“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”–Matthew 6:9-13 (ESV)
[my editorial addition]
My greatest debt is to, you, God for the love, you continue to rain down on me. Lord help me love my neighbor as myself, so I may be counted as one of your disciples. Amen
As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
“Where is your God?”When I remember these things,
I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
For the help of His countenance.O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From the Hill Mizar.
Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.I will say to God my Rock,
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
As with a breaking of my bones,
My enemies reproach me,
While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The help of my countenance and my God.
Do You Believe in Miracles?
Jesus Christ is Lord. Why can I say this with so much confidence and assurance. Without regard for past events or future hopes, one this day, I can say with confidence Jesus is Lord. I can say it because, He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I was not alive when Jesus walked the dusty paths of Galilee and Judea, in the distant past doing miracles. Nor can I say, that I will see the glorious return of my Lord in the future. But Today, on this day, in the present. I see. Not with my eyes. My eyes are decaying anyway. As the years tread on they grow dimmer and dimmer. And even at their best, I see the world not only out of focus, but without the full spectrum of light. For I am color blind, unable to see the green’s or red’s as others do. But the condition of my eyesight does not matter. For I am not an eyewitness to the events I am going to describe, but only see them through the window of others words.
What is this modern story that renews my faith in Christ. The miracle of supernatural healing. It was Saturday April 18th and after dinner time, when I heard the news that a friend of mine had collapsed while doing some home improvements. He was not alone, another friend of mine performed CPR on the near lifeless body; while family rushed to call for help. The medical system kicked into high gear and with their expert training began to work to save his life. Yet with all the modern inventions and techiniques of medicine, some conditions are still without remedy. Machines can help the weak and dying breath and pump hearts, but without oxgen tissues die. The question only time would reveal was how much damage was done to the body and mind with dimished oxygen to its tissues. Only time would reveal the aftermath. Days or weeks perhaps even a couple months would need to pass before anyone could know the health of my friend. That is what medical science expects. That is what the world expects. That is what nature tells us.
So friends and family take a pause in our busy lifes, myself included, and drop to our knees and plead for a miracle. Ask and you shall receive. I approach the throne of grace and mercy, the tears in my eyes cloud the view of the King as I plead for the Creator of Life to say the word and heal my friend. Not my will but Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. My tear filled eyes never saw any of the scenes unfold or the hospital rooms, but my Lord looked down from His throne of Majesty and saw it all. Other friends have described the scenes using words like grey, ash, and cold to describe my friend laying on his bed asleep maybe going into the long sleep surrounded by myriads of machines with their beeps and tones. But no sound from the patient. These are words of death. The hope of life hanging on a fragile thread.
But now a week later, I again recieve words from others and even from my friend, that he was healed. There seems to be little or no damage to his body or mind. He is not out of danger or risk from further problems, but as of this present day. He seems to be restored. Again, I say that I see the miracle of my Lord’s healing, having never laid my eyes upon those scenes. The miracle does more than restore the health of a friend. It renews my faith and the faith of others in our God. The world scratches their heads in collective unbelief. They may attribute it to quick response of CPR or expert care in the world’s finest hospitals. But deep down words like luck or miracle are needed to describe it. All Glory be to God.
I believe in miracles and in the power of Jesus to heal not only the body, but the soul, and revive the spirit in all. Do you? He has healed me. and Others.
It was a little more than a year ago, that my wife was having terrible health troubles. Not nearly as dramatic as the one described above, but still severe. In the end, she had her gall bladder removed and has recovered well; but my prayers for her in those days were just as powerful. They also renewed and grew my faith in God just as the answered prayers today do.
So to friend and stranger, Do you need a miracle from God? Are you at the end of all with a circumstance or difficulty in your life? Jesus can heal the body, soul, and spirit. Ask Him. He is the Lord of miracles. Believe in Him. Your heart will lead with the words you need for your plea.
**(( I would only add the following…(1) Good things can happen to evil people, as well as (2) Bad things can happen to Good people. But in it all God is in control, maybe not the direct cause, because the reality of most evil and bad that happens in this world comes from the consequences of sin, either from the fall of Adam (original sin) or later sin by Adam’s children which includes us ))**
A Prayer from my soul (spirit, will, and body)
“Father, God in your Holy Son’s name, Jesus, I Pray for your abundant mercy to rain on Your creation especially for the United States of America that You would hold back your judgment on my home nation; the wraith we deserve for our sin–the sin of sacrificing the innocent at the altar of our selfishness, and allowing perversion, lust, greed, envy, and covetousness which turn us from You to become the rule of this age. Return our hearts and minds to your grace–the gift of eternal life and liberty, You give to all. liberty you intend for us all. freedom to worship You without coercion or fear of retribution–For you alone and only You are worthy of any praise.
“I pray your Holy Spirit will convict our hearts to turn our nation from our sin that we would pursue the salvation of our souls only provided through your Son-Lord Jesus. Lord GOD you have written your covenant on each of us; When you formed us in our mother’s wombs, You placed your law within our hearts; Help us be obedient to your law; Give us courage to accept the shortcomings of human abilities to keep that law and Accept our need for Your Son–Jesus to be the way, the truth, and the life for us all.
“I pray for our new President that he would hold true to his word and with love follow through with his promise to obey the command “to love your neighbor as yourself” given us through your Son–while He walked with us in the flesh–that through our new President’s example and policy we as a nation would provide food for the hungry, clothing for the naked, visit the sick and the prisoners — That we would act from the liberty you give us and not fall into the trap of forced coercion to help the needy; Strengthen him in his resolve to act to protect the weakest and poorest among us, from the baby in the womb to the mature among us on death’s bed;
“For me (and every citizen) to have a heart to honor the leaders You-Almighty God-have give us to govern us according to Your purpose. To be content with all You-Jehovah Jireh-have provided me. To trust You -and Only You- through the thick and thin of life’s challenges and disappointments.
“Thank you Father for the citizenship I have in America, But Father, I am still a pilgrim wandering on my way to the home You have for me in the heavenly mansions — The home Your Son has prepared for all Your adopted children, Thank you for my Citizenship in your Kingdom — Give me courage and strength to show my faith in your Son through my words and deeds — May your Kingdom come — Your Will be Done — In all Your creation, heaven and earth.
“Amen.
…these and many other words i will pray for our nation-join me and pray for our nation as you are lead by your own heart…don’t worry about our nation or were it is going, pray for it and its future…there may be a small pinch of bitterness with these words (may the LORD give me a pure heart and clean hands…
This post has nothing to do with NCAA basketball brackets, teams, or predictions. This has been a month of unpredictable things. Here are the top two. There are others.
With the catchy title, the real truth is that throughout the entire ordeal of trying to figure out what was wrong with my wife’s health or in looking for a new job, I never let worry or anxiety get the best of me. Neither times were a time for me to become paralyzed with fear. There were days I did not want the circumstances to be what they were, but I offered my silent petitions to the LORD for strength and he provided the daily supply. I have to admit that without Jesus (and His Lordship over my life) either one of these trials would have been to much for anyone and both of them, probably impossible. But with God all things are possible, that includes job and health troubles.
There have been many lessons I have learned from both of these experiences. First, Always trust in the LORD. Second, Always really means always. Third, prayer is not only words, it can also be a groaning from the heart that only God understands. Sometimes our words can get in the way of our prayers to God. Listening in quietness and calm to God is just as important.
It has always been hard for me to understand how illness and disease can be God’s will. This episode of life has helped me to get a small grasp that they can be God’s will. Illness and disease can bring people to our aid that we would normally never have contact with. It shows both our true heart and those we call friends. If exposes to the world whether, we are servants of the LORD or selfish agents unto ourselves. My life was made richer because of this trial of my faith. The book of Job and the opening verses of the Epistle by James have more meaning than they did one month ago.
Dearest Wife, I am the luckiest man on earth to have you as my life long partner. I Love you. Here is to another 14 years and more…
Part Two.
From Job 38:1
“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind…”
Even though Jesus is able to calm the storms of our lives, sometimes He uses them to get our attention. In Job’s life even with all his calamities, It was from the whirlwind or storm that the Lord answered him. Mostly because we like Job sometimes either have ignored God’s message or have not heard them. I am guilty of this.
There are several key points to the series of events that lead to my new employment that are often ignored, even by me. First, my faith that God was going to provide. I had a sense of the big picture, but the Lord was not revealing the details until right before I needed to know them. This dependence on the Lord was hard for me at first, but by the middle of January, every little bump in the road was not giving me as much anxiety as it would have in the beginning.
I even had a coworker marvel at my sense of ease about my job hunting. She commented that I had a lot of patience in waiting, and that she would not have been so patient. She said that she would have been much more aggressive and persistent with job opportunities. I was being persistent, but I was not leaning on my strength or ability; I was letting the Lord quietly and in the background work at opening the doors first rather than pounding on them. I knocked and He opened. This is of course after He had closed other doors.
Luke 11:9-10
So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
Second, the prayers of others. I am not sure how many people were praying for me, but even the thought of one other person taking the time to spend even one minute in prayer for me is comforting. It encourages me to pray for others in for their needs.
James 5:16
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
Finally, God was in control of the entire situation.
The details of how I ended with this new position are starting to fade from memory, and are not even important. The story is that God is able to bring about storms in our lives (my life) as tests of our faith in Him. What we do in those moments build are character. The storms of life can build up our human character, if we struggle under our own strength and our own power and find temporary solutions. The end result is only building our pride and separates us from God. On the other hand, the storms of life can build our divine character, if we turn our worries over to the Lord and have Him share the burden with us. The result is a greater depth of understanding the love God has for us, and teaches us to reflect that love back to our Creator and to our neighbors. It is not for us-It is for others and for God.
Matthew 11:28-30
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
But just as the Lord is able to bring up storms in our lives to speak to us. He is also able to calm them. And that is an encouraging thought.
Part One. Winds of Change.
I have told bits and pieces about the struggle I have had with trying to find a new job. This is the first part of the complete story (a testimony of God’s continuing love for me). I tell it to encourage others that are experiencing the storms of life: difficulties with a relationship, loss of job, illness or disease in the family, and the many other kinds troubles that come.
In Logan during the last week our city was ranked with having the dirtiest air in the nation. Sometimes, our lives also get stale or polluted. Many times the only way for God to clean out all that pollution and grit is for a massive hurricane force storm to blow through our life. The winds of change always blow, but there is a true anchor that everyone can hold fast to–Jesus. He is the anchor that sustained me through this massive storm in my life.
From the gospel of Matthew 8:23-27
Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
From James 1:2-8
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
From the gospel of John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
The last five months have really been a storm for me. As I have spent them searching for a new job to replace my current one. As I have mentioned in the past it will expire in four months. When I first learned that my job was going to end and there was little chance of future funding, I figured that my stay in Logan was coming to an end. The seven years spent here were valuable from a career point of view. I earned my Bachelors degree and have worked for nearly four years. Maybe it was time to move on. That is not the end of my initial thoughts, though. I had also recently learned that Lifeway publishing was beginning a new seven year series of teaching through the entire bible. I prayed and asked God to give me those seven years, so I could teach the entire Bible through one time before leaving Logan.
After several weeks of pleading to the Lord; In my spirit I knew that the Lord wanted me to stay in Logan and continuing teaching the Bible, and maybe even do more in building up the kingdom of God in Utah. But with the news of my job loss, I did not know how it was going to be possible (Luke 1:37). Then I thought the Lord answered my prayer with an ad, my wife showed me from the local paper working as the new GIS specialist for the city of North Logan. I had no idea what God had in mind, but I need some help fixing up my resume so I asked my supervisor to help me with it. He graciously came to my rescue at the beginning of the month of November.
From my point of view, I got my fixed resume back from my supervisor and sent it off to North Logan City. Nothing happened from my perspective. Two months went by and I had dismissed my chance of getting hired for that job. I forgot about it and in the first week of January I planned to restart really pushing the job market and perhaps bring my gift of teaching to another town, city, or state. I did not know.
Behind the scenes God was acting. After my supervisor had helped me revise my resume, one of his old students came to him and asked him if he knew of anyone looking for a job. The position would be working under him for the Utah National Guard and renewing the nearly 30 year tie that the Guard has had with Utah State University. He was looking for someone with knowledge of GIS and that wanted to work in Logan. My supervisor gave him my resume. Right before Christmas, I had a strange conversation with my supervisor, He asked me how much longer I would need to finish my current projects. I answered him, about three or four weeks. Again from my point of view this was even more troubling. An even greater worry came that I might even be laid off before July.
It was only afterward, that I learned the reason he asked. He knew about this job opening and wanted to know how much longer I would need to finish the work I was doing. (see my posting about Intercession)
So on the first day of work in 2008, My supervisor came to me with the great news that there was a possible job for me at Utah State University. But more details would be coming soon. Soon meaning four weeks later. The same day that I had this conversation with my supervisor, I received a phone call from North Logan City to interview for their GIS position next Tuesday morning.
The strong first winds of this storm had passed for now, but I was only in the eye of this hurricane; much more was to come…
upcoming soon part two. A bump in the Road.
Super Tuesday rolled in, and I went down to the corner LDS church building to vote for my choice for the next president of the United States. In the end I went with my heart and voted for Governor Huckabee. Mostly because I had spent some time Monday reading through his positions on several issues. Given the power of the presidency to be an executive a governor would have more practical experience than a Senator. Presidents need to men (women) of action and practical results. Some of the issues that many Republicans have with Huckabee are some of those practical results that He worked to achieve. He did not work in a vaccuum though. He inherited the past politics and history of Arkansas and did his best to steer the state in a what he saw as a positive direction.
In the end, However, John McCain is still likely to get the nomination for the Republican party and will likely get my vote, but there are still many months to go.
It is bittersweet that Mitt Romney decided to suspend his run for the White House. Making the Utah Republican Primary vote pretty much useless, since Romney received a staggering 90% of the Republican vote. My guess is he may want to be Vice President to position himself for a run in 2012. With McCain’s older age, it is likely to push him into a that front runner position. It has also been said that the Republicans need to have Hillary Clinton win the Democratic nomination for any Republican to get elected. The battle for the Democratic nominee will continue on for some time. I am not sure who I would prefer, Obama is the untested man of hope; Clinton is the heir apparent to the party. Neither one would be able to unite this country. It would remained Red State and Blue State America.
It has been several weeks since I have written anything. Many topics have been filtering there way through my mind. Here are four that occupy some of my energy. They are pieced from four smaller entries, I almost deleted, but now have decided to publish together to honor the last six weeks of winter as predicted by a beloved rodent. I can relate to the groundhog shadows are terrifying things, (Psalm 23) The current story of my life is to wait for the spring a little longer. With the snow continuing to pile up, I am reminded that snow is nothing more than evidence of God’s storehouse and future provision of life (water) for us.
Ignoring a reformer.
Utah culture does not give praise to Martin Luther King, jr because of the influence of past Mormon theology.
In the state of Utah, for the Mormon majority, Martin Luther King, jr. is meaningless to its history or culture. It is why the State Legislature ignored the national holiday and began its session. It is why only recently the state even acknowledged his existence replacing their human right’s day. For one, He was a Black Christian pastor, in 1964, the LDS church still held their revealed truth that blacks were cursed by the sin and mark of Cain. In the 1960’s blacks had no right to the complete presence and glory of the Lord, especially a black pastor from one of the illegitimate daughters of corrupted catholicism.
They were only allowed to be dimly lit from afar by others. They were only allowed to pick up the crumbs from the white and delightsome race.
They could not hold the sacred priesthood or work out their salvation, as taught by the Mormon church. They were not even allowed to baptism each other into the church, only by the good works of their white brethren could they be ushered into the true church. It was only 10 years after the murder of Martin Luther King, jr that stubborn leaders of the church-among them the recently deceased Hinckley and now Monson- finally received new revelation from God, that the curse of Cain had ended and Blacks could once again after 5000 years of punishment be allowed to enjoy the full glory of God to worship him as priests.
Given another 20 years, perhaps the culture of Utah maybe ready to venerate the work that Martin Luther King, jr did to remind everyone what the bible teaches in Genesis that all men are created in the image of God; but it would then have to acknowledge at least in part the work of another reformer Martin Luther who challenged the universal church with the simple gospel that it is by faith in Jesus Christ not by working through a religious system that offers entrance into the Kingdom of heaven.
Praising a dead false prophet.
The end of last month brought the passing on the president of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once again, I glanced at a piece of my former life. My life when I was blinded by my religious fervor. I listened as the sister of the dead false prophet give the final benediction for his life in a prayer. I was reminded of the unique doctrines of men that the LDS church has that are contrary to the words God has spoken.
In that short prayer, she praised the work of her dead brother and spiritual leader. She imagined him walking the halls of heaven with his eternal bride. It was not until the final ten or twelve words that God was even mentioned. It was her hope and faith that he was in a better place. It was her faith in the deeds of her brother that are not unlike her own that set him in his place of honor. It was only mere afterthought and habit to invoke the name of Christ, but only at the end.
This short prayer told me that the doctrine and fundamental belief of the LDS faith are the same as when I turned away from them a decade ago. That men are gods in training and their works gain them reward in the life here after. That Jesus is not the way; He is merely the ending of their own way. That philosophy alone reverses God’s way. Jesus is the author and finisher of anyone’s faith. He is the beginning, middle, and end of the pathway of faith that alone leads to presence of God.
Waiting upon the Lord.
Last spring when I learned that Lifeway was going to be beginning a new series of teachings to cover the breadth and width of the Bible. I asked God to grant me the privilege to teach from His Holy Scripture for the entire series. Six months later, I was given the news that my job was not going to be supported any longer. The current grant was not renewed and would expire.
I spent the weeks and months since then applying for jobs. The lowest point was around my birthday in October, when after hearing once again that “although you have many qualifications, we have decided to hire another candidate for this position, thank you for applying and good luck in future career”. In my heart I still knew that God wanted me to stay in Logan and continue to grow closer to him and to share (teach) the Bible to others. I applied for a job the first week of November to work as the new Geographic Information Specialist for North Logan City. My supervisor even helped me in writing my resume.
I recently interviewed for that position, but before I went into the interview my supervisor had called me about a possible position for me coming up early next year that would allow for me to continuing working on campus at Utah State University. During the course of the interview for the job working for North Logan city, I learned that one of my co-workers had also applied. And God whispered to me that this was not my job.
The next morning, I did something I had not done since I was LDS. I fasted (this was not a random thought, I had recently read a chapter in a book about 12 spiritual disciplines for men that was about fasting), it was not a long fast it was only for 6 hours, but I did no just skip breakfast and my morning snack at work; I was deliberate in having my hunger pains remind me of God presence and my prayer was for him to close and open doors of employment for me. The door slammed closed on that job, but the position that my supervisor had told me about was beginning to crack open more.
My continued prayer and for each day and especially Wednesday morning since then, when I fast and pray for God to open the door for me to get a job here in Logan that would last long enough for me to continue to teach the Bible to others as long as God wanted. Even if this job does not work out, I know that God will provide. I continue to have my strength rise as I wait upon the Lord.
Considering a new president.
This will be and has been the least productive thing that I spend energy on. But I can not stop considering the great dilemma I find myself in. I am a conservative. I have been since I first heard Rush Limbaugh’s radio show in 1988 (at age 14) I have not always listened to it, and recently I find myself spending more time listening to on-line bible sermons from oneplace.com, than listening to the guru of conservative radio. I do split with him on most all things related to God. He may be a Christian, but his speech lends him to be a leader of a political movement more than a devoted follower of Jesus.
Anyway, I can not and will not vote for Mitt Romney as the next president of the United States. The main reason is religion. He is Mormon. I will not place a Mormon in position of that much prominence that would place his church in a position to blind more people and snatch them away from the word of God-which is God’s special revelation about Jesus Christ. It is a matter of conscience.
On the other hand, Could I vote for Governor Huckabee simply because of religion? I am not sure. He would likely lead the nation about 90% of the way that I would like for it to run. But the United States of America is a secular state. Secular states needs secular leaders. I always feel uncomfortable when an America President has to make politically correct statements about other faiths or philosophies that I know are false. Again, I am uncomfortable putting fellow Christians in that position.
Also, I can also feel the pendulum of the pulse of America swinging from the conservative end of the spectrum back toward the liberal side. For me a liberal human secularist like Obama or even Hillary Clinton would do harm to the American culture and nation. That is why I stop in the center and currently support John McCain as the next president. It is the practical and logical choice for me. Not the one my heart would first pick, but an acceptable choice, when I factor and weigh every point and position.
Personally, I would like to see a constitutional amendment to protect marriage and to define it as a union between One man and One woman. I would like to see a constitutional amendment to protect the life of every unborn child, the only exception being the LIFE of the mother. I would also like to see strong action taken to secure the borders of our nation, with physical barriers, and the arrest and deportation of all illegal immigrants and the change of the the requirements to become a citizen, not allowing mothers do give birth to children that are automatically citizens. I understand these actions are harsh, but if America is going to be a nation of laws, we can not begin making exceptions for immigration, what is next, are we then going to have safe havens for pedophiles, rapists, drug abusers, when will it stop, It would not. The laws of the nation would then be meaningless.
God has so many ways to speak to us. In my search for a new job God has spoken to me again. It was not a thundering sound from heaven, a visit from a heavenly messenger, or even me being caught up to hear the words. The message was simple: God so loved the world, He sent his one and only Son, and whoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The translation of the message from my circumstance is the many intercessions that God has made, continues to make, and will make for me.
More details coming soon…
