The sunrise is going to catch me at this keyboard. The annoying thing about that is it is Saturday. I am not entirely sure why I awakened so early, but then this mental/spiritual/I do not know what thing started rattling around in my head and I knew it was more likely that I would take a nap this afternoon than get back to sleep this morning.
This week has been more eventful than my weeks often are. I learned a couple things. I cannot remember them both although I expect them to come back before I complete this post. What do you expect from a sleep-deprived man my age anyway?
Oh yes, we were talking about the week. Tuesday morning I met with my chiropractor. You remember him, the high school classmate who seems larger than life as a person, a professional, and however else one can be larger than life. In any event, I asked him if we could meet because I had a couple things on my mind and I knew he was one of the few people who would hear me out without trying to interpret my motives. I like being right. I was this time.
We talked for a little over an hour. He did not really have any answers for me, but it helped tremendously that he listened and he cared. He also had some very nice things to say about this blog and my ability to teach. He told me once, a year or so ago, that maybe he was going to be my John the Baptist in some area. You know, prepare the way to somewhere, for someone, or something. I do not think I will be invited to be the keynote speaker at a chiropractors' convention so we will have to wait and see how that manifests.
Friday, I drove to Santa Barbara to meet with a labor attorney. She is a very nice, young lady and seems to be competent. She must be. She cannot be but about forty years old and is a partner in the oldest law firm in Santa Barbara. Yes, forty is young when you look as far back at it as I do. By the way, she says I have a good case. There is even something interesting about that. You know we have a new director at the mission right? I think I told you that. Forgive me, it is barely 5:00 AM. Anyway, my job seems to be becoming what the company is claiming it has been all along, a professional position. We, the new director and I, interviewed a prospective team member together yesterday. (Semi-competent help has been one of my pet peeves, but I had never been asked for my input during the hiring process before.) I have also been asked to completely rewrite our recovery program. I am pretty sure both of those would fall under the general category of "professional activities" according to the law.
I returned home from that meeting and checked a few things around the house. It was about lunch time and I was feeling a little hungry. Since the men would not be at the mission for lunch I decided to get a Costco hot dog on the way to work. I was minding my own business, eating alone, watching the ebb and flow of the crowd when in walked five of our superior court judges. (Since I have related that event to other people, I guess it is amusing they were having lunch at Costco, but I did not think about that at the time.) I had at least brushed up against each of them professionally at some point and I know one of them a little more personally. Of course I was out of context at Costco so I had to remind them who I am. To make a long story short, if it is not already too late, they ended up at the table with me. I began to excuse myself when I finished, but was invited to stay. I stayed and visited with them, even entertained them with a funny story about a deputy District Attorney. I have absolutely no idea how this story relates to anything except maybe that we had a very brief discussion about the need for more recovery facilities in our part of the world.
I did have something of an endorphin rush leaving that, chance meeting. I felt a little giddy. Costco hot dogs have never done that to me before so I am assuming it was the company and the conversation. Perhaps it was just that a nobody like me was recognized by some of the power elite in the county. My own analysis is that it showed me I really do have a place, in Santa Maria and in the recovery community. I know I am where I am supposed to be, doing what I am supposed to be doing, but it is nice to have it confirmed from time to time.
When the rabbis of Jesus' time taught using parables they inserted different levels of meaning into them. In doing so, they were able to teach different people at different levels of mental, emotional, and spiritual understanding all at the same time. I am not smart enough to do that in these posts, but I just now realized I have done that in this one.
I will leave you with Proverbs 10:19. You will probably understand why. "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise." (hint: that is all I was supposed to write today.)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Business As Usual Is Not Always
Glenn Beck is on television Saturday afternoons. I did not know that. I had to ice my back because I had been to the chiropractor and the adjustment caused some spasming. The best place to do that is in my recliner which just happens to be placed directly in front of the television. I took that as a sign I should turn on the television while I sat for twenty minutes.
All that is to say, Glenn Beck was on. He was talking about civil rights and the struggles in this country in the 1950's and '60's. I do not really remember much about that since there were probably fewer than 100 black people in Santa Maria at the time. We lived outside of town in the '60's and I recall about 5 black students in our high school of 1,700. Racial tensions simply were not a big deal. Well, maybe they were the day a group of Hispanic students barricaded themselves in the band room for fear of the ranchers' kids. Or maybe I was just clueless, but in any event, I hardly noticed any racial tensions.
There are a lot of people in the Santa Maria valley who have no idea there is a religious spirit keeping a lid on God's people. Unfortunately that includes most of the people in most of the churches. The problem with that is that traditional models of ministry will only go so far until that spirit is removed or at least muted. We mentioned that in passing in the previous post.
When we returned to southern California in 1987, we ultimately landed in Santa Maria where I had grown up. For those of you who do not know the story, moving here was the beginning of God doing the things He had shown me over a couple years. Those things culminated in a very specific word from the Holy Spirit's mouth to my ears, so to speak, that I needed to be in Santa Maria. You might want to revisit some of the very early posts if that is not quite enough of an explanation.
When we moved here, people were naturally curious and asked where we had come from. We told them we had been in Davis, California for seven years, but had just recently moved from the San Fernando valley. Several people commented the spiritual warfare in Davis must have been intense. We used to chuckle at that--not because they were wrong, but because they were right--about Davis. What they failed to realize was that everyone in Davis who knew about spiritual warfare knew what the battle involved. The newspaper regularly carried stories about gay rights, the pro-choice movement in town, and similar things.
During the time we were in Davis, we saw some significant victories. At some point in the future we may even find out what part we had to play in those victories. We saw the Scientologists move away because they could not afford to stay. We helped with the formation of a crisis pregnancy center which ultimately led to the end of Planned Parenthood in Davis. We saw more than a few people come to faith in Jesus. We had a part in the first annual, community, Easter, sunrise service organized with the cooperative efforts of the evangelical churches in the city. Some of those accomplishments are more significant than others, but all are verifiable. They really happened. No one can debate them.
When we recognize spiritual victories, or seek to find the causes of those things happening, the reasons are not usually obvious. In other words, why did the Scientologists run out of money when it seems Scientologists never run out of money? Why was the Crisis Pregnancy Center able to replace Planned Parenthood? We know the spirits behind those organizations had to go first. The spirits always have to be dealt with first.
I clearly remember my prayer when I realized the Lord was calling us to leave Davis and head south. I kind of half questioned, half complained that it seemed we really had not accomplished much. The Holy Spirit responded, "I did not send you here for the sake of Davis. I sent you here for the sake of David." I realized those seven years were just continuing education. In addition to the victories mentioned above, there are people from the church we started there who are in various forms of ministry in several different places. Sometimes the things that appear to be wasted motion to us are all part of God's well thought out plan.
At least a part of God's well thought out plan in Santa Maria right now is preparing people, and calling people he has already prepared to be part of bringing down the religious spirit. The first step in that is awareness of the problem, i.e., the existence of a religious spirit. There does not seem to be much else to say except to encourage us all to ask if we are part of the solution or if we even understand this is not business as usual.
All that is to say, Glenn Beck was on. He was talking about civil rights and the struggles in this country in the 1950's and '60's. I do not really remember much about that since there were probably fewer than 100 black people in Santa Maria at the time. We lived outside of town in the '60's and I recall about 5 black students in our high school of 1,700. Racial tensions simply were not a big deal. Well, maybe they were the day a group of Hispanic students barricaded themselves in the band room for fear of the ranchers' kids. Or maybe I was just clueless, but in any event, I hardly noticed any racial tensions.
There are a lot of people in the Santa Maria valley who have no idea there is a religious spirit keeping a lid on God's people. Unfortunately that includes most of the people in most of the churches. The problem with that is that traditional models of ministry will only go so far until that spirit is removed or at least muted. We mentioned that in passing in the previous post.
When we returned to southern California in 1987, we ultimately landed in Santa Maria where I had grown up. For those of you who do not know the story, moving here was the beginning of God doing the things He had shown me over a couple years. Those things culminated in a very specific word from the Holy Spirit's mouth to my ears, so to speak, that I needed to be in Santa Maria. You might want to revisit some of the very early posts if that is not quite enough of an explanation.
When we moved here, people were naturally curious and asked where we had come from. We told them we had been in Davis, California for seven years, but had just recently moved from the San Fernando valley. Several people commented the spiritual warfare in Davis must have been intense. We used to chuckle at that--not because they were wrong, but because they were right--about Davis. What they failed to realize was that everyone in Davis who knew about spiritual warfare knew what the battle involved. The newspaper regularly carried stories about gay rights, the pro-choice movement in town, and similar things.
During the time we were in Davis, we saw some significant victories. At some point in the future we may even find out what part we had to play in those victories. We saw the Scientologists move away because they could not afford to stay. We helped with the formation of a crisis pregnancy center which ultimately led to the end of Planned Parenthood in Davis. We saw more than a few people come to faith in Jesus. We had a part in the first annual, community, Easter, sunrise service organized with the cooperative efforts of the evangelical churches in the city. Some of those accomplishments are more significant than others, but all are verifiable. They really happened. No one can debate them.
When we recognize spiritual victories, or seek to find the causes of those things happening, the reasons are not usually obvious. In other words, why did the Scientologists run out of money when it seems Scientologists never run out of money? Why was the Crisis Pregnancy Center able to replace Planned Parenthood? We know the spirits behind those organizations had to go first. The spirits always have to be dealt with first.
I clearly remember my prayer when I realized the Lord was calling us to leave Davis and head south. I kind of half questioned, half complained that it seemed we really had not accomplished much. The Holy Spirit responded, "I did not send you here for the sake of Davis. I sent you here for the sake of David." I realized those seven years were just continuing education. In addition to the victories mentioned above, there are people from the church we started there who are in various forms of ministry in several different places. Sometimes the things that appear to be wasted motion to us are all part of God's well thought out plan.
At least a part of God's well thought out plan in Santa Maria right now is preparing people, and calling people he has already prepared to be part of bringing down the religious spirit. The first step in that is awareness of the problem, i.e., the existence of a religious spirit. There does not seem to be much else to say except to encourage us all to ask if we are part of the solution or if we even understand this is not business as usual.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The Troubler of Israel
I was in the shower this morning, kind of running over current events in my mind when I recalled an event from almost 23 years ago. I am not entirely sure I have not mentioned it in these pages before, but since I recalled it, you get to recall it too.
The family had moved to Santa Maria, but my job transfer had not come through so I was still in the San Fernando valley during the week. The workdays went from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM or thereabouts much of the time. Probably the last thing I wanted to do on Wednesday evenings was go to a church service. I am really not sure why I went that night. It was probably a divine appointment, at least it turned out to be. There ended up being about five people in the service after the children and their teachers had gone to do whatever it is children do at such times. The pastor suggested we each take some time to pray individually and then come back together for a time of corporate prayer. I guess five people is some kind of corporate.
The Holy Spirit was in the back of the church waiting for me. I had almost found a place to get on my knees and pray when I clearly heard the question, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" I started to laugh. I immediately recognized the reference to 1 Kings 18:17. In case you are not familiar with it, that is the greeting King Ahab gave Elijah when the prophet returned from a camping trip. Elijah's response was that he was not the one troubling Israel, but rather it was Ahab's family who had brought God's judgement upon the nation.
We were doing a good work in a local church in Santa Maria. We were leading a Sunday school class and home group meeting. We were seeing people, healed and set free. I made a couple mistakes in teaching at those meetings. I actually said the Bible teaches that elders are men. That got me a correction in front of the Sunday school class. Then I pointed out to a group of men the pastor would only choose men to be elders who agreed with him. Silly me, I thought that was a no-brainer. When I was a pastor I certainly would not have considered appointing an elder who I thought disagreed with me in any significant area of doctrine or church leadership. (I know it is hard to believe it is as simple and straightforward as it sounds here, but there are people who can verify what I am saying.)
Obviously I could not be allowed to continue ministering in that church or even attend there with such heinous, abberant doctrine. I was invited, not so politely, to leave the church. We had four children ages ten and under. I was not going to expose them to a church fight. So we left. To bring the story full circle, we were invited to come back to the church years later and declined believing the same spirit was still there. At the time we did not realize it was a manifestation of the religious spirit in that church.
It was in the interim time, while the church council was trying to decide what to do with me, that I attended that midweek service in the San Fernando valley. You may not even be able to imagine what a relief it was, 1) to really understand, with certainty and clarity, that I was not the problem, and 2) to have the Holy Spirit joke with me about it. I needed that laugh.
I seem to be in a similar situation as I write this. There are a few essential differences this time. I am over the fear of man. I know there is nothing any man can do to me that can nullify the grace of God in my life. (Thanks for hammering on that Pastor Craig Hamlin.) I recognize the battle this time for what it is--and who it is. It is not about any man or group of men. It is about a foul, evil, religious spirit that has the Santa Maria valley in it's clutches and is fighting to not let go. My kids are grown and gone. I do not have to protect them from any attacks that might come. I am a little bit angry this spirit has stolen so much of my life and whatever ministry would have been done in that time. I am not going to take it anymore. More than that, I am not going to lose. I refuse to lose. There are a few other people catching this vision. Praise God! That is why I am telling this story, maybe for the second time. I am really not sure. I could have looked that up, but then you might have missed something important had this post not been written. I wonder if that makes any sense? See you soon. God bless.
I could not resist. I went back to see if I had mentioned this before. I had, but only a mention in part three of The Workings of a Religious Spirit. If you are interested: http://thechurchinsantamariaca.blogspot.com/2009/06/workings-of-religious-spirit-part-3.html
The family had moved to Santa Maria, but my job transfer had not come through so I was still in the San Fernando valley during the week. The workdays went from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM or thereabouts much of the time. Probably the last thing I wanted to do on Wednesday evenings was go to a church service. I am really not sure why I went that night. It was probably a divine appointment, at least it turned out to be. There ended up being about five people in the service after the children and their teachers had gone to do whatever it is children do at such times. The pastor suggested we each take some time to pray individually and then come back together for a time of corporate prayer. I guess five people is some kind of corporate.
The Holy Spirit was in the back of the church waiting for me. I had almost found a place to get on my knees and pray when I clearly heard the question, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" I started to laugh. I immediately recognized the reference to 1 Kings 18:17. In case you are not familiar with it, that is the greeting King Ahab gave Elijah when the prophet returned from a camping trip. Elijah's response was that he was not the one troubling Israel, but rather it was Ahab's family who had brought God's judgement upon the nation.
We were doing a good work in a local church in Santa Maria. We were leading a Sunday school class and home group meeting. We were seeing people, healed and set free. I made a couple mistakes in teaching at those meetings. I actually said the Bible teaches that elders are men. That got me a correction in front of the Sunday school class. Then I pointed out to a group of men the pastor would only choose men to be elders who agreed with him. Silly me, I thought that was a no-brainer. When I was a pastor I certainly would not have considered appointing an elder who I thought disagreed with me in any significant area of doctrine or church leadership. (I know it is hard to believe it is as simple and straightforward as it sounds here, but there are people who can verify what I am saying.)
Obviously I could not be allowed to continue ministering in that church or even attend there with such heinous, abberant doctrine. I was invited, not so politely, to leave the church. We had four children ages ten and under. I was not going to expose them to a church fight. So we left. To bring the story full circle, we were invited to come back to the church years later and declined believing the same spirit was still there. At the time we did not realize it was a manifestation of the religious spirit in that church.
It was in the interim time, while the church council was trying to decide what to do with me, that I attended that midweek service in the San Fernando valley. You may not even be able to imagine what a relief it was, 1) to really understand, with certainty and clarity, that I was not the problem, and 2) to have the Holy Spirit joke with me about it. I needed that laugh.
I seem to be in a similar situation as I write this. There are a few essential differences this time. I am over the fear of man. I know there is nothing any man can do to me that can nullify the grace of God in my life. (Thanks for hammering on that Pastor Craig Hamlin.) I recognize the battle this time for what it is--and who it is. It is not about any man or group of men. It is about a foul, evil, religious spirit that has the Santa Maria valley in it's clutches and is fighting to not let go. My kids are grown and gone. I do not have to protect them from any attacks that might come. I am a little bit angry this spirit has stolen so much of my life and whatever ministry would have been done in that time. I am not going to take it anymore. More than that, I am not going to lose. I refuse to lose. There are a few other people catching this vision. Praise God! That is why I am telling this story, maybe for the second time. I am really not sure. I could have looked that up, but then you might have missed something important had this post not been written. I wonder if that makes any sense? See you soon. God bless.
I could not resist. I went back to see if I had mentioned this before. I had, but only a mention in part three of The Workings of a Religious Spirit. If you are interested: http://thechurchinsantamariaca.blogspot.com/2009/06/workings-of-religious-spirit-part-3.html
Friday, August 6, 2010
Perhaps I Should Clarify
I had a gentleman read my blog earlier in the week. He started somewhere around post 60, I think, from what he said. Missing the context of what went on before, he seemed to think I was attacking certain people in these pages. I am pretty confident those of you who have been reading the blog all along do not think that, but perhaps it is time to review some things in that regard.
This blog was started in direct response to the direction of the Holy Spirit that I have been called to expose and help defeat the religious spirit that rules the Santa Maria valley. It seemed obvious to me then as it does now that I would be recording my journey through that assignment as well as letting you know what needed to be done and thereby mobilizing anyone who cared to join the battle.
I do not criticize people--often. Sorry, that was getting close to being a fib. (Polite term for lie, i.e., sin.) Anyway, I do try to not criticize people. I observe, evaluate, and report facts. For example, if someone does something dumb and I say they did something dumb, that is reporting. I report after I have observed and evaluated. My wife tells me I process out loud too often and sometimes in front of people who do not need to be made custodians of the information. She, by the way, is not the first person who has said that. Perhaps I should take it under consideration. (I trust you did not miss the tongue in cheek nature of that last sentence?)
I am working on not telling everything I know lest I embarrass someone who does not need to be embarrassed. For example I have not told you about... Just kidding. My problem is that when one talks and writes as much as I do, and knows as little as I do, some errant words are bound to land on a page or fly into the air. That kind of reminds me of Proverbs 10:19, "In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking." (I like to prove scripture whenever I can.)
Having said those things, let me also say, I was accused, once again, of possibly being a prophet. Oh please. (God?) I seem to know things most other people do not know. Does that make me a prophet? Conversely, other people seem to know things I do not know. I used to tease my mother, in her later years, of remembering things that never happened. I think she really did.
One of the ways God showed me to recognize the workings of a religious spirit is to discern the lies that are being told about His people. I work with drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. Some of them are even in my program. (Insert silly laughter here.) Sometimes it is very difficult to know the truth of what is being said. Sometimes it seems impossible. I have taken the approach of not believing anything about anyone until I see it for myself. I am not the person to come to if you want justice because you feel you were wronged. My default is to ask how that happened to you if you were truly walking in love toward the person you feel wronged you? (Uh oh, too close to home. Subject change in 5, 4, 3, 2,..)
I report. I do not get offended. I honestly believe am unoffendable. You can be stupid if you want. Have I mentioned the time I was in a judge's chambers and he insulted me in front of a whole group of other program providers, and various and sundry members of law enforcement and the judiciary? I had made a suggestion I thought reasonable. He did not think it was. Rather than saying that, he made an oblique reference to my understanding of the law or, in this case, my lack thereof. My first thought was soulical. He should not have done that. That was rude! My second thought, perhaps more spiritual was, he is the judge. I am in his chambers. He can do whatever he wants. By the way, I have testified in his court since then and consulted on other cases with him. I think he respects me in some, small measure. We do not always agree, but then neither one of us gets any kind of reward for agreeing with each other. I had a probation officer tell me a few weeks ago that she understood we were not going to agree on everything and that was a good thing. That makes for a better chance that justice will ultimately be served.
I know our battle is not against people. It is against spirits. (That might be one of those things I know that lots of people tend to forget.) In this blog, we are particularly battling against the religious spirit that rules the Santa Maria valley. Earlier posts to this blog give a wealth of information as to the workings of a religious spirit. It should be noted that sometimes, people or organizations outside this valley assist the spirit, however unwittingly they might do that.
It is estimated that between 18 and 22% of the people in this valley attend church on any given Sunday morning. We will know we are winning the battle when that number rises to 30% then 40% and miracles become so routine we begin to expect them. Yes, it can happen. I am in the battle until it does. By the way, I have a new ally. I cannot tell you about him yet. I am not quite sure he knows it himself. In the meantime, the Lord is gathering more mighty men around me. I am not going to name them yet. It might go to their heads. (If you know who you are, let me know.) (Sometimes I crack myself up.) Later saints, servants, and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ! God bless!
This blog was started in direct response to the direction of the Holy Spirit that I have been called to expose and help defeat the religious spirit that rules the Santa Maria valley. It seemed obvious to me then as it does now that I would be recording my journey through that assignment as well as letting you know what needed to be done and thereby mobilizing anyone who cared to join the battle.
I do not criticize people--often. Sorry, that was getting close to being a fib. (Polite term for lie, i.e., sin.) Anyway, I do try to not criticize people. I observe, evaluate, and report facts. For example, if someone does something dumb and I say they did something dumb, that is reporting. I report after I have observed and evaluated. My wife tells me I process out loud too often and sometimes in front of people who do not need to be made custodians of the information. She, by the way, is not the first person who has said that. Perhaps I should take it under consideration. (I trust you did not miss the tongue in cheek nature of that last sentence?)
I am working on not telling everything I know lest I embarrass someone who does not need to be embarrassed. For example I have not told you about... Just kidding. My problem is that when one talks and writes as much as I do, and knows as little as I do, some errant words are bound to land on a page or fly into the air. That kind of reminds me of Proverbs 10:19, "In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking." (I like to prove scripture whenever I can.)
Having said those things, let me also say, I was accused, once again, of possibly being a prophet. Oh please. (God?) I seem to know things most other people do not know. Does that make me a prophet? Conversely, other people seem to know things I do not know. I used to tease my mother, in her later years, of remembering things that never happened. I think she really did.
One of the ways God showed me to recognize the workings of a religious spirit is to discern the lies that are being told about His people. I work with drug addicts, alcoholics, and criminals. Some of them are even in my program. (Insert silly laughter here.) Sometimes it is very difficult to know the truth of what is being said. Sometimes it seems impossible. I have taken the approach of not believing anything about anyone until I see it for myself. I am not the person to come to if you want justice because you feel you were wronged. My default is to ask how that happened to you if you were truly walking in love toward the person you feel wronged you? (Uh oh, too close to home. Subject change in 5, 4, 3, 2,..)
I report. I do not get offended. I honestly believe am unoffendable. You can be stupid if you want. Have I mentioned the time I was in a judge's chambers and he insulted me in front of a whole group of other program providers, and various and sundry members of law enforcement and the judiciary? I had made a suggestion I thought reasonable. He did not think it was. Rather than saying that, he made an oblique reference to my understanding of the law or, in this case, my lack thereof. My first thought was soulical. He should not have done that. That was rude! My second thought, perhaps more spiritual was, he is the judge. I am in his chambers. He can do whatever he wants. By the way, I have testified in his court since then and consulted on other cases with him. I think he respects me in some, small measure. We do not always agree, but then neither one of us gets any kind of reward for agreeing with each other. I had a probation officer tell me a few weeks ago that she understood we were not going to agree on everything and that was a good thing. That makes for a better chance that justice will ultimately be served.
I know our battle is not against people. It is against spirits. (That might be one of those things I know that lots of people tend to forget.) In this blog, we are particularly battling against the religious spirit that rules the Santa Maria valley. Earlier posts to this blog give a wealth of information as to the workings of a religious spirit. It should be noted that sometimes, people or organizations outside this valley assist the spirit, however unwittingly they might do that.
It is estimated that between 18 and 22% of the people in this valley attend church on any given Sunday morning. We will know we are winning the battle when that number rises to 30% then 40% and miracles become so routine we begin to expect them. Yes, it can happen. I am in the battle until it does. By the way, I have a new ally. I cannot tell you about him yet. I am not quite sure he knows it himself. In the meantime, the Lord is gathering more mighty men around me. I am not going to name them yet. It might go to their heads. (If you know who you are, let me know.) (Sometimes I crack myself up.) Later saints, servants, and disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ! God bless!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
The Plan Unfolds
God always has a plan. Most of us spend a lot of time trying to discern what the plan is and how we fit into it. That may not be as difficult as it seems. There are a few things that will certainly help us in this regard.
Do not be intimidated. When we have an appropriate fear of God, we understand that we cannot understand Him in any large measure. This is the reason the human soul falls so short in attempting to quantify God. We think we should be able to somehow measure everything. God is immeasurable. He does not come in cups, or feet, or meters, or even in space, and He exists outside of time. All our measurements fail to give us even the slightest idea of how big, what, or who God is. The only way we can know anything about God is through His word, the Bible.
The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Time and space limitations prohibit us from discussing how the Bible came to be. We Christians believe we have enough evidence to determine the words that comprise it are God breathed. In fact, the Greek word, logos, translated "word" literally means, "everything that can be known about the subject at hand." In other words, when we understand the Bible as the "Word of God" we know it contains everything that can be known about God. The Bible says it is the Word of God and also refers to Jesus as the Word of God making each of them the complete representation of God. When we understand the Bible, and when we know Jesus, we know all that can be known about God. That can be a little intimidating. He is so big and we are so small. Then again, that is the whole point. A God our size would not be of much help when we come to the end of our resources.
Understand your personal vision. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint..." Think of it this way, when we are not hearing from God and cannot see what He is doing in our lives, we are naturally inclined to do whatever we think is right. We have been reminded several times in these pages that the way of man always leads to death. When we do what seems like the right thing to us, we always go the wrong direction. It almost seems redundant then, to say that if we are listening to and heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will be going the right way.
Develop your personal relationship with God. Of course the advice here is the wisdom of the ages in the church. Pray, read your Bible, and be in fellowship with other believers. That is still excellent advice. As usual, there is a word of caution there. It goes with the third piece of advice.
It is my considered opinion that the church of today is a far cry from what it should be. If we assume that to be true, continuing in fellowship is not a fail safe to keep us unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) We need to be in fellowship with the right group of believers. How would we find that right group? Trust me, that is not all that easy. I know. I have looked. Okay, how about we work this backwards? What would the single most important issue here be? Would it not be finding the place God wants us to be? Darn, that only brought us full circle to finding what God's plan is for us?
What if we save the third piece of advice above for third place? Now we might be getting somewhere. Remember, the order was, pray, read the Bible, then be in fellowship. I know, most people think they do not hear God. Nothing could really be further from the truth. We hear God all the time. We just do not recognize it is Him talking to us. Let me leave you with that thought for now.
Prayer is not just talking. Talking is only half of prayer. Prayer is supposed to be a dialogue, not a monologue.
Talk and then listen. Do you hear anything?
No.
Talk and then listen. Now do you hear anything?
Maybe. I kind of had a thought pop into my head. Could that have been God?
What was the thought?
Oh, just something about someone I am not walking in love toward as I should be. Someone I offended.
Does that sound like something in the Bible?
Yeah.
Maybe it is God. Are you going to do anything about it?
I guess I should.
Does that sound like any kind of experience you might have had in the past? Maybe it was God speaking to you. Have you done what He told you to do? If the answer is "No" that might be why He has not said anything else. Just a thought.
I started this post to say, I can see God's plan unfolding in my life. I have no idea what kinds of twists and turns might come along the way. The indications are they could be unfolding quickly now. There may be an exit in the near future. If there is it is all good. If not, it might be even better. If you know me at all you know I will keep doing what I am doing until God gives me something different to do. See you soon.
Do not be intimidated. When we have an appropriate fear of God, we understand that we cannot understand Him in any large measure. This is the reason the human soul falls so short in attempting to quantify God. We think we should be able to somehow measure everything. God is immeasurable. He does not come in cups, or feet, or meters, or even in space, and He exists outside of time. All our measurements fail to give us even the slightest idea of how big, what, or who God is. The only way we can know anything about God is through His word, the Bible.
The New Testament was originally written in Greek. Time and space limitations prohibit us from discussing how the Bible came to be. We Christians believe we have enough evidence to determine the words that comprise it are God breathed. In fact, the Greek word, logos, translated "word" literally means, "everything that can be known about the subject at hand." In other words, when we understand the Bible as the "Word of God" we know it contains everything that can be known about God. The Bible says it is the Word of God and also refers to Jesus as the Word of God making each of them the complete representation of God. When we understand the Bible, and when we know Jesus, we know all that can be known about God. That can be a little intimidating. He is so big and we are so small. Then again, that is the whole point. A God our size would not be of much help when we come to the end of our resources.
Understand your personal vision. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint..." Think of it this way, when we are not hearing from God and cannot see what He is doing in our lives, we are naturally inclined to do whatever we think is right. We have been reminded several times in these pages that the way of man always leads to death. When we do what seems like the right thing to us, we always go the wrong direction. It almost seems redundant then, to say that if we are listening to and heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will be going the right way.
Develop your personal relationship with God. Of course the advice here is the wisdom of the ages in the church. Pray, read your Bible, and be in fellowship with other believers. That is still excellent advice. As usual, there is a word of caution there. It goes with the third piece of advice.
It is my considered opinion that the church of today is a far cry from what it should be. If we assume that to be true, continuing in fellowship is not a fail safe to keep us unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) We need to be in fellowship with the right group of believers. How would we find that right group? Trust me, that is not all that easy. I know. I have looked. Okay, how about we work this backwards? What would the single most important issue here be? Would it not be finding the place God wants us to be? Darn, that only brought us full circle to finding what God's plan is for us?
What if we save the third piece of advice above for third place? Now we might be getting somewhere. Remember, the order was, pray, read the Bible, then be in fellowship. I know, most people think they do not hear God. Nothing could really be further from the truth. We hear God all the time. We just do not recognize it is Him talking to us. Let me leave you with that thought for now.
Prayer is not just talking. Talking is only half of prayer. Prayer is supposed to be a dialogue, not a monologue.
Talk and then listen. Do you hear anything?
No.
Talk and then listen. Now do you hear anything?
Maybe. I kind of had a thought pop into my head. Could that have been God?
What was the thought?
Oh, just something about someone I am not walking in love toward as I should be. Someone I offended.
Does that sound like something in the Bible?
Yeah.
Maybe it is God. Are you going to do anything about it?
I guess I should.
Does that sound like any kind of experience you might have had in the past? Maybe it was God speaking to you. Have you done what He told you to do? If the answer is "No" that might be why He has not said anything else. Just a thought.
I started this post to say, I can see God's plan unfolding in my life. I have no idea what kinds of twists and turns might come along the way. The indications are they could be unfolding quickly now. There may be an exit in the near future. If there is it is all good. If not, it might be even better. If you know me at all you know I will keep doing what I am doing until God gives me something different to do. See you soon.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
O God, What Have I Done
Editor's note: For those of you who have trouble discerning between deadly serious and tongue in-cheek-in these pages, please be assured, this is the latter--especially the title.
I am probably feeling just a little intimidated today. I know many of you are wondering why it has been almost a month since anything was published on this blog. The answers to both these questions are the same. We are going to go ahead and publish this even though it could cause a little discomfort if the wrong people read it within the next few weeks. After that, this will all be a recording of historical events.
I really was just frustrated, and maybe a little righteously angry. (I always hesitate to use and variants of "righteous" and "angry" in juxtaposition, but if this is not a case of righteous anger then my whole premise here is actually a deception.) For the third time in a matter of a few weeks, I was put in the uncomfortable situation of having to deal with a program participant whom I had already dismissed from the program for a rules violation. Each time, they had appealed my decision and were allowed to remain in the program. They had each managed to find other ways to violate the rules. Rather than being able to sit at my desk and say, "I told you so." to the person who had overridden my decision, I was asked to rectify the situation by telling the client a second time he would need to pack his belongings and leave. I was doing a slow burn. It was the end of the workday. After completing the task, I tried to put it out of my mind. That was working pretty well until I got into bed.
Now why is it the Holy Spirit waits until we are settling down for the night or just about to be awake in the morning before dropping important things into our spirits? Maybe you do not have that problem. I know, I should be listening all day long rather than just at those times. He is probably speaking at other times, but hey, I am a busy guy. I simply do not have time to be still and listen at other times. He must understand that. Why does He have to sneak up on me when I am trying to rest?
So I am crawling into bed and the anger over the event is just below the surface. That is when my mouth got me into trouble yet again. I said, "God, something has to change. I am tired of cleaning up his messes. Either he has to go or I have to go." It almost seemed like an innocent enough prayer at the time. Then why did it work so well when lots of others do not?
Perhaps you have uttered a prayer and BAM! it was answered fast enough to make your head spin. This one was all but that fast. The thing is I did not understand how much work God was going to have to do in order to answer that prayer. The prayer concerned my main antagonist, the person who had the authority to override mine. There were, however, two other, minor antagonists who needed to go before he did or they would have continued to inhibit the effectiveness of the program and be thorns in my flesh. (If this post were not satirical, I would probably remind us all that we do not battle against flesh and blood and that the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but spiritual. I read those things somewhere and I believe them.)
This all started, as nearly as I can recall, almost three months ago. The two, minor antagonists mentioned earlier are gone. The first one was gone within days of my prayer. So I could have titled this post something like, "Now There Are Three." By the way, if you read the previous post, you know we were sent an intern to fill in a few gaps in the schedule. That did not work out so well, but now we have another one. This time it is going a little better.
Currently, we are at a stalemate. We will have a new director in about two weeks. My strongest impression is that soon after that, my original prayer will be answered. God seems to have put everything in place for that to happen. Either he will be gone or I will be gone. There are a couple factors not mentioned here that make it more likely he is the one who will be going, but time will tell. In the meantime everyone at the mission, staff and program men, are holding on, hoping this is as bad as it gets. Right now no one with any authority has the will to make any changes. O God, what have I done? It seemed almost like an innocent prayer.
Often in counseling sessions with the men, it comes up that when we have a vested interest in one outcome over another, we subconsciously--or maybe even consciously-- attempt to make our desired outcome happen. I am doing my best not to have a vested interest in the outcome of this situation. If I stay, I will continue to work diligently and see lives changed at the mission. If I go, there are other things to do. It does not matter to me one way or the other where I work or even what kind of work I do. For now I am doing what I do and I am going to keep doing it until I do something else. Did I mention I could really use a vacation?
I am probably feeling just a little intimidated today. I know many of you are wondering why it has been almost a month since anything was published on this blog. The answers to both these questions are the same. We are going to go ahead and publish this even though it could cause a little discomfort if the wrong people read it within the next few weeks. After that, this will all be a recording of historical events.
I really was just frustrated, and maybe a little righteously angry. (I always hesitate to use and variants of "righteous" and "angry" in juxtaposition, but if this is not a case of righteous anger then my whole premise here is actually a deception.) For the third time in a matter of a few weeks, I was put in the uncomfortable situation of having to deal with a program participant whom I had already dismissed from the program for a rules violation. Each time, they had appealed my decision and were allowed to remain in the program. They had each managed to find other ways to violate the rules. Rather than being able to sit at my desk and say, "I told you so." to the person who had overridden my decision, I was asked to rectify the situation by telling the client a second time he would need to pack his belongings and leave. I was doing a slow burn. It was the end of the workday. After completing the task, I tried to put it out of my mind. That was working pretty well until I got into bed.
Now why is it the Holy Spirit waits until we are settling down for the night or just about to be awake in the morning before dropping important things into our spirits? Maybe you do not have that problem. I know, I should be listening all day long rather than just at those times. He is probably speaking at other times, but hey, I am a busy guy. I simply do not have time to be still and listen at other times. He must understand that. Why does He have to sneak up on me when I am trying to rest?
So I am crawling into bed and the anger over the event is just below the surface. That is when my mouth got me into trouble yet again. I said, "God, something has to change. I am tired of cleaning up his messes. Either he has to go or I have to go." It almost seemed like an innocent enough prayer at the time. Then why did it work so well when lots of others do not?
Perhaps you have uttered a prayer and BAM! it was answered fast enough to make your head spin. This one was all but that fast. The thing is I did not understand how much work God was going to have to do in order to answer that prayer. The prayer concerned my main antagonist, the person who had the authority to override mine. There were, however, two other, minor antagonists who needed to go before he did or they would have continued to inhibit the effectiveness of the program and be thorns in my flesh. (If this post were not satirical, I would probably remind us all that we do not battle against flesh and blood and that the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but spiritual. I read those things somewhere and I believe them.)
This all started, as nearly as I can recall, almost three months ago. The two, minor antagonists mentioned earlier are gone. The first one was gone within days of my prayer. So I could have titled this post something like, "Now There Are Three." By the way, if you read the previous post, you know we were sent an intern to fill in a few gaps in the schedule. That did not work out so well, but now we have another one. This time it is going a little better.
Currently, we are at a stalemate. We will have a new director in about two weeks. My strongest impression is that soon after that, my original prayer will be answered. God seems to have put everything in place for that to happen. Either he will be gone or I will be gone. There are a couple factors not mentioned here that make it more likely he is the one who will be going, but time will tell. In the meantime everyone at the mission, staff and program men, are holding on, hoping this is as bad as it gets. Right now no one with any authority has the will to make any changes. O God, what have I done? It seemed almost like an innocent prayer.
Often in counseling sessions with the men, it comes up that when we have a vested interest in one outcome over another, we subconsciously--or maybe even consciously-- attempt to make our desired outcome happen. I am doing my best not to have a vested interest in the outcome of this situation. If I stay, I will continue to work diligently and see lives changed at the mission. If I go, there are other things to do. It does not matter to me one way or the other where I work or even what kind of work I do. For now I am doing what I do and I am going to keep doing it until I do something else. Did I mention I could really use a vacation?
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Then There Were Four
I got the title. I am assuming this post is going to be about the goings on at work. I know they are microcosmic of the battle against the religious spirit in the area, but I do not seem to have a lot of clarity on the exact correlation just yet. Then again, it was my wife who pointed out the concept that there is a correlation. Sometimes that happens. What can I say?
We were trying to run a 24/7/365 residential program with 4 full time and 2 part time employees. That was barely doable except that one of the full timers was recalcitrant about the shift he had to work. I do mean he had to work it. His full time position required it. He continually worked and manipulated different hours until we really could not make the scheduling work. When he was finally confronted about that, we were shortly thereafter down to 5 people. Oh, I did not mention we did have an intern who was picking up something like 20 hours a week. He came to a meeting out of his mind one day. He tested positive for methamphetamine and that was that.
We hardly felt the loss of the full time employee. In fact when we divided up his hours we only came up with about 20 hours of actual work that he had been putting in each week. Of course yours truly sucked up about 8 of those hours in additional teaching time. No big deal. I teach. That is what I do. Some of the paperwork just does not get done now.
That went on for about a month I guess and one of the part time employees got to his last straw with the way things were being run. He left abruptly. That caused a major reshuffling of hours and duties. We were and are down to 3 full time and 1 part time employee. Of course the part timer is working pretty much full time hours. That means we often have only one staff member on duty at a time and we still are not there all the time the alarms are offline. That bothers me, but it is not my responsibility.
In fact, I am not entirely sure what my responsibilities are anymore anyway. I suppose because he is being replaced, the director seems reluctant to make any kind of decision. I will not make any because I know things are going to change soon and it seems like a waste to change them twice. We are kind of floundering at the mission for the time being.
BREAKING NEWS...since I started to write this blog, our part time employee was terminated. Thankfully, we were blessed with an intern to fill in until something more permanent can be done. He is there for the weekend anyway. Since he cannot drive the company vehicles, I still had to work 14 hours on Friday, but at least I get the weekend off. Wait, you get more. Get ready for this.
A week ago Friday a woman walked into my office unannounced. She was getting acquainted with the community and turned the corner in front of the mission. She thought she would check us out. She is retired from the state prison system. She worked the last few years of her career as a substance abuse counselor in a men's prison. Now she needs something to do other than yard work in her small yard so she would like to volunteer, or possibly even work part time at the mission. A God thing you think? I am not done. The following Tuesday a gentleman got out of his car and came walking up to the mission. I was the only staff member on duty so he was ushered up to my office. He is new in town and is looking for a part time job. Oh, did I mention he is a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor? His certification is from the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors. Whatever is really going on is bigger than I. Assuming God did send them both in, that is a refreshing change from business as usual.
I guess I had better finish this post before something else major changes. I am reminded of Shakesphere's quote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." I'm doing my best to act out my part, but sometimes it seems as though I am simply watching the play transpire and recording the happenings for you here. I know we are getting to something, and probably something BIG. I am just not sure what it is. If you have any ideas, I am open. Love you all. God bless.
We were trying to run a 24/7/365 residential program with 4 full time and 2 part time employees. That was barely doable except that one of the full timers was recalcitrant about the shift he had to work. I do mean he had to work it. His full time position required it. He continually worked and manipulated different hours until we really could not make the scheduling work. When he was finally confronted about that, we were shortly thereafter down to 5 people. Oh, I did not mention we did have an intern who was picking up something like 20 hours a week. He came to a meeting out of his mind one day. He tested positive for methamphetamine and that was that.
We hardly felt the loss of the full time employee. In fact when we divided up his hours we only came up with about 20 hours of actual work that he had been putting in each week. Of course yours truly sucked up about 8 of those hours in additional teaching time. No big deal. I teach. That is what I do. Some of the paperwork just does not get done now.
That went on for about a month I guess and one of the part time employees got to his last straw with the way things were being run. He left abruptly. That caused a major reshuffling of hours and duties. We were and are down to 3 full time and 1 part time employee. Of course the part timer is working pretty much full time hours. That means we often have only one staff member on duty at a time and we still are not there all the time the alarms are offline. That bothers me, but it is not my responsibility.
In fact, I am not entirely sure what my responsibilities are anymore anyway. I suppose because he is being replaced, the director seems reluctant to make any kind of decision. I will not make any because I know things are going to change soon and it seems like a waste to change them twice. We are kind of floundering at the mission for the time being.
BREAKING NEWS...since I started to write this blog, our part time employee was terminated. Thankfully, we were blessed with an intern to fill in until something more permanent can be done. He is there for the weekend anyway. Since he cannot drive the company vehicles, I still had to work 14 hours on Friday, but at least I get the weekend off. Wait, you get more. Get ready for this.
A week ago Friday a woman walked into my office unannounced. She was getting acquainted with the community and turned the corner in front of the mission. She thought she would check us out. She is retired from the state prison system. She worked the last few years of her career as a substance abuse counselor in a men's prison. Now she needs something to do other than yard work in her small yard so she would like to volunteer, or possibly even work part time at the mission. A God thing you think? I am not done. The following Tuesday a gentleman got out of his car and came walking up to the mission. I was the only staff member on duty so he was ushered up to my office. He is new in town and is looking for a part time job. Oh, did I mention he is a Certified Substance Abuse Counselor? His certification is from the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors. Whatever is really going on is bigger than I. Assuming God did send them both in, that is a refreshing change from business as usual.
I guess I had better finish this post before something else major changes. I am reminded of Shakesphere's quote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players..." I'm doing my best to act out my part, but sometimes it seems as though I am simply watching the play transpire and recording the happenings for you here. I know we are getting to something, and probably something BIG. I am just not sure what it is. If you have any ideas, I am open. Love you all. God bless.
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