Tag: Fear

“Night Watcher” #5 / Wisdom

Path Without End

_apa_2015_briankushner_snowy_owl_kk “But where shall wisdom be found?”

And where is the place of understanding?

Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

The depth saith, it is not in me: and the sea saith, it is not with me.

Whence then cometh wisdom? And where is the place of understanding?

Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air.

Destruction and death say, we have heard the fame thereof with our ears.

God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof.”

(Job 28 : 12-14 & 20-23)

I see America burning. The fires that are coming make current events look as nothing! This is the most dangerous election I’ve seen in my lifetime. It’s all about EMOTION, not wisdom. The Dems know exactly what they are doing, and it is pure evil. Between now and election we will see the flames of emotion stoked higher and higher, so that, the average person will be afraid for the Dems not to win! Some will even hold their vote, hoping the Dems win and we avoid all the violence that will break loose if they don’t! What kind of political party wants to win by way of threat of violence? An evil one.

How do you stoke the emotions? Become the helpless puppy in need of a protector. Paint yourself as the weak and violated, simply trying to survive the big bad bully. Stoke the flames of the people so that you might win by some miracle, but if you don’t, then there will be such an eruption that they will wish they never dared to oppose us. That poor little puppy dog will turn into a raging pit bull in the streets! If we can’t win the ball game, then we burn the ball park to the ground, and anyone in it!

This is so obvious to see. Who wouldn’t want Santa Claus for President? Who doesn’t wish Santa Claus was real? But in the real world there is no Santa Claus! The Dems are stoking people with a beautiful Christmas wish! And Trump is the Grinch because he knows things have to be earned! We reap what we sow! This is basic wisdom 101! They are sowing the seeds of destruction and unwilling to earn things honestly! And the worse part of all is, they actually believe this fake Santa Claus will be able to make their dreams come true by way of all this hate and destruction? This is how they think the world works? This is how Christmas comes? Not any Christmas I know!

Call it Karma or call it the Laws of God, these people will fall into their own pits and suffer greatly in the end, but the great tragedy is they will cause a lot of innocent people to suffer along the way. They will leave much destruction in their path, even hurting people they claim to love! How can any country have an election, when that very election threatens to set streets on fire and get innocent people killed? Is that the goal?

The Dems are not presenting themselves as just the underdog against a giant, they are presenting themselves as a helpless puppy dog being kicked and mistreated by its master! They know this card has power to ignite fire in the hearts of misled people! Again, the tongue is setting on fire the course of nature! Mrs. Obama even described voting as: Vote as if your life depends on it! What? Those are fighting words! Someone is going to kill you if Biden don’t get elected? Set those emotions on fire, Mrs. Obama!

Is there a way to throw water on this fire? From where can so great amount of water come? The church has lost the high ground and is completely helpless to face this great need. But if there is still any hope that God’s people can pray to heaven and call for such a rain, then we best be doing it now!

Yes, we still need to cast our vote for integrity on that day. We still need to stand up in the face of threats, lies, fire, and fear, and do the right thing, because that is what honest people do. But can we also call rain from heaven and prevent the horrible event of emotions run amock that lie straight ahead? This is a locomotive building steam and speed as it rolls down the tracks! The Dems are throwing in the coals by the shovel fulls! It is intentional! Mrs. Obama chose her words well! She knew exactly the message she was sending. They all do. The power of the tongue and dangerous words, feeding the flames of emotion!

Can we avoid Jonah being thrown overboard into the raging sea? Will the Bible be thrown into the fire and into the sea?

With frail Joe Biden, the Dems have a win/win; and they know it. If he don’t win the election, the streets will burn, and socialism will be that much closer to being achieved in their eyes. I watched a video of a man clear back in 1969, (I believe it was), who described in detail, I mean in minute detail the exact strategy of socialism to play the “race and hate” card to overthrow democracy in America. He knew every step and strategy back in 1969! I am watching every step he described being played out before my eyes! It’s uncanny! But not so surprising when you understand the true evil at work before us. May the God of heaven help us all in what is coming. We’re gonna need it. If you’ve never prayed before, this is a good time to start.

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“Of Doves & Demons” #2 / Microchurch.

Path Without End

 

 If they can silence us, we lose.

“But no one had the courage to speak favorably about him in public, for they were afraid of getting in trouble with the Jewish leaders.” (John 7:13)

Courage/ Fear/ Leaders. I see 3 main elements in that scripture, and we have the same 3 today. I see a scripture saying there was a “lack” of courage, an “abundance” of fear, and a group of “evil” leaders. Human nature never changes, therefore, history always repeats. But where is wisdom in this? It is strangely missing.

I keep hearing a phrase today: “Good Trouble”. Has anyone written up the boundary lines of just exactly what that is? When someone puts a Pro-Trump sticker on their bumper and then their car is mysteriously beaten with a baseball bat, or keyed, is that good trouble? When a simple man stands outside his own store and preaches Jesus, but he is suddenly shot dead, is that good trouble? When stores are “looted” by protesters/ rioters, is that called good trouble? It use to be called “criminal”! When buildings are set fire it use to be called “arson”. But now it’s good trouble? When media constantly twist the truth, in other words, they lie. Is that the new good? When churches are set fire, statues violently torn down, people cursed out and threatened, guns pulled on people setting in their car, or risking a nation’s election for the sake of your personal gain, is that good trouble?

Followers of Christ, it is not wrong to be afraid because the threat is very real, but we must not be silent! Silence crucified our Lord!

The evil leaders used lies, money, and threats to stir up an illusion of HATE, because people of dishonor can be manipulated. Hate then causes fear because the “HATERS” will attack you, whether by word/tongue, or even physically attack you or your possessions. The threat is very real, and the fear too, but what of courage? Please allow me to point out, we are not called to courage alone… but to courage & wisdom!

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.” (Matt. 10:16)

In warfare it is well said, “Know thy enemy”. The snake is our enemy. Do you know how to stop a snake? Be the eagle! They that wait upon the Lord! The Anointing!

Here’s some spiritual wisdom. It is very foolish to have departed from the ways of our Lord. Somehow, while asking the question: What Would Jesus Do?”, we forgot to ask “What DID Jesus do?” Our modern church system is not what Jesus, nor the Apostles, nor the early church fathers DID, and we have lost the Anointing. Lets get it back! If not in mass, then in micro! If not as a whole, then as a person! As in personally! It can start with you and I.

I believe Jesus is taking his church back to the beginning, back to Pre-Constantine time, and that is why the gates of hell will not prevail against her! And in the book of Acts you see the very large church of Jerusalem being shaken like a salt shaker and people going forth! Going forth to saturate the land! Fill the communities! And become HARD TO TARGET!

Eagles are hard for snakes to target. Eagles live in the high places, not the low. Eagles have the advantage of the high ground, even unto the sky. They swoop down from above and then disappear. They live in pairs, and raise their children to also be eagles. They work as a team.

Elijah was an eagle. The Bible says Elijah will show up again, in the last days. He was hard to target! He would sweep in, declare a thing, or do a thing, and disappear! He was a man just like us, but also a man of great prayer, and he was Anointed! He had a mantle, a covering from God! We must be of great prayer too!

The snake uses silence to attack their enemy with that forked tongue. The snake creeps up on its prey by way of silence, flipping that forked tongue all the way, smelling its way along. Once they are close enough, then comes the fangs and poison. They know that words truly are mightier than any man-made sword or gun or bomb. They must frighten us into silence in order to win. It is basic snake strategy. The scriptures show they did it to Jesus. The enemy does not change his tactics because he knows this works! We see it all over the world, evil leaders using fear to maintain their power, or gain power. They sensor the airwaves. They control speech. No freedom of speech. SILENT! Or else.

The Jerusalem church was very easy to target. That church was God’s launching pad for his Gospel rocket, but was never meant to be the plan once space was achieved. It was a launching pad of great power and force to go forth and saturate the earth, but it also took persecution to get the people to see God’s big picture. Have we lost sight of the big picture? It is human nature. So God shook the shaker sending them forth, and they were not silent!

Jesus kept it simple and real. Why have we turned church into a “building” and a repeating “program”? But if we learn from the wolves we as sheep have been sent into, we would know that a wolf pack is small enough to be hard to target, and yet big enough to still be deadly in its effect.

I truly believe Micro church is the new wine and new wine skin. The persecution is coming and it’s just a matter of time. The sooner each of us get back to doing what Jesus actually DID, the better off we will be. The sooner each of us get back to simply “following Jesus”, the better off each of us will be. For we will receive a wisdom of how to be truly effective in our day.

Elisha had asked for a double-portion of the Anointing. Elijah said he had asked for a hard thing, but when Elisha took up Elijah’s mantle, he shouted, Where is the God of Elijah? And God answered!

Jesus said, “Follow Me.”

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“Hate on Display”/ Bullying

Path Without End

7326378758_6998e8784a_b Yesterday’s “Hearing?” inquisition on AG Barr was painful to watch! Who are the Haters? Yesterday it was plainly revealed for the world to see.

Hate has become a topic at this site. Do not confuse this articles and other recent articles as politics, because it is not. But somebody keeps putting their gun-sights, the cross-hairs of their scope on my head so they can shoot bullets called Hate Speech! And believe me, there is no lack of examples of Hate to draw on, of which the Democrats plainly showed their colors before the whole world, just yesterday! O.M.G.! I can’t believe how bad it was! It made my skin crawl! But what a gift they have given all seekers of truth! You can no longer claim you did not know.

No wonder nothing gets done in D.C.. It’s full of Hate and bullying! I can still see in my mind one of the female Democrats yelling at AG Barr, words along this line, (not exact quote), YOU’RE MAKING ME MAD, MR. BARR! STOP INTERRUPTING ME! And all the man was trying to do was answer the questions she asked! What in the world? Such HATE, anger, and bullying on display! Who are these children? Who are these Haters and bullies? How do they get elected? I thought being a “bully” was one of our greatest lessons we try to teach our children not to do, and yet our Democrat (Leaders?) put on such a display as this? Please cover your children’s eyes and ears!

They have given all the video proof needed that they are GUILTY as charged! They are kings with no clothes, but too many people are afraid to say so! Because the Left has guns! And lies! Lies shouted from the media they own! Verbal assassination! And if that don’t work, then gun-shot assassination. No wonder their is so much fear. When you see that kind of HATE, a “normal” person will experience fear! (And they know it.)

These are the people who keep putting me in their gun-sights for verbal assassination, because I believe the BIBLE. Because I try to live by BIBLICAL principals. Principals I force on no one! But only want to be able to answer their questions! Questions they themselves ask! And yet, like AG Barr, we are shouted down! And if that don’t work, we better keep our heads low because more HATE is coming our way! In the form of real bullets! Destruction of our businesses, threats to our families, and bullets! (From guns the Left don’t believe in! Or so they say. Liars! Hypocrites!)

We all need to cool our heels! Everyone needs to take a chill pill! We’re about to blow! If this election shows any kind of signs of fraud, sabotage, or cheating in any form, all hell is going to break loose! And what I fear just as much, what I see coming is what we call REVENGE!

The Dems I saw on display yesterday, they don’t just want to win, they don’t just want the power back, but they want REVENGE! The HATE that was on display for the whole world to see was seething!

As HATE became a subject at this site, I chose to use a picture of a jungle cat snarling. You see the hate in those eyes! You see the fangs ready to devour! And you see that long tongue hanging out there! We are being set on fire with those lying tongues! And that is their plan. We are the manipulated masses. They prove the Bible true everyday.

“In the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches. But a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire. And the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your whole entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself.” (James 3: 5-6)

The HATE I saw on display will stop at nothing short of revenge, and if so, then America will burn, we will be on fire, and you have to ask the question, “Is that what they actually want?” It is “the” legitimate question.

If tearing down what America has always been is their goal, to destroy a nation that was built on a Biblical foundation, then yes, that would be their logical goal. What better way to regrow a forest than burn it down? It only makes sense. And who will burn the most in this fire? Not those in their Ivory Towers. Us little people are the wood for their campfire to enjoy. They will enjoy s’mores while we burn!

I have not gone down this road with this blog site easily. I believe Jesus would have voted, and would have shared opinions when asked, even given advice, but he never became political! His focus was the Kingdom of God. It has always been my desire to do the same, and so when I began writing these recent articles about Mike Adams and Bernell Trammell, I was worried if I was becoming political? I almost backed away, but then I realized I’m not targeting politics, I’m targeting HATE! And TRUTH! And Jesus did the same!

ANYONE, who displays HATE like an animal is subject to exposure on this site. Everyone has a right to their “opinion” and the freedom to speak it. When you force silence on someone against their own will, you have become the animal! When you ask questions and then gag the person trying to answer, you have become the HATE-FILLED insane!

Jesus was murdered because of the HATE of the religious Jewish leaders at that time. He threatened their positions of power with truth. He was exposing them. He wasn’t afraid to call them the naked kings they were, so they HATED him. They even bribed people in the crowd, paid them with MONEY! To shout, “Let Barrabas go!” But crucify Christ! Jesus, who was innocent! Jesus, who had done nothing but heal them, feed them, teach them, and love them! He told them the TRUTH! And for that he was HATED by haters of truth.

But Barrabas, who was guilty as sin, got set free because of HATE in powerful places! The guilty go free and the innocent are executed! That is what I saw on full display yesterday! And can anyone deny it? If you can, then you have a hate-filled lying tongue too. You are that jungle cat ready to pounce and devour the innocent. I saw pure evil on display yesterday, and total lack of any kind of good manners, or common decency. Is that what you teach your children?

No one is perfect. I’m not saying there are not things needing to be changed and improved. But this HATE ready to kill, steal, and destroy is Satanic! We have crossed a line! Can we get it back? Not if people like I saw yesterday have their way. How can anyone vote for such people? Are you blind? Have you no eyes? Have you no ears? But you are bribed with promise of easy MONEY? Positions of power? You are the evil, the cancer of our culture.

I was pleased to hear that the execution/murder of Bernell Trammell is getting some national attention, and even the Feds may look into it. We are not the HATERS. YOU ARE! And yesterday proved it. You want to see America burn. Your tongues are the fires by which it is being lit! You HATERS prove the Word of God true everyday! And you HATE that! You make me believe God’s Word even more! Yes, you do not want me in your New World. I am not of your world.

Beware people. I don’t see any kind of normal hate here. This will not stop with them winning. It will only stop with revenge. We should fear such a thing. What we need now is not a “Tipping Point”, but a “Turning Point”. Are we too far gone?

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“Who Am I?”

Path Without End

20180811_135130           What does it all mean? – Part 4

“From the personal Journal of Grandpa White Feather”

8-17-18> I’ve always been this way. Because I took God very seriously at a young age, I’ve always been able to live life very unseriously.

Life for me has been an adventure. I’ve taken risks. I’ve broken this world’s “rules for success” over and over again in my pursuit of God, but yet somehow found great joy, peace, and fulfillment. My marriage is awesome and we somehow raised five great kids. But I’m still breaking rules and adventuring with God even right now, because I’ve always taken God and his Word very seriously. And I need to add this, what is adventure if it does not occasionally scare you? Must not be much of an adventure.

I’m the guy who all my life has taken some of my vacation time to get away from everyone and seek God. That may not sound like your kind of vacation, and for most, it would not be. I’ve done it camping at “The Dunes” in northern Indiana many times. I’ve done it on top of Mount Mitchell North Carolina at least 3 times. I’ve done it in New York City 3 times. I even visited the church pastored by David Wilkerson while there. I’ve done it at the Black Hills of South Dakota, even from Harney’s Peak, twice. I’ve done it without leaving home I don’t know how many times. I’ve journaled every day, talking to God, for the past twenty years.

I’ve experienced many churches over my 62 years. Everything from Holiness to Baptist to Pentecostal.  I tried to fit in, was even ordained in one, was offered to be ordained in another, but in the end left every one of them because I did not fit their vision of things. So either there is something wrong with me, or I simply have an appetite different.

At age 61 I went searching for the “Simplicity of Christ”, and I found a Table! I believe I found Revelation 3:20, that goes all the way back to Exodus 24:11, and probably even into the Garden of Eden itself… The Lord’s Table!

Even on the day of his betrayal, the day of preparation for Passover, he did not take his close spiritual family to a Temple, but to a Table, His Table. I have always felt like a person of simplicity in a world where church has become complex. They say in today’s world you cannot run a church without also knowing how to run a business. Sooner or later I’ve always left, and now I have a Tipi. (Of all things.) And its done nothing but cost me money, paid me nothing in monetary terms. But oh what a delight it is to me, oh His Presence I have felt, and God keeps providing. There has been no shish-boom-bah there, but the Wind, great peace, and a small still voice hard to hear in all the shish-boom-bah.

So last night I shared with a good friend, still in the last church I left, what I believe to be a pearl of great price, a revelation of “The Lord’s Table”. The shift from Temple to Table. A simplicity. And then I got scared. My head started asking questions like: How can it be that everyone else seems to have missed this? How can I be the only one, or the first to see? Surely I must be wrong. What if modern church is right? What if I’m misleading people? What if I mislead one of my best friends, or those who read this site?

Now I know I’m not the ONLY one. BUT… I seem to be the only one in my circles. And I don’t know how few our numbers really are. I know there is some kind of a movement happening, but in all my blogging so far, no one in my area seems to have popped up saying we’re over here! Can we join you? Or will you join us? (Know what I mean?)

So… I started playing back in my mind the journey and study that brought me here. I repeated quotes from early church fathers I’ve read concerning how the Lord’s Supper was done in their time. I looked again at the Bible description of the early church in Acts 2 and Paul’s description in First Corinthians 11. I rehearsed what I studied in early church history, where Polycarp, and the Asia Minor churches begin standing against the Bishop of Rome, because of changes he wants to make to the Easter weekend, because a thing we now call “Lent” seemed to be instituted. Big changes were being made in the way the Apostles all taught to observe the Lord’s Supper and the Christian Passover.

I remembered how the battle raged spiritually for many years, until a Roman Emperor named Constantine, claiming to be a Christian, but was obviously very CARNAL if Christian at all, was given great influence in the church, and things were never the same in the church again! I remembered what the church became! Proving the foolish choices of that time! Did we ever really go back and make things right?

I looked at the complexity of most modern churches today. I did not see the simplicity or the fellowship of the Lord’s Table. I saw complex Temples with “programs” of strategy more than prayer and sacrifice. Programs using worldly methods, like a business, more than simply waiting on the Lord. Name tag machines, stage lights, expensive budgets, shish-boom-bah, user friendly like the church of Constantine, coming to Christ for worldly benefits or emotional hype, not true conversion and sacrifice of self and sinful ways. And I realized whether scared or not, I simply could not stay silent, or go back to that way. I already tried too many times. And now, I have seen too much.

And I also realized, all the other teachers of God’s Word are still out there. All the other churches are still out there. No one is being forced to listen to me. I’m simply one voice out there offering something different, like a different restaurant for those of a different appetite, like me. The Lord will add to this movement if it be truly of Him. If there be a 2nd Reformation at hand. We force no one to come, no one to stay, we don’t even believe in a Membership role, a salary, or pass a plate. Part of our simplicity is people are free to come and go as much as they like, and I am open for church 24/7, or as much as my body allows. Our schedule is very flexible and even individual to a point. We seek for God to order our steps.

What I’m teaching is available for anyone to discredit if it be not the Word of God. I’m an open book not seeking to deceive or manipulate. I don’t ask for money. As a matter of fact, we don’t believe tithing is even a part of the New Covenant in Christ! He who gives more (percentage wise), will be blessed more. He who gives less is blessed less. But God is more than fair in all of it, and the leader of it. A message on tithing would have been somewhat meaningless in the early church, when they considered all their belongings common. I don’t think anyone but a Jew still under the law was even thinking in terms of a 10 percent. It was all about Loving Upward and Loving Outward.

Loving upward, and in the power of that loving outward also. That’s how Jesus explained the law in the two great Commandments. That is the laws God has given us. Even in our definition of sin. Do nothing that would cause your brother or sister to stumble. So are we perfect? No. But do we desire to be? Does God’s love put that desire in us? Yes! So be obedient to what God tells you to give. Give it to what God tells you to. And don’t forget the poor.

I don’t know why I’m seeing this different kind of church based on simplicity and the Lord’s Table. I don’t know why there are not thousands also seeing it? But try as I may, I don’t see this wrong. I see the modern church wrong, and I have chosen to stay with the exiles. I have felt led to offer an Exile Restaurant of spiritual food from an Exile Menu. For you see, we exiles, as in Exodus, have our eyes set more on tents than we do mansions. More on simplicity than we do complexity. More on a Table than we do a Temple. We have a taste for a different menu, perhaps locust and wild honey! It’s just where the appetite in me, takes me.

We don’t like it when a Pastor gets up and talks about Jesus not having a place to lay his head, but in the next breath promotes the Harley Davis motorcycle ride the men are having the very next weekend. That leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not the dish I came to church to eat. Sure, I’d like a Harley too! But…that’s a lot of money, and I’ve got more important things to do. I don’t need that temptation, distraction, thrown at me. And especially not in the same breath about the simplicity of Christ!

So after “the fear”, the doubt, knowing I’m not that smart, how do I find myself seeing these things while everyone else says I’m “off track”. I began writing my feelings, and this is my journal writings of these things. Set your affections on things above, not on things of this earth. Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth….but lay for yourselves treasures in heaven …. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

So what do you do when the advice of the “Many Counselors” seem to be against you? And those counselors are the same ones who find no problem with Harleys verses Homelessness in the same breath. What do you do when 20 doctors are saying give the patient this treatment before he dies, and you’re the only doctor saying, No, give him this treatment before he dies? Did not all these Bible characters experience the same thing from the experts of their time?

Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel and his friends, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the minor prophets, John the Baptist, JESUS, all the Apostles, Polycarp, early church fathers, Asia Minor churches, Martin Luther, and how many others could be named? Revivals are happening in poor places around the world, places of simplicity, but not in America. We have asked the question over and over, and to that our experts provide another program, and shove more money at it.

Here’s the thing, it’s hard to argue against the information I have accumulated. I have seen first hand the power of this message, and that is what has scared me. I know how much this can affect people, and I don’t want to steer people wrong, but if the king were not so naked, if the king actually had clothes, then this message would not be so powerful! But because this modern king has no clothes, it’s very hard for him to defend himself, and this has given rise to people like…me. Of which I know I’m not the only one, but I wish I could find some others. Whether I do or not, this message must still go forth, and perhaps one day there will be others in this area, and those who are yet to follow will not find it quite so scary.

I have always been this way. Taking God’s Word more seriously than this present world itself. I know this life is but a vapor, this sets me free to break man made rules and adventure with God. It has been my way for 60 years. Take a walk on the wild side? This is Tent Life. It’s simple. It moves with God. It feels good to walk with God. For me, it’s that simple. And for this, I need a tent, not a mansion, or a Harley. The Passover meal was immediately followed by Tent Life for the Egypt enslaved Jews. Now that I’m in the Promised Land, I still prefer a spiritual tent.

Our Lord has many Tables. But some he likes more than others. And some tables he is near to leaving. Some he has already left. And some he was never there to begin with.

So after all this a great peace settled in, because, yes, it is a fearful thing to step out against what appears to be God’s church, even as it blasts the music of Micheal Jackson’s “Thriller” to the neighborhood. That which claims to be God’s church. How strange. Jesus did not use flashy things to fish for men. Evidently Jesus didn’t know much about fishing, and neither do I. I’m a simple teacher, who prays daily that if I be wrong, oh Lord, please let it be known. And in all this, a great peace has come.

Yesterday I sat outside my Tipi, under a shade tree, in a cool breeze, drinking black coffee and thinking white thoughts, such as these. Today, I share such thoughts with you. More to be treasured than silver and gold, the still small voice of our Lord.

I was surprised to find this year, that evidently I have a green thumb. Our garden has been a great delight. May God’s garden be, in each of us.

 

 

Fear & Pleasure – which came first?

Path Without End

838843 As explained in previous article, Grandpa White Feather just spent time in Georgia with two of his Grandkids. He had stories to tell, and names with “meaning” to impart. But that’s the previous article. One of my sons is in the military and stationed just south of Savanah. I was in the military also and spent some time at Fort Gordon, so I have a few memories of Savanah and a beach called Tybee Island from 35 years ago. I was 27. Wow…where does the time go?

I decided as I began my trip home I would take the scenic route and visit Tybee Island. I felt God was drawing me there. Many things about this trip became a vision quest along with my original reasons for going. We slowly share them.

So as I arrived I discovered, as I was expecting, the place had evolved over the 35 years to be more commercial, more money oriented. I passed through an area of shops before reaching the beach. I was worried it had become just another crowded and hot beach, but I’m pleased to say it was not. There were more people there than used to be, but still wasn’t bad.

So I grabbed my coffee, chocolate chip cookies, journal, pen, book, and a jacket to sit on and headed onto the beach. I wasn’t there to swim. I was there to “remember”. I wanted to wade in the water, look for shells, be quiet in my soul, and remember 35 years ago. My young wife, and our first two of five children. Perhaps I would even hear God speak.

I wasn’t there long when something happened. I was sitting Indian style a ways behind everyone else, where the sand began to go up into some dunes. The cool breeze was awesome. The sound of the waves relaxing. Seagulls sailed overhead. Sand was hot and soft. A perfect beach day and I was enjoying it. People splashed in the water. The beauty of it drew you to enter in. Dive into the waves. Go for a swim, but then came the fin!

I didn’t see it at first. What I saw was a few people running towards the water and seemed to be frantically waving for people to come out of it. Of course, anyone out there could not hear the shouts. The waves were too loud. But the hand signals could not be mistaken as long as someone saw them, and they began to.

Sure enough, as we looked just a little farther out, a fin cutting through the water so plainly it could not be missed. As people saw it, they began frantically racing for the shore! I’m sure every movie of “Jaws” raced through their mind. Somehow this beautiful scene of peace, joy, and wonder had in a single second turned into a terrifying run for your life! Ever try running fast in water? Like your worst nightmare. How do things so suddenly change on planet earth? A peaceful drive while listening to music suddenly becomes a terrifying crash. So many examples could be given.

Fortunately for us on this day, in just a few seconds the fin did a curl and revealed itself to be a dolphin! And then another was spotted. Everyone was so relieved, but… you can bet your boots no one went into those waters with the same joy they were feeling before. If fear had not been there before, at least a little was there now. That little reminder of what else could be in those waters, and God spoke to me as I considered it all: Ever since the garden, this is the world man lives in.

We desire pleasure. We seek pleasure. We work hard all week so on the weekend maybe we can enjoy some pleasure. But our pleasure is constantly threatened with fear. This is the curse. This is our mortal world. But which came first? Fear or pleasure? PLEASURE!

God’s will for us was innocent and honorable pleasure. But we want more. God told me this is still our human nature to want more pleasure than is good, and so we cross lines we should never cross, then consequences begin to set in and the fear of many things, even our eternal destination. We live in a world of desire for pleasure at risk of consequences, and then comes fear. We desire to swim in the beautiful ocean, but there are also sharks out there. How far out should we swim? What is good and what is not?

Sex is good when devoted to a partner we truly love, not lust. A partner we’re willing to take on all the responsibilities of life together with. But how much lust has led to damaged children, or murdered children? You see, the shark doesn’t always just eat you, on planet earth. Our sins have real consequences. We’re not just hurting ourself. That’s another lie of the devil. We live in a world in which the ripples of our actions affect those around us. Many times those are people we supposedly love. We are all connected. When we sin we’re choosing to potentially hurt others.

There are godly pleasures, and plenty of them. God desires to bless us with them. When we live in God’s will, just knowing that diminishes all fear. Even if something bad does seem to come upon us, knowing we walk with God gives us a peace passing all understanding. But if we play with the “7 Deadly Sins”? We know the day will come when we harvest the bad seeds we have sown, and there is fear! Real fear! If you slow down long enough to think about it.

That is why most people keep running, keep drinking, keep drugging, keep sinning, keep denying, keep doing whatever they do to NOT THINK ABOUT IT. I will swim in these waters and not think about the sharks until I see a fin. But then…the day will come…when you see the fin too late. Those jaws are coming for you, and there is no escape. Your party is over, and no matter how much you scream, because scream you will, but it won’t change a thing. We push these thoughts away. Drown the pain. Avoid truth. Laugh and party. Deny reality. But it’s still real, and that day is coming.

This is the world so many people live in. This is not the fellowship of the white path in Christ, where peace passes understanding. Some of us are drawn to those waters. I do not try to explain that peace, because as the scripture says, it is a supernatural God-thing. Who can explain?

I watched them running that day as I sat peacefully on the shore eating my chocolate chip cookies, drinking coffee, and listening for God to speak. He spoke very plain and loud. I would not be afraid to swim in those waters if I decided to. I did 35 years ago and had a great time, my wife and I, and our first two sons, who were very young. There is nothing wrong with wanting to enjoy a beach and swim in the ocean, but it is the spiritual analogy we look at today.

I did not know today’s article would touch on the 7 Deadly Sins. So far we have only spoke of “Greed” (May 16 article: “White Wolf”). I’m not trying to hit that topic today, but we are still in those waters. What does it mean to walk the white path and have a good name? God has challenged me to teach the white path of a good name. What name would God give you, if choosing a name that fits?

I have a friend I recently named “Storm Rider”. (You see, Chief White Feather has power to do such things. Or so the story goes.) But he got that name because he wrestles with his emotions a lot, when things happen. Sometimes he rides the storm, and other times the storm ride him. It is a good name to inspire him to always ride the storm. Be the Storm Rider.

Another person I am about to name “Desert Joker”. People actually like him because of his dumb jokes. Somehow it works for him. (This is great fun while teaching spiritual points at the same time.) But this guy is the master of “dry humor”. Get it? It’s part of the way we fellowship with people. If you know someone well enough to give them a name that fits, and can help them, then chances are you’re having “Table Ministry” with them, not just a casual acquaintance.

So this is our message for today. Walk with God and know his peace! The fork in the road is ours to choose. Personally, I’d rather swim with dolphins than sharks. Call me crazy if you like, but if you do, I’d question your own common sense. And yes, you would not be one I choose to hang with. I would invite you to my path all day long, a path of God’s blessings, and a path of good medicine. But the sharks path only seeks to to harm; to steal, kill, and destroy. No thanks. Dolphins are great.

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