Folks refuse surrender. As I achieved a physique and acquired an attitude, a determination attended me; “Tom, never give in.” Post–high school wanderings brought a war; a war with everyone and everything. The main target: any representation of the establishment. Secondary targets? It really didn’t matter, I opposed every truth representing antagonist. Attitude is everything! I wanted to grow my hair, as all the nonconformists did in my day and this meant moving out as kicked, because long hair didn’t fly in our house. I had learned how to smoke dad’s Pall Malls and developed it into dope smoking. Alcohol fetched comfort. I loved the feelings and freed inhibitions. Music serenaded my nodding and determined my weekend’s prowling, as girls also became a perpetual focus. I was a self-made man, Hardy har har. Steel mill introduced a Wonderland to us uninitiated. Mill reminded me of a Day-Glo poster; only without…
Tag: <span>plan of God</span>
This next section describes ego UN-powering. First and obvious question relates to that old rat, the ego. We said it must die and die it has. The process of healing steamrolled the twirp as the scourge of God flattened pavement. Yes, a dirty old road is buried, dead indeed. It becomes a foundation for the brand new super-highway. The healed man, increasing influence ever more, fulfills and supplants this phony reality-builder. Ego worked frantically, but its operations only functioned in a sphere without scruples; a sphere where morals or restraints are dampened. Again, this type of independent-I, could only thrive in its self made sphere of false freedom. Exposed now, that world is gone. See, in the eternal scheme, the need for crafty manipulation of life events is an unnecessary operation. Pushing self ahead, creating life-solving identity and personality masking become outdated. Honestly, we have nothing left to cover up…
On this day 12 years ago our son Joshua went to heaven. Now, what do we want? To see him again soon. You lit up our lives for a short 25 years and we miss you today, Josh, and the wait seems long; but eternity is longer. Can’t wait! St. Augustine says: He that loveth little, prayeth little; he that loveth much, prayeth much. What do you want? Surprisingly we rarely visit this thought. What do I need, what can I eat, what do I need to do and what does God want, are statements more common. Christians say, “I lost my vision when things didn’t work out and now I am just meandering.” “What do you want?” When I dutifully focus on my Savior. He says “what do you want?” Some folks in the Bible got healed because when Jesus asked them “what do you want?” —they had an…
“…and that they were afraid was the essential consequence of the fact that they retrograded from Gods love and had therefore incurred Gods wrath.” Franz Delitzsch Conscience “a knowing together with God” awakens the terriblest. Every gritty body nerve, and every psychic sinew, in denial, dreads the dawning of conscience. It arrives as a wake up call on the level of a freight-train. It whisks us away into a clawing-out mode of life. Flat-out life-loathing attends it. We’re hijacked into bustle’s whims, all of which we vowed, would get consideration when hell freezes over. But no; we’re head-over-heels right now, hot-footed feet blazing. “My life slipped way out of sync, my true-blue supporters turned out miserable liars.” “Woe is me, I am undone, a man of unclean lips.” “Thou Art the Man.” cried Nathan” Conscience: confronts the willful infant coddle and screams “get the ‘h’ off your…
As a heart-changed Christian, I had long left the Catholic thing. Yes, the booths, the genuflecting, the holy water and my games were all sustained gone. Unfortunately, the 7 years (after-Cath and before heart-change,) allowed the monster of “me” to form and grow. This freak of nature, hair as long as any girl, donned size eleven platforms below the “bells” and became a herb smoking, “peace bro-ing,” concert grouping, “what’s-your-bag, man,” kind of guy. I was so happy to never have to confess any sins during that whole time. In fact, I considered nothing I was doing as sin, and really had no need for a priest. These were the sincere, tomorrow we die, “if it feels good — do it,” days. We were not pretending anything, just seriously partying and making a life of that. The phoniness of our prior trying-hard at life convinced us — life had no…
God’s pure nature becomes the model for Israel in the Old Testament, and the model for healing today. With God’s re-established free will in man during Noah’s time as a basis, His faithful promise keeping with Abraham came next. Because of His commitment to His own people in history, from Mount Sinai comes the governing and protecting principle to be learned by them and us. God’s justice must be known for men to emerge healed. How does this work? Well, “justice and judgment are the habitation of God’s throne in Psalm 89 and all of His ways are judgment in Deuteronomy 4:32”. Whatever God does, it comes forth as an implementation of judicial fairness. How could it not? According to the Bible, God “is” Love and also God “is” Holy. Holiness refers to the purity of God. Fittingly, God cannot allow anything to dirty His nature that’s pure. Thus,…
River in Nevada Love never fails. But how do I get love? Love comes to me through grace. “Where sin does abound grace does much more abound,” This is true love. The operations design of a man (inward adjustments) can be drastically altered in the current pre-rapture era. Physical bodies will have to wait till after the rapture for complete makeover, however. Does it mean nothing at all will happen to the body till then, and if something will happen, to what extent? Let’s think about what the body does for us now and also then. The body is our bridge to the world and our shield from it. Skin makes contact with our external world and converses with it using facial expressions and body language etc. It deflects that screaming baseball be-lining my squirming skull. It senses, smells and touches and much more. Future body will also bridge us…
Are you a control freak? Are you the kind of person who has to have an on/off switch for everything? I have some good news for you—well, some of it good, and some of it bad. Which do you want first? You want the bad first? OK here goes; many things are out of our ability to control. So, can we define which and which not? Yes, all things that re-create me as “God” situationally are not, my dear friends, consented to, going forward. I can never hold my stuff’s control to the extent that God does, and this registers bad news for some. It means; I can never predict or dictate a situation’s outcome, or pull things together by some power-demonstration which pushes all to finally perform their duty, enabling the problem to simply work itself out. Did you notice how that many problems are because others are just not…
Christmas came, Christmas; a son is born, a child is given and He shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, and the government shall be upon His shoulders. As children, Christmas epitomized the ultimate, best, most fun and wonderment evoking time, no competitors. We counted the days; yielded our senses to it way before, and lived it weeks after. Toy and candy visions, visiting cousins, school vacation, and cookies galore etc. filled and thrilled our greedy little subjective hearts and minds. Christ came to Earth; what did it mean? How did it redeem and how did it figure in God’s healing scheme? Unfortunately, we never understood or enjoyed this part as children. Lets think about it now. Firstly, the miracle of God Himself becoming a man, honors mankind as never before. It takes the breath out of you when digested. Centuries of…
So, let’s reflect on what is about to happen with Jacob in Genesis 46. If you had a favorite child die around 17 or 18 and had mourned and after a long time put it out of your mind; could you imagine the feelings as he suddenly shows up alive? I can’t think of a more unbelievable, surprising, exuberant, joy unspeakable, no words can describe its blessing. I am on the verge of tears thinking about it. Jacob was so messed up he said; “I will not be comforted.” But now, out of the years of disenchantment, out of the phobic solitary, out of the entangled web of biting sour, out of the aridity of barren desert gloom and out of the abysmal depths of tortured heart and daunting spirit, the unthinkable happens. Joseph is alive! Joseph is alive! My son is alive! Awe, the thrill! And then the embrace!…