Honesty a Core Value

 Often I put a political stance on things and maybe I shouldn't. I am thinking about honest weights and measures which were used for measuring grain and other products as people bought and sold. A core value of a Christian should be honesty. How do I come up with that?  Do not have two differing measures in your house--one large, one small.  Deuteronomy 25:14. You are to use accurate scales, an accurate ephah and an accurate bath. Exodus 45:10.  For the LORD your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly. Deuteronomy 25:16. The dishonesty that we see in the hearts of men has been around for a long time.  These verses were taken from Deuteronomy and Exodus from the time of Moses. I recently heard a sermon that told the story of Jesus clearing the temple and declaring God's house was to be a house of prayer and these temple wheelers and dealers had made it a den of thieves.  The preacher and I'd give credit here if I remembered who it was. Actually what I have been taught and believe has been developed over a period of time and over the span of many preachers. I believe it was my current Pastor that told about Jesus clearing the temple. But I have heard this story many times. They would buy and sell animals for sacrifice at the temple. Jesus had watched what was going on in the temple the day before and didn't say anything that day. The next day he cleaned house immediately upon entering the temple.  God hates anyone who deals dishonestly.  We are not to have one set of scales to weigh product when we buy and another set of scales to use when we sell.  Two sets are dishonest. One set is set in our favor when we buy and another set is set in our favor when we sell.  It doesn't mean you cannot make a profit. A businessman needs to make a living and he has to sell for more than he buys or he would not survive. That is not dishonest. It is when you cheat with two sets of scales that God detests.  So the principle is what we want to teach. The principle is the same if it is a quarter or a quarter of a million.  But when we deal honestly in life I believe it will be the same even in the voting both. So do I think God detests dishonesty in elections? Yes I do. But it is the heart of man that has to be fixed. It will not happen through political elections, it will happen as we become salt and light for God in our daily life. I believe that as I write this blog about issues like this one I am being salt and light to the world around me. I hope to persuade other to come to know God as I endeavor to know him better. Following God does require a heart change. When you have a heart after God it will affect all your dealings, as a businessman, as you sell a vehicle or even when you vote.  Our government will work well for honest people. The dishonesty in the heart will come back and hurt those who feel it was OK to cheat.  Honesty should be a core value of a Christian.  You can be a businessman and sell for more than you paid and be honest. You should not cheat, not even the government. I believe this is a principle for living that comes from a redeemed heart. A redeemed heart should affect us in every area of living. God bless, LVZ. 

In His Image

 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,  and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-27.  

God makes everything in Genesis chapter 1. The earth was formless and dark. He separates the land from the water and creates the sky. God makes the light appear with the sun to rule the day and a moon to rule the night. God creates all living things, fish in the sea and plants on the land. He creates livestock and all the wild animals. And then he creates man in his own image.  Man another creator, with a capacity to create more great things.  We live in the age of technology and we create all sorts of things.  A beaver has the ability to create a dam and build his home with sticks and mud. A bird can build a nest for its abode. A bee will build a beehive for it's home and to store its honey.  An ant can build its home in the ground. Then there is man that was created in the image of God.  Man can create skyscrapers, and tunnels in the earth, build massive dams, and learned how to create electricity.  Man learns from the earth and all its inhabitants. He can create but never in the measure of God above.  He learned to build bridges to cross rivers great and small but had to learn from his mistakes like "Gallopin Gertie". He had to learn about creatures and land management. If he takes away the wolf from the forest he affects the balance of everything, like man learned in Yellowstone. When they brought the wolf back it affected for better every species and even the trees along the streams and the streams themselves became healthier. At the tower of Babel, God halted the building of a skyscraper because man had not yet learned and the knowledge had not yet been given. God's plan was not being followed and he scattered the inhabitants. Today we see automobiles that drive upon highways and airplanes that fly in the sky. Man learns from his mistakes as he creates.  But God made no mistake, but he guides his greatest creation. He had a plan in place from the start.  Even the earth operates because it is the right distance from the sun and rotates without fail century after century. God creates plants and they reproduce themselves. God creates animals and they reproduce themselves and so does man.  Man can create but has not yet been able to produce man from the dust of the earth or take a rib and create a woman. Humans think and plan and create but can we produce anything thing that reproduces itself? Perhaps we have learned as some say the Coronavirus was created and has spread across this world.  But sometimes we create evil as in the virus that kills. I am fascinated as I watch people and everyone is different and unique. Perhaps all the fish of a species look the same to us or a pine tree may look the same to us, but if we look close enough they are unique. Man has two eyes but different colors and even the spacing or the shape of the head and everyone looks different.  Man has learned DNA and can trace who we came from.  Even in our greatest creations, we fall short of what God has created when we look at the universe with all its galaxies. We look at God's artwork on land and in the sunset, every sunset is different. Every mountain has its own uniqueness.  Yet God created man with a purpose and a job to do and we feel satisfied as we work, create and manage God's creations. Here is something awesome, we can communicate and seek guidance from this creator God and we should. All knowledge comes from God. He blesses us at the proper time to build skyscrapers and bridges. To create medicines as needed and teaches doctors how to help the body heal. This is a God we can know, he has a plan for us, each of us if we will follow his guidance. When we go astray we often harm ourselves but then again he gave us Jesus to save us from our sins. What an awesome God, do you know him, do you talk with him, do you ask him for guidance in your life?  You should, he created all that is and grants knowledge and wisdom to those that seek it.  God bless, LVZ. 

Love God

 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. Matthew 22:36-38 

I wonder about my life at times/ I have had some unique experiences. I wondered if God had directed my life in a certain way for a reason. I grew up in a particular denomination and I was stuck in it. I believe God showed me that he was to be our first love, not the denomination I grew up in. I am going to talk about how I feel, my opinion about this subject. Often we are told not to give our opinion but just what the word of  God says. I think, really, as I see denomination after denomination in the Christian world. I was fiercely loyal to that denomination I grew up in for many years. When I left, I felt like I was going against God but in hindsight, I realize it was God showing me something. Our loyalty is to be to God first and foremost. I felt for years God was trying to get me to move. I moved from the church in that denomination to the church in that denomination in another town nearby and back again. In hindsight, I feel like God used my Children to move me out of that denomination because it seems I just couldn't hear him clearly. I had a fierce loyalty that I thought was to God but in reality, it was to a denomination. I was taught that in my early years. When we lived on the farm when I was age 11 to 14, we use to go to church once a month, to a church of that denomination 80 miles away.  We would all pile into a pickup truck and travel 80 miles one way to go to church when God meets with his people in many churches nearby every day of the week. We would visit family and stay with them at their home and on Sunday morning we would find a church of our denomination while the family we stayed with would go tho theirs of a different denomination. So in a way, I felt like I was taught fierce loyalty to a denomination. At least it was modeled for me at a young age.  I feel like I see it today also. Did God give me these experiences to direct me in a certain way?  Pricilla Shirer talked about how our loyalty should be to God first before we are black or white or democrat or republican or whatever else, we should be Christian. I believe that is also what this verse above is saying, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind. But we find many other things that have our first loyalty.  Sometimes I think it is a denomination and it looks so closely as the real thing. Sometimes it is a political party and we are thinking we are doing God's work when in reality our devotion is really to something other than God. I cannot seem to get Christian churches to meet together for prayer for our nation and our town. Just a small number.  They each have their own prayer meeting. What I envisioned was the Christian Churches meeting together to show a united front to God. It is not happening. Out of 12 churches, I have gotten about three to meet together for prayer and I feel, this is where my opinion comes in, it is because of loyalty to their denomination.  I am trying to do a good thing, I really believe my heart is in the right spot but as I visit with people in their particular church most of the time I feel it is a loyalty to their denomination over God. The funny thing is one of the best supporters of my effort is a pastor of the denomination I grew up in and it has really surprised me. Another pastor that supports me was telling me about a phone call he received and the person was asking what kind of a church it was. The pastor knew what they were asking but he replied, "a red brick Church."  They wanted to know if it was white or black and he kept repeating no it is you that do not understand.  Our loyalty needs to be to God first and I really believe a lot of even pastors are republican or democrat first before they are Christian. Our first loyalty is to be to God himself.  This is my opinion, I believe many times our first loyalty is misplaced on something that almost looks like God but not really on God himself. And that needs to change. I remember when I first started visiting churches to promote my First Step Prayer, I was asked what office I was running for.  It bothered me and still does, that they did not see the real need for prayer to God.  I have thought since then that I cannot run for office or it will look like what I am doing is to get name recognition to get elected to a local city office.  My vision is for Christians to meet together for prayer, to show a united front across the denominational structure to get God's attention for healing our land and our city. Yes, I feel Christians should run for political office but they need to run for God first. Love God with all that you are heart, soul, and mind. God wants to be first, even above a denomination or political party or even a race/ethnicity. Even above economic differences.  God desires to be our first love.  God bless, LVZ.  

 

Addie Mae Arbuthnot

 Sometimes I surf the internet and see what I can find about old acquaintances. I did that tonight and found an obituary for a dear friend.  She died over a year ago in California. Addie Mae Arbuthnot Allen was one of the sweetest persons I knew.  I use to call her on her work phone (vax help). I think if we had lived in the same state perhaps we would have gotten together but it seems we drifted apart. I hope to see her again in eternity.  She was such a sweet person. I wish I could have seen her again.  I am glad she got married, I hope he was really good for her. I think he had a very fine woman. It is just so sad to see these friends leave this world.  She used to tease that she was the ebonics focal for her job. I was amazed to talk to her on the phone and she could be typing some work-related item and talk to me at the same time. I remember once as I was talking to her on my cell phone and getting ready to go to work myself, I said well I'd better get off the phone and gather my stuff, my badge, my cellphone, keys, etc. and get to work. She says what are you talking to me on?  I say "Oh."  I was on a road trip and stopped to see her in West Covina, CA and stayed at her place that night. She let me park my truck in her garage and parked her vehicle on the street. I had all my clothes and sleeping bag, everything for my road trip in the truck. Her car got stolen that night. I felt so bad.  I met her in Los Vegas in 1998 I think it was.  I went to Vegas just to see what it was like. I saw her there and we talked for a bit and exchanged phone numbers and remained friends for many years.  I am so sorry to see she is gone. I wish we had lived closer to each other.  She was so kind and sweet, I miss her.  She came up to Everett when I lived in Everett several times and even when I lived in Tacoma. Barbara reminded me of the very last time I spoke to her, she called asking about a restaurant we had eaten at in Seattle and about where to catch the ferry to Vancouver, Canada. When I got married I felt I couldn't call her like I used to. But I missed my friend. I tried to talk her into coming to Seattle because I knew LA was not my kind of place, but I realized she had children there and would probably never leave LA.  Good friends like that are hard to find. I have sweet memories of my friend Addie. She was originally from Natchez MS. A lot of good things come from Mississippi and Addie was certainly one of the finest.  This is a person I want to see in eternity. God bless, LVZ.  

Is Love Lacking?

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

There are a lot of verses talking about love. We must not lose our love for one another or for our enemies. Those that disagree with us. It is supposed to be a defining characteristic of a Christian. Yet there are times when we face great disappointments like we are facing now. We were praying for four more years of President Trump. For good reason, he has been the best President in my lifetime. He has a personality that rubbed many the wrong way. But I rest in the fact that without that personality that God gave him, he would not have gotten so much done. He would not have become the greatest President in my lifetime. Many criticized him because of his personality traits. I also have quirks that sometimes puts people at odds with me. Sometimes it is our own prejudices that flavor how we see things. Several years ago I quipped without thinking and put a nephew against me. He got his gun and was going to shoot me. He is black and I am white. I called the law. Many black people in this community expected that the nephew would end up dead because he dared to draw a gun on a white man. That was just his personality, the nephew likes to intimidate people when he does not get his way. He saw me as a threat to getting his way with his auntie. Some talked to Barbara about it, "you don't know who your husband knows in Washington."  They really had a fear that I would have someone take care of said nephew.  Barbara assured them, if something happened to her nephew she would have it looked into. It was their own prejudices and fears, it wasn't me. When I called the law and they took care of it, that was the end of it for me. But we seem to be lacking love today. If love showed forth would we have these fears?  I think about all these scriptures telling us to show love and everyone would know we are Christ's disciples because of our love. We are lacking in love. I am lacking in showing love to the dying world around me. Perhaps half of the country did not see what we saw in this President. He certainly came off as vengeful. But in reality, he does love this country,  perhaps like me and so many others, we lack in showing love. Do we really trust God? God has not left his throne, he is still there.  The promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is a conditional promise, perhaps we have not yet met the conditions for that promise to be fulfilled. Turn from your wicked ways, it says. Do we even see our wicked ways? God is faithful in keeping his promises, but many times he is still waiting on us. I think our biggest lack is in truly loving others as Christ loved us. Half of this country is deceived, we have had 24/7 news coverage that Trump is evil and his personality has not helped. I think of that nephew, people really didn't know me, I did not have one thought about knocking nephew off. People really don't know Trump. President Trump loves this country and has worked hard to better it. I hope he can overturn the vote and expose the fraud but it may be that God is at work in another way. My hope is in God as it was before. It is God that will fix this country and not Trump or Biden. You are foolish if you look to a man to do what only God can do.  Hearts need to change and that is something only God can do. There is a saying, it takes one to know one, I wonder if it takes a loving person to know one. God bless, LVZ.

God Has This Under Control

 How many times have I been here before? In a place where I don't understand what God is doing. Music lifts the soul. I listened to Lynda Randle sing "God On The Mountain" and it seems appropriate now when it seems we are going through a valley. We don't understand many things. Elijah going through a hard time, why did God take his Momma?  President Trump was the best President in my lifetime, why did God allow the election to be stolen? I don't understand but I know God is still sovereign. My thoughts drifted back to a time many years ago on the job in the mockup shop. I had witnessed about being a Christian to my co-workers. On this particular day, I was feeling pressured to get a job done. A tool in my hand slipped and I damaged the stowage bin I was working on. I cursed. I remember how I felt. I ruined my witness and I sort of pouted for a while. Then all of a sudden I realized how self-righteous I was. I said God forgive me for being so self-righteous. I realized at that moment I would never have seen what was in my heart if it had not been for the trouble I was going through. Then I thanked God. Perhaps once again God is working on something in our hearts that we cannot see. Do we not pray 2 Chronicles 7:14, "turn from our wicked ways"? Perhaps God is at work exposing something that needs to be eradicated out of our hearts. For that, we can be thankful.  God is at work, even when you feel lost, discouraged, disappointed. He is sovereign and he has this. God bless, LVZ

Mary Of Bethany

3And while he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper,^a as he was reclining at table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and she broke the flask and poured it over his head. 4There were some who said to themselves indignantly, “Why was the ointment wasted like that? 5For this ointment could have been sold for more than three hundred denarii^b and given to the poor.” And they scolded her. 6But Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. 8She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. 9And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.” Mark 14:3-9
I look for something to write about in each chapter I read. Here a lady breaks open a flask of ointment of pure nard. She uses it to anoint Jesus. Jesus says she was anointing his body to prepare him for burial. What she has done will be told in memory of her. It was included in the scriptures and so here again I tell the story. The gospel of John calls her Mary and she may have been sister to Martha and Lazarus. So here I am in the year 2020 repeating this story of a woman named Mary who anointed Jesus with perfume oil. He was days away from his death. Martha gets frustrated with her and complains to Jesus that she is not helping with the meal. The disciples complain and one of the gospels said it was Judas complained that the oil was not sold and give to the poor. Judas betrays Jesus to the authorities for pieces of silver. They did not want to grab Jesus when he was teaching or healing the people but wanted to do it on the sly when the crowds were not watching. Jesus went around all the villages healing people. In fact, Lazarus the brother of this Mary was the one raised from the dead. A family friend of Jesus. I find it interesting that the authorities were afraid to take Jesus when the crowds were around him. They paid Judas to betray Jesus to tell them where Jesus was when he was away from the crowds. Then when Jesus was before the rulers on this night, the religious leaders accused Jesus falsely and got the mob to support them in killing Jesus. Mob justice has not changed much over the centuries. People still seem to lose their heads and act irrationally in a Mob. We have seen in recent years where BLM mobs have destroyed their own race's stores and business when protesting (does Ferguson come to mind). Mobs do not seem to think rationally. I wonder how many of the people in this mob may have seen Jesus healing others. Had any of them have been in the crowds of 4000 and 5000 that Jesus fed from a few loaves and fishes? I wonder if any of them had been the people that laid down palm branches as he entered Jerusalem?  How do crowds of worshipers go to mobs of condemnation so quickly? Or were they even the same people? If we lived back then which crowd would we be a part of?  Would we bless Jesus or curse him? Mary of Bethany anointed Jesus to prepare him for his burial. I don't know if the rest of the people understood. Jesus was about to die for the sins of the world. The Son of God was the sacrifice that was needed for our sins. This story will be told over and over again. We are not Easter Worshipers but celebrate the resurrection of Jesus who died for our sins,  God bless, LVZ. 

Trust In The Lord

 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Proverbs 20:7 This verse is said by King David believed to have been when he faced the Syrian army. This is the David of David and Goliath fame. The Syrian army would brag about how many horseman and chariots they had but King David countered with we trust in the name of the Lord our God. That's all we can do, we have prayed and it seems as of this date that God did not answer our prayers with a yes. So we continue to trust and ask God what now? We asked for four more years of Trump, but through fraud and cheating, we seem to be getting Biden.  So what now Lord? What do you have in mind?  Trump has been the best President for Christians in a long time, what now Lord. It seems all we can do is continue to trust. God is still sovereign, he still watches over the affairs of men. He is always doing what is best for us even when we can't see it. There are many things I don't see. I know he didn't take Elijah's mom to hurt these precious children. But Why, I ask? I don't understand. I don't understand why God allowed this fraud to happen and rest assured, God allowed it. God wants our soul to prosper more than our finances, more than our physical well being. I often think of the conditional promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 and I ask what wicked way do I, do we need to turn from?  God is still on his throne, why does he not answer in the way we ask?  I know God is at work. I cannot see into the future. But even David didn't see the outcome of his battle ahead of time, but he trusted in the name of the Lord our God. That is what we must continue to do. Maybe in four more years, we will understand why. But until we understand what God is doing, keep trusting. God is still Sovereign, He doesn't need the most horsemen, the most chariots, the biggest army to win. Sometimes he even turns the enemy on themselves. I will continue to trust in the name of the Lord my God. God bless, LVZ. 

What Should Christians Do?

 So how should a Christian navigate through this troubling time? We should not go out and riot, loot, burn down buildings because we did not get our way. Fraudulent or not, it would be nice to know what the courts have to say about fraud. Did Biden win fair and square or did the democratic machine drum up enough votes to change the outcome. It would not be the first time someone won an election by fraud.  We should not stoop to the levels of the left by rioting looting and throwing bricks at police and burning businesses. What we should do is pray for the president whoever he is.  The mandate in scripture remains the same pray for those in authority.  First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone— for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 So Romans 13:1 still reads the same:  Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.   We may not like what has happened and may even be right about fraud but the Bible has not changed. God is still sovereign and this did not happen without God's foreknowledge. Daniel faced similar challenges in his day. Remember prayer was outlawed and Daniel continued to pray just as he had before. God says to Daniel in the last verse of the book with his name:  “As for you, go your way till the end. You will rest, and then at the end of the days you will rise to receive your allotted inheritance.”  The Contemporary English Version words it this way:   So, Daniel, be faithful until the end! You will rest, and at the end of time, you will rise from death to receive your reward.  If I may put it in my words keep doing right as you have been doing until the end of time. You will rest (die) and then rise from the grave to receive your reward for living a faithful life. So a Christian should continue believing in God and praying as you have been. The President may change in January but God has not changed, and he is still sovereign.  God bless, LVZ.   

Does Cheating Really Matter?

 A discussion today talked some about what many believe is fraud in this election, just plain old cheating in so many ways. The voting machines were said to change many Trump votes into Biden votes. If it was an abnormality you would think it happened the other way around too but it seems to have only happened one way, which makes me think it was intended to defraud.  Unregistered voters voting as well as dead people and I believe I read where one person had 1700 ballots.  Republican poll watchers not allowed in the building in one place, so many different things that raise red flags.  I am going to express an opinion here and this may come from my legalistic upbringing. But today as I was filling gas I saw a person getting a newspaper out of a stand in front of the store I was at. I wasn't paying a lot of attention until I heard a name called out and I glanced back, the person was holding the door on the newspaper stand open until another person came up and grabbed a newspaper also.  I remember people asking me to do the same, I refused because it is stealing. I witnessed / cheating stealing on the job. Employees holding jobs open to justify overtime. When people work for a big company they feel cheating is OK, the company is big and they can afford it. All across many ways of life cheating seems to be practiced until it gets big enough and people get caught by an auditor or somebody blows a whistle. My opinion is it is acceptable by so much of society in so many little things anymore, cheating in the election is no big deal. The polls are slanted to favor a candidate a party wants to win.  Let me list some more ways I saw in my lifetime. Once my dad offered to sell me a $500 vehicle and write me a $100 bill os sale to save on taxes and registration fees. People on the job were mad at me when I reported a fellow employee that got behind on his job at work to work on private / home projects instead of the job he was supposed to be doing. They were mad at me because they had a good thing going and my reporting this was endangering what they were doing. I made a long-distance phone call years ago at a phone booth and when I was done and hung up the phone all my money came back. The operator couldn't believe I called back to report what happened instead of just taking my money. I had a liberal during the George W. reelection tell me it was OK that they tried to use forged national guard papers against him because they were trying to keep Bush from winning.   I believe our society has become corrupted at the local level where we don't see many of these things as wrong.  If we want to clean up our country even the elections, I believe we will need to start at the bottom to value integrity and honesty, and truthfulness at an individual level. If we don't see these things as wrong except when it hurts us individually I doubt we can fix our elections. I guarantee if there was fraud in an election to where the left loses, they would be upset about it then, but not as if honesty and integrity and not cheating matters, but only if they lose because of cheating. It's my opinion but this cheating on even a smaller scale needs to be fixed. God desires honest weights and balances, not just when we buy and sell but in reporting time at work and when voting at the poll booth. When we don't care about basic honesty, I doubt we will care enough about cheating to want to fix an election we won. It's just my opinion and I sometimes have a legalistic view of things. But think about it. Does cheating on a small scale really matter? Is it OK when it is a small amount and you work for a big company? The principle is the same if you steal a quarter or a quarter of a million dollars. God bless, LVZ.

Haters

 Just because I disagree with someone on an issue doesn't mean I hate them. Husbands and wives will disagree about issues but still continue to love one another. What has made our country the best place in the world is that we have been able to come together for good of the country even when we don't see eye to eye politically.  I think from what I read in scripture that homosexuality is a sin, it is an ungodly lifestyle.  So is adultery, a sexual sin.  But we don't go around the country hating adulterers. Well maybe in individual cases where it hurt us when it was a spouse. Yet it was the sin that hurt us. Often we still loved that person we just disagreed with their actions. We have a right to protect ourselves. We have a right to distance ourselves from a sinful lifestyle. I have done that in various ways, distance myself, remove myself from an unhealthy relationship. I often want to reply to things I disagree with. I am not going to change that person's mind. Often it just becomes an unhealthy argument. I removed my self, and no longer follow or listen to a contrary voice. It is OK to listen to opposing views and I do often. I had a couple of situations where it seemed everything I wrote about in this blog was critiqued. Never a positive word.  I have a right to remove myself from an unhealthy interaction. I am sure that one or two of the things of the thousands I have written have been correct.  But I am not a hater because I see things differently. I was reading a post of a couple of young men that became conservative in their thinking politically. They grew up thinking they would be hated because of their preference for sexual orientation but found it not to be true.  One said it was harder to come out and say he was a conservative than it was to come out as a gay man.  Now I would disagree with their lifestyle but I find we agree politically.  I don't hate these young men because I disagree with the lifestyle they have chosen, I disagree. I think the Bible still says it is wrong. But are we not to love even our enemies? To do good to even those that despitefully use us?  I just don't think that every time I disagree with someone I automatically become a hater. Over and over in the scriptures, we are challenged to love those that are different than us. The reason we are to be salt and light in this world is that there are those that live a contrary lifestyle. God's way is the best way to live life and we find when we don't live God's way, sin produces trouble in this life. God bless. LVZ.

Its Really Not Free

 I am going to make fun of some types of insurance in this post but in reality, I am not against insurance. I have health insurance and Medicare. I have automobile insurance, I have house insurance, I even have a AAA policy for roadside assistance. Did I miss anything?  But when I hear Joe Namath and others promoting something for free it makes me laugh. Or the Car Shield guy talking about getting a new motor and transmission for free. It is not free. If you have any type of insurance you have paid for it for months, and if you are one of the lucky people that never have to file a claim for anything, you have paid for an accident or a house repair or a car repair if you needed it or not. Insurance companies make money, they have employees that pay their own living costs from the money the insurance companies charge you for your coverage. Once again I am not against insurance and some mandated by law you are thankful for when someone crashes into you with no insurance and no way to pay for the damage they caused. It's not free. I learned the hard way to carry uninsured motorist coverage because half of my accidents have been caused by people with no insurance.  So I am thankful for uninsured or underinsured insurance. I am not against insurance. But the idiot on the Car Shield commercial did not get his engine and transmission replaced for free. If he had coverage for a while and paid his insurance, he and others paid for a new engine and transmission and even the salaries of the insurance company employees.  I am not against insurance.  I started AAA years ago when it took me 4 hours away from my job to change a flat tire on my wife's car when I was 50 miles away on my job and she didn't know anyone to ask for help. It was worth it for peace of mind to know she could get help for even locking keys in a car when I am not available. But it is not free. I think about the idiot with the free engine and transmission in his probably 10-year-old or older car and he now has a new engine and transmission in an old car. The seats have 10 years of wear on them. the dash cover is cracked, if he has electric windows one or more of the switches no longer work and there is probably a dent in the right rear fender. He still has an old car with everything else showing 10 years of wear. And it was not free. I think our colleges teach our young people to be idiots in expecting even stuff from the government to be free. The government gets its money from the taxes they collect on you and me. It really is not free.  God bless, LVZ.

Trying MeWe

I quit Facebook cold turkey, just up and asked to deactivate my account and Twitter also. I  really didn't like Twitter to begin with. I also joined Parler a while back. Parler is more or less similar to Twitter in my view. MeWe seems to be similar to Facebook. I was thinking about all the posts I get that I have to say I don't want, then I get something new that I don't want. I get friend suggestions over and over again that I don't want.  MeWe is not regulated or censored like Facebook. Anyway, I am going to try it.    Facebook didn't censor filthy language they only filtered content they disagreed with.  I have parted friends with Facebook people some of my choosing and at least one because he didn't like my objecting to his filthy language. MeWe will not censor like that either but will not use my information to send me a ton of advertisements I don't want or friend suggestions I don't want. All of a sudden I would see posts I don't want didn't ask for and somehow Facebook decides for me that I want to see these posts.  I delete them and don't want to see them and I get something new I didn't ask for. I hope MeWe is better. I lost over a hundred Facebook friends, I don't know the exact number. I even gained some I don't know how it happened but I believe I have control over it with MeWe. Then with the election, I could not voice an opinion, it would be censored if I voiced something pro-Trump. Fact-checking they called it. I understand MeWe will not do that. There may be misinformation posted and I get to decide if I believe it or not and can research it on my own.  Will it be better? It will be up to me as I understand it.  I don't have a lot of friends on MeWe yet. I will search for names as I think of them. I think I will do just find policing my own account without Facebook help. God bless, LVZ. 

How Close Are We?

 16It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

18This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. ^e That number is 666.  Revelation 13:16-18 

With this pandemic has been talk of a vaccine. Bill Gates has been involved in this to some degree. What concerns me is when they want to inject the whole wide world with a chip as part of a vaccine that can also identify each person.  This pandemic is worldwide and there is some thought it was a created virus by China. I am not sure if I am just a bit paranoid, to begin with, but as a vaccine comes out I want to know before I take it if they are going to demand it be taken worldwide and if there is some sort of chip going to be added with it.  I believe we are very close to this time when that chip will be necessary to buy and sell. We need to be careful because we are often manipulated by the media as we have been with this virus. Fear has been used to manipulate us into wearing masks and to isolate. I do understand the virus is real, created or not. People are dying from it. One thing that scares me is with Biden being elected if his fraudulent lead is able to stand I feel we are much closer to the end of time when these things like the mark of the beast will happen.  There is a deception of people going to happen. We see this today. Revelation is a very hard book to understand but it is an end of time leading up to the judgment day prophecy. We just need to be careful. I do not want to use fear as has been used on us in this pandemic to manipulate us. It is scary to see how easy it has been to manipulate us. I was hoping and am still hoping that Trump's challenges to the election stand and voter fraud are validated and punished. God is in control of this situation and I do not claim to know what is going to happen. I really do not understand Revelation to its fullest. This section of the 13th chapter talking about the mark of the beast and the number 666 has me wondering just how close to the end of time are we. Our hope is always in Jesus Christ, it has never been in a mere man like Donald Trump. We have never looked to him as a savior but as a tool God was using. I was so hoping for four more years. I don't know what is going to happen, Revelation has always been hard to understand. I do know that faith in Jesus is needed when we face the end of days. This calls for wisdom. Think it through for yourself, but don't take it lightly. We can ask God for wisdom and he will give it. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. James 1:5. I think it is time to make sure we are right with God.  I really do not understand this book to its fullest. I really want this belief that Christians will be taken out of this time to happen. I do not want to come off as a crackpot like the people that waited for a comet to come and get them a few years back or like the guy that wrote a book that the end of time would happen in 1987 then 88 then 89 and I think he changed the title up to 93 before people stopped buying his book. He sold millions of copies. We need Jesus. He comes to us not via twisted arms but gives Grace freely to anyone who will believe in his name. Gently and freely not through a fear of the end of days. I say over and over again I do not understand this book of Revelation. I do understand that we need Jesus. I do understand that we need to believe in him and his Grace. Jesus died for every last one of our sins. Grace is freely given and a faith that comes because of fear will probably not last. Like the song says, Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling. I want to get through this book but just understand these things will happen towards the end of time. Even if this election stands with fraud, understand that God is still in control. We just need to have faith in God. Whatever happens, our faith will get us through this time. It is all planned out, God is still in control. But we do need to believe in Jesus and his forgiving us of our sins. God sees all of this even from the beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation.  God is outside of time as we know it as humans. We see just one day at a time, God sees every day at one time. How close are we to the end of days? I don't know but God does. I don't know the number of my days but God does. Seek him while he may be found. God looking at my life sees I made it through day number 24,419 and He alone knows the number left to go.  Will I make it to day number 32,850?   Will I see day 24,838? Only God knows. God bless, LVZ. 

A Battle Raging

 As I am reading in Revelation 12, I see where there is a battle raging between Satan and those that keep God's commandments and hold fast their testimony about Jesus. It feels like we are in a battle right now. I don't think it is the same battle but we do wrestle against spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.  For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12.  That feels like what we are doing right now. That is why we need to be on our knees as Christians, much of the battle between good and evil is fought in the heavenly realm.  I don't know what the significance is of 1260 days but that is just a little short of 3.5 years. A calculator says 3.45 carried out many more decimal places.  Satan is the one we fight in the battle described in revelation. I just don't think it is the same battle we are in right now.  Could we be in the Revelation time frame right now and not know it?    We are in a battle for the soul of our country right now. It is a battle between good and evil. When we look at the fraud that has happened in our country in this election, half the people do not care that it was fraudulent, they just care if they win. Those that march around demanding justice don't really want justice. Justice is fair and honest and is not fraudulent. Think about that for a minute. If a mob can change the outcome of a court decision, that is not justice. Justice is fair to both sides of an issue. One side may not be happy with the outcome but justice is fair. Does the left really want justice as they demand? I don't think so, they just want what they want and they want it now. I think I am just going anywhere with this because Revelation is hard to understand. We need to remain in God's hand, we need to continue to trust in the name of the Lord our God. God is sovereign and real justice is achieved at his hand. God is fair and honest and sees from the beginning to the end. We win in the end, keep that in mind. Sometimes it may look like we are losing, but God wins in the end. God bless. LVZ.

How Am I Feeling?

Now that the election is over and we lost I am feeling down.  I know we won without the fraudulent votes but will we get our day in court as Al Gore did? I was thinking about how I feel today and I know it feels worse because we got cheated.  I remember as a teenager when playing Monopoly, I knew how to win that game if it was played by the rules and I already had a very legalistic mindset.  I played a game of Monopoly with our Pastors boys and I lost. But what made me feel bad was one of them cheated and admitted to it. It's just a game he said, he was the banker and when no one was looking, he took money out of the bank to help himself. I remember how I felt, cheated. After all, we were Church of God of Prophecy kids and surely the pastor's kids would not cheat. He did. I feel about the same today because I know we were cheated in this election. But as I contemplated it, I know our country is sick and this has been happening for years.  I had a very legalistic mindset and I don't think I ever cheated at Monopoly even though it was just a game. We are seeing this cheating mindset all across our country. We see it when celebrity kids' parents cheat to get them into a school they choose. I saw it on the job when people would steal from the company we worked for, it won't hurt them they are a big company. I saw it when I bought a $500 car from my dad and he offered to write me a bill of sale for $100 to save me on taxes and license fees when I transferred the title and put it into my name. I saw it when a cousin of mine was driving an overloaded truck on a county road and dumped his load of hay bales before the authority he saw was coming got to him.  All across our society, we feel it is OK to cheat. In just games, remember the underinflated football scandal? The celebrities caught bribing and cheating to get their kids into a certain school.  Martha Stewart got caught doing insider trading and went to jail but our politicians cheat and we don't care because our side won.  This is what is destroying our society the fact that we don't care if our side cheats to win. I remember when Richard Nixon got caught in the watergate scandal and I remember saying this, "everybody does it, he just got caught". When I remember those words today I realize I was making an excuse for cheating. If we fix our country, it will be from the bottom up and not the top down. We will have to care about honesty and integrity from all walks of life. Even in our own personal dealings. It will have to start with me. I can't fix anyone else but I can take pride in the fact that I did not cheat. As I write this I think of so many other examples in life. I had a neighbor that painted cars, and once he painted a car with out adding hardener to the paint.  Usually, there is enough hardener in the paint that it will set up anyway even if you don't add some. So instead of making a trip to the paint store he went ahead and painted the car. The paint did not harden even after days. His customer ate the paint job, it was either him or the customer that would take a loss. It was his mistake, but he chose to not make it right and let the customer suffer the consequences. I remember in the age of phone booths, I made a long-distance call that cost me if I remember correctly $6 in quarters. When the call was completed the phone gave me my money back. I called the operator and told her what had happened. She sent me to another phone both to pay for my call and couldn't believe I had called it in. We need individual integrity, even when we win by fraudulent means, it should bother a person of integrity even when your side wins but you know someone cheated. To fix our country will need to start at the bottom with you and me. God bless. LVZ.

Christians Trouble Me

 I tell you what really troubles me is Christians that can vote for a party that murders unborn babies. The most vulnerable of our society have no protection under current law.  And Christians will talk about who Trump is personality-wise and call him all kinds of phobias because of his very strong nature. Overlooking everything he has done for us in the last just under 4 years. I have no problem with an atheist or a non-believer not understanding and voting for a President and congresspersons that support the Democratic party but how can Christians that are to know the word of God, and be God's hands and feet here on earth vote for a candidate of the party that took God out of their platform? There used to be a lot of reason for a Christian to be liberal thinking. I can understand that and being a Democrat but once the left took over the Democratic party and leads in an ungodly direction, it seems it would trouble me. We have culturalized Christianity. I have even heard from a black Pastor personally that had trouble with me voting for Trump.  He came me the Democratic line about Trump. We are to be Christian above everything else. We are to be Christian first and then white or black. Following God and his word should be more important than a political party. But that is not what I see. I think some may accuse me of the same because I support the Republican party. But I support what I feel is closest to God's word and it is not the democratic party. To me the biggest issue in this election was abortion. This nation needs to repent and ask God to forgive us as a nation for even putting a law on the books that allow for the murder of innocent babies. Trump is the most pro-life President in my lifetime. Abortion is wrong and Trump does not go far enough, he allows for abortion for incest and rape in his thinking. But that is better than the other side. Trump is not the savior of our nation. God is the only one that can forgive us for even abortion. We shall know them by their fruit if you look at the fruit falling from Trump's tree it is good fruit. I thought in the beginning Trump's personality was too much but look at the fruit.  I may have been unsure in the beginning but Trump is the most Pro -Christian president in my lifetime.  God bless President Trump and protect him.  God bless, LVZ.

Stolen Election

 I honestly believe this election was stolen from Donald Trump. I probably can prove it, how would I analyze every ballot and verify that the person was even alive.  But Trump gained votes from Black and Hispanic and many other groups over and beyond what he had in 2016. You saw the excitement at the Trump rallies. Joe Biden was lucky if he could fill 6 social distancing circles. We should not stoop to the levels of the left. God desires honesty and fair dealing. The end doesn't justify the means. As disappointing as this is and I am not sure we will be able to overcome the fraud in this election. BUT, our trust needs to be in a Sovereign God. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. Proverbs 20:7. Trust in God will get us through this time either with Trump and lawyers able to prove voter fraud and that he really did win, or Joe Biden takes the Presidency by fraud with the help of the media, dishonest politicians, Google, Twitter, Facebook.  These groups have silenced the conservative side including our President. One thing I know is God is still on the throne. The left may have won this battle with their fraud, but there is a bigger time coming when at the end of our days we face our creator. None of this is lost on our creator, he knows how much fraud and who did it.  The story was about corruption in the John Kennedy race for the White House, when they knew how many votes he needed to win Illinois, enough votes showed up in cook county for John to win Illinois.  John didn't do this, I am not sure if he even knows how it was done, but he was a good President in my view. The corrupt Democrats in Cook County got it done.  This doesn't happen without God's knowledge and if he doesn't stop it, it could possibly be it fits God's overall plan. I will wait and see. Honest scales and balances belong to the LORD; all the weights in the bag are of his making. Proverbs 16:11.  I know the above verse applies to business dealings but I also believe it applies to politics. God wants us to be honest in all our dealings. There is forgiveness at the cross for those of us that have failed in this area. I joke about voting more than once and other things, but I believe God wants us to be fair in all our dealings. I just want to say it is not only the democrats that deal dishonestly.  Remember we had Richard Nixon and I sometimes think if he had gone to jail for his crimes, perhaps things would be as bad as they are. But politicians get away with things the average person does not get away with. Speaking of Richard Nixon, I was a young man when watergate and all that happened. I do remember saying "everybody is doing it, he just got caught", like that was an excuse. But often we do excuse our side or ourselves for our own corruptness. God does not excuse it but will forgive us when we ask him to in a spirit of repentance.  A few years ago a Republican PAC slandered a Democratic political figure her is southern Mississippi, and the democrat sued and won. It was too late to change the election, but he did get a retraction from the Republicans in the newspaper.  Don't know what will happen going forward, but my trust is still in God. I want to make it to heaven someday. With that goal in mind, I cannot conform to the dishonesty of our world.  I have enough stuff to deal with just living by what I already know.  I am forgiven. Some day I expect to spend eternity with God and that is much more important than if Trump or Biden wins. I may be disappointed, especially believing it was by fraud, it would be easier to bear if I thought it was an honest election, but I don't. I do know God is on his throne whatever happens. My trust is in God, it has never been in Trump, I still want Trump to win. But Trump is not the savior of our country. God is. God may have bought us more time by putting Trump in there for at least one term. God is sovereign, and I pray that the fraud will be exposed, but I guarantee it will be known on judgment day with out a single doubt. We must keep doing the right thing until Jesus comes. Just like Dr King did and so many others throughout history. We may lose some battles but we win the war.  God bless, LVZ. 

Katie Hopkins "Water Is Wet"

 I heard Candice Owens interview Katie Hopkins and there was something Katie said that really made sense to me. "Water is Wet". She said Republicans need to learn from the Democrats, the Democrats take a statement that is absolutely true and make a movement out of it. Black Lives Matter for example, is true as is Water is Wet.  How do you argue with a true statement? Most people do not look at the Black Lives Matter website to see what they are really about, (The destruction of the nuclear family) they just focus on that true statement.  Water really is wet. Maybe we need to look farther than just a statement.  God bless, LVZ.

Root Of Bitterness

 Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.     Hebrews 12;15

As I was surfing Facebook a name came up from many years ago and I felt a little hurt from something that happened a long time ago. I immediately took it to prayer. Scripture tells us to be at peace with all men as much as is possible as it depends on us. I thought of the verse above and searched for it. That verse reminds me of a time when I was in my twenties and I was a church treasurer.  I had taken bookkeeping in High School and actually enjoyed it. I enjoyed the job as Treasurer. But I had a very legalistic outlook religiously and it was my downfall.  I expected Christians to be perfect and they weren't, especially as it came to contributions to God/Church.  I allowed a root of bitterness to grow in my heart over the legalistic expectations I had towards other Christians especially as pertaining to what I saw in the church books.   I was wrong and didn't realize it. I quit going to church period.  I started looking at the lack I saw in other people's lives and considered them hypocrites. Some years later as God continued to work in my heart I realized my attitude was worse than anything they had done. I allowed that root of bitterness to grow in my heart and it destroyed me.  So when I felt this in my heart I remembered all that. I have done worse in my life than any of the things I held against other people. Yes, I think it was wrong what that person did to me that day that came to mind, but I have done worse.  It came into my mind and I immediately wanted to talk to those that I was put in a bad light before them. I saw what was happening that day and realized that person had said some bad things about me to justify her own actions. To be able to give my side wouldn't fix anything. It is all water under the bridge, so to speak. I just asked God to forgive me and heal me of my hurt. The issues of life come from the heart. Protect your heart from any root of bitterness, if allowed to grow, it will destroy you. People are not perfect. I have certainly done worse, and I have hurt others that I wish I could take back.  Try to be at peace with everyone as much as it depends on you.  There are two sides to every story and the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.  I thank God for Grace and Mercy. I thank God for giving me what I did not deserve and not giving me what I did deserve. Grace and Mercy. To be able to forgive is a core value of a Christian. God has forgiven me much more than anything someone has done to me. God bless, LVZ.