Photography Portfolio Bill is a photographer-wannabe, although he does have a keen eye for framing, content, and especially showing you the unobvious and odd-perspectives. Browse through the categories below, and see!​ A Smok'n Billy's Adoorable Buster's REO Colorless I Do Windows Kauai Random Sightings Stairoids Additional Categories

Quotables by G.W. Bill Elliott, Jr Quotable Items 11 Is it me, or do you also find it utterly intriguing how Jesus can hear us through all the noise, but we cannot hear Him? Be still and know that He is God! Out of the abundance of the Internet, the ChatGPT speaks. This is the simple rule of 'Garbage in, Garbage out'! If you need it explained to you, you won't understand. If you cannot explain it to someone else, you don't understand. Faith in Jesus is quirky that way. Today is the tomorrows you are hoping for, which makes yesterday your motivation to grasp the significance of today so that tomorrow you don't regret your yesterday. The absolute of uncertainty keeps uncertainty from being an absolute, which certainly is absoluting. Perception of Truth: "That is a HUGE bump in the road", may mean something to an Ant, but a typical human would not have the same perspective. Your opinion is a figment of your imagination's perspective of your perceptions of life, which are tainted and biased by experiences, observations and conclusions drawn in an effort to grasp the reality facing you. Knowing no is better than no knowing. Sticks and stones may break my bones... So STOP it! The cyclical looping of the repetitive redundancy has me iterating the need to repeat myself like dejavu all over again. Sure we call it The Pursuit of Happiness, but without the love and touch of Jesus in your life it is really just Sadlessness being obtained. Asking me if you can "ask a question?" IS a question of itself; so save us both the time (angst) and get to the question in question! View More

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Words My Mark Getting through life unscathed is quite a daunting task. This is a story about avoiding the world leave it's mark on you! < Previous Words My Mark I know… the saying is, “Mark My Words”, but this is my way of helping you see what I saw… learn what I observed, and hopefully get your marks all in the right places… working for you… not working against you. Marks? See… getting through life unscathed is quite a daunting task. Now, unscathed may mean something different to you than it does to me… I mean, we all have varying perspectives on things like; quality of life, acceptable treatment, goals to obtain, and even just how willing each of us may be to accomplish something in this life. We may even strive to obtain a certain level of comfort, leave a legacy, make our mark on society, even just the simple guidelines you apply to your life and I apply to mine. As we journey through the days, the weeks, the years of our lives, events occur that just leave you marked… leave you hurting, scarred, even over-protective and afraid. These marks on our lives do not seem to care whether they impact us physically, emotionally, or spiritually… Things happen We react Marks remain… scars… pain… anguish. Now notice this… these marks influence our decisions… impact our very plans… direct our core being, even without us being cognizant of them doing it. It is what make us, us… what gives us our character… what shapes our every decisions, it seems. Me? Due to experiences in my childhood, I was marked with an uncanny distaste, dislike, and cautious nervousness of abandonment . Notice… I said ‘was’! No… never EVER was I left on someone’s doorstep, therefore now I don’t know who is my family. No… never EVER had I been rejected out of anger, disappointment, or even just simple selfishness on the part of my family. Yet, as I crept into my 60s, I came to terms with just how marked I was by childhood events… childhood scenarios… childhood ‘life’. You know… things, events, occurrences that left a quiet “I never want this to happen” feeling in my core being… as I got into my early adulthood, I quietly worked and planned my life so-as to increase the probability of succeeding at avoiding ever experiencing that, again… ever! Though my childhood was rather good, healthy, and frankly ‘fun’, I still had marks… scars… fears. During the last 40+ years, I have subconsciously been protecting that part of my heart… my spirit… my life. Yet, October of 2017 I came home from work to a Dear John letter, a mostly emptied home, shattered and dismayed betrayal… and then, legally filed divorce papers eight days later (not eight business days, either). I am sure we will never really EVER know what others are thinking and why they do what they do that is SO contrary to our own perceptions, our own beliefs and agreements to a ‘life lived civilly’. Once Jesus returns and we get our new bodies, we will no longer be “ looking through a glass darkly “, as the Bible says and we’ll have a much clearer understanding. This is NOT a story about pitiful and jilted Bill… rather, this event (mark on my life) and so many other events in my life have helped me realize that regardless of how pure your heart may be (OK… in my case… a desire to be pure-hearted), how honorable your intentions, or how passionately you strive to ‘ do unto others as you would have them to unto you ‘, there are events in your life that are going to leave marks… going to leave you with a knee-jerk reaction when any future event comes along that you perceive to be close to this one. There are circumstances you have experienced (or will) that just scarred you, jolted you, even possibly halted you dead in the tracks of your faith… of trust in the Lord… and certainly derailed your walk with the Lord, if not stopped it altogether… one of those “I give up” feelings. This is more of a story to help you recognize that along your journey of God’s will in your life, you are going to stumble, trip, fall, and crash-n-burn at times. Too often, we get all caught up trying leave a legacy, or make our mark on this world… to leave it better than we found it, as it were. Noble approach, sure… flawed approach, definitely! While you work, plan, and dream about ‘making your mark’ in this world, don’t let this world make it’s mark on you. G.W. Bill Elliott Jr (@vocalbillity) This story is much more about God’s mark on our life… God’s calling on our life… and much, much more critical… his very mark in your heart and forehead that He’ll use to ‘ separate the sheep from the goats ‘, as it were… to separate the believer from the unbeliever… to distinguish ‘the called’ from the wanna-be children of God. See… the Bible tells us that God is actually going to place a mark in our lives to be sure He doesn’t destroy us while destroying the world. WHAT? Yes… God IS going to destroy this world… get use to it. Get ready for it. Get on-board, or you’re in the Lake of Fire, as it were… literally. More on those details later. But, back to the marks we get as we go through this life. Too many times, we slog through life trying to make a living, have enough money for ‘treats’ (gifts for others, vacation, even retirement), and don’t really pay attention to the passive manner in which the ‘mark of this world’… the ways of this world… the taint of this world permeates our life. See… while working our way through life, we are quietly learning the ways of the world… we are practicing how to ignore His calling on our hearts… we are becoming more and more callous ( less sensitive ) to God’s nudging on our hearts… to His directions for us… to His very will for us. Over time, our minds and hearts get scarred over, become less keen to His calling… to His leading… to His attempts to direct us, correct us, encourage us. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; 1 Timothy 4:1-2 And, we end up bitter, angry with God, even completely rejecting Him… and all over something we did… ignore Him! Too often, we can easily blame on the Dear John letter events of our lives… the loss of loved ones… the loss of hopes, dreams, and promises from others. Marks of Life The marks that your life collects can be physical, they can be emotional, and they can be spiritual… worse, the three of those can have marks that are intertwined, making it so much tougher to ‘get over it’ or ‘let go and let God’, or even just ‘forgive and forget’, as it were. Regardless of where they are, they motivate us to be who we are how we are when we are… they make up our very character… they are our traits… they sometimes haunt us… and we sometimes flaunt them. I have physical marks in my life. I’ve broken several bones, had many deep cuts and gouges, twisted and torn ligaments, and even a simple knee surgery scar. My emotional marks are tougher to document… tougher to recognize, but one of my most prominent marks is that whole ‘fear of abandonment’ thing. No… not just of someone leaving me… see, abandonment can include rejection AND non-acceptance (they can both be traumatic on a person). Spiritual marks on your life are even tougher… if you can soul-search with an open mind… not afraid of what you find… not ‘deflecting’ things as “I can get over it” or “that was someone else’s doings” or even just “God doesn’t care about me”. No… honestly… willingly… openly facing the things He shows you… look at them… contemplate them with God… learn to let God lead you in life ‘through’ them. God has NEVER failed anyone… EVER! Sure… many people feel that way… think that way… believe that way. That does NOT mean it is true… it is their perception… He said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”, and He didn’t have His fingers crossed behind His back… instead, He put His back on a Cross to prove it! Over the years, the Lord has shown me that regardless of a ‘flawed’ and marred life, I am still blessed having Him in my life and He is still ready, willing and able to bless me… still able to hold my head high and recognize that He has been watching over me. Me, however? I am embarrassed and ashamed of some significant pieces of my life… and maybe you are too. But God is looking at your whole life, not the fragments as individual reasons to reject you. The broken pieces of the shattered mirror of my life still have a clear, crisp and rather beautiful reflection of a life lived specially. G.W. Bill Elliott Jr (@vocalbillity) See… regardless of how crumbled your life, the Lord knows just how to ensure His glory is recognized. In the ‘right now’ moment of your pain, misery, and likely embarrassment, He has His will mapped out, planned out and ready for you. Character Marks I have the mark of a writer… I have the mark of a mechanic… I have the mark of patience… I even have a mark of a photographer, a comic, and a philosopher/counselor. OK… these are marks I want or think I have, but the whole idea of having a ‘mark of’ something, or being characterized as having a mark of something just kept swirling around in my heart such that the Lord has shown me His mark on my life, and that has spurned me to… well… uh…. share! How I do what I do when I do it and why I do it is just what I do… it is my mark… my character… my way… oddly enough the actual core being of me, really. Sure, I have traits that follow the norm in my current society and world (when in Rome do as the Romans, as it were), but I am uniquely me in many ways and at the same time… rather normal and consistent with many others in this world. Nonetheless, these character traits, these personality identifiers, these marks in my life are actually my go-to reactions for events and occasions that I encounter throughout my day and my life. These marks in our lives develop over time… we take on skills, traits, and habits from the career activity we encounter, from the hobbies in which we participate, and maybe even just knowledge-transfer from education and training, and apprenticeships we experience. Through my life, I have heard people refer to others as; He has the mark of an artist She has the mark of a manager He set out to make his mark as a writer They work to attain success or fame; achieve their ambition Or even just, “ She has a quest to make her mark on this world “, and that very concept is where the Lord got my attention. Since the beginning of time, humanity has been making it’s mark on this world. Even back in the days when Jesus was on this earth, carpenters or woodworkers have been building. Sure, that is a necessary trade and way too many of the carpenters/woodworkers are in it for the work, as a benefit for income… even just as a way to get ahead. There are those though, who internalized their trade… who own their work as an art-form, or even better… they have such pride in their work that they actually build their pieces in such a unique and craft-like way, that even years later there work is recognized as theirs… as an object on which they exercised their mark. Many times, there is nothing directly intentional (like branding an edge of the piece), but there is something about their skills, their methodology, and even technique they used to do their work that is recognizable… just… they ‘leave their mark’ on things they do… the way they do it. Spiritual Marks We live a life that deviates from godly traits… we seem to rush toward selfish things and tend to look out for ourselves first, then others. Sure, we nurture our family members, but even the simplest of animals do that, too. The spiritual traits are much harder to come by, or at least obtain. Yes, we are all spiritual beings, but being connected with the Lord and having His heart, mind, and His leading is much, much different. It is not in our nature to be like God… to yearn for Him… to wait, watch, and listen. The apostle Paul once told us that we can ‘change our minds’ and learn to be godly, learn to be holier, and certainly walk a closer walk with the Lord. He stated; And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 Now… transforming our minds is not a matter of getting more rest… not a matter of the right vitamins, or some goofy organic diet… not even a matter of attending church and being around spiritual people… or even having a ‘Zen’ moment or sequestering yourself and getting lost in meditation. There is real work that must be done… real challenges to face… real sacrifices and struggles with our minds and bodies. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. John 6:27 Marks Matter Now, depending on your profession, or your purpose in life, certain marks are good and certain marks are horribly bad. A cowboy or rodeo professional without any marks or broken bones is rare… very rare… in certain circles, some would say they are not a real cowboy without marks to show for it! Those ‘marks’ are actually ‘talking points’ for their stories to pass down to the younger generation. A beauty model can not have any visible marks, scars or flaws in their body… it is career ending! In another example, if you searched for a carpenter and were considering hiring them to renovate your kitchen, bathroom, or even just build an addition onto your home… but, they were missing two fingers on one had, and their thumb and another finger on the other… well, that would give you pause. Sure, they must/may be a carpenter (the lose of appendages), but they may not be all that careful, cautious or pay attention to detail… possibly a legal liability, too. Spiritual marks are much tougher… imagine seeking advice from a Christian counselor who has an arrest record for some heinous act against children… maybe a pastor who is so shy they won’t greet the congregation after the sermon… possibly even just someone in your family who seems haunted by ghosts, scary images, or even just hallucinations of an evil presence. These marks on our lives steer us… they direct us… unwittingly, they influence how we do what we do. Hear this, though… it is these spiritual marks… these inner traits in our lives that are used by God! Christian Traits or Secular Traits As quickly as we can categorize the marks people have or leave through their various trades (photography, surgery, performers, etc), we should really give attention to the Godly traits (or marks) differentiated from the Secular traits (or marks). I mean, as it turns out, the Bible actually lets us know that God will be able to distinguish people based on the “mark in their foreheads”. Revelation 7:2-3 tells us; And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. Revelation 7:2-3 God leaves His mark on our lives in so many ways. It is what gives us the guidance we need… His leading us… His mark of hope for us. Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts . 2 Corinthians 1:22 Get His Mark Just how do we ensure we get/have His mark on our lives… that we retain it… that we are saved… are secure… are His children? It all begins by asking Jesus in your heart, soul, and life. Once you surrender and confess Him as Savior and Lord , the rest is between you and Him. See, the Bible tells us; Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12 How you apply His grace in your life is mostly up to you. Sure, we fellowship with other believers to ensure we aren’t “going rogue”, but this is a relationship between you two! The Bible ‘does’ tell us, “… And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption ” ( Ephesian 4:30 ). So, don’t frustrate (grieve) the Holy Spirit, and you are good-to-go! Still… the ‘how’ part is so tough, I know. But, Philippians 2:5 tells us; “ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus ”, which helps… but you STILL need to get to know the Christ Jesus… get some time with Him… reserve your heart for His calling, His leading on your life. Why It Matters Here is why it all matters… why we should even care what our marks are… what marks we have… the things in our minds that influence our every action… ‘avoid the fire’? It is much more than that, but in those latter days, ‘the fire and brimstone’ is going to be used to obliterate sin, indifference, wayward lives… even just simple old selfish independence (yes, even atheists will endure this). Without God’s mark in our hearts and lives, we are done… we are, as the say goes, “toast”. Anyone who does NOT follow God, will follow evil… worship it… live and die for it… whether intended, or not. Revelation 13:8-9 claims; And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear. The Mark of Evil Oh that we actually had tattoos… actually have emblems… actual, visual markings that would distinguish ‘the good guy’ from ‘the bad guy’, or evil from good. But, trust is the key element… you must trust Jesus for this. SO many well meaning preachers, teachers, pastors, expositors… have discussed an actual, physical mark… a tattoo… an emblem of some sort on our bodies for ‘ the mark of the beast ‘, as it were. Make NO mistake… this ‘mark’ is NOT going to be ON your body… it is going to be IN your body! Go back up and re-read the passage from Revelation 7:2-3 . No… not an implant… not a chip under your skin… see… the Bible tells us over-n-again, “…if any man hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says”, which is to say, those that are saved… those that are His children ‘know His voice, and follow His leading’. Therein, this ‘mark of the beast’ will be IN the foreheads and IN the their ‘right hand’… not ON! HEAR THAT, if nothing else… IN, not ON! And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Revelation 13:16-17 We seem to be so caught up with the vanity part of our lives… what we see… what we can touch… what we can understand (knowledge). Faith in Jesus Christ is trust… but be warned… evil is the same way. You do NOT have to be actively engaged in ‘devil worship’, or be active in an occult, or even just practicing a pagan ritual or rite-of-passage. The marks of our lives have been teaching us to not trust Jesus, and subtly they have been training us to trust evil, sin, and separation from God. Sure, ‘no harm, no foul’, you may say. ‘To each his own’, you may believe. Maybe you are even quietly thinking that ‘right at the end’ of your life, you are going turn and believe…. uh… I hope the best for you in that plan. See… it’ll be too late… and the consequence is utter torture forever and ever! You may think you die, but you don’t… yes… even sinners live on forever and ever… just, in utter anguish, torment, pain and certainly the ugliest form of regret! And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Revelation 14:8-11 That ongoing torture will be tough… especially since you are/were aware you could avoid it all… not let the marks of this world impact your choices… not allow the ‘ways of the world’ to influence your core being… lead you to this destruction. The Mark of God Yes… God has His own ‘mark’, too… He’ll not just wipe the people off the face of the earth without some means by which He can distinguish the Saved from the Sinner… sure, those people with the Mark of the Beast should be enough, but He’s not about to be deceived again… to leave you hanging out hoping you have the correct mark…. the correct connection with Him. This passage in Revelation 22, verses 1 through 5 gives us a sequence of events and just how God is going to separate the good from the evil. It states, “ And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. “ God stops ALL movement on the earth, the sky, and the sea… commanding the four ‘evil angels’ to wait… until He had sealed His servants! See?? Even the evil must obey God! You may want to go back and read that two or three times to grasp just what is occurring… how God is NOT going to fail… how trustworthy, honest, and righteous His plan actually is. Now What? It is almost as though the fateful garden where our demise began is wholly destroyed and burned down. God’s original plan and intention for us was to live in that wonderful garden… with the Tree of Life there in the midst… innocent… free… enjoying His presence in our lives. Now that all this turmoil and destruction has occurred, He sets up another glorious place for us. 1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. 5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 22:1-5 Please notice two things from that passage; Verse 5 states there will be NO night there! Unlike the torment of those who had the Mark of the Beast (they are tormented day and night), God’s presence gives light and we’ll never need artificial lighting! T hat fateful Tree of Life is there in the midst, and it will yield fruit that heals nations! What’s Your Mark You can KNOW where you stand with God. You can rest assured that your faith is not in vain. In the book of 2 Peter, Chapter 1, verse 3 through 9 recap all the benefits God will extend to us… all the blessings… all the protection… but, there is still one thing we must do… and that is ‘put it to use’… put on His coat of grace as it were, and live our lives… go forth, and be diligent to remain in contact with God, but also contact with those around us. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. 2 Peter 1:10 KJV Be SURE of your choice in God… be convinced… convicted… determined… and most certainly, consistent!

Wrestling in Spirituality It is WAY better to just be ‘fat, dumb, and happy’, but that is a cop-out way to live your life. Many find it the easiest way to deal with the subtle anxiousness they sense from facing evil, anger, and even just ugly calamity all around us. This story is about the techniques we can apply to overcome this in our lives. < Previous Wrestling in Spirituality This physical life is tough… it is complicated… confusing… awkward… and often just contains way too much heartache, disappointment, and emotional struggles that really just lead us to conclude it is way, WAY better to just be ‘fat, dumb, and happy’. It is a cop-out way to live your life, but many find it the easiest way to deal with the subtle anxiousness they sense from facing evil, anger, and even just ugly calamity all around us. The spiritual side of our lives is quite complicated too… I mean… why wouldn’t it be since it is non-physical? Were you to try describing the spiritual side of your life, you would have more “uh”, “I mean”, and “it feels like” portions of your description than actual wording that could help someone else get a grip on their own spirituality. Therein, we tend to avoid the subject, let alone the concept altogether. I know… life is much easier just being ignorant or at least less aware of the evil crap going on around us. As Christians, this works to a certain point. As non-Christians this fuels your attitude/belief that God doesn’t exist or care. Neither are good for your life. But, there is always that weird shadow following you around… hovering… feeling like you are about to be pounced on.Wait… both are actually ‘good’ for your life, to a point. I mean, that whole ‘fat, dumb, and happy’ thing works great for the shallow hearted… for the faint-of-heart… for the weak-minded, weak-spirited, “wanna-be Christian” folks on this planet. And… you ‘can’ get by your entire life not ever caring or knowing that you DO have a choice… you can wrestle with spirituality with certainty! One of the more prominent scriptures that discuss this is Ephesians 6:12, which states; For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12 Too often, we don’t realize the craftiness of the enemy against whom we fight. We get all tied up thinking or feeling as though we see angels, hear people from the dead… even have real experiences that convince us that we don’t really need God. See… we easily adapt a belief that we are already in touch with spiritual beings, angels, or we even just have that warm fuzzy feeling all is right with the world… opting to remain ignorant, or at least remain innocent-ish. We are not aware that even Satan can pull off these ‘just like God’ appearances! Wait… WHAT? Right… Satan has power too… has dominion on this world… has the sly, craftiness to mimic God. This can trick you to believing a false hope… a half–truth promise… a fallacy. See… in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, Paul was telling folks that too many people have already begun to believe and trust other spirits… other preachings… other ways that are not God’s ways. He says; “ For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. ” Spiritual Warfare is an odd concept for most. Personally, I don’t actively seek out a wrestling match with Satan, evil, or anything high-n-mighty like that… rather… I find myself just struggling… just wrestling… just fighting against shadows, it seems. I recently read in Romans 7:23; But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. Romans 7:23 OK… granted… that scripture may not make sense at first glance… second glance… even after the 20th glance! The core premise is that our lives are constantly being tugged at by the spiritual calamity going on in this world… and spiritual warfare sounds ominous… sounds too complicated and certainly ‘above my pay-grade’, as most would agree. So… we plod along content with the fat, dumb, and happy approach to life. The norm of the people around us (and maybe even you) is to just blame Karma, Fate, “the gods”, and even Bad Mojo for the nonsense going on in your life. That sense of being attacked, being targeted, even being singled-out for some nasty turmoil event in your life… The Bible does say that the rain falls on the good and the bad ( Matthew 5:45 ). When things are ugly and super evil or even mystical, we shy away… we dismiss it away… we even hunker into the corner of our lives hoping this ‘phenomenon’ doesn’t see us… doesn’t come closer to us… doesn’t even give us the time day… leaving us alone is our hope/fear! Too many horror movies have filled in the blanks of our imagination and we now have an image or a scenario of probability that is believable (fear does that to us). We essentially lost our innocence… our pathetic minds have imagined enough to convince our spirits that anything spiritual is off limits, spooky, unpredictable, and especially out-to-kill… that we should automatically be afraid of evil things and shrink into a cowering mess when calamity arises. Well… welcome to being in the world! Satan has dominion of this space and has the power to conjure up a slew of nonsense to keep you scared, afraid, frozen and just outright defiant to any help/security Jesus can provide! Remember the story of David when he faced Goliath? ( 1 Samuel 17:45-47 ) David was empowered by the very spirit of God and no one and no thing was going to threaten his family, his people, and his God! Forty days Goliath had taunted the mighty armies of Israel, leaving them trembling and running for their skin. David would have NONE of that. He knew the power and might of the Lord our God and was not about to stand by and let this ‘little man’ Goliath be defiant of God’s people. No evil is big enough, strong enough, fearful enough… a well-placed-stone can solve the problem, toot-sweet! You too are empowered with the very same Spirit of the almighty Lord… none shall harm you, ever! How? Sort of easy, really… but hard, too! The Bible tells us, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 That key word ‘resist’ is essential. But, notice that it doesn’t say ‘… resist the devil until he gives up ‘, or ‘… resist the devil until he loses interest ‘, or ‘… resist the devil and show him your game-face ‘. He WILL flee, is what that passage reminds us! Think on it this way, if you are bold enough to resist the devil, you DO have the Holy Spirit watching guard over you and Satan can see that from ‘miles away’, as it were. Watch this passage; And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. Matthew 8:28-32 Notice that Jesus was merely ‘coming to the other side’ of this region and the ‘two possessed with devils’ began the whole “what have we to do with thee?” line of questioning! Satan WILL see you coming and he WILL tremble! How is THAT for a change? NONE of the SciFi movies depict it that way, these days… that is not a popular presentation… it doesn’t sell tickets… have pizzazz… make us shirk in fear! Just because you are a child of God though, does not automatically make you impervious… keep you from harm… put a shield over you. Some special cloak of protection. No… the Bible reminds us that we have to take on an active role of preparation… a posture of training ourselves… a life of exposure to His training. See… Ephesians 6:11 tells us, “ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ” The whole armour is fully described in Ephesians 6:13-17 (get some time to refresh your memory and grasp these pieces). Jesus did it, and so can we. I know…. He is the Son of God and came from Heaven and all that holy stuff… makes it hard to imagine we too have the same power… the same boldness… the same fortitude. But, Jesus did promise us; These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Pursuit of Sadlessness The tendency to pursue happiness has been the mainstay of generations, countries, and humanity well before recorded time. Unwittingly, we are actually fighting against the sadness, the misery, and really the inevitable demise of our lives without Jesus… it is a sadless life we are seeking and don’t really realize it (to be less sad). < Previous Pursuit of Sadlessness So wait… isn’t the saying “The Pursuit of Happiness”? Well… yes, but you should know me well enough by now to know I have a spin on it that the Lord has shown me, and if you’ll bear with me, I’ll share it with you, too! Sure, the tendency to pursue happiness has been the mainstay of generations, countries, and humanity well before recorded time. Unwittingly, we are actually fighting against the sadness, the misery, and really the inevitable demise of our lives without Jesus… it is a sad less life we are seeking and don’t really realize it. An effort of ours to be ‘less sad’. Sure, we call it happiness… but the very BEST we can do as humans is really just be less sad . No… do not write me off as a pessimist, a fatalist, or even just depressed and discouraged with life today. See… Thomas Jefferson was one of the original drafters of the phrase, “ …which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness; ” in the Declaration of Independence for the Unites States Constitution. His declaration was one of hope, one of achievement, and certainly one that would help encourage and define the very promise of a new life in a new and free country. Something of a posture that would help shape the American Pride. Happiness however, is tough to measure, tough to formally define (varying opinions)… just when or where it is that you cross the line from being sad, to happy. Nonetheless, pursuing happiness seems to indicate that happiness is something you can chase, hunt down, and even corral into the confines of your life… a form of taking ownership, as it were. But, this is actually just pursuing a less-sad (happier) state in your life. Sure, it is a twist of words, and maybe even a ‘say the same thing, but a different way’ mechanism of speech. The core point is, that our efforts to catch happiness is actually missing the very point of the origin or source of happiness… in our efforts to avoid God, Jesus and anything to do with spiritual guidance, we inadvertently search to replace His satisfying grace, His fulfilling peace, and certainly His overflowing blessings on our lives. Efforts of Happiness No one really knows your intent… what drives you… what motivates you through your daily life… that subtle, quiet, protected place deep in your spirit that seeks pleasure, happiness, and fulfillment.. even longing. Along the paths of our lives, we have so many moments of gratification and they trick us into thinking and feeling like we just need to do that again and again, and more and more… and happiness will establish a pattern in our lives. Sigh… we’ll do ‘that’ so much that it’ll feel normal and seem as though it is actually a base trait that everyone has (or should have, at least), and we can obtain a level of happiness that is mostly satisfactory… mostly good enough… mostly better than ‘that person, there’ type life. Even something as simple as a night out, a hobby or a special craft project or even vacation ‘adventures’. These all help to provide a goal to achieve (waiting in anticipation of it’s arrival) and enjoyment during the event, and certainly that whole reminiscing part that allows you to remember ‘that’ you experienced happiness. But, that is certainly the point… it is past tense now and never sustainable. Well then… pursue something more lasting, more honorable, bigger than life as it were… such as family, a love devotion with a mate, or possibly even ‘life trappings’ (homes, cars, boats, etc)… these tangible pieces of our lives certainly do provide an inner peace… a sense of belonging… and purpose in many cases. Sure, they can burden your life, too. But since they are tangible, some of them are also disposable and then replaced with another promise of happiness! You may actually have a life-long quest… and deeply passionate goal… even a resolute spirit to ‘right the wrongs’ in this world. These can certainly provide a deep sense of self-worth… a gratitude that will mimic the peace of God… a heartfelt purpose that actually tends to justify your calling, your place in this world… even your core purpose… your very identity! All these are so tough to see that they are merely a pursuit of sadlessness … mainly because, they all have to do with you… have to do with your happiness… have to do with a core selfishness that the ‘pursuit of happiness’ disguises from you. This happiness is not sustainable, though…. it does not perpetuate… it does not spawn more happiness… it is not contagious by others who in turn express happiness around their world and in turn that happiness comes ‘full circle’ back to you! See?? Happiness is merely a short experience of wellness, of being settled, even glee, jubilation, and exhilaration… but, this does’t go on and on. Once this happiness is obtained, it begins to dwindle… to lose it’s glimmer… even to be less and less satisfying, oddly… to finally get to the point where ‘it no longer does it for you’. Ultimately, you are back to being not-happy…. not thrilled… not excited. Looking back, it all seemed as though it really was just an effort to be less sad… less discouraged… less disappointed. The Consuming Happiness Now, through all the years of man’s existence on this planet, there has always been a lasting happiness… an enduring peace… a deeply fulfilling presence in your life that is distinctly better than tangible pursuits… we’ve just spent so much time looking past it… looking around it… even looking right at it and scoffing. Sure, you may already be shrugging off anything to do with God… with Jesus… with the Holy Spirit. Unwittingly, you have trained your heart to listen to your brain and your brain works through the logic, the impracticality of shaping your life so that God can bless you instead of these tangible things attempting to satisfy. Please don’t give up waiting and listening… please don’t cast this aside all too quickly… I am asking you to consider that the things you have been doing all your life are ‘wrong’… you’ve just been doing them ‘that way’ so long… it feels right. And, now that you are considering trying ‘this right way’ of doing things, that feels wrong… so we tend to stop… we tend to surrender and just go back to what we have always been doing. After-all, it WAS providing some solace… some peace… some figment of completeness in your life. When you’ve been doing the wrong thing for so long it feels right, so much so that trying to do the right thing feels wrong; that is wrong. G.W. Bill Elliott Jr (@vocalbillity) One of the best ways to turn that ‘trait’ back in your favor is to begin doing what you do NOT for yourself! OK… you may have quickly thought, “Hey… I am already doing all this for my family”. Here is what I mean, “ And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; “. See that? Change WHO you’re doing things for and your life will take a turn for happiness, switching from the side of sadlessness. That scripture is actually found in Colossians 3:23, and pay close attention to the “ …heartily, as to the Lord ” part. This is not a ‘how much can I sacrifice’ solution… obtaining His happiness is not at your expense. Once you begin looking at what you do with a “who you are doing it for” perspective, happiness has a place to reside in your life. Sure, you may quickly retort, “But, I am already doing my work, my activities, my goals in life FOR my family… and I am passionate, committed, and dead-serious devoted to them, too”. Again, that is quite noble… that is admirable… that is even honorable… but, it is not sustainable. I mean, sure you can keep on doing that. But, the Lord will fill your spirit with a permeating peace… a deeply fulfilling presence. It is a life-balance presence He provides. See… Jesus told us in John 10:10 , “… I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly”. We all have ‘life’. We all live, breath, toil, play… you know… life! But, Jesus takes this quite a ways farther and promises “ that they might have it more abundantly”. No longer are you working to be less sad… He will give you happiness abundantly. Pursue Happiness, Fulfillment, His Saving Grace Now, to pursue ‘things of God’ is easily tough! I mean, it is easy because you don’t really move… you essentially surrender, more than anything else. And… there is the tough part. Our lives… our society… our world has influenced us so much that we knee-jerk toward trying to DO something to get something… to earn something… to have a ‘worth exchange’, as it were. With the Lord though… He just wants you to surrender (the tough part). No… not ‘sit in a puddle’, just take a break from trying things your way… relax and let Him show you His way! See… in Matthew 6:33, Jesus stated, “ But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you . ” It is the ‘…all these things will be added to you’ that is SO important. Pursuing God… surrendering your life, heart, and selfishness… means that God will ultimately give you all these things. Seems like an end-around, I know… but consider this… along His way, others will be influenced by your life… others will have a mentor… others will impact others! You’ll make a wake of God’s mercy! Sure… it also may sound and seem like you have to lose your life… give up your dreams… essentially, ‘die’ as a human and let this “God guy” do His stuff through you. Uh… NO! Remember I noted this earlier.. Jesus also said, I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly , which is found in John 10:10 . The main purpose of our lives… or our love… of our very being while here on earth, is that we would seek to fulfill your soul from within, not from without. He intends to give you life (sure, everyone else has life already… whoopie , you may say), but He promises it will be a ‘ more abundant ‘… uh… not only abundant… MORE ABUNDANT! That’s “a lot of a lot”! The Pursuit of Sadlessness is a process by which we work to fulfill our lives from the outside inward (from without). Learn to resist that urge to ‘be gratified’, to feel good about ourselves… even to obtain accolades from others around. These tend to validate we are doing well, and on the right track… and that is the gotcha! Our efforts to ‘do good’ and to ‘be involved’ and to even volunteer and sacrifice without God’s leading on your life, can lead to a false positive experience. You get the feeling all is well (a positive reinforcement), but these ‘works’ actually disgust God and He’ll actually reject you! Now… let God wash over your soul… let His Spirit guide you… let His hand touch you and heal your heart, mind, and soul… make you a whole and vibrant person!

Spue You Go What do you mean "Depart from me, I never knew you", God? This story helps remind us how easy it is to mimic Christianity, and what that is bad. < Previous Spue You Go I know… Spue doesn’t even seem like a word, right? I mean, maybe it should be spelled spew , or something. Well, the word spew is pretty close to the context of this writing, but spue is actually the word Jesus used to describe just how aggressively He will reject you! Wait… Jesus rejects people? Wait… Jesus isn’t patient, trusting, kind, compassionate? Wait… what the spue ? No… I didn’t misspell it just to get your attention. See, in Revelation 3:15-16 , He said; “ So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth “. It is that word Spue that caught my eye, my ear, and my heart recently… I was thinking about the ‘So then’ part of this verse.. the verse begins with the word SO. I mean, ‘so’? So what? Well, I backed up just one verse and read, “ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. ” He uses this two-three verse presentation several times in this chapter, so it is a recurring theme… hint… pay attention! Now as much as I know about the Bible and God’s word, I still had to look up this spue word because I actually thought it was just an Old English version of the spew word… but the word spue is MUCH more aggressive and definitive than that. The dictionary actually described SPUE as; Spue : [spyoo] : to discharge the contents of the stomach through the mouth; vomit. In the Greek, it is “ emeo ” ( em-eh’-o ), which is used as a verb and also means, “to vomit”. It sure sounds the same as SPEW, but mercy… quite a different picture we have now! I mean, the word spew connotes having put something into your mouth to only spit it right back out (and sometimes quickly)… with that blargh sound, too! This spue word that Jesus uses is something much deeper… much more internal… and much more impacting on your body when it occurs. But, that is how Jesus spoke, that is how He taught, that is how He wordsmiths His phrases to help get our attention. See, to vomit something out of your body is much more than just ejecting something from your mouth. Sure, it goes through your mouth, but the journey began down in the stomach… down in the bowels, the abdomen, and the very core of your body as it were… down in the depths of your very life. Now just imagine being out to dinner, or being at a camping picnic, or even just traveling abroad and ingesting something that is so good tasting… so filling… so comforting actually (like you just ate the best desert ever!). Unbeknownst to you, something bad was in that food that neither your tongue, your sense of smell, nor your taste-buds could detect. See… those senses help protect your life so that you don’t ingest something that can/will make you sick and cause you to die… but, they missed it this time… they didn’t catch the subtle and pending doom… they didn’t suspect a thing. Hence, your sense of fulfillment is well intact, for the time being! Whatever it was, it got past your senses and you’re none the wiser… nor do you care actually because that warm-n-fuzzy feeling was just so completing and so rewarding… all is right with the world, you think. Some 3 or 4 hours later though, you are not feeling so well… things are brewing… festering… they’re fermenting, actually… causing tumult on your entire system and ultimately, those contents need to be ejected from your body. Otherwise, for them to remain there will poison you, will sicken you further, and in many cases kill you! Yes… this involuntary action of vomiting is your body’s way of protecting your very life. Sure, you fight it off, drink some water, lay down, settle yourself… who likes to puke anyway, right!?? The inevitable does finally occur and it IS quite a violent experience. Me?? I hate it! It feels like I will never get a clear airway again and get another breath of air. Literally, it is a gut-wrenching experience (I just had to… couldn’t help myself!). Now… back to Jesus using this as a reference and picture to describe rejecting ‘lukewarm’ people. Why would he introduce this “you could be ejected” idea in Revelation? I mean, there’s always been this standing “once saved, always saved” argument, or the “my name is written permanently in the Book of Life”, or even the core ‘security of the believer’ promises we lean on…. Jesus even told us, “I’ll never leave you, nor forsake you” ( Deuteronomy 31:6 ). This event isn’t God changing His mind, it is not a ‘gotcha’ thing where you neglected to read the fine print in some buried scripture deep in the ‘boredom’ of the Book of Chronicles, or something like that. This is actually God rejecting something from His body that will cause it harm. It was included into the body under ‘good faith’, but has since turned bad… turned destructive… turned poisonous actually. Leaving it there will cause the body to be sick, and may even cause it to die. He’s protecting His body, just like ours does involuntarily. Now, sure… this seems contrary to His grace… to His love… to His acceptance of us. I mean, WHY “let us in” if we have impurities, if we have a ‘virus’, or an ‘infection’? Seems like God is more perfect and much more thorough than that, right? But, back up and look at the context of this entire chapter in Revelation Chapter 3. He’s going through several churches and pointing out that He ‘would’ that we were Hot OR Cold, but since they were lukewarm… spue goes you ! YOU actually caused this tumult in His body… your indifference… your middle-of-the-road commitment… your “I’m just trying to keep the peace” way of compromise is despicable, even to God! Approaching His will in your life with an ‘ Uhhh… does it matter, really? ” posture is horrible. It is that “eh, no big deal” attitude that just sickens the Lord… Have a position! Have a perspective! Have a conviction! So fundamentally, there are three types of people in God’s world and in His body (by reference in this passage): Hot, Cold, and Lukewarm. It is the Lukewarm ones who cause such a vicious and body-impacting event to occur…. sure, mainly the stomach and abdomen, but the rest of His body is doubled-over in turmoil… tossed into utter chaos, and involuntary convulsions… torn of almost all it’s contents to clear itself of this ‘bile’… this poison… this life threatening substance. All to protect His body, His very existence, His very peace and calm. What determines the boundaries for Hot or Cold? And since there is a Lukewarm area, just how wide is it? Is it like a Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) of a battle area, just how wide is it? I mean, back before Jesus gave us Salvation and His forgiving grace, there was only the Law (10 Commandments and more). The rules were documented and the consequences were much clearer (side note: not ONE person could follow all of them). This new ‘grace’ thing Jesus introduced back with the Disciple leaves life a little more ambiguous and open to interpretation! Now, we seem to have this Hot or Cold category, and apparently the Lukewarm one is frowned upon, at all! Lukewarm can be characterized as; half-hearted, limp, ready to compromise, indifferent, listless, and ready to keep the peace, to name a few. Now, you may not see yourself in any of these descriptions… but still ARE a lukewarm spirit in the Lord! How? Because you are defending you! The Bible says, ‘… now we look through a glass darkly, but then face to face “. Too often, it is so deeply ingrained into our lives, we think and FEEL it is right, but it is wrong. I once Tweeted this, in response to that; When you’ve been doing the wrong thing for so long it feels right, so much so that trying to do the right thing feels wrong; that is wrong. G.W. Bill Elliott Jr (@vocalbillity) December 27, 2017 Now, this is not a story about what you eat… it’s not an encouragement to watch your diet, to get all fanatic about organics, about ‘cage-free’, about locally grown products… see, the Bible reminds us in 1 Cor 10:23 , “ All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not. ” You can eat what you want. You can live like you want. You can be like you want. Not everything you want is right (expedient), nor edify others around you (encourage them toward God). Rather… this is a story about being in God’s body and keeping your life as pure, as holy, and as righteous as you can so-as to remain Hot… to remain fervent… to remain “on fire” with the Lord’s Holy Spirit in your life. No… you can NOT do it on your own. Man’s solutions to Man’s problems will always fall short. How, then? It would be great to have a manual, to have a trouble-shooting list, to have a formula, to have an On-Call place we can contact to ensure we remain on track, maybe even to logon to God’s “App Store” and install an Update or Hot-Fix, or even a Patch. Wait… there are ALL of those! The Holy Spirit is available to use for these very reasons. Jesus left us the comforter for this very reason. We don’t have to do this on our own, or seek out some group-therapy process to get us closer to God… mercy, no! Being Lukewarm is not something we strive to do, it is a result of what we’re too tired to do… a result of what we’re too weak to do… a result of what we’re too confused to do… a result of what our commitment to the Lord really means… not much! Spue You Go . His Spirit was left here to help us, to meet with us, to guide us. The Holy Spirit is God’s way being being “closer than a brother”, and “coming alongside”, and even better, being that “small still voice” we sometimes like to call “gut feeling”. How To Avoid/Repair Lukewarmness OK, I did say there was not a manual… no formal directions… no “Hot Fix” patch from God’s App Store you can install to get back on the right track… and here I am about to show you how I do it! Well, this is how “ I” keep my life fresh… how I keep my heart tender, ready, and alert for His calling on my heart (whispers of His leading) . On my “ Where is Your Heart? ” page, these three steps… these three core components set the stage for me and prepare my heart, my soul, my life for drawing closer to God, to Him drawing closer to me, and most critical, me getting farther away from Lukewarm, Surrender, Ask Him In, and Look for Gold; Surrender: Acknowledge your brokenness ( Worlds Apart, by Jars of Clay ) Get rawly vulnerable with Him, show Him the secret of your heart. Now, that means you surrender your pride, your “I’m not that bad a person”, your posture of entitlement. He knows your every sin, He knows your every trouble, He knows your very secret secret! Just surrender and recognize that your fallibility is better than it was, but still tripping you up… still causing you trouble… still the core problem with your character. The first verse of this song from Jars of Clay states; “I am the only one to blame for this. Just want to want Him! Please do NOT approach God with that whole, “I need help” nonsense! Sure, He does want to help you…. sure, He is able to help you… sure, He died to help you! Way too often, we reach out to God WHEN calamity occurs. Ask the Holy Spirit to ‘dust your furniture’ ( Rushing Wind, by Keith Green ) Do NOT stop after that first step! Sure, you can but don’t! See… confession… surrender… opening yourself up like that IS healthy… is healing… is so cleansing. But, unless you let the Holy Spirit get in there and ‘blow out the dust’ and take up residence in your heart, you WILL be worse on than before! Understand, this is the “where the rubber meets the road” part of your living. It can be tough, it can be challenging, it can be so hard you will wish (and may even try) to stop, to no longer trust the Lord, to throw it all away. The children of Israel did the very same thing just days after they were led out of captivity from Egypt (that thing Moses did)… they were facing their first “looks impossible” challenge at the banks of the Jordan river… no way to cross, and the Egyptian soldiers now chasing after them (they figured out they lost their work-force), and they urged Moses to lead them back, because “… at least we had food and shelter there “. Let His Holy Spirit move through your life… blowing out the dust within! Recognize the Gold ( I Think I See Gold, by Ray Boltz ) God will reward you through your cleansing…. through your trials… through the turmoil, anguish, and utter pain. But, remember.. you had all those before starting your journey with God, right! Just… no real reward. Sure… self-satisfaction, accolades from humanity, maybe. But, all of those are superficial… all of those are man-made, and will never be remembered into eternity! God leaves nuggets of gold in your life… the fire has burned the useless stuff away… and there is a shiny nugget or two left! But, the trying of your faith produces patience. This world of instant gratification has numbed us to His ways… to try our faith over and again… taking time to groom us, to mature us, to lead us to that special Will of His for our lives. Now all that may seem like nonsense… like it is easier said than done.. like I am just guilting you into action. Somehow, we’d rather download an app, inject or ingest some medication, or even just ‘change the channel’ and move on to something else that will get us the gratification we seek. Please take some time to read The Deep End of the Pool , and you’ll have a better idea just what is intended. But, at least ‘start’… at least turn your eyes to Him and no longer remain in the Lukewarm side of life… the middle-of-the-road, complacent, agreeable, devil-may-care attitude with God… with life… and yes, with death itself!

Regurgitationalistics Too often we end up repeating what we heard or read without really giving it all much thought. This story is about taking the time and energy to have an original thought, for a change. < Previous Regurgitationalistics Practice Original Thought Man has never invented a single thing (as of this writing)… ever never… nothing new… never… not one new element has been introduced into life. All we’ve done is ‘assemble’ things to be something else, and we call it ‘inventing’. Semantics, I know… but our thoughts and the many things we voice (communicate) have the same tendency… regurgitating things in a different way, but they are the same droning message (repeating news, citing scripture, gossip, etc)… over and again. Like we found a dirty, old, encrusted nickel… polished it up and claimed it as our own… holding it up for the world to see and in turn exclaiming our excitement for this new nickel of ours. Sure… the word “Regurgitationalistics” doesn’t even exist… well… it might now… since I am using it. Essentially I morphed the word Regurgitation, which fundamentally means; to give back or repeat, especially something not fully understood or assimilated. Now… I am not writing this to teach you some fancy form or regurgitation… rather… I have noticed that we tend to get all caught up communicating and sharing thoughts, ideas, “news and information” and that we easily fall into the trap of just being talking-heads… mostly. Giving almost NO thought to what we are sharing… just too busy repeating something we heard… something we saw… something someone else shared with us. Almost monkey-like in our zeal to ‘pass along’ some nugget of information… as though we are getting a finders-fee, or accolades for being the one to discover such a nugget… all gleeful and pleased with ourselves. This rapid-fire means of passing information along is leaving us brainless… training us to think-less about the message(s) we are passing along… giving us that instant gratification that we did society a favor by ensuring this message doesn’t die on my doorstep… at my feet… on my watch…. that it carries on into the future… that somewhere, somehow, someone is touched by it. So many of our social-websites provide the coolest tools to help us pass-along things that we either find, or their website (feed) has found for us… see… as you are finally realizing (hopefully), these sites ‘watch’ you and track your trends… follow your links… ‘listen’ to your words, and that in turn allows them show you stuff… and you get impressed and ‘touched’ by some moving statement… some touching sunset with the most romantic or spiritual-ish-sounding-probably-true statement… you can just NOT resist posting it to your ‘friends’…. without EVER adding your own commentary… without EVER telling us what ‘that’ means to you… how ‘that’ touched your heart (or mind) and motivated you to share it with us. Many years ago now, I was sharing some of my photography with an artist Uncle of mine… he spotted this photo I’d snapped in the Golden Gate Park (circa 1984) and asked if he could have it enlarged and mounted for me… uh…. sure, Uncle Leon, knock yourself out. I didn’t see what he saw. He gave this mounted and framed photo back to me some weeks later. He’d signed and dated it (he’s an artist, remember)… but… what he titled it to THIS day has changed not only how I look at ‘things’, but why I even bother trying to share them with you (and others). “Mary Had a Little Lamb” Initially… I thought…. “OoooKKkkkayy… uh… what?”, but then I realized he’d named it “Mary Had a Little Lamb” because to him… it represented Mary (the larger rose) who’d had the Lamb of God (the littler rose). Wow…Yea… tears still well up in my eyes… two reasons… I was that blind before and didn’t get it… and I now see. Too many people would just name something like this photo, “Roses”, or “Garden Roses”… nothing all too creative or ‘communicative’ about a deeper reason this photo was captured in the first place. You know… the whole ‘what inspires you to snap a photo?’ or, ‘what caught your eye about that photo?’ Give us SOME original thought about the things that inspire you in your life. Recognizing beauty, quality, even spotting acceptable character traits in others is no place to stop… I mean… passing some lovely photo along to others… even more-so when it has some ‘perfect’ quote in it… is just SO tempting. When you see something like that, you may consider, “ oh… I need to show others this ‘nugget of truth’ and pass it along to those around me! ” NOT! Take some time to consider ‘why’ that moves you… ‘why’ it caught your attention… and ‘why’ you are bothering to share it with us. Tell us how that makes ‘you’ feel… what you are experiencing and why that seems to impact you. OK… maybe you’re not thinking all that deeply about these snippets of information. But, that IS the point… we are learning to NOT have an original thought… we are losing touch with taking the time to consider something before passing it along… to even add ‘our flavor’ to it. No… not change the story and make it your own… just that we need to take a little more time to learn to express something uniquely ours… not passing along someone else’s wittiness, skill, or keen observation. Many years ago now, I was getting regular texts from a dear friend… a Christian brother who has been saved ’bout as long as me… we both were baptized at the same time in the same place. Cass would send me scriptures via texts on my phone. Two things that were bad about this; This was back in the day when text messages cost 10 cents per message (depending on your ‘plan’), and some of the passages he would send would spread across 4 or 6 text messages…. costing me some 60 cents each time! He never, EVER had any comment about the passage… never EVER prefaced it or followed up with some “and I think” commentary. One day, I finally texted him back and asked him to either start telling me WHY this scripture inspires him to send it, or stop sending them. Uh… he stopped sending them! And, that is the core of my point… we get our warm-fuzzies passing things along, but we rarely add anything about the ‘thing’ or what it means to us at that moment… why we are forwarding, why we are tagging, why we are ‘liking’, why we are even making any fuss over it. Technology devices today make it so easy to ‘pass it along’… to quickly let others know and see this ‘magical’ snippet that has moved us. Without us meaning to let it happen, this is teaching us to mimic godliness… to repeat what we see, or hear… to ‘be like’ we are spiritual. Over time and with repetition, we are going to convince even ourselves how ‘close to God’ we are, or how ‘not like those sinners’ we are, and worse… how much closer we are to good than evil. And… that gets us closer to ‘the rub’… the flaw… the core problem with regurgitating information… to retweeting… to liking… to simply ‘tagging’ things for which you approve. You invested NO time or energy into it all… you merely ‘raised your hand in approval’. We are becoming life-like, but not full of life… rather robotic and calculated. They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: Psalms 115:6 Going through the motions is getting easier and easier to do. With SO many ways to learn to do things, from DIY channels, to websites, to the well stocked YouTube site… almost anything you want to learn can be found. But, it is these subtle mechanisms in our lives these days that is making it tougher for us to even notice it is happening. So much so, that we are warned that our ‘acting like God’ mannerisms are going to blind-side us… going to catch us right at the very worst time in our lives when it is too late. Notice this warning Jesus gave us; 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. Matthew 7:22-23 Seems odd to me… I mean, the people recognize they were doing things “in thy name”, yet they come up short of the Lord’s hope for our lives… the ministry He wants us to portray. But, to have the Lord say, “ …depart from me, I never knew you ” seems harsh. Remember… it is NOT how well we know the Lord… it is how well the Lord knows us! Practice original thought… learn to express your thoughts… learn to personalize that ‘like’… learn to embellish that ‘retweet’… learn to make a topic your own. Any monkey can ‘pass it along’, like you are in some Chinese Fire Drill line, or something. How? Two key elements; 1) Study & Rightly divide His word, and 2) Grow Some Fruit. Me?? There have always been two scriptures or ‘phrases’ I have kept close in my heart and mind… “Study to show thyself approved” and “Rightly dividing the word”. Then, learn to ‘attach’ some scripture or some godly principle… even just to share something from your life or heart that inspires you to ‘tag’ this photo, this phrase, or this special link (on the social media sites). Almost all of us recognize beauty… almost all of us recognize quality… almost all of us recognize something inspiring, or motivating, or even just simply something that ‘matters in life’, like a quote, a phrase, or a nugget of truth. Take an extra little moment… take a little extra thought-time… take a little extra energy and just include how/why this ‘thing’ matters to you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. Matthew 24:5 THAT right there is one of the core reasons we need to do two things; 1) add some additional dialog or feedback about the ‘share’ you are passing along, and 2) just pass-over any ‘share’ someone else has passed on without really giving it much more attention. See… the subtly of heresy… the quiet agreeableness of half-truth… the believability of most of the ‘good things in life’ can actually ease you into a compromising acceptance of the wisdom of the world. Before you are even aware, it becomes a second-nature response in your life… becomes a go-to- statement you might use when someone asks “how is your day”, or “how is your faith”, or even deeper and more critical… “how is your walk with God”. Splitting hairs? No… separating the sheep from the goats, though! See… being aware of God’s word… being “learned” in the details… being exposed to His teaching enough to thwart the wayward and slippery-slope twists that can be tossed about… it is very important. Now… not everyone is going to be a writer… not everyone is going to be a preacher… not everyone is going to be a singer… and so on. You are you… you are His child, called to be who He wants you to be… be that! Just… resist doing the quick-n-dirty ‘like’… the simple scan ‘retweet’… the rushed five word reply to someone’s ‘share’. But, learn to apply YOUR ‘fruit’ from the Lord… the special skill… the special ‘insight’ the Lord has bestowed in your life… or is trying to bestow. See… 1 Corinthians 12:8-12 reminds us we all have different ‘fruits’ from a life lived in the Lord… and, fruit is the PROOF that there is life… fruit is the result of a mature and well established plant… fruit is the benefit the plant has gleaned from a hearty root system, great exposure to sun, and deep and rich consumption of the nutrients in the ground. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. 1 Corinthians 12:8-12 Now… do NOT get out there and pounce on any and every ‘violator’ of this regurgitationalistic problem… do not seek them out… do not hunt them down and terrorize them until they repent or cease to be so flippant as to just ‘like’ things on the social sites. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 3:15 , “ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: “. That is to say that we are to prepare our hearts… prepare our minds… prepare our life… ‘they’ will notice… ‘they’ will take heed…. ‘they’ will ultimately ask you, and you can then ‘give account of the hope that is within you’. But, if you continue to use the social sites to ‘like’ or ‘retweet’ or even to ‘post a link’ without even including your commentary on the matter… you are missing an opportunity to personalize why that ‘like’ even matters. You may be one of those kind of people who just prefer to keep your opinion to yourself… to keep silent… to avoid a conflict… even to just resolve to keep the peace, as it were. All those are possibly just how the Lord has developed you to be. More times than not, though… these are escape routes for us… they are tactics we have quietly surrendered to in our lives just to chug through this tough life without making matters worse, more complicated and just working toward being less conflicting. Chicken! Too many times, it is also being unsure of what to even say… where to ‘challenge’ others… or to question the half-truth of some “accept all people” poem or quote. That is why I’d mentioned studying the Word of the Lord… learning the ins-n-outs… exposing yourself to the deeper details. Point of reference… ready? There were more than “two of each animal” ushered onto the Ark! Think I am joking? Go check it out! They went IN “two-by-two” (male and female), but there were MANY more than just two of each! MANY! Genesis 7:1-5 There… that is a little more of what I am saying… what I am hoping to help you ‘see’. Too many of the ‘things of this world’ have influenced the songs we sing, the poems we adore, even the phrases we pass along to our young ones. But, they are half-truths many times, and we just quietly ‘like’ them… or ‘retweet’ them, and even just let them pass on by without raising a hand in disapproval, usually for two reasons; 1) ignorant and don’t know any better, and 2) too afraid (and lacking knowledge) to ‘buck the system’, as it were. In both cases, do something about it! Sure, the first one takes time (need to read, learn, adsorb, and discuss with others), but that second one is the one that usually stops us… just afraid… ill equipped… cautious. The Bible tells us to ‘prepare’, but not to be worried ‘what to say’, because the Holy Spirit will give you the words when it is time. I mean… it ‘was’ the Holy Spirit in your life that riled your attention… why wouldn’t it also be the Holy Spirit that would provide the words… provide that support. And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: Luke 12:11 The core point is… do more than just agree with things passing through your life. Do more than just ‘keep the peace’… do more than just ‘like’, ‘retweet’ and ‘post a link’. These things make it ‘seem’ like you are in the know… seem like you are connected… seem like you are on top of things. But, add some ‘why this matters to me’ commentary… add some “and the Lord showed me this” dialog… add some of His Spirit to the things you say and do. Change your regurgitationalistic ways to original thoughts! How? I like to do three things when I see something I feel I need to ‘pass along’; Why – why this caught my attention (link, photo, phrase, article, etc) What – what it means to me, how I ‘feel’ about it How – how you can be impacted by it too (not simply stating, “this will change your life”) Now… go on… Practice Original Thought ! …also, ‘like’ this page! Kidding… just kidding!

Sin is Fun! Facing life means enjoying it, too. Too often, we get imbalanced with 'too much fun', but more importantly we seem to overlook the end-game of it all, too. This story helps us to clearly understand moderation, self-control and maybe even complete avoidance. < Previous Sin Is Fun Well… it IS… right? Now, I know… you are almost immediately thinking, “ No, it leads to …”, but I am hoping you will focus with me on this quick simple sentence… Sin is Fu n . No two ways about it… whatever we are not supposed to be doing is always fun to do… fun to experience…. fun to escape to, even to explore some new territory of life… a quiet guilt… a quiet shame, maybe… a quiet little season of relief from the stress, the pressure, the tensions of life. Sure, sin is fun and actually quite a hoot… for a season anyway. That is one of the core things about sin that is so hard to grasp while sin is taunting us… while we are distracted by the potential fun… the pending excitement… The anticipation of the probable and gleefully exhilarating thrill of the encounter…. aaaahhhhh…. the endorphin release seems SO necessary and seems to almost justify that this ‘sin’ thing is really OK, after-all. I mean… God DOES want us to enjoy life… to experience happiness… to learn and grow. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17 Wait… who is to say what Sin even is, in the first place? What “I” think is right, you may consider wrong. What one country or culture deems wrong, many others consider appropriate, acceptable, even encouraged. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Hebrews 11:25 It is the tail end of that passage that clearly defines sin… pleasure for a season. No… not ALL pleasure is a sin… just that pleasure only lasts for a season, and sin is an ugly form of pleasure. Sure, pleasure is always good… right? Your sins/escapes will vary from other peoples’ sin/escapes. Essentially though, we can summarize things this way; Sin – Things that separate us from loved ones; anger, rejection, breaking a vow/promise, lieing. Sin is actually defined as; any act regarded as such a transgression, especially a willful or deliberate violation of some religious or moral principle. Fun – Things that titillate and provide pleasure, such as; Partying, Dancing, Entertainment, Sex, Drinking. Seasons – always changing, always in the same sequence. Seasons can be defined as; a period of time marked by certain conditions, activities, or events to name a few . Examples? Please keep in mind, these following examples are all OK, in-and-of themselves. Enjoying life is NOT a sin… it is NOT contrary to God, His will, His leading… doing these ‘instead’ of following the Lord is a Sin! Go back up and re-read the first portion of that passage from Hebrews… it states, “ Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God …”NO! Not being pious… not being isolated… not even just attending a church service instead of Golfing, say. Our society puts so much focus and advertising energy in an effort to convince us just how fun these things are… not really sure WHY they do that, because almost everyone knows they are exciting! There was a commercial many years ago that stated, “ It just doesn’t get any better than this. “, and they are right… well… unless you know the Lord! Jesus said, “I am come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly.” So yea.. it CAN be ‘better than this’. Drinking and Partying is one area that just thrills… well… aside from the social anxiety of meeting new people, or being in a group, or in a location that is new… drinking or drugs… partying… music concerts… just having a ‘blow out’ kind of time, is very, VERY fun. There is, however, a certain point to which that level of fun, exhilaration, and that thrilling Yahhhoooo fun can begin to dull… lose it’s zeal… even get to the point of being boring. One of those ‘too much of a good thing’, things, huh! Drinking and Partying is fun… for a season! I really enjoy a well designed roller coaster ride. Some are just freaky steep, or too twistie… even over hyped. But a smooth, fast, and well laid-out roller coaster ride can be exhilarating, thrilling, and very, very inviting for a 2nd, 3rd, and many more trips! Now… a roller coaster ride is by no means a sin… well… obsessive sure, but it sure would not seem like a sin… right?It is actually that thrill… that exhilaration…. that fun energy I am trying help you grasp. Too often, our attempts to keep that excitement level in our lives can be something of an escape… something of a replacement for the sorrow or somberness our normal life hands us. A Thrilling Roller-coaster Ride is fun… for a season! Eating is yet another way we seek fulfillment or satisfaction. Sure, we must eat to survive… to exists… to be healthy. Eating does take on another characteristic for us, too… something that is actually so prevalent in our lives anymore these days, it is the norm. Overeating is such a tough practice to keep in check, too… the taste of food… the feeling in our bellies… the pleasant odors… just the way some foods trigger the saliva glands as our bodies prepare to ingest the food!!Too much though…. bloating… overweight… sluggishness… sleepy… just so many bad things occur! Eating or Overeating is fun… for a season! Please keep in mind… as you ponder these ‘thrill’ things (and others) in your life… this writing is NOT to point out that you are sinning… how you are sinning (doing something I may not do)… or even that these items are even sin… it is the ‘thrill’ we get from these ‘things’ that actually becomes the sin! See that? As that opening scripture from James 4:17 noted, “ Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. “, so you have to face the Lord over things in YOUR life… and only Him! Sure, society puts ‘shame’ on many things in life, but you answer to the Lord. More than ‘what it is’ though… I am presenting the ‘what it does’ for us, part. See… it is the ‘… for a season ‘ part that has always gotten my attention. Just how long can we sustain a pleasant, thrilling, or even fulfilling thing in our lives. I am pretty sure you can agree to any and all of the following; I dislike Sorrow I dislike Pain I dislike Loneliness I dislike Anger I dislike Emptiness I dislike Fear We tend to overcompensate our lives… these dislikes… with pleasures… with thrills… with happiness, really. So much so, we lose track of just how sad… how hurt… even how scared we actually are. If you have a chance, read the “ Pursuit of Sadlessness ” here on the site. It helps explain how much trouble we are actually going to in an effort to avoid the ‘noise’ of our fears. Avoiding sin is the best way to go. Sure, way easier said than done and since we all define or perceive sin to be different, who is to really say how you are going to avoid sin. That is not so much up to you as much as it is your responsibility to work it out… to figure it out… to find you own way… well… sort of! I mean, the Bible says in Philippians 2:12 that we are to “… work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. ” You read that right… work out your OWN salvation! No, goofy… not ‘ get saved on your own ‘… not ‘ we are saved by working at it ‘… not even ‘ your salvation depends on your works ‘. Your salvation was bought with the Blood of Jesus and His sacrifice for you… take that ‘salvation’ and put it on (like a funky fitting coat), and ‘work out’ how it fits on you… how you move in it… how you live in it. But… NEVER forget the end of that passage… “ with fear and trembling “. Be respecting of His love for you… of His will for you… of His leading and calling for you. Obtain a lasting joy through the Holy Spirit in your life. Remember… sin is great fun… sin is a great fulfiller… sin is a great means of exhilaration, thrills, and even that wonderful feeling of being alive… but… for a season! Lasting joy… everlasting joy… never ending joy, fulfillment, and thorough peace can only be obtained through the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 I know… again… easier said than done. Well… no, actually. Just easy… simple… plain. Just trust the Lord for His peace in your life! See… we tend to RUN to the easy pleasures… to the quick and tangible thrills… to the ‘within my grasp and control’ activities that we know will give us pleasure (a hobby…. a vice… a pending event). Take the time to let the Lord have His way in your life AND let your inner-person (your spirit) get use to waiting… to resting on His timeline… to gleaning His peace in your heart. Enjoy peace and fulfillment through all seasons of your life… not just as ‘flash in the pan’ moments like Sin does for us. Being consistent with His will for your life will help level out those highs-n-lows… help stabilize your spirit, your personality, even your very life. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end. Hebrews 3:14 Sure… we all sin… we all fail… we all struggle with keeping a consistent and growing life with the Lord. But, it is these Sin Escapades that keep setting us back… keep derailing the forward progress… keep convincing us that these ‘instant gratification’ mechanisms aren’t all that bad… harmless… silly little splashes of fun! Remember though, the Bible ‘does’ say in Romans 6:23 , “… the wages of sin is death “… and like Adam and Eve misunderstanding that this did not mean physical death… the death of your spirit… your connection to the Lord… your very life… is subtle, quiet, and not-so-easy to recognize.

Raising Children is a Sin Corn does not grow up and learn to pass a legacy off to their offspring. Flowers, plants, trees are all the same way. Raising corn… raising plants… raising a grove of fruit trees does not include the corn, the plants, or the fruit trees holding special training sessions so they can pass along their nature-built mechanism for a productive life. It is 'sin' just to raise our children; we must train them. < Previous Raising Children is a Sin Sounds wrong, I know. I mean, it is very wrong.. very sinful to raise your children. We should instead be training them…. teaching them…. nurturing them… growing with them… protecting them… living AND dying for them… not, just raising them. You raise corn. You raise cattle. You raise a garden. … but, you should ‘never’ raise children… never. The Bible directly tells us, “ Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. ” ( Proverbs 22:6 ) Training a child is work… teaching, mentoring, nurturing and in many ways ‘giving up your own life’ for the sake and benefit of the children. Corn does not grow up and learn to pass a legacy off to their offspring. Flowers, plants, trees are all the same way. Raising corn… raising plants… raising a grove of fruit trees does not include the corn, the plants, or the fruit trees holding special training sessions so they can pass along their nature-built mechanism for a productive life. Animals get closer to teaching their young, but their tactics are certainly in the realm of ‘life preserving’ and ‘threat of danger’. They are not teaching their offspring the things of God… giving them guidance for morals… for community living… for anything else but physical life traits. A garden is only perfect, lovely, and fulfilling for a season… it does not teach the seeds or the other flowers and prepare them for the coming season… how to be really good and healthy flowers. Sure… a garden is real work… it takes time… takes care… takes consideration… constant and seemingly relentless toiling… physically sure, but especially emotionally. Each season though, the bulk of the garden ends (depending on the plants and environment). Build ye houses, and dwell in them; and plantgardens, and eat the fruit of them. Jeremiah 29:5 That verse in Jeremiah was God admonishing the captives as they were scattered into their various places… to keep life going… to build… to dwell… to enjoy the fruits of their labors where they are/were. Children are quite a different component of life. Jesus Himself stated, “Suffer not the little children to come unto me”, which is NOT to say “don’t keep your children from going to church”, as much as it is saying “provide an example for your children as to how to live close to the Lord”. That word ‘suffer’ that is used in the King James version is used as a verb in the original text to indicate ‘to send’ or an intense form of ‘to go’. Jesus references children so many times through many of His sermons, His parables, even just His quiet discussions with the Disciples… typically using their innocence as a template for how we should accept and acknowledge Him (wide open trust). Even in Matthew 18:3 , He clarified our salvation by sharing, “ And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. “ As we consider the children around our lives, we really must consider just how important they are to Him. One of the first things you can do for yourself… to help get your head straight about them… is this; Do NOT refer to them as kids! Young goats are referred to as Kids… don’t use that same derogatory title for our children. Adopting this one thing… this one ‘way’ of making reference to them will help begin a richer respect for them. Children almost always have their little recorders running. They are forever learning… forever growing… forever asking questions… forever thinking through the many curious things that enter their world. They learn vastly by example, when they are so young… sure, some things are quite natural, and must be learned on their own (walking, chewing, hand-eye coordination), but other people-skills… manners… sociological and moral matters take training. Way back during the longer part of the Jewish captivity (when they were scattered throughout the region and oppressed), the Lord directed Joel (one of the minor prophets) to instruct all the people that they were to grasp their predicament and pass it along to their children… their children’s children… and the generations to come. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation . Joel 1:2-3 This was instructed of them so that the generations to come would know that calamity had befallen the people… that there WAS a worse time in their lives (just when we whine and think ‘it cannot be any worse’). Train up our children with what? One of the key ways we can train our children is to literally grow-up, spiritually. 1 Corinthians 13:11 tells us, “ When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. “, which is clearly letting us know our time of being childish is done… our time of whimpering… pouting… even just simple temper-tantrum panicking with the Lord is over and we need to get our lives in order! That ‘ put away childish things ‘ means you are no longer a consumer at church…. no longer an observer in life around you… no longer ‘afraid of the boogey-man’ with Satan’s efforts to scare you. Be encouraged… the Lord is NOT sending you out into the world without His blessing over you… without His calling on your life… without His touch on your very mouth. The Lord is preparing your life for these very moments.. teaching others… training those around you… being an admonisher, a mentor, and certainly an example. Jeremiah was a major Prophet (contemporary along Joel, mentioned above) and the Lord wanted him to get out and let the people know what was happening and why. Jeremiah balked; Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. Jeremiah 1:4-9 What you teach your children is not all that complicated. Sure, our society is forcing many sensitivities on us these days (abortion, acceptance/tolerance, rules/laws, etc) and the bible does make it clear that we are to obey the law of the land. When it comes to the ‘ways of God’, things get even fuzzier, but that was the plan “Evil” used from the get-go… right out of the gate, reasoning… deducing… debating… even downright questioning God’s intentions have been part of life. In the way he should go. Who is to say just what IS the ‘way’ one should go, let alone how do we ever hope to “train up our children’ in that way? My way… your way… the highway, as many deflectors would recommend… the ‘way’ is God’s way… God’s presence… God’s leadership in our lives. It is at this point where you MUST be on-your-knees… literally if that helps, but certainly spiritually. Surrendering the “ my way, or the highway “, or the “ do as I say, and not as I do ” approach to nurturing children. You must, must, MUST get your heart in a ‘willing to listen’ state, and then in a place where you are willing to put His leading into action. Specifically with your children, here are some tips, thoughts, ideas to get you started… and keep you going. Diligence. Training up a child requires a commitment.. consistency… follow-through.. and most certainly a “and here is how it is done” example from you that they can use to get their own balance. See, 2 Timothy 3:12-17 tells us; Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Two things to review in that passage; it will be tough (otherwise, everyone would be doing it) the “continue in the things which thou hast learned” part is a great reference back to the Proverbs 22:6 passage that ends with “… and when he is old, he will not depart from it. “, which is a reminder of how the who circle-of-life is really meant to work. Discipline. Correction, guidance, even out-right forced ‘change of direction’ is essential in a young life. Think of it like a new tree… sprouting… growing… branching out. The tree is planted in great soil… getting great water and nutrients… plenty of sun… protected from harsh environment calamities (sound familiar to rearing a child, right). Unless you nurture that tree… unless you prune certain branches… unless you stand back and assess the growth, then carefully make adjustments with care, concern and delicate appreciation, that tree will suffer from being top-heavy, lopsided, even too densely clumped with limbs and leaves… an unsightly mess… and unkempt organism. There is a verse in Proverbs 22:15 , which states; “ Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.” That ‘rod of correction’ is NOT a belt… is NOT a ‘spanking’… is NOT something from which we should shy away… or that we should be shamed by the world that our means of correction are harmful. That ‘rod’ is just like the larger ‘stake’ that is put in alongside a newly planted tree… it guides the trunk of the tree… supports the weightier things in the world that would otherwise break it… otherwise, blow it over… otherwise cause it to lean and grow improperly. Dedication. Unlike those well-intended New Years Resolutions, we are talking about dedication to see this all through. Sure… it is quite exhausting… it can seem unappreciated… unrewarding… and certainly an unpopular thing to be doing. Sticktoitivity is essential. Endurance… steadfastness… resilience… consistency… and literally commitment. Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. Proverbs 16:3 See… as the passage in Proverbs reminds us, we are NOT in this alone. The Lord has directed us to commit our works unto Him, and He will establish our thoughts. He will help shape our minds… help direct our words… help shape our actions that will delicately nurture our children. Psalms 37:5 even confirms that Proverb passage when it says, “ Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. “ Now… you may well be thinking, “until I have it right, I am not going to force my children to do anything”, or “until I better understand the things of the bible…”, or “once I have been a deep and committed Christian longer, I’ll…”, and a whole slew of other reasons to hold your tongue… to be apprehensive… to even hesitate starting to teach your children God’s ways. See… Jesus was once approached by the Pharisees and Scribes (keepers and writers of God’s laws/word) to confront Him about ‘eating bread with unwashed hands’ (a law the Jews honored). It was a pretty petty thing they were attempting to criticize and demean Him for not doing… something to use against Him and discredit His very presence (evil has a keen way of pointing out your flaws)… and Jesus essentially “lit into them’, as it were. The scripture reference is Mark 7:5-16 , but it is way too lengthy to include here. He reminded them that Esaias had prophesied of them as hypocrites. Please get over there and read it, but here are a few snippets from that passage; This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. …laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye. Jesus uses the entire exchange to encourage the believers and followers that it is not the things we ‘take in’ to our lives that defile and condemn us… it is the things that come out of us! How we react to events… how we handle pressure… how we tolerate sin… even how we excuse and dismiss our flaws or our sins. Our children are watching… our children are forming their own perspectives based on our very output… our very actions… our very personalities and life in the Lord. Training up a child ‘ in the way they must go ‘ begins with you being on that ‘the way to go’ path ahead of them… forging an example… standing tall in God’s calling on your life… as the end of that passage in Mark states; “ If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. “

Keep Satan Close Too often, we run and hide from angry people, from critical people, even from ornery family members. This story will help you learn why it is important to keep them close, albeit behind you! < Previous Keep Satan Close This is something of a spin-off of that infamous saying, “ Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer “, but this writing is for a much deeper and life changing reason. See… keeping your enemies close is actually a fear tactic some will apply so they know where their enemies are, what their enemies are doing or thinking, and just who their enemies actually are. Instead, this writing is about tapping into the observations of Satan, gleaning from his efforts to derail your life, and even taking advantage of his wily strategy for tearing you down and separating you from the Lord your God. I mean, think about it this way, Satan is something of a “mirror of your faults in life”, right? He’s quick to point out your physical flaws (like you aren’t your worst enemy, already huh!)… he’s a ‘tattler’ and always at the ready to incriminate you for any failings, or short-comings. Almost like a kid-sibling who goes running off to your parents with some twisted version of the truth so-as to get you in trouble. We know from history that he likes to twist the facts, to dish out half-truth concepts that are convincing, to even put a selfish spin on the very words from God Himself! See… way back in the Garden, ‘the serpent’ convinced Eve that God didn’t mean “don’t eat that fruit” for the reasons Eve believed (we’d die). It’s easy to get caught up reasoning and working through the logic of complicated topics… too often, we get most of a story or most of an explanation… most of the facts… but, it is the ‘fill in the blank’ part that always bites us. We just can’t seem to leave a “mostly complete” story alone. So, we fill in the missing pieces with what we think belongs in those blanks, and all too often that story is quite different than the actual story, the facts, the correct truth. This is NOT to say we shouldn’t engage in discussions, reasoning, or even just taking time to ‘work through the logic and facts” of things going on in your life. We must always be doing that, always checking with the Lord over the missing pieces… the blanked-out parts of a story. Too many of us shun evil doers, naysayers, or just critical people… but, you really can benefit from their input… from their observations. The key component to remember is that these observations ‘may’ actually have merit… there may be an element of truth in them… there may be some fragment of value you can glean from this information. Keep Satan Close; he’s quick to point out your flaws/failings. Thank him for it, then turn to Jesus for cleansing, forgiveness and healing. G.W. Bill Elliott Jr (@vocalbillity) I know… I’ve thought the same thing… “ Wait.. we should listen to Satan? ” Sure.. listen to anyone and everyone… just… be careful and selective about applying their criticism… their observations… their guidance. See… if and when someone criticizes us, we tend to do one of two things; Be defensive and deflective and not even attempt to consider the information (you are protective and closed off) Give consideration (vulnerably) to this information and see if it does have a place in your life. Be willing to at least consider the matter. Keep in mind…. the key trick is ‘how’ we take the criticism… how we deal with someone spewing feedback at us for our lives. Satan is one nasty, sly, devil who wants to be sure you feel rejected, hopeless and distant from God. He wants to be sure you don’t feel included in life. He is relentless with his efforts to tear us down… to thwart our joy… to derail our hope in life, let alone in the Lord. We are encouraged in 2 Corinthians 2:11 to be diligent, aware, and conscious of his efforts to trip us up. It actually tells us, “ Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. “ See… although he is sly, subtle, and devious, he is also going about “ …like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour ” ( 1 Peter 5:8 ). Which sounds scary and ominous at face value… but, picture yourself out in the wild (his territory) and hearing that roaring in the distance. Sure… initially, it will get your attention and strike fear in your life. But, you DO hear it… it IS far off… and you are now aware and can prepare! Facing Satan Jesus NEVER told Satan to get away… never told him ‘depart from me’… 'shooo'… 'go away'… and never did Jesus run away screaming in utter fear! Jesus always told him ‘ get thee behind me ’, which demonstrates His authority, His place of seniority, and His place of superiority. We MUST have the same attitude and answer when Satan challenges us. When Jesus was being tempted by Satan and had taken Jesus up to a high mountain that overlooked all the kingdoms and offered Him all the world if He would worship Satan, “ And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. ” ( Luke 4:8 ) Impressive composure, right? Sure… facing Satan straight-up might seem easier, but way too often even those around us give us advice and promises that are just not God’s will for us. These ‘well meaning’ souls are still giving us worldly directions and in so many ways actually expressing their own fear and uncertainty! I mean, so very often their intentions are good, but their guidance… their encouragement… even their demands on our lives can be contrary to the leading of the Lord. Their very own fear comes through clearly… if you take some time to recognize the subtle ways Satan can and does work through them (us). There was a moment between Peter and Jesus that was pretty intense… conflict arose between the two… and Jesus had to put Peter in his place! See… Jesus had just revealed to the disciples that He (Jesus) “ must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. ” And Peter actually ‘rebuked’ Him for speaking that way! And Matthew 16:23 tells us, “ But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. “ Resist the Devil The Bible never tells us to run from the devil… never tells us to hide from the devil… never ever tells us to keep a low profile and fly under the radar of the devil! Nope! In fact, James 4:7 actually tells us, “ Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. “ See that?? FLEE from you! Not just leave you alone… not just pass you over next time he needs to be amused… not just ignore you… FLEE from you! We are NOT to be afraid of Satan, the devil, or evil ‘anything’! Sure… respecting the power… the sly and devious ways… the destruction that can be delivered… just not afraid! Keeping Satan Close may seem contrary to your knee-jerk thoughts about him, but keep in mind that that IS what he wants… if you are afraid, he can capitalize on that emotion. Luke 10:19 reminds us, “ Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. “ WHAT? WE have the power (and the right) to stomp on Satan? To trample all over evil? To ‘tread on serpents heads’? Now… THAT is a new perspective, right! And, as the end of that passage reminds us, “… and nothing shall by any means hurt you. ” Death has no dominion over you. No…. do NOT start looking to ‘keep company’ with evil… do NOT starting inviting sin, Satan, and any evil presence into your life. Just… do NOT be afraid of it, either. See… keeping that wily devil around means you have an enemy who ‘will’ point out your flaws… ‘will’ point out your failings… ‘will’ exploit your weakness! Friends and family may sugar-coat your flaws.. may dismiss them as part of your quirky personality. Ask for Guidance As noted in my Twitter tweet earlier, we merely need to turn to the Lord and ask Him to clarify the criticism being leveled on us. If the Lord confirms that in your life, then ask Him for the strength and patience to apply His guidance for recovery… for improvement… for His will. Too often, we have those dumb knee-jerk reactions when someone is railing on us… when someone points out flaws or inadequacies. It is an ugly defense mechanism we can rarely tame, right! But, if you can resist the knee-jerk reaction… if you can refrain from ‘having a witty comeback’… patiently accept the information being passed to you, then you can apply these next two mechanisms to help ensure success; Obtain Validation, and Apply Patience. Obtain Validation Always, always, ALWAYS take time to ask the Lord for guidance. Always! See… the Bible even tells us that in this life we walk and stumble along looking “through a glass darkly” (like we have dark, dark sunglasses on) and cannot always see things all so clearly… so vividly… with such clarity as to ‘know’ where our next step should be planted. Jesus wants to guide you… wants to lead you… yearns to be in such close fellowship with you and assist you with each step. When someone declares a personality flaw or a quirk in your character, take some time to ask the Lord if that is really true! Take some time to hand it to Him and watch for His answer and leading! Now… you may find that the ‘waiting for an answer’ part is hard. It may take time. I mean… it is not always as simple as the answer to, “Do I have some mustard on my cheek?” type question. Waiting can be tough, and Satan knows that… we lack patience, and he takes advantage of that… nagging at you, taunting you, reminding you that you STILL have that flaw… that quirk… that failing. Remember, we are encouraged to ask Jesus for cleansing in our lives… to ask Him for forgiveness. 1 John 1:9 reminds us, “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ” So, we have His promise to clear our lives… not continue ridiculing us (like so many others do)… not continue holding these flaws over us and taunting us with them… No! Apply with Patience Not many of us like patience. I mean, sure… we like WHEN we are patient. We just don’t seem to like when we need MORE patience! When is enough patience, enough, right! Our world is subtly teaching us that instant gratification is the norm, so being in a place where we need to wait on the Lord IS one tough trait to have in our lives. Nonetheless, applying His guidance with patience is key to success. Expecting an instant solution can lead you to discouragement, despair, and ultimately just lead you back to the oppression of the flaws, failings, and taunting of those around you again. We are reminded in James 1:3-4 that “… the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing ” This merely means that as you let your faith be applied in your life (put your trust in Jesus to work), patience will get it’s exercise and it will be stronger and stronger in your life. The ‘self help’ LIE (half-truth) in this world is yet another deception tactic. See… Psalms 19:12 let’s us know, “ Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. ” This is to say that we cannot ‘on our own’ understand our own errors. It IS good that someone else is pointing out our flaws… that someone else is criticizing us… that someone else is ‘throwing mud’ at us, as it were. If we can simply be careful to not let this trigger our defenses… to subconsciously deflect the taunting… to dismiss it as trivial or flippant… but, willingly turn to the Lord and ask Him for the clarity and validation… waiting for His leading… we have a fighting chance to improve our own lives, then the lives of those around us, too! Turning to the Lord for guidance in your life will never be received lightly by Him! Jesus has promised to lead you… to nurture you… to hold you close and encourage your life. 2 Corinthians 7:1 states. “ Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. ”