By Erick-Woods Erickson Feb 25, Confessions of a Political Junkie.
Joy Behar thinks the people of East Palestine, OH got what they deserve because they voted for Trump. The National Transportation Safety Board says the braking regulation rolled back under congressional pressure by Donald Trump would not actually have impacted the derailment. It was a different issue. But Behar does not care. She does not like those people because they voted for Trump.
Over the past few weeks, left wing groups have trotted out a series of “studies” that “red states” get more federal government subsidization, have worse standards of living, have more crime, etc. Each another drip in smug justification to hate the people who vote differently, often with skewed framing and data to get the results just right.
Marjorie Taylor Greene wants her national divorce. The serial adulteress is holding herself out as the patron saint of Christian Nationalism in America. I’m guessing she’s all for it so long as the millstones aren’t brought back. She hates the left. The left hates her. They are two sides of the same coin.
There’s a small mindedness in these fights and a common thread is how very online so many of these people are. They don’t think the United States is great. They don’t think we are capable of taking care of ourselves and others. They have given up on each other, on their nation, and on a future that is better than yesterday.
Offline, driving across America, from red state to blue and purple and back, you have to work to really find people who want to break apart the country and not help those in need because of who they voted for. It’s easy to find online and hard to find out there where the people actually are.
“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature,” Abraham Lincoln said in his in his first inaugural address. His words could not keep the country together for a time, but he fought like hell to keep it together.
Victory in sight, four years later, he said in his second inaugural, “With malice toward none with charity for all with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right let us strive on to finish the work we are in to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan ~ to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace…”.
We could all use more grace and charity towards each other to think differently, vote differently, work differently, live differently, and still be American together. We should listen to our better angels and not the people who entertain through national dissection.
And into this environment, a series of candidates will come on stage for 2024. I hope they embrace America for all, not just America for their supporters. Out there, away from the noise and the constant tweets, Americans love America and their neighbors. Our leaders, on both sides, should remind us of that instead of stirring the divisions.
merlin now:
So, considering Erick’s words and prodding you for your response, the question begging to be asked, “What could/should be the churches response? OR, their responsibility? Consider these three verses form the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 from the MSG; actually all three chapters, 5 through 7.
[8] “You’re blessed when you get your inside world— your mind and heart— put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
[9] “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
[10] “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom. …
FYI, speaking of being away from all the noise, the clip below highlights “White Noise,” a movie released last fall, occurring even in the same town, eerily similar to the events in the Palestine OH tragedy that unfolded February 3. Simply more dysfunction? Family? Mechanical? OR?
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 Yourplans. 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 Peace. https://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 alldenominations, parish missions, revivals, schools, organizations, prayer breakfasts, conventions, banquets, and conferences (men’s, women’s, home-school, pro-life, purity, etc.).
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:
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.
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 GodIS; 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.
Let everyone be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. James 1: 19
Perhaps today in this age of email, we should add “slow to send” to this verse.
God in His great wisdom created mankind with two ears and only one mouth. Perhaps that was because He wanted us to listen twice as much as we speak. Most of us are really poor listeners. Bob and I rate this skill as one of the top priorities in having a good relationship. I guarantee if couples would take the time to become better listens, their relationships would be improved through better understanding and increased patience.
It’s important to remember, though, that women tend to be better listeners than men, probably because most men immediately want to fix what is broken and listening is considered a waste of time. To them, the solution is what’s important; they want to go directly to the bottom line.
So be brave and ask several of your trusted friends soon how they would rate you on your listening skills.Be prepared to take their honest answers and act upon the information constructively. Don’t get into the trap of thinking you are so much better at listening than so-and-so. Almost everyone is below par in this skill.
We will become better listeners when we realize how people value being heard. It gives people an awareness that we care for what they have to say and that we truly love them. Our own spirits are lifted up when those around us know we care for them.
Listening is truly an art form that can be mastered if we practice. Observe yourself in a crowd, or even one-on-one, to see how you do. Change comes when you know and act on Spirit revealed truth.
This morning I was reminded again, that James 1:19 compels us in our hearing, to not only distinguish truth from narrative chatter, but then in our “provoked human response,” be slow to speak and slow to anger. And as I alluded to above, perhaps we need also to be slow in our temptation of the moment, to “hit the SEND button.” Perhaps, like waiting a few hours, or even, to sleep on it! Just saying.
Inspired by and adapted from Minute Meditations For Women by Emilie Barnes
Prayer:
Father God, I know I frequently get into trouble with my relationships when I stop listening and start to open my mouth. Or, even hit the send button too soon. Please forgive me for the words that I have said or SENT OUT foolishly over the years. Heal the wounds I have left behind. I must improve my relationships. Let such begin with me TODAY. Amen.
Action:
Seek out a few friends and have them reflect on what kind of a listener you are to them. Be brave, loving, and willing to hear and act on what they have to say. Practice patience and above all, due diligence before SENDING and/or SPEAKING, especially when provoked!
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
This chapter spoke volumes to me this morning on the threshold of possibly being another historical pivotal week considering global events. How about you? Are we offering our required due diligence when prompted by Holy Spirit?
Proverbs 10 The Message Version
1] … Wise son, glad father; stupid son, sad mother.
[2] Ill-gotten gain gets you nowhere; an honest life is immortal.
[3] GOD won’t starve an honest soul, but he frustrates the appetites of the wicked.
[4] Sloth makes you poor; diligence brings wealth. [
5] Make hay while the sun shines-that’s smart; go fishing during harvest-that’s stupid.
[6] Blessings accrue on a good and honest life, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
[7] A good and honest life is a blessed memorial; a wicked life leaves a rotten stench.
[8] A wise heart takes orders; an empty head will come unglued.
[9] Honesty lives confident and carefree, but Shifty is sure to be exposed.
[10] An evasive eye is a sign of trouble ahead, but an open, face-to-face meeting results in peace.
[11] The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse.
12] Hatred starts fights, but love pulls a quilt over the bickering.
[13] You’ll find wisdom on the lips of a person of insight, but the shortsighted needs a slap in the face.
[14] The wise accumulate knowledge-a true treasure; know-it-alls talk too much-a sheer waste.
[15] The wealth of the rich is their bastion; the poverty of the indigent is their ruin.
[16] The wage of a good person is exuberant life; an evil person ends up with nothing but sin.
[17] The road to life is a disciplined life; ignore correction and you’re lost for good.
[19] The more talk, the less truth; the wise measure their words.
[20] The speech of a good person is worth waiting for; the blabber of the wicked is worthless.
[21] The talk of a good person is rich fare for many, but chatterboxes die of an empty heart.
[22] GOD’s blessing makes life rich; nothing we do can improve on God.
[23] An empty-head thinks mischief is fun, but a mindful person relishes wisdom.
[24] The nightmares of the wicked come true; what the good people desire, they get.
[25] When the storm is over, there’s nothing left of the wicked; good people, firm on their rock foundation, aren’t even fazed.
[26] A lazy employee will give you nothing but trouble; it’s vinegar in the mouth, smoke in the eyes.
[27] The Fear-of-GOD expands your life; a wicked life is a puny life.
[28] The aspirations of good people end in celebration; the ambitions of bad people crash.
[29] GOD is solid backing to a well-lived life, but he calls into question a shabby performance.
[30] Good people last-they can’t be moved; the wicked are here today, gone tomorrow.
[31] A good person’s mouth is a clear fountain of wisdom; a foul mouth is a stagnant swamp.
[32] The speech of a good person clears the air; the words of the wicked pollute it. …
We reading a chapter from Proverbs daily for several months may improve our perspective a bunch! Send me a note describing your adventures while doing that during prior years.
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. ISAIAH 26:3
Strategic Life Planning 101.0
Is your mind stayed on God or is it starved? Starvation of the mind, caused by our neglect, is one of the chief sources of exhaustion and weakness in a servant’s life. If you have never used your mind to place yourself before God, begin to do it now. There is no reason to wait for God to come to you. You must turn your thoughts and your eyes away from the face of idols and look to Him and be saved (see Isaiah 45:22).
You should seek to be “bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:5 ). This will be one of the greatest assets of your faith when a time of trial comes, because then your faith and the Spirit of God will work together. When you have thoughts and ideas that are worthy of credit to God, learn to compare and associate them with all that happens in nature— the rising and the setting of the sun, the shining of the moon and the stars, and the changing of the seasons. You will begin to see that your thoughts are from God as well, and your mind will no longer be at the mercy of your impulsive thinking, but will always be used in service to God.
“We have sinned with our fathers…[and]…did not remember…” (Psalm 106:6‘7 ). Then prod your memory and wake up immediately. Don’t say to yourself, “But God is not talking to me right now.” He ought to be. Remember whose you are and whom you serve. Encourage yourself to remember, and your affection for God will increase tenfold. Your mind will no longer be starved, but will be quick and enthusiastic, and your hope will be inexpressibly bright.
WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS
The root of faith is the knowledge of a Person, and one of the biggest snares is the idea that God is sure to lead us to success. from My Utmost for His Highest, March 19, 761 L
The wounds inflicted by an “unsafe” person can cut deep. If you’ve ever been in a relationship where you were used, abused, or abandoned, then SAFE PEOPLE is for you. It will help you make wise choices in relationships from friendship to romance. You’ll discover why good people can get tangled in bad relationships. And you’ll learn how to avoid your own mistakes and how to pick safe, healthy people for the friends you make and the company you keep.
Cloud and Townsend share expert insights that will help you:
Correct things within you that jeopardize your relational security
Learn the 20 traits of unsafe people
Recognize what makes people trustworthy
Avoid unhealthy relationships
Form positive relationships
Become a safe person yourself.
Safe People will help you restructure your approach to relationships. Put an end to getting burned – and start enjoying the healthy, balanced relationships everyone wants and needs.
Contents
Part One: Unsafe People
Chapter One: What is an Unsafe Person?
Chapter Two: Personal Traits of Unsafe People
Chapter Three: Interpersonal Traits of Unsafe People
Chapter Four: How We Lost Our Safety
Part Two: Do I Attract Unsafe People
Chapter Five: Do I Have a “Safety Deficit?”
Chapter Six: Why Do I Choose Unsafe Relationships?
Chapter Seven: False Solutions
Chapter Eight: Why Do I Isolate Myself from People?
Part Three: Safe People
Chapter Nine: What Are Safe People
Chapter Ten: Why Do We Need Safe People?
Chapter Eleven: Where Are the Safe People?
Chapter Twelve. Learning How to Be Safe
Chapter Thirteen: Should I Repair or Replace?
Next time I will transplant you into the heart of Chapter Twelve, “Learning How to Be Safe.” Authors Cloud and Townsend, in their numerous books based on scripture and the shed blood on the cross of our resurrected Savior, Jesus Christ, providing us the redeeming insights to dispel/destroy, even decades of accumulated unresolved baggage that annihilates us spiritually. Walk into His Light TODAY!
You’re a major exception if this book will not bolster, or even, supercharge, the effectiveness of your current and future relationships! FYI, tonight ThriftBooks has 50+ used paperbacks of Safe People available for $4.99 each.
By Robert Morris, Author of “THE BLESSED LIFE” & “THE GOD I NEVER KNEW”
Although difficult to locate used copies of this 2015 book, I found Truly Free a helpful worthy read written by a transparent pastor geared to pointing men with prior baggage such as myself, to breaking the snares that may continue to so easily entangle us. Our beacon passage is from from Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Now, listen to the same passage in today’s conversational paraphrased English from The Message:
“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me. Watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Introduction(verbatim)
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 NIV
Their forgetfulness began in earnest on the fifteenth day of their second month of their new calendar. Out in the desert, however, most folks didn’t bother to keep of what day it was.
Mostly, everybody just noticed their sweat—how everybody stank the same bad way. They noticed the sand as it wedged its way into their sandals and between their toes and drifted into their eyes and nostrils with each step they took. They noticed the heat—how breath after breath, the desert air burned in their lungs.
The Israelites were hitting the wall of desert reality.
Already the cool water and palm trees of the oasis of Elim lay far behind them. The relief of shade from Mount Sinai lay in the shadowy distance. The promised land seemed so far ahead of them, they wondered if they’d ever arrive.
All that stench and heat and dust and desert grime mixed together proved the perfect climate to birth forgetfulness. As recorded in Exodus 16, the grumblings on that fifteenth day of the second month since coming out of Egypt started out something like this:
“Hey.” An Israelite wiped the sweat off his forehead. “What I wouldn’t give right now to be back sitting in the shade of my old house.”
“Yeah,” said another, a faraway look in her eyes. “We really had it good back there, didn’t we?”
A third chimed in. “Back in Egypt we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted. Remember all those fresh onions and garlic and leeks? So tasty!”
They felt their mouths water, even in the arid heat.
And from there the grumbling erupted.
How Bad It Really Was
Did you catch what important truth the Israelites had forgotten?
They’d been slaves!
The Israelites had escaped bondage in Egypt through the power of God, but in the wilderness they were still imprisoned by their selective memory of life in Egypt
Back in Egypt they might have eaten fresh onions and garlic and leeks on rare occasions. But they had also labored from dawn to dusk every day under the unbending orders that they make bricks without straw. Egypt came complete with cruel taskmasters and whips and chains and shackles and wrenching poverty. All their baby boys had once been thrown into the Nile River.
Repeatedly—desperately—the Israelites had cried out to God for a deliverer.
Now they’d forgotten they had been in bondage.
They’d also forgotten that God had answered their cry. God had sent a deliverer to lead them out of slavery.
But hold on a moment. Before we come down too hard on the Israelites, have you ever considered how susceptible we are today to do or at least lean toward the same thing?
This Present Egypt
If we’re Christians, then the Lord has delivered us out of slavery. Through Christ’s work on the cross, Jesus has removed our despair and darkness and put in its place victory, strength, and freedom. The old is gone. The new has come. We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17). We never need to return to Egypt.
And yet . . .
A life of slavery still beckons to us. We find that our old, harmful thoughts are hard to shake. Our former, unhealthy habits are hard to break. Long-embedded patterns of shameful living continue to entangle us—day after day, month after month, even year after year.
Some days we feel weighed down by those shackles. We long for the freedom to respond to God fully as the people He has created and redeemed us to be. But fear and heaviness and darkness surround us. We wonder where to turn.
We need to recognize the reality and presence of the spiritual realm. We need to step fully into God’s plan to heal our broken world. We need to move into life and healing, purity, liberty, holiness, and truth.
But how?
Finally Free
In the pages ahead, I want to explore with you a glorious truth—that the promise of being delivered from our slavery is a promise to be set free completely. Forget Egypt. You don’t ever want to return to your personal Egypt.
The reality of being truly free is one you may not have explored fully before. A big problem for us is that evil still exists in the world today. Christ has conquered sin and death, yes, but in His infinite wisdom—for reasons that are often difficult for us to understand—the effects of evil are still permitted to exist. We can still be influenced by evil. We can still be oppressed by evil. We can even be controlled by evil. Even if we’re saved.
In the chapters to come we are going to surface a need you may not have known you had. At this very moment there is scriptural evidence that you and I can be negatively influenced by evil. That same evil can entrap us and harm us, oppress us and hurt us, and generally make our lives difficult, even enslave us to harmful patterns of living we thought we had left behind.
But we don’t want to dwell on evil in this book. You won’t hear prolonged stories of the bizarre, the cruel and unusual, or the weird. I won’t tell any stories that keep you awake at night or stories that sound as though they’re pulled from the tabloids.
Instead, I want to dwell on the goodness and power and truth of Jesus Christ. That’s what this book is all about: how God sets us free. All authority has been given to Jesus (Matthew 28: 18). He has conquered death, hell, and evil (1 Corinthians 15: 54–56). He now reigns at God’s right hand and will reign forevermore (Acts 2: 33).
The good news is that regardless of what difficulty you’re struggling with today, there is always hope. Sure, the temptation never quite goes away in this life. There is always a pull toward thoughts and actions that could cause us to become burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5: 1 NASB). But you need to know—and live out fully—that you never need to return to Egypt. With Jesus Christ, you can be free at last, free forever, truly and finally free.
If that sounds like something you long for, I invite you to keep reading. Robert Morris Dallas, Texas”
Contents
Introduction: Free At Last
Chapter One: Greater Is He
Two: Three Big Warning Signs:
Three: Beware the Chaldeans
Four: Breaking the Snare of Pride
Five: Breaking the Snare of Bitterness
Six: Breaking the Snare of Greed
Seven: Breaking the Snare of Lust
Eight: Breaking the Snares in Your Mind
The Mind Is a Battlefield:
Strategy #1: Renewing Minds by Memorizing Scripture
Strategy # 2: Using God’s Word as a Spiritual Weapon
Strategy # 3: Meditating on the Word of God
Nine: Breaking the Snares of Past Wounds
Ten: A Prayer For Freedom
Appendix:
Resources for You to Use
Making Sure You’re Born Again: Forgiven, Transformed, Empowered & Living in Daily Obedience as His Ambassadors Until Death Permits Retirement.
FAQ’s About Deliverance
Ministry of Deliverance and Corresponding Infilling of Holy Spirit
