Thoughts

I have recently commented on my social networks about the freedom I have found by detaching myself from the roots of confining religious thought. It has been a difficult journey to accept but advantageous to comprehending God's direction and purpose for the calling he has given upon my life.

I have learned much through the constriction of my background. It hasn't harmed me but may have well failed in my success to witness. Liberty in Christ is vital to effective evangelism of the unchurched.

The judgmental attitude does nothing to enhance the communication of the Gospel of Christ. It is, in fact, most likely detrimental in most cases.

If you are of the persuasion that God looks on outward appearance to judge, then you are definitely on the wrong path to effective witnessing. Scripture is most clear on this but often set aside to place conviction upon the "lost soul,"

I know I cannot place my personal convictions on another. Each of us must work out our own salvation with fear and trembling as the Apostole Paul clearly states. When I put my convictions upon you, I fail to minister the Gospel.

Experience freedom: Let the Son of  God set you free. Believe on Him. Receive eternal life and let the Spirit reveal truth as you travel this new road to reward.

Is it time for therapy again?

 Perhaps there are events that cause frustration and confusion unnecessarily but I must learn to grow through them. My testing is special because I am considered special by the one who created me. It is not that He allows the trouble to beset me, but rather that He utilizes it to the advantage of the Kingdom He is building.

Hurtful offenses have come to me personally and through my family. Most recently there has been an instance involving my wife in particular. I feel the affront was unwarranted but perhaps done out of self protection by the individual.

My wife has willingly been a servant with opportunity that fades with so much miscommunication that it sickens my heart for her. I do not believe the leadership involved truly understands the way they put out information to her. However, I can only pray that it will be revealed to them.

I am frustrated that the attacks come to her from the Christian community. I know her well after 28 years of marriage. There is no malice on her part to usurp authority or be in the spotlight; she just wants to do what God has put in her heart. Those who hinder her abilities will hopefully learn and make things right again.

Acceptance of events has been crucial to our moving forward regardless of apologies or not. Life is full of speed bumps along the way we travel. It is difficult to avoid misalignment in our life because of the harm the bumps cause to our wheels. Nonetheless must let God fix the alignment His way and move forward.

A little R-E-S-P-E-C-T would be nice!

Time Maches On

Ity has been sevral weeks since I have posted anything here on this blog. I have posted bits and pieces on Facebook and Twitter though. It isn't that I don't have lots of thoughts to be put down, it is a matter of having the energy to sit and type it all out and edit it so that it communicates well.

Everyday is a growing day for me, even at my 66 years of age. Why? Well, positive and negative things help me develop a perspective on life as well as keep the proper perspective for eternity.

We did take a little get-a-way to the lake last week and had a wonderful time. It was tiring in the sense of a lot of walking down to the lake where the kids were fishing and back for lunch, etc. We did meet a wonderful couple who befriended us all, and now we are keeping in touch via Facebook. This trip did require a lot of preparation with getting the travel trailer road-ready again; it had been setting in the driveway for over four years. The only difficulty was with the slide out, which we had to manually slide out and the hot water heater didn't work. The kids caught eight trout between them. We froze them and will have a fish-fry soon. Can't wait to go again!

Now I am back to work. There seems to be no relief on the volume of work we now have with one worker down. They say there will be no replacement. We will have to wait and see. I can only do so much. Wish I could really fully retire; but the mortgage must be paid.

I guess that will be all for this post.

To All My Friends

I am sure I have brought disappointment to you at some point during our acquaintance. I reach this conclusion on the basis the lack of personal contact from some of you for a long extended period. You may have placed me on a high pedestal and I failed to live up to your expectations. Sometimes the perch is extremely difficult and often precarious.

 I will admit my human frailties often interfere with good decisions. I offer my apology and request forgiveness. I will admit that events in my life have brought me to a fresh new perspective on what Christianity is to be. My shortfall was adhering to traditions. This was a comfortable but not necessarily a proper or essential position to the call God placed upon my life.  

My foundational faith is not cancelled or forgotten.  I want to build upon the past if it is a good base. All dross must be removed from my thinking and activity. Maturity should come to all of us as a process, a process of being tried like gold. This is an continuing need, because impurities filter into our lives at all stages. Learning never ends.

If I used Scripture to enforce or influence you to believe it my way, I offer sincere apology.  I appreciate exuberant worship as much as anybody, however, it must be done in decency and order to avoid the creating a stumbling block. I want balance in my life with respect to living godly.

Firework displays are things of beauty empowered by a force. I don’t know the details of how it is done nor could I replicate the splendor. Our spiritual fireworks must illustrate His glory and draw the observer in, not push them away. This doesn’t imply the “shout” or “amen” cannot be expressed, but let it be done in order and relevancy to the occasion. God wants us to be in tune to effectuate His concepts, not our own. When we transform our thinking and renew our minds we can fulfill this service.

Freedom from the traditions of men is actually experiencing God’s awesome grace. Hell-fire and brimstone sermons without the balance of grace and the beauty of salvation only frighten one to disregard the message. The true seeker will find God’s mercy and grace as so often illustrated in the Bible. The unnecessary fierce vociferous declarations harm the reception of the message. The excitability of the hearers will not endure the true test that follows in the days ahead.

Ministry is more than acquiring a pulpit to proclaim in, it is more than being elected to service in a spiritual office. It is serving the needs of others without worry of title or attainment of prestige. We are not a congress to legislate; we are ministers to announce good news. Nor are we judges to castigate the sinner, instead we are attorneys to advocate mercy.

An Unveiling

Time is an element of life that passes by so quickly. I am sitting at my desk and composing this piece for my blog and listening to the sound of a passing freight train nearby. The sound is nostalgic to me for some reason. I have just checked the Facebook postings of my friends and found some interesting comments along with some useless chatter as is usually the case. So now I will add some useless chatter to my blog but allow it to be a venting mechanism.

I am actually trying to discipline myself to writing more consistently than I have previously done. The excuses for not doing so are as varied as the number of cars on that passing train.

There is a particular subject I wish to address at this point. It is one that has plagued my choices for most of my life. It began for me early in life. I would say at least by high school age. Now I have accomplished a term of service in the US Air Force, a career with the Social Security Administration, a secondary career in ministry, and now working as a family services coordinator.

As much as feasible I would cover my condition by avoidance or selective refusal of certain situations. This brought about difficulty in relationships.

But now it is a new time in my life. I confess that I have essential tremor (ET). This neurological condition is probably a hereditary disorder.  My father had it and was misdiagnosed with Parkinsonism most of his life. I was often told I was nervous because of my shaking; it is a type of nerve disorder. I am amazed at how many are afflicted by this potentially degrading condition.

The tremor is in mainly in my left hand for which I am so thankful since I am right handed. However, residual tremor affects my right hand and my handwriting is very poor. The medication of beta blockers has helped but the prognosis is not positive. I must resign myself to acceptance of the condition and hope people understand my limitations. For those who would like more information about ET I suggest you look at the web site: www.essentialtremor.org/.  This web site will give you more detailed information about ET and how it affects individuals and limits their functioning ability.

I wish it would go away but in spite of ET I resign myself to live life to the full. I pray for God’s assistance and would gladly accept a miraculous healing anytime. Stress and tiredness aggravate the disorder. But, if this is my thorn in the flesh, He will give me strength to bare it to the end.

GIVE THANKS!

It is a wonderful season, but not without its difficulty. If you reside in the United States of America, you are among the most wealthy population in the world. Give thanks. All the difficulties we face are naught in comparison to famine and pestilence and poverty in other parts of this world. Give thank for what you have, or don't have. If you can even read this, give thanks. There are so many illiterate people in our world.

I give thanks to my Creator and the greater hope He has given me through Jesus Christ the Righteous.

An Unpleasant Anniversary

As we are about to mark another anniversary of our demolished world we once knew and worked in I am stirred in my spirit for the offenders who succeeded in bringing an abrupt end to life as we were accustomed to. I will however, acknowledge that the unwarranted event has led to development of a better life for us. For this I am thankful.

I remember the terrible feelings of injustice that swept over us for months. At certain times the blood boils and hurts pain us. The instigators may be in denial but justice will prevail. I must rest in the confidence of a just God.

Many would say I should forgive and forget. And, yes, I have forgiven but forget . . .  not so quick. The wound is deep and since it was unjustified injury to my character and integrity it is healing pain. I learned a lesson and will remember it, avowing to never let it happen to us again. I would also hope others would recognize the signs and avoid similar circumstances in their lives. Rick Warren put it like this: "If you cannot remember the pain, you would not remember the lessons."

For the parties involved, I pray for their souls. May there be an awakening in their spirit to try a reconciliation that fits with their proclamations. I cannot force this upon them but they will have to act appropriately at some point in time.

My assessment of the situation this year concludes that the scheme was a total disregard of the facts and certainly no consideration of affect.

There was a rising to power, an idolizing view and deception that preceded our termination. The frustration of leadership with my failure to voluntarily resign was clearly evident. I forced the decision upon those perpetrators. The person responsible for this attitude will have to come to terms with God on the matter.

It is difficult to maintain a Christian attitude towards former fellow Christians who have eviscerated my ministry within their realm. The nice thing is that I am not confined to their legalism or by-law system of man-made rules that restrict and confine me to an unfitting mold. I am at a new day in ministry that is calm and poignantly straight-forward.

Perhaps it took the severity of such an evil plot for me to be free of a bondage that appealed to the pleasing of man more than pleasing God. I confess this weakness and thus declare a most clearer and truer perspective on my calling to minister. God does know how to make good of the bad that happens to us.

Many will read this and not understand and attempt to self-justify. However, they must focus on life’s purpose according to God’s call and not upon personal agendas. The enemy of our soul, Satan, does not care about your profession and will use whomever he can to carry out his evil.

My intent is to expose the failure of my former leaders in this statement for the purpose of the disclosure of truth. The conversations involving our departure have not been fully explained from our perspective. The failure to give audience as a member is a serious offense and violation of Christian principles. It is truth that sets us free, even though at first it makes you miserable.
Vengeance does not belong to me. I surrender to my Heavenly Father, to fulfill the purpose He alone has called me to. My departure from those who brought offense is by no mean a confession of guilt on my part.