Greed By Any Other Name

I commented recently about Dutchman and his insecurity over wealth.  Yeah, the most charitable man I know and yet starved to acquire wealth!  Not a judgment call on my part, just an observation.  I am glad he can acquire wealth, I am just concerned over what is behind this ...

And on Sunday I was thinking on 1 Timothy 6:9-10 and remembering my comments about my friend the other day.


You would sell your soul to your company, work the long hours, for only the promise of reward or hope for it.
You become a target for temptation.
You will be driven by impulse.
You will fall into the trap of debt, credit cards, chasing after materialism.
You acquire and desire senseless things of no real value to you now or ever.
You will chase after money, power, sex, things to reflect position or wealth to others.
You will lose your sensitivity to God, money and things are neutral but how you use them can distance you from God.
You will regret chasing materialism...
This is all 100% preventable.

Think of the big Lottery winners, virtually none of them were able to retain even a percentage of the wealth they acquired!
Only God is capable of ruling your life without ruining or destroying you!

When you consider that you will be leaving this life with nothing you can take with you, save for those deposits you have made in Heaven, then it should behoove us to look to those things we can do that do have eternal meaning.

Your investment in others is the only thing of any value to you eternally.

Your relationships, witnessing, care, concern, prayers, physical helps for others, etc.  I am sure you can add many more items to a list of things we can of eternal value, to invest in others.

However, we must remember the rich young ruler - someone whom was capable of having done it all right.  He had kept the law - as hard as that is to have imagined!

Yet, Jesus knew that his heart was not right with God - because his hope was in his wealth and possessions.  If he could just walk away, his place would have been with Jesus.  And he did walk away, but not from things, he walked away from Jesus and the life He could be given, not earn.

And so I thought on Dutchman and his benevolent life compared with his quest for riches.  I now realized that he had bought into the lie - "I will be rewarded with greater riches based upon how generous I am to others".  And I was stunned to have finally realized that even the basis for his generosity was the desire for greater wealth!  Crestfallen, I have thought on this, this week and decided perhaps there is a lesson in here for each of us.  Hence, why I wrote this.

Why do you help others?  Is it because you believe God will return the blessing back to you (Hinduism), because they in turn will bless another because of what you did for them (Buddhism), is it because they are family and you must (Judaism and Islam), or is it because you were told to be like Jesus and take compassion upon even the least of all ... ?  (and the least, in Biblical terms, refers to the widows and orphans because they have no advocate - except for you.)

Something to think about.

Giving God Glory

Thinking on John 7:14-24, this early morning.

Giving God glory is not seeking it for yourself.
Are you seeking glory for yourself or for God?
Does it matter to you that you get glory through your witness, service, mission?

Giving God glory is being eager to do God's will.

Giving God glory is for the here and now, not just back then.
Moment to give God His due is now.  There may not be another opportunity to do so.

Giving God glory is doing "whatever" is asked of you, by Him.
Make everything you do for Him, be to His glory and not your own.
Be the best worker, best family member, best friend, in every aspect of your life.

Giving God glory is giving your all.
Be a 100% believer, aspire to become a disciple.

Giving God glory is by giving thanks, in all things!
We are to be a thankful people.

Giving God glory means to be a living testimony to other.

It is about time we live life to the glory of God, so it is about time we seek on to glorify God.

This holiday season, make it a time for friends and family, but also a time for outreach to others.  Especially those whom may not have made their peace with their maker.....

Shame, Condemnation, Love

Yesterday's post meant a great deal to me. Until you have had to face a spiritual review, where you have to defend your walk, your faith, through the betrayal of someone you love - you may not understand fully.

Once it was over and God was seen as part of the process by all, I felt really good, this was the right thing - this was the right conclusion. That it was good that this had happened.

I am sure daughter believed she was going to destroy me in the church. No, not through her charges anyways. But, the gossip and slander she started may well. This is not a Godly church, gossip seems to run the place. However, I am innocent of what she thought would bring me down.

And as I wrote yesterday's post, it was driven home to me the distance between where I am today and the shame of my past. My friend's daughter being here has reminded me greatly of that past, the life I had lived with her father in tow and the life I live now. A vast gulf lay in-between. And more so, that if I walk in obedience to what I am commanded to do, then there will be no condemnation for me in Him.

I will be addressing each of her charges in my letters to her, because should she ever read my blogs again, she needs to know why and what she really did.

But, the conclusion was this: my daughter has obviously been taken and is under a very ungodly spirit. This is obvious to everyone and why I now have a mini-army in the church praying with me for God's over-riding conquest in freeing her - again. But, equally, it is thought that this incident was her plea for help. Something inside of her wants me dead for having freed her from her bondage, but equally, my daughter is calling out for help to free her and to know that I am still her father.

And further, what no one knows, is how she communicated to me her love, through what she did. Yeah, you can look at the hosing she is trying to give me and go, "She really hates you!" But, in reality, what she did was an expression of love - caused by Satan, for evil in my life, but ----- well ----- no, I will leave the expression of that love unsaid at this point, because she is under a foreign control at this time ..... just in case she should read this before her freedom is regained.

Oh, yeah, she will be my daughter until the day I die, even should I never hear from her again. She will be in my prayers and remain there (as God does tell me her prayer needs (and she really needs protection right now!), as with all of my other children. No not a satisfying thought. As a father I would prefer all of my children within reach and within communication. But, as with each of them, the last thing she ever heard from me was, "I love you." and may it always remain so.....

Lessons Observed

Apparently I never am to understand what happened from her perspective. It is obvious she has terminated our relationship, I am down a daughter, and yet God is still telling me to stand on what I know. Don't you just love opposites, when you are the one caught in the middle?

Outside of this blog, where I voice my thoughts, I am pretty quiet on this whole matter. I do not wish to embarrass her nor get either of us into a: he said - she said situation. She is still very much my daughter in my heart and thus it seems it shall remain.

However, my friends - what are left of them, do know the problem and that is about it. I am pretty sure the only one praying for Kris and a resolution to this situation has been me. I might be the only one that cares, but then that was true eight months ago was well.

My minor heart attack was probably predictable. No one to talk to, too much stress, and prayer my only outlet. Then yesterday, when I was at school, I was called into administration and sent to see the counselor. Yeah, Kris is apparently that obviously in need. So I trooped in, met a nice lady and now what? I could "play" this as I do all things, calculating what my responses are to be and appear normal - or - I can be honest and communicate that I am beyond my ability to deal with this emotion.

It seemed like ten minutes, it was over two hours. Lord how I pity that woman, she sure got an ear full. And her advice? The typical soothing words of the world - I know them all, I was trained in counseling as a part of how to make dysfunctional projects learn how to work together. But, at least she was the first human being in three weeks I could actually talk to about this heartbreak in my life.

As I walked out, having now missed my second class of the day, a single word came to mind, "unhealthy". It was the same word I had penned months ago concerning our relationship - it was unhealthy. But, lacking the experience in dealing with an emotional female, I had no idea how to respond. So, I did what I thought it was she needed, that did not approach any level of sin. If I was not sinning and she was getting whatever it was emotionally she needed for healing, then I had to be on the right track, right? Apparently not. Or perhaps I was right on track and that is what got to her. So, what was unhealthy? An environment where only one person would talk with her, interact with her, love her. I think most human beings would not fair well. This is only a guess, but from her perspective, she found she was in love with a guy old enough to be her grandfather. And, that was fine as far as I was concerned, nothing was ever going to happen. And yet, somewhere between the two situations, she shut down.

Back home, it seemed word had gotten around about my hospital stay over. I had many calls from members of the wedding party back in Ohio. People I barely know called and wished me well. People I expect to never see again. Contrast this with my "friends", oh yeah, the ones whom cut out of my life because I dared to reach out and obey God, as well as, my family and church family - whom express concern but there is no love. Stark contrast. Then Timothy's step father called, whom I have seen maybe three times in my life and barely ever spoken to - to pray with me, over the phone, for healing and a restoration to "health". Yeah that concept again.

I dreamt on Galatians last night in bed. I had been reading it when I passed out from the meds. I do not think I made it past chapter one but it kept rolling over and over in my mind until I saw, what I think happened in her mind. No I am not going to address this with her, I foresaw this on the 24th and posted on it on the 25th (least dear daughter you also think me liar, again), that is why she is staying away. It is enough for me to now know and understand - and God is the one whom will have to address this one with her. It will be a hard road for her to follow to reach where she could be by picking up the phone. But self perspective is hard to fight and one can really foul up ones path by it - cause you can make choices which will make it darn hard to make the right choice later on. But then, we have discussed that one before.

As for me? I think I can step forward now to some level of normality again. Yes, all of my protective walls are back up - I dropped them only for her, I thought I was now free to live without them - but if she is not going to be around, then why let others see whom I really am? I apparently am to continue to work towards the vision she and I shared, though alone for now. Will I continue with youth work? I have set a condition before God if He wants me to continue, no it does not involve my daughter. And I am more certain than ever I will never, ever, reach out to another human being again - as I did with her..... And once again, the happy clown Kris is back, making people laugh and very, very, dead on the inside.

Swimming in Cash

Well at least until all of the checks clear I wrote!

Yeah, silver went so high I decided to divest myself of it!  Good bye lifetime coin collection, I knew you well.  Sniff.

Actually, I am feeling pretty good about it!  Not that there is anything wrong with having a coin collection, it is just that it is a blessing to know that something that was just for fun, for the breadth of my life, actually could help me right now meet my bills!  So I am happy, happy, happy!

Before Gaelic Girl left, we had to have yet another "discussion" over finances.  Her perspective has really changed over the three years she has been in Texas.  I wonder if it is the water or something in the air.....  Anyways, she has become a whole lot less trusting of God to provide and a whole lot more focused on gathering what she can.  Very much unlike her.  So loggerheads!

Why did we cross swords?  I wanted to take her out on a date and she felt I did not have enough to do so.  Well, ya know, if I didn't have enough, I wouldn't have asked.  Oh well, what could have been a relaxing evening came crashing down.  Kris' general luck it seems.

Anyways, I am now playing with my non-silver coins and getting many of them ready to go to auction.  I put up three yesterday: a third century Roman counterfeiting die found in Egypt, a banknote from the First French Republic and a little US three cent piece.  No idea if they will go or not, but be fun to find out!  If they sell, PTL! If not, CraigsList, then eBay I guess.

Now, what to do with a box full of German 1920's Notgeld...........?

God Gives Abundantly

In my little group of college age men we discussed God's blessings, and equally, how blessings are not always in physical form.

So, given that our discussion audience is all Christian (of varying maturity levels) and that you are doing what God has asked of you, then:

1.  If you can look around you and see beyond your wants and desires - you will see that God has given to you extravagantly! If you own a change of underwear and know where your next meal is coming from - you are already light years ahead of the rest of the world!

2.  We must be satisfied with God's provision.  He gives us what we need to accomplish the tasks and goals He asks of us.  We must learn to be satisified with God's allocations to us - not yearn for more, more, more!

3.  But, when God is blessing us with His resources, He gives far more than we can/should be using!  His surplus is not ours to waste, it is to used for His glory, not the latest and greatest electro-thingy!  As a western culture we all really fail on this point!!!!!

4.  It is important for you to remember that God wastes nothing.  If we consider the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 - Jesus told the disciples to gather together the excess from the meal.  Yeah, to make a point to each of them that He gives in abundance, but also so that the excess might be used for _ _ _ _ _ _?  Perhaps a later meal for them, perhaps it was given to someone there from the neighboring town or .....  We don't know but I am willing to bet that it was not feed to sea gulls or sold to buy hair gel.

Seek God's Face Not His Handouts!

Thinking on Deuteronomy 18:15, with John 6:14-15 and 6:22-27 in mind.....

Jesus had an awful lot of fans, but they were not followers.  When he fed the 5,000 - they followed him seeking more food/handouts, aftrer all, Moses had feed them for 40 years and wouldn't be nice if they could coast for the next 40 by following this new prophet?

Fans expect you to do something for them today.
Followers ask, "what can I do for you today?"

When we say that Jesus is just what I have been waiting for, what do we mean by that?

Are we, like those Hebrews so long ago, thinking that we have discovered the goose that lays golden eggs?  Once with Jesus and we can now retire to easy street?  America's God has become the god of the never ending shopping list!  We select and go to churches which will serve us and our anticipated needs!

It is true that each have physical and natural needs, however the natural man only understands his physicals needs.  And so many Christians have become.

When we seek Jesus for the wrong reasons, what can we expect him to do?
Well, in these verses the people saw a miracle and then thinking that Jesus was about the 'here and now' of life, flocked to him expecting more physical blessings (and probably food as well!).

But Jesus withdrew from them, He was not going to let them make Him into something that they want!

Today when you seek Jesus for the wrong reasons - you are not going to be finding Him or that Jag in the garage either!  But, when we seek Him as God, in humbleness of spirit, for whom He is, then we will be finding the great I AM, the Resurrection ..... and the Father.

And maybe even a fish, if he has reason to provide us with one.....

Better Frame of Reference

I would have entitled this one "Buoyed" but can not find if that is the correct word to use or not.  My Scottish great aunt's first husband was a fisherman and she always used that word for "lifted up" and pronouned it 'boyed' with a nasty emphasis on the 'RRRRRRR'.  No, 'R' you say?  I think all Scottish words have hard 'R's the way she talked!  Oh yeah, I could hunt the internet and figure this out but why bother - I am in a good mood.

"What?", you say, again!

Yeah, in my last exciting episode I talked about my sorrow at loosing loved ones forever.  But that all evaporated on Saturday when one of my lost "boys" from the 70's hunted me down to tell me that he was just back from the river - where he had thrown in all of his drugs and paraphernalia!  Yeah, 37 years later he remembered our conversations and decided maybe the drugged induced partying animal was perhaps not whom he was at all nor wanted to be - so now he is walking away from it!

His name is Joseph - pray your guts out for him to make it through this and find God on the other end!!!!!!!  This should be a multi-times a day for perhaps the next year!  There is a Bible believing church within walking distance of his home.  Soooooooo.....

Son has calmed down, albeit, I am counting the days to the next blast.  If on schedule it will be around the first of May.  We will see.  Sigh, but I relish this moment of peace.  I have never met the man whom does not want peace in his house!

And, another reason to be happy is having a new reader!  Always a pleasure to hear from others!  Plus now I get to read through a new site!

Entitlement

On my last trip to Mexico, I became uncomfortably aware at how much we feel we are entitled to.  Observing tourists behaving poorly because they had to wait for a table, or service was slow or something was not cooked the way they expected – this is showing that they believe they are entitled to immediate seating, quick service, unspoken expectations over food, etc.  Were they children we would refer to them as spoilt!  But the same was true in traffic – and a source of many accidents!  Bargaining in the market place again showed this tendency towards the entitlement mentality.

There is only one way to cure a sense of entitlement – through a spirit of thanksgiving.

1.  Put away  your PRIDE.

Psalm 10:4 – we do not deserve what we want.  (thankfully, we also do not get what we do deserve!)

2.  Be watchful for unconscious HABITS.

1 Corinthians 2:6-7 - Do not expect how God has blessed you yesterday to be how He will bless you today or tomorrow!  He will give or take as He sees fit each day, as He chooses.

3.  Stop being BLIND.

Colossians 4:2 - You must learn to see not only what is really important in life, but also God’s working not only in your life but in other’s as well!  He is there, He is working, we just have to be able to see – and that takes our willingness to open our eyes.

4.  Get beyond the FALSE TEACHINGS which surround us.

Philippians 4:6 - Probably the most dangerous to the faith of ourselves and those around us are the health and wealth gossip teachings.  The Bible does not promise us riches or health or success.  But this teaching leads us to expect this, to demand this, to be spoilt children before our Creator!  We owe God everything – not the other way around!

5.  Develop an attitude of GRATEFULNESS.

 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - You have the choice to be thankful to God or not, in all circumstances.  But, you must recognize that everything in your life is a gift of God, to bless us, to offer opportunity for growth and as a witness to others.  You must acknowledge that the giver of all things is God.  You must choose to receive all God has given you in your life with thanksgiving.

Develop humility before God.  Reject the spirit of entitlement.

Admit God does not owe you anything!  Say it out loud, right now, until you believe what you are hearing!  All we deserve is death and judgment.

Accept the gift of the Gospel.

Yeah, this is stuff that is all counter to the normal spirit of man – where we are number one.  Period.  But, this is what each of us needs to overcome in order to be true servants of God.  Putting others sacrificially before ourselves and expecting nothing in return.

Yeah, not easy at all…..

Joy

Please forgive my poor photography, cameras just are not my “thing”.  This is my grand-daughter at my oldest daughter’s birthday party last week.  (Was it only LAST week?)  GD fell in love with the balloons. 

She would bounce them around while giggling wildly.  When she could wrap her pudgy little fingers around one or more of them, they had to be rapidly banged against her head, the table, each other, her mother’s face.  Giggles and laughter are contagious and the entire area really lit up from her frivolity.

Such simple, unabashed joy.

I could not help but think about myself and most Christians I know.  Long of face, most looking like they have sucked a lemon – rather than having the joy of knowing their Creator in a very special way.

Imagine a church full of people truly joyful for their forgiveness in Jesus.  Imagine how much we would have to change in order to be so free in our expression of joy.  I am not calling for what I saw in the charismatic church I used to attend, something a little more in control would be much better than what I see every Sunday, no matter where I am.

GD could not careless what anyone thinks as she played with the balloons, her enjoyment was real.  Might be nice if our worship and enjoyment in Jesus was as well.

The First Thanksgiving

We know that the Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 6, 1620 with 102 passengers, including three pregnant women, and a crew of about 30.  The voyage from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Harbor is about 2,750 miles, and took the Mayflower 66 days.

Captain John Smith wrote,

"The Gentlemen and Merchants of London, and of other places, provided two ships:  The Mayflower, at 160 tons and the Speedwell of 70 tons.  Leaving the coast of England on the 23 of August, they were forced to return the next day when the Speedwell sprung a leak.  The Mayflower returned to sea, less 20 of her passengers, on the sixth of September, and on the ninth of November sighted land at Cape James (Cod); but having been pestered for nine weeks in this leaking unwholesome ship, lying wet in their cabins, most of them grew very weak, and weary of the sea."

From William Bradford, we have his account of the crossing:

"..... and now all being compact together in one ship, they put to sea again with a prosperous wind, which continued divers days together, which was some encouragement unto them; yet according to the usual manner many were afflicted with sea sickness.

“…..But to omit other things, (that I may be brief,) after long beating at sea they fell with that land which is called Cape Cod; the which being made and certainly known to be it, they were not a little joyful.

"Being thus arrived in a good harbor and brought safe to land, they fell upon their knees and blessed the God of heaven, who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean, and delivered them from all the perils and miseries thereof, again to set their feet on the firm and stable earth, their proper element. "

Land was sighted on November 9, 1620 and landfall was made on the 11th; the passengers now numbered 103 and the crew about 29.

The Problem

Nothing was known of the area they had landed at, other than the Dutch had listed the area as inaccessible.  It was the beginning of a New England winter, a time of sharp and violent weather, with fierce storms.  The land was a desolate wilderness known to be full of wild beasts and savage men.  There was great fear of the Indians, however none were to be seen until the following spring.

An attempt was made to put up a fort; however this failed due to the arrival of snow and the winter was spent living on board the ship.  The settlers had planned to live on fish and hunting, however, fishing was poor and hunting was sparse throughout the winter.  According to the journals kept at the time, only 6-7 men were able to continue to hunt and work on building the fort, the rest being too ill or dying.  During this winter, 57 of the passengers were to die from disease, drowning or starvation. 

The First Thanksgiving

By March of 1621 and the coming of warmer weather, they observed the first Thanksgiving - giving thanks to God for His provision and the solemn sharing of five (5) ‘kernals of corne' (buckwheat), for each of the survivors as their daily meal.

No Indians, no town, almost no food.  Just a celebration of life.

Not quite the story you thought, was it?