Here’s a statement that I take to be true. My wife says I talk too much sometimes. I tell too much, too. My contention is that in sharing what I feel, I reveal myself in a way that connects with others who may be experiencing similar thoughts and situations. It’s to let others know they are not alone in their daily motions. As a Chaplain, I’ve learned how easily it is to talk to people. When I was growing up, I was very shy until I got to know someone.
In an earlier time in school, my class had a play that involved singing. I was asked to sing a song to my girlfriend at the time. It was the 7th grade. There was no way I was going to do that. It really hurt me that another guy in the class did it in my place. Fear of crowds was not something I would overcome for several more years.
I failed U.S. History and English in high school because I was deathly afraid of standing in front of a class and giving an oral report from an assignment in history class. Mr. Ragland graded them for content. Then he turned all the oral reports over to the English teacher, most likely Mrs. Galloway. She graded them for composition. Since I didn’t write the report, I failed on both counts.
Moving on to my late 20s, I knew I was to become a minister. I was asked to minister one Sunday evening. I was determined to do it, but fear was prevalent. Before the service, I was in the prayer room with others. While praying, God spoke to me. He stated to me that He knew I was good in one-on-one conversations. I had to agree that it was so. He then said something that made me laugh. He said when I go out there and stand in front of everyone, that I should remember that all those people comprise the body of Christ as one man. In essence, I was in a one-on-one conversation. From that statement, I walked into the sanctuary and ministered for almost an hour. The title of my message was God Is Building a House. I’ll never forget it. I’ve never been afraid of standing in front of people since that night.
Perhaps this may help someone, perhaps not. Just know that something paralyzing to me may be something someone else can overcome, from what I learned. I think a good bit of my fear was lost by knowing that when God speaks to me it gives me the boldness to repeat it to others. It matters not if it’s one person or a hundred people.
I’ve had people tell me after I have spoken at times that I should have said it this way or that or added something that sparked in them. The point is it doesn’t matter. What they are telling me is that they saw another facet or God spoke to them personally about something I said that was meant for them to consider for themselves. That is the endpoint of my having said what I said. Then I know someone was listening and got an expansion on what they heard. Good for them. Now I have no fear to speak. Now I understand.
I dream like many others. Sometimes I remember them. Sometimes I don’t. This morning was a “remembering” morning.
I got up. I went to my recliner and leaned back. I prayed with sadness. I was dreaming about a family that once was. The husband is gone from this earth. The wife is not well. Of that, I’m sure, although I have no direct knowledge of her status. I know many years ago, a healthy, younger woman she was injured in a horrendous accident that disfigured her and left her with brain damage that followed her from then on. They had two sons and a daughter. They faced overwhelming challenges, and they never overcame them. They gradually sank into the background of life, at least from the church family that once lauded them.
I saw them only once after their exile. At that time, they still held themselves together despite all that happened. In the time since I realized they were not totally at fault for their fall. Those who shunned them hold part of the blame.
I’m not into bashing. Life doesn’t always deal a good hand. They got a bad hand.
As for me, I cannot put myself above the fray. I fell from grace as well. I went into darkness for a period of time. God brought me out of it and put me back on solid ground, and I will never let that experience pull me back down. I don’t know what would have happened had I not been surrounded by all my new friends and my second wife. I firmly believe that had I not had this happen, I would have been gone a long time ago myself. God gave me a new future with a renewed calling. I only wish this could have been their portion as well.
When I was young, I lived in a small area of the county that was not near any towns, except the small town nearby. Everyone knew everyone, and most were related in some sort of way.
The Ku Klux Klan was a big organization, and all of the members were Democrats. I saw crosses burning in yards. I went to KKK rallies where they burned crosses as big as power poles with a large number of attendees. I remember standing in a group of men, including my dad. I told them I could not wait to join the Klan. They all would pat me on the back and tell me I could when I got old enough. At that time, it felt good.
Democrats have always tried to control the black population, and they still do. They just changed their tactics. Back then, in the 60s, it was fielded with such names as governors George Wallace, Orvil Faubus, and others. They were determined to maintain segregation. Controlling this group of people with fancy programs was the Democrats’ way of conjuring up votes so they could maintain power. Democrats are a new breed today, but they still maintain the same principle of gaining control, no matter the method.
Now it is illegal aliens. and people from other countries who have no intent to assimilate into our ways. These imported illegals (some naturalized, but have violated their oath of citizenship, which should earn a revocation and deportation) are only here to bolster Democratic power. These are Democrats in name only. Their proper name should be Democratic Socialist commonly known as Communists.
If this nation does not stand up now and front a program of deportation and destruction of the Communist ideology, we will no longer be a nation much longer. The common citizens of this country needs to wake up and gather together to form a more perfect union, or there will no longer be a union to gather to.
Biopsies. It’s a simple word. But behind that word comes a story of something happening in the body that doctors want to be more definitive about. It can be ominous or it can be benign. Have you ever had one?
I did today. My third prostate biopsy was performed early this morning. I’ve had two others. The first one was negative for cancer. Then the summer of 2024 I had a TURP done. That’s a term for rotor rooting the prostate to allow for better urine flow. Why would I share such a thing? Well, it is something I’m open about because I worked in a military hospital for almost thirty years and I saw a lot. In all that time I found a lot of people were not knowledgeable about their bodies and what happens when medical intervention is required. So, I will use myself as an example.
After the TURP the prostate tissue was examined and found to have cancer in it. That was over a year ago now. The doc told me on a scale of one to five this type of cancer is a one. It is the type that can take up to ten years to develop into something serious. So for the time being in lieu of treatment he felt nothing more that monitoring was the best course to take. So today was my third biopsy.
They prepping required an enema before going in for the procedure and I was to take two Valium two hours prior and one hour prior and then they would administer a local. The local consisted of lidocaine. It is uncomfortable to say the least, but not so much painful. It was done in a matter of minutes and I was released without complications back to normal daily functions.
With it being Veteran’s Day my wife and I went to IHOP for breakfast since I had not eaten. Veteran’s and their wives got a free breakfast with a short stack of pancakes. The only thing I had to pay for was our coffee. We enjoyed it and went about our way to go home. The procedure was done in another town 38 miles away and I was not fit to drive, so I laid my head back and went in and out of a nap. We were home in no time it seems. However, when we got home the lidocaine was wearing off and my backside was starting to hurt. I was still kind of out of it from the meds, so I went directly to bed and slept for about an hour, but the pain woke me up. I went to my recliner and rejoined my nap and when I woke up this time the pain was subsiding. The previous two times I’d had this done I don’t remember this kind of reaction.
So here I sit now, relatively in little pain. I am still quite drained from the meds early on, so I’m ready for bed. I have an early start in the morning. Fortunately, I work about three hours at a time in the morning and afternoon, so I will get to come home and rest some in between till the afternoon when I go back for about another three hours. I drive a school bus. This procedure was the worst of the three I’ve had done. I don’t think I will like the idea of it being done again in another year, but it’s a necessity to keep things in check.
There will not be a perfect “government” till the Kingdom of God is fully established. Understand something. It’s a Kingdom, not a democratic republic, dictatorial or any other form of government.
It will be when the subjects have fully committed their lives to the King. The selfish nature of man will have to die and align with the mind of Christ. It will have to become a “want to”, not a “have to”. Every day that I wake up, I become more accustomed to the idea that God is above all and knows what’s best for me, and I have crossed a line from my selfish self to allowing God to take over because I have begun to realize He knows what’s best for me. That, my friends, takes a load off of me trying to figure out how to forge ahead on my own steam.
I look back at all He has done for me over my lifetime and realize He’s been orchestrating every turn I’ve made despite myself. So why should I fight against His will for me? If we all come to this point and surrender entirely to His will for us and let Him take the helm, we will see evil disappear. It is really happening on Earth now. The major news networks don’t see this happening. His coming is in motion even now. I see it. Do you? Even as evil raises its head, God raises His even more.
Friends, as Acts 1:10-11 states: They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” I don’t know when, nor do I predict. I just know He is already here in spirit and also coming again physically, as the scripture states. There’s nothing secret about it.
This is a long post, but worth reading to those with questions about their salvation.
The pastor posed a statement this morning at the end of his message that simply saying the sinner’s prayer and saying you’re saved doesn’t necessarily equate to a defining moment in one’s salvation. I have to agree. I know God woos people by the Holy Ghost to draw them near to Him. Not everyone who claims to be saved is indeed saved. I would urgently request of that everyone who professes their salvation take a look inside themselves and examine their intentions and hopefully change (repentance). There will be fruit in your life that shows change.
Now, as for the fact of having experienced salvation, search yourself for what motivated you to make this confession. I remember at the age of 13, God started working on me to come to Him. Many times over the next three years, I felt that calling to the depths of my soul. I even fought against it, because I feared taking that step out of my pew to walk to the altar, because of what people may think. I also feared I would not be able to live up to the standards that I heard the Baptist preacher speak from the pulpit.
But at the age of sixteen, during a revival on a Friday evening in June 1967, the power of God calling me was so strong I made that step from my pew, and I only remember the first step. I think I floated the rest of the way to the altar, where I found myself in front of the evangelist. I remember him asking me why I was there. I said I wanted to be saved. That was a life-changing moment for me that indelibly marked my life from that very day. I also remember asking God that night from my bed as I looked out the window, begging God to come that night, because I knew I was going to fail Him. What a long way I have come from that night.
I managed to attend church until I was drafted at nineteen into the Army. The Army was demanding and I believe I attended Chapel one Sunday during my entire enlistment. I came home and did not set foot in the doorway of a church again until God started reminding me I was called according to His purpose and He wanted me back from the worldly nature I had become accustomed to. By that time I was married and had two sons. I was suffering from depression, although I did not know this was the problem until I was in my sixties, looking back. But the calling of God overtook my depression and I said to God I wanted to return.
One evening in a service I was attending and an altar call was given for salvation. I started to step out, but God stopped me with a question. “Didn’t I save you when you were sixteen? There is no need to do this.” He had something better for me.
He then put a hunger in me to test the waters to further my walk. I had been attending an Assemblies of God church and the Baptism of the Holy Ghost with speaking in tongues was available to my walk, so I asked God if this was real I wanted it. Then on March 13th around two o’clock in the morning after I had ceased crying before God, I looked up and I heard words I did not know start to coming out of my mouth and I was astounded. It was real.
I called my pastor the next morning to report my nightly encounter with the Holy Ghost and he was overjoyed and came over immediately to sit with me and share what had happened to me.
I know beyond all shadow of doubt that I was saved and sixteen and baptized in the Holy Ghost at twenty-seven years old. Then came a whole new level of understanding when I would study the Bible. I could barely get through a verse without it expanding on me.
Then came the testing of God to perfect me and mold my way of thinking to have the mind of Christ. Believe me I have not matured to the level of perfection, but I strive to do so. In the latter years since Libby and I have been married I find she has giftings that have helped me so much to calm myself and I feel she was instrumental in helping me understand one important thing, that being unconditional love. I can still be a totally difficult person, but she still looks at me with that love and it melts my heart. I then realize God loves me all the more.
God has truly saved me. God has baptized me in the Holy Ghost and the blessing of God have never been more evident in my life as in the last sixteen years. I can’t be everything to everyone, but I can be my best. I can’t attend every church service, but I still love all those God has placed me amongst. There are still trials. I’m still being perfected (matured), so bear with me.
If you doubt your salvation I adjure you to exam yourself and talk with God. It’s more than a simple statement of faith. It’s a life-long endeavor to the end. Anyone who is studious will find salvation is a starting point with a continuing progression ending only when you take your last breath.
At my age now I have a fascination of what I will be doing in the eternal realm. I feel God told me. Call me crazy, but I’m going to be a musician in the coming life. I’m not sure, but some of you may have just lost me, but count me crazy.
Isn’t this earth a beautiful place? I could live here forever. In fact, I think I will.
Matthew 5:5 KJV “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.”
God does not intend for us to abandon the earth in any shape or form. He created it for us to live and take dominion over it. That means the earth is here for us to care for. Some interchange it for “world”, but that’s a story for another time.
Christians were never told we would leave here. We are told to occupy. We think too lowly of ourselves to think we can’t overcome the evil in this earth. God gave us the power to do just that. Look at Noah. God cleansed the earth and left Noah to occupy.
John 14:12 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
Mark 16:17-19 – And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
We see Jesus saying this. I’m not advocating we pick up snakes and drink poison for the sake of it all, but I do believe His Words. We live so far below what He says we can do.
In my early years I had my bags packed ready to leave any minute. Folks, that isn’t happening. I unpacked, and I’m staying. Christians have been duped into believing we are going. I’m not running from a good fight to take dominion over the evil on this earth. I intend to live here forever.
The Lord’s Prayer (traditional words to the Our Father) Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, As it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, As we forgive them that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, The power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.
Let’s bring heaven here as we are told to pray. If we pray for His will to be done here as it is in heaven, we will see it. Not only that but in the resistance of evil He will deliver us in the midst of it.
God is with us. If you believe that, who can be against us?
This morning I chose to look at Psalm 15:1-5. (1) LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? (2) He who walks uprightly, And works righteousness, And speaks the truth in his heart; (3) He who does not backbite with his tongue, Nor does evil to his neighbor, Nor does he take up a reproach against his friend; (4) In whose eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the LORD; He who swears to his own hurt and does not change; (5) He who does not put out his money at usury, Nor does he take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.
The phrase “Who may DWELL”? The study summation says. . . the Hebrew of the phrase “who shall dwell” does not suggest “living in,” but rather “visiting with”—that is, being acceptable to come into God’s presence.
I have to take issue with this train of thought by the Berean, John W. Ritenbaugh.
I am a word study person. The word for DWELL in this verse is:
shâkan, shaw-kan’; a primitive root (apparently akin (by transmission) to H7901 through the idea of lodging; compare H5531, H7925); to reside or permanently stay (literally or figuratively):—abide, continue, (cause to, make to) dwell(-er), have habitation, inhabit, lay, place, (cause to) remain, rest, set (up).
The word SHAKAN does not indicate the idea of visiting. It says without a doubt that the DWELL here is indicative of residing or permanently staying. Not a VISIT mentioned anywhere in the definition.
The question at hand asks “Who may dwell”. The rest of the verses tell who they are. There is a people that will meet this criteria and go into and permanently stay in God’s presence. Enoch was one such person of human origin who did.
Gen 5:24 – And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
I firmly believe we that follow the guidelines in the text of “Who will” will in fact go to dwell permanently. Not just visit.
I have recently come to find the Catholic church has a supposed Biblical gift I was not aware of. The Gift of Infallibility. I tried to look up the validity of it, and all I got in my searches refers to Catholic websites. This comes as an authority from the magisterium.
First Vatican Council, 1869-1870: Pope Pius IX leading his cardinals across a plank of wood placed on the ice, watched by Mr Punch.;
The magisterium of Roman Catholicism is the special teaching authority of the Church itself. According to Catholic doctrines, this teaching authority resides only within the Pope and Catholic bishops. This implies that only those doctrinal statements that proceed from the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) can be true. It also means that, at times, the teaching authority of the RCC is uniquely free from error, a property called “infallibility.”
The question is whether the idea of papal infallibility agrees with Scripture. The Roman Catholic Church views the papacy and the exercise of infallible teaching authority as essential to guide the church and prevent it from error. But we should examine Scripture:
1) Scripture nowhere declares that Peter was in authority over the other apostles or over the entire church (see Acts 15:1–23; Galatians 2:1–14; 1 Peter 5:1–5).
Scripture shows that Peter’s authority was shared by the other apostles (Ephesians 2:19–20) and the “loosing and binding” authority given to him was shared by the local churches, not just their leaders (see Matthew 18:15–19; 1 Corinthians 5:1–13; 2 Corinthians 13:10; Titus 2:15; 3:10–11). Thus, the foundation of papal infallibility—the existence of the papacy itself—is not scriptural.
Nowhere does Scripture state that the authority of the apostles was passed on to those they ordained (the Roman Catholic teaching of apostolic succession). Paul does not call on various churches to receive Titus, Timothy, and other church leaders based on their authority as bishops, but rather on their being fellow laborers with him (1 Corinthians 16:10, 16; 2 Corinthians 8:23). What Scripture does teach is that false teachings would arise even from among trusted church leaders. The written Word of God is our infallible guide. Not the Pope with some supposed gift of infallibility. Nowhere in Scripture is the magisterium of bishops taught and treated as of equal weight with Scripture. What history has shown is that, when any other source of authority is given equal weight with Scripture, that second authority always supersedes Scripture in the end (such is the case with the Mormons’ other accepted writings and the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Watchtower). Catholic catechisms include many doctrines that are not found in or based on Scripture. The Immaculate Conception of Mary, for example, was declared official dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854, although Scripture says nothing about the circumstances of Mary’s birth. For Roman Catholics, it is the church that has final authority, not Scripture. In contrast, the Bible teaches that Scripture itself is sufficient to guide and train and equip for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16–17). What’s important is not who is teaching but what is being taught (Galatians 1:8–9).
There is no need for Roman Catholicism’s teaching of apostolic succession and papal infallibility, for Scripture states that God has provided for His church through the following:
c) The Holy Spirit, who guided the apostles into truth after Christ’s death (John 16:12–15); who gifts believers for the work of the ministry, including teaching (Romans 12:3–8; Ephesians 4:11–16); and who uses the written Word as His chief tool (John 17:17; Psalm 119; Hebrews 4:12; Ephesians 6:17). In summary, the Bible speaks of only one abiding, infallible guide left by God for His church. It is the written Word of God, not an infallible leader (2 Timothy 3:15–17). And, as the Holy Spirit carried holy men along in the writing of that Word (2 Peter 1:19–21), so He indwells, fills, guides, and gifts members of the church today (1 Corinthians 12 and 14; Ephesians 4:11–16).
Now, for my take on this supposed gift. Catholicism is not Christian. It is a false “religion” set up to control the masses. Such doctrines set up by the church were to keep the people in ignorance of scripture, as is seen in the above research. I must insert here that I’m not Catholic, nor Protestant. I’m a follower of Christ. Religion doesn’t play in my thinking. Relationship with Christ is the key to being a follower.
Matthew 7:21-23 – Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Knowing God equates to our personal relationship with Him. Personal relationships are born of personal experience. In the last chapter, Job responded to God with:
Job 42:5–6 – I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;But now my eye sees You;Therefore, I retract,And I repent in dust and ashes.
Job didn’t know God as well before his ordeal as he did after, through his personal experience. He did not know why he was being afflicted, but in the end God revealed Himself to Job in ways Job had not known before. Their relationship grew. The verses above delineates the difference.
Since the day Martin Luther posted the 95 Thesis on the door of the church, and Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press, the veil the Catholic church put up (I equate to the veil in the Temple, which was rent when Jesus was crucified) has been rent as well, exposing the fraudulent Catholic church.
There is no such thing as the assumed gift of infallibility that the Catholic church posed over its followers.
I’ve “seen” people every day when working at NHCL, and didn’t know if I wanted to get to know them because I wasn’t attracted to the way they looked. I got to “know” them and found them to be good people. From this, I learned that one should not judge a book by its cover. Some of the best “book covers” don’t have a story inside worth telling. It is best to engage with everyone before deciding how to view the person as a whole.
I copied this from a Facebook post as a prime example.
At a High School Reunion, a group of successful alumni—now doctors, lawyers, business owners—decided to visit their favorite teacher. They chatted about their careers and families, but soon the conversation shifted to life’s pressures, stress, and constant chasing after more.
After listening for a while, their teacher smiled and said, “Hold on a minute. I’ll go make us some coffee.”
He came back with a large pot and a tray full of cups—none of them matching. Some were fine porcelain, others were plain ceramic, a few were chipped glass mugs, and one even looked like it came from a diner.
As everyone reached for a cup, the professor watched in silence. Once they all had coffee in hand, he said:
“Notice what just happened. Most of you instinctively reached for the nicest cups—leaving behind the simpler ones. It’s normal to want the best for ourselves, but that’s often where the stress begins.”
He gestured toward the cups.
“The cup doesn’t make the coffee taste any better. What you really wanted was the coffee. But you still focused on the cup.”
Then he paused.
“Life is the coffee. Your job, your house, your income, your status—those are just cups. They help contain life, but they don’t define it. And the trouble is, the more we focus on the cup, the more we miss out on the coffee.”
He smiled.
“Remember, happy people don’t always have the best of everything. But they know how to make the best of what they have.
Livin' Small 