Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Another Year

  As we say goodbye to one year, and hello to the next, we look forward with anticipation. The memories of what was this year, become memories of last year, as the time zone rolls around the world. Not too long ago, Sydney Australia has already brought in the New Year with a fine fireworks display. Here in my little corner of the world, millions jam into Times Square to welcome in the New Year in a little less then 9 hours from now.
If you are of the type to make resolutions for the new year, trying to once again change old habits, I wish you good luck! Most people lack the resolve to make those resolutions come true, but will try anyway. Others, have tried and failed so many times before, that they don't even bother to try. I mean, if you are already thinking things like, I wonder how long I will go until I give up this time, you are already beaten. And being honest with yourself, you have excepted that you haven't any resolve when it comes to those things. All hope is lost? We have all resolved to change certain things about our lives, whether it is to finally get serious about loosing weight, stopping smoking, cutting down on cussing, be more out going, being less rude, and all manner of other common maladies. We have all tried, and more often then not, failed.
  But there is one change that I would ask you to consider. A change that if you resolve to change, just by desiring to, you will. A change, that once made, will make all of those other goals much easier to accomplish. Make this year the year you get serious about finding out if God is real or not. If you are thinking to yourself, I don't trust any religion,  that's fine, just take another way. Use science, philosophy, music or art. No matter the vehicle you choose on this quest, it doesn't matter, because if you look with honest eyes, all roads lead to God. As you move forward in your endeavors, you will find time and again, glaring differences, two sides that are as different as one side of a coin is to the other. Things that are alive, and things which are dead. That which is true versus that which is false, it really is as simple as that. Those things which are alive, those things which hold the wisdom of truth, those things which are beautiful to behold. All these things, and all that isn't, all is from God. And as such, once you realize that what we are seeing and experiencing in those things which are true and beautiful as being a glimpse at the Kingdom of God, at that point, knowing the Proprietor is only a moment away. Happy New Year!

Sunday, December 28, 2014

Mookie

  It is said, that sometimes, reality is stranger then fiction, and certainly that is true. And so it is, that circumstances in life brought about this story, and it being strange, in that the circumstance at hand had to do with death, particularly, a death in the family. I had been thinking about a fictional account, filled with metaphorical messages to a larger truth. But sometimes, life will give you a story, and this one just fell in my lap? So in this tale I'm about to tell, be assured that every word is true, because it came from an actual encounter.
  As it happened, I had to call an old childhood friend, to tell him of the bad news. And after all the expected sadness was expressed, and proper respect given the subject, we attempted to catch up, as it had been many years since we last spoke. So the conversation turned to more of current events, and just life in general. You who read me might not believe this, but it was he, not I, who brought up politics. I did my best to fend off the issue, but he was persistent. Now my intent in this story, especially because it is true, is to change the names to protect the innocent? So let's just call him by a name he chose for himself, rather then his Christian name. Mookie, yeah that's right, perhaps because he was a Met fan?
Now Mookie was always a kook, even from a very young age, he always did things outside the norm. At around nineteen or twenty, Mook went off to join the Hare Krishna's. In fact, soon after his decision, a bunch of us went to Newark Airport to see him perform in all his garb. But for whatever reason, Mookie's troop was at Idlewild and not Newark?
  Again, since his childhood, Mookie was a non conformist, and so when he first told me these outrageous things, I put it off as nothing more then his quirkiness?  Before his outrageous political beliefs were made known, he spoke briefly of spiritual matters. I could tell by his rhetoric, that he was most probably a follower of Sufi? Sufism is a bastardized form of Islam where you mix it with various Eastern mysticisms. All of which is similar, in that each teaches self awareness, and gives instruction and exercises to achieve this awareness of body and mind. The most obvious of these is Yoga. But all of them talk about inner peace, and a way to spread this newly acquired peace to others. That is why I was so surprised when the Mookster went off on his political tirade! How far left was his thinking? Though I have talked to 9/11 truthers before, I was amazed at what he called on as truth? Not only did the U S government plan and execute the whole attack and murder of it's citizens, but Mookie gave the government a name? He said, " There was real evil in the Whitehouse then, and the Bush family was behind it."  If that wasn't outrageous enough, they, the Bush family, were satanists, and even had an alter for blood sacrifices?? But like I said, Mookie always was a bit of a kook!

Telling Stories | RZIM

Telling Stories | RZIM  One of the best things you can do with your children is to read to them. Better yet, is when that mom or dad improvises a bit, to make it more current and relevant to the children. In stories, are tales of wonder, especially so with children. Their minds are like spunges, and even though they don't understand the concept, parables and metaphors are not lost on them.
  Some of the best stories can be found in the bible, and certainly the children will pick up some wisdom along the way. Though I had long forgotten it, my mother used to read to my brother and I. How I came to remember it, was by the fact that I knew the 23rd Psalm by heart, but had to think as to how? Eventually, I saw in my mind's eye, a memory from long ago, my Mother sitting at the end of our bed reading to us.
  Read to your children, and impart to them a love for the written word.

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

A Christmas Dream too

  I had been working on a parody song. One based on the poem The Night Before Christmas. And in it,  instead of a sleeping house, it would have been a sleeping nation. And of course it would have dripped with sarcasm, and be loaded with quips and barbs from a political point of view. But the house of politics is based on lies, and this is not the season for lies, but for truth. A season for Worship, a remembrance of the Prince of all truth, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
  From my family to yours, we wish you all, a very Merry Christmas! And may the new year for you and yours, be filled more with hope and good things, rather then bad. On a more personal note, I want to thank each of you who take time to read these words of mine. It is an honor to have your words considered worthy to be read. An honor that besides all of my kidding, I take quite seriously.
Thank you, and God bless you.

Sincerely,
  A. Edward Schneider
 

A Christmas Dream

  In the land of Nod there is peace. Peace of mind that comes with a piece of solitude, a place where noise and annoyance are far off. The deepest of deep thinking can only occur when the mind is relaxed. When the mind is relaxed, consideration is far more likely then in times of rush. Thoughts from the past come clamoring for clarification, as memories continue to fade with time. But the problems at hand will persist, there is trouble with every day.
  Dreams of the future come wrapped in thoughts of great enthusiasm, or of a personal dread. But either way, it doesn't matter, because unlike the past, there is no experience to draw from. But beyond the thoughts, memories and dreams, lies always the stark reality of today.
  When you stop to think about it, today is really all you have. Make each day forward be of consequence in your life, begin by taking account for what it is you say and do. Refuse to go on blindly, allowing others to set your course. Be your own person, know what you believe and why, Take responsibilty for yourself.
  What you are today, is all that you can take forward into the future. All that you were, and all that you did in the past, doesn't have to be who you will be. Because what you will be starts fresh, and it begins for all of us from this day forward.

Sunday, December 21, 2014

Merry Christmas Too

  Now, even though the facts that you have collected for that decision, may seem trustworthy, it doesn't mean that you will be without doubt, because to doubt is a human condition. Doubt comes when the innocence is lost. The fearlessness that comes with innocence is lost the moment we begin to hesitate, and begin worrying about what dangers lie ahead. Don't misunderstand, vigilance is a good thing, but it is only necessary when dealing with this world, because of all the sin around us. To be innocent in a world where there is a wolf around every corner just dieing to rip you to shreds, is a hard thing. But didn't Jesus warn us of such things when he said, Behold, I send you out as lambs against wolves? So this in no way should surprise you. Spoken from his own lips to your ears, not just as a warning, but as a fact. It is a statement of truth, it is how it must be.
  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He has led me beside the still waters, and offered me his peace. I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death, and it is he who has sustained me. He preserves me still, he holds me up as is his want. I am still in that valley, but I will fear no evil, as he is with me. Still in that valley, and real danger lurks around every corner, but it is he who preserves me, and he who keeps me safe. What is faith? No Fear!

Merry Christmas

  In this holiday season, it is only natural to think about faith. But what is faith, how would you describe it? Well, by faith you accept a lot of things. Unless you are unaware of who your parents are, you accept by faith that they are who they say they are, they are mom and dad. Now faith like this is understood, but have any of you doubted that? Perhaps a few skeletons in the family closet have given you pause?
  But how about something less spiritual and more physical? When you go to sit in a chair, it is by faith that you accept that, not only is the chair there, but that it will support you fully. You do this without thinking, as it is almost always an automatic thing, something that you have done many times, and the chair hasn't failed you yet. You don't take the time to consider it, you just sit down with confidence.
Now it isn't that you couldn't worry about such things, you could, particularly if a chair has ever failed you before. Then, if it were a metal chair, you might think things like, Are there any loose bolts, are all the welds unbroken?
  It is the same with faith in God, all it takes is faith. Christ is the chair that never fails. I know, I can say this with confidence, because I, as is my nature I suppose, challenge everything. So I have tested all the bolts, and checked the solid weld, and have found none of them wanting.  You see, faith comes first from belief, and belief is based on as many facts as you can garner. Belief comes when you have seen that something has more positive facts to support it, then any doubts that you still might have. In short, belief is a decision.  

Thursday, December 18, 2014

And so it was,

  Have you ever had a phrase stick in your head? One that keeps repeating, this one did for me? So I figured that what was needed to follow those words, was a story. A fictional account, but one ripped from the headlines. A tale from the other side of town, and a reason to consider another way? But what is to become of such a story if it is misconstrued? But a story is still just a story, and as such, is needed to be told. You might say, that it is fictional, and so what does it matter, but then again, you might not? But that decision is not the tellers to make, but the reader. A story of consent and consternation, a point of view unwanted?
  Jimmie Simmons was a good kid, everyone from his neighborhood that knew him said so. He idolized his older brother Brad. Though they shared a last name, he and Brad were half brothers, Brad's dad was his mother's first husband.
  But tonight was to be a special night for Jim, as he had just recently turned eighteen, and he had plans to go to the Fraternity party just down the street. He had been twice before with Brad, the first time he had been only sixteen, but tonight he was going alone! Now Brad had always bragged upon how easy it was to get layed at one of these parties. And much to his shame, Jim had not yet had sex, But this will end tonight, he had promised himself. But now, as he was to discover, tonight had become a foggy morning, and he woke up in jail? What had happened he wondered, what is it that I did? He remembered clearly that he had hooked up with an older girl, and he remembered the sex! After that, things became less clear? He remembered that the girl that he had been with was teased about him. The last thing he could remember was being dared by some of the college boys to join with them in a guzzling game. Nothing after that, nothing but a lot of questions and a cold jail cell?

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Dust in the Wind

  Time is infinite, it rolls by a day at a time, by the hour or a minute, depending on the urgency of the moment. What plans we have made, or how we hoped a future event would be, comes and goes almost before we know it? Anticipated and looked forward to with exited hopes, or with a deep dread. But the day comes and goes, you cannot hold it back. It comes for better or for worse, and sometimes it seems it came and went so quickly, that we are no longer sure if it came at all?

  Time is relentless, it flows like an ever racing river, What hasn't been will be, and what is, becomes what was,  in the twinkling of an eye. We think back on the times before, whether good times or bad, it is what memories are made of.

  The power of time is evident throughout the world, Monuments of past civilizations lay rusting in the sand. Great mountains that once were are no more, and new ones burst forth with the winds of change, all as time has dictated.

 What can mere mortals do against in such an onslaught, how are we to stand against time? We are nothing to time, nothing as the eras of eons go by, little more then dust in the wind.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Headlong to your Death

  So what is it about time that I have not told you? It is something I came upon while spending yesterday with my daughter and her family. You might say that it was of perverse things, that is to say, what we were discussing, was time in reverse. What if, as every year came to pass, that you got a year younger, rather then a year older? Then for you, time would be running backwards. Each year you are getting younger, you are regressing to your berth, rather then headlong to your death.

 Now, before we go and play this little game, we should lay a few ground rules first. You will find in this exercise, that memory will become a strange thing? Because as you regress backwards into time, you will have memories from the past, and the future you just left. That is how it is when you think in the spirit.
  Now in all honesty, my first inclination was to think that I'd fix all the wrongs I had committed along the way, certainly the ones that left me un-wealthy? But what would be the point? Because in the reality of that moment, all I'd be trying to do, is to undo the things that I already did. Time travel can be so confusing?
  Besides just being a mind game, there is a serious lesson here, certainly one worthy of your consideration. This type of thing is not only a bizarre kind of thought, but it is something quite real, something that all of us will be able to do, once we have passed over to the other side. But now here's the real mind blower! Why would you spend too much time looking at a few years, when you have all eternity to investigate? Those of you who know Christ need to be thinking this way, and for those of you who don't? You had better make up your mind soon, because this train is about to leave the station!

Thursday, December 11, 2014

God at Terminal Five

God at Terminal Five  Certainly there is a lot of suffering, too much is what most all of us would say. It comes in many forms, and too often those who suffer, do so in silence. Not to be a burden, not wanting to complain. But it is a basic human instinct to want to tell our story to someone. Beyond that, what we really want is someone to listen, someone who is willing to put aside their own problems for a minute, and listen to someone else's. Often times, this is when people are the most susceptible to common sense, after they have reached the point of thinking that there is little point of trying anyway, and hope fades by each day that their affliction is all there is for them. They become their sickness, they embrace it like an old friend.
  Physical trouble, in the form of sickness is the most obvious of personal problems, that all go through at some time, whether it is themselves who is suffering, or someone close to them. Along with this suffering, if allowed to go on in private, comes a bigger problem, that being a sickness of the soul. This type of suffering is not so easily recognized as is the physical, although in reality, this sickness of the soul is far more dangerous. What's the point of all this? If you look for them, there are a lot of such opportunities to tell a person who is most apt to need telling, that there is hope, a greater hope, a hope everlasting.  

Monday, December 8, 2014

Breaking In

Breaking In  Some may find that what it is that I am about to tell you has little to do with Jill's article, or that this is not the time or place for such comments? But I assure you, that I do feel it is very important. In her article, she makes mention of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a solid man of God. Martyred by the Nazis just months before the war ended. But here's the thing. The parallel between what went on in pre-war Germany, and what is now being attempted in this our time, in this country is frightening!
  Hitler used the Jews and anti-semitism to divide his countymen, where this administration uses race, financial standing, and a percieved sexism as it's tools.

Friday, December 5, 2014

A Natural Thing

  After all the excursions of the day are done, and all the chores completed, all the people who you needed to talk to have been spoken to. After all the pleasantries needed for politeness sake have been said. Finally, ease can become you. Like an old familiar blanket, the warmth of calm begins to embrace you, You are alone with your thoughts, no one else to deal with, and all of the conversations are done for the day. Peace and quiet, no one on your mind to impress. No more thinking of anything other then yourself, This is your time!
  At times like these, when the comfort and safety of home, finally give you peace of mind. It is a natural thing, to think back and remember the goings on of the day just done. and Questions come to mind, Did I handle things right, did I say the right thing? Maybe I should have handled it the other way?
  But there is a peace beyond even this point of relaxation. It comes when you allow yourself to not think any more about the mundane trappings of the day before. What you are doing by releasing those thoughts, is clearing your mind. Now if you can do this, and you have gotten this far, you have done well. Take a deep breath through your nose, and release it all at once from your mouth. Now pick out a point of focus, it can be something physical, or that question that you have often thought about? If you have become fixated by something in the room, you can think about it. Why was it made, what is it for? How has it been manufactured, what makes it work, what gives it it's strength?
  How did this thing come to be, who made it and why? What purpose does it serve, could the world live without it? What would the world be like without it? Look to the way it was made, look past the intricacies of it, and look to find the simplicity of it's design.
  In a very short time, you will astound yourself, by all that you have learned, and by how much you now know, about something that only hours ago, you knew nothing about. And all of this without anyone teaching you, you did it on your own, alone, and all by yourself!  

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Are we a racist nation?

  Now both sides of the coin call out for a honest debate on race. So, let's have that debate. In order to do this properly, both sides, grudgingly or not, can't help but agree that we have come a long way baby! This is to our credit, because once we as a nation realized our injustice, we looked to correct that injustice. We, have long ago, cast off the shackles of legal racism, but to really understand where, and why we are where we are today, we have to start at the beginning. Berthed less then three centuries before, we are still a young nation. A young nation when you compare us to the longevity of other nations, and the empires that existed long before us.
  The United States of America was founded on the grandest and most common desire of all men anywhere. We looked for freedom, and so our founders, looked to leave the Monarchies of old Europe far behind. Most, if not all who followed looked also to that noblest of dreams, the dream to be free!
But in order to achieve this freedom, we had to set in place a government that wasn't ruled by elitist families, but rather by the every day people. Who would elect from themselves, people who would represent them and their concerns in the pursuit of that freedom. The problem came in, when as a people, we made mistakes along the way, as any new government would, especially, with one with so radical an idea as it's base. The founders were wise enough, to form our new Democratic Republic government, on the firmest of all foundations, we were formed on the precepts of a Holy God.
  But along the way, as is common to a teenager's point of view, things became confusing, jumbled up, until we reach this time in our history, where things have gotten reversed. So bad has it become lately, that people are all to willingly give up the very freedoms given them, that have been paid for over and over again, by the young blood of it's citizens.
  If you were to look for reasons for this phenonomon, we can look to the most obvious in today's life, the onset of the internet, and the social media explosion it spawned. News, 24/7, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, news, all the time, news, right up in your face! The result of all this information, is that we have all become like a deer in the headlights, frozen, unable to move, even though we can see our impending death bearing down on us like a run away truck! So, how is it that we are to have this honest discussion about racism? First, we need to recognize the players, separating those who look to profit from it, from any actual victims. Who is it that now so shamelessly sells racism, and what is their real motive for doing so? In short, ask yourself this, Who is the new KKK? Is it the wimpy white folks, who still cling so desperately to a white guilt fostered by the racism of over 50 years ago? Who now, however unknowingly, only forward the new racism? Is racism only white against black, or can black people too be racist against whites? Who is the new KKK? Certainly, it isn't hard to find the culprits. Fools like Al Sharpton, and the king of hate mongers, Louis Farakhan and his minions, the new black panthers, and the like. You must be very careful who you listen to in this debate, because what is really at stake here, what it is they see as the answer, is only another form of the very Monarchies we looked to leave behind almost three hundred years ago.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

The Courage to Wait

The Courage to Wait  This one speaks loudly for me. I absolutely hate to wait! It stems mostly from what my wife would say is an acute lack of patience. If patience is a virtue, I am glad that there are others, because admittedly, I have very little patience. If I am patient at all, it is because I am tying to be polite, it is a conscous decision that I must make. Case in point. When I bank at all, it is only to go to an ATM machine for cash. Most people are quick about it, so if there is a person already in line, I do wait patiently. But on those occasions when you have a person who is so lazy, that they are going to sit in their car, and feed the machine one written check at a time. Patience, at least my patience is then pushed to the limit! Why do that in a line meant for speed? Why not go into one of the other lines, where you can hand all of that paper work to a teller? Now that person is not only lazy, but rude, and he or she has no respect for the people who wait behind them. At this point, lack of patience will soon become anger, and unless something doesn't give, I know myself well enough, that I'll usually just go and try later. It's either that, or ease Betsy up on the guy's bumper, and push the rude fool out of the way!
  Now no such option is open when we wait on the Lord. He's one guy, who you just can't push. Still, fully aware that things are very much not in your control, we can pull away there too, giving up on acomplishing whatever task we hoped to complete. Which when dealing with God, is never a good thing. Apparently, His timing doesn't always align itself with ours? Maybe because he is on eternal time, where we are all 60 second men?

Sunday, November 30, 2014

A Prayer for Bread

A Prayer for Bread  Thy Kingdom Come. You've heard it before, but what does it mean to you? It used to always mean to me, something that was far off, something that was unattainable, and therefore, unworthy? Perhaps it had some sort of cosmic meaning, but it had no bearing on my life? The reality is, that you can not separate the reality of God from your life, because if you do, then what you are saying is, I have no reason to consider such foolishness, I am much to practical a person. What you are, if this is how you think about such things, is a fool!
  If you consider yourself intelligent on any level, and you dismiss the reality of God out of hand, without ever trying to understand His book, then you are worse then a fool, Idiot status is yours forever. Congratulations?

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Martin Luther King

  What is the answer to the question from the last article, What is the difference between then and now? To get a bit more specific, and move past the war protests, and move onto the current civil unrest, again, what is the difference between then and now? The civil rights movement came from the same era, and it too was a righteous cause, as back then, racism was rampant. We were still dealing with the Jim Crow laws of the South, and the racism and fears of the North. What is most lacking from today, that we had back then, was a true leader for all people, black and white. A man of God, who like his counter part Mahatma Ghandi, preached resistance at any cost except one, that one being violence. Both Dr. King and Mr. Ghandi won the day. Ghandi freed a country, and the victory for Dr. King is evident today, as black men and women reside in the highest places in our government, and there is a genuine respect that black and white now have for each other.
  Surely our hearts go out to the Brown family, and as a father myself, I would imagine that Mr. Brown's grief is a heavy burden. But the rioting and lawlessness must stop, so that his son becomes a place of togetherness and reason, rather then a name associated with dividing this country. But there are very powerful forces at work here, represented by people who would like nothing less then a race riot to break out full scale, but for what reason? Beyond all of the stupid politics, is really what is at fault here, and it has a name, it's name is Evil, and it loves strife, it thrives on it, and it doesn't care about which side you claim, because all it wants is to divide us. We the people, no matter our ethnicity, must come together and never allow such a division to occur.
  So where are our the Martin Luther Kings of today? Surely it can not be morons like Al Sharpton, whose entire career was predicated on a lie, and whose dealings have put him in the rears with both State and Federal goverments, with taxes totaling millions of dollars. The cause of the people continues to be a just one. The problem is, the leader they now follow is a fool!

Anarchy 101

  So who are these anarchists anyway, and what is it that really motivates them to such violence? These are the people of very little intellect, people who haven't had an original thought in years. In short, they believe what they are told to believe. They are fools used like tools to an end not really their own.
  Back during the days of the Viet Nam war, protests and a general public out cry were a common occurrence. We all were caught up in it, as our cause was a just one. We didn't care if the farming nation of Viet Nam was communist or not. Most of the soldiers who fought and died there, felt the full ire of the anarchist mentality, when the drafted boys returned home from war, only to be spit upon by pretty little things? In one such march in Washington, we were about a half million strong. The anarchists then were splinter groups like the Weather Underground of Bill Ayres fame. He and his band of fools were responsible for bombings, bank robbery and murder. The damn fools wound up blowing themselves up when a home made bomb they were making blew up in their faces. But nobody ever really took these fringe lunatics very seriously, as Bob sang, You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blow! Eventually most, although not Billy boy, crawled back under the rock that they had come out of. But isn't there a difference between this time and that? A fair question, a question that we as a nation are forced to now face again. The sad thing is, that we may have already passed the point where the facts matter, because when anarchists rule, facts become unimportant, and the only thing that matters is an agenda, and the hot tempers and emotions from both sides of the situation.

A Current Affair

  Distant thoughts come back again in your mind's eye, triggered no doubt, by past occurences that you have encountered. Things that you have seen with your own eyes, come most quickly to the mind, when something similiar to that experienced moment, come again as current.
  And so it is again today, with these current goings on. In 1967, I got caught up in the Newark riots. I was in a car with a group of friends, on our way to rehearsal at the local church. All of a sudden, the back window of my friend's Olds 88 exploded! Because the report of the rifle was a second behind the explosion, I had the state of mind to think, High powered rifle?
  Snipers is what I thought. Mean while, Chuckie, who's car it was, stops abruptly, and bolts out of the driver's seat, screaming and shaking his fist at the roof tops of the near by Projects? Chuckie, I screamed, get back in the car, they're shooting at us! Chuck being quick on his feet then, immediately realized that I was right, and scrambled to get in the car. What do we do, he yelled, Get the hell outa here his cousin said, and he floored the grey ghost, and we took off down the street, with our car's door flapping wildly as we went! Anarchists and murderers, You know I love em?

The Blind or the Liars

The Blind or the Liars  Once I was blind, but now I can see. What does that phrase mean to you? Back in the olden days, this phrase became into being, in the most literal of ways, as Jesus rolled up a wad of mud, placed it on a blind man's closed eye lids, told him to wash them clean in the river, and when he did, he could see. When asked about it by the Pharasees, he said, I was blind, and now I see.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Nov. 26, 2114

  Did you ever wonder what history looks like in the future? The following is an excerpt of how things could be, if things go on as they have been, and we continue on our current path. This our current course, if left unchecked, will be how it will be, as God has already written it, if things should not change. Because in reality, there are only two ways for things to go, all else that occurs along the way, are just side stories to the bigger truth.
  One century ago today, the world was in the beginnings of the upheaval of all nations. Many colored flags united as one against the one absent of color, and in this flourish of color, one bled heavy as red white and blue. But during the great struggle, only one could win the day.
   During these times also, there were other factors at work, and the eagle came to become engulfed in the spider web of lies, and so she could not fly. Also during these times, the limited agenda of the minorities, became the agenda of a country. Strangely, if you were to have lived back then, you would have thought to yourself, that this was a victory, as long as the mushroom clouds hadn't hit ground. But the land fell prey to a much more sinister thing. Evil men who looked to confuse the people, used well worded lies which spun out to fog the minds of the people. These words, on their surface, seemed benign enough, but under their veil was the face of evil. These words were said as being for the good of the people, and many came eventually to agree.
  What was a common practice back then, was to separate the truth from the context of these words. Subtle changes, unnoticed tweaks of speech, the science of semantics was their tool. They used all of the influences worshipped as gods by the people, and so they became the servants of these gods. And it came to pass, in the year 2075, that the godless, emboldened by their political clout, finally forced a vote in the country, called Proposition One, on whether to expel all mention of God from the public forum.
  The day after the historic vote, the headlines in the morning paper read, God is Dead.

Friday, November 21, 2014

Image and Ill-Repute

Image and Ill-Repute  I couldn't agree more with your article Jill, it is a refreshing bit of truth. Jesus was, besides his ministry to the lost, an equal opportunity offender. This offense is expected from those outside the church, but worrisome when it happens within it. Well meaning bible thumpers have cast off many whose approach to extending the Gospel did not agree with their own. Not understanding the Lord's full attention to this matter, I look for a positive from this? The only thing I can figure, is that not for this reason in their minds, but one they do without knowing, is to practice the art of judging, so that they will be more comfortable when they are to judge, during Christ's millennial rule here on earth? But in honesty, I don't believe that is true.
  It is the human condition. To always be judgmental of others, as a way, in the Christian community, to reassure themselves that they are indeed more pious then the next guy? I have long believed, at no small amount of scrutinizing looks from well meaners, that when you are considering Christ's three year ministry, that if you leave his humanity out of the equation, that you are not getting all that was meant to be gotten.
  Jesus came to earth as this man/God, so to look only at his divinity, and not at his human failings, that we get only a half of that whole. Because this view of mine has caused so much personal trouble for me, it is easy to understand how not too long ago, again, well meaning saints, tried to drum people like Bob Dylan out of the church. Besides the wrongness of this, I can't help thinking that we, His church, His bride of the nuptials is all that is keeping his return from happening anytime soon? I believe that we must stop this sniping at each other, and look only to a unifying spirit, anything else will just longer delay the proceedings.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Being in the Spirit

  It is a curious thing, a mixture of the softness of understanding, and the harsh reality of total power! A mixture of moods that are far swung from the other extreme, and all things in between.
  But there is also a rhythm to it, a calmness that comes with seeing the world in perfect time with itself, and all of the events that come with life as they occur. But as much as there is a harmony to it, and whatever it is that goes on around you. When you face it in the spirit, then life adjusts to your pace, rather then you to it.
  And because life for you has slowed, you can observe it more closely. You understand each situation completely, sometimes within minutes of having first encountered it. In other words, you find yourself in synchronization with life, no matter the situation, and no matter it's pace. It takes some getting used to, this being in sync with life. Early on, it is easy to miss, because it is so foreign to the normal chaos of life. But once you come to first, recognize it, and then two, except it, it can be, and no doubt is, a great power. The search for truth is not an easy one, but the wisdom it brings is worth all the trouble. It truly is the road less traveled, for wisdom does not give up her secrets easily.
  The only difficulty with all of this, is that for those who don't believe, you become a curiosity, an oddity to be observed. This is because you will make people feel uncomfortable, and sadly, this fear is not wholly limited to the Godless. And so you feel isolated, set apart from the rest. And with the feeling of being isolated, come the blues that loneliness brings. It is at times like this that you need some kind of base, someone to confide in, a place of touch down, a friend. But for me, at least so far these days, true friends are hard to come by.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The running of the fools

  Having found his way to the bar, he ordered a Scotch whiskey. While the bar tender went about preparing the drink, he turned with one arm on the bar and looked out into the crowd that he had just maneuvered through. It was a diverse crowd, but with that uncomfortable feeling, like being at a wedding reception where two different groups of people are all thrown together in one room. Some chatting in small groups, but most like he, not knowing more of the people, then they knew. As he settled in with his drink, he felt the chill from outside start to fade. All around, people engaged in nervous conversations, and he heard bits and pieces from different ones. But he was content to stand where he was, and happy to not be added to what was being discussed. A well dressed woman, about in her early sixties he figured, was holding court. Telling the group about her grandchildren.
  But then out of the corner of his eye, he saw her coming. She stopped and said to the older woman, Hello mom. Oh, here she is the mother said, and carried on in that manner. While they talked, he could not look anywhere else, as the young woman was stunningly beautiful! But as he became aware that he must have been staring, and that there was someone else with her?
  Oh no, he thought to himself, I have got to get away from here. But it was too late, and her husband or boyfriend, shot him what looked like an accusing glance. But the man walked right up to him and said, Don't I know you from somewhere, you look very familiar, are you on TV? Well I.. But the man interrupted and launched into the politics of the left. Oh no, he thought, not one of these? Undeterred by his lack of comment, the man, who was already quite drunk, continued with his rabbling discourse of the standard talking points. Shit, he thought to himself, Trapped like a rat.
  He listened as intently as he could pretend, but finally, he could take this stupidity no more. The conversation, one way as it was felt like a weight, and it became more then he could hold, something had to give? Look ass hole, he said. Catching himself for a moment, he must have been yelling, as now, almost everyone in the room was looking at him. But he was beyond caring, and he ripped into the fool, blowing up each point that the drunken man had insisted he listen to.
  Now this wasn't the first time he had been confronted with this type of thing. In fact, he knew their story better then they did, as he had labored under the same misinformation for years. It was always the same message, for the common good? But the common good for these types always meant, For the good of a minority, at the expense of the majority. It was of no use to try and explain to them that they were supporting the very type of rich people who they swore to hate? Money, it was always about the money. Usually, he could ward off the stupidity without getting too angry, but there was something about this guy? People were all staring now, and the other man looked stunned, but it was too late, and he looked to finish off the fool. Attacking him now, much like a lion would tear apart a zebra!  

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Of Kings and Thrones

Of Kings and Thrones  King of kings.

Climate Change

  The winds of change blow like spirits in time, they move from one front to the next. Always moving, and never at a halt, like the winds of weather as they move from one group of spinning clouds to the next. They can bring with them the icy chill of winter, or the pleasant warmth of a moist summer's night.
  What is comforting to some is an irritant to others, what raises goose bumps on one, another finds warm, but the winds of change bring about change, and they change perpetually. The weather is like time, as it rolls through your area, then leaving to give way to the next change. Seasons come and go, they change continually with time as do we. It is a progression, that ever forward marching of time, that we all, and everything that is, is caught up in it. The winds of change don't know where they are from, nor do they know where they are going, they just do time's bidding.
  All that is eternal foments in and onto itself, it froths at the edges of whatever era it has come to know. What is a life if it is limited to our point of reference, isn't it like the dead leaves that blow about on a cold winter day?
  Time is eternal, life is eternal, God is time, God is eternal, God is God!

Friday, November 14, 2014

The end of Leftism

  A while back, I had written a tongue in cheek piece about the oddities in life know as lefties. And though I meant it toward left handed athletes in general and baseball players specifically, the blowback came from many within the lefty community. I know now that even the name lefty is a slang and can be deemed offensive, as left handed people are just differently challenged. But I have come to realize the error of my ways, and I ask the Left Handed community to forgive my clumsy and ignorant joke.
  So affected by their plight am I, that I have decided to help champion their cause. The plain truth of the matter is that these folks have been so down trodden for so long, that many have come to the point of despair? So isolated are these citizens and taken for granted by their right handed friends and neighbors, that we are in the middle of planning a political group which will represent this important minority also. Afterall, their ethos and agenda can be no less important then those of other minorities, and the good people in the left handed community are tired of not having leftism to be just as important as racism and sexism. But the hardest thing to overcome is waking the public to their plight. So ingrained is leftism in our society, that it has become excepted as common place, and this simply can not be! For too long the public has been unaware of their suffering, as most chose to suffer in silence, but no more. Surely all fair minded people can see the injustice of this, and will look to aid us in our right to equal footing with the others. Who like our left handed brethren were born this way, and weren't even given the opportunity to choose to be right handed. You can take a part in helping with this unfair practice. First by seeking out all of your left handed friends and neighbors and asking their forgiveness for your ignorance. Together, we Can end leftism today!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Love and Rules

Love and Rules  We all start out as children after our rebirth into the spirit. When I was very young in the Lord, I was taught the basics by a very strict sect. Because of the circumstances that brought me to look to God, I was determined to do it their way. But as with everything, as I became the equivelant to a teenager in Christ, I began to doubt the strickness of those precepts that they taught. What I found out was, that it was the questions I had regarding the strickness of those rules which did two things. What I was really wanting was the deeper truths of God, and by my moving to answer those questions, by their answers, I came to a closer relationship with God.
  The problem was, and in a large degree still is, is that people desire the order that only religon can give. And so in reality, what they seek is instructions. That is what the law is, instructions. The problem is that often times the instructions seem too difficult, and we loose sight of what is really important. Today, we have a lot of what I call, the Jot and Tittle crowd? These are the ones who still hold to the strickness, as they need the order, all of which is fine. But the problem arises when another saint doesn't follow those guidlines in the same way they do. This is also when many a well meaning saint has come to judge another's walk, and by so doing, no matter how well intended their criticism, the result is a division within the church. Those who adhere to the law, let them do so, and do not judge them. But also, those who look to the spirit, let them do so, and do not judge them either. For you haven't been called to judge each other, but the Godless; though that time is not yet at hand.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The Practice of Grace

The Practice of Grace They say that grace is not getting what you deserve, and so in that way, it isn't justice. Justice calls for your responsibility, where Grace says that you have none.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

One Nation under God

  What does the title mean to you? Doesn't it affirm that our government was founded on the greatest of all foundations? And what of the second part of that sentence, indivisible, what does that mean to you? What it denotes is the dream of our Democratic Republic. One people, united as one, and standing up to all who see her saying, yes, we are newly born, but we are mighty as one!
  Now let's say that you are of the mind, no matter the reason, to go about destroying this mighty nation, how would you go about it? Wouldn't you go after the second part of that creed and look to divide us? Certainly God the Father is above any harm from any one. So if you couldn't shake the foundation, you would look to attack the idea of it, it's ideology. But what is our ideology, in other words, what is at the core of our beliefs, isn't it our Judeau Christian beliefs? So then, a nation as powerful as we are beyond reach militarily, so you attack the beliefs, and try to divide the people from what it is that we were founded on. God may be above any and all attacks, but we have become fools, and we are easily strayed to think of our ideologies based on our faith in the One true God, and that is exactly what has happened here. Why all this rape murder and mayhem, you are kidding right? The bible calls it reaping what we've sown. Haven't we chased God out of our schools, don't we look to offend truth at every turn?
  So now we are in another voting cycle, and all you need do is watch, and you will see the difference between those who forward an agenda that is contrary to our very base. The ones that over time has convinced the general public that patriotism and love of country is a corny thing, and yes, worshiping some foolish kid in Hollywood makes much better sense? So who are these politicians, which of them is of the ilk which turns them against the truths of God, and by such actions, however unwilling, just weaken this great land all the more. What kind of a morality is it that touts the abortion mills of Planned Parenthood as an attack on women? Is murdering the unborn for only reasons of health, rape or tsecni, not an attack on the very precepts upon what this country was based? Do women really have the right to kill for convenience sake? Are we that callous and calculating now? What kind of woman thinks it is alright to kill the unborn for any reason? And then there are the purveyors of the other isms', that tell the American people, that even though people of color now occupy the highest offices in the land, that we are nothing more then a bunch of racists? Are you aware that divide and conquer is not a cliche?

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

A Fish in Water

A Fish in Water  More often then not, I feel like a fish out of water rather then in it? Trapped gasping for life giving oxygen somewhere between this reality and the next. I believe that this is a common thing for all of us who know the Lord, and for those who I have asked, it appears that this is the case. Also, though I doubt this is true across the board, but I also believe, once a new believer comes close enough to the truth of who God really is, that they too will think in parables rather then the emotion and immediacy of the moment?

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Tested Truths: Battle of the Sexes

Tested Truths: Battle of the Sexes:   God is sexless, that is to say that he is not solely male or female, though his nature is extremely masculine. He is all that is true from...

Battle of the Sexes

  God is sexless, that is to say that he is not solely male or female, though his nature is extremely masculine. He is all that is true from a woman's perspective, as well as that of a man's. Afterall, all that is their wisdom is his. Two points of view, two views on the same subject, as , one way of seeing things is a woman's, and the other way of understanding things is a man's. God made man, and woman from man, and so one gender is a man, and the other a woman. Amen? When I look at woman, I say, Halleluia! But I digress?
  Each one frustrated with the other because they never seem to get it? What is really going on here, is that each seeks reassurance from the other, each wanting to know if they can trust the other? Because what they seek from each other, is their truth, and in truth there is innocence, and so each turns away until such a trust can be established. But they will remain frustrated, until they join minds, and by so doing, join with the mind of God! That is the real marriage Sacrament, the joining of the two with God, a three strand cord the bible calls it. In essence, when a man and a woman reach a total agreement on something, each one brings their wisdom as taken from their perspective as a woman or as a man, and also their emotional points of view, and it becomes something else? Not just a woman anymore, and not just a man, but a new creature, one of one mind, always in complete agreement with itself, because this new awareness, this new wiser mind, is the mind Of God the Father, and all of the attributes of God!
  This new mind now too is sexless. But none of it would have been possible unless the intercourse, the joining of the genders had not first occurred. Because without the other, a person can have only half of the knowledge, and can never come to know the whole truth about anything.
  Everything with God is cyclical, all that was will be again, and though there is nothing new under the sun, each event that presents itself, we will meet united as one. So now you know what the real battle of the sexes is all about, and it has nothing to do with your politics. The spirit within a woman seeks out the spirit of a man to find a truth that she does not understand, and it is the same for a man's spirit, he looks to the woman's spirit to find the truth in her. You see, our desire to understand the other gender is a spiritual desire. In other words folks, while you were all so busy trying to get into the other's pants, your spirits were busy trying to get inside the other!

Saturday, October 25, 2014

Why Suffering?

Why Suffering?  Recent to these times, we have another school shooting to consider. What would make a young man so full of promise snap like that, why would God allow that much suffering and heartache? Fair question. Some more of the answer will become clearer in this article.

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

The Face of God

The Face of God

Tree of Life

  At the requst of a friend, and by no small prodding by the Father, I have agreed to do a study on the Tree of Life. For those of you who don't know, it was one of the two trees mentioned in Genisis as being in the Garden of Eden. Both of these trees take on great meaning when considering not only creation,  but also life itself. The other tree being called, the Knowledge of good and evil. It was the beginning of that knowledge, and also the beginning of worldly knowledge. Some would say the beginning of wisdom. The strange part about that tree, is that this knowledge was transformed by a fruit. But until that fruit was eaten, there was no need to understand the difference between what is good from what was not, because by the eating of it, such knowledge first began. But the tree of life is the same, in that it provides wisdom, but not of the things called evil, because this tree, undefiled, represents the innocence of truth. Regarding the two trees, you can see the dichotomy of life. One tree represents man, complete with all of his failings, while the other represents the spirit, perfect and clean from any defect. When she asked me to do a study on this subject, I don't believe she had any idea of the vastness of topics that would spring forth from such a question? But I said that I would do it, and so I have begun. In such an innocent question lies deep matters like the beginnings of it all, and the predictions and prophecies of how it will end. Make no mistake, this is heady stuff, things that the flesh, being so caught up in the mundanity of life could never decipher, because these are spiritual truths, and so only understood in and by the spirit. Why is it that only the spirit can answer about topics like the Tree of life? Because life is eternal, and the spirit is eternal, while the flesh is death.
  But what is the tree of life, is it a physical tree that lives on still in some secret garden? The most physical thing you could call it, is a metaphor for life, a type of Jesus, in that it, as he were made manifest and physical. God speaks in parables and metaphors, as a way to give a way of relating to something physically seen. In othe words, he has to allow for spiritual truths to transcend into an understandable physical reality. Any clearer? Suppose you were told that you could ask one question of God? After much thought, you asked him to explain to you who he is? And he answered you and said, I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am without beginning or end, I am time. Once his presence had moved off, and you picked your face up off the floor, you would be left to consider his answer, I am time? What is time? What does your minds eye see when you would think such a thought? Would you see and hear the face of a clock, would you dream out into the vastness of the heavens? Or maybe a thought of time comes to you in thinking about the power and tranquility of a mountain range? What is time? Time is everywhere, it flows ever forward into the future while also retreating to become the past. Time, infinite time, time without time, eternity, GOD!

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Near Death Experience

Near Death Experience  I have come close to dying on more then one occassion, though I had no experience as did so many others. All I remember, is waking up having the faces of cops and medical workers hovering over mine? I would have much prefered that my little brushes with death could have been like the others, but apparently, these things are beyond our control?

Monday, October 20, 2014

Eric Ludy - He is (The Names of God)

Debilitating Doubt

  Doubts always come before depression. And of these, none are more debilitating then self doubt. Just like the athlete in the last story. What do these men do, these men of game, what do they do when doubt comes a callin? They know, that if they can not rid themselves of self doubt, that failure is never far off. Once doubt enters, your odds of failing go up exponentially. It is a fact of life. But where does the power to defeat doubt come from, the power not just to ignore your doubts, but rather, to put those doubts to death? That is the power that only the spirit can give.
  But even if you understand this, understand that there are two types of spirits that work in you. Those that tell you to have faith only in yourself, and the other which tells you to give it over to the will of God. Which one you listen to will dtermine whether or not you are successful in anything. It is a simple thing really? Ask yourself, Which foundation for your life would you say is the greatest, a faith in yourself, or the one built on a faith in God?

Practiced Skills

  It is a curios thing, when you become a Christian. You stop thinking in absolutes and platitudes, and begin thinking in parables. It has been something that I have been doing for a long time, although it was just yesterday when I came to realize it? What I'm saying is, that this state of mind, will come upon you too at some point. For many of you, I suspect that it has already happened? For those of you who consider this new news, you might be forgiven, because in truth, it was news to me too!
  I will give you an example. While watching football yesterday, as good as the games were, I found my self fixated on some of the player's stories. As they told their stories in the interviews, it brought to mind an article I did a ways back called, the Duality of Man. How so you ask? Listen and I will tell you.
  These finely honed athletes, these young men at the peak of their pysical prowess and profient practiced skills, fight the same battles as do the rest of us. Think to yourselves as if you were that athlete. And then consider failure. Whether brought about by a physical break down from an injury, or by the limitations of your skills? You've worked all of your lives to reach this point, and now you've been cut, now what? How then would you feel, and what is it that you would do then? If all these years of sacrifice and hard training had gone for naught, what then? The parable?
The limitations of the flesh, verses the desires of the spirit. It is an example of the duality of all people.

Thursday, October 16, 2014

Mighty Oaks

  A lot of people worship the earth. And this worship stems from the fact that the earth and it's inhabitants can give a lot of wisdom to a person. Take the mighty oak trees for example, don't the adults continue to make seeds to continue their kind? And doesn't that seed first have to fall to the earth and die to regrow another? And what of that new seedling, isn't it too small to keep a careless foot from stepping on it and killing it? As it grows over the years, will it not have to adapt to reach it's full potential? Once fully grown, as strong as it is, doesn't it have to remain supple enough to bend with the wind?
  Mighty oaks with roots deep in the ground, are much like any life, or for that matter, any other matter which includes life. Life is symmetrical, there is a circular happening that must go on, a constant recircling of occurences that are a part of its existence. The tree whose life, though much longer then yours, also must die. It like you, lives it's life in seasons, it too must weather the storms of life, in a way that will cause their survival. There is a sameness to life, and all living things sprout up from this sameness. In short, life just doesn't go poof and suddenly appear from nothing, All life has a source, and that source, unlike that who it spawns, can never die. Because life is eternal, it doesn't end at the death of a tree hundreds of years from now, or in your case, a couple of decades from now.

Do You Believe This?

Do You Believe This?

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Home Of AFA Action

Home Of AFA Action  There is no greater privilege we have as Americans, then our right to vote. But sadly, what was intended as a celebration of our most basic freedom, has been squandered by the very people such a freedom was meant to protect. Political types will tell you that lying to the American people is a good thing, as long as the agenda of their party is forwarded? Indeed, even the most uniformed voter will say about politicians something like, Oh what's the difference, they are all crooks. This is a point of view that is not limited to any party. When little white lies are told, to move a simpler point of view in a direction helpful to that point of view is one thing, but to lie bold faced to the American people, about matters of national security, belies a contempt for a public that elitist elements in and around the seat of power sees, as a people no longer competent enough to vote for their own common good. They believe this for good reason. Most people have become so uninvolved, and have so little understanding of what is going on, that they can be easily strayed to vote on a single issue, which most times has been reduced to a slick thirty-second ad that is without any real facts. In short, we have become lazy to the point of apathy, and an uncaring public makes it easy for those whose agenda is contrary to the public good as a whole, but rather, only does good for those within a particular circle of friends.
  So who then is to blame for this current corruption so rampart in our Federal government? Is it the corrupt officials who you voted for, or is it ourselves, having finally become the epitome of the ugly American? Too fat, too lazy to lift a finger to defend our freedom, and too stupid to be able to understand that why we are going to hell in a hand basket is not because of lying politicians, but rather that by our ignorance, we have created our own monsters.
  Here's a suggestion as a way of a remedy. Instead of allowing your vote to be stolen by a few lies and some slick public relations, how about you actually take the time to decipher which candidate most reflects your views, not on a single issue to which you are emotionally involved, but vote for a candidate who is in line with most all of your views.

Tested Truths: Home Of AFA Action

Tested Truths: Home Of AFA Action: Home Of AFA Action

Monday, October 13, 2014

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Seeking Him

  Are God and science at odds with each other? To even ask such a question, is in and of it's self, rediculous. Because just by posing such a question would imply that the search for the truth of it all and God are two different things? God is Truth!
  So what then, is the reality of God to be reduced to just so many fables used as a moral refrence, while it is left to the business of science to answer the mysteries of life? Most men of science wouldn't know the truth if it walked up and bit them on the ass! What God intended science to be, and what it has now become, are two entirely different things. Trying to separate the Wisdom of Ages from from any wisdom that you claim to seek is just ludicrous.
  What God intended science to be is a diologue between learned men and God himself. Science's limitations are that they are limited to the physicality of this life. They can only observe what they can see and experience. Whether they choose to gaze out into the vastness of space, or look into things smaller then a point on a pin, if they believe that all is answerable by their intellect, never admitting there limitations, in short, if they deny a Creator in all of this, then their science is useless, and they become the most dangerous of fools.
  By denying the existence of God, what they have done is only to create another religion. But this religion needs no other diety, because this one sees themselves as God, they have become their own gods. They say to themselves, All is answerable by our intellect, and so we have no need of God, we know all, and we are the best of life, we are our own gods, and we have no need of Him.

Saturday, October 11, 2014

On Blessing

On Blessing Interesting article about the benediction, otherwise known as Aaron's blessing. To offer it to any gathering, no matter how small, is to be given knowing full well the weight of what the blessing implies. Too often, those empowered to offer this, God's blessing on his people, is given matter of factly, with very little consideration by the giver, done with very little faith, and no real power. It is important for those entrusted to give this blessing, offer it only when he is certain that his actions are not just out of habit or procedure, but rather, looking only to truly give God's blessing to the people he offers it to. The sincerity of the offerer, will be felt by those to whom it is given, If sincere, it will wash with full power over the audience, if unsincere? Then it is better for the giver to not offer it at all.

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Eric Clapton - River Of Tears

What can I say

  It has been a most enjoyable early mornings. While out doing some chores, Max's constitutional, which was early for this day, but late for yesterday, and then to a change of cloths, and onto another thing. I was struck, as I always am, by this night's sky! It was in a rare mood, in that, from a source I heard that another blood moon is due? But what I mean by all of this, is that tonight's sky was daytime bright, where only the landscape is in shadows, and the sky daytime blue and clear, the clouds white and obvious. And if this weren't enough, the deep and heavier clouds existed further up, solid, and looking as if fixed on the perimeter of the horizon? But of the ones overhead, Lighter ghost like apparitions floated by underneath, changing in color and shape as they passed through the moons demanding gaze. I'll tell you, it was something to see! Made me think of many things, but mostly it made me feel sorry for those who were missing this spectacle. One that was just outside their house, a show that God put on for free!
  But beyond all the beauty, there was as always a message in the sky. And I thought about the family of man, and our relationship to the eternal family of God? I mean there it was, the answer, right in front of me! Family, that was the key. You see, we are all truly related. We come not from the beasts of the fields, but rather from each other. Adam and Eve isn't some fable, we are all related. As a man, every woman is my sister and my daughter, my mother and my aunt. It was enough, because then I thought about the ramifications of sex, and whether or not you'd be having sex with your sister, or worse yet, your mother! Like I said, it was enough. So I put ole Betsy in overdrive and headed on home.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Looking Forward

  And Jesus answered him and said, except that a man be born again, he can in no way enter the Kingdom of Heaven. He was speaking to one of the chief Priests of the Sanhedrin, a man named Nicodemus, who was among those who ruled over the Jews at that time. He answered Jesus in the same way that most would do today, with a question. How can a man be born again, can he enter his mother's womb again? The conversation went on from there, but the point is not the conversation, but rather it is the question. What does it mean to be born again? There are many scriptures that allude to this very question, not the least of which is, Except as a little child, you can not enter.
  Your soul is your life force, it is this that leaves the body when physical death happens. Because your soul is spirit, God designed it to last for an eternity, your soul is eternal. But our eternal selves are a gift from God, and so to live those lives, we must acknowledge the source of life, and it is God the Father who is The Source, for He is the source of all life! So what actually occurs when you decide to follow Christ by desiring to have this reberth Your soul agrees with his soul, and by that agreement, you are born again, reborn if you'd rather, into the family of God. Born into the very spirit of God! And as in any new birth, you enter as an infant, not knowing anything. But as you grow in knowledge and maturity, you enter in full knowing, as a child of God. All that was the old you has passed away, and you look forward with the innocence of a child, as you enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, having all of eternity to look and enjoy all that is ahead of you!

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Believing the Builder

Believing the Builder

Fear

  It is a great motivator, some say the greatest motivator of them all? But there is nothing quite like fear, as a reason for people to reach out to friends and neighbors for comfort. But who are your neighbors, are they only the people who live on either side of you? Your neighbors on a larger scale are your fellow Americans. But your fellow Americans are not just the people who live within this great land, because being an American is something deeper, something more basic.
  To be an American is to be a willing part of the great fabric of this land. Each of us is one thread in this fabric. What makes us the strongest of fabrics is because we take the finest of threads from all lands, and make them our own. But they too wanted to be a part of this great land, and all looked to assimilate as quickly as they could. They as you, have become quite proud of this blanket that we have woven together. It is that way with countrymen, they come together willingly as one.
  But what of this blanket made from the finest of silk from around the world when someone looks to add rough unfinished wool to our blanket? Doesn't it look to chaff at the silk on either side? And wouldn't it's unfinished bulk look to separate the fine silk threads?
  If you want lone wolf Islamists to stop beheading you fellow Americans, you must first identify them. They are easy to spot if you are near one, because they are the unfinished wool that chaffs and doesn't fit with the fine silk tapestry of this great Nation. You see, it really is quite simply. We must profile some of our residents to weed out and isolate those who look to do us harm. Racial profiling is a dirty word, but rightly or wrongly, we did it for far less of a reason during the second world war, but the Japanese people who lived through it, are all no longer just proud Japanese Americans anymore, but just plain old Americans! Understand, that only those who are exposed to be those who look to forward the radical agenda of a caliphate ideology, will be exited from the country. The rest if they choose to assimilate may do so with the full blessing of this Nation, but we must jettison the vermin immediately.

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Dark Riddle

Dark Riddle  I should probably read these things before I post them up, but I guess that I am just lazy by nature? But just by the title, and to no small account the author, I can be assured that what it is I'm posting is correct. Surely this is the logic of a lazy man? But here's what I do know just from the title. There is a simplicity to understanding life. That is, once you have considered the problem, whatever that problem is, and have reduced it to either right or wrong, true or false, two of the same thing by the way.
  So by the title then, is there a dark riddle to life, or in other words, is there a dark side to life, which to whittle it down again, is there good and evil? That may seem like an obvious answer, but there are some who are baffled by the simplicity of the question? These are the same people who try to turn the simplest most obvious choice into rocket science? They do this to add credibility to their point of view. The more complex the answer, the more options to actual truth. This is by far and away, the logic, if there is any logic to this kind of thinking, used primarily by those who think of themselves as agnostics. Not just that they are on the fence about the existence of God, but on everything! If you should never make an intelligent decision, but rather wait for the overall concencous, then you are always on the winning side. In short, they are intellectual cowards. I have more respect for an athiest, when it comes to the question of the reality of God, then I do from those most arrogant of decisions.
  But lets get down to brass tacks here? Never understood what tacks of any type had to do with anything, but there you have it? Question: Is there two forces at work here, and two forces only? One good, and one bad. Or is it as agnostics claim, Too difficult to decipher? Me? I'm going with the decision makers, while the majority are more comfortable being cowards.

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

All You Want

  I have always been a tryer, or more poetically, I have always been a taster of life. Indeed, didn't the Lord tell us to taste and see that it is good? A sampling is what I get from this, and so like a wolf or a lion I go about tasting whatever interests me, by testing it out, and by giving it a little lick if all smells right.
  Although these same characteristics have always been the way I am, before I knew the Lord, I would do this testing with fear and trepidation, while now, now that I know God personally, I still taste and test whatever I find interesting, though now I do these things without any fear! It is the difinition of freedom you see, to be without fear. Freedom is fearless, and so if you are without fear, there is Nothing you need fear, you are free! Get it?
  But lately I have come to feel sort of like a machine? Controlled by things outside of my control, but still, even though I resent the prodding, I must be like a conveyor belt feeding your mouth with my words. The goal of this machine? I'm glad you asked that question. It is to fill you to overflowing with the words of God, until your wisdom grows hungry again, and all you want is more!

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Choose

  It is strange sometimes how things come to be? I have been thinking for some time now that I should write something, but I couldn't make my mind up as to what?
  I could write about politics, that is always so obvious, but in truth, it is still not obvious to many? When it comes to politics, more don't understand then do. But there is politics in religion also. It is most easily seen within factions that war with each other within the same religion. It wasn't too long ago when Irishmen killed each other all because of their particular slant on Christianity. What that was really all about had nothing to do with true spiritual matters, but had everything to do with the politics of religion. So now the sects, the tribes within the Muslim faith war with each other, and again, it is all about control, and control is gained through politics.
  But what is playing out now on the world stage, has nothing to do with the petty squabbles of men as to who will rule a religion. But what is happening now is true spiritual warfare spilled over in real time into this our reality, our world, and our time. It doesn't matter whether you believe in the spritual relm or not, and it doesn't even matter whether you believe in a Creator or not, because all, everyone of us will, and already are, caught up in this fight! You see, no matter how pious you are, no matter how hard you have pulled on those bootstraps of yours, you will not be able to not be caught up in the fray? Because sooner or later, you too will have to choose. And your choice? One God who preaches love and understanding while teaching liberally with great wisdom, or the other who sees' glory only in death and sacrificed blood? Which do you choose?

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Robert Zimmerman and Friends (Clapton,Harrison,Petty,McGuinn,Cropper,Ree...

Robert Zimmerman and Friends (Clapton,Harrison,Petty,McGuinn,Cropper,Ree...  Anything that has these guys in has got to be and is all right in my book. Whether you believe any book of mine makes you of any mind at all, is strictly up to your mind? Don't think twice. You don't have to love me, its all right with me. I'll just knock the dust from my shoes and walk on. It ain't really no matter to me if you come or don't? In fact there are some of you who I admit, I couldn't care less if you come or not? It isn't up to me you see, My job is to lead you to the water. But as to whether you drink it or not is entirely up to you.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Tested Truths: Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?

Tested Truths: Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?: Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?   The world will be told very soon, in fact it has already begun, to accept a new International church under th...

Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?

Isn’t Christianity Arrogant?  The world will be told very soon, in fact it has already begun, to accept a new International church under the lie of tolerance? In other words, most will become seduced by this lie that all roads lead to God, and it doesn't matter what religion you call your own? The strange part is, that besides the obvious politically correct bent to it, is the fact that by that very belief, you eliminate the reality of Christ. So in essence, the only one who agrees that religion is more often then not the problam as we look back on a bloodied past, and now will see it again. But this because of the false doctrines of men. Things haven't changed much from the tower of Babel.
  But the plain undeniable truth is, as excluseive as it may sound, is that Jesus is the only way to God the Father. It is he who will set you free from the bounds of impossible laws, and he alone can say, Come to the Father through me because I am the true door!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Anything Is Possible: Miracle Monday

Anything Is Possible: Miracle Monday:         Today's Miracle Monday comes from +James Alexander and is about the breaking of generational curses. If you have never heard of...

The Suffering One

The Suffering One  If you read nothing else of the Old Testament, read Isa. 50-52 Even the least knowledgable of you will see that he speaks if Jesus' first visit.

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Whats the matter with you?

  Does matter really matter? What if matter doesn't matter to you, would that matter? What if people wanted to know whats the matter with you? Or worse yet, what if you were anti-matter, would that matter to you?
  What if nothing mattered, is it possible to not worry about anything if nothing matters? Surely by now you must be thinking to yourself, Whats the matter with him? Me? nothing is the matter to me, except for the matter of my question, What is matter? Is it only what we consider substantive and physical? And if that is so, what is it that surrounds the physical things, are they matter too? Do you see the quandry here, can you understand my predicament?
  But I guess if any of this little talk matters to you at all, then I will have been successful in passing my consideration onto you, and then it will be yours too. But the only remaining question for me is, Now that I have made my consideration your consideration, Does that matter?

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Unadulterated

  There is a general concencous among the saints that Jesus has already returned and is already here,. Now it is a curious point of view as Jesus has never left. Didn't he say as he left this earth after his murder that, I will be with you always, Lo until the end of the earth? Did you think it only a metaphor, or worse yet, did you think that he lied? That is the one thing Jesus is not capable of, he can not lie! Every word he utters is true, truth, steeped in honor and solid fact. You see, when Jesus rose up in the clouds while making his exit from this world, what he said was not a question as I would ask, leaving an element of doubt in your head, in the hope that you would look to see whether what I had just told you was accurate or not? No, Jesus made a statement, and because he is incapable of telling anything but the truth, so what he said can be depended on, and if you claim to know him, then there can be no doubt.
  But OK Ed you say, if by excepting to be born again into the spirit of God, Jesus does exactly as you claim he does, and take up residence permanently in our hearts, how do we know when the voice we hear in our mind is His and not ours? There is a simple answer to this, as all of God's answers are simple and to the point. If it is his voice that you hear, then what you thought was true. Not mired in the perspective of your point of view, but true, plain and simple. You may hear conflicting points of view, some your own, some not, but you will hear the truth, and it is your conscience that will decipher that truth to whatever way you are disposed? Simply put, the voice of God is truth, and though you may have bits and pieces of truth, with God you get the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and no mortal man can make that statement!

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Being Shy

  A couple of days ago, I met, or more accurately, re-met, a woman who I went to grammar school with. What are the odds of that? So anyway, once I realize that not only did we go to the same school, we were in the same class! But I can't place her, and it's driving me nuts! So I begin by speaking about people from the same school, I keep rattling off names, but none of them strikes a cord with this girl?
So I ask her, do you remember me? No, she says? Eventually she tells me that she was painfully shy, and that her parents were very strict, and that she had only one girl friend from back then, she tells me her name, and I hadn't heard of her either?
  So, obviously, this whole thing intrigues me, as this was not a hugh school, in fact, it was rather small. I have to know this girl I say to myself, and then she described where she sat, and that did it! I could see her sitting there just as sure as that day. Not only was she shy, but because of it, she was always withdrawn, she looked the epitome of a mousey type of girl. The kind who blushed even if all you said to her was hello? Isolated by fear? But the more I thought about it, I realized that I too was shy back then, but I had taken a different tact. Instead of going in, I went the other way? I was the class clown, later to become a wise ass punk in high school. My way was to use sarcasm and humor to fend off anyone who tried to look too closely at me. Many comedians are like this. Confident while on stage, but jumping at shadows when off.
  The plain truth is, even those who seem so in control all the time, and outgoing in their personality, they too are shy. Being shy is just a way of people knowing you too well, it is because if they knew who you really were, that they would know that you aren't as cool as you try to make yourself out to be. Being shy is about feeling guity. The first were, you guessed it, the first couple, Adam and Eve. They made wild love in the high grasses of the meadow until they did that thing with the fruit! What happened then? All of a sudden they became self concous, and went to get some fig leafs to cover themselves. So what did the knowledge of the tree of good and evil really bring them? Was Satan's promise of how they will be like God true? No, all it did at first is make them know that they were naked and exposed, and make them feel guilty enough to hide themselves from each other. And later when Jesus entered the garden, and called for them to walk with him as they did every day, they hid from him. One bite of that fruit, and innocence was gone, and in it's place, only doubt and fear.

Saturday, September 13, 2014

RZIM Events in Seattle Area

RZIM Events in Seattle Area  This will be an incredibly important event. With all that is going on right now. Radical Islam, the open persecution of Christians and others, who dare not bow to a religion so steeped in the desire to have everyone think as they do? Think their way, or die! Certainly, though I have not yet seen it myself, the RZIM team will explain why what is happening is happening?
  Even if you don't consider yourself not a believer in the realm of the spiritual, this talk promises to clear up why what is currently going on, is. Even if the holy ghost reminds you of a holloween prank, you still need to see this! Present it to a church, synagogue, mosque or schoolhouse near you. Thank you for your cooperation!

Friday, September 12, 2014

Pink Floyd - Us and Them / Any Color 1080p HD PULSE 1994

testedtruths@blogspot.blogger.com  Soon there will be only two? Us will be the believers in God, and them, the one's who don't. This has been foretold by the Prophets of the Bible. It is the time, whose time has now come. The dividing of the people based on one difference. A difference that will mean all that is in this world, and also what part will be played by the saints of God (The Believers), and those who will also know eternity as a reality. But for those who deny Jesus Christ, it is eternal death that waits for them. So choose this day who you will serve, Us, or Them?

Money

  Many say that it is money that is the root of all evil, but many would be wrong. Money in and of it's self is little more then a tool for a goal, it is the owners of the pockets of where that money is kept that is the problem, money by itself is just so much sparkle and fluff. So much of what goes on in this world is the strife between the haves and the have nots.
  This fear that causes this strife between these opposites is well founded. Our history books are filled with the abuses' of the rich over the poor. Royalty and the elitists they bore, became a way to keep more for themselves at any cost, the working class be damned! So it is with the current fear that is at the base of any left thinker. Not too far back in history, we had the Viet Nam war, and those elitists were still hard at work screwing the working class. But then, instead of royalty, the new rich were huge Corporations that profited from a war that the sons of the working class got drafted into to fight. Chemical companies specifically made billions! Napalm, agent orange, and not to mention the makers of the war time hardware. 55,000 kids died, and for what? To keep a small island nation from becoming communist? In case you don't know, they are today, and they are of no threat to us. But today, is a different situation. Strangely, it was the right who controlled things back then, as families like the Gettys, Rockafellers and the like could shape our national policies to their likings. Today there are new oil barons? They are the ones who control the new black gold, the gold of information. And so we have seen along with it a shift based on there perspectives. Did you ever wonder to yourself, why is it that the left is so interested in the perceived short comings of a company like Walmart, and yet Apple is held in such high esteem? Big oil once ruled the roost, and now it is those who look to store and disseminate information. So not only is the pubic not concerned about their abuses, they'll even sit in line to buy their newest product. What it is, is that Capitalism which replaced Royalty has become? It is still the base of our economic health, only the players have changed. So now again, the working class is being used by those in power, but this time it is not people with a right looking or conservative point of views who looks to keep so many a good man down, but the left now has its turn.
  But the problem with this lack of trust for a military decision of any kind, can no longer be compared to what was done by those who profited by the blood spilled in Viet Nam, because this enemy wants to kill any and all who oppose, and those who preach peace at any cost, will come to find that is we who look to isolate ourselves as best we can from the evil of radical Islam, will only make things worse by prolonging the death of this great nation. Something that patriots from both sides wouldn't want. The truth of the matter? We either come together over this common enemy, or we will die together, and this great Nation will perish from the earth!

Thoughts

  If I were to ask you what time it is, what would be your answer? First, wouldn't you have to know where it is that I'm coming from? Meaning, not a question as to the time of day, as if I were checking to see if I was late for some reason, but rather, what time is it in a cosmic sense? Then what would be your answer, assuming that you thought to answer such a question as that? More probably, you would think to yourself, man, I gotta get away from this dude! But like the question or not, it really doesn't much matter, because the question still stands. So where are we, what time has it become in a cosmic sense? That is to say, where does the hands of the eternal clock stand, and what by it's time does what is going on in the here and now have to do with anything? Not much if you perspective is only of this life? But for those of us who are aware of the eternal clock, we know what time it is.
  It is nearing the end that the book of Revelation speaks about. Look, the players are all taking their marks. And it will soon come to pass where your silly political beliefs that so divide you now will matter little to both those on the left, and for those on the right? For there will still be division, but instead of by men's ideologies, we will be divided by those who know the Lord, and those who don't! Be on the wrong side of this one, and it is your life that will be at stake alright, Your Eternal life!

Never bite the hand that feeds you,

  If this isn't a proverb, it should be! But it brings to mind a scene that unfolded live, not on tape, while I was out getting gas just a few hours ago. As to why I feel the need to tell you any of this, or as to why because I've been writing only with the accompaniment of music, and therefore think that I need do one without it, is unknown to me, but for whatever reason, here it is. So what could be easier then writing about something that actually happened?
  So I have Max with me when I stop for gas, because it is time for his morning constitutional. Apparently, Max snuck out of the car when I went out to fish for my credit card to pay Joe, my local gas jockey, for the twenty bucks worth of regular I had just ordered? I first notice him when he came round to circle the car and the gas pumps. But being a dog, and worse yet, being a male dog, Max begins heading towards the highway, where the bastards would surely run him down if he was to dare get in the way while they were in a rush to go to work, or wherever else they may be heading? At any rate, now I'm pissed, and I have to go after him, because he is ignoring my calls. I finally get him when he stops to roll in the flattened dead carcass of a squirrel, no doubt to rid himself from smelling like a French whore. He had just been washed and so on. But now, thanks to his stop from the highway adventures, I have him by the collar, and he reaches around with his head, attempting to bite my hand? Now I'm really pissed, and I twist the collar, just tight enough for control without actually killing him by choking off his air! I had considered it mind you, as I'm hardly the dog whisperer type? The point is that real drama ensued until at last I got him back to the car. So how did it end? Well, I ain't bit, and Max? Well, let's just say that I doubt he'll ever try that again?

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Waiting for Title, just another matter

  I finally watched, 13 hours in Benghazi, and it moved me deeply! The men who were there for this pitched gun battle, who waited and prayed for help in vain, are the best of us all. God, family and country, in that order is their priorities, and then to have little more then some wayward school girl besmirch their integrity, when she is in league with an administration that has none? Makes my blood boil! If you have any love for this country at all, You really need to see this! Family men, men of deep faith, they speak of honor, they rise up to commitment, they rise up to protect their brothers, even after their deaths? Courage! Honor and scarifice, All admirable qualities that have all but been forgotten here? Here in the land that God himself has blessed, here where he offered a way to govern with respect to all! But look at us today, what have we become? Sqabbling over silly differences spread out by a press who is unknowingly in league with those who look to destroy us?
  The latest ploy, the thing they always go to as they have right from day one? Forget the lies they look to spread in Missouri, remember that good lady from agriculture, I believe she was the head of it? On her way home in her car, she gets an ugent call from the Whitehouse, telling her that she is about to be outed by Glen Beck? In case you are not familiar with the event, a part of a video of her talking to a white farm owning client. The snippet could easily have been construed as black on white racism, so they wanted to talk to her. That the poor woman had to pull over just to understand? And this from an administration just newly in office, and their rabbit ears are so big, that they're worried about what Glen Beck might say? And for the record, because I was watching as he said it, We only have a moment of that encounter, you can not draw a conclusion until you have seen the entire film. And when that piece was shown it it's entirety, the woman was a rare thing these days, a helpful public servant, and she told them the truth with dignity, and helped them. So why the alarm? Black panthers outside a Philadelphia polling place, complete with billy clubs, just another matter?

Crying Rocks

Friday, September 5, 2014

Beyond ‘If’

Beyond ‘If’  This one I actually read before posting. It is an important perspective that all who are in the faith need to desparately understand. In short, the lesson is, stop putting God in a box that is comfortable for you! He meets each of us where we are.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The Hornets Nest

  John awake to see the sunset, and just for a moment, he allowed himself to remember another sunset, one at home with her. Her, he thought, and her pretty face flashed in his mind! He shook it off though, snapping his reality to the scene at hand. Around him, all of his brothers slept, or like him, were just now waking after the last gasps of daylight began fading into night.
  His platoon wore the patch of Night Fighter, a proud member of Shadow Company, of the Tactical  Anti-Terror Battalion, or TAB as the men called it. They were special forces alright, but with one difference from their daylight brothers? All of their hunting and fighting was done at night, and so they slept during the daylight hours.
  Now special forces are special forces, but almost to a man, all would say of these night warriors that, They were the baddest mother fuckers on the planet! And so John now fully awake, brushed the cover from off of his body and rose to a seated position, stretching the tightness out of his muscles. His platoon had been on these type of missions before. In fact, before they left the camp for insertion, the guys were laughing at their last snatch and capture mission. That was a great snatch someone said, Did you see the look on his face when we pulled him off that little kid? I thought he might die, and headquarters would never believe that we didn't off the little rodent ourselves. Yeah, he was a particularly despicable cock roach George said. George was the platoon's poet.
  Because they only did their hunting and killing at night, the men would always pick a place that offered the most natural cover as could be had from the environment in which they found themselves, and when the daylight came, that was the time to sleep, and the men would sleep covered in whatever was natural, and slept in a circle from the rally point, about one hundred yards across. As the saying went, no one sleeps unless all sleep. And so they set no sentries, but rather slept in this circle, each man spaced from the other on his left and his right. Once one rose up to fight, they all did. God help the poor pilgrim who while walking was unlucky enough to kick one of them to life, because he will have just entered the hornets nest, and he is about to get stung with malice!