“I went to the enemy’s camp/And I took back what he stole from me…” –Richard Black

First of all, is there an enemy’s camp? Is there a place where you could walk up to that has fallen angels sitting around campfires cooking hotdogs and marshmallows while telling stories of the humans they stole stuff from? Or, maybe the camp has a large pavilion in the middle where Lucifer has a map of the world laid out on a table, with arrows and Xs signifying his next big attack.

I don’t see any support for a fallen angel “camp” in the Bible.

Secondly (and I did rearrange some points so they don’t follow the same order as the song), the enemy didn’t steal anything from you; you let it slip. Be a mature adult and admit the responsibility that belongs to you. Your walk with God is not something that can be stolen. You are the one, and the only one, who has control of it.

Think about your Bible. Was it stolen? No, it’s right there on your nightstand or on your bookshelf collecting dust. Maybe you think your Bible reading time was stolen. Who has control of what you do with your time?

The same point goes for prayer. Prayer is not even a physical item which can be stolen, like your Bible is. As long as you have lips, as long as you have a tongue, and, barring those, as long as you have a mind capable of thought, you can pray to your God. Take the time to do it. It’s more important than a show you might watch, or another book you might read, or a website you might visit, even if the show and the book and the website are all about God.

Lastly, and most importantly, even if there was a camp, you wouldn’t have to go there to get your spirituality back. If you lost your Bible reading discipline, you start where you are, right now, instead of reading this, you pick up your Bible and you start reading. If you’ve let your life of prayer slip, you can start back up right now. These are just a couple examples of things that parishioners will think about when they sing this song. As I said, though, these are things you do not have to storm a theoretical enemy camp for.

This is an important point. Maybe some people haven’t gotten these disciplines back in their life because they don’t dare to go “to the enemy’s camp.” Usually people that storm enemy camps are brave, or specially trained, or have a secret up their sleeve. Maybe you don’t feel like you have what it takes to face the enemy and retrieve the spiritual things you have lost from your life. You don’t have go anywhere. Retrieving your spiritual life starts right where you are right now. You will find this out when you pick up your Bible and start reading it again.

The world has enough fantasy and fiction to sustain it until the end of days. Don’t bring fiction into your spiritual life. Let your songs, your conversation, and, above all, your relationship with God be based in reality and truth.

He didn’t point out that this was the first animal sacrifice made for the covering of sins. Instead, he went the direction that God had told Adam that they day he ate of the fruit of the tree, he would surely die. Instead of God killing Adam that day, he covered him. The evangelist plainly made it clear that he thought God reneged on his word. He made it sound like God changed his mind and decided to cover them instead of killing them. This doesn’t sit well with me.

If God says it is going to happen, then it is going to happen. He doesn’t make idle threats and he doesn’t break promises. There have been times he has supposedly changed his mind due to people’s prayers (see Miriam’s leprosy, or the threatened destruction of the Israelites in the wilderness and offer to start over with Moses, or prophecy of Hezekiah’s death), but I believe that was his plan to begin with. Maybe he just didn’t mention it so he could see how people would choose to react on their own.

I’m disappointed with the insinuation made by the evangelist. I believe his message; I just think he should have started someplace better. How about starting with the wages of sin are death? He did bring up that verse, but later in his message. Then, after showing that we deserve death, he could have talked about the blood of Jesus covering us.

Yes, God covered Adam and Eve before evicting them, but I do believe they died that day. Call it a spiritual death, or call it the first day of their lives that their bodies started aging and breaking down. I don’t know. I don’t need to know. I just believe God’s word.

Here’s my reasoning for listening to Contemporary Christian Music (CCM):

1) I like the sound of the music. The music appeals to me. I like band music and some solo artist stuff (though it sounds better when they use a BAND). I do not like country music, I do not like rap music. I do not like headbanger music, I do not like southern gospel music. Did I leave anything out?

2) I like the message, the reminders I hear in CCM. I’ve heard some people complain that they don’t or won’t listen to CCM because they do not believe all the songs to be theologically sound. I don’t care about that. I know what I believe and why I believe it. If a song doesn’t match my beliefs I’ll either ignore the whole thing or I’ll ignore the parts I don’t agree with and appreciate the rest of the song. If a song reminds me of one thing, say grace, love, hope, awe, then the song has done the trick for me.

3) It keeps my mind on the things of God. Plenty of things turn my thoughts aside throughout the day, but the music will help me regain my proper focus (if I let it).

4) I don’t like the messages I hear in secular music, for the most part. When I converted to Christian music, I tried going through my old CDs to find anything that wasn’t bad so that I could keep some of the sounds and voices that I liked. There weren’t any non-Christian CDs that didn’t have any objectionable material, and I only listened to “innocent” groups like Toad the Wet Sprocket, the Refreshments, Tonic, Bryan Adams, etc. Granted, if I had my CD burner back then I probably could have save a few songs, but no complete CDs. That’s just sad. There is no way I could justify listening to that filth. Music stays in my head a LONG time. I know that might not be profound, but I’m talking longer than most people I know. I heard the first few notes of a Bryan Adams song at Applebee’s the other day and immediately identified it though it has been over 5 YEARS since I heard any Bryan Adams. I don’t need to retain garbage in my head any longer than I already will.

It reminds me of this verse:

Phillipians 4:8–Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Dishwalla: “I want to remain/A child with you forever…”

Matthew 18:1 – 4 “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Dishwalla: “What would you give?/Oh what would you give?”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son…”

Romans 5:7 – 8 (NIV) “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

What would you give?

You?

Here’s my crisis: When I’m at church and the speaker says “let’s just take a moment and love the Lord,” I freeze. I don’t know what to do. How do I actively, in the next moment “love the Lord?” When I look around, people might be clapping or raising their hand or praying, but is that evidence that they are at that point in time actually loving? If that’s the case, what are they doing the rest of their lives when they are not clapping or raising their hands or praying? Do they not love the Lord at those time? Heck, that’s most of the day/week/life for…well…everybody.

When I’m in church and it’s suggested that we “take a moment” or “take the opportunity to love the Lord,” I just stand there. I don’t do anything outwardly in that moment because I love Jesus all day long, at all times without having to clap my hands all day long. That kind of loving is an inner experience, not one that is only in existence if you perform some active outward display. Do you understand what I mean?

It seems to me that if the speaker really wanted to see that we were taking a moment to love the Lord, then the congregation should all leave the building and head off to preach the gospel in various parts of the city. Isn’t that what Jesus told Peter to do as proof of his love?

John 21:17 (New International Version)

The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”

I think these meetings are going to continue to amaze me.

It’s awe-inspiring how much my staff likes working where they work and also how much they like working for me specifically. We have the perfect combination of personalities working in a wonderful environment. Could this same group of people succeed in a different hospital environment? Absolutely. The one we work in now, however, gives us time every once in a while to get to know each other a little better than if we were constantly busy each doing our own thing. This is not to say that we don’t keep busy at work, but it is to say that we get enough opportunity to step back, take a breath, and say “hi” to each other. This makes a huge difference.

I realized last night that I sometimes call the people that work under me “my staff”, however I think of them as my co-workers. I don’t normally see myself in a position above them (unless I’m enforcing policies). I think of them as the people that I work side-by-side with on a daily basis. They have so much to offer me, even more so than I have to offer them. Also, while I think of them as my co-workers, in actuality they are my friends. This is huge considering how much time we spend together in any given week. I get to work with my friends and I am truly blessed.

I want to point out, yet again, as I tried to do in the staff meeting yesterday, that I don’t take credit for any of this. I only had a hand in hiring the person who just became full-time instead of being part-time (the part-time position was also one I didn’t have a hand in hiring). Everyone in the department was trained by someone else that currently works there. I barely help with the training. I don’t deserve credit for high morale or a group of wonderful, well-trained employees.

Remember, each and every one of you, James 1:17. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above…”. These jobs we have in our work area are a gift. Don’t think more highly of me, but praise the God who provided thusly for you. I am a man, and am very fallible. I don’t deserve praise, but need prayers. I’m going to slip, I’m going to fall, I’m going to disappoint. If you want your work area to continue to succeed, pray. Not just for me, but also for the other people you work with. We are all in this together, and we all need more strength than we have merely within ourselves. If we will do this for one another and save the praise for where it truly belongs, I am confident that we can be assured of having a wonderful workplace as long as we desire to remain there.

It is a blessing to be where I am. I do not wish to take it for granted.

It seems that God likes to work in little ways in my life. I feel amazed that I actually realize His work sometimes. I guess it’s good that He works in little ways, since I don’t really need any help in big ways…unless He wants to give me some money to pay off my debts.

On this particular Thursday my wife was to drive and hour to Augusta to meet with her college advisor. It’s not usually too bad of a drive, just inconvenient. Only, this Thursday it was snowing. The roads were slippery.

I was at special work meetings and got out of work early. I emailed my wife from home, as she should have been back to work by the time I got home. I wanted to know if she needed anything special at the grocery store. There was no response.

I didn’t think too much of no response since her work schedule often has her driving and working all around the greater Bangor area. I went shopping the midst of the snowstorm and returned home an hour or so later. There was still no response from my wife on my email. Even if she has to drive to another office to do some work, she usually has access to her email at some point. I wondered why she hadn’t answered but figured she was getting out of work soon, so no big deal.

Six-thirty came and she still wasn’t home. She should have been home by then even considering the fact that it was still snowing. She hadn’t called or emailed to let me know she would be late. I started to worry a bit.

I went to the kitchen to look out the window where I’d be able to see if she was coming up the road. I saw nothing for a few minutes. I decided I needed to stop worrying, so I said a prayer to God asking for protection over my wife. It didn’t matter to me where she was, what was going on, or what physical state her car might be in just as long as she was unharmed. I asked my God for this favor, and then I left it in His hands. I returned to the computer to hang out online while I waited for her to come home or call.

When I sat down at the computer, my email had a message that had just arrived. Remember, I had just checked my email after putting the groceries away and before I went into the kitchen. The newly arrived message was from my wife. It was letting me know that she might be late getting out of work since she had been late getting back from Augusta. She went and returned safely. Praise God for the protection!

Oh, and she had sent the email two hours prior to it arriving in my inbox. She had been safe all along, but God had waited until I gave my trust to Him before He let me know. May I always put my trust in Him. Great and mighty is my God.

Sometimes I’d just like to know what standard I’m being measured against if it is not directly from the scriptures.

Matthew 13:22. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Romans 12:2. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Titus 2:12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Mark tells us that he finally was accepted into a government job that he applied for two years ago. This means he’ll be working in a remote location approximately two hours away. Naturally he’ll be moving there or somewhere relatively close by. This will be after he heads to the southern US for 3 months training first. Scratch one Mark off the list.

*bows head in moment of silence*

Cousin Dave shows up to tell us that he accepted a job offer back at the last store he worked in. In Lewiston. Another two hours or so away in an opposite direction as Mark. Scratch Cousin Dave off the list.

*bows head in moment of silence which ends by punching something…in my mind at least*

There go the last two of my close friends from my youth. Now it’s time for me to start working harder on relationships with my church friends; they seem to be the ones who aren’t going anywhere. God? Are you trying to tell me something?

*sigh*