We Remember...

This nation has poured out the blood of it's sons and its treasure to free the oppressed in every corner of the globe. The American Man-at-Arms has helped to end slavery, Nazism,
Communism, petty dictatorships and oppressive regimes all over the earth. They did it out to the belief that all men should be free. That's an American ideal.

 It is true that I could simply give God the credit and ignore the men who have died in the wars that we've fought. But, the scriptures tell me that there is no greater love than for a man to lay down his life for his friend.

As a Christian, I don't believe it is appropriate to honor all holidays. National holidays, however, are another matter. I am an American and as an American, I believe we all should acknowledge the sacrifices others have made on our behalf. Holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day and Independence Day are a part of our national heritage. On our national holidays I believe we should acknowledge the sacrifices of the men who have given so much for us...

Christ gave His life for all of us. He lived a sinless life and He gave His life's blood to pay for my sins. My first duty, above and beyond anything else in life, is to honor and serve God. But, I am not blind...There have been too many others who have sacrificed their own lives for the liberty of their countrymen. It is the very least we can do to acknowledge those sacrifices.

I have no doubt that God's hand was in the founding of this exceptional nation. I have no doubt that we have had divine guidance and protection in our history. God has used this nation to do a part of His work on earth. He has used men and women knowingly and unknowingly to fulfill His purpose. What other nation in the history of the world has been so selfless in freeing oppressed people? What other nation has been so generous? What other nation has beaten it's enemies then rebuilt their countries and forgiven their debts? What other nation has shined so brightly? What other nation has been such a beacon of freedom to the world? It is the American Man-at-Arms that has selflessly served as an instrument of peace and freedom in the world for over two centuries.

On this Memorial Day we remember all those who gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy. On this day we honor their sacrifices.  Like the old saying of veterans goes... "All gave some, some gave all". We honor them because it is the right thing to do.

I know one day all those who died for our freedoms will breathe again. They didn't all know that...and still they fought.

We Remember...

Greater Love has no man...

In Praise of MBFTND

Man's Best Friend The Noble Dog...

I am constantly in awe of dogs. I sometimes hold them in higher esteem than I do other human beings. Dogs understand love, loyalty, affection, friendship, joy, forgiveness, gratitude...all the good stuff! Internet news is full of stories about dogs saving people, becoming friends with some other animal and showing loyalty to their friends, some even after death.

Dogs are capable of unconditional love. They don't judge someone by their race or economic standing. They don't care what someone looks like or how intelligent they are. Dogs see through to the core of people. If my dog doesn't like someone, that's reason enough for me to hold them suspect.

Dogs are beings that live to please the person or family they live with. They are capable of bringing so much love and joy into a home. My girl, Sarah Belle, has made my house a home because of the goodness she brings to it.

I can't understand why some people get dogs only to chain them up or put them in a fenced enclosure and only pay attention to them when the mood hits them?
Some people get them as puppies and them virtually ignore them when they're grown? There are some people who just don't seem worthy of a dogs love to me. Then there are those who get them to intentionally abuse them or fight them.

It breaks my heart to hear someone has abused a dog. I've heard and seen dogs that have been abused, tortured and neglected. I've seen dogs who have had their legs cut off. I've seen dogs who have had acid poured on them, some that have been set on fire and some that have been wrapped in garbage bags and thrown into the trash. I've even seen a couple who have had all that happen to them. All of those things were done out of heinous cruelty...a cruelty that most animals aren't even capable of...only humans are.


I'm ashamed to admit it but, when I was young, I was cruel to the dogs around me. I didn't torture or kill them. I was just mean to them. I had a childhood filled with alcoholism, anger and violence. It all seemed to roll down on me because I was the bottom of the totem pole. Only dogs were lower so I took out my helplessness and my anger on them.

I didn't know that a dog would have been the very answer to my prayers.
I didn't know that I could have had a best friend. I could have had unconditional love and affection from the very ones I was cruel to... It breaks my heart to think about it. My Sarah Belle has taught, is teaching, me so much...

I've already learned things about love and loyalty that I never knew. All from my Sarah Belle...

Dogs are a gift from God I'm sure of it! I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn one day that my Sarah Belle is actually an angel. I know she's a blessing...

Thank You God...

Ramblings of an Old Guy! PT.5

I remember once reading a story about a sniper in Vietnam. On one occasion he was operating at night with a star-light scope. The jungle was so dark that not even starlight shone through. Through his scope he watched as a line of North Vietnamese slowly made their way across his field of vision. Each of them kept one hand on the man in front of him as they traveled, single file, through the dense jungle.

The sniper, using a silencer, shot the man in the rear first. The others kept moving forward, unable to see anything in the darkness. Because of the silenced shot, they were unaware of the man in  the rear being shot. The sniper then shot the next man in the rear. The column kept moving. He went through the entire column until he reached the man in the lead. As the sniper watched, the man in the lead got on his hands and knees to feel his way along the, now dead, column of men that had been following. He felt each of the bodies in the column. He knew that a sniper had dispatched the other men without a sound. The lead man then just stood up and waited for the next round and his fate.

In a way that is something of what it is like to grow older. You grow up and older with the people of your own generation until you all reach the age where some illness or accident begins to take out the people you have journeyed through life with.

As you grow older your bodies systems begin to feel the strain. They begin to malfunction and shut down. You lose the abilities you once had. Your eyesight. Your strength. Your hearing. It can be different for different people but, in general, you begin to share common ailments. You begin to use more and more pharmaceuticals for various pains and other complaints. One by one you watch your fellow travelers through time succumb to illness and die. At some point a fatalism takes hold of you and you simply stand up and wait for your own fate.

It is true that there is a sadness that comes with growing older. We lose the abilities that we once had. We lose friends and family that we once had. As we find what we really love, we have fewer and fewer people to share it with. That tempers the experience of having attained our dreams. There are loved ones I've lost that I would love to share some things I've accomplished with.

Death is inevitable for us all. We will all experience pain but, like the old saying goes, suffering is optional. It is here where we can exercise our freedom of choice. Each of us can decide how we will face the inevitable. The character that we've spent our lives developing reaches it's zenith here. We can simply stand up and wait for our fate or we can start living!

It seems to me that those older folks I've observed as being the happiest have a few traits in common. One such trait is that they never lose their sense of awe. Life always holds some new things to learn. There are wonders all around us. Losing our sense of wonder can cause us to lose our motivation to get up in the mornings. That's what depression does. There is no question that growing older can make one depressed. I've been there myself.

What helped me get beyond my depression is the same thing that is helping me cope with growing older...gratitude. I found, in the midst of my depression, that giving thanks to God for the gift of this life on a daily basis began to completely change the way I saw life. I stopped seeing it as a burden and began seeing it as a blessing. That same attitude has helped me deal with the inevitable end of life. Like a good Buddhist will tell you...life is not a thing to be held, it's a process to be participated in. I think of it as something like a song or a book. It has a beginning, a middle and an end. We can cease to participate in it...but we won't stop time...it will still end. So why not be engaged in the process?!

It is with these insights that I choose to participate in life. I choose to live and experience the wonder of it all. I choose awe and gratitude as ways of life. They give me a reason to get up in the mornings.

Something else I've noticed about happy older folks is that they have learned to love. They love their families, their friends, their lives, they love God...whatever. I have come to believe that the essence of love is extending our sense of ourselves. This is the 'sine qua non', the essential ingredient, to a happy life. We extend our sense of self to include our families, our friends, our pets...even our sports teams. We begin to see others as a part of us so what happens to them...happens to us. We mourn with those who mourn, we rejoice with those who rejoice.

I have come to realize that the universe is vast...so there is an unlimited source of things to come to love. I can extend my sense of myself for...an eternity! In my own limited way I think that attitude is teaching me something about God. My love for Him comes first...always. God is all about love. He gave us His law out of His love for us. He gave us His only begotten son out of His love for us! He is the source of all love, of all good things, and I want to be connected with the source of all love. Now that makes life worth living!

Something else about God...He is always there...unchanging.  No matter what changes I go through, He is my anchor. He gives me a purpose for life...a big part of that is learning to love. I'm not sure how people that don't believe in Him even get by day to day. I can't imagine my life without my walk with God. I know that whatever I go through, He'll be there beside me. Knowing that, I think I can face almost anything...even growing older!!

Out of the Darkest of Darkness

Just imagine...you're a 20 year old single mother that has just lost your child in a custody battle with the state. The next thing you know, you're abducted by a sexual predator.  For the next ten years of your life you are locked up in a strange home and brutally raped and beaten by your captor on a regular basis. You have no control over anything in your life. You are treated only as a thing to be used.You can't choose what or when you eat. You can't choose when or where you sleep. You are not allowed outside. You are not allowed to speak to anyone. You become pregnant and are starved and beaten by your captor until you miscarry your unborn child...five times over the ten years you spend in hell. You are beaten so severely that your face needs reconstructive surgery and you lose your hearing in one ear. Your only escape is in your sleep and your nightmares make even that hell...for ten years...for ten years. Such is the story of Michelle Knight, now 32.

In the same building two other young women were being held and treated the same way. Amanda Berry, now 27, and Gina De Jesus, 22. They were not allowed to see, or speak to, each other for most of the ten years they were captive. Amanda's mother died while Amanda was held captive. Her mother never gave up hope of seeing her daughter again. Now Amanda will never see her mother again in this life. Amanda bore a child to her captor, a child born of kidnapping and rape. She has, no doubt, been torn between her feelings of repulsion, fear and loneliness and her natural feelings of love for her child. Her child, a little girl, was locked in the same home. In the short six years of her life she has never seen or played with another child. It has been reported that her biological father took her to the park on, at least, one occasion. Beyond that she has never been outside. She has never been to a doctor. She's never been to a playground, a movie, a birthday party or even to school. She has seen things that no child should ever see. Now, she will grow up knowing what a monster her biological father was. She will need to make peace with that.


Gina was the friend of her captors daughter before she was abducted. Perhaps her betrayal was the worst...the father of her friend was the monster she didn't see.

These three young suvivors were recently released from the hell they were held in for ten years...for ten years... Many facts are yet to come out in the investigation but the worst part of this nightmare is over for these women. Now their healing can begin.

The rabid animal that perpetrated this heinous evil had no remorse upon being caught. He was even cocky according to police. He stated that he was 'cold-blooded' and a 'sex addict'. His only regret was being caught. He is charged with four counts of kidnapping and three counts of rape...for the nightmare that he put these innocent young women through for ten years...for ten years. He may be charged with murder for the unborn children he forcefully caused their mother to abort. The District Attorney in charge of this case may seek the death penalty. You can rest assured that he awaits an eternal death...

To kidnap someone for an hour brings the same charge that doing so for ten years brings? To rape someone for years brings the same charge as raping someone once? It seems our laws just aren't equipped to deal with the magnitude of such evil. It is almost incomprehensible even to other kidnappers and rapists. Make no mistake though...there are others out there doing similar things. He, and those like him, are like a vile cancer in the human race. They must be cut out and removed for the good of all.

On a personal level, a part of  me would like to have an hour with the low life scum that did this. He would beg for death before that hour was over! Another part of me knows that to do such things would be to do damage to my own soul. It would be lowering myself to the level of this rabid animal. That's one reason why it is left to the state to exact justice and not to individuals. It keeps us from becoming as low as this scum.

What I would like to see the government do in this case is deliver real justice. I would like to see this scum chained up in a small cell wherein he would be beaten and raped on a daily basis; given only enough bread and water to survive and left in that condition for the remainder of his miserable life.  The punishment should fit the crime...an eye for an eye. There are times when the state must "draw a hard line" and show no mercy. Individuals are called on to turn the other cheek for their own good but for there to be peace the state must pursue justice. Human life is so precious that taking it demands a life in it's place. That's the kind of justice the Bible advocates.

The press has approached this story like it's for our entertainment. It is not. This is about the lives of our fellow human beings. It's too easy for this story to be just the latest news sensation. This is about real people...touched by real evil. It should touch each of us because these women are a part of our family. It is our compassion that separates us from the rabid animals that commit such atrocities.

It's too easy to get caught up in thoughts of what I would like to do to the depraved scum who put these young women through such a nightmare. It's not about me though. It's not even about him. God will deal with him. He will burn in hell and even his memory will be forgotten. This is about the four innocent lives devastated by their encounter with such darkness. And, it is about the triumph of the human spirit despite the evil that tried to destroy it.

First, I have to note of the courage of Amanda Berry, the young mother who found the strength to call for help and end this ten year nightmare in hell. Perhaps it was the love for her daughter that gave her the strength to overcome the fear that must have gripped her. All these young women likely suffered from the Stockholm Syndrome and who knows what other issues.

I am in awe that all three of these women are said to be in good spirits after their ordeal. This would have driven many people insane. But, these women walked away. Their strength speaks to the resilience of the human spirit. They survived. They survived! That means they win! Their ordeal will NOT define them! Though it is common for people that have been treated so to feel guilty for their own actions. These women have NOTHING to feel guilty for. They went into 'survival mode'...and they survived! Realizing that will be a part of their healing process. They can now walk in the sun and hold their heads high.

My heart and my prayers go out to these young women. They will need a great deal of time and space now. They will need the love and support of their family, their friends and their communities. I understand their community has already established a fund to help them recover. It has found donors from compassionate people all over the world.

It will, no doubt, take years for these women to heal but, by God's grace, they will heal. May God give them  the strength to testify against the monster who did this. May He give them His grace and His spirit to heal... May they be in all our prayers because they are a part of our human family...made in the image of the Living God.

_______________________________________________________________________

"I'm here, I'm free now"... Amanda Berry

Born of a Virgin

Did you ever wonder why God chose to send Christ to us through a virgin giving birth? His plan of salvation could have been anything He wanted…He is God. Obviously He didn’t choose to incarnate Christ through a married woman. Any fruit of that union would always remain suspect. No one would believe the child was the son of God. Beyond that, however, God wanted to teach us something about His plan for mankind. The story of Christ being born of a virgin holds a much richer significance for His people.

Remember that the Bible is something like a first grade primer. The Creator of the universe is attempting to teach mortal beings with three pound brains His spiritual truths so He uses language and symbols we can understand. God uses similes, metaphors, analogies and allegories of things we do understand to give us a glimpse of deeper truths. Marriage, birth, fishing, carpentry, and blood sacrifices etc. are all a part of our world so God uses them to teach us those deeper truths.

In the case of Christ’s stepping out of eternity to walk among us as one of us, God uses the birth of His only begotten son through a virgin as a way to teach us about the destiny of His other children. Three important images are presented in the story of Christ’s incarnation: a pure virginal woman, marriage and birth. These three symbols are important themes used throughout the New Testament to teach us greater truths.

We should first examine the story of Christ’s birth then each of these symbols for what they represent and what God is teaching us.

Mary (Miriam in Hebrew) was betrothed to the carpenter/ builder Joseph when the angel Gabriel came to her and told her she was to bear a child. Mary was a virgin, untouched by a man…neither had she ever served another god. A betrothal in the Judea of Mary’s time was quite different than today. The marriage would have been arranged by her parents. Joseph was probably a much older man, established in his career and able to support a family. The betrothal was considered a binding legal contract. Jewish custom recognized a betrothal as a marriage even before consummation. Such an agreement could only be broken by an official decree of divorce.

When Joseph learned of Mary’s pregnancy he wrestled with what to do. The law allowed that he could have her brought before the elders to be stoned to death for infidelity. He thought instead to quietly divorce her without making it public until an angel appeared to him in a dream. The angel explained that Mary was to fulfill the prophecy that a virgin would give birth to the one who would be the savior. Joseph, being a righteous man, obeyed what the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary home as his wife. He didn’t touch her until after Christ’s birth.

The rest of the story is well known except, perhaps, for the fact that most of worldly Christendom venerates the story of Christ’s birth and Mary the mother of Christ as the “Virgin mother of God”*.
Mary was no longer a virgin after Christ’s birth.  She went on to bear several children that were Jesus half-brothers and sisters. What I would draw the reader’s attention to here is that Mary was a devout and righteous woman, legally betrothed when the Holy Spirit came to her and impregnated her with the one who would be Christ.

Both the nations of Israel, and later the church, are symbolized as a woman in the scriptures because it is through women that new lives come into existence.  The church is likened to a virgin, a pure and chaste woman untouched by a man. A harlot is symbolic of a false church because she has allowed other spirits to enter her. Mary was a type of the church. Her story, the story of a virgin giving birth, is recorded in God’s word both as history and as a lesson for His church.
The story of the virgin birth is often overlooked by Sabbatarian churches because it’s the focus of so much attention by Catholics and Protestants. Ironically those who focus so much on it don’t actually seem to know, or care, what the scriptures really say. They accept tradition in place of scriptural teaching. While the story has been twisted and skewed by non-biblical sources over the centuries, God ensured that we have the scriptures to come back to for the truth.  

This brings us to the symbolism of marriage used in scripture.

When God began working with Israel He did so before giving them His Holy Spirit to dwell within them. He entered into a covenant relationship with the patriarch Abraham. That covenant included Abrahams descendants, the physical nation of Israel. That’s the way God deals with His people, through covenants. A covenant, ‘brith’ in Hebrew, is a kind of binding legal contract. Both parties in a contract agree to do something for the other. The covenant God made with Israel is likened in the scriptures to a marriage covenant. It was in affect long before the marriage ceremony. We know that God will one day make Israel His bride. Because Israel didn’t live up to their part of the covenant that relationship changed. Some say it was transferred to the church but it would be more accurate to say it was extended to include the church.

One metaphor used in the scriptures for physical Israel, those who are descendants the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is of a tree, a living thing connected to the source of life. When Israel disobeyed God and would not live up to their part of the covenant God made with their forefathers God changed the nature of the covenant He had made with them. The tree was metaphorically pruned then He grafted in Gentiles, those who were not physical descendants of the patriarchs, onto the tree. God is still betrothed to Israel but the physical nation of Israel has been altered to include some Gentiles. Thus the New Testament church, the future Bride of Christ, is made up of physical and spiritual Israelite's.

While the new covenant Christ spoke of is yet to come, the betrothed are legally bound by that covenant now. The covenant will be officially sealed with the marriage ceremony of the Lamb after the return of Christ. This is very much like Mary being betrothed, legally bound, before her marriage to Joseph. Mary was impregnated with the Holy Spirit while betrothed but before her marriage ceremony. The members of the Body of Christ, the church, have been given the Holy Spirit before the marriage of the lamb. In both cases a marriage covenant was entered into.

Members of The Body of Christ enter into a new covenant with God when they accept Christ and begin to obey God. Remember that a covenant is a contract in which both parties agree to do something for the other.

The church, the spiritual organism that is the likened to the Body of Christ, will one day officially become the Bride of Christ. The Body of Christ is the betrothed of God and receives Gods Spirit in a way not unlike the way Mary did. The church is, in a sense, impregnated by God.

This brings us to the symbolism of birth used in the scriptures. The story of Mary and Christ’s birth reveals an important part of Gods plan to His people.

The story of Christ’s birth is closely related to the doctrine of being born again as will be shown. The process of being ‘Born Again’, however, is widely misunderstood.  The scriptures are clear, to enter God’s Kingdom one must be ‘born again.’ Most evangelical Christians believe that they are born again for simply accepting Christ as their savior. A study of the scriptures will reveal a different picture of these teachings than the ones widely held.  

To be born again means to be born of the spirit. All those born of the spirit ARE spirit. A careful study of the third chapter of John will make that clear. The scriptures teach that only spirit beings may enter the Kingdom of God. Christ was the firstborn of God and until Christ returns and those dead in Him are resurrected and those living believers are changed into spirit beings no one else will be born of the spirit.

In a sense Christ did the reverse of what His brethren will do. Christ was born as a physical, mortal human being. He stepped out of eternity and became flesh; he went from being spirit into being born a physical being. Those sons and daughters of God yet to be born will go from being born of the flesh to being born of the spirit. God’s children will step into eternity. God’s new Sons and Daughters will be born again when Christ returns. They will be born of the spirit by being given spirit bodies. Mary bore a sinless being.  When the church bares God’s sons and daughters they too will be sinless because they will no longer sin.

The scriptures are full of such parallels. Consider one example in the story of Abraham being willing to sacrifice his only son Isaac to prove his faith towards God. God showing His faith towards us, so to speak, sacrificed His only son Christ for us. As believers grow in grace and knowledge, obey God, and study God’s word they will discover more and more connections between biblical teachings.

For members of the church to receive God’s Holy Spirit they should not defile themselves by heeding or worshiping other spirits. The church, ideally, should remain pure and chaste to become Christ’s bride. The reality is teachings of other spirits have entered into the physical organizations that contain the members of the Body of Christ. There are spiritual forces that seek to destroy the Body of Christ. That’s why vigilance on the part of believers is essential. Additionally men have added their own teachings to those revealed by God. This is one of the main reasons God gave us His word to guide us. Any teaching or doctrine must be proven in the scriptures. All spirits must be tried by God’s word.

What Mary went through, being imbued with the Holy Spirit before her marriage and then bringing forth the son of God is a type of the process the church is going through. The Holy Spirit is given to human beings before the marriage of the Lamb. Those so imbued are the betrothed of God. When they ‘come to term’ at Christ’s return they will be born again…born of the spirit.  It is in the church, the spiritual organism likened to the Body of Christ, that the children of God are nurtured and it is through the church, the virgin mother, that new spirit beings will be born.

God doesn’t do anything by accident.  He reveals His plan to us in several ways through His word. His Sabbath reminds us He is our Creator, the weekly rest we have in Him as our Sustainer, and reveals His ultimate destiny for mankind in the millennium, the time of His tabernacling with men. His Holy Days reveal His overall plan of working with mankind.  He reveals the meaning of Christ’s sacrifice by the various animal sacrifices in the Books of Moses. He reveals His personal plan of salvation through the design of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He reveals His plan for the spiritual birth for His children in the story of Mary and her child’s birth. These ‘layers of truth’ are one of the proofs of the Bible being Gods revealed word to mankind.

Some thoughts to consider…

*The Body of Christ is a spiritual organism. It is not completely contained in any physical organization. The scriptures indicate that some of Gods people are even in the great harlot Babylon. They are called to come out.

*Like some early followers of Christ, many modern Christians regard Mary as a higher than Christ. That has become a Catholic tradition. Some modern Christians regard their church as somehow more important than Christ…both are wrong.

*It is often overlooked that those people who survive into the millennium as physical beings will NOT be in the Kingdom of God. The scriptures are clear, flesh and blood cannot inherit God’s kingdom. It is not until they are changed into spirit bodies, born of the spirit, that they will enter the Kingdom. How that will happen is not stated in the scriptures. They may die and be resurrected in spirit bodies or perhaps they will be changed before they die. The story of Adam and Eve seems to indicate that there will no longer be pain in the birth process.

*God used both Jewish Rabbi’s and the Catholic Church as instruments in preserving His word.