More Damming Evidence On Norway’s Complicity Taking Out Nord Stream…

Time to Pay Attention Folks! For such times as this I really do miss Paul Harvey and his “And Now For the Rest of the Story.” But rest assured, the two recent Seymour Hersh’s news clips I posted are now elevating Paul Harvey’s original concept several Quantum Leaps; and just-in-time-too! Do not be deceived. Truth ultimately prevails!

Lyndon B. Johnson delivering his televised report on the Gulf of Tonkin incident, August 4, 1964.

Why Norway? In my account of the Biden Administration’s decision to destroy the Nord Stream pipelines, why did much of the secret planning and training for the operation take place in Norway? And why were highly skilled seamen and technicians from the Norwegian Navy involved?

The simple answer is that the Norwegian Navy has a long and murky history of cooperation with American intelligence. Five months ago that teamwork—about which we still know very little—resulted in the destruction of two pipelines, on orders of President Biden, with international implications yet to be determined. And six decades ago, so the histories of those years have it, a small group of Norwegian seamen were entangled in a presidential deceit that led to an early—and bloody—turning point in the Vietnam war.

After the Second World War, ever prudent Norway invested heavily in the construction of large, heavily armed fast attack boats to defend its 1,400 miles of Atlantic Ocean coastline. These vessels were far more effective than the famed American PT boat that was ennobled in many a postwar movie. These boats were known as “Nasty-class,” for their powerful gunnery, and some of them were sold to the US Navy. According to reporting in Norway, by early 1964 at least two Norwegian sailors confessed to their involvement in CIA-led clandestine attacks along the North Vietnam coast. Other reports, never confirmed, said the Norwegian patrol boats where manned by Norwegian officers and crew. What was not in dispute was that the American goal was to put pressure on the leadership in North Vietnam to lessen its support of the anti-American guerrillas in South Vietnam. The strategy did not work.

None of this was known at the time to the American public. And the Norwegians would keep the secret for decades. The CIA’s lethal game of cat-and-mouse warfare led to a failed attack on August 2, 1964, with three North Vietnamese gunships engaging two American destroyers—the USS Maddox and the USS Turner Joy—on a large body of contested water known as the Gulf of Tonkin that straddled both North and South Vietnam.

Two days later, with the destroyers still intact, the commander of the Maddox cabled his superiors that he was under a torpedo attack. It was a false alarm, and he soon rescinded the report. But the American signals intelligence community—under pressure from Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, who was doing President Johnson’s bidding—looked the other way as McNamara ignored the second cableand Johnson told the American public there was evidence that North Vietnam had attacked an American destroyer. Johnson and McNamara had found a way to take the war to North Vietnam. 

Johnson’s nationally televised speech on the evening of August 4, 1964, is chilling in its mendacity, especially when one knows what was to come.

“This new act of aggression,” he said, “aimed directly at our own forces, again brings home to all of us in the United States the importance of the struggle for peace and security in Southeast Asia. Aggression by terror against the peaceful villagers of South Vietnam has now been joined by open aggression on the high seas against the United States of America.” 

Public anger swelled, and Johnson authorized the first American bombing of the North. A few days later Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution with only two dissenting votes, giving the president the right to deploy American troops and use military force in South Vietnam in any manner he chose. And so it went on for the next eleven years, with 58,000 American deaths and millions of Vietnamese deaths to come.

The Norwegian navy, as loyal allies in the Cold War, stayed mum, and over the next few years, according to further reporting in Norway, sold eighteen more of their Nasty Class patrol boats to the U.S. Navy. Six were destroyed in combat.

In 2001, Robert J. Hanyok, a historian at the National Security Agency, published Skunks, Bogies, Silent Hounds, and the Flying Fish: The Gulf of Tonkin Mystery, 2–4 August 1964,a definitive study of the events in the gulf, including the manipulation of signals intelligence. He revealed that 90 percent of the relevant intercepts, including those from the North Vietnamese, had been kept out the NSA’s final reports on the encounter and thus were not provided to the Congressional committees that later investigated the abuse that led America deeper into the Vietnam War.

That is the public record as it stands. But, as I have learned from a source in the US intelligence community, there is much more to know. The first batch of Norwegian patrol boats meant for the CIA’s undeclared war against the North Vietnamese actually numbered six. They landed in early 1964 at a Vietnamese naval base in Danang, eighty-five miles south of the border between North and South Vietnam. The ships had Norwegian crews and Norwegian Navy officers as their captains. The declared mission was to teach American and Vietnamese sailors how to operate the ships. The vessels were under the control of a long-running CIA-directed series of attacks against coastal targets inside North Vietnam. The secret operation was controlled by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington and not by the American command in Saigon, which was then headed by Army General William Westmoreland. That shift was deemed essential because there was another aspect of the undeclared war against the North that was sacrosanct. US Navy SEALs were assigned to the mission with a high-priority list of far more aggressive targets that included heavily defended North Vietnamese radar facilities.

It was a secret war within a secret war. I was told that at least two SEALs were ambushed by the North Vietnamese and severely wounded in a fire fight. Both men managed to make their way to the coast and were eventually rescued. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor, America’s highest decoration, in secret.

There also were far less dramatic movements as the war unraveled. At some later date, it was decided to arm bats with incendiary devices and drop them, by air, over areas of high interest in the south. The release came at high altitude, and the bats quickly froze to death.

This bit of top secret and heretofore unknown history raises, to this reporter, an obvious question: what else do we not know about the secret operation in Norway that led to the destruction of the pipelines? And is there anyone in the Senate and the House, or in the American press, interested in finding out what was going on—and what else we do not know?

 The link below opens the video clips for your review and start your seven day free trial.

https://open.substack.com/pub/seymourhersh/p/from-the-gulf-of-tonkin-to-the-baltic?r=690o5&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email

Meet My Newest Spiritual Mentor of 2022

Robert Rogers, shares recent continuing unplanned home going events in his family during the past weeks. Founder of Mighty in the Land Ministry, featured in the Sept ’22 Plain Values magazine from Winesburg, OH. Author of Into the Deep: one man’s story of how tragedy took his family but could not take his faith; 7 Steps to No Regrets: How to find peace with God, others, and yourself; Rise Above: How to Heal the Hurts and Overcome the Worst.

Here’s current inspiration from my friend Robert.

…for everything serves Your plans.  If Your instructions hadn’t sustained me with joy, I would have died in my misery.  I will never forget Your commandments, for by them You give me life.” (Psalm 119:91-93)

    On January 28th, on an unusually warm and sunny day in the Louisville, Kentucky area, my brothers and I carried the coffin of our eldest brother – Dr. Paul Joseph Rogers – to his grave at Grove Hill Cemetery in Shelbyville, Kentucky where his earthly body was laid to rest until Jesus comes again.  Lifting my brother’s casket from the hearse to the burial site felt so strangely surreal, somewhat like a dream, as if I was viewing a dreaded, unimaginable nightmare.  I gently set my boutonniere atop Paul’s coffin, forming a cross with those flowers of the other six pallbearers.  After placing mine, I kissed the top of the casket and traced a cross across the wood grains with my thumb, fighting back my tears as I genuflected alongside his crypt. 

    After the committal prayer by the pastor, the cemetery workers promptly began the ghastly process of interring the coffin into the ground.  I had never witnessed this before at any other burial, including that of my own previous wife and our four children in 2003 after their untimely drowning deaths in Kansas from the August 30th flash flood.  Entombing the coffin was usually left for another time after the family and friends had departed the cemetery.

    But, today was different.  The interment began immediately after the committal.  None of us viewing this sacred moment could move.  It was as if all of us were frozen in time like statues, entranced by this solemn and somber occasion, wishing we could stop time, pause the moment, or somehow rewind life a few months before Paul’s epic battle against pancreatic cancer had ensued.  Siblings, parents, children, grandchildren, friends, and patients alike were all entranced in the instant, fixated on the abrupt brevity of such a vibrant young life.  With each clinking sound of the entombment ratchet-lowering mechanisms, every inch of my brother’s coffin descended into his grave – until it was no longer visible from my view.  As my heart sank within me, my knees instinctively hit the ground, my hands reverently made the sign of the cross over my body, and the irrevocability of Paul’s passing from this earth became more and more final.

    As the youngest of eight children (five boys and three girls), Paul is our first sibling to pass.  Paul is survived by us 7 siblings, our mother, his bride (of 39 years), 6 children and their 7 grandchildren.  The death of any and every loved one is uniquely excruciating.  I still feel out of balance, as though one of the limbs in our family body is gone.

    As a family, and as the body of Christ, we are bonded by unseen ligaments of love.  When someone passes from this planet, those of us who remain strive to regain our equilibrium after such a difficult loss, realizing that life will never return to “normal” again.  The depth of our grief is a testament to the depth of our love for each other.  The pain is excruciating because our love for those who passed was so passionate.  Our hearts hurt so much because we love and miss them so much.

    Just 11 months prior (February 2022), some cancerous cells were detected in Paul’s gall bladder.  We covered him in prayers and scriptures, believing God for the best as Paul received treatments at Mayo Clinic and at the University of Louisville Hospital.  His closest friend, Danny, said, “Paul, God has this.  You have God, and we have you.”  As Paul – with his bride and his extended family – waged a formidable assault against the diagnosis on all spiritual and medical fronts, the cancer later spread to his spine.  Yet, Paul was still upbeat and active, even vigorously riding his bike just a few months before his passing, determined to kick it.  When cancer cells were later found in his pancreas, his condition changed dramatically and quickly.

    Just four days before he passed, my wife and I visited him in the Louisville Hospital ICU on January 19-20, 2023.  As one brother described it, Paul looked akin to a “holocaust survivor,” just skin and bones.  Yet, Paul’s spirit remained strong, even then.  He seemed resolute to recover, and he truly embodied faith in action.

    Upon entering his room, Paul’s first words to us were, “How is Cora?”  He was asking about Inga’s mother who was just abruptly widowed only a few weeks prior on December 23rd after 45 years of marriage to Dr. Doug Fisher (a horse veterinary doctor) following a lengthy hospital stay for a pacemaker insertion and ensuing stroke complications.  (Our immediate family is all still reeling from the grief of Inga’s Dad’s passing.  I was a pallbearer twice in 3 weeks – both in the same month of January 2023.  Tough times.)

    When I shared with Paul about Cora’s difficulty answering people who ask, “How are you doing?” after the death of a loved-one, Paul’s immediate response was, “I am blessed of the Lord!”  Amazing.  Fighting for his life, my brother still declared the goodness of the Lord and bore witness to the fact that he was indeed blessed by Almighty God.

    On our next visit to Paul the following day in the ICU, his first question was, “How are the kids?”  He wanted to know about our 5 children.  I was floored!  Here is my big brother, battling the effects of cancer, and he’s still focused on others.  Paul maintained his ever-present outward focus, never inward. 

    Paul was a humble, brilliant cardiologist with degrees from Northwestern University, Johns Hopkins, and a residency and fellowship in cardiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.  He had a remarkable ability to make every patient, every individual, and every family member feel as though they were the most important person in the room (or on the planet for that matter).

    Paul worked diligently to remember people’s names and occupations, and he made a point to display a genuine, vested interest in each person’s health, progress, family, and general well-being.  He intentionally remembered and used people’s names, because he felt that the sweetest sound to someone’s ears is hearing their own name.  He also encouraged others to never judge anyone – anytime – for anything.

    By no means was Paul a physician for the prestige or the paycheck.  He became a doctor so that he could minister to others.  Paul loved to serve God by serving the body of Christ.  He truly cherished the chance to help patients daily as he practiced cardiology for 10 years in Columbus, Ohio, 7 years in Cincinnati, and 15 years in Louisville.

    One of the excruciating aspects of being treated for cancer for Paul was that he was unable to practice as a cardiologist daily.  He deeply longed to give and serve others again, not just receive medical treatments for himself.

    Paul was incessantly outwardly focused.  He had boundless energy and was typically up every night until 1am, and then awoke at 5am to exercise and spend time in prayer and God’s Word before early hospital rounds.  He blended his heart for Christ and his skill as a doctor on multiple medical mission trips to Honduras from 2012-2019 where, along with his wife and children, he taught residents and even improved cardiology facilities.  His heart of compassion and love for working with Spanish-speaking people in Honduras inspired him to work at the free clinic in Shelbyville, Kentucky as well. 

    As my wife and I visited with him for those precious final, brief minutes in the Louisville ICU only days before his death, we prayed, sang hymns (“Great is Thy Faithfulness”, “Be Thou My Vision”, “Numbers 6 Blessing Lullaby”), and fought back tears as I lay my hand on his head and kissed his forehead.  I asked my brother what he thought God’s purpose was through all this pain and difficult life season.  He responded with one word, “Closer.”  God was drawing us closer to Himself and our family closer to one another.  Beautiful.  Selfless.

    As the medical staff abruptly entered the room, my bride and I knew we had to depart.  Inga and I also sensed that it might very well be the last time we would see Paul on this planet alive, short of a divine miracle.  Paul and I locked eyes and he gave me a glance that I shall never forget, as if to say, “I love you, brother.  It’s almost time for me to go.  I’ll see you on the other side – in Heaven.”  He even gave us a hearty thumbs-up as we left the room.  My wife and I collapsed into each other’s arms, embracing and weeping in the waiting room as we strived to process the enormity of what we had just experienced, and ever so thankful for the gift of time with which God had just graced us.

    Thank God we were there.  Thank God Paul was lucid enough to communicate with us.  Thank God we saw him just days before he passed from this life.  No regrets.

    A few days later, with his bride and his children encircling him in the ICU, my brother’s spirit passed from this earth on January 24th.  Moments before, they played this song which I had composed in 2003 shortly before my previous family passed away.  I believe God’s Holy Spirit divinely inspired it for such a time as this.  Even now, There Is Peacehttps://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/fvqze6/ThereIsPeace.mp3  A few days later, I was honored to sing and play it at Paul’s funeral service in Louisville.

  “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on You!” (Isaiah 26:3)

    My wife’s father never said, “goodbye.”  He always said, “See you tomorrow.”  Similarly and ironically, my brother also never said, “goodbye.”  He would always say, “See you later.”  We are deeply saddened and we grieve heavily over both of their recent and untimely deaths.  Yet, we grieve with hope that we will “See you (both) later” because of “Christ in [us], the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27)

    Do you have that hope?  Have you put your faith alone in Christ alone?  The worst regret of all would be dying and not going to Heaven to be with the Lord and with your loved ones.

    Jesus said, “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in Me.  There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with Me where I am.  And you know the way to where I am going.  I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:1-6) 

    Every death and every funeral starkly remind us of just how fragile life is, and of how thin the veil is between this world and the next.  Every day is a gift from God to be cherished.  That is why it is called the “present.”

    Savor every moment with your loved-ones, and strive to KNOW GOD more, and make Him more known daily.

    “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

    In the timeless words of missionary C.T. Studd, “Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

Amen.  KNOW GOD personally, and Live a Life of No Regrets.

    I would be honored to come and share our family’s story near you in 2023, bringing the Hope of God’s Good News.  I share at churches of all denominations, parish missions, revivals, schools, organizations, prayer breakfasts, conventions, banquets, and conferences (men’s, women’s, home-school, pro-life, purity, etc.).

    Now is a great time to schedule a Ministry Visit for this year.  Please call 260-515-5158, email hello@mightyintheland.com, or visit our website (https://mightyintheland.com/contact-2/) to arrange the details.

    Mighty in the Land Ministry thrives on word of mouth.  Every time you tell someone about the impact of this Ministry, you play a vital part in helping us share God’s Good News through our family’s story.  Please help spread the word.

    Over 310,000 people have personally encountered the Gospel as I’ve freely shared at least 1,389 times since 2003 – all by invitation.  Although my testimony has cost me everything, I still charge NOTHING.  (No agent.  No “fees.”  Pure God.)

    Thank you for prayerfully and materially supporting this Ministry in 2022.  I am deeply thankful.  Would you please consider investing in the Kingdom mission of Mighty in the Land Ministry to help others experience the Good News of Jesus in 2023 and beyond?  I would be grateful for your support to help me continue to share the hope of Christ with others through Mighty in the Land Ministry.  Your gracious contributions help to continue the mission of this Mighty Ministry – to teach others to KNOW GOD and Live a Life of NO REGRETS.  I humbly thank you for giving as God leads.

    Please pray for us.  Thank you for praying.  I am immensely grateful to you.

Gratefully and faithfully,

-Robert Rogers

 Teaching others to KNOW GOD and Live a Life of No Regrets

PS – We trust God for your contributions to help further the mission of this Ministry to which I believe God has called me.  If God prompts you to support the ongoing work of Mighty in the Land Ministry with a tax-deductible contribution, I would be deeply grateful to you.  Here’s how:

1) Credit card on our website: www.MightyInTheLand.com or by phone 260-515-5158.

2) Calling 317-570-5850 about donating non-cash gifts.

3) Check in the US Mail to:

Mighty in the Land Ministry

429 East DuPont Road, #230

Fort Wayne, IN  46825-2051

Thank you so very much.

Favorite Adopted Son Preaches First Sermon Today

As presented to us by Darrell Haven 02/19/23

As both of our pastors and spouses were in an Evana retreat event this weekend, we were privileged to have one of our own challenge and encourage our congregation this morning. Darrell’s interaction begins at 28 minutes with the children first. The text taken from Acts 20:7-12, is built around the event when a young man dozed off listening to Apostle Paul around midnight (perhaps they needed a worship band to liven things up) while sitting in a third story window and was killed. Never do I recall this text used prior. Darrell weaves his words from the acronym L I V E.

L for LOVING the fallen we meet in in our lives;

I for being INTENTIONAL; continually aware of our surroundings, always considering both its dangers and opportunities;

V is VICTORY being our constant focus, both expected and enjoyed;

E is ENCOURAGEMENT to ( and from) each other.

Upon opening the clip, advance to Darrell’s words beginning at 28 minutes. May his words bless you this week.

https://www.youtube.com/live/UxPdpSBPZnw?feature=share

Well Now, This Is A First For Me!

Recently I heard about preparing for our planet’s three days of darkness. I find this all quite interesting, especially now with the scientists even admitting they’re being baffled by our sun’s weirdness twice within days. Personally, beyond that, I feel Loretta and I are about to enter 37 days of darkness. Understand, my best friend and wife of nearly 50 years is at this moment, 3 AM February 18, 2023 at the CLE airport later departing for Honduras for her annual Central America Medical Outreach (CAMO) mission trip for two weeks. After that, she’ll be exploring Panama with our eldest son Ben and his wife Jill, who moved there last year when they recently retired.

Less than three months ago none of these 37 days of darkness for us were anywhere on our horizon. Then, Loretta got a phone call from the CAMO founder pleading she join the dental team once more as she did I believe 23 times prior the three years off for Covid. Sensing this was Spirit’s nudge to reconsider her earlier decision to discontinue any more such adventures, we began processing the possibility and it wasn’t long that a series of confirmations were provided to us, even including the three weeks in Panama.

We both know now our earlier confirmations for these 37 days are empowering us to fearlessly move forward in their implementation and fully trust His leading; both to empower us for the tasks at hand, as well as to protect us while in the palm of his hand, as we are being the obedient, forgiven, transformed, empowered, discipling Bond Servants of Jesus Christ serving as His ambassadors until death permits our retirement. And, only three months ago neither of us possessed the confidence or the peace of mind to even consider this adventure. Amazing.  

Understand, I am omitting many details but fast forward to this morning as I awoke at 12:45 AM and I first scanned my daily reading for February 18 from My Utmost For His Highest, titled “Taking the Initiative Against Despair,” an extremely positive encouragement. “Rise, let us be going,” from Matt. 26:46. Recently, I’ve been consistently awakening 5-10 minutes before the alarm goes off (not this morning though), and I’m increasingly being aware that it’s His confirmation for me that I’m not only in the presence of God, but that it’s time to “rise and let us be going…” Also, I do not recall ever speaking as candidly from my heart as I will now and am not at all sure the path my words may take me, except, that I am to write as prompted.

Now I’ll try to explain the reality of living in real time in synch with Jesus from my infinitesimal understanding of “Taking the initiative against despair” as Ozzie lays it out for us today so simply. Understand I would be ecstatic if all I’d done amiss in my life was having gone to sleep three times, but I did, even more, and events were tragic for me. Yes, I know it is our Lord’s request we pray, that we are diligent with whatever, wherever, however, whenever, whoever…. Folks, my other shoe just dropped. Suddenly I recall this pervading thought of the coming three days of darkness. How many times will He return to summon me to “Rise, and let us be going….” Am I even living in His presence so I can hear “Rise, and let us be going…” May we become, if we’re not, the obedient, forgiven, transformed, empowered, discipling Bond Servants of Jesus Christ serving as His ambassadors until death permits our retirement.

Simply being aware that we’ve been asleep and oblivious to what is really, or about to really happen about us, as with Rip Van Winkle and historically, as I believe the institutional church is today, being “without a clue”. Simply being aware God “IS” begins  Restoration Step 1. Aware God IS.

Next, as I see it, my potential for future despair (since my past despair is forgiven) has a taproot more tenacious than a dandelion. I offer you apostle Peter as an example of dealing with his despair from his disobedience as such usually occurs in public while avoiding embarrassment from our peers, friends, and family, etc. I suggest the root cause is perhaps because we doubt our identity in Christ. Listen to Getting your identity from God –  Jamie Winship – 04/07/2019 youtu.be  for a great introduction to our deception.

The solution for us after failing our identity test, is to do as Peter demonstrated, get real, recognize your sin, be obedient, forgiven, transformed, (let’s just call it  OFTEDA) Ok, you got the routine. Understanding our complicity and complacency to deny our Savior is Restoration Step 2. or Denying Our Identity in Christ.

 Next, comes the quantum leap. I just happen to believe now folks, and am living by and practicing that God’s Son Jesus never wastes ANY of our sins. No, I do not have a specific scripture for this deduction or conclusion on my part, nor have I ever taken time to really research it out, though I’ve shared it with those I’ve mentored or coached recently as a strengthening exercise to live in spiritual victory.

Though hidden from God’s sight because of Jesus’s blood, we as humans with yet functioning coherent memories, can and will recall our sinful acts of hatred against God and humanity as deplorable, despicable, and atrocious acts as they indeed were. Our huge step of faith occurs when we are able to rejoice in the fact of God’s provision for our “complete forgiveness removing them as far as the east is from the west!”

That miracle having occurred, so that none of our evil horrid sorry past will ever be seen by God, is basic to our living a life of joy, which is quantum levels above the happiness our culture is seeking.

Now, if I am so bold to conclude that none of this evil horrid sorry past will be wasted, I must explain further. First understand, when we’ve been forgiven, God can’t even see our sin; therefore, he will never be plagued with his memory reminding Him of our sin.

Second, even though we’ve been OFTEDA, we will on occasion be reminded of past sins. And when that occurs, I simply choose to “Rise, let us be going…. by: 

First, commanding Satan that I am by the blood of Jesus and OFTEDA, a new creature in Christ and beyond his reach.

Second, I realize my prior discretions that led to my evil horrid sorry past are no longer temptations on the table since the joy of living with Jesus has removed them.

Third, as I intersect daily in my spheres of influence as His ambassador, I draw tremendous strength in my empathy from Christ to relate to individuals tempted to stumble on the road of life as I had fallen victim to earlier.

These three points indeed provide me the vital spark needed in Step 3 to ignite my spiritual initiative against any future despair the devil in his sly and cunning ways may be preparing for me by having me recall in living color and surround sound my prior sin. Without a doubt, it took most of my life to understand this and I’m just now verbalizing this illusive truth, at least for me, in Restoration Step 3. I pray you can power through to victory much sooner than I.

The word empathy as I used it above again comes to mind. I believe God desires to endow all of his children with His empathy and that it would be readily visible to others who are sorely in need of His OFTEDA rooted empathy. Unfortunately, I chose at times to use empathy selfishly and Satan quickly and effectively deceived me destroying both my spiritual intimacies with Jesus and humanity. I’m not at all sure why I felt the need to share that; perhaps you do.

FYI, in conclusion, I just noticed Ozzie identified the 4 D’s for which we need inspiration, after he introduces “The Inspiration of Spiritual Initiative,” on February 16 in the four days following, those being “taking the initiative against depression, despair, drudgery, and daydreaming.”

So, what’s the key word for Restoration Step 3.? I’m struggling with that. I was first reminded of “Waste Not, Want Not” but that from the century past is out of view for today’s movers and shakers, even though perhaps, being remotely applicable here. Ozzies last line today states “Never let the sense of past failure defeat your next step.” So very true! For now, I’ll just deem Step 3 is Choose Victory.

In summary, Restoration Step 1.) Be Aware God IS; Step 2.) Know & Practice your Identity in Christ; & Step 3.) Choose Victory

Another note, I keep waiting to be invited somewhere locally to “a spark service being fanned into a consuming flame” from the Ashbury University Chapel. As of yet, I have not found it being livestreamed. Yesterday’s chapel from Friday Day 9 is being played now at 8:10 AM Saturday. Mark is speaking now of the Deep Spiritual Hunger being exhibited everywhere. And to simply Come as invited in Matt.11:28-30, to give away our “fake and fleeting” in exchange for His “real and permanent,” to indeed, experience the Abundant Life. Their chapel services are online anytime.

We indeed are experiencing such historic days on so many fronts. Like trying to get a drink from a fire hose. Are we awake, alert, and aware? And above all else, are we in prayer? Both individually and in our spiritual communities?

Click the link below to read what Ozzie wrote that inspired this document. Experience the power of his wisdom succinctly spoken. That is not me. This though is only my first draft.

Also, I’d be remiss not to solicit your prayers for Loretta and I during our 37 days of darkness until we’re reunited. Thank You.

https://click.messages.odb.org/?qs=98db396c0ab1a98937c549d2204473d99947016ff28852ba61b8692d1dd9c4c039f87775f6b057e5b27d8379d6197db9b99a46af875cd9ac511ae63b148c8bd1

On Valentine’s Day, A Love Letter from a Dad to the Courts.

A 2000 Word Prayer Request to my blog’s readers for an 8 year old son to simply experience his mother’s love be ‘reawakened’ and that the courts understand their role…

Where do I begin to share the burdens of my heart for the well-being of my son Andrew, a victim now of circumstances of my earlier doings, and now far beyond either his or even my control?” By Andrew’s father who penned the following words to explain to the courts his pain.

Andrew had a counseling appointment last Tuesday February 7th. When I got there Andrew and his mother were sitting in the waiting room and Andrew was looking at her phone. I brought a book for Andrew with me like I have been doing.  I try to get him interested in reading and I point out the big words in the books to see if he knows them.

I’m so glad now that Andrew is finally doing better in school after a rough start last fall. He did very well at the Asheville school so I find it very difficult to understand why he had to be taken away from his friends and the community where he has been since birth.  And I also don’t understand how I can only have him every other week during summers and no overnights during school? 

His mother text me today (Feb 14) to say Andrew awoke at 4:30 puking with a tummy ache so he will be spending another day in his dysfunctional grandparent’s house that in earlier years produced three daughters, all today with major drug and relationship problems. He’ll receive only minimal interaction, spending most of the day likely on his tablet or watching tv. His mother implies this upset tummy happens frequently. Stranger still, I’ve not heard the complaint or witnessed a tummy ache once yet.

His mother says Andrew suffered from depression and anxiety while attending Asheville the last 3 years. In all the reading I have done about depression and anxiety in kids his age, the literature emphasizes that depression or anxiety in children will prevent them from thriving academically and socially in school. Andrew grades and school life socially at Asheville were exemplary and he totally enjoyed extracurricular activities like baseball and kickball. Considering all the obstacles encountered in transitioning to the Central City school and its surrounding negative environment, Andrew has proven I believe that he has adjusted well, matured, and is capable of rising above undesirable circumstances including a school change, even with his aversion to now spending more time at his mother’s house because that’s what the court decided.

I believe it is no secret to the intimate observers of Andrew’s demeanor that the biggest thing Andrew has trouble adjusting to is staying at his mother’s house. Before the change, I observed he often did not want to go back to her house. Several times he didn’t want to go to school because he knew he had to go to back to his mom’s house after school. And now he is exactly where he didn’t want to be, every single day! From my observations, it seems that his mother’s house is the only place he struggles with or exhibits dissatisfaction, perhaps even depression or anxiety, to the point of causing tummy aches.

And to be professionally concerned as a parent, I understand that his mother seldom if ever plays with Andrew and actually, spends the majority of her time looking at her phone. And I’m told her excuse for using marijuana so frequently includes such as being too hot at work, having to deal with the multiple idiosyncrasies of her dysfunctional parents, driving her grandma around, dealing with a fleeting motivation to exercise, and any other reason she can come up with. Her medical marijuana card now frees her from having to be discreet or hide her usage any longer. And believe me, after I heard about Sam Quinones 2015 landmark book titled “Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic,” I better understand both the drug usage hierarchies and the ever-present threat of usage and addiction, so that I now pray even harder that Andrew will be spared the effects of such exposures in the Central City environments.

But perhaps even more damaging to Andrew’s social and mental development from what I read in the literature, is that his mother tends to yell at Andrew about anything; from being dirty to not doing things fast enough, etc.  Continual exposure to an atmosphere of negative yelling really, really concerns me. Read the literature. And while I’m just being honest, his mother in the past always possessed a gun that I understand at one time, at least was not allowed with a medical marijuana card. Do understand I am not knowledgeable of her present status in these areas.

Also, please understand I am being told these things by Andrew totally without any provocation or “fishing” from me; he is just sharing from his heart, and certainly not out of spite or to hurt his mother. I am sure a skilled child interviewer or counselor could easily verify this and much more if over time, a proven relationship of trust for Andrew’s well-being is established with him and the value of this relationship is recognized as such by Andrew himself, and not just a passing momentary manipulation as needed for whatever the pressing issue or narrative.

I certainly am not a perfect parent but I am devoted 100% to being a positive role model to Andrew.  I do concentrate all my efforts to demonstrate confidence and leadership in Andrew’s presence. Andrew sees how knowledgeable I am about farming and is better understanding its accompanying work ethic. I’m not afraid to be unique and Andrew sees and understands already that I don’t pretend to be someone I’m not and that I always tell the truth. I enjoy communicating and interacting with everyone and Andrew sees how positive and rewarding it is to be socially engaged as opposed to being addicted to phones, tablets, and tv’s. Andrew needs to be engaged socially and enjoying satisfying long term relationships.

I also try to learn new things to share with Andrew and then challenge him to learn and do his best at everything he has the opportunity to experience. As Andrew shares his goals with me, I try to help him accomplish them.  I’m certainly not perfect though I’ll readily admit it when I make mistakes. I don’t use drugs, alcohol or tobacco products. I eat healthy, exercise and volunteer to help coach baseball, soccer or anything else I can help out with in Andrew’s life.

Sadly, for Andrew’s sake, it appears too often his mother looks to capitalize on my mistakes and keep Andrew away from me. She says I’m alienating Andrew from her. I am not doing that at all; truth be told, his mother by her actions is doing that to herself. I make it a point to never put her down or degrade her to anyone, publicly or privately; therefore, Andrew hears nothing derogatory from me about his mother. I am dedicated to encouraging every positive bond possible between Andrew and his mother so there will a lifetime of warm mutuality and appreciation for her. Realize though, none of this is ever verbalized to anyone except the professionals in my life, as I’m very concerned that their mother son bond be nurtured and flourish long term, as I believe his mother may someday reap what she has sown during these adolescent years.

However, I do not believe his mother understands at all this future reaping. Again, the literature states and I firmly believe a long term professional skilled interviewing process would substantiate all of this. I personally can say from experience, that his mother is constantly trying to keep Andrew from me, even before we were divorced and very sadly, I’d be remiss not to say now that her actions towards Andrew’s well-being, (ignoring all her negative personal encounters towards me) as demonstrated in this case, is too often not for what will actually benefit Andrew, but for her vendetta to spite me.  There is absolutely nothing in my life now more precious to me than to see my son experience every privilege to which he is entitled and to thrive as he was endowed, designed and empowered.

I hesitate to say this but this whole scenario rather reminds me of King Solomon in the biblical account of dealing with the two prostitutes with a child as recorded in I Kings 3: 16-28 and I’ll take this liberty to share it.

[16] Two prostitutes showed up before the king. The one woman said, “My master, this woman and I live in the same house. While we were living together, I had a baby. Three days after I gave birth, this woman also had a baby. We were alone— there wasn’t anyone else in the house except for the two of us. The infant son of this woman died one night when she rolled over on him in her sleep. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son— I was sound asleep, mind you!— and put him at her breast and put her dead son at my breast. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, here was this dead baby! But when I looked at him in the morning light, I saw immediately that he wasn’t my baby.”

[22] “Not so!” said the other woman. “The living one’s mine; the dead one’s yours.” The first woman countered, “No! Your son’s the dead one; mine’s the living one.” They went back and forth this way in front of the king.

[23] The king said, “What are we to do? This woman says, ‘The living son is mine and the dead one is yours,’ and this woman says, ‘No, the dead one’s yours and the living one’s mine.'”

[24] After a moment the king said, “Bring me a sword.” They brought the sword to the king.

[25] Then he said, “Cut the living baby in two-give half to one and half to the other.”

[26] The real mother of the living baby was overcome with emotion for her son and said, “Oh no, master! Give her the whole baby alive; don’t kill him!” But the other one said, “If I can’t have him, you can’t have him-cut away!”

[27] The king gave his decision: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Nobody is going to kill this baby. She is the real mother.”

[28] The word got around— everyone in Israel heard of the king’s judgment. They were all in awe of the king, realizing that it was God’s wisdom that enabled him to judge truly.

We do all have numerous responsibilities to love and to protect those in our spheres of influence.

You as public servants have been given an awesome responsibility to administer justice in a distraught hurting and angry world. I not only pray for Andrew’s protection daily, but also for his mother in her God-given role as Andrew’s mother, which goes far beyond our now trivialized marriage vows, “’til death do us part,” referring to the permanent birth bond between mother and son for life; note time nor conditions are not specified. I also include prayers for you as public servants of the courts as you all are privileged to perform your tasks as assigned.

Substantiated by all the reasons detailed above, I am requesting that Andrew be transferred back to the Asheville school immediately reducing the travel time for all parties significantly and during winter months, reducing traveling in the dark. I’ve asked my attorney to submit the previous 50/50 shared parenting plan and that I be allowed to get Andrew from school every day and then meet his mother at the Cracker Barrel after she is done with work. Therefore, Andrew would be able to play spring baseball with his friends in Asheville that soon starts in March. Remember, it’s all about what’s best for Andrew; and not at all about the selfish wishes of his mother or I.

Thank you for listening.

And thanks to you for taking time to read this lengthy document by Andrew’s father to the guardian ad litem assigned this case. His father truly exhibits the patience and love of Christ in a gut wrenching situation. Will you join us in prayer for a favorable outcome during the court hearing scheduled now for February 27?  Thank you. merlin

Bono & Eugene Peterson Interview 2015 : THE PSALMS

Eugene H. Peterson, (1932-2018) was a pastor, scholar, author and poet. He wrote more than thirty books, including his widely acclaimed paraphrase of the Bible, The Message; and numerous works of spiritual formation, including Run with the Horses, and A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.

Paul David Hewson, whose stage name is Bono, was born May 10, 1960 is the lead singer of the Irish rock band U2 and one of the most talented performers in the history of rock and roll. While still in high school, Bono and his three friends formed a band, practiced a lot, innovated a unique sound, topped the pop charts, sold 44 million albums, won 22 Grammys, and got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

All the while, Bono founded multiple charities, met with world leaders, advocated tirelessly to fight global poverty and disease, and was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2005 sharing the title with none other than computer billionaire, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda. Times honored Bono for having “charmed and bullied and morally blackmailed the leaders of the world’s richest countries into forgiving $40 billion in debt owed by the poorest.” Time began choosing a “Man of the Year” in 1927, to pick the “person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or for worse.” Hitler was named in 1938 and Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.

FYI, Charles Lindbergh (1927) was the first and youngest person to receive the Time distinction at 25 years old. Recent winners in 2018 were The Guardians and the War on Truth, 2019 Greta Thunberg, and the final persons to receive the award evidently since no one was named in either ’21 or ’22, was Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in 2020. Certainly more trivia than necessary!

The clip below is a 21 minute interview featuring the connection between Bono and Eugene in the Peterson homestead near Glacier Park and Kalispell MT. Eugene returned to the family homestead after his retirement as a pastor near Laurel MD. His brother was pastor of the Fredericksburg Presbyterian Church although I am not aware of the years he served there. Enjoy.

How Four Adoptions Led to a Magazine

Learn how one man’s faith persevered through his identity in Christ amongst truth tellers in community culminating in a worthy magazine based on scriptural principles introducing His light into a spiraling culture going a muck….

What do the Amish, little ones with special needs, two nonprofits, four adoptions, two one-room schoolhouses from the 1800s, and a monthly print magazine have to do with homesteading in 2023? It is the story of our family, and it is a joy to share how the Lord has pieced it together over the last twenty years. My name is Marlin Miller, and here we go!

I was raised Amish in Ohio, with family and community playing a huge role in my youth. In fact, I think I have more than a hundred first cousins with around half still Amish. My dad’s youngest sister, Alma, had Down syndrome. My dad would cross the most packed-out room to meet families who had a child with special needs and make new friends. Today, my own family has many opportunities to do the same, and every chance I have, I share the line he exuded in those conversations… “it doesn’t take a great family, it makes a great family.” Pop, that’s what I called my dad, passed away while he was driving truck 11 years ago. He was only 55. We can hardly wait to see him again and introduce him to his two youngest grandsons.

After we had been married for several years, my wife, Lisa, and I walked the road from infertility to adoption. Our prayers changed from “Lord, please bless us with a child” to “Lord, please bring us the children You want us to have and equip us to meet their needs.” Our oldest son was placed with us just two weeks after our home study was approved. He was almost four years old, and at the time, it had not yet been determined that he is on the Autism spectrum.

Lisa taught first grade in a public school where all her students were Amish. But two years after we adopted our first son, she felt a change was coming and it soon did. Our adoption agency called us about a baby girl with Down syndrome who would soon be born. We were one of the few families who were open to adopting a child with Down syndrome, and after meeting her birth family, we soon met our new daughter. She was in the NICU for seven weeks and had multiple surgeries. In fact, we almost lost her a few times. Adelaide finally came home with a feeding tube and a steep learning curve.

Lisa put aside her teaching career to care for our baby’s needs. Two years later, we felt called to adopt another baby with Down syndrome. The NDSAN [National Down Syndrome Adoption Network] matched us with our third child. The sweetest little boy, Bennett, was born prematurely and 18 hours away. After another NICU stay and a month out of state, Bennett was able to be free of the oxygen tank and apnea monitor he had worn since his birth, and we made the long drive back home, now a family of five. While we were certain our family was complete, the Lord had other plans. Nearly five years ago, we adopted our youngest son, Miles, who has Mosaic Down syndrome, in a most unexpected but most welcome surprise adoption.

Twelve years ago, I began praying for a special combination: an income that provided for the family while allowing the time we needed to care for our children. The answer lay in my heritage… and my job. I was a sales representative with a local newspaper (at the time). Because I grew up Amish, I can talk Pennsylvania Dutch, the language of the Amish community. Our magazine’s inspiration came through a very simple conversation; what if we could build a print magazine expressly for Amish folks? After putting a few bigger pieces together, we ran two pilot issues as a test with promising results. I told Lisa that I thought this idea was going to hold water, but we must retool it. And so, we spent time thinking and praying through what the content and focus could be.

An Amish family on a horse and buggy rides by the Plain Values office in Winesburg, Ohio.

Together, we came up with three pillars for the type of content we wanted this new magazine to rest on. The first two pillars drew from our own experiences—the dignity of children with special needs and the beauty of adoption. I personally believe adoption is why God created the entire universe. There is no better manifestation of His adoption of us (vertically) than the adoption of a child into a family (horizontally) right here and now!

As we worked through all this, I told Lisa the ONE thing, that huge bucket list thing I wanted to see the Lord do, was to use our work to bring a child with Down syndrome home to his or her forever family. I didn’t care how big a role we played. I just wanted to see that happen someday; after that, the rest can burn to the ground. Thankfully, our work hasn’t burned down yet, and in the last 10 years, the Lord has used Plain Values and our team in some form to help with more than 20 adoptions of little ones with Down syndrome and other special needs. Praise the Lord! A few years back, we began a nonprofit, Room to Bloom, to highlight and advocate for those exact kids with special needs that are so often forgotten. The story of Room to Bloom will be an upcoming post all to itself.

The third pillar of the magazine’s content was to highlight the Lord’s work being done at home and around the world, especially in situations where people doing that work needed prayers, donations, or volunteer assistance. Our hope was to share these organizations’ stories and be a stepping stone for people who may not have a smartphone to connect with the causes they care about. The results of that hope have been nothing short of incredible. We have shared stories of need on the field in which readers have sent tens of thousands of dollars, boots, blankets, and even themselves and their youngsters! At times, vanloads of volunteers have shown up to help distribute lovingkindness.

As I write this, I almost have to pinch myself in wonder of all the Lord has accomplished through a goofball like me. Today, Plain Values is read by hundreds of thousands every month, and our numbers are growing fast. We will always maintain the three foundational pillars. Still, over the last couple of years, we have added a fourth pillar, homesteading, because it has played such an important role in our family.

Both Lisa and I grew up helping in a big garden, canning and putting food by, raising chickens, and working as a family together at home. We have continued those traditions with our own family and enjoy working together on outdoor projects to add to our garden space, plant trees, build chicken coops, and continue to learn new skills. We’ve added lots of content about the homesteading lifestyle to Plain Values through monthly columns written by Joel Salatin, Rory Feek, Shawn and Beth Dougherty, and Melissa Norris. They bring years of experience and wisdom inside the homesteading and farming arena.

A few samples of Plain Values Magazine

As non-Amish folks have learned of Plain Values and subscribed, we have been reminded of today’s massive desire to read and learn about how the Amish live and mimic that simplicity. To help with that, a few months ago, we began a monthly roundtable written by Amish farmers, preachers, and even an Amish farmer’s wife, who joins in occasionally. Ivan, Jerry, Daniel, and Emily discuss topics on everyone’s mind, such as the impacts of technology on our families from the Amish lens. It has quickly become a favorite column. Readers continually send questions and topics on which they would like the panel’s perspectives in a future issue.

We believe it is time for the American church to engage within communities and really be the hands and feet of Christ. Plain Values is all about living in authentic community with those around us. From the farm and homestead life to educating our children with Biblical framework and worldviews, Plain Values aims to bring common sense and old-school wisdom back to life once again.

Miles playing with his dump truck in the garden

We are doing our best to enjoy the simple things in life, to stay connected to our community, and to slow down, so we don’t miss what’s truly important. If you are looking for a monthly print magazine with heart, we humbly ask you to consider joining the Plain Values family. When you subscribe, you automatically help bring hope and a family to an orphaned child with special needs. How does that work, you might ask… every time a family joins the PV family, we give a chunk of that money straight to Room to Bloom to help bring a family and their son or daughter closer to each other and ultimately home together.

Since I can’t give you a hug through these screens and say thanks personally, please use the code GAB23 at checkout for a special savings and a hearty “thank you” for your support. Visit plainvalues.com to learn more and subscribe. While you are there, you just might catch a glimpse of what is in the works with the two one-room schoolhouses and a second nonprofit. You can also follow us on Gab here

Till next time, may you find joy in the simple things.

https://news.gab.com/2023/01/how-four-adoptions-led-to-a-magazine/

Belated Birthday Bunny Burrow Blooper = “What is Truth?”

Birthday Letter to my dear sister Verla Louise Erb Hochstetler:

Dear Sis!

On the day of, available only for your reading by email, I was stricken by seeing Dec 17 in print as if I were Rip Van Winkle awakening from a 20 year nap when I opened the devotional Utmost upon arising this morning, after I had read your email from cousin Linda describing Arlene’s condition amidst the severity of your MN weather conditions.

Surely not again this year, I thought to myself, after forgetting your birthday last year! What’s the deal with me anyway? That indeed is simply the malfunctioning of my mind and its inability to distinguish timely facts from trivial personal self centered fiction, a sad commentary indeed. But definitely a more frequently  observed reality as is continually documented by my loving but frustrated wife of soon 49 years, who is still waiting for me to really wake up and smell her  roses, some in full bloom, others still budding.

I’ll not deny it. I am consumed. By much that are trivial pursuits, even for the guy with 3-4 3×5 cards stapled together clipped to a pen in my shirt pocket. I tried getting organized on my phone but it just never took for this old-schooler that hunts and pecks his messages likely infuriating my three sons who deftly type so swiftly and accurately with their thumbs. Not likely to happen with me anymore! Actually my techie adventure went on life support or hospice care when my eldest son Ben became my “techie advisor” as a young teen replacing both me and Bob Geiser, my Lotus programmer. Fleetingly and addictively during those simpler times, I never once realizing the magnitude of the all encompassing facets of the “descending (not necessarily an ascending) revolution that in 4 decades would devolve into today’s globalist narrative and agenda where by “2030 we would indeed own nothing and be happy,” presumably as we all are rehabbed into mindless robots while being “matrix-ingly pilled.”

In summary Sis, Alexander Graham Bell’s 1844 quote “What hath God wrought?” comes to mind after being the first message sent via his newly invented telegraph, and may I add, is still yet illuminating for us slow learners, the “wrought” part! For example, a few years later on the night of August 28, 1859 after two successive solar storms struck, numerous telegraph operators were able to operate without batteries for two hours. Fires even started in telegraph offices because of the Carrington Event (solar flare) caused by a major electro magnetic pulse (EMF). Google Carrington Event for details.

Understand the uniqueness of this telegraph message from the perspective as this, was I believe the first time in history man was able to communicate from two locations in real time. That was the humble beginning of the digital age which has now progressed with AI ( Artificial Intelligence) to unimaginable levels, one rather insignificant example being producing  political and entertainment clones digitally that we viewers are unable to determine which is the real deal. Actually, such “science” launches a whole new dimension for Pilate’s question when pondering the fate of Jesus – “What is truth?” Regrettably, most earthlings, even some Christ-Follower’s, are still dodging that bullet having never recognized the question was even asked of them.

This media ignored extreme vulnerability from EMF’s today for our culture’s global electronic connectedness from today’s observable and either anticipated “maturing” of our solar system or by such as the globalist’s manipulations or intentional war, indeed elevates the above mentioned AG Bell’s quote and his prolific file of quotes, and especially so with what is now known in 2022 about EMF’s, to be a very interesting read for truth oriented inquiring minds in both “rubber on the road theological circles” or even the largely ignored, at least unguarded scientific reviews.

So Sis, what a bunny trail your birthday did elicit from your warped brother’s mind today! I do hope you’ll be spared many similar onslaughts from other friends and family today. Hopefully they’ll all be the  more traditional encouragements and congratulations.

Happy 71st Birthday Sis! You are an amazing woman. Indeed a tribute to your mother’s perspective of life. God Bless.

Your brother merlin     

“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.”

More pertinent timely quotes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer February 4 1906 – April 9, 1945

“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”

“Christianity preaches the infinite worth of that which is seemingly worthless and the infinite worthlessness of that which is seemingly so valued.”

“May we be enabled to say ‘No’ to sin and ‘Yes’ to the sinner.”

“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.”

“Seek God, not happiness – this is the fundamental rule of all meditation. If you seek God alone, you will gain happiness: that is the promise.”

“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts. How can God entrust us great things to one who will not thankfully receive from Him the little things?”

“One act of obedience is worth a hundred sermons.”

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

The community of the saints is not an ‘ideal’ community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance. NO, it is a community which proves that it is worthy of the gospel of forgiveness by constantly and sincerely proclaiming God’s forgiveness.”

Gleamed from crosswalk.com Emily Maust Woods, Crosswalk Contributor 03/04/21

The Direction of Our Focus…. even though decay prevails

Awakening early Thanksgiving mornings continue to be as they have been traditionally since 1972 and throughout my adult years, very focused moments of reflection and evaluation of the twists and turns that my life’s expressions are currently exhibiting to me.  I find the final words from Oswald in this clip uniquely challenging to me as I now contend with descending the ladder of life (nothing makes us loose heart quicker than decay…) rather than vibrantly climbing to new physical and mental heights of expression. But the direction of our focus must always remains upward, even though decay gains momentum….. Because light comes through them! Again, it’s our spiritual perspective. So our eyes look to the Lord our God. ALWAYS! Go forth with thanksgiving >>>>>  merlin  

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…, so our eyes look to the Lord our God… Psalm 123:2

My Utmost for His Highest… Nov 24

This verse is a description of total reliance on God. Just as the eyes of a servant are riveted on his master, our eyes should be directed to and focused on God. This is how knowledge of His countenance is gained and how God reveals Himself to us (see Isaiah 53:1).

Our spiritual strength begins to be drained when we stop lifting our eyes to Him. Our stamina is sapped, not so much through external troubles surrounding us but through problems in our thinking. We wrongfully think, “I suppose I’ve been stretching myself a little too much, standing too tall and trying to look like God instead of being an ordinary humble person.” We have to realize that no effort can be too high.

For example, you came to a crisis in your life, took a stand for God, and even had the witness of the Spirit as a confirmation that what you did was right. But now, maybe weeks or years have gone by, and you are slowly coming to the conclusion— “Well, maybe what I did showed too much pride or was superficial. Was I taking a stand a bit too high for me?” Your “rational” friends come and say, “Don’t be silly. We knew when you first talked about this spiritual awakening that it was a passing impulse, that you couldn’t hold up under the strain. And anyway, God doesn’t expect you to endure.” You respond by saying, “Well, I suppose I was expecting too much.” That sounds humble to say, but it means that your reliance on God is gone, and you are now relying on worldly opinion. The danger comes when, no longer relying on God, you neglect to focus your eyes on Him. Only when God brings you to a sudden stop will you realize that you have been the loser. Whenever there is a spiritual drain in your life, correct it immediately. Realize that something has been coming between you and God, and change or remove it at once.
Wisdom from Oswald Chambers
There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
from The Place of Help