tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58160088178280115132024-03-05T08:32:14.774-06:00COMPELLEDthoughts about GOD and lifeRussell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.comBlogger247125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-4982990614054407442015-07-28T18:11:00.002-05:002015-07-28T18:11:43.215-05:00Cut – But Not Clean Cut<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizethGlQsckOdu035J4HmotFp3Nlx5vkQ-dA7KGsS45o6aQ6iVAFGYe6agQ09OmzdinVIUezRuanlZW9-FsmJdkreQ-z8FgSik8c2h5lCMxliFHAvmzd4P6p6sS9PtI8bFYvGgsapaEWkp/s1600/clippers+BW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizethGlQsckOdu035J4HmotFp3Nlx5vkQ-dA7KGsS45o6aQ6iVAFGYe6agQ09OmzdinVIUezRuanlZW9-FsmJdkreQ-z8FgSik8c2h5lCMxliFHAvmzd4P6p6sS9PtI8bFYvGgsapaEWkp/s200/clippers+BW.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><b>Recently I was
on a job</b> painting the exterior of a house, when a neighbor lady came over and
began to converse with the home owner regarding my work.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Apparently this lady wanted an estimate for
some work on her home, but had yet to find the right contractor.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Upon inquiring of the home owner as to my
work ethic, and viewing my actual work, this lady requested that I stop by and
give her an estimate.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">And then she said
something I thought was kind of funny.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">She said, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">“I haven’t found a clean
cut painter yet. You look pretty clean
cut. And your work looks good, so I’d
like an estimate.”</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>It made me
chuckle inside.</b> If she could have seen
me just a few months prior, or even a few years ago, she may have thought
differently. Hair past my shoulders and
a goatee 8 inches long probably wouldn’t have passed the “clean cut” test. It still makes me smile as I write, but it’s
a bitter-sweet smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Something very
strange and even tragic happens</b> when we judge people by their outward
appearances. We build a wall that
prevents a divine interaction. We
prejudice ourselves against people without even knowing the full extent of the
value they could add to our lives and vice versa.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Sometimes it
has to do with skin color.</b> Other times it
has to do with body size and shape (BMI).
Even worse amongst God’s people we judge others by how they do their
worship experience. Regardless of what
type of prejudice we possess, it’s not good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Now I’m glad</b>
that lady wanted me to give her an estimate, but I am not glad she wanted it
because she deemed me to be “clean cut”.
The reason being: I was just as good a painter and carpenter when my
hair was long or my goatee hung to the middle of my chest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Can you understand</b>
how pre-judging someone by how they look could prevent you from gaining a benefit
or a blessing, by inadvertently shutting them out? Not only is there potential for hurting or
offending the other person (the one being judged), but you the one doing the
judging run the greater risk of not gaining from what they have to offer you in
this life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Pause for a
moment</b> and think of all the blessings and benefits you and I may have lost out
on, by judging someone based on their appearance alone. Biblically speaking, the consequences of
judging by appearance alone can be of catastrophic loss – to all parties
involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>So remember</b>, the
next time you look at someone and think they are “clean cut” and that it must
mean they are a good person, stop yourself.
Because there have been times in my life when I was <b><i>Cut – But Not Clean Cut</i></b>. And there are people who are clean cut, who
have yet to be cut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>If and when
life has cut us deeply</b>, and we let God do a healing work in our hearts and
lives, we will come to the realization that outward appearances are of little
value to God. He looks at the heart of a
person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Having our
hearts and lives cut</b> to the quick, should cause us to cry out to God who alone can
render those wounds healed. And that my
friend is far more important than being clean cut on the outside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>As for me,</b> I’d
rather be <b><i>Cut – But Not Clean Cut</i></b>, for therein lies the power of my God’s
love. He looks inside, when no one else
will. He looks inside where the cuts
really occur. He looks at the parts that
matter. And those parts have little to
do with trimmed sideburns and a fresh appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Cut – But Not
Clean Cut</span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">. I’m glad God sees me for me. Let’s try to do the same for others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-37826270211432681252015-03-27T14:50:00.002-05:002015-03-27T14:50:40.832-05:00For the Love of Writing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUANjv4tOmc_pIHVk1W0rDBeePznETrY0lixRNak1Mh30rzBw7sRJmDTXNOlSi7JJCI25FFto0xObkskKu6GTssN7LF5R3_rH9sGTwFEVdpz90JCXimsf-aQphJzDSJOGe6yudupsRqId/s1600/ink_pen_and_hand.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUANjv4tOmc_pIHVk1W0rDBeePznETrY0lixRNak1Mh30rzBw7sRJmDTXNOlSi7JJCI25FFto0xObkskKu6GTssN7LF5R3_rH9sGTwFEVdpz90JCXimsf-aQphJzDSJOGe6yudupsRqId/s1600/ink_pen_and_hand.gif" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Ever wonder</b>
why we do what we do?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I know I have.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>What makes
one person</b> to be an accountant, or another an auto mechanic, or another person
becomes a music teacher, or even another to become an undertaker? To each one a special niche in life is given,
found, or even carved out of the unknown.
We do what we do. Don’t we?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>As for
writing</b>, there are many reasons we do what we do as writers. For me I know it’s often cathartic. It’s a <i>Platform</i>
as Michael Hyatt says. Or maybe it’s a
combination of both – catharsis and platform all rolled into one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Recently it
came to mind</b> that I’ve written for three reasons. Maybe a few more, but if I’m honest as a writer,
these are three reasons I have to hold up as cause and motivation for doing
what I love to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Firstly, I
write because of Passion.</b> Passion for
writing, passion for God, passion for the human drama, passion for justice,
passion for humor, passion for relationships, passion for creativity in verse
and thought. But nonetheless Passion and
I believe that is good – as cause and motivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>When you
look up the definition</b> of Passion there’s quite a list of understandings that
drive the meaning of the word and it’s use.
I guess each of us has to choose which particular definition we will use
as we decide why we do what we do. But
regardless of which specific definition we choose, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Passion is a MUST for life,
relationships and especially for writing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Secondly,
I’ve written because of Pain.</b> And likely
I’ll do it again. But I’ve heard it said
of great and influential writers, and even of inventors and entrepreneurs, that
pain and conflict often drive these people to express and discover things that
benefit more than just themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Study a good
<i>Storyline</i>.</b> Somewhere in the elements of the story there
is conflict, pain, crisis, goals and things to overcome. And as the characters of the story rise to
overcome, they are driven by the ouches of life, and ultimately they find the
joy and refreshment of victory over some rugged and low spots life has brought
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>I believe
Pain is at the core of God’s love for us.</b>
A Pain that came from our decision to be away from Him doing our own
thing, so He did something to overcome that pain; He offered His own pain for
our gain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Pain makes
us think about things differently.</b> Pain
causes us to have a passion to escape and abate the vicious ouches life tends
to puts on us. Pain is the analog of
pleasure. And without both we have no
esoteric point of reference to understand life and a relationship with God and
others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>So Pain can
be a great motivator</b> in the life of a writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>But thirdly,
I’ve written because of Poison.</b> Poisons that
came from the lies I’ve believe to be true about myself, God and others. Poison is the lies that have been plied
against my soul and the Truth of God.
And the problem with poison as a motive for writing is it always does
just that – it poisons someone. Oh I may
think I’m just being honest, but in reality I’m drinking in and sharing a
deadly gall. And all in the name of
being pithy, eloquent and even brutally honest; and isn’t honesty the best
policy?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>I wanted to
point out the gravity</b> of writing with a poison pen. And I wanted to confess my use of such poison
in my writing over the years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Passion,
Pain and Poison</b> tend to find their way into all of our writing from time to
time. The real challenge for me is to
avoid the use of poison as a vindictive and vengeful forum of expression. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Please forgive me</b> if my pen has ever shot
poison in your direction. It was really
meant for me. I just never had the
courage to give it over to God. I never
really trusted that He kept all the books, or that He could be trusted to make
all things right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>So I’ve
asked God to forgive me.</b> And He
has. And now I ask you to forgive me. Poison must never be my cause and motive for writing
– <b>ever again.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-61100981208785198772015-02-17T07:46:00.000-06:002015-02-17T07:46:15.110-06:00Disarmed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME42eSndBMZVv83rDOvMJDZpUQ4jKK259GF8ADP43YTxAM2DmTV0rCFOTZECFW-gdG9qR95L3-XOx5eOBhiOxK0N5-IsgK3aD0lG2NK3UCL75xHkl1-WMCpwJq1lebu4JTOIUIoq0D7-r/s1600/colored_wires_bomb_cutter_3268.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhME42eSndBMZVv83rDOvMJDZpUQ4jKK259GF8ADP43YTxAM2DmTV0rCFOTZECFW-gdG9qR95L3-XOx5eOBhiOxK0N5-IsgK3aD0lG2NK3UCL75xHkl1-WMCpwJq1lebu4JTOIUIoq0D7-r/s1600/colored_wires_bomb_cutter_3268.jpg" height="163" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I know very little about disarming</b> anything. I’ve never disarmed a bomb. I’ve never disarmed an armed assailant. I may have disarmed a few self-righteous
church people, but likely for my own self-righteous reasons. And sadly enough, disarming much in this life
seems quite foreign to me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>As a little kid I loved to watch television</b> shows where the
good guy would knock the gun out of the bad guys hand and totally disarm and
subdue his would-be aggressor. Then I would
spend hours in my back yard or basement subduing and disarming imaginary bad
guys. Kicking and swinging at nothing
but what I saw in my imagination. I know
it sounds silly, but it made me feel tough in a child-like way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>About two thousand years ago</b>, a very important “disarming” occurred,
and for that I am deeply and eternally grateful. Paul the Apostle writes in Colossians 2 verse
15, <i>“And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This is a description of a very important and powerful event</b>
that we may be prone to forget. Prone to
forget because, we still live with the vestiges of judgment and condemnation
that often echo in our minds from past efforts at self-righteousness, not to
mention from the mouths of <i>Well-intentioned
Dragons</i>. You know the kind of people
I’m talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>They are the ones who</b> by their own insecurities and bondages
ply a pseudo-biblical-works dogma to the unsuspecting and often innocent “little
ones” among us. And if we stiffen or seem
to chafe under their idea of righteousness we are considered rebellious, disharmonious
or even back-slidden.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>But may I respectfully challenge</b> that kind of dogma. For what Christ did on the cross, gives me
the power and liberty to stand victorious over my old sin nature – it is gone. He disarmed all the powers and authorities
that held any claim over my past sins and failures. And even more He disarmed the power of the
lies that would hold sway over my present and my future.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>So with gratitude and humility</b> I embrace the canceled debts
and charges against me. Because of His
suffering, His death on the cross, and His triumphal resurrection from the
grave I will never be governed by a sin-based, lie-based, works doctrine or
dogma ever again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Debt-free people are the freest indeed.</b> They are also a threat to those in bondage to
a debtors-ethic. For though I owe Christ
my all and everything, and I willingly give it, I can never nor should I ever attempt
or consider “repayment” as part of my relationship with Him. For that would then rearm our enemy and resume
the cycle of self-righteous works and thereby put to shame the cross of Christ
our only hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Once and forever Christ disarmed</b> the enemies of
our souls and led them as public spectacle down the permanent road of freedom
and life. So may we never concede to
their influence again, nor rearm them with a lack of assurance and faith in Him
alone.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Remember, they are Disarmed –
forever.</b></span>Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-32443396989872650262014-12-03T08:09:00.001-06:002014-12-03T08:09:18.731-06:00Sanctification Happens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxExsRSYkRiJPTAdPOU_20cPtKRoU4t4Pa_NF-erpZGnRmzUqzHEFMd3ODIz_O-z0bLP8hdt8sSCvfiAMXO6Z-KeEh86PzxpY_ouQIejUot_isNDfAB63kfQN6yNUUYOvu8ihYZBATMhV/s1600/hamster+wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxExsRSYkRiJPTAdPOU_20cPtKRoU4t4Pa_NF-erpZGnRmzUqzHEFMd3ODIz_O-z0bLP8hdt8sSCvfiAMXO6Z-KeEh86PzxpY_ouQIejUot_isNDfAB63kfQN6yNUUYOvu8ihYZBATMhV/s1600/hamster+wheel.jpg" height="115" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For years I lived and believed that the process of
sanctification was mostly about the cessation of wrong doing on my part. And that may be partially true. But over the course of time </span>I've<span style="font-family: inherit;"> come to understand that my sanctification has little to do with my will power to cease
wrong behavior, and everything to do with me living in God’s truth.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">For if and when I use my will to curtail
wrong behavior, I am not being sanctified, I’m only seeking to justify myself
before God – and most often before man.
And likely I’ll repeat the offense over and over, each time trying
harder and harder to break the cycle.
Can anyone say hamster wheel?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If indeed personal sanctification were all about will power
and self-discipline to cease wrong behavior, why did Jesus need to be
sanctified? <i>“For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.”</i>
(John 17:19)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">May I propose this thought?
Albeit I will participate in the process of sanctification, it is not
about the cessation of wrong doing, given over to right doing, that sanctifies
me, but it is first and foremost about submitting to the truth of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></sup></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><sup>“</sup></i></b><i>Sanctify them by the truth; your word
is truth.”</i> (John 17:17)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If I am willing to submit myself to all of God’s truth, via
His Word and His Spirit, I can rest in knowledge that the power of His truth
will change me from the inside out. And
that has nothing to do with my outward displays of right or wrong behavior, but
everything to do with an ongoing and ever increasing relationship with a Living
Savior.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Sanctification happens from the inside out, and never
the other way around (Daniel 11:35).</span></span>Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-20832648423465115692014-10-10T19:22:00.002-05:002014-10-10T19:22:31.535-05:00The Risk of Release<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLjT8pqAgrCIHVsjTcsDHs0PCGENJip90q2PiIsp4JH7O4jYNjtIHmVB25EgiAOhguSwlVGyB58h1mobxUW6LR9t61YLFM8eFPOGklXLyYJVzSJI5pkKuwF3B9JimupNCWvmDAkCt7y08/s1600/release.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfLjT8pqAgrCIHVsjTcsDHs0PCGENJip90q2PiIsp4JH7O4jYNjtIHmVB25EgiAOhguSwlVGyB58h1mobxUW6LR9t61YLFM8eFPOGklXLyYJVzSJI5pkKuwF3B9JimupNCWvmDAkCt7y08/s1600/release.jpg" height="105" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I believe I've been taught</b> that I am saved by grace, through
faith in Jesus Christ alone, not by works lest the wealthy and able alone could
boast of their great exploits. Thank God
for that fact – I think.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But when it’s all shaken down</b> and I begin to peel back the
layers of my personal theology and my church experiences, the reality of Ephesians
2:8-9 is somewhat clouded.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I was 23 years old before I learned</b> and even began to
understand that verse. I was a young adult
Christian man, full of pride, anger, lust, fear and vengeance. I had become a product of a works culture
where I was rarely if ever a straight A Christian; let alone a straight A
student.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>All of which ultimately gave a graceless power</b> to those in
authority over me; power to manipulate and control me and my behavior. Because God forbid a church full of free people
actually led by the Spirit and the Word; versus being led by traditions and autocratic
leaders. That wouldn't look good. It might look like the religious leaders
weren't doing their job correctly. That
is, if the church folks were not piously different from the rest of the world –
at least on the outside.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Rules, regulations, principles extrapolated from Jewish law</b>
and holiness traditions left over from the post-Civil war era taught me I was
nothing more than a “sinner” in the hands of an angry God. And rarely if ever a saint called out of
darkness by the voice of grace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fast forward to the present</b> and what the Lord is continuing
to do in my life and my heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I have carried the traditions of men and religion</b> that had
little to no basis on New Testament (new covenant) teachings. But they were definitely what we've always
done, so we must continue to do them or else there would be hell to pay.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>While driving home today, I was discussing with my dear and
wise wife</b>, all of the thoughtful responses to my Facebook question regarding
tithing as a New Testament mandate or not, and I came to a marked conclusion. Although in word we teach we are no longer
under the law – we practice something altogether different.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Nowhere in the New Testament</b> is tithing mentioned as a
mandate or protocol for salvation or even blessing. Giving and generosity are encouraged, but why
is it that Paul the Apostle never cited Malachi chapter 3 when he often cited
other Old Testament references?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Could it be like many other things</b> we've carried over from
the Old Testament, that biblical knowledge in the wrong hands can become a
devilish lever to alter the behavior of fearful and ignorant constituents?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There are many principles and even precepts</b> that are carried
over from the Old Testament that are good and beneficial – but as I recall the
only Law’s that Jesus commanded us to obey were to love God with our entire
lives and to love others as if they were ourselves. Now granted there are a lot of things that we
can do that are stupid and could ultimately end in loss or total destruction of
self or others, but isn't the Holy Spirit powerful enough to reveal those
foolish behaviors?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Could it be possible</b> that <b><i>The Risk of Release</i></b> is
too scary for us to teach and preach?
Could it be that <b><i>The Risk of Release</i></b> to live our
lives by grace through faith would tend to decentralizes power and control over
church folks?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There are plenty of clear cut mandates</b> in scripture that we
must follow. Forgive if we are to be
forgiven. Do not lie or steal. Do not lust and thereby become an adulterer. Just read the Sermon on the Mount to see the
Lord’s keen delineation of the Law.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But I do believe there is a mandate</b> to “tithe” in the New
Testament, but it is couched in the language of generosity and cheerful
giving. I believe it is hidden in the
law of sowing and reaping. In other words,
people who desire to truly obey the Lord in all matters will most often surpass
any percentages, and find power and joy in the law of reciprocity. As a matter of fact I believe that law can be
seized and used by even the unredeemed; because it’s a law that transcends the
saint or the sinner.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So what’s my point?</b>
Can we stop using words and references that don’t fit into God’s current
plan?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Living by grace will always create <i>The Risk of Release</i></b>. I desire to live by grace, and to teach
others the same. And that will mean a great
risk to me, because I will NOT be able to control others. I must leave that up to God. Oh I must disseminate the truth of God to the
best of my ability as led by the Spirit, but never to be overshadowed by the
traditions of men and religion.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’m not a rebel in my heart.</b>
But I will NOT be a slave again to man-made religion. I WILL be a slave and bond-servant to the
Christ who rescued me and saved me that I might live in truth and freedom. There alone will any of us ever truly find
the blessings and favor of the God who deeply and eternally loves us. Trying to love and obey Him out of compulsion
is not true love. As a matter of fact it
might just be a grotesque example of some religious Stockholm syndrome.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I believe in <i>The Risk of Release</i></b>. Eventually we all have to grow up – right?<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-39984707980681258802014-09-17T11:36:00.002-05:002014-09-17T11:36:13.396-05:00A Cluttered Closet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifYtNa-aHT7SmvVz27pJKj0D07zs2FjY1pZpQXiSKJ-dvZ_y951IBB8et-K2v0geUx7GuOEG9qlC-slHMPQ_qyZzOpAEj4giklHYTcwiHKqij9TcreQecD8XhJBWmjnED37878CkfYv2Jg/s1600/storeortoss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifYtNa-aHT7SmvVz27pJKj0D07zs2FjY1pZpQXiSKJ-dvZ_y951IBB8et-K2v0geUx7GuOEG9qlC-slHMPQ_qyZzOpAEj4giklHYTcwiHKqij9TcreQecD8XhJBWmjnED37878CkfYv2Jg/s1600/storeortoss.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Recently I noticed something about my inner world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It seems that most of us have enough storage and closet
space, at least until we get more stuff.
Then we pack the shed, we pack the other side of our two-car garage, or we
pack that spare closet where everything seems to disappear like a black hole. It seems to be a common condition, the
conspicuous consumers that we are. We
tend to amass more and more stuff. Until
one day we are forced by age, failing health, or divine sanity, to simply downsize
and purge all the unnecessary stuff we've accumulated over time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In like manner, early on in my walk of faith, my prayer
closet was relatively free of clutter and comfortable – almost spacious. It was a place where I could have some room
and get alone with God. It was small but
accommodating in a Holy kind of way. It
was a place where I would regularly go to escape the clutter of my day to day
life and routine. It was indeed a place
to breathe and be in communion with my Lord and my Maker.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But something happened along way. As time and life began to accumulate around
my ankles like a rising tide, I began to take more stuff into my prayer
closet. I began to split my communion
time with complaining time. Then I added
all my burdens and fears. Then I brought
in my baggage from the past and the baggage of others. Somehow thinking God was supposed to carry
all my burdens and cares and likewise give me a light yoke and an easy
load. Right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I mean, He did promise that kind of benevolent relief from
the cares of this world. So eventually
my prayer closet – like most of the closets in my house, became full of junk. Stuff
accumulated over the years that I off-loaded to God. All that stuff that seemed impossible to
carry on my own, and rightly so. The
Lord indeed wants me to cast my cares upon Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But something was drastically wrong. I used the place that was meant to be an
intimate spot of communion, love and refreshing, as a dumping ground for all the things I
couldn't handle on my own. How could
that be so wrong?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ll tell you. God
want’s all my burdens and cares. He wants
me to boldly come before His throne of grace to find mercy and help in time of
need. But above and before all of those
provisions – He wants me. He wants my
love and my time. And He wants to reciprocate.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My prayer closet was NEVER supposed to be a dumping ground,
yet that’s what it became. It became a cluttered
closet too full of my junk and the junk of others. Too cluttered and full for me to find room
for rest and comfort with my Lord and my Maker.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So I've decided to clean out my prayer closet. I’m going to collect all that junk and take
it to the altar of God’s immeasurable grace.
Oh there is a place for my junk and all that stuff, but that place is
NOT my prayer closet – my secret place with God.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For only by purging and maintaining a Spartan prayer closet
will I gain the wisdom and power needed to haul all the other junk to it's proper altar and place of petition.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear Lord please forgive me for having A Cluttered
Closet. Forgive me for a cluttered
prayer closet that was no longer a place of rest and restoration, but a place that
had become a distraction from the one who I need most – You.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
A Cluttered Closet, do you have one?<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-45305444809576091842014-09-03T06:51:00.002-05:002014-09-03T06:51:21.236-05:00The Comfort of Discomfort<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7LwsOM-L_k6wL76FDDQ7igQeoqLx13YqGocHG6AN6nbR8uIG-D9JZYWE8psXArWyyXPWM8cU5-cZOjq42FU8uGBW9c8ClXs95KkyPsN0G8mhZXyZdYQnmMsSmCp7EvqFS9WsLbg2mzVJ/s1600/lone_cross_by_kaydat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiB7LwsOM-L_k6wL76FDDQ7igQeoqLx13YqGocHG6AN6nbR8uIG-D9JZYWE8psXArWyyXPWM8cU5-cZOjq42FU8uGBW9c8ClXs95KkyPsN0G8mhZXyZdYQnmMsSmCp7EvqFS9WsLbg2mzVJ/s1600/lone_cross_by_kaydat.jpg" height="160" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>One of the most profound stories</b> in the gospels is the
account of where John the Baptist (BTW not really a Baptist but don’t tell
them) was confronted with his disciples going over to follow Jesus. He understood something that I am still
growing to fully understand. God’s
increase is predicated upon my decrease: <b>The Comfort of Discomfort</b>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It doesn't make much sense</b> that we could gain any comfort
from being discomforted, but that tends to be what the Kingdom and our
relationship with God is all about. And
no I’m not suggesting that I must somehow pay penance so as to be blessed or so
God can be exalted. That is not the
case, but I am suggesting that God will not share His glory with anyone or
anything. So as a result, in my soul I
hear the Spirit of God reminding me that my true comfort will be found as I am
discomforted; only and all for His sake and not my own.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I admit that it seems very counterproductive and counter
intuitive</b> to place discomfort before comfort, but as we observe life we find
this principle in place, and rarely if ever do we argue with its premise. A good example is health and fitness: no pain
no gain?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But why is it that I struggle</b> with this principle when it
comes to my soul life? Is it that my
soul is so enamored with self-seeking comfort and satisfaction that I fail to
understand the “no pain no gain” principle?
Likely it is.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My hope is that a day will come</b> when I finally and fully understand
with great peace and contentment the power and freedom found in this principle
set forth by Christ’s own life – <b>The Comfort of Discomfort</b>. As Jesus moved closer and closer to His
primary purpose for coming to this earth, He gained great joy and comfort as He
ran headlong into His very own discomfort - death.
For the joy set before Him He endured the cross that He might declare it
is finished and find the true comfort of the Father.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Comfort of Discomfort</b> – an elusive doctrine indeed, but
an essential one nonetheless if I am to ever live in the fullness of His
perfect and comforting will.<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-77681673332795751312014-04-02T14:18:00.003-05:002014-04-02T14:18:56.588-05:00The Domino Effect<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsp-Z5m38mjvcAcdm2_JwaNGBI5FvhT8qCnIR2KsmXs3OVIYGV9l99NB9Lyvv4Xd4LixUNa_9P6HoD45_eNRfIvx0hbChys9rikY0uHb2x9EHW4nUenMU51UQVKcSKi_F6bmcljCk3TVl/s1600/dominos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzsp-Z5m38mjvcAcdm2_JwaNGBI5FvhT8qCnIR2KsmXs3OVIYGV9l99NB9Lyvv4Xd4LixUNa_9P6HoD45_eNRfIvx0hbChys9rikY0uHb2x9EHW4nUenMU51UQVKcSKi_F6bmcljCk3TVl/s1600/dominos.jpg" height="320" width="253" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Through my entire adult Christian life</b> I’ve contended for the freedom
of others as well as my own. And I fully
understand that Jesus Christ alone, by His grace through my faith in what God
has done, is the only formula for true freedom from the curse of sin, death,
and the grave. I have confidence in that
truth, and it has granted me solace and deep peace since the day I trusted in
Him alone for my eternal salvation. I
believe it’s all said and done deal, based upon His promise and His action on
my behalf.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>But in like manner, through my entire Christian life</b>, I’ve regularly
battled lies that have laid siege to my mind, will, and emotions. All by way of the misinterpretation of life
events, a poor understanding of biblical truth, and even twisted views of Christian
faith and practice handed down from one generation to the next.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Often in those times when my faith and feelings collide</b> and spiritual
gridlock seems inevitable, well intentioned Christians will ply the
standardized messages of encouragement or even chastening with the hope of
helping. I’m grateful for their offerings
of succor to a freeman who by the very nature of modern religion is starved and
in need of God’s entire truth so freedom can finally be actuated, and not just seen
as an ideal for hope on the horizon of harder, and harder religious work - grit.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Some may even say that we battle demons</b>, and truly some do, but most of
us battle lies we believe to be true about ourselves, others and even God. And it doesn’t take a hoard of minions from
hell to derail or sidetrack us from the life of peace and freedom we actually
have in Christ – but only one well-placed and strategic lie. And that can come from our own
misunderstandings or even the words of others – all without our cognitive awareness. Keeping in mind we do not wrestle against flesh
and blood, but against the only weapons hell has to fight with – lies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jesus came into the world</b>, shed His blood and die for the payment
needed to cover all our sins. But further
and often overlooked, is the other reason He came.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Hours before Jesus’ death on the cross</b>, for the payment of humanity’s
sin, while being interrogated by Pilate, our Lord states this secondary reason
for His coming into the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>John 18:37 “…I was born and came into the world to testify to the
truth. All who love the truth recognize
that what I say is true.”</b> (NLT)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Because Jesus is here to testify to the truth</b>, and we who are redeemed
by His blood have immediate access to His ear and His voice, our entire freedom
in Christ (the evidence that God has actually done something in us) pivots on
our willingness to FACE the lies that wrestle for our allegiance, and engage Jesus
in a discussion of what is true and what is false. And that can only be accomplished by paying
close attention to what we are FEELING at any given moment of duress.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Yesterday I received some very distressing news</b>. It caused very bad feelings, and I rapidly
traveled downstream with those bad feelings.
Fortunately love, grace and a new day finally came. But my freedom from those bad feelings only
came when I faced the lie that had caused them, and consulted with Jesus as to
what was actually true – versus what I felt was true (the lie).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>By identifying what I was feeling</b> (I felt cheated), I then was able to
go to Jesus and tell Him that very thing.
“Jesus this feels very unfair and I feel like I’ve been cheated in a
really big way!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>I told Him what felt true</b> – I’d been cheated and it hurts. Then I asked Him where that feeling came from
and to show me it’s origin. He showed me
a time and a place where I was taken advantage of and how I felt alone and at
risk. And so I asked Him was I alone and
at risk in that memory and time, and He said I was not and that He was with me
the whole time. I asked Him to tell me
the truth – not just what I “felt” was true and He did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>At that very moment</b>, the bad feelings that were sourcing from a lie I
believed to be true about myself deflated and peace actually arrived. My heart was filled with His words, His
truth, His love, and His peace. No
longer did a lie hold sway over my mind, will and emotions – but His truth had
set me free.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Now during my time of duress and bad feelings</b> was my salvation in
question or jeopardy? Of course not, but
gone unchecked, as they often do, those bad feelings based upon a lie would have
compounded as the next lie was encountered, and the next and the next. All of which tend to pile up and will eventually
derail our faith. And when our faith is
derailed we wander around as freemen appearing to be bound and confused – and we
are – with piles and piles of lies left unchecked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Yet the fact remains: If I deal with that one root lie, many other lies
and misinterpretations begin to fall like dominos</b>. Oh we may think it’s the demons, but most
often it’s the lies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Please see it this way.</b> If we
knock down the very first or root lie that has been seated in our soul,
countless, if not all the other lies will fall, because lies beget lies, and
bad feelings beget bad feelings. And
only the most stalwart people of faith can “fake it” until they get to the next
challenge and the pressure compounds and compounds and eventually they burst –
everyone does.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>And I will NOT fake it till I make it</b>, because that makes me a fake and
feel good addict and I will bounce from one experience to the next, never actually
dealing with the root cause of all my bad feelings, but only moving from one
coping mechanism to the next. Good
feelings junkies pepper the pews of our churches and tend to migrate from one “good”
experience to the next – because they’ve never fully dealt with the cause of
their good-feeling-addition (their bad feelings based on lies believe to be
true about self).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Now granted, we all like to feel good</b>, but true and lasting peace
CANNOT be faked or even compared to our search for the next good feeling. Only a peace that surpasses all explanation
and comprehension will truly satisfy us; especially when the winds and waves
batter our foundations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>So let me ask you: Are you ready for The Dominos Effect?</b> Are you ready for Jesus to speak truth to you
and begin to hear the clatter of all those dominos fall; those lies and bad
feelings that have been stacked up in random twists and turns within your soul? Are you ready to fully experience His peace –
real peace?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
I know I am and I’m grateful for <b>The Domino Effect</b> of His truth in my
life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>The Domino Effect – let it begin now!</b></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-1200591310188141002014-03-27T10:33:00.002-05:002014-03-27T10:33:28.571-05:00But If From There<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E6GkioTuZrUBpttIaDDEqmK_IQEK2HLyUvYk_T-04vVGVF0ouLpWszpT2XaFOX62TwDwIVQ0LwgsskqC46nLRNMu2n7Yypygnktqy5Q799_wlNgKxWh7lBtBtsAb3_MsN8x3KNOn7JuD/s1600/you-are-here-arrow-big-stock-photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1E6GkioTuZrUBpttIaDDEqmK_IQEK2HLyUvYk_T-04vVGVF0ouLpWszpT2XaFOX62TwDwIVQ0LwgsskqC46nLRNMu2n7Yypygnktqy5Q799_wlNgKxWh7lBtBtsAb3_MsN8x3KNOn7JuD/s1600/you-are-here-arrow-big-stock-photo.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>This morning I am reminded</b> once again of the nature and often
hidden will of our covenant God, and that my friend is a good and refreshing
thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So often in my life</b>, growing up in a culture and community
of faith, I was inundated by an over emphasis on strict and tacit obedience to
the things of God. Now mind you, I fully
agree with and seek to maintain a life of obedience to God’s Word and His
Spirit’s leading. But somewhere in the
midst of all that well-intentioned religious instruction and tutelage,
something was out of balance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>And before I move on</b>, let me remind you that God hates
scales that are out of balance, because someone always gets ripped off and
equity is pushed to the side for the purpose of greed and control. Religion tends to do that when erroneous leadership
finds a doctrinal niche to control and manipulate the penitent – by keeping the
facts out of balance – and sharing only part of the truth versus the whole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Yes, God has called me to obedience</b> and I’m very okay with
that. As a matter of fact I truly love
God, and I do seek to obey Him. But what
about those moments or seasons when I fail to obey, or even when I knowingly
disobey, because of how I feel or my life circumstances seduce me into self-indulgence
or justification?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Let me tell you, the greatest darkness</b> I have lived under is
the pall of misdirection by well-intentioned leaders, who for fear of losing
control of their constituents, emphasized law over grace. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the Law of the
Lord – it’s perfect and it converts my soul, but the law is only there to
remind me of how desperately I need the converse of who God really is – Love
and Mercy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>In Deuteronomy chapter 4</b>, Moses is reminding the people of
their covenant obligation to remember and obey their God. To remember that it was Him who did the
wonders in the heavens and the earth, for the sole purpose of their salvation
and deliverance to a land of blessing and prosperity. And further to remember when things begin to
go well, and their eyes gravitate from heaven to earth, and they begin (they
did – so do we) to worship anything else but their covenant God – calamity would
befall them. Divine discipline would
bring destruction to them and they would find themselves far, far away from
their original relationship and proximity to God their Savior. Sound familiar?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That’s a very scary thing</b> – and that would preach well. If my intention was to control and manipulate
the behavior of my constituents, but that would be only half of the truth. That would be an out of balance scale, of
which God hates.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But in chapter 4 verse 29 we can see the continuum of God’s
whole truth and intention</b>, despite the willful disobedience, failings, and sins
of His people. “<b>But if from there</b>,” from
our selfish place of disobedience and wayward proximity to God, we begin to “seek”
Him – something happens.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Something amazing happens,</b> <b>if from the very spot where we
are in disobedience</b>, we begin to look for or to seek Him – redemption and
relationship once again flows from Him to us, in our distant and distracted state.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Do you understand that quality of God?</b> That if and when we blow it, and we find
ourselves like the prodigal son who by his selfish and sinful behavior at a
fatal distance from our Father, we simply turn and come to our senses – He rushes
to our very side! He knows and
understands and seeks to be right where we need Him, when we need Him. Even from there, that place, that dark and faraway
place that the voice of our enemy told us we could not find light or hope.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Please understand.</b> No
matter where we are, were, or may be going God is extremely willing and ready
to meet us. If from there – from that
very place of disobedience and distance from Him we choose to seek Him, and we do so with all our heart, He will restore us. No penance to pay on our part. He did it all and it was His Covenant, not ours. It was His Love not ours.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>May we always and ever be reminded of the whole counsel of
God.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Deuteronomy 4:29-31 “But if from there</b> you seek the Lord your
God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all
your soul. <b><sup>30 </sup></b>When you are in distress and
all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to
the Lord your God and obey him. <b><sup>31 </sup></b>For
the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or
destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he
confirmed to them by oath.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But If From There</b> you seek Him, He will once again bring the
power and blessing of His Covenant to bear upon your life – regardless of where
there is.<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-35450995266904396582014-01-14T16:44:00.000-06:002014-01-14T16:44:04.110-06:00PC vs. PC<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTD4nAfz3XMppZlXxcMNfxzHB2aZQ9Xi19Bo9TiWFTmqMCkHgjnK4eiGGcJ7MkVU9i81GWnoHV4OC27Mw_0ggMpwz_kbnSHAsISMX_U9MUK1yA2Dl5dI8CmmtBoeN5OFi4ZFKc1K2oxon/s1600/finger+of+god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwTD4nAfz3XMppZlXxcMNfxzHB2aZQ9Xi19Bo9TiWFTmqMCkHgjnK4eiGGcJ7MkVU9i81GWnoHV4OC27Mw_0ggMpwz_kbnSHAsISMX_U9MUK1yA2Dl5dI8CmmtBoeN5OFi4ZFKc1K2oxon/s200/finger+of+god.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Initially you might think I’m doing a feature by feature blog about
personal computers.</b> Typically that would
be between the trendy-cultish Apple Mac people versus the Microsoft driven
various brands of white-collar-rule-keeping-non-Mac-PC-users. But that’s not what I’m writing about.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Several days ago I had this thought</b> regarding the all too common informal
term PC or politically correct, that has come to mean; inoffensive,
nondiscriminatory, unbiased, neutral, appropriate, and nonpartisan language. And frankly I’m exhausted by this inane
mantra parlayed by the media, politicians, Hollywood, left wing and right wing nuts
and lastly and most sadly, the church.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Oh not the true Church.</b> You know
the one that seems overshadowed by the modern PC church of popularity, entertainment
and cash flow. So relax if you believe
yourself to be part of the true Church.
You can stand on the sidelines and watch the fray swell regarding this
subject. But please be slow to take up
sides, especially when basing it upon one’s own righteousness.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>When the thought came of PC vs. PC</b>; this was my grist for the
mill. Politically correct versus being Pneumatically
correct – or Spirit correct.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Now granted I truly hate, hate speech.</b>
I was never a name caller nor was my family. As a matter of fact, I would have been summarily
spanked with a belt by my father if I was ever found to be a person of that vernacular. My dad spent all his adult life championing
the cause of the underdog. Be it any minority
of color, lifestyle, or economic disparity – he had a heart for the oppressed
of our society and the world. All driven
by a divine compassion and love for people.
So any mean spirited or derisive epithets were NEVER used, promoted, or tolerated
in my upbringing. Thereby shaping my
mind, heart and behavior – I don’t name call.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>But what I have realized especially recently</b> is a dire and ceaseless juggernaut
of culture and religion that will not put up with Truth. For the lie we are being sold is this: all
things are relative, to included truth and a person’s view on anything,
anytime, and anywhere. Ergo the burgeoning
and stifling PC police so prevalent today.
Even within our pulpits and pews.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Jesus came into the world to clearly define Truth over lies.</b> And from the Genesis garden narrative to this
very day, we are at odds within ourselves, with all of creation, and clearly with
other humans who are juxtaposed between light and dark. And this battle is in full swing over the solid
and sacred ground of Truth, versus the alluring and popular specter of unending
lies.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>PC vs. PC is all about the present and continuing battle</b> between our propensities
to fall towards being politically correct versus being Pneumatically correct – or
as the Bible calls it being Spirit led; i.e. Spirit correct.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Being Pneumatically correct</b> will ALWAYS and ever mean that we speak the
Truth in Love (the primary goal for the work done by the 5 fold ministry office
and the pinnacle of all Christian maturity); regardless of the lions or the possible
losses we may suffer.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Being Pneumatically correct</b> is ALWAYS about being in agreement with
God. Yet we live in a church age where
too many will pick and choose what they like or don’t like about God and His
Word. All on the basis of their idea of
Christian liberty, or the basis that they just don’t like what God has to say,
or how it may cause others to feel about them (the person called to cite God’s
Word and not themselves or their own opinions).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>Far too often we are worried about what people think</b>, and how it makes
us feel, or god forbid and worse yet causes us to be ostracized from our circles
of acquaintance. All the while claiming “we
don’t want people to get the wrong idea about God.” When in fact our fear is what silences the only
Truth able to save a lost and dying world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>When altars were removed</b> from many evangelical churches some 20 years
ago, and pop culture, psychology, step programs, feel-good short sermons, and
that café feel was added to our houses of worship, plus the best of religious entertainment
in word and song – that my friends became the standard for a western, Christian
church, business model – and we got the glory for getting the crowds. But we lost the life giving presence found
only through heartfelt and honest soli deo Gloria! Who gets the glory these days?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>We became PC to the world around us</b> by giving up the Spirit and the
Word. We are at a grave loss if we have abandoned
our practice of being Pneumatically correct; and supplanted it for being
politically correct. Is anyone up for a seeker
sensitive latté and some new smoke, mirrors and lights instead of the weight of
the Spirit?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>This thought is deep within me</b>, for I know if we do not stem the tide
and watershed of weak pulpits and pews – the Spirit may not strive to be with
us. And because I’ve seen in my own life,
and in the lives of other believers, a progressive loosening of once held core
values, a decline in true and biblical faith, vision and even holy ideals – I am
deeply grieved and once again on my face in repentance before God for myself
and His Church. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>The shrinking and easing of church membership “requirements”</b> are a
small and lesser seen <b>PC vs. PC</b> conflict, but nonetheless real. And years ago there was a committee within
our fellowship that took great pains and labor to maintain “doctrinal purity” for
our ranks, yet their influence seems lesser and lesser – if they still even exist.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>And don’t get me started about</b> the broad confluence and brush stroke of
“Christian” authors who ignorantly or otherwise have eliminate a proper and Pneumatic
use of Bible exegesis, all in the name of book sales. And worse yet this deluge of “Christian”
literature being consumed these days, have all but neutered our ability and our
will, to doggedly mine the true gold of God’s Word and His Spirit’s Wisdom
through personal prayer and study of the scriptures. Oh for the clarity of a Berean call, practice,
and tenacity to study and prefer the Scriptures and the Spirit, over the
popular velvet-tonged ear-ticklers coursing through the cardio pulmonary systems
of our churches today. Simply put, we
have an epidemic of spiritual heart disease and head disease, and they seem to
be accepted maladies among us.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>I must end my thoughts for now</b>, but may God have mercy upon us beyond
what He has already given on the cross through His Son. And may we together (emphasis on TOGETHER),
stand our ground in the final hours of this eternal battle – <b>PC vs. PC.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b>May the Spirit of Truth prevail in us!</b> <o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-28153260413534747802014-01-02T23:17:00.003-06:002014-01-02T23:17:52.927-06:00The Day I Disbelieved<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4jhaJUF5SVscYTGxT2twwFxzN5ea0u3ZPjR_OQ-UwduhkrRLC6H2yXQ1SiMf5f5XXoVyYlXEjVJjuxZgJBes2jZyw5mEsFPYVt1KCfhM3dU6674JJWDzjqRxcTKc6h99eL_7WhCDPJAk/s1600/magic-top-hat-and-wand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY4jhaJUF5SVscYTGxT2twwFxzN5ea0u3ZPjR_OQ-UwduhkrRLC6H2yXQ1SiMf5f5XXoVyYlXEjVJjuxZgJBes2jZyw5mEsFPYVt1KCfhM3dU6674JJWDzjqRxcTKc6h99eL_7WhCDPJAk/s200/magic-top-hat-and-wand.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I cannot tell you</b> through joint experience whether God
exists or not. What I can tell you is we
are in the polarity of two worlds; belief vs. disbelief.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I think it was Francis Shaffer</b> who challenged us to live
within that tension. And countless other
theologians challenged us to dissect the two.
But what I now believe is that we are called, within the world of the
visible, to believe and die for the invisible.
Few of which are able to muster the grit or soul courage to march into
such conflict of reason.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Because what God has called us to is less than reason, but
faith.</b> And faith is nothing less than
magic. And we are taught to suspect
magic, but not logic. So excuse me while
I beg the pardon of logistic dialectic theologians. Because I believe God is real. But I like card tricks too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What I struggle with is the Imago Dei that has been defaced
by doubt and fear.</b> For if and when <b><i><u>a lie</u></i></b>
is planted, we fall drastically towards the watershed of logic, which has been
planted in our hearts to protect us from magic.
Ergo the crazy religious cycle of grid lock.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Please pause for a moment</b> with me and confess: I do not
believe. And couple that confession with:
yet I need you God. And as we own up to
our failure to believe we receive faith to BELIEVE. Crazy isn't it? Get it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I love Jesus. But I’ve
never met Him skin to skin, eye to eye.</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Can love be the basis for relationship?</b> Well I suppose so, because I've loved and it’s
been the basis of relationships in the past; but what about God?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Can you in this very moment say aloud;</b> “Father God I
struggle to believe that you exist, because my life circumstances are so
painful that life feels like you don’t care?”
I mean if God loves me, shouldn't life “feel” better?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Where are you God?</b>
You (if you are God) know the times I've stood in my 32x32 inch
fiberglass shower in the basement of my house and cried out God? I thought you came to make things better?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But now in my life I realize that He did not come to make
things “better”</b> but He came to give me access out of what progressively will
get worse (sorry to all you Amillennialists).
And that access “out” is by truth.
For every time I embrace a lie my life feels like crap; especially if I’m
trying to live for Him.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So I ask you… do you believe what He says?</b> Or are you in the ditch of disbelief where
you wrestle with magic or logic? Because
Paul the apostle told us we are to take captive every thought that presents
itself as logical. And God is NOT about
logic and law. He is about Spirit and
Grace.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Is this the day you confess disbelieved?</b> Or at least admitted your disbelief? What are you afraid of; God getting ticked off
that you struggle with belief or what?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Join me in the confession of faith that says: Lord I cannot
believe…</b> unless you impart faith that I may believe.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That, my dear reader, is the power of disbelief...</b> As we confess our humanity in disbelief, God
imparts something. He imparts an “ear”
to hear where there was not an ear. And
as by His grace He provides an ear to hear… faith comes. But we MUST confess our deafness and our
disbelief.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fear not, for He realizes that we struggle.</b> Cry out… call out… speak now even your
disbelief. For an honest heart is what
He is seeking; a heart that declares the truth of its OWN condition. Not a perceived religion or bravado.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Join me in The Day of Disbelief.</b> To God be the glory! <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Day 2 of 2014 - RAK</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-86754663646372399562013-10-30T17:14:00.001-05:002013-10-30T17:14:05.163-05:00On Things Above<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIKG1k33_cZan6d3o-ZCeyEs6o7XKVdqcL3pSFXHrI3BQ1OlLYSCxaSsV4AceEYLHbsmlGcqKFVx9vMhlBd7FVZoJ04ELuBjysmI6xBlN3_e6XcUPhAivkPLpX9FiXhZQ6csYrH3Cqui8/s1600/step+ladder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitIKG1k33_cZan6d3o-ZCeyEs6o7XKVdqcL3pSFXHrI3BQ1OlLYSCxaSsV4AceEYLHbsmlGcqKFVx9vMhlBd7FVZoJ04ELuBjysmI6xBlN3_e6XcUPhAivkPLpX9FiXhZQ6csYrH3Cqui8/s200/step+ladder.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>Many years ago I realized I was short.</b> And by that I mean my maximum adult height only
reached five feet eight inches. That’s
right. I was only 5’8” and worst of all I
am even shorter now. Old age I suppose.<div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That may not sound all that bad to those who are taller</b>, but
from late elementary school age on into my adult years it wreaked havoc on my
thinking and self-esteem. It’s likely because
of all the taunting and teasing, or maybe even the “I just-can’t-quite-reach-it”
moments <i>(not to mention Randy Newman’s
song Short People)</i>. Oh and lest I
forget all of my tall friends, who by the way were usually very kind regarding
our differences <i>(caveat: I have some very
dear friends who are short like me)</i>.
And yes I know being short is nothing compared to the issues and
physical disadvantages many people live with day in and day out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But my point is this:</b> When we find ourselves devolved of a divine
perspective, our view of life becomes tacitly stagnant and toxic and usually
without us even knowing it. We somehow
by default hear only the echoes of accusations directed to the underdog or the naked
(Genesis 3:11).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>In Colossians 3</b> the Apostle Paul reminds us to set our
hearts and minds on things above. And in
doing so our perspective will change and inner peace will come. And for that promise I am grateful.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But here’s the rub.</b> I
live below. I’m earth bound. So if and when I do have one of those “things
above” moments, it’s only through divine action on God’s part. It usually happens when my mind is changed in
relation to my earth-bound-ness. And that
problem, most always stems from the fact that I fail in my belief that there is
actually anything above. I tend to fail in
my belief that there is more than a simple horizontal perspective to life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>In Deuteronomy 6 we find the basis of the <i>Shema</i>.</b>
A prayer and a command to believe there is only One God and how therein
to live for and to love Him. I love this
passage, but even more I love how Jesus fleshed it out in the Gospels. And the curious thing is He added something
to the command and prayer. Do you know
what He added?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>He added the component of our mind.</b> For in loving God with all our being, we must
do so fully and firstly with our minds.
And further, do you know that when Jesus first arrived on the scene, to
the very end of His ministry here on earth, and even to the churches mentioned
in Revelation, He constantly called for us to repent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Now most of us when we hear the word “repent”</b> tend to mingle
it with confession and a gritty will-driven cessation of sinful and destructive
behaviors. But repentance is not
confession of sin nor does it originate from our own willpower or grit. On the contrary, it originates with God
speaking truth to the lies bottled up inside us. And as God speaks truth to the inner most
parts of our mind, our minds begin to change, our thinking changes. And that my friend is the beginning of
repentance – a change of thinking, followed then by heartfelt and subsequent
outward changes, and never the reverse, contrary to popular belief and
teaching.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My inability to see things from above</b> has little to do with the
fact that I’m earth bound, but everything to do with a mind that is yet fully
repentant. A mind that has not been
transformed or renewed by the truth of God will never experience nor have the
ability to be set On Things Above. And
set it must be if I am ever to get over being short, naked, blind, sinful, helpless,
hopeless and retched.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So I ask you: Is your mind set On Things Above?</b> Can you alone by willpower and dogged
determination keep your mind On Things Above?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Because I can tell you my mind tends to slip to things
below</b>, if it has not been changed by the Spirit of Truth. For I cannot memorize, attend, partake or genuflect
enough to get my mind set On Things Above, but only by the power of the Word of
Truth, only by His Spirit of Truth will my mind be set like a flint and become
unmovable in its perspective from above.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>For if my mind is to remain set On Things Above</b> I must turn it
over to the Truth. I must experience a metamorphosis
based upon Truth being infused into memories, thoughts, misinterpreted experiences,
and blatant lies and accusations thrown at me from the very beginning and from
every direction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That is the only way I can keep my mind set – On Things
Above.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Oh I’ll always be physically shorter than most</b>, but I have
overcome and will continue to overcome the lies that tell me being short is
somehow bad or inferior or anything else of that nature – all lies. Because from my heavenly Father’s perspective
– I’m just perfect the way He created me and by His grace I’ll continue growing
into that perfect son He loves so very much.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>On Things Above</b> – I’m slowly but surely getting His perspective. And you? <o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-5415152145066989772013-08-09T12:13:00.002-05:002013-08-09T12:13:36.096-05:00Lead or Feathers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QCP3cZDoHGfEo5ffgwzceHHbe8qlWnWqkBpk167OB9RLDbDEN3U_8bYt0paoL_Ih0DNuVQWGjI0iwSTCH9f5Z4sstj4iVsHpAuvAooRe6WJgTzG8wjw662tfYPHB8YityLZkdbKmGKbP/s1600/feathers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3QCP3cZDoHGfEo5ffgwzceHHbe8qlWnWqkBpk167OB9RLDbDEN3U_8bYt0paoL_Ih0DNuVQWGjI0iwSTCH9f5Z4sstj4iVsHpAuvAooRe6WJgTzG8wjw662tfYPHB8YityLZkdbKmGKbP/s200/feathers.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>Have you ever been asked the question:</b> Which is heavier, a
pound of lead or a pound of feathers?
And of course the intent of the question is to trick you into saying lead
is heavier. When in reality we all know,
a pound of anything is still a pound.
Right?<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>This will be short I promise.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I ponder that question because</b> pain, burden, loss, betrayal,
or even entangling sin (Hebrews 12:1), tends to weigh upon a person. And from a distance it’s easy to criticize one
who is laboring under that kind of weight.
We would look upon their situation and say something like; “Well it’s
only a bunch of feathers!” Versus our shared
(yet ignorant) recognition that lead is heavy and surely all of us would
crumple under its burdensome weight. But
feathers? Aren’t they lighter than lead?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Let me tell you.</b> A
pound of feathers and a pound of lead; are still a pound. They are still the same weight regardless of
how they look from a distance. One can
only know the true gravity pull of a pound, by actually bearing such a weight. <b>And that is my point.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Christ alone is able to look at all the nuances of a burden</b>
borne by the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 11:28) and not
stand in judgment. For each of us tends
to make all things relative to our own experience, yet that allows for no
understanding or empathy to the one who is close to that breaking point; regardless
if the weight be <b>Lead or Feathers</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Let me encourage you this hour.</b> Never look upon someone else’s burden and say
that it doesn’t appear to be that heavy.
Because a pound is a pound; be it <b>Lead or Feathers</b>. Pain is pain, burden is burden, loss or
betrayal and even entangling sin are all part of the weight humanity tries to carry,
all the while attempting to look like it’s an easy load. Yet unless we come to Christ, who promises to
take the crushing load off our backs, we live with nothing less than the equivalent
weight of <b>Lead or Feathers</b>. A pound is
still a pound.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Keep that in mind the next time you mentally judge</b> someone
who is close to breaking under the weight of a pound of feathers. All the while thinking; <b>"It’s not that bad, it’s only
feathers... right?"</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-26423159793369620462013-08-03T11:53:00.001-05:002013-08-03T11:53:07.794-05:00Discipline VS Devotion<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPnaioqlol-_RxQ9vqAFlbUSvx2S0Gg2GPAySHbrIR7jXolfFArmVUlvP5JY09hmAQQahDJ29J6fq9tmyNvX81ZjvzqjjubTrAfaOXhCQnkhyVBLMnyG4BGLqd4svycmGqru6x46MnMfA/s1600/govenor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPnaioqlol-_RxQ9vqAFlbUSvx2S0Gg2GPAySHbrIR7jXolfFArmVUlvP5JY09hmAQQahDJ29J6fq9tmyNvX81ZjvzqjjubTrAfaOXhCQnkhyVBLMnyG4BGLqd4svycmGqru6x46MnMfA/s200/govenor.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>
<b>I barely recollect the first time</b> I heard the word governor used
outside of state politics. It was an
early on in life conversation with a friend about a go-cart motor we had bolted
on a rusty old frame. We wanted the
thing to be fast (dangerous) but just couldn’t get much more out of it, until
it was suggested that we take off the governor.
That would allow us to run that bad boy all the way to red line.<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I can’t remember if we blew the engine</b>, but we took some part
off the motor and indeed it went much faster.
Curious and fun is how I remember those early years.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>This morning I was considering my faith journey.</b> For many years I believed I was compelled to
growth in the Lord because of my devout heart and understanding as to what God
had done for me. Yet in recent months
and through various pains and trials, I’ve been awakened to the fact that I may
have been fooling myself all along.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Let me add a disclaimer:</b>
I believe discipline is critical, necessary, and actually the ninth
Fruit of the Spirit. Therefore in no way
am I rejecting its importance to our lives.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But what I am considering these days is this.</b> I may have misinterpreted my own disciplines as
true heart devotion, when in reality they weren’t. I may have acted in a “discipleship” manner
toward the things of God, with the intent of personal growth and availability
for the Master’s use, all the while believing I did so out of devotion to
God. Yet in reality using those spiritual
disciplines as though they were talismans that gave me favor with God and power
over the enemy or obstacles I may face on my journey towards my own desires.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’ve really been taking a deep look</b> at my life and ministry
motivations. Not to say they’ve been
sinful or misguided, but if my hypothesis is correct, my life has been governed
by attempts at Discipline Versus Devotion.
All the while believing I was devoted, yet in reality I may have been
trying to work my evangelical magic through a self-efforts mentality.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Please don’t miss what I’m saying.</b> I believe I have a measure of devotion to
God. But I further believe that I have
unwittingly operated with the idea that if I “do” certain Christian or biblical
things, then I should “get” certain results or rewards. Never believing that my salvation was
predicated upon my works, but ever living as if doing “gets” me more stuff and
good feelings from God. All of which is
bearing out to be quite a painful fallacy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I pray to learn this lesson:</b> That my spiritual disciplines
are not exercised because they “get” me something, but because I love the Lord
and am devoted wholly to Him. God
forgive me for living my Christian life with a misplaced governor of spiritual
disciplines upon all I do and say. May I
with His help; remove this governor of perceived good works, done without true devotion
to Him and nothing less.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>“Lord, please root-out my core motives</b> that are based upon
lies I believe to be true. And free me
by your truth that I may fulfill the rest of my days by devotion alone. And as you work in me, remove and keep at bay
that governor of false <b>Discipline Versus Devotion</b>. For by that fallacy I’ve kept myself from
being all you created me to be. In Jesus
name I pray. Amen.”<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-84048864461375104782013-07-22T09:43:00.001-05:002013-07-22T09:43:28.024-05:00Chazown<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mwBwqCIlQ625vHghZwbm_EdD6CMuVjN6KlxqUV_W5e5GFs92jZh9NFje7rhCQBOoVwBcdubzlACuFthOIc51FACoXJ0bdUw66kYZ-bC0I1JZUCyWRMrJZ-Dq2_3LZxivVybeRbUiRv4y/s1600/eye+vision.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6mwBwqCIlQ625vHghZwbm_EdD6CMuVjN6KlxqUV_W5e5GFs92jZh9NFje7rhCQBOoVwBcdubzlACuFthOIc51FACoXJ0bdUw66kYZ-bC0I1JZUCyWRMrJZ-Dq2_3LZxivVybeRbUiRv4y/s200/eye+vision.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>When we read Proverbs 29:18</b> or hear a teaching or message on
its content, we generally get a correct exegesis of the text. A divine revelation or a revealing of
something that can only come from or through God is what we would settle upon
as proper meaning and interpretation.
Thus spurring us on to seek God, to pursue His ways, and thereby not run
amuck or fall into fleshly chaos. With
that view I certainly agree.<div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But let me challenge you</b> to go from the sublime to the
almost ridiculous in concept. From a
non-biblical definition, the first and most often used meaning of the word
vision is simply this: eyesight – the ability to see. What if each of us began to understand that
God wants us to “see” something or at least have the ability to “see” when the
opportunity arises?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Here’s the cool yet tricky part of vision or seeing.</b> As we look or see ahead, we usually have
nothing but a horizon line to focus upon.
Granted our surroundings and objects can and often do distract or
obstruct the horizon line of our future, but nonetheless, if we keep walking
and focusing our vision on the horizon line, our vision does not change, but
the horizon line is ever changing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Here is where we tend to fall short in the pursuit of His divine
vision.</b> We do so by a misinterpretation
of the ever changing horizon line – falsely believing a lie that tells us the
vision has changed; when in fact it has not.
The only thing that has changed <b>and will ALWAYS change</b> if we are moving
in a forward direction with God is the horizon line of circumstances, <b>but the
Vision never changes</b>. It is ever focused
on His revelation and voice that propels us forward through the changing
landscape of an ever changing horizon line, all couched in providence and
promise of His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Fear not my friends, we are not blind, nor has our vision
dimmed.</b> But only the changing landscape
as we move forward! Let us celebrate the
journey towards the ever changing horizon line.
Amen?</div>
</div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-31479017425127850502013-07-16T22:35:00.003-05:002013-07-16T22:35:38.961-05:00The Fragrance of an Emoticon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlX8KvxmJi5I_MatyGolA7ZZYl0nlMGk3acnbarKsIjI72BRagnrwdiJK55bfJ805u9oipqWZh7to-XubEmtFz72ORRX4-FzIMoSQcYjf5P5swJrtwhcHOHpYCWTa4EW0mT1MzPpaVSB5E/s1600/smile+emoticon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlX8KvxmJi5I_MatyGolA7ZZYl0nlMGk3acnbarKsIjI72BRagnrwdiJK55bfJ805u9oipqWZh7to-XubEmtFz72ORRX4-FzIMoSQcYjf5P5swJrtwhcHOHpYCWTa4EW0mT1MzPpaVSB5E/s200/smile+emoticon.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>I never knew what that term meant</b> until a few years
ago. Let me cite reference from Wikipedia: <i>“A
smiley-face emoticon. An emoticon is a
meta-communicative pictorial representation of a facial expression which in the
absence of the prosody serves to draw a receiver's attention to the tenor or
temper of a sender's nominal verbal communication, changing and improving its
interpretation. It expresses - usually
by means of punctuation marks - a person's feelings or mood and can include
numbers and letters, as well.”</i><div>
<i><br /></i><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What if we never lived our lives with expression?</b> What if we never conjured up the idea of
emoticons? What if we were robots? What if we had no muscular continuity
connected to our souls? My God we’d be
wood. That is not good!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>As for me, I love the use of emoticons, but</b> more than that,
I love a real face with a real beautiful smile and twinkling eyes. Yes sir, I’m all in for emoticons when it
comes to writing and cyber expressions, but when it comes to flesh and blood
and Imago Dei, nothing beats the real flesh and blood pathos of expressions
from the human face. Note it. Take it.
Love it. Leave it. But it’s real.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Somewhere in the light of Over the Top</b> ice cream and Holy
Spirit denial, one can be lost in the power of a living emoticon. Maybe I’m nuts, but I’d rather have the
tender curve of a supple cheek, versus the digital structure of an unflinching
emoticon. Call me pathetically human.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>You can’t smell an emoticon.</b>
You can’t touch an emoticon. You
can’t hear an emoticon. You can’t
believe in an emoticon. Thank God for
the real Imago Dei found in the pulse of the human heart.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A soft cheek in the moon light is far better than a “winky
face” on a digital page. May the God of
all emotion, love and humanity grant you more grace than any emoticon could
ever deliver.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Sigh</b><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-22020013952234510862013-06-29T13:33:00.001-05:002013-06-29T13:33:21.127-05:00My Way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaRZWESf8EkJ6BCEjHWXtLAzsNhPGeKP9lXiXLWCRRCryWuuIQaz7_XfvnBeECJFvjyEst_rgsSe-ju_Py2ywCmOEkCexTTuKbh1G_gNB8ridgqMJk_9LOZUb6oHsADo3Vcx4LJmlD3XU/s1600/compass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaRZWESf8EkJ6BCEjHWXtLAzsNhPGeKP9lXiXLWCRRCryWuuIQaz7_XfvnBeECJFvjyEst_rgsSe-ju_Py2ywCmOEkCexTTuKbh1G_gNB8ridgqMJk_9LOZUb6oHsADo3Vcx4LJmlD3XU/s320/compass.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<b>A few weeks ago</b> I found myself in the fetal position, poised
on my right side tears spilling from my eyes, shuddering under the weight of my
own condemnation and uncertainty. And
this picture’s not new to me. I’ve
always wrestled with the concept of God’s sovereignty and my responsibility.<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Maybe you’ve never found yourself on the high-wire</b> of God’s
sovereignty and your responsibility? But
I have and I can tell you it’s a place where even the great Wallendas would
find unnerving. For at that place one
faces the enigmatic juxtaposition of who is really in charge of any given
destiny. It’s a question that’s been
argued from ages past and will be for ages to come. And it’s never easily answered on a Sunday or
Wednesday night.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Much like King David in the Bible</b>, I’ve always had a deep
fear of presuming upon God’s grace, let alone anyone else’s (<b>Psalm 19:13 KJV</b>). So
that’s the platform I’m working from. I
never want to presume that I can rest upon God or anyone else, to the exclusion
of my own responsibility or fidelity. I
do desire as David did, not to be found guilty of the great sin of presumption. For therein lays the challenge to the
Cross. How much of this is me, versus
how much of Him?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>For as I lay there
on my side I whispered these words in prayer:</b>
“Jesus I feel like I’ve lost My Way.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Within minutes a
holy response flooded my heart and mind.
I believe God said: “You have…
and that’s good my son.” What? Seriously, what did He say? It’s good to lose My Way?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Like dough proofing
becoming ready for the holy fire of His divine oven</b>, something dawned on me
that could only have come from His sovereignty heart. My struggle is not, nor ever will it be with
a particular vice or avarice, but with Isaiah’s prophetic declaration over all of
humanity. We all “like sheep have gone
astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the
iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (<b>Isaiah 53:6 NASB</b>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There it is. The problem: My Way.</b> You see, none of us will be found guilty and
standing on the edge of hell because of any one particular vice or avarice, but
we will be found guilty of doing things our own way. <b><u><i>Elvis was wrong.</i></u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Can you get your
mind around this truth?</b> At any given
moment there are only two ways to travel in life. Two parallel lanes to travel, one lane is God’s
and one is mine. If I travel in God’s
lane, regardless of my failings or my degree of humanity I will end up in Life
eternal. But if I travel in my lane,
despite any presumption upon grace and religion, I will end up in death
eternal. Always keeping in mind, there
is a way that seems right unto man, but in the end it leads to death (<b>Proverbs
14:12; 16:25</b>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So there I lay; hearing
my own words</b> on losing my way, and then hearing the divine echo of His words telling
me that my condition was good. For as I
found the due reality of my own way and loss; I found the true reality of His
willful and deliberate gain – through His loss.
Unlike mine that was wrenched from my hand, He willingly gave it all.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>If and when I
finally come to the place of accepting</b> that My Way is most often the worst way,
it is then that I will tumble into the best way – His Way. Get it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’m a real wussy
when it comes to uncertainty and the vague unknowns</b> of an emerging horizon line
of life. But one thing I am not: a man
willing to lie about his heart and experience in Christ or life. For my inner man cannot be calmed nor subdued
with mere Christian cliché or bravado, but truth alone about myself and Him are
the only waters to slake a thirsty and honest soul (<b>Psalm 51:6</b>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Way</b> – losing it
just may have been the BEST thing I’ve ever lost. And you?<u><o:p></o:p></u></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-74683258463076067592013-06-19T16:25:00.005-05:002013-06-19T16:25:59.773-05:00The Flip Side<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dI-gNEi_475u67ABwNeWLJzWtYaNjOJHsWQm-jInFQgbRicy-gUrtQyNaee8Csbem1aApz_Sdxbkc1gnu0z3bO98kk51K5FgoNgTmJwxiuVpu4e7L4ErgyktoHQN5_LlcaiNL4KnP7cV/s1600/45+adapter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1dI-gNEi_475u67ABwNeWLJzWtYaNjOJHsWQm-jInFQgbRicy-gUrtQyNaee8Csbem1aApz_Sdxbkc1gnu0z3bO98kk51K5FgoNgTmJwxiuVpu4e7L4ErgyktoHQN5_LlcaiNL4KnP7cV/s1600/45+adapter.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>I’m no musician nor do I play one on TV</b>, but I do remember
the days of 45 rpm records. Forty-five’s
(small 7 inch vinyl records with a big hole in the middle) usually had a popular
“hit” on side (A) of the record, and another song (B) on “<b>The Flip Side</b>”. Very often side B of the record wasn’t
initially a pop hit, but sometimes they turned out to be something special.<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>For you audiophiles and old-school record collectors out
there</b>, I’m sure you can list many side B songs that went on to be popular
hits. Yet sometimes both songs were just
plain good and it was hard to determine which one should have been on the B
side or the A side. Like Beth and
Detroit Rock City by KISS in the summer of 1976. Both were enormous hits, so who’s to say
which one should have been <b>The Flip Side</b> song?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I was thinking about my life</b> in the summer of 2013. I was wondering about the release of my 45? I mean my life song; the one being stamped
into the vinyl of a 45 rpm record. Will
the song that I thought would be a “hit” on side A, actually be eclipsed by
side B, <b>The Flip Side</b>?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It’s hard to say how many</b>, but I’m sure there have been countless
one-hit-wonder bands who banked on side A, not attending seriously to the
content of side B. It’s likely they lost
their opportunities because they didn’t pay much attention to <b>The Flip
Side</b>. They just threw together something
the record company required for side B. Maybe
like what some people do with side B of their lives?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’m not really sure what my side A song is going to be</b>, but
I can tell you this I’m NOT going to ignore the potential of side B; <b>The Flip
Side</b> of my life song.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>About a year ago</b> I sensed the Lord speaking to my heart. The words that came were; “The epilog of book
one is being written. And the prolog of
book two is already in the works.” At
the time it didn’t mean as much as it does right now (hindsight tends to be
20/20). It didn’t sink in then like it
has now. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The idea of a two volume book</b> (metaphorically) called my life
had never entered my mind. As a matter
of fact, I had always looked at life in two stages. Stage 1) the earthly physical existence of 70
plus years, and stage 2) after physical death or the Rapture - the heavenly portion
couched in eternity and the spirit realm. But never did I look at my earthly life as something that would be
broken into two parts.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Flip Side</b> of my life, this side of death and eternity, just
might be my way of saying “I’m more than a one-hit-wonder or a one-trick-pony.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I don’t know yet what side A should be called</b>, but I’m pretty
sure side B will be called <b>The Flip Side!</b>
The song, the volume, the chance, the opportunity or even the last dance;
all represent a possible 7 inch vinyl point of redemption – with a big hole in
the middle (you’ll need a grace adapter to play my coming release).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Flip Side!</b> It’s
what I’m banking on, because God is all about <b>The Flip Side!</b> God is all about second chances,
resurrection, redemption and restoration to a better than expected latter kind
of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What will The Flip Side of your life sound like?</b> Will it be penned or tuned with little
attention to content or affect, ever believing that side A was enough sustain
sales and a local fan base?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I ask that because God has plans</b> for all our lives,
especially <b>The Flip Side</b> – the side that reveals His greatest works yet! It’s that hope I rest upon this very hour.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>The Flip Side! Don’t
ignore the possibility.</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-47418912903623847322013-06-05T10:02:00.001-05:002013-06-05T10:02:29.834-05:00To Silence a Voice<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AJbdp_jSy9q5iLScUwbi67WlJoSczRs5mki4baPfNTE8m7FQZFLMtwvRQIwZwjfYw4UBMZjSRtm4F2p0NLEWwi25z85dDoA_AuQwn4IythTFiH7vWwEyXmhch3lWeu-HbT3Fbf8PKJFS/s1600/hand+over+mouth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7AJbdp_jSy9q5iLScUwbi67WlJoSczRs5mki4baPfNTE8m7FQZFLMtwvRQIwZwjfYw4UBMZjSRtm4F2p0NLEWwi25z85dDoA_AuQwn4IythTFiH7vWwEyXmhch3lWeu-HbT3Fbf8PKJFS/s200/hand+over+mouth.jpg" width="133" /></a></div>
<b>There are plenty of times that I simply need to shut
up</b>. And everyone said “Amen”! And likewise there are plenty of times that I
simply need to speak up. You know,
speaking the truth in love. So that
settles the argument about speaking – wait no it doesn’t. I digress.<div>
<br /><div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Recently I was led to think once again about voices</b>. For years I’ve taught, preached or even wrote
about our guest subject for the moment: the voice. Be it mine, that of others, the enemy my soul,
or even ultimately the still small and occasionally booming voice of God; they all
seem to vie for my attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There comes a time when each of these voices must be heard
and discerned.</b> Clearly we would agree
that the best voice to hear and heed is that of God. But can I tell you it is possible <b>To Silence
a Voice</b> that is so critical, so needed, yet stoppable even before it
reverberates from divine and holy lips in heaven. Yes indeed, <b>To Silence a Voice</b> is possible,
but what if the voice we silence is that of God?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Hear me out for a moment.</b>
I cannot cause the mouth of others, the enemy, or even my own inner
voice to cease. A) Because I cannot
control the will and impulse of others or even the devil; and B) that 8-track
in my head can only be unplugged by God, no matter how hard I try it keeps
playing. Here’s where some may argue
with me – that’s okay. Call me and you
can buy me coffee and we can hash it out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But on the other hand, the Bible tells me</b> that in a roundabout
way, I can silence the eternal and awesome voice of God by one simple act. Oh some would say, but God is always
speaking, communicating, or simply through creation God speaks. And I guess you would be right. But, much like the philosophical argument of
a tree falling in the woods and no one is there to hear it, does it make a
sound? The same applies to God’s voice.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>If I have hardened my heart</b>, by time and time again ignoring
the reverb of His divine beck-and-call, be it for correction, guidance, or
simply a love call, something inside me changes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>We’re admonished to NOT harden our hearts</b> if and when we
hear God’s voice. But because we’re so
bent upon selfish ambition and preservation, we struggle to trust that He knows
best and guides best. We tend to listen
to or consult with all the other voices, before or even instead of His. And by doing so, time and time again our
hearts grow harder and harder. Our spirit
ear becomes more deaf to the only voice that can change ANYTHING.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Like cement that tends to cure harder and harder</b> in the
presence of water, so too does a heart that is washed in the Word or Voice of
God, without obedient response, it grows harder and harder. To the point where God, the God who spoke <i>e</i><i><span lang="EN">x nihilo </span></i><span lang="EN">and all matter and life came into being, cannot by voice alone break
through that hard heart shell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>Stop and think for a moment.</b> Consider
why Jesus told the Seven Churches named in the early part of Revelation, to
hear what the Spirit was saying (and still is) to the churches. Consider that the most important thing any
human can do, is hear and listen to the voice of God. And then obey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>For it is not the random act of disobedience</b> that silences God’s voice
to our ears, but it is the chronic and self-inflating ignorance to a perpetual
Spirit sound aimed at mankind in general and aimed at my very one and only heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>Oh dear reader, please hear what the Spirit is saying to me;</b> and maybe
even to you. Each time I ignore God’s
voice, even in the little things, hardness sets in more and more. It may not be noticeable at first, but that’s
how deception works. Understand that in
these last days, the Great Falling Away mentioned in scripture will be rooted
in self and collective deception – and we won’t even know it. We will not be able to reverse the process of
hardening without a cataclysmic and holy impact to our hard hearts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>I must stop waiting for a gentle wooing by the Spirit</b> and be prepared
for the hammer of His divine love that will shake and shatter everything that
is hard within me. Only then can His voice
once again penetrate to the depths where needed most.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>To Silence a Voice, the voice of God,</b> seems impossible. But it’s not.
His voice as we’ve ever known it since the creation of time and material
has been and always will be echoing around the cosmos and the hearts of
man. But if no receptor exists, because
of hardness, we have essentially silenced the voice of God; the only voice that
can make a difference – to save and transform.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>Sound waves, notably different than spirit</b> must have something they hit
or bounce off for them to be noted as anything whatsoever. And so too with the Spirit voice, there must
be a heart to connect with or nothing will be noted at all. Like that tree falling in the forest, if my
heart is hard beyond flexibility, <b>I WILL NOT HEAR the voice of God</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>To Silence a Voice</b>, the voice of God seems implausible, veritably
impossible. But it’s not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN">Today, right now at this reading and beyond, if you hear the faintest
whisper of God’s voice – stop and listen.
Consider obedience, because <b>To Silence a Voice</b>, the voice of God, all
one need do is disobey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>Listen. </b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-14763019678588598542013-05-27T11:45:00.001-05:002013-05-27T11:45:55.231-05:00Not Out of the Woods Yet<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR558em9J2lq7U5MkO9ggREEBabe_kcSgsSYAdYC1uGOPyq73PfbAZEmFBgjhkML5rw-y3hz3gdP8uOuSrqISKnLAiP6FMYf7GAm3Kv9jiEPTiqWPzrwWpbQgus_w54-reqcjAHkqkeGS/s1600/path+through+woods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR558em9J2lq7U5MkO9ggREEBabe_kcSgsSYAdYC1uGOPyq73PfbAZEmFBgjhkML5rw-y3hz3gdP8uOuSrqISKnLAiP6FMYf7GAm3Kv9jiEPTiqWPzrwWpbQgus_w54-reqcjAHkqkeGS/s320/path+through+woods.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Many years ago at a church picnic</b>, at Jester Park just north
of Des Moines, I remember getting lost in the woods with some other kids from
the church. Now granted, as I recall it
was my older sister and some of her friends who I had followed into the woods,
but soon the band of young people got turned around and “lost” for the lack of
a better term.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It may not sound all that creepy</b>, but at the time there were
some outlaw bikers who had been in the park during the church picnic, so it’s
likely there was mild panic amongst some of the adults wondering where we had
gone. Not to mention I was about wetting
myself with fear that we would never get back.
And it was getting dark.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Likely at this point in my narrative</b>, my big sister will
step in and correct my memory, but if I’m wrong Bonnie, please wait. Smiling as I write.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My thoughts run this way.</b>
Over and over it seemed that we would come up over some ridge in the
woods, hoping to see the shelter house where the church picnic was being held,
but nope; just another valley and confusion as to which way to go. We were <b>Not Out of the Woods Yet!</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My guess is we weren’t lost for more than an hour</b> or so, but
boy it felt like days. And add to the fact,
darkness was falling faster than we could climb the next hillside. By that time I was likely crying like a
little brother might do, tagging along with his big sister, both of which not
knowing if they’d get back before the wolves or the outlaw bikers moved in for
the kill. It was nerve wracking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Like then and now, there are times when I realize I’m Not
Out of the Woods Yet.</b> I’m not threw the
valley yet. I’m not safely back at the
shelter house, but I’m still trekking along with butterflies in my stomach,
wondering if I’ll get home safely.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It really doesn’t matter</b> what type of thing we’re facing, we
all have moments when we know and feel that we’re <b>Not Out of the Woods
Yet.</b> Be it by our own compulsive meanderings
that lead us off the beaten path, or other distractions that catch our eye and
we look intently in the wrong direction, only to find ourselves knee deep in
poison ivy and outlaw bikers stalking us in the shadows of our minds. Or it can even be things thrown at us, that
have little or nothing to do with our doing, they just come at us. It’s in those moments that we may find
ourselves saying; <b>“I’m Not Out of the Woods Yet”</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Now panic can do amazing things.</b> It can cause us to run in circles, or it can
cause us to become focused and determined to rise above and get out of the fog the
fear. My prayer and desire is the
latter.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There are countless scriptures that indicate God’s people
were Not Out of the Woods Yet,</b> but the time did come and God did ordain that
they eventually, by His grace and their faith in His guiding hand, would break
the tree line and emerge into the <b>sunlight of a clearing and the security of
His Shelter House</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That moment, my dear friend is coming</b> for me. And it’s coming for you! You may be feeling you’re <b>Not Out of the
Woods Yet</b>, but you will be eventually.
We all will be, if we keep listening to the sound of His voice leading
us on the <b>path less traveled</b>.</div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-53356757065470346592013-05-19T14:45:00.001-05:002013-05-19T14:45:12.376-05:00Holes for Eyes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievgeOp5YGifxvx1grmf4sdt13ZuxAWT5XNk3YvDTiBW4T5xOvq7iL_Ymi20I-xBlRfuWH-Xo15gk3InHVjFD8rl9P1Tko-yPynIwn_0VQYdGaqaPK9P6xfnqZguCGGAGI_T9-aYVOdd6E/s1600/annie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEievgeOp5YGifxvx1grmf4sdt13ZuxAWT5XNk3YvDTiBW4T5xOvq7iL_Ymi20I-xBlRfuWH-Xo15gk3InHVjFD8rl9P1Tko-yPynIwn_0VQYdGaqaPK9P6xfnqZguCGGAGI_T9-aYVOdd6E/s200/annie.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<b>As I slipped in and out of REM this morning</b>, I had thoughts
of something Jesus said. He told us that
our eyes are an access point to our souls; and that a Spirit led observer can
actually see into those secret places of a person’s heart.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Don’t worry, I’m not taking online classes</b> or anything to
become certified, but I will say this; ever since I was a child, something
strange would occur from time to time when I would encounter certain people. Some would describe it like this. “The lights were on, but nobodies home.” You know what I’m saying?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>And it goes beyond just personality or temperament.</b> It’s deeper.
There are times when the Lord speaks and shows me things. I look into certain people’s eyes and I see things. (Creepy I know, nonetheless true.) Sometimes it’s very disturbing. It’s like peeking into the window of someone’s
private space.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There have been times I’ve looked into the eyes of a man</b> and
God showed me adultery, pornography or even violence. Other times the eyes have shown me a life of falsehood
(lies) and self-deception (lies). And at
times, I’ve seen brokenness and sorry beyond apparent repair (despair). Or how about seeing anger and resentment
(hurt); the list goes on and on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>But the flip side is, I’ve often seen Jesus alive and well
in those eyes.</b> I’ve seen a gentle
spirit, nurtured by the truth of God. I’ve
seen the eyes of a man in whom there is no “guile” or effort to hide from the
truth or deceive others.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>In the eyes of people, by the leading of the Holy Spirit</b> we
can see darkness or light. We can see a
need or we can see a bulkhead of self-reliance unwilling to be helped or known
by God or anyone else.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As one who has known love and plans to love again in a very personal
way; it is possible to see within the eyes of another, a place of safety, vulnerability,
desire, hope, light, dreams and much, much, more as God ordains a holy
interface born of His nature and image.
The possibilities are endless – and promised!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Don’t answer out loud, but do you know what I mean?</b> To look into the eyes of a child or loved one
and see oneself in the meadow of their heart and mind – playing and celebrating
– being part of their world and they of yours.
Mysteries indeed to the uninitiated, but to those of us who have the
power of God within us, such prophetic vistas open roads to new hope and faith
in Him who plans all things.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My greatest fear is not that someone would look into my eyes</b>
and see skeletons in my closet or feet of clay covered by Wingtips of spiritual
bravado, but that all they would see is void.
A void so dark it looks like “dolls eyes” (Captain Quint – Jaws circa ’75). Oh what a fear to have Holes for Eyes. Far worse than Little Orphan Annie. At least she had cute red hair and a sweet
dog. I digress.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>What I’m trying to say, for my friend who is teaching me to
clarify and be succinct:</b> I don’t want
Holes for Eyes! I either want others, by
God’s grace and power to see glory, hope, faith, love and Jesus. Or I want them to see pain, sorrow, sin, and
great need. But I NEVER EVER just want Holes for
Eyes!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>For when a person has Holes for Eyes,</b> it’s the same as being
lukewarm with God. Not a good thing at
all; scary at best, deadly at worst.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So after all these words, let me ask: do you have Holes for
Eyes?</b> Or can it been seen that there something
resident within? I hope it’s good or
evil, light or dark, but woe unto the man who only has Holes for Eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>PS: I’m near sighted, astigmatic, and wear bifocals</b>, but one
thing I do know, I don’t I have <b>Holes for Eyes.
Peek inside next time you're close enough.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-82644240411539554002013-05-18T17:13:00.003-05:002013-05-18T17:13:59.530-05:00Bulletproof<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3oiuthJG6_AKT1QI5U3Kzncd8IRCJ16APBdJmT0H-XMuN6JPRdNHzWtRXJ_s-aX2KR8NIkpKWAONeQ-9tdS5mGtTPvo0gIWUSEbzUFlSLQSphw-I2Upp0p6nfBezqy3eSymiLW8WMVGw/s1600/Bullet-proof-Glass-SR006-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN3oiuthJG6_AKT1QI5U3Kzncd8IRCJ16APBdJmT0H-XMuN6JPRdNHzWtRXJ_s-aX2KR8NIkpKWAONeQ-9tdS5mGtTPvo0gIWUSEbzUFlSLQSphw-I2Upp0p6nfBezqy3eSymiLW8WMVGw/s200/Bullet-proof-Glass-SR006-.jpg" width="192" /></a></div>
<b>What does it mean?</b>
Well I guess it could mean, in theory that a bullet cannot
penetrate. Right? But what if they make a bigger sharper more
powerful bullet? Then what? Somebody has to come up with the next level
of bulletproofing. And the quest
continues in an effort to become invincible and protected from impact or death.<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>That word dropped into my spirit this week.</b> Why? I
cannot tell you, but I had to write as I usually do. Catharsis?
Most likely, but it’s always deeper and cheaper than professional therapy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’ve always found it fascinating</b> to watch television shows
that highlighted the science of bulletproofing things. Glass, clothing, vehicles, and walls – the
list is endless. It’s amazing what the
advances in this technology have achieved.
But again I beg the question: what if a bigger projectile comes your way?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I believe God has the most invincible substance in the
universe</b>, and very often unknown or unseen by humankind. Go with me for a moment please.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Psalm 119:165</b> reveals the divine substance God has created
for an impervious covering from oncoming projectiles that are meant for our
destruction. “Great peace have they
which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” (KJV)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Now that doesn’t sound too dangerous, until</b> you realize what
projectiles the enemy of our soul uses against us. As a matter of fact, when we come to the
realization that our enemy only has a cadre of lies and liars, and a simple but
deadly strategy to get us to believe them and thereby take offense – we can
begin to see what bulletproof really looks and feels like.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Jesus told us “offenses” would come.</b> He told us in this world we would have “trouble”. He showed us by His own life that we would be
assaulted by weakness and temptation, yet we could overcome. Even while being tortured and executed He
demonstrated Words of faith to release His offenders; “Father forgive them, for
they know not what they do”.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>One time the religious leaders of His day attempted to
offend Jesus</b> by calling Him a bastard.
Because it was widely known at the time, that Joseph His earthly dad,
wasn’t His biologic father. They even
called him a drunk, a glutton, a friend of sinners, and accused Him of being
demon possessed and in service of Beelzebub.
Sounds like Jesus could have had much to be offended by, but He wasn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So why and how could He have lived with such a Bulletproof
nature?</b> And no, it wasn’t because He was
God and human at the same time. Because
He set aside His privileged status (Son of God), to become just like us, yet
never committing sin (never getting offended).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Here’s how I believe (am convinced) that He did it.</b> He loved the Law of God. Not only did He know the Torah, and the
Prophets and all recorded scriptures written to that date, but He also loved
and submitted to the Talmud of the Holy Spirit – on a moment by moment basis. He described it as hearing and seeing what
the Father did, and then acting in obedience and in parallel to those things
revealed (laws).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>If I am to become the Bulletproof man</b> of God He’s ordained
me to be, I must love not only what is written between the covers of my Bible,
but I must whole heartedly love the new and final law or command left by Jesus –
Love. The Law that was left for us to
live by is this: Love God with all our lives and love people. Period.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>All my actions and behaviors must be rooted</b> in my devotion
to Father God and obedience to this Law of Love, as demonstrated through Jesus’
life and example and the constant guidance of the Father via the Holy Spirit. Even Jesus told us that all the historic writings
of scripture hang on those two commands (laws).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So, by loving this new and sometimes difficult to obey Law</b>,
I am promised protection from offenses that will assuredly come against my
soul. And if I disregard this highest
and best strategy for Bulletproofing my soul (and entire life), then I am
guaranteed that offenses will begin the insidious decay of the Life God has
planned for me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So let me ask you?</b>
How Bulletproof is your soul?
Because if you’re using the “latest” and “greatest” religious strategy
or mantra, and you feel impervious, just wait because a greater bullet of
offense will come, and you’ll become vulnerable to impact or death. But, if you lay hold of the Living Law of
Love, and if you will moment by moment pay attention to and obey the Voice of
the Father, you will always stay one step ahead of the enemy of your soul. You will become Bulletproof, because the
Voice of the Father, and the love of His Law will prevent offense from piercing
your soul.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The greatest risk I run as a follower of Jesus Christ</b> is
ignoring the opportunity to Bulletproof my soul, by loving the Law of God. And the proof is in the peace; the peace that
cannot be explained, especially to the uninitiated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Bulletproof</b> – It’s possible!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-10616475337076650892013-05-14T18:43:00.002-05:002013-05-14T18:43:43.199-05:00Never Mind<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI319bgXI2i6vNRZP3DyBM2zU2-4RA3Dcx-MZxBH4gt0Ovf8pQ3Cou0y4LFKFSEoTRoA_zjVplo19Aih_D8Rf1IaVncxFlW1xtWjgbR7X1reWluHCsEzCKN-SuWRSmX7cjGyXcquEIGSsl/s1600/mind_control1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI319bgXI2i6vNRZP3DyBM2zU2-4RA3Dcx-MZxBH4gt0Ovf8pQ3Cou0y4LFKFSEoTRoA_zjVplo19Aih_D8Rf1IaVncxFlW1xtWjgbR7X1reWluHCsEzCKN-SuWRSmX7cjGyXcquEIGSsl/s200/mind_control1.jpg" width="178" /></a></div>
<b>I’m not sure when I first heard that expression</b>; Never Mind. But over the years I’ve used it to push away
confusion and misunderstanding. And I’ve
used it to push away moments when I didn’t want to express or explain myself. But nonetheless I’ve used it – so <b>Never Mind</b>.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The idea of Never Mind-ing anything</b> is pretty lame when you
think about it. As a matter of fact,
blogs like this elicit similar words.
Blah, blah, blah Russell – <b>Never Mind</b>.
In other words just don’t even think about what I just said. Forget it.
Blow it off. Ignore it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Yet the Bible tells us from the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks</b>. So whatever is coming out
of my mouth somehow originates from somewhere deep inside me. Oh you may argue otherwise, <b>but I think God
is right</b>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>When my mouth opens – my heart speaks</b>. Good bad or indifferent.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>So the next time you say; Never Mind...</b> don’t expect anyone
to accept it. Because if you open your
mouth and speak; you really want someone to mind (or pay attention to) what you’re
saying. You really do want their mind to
attach to those words and you want to make an impact.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Therefore, consider your words wisely.</b> Because if you think <b>Never Mind</b> gives you a
pass… it doesn’t.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Never Mind</b><o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-65416886431911655922013-05-12T15:31:00.002-05:002013-05-12T15:31:42.804-05:00Love Covers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIEpDTRCXhbKuFaMyQVCE_VzoWEyVILRzo5OhxKq9LhLFNDF_FFYukrU6Ecc4NDBT2S51vYJPygtxhxbEe_n-JHHxhAJHBWG5DedHuu-CKSy_Vlpza02IGyDQAygDTUdA3tTVm5WXxr1W/s1600/mom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnIEpDTRCXhbKuFaMyQVCE_VzoWEyVILRzo5OhxKq9LhLFNDF_FFYukrU6Ecc4NDBT2S51vYJPygtxhxbEe_n-JHHxhAJHBWG5DedHuu-CKSy_Vlpza02IGyDQAygDTUdA3tTVm5WXxr1W/s200/mom.jpg" width="149" /></a></div>
<b>As far back as I can remember</b> my mom lived these words. And I’m not suggesting that she entertained
evil or tolerated insolence or rebellion in her children or life, but she
seemed to have a discerning eye for knowing the difference between dirt in the
heart versus dirt on the surface of the lives of her children and others. <b>Make sense?</b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I’ve been told, when I was just an infant</b>, mom was carrying
me in her arms. We lived in an old salt
box shaped house on the south side of Des Moines, and the stairs to the second
floor were very steep. Apparently she
was at the top of the stairs with me in her arms and she lost her footing on
that top stair and slipped. As the story
goes she fell backwards and clutched me to her breast so as not to drop me and
to protect me as she slid down the entire steep flight of stairs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Now it doesn’t sound too extreme</b>, but I guess she broke her
tail bone and from that point on had chronic pain and trouble in that area
because of the fracture. I only found
out about that incident when I was in college.
But I always knew she had pain while sitting in certain chairs, but
never knew why. <b>Love Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Too many times to count, it would be the last piece of food</b>
on a plate or in a bowl and she always gave it up for one of us in the
family. Or for that matter when cookies
were baked, she always seemed to eat the burnt ones (carbon deficiency I
guess?), and left the good ones for us.
<b>Love Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There were times when I was in grade school</b> and struggling
with certain school issues. Be it my
reading, other children making fun of me, conflict with teaches or too many
visits to the principal’s office; a stomach ache tended to keep me home. Poor parenting some would say (maybe psycho
sematic?), but I knew early on, she just couldn’t bring herself to force me
into painful childhood struggles. <b>Love
Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Some might say that she coddled me</b>. Maybe she did, but to this day, I know how to
stand and fight with the best of them, and I’m not a quitter – but I do know
how to be merciful and compassionate, and I do get the whole concept of empathy
and I practice it well. <b>Love Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Or how about the times I would come home late</b> while in high
school, and she would get up and sit and talk with me while I ate a bowl of
cereal. I knew those moments were
safe. I would tell her that we sneaked
into the Forum IV theaters to watch a movie, or that us guys had tried smoking
cigarettes or pot. Or that beer had
somehow factored into where I had been that night, but that I felt bad about
it. She would tell me not to tell my
dad, but to keep it between us and God – and don’t do it again or worse may
befall me. I’d go to bed feeling deeply
convicted for my external dirt, asking the Lord to forgive me, but knowing He
and my mom knew my heart wasn’t dirty – just my outsides for moment in time. <b>Love Covers?</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Or how about the times that I would cry</b> about a broken
heart? And she would hold me and tell me
I was special and that she loved me and would never trade me for anything. It brings me to tears right now, thinking
back on those moments. She still tells
me almost weekly, when we talk on the phone, that she loves me and that life
will be okay, because the Lord knows what I need and He will provide. <b>Love Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>I can’t tell you that my mom was the world’s greatest mom</b>,
but I can tell you that she was and is the greatest mom I’ve ever had and she
always makes me laugh and I make her laugh.
<b>Love Covers?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>To my mom Betty Kinney</b>-Potterton; thank you and Happy
Mother’s Day! Your love has taught me of
God’s love. And that is the best
parenting in my book. You’ve taught me
grace and mercy. You’ve taught me gentle
strength and tenacity, when those qualities were leaking out of me. <b>I love you mom!</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Love Covers? Yes it
does… at least when it comes to my mom.</b> <o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5816008817828011513.post-26685495389310724262013-05-11T14:38:00.000-05:002013-05-11T14:43:34.278-05:00Rising to My Own Fall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNgIYrLsqp1uUlbge05X6vlnMiVzjHtAJpjQOGLk6lRwzge05SLnzgXdyFO0VbVMr2EwAi4ILiVbUB9eKNkhCSG74Z9WsHC-Z-ObeXX9MKglDkt-iWAtbXgbvRp-SjWNpk3f42hNlTTz_/s1600/cycle-of-life-t14215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinNgIYrLsqp1uUlbge05X6vlnMiVzjHtAJpjQOGLk6lRwzge05SLnzgXdyFO0VbVMr2EwAi4ILiVbUB9eKNkhCSG74Z9WsHC-Z-ObeXX9MKglDkt-iWAtbXgbvRp-SjWNpk3f42hNlTTz_/s1600/cycle-of-life-t14215.jpg" /></a></div>
<b>As a biologist, I understand the life cycle</b> God has put in
place to keep this broken biosphere limping along with the appearance of
renewed life, season after season. Okay
I’m not officially a biologist, but I would have been if I matriculated my
first interest of study to its prescribed end, but I didn’t. Arm-chair science, like arm-chair theology, can
be risky when run on human trials without proper consent. I digress.<br />
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<b>When we live the course of life set before us</b>, with its
entire set of unforeseen pitfall and hairpin turns, we tend to think “that’s
just life.” But I think it’s not. I think there is much more going on than
meets the naked eye or experience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>I believe that everything in life, pain or pleasure</b>, are
found in the hand of God as instruments for the good of any and all who
experience them. Yet from the wayward to
the most forward, God is working His will and good pleasure, but that’s not how
we usually see it (or feel it).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>We live to rise, to improve, to get better and have more</b> –
or we just live in mediocrity, but either way we usually don’t understand that
aiming at a higher place will likely end in a lower state; if we don’t
understand the path to the divine promise.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Rising to My Own Fall</b> is the common basis for advance within
the Kingdom, for if I desire to be first, I must be last. If I desire life I must die. If I desire strength I must be weak. If I desire to be served I must first
serve. If I desire to lead I must
follow. If I desire to be lifted up I must
first be brought low.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Do you see the pattern?</b>
Do you realize that the greatest summit you can climb is that of your
own admission to human depravity?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Don’t get me wrong.</b>
This is not about vane self-deprecation or faking self-effacement –
simply to get or to gain. But it’s about
an honest appraisal of who we are – without Him. Who we are at the core was never good until redemption.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>So the next time you aspire to a greater anything</b> – without a
genuine assessment of Who it is that gets you there – take heed. For in Rising to My Own Fall did there alone I
realized the fallacy in flesh and self-sufficiency. May you too discover this Kingdom mystery so
often glossed over for more appealing tones of self-righteousness and indulgence
– all in the name of free grace and love.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Rising to My Own Fall</b> – just might be the best thing that
ever happened to me. But only as I see my
path in the rear-view mirror of life, am I aware of the Hand that guided every
step of the way.<o:p></o:p></div>
Russell Kinneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02623472943304901600noreply@blogger.com1