The vision to move on with life embracing faith and fellowship over fear and isolation threatens the houses of sand for many in power. Reputation, position, even authority is shifting. A powerful vision. evokes fierce opposition from many who are comfortable and just want to return to how it was “before”.
Our times are a chrysalis. We will emerge and fly soon enough. God is in command and evolving HIs space and time around us as He decides. We are changing and when we live in Him we are remade...literally. EVERYTHING CHANGES. Tutto cambia. Vedo la luce. Will you seek a future filled with faith and hope, rooted in love? Now is the time to decide. Don’t be one of the millions who is acting a part, performing for man rather than worshipping a loving and living God.
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Worry and anxiety kill. Faith, Hope, and Love sustains. Each of us chooses how to LIVE.
Focusing on how to not die each day is a mindset for victims and losers. Worst of all it spreads like a virus. I don’t understand the morbid attraction to suffering and victimization so prevalent in 2020. I speculate that it is perpetuated by #idiotsincharge to facilitate control and compliance. Faith in Jesus Christ and His love and immediate care for us is a vaccine against the virus of fear. The consequences of fear are real in the near term and long term window. Faith and belief secure us now and forever.
To believe that science will secure you and save you is the root of foolishness. The only thing worse is to believe that government will somehow secure and save you in the now, near, or far. That is a 2020 hindsight reality check I want to grant sincerity to technology and healthcare leaders. I don’t anymore. My cynicism born of the 2020trials and 20+ years in tech and leadership has infected me. I’m not sure there is a cure. I’m not sure there will ever be a cure. Without a modicum of respect, the distrust germinates and spreads like a virus into every experience.
I trust God. Period. His power is absolute. His love is unbounded. He listens and hears me in my whining. The government told you it was dangerous. The government is now telling you it is safe. If you trust the government you should be fine right?!
Perhaps trusting the government and the media is the actual problem with 2020. Think about it. I have a specific and personal view of the #idiotsincharge but I am also bound by my views on Romans 13. As for me and my house... Life. Liberty. Pursuit of happiness. Faith over fear ... trust in God. If you choose to blindly trust and follow the government into fear and subjugation, that is your choice. I strive to not judge. It is very hard. The #idiotsincharge of America’s public health policy are unable or at least unwilling to qualify and quantify risks and reactions to decisions. The risk of dying immediately (acute crisis) MUST be balanced against the long term ramifications and chronic crisis concerns. This reasoning includes employment, social connections, and the entire Maslow hierarchy of needs.
Life, Liberty or Lockdown seems to be the current state of affairs in leadership. The cost of impairing education, and jobs/dignity along with creating systemic dependency and victimization is catastrophic. As a man of faith, I am not afraid to die today. I do not want to die today. I do not want others to die today either, but it will happen as life goes on and our story continues to be written. We live and we die. The crisis is not in the death as much as it is in our choice to not live. We need to reject fear. We need to seek liberty and livelihood and love and service. We must choose a better balance as we rebuild America. Hindsight is 2020. The fear of the first half of 2020 must be managed. To live or not to live will always perplex us in the how. I say that we accept the crisis and manage but we must see and embrace the totality of the crisis. There is no drug to fix it. There is no magic easy button. Every day, I choose to live. Headlines read “cases up, new record highs”
this is a good thing. The virus will spread as they always do. The morbidity rate for just about anyone under 70 is so small that it is largely insignificant. As the cases in the “99.9+% likely to survive” segment increase the human race develops the ability to fight back with its intelligent design immune system and systems. the approach must be to minimize the deaths from this new threat. Period. That means isolating elderly, at risk segments and continuing life among everyone else. Yes the virus will spread. Yes. Folks will get sick and in rare cases die... That is LIFE. we all live in face of fear and and make choices. I choose to LIVE and do the best I can as I always have. The viruses and sickness and tragedy surround me. My faith hope and love sustain me. The fear is a disease in itself and the impact and fatality rate of this global fear virus is at a record high. Cases are up and spreading even now. It is done now. Recovering from the sound and fury is not simple and everyone does it differently. Our societal leaders rang the fear bell in March. We the people responded and hid away from life and one another. We denied our basic needs for community and faith and fellowship and embraced FEAR as our overseer. Authoritarian tendencies were encouraged because it was for the greater good, for public health, to save our most at risk, to save ourselves.
we the people are now afraid. Our fragile hold on trusting one another has been ripped away in most cases. Instead we now rely on the TV, on the Internet, on the government. Dictators and authoritarians know that fear binds us. They use it to manipulate and control us. It is then followed by force. The solution to the sound of fear is the liberty bell. We stand up and sing together of our faith in God, and one another. We must embrace our lives and living in place of fear. We cannot unring the fear bell that our #idiotsincharge rang so recklessly but we can stand together and ring a whole chorus of bells into the future filled with faith, hope, and love. The fear is always there but it can be overcome with faith. Last few days and weeks have represented a manic phase for me and many. In my mind, I can see clearly how so many threads are intertwined. Sleep is the casualty it seems. As I manage and prioritize my time and attention on others in place of self I am able to cope.
The unending victimization mentality is exhausting. It is true that each of us has different advantages and challenges. I am lucky to have made many good choices and experienced so many wonderful people. I want to share my blessings and I do but... others are not as lucky and dod not. Seeing and hearing them... the emotional toll is a high cost. The mission to love and serve in spite of the nearly constant noise floor of “gloom despair and agony on me” is essentially endless. I have no idea how those without faith cope. Writing, working, and studying help me. I know that in Christ all things are possible and that He is with me always, and that my charge is simpler than can imagine. Share the good news that Christ saves and go, tell, and make disciples. It IS simple. I make it hard. The threads are all around me, like a warm blanket, protecting and keeping me from the cold hard world. Every day Is an opportunity to be love and serve in this endless variety show. I am not the producer. Quoting and thinking of great friends and great sacrifice. I give thanks on this Memorial Day and I choose to live into a hopeful and faith filled future.
“I for one will not live in fear of meeting or hugging or dining together or laying on hands to pray... I will honor those who died for my freedom by being free to weigh risk and act accordingly.” MommaY “I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own sheep and my own sheep know me. In the same way, the Father knows me and I know the Father. I put the sheep before myself, sacrificing myself if necessary. You need to know that I have other sheep in addition to those in this pen. I need to gather and bring them, too. They’ll also recognize my voice. Then it will be one flock, one Shepherd. This is why the Father loves me: because I freely lay down my life. And so I am free to take it up again. No one takes it from me. I lay it down of my own free will. I have the right to lay it down; I also have the right to take it up again. I received this authority personally from my Father.” John 10:14-18 MSG Not everyone has the ability to look ahead and see what is coming. Caution is appropriate but life is not fair or safe in reality. The sooner that each of us accepts and begins managing this reality mentally and physically, the better off we will be. World views matter. Money runs out and when it does, life becomes traumatic and dangerous.
2 Thessalonians 3:5-10 NLT [5] … An Exhortation to Proper Living [6] And now, dear brothers and sisters, we give you this command in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ: Stay away from all believers who live idle lives and don't follow the tradition they received from us. [7] For you know that you ought to imitate us. We were not idle when we were with you. [8] We never accepted food from anyone without paying for it. We worked hard day and night so we would not be a burden to any of you. [9] We certainly had the right to ask you to feed us, but we wanted to give you an example to follow. [10] Even while we were with you, we gave you this command: “Those unwilling to work will not get to eat.” … Most of us are feeling disconnected lately. We must choose to connect and give control over to God to move ahead. As we connect with God we can do anything and connect with those around us. Family. Friends. Neighbors. And total strangers. Even enemies. - apart from God we remain isolated, useless, foolish and sad... reveling in fear and empty things. Worship is a starting point. It is a sustaining process. It is the destination as well and salvation is assured. Don’t miss out by embracing isolation and fear. Choose to connect and live. Ask Jesus into your heart and live with him. It is scary, but it is Awesomeness.
My family and several close friends survived the RONA. The reality is we also survived driving, numerous other illnesses, some acute emergencies and other chronic long term life threatening conditions all in the past year. That list is long, just like yours. We are NOT afraid. Living life is a daily choice. Choosing to isolate away from “the world” pretending that all or most risk can be managed is one way. Another, is to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior, make good decisions for you and your family, and live into every day prioritizing family and friends and neighbors in Love and Service in spite of the risks and laws imposed by civil and social authorities. I say that every day is an opportunity. The world turns regardless of what we do. Finding the balance in choices and freedom and associated accountability with consequence is the ever spinning wheel of control. We aren’t in control of much but we do have free will. We choose to be together, to smile, to eat, and to serve. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. This is the way. We all wear masks these days. Online and in person we mumble, and shout and hide our fear with outrage. We condemn and judge one another to show how right we are. The mask does virtually nothing to protect others. It is for us. It makes us feel safe in our hiding and in our isolation.
Removing the mask is liberating. We freely admit that we are not in control of the world as we breathe deeply, showing our smiles, frustrations and fears to all. God sees through the mask and loves us regardless. We must live in the world that He makes, without the mask. I'm fairly certain that the major media outlets would consider me to be an "extremist" because I don't share their liberal views on liberty, firearms, or appropriate government involvement in daily lives. Even more because I write and share my opinions and suggestions freely with the attitude that my thoughts are valid, and my platform as a connector, and message as a leader is important. I'm not a threat to them, but I would like to be. I AM REAL and EDUCATED and PASSIONATE and REASONABLE. To be honest, some of you probably already consider me to be overly concerned, and too worked up as I've been really active in past month due to stress and quarantine and my family Rona reality.
Maybe, but if I'm right, and I usually am about these things, then we are in for a really rough time in coming months... and the ONLY thing that will sustain us will be local communities, family, and faith... The government and the central planners are NOT coming to save you... even in the red states. Our cultural reboot is underway. The stress and anxiety associated with a full reboot is real. So many questions and risks are now a reality. It is done hang on for the ride.
Will the computer come back on? What about the power supply? This server hasn’t ever been restarted before. Will the components talk to one another and can the internal bus support the load? how about the processor, will it overheat under the demand? Will the network connections come back up and are they secure and in sync for the data exchanges required. Data... is the new data warehouse design going to be flexible as we move ahead. What are the priorities for processing and who is managing the instructions? I hope the operating systems is stable, because only then can the apps start to work and add value again. watch the event log and task manager to see what is going on. Good luck America. #GodHasGotThis but it is still scary and a lot of work for the essential processors in the core. Right now our health system is on the front lines. Coming very soon, the economic devastation wrought by our Covid19 response will begin to escalate. Abuse, hunger, depression will all flow freely. The government is not best positioned to fight this war. The local church can and will step into the spotlight. We can help one another. We will help one another. We must set the example beyond words with actions and resources. The LOCAL church has always been on the front lines. It will remain so. Get in the fight and make a difference. You have skills and resources. Use them where you are, how you are. Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. Food, Fellowship, Faith, Friendship... are the FRONT LINES to fight the epidemic of fear, depression, violence, and poverty now and in the near future. We as a society have chosen these problems over the acute fear of Covid19... That decision is behind us, right or wrong. There are new battle lines in front of us. My question is, how will we respond in my church? How will your church respond? Soldiers fight... Step up! Stand and be counted. Christians should not be fearful and must be on the front lines. Onward Christian soldiers.... Cogs in the great wagon wheel boys. That is what we are. None of us are driving. We are along for the ride, and what a ride it is. #GodHasGotThis
We can all do ministry online and it doesn’t have to be all the time or all the same. It is fundamentally different to approach your community digitally, authentically, and in their world rather than the controlled and constructed world of a church building. A kingdom way of living is about living in a kingdom way in the world but not of it.
We are ALL ministers of the Gospel as believers. Like the disciples we have good days, and bad. Those days are more obvious in an always on real-time digital community. We still need to meet face to face and we will need to continue meeting online as well. The world has changed. Jesus brings us together if we choose His path. We all doubt. We all struggle. It is okay. We are also all here as beloved first born children of Christ. Each one of us is in His world not ours. Consider that God created the internet just as he ordains all things. It is a tool and should/must be used as all tools, carefully and powerfully. How we use it matters. Authentic, honest, humble, proud, to influence, to learn, to listen... to Be. Love. Serve. Repeat. As we are. Where we are. When we are. Embrace old ways and new ways to DO and BE Christ in His world. Believe. 5 IMPORTANT THOUGHTS!
1. CHOOSE now to lock down and isolate yourself and your family. (if you do not, the government WILL do it for you) The USA is a free country, but those freedoms are subject to restriction in times of crisis. This is why your Votes matter so much... 2. HELP others... money, skills, perspective.. If you can, you should. PERIOD. If we all step up, it WILL matter.. reliance on the government will fail... as systems always do. 3. Pray, Connect, Engage GOD in your daily life... connect to a church family virtually NOW... It is an ESSENTIAL service from you and to you. 4. Stop listening only to politicians and news media... Make decisions for yourself... based on a set of experts that you trust. 5. BE ACTIVE physically... every day... walk, build, sing, play. If you choose to sit on your butt in front of the TV you are weakening your body and increasing your likelihood of bad outcomes in every way. BE. LOVE. SERVE. REPEAT. and share this advice if it inspires you.. Goal: Growth and spiritual development occur in community and context
"I am amazed again and again how the mastery of successive minute technical details releases floods of spiritual understanding." Robert Shaw in "Dear People" "Every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other." - Mere Christianity CS Lewis I’m convinced that Pastors often preach to themselves and the rest of us just listen. On that, do they listen to their own sermons? I wonder as I wander... from service to service, denomination to denomination... day to day.
We all hear what we choose regardless. Listening is the key. Talking less helps. It isn’t a coincidence that Silent Night and Holy Night are so impactful. Holiness is most often associated with stillness and listening to God and for God in the still small voices. Do you hear what I hear? ... and bells. I love bells and candles. The fire and the piercing nature sing into the silence. |
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