Month: April 2024

Just a quick note:

If there are orphans or needy children without a full-fledged ministry, I do NOT accept. I am poor, and unable to contribute anything except for prayers. Every picture I see breaks my heart that I can NOT help. It is NOT productive for me to be friends with ministries that cause such despair, and it takes an enormous amount of effort to deal with all the requests for money.

I also reject all requests for friends that have sexual content. I want friends that can control the lusts that are placed on their pages.

I reject most requests for friends by the “posers.” Thats the requesters that pose with many “fine” clothing outfits and try to look the part of rich or cool or suave. Just not interested.

I reject all requests for those that tell me I am beautiful or offer marriage proposals. I am taken, happy, and NOT interested!

I reject all spammers that I can figure out.

And I HATE those “fatty” advertisements of poor women advertising diet stuff so money can be made at their expense. Reject them almost immediately.

The ones I accept are those that have obvious reference to Christ, and an active Facebook account with words of encouragement, teachings, praise, or goodness that can help elevate me as I write the things of God on my pages.

Everyone can follow me! But, I’m becoming more and more selective of who can be my friends. If I reject your offer of friendship, please don’t take it personally. I get thousands of requests, and I want to make certain I choose those that will help me and others best in this journey together.

Years ago, I was walking in Tokyo’s Ueno Park, and a dead man lay upon the sidewalk. Apparently deceased, with rigor mortis setting his joints solidly, the view was surreal as his well-pressed suit arm was raised as if he was reaching out to pedestrians to shake their hands, and to be noticed lying upon the crowded sidewalks. As one walker after another approached the decaying body of the dead, but apparently affluent man, their direction of travel would be diverted slightly with an even slighter glance, and they would walk past him without horror or care. This tender and focused culture shocked me with their indifference to one of their own laying dead upon the sidewalk, and wisely discerning it best to act as the culture I was visiting, I walked on to my destination.

I had ridden the crowded Tokyo subway for one reason…to see the “Mona Lisa” which was on loan to the Ueno Art Museum. Shaken from the shock of a culture’s lack of care toward it’s dead, my emotions were running up and down like a roller coaster by the time I had entered in the museum. As I walked passed the statute of Rodin’s “The Thinker” (either a copy, or maybe also loaned to the museum), I marveled at the Japanese artists that surrounded the statue on all sides, with easels and oils capturing the artist’s views. Every painting was different, and every sketch with a perspective of the artist that changed as I walked the circle.

The crowd began moving toward the gallery where the famed “Mona Lisa” was attached to the center, lit wall of a grand hall. It was the only picture on display, and the lines of people there to see it slowly moved past, stopped often and gave reverence to a surprisingly tiny painting, and the scene reminded me of state funerals of a society’s beloved. More often than not, the stoic Japanese, both men and women, would pause for a moment in front of the picture, and you could see their breath exhale in an escape of extreme moving, and tears would form in their eyes. Anticipation enveloped me as I watched them, and as I approached the painting, I excitedly waited to feel the same thing.

It was my turn to stand in front of the famous painting of the woman who did not smile. Nothing happened. I had no tears, I had no release of extreme pleasure, nor did my soul leap. The painting mattered nothing to me. What mattered to me, is that a dead man was lying upon a sidewalk, and I had walked past him to pleasure myself with a beauty that culture has declared with value. It had no value to me, but the drama of a human life that lay dead on a sidewalk in the busy Tokyo street was valuable to me; and that was where I returned to wait for help to come, and I stood watching and valuing a life that I did not know, but surely must have had value because it was created by my Lord.

I am actually a little ashamed that I didn’t realize my values immediately and stop in the first place. I have all kinds of excuses…I was young, I was in a foreign culture and felt a little lost, excited to reach my destination, and I suspect I probably had a little voice reminding me that “he was dead anyway, what could I do.”

By returning and standing by the body until authorities removed it, I hope I was at least offering contemplation to the value of life. Certainly, the U.S. Embassy and my commanding officers had to consider my values when they got a bill for the burial expenses of the man I had discovered. Apparently, Japanese tradition charges those who last have control of a dead body for burial fees. By me standing over the body in declaration of my values, his value became the United States responsibility.

Regardless of the trouble that came my way, inside my own soul, it made a difference, and I must believe that it made a difference to some passerby, or some military finance officer, or maybe to someone I tell the story to. My love for art continues, and I jump at chances to go to museums. My value for art, however, does not take precedence over my values of Christ, and that was a lesson I learned in the strangest of ways in my young faith, in the busy city of Tokyo.

How do citizens of a powerful nation speak of such high ideals, while at the same turning a blind eye to the lower end of a culture’s spectrum?

If Christians do not start focusing more on the social issues in our country, and start standing up for the homeless, lost, orphans, widows, disabled, and crazy, then we are going to lose ourselves. We can have the greatest works of art produced in our country, the smartest books, and most entertaining movies, but if we don’t start looking at real life and reflecting the impoverished with reality rather than illusion, our culture will one day die a pathetic death. As part of a Christian culture, we must shine the light of Christ to illuminate reality, and make it shine in focus and transparency, so the value of life matters once again.

James 2:1-13
1 ¶ My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: 4 Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? 5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?6 But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?7 Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called?

8 ¶ If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: 9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors. 10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment. (James 2:1-13)

For a hard-working, faithful follower of Christ…STAY AWAY FROM THOSE THAT DO WICKEDNESS!!!

But if you can’t, if you run into the wicked every time you are out there in that awful world, Christ has given us rules of engagement. The Lord Jesus Christ has two important standards that He expects us to meet:

Matthew 5:38–39 (KJV 1900)
38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

1. Jesus says Christians are not to “resist evil” which means to be “hostile toward wickedness.”

2. An “eye for an eye” means you give understanding for understanding. WRONG ACTION! Evil will NOT understand Christians, and Christians will NOT understand them. It is certain to develop into a hostile situation with wicked attacks against you sure to come.

3. A “tooth for a tooth” means you give pain for pain. WRONG ACTION! You can NOT return pain for pain! To do so will develop into a hostile situation with a fight between evil and good.

4. Jesus says to “NOT RESIST EVIL.” To avoid hostility toward wickedness, Christians must not be in the position where they are trying to understand evil or to hurt them as much as it is hurting you. You must not be in the position to cause pain for pain!

5. And if it should develop into a violent situation with evil smiting the Christian on the right cheek, the other cheek should be turned to him. Don’t fight! Be smart. Stay out of the situation from the beginning, and you won’t in all probability be in position to “turn the other cheek.”

6. When you stand “face-to-face” with someone, you are in each other’s presence.

7. If a Christian is FORCED to carry, is PRESSED into service, to go a mile, go extra. Much extra.

Christ wants you to give freely, not to be forced and controlled. Again, if evil is trying to control you, Christ wants their control off you. By going twice as much as they ask for, you are taking control of yourself that is guided by the Holy Spirit, and not being forced to do what evil desires.

Evil is limited. Your effort, supported by the Holy Spirit, is never limited.

It is interesting that this passage is a part of two paragraphs with seemingly different meanings of the treatment of evil. The treatment of evil progresses from Christ’s desire for Christians to “NOT resist evil” that begins the paragraph Matthew 5:38-42 and moves toward “loving your enemies” in the paragraph beginning at Matthew 5:43-48.

It is as if Christ is giving us two Standards. First, don’t let evil control your actions, even if it is done through legal means. Give evil more than what they ask for to avoid giving them control. But then, we move to the heart condition!

Secondly, Christ tells us not only does he not want us wrestling with evil, but he wants us to show them Christ’s love also. It is apparent that just obeying the black-and-white rules of handling evil by giving them more than they request means nothing if our own hearts are not in the mix also. Christ does not want us just to be clever to keep out of the hands of evil. He also wants our hearts righteous and pure while we are doing it! He does not just want us playing a game. He wants us to love our enemy!

Christ’s Standards of Deployment towards evil, is to stay out of the control of the worldly and avoid contact with the enemy. But, if you end up in the presence of evil, don’t show weakness. Don’t give control to the wicked. Generously give more to them than what they ask. And while you are giving it to them, show them honest love from your heart! Let’s look at that verse:

Matthew 5:43–48 (KJV 1900)
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Those two Standards of Christ are His Followers RULES OF ENGAGEMENT. Don’t just read the words. Understand that this approach will be one of the most difficult Standards Christ gives us to carry out perfectly.

If prayer and the Holy Spirit are not guiding my actions, it seems almost impossible for me to comply. But my love for the Lord and obedience to His Standards gives me no wiggle room. Even if it doesn’t feel good to give wickedness so much. Sigh.

Does that feeling of frustration towards wickedness mean that my heart is not fully into walking the journey with Christ or that my human condition cannot ever climb above the horrid actions of the enemy? How do I ever overcome my fervent desire to strike back when the enemy attacks?

And my last question to myself that references something that maybe no one else will understand:

How do I justify my tears when the priest finds the thief in Les Misérables and “buys his soul for God” by giving him even more silver to steal?

Who am I? Who am I? 24601! (A Human Being with Flaws)

Matthew 5:14–16 (KJV 1900)
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Christ’s Standard of Being the Light of the World

1. Followers of Christ are the light of the world.

2. Look at that Greek word for “light.” φωτός (phōtos) is the Greek word that reminds us of “photographs,” right? What do photographs do? They take a picture of the actual image. If the
surroundings are dark, no image can be seen. But, if that photograph is taken in light, the image of the actual person can be seen perfectly.

3. The world lives in darkness. Christians are the light. Light is always seen when darkness surrounds the viewer.

4. Jesus uses the example of a city that is upon a hill cannot be hidden. Once again, those bright lights atop a hill that light the city, the vibrant sounds of people within the city leave no doubt that it exists, and it is there on that hill.

5. The city cannot be kept secret from the world. It shines with the light and cannot be invisible.

6. Christian history records many times about Christians going underground, or into distant monasteries, often for the sake to avoid persecution, poverty, and illness. In today’s world, threat of nuclear war, famine, End Times, the Apocalypse, persecution, war, and the falling of government and nations has caused many, many Christians to seek refuge away from the world. They hide in holes they have dug in the ground, trees that conceal their presence, caves that darken their presence, and fortresses made to hide the Christians when trouble comes. These types of concealment are against the standards of Christ.

7. Christians do NOT light a candle, then hide it inside a container where the light cannot be seen.

8. When men light a candle, they put it in a candlestick holder, where it can shine brightly and give light to all in the house.

9. Jesus says let your light shine! Let that light shine amongst all people so they can see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven! Do NOT hide your light of Christ!

Shine your lights brightly for this upcoming Celebration for the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Whoops. I just popped in for a visit. And I saw the live shot of the best smoke I have ever seen swirling around your head. I heard your “high” talk, and even worried a bit about you getting some fresh air after a few hits. Then I saw you blink, panic, look at the screen several times, with a horror that I will never forget. There is no doubt in my mind that you realized at that moment you were accidently “live” on Facebook, and God Himself had seen you smoking that dope.

It was none of my business. Until God made it my business. I guess I am the chosen one to encourage your walk with Christ.

First, He had me put on part of my testimony so you could see I have a bit of street cred and know what I am talking about.

Then, He sent me to tell you that you are ok. Christ knows every time you mess up; every time you smoke that dope; every time you try to do better and fail; and every time you do good and crawl closer to that cross.

I have seen your confession of faith. I know you believe. I don’t know if you have received the Baptism of Christ and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, but if you have not, find a Christian minister that can help you out. Unless you have the Holy Spirit within your heart, those sins of past cannot be destroyed, and they keep tempting you to partake of the usual stuff you did before.

Contrary to what some pretty Christians think, sinners don’t become righteous overnight upon confession of faith. It takes time for sins to drop away. No sins can be removed unless a strong relationship with Christ and the Holy Spirit are present.

You have Christ confessed. Now let this slip-up go, ask forgiveness of Christ, and move on with your life. Try not to sin again. If you do, repeat those steps. Along the way, as the Holy Spirit and you operate as one, these tendencies to fall backwards will decrease.

I just want you to know that there is NO judgment of your sincere belief in Christ; and there is NO judgment on your bad habits. But someday, when you are a strong and growing Christian, you will remember with horror the day you went live on Facebook, and God saw you take a toke (even though He’s always looking).

Big hugs my fellow traveling friend; I will be praying for you.

When I was a child, I had no value. After I lost the initial benefit of attention-getting cuteness to the parents, life complicated theirs, and my life quickly became of no worth to them. I was the keeper of shame and secrets, certain that revelation would bring separation from the only life I knew. I was right.

When I was a young adult, my worthless nature struggled to be perfect and right and fit in with the normal people of the world. I thought if I could pretend to be alive, that life would come to me and give me a value. If my life was valued equal among the common of the world, then surely I would achieve a peace and happiness that I saw others possess. I played a good game, but in the end, I was merely a worthless actor of no value and no life. And, horror of horrors, what do I do with the sin?

The terrible sins of a lifetime, that had seized my life, controlled me with the force of a wickedness that was unseen but very real. How did I release the grasp of the devil, and prevent the manipulation of minions from ruling my life. I scrubbed and scrubbed in the showers, and peeled my skin away, yet the sin remained firmly rooted upon my body and within it, waiting to rid my sickening, worthless existence forever.

At my lowest point, I had worth without first knowing. The LORD God in his glorious grace called me closer to Him. I don t know why. I was dirty with sin and worth nothing to anyone, yet He called for me to walk toward Him, and I tried. Suddenly, reaching the light of goodness and truth became my only focus; I found that as long as I hoped to reach Him in all His glory, I could ignore the dirtiness and worthlessness of me.

I could read my Bible (but seldom really understood it), and do my good deeds, and pray every day, but it was the same game I played as a young adult. I was trying to fit into the Kingdom of God the same way I fit into the World of Man; by play acting and pretense.

Even with my eyes always searching for the path to reach God, terrible events of life began to crash around me, and my whole world disintegrated before my eyes. I found myself at the lowest point of life, and cried to let that last breath leave me. I was worthless, sinful and lost, and no matter how much I desired, I could not come to Him.

At my darkest night, a strong, faithful Christian woman came to me in the most beautiful blessing given by the LORD God. She told me of her Jesus Christ, which had died for her, and made her clean, and given her the opportunity to walk closer toward Him. Soon I was rushing to the cross, and laying my shame and secrets upon His shoulders, and the blood dripping from his crucified body cleansed me. I was the most downtrodden, most lost, most worthless of sinners, yet His Grace gave me worth, love and life in His sacrifice for me. Praise be to God for His unmerited grace!

I HAD VALUE! I HAD WORTH! I AM A CHILD OF GOD! The path toward the LORD God was made clear to me, and lighted with the light of my Savior Jesus Christ. I no longer would be lost or without love or without hope. I belonged somewhere to Someone who would always love me and protect me and keep me; who would demand my best and expect me to do exactly as He instructed, because I was worth that much to Him!

It was the cross of Jesus, the sacrifice of His life for me, which brought my former life to die with Him. When Jesus Christ resurrected three days later, his risen life brought new life to me. I was born again a new person, clean and worthy in His Kingdom. I will belong eternally to the Kingdom of God, and be loved, wanted and valuable forever, thanks to the sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ, the obedient Son of God. Praise Be to Him!