Enemies Of The Cross

The apostle Paul had led a life of extremes — and with good personal reasons.     As a “good” Pharisee, he totally opposed Jesus and all Christians.     Because Paul had no understanding of how Jesus really was the fulfillment of all sorts of Old Testament prophecies, all he could think was that Jesus was a blasphemer and liar of the worst sorts.     In his zeal to get rid of all blasphemers, Paul persecuted the early church by dragging Christians out of their homes and throwing them into prison.     He witnessed against them and approved of their being stoned to death.

Such was his self-righteousness, pride, and zeal for getting things done his way.     But, when Christ appeared to him and revealed the truths of God’s plan of salvation, Paul was mortified to realize that he had actually been opposing God with all the hatred that was in his heart.     The resurrected Jesus let Paul know that he was to become a preacher of truth and suffer many trials and tribulations because of his preaching.     Then, in a complete turn-around, Paul humbly accepted his lot from the Lord, realizing the utter importance of being totally obedient to God Almighty — and not to his misguided feelings.

That said, as we read Paul’s letters to various churches, we can easily see how he was always instructing people to live on the straight and narrow path of obedience to the Lord in truth — not according to their own personal feelings, desires, or understandings — but with faith in God’s love and salvation through Jesus Christ.

When the Philippians were struggling to live for God in the right way, they often were challenged by so-called fellow Christians, who wanted to force ungodly ways upon them.     Because they were confused, Paul’s heart was breaking for them — and he had to warn them in Philippians 3:18-19,

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,  whose end is destruction,  whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame,  who set their minds on earthly things.

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…

Paul could say that because he himself had been one of those “enemies of the cross”.     But, after instruction from the Lord and time in deep searching of God’s word, Paul had all the proof he needed to realize that salvation truly is in Christ alone —  no matter what the opinion of the world might be.     With his positive assurance, Paul was now willing to suffer many great hardships and even die for the truth of the gospel.

As Paul willingly suffered, he refused to back down from the truth in an effort to have his punishments lessened.     Now, Paul had a zeal for the truth — and not a zeal for promoting his own opinion.     As Paul suffered beatings and imprisonment, he was honored to be counted worthy by the Lord to have an opportunity to stand up for the gospel.     Paul even joyfully endured punishments, because he realized God’s love for him.    

In the strength of God’s love and the promise of heaven, Paul says in Philippians 4:13,

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

And — so can we, as we lean on the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.     Instead of being an “enemy of the cross”, figure out God’s love for each of us by studying His word — and know that you can have confidence in His salvation — so much so that you are always glad and willing to live and witness according to His eternal truths — and not according to misguided feelings.

As we let God strengthen us in His truths, we say,  “Hallelujah!     My Lord, thank You for changing this “enemy of the cross” into a true witness of Your love on the cross.     May I always serve You honorably because of the greatness of Your love and sacrifice for me.”

Love,  
Margaret

A devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and King of kings…

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PTM WEEKLY UPDATE — NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Stop the political noise pollution
An open letter to friends and family — please remove me from your anti-Obama email lists!

Please . . . if you can’t help sending out anti-Obama emails, YouTube videos, jokes, bumper stickers, cartoons, Facebook “causes,” sneering comments (direct or implied), unverified stories or other propaganda — I ask that you remove me from your e-mail and Facebook lists immediately.

I am receiving so many emails from people who claim to be “Christians” with their lips, but their emails are proving otherwise. It is very sad, not only to see so many people blinded by anger and ignorance, but even more people taking advantage of that anger and ignorance (and laziness, I might add) by starting and spreading these emails.

I know it’s so easy to get sucked into all the political noise and what-not (heaven knows I’ve wasted enough time with it). But the only thing these types of emails are proving is that America is certainly NOT being a Christian nation. America is being destroyed…not because of Obama, but because the people are destroying each other. It seems that many “Christians” don’t even realize that they’re breathing life into and becoming their very own “anti-Christ”.

I did not vote for Obama, or for McCain. In fact, I did not vote at all — I didn’t see any candidate worth voting for, and Jesus Christ wasn’t on the ballot. But I am SO sick of the political division, and especially wary of those who say, “Oh, we need to pray for our President!” — then turn around and, with a lazy push of the “send” button, forward these kinds of back-biting emails, crass jokes — or opinions disguised as “facts”.

Until we have learned to love God, love one another (including Obama) — heck, even love our enemies (Matthew 5:44) — what business does ANYONE have calling themselves a Christian? (1 Corinthians 13)

God have mercy on America.

Carol Harper

Carol Harper is an author, musician and Plain Truth contributing writer.

RETURN TO PTM WEEKLY UPDATE CONTENTS PAGE

MIGHTY MAN OF VALOR? … REALLY?

I promise this essay will be a mind-blowing exploration into the revelation of scripture, but first you have to let me get all down and dirty with some issues that I have been struggling with! Come on now people, let the illusion go. Your brother Jacob is no better than you, beneath the  handsome good looks, the adonis like chisled frame, the wit, the devilish charm, and superior  intelligence, there is indeed a mere mortal, who just wants to be held… (Insert smiley face)… A man can dream after all.

But seriously, today is about some struggles I have faced of late, and what I have learned because of them.

This will be an enlightening time for us all, a time for you to see just have fed up I am with all the knuckleheads surrounding me, mainly. A time for me to VENT! Yes, that’s it. This paper is about gossip and nothing more! Nothing spiritual at all! I’m just going to rip some people apart, kick some but and take some names! How’s that for being in the world, but not of the world!!!!

Just kidding, although there is a part of me that would love to do just that, because of the pain I have endured recently. Yes, the Flesh is weak you see. But, the SPIRIT is willing and able to use my present suffering as a bridle to turn my feet toward righteousness and away from my sin (foolish thinking).

What is my sin here? You ask. Well, to think of my enemy in the wrong light. You see, my enemy is there not to destroy ME, although that is what they believe they want, but they are actually they to destroy my CARNAL NATURE. They are there to better me!

Whatever doesn’t kill us makes us stronger some would say. I say, whatever doesn’t KILL OUR CARNAL NATURE hasn’t done it’s job.

Those who hurt us are actually there to better us. They are like God’s chisel chipping away the unnecessary stone… I just wish they could also chip away some of that side fat to help me with those rock hard abs that my wife is crazy about!

Anyway, I think, my suffering over the years has made me a truly compassionate and forgiving child of God. I thank God for that. I thank God that although I don’t feel like the “Mighty Man of Valor” He recently reminded me that I am. I thank God, that He knows me to be thus, and, if God says it people, IT IS FINISHED and TRUE!  

Lately, there have been certain people, whose names, I won’t mention, MY WIFE’S MOTHER AND BROTHER, (see I didn’t mention their names) who have been doing all they can to tear my marriage apart.

This is nothing new, as it has been going on since my wife and I met many years ago. I promised dirt, Jacob delivers!

They had my wife so scared, she wanted to elope back then and not even tell them we were going to marry. I foolishly thought we should think higher of them, so I told her we were adults who both had full time custody of their children, that loved each other and wanted to marry each other, and I told Danielle they would approve, as I knew myself to be a good man, and her to be a good woman…

Well, telling her mother and brother went over as well as my twenty minute interpretive Belly Dance Audition for the hit show “So you think you can dance” last year! But, I still say I was robbed. And the jewel they placed in my belly button was far too big for my button. It was just downright uncomfortable, I mean who can perform under those conditions? … Back to the story.  

So Danielle listened to me and we told them we were going to elope. They invited us over to a BBQ. As soon as we got there, her brother cornered me and told me that my beautiful Fiance, my Angel, “Does this all the time with guys she dates, that she would leave me within a couple of years, and that she needs to be alone, that she doesn’t love me, or even know what love is, etc etc.” He called me names, mocked my faith (which he knew nothing about) as well as a bunch of other side comments. Then he wen’t to his sister and told her in front of my kids what a cocky jerk I was… 

Now unto Mommie Dearest… Well, I don’t even know where to begin with her. She has systematically tried everything she could do to tear our marriage apart over the years.

But within the last month it has gotten out of control, including making outrageous stories up about me and Danielle and calling the police to our house because “she worried I wouldn’t let her on the property to get her stuff out of our garage.”

She invited herself to stay at her house for a couple of days, which turned into a month, and every day she continued to do all she could to provoke me until I finally said, OUT DAMN SPOT!

With such people, no matter how hard you try to please them, it will never be enough. They see your happiness and their lack of happiness fuels their desire to rip your happiness to shreds. And no amount of good will toward them will change them. Continuing to do such only brings you more pain. This I have learned the hard way. After years of practice I must say.

So why am I writing this bloggitty blog? … Because I get a bunch of emails from people who believe that somehow I have everything figured out. They think foolishly, that I don’t struggle, that when people come against me, I say, Father forgive them, they know not what they do… as opposed to saying, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THEM? That I go into my prayer closet instead of seeing a therapist to talk things out every couple of weeks… WHAT? DID JACOB SAY HE SEES A THERAPIST?

That’s right “Church” I did! Why? Because I want to be healthy? Because God wants me to use every resource available. And because Diane ROCKS!

Now can I go on without seeing her? Very easily. But it is nice to be able to get an unbiased opinion about matters from someone whose job it is to do such things… And like I said before, Diane ROCKS! Sometimes we need other people to open our eyes to problems that we are too close too.

This nonsense that we are suppose to be sooooo very strong because we have God, has got to stop! That is the very disease eating away at us all. The instant we understand it is okay to say we are STRONG IN OUR WEAKNESS… then we will be strong. For in our WEAKNESS God’s strength is perfected.

LET THE WEAK MAN SAY HE IS STRONG!

This doesn’t mean pretend. This means, understand how strong you are BECAUSE YOU ARE WEAK! What we endure is not a curse but it is the very morter that BUILDS US and STRENGTHENS US and PERFECTS US!

If we condemn people for admitting they need help, or we mock people who seek help, or those who use medication, or those who talk to someone. If we judge people for going to a therapist, and yet we ourselves are broken, hurting, damaged, and are scared to admit this to anyone, how then can we ever find peace? I am not better or worse than any of you reading this right now. Perhaps I have greater insight, perhaps I love more, perhaps I have less insight, perhaps I love less, you see, after all, none of this really matters. What matters to me, is that after you are done reading this, you are stronger than before. 

I am not ashamed to say I go to a therapist. I am proud of it. I am no ashamed of the mistakes I have made. I am not ashamed of my past. I am doing the best I can and this is what I want all of you to understand because God believes this of you and more.

Now many will question why would I go and confess that I talk to a “secular” therapist and not some “christian” therapist or pastor about issues in my life… Well, I will give you one reason. GOD!

I am who I am with, because God has me there… and Diane ROCKS! So, instead of covering it up, and pretending I have everything totally under control…I am going to be transparent and tell you, I don’t.

Each day is a struggle. But praise God each day I keep on coming back for more!

LIES aren’t going to help you “Church”… THE TRUTH SETS YOU FREE! Here is something you should consider.

Two barbers in one town. On one side, there is a barber who has an awesome hair cut, his shop is clean, his tools immaculate. On the other side there is a barber with terrible hair cut, his barber shop is a dirty hot mess, and his hair cut looks terrible… Who do you go to to get your hair cut?

The answer is the dirty, nasty, barber, that’s who! The illusion is the clean guy would be the best bet, but the clean guy can’t cut his own hair, we saw how bad his work was by looking at the dirty barbers hair. But the clean barber had great hair, because the dirty barber was talented, he was dirty, but he gave the best cut in town.

Just because something looks good and sounds good doesn’t make it good “Church”. Judge a tree by its fruit. No matter how much you dress something up. The DIRTY TRUTH is better than a well dressed LIE.

I want to give you the TRUTH… You all need to know, you are NOT ALONE! You need to know, That God has you exactly where he wants you. That YES, we aren’t PERFECT. That YES, we do makes mistakes! That YES, we do have disease and suffer! And that YES THAT IS OKAY!

Because we are learning, because of all we suffer.

Praise God for that… I am not going to lie to any of you. I am not going to paint myself as a person or some master prophet with a WORRRRDDDDDD FROM THE LORD!

I am not holier than thou, I am NOT.

Like Paul, I am less than the least… But I will tell you, I know that I am awesome Husband, and an Incredible Father and Step Father, and a devoted, talented, and Unbelievable Employee, and great housekeeper and landscaper, and I am downright sexy people! (Insert smiley face)

I struggle, I cry, I feel insecure at times, I lose my patience at times, I want to give up at times, and I feel lost more times than I would like… But today I am telling you it is all for the GOOD!

Because God works EVERYTHING TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE THAT LOVE HIM… and I LOVE GOD!

It is easy to WRITE about how we should see to the person’s hurt and how we should understand it is their sense of lack that encourages such foul and vile behavior.  And yes I believe that is true… However, when you are a person who has been FORMED out of the DUST of their past suffering, as I have been, you are conditioned to want everyone to like you.

(Something I would never have learned without therapy, by the way.) Diane ROCKS! BTW

Past abuse, illness, alienation, etc, all played its part in making “Me” the co-dependent person I “think” I am/was today. And it is because of these co-dependent tendencies that I have/HAD allowed people’s ignorant horrible actions to steal my peace away. -

Instead of seeing the TRUTH, I enter the carnality of ADAM THINKING and I take these attacks literally. I forget why someone would be so cruel, when I have been so kind, and I hurt terribly because of it. And if I follow after the sad thoughts this abuse causes in me, I enter the gates of hell and there is no escape from it until I believe on the name of Christ… Until I remember the TRUTH again.

On June 11 of this year, I received three random emails, from three random people on Facebook. They were birthday wishes. I did not know any of these people. But each said, God was going to deliver me from “People pleasing”.

Galatians 1:10

For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

I, like all of you, learn great things, through the things I suffer. I know it sounds like I’m being a big whiner baby here, complaining about all my past abuse, and all the nonsense my wife and I are going through now. But this FIRE, I am going through, though hot, is PURGING AWAY the things that be in me that are NOT GODLY!

Mark 9:47

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Okay, for those who think this above scripture is literal. COME ON PEOPLE!!!!!!!

Eye = understanding

If what you understand or think or believe offends you then get rid of what you think, understand or believe. This is why Jesus taught us to take your thoughts captive, test the spirits (thoughts) to see if their be of God or not.

The WISE SAGE, Pat Benetar, put it like this, “Love is a Battlefield” but I like to say our Mind is the battlefield. And if you are ready for the fight, we won’t get hurt. This is why we are told to put on that full armor. Be ready in season and out!

 Mark 9:47

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Think about it, Because of this ONE SITUATION with my mother in law and brother in law… Hang on a second, had a little vomit popped up in mouth there for a second… But like I was stating… Because of this one situation, ALL THE OTHER GREAT THINGS I UNDERSTAND SUFFER, because of this ONE THING.

Mark 9:47

And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

If ONE thing that you THINK OF bothers you GET RID OF IT, it is BETTER to get rid of that ONE THING than to have the ENTIRETY of what you THINK BURN IN HELL FIRE (which is simply an allegory for SUFFERING)

Look, I, like most of you, I am sure, have lived the life of a door-mat. Where others with their big old nasty feet have come along stepped on me and wiped their dirty, nasty, poop encrusted boots on me, and I never said a word… I was like Joseph, although I don’t remember him having pooped wiped on him, but you get my meaning.

Like Joseph, I, and most likely, You, had the dream that one day, our brothers and sisters will come to us to be fed spiritually. But before that day, they wanted us dead, sold us off to slavery, abused us, sexually used us, beat us, condemned us, lied about us, imprisoned us, and you know what, each time, we never so much as brought a railing accusation against them… And just like Joseph, guess what, each time, we ROSE ABOVE OUR CIRCUMSTANCE!

And just like Joseph, one day, WE TOO, will have those who hated us for no cause come to us and we will forgive them, as I’m sure, deep down we already have… Or at least, that’s what I keep telling myself. (snicker, snicker)

The big line of garbage that is being fed the “church” today is that God does not want you to suffer… Okay, first let us address how ridiculous that is. If there is suffering, God has done it because there is a reason, if there was no reason there would be no suffering. Most likely we are suffering, because we messed up somewhere. But, hey I could be wrong.

Isaiah 48:10

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.

But I do know, we learn by the things we suffer. So, this teaching, that God doesn’t want us to suffer, is very damaging. Because if you are told, God doesn’t want you to suffer and then you are suffering than it MUST mean God doesn’t love you…

2 Thessalonians 1:5

Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Our suffering is ONLY in relation to how far we stray from God’s truth. Everything I am enduring or have endured is to AWAKEN in me what I have forgotten and bring me into this UNION of the spirit again.

It should not bother us, when we are forsaken by man. But it does. It should not bother us when we are persecuted for no other reason than we love, but it does. It should not bother us that there are so many meatheads in this world, but there are!… So I just need to remind all of you, myself included… That HE that began this GOD work, will complete it in Victory. We will not be left in this suffering. The sooner we learn what it is we are meant to learn, the sooner we will be set free.

Psalm 16:10

For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

This brings me to the point of this essay… After all the rumbling, lightning, after surviving the terrible storms, after the HELL after the HELL FIRE (suffering I endured)… God spoke to me in A STILL SMALL VOICE… don’t take my word for it.

1 Kings 19:12

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

You can’t always find God in Hell, even though, David said, he is there in our Present Suffering when we make our BED THERE!

But it is after our SINS (foolish thoughts) are CONSUMED by the FIRE (It is after we are CONSUMED BY OUR SUFFERING BECAUSE OF THESE TERRIBLE THOUGHTS OF SUFFERING) — It is after all of this, that God finally speaks…

I sat up late Sunday Night, last week…. Real late, for me, 9pm… Tears in my eyes. I had already cut off my immediate family. Which I don’t want to go to deep into here, as it is too painful to begin with.

But for years I have allowed myself to be horribly abused by my mother, not to mention other abuse I have suffered. Which most likely caused my Crohn’s disease at fifteen. My mother, ah, Mom, who by the way believes me to be crazy for believing in God, and for the articles I post on the internet, that is her latest assesment of me… The irony, being she has no religious affiliation at all. She is just a sad woman, who says the most horrific of things to me. And has hurt me in so many terrible ways, I don’t even know how to explain it all here. It’s funny how even when approaching forty years of age, a mother’s affect on her child can still have such lasting affect on her young. This is why it is so important to love your children and not abuse them. This is why my children are so dear to Danielle and I, and why I know they will be so very strong.

Despite, how strong I appear, I for years, have like a hurt puppy ran up to Momma for approval… But I never got the approval I needed and never felt the love and acceptance I needed. In fact I would get more put downs, than encouragement, more attacks then respect… I begged my mother to read my novel, in fact, I wished my whole family, any of them, would pick up a copy, with all the praise it has recieved… But I had to put that aside. I’m an emmy award winning TV writer and producer, a national award winning author, I am the creator of a cartoon, I have syndicated television programs, my novel is being praised by everyone who has read it. I am the only one in my family to graduate university, the only one to buy multiple homes on my own, to travel the world, donate large sums of money to charities, etc etc… Yet no one in my family has read my novel which I consider my life’s blood, in fact, it is mocked at family events.

It is strange that that my dark painful past wasn’t enough for me to cut them off long ago, but it wasn’t until, I heard my Mother call me crazy, for this very blog, that I said ENOUGH WAS ENOUGH!

A man can only take so much abuse. A man can only be hurt so many times, before he throws in the towel. I am tapping out!

I understand that this alienation is meant to be for many of God’s children to suffer in this world. We are not meant to find comfort in the temporal, but in the eternal, and until you all do the same, there will be no deliverance for you!

So Sunday Night, was sad night, all of this betrayal from those that should offer the most love, support, and compassion… And I thought, I’m going to take the Blog down.

What’s the point after all? I was being attacked for what I believed. It isn’t proper to believe in LOVE these days. It isn’t accepted to believe in ultimate acceptance these days.

Matthew 10:22

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

I have read those words in Matthew before. But the people that were hating on me I never preached to. I’m not a bible thumper “church”. I keep my views to myself.

Years ago I went around “Killing Egyptians” no longer. In fact there is a good portion of people who ONLY think me to be a kind hearted man, who have no clue I am who I am…

My neighbors Bob 91 and Ruth 83, both big time Catholics, well I have been cutting their grass for years, shoveling their drive way for years, trimming their bushes etc… and for years, they have been trying to get me to go to their Church, because they have no clue that I know what I know. You see, they are settled in their beliefs and I do not feel led to try and change them, that is God’s job, they are a sweet couple, and I think it is wonderful that they worry about my soul. So I humor them, and take their flyers here and there. But my point is, people don’t hate me because I go around saying Christ this and Christ that, it is because of what is IN ME!

“GREATER IS HE THAT IS IN ME THAN HE THAT IS IN THE WORLD”

This blog is the only thing I share, and when I do share what I share verbally, it is with those I am compelled to, or those who find me, or I find…

So, recently I have learned that my whole life, people have hated me not because they knew my beliefs, BUT because of who I AM inside.

From childbirth Jesus was a marked child. As was I. As are many of you reading this now. Remember the murder of the innocents!

There are people that just can’t stand you and you probably go out of your way to be kind to them and they hate you the more for it!

My only advice is to forgive them, steer clear, they know not what they do… If you can, part company. If you can’t, be kind, don’t think the worst. Judge not, lest you shall be judged.

I know that in many cases, with me, I must love them and think higher of these people who have hurt me, and my family, so. Every time I have prayed for my enemy, every time I have decided not to speak terribly about my enemy, every time I have seen my enemy coming to me with the extended hand of a friend, I have seen God change their heart. This is truth!

But I also have learned, that as I have grown stronger in my faith, so has the strength of my enemy.

Isn’t that something. The stronger I become, the stronger my trial becomes… He who endured until the END!

It is just like working out, “Church”, the resistance doesn’t get lighter. God only heaps on more weight for what is to come… So put some more spiritual whey protein in your blender and blend some up!

So there I was, sad, last Sunday night. Thinking, I am going to press delete on this blog.

The world isn’t ready for the things I still have yet to share. And believe me, I have some THINGS STILL TO SHARE! wink wink nudge nudge!

And then, in the quiet of that late, late, Sunday Night at 9pm… GIDEON APPEARED!

Not literally people! That would only happen if I had a mega Church, or had a book to sell… wait a minute I do have a book to sell… I mean, GIDEON DID APPEAR TO ME!

Yeah, yeah, that’s the ticket, Gideon appeared… In a RAYYYYY OF LIGHT!!!!! He said, Jacob, My Man, what’s the deal bro?… Okay… just kidding “Church”

In any event, the Midianites were attacking the Israelites and all hope seemed lost. Everyone was running for their lives. Poor little Gideon, was scared out of his mind. Hiding!

Judges 6:11

And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

So Gideon was THRESHING WHEAT…

Of course everyone knows what Threshing wheat means.

NEITHER DID I!… No worries, that is what Ask.com is for… To thresh wheat is to violently shake or disturb the WHEAT to GET THE SEED OUT!

Does that sound familiar?

Okay, let me try that again.

To THRESH WHEAT = To Violently Shake/Disturb/CAUSE TO SUFFER to GET THE SEED OUT

One more time.

To THRESH WHEAT = Your suffering brings out the SEED = CHRIST IN YOU!

Ahhhhh, so there is a point to these mean people OR jerk pants, as I like to call them, after all!

Hey Jesus said, if the plant isn’t producing fruit, violently mess up the earth around it, throw a bunch of crap on it and see what happens.

Luke 13:8

And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:

But that isn’t the revelation I received at that moment. It was the fact that Gideon was soooooo scared of his enemies, that he was going to HIDE THE SEED!

That blew me away. It was that I was sooooo scared of MY enemies, that I was about to do the same. 

I was hurting so much, I wanted to just get away from it all.

I was scared that so many were attacking me, my home, my family, my livelihood, because of my faith, and I was about to HIDE THE SEED (TRUTH). The very SEED that had COME out of all that I had ENDURED over the years. All the revelation I had been given, I was going to HIDE IT. Keep it to myself.

What was the point? I was sick of everyone!

Then within minutes of thinking this, I was brought to GIDEON! Isn’t that amazing?

Think about where GIDEON was THRESHING THIS WHEAT. Think about where the SEED was being VIOLENTLY SHAKEN (abused) SO THE SEED would come out. It was THE WINEPRESS.

Have you ever wondered why WINE is such a wonderful symbol of the SPIRIT OF GOD?

You should do a study of how wine is made.

Look at all the steps involved. It is a wonderful parallel of the steps we go through spiritually.

The WINEPRESS is symbolic OF THE PRESSURES of LIFE that SQUEEZE the SPIRIT OUT OF US – This is where the SEED is THRESHED from the WHEAT.

Romans 8:18

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The grape can never understand why it needs to be picked, smashed, squeezed, scrapped, left to stew, scrapped again, strained, flipped, drained, bottled, and left to sit… but when it is finally uncorked and drank, the joy that SPIRIT gives to others is far beyond what that grape could have done before any of its suffering.

So we too, cannot grasp that our present suffering will pave the way for something awesome down the road. But it does and will. And we need not be scared of where we are or what we face!

Judges 6:12

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.

Gideon looked up at that Messenger and was like, “What? Are you kidding me? How can you say God is with me? Have you MET MY MOTHER IN LAW?”

It is hard for us to think that God is behind our suffering. And that God is going to use what we learn from this or that, to deliver us from our present suffering.

It is our SUFFERING that produces that perfect pearl of peace in our heart in the end. So we must TRY AND HOLD ON AND COUNT IT ALL JOY!

Matthew 13:45 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

Remember how the pearl is formed? The constant suffering of the Oyster forms the PEARL. Then, when the OYSTER DIES the PEARL is revealed for all to see. The same is true for us. We will suffer, and suffer, and suffer, and suffer, until we finally overcome this world and die. Then our PEARL (the Kingdom of HEAVEN) will shine for all mankind to see.

Just a quick note to tell you what the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is. The word KINGDOM literally translates into REIGN, not as a Literal Kingdom or Castle. So it should read as “The REIGN of HEAVEN” instead of “The Kingdom of Heaven” … And HEAVEN is above the EARTH as God’s ways are above MAN…. HEAVEN is symbolic of the HIGHER TRUTH OF GOD. So the Kingdom of God = When the Higher Truth of God Rules You.  

When the HEAVENS (Understands God’s ways/truth) OPENED for Jesus he heard (understood) “Behold my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”

These are words we all NEED TO REMIND OURSELVES OF… God is well pleased with us.

We, though, presently suffering are in no way less loved by God. Even as I sit here writing this, I feel like a wretch, I feel lonely and lost. I feel like a big knucklehead whose feelings get hurt at the drop of a dime, I feel like no one is on my side, and that is a sad place to be… But as I feel this way, I also understand that this is the road God has chosen for me to walk at this time.

Perhaps I am a bad student at times, perhaps I am not a quick on the pick up at times, or perhaps, as my “therapist” says all of the abuse I have suffered makes it hard for me to get over the way people treat me at times because I want so desperately to have love from those God is trying to show me I don’t need anything from at all!

It is not the love of Man we need. It is the LOVE OF GOD! This is perhaps the hardest of all lessons to learn. Which is why, this lesson hurts the most. Think about it. We crave love from others, but it is not the love of others that will heal us, it is the LOVE THAT IS WITHIN! So those that hate us, and hurt us, are our greatest teachers, the pain they cause, drives us closer to the truth that we can only count on one thing in life, that the only LOVE THERE IS FOR US TO FIND IS WITHIN!

This is the path that God has chosen for us. I thank God for this path. I will walk in it. I will stand tall with me head raised. I won’t be ashamed of what I know to be true, or what I say or what I do. I will take my lumps like a man, I will cry when it is time to cry, and laugh when I have reason to laugh. This road is for my correction, for instruction, for patience, for insight, because God loves and corrects his children in ways we don’t understand and don’t always appreciate.

Job 5:17

Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty:

At the onset Job seemed to have it all together and his suffering seemed so cruel, until the truth of his heart was revealed. In the end, Job was blessed beyond belief and his suffering did not compare to his blessings.

We too, will find this to be the case. Weeping may last for the evening but pancakes and coffee is there in the morning, and one day, you’ll have joy as well!

We may not feel like a MIGHTY PERSON OF VALOR who is God’s chosen to SAVE THE DAY! We may not feel like we will overcome our troubles and our enemies (most of which, if not all of which are within) but we will!

There is a reason we feel weak and small. There is a reason we are tired and scared. There is a reason we look like fools and are mocked and scorned. It is because WE ARE BLESSED PEOPLE! SO REJOICE!

1 Corinthians 1:27

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

I want to end this essay with a great Chapter from the book of, 2 Corinthians 4

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;  But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.  But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:  

LISTEN TO THIS LAST LINE PEOPLE! We don’t need to be sharing with everyone! Not everyone can hear the words that be coming out our mouths!

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.  For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal!

Don’t look to what troubles you, look to what God is trying to tell you. Learn from your suffering, hang on, and soon you’ll be free, you Mighty Person of Valor YOU!

 Jacob

http://www.JacobIsrael.org

“The Truth Will Change You”

I want to dedicate this article to my beautiful Danielle. I dedicated my novel to her and the kids, but it really is just us, the kids, and God, against the world, and them are good odds. She is my love, my life, my heart, and I pray I can become an even greater man to her than I am today.

Savage! Now there’s a powerful word, but one you don’t hear everyday any more.

I remember reading the word a good bit when I was a kid. Native Americans were deemed to be savages in many of the books I read while growing up. At first it may have been because they were considered to be uncivilized by European standards. Later, Native Americans tended to respond in anger when their ancestral lands were over-run or when yet another solemn treaty was broken. But that word savage did its duty.  By designating Native Americans to be savages, by questioning if they even had a soul, their humanity was lost to those who felt the need to kill them. It is easier to kill someone who is savage then someone who is my equal in shared humanity.

Africans were other people who I read about/heard referred to as savages. They too were uncivilized as the story was told. But it was, in part, we civilized folk of European extraction who bought and sold others as slaves. That blatant mindset is not always so easily seen, but as I was growing up I heard of cross burnings in our community, and witnessed how as late as the sixties, having a black man in a restaurant could cause “problems.” It was all just a tame way of declaring African Americans to be savages. The most powerful and deliberate use of the term savage in that regard happened in a conversation I had once when I was fifteen or sixteen.

I was doing my best to hold my own in an argument with a much older, wiser gentleman. The topic was race relations, the setting Virginia in the early 70’s. This gentleman was a true southerner. On one hand a delightful man and on the other a racist. The end of our discussion came when he triumphantly stated these words.

“The white man has been civilized (there’s that word again) for millennia while the black man was a monkey eating savage in the jungle as little as 400 years ago.” I will never forget that short sentence. I turned and walked away. How was I to respond? I knew this didn’t feel right. That attitude, if not the actual words, were wrong, but I didn’t have the evidence to refute him. So I walked away.

Savages eh? The word still sucks the air out of my lungs today, just as it is intended to suck the humanity out of whomever it is heaped upon. What is more troubling to me than the conversation I had as a teenager is that the word seems to be coming back into vogue.

Recently, and on multiple occasions, I have heard Muslims and Islam being referred to as savage. The implication of that kind of language is to dehumanize them. They are merely savages! One person stated, “They should all be kicked out of the army” after the tragic events of Fort Hood. As U.S. congressman went on TV and stated that we should be concerned about them living among us. Sarah Palin flat out stated that some profiling should be done.

Haven’t we been here before in our history? Didn’t we start referring to people as savage and begin acting in ways that, to any unbiased student of history, was an abomination? In Germany, during the run up to the final solution, Jews and other “undesirables” received similar dehumanizing designations in. Before the Rwandan holocaust, people of different tribes used such language when speaking about the others. In fact they often referred to those they did not want associate with as “roaches.”

Terms of derision, dehumanizing terms, and demeaning language has a specific purpose. They help create a sense of superiority within ourselves and lower our opinion of the other. See if they are savages, then we are not. If they are roaches, then we are not. And finally, if they are less human than us, we can more easily treat them in inhuman ways, or perhaps even kill them.

Perhaps one way of thinking about this is to realize that people who commit acts of evil against other people, first regard them as not worthy of living. That is how our country has been viewed by some who have committed acts of terror. We rightly decry their violence. We rightly condemn all being painted with the same brush. But then we turn around and begin the cycle against them by calling them savage.

May the voice of reason once again call us to see all our fellow humans in the way God sees them. May the voice of God teach us how to refer to those who hold to different beliefs. And may God have mercy on us all. We need to be healed of the pride that causes us to elevate ourselves and devalue someone else.

Peace

Leon

So, last time we spoke it was the middle of the night after a night on the town. Tonight it is the night of the morning after a night in a house with many friends and one enemy.

Anyway, I drove there, which was apparently a wise move, as several of my friends took a bus then a train then a bus and took a very long time to get there, carrying bags of who knows what. So, I arrived and, judging from the smell, they had been smoking for a while, hehe, so I joined them. There was a large table outside, an x-box inside, couches, good company (mostly), etc.

To be more specific about the one bad company, she’s one of the friends of friends who really isn’t up to the standard of the rest of them. I can’t really be fucked going into too much detail, but several times when she opened her mouth about three of us just left the table, which hopefully sent her and whoever invited her a message, but whatever, haha. Otherwise, it was a great time.

I hung out in my car towards the end with a select few of the good company with music and etc. then slept there until the sun woke me up, which wasn’t as pleasant as a sunrise deserves to be. This morning I drove to my friends’ house, one of the friends had just arrived back from Canadia the day before, so that was cool.

And now I’m home, I rented a boxing game, haha, so that’s what I’ve been doing.

After writing this, it seems like the first or second time in my blogging experience where I doubt whether anyone will really give a shit. Which might be a sign not to post it, mm.

I guess I’ll have to make up for it with something interesting, I guess…

I ate jelly today, that’s interesting, I’m sure. I haven’t had jelly in ages and it was as awesome as I remember it being. I also had peanut butter and jam m&ms brought back from Canadia, which I enjoyed.

Anyway, I’m as bored by this blog as you are, so I’ll find a quote for the day and be off,

“Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’”

Your boring jelly-eater,

TDE

I just got done reading about King Manassah in the old testament. He may have been the most outrageously horrible King Judah ever had. He sacrificed his first born son by burning him alive. He allowed prostitution and sorcery in Yahweh’s temple and it says that he filled the streets of Jerusalem with innocent blood. He was a true enemy to God and His people.

The word enemy to me has always been a more watered down version of the above description:) Like someone who cuts me off in traffic…or worse yet, someone who takes my parking spot. Today I could extend that title to a slimy, evil, spineless, coward (too much?? trust me I’m being nice) of a CEO whose recent decisions have affected some of the people I love most in the world. The bible is clear how we should treat our enemies…darn!

The entire time I was reading about Manassah I was hoping for God’s sweet justice in his life. As a good Christian woman I should have been praying that he would see the wrong in his ways and turn back to God…but I have to admit I wanted him to pay (such a shining example of love and grace I am ) Anyway, in the end Manasssah truly did repent and God forgave and restored him. God is so good.

Sin is sin – and I am a sinner…so many times food and security are my chosen idols, Jesus would call the hatred I’ve had in my heart for certain people throughout my life murder, and I’ve already confessed to turning my back on God (for a short time) when I felt he was treating me unfairly just this past year. What makes me so different from Manassah? What makes me so different from Mr. Slime-ball CEO who just devastated so many families out of greed and a sick need for power? The truth is nothing, their sin is no greater than mine…that’s why we all need a savior, a redeemer, a souvreign God who forgives.

It’s a week before Thanksgiving and the thing I am most grateful for in my life, right now, tonight…is JESUS. By now you should know that corny “christianese” cliches repulse me…so please don’t take this the wrong way. Jesus and His love and unending grace are the only things that have kept me from going off the deep end this year. And now as much as my guts don’t want to do this I am going to pray for Mr. Slime-ball CEO…Lord we all deserve your sweet justice in our lives…thank you so much for not giving it to us! I pray tonight that you will restore and forgive Mr. Slime-ball and his four spineless lackeys, even though I would love to see you humiliate them and make them feel the pain that they have just cause 12 families right before the Holidays (hey just being honest)… I pray that like Manassah, they will realize that ultimately all that matter’s in life is You and Your Kingdom and that you will change them for Your glory. Amen. Uuuggghh that was hard – and while my prayer may not have seemed heart felt I know for me the first step in changing my heart, my hatred, my bitterness is to act the way I wish I felt.

 “Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name.”  Psalm 100:4

We have entered into the season of giving thanks.  There is an atmosphere of giving.  It is a time when we reflect on the many blessings of the past year.  It is when we look to the Lord and recognize His goodness to us as individuals, families, and as a nation.  If it was not for God, we would cease to exist.  It is by His Hand that we have been kept and cared for.  It is by His hand that we have had provision, and it is by His hand that we are protected from our enemies. 

We are encouraged to come before the Lord God our Maker and celebrate His love, mercy, goodness, and faithfulness toward mankind as a whole.  Let us lift up praise and thanksgiving to the One Who is watching over us.  Let us acknowledge the One Who is faithful through all generations.  Let us take time throughout our days and stop and reflect on His love and goodness to each one of us!  God inhabits the praise of His people.

ENCOURAGEMENT:  Let us celebrate this season of thanksgiving by giving thanks to the Lord God our Creator Who continues to bless our lives and nation.

“For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”  Psalm 100:5

I 30′ernes USA husere en lidt ualmindelig bankrøver, spillet af Johnny Deep. han er ikke den slags røver som folk er bange for, han er en gentleman, som den almene borger holder af, han tager kun fra bankerne og ikke fra folk. han husere i tiden hvor forbrydere bare flygtede over statgrænserne, og så kunne politiet ikke forfølge dem. FBI bliver oprettet for at få kål på hans slags, man han er ikke sådan lige at holde spæret inde i et fængsel.
Generelt en rigtig god film, jeg synes det er lidt unødigt at der er blandet et mærkeligt kærlighedsforhold, derfor giver jeg den 4/5 stjerner

Ditlev

“We talk about enemies more than we used to.”

- Josh

As my regular readers will know I am very seldom inclined to endorse or promote the work of others. And today is no exception. It is without reservation or qualm that I give my whole-hearted condemnation of Esteban Estacion’s latest “theatrical” performance.

Starting tonight Esteban will be performing a new one-man show “Cheney Guevara – Undisclosed Dislocation” at the Estacion National Theatre Complex (his basement). As far as I can work out the show is some kind of puppet show about the former Vice President as a Marxist revolutionary.

For those of you with the stomach for it, I provide the following excerpts from the press release.

Cheney Guevara – Undisclosed Dislocation

Fans of Theater, fans on Marxism, fans of ornery ex-executives, rejoice. After some months of development and out-of-town rehearsals Esteban Estacion is finally ready to unleash his latest masterpiece to the adoring public.

This new multi-media performance is a bold re-imagining of the life and times of former Vice President Dick “Dick” Cheney as a Marxist Revolutionary.

Act 1: The deep rain forests of Bolivia. A Young Cheney tends to the needs of an injured multi-national corporation. He learns an early lesson in compassion from the local people (a lesson he would soon forget).

Act 2: The White House. Dick brings his message of equality, compassion and the redistribution of wealth to the corridors of power.

Act 3: A concrete bunker deep beneath the Earth. Cheney lurks like an angry trapped bear tending to his wounds and gently humming “The Red Flag”. This Act includes several upsetting musical numbers.

The entirety of this performance will be acted by marionettes hand-crafted by my old friend Japeth Langdon who has outdone himself once again. How does he make the faces so lifelike? And why is it that the puppets have fingernails that grow? I dare not ask.

Seating is limited, but then again, so is demand.

Cheney Guevara – Undisclosed Dislocation

Fans of Theater, fans on Marxism, fans of ornery ex-executives, rejoice. After some months of development and out-of-town rehearsals Esteban Estacion is finally ready to unleash his latest masterpiece to the adoring public.

This new multi-media performance is a bold re-imagining of the life and times of former Vice President Dick “Dick” Cheney as a Marxist Revolutionary.

Act 1: The deep rain forests of Bolivia. A Young Cheney tends to the needs of an injured multi-national corporation. He learns an early lesson in compassion from the local people (a lesson he would soon forget).

Act 2: The White House. Dick brings his message of equality, compassion and the redistribution of wealth to the corridors of power.

Act 3: A concrete bunker deep beneath the Earth. Cheney lurks like an angry trapped bear tending to his wounds and gently humming “The Red Flag”. This Act includes several upsetting musical numbers.

The entirety of this performance will be acted by marionettes hand-crafted by my old friend Japeth Langdon who has outdone himself once again. How does he make the faces so lifelike? And why is it that the puppets have fingernails that grow? I dare not ask.

Seating is limited, but then again, so is demand.

So I haven’t posted lately. And I haven’t responded to the many people who have left comments on my blog. I’m so sorry. I have lots of good excuses, including flu and an Advent devotional booklet that I am editing, and very little childcare coverage.

I anticipate that next week, after I have preached (woohoo! first time in more than 2 years!) and celebrated Thanksgiving and finished the devotional booklet and taught Sunday school, I am going to blog like crazy. After all, I have notes built up for several entries that I have just been too overwhelmed to flesh out. But as a stopgap, I am pasting in here one of my contributions for my congregation’s devotional booklet.

(This will make better sense if you read Psalm 70:19-29 first. But you probably know the kind of Psalm I’m talking about.)

I had always had trouble with Psalms like this. Praying that bad things would happen to other people didn’t seem to be what Jesus had in mind when he advised, “love your enemies.” I struggled even more as the desire grew in me to embrace all of the Bible, not just part of it. How could I embrace words like these?

Then a rabbi explained to me how our “Old Testament” is viewed in the Jewish tradition: it is divided into the words of God for humanity (the Law and the Prophets, invoked as authoritative throughout our New Testament), and the words of the faithful to God – the Ketuvim, or Writings. And included in the Writings were the Psalms. Perhaps the inclusion of these Psalms did not mean that God had any intention of raining destruction on my enemies – only that I was liberated to spill even my darkest emotions in the safety of God’s loving presence.

And so it was that I found myself, weeks later, on my knees in Duke Chapel. I was consumed with anger with a fellow student. [Note to my J2J friends who are now wondering who it is: I can say with some certainty that he doesn't even know about this blog, so at least you know a couple of people you can rule out! ] I prayed that God would obliterate him with great fanfare, but only after letting him suffer a bit. I described in great detail all the horrible things that I hoped would befall him. And after many minutes of this – I remember my knees aching on the stone floor – I was spent. My rage was all poured out, and I was empty. And into that silence, a new thought entered: God loved me! God loved angry, hate-filled me! … and God loved my enemy. Could I bring myself to love him, too?

That day, bringing the full force of my anger before God had in fact empowered me to love my enemy so well that I remembered that he was my brother in Christ, and God’s own beloved child – without feeling ashamed of my having expressed such rage, remembering that I continued to be God’s beloved child, too.

Loving Creator, sometimes I get really angry, so angry that I don’t want to admit it to anyone, even myself. Give me courage to bring even my scariest and darkest emotions to you, trusting in your saving love, knowing that my darkness can never overcome your Light. Amen.

So, friends, I hope that you can forgive me for not yet responding to your helpful and thoughtful comments, nor reading your own blogs in the past week or two — or at least I urge you to take whatever vengeful thoughts you have to God in prayer! No, that is not really why I posted this. I posted it because I did not realize until later that this interpretation of “be angry, but do not sin” might be controversial. And I thought I’d put it out there for community discussion and review.