The Peace of Coal

Jericho was travelling one day along a windy dirty road...

He had seen much of the earth as was customary of life in those days. It was a good life, lived amongst friends. He and his friends were able to make do, going from location to location, riding in a big fancy tank - protected from the rain and other elements of nature. He remembered those days clearly, and with a certain amount of sorrow - possibly even regret.

In those days all his boys were around, but the closest of them all was Jareb. Most often the two of them were found at the local hot spots. Jareb was real good with the women and would always help Jericho find a date so the two of them could go out together. life seemed like an incredible experience - almost nothing could stop them and perhaps nothing could. It wasn't something that stopped them... nor was it anyone, it was themselves, which could be someone, but for effect it was written in a much more suspenseful manner.

Jareb simply became annoyed almost to the point of hating Jericho. Jericho was never able to understand quite why it was, but he continued to live his life. It wasn't long before he found himself in a completely different crowd. The people didn't have the same moral standards and Jericho was joining them in many practices that he thought he would never do. In all of it, life seemed less than awesome - enjoyment slowly faded into apathy. Would it ever change?

Well thoughts of change came one night when rumors of escaping came in... Escape? From what Jericho remembered thinking... Now after being through so much: he wondered how he could be so blind? and yet... the question still lingered had he made the right decision.

It all came by invitation, we started hearing about lumps that were missing and others that were harshly cautioning us not to even listen to "the strangers". Then Jericho found himself in awe of what he saw. The voice was soft and gentle - it told him of great promises of peace and joy, but also explained in sincere detail the difficulties that came with this bizarre opportunity. Jericho's intrigue was met with his lack of trust. How could I know that this stranger was telling the truth?

"Where was the proof," Jericho asked nobody. His answer was easy really... I mean he knew that there was nothing for him if he stayed. There was something about the stranger that compelled him... His words were contrary to almost everything Jericho knew and yet he spoke them with great confidence. Jericho's reactions and perceptions didn't matter to him, his only care was that the hearer understood and was able to make an informed decision.

The path truly was a hard one. Jericho had been faced with so much... Heat and pressure came from all sides, remembering the pain he still isn't sure how he withstood the pain. He felt his skin and insides changing, he was being shaped into something completely different. It must just be how he was made or what he was made of, truly his makeup was different than any common stone, for when the pressure came, he was not destroyed, rather he had been crushed into a diamond.

Yet, riding, staring out the window, he still wondered what would have been had he not taken the offer, had he stayed with the pile... His road now found him very lonely, of course he no longer worried about losing his footing or getting tossed to and fro, as his new dwelling found him securely stationed within a fine gold encasing.

Finally the journey was coming to an end. Jericho found himself in a large grass filled area. He had never been there before, but distinctly recognized an odor in the air. As he neared a smoking metal encasement, with meat atop it, he began to hear screaming. Looking closer with horror, he discovered the source, had it been that long, or were they so badly burnt that he didn't know them at first.

Jericho tried to look away, but could not - he had to search through the embers and hope that he didn't know any of them. Suddenly he could make out a familiar voice... His sorrow was complete as he heard Jareb screaming and wailing for help. Jericho tried all he could, but he couldn't save his friend of so many years, not now. Fire didn't affect him like it used to, but his Jareb was not equipped to face the flames...

2 Tim 2:15

Alright I read something that got my blood flowing today. I was minding my own business and I came accross a flyer that read "The End of False Religion is Near!" Being the cynic that I am, I figured I was in for something wack. The brochure contained an article that explains from the bible why we will see false religions torn down very soon. It then goes to say that true religion... practices love, trust's God's word, and strengthens families and upholds high moral standards. Does any religion meet these standards? Well some book states that if more ppl were jehova's witnesses there wouldn't have been a holocaust!

Now. I'm not even going to touch these comments. What I am going to say is that we need to KNOW the scriptures. We as Christians aren't the only ones that read the bible. There are several groups of people that misuse God's word (some blatantly, some ignorantly) and as I've heard it said many times - they know the book better than you do. It is SO important to have the Holy Spirit teaching you as you read the word. Do not let any teachings (whether they profess to be Christian or not) shape your thoughts, without studying the word in its context.

There's not much more to be said. I'm going to go do it, so should you (read God's Authoritative word - The Holy Bible).

What if...

Catch this, What if, while you were on stage preaching, or just "giving a word" as the cliche phrase goes, and Jesus walked into the auditorium and shouted, "You're wack!" and walked out?

Fan the Flame

Ok, good stuff, we've sparked something here... See the previous post and Dizzle's blog to know what I mean. This exactly what I wanted, I want to get people talking about these matters. My last post unfortunately wasn't as clear as I would have liked, but we're on our way to where I was going.

In my original post the question "How much should we?" got asked... I firmly believe that we MUST be involved in politics and law - read Diz's post please, he is much more knowledgeable on this and can break it down better than I could. However, my questions are what type of laws and restrictions is it RIGHT for us to impose on people that don't serve God and don't want to answer to Him. The law in the old testament is good as it points people to sin - it was created for the sinner to know just that that we're sinners. Without this law people wouldn't know that we are in need of the gracious hand of God, in order to live a holy life, in addition to needing His sacrifice to gain entrance into eternal life with the Father.

My question is... If we were to illegalize (it's probably a made up word, but eh...) abortion, murder, alcohol abuse, homosexuality and all the ideals that are fought for as Christians where does it end? Are we creating a world of law or the world of grace? Where will the grace be displayed? How much of this country ACTUALLY is serving God and is ready to be subjected to these laws?

What am I saying here? I'm not saying that these laws should be given up on or abolished at all! I'm attempting to point out the response that we will receive by the opposers. Even if they are willing to comply with the laws, the standard is not something we can adhere to without the assistance of The Holy Spirit - which we even ignore, as demonstrated by Haggart.

My point is that there's a lot that needs to be taken into account. Let's be on the same page and discuss these things - we aren't glorifying to God if we're not firing together. I have talked about the liberal friends I'm in contact with to reveal their thoughts, but it led me off topic. These people don't mean harm, they're just misinformed, ignorant or confused. I don't fault them for thinking the way they do - we can't let their poking provoke us to retaliate innappropriately. We must be ready for the opposition and retaliate in a firm and loving manner for their hearts to change - which is the ultimate goal anyway.

I don't disagree with the laws that are being proposed. I think that we're playing the game on their terf and they're winning (check the polls). I don't want to be cliche and try to make it seem like I'm set and know the way to win. Like I've said, I'm trying to stir the pot and get some discussion.

How Much Should We?

Alright, I have something on my mind and I know that Johnnie and Diz will have a lot to say about it, or I hope they will at least, cuz I need to solidify what God's heart is on the matter. My question is, what involvement should we have in politics? Before salvation, I was much more liberal than my current state. I believed that I shouldn't be the one to dictate how others must live, but I wouldn't myself participate in the acts that many liberals desired to legalize. The major one being abortion - I have always seen this as wrong: don't do what it takes to have a baby, if you don't want the baby, but who am I to require you to live that way also? <-- this is what I used to believe... As for now, I do firmly believe that it should be law - as it involves a life that isn't given a say in the matter.

So what am I talking about? I'm not really sure anymore. I don't think this is going to end up where I thought I was headed, but here we go... I have had a bunch of encounters now with people that laugh at me or try to to encourage me to "live" more because I don't get involved in the type of activities that they do. They perceive my lack of involvement to be out of fear... That I don't go out and drink because God will send me to hell. This is the impression we are giving and I was thinking that this issue was tied into the natural laws that are voted strongly supported by the Christian community. I don't think that is the only or even primary cause of the issue though.

Is it right for me to even try to rationalize what these people think or should I just shrug it off and say they have a demon? I think that's part of the problem - people are quick to accuse the enemy, when we've given these people legitimate reasons to believe that we're off our rockers! Living life in fear of God - a fear that paralyzes you into being a drone is not healthy. (this is not to be confused with a Reverential awe of God or fear that provokes us to righteousness - this topic can be a whole other blog as once again I'm rabbit trailin').

While these thoughts don't flow nicely, I'm using this blog thing as an outlet for my thoughts, so... if you got some light, let it reveal and diffuse the confusion please.

Who You Livin For?

In our lives we're continually being told to behave and live in certain matters. Teaching and preaching is definitely not lacking in our Modern society. I don't know what I intend to do as far as impacting others, I'm merely typing my thoughts and the issues that are going on inside my head. I guess I hope to induce some good conversation or at least some thoughts. It is for this reason that I included the scriptures, but not the references, you find them and look 'em up - or ask me - don't just take my word for this stuff...

I'll start with the discussion of sin and why people remain bound even while being used to do some great things for The Lord. When we walk away from God or even sin, the devil is not at fault - we've been given the ability to live without hindrance from him and we are told that "every man is tempted when he drawn away of (or by) his own lust and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin and sin when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Where is the devil in that scripture? In actuality the scripture in context is defending God - stating that its not Him that's tempting you! So if not God and not the devil - it's you (wo)man! We sin when we see something that we want and dwell on it (aka lust) - AH I'm rabbit trailin! I have so many thoughts that I can't get em all out.

So... the devil DOES know what you want though and will definitely find ways to entice us with this stuff, but the blame is on us as we "have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness." "God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it." It's been preached before - the devil didn't make David go sleep with Bathsheba and all that followed - the devil may have arranged the appointment somehow, but it was David's desire that wasn't taken care of that drove him to go beyond what he knew to be right and commit sin.

What do we do now? How do we keep ourself from this thing that we're told is wrong and we should have nothing to do with? Why, we set up rules and regulations, guidelines that fence us in, commandments and the like. While we mean good, handling the issue by creating restrictions alone will only fuel the lust and create a larger opportunity for failure. Press the pause button a moment - Absolutely a person should set up boundaries and restrictions to keep themselves from temptation, the classic example - if you're prone to drink a lot, don't go to a party or social event where your associates are going to be doing such activities.

Ok Play. I will tell you a scripture and even the reference, because this statement sounds quite contrary to the word. 1 Corinthians 15:56 states, "The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law." If I were to ask you to ponder what the strength of sin is, would you ever have replied "the law." I wouldn't have, before I heard the preaching that inspired this influx of thought and desire to blog.

You see if we have sin and we know that what we're doing is wrong and our only recourse is to say that we're sorry and set up a boundary - our lust will burn. When does a flame go out? A flame will only go out if it runs out of fuel or if it is quenched by an outside force. The act may cease for a moment but the desire (or lust) grows stronger and stronger because our mind is wrong about it... We say no, I can't do that. I don't want to delve into the life of Baalim, but this was his sin - he obeyed God, but he wasn't willing. He stated that he couldn't go and curse the children of Israel, because God wouldn't let him. God told him not to go, his response should be I WON'T go, because my God is with them and He will not curse them, so I won't curse them. The operative statement (can't) doesn't reveal what your desire is (and in Balaam's case we observe that he DID want to go) however "won't" states clearly that our desire is dictating our actions.

Wrapping this up, the way that a sin is conquered is through seeking God for Him without fail. Pastor Michael Peace has said it several times that he didn't wake up one day and realize that he had to start living right because he was a pastor, but because Mike let God shape him and rule him he is being used greatly. Do not desire freedom because of what others might think! This attitude is fleshly as it is based on what man's opinion is. God's opinion is what's important. Realize that sin is sin because it will always yield death - not a blind command for God to assert authority over us. God has told us not to do certain things, because He knows the end. Focussing: God wants our time, He WILL draw near when we reach up to HIM. When we are seeking after HIM issues will always fall off. We cannot walk away from an encounter with God and have the same issues. Simply leave the issues where they fell.

When communing with God it is important to have time when you're not asking for anything other than time with HIM. That is the power of a physician - you don't always need to know what's happening. I hate needles, I remember as a kid receiving a shot from a nurse. She started up a conversation about something that interested me. After a little time, I asked if the shot would hurt, she told me that it was over. God is our trained physician - spending time with Him, alone, is an incredible opportunity that we must take advantage of.