The Extreme Ends

Pray For Revival

SCRIPTURE: Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. {I Peter 5:3, NLT}

QUOTE: The soul that is dominated by another soul cannot achieve its destiny. ~Jaakov

COMMENTARY: Why do people manipulate others? Why do we practice mind control or subtle forms of brain washing? Our desire to control a fellow human being is driven by our insecurity: we are terribly afraid of being a nobody. We have this pathological obsession to control things and people: this makes us feel important. The extreme opposites of the spectrum are Tyranny on the one hand and slavery on the other. Pharaoh was a tyrant and the Israelites were his slaves. It is not God’s design that we be either.

Let’s say that you raise a child and you never tell the child no. You never discipline the child. You do your best to give the child everything that they desire. In doing this you have created two problems: [1] You have raised a bratty child that has social problems because they think everything should go their way and [2] You have fostered the child’s insecurity. The only way that a child can know that he/she is loved is that the parents give discipline. Little brats grow up to be tyrants, insecure tyrants.

There is a balm in Gilead and His name is Jesus. He created you to count. He has put you in a specific arena so that you can count in ways that no one else can count. You can relax in His love. The fact that He loves you unconditionally should make you feel significant. I am not the best pastor in the world but I am not the world’s pastor; God put me in Danville, to make a difference in Danville. I am not the best father or grandfather in the world but I am the only father my children have. In this tiny arena, I count.

God created you to be a person and to fulfill that destiny, you must think for yourself. Do not allow another human to control you. It is not healthy for you or them.

EXTRA: Another beautiful day yesterday, a little hot but we can’t complain with the weather we have had: some got a shower. My garden is still to wet to plow. My new maters have been in the ground for more than a day and they look good. Visited the Nursing Home yesterday and Ruth’s new Casa. I caught her working in the garden in the heat of the day. We had some excitement at the synagogue yesterday. We had an escapee. I think he ran across the church yard behind the FORTE and across John’s place. The 48 news folks were in the front parking lot. I think they tried to get an interview out of Mandy but that did not happen. I wish the guy had waited until Sunday and ran down the center isle. Maybe that woudl wake us up. It would have given us something to tweet about. We might even write a song, “The day the con went bezerk in the yard of Danville Baptist Church, he was jumping fences but not shouting hallelujah!” I miss my calling: should have been a song writter. I know one thing: Keith Blackwood and John Wydner can not both be out on the same Sunday. You guys get together, I have to have some support.

Fake Humility

SCRIPTURE: Some people enjoy acting as if they are humble and love to worship angels. They always talk about the visions they have seen. {Colossians 2:18, ERV}

QUOTE: “Praise can be your most valuable asset as long as you don’t aim it at yourself.” ~Orlando Baptista

COMMENTARY: Do people pretend to be humble when they are not? The answer is a definite “Yes”. Humility is an admirable virtue and we want to be admired so we act humble. Humility is not an act, it is an attitude of the heart. The bible does teach us to humble ourselves… Jesus said.. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”…James said…Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. Peter said…Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. There is a difference between humbling ourselves and pretending to be humble. In Colossians 2, Paul states four characteristics of those who pretend to be humble:

1. Jesus is not LORD of their life. They have not put themselves under the Head of the body [Church] who is Christ the LORD.
2. They exalt their experience above Scripture. They talk about visions, dreams and the subjective feelings and impressions but that do not get into bible study and the word.
3. They have an attachment to the world. They even resort to worldly methods.
4. They do not live the crucified life. They are self-willed and have their own personal agenda.

VBS June 3-7