Jesus IS God

Perhaps my picture dilutes my statement above. But I like it anyway!

While reading a devotional the other day, Jesus BEING God occurred to me in a new light. We tend to separate the two (actually all three of the Godhead) into different beings. But this is not the case. Jesus and God (and Holy Spirit) are one and the same.

Maybe for our better understanding, God has given us this image of the three. Whatever. They are not separate. They are One. They are the same.

I think we get the image of God being the tough one; the iron fist, as it were. He who judges with a hard hand. Jesus loves us, but God, well, God is the one we fear.

In John 10:30 Jesus says this outright- "I and the Father are one" (NIV). In John 14:8 He says "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." That's the line that hit me hard.

We cannot think of God in one way and think of Jesus in a different way. Once we know Jesus, we know the Father.

And who is Jesus? Jesus IS Love. Therefore, the Father IS Love. He is long-suffering, He is gentle, He is caring, He listens to you, He answers your prayers, He speaks to you, He protects you, He watches over you, He holds you in His hand. God would not have sent Jesus to be different than He was. He could not have done that, because they are One; they are the same. 

So to get a perfect image of who the Father is, study Jesus!  He came for that very reason (among others)- to show us exactly who God the Father is. 

Exactly.

So that person you go to in devotion, and spend time with- getting to know- you thought it was Jesus. Well, it is, but He's also the Father. And Holy Spirit. Not three different beings- all One and the same. As you get to know Jesus you are getting to know the Father (and Holy Spirit).

You are getting to know who God truly is. 

One Thing I Don't Understand

Truth be told, I guess there are MANY things I don't understand. Ha! beat ya to it!

I think it incredibly sad that so many people don't get who God is. For whatever reason, they miss the boat on believing the truth that 1) there is a God, 2) He is the Yahweh of the Bible, and 3) there is only ONE true God. But I suppose it can be explained away because they are human and do not have access to so many things. Often our humanity keeps us from seeing things as they really are. There are just SO many things we will never comprehend. {sigh}

That's not what I don't understand. What totally messes with my mind is that many Elohim and Angels, who have a LOT more knowledge and understanding of things than we do; who have been with God from before OUR beginning; who have seen him as he is with their own eyes- don't truly get who God is. I mean, if they did, how could they possibly not love him and end up turning against him and falling? How in the world could they think they could be greater than he? Or overthrow him? Or deserve even a smidgen of worship? Or . . . whatever else comes with this.

I mean, THIS I get- as limited as I am! How, then can they not get it? 

Really- this bothers me tremendously.

When I spend time thinking about it all, I begin to feel a bit of the sadness this must bring to Yahweh himself. Imagine his great love for everyone he has created. And yet some reject him and try to do it all their own way. 

How it must break his heart.

Bitcoin and Praise

So I started mining bitcoin the other day. I've always been interested, but never knew I could actually do it on my own. I just found an app and got to collecting.

I understand the general principle behind "mining" bitcoin, but not really any much more than that. All I know is that it's real money- sort of like foreign currency.

Anyway . . . Here is what I have accumulated so far:

.00000001699016 btc. 

Yes, you got that right. After 3 days of mining on my Ipad  AND my Iphone, I've accumulated ALL that bitcoin! Yipee!

Ah well, it will add up some day.

One morning as I was starting my prayer time praising Yahweh, the parallel occurred to me. ALL that praise I offer up; every day; often many times a day, to our magnificent almighty God, fills him up about as much as my bitcoin is adding up!

He is SO big and awesome, we need a LOT more people praising him to fill him up! Not that he doesn't appreciate my praise. I get it- he's not complaining. It's just that he is SO big we can't even begin to comprehend the greatness that surrounds him!

Psalm 145:1-3 TPT

My heart explodes with praise to you! Now and forever my heart bows in worship to you, my King and my God! Every day I will lift up my praise to your name with praises that will last throughout eternity. Lord, you are great and worthy of the highest praise! For there is no end to the discovery of the greatness that surrounds you. 

Amen!

Creation Ramblings

I believe that when you want to understand something in the Bible or of God, he will eventually help you find it. This is based on Proverbs 25:2 (NIV) 

^"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings. "

God wants us to understand his Word; it's just not always simple at first. Perhaps he wants us to show we're serious . . .

Anyway, for many months I've been thinking about understanding how God can be above time. And about all things He created. Some of these things I've posted about, others I have not. 

The other day, God showed up during my prayer time with him. Now I want you to understand that God is ALWAYS there when we/I pray. But as I hope you know, there are times when he manifests himself in a way that is "more than" usual. It was so this particular morning. I LOVE it when he does that! And daily pray for it to happen a LOT! Now God is God and shows up this way when he wants to, so I wait patiently for him and once in awhile, am blessed with his presence.

That day when he showed up, it seemed as if a lot of the things I've been working on just gelled- poof! So I'm going to try to write it all out here. Mostly for me, but if it gives you something to think about, so much the better. (Still working on a title . . .)

In the beginning . . . actually BEFORE the beginning . . . was God. We cannot describe him fully with time words, but it's all I got. He just WAS/IS. We say God was, is, and will be. But that's for us, who live in time. One of God's names is I AM. I think that describes him before time (and always). He just AM (IS). That's about as BIG as I can make it in my small mind. He existed as ONE, yet THREE. There was fellowship of THREE in ONE. But at some point (there I go with time words again), he decided to create "others." So he played it all out in his mind, allowing all of us to make the choices we wanted to (free will and all), THEN actually created everything. All at once. The whole time-line in one fell swoop. That's how we can have free will AND be predestined. He KNEW our choices before he created or before we made them and incorporated all of them into his creation. All of them- you get that? All decisions of all people and created beings of all time! Mind blown.

So he created and started the time line. The time line of everything, not just our planet/universe. Whenever he wants to, he can enter/look at any point in the line. He knows it all. To him, every point exists all at once . . . anyway.

I think God is the only being above time. It appears the other Elohim are just as stuck in time as we are. I believe this, because if they were also above time, they could enter time at any point as he does and they would be a whole lot more like God than we would want! And he would want- hence he is the only one above time. Now they ARE in higher dimensions than we are aware of. They do have the ability to move in and out of our physical existence. That's how they can be around us without our seeing them.

Scientists talk of the time/space dimension. However, while I understand their fusing these two together, it appears to me that time is the ultimate dimension. Especially since God is above time and no other being is. What makes sense to me is the next dimension above our third dimension is the spiritual dimension.

At the beginning of OUR time line (as opposed to all creation's time line) He created the heavens and the earth. Stop.

I believe (at the moment) that there is actually a LOT of things that happened between verses one and two of Genesis. What? I don't know, but apparently, Satan fell during this time, since he shows up in Genesis as "the bad guy." AND for some reason, the earth has become formless and void. Did Satan and his fallen cohorts, mess it all up? Did they bring down the beautiful world God created and leave it in a mess? Who knows? (Well, God does. Maybe he will fill us in some day.) I do not believe God created the Elohim as evil. I believe they also had a choice and many chose poorly.

Back up a bit. After the stop. God created other Elohim- beings like himself. Make no mistake- God is THE Elohim. There is none like him. In fact, when scriptures use the term in the singular, it refers to him. However, when it uses Elohim in the plural, it means the other gods he created (small "g"). I think these are all the beings he created at that time. No angels, because angel is not a specific type of created being. The word angel means messenger. So when God sends other Elohim on a mission, they are temporarily called angels. I suppose when they finish, they lose that moniker and go back to being "just Elohim." Hmmm.

So God calls these other Elohim together for his council meetings. Hence the wording in Genesis "Let US make humans in OUR image." There are many scripture passages that mention this council. If you've not seen them before, look them up. They're there. I must admit, I was surprised to find them.

As a part of this council, God named one specific Elohim his "Satan." The term means something like a prosecuting attorney or maybe a "devil's advocate." Actually, I like the thought of a "first officer," because it is the first officer's responsibility to bring up other possible ways to do things- even opposing the Captain specifically to make everyone look at the situation differently. So it was with God's Satan. His role is seen quite clearly in the story of Job. 

Perhaps Satan presented another option instead of creating humankind. Either way, since those days he has always been about thwarting God's plan. Ultimately he will not be successful. He only temporarily messes things up. God's plan is too great to be trashed completely. And his plan includes fixing the Satan's (and our) mess.

Interestingly enough, we never get the name of this Satan. You might assume it is Lucifer, but after I read a good book on the subject, I now see that applying the name Lucifer to the Satan, was something someone once thought of (it was a stretch) and the church at the time, decided to go with it, even though it really refers to the bright morning star seen in the sky in those days. Hmmm.

Then we move on to the second verse of Genesis and the story of humankind's creation. I think we were created in higher dimensions, but lost that as well as our purity when we fell. Too bad. I wonder what things would have been like if Adam and Eve had not taken the Satan's bait in the garden. What would this world look like today if we had not fallen? We will one day get a glimpse of that, but until then . . .

Well, that's enough for today. Maybe I'll go further on with this train of thought in a future post.

God's Plan of Salvation Hidden in Genesis 5

There are SO many amazing things found in the Bible! When I discover a new one, the more amazed I am (God is just so cool!). Here is one of those incredible hidden messages pointing to Jesus way back in the beginning of the Old Testament.

I got this one from Chuck Missler. I've heard him talk about this in some of his talks, but this one is found in his book: "Cosmic Codes: Hidden Messages from the Edge of Eternity." BTW, if you haven't listened to his teachings, you're really missing a lot. He is incredible! You can find his stuff on his website "Khouse.org" (for Koinonia House). I have listened to tons of his stuff over the years.

When you get to Genesis chapter 5, you may just "bleep" over it, since it's a genealogy. They all tend to sound a lot alike, listing so-and-so, the son of so-and-so. But this one has a secret message. I am so glad it's been decoded for us!

One of the problems with translating a language, is what to do with the names. Since we don't usually name our kids the same way as they did back then, we just look at names as- well, names. So proper names are not usually translated, they are transliterated to approximate the way they were pronounced. 

But back then, the names of their kids meant something. For instance, Adam means "man." So if we don't translate the names, we are missing the meaning behind those names. That's not always an easy task, but the study of the word roots often helps.

In Genesis 5, we have a ten person genealogy from Adam to Noah. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. What do these names mean?

Adam - Man

Seth - Appointed

Enosh -  Mortal

Kenan - Sorrow

Mahalalel - The Blessed God

Jared - Shall Come Down

Enoch - Teaching

Methuselah - His Death Shall Bring

Lamech - Despairing

Noah - Rest (Relief/Comfort).

Now add in a couple of connector words and you get:

Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed God shall come down teaching that his death shall bring the despairing rest.

WHAAAT?! Take a minute and think through what you are seeing here.

 

Mic drop.

The Absense of Time

I've been thinking about time again. "O no!" you may be saying, if you're a regular reader. At this point, I'm wondering if there is such a thing as a regular reader of my blog any more! 

Whatever . . .

Actually, it's not about time, it's about the absence of time. But the problem is, we humans can't imagine the absence of time. Everything we know is based in time, so I'm not really sure we can get our brains around what it's like for God to be above time.

You see God exists above time (or out of time). He actually created time! I've thought about that many times before, but this is different, because I recently came to understand that when God created time, he created the whole "time-line" all at once. See! Even that thought blows our minds! We assume it took him time to create time. And that time was playing out while he was creating it.

Not so. God created the whole thing all at once (makes sense when you think about it). Therefore, it also makes sense that he already knows the end. He also knows the choices we will make/are making/made and based his whole creation around ALL of OUR choices! Free will AND predestination all in one neat little package. Whoa.

Even the word "already" has no meaning for God, because it's a time word. Like now, or when, before, later, after, etc. There are a whole lot of these words and we just throw them around like they were nothing. But if time doesn't exist, these words are nonsense. Notice I'm highlighting "time words" in RED (except RED, because that's a color. Duh.).

Again- hard to imagine.

So if our brains can't wrap around the thought of time not existing, how can we even present an example to help us understand it? Sort of like trying to understand that God is a trinity- we use such examples like 1) Water [liquid, gas, solid], 2) Our Beings [body, spirit, mind], 3) A Cherry Pie cut in thirds [I like this one the best! It's cut in thirds, but under the 3 thirds-cut crust, is the gooey part that blends all together even after we make the cuts].

But even these, as close as they may seem to us, are hardly a shadow of how it REALLY is! Our brains can't understand 3 in 1, so we except it by faith.

Which means believing by faith is probably as close as we're going to get to understanding the absence of time (and how God had no beginning).

So lately as I think about God being above time, I think about a video game I've created and finished playing. I can then go back to any point in the game and pause it. There. I'm above the time of the game. I can move around, get lunch and come back whenever I want and pick up anywhere in the game I want. The game is still there not going anywhere, while I can do anything above the "time of the game." I can change the game if I want- in effect, I'm "god" to the game. I exist above the game.

I think this is a poor illustration, but it's likely as good as it's going to get. I can't understand anything more. It will have to do until/unless God opens my brain some time in my future!

But I like to think of God as "paused" above our time-line receiving all praise, glory, and honor as he has from the beginning, is now, and will be forever. He just gets it all, all the time, forever!

My brain is tired.

But that fact is amazing to me and I praise Him for being such a . . . being.

Universalism

I here present some of my own thoughts on Universalism, which I have worked on over the last few years. I'd like to know your thoughts on my thoughts . . .

Mainline Christian thinking holds that Universalism results in a critically flawed moral framework and an inherently weakened mission. Without accountability, why bother how we behave? Without the consequences, why care about the eternal well-being of others?

Mainline Christian thinking- from the beginning, there have been 3 different views of mankind’s eternity. Eternal punishment has become the bully pulpit of the mob mentality. Who would say they believe different if they treat you like Rob Bell when you speak of another view? Truth is not determined by the majority. There have always been 3 views that have stood side by side from the beginning of the church. Each have their basis in scripture. Early church fathers held differing views. Noted Christian scholars to this day hold differing views.

Critically flawed moral framework/why bother how we behave?- Andre Crouch said it best, 

“If heaven never was promised to me, neither a land where we could live eternally, it’s been worth having the lord in my life- living in a world of darkness, he came along and brought me the light.” 

We behave right simply because it is right. Moral living is an end in itself. Although living the way God wants us to, is not bad either.

Inherently weakened mission/why care about the eternal well-being of others?- We care because it is right to care; because we love God and therefore love those he loves. Both of the other views still include hell; both views believe it is used as a temporary place of suffering. One view believes it is designed to bring about repentance and, finally, acknowledging Jesus is Lord of all. If others will spend even a moment in hell, we should deeply desire to keep them from it. Five minutes or an eternity in hell- both should produce the same reaction from a Christian.

Serve God for fear of hell or because you love him?
I can honestly say I was saved because I was afraid to go to hell. It had nothing to do with my loving Jesus or his love for me. It was fear. Plain and simple fear. As I walked in faith, I learned more of His love for me and experienced it first hand. I came to know the God of Love for myself. But up until recent years, I stayed “good” because I was afraid I’d slip up and get thrown into hell for all eternity.

Yet there has always been a feeling of disappointment in myself because it is fear that keeps me in line and not love. I am not faithful to my wife because I fear her response if she found out I was not. I am faithful to her because I love her above all other women. How much more should I love the God who loves me unconditionally; who sought me out because he desired I be reconciled with him; who saved me from the sin that kept me from his presence?

The evidence
The Biblical or historical evidence does not point to any of the 3 views strongly enough to honestly make a final decision. Scholars who are much more learned than I say this very thing. Many well known authors and scholars of this day have chosen their own position- many differing with the “mainline Christian thinking.” Francis Chan essentially says we should believe in eternal hell “just in case” that is the truth. Sounds like he is kept in line by fear as well.

Which view is correct?
I certainly don’t know. But what I do know is the God of love that I serve would not assign people to hell for eternal punishment, thereby never resolving the issue of sin. He would eternally be heart-broken at losing them and justice would never be brought to a conclusion. Besides, is eternal punishment justified for temporal sin?

Annihilation seems to deal with the justice issue, but never really resolves every knee bowing and Jesus reconciling all things to himself. Sounds like reconciling some things? Perhaps most things?

I have come to lean toward a temporary hell, which would bring the lost to a realization of their great error while on earth and eventually, repentance. Scripture tells us “every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,” and he will finally “reconcile all things to himself.”

It seems to me that an eternal hell has a weak argument behind it. If we say “well, God is God. Who are we to argue with what he has decided?” Then that argument can also be applied to a universalistic view as well. As the scripture passage said very clearly, “If the master decides to pay all his workers the same wages, who are we to argue?” And shouldn’t the faithful son be glad that the prodigal was finally brought back home?

Have Mercy!

For my time with God every day, I read through "30 Days with Wesley: A Prayer Book." It has become one of my staples, with a morning and evening section for each day. Thirty days is enough to keep it from seeming like I'm repeating all the time. It's not my only book or method I use, but it is an important one which I enjoy.

In one of the readings, I came across this prayer: 

     O Father, have mercy on all humanity.
     Draw all people to Your Truth.

I felt it so important and applicable for the days we live in, I have decided to use it each morning and evening before I pray The Lord's Prayer (as a part of the Wesley book).

These days all humanity needs God's mercy! 

These days all people need God's Truth!

Won't you pray this with me each day? If you are willing, drop me a note in the comments section.

Elohim, Our Authority and Nephilim

I may be jumping into this subject mid-stream. I have learned a lot since I regularly blogged, so there are quite a few things I may have to explain from the middle. Hopefully I won't confuse you!

There may be a past blog where I talked about Psalm 8, in which the word Elohim is used. I used to reference this verse as evidence of our being placed above the angels, in God's creation/authority order. I have since learned I was a bit off. Not in our authority, but where we actually sit in the creation/authority order. I won't rehash my old thoughts here unless I need to reference them to explain something.

In Hebrew, the word "Elohim" can be singular or plural. In it's singular form, it refers to Yahweh/God- the One and Only; there is none like him. In it's plural form, it refers to the "gods" (beings) that Yahweh created. As far as I can tell at the moment, all heavenly beings God created are Elohim (plural). In other words, there are no "beings" that are angels. 

In Psalm 8, we have BOTH the singular Elohim and the plural form of the word.

The word "angel" means "messenger." An "angel" is not a being, as such, it is a "job description." So any Elohim given a specific task is considered an angel. I guess when they complete that task and go back to "normal operation," they are no longer considered an angel (sorry for all the quotes!).

Moving on to the creation order, we have God, gods, human-kind, then Nephilim. So we are below the gods, but above the Nephilim. Yes, there are gods who have fallen and they may have done so while they were angels (are you following?), but my point is that I no longer believe demons are fallen angels, rather fallen Elohim/gods. The more I think about this, the more it makes absolute sense to me regarding our authority to cast out demons.

I used to say we were created ABOVE the angels, so when they fell, we naturally still had authority over them; to cast them out. But that thought process fell apart when I realized we were BELOW the gods/angels.

I now believe demons are the disembodied spirits of Nephilim, whom God did not create, so they have nowhere to go, after they die. They go around looking for another physical body to inhabit, so they can do something/anything in the physical realm (remember Jesus and the herd of pigs?). This understanding is nothing new, as it has been around for a long time. Why do we often lose the understanding of things we used to know?

Nephilim came about by Elohim's (the gods) physical union with human women- they were god/human hybrids. Like Hercules, as it were. See where a lot of mythology has come from? I find it fascinating that so much mythology has its basis in reality. Hmmm, I wonder if there actually WAS a Nephilim named Hercules . . . mind blown!

Well if I haven't confused you by now, I'll finish with my purpose of this post- we do have authority to cast out demons. No surprise, since many of us have seen/done this over the years (and Jesus told us to do so), but for me this explanation is the reason we can do it.

 

Our Retirement Home Blessing

This is our retirement home. Nestled at the edge of Forestbrook Reserve in Myrtle Beach, you will find our "forever home." Being a Salvation Army officer's kid, that says a lot, because I lived in 9 different houses before I graduated college (we actually lived in two houses while I was in college). Since then, you can add another 19 until we finally landed here! We don't plan on moving ever again! By the way- I have the address list of very house I ever lived in.

Here is the story of our retirement home blessing:

Three years before retirement (2020), our plan was to come to Myrtle Beach and find a good realtor (and we found one of the BEST!). We wanted him to show us some houses and we would fill him in on what we liked and what we didn't like about those houses. Then in 2021, we would come back and get serious about buying a home. During that year, I would learn everything I needed to know about buying a house, because, well, I had never done that. We always lived in Salvation Army provided "quarters" (homes).

Our realtor gave us access to his web site where we found about 4-5 houses we liked. The day before he was to show us around these houses, we drove around ourselves to see them from the outside.

The first was already SOLD, so that was crossed off the list. The second was in a neighborhood we didn't particularly like (and it was hard to get to), so that one was crossed off the list. The next one just didn't look as good in person as it did online, so off the list. The last two were fine and since we didn't have any others we liked, we would go with the realtor to see them the next day.

Very quickly that day, we realized the first house looked great on the outside, but was going to take more renovation than we wanted. Almost a bit sadly, we went to our final house. I mean, we had "struck out" so far, what was going to happen with our last one?

In case you haven't guessed already, we walked into the house shown above. Within 5 minutes of looking Debbie and I both KNEW this was THE house! Good news, bad news- we loved the house, but I knew nothing about the house buying process and wasn't even sure we could make an appropriate down payment. I went into deep thinking mode to figure out if we could do it.

Our realtor said if we liked it, we should make an offer right away, because he was certain it would not stay on the market much longer. To make a long story short, we made an offer and went back and forth a couple of times until it was all settled. Then a date was set for the closing. We went home back North to figure out the process and work through all the paperwork we needed to do.

About a month later, we came back to close and "lived" in our home for 5 days before we returned to work and decided to rent the place until we needed it. That proved to be a God-thing as well, because that extra money helped a LOT in paying for the mortgage and having some money to do the minor renovations we wanted- like painting, carpets, etc.

A year passed. You might remember the housing market went CRAZY in 2021! If we had waited until we had planned on buying a house, we never could have afforded our house or anything like it. The price had gone way above our limit. God had a plan all along. I am glad we chose to listen to His plan and not mine!

God says "My ways are not your ways." Good thing!

God is so good to us. We see our retirement home as a direct blessing from God. And the first of our many blessings he poured down on us as we headed into retirement.

Trust in Yahweh with your whole heart and don't depend on your own knowledge and understanding. If you do this, He will make your path an easy one (my paraphrase). 

- - - - - 

Postscript: In the process of buying our house, I learned a LOT about the process of buying a house. If anyone reading this is interested, I can provide a simple two sheet list of steps.

God Bless America?

There is little doubt about it- America has a lot in common with Israel when it comes to God's blessing. Both nations began with a complete focus on God and God's hand was on them both as long as they continued to follow His ways. 

The other day in my devotional reading, I came across this quote: 

"[Jeremiah's] society suffered from pervasive moral and spiritual decay. The nation of Judah had turned so far from God that it was soon to face His fierce judgement." 

And that got me thinking . . . thoughts that I have wrestled with many times before. 

The scriptures paint a vivid picture of what happened to Israel/Judah when the people strayed from God. God removed his hand of protection and they were (more than once) subjected to God's judgement. 

In the United States, we sing the song: "God Bless America." And for many years, God HAS blessed us. But as I think about this song today, I cannot sing it without conviction that God is no longer blessing us. Can we still ask Him to bless us when we have strayed so far from his ways? When we are doing so many things directly against His will for us? I think not. We have lost our way and I believe it is time for His judgement. Perhaps it would be more appropriate to sing "God BlessED America."

That said, the scriptures also paint as vivid a picture of what happened when God's people repented and returned to Him and again followed His ways. They were restored and God began protecting and blessing once again. This isn't rocket science!

We are never too far away from God that we cannot repent and return. He promises to listen and restore when our hearts seek him and we change our ways.

I'm not trying to be prophetic, but I believe we are in for some serious judgement. We can turn this around, but it's going to take a LOT of prayer, repentance, and turning back; turning away from the things we have put in God's place. Christians won't be exempt- Jeremiah was a righteous man, but he suffered right along with the rest of his nation.

What will it take for America to realize we need to get to a place of repentance and turn our direction around? Will we see the coming judgement as God trying to get our attention? Or will we act as if it was God who turned from us first?

Here's what I pray at least twice every day:

"O Father, have mercy on all humanity. Draw all people to Your Truth."

Pray with me for revival with deep repentance and a return to God.

Bass Trombone

About 3 years ago, I started noticing some amazing blessings God was sending our way- as we prepared for retirement. I could give you a long list of incredible things (and I likely will talk about many of them here in days to come), but want to focus on just one here:

In college, I majored in Performance on Bass Trombone. My intent was to play in an orchestra or pit band somewhere and my efforts went in that direction. That is until God told me he wanted me to be an officer in The Salvation Army. 

That "call" came along about 2 1/2 years into my studies. Once I agreed with his plan (and honestly that took awhile), Bass Trombone began moving down my list of priorities for things like public speaking and Bible classes. Before I entered The Army's school for officer training, I sadly sold my "baby" (a Holton TR180 with custom modified inline Thayer valves) and bought a small tenor trombone (Bach 16M), because that would be more practical (however it is the same horn Bill Watrous plays!). I still use that tenor today at my corps. I did keep my custom Bass Trombone mouthpiece (a modified Bach 1 1/4 G), however- just in case!

Over the years I have had many opportunities to play Bass Trombone in different Army bands, but always had to use the horn provided. Some were okay, others- not so much! But deep down, I truly missed playing "for real."

Don't get me wrong- I have loved my career as a Salvation Army officer with amazing appointments, people and going everywhere God has led us. I know his way was best and I was blessed to serve as he wanted. I wouldn't change a thing.

Then we retired in December. I happened to find a local community band that needed a Bass Trombone, so I went. And quickly discovered I needed my own Bass Trombone again! So I started looking. Now, mind you, the cost of a decent horn these days is seriously prohibitive. But to make a long story shorter, I found (ahem- God found FOR me) a brand new (only played once) Wessex inline double trigger for an awesome price! I drove 3 hours to my Mom's home town (Columbia, SC) try it out and instantly loved it. You can see it above!

Back in Myrtle Beach, the community band also has a Jazz Band (Jazz is in my blood!) AND Brass Choir (larger brass quintet, which I loved in college). I now play Bass Trombone in 3 different groups (and tenor and sometimes euphonium at the corps)! Retirement is like Frosted Flakes- it's G-R-E-A-T!

SOooo, the other day it dawned on me that God worked all this out to "give my Bass Trombone back again!" I did what he wanted for 42 1/2 years; now he is letting me do what I originally wanted to do for whatever years I have left. God is just SO cool! And I still get to work with the young adults at the corps too (my ministry)!

My Dad used to say "God loves everyone, but he loves ME the best!" 

I know what he meant.

Holes + Discouragement + God = Faith

OCTOBER 30, MORNING

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of Yahweh. - Lamentations 3:26

Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger withheld his tender mercies? - I said in my alarm, I am cut off from Your sight: nevertheless You heard my cry for mercy when I cried to You for help.

Will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night, will he keep putting them off? - Wait on Yahweh and he will save you. - Rest in Yahweh and wait patiently for him: do not fret because men succeed in their ways; when they carry out their wicked schemes.

You will not need to fight in this battle: take up your positions; stand firm and see the salvation of Yahweh.

Let us not become weary in doing good: for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. - Be patient then until Yahweh's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the Autumn and Spring rains.

Psalm 77:9. Psalm 31:22. Luke 18:7,8. Proverbs 20:22. Psalm 37:7. 2 Chronicles 20:17. Galatians 6:9. James 5:7. - Daily Light on the Daily Path

- - - - - -

This is what I read first thing last Thursday morning. I have no idea how these words affect you right now, but to me they were a generous sprinkler to a dry lawn!

Some of you know our situation. For those who don't, let's just say our RI finances are impossible. After a little more than a year, we have seen very little change. In some ways, things have gotten worse, despite some enormous attempts to bring it under control. It can be very discouraging!

In times like these the days roll unendingly into each other and you begin to doubt God's presence- or at least his promises and blessing.

Then God throws you a bone!

As I ponder anew God's promises and blessing, I am encouraged. Is the end to our financial woes in sight? Absolutely not. But I have learned not to get off the train in the tunnel. There IS light ahead even if I don't see it right now. And in my experience of these things God has NEVER failed!

Even though I sometimes feel like there's no possible way out of this hole, I can remember the many times before when God has brought me out of the hole. This may be the biggest hole I've ever faced, but it's not bigger than God!

And my faith continues to grow . . .

"When" we All get to Heaven

Here's another brief interruption in my Leadership Series. Sorry, I just got to thinking . . .

I've been listening to some teaching files and also reading some books that have gotten me thinking about time. Since I love thinking about time (like a good SciFi time travel story), I'm going to share some thoughts I've been mulling around. I hope I don't lose anyone because our limited minds have no way to really conceptualize the absence of time (yet)! Hang on!

God created time and is therefore above time. How that looks, I guess, is to imagine a huge time line where the beginning of time is to the left and the end of time is to the right. Everything that happens in time can be plotted somewhere on that line. The fall of Rome, WW1, your birth, my Grandfather's death, my last haircut.

Then imagine God way up above that line looking down on it. God can see the beginning, the middle and end all at once. Anyone living in that time line, must travel through that time from left to right. But God sees it all happening at once and can focus on any part of the line whenever he wants (or even all parts at once!).

So now lets imagine someone from the past (to the left) leaving that time line and moving up to God. As they leave their time line, they go above that time with God and can look down to see the time line below them just like God can see it.

Imagine another person leaving the same time line from the future (to the right). As they leave their time, they go above that time with God and look down as well. And so on with anyone leaving the time line at any point in time.

So here's the part that may blow your mind: based on what I just had you imagine, what if everyone who leaves our time line (dies) arrives at God's Throne at the same "time?" I mean, can't you see people leaving their time line from their particular point in time and as they leave they look to the left and right to see everyone else leaving from their point in time. But the moment they leave their time line, they are no longer bound by time and everyone ends up getting to God all at once; together!

What if the way we've always thought about dying and getting to heaven (based on time) is just wrong? What if my Mom isn't really waiting for me, she left the time line at the same "moment" I "will" in the future!?

I mean, if God created time, you don't think he subjected himself to it (other than when Jesus entered our time line for a while)? If he's still above time, and I think we all pretty much agree on this, then when we get to him, we too will be above time!

So what does this do to some of the traditional concepts of "where we go to wait" until time is fulfilled (purgatory, paradise, Abraham's bosom, hades, et al)? No one's waiting for anything! In fact, "waiting" will cease to exist! Basically, we die- we immediately go to the big banquet party God has planned . . . OR we die and we immediately go to eternal judgment, which will be anything BUT a party.

I suppose we could die and go to a different place still within our time and wait, but what fun is that to think about?

So join me in mulling this around a bit. Anyone have anything else to add to the fun?

My God is so BIG! (but)

My world is so BIG! I think that because I am limited in my understanding and view of things. I don't think humankind was created that way, but because of the fall, we lost the ability to be aware of and interact with other aspects of God's creation such as other dimensions, angels, etc.

Therefore I am trapped within my own head. I can't get in your head; I have no idea what you're thinking, sensing or feeling unless you tell me. What I'm trying to say is my world revolves around ME. It's all I can see.

Now before you call me selfish- I remind you that your world revolves around you too! Frankly, it's impossible for any of us to see things from any other point of view. We can try, but when all is said and done, we are left alone with no one else's thoughts but what's banging around between our own two ears.

Now "when I consider the heavens . . . the moon and the stars which God has set in place" (Psalm 8:3)- what makes humankind so special that God even notices us? It boggles the mind!

Debbie and I live in a big house. There are times when I KNOW she's around- SOMEwhere- but I just can't find her! Good thing we've got cell phones. Now imagine if I was still looking for her and I discovered a note she left telling me she had gone out for a walk (fat chance that would happen in the Winter, but in warmer months, it's highly likely!). Now I'm looking in an even larger haystack.

What if she went out on an errand? A still larger haystack. Went to another State? Another Country? Continent? Now it's highly unlikely she's ever going to get off of this planet, but if she could, we would notice the universe gets even larger real fast! Now the term "needle in a haystack" is ridiculous!

Our true smallness in the universe could be a sad realization if it weren't for God. While God is so BIG (even bigger than his creation), he made us and cares for us much more than we will ever know. Incredible, but true.

The next time you take out the ol' telescope and look at that pinprick of light deep in space that is Antares, remember it's not as small as it looks.

Neither are you. Not in God's eyes!

Daily Guidance

There are those who believe the Bible is our ONLY source of hearing from God. Now without going into a long diatribe, let it suffice to say I believe the Bible is ONE source, albeit the primary source. But there are other ways God speaks to his people today. God did NOT allow the Bible to be cannonized and then remove his other ways of communication, expecting us to limp along from there on out on only one resource of understanding what God desires for us.

The case I usually point to in this discussion is that of "the call" people receive to "go into" full time ministry (as if there is only one call into one kind of lifetime service!). Those who feel God has called them specifically to be pastors, officers, etc., had to "hear" from somewhere. If one feels God has called them (to whatever kind of service), they obviously believe God has in some way communicated to them his desire. I have sensed this call and yet I have never found directly in scripture the words: "You, Doug Burr are to become an officer in TSA."

However, God DID speak to my spirit directly and communicate this desire for my life. In fact, I was quite taken back by his "intrusion" on my thoughts when he did!

I was sitting in a worship service at a young adult retreat in New Jersey. A Major Joe DeMichael was speaking (and at that time, I wasn't too fond of this guy, but have since grown to love and admire him). Somewhere during his sermon, I heard a distinct voice "speak" in my mind. The words were my thoughts, but it was NOT me directing them. I began to have a conversation in my head (yeah- I know- proof of my schizophrenia). Actually argument might be a better term.

God said: "I want you to become a TSA officer."

I said: "Huh? What?" (I didn't know what was happening and I couldn't believe it anyway).

God repeated his directive.

I repeated my ignorance.

But God was patient with me. And I finally began to converse with Him.

DB: "Uh, God, you MUST have gotten a wrong number. Shouldn't you be talking to that guy over there?"

YHWH: "I know you and I am not mistaken. I have a plan for your life. Follow me."

DB: "O come on! I want to be a musician! I've got plans!"

YHWH: "I know the plans I have for you . . ."

We went on like that for some time until I realized what was happening. God- GOD! was talking with me! How could I ignore Him or tell him "NO, I won't do what you want?"

So I said: "Okay. I'll do it. But I'm not about to spend my life doing something I don't want to do. Before I go to training, you have to bring about a change of heart so that I actually WANT to be an officer."

In the next year, He did. And I have been listening and following God since. Right now, I can honestly say there is nothing I would rather be doing than officership and God DID have a wonderful plan for my life. I'm truly glad I followed HIS plan and not my own. Who knows how badly I would have screwed up my life by now?!

So there's one instance of God speaking. I believe God speaks like that daily (moment by moment) to those who listen for his voice. That's all it takes- listening. You don't even have to be a Christian to hear God's voice, because how would you ever become one, if you didn't first hear God calling you into salvation?

Andrew Murray in his book, Waiting on God, says:

"With every step we need and may have
a heavenly guidance."

Want biblical proof?

"Whether you turn to the right or to the left,
your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying,
"This is the way; walk in it." - Isaiah 30:21

And the cool part is this is only one of MANY ways God chooses to speak directly to us today! And I don't mean in generalities. I mean God speaks to US specifically about my daily choices and circumstances. God speaks to me. God speaks to you.

Are you listening?

Hand me that Screwdriver, Please

I've been one of those "fix-it" guys all my life. My Dad taught me all kinds of things, so I know a little bit about enough things to make me dangerous.

When I was young, we built giant kites, go carts, fixed light switches and plumbing pipes, etc. I loved trying to figure a problem out and then fixing it (unlike my brother, who couldn't be bothered to pull his nose out of his current science fiction book to care. NEVER ask him to fix anything! lol).

However, I must admit, that when it comes to fixing things, I might be just a little bit lazy. I mean, when I'm working on a particular thing, but don't have the right tool at hand, I'm more likely to make do with some tool not designed for the task, than to go get the one I SHOULD use. As you might know, this is not good, because the old adage is: "The right tool for the right task." Uh, sure. But whoever said that wasn't as creative as I am! {do I hear a Tim the Toolman Taylor's "arr, arr, arr?"}

So I can't tell you how many times I've used a screwdriver as a hammer (my screwdriver handle proves it). Or a screwdriver as a pair of pliers (it CAN be done!). Actually, I can use a screwdriver for just about ANY task. Of course, I also can't tell you how many new screwdrivers I have had to buy because of my "creativity!"

Truth be told, I DO realize how important it is to use the right tool for the task at hand (maybe I learned the hard way, but I DID learn). All you get when you use a tool for the wrong task is a broken tool (well, maybe a serious cut on your hand as well). I'm sure my readers are quite bright, so I know you get it-

How foolish it is to use a tool for anything other than what it was created for.

Vicky Beeching sings these words to God:

We were created to worship Your Name . . .
Worshiping other things destroys our liberty.

As I was listening to these words yesterday while headed to church, it dawned on me how foolish it is to not use our lives to do what we were created for. And yet, how many broken lives do we come across all because this is exactly what we try to do? Just like I break my screwdrivers by using them for something other than what they were created for, we break our lives when we don't regularly praise and worship God.

If we use our lives for the purpose we were created, we are freed from the brokenness we try so hard to deal with in our own way. Some use drugs, intoxicants, sex, food, etc, but these things NEVER fulfill us nor fix what is broken within. It takes using ourselves for the purpose our creator made us for in the first place.

But as we praise You we are freed . . .
This is what we were meant to do.

Now I only buy the best screwdrivers- Craftsman. Their guarantee is that if you manage to break one of their tools, Sears will replace the old broken one for a brand spankin' new one (Sears and I have this relationship kinda like a fat guy and a Chinese buffet).

Here's the cool part of this post- God has an even better guarantee than Sears! When we realize our lives are beyond our own repair, all we have to do is bring them in repentance to Jesus. He is the Master Craftsman who will instantly give us a new one for the old one- no questions asked.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come! - 2 Corinthians 5:17

And God never pretends he's closed like Sears when they see me coming. I like that! Arr, arr arr!

The Father Bothers!

As I wait for the second cleaning company to come to our house and continue the work to remove the oil smell (more on all that later), I'm sitting at my office desk praying and listening to Lincoln Brewster (his music is so awesome!). I don't know how many times I've heard these words before, but today, they went down deep:

"Thank you Father,
I'm glad that you bother
To love a man like me."

I'm glad that you bother. Wow. I get it; what he's trying to say. God doesn't HAVE to bother with our lives and all we put him through. But he DOES!

Along the lines of Paul's "worst sinner of them all," when we see the truth of who we really are against who God really is . . . there is no comparison. Why should God (I mean, GOD, after all) pay any attention to us at all?

Psalm 8 voices this same thought with these words:

"Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?" - The Message

We will probably never grasp the why of God's attention to us, but really all we have to do is trust it's true. God cares deeply for us. So much that he deals with all the bother we put him through.

So this morning, as I marvel at God's presence in my little office- all focused on me- all I can say is "Thank you Father, I'm glad that you bother with me."

Ha! Now Lincoln's singing "You alone are worthy to be praised!" How perfect is that?

PS: I wish you could experience what God is doing in me right now! It's incredible!

Bad Guys and Good Friends

This is the scripture God led me to tonight. When you finish reading it (please actually read it- don't just bleep over it or breeze through it like we so often do because it's scripture we know), you'll have some clue as to how my day went.

What you won't know without me telling you, is how encouraging God's Word was to me at a time when I really needed it. AND how encouraging a good friend's listening ear can be when you need to just unload (you know who you are- thanx).

Psalm 37 (The Message)
A David psalm

Don't bother your head with braggarts
or wish you could succeed like the wicked.
2 In no time they'll shrivel like grass clippings
and wilt like cut flowers in the sun.
3 Get insurance with God and do a good deed,
settle down and stick to your last.
4 Keep company with God,
get in on the best.
5 Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he'll do whatever needs to be done:
6 He'll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.
7 Quiet down before God,
be prayerful before him.
Don't bother with those who climb the ladder,
who elbow their way to the top.
8 Bridle your anger, trash your wrath,
cool your pipes—it only makes things worse.
9 Before long the crooks will be bankrupt;
God-investors will soon own the store.
10 Before you know it, the wicked will have had it;
you'll stare at his once famous place and—nothing!
11 Down-to-earth people will move in and take over,
relishing a huge bonanza.
12 Bad guys have it in for the good guys,
obsessed with doing them in.
13 But God isn't losing any sleep;
to him they're a joke with no punch line.
14 Bullies brandish their swords,
pull back on their bows with a flourish.
They're out to beat up on the harmless,
or mug that nice man out walking his dog.
15 A banana peel lands them flat on their faces—
slapstick figures in a moral circus.
16 Less is more and more is less.
One righteous will outclass fifty wicked,
17 For the wicked are moral weaklings
but the righteous are God-strong.
18 God keeps track of the decent folk;
what they do won't soon be forgotten.
19 In hard times, they'll hold their heads high;
when the shelves are bare, they'll be full.
20 God-despisers have had it;
God's enemies are finished—
Stripped bare like vineyards at harvest time,
vanished like smoke in thin air.
21 Wicked borrows and never returns;
Righteous gives and gives.
22 Generous gets it all in the end;
Stingy is cut off at the pass.
23 Stalwart walks in step with God;
his path blazed by God, he's happy.
24 If he stumbles, he's not down for long;
God has a grip on his hand.
25 I once was young, now I'm a graybeard—
not once have I seen an abandoned believer,
or his kids out roaming the streets.
26 Every day he's out giving and lending,
his children making him proud.
27 Turn your back on evil,
work for the good and don't quit.
28 God loves this kind of thing,
never turns away from his friends.
Live this way and you've got it made,
but bad eggs will be tossed out.
29 The good get planted on good land
and put down healthy roots.
30 Righteous chews on wisdom like a dog on a bone,
rolls virtue around on his tongue.
31 His heart pumps God's Word like blood through his veins;
his feet are as sure as a cat's.
32 Wicked sets a watch for Righteous,
he's out for the kill.
33 God, alert, is also on watch—
Wicked won't hurt a hair of his head.
34 Wait passionately for God,
don't leave the path.
He'll give you your place in the sun
while you watch the wicked lose it.
35 I saw Wicked bloated like a toad,
croaking pretentious nonsense.
36 The next time I looked there was nothing—
a punctured bladder, vapid and limp.
37 Keep your eye on the healthy soul,
scrutinize the straight life;
There's a future in strenuous wholeness.
38 But the willful will soon be discarded;
insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
39 The spacious, free life is from God,
it's also protected and safe.
40 God-strengthened, we're delivered from evil—
when we run to him, he saves us.

Captivated

This morning as I was hanging out with God, I was listening to an album by Vicky Beeching ("Yesterday, Today & Forever"). Now it usually takes me awhile to settle myself down to truly worship, so by the time I got to her 9th piece, I was ready- "Captivated." Here are the words that broke into my toughened heart:

May my life be one unbroken gaze
fixed upon the beauty of Your face.

I was undone.

Life can be so difficult! Work, people, schedules, meetings, computers, traffic, time . . . these things can drain the joy out of us. Their constant nagging, clamoring for our total attention. If we're not careful, they can slowly pull us away from our first love. We may go kicking and screaming, but off we go anyway.

But in moments of solitude, silence . . . being alone with God, we can recapture that which is really important- worship of the One who is more valuable than anything.

May my life be one unbroken gaze
fixed upon the beauty of Your face.

I don't have anything else of value to say here. It's all up to you now- get away from that computer, shut the door, turn off the TV. Whatever it takes, get alone with God and just be quiet.

Listen.

Fix your gaze on the One who loves you and desires more than anything else to be with you and let you know of that love.

My work is done, but yours is just beginning.