The End of the Year 2019

As I write this on NewYears Eve 2019, I am reflecting back over the year. It has passed by so quickly.  I feel I have learned a lot this year in my relationship with God. I asked God what are my wicked ways according to 2 Chronicles 7:14, and it seems I see so many areas of my life where I fall short. I don't feel condemned, I feel like I am in school and learning new things. Just in recent months, I have thought much about keeping a sabbath, a day of rest. What struck me was the sabbath for the land in the seventh year. A year of rest for the land and it was called a sabbath for the land. A time to restore and fill up the emotional, spiritual, mental and physical tanks. The sabbath was meant to be more than going to a house of worship on one day of the week. That is the way we fill our spiritual tank, but there are three other tanks to fill. So I see the sabbath is meant to be much more than going to church on Sunday or Saturday or any other day of the week we choose. Stewardship in recent weeks has been another area I feel falls under one of the wicked ways I need to fix. I have learned we are all stewards, every last one of us already having been created, God has a mission for us, a job if you will. I remember thinking when I first started the job that I retired from some seven years ago already that even though I wasn't a minister I was, in reality, working for God. Everything we do we need to do as though we are working for God. I had gotten that right, and I believe God blessed me for that. That was the right attitude to have, whatever we do in life we are working for God, we are stewards of the life God has given us. We are stewards of the children God placed in our hands. What other relationships has God placed in our hands? We are stewards of those relationships.  I think of being grateful, and I do want to thank God for a blessed life. Isn't it nice when you do something however small it is and someone just says thankyou? I want to develop a spirit of gratefulness. Dennis Praeger in his book "Happiness Is A Serious Problem" made the statement you cannot be happy if you are not grateful. I believe that is true, some of the unhappiest people are ungrateful and never say thank you.  Giving is another area of my life I would like to improve.   Here I would like to tell the story of a young boy from Costa Rica that I read about in "The Blessed Life". At this boys school, they had a "Bless Another Day". The students would bless another student with something. This poor boy didn't have anything to give, he worked for a peanut farmer to pay his tuition at the school. He asked the peanut farmer if he could have a peanut so he could have something to give at "Bless Another Day" at school. The farmer said it was OK. Friday happened to be "Bless Another Day" and he would bring a peanut to school to give to another student. The young boy and an unselfish liberal heart and God blessed his giving a peanut. Attitude is so important. By the end of the semester, this young boy had money to give to others, he bought pencils and other school supplies for the poorest students. By the end of the year, he was able to pay the full years tuition for another student.  By the time he graduated he was paying the tuition for ten other students besides himself. Within a few years of graduating, he bought the peanut farm he had worked at. He was paying the tuition for scores of students who otherwise could not afford the school. He developed a giving heart when all he could give was a peanut. I think I have learned from this, we all have something to give. So if I have a New Years Resolution it is to develop a giving heart. It really doesn't matter how little it is, develop a giving attitude. I think I want to have a "Bless Another Day" in my life. God bless. LVZ.

Influenced

“You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with,” a quote attributed most often to motivational speaker Jim Rohn.   David Burkus, another author/speaker says the influence spreads much further. I copied some word out of his article below:
If your friend of a friend of a friend is happy with their life, then you have a 6 percent greater likelihood of being happy yourself. Now six percent might not seem like much, but consider that other studies suggest that if I gave you a $10,000 raise, that would only trigger about a 2 percent increase in your happiness. Dennis Praeger wrote a book, " Happiness Is A Serious Problem". I wrote about this book when I read it. It was posted on August 4th of this year. It seems my take away was being grateful and not having as many expectations. It article above spoke about the influence others have on us smoking and even wealth. I believe we are influenced by those we associate with. I believe I can pick out a Church of Christ member when  I come in contact with one.  I was amazed at a friend that was in the COGOP for many years like I was and I could see that influence on his life. A local pastor was also raised up in that church and I saw that influence in many of his sermons. We really are influenced by those we associate with. When I moved 2500 miles away from family and friends I have known most of my life, I felt I needed an accountability partner. I am thankful for that accountability partner and he has been a blessing to me.  I looked for a good church with people I wanted to be like. We have some choice in the people we surround ourselves with. I also associate with people I hope to influence. I listen to a pastor weekly from Hemet, CA that use to be my pastor in Tacoma. I desire his influence in my life. I sometimes unfollow people on facebook because I don't like their influence. I look at a person's facebook page before I ask or accept a friend request. I look back and see some of my most carnal years as a Christian were influenced by where I attended church. I count it a blessing to be at a church where I am today. I do think we need to pay attention to the influences we allow in our lives. I hope one of the greatest influences in my life is because of a personal relationship with Jesus. In my blog description, I state becoming a Christian was the most important decision I have ever made in my life.  I think much differently than I did as a new Christian. I feel that a relationship with Jesus has had a powerful impact on my life. Many changes in my life are because of that relationship. I pray that influence continues and may the meditations and the words of my mouth are acceptable to God. As I think back on what I just wrote, I need to make sure I spend time with Jesus. That is one influence I truly desire in my life. God bless, LVZ.

Tolerance

Nice Nose Ring


Tolerance is not my way or the high way. When you don't want to hear anything different than what you already believe that is not being tolerant. When you cannot exchange ideas, that is not tolerance nor is it freedom of speech. Yes, we believe certain things, our background, our experiences flavor our view of things. But when we think everyone has to believe the same as us, it is not tolerance. We can shut people down with our attitude and our tone of voice. Each of us has a right to our own opinions and my opinions are freely given on this page. I don't charge for them, you can take it or leave it. I don't want to argue. I believe a certain way and I am convinced in my mind I am right. But I believe I can listen and disagree with you without putting you down. I think of the 16-year old that addressed the united nations. She was not an expert in any field at that age, she was exploited, by those that wanted to argue their view and think we cannot challenge a child. It really wasn't a free exchange of ideas. How dare you disagree with her, she is a child. The facts do not support her narrative but the global warming advocates don't want facts, they want to push a political agenda. We are given data from say the 1950s that support their narrative, but yet it has been shown if you go even further back to the 1800s, the weather trends do not support their narrative. It is all about pushing their agenda. When you do accurate reporting you do tell that one polar cap is losing its ice cap but if reporting fairly you would also tell the other polar cap is expanding its ice cap. Weather changes., it has been cyclic since the beginning of time. We had an extend heatwave this summer but in other areas, we are facing record cold temperatures. The saying absolute power corrupts absolutely is going to be proven I am sure like it has in other countries as they took away rights.  We are pawns in the hands of our politicians. Freedom of speech used to be so important. I remember years ago when I use to tell ethnic jokes, I was just trying to be funny, I really had no intention of putting any race down. Now we see where comedians cannot ply their trade for fear of offending someone. I use to take Pollock jokes and change them to German jokes. They were just as funny but our society does not see this political correctness doing the damage it is doing. Everyone is a victim anymore and you almost can't laugh at a joke anymore. It might offend someone. I hope the trend changes to tolerance once again, where a comedian can ply his trade once again.  When political opinions different than ours can be freely spoken again. I would like to see an attitude of forgiveness prominent again.  Live and let live. Those were some good days and we made progress in our country. We went from owning slaves to all are free. We went from Jim Crow to our civil rights of the 60s. We are still not perfect, we can still improve, but we are the best country on this planet. We started off in this country where women did not have the right to vote and they do now. Some day I believe the right woman will become President, it just wasn't Hillary. We should be proud of the fact that Obama became President, we may not be happy with his performance but it still shows progress in our country. We have made so much progress in our country from the beginning, can we celebrate that? Tolerance is not beating up a kid that wears a MAGA hat to school. Tolerance is not shouting down someone that believes conservatively at our colleges. Hate speech is not everything you disagree with, that is intolerance. We promote women and put them on the cover of magazines if they are liberal thinking, if they are conservative thinking, we ignore them. That is not tolerance, that is the opposite. God help us and God bless, LVZ.

Trivia And Rules

My Birthday is in a few days. I looked up my birth year on a calendar and saw where I was born on a Saturday. Then I discovered 2 of my siblings and I were born on a Saturday. Two were born on a Wednesday and three on a Tuesday.   Then I saw a pattern develop, my birth year I was born on a Saturday, my first birthday on a Sunday, 2nd on a Monday, 3rd on a Tuesday. Then a leap year and my 4th birthday jumps to a Thursday. The next on a Friday, and then a Saturday again and Sunday after that. A leap year and my next birthday jumps to a Tuesday.  Then it takes 28 years for the cycle to repeat itself with a Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday birthdays in consecutive years.  I know this would be true for everyone. The pattern would jump a day when there is a leap year with 29 days in February. It involves mathematics, we can ponder simple things like this,  knowing math helps us understand how this pattern develops and why it takes 28 years for the pattern to repeat itself. Mathematics helps us to ponder things and figure them out. Life is like that, there are cycles and patterns to life. If we know History we can avoid the mistakes of the past. If we learn writing, we can formulate sentences so people can read and understand what it is we are saying. It takes practice in mathematics and writing to understand the rules of both. Here is what happens if we don't use punctuation and just keep writing and writing with no periods or commas or any divisions in our sentences and we just go on and on about history math writing and it would probably have made it difficult to understand the pattern above if I had never used any punctuation and just stated my birthday was a Saturday my first birthday on a Sunday 2nd on a Monday 3rd on a Tuesday then a leap year and my 4th birthday jumps to a Thursday the next on a Friday and then a Saturday. I think you get the point. It helps to read and understand when we use punctuation. It hElps tO capitaLize tHe fiRst wOrd of a seNtence.  Correct spelilng hleps. Sometimes autocorrect is incorrect and we have to be smarter than the program. If you do not use punctuation, misspell words, don't use capital letters in the correct places it gets hard to read and understand. What if my truth is to do away with these rules. Is it really the truth? What if I decide to rewrite history and make it look better, is it still the truth? What if I misquote statistics and make them support my agenda is it still the truth? What if we do away with innocent until proven guilty and we don't like a guy so we spread falsehood because he does not support our way of thinking, is it the truth? Society operates on rules and regulations, they make society work. Like no hearsay in a court of law, innocent until proven guilty. If we let society take away our rules for a well-functioning society, it will hurt us in the end. We will have chaos. I think this is something to ponder as we accept the global warming narrative and a socialist lifestyle. History has shown it doesn't work over and over again. Our earth has cycles and temperatures go up and down over a period of years. Let's not destroy something that has worked for hundreds of years. It will be very difficult to bring it back once it is lost. You can debunk global warming by just changing the years you use as an example. But if you want to believe it, you will cherry-pick the statistics you use to support it. Let's just take out the rules. No one is innocent until proven guilty because we just don't like him. In the end, getting rid of the rules will hurt us all. Just keep living. Just because you believe something does not make it true. I can do the same with the Bible, and make it say just about anything but that doesn't make it the truth. And throwing down the pieces of silver into the temple, he departed, and he went and hanged himself. Matthew 27:5
He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.” Luke 10:37   This is my favorite example of how we can misuse the word of God.  I don't consider myself a math wizard, I know I make mistakes with punctuation now and then. I have had no formal training in handling the word of God. I believe I follow the rules close enough that someday I will be in heaven. If society throws away the rules we have followed for over 200 years like the democrats have done with anything Trump, if it is his appointments, his impeachment, etc.  It is all being done because they hate Trump. He has exposed more corruption in Washington DC than any prior President or the media. He has done more for Americans than any President in my lifetime. If others around the world can celebrate the good Trump has done, why can our own democrats? If we keep throwing away the rules of a good society because we don't like Trump, we will not like the results that we reap.  We reap what we sow. We will usher in chaos like we have never seen. We have set a precedent that we will regret.   God bless, LVZ.

Jeremiah 11

1This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2“Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you possess today.” I answered, “Amen, Lord.”  6The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’ ”Jeremiah 11:1-8

 This is really sad. In reading chapter after chapter of Jeremiah, God has turned away from his people Israel and Judah.  God made a conditional promise to them when they left Egypt, they were to follow God's rules, his precepts, his laws, and he Jehovah God was to be their only God. One of the reasons for them to annihilate the inhabitants of Cannan was to keep them from following the other gods of those nations. In reading about the kings, there were many evil kings that did not follow God's ways and did worship other gods. Warning after warning, Israel and Judah did not return to God and he allowed the consequences of their sins to catch up with them. God's spirit does not always strive with man. God is there if we repent and turn to him, immediately when we repent, God is there. Maybe we walked 20 miles in the wrong direction, God does not wait for us to walk the 20 miles back. At repentance, the first step when we turn around and walk toward God he is there right away. But what we seem to see in Jeremiah is God's people Israel do not repent. God says these prophets that are prophecying good are not speaking my words. God wants to see repentance and until he does, God does not step in. Much of the time it is not that God does us evil, he just stands back and allows the consequences of our sinful ways to catch up to us. The consequences of sin do not always hit us immediately.  Sometimes when we reap a harvest of sin,  of disobedience, it is down the road a ways. We reap what we sow. Charles Stanley use to always say we reap later than we sow and we reap more than we sow, but we do reap from the crop that we plant. If we look in the natural, it is sometimes three or four months after we plant a crop until the harvest. Here they sometimes plant pine trees, it can be twenty years or even more until they harvest a crop of pine trees.  So what do I seem to be reading in Jeremiah? God's people are not repenting and disaster is striking their land. They have been warned repeatedly but they do not turn to God. Their land is dry and there are cracks in the ground because of lack of rain. In the 13th and 19th chapters of Luke, we can find where Jesus wept over his people, over the city of Jerusalem, the one that killed its prophets. Jesus was sorrowful, they would not turn from their sins.  God is not wanting any to perish but that we all would come to repentance.  When we repent, all we have to do is take one step in the right direction and God is there at our side.  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 The gospel really is simple, so simple even a caveman can do it. Believe in Jesus is all that it takes. Jesus will be right there. God bless, LVZ. 

Hobbies

As I write this I am still in my 24 hours of the Sabbath (12 / 22, 23 / 2019). I read scripture, I pray, I try to write something but I don't want to write something about scripture but in many ways scripture impacts so many areas of our life. The Sabbath is about restoration. Hobbies can be an avenue of restoration, a way to relax and enjoy life, fill our emotional, spiritual, mental, physical tanks if you will. One hobby that I have is taking pictures, I started into it during a period of emotional bankruptcy. I was going through my first divorce and I ended up so drained I had absolutely nothing to give to anyone. My employer forced me to take a medical leave for one month. It was to give me time off to restore that emotional tank that had been running on empty until it went dry. I went by my pastors' office to see him and told him what was happening. He loaned me his 35-millimeter camera and told me to go and take pictures.  I did, and still to this day I take all kinds of mundane pictures and every once in a while I get a picture I really like. It became a hobby I enjoy to this day. With that hobby I developed another hobby, I don't know what else to call it. I like to just see the country, I call them road trips. On my road trips, I take pictures sometimes lots of them. It is a way to refill those tanks. I develop memories, silly incidents that stick in my mind. Nothing great about them just silly things that happen on a road trip. My tank gets refilled. In small-town Nebraska on a road trip, I don't even remember the name of the town anymore, I stopped to send a postcard. The post office was across the street from a bank. I was parked by a picture window of that bank and the bank employees were watching me look through my truck looking for my stamps. They called the police, they saw out of state license plates and thought I was going to rob them. The police came and asked me what I was doing, then explained what had happened, the bank was afraid I was going to rob them and he just told me to park someplace else while I look for my stamps. I was in Arizona on another road trip in the month of December. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. I decided to pull off the freeway on a side road and just soak up some sun. Don't see many days like this in December where I was living at the time. I had a piece of plywood in the back of the truck and I laid it on top of the canopy and just laid up there in the sun soaking it up.  As I was looking around I saw a uniformed officer watching me with binoculars. I got out my binoculars and looked back. What is going on? Soon he walked over to me and asked me what I was doing. I explained I was from Washington state and don't see many sunny and warm days in December up there, I was just soaking up some sun. Find another place to do that, we have a prison work crew on the other side of the freeway up the road a ways and you are making us nervous. I did. I have taken many pictures on these road trips but have also retained many silly memories as I fill my emotional, mental spiritual, physical tanks. On my last road trip along the southern border of Texas, I wanted to see how close I could get to the Rio Grande. I saw this dirt road to my left and it had a street sign so I took it. I saw a dike ahead of me and figured it was along the Rio Grande. I was right, but I saw restricted area signs so I thought I need to get out of here. I looked in one mirror to back up the van and I didn't see anyone but a horn honked. I stopped and already had a border patrol behind me. Two more showed up in just minutes. They checked me out, I explained I was carrying and they asked where my weapon was. I have a 45 up here in a locked case in the shelf above my head and a nine millimeter in the back on the sidewall.  They explained to me when I turned on that dirt road off the hiway I was trespassing through a farmers field and on the dike where I was, I was in a restricted area. I could go no further than that hiway.    One more little story about my border adventure. I pulled off the hiway to go pee. I pulled down toward a gully going under the hiway I was just on.  I stood there peeing and noticed a coax cable along the fence in front of me. I followed the coax cable and then noticed a hidden camera right in front of me. I waved and finished.  These hobbies are a way to refill my tanks. I understand today that is what the sabbath is really about, refilling our tanks one day a week. One day out of seven. God bless, LVZ.

Journaling

No heavy subject today, no spiritual analysis. If I could live my life over I would journal or just keep a diary. So many memories I could review if I had written them down. So many names I could remember if I had written them down. I had a prayer journal for a while and I would write down some of my prayers. It was interesting to read back over those prayers and see when and how they were answered. Some simple prayers that were not written down are stuck in my memory.  I was but five years old more or less when I was with Dad out in the country outside of Bismark N.D. He had been digging a basement under the house and was hauling the dirt out into the countryside in his little pickup truck. In my memory, it was in the thirties model. It would not start after he had unloaded the dirt. Dad was angry and this little five-year-old boy was scared. I knew how to pray and I did. I step a few feet away from Dad and the truck and asked God to let the truck start. It started. Why I remember that incident I do not know but there it is in my memories. Still, at that age I didn't yet know how to write.  Some things I remember because someone older than me told me how it happened. Like the time I got the scar on my face. I was even younger and though it must have hurt I don't remember when it happened. I don't remember the names of kids from school. Probably because we went to eight different towns and eight different schools during my 12 years of public schooling. I remember one name Judson Poschel, probably because it is such a different name from the last school during my 12th grade. If I could have written the name down in a diary, I could remember more names. I also remember Ronnie Stoecker, he lived 3 miles across the fields as the crow flies from where we lived on the farm. He was a good friend. My memories get all confused as far as a timeline. Did I light the campfire in the dry grass in Bismark behind the new garage Dad built before or after the prayer incident?  I wrote a list of the almost sixty vehicles I have owned since age 18 and can remember them only because I wrote them down. The first car I bought on my own was a 1957 Fiat 4 door sedan with suicide doors on the front. It had a four-speed on the column. I wish I still owned it. My 61 falcon station wagon that I paid $200 for and drove for about 10 years.  If I read the list I have many memories I can recall just because I wrote that list. My 76 MG midget that I almost killed me and my two kids in. I have many memories of my 51 chevy 5 window pickup. Some good some bad memories.  How many things have I forgotten because I didn't write them down?  I would tell my grandkids to journal or keep a diary if they would listen to me.  So much has happened in the six decades that I have already forgotten. I enjoy writing this blog. I have already forgotten the things I read from my older posts in just five years. I could write a book on going through a divorce, I have had four.  I probably have the record in my family and in my church. A bad record I should add. Hopefully, I learned some things. Since this is my sabbath (12/22/2019)  day as I write this, I am writing for the joy of writing. A day of rest and relaxation. With programs like Blogspot and Wordpress and computers today it is so easy. Think of the things, the changes I have seen in my lifetime. I think the oldest car I ever drove was my 51 chevy and today we see self-driving cars and semi-trucks. Even my children lived without running water and an outhouse and what will they see by the ends of their lives? I would probably have boxes of notebooks by now if I could have written my life's story.  God bless, LVZ.

Stewardship

Stewardship:

the position and duties of a steward, a person who acts as the surrogate of another or others, especially by managing property, financial affairs, an estate, etc.

     the responsible overseeing and protection of something considered worth             caring for and preserving:

I am reading "Beyond Blessed" by Robert Morris.  It appears to be about stewardship. I read a couple of pages and have to stop and think about what I just read. When we go back to Genesis, God created everything. We as Adam and Eve's offspring were to care for the animals, plants and all that was created. To rule over it. God made us stewards right from the beginning of creation. A lot of times when we talk about stewardship, we think of money. But everything is God's, the whole earth and we are to take care of it.  We are stewards period, we are either good or bad but we as God's greatest creation are stewards of what God created. We are given children, they are given to parents by God. We as parents are stewards over them. How are we doing? We are involved in relationships in families. We have an influence on others. How are we doing?  We have relationships on the job, and in my lifetime I was a leadman, I had stewardship over those I was to lead. I think of all these relationships and I wonder if I was a one talent steward. I don't mean to be putting myself down with everything I am reading lately, but these books I am reading are forming a lot of questions in my mind. What kind of a steward have I been? Let me take it one step further, as a husband and father and a leader in the home. I had stewardship in the home.  My children did not belong to me, they were given to me by God. They belong to God. All souls are mine. For all people are mine to judge—both parents and children alike. And this is my rule: The person who sins is the one who will die. Ezekiel 18:4  When you look at it like this, stewardship is about a lot more than someone else's finances. Say besides your own children, in a daycare or school or even a church. are you not given responsibility for the care and training of these children. I never thought about stewardship in all these other ways. What about a farmer that is raising crops, is he not responsible to keep the soil healthy?   Or the rancher that raises cattle or sheep or horses, is he not responsible for other creations of God? How about our National parks, I remember reading a few years ago how reintroducing wolves into Yellowstone National Park, had a good effect on all of the other species in the park. Even the trees along the streams and the streams themselves were healthier. Isn't this also stewardship? We are stewards just having been born as God's greatest creation to have dominion over the animals, plants, fish in the ocean Etc. Are we being good stewards when we pollute the land, the seas, etc?  Now I don't want to take this too far and sound like a climate change idiot.  The climate is always changing and has since the beginning of time, if you listen to unbiased scientist and not ones that are on board with an anti-capitalist agenda. The climate change agenda will actually have about a small fraction of temperature change over a long period of years. It is about control and not protecting the environment. So don't put me in the category of  AOC, Al Gore, and others.  But we do need to be good stewards of all that God has given us, children, spouses, siblings, and even employees. Think about it Stewardship is really a big deal and we are all stewards, either good or bad, or indifferent. And it is not just about finances.  God bless, LVZ.

More Sabbath Day Thinking

All of the Ten Commandments were given for the health of society. God gave them to the Israelites, his chosen people to help them be the best they could be. The Old Testament was our schoolmaster, teaching us how to live before a holy God. Today we are under grace, this does not mean we no longer keep the Ten Commandments but we are meant to recognize the wisdom that was in these commands for the health of society. The result of disobeying the 4th command was capital punishment much the same as murder and adultery. What points can I point to as I try to understand the 4th commandment?  1. All of the commandments were given by God (God spoke these words). 2. There is wisdom in keeping the spirit of these commands, they are for the well being of society. 3. God designed us as spiritual, emotional, mental and physical beings, the 4th commandment is a way to fill those tanks in our lives. 4. The Sabbath is a gift, the Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath. 5. Our modern 24/7 society makes it hard to keep a Sabbath. Consider the recent social media platforms that seem to involve so much of our society's time. 6. The Sabbath is to be a time of rest, relaxation, restoration, the opposite of work. I see from the Old Testament how important this commandment is. I also see how legalistic Israel became and the nation of Israel still is to this day regarding this commandment. Until I read this book I didn't realize how little regard I gave this commandment in my life. I regarded it as a day to worship God by going to church. I did not consider it all that important because I worked so many Sundays in my life and really did not understand it is meant to be a time of restoration for our spiritual, mental, physical and emotional tanks for us to operate at full potential the other six days of the week. I understand that it does not have to be a Saturday or even a Sunday but that one of every seven days is to be this day of rest. I think it is a very common problem in our 24/7 society we live in today. With Social Media, it is even worse in more recent years. Another key point is that God will bless the six days we work when we keep the seventh day as a day of rest. Just like God blesses the 90% of our income when we give him the first 10%. God modeled it for us at the beginning of creation. Six days God created all that is and then rested on the seventh. There is another example of how important this principle is. The land for our crops is to be given a year off every seven years and God promises to bless the crops when we keep this principle so the land can restore itself and be more productive the other six years. This is the same principle to restore ourselves after six days of work to rest the seventh. When we deplete the soil of its nutrients by never giving it a rest, we kill the soil. That is the same with us as God's greatest created beings. I don't think I ever understood how important this principle of rest was. This Sabbath for the land, one year of rest out of every seven years. six years to produce crops and the seventh year to rest and recuperate. This year of rest allows the land to rebuild itself for the next six years. If there is no year of rest we kill the soil. It is this principle God is trying to get us to understand as his greatest creation. We worship God with our lives, a living sacrifice.  God wants us to be healthy as we live for him. God wants us to trust him with our time as well as with our finances.  God wants us to be productive. We are the most productive when we follow his plan. We are the most healthy when we follow God's plan. A day of rest out of every seven days. A Sabbath for the land a year of rest out of every seven years. The Bible says God spoke these words at the beginning of the Ten Commandments. This is God's design. He is the master creator.  The universe stays in its place at his command. We rotate around the sun century after century. A God that created this universe and keeps it working, does he not also know how to keep us in good working order?  The Sabbath is for man, not man for the Sabbath. Do we really understand what that means?  God bless, LVZ. I really recommend reading this book "Take The Day Off".

Wicked Ways

What are the wicked ways the Bible talks about in 2 Chronicles 7:14?  I am asking that question because as I turn to prayer and even trying to get the faith community in Verona to gather together in prayer once a month for our families, our community and our nation. I read this verse and think about it because it is a conditional promise with those words "If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways"...
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 
It is the words wicked ways I am wanting to think about today. In Psalms 119, the whole chapter seems to mention over and over again God's ways, God's precepts, God's laws, and so on.  I think there are at least 12 words that would describe God's ways in this chapter, I just listed a few.  Our wicked ways would be ways that are contrary to God's ways. Contrary to God's ways, laws, statutes, precepts, testimonies, commandments, promises. But for now, this post,  God's ways would include all of these. I think it is important that we ask what ways I/we have that are wicked.  I believe when we ask prayerfully, God will answer. He tells us to humble ourselves and pray, and seek his face. Seeking would be a determination to find something, really wanting an answer. If we ask, are we willing to hear what God may say? These are God's people (Christians) God is speaking to. In the Old Testament, it would be Israel, God's people, God is speaking to. As spiritual Israel (Christians), I believe it applies to us today. If you read verse 13, it implies when the nation is in trouble we do what verse 14 says. I think it is important that Christians today ask what wicked ways we have. I have asked that question. I don't want to be a spiritual hypochondriac or a legalist but I think God is speaking to me about some issues in my life.  One thing that came to mind recently as I have been meditating on God's word is the 4th commandment. I feel I have really neglected to keep a Sabbath day. I go to church most Sundays, but as I look at this commandment I think I neglect to rest and keep it holy as God commands. One thing that seems to make it clearer to me is God also instructed Israel to have a sabbath for their land. A year of rest after 6 years of working the land. God rested a day after creating for six and gave it to us as a commandment (the fourth). If I do not have a day of rest I am living contrary to God's ways. Another thing that came to mind is stewardship. I am talking about everything and not just about money. Time, people/children God gave to us to mentor, taking care of property,  animals,  including land as I mentioned above a sabbath for the land. These are all stewardship issues, and I don't feel I have done all that good in some of those areas.  Another one is tithing, sometimes I write things off because I really don't want to be legalistic. But tithing is to be the first tenth and an in-depth study will talk about firstfruits, The first of the animals that open the womb, the first of the crops are to be God's. So I think I can consider this without being legalistic. When I get paid, I pay ten percent or a tithe, but sometimes I just start writing checks or paying online and the tithe check has not been the first one written.  It involves trusting God and putting God first in our lives, to invoke his promise of blessing for the firstfruits. So these are things I have been considering as I have asked  God about my wicked ways. My ways that are contrary to his ways and his commands. Like I said I don't want to become a spiritual hypochondriac or a legalist but I think these are legitimate questions to ask myself. Am I really putting God first in my heart and life? Could these things be hindering God's blessings in my life? I realize things are different today, many of us do not raise animals or crops but the principle is the same, the first of everything is to be God's. I had one person say tithing is Old Testament and it involved bringing animals and crops to the Priests. But scripture says God does not change, he is the same yesterday today and forever. Would we think it OK to steal, murder or commit adultery in our grace dispensation?  Most if not all of our examples for learning these principles were developed in the Old Testament and things are really different today. I don't think taking a firstborn lamb to the minister in our day is very practical, even if you raise sheep.     God bless, LVZ.

Here are some statistics I found in a book I am reading. "The Blessed Life"
The body of Christ around the world earned the equivalent of an estimated $15.2 Trillion in 1998.
The total amount given to all ministry-related causes, including churches, missions, etc. was $270 billion, which is about 1.8 percent.
The body of Christ in the United States earned about an estimated $5.2 Trillion in 1998. the total amount given to ministries in the United States was $92 billion or between 1.7 and 1.8%. We are the richest country in the world and did slightly less than the world average according to these statistics.

35 years and counting

No, I am not 35 years old. I am almost twice that. Next month I have a spiritual birthday, it will be 36 years since I recommitted my life to Christ. I am learning new things. Recently I read "Take The Day Off". I have been a Christian for more than half of my life. A portion of it was when  I was very young and then even after recommitting my life to God, there was a very carnal period. I realized as I read this book I have violated the fourth commandment probably more than any other commandment.  A lot of it may be from misunderstanding God's intention.  When I look at my relationships, I wonder if I am reaping what I sowed? Stewardship, another area I wonder about. Many think the minute they hear about stewardship, they think about money. I am beginning to realize it may be more than about finances. Perhaps it is even about our relationships, things we do.  I am wondering if my First Step Prayer that I am trying to organize in Verona, might have something to do with learning about stewardship.  I felt from the beginning that perhaps it also involved something God may be trying to do in my heart. I was thinking about Jonah and the whale and his reluctance to do what God asked. Then when he did, and God changed his mind, Jonah got angry. I ran for an Alderboard position a few years ago and lost.  I felt like God impressed on me to run. God never said I would win.  Then when I lost, I thought Ok God you must be trying to fix something in my life. Do I have an issue with Pride? God owns everything. We even belong to him. Job said, if God gives us good do we not accept it,  likewise trouble?
He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:10
God is sovereign and he is at work in our hearts and lives. Is there ever a time when God is not attending to us in some way? Some issues in my life seemed to take a long time to fix. It seems we even forget things we once learned.  Someone once said God is more interested in our character than our comfort. Then in 2 Chronicles 7:14, in the conditional promise, God is asking us to turn from our wicked ways.  God is at work, he is sovereign, his will prevails. Perhaps sometimes we have to go through a lesson more than once to learn it. It does seem I am ever learning, my understanding is opened at the most inopportune times. I can read something and it makes no sense and then one day I understand it. No one wakes up the morning after becoming a Christian and knows it all. We are works in progress for our whole life. It seems there is always more to learn. There is a lot of joy in the journey. When I take a road trip I don't always more than a general destination, a lot of the joy is in the journey. I think it is true in life, a lot of the joy is in the here and now as we journey to our heavenly destination. And learn new things along the way, see things we have never seen before. Knowledge is increased in our land more than at any time in the past. I remember a time of trial many years ago. It was a difficult time but during the process, God showed me something about me I did not know. I thanked him for without the trial I probably would never have seen it. It is good to be a Christian and have God walking with us through life. I believe right now God is trying to teach me something about Stewardship. I am reading a book and it seems I have to put it down every few pages and think about what I am reading. God is always at work. Yesterday God answered a prayer. We prayed for God's direction, and in a meeting with a Three Rivers supervisor, we received the guidance we were asking for. It seems we were at a roadblock in an issue we were dealing with. This manager said you are not here by accident, you do not stop at the first roadblock you come to.  Barbara needed to hear those words. When we ask God for direction, he will give it. Our prayer was God are you saying no, do we just drop this and Barbara was ready to and had even was thinking about backing out and had called the lawyer. But God answered. It is amazing to me when we call on God for direction, he does answer. I am amazed not that God answered, but at his timing and where and how he answers.  I am still learning and thankful for God's responses. Perhaps this is also why God impressed upon me First Step Prayer. God is at work.   God bless, LVZ.

The One Who Sins Will Die

South Dakota Sunrise


30“Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! 
Ezekiel 18: 30-32
Sometimes it is hard for me to understand Old Testament prophecies.  I think this chapter was very clear. First, it talks about a righteous man, verses 5-9. This man will live, I am thinking this is about eternal life. When Adam and Eve sinned the punishment was that they would die. They didn't die that day, but they did not live forever. Adam and Eve disobeyed God.  Verses 10-13 talk about this man's son. He is a violent son, he breaks all the commandments. He will die for his sins. This is talking about eternal death.  Now we are going to the third generation in this family in verses 14-17. this generation produces a righteous man, he obeys the law. He will not die, he will not suffer for his father's sins, he will be rewarded for his actions alone.  The verses in this chapter continue about one who starts out righteous and then sins. He will die for his sins. It talks about one who starts out sinning and turns from his sin and repents. He will live, eternal life. It talks about each generation is responsible for their own sin. the father is not held responsible for the son's sins nor is the son held responsible for his father's sins.  Each generation must find God for themselves. If they start out righteous and sin, they will be held responsible for their sin. If they start out sinning and repent, God does not want anyone to die the eternal death, God will forgive and judge them according to their life after they repent. God wants all men to come to repentance, he does not want any to perish, to die the eternal death. In the gospels is a story about Jesus healing a man, the people asked for whos sins this man was blind. I believe if I remember the story correctly the man was blind.  His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" John 9:2
 Once again we see each generation is responsible for their own sins. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Romans 3:23 NLT
All have sinned every generation from Adam has sinned. That is why we need Jesus. If we repent God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God is not wanting anyone to perish but that all men would come to repentance. All it takes is a simple prayer, Father forgive me a sinner and then get up from that prayer and walk with Jesus for the rest of your days. The gospel is really simple. Repent of your sins, all have sinned. God does not want any to perish if they do it was their choice. It is each generation for themselves. We cannot ride on our parent's righteousness, and neither will we be held responsible for their sins. In our political world are we still being held responsible for the sins of our fathers?  It seems so. Even though this country has made progress abolished slavery, we went through the turmoil of the civil rights years, we are still being criticized for the sins of our fathers. Perhaps we need to think this through. How many generations past the 400 years of slavery must we be held accountable? One generation, two, three, four? When will it stop? I just seem to always go political. But think about it, we are the best country on earth. Yes, we had problems and still do, but they are fixable without destroying our country, just like we have done in the past. God bless, LVZ.   

Fixing Things

I talk with Christian men almost every day.  We live in a messed up world that needs Jesus. We know people's political thinking within a few minutes.  You can figure out quickly if they hate Trump or support him. It was the same under Obama, Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter and on and on the list goes. One thing that has changed over the years is as we talk about politics we are a very divided nation. We don't honor Presidents if we did not vote for them anymore. It has been worse after this last election than ever before. Washington needs to change, but I think we need to fix ourselves first. The intolerance comes from individuals. Listen to people talk, do we show tolerance for someone that thinks differently than us. I am no different, I don't like a disagreement with my opinion, but I hope I am able to still listen to others. Our online opportunities should make it so much easier to communicate today but it often seems to quickly go to hatred. We can look up anything on the internet, knowledge is so increased in our land. But what are we doing with that ability? Is it being used for good or for evil? As goes the family so goes the nation. I think change starts with me. We see the same corruption locally as we see on the national stage. I think of different Sheriffs in our region that are now in jail. We look at people that are not held accountable on the National stage, but here locally I believe it happens also. How does it happen? For example, a young girl a couple of years ago got off her school bus, the front door of her home was right in front of her, probably less than 50 feet away. She was run over by a driver that failed to stop for a school bus with flashing lights, stop sign out, everything was done as it should. The woman that ran around the right side of the school bus through the child's yard and ran over her and killed her has not faced justice. What I mean is it went before a Grand jury two or three times and no charges were ever brought against this woman driver. How can people sit on a grand jury and not feel there should be some sort of justice through the courts. Can a lawyer convince us otherwise?  A young man in another part of the state did something similar and he was charged. Is our system broken? Can we get away with things because of our importance in the community? I wasn't on the grand jury so I don't know what really happened. We protest injustice or seemed injustice so many times, but other than this child's family not much was done. I remember on the job, employees thought it OK to steal time and money from their employer because they were a very large company. I told what I saw at the time and I was the one that faced condemnation from co-workers. I wonder if justice and fairness need to start in our own hearts? Do we honor what is right over political leanings? Is it wrong only if the other side does it? We brought Nixon to justice, both sides participated, we see another impeachment proceeding happening, but it is very one-sided and one side is not able to bring their witnesses forward, It wasn't that way under Nixon. What is happening in our nation? I suppose it is obvious my political leanings already. If I was a Trump hater it would already be obvious. But even a President, is he suppose to be found guilty because we don't like him, we don't like the political ramifications of the way he is leading the country? Is this any more true justice than that little girl that got run over and no charges brought against the driver of the car. I wonder if we need to fix things locally, perhaps even in our own hearts? I think it may need to start with me. Where am I going wrong, what is wrong in my own heart? Am I really about truth and justice or is it flavored with political leanings?  I really believe we need to pray for our country. Can we really recognize truth and justice and fairness?  Does goodness and what is right matter any more? Is our political power more important? Does the end really justify the means to get there?  I saw a facebook post where in 2017 6 busloads of protestors were dropped off in a city in South Carolina. They got off the buses half with Black Lives Matter t-shirts and half with KKK t-shirts. How does this happen? the buses were bumper to bumper as they dropped off their riders. It wasn't on one side of the street and the others on the other side of the street or even a few blocks away. How does this happen and what is really going on. How do two opposites travel to a location to protest against each other and are brought on the same buses? Does this not strike anyone as very odd?  Are we being fed a bill of goods that is not honest from the very start? If this was an accurate report, who paid for it? Someone paid for the buses and the t-shirts and organized the protest. If this is true, it should concern us.  What is happening in our country? Fake attacks like Jessie Smollett to stir up racial hatred. Or even the shooter at Mother Emanuel church. I believe change needs to start in our hearts.If we can do evil and support it in any way, something is wrong in our hearts and that is what needs to be fixed. God bless, LVZ. 

Two Evils

12Be appalled, O heavens, at this;
be shocked, be utterly desolate,
declares the Lord,
13for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me,
the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves,broken cisterns that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:12-13
I try to take a passage every day from where I am reading and try to understand it. This is saying God's people have forsaken him, that is the first evil. The second evil is they have hewed out broken cisterns that do not hold water. What we have replaced God with when we forsook him is not going to work. It will not hold water. That was the second evil. I was looking at all the cars in a parking lot of several churches on my way to church this past Sunday and I wondered how good these Christians were. There were a lot of them. Sometimes we hear statistics about how believers no longer believe in the inerrant word of God. Some want to make the word fit our politically correct society today. We want to change the word instead of the word changing us. I thought am I one of those. Do I have a form of godliness but deny his power and his sovereignty as I make my way to church Sunday after Sunday. Be appalled, be shocked if you take a look inside and don't like what you see. God is still sovereign, he is still in control. We may not understand his every way, I do not understand his every word.  Just being a Christian in name only is not enough, we are using a broken cistern that will not hold water. Jesus is the only way to salvation. It is in him and through him, we come to God the father. If there was any other way, Jesus did not need to die on a cross. If there was another way, we could all find that way and come to God, but scripture tells us Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Any other way we try is a broken cistern and will not hold water, it will not work.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12
The word of God is true, Jesus is the truth. There is no my truth, your truth and everyone has their own truth. Any other way is broken and will not work. There is a book I read recently,  "Not All Roads Lead To Heaven".  There is only one way to God.  God bless, LVZ.

5 Things

I had trouble figuring out what to post today. But I listen to one Christopher Harris on facebook and I heard these 5 things before from Walter Williams. The people that do these five things almost never end up in poverty. At least in single-digit numbers according to statistics.
1. Graduate from High School.
When I turned 18 I had 6 months to go in High School, and I so wanted to leave home and be on my own. It is probably one of my better decisions to stay at home and finish High School. I work 32 years for the Boeing Company and earned a retirement. I don't think that would have happened had I not finished High School. I have been drawing on that retirement for 7 years already. I enjoyed my years at Boeing.
2. Don't get married until at least in the low twenties.  Have a little bit of time to mature before marriage.  I married young at 20 and had two kids before my twenty-third birthday.
3. No kids until married.  2 and 3 kind of go together for me. Married young and had kids very young. I think I could have been a better father with a little more maturity.
4. Get a job, any job and keep it. I had jobs even when I was young. I think one of the things about keeping a job is it shows you can work through difficulties. If you quit at the first sign of trouble, you are probably not very mature. I had a good work ethic and it paid off for me. It is OK to have dreams and it is OK to pursue those dreams but you need to be able to do something to support yourself. There are very few sports stars or music stars or famous artists in comparison to the general population so don't plan on your dreams only. Some times you need a job to carry you through to your dream, I stuck with jobs when it felt like I was going through hell. I am thankful for that today.
5. Do not do anything to get involved with the criminal justice system.  You know it is wrong before you ever do it and once you are in the system, even if it is unfair, it will make your life harder.

 Don't disfigure your body with piercings, tattoos and enlarge ear lobes, tattoos on the face etcetera. The man that is hiring owns that job and he has the right to hire who he thinks is best. Don't expect him to understand this is just who I am. You only have one chance to make a good impression. Clean and neat clothes and shoes, and hair properly cared for go a long way toward making a good impression. As I thought about these things, and I failed in some of them but they do make a difference. You can make your life harder by not following or easier by following these five things in your life. God bless, LVZ

Keeping a Sabbath

I am struggling with this commandment. As I write this it is Sunday. Sunday is to be a day of rest, a day of restoration from the work we did the other six days of the week.  When I look back on my life I did not make one day out of six special. I worked on my job many times seven days a week. Now I don't have a nine to five. I wonder about even writing this blog, it is something I enjoy and even as I write this today, a Sunday I am contemplating this part of my relationship with God. Writing and contemplating issues can be a restorative factor in my life. God patterned this day of rest even in the beginning at creation. Six days God created then on the seventh, he rested. It is one of his commandments, a day of rest from our six days of work. As a retired person I wonder if I am any better at keeping this day different. I look back and see how I abused it all my life. Since I have been looking at it and contemplating it, what will it look like? A friend and I were discussing this and we both find mowing the lawn relaxing. A man asked Robert Morris, the Pastor that wrote the book "Take The Day Off". if he could play golf on the sabbath. Robert asked, does it restore you or stress you if you have a bad score? Do you feel better after the game? The Sabbath was not meant to be just another rule to keep but a way to restore us after six days of work. One change I feel I need to make is when I work on a Sunday as part of a safety team at church, that I take a different day for a Sabbath that week. I am still thinking through this and want to honor a Sabbath Day in my life.  I want to keep the spirit of the fourth commandment and not just another rule in my life. God Bless, LVZ.

I Am Probably Not Fair

I am probably not fair because I use this blog to spout my opinions but I am not very receptive to criticism. That is why I do this on a blog, especially this Blogspot.com site.  If I were on facebook I could have all sorts of comments either agreeing or disagreeing with me. I don't like the disagreeing ones. The positive ones are fine. I am not that good in a face to face confrontation. This feels safer to me. I get my opinion out there without having to deal with the disagreements. It is probably not fair, but it is my blog. If you read on facebook or twitter, Parler or whatever the platform is you can have a lot of negative comments. I have noticed it seems I see a lot more comments supporting Trump than I use to.  I have been reading about him and he has a sense of humor and he hits back. A lot of it is unexpected. Nikki Haley was his Ambassador to the United Nations and there were few digs back and forth between them. But they understood each other and I believe Trump trusted her and her judgment in her position. One dig when Nikki first went to Trump Tower to speak to him about becoming the Ambassador to The United Nations, she greets her and says your man didn't work out too well. Nikki had been a Marco Rubio supporter and campaigned for him. At another time Nikki had brought some Ambassadors to the White House to meet with the President. Quite unexpectedly the President asks how they like Nikki? It is possible to replace her. He jokes a lot, He wasn't upset with Nikki, in fact, it seems they worked well together. He was the President and she worked for him and did the best she knew and it seems the President was pleased with her work.  Nikki was not a wallflower. She was tough and I think Trump respected that and is actually what he wanted. He did not surround himself with yes men. In much the same way I think Trump gets critiqued unfairly. He wanted to come off as a Mad man when negotiating with Rocketman. Rocketman needed to know Trump was not a pushover. When Trump draws a red line in the sand, he will not back away from it as Obama did. It was unconventional to use a term like Rocketman at the U.N. but others picked up on it and one Representative from Uganda when talking to Nikki later asked, what are we going to do with Rocketman. It is Trump's personality, he gets kicked he kicks back and he makes names for people. He has a sense of humor and I think as people get to know him, they can accept it. It is not fair the way this President and First Lady have been treated, but I believe they will go down in history as the best President or very close to the top. As scandals get dealt with as they come to light, I believe Obama in spite of his slick tongue will go down in history close to Carter. Obama could talk good, could tell a good lie and have you believing it. But History will reveal many scandals in his scandal-free administration. One of the biggest in my eyes is the Clinton E-mail server. There is no way Obama did not know and even know the reason for her basement server. I am not sure he cared that much for Clinton and probably didn't care that it would come back to bite her. Clinton should be the one in jail for treason. Hillary put the whole country at risk with her home e-mail server. To say she did not know better means she was too stupid to be President. Trump has exposed more corruption than any past President and if we can clean some of that up, we will make great progress. It appears a lot of our foreign aid is nothing more than money laundering and bringing large amounts of that money back into the bank accounts of corrupt politicians. I believe that is why Trump is hated more than any other reason. Hunter Biden is just one example and that really needs to be looked into. The Clinton Foundation is another example, look at Haiti and the aid they were to receive at the hands of the Clinton Foundation. When it comes to light, it makes you sick what our politicians have done and gotten away with. I believe even if Trump is removed from office this cleanup will continue. Trump has exposed much that needs to be fixed. Thank God for our President and First Lady,  they are the best in my lifetime. I wonder how much of the Aid sent to Iran came back to Obama?  For being so poor coming into the presidency, he left wealthy and that money came from someplace other than his presidential salary. It would be nice to follow that trail.  Whatever your personality before you do something it stays with you, Obama was a slick talker and that is part of the reason he won, God had a purpose. Clinton with all his baggage had his personality before he came to the white house, and it didn't change, neither will Trumps' personality change. God used him as he is just like all these other personalities. God saw someone he could use for his purposes in all these men. God gave us Trump, God gave us Obama, God gave us Clinton and all of them for his purposes. I could not have done what these men have done. I don't always understand what God is doing.  I ask the question why did God ask me to do what I am doing with this First Step Prayer, why didn't he use the pastor of one of the larger churches in Verona? But I am convinced that God is behind this. He even may be trying to fix something in me. God bless, LVZ.

First Step Prayer #4

When God first laid this First Step Prayer on my heart I wanted to be obedient but I questioned is this really God speaking to my heart or is it a grandiose Leon idea.  As things have happened, more shootings, reading Nikki's book, the first meeting and even the prayers of those at the first meeting have convinced me this really was God speaking to me. We need to be tools of unity for our country. Everything we hear from the media seems to be trying to divide us. If it is about the President, it will have a negative slant on it. What is happening in our country is an attempt to overthrow a duly elected President for one reason only.  This President is doing amazing things and the left does not want him to succeed. The left is afraid he will win in 2020, they have nobody to put up against him. If the election were held today, the President would win by a landslide. If they can't take him out they at least want to cast doubt on his abilities. It is more clear than ever that God put him there for such a time as this. I can't predict the future but the left will double down to try and destroy the best President in my lifetime. In Nikki's book, you can read about even President Trump's cabinet working against him. He is the Commander in Chief, we voted him in to set the agenda, it is not up to his underlings. They are to advise and support him. The Church, the faith community needs to pray for our President. What we are facing in this country is a spiritual attack.  The left wants socialism and they probably believe they want a good thing. All we have to do is look anywhere socialism has been tried and it does not work, it destroys. They promised in Venezuela to take from corporate the wealth and give it to the populace, much like we are hearing today, but it destroyed Venezuela. Not too many years ago, they were a rich country and bought the lie. Now they are hungry, their freedoms are gone and they are oppressed. I don't care how good it sounds today, socialism will take away our freedoms and destroy our wealth and then who will be the beacon of light to the world? We need to pray for our country. That is one of the reasons there is a fight against Christianity, In any country where there are freedoms, there are Christians.  When there are few Christians there is less freedom. It really is what has blessed this nation is our Judeo-Christian roots. We are by far the greatest nation on earth because of it. Christians are the salt of the earth and where we are we bless the society. We are a preservative, we save the freedoms. It is because of Christianity that slavery was abolished in this country. Yes, there were Christians that supported slavery, and owned slaves,  I don't deny that. But still, it was abolished. Women were given equal rights, we didn't start off that way, but we got better as time went on. It would not have happened without the Christian base. The anti -Christian element in this nation will take away our freedoms. We need to pray for our country. We look at what the left has done already, our women and children are not safe in a bathroom when the left succeeds to allow males in any bathroom they choose. The left has pushed an agenda to allow male bodies to compete as women and has dominated women's sports, this is not a win for women or for society. Slowly are freedoms and our safety is being destroyed from within. The faith community needs to stand in the gap and pray, this is spiritual warfare and it is fought in the heavens. It has become clear to me this is God asking us to call on him.  The eyes of our younger generation need to be opened, they are blinded by hate, it is not love at the base of their movement. It is for power and not the well being of our nation. We need God's help and every Christian needs to be praying. We will not win in the ballot box, we will win on our knees. It may affect the ballot box, but it will be God moving because of the prayers of God's people that will save our country from the forces that are trying to destroy it. We do not trust in horses and chariots but we do trust in the name of the Lord our God.  The Lord our God can bring victory if we the faith community will get on our knees and pray. 2 Chronicles 7:14. God bless, LVZ.

First Step Prayer #3

This is the third letter I am sending to the faith community in Verona MS. 

Dear Pastor,

I would like to start a community prayer involving the Faith Community in Verona. I would like to start on Saturday, December 7^th. I want to meet in front of the city hall at 9:00 AM. I am calling this First Step Prayer. The first thing we need to do is call out to God. Our Nation is as divided as it was during the Civil War years and maybe worse. I believe the faith community needs to lead the way to heal our country. If the faith community cannot join together in prayer how do we expect the non-christian parts of our community to work together? We see shootings happening in schools, churches, Walmart. Music concerts. The list goes on and on. There are many issues facing our country, we are split between political parties where they seem to be unable to work with the other side any more. Politics is not the answer. God is. We probably all know 2 Chronicles 7:14. I am paraphrasing, If God’s people will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then God will hear from heaven and heal their land. Can the faith community in Verona gather together for prayer for:

The safety of our children at school. Too many school shootings.

Our Police Officers and Firefighters. There seems to be a growing disrespect for the authority of any kind.

Our divided nation, our President and Congress. They have spent the last three years fighting each other.

The conditional promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14, tells us to turn from our wicked ways. Ask God to reveal our wicked ways individually and collectively as a nation.

I am nobody, I hold no office, but I feel God laid this on my heart and I am trying to be obedient. I would like to do this once a month on the first Saturday. If a different time works better for the majority, I am open to change, but we have to start somewhere. I want this to be of the faith community cross denominationally, culturally, and politically, economically and whatever other divisions there may be.  I understand that each church has their own schedules, and we can never set a time to please everyone. If possible at least send a representative to join the Faith Community in Verona for prayer for our city and our nation.                                                       For Christ and his Church, God bless. 

                                                   Leon Vilhauer

Please contact me: Leon Vilhauer  226 West Rd, Tupelo MS 38801. 662-260-1871 and my email, lvz53@gmail.com.  

With All Due Respect

I just finished reading this book, I recommend it. Nikki gives some insight into the man Trump really is. I also see some good people that chose to be in politics for the right reason, to serve. It makes me realize how important it is to pray for our political leaders. 1Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. 6For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 7Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Romans 13:1-7
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4
We sometimes develop a negative view of our political leaders, but God gave them to us. For this reason we really do need to pray for them. I have prayed for President Trump more than any other President in my lifetime. I also feel he has been the best President in my lifetime. Back to the book. this was a very good book to read and especially in our divisive times we live in, this was a good book to read.  Nikki was truly a good and honorable public servant and we need more like her. From the South Carolina legislature to the Governor of South Carolina, to the Ambassador to the United Nations, she served our country well. We need so many more like her in local, state and national offices.  God bless, LVZ.