Spoken into Existance , nothing becomes something

In the Beginning :

[ Heaven and Earth ] First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: “Light!” And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning— Day One. ...

This is why we give thanks for ALL things ...God created ALL things ...Human beings try , but simply cannot separate themselves from His creation .  As the Scriptures say " apart from Him we can do nothing " . 

I believe it would be possible to camp on the these first words from the Bible for years , and still not fully understand nor embrace the great truth that we are seeing .  Understanding that everything we have , everything we  " own "  all of our  " wealth " is His , He created not only the stuff we  use to make other stuff , but He created the human being with the ability to use his creation for the benefit of human kind ...

Understanding this is fundamental to understanding  both Grace and Compassion , and building your life of service to your King on Thanksgiving .

We as the created beings cannot , create anything apart from God , and what we do " create " comes as a blessing from Him , and one which I believe He intends for us to share with each other on the Planet .  God requires nothing from us to provide us with Air to breathe and food to eat ...I suspect he just may ask us to be like Him and  freely give to others what He has freely blessed us with .

The reason we should give the credit , the Glory , to God ..is because that is who is directly responsible for it . 

End of the Year Message

Another full and blessed year .  Marked out with several Trips :  Oregon , Gulf Coast , Texas , Oklahoma , and Indiana  with stops in Arkansas , Washington , Kentucky , Ohio ,  Alabama  and New York .   Favorite Memories watching my Lori giggle and beam doing face time with her niece , enjoying my daughters videos , A new job with an amazing company , new friendships in the theater world . A bucket list trip to New York that included two Broadway shows watching the joy in Lori as she contemplated the Rockefeller Christmas tree ..and a ten mile walk from Ground Zero to Times Square for me . 

 

It was also one of the worse years for me as well ...perhaps its simply age catching up with me , nostalgia for Camelot  I do not know  ..but to be sincere this was an incredibly disappointing year for me  ...So disappointing that  my wanting to say something about it without offending friends and family has been a major stumbling block ....As believers  we are to seek " unity " ..and yet ...when even the idea of commenting on how disparate we are in these troubling times ...has the appearance of  divisiveness ?

 

I have been praying and meditating about this for some time ....this morning I found this post  on my wall from our Worship Pastor at Springhouse  .  And this was the answer to prayer .

 

THE IRONY OF DISUNITY
I’m posting this up to Christians – “born again” believers. It is not meant for or directed toward those who aren’t “in Christ”.
Please direct your attention to 3 key verses that deal with our calling as children of the Most High God:
Ps.133:1 says, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for believers to dwell together in unity!”
Jn. 17: 21 says (of Jesus praying), “that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
Eph.4: says, …”being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Now, consider this: In 2 Cor.5:18-21, Paul addresses the church-at-large by pointing out two things which are major aspects of biblical unity:
He states that (as believers) we have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” as a charge in our service to our Lord (v.19c). Then he goes on to get very specific regarding the job description that we’re ALL given when he says, “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ…” (v.20a)
Here’s my point: We are charged with offering the lost and dying world “beauty for ashes; the oil of joy for mourning; and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isa.61:3). Those things incorporate the plan of redemption instead of rejection; healing instead of sickness; hope instead of despair; inclusion instead of exclusion; freedom instead of slavery; love instead of hate; righteousness instead of evil; forgiveness instead of condemnation; light instead of darkness; and unity instead of factiousness. The ironic thing is that we Christians are currently modeling the exact opposite of what we say we believe. We have become as dis-unified as those who have no citizenship in God’s kingdom. We have allowed ourselves to become re-culturated by the dynamics of a fallen world instead of upholding core biblical values in our day-to-day lives. (See Rom.12:1&2 / MSG)
In the chaotic daze of confusion ahead of humankind in this coming New Year, we should perhaps give a little more attention to how we practice the so called “Golden Rule”:
“Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you” (Mat.7:12).
Selah (pause & ponder)  Pastor Wayne Berry 

For me simply put  our Unity must be in Christ ...not the world . 
Praying for peace and reconciliation , that in 2017 we move closer to the Kingdom , by leaving the world behind ..as a boat on the ocean  we  float not by letting the water into the boat  but by keeping the water out of the boat  ..let us embrace all people as if in His time they may come to be our Brothers and Sisters .

Not of this world

When asked by Pilate If He was " King " of the Jews ..Jesus asked Pilate if that was Pilate thought of Him or if it was what he had heard .  Which might have been an interesting Dilema for Pilate who claimed to be Jewish and would thus have to put himself under Jesus Authority if Jesus was indeed " his king " .  Pilate said  essentially no I did not say it they did ...what have you done that would cause them to bring you to me ?  Jesus then said " my kingdom is not of this world "  . Most of us accept that at face value ..Jesus was Lord over another Kingdom , a Kingdom he frequently spoke about , and encouraged His followers to enter .  In his  encouragement and His  describing the Kingdom he was pretty specific , you cannot belong to two different Kingdoms ..you have to choose somebody .
After Jesus said to Pilate " my Kingdom is not of this world " He went on to say  " if my Kingdom were of this world , my servants would fight so that I should not be delivered to the Jews, but now my Kingdom is not from here " .  John 18:36 .

As servants of  the most high God ,   Jesus is our Lord and Master . We fight  ( if ordered ) for the Kingdom of God , not for the Kingdoms of men.  NO earthly Kingdom can ever be a partner  with the Kingdom of God . No American flag ,  No British flag , no Israeli  flag , no flag will be flying above or in the presence of God .  The  Kingdom of God is so different from the Kingdoms of men , that they cannot be bound together ,  Like  trying to use your Mac with PC software , or mixing oil with water .  These actions cannot work because their natures are so completely different .

I do not know about other countries first hand , but I do know that Christians in the United States frequently confuse Patriotism with Christianity .  For over two hundred years  we have been given a foundation built on American exceptionalism , that we are  a chosen nation , that we have a manifest destiny , that we are the torch of freedom for the world , that our  might makes us not only right but Servants ready and willing to fight for the Kingdom .  And yet  Jesus is still saying to us " My Kingdom is not from here "  . The truth is the United States is just a country , a country in this season , whose influence will eventually end . We may print our money with the words  " in God we trust ..but our trust is in our  Bombers , our Aircraft carriers , our nuclear arsenal , in our  Savings and loans , our IRA's  ...None of these things will last either .  Ironically Jesus in His ministry told us to give up ( If we choose to follow Him ) all of the things we wage war over .  These things do not last ..but Gods Kingdom is eternal .  For us it is an Indiana Jones Movie  :  Only God is reaching out to us as we dangle from a cliff , holding unto a bag of treasure ..we need to let go ..to grasp His hand ...

Him only

 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.   And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to.   If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’

^{"I will give you ALL their authority and splendor : it has been given to me and I can give it to anyone I want to..If you worship me , it will all be yours "   This is a pretty audacious claim ..one that could have been immediately been called into question by Jesus ...but Jesus never questioned the veracity of Satan's claim ...instead He simply told Satan that  He  was to only worship God alone.   Satan had no response to this  .}  

^{Bright lights ...Moth to a flame . Not long ago I read a blog post by a well known Christian Business man , who was giving financial advice .  He was saying  if you follow his  steps , not only can you have financial security later in your life , but you will be in a better place to serve the Lord .  This is  not that much different from the offer of Satan .  As followers of Christ ..we have been commanded to Worship God and Serve Him only .  I do not believe we  Serve Him only by serving ourselves first .  This is a hard lesson ...and one so many of us ( included )  miss because so few of us are  actually doing it .  The bright lights of financial success , of the worldly pleasures and temptations ..are not seen as temptations . But rather as blessings .}  

^{In a elegant sleight of hand Satan has convinced us that he has given us Authority , and the proof of that Authority is the Splendor we surround ourselves with .  And then we  take the Splendor and thank God for it ?  Did God give us wealth and Prosperity , through the force of arms ?  Through subjection of other peoples ?  Through our Military might ?  Are not everything we fight for ..that we  shed our blood and the blood of innocents for ..those things that Jesus told us to abandoned to follow Him...this Jesus who  rejected  the Kingdoms of the World to Worship His Father and Serve Him only ?}  

^{As we celebrate the Birth of our  Lord  and savior today let us meditate on ...How we  can best Worship the Father and serve Him ..} 

Out of Focus .....over time

Several years ago I had the opportunity to spend several months out West ...Oregon is my home state and I try to visit almost yearly :  I had planned to take  a lot of photos on the way ..mostly to build up my stock portfolio ...I took several thousand photos on this trip .  Lori was able to join me for several weeks and we had a blast hanging out and exploring the Central Oregon Coast , and of course  a few photographs along the way.  In time we returned to Nashville ..briefly , then it was up to Louisville for a wedding .  The night before the wedding at the Rehearsal my main on camera lens  stopped focusing .  I was unable to focus in either manual or Automatic focus .  Fortunately I carry several lenses and was able to  use some of my bench players for the wedding .  when we returned to Nashville I sent the lens into Canon for repair .  in less than a week it was returned to me and I started using it again .  I was surprised at how well the photos looked with the repaired lens ...there was a crispness and clarity there I almost did not recognize ...I started looking back through many of my galleries and noticed that over time the lens must have been going out of focus ..The worst shots were those I taken in Oregon just a few months ago ...comparatively they were almost unusable ..all that time and effort and I had thousands of photos slightly out of focus .  This happened very easily ...it wasn't an over night even  , until the lens finaly gave out completely it happened over time ..and over time I simply accepted the out of focus images as normal ..losing more and more clarity with each day , each month ...I do not want this to happen again so I belong to a service where I can send my lens in once a year ( same with the cameras ) to be re calibrated .  I find its very easy to accept an out of focus image as  " normal " if you do not have a point of reference . 
I have begun to realize this is true of our spiritual lives as well ...and its a pattern that you can see as you read the Bible .  Just look at Judges  for the very best examples .  We succeed because of God and once we suceed we thank Him and ourselves ...we lose focus and we drift away from His commands and suggestions ....sometimes so slowly we  actually think we are still doing His will .  This year like all the other years Lori and I have been at Spring house we will hear our Pastor tell us to read our bibles   ..from cover to cover ...its not only a good idea ..I believe it is essential ....His Word is our calibration ...As Human beings our tendency is to drift  ...As His children we need His commands to keep us on the Path . 

Girdled for war ---the Great Raid

Also know as the Day I stole my mothers girdle !

Girdled for war ---the Great Raid

For several years the family slipped into a pleasant pattern. Some weeks our family would be staying a few miles inland from the Pacific ocean ...Fishing , hunting exploring the woods and hills . Back home I was enjoying the popularity of my neighborhood gang . This was a " gang " in the " Spanky" sense of gang . Most of the time we spent playing amongst ourselves . building forts in the woods , and in our backyards ..but every once in awhile we turned our attention to the encroachment of other neighborhood gangs on our terriritory..One of these times became the stuff of legend ..we referred to it in hushed tones as the " great raid .

. By any stretch of the imagination the raid had been a total success , we had destroyed the oppositions fort , turned over at least one lemonade stand and left the 35th street gang in a total state of disarray. This had come at little cost to us, Rex had ripped his pants , one of our bikes had a flat tire , my brother was lost , and worst of all I had lemonade stains on my mothers new Girdle. There was a chance I might get in trouble over that Girdle in the first place and the lemonade stains almost guaranteed it . The cost of our victory might be higher than I had planned to pay.It like so much and so many other its in my life began with a choice. In this case the choice was whether to borrow the Girdle or not to borrow the girdle. And this choice was a in fact a confluence of Choices going back well into the pastfew months before the raid..There was one area in our house that was supposed to be inviolate , a place of refuge and safety for my parents and this area was their bedroom. IT was an unwritten law that entering the bedroom without permision was a crime.Oddly it was this secrecy that pulled me into the downward spiral of guilt , remorse . On one hand the possibilty of being caught in this sanctuary was almost enough to keep me from gently pushing open the door . On the other hand there was much to discover in their room. It all started innocently at first , I needed gunpowder ...and my father stored his ammunition in the bedroom, I wasn't supposed to know that , but in a two bedroom house there aren't too many secrets. I needed the gunpowder for my science experiments , in this case I was experimenting with gunpowder. I had found that a little bit of Gunpowder could add a little extra kick to my homemade bombs. Latter I would find that gunpowder would also provide an extra kick to rocket fuel , but I am several years ahead of myself here. My father kept the ammunition in his dresser drawer which was right next to my mothers underwear drawer. Of course the first time I was pillaging the dresser I did not know about the underwear drawer nor did I have a really good foundational understanding of women's underwear, and that included my mother's..The first time I discovered the drawer , I was somewhat confused as to what I had found , there was something deep down inside of me , something unexplainable that this was not my fathers underwear ..and with only the two of them sharing this room I was made the connection that this must be my mothers ...there was some confusion after all these items were not made from sturdy cotton , they were silky and soft and ...well daintier ...and then I saw the girdle , I had no understanding of this device , at first I thought it was swim wear , but a careful look and I knew it was at best only half a swim wear . It was sturdy, it was white , it was quite long it looked to me like it would fit me and the pants leg part would almost extend to my knees. Somewhat confused I gently placed the girdle back into the drawer and plucked out a couple of shotgun shells from my fathers drawer .I preferred using the shotgun shells to the 30 06 shells he also had in his drawer . I learned form experience that it was easier to remove the gunpowder from the shotgun shells than from the metal jacketed rifle rounds ...you really know who your friends are when you ask them to hold a steel jacketed bullet in a pair of pliers as you try to use a hacksaw to open it up ....at one time I thought that if I heated the lead bullet part up with a stove top I could pry it loose easier , but it didn't work out the way I planned.I has kept the discovery of the girdle safely tucked into my brain ..and then when we started planning the great raid and I was looking for the perfect costume I retrieved the information form my mind and decided that the girdle was just what I was looking for ...taking my dads socks was more of an impulse and I had already used the idea of the towel for a cape . The swim cap and feather was Rex's Idea ...he thought it would look silly on him so he suggested I wear it , and thought he was foolish for not seeing the possibility.My plan was to wait for the right moment and slip into my parents bedroom , grab the girdle then run like all get out. I would change into my warrior uniform in the tree fort ...slid on a pair of jeans and slip away on my bike...for the most part the plan went well ...I was able to grab the girdle when my mother has walked to the store , changing was no problem , I ran into a little problem when I discovered my Bike was not going to make the trip , but when my brother rounded the corner with that " where are you going " look in his eye I decided to invite him into the gang ...At first Bob was somewhat skeptical , trust was always an issue with him , but I assured him he wasn't;t part of a science experiment. That he would be an important part of the foray , and the rope was definitely needed ...at one point he protested that since I was bigger I should pull the wagon , but I reminded him that I knew he had broken moms baking dish and I knew where he had buried it ...and he stopped protesting and let me lash him to the Wagon....A few blocks away we stopped so I could complete my costume and as I was putting the feather in the hat I heard some of the neighbor girls laughing ...I told them they shouldn't tease my brother like that then I gave a hearty giddy up and off we went ...cape flying in the wind and a blur of white girdle as we headed down 33rd street. we were a group of hard driven neighborhood kids ..Led by Rex and myself we were also accompanied by Mike squirrly Hukins, Norm stinky Simpkins, Andy one hand ( after an unfortunate accident with a pair of pliers and steel jacketed bullet , and Linda beefcake O'mally who for a short period in the 80's was the lead blocker for the San Francisco Bombers roller derby team. each of us had dressed in their best fighting clothes. rex was wearing his coonskin cap and genuine Hop Along Cassidy leather vest and chaps, Norm who was part Nez Peirce indian was wearing war paint ( actually lipstick and eyeliner ) , Andy still had his hand in a cast which he had dipped in black paint , and Linda was dressed like Peter Pan with a Baseball bat . Of note was Norms Bike which had half of a Antler set strapped to the handlebars . As we caravanned down Capital Highway we could easily see the looks of admiration and envy from the passing cars , and even a few noses pressed against the glass seemed to be weeping and convulsing as viewers seemed to instinctively understand the grand undertaking we were undertaking ...while I felt a little odd standing in a red wagon being pulled by my brother with a rope around his waist in mothers girdle I knew that most driving by would quickly see it was no girdle at all but the gilded armor of a dashing Greek warrior ...Anyone who had read the Iliad would instantly recognize the similarity. Later I learned that Zane Grey's book the Broken Spur was the most popular read in the Northwest.We traveled down Capital highway for two blocks then turned right on 35th street , enemy territory ...we had only peddled a few feet when we saw them gathered around the Karnes Kid's Lemonade stand ...they were surprised and terrified when they heard our shouts and screams Four of us were shouting my brother was screaming. Although to be fair our war shouts could have used some improvement. I had Asthma and when excited I wheezed better than I shouted , Rex had a lisp , Norm Stuttered and Linda hadn't decided on a good war cry so she just shouted Hey Ricky !!! ( she loved the I love Lucy Show ). My Brother was screaming because He couldn't swerve fast enough to avoid the lemonade stand. There are some images that don not fade away , they are etched , nay sculpted in to the matrix of the mysterious place where Memories are reside. Here the five of us dressed in our warrior garb , led by half naked chubby boy with lipstick and mascara smeared across his cheek , on a bike with half a deer head wired to the Handle bar , followed by a Greek warrior in his mothers girdle being pulled on a red wagon with his wide eyed brother lashed to it , several other s in distinguished gear following close behind , startled the 35th street gang scattered like watermelon Seeds at a Ghallager concert ....unprepared for this reaction my brother caught up in the moment and showing al the signs of a first time rookie , rushed forward and in the confusion I was thrown head first into the lemonade stand ...thank God for the Swimming cap ...I was soaked all over with fresh squeezed Lemonade ...I think it was the combination of the warm day and the sticky lemon drink but I could actually feel the girdle shrinking up and soon my " armor " undergarments were tight enough to kill my pet hamster and I was still in them ....the walk home was not as fun as I thought it might have been , I was walking because my brother had taken off ..and we were not sure where he went ...I was concerned about this because Bob still had the rope and it was my Dad's ...As I began the long walk home I was feeling a little discomfort , not only was the armor shrinking the wet lemonade was staring to chaff , by the time I got home I was walking bowlegged and with a definite hop ...

I think Lori hit on a Key point with her response to my last post. Why is it that Hundreds of Thousands of people will follow the advice of a TV personality ? How is it that Television and movies seem to have so much impact on what we think and do. And Conversely why do so few people pay attention to what their Christian Neighbors , Family and Friends have to say.

Maybe we should be asking ourselves ( including myself ) what do we say ? and perhaps more important just how do we act ?

Do we act like non Christians , do we speak like non Christians ? This is a question I have started asking myself and looking at my personal walk . I am afraid I am part of the problem. I started by asking myself Just how should we act ... If we are being as the Bible says transformed in the image of Christ just what does that image look like ?

IN the Bible Jesus uses just two words to describe His personality. " I am gentle and humble in heart " . That's a good place to start.

Humble and Gentle.

Websters Dictionary Defines humble as:

Etymology:
Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin humilis low, humble, from humus earth; akin to Greek chthōn earth, chamai on the ground
Date:
13th century
1: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive2: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission 3 a: ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious

Consider that this is How the Son of the most High God described Himself. If anyone would have the right to be arrogant , the right to be assertive it would be the Son of God , and yet He says just the opposite . We claim to be proud after a hard days work making oyster crackers , Gods days work included the cosmos , the oceans and the bountiful life that covers the earth. I am part of Gods days work , and yet I brag over a reasonable picture of a Sunset.

Jesus was saying he was humble to us ,His people and as His people our goal is to be Christlike.

I suspect there are very few of us who would claim to be humble , humility is not a word we would readily use to describe our selves or our culture .

Just a drive down the road will revel the worlds best hamburger ( at five different locations ) the fastest car , the best phone service , the best football team, the greatest nation on the earth. This is not only the way the world acts but its the way we act as well ,,,the greatest church , the largest congregation, the best sermon. As a Churched group we routinely compare our little Worship place with others and the others usually come up short.

What would a picture of a humble Christian look like ? How do we start to learn to be humble , and why is it necessary for us to be humble ?

I think a starting place would be scriptural as well , an understanding of Servant hood. Servant hood is very closely aligned with very nature of love. After all can't we define true love as a condition when someone Else's needs become more important than your own ?

Now there is a topic ...For it seems that for most Love has now been redefined as What must I do to satisfy myself ? Its all about me , me first , my needs first , its my body. These all come from the same common root , its difficult to criticise the person choosing to abort when we are ourselves placing our needs first and the needs of others in the distant background.

Servant hood means doing for others with no anticipation or desire for reward for ourselves. There is alot to be said on this and the hour is late ... I am going to end tonight by challenging myself and any who are interested in taking a small baby step ... each day I wish to provide without benefit to myself a random act of kindness to another ...since reporting this would in a sense be a benefit I also choose to simply do it and not then seek praise for reporting it ...