even hear God’s whispers in my mind from time to time with instruction, encouragement, and the occasional admonishing as well. But I have always tried to get out in front of Him.

If thought for a moment that God wanted me to go to a place, I have always taken that to mean get there however you can. Or worse took it to mean, He will get me there regardless of the steps. But to God it is the individual steps that are more important than the destination. When we follow God, we step where he steps, and we stand where he stands. And it is this lesson, that is intentionally contrary to name it claim it, prosperity message and teaching. This lesson is intentionally contrary to any idea of earning, or even convincing God to give us His blessing that man as promoted through religious doctrine. His blessing is in the footstep. His blessing is in the following, not the destination.

Oh the destinations can be glorious, but the real lesson, the real blessing is in learning to follow.

A year ago God told me that for me 2014 would be entrepreneurial. It was an idea I rejected having been there before. A month later He told me to approach a friend, later to approach a stranger, and as I saw His path forming, I ran ahead, and by the grace of God ran into one stonewall after another. Each time returning to Him looking for direction, and each time running ahead once I had it. But over the course of a year He taught me to get behind Him. How precious the lesson. The destination we have paused is peaceful, hilarious, with new faces, a new career, new energy, new love, new abilities, a NEW LIFE.

I am blessed! And I am blessed because I am standing in His steps. 

Grace, Condemnation, Repentance

Ephesians 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God;

Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Luke 24:47, “and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Acts 3:19, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that time of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 7:10, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.”

I have a dear friend of mine, one who I promoted, a person I trusted, someone I considered a godly man and an example commit adultery, and have a 5 ½ month affair with a woman half his age. But if that statement does not anger you, let me add some fuel to the fire, because I want you anger to burn so that the Holy Spirit might quench it.

This man of course has a wife, otherwise it would not be adultery. But he also has 2 children in the most vulnerable years of their life who love their Dad very much. He also has a ministry… a ministry of helping those with troubled marriages, various addictions, and just the bumps of life. All of this “good side” of his life have been forsaken… for what?

Apparently unrepentant… (I can say that because Jesus said repentance bears fruit (Matt 3:8)) he continues to cohort with his concubine. So is this one of those cases the writer of Hebrews 10:26 speaks of when he says, “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.” I pray not. But certainly this could very well be an example of too much reliance on Grace without considering the value of repentance.

The very foundation of Christianity is the principle of we are saved by grace through faith. That if we will simply believe in the unseen, unmerited favor or God, then all things will be all right. And modern Christianity understands this… or does it? What is the extent of the grace?

In Romans Chapter 7 the Apostle Paul talks about the everyday struggle with sin that WE ALL have, even after salvation; and in conclusion of this thought he says it must be sin in me, and not I that sins. To which he then says, that if it is Sin and not me, then “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ…” And so we use this to not judge and condemn behavior. We use it to justify our own sin-- that we are out of control, but the grace of God will overcome, and there should be no condemnation… and if no condemnation no consequences.

But for us the sinner there still remains a responsibility. No there is no condemnation. Yes we are all susceptible to sin. But Christ came to preach repentance for forgiveness of sin. The kingdom of God is at hand… repent. Yes we all sin, but to those who are in Christ… we feel sorrow for that sin. And that sorrow leads to repentance.

And so my babble comes full circle. My friend is caught in open adultery. What do I do?

Well first I pray… a lot.

Second I try not to be condemning in my communications with him. I do not tell him he is going to hell, that is not my call. But I do as gently as I can share God’s word. I do sometimes forcefully try to get him to acknowledge he is an adulterer. Let’s get this clear, he is not neglected by his wife, he does not have a bad life, there is no excuse for his choice.

Third, I wait for him to wake up. And if he does not… then I will practice 1 Corinthians 5.