Heart2Heart SHARING

I am 100% Christian and 0% anything else. Outside of Jesus Christ, I have no life and no will to live. I have no ambition for personal fame or fortune. I will not under any circumstances write a book, grant an interview giving my name or have a picture taken of me. Nothing I do is about me, it has everything to do about Jesus Christ my Lord.

I strive, in all I do in this life, to think and act as I believe my Lord would if He were living physically in the flesh today. I have worked long and hard to renew my mind to the Word of God so I can think as it instructs me to think and not be governed by emotions, the past or what the world tells me to think. Somehow this is construed as wrong by many people.

I have been called stupid, brainwashed, ignorant, stubborn, weird, dangerous, a heretic, a wimp, a recluse, a fanatic, narrow-minded, brain dead, misinformed, wrongly taught, of the devil, possessed, “marked and avoid”, worthless and countless other things I cannot write. Long ago I made up my mind that I do not care what people call me for unless they love Jesus Christ as I do; there is no way they could understand me.

I have chosen to travel the road less traveled even if it means spending most of my life alone. I do not need the applause of men to feel good about myself. I do not need the accolades of men to feel I have accomplished anything worthwhile in this life. I do not need my name plastered on book covers and on billboards to call attention to anything I produce. I do not need to stick a man-made two or three letter prefix in front of my name demanding respect for who I am.

I prefer to stay anonymous and for the most part unknown. I prefer to have few, if any friends and precious few acquaintances. I do not feel it is necessary to build a temple and fill it with warm bodies once a week to feel I have fulfilled the Lord’s commission. I do not believe it makes me any less important to labor in the background and be the “wind beneath someone else’s wings”. I have no problem being a faceless member of the crowd. It does not bother me to not be on a thousand people’s personal e-mail lists.

Ego is something that thankfully I do not have to feed. I pity those who cannot live without someone daily telling them how great they are. I feel badly for those who cannot live without the applause of crowds ringing in their ears and awards lining the walls of their plush offices. It is disgusting to me to see so many of my peers vying for photo ops and squeezing their way into any publicity they can get for themselves, their “ministry” or church.

Those who have given their lives to serving small congregations hold by utmost respect. Those who care not to be called anything but “pastor” win my regard far more than the “Rev.” or “Dr.” so and so. Anyone hiding behind those titles needs to be stripped of them for a season and learn to be respected for what you do and not the title you go by. Respect is to be earned not automatically given because of one’s schooling or the degrees one holds.

Over the past few months I have had to frequent, unfortunately, many physicians’ offices. Once again I have had to deal with some of the most arrogant people who walk on this earth. I have sat in the presence of the great “Dr. So and So” and been offered NO HELP and then charged upwards of $850 for the privilege of sitting in his office for 10 minutes. I am so weary of dealing with people who supposedly took an oath that demands they help people and all they want is to look down their nose and write a prescription and then move on to the next victim of Doctor abuse.

I believe fees for services should be determined by the results produced. If you go to a Doctor and they cannot help you, why do they still receive as much or more in compensation than the one who ends up really providing any help? Why does a specialist insist on charging a king’s ransom to do nothing but the family Dr. gets next to nothing to do all the “dirty work”? Like everything else in life, it is not fair.

As for me, I vow anew to say what I am to say, and do what I am to do without one ounce of credit or glory for doing it. Pride comes before a fall and the arrogance of people who want the whole world to know how smart, wise, talented and beautiful they are leads these people over the cliff of oblivion. What happens when the mind goes mad and the body grows old? What happens when people finally realize all the great wisdom spewed out of the mouths of all the “experts” was just so much worthless junk? What happens is that the mighty fall and they end up dead just like everyone else.

“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;

And the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,

That no flesh should glory in His presence.

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—

That, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord”.

I Corinthians 1:25-31 NKJV

Heaven holds no special place for those who SAY they are smarter. Heaven’s gate is not extra wide for those who THINK they are better. Heaven is not a place reserved for the high and mighty. No, heaven is the hope for the humble and the meek. Heaven is waiting for those who are weak.

Here it is, the day before Easter with spring just around the corner and I feel like every truck on the Interstate ran over me. My body has decided to take a day or two off. I hurt everywhere, pain has erupted in most of my joints and muscles. I feel like a noodle pulled out of a boiling pot. Have I aroused an ounce of pity yet? That is not my intent, believe me.

The reason I bring up how horrible I feel is to prove a point. I believe I have been doing the Lord’s will in my life. I believe I have listened to His voice and have written and spoken His Word to the best of my ability recently. I have prayed as I always do and looked into God’s Word as I love to do. I have provided assistance to those in need and just yesterday “tithed” 70% of my paltry income. Why then, after doing and being such a “good boy” do I feel as I do?

Did God go on Spring Break somewhere? Did prayer suddenly go out of style? Am I harboring secret sin and receiving due recompense for it? Is God punishing me for things I have written recently? Has the devil himself shown up unawares and laced my juice with “feel bad pills”? If all other explanations fail, it must be global warming.

I am not the first, nor will I be the last believer to feel as I do today and ask the questions above. I can assure you that every person who has ever lived, including our savior Jesus Christ had to endure pain and suffer through times when the human body reacts to the poisons and toxins it is bombarded with daily in our water, food and air. How any of us feel good any day is a mystery known only to God.

I spent many a year with a group that would come and knock on my door on a day like today and proceed to jump all over me laying hands on me and screaming prayers for God to deliver me. If I didn’t respond immediately they would condemn me as an infidel and move on to the next sick person. Of course I am exaggerating, but you get the idea. It is difficult for me to accept that there are going to be days when for whatever reason, we don’t feel good. But, as long as we have this human tabernacle, we will suffer periods of sickness and ultimately death.

On this date ten years ago I died. Yes, I was deliberately killed on an operating table so I could be “fixed” and live again. Surgeons deliberated slowed down and stopped my heart in order to do open heart surgery (bypass). For the duration of time they were operating on me, I was kept “alive” by a heart/lung machine. My physical heart was under ice with the “hope” it would start again when warmed and stimulated. Obviously it worked, for to the best of my knowledge I have been alive the past ten years; but I must confess, I wonder at times what the long term ramifications were to my body resulting from that ordeal.

There are times when we don’t feel well because of some of the reasons mentioned above and there are times we don’t feel well because of genetics, disease in our body, food poisoning, flu, and a whole host of things daily knocking at our doors trying to bring us down. For years and years I have been ridiculed by family and friends for taking my truckload of vitamins and supplements every day. I know beyond any doubt these vitamins and supplements have kept me alive the past ten years.

A few years ago someone showed me an article by Linus Pauling proving how to never suffer heart disease or heart attack again. I started on his recommendations in 2003 and my cardiac condition has improved dramatically ever since. In fact, my cardiologist told me last month, that my heart and arteries are much better now than they ever were. He expressed no desire to see me for a couple of years. Amazing, I used to see him every couple of months not too long ago.

Last week a book was finally released documenting Mr. Pauling’s simple therapy to prevent heart problems. As difficult as it is to believe, the main two keys are high doses of vitamin C and L Lysine. Here is a link to this new book: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2008/02/prweb726684.htm. Please keep in mind I have not read this book, but I could easily write a success story for the therapy.

What is my point here? Very simply that there are many physical problems God expects us to handle through the means He put on this earth with Adam. Vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other supplements can heal the human body far better than any witchcraft concoction a pharmaceutical company could ever develop. In fact, a major chunk of our ailments are brought on by pouring all the prescription and over the counter drugs into our body on a daily basis. We do so because we are told they will make us feel better and “heal” us.

One of the reasons I feel so badly now is a new drug I was forced to take for a kidney problem. Much like chemo therapy makes a person feel horrible for a season, so any powerful chemical dumped into the body will cause it to respond in certain ways. I thank God for the chemicals developed to treat cancer and other diseases. I do not thank God for many of the snake oil potions peddled by drug salespeople.

I will feel better in a day or two, but even if I don’t; how I feel physically is not any indication of how I am doing spiritually. There are just times when the body has to slow down and almost shut down so it can heal itself. I learned long ago that God designed the human body to heal itself (think of a splinter) but at times for it to do so demands the body be allowed to rest and spend its energy where the need is.

Faith is one of those words which has many different definitions. Biblically, one must determine by the context whether faith is referring to “the faith of Jesus Christ”, the “family of faith” or “firm belief”. There is no greater verse in the Bible dealing with faith as an act of utter and complete belief than Hebrews 11:1 where it says:

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

The word translated “substance” is the Greek word “hupostasis”. The word basically means “essence, substance, reality; that which is the basis of something; hence, guarantee or confidence.” In other words, the word means “documentable proof, thus providing a guarantee”. I believe it was James Moulton who first started using the term “title deed” as the appropriate translation of this word.

A title deed provides proof of ownership. If you can produce the title deed to a property, then you can prove you own that property. When making the dreaded trip to the DMV to get tags for a new vehicle; you must have the title for the vehicle or it will never become yours. A title is the legal proof you own something, even if it is a thousand miles away. If you have the title, the property is yours.

When a person buys a car and finances it through a bank or other facility; the title goes to the bank and stays there until the car is paid off. Although you have the car, drive the car, pay taxes on the car, etc; you do not own the car until there is no longer a lien against it. As long as money is owed on the car, it never really is yours. The same thing happens with mortgages on homes. Until the home is paid off, the mortgage holder is the real owner of the house.

Hebrews 11:1 states that faith is the title deed of things “hoped for”. This hope is really nothing more than what we are praying for. When we pray, we have faith that what we are praying about comes to pass. That faith is our title deed to what we are praying for. It is also the “evidence” of things not seen. The word translated “evidence” is an obscure Greek word only used one other place in the New Testament. The word literally means “to convict, or conviction”. It is a legal word that is used as a figure of speech here in Hebrews. It would be better translated “certain persuasion” although many versions translate it “conviction”.

Faith, that mysterious word with a truckload of different meanings, is the title deed and certain persuasion of things prayed for and not yet seen. Every great person of faith who ever lived knew by experience what this verse was talking about. In fact, the entire eleventh chapter of Hebrews is devoted to those who from God’s perspective were men and women of faith. Everyone mentioned or mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 practiced verse 1 and that is what enabled them to make into the “Faith Hall of Fame”.

Think of dearly beloved Peter. Out in their boat at night, the disciples think they see a ghost standing on the water. Peter thinks it might be Jesus, but isn’t quite sure. He calls out to this ghost and demands that if he is really Jesus, then tell him to walk on the water to him. Ah, Peter knew that only Jesus would really tell him to do it. I am quite sure Peter was not expecting any reply. Much to his surprise, the Master told him ONE WORD; “COME”. The word of God doesn’t always have to be 2000 words. Sometimes it is only ONE word.

Once Peter had the Word Of God, he either needed to believe it or reject it. Without so much as even thinking about the consequences, Peter climbed out of the boat and started walking on the water to Jesus. Even as he was climbing out, the voices of the other disciples were ringing through his mind. “Don’t do it Pete”, “You are going to sink”, “Think of your Mom, Peter”; everywhere and from all directions he was being bombarded with all the good reasons NOT to walk out on faith to Jesus.

Once you receive the Word of God in your life, start walking. Don’t wait around for detailed instructions as to how to get out of the boat and how to handle walking on waves. Just DO IT!! Peter got out of the boat and immediately started walking on the water. When he took that first step of faith, he literally believed what Jesus had said to him was true. In his case, Peter did not need a title deed, but rather a plank, and he got one. Peter’s faith in the word of God given to him by Jesus was the guarantee he would not sink when he tried to walk on the water.

Peter did begin to sink only when he “lost the faith” by getting distracted and looking at the waves instead of the Lord Jesus. When we glue our eyes upon the Lord and fasten ourselves to the word He gives us; we can walk on water. We can do whatever it is that God sets before us to do if we have complete faith it came from God and is directed to us.

Nowhere is faith more completely taught, than by Jesus after he has cursed the fig tree and it died overnight. In Mark 11:22 it says:

“And Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God.”

Some manuscripts omit this verse, some have it as it is recorded in the KJV and still others would have it read; “Have the faith of God”. Wow, what a concept that is! To have the faith of God is certainly beyond our mortal mind’s ability to comprehend. How much faith does God have? Hebrews 11:3 says:

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed (prepared) by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

God had to literally create everything as He prepared the ages and fashioned the universe. God spoke, and things that were not there came into being. That is faith! As Genesis 1 repeatedly says; “and God said…” and it came to pass. God spoke His Word and it came to pass because of His faith. Oh how glorious life would be for us all if we could “have the faith of God”! If we could, then back in Mark 11 it goes on to say in verses 23 and 24:

“For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says.

Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive and you shall have them.”

Faith is powerful. Prayer without faith is like a boat without an oar. When we pray, we need to manifest the “faith of God” in order to see the mountains moved and the things prayed for come to pass. I think we all know that faith is vital to seeing results when we pray. But, did you ever notice what the next two verses in Mark say, immediately after these verses on prayer? Look at verses 25 and 26 squarely in the context of having the faith of God:

“And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.

But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.”

Holy something or other; it takes the “faith of God” to forgive others for those things they have done against you and to believe the Father has forgiven you. Do we need to forgive others? We do if we want our Father to forgive us. Honestly, it takes just as much faith to conquer bitterness and resentment and forgive as it does to move a mountain or expect results in prayer.

All these things are humanly impossible, but with God, they are possible. It takes faith to forgive for it goes against our very nature. It takes faith to believe, for the senses say it is impossible. It takes faith to conquer the doubts that keep us from seeing God’s Word come to pass in our lives for they gnaw away at us like gnats in the summer. Have the faith of God!

If I were able to communicate fully any one subject to others, it would have to be the love of God. If I were allowed by God to have the gift of enlightenment to pass on to others for a day; I would use it to share about the love of God. There is nothing so great, and nothing so wonderful in all of God’s universe as the love of God. There is nothing more tender, healing and pure than the beautiful love of God.

In honor of the day, here are the words to my second favorite hymn; “The Love Of God”:

THE LOVE OF GOD
Words & music: F. M. Lehmen, 1917; public domain

The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

When years of time shall pass away,
And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,
When men, who here refuse to pray,
On rocks and hills and mountains call,
God's love so sure, shall still endure,
All measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam's race;
The saints' and angels' song.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints' and angels' song.

Perhaps no more beautiful words have ever been written than those of the final verse to this hymn. The love of God is truly far too vast and awesome to ever be written without draining the ocean dry. The love of God is truly so big the entire sky is not large enough to write it on. If you ever get the chance to hear Dallas Holm’s version of this hymn, it is well worth it.

May you bask in God’s tender mercies and embrace His boundless love this day and every day.

Too many times in our busy world, we forget that we need to take the time to listen to music. Every single morning for the past year I have taken 45 minutes upon first rising to listen to an instrumental CD simply called “Holy” by Terry MacAlmon. Before this CD came out a year ago, I would listen to various instrumental worship music first thing after waking up, but this particular CD has transformed my early morning devotions as none other.

Every evening directly before going to bed I listen to anywhere from 10-30 minutes of violin music by Ruth Fazal. Again, I settled upon this music about a year ago and it continues to allow me time to reflect on the day and give it to God before going to bed. I feel that it is absolutely essential to spend the first and last waking minutes of each day in prayer and meditation with God. I cannot imagine not doing this, for it is so engrained in me.

In October of 2006 I arranged my schedule to be in Seattle, Washington for a concert. This was no ordinary concert for it was the first and only time my top two living Christian musicians ever did a concert together. The two artists were Steve Green and Dallas Holm. Looking back, I am so very thankful to God for allowing me to be there and to enjoy an evening of pure musical bliss.

So many believers who are under the age of 30 have no idea who Steve Green and Dallas Holm are. These two great Christians artists were among the pioneers of what is now called Contemporary Christian music. Although their styles are as different as night and day, they have both endured years of great turmoil in the Christian music recording industry and remain faithful to their callings. For any Christian who has never heard the music of these two men; I would urge you to do so.

Dallas Holm has a country/blues type of style while Steve Green, especially his newer material, is more of a “Tony Bennett” style. One must remember these two guys are in their 50’s so they are not going to have styles appealing to teenagers.

I was in Texas a couple of years ago at the headquarters of Praise Ministries (Dallas Holm’s ministry) talking to the man who handles his concert bookings. He expressed to me how with each passing year, it is getting harder and harder to find any churches willing to book a Dallas Holm concert due to lack of name recognition among younger people. It would truly be a shame if the musical, comical and evangelical genius of Dallas Holm ever were allowed to fade away.

A Dallas Holm concert comes complete with Dallas Holm, a couple of guitars and, as he calls it, “his band in a box”. He is a one man show and he has an amazing way of pulling an audience into his living room and then ministering to their hearts. He is not just a musician, he is an excellent “preacher” and evangelist. At the end of the Seattle concert, I was ready to get born again again.

Steve Green is a more “polished” performer whose concerts are a much bigger production. He travels with his wife, piano player and violin player. They too have a “band (or more appropriately an orchestra) in a box” and produce a multi-media presentation complete with videos in the background and special lighting. His concerts are usually huge events and very well attended.

I have had the joy of attending five Steve Green concerts during the past few years. If you love Steve’s music, you really should go to one of his concerts. The audience is older and more “laid back” and the atmosphere is somewhat like being in church, but not “stuffy”. By the time the evening is done, your heart is tenderized and re-energized in a quiet but forceful way.

Another great Christian musician I greatly admire and respect is John Michael Talbot. Whereas Dallas Holm and Steve Green are 100% Protestant performers; John Michael Talbot is a Protestant who converted to Catholicism and has produced 50 albums of “cross-over” music that is a blend of Contemporary Christian and Catholic music. He is the head of a hermitage in Arkansas and he along with those who live there has taken the vow of poverty. His entire wardrobe is made up of robes.

John Michael Talbot has to be one of the greatest acoustic guitar players in the world. Most of his earlier music was strictly him playing his guitar and singing with perhaps a small orchestra in the background. The reason I have always loved his music is because he predominantly writes his own songs and they are most of the time taken directly from the Bible. It is indeed an art to be able to take the words of a Psalm and turn it into a beautiful song, yet he has done this many times over.

I have been to my fair share of John Michael Talbot concerts and they are usually just him and his guitar in a hushed church. Although I do not share his Catholic faith, I stand in awe at how the vast majority of his songs can be totally enjoyed by Catholics as well as Protestants. I think that is an amazing accomplishment in our time. By the way, John Michael is also in his 50’s.

I present this article to you for the sole purpose of introducing you to some of my oldest friends. Although I have met all these men, what is important is how well they know my heart. Over the years, they have succeeded in ministering to me countless times. Their music has comforted me in my sorrow, exhorted me to keep moving ahead, soothed me when I’m stressed out and inspired me to do more for my Lord each day. To this day, when I take a long trip, I will simply take these men along as my personal ministering angels. I will never tire of their music and more importantly, their incredible heart as presented in their songs.

Long ago I quit keeping up with the current batch of Contemporary Christian musicians. Far too expensive and takes too long. I will keep listening to and being ministered to by Dallas, Steve, John Michael, Terry along with Ray Boltz, Michael Card and Keith Green as long as I have ears to hear. I pray that whoever blesses you musically and ministers to your heart spiritually you fight to make time for in your busy lives. God forbid the day ever comes “the music dies”.