Ignorance doesn’t mean stupid. It is lacking knowledge regarding a topic(s). Most of my ignorance has come from sloth or procrastination. Either I have been too lazy to read up on a topic or knowing that doing so can be tedious, having to read pros and cons about the subject.
I once believed everything the nightly news said. The networks competed to find the most convincing individuals as anchors, and they were successful. I discovered the more I watched and believed news morning, noon, and night, I became lazier and stopped reading, or quit stopping by the library to research, and to look up info about something I heard on the news about that did not sound right.
What I discovered was shocking. To think that my favorite anchors were not telling the truth? Though bliss I experienced from trusting the news kept me ignorant, I discovered TV talk shows, sitcoms, dramas, even kids shows were pressing an agenda! The agenda? “What could it be, I thought?” (That discovery was in the 1980’s).
The agenda is what we all see playing out today. It is a tragedy to watch socialism crawl into any nation, but I cannot believe the USA has over half of it’s citizen’s ignorantly falling prey to a system that has never worked and never will. How can we not see Venezuela’s march from being prosperous into total ruin over the past decade?
I won’t go on, but I will fight this out. God has the final say about the election, and I plan to return to posting if possible. I hope to continue posting about addictions, but I can see how this evil agenda has fueled drug and alcohol addiction, and what they hoped to gain from doing so. Stay tuned.
faith
Get In, Get Out, or Take a Seat
So I sidelined myself for a bit. I had good reasons. After all I am a busy man and I don’t believe what I write has had much, if any effect on others. Am I whining? Yep, a regular cry baby. Seriously, I have felt this inward tug to get back at it on a regular basis in hope of winning some to the Kingdom of Christ, or helping some find sobriety, both through these simple writings.
It really comes down to this. I watched the movie Tombstone several times. I am a dialog guy and a guy that likes to see good win out over evil. Are you like that? The OK Corral scene, Wyatt Earp dodging bullets yells at the cowardly Ike Stanton and blares, “GET IN THE FIGHT OR GET OUT OF THE WAY! I remembered this scene and now see my own cowardice in not getting in this war we are fighting much sooner. I hate to offend after all. You may be unaware we are fighting, or there is even a war in the first place. Here’s the field of battle:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places….Eph. 6:12
It’s brutal out there as some of you know from what is going on with the mud pie fights the dems and reps are having, while issues go ignored, i.e. healthcare, the infrastructure, addicts found dead daily. Don’t choose to hate either side, but pray for them with sincerity. Or refuse to pray for them from your intense hatred of them. I’d bet you probably didn’t vote anyway, now you can hate me too…have a seat please.
Others say, you’re nuts! You honestly believe there are forces controlling events? It’s that lying President, or it’s those liberal lefties. Whatever, take a seat next to the intense haters, I ‘ll get with you later. And keep your hands to yourself.
Now those ready to do battle, gird your loins. Don’t hold on to any grudges of any kind. Pray for opposition you face in life. 1 Tim 2:1-2 gives you an idea of who we should pray for, and we already know to pray for our personal needs and the innumerable requests on social media. Speaking of media, man, do they need prayer. They have more to do with our national division that any political branch. Anyhow lets fight this spiritual warfare boldly, in confidence and knowing the time is short. Thanks!
The Gateway
The mountain of hurts experienced from others throughout your lifetime has likely left you with some deep scars. Some are quick to say they not holding a grudge or resentments from abuse or being mistreated by others. Their words, however, are proof they are still nursing the wounds, even to the extreme, medicating the pain. Like one lady said regarding a friend who hurt her deeply;
“Oh yes, I forgave her alright, but let me tell you what that old devil did to me!”
What about the mountain of hurt you may have inflicted on others? It is, to me, more painful knowing I hurt or let others down. Now I have to ask their forgiveness, but also I have to forgive myself. That is much more difficult to do. I mean, I have to forgive myself or live with regrets rueing over my bad behaviors until remorse sets up fortress inside my heart. And it can, and does. At one time I didn’t care, let em’ think what they think of me, it’s their problem. I was very sick back then.
“To err is human, to forgive divine.” Alexander Pope
“Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Jesus
I believe the gateway to forgiveness is gratitude. I have discovered from my alcoholic past that being grateful for sobriety opened my spiritual eyes to see my fallen nature ruled me, thinking I was entitled to having everything, including my own way. When I didn’t get what I wanted, I became ungrateful for what I did have. I became envious of others success. I became angry at my job for not getting a promotion, and jealous even at my church for their blindness to my hard work for God… (oh what a baby). My solution, the bar stool and ears to agree with my whining.
“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” G.K. Chesterton
“When I started counting my blessings my whole life turned around.” Willie Nelson
When grateful, color seems to enter the world, sounds are heard, handshakes and embraces are sincere, suddenly purpose comes into play, and empathy becomes the heart mate of hope and love. Seeing those who hurt me, including myself in the mirror, as broken by life, poor upbringing, etc., with an understanding that only God’s Spirit within could give me. I also feel pressed to ask forgiveness to those I hurt. I am truly thankful for my awakening to the gateway of gratitude.
Well, tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day. I hope you can take the time to be grateful for what you have. A life of gratitude is the gateway to forgiveness, and the mother of all virtue.
How to Enjoy Christmas
How does one enjoy Christmas? For many Christmases in my life, I was fed up by the hustle and the bustle of the holidays. Sometimes I was outright angry at secular disbelief, insisting how offended they were by “religious symbols” or live nativity scenes invading their darkness…the true Narcissists of modern times. A few times at Christmas, I loathed my inability to lavish unnecessary gifts on my children and family members. And finally, often, the holidays passed while I boozed through them.
I should never judge how people see the Christmas season, but pray they get the point. I never want to be disappointed that I will be working and not with family, missing the family gathering and meal, watching the children beam when they open their gifts. That is precious, and should burned into thoughts or memories forever…with gratitude. That isn’t the point. So, what is the point?
The point I see today, as a follower of Christ, is the purpose of His visit, my gratitude and acknowledgement of that. I am transformed by believing in Him, His virgin birth… His life and teachings… His sacrifice on the cross… His blood destroying my sins past, present, and future… His resurrection guaranteeing mine from eternal death… and His continual intercession as advocate, defending me from accusations by the evil one. I am lifted when my belief turns to gratitude as I see the real Gift of Christmas, He gave Himself.
The point is seeing entire world is different because of His coming. Invention, exploration, and discovery may have been a part of mankind’s history, yet because of His coming and commission to His disciples to “go ye into all the world,” was catapulted as the Gospel spread, especially through the nations that accepted the message.
In fact, within modern history, from the past 150 years, technology has grown exponentially. I’m filled with gratitude, knowing He is the reason for this, His Spirit, Jesus promised, would come in His stead. The Holy Spirit brought the light of understanding and knowledge to people for invention, exploration, and discovery where His message is freely expressed and received. Where the message is rejected as truth, There is practically no invention, and the people would be living as people lived a millennium or more in the past without the discoveries from others.
How Christmas can be truly good, even wonderful, is refusing to allow the holiday to be about all you have done for others. You may have worked hard to cook, get everyone together, and to find that perfect gift for family and friends…and they don’t offer thanks for your toil. Think about what He has done for you, and be grateful by not expecting accolades…just give.
One last thought, and this is a “biggie.” You may not have time to go serve at a “drop-in,” or soup kitchen-meal-station for the homeless. Take a moment, pause and say thanks for what you do have. Ask God to bring comfort to the homeless, the widow and orphaned, the addict, the alcoholic, those trapped in darkness. Don’t forget to ask for our men and women serving the country, away from their families. Ask God to protect them from danger, from evil, comforting them in their loneliness…and their family the same.
Bonus thought. While you are asking, ask Him to foil the plans and schemes of the grifter running scams, preying on the elderly and weak. May God protect them all.
Merry Christ-mas to all, God grant you light to see His Truth…for His glory!
You Can’t Fix Them
My heart goes out to those who have children, a spouse, parents, or close loved ones in the throes of substance abuse and alcoholism. I know that you who do, have tried everything you can think of to help them. The many tears and fearful nights, lying in bed waiting for that “call,” sends chills down your spine. It appears that you want them well, but they don’t. You may want to look at a different approach.
“If you are going to pray, then don’t worry. If you are going to worry, then don’t pray.” C.S. Lewis
Family Help?
I can’t tell you how many have asked me if I would be willing to talk to their loved one with a problem. I am willing. When they do not call me, however, I know that they probably agreed to call me so you would let them be. That is no different than the many times they have told you they would change….but did they?
Ideas that will help.
One major step for you to take is to get help for YOUR addiction. What? Yes, you have a problem. You are co-dependent with your loved ones problem. You are playing hide-and-go-seek. You deny it to the world, HIDING behind a facade of pride, that your spouse, your chilld, or your loved one could possibly have problem….then you SEEK help for them quietly, desperately.
What will people think?
Don’t worry, they don’t think. They may be worried about the same thing. If, God forbid, you get that call in the middle of the night that your loved one has overdosed and in the ER at a local hospital. You will not care what everyone thinks then, so you better not now. 350 people die everyday from heroin overdose. Shout it from the housetop if need be. Come out of your denial, be honest. How you look to people doesn’t matter more than their life, does it?
Here are a few ideas that may help you:
You can be heroic. (These are suggestions, not legal advice)
1.) If this is your child, when you introduce them to someone say, “This is my son/daughter, who I love dearly, and they are an addict.” (no more denial) This will shock your child, and frighten them. They sense you are done playing.
2.) Get the help for your addiction. Go to Celebrate Recovery, or al-anon, and seek help from co-dependency. When you stop enabling them, you may hold the keys to the beggining of their recovery. Many people in these programs can help you, they’ve been there.
3.) Learn all you can about their addiction. Seek to understand. There is nothing abnormal about your loved one. WE are all fallen, sinful, and habit-ridden.
4.) Most important. Give this to God…then let go of the steering wheel of their life. You have no control, with each suggestion you offer, they will agree to, then ignore. You have to let go…and that is very hard. Follow this advice:
“Give all of your worries and care to God, for He cares about you.” 1 Pet.5:7 NLT
Believe me, once you give this to God, and let go, you will experience peace. How will you know if you have truly let go? If you have, you will catch yourself before you advise them, and skip the advise. You will stop helping them get high by not handing them money for gas, food, etc. Let them see you mean busuness. God has control now…and let them know that.
I hope this helps you. Thanks for reading, God bless and keep you all.
In God’s Hands
Is everything in your life going as you expected it to? In my time living sober, I have a new perspective regarding my own expectations. As I entered into this way of life, all I could see was a broken past with lost dreams I had given up to live with the in-crowd. I held on to the hopes of high-living all the way through years of drinking.
In time I was able to shake off the guilt and the failures, and began working with others seeking help from drinking and drugging, and helping them through the 12 step program. I originally planned to never lose even one I sponsored, thinking how I could change the traditional way of guiding the one needing help with my excellent leadership abilities. That, as you probably know, didn’t work. Every expectation was shattered. The harder I tried to hold on to their being successful, the more I failed, the more disappointed I became. Those I expected to failed, continue to prove me wrong and the ones I thought would surely succeed, failed miserably.
“I have held many things in my hands and lost them all; but whatever I placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.” – Martin Luther
Hold on loosely
As a child develops learning skills, they become so interesting to talk to. It is a pleasure to watch them learn to write their ABC’s and read from a book. They cannot be pushed too hard or they struggle to learn. But with encouragement and motivation, their skills may come smoothly. If we go step further and pray for the child learning, and place the outcome into God’s hands, the learning may come even easier, still with our encouragement and motivation. We turn our expectations away from the child, to the Father above. The same must go with those I may work with in rec. Remove the expectation and pressure, let them initiate contact, and their journey is much surer, my frustrations were fewer.
I have the same experiences in my walk with Christ. I learn daily how far above His ways are above mine. I think I am doing things right by sharing my experience, strengths, and hopes with others by writing these posts and helping others in their recovery, but I can see that I leave out time with God to do those things. What that does for me is dulls my spiritual awareness, and I wind up spending precious time struggling to think of how to say the right things. When He is my priority, the thoughts flow and I seem to have an answer, a topic, and a spiritual insight for needed help. Yet I hold on to my way, and my failure prone expectations.
The answer for us all is this: Our “ministry” does not matter, if we hold onto the control buttons, as though the message belongs to us. It is God-given. The paradox is that we place the work, and it’s outcome into His hands to see it succeed. Like the small child learning, our entire life is learning to hold loosely, and be willing to let go. Does that make sense?
What we hold.
We have all heard that when we pass away we leave it all behind. The saying, “you can’t take it with you,” is the popular way of saying that. I beg to differ. I will not leave it all behind. Jesus said these words:
“Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matt. 6:19-21 NKJV
What does by treasure? He isn’t talking about dollars, silver, and gold, that are unnecessary in heaven. My account, your account is based on our life and service here on earth. Giving love to the unlovely, time to the lonely, strength to the weak, has comforting rewards on earth. Doing the work of Jesus by serving those in need, brings Him to life through us to them. We benefit as much or more than the ones we help. And our treasure grows in heaven. Paydays with God are unending.
I understand that this life here is the place where we learn from trial to trial, to conform to the image of Christ, learning and developing the “fruit” of the spirit to where we instantly know to let go and let God, or to hold loosely and trust the outcome to His hands, but it remains a hard thing to do. But we continue to do what is needed and build treasures in our eternal account. The important thing to remember is to give Him the time and not put a clutch-hold on anything, allow each experience to be a lesson, and be trusting as a child for the results.
Thanks for reading, God bless and keep you all.
The Vote Ahead
It is that very special time of year! No, not Christmas, it is voting season. In less than two months, we will re-elect Mr Obama, or bring in Mr Romney for the next four years. Four years seems like an eternity when you are young, but as you get older four years seems like four months. That may be a good thing if your pick loses, but for all of us, it is bad. The reason is, is we get to hear the constant harang of political commercials and rhetoric that does not cease to amaze me. How do we as Americans not threatened the makers of these ads with prison time…or capital punishment is beyond me. Of course, capital punishment to advertisers is making them watch their own commercials 24/7 365, for however long their sentence may be.
Here is a question for you. Did those you cast your ballot for, fulfill your expectations? Did they do as they said they would? If not, think about that Senator, Representative, Mayor, President, etc., that you placed your faith in, he is going to tell you that he needs 2 more years, or four more, to finish the job he/she started. I don’t buy a minute of their moment of wasted air-time that they spend a fortune on. We have, in the part few decades, watched as our nation breaks right down the middle. We are divided.
” …Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them; ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” Mt.12:25
I realize that many people do not take the religious view of life as their worldview, and have more of an eclectic way of seeing things. so Christ’s words here are meaningless. The quote here is the understanding people had in those days, and we are more educated and have progressed since the time of Christ, His words don’t apply to our time. Except for the fact that before His time, these words applied, during His time they applied, and up to about a minute ago, they still do.
The worldviews of the American people are as far apart as they could be, or ever will be. When G.W. Bush was president, no self-respecting liberal could even think of agreeing with him. During B. Obama’s reign, the conservatives have buried their heads in the sand…not to ignore him, but in fear of national judgment they expect God to pour out on us.
My thoughts are that having two sides is dangerous, and on every level of our government we are two- dimensional. I know we have ultra conservative and people who belong to conspiracy believing groups. And I am aware that the far left have similar groups that have the conspiracy beliefs. I also believe their are times when “we the people” are conspired against by our leaders, for various reasons. But the point is not just the two dimensional way media outlets portrays this government, but that the real problem to me is how the people themselves vote along the same lines traditionally, and fall headlong for anything one of their parties candidates say. “Our family has always been Republican,” is the line of thinking so many have in our day. I think that is absurd.
You hear that the dems are for the working man, right? Tell me how that is. The working man pays taxes. Tax money goes for things that a normal person disagrees with. The money it takes to run this massive government is insane! We have a budget that, is volumns thick, and nobody understands. And I guess the dems had nothing to do with it. That is the way some, actually many think. The rich are evil. The poor are lazy. The middle-class is the heart of this land. What middle class? These are the thoughts of the voters flamed by the media through films, newscasts, variety talk shows, and even sitcoms. The reps and dems know they have to play up to the expectations, and say what the people want to hear to get elected, then do what they want to do. EPA, FCC, FDA, and many other programs, though well-intentioned, mainly waste our money, and both parties point the finger at the other as to who originated them.
Now it is going to be easy to vote with my help, isn’t it. I would not tell anyone how to vote, but to think about your motivation for voting as you do. It isn’t easy to see the other side’s view regarding any matter. I will never agree with legislation in matters of morals and values. I will never, with God’s help, judge either side for how they vote. All of the politics aside, we all should remove the media’s input from our decision making. I do not mean one should not read a paper, or watch a newscast. I do feel that an article in a paper that gets my attention should be seconded by the political hopeful’s history as a person, and a politician. Though I hope never to be judgmental or dislike someone for who they vote for, I think when any nation places moral values second in importance for the people of their land, like all other kingdoms, they fail, miserably.
This is a rant,to some, and a word of advice to others, and I think before this election, I would like to take more of your time with this topic.
And the next time I am going meddle. Thanks for reading, God bless and keep you all.
I Struggle With…Recovery Meetings
Recovery from addictions can be difficult for some, easy for others. Once the compulsions to whatver the addiction is goes away, then the one with the problem is able to relax little by little until they seldom remember their cravings. This is a great feeling, and should make the sufferer see how that they had been driven to near insanity from the pain they had endured. But too often it doesn’t. When the pain subsides, the committee holding sessions in your head adjourns, the recovering addict or alcoholic tends to relax, entering the danger zone.
Getting clean and sober is accompanied with an important stipulation, staying clean and sober. Too many people come to recovery meetings and make a snap judgment about AA, NA, and especially Celebrate Recovery. I say that because so many people attending CR are believers that fear everyone will know that have an issue, and judge them not as perfect any longer. In AA/NA, many come because everyone already knows they have a problem. In all of these helpful programs, many come and go without ever getting help. They think, now that I have been clean and sober for a while, there is no need to continue those meetings. They never grasp the true concept of real life-changing recovery…the spiritual side.
This is from page 568 of AA’s Big Book:
“We find that no one need have a difficulty with the spirituality of the program. Willingness, honesty, and open mindedness ar essentials of recovery. But these are indispensable.”
True and truer words were never spoken in this book. Some give up on recovery meetings because they do not like the spiritual side of the simple 12-step programs. Others do not like the spirituality of the program because they were not raised to believe that way. In that particular case, I say you need to look into changing the way you were raised, it obviously did you no good. I see that these true spoken words really can keep you sober as the statement indicates, for honesty and willingness can get you far in any endeavor.
The problem is that without a direct relationship with God, most people tend to not be honest, willing, and are definitely closed minded, including religious people…especially religious people. Walking away without giving these programs a chance helping you get better is foolish when you know millions have been helped. That knee-jerk reaction can land you in a morgue.
I know that not everyone that reads my blogs have issues like this, but they have loved ones who do. These loved ones leave meetings and tell you anything to make you happy, and you take the hook, line, and sinker with one gulp. Investigate, give these programs a chance to work for you. You were in trouble, you asked God for help, He saw to it that you made it to recovery meetings, but you, or your loved one didn’t like the way something went, and back they go for another round of self-destruction.
Check out these programs if you are the one with the addiction, or if it is your friend or family member. If you and I refuse to at least get to these God-sent programs, we will die as we are right now. We may think we will change one of these days, a lie from that devil speaking into our ears, or from an over-inflated ego, but the change will not come “one of these days.”
Page 568 ends with this quote:
“There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance- that principle is contempt prior to investigation.” Herbert Spencer
I will end with this. You cannot say to God on the day of Judgment that you didn’t like CR/AA/NA, and since you did not know, you went head on and threw your life away, self serving all the way. The believer cannot stand before the judgment seat of Christ and complain about their reward not being big enough and they didn’t know they could actually serve in CR at their church. Why? Because I just told you about it! Now get in, get out, or get run over.
Thanks for reading, God bless and keep you all.
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Teach Us to Pray
I am so impressed to see people praying for the needs of others through social networks, and sites where church members can lay their request out there, and praying people take the requests to God. If you struggle with praying as many do, hook up with these sites and tell others what you need prayer for. Don’t ever think God doesn’t care about the problems in your life. Don’t ever think you have to be perfect to pray, or you are waiting to pray when you get your life together…or you’ll never pray, because YOU will never get your life together. Prayer will put the broken pieces of your life back together.
So many people say they don’t know how to pray, it seems silly. Believe me, it isn’t silly, and if you really want to know how to pray, here it is. Jesus was asked by one of his disciples if he would teach them to pray like he prayed. From that request, Jesus gave them the Lord’s prayer as a guide to pray. Kind of like a “Praying for Dummies,” type of thing. Look at that prayer, use it as your guide. He also told them to be relentless in prayer for a specific need.
In Luke 11, Jesus gave his followers a story about a man who went to his neighbors house at midnight asking for food to be loaned to him to feed out-of-town guests. The man said go away we’re in bed. But Jesus said that persistence would get the man up and he would give the neighbor as much bread as he needed. God responds to us when we are persistent in prayer. Jesus then said these famous words:
“So I say to you, ask, and you shall receive, seek, and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you….if your son asked for bread from any father among you, would you give him a snake instead? If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your HEAVENLY FATHER give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Luke 11:5-13
Needs are overwhelming for many of us today. There is post galore for those needing help on Facebook, et al. They range from serious to selfish, but all have meaning, and are real to each of those asking. Those we think may be selfish, are from a person who has the courage to at least ask. Take them all serious. Personally, I don’t have to ask for my day to be perfect if I surrender the day to God’s will and purpose for each day. He works out the details, I just want to be centered, or if you prefer, balanced, and focused on doing the next right thing to honor Him.
Finally friends, ask in faith. Believe that He is able to do anything. Believe He loves you enough to have your picture on His mantle. Nothing is too hard for Him. I have witnessed it, experienced it, waited for it, cried over it…it is all about His omnipotent power, unending mercy, and steadfast love for all. Picture your need met, your debt paid, your joy renewed, your health restored, your child free of addictions, your marriage healed…He is able! Then thank Him, over and again. And pray more. Thanks for reading, God bless and keep you all.
Coming Clean 