"There is an enchanted middle ground between virtue and vice, where many a soul lives and feeds in secret, and takes its reward for the restraint and mortification of its outward life. 

Humanity has plenty of men and women who lead faultless outward lives, and have no intention to sin, yet who yield their judgment, if not their conscience, to the motives of restraint, but who, in secret, resort to the fields of temptation, and seek among its excitements for the flavor, at least, of the sins which they have discarded. 

In fact, I have sometimes thought there were men and women who were really more in love with temptation than with sin -- who, by genuine experience have learned that feasts of the imagination were sweeter than the feasts of sense. Whether this be the case or not, I have no doubt that the love of temptation, for the excitement which it brings, is very common, even with those whom we esteem as patterns of virtue."

Timothy Titcomb.  

 

Times have changed

“Call me old fashioned 

and a bit out of date

But I know what I like, 

and what makes men great,

 

I know what normal is, 

and an absolute,

And rewrites of history,

their agenda to suit.

And when I come to my final conclusion,

I’m not left to those who “trust in confusion” 

Living in a purple haze of drug induced illusion.

I learned what it means to ‘be still and wait,’ 

The way of love, and the way of hate.

God’s merciful love still extends to the sparrow, 

So as for me and my house, 

     We’ll choose the straight and narrow.” 

                  If you don’t know where you’re going

                        Any road will take you there.

 

Do I know the voice of God??? 

I’ve included many scriptures here that explain and define who God is, how God speaks to people, and what God says. 

Like so many things, good can be turned into bad, and faith and religion can be used to control, to threaten and to oppress those who don’t know what the Bible teaches about God’s nature. 

One of the most beloved verses in the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11, I’ll begin with that – 

“For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  

“I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 

Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 

The faithful love of the LORD never ends! 

His mercies never cease. 

Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:20-23

“The Lord is my shepherd,

I will not be in need.

2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside still waters.

3 He restores my soul; Psalm 23:1-3 

 “Let my teaching drop as the rain,

My speech distill as the dew,

As the droplets on the fresh grass

And as the showers on the herb. Deuteronomy 32:2

“I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop blessing them with good things, and I will put in them a fear and respect of Me so they will not turn their backs to Me again.” Jer. 32:40

 ”Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  James 1:16-17

“Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His nature,” Heb. 1:3

“Then God said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” 

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, 

but the Lord was not in the wind; 

and after the wind an earthquake, 

but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 

12 and after the earthquake a fire, 

but the Lord was not in the fire; 

and after the fire

a still small voice.” 

1Kings 19:11-12

In Christ's kingdom, as I read the Bible, to force, threaten, coerce, pressure or browbeat anyone into submission, whether it is of a spiritual nature or physical, contradicts everything Jesus taught. 

In the Kingdom of God that Jesus ushered in, spiritual enlightenment is internal and cannot be done by any external force, it is a matter of the heart. 

 

Jesus said – “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

This would include how we treat our spouse, and how parents treat their children, and it applies to all of our dealings in society. This also includes leaders of the church, whether in deed or implied by threats. 

 In the New Testament there are only three nouns used of God, and they are: 

God is love, 

God is life 

and God is light, the three L’s. 

Everything else is an adjective; God is righteous, adjective. God is Holy, adjective. God is sovereign, adjective. 

 Jesus said - “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart"." Matt. 11:29 

Martin Luther King changed an entire countries’ thoughts on race with meekness; 

Mahatma Gandhi freed an entire country with meekness 

and Jesus changed the entire world with meekness. 

Paul emphasizes this all through his writings 

and it is the only spirit that God promises to bless.

 “For in Christ all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 

10 and in Him you have been made (Full) complete, 

and He is the head over every ruler and authority;” Colossians 2:9-10

“We regard the Spirit of love, charity, meekness, forgiveness, liberality, and benevolence, as the badge and distinction of Christians, as the brightest image we can bear of God, as the best proof of true devotion to Christ. “The great truths of Christ, seems to me, are not only sustained by proofs which satisfy the reason, but to be one of the deep instincts of our nature and conscience.”

“Now to the God who can do so many awe-inspiring things, immeasurable things, things greater than we ever could ask or imagine through the power at work in us...” Eph. 3:20

God said - “Can a mother forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? 

Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.” Isaiah 49:15

 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” 1John 4:16

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Cor. 13:4-7

 

 

 I love this quote!

Jesus was the first to explain that God is "Our Father."

All other religions failed to understand this important truth.
All the world's religions have many good and important values, but all failed to see God is our Father and His love is parental, without that understanding we are left without the hope of true intimacy with God.

  My oldest son has pastored a church in the "working poor" part of town for years and often posts about it online. Whatever we post we all know that we will always have our critics, and this is the response my son gave to someone online minimizing him.  

"What is Christian ministry like in our church? 

Healthy church ministry is seeing people come to Christ, 

baptizing them, 

walking with addicts in living free, 

helping the poor and marginalized into homes, 

fixing cars, advocating for employment, 

caring for the elderly, sick and depressed. 

Walking with people through life debilitating disease, 

standing alongside abuse victims as they go through deep and difficult healing.

Befriending those in the LGBTIQ community, men, women and trans who are in the shelters and celebrating their sobriety and employment victories as well as their first turnings towards Jesus.

Standing with married couples in their fight to come back from the edge of divorce. 

Standing firm against sin and also administering grace and mercy.

We’re in the hood, 

at the margins, 

hating soiled garments but reaching in the fire. 

Mourning the dead from overdoses, encouraging workers from despair and rallying good folks to use their time, treasure and talent for the kingdom.

Sooooo, I don’t know what your reality is but this is no online talk or pontificating keyboard trolling, it’s conversations born of blood and bone brother."