On Child-rearing

I have been dreading this topic because too many millennials have been influenced by social opinion and automatically disagree with me, although reason and experience would side with traditional methods of child-rearing. Prepare to be angry with me enough to want to set me straight. I'm used to anger because I present truth. Anger is a natural response to scriptural truth.

One of my favorite things children are called is "Mini-Me's". In the Austin Powers movies Dr. Evil had himself cloned and his creation was a "little person" who was named "Mini-Me". In essence Mini-Me was an idol of Dr. Evil. He was an idol of Evil's "self". He was made in the image of "evil" ironic as it may be! It seems far out because at the present there are no known human clones, indeed there are billions of "personality clones". All around us are behavior induced Mini-Me's, some doing good, but most doing evil!

Those "good" Mini-Me's are truly a copy as well. Their parents are spiritual mentors and they truly are a copy. This can be good, conditionally that is!

Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

God inspired this manner of child-rearing. Christians are to pattern their children's character after God himself. Rather than being a "spiritual clone" of the parents the child is to be a copy of the Father in heaven. As such, the Father who begot the Son made the Son without flaw. We can't do that because our children are not divine, but we teach perfection, knowing that the goal us not obtainable, but is still desirable!

This passage implies that to train one must model the behaviors to be effective. Dr. Evil could not train Mini-Me to be good because he was evil. Likewise, to train a child to be righteous, the parent must be righteous as well. Too many parents fail to recognize that "Do not do as I do; do as I say!" is a failure for character building because  effective training must be modeled. Those poor parents who have good children have failed in their training because, obviously, those children in spite of that choose to be what their parents are not! Those are miracle babies because God wrought grace upon them!

God goes further than mere teaching. He endorses modeling as the means of training!

Deuteronomy 6:6  "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: 7 And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."

"These words" (God's wisdom) are commanded to be in the hearts of the parents. That makes the parent a "spiritual clone" of God. After they are right themselves, then the parents' job is "to teach them diligently unto thy children".  To teach righteousness requires the teacher to be righteous. Parents are to be Mini-Gods in an obedience sense and children are to be "Mini-Me's" of a righteous parents rather than allowing Dr. Evil to be the model!

The Bible refers many times to a man "who pisseth against a wall".  What they do is unclean (as a dog) and futile. The modern term is "peeing in the wind". Unless we are righteous (clean) ourselves, teaching righteousness is like peeing in the wind. What is taught blows right back to the origin and what's dirty can't flow forward.  Teaching righteousness from unrighteous parents is an effort in futility. To teach right, one must be right with God themselves.

The first rule in child-rearing is to get yourself where you want your children to be.

One of the most noticeable traits of millennials is that they have been spoiled. Adoring baby boomers wanted their children to have what they went without. Baby boomers were children born subsequent to WWII when soldiers came home tp anxious wives. There was a population boom. Many of these soldiers were reared in the depression and had little. They were frugal parents and most taught their children frugality.  Many baby boomers were comfortable in necessities, but had few luxuries. As such they wanted their children to have what they didn't have!

Now the millennials have their own children. They cloned themselves!  Now the mantra is "I want my children to have the luxuries I have and I wished I had more!" Millennials on the whole saturate their children with mountains of "things" and constant entertainment. They create Mini-Me's galore. We're surrounded by them!

This modern generation wants what the previous generation has without the time and work to legitimize it. By the use of fake money (credit) young people have what it took the previous generation years to attain. However, the older generation owned what they obtained whereas the younger generation has only borrowed it!

Those of the Y-Generation (born subsequent to 1982) have come a long way! They grew up when times were good. They are products of the electronic age and the prosperity it brought. Not only that, but the electronic age brought electronic entertainment. When I was a child I listened to static on the radio and watched the "snow" on the television when we even had those. Now, people can game with those on another continent  or romance with virtual people on the internet whose make-up amounts to ones and zeros, the genetic identity of beautiful people on the internet.

Every new toy and entertainment medium is promptly displayed all over the world and society's corporate awe exclaims "I gotta have that! It looks like fun!", and right then the parents go buy it for "deserving" children to keep their munchkins from "hating them"! Love can't be bought, but parents still depend on that because they spend too much time working instead of loving so that they can buy THINGS.

I must admit: I lived in "the good old days". Poverty is training par excellence for success! The hardships and lack of things motivated me to accomplish and be successful to EARN those things. I have joy in the memory when my father took me to the five-and-dime and bought me a warm coat when I went off to college in Michigan, which by the way, I paid for without borrowing! The tears in his eyes when he said "I wish I could help you more." meant more than anything he could have given me! The millennials missed out on that and it's my best memory!

What word describes the attitude for the modern generation? It's DESERVE. Even car advertisements show young people who exclaim "I want the car I deserve!" What makes them deserve it? They haven't worked for it yet, It's bought on borrowed money! They DESERVE things just because "I am me!" when in fact they are just like their parents; they are Mini-Me's!

Part of feeling they DESERVE things is because they have always had things, but not because they DESERVED them, but because parents try to buy their love, and some who even attempt to right their own childhood by giving kids what they didn't have. Children do NOT DESERVE anything rather than love, reasonable nourishment and training. What they DO DESERVE is a chance for the hope of salvation and although the parents can't save them, they can present that hope: Jesus Christ!

DESERVING has reached new extremes. Younger people even think they DESERVE heaven because their parents are Christians or because they are taught "If you behave I'll GIVE you ...whatever!" Some parents even reward their children for behaving well and this becomes the metric for reward! God never rewards us for just doing "good" for only God is good, so why do parents do that? They are not doing what God wants them to do!

Scripture teaches industry, hard work and honor in patience and sacrifice. Poverty is a product of disobedience, but it's useful as a key ingredient for success. I will recount my own blessing.

I have things now because I did without then. The lack of being affluent made me affluent. It was not of me, but of God. It wasn't necessarily the things I did which made me achieve, but the things which I did without!

Dad could have borrowed money for my education. I would never have allowed that. I still will not borrow for things I can do without and avoid borrowing for things I need by planning ahead. The modern generation are driven to spend as fast as they earn and when peril comes, they have to borrow to continue on. Borrowing compounds the problem. People have things, but they have the stress of borrowing for things. Their priorities are on themselves rather than God. They model this failure for their children and with each generation the problem is compounded. People look for a name for these people. I will call them the "D Generation" because of the attitude "I DESERVE to have!"

For myself, I worked my way through college. I was ready to quit when fiances got tough, but God got me through! However, I had to sacrifice to succeed and that I did with God's comfort. I actually went eight full days and nights without any food at all (not even a slice of bread) because I had no money. I had only water to drink. God kept me from danger and made me strong. My test grades were even better because my mind was clear and I spent more time studying.

That was the extreme, but that was pretty much my life for four years. I didn't DESERVE to be in college, but God provided a way. When I wanted to quit for lack of THINGS, God got me through it. Now I reap the rewards of THINGS not getting in my way!

I like "boy toys". When I raised my children I never bought them for myself. My children came first. I waited until I was middle-aged before I bought a cheap boat and retirement before I had a motorcycle, Now I'm blessed. I set priorities for my family and made it through. I even tithed and gave generously, and have been rewarded with an affluent period in which to spend my last days on earth. I have no regrets. I have fond memories of making it through tough times!

How did I make it? My Dad reared his children right. I had one birthday present my entire life (a watch) and only one toy for Christmas ever (from my brother). I didn't DESERVE things and I didn't get things for which I did not work! I earned money, but it wasn't spent on entertainment nor things; it was spent on clothing and shoes to help my Dad. Now, I have fond memories of sacrifice and hard work. I have fond memories of my struggling Dad who didn't go in debt to give me THINGS!

Dad was the clone, or nearly so, of God's desire for him, and he passed that along to me. I am my Dad's Mini-Me because he brought me up in the way I should go! No, that's not a perfect way for like Paul, I'm a chief sinner. However, I know that I don't DESERVE anything, but by grace I have many things! I don't DESERVE heaven, but I have the hope of reward because of Jesus' grace.

For those parents who create Mini-Me's who DESERVE whatever they want. they come to believe that they DESERVE heaven. For those parents who reward their children for being "good", they train them to EXPECT heaven for being "good". For those who give their children so many THINGS, it's THINGS they come to worship! The Bible teachers perseverance and sacrifice, not immediacy and luxury.

Those toys, games, CD's, iPads, nice cars, and concerts which seem a necessity now, are temporal. The desire for those will be lost in the glory of heaven. Train your children now to prepare for heaven.  Hope for one gift is acceptable: we can HOPE for heaven and get it by grace, not because it's DESERVED!

Stressors

We all know what "stress" is; don't we?

Human beings are a system. Within the system we have numerous sub-systems. They are all controlled by the brain. Some systems require thinking to make them actuate. For instance to make the skeleton system do things, most often that system requires a command: "I say walk!" and it will carry you forward or backward. However, it can't do that without help. When you say "walk" the skeleton can carry you, but it needs aid!

Without the muscular system, the skeletal system is helpless, but it takes more than muscles. Muscles are of no use without the aid of the skeletal system. Where is this all leading? All of the eight or more systems of the body are required, but without each other to assist, the individual would be greatly impeded. When any of those systems fail to do what they're supposed to do, a person is said to be handicapped.

Point 1: There is much going on within the system we call our "body". In fact we are a "body of operating cooperating systems".

There is one system which makes it all operate and cooperate. That's the nervous system. It's the processor (the brain) and the LAN (the spinal cord and the nerves). The nerve endings carry things outside the system and says "Hey, body. Something wants in!" The information is transmitted to the brain where it must decide. Some decisions are conscious. That's thinking and is called "cognition". Other decisions are automatic. The brain has learned to do things without conscious decision-making. That comes with gestational development and with creation.

Point 2: Cognition can be conscious or beneath awareness, called "within the sub-conscious".

It's nice that we don't always have to think:"Fingers, scratch my nose!" From the experiments within the womb, the unborn child "learned" that.

Point 3: External inputs have taught our bodies to do things without thinking.

However, the cooperation between systems is innate. The brain signals the diaphragm (muscular system) to move and it's the motor which drives the pump, the lungs. When the oxygen is distributed to the bloodstream the respiratory system and the circulatory system cooperate, already cooperating with the muscular and nervous system. We were created with these sub-systems and most people are born with systems which cooperate on their own. God designed this powerhouse to be most efficient. It was not chance nor accident that these systems are so perfect

Point 4: The brain controls the flesh without the system having to think about it.

Most psychologists would tell you that personality is a sub-system of the body. It's our unique personhood.  The external signals are carried from the world to the brain. There the information is processed and the end result of the decision-making is the personality. Other sub-systems influence the personality. They all cooperate although some seem to be uncooperative!

Some inputs create joy, happiness and amelioration. The body likes those and the nervous system tells the arms to raise in joy and the mouth to move from neutral to smile. We are happy with the external events which help to make us what we are.

Other external events are undesirable. They cause one or more of the other system to function, but to do so in a malicious way. For instance, the digestive track always cooperates. It has good enzymes and bad acids. When external inputs go well, the digestive track does its job sub-consciously. The body is not even aware it's working except for the occasional gas pain and maybe an awareness of normal peristalsis. The systems work together to do the job they were designed to do!

On the other hand, some external forces outside the system irritate the system. It's good that we recognize danger for our own safety. To effect that, the nervous system, without us thinking, tells the digestive system, "I need a shot of acid to warn my other systems of danger!" The digestive juices then do their job and the entire system is saved!

Point 5: External events and how we handle them create our personality. (We eventually become what we allow into our system).

The impulses from outside to the body system and how the person handles the external input is called "the flesh". The flesh is what the system does with external signals. Those systems all combined, external to the body system, is called "the world". The world was created by God, but distorted by Satan. God guides us to do well with what he created and Satan tells us to do evil with it.

Satan sends invisible and scientifically non-detectable signals to the body's system to short circuit it. Those impulses are called "temptation".

Point 6: Satan's role is to disrupt the body's system.

The reason Satan wants to disrupt is to separate man from God. There is another system which science refuses to accept. We have a sub-system called "the soul".  Those invisible forces, both good and evil, attempt to enter our system through the flesh and imbue the container called the soul.

Point 7: Another system exists called the spirit.

The spirit takes influences from the world and presents them to the flesh. If the flesh has a pleasing experience with what enters the system, it's called pleasure. If it imbues disruptive signals, it's called dissatisfaction. Extreme dissatisfaction results in pain!

Like other external inputs what comes from the world must be interpreted by the nervous system.  The other systems cooperate to decide, "Is this pleasurable or is it harmful?" Acid may drip into the stomach and the digestive track cooperates in the decision-making. This is normal and is for our protection!

An input, not of the world, but from the Spirit of God is "guilt". It's an external signal which has the purpose of protecting the body system. Guilt can be a good thing, or a bad, depending on where it originates.

Psychology sees guilt as morality and is something which the person needs freedom. Their recommendation is that when behaviors; such as fornication, homosexuality, greed, anger and such; makes the person feel guilty, that their counsel is to work on the negative feeling causing the guilt. Go ahead and do whatever it is you do, but don't feel guilty about it. Guilt does cause anxiety if something doesn't change, and they find it easier to change the guilt than the behavior!

Point 8: The Holy Ghost's purpose is to provide "comfort".

I use the term "Ghost" rather than spirit for two reasons: 1. The Spirit is the presence of God the Father, whereas the Holy Ghost is the "Ghost" of Jesus. It's his presence which he left behind to minister to mankind in his physical absence. The Holy Spirit was imbued within Jesus at the crucifixion and experienced death with Jesus. He didn't die, but he was there. He felt emotional pain. It's imperative to understand that the Holy Ghost is Emmanuel, God with us, and is the very Spirit who is the remnant of Jesus Christ on earth.

When the Holy Ghost Comforts us, he is of two distinct aspects. He's the Spirit which imbues our soul and fills the temple within. There is one Spirit, don't get me wrong, but there is part of that Spirit who lives within and another part who is external. For them to be in unity, the external part of the Spirit acts on the body's system, the soul being part of that system. We were created in "their" image; meaning Father, Son and Holy Spirit. As such we have a mind much like God's, a body much like Jesus' and a Spirit which flows from God. He's not a liquid flowing, but a personal presence who communes with Christians.

Therefore the Communion which we have for God is external to our system, but is in unity with the Spirit which dwells within. Somehow we do the will of God by the influence of the Holy Ghost (Ghost of Jesus) who communes with the Spirit of God within. This communion crosses the body's system boundary and causes change within our system. We have a desire to do good, because we are one in Spirit with God.

Something changes inside the system. It gets cleaned up. What was dirty inside (evil and unclean) is expelled from the system and more spirit imbues. It's proportional. My thoughts is it's like "God's Conservation of Spirit Law". It must balance! We are all evil unless the blood cleanses us for the entry of the Spirit, and the spirit makes the system new, cleansing it within. God's temple, the soul, is washed inside. However, the part we're born with is still there. That's why we still sin. That last bit of impurity will become pure when we're glorified. Then we will truly be like Jesus. Until then we keep that Spirit "flowing" by loving God and others!

Point 9: External forces will continue to cross into the body's system boundary until we're glorified by dying in the Spirit!

Now for the bad news.  Christians, even when imbued with the Holy Spirit have external influences. These are stressors. Stressors are the external things which attack the body's system boundaries to undermine God and frustrate you. Satan gives false guilt and even tells you to reject God-given guilt. To do that he gives you pleasure. The mind accepts by freewill (our thought processes) which we inherit and can either allow in or reject pleasure. Unless we are discerning and responsive to the Spirit, weak people allow pleasure to come into the system.

It's easy for pleasure to come in because the mind has memories of what feels good. The body likes for it's system to be elevated to heights of importance and fed the best of the best. All bodies want pleasure, but those imbued with the Holy Spirit recognizes pleasures for what they are: temporal. The God-tempered mind weighs the temporary pleasures which are promised with eternal safety, and refuses to allow pleasure to cross the system boundary.

Point 10:  The full armor of God blocks unneeded pleasure from entering the body's system.

Others allow pleasure to come from the world to the flesh and cross that system boundary. For those who don't care, the fight is short. The system allows things, even which it knows will destroy, to cross that boundary. Guilt isn't there to filter out the bad things disguised as pleasure. The system only remembers the "high" it has had before and allows about anything to come in.

Suddenly, it's too late. Pleasures become stressors when the body system starts to fail. Pleasure ceases to be pleasurable and the body starts to die. Too much pleasure is poisonous and relationships tarnish as the system boundaries inflate to the point where nothing matters, but the system. You are now fully your own idol and everything is about you! What once seemed to provide pleasure are now stressors. If it's drugs, people reject you. You feel unwanted. Sex gives you disease and loss of respect for others and you. Anything which is ungodly becomes a stressor because they are sins which are diseases of the system.  Satan murders you by providing whatever stressor your system loves to allow entry!

Point 10: Pleasure can make you ill to the extent that you spiritually die.

You may still walk, talk, eat and breath, but you're dead inside. Some people destroy the remnants of what's left by suicide. They can't take any more things which cause pain to cross into the system boundary,  so they stop the dynamics which have caused the pain. Suicide is a tool for keeping your own idol from hurt. Since no one hates their own self, suicide is a mechanism to keep stressors out of the system. A better way would be God's whole armor, but Satan deceives.

Point 11: Even Christians have stress.

Because we belong to God as new persons, Satan doesn't give up, He multiplies his attacks. He provides more stressors to destroy us. He tempts us more. With God's whole armor, he loses. If we aren't praying and reading scripture that armor (which proetects the system) is pierced and evil enters in.  The Holy Spirit rushes forth and provides guilt. We have to make a choice: Can we ignore this discomfort and allow pleasure in or do we reject what Satan offers. Those who battle and loses feel guilt. It's from God, but it's a check to allow only right things in. Guilt keeps stressors at bay if we feel them inside the system, hate the stress which guilt creates, and rejects the stressors which seek to enter the body's system boundaries.

Point 12: Even guilt from God can be a stressor unless there is obedience.

If the checks and balances of "God's Conservation of Spirit Law" is allowed to work, stress is short-lived, turned on itself,  and prevented from attacking the system. We don't have to be stressed. That's a choice.

Point 13: Only fools would accept stress over joy and happiness.

When we're in God's will, stress is reduced and if we're faithful, it's almost non-existent. When we call on the Holy Spirit to Comfort us, and he will, he takes those "darts" called stressors for us. God's whole armor can't be penetrated and we live less stressful lives. It's those lives which are happy and at peace; even joyful! That's the Comfort we receive from God because Jesus wants us to be free of the bondage of the world which shoots stressors into the flesh!

Point 14: You too can be joyful. It's keeping the system from the darts which kill the spirit.

Scatomas: We All Have Them

For me any cancer which ends in "oma" is scary indeed! Of course we all think of carcinomas and such as those which kill. Those are physical maladies, but there are less benign cancers which can kill. A "scatoma", in medical terms, is a mass of feces in the the colon which appears to be a tumor. I recently had a hater tell me that "I only know what I see!" What if your doctor used that philosophy. He would be removing your colon because you ate too much cheese!

In terms of daily living, a "scatoma" is not seeing the whole picture. It's lies your eyes tell you! One of my favorite expressions has always been : "Are you going to believe me or your own lying eyes?" (Groucho Marx). Yes, our own loyal eyes can and will deceive us!

Another idiom is "Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see!" (Benjamin Franklin). Groucho and Ben understood real life. Each are paraphrasing scripture:

Ezekiel 12:2 "Son of man, thou dwellest in the midst of a rebellious house, which have eyes to see, and see not; they have ears to hear, and hear not: for they are a rebellious house."

Scripture covers the spiritual aspect of scatomas for they apply to hearing as well. Satan wants people to misunderstand and he throws in confounds to, well, confound you! He doesn't force scatomas upon those who trust in and obey God, but on those of a rebellious nature. Before we proceed with the spiritual aspect, let's look at other types of scatomas:

Carelessness:

We're all sloppy! Sloppiness is basically inefficiency in the use of our brain. Our cognition takes the easy route to the conclusion. "You can't see the forest for the trees" (proverbial) means that people have a tendency to focus on the wrong things. In this case they fail to see the beauty of the forest because they are looking at the detail of one tree.

A good painting, when viewed from a distance, is beautiful. However, when the viewer gets too close too much detail is seen and the detail doesn't match reality. When the artist stands back a ways and examines his work, he paints a better picture. An achieved painter paints with carelessness because he knows for beauty's sake, the detail doesn't matter. This is an example of a beneficial scatoma.

An an engineer, I can't paint because I must show all the detail. Hence, my drawing of the tree looks contrived although it's closer to what's real than what the more abstract person paints.

Let's say right now that for five seconds a picture is placed before you. It may have much detail. In five seconds, even if you concentrate, you will never ever be able to exactly duplicate that picture even if you have the skill set because your brain is inefficient. Those who have efficient minds have photographic memories. Most people don't have that!

In five seconds, my attitude and readiness determines how much detail I see. If someone merely flashes a picture for five seconds, I may not see anything with clarity, but the impression is that it's a forest, for example.  If I'm forewarned, I'm ready for the "test" and see much more! The lack of readiness is carelessness because there must be a reason to take in as much as possible. Because it's a test of efficiency, we all want to be more efficient, so we try harder! Even with that we see very little detail. We see, but still are blind! It's not rebellion. It's inefficiency. It's lack of motivation. We need a reason to be more efficient!

Error:

Many times we just err in what we see. Our mind can't take in the entire picture, so it just adds the detail because of various factors. Perhaps one is that "We see what we want to see." Let's say that Joe Chance stumbles into a women's changing room, for instance. His brain quickly gets new information: "Something is amiss here!" and Joe darts out because of his perception. Joe could have walked in while a woman was showering. He would then notice that there was a woman present, but not even be able to say if she is white or black, let alone how big her endowments are. That goes back to inefficiency.

On the other hand, the longer Joe stands there the more detail he sees and the more complete the picture matches reality. If he stands there ten minutes he will surely see "the whole Monty"! The problem arises when the time is of short duration. His mind fills in the blanks for the detail he did not see! His mind enlarges her breasts and puts a smile on her face. He colors her hair and her eyes with perceptual colors. She may actually not even look like the person he saw. That's his mind making errors in detail. This sub-conscious action is one reason witnesses misidentify innocent people in line-ups.

The woman showering may say "I saw Joe looking at me showering!" Joe may have had his focus on the trees and not have seen the forest, so to speak. His eyes were attracted to something else in the scenery and did not even see that the woman was showering; while she believes he did because to her she is the most important thing in the room!

We all have experienced this many times! We believe we captured it all when what we perceived was a fiction. Many people are in jail because of errors in seeing. Truly our eyes lie to us and lying eyes indict innocent people! Our minds fill in too many blanks!

Is this of Satan? He certainly uses our limitations to deceive for his own havoc! He even uses carelessness to make people stumble. All's fair with him in love and war. He will use our human frailties to ruin relationships whenever he can!

Planting Scatomas:

Satan "plants" things that aren't there. He wants us to see real things wrongly and false things as truth. For instance, I got in trouble for harassing a person with fourteen telephone calls. When confronted, I felt guilty. My phone showed that I indeed had called the person, who became irritated, fourteen times, but I only had called her once to answer her question! There's more: I never even had her phone number in my smartphones's address book yet my history showed that I called her all those times!

I had no explanation. I was accused of harassment, I couldn't deny making the calls, so I must have done them. I felt guilty, but something was amiss!

Well, it turns out that by "accident" my phone and my wife's phone, when close, exchanged information without the knowledge of either of us. Compounding this "coincidence" was that there was a bug in the IOS which caused my phone to auto-dial this number. Then the other "coincidence" is that it called one of the few people who much dislikes me and she knows that I have trouble tolerating her.

Are these truly accidents and coincidences? I don't think so! I believe them to be "plants" by Satan to ruin relationships!  If one looks at probabilities, scientifically, the odds are well beyond it happening by chance. Satan rigs the tables. He plants scatomas to fool even the elect. His M.O. is to ruin relationships because his desire is for us to hate each other for his own nefarious purpose; to undermine God! This brings us to the spiritual.

Spiritual Aspect:

Sometimes carelessness and error is because we're human. At other times it's the devil's deceit. He plants things in our minds to cause discord. He knows that when human's are at each other, we are not with God! That's why the love of others is so important. We are doing what God wants us to do!

Let's say that I'm in a store. I drop my comb on the floor while looking at a billfold. I put the comb back in my pocket and the billfold back on the display. Mrs. Observant, who I know, "sees" this incident. Her own mind "develops" this snapshot. What she sees is that I slipped something into my pocket. It must be the billfold because she failed to see the comb being dropped and retrieved. The mind then creates a fiction. She "sees"me put the billfold in my pocket!

That is a scatoma painted by the devil. She immediately (her maiden name was Shirley Gossup) tells all her friends. "I saw Larry steal a black Tommy Hilfiger wallet at Macy's." Her ready mind even put a color to the wallet, who the designer was and that it was Macy's and not Wal-mart. She became the tool of Satan to destroy my reputation!  Mrs. Observant did see me put something in my pocket (truth), but her mind created a fiction (lie). She wasn't being dishonest on purpose. She was being used by dark forces to ruin relationships.

On the other hand, Mrs. Observant was married before to Mr. Sinter. Because she is a thief, that's her first impression: "This man is stealing!"

In the other example, the woman in the shower may create a fiction which suits her fantasy. She wants a man to see her, so she creates the situation in her mind. It's real to her because Satan created it with realism. Satan paints a good picture and the woman's fantasy is fulfilled.

With the billfold, because this woman is a thief, to exonerate (sic) herself, she wants me to be a thief as well. It makes guilt less excruciating for her if "we all do that!". Satan let's her rationalize her own wrongs through the use of scatomas. She "needed" to see me steal to validate her own thefts! The downside is that she is still a thief, but now her fiction is that I am too! This misperception is not intentional. It's how Satan does his dirty business. We must always be merciful and give others the same benefit of the doubt which we would want for ourselves. That's the Golden Rule!

Summary:

Because of scatomas, reputations can be ruined and relationships soured.  Because someone really didn't see what they "saw", animosity results. Discord results in bitterness and the one we once loved, now we hate. We both lose and Satan wins. God cries as Satan smiles.

Note that none of these were done in rebellion, but in innocence because we were pawns in Satan's game of chess. On the other hand some people destroy others by refusing to look at truth for any length of time and in detail. People are happy with their false realities and God's not going to change that! People know what they"saw" is wrong, but continue in the facade because of pride. This is rebellion against right. It is rebellion against God.

People just have a problem admitting "Maybe I didn't see what I thought I saw." because of their pride, or it may be that they are mere pawns in the hands of a deceptive dark angel!

Validation:

Back in the first paragraph this was written "feces in the the colon which appears". Did you see "the the" before colon? If not, that's a scatoma. Slow detailed readers will immediately see it while the mind will not absorb that for speed readers. That's life folks. That's carelessness and inefficiencies in our make-up. Sometimes Satan uses that for nefarious purposes!

I Too Have a Dream

We shouldn't have to lie in the wallow of those who seek to destroy us, I speak to you today as my friends.

We, even though we continue to face problems with the future, also have a dream! It is a dream civilized people deserve. It is the dream on which America was founded.  It should be more than a mere dream!

I have a dream that someday civilized people will rise up and resume that on which this nation was founded: That we all are entitled "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" and no corrupt government has the right to usurp those rights.

I have a dream that soon on the plains and mountains of this great nation; in the cities, suburbs and farms; that the sons of American patriots, those who gave their lives for this great nation, can sit down together without fear of repressive adversaries robbing their freedom.

I have another dream. That one day even the people of the south will enjoy full rights as does their northern neighbors, that the injustices of Federal Reconstruction and regional differences will no longer cause a divide in this great nation! That class warfare will cease and correct talk be replaced with truth.

I have a dream that my five grandchildren will one day be free from speech control and remolding, which suits those whose ignoble ideas is to subvert our great nation and build instead a repressive regime of regulation and loss of liberty; that their desire to love and obey God shall not be infringed upon. That someday their own children shall not be stolen from their wombs and sacrificed to the gods of irresponsibility and pleasure.

It's just a dream today, but that too is my prayer!

I have a dream that those who endeavor to "level the playing field" and build mountains in their stead will cease. That equity shall be based on ability and that no false promises be used to further enslave those who succumb to deception and false hope; and that government tampering give way to the will of God whose desire is that all prosper and be saved, and that those whose faith is in government be replaced with faith in the King.

This is my hope and faith which I present to truth seekers today. Please take it with you and pass it along because "what is in you is better than what is of the world"!

With this confidence we will prosper again and all will have equal chances, whose outcome is based on individual effort and motivation. Because we can be great again, we shall be, if discerning people use their wisdom to divide truth from what is false. With this confidence, liberty shall replace despair and freedom... bondage. Those willing and able will be able to achieve greatness with obedience to God and the removal of government chains which enslave and create despair.  With this true hope and change we will be able to return our nation to prosperity, to give hope to our children and grandchildren, to provide a future rather than an abyss, and to allow everyone to build sturdy bridges to safety and happiness.

And this will be the time - this will be the era of good feeling where this song can be sung with meaning:

America... how great thou again shall be.
America... what once was the land of the free.
America... where truth and justice can again be.
America... the land of liberty!

And if America can again be a great nation, sound the clarion call. Sing this song with hope. Sing this song with confidence. Let freedom again ring across the great corridors of this nation.

Let these bells sound from Florida to Alaska, from Maine to Hawaii. Let freedom be!

Let Liberty stand tall not only on Staten, but throughout the land.

Let Liberty's torch light the karsted hills of Kentucky and the mountains of the Great Divide.

Let Liberty's hand stretch forth to those whose faith is the cause of their persecution.

Let Liberty again stand tall and never ever again bow to the memory of Marx...no never again!

Let Liberty alone. Just let her be. Let Liberty shine forth and let us receive her light!

On Discouragement

Generally discouragement is when things don't go right. Right for whom? Each of our own "selves". Discouragement is an emotion. It's when a person loses hope in something. It could be financial, marital, health, friendships, romance, vocation, performance, educational or spiritual. Some people even get discouraged with their sports teams and other petty things.

Psalm 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."

Discouragement takes three forms: 1) It is a normal reaction when one fails even though one's desire is to please God, 2) It's  a tactic of Satan to usurp one's hope in Christ or 3) It's the inability to get what one wants. Discouragement is not of God in all cases. "Failure" is succumbing to temptation and the destruction of "hope" is the vocation of Satan.  The latter is being self-centered and it too is Satan's desire because he knows that each one of us wants to be as gods.

In effect, then, discouragement is when Satan tries to defeat us. He entreats us to feel pleasure, but also uses a lack of satisfaction as a tool to bring us down. He tells us that we deserve pleasure then makes sure that we fail to get right pleasure!

For instance, my desire is to teach. In order to teach I need a forum. The most obvious forum is participation at church. It comes a time when there are not enough slots for everyone to minister. I was called to teach,and when I'm not teaching my calling is not fulfilled. Because I'm not able to have joy in teaching about the Lord, I am discouraged. What is paramount is to realize that I'm where Satan wants me. I focus on what I'm not getting, rather than what others need.  In other words, rather than focusing on the Lord, it's on my own "self", so in effect I'm placing my "other god" before God!

This analysis is called "soul searching". It's looking for cause and effect and testing it with scripture. We don't have to be discouraged.

Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Discouragement is being "heavy laden". It's having a burden constraining us. It's a lack of hope and joy. Jesus gave instructions for the malady of discouragement. "Come unto me." and what will he do "I will give you rest." or in other words, he will lighten the burden.  Jesus wants our load to be light and he is the one and only one that can provide encouragement for sure. If we rely on others to do God's job, we are looking in the wrong place!

Things WILL go wrong in life. Romances will sour! People will feel slighted or betrayed. There are three things to do: 1) Change things, hopefully through prayer and  instruction from the word, 2) have satisfaction with the way things are, or 3) continue to be discouraged.

If we make the choice to continue to be discouraged, things won't get better! We all should have the desire to get out of the slump, so that leaves leaning on the Lord for both other alternatives. For myself, that means either being satisfied with the way things are, or making a change. I don't want to do the latter because of friendships which I hate to leave behind. Then my prayer is for God to allow me to be satisfied with the mere worship of him. When I've got Jesus to lean on others cannot define my happiness unless I let them.

On the other hand, what church is it that has no need for willing workers? That still befuddles me! I need for that to be resolved in my mind, but until then, I'll lean on the Lord.

This type of spiritual discouragement "feels" just as does romantic hurt. There is a dire feeling of loss inside. When things don't please us in relationships, we feel pain inside. It may be that joy is gone from daily living. We are depending on others to make us happy when the only true happiness is with God. Satan's desire is for us to have no joy whether it be spiritual or with relationships. Even when friends abandon us, we have the same pain of discouragement. Oftentimes if one source of discouragement is defeated, it encourages enough to remove the funk in other aspects of life.

When a friend encourages, it helps in relationships with others. When friends encourage it helps our spiritual well-being. We all need encouragement and some have that gift. My intent right here is to encourage others who are dismayed as I encourage myself. I have a few great friends in church who encourage me enough to keep me from being heavy laden because in the eternal scheme of things is that I have the hope of salvation. All other things are secondary. The Lord says that he will lighten the burden. We are to let him do his work in us. That is to focus on the blessings which we have rather than fret at those we lack!

1 Peter 5:7 "Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."

The Abomination of Socialism

Politics and religion never can be nor should be separate. We are to turn to God in ALL THINGS! We are to seek his guidance before we vote. Keeping in mind that God is the only ruler who is righteous, there are still politicians who believe in God's righteousness. Although I am for Ted Cruz for President because he is a righteous man after God's own heart, we must acknowledge that Donald Trump may be the nominee.  If that happens we'll have a fairly good, but certainly not Godly, candidate on the Republican side, but overt villains on the Democrat side.

When Christians evaluate the candidates there are values which must be examined. The first is the sanctity of life. Any candidate which proposes laws or cuddles with those who propagate abortion are just plain evil! That includes Hillary Clinton, and worse yet, Bernie Sanders, who believes in abortion at any stage for any reason. He sees human life as no more value than that of a parasite. That's the exact same position that der Fueher had for the Jewish people and strangely enough Bernie is a Jew and should know better! Bernie admits to NOT being a religious man at all!

Hillary's campaign depends greatly on Planned Parenthood's money. She is beholding to them and her campaign money comes from the blood of dead babies! These two candidates are violent. Not that they wield the sword or turn on the gas, but they are the prison guards who make sure it happens. They are indeed as guilty as Hitler, especially since the victims are primarily "undesirables" such as mostly black babies! Abortion in America is black genocide and it's they who are so naive as to murder their own race by voting for these villains!

Then a Christian must look at same-sex marriage. Both Democrats and their platform supports men lying with men and women with women. Any Christian who supports those who propagate that notion are guilty of the behavior most abominable to God. Marriage is a divine institution and both of those candidates are an abomination!

Socialism is ungodly! The younger generation aren't close to the evils of this Marxist doctrine, but as they teach social justice, they kill to insure it happens. Socialism takes away freedom and see Christianity as an impedance to their agenda. They merely tolerate it for awhile to trap naive people!

Why make this an issue and risk offending friends and relatives? Because progressive (socialist) candidates are a danger to life, liberty and freedom to worship!  Young people. don't be like the German citizens were in pre-WWII. Learn how evil this "ism" is. It's a danger to civilized people and especially Christians. You won't even know that until you tire of their control and try to escape; then you will see their true colors!

Open to Truth

The last of the summer whine:

Acts 28:24 "And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. 25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our fathers, 26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive: 27 For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. 28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves."

Just as Isaiah prophesied, the Hebrew people rejected Christ. Although their Holy Scripture was all about the Messiah, when he came and died for them, they were calloused in their thinking. They rejected Jesus even though they were God's chosen people! Whereas in times past, the Jews needed miracles to believe and the Gentiles reason, now it was the Jews who needed reason.

God didn't give up on the Jews! They can still become Christians, but because they have distorted the Law of God, it's just harder for them.  Throughout history they murmured against God and his prophets rather than just accepting. We have seen that they were whiners. Well, this chapter is "The Last of the Summer Whine"! The focus of the Great Commission is forthwith on the Gentiles. The Jews, as little children do, blocked their minds to what they saw and heard, and finally their hearts became hardened. Rather than accepting the miracles of Jesus and Paul, they reasoned among themselves!

I thank God that whereas the Jews failed him, that the church grew through the unclean people and I am a Christian because my predecessors believed in him!

"Reason" is the power of the mind to gather information, evaluate it and then make decisions. That process is called "logic". The Jews' problem was that it didn't seem logical to get the gift of salvation for free and that it is because of God's GRACE. It did seem logical that they must DO things for salvation. In effect their reliance wasn't on God, but on their own selves to be saved.

Likewise, it wasn't logical that one man could shed his blood for the sins of all for all time, when they assured themselves it took many animals continually sacrificed to appease God.

They assured themselves,  through faulty logic, that God must be appeased rather than accepted. Centuries had ingrained faulty reasoning into their spiritual makeup! They were so molded in their thinking that remolding, even with miracles, was essentially impossible with them, although not with God. At any time God could have forced his chosen people to accept him, but love cannot be forced.

Now, let's apply this to modern times. During my lifetime I have attended the following denominations: Christian, Methodist, Missionary Baptist, Independent Baptist, United Baptist, Primitive Baptist, Southern Baptist, General Baptist, Wesleyan, Nazarene,  Lutheran, Free Methodist, Pentecostal, Christian Alliance, Church of Christ, Mennonite and the non-denominational Bible Church,

You can see from the list that I worshiped with other Christians who ranged from five-point Calvinists to Armenian-Wesleyan. I have worshiped with the most primitive and with the most contemporary. I have worshiped with the most obedient to those who depend entirely on grace. I have worshiped with those who were ritualistic and formal to those who were without ritual. I have worshiped with those who baptized infants to those who baptized only adult believers. I have worshiped with those who believed baptism is an ordinance to those who believe baptism is saving. I believe all those with whom I have worshiped are sincere Christians with different theology. I believe all but the most formal seek to glorify God.

The common element of each of these divergent denominations is that they all sincerely believed in the deity and sacrifice of Jesus Christ to be saved or I would never ever have went there!

Many people are born into denominations. They are what they are because that's what is modeled for them and is what they are taught. Those who attend Primitive Baptist churches their entire life are going to be Calvinists. When exposed to Armenian doctrine they are going to block it out because it's contrary to all they know! That is a defense mechanism of pride! That's the notion that "After all these years I can't admit that my doctrine is wrong!" The same goes for Wesleyan churches on the other end of the spectrum!

Because I have been exposed to the doctrines of divergent belief systems I don't block out doctrine which threatens my pride. Although I'm Armenian, I have sat for years in churches which had one to five points of Calvinism. It's essential that I (and you) put aside our pride long enough to consider what may be truth. As such, I have weighed the two "isms" and concluded that it must not be either one way or the other. I won't put God in a box. He can work with different people in different ways!

For instance Paul's conversion was predestined from time immemorial. What he got was irresistible grace and he was totally depraved being a murderer.  God's plan for him was to persevere to the end and make the church grow. Paul's life was the epitome of Calvinism.

On the other hand Judas was truly a Christian or Christ would not have accepted him as an apostle. However, Judas committed apostasy because of the promise of gain. God with his foreknowledge was quite aware of that, but Judas was a traitor to Jesus Christ. He was in apostasy and since you can't be made safe twice, he gave up his salvation.  Judas was the epitome of what is possible in Armenian-Wesleyan doctrine.

Of the two extremes God can do whatever he wants to do from one end to the other. However, if I had attended only one denomination I could have stopped my ears and closed my eyes to truth.

Paul's conversion was not the norm. Few people were struck blind when they were led to salvation.On the other hand, although many have been traitors to Jesus few have hung themselves as Judas did!  What needs to be examined is the usual born-again experience. It is all by grace and because of thankfulness a Christian is instilled with a desire to obey Jesus. Because we are weak in the flesh, the Holy Ghost remains right here to aid and protect us, but we must be willing.

My beliefs are from scripture. They are tempered by exposure to different doctrines. I never closed my eyes and ears to any of them, but what I believe is the truths from each which agree with Holy Scripture according to my understanding. I must put away my pride and admit that what I believe is not the "final word" and that I too can misunderstand.

On the other hand I must cling to my beliefs unless scripture convinces me that I am wrong. That has happened many times! If the Holy Spirit inspires me through the word, a sermon or reason, to cling to or change; that's what I do. We must not be malleable to any thought which passes men's lips, but open to truth.

I'm a member of the General Baptist Denomination although this has come late in life. When I was growing up in my geographical area, I had never even heard of General Baptists. I attend that specific denomination, not because their doctrine is perfect, but because it's closest to what I believe from scripture. If I said that "They are it!" I would be wrong.  There are some remnants of Catholicism still extant o which I disagree from my understanding of scripture. For instance a "suit and tie" to preach would make John the Baptist cringe.  That divorce precludes a person from serving makes it an unpardonable sin. That's very Catholic, but they are the church's parents.

What we all must do is consider scripture, pray for understanding and adapt to what the Lord shows us. If we read scripture with open eyes and listening ears, we WILL change because we are all wrong in different areas. It's not that truth is dynamic, but that maturity is considering and understanding!

I don't want anyone to ever belong to "The Church of Larry Herrin" because if you did, you would share the same mistaken beliefs which I may have. I'm not proud since I'm not Paul! It would be instructive though if one considered what I understand, even correcting me when I'm wrong... as long as you're not clinging to your own biased learning.