Freedom, Guns and Jesus

This word was introduced to me by a famous south-american evangelist.

Definition of PENUMBRA

I saw this with my own eyes in Brazil last October.  It was in the paper there, as it apparently is not a very common occurrance.  The strange thing about this is that unlike it’s definition, this phenomena caused the space between the rainbow and the sun to be both darker and clearer than the sky around it.

The sermon described drawing nearer to God  …. (to be continued)

I was trying to figure out how to say no negative positively.  The answer is “positive”.

I will try to convey this concept without going negative, or at least only going negative on the fact that we tend to do so.

I’m increasingly agitated (righteous indignation) when Christians speak negatively about other Christians.  I have become more aware about all negative that flows out of my mouth, and frankly, I’m about done with it.  What does it accomplish?

How you doing?…. Well, OK,  but man, yesterday was rough…. and today I……blah, blah, blah blah.

You know what?  I’m awesome! [doing awesomely that is, but when you broadcast an awesome state, people confuse you with awesome]

If you’re speaking about others negatively, you’re judging.

How simple is that?  How about this one:

Now here’s the frustrating part:  I can’t even complain about the people who judge and are negative!

Imagine a world full of people who not only don’t judge and complain, but who don’t judge and complain about those who do!

My response:  As soon as I’m done lodging this anonymous complaint concerning all the complainers,  I’m going to start being ONLY positive.

I’ve been back from Brasil for one week now, and I must say, going from operating all day in the spiritual and supernatural to the mundane physical existence of “normal” American life–it’s been a bit of a downer.

Learned so much about pulling on the Kingdom to allow miracles to manifest in the lives of those who hope in Christ.  Let’s face it, anyone who lets you pray for them is hoping in Christ!  One of the most memorable teachings I grasped from the recent trip, is to “embrace the mystery”.  Being available for the work of the Kingdom, without presuming, just accepting what does or doesn’t come.  God doesn’t heal after every prayer, but He wants to.  My faith has definitely increased after seeing so many healed, filled with the Holy Spirit, or emotionally healed after praying for them.

Yesterday, I listened to a wonderful teaching by Bill Johnson about operating out of a place of inner rest.  The key is to think on Kingdom (eternal, positive) things rather than just planning out how you expect every physical thing to happen.  When we truly trust God for every outcome, and realize that He can change our direction at any time, then we can be ready for those small moments of opportunity that really matter.

I half blew it the other day:  I was on-time for a 1 pm appointment (driving there), and there was a couple on the side of the road with a sign that said  they needed money for gas.  The guy was holding a 2-gallon gas can.  They were out of money and stuck.  I turned around, picked him up, and got him some gas and gave him the $4 I had in cash on me at the time.  During the ride, he told me about his wife, she was ill and they needed to drive to Costco to get her medication.  I asked if they were saved, (yes).  I told them where I go to church and invited them.  When I dropped him off, the woman was looking at me, and I remember thinking that she had a hungry look–a hopeless look.  I failed to stop, encourage them with words and pray for her healing.

Yes, I got them temporarily un-stuck.  But I missed the greater opportunity, because I was not at rest inside.  I was more concerned about being a couple minutes late to one of my nicest clients who wouldn’t have cared.

This is just a reminder to not only stop, not only help, but to look hard for the opportunity to bless someone, to hand out the Kingdom goods–or to be the “rich uncle” as Bill says.

I’m excited to report that every night and most days on this 10-day mission trip in Brazil, we are seeing miracles.  Not just a few.

The numbers are increasing every day, and for a “missionary” the goal is to be used by God for Kingdom work.  This is really hard for my left brain.

Letting go, not being in control, trusting that nothing is up to me except to obey in the moment–these things have temporarily taken the place of getting business, paying the bills, and checking off the to-do list.

I am happy to report that I was able to pray for several people today, one lame man who could not lift his right foot is now walking and marching, he got some of his speech back, and much movement in his right arm.  I believe he had suffered a pretty serious stroke, but I couldn’t be sure because we were short on translators, and then when I got one (after the healing in his leg and arm) that was when I found out that he couldn’t speak.  He was very happy, kept giving me two thumbs up and was speaking intelligibly to the translators when I was done, and yet I still wonder why not TOTAL healing?  (I’m just being honest.)  He was brought to me in a chair (OMG).  I prayed for him for about 15 min, and saw no results, exept for the slight unfolding of an atrophied hand.  Then I got mad in my spirit, and just decided that something was going to get done.  I put my hands under his armpits and picked him out of the chair, and told him to stand, by the power of Jesus.  He did.  I probably prayed for him for half an hour, and there was steady improvement up to a point.  Glory to God.

How many times do we (like that man did) give God glory for getting part of what we want?  I choose to.  This day, I thank God for letting me get as far as I have, with my family, my health, my wealth, my spiritual process, and my perspective.

Just a quick correction.  Since my last post, the IMF has  been the focal point of at least 3 articles a week in the World News section of BBC news,  CNN or Fox, which are the news posts I monitor.  It’s almost like they are trying to gain trust, through familiarity.  So they’re NOW in the news…regularly.

An exerpt from the International Monetary Fund. More on this when I have time.
http://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2010/041310a.pdf

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND
Reserve Accumulation and International Monetary Stability:
Supplementary Information
Prepared by the Strategy, Policy and Review Department
In collaboration with the Finance, Legal, Monetary and Capital Markets, Research and
Statistics Departments, and consultation with the Area Departments
Approved by Reza Moghadam
April 13, 2010

V. A GLOBAL CURRENCY: INSTITUTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
7
1. Institutional underpinnings. Setting up a bancor-based system requires resolving technical and governance challenges related to the creation of a global central bank with a clear policy objectives and instruments, along with a financial and governance structure that ensure its credibility and legitimacy. These challenges are described below. A key hurdle is political, although that applies to all other solutions for systemic reform.
 Global central bank. The global central bank that issues bancor would need to earn a very strong reputation and credibility. Appropriate rules and governance are essential, and the bank should have a strong balance sheet. Members would need to pledge to back up the liabilities of the bank and annually cover any losses incurred in its operations. Such credibility could be bolstered by capital subscriptions from member countries at a level that ensures the highest possible credit rating (“AAA”). Member subscriptions could be similar to IMF quotas and determined by a transparent formula that reflects relative weight in the global economy. Profits (and seigniorage) could be distributed to members according to the capital subscriptions.
 Policy objective. Issuance of bancor, or more generally the implementation of monetary policy, could be targeted towards stabilizing the price of a representative basket of goods and services (and perhaps assets). An international standard basket
could be defined, with weights on the baskets of different countries on the basis of their respective GDPs. The stable value of bancor would be defined in terms of this international basket.
 Instruments. The central bank would conduct market operations, buying and selling bancor-denominated securities issued by member governments, in exchange for bancor issuances and bancor-denominated deposits at the central bank. These
operations could be distributed across markets, perhaps in proportion to countries’ economic and financial weights. The amount of operations by market would be determined by the overall objectives and fined tuned with experience, with due
consideration to balancing the trade-off between ensuring adequate liquidity provision, including in times of stress, and maintaining the store of value of bancor.
 Governance. The governing body of the central bank would be made up of representatives of national governments or central banks, whose voting shares reflect the shares of their economies in global GDP, trade, and finance, as well as the
domestic usage of bancors (since those with relatively more bancor usage would want to have a greater say). These shares would need to be adjusted periodically for differential growth. Representatives should have strong monetary policy credentials,
and the governance structure designed to protect the bank’s operational decisions from political influence and maintain credibility. Accountability structures of the bank to its membership would also need to be put in place.
 Transition to bancor-based system. A fiat declaring sole use of bancor in member countries, particularly systemically important ones, would launch the bancor-based system once the above technical and governance matters are resolved. In its absence, however, sustained public sector support for enhancing bancor’s use will be necessary akin to the proposals outlined in the SDR system above, until such time a critical mass of bancor and bancor-denominated securities is achieved. Alternatively, a transition from an SDR-based system could be envisaged, with eventual conversion of SDRs to bancor.

I was going to title this post, “A Lesson from the Suction Cup”.  But I was discussing my sense of humor as well as long titles with a friend, and was reminded that less is more… not to mention that most people just wouldn’t get it.  But now I have you “hooked”, so here you go:

I’m in the shower this morning, and I reach for the scrubby thing.  As I take it off the hook, I notice that the suction cup holding the hook needs a little press (again) to make sure it’s still there and not on the floor the next time I get in the shower.

Sometimes, I feel like that suction cup-hook-thing.  It’s small, transparent and reliable.  People depend on it to be there, and to faithfully do…whatever:  hold a scrubby thing… fix a computer, bring home the bacon, pray with a troubled person, help with a move, a yard sale, pick up cigarette butts, it doesn’t really matter.  But like that little thing, I need an occasional touch, just a little push to help me with staying power, to say “I notice you, you’re doing a good job, hang in there.”  After all, a suction cup holding on to slick glass in the midst of water, soap, conditioner, not to mention the constant sucking…. get air in there and off you go–on the floor again.

19 times in the New Testament (NLV) the Word tells us to Encourage one another.  I think this one is my favorite:

Romans 1:12 When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours.

“The Church has not taught us properly, but much of what she has taught us is proper.” – Christian

Definitions of PROPER (1-3 not applicable)

I sat through a re-run of the sermon that prompted me to write the Inheritance post a while back.  It was interesting though, this time my pastor told a story of a man who was radically saved from addictions and wild living, got straightened out, fell back into sin, and then was offered a chance to come clean again, to which he replied, “I don’t know if I want to do that”.  A week later he died, and another believer commented to the pastor, “The Lord showed me that he took ____ to save him”.  The pastor’s comment was, “I don’t know what you do with that in your theology!?”

Isn’t it clear?  If the flesh (being that person’s soul in that lifetime) sometimes cannot be restored, his soul will still be saved! How do I know?  Because the blood of my Jesus paid it all, the Word says so.

Remember (take the verse in context) that this is referring to a believer, lest one should misconstrue this to mean that all souls go to heaven.

Notice that the lifestyle does not call into question the sinners’ salvation, as so many Christians often do.  I am listing below several verses that show that believers fall and can in fact be “destroyed”… but don’t think that just because the enemy wins a few battles that salvation is lost. Because I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow–not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.

Conclusion:

Live a holy life out of love for your Creator, gratefulness to your Redeemer, and respect for the Counselor. Not for fear of destruction, judgment, or ex-communication.  Don’t call sin OK.  Sin is sin.  The Bible still tells us to let no unwholesome talk come out of our mouths, that beer is not for kings, and that we shouldn’t cause others to sin.  Yes, we need to rid the church of those in intentional disobedience, deceit and those who pridefully refuse to repent, but for Pete’s sake (remember Peter, the guy who said he’d never disown Christ and wept bitterly at the rooster’s crow?) can we focus on the good that we can do instead of the bad that we do-do (get it… doodoo).

I have included the verses below to show that this post is not an argument to keep on sinning, nor an excuse for sin.  In fact, to keep on sinning you would certainly cause others to sin as a natural consequence.  When the Bible says something three times, we should look at it carefully:

Now I ask, what’s “better” about being drowned?  Come on now!  Again, if you think it through, the destruction of our life here on Earth can not be “better” unless our soul is saved in the end!

What happens when a trusted person is found out to be unfaithful? I guess that depends on your perspective.  Normally, betrayal leaves us angry, hurt, bitter, and less likely to trust again.

I have children.  I expect them to be children.  I’m not shocked when they lie, cheat or disobey– they are children, and that’s what children do.  Of course the action needs to be corrected, discipline (consequences) applied, and then there is a loving restoration of the relationship, where trust is earned back over time.

Adult humans sin.  Surprised?  You shouldn’t be.  When a trusted adult is caught in unfaithfulness, sinful activity, or some other butt-headed behavior, you have a choice on how you react.  A wise man once said, “be the rock that the wave breaks upon”.  I have seen people fall apart, remain angry and hurt and worse, due to the sin of another adult.  It seems to me that if this is the case, that too much trust was placed in the individual who did the hurting.

Codependency (or co-dependence, co-narcissism or inverted narcissism) is a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively care-taking ways that negatively impact one’s relationships and quality of life.

We need to be careful not to depend on another human to fill needs that God himself should be filling.

How long does it take to repent? This is a heart-action that cannot be judged.

How long does it take to forgive? Does it depend on how bad the hurt is?

Every sin was paid for through and at the time of the passion of Christ.

When my daughter “sins”, our relationship is not broken.  She is still my daughter, I am simply waiting for her apology, in other words, for  her to repent.  Then the love and forgiveness that was ALREADY THERE (before the action) immediately begins to restore trust.  Lessons have been learned, and there will be more trials in the future, if we continue to have a relationship.

Don’t waste time being hurt by the actions of another.  Their process carries enough shame and guilt to out-weigh your pain.  If you gave them the best years of your life, they already owe you.  When you give them the power to cause you additional pain, you join in their process in an unhealthy way, and you have your own process to attend to.  If you’re angry, its probably because you didn’t see it coming.  If you missed the signs along the way, then most likely, you’re really angry at yourself for being so blind and vulnerable.

Two nights ago, I deleted my Angry Birds in Rio app from my Droid…. Well, it was actually 5 am.

I spent much of the next sleepy day wondering what made that game so addicting, and why I would keep on trying to get to the next level.

I also spent two hours in a park, meditating with my eyes closed, seeing images of things falling, crashing… just one more monkey…

(hang on, I’ll get there in a minute)  A few weeks ago, I watched a documentary on dreams.  It seems that after running a maze for several days, a rat will actually run the maze during the REM phase of his sleep (I’m serious, they actually wired this little rat’s brain and mapped it out on a visual computer screen!)  It seems that during the sleep I missed while playing Angry Birds in Rio, I should have been trying to work out the events of my life, learning how to do it better the following day, a form of virtual life experience if you will.  I beat the system–I learned more from Angry Birds.

Anger:  A very motivating force.  What else will get you to try, try again to lob little kamikaze birds into rocks, bricks, boards, metal cages and vicious vampire monkeys?  There are always way too many birds to free or monkeys to kill, and you have to keep getting better at it to get to the next level.

Strategy:  You only have a small number of birds to use as bombs, bullets, etc. (how sick is that?)  Throw in obstacles–some moving, all falling, some that will rearrange to make a stronger barrier; so it is mentally stimulating to figure out exactly where the bird has to hit the pile of stuff to cause one of three events:

(Motivation:) …Free a bird (a truly noble cause), damage as much stuff as you can to drive your score up, or kill a monkey.  If you think about it, it appeals to  good (promote freedom), neutral (raise the score), and evil (KILL those damn monkeys) desires in our psyche.

The Slippery Slope:  I find it interesting that the first level was all about freeing trapped little innocent birds.  The second level was about killing vampire monkeys.  I didn’t play long enough to find out what was next for fear of having to bust through a moral barrier (not to mention the need for sleep.)

There is no such thing as a mindless game (, activity, relationship, career, etc.).  When we are not smart enough to keep from getting sucked into activities like Angry Birds (or Facebook), we need to consider who or what we are using as ammunition, what is our true motivation, and whether the reward is worthy of  what we will need to sacrifice or compromise to attain it.