Who is God to You?

We all have different views of God. To some folks he is ‘Gawd’, big omnipotent, impersonal, remote, unfriendly, judgmental, hypercritical, disapproving, etc. These are the folks that aren’t exactly sure of their salvation, or what the requirements are from this Gawd towards their life. They have never had a personal commune with their creator and final judge. They hope for the best. They will continue to try and try to do their religious appointments.

To others he is friend, companion, ally, brother, helper, partner, redeemer, and rescuer. This outlook can tend to cause one to view this God as a very personal being even to the extent of him being so nice and good that he wants the absolute best blessings possible for your life without the trials, sifting and judging.

To me he is holy, awesome, judge, lover of my soul, rewarder, rock, safety net and to be greatly feared. This to me is the middle road because it provides me with the fullness of who God is in his entirety without false hopes or fluffy expectations. I am not looking only to the blessing of his hand but I await the judgment of his heart and delight in the voice that will redeem me even in his righteous judgment.

Questioning the Answers!

Most of us are taught to find the answers to the questions. We begin the game at a very early age with questions like ‘where is the kitty?’ to ‘what color is that?’ We attend grammar school and learn the answers to math problems, science issues etc. As we get older and our brain progresses we are taught the process on how to find the answers. As adults our lives evolve around the answer. Our boss wants answers, our lives require answers; there is an answer to every fathomable question even if it isn’t the one we think is correct.

There are two varieties of people when it comes to the question and answer chronicles. One type of person loves to dig for the answers to everything and anything. They want to know what makes certain things tick, what makes them do what they do or not do. These people enjoy the chase of the discovery.

Then there are the folks that want to question those answers. For the most part they can accept the majority of answers to the basic questions in life. If a scientist or specialty person says thus and thus it can be accepted especially if it doesn’t directly affect their day to day life. But there are a ton of answers that have been given by persons that we thought were qualified and as we grew up we began to discover that they weren’t really all that eligible. If these answers have an affect on our daily life then we want to know who that person was that said it was ‘thus and thus’ because in the practicality of life ~~ it’s not like that.

It is easier to just accept answers that sound good rather than take the time and energy to reach out beyond and discover if there is more to what we have been told. For me personally, I am on a journey to discover the truth in all things. It isn’t easy and I go against the grain and peeve people off by asking so many ‘questions’ about why the answer is the one it is but it is a journey I must make…on my journey home.

‘Unanswered questions aren't nearly as dangerous as unquestioned answers.’

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

On Pins & Needles!

I was watching a news video online last night. It was showing how in Japan they were having interment services for ‘pins and needles’. One would bring theirs to this place and stick it in a bed of tofu. There were priests, musicians and all the original paraphernalia that are used for when a human dies. One priest said that they believe that inanimate objects have souls.

Based on that statement would your watch, car, or toilet paper also have a soul? How about an empty bottle of Windex, old car oil, or used light bulbs? If this were the case then they would be having non-stop memorial services for everything in life. If one can have a funeral service for ‘pins and needles’ then why not have one for an old tp roll?

I wonder if you never took the pins out of their packaging if they might still be ‘alive’ and not need a service for the dead. Or do only good, used pins get real honor in the end? I mean in India the cow has right of way everywhere. Maybe in Japan they should set a law that pins are not to be violated or misused.

To the Western world this may seem outlandish or even laughable but it is being done. The Catholics venerate dead saints, India has their sacred cow and Japan has their pins and needles. What do you worship? Is it dead or alive? Is it animate or inanimate? Can it move or breathe? Whatever you worship is your god. Is your god big enough to save you in your utmost time of need?

If you become so busy worshipping the dead or in this case, the unused, then you wouldn’t have a lot of time to admire or enjoy the living things. It would be like worshipping the created not the Creator. Who do you worship? Why? Is what you adulate because that it what you were told is the right thing to worship or that is what your parents worshipped? And were you told how and why to do it this way to whatever it is?

Have you ever questioned the answers to see if they really were true?

"The unanswered questions aren't nearly as dangerous as the unquestioned answers."

What are ‘Jesus-my-boyfriend’ Songs’?

I am particular about my music that I listen to. I am presently enjoying Todd Agnew, Big Daddy Weave, Selah and a few others. I am looking for good music but more so I am looking for words that have meaning. Contemporary Christian music should be directed towards Jesus or sharing Jesus.

Recently I heard a saying about ‘Jesus my boyfriend’ music that was being played by popular Christian music artists. My first thought was like bubble gum music or the teeny bopper stuff but supposedly in a Christian sense towards Jesus.

I am not exactly sure that is what the original author meant but I have noticed myself listening with even more rapt attention to the music that I thought I had already ‘screened’.

I will try to explain my idea of the JmB concept better. Here is a song that I listened to and really like the artist. If you look at the words you will notice there is no mention to Jesus, God, or any of the Deity. There are a few you’s with a capital ‘Y’ implying Deity.

No record deal, no dream fulfilled, no three minute video
No catchy jingle, no big hit single playing on the radio

Can make me happy enough
Can make me feel the way you do
You make me happy
I wanna make You happy too
You make me happyYou make me happy

No flashy cars, no movie stars, no man, woman, boy or girl
No fancy things, no diamond rings, nothing in the whole wide world

Chorus:
Can make me happy
Can make me feel the way You do
You make me happy
I want to make You happy too
You make me happy
You make me feel the way I do
You make me happy
I wish the whole world knew You too

No I cannot count the ways You have made my life so blessed
All I know is that You came and made beauty of my mess
Said I cannot count the ways You have made my life so blessed
All I know is that You came and made beauty of my mess


There are two ways to look at a song like this one. You can ‘assume’ that because it is playing on a Christian station that it therefore is Christian and the artist is singing about Christ. Or… you can imagine Mariah Carey on a stage singing it to a pretend lover. If you have ever listened to secular songs about love they speak of their lovers making them feel as if they are in heaven, how happy they feel, wanting to make them happy too, etc. In life we tend to attribute all sorts of greatness to our lovers for all the incredible things they do for us, do to us, and make us feel. With the exception of when it says, ‘no man, woman, boy or girl’ most of the words in this song have probably been said in a secular love song or said to a human at some point in a fantastic ‘love’ relationship.

I truly believe the artist that sings this loves the Lord and the song was intended towards the Lord. But when you can take a non-descript song such as this and hand it to a secular artist to sing on any stage in front of any crowd, how is God getting any glory? Is this song going to bring anyone into a closer relationship with the God that created them? Or has the commercialism of even Christian music put such a pressure on the artists to fill their CD’s that the ‘filler’ music becomes just that ~ with no spiritual meaning attached?

Songs like this lower Jesus to a boyfriend status instead of Savior and God.

Pleading the Blood of Jesus?

Why do some Christian denominations plead the blood of Jesus? Where in the Bible is it mentioned Jesus doing this or Paul making it a practice? Wasn’t the precious blood of Jesus shed once and for all causing it to not have to be applied over and over again like a talisman? To plead is to beg. Why are we begging for Jesus’ blood to be applied to non-holy, non-saved or inanimate objects? Why are we taking holy blood and symbolically applying it to unholy things? The blood is for the salvation of people and only that.

The blood washes away sins. Why would we speak it over a stalled car on the freeway? If we see danger looming, something that evokes fear within us then we plead the blood of Jesus over the situation. Or ask God to cover it with the blood of Jesus. The only things that can be covered with the blood of Jesus are the sins of the sinner coming to him with a repentant heart and desiring a new life in him.

Forgive us Lord for our calloused hearts and ignorance.

An Open Letter to Doctor Ophelia Payne:

Dear Dr. Payne,

I have since childhood been physically molested by my father, then brother, step-father and lastly Christian counselors. I had been physically abused by parents and spouses and emotionally traumatized by too many. To date I think I am standing fairly strong, holding my own, and healed so to speak.

I was on a trip and the plane went down on a deserted island and only a handful of folks survived. We are here for what seems like forever and we have dubbed the island ‘Gilligan’. For the most part we are getting along with the exception of some behind the scene tricks that most don’t know about. Food is available though not plentiful. Hope and despair begin to meld.

I am beginning to ‘act out’ due to the furious stress that is being caused by my new lifestyle. Emotions are starting to surface that I hadn’t seen in many long years, and I am beginning to alternatively lash out and withdraw into myself. What do I do?

Back at home I had heard of ‘TheoPhostic’ healing from some friends that had encountered it but I had not actually ever seen it in action. The way they explained it was that in a session I would encounter Jesus in all truth and be set free. No one on the island has ever heard of or been trained as a TheoPhostic facilitator. Do I lose all hope and give up? Do I try to swim to land knowing that I could never make it thus creating a suicide? Or do I try other things to make the days pass faster until the time that I can get to a TheoPhostic session?

I have been a Christian for a couple of decades. Can I not just go to Jesus directly for this healing? Can Jesus not meet me where I am at whether stranded on an island or in my car and lead me into all truth?

John 16:13 says when the Spirit of truth (the Holy Spirit or the Comforter which Jesus said would come after he is taken to heaven) is come, he will guide me into all truth and he will show me things to come. And in 1 Timothy 2:3-5 it says this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

I am not recalling any commentaries that said I needed to not go directly to the Holy Ghost and instead to use the mediator and facilitator of TheoPhostics to accomplish discovering of the truth. So if I am on this island and there is no TheoPhostics facilitator available then would it be an ok second option to go straight to God via the Holy Ghost? Or is the Holy Ghost not powerful enough to heal someone stranded on an island going bonkers from past traumas?

I am in a state of bewilderment. What should I do? Wait and hope to get to land where I can try to locate my facilitator in TheoPhostics or trust the Lord or my life and the all-powerful Holy Ghost to direct my paths?

A last question that I am pondering while stuck on this island is: If truth is a fruit and a piece of the armor, then it would be fair to say that without proper ‘healing’ in a TheoPhostic session a Christian cannot grow, bear fruit or wear the armor?

Signed,

(Literally) lost and confused.


The thing that has been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.~~ Ecclesiastes 1:9