Attack!

I was attacked the other day for my beliefs. By a friend.

That's okay. Thinking as we are now in Lent, Jesus was betrayed by a friend and sent to his death.

Anyways it was about a sentiment I expressed online. Had to do with the state of New Jersey lowering their flags half mast in observance of the passing of singer, Whitney Houston. I never made any reference to the turbulence which defined her later life, I just questioned as to why the state would lower their flag for an entertainer. I was asked on my Facebook page if I thought it was okay when flags were lowered for Dale Earnhardt. Though I am a NASCAR fan, I don't agree with that either.

I host a page on Facebook, called Question of the Day. I threw out the question  When, do you think, should flags be flown at half staff?  I got the expected answers, seeing that this was a current topic in the news. Some even mentioned Whitney Houston's drug addiction problem.

Then came this post on the QotD page: You all sit there and hide behind your computer screens on this page and judge people for their short comings. Some of you claim to be Christians. Aren’t Christians supposed to follow the word of the lord! A lord who is all forgiving, a lord who would never bash anyone the way you all do. Perhaps it’s time to do some reflection on your own lives, none of us are perfect! Yet some of you feel you have the right to judge others based on your own perceptions. It seems to me that some of you do it for the personal need of recognition and some of you do it because you are sheep and follow. In the end, we will all be judged by one! For these reasons I have chosen to no longer partake in these discussions.



 I felt that that was an attack against me, as I posted a video on my timeline that morning by the Chuckwagon Gang. I try to post a Christian video every Sunday.

I guess people can go online and question the actions of Tim Tebow, who is public about where his talent comes from. They can place any Christian politician under the microscope, and magnify their shortcomings. If anybody doesn't agree with your personal beliefs, they use the word "hate" to describe the views they oppose. Much of this is Marxist thinking. They want anybody expressing Christian beliefs to tuck tail and run.

In the end, we all will judged by one. And we won't get bonus points for worshiping at the altar of celebrity. And I will continue to let my light shine.

Point of clarification

Cliff Note: I just posted this on my other blog, WIXY's Gone Bananas. I then thought it would be good reading here as well.

With all the political correctness from one side and making sure we don't deny our Lord, many of us have really forgotten the true reason for celebrating. I speak now as a born again Christian, something I have been since June 6, 1980.

The Christ I serve does not live in a manger. He was placed there right after his birth. He was taken out of there, grew up and was a carpenter. Then for 3 years, went around His small area of the known world primarily with 12 others and started to change the world.

The Christ I serve is not a dead man on a cross. He was there for several hours suffering for all those who accept His sacrifice for our sins. He was taken from that cross, placed in a borrowed, guarded, tomb, where He rose from 3 days later.

The Christ I serve sits at the right hand of God almighty interceding on my behalf whenever I stumble. And that's a full time job if was just for me. But He will do it for you too. All you need to do is ask Him.

Cliff Note: the photo in this post is one of the generally accepted images of Jesus Christ. Is that what He really looks like? I don't know. I do know that someday I will find out what He looks like and I love him no matter.

It can happen to anybody.....

It's been almost 20 months since I've wrote anything here. I guess it took 2 broken bones, a plate and 8 screws to get me to blog about my faith. Well that and the latest faith column by Terry Pluto.

To bring everybody up to speed, here's what happened: Since October 22, I have been nursing a broken ankle I got while preparing to do some yard work for my in-laws. I was only supposed to be there for a couple of hours then I would go home and prepare for the Rittman band show that evening. I was to be the emcee. That was not to be. My announcing was to end a week early this year.

The month of October wasn't the greatest month. Started out by my being called into HR were I work. I was then told that my pay was being cut significantly. With my pay reduced that low, I felt like a first class loser. I know the Lord provides, but sometimes being knocked down like that will reduce the male ego to a pile of rubble. It has been a long hard struggle since I lost my last job 12/31/2009. But generosity and prayers of friends and family have helped me through many lean, dark days.

I would always say that I was under attack by the devil, but the fact remains that sometimes my own stupidity dictates my course in life. The Friday before my injury, I had discovered several overdraft charges in our checking account. At this point, I knew that the only thing I could do was pray, and I sometimes can be too hard on myself.  I think that I don't deserve God's provision when it's something  that's a product of my own neglect that gets me in a predicament. Well God does supply in His own time.

That Friday evening after I left work,  I went to Jeromesville, where the Rittman football team was playing Hillsdale. This particular evening, the field was very soggy, so the marching band gave a standing concert performance. After halftime, some of the band members called me aside and gave me a card signed by all the band. Inside the card was a check, a gift from the band boosters. The students then proceeded to tell me how much I meant to them, that my announcing gave them energy. And since I wasd a part of them, they wanted me to go and have a snack with them. I also let them know that I would make an effort to not ever miss any more marching performances. As the saying goes, famous last words...

The next day I went to work, was looking forward to going to and being part of the 21st annual Rittman Indians marching band review. Then came the accident. I was checking out the back yard at my in-laws house, while my father in law was finishing up the mowing in front. I was only intending on going back far enough to see how wet the back was when I saw some dead branches on the ground. I thought I would take them to the brush pile at the property line. As I approached the rear of the property, I slipped and fell, turning as I lost my footing. I felt a crunch that I assumed was my artificial knee. As I attempted to get on my feet, I saw that my left ankle was badly swollen. I knew then that the ankle was at least dislocated. I then screamed, but to no avail. I then took out my cell phone and called 9-1-1. As I have said repeatedly, this is one call I don't ever want to hear the recording of. But the local police and EMS, said that I was lucky to have had my phone in my pocket.

Anyway like I said at the top of this post, my announcing ended a week early this year and it wasn't by my plan. I have got to know a lot about my friends and family the past 2 weeks. My Facebook group was abuzz, wanting to know about everything that happened. And my favorite student musicians? They let me know that, as one of my other friends put it, they are as big as fans of mine as I am of them. I have some unfinished business that I intend to take care of during the Winter concert on December 12.

In his latest Faith and You column, Terry Pluto discusses why you shouldn't think that God is punishing you when bad things happen to you. And yes, I wondered why I was  being punished the past month or so. You can't help but feel that way at times. That's why we need one another. To support one another and to let us know that God is here to take care of us.

Click here to read Terry Pluto's Faith and You column from November 5, 2011.

Views Change

I was thinking as I attended church this morning that my views have really changed many times since I accepted Jesus almost 30 years ago.

When I first got saved, I jumped into my faith feet first reading not only my Bible, but every bit of denominational literature I could get my hands on. I also listened to some of the most hard headed people I could listen to. And if people didn't believe exactly the same way I did, in my mind they were going to Hell. I guess I was quickly becoming a pharisee. I shudder to think what the Cliff of 1980 would say if I could see the Cliff of 2010.

Musical tastes were the same way. Those I ran with thought the only modern music that was pleasing to God was Southern Gospel. That was one place I wasn't all that dogmatic in as I liked some of the contemporary music. This brings another thing to mind, an email exchang I had some time ago with another blogger.

Those who read my main blog are familiar with Sue Wilson. She is morning show co-host and program director of country station WQMX, Akron, Ohio. Sue is also former program director of WFHM, Cleveland, Ohio, aka the Fish, which is a Contemporary Christian Music station. Sue has first hand knowledge of people judging others on the basis of their choice of music. Sue has taken phone calls and emails from some who have have had less than a Christian attitude toward her, her employer, and the music. She told me that she once wrote an article called "You Have Reached the Pharisee Hotline" or something like that. I have never thought of laying into any program director because of the music in any format and it pains me to think of anybody who would be so thoughtless to send any mean spirited communication to anyone who has as sweet a disposition as Sue.

I think in the past few years I have opened up my mind aa little more and this has helped me to be able to relate to many more people than in the past. I have learned not to look at some of the minor doctrinal differences of my brothers and sisters in Christ in a judgmental way. And if organ music helps you get closer to the Lord, go listen to it. And may God richly bless.

Sunday Musing: If my people

I normally post the Sunday Musing on WIXY's Gone Bananas, but today I feel the need to post this musing here, the blog I have neglected entirely too much.

If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 Amplified Bible

I wrote a musing a couple of months ago concerning an issue on the upcoming ballot in Ohio. If passed this would allow casinos to be built in the three largest cities in the state. I have voiced my opposition several times in the past couple of months and have been told that I'm crazy since passage of this issue would bring much needed money into the state. I don't feel that we need to get money in that manner.

As much as I believe in the right and responsibility to vote, I also believe that putting your trust in God is more important. I don't put my trust in any political party as both have disappointed me. I feel when we deify our elected officials, we are worshiping false gods. And when we look to filthy lucre to save us, we are gravely in need of personal revival.

We need now, more than ever, to seek God's face and seek His will in our lives. God will send us the stimulus package He feels right for us to have. And it won't be a package that exploits the poor and greedy. It will be one that will lift those up who seek His face and we will get healed when we turn from our wicked ways.

We put our trust in the living God and He will heal our land.

Don't worry, just go to the Lord

^6-7Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

^8-9Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies. Philippians 4:6-9, The Message

This has been one summer I don't care to repeat. Those who read my main blog, know about some of the problems my wife and I have had, and there are others that I haven't written about as those involved have asked me not to. All of this has had a very bad effect on my wife. And yes, we have gone to church and have requested prayer.

This morning I was watching David Jeremiah as I was getting ready for church. He was speaking from the scripture that I have highlighted above, Philippians 4.

With everything around us that tells us how to handle our problems, we all too often go to the tried and true method, applying the Word of God. He's only been around since the beginning and nothing surprises Him. But all too often we are surprised by what should have been our first result, not the last.

All too often there's too much around us to stimulate our minds. We have all kinds of music, movies, games, etc too keep us from being bored. But it also keeps us away from our worship of Almighty God.

I want to end this with Philippians 4:8 from the King James Version:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Pray faithfully

A situation addressed in my church this morning has prompted this latest post. Our pastor was mentioning a something he had to deal with in the past week. He didn't mention specifics, such as who and what, and in my opinion, he didn't need to as it was not any of my business. One thing I do need to do is take it to the Lord. He knows the specifics and I have to put my trust in Him to direct those affected.

Reminds me of a time many years ago when I requested prayer for my wife and I made it an unspoken request. Some people come to me after the service to ask what the problem was because it would help them if they knew and they could pray intelligently.

I say pray faithfully. Give it to a God who knows all, including someone else's ailments, financial status, and spiritual condition.

God doesn't give extra credit for knowing more than others.