Eaglewood's Nest

Moving

2007-01-21T22:29:00.000-06:00

It seems that quite a few people that I know are doing this. After growing quite dissatisfied with the new blogger service and the inability to move my old template to the new service I have quit trying to push for creative license that will never truly come. I have shopped around for some time looking for a good hosting service and I have finally found them. A Christian group that calls themselves TheoBloggers.

I am moving up to Wordpress 2.0 and getting the creative license I have been looking for. The new nest is here at On Wings of Eagles. I will be keeping this site up due to spam blog issues and to be able to refer back to old comments. There are quite a few left over from our experience with Samuel I want to keep.

Lessons

2007-01-09T22:58:00.000-06:00

This past year has been one of roller coaster like extremes. Yet the one thing that has been constant in all of this has been the never ending unwavering love of G_d. Over the past year just about everything has been stripped out from under us. From the death of our son to the loss of my job right when we needed it the most, totally devastated us. It shook us to our foundations. The funny thing is that when you are shook to your foundation you find out just what that foundation is. For us it was Yeshua's love and grace. When the entire world was falling down around us He held us, comforted us, and sustained us. The one thing that I have found the hardest in all of this is writing about it all. I am normally a quiet reserved man, not given to discussing my personal pain. I would like to share what I have learned in all of the pain.

I have learned how to persevere through unimaginable pain. I once thought that the loss of one of my children would be the end of me. I have learned it is not. Has it changed me? Yes it has, but not in the ways I would have expected. I have learned to have more empathy for one thing, that has aways been hard for me. I have also learned that there are people out there ready to love regardless of your circumstance. I think that the most important thing I have learned is that He is more real than I could have ever imagined. Losing Samuel was the singularly hardest thing I have ever been through. When I was brought to my knees and laid lower than I could have thought possible Yeshua picked me up, dusted me off, and just held me in His arms. No words were ever needed. I wish I could adequately explain the experience, but I know that I could not do it justice. Life goes on and we still face struggles but we have learned to simply trust Him in all things He has a plan and it is perfect, that is assured. When things get bad I can always climb back up in my Daddy's lap and let Him take care of it.

Your Love Oh Lord

THR3E a Review

2007-01-09T01:08:00.000-06:00

THR3E was the first Ted Dekker book I had ever read. From that point on I have been a Ted Dekker fan. So when Foxfaith films made a movie out of this book I was stoked. I have been waiting for some time to see this movie and it was worth the wait. I will be honest this is not your typical “Christian” work. It is a suspense thriller and has rated a PG-13 rating because of it's intensity and subject matter. If what you are looking for is a remake of little house on the prairie or anything in that type of genre then you are looking in the wrong place.

I thought the adaption from the book was very well done. While there were some differences they were mostly due to setting and the addition of a character not in the book. All in all the story was kept the same and you were able to see what his point was. It is hard to write a complete review without revealing plot lines for those who have not read the book, but I will tell you that even with knowing the end I was riveted throughout the entire movie. I will have to say again it was very well done, and I heartily recommend this movie.

I do have one gripe about the story and how a part of one of the character's past was handled. In attempt to show systemic abuse, homeschooling was depicted in a very bad light. While this was in the book the fact that the character was schooled at home was an afterthought. In the movie it seemed to be almost a focal point. It may be that as someone involved in homeschooling and having had to deal with the issue, Birdie and I may be more sensitive to this issue than others, but it is still there and we think it could have been handled differently with the same results.

Thanks to my Wife...

2006-12-24T17:36:00.000-06:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
His Eminence the Very Lord Eaglewood the Omnipresent of Oxbridge by Camford
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

The Beast

2006-12-23T12:18:00.000-06:00

We now have "new" transportation. It is large, ungainly, and hard to park. It needs new paint and new tires (what used vehicle doesn't). The inside is very well kept for an 18 yo van, the engine is in good shape, and there is more than enough room for the entire family.

While driving around last night I kept saying this thing is a beast. Now the van has a name "The Beast"

Vehicle Needs

2006-12-17T22:38:00.000-06:00

As most of you know Birdie and I have been without a car of our own for about 6 months. This may all come to an end next week. Between a generous bonus from my employer and returning an expensive part for the van that has given up the ghost we now have enough money to purchase a well worn used car. Please be praying that G_d helps us find the right one to fit our family needs.

Three

2006-12-09T21:41:00.000-06:00

This is a trailer for a movie based upon my favorite fiction author's book "Three" When I read it I thought it would make a great movie and it is now going to be out in the theaters. The cool thing is there is another one in the works based upon his book "house"

He is a Christian author who writes suspense novels. I am looking forward to the movie.

The trailer was removed in order to make my blog load quicker.

You can still see the trailer HERE.

My Struggle

2006-12-07T00:00:00.000-06:00

The other day on another blog Andrea asked me a question. One that I have been struggling with myself for several months. Her question was simple but the answer itself is not.

“Eaglewood, you seem like such a good husband and father, so I wonder why you're trying to hang in there and use the word fundamentalist to describe yourself. I can think of absolutely nothing positive associated with that word. They seem to have no respect for freedom, unlike yourself. There just has to be a better word, because they've ruined that one.”

You see by the very basic definition of Christian Fundamentalist I am one. I have a specific set of core beliefs that are unwavering. These comprise who I am, how I think, and determine what I do. The problem even goes deeper when you understand I also am a prophet. There is a certain stigma to being a prophet even in Christian circles. Everyone has a set preconception on what a prophet is (myself included). I had to open my eyes to the fact there is more to than I originally thought. Consequently, I have been struggling with the direction my ministry needs to go including this blog.

On one hand I want people to be aware of the dangerous heresies being taught by certain prominent preachers, yet I think that if I stop there it does a great disservice to Yeshua and His gospel. We need to be about the business of preaching His Word, telling those who have ears to hear the news of why it is that He came and died on that cross over 2000 years ago. I also want people to understand the very nature of G_d is complex and cannot be nailed down, boxed or whatever you want to do to try to limit Him. We are often guilty of trying to condense His message to our world view. In order to even begin to understand Him we need to realize He is bigger than our own ideas and conceptions. Whether it is the liberal Christian preaching about the loving kindness and compassion of Christ, or the fire and brimstone preacher of repentance from sin, we miss the boat when we focus on one aspect of His nature, and ignore the fact that, like His creation, He is a wondrous and complex Creator, and I think it would behoove us find out more about who He really is.

The question still stands as to why I have doggedly stuck with being called a fundamentalist. Well to be honest in a conversation with Birdie she reminded me it is only in the blogesphere that I even represent myself that way. I think that I will move a way from that label. While I have fundamental beliefs, I have them not because I am a fundamentalist, but because they are simple fundamental truths. While I would love to see the day that the word “fundamentalist” loses its negative connotations, I think it is time to move on from this label. I like the term used by Serena and her family. We are simply the redeemed. There is no other aspect of the our faith more fundamental than Yeshua's redemptive work. So I think that for now on I will be who I am, one of His redeemed and one of His called prophets for this age. Nothing more nothing less.

NFL Week 13

2006-11-30T17:46:00.000-06:00

Last week 11- 5 for 68.75 %
For the Season 106–70 for 60.22 %

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Baltimore at Cincinnati : Baltimore
Minnesota at Chicago : Chicago
Kansas City at Cleveland : Kansas City
San Diego at Buffalo : San Diego
Indianapolis at Tennessee : Indianapolis
NY Jets at Green Bay : Green Bay
Atlanta at Washington : Washington
Detroit at New England : New England
Arizona at St. Louis : St. Louis
San Francisco at New Orleans : New Orleans
Houston at Oakland : Houston
Jacksonville at Miami : Jacksonville
Dallas at NY Giants : Dallas
Tampa Bay at Pittsburgh : Pittsburgh
Seattle at Denver : Denver
Carolina at Philadelphia : Carolina

Too Much Fun

2006-11-28T21:48:00.000-06:00

Thanks to Heidi, Pablo, and Joelle

Get Your Cyborg Name

This one is based upon my personal nickname.

Get Your Cyborg Name

NFL Week 12

2006-11-23T08:22:00.000-06:00

Last week 8-8 for 50.0 %
For the Season 95–65 for 59.37 %

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Miami at Detroit : Miami
Tampa Bay at Dallas : Dallas
Denver at Kansas City : Kansas City
Cincinnati at Cleveland : Cincinnati
Jacksonville at Buffalo : Jacksonville
Pittsburgh at Baltimore : Baltimore
New Orleans at Atlanta : Atlanta
Carolina at Washington : Carolina
San Francisco at St. Louis : St. Louis
Arizona at Minnesota : Minnesota
Houston at NY Jets : NY Jets
Oakland at San Diego : San Diego
Chicago at New England : Chicago
NY Giants at Tennessee : NY Giants
Philadelphia at Indianapolis : Indianapolis
Green Bay at Seattle : Seattle

Still Alive and Kicking

2006-11-20T20:31:00.000-06:00

Well life has taken over here. I seem to have allot to say at the wrong times. When I am near the computer I am tired and not thinking straight or I only have a couple of minutes before I have to leave.

I do have a little rant about being who you really are. We have a major "Christian" radio station here in Dallas. They play all of the current songs plus some of the older ones in the Contemporary Christian genre, but only bill themselves as a "family friendly" station. This annoys me to no end. What really gets me is the DJ that plays at night has people calling in and telling their stories based upon that weeks particular subject, but she carefully avoids all mention of G_d, church, or faith. All I have to say is, be who you are, don't hide behind some market plan or desire not to offend. If you have faith in G_d let the light shine for all to see.

NFL Week 11

2006-11-19T08:57:00.000-06:00

Last week 9-7 for 56.25 %
For the Season 87–57 for 60.42 %

Blue = Win
Red = loss

St. Louis at Carolina : St. Louis
Washington at Tampa Bay : Tampa Bay
Cincinnati at New Orleans : Cincinnati
Tennessee at Philadelphia : Philadelphia
Chicago at NY Jets : Chicago
Minnesota at Miami : Minnesota
Oakland at Kansas City : Kansas City
New England at Green Bay : New England
Pittsburgh at Cleveland : Pittsburgh
Atlanta at Baltimore : Baltimore
Buffalo at Houston : Buffalo
Detroit at Arizona : Detroit
Seattle at San Francisco : Seattle
Indianapolis at Dallas : Indianapolis
San Diego at Denver : Denver
NY Giants at Jacksonville : NY Giants

Update:
I have never been happier to place a red mark than I was today when the Boy's beat Indy today. GO COWBOYS!!!

NFL Week 10

2006-11-12T08:44:00.000-06:00

Last week 9-5 for 64.28 %
For the Season 78–50 for 60.93 %

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Baltimore at Tennessee: Baltimore
Buffalo at Indianapolis: Indianapolis
Cleveland at Atlanta: Atlanta
Green Bay at Minnesota: Minnesota
Houston at Jacksonville: Jacksonville
Kansas City at Miami: Kansas City
N.Y. Jets at New England: New England
San Diego at Cincinnati: Cincinnati
San Francisco at Detroit: Detroit
Washington at Philadelphia: Philadelphia
Denver at Oakland: Denver
Dallas at Arizona: Dallas
New Orleans at Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh
St. Louis at Seattle: Seattle
Chicago at N.Y. Giants: Chicago
Tampa Bay at Carolina: Carolina

New Wheels

2006-11-07T09:47:00.000-06:00

I will be joining the two wheel crowd here soon. This is just the first step in getting a motorcycle for myself. My brother is selling me his scooter that will give me a great advantage on gas mileage. I think I will cut my gas bill from $30 -$40 per week to $10 that is quite a savings.

The extended time in NM is going to net me quite a bit of overtime. I am looking forward to it. As I should be able to get the van fixed with some of that money. Then Birdie will have transportation again. My car is DOA. The engine is blown. Birdie and I are looking into our options right now.

NFL Week 9

2006-11-05T09:10:00.000-06:00

Last week 8-6 for 57.14 %
For the Season 69–45 for 60.53 %

I was gone for a week and just got back last night. Here are the picks for this week.

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Kansas City at St. Louis : Kansas City
Houston at NY Giants : NY Giants
Tennessee at Jacksonville : Jacksonville
New Orleans at Tampa Bay : New Orleans
Dallas at Washington : Dallas
Miami at Chicago : Chicago
Green Bay at Buffalo : Green Bay
Cincinnati at Baltimore : Baltimore
Atlanta at Detroit : Atlanta
Minnesota at San Francisco : Minnesota
Denver at Pittsburgh : Denver
Cleveland at San Diego : San Diego
Indianapolis at New England : Indianapolis
Oakland at Seattle : Seattle
Bye Week: NY Jets, Philadelphia, Arizona, Carolina

NFL Week 8

2006-10-29T09:46:00.000-06:00

Last week 4-9 for 30.77 %
For the Season 61–39 for 61.00 %

Well, last week was even worse than the week before. I am leaving for NM here in a couple of hours so I will not be able to update this until I get back, but I am not seeing that I will do any worse this week even though there were several difficult choices this week.

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Arizona at Green Bay: Green Bay
Atlanta at Cincinnati: Atlanta
Baltimore at New Orleans: New Orleans
Houston at Tennessee: Tennessee
Jacksonville at Philadelphia: Philadelphia
Seattle at Kansas City: Seattle
San Francisco at Chicago: Chicago
Tampa Bay at N.Y. Giants: N.Y. Giants
St. Louis at San Diego: San Diego
Indianapolis at Denver: Denver
N.Y. Jets at Cleveland: N.Y. Jets
Pittsburgh at Oakland: Pittsburgh
Dallas at Carolina: Dallas
New England at Minnesota: Minnesota
By Week: Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Washington

NFL Week 7

2006-10-22T02:51:00.000-05:00

Last week 6-7 for 46.15 %
For the Season 57–30 for 65.51 %

Well, last week was not so good. Hopefully I am on the rebound this week. The sad part about this is that two of my teams I have in Evel Squirrel's pool I picked to lose this week. So either I will do good in the pool or I will have chosen wisely here.

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Carolina at Cincinnati: Carolina
Detroit at N.Y. Jets: Detroit
Green Bay at Miami: Green Bay
Jacksonville at Houston: Jacksonville
New England at Buffalo: New England
Philadelphia at Tampa Bay: Philadelphia
Pittsburgh at Atlanta: Pittsburgh
San Diego at Kansas City: San Diego
Denver at Cleveland: Denver
Arizona at Oakland: Arizona
Minnesota at Seattle: Seattle
Washington at Indianapolis: Indianapolis
N.Y. Giants at Dallas: Dallas
By Week: Baltimore, Chicago, New Orleans, San Francisco, St. Louis, Tennessee

Update:
I am not sure how I could do worse than this week. I think that I need to back to the drawing board on this. Two bad weeks in a row. That is just not like me.

I am Back

2006-10-19T17:48:00.000-05:00

Well, I have returned from the Panhandle of TX and I am suffering from Internet withdrawal. I took the company laptop with me in hopes of being able to check on my blog and e-mail while i was gone, but i will not have a user name and password for the company computers until I have been with the company for 90 days. The tech I went with refused to allow me access to the computer. I really need to get my laptop fixed.

If there was anything I have against this company is their trust issues. It appears the only thing I will be trusted with before my probationary period is over is my tools and the company truck. I will not have a company credit card or access to the company computers without asking someone to log on the computer for me. I can tell this is going to get real old before my 90 days are up. I am not sure what has prompted this policy, but it is aggravating.

Questioning my expertise is going to get old, too. We came upon a difficult problem while we were at this job site and only after looking for what appeared to be one problem, I realized we were just chasing our tails and realized the issue was a totally different one that would have the same effects. This was knowledge carried over from past experience working in this type of industry and one they will not have a lot of problems with due to the fact they do not use much of this in their analyzers. My boss would not believe the problem was not a leak. I know leaks; leaks are easy to detect and fix. There was no leak. On the other hand the type of tubing being used will permeate over time and create some of the same effects in this analyzer as a leak would. The only problem was that the parts kits did not contain any of this tubing. An oversight I will correct. Well my family needs me and I need to quit venting

NFL Week 6

2006-10-15T08:29:00.000-05:00

Last week 11-3 for 78.57 %
For the Season 51–23 for 68.92 %
(I made a math error somewhere and added one to the win column. I have corrected it here.)

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Buffalo at Detroit: Buffalo
Carolina at Baltimore: Baltimore
Cincinnati at Tampa Bay: Cincinnati
Houston at Dallas: Dallas
N.Y. Giants at Atlanta: Atlanta
Philadelphia at New Orleans: Eagles
Seattle at St. Louis: Seattle
Tennessee at Washington: Washington
Kansas City at Pittsburgh: Kansas City
Miami at N.Y. Jets: N.Y. Jets
San Diego at San Francisco: San Diego
Oakland at Denver: Denver
Chicago at Arizona: Chicago
By Week: Cleveland, Green Bay, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Minnesota, New England

NFL Week 5

2006-10-07T22:39:00.000-05:00

Last week 9-5 for 64.29 %
For the Season 41–20 for 67.21 %

Blue = Win
Red = loss

Buffalo at Chicago: Chicago
Cleveland at Carolina: Carolina
Detroit at Minnesota: Minnesota
Miami at New England: New England
St. Louis at Green Bay: Green Bay
Tampa Bay at New Orleans: New Orleans
Tennessee at Indianapolis: Indianapolis
Washington at N.Y. Giants: N.Y. Giants
Kansas City at Arizona: Kansas City
N.Y. Jets at Jacksonville: Jacksonville
Oakland at San Francisco: Oakland
Dallas at Philadelphia: Dallas
Pittsburgh at San Diego: San Diego
Baltimore at Denver: Denver
By Week: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston, Seattle

He Reigns

2006-10-04T20:58:00.000-05:00

This is one of my favorite songs by the Newsboys. I love how the video is set up to not show their faces. Sort of putting the emphasis in Him not them.

Lifehouse

2006-09-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

I have found a new music group. They have been around a little while, but Birdie and I just discovered them. I am very impressed with there music. So impressed that I thought I would share them with you. One of my favorite songs is “Breathing”. The concept behind the song is that we should be content just to be hanging around Heaven's door just to hear G_d breath. I think that is just an amazing level of devotion. I can understand the love involved. How many of you have desired to be in the presence of someone even in the quiet times just so you could be close. I know I have.

Breathing Low High

Some other songs I like by Lifehouse.

Sick Cycle Carousel Low High
Hanging By a Moment Low High

NFL Week 4

2006-09-30T23:14:00.000-05:00

Last week 9-5 for 64.29 %
For the Season 32–15 for 68.09 %

Blue = win
Red = loss

Arizona at Atlanta : Atlanta
Dallas at Tennessee : Dallas
Indianapolis at N.Y. Jets : Indianapolis
Miami at Houston : Miami
Minnesota at Buffalo : Minnesota
New Orleans at Carolina : Carolina
San Diego at Baltimore : Baltimore
San Francisco at Kansas City : Kansas City
Detroit at St. Louis : St. Louis
Cleveland at Oakland : Cleveland
Jacksonville at Washington : Jacksonville
New England at Cincinnati : Cincinnati
Seattle at Chicago : Seattle
Green Bay at Philadelphia : Philadelphia

The New Job

2006-09-26T23:09:00.000-05:00

Well I started my new job today and to say the least like most first days it was boring. I spent most of my day reading manuals, signing paperwork, asking questions, and trying to not get in the way. Tomorrow I will get my hands on an actual analyzer and get into the real learning. It will probably be a month before I get started traveling and that is when the real work begins. I am quite confident that I will catch on quickly and be their #1 tech. Not too difficult a feat considering there are only two of us and the other guy is green.

The only concerns were the background check and drug test and it appears that I have come through that gauntlet as I received an e-mail from the Texas Workforce Commission (where I found the job posted) congratulating me on getting the job and deactivating my account. Is that cool or what? One thing I will lament is the lack of ability to get on-line while I am traveling. My lap-top is down right now and it is looking like I won't get it fixed before the beginning of the new year. The only problem is that the CD/DVD drive crapped out and I tried restoring some stuff that took out the operating system. If I can get the drive fixed I can reload the software and then take it with me when I travel.

NFL Week 3

2006-09-23T00:03:00.000-05:00

Last week 13-3 for 81.25 %
For the Season 23 – 9 for 71.88 %

Blue = win
Red = loss

Carolina at Tampa Bay - Carolina
Chicago at Minnesota - Chicago
Cincinnati at Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh
Green Bay at Detroit - Detroit
Jacksonville at Indianapolis - Indianapolis
N.Y. Jets at Buffalo - Buffalo
Tennessee at Miami - Miami
Washington at Houston - Washington
Baltimore at Cleveland - Baltimore
N.Y. Giants at Seattle - Seattle
Philadelphia at San Francisco - Philadelphia
St. Louis at Arizona - Arizona
Denver at New England - Denver
Atlanta at New Orleans - Atlanta
By Week - Dallas, Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego

OH-HAPPY DAY!

2006-09-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

After feeling the desperation of underemployment for almost two months and two weeks of thinking that Del-Mar is not going to hire me they asked today when I could come in for the pre-employment drug screening test. This is just a formality with me as I have never done drugs in my life.

Now all that is left is getting caught up on bills and rent. Once we have that done we will be looking into getting our emergency fund redone. This job is really a God-send. I will be getting back into the industry that I know and have opportunity for advancement as well. I want to thank all of you for your prayers and well wishes. Hopefully I will get back on track with my usual posts on the Word and Yeshua, maybe even answer a few questions.

Update

2006-09-18T17:22:00.000-05:00

Here is how things stand for us right now. I have had two interviews that seem promising one id for a gas analyzer company and one is as a maintenance tech for a company that makes CDs and DVDs. Both jobs would be good ones. I thought I would have received a job offer from the analyzer company by now as they seemed to really want me to work for them we only had salary issues to work out. The second company I interviewed with today has two positions open and it looks promising.

On the home front things are looking grim. After a month of working with a group that said they were going to help us with things like rent finally came through but are way short on being able to pay our rent. We currently have about $400 in he bank, they are offering to help us with $300. that is going to leave us $300 short on paying rent that is already past due. I still have one more bill to pay and we need to eat for the next two weeks. Please be praying that G_d provides a way for us out of this.

NFL Picks Week 2

2006-09-17T08:54:00.000-05:00

I went 10 and 6 last week for 62.5%. I am starting the season off well lets hope it stays that way.

Blue = win
Red = loss

Carolina at Minnesota - Minnesota
Cleveland at Cincinnati - Cincinnati
Detroit at Chicago - Chicago
Houston at Indianapolis - Indianapolis
New Orleans at Green Bay - New Orleans
N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia - N.Y. Giants
Oakland at Baltimore - Baltimore
Tampa Bay at Atlanta - Atlanta
Arizona at Seattle - Seattle
Buffalo at Miami - Miami
St. Louis at San Francisco - St. Louis
Kansas City at Denver - Kansas City
New England at N.Y. Jets - New England
Tennessee at San Diego - San Diego
Washington at Dallas - Dallas
Pittsburgh at Jacksonville - Pittsburgh

I Can Only Imagine

2006-09-11T14:48:00.000-05:00

A Little Inspira tion
To make your day a brighter one

NFL Picks Week 1

2006-09-10T08:43:00.000-05:00

Blue = win
Red = loss

Miami at Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh (Trust me)
Atlanta at Carolina - Carolina
Baltimore at Tampa Bay - Baltimore
Buffalo at New England - New England
Cincinnati at Kansas City - Kansas City
Denver at St. Louis - Denver
New Orleans at Cleveland - Cleveland
N.Y. Jets at Tennessee - Tennessee
Philadelphia at Houston - Philadelphia
Seattle at Detroit - Seattle
Chicago at Green Bay - Chicago
Dallas at Jacksonville - Dallas
San Francisco at Arizona - Arizona
Indianapolis at N.Y. Giants - Indianapolis
Minnesota at Washington - Minnesota
San Diego at Oakland - San Diego

Update:
Eight wins and six losses. I thought I picked better than that, but go figure. At worst I will end up 8-8 and start off batting .500.

Update 2:
Well that was not too bad of a start for the year going 10-8 we will see how things go next week.

Getting Back On Track

2006-08-27T21:52:00.000-05:00

Enough with the belly aching over not having a good job. He will provide one in good time. I thought I would start things back up with this little tid-bit from Birdie's e-mail devotional.

"To whom also He shewed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).

To the first Christians, faith in the deity of Christ was not a blind leap into the dark. Only God could defeat death, and they knew--beyond all doubt--that Jesus Christ had risen bodily from the tomb. They had seen Him, touched Him, and eaten with Him, alone and in crowds, in closed rooms, and out in the open.
The term "infallible proofs" translates a Greek word used only this one time, meaning literally, "many criteria of certainty," and it is significant that the inspired Word of God applies it only to the resurrection of Christ. It is not too much to say that Christ's resurrection is the most certain fact in all history, and many large volumes have been published setting forth the evidences thereof. No wonder the apostle Peter could say: "We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (II Peter 1:16).
The apostle John testified thus: "The life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us" (I John 1:2). John not only saw Him in His resurrection body, but also in His glorified body, hearing Him say: "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore" (Revelation 1:18).
It is true that we, like the first Christians, must believe on Christ to receive salvation, but this faith is not a credulous faith, a leap into the dark. It is a reasonable faith, based on many infallible proofs, and we can, therefore, trust Him with our eternal souls.

You see I have always thought about the faith of the founders of our church being greater than ours, but the more I look the more I realize that the reason they believed was because they saw what happened with their own eyes. They lived and died for what they believed because it was the truth and nothing could take away that knowledge of what they had witnessed. I find that to be some of the best proof of His existence, death, and resurrection. Amazing, it is truly amazing.

Because You Care

2006-08-21T22:40:00.000-05:00

Well I have been out of a full time job for about a month now. So far none of my interviews have gone well. One of the things I am looking at is sales. One of the things that has surprised me is I seem to have a natural ability to sell stuff. I am good with customers in that I have learned to listen to them and their needs so that I can determine what it is that they want.

With that said the company that my brother used to work for as a mechanic contacted me about joining their sales force. I have been playing phone tag with them ever since. I like this company as they have a different approach to selling than 95% of other car sales companies. Please be praying that the phone tag will end. With cars in mind please be praying about our car situation. My car is currently down for the count with a broken timing belt this is on top of the fuel pump I knew was bad that I replaced over the weekend. Birdies van is also down. My brother seems to believe that a crank position sensor is bad causing the engine to think it is not running so the thing will not start. We put a new one in but it still wont start. It was over 100 outside while he was working on it so he has not finished the work yet. He thinks it just needs to be aligned properly. In the mean time he has loaned me his truck. It has no air conditioning so it will be hot to drive but at least I can get to work he also gave us some money to help buy food.

I also have been contacted by the Texas Workforce Commission about three industrial maintenance positions please be praying about that as well.

I know that G_d is providing for us it just seems that it only comes in the nick of time. We are getting some help from a local charity right now and that is hard to swallow. I know it is a pride thing, but I can't seem to get over it. Well that seems to be about it for now, I will let you know how things go in the near future.

Update

2006-08-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

Well, I never heard back from Essilor, and the one interview I have had did not pan out. I think it was mostly due o the fact that I have no real credible references. The people I used to know are scattered and I do not know where they are and Birdie and I have not made connections here in Dallas that are not family.

Things are beginning to look bleak to say the least. I am now at a crossroads. I am considering taking up a new profession. My brother (who is a master mechanic) clued me into a very lucrative profession that does not take much training to get involved in. that is the wonderful world of paintless dent repair (PDR). The only problem is that the courses cost about $5,000. Now for the money invested it is a good return in that most paintless dent repair techs make on average $120,000 a year. Even if I made half of that it would be more than I have ever made. The course takes about 1 week and I could be up and running in no time.

Be praying that G_d shows me what to do and opens the doors. The PDR line of work would allow me some stability in that I would have a skill that can be used anywhere, and with frugal living could provide a fully paid for home for my family in less that 5 years. A paid for home would help my family more than anything I could think of.

P.S.

I forgot to mention how hard things have gotten. A few months ago my car broke down (needs a new fuel pump) Well two days ago my wife's van broke down we now have no transportation of our own. My mother is graciously allowing us to use her car, but I need to get one of ours running. My brother is going to look at them and see which one will be the cheapest to fix. It all depends on what is wrong with the van. We know the primary ignition is not working but we do not know why. My brother has to get some tools to do the diagnostics, but he was just in the same job position as I am. He is able to rebound better, because his skill is in demand every where, but he will not have access to his tools until they can be moved to his new employer.

Be Praying

2006-08-04T12:36:00.000-05:00

I got this in my e-mail a couple of days ago. This is from a company I interviewed with a few years ago and would have been hired by them then if I had lived in Dallas at the time. This is a good job and one that will more than pay the bills if I get it.

“Hi there,

My name is Natalie Woodward, I'm the HR Coordinator Avisia & Technologies at Essilor Laboratories of America.

I found your resume on Monster and wanted to discuss an open Instrumental Installation or Maintenance position at our company. Please let me know if you are interested and if you could forward you salary history or salary requirements.”

Bad News Day

2006-07-27T20:19:00.000-05:00

Last night we had a meeting with the contractors letting us know of impending lay-offs. We were told that if we were going to be laid off that we would receive a call in the morning. I did not receive that call so I went to work believing my job safe at least for another week. After being at work for several hours several contractors were called in to a meeting with the contractor supervisor and told we were being laid-off. This is a rough time for us. Unlike last time where I had 28,000 dollars to fall back on we have no savings left from the last lay-off. Please be praying I find a permanent job soon.I still have the job at Sears but even if I can get full time hours there it will not pay all the bills.

Life

2006-07-26T22:15:00.000-05:00

Please forgive me if I seem to be a little down today. Today it seems no matter what I do I have a heavy heart. I am not normally a lighthearted person so it comes across as quite pensive and morose. Why today of all days I am missing my son I do not know but there it is, he has been on my mind most of today. I imagine I will have days like this for the rest of my life. The wondering of what could have been. For all I know it could have been Birdie putting the crib I never put together in storage that got to me. I think that the reason I could never get around to it was the permanence of that action. Strangely I am reminded of something Yeshua said and somewhat of a reminder of why He came.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10 NASB

It is the last part of the verse I am reminded of. Yeshua came that we might have life and have it abundantly. In that life is hope. Hope of many things, new beginnings, dreams fulfilled, and wounds healed. I am reminded that life is to be lived to the fullest and not be concerned about what is to come because He has it under control. I am reminded that Samuel is with Him and living life more abundant than I can dream.

Does Yeshua Still Speak to His Children?

2006-07-24T19:45:00.000-05:00

“Eaglewood,
I don’t know but this question might be worthy of its own post. Please understand I’m quite serious even if the question seems flippant on the surface.

How does one distinguish between a “voice” of one of the godhead and schizophrenia?

One commenter mentioned that it would not be different than what was said in the Bible. If that is so, and the Bible contains sufficient information and instruction, why would anyone need direct revelation? Why do so many direct revelations given to individuals contradict each other?”

After asking for some clarification Res sent me this.

“Good point. What I meant was; I've heard men say: "God gave me a message to say to you... therefore do thus” But then a week or a month latter the same man will get up and say "God told me to say...." and it will require a different action in contradiction to the first message.

This type of situation is even more confusing when co-pastors have contradictory revelations that are given to them by God. Or so they claim.

Right now I hold the belief that God doesn't speak to men individually. I believe that the Bible holds the information we need to come to a knowledge of salvation and righteous living. I do believe that God will give man a sense of peace about a decision or open doors in response to prayer or providing a leading into how we should live. I just don't see evidence of Him providing audible instruction to individuals or direct revelation to a church through one man.

When Jerry Farwell says "God told me to tell you if we don't raise millions for this church, He is going to take me home on such and such a date" and then the day comes and goes, the message isn't from God and if we followed the OT we would stone him for speaking presumptuously in God's name.

I said right now I believe, because I'm open to changing my mind on the topic. I think what I'm looking for is a clear-cut way to know if it was God speaking. If an individual could explain how they know it would be interesting. In the Bible it was common for the prophet to confirm his message with a supernatural sign like the hour hand on the sun dial moving backwards etc. Modern prophets seem to not be able to do this.”

Lets tackle the basic foundation here, and by doing that it will allow me to agree with Res on a point. When it comes to salvation, reproof, and instruction the Scriptures are all we need. The Scriptures are the foundation of all that we do and if we are not in line with them then we are outside of His will. So the question is why does G_d still reveal Himself to people on an individual basis.

Before we answer that question we should find out if there is a Biblical precedent for prophecy in our modern age.

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
Acts 2:17 KJV

I think that this is sufficient precedent to make the case that G_d will speak to His children in a number of ways even after His Word has been completed. All of these things prophesy, visions, and dreams are all methods of direct revelation G_d has used in the past. There is also precedent for G_d falling silent such as the 400-year period between Malachi and when Jesus was born.

Now I have been involved with each of these three kinds of revelation either personally or from something I was told by another believer. I personally have been told a number of things about the church here in America’s future that would count as prophecy, My wife has had a vision that lead to her healing, and a brother I know told me of a prophetic dream he had that was the source of comfort and reconciliation in his church that went through a couple of rough years. If he gives me permission I will share it with you. It was an amazing dream and story.

With that answered lets take on the contradictory statements issue. I too have a problem with the issue that seems to primarily come from the Pentecostal churches. These types of revelations that change from month to month need to be tested against the Word. It is important that any revelation not contradict the Word first off. The second point is that rarely are revelations given one day that will be countermanded by a second revelation that contradicts it. If it does then you may want to consider the source something other than G_d. Which brings me to the point that G_d is not the only one who can give visions, dreams, and prophecies. The Enemy is very clever and can provide some very convincing false revelations. If two pastors of the same church have differing visions then you can be assured that at least one of them is false. The enemy loves to sow dissention and confusion. What better way than to deceive the leaders of a local church. The Jerry Falwell incident is a perfect example of a man using his influence to dupe gullible individuals into doing what he wanted. I his case it could be easily argued that G_d never worked that way. Yeshua does not work through fear and intimidation. I think it would have been

How do we know that what we have heard is from G_d and not from our own over ambitious minds, or from the enemy? It is often not that easy, other times such as G_d giving me my calling or my wife’s vision it was extremely clear who was talking. With my wife’s vision it was a dramatic direct answer to prayer. It made it clear that G_d was taking the fear in her life and he indeed was holding onto her just as she asked. Now G_d talking to me nearly caused a wreck as I was driving at the time. It was a clear audible voice telling me that His bride had forsaken him and directing me to study what He had done to His children in the past when they forsook Him. As to spectacular supernatural events accompanying prophecy that is just not as common as it would seem to be. While He has performed some amazing supernatural feats they do not accompany most prophecies, as the proof of their veracity was to be the fulfillment of that prophecy. If my understanding is correct that the true measure of a prophet was his perfect accuracy.

I wish that it was easy to know when someone is indeed speaking in G_d’s name, but the only way to know is to be diligent and study. Make sure you do not just take one persons word for it, check it against the scriptures, but this is important to do no matter what is said by anyone teaching in G_d’s name. I think that the scriptures are clear that He has, He does, and He will talk to His children. He does so in a number of ways and it never will contradict what His established Word says.

Luke Asks a Not So Simple Question

2006-07-19T00:53:00.000-05:00

“Could you please distinguish between these three phenomena:”
1) The voice of your conscience.
2) The influence of the Holy Spirit.
3) The voice of Yeshua that you heard.

Luke just seems to like to come up with the easy questions. :)
I will give my best educated answers for what they are worth. Just remember my answers are free so take them or leave them, as you will.

1) In a simple answer your conscience is that inner part of your soul that knows what is right and what is wrong, your own personal moral compass so to speak. In most people it is developed enough that they at least heed it when they know they are doing something wrong, other people seem to have no conscience whatsoever. It is a simply a part of us because G_d created us with it. The problem is it is easily influenced by our culture and the fact that our conscience is as fallible as we are.

2) Now the Holy Spirit is a totally different thing. The Holy Spirit is the Third Aspect of the Godhead. Do not ask me to explain it. Some of the best theologians have a hard time explaining it effectively. It is one of those things I think we are not meant to completely understand until we are with Him. The Holy Spirit can be considered the active aspect of G_d in our world. He is constantly prompting Christians and wooing those who do not believe yet. The Holy Spirit will deal with each person individually as He knows what each person needs. His voice is often the quietest and will manifest the most when we are still and listening for it. Still you know without a doubt He has moved upon your life.

3) The third is the hardest. This is where I can come off and look like a complete raving lunatic. The voice of Yeshua, or G_d was a clear distinct voice in my head. It was full of love and full of power. Not all Christians will ever hear that voice before they die. I felt unworthy of the task set before me, and hope to show myself approved when it is done. The message seemed a little cryptic in that He would not tell me everything only those things I needed to know. I have reiterated them a number of times on my blog so I do not feel the need to go over it again at this time. Now people like Robert or Omar will simply say I am delusional and I am hearing voices, but if that was the case why would my delusional mind wait years between the first time and now when I surrendered to the call. The first time I heard that voice I was plain scared and ran.

A Message For Luke

2006-07-18T16:52:00.000-05:00

Life along with death is not a simple thing. You have an upbringing to overcome that is difficult to say the least. I do not pity you at all; In fact I feel the desperate love that Yeshua has for you. It has nearly brought me to tears several times while writing this. I too came from essentially an atheist home, although I am not sure it was as multi generational as yours. I know I have a great or great great grandfather who was a circuit preacher. I know my father was dismayed that his two oldest sons forsook atheism in favor of knowing the Living-G_d.

Faith is not a normal thing. I know that I try to present a logical argument for the existence of Elohem, Yahweh, or G_d (whichever you want to call Him), but the fact of the matter is that faith involves something more than logic. In fact faith is illogical. (I know Robert would like to hear me say that.) Faith requires that we do the one thing we cannot, that is to let go. It does not matter what it is we are holding on to we have to let go. For all of us it is a daily struggle that is why I talk about dying unto ourselves and that it is a process. Many Christians talk about the free gift of grace and indeed it is free, but faith is another issue. Faith and I mean true faith, the kind of faith that says if G_d commanded you to jump off off a cliff you would do so, that kind of faith costs us our life. The good news is the Jesus said he came to give us life and give it to us in abundance. When we are willing to give our life to Him an amazing transformation happens. I wish I could explain it clearly, but it is hard as each person has a different encounter with Him, but I do know that when you do, you will have no doubt as to whom it was.

Winds of Change
Kutless

Can you feel the pains in life?
Wrapped around you like they're chains
Restricting all your dreams
Do you wonder if there is a way?
A way to set you free
Set you free

So tell me all your dreams
Tell me all your fears and what you're longing for the most
It's not another way
That'll end up the same for it's under my control

Do you feel the winds of change?
Soon this weight will fall away
And take you to a place
Only found through these winds of change
A breeze that's new and free
New and free

So tell me all your dreams
Tell me all your fears and what you're longing for the most
It's not another way
That'll end up the same for it's under my control

I'll be the one who you can cry to
The one who will give you wings
I will give wings
Someday we'll sail away
Mounted up on wings like eagles
We will run and will not fade away

So tell me all your dreams
Tell me all your fears and what you're longing for the most
It's not another way
That'll end up the same for it's under my control

I'll be the one who you can cry to
The one who will give you wings
I will give wingsThe one who will give you wings
I will give you wings
To set you free
The one who will give you wings
I will give you wings
To set you free
The one who will give you wings

The Golden Rule Is It Relativistic?

2006-07-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

“Well, secular humanists are frequently accused of being moral relativists by evangelicals, (as if this is an insult). The implication is that without God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, one has no moral compass, so they create ethical/legal castles on a foundation of sand.

I think that Christians too face this dilemma, along with the rest of us. Even if you believe that the 10 Commandments were actually meant to apply to Gentiles, then there is still no absolute consistency in the interpretation of those rules. Consider stealing, for example, as in stealing bread from the mouths of decadence. It’s all muddy when you mix it with human law, but it is inevitable to mix it with human law. That is why we stone people to death as they leave the Red Lobster every night.

Or, better, consider killing. Some Christian men would conclude that killing the enemy in war is absolutely immoral, like Cain killing Abel. Other Christians would praise God and pass the ammo.

But now the Golden Rule, that is explicit. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Make a moral decision about your actions based on your own point of view. This is explicitly morally relativistic. And it was commanded by your Lord Jesus.

So, when I hear an evangelical deride others for being a moral relativist (much less a nihilist), then I point out that sand is under everyone’s feet.

Sand is what happens to concrete when rain, wind, moss, and light have finished their work.”

Luke (thimscool)

Alright here, I promised Luke I would write on this. Jimmie has given his answer I will give mine. You see my friends what happens when things are taken out of context.

7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?
10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?
11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Mathew 7: 7-12 NIV

When taken in proper context with the supporting verses and in the context of the complete verse itself you can see that it has nothing to do with moral relativism. The supporting verses talk about giving good things and that the Father is capable of giving even greater things. The golden rule sums this up by talking about looking at our own lives and seeing the good things that we would want in it and to treat others accordingly. The verse itself I think is more telling in the defense that the golden rule is not relativistic because it specifically points to the fact that these verses sum up what the Law and the Prophets (scriptures) said. The whole of the books of the Law and the Prophets (our Old Testament) can hardly be described as being relativistic.

In His Hands

2006-07-11T00:14:00.000-05:00

My friends I do not talk much Birdie’s and my past, I think it is about time. This is about Yeshua's provision and healing for Birdie. To understand you will have to know a little bit about my wife. She has told me it is ok to tell you so I will try my best here. For several years my wife suffered with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) it was bad enough that she dreaded touching other people, washed her hands with bleach to the point that they would bleed, these were just a couple of things that she could not help doing or feeling. To make things worse I was to say the least, unsympathetic. Now OCD is related to fear, and from all I have learned it cannot be “cured” it can be controlled but not “cured”. Birdie prayed fervently that G_d would take the fear away and hold her in His hands. So one day we were driving back home from a day in Ft. Smith, AR when G_d gave her a vision of her falling into a giant loving hand and the fear that wracked her life was gone permanently. She has not had a problem with the OCD since that day. I grow constantly amazed at people who tell me He does not exist. It is moments like this that bring clarity to our lives and remind us that He truly does have us in His hands.

Ask A Question And Eventually You Will Receive

2006-07-05T22:31:00.000-05:00

Roland asked me a question a while back and I never really got around to answering him. I think I owe him an answer. The question had to do with a certain story in the Bible about a centurion named Cornelius. For those of you who are not familiar with the story here it is:
Acts chapter 10

His question to me was: Did I believe that Cornelius was saved before he met Peter or after? It is a very good question. After reading this passage I asked myself another question: Is it important to know when Cornelius was saved? The immediate knee jerk reaction was to say no, but then I prayed about it and let G_d answer the question for me. As sometimes happens I did not get an immediate answer. (This is His way of saying “Chill, it is My hands”) Well to be honest I had forgotten all about the question until today when G_d answered me on the way to work.

The answer was another question: Why would I instruct Cornelius to seek out Peter and bring him to his home if he and his family did not need to hear the message about My Son? It started me thinking. Cornelius was a good man in all respects, but he lacked a true relationship with G_d because he had not at that time accepted the atoning sacrifice of Yeshua. Cornelius was doing everything in his own finite mind to please the G_d he knew existed, but his own efforts would never be enough. G_d knowing this and being pleased with Cornelius provided a way for him to hear the message of Yeshua’s sacrifice, and gave him the opportunity to accept it. He and his family did. I could go more into the other side of the story involving Peter, but I think that is for another time.

Come Play With Me

2006-07-02T13:33:00.000-05:00

The other day Ditto was out weed eating the back yard (doing my yard work for pay) when my ever rambunctious dog Remington walked over to the outlet unplugged the trimmer and the brought Ditto his ball so that they could play fetch.

Yeshua is Real

2006-06-29T00:29:00.000-05:00

My friend Roland mentioned something over at another blog I frequent. I will not link to it because an atheist runs the blog in question. While I as a general rule have no problem with atheists his site is not for the feint of heart. Roland was curious about my encounters with Yeshua. Shortly after that another person I have been conversing with (Luke) expressed interest in my encounters as well. I sure hope I do not disappoint people because it is not as spectacular as you would think.

I do not talk about it much because even in Christian circles I get looked at very strangely, mocked, or downright ridiculed. These encounters are why I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He is real. I wish I could say that it was something spectacular like Moses’ burning bush but it was not. The first encounter was quiet, restful and a sensation of the most overwhelming peace and love I have ever encountered. He did not talk to me then, that is not what I needed. After the first time He talked to me I ran for about ten years from what He was asking of me. It was a quiet voice but powerful. There was no denying who was talking to me. It scared the crap out of me; I wanted no part of it. I was content to live my life with my little family and not be interjected into things I did not understand and did not want to know. All I have to say is I do not recommend running after He has called you. The hounds of Hell have nothing on the hounds of Heaven. He was relentless in His pursuit no matter how far I tried to run He was there cajoling, pressing, and loving. Once I gave up the cat and mouse game with G_d He started telling me He wanted me to be one of His prophets for this time. I was impressed with his sadness over His church. His church has lost its first love and He wants her back. He will do whatever it takes to bring her back to Him, even if it means that he scatters the church to the wind. I fear the repercussions of this. In the past when G_d did this to Israel He all but destroyed them. My job is to prepare those who will listen for this time in hope that a true awakening will happen and the purging will be unnecessary.

I do not think that my encounters with the Living G_d are all that unusual, but my church background is Baptist and they seem to have a disregard for anything in the supernatural realm, heck they would balk at my prophet status. The reason that I do not think my story is all that unusual because my wife has talks with G_d on a much more regular basis that I and He has given her a vision that have not only comforted her, but had been the basis for healing in her life.

Yet the supernatural is not just the realm of G_d. The enemy is there as well and the one vision I have had was part of a lie to get me off of the true path. Once a person is saved Lucifer has no real power over that person but he can still work his deceptions. When I had the vision I thought it was from G_d and I nearly followed it. It promised of a great ministry with lots of glory. The thing I did not realize was that the glory in the entire vision was mine not once was Yeshua lifted up it was always me. That is what G_d used to show me it was not from Him.

Missing In ACTION

2006-06-22T16:33:00.000-05:00

I am not sure if you have noticed it or not but Birdie has been MIA for a while. Don’t worry she is doing just fine. As a mater of fact her feeling good has been the reason she has not been around. Since finding out that she has diabetes her eating habits have changed drastically. She has lost more than forty pounds in the past couple of months and has I would say 100 times more energy than she had just two months ago. The boundless energy has kept her busy and away from the computer. She now has a hard time even sitting at the computer long enough to read my blog. I will have to say I am reaping the benefits of a wife who is feeling better and has ALOT more energy. ;)

P.S.
I would ask people to be praying, I am looking for ways to expand my ministry; right now it is pretty much contained to the blog world. I am looking at something right now but I want to know it is G_d’s will not just my own fanciful thinking. Thanks

I Love My Children

2006-06-19T19:33:00.000-05:00

Well I do not know about you but I had a wonderful Fathers Day. It started out the night before when I got home from work. My Children in all of their excitement could not wait to give me their gifts. I got a book, a couple of DVD’s and the new album from Kutless “Hearts of the Innocent”, and a new hip quiver for my archery hobby. I look forward to using it as I had been just sitting the arrows on the ground. I hated the bow-mounted quiver that came with the bow. It was good for hunting because it kept the arrows quiet, but it was hard to get a new arrow and I am pretty sure my quarry will not run away if I make a little noise.

On fathers day I laid around in bed most of the morning, and then we went to see “Cars”. That is one hilarious movie. If you have not seen it go even if you do not have children. A good story is just that a good story. “Cars” will be a classic and will be one of those movies we will own on DVD when it comes out.

I really like the new Kutless album; so far my favorite song is "Shut Me Out".

"Shut Me Out"

Tell me something I don't already know
I know that you can't stand these things I'm preaching in the streets
But how can I contain the truth I hold inside
With all the hurting people that I see so I don't mind
Putting up with you, and all the things you say
I'm not about to stop or even change my ways

[CHORUS:]
There's nothing you can say
That will take me away from this life
There's nothing you can do
To shut me up when I'm speaking the truth

You may not like all I have to say
But you can't prove that everything is filled with empty words
I know my life and inside how I've changed
A testimony to the truth I speak, so I don't mind
Putting up with you, and all the things you say
I'm not about to stop or even change my ways

[CHORUS:]
There's nothing you can say
That will take me away from this life
There's nothing you can do
To shut me up, to shut me out when I'm speaking the truth

There's nothing you can say
That will take me away from this life
There's nothing you can do
To shut me up when I'm speaking the truth
There's nothing you can say
That will take me away from this life
There's nothing you can do
To shut me up, to shut me out when I'm speaking the truth

Science, Trolls, and the Wonder of it All

2006-06-13T21:27:00.000-05:00

While doing my usual perusal of my blogroll the other day I ran across some interesting comments from a commenter over at Triton’s place. She was obviously someone who felt that anyone who was a Christian was stuck in the dark ages and did not have any enlightened thinking. I was quite amused at the time. I was amused enough to leave a couple of snarky comments. I am not normally like that but I felt like a little bit of humor was called for, as the title of the post was “Lord, save us from the Californians”. She was very clear on her belief that science and Gnostic philosophies were the path that we should follow and that Christianity was just a big lie. To Triton’s credit he went out of his way to provide detailed counterpoints too her naked assertions and blatant misrepresentations. I am not sure I would have been quite so patient with someone who was proving to be a troll.

One of her naked assertions was that Christians had no real understanding of Science. I would say that Christians for the most part have at least a basic understanding of science and Earth’s place in the total universe. For me it just increases my adoration of Him. His creation is vast and it just shows what kind of power He has. To think that with that kind of power he would even bother with one little speck of dust that our planet is in this vast universe is humbling. He could have just wiped the slate clean and started over; instead He provided a way for us to be reconciled with Him. That is the kind of love that deserves worship.

International Blogroll Update

2006-06-13T17:02:00.000-05:00

I have a couple of blogs I read that are from places other than Here in the United States and it is about time I added them to my blogroll.

Pablo is the Evil Squirrel that runs Attitude Central in the Great White North of Canada.

Morris writes his musings from the Land Down Under in Australia.

The Way

2006-06-06T17:15:00.000-05:00

Birdie has a friend who runs an e-mail loop sending out information on matters of government and Christianity. She is a wonderful sweet woman, but sometimes I wonder if she reads everything she sends out, and if she does, does she believe it. Most of the stuff is conspiracy theory or expositions of one form of heresy or another. While my calling as a prophet is to preserve that which is true, and I think that is what the writers in question are trying to do, I think that many of these people are missing the mark. It seems to me that based upon what I have seen from these writers is that if you do not follow every tenant of their denomination you are a heretic and an unbeliever. How do they know they are right?

The thing is that there is only one way. Yeshua is that way. He said He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no man would come to the Father except through Him. It is a shame that some have turned that to mean something more than what it says. It has become the Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostals, or whichever of several hundred denominations you wish to insert are the way. It grieves me to see this. Yeshua made it clear how we as individuals are to get to the Father. It is simple, why do we make it so hard?

Our Tax Dollars at Work

2006-06-05T23:37:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I read something that just leaves me shaking my head and thinking, “What were those idiots thinking?”. I read this story over on WND a couple of days ago and almost burst at the ineptitude of our Secret Service. How could anyone with half a mind think that these gospel tracts are anything other that what they are? They are cleverly designed to catch the eye, and at first glance resemble our current currency, but if someone could actually think they are real money then they deserve all the ridicule they would receive. I think that this would include those people in our government who are persecuting this ministry.

I Stand Corrected

2006-06-02T00:20:00.000-05:00

“It has nothing to do with us. There is a popular Christian song with the title, "What Can I do For You My Lord." We can do nothing for God. In reality, God works out His will through us. I has nothing to do with us as all.

My problem is that I want to help God. I cannot help God because if I were to assist, it would never be perfect. Can I make a difference in the world or make a difference in my life or make a gesture toward God that He has not already prepared me to make?

I am here to do the good works that He has prepared for me to accomplish before the foundation of the world. Maybe if I sat back and enjoyed the ride I would find more contentment in my relationship. Instead, I want to be the one in control and I know where that leads, in the wrong direction.

I know what you mean, and it comes from our Judeo Christian work ethic from the 1500's. The problem is: we can not work for God, He works through us.”

Jimmie has a good point, but then what are mentors for? I think maybe my last question was not worded correctly. The first two were definitely more about an evidence of Yeshua in our lives and somewhat redundant. The third had to do with our willing submission to His will. The fourth, in retrospect, while looking like a good question to ask could be construed the way Jimmie saw it. The real question should be: Are we dying unto ourselves each day, taking up our cross, and following Him. Is it evident in our lives that we have submitted to Him and doing whatever it is he would have us do. In a sense giving up our selfish desires to do His will and become the instruments for His plan he meant for us to be? Jimmie is right our own pathetic attempts will only meet with eventual failure, but if we allow Yeshua to guide our moves and submit our will to His we can do miraculous things.

BTW if you have not been to his blog it is definitely worth the time to read what he has to say.

Whatever

2006-05-25T22:33:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a second part to “Defining Love” but I got so many great answers I think it would be redundant.

It is interesting though where you will gain inspiration for a thought. I was going through the songs I have on my computer at work trying to put together a playlist and came across a couple of songs by Stephen Curtis Chapman. The two songs were “The Change” and “Whatever”. “The Change” is a song about the change that should be evident in our lives when we accept Christ, “Whatever” is a song about surrendering our lives to the call G_d has placed on our lives. I was doing this while contemplating what it is that separates the believer from the non-believer, the redeemed from the lost. I know the answer, but these are the kinds of things I contemplate from time to time. Well all of this got me to thinking about a few questions. What is the evidence of Yeshua in your life? Would someone be able to accuse you of following Jesus just my examining your life? Are you willing to do whatever is required of you? What is the difference you are making?

“Whatever” is a powerful word. In today’s world that word has become one of disrespect, used to dismiss those who do not agree. It is a much more powerful word of acceptance though. When we surrender our life and tell Yeshua “Whatever” we are telling him we will do what He requires of us. I for one want to be one of those who tell Him “whatever”. If we do that, the rest of the answers to the other questions will fall into place.

Christians And The Law

2006-05-22T21:46:00.000-05:00

A little while ago I was told that if I Christian expected someone to live by Levitical law then they had to live by that law as well. To be honest I got mad and walked away from the conversation at that point. I wanted a biblical refutation for that argument. It seems that I have been shown one.

Rather than write it here I will link to Triton who wrote the post and let you read what he said. it is from Acts chapter 15 verses 5-21

Christians and the Law

One More Blogroll Update

2006-05-22T18:53:00.000-05:00

When I updated my blogroll lat week I forgot someone I have read from time to time and he reads my blog as well.

If you have ever thought Archie Bunker was right you will love 704 Houser Street.

Defining Love Part 1

2006-05-18T00:10:00.000-05:00

What is love, and how do we know it is love? This is one of the big questions almost all followers of Yeshua ask. During a discussion over at Morgan’s (The debates can be interesting) she trotted out one of her favorite verses and it got me thinking just what does that verse mean.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:34 NASB

The commandment seems pretty straightforward. We are to love one another as Yeshua loves us. So the question in following the commandment is what constitutes love. Is it some Kind of emotion, is it more something substantive like an action, or is it something all together different. I first thought of looking up a definition for love, but I thought better of that, it would be inadequate and most likely a modern definition. So I asked myself how would I define it then? It was sitting right smack dab in front of my face in the verse. Find out how Yeshua showed His love and then we can define it.

Finding all of the references to His love is turning out to be a more daunting task than I originally thought. So I am going to turn this into a two parter. I would like to see how my readers see His love. I know His love is simple, but it is complex in the ways he showed it. How is that for a conundrum?

Bloggroll Update

2006-05-15T22:03:00.000-05:00

After being lazy for some time I have updated my bloggroll. I dropped a couple of bloggers who have stopped blogging then I added these to my list:

Patrick Mead (new blog he will keep writing on Tent Pegs)
Philip’s Blog (Crazy Joe’s hubby)
Soup’s Kitchen (Hard right Christian blogger)
The Token Hippie (Proof that not all of my links are with someone I agree with. Liberal Christian that has been known to drive me batty.)
Wake up America ( Mostly articles showing the move towards the end times)

I also added a link to our new family blog which I prommise will be updated soon. I have been trying to get the children to write their intoductions, but I think it will have to be made into a school asignment to get it done.

On Wings of Eagles

Update 1:

I have been remiss.
I have one other that I forgot, Roland Drake.

Update 2, 5-18-06:
When I first went to Empires Fall he seemed like the typical libertarian. Fairly conservative and against Bush. I went back and read him today and it seems like some leftist nut job has taken over. He is being removed because of anti-Christian statements.

A Little Clarification

2006-05-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

My last post generated a lot of interest. I am quite amazed. There seemed to be a lingering question that I would like to address. Billy D asked it first, then Heidi asked it in a very much more feminine way, and then Micah talked about actually going through a disaster and being prepared for one.

I want to make a distinction between what Micah is saying, my directive, and Heidi’s directive. What Micah said and I whole-heartedly agree with is preparing for the short-term disaster. It would behoove us all to try to be as prepared as we could be for those situations. Birdie and I have discussed this on a number of occasions, and we are going to try and be prepared for those kinds of occasions. Several years ago when we lived in AR there was a severe ice storm the day after Christmas. This affected most of west AR and east OK. Power was down in places for weeks, we lost ours for about a week in an all electric home. It was cold, and miserable, for the first couple of days we tried to live in our home but even with the fireplace the house could not be kept warm, we stayed in the living room but temperatures in the house never got above the 50s. The interesting provision came with Birdie’s stepmother being extremely ill. She was taken down to a hospital in Shreveport and Birdie’s father told us to at least stay at his home. While we still did not have lights, we did have gas heat, a gas stove, and hot water. That was a blessing.

BTW Birdie’s stepmother almost died in Shreveport and they brought her back home to AR and while in another hospital ICU in Fort Smith, A young doctor noticed her electrolyte imbalance and realized what a number of other doctors had missed. She was suffering from a rare autoimmune disease called Addisons. They corrected the electrolyte imbalance and it was like seeing a person rise from the dead. To this day we are grateful to G_d for having that young doctor there at the right time and place.

Ok I got off on a tangent there but back to my main point. While preparing for short-term disasters is a good thing my directive and Heidi’s are directed at the long-term disaster that could befall the church. I think that the fact the G_d is preparing people like Heidi and her family to be the providers for those in need and those called to live lightly and depend upon the Lord for their daily provision is a sign that the persecution will come. For some reason I have been called to be a leader of some kind in all of this, and while I have at times questioned why I was chosen, I have accepted the call on my life. My directive though is to teach and to preach, and I cannot do this while working on providing for the physical needs of those I am in charge of during this time of persecution. So I am told to rely on Him. He will provide for my family over the long term. So basically each one of us is being prepared for some aspect of what is going to happen and what their role will be. I find that to quite comforting indeed.

The Pebble Chaser Poses an Interesting Question

2006-05-08T21:52:00.000-05:00

“So, we all have the same Sense... What are you doing about it? Anything? Nothing? Why and what?”
Heidi

That is the question she asked in response to the comments to this post of hers.

Well if you have not read it go read it. I can wait… Are you back? Good. Now to answer her question.

This answer goes deep for me. It has a lot to do with my calling and why I consider myself one of His modern prophets. As I mentioned over at Heidi’s there is a big caveat of “IF” in my calling. It is a lot like Jonah’s that way. He was called to preach to Nineveh, and tell them G_d was going to destroy them. Well I was told that He is going to revive his church and make it pure again. This was going to be accomplished one of two ways either His church will willingly come back to Him and follow His word or He will scatter the church in a great persecution that will separate those who are simply “playing church” from those who have sold out their lives for Him. The first time I heard this I was a lot like Jonah and ran. Unlike Jonah, I did not run because I wanted it to happen, it was because I felt unworthy of such a task. I have been rebuffed many times before when I left the “party line” in the churches I attended. I ran for years, sometimes acknowledging his call and then running again when times got tough. The funny thing about running is you cannot outrun G_d. When you turn around He is right there nudging you, coaxing you, and loving you. You just cannot escape.

Well enough background, my calling is to teach and inform those who will listen that this is event is going to happen. We still have time, but I am afraid that the persecution is the most likely scenario. Our churches have embraced the view that it does not matter what sin you are committing it is forgiven and you can live your life like you want as long as you accept the gift of salvation by believing. That is one very appealing message, I can cheat, lie, fornicate, commit and keep committing my sin of choice but still get into heaven as long as I accept Jesus as my savior. The problem with this message is it is only half right. While Yeshua will meet us where we are He does not expect us to stay there. When I said in my last post that accepting the gift was a life changing experience I was talking about the fact that when we accept the gift we also accept His lordship over our lives. In a sense this means what I have said before. We are to die unto ourselves, take up our cross and follow the guidelines he has set forth in his Word. Does this mean that we lose our salvation if we falter in our walk? No it does not. We will all fall and require G_d to pick us up, dust us off, and set us back on the path from time to time. But it does mean that the unrepentant sinner is cut off from His fellowship.

Now as to what I am doing. First and foremost I am trying to spread the word. Second I am learning more about just what does it mean to take up our cross and follow Him. The more I learn the more I understand why it is that the church is in need of real revival. The history of His chosen people is rife with times he scattered them for their lack of faithfulness and we are in that same position now. Our tolerance of heresy in the church doctrines and desire to live worldly lives rather than a life dedicated to Him falls in line with the times before the Hebrew people have been scattered. The one thing some may not understand is I am doing nothing to prepare for calamity. My first thought is that would be admitting defeat before I even start, the second is that I have to lean on Yeshua for my family’s provision. Ultimately our provision comes from Him, and putting up stores would be a lack of faith upon my part. This is not something I recommend for everyone. Your families provision for the future is between you and Yeshua, do not base it upon my understanding of the Holy Spirits directive to my family and myself. There could be a hard road ahead of us, but if each of us prepare as we are directed to, then not only will we get through it we will prosper.

Nobody Likes A Prophet

2006-05-03T22:34:00.000-05:00

All I have to say is I am glad that I am not in the business of making people happy. I am doing a very poor job of doing that right now. I have not been posting much here but I have been around and commenting here and there. It seems that either I am too legalistic like Morgan’s True Christians™ or I am a heretic because I don’t toe the line on whatever particular doctrine I need to be following. You know what? I could care less. I answer to no one but Yeshua.

In some ways I expected this. I knew that my conservative approach to reading and interpreting what the Word says would rile those who are more permissive and liberal in there thinking, but I also saw that some hardliners would have a problem with my approach to dealing with the lost. Most hard-line Christians take an almost militant approach to evangelism that is off-putting to most people. The more liberal, permissive, and tolerant groups are more appealing to the average man, but often these groups sell the love of Christ while excluding His holiness. I find myself in the position of finding the truth in the balance of these extreme views.

Yeshua was far more complex than most people wish to see. For those who are more liberal they see the loving, compassionate, tender Teacher. The more militant see the hard, truth preaching, confrontational Leader. The truth is He is all of these things and more. The thing is He took the approach that was needed at the time with each individual. He had a keen understanding of the human condition, and an in-depth knowledge of the Scriptures. He should after all, He is G_d. He could spin the religious leaders of the day on their heads with how He would deflect their traps, and then turn around and show such love and adoration to the simplest person seeking Him.

Being a just and holy G_d, He cannot abide us while we are lost in our sin, yet He has what could be described as an almost desperate love for us as His creation. He set forth a plan to reconcile our sinful nature to His holy nature. He became one of us, He lived among us, and He died for us. Through His shed blood He provided a way that his Holy justice that demanded death as the penalty for sin would be satisfied. He then did the unthinkable; He conquered death. Three days after his death He arose from death and now sits at the Father’s right hand. With His death and resurrection He provided a way for us to approach Him. All we have to do is accept the gift. Be warned though accepting this gift is a life changing experience.

New Blog for the Family

2006-05-02T23:50:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone. I just wanted to let you know Birdie, and I are starting a family blog. We will still post on our personal blogs, we just wanted something that is oriented around our family. Our two older children will be posting there from time to time as well. I thought it would be a good way of getting them writing their thoughts out, and get acquainted with blogging.

My blog here will start reflecting more of my ministry goals and writing about my future ministry goals. The more personal stuff will go on the family blog. I have thought about doing something like this for a while. It is just now coming to fruition.

On Wings of Eagles

Life

2006-05-01T11:30:00.000-05:00

I am finding it interesting that a good portion of the people who read my blog are finding their lives in some sort of turmoil right now. I am not sure what it means but I find it interesting. Not all turmoil is bad; it is just drastic change.

I have made the statement before on numerous occasions that parents should not outlive their children. I just never imagined that I would be one who did, yet I thought I would be more devastated than I am. I had pictured the rending of clothes and wailing to be the typical response, yet I never went through that. Oh, I have shed many tears alone and with my wife and children, but I have never “lost it”. I am reminded of a line out of a song by Rich Mullins that he wrote for his parents in which he describes how they handled the loss of one of their sons. He wrote that the pain did not leave them crippled and that the scars made them strong. Somehow I see this as how people will see Birdie and I. I think that one of the difference makers that Birdie and I have is the hope we have in Yeshua and that Samuel is in a place where he can never hurt. While we have mourned our loss of seeing Samuel grow up we are not without hope of seeing him again.

I am now wondering why it took me so long to pick up archery as a hobby; I am enjoying it a lot. I honestly could see myself entering a contest or two in the future. I am not sure I could ever be good enough to go pro but in the few times I have had to use my bow I am learning a lot about stance, aiming, and how each arrow flies. I am still too stiff in how I hold the bow, and the bow needs to be tuned properly before I can truly assess how good my groupings are. For now it just feels good to go out and shoot the arrows and work on my form.

Archery Was A Good Choice

2006-04-26T02:37:00.000-05:00

You Are a Hunter Soul

You are driven and ambitious - totally self motiviated to succeed
Actively working to acheive what you want, you are skillful in many areas.
You are a natural predator with strong instincts ... and more than a little demanding.
You are creative, energetic, and an extremely powerful force.

An outdoors person, you like animals and relate to them better than people.
You tend to have an explosive personality, but also a good sense of humor.
People sometimes see you as arrogant or a know it all.
You tend to be a bit of a loner, though you hate to be alone.

Souls you are most compatible with: Seeker Soul and Peacemaker Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Lessons From Arrows

2006-04-26T00:57:00.000-05:00

Learning archery has been very interesting. One of the things that I am learning is how to choose the proper arrow. This is one thing I never anticipated. I thought most arrows were pretty much interchangeable. I was very wrong. The right arrow for your bow is almost as individual as each person’s bow set up.

One of the most important factors in choosing the proper arrow is “spine”. This refers to how ridged the arrow shaft is. The thing is that an arrow that does not have enough spine will flex too much and not have a good trajectory and if one is real weak it could break as it leaves the bow and cause all kinds of problems. Based on that statement you would think that an arrow with a lot of spine would be good, sort of the more the better, but that is not the case. An arrow with to much spine will leave the bow and will not flex enough sending the arrow shooting in the wrong direction, usually down. So a good arrow should have enough spine to hold up under pressure but not so much that it will not flex properly when pressure is applied during the release.

When I was reading this I could not help but think that there was a parallel here with our walk with Yeshua. In our daily walk we need to be grounded and strong in our faith by reading the scripture. This will keep us from breaking when times get tough and the pressure is on. Yet we need to be sensitive enough, in our prayers, to that still small voice to recognize when He is leading us in a certain direction. Our lives are filled with pressures all the time and he will use them to fulfill His love if we are sensitive enough to heed His call.

The Healing Starts

2006-04-17T18:10:00.000-05:00

Well, we laid Samuel’s body to rest Saturday at Bear Creek Cemetery where his great grandparents are already buried and where his grandparents will be buried when they pass. Birdie and I have plots there as well. I am glad he is buried with family and not in a city plot where he would be forgotten if we had to move away from here. Finally having his funeral was somewhat of relief and burden off of our shoulders, yet it lends an act of finality and reality to this nightmare. We are also going to go to a memorial service at the hospital in May. Each year the hospital holds a service for the parents that have lost a child in the past year and we have been invited. I think this will be the first chance we have to meet with other people who have lost a child.

One of the interesting things I have learned from my mom was that his first name was the same as my great uncle’s. This great uncle was more like my mother’s father because he and my great aunt raised my mom. So in effect Samuel Earl was named after two great grandfathers.

The outpouring of love from our friends has been helpful as well. I am not sure how many times I have cried while reading the comments left here in the past week and a half. One of the things I have had a hard time with is finding time to get alone and pray and seek G_d in all of this. Birdie is now almost pushing me to get a hobby that would allow me to do this. I have a hard time with talking unless I am doing something, so I am taking up the one hobby that has interested me for years and never felt I had the resources to do it. I have always thought that archery was a powerful yet graceful sport, one requiring strength and precision to be good at. So I am taking up archery in order to give myself something to do when I just need to do something physical and need to pray.

P.S. Birdie has started writing again, it will be sporadic at first but she feels the need to talk about things.

Thank You

2006-04-10T23:24:00.000-05:00

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and prayers. I also wish to thank those who put up prayer requests on their blogs. They have meant a lot to Birdie and I over the past few days and will go into the memory box we are putting together for Samuel. Today was a rough day for me as it was the first day back at work after losing Samuel. I am not sure when things will get easier, but I am sure He has a plan and I am holding onto His promise that He would not forsake us. Yet is still hard not to question Him at this time because the loss seems senseless. Why bring us to such heights of joy and expectation only to have them dashed on the rocks? The answer to that question I doubt I will have this side of Heaven.

I also ask you to continue praying for Birdie as we found out in all of this that she has type 2 diabetes. She may have had this long before the baby was conceived and we never knew. We do believe that this was not a contributing factor to Samuel’s death, as the doctor did not think it was, but it is a continuing health concern for Birdie.

A Little Blessing

2006-04-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

Samuel was a ray of hope. Birdie and I had thought for some time that we could not have any more children. When we found out she was pregnant with him there was much rejoicing because we longed to have more (and we still do). Birdie had finally gave every last bit of her desire up to Yeshua (something I had already done) and then He blessed us. He was the most opinionated baby we have ever had. He liked having room and would fight for it. If we pushed him he would push back. He especially liked being talked too, and would reposition himself just to listen. He also had opinions on what kind of music we listened to. In the short time he was here he was a great blessing to the entire family and we will miss him dearly.

Thank you everyone who have prayed for us, we are really feeling the love here. It is by His grace alone that I am still functional right now, which is a good thing as the other four need their dad. I think that the hardest part is planning a funeral at I time when we should be experiencing joy. We are close to finalizing the plan but it is just harder than I could imagine. He will be buried with family out in Jefferson, TX.

Grief…

2006-04-05T16:04:00.000-05:00

That is all Birdie and I can feel right now. For two days Birdie could feel little or no movement from the baby. This morning Birdie woke up to a contraction, the mucus plug coming out and a very bloody discharge. I took it upon myself to take Birdie to the hospital where the worst fear any parents could have was realized. Samuel Earl was not alive. He is with Yeshua now and we are at a loss to understand why. The doctors think it may be due to a viral infection as there was a lot of calcification in his liver according to the sonogram. There is not much else to say right now the pain is still too fresh.

I Am Not Sure We Are Going To Make It…

2006-04-03T14:51:00.000-05:00

That is until May 2nd. That is when Birdie is due. She is carrying the baby real low and she says it hard to walk now. We are in that final month now that the baby could be born at any time. We are thinking we won’t make it another month. This baby will not be born in May it will be born in April. Be praying that all will go well and that I will not be at work when she does go into labor.

Jimmie's Book

2006-03-29T00:00:00.000-06:00

My mentor, Jimmie, is in the process of writing a book and has published the first chapter in seven parts on his blog. This is good stuff. He posted the chapter parts backwards on his blog so I will put the links in order so you can read them in order. Check it out.

I feel sort of privileged in that I have a copy of the book that started this but will never be published because he decided to put all three books into one.

Ministry Staff and Pragmatism
Biblical Incompetence
The God's of Ministry
Church member Pragmatism
Hired Guns
Business Model Management
Theological Incompetence

Which Theologian are You?

2006-03-27T16:01:00.000-06:00

This was very interesting. I found the quiz over at Soup's. I have never heard of Anselm before and probably will check him out some. I find it interesting considering i have self tought myself concerning my thological stances.

You scored as Anselm. Anselm is the outstanding theologian of the medieval period.He sees man's primary problem as having failed to render unto God what we owe him, so God becomes man in Christ and gives God what he is due. You should read 'Cur Deus Homo?'

Anselm

93%

Martin Luther

80%

Karl Barth

80%

Jonathan Edwards

60%

John Calvin

53%

Augustine

33%

Friedrich Schleiermacher

33%

Paul Tillich

27%

Charles Finney

27%

J?Moltmann

27%

Which theologian are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

I am Impressed

2006-03-22T22:52:00.000-06:00

We had some good comments on the post about music being the one thing that got me out of the legalistic crowd. The one thing that got me was we focused on the music and not the real point of the post. I was purposely vague about what I like as far as music goes, although anyone who has read my blog for long could glean that from my lyric posts. The real point was in the last paragraph and Heidi was the only one who seemed to have gotten it. She also added a valid point. We need to study and know what is true so that when we see what is not we will know it.

Heidi’s comment also makes me want to add a disclaimer on my blog. I make the claim of being a modern prophet, but I want you to understand I am not the authority, I am only the conduit. I am still human and prone to mistakes, and sin. DO NOT TAKE WHAT I SAY TO BE THE FINAL WORD! Look it up yourselves, study the Word and see if what I say lines up, if it does not call me on it. I am not afraid to be wrong and I will not chastise someone who can point out that I am wrong. As a mater of fact I would be grateful to someone who could show me that I am truly wrong, but be prepared to back it up. Do not be a lazy Christian and accept what I say as the gospel without first going to the Word and verifying it.

Note: I am quite eclectic when it comes to music, but it has to meet one criterion for myself. It has to glorify G_d. Not all music that does not is bad; I just find I can’t listen to it. It sets me on edge for some reason.

So I am Smart, Not That Anybody Cares

2006-03-21T23:49:00.000-06:00

I will say this test is flawed somewhere in the logic department but is a fairly accurate portrayal. The last real IQ test I took I got a 126 and it said I scored high in logical and sequential thinking.

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average

Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional

Your Mathematical Intelligence is Genius

Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Thanks Heidi

Music Was My Undoing

2006-03-21T00:41:00.000-06:00

Arielle noted on my comments that she never would have taken me for a post-legalist, but to some extent in my distant past I was legalistic in my stance concerning Christianity. I had felt that people should follow the Word and if you did not, or did not fit in my theology you just could not possibly be a Christian or you just were not that good of one. There was one little problem I had; I could not toe the line with most people who are dogmatically legalistic in one little area. These people are whom I now refer to as the “Music Police”. These people are quite dogmatic in what is acceptable to listen to. If it is not a hymn in one of the recognized hymnals then the song has no value to G_d and should be shunned. If the song is set to modern music it is all the worse. I just could not stomach this. For as good as a lot of hymns are they are not scripture, nor are they sacred in any way. They are just man’s attempt at musically glorifying Him. There are some hymns that are not even good music, lyrically or musically. The one that stands out the most to me is a hymn titled “ Tell the Good News”. This hymn is supposed to exhort the believer to spread the gospel, yet each time I hear it I cannot get out of my mind the phrase “tell the gnus” (I know the “g” is silent in that name but it does not come out that way in my mind). As hard as I try to keep from thinking “Why do African antelope need to hear this story?” I just can’t. I also like modern music. I grew up listening to country, rock-n-roll, and pop music.

The whole thing got me to thinking about what kind of music is pleasing to G_d. The more I looked the more I found that there were no specific bans on types of music. The more I researched the origin of hymns the more I realized that the style of music was simply a reflection of the common music of the period it was written in. This got me to thinking more (I know that is dangerous) about what kind of music was common before most of the common hymns of today were written. My research at the time was limited and I could not find much information on the subject. It was almost as if music was not around before the hymns. I know that it was because there are references in the Word about praising Him with music, but it seems history was quiet about it. It just may not have been an issue in the church during that time.

Well the whole music issue got me to thinking about the rest of the legalistic positions and I realized that while sin is still sin and we are to strive toward perfection in Christ, we can never do it on our own, and that there is a broad spectrum of doctrine within Christianity that is not heresy. This was an eye-opener for me and I have since been striving to find just what the Word says without the intervention of man-made doctrine. It has not been easy and at times I have had to reconsider what I have previously thought to be true, but this is what is truly meant by “working out our salvation”. I like to call it the daily struggle to follow after Yeshua and has been truly “my undoing”.

Two Camps Divided

2006-03-16T17:35:00.000-06:00

This is something I have been working on for a while. I know that I am going to be generalizing to some extent, but I have a concept stuck in my head that gets shattered when we talk about individuals and not groups. Individuals are just that individual and not easily put into one group. Yet, when I look at things from a distance I can see the divisions clearly.

Predominately I can see two camps in the Christian community; one is so busy trying to ensure the integrity of the gospel that they have lost their first love, the other is almost reactionary to the first group in that they have focused so much on G_d’s love and acceptance they have forgotten that He is also a just G_d and cannot abide sin. These two groups are so busy fighting each other that those who can be reached with the pure loving Gospel of Yeshua are lost in the crossfire. The more I wonder about how these two groups can be reconciled the more I wonder if it is even possible. Neither is willing to bend from their position. They have their hand picked favorite verses from the Word and will stick to them as if it meant life or death. I think this is the single most frustrating thing about my calling. Sometimes I think that it would be easier if I concentrated on bringing my message to the lost and letting the camps struggle and fight it out with each other, but I know my calling is to all people in hopes that their eyes will be opened.

How can I show these two vastly different ideological camps can learn to work as one? When they can let go of the petty squabbles and mesh; they can show Yeshua’s love, glory, and power more effectively. Can we not see that though G_d is just and cannot abide the imperfection that sin brings, including those sins that would corrupt His message, He loves us so much that He would do whatever it takes to bring us back to Him? While the solution is not simple we must come to an understanding that going to extremes to protect a point of view will only drive people away. Those that wish to condemn anything that is not specifically in the Word such as the style of music one listens to, or the exact style of your clothes need to understand that a legalistic approach will only drive people away from His love. Those who wish to ignore unrepentant sin under the guise of His love and grace being enough to cover that sin open us up to dangerous heresies such as universalism and need to be aware that the Word is clear that we are not to abide in sin.

This is where I came to an epiphany of sorts. I am not supposed to be fighting ideology with ideology. I am not even supposed to be “fighting” any one said group. That is not my job. If I tried “fighting” I will lose. This is exactly what is going on between the different camps. All I have to do is present the truth of Yeshua’s Holy, complete, furious yet gentle love for us; the rest is up to Him. He will cajole, woo, draw near those who open their hearts and listen. That is all any of us have to do. It is not our message it is His. We just get the privilege of being the “tool” He uses to get that message out.

I Love My Dog

2006-03-13T23:12:00.000-06:00

I got a call on my cell phone here at work tonight. It was my oldest son telling me that he thinks we have a rattlesnake in the backyard. I can hear in the background Remington going nuts in the yard. I ask him “are you sure we have a rattlesnake?”, and he goes on to describe the snake to me including the fact that it’s tail is rattling. OK this is not good. I work an hour away, and a lot can happen in an hour including my dog getting stupid and getting killed. I trust my children to stay far enough away to not get bit. Here I am telling my son that he needs to get Remmy into the garage. My thinking was that, as soon as the snake felt less threatened it should leave. Ditto is then telling me that Remmy goes even more ballistic if he (my son) goes out there because Remmy seems to know that this particular snake is dangerous and is trying to protect him from the snake. This is why I love my dog. The closer Ditto got to Remmy meant the closer my son got to the snake. Remington would then get more aggressive with the snake if my son tried to come toward Remington to get the dog to safety. I am convinced that Remington would have risked his life to protect my son and tried to kill the snake had my son actually tried to get Remmy out of there. Fortunately, while I was talking to Birdie things quieted down in the backyard. Apparently the snake saw an avenue of escape and did so.

A Disturbing Trend

2006-03-13T12:17:00.000-06:00

All of us have noticed the reduction in the amount of clothing young women are wearing today. I unfortunately get a huge overdose of it every weekend while I am working at Sears. Some of the stuff they wear today would have been considered lingerie just 5 years ago. The gap between the top of the pants or skirt and the bottom of the shirt is getting wider. Well this trend has followed into maternity clothing. It is hard to find clothing for a pregnant woman with out it being of the “belly bare” variety. I went looking at our local Wally World and could find nothing that could have been considered modest for Birdie. Well don’t think children don’t notice this either. Birdie was looking at some advertisement from a baby formula manufacturer she got in the mail and all of the pregnant women in the add were wearing the “belly bare” clothing. Puddleglum was cuddled up with her (as best any child could be cuddled up with a mom who is 8 months pregnant) at the time and remarked “Those ladies don’t know how to wear their shirts anymore?!!”

The Reckless Raging Fury

2006-03-08T22:48:00.000-06:00

That is the most apt description of the love that G_d has for us I have ever read or heard. His love in an all-encompassing fire that lifts us up, tries us, and refines us without consuming us. It is steady, never-ending, and passionate. Yes I said passionate, Most of us think of G_d in some paternal sense, Father, Brother, Friend, but we think little about the passion He has for us. There is an old hymn called “Jesus Lover of my Soul” and it is very true. His love for us is so passionate and reckless that He did what most would consider unthinkable. He took our place; He came to earth, lived with us, and then died for us so that we could experience His love in its fullness. Most of us understand love as an emotion that is fleeting and has degrees, but Yeshua’s love has no degrees. There is nothing we can do to earn His love and nothing we can do to remove His love. If we were even given a small portion of His love we could not handle it, it is that strong. This has been a hard concept for me as I spent a good portion of my life not knowing I was loved like this. I knew He loved me, but I did not understand the passion involved in His love. Yeshua is still refining the understanding of this love in me.

Interestingly enough I was introduced to the concept in a novel written by Ted Dekker called “When Heaven Weeps”. I am now reading “ An Arrow Pointing to Heaven” which is a biography of Rich Mullins who as most of us know was one of the great musicians of our time. His song “The Love of God” is where I got the title for this post, and one of the few songs that I can hear in my head when I read the lyrics. I will leave you with that song for tonight. My we all be captured by the reckless raging furry that is the love of G_d.

There's a wideness in God's mercy
I cannot find in my own
And He keeps His fire burning
To melt this heart of stone
Keeps me aching with a yearning
Keeps me glad to have been caught
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Now I've seen no band of angels
But I've heard the soldiers' songs
Love hangs over them like a banner
Love within them leads them on
To the battle on the journey
And it's never gonna stop
Ever widening their mercies
And the fury of His love

Oh the love of God
And oh, the love of God
The love of God

Joy and sorrow are this ocean
And in their every ebb and flow
Now the Lord a door has opened
That all Hell could never close
Here I'm tested and made worthy
Tossed about but lifted up
In the reckless raging fury
That they call the love of God

Would anybody be so kind as to explain .. Jesus.. to me?

2006-03-07T21:06:00.000-06:00

This was the question posed to me a couple of weeks ago by a young girl from Malaysia. She was the main reason I set up an e-mail account on my blog. So far she has had difficulty contacting me through my e-mail. So my gentle readers I would like to hear from you and tell me what Jesus means to you. I will post my comments soon, but I think that a wide selection of personal stories from those who are Yeshua’s followers would also be beneficial.

She goes by the moniker of hairscrunchie.

Hairscrunchie,
I will put up my e-mail address again so if you are having trouble using the link you can cut and paste the address into your e-mail program.

eaglewoodone@hotmail.com

Update on Osteen

2006-03-06T18:34:00.000-06:00

I said I could find the transcript here it is:
Interview With Joel Osteen

Here is the specific quote.

KING: What if you're Jewish or Muslim, you don't accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I'm very careful about saying who would and wouldn't go to heaven. I don't know ...

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They're wrong, aren't they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don't know if I believe they're wrong. I believe here's what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person's heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don't know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don't know. I've seen their sincerity. So I don't know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.

The rest of the interview did not sound all that bad so I will reserve judgment for now. I will continue my study of his writings and wait on the Holy Spirit to give me guidance. I still know he has preached what is known as the “Prosperity Gospel”. I know that he does not ask for money in his broadcasts, but he does teach, “seed faith” when it comes to giving and receiving. While it is not completely unbiblical in it’s basic concept, too many preachers have used it to bilk money from people telling them if they just have enough faith then that seed will grow into something great, while the only one who actually benefits is the preacher who gets the donation.

Ok, I am done with my rant on this; I am reserving judgment for now due to my ignorance of Joel’s complete teachings, but the quote in the interview is enough to give me pause.

A Sad Disagreement

2006-03-06T02:15:00.000-06:00

I have sat on this for a couple of days to ensure that I did not post something in haste that I would regret later. Cowboy has gone and made what was a lively but largely civil discussion on Andrea’s and my blog personal.

On a previous post I did mention my concern for Cowboy to Arielle when she posted her concern for him in my comments as well. Cowboy, if you took offence at that then I truly apologize and seek your forgiveness. I will endeavor to not get personal here on my blog, but if you wish to have an honest rational debate on whether or not the gospel is a message of temporal prosperity I will be happy to engage you in it.

For now I would like to address the personal attack:

“And y’all better be careful with your criticism. You’re not God and He said not once, but twice, “Touch not mine anointed.”

Do ya think you’re qualified to decide? I’m sure I’m not. It’s especially amusing to me that a self-proclaimed prophet is attacking people by name.

(Here’s a hint: That’s not what prophets do. Maybe that’s why Joel’s pastoring a church of about 20,000 and you’re blogging about him. Who’s doing more for the gospel?) “

First off no man is above criticism that includes myself. As to the comment about a “self-proclaimed” prophet you are so off the mark it is not even funny. I spent 10 years running from my calling (I know that is my fault but it is the truth), as a matter of fact if G_d would simply release me from His call on my life, I would be quite happy to go back to living in blissful ignorance. Life would be a lot easier. But seeing as how G_d knows better than me, He has not released His call on my life. So, Cowboy, if you take the “touch not my anointed” to mean that we are not to criticize then you are treading on dangerous ground yourself.

As to the subject of attacking people by name, I have made a point of not naming names;(I should have just kept to that policy) I did not name any until you, Cowboy, challenged someone to name people who were preaching the “Prosperity Gospel”. I did so over at Andrea’s. You, my friend, did not like my answer and challenged me again on Mr. Osteen. I checked things out again and stood by my original statement. I do not like naming names because it is the message that I am concerned about. I do not care if the guy’s name is Joe Bob Smith, it does not matter to me, but if he is preaching a message that denies or even waters down the gospel, I will not be afraid to speak up; but if we are going to make snide remarks about Mr. Osteen and myself well I will address them. Mr. Osteen preaches to a crowd of 20,000 because he tells them what they want to hear and it tickles their ears, I am not afraid to tell people the truth even if they don’t like it, therefore I do not have many people beating my door down to hear what I have to say.

Cowboy, I want you to know I love you like a brother. If you truly understood what that means to me you might even be touched. I do not always agree with you (I don’t always agree with my real brothers either), but I had come to respect you if for no other reason than you stick by your guns and will not back down from what you think is right. That is why what you said hurts a lot. I do not take my status as a modern prophet lightly. It is not something I asked for, and is a cup I wish could pass, but like I said He would not pass this cup to another.

As for the rest of Cowboy’s post.

At first I thought the best way to argue my case was to counter DC’s points one by one, but I realize that will do no good and DC would not see my counterpoints for what they are. I guess I am a little angry with myself for being baited into this in the first place over at Andrea’s. Whether or not DC wishes to admit it he does use the classic arguments of those involved in teaching the “Prosperity Gospel”.

I am going to be clear, I have not said or even implied that G_d wants us to be poor. What I have said is that we need to be sure of where are treasures are. There was a time I would have liked to have great financial wealth, but I have come to realize over the years that wealth is not about money it is about what you value. My riches are not in gold, silver, dollars, or whatever monetary value I could gain. Would it be nice if I had enough money to not concern myself with the bills? Yes it would but that is not my focus and should not be your focus. My riches are in my family and the ones I love they are more precious to me than anything in this world. The Word says that our heart will be where our treasure is, so are we looking to build a temporal treasure here that we cannot take with us and will fade away to nothing or will we lay up our treasures in Heaven where they cannot be corrupted?

One last point on Mr. Osteen, my problem is not with him, but his message. (Again I want to make it clear I did not bring up any names until I was challenged to name them. My preference is to teach the truth of Yeshua’s Gospel in all of its glory and brutality. When we know the truth we can see the counterfeit for what it is.) He cannot even agree on the most basic tenant of the Christian faith. That tenant is that Yeshua (Jesus Christ) is the only way to the Father period. In an interview with Larry King Mr. Osteen claimed that there is more than one path to heaven, basically opening up things for other religions like Islam, Buddhism, and many others. When he was pressed on the issue to make a definitive statement he waffled and said it was not up to him to decide, that was G_d’s area. (If I have to I will look up the specific transcripts but it is late now and I need to go to bed) He denies the truth of the gospel, so I cannot take anything else he says as truth. That is not furthering the gospel that is deceiving people out of a true relationship with the creator of the universe. How many will lose their souls because the gate has been opened to believe whatever you want to believe as long as you support his church.

Good News in the Blogging World

2006-03-02T15:08:00.000-06:00

Billy D is BACK. It is enough to make this sick man’s heart soar. I will try not to party to hard as the coughing fits will get quite bad.

He has changed the color scheme and the name to “Because I Swear…” (I will let him explain). Go give him a visit and see what is going on in His neck of the woods.

So You Say There is a Storm Coming…

2006-02-28T22:28:00.000-06:00

What are we to do? First and foremost seek the Father’s face, learn His will for you in these times. All of us have a task set before us. All of us need to be preparing our families. This is the most important task. All others fall by the way side if we fail our families. I myself have been remiss for too long in this duty, and one I am now working on correcting. Yeshua made it clear that our families will be important when the time comes. They will be the ties that bind us together and our support when we feel weak. We prepare our families by getting them in the Word, knowing what we believe and why, memorizing as much scripture as we can, and above all helping each other grow in our personal walks with Yeshua.

Once our families are prepared we must be open to whatever call He has on our lives. Each person in His remnant will have a calling. Some will be simple and may simply be to raise your family in the way they should go, others will have complex callings that will change from time to time. Some will be called to teach and preach, others to sound the alarm and prepare the way. Some will be called to suffer and even give their lives as martyrs. I pray that Yeshua will not have to move and purge the church of the infection, but I also pray that he not stay His hand longer than necessary.

The Rising Storm

2006-02-27T23:39:00.000-06:00

I have been watching and praying a lot lately and I am becoming more and more convinced of something. We are sitting the on the edge of a vast change in how the church is seen over the world, especially here in the United States. Our churches are becoming weak because a very well crafted lie has been spread throughout Yeshua’s church. I have been agonizing over this for some time because I do not wish to know what I know. Yeshua is weeping over the state of his church and has decided to act. He is staying His hand for now because He wishes for those who are caught up in the lie to see the light and come back to their true love.

There is a remnant of the redeemed right now, He is gathering them and preparing them to boldly speak the message that His judgment is coming if we do not repent of our wicked ways and return to Him. He has shown me His heart on this and he knows many will not follow, being content to hear a false gospel that makes them feel good for now without true understanding of the eternal cost to their souls, or the temporal cost to their lives when the time of trial comes.

The church in America will know the persecution of our forefathers. For the ones who have placed their faith in Yeshua it will be a time of the refiners fire and our faith in Him will grow and our love deepened, but for those who have no foundation when the fire comes they will be consumed, they will curse G_d because they think they have been forsaken when their fortunes and lives are gone, their faith crushed because they put their faith in the things of this world and gaining more of them than in following Yeshua, taking up the cross, and dying unto themselves.

My heart is grieved and heavy because of this. I would much rather go on living in bliss, not knowing what is in store for us if the church does not return to it’s first love. I know this is a heavy topic, but it is the message He has laid upon my heart. I thought when he told me I was to start learning that it meant that I would have to find a teacher to teach me, I was right in one regard that I needed a teacher but not on the subject I first thought. I am not even sure how to put this. Time is too short now for a “formal” type of education, not because the trial will be tomorrow, but because it will take time to gather the remnant and for the remnant to spread the message. For some reason I cannot fathom He has chosen me, maybe it is to confound the wise and those stuck in the lie, I do not know, but I do know I am to be a leader of some kind. For now I am looking to gather an on-line remnant to pray and seek His face. We will need guidance and strength in the months and years ahead of us, I will tell you we will be ridiculed, reviled, hated, imprisoned, and some will even lose their life. Remember these are all things Yeshua said would happen to us, but no matter what the world does the world cannot take us away from Yeshua and if we die then we will go to be with Him. I pray that we will all remember when the time of trial comes.

E-mail

2006-02-25T11:38:00.000-06:00

For those who wish to contact me outside of the comment feature of my blog I have added a link to my e-mail in the link section.

e-mail me

A True Friend

2006-02-22T16:11:00.000-06:00

My friends I do not do this often, I am going to heap a bunch of praise upon someone who will tell me that I shouldn’t. Since starting blogging I have met a couple encouragers. One of them is Billy D (I can’t wait until his life is settled enough to start blogging again), the other is a very godly woman, she has been given considerable wisdom in her years and I have been tremendously blessed by her presence here in the blogsphere. This is a woman I would be happy to call Mom and in some ways is a spiritual mother to me. I know I am too old to truly be her child but I would be honored if she allowed me to continue thinking of her that way. Serena, as I have told my wife on many an occasion recently “I love this woman”, she wholeheartedly agrees with me. May Yeshua continue to bless you and your family. Some day Birdie and I will figure out how to meet you, but if not in this life I will look forward to seeing you in heaven.

Come out to Life
Derech Shalom

I Have Been Challenged

2006-02-20T18:45:00.000-06:00

The other day Andrea posted this article (Andrea is asking us to be considerate of the fledgling Christians and those not yet redeemed) about a church being built. Digital Cowboy piped in and claimed that Andrea was being judgmental and “encouraged” her to visit the church before condemning it. This devolved into an discussion over how G_d blesses us and why He does so. Cowboy claimed that those who believed that G_d prospers those he chooses to and for the purpose of spreading the gospel not accepting that often those left in a state of dependence upon Him will come to love Him more for the miraculous provision as just stuck in “religion”, and he hates “religion”. Well I have news for Cowboy everyone has some sort of “religion”. I do, he does, Serena does, Andrea does, the atheist does, and so does Joel Osteen. Religion is simply the code of beliefs that we live by. I know that Cowboy is going to say that is not what he meant, that he meant that he hates when people attempt to limit G_d. I to hate it when we attempt to place G_d in a box and say this is what He is all about. Not one man can limit G_d; we do not have that power. As a matter of fact the entire human race cannot limit Him. He will do as He wills and will bless us according to His will and plan, not by us manipulating Him and basically claiming power over Him.

In that conversation Cowboy claimed that that we were either sinners or we were saved that we could not be both. If you look at it simplistically he is right, but he is wrong. The scriptures are filled with references from those who were followers or simply those who had faith that felt they had no right to be in Yeshua’s presence. He would often bless them for their faith. Yeshua consistently berated the proud and honored those who were humble. When one of his redeemed says we are but lowly sinners saved by His grace, it is recognition of where we came from and an acknowledgement of His grace and power in our lives.

Again in that conversation Cowboy challenged me on my list of people preaching the prosperity gospel message. I still stand by my list of those preaching the prosperity gospel message. At Cowboy’s request I went and checked out Joel Osteen again. His message has not changed he preaches the same form of “name it and claim it” his father preached before him. It is a little subtler than his father’s but it is still there. He openly denies that Yeshua is the only way to reach the father. When pressed he will claim it is for G_d to judge the heart of the individual and not his place. This is a copout. I have read too much about Mr. Osteen, and read his own words to think otherwise. He preaches a gospel that denies the absolute need for Yeshua’s sacrifice, replacing it with pop psychology and ever present positive thinking masked as living in faith. I would go on to say that Mr. Osteen is one of the top preachers of the prosperity message.

New Life is so Cool

2006-02-14T17:34:00.000-06:00

For all of those pro aborts and those who think life does not start before birth you can stop reading now.

Ok are they gone now?

For the rest of us, here is how cool an unborn child is. Birdie is now firmly in the third trimester and “Wiggles” is very active. The cool thing is that “Wiggles” interacts with his/her environment. I can talk to the baby and he/she repositions himself/herself to listen better. “Wiggles” also likes to be rubbed or patted and will even push into the rubbing and patting much the chagrin of Mama. “Wiggles” also likes to be held. He/She will get in position that you can even hold a body part “sort of” and will stay there for some time. “Wiggles” Hates the vacuum cleaner and if Mama is in the room when it is being used “Wiggles” will try to exit Mama through her nose. “Wiggles” also does not like several kinds of music including rock, jazz, and the blues.
Nobody could tell me that this little person who is already very opinionated is not yet alive. It is so cool getting to know a little one before they are even born. I cannot wait.

Second Prayer Request for a Friend

2006-02-13T19:46:00.000-06:00

Some good news, the antibiotics seem to be working for Jimmie, but there are some more concerns for his family now. Please be praying for his wife and MIL.

Thanks.

Hey,

We are need of Prayer at this time. My toe is finally healing,BUT,

1) Anita has just (Monday) been diagnosed with Gallstones and will need to have that taken care of later in the week or early next week ALSO

2) Anita's Mom has had pain in her neck for the last week so today we found out she has a fast growing tumor. Biopsy is Thursday, No information until Monday on Results. The tumor has grown from Ping Pong Ball Sized on Friday to Large orange sized today. This has been a crazy month, and we do appreciate your prayers.

In His Grace,
Jimmie W. Kersh

Answers to Arielle on Forgiveness

2006-02-09T23:42:00.000-06:00

I'm thinking further study might be necessary, though. I'm not certain that you've covered this as fully as needs to be done.
For one thing, though we are commanded to forgive, the Redeemed are also instructed to put unrepentant sinners out of their midst and not to have fellowship with them. In this case, forgiveness would not absolve them of the consequences of their misdeeds.
What of all those that repent of their sin and become Redeemed, yet still suffer from the physical consequences of their sin?
Arielle

You are correct I did not cover the issue of forgiveness fully. I was speaking more along the lines of who can forgive rather than the ramifications of forgiveness. So lets go a little further in our discussion. Most of Arielle’s questions are based around my statement that forgiveness releases the guilty from guilt and consequences. When I wrote that, I was thinking eternally not temporally, but lets get on to Arielle’s questions.

First is on the subject of the unrepentant sinner and removing said sinner from fellowship. At first this seems a little tricky but if we look at it more closely it is not. Removing an unrepentant sinner from fellowship is an act of the church leadership (sort of a semi-governmental type of thing) and does not actually require that the leadership to be the offended party. There are set guidelines for it in Mathew 18, and actually has little to do with forgiveness. Forgiveness for the Redeemed is for the most part a singular personal action, whereas the act of removing someone from fellowship is supposed to be a last ditch effort to bring the unrepentant sinner to repentance and should be performed by someone in authority in the church who is not personally involved.

So what about suffering the physical or temporal consequences of sin? That is a difficult question to answer. But may have more to do with ultimately giving glory to Yeshua than we see at first glance. For some it is a reminder of where they came from and for others it can serve as a warning of what sin can do to a person’s life. Others such as those dying from a disease brought about by their old sinful lifestyle it may simply hasten going Home to the Father. There are many reasons Yeshua will not remove the temporal consequences from the Redeemed, but we can be rest assured none of them will fail to bring Him glory in the end.

Blogging Personality

2006-02-09T17:12:00.000-06:00

A thank you goes out to the Pebble Chaser for the link.

Your Blogging Type is Confident and Insightful

You've got a ton of brain power, and you leverage it into brilliant blog.Both creative and logical, you come up with amazing ideas and insights.A total perfectionist, you find yourself revising and rewriting posts a lot of the time.You blog for yourself - and you don't care how popular (or unpopular) your blog is!

What's" Your Blogging Personality?

What is funny is how many blog posts never make it off the cutting room floor because I dont like how they read.

Reason # 1,759,421 to Homeschool Your Children

2006-02-08T18:51:00.000-06:00

Ok, the zero tolerance police are at it again. This time a little boy (6 yo) touches a little girl (6 yo) and gets suspended for 3 days. This is just one more example of the equalitarian society doing what it can to prevent boys from being boys. If it had been my boy, and he had done that, a slap on the wrist and an explanation that boys are to protect girls would have been enough.

Forgiveness

2006-02-08T00:35:00.000-06:00

I wrote this a while back and decided to go ahead and post this now.

What is forgiveness? When are we to forgive? Who should forgive? And whom should we forgive? And you ask why bring up the subject?

I bring this up because of this post by Heidi. In it she describes what she thinks a certain couple men deserve for the crime they committed against a boy. What was interesting were the responses to her post. I made an attempt at levity that Heidi got, but others almost chastised her for her post. All the comments centered on forgiveness. Cowboy asked her if she had forgiveness issues (might have been in jest knowing DC), others pointed out forgiveness was conditional upon repentance, others pointing out that vengeance belonged to G_d.

Basically forgiveness involves being released from the guilt and consequences of ones misdeeds. This is closely associated with mercy. The question of who should forgive is easy. We as followers of Yeshua have been given a command to forgive those who have offended us just as He has forgiven us. This allows us to shed in some physical light what Yeshua has done for us. Yeshua also brought up that we are to forgive those who offend us each and every time. So far the answers have been simple but the question of who should we forgive is a little trickier. The simple answer is someone who offends us should be forgiven, but is often applied much further than that in we are told to forgive everyone even those who have offended someone else. Now while this sounds good it is not something we can actually do. You see in order for you to forgive you must first be the victim of some offence. I will use the case that Heidi was talking about to illustrate. Heidi was upset over a 13 y.o. boy who was sexually abused by and AIDS awareness advocate who happened to have AIDS himself therefore ruining the boy’s life. The boy is the victim of this crime; G_d is also offended because His Law is broken; and the state is offended because one of it’s laws have been broken. Now the only ones who can extend forgiveness here are G_d, the boy, and the state. Heidi cannot in reality offer any forgiveness in this case, although I do believe that the boy’s parents could be added to that list.

Now if the boy and / or his parents are a Christians they are commanded to offer forgiveness as an extension of G_d’s grace and mercy, this is not conditional upon the repentance of the offender. G_d’s forgiveness is conditional upon the acceptance of Yeshua’s sacrifice and lordship regardless of the offence. If the offender does not then G_d’s perfect justice will take place. The state is the only entity here that has the option to wave forgiveness and in reality has a mandate to punish those who have committed crimes.

A Friend's Prayer Request

2006-02-07T18:23:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone,

My mentor Jimmie sent this prayer request and I am passing it on to you, so when you get the chance pray for him. I know the anguish he is going through because my MIL (who is diabetic) had to go through this when she injured her knee. She lost half of her leg because of the infection. Please pray for him.

Hey guys,

Just wanted to ask you if you would pray for me. I am diabetic and I have an infection from a hangnail on my large toe. I had to go to the doc today and he told me to stay in the bed for the next three days. I am on a high powered antibiotic and hoping it will improve before Friday. If not, I will have the toe removed. Never thought I would start falling apart this bad this fast. (haha)

Doc was great and gave me an option of complete bed rest at home or in the hospital. I chose home. Hopefully that was the right choice.

In His Grace,
Jimmie W. Kersh
Jimmiekersh.blogspot.com

Odds and Ends

2006-02-07T00:24:00.000-06:00

I want to say I am sorry for the absence from my blog for the past week. Birdie is still having some problems, she got a little better but she is not out of the woods yet. It seems that this pregnancy is just going to be hard on her. She has been ill from the beginning and has only had brief periods where she felt well. Please keep praying for her.

Over at Heidi’s she is having a contest to give Difster a real name. Why? I am not sure why, he does have a perfectly good name in Difster. (I know it is all in fun ;)) Speaking of names Birdie has mentioned to me more than once how hard it is for he to think of me as Eaglewood on her blog. So if you see another name for her husband over there don’t think she has flipped out and gotten herself a new husband. She has called me “Bear” for 15 years and it is more comfortable for her. Eaglewood was the family name we formed from a medieval unit study we did and from a cat that I had that we called Misty of Eaglewood. I just thought it would make a good on-line name as I have a fascination with eagles.

She Lives!!!

2006-01-31T00:26:00.000-06:00

At least she is feeling well enough to write. Birdie Is back.

Prayer Request

2006-01-26T19:05:00.000-06:00

Ever since the last round of the flu bug around our house Birdie has been struggling with a sinus infection that has kept her quite down. Of late this has also been affecting her blood pressure. Please keep Birdie and the baby in your prayers. For those of you who know the blood pressure thing is a serious issue.

Ladies and Gentlemen We Will Now Return to our Regularly Scheduled Broadcast

2006-01-24T17:19:00.000-06:00

I am through with going over to The Harbor and discussing this issue. All parties involved are in the wrong to some extent or another. They are entrenched in their own worldview and will not listen to a voice of reason. After some fervent prayer I was directed by the Spirit to these two posts by Patrick Mead and my prayers were answered. The first is called “Proving it…” and the second is “Who Makes The Call”. I have done what was expected of me and it is now His time to work in the lives of the parties involved.
This is my view on things after I waded through this morass:

Brother Randy Haney has his heart in the right place in wishing to start an outreach ministry to the lost in his community including the GLBT community. But he seems to be blinded by friendship to the problems presented by Rev. Wendy Bailey. This is a shame because if it were not for Ms. Bailey I could support this ministry.

The SBTC while not blinded to the problems with Ms. Bailey was wrong in how they handled this problem. Instead of quietly allowing the church congregation to choose to go with the vision of their pastor and leave the SBTC because they were in violation of the SBTC by-laws, or to choose to stay in the SBTC and pursue new leadership; they were voted out of the convention without the ability to make that choice and publicly humiliated.

Finally we get to the Rev. Bailey. Regardless of the protests by Bro. Haney and herself she and her beliefs are at the center of this controversy. Once she finally showed up to the debate I was able to ask her several pointed questions on her views. To be fair they are the same questions her detractors had been asking. If she had answered the questions in the manner Bro. Haney seemed to indicate she would I would be writing a much different post today, but she was evasive and accusatory of my motivations. Basically in doing so she supported her existing writings, which I have posted in the previous post. Her discomfort with the thought that certain actions the Word adamantly explains are sins because society currently condones those actions disqualifies her from being in a leadership role in ministry of this sort. She cannot be objective enough to head up a group dealing with a very sensitive issue.

I am done. I will not go back. It is in the hands of Yeshua.

We will now return to our regularly scheduled broadcast…

A Little Clarification on a Dirty Shame

2006-01-20T13:39:00.000-06:00

Rather than rewrite this post I am going to paste the letter I sent to Jimmie on this matter. I have had a little more time to reflect and look at the matter. After this careful consideration I had to modify my position a little from my initial post.

Jimmie,

You are probably not as surprised as I am to find out that you know the people involved. In that light I have some questions concerning all of this.

My only uneasiness in this whole incident is the position of the female pastor (Wendy Bailey) in this. From my reading on this she seems to have no problem with homosexuals continuing in their “relationships” even after they have received Jesus as their savior. Maybe I have read something incorrectly, but that is what I have concluded in my limited knowledge of this lady. My problem is that this is encouraging sin and the Word does not mince its words on the subject of homosexuality.

I have no problem with this ministry on its face value. We should all be striving to reach all people in their sin, and I truly believe this was Bro. Haney’s intention, but I think he may have chosen the wrong person to partner with in this effort. I will tell you why in a moment. I also know the convention leadership handled this in an unbiblical manner, and are wrong for their legalistic view on these matters, all in the attempt to distance themselves from anything that may make it seem like they endorse the homosexual lifestyle.

Ok, why do I think Bro. Haney made a wrong choice? This falls under my non-essential doctrine philosophy. Basically that all the denominations should set aside non-essential doctrines to work with each other in cooperative efforts to spread the gospel. The thing is that under this philosophy if the Word says unequivocally that something is as sin there is no wiggle room for debate and if someone claims otherwise then it is tantamount to heresy. This is my only issue with the whole affair on Bro. Haney’s side. Was his refusal to disassociate with the ministry in question reason enough to ostracize the whole church without a fair hearing? It was most definitely not. It should have been brought before the local church elders and the congregation to see if they wished to continue the partnership with Wendy Bailey and Eklektos.

Just so Wendy’s possition is clear this is quoted from Tom’s Blog from the quote from Wendy’s blog.

“I realize that many people differ on the Biblical interpretation of Scripture surrounding issues of homosexuality. My hope is that Eklektos will minister within that controversy and seek Christ in the midst of it. I acknowledge that even the most faithful Christians can disagree over whether homosexuality is sinful — Randy and I differ on that issue — but this ministry is here to reach people who are typically ostracized and hurt by the Church, and to offer them a loving and non-judgemental community in which to seek Christ and grow in discipleship. Even if we all agreed that homosexuality was a sin, should a church require gay and lesbians to be celibate or “convert” to heterosexuality? No. Not anymore than the church should require divorced people to reconcile, wealthy people to divest their money from companies that promote unrepentant consumerism, or gluttonous people to go on diets.” Wendy Bailey
The emphasis added is mine.
I am probably rambling on about this now. I know that Tom and yourself are close to this issue because Bro. Haney is your friend so your inclination is to rush to your friends defense, and you should, I will be right there with you concerning how the convention handled this issue, but I cannot defend his decision to work with Wendy Bailey based upon her own words.

In His Name,

A Dirty Shame

2006-01-20T00:03:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I see something and look at it at its face value and never see the story behind the one reported. This time I got to see the real story. As I regularly do I went over to Jimmie’s to see what pearls of wisdom my mentor has dispensed when I read this. Reading that post led me over to Tom Cotter’s to see the rest of the story. I will post the article first then Tom’s comments. Please go read them before you read any further. I will wait…

Baptist Press Article
Tom’s First Post
Tom’s Second Post
Tom’s Third Post

… I am glad to see you are now back. Are you as mad as I am? I hope so. I got so flustered I could not ever comment coherently.

Ok, for those of you who did not go read the posts here it is in a nutshell. The Southern Baptists of Texas Convention removed a church from its rolls because the pastor is “affirming, approving, and endorsing homosexual behavior”. If that were all there was to it I would be saying good on them. But that is not the whole story. That is the story that the SBTC is sticking to because it is politically expedient. Basically this is the real story; Bro Haney and the church he pastors have been disassociated from this convention because he crossed denominational lines, worked with a female leader of a different church, and started a ministry to reach out to a particular group of sinners. The big sticking point seems to be that this particular female leader does not think that homosexuality is a sin. Ok, now if you have not read the posts and the article please go read them now. It will give you a clearer picture.

Why am I writing about all of this, when others closer to the story already are? I am writing about it because it ties in with my calling. Why I am so upset is that these people are trying to reach sinners where they are and bring them to Yeshua. We do not come as spotless lambs to him but as dirty, rotten, wrecked, and any other sundry adjective you wish to add sinners. All of come to Him in that condition, we are no more spotless that the homosexuals they are trying to reach. I am quite convinced that Yeshua would have been right there with Bro. Haney and the others involved in this ministry outreach. We have a duty to reach even those who we would deem the most unlovable and show then the true love of the Messiah. We all have our sins and flaws, the fact that the particular sin in this case is the dreaded sin of the day; homosexuality is the only problem here. No one sin is greater than another in G_d’s eyes, each one keeps us from him, because is perfection cannot abide our imperfection.

I ask you to say a prayer for these men in the SBTC as they have lost their way and have been blinded to a real need because they seem to be afraid of getting their hands dirty and show the real love of Yeshua.

Update:

After some considerable discussion with Birdie I have had some things in my mind settled on this subject. First I had some qualms about the woman “Pastor” involved in this. This is not because she is a woman, but because she unequivocally claims that homosexuality is not a sin. This is not just a difference in opinion along the lines of whether or not the person in question is a practicing homosexual or if the person is celibate. She “feels” that they have no need to stay celibate. This does change my view a little. Brother Haney is not completely left out of the blame here. He chose to work with a woman that has questionable biblical beliefs and that is what I think he did wrong. Starting a ministry to reach homosexuals is a good thing and he may have had pure motivations but he chose the wrong person to work with on the project. Now I still believe the convention handled this wrong and should be held accountable for their wrongdoing, but I can at least see the problem they have with Bro. Haney teaming up with someone that has very divergent views on this issue.