Tag: Love

Finding your “Why”? #1 /God

Path Without End

936f717ef2b27bbf975776c3907e40e3--good-morning-coffee-morning-bed Imagine you’ve set yourself aside from the world and isolated yourself on a sailboat with all the coffee you could need and a good book. The sound of the water against the hull and the wind in the sails are your only distractions. You are surrounded by beauty and nature. You find your favorite reading spot, got your coffee in hand and now for the book! A real mind-twister! A murder mystery! A real “Who-Done-It”?

He was a rich man, found dead. In a high-rise building. Security cameras. No one had a clue, but there he was dead, shot through the head. His body lay on the floor along with the pool of his blood. The police were baffled and Detectives were called in; even an FBI Agent showed up.

No fingerprints. Somehow the cameras had been evaded. No clues had been found to follow. So what are they left with? There is one thing none of us can escape. One thing of utmost importance in every crime… “MOTIVE”! What could be the motive behind the act? The motivation driving the action?

It is human nature. It is how we function. We live and breathe by what motivates us, or a lack of motivation. Who might have a reason to murder this man? Our true MOTIVES can be hard to hide, but some do it well. We are especially good at hiding the truth from ourself, but not God. WHY might we want to hide our true MOTIVES even from ourself? Even from God if we could? And especially if we’ve murdered someone and don’t want to end up in jail! The “WHY’s” of our life can be very revealing, but also very helpful if we are wise enough to heed them.

As the investigation progresses, more than a few are found to have potential “MOTIVE” for the murder. Like I said, he was a rich man. A lot can happen climbing that ladder of success. So how to narrow down the suspects? Who has strong alibis and who do not? But still…no proof has been found and the police are baffled.

A few days later another man is shot dead in the same manner, and he worked in the same company as the first victim. He was even a suspect! The waters become murkier as the plot thickens, but there is one potential new clue. Both murder victims were shot dead at the exact same time! 10:44 p.m.! A coincidence? 

You lift your eyes from the pages of the book. Staring out at the horizon sparkling before you, you ponder the clues. Taking a slow sip of your coffee, you think, “Surely this 10:44 p.m. execution time is more than a coincidence, it is a clue to the motivation of the killer!” Congratulations, Sherlock! You’re on your way to solving the mystery! But what could it be? What is the evidence revealing about the MOTIVE of this executioner? What is the “WHY” in the mind of the killer?

Every good Detective, and every student of human nature always looks for a person’s MOTIVE. It is a basic element to understanding everything we do. What are the “WHY’s” in your own mind? A study of “WHY’s” is always very revealing, and can be very rewarding.

“The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1st Samuel 16: 7b)

If the previous story sounds familiar, yes, it is some movie I saw some where, but it is proven fact we are driven by our motives. Our “WHY” factor. But do we take time to examine our “WHY” in any given target of our own personal living? The Lord does not see as mortals see! And WHY should we? Do we not have an immortal soul? WHY live in flesh rather than spirit?

As a person fascinated by human nature, the question of how we got here, and where we go after this, the subject of a “Creator”, and a supernatural spiritual world is big with me. And this brings me to the real MOTIVES behind this web of thought I have woven thus far >>>>>>>

“What is the real MOTIVE, or ‘WHY’ behind your Christianity?”

If you have read this far and now know the real subject of this series, will you honestly face the question, or run from it? And if you short-cut this question and give it a quick shallow answer simply to make your escape, then WHY? What is causing you to do that? What is the reason behind your action? What was the “reason” someone was murdering certain people at 10:44 p.m.! (There were more yet to die.)

We will examine some of the different MOTIVES that are being pushed from the pulpits these days, as to “WHY” someone should be motivated to follow Christ. That is basic Christianity in its purest form, Jesus speaking to us, “Follow Me.”

There is a new wine flowing that has challenged me to be more missionary in my Christianity, in my following of Jesus, because that is what Jesus did and taught. I now have a team of 3 people in this vision to use rescued dogs to rescue people who may have “issues” they need help with. If we succeed, this will be my missionary path into the lives of special people God will lead us to.

These dogs have been abandoned. We have too many abandoned dogs! If they find no home, they are “put down”. I believe the Spirit of God led me to a special lady who has been saving dogs and finding them homes out of the pure “LOVE” of her heart. MOTIVATION! We visited this “4 Legged Ranch” and met a few dogs they currently have. We would be a volunteer foster home and trainers for the dogs. Once the dog has healed of their issues, they are ready for a good home. This Dog Ranch never puts a dog down.

I went to meet this lady and check her MOTIVES, her “WHY” for doing what she does. The evidence I saw showed no sign of a “love for money” connected in any way, not even her helpers. This is a lot of work, sacrifice, and if anything a loss of money.

After enjoying the place for a spell, and getting to know her more, I said, “This is a ‘calling’ for you, isn’t it.” She smiled. “You’re certainly not doing it for the money,” I said, and both her and her helper broke into laughter.

So…this is the beginning of another series. In October you will likely be seeing dog pictures popping up here. These dogs will all have a story, and a future! We will work with them. Eventually we hope to use these dogs to help people who will also have a story and a future. But what is “our” story? What is the “WHY” of why we personally follow Christ? Is it because we want to be a “King’s Kid”? Or a Servant of Love? Hhmmm. Good question. Now we have the mystery of our own heart to solve. Should we get to know our own self?

Our Creator knows the answer in our heart. And if we have chosen Christ so we can “have our best life now”, well…it all depends on what you mean by that? Who are these prosperity churches when Jesus taught minimalism? He chose a donkey over a fancy stallion. I must admit, I really don’t understand you, or your churches.

I’m just beginning to search this mystery of spiritual motives. What was the “WHY” when you got baptized? Has your “WHY” changed over the years? “WHY” are you following Jesus? What is your “WHY”? And as His disciple, His follower, what do you see your holy task from Him to be? And “WHY” do you go to whatever type of Church you go to? Are they really challenging you to be all you can be for Christ? Or to have your own best life now? Is it all about YOU? Exactly what do those words mean?

“We need to know our “WHY’s” in life. This is a very good skill to develop in all we do, the asking of the question of what is my true “WHY” here? If I give that 10%, why am I giving it, really? Is it because I think I have to, like a law? Is it because I want more back than I am giving? Is it like a spiritual stock market? I’m giving more so I can have more? What are our true motives?

What is God’s “WHY” when it comes to His relationship with man and all He has instructed us to do? The Bible very plainly states it. God is very “upfront” about His “WHY’s”. He knows them well.

There is much we need to consider when it comes to “human nature”, “how we got here”, and “where are we going”? Let’s look deeper into the “WHY’s” of the mysteries of this life, together. May our compass read true.

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“What is my human doing now? Preparing to rescue dogs?”

Path Without End

20190312_164705 I’m very worried about my human. I mean, I just got him trained right. When he walks by and I wag my tail just right, I can usually get a belly rub out of it. He knows how much I love my belly rubbed and patted. He takes me to the creek for a bath and swimming. I even let him drive my truck to get us there. He feeds me every morning and every night. He brushes me and it feels so good. He throws my football. I love chasing that football. He even cleans my poop from my yard! Can you believe that? His wife helped with that training.

But lately he’s been talking crazy! He thinks God speaks to him! He says we’re going to use rescued dogs to rescue people! We’re going to become a foster home for dogs and find people who need them! People the dogs can rescue from loneliness, bitterness, and hate!

I don’t know. It all sounds pretty crazy to me. He says we got to get the house finished up before winter, because once we bring other dogs in, we’ll be very busy! Other dogs? He says they need us. They were abandoned. Who would abandon a dog? I don’t know if I believe him? But if it is true, then how horrible! I would be lost without my special human. We are a pack! His wife, and her little Tinkerbell, a small white fluffy pomeranian that I accidentally step on sometimes. But she’s so small!

So I just had to enter his blog site and tell this story. Who better to tell dog stories, than a dog? If you’re familiar with this site you know how famous I am, because I’ve been in some of the pictures. Right? Yeah, you thought I looked familiar. Now you know why. My name is Shadow, and were about to embark on a great dog adventure for God! I think. But who are these unknown dogs that will enter my yard and my house? Do they expect me to share my human with them? I draw the line at sharing my food! No, sir! No food sharing.

So he’s working hard on the house again. I of course hold a supervisory position.

 20200717_124605 My work is never done.

My human will be sharing this site with me now, as new developments have suddenly created the need for a canine perspective. I don’t know what is coming. Who will these stray dogs be? I have never been abandoned. I do not know the pain of not being loved or wanted. So I will allow my human to bring them into my house, and we will see what stories there may be to tell. He told me that if God be willing, we launch in October. So I marked my calendar. And I’m making a sign that says, “Shadow’s Food. Stay out!” Hey, I’m just a dog. What do you expect? It takes a lot to keep a 100 pound Lab well fed. Now Tinkerbell on the other hand…

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A Sea Change coming.

“Simply Jesus”/ Prophetic Poetry

Path Without End

20190824_141511 “Simply Jesus”

His words were simple: “Follow Me.”

A love for simplicity.

Trappings, trappings all around! Fig leaves, fig leaves on the ground!

Trapped in the trappings of our modern ways!

Complexity of Christianity!

What happened to His simple words?

Shed the fig leaves to the ground!

Scatter the money all around!

Throw the programs to the wind!

Make things simple once again!

Come Holy Spirit, fix my heart.

Where is the simplicity? For this certainly is not.

Trappings of complexity. Trappings of Christianity.

Come out my people.

Come to the still waters, my green pastures, my paths of righteousness.

My simple ways.

“Follow Me.”

My peace.

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How many times have you said, “I’ll be damned?”

Path Without End

Hell, a place originally prepared for the devil and his angels, per Matthew 25:41, and Jesus is very specific about it. 

Also note, these people being sent to hell have failed many acts of LOVE!

Most people don’t “LOVE”. They “love”.

They love self more than they know, and they don’t LOVE nearly as much as they think they do.

They accuse God of not being LOVE, when the whole time they reject following God because he requires a Kingdom of LOVE. Yes, requires. Is that so bad?

God is REAL LOVE. But most people only know selfish love, or human love, so they are no experts on what LOVE is at all, and so their judgement of God is false, while they themselves continue rejecting a life of LOVE.

Why do you think God declares sex without complete commitment is a sin, and not LOVE? Have you considered how selfish sex without total commitment is, and the many possibilities of damaged lives because of it? That’s not LOVE. And yes, because God actually is LOVE, he requires it. But if we choose to reject God’s way of LOVE, then we are choosing a “Being” other than God, which is Satan. We choose every day in every way.

Planet earth is a test. I guess our current Pope does not think God “leads” people to temptation, so he has approved the changing of our Biblical words of the Lord’s Prayer. But it was God who put that one tree in the Garden of Eden, not Adam, or the devil! And Matthew 4:1 still says Jesus was “led” by the “Spirit” (capitol S), into the wilderness to be “tempted” of Satan. And we could give other scripture.

God does lead us to be “tested”, but it is our “own” lust and lack of LOVE that causes us to be “tempted”. How can God prove us without tests? Who gives the test? God. Who brings you into a spiritual classroom and begins handing out a test? God. And why might God do this?

Getting back to the original scripture in Matthew 25:41, I’d say it is because of the devil and those who followed him. Lucifer and the other angels appear to have been created already in possession of heaven and all God’s blessings, and yet Lucifer could not be trusted. He lusted. He chose actions against his very Creator, the One who gave him power and life! He rose up in hate! And he ruined everything! God’s creation at that time. Which is quite possibly how creation is found in the condition it was in, in Genesis 1:1-2. (One theory, anyway.)

So, we see God creating man. He puts him in a beautiful garden. An earthly paradise. But he also plants one tree man is not to eat of. No problem, right? All those other trees! It should not be a temptation, right? But because of some desire in Adam and Eve, they are tempted. They should not be, but they are. God planted the tree, but he did not cause the temptation. We choose.

Had Adam truly LOVED God and his ways, the way he should have, temptation would have been overcome and the test would have been no problem.

But what of us? Do we feel all of God’s “Do Nots” come from a God of hate and judgement? Or do we realize all those “Do Nots” are actually instructions as to what LOVE really is? Do you see it? Thou shalt not steal? Hate? Murder? Commit adultery? Lie? ETC.

Do LOVE even your enemies. Help those in need. LOVE God with all your heart, and your neighbor as yourself.

Cain asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain was cursed of God. Our scripture in Matthew 25 shows people who failed to help those in need, living a hard-hearted lifestyle, or sin in God’s eyes, as the ones who choose the kingdom of darkness, rather than God’s Kingdom of Light. It’s our choice and we make that choice every day in our word’s and actions, not words only, but also actions.

So God planted another tree! The cross of Christ. And he LOVED us so much, he was willing to die a horrible death on that tree AT OUR HANDS! Yes, God is LOVE whether you choose to believe or not. And God is RIGHT. We are the ones who are wrong. And it’s His creation anyway! Sheesh! How lame are we???

So how many times have you said, “I’ll be damned?” That is a choice “YOU” are making, not God. Your own words out of your own mouth may be warning you! Our test papers prove our choices, whether heaven or hell, God or Satan. But we do choose. And even though God offers us everything we need to choose LIFE, many there be who choose death, and have the nerve to blame God. What kind of evil is that? What kind of darkness?

Light shines in the darkness, but darkness fails to comprehend.

There are those who will hate me for writing these words and putting the blame where it belongs, on us, not God. They do not want to face the truth, and they will hate me while they claim LOVE, but they only have love, if they even have that? Reality check.

Even these words I have written are not to invite hate. No one enjoys being hated. And it can be very dangerous! Just ask Jesus. But LOVE demands that my words shout about a place called hell, if there be any chance some might be warned, open their eyes to the God of LOVE, and swerve away from the cliff they currently are driving towards at break-neck speed, all the while blaming God.

They do not listen to that voice inside, warning them, verifying truth, because they love their life of darkness. That is the truth they hate to admit. They love darkness rather than light. They proudly take God’s test and declare their rebellion against their very own Creator. What kind of evil is that, to hate the very One who gave you existence, and gave you everything you need to have a truly fulfilled life and eternal future. God has not offered us a dead-end street, but a path without end! It’s our choice.

Such people would only ruin heaven anyway, and God’s not going to allow that to happen again. The POSITIVE side of this message is, God offers His LOVE in abundance! If only you could see that and change course! You will be rewarded immediately! And you will never regret! Not if you are REAL. God is REAL, but are you?

“Yinney” Chapter 30

Path Without End

New-York-City-night2 Rachel rushed home as quickly as she could. She couldn’t even get the door closed before Clara was shouting from the other room, “Mom! Did you hear what’s going on?”

Rachel could hear it blaring on the TV, and Clara was glued to the screen. “Do you think Frank is there?”

“Yes, I’m pretty sure he is. He rushed off to something right after he dropped me off.”

Rachel joined her daughter on the sofa watching the unfolding events as best the news could bring it. While she was watching safely in her warm apartment, sitting upon a soft couch, someone she loved was on the front lines of the danger. The news reporter was reminding everyone of recent events indicating a new gang was trying to muscle into someone else’s territory. The police had tried to keep a lid on this, but reports were leaking out anyway, including the murder Rachel had witnessed. It was likely connected to the new gang.

The execution had been staged for many to see. Someone even caught it on video. The executed man was high up on the food chain of the current gang. They were sending a message. Now with war breaking out in the park, the battle was escalating, and there would be no keeping a lid on it. A gang war was underway in NYC!

This had been common knowledge by the police for a while. They all knew what to expect as they prepared to enter the park. There would be guns, knives, chains, clubs, fully automatic weapons, even motorcycles to contend with. Most likely it was an arranged fight. Both gangs showed up for an all-out war!

“Mom should we pray for Frank?” Clara asked.

Of course, dear. Yes, that is a very good idea, and all the people there, both good and bad.”

Rachel and Clara were members of a large Church just a few blocks away. They started attending Church back when she was still married to her Ex, who abused her one too many times. But neither her or her daughter were deep into the word. A shallow Christianity had been enough, and the big Church specialized in that, even though neither of them realized just how shallow their faith really was.

It wasn’t their fault, they would have said. The struggle to survive, the work to provide, it all took so much time, little was left for serious prayer and study, or reaching out to others. But that was normal, right? At least it was normal where they attended, and that was all they knew. So Rachel began praying, and as she did, something tugged at her heart, because she realized her prayer felt as shallow as the kiss she gave Frank less than an hour ago. Something awakened in her soul, but she did not know what, and there wasn’t time to analyze it right now.

Clara added a few words to her mother’s prayer and then both returned to wide-eyed fixation on the TV screen.

Yinney, however, knew nothing of what was transpiring in New York City as he enjoyed his 7th Day Tree in the Amazon jungle, but he was waxing poetic, a mood that hit him from time to time, and was trying to get the words right, as every word-smithy knows, it’s not an easy task, but a labor of love, nonetheless. This poem would officially begin his book: “The Beauty of Slow”.

>Yinney’s Poem: “The Question”<

My greatest treasure, my soul.

What powers this body? My soul.

What holds eternity? My soul.

My soul lives in spirit.

What would profit me if I lost my soul?

My greatest treasure, my soul!!!

My greatest priority…my soul.

God’s Word my food.

God’s Spirit my water.

God’s Presence the air I breathe.

Jesus, shelter for my soul.

Jesus, completion of my soul.

Bride of the Lamb, I am.

Everyday I ask such an important question, 

“What does my soul need this day?”

The flesh screams like a squeaky wheel, never leaving doubt of what it feels.

But what of my soul?

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“Yinney” Chapter 27

Path Without End

6000317729_e6e3d2bb13_b Bubba was stunned. “He fulfilled it,” he kept repeating over and over. No one had answered this before. At least not in a way that made any sense. Most had told him it was a progression God was taking man through, like a learning curve. When man failed to succeed in the first covenant, then God provided a better one. But this sloth was saying it was God’s plan all along! It was God’s plan for man to fail and God to fulfill? God said man would fail and then he fulfills? God did not replace the Old Covenant? It was perfect as it was? It was godly, of God, not a mistake?

Yinney added more at just the right time, “Not only did man fail over and over again, but he needed to fail, so he would finally realize he could never save himself. And even today people still believe they can be good enough and earn heaven. It is a salvation by works, not by love and grace. Even with all the evidence of the Old Testament records, and the history of human nature, man still thinks if his good out weighs his bad, he goes to heaven, but that is not the real problem. The real problem is, how can a person ever get rid of a single sin, except to be forgiven, by God? If you only sinned once in your whole life, how could that sin ever be gone?”

Yinney continued, “The question is not about how to be good enough, because we already know the answer is that we cannot! But the real question is, how do we have our sins forgiven and cast away into forgetfulness? How do we get free from even a single sin? Will prayer do it? Will a prayer wheel do it? Only God can decide if we are forgiven, and he decides the ground rules for that forgiveness. And that is what God made available to man, by faith in Christ, when he fulfilled the Old Covenant for us, and ushered in the New Covenant of faith and grace.”

Bubba was silent for a while before finally speaking again. “Your words are very profound,” he said. “I have always been interested in the prophetic. Can you give me an example of how you say, it was prophesied from the beginning that God would fulfill?”

“Oh yes!” Yinney almost shouted in his excitement. “I’ll give you two at the very beginning. So of course these will be Old Testament scriptures. As you know, the Hebrews say it all started with Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, when they disobeyed God and ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Now they were no longer in a state of innocence, but had to be accountable for their sins. But God immediately begins to prophesy his future salvation when he is passing judgement, and they are about to be exiled from the garden.”

“When speaking to the snake, in Genesis 3:15, God tells the future when he says: ‘And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her off spring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.’ God speaks of a child to come, ‘He’; and ‘He’ will strike your head. Later prophecies even state ‘He’ will be a descendant of King David! And will be born in Bethlehem. It’s very specific.”

“I am aware that Jesus was known as the son of David,” Bubba acknowledged.

Another excellent historical event according to the Hebrews, is when God comes to their forefather, Abraham, and he tells Abraham they will enter into a Covenant, and he is to make the preparations. This is all recorded in Genesis 15. It starts in verse 9.

So Abraham makes all the preparations. Several animals was to be sacrificed and laid open for the ritual, a blood covenant. The strongest of covenants. But in verse 11, vultures begin trying to attack the carcasses and Abraham is fighting them off as he waits on God to appear! But in verse 12 we read the sun was going down and Abraham fell into a deep sleep! And a terrifying darkness came down over him! Had the Covenant depended on Abraham’s strength and ability to do good, it would have totally failed! Abraham believed, but he was weak in his flesh. So when God shows up he begins prophesying the future of the nation that will be born of him, Israel. And Abraham woke up in time to see a smoking firepot, and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses. Jesus stood in that place for mankind, not Abraham. That’s verse 17.”

“Abraham would continue to have both failures and successes. The nation of Israel, and the descendants of Abraham, would continue to have both failures and successes. But in the appointed time, the prophesied Messiah himself was born, and he did not fail. He fulfilled the Old Covenant we continually fail, and he ushered in forgiveness of sin, and grace through his blood. Not the blood of animals. They could never pay for sin, but the blood of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ.”

Several monkeys started clapping as Yinney spoke those final words. They had been so transfixed by the story, that when the exciting conclusion was spoken, they were moved to applaud.

“It is a wonderful story,” Bubba said, “But we are not convinced of ‘soul’. We seek a Nirvana where the cycle of fleshly cravings and earthly pain is finally broken. We are no longer born again and again to go through this same cycle, because we have finally let go of all selfness, no permanent self. We successfully attain the Eight-fold path, and this earthly cycle finally ends.”

“Yes,” Yinney said. “Christianity is the only faith where salvation, or heaven, or Nirvana, is based not on our works. It is based on our faith and God’s love. You have your own form of perfection you strive for, and if you’re finally good enough, the cycle will finally end. You receive your release. Do you think you can ever be good enough, Bubba?”

Bubba countered with, “Do you think you can ever love enough?”

“No,” Yinney plainly stated. “I no longer have a sin debt, but I have a love debt I can never repay, and that is why I am so grateful to my God for a salvation of grace. The only faith of its kind.”

Yinney and Bubba talked well into the night before finally retiring. They did so in a fellowship of mutual respect. Only time would tell if Bubba would ever decide that perhaps it was true, he would never be good enough. And perhaps this God of grace and love would speak to him too.

Ecuadorian Howler Monkey 4

“Yinney” Chapter 18

Path Without End

New-York-City-night2 “Gotham needs me,” Frank spoke to the mirror on the wall. The same mirror he had been speaking to for many years, but the image looking back at him had changed, and he no longer felt the same.

After twenty years on the force as a police officer in the big city, NYPD, he was no longer the young adventurous guy who first chose to be an officer of the law. His feelings had changed, his reasons had changed, but he still felt good about what he did because the need was so great, and somebody had to do it. You simply cannot have a civil society without laws and someone enforcing them. There were simply to many predators out there.

Without laws and those enforcing them, things revert to the wild wild west; only it would be even worse, because our guns are bigger and our horses faster. Also, respect for life had eroded away. Now days you can be shot and killed just trying to give out a speeding ticket. Frank did not like the direction society was taking. As a matter of fact, it scared him. Something in the air of our modern day caused a desperation in people he thought he would never see. The nights were becoming darker, even a gross darkness!

He did not fear for himself so much, although he did not want to die, but he feared for loved ones, which now included a new romance. His first love, Jane, had passed away with cancer two years ago. Their youngest child moved out two months ago. All three children now raised and flown the coop, an empty nest. The small house was so darn quiet.

For almost two years he had grieved, missed Jane, and buried himself in his work, which was easy to do and a lot of officers did it. But he knew he would eventually come out of it. He trusted the fates to accidentally meet someone. After a year or so, he kept an open eye, but was not seriously hunting. It would either happen or not. He could stay buried in his work if need be, and be happy. He did love the job, the thrill of the night, the city beat, helping people in real need, often life and death situations.

He had always worked at night. The real bad guys come out in the night. In the beginning it was the thrill as much as anything else, but now he understood the laws of the jungle, eat or be eaten, those predators having no respect for anything, anyone, or even life itself. They had to be stopped. They had to be stopped every night or no one could hope to enjoy a peaceful life, raise a family, enjoy the good things. Not even true love would be safe. Especially true love.

As he surveyed himself in the old mirror, taking stock of what it showed, he was aware of every weakness he tried to hide. Show no weakness to a predator. How much longer could he do this? There are younger officers. Maybe he should take a desk job? No, not ready for that yet. At forty-three he still had a lot to give. True, this job had beat him up a lot, but the thought of a desk job simply would not do. He was an aging Batman now, but he could still do it, it just hurt a little more. Okay, a lot more.

Finally leaving the mirror he turned to a nearby table and picked up the framed photo of Rachel. A larger framed picture of Jane still graced the table too, and he would never forget her. Could anyone ever even come close to Jane? He did not know as he put the picture of Rachel back on the table and turned to head out into the night, facing the foolish, the drunken, the desperate, and the predators.

Rachel was out there too, and his three children. Yes, he felt good to be a fighting force against a society that could so quickly turn jungle, if it were not for those still willing to take an oath and wear a badge. She would be getting off soon from her job at the coffee cafe. That was how he met her.

Rachel was a divorcee. Very sad story, really. Suddenly forced into the working world, she had landed the job at the cafe. She enjoyed learning how to make the different coffees and connecting with the regular customers. She was a natural for the job and content in her new life, but then they met. Frank knew he was falling in love again, but was she? He wasn’t sure. But time would tell and he was enjoying life fully again. It felt good.

Time to go.

Skyscrapers_Houses_USA_479506.jpg

“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.