In the Sunday magazine section of the Sun Times there is one of those online quizzes for determining how long you'll live. I know they are mostly bogus. This one probably is no different.
But, if you are over 50, and if you are curious the place to look is eon.com
It asks all kinds of questions most of which I flunked. Weight (too big), Exercise (none), Stress (yes), Diet (disastrous).
Then it asked the key question, how long do your people live.
I answered.
They decided according to this "Test" that I am going to be 90 or more when I change worlds. Most of my people are and do. So, if you are curious at all. Take a peek.
I think I'll have another bar of candy. No wait, I'm still on that fast. So, next Sunday.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
I'm not Shocked, but the Magnitude Surprises even ME
Drat those dirty blasted rats. In deep weeds. Oh Shoot. Or just RATS!..........
I try NOT to curse if I can help it. Some of those appellations above are those which I use instead of. Oh, I know how. I'm good at it. I slip. I practiced for many years before I got saved. Sometimes I slip up real bad, but not as bad as the Godless Left.
Gateway Pundit has a study done of the liberal left wing godless blogosphere versus the right wing God fearing patriotic American blogosphehe. I love using that kind of hyperbole. Anne Coulter has taught me well.
The upshot of it all is if you use the gauge of the 7 words you can't say on TV as delineated by George Carlin you will see that the left uses those words in blogs and comments 18 times more often than the right does.
Why is that?
Here are some possibilities:
Or, does that foul mouthed language on the part of the left prove anything at all? Who knows?
But I am shocked at the difference. We really are two Americas. I like the one that doesn't constantly call me a #$^*(&%(*&%R)**(*_+)&_ or say (*)&%#@_&_+#&+)(@# in front of my wife.
You can keep the other one. By the way, there is a report on our potential first female President Hillary. Quotes from people who worked with and know her.
She fits right in with the foul mouthed left.
Maybe I WON'T vote for her
I try NOT to curse if I can help it. Some of those appellations above are those which I use instead of. Oh, I know how. I'm good at it. I slip. I practiced for many years before I got saved. Sometimes I slip up real bad, but not as bad as the Godless Left.
Gateway Pundit has a study done of the liberal left wing godless blogosphere versus the right wing God fearing patriotic American blogosphehe. I love using that kind of hyperbole. Anne Coulter has taught me well.
The upshot of it all is if you use the gauge of the 7 words you can't say on TV as delineated by George Carlin you will see that the left uses those words in blogs and comments 18 times more often than the right does.
Why is that?
Here are some possibilities:
- The right is more moral
- The right is more caring
- The right is more courteous
- The right is more kind
- The right is more intelligent (My mom told me that using that kind of language was a sign of stupidity, of course they vote lefty, sooooo......)
- The right is more cultured
- The right is more articulate
- The right is more god fearing
- The right is right
Or, does that foul mouthed language on the part of the left prove anything at all? Who knows?
But I am shocked at the difference. We really are two Americas. I like the one that doesn't constantly call me a #$^*(&%(*&%R)**(*_+)&_ or say (*)&%#@_&_+#&+)(@# in front of my wife.
You can keep the other one. By the way, there is a report on our potential first female President Hillary. Quotes from people who worked with and know her.
She fits right in with the foul mouthed left.
Maybe I WON'T vote for her
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Buffet Line Christianity updated
If you have children you know the drill. Kids don’t like anything you try to feed them. They just want to eat McNuggets, french-fries and a shake.
Even a good meal of steak, twice baked potatoes, creamed brussels sprouts, mushroom gravy, crusty warmed rolls and a 5 green salad with balsamic vinegar will be rejected for the old familiar.
Chicken McNuggets, fries and a shake.
Christianity today is much like that. People want to pick and choose. They like this but don’t like that. They want to tell God what to serve; and if they don’t like the taste or if it’s unfamiliar or strange they shun it for the familiar and bland.
The Book of Hebrews addresses this. The writer says, “by now you should be eating the meat of the word but you are stuck on milk. Grow up and start partaking of the real thing.” Gene's Revised Version
So, 50 year old baby Christians sit suckling when God is calling them deeper. It s a crime. They think they are mature Christians for 50 years when the truth is they are 1 year old baby Christians 50 times.
Jesus calls his disciples together for the last supper. He breaks bread, hands it around and says, “Take and Eat, this is my Body”.
Today we would have some CHINOs (Christians in name only) saying “I don’t like bread, I’m full, I want an apple instead.” Like little kids.
Jesus takes the Cup, he hands it around and says, “Drink ye ALL of it, this is my blood given and shed for you for the remission of sin”
Today in many churches some would say, “No thanks, just drank of something else, I’m not that thirsty”.
When Jesus said, Drink ye ALL of it, there is no real difference if you interpret that verse, drink ye all of it, (Every One of You) or (Consume the whole thing). The principle is the same. You don’t have a choice. When the command comes down it is to be acted on without waffling. Christianity is not a buffet lunch.
So the question I was prompted to ask this morning by Nancy Minor is this: Have YOU drunk ALL of it? Are you willing to drink all of it? Or are you treating the goodness and grace of God like a buffet line, picking and choosing what you want to drink or eat leaving the rest behind.
Our destiny was to be among those identified with his divine power. We are to belong to God and all that is Him and His. Sound, whole, happy, belonging to or coming from God. Nothing broken, nothing missing. Our minds purified, renewed and under control of the Holy Spirit. Shedding the sin sickness that resides rises up in our flesh as we are growing from glory to glory.
Then, there is drinking all of it which sometimes means there is sorrow in the way. That sorrow is not the focus, but the JOY set before us as it was before Jesus; that alone allows us to endure in victory. We enter the sorrow when we weep over a death, doubt, unbelief, fear, those in darkness, those deceived, souls lost and headed for hell. None of us are excused. He said, "Drink ye all of it." That requires something of each of us. But there is JOY just ahead if we faint not.
When I was 8 years old we went to see my godparents. Ferd Schmall. Momma Schmall had boiled some eggs. They wanted to know if I wanted an egg. I said ok. When it was peeled the egg yoke was green. They get that way. I didn’t want to eat it. It seemed strange. Momma Schmall cried. She had laid something before me and I rejected it. She showed me in that moment the heart of Jesus.
Like that steak dinner I described earlier, Jesus grieves when he sees his people pick and choose what he died for and what the Father sent for our comfort. I believe the great apostasy in the Church of Jesus in America today is a general rejection of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit being poured out around the world. The American Church is saying, “We want comfortable food. We don’t want steak. It seems strange. We never ate steak before.”
Jesus went back to the Father's side so that the Holy Spirit could come and live in his people with his comforts by manifesting Himself in Healing, Supernatural Miracles, Supernatural Knowledge, Prophecy, Speaking in other Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Supernatural Words of Wisdom, Extraordinary Faith, and Spiritual Discernment.
Much of the traditional religious church rejects these things or picks and chooses what they want to embrace from the spiritual meal set before them. The come up with all kinds of strange unbiblical doctrines like "the gifts are not for today? " That’s funny; I experienced them just this morning. So did most of Christendom around the globe. Only in the western wasted Christian world do we even engage in this heresy of buffet Christianity. People in Africa, South American and China are much more hungry than we are and clean the spiritual plate with gusto. We are fat and lazy.
We claim we want all of Jesus but we are picky eaters. No steak for them. No sir. “Chicken McNuggets, Fries and a Shake. Now that’s my kind of Christianity. My father ate McNuggets, My grandfather ate McNuggets and we got along fine. We don’t need steak. I'm not sure we even need to eat steak. Others can eat steak if they want to but not us.” BUNK! You need everything Jesus provided for life. There’s so much more and you are ignoring it or throwing it away.
And like Momma Schmall, Jesus looks at those who claim his name and is heartbroken as they reject His gift. He said Drink ye ALL of it, and we say either NOT ME or NOT ALL.
Shame on us! God, save the Church in America before its too late. I fear it may be too late for most of the church in America.
Even a good meal of steak, twice baked potatoes, creamed brussels sprouts, mushroom gravy, crusty warmed rolls and a 5 green salad with balsamic vinegar will be rejected for the old familiar.
Chicken McNuggets, fries and a shake.
Christianity today is much like that. People want to pick and choose. They like this but don’t like that. They want to tell God what to serve; and if they don’t like the taste or if it’s unfamiliar or strange they shun it for the familiar and bland.
The Book of Hebrews addresses this. The writer says, “by now you should be eating the meat of the word but you are stuck on milk. Grow up and start partaking of the real thing.” Gene's Revised Version
So, 50 year old baby Christians sit suckling when God is calling them deeper. It s a crime. They think they are mature Christians for 50 years when the truth is they are 1 year old baby Christians 50 times.
Jesus calls his disciples together for the last supper. He breaks bread, hands it around and says, “Take and Eat, this is my Body”.
Today we would have some CHINOs (Christians in name only) saying “I don’t like bread, I’m full, I want an apple instead.” Like little kids.
Jesus takes the Cup, he hands it around and says, “Drink ye ALL of it, this is my blood given and shed for you for the remission of sin”
Today in many churches some would say, “No thanks, just drank of something else, I’m not that thirsty”.
When Jesus said, Drink ye ALL of it, there is no real difference if you interpret that verse, drink ye all of it, (Every One of You) or (Consume the whole thing). The principle is the same. You don’t have a choice. When the command comes down it is to be acted on without waffling. Christianity is not a buffet lunch.
So the question I was prompted to ask this morning by Nancy Minor is this: Have YOU drunk ALL of it? Are you willing to drink all of it? Or are you treating the goodness and grace of God like a buffet line, picking and choosing what you want to drink or eat leaving the rest behind.
- Do we forgive, really?
- Do we comprehend what our Redemption really means and what it cost?
- Do we act as if we were full citizens of heaven here on earth, do we live in the fullness of hope and reality in “On earth as it is in heaven” here and now?
- Do we live in the relationship with Jesus alive and renewed every day?
- Have we really drank of the cup deeply, all?
- Do we really hear the call of the deep calling unto deep?
Our destiny was to be among those identified with his divine power. We are to belong to God and all that is Him and His. Sound, whole, happy, belonging to or coming from God. Nothing broken, nothing missing. Our minds purified, renewed and under control of the Holy Spirit. Shedding the sin sickness that resides rises up in our flesh as we are growing from glory to glory.
Then, there is drinking all of it which sometimes means there is sorrow in the way. That sorrow is not the focus, but the JOY set before us as it was before Jesus; that alone allows us to endure in victory. We enter the sorrow when we weep over a death, doubt, unbelief, fear, those in darkness, those deceived, souls lost and headed for hell. None of us are excused. He said, "Drink ye all of it." That requires something of each of us. But there is JOY just ahead if we faint not.
When I was 8 years old we went to see my godparents. Ferd Schmall. Momma Schmall had boiled some eggs. They wanted to know if I wanted an egg. I said ok. When it was peeled the egg yoke was green. They get that way. I didn’t want to eat it. It seemed strange. Momma Schmall cried. She had laid something before me and I rejected it. She showed me in that moment the heart of Jesus.
Like that steak dinner I described earlier, Jesus grieves when he sees his people pick and choose what he died for and what the Father sent for our comfort. I believe the great apostasy in the Church of Jesus in America today is a general rejection of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit being poured out around the world. The American Church is saying, “We want comfortable food. We don’t want steak. It seems strange. We never ate steak before.”
Jesus went back to the Father's side so that the Holy Spirit could come and live in his people with his comforts by manifesting Himself in Healing, Supernatural Miracles, Supernatural Knowledge, Prophecy, Speaking in other Tongues, Interpretation of Tongues, Supernatural Words of Wisdom, Extraordinary Faith, and Spiritual Discernment.
Much of the traditional religious church rejects these things or picks and chooses what they want to embrace from the spiritual meal set before them. The come up with all kinds of strange unbiblical doctrines like "the gifts are not for today? " That’s funny; I experienced them just this morning. So did most of Christendom around the globe. Only in the western wasted Christian world do we even engage in this heresy of buffet Christianity. People in Africa, South American and China are much more hungry than we are and clean the spiritual plate with gusto. We are fat and lazy.
We claim we want all of Jesus but we are picky eaters. No steak for them. No sir. “Chicken McNuggets, Fries and a Shake. Now that’s my kind of Christianity. My father ate McNuggets, My grandfather ate McNuggets and we got along fine. We don’t need steak. I'm not sure we even need to eat steak. Others can eat steak if they want to but not us.” BUNK! You need everything Jesus provided for life. There’s so much more and you are ignoring it or throwing it away.
And like Momma Schmall, Jesus looks at those who claim his name and is heartbroken as they reject His gift. He said Drink ye ALL of it, and we say either NOT ME or NOT ALL.
Shame on us! God, save the Church in America before its too late. I fear it may be too late for most of the church in America.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
All in an 8 Hour Day's Work - Kill Their Mother
I have been hard on Islam in this blog. President Bush after 9-11 maintained it was a religion of peace hijacked by a few nutcases. I love our President, but he was wrong about this.
I have on the other hand agreed with Martin Luther that at it's core is evil as written in the Koran. I have postulated that the Anti-Christ will arise out of Islam. That the conquest of the whole world at the edge of the sword is Islam's goal. That people, even good people, even good Christians, who deny that this battle is engaged, that we are at war, that there are Chamberlainesqe wimps among us who would try to appease will take us even deeper into this war.
Then I read this article from the Jerusalem Post. In one 24 hour period there were 3 honor killings. An honor killing is common in Islamic countries. If you as a Woman bring dishonor or are thought to bring dishonor on your family, you can expect your brother or father to murder you. He will get off scott free. It's just that pesky old Islamic way. From the Article:
Reverse that process and she is buried standing up to her breasts in a hole in the ground and with a gunny sack pulled over her head is stoned by village elders until dead. Then left there to rot.
Great stuff that Islam. We are at war for civilisation here folks. And, what's worse, the liberals in this country think Israel is to blame, or Christians, or whatever. Not Islam. OK, I'll bite. When was the last Honor Killing you heard about in Israel? or Toledo? (Lots of Christians in Toledo).
If you want to see this kind of horrible aberration in your town or village in AMERICA just do what you are doing and put your head in the sand. Maybe it'll all go away. Not too likely. If we don't stand with our President against this aborted evil religion over there we'll end up standing for it over here.
Time is short, where do YOU stand?
I have on the other hand agreed with Martin Luther that at it's core is evil as written in the Koran. I have postulated that the Anti-Christ will arise out of Islam. That the conquest of the whole world at the edge of the sword is Islam's goal. That people, even good people, even good Christians, who deny that this battle is engaged, that we are at war, that there are Chamberlainesqe wimps among us who would try to appease will take us even deeper into this war.
We should seek by all means in our power to avoid war, by analysing possible causes, by trying to remove them, by discussion in a spirit of collaboration and good will. I cannot believe that such a programme would be rejected by the people of this country, even if it does mean the establishment of personal contact with the dictators.Winston Churchill, the great Peacemaker, said before WWII, "If you seek appeasement you will get war". They did and they did and he was right. This is true in life, work, church, politics and warfare.
–Neville Chamberlain
Virtuous motives, trammeled by inertia and timidity, are no match for armed and resolute in action. A sincere love of peace is no excuse for muddling hundreds of millions of humble folk into total war. The cheers of the weak, well-meaning assemblies soon cease to count. Doom marches on.
Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Then I read this article from the Jerusalem Post. In one 24 hour period there were 3 honor killings. An honor killing is common in Islamic countries. If you as a Woman bring dishonor or are thought to bring dishonor on your family, you can expect your brother or father to murder you. He will get off scott free. It's just that pesky old Islamic way. From the Article:
Three Palestinian women have been murdered in the Gaza Strip in the past 24 hours, Palestinian Authority security officials and local residents said.
The bodies of the women were discovered early Tuesday in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. The motive for the killings remained unclear. One of the victims, a 35-year-old mother of four, was found near the beach. She had been shot at least 13 times in different parts of her body, said a PA security official.
The other two women were killed separately and their bullet-riddled bodies were discovered late Monday.
The security official said he did not rule out the possibility that the three women were killed by male relatives in the context of what is known as "honor killings." Such killings are not unusual among Palestinians and many Arab countries. At least 25 women are murdered every year in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for "bringing shame" on their male relatives.
Reverse that process and she is buried standing up to her breasts in a hole in the ground and with a gunny sack pulled over her head is stoned by village elders until dead. Then left there to rot.
Great stuff that Islam. We are at war for civilisation here folks. And, what's worse, the liberals in this country think Israel is to blame, or Christians, or whatever. Not Islam. OK, I'll bite. When was the last Honor Killing you heard about in Israel? or Toledo? (Lots of Christians in Toledo).
If you want to see this kind of horrible aberration in your town or village in AMERICA just do what you are doing and put your head in the sand. Maybe it'll all go away. Not too likely. If we don't stand with our President against this aborted evil religion over there we'll end up standing for it over here.
Time is short, where do YOU stand?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The opposite of PRIDE isn't Humility
Last Night Peggy and I went to the opera. We often do. When I see a good one (they are nearly always good) I comment. This is that. We went to see an opera from the mid 20th century by Francis Poulenc.
In French. Dialogue of the Carmelites.
The opera is based on a book of the same name recording the actual events that took place during the French Revolution. The event that ends the opera is 16 nuns (Carmelites) losing their lives at the Guillotine. It really happened. They went willingly rather than deny Jesus.
It was dramatic, not very lyrical (which means you can’t hum the tunes) and movingly staged. The last scene of the execution was wrenching.
There was a great deal of psychological drama in the play. The play is about the conflicts in facing persecution that several of the Sisters of Carmel go thru. Even facing death they chose rather to die with each other than deny Jesus. But not without fear or doubt.
It was haunting because many of the attitudes of the rabble exhibited are exactly the same we hear from the press and the atheist humanists of today. If they thought they could get away with it they would cut our heads off too. There is a war going on and Christians aren’t even aware. More than 200 million people worldwide are being persecuted to the point of losing their lives for the cause of Christ. It’s coming here too.
I am going to order a libretto of this opera. The only ones I found on the Web were in French and Spanish. My French and Spanish are kind of rusty.
This was really something in its depth. It turns out that there are actually groups in the Catholic Church that study the libretto for clues about how we deal in the human drama with persecution and when death is certain.
There is one great truth that came from the opera that when I heard it I jerked a piece of paper out of my pocket and wrote it down immediately.
The Mother Superior says to Sister Blanch of the Agony of Christ,
“The opposite of Pride is not Humility, It’s Courage, Courage in submission to the purposes of God”.
I almost stood up and yelled Amen.
We have been taught all our Christian lives to avoid being prideful by remaining humble. That is wrong. When I hear this I immediately thought of Moses. Moses was not prideful. He really didn’t want to do this, go to Egypt, lead the people, cross the Red Sea and all that 10 commandment stuff. He would have been happier staying in the back part of the desert in the sheep biz. Then there was that burning bush thing.
God called him. God anointed him. God sent him. He went forward into the fray with the courage only found in knowing who you are in God. He wasn’t perfect but he walked in confidence in God. That is MEEKNESS. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man alive. Yet he was brave. Humble as in self-demeaning? No, but when he was submitted to God’s purpose he was without pride.
PRIDE IS EVIL!
o Pride will keep you from witnessing.
o Pride will keep you from doing something spiritually right others might think stupid.
o Pride will keep you from charging in to confront the devil wherever he rises up when angels might fear to tread.
o Pride will inhibit you from pure worship.
o Pride will cause you to stay with tradition and religion when God is calling you to break out.
o Pride keeps people from the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (“If God wants me to speak in tongues he’ll have to make me”); Well don’t worry about it, you never will with that prideful attitude.
o Pride causes people to take the reigns from the hands of the Holy Spirit and tell him to get in the back.
o Pride will cause a man called of God to back down in the face of opposition because he might “Lose”.
What he doesn’t know, is if he is truly submitted to God, he’s already lost it all. And he has gained everything. There’s lots of talk in the Church about laying down our lives for Christ. Mostly it’s blah blah blah. When I hear some people say it, the line between misrepresentation and blasphemy is almost crossed.
The opposite of pride isn’t humility; it’s COURAGE in the Holy Spirit.
We need fewer humble people and more people with courage who operate in the Church of Jesus. Too many times humility leads to inaction from fear and pride. I did a study of the use of the words Humble and Humility in the Bible. They are nearly always humble not before one another, we are to be strong and courageous there, but humble before God. Only Jesus was said to have HUMBLED HIMSELF. I guess he did. To the cross. But it was courage.
I have this question. What would the Church in America be like if we got over ourselves, searched the word of God for his purposes, followed his order, did what the book said, and forgot what the critics howled about? We don’t. We should.
I grieve for the prideful backslidden CHINOs (Christians in name only) that populate most churches in America. When the tough times come they will run and hide like little rabbits; denying Christ and sealing their fate for hell. Pride makes them unreachable, unteachable, and unmovable. We are in such deep weeds.
In French. Dialogue of the Carmelites.
The opera is based on a book of the same name recording the actual events that took place during the French Revolution. The event that ends the opera is 16 nuns (Carmelites) losing their lives at the Guillotine. It really happened. They went willingly rather than deny Jesus.
It was dramatic, not very lyrical (which means you can’t hum the tunes) and movingly staged. The last scene of the execution was wrenching.
There was a great deal of psychological drama in the play. The play is about the conflicts in facing persecution that several of the Sisters of Carmel go thru. Even facing death they chose rather to die with each other than deny Jesus. But not without fear or doubt.
It was haunting because many of the attitudes of the rabble exhibited are exactly the same we hear from the press and the atheist humanists of today. If they thought they could get away with it they would cut our heads off too. There is a war going on and Christians aren’t even aware. More than 200 million people worldwide are being persecuted to the point of losing their lives for the cause of Christ. It’s coming here too.
I am going to order a libretto of this opera. The only ones I found on the Web were in French and Spanish. My French and Spanish are kind of rusty.
This was really something in its depth. It turns out that there are actually groups in the Catholic Church that study the libretto for clues about how we deal in the human drama with persecution and when death is certain.
There is one great truth that came from the opera that when I heard it I jerked a piece of paper out of my pocket and wrote it down immediately.
The Mother Superior says to Sister Blanch of the Agony of Christ,
“The opposite of Pride is not Humility, It’s Courage, Courage in submission to the purposes of God”.
WOW!
I almost stood up and yelled Amen.
We have been taught all our Christian lives to avoid being prideful by remaining humble. That is wrong. When I hear this I immediately thought of Moses. Moses was not prideful. He really didn’t want to do this, go to Egypt, lead the people, cross the Red Sea and all that 10 commandment stuff. He would have been happier staying in the back part of the desert in the sheep biz. Then there was that burning bush thing.
God called him. God anointed him. God sent him. He went forward into the fray with the courage only found in knowing who you are in God. He wasn’t perfect but he walked in confidence in God. That is MEEKNESS. The Bible says that Moses was the meekest man alive. Yet he was brave. Humble as in self-demeaning? No, but when he was submitted to God’s purpose he was without pride.
PRIDE IS EVIL!
o Pride will keep you from witnessing.
o Pride will keep you from doing something spiritually right others might think stupid.
o Pride will keep you from charging in to confront the devil wherever he rises up when angels might fear to tread.
o Pride will inhibit you from pure worship.
o Pride will cause you to stay with tradition and religion when God is calling you to break out.
o Pride keeps people from the Baptism of the Holy Ghost (“If God wants me to speak in tongues he’ll have to make me”); Well don’t worry about it, you never will with that prideful attitude.
o Pride causes people to take the reigns from the hands of the Holy Spirit and tell him to get in the back.
o Pride will cause a man called of God to back down in the face of opposition because he might “Lose”.
What he doesn’t know, is if he is truly submitted to God, he’s already lost it all. And he has gained everything. There’s lots of talk in the Church about laying down our lives for Christ. Mostly it’s blah blah blah. When I hear some people say it, the line between misrepresentation and blasphemy is almost crossed.
The opposite of pride isn’t humility; it’s COURAGE in the Holy Spirit.
We need fewer humble people and more people with courage who operate in the Church of Jesus. Too many times humility leads to inaction from fear and pride. I did a study of the use of the words Humble and Humility in the Bible. They are nearly always humble not before one another, we are to be strong and courageous there, but humble before God. Only Jesus was said to have HUMBLED HIMSELF. I guess he did. To the cross. But it was courage.
I have this question. What would the Church in America be like if we got over ourselves, searched the word of God for his purposes, followed his order, did what the book said, and forgot what the critics howled about? We don’t. We should.
I grieve for the prideful backslidden CHINOs (Christians in name only) that populate most churches in America. When the tough times come they will run and hide like little rabbits; denying Christ and sealing their fate for hell. Pride makes them unreachable, unteachable, and unmovable. We are in such deep weeds.
Unbroken Habit
I will say little. For those of you who know me, you will know what this is about. I miss the contributions of a blog that is silent for now. It promises to refire sometime the end of next week. Didn't think I would miss the read. I do.
Sometimes old habits are hard to break.
This is that.
Habit.
Sometimes old habits are hard to break.
This is that.
Habit.
Asleep at the Wheel
This cut me to the heart. I think it may some of you. Yes even you my brother. It is worth reading all the way thru. Written by my Pastor Friend Olufunso Omadarian from Nigera. Color for HIGHLITES are MINE!
I have to get to work. So do YOU!
I have to get to work. So do YOU!
A LITTLE SLEEP, A LITTLE SLUMBER
We will take our thought from the book of Proverbs.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:
11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man. Pro.6:9-11
A careful look at our text shows that a sluggard is given to sleep. A sluggard is a lazy or slothful man. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the arm to sleep…everything comes as a little thing. A lazy man folds his arm to sleep, because he does not like to play a productive role in the race of life. The Lord is sounding it clear to anyone who cares to learn that laziness is an evil cankerworm that we must hate with every fibre of our soul. There is absolutely no blessing in being lazy as we can find here:
4 ¶ He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.Pro.10:4
A lazy man deals with a slack hand, even in the most vital and pertinent issues of life.
Besides, a sluggard has no future. He is accursed, in whatever form he may want to excuse himself.
24 ¶ The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute. Pro.12:24
A sluggard is simply hopeless in life. He should not be expected to make any headway, unless if he changes his way.
4 ¶ The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat. Pro. 13:4
JUST A LITTLE SLEEP
Upon a careful look at the Scriptures, it seems sleep is a regular feature of a lazy person. The Spirit of the Lord will show us a little more on this.
15 ¶ Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. Pro 19:15
13 ¶ Love not sleep, lest thou come to poverty; open thine eyes, and thou shalt be satisfied with bread. Pro 20:13
Slothfulness casts a man into a deep sleep, he does not just want to do anything but to sleep and sleep! The Bible also says to not love sleep. Is it then an offence to sleep at all? Not so sir! We need to understand some ominous effect of sleep however. Sleep is a common denominator in all kinds of laziness. For instance, some people are mentally lazy; they don’t want to engage their minds in productive and value-added thinking in life. Great achievers are usually great thinkers. All great efforts or achievements are often products of some thought. Mental laziness is the most innate form of laziness; a mentally lazy fellow is asleep in mind, even when a good thought or initiative comes to their mind, another immediate counter thought of impossibility or possible attack comes to their mind.
Pr 22:13 ¶ The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets.
Pr 26:13 ¶ The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets
A negative thought always comes to cast a limitation to a possible step of progress. Kindly ask yourself, ‘how many divinely granted inspirations have I aborted through my unbelief and fear’? Thus, a lazy man is a risk-averter; they always give excuses to avoid taking needful risks. On the other hand, all those who have made productive impact upon their generation are risk-takers. It is very risky to dare to be a success, you know. The common overall result of all forms of laziness is poverty as we have found in the previous Bile verses- Pro. 13:4; 19:15; 20:13.
Nonetheless, God does not call us to overwork ourselves, He Himself worked for six days and rested on the seventh. In fact, there is no blessing in being a mere workaholic. It drains strength from one and ultimately renders the person unfit for the next work. There is always a next work to do. We need rest. We need to sleep. Sleep is a gift from God, if used in its right perspective.
1 ¶ Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. 2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep. Psa. 127:1,2
Moreover, the Lord does not want us to be so full works that we fail to depend on Him for His blessing. While it is a vain thing to keep working without having God’s favour upon our lives and works, it is also a curse to be a sluggard in life. Some people do rise up very early for work and come back home so late and always earn so little. The Bible says this is a vain thing. Some others don’t even like to rise up for work, they love pleasure and beautiful things; they always look for easy money and don’t love to take challenges. They are lazy drones! No wonder, some became thieves and deceivers because they refused to be engaged in legitimate jobs.
Begging is another attribute of a pathological sluggard. A Sluggard will end up as a beggar. Some people have become habitual beggars and have thus become social misfits or nuisance.
Pr 20:4 ¶ The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing
This is simply showing us that begging is a curse. Some became beggars today because they refused to work beforehand. Begging is a cheap hideout or escape route for those who lack the virtue of working hard.
OUR SAFE HAVEN
In the midst of the two extremes (laziness and overworking) lies the perfect will of God for His children. We are to draw a balance. That is wisdom, so to speak. We need to work and we must work very well; we also need to rest after a well-done work. In divine agenda, work precedes rest. If you haven’t worked, don’t rest! Remember, God also rested on the seventh day, after six days of working.
Rest is a virtue; yes taking our rest is good. In fact a rest or sleep adds more value to our labours in life, but not vise versa. If we make sleep our main business in life, we are doomed. A lot of things will not just take shape if we do not put our potentials to work.
Do not rest before your time. It is dangerous. It could make you a slave under tribute. God forbid!
14 Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens:
15 And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant unto tribute. Gen 49:14,15
We must be determined to be the best the Lord has ordained for us to be in life. The Lord has instructed us to occupy till He comes. This is an absolute requirement for anybody who wants to be successful in any area of life. Our attitude should express our readiness to become what we are called to be. In other words, we are to be diligent to make our calling and election sure, for indeed we have been called and elected according to His grace, but we have a role to play in God’s prophetic agenda for our life (2Pet.1:10).
The Lord wants all of His children to be actively involved in every bit of work that will cause them to be found in the center of His will. There is a work the Lord is bound to do, for as much and for as long as you are available at your duty posts in life. God is glorified in us as we labour in accordance with His eternal purpose for our lives. This ramifies all aspects of existence- be it spiritually, materially, martially, intellectually, financially, socially or otherwise. Amen.
YOU ARE TALENTED; IN FACT YOU ARE A TALENT!
Whether, you are cognizant of it or not, you have been endowed with one talent or the other. The clock keeps ticking and ticking. You will soon be called to give account of what you have done with every gift of grace in your life. They are meant to be put to work. Do not forget that you have a contribution to make on earth, that’s why you are still alive. The cumulative effect of your life and existence is of eternal consequence.
As New Testament believers, we must take heed to every instruction of the Lord for us in His Word. God does not reckon with lazy souls. He does not commit enduring treasures to a ‘wicked and slothful servant’. Despite the fact that he was entrusted with only one talent, he still proved irresponsible and unreliable. A lazy man is a waster (Mat. 25:14-30).
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat.25:26-30
The parable of the talents gives us a graphical picture of God’s principle and expectation for His servants. We are all here on earth on trust as stewards. We shall give account of all we do. There are lots of things that we can possibly do and achieve on behalf of the One who called us. The will of God is further expressed by this exhortation:
11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rom12:11
This truth touches all aspects of life, as we have already affirmed. There is no excuse for laziness. All slothful souls will regret at the end of the day. There is something called dignity of labour. Let us all rejoice in the fact that God has enabled us to make meaningful contributions to the overall advancement of humanity. God is glorified as well.
Dr Olufunso J Omidiran
LIVING SWORD MINISTRIES INT'L (Healing unto the Nations)
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Are You Qualified? - Conclusion Part 1
Thru this series I have illustrated by example the character and characteristics of those who were qualified to be in leadership of Churches and Ministries in the Book of Acts and the new Testament Churches of the day.
What were the main things qualifying all the Men and Women listed in the prior postings? What universal imputation did they possess? What were the common denominators that qualified people for leadership in the first century church.
I will not tell you. It will become real to you as we explore the scripture surrounding this. Then I will ask you to be very personally insightful. Are those who are in leadership in many churches in America, Europe and Canada qualified in a first century new testament sense? If not why? What can we do about it.
Then, we have to ask how in the world did we drift so very far from the qualifications established in those foundational days to what exists in most of the churches of the western world? How can we get back?
Let's see if we can unwrap the commonalities:
There were new testament leaders who were most likely present in the upper room at the Pentecostal outpouring:
Barnabas, Stephen, John Mark, Phillip.
How do we know? They are all men selected early in the Church and were noted for being men of Faith, Wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit. They were probably followers of Jesus before the ascension. They would have likely been at the Mount of Olives and obeyed the command of Jesus to go and wait for the outpouring. The evidence is that there were as many as 500 people at the ascension. Only 120 were there at the day of Pentecost in the upper room. So, these four were people faithful and wise and full of the Holy Spirit.
A second group were those who were saved and received the Holy Spirit after the day of Pentecost:
Paul at the laying on of hands by Annanias, Timothy when Paul laid hands on him, Crispus and Titius Judas, (Paul Baptized at least one of them and it may be well assumed probably both) and according to the admonitions to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians it must be assumed they received the Holy Spirit. Apollos received the Holy Spirit at the hands of Pricilla and Aquilla who received the same from Paul so that they were able to minister it. Then the 12 Disciples who it can be argued became a core leadership group for the Church in Ephesus who received the Holy Spirit at the Hands of Paul.
Each of these leaders were first and foremost people who were full of faith and the Holy Spirit. That seemed to be the main issue in selecting early leaders. You couldn't be lukewarm about selecting leaders. It takes greater fire to start dead wood.
One conclusion in all this is the transference of the impartation of the Holy Spirit and Power by the laying on of hands for the most part.
Second, Leaders were called out by the Prophetic voice among them. Paul first called out by Jesus, then by the Prophets at Antioch. Barnabas received his commissioning the same way. The prophets spoke and commissioned them.
Phillip and Stephen were selected by the Apostles were appointed by Jesus who carried the gift of the Prophetic after Pentecost. Crispus and Titius Judas were put in place by Paul operating under the wisdom of the Holy Ghost. Priscilla and Aquilla were called out from and into the marketplace by the anointing of the Holy Ghost thru Paul and eventually became a way to encourage others to go deeper.
Without trying to push the envelope it is apparent that the first decades after Pentecost when the Church was born it was normative that if a leader was installed at any level, even as an elder, he or she had to be one who manifested faith, wisdom, good character and the Holy Spirit.
Next: Examples
What were the main things qualifying all the Men and Women listed in the prior postings? What universal imputation did they possess? What were the common denominators that qualified people for leadership in the first century church.
I will not tell you. It will become real to you as we explore the scripture surrounding this. Then I will ask you to be very personally insightful. Are those who are in leadership in many churches in America, Europe and Canada qualified in a first century new testament sense? If not why? What can we do about it.
Then, we have to ask how in the world did we drift so very far from the qualifications established in those foundational days to what exists in most of the churches of the western world? How can we get back?
Let's see if we can unwrap the commonalities:
There were new testament leaders who were most likely present in the upper room at the Pentecostal outpouring:
Barnabas, Stephen, John Mark, Phillip.
How do we know? They are all men selected early in the Church and were noted for being men of Faith, Wisdom and full of the Holy Spirit. They were probably followers of Jesus before the ascension. They would have likely been at the Mount of Olives and obeyed the command of Jesus to go and wait for the outpouring. The evidence is that there were as many as 500 people at the ascension. Only 120 were there at the day of Pentecost in the upper room. So, these four were people faithful and wise and full of the Holy Spirit.
A second group were those who were saved and received the Holy Spirit after the day of Pentecost:
Paul at the laying on of hands by Annanias, Timothy when Paul laid hands on him, Crispus and Titius Judas, (Paul Baptized at least one of them and it may be well assumed probably both) and according to the admonitions to the Corinthian Church in 1 Corinthians it must be assumed they received the Holy Spirit. Apollos received the Holy Spirit at the hands of Pricilla and Aquilla who received the same from Paul so that they were able to minister it. Then the 12 Disciples who it can be argued became a core leadership group for the Church in Ephesus who received the Holy Spirit at the Hands of Paul.
Each of these leaders were first and foremost people who were full of faith and the Holy Spirit. That seemed to be the main issue in selecting early leaders. You couldn't be lukewarm about selecting leaders. It takes greater fire to start dead wood.
One conclusion in all this is the transference of the impartation of the Holy Spirit and Power by the laying on of hands for the most part.
Second, Leaders were called out by the Prophetic voice among them. Paul first called out by Jesus, then by the Prophets at Antioch. Barnabas received his commissioning the same way. The prophets spoke and commissioned them.
Phillip and Stephen were selected by the Apostles were appointed by Jesus who carried the gift of the Prophetic after Pentecost. Crispus and Titius Judas were put in place by Paul operating under the wisdom of the Holy Ghost. Priscilla and Aquilla were called out from and into the marketplace by the anointing of the Holy Ghost thru Paul and eventually became a way to encourage others to go deeper.
Without trying to push the envelope it is apparent that the first decades after Pentecost when the Church was born it was normative that if a leader was installed at any level, even as an elder, he or she had to be one who manifested faith, wisdom, good character and the Holy Spirit.
Next: Examples
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