To My God Who delights in unholy vessels

If I tell you controversial things, things which seem dark, or a failure to someone who claims to be a Christian, it is only because I am trying to get you to see something much deeper. You see, I know my depravity, though at times, we do under estimate the potential of our depravity, nevertheless, I know my depravity goes beyond what I can imagine. I have done things in my life that I cannot believe I would stoop to. However, as bad as that is, I know the human potential for egregious sin, is bigger than even my worst deeds. At the very same time, I am certain that God foresees our most evil atrocities, allows them to happen with repercussions, then, in most cases brings us through it, ultimately forgiving us. I open my life to you, to give you hope, and a reason why we should be candid, when possible. The human being, is terribly dangerous. A cat knows it's a cat, and a bird knows it's supposed to sing, yet mankind, who is God's smartest creature on Earth, will pay a psychiatrist thousands of dollars to sit down and tell him who he is, and why he is here. You see, a cat is programmed. The instinct of a bird, and the program God placed in a bird, keeps the bird in a life of bird boundaries. But God did not program a human! He gave you the freewill to write your own program! Some people seek drugs and alcohol. Some seek riches and fame. Humanity is driven to fill the void that only can be filled with God. Humans are free, made without a program, and therefore the most dangerous animals on the planet. It is a human proclivity to think that you are everything, you are even God, and life revolves all around you. But the Bible, as well as society, tell us that servant hood is greater than being served (Mk. 10:44-45). As much as I could desire to be freed from these shackles of sin, I cannot. It is not because I am far from God that I am sinful, it is because I am so close to His purity, to His holiness, to His immutable absoluteness, that in contrast, I can see my need for a Savior, for I am a wretched, and sinful human being. Yet, God is so good, and His Grace will always surprise you, by its magnitude. When I was younger, I was the terror of my neighborhood, many times. By the time I reached my 30's, I had accumulated over $30,000 that my mother had paid in my behalf, either in fines, other police matters, or in failure to pay a house note, or a car note, and stuff. Many years had went by, and I had even been saved in Christ, but then my mom died. She had always kept books in her desk as to what I owed her. The day came that we were to go to her house and get the final few things that were in the house. I scurried to that desk, looking for the list of what I owed my mom, in hopes that no one would see it. IT WAS GONE! Then in a moment, God reminded me of how He saved me in Leavenworth, and I know a miracle had taken place. I leave you today with a hope that you will always be self-culpable for your prolific sin nature. I think it is very dangerous for anyone to claim they only sin a little. I don't buy that at all! My sin put Jesus on the cross! That is no trivial or cavalier matter! Be culpable, and be obedient when God grants you that power. In the end, the price He paid, will be sufficient for all your wrong turns in life. God bless you! brian†craig

THE REAL DEAL!

I have no qualms in telling you, I have been being carried away in emotion, in lethargy, in frivolty, and in sin. Sin is the one common denominator that connects us all. I am very aware of my proclivity to pursue my sin nature, though I know many aren't quite getting what I am saying here. Yet, it is the Christmas season, and through all of this melee, I have spoken with My Heavenly Father each and every day, as I am not foolish enough to try and weather life's storms without Him near. The future is uncertain, and filled with challenges. Growing old is not for the faint of heart. We grow old, we debilitate, and we die. Though we look forward to all of God's promises, it is by no means difficult to know you are leaving loved ones, and the only milieu that you have ever experienced at a personal level. Death is an unusual rending of the body and the soul, one of which only can be explained and overcome by God. I am writing this today, because I believe it is ok when we falter, in fact, it is a guarantee that you will falter. Yet, God knows we are but dust, and He chose to redeem us because He knew we had no intrinsic worth in which to redeem ourselves. Lift up the Lord, when you are able, and God will lift you when you are unable. I have lived a wild life of emotion and deed, yet God has fairly judged, chastised, and even rewarded me. As I look into my future, I see heart-stopping challenges creeping nearer and nearer. Yet I will continue to look beyond this world for answers, as I did in all the cruxes of my life. God has never failed me. I am confident that He has no plans to change His ways! Selah' brian†craig

Are you REALLY available to God?

God doesn't need men and women with an articulate vocabulary and poignant writing or speaking skills. In fact, God doesn't need our abilities at all. God is more interested in our availability. One can have all the lingusitic skills, and informational libraries available, but if the heart is cold, where will the fire come from? The heart, the human heart, needs to be the place where we actively seek after the God of this Universe. Moreover, the God of this Universe delights when we pursue Him. He has directed the stars, the planets, the galaxies, yet He takes time to commune with us tiny little creatures, on this tiny little planet called Earth. I encourage you to follow me deeper in your walk with God. This includes many things that are conducive to building a strong relationship with The Master. We need to read the Bible continuiously. The Bible is a very long book made up of 66 smaller books, and the only way to have a mind that is tethered to scripture, is to synergistically understand how the 66 books fit together, and tell one story of God redeeming mankind to Himself. Memorizing scripture is a very good way to internalize the Bible and is very rewarding. Many know the famous, John 3:16, "For God so loved the World". I find when I run through my memorized scriptures on the job, waiting at the doctor's office, etc., my mind and attitude quickly stand up and I become sharper and more alert. We need to pray, yet if we do not read and internalize scripture, how can one honestly go to God and pray with any level of confidence, knowing that we are not really seeking God, but instead we just want what is on God's table. And finally, having read the Bible, having memorized the Bible, having repetiously and fervently sought God in prayer, we need to take God into our world. On the job, at church, in society, we ought to be able to see God in everything, and alert those who come in contact with us, that God is faithfully and continuously moving and working in every moment affairs. So remember, God doesn't need our ability, God just needs our availability. Are you available?

The Winds of Change are Blowing.

The "Winds of Change" are blowing, can you feel them? This week I ended a tour on a job I have had for 5 years. I am moving to a different company, in the same field, only this time, with pre-existing experience. The pay is much better, but I feel anxious and that I need to prove myself in a strange new environment. My faith in Christ is very solid, but I am struggling with sin in areas which is something that a mature Christian should acknowledge is a lifetime struggle. Nonetheless, when in the Spirit, I feel the desire to shed the sin nature, as it robs me of my utmost potential and communion with Almighty God, the One Lover of My Soul. For now, I have to continue to Fight the Fight of Faith, and do my best to walk in the Spirit. At 52 years of age, it has been very hard leaving one job for another. As a young man I could care less, as I probably held 1000 jobs. But now I am much more circumspect, redeeming the time, and very aware of my encroaching mortality. At my last job, God had a few assignments for me, and I know He will have more at my new location. Once I was a baby Christian, a Bible student, etc., but now an ardent Christian Apologist with an arsenal in my library, and in my mind. This is a straight call and grace from God, to have this knowledge and the aspiration to uncover such knowledge, and I am forever grateful to "Abba" My Father. Many times I have believed that God needs a really bad apple for a disciple, and I have earned that title as well as The Apostle Paul claimed he did. The one thing you come to learn in any intellectual pursuit, is that the more you learn, the more you realize how much you do not know. But, we cannot know it all. We are individuals, each with our own distinct gift from God Almighty. So just flower and bloom, right there where you are, God will send those He is preparing, if we will but prepare in service to The Master. Yes, The Winds of Change are blowing. Frightening, exciting, interesting, and poignant to the psyche, are the Winds of Change. We must move forward. God walks with us, in front, and behind us. He has prepared this moment of graduation and stewardship, and it is a thrilling time to be both human, yet to walk and move in an eternal, consequential, endeavor, following God one step at a time, never totally knowing where the next step will be, but waiting on The Lord, as is the method God uses to keep us on chair's edge, cherishing His voice, His presence, and His unfaltering direction. Thank you Father, for those times I tested you, and all on Earth, with my wandering ways. You have stood in the gap for me Father. You have redeemed my most evil atrocities, by Your immutable grace, You have smiled on me, in the midst of the fire. You have melted me, broken me, and reshaped me, a multitude of times, but You never saw it proficient to rid Yourself of me. What a Mighty God You are! I do not deserve the air I breathe, yet I feel Your smile at this moment. One day soon, You will change me, to be a little more like You. That is the day I long for Dear Abba. Thank you for not giving up on me, and please give me a heart for others as well. I love You Lord!

Our pagan calendar and week

The Greeks named the days week after the sun, the moon, and the five known planets, which were in turn named after the gods Ares, Hermes, Zeus, Aphrodite, and Cronus. The Romans substituted their equivalent gods for the Greek gods, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn. The Germanic peoples generally substituted similar gods for the Roman gods, Tiu, Woden, Thor, and Freya, but did not substitute Saturn. This is where our modern days of the week come from. Sun's-day, Moon's-day, Tiu's-day, Woden's-day, Thor's-day, Freya's-day, and Saturn's-day. Our modern monthly calendar is also imbued with pagan and mythological significance. Janus is the Roman god of gates and doorways, where we get January from. Februa is the Roman festival of purification, held on February fifteenth. Mars, the Roman god of war, is where we get March from. The Pentagon in Washington D.C. is also constructed using mythological, paganistic, and occultic architecture based upon "The god of War" also known as "The god of Mars" and identified with the number five, hence; pentagon and pentagram. Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, also identified as the Roman goddess Venus, is where we get Aphro, which became Aprilis, then April. Maia (meaning "the great one") is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus, and wife of Vulcan. Maia became May. Juno is the principle goddess of the Roman Pantheon. She is the goddess of marriage and the well-being of women. She is the wife and sister of Jupiter, and identified with the Greek goddess Hera, and where we get our month of June. Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, which became the Julian calendar in 46 BC. In the process, he renamed the month of Quintilis to "July" after himself. Augustus Caesar clarified and completed the calendar reform of Julius Caesar. In the process, he also renamed this August after himself. The remaining four months came directly from the old Roman calendar and are off by two months. What I mean by this is that "Septem" which means seven, and was the seventh Roman month, instead is our ninth month of September. "Octo" which means eight, and was Rome's eighth month, wound up as our tenth month, known as October. "Novembris mensis" means, ninth month, and became our eleventh month, November. "Decem", meaning "ten", (note: decade, decalogue), the Roman tenth month, became our twelfth month we now call December. It's a little scary and a little creepy how everything is named after pagan sources, men who made themselves to be gods, and mythological and false gods. It seems man has made a god out of everything, including himself, and the one time God really did show up on the earth, they murdered Him on a cross. But it's all part of God's plan! And soon enough, He's going to return again and fix this joke of a planet we have concocted! Maranatha!

Look not at that which is Seen

Romans 8:18, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." 1 Cor. 4:17-18, "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." Why does God tell us not to look at (dwell on, trust in) that which we see? You have heard "hold to things loosely" while on this earth. We all will have to part with everything we know and love. If we can't let go of things, things will absolutely destroy us, because, one way or another, we will lose everything. While humans live in the dimension known as "time" where things grow old and perish, God dwells outside of time. When God's Word tells us to look at that which is not seen, because it is eternal, He is encouraging us to see our ontology (existence), through His eyes. We know we are growing old, we know we are passing, even the hardest skeptic can see evidence for that, so we know not to look (dwell on, or trust) on that which is seen. What we see, is fading away. But we can also look at that which is not seen, because we can see that The Bible is divine, rather than human in its origin. Our faith and trust is built up because the Bible is a reliable document of history, completely trustworthy, rooted in empirical evidence, inspired (God-breathed). When the Bible speaks of "looking at the things which are not seen" it is implicitly referring to our eternal state, living outside of time, after Christ comes back to this earth, abdicating the second law of thermodynamics. Dead bodies will be resurrected, and those who haven't died yet will be instantly changed, having their bodies modified to live outside of time, in a higher quality of existence. The "second law" which is a natural law of science otherwise known as "entropy" is God's method of ending this present milieu. Sin came into the world when man chose to follow Lucifer, and disobey God. At that time, the second law was created and has been working, as generation to generation has continually died off, until we are where we are today. The world as we know it, will be destroyed! It's coming! But the Word tells us "it's a light affliction, compared to what God is going to do with us!" I used to think "eternity" meant "a duration of existence" until I became familiar with philosophy (Theistic), and etymology. Eternity is not a duration existence. Eternity is a quality of existence. Living outside of "time", not being subjugated to the "second law", is just part of what God has in store for us. Death, sin, and every negative cause and effect we have ever known, will be absent from our existence in eternity. Eternity is a higher quality of life, because it is outside of the decay that our present time-space continuum brings. Primarily, eternity will be a higher quality of life because we will live, grow, learn & develop, without error, living in the direct presence of God Almighty. God admonishes us to trust that our present affliction is light. This includes losing all that we have, and all those in whom we love. Wait, that doesn't sound like a light affliction! Oh, yes it is! In the existence we cannot now see, God will raise your loved ones! This time however, they will not live in a world governed by the decay of time; they will not pass away. Now I see why God tells me not to hold on so tight to this passing world. And I stand in awe of His Holiness, that I can truly trust in that which I cannot see, knowing that which I cannot see, is ETERNAL! Selah'

Be Menial, Unimportant, & Lowly

I have good news for you. Wouldn't you want to be a tool in God's hands? Wouldn't you want God to use you for His glory? Well He will, and here's why. God will use you friend, because you are no one special. You are insignificant. You are menial and unimportant. This is where your hope lies. God usually uses these types of people, because if God used someone powerful, someone famous, someone accomplished, if God used someone like that, they would think they did it on their own. They would not honor God, and they would boast in themselves. God uses weak things, to confound the vain wisdom of man. God uses insignificant people, because an insignificant person knows how small we really can be. Therefore, he is less likely to exhibit an unhealthy ego, and more likely to give glory to God. In fact, there is power in realizing your insignificance, as there is power in laying aside any power you may have. The word "meekness" in one sense means "power under control". Power, out of control, is a destructive force. But you take a drive-shaft and gears, then subdue that in a gear box, or a crankcase, and you realize the potential for real power. In reality, humans are a mixture of greatness and wretchedness, a.k.a., power and weakness. We are wretched because we have a sin nature which continually wants its way. We hurt others, and we harm ourselves. We are great, because God designed us to commune with Him, and of all created life, we are "Exhibit A" on Planet Earth. We are living and immortal, because God created us as spiritual creatures. Yet I speak today to those who are lowly, unimportant, menial and mundane. I encourage you. You have what it takes. You do! The truth is, we would all be better off if we saw ourselves as meek, yielding creatures, who cared for others, as much as we care for ourselves. One day we will dwell with God, and then the braggadocios, egocentric fools, will be passive, listless, and self-respectful. It's like the two men cursing on the corner, telling a dirty joke, and then the preacher walks by. They get quiet, then let out a, "good morning Preacher!" If they do this when the preacher walks by, what do you think they will be like when the One who made the sun walks by? But it's the little things in life that are so special. It's the trillions of little people that make the deciding difference. When someone or something gets too big, or flies too high, they burn out very fast, they have no staying power. Remember the story of the tortoise and the hare. The hare had the speed, that's for sure. But in the end, it was the tenacity, and the unrelenting scruples of the tortoise, that conquered. The tortoise looked menial, unskilled, lowly, and a sure underdog, but with a heart that wouldn't quit, and a motif and methodology from Creator God, sooner or later he was sure to win. Everybody wrote him off, and the hare certainly did. And, everybody has written you off too! I hope you know that by now. They sure wrote me off. But I have good news! There is company here at the bottom. There is A Carpenter with nail scars in His hands. The bottom is a good place to be. And now I know, it's the only place for me. GBY! Happiness comes in knowing that you are exactly where you belong!