Spirit of "---"

Last week I mentioned that one of my friends is involved in an activity which is common to the distraction of the Christian by evil and almost always ends with the Christian being mislead and ultimately defeated by that same evil.  The activity is Spiritual Warfare and how Christians get mislead is by seeing demons behind every yowling cat or flickering leaf.  Seeing evil becomes their focus - not the Sovereignty of God nor the Deity of Jesus - which we are told to concentrate on.

My dear sister Becka went to a Christian missions training camp back in the early 1980's, she was going to serve in the underground church in Albania.  She called me up so excited one night because she was learning about Spiritual Warfare and shared all.  Now, I had never heard of such a thing, but I knew what she shared was in direct opposition to what the Bible tells us: flee from evil!  This group was trying to hunt down Satan and make his efforts harder by turning people to God.  My Bible tells me that Satan is an Angel and as such much more powerful than man.  It would presume upon God to think He would back us up in attacking Satan, when we are told to flee from him in the first place!  Hmmmmmmm ...

As for Becka, well she was ultimately defeated seeing demons behind the steering wheel of every car which got in her way on the freeway!  She had taken her eyes off of God and literally was overcome by evil to such an extent that I was forced with her sister to institutionalize her and she is not "normal" to this day!  So, I am leery of anyone whom tells me of their success in Spiritual Warfare, I have seen the Christian casualties and those whom are truly successful have nothing to brag about because they know the cost at which it came.

Unfortunately, for a few years, against my will, I was dragged into Spiritual Warfare.  I do not care for it, I made all attempts to remain in-line Scripturally and I have to admit that there were some mighty odd encounters during that time frame which laid a very vivid foundation in me that evil is real, Satan is real and you had darn well better be drenched in Jesus blood if you expect to come out with your body, mind and soul intact!

I bang my drum against Western Theology and what America has done to destroy the Christian faith from the inside - corrupt Biblical teachers in its seminaries, publication of books for whom trees should have never died, all creating a shrinking Church because of the irrelevance of the Church today in the lives of the unbeliever (which includes most in a church service these days!).  And if the Church is irrelevant, so are your testimony and witness - because the Church has nothing to offer a lost world other than promises of materialism any longer or open acceptance of your sin.  Yeah, let us openly celebrate sin in the Church!

This is called the Spirit of Adultery.

The Church has left God and is following another doctrine, another god, another lover.  The vast majority of what is Christendom today will not fare well before God come judgment day I fear.

Anyone out there think they can turn an adulterous Church around?  Me either, but I can and do pray for God to raise up a revival - i just do not see it happening though and I worry as to why.  Is there no one gift of evangelism any longer?  Is the Holy Spirit no longer moving amongst us?

There are lots of "spirits" out there.  But the Bible covers what I just talked about - a corrupt people overcome by adultery to a false god (and boy do we have false gods by the handfuls these days!).  In fact it would seem that most of the Ten Commandments seem to have at their heart spirits or what we can call demons.

God is concerned about Himself and His relationship to us. (idolatry)
God is concerned that we appropriately respect His image He has built into each of us.  (murder, adultery, theft)
God is concerned when our focus is wrong. (pride, jealousy, envy, greed, coveting)
God is concerned that we respect marriage. (adultery)
God is concerned that we respect our bodies in purity of mind, thought and deed. (adultery)
God is concerned that we respect what is our neighbors. (adultery, theft, false testimony, coveting)

So you seeing the trend here?  What are the biggies of sin before God, all can have compelling, driving spiritual forces behind them!  But, you are not just suddenly afflicted out of the blue!  No you actually have to ask them for their help in dragging you down, which they will do willingly - fortunately, rare is the person whom would do this willingly!

Take lying.  I have known world class liars, they had NO ability not to lie, they were compelled to lie and could not understand why they always lied.  It was not until I became involved in a war against evil that I suddenly understood a few things:

My father was not a liar because he lied.
My father lied because he was a liar.
The spirit which drove him was one of lies, he never recognized this because he could not understand.
He had invited that spirit to help him lie because he wanted to lie and was willing to play evil's game.
In the end he never could see because he was blinded by this spirit.
And not being a Christian, could never have free himself (or be freed) from it.

Substitute your sin of choice in here and see how it reads out:

I was not an idolator became I was proud.
I was proud in my spirit because I was an idolator.
In being proud or participating willing in sin, I set myself up for oppression by evil, in this case pride. (idolatry)

(I have to use past tense here because that was shattered in my life in January.  And the one person I wish whom could understand and see this ... well I fear is past tense was well.  In fact, there is so little left of old me any longer ... )

What is important to understand here is that spiritual oppression, or possession, is the direct result of willingly falling into sin.  My fall was when my church turned on me and fired me as a pastor because I believed in the Holy Spirit (I refused to say the Holy Spirit was no longer active in the believer's life), my bride left me for my best friend, my friends at church abandoned me because I was in sin to had been disfellowshipped and my father believing me to be in idiot ordered me home and told me I was marrying a girl from the House of Burgundy!  No, sorry no lurid tales of sin here, I was in flat out rebellion to God because He had stripped me of everything.  I hated God.

And I had lots of future problems thanks to that period of "Good Bye to God".

I had to learn that there are consequences for every act of rebellion.  Nothing in my life did not affect those I cared for or whom surrounded me.  Sin always comes at a cost and one of them was my opening myself up to spiritual oppression.

So what to do?  You are suffering in this life trapped by a spirit of "---".  And not only are you not unaware of it but you have been lied to by Western Theology that you are strong enough to stand up to the very spirit which is oppressing you.  You probably have no idea if you are opposed or even what it is unless you can see yourself objectively.  And when you can, well, you need some Christian friends to help overcome this.

Your friends help, you are "freed", now what?

You had better be darn sure that you are now in right standing with God.
You had better be darn sure you renounce any and every sin you have ever thought of  or committed, and confessed all!
You had better have someone in place to be held accountable by!

These are not trivial matters, nor to be taken lightly.

I could write so much more, this is just the basics of a world that is not well defined for us and so much garbage you can read comes from the superstitions within the Roman Catholic Church, the corrupt Western Church and Hollywood.

Stay away from sin, if you can.
If you fall back into sin, you set yourself up for failure right off the bat.
Run if you are opposed.
Stand strong if you have to face the demonic world.
Understand that you have No authority or power over the spiritual world, only Jesus does.
Remember, demonic fate was sealed long ago.

Shadow of Evil

Quietly, in the background of my life, I have been trying to figure a problem out.  The problem is, the answer I keep coming to, is in direct opposition to something I know for fact.

People, anyone, you, me, your momma will during course of our lifetimes have problems or make decisions which will affect others around us.  How are we as onlookers to deal with these times?

First off, there are problems, Problems and then there are PROBLEMS!  So from normal to abnormal, is how they are arranged.

Everyone has normal problems - our own stupidity causing harm and to perhaps an inconvenient proportion of others around us as well.

Problems are more difficult because something has gone wrong inside of the person and we are now dealing with prayer and spiritual damage control.

PROBLEMS, well, yeah - we are talking plain and simple demonic activity.  Somewhere, somehow, the person fell off of the spiritual bandwagon and the demons have been rejoicing ever since.  Everyone is damaged in the resulting carnage!

You might remember that one my flippant interview questions I did on my birthday last week, I listed one of my natural talents as getting to the bottom of the causes for problems in my friends' lives.  It is also one of the greatest separators of my friends and I - no one likes having what only they know, no one else could possibly know, known - especially by me.  And then, have me address this with them.  Sigh ...

So, a family with PROBLEMS.  By what right would demons dare to attack this family?  Well, God could have said, "Hey Satan!  You did quite a number on Job.  Wanna have a go at another family?"  But, I do not think so.

Demons could be picking off the family members individually, but again doubtful.  Not a big enough exposure to give Satan the praise he seeks in disqualifying God and His power on Earth.  Satan likes vulnerable targets with lots of public exposure!  Not you or me.

So, we are going to think parents here.  Something went wrong with the parents, during the twenty years I was mostly away.  And that sort of makes me angry!

Both parents are currently quite insane if  you ask me.  Nothing makes any sense, it is random, it is irrational - it is all of the things demonic activity is based off of - except for the smoking gun of sin.  And that is the hard one.  If it was based on sin, it would be public, it would be discrediting other Christians.  Instead just this drumbeat of insanity destroying a family quietly in the dark.

I have been praying concerning this quite some time - with no direction, answer or hints.  Until tonight.

My heart was again broken from what I heard, no rational person would do, would say, or could have ... ever.  We are discussing hate here, which is not one of the gifts of the Spirit.  So, now we have a direct observation of salt water claiming to come from a fresh water spring.  Ain't, gonna happen!

And my mind wandered back to a stand-off between the father and I forty years ago.  What he did is not so important as that my reaction was quite violent.  He was going to die, make no mistake here, that old Kris had driven hundreds of miles to offer him a chance to change or to die.  It was that simple.  He chose wisely and did turn his life 180 degrees around.  And he held that course for decades.  Then something happened, somewhere, somehow, sin had regained control!

When I look at prejudice, hatred, judgement - all the "classic" adjectives used to describe an American Christian,  we are no longer talking God in control.  These three are in fact the root cause for the problems in his life, they go back to happenings in his life long ago, now boiling over due to resentment of others and his own physical condition as well as sinful nature.

And here is where I have been praying for knowledge, understanding and wisdom.

I now know, I now understand, but I have no wisdom as how to precede!  In fact I really need Miss Manners to contact me, if she even still reads this blog!  Wisest person I have ever encountered and this is Kris' SOS to you out there ... !

So, mitigating damage inside of the family I can nibble at the edges of and pray for changed hearts.
Praying for wisdom and God's words in addressing this with him, if I can ever get him alone because I think I know - but dear God I hope not!
And if you would join me in prayer, this is a badly damaged family of 6 and honestly, they are in need of a major God intervention ...
I truly believe God has His hand of judgement on them, trying to call them back and most seem obvious.

Life

Features drawn and grey
Her face so familiar
Yet so distant
One of my girls of 40 years ago!

Her name was Laura
Or similiar
Yet not her
It is her mother I realize.

Once the mother
Had been a cherub
And Now?
Just a shell sat there.

What had come to pass?
What had drained the life?
Both mother and daughter
Shells.

The arrogant naivety of life
Showering some
Drowning others
Along the path.

Is it all random?
Or is pain the plan?
Ebbs and flows
Good and bad.

Choices we make
Impacting
What we can not
Control.

Cherubs destroyed
Demons appear blessed
Randomness
Or is it all by design?

(Yes, I finally understand ...)

The End is Near!

I have always loved End of the Earth predictions.  I was in high school when Hal Lindsey came out with his "Late Great Planet Earth".  I expected something on the wastage of earth resources and how to respect the planet and what it has remaining.  You have to remember I was raised in Germany and one of our lessons was the consumption of earth resources - as in, World War II consumed roughly 20% of the worlds known resources at that point.

So, I was interested, I wanted to be a responsible citizen of the earth.  I was stunned by what I read in those pages.  Really, if you do not own a First Edition - find it, buy it, read it, it was heavily rewritten for the second edition.  Why?  Well, the First Edition was pretty much gloom and doom - lots of dates of wars and battles and players all leading up to the return of Jesus - as prophesied in the Bible.

Apparently, Hal was wrong or the Bible was, so his book was rewritten allowing for less Hal and more Bible - all of those dates were removed.

But, we have always had this gloom and doom approach during my adult lifetime.  Why?  Well it all goes back to a heretic name Dwight Pentecost, whom mentored Hal Lindsey, C.C. Carson and a host of other heretics to come out of the Dallas school of heresy.  Am I being too strong here?  No, the Bible calls this group: heretics, vipers, wolves, etc - we are not to have fellowship with them for they are apostate.  In the pre-Christian days we were told to stone them!  Yet, the Western Theology instead embraces them and welcomes them into their churches to teach and corrupt the next generation. Just in case you wonder if your bookstore, your Church, your Denomination, your Synod is Christian - easy litmus test.

So, it has been with amusement I have followed the host of predictors, each trying to out do the others and even themselves to warn, to prepare, for the end of the age.  Hint: we are told we will not know when it is or when it has even started.  If you disagree then you stand in contrast to the Bible - welcome to heresy...

Why bring this up today?  Mostly because of the passing of Harold Camping, whom was quite active in the field of giving doom and gloom pronouncements to gullible Americans.  He was rich, he had his own TV and radio networks, published magazines, spent a fortune telling everyone about one date, after another, after another ....  until he figured it out.  His fate of someone of any veracity was spelled out in 2011 by the world's press whom loves to pass out black eyes to other Christians, just because they are called by the same name as a wacko.....

May 19, 2011 -- Time to break out the champagne and party hats because it's that time of year once again: doomsday.
Now Judgment Day doesn't always come once a year. In fact, it's often much more frequent than that. But that doesn't mean that all apocalypses are created equal.
While waiting for the end of the world, why not take a look at some of the most famous doomsday predictions in history?
We'll begin with the most imminent doomsday prediction: May 21. Pastor Harold Camping, president of Family Radio, is convinced that, after decoding passages in the Bible, the Rapture will take place on May 21, 2011, an event ushered in by an unprecedented global earthquake. The world will cease to exist five months later on October 21, 2011.
Camping has a small, but dedicated following that feels it is their duty to warn nonbelievers of the impending apocalypse. So they travel around the country with signs, hats, painted buses and reading materials all advertising impending doom.
When asked if he had considered what he might do when May 22 rolls around, Camping told NPR: "There is no Plan B."
Despite his faith in his convictions, Camping has been wrong before. He first predicted the end of the world in 1994, which he insists was a premature assessment since he had not completed his Bible research.

And I comment on Mr. Camping for a real reason, he learned from his mistake and until yesterday, shut his mouth up and stopped giving Christianity black eyes.  Of course, the damage was already done, but for him personally, he had the integrity to realize he was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong and finally and completely wrong in what he had done.

Best of intention but still a problem.  Yeah, because he realized, because he then shut up, I am thinking he was wrong, as any of us can be.  But, as far as I am aware he is alone in his ability to do just that - repent and disappear in silence as we are told to.  The others, well, their testimony is their heresy, for which they stand condemned, if anyone will bother to look.

So, another chapter in Western Theology comes to a close.  The vipers are still with us, looking to corrupt at any opportunity.  Are you sharp enough to catch them before they snare you?

What The Heck?

What the heck is going on here?

As you might remember, several weeks ago I was treated to inquisition involving a long time friend of mine and his misbehaviors with the females of that church.  It took me a few weeks to get past the idea that I would willing execute him for what he has done.  Today, Thursday, guess what I got treated to - another inquisition!

This time, the guy was the youth pastor of my old church, at least up until three years ago, and his behaviors apparently spanned numerous churches and about 20 years!

Yeah, no one bothered to check any of his references before he was hired - he had been fired from every church he had worked for - for the same problem - inability to control himself around teenage girls!  Good Lord!  What has become of the church when it is too hard to check references?!?!?!?!?  And too hard to let the truth be known, much less charges filed against him!  Yeah, he appears to be getting away with his latest disaster as well.  Grrrrrrrrrr!

I am just sickened that we can place no trust that a job search committee will return qualified candidates, we can not trust the testimony of the answers given in interviews, no one is checking references when hiring those whom will be responsible for the care of the children and the church through more destroyed lives - looses even more the right to bear Jesus' name!

We do not need a revival in this sick Western theology poisoned church - we need a full blown REVOLUTION!

Out with the seminars creating these disasters!
Out with Elderships unable to make God-ly decisions!
Out with Pastors whom can not stand up for God!
Out with Youth Workers dedicated to satisfying their carnal natures!
Out with those whom destroy others through gossip!

The whole lot of you suck!
Get out of my church!

And yeah, that is exactly how I feel on this whole subject!  There is no room in God's Kingdom for these losers - and oh by the way - Jesus flat out said this at least four times I can think of!  It is the doctrine of demons which allow this culture to even exist in the Church, drive men to their baser natures, destroy the lives of the innocent and reduce Jesus' life and sacrifice to a nice story but of no real relevance!

Sorry, you will get what you deserve you sham of a church!  Your ministry is over.  God has left you.  Why do you even keep the lights on?

Now how to cause real change ... ?  Another denomination?  Or can a church be sued for claiming to be Christian when they no longer represent anything Christian?

I really feel pity for the likes of Hutt, Zwingli, Huss and Luther - fairly straight on men whom began a movement to bring people to God and it has grown into a forum for pedophilia ...

Where are our Christian leadership?  And if their absence is indicative of something, I worry for the immediate future of Christianity.

Setting The Heart Right

I read a great deal, always have.  I excelled with computers because I was willing to actually sit down with the IBM manuals and read them (at my high speed of 32 words a minute, cough, cough) - did not always understanding what I read at the time, but eventually it all came together.

Amongst my readings have been old diaries of people whom journeyed through the American wilderness in the 1840 to 1870 period.  The pioneers, their travails, their thoughts, their pain at the randomness of life.  Then my readings into the old literature of the Vikings, the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians.  It showed me at an early age that people are the same today, as they were yesterday, as they were 100 - 200- 300 or even X,000 of years ago.  We all still have the same basic thoughts, desires and needs - and the curse of the inability to learn our lessons from prior generations.

Today is a bit different in some countries, we have advanced over yesterday in a number of areas.  Women being allowed to own land, stock or other possessions was a radical change!  Prior to this a woman's only security was through her husband - and that is not exactly the best approach to security, especially when women are seen as a possession and treated accordingly.  So, you have to marry and marry well or your future will be toast.  Never mind that you would probably be dead by 24 from childbirth in any event.

The second area of change was the application of a standardized pricing approach to products.  Prior to this it was haggling over everything's cost.  A bargain for one, not so much for another less astute shopper!  Of course, the barter system was driven primarily by the greed of the merchant wishing to maximize his profit and the purchasers desire to minimize his expense!  Both are forms of greed, both are forms of not understanding that this world is not our final destination and we can not take it with us.

Yeah, nothing we possess on this Earth has ANY eternal value, it is completely wasted effort - unless we can use it for God's purposes!  And no, that does not mean you own a mansion and it is okay with God because one room is dedicated to visiting missionaries!  Really?!?!?  And I hear this approach from all over the world, in every culture, greed is a universal problem and yeah if you are a missionary you probably will end up in someone's basement.

In the 1980's a new item popped up on my radar: people working the church membership for financial gain.  AMWAY, AVON, the church membership roles being plied by realtors.  I knew one guy whom belonged to seven churches so that he had the largest database of clients for his realty business.  He was extremely successful financially, spiritually?  Not so much.  Really, anyone was surprised by this?  The Church - is the place where you can find financial enrichment?  That is why it was created?  Carry that idea forward to a disaster in the Seattle area in the early 1980's - Delta Finance.  Invest you money with this uninsured Christian financial investment firm and you will be guaranteed a financial reward and know that your money is protected by God.  Really?  When they went down, it wiped out most of those I knew in the Seattle area.  It gave all Christians black-eyes.  They gambled God's reputation and all of the sheep lost.

Well meaning Christians, came up with an idea on how to provide for their financial success by guaranteeing the success of others USING God as their alibi, safety - contentment for all!  But, that is the exact opposite of what God asks of you!

At about the same time we had the wolves appear amongst the flock, looking for whom they may fleece.  And fleece the Church they did!  To the tune of millions!  Some would go to prison but the majority went unpunished for their crimes against the Church, against God, against their siblings in Jesus.  But, this was nothing newsworthy, it has been happening since the beginnings of the faith.  And yeah, as unfair as it seems, God will level the playing field in the end - they will be brought to account for what they have done.  Not very satisfying, huh?

Read 1 Timothy 6:3-6

Selling of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is God's and His alone.  He gives, sharing His spirit with whom He will, how He will, when He will.  We can not buy nor sell the gifts of the Spirit, nor the fruit of the Spirit.  There is no power we control nor possess we can pass amongst ourselves or sell to others.  We can not even give it away - it is not ours!

We can not make the message of the Gospel about us.  It is about Jesus, from beginning to end.  The split second we insert our personality and point to ourselves, we have left the truth of the Gospel behind and should no longer be followed or listened to.  I honestly hurt for the Western Church.  Yes, I criticize them and poke fun at them from time to time, but when the chips are down - I pray for God to break this evil bondage which has possessed His Church and is poisoning the world with a corrupt Gospel of health, wealth and materialism.  Honestly, we need REVIVAL!

Further, we have to see to it that in our Body, the Church, we are not separating over the rather minor differences in our interpretation of Scripture.  That very act of separation is the activity of Demons in our midst.  I will pick on just one none doctrine as an example: "King James Only Bible".  One of "my boys" fell into this slot many years ago and has been one of its pastors, pushing this ideology for two decades now.  But, which KJV?  His mentors all chirp 1611, however, they all use the 1769 - they do not even know their own chosen Bible's history!  It is not convenient to show that there have been 100,000's of changes to the KJV just to get something fairly accurate for its time.  But, with the revelations of archaeology, anthropology and linguists in the past 100 years - it could use more work to more accurately reflect truth and less Roman Catholicism.

No, the version of your Bible is not a concern to God.  But He does care whether or not you can accept His tenants of the faith: one God/Creator, one payment for your sin/separation from Him, the virgin birth, the death, the resurrection of Jesus, the teachings of the Apostles.  Yeah, if you can swallow those you can chew on other stuff like all of the minor items denominations are created over.

The goal of any of this is PEACE.

Christians can be:

•  wealthy (properly controlled) or in poverty (actually easier to be Christian when you have nothing!)
• Powerful or powerless
• Free or slave
• Content or in pain
• Satisfied or unsatisfied

But  you will never have peace in your life or your relationship with God until you have satisfaction with what you have.  That means no requirement for any more of anything!

We are told that contentment is found in Jesus, with things of eternal value which can not slip away from us.  Going back then that that bullet list above, that means you can have wealth, power, freedom, satisfaction and be content - just as easily as not being content at all.  Conversely you can have nothing, be powerless, be a slave (as 2/3 of the world was in Paul's day), be satisfied with your portion and have contentment - just as easily as not being content at all!

WOW! 

That is because contentment is the state of your HEART, it has nothing to do with any of these other attributes, it has to do with your relationship with Jesus.  Given that relationship, it no longer matters what your state, your heart will be content with what you have been given by Him.  Unfortunately, contentment is not the usual human condition and we actually have to seek and strive for that contentment.  More on this tomorrow!

Now Is The Time, Part II

A week ago I wrote on the importance of making your peace with God as quickly as possible - the pain it saves you is enormous.  Of course, until you get there, you probably will not even see that there is another way...

Thinking this time on 1 Timothy 4:1-5

It is interesting to think that 2,000 years ago, the early Christian Church, "The Way", was being challenged by false doctrines taught those whom believed they had authority!  If you remember from 1 Timothy 1, Paul has written to Timothy to encourage him to stay in Ephesus and continue to correct the doctrine of the Church there!

So, I look at the Church today; false doctrines abound in almost all churches! Some because of long held tradition, others because they believe they have been given a "special Gospel" or revelation.  Just think on all of the minor issues churches fight over and willingly separate over!

Looking back at this passage we can see that Paul warns of the Church being impacted by:

• Loss of Faith
• Deceiving Spirits
• Teachings of Demons
• Hypocritical Liars
• No Conscience
• Forbidding Marriage
• Forbidding certain foods

We live in an age when all of these are a problem.  Your church today is no better than probably any of those condemned by Paul in Ephesus, to which Timothy was instructed to correct and we do know that since Ephesus was to become part of the Gnostic Movement, so Paul's worry was valid.

This is a serious problem within the Church.  No believer wakes up one day and thinks, "Wow, today is a great day to embrace the doctrine of demons!".  Yet, it happens and unfortunately quite often.  Not far from where I live was a large flourishing Christian Church, Community Chapel and Bible Training Center, back in the 1980's.  A decade later I was to meet dozen of victims of this church - their lives destroyed by rearranged marriages, via corrections the pastor was told to perform, sexual abuse, money laundering, etc all brought the church down once the molestation of teenage girls was learned by the State police.  Yeah, it was quite the Christian witness in the Seattle area.  I wonder how many were permanently left with a "no way" answer to anything Christian because of the abuses of this church.  And they started out very normal.

But, somewhere along the way, the pastors started being influenced by a new doctrine, one which gave them power, then money and finally enslavement of the once faithful.  It was little matter to lure them into sin, they had left God behind long before.

And that bulletted list above became the actual ministry of that church!  Talk about deju vous Paul!  From Timothy to real life in just five verse!

So, your church think certain foods are forbidden?  Paul disagrees.  Your church believe in Celestial Unions, causing open sex, dissolved marriages, underage acts with the pastoral staff? Uhm, Paul disagrees.  The pastors are liars, seem to never understand condemnation of the Holy Spirit, everything has an excuse - but not a real reason?  Get out of that church now!

And to a certain extent we too are guilty.  God created goodness and set it around us - we trashed His creation!  The food which were good are by and large genetically modified anymore.  Nature has been replace by man's arrogance thinking he can do a better job - but to what end I wonder?

Something to consider, something to think about, something perhaps to cause you to correct the local body you are in .....

Now is the Time

1 Timothy 4:1-5

Now is the time!
There is no better time for you to come to your peace with your maker!
Nor is there a better time for you, as a Christian, to be witnessing to those around you!

We live in an age and culture where "truth" has become relative - or people have been lead to think by those whom argue there are no absolutes.  Yet, a lie is still a lie, even when people desire to call it "truth"!

This is a serious problem for man has been led astray by the doctrines of demons, even those weak in the faith succumb to the fanciful lies of those listened to.  Lies, presented as "truth", or deeper "truth", or meant to have an impact upon those within a certain age group or cultural setting.  Tailor made death, to block the listener from actually finding release from what this culture teaches.

It always boils down to: "Whom do you say, Jesus, is?"  (as well as how much do you add to the Gospel?)

These false witnesses in our midst, as Paul calls them, Snakes, no longer have an active conscious - they are dead to their sin and no longer suffer any conviction for their deeds.  They sleep quite well facing their pending judgment.

The Christian message of LOVE has been mutilated by a culture to which innocence has been lost.  Instead of the freedom God gives us, man has created a step ladder of do's and don'ts, never intended by God.  Legalism, without compassion, judgement without trial nor defense, you will lose - you have already lost.  Wake up!

But, we can still reach the world, it is hard, you will be judged, you will be misunderstood, the worse will be thought of you, but it can be done:

• Deal with the sin in your life, give Satan as few of doors as possible to whack you from behind
• Show holiness in your life, not empty piety, the real thing - how you should be living your life
• Prayer is your telephone line to God, use it and use it frequently
• Pray for your leaders, religious and civil
• Pray for your friends and family
• Pray for special needs, not the never ending shopping list
• Pray to thank and praise God for whom He is
• Remove from your life those things which hamper your success as a Christian.

Use the gifts God has given you, we all have at least one when we are doing His will (reaching others), so be emboldened in reaching out to others.  And reaching out means more than just telling about the Gospel, it is being involved, being vulnerable, being a true servant of God (be His slave!).

So, as you go forth today: Pray, Praise, live your life for Him - if you can't, then change your life ... and clean up all of those spots ...

A fitting tune for this moment in my life:

Selfishness?

Sunday I was asked to be one of the prayers up front in church.  After church there are usually four to six of us whom get volunteered to be up front for people to come to with prayer requests.  I figure that is something I can do, given the state of my own body and finances.  Yeah pathetic...

It was a normal Sunday, people's usual lists of "I wants" and "God is not giving me, so will you pray for me over this?", American Theology, home of the narcissus.  Yes, there are occasionally those whom come forward with life threatening situations (like cancer), life altering situations (like impending jail time), weird stuff (like being deported for asking to get married while on a student visa) and then things that make you thoughtful.  And if you are led to pray for any of these examples I can supply names to go along with the real problems....

This year has had some interestingly thoughtful stuff.  Like a man whom came forward for prayer for his wife, whom got the sinus thing going around, she went on a course of antibiotics and now can not swallow.  That was months ago and I have continued to b in prayer for  her.  A few weeks ago, she swallowed a tiny piece of hamburger for the first time in months!  Victory, but still, who ever heard of something like this?!?!?  And no, she is far from healed.

For me, I have been praying for God to tell me what to do.  Honestly, I have no clue what to do about my family and their expressed rage over my daughter.  Of course, her post departure antics have only made the situation worse - because I am resolute to stand and wait in prayer, rather than join the chorus in condemnation.  And standing alone can be a very tiring and confusing place.

Towards the end of the prayer time, a guy came into the church - he had not been at the church service, first headed one way, altered course, came up to me and then said, "I guess I need to talk with you..."

The short of it: God told him to do something, his family was violently opposed to it, he finds himself like me on the outside now, because he did what was required.  Talk about deja vous!

We prayed and I asked him to lunch but he said he had been on his way to Portland and just had to stop in for prayer.  So I pondered this.....

Someone whom does not come to our church, happens by, needing prayer for the very same situation I find myself in, and then comes to me for prayer.  Odds are not very good here, so God thing or Satan thing?  You know me, I will over analyze this for a week before even mentioning this here.  Then analyze it some more....

Of Satan:

• Nothing to suggest he is a Christian
• Is he under false conviction?
• Did he err in what he was told to do?
• Was he ever really told to do something?
• Was his family listening to Satan in their attacks?

Of God:

• Nothing to suggest he did anything wrong
• Did God really tell him what to do?
• Is the Holy Spirit convicting him?
• Did he faithfully execute his duty?
• Why does he now feel misled?

So many questions!  But the biggest one, was why could I discern nothing of this man?  So, God/Holy Spirit was blocking me from something.  But what?  Why?  I could know all of the answers if I suddenly had not found myself stripped of something so important .....  (It was fully functional again minutes after he left!)

Which led me to the thought that perhaps he was an angel sent to tell me I failed in my responsibilities - however .....

Where in the Bible (not American Theology!) does one vet what they are told to do by God through their family, for their permission?!  Heavens!  Jesus would never have been born were that true!  No apostle would exist - they needed to fish to make a buck, not wander around listening to some random teacher!  And that whole blinding light thing Saul?  You are just plain wrong!  There is nothing in the Torah to support what you are thinking man!  You get the point, God is rarely convenient in His requirement of us, nor His timing.

So, as was attempted upon me, is he being hit with false guilt? 

But how does doing what God asks equate to selfishness?  This one I have had a harder time with.  I have struggled with the idea that somehow I am selfish because I choose to do as told, rather than drag the family unwillingly along.  Maybe I am missing something here, but I do not get this point of his.  If I did what I wanted to, against my family's wishes, I could see his point.  But, I did what God wanted me to do, not what I wanted in the least!

It seems that really he is using selfishness as a contradiction.  His family were the selfish ones for refusing to be there for him in what ever God's undertaking for him was.  God does not demand the majority, he goes for individuals.  If this man was faithful, God will use him again and give his family another chance to join along - as happened to me via my niece.  And he will be blessed, but probably not them.

Then he was rushing off to continue his trip to Portland.

As for me I have prayed and thought on this all week long.  I do not feel condemned or misled or that I have been selfish in the least.  I tried to have my family along throughout last year, but they actively chose to run the other way and display hatred towards the hurting.

 So, although such a very weird occurrence, I will have to write this one off as a Satan attempt to lead me sideways moments, to show God wrong, to make me question His motives, His actions, His desires and place them under the approval of man.  My God does not work this way, pure and simple.....  Satan however does.

And this is all so very intriguing to me!  So many questions left unanswered.  So much to relive and try to push away yet again.

Passing On Forgiveness

So you have a heart attack, your heart is completely unstable, your body has been invaded by dozens of needles, you are stressed to the max - and then you get visitors.

Dutchman and I were talking.  I strapped to a table for now 40 hours at this point, he stressed over something he did not want to say but apparently felt compelled to.  It was about my father in law.  I mentioned his death last August.  Just let dead horses lay, really! And though I would not post this, I think I will because perhaps someone out there needs to understand forgiveness as well.

For those whom do not know, I had a civil marriage, which was to have been followed by a religious ceremony several months later.  Yeah, two kids knowing they should tie the knot but wanting to do it right and wait for the real ceremony to take place.  So, civil was in August, religious was to be on Valentines Day the following year. Only father in law found out, as he worked for the government, and exploded while I was in Mexico on a month long trip.  I came back in mid-September to address a problem in his church (at the youth's request) and swung by my best friend Don's apartment, used his hidden key to get in to drop my bags, and instead found my would be bride and him heavily engaged.

I quietly left.

Back home I found I had a letter from her dated a week after I had left for Mexico, telling me that her father had annulled the marriage so she saw no reason not to explore my list of friends she liked.....  Yeah, sure glad I found out before I got that letter!  Of course, her and I had a $220 phone call that afternoon!  I lost a great many friends that fall.  Even Dutchman, the only one to  apologize, fell to her seductive powers.  And as for me, my relationship with Udie had been completely above board.  Silly me, it seems!  But, I was not that kind of person in any event and I never would have thought it of any of my friends!

And here Dutchman, paced in my room, in ICU, as he worked his way through telling something he had never said before, from a conversation with my father in law many years earlier, part of the apology he never passed along.  Now at the time of my disaster with that family, their youngest daughter was head over heels for a guy named Kurt.  It really did not take discernment to know what a POC the guy was, but the family had known him most of his life, really loved him and his family - and I was the intruder.  Yeah, I was smart enough to never saying anything in front of them concerning this creature from the underworld.  But, said demon, understood extremely well that I knew whom and what he really was.  And years later, my in-laws were to discover exactly how miserable a creep he was as well.

And Dutchman was conflicted.  Make no mistake he loves his wife but he remembers too well his relationship with my wife.  It almost killed him to tell me of how the father in law had told him of his own distress at how wrong he and his wife had been about me and Kurt.  They had trusted Kurt, they did not trust me.  They saw no future in computers but Kurt wanted to be a dentist, so they could understand that he had his feet on the ground.  Yet, Kurt went on to poison their daughter, after two children, and live "the life" afterwards.  Yeah, he abandoned the children, my in-laws got to raise them.  Because there was no "proof", no charges were ever filed, but in their town, everyone knows he tried to kill his wife.  She continues to live as a vegetable, at least I think she is still alive.  And then in contrast, there was the German, whom did okay with his career in computers, adopted for four older Russian orphans, continued working with youth for forty years now, etc.  Though they could never accept the idea of "that woman" being in my life, aka Gaelic Girl.

My father in law was proud of me!  But he was conflicted and therefore concerned over his own Christianity.  If he had been so wrong about me, and then Kurt, what else was he wrong about?  Should he have institutionalized his wife, as he had considered early on in their marriage?  (It is a long, horrible story, but she murdered her brother in law, though could not be charged because there never was "proof" she had done it.  Though, she had confessed to me, many years later how she actually had!)  And Dutchman had never told me any of this.  Had he of, I would have flown to be with my father in law, to tell him it was all alright, to pray with him, to let him know I have always loved him!

And so Dutchman, embarrassed and hurting, continued to pace as he spilled his guts over Udie and the words of my father in law.  I think it hurt him to know that it was me and not him, the family finally understood their daughter was to have been with.  He was still hurting from her abandonment of him as she continued on her quest to "know" all of my friends.  Sigh.  He was wanting to know he was forgiven by me, because obviously, he can not forgive himself - even forty years later ...

Though my heart rate is now something like 180 and the alarms are sounding from the nurse's station, I almost had to laugh.  I forgave him even while he was still with my wife four decades earlier!  She was dead to me, the woman I had loved was obviously dead and did not exist any longer, I learned that during my very expensive long distance phone call!  Sure, there is a body with the name of Udie attached to it, but it is not the woman I knew.  And that is what really hurt, no one saw the woman I knew, no actually loved that woman I loved, no one understood her real death, she was just meat in a culture addicted to meat.  Her modelling career fell apart, her life withered and died, and one day in 1983 God told me she finally understood this all and to call for an ambulance in her town, she was committing suicide.  No, she still thinks it a miracle a paramedic kicked in her door, because no one possibly could have known.  She does not understand the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so my almost life long friend, came to his peace in this matter, at the cost of a few thousand heart beats of mine.  He came by last night to visit again, to comment that perhaps GG really does like me, though it would be a hard sell to prove.  But, I was still exhausted and he did not stay long.  So I am hoping he is at peace on this issue. He is my best friend these days, one of the few remaining from the old days.  I hope he has truly come to forgive himself.

So, this post is not so much about what happened to me but the need for those involved to forgive themselves.  A lesson Dutchman is just now learning, a lesson my father in law never understood, a lesson his entire family would do well to learn, actually one most humans should as well.


What was it I wrote to my daughter last fall, following her betrayal of me?
      "The quality of forgiveness, is the quantity by which you have been forgiven ..."

For some it is learning to forgive those whom harm you, for my daughter learning to forgive God for her life, for others learning to forgive themselves.

Forgiveness is needed in this world, Pass It On ...

Of Faith, Obedience and Silence

For the past several days my mind has been revolving around an enigma, very strange things going on in my private life, things which certainly point to an ongoing attack by evil, a limited source for it to have originated from and yet God's call for my obedience.

For weeks now, I have been getting emails to my private account of an evil nature.  Yeah, I have my public account which is tied to this blog, however, I have a private address known only to my family members.  However, even at that, I get no emails from anyone in my family, we talk via phone and FaceBook constantly.  It has really only been used by my estranged daughter and niece.  So, as I said, limited resource to have disclosed my email address from, if that had happened at all.  Yesterday, I thought I would end this stupidity from whomever it was sending those daily multiple emails and ran down their IP address - they originated from where estranged daughter had an interest in serving as a missionary to and she has several "friends" there.  Okay, that  is weird and yeah, I could see her getting one of her friends to do this so as to prove I am the evil she now believes.  Sorry, but I am not whom you think I am.  Yesterday, I blocked that IP address because things got weirder.

Yeah, yesterday came with an invite to have a new friend on FaceBook, complete with photos.  It could have been someone else, whom looks a great deal like my daughter (NOT!), but just to be wise as a serpent, I hacked the originating IP address of that FaceBook account.  Interestingly, this one came from where daughter had served as a missionary many years ago to and to cinch it, there were already had two of her friends on there whom I remembered when we shared FB accounts with one another.  So, yeah this one was either her friends being cruel to her or flat out from her trying to snare me.

Now, what are the odds?  Two flat out evil offers, both originating from places she was associated with.  Both I believe to prove I was the kind of person she believes me to be.

I turned down the friendship offer and the account disappeared from FaceBook almost instantly.  Interestingly, it proves I was right, it was evil attempting to lure me, else why would it disappear when it failed to snare me?  And should my daughter actually be innocent of this, then again I must remind her that photographs taken during moments of great intoxication, are forever.  And really, my private email address, I would appreciate remaining private, just as I have honored your privacy but not "stalking" you, it is reasonable to expect the same.

So I have thought on this weirdness and am reminded of Zachariah - okay only in my mind is this obvious ... :

You might remember Luke 1:5-25 and 57-80.

Zachariah was told what God was going to do, but he chose to disbelieve.  So, for his disbelief, his voice was silenced until John (Jesus' cousin) was born.  His silence became a sign for the truth of what he had been told.  And EVERYONE knew it!

So there are three ways of looking at this and learning from it:

1.  When you are being silenced, you need to examine why and correct where your faith in God has gone wrong.
2.  When God is being silent in your life you need  to read, meditate and pray to know the source of the silence.
3.  When you are being obedient and have been silenced, you have to continue to be obedient to what God has told you.

So my family, my ex-friends, my church, my pastors and my estrange daughter all firmly stand on the first option for me.  And like the stubborn German I am, I stand solidly that I am of the third classification - only remaining friends agree with me on that one, but then they actually bothered to know me and look at the evidence before deciding not to condemn me.  I can only stand in place in obedience, even if at least 120 times this year I would have rather grabbed my cane and started walking to Argentina!  But, then that would have proven I was guilty to all!  Except to daughter, for she knows what that reference means.

Verses 66-77 are so beautiful!  Here Zachariah has been silenced and now can speak and agrees that the son's name will be John (probably a bit of a scandal since it was not a family name).

Zachariah did not expect a miracle, did not believe one possible when he was told there would be one and so God had to smack him upside the head to get his attention long enough to understand he was in for a miracle!

So, in like manner, even though my daughter has run away, does her best to attack me as she is able, I stand firm because God told me to.  I pray daily for her because God told me to.  I expect her to return because God said she would.  I will remain obedient because I am that stubborn old German.  It is called faith, it is called obedience, it is called for in the silence of my life in being able to bring her to where she is supposed to be.

But do not believe this does not bring its frustrations, as my poor Niece can affirm, the lure to run away is there but unlike Jonah, I already know I can not hide from the face of God, do not want to get swallowed until I learn my lesson, etc.  So, I stand, taking the rebuke from all, daily, in my face hatred for what I have not done but been accused of.  I will pay whatever the cost required for my daughter to return - in my innocence, because it is all I have.  From my perspective, if my family is reduced to only the size of my niece and estranged daughter, so be it.  It does not mean I do not love my family, for I do, but it does mean being obedient to God means more.

And poor Zachariah, he too learned a lesson and he stood and he waited, when he did not have to, and was mightily blessed for it.

Facing Your Cross

Without exception, this year has been the worst year of my life.  I have never been so disappointed in my fellow man than I have been this year.  I have not been more disappointed in my family than I have been this year.  I have never wanted to rip a church a new-one, like I have this year - probably why I am not pastor material, no real tolerance for sin.  Yeah, not a great second half to the year.

As the title eludes to, we each have crosses we carry.  For some it is the needs of others in our community, some for those persecuted for their faith in Jesus, some physical challenges or even emotional ones.  All of them the possible basis for a ministry or perhaps what God uses to refine us.  And, my cross? A daughter, 21 years old, 150 pounds, a survivor, but not an over-comer, someone so desperately in need and yet so uncomfortable with the solution to her life's issues.  She has led a life no one should ever have had to and when given the chance for final freedom, sided with those whom manipulated her into believing this year had been a lie - that she was better off in her sin than in being refined as God was leading her.

And daily God reminds me.  And daily God shows me the workings of her heart and her mind, still at war with one another.  And I pray the heart wins because it knows the truth, but the mind wants its own way because .....  Well isn't that true of any of us?  And that is the cross I get to bear until she finally looks up to the real God, seeks understanding and then begins a new on her journey, albeit not quite the same now as it could have been.

For those of my long term readers, I am now at 1 year and one week in spiritual warfare to free this daughter.  So, if you will join with me, awesome.  I want her to get on with her life but that can not happen without her being forced to understand what happened to her.  And I wait.  Return, Reconciliation, Restoration, Repentance, Recovery, then Discipleship - all on hold, all waiting.....

So, I am facing my greatest cross, there are many other smaller ones - but this one is the most pressing.  I never could bear the weight of this cross, so God has had to all along - but in order for Him to do so, there are a few things I needed to do first:

Read John 12:27-36
Note that Jesus is in the week of the his death upon the cross, and he know it.....

Give yourself permission to be human.
Jesus was troubled facing his cross and what was to happen.
I have to face too with courage the opposition whom has taken my daughter, all those whom oppose me, those whom have their own agendas for keeping her broken, the damage she has done herself and me (thank you Satan, I really needed that this year!).

See ultimate triumph - beyond this present tragedy.
Circumstances vs desire.
God will use us, but not in ways we think or expect!
I blindly trusted, never believing that I could have lost my daughter.  Surprise!  God is apparently going to be testing my resolve and faith for however long this takes.
I never would have thought myself capable of the hundreds of hours of prayer this has required.

Listen when God speaks.
Everyone heard what Jesus had to say but not everyone heard the same message.
To some, it was all just noise.
Yeah, He warned me, but I could not believe.  And when it happened, I could not comprehend at how.  I was so naive.
She can not hear, though her heart knows, but she will not listen even to herself.

Remember His cross when you face your cross.
Luke 19:10 - Jesus seeks the lost
John 3:18 - believe and not be condemned
Yeah, I have questioned my salvation, and other's as well.  But, we are all broken beings, some in this soap opera have made me reconsider the nature of salvation and the impact of the losey-goosey theology of the American believer.  Still thinking on it.  Mighty disappointed in more than just a few.

Psalm 119:105.
Walk in the light, believe in the light, become sons of the light!
I had a choice, we all do, I could lick my wounds and move on or stand and fight.  God did not choose me because this was going to be easy, He choose me because I can be slapped down a thousand times and it will not shake my faith.  I see beyond today, looking towards God's victory in this woman's life tomorrow.  But, it sure would be nice if I could restart in her life tomorrow and get this over with!

This was Jesus last public teaching.
Apparently, this message was important enough that Jesus used His short time left to make this point to his disciples and followers.  So, maybe we should think hard on the point that if we are to be as He is, then we need to have the determination He had - even if we believe it will be to our own undoing - loss of everything - even ultimate death.....

Return of the Errant Knight

Yes, the Errant Knight is back for another visit!

(psst! that is me...) So, it was in early December when first we saw the Errant Knight, when he took up the cause of freeing the damsel in distress. When he chose to battle for her freedom from the hate which controlled her life. When he was last victorious (April). And now he is back, so this must mean battle is afoot!

"So, you have betrayed yourself finally, evil which has inflicted my daughter! You played one hand too many, you went too far, you gambled that I would not notice....."

Oh Satan is a crafty one, I almost fell for it, but as I said, he played one hand too many and that last stunt showed what the problems was going all the back to when she was but a toddler. No dear daughter, you have no idea of what I speak. Yes, you were damaged as a toddler terribly, but there was a companion for you whom joined the disaster which was to become your life through to this day. And evil is its name.

I never saw it, I indeed looked but I could not see it, it is crafty beyond all I have ever faced before, this one wants the long term. But now I know, now I have seen your hand at work, now I can identify your face ..... I will fear you no more.

No there is little the errant knight can do for the moment but the day draws near when we shall do battle, oh ancient evil. When the evil which inflicts my daughter will finally face a human with nothing left to lose in taking it on and I expect complete chaos to ensue before she will ever cross my path again - because it found out to morning that I was given sight of it!

Ephesians 6:10-18

The Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

¹⁸ And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

(NIV)

A holy war has been declared, God is on my side, victory is assured, now to prepare for battle. This Errant Knight, the last male descendant of the Templar Seraphim, armed as God has prepared him, sharpens his sword of the Spirit - and quietly awaits this next and final attack.

"Heavenly Father, you chose me and gave me all authority over my daughter, so then in the name of Jesus by whose blood we are both covered: bind the spirit which has possessed my daughter, Heavenly Father! Cast it far from her, to a lonely desert place and let there be no further repercussions from this for my family, my property, Gaelic Girl, my daughter's mother, nor her sister's family..... Free her and let her eyes, heart, mind and spirit once again be opened to the freedom she sought in You. Cover her completely with your blood and flood her being with forgiveness..... Let this war now be drawn to a close."

Fasting and Prayer

Yeah, not exactly easy to be diabetic and trying to do a fast.  But, I did make it through the day, having to finally eat something - so I limited it to something I particularly dislike.

When I was in college I reached a point where my income fell to $60 per month.  This happened to be exactly the amount of my apartment rent and so I was able not to live on the streets and for four months wrap up my education.  This also meant that I had NO other moneys, money in any form, and due to the economy in 1974 to 1975, there was no opportunity to even get work!  My tuition was covered under a grant but books I had to pay for myself.  So, I would write programs for local manufacturers, for incredibly low rates!, in order to pay for those books!

And of food?  Well, there was none during this time.  I had a box of crackers and would eat ten of them a day.  Not exactly a wonderful, well balanced diet, but it was what I had and I was thankful to God for it!  On the last month, I had to cut even the number of crackers in half in order to make it through the month!  I tried food stamps but it seems back then that if you were in school, it is assumed someone other than you is supporting you and you get nothing.  Six foot, five inches tall and I was down to 115 by then.  Yeah, the guy at the welfare office actually gave me some money from his pocket!  Tough times.

The starvation ended one afternoon when I went back to my apartment and there was a knock on the door.  It was my neighbor whom told me someone had dropped these four bags of groceries off during the day and he did not want them stolen.  What?!?!?!  I lived on prostitution row, you could not trust any of the other tenants with a dime much less a pile of groceries!  Talk about a God thing.....

No sooner had I put them away, with great prayers of thanksgiving, than there was another knock and two more bags of groceries appeared!  Talk about abundance!  But why?  It was decades before I found out the answers to that question.

So, every Monday since that afternoon, I have fasted - to remember God abundance, to remember what starvation was like, to thank God for His provision.  And then my health issues were diagnosed as diabetes.....

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

And what of yesterday?  Yes, it was a horrible day.  My heart crushed by the pain inflicted by my family.  The looks of hatred and silent treatment continues.  But, God saw to it that my confusion concerning what to do was over, helped me find one of my old seminary professors to shoot an email to, and demonstrated that what I have been and am doing is right on with Him.

I also learned some new information on demonology I was not aware of.  I will have to consider more and deal with later.  Yeah, the world does not stop turning just because you entire family seems to be possessed at the moment!  Right now I have to prepare for tests this week in college and the next month will be super busy!  So family will have to suck it up for now until I am free to address their aberrations!  Please hold them up in prayer with me, until they can return to "normal"!

Unfortunately, for my family, I understand now where all of this going.  No, knowing that you will soon be a pariah is not exactly my idea of a fun future, but it does seem to be where God is pointing and they can come along or they can be comforted in their hatred for me.

Somehow I always expected that if you truly were walking the walk, talking the talk, being blameless before God and all men, that life would be a might easier because of it.....

OMG

So given what occurred over Friday, Saturday and Sunday, I have been at a loss as to what I can blog.  Were I just to say that Satan took one huge whack at the Plattner household, it would be to under describe what has occurred.  Let us just limit my comments to: open warfare.

Net results?  Lots of casualties all blaming everyone else for the disaster, and yet, there is a cause - for all of this is demonic in origin.  As for the victims?  There really is only two.  The other victims?  Well, it is hard to actually be a victim when you are apart of a demonic attack!

And how do you battle that?  Well, prayer, lots of prayer - but guess what time for prayer becomes completely compromised to the extent that it is all but impossible.  Interesting, eh?  Yeah, demonic activity is not fun, it is nothing but misery when you are facing those you love and you can see so clearly.....

Prayer, lots of prayer.

Politically Correct Bonhoeffer

Welcome to the 21st century, this is the century were - due to political correctness - history is constantly being revised in order to make events palatable to those too lazy to read primary sources for themselves.  Yes, so we now have another biography on Dietrich Bonhoeffer for me to grouse about.

I will probably end my life as the modern German apologist for Bonhoeffer but by the time you have read this you will wonder if I am an apologist.  Unlike so many, I KNOW he was not a martyr, I KNOW he did not resist the Nazi's, I KNOW he later regretted exactly not resisting them when he had the chance.  Please note that unlike the author of the recent work, I have researched far enough into Bonhoeffer's own writings to KNOW whom and what Bonhoeffer was and did.  Not legend, reality.

Whom was Dietrich Bonhoeffer?  Someone from whose life you need to learn many Christian Lessons from.  What did he do?  Exactly the opposite of what you, as a mature Christian, must do - in taking your stand for God in a godless culture and society!

Bonhoeffer, rather than face the plight of the German people during the depression, founded what was for all intents and purposes a Christian Community, dedicated to teaching self subsistence - physically and spiritually.  He made the choice between having a small impact on a large group of people (Germany) and having a large impact on a small group of people.  Both are admirable.  But, we can look back and see that the larger group was what needed attention.  Many have commented that statement is hindsight and 20/20 - completely forgetting that God does not deal in hindsight.  God was to raise Bonhoeffer up to the National Church level at a crucial time (more on this later).  Hey, He even removed Karl Barth in the process of doing so!  (Don't even ask what I thought of Barth!)

Bonhoeffer's inner pull away from the German church was a lack of attention which allowed a despot to seize control of Germany, uncontested.  When the general population could have been trained on a national level, in spite of Barth, Bonhoeffer had moved out of the country.  Yes, he was to return, but he had a choice and he knew he was taking the easy way out (per his letters).  His reason for return the final time - to have a witness amongst his people once the war was over - "....to share in their sufferings.....".  He was correct on that score, if you want to have a mission and witness within a culture, even your own, you can not be an outside observer.  A lesson many a missionary needs to learn!

The Nazi's had it in for the Jews from the beginning.  Bonhoeffer's sister was in love with a Jewish man.  When it came time for the marriage - Bonhoeffer bowed to the political correctness of the Nazi movement and did not perform that ceremony.  There was no law he would have been violating, it was not even direct pressure put on him, and he willingly bowed to that perceived pressure.  Just as the Christian Church does today!  He was later to rethink this in prison and lamented his poor choices in this matter (per his letters).

When Bonhoeffer was head of the National Church of Germany, he was approached on the subject of executing Adolf Hitler.  He, like a great many German believers, personally felt Hitler was the physical presence of Satan and therefore a perfect target for killing.  Unfortunately, being a Christian whose views had become one of a Social Gospel, he failed to consider that murder is still murder, no matter how evil the target is. 

God does not appreciate murder and will hold you accountable.  We know this part the best; the bomb failed to kill Hitler.  Hitler's men through diligent research were able to round up almost the entire group involved - including Bonhoeffer - whom had given his blessing on the attempt.  Along with Bonhoeffer, his father brother-in-law and family friends, were all convicted for their part and executed as  well.  Hitler already had problems with stubborn Christians and many do not understand that he turned his wrath upon the Lutheran Church - executing close to 7,000,000 believers before the closing of the war.

Although claimed by the recent book, Bonhoeffer was not sent to a concentration camp, he was sent to a prison.  Yes, it was a grouping of political prisoners but do not think in terms of Auschwitz here.  He was allow visitors, books, papers, allowed to conduct services for the other prisoners, etc (per his letters).

Lastly, Bonhoeffer's tome, The Cost of Discipleship, I have read probably a dozen times - each reading taking about a year to accomplish and digest.  Personally, I believe this book to be one of the highlights of the 20th century Church writings.  Bonhoeffer, in his letters from prison, analyzes this work and laments that what he found was in his attempt to get German believers to understand that "Cheap Grace" is wrong and there is a cost for belief in Jesus, the Church came to embrace empty piety - and so still were not with any real understanding of their belief.

Bonhoeffer was a Christian minister offered a central place in German and what was to become world history.  And he avoided that task at all cost - even to the point of forgetting his calling.  Had he of stood his ground early in the 1930's, perhaps nothing would have changed other than we would now have the writings of a martyr to consider - rather than someone condemn for the attempted assassination of a national leader.  Until recent history, even the United States executed those wishing to assassinate their leaders.  I can not condemn the German Courts or executioner for doing their jobs; murders are deserving of State sponsored death - no matter how politically correct that assassination attempt was to be in history.

But, he was a man, just like anyone of us.  We may not be in the same place in history, facing a nation gone mad with evil, but we are still called to serve, to witness, to disciple, to baptize - where God has placed us.

When we allow a nation, a group or even a single man to hinder our call and duties as Christians - we will have made the same mistake as Bonhoeffer and compromised our witness.  When we step out into the ways of the world, to behave as the world behaves, to solve our solutions not with prayers but with weapons - we can expect God to withdraw His protection and support in order for our actions to run their full course and man's right to justice will prevail over us......

(Now your really did not expect any other kind of review from a German Hutterite, did you?)

Casting Demons From Believers

The young lady now asks about demons possessing Christians….

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You can hear a lot of Christians talking about Satan and demons and how their lives are complicated by them.  Well, actually, Satan and demons are a whole lot less active with Christians than some may think.  They get quite a bit of credit for just everyday occurrences of our living in a broken world – and the consequences of our own sinful lives.

Possession insinuates the person being controlled by a demon with has no power to resist them.  As a Christian, no matter how bad off you are, you have the Holy Spirit in your life and we are told it will never leave us – at least not until the end of the age anyway.  Some would argue the Holy Spirit was only promised to the Church and not the individual Christian, in which case gifts, fruits and the ability to know God’s leading would be a whole lot rarer than they are……..  In any event, if you have the Holy Spirit in you, it is not even reasonable to assume Satan can take you over.  (Though you have to wonder sometimes about some ‘Christians’ you will encounter!)

So if you find a Christian whom you believe to be controlled by a demon, well, guess what?  They probably are not a Christian.  Yes pretty hard and fast statement. 

Do you have the power or authority to cast out demons?  Only by God’s authority.  There are no magic rites, no magic words, no 18 hours of exorcism, just the command for the demon to be gone.  But, we are warned that the person must then repent and believe on Jesus to be permanently saved from a more horrible possession to occur later.

Most the bunk you will encounter concerning demons is from the made for Hollywood crowd of ‘Christians’.  One of the better known names in today’s demonic hysteria crowd of Christendom was a personal friend for many years and I heavily supported his ministry.  But he starting making some mighty odd decisions and calling it God’s will.  Today, I no longer see he has a ministry which serves God, only his own vanity and desires.

Can a Christian be under the control of an evil spirit? No, but I say this with caution.  If a Christian plays Satan’s game, they could well end up with spiritual problems.  The best case I know of is my dear ‘sister’ whom in spite of solid Biblical knowledge was involved in transcendental meditation and astral projection.  She saw this as a tool to battle demons all over the world (something we are not called to do!  We are told to flee from evil!).  Only problem was, she lost her mind during one of her ‘sessions’.  Oh sure, she was been exorcised dozens of times (phooey!) and been taken to many doctors.  Yes, she is a Christian.  But, her mind has never returned.  Whatever her spiritual damage, we are clueless as to what can be done to return the sister we used to know and love.

So, she is not exactly possessed but has been surely compromised.  One day we will understand……