When I was very very young back in my fetus days I was thinking about how safe and secure I was. I had everything I needed and wanted--food, shelter, warm water bed, and that soothing "thump thump, thump thump..."
If it was up to me I guess I could have stayed there forever. But then after about nine months this bright light drew me toward it and out I popped and something wacked me on the butt until I cried. Mom said I looked black and she didn't want to touch me. (Wow! Physical, racial and psychological abuse in the first five seconds of life.)
Sixty-two years later as I sit here writing this blog I hear this "thump thump, thump thump..." and I'm looking for some light. I feel very uncomfortable and know what I write is going to offend somebody so I think I'll offend everybody--those both to "right" and "left" of me.
Why is it that the democrats and republican can't seem to agree on anything? Is it because they start with different assumptions? I know this is really tremendously over simplifing the matter but one believes "government is "for" the people" and the other believes that government is "of" the people". And what seems to get lost in the mix of all this is "the people".
Could that also be what get's in the way of "pro-lifers" and "pro-choicers"? Some how what gets lost in the mix is "the baby". My guess is if I told some of you what I personally believe about this "issue" you would be very up-set with me. In fact I think both sides of this "issue" would be up-set with me. And some could be even thinking: "Don, you are either for life or your not" or "You are either for choice or your not". You can't be for both. You can't have it both ways. And you know, you're right, I can't. So what can I do?
If I'm for choice a person chooses what she wants. If I'm for life she is forced to choose what I want, that is what someone else wants, not what she wants. Either way something dies--a baby or her right to choose.
What are we to do? No "win win", only lose win or win lose or lose lose." I control your choice and you lose it. Or I you win, then your choice and the baby's lose. Or you lose you freedom and the baby loses hers/his life.
We could pretend that a fetus isn't a living thing and then all three lose: choice, life and truth.
So what are we to do? What are you to do? Make a decision. Make a choice. Take a life or save a life. And then you live with that choice. And I will die for your right to do either.
Ok, now who else do I want to "provoke"? Well, I'll tell you right now I will also die for your right to be what you really think you are: be it gay or strait or both. Just like I will die for your right to be "republican" or "democrat" or neither.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
"The Bible Yes--Jesus No"
What if we didn't have the "New Testament" scriptures? What if we didn't have Acts thru Revelation? What if we only had the Hebrew Scriptures (Genesis thru Malachi)?
What if we could think outside the box and ask questions like: Who decided these "New Testament" Scriptures were inspired to begin with? Weren't they just a bunch of religionist who called themselves everything from "Holy Father" to "Reverend" to "Arch Bishops" to "Cardinals" to "Clergy" and who lorded themselves all over men which was exactly what Jesus told his disciples not to do?
Didn't Jesus say things like "call no man father on the earth" and don't be like those who rule over men, the one who will be the greatest among you will be the least...serve from a position of humility, sell all that you have, my kingdom is not of this world, the kingdom of God is within, not by force, when you are weak you will be strong and on and on and on?
So how did it come about that we "blindly follow blind guides" who decided to put the letters of Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude on the same level as Moses and the prophets and Solomon and like I said religion is man-made. Most if not all religions make rules in the of their god. Yeshua is spirit and any war which is fought is a spiritual one. Not about flesh and blood or a man centered book. His kingdom is not of this world. This world killed the prophets and the son and kills the followers of Light & The Way. God has no name because s/he/it is spirit. I do believe what I call the god took on the form of a human for about 40 years and showed those who want to see the essence of god. This being is who I call Yeshua whose name means Ya (god) is salvation. No physical war was ever fought in the name of Yeshua. He/She/It is Peace and Mercy and Grace. Yeshua is Shalom! d all those writers of those really ancient scriptures which Jesus quoted?
Who decided the "Canonicity" of what we call the "New Testament? Weren't they just humans just like you and me? Aren't they the same men who built a "Catholic" Church based on an authoritative political hierarchy modeled after the Roman Empire? Who says we need to be thankful for these first century letters?
Isn't most if not all of the division among believers in Jesus today based on the "interpretations" of these "Church Letters" and traditions of men? If I were satan wouldn't I want people to believe a book was "inspired of God" so men and women would believe more in the B.I.B.L.E. than in the Word become Flesh?
So what would happen if we didn't depend on "the Bible" for our salvation? What would happen if we only depended on Jesus' life, death, burial and resurrection for our salvation? What if we only depended on the One who died for us for our salvation? Did the "Bible" die for anyone or was it the Word which became flesh and lived for awhile among us that died for you and me?
Well isn't the New Testament how we come to believe in Jesus? Would we know of Jesus if it wasn't for the New Testament? How? Didn't the first believers depend on the oral teaching passed on from one believer to another as confirmed in what we call the Old Testament? Did believers for years, even centuries not even have the Book we call the New Testament? How were they saved if they could not read?
What would happen if all we had was the story of Jesus: Hear the Word of God from the One God who became flesh and died on a Roman Cross: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the (Heavenly) Father but by Me." "I and the Father are ONE?"
Who were these first "eye witnesses" of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?
Didn't Jesus once pray that we all be one, just as His Father and He are one? Didn't Jesus say "blessed are those who believe even though they haven't seen and yet trust the telling the good news of His story as told by those eyewitnesses?
If we only had the "changed lives of those first eyewitnesses testimony" passed on to those who believed their message" what would the followers of Jesus look like today?
Would the Kingdom of God look and act more like Jesus than the Christian Religion of today with over 500 different denominations? What if all believers served each other and treated each other the way Jesus said so the world would believe because we would be known by our love one for another?
What if the Way of Jesus was based not on a book of rules or principles but on the Life of the one who gave up Himself for us?
What if we really put our faith in Jesus instead of in the Bible? Wouldn't less people be saying "the Bible YES" and "Jesus NO"? What if...What if...What if...
And even if the New Testament is the inspired word of God, which I personally believe it is, what would it be like if we really believed more in the One who inspired it than in it? What would it be like if we really worshiped the God of the Bible instead of worshiping the Bible? What if the Bible was given by God for people and people were more important than Bible? What if Jesus was more important than the Bible?
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus bled and died for you and me. Not the Bible. Not a book. No, not even an inspired one. Only the Word Who became Flesh saves us.
The Bible, NO.
Jesus, YES.
JESUS.
What if we could think outside the box and ask questions like: Who decided these "New Testament" Scriptures were inspired to begin with? Weren't they just a bunch of religionist who called themselves everything from "Holy Father" to "Reverend" to "Arch Bishops" to "Cardinals" to "Clergy" and who lorded themselves all over men which was exactly what Jesus told his disciples not to do?
Didn't Jesus say things like "call no man father on the earth" and don't be like those who rule over men, the one who will be the greatest among you will be the least...serve from a position of humility, sell all that you have, my kingdom is not of this world, the kingdom of God is within, not by force, when you are weak you will be strong and on and on and on?
So how did it come about that we "blindly follow blind guides" who decided to put the letters of Paul and Peter and James and John and Jude on the same level as Moses and the prophets and Solomon and like I said religion is man-made. Most if not all religions make rules in the of their god. Yeshua is spirit and any war which is fought is a spiritual one. Not about flesh and blood or a man centered book. His kingdom is not of this world. This world killed the prophets and the son and kills the followers of Light & The Way. God has no name because s/he/it is spirit. I do believe what I call the god took on the form of a human for about 40 years and showed those who want to see the essence of god. This being is who I call Yeshua whose name means Ya (god) is salvation. No physical war was ever fought in the name of Yeshua. He/She/It is Peace and Mercy and Grace. Yeshua is Shalom! d all those writers of those really ancient scriptures which Jesus quoted?
Who decided the "Canonicity" of what we call the "New Testament? Weren't they just humans just like you and me? Aren't they the same men who built a "Catholic" Church based on an authoritative political hierarchy modeled after the Roman Empire? Who says we need to be thankful for these first century letters?
Isn't most if not all of the division among believers in Jesus today based on the "interpretations" of these "Church Letters" and traditions of men? If I were satan wouldn't I want people to believe a book was "inspired of God" so men and women would believe more in the B.I.B.L.E. than in the Word become Flesh?
So what would happen if we didn't depend on "the Bible" for our salvation? What would happen if we only depended on Jesus' life, death, burial and resurrection for our salvation? What if we only depended on the One who died for us for our salvation? Did the "Bible" die for anyone or was it the Word which became flesh and lived for awhile among us that died for you and me?
Well isn't the New Testament how we come to believe in Jesus? Would we know of Jesus if it wasn't for the New Testament? How? Didn't the first believers depend on the oral teaching passed on from one believer to another as confirmed in what we call the Old Testament? Did believers for years, even centuries not even have the Book we call the New Testament? How were they saved if they could not read?
What would happen if all we had was the story of Jesus: Hear the Word of God from the One God who became flesh and died on a Roman Cross: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no one comes to the (Heavenly) Father but by Me." "I and the Father are ONE?"
Who were these first "eye witnesses" of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus?
Didn't Jesus once pray that we all be one, just as His Father and He are one? Didn't Jesus say "blessed are those who believe even though they haven't seen and yet trust the telling the good news of His story as told by those eyewitnesses?
If we only had the "changed lives of those first eyewitnesses testimony" passed on to those who believed their message" what would the followers of Jesus look like today?
Would the Kingdom of God look and act more like Jesus than the Christian Religion of today with over 500 different denominations? What if all believers served each other and treated each other the way Jesus said so the world would believe because we would be known by our love one for another?
What if the Way of Jesus was based not on a book of rules or principles but on the Life of the one who gave up Himself for us?
What if we really put our faith in Jesus instead of in the Bible? Wouldn't less people be saying "the Bible YES" and "Jesus NO"? What if...What if...What if...
And even if the New Testament is the inspired word of God, which I personally believe it is, what would it be like if we really believed more in the One who inspired it than in it? What would it be like if we really worshiped the God of the Bible instead of worshiping the Bible? What if the Bible was given by God for people and people were more important than Bible? What if Jesus was more important than the Bible?
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus bled and died for you and me. Not the Bible. Not a book. No, not even an inspired one. Only the Word Who became Flesh saves us.
The Bible, NO.
Jesus, YES.
JESUS.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
"OLD"
You've heard it said that you're only as old as you think. Well what if you don't think you know what "old" is? That wise guy Solomon said "As you think in your heart, so are you."
That Solomon might have thought it was cool to have a bazillion wives, etc. But that sure got him in trouble. I get in trouble with having one wife and Carolyn is wonderful and has put up with me for going on 39 years. Wow. Old...that's old.
In 1971, when we got married on Carolyn's Dad’s birthday, I really don't think I had a clue as to what real love was. I was pretty sure what "lust" was and "friendship" was and "selfishness" was. But love, not a clue did I have. (Now I'm sounding like Yoda.) Marrying Carolyn was very close to the wisest thing I've ever done in my life, second only to committing my life to Jesus.
Old. It may seem like we're old, yet only to those who are the age we were when we got married. Remember us "baby-boomers" didn't trust anyone over thirty. Yet to people in their 70's, 80's and 90's I'm sure we seem very young.
Old is a word. A label. It means nothing unless we give it meaning. Like commitment and love and forgiveness. Just words. Put them in a context and they can mean everything: OLD. God is Old. God is love. God is forgiveness.
Old cheese; old wine; oldie moldy; old fart--what my daughter Sara lovingly calls me, partly because her mother hates that "f" word.
Well, I feel old and I'm grateful to feel old. And I think in my heart that I want to grow older with that beautiful person who committed her heart to me on November 5, 1971. Old. Old. Old. Would you commit your heart to be OLD with me?
Happy Valentine's Day from this OLD F..T.
That Solomon might have thought it was cool to have a bazillion wives, etc. But that sure got him in trouble. I get in trouble with having one wife and Carolyn is wonderful and has put up with me for going on 39 years. Wow. Old...that's old.
In 1971, when we got married on Carolyn's Dad’s birthday, I really don't think I had a clue as to what real love was. I was pretty sure what "lust" was and "friendship" was and "selfishness" was. But love, not a clue did I have. (Now I'm sounding like Yoda.) Marrying Carolyn was very close to the wisest thing I've ever done in my life, second only to committing my life to Jesus.
Old. It may seem like we're old, yet only to those who are the age we were when we got married. Remember us "baby-boomers" didn't trust anyone over thirty. Yet to people in their 70's, 80's and 90's I'm sure we seem very young.
Old is a word. A label. It means nothing unless we give it meaning. Like commitment and love and forgiveness. Just words. Put them in a context and they can mean everything: OLD. God is Old. God is love. God is forgiveness.
Old cheese; old wine; oldie moldy; old fart--what my daughter Sara lovingly calls me, partly because her mother hates that "f" word.
Well, I feel old and I'm grateful to feel old. And I think in my heart that I want to grow older with that beautiful person who committed her heart to me on November 5, 1971. Old. Old. Old. Would you commit your heart to be OLD with me?
Happy Valentine's Day from this OLD F..T.
Friday, February 05, 2010
Does God Trust in YOU? Or "How Do You and I Define Love?"
So what is this thing we call trust? In most if not all relationships it is the foundation. If there isn't trust it is really hard to move on. We might like someone or even "love" someone, yet if there is not trust, what do you do?
The one definition of trust which I like best was written by a mentor and friend of mine, Darald Hanusa:
"Trust is the feeling of comfort that comes from knowing that another person will look out for our best interest, no matter what."
It may be interesting to know that Dr. Hanusa is a cognitive, behavioral psychologist and that part of his life work has been working with men whose pattern of life has been abusive and controlling (selfish) behaviors and facilitating their change to men whose behaviors are assertive and caring (empathic).
How do you or I learn to "trust" someone who has been hurtful and harmful? How do you or I get a feeling of comfort from a person who has in the past hurt me or has not "looked out for my best interest"?
The short but not easy answer is learning to trust again because that person has changed their behaviors from demanding and forcing to behaviors of asking and allowing me to be me, no matter what--even if I say NO.
Trust is a primary feeling of knowing in my heart that you no longer want to hurt me to get your way. Not an easy task. How does one gain your trust or if lost, how do you get it back?
"Thoughts of your mind have made you what you are, and thoughts of your mind will make you what you become from this day forward." (Catherine Ponder)
"As we think in our hearts, so are we." (King Solomon)***
Let me illustrate with this story.
When I was a little boy I slept on the bottom bunk and my brother was on top. My big brother, who I literally looked up to use to tell me: "Donny, at night there are alligators under the bed and if you get out of bed they will get you and eat you." I believed my brother. I trusted him. And I cried because I had to go pea. I wet my bed. And my big brother would call me a baby for wetting myself. I eventually would get up and go pea in the toilet and I wouldn't get eaten--not by alligators anyway.
I learned not to believe or trust my big brother. For most of my childhood I did not trust my big brother. Now I trust my big brother with my life. I learned to feel trust in the feeling of knowing he would look out for me, no matter what.
Once when we were kids and swimming in some lake in Texas I was going down for "the third time" and brother Bill held me up till the lifeguard got to me. Once I shot him in the mouth with a BB-gun and he pulled the BB out of his mouth and laughed. Once when I was in Viet Nam and my best friend Earl died Bill wrote me and said I would always have a place to stay with him when I got back to the "World". Once I did stay with him and his wife for several months, several transmissions and several .... well I won’t say of what. Through it all, my big brother Bill acted in such a way that I no longer feared him, I trusted in my heart that he was looking out for my best interest.
Who do you trust? (Wasn't that an old TV show?)
Who do you trust--really?
Do you "trust in God" or "trust your spouse" or "trust your boss" or "trust your children" or do you even "trust yourself"? It's on our Money: "In God we Trust". I wonder on God's money does it read "Trust in People"?
Trust is a "two way street" and it takes both "knowing that another is and will look out for our best interest, no matter what".
Whether you are the "truster" or the "trustee" it is a feeling of comfort that comes from knowing, really knowing that the best interest of the other is the goal. The goal is not what I want or even what the other wants; it's what is best for the other-- --NO MATTER WHAT.
For this reason God so "had the best interest" of the world in mind that He gave his one and Only Son to die so that WHOSOEVER TRUSTS IN HIM may not perish, but have everlasting Life.
Do you trust that? Do you trust that God was willing to die for you? God trusts that you will.
*** Note: "As thou thinketh in thy heart so are ye" by Dr. Harold Sala
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7, NKJV
Some 3000 years ago the wise man—perhaps Solomon himself—said it so well: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”Simply put, you become what you think—negatively or positively. Your thinking shapes your attitude, and your attitude is like the wood carver’s tool that molds you into the image you become.
A 27-year-long medical study documented what the writer of Proverbs observed a long time ago. Dr. John Barefoot of the Duke University Medical Center and author of the study says that people who are depressed, lack motivation, and generally feel hopeless, have far greater health problems than those who are positive and upbeat.
Furthermore, he says that individuals who think negatively of themselves and others have a 70 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 60 percent greater chance of premature death than those who are generally positive. (“Mood Affects Your Health” Family Circle, November 1996, p. 58).
He would agree with the words of Proverbs 23:7 in the Bible that says “as you think in your heart, so are you.” OK, what’s new? Solomon knew that 3,000 years ago, but now we’ve documented it. Dr. John Barefoot believes that you just can’t afford to worry, and if you find yourself feeling “blue” for more than a couple of weeks, you need professional help.
The study also revealed something important, something that the thousands of letters which have come to me over the years bear out. When you have a relationship with God—“religious involvement” is what the study called it—you have a more positive mental attitude, and your attitude determines your altitude: whether you get above your problems or sink lower and lower.
The study shows that when people live with “bad feelings” their negative attitude tends to lead to excessive smoking, drinking, food binges, and dangerous activities which only feed the downward spiral.
What does a God-connection have to do with your attitude? Plenty.
The one definition of trust which I like best was written by a mentor and friend of mine, Darald Hanusa:
"Trust is the feeling of comfort that comes from knowing that another person will look out for our best interest, no matter what."
It may be interesting to know that Dr. Hanusa is a cognitive, behavioral psychologist and that part of his life work has been working with men whose pattern of life has been abusive and controlling (selfish) behaviors and facilitating their change to men whose behaviors are assertive and caring (empathic).
How do you or I learn to "trust" someone who has been hurtful and harmful? How do you or I get a feeling of comfort from a person who has in the past hurt me or has not "looked out for my best interest"?
The short but not easy answer is learning to trust again because that person has changed their behaviors from demanding and forcing to behaviors of asking and allowing me to be me, no matter what--even if I say NO.
Trust is a primary feeling of knowing in my heart that you no longer want to hurt me to get your way. Not an easy task. How does one gain your trust or if lost, how do you get it back?
"Thoughts of your mind have made you what you are, and thoughts of your mind will make you what you become from this day forward." (Catherine Ponder)
"As we think in our hearts, so are we." (King Solomon)***
Let me illustrate with this story.
When I was a little boy I slept on the bottom bunk and my brother was on top. My big brother, who I literally looked up to use to tell me: "Donny, at night there are alligators under the bed and if you get out of bed they will get you and eat you." I believed my brother. I trusted him. And I cried because I had to go pea. I wet my bed. And my big brother would call me a baby for wetting myself. I eventually would get up and go pea in the toilet and I wouldn't get eaten--not by alligators anyway.
I learned not to believe or trust my big brother. For most of my childhood I did not trust my big brother. Now I trust my big brother with my life. I learned to feel trust in the feeling of knowing he would look out for me, no matter what.
Once when we were kids and swimming in some lake in Texas I was going down for "the third time" and brother Bill held me up till the lifeguard got to me. Once I shot him in the mouth with a BB-gun and he pulled the BB out of his mouth and laughed. Once when I was in Viet Nam and my best friend Earl died Bill wrote me and said I would always have a place to stay with him when I got back to the "World". Once I did stay with him and his wife for several months, several transmissions and several .... well I won’t say of what. Through it all, my big brother Bill acted in such a way that I no longer feared him, I trusted in my heart that he was looking out for my best interest.
Who do you trust? (Wasn't that an old TV show?)
Who do you trust--really?
Do you "trust in God" or "trust your spouse" or "trust your boss" or "trust your children" or do you even "trust yourself"? It's on our Money: "In God we Trust". I wonder on God's money does it read "Trust in People"?
Trust is a "two way street" and it takes both "knowing that another is and will look out for our best interest, no matter what".
Whether you are the "truster" or the "trustee" it is a feeling of comfort that comes from knowing, really knowing that the best interest of the other is the goal. The goal is not what I want or even what the other wants; it's what is best for the other-- --NO MATTER WHAT.
For this reason God so "had the best interest" of the world in mind that He gave his one and Only Son to die so that WHOSOEVER TRUSTS IN HIM may not perish, but have everlasting Life.
Do you trust that? Do you trust that God was willing to die for you? God trusts that you will.
*** Note: "As thou thinketh in thy heart so are ye" by Dr. Harold Sala
“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7, NKJV
Some 3000 years ago the wise man—perhaps Solomon himself—said it so well: “For as he thinks in his heart, so is he.”Simply put, you become what you think—negatively or positively. Your thinking shapes your attitude, and your attitude is like the wood carver’s tool that molds you into the image you become.
A 27-year-long medical study documented what the writer of Proverbs observed a long time ago. Dr. John Barefoot of the Duke University Medical Center and author of the study says that people who are depressed, lack motivation, and generally feel hopeless, have far greater health problems than those who are positive and upbeat.
Furthermore, he says that individuals who think negatively of themselves and others have a 70 percent higher risk of heart attack and a 60 percent greater chance of premature death than those who are generally positive. (“Mood Affects Your Health” Family Circle, November 1996, p. 58).
He would agree with the words of Proverbs 23:7 in the Bible that says “as you think in your heart, so are you.” OK, what’s new? Solomon knew that 3,000 years ago, but now we’ve documented it. Dr. John Barefoot believes that you just can’t afford to worry, and if you find yourself feeling “blue” for more than a couple of weeks, you need professional help.
The study also revealed something important, something that the thousands of letters which have come to me over the years bear out. When you have a relationship with God—“religious involvement” is what the study called it—you have a more positive mental attitude, and your attitude determines your altitude: whether you get above your problems or sink lower and lower.
The study shows that when people live with “bad feelings” their negative attitude tends to lead to excessive smoking, drinking, food binges, and dangerous activities which only feed the downward spiral.
What does a God-connection have to do with your attitude? Plenty.
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