Tag: star wars

Ready to Deploy

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Ready to Deploy

You are a citizen of Heaven; and we are soldiers on the front lines of the battle for souls. Go forth and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 

Never waiver in your faith. Be ready to deploy where the Lord sends you. The armor of God does not keep you from harm. The walk of a Christian is one of running into the fire. We face the darkness by sharing the Lords good news. We bring light to the darkness by reflecting dimly the light of God. We offer nothing but to be the hands and feet of God, and the soldiers willing to pay the ultimate price. The problem with America is we are so poor in spirit. We are weak in conviction. We tuck tail when the going gets tough, and we have let darkness rise, like the evil empire in Star Wars. How does democracy die? By thunderous applause. How do we fall for the lie? By sprinkling the lie in with the truth. ‘If you eat of the fruit you will not die.’ Satan tells this to Eve in the garden. You sprinkle poison in a drop at a time to make the victim sick, die slowly. Like a frog being boiled slowly, not a thought to jump out. We have lost our willingness to fight, to stand up. We won’t even stand up for the kids in schools being exposed to the alphabet communities’ pride of their own sins, or the countless books being thrown their way. A school district in California announced they will host a week long set of lessons for “National Coming Out Day.” This set of lessons is for elementary age kids. Why would we be exposing young kids to these kinds of things? This topic is sinful and subjective only to those living in their sin. Yet we allow this to happen. We don’t expose the villainizing of police officers, but exalt the criminals. We feminize men, and we pretend there is no difference between a woman and a man, in fact, we make up stories about there being more than the two sexes. We allow evil corporations and government to dictate right and wrong and ignore scripture. There is a desire to cripple people with fear and poverty, to allow some to seize power and control, for their love of the world. The strength that built this nation has produced an environment for the weak to make hard times. 

We don’t have to leave our towns to face the enemy in the streets. We don’t have to leave our house to face the Devil. He’s infiltrating your homes, jobs, churches, and for far too long we’ve sat idle. We are soldiers. We are citizens of heaven, and yet we shy away from the fight. 

John Bunyan imprisonment for 12 years because he refused to stop preaching Gods word. Bishop Latimer has been recorded saying this, ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.‘ Murdered at the stake by fire, for refusing to accept transubstantiation, the process by which the wine and bread offered during communion becomes the blood and body of Christ. Latimer among other things, supported translating Holy Scripture, the Bible into English. For this he was murdered. He stood up for what was right, and for doing so, he met a martyrs end. 

Going a bit further back Steven in the book of Acts was stoned to death for his belief and evangelism of Christ. There are thousands of martyrs for the faith, and even more that have been persecuted for their faith. And yet we are so comfortable with our lives, our creature comforts of this world, we are afraid to do what is necessary. 

I’m not innocent in this. I myself have not said something because of the impending aftermath. I have not said something because I didn’t want the fight to come to my door. I am guilty of complicity. In the same breath, I have stood up. I have been outspoken. I have stood my ground and watched many friends depart from me, for my faith. I have been on both sides of the difficult fence, but I need more faith. I cannot let fear dictate terms. I cannot allow my fear to stop me from sharing the gospel. We are not promised tomorrow and we are given the mission to share the gospel. We are not told to convert anyone; God will do that. He will tug on the hearts he desires and leave the rest. He knows his chosen; Jeremiah 1:5, and who will reject him. We cannot convince men of anything; the Gospel will do that all on its own. We need to be able to defend our faith, by being knowledgeable of scripture. We cannot go to battle with a dull sword, so we must have scripture in our hearts 2 Timothy 2:15 “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”. We must focus on our lives also and rid our lives of un-repented sin. We must be strong in our faith, our convictions, and resist the Devil and all the spiritual attacks. 

This may look like all talk, but what does scripture say about this? 

2 Timothy 2:3 3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 

Paul goes on to say this: 

4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 

We are citizen soldiers, warriors on the front lines. We are given the full armor of God Ephesians 6, in order for us to be equipped to fight the war. We do not know the elect, but we know we are to share the gospel, and live our lives with honor and distinction for His perfect will. We are, and were chosen before the foundation of the earth. We were predestined to be His; Ephesians 1:4-5 “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,” and no one can snatch us from his hands. 

Soldiers train and we should be prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice. When I was in the Army I trained at Fort Knox, Kentucky. I learned how to do my job and what was expected of me. I learned the rules, and the ways of the Army. I went to Korea and after a short time there, deployment orders came through to go to Iraq. Do we think we know what our future holds? For the first time in over 50 years Korea, a hardship duty deployment would redeploy to a different combat zone. I had never thought my first deployment to Korea would be interrupted to go to a warzone. I chose Korea so I could train more before being in a unit that would deploy to Iraq. But God knows, and God has a plan. God is the commander and chief, along with being sovereign of the universe. Jesus (also God) is the General, which leads the Army into battle. 

When we are called are we willing to go? We are called every day, and most will not heed the call. We are called to share the Gospel wherever we go, and to do so shameless of the Gospel. We are to live The Way, share the Gospel and build the Kingdom. We gather the fish and Jesus sorts them out. I heard Voddie Baucham say this, obedience is a biproduct of the Gospel. I joined the Army because I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to serve my nation, fight for a good cause. I don’t like bullies and I have a calling to stand up to them. I feel Satan is a bully. He bullies people, he sow’s dissention, and destroys lives. I have found a calling in myself to fight the good fight. I’ve faced my share of enemies on and off the battlefield. I’ve lost my share of friends for my faith, but pales in comparison to those who’ve given their lives in the pursuit of sharing the Gospel. But in order for me to be a good soldier, as common in the Star Wars Clone Wars series, “Good soldiers follow orders.” We must follow orders, as soldiers in the military do. We cannot sit idly by while the Devil gains ground here in this great country. When I was in Iraq there was a sign posted that said “Complacency Kills” We have become so complacent in this fight, have we sacrificed our nation for it? Have we sacrificed our children’s futures because of our carelessness? We deploy wherever the Lord sends us, or wherever he places us. We all have our fight and place, whether it be a father or mother, a police officer, a school teacher, a janitor, or anything else, we have our fight. Yes, we are to go, but go is anywhere we go, and make disciples anywhere we go. Are we bold in our faith, strong in our convictions, unwavering in our fight? No matter if it’s your home, school, work, or public, we fight the good fight. We don’t need Jesus just in times of trouble, as the popular video said, ‘I need Jesus to go to Walmart’. We need Jesus to lead us in this war, to show us how to fight, and we must train mind, body and soul for this fight. We must hold fast to what the word says, and not wavering to the whims of culture or society. We are citizen soldiers, ambassadors of Heaven, and we owe Him our Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the Lord,

Ruler of all Creation,

And to His kingdom,

For which I shall stand,

One God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Just in all His judgments,

Yet rich in mercy and grace.

I will love, serve and sacrifice my desires for His,

For he is the Savior of my soul and author of

All Truth. 

                                                                 By: Dr. M. David Chambers

I Sense The Conflict Within You

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I Sense The Conflict Within You

The emotions flow as the Spirit moves within you. The movement of your faith grows by leaps and bounds, a promise to do things the Christ way, but how quickly does that fade? There’s the emotional change that takes place around high intensity services, concerts, etc. There is a pull within each and every one of us. The pull of the light, and the pull of the dark are a battle being waged inside us every day. I have seen the emotional response within people as they get caught in the hype, the excitement and while the ‘Jesus High’ lasts for a while, it slowly fades. I have seen people get enthralled in church and became involved in ministries left and right, and while it seemed the new creation was real and true, the draw of the dark side is strong.

Star Wars is a worldwide phenomenon and there are few households that have not heard of the term Jedi, or the Force. While perhaps the movie itself may not have been watched, there are aspects that just about everyone knows, such as the Jedi Mind Trick, levitation, even lightning. While most people know the Jedi, perhaps more people know Darth Vader. I think as Christians we focus so much on the power of God, we forget that the dark side is strong, and we should never underestimate it. The temptation of Jesus is something I think that’s overlooked because of how easily it seems Christ moved beyond those temptations. When we take a moment to actually consider it, if Satan tempted Jesus, we must understand that you cannot tempt someone unless you have something real to offer. Satan truly has power, and so much so that even Paul calls Satan a god, true a lesser god, but a god nevertheless. While there is God our Father of the Universe, Satan is god over the realm of the earth. This gives him dominion, power, and influence. Sin itself is the dark side and when we consider the fight of good and evil, even though we know who wins, the nature of free will still gives us lowly humans a choice whether to follow the light, or succumb to the darkness. Sadly, I have seen many fall into darkness and have allowed their anger, their hate, their doubts, to fill them up, and as Yoda says, it does lead to suffering. What more can we do though when we see the conflict within someone? In the majority of the last movie of the original Star Wars trilogy we see Luke Skywalker confronting Vader and trying to sway him away from the dark side and back into the light. Instead of being angry that Vader cut off his hand, killed millions, Luke is approaching vader with mercy. Are we moving through our lives with mercy and love, or do we plot revenge on those who wrong us?

How often do we see in movies how well the revenge plot goes for the villain? Law Abiding Citizen doesn’t go so well for our main character played by Gerarld Butler. One of my favorite movies Star Trek: The Wrath Of Khan, a man filled with anger and hatred, sets out to seek revenge on once Captain Kirk, and of course for those who’ve seen it, knows revenge doesn’t go well. Unless you are John Wick, revenge doesn’t go so well for most people, because truly it darkens the heart, and leads to violence and hatred. Yoda it seems was right all along, hate does undoubtedly lead to suffering. So what do we know about hate in the Bible? Satan, also known as Lucifer Morning Star was beloved by God, beautiful and the most beautiful of God’s Angels. Ezekiel 28:11-19Satan would be created in perfection, but became corrupted. While it’s not clear if Satan’s jealousy came because of the creation of man, or something else, but regardless, Satan was cast out of heaven for rebelling against the throne. The fallen angels in which followed Satan also were cast out and now roam the Earth creating havoc and dissention and leaving destruction in their wake. Those who choose to allow their darkness to spread, to be in anger, allows the Devil to feed off of that sin, only empowers the god of darkness to spread more hate upon hate. Do not underestimate the real threat, and the power of the darkness. There is hope however, and while the conflict of the flesh, and the spirit rage on inside each of us, light always wins. Paul describes the war in Ephesians 6:10-20, also in Romans 7:14-25 (NKJV)

“14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

Paul often talks about the battle between the flesh and the spirit and when we see how adamant he was we cannot take his warning lightly. It says in scripture Romans 12:9Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. There is no other reference to anything else we should attack with all hatred and malice except sin nature. Ephesians 4:30-32New King James Version (NKJV) 30 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”

While there is conflict within you, remember that in this season of Christmas we have hope in the baby that was born to free us from the bondage of that sin, to show us the nature of true love, of real joy, and to forever give us the gift of eternal salvation. We have been given a gift but it’s always up to each and every one of us if we use that gift. In the movie Home Alone 2 Kevin tells the old bird lady what good is having a heart if you never use it? What good was the gift of his skates that he never used and he grew out of them. We cannot be afraid of the gift God has given to us, and it’s up to use to take that gift and use it, to share it with others. There will always be conflict within so long as we live because of the sin nature we have, but love and mercy from Christ washes those transgressions away and gives us something to be joyful about. Go forth and love deeply and let go of the hate and malice that fills this fallen world. Fight with all your might against the attacks upon your heart, and never underestimate the power of your enemy. Make no mistake, the Devil is your enemy, and he means to destroy everything you have. He will promise you the world and all of it’s pleasures, it’s toys and bobbles, but that’s all the god of this world can offer you is temporary pleasures, nothing real, nothing that will ever sustain you. There is but one living water that is forever replenished and that’s Jesus Christ. The baby in which we celebrate this Christmas born to give us a blessing beyond all measure, and the light will always cause the darkness to retreat away. 

Sometimes You Have To Lose

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Sometimes You Have To Lose

We shake our fists to Heaven when something we perceive as bad happens. We don’t always see the blessings till well after the tragedy. This happens more often then we think in life. When I spend time thinking about the worst things to happen to me in my life, I often wonder if there was any other way. (Spoilers Avengers Infinity War)

Dr. Strange tells Tony Stark “There was no other way.” This happens when Strange calls to Thano’s and spares Tony’s life. Sometimes victory is in the loss. It’s hard to face those hardships with hopeful hearts but in all things have faith in God’s plan for love not despair. This can be seen and summed up in one scripture verse Romans 8:28 (NKJV) “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Loosing isn’t everything, for it’s in loss we are truly able to rise and see what we’re made of.

I’m reminded of a line from Star Wars Last Jedi. Yoda tells Luke that failure is the greatest teacher. This couldn’t be truer. In my own life I have lost, and though it’s not always right away, usually some lesson can be taken away from it. Sometimes the lesson to learn is to change directions in your life. Several months ago after a long period of time out of work I was able to finally get back into the security field. I found a job that although had it’s issues, was well suited for me and my current physical restrictions. I wasn’t at the job more then 3 weeks before out of the blue I was called by Human Recourses telling me that I would be out of work by the end of the day. There was no other position that suited my physical requirements, so without any positions I would not remain with the company. 7 years with the company, employee of the year, exemplary record, and it would all come to an end in the blink of an eye. I can remember sitting in my car at the end of my shift. The only thought that kept rushing to mind was prayer, so I sat there and I prayed to God. “God, I understand what you’re telling me. I see that this chapter in my life is over. Please show me my new path.”

We often think of loss or failure as a bad thing. We fail to understand that, those times are often when we learn the most about who we are. We face the dragons and we are either victorious, or we are beaten down. No matter where we are in our lives, these times will be the most defining events of our life. Obviously we won’t always handle every failure with ease and grace, but even in those moments it’s an amazing opportunity to do the one things that’s more important then any other, TURN TO JESUS CHRIST! When we are struggling, and we are low, Jesus is the first place we need to turn. We 1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 14 “Now we [b]exhort you, brethren, warn those who are [c]unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. 16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Turning to Christ and rejoices in everything. Every success, and every loss we have are in a place where we can turn to God to help us make our way through. If we are not following Christ it’s possible that our hardships are presented to us so we turn to Christ when perhaps we hadn’t in the past.

Thinking back about that moment when Dr. Strange tells Stark, “there was no other way.” Reminds me that sometimes the only way to alter our course is for something bad to happen. We can be stubborn, and I ask how often we refuse to change. If we are to look at life as a long highway, sometimes to change our path, God needs to place some construction signs and force a detour to change our path. We want to focus on the why me, but we don’t really want to face the why. They are very different questions, and very different reasons. When we ask ‘why me’ we are looking at self, we are looking at the me aspect instead of asking the purpose of what we should be learning in those situations. If we are not listening to the subtle clues God places in our path, God will eventually throw a major construction site on the path to force change. This is not likely to be a pleasant event because truthfully we don’t change much when things are going great. When it comes to following the path, it’s important to focus on God the whole way. We know that there is a purpose, or at least something good we take from every experience. Instead of saying we have a problem, instead say we have an opportunity.

Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

3 He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

Trust in God, and trust in the path you find yourself. In the darkness it might be you that’s the light for someone else to see. It might be you in need of help, and it’s someone else’s opportunity to feel useful by helping you. Life is about perspective and changing your perspective will often change the way you feel about a situation.

Find Your Ministry

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Find Your Ministry:

Have you felt like something’s missing in your life? Something you can’t quite describe but you feel it in the morning when you get out of bed and when you’re out with your friends. You feel it deep down into your heart and soul, and you crave answers, but you don’t even know the question. I felt this for many years of my life, and only when I struck the bottom of life’s horrors did I finally realize my heart has been calling to one thing, and that was Jesus Christ. The day I heard the voice of God I realized how long I had been living in the darkness. People think once you find your salvation or you have that one big event that changes everything in your life that you are all of a sudden going to be a perfect human being. This couldn’t be further from the truth. You can continue down a sinful path, but when you feel the love of Christ cover you like a warm blanket your body has revulsion to sinful behaviors. Things of your past will no longer be appealing, they will no longer give you the fake joy you once reveled in. You can continue to ignore those convictions, but you are only denying the truth. When you find Christ you are reborn, by fire your old self is burned away, and you are a new person. When that day comes, what’s your next step? Well, let me show you what your path will look like.

When you find that salvation in Christ you need to seek Godly counsel. You should go to your pastor, or a close friend in Christ. You need to meet with your pastor and talk about yourself, and start looking at ministries to get connected to. At first you should volunteer with as many as you can till you find the one you are most comfortable with. You will be searching for your spiritual gifts that you’ve been blessed with. I hear people tell me all the time there’s nothing they are good at. There’s nothing that makes them special. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Each and every person on this planet has been given gifts from the Holy Spirit and can use them in a ministry field. I think there are a lot of misconceptions as to what ministry is. Most people believe ministry is teaching, or preaching. This is not true, and when you look to the Hebrew of the word ministry it is, Shareth, “Ministry, religious ministry, service in the tabernacle.”  Ministry is service to the Body of Christ. Every job, every works in the service to the Lord as according to your gifts is ministry. This is everyone from those who cook, clean, sing, organize, administration, teach, or preach. Ministries cover every works in the church. Any way for you to service God is a ministry. It’s our job to evangelize but evangelizing is a job for everyone. While people may evangelize and specifically good at missions work, that would be one of their spiritual gifts. You will find a natural interest or desire to particular activities. In this you are being directed by the Holy Spirit to explore different things and you will find it. Not all gifts are found right away, and some require practice. We do not see basketball, football, or hockey players using only their God given talents without also practicing their gifts. We do not improve without putting forth the effort.

God knows us beyond our imagining. We see the true nature of the Blessed Lord especially in Psalm 139:1-13 New Living Translation (NLT)

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart

    and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

    You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.

3 You see me when I travel

    and when I rest at home.

    You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say

    even before I say it, Lord.

5 You go before me and follow me.

    You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

    too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

    I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

    if I go down to the grave,[a] you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

    if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

    and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me

    and the light around me to become night—

12     but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

    Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

 

If God knew us from before our birth and knows us in our death, knows our path, and what we will do, he designs each and every one of us with care and consideration to how we can serve in accordance with His desires for our service within the Body of Christ. In order to work on our selves, we must work with God by servicing God. Matthew 7:7-11“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.” We must pray for our path to be made clear. Pray to Abba and ask how we may serve. We must allow God to mold us, to guide us, and in doing so, we submit to the spirit and let go of our own wants and desires. In doing so we will develop new joys, new dreams, and we will be blessed by God accordingly. Matthew 7:7-117 “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. 9 “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.”  

Be sure to plug in when you find yourself a church. You will find yourself in need of prayer and thus you will pray, but you will also need to study. Joshua 1:8“8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”We must learn to take scripture into our hearts. The Devil will attack you day and night and he is testing your defenses to find a weakness to break through to poison your heart. Do not part from Christ, instead pray day and night, and study, and take scripture into your heart.

1 Corinthians 12

12 Now, dear brothers and sisters,[a] regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. 5 There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. 6 God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. 7 A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other. 8 To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice[b]; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge.[c] 9 The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. 10 He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages,[d] while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. 11 It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.

One Body with Many Parts

12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles,[e] some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.[f] 14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything? 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad. 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:

 first are apostles,

second are prophets,

third are teachers,

then those who do miracles,

those who have the gift of healing,

those who can help others,

those who have the gift of leadership,

those who speak in unknown languages.

29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

Everyone has his or her gifts as seen in scripture. God ensures that every single person has his or her gifts. Never stop praying to God how we can serve. 1 Thessalonians 5:17“17 Never stop praying.”

Affirmations: “emotional support or encouragement.” When you start getting plugged in people will naturally tell you, or thank you for doing a good job. Between passion, desire, interest and talents, you will find your place in the church body. Finding your ministry is like “going to a buffet, some stuff ‘s okay, some stuff is pretty good, some stuff you absolutely hate, stuff you’ll absolutely love and you’ll want more.” (Rev. Glen Newsome, Jr M.A.C.S)  Never stop growing, and learning about God. Your journey will never end, but as you grow your love and appreciation for the shear size and power of the Lord will begin to be revealed to you. It took me 34 years, nearly a dozen traumas, two divorces, loosing my job, and having major back surgery to find my gift in ministry. Never underestimate the lessons that will be used in each and every one of your hardships for the Glory Of God!

 

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Brethren

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Brethren:

As men of the Lord of all creation, we must learn to stand as figures to those who lay eyes upon us. We will fail and fall short of the Glory of God, but as one of the wisest Jedi to ever grace the screen says “The greatest teacher, failure is.” (Yoda, The Last Jedi)We can learn so much in our failures. When I was in the military we learned that after every mission, after every training operation we always preformed an AAR or After Action Review. We would always go over the good, the bad, and the ugly of the mission. We talk about what went right, but also what went wrong, and we always talked about what we can improve no matter how good of a job we did. In all things we do we must turn to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to keep us accountable in our walk. We must never shoot the wounded. We must not kick someone when they are down. Be a Godly father figure after our Abba Father. We must take heart to the story of the Good Samaritan and we must also be like the Samaritan who helped the traveler. Luke 10:25-37 The Samaritan’s were despised by most people in the known world at the time. The Samaritan helped a man who would have under other circumstances, would not have returned the gesture. Love, always concurs all. In all our ways we must return hate with love. We must not take up arms against our aggressors but return love to those aggressors. We embody Christ and as an ambassador we are the earthly representatives of Christ. As well as we can being sinful men and women, we must strive for greatness, and truth in our walk daily. We cannot just say we are different we must be different.

We are fathers to our children, meant to train them up in the ways of the Lord. We are not our child’s friend, not yet. Ephesians 6:1-4“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” We must embody the fatherly love of the father that gives us life. We must look to our Abba and we must take what we see from our Abba and move that onto our children. They will look to us and they will see what it is to be a man, or for the ladies, what a man should be. We often only get one chance to get it right in front of our children because the smallest slip, the one cuss word, the one big negative action can have long repercussions. Children’s minds are clay and we mold that clay but in both the good and the bad actions. We will make mistakes, and we must learn to also apologize to our children under those times because we must remain humble and show that we are all sinners, we all make mistakes, and no one is so proud they are above sin. So fathers, and mothers, train up your child. Proverbs 22:6“6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” No your children are not animals, and scripture isn’t saying that, but think of training children as a new employee and as an employee we are trained how to do a job, and serving Christ is our job. Always discipline your kids in love and meekness. Walk with a tender heart. We are a body of Christ so when someone is trapped in sin we must help them restore balance to the body of Christ. Matthew 18:12“12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” In all training and loving, and serving we must remember no one is ever so lost they are beyond grace or mercy.

My brothers and sisters we are all sinners on this earth, and we will never be good enough to disserve the grace and love of God, but we receive it anyway. We would never be able to stand up and work enough, or be good enough to pay for our entrance to Heaven, but our bounty was paid, and we were forgiven in grace by Jesus Christ’s blood. Matthew 18:1515 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.” As we look to those who sin against us, we must remember what occurred on the cross. Sin is far reaching and we must remember that as one of Christ’s dying words pled to God, Luke 23:34 “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”Always be fair and listen. James 1:19“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” Approach with kindness and empathy to every situation. Be fair and just. Don’t just be a dad, be a father. Don’t just be a mom, be a mother. Be more then just the biological aspect of creation. It’s okay to make mistakes so long as you learn from them, and use those mistakes as teaching opportunities. We are responsible for the future generation of Christians so let us show them what it means to be Christian in our actions. God shares His great love with us, so share that love with the world.

 

 

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I a Disciple of Christ

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I a Disciple of Christ:

I a preacher and disciple of Christ call to you believer and non-believers.  You all have suffered long but I give you a message of hope. You grow weary from trial after trial. I give you hope in the storm. The storms will always remain but now I give you the light that shines through every darkness, brings hope to the hopeless, restores faith to the faithless, and heals the sick. John 14:6“6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Even when 100 things are going wrong the hope will always remain. Do not forget what gives us the blessings of eternal life. The blood shed of Christ to fulfill the trinity that’s always been, down to the ground covering all of the earth in righteous grace forgiving us of our eternal sin.

You are not saved in chance, for you are saved with glorious grace. It brings our Lord joy for you to receive mercy. Jesus came not to be served but to serve, so shall we serve others before ourselves. Who are you? Do you know who you are, and can you tell others what defines you? Do others see you by the content of your heart, or do they see the hypocrisy that runs rampant in the streets? In God you will be strengthened and made sharp in the fires experienced here in this life. Walk by faith and don’t loose hope in the marathon. Run with endurance with trust in the Father as we look to the cross to be our finish line. Remember to fight the fight but do not loose sight of what it is your fighting for. It will never be the troubles you face that are the true fight, but the temptations and attacks of the Devil trying to break you. If God blesses your heart and sealed His graces, let no Devil, no demon, no man, crack the bonds made. No troubles shall break you or sink your ship. Always remember your why and the Lord will smooth your travels. The trials will be many, but that shall never remove your salvation or grace.

The Lord is a merciful God, and a loving God, but never tempt God. Never worship idols in place of God, and never lift anything higher lest you sin unknowingly. The love of money, and of possessions shall never bring you peace. The days of works shall never bring you salvation. The laws never will you keep though you shall surly try. Bring yourself humbly on bended knee to the Lord, and sing praises. I come to you a follower of the Lord, saved in my sins, forgiven of my trespasses, led by the spirit to bring you the good news shared to me. The long awaited messiah from the days of old came and spilt blood for all. We no longer live in darkness, and we shall not suffer long. The one way to peace is through our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not grow weary along the way for we remember the verses of Kings. Psalms 23“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2  He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.[a] 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness[b] for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord forever.[g]”

My biggest hope is in your travels you don’t loose sight of why we travel. I do not want you to loose sight of what it is we’re fighting for, and why. It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day, the routine, but after a while we forget to live by the message. While I was watching the Book of Eli recently it kept with the message that Paul was telling the people of Ephesus, do not loose sight of the mission.

The Book Of ELI

Solara: I didn’t think you’d ever give up the book, I thought it was too important to you

Eli: It was, I was carrying and reading it everyday, got so caught up in protecting it, I forgot to live by what I’d learnt from it

Solara: And what’s that?

Eli: To do more for others than you do for yourself

In the Book of Revelation we see Ephesus applauded for their great works, but in the end, they lost sight of their first love. I believe this is referring to, you fought, but over time you forgot why you were fighting. We must be cautious in our walk that it’s not just sitting in the pew on Sunday, saying the prayers, singing the songs, but that it’s about allowing the word to invoke the Holy Spirit within us, renewing our flame for Christ and encouraging us to carry on fighting for our Lord. The spiritual battles wage on every day and night, and we are caught in the middle. We are soldiers on the front line and we must understand what’s at stake. Christ is destined to win the war, but nothing is written about you and I. We fight on the front line and we choose what side to fight for. There will be casualties along the way. We must pray with our might, give thanks to God for each and every one of our blessings, and always ask for guidance. When we become weary of the race, we see reminder in Ephesians 6:18-20“18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” We as Christians must remember to wear our chains as a badge of honor. As Paul’s wordplay is not lost here, the Greek word used means a prisoner’s shackles, however, during that time ambassadors wore a gold adornment around the neck and wrists as a symbol of riches, power, and dignity of the government for which they represented. Paul I believe is speaking of course that he is in prison and he wears his shackles with pride as he’s in prison because of his teaching of Christ. He’s proud and through the entire walk with the Lord and everything he endured in the name of Christ, he found peace in the end that he writes to Timothy. 2 Timothy 4:7“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Will you keep the faith in all you do? Will you remember what it is you’re fighting for? If you’re not fighting for the Lord, you may need to adjust your focus.

 

 

They Did WHAT On The Roof?

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They Did WHAT On The Roof?

Have you ever been given advice and without a moment to think about it, you decided it was a great idea? Well, as far as bad ideas go, rooftop orgies are probably not the greatest ideas you could have. Oh yes, we’re going to be talking about sex and spies, and lies, and wickedness of the heart in today’s post. We’ve been discussing the impact of choices, and how the outcome will be a result of what you’ve put in. Reaping and sewing your crop, sort of speak. 2 Samuel 16:15-23 (NIV) “15 Meanwhile, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel was with him. 16 Then Hushai the Arkite, David’s confidant, went to Absalom and said to him, “Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17 Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the love you show your friend? If he’s your friend, why didn’t you go with him?” 18 Hushai said to Absalom, “No, the one chosen by the Lord, by these people, and by all the men of Israel—his I will be, and I will remain with him. 19 Furthermore, whom should I serve? Should I not serve the son? Just as I served your father, so I will serve you.” 20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?” 21 Ahithophel answered, “Sleep with your father’s concubines whom he left to take care of the palace. Then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself obnoxious to your father, and the hands of everyone with you will be more resolute.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, and he slept with his father’s concubines in the sight of all Israel. 23 Now in those days the advice Ahithophelgave was like that of one who inquires of God. That was how both David and Absalom regarded all of Ahithophel’s advice.” As far as bad ideas goes, when a man tells another man in power, ‘hey, lets go have a giant orgy on the roof,’ well, I think it’s pretty easy to see where Absolom went wrong. Now, lets look at who Ahithophel is, he is the Grandfather of Bathsheba. That’s right folks, the woman that David raped and then had her husband killed to hide his own sin. Sin is never just a consequence we face, but if we aren’t careful generations after us. I will say this, it’s never a good idea to go outside the with of God when it comes to sex. We all sin, and while I’m not going condemn anyone for having premarital sex, or any other sexual exploits, what I will say is, it’s still sin, and while it’s on equal footing as any other sin, we must still realize those choices are living in sin. While we as people might say a rooftop orgy with your fathers mistresses is just plain wrong, and we’d deem that worse then a monogamous partner engaged in premarital sex, they are actually on the same level. Sin, is now, it was, and always shall be, equal at the foot of the cross.

I want to ask everyone a question. When you’re at a crossroads do you do what’s good, or what’s God? Let me explain what I mean. We often make decisions about what’s good for us, or what we feel good about. How often do we make choices based on what scripture tells us is the right way to go? What’s even worse is when we get advice from others and their advice leads us down a sinful path. To add one more level to the horrible nature of such a path that Absolom took was, Ahithophel’s advice was based on revenge, thus tainting the decision even further. This motive was based on revenge not justice. In the movie Batman: Son of Batman (Spoilers Ahead), we see a small Damian Wayne taken from a broken League of Assassins and placed with his father Bruce Wayne AKA Batman for protection. Batman decides to try and teach discipline to his son whom he had just learned existed. His entire life Damian was taught that there is no mercy towards the wicked. Damian was taught that vengeance was the same as justice. “You don’t seek justice. You seek vengeance. They’re not the same.” (Son of Batman) Vengeance is about making yourself feel better, while Justice is about seeking harmony. When you allow your decisions to be made through negative emotions bad things are sure to follow. Even some positive emotional decision can be sinful, so in all things we need to be turning to God and ‘ask does “_____” please God?’

When you get to a crossroads in your life do you have a process you go through to determine what choices you may have, and narrow down which choice would be the most pleasing to God? It’s important and scripture that we surround ourselves with good Godly people to help us with big decisions in our life. It’s also important that those friends, that counsel will tell you the truth not what you want to hear. You must also be willing to listen to that advice without getting upset by it. It’s not always easy listening to advice telling you to do the opposite of what you want, but God puts people in our life for a reason, and at the same token the Devil will put people in our life also to tempt us in Sin. We must be able to discern the difference. Also, don’t be the type of person people are afraid of to be honest with you.

The problem with powerful people is when the advice comes from someone with significant pull among the people. Ahithophel’s advice was on equal footing as scripture. When he spoke people listened assuming his advice would be from God. The lesson to take away from this is even people who were once Godly people fall. We are all human, and as scripture points out, Psalm 146:3 “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.”  There’s a line in The Dark Knight “You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain” I think the big take away from this line is even good people, great people will fall and fail sometimes. It’s not possible for us to make the right decision every day, all day. We are sinful people, driven by sin nature, and we will make mistakes. If we expect perfection from others, we are the ones who will be let down. Psalm 118:8 “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” Jesus Christ in the refuge we must seek. Scripture is the best guide we could ever ask for. While we may need help with our path, by seeking other Godly people to help us work through the facts of our life and working through scripture to seek our answers.

It’s not easy sometimes walking the righteous path, but it’s always what’s right. Whenever you get the advice to do something you know is wrong, follow Romans 12:21“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Sin is evil, and it’s not just murder, or adultery, or lying, or stealing, sin is everywhere. We must grow beyond and trust that the road in Christ will be turbulent, it will be painful at times, but the road to be super isn’t without it’s challenges. We are royalty in our Lord and Saviors blood. We are heirs to heaven and therefore we need to be better with how we live our life. No one is responsible for our actions no matter the advice we take from others. We will always be responsible for ourselves. One last point I’d like to make about following the advice given from ungodly sources is those in positions where they take orders from other people. In the months proceeding the end of WWII countless soldiers from the lowest rank all the way up to the generals claimed they were ‘just following orders.” Following the orders of someone above you to do things that are illegal, or immoral, never excuses you for your actions. We are our own men and women and we will always be responsible for only ourselves. When you find yourself at the foot of the cross no matter of excuses, or blame elsewhere will ever make you right with God. We will all answer for our sins, every last one of them, and if we think passing the buck is going to win you any favor with our Lord and Savior, you are completely wrong. I envision someone kneeling at the foot of the cross trying to enter Heaven and giving a good story to the Lord about why they aren’t responsible. Across from them is Jesus and he replies “Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong.” (Luke Skywalker)

 

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You Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?

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You Wanna Know How I Got These Scars?

Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed the scars you have? I have scars I see every day when I look in the mirror. My body is covered with scars from years of unfortunate accidents, injuries, and just a result of a rough life. I don’t just see the physical scars in the mirror but the emotional ones also. I was told recently that the traumas and trials I’ve faced are enough for maybe 3 peoples lifetimes. I had never really thought about it like that before. All I think about is how horrible it’s been sometimes, if I think about them at all. One of the things I was very good at was not dealing with my emotional pain. I tried to bury it and run away forgetting where I put it. Sadly, when it comes to grief and pain, you can’t outrun it. What you bury will come back to haunt you, and it’s usually pretty angry when it does. I recently wrote a blog post talking about running from grief. https://thearrowpreacher.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/man-on-the-run/ I won’t be rehashing an old topic. Instead in this post, I’ll be discussing how to use those scars to your advantage.

In 34 ish years I’ve seen a lot of things, and I’ve been to a lot of places. I’ve seen the world from the 3rdworldview, and I’ve seen the world from a luxury hotel downtown Chicago. No matter where I’ve gone one thing has been certain, the Holy Spirit has been right there with me the whole time. From the age of a little kid I have felt the Holy Spirit with me. I have moved through life feeling the Holy Spirit, yet running from an obvious calling within my life. Most of my life I have felt as if something were missing. I have felt a sense of lacking and never quite feeling useful. I have lacked purpose in my life. I thought my purpose was to be a good friend, a good husband, but although in my biased opinion, I am a good friend, and I am a good husband, or more accurately was a good husband, I now realize something new. For each scar I have a story. Each story is a chance to reach out to someone in need. Purpose will always be, where God is sending you. Today, I sit here thinking about each one of my scars mental and physical, and I have slowly started to realize what the purpose after all these years may have been.

When I think back to a man with scars I am reminded of the Apostle Paul. He suffered a great deal of physical torment throughout his ministry. Through the book of Acts you see Paul’s struggles. You see him get beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, hunted, imprisoned, and yet as he talks about how far he’s come. Galatians 6:17“17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” I for one cannot imagine the pain he must have been in every day. In a time where most serious injuries would likely cripple or kill someone, he managed to keep going despite his injuries. It wasn’t as if they could go to the nearest CVS or Walmart and get Tylenol. Not being able to set broken bones, or take anti inflammatory, or even penicillin must have made healing very difficult. Here’s a man that literally took beatings and  torture for God, never once throwing up his hands and saying, ‘Nope, I made it all up, Jesus was a nobody.’ Even till Paul’s dying day, scars and all, he maintained his position that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the truth the way the light. His scars were his testimony and what a testimony he had! I have spent a lifetime wondering why I’ve been through so much. I’ve often sat in the dark, yelling to God to answer my questions. After 34 years I may have finally gotten the answer I have been waiting for.

When you pick up your cross you will find persecution. In persecutions you will find both physical and emotional scars are part of the journey. Scars are sometimes badges of honor when we are a blessing to Jesus. Our scars are a reminder of where we’ve been, and a lesion learned no matter what caused the scar. Sometimes a scar is gained by playing with friends. Sometimes a scar is from someone doing unspeakable things to you. No matter where your scars are from, either good or bad, we can always take away some kind of lesson. I’ve seen many people after a trauma turn cold and bitter towards the people around them. I can’t say I’m innocent either. I have become angry when I’ve been hurt. I’ve seen people destroy lives, destroy families after suffering from loss. We will always have scars, but as a sword in the fire, we will either become brittle and break, or become strong and sharp. True courage is to face the pain, and face the troubled waters with honor and dignity and above all else, faith that God will use that pain for good, not for more suffering.

I have scars from surgeries, everything from knee, to hernia, to tonsillectomy, to cervical spine fusion, and more. I have emotional scars from death, from relationships, from war, and much more. When I look in the mirror I see a man who’s endured much, and yet I still stand. I face the world with hope, and with agape (love) in my heart for those around me. Even as I was going through a horrible divorce with my ex wife, and while there were things said and done that were beyond awful, I stood by her side and endured the pain and hardships. Now after all that time, we are talking, we spend time together, and we have a pretty amazing friendship. All the pain that was endured has allowed me to be there for her, now when she needs it. Living with Christ in your heart, loving deeply and not just what this world considers love anymore, is not an easy venture but God is watching and he will bless you for it. Pain is a hard thing to be stuck with, especially if you don’t know why, and you don’t know what to do with it. But I say to you, there is hope, and there is purpose. You will have to turn to God with love and prayer, and surrender in your heart. You will have to allow God to hold you up, and you will have to surrender over a piece of your self. Jesus Christ can heal your heart if you let Him. Jesus is always with you, and you just need to ask, and accept that without Christ we are nothing, but with Christ we are royalty to paradise. We are all soldiers, and with our scars of battle, we choose to surrender to the Devil, or fight for the throne in Heaven.

I was thinking back to an old post I wrote, and an old Sermon by Dr. David Chambers of my church. Why was our savior brought into this world as a baby? It was so that he would grow, and live among us, so we could relate to Him on a deep intimate level. His life had pain, and losses, and poverty, just like many of us. He survived the baby massacre, and then lost his Dad Joseph early in his life. He would grow to preach and teach God’s word, and when the time came he was tortured horribly, to just an inch of his life, and then he carried a heavy tree for a few miles, just to be placed on that tree and hung for all the world to see. Christ suffered horribly for each and every one of us, so we may one day live to live in eternal salvation. “Living is not for the weak.” (Arrow)It takes great courage to live with pain. It takes courage to find a path where you can use your pain for good rather then evil. How many stories have you seen or heard that started off with the villain saying ‘I was done wrong, so I’m going to make them pay.’ Or something along those lines anyway. Emotional pain is a strong motivator and it can cause good people to do awful things. Every one of us is capable of great things, or completely evil things. When we use our pain to heal from the truth written on those pages in scripture, then we are on the path to enlightenment.

Under the right situations your pain and suffering may be used to inspire and help others. I for one am starting to realize that all my life has been training. All the hardships I’ve faced and it being mostly traumatic incidences has given me the unique perspective to understand the nature of that kind of pain. I understand the pain of loosing a loved one to divorce. I’ve lost people in my life before, but my marriage this time was one of the hardest. The unfortunate event that occurred the day I found out my wife was leaving would forever be a day of great tragedy for me. That fateful day I succumbed to the pain and suffering that I spent so much effort running from. I’m ashamed of myself, and I still have a hard time believing it was me that day, but I have the scar to show for it. Today when I think back at my scars, I think now, how can I help others? How can I help prevent what happened to me, happen to anyone else? As I have been looking into my future since my security job imploded I have been led to believe ministry is my true calling. For years I looked at the ministry to be for someone much smarter, much braver, and much more people friendly. God uses the most unlikely of people sometimes to do His work. I have heard from many in ministry about running from their calling and how miserable their life was the whole time. Ministry is perhaps one of the hardest things to do, with some of the most stress in any job. Ministry comes with some of the most emotional drain out there, but people are genuinely happier, despite the level of stress that comes with.

I realized my traumas have been preparing me to help others get through theirs. Through most of my incidences I didn’t have a therapist, or a chaplain there to help me through. I was left to navigate the minefield, and as it became more and more dense with each passing trauma, I was bound to step on a landmine. When I finally stepped on one, and I ended up in the hospital, I was faced with a fundamental change in my life. It was the beginning of the end of a path I had been on for 7 years of a career, and 32 years of my life. Through it wasn’t easy for me to face facts, eventually, that closure would come from God as my job in security would end abruptly and with finality. I know many of you have endured great pain and suffering, and you can’t see any reason why you were made to suffer. First off let me say that there are a lot of reasons we are hurt. Sin is the most likely for most. Health is next in line. Then lastly personal choice to make bad decisions causes many of our struggles. No matter what flavor of pain you have, know that it is up to you to find a scriptural purpose for it. I have decided that my vast knowledge of all kinds of different pain and trauma makes Christian Crisis Counseling a perfect job for me. I can use my pain and suffering to inspire and guide others through their crucibles. I have chosen to embrace my pain instead of running from it. I have chosen to use my pain instead of burying it. If I can use my experience to help God’s people, it would be a sin not to.

I have run from God’s calling into ministry my whole life, and there’s always been something missing. I’ve always struggled with depression, and even though I’m not perfect and sometimes I still have my bad days, I am driven to continue my growth in the Lord. I pray to God to continue to show me my path, and to give me grace and mercy along the way. I fully expect the Devil to try and break me down during my journey, and any journey towards chaplaincy or pastoral ministry is going to fall under attack by the Devil. If we are going to follow in Christ we must live differently, so we can show others a different way to live. We must be productive in our faith, and not squander our experiences. I think of the things a father teaches a son. A father teaches their child how to treat others, how to be a responsible person, and how to love. They teach them how to do things around the house, how to hunt, and fish, and throw a baseball. But more importantly a Christian father will teach their kids, rather train their kids to be in Christ. I didn’t have a father growing up and I missed out on a lot of important lesions and experiences, but now I look to my Heavenly father for guidance and love, and approval. I have hidden behind my scars for so long, now I have to learn to embrace them and use them to help others. It won’t be an easy road, and I suspect there will be days when I will feel the weight of my decisions, but as Paul said to Timothy, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. I too shall join that fight in ministry as I start my path to chaplaincy, and God willing maybe more.

There are days when my scars hurt, but I know God won’t ever leave me, He won’t ever forsake me, and I know now, my scars were not in vein. We must learn to see beyond our own pain, and trust that in all things we go through God is working it out so we may find peace, not sorrow. We live in a fallen world so pain and trials will come, but we don’t have to let it destroy us. I challenge each and every one of you to go out there and find your purpose in Gods plan. It’s likely your scars are for a purpose and that you can use them for good. Your scars can give you strength and understanding in areas perhaps others cannot. I challenge you to stop running from God and embrace your gifts and your life experiences. Pass on what you have learned, and remember failure is the greatest teacher you will ever have. Use your failures to help others see. Never give up on yourself because Christ wont’ ever give up on you.

 

 

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Bullies

thearrowpreacher6 Comments

Bullies

Sometimes in life you will encounter a person in power and they will be more or less a bully. I’ve been in situations where I’ve had bosses or supervisors that no matter what I’ve done or tried to do, nothing was ever good enough. I think we’ve all encountered people in our professional lives that just made the work experience near unbearable. A friend recently told me, “you don’t quit jobs, you quit managers.” I had never thought of leaving a job like that before. When I put a little thought into it, I realize that most of the time when I have not liked a job, it turned out to be the boss that made it the worst.

The Devil is a bully. He will push you, lie to you, and attempt to break you. The Devil hates you for all that you are. Isn’t it wonderful though that we have a God that loves us for who we are? We never have to work for that love. We’re not judged with how much we work, or how many brownie points we can get. God is fully aware of what’s in our heart and our motives. It’s the love that matters.

When you encounter a bully in your life there are millions of ways people will tell you to handle them. In my own life I have heard the, ‘just ignore them.’ Advice. I have heard the, ‘make fun of yourself right along with the bully,’. I have heard ‘stand up for yourself, by any means necessary.’ While each one of these is very popular, I would suggest turning to the bible to find your true good advice Matthew 5:43-48“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers,[a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We cannot allow ourselves to loose sight of God. We must not allow ourselves to succumb to the darkness. Anger, and hate lead to the dark side. We must stand firm. We must never loose control in anger. 2 Timothy 1:7“7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

It’s easy to get wrapped up in our anger and that anger can blind us to the path that’s best for us. That anger and rage that can bubble up from years of torment, or physiological torture, can be hard to control. We must never set out to find our own vengeance though. Violence always begets violence. We cannot expect to change the world by physical means. Romans 12:19-20 “19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it[a] to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” If your bully attacks you, ask if you can pray for them. If they attack you, ask if everything’s okay at home. Bullies often have misguided anger or rage. Do not hate the bully nor pass judgment upon them. We never know someone’s circumstances, and while it never excuses their actions, it may provide some incite. Generally, hurting people hurt others. We cannot allow ourselves to let our tormentors to breach our heart with hate. We must not allow hate to take route in our souls. 1 John 2:9 “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.”

We must stand firm on love. Let love be our war cry and in everything we do, and everything we experience trust in the Lord to save you, and pull you through. Psalm 18:3 I ” call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” We have to trust in the Lord to deliver us from evil. There will always be bullies for as long as there is anger and hate in this world. Bullies feel the need to be in power. Bullies feel the need to be in control and those in control often feel they have to force their subordinates into submission. Matthew 5:38-41“I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies.” The bullies we have will beat you and hurt you emotionally. They will continue to try to break you down and look forward to seeing you breaking.

We have all encountered these people in our lives. Many have experienced bullying in school, and some in the adult world. Those difficult people are everywhere and in our struggle we must pray to be delivered from the hands of the enemy. Psalm 82:4 “Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” No matter the trials that befall you, you get back up and never let your own worth reside by the hands of your enemies. We must remain strong, and trust that we are worth more then what others can make us feel. Proverbs 24:16“for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.” We must always get back up. We know that for every fall we rise in strength, and we can be stronger then before if we learn a lesion with each fall. Finally I will say do not attack your attacker. We must learn and I must reiterate the importance to not attack your attacker. I am not saying do not defend yourself in the event there is a physical altercation, but what I am saying is never attack out of anger. If you are being physically assaulted you should leave that situation and find help, or defend yourself and at the first chance remove yourself from your situation and again go find help. Stand firm in your faith and with love and compassion live your life. 1 Peter 3:8-9“8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.”