Standard for living

Our world is falling apart. Politicians seem to think what ever keeps them in power is the important thing. We have even heard some say they would lie or do whatever to get in office. We have had them promise the moon and the stars to get elected and then once they have the power they abuse it. God's way has told us to love even our enemies. To care for the downtrodden, the fatherless and the widows.  We have the Muslims beheading people of other faiths, but still God's word says to love our enemies and to do good to those that mistreat us.  We are criticized for promoting the right to life for not only the unborn but even those alive. We promote a Biblical lifestyle, one man and one woman for life, but when we fail, we support and give second chances. The Bible prohibits these unnatural life styles that are being promoted right and left. We are to love even those that disobey. Where would I be if the church had closed its doors to me when I failed in a first, second. third and fourth marriage.  They didn't condemn me but tried to teach me a better way. Perhaps I am a slow learner.  There are consequences to a sinful lifestyle. We do not need to tear down those that fail, but we do need to hold  God's standard for living  up for all to see. It is the best way. God created all that was and ever will be. When he created man, man reproduced as did the animals and birds , herbs and grasses. But God had an order, not to make it hard for us but to show the best way.  I doubt any of us have a problem with thou shalt not steal. Because when what you worked for is taken from you, it hurts. Someone breaks into your home and goes through your things, you feel violated. Perhaps some laws are not that easy to understand. But if we try, I think we can understand. God wants what is best for us. Do not commit adultery is another of God's laws. It is a selfish act is it not, if we commit adultery with out considering how it will affect others?  It is violated a lot and our society will say things like men will be men. Or if a President is popular, we may want to look the other way because we like him. The truth is adultery hurts, when a woman or a man commits themselves to a spouse and that trust is violated, the partner is hurt. Then many times children are involved, and they are not grown so they don't understand the whole problem, and they are hurt. God's way was not to make it difficult. But to protect, the emotions of the spouse and children. Many of us are immature when we get married at a young age, but God will use marriage to make something beautiful of our lives if we will commit to him. Many are selfish when we are young, and I believe God takes a lot of this selfishness out of us through out commitment to marriage and our children. The children will be blessed having a stable loving home and will do better in life. God law is intended for our good. Thou shalt not murder is explained by Jesus to be more than not taking of a life. These laws were intended to be written on our hearts. Jesus tells us we do not want to be angry with our brother without cause.  These laws are written and given to man to help us live a quality life.  Anger and being unforgiving,  hurt the angry person and the unforgiving person. When we learn to forgive, we are better off emotionally. Having an unforgiving spirit is like drinking poison yourself and expecting the other person to die. It is going to kill us slowly. Or take the do not use God's name in vain commandment.   Jesus intended this to be more than swearing and using bad language. When we try to manipulate people to do what we want them to do and try to make it like God said it or God told us to tell you. Once again it looks selfish to me.   One example I will give is a man told about his breaking up with a girl when he was in college. Another female friend was trying to help him in his time of hurt. She said, God told me you were the man for me so it is OK, that this happened. The man had no interest in her whatsoever. But this woman used God's name to try to get what she wanted. It has happened many times especially in a christian college where someone will break up with someone and use God as an excuse for what they want. God probably wasn't involved from the beginning so don't put it on him. This is just a few of  the laws that are there for our quality of life, not to make it difficult. Many times we let selfishness destroy what God is doing. God standard for living, his word, his commandments are for our good. Not to make it difficult or just for God to show he is a God that must be obeyed. He has our best interest at heart. He understands each of us better than any one of us understands a loved one. These were given for us to have a better quality of life.  A man and a woman who have worked through the issues of marriage and have kept their commitment have a better life down the road. They are each probably a little less self centered. The children between them are common to both and the parents do not have to worry about a spouse doing what is right for their children and grandchildren. God's way was designed for our best, he loves us so much he gave his Son to die on a cross for our sins, that we could have even an eternal life after this present life is over. I don't know if this makes as much sense to someone other than myself, but it sure does to me. I don't know if I can explain it as well as the next person, I do know God has been with me through the ups and downs of life and I am grateful. I see where his plan has been best. I do see where he worked some of my selfishness and self righteousness out of my life through trials and tribulation.   I see when I honored his word and his will,  life has been better for me. I see many that reject him and I don't envy them.  I do believe in a hereafter, I do believe we all face God someday. I want to make it on his terms and not trust my eternity to political correctness.  I believe Gods plan will work and is for our best.  God bless, LVZ.

Political

As I read 100's of e-mails because of commenting on someones post. I am in the thread of responses to that post. What I noticed is the majority are just a knee jerk reaction like mine was. A few individuals in there response thought it through and gave insight into the issue.  We are almost a mob rule society. Get people upset and the deluge of knee jerk responses is amazing.  Then in the news was a republican running for President that I think would do very well. I probably will vote for him. But I say all that to say, we have some deep hurts in our society that are not going to go away because of one President. Anyone who gets elected is going to owe some peoples, and what we see in our country is not good. We see the LGBT organization gaining a lot of ground and they are powerful.  We are bombarded about there lifestyle on television daily, and it is deemed politically correct. We have aborted 53 million babies in this country since 1973. We have an almost 50% of the population dependent on the Government in some form or another. We see the Muslim religion forcing their way on peoples across our world today.  There are many dangers our there for Christians. One conservative President may help us go in another direction but we have some deep seated problems including the rift between races in this country and the lack of respect towards law enforcement. Our borders are insecure and political parties using this issue to gain votes instead of fixing the problem. I get encouraged when I see what I consider a good man running for President. What we need is a spiritual solution and not a political one. When we see this good man running for office, we are encouraged and want him to win. Even if he does, our country is in deep trouble and he alone is not going to fix it. We need God to intervene in our country more than we have ever needed him before. Yes we are putting a lot of hope into a political solution that only God can fix. If we are indeed in the last days, we will see more of the same. This good man will be torn down just like Bush was. We need God to move in our country, in the hearts of our people. in the hearts of our political leaders like we have never needed him before. 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." As I read all these e-mails that were against Hillary, and I thought about the good conservative candidate I had just read about, I quickly hoped we have a chance again in this next election. Notice where my hope was, or who it was in. My hope in that instance was in a Republican / Conservative candidate, not in God. If God's people pray, turn from their wicked ways, and get God's attention, it will not matter if Hillary is elected. When we seek God's face, when we repent, then perhaps our hope will be in God. Right now I don't think most conservative or liberal Christians get it. We have Idolized our political party, or our political hero. God is a jealous God, We as a nation have not gotten to the place where our hope is in God. He is not going to rescue us until it is. When I see how quickly Christians revive their hope in a political candidate, I believe we are doomed in the next election no matter which side wins. God wants to be our hope. This country thrived not because of Republican or Democratic leadership, but because of Godly leadership. I do not see things turning around until our hope, our all is in God. It doesn't have to be the whole nation, just God's people, and we are not at the bottom yet. God needs to be our only hope. I will not be surprised if a godless Republican wins just to dash our hopes and turn our hearts toward God.  Watch and see, if God's people do not turn to God it will be another 4 years of the same. God used Gideon and 300 men to turn things around. Judges 7. Inside the church looks the same as the world today. We are not holy, we make excuses for everything. If we have family members caught up in sin, we make excuses for them and try to be politically correct instead of spiritually correct. It does not take a majority to turn things around, just enough of God people to get his attention. When I see how many Christians are still looking to the Republican party to bring a hero to save our country, I know we are not there. God will want the glory when he moves. When God moves, it will not matter if a Clinton is in the White House. I believe we should still vote our conscience, but our hope needs to be in God.   God bless, LVZ

Poster Child

I thank God my recovery from knee surgery has been as good as it has been.  The rehab place has been calling me the new poster child for knee surgery. I requested prayer even before the surgery and I know my friends and family have prayed for me. God has been good to allow me to have only minimal pain. Of course I have taken my medications religiously, especially at the beginning.  It seems just awesome to think what they can do, cut an eight inch slit in the front of my knee and shape a six sided cut on the top bone and even a recess in the bottom part to receive a tab. They may have even used a mallet to pound it in place. I didn't feel a thing. Knowledge is certainly increased in these days.  I did use a walker for a while but it seemed after a short time I was just carrying it because I was suppose to. I had a raised toilet seat and a transfer seat in the tub. I am beyond using any of these things anymore. I have ridden my mountain bike, and am back to picking up litter on the section of my street I try to keep clean.  Beyond that I am picking up aluminum cans again. I certainly thank God for such an easy recovery. I have mowed my lawn and a neighbors lawn for the first time this spring.  I wanted God to just grow me new cartilage in my knee and I believe he could have done that. But mostly I was just afraid of feeling a lot of pain. But God has graciously allowed me to rehab without much pain. My wife has certainly taken good care of me also during this time, I know I am not the best patient in the world. I pray God will help me to get back to the household things I need to do.  I am blessed, God is so good.  God bless,  LVZ.

These commandments

there is not a single commandment that I have looked at that I feel I understood. As I take a fresh look at each one, I think, no wonder our world is in so much trouble. We have other Gods, some its money, sports, I can go on and on with a list, but just look at what is most important in your life and you will find it. Idols, same thing, what do you talk about the most. Then when we get to Do not take the Lord's name in vain and we look at the things we say and try to put God on our side, when it may be nothing God has ever said, but its what we want. Whole religions based on this. God has an order to this life, a balance. We need to honor God everyday. Honoring Father and Mother and we see the disrespect for authority skyrocketing. It stems from not keeping this commandment. You shall not murder and we abort babies almost as a form of birth control, but that is not totally it either. The hatred we see displayed in this country from me against you starting with our political parties and race and even against authority which is there to protect us. Look at our country, it is falling apart and look at the commandments we have failed to keep. I believe it is directly related. God help us to wake up before it is too late. We have a country of pleasure seekers, religions based on your pleasure. God just wants you to be happy. Look at the Bible, look at these commandments and see if there is not a direct link between our troubles and our not keeping the commandments.  Perhaps God is speaking, have we determined that we do not need him who created us.  Sometimes a parent gives just a little warning, and we do not heed, then perhaps a raised voice and we do not heed. Does God have to get out the switch to get our attention?  These commandments were for our learning, to guide us. Have we thrown them away?  I am not finished with these commandments.  Some predicting perilous times ahead. We need God, but do we know it? We cannot keep these commandments without him.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet. 

God bless, LVZ. 

The Seventh Commandment

From the shirt list:  7. You shall not commit adultery.  Short and simple, from Exodus 20:14. when Jesus explains this commandment we get much more info.  Matthew 5:27-32 "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of they members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. It has been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement: But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery."  God wants to write the commandments on our hearts, we see that in the second verse of this section, whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart. God's perfect plan from the beginning of time has been one man / one woman for life. Until death do part. Once again we have proved over and over without Jesus we cannot keep the commandments. I don't know if anyone should listen to me other than sometimes we learn a lot from our failures. I certainly have failed in this commandment. I am in my fifth marriage, and all four of the previous woman are still alive.  Yes, there was unfaithfulness. But the vow we take for the most part, says for better or worse until death do part. One place when Jesus was talking he said Moses gave a writing of divorcement because of the hardness of our hearts. When one partner of the marriage union quits it is over. No matter how hard the other person tries, it is over unless both are committed and working at it. Notice how serious Jesus makes this commandment, pluck out your eye or cut off you hand if it offends you or causes you to stumble. God's perfect plan has been one man / one woman for life until death do part. All I can say to any who has failed as I have, there is grace at the cross.  In Genesis 2:24 it says "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."  I go to this scripture because in my experience the only marriage of mine where there was a cleaving together was in this last one my fifth.  When I think back there are so many wrong reasons for marriage. I don't understand to this day my second marriage, but the third and fourth there was no cleaving. Right from the start there was another person involved  and it was like there was no bonding, no cleaving together. If you ask me any one of these marriages should have worked if this commandment had been obeyed to the extent that Jesus describes. But when one person hardens their heart it is over. There was a hardness of heart on my part in the first marriage, I was done, I couldn't handle the adultery. In the second I do not think there was adultery on the part of my second wife, but I do believe she hardened her heart for some reason. I am not sure to this day, because one day she just took her stuff and left with hardly a word. It was a pattern of hers, she did the same to her first. Unfaithfulness from the start ended the third and fourth marriages fairly quickly. But it was in the fifth where the bonding and the cleaving together as one took place. Marriage can be a wonderful thing if done right. A commitment to each other, faithfulness and honesty and love. God perfect plan for marriage, one woman / one man and no adultery and it can work. Commitment to each other. Adultery is a killer of marriages and Jesus goes so far as to say if we lust after another we have already committed adultery in our hearts. It is so important that these commandments be written on our hearts. God bless, LVZ,

What does putting God first look like?

"Thou shalt have no other Gods before me."  Exodus 20:3   In Mark chapter 12, verse 30 "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." I have been blogging about the ten commandments for a couple of months now and today I was thinking about what does loving God look like. God wants to be first in our life. We still have to live, go to work, take care of families and many more hats that we wear. In a practical application, I think we would want to talk with God everyday. We look at old testament Prophets like Daniel  who would kneel three times a day and pray to his God. It was known, and his enemies tried to use it against him. Daniel didn't change even when it became unlawful. It was habitual in his life. It was habitual but not forced, not religious. Like a cigarette smoker, that is a habit. It is not forced, it is desired from habit.  The Bible also tells us to cast all our care upon him, for he cares for you. Our prayer could look like daily communication with someone who lives in our house. Even better then a spouse who is separated from us through out the day to attend their job or other duties, God dwelling in us, means he is always there. Some enjoy communing with him in the car while traveling. Some perhaps talk to him in the shower. or perhaps a person enjoys walking for their daily health. Communing with God during that walk. What about when trouble strikes, I remember a time when something was said that was very hurtful on the job and I needed to get away, I found a stall in the bathroom where no one could see me and I quietly cried out to God.  Casting all your care on him. Talking to a Pastor about that situation, he said, did you see what you did? You went to God, you took it to God.  I think we would also try to follow his word as best we could. I try to read daily from God's word. Since most times God doesn't speak in an audible voice, he sometimes speaks to us through his word. A couple of days ago I was reading Matthew 5:21-24 relating to the sixth commandment. I read verse 23 and 24 where it talks about bringing your gift to the alter and remembering a brother has ought against you. As I read those words, I knew God was speaking to me. I said OK God, if this is you I will do as you are asking. As I read those words, I immediately thought of my son who was hurt by some words I spoke. He did not want to speak to me. I had prayed about it and requested prayer from others. When God speaks like that, we need to take action. I did. I prayed about it again and said I would call, and I did the next day. Sometimes God's voice might almost seem audible, like one time I was praying about a situation and while I was still praying God showed me something I was asking about. Then I felt like he said in my mind, I showed you this  so you would know, not to go and make a fool of yourself. I also think it would look like wanting to be in his presence such as attending Church on a consistent basis, especially since his word says "forsake not the assembling together". It is personal, your relationship may not look like mine, but God will be important in your life that you will want to speak to him, read his word and listen to him. I believe if you really love God it will alter some of your actions. I often think, being a christian should be the biggest descriptor of us. More important than black or white, German or Spanish. More important than Conservative or Liberal. You would consider what would God think of this, or perhaps as you pray, God what do you think. It will not matter if being a Christian is popular or not, it will be important to you and you will want to alter your life to please him. Worship him, think about his goodness. Tell of his goodness. Think of the best relationship you had on this earth, how you wanted to be with that person. Talk to them, just be in their company. Perhaps during the day you would think of them and want to speak, so you would call. God does want relationship with us. He says with all our strength, our soul and our mind. talk to him about your decisions, questions, concerns. Make him a part of your daily life. Obey his word as much as you know. Practice the things that may be hard. maybe you fail here and there, but you keep on trying. Seek him with your whole heart. We need God in every part of our life. Our families, our job, relationship with friends, we need him like the air we breath. Our modern world can be a distraction, but it can also make it easier. Our cell phone lives can interfere or can be used to help us. Now we can get apps on our cell phones that even read his word to us. We can google sights like Blue letter Bible  to investigate his word. Our modern world can distract or can help, but that depends on us. Do you love him. use the modern inventions to help you in your relationship with him. It doesn't matter if you read a hard copy of his word or use a tablet. He want our hearts, he want to dwell in us and he wants to write his commandments on our hearts. He is life.  God bless, LVZ. 

Segregated

I used the word segregated in my last blog and the more I thought about it, I don't think it is the right word for what I was trying to say. Most communities have Black Churches, Hispanic Churches or what ever they have a large ethnic population, you will see a church related to that ethic group. So I guess in that manner the word fit, but it still don't seem like the right word for that blog. Black and White are getting along reasonably well, unless we focus on the incidents that happen once in a while. But everyday, they work together, play together, go to the same grocery store, the same eye doctor, etc. In Rehab, the same thing, black and white rehabbing together. When you look at the big picture we are doing well until we focus on an isolated incident. If we focus on those smaller incidents and make a big deal out of it, I think we could hurt the better cause in the long run. I was at a fast food place getting some Chicken for my wife. I prefer a burger, myself. But when I was in this business, that particular day. I was the only white on either side of the counter. There were several Blacks in front of me and at least two came in behind me. As I gave my order and waited, and waited, everyone got their order before me. I thought if this was turned around, and everyone but me was white and I was the only black, I would feel discriminated against.  I thought how easy it is to point a finger at discrimination when it could have been because I ordered original crispy chicken and perhaps that rack was empty and a new batch was on its way. Perhaps the others before me had taken the last of it and the persons behind me had ordered something different.  I don't know all the facts. I do know the manager came up front and was asking about it, why that particular order that was up there the longest hadn't been filled. I didn't hear the girls response. The manager was aware of it and was making an attempt to get it moving.  As I left there I was given the finger by some small black hand sticking out the window of  the back seat of the car in front of me. That added to my feelings that day. It was the first time I've seen that. It made me wonder if it could have been a result of the very publicized Ferguson protest. I think the Ferguson Protest have done more harm than good. Whatever they have accomplished for their community is over shadowed by the harm that was done across the nation. I don't want to do the same with a couple of small incidents. When looking at the big picture, living in what was considered just about the most racist state in the country. I think we are doing well. Yes there is still prejudice on both sides, but looking at where we came from, we are doing good. I still don't like the word segregated I used in the previous blog. The church I go to is integrated. The neighborhood I live in is integrated. The city workers have black and white, the Aldermen and women, the city office workers, the police force. Even Papa V's and Walmart hire both. The workers I had on the house, the same way. I think I want to focus on looking for the good especially in these times. Ferguson is doing enough harm all by itself.  They don't need my help.  God bless, LVZ.

Racism?

When I first started writing this I was a little disappointed by a couple of happenings. Today I was  reminded about how things have changed for the good.  I thought about the many times I have talked to different Black people up at Papa V's.  You don't feel like there is any difference when talking to some like the  Black man who is a Blue Bell sales man at Papa V's. I think about the protest at Ferguson that have been carried to other parts of the country. We didn't see that in Tupelo. Mississippi is known for a racist past but perhaps it is what we look for. Yes I have seen some incidents that have been racist. But Tupelo is a very segregated community.  I think about the white and black police force I have seen and talked to. I have seen both the Tupelo and Verona City Alder persons are very mixed. We have a black Mayor in Verona, A black police chief in several towns around here. In the recent news we noted in Jackson a Black Judge, prosecutor, and director of prisons that were dealing with some White racist young people. They were fair and professional. Perhaps the small incidents I started to talk about are not that big when looking at the progress that has been made in this community since the 60's. A long time member of this community was talking about how the churches got together and worked through the issues in the 60's. We do not live in a perfect world, but are we looking at is as half empty or half full? As I started to think about the things of late that bothered me, perhaps I was looking at the half empty side of life. I need to see the half full side and appreciate the many times I have interacted with Black people on a positive note. Yes there are some hold outs on both sides. But I don't want to join their ranks and point out the bad and make it seem worse than it is. I was thinking of the different people I would stop and talk to at Papa V's. It doesn't feel like a black and white thing, but just one man talking to another. I don't remember each of their names. the Black man that was a retired patrolman, or Isaiah, I do remember his name and just the other night the Blue Bell sales man that struck up a conversation with me.If I start pointing out the bad incidents do I help or hinder the cause? If I point out the good interactions, I certainly feel I am helping.  I do not want to instigate bad feelings but do want to work towards better relations. I want to be real and not sweep anything under the rug. But perhaps it is time to look for the good and celebrate that.  Progress has certainly been made over the last 50 years. Things are better. By focusing on the good perhaps we can move others closer to the good.  I don't feel like saying to much about the incidents if the other day that upset me. I want to look for the good.  God bless, LVZ.

Impact again

On a road trip sometime back I got out of my vehicle to take a picture. I saw paw prints of possibly a dog or coyote or something and I also saw my foot prints as I was walking back to my vehicle. As I am on my road trip through life, what prints am I leaving behind.  Pastor was talking recently about our church and what impact are we having on the community. Will Hope Church be missed by the community if for some reason it was not there anymore? It troubles me to see the way our society is going. The disrespect towards law enforcement officers is skyrocketing. I don't like what I hear and see on the Internet. As Pastor gave us a challenge, they passed out ten dollar bills to any one that would take one, only it wasn't for them, it was to serve someone in our community. I took one, and I prayed about it. What should I do with this 10 dollar bill. I felt impressed to bless a police officer. I want to counteract the disrespect shown towards our public servants, Police  Officers.  As I was in Papa V's, a local convenience store like 7-11, an officer came in to get a drink and a couple of other small items. I was still standing near by conversing with a Blue bell Sales representative. I stepped over to the register and said let me get this. He did let me pay for it. I told him I appreciated his service as a policeman and I do not like what I see on the internet and news showing disrespect towards our God ordained public servants.  Civil authority is ordained of God. 1 Peter 2:13-15  "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so it is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men." And in 1 Timothy 2:1-2 " I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty." Romans 13:1 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." We are making a mistake when we disrespect our law officers. They are God servants and when we fight them we fight God.  All the videos that I saw pertaining to Garner,  Brown, and the man in LA, they were all fighting.  We are to submit to law officers, they are God's servants for our well being. Anyway, I think I want to do more of this as I have the opportunity; to pay for  an officers lunch or drink when I get the opportunity. My effort to counteract the evil that is being promoted in this country towards our public servants. I am not against protesting for a good cause. Martin Luther King  did a lot of good for our country, but he did not disrespect authority. His protest were peaceful. What we see in this protesting a thug being lawfully detained, is spawning shootings at police and all kinds of disrespect. It is not good for our country, our local communities or for us as individuals. The Police are God's servants, they may not preach from a pulpit, but they are still God's servants. Let us respect them as such. I want to leave good footprints behind on my road trip through life. God bless, LVZ.

Racism

Racism and talk about racism is all around us. There is the Loretta lynch confirmation hearing and when it doesn't go right, immediately the race card is played. There is the face book clip where three actors play a young white woman introducing her black boyfriend to her white father.  I have tried to be non racist in my own life. But I think many black people still think I am racist because I don't think like them. I am in a black and white marriage. I have a beautiful wife and even in her I see some of the old past lingering.  Racism was on both sides and still is. If it be the young whites around Jackson that killed a black man for sport. If it is the young black woman that beat up on a young white woman because she was in the wrong neighborhood. I don't know what the right approach is, do we not talk about it at all and it simmers under the surface? Do we confront it head on and try to eliminate it and hurt others in the process? I think of the older white lady in the video, speaking her mind in the face book video about the young white and black couple. She stated she had a lot of black friends but didn't approve of interracial marriages. I wonder how she faces those black friends when and if they see the video.  Will they make it through and still be friends? Perhaps she wouldn't have been so outspoken had she known her words were being videotaped? Character is who we are when nobody is looking and when everybody is looking. If we have good character it should be the same either way. So I think talking about it openly is OK. We cannot change our raising. We can change ourselves. We should not go through life blaming our parents if they were somewhat imperfect. They were influenced by their parenting just as I was by mine and my children by me. When we become adults, we have choices to make. When confronted with wrong do we excuse it or try to change our lives? Do we take responsibility for our actions or try to blame someone else. I would like to make the world a better place by my actions. To that end I am a christian, but many times I feel I am like the weakest link in the Christianity chain. But the Bible does try to help us. Philippians 4:8

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.

If we could practice the above things in our lives, truth, honesty, justice, purity, lovely, good reports, would we not make our corner of the world a better place.
 2 Peter 1:3-9

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:   Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine         nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.  And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness;        and to brotherly kindness charity.  For if these things be in you and   abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things    is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

As I read these verses and think if we would go to God, the author of all life. If we would look at our hearts and see if these things be in us. If we were at the confirmation hearings, or if we were at the restaurant where the face book video was made, would not our words have been better and less racist?  All of us are living in a corrupt world full of lust and desire for power. If we had all these character attributes could we not make our world a better place?  I look at the past and I have some things I said, i would be embarrassed at the least to have them repeated today on face book.  we all came from this same corrupt world. All have sinned. Even the goody two shoes as we sometimes called the good kids, have sinned. But God understands. He created us, he wants to help us. I believe we need Christian people in all walks of life. People that know God and God knows them, People that are trying to put on the character attributes mentioned above. We are influenced bu the corruption around us, by the corruption of the past. But I believe God wants to change us through relationship with him. I am glad I am not where I was 20 - 30 years ago, but I still have work to do. I want to be a blessing to this world and to those I come in contact with. The biggest changes in my life have been because of a relationship with Jesus Christ my Lord. I grew up in the same corruption. I am influenced by the corruption in this world. But at the cross I met this Jesus. I didn't have to change it to meet him. I didn't have to clean myself up. I came just as I was, any changes, and of the above character attributes that have been added were through this relationship with Jesus Christ. I feel our world is getting worse, It seems racism and division in our nation is increasing astronomically in recent years. Jesus is still the answer for this world today. I want to spend an eternity with a loving Father who wants to add the above to my life.  God bless, LVZ.

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What is God address?

I heard this statement in a message and felt it would be a good blog title.  Revelations 3:20 "Behold , I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Our heart  should be God's address.  That is what this scripture is about, making our heart God's address. When he knocks on our hearts door, all we need to do is let him in. Confess our sins, for all have sinned. Repent, simply means walking a different direction.  Start our day by talking to the God of our heart. Commit our day unto him. We can know that we know that we know that we know, if the number of our days is up, we will spend an eternity with him. It is not about religion but a relationship. A daily relationship with our creator. God bless, LVZ.

The Sixth Commandment

The sixth commandment on the short list: You shall not Murder. If we go to Matthew 5:21 through 26 in the new testament it is explained like this: "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, whosoever is angry without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the alter, and rememberest that they brother hath ought against thee;  Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.  Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing."

Wow, what a mouthful to explain those 4 words from the sixth commandment short list. Might I add in my Bible these words from Matthew are printed in red, meaning Jesus spoke them.  Proverbs 7:2-3 "Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye. Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the tablet of thine heart." I went to this verse in Proverbs because I think it helps explain Jesus's words.  The law was given to show we could not live by the law. Jesus explains why. The laws of God are to be written on our hearts. Through Jesus Christ dwelling in us and letting him be Lord of our lives. When we try to write this on our hearts it is not so easy as we see by the many words of Jesus. It is easy through grace, which God gives. and it can only be lived with God in our hearts and that grace applied to our lives. All have sinned. All of us are guilty of this commandment. When we think of it as Murder in the short list, many of us think we are OK. But to be angry without cause or to call someone a fool and we are guilty of this commandment. This is hard. Especially when it goes on to say, to leave thy gift at the altar and go to they brother who has ought against thee.  I immediately thought of my son who does not wish to speak to me.  There is ought against me in his heart.  I thought of the video of the Nook Babiiee video that has been making the rounds on Face book and I believe I also posted it on my timeline when I saw it. Think of all the racial hatred you have seen and the hatred towards the police that is being shown over and over again in this day. As King B. Woodard has said this hatred has got to go. We are violating the 6th commandment with many of our actions in this country today.  It stems from pure hatred. The only cure I know is to have this 6th commandment written on our hearts and allow Jesus access into our lives.  Even if we have not physically killed someone but allow this hatred in our hearts either racial hatred or having ought against our brother we are not obeying this command. There is grace at the cross to wipe out this sin in our hearts.  The more I look at these commandments, the more I realize how hard they are to keep. If we just read the short list and make no attempt to understand we may think we are doing good but are we really? Is this commandment written on our hearts or is it just on a tablet of stone somewhere on display? God bless, LVZ. 

Impact

When I was young, I was concerned with making a living and providing for my family. I wanted a house, at one time I wanted 5 acres with a house on it. All these things have passed. My children are grown and making their own lives, raising their own children.  When you get older you wonder if you have had impact. If the number of my days was up tomorrow, would anyone miss me. I mean really truly miss me. I know family and friends will come to my funeral and perhaps some would visit my grave. But would any one truly miss me after I am gone.  I miss my grandfather, I wanted to be like him. I miss a friend named Wash, I miss him. He was a good friend. We went to dinner on Friday nights, him and Johnny and Myself. Nothing big, just friendship. He wasn't what I would call a real spiritual person, he was a Christian but he didn't preach to me. He was just my friend. I miss those Friday nights at Kings Table Buffet. He was 65 and Johnny was 55 and I was 45, going through my second divorce. He was my friend, and I miss him.  He tell the waitresses that we were brothers, and he would tease these young girls. He tell them things like I have a friend that is making movies and he is looking for someone just like you. They knew he was teasing.  My Grandfather was a happy old man even though he lived alone in his later years. I never considered him to be a spiritual giant or any thing like that, but he was content and happy. He'd play a trumpet or an organ and open his doors so the neighbors could hear. They wanted him to. He was content and happy.  I miss him and his smile.  I want people to miss me when I am gone. I want to live a life that impacts others in a good way. I don't want them to lie and just say nice things about me. But I want to live a life that someones sees something however small that they want that too. Grandfather has been gone for a lot of years but when I think about him, I miss him.  Wash has been gone for a lot of years also, but when I think of him, I miss him. My father-in-law, now he was a preacher. His last words to me were if you have any unfinished business, take care of it. I knew he meant spiritually. He tried to minister to people to his dying day. One person told about being in the hospital, and they heard this weird noise coming down the hall in the hospital as they lay their on their back recovering. A few minutes later as that weird noise came closer and closer, her was Papa Johns as we called him, pushing his walker ahead of him as he came to visit a friend in the hospital. I miss him, I miss the many talks we had as a son-in-law and Father-in-law before the first divorce happened and I went my own way. I called him a Texas Midget and I believe even though he had limited education as a country preacher, he was a spiritual giant. I miss him. He loved people and was genuinely concerned about where they would spend eternity. Yes, even his last words to me when he was in his late 80's showed his concern for me. I miss him.  There was a young couple not much older than I, that took me in when I was 18 and left home.  They impacted me for eternity. I don't see them much, we went to different churches later years and lived in different communities, but I will never forget what they did for me as a young man. All these impacted me in ways I will never forget. I miss each of these people, they impacted me.  God bless, LVZ.

another black and white blog

Yesterday while I was on face book, I saw a video clip that Officer Woodard came across and re posted. It was about  a young White woman and her six year old brother getting beat up by a young Black female. I believe the young woman taking the video was black also. The only reason for the beating was the young blacks felt the young white woman was in the wrong neighborhood. I hear it all the time from both black and white people that whites are more prejudice.  I keep saying its not true, prejudice knows no color barrier.  This was just as bad as the young whites around Jackson Mississippi  that sought out black victims to harass and ended up killing a man whose last name was Anderson. Many of the eight youths were sentenced late last year and early this year. Anderson was severely beaten but was not killed until they ran over him with a 4 x 4 pickup.  This video that I was yesterday was the opposite in that it was Black youths beating a young White woman.  But it showed that it happens both ways. It is pure hatred on either side. It is wrong either way. God created one race the human race. If we could trace our ancestry back through thousands of years, either black or white, we would end up at Noah before we even got to Adam and Eve.  I cannot explain how the different races developed after the tower of Babel other than People were separated at that time. The point is, God created one race and all this racism is pure evil. Our society has taken a huge step backwards over the recent years and I think the political division between Republican and Democrat, left and right, conservative and liberal is a big part of it.  We use to be able to have different opinions and state our differences and go on. But it is not that way any more. The played the race card in the last couple of elections and it worked to get a political agenda met, but at what cost? If you are one of the few Blacks in this country and think conservatively and speak out about it, your called an Uncle Tom or a traitor to your race. If you quote certain Bible verses that explain why you believe Homosexuality is a sexual sin and not an alternate life style, you are considered at best old fashioned and worse to being called a Bigot and a homopho. We do not allow difference of opinion in this country any more in the political arena and I am one person that thinks this is driving a lot of the hatred we are seeing. No more than we should mistreat an Adulterer, should we mistreat a Homosexual. There is no justification for mistreating a Black or a White. There is no justification for mistreating law enforcement officers either. We need to let the law, however imperfect it may be in our eyes, it is certainly better than the mob rule we have seen sweep across this country. Some of those protesters in Ferguson think they are accomplishing something with the resignation of some of their city officials. But the harm they have done across this nation to law enforcement far over shadows any good they think they have accomplished. The hatred that is building between White and Black, between civilian and Police Officers is going to take a lot of healing. We are not taking any steps forward like we did with Martin Luther King Jr. the steps are all in the wrong direction.  Violence sows more violence and make no mistake we reap what we sow. Like Officer Woodard says let love live and hate die.  What we are seeing is love die and hate live. We must start loving our fellow man whatever their condition may be. We see something wrong. let us get together and pray. 2 Chronicles 7:14.  Let us pray for those that have wronged us. All have sinned and when we think someone else's sin is bigger than our own, we may need to look in a mirror  and pull the beam out of our own eye. I believe the Bible has the answer for the world today. We may not like what it says when it comes to our sin, but we have an advocate with Jesus. He'll make it right. The ground is level at the cross.  All have equal access. The Bible tells us to do good to those that wrong us and pray for our enemies. I saw a get even attitude in a six year old grandson recently. That is not what we want to teach our children.  Teach Love not hate.  God bless,  LVZ.

I Peter 3:7

As I was reading today I read this verse.  "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."  
I really look to others to instruct me. I do not feel I have the best knowledge of scripture. But over the years I have tried to find out what the scripture is saying to me.  We husbands are to dwell with our wives according to knowledge. It seems to point out that we need to know some things to start with. Does that imply leadership? We see in this country families falling apart. marriages failing.  I know from personal experience. I think I was good at bringing home the bacon so to speak, but knew little else beyond that. Bring home the bacon is part of it, but if that is all we do we are lacking greatly. We need to understand our wives and what is important to them.  That is why this is saying according to knowledge. Do we know what our wife needs from us?  Women need to feel secure. It is not a macho man that makes them feel secure, but is this man concerned about me, how I feel, what I faced today? Am I still number one in his life? Sometimes as young men we feel the world revolves around us as we slay our dragons on the job. What is happening in the home? are we attending to that? what direction are we headed? Where do we want to go? Much of this points to leadership. not the I am the king of this castle and what I say goes. But where do we want to go as a family. What are our goals? What is important to us.  One minister used the word initiators over and over again. The part of this as unto the weaker vessel is also implying a leadership role. We may not be the strongest in budgeting skills, but leadership. We may not be the smartest educationally, but perhaps this is pointing to leadership, initiating.  Living lives together, planned together, not that we are always going to like and do the same things, we are different, but leading through knowledge and having their interest at heart. Honoring them, knowing what is important to them. I have a strong wife. but I still see the need to be that leader. She can get through this stuff alone. She can figure it out, but does she want to? Or does she want my leadership? Being the weaker vessel does not mean they cannot do it. But I really think it points to a leadership role. One man described a partnership he had with a friend in owning an airplane. They were a 50/50 partnership but wisdom said one of them needed to be 51  to the other's 49 so there could be a tie breaker when needed.  I think this is a lot of what this is, the weaker vessel, looking to our leadership in the 51/49 relationship. I look to this 51/49 to represent a leadership role only, not as having more importance. We still need to love our wives as Ephesians 5:25 says, Husbands love you wife as Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it.  We are still to love,  lead and honor. You don't honor by being the king of this castle and it is my way or the high way. I think there needs to be a tie breaker only to allow us to initiate and lead in love. To continue to love as Christ loved us and gave himself for us. We need to dwell with them according to knowledge, Are we listening to their wisdom and knowledge. What is it they need from us? A Christ like character, does not run over those around him, but looks to their needs. God watches, and we need to be careful that our prayers are not hindered because we are mistreating a person made in the image of God. Do I really know what my wife wants and needs, am I listening?  God bless, LVZ.

I think conservatively

I  wonder if a person can have a conservative outlook on life and politics and not be considered racist?  I think many black people think I am racist because I spout a conservative viewpoint. I think the human race all start from Adam and Eve. We would only have to trace ancestry back to Noah  during the time of the great flood.  I believe the Bible is to be lived to the best of our abilities. So I will speak about some issues from a scriptural back ground that is immediately different then mainline liberal view point. So many Blacks seem to think White people are  the most racist around. I don't believe biblical views make me racist. I have for years tried to cross racial boundaries. I attended several black churches. When I needed a lawyer, I found a black lawyer.  When I looked for a doctor, I found a Black Physician as my primary care doctor.  I tried to make black friends. But my political views remained conservative. I believe we are just one race, the human race. I believe segregation is wrong and that is why I tried to cross racial boundaries as much as I could.  I don't do that anymore, when I moved I ended up with a White primary care doctor. When looking for a church, I prayed about it and found a predominately white church that I felt was God's answer to that prayer. I still attend a black church with my wife when she chooses to go there. I know a few blacks that are conservative in their thinking but very few. I really don't feel that I am racist, I just think conservatively.  But I feel many of the Black people I come in contact with are racist.  Those that feel when my caller ID changed during a time we switched providers, I didn't expect that to change and did not request to have it changed into my name only. If he did that what else has he done that you don't know about, statement was made to my wife. Several Black people that know my brick house is empty wanted to inquire if it was up for rent, But they wouldn't talk to me. They came back several times until my wife was here to talk to her. Even when I attended a Black Church, the Pastor knew I leaned conservatively when he would say something that he knew I wouldn't like, I can see Brother Leon didn't like that. I do know a few well known conservative Blacks, but their race considers them Uncle Toms and a traitor to their race. Who are the real racist? Those that wouldn't talk to me about renting a house because I was white.  Or me who tried for years to cross racial boundaries? The person that thinks because my caller ID got changed to my name only during a time we switched providers and said what else have I done that my wife don't know about?  I have practiced for years to carry vehicles in both our names, purposely, except once when my wife wasn't available for the title transfer. Is it just my conservative values that make me racist? If I had a liberal political view,  would I not be racist if nothing else changed? When I needed a co-driver on the van pool a couple years back, I chose a black man because he was a christian and a good driver. Once again this co-driver and I didn't see eye to eye on some political issues but it didn't matter to me. Who are the real racists?  I do think conservatively, but that does not make me racist. I do have some Biblical views that are at odds with liberals, but once again, I do not think that makes me racist.   God bless, LVZ.

more officers shot

This is just terrible. I don't know how any one can continue to protest police action when the result ends up police becoming targets. When we condone lawlessness and call all officers bad and shoot them in retaliation, what good can come of this? These Ferguson protest are not the same as what happened 50 years ago in Selma. We are seeing good officers being shot, because a black thug was confronted and started fighting with the officer. Gardner in New York was fighting the officers. The homeless man in LA was fighting the officers. All any of these men had to do was show respect for the authority the police hold and comply with their requests and all would be alive.  But to protest a police man doing his job because he was white and the person he was looking for was black is wrong.   Black lives do matter, as do white, brown, olive skin, red and any other shade.   Police lives matter. They are civil servants, there to protect and serve and if we do not stop these idiotic protests and make these mentally unstable people think they are justified in killing police, I expect it will get worse. Doesn't anyone think this through. These protest against police are not honorable or righteous in any way. The Bible says these are God's servants.  God ordains civil authority. No good can come of this. Lets stop protesting against the police and protest for them. I am not saying there are no bad cops. But I do believe they are a minority. Let the authority that is in place take care of any bad cops. If you go to prison and see what is inside the prison walls, there are inmates from all walks of life. Politicians, businessmen, doctors, lawyers, plumbers and even police officers. I have heard of ministers, Sunday school teachers, public school teachers inside prison walls. Why do we suddenly think it is OK to shoot at police. How about the Sunday School teacher or the minister that ruined many lives. How about the white collar criminals that stole millions from people that trusted them. Why do people suddenly think it is OK to disrespect the police because of a couple of incidents that we did not like. Yes Mike Brown. Eric Garner and others were unarmed. But do we label all ministers bad because one messed up. How about Jim Jones, who killed many of his followers, do we take action into our own hands and start calling all ministers bad? Or how about a teacher that abused a student, do we now start calling all teachers bad.  Do we not see how wrong this is to attack the police over a couple of incidents and start calling all bad. Wake up, this is wrong. I want no part of any protest against police. In the incidents we are holding up as bad, the police officers were just doing their job. If we cannot see this we are blinded by our own hate and sickness inside ourselves. It is wrong,  it is wrong, it is wrong. God protect our police in these troublesome days. God bless, LVZ. 

Invest in your future

How to invest in your future. One thing that comes to mind is the fifth commandment . Honor your Father and your Mother that it may be well with thee, and they days may be long on the land  the Lord has given you.  Deuteronomy 5:16: "Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land the Lord your God is giving you."  We can invest in our future by learning and obeying this commandment.  There are no exceptions in this commandment, but there is a promise attached. So many of us have had imperfect parents. I was one of those. I didn't know how to raise kids before I had them. I'm not sure I really know to this day. I do know I made many mistakes. Someone said doing the opposite of wrong doesn't always make it right. There are many types of dysfunction and wrong. Some are wrong in being too strict, some are wrong in being too lenient.  Trying to do the opposite of my parents does not make me right.  I have a good daughter, and she is doing the best she knows. She did not have James Dobson as a father, she had me. I know she loves her children and wants to do the best she can. I cannot say do the opposite of what I did and it will be right. It still might not be right. Each child is different. They take different tatics, because they are different. My Son and Daughter were very different. Anyway this is not about that. It is about investing in your future. Do you want your future to be well?  Honor the parents that God gave you, it is a promise that God gives, it will be well with you.  I am not saying you will be wealthy. Many rich are not happy or healthy. It is hard to do when we had imperfect parents. But we learn how to respect authority.  Authority on the job, civil authority, and  what other authorities are there in your life. It is by honoring our parents that we learn respect for authority for all authority. Is your life going to be well if you are in constant conflict with a boss. If you are at odds with civil authority when you get stopped for a minor infraction, and you escalate the situation by disrespecting civil authority, can you say it is well with you when you end up in jail? If you have conflict with employer after employer and spend much time unemployed is it well with you? I don't think I realized as a young man how important this commandment is. Today I see it, by holding my tongue on the job many times year after year, I put in 30 plus years on a job and have a retirement to support me as my body ages and I can no longer work like I use to work. I have not spent time in jail because I disrespected a cop in a traffic stop. I have no felony convictions that make it hard to find a job or even housing. I see it on TV and on the Internet, so much disrespect for law enforcement. It is well with me. I learned to forgive an imperfect father and in the process learned my heavenly Father was not like him. I wish I'd done better, but all we can ever do is start from where we are. Respect for any type of authority starts with our parents. If we learn that we will do better and our days will be long. There are no exceptions for bad parents, and perhaps that is because we also have bad bosses and a few bad police, We learn to respect the position or the office or the job. Not necessarily the person themselves but we learn to respect the position. God is sovereign and he knows how to train us if we will let him. It begins with relationship not religion. Invest in your future, we reap what we sow.  God bless, LVZ

prejudice

Recently we made a phone service provider change. I have worked with computers for a long time, so when we switched providers, my wife asked me to be primary contact. On the previous phone service, both our names showed up on caller ID. When we made this switch, it ended up with just my name showing on caller ID. I didn't request the change, but through oversight or just taking for granted that with the same number the caller ID would not change. Anyway it did and we were not aware of it until a friend of my wife pointed it out.  I am white and my wife is black, This friend said if he (Me being a white man) made this change what other changes do you think he made? This implies that as a white man I can not be trusted. I have over the years titles the car titles in either or names so that if something happens to one of us the other will not have trouble selling or trading a car.  When I got a loan on the house, we got a better interest rate going under just my name. Sometime later I called and they gladly put both names on the loan. People always think white people are more prejudice but I always say it doesn't matter what race, all have some good and bad, some just don't recognize their own. Years ago when I had incident with a nephew, many black people  thought, because I was white, this nephew would end up dead. This same nephew had pulled a gun on others he had disagreements with. Two black men did nothing about it. I being a white man called the police and let them handle it. I believe there is still prejudice down here in the South, but I also believe many blacks keep themselves there. Things have improved but they have not changed with the times and still look at the white man the same.  You can be ever so nice but if they keep you back there in history with the bad white men nothing changes.  they have to change, they have to accept that they won. We have Black judges, black prosecutors, black police chiefs, black mayors, We have black bank Presidents, black city alderman. We even have a black president but some times with the things the President says, he is also still back there. It is never going to change until Black people quit thinking like black people from the old south. Accept that there are good as well as bad white people, but don't label us all as bad just because we are white. Recently I heard a good police officer talk about things citizens have said to him since Ferguson. Mind you, he is a black officer and likes being a police officer. Believe in talking and getting to know his people in his area. I believe 95 percent or better police officers are good. But without knowing this man, some will say things like my day was good until you showed up PIG. Or why would you want to be a police officer and go around shooting at people. We have done so much harm to the police force with idiotic comments like that to good officers. Do we not think about what we say, do we not realize the impact our negative comments have on others. I think we are a long ways from where we were in a good direction. But bad attitudes on the part of blacks towards white people or police officers is just as detrimental to society as a KKK attitude was toward them in the past, minus the lynchings and such. But is it that much different when we destroy a white police officers life, because he happened to get the call to look into a young black man fitting Mike Browns description that just robbed a store? We make this thug a saint, and destroy the white police officer mainly because he is white. Black people need to wake up, they are part of the problem and they are the only ones that can fix their attitude. We cannot throw enough tax money at an attitude problem to fix it. Many of us went through hard times and  we had to get our selves out of it.  I lived without running water and electricity with an out house for years and knew I needed to change my circumstances, or I could have stayed there the rest of my life.  I had to change. take a good hard look and see if the negative attitude we have towards others is just a me problem that only we can fix. think about it. God bless, LVZ./

What do we believe?

The democrats seem to put up voting rights issues every election, scaring minority voters into voting Democratic and if people researched their history, they would find out the exact opposite is true. But we go off scare tactics rather than truth. We have been duped by photo shop pictures and E-mail chain letters and it happens every election. I have used the e-mail that came to me several elections in a row. I heard this same story about Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, George Bush and probably more. It seems the candidate speaking to a crowd  quoting his favorite Scripture "For God  so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The the candidate gives the scripture reference as John 16:3,but most Christians would know, it is John 3:16. John 16:3 says, "And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the father, nor me."  The sender of the e-mail is trying to influence us Christians not to vote for this candidate. I passed it on like so many others the first time I saw it without checking it out. But when the next two elections cycles after that, I got the same e-mail just about a different candidate, I knew I had been duped probably even the first time. Common sense tells you not all of these candidates made the same exact mistake.  So we Christians send it along because it is about the guy we do not support, hoping to influence others based on a lie.  Even our news anchors on main stream television have been caught in a lie or false National Guard papers. all trying to influence voters one way or the other. We believe these lies and pass them on so freely. How can we know every time if it is or is not a lie?  Even when our TV anchors get involved, we want to believe them. Just in the last few days I heard one again, voting rights for blacks is in jeopardy again in this coming election. And it stirs people up to vote for or against certain candidates and it is a lie. I do not have a fail safe way to check everything out. At one time I used to check out stuff on snopes until I found out snopes is not always accurate and they too have used their site to influence thinking one way or the other. It is discouraging to say the least. On top of it all, discussing these things with some, I found some feel it is alright to use these false stories like the forged national guard papers because their motive was to keep George Bush from getting reelected. At least this one person I talked too thought that was OK, of course they were on the side that did not want George Bush reelected.  Their is an uproar about requiring Photo ID to vote, saying it is a republican tactic to keep poor voters from voting. But I personally know two illiterate persons who have no trouble getting a drivers license in the state of Mississippi. We have to have Photo ID to cash a small check at a bank. I even have to show photo ID to deposit money in my account at the credit union I go to. It is not a tactic to keep poor illiterate voters from voting. It is to keep dishonest person from voting twice by registering dead person or a cat or dog or other pet to vote two or more times.  But we get upset about this issue more than we get upset about the fraudulent voting in the first place.  But there are agitators that will stir up the public about these issues to keep honest voting from happening. Voting is more important than cashing a small check at the bank, and find one person that legitimately has a difficulty getting a photo ID to vote. Find me one and I will do whatever I can to help them get their photo ID to vote. I am beginning to believe 2 Chronicles 7:14 is the answer to our nations problems. We as a nation need to pray about the upcoming elections. We are a sick nation. It is not a democrat or a republican, libertarian or independent candidate that is going to fix our nation. It is God that we need to fix our nation, and when God moves, it will not matter if the President is a Democrat or Republican. Liberal or Conservative. Proverbs 21:1 "The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will." Daniel 2:21 "And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding;"  More then ever before, we need God. First of all we need to realize that we need him. As long as we think we can do it by voting in our candidate we will still lose. We need God, our country needs God. We need to repent, our nation as a whole needs to repent. I am not sure we see that yet. We may need to lose the freedoms we have before we realize how bad we need God.  That is how I think, God bless, LVZ.

valuable

This thought is about showing value. Its about other things but it is also about showing value. That another person is valuable to you. Let me explain. I have always been a very independent person. Yet here I am married to a woman that thinks she needs to watch over me even while she is at work. My friend Johnny calls me about twice a night to make sure I am alright.  Barbara asked him to. He lives in the neighborhood and drives by here several times a day. She gets busy on her job and can't always get to the phone when she wants to.  She checks on me but Johnny does not work at night and she knows he can and will check on me. I guess Barbara also knows how I am, I am going to do some things. I am going to walk out to the mailbox to check the mail. Yes, I think I am fine, but I also fell the very first day trying to walk and make sure I did what I needed to do to get out of the hospital. I am on a walker for a reason, not because I look good in a walker at age 62.  I laugh about it, and I tell Johnny, I'll make sure Barbara knows you checked on me. When you stop and think about it it shows that Barbara values me. Not only does she call and check on me but just in case she gets too busy to make that phone call, she has Johnny calling also. Perhaps God is telling me I don't need to be so independent.  But in a small way it shows that Barbara value's me, I should be as good a husband as she is a wife. Being so independent, I hope I make it another 5 weeks with out becoming the patient from hell.  I do want to get out and even do little things like check the mail, take garbage out, take compost back to the garden area. Just little things, but it is icy or wet or dark or something else.  Believe me wet clay is very slippery. Johnny is a good friend, but he also knows it puts Barbara at ease to know he is checking up on me. I look at it as Barbara values me and not that it is putting a strain on my independence.  God values us too. Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air;  they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"    God bless, LVZ.

Why fight the police?*

I saw a video of these homeless men in LA. There were several minutes of fighting going on, these men would not comply with the officer's commands.  Yes, I know the police are armed. They are supposed to be. They are to keep the peace. even stupid little stuff gets out of hand.  But immediately why the police? Why do they not ask these men to calm down and put their hands up? Lie down, whatever the police ask, but don't fight. Then its the police, perhaps it was, but could it have been avoided if common respect had been shown to the police instead of a fight, both verbal and physical. I cannot imagine in my right mind being asked a question by police and not complying? How has it become so popular to fight the police? We are a sick society if we cannot see the wrong on fighting verbally and physically with the public servants. Yes, it was bad, but it was probably over very little if they had just been respectful and answered questions. It could have been over in a good way in just a few minutes. If someone starts being disrespectful to you or you going to be less armed or more armed. Are you going to be less tense or tenser? If someone is disrespecting you and fighting, are you more likely to pull a weapon or less? I think the mob people are just plain stupid. Calm a situation and walk away, fight and be carried out. Does anyone think this through or just on the stomp the police without thinking? When you have dealings with the police do not fight, do not get in defensive mode. Comply, think of submissive actions, not aggression. And do not join the bandwagon that is down on the police.  Whatever bad happened in the past, needs to stay there in the past. Civil authority is ordained by God, If you fight the police, perhaps you fight against God. If there is corruption that needs to be fixed, not complying and fighting against the police is not the right answer.  Romans 13 1-4 "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is a minister of God to thee for good, But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is a minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil." I believe there is a political agenda driving some of the agitators, but does the end justify the means?  What good can possibly come of disrespecting our police force as a whole? If incidents are found that justify an action, let the powers that be proceed, but do not practice fighting the police, it just doesn't make sense. A simple saying Two wrongs do not make a right, applies here. If there is some sort of reformation needed, it needs to be done in a thought out organized fashion like we saw with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It will not happen by blindly fighting the police any chance we get. A political agenda may be met, but real and lasting good change will not come of this.   God bless, LVZ.

Commandments*

Early this year my Pastor spoke a couple of sermons on the 10 commandments. Then Another Pastor I listen to has a series on the Ten Commandments. These commandments are something you learn early in Christian education. At least the shortlist where they are called out in order from 1 through 10.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

 I kinda grew up thinking I know the 10 commandments and what they are. Today I feel I really know very little after reading and listening to these sermons. Each of these commandments can be a struggle in our lives as you review them. The fifth commandment which every child is familiar with, Honor your father and your mother, sounds so simple. It should be easy, everyone loves their father and mother. One Pastor explained how this is how we learn respect for authority, we start by respecting our parents. What happens when we have less than perfect parents? I am one of those less than perfect parents. Then we see the disrespect given to our police officers since the Brown incident in Ferguson, MO.   I reflect on the many things I hear and read, see on the Internet regarding our current President. I realized I had a problem some years ago. When Clinton was President, I had a very low opinion of him and was quick to share it. Then came a President I really liked. George W. Bush, I really didn't like the disrespect shown towards him. Titus 3:1-2 "Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentile, shewing all meekness unto all men." So I now started to realize that I needed to respect not just the Presidents I liked and voted for but all.  If God put George Bush in office, I have to acknowledge the same when Obama gets elected.  This verse helped me to temper some of my comments, and I do try and show respect towards Obama as President even though down deep I really do not like him. How do I balance all this is my life? How do I stand for what I believe when I feel it is at odds with what our current President is doing? How do I resolve my feelings for imperfect parents that I had and that I was? It bothers me to see the disrespect given to all our police officers after a couple of bad incidents. Are we as a nation reaping what we sowed? I often think of 2 Chronicles 7:14 and I have known some time that we as a nation need to repent. But as I think about this fifth commandment and the lack of respect we see displayed every day in this nation towards our law enforcement officers and our Federal and State leaders from the President on down, are we reaping what we have sown? I have written some time back about dysfunctional families like the one I was raised in, and it really is commonplace to come from a dysfunctional family.  I know many stories worse than my own. I have considered that sometimes we grow up with a twisted view of God because of an imperfect Father in our earthly family below. These Pastors have helped me to realize that honor does not mean we have to agree with and obey everything our earthly parents say. Honor means to give weight to consider what parents tell us. Even ungodly parents can give us good advice. We don't have to agree with everything we hear from the authorities in our lives from our parents on down. But do not take what they say lightly. God sets up kings and takes them down, God is sovereign, Perhaps God gives us a ruler to punish us for our disobedience. When we see the trouble in our land today, perhaps we are just now starting to see the need to repent as given to us in 2 Chronicles 7:14. The honor we are told to give to parents in the fifth commandment is not dependent on them having been a good parent. It is a blank statement, no disqualifiers. It does not say to honor them only if they were good parents. It says to honor period. So it is with all authority, all must be given respect. Civil authority is ordained by God. Just because of a less than perfect past, does not give us the right to dishonor and disrespect our civil authorities. These commandments are a mouthful and I do not think I understand any of them in their fullness.  It really makes me wonder what we are to reap. We need to turn this around in this country and repent again and again as God sheds new light on our wicked ways. I think I am just beginning to understand,  2 Chronicles 7:14  The Bible is relative to our lives and the sooner we realize it and change, the better off we'll be.  God bless, LVZ.

commandment # 5

I am sure there is going to be more than one post on just about any commandment. It is happening again. Uproar about police shooting someone. Respect for all authority begins with this commandment.  The short list 5. Honor your father and your mother. I don't think we think it through when we just read the short list of the ten commandments. There is a problem with respecting authority in this country and it is showing up again and again. Remember, we reap what we sow. Like Charles Stanley so many times says. We reap later than we sow and we reap more than we sow. In my opinion, I think that is what is happening now. we are reaping years of sowing disrespect. Who in their right mind does not think it is a good idea to listen to a police officers orders when confronted with something, how  ever small an incident it may be? The police are armed and are trained to use force when necessary. When does it become necessary? Now that is where conflict is going to start.  We think we are just a little insignificant  issue in the policeman's day. Nothing to get alarmed about right? Except with the lack of respect for authority, a policeman has to approach every encounter with caution. He too wants to go home alive at the end of his shift. I can see there will be plenty of bad publicity over this latest incident.  What will be the end result? More trust or less? Think this through unless you totally do not want a good cop when you really need one. Disrespect for all authority is getting worse. Disrespect for a President, we did not vote for and do not like what he is doing. Our governors and other lawmakers. Our parents. Just put any type of authority up to your scope of view and what do you see? More respect or less? Respect for any authority is learned or not learned based on our keeping or not keeping this 5th  commandment.  God bless, LVZ.

Helplessness

I figured sooner or later I would see God working or showing me something in my life. I feel somewhat vulnerable and helpless at times. When you are so use to doing so much for yourself sooner or later a need would show up. It is so easy to forget I need that walker. I walked out into the dogtrot and realized after a few minutes, I didn't have my walker.  I blurted out, I don't know where my walker is and here I am an arms length or more from anything to hold on too.I didn't get the response I thought I'd get. I didn't specifically ask for help, I just made a statement. It was so easy to develop an attitude and feel I was in my rights. As I thought about it, it may have been obvious to me, Hey I need my walker. But isn't it just as easy for the next person to forget  they are my care giver for just a moment. I saw how easy it would be to get some wrong words started. And many times it is just that easy to get a wrong attitude or a negative conversation started. I thought about it and that is not the personality trait I want to develop in my temporary circumstance. It was a learned trait to expect others to read my mind, and I see it creep up every so often. This change is not only a big change for me but for my spouse also. It is so easy to say a wrong word or develop a wrong attitude and I pray God will help me to keep a sweet spirit about me.  God bless, LVZ.

What If Moments

In this day and age we can get insurance for all those what if moments. Perhaps a singer may even get their vocal cords insured. You can insure your IPhone or other electronics from accidental damage. It don't stop them from breaking but they can be replaced. We have come to the age of mandatory health insurance coverage and perhaps some think it is just another way to control the masses and others think it is the best thing since sliced bread.  Many, if not all State governments require Automobile insurance to cover you or others in the event of an car truck or motorcycle accident.  In earthquake prone areas, you may protect your home and /or business in the unfortunate event of an earthquake, to rebuild or replace those losses. Some even chose to pay for funeral insurance to cover those cost in a life event we are all to face sometime. It provides the financial support in those trying times.  Another concern is long term care insurance, as many of us no longer have families capable of providing long term care that can last for years and years.  As part of the baby boomer generation that is highly recommended for us as those costs escalate. Recently an umbrella policy was recommended to help cover overruns in so many areas of our lives. It is recommended because the benefits are great in comparison to the costs for this type of insurance.  Sometimes it can be costly and difficult to get health or long term care insurance if you have preexisting conditions.  Perhaps driving along the country side we will see a plowed strip of land where the vegetation is plowed under to protect a field or forest or even expensive homes against a fire spreading. If you have full coverage auto insurance, you are paying for an accident even if you never have an accident. We pay for identity theft protection in case someone steals our personal information. It can be costly to restore our credit history in thefts of these types.
I said all this to say this: Spiritual Insurance or Assurance does not cost a dime. It does not become harder to obtain with preexisting conditions, we are all born in sin. You can be morally bankrupt or a goody-two-shoes and the cost is the same. If you break your IPhone or total your automobile, you can replace them, if you have enough money. But you cannot buy Spiritual Assurance with all the money in the world. Perhaps if a tornado would destroy your home, your neighbors and friends might get together to rebuild at no cost to you. But if the Spiritual What if happens and the number of your days runs out, there is not enough money in the world to buy even one more day. No one can come to your rescue, it is a personal thing. Spiritual Assurance costs nothing. It is obtained by saying a sinners prayer: God forgive me for my sins and come into my heart Lord Jesus. It can be as simple as that if it is heartfelt. It doesn't change if you are wealthy or poor, healthy or sick.  Everyone has the ability to get this coverage, but many do not. it is a personal choice. It cannot be forced on you by Federal, State, Local government or even by a parent.  It is free for the receiving. No long lines or hours of restricted operation. You can call on God anytime.  Romans 8:38-39 "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our lord."   God bless, LVZ.