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Saturday, October 5, 2019
BLOOD TALLY by Brian Mclellan #Review #Kickstarter #Reading #JustBeingHere
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Monday, October 16, 2017
Book Review: A Brush with the Beast by Richard Sones #Review
I like this type of print and cover. It feels nice in your hands and the book itself is a good size. Not too heavy and certainly not so small that it feels like you are holding nothing.
The story:
On a whole the story is good. It had what it needs to pull through plot and push certain things forward, but it really does not give a whole lot of rhyme or reason for these things at times.
The Characters :
What you read on the back cover is pretty much the same you get from the book, so I recommend not reading that back cover until you are halfway through the book as it does help with some charater progression that really is not translated well in the prose. I honestly felt like too much character progressing was happening between chapters instead of where the reader could understand and enjoy it. This is my favorite part of stories and I felt this very much lacked in that area.
The Encouragement :
I found the encouragement between believers was the best parts of the book. The lifting up with scriptures and stories from the Bible was fantastic.
The Left Behind issue :
This is a book that very much deals with end times but no where near to the scale that it was done in left behind. If you enjoyed those books... This one will fall flat. Which is sad as this seems to have some cool points and characters that could have had some awesome moments. They just don't really show up.
The ending :
Not satisfying at all. Only one story is kind of wrapped up. If there was plan for more books..okay..but it was very lacking. Especially if you know much about end times and all that is in revelation.
Content rating :
I was suprised when this book opened itself to cursing. Most of the book does not have it and the character that does it... Well that makes sensebthst they would talk in such a way.. But it could have been more cleanly done, I think.
Disclaimer : I was provided this book for an honest review.
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Thursday, September 21, 2017
Is the WOOL blinding you from the NOISE? #JustBeingHere #Sin
How
often do you take things for granted?
Maybe
it is something you enjoy, like having a cell phone keeping you on track with
just about everything in your life.
It
could be your spouse who takes care of 100 things you may never even notice.
Your
vehicle, your job, your home, your massive collection of Funko Pop! Characters
... No matter what it is we can become blind, deaf and dumb to it.
What
about tradition, or habit? Is this taken for granted?
I
think so... We get so used to a certain order of 'noise' in our lives and
without it happening we may believe there is something wrong.
A
book I read a while back deals with this kind of thing in various degrees and
one of the more engrossing ones really stuck with me. It had to do with the
mechanics of a post-apocalyptic silo. The book is called
"Wool" and the name is quite intentional as in the expression,
"Pull the wool over one's
eyes".
You
are going to need a little back story and I will do what I can to keep from
spoiling anything as this series is quite an enjoyable read.
 | |
|
Like this, but
bigger and deep in the ground
|
Imagine
a post-Apocalyptic world where people are living in what is basically a
massive bunker/fallout shelter called a 'Silo'. Only a portion of the
structure breaches the surface of the ground and deep within the depths there
is machinery generating the power for all the people living in it. The
gears have been turning for an unknown amount of years, the people working in
the area have long worn ear protection because of the constant noise of the
machinery churning and turning.
One
of the maintenance workers sees an opportunity to do a
little fixing up and pulls a few strings to have everything shut down for
a short time so they can clean up and reset the gears. The fix takes a
while, keeping many people in the Silo with less or no power for a time.
They get the work done and the moment finally comes to have the system turned
back on.
Everyone
is holding their breath as the key is about to be turned to get the machines
churning again.
The
key is turned and the tell tale signs of grinding and gears turning is not
present what-so-ever.
There
is silence.
They
wait a moment ... but still nothing is heard, and just like if we had turned
the key to our vehicles and received no response they move to turn
the key again, but are stopped when someone comes running and telling everyone
the machine IS running.
Come
to find out, all the maintenance and resetting made the machine run
so much better it was running completely silent. They were amazed, they
were proud, they were victims of 'taking things for granted' in such a way as
to create a 'tradition', a noisy one to be sure, but it made them
comfortable.
After
reading this I knew it held a wonderful truth. No matter how much this 'noise'
may seem to give you comfort by being in your life, it is actually a symptom of
a root problem in the maintenance of your life.
It
is a cry, a grinding of the gears of your life - and that ... is NOT a good
thing!
We
always seem to bring up things which are actually beneficial to us as things
'taken for granted' but seldom try to root out the things we do that we
shouldn't or are just unnecessary.
While
lost in sin we are just like these people living in this silo, with worldly
wool over our eyes ... or ears in their case, unaware of the impending
destruction the choices we are making will have in our life, or afterlife more
matter of fact.
There
is a hope though, an assurance through the Holy Spirit.
--
Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an
obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you
live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to
death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.
Romans 8:12-13 (NIV)
--
A
change occurs within us - your desires begin to shift, your ears hear
differently, your eyes see differently, but the old desires die hard.
--
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2 (NIV)
--
The
flesh will battle, it will do what it can to create dissonance.
--
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am
unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. I do not understand what I do. For
what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do
not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I
myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself
does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire
to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I
want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if
I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin
living in me that does it.
Romans 7:14-20 (NIV)
--
The
sides at war?
The dissonant noise
in one corner?
--
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality,
impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord,
jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy;
drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who
live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21 (NIV)
--
And
the soothing sounds of proper gearing in the other?
--
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such
things.
Philippians 4:8 (NIV)
--
TiN
RiP LA - is how it was taught to me when I was in youth group years ago and has
stuck with me ever since.
The
NOISE of sin in our lives CAN be beaten back! The tuning fork of the word
of God in conjunction with the Holy Spirit can be used to determine the sounds
which should be produced in your life: Physical, Mental, and Spiritual.
Every
step in the direction of Jesus reorders the gears to properly produce
an orchestra of wonderful music, which is God's will for your life.
Seriously
take a moment to ensure your life is properly geared! Do not let the
noise be your comfort, but take it as the warning it truly is and move towards
the CHANGE which is needed!
There
are not many people who begin to hear a change in
their vehicle's engine and do nothing about it, but yet we do it in
our own lives.
There
must have been people in the Silo as the gears started to groan but they never
stood up and made the changes to ensure the continual proper working of the
system.
Do
not let this happen to you!
You
may feel like everything is fine, but be sure to be honest with yourself and
look seriously within your spirit for these signs. Are the things in
Galatians 5 more prevalent, or are they the ones in Philippians 4?
If
it is the things mentioned in Galatians I urge you accept Christ, accept His
sacrifice for your sins and let the WOOL from the Lamb of God cover you from
the noise of "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry
and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the
like."
If
it is the things mentioned in Philippians I urge you to keep up your guard, to
keep your life in tune with God's word. As soon as you begin to hear the
interference of sin move to reinstate the statutes of TiN RiP LA!
Is
the WOOL blinding you from the NOISE? ... I hope so!
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Thursday, September 14, 2017
Foot Washing that Never Happened #JustBeingHere #Servanthood
My good friend set up an entire canoeing trip with many of his friends as well as myself. It was an exciting opportunity to get to hang out. I saw it as a perfect time to impart something spiritual onto those I was meeting for the first time. I had a plan. A good plan. A righteous plan. I looked into the life and choices of Christ and picked one of the strongest decisions he made. I did this in order to slam dunk some Godly wisdom into others. It was going to be awesome.
--
Jesus,
knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had
come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside
his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he
poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe
them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who
said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” Jesus answered him, “What I am doing
you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” Peter said to
him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you,
you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only
but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “The one who has bathed does
not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And
you are clean, but not every one of you.” For he knew who was to betray
him; that was why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”
When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.
-John 13:4-14 (ESV)
--
I traveled with my friend and his brother in the car ride to our destination. It was a crazy experience to travel through a town called Flippin at two in the morning. The jokes came out in spades. We got to the campsite, set up tents and went to sleep. The trip, while crazy already, was proving to be great fun.
I had a zip lock bag with the items I planned on using to wash everyone's feet. Some soaps and washcloths. I packed it before we left, but I was the only one who knew it's true purpose.
The next day when we decided to finally head out to the river I rode with a fairly newly married couple I had never met before. It would be nice to break the ice and get them to know me a bit before I washed their feet somewhere down a river later. I never had the chance. Instead of me breaking this ice... they did. I was asked an interesting question. "What is your spiritual gift?" It caught me off guard. I did not look into the world as a Christian as in some way needing a particular gift. I also could not define myself as one very thing. It was troubling to me to think of only one gift was the thing I would be and do for my God for all time. This did not hold them back from explaining to me the gifts they each believed they had. I could only tell them of what I have done in my past. I was shocked to find none of it mattered to me. None of what would be considered "accomplishments" set within me an idea of me being a holder of some special gift I was imparting into the world. This made me wonder why it would be so important to them to claim their gifts.
This revelation never grew to anything much more than that at this time. We got our canoes and entered the water. We had a pretty awesome trip and made some fond memories, but I never washed anyone's feet. I wish I could say it was because I felt it was unnecessary. Or I could say water got into the zip-lock bag I had the tools for washing in. Or there was just no time for it to happen.
When
I think back on it, the only reason I can come up with is I did not feel I was
good enough.
Is it not odd I could feel this way.
How
can a person not be good enough to wash another's feet? It is often portrayed
as being one of the lowest of jobs. One fit for a slave. How could I have felt
lower than that? My perspective laid heavily on Christ. I could see how He did
this for His disciples and showed them truth in servant hood. I
could not see myself being what Jesus was to those who He walked with on this
earth.
There
was no way I could be "that guy" to these people.
These
guys were able to definitively set themselves into a
particular spiritual gift and I couldn't not do that.
How
could I be someone who could teach them anything?
How
could I inspire or encourage them?
With these thoughts I was "talked" out of it. Who knows... this very act could have instilled a spiritual sight into us we never would have had without it. Or.. it could have turned us against one another in an all out superhero brawl which would end in tears.
I
don't know what the outcome would have been, but I am now certain I lost a
chance to reach out. It should never matter how much greater someone around you
seems. It should never matter how lowly you may think of yourself, you can
always be a servant to others. You can always lovingly guide and teach others.
Don't make the same mistake I did. Wash the feet of another when you have the
chance to do so!
Have you ever not done something you felt led to do?
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Thursday, September 7, 2017
Accepting and Moving on From REJECTION as a Christian #JustBeingHere #Rejection
Blind Rejection
Paul's
conversion from Saul to Paul is astounding and at times undervalued for what it
really meant.
Being
a man in good standing in society and flipping his thoughts and opinions to
something so foreign to popular thought of the times is something we really
just cannot imagine, though we may think we can.
-------------------
And
immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of
God.” And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made
havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here
for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” Acts
9:20-21
-------------------
-------------------
Message Rejection
One
particular instance of Paul's desire to change the minds of others to what was
now undeviating truth to himself can actually give us some insight to dealing
with rejection.
Paul
travels to Antioch with Barnabas and preaches to Jew and Gentile alike. They
want to hear more, but the crowds are so filled with Gentiles that the Jews
loose it . One would think they would rejoice and accept the completion of the
law which held them in place for so many long years, but what was their
response?
-------------------
On the next Sabbath
almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When
the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to
contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered
them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it
and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the
Gentiles. 47 For this is what
the Lord has commanded us:
-------------------
Dust off Rejection
Being rejected is a hard thing to move past
When
we are rejected for something as important as salvation it can be even harder.
We, who are giving our testimony may pour out our hearts and souls in love for
others to just begin to see and accept the Savior, yet we can be
"contradicted and abused".
How
do Paul and Barnabas deal with this ?
-------------------
50 But the Jewish leaders incited the
God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They
stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their
region. 51 So they shook the
dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with
joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 13:50-52
-------------------
It's truly comforting to see Paul using
tactics similar to what Jesus dictated to those he personally sent out when
placed in a situation like this.
-------------------
But
whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and
say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against
you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ Luke
10:10-11
-------------------
We
are called to do as Paul did, claiming Jesus as our Savior, but at times the
crowd we are bringing this message to will be like that of these Jews in
Antioch. We have an interesting choice to make.
We
can let the rejection of others cause us to quit all together, we can
constantly beat our words upon stone hearts, or we can accept that we have no
power to change others and move on to a different crowd, just as Paul did.
Invitation Rejection
The message Christ
gave about the Kingdom of Heaven being like a wedding feast really showed how
this hardship would happen.
-------------------
Jesus spoke to them
again in parables, saying: 2 “The
kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who
had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
Matthew 22:1-3
-----------------
Those
who were set to be invited refused to come, even after a second personal
invitation. Those invited to the feast explained that they had more important
things to do.
If
we understand the importance of a wedding and see the enormous disrespect given
by those invited, then we can be even more shocked to realize this is a
spiritual example of how the Kingdom of Heaven is rejected. Paul's rejection of
his message by the Jews really begins to come clear understanding it through
this parable, especially when we see the depth some of those invited to the
wedding feast treated the servants of the one throwing the feast.
-------------------
4 “Then he sent some more servants and
said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen
and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the
wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went
off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his
servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those
murderers and burned their city.
Matthew 22:4-7
-------------------
God Encourages Thru Rejection
Paul
was often sought after by those who were Jewish, claiming Paul was breaking
laws and deserving of death, but the message of Jesus being Christ was never
quenched from his lips!
God
is an encourager, He will always desire us to continue in His work no matter
the opposition.
God
encourages Paul in Corinth:
-------------------
And
the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do
not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and
no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my
people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God
among them. Acts
18:9-11 (emphasis mine)
-------------------
Paul
clearly went from those who were properly invited to those in the streets, just
as was talked about in Jesus' parable. Is there some other group we should turn
to when we have been rejected?
Should we be turning to others?
The answer has a yes and a no.
The No?
The
kingdom of heaven is here now, as well as to be later. We are to a point where
every person is eligible for acceptance. It may have been Paul and Peter, as
well as a few others, who opened the door to move from the chosen of God, but
the banquet is ready and set for all those willing to accept it now.
The Yes?
We
can move from those who, right now, do not wish to accept the message and turn
to others, but no longer letting classifications keep us in bounds for who can
know and accept this wonderful news!
We
should be prepared for acceptance or rejection, but fear neither. We should be
ready to shake the dust from us and let the message sink in or wash off those
we have provided it to.
Are you wearing the right thing?
The
final thing we must all be certain to do is be dressed for the occasion:
-------------------
“But
when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no
wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a
wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants,
‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are
chosen.” Matthew
22:11-14
-------------------
-------------------
Could
it be called unfair to do this to someone who was only pulled from the street
to attend a wedding?
Certainly
they just did not have the time to get ready, or maybe they just lacked the
resources? Can we not give the benefit to those in this case?
No.
It seems not.
When
Paul diligently began to seek and teach the gentiles, they took to the message
and changed themselves according to the truth being given to them. Obviously
not all of them, but they were grateful for the chance to be accepted.
-------------------
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered
them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it
and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the
Gentiles. 47 For this is what
the Lord has commanded us:
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they
were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for
eternal life believed.
49 The word of the Lord spread through
the whole region.
-------------------
As
we personally accept this wonderful gift we need to do the same.
Preaching it is one thing, living it is another
Be
certain to be dressed for the part in speech and in behavior. It IS important.
Standing
by this integrity will help you when things are tough, and always know there
are people willing to hear the message of Christ.
Have you ever been rejected for your message of Christ? What did you do in response?
Derek
is a Children's Pastor and
Men's Leader in his home
church, Mechanical Designer @ T-tek, Book
Reviewer, and Prestidigitator.
He is a Fantasy reader, Whovian, and Funko
Pop and Toy Collector. Derek
lives in Alabama with his wife and four children.
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