To God Be the Glory! Epistle XI “Addictive Personality”

Having an addictive personality is something I have personally and secondarily experienced much in my life. What I mean by “addictive personality” is a person becomes obsessed with an action that it consumes everything they do. Think of the extremes of this type of obsession can drive a person: drug addiction, alcohol addiction, sexual addiction. These actions in and of themselves have an addictive quality that is difficult to tame, especially without the indwelling support of the Holy Spirit we Christians enjoy (and all too often take advantage of). But this addiction is heightened when we become completely consumed by the actions we enjoy. Think of smoking, eating, playing games, being on the internet or TV. I’m not an advocate for casual smoking, but when we enjoy these activities with respect to an eternal vision of our existence on this earth, these activities can be OK. When left to our own devices and lusts (I attest with personal experience), even the most seemingly harmful activity can be life-consuming. I have problems with anger, pornography, time-wasting, and other inconsistencies. When we don’t bring every thought and action of everyday life under the power and influence of Christ and His Word, we will be consumed by our lusts and it will eventually harm us.

My mother-in-law recently decided to give up smoking—for good. Thru much loving pressure from her daughter (my wife) and conviction from the Holy Spirit, she realized that it was wrong for her to use smoking as a “stress reliever” as opposed to relying on Christ to help her deal with her life’s pressures and cares. Not to mention being controlled by a harmful and ungodly substance. She had the biggest first victory shortly after she quit. When she was getting in her car (as we are all creatures of habits), she immediately reached for her cigarettes. The victory came when she realized she needed to replace that habit with something godly instead of something ungodly! The addictive personality still exists, but the only thing we’re allowed as Christians to be addicted to is Christ and God’s Word—NOTHING ELSE! If she replaces her habit with anything—coffee, gum, candy, soda, etc.—she immediately fails to have victory over her addictive personality. The only way to beat it is to rely on Christ to help you deal with and overcome every little temptation that comes along throughout the day. Confess it to Him and repent of it every time it rears its ugly head. Rely on the Power that created the universe to help you!! It works! Ephesians 4: 17-32.

To God Be the Glory! Epistle X "Patience At the Pump!"

God wants us to know our weaknesses, so He allows trials and temptations to come into our lives. Even when you're in a trial, He'll try you (That's how much He cares...and how much we need it). I was in a hurry, ass I am most nights, on my way back to jail. I needed Gas, needed to use the restroom badly, wanted (not needed) a snack for the road, and was on the phone with my wife. Trying to be as efficient as possible I started pumping the gas using Pay-at-the-pump and rushed in to use the restroom. Then I got my snack and the station attendant was mopping and not immediately checking me out. I gave a fake cough / clear my throat and glanced over to see her finishing up mopping the isle she was cleaning.

Then I gave another fake cough to make the first one seem more believable (this is where it turned to impatience --SIN!) She checked me out and I rushed back to the car, started it up and drove off. Two seconds away from the pump I heard a clanking noise. I thought I ran over something so I kept going toward the end of the parking lot. I looked back thru my mirror and noticed my gas tank door was open and the pump and hose were lying on the ground! I quickly rushed back and hung up the pump, ran inside to see about resolving the issue w/ the attendant. How out of whack was my focus! How ridiculously impatient I was! How many times is God going to have to teach me things? Unless I (we-Christians) are completely and always filled with the Holy Spirit and every facet of our being is surrendered to His will by having our will surrendered to Him, we will always do STUPID things and will always need "pop-quizzes"! I apologized and asked her to apologize to her boss and send me the bill. (I pray the damage isn't too great). I still was focused on me and feeling sorry for myself and feeling guilty.

My wife (God bless her) encouraged me to pray and ask forgiveness and I had some time to think in the hallway before getting checked back into jail. I prayed and asked God to show me where I went wrong. Immediately the fake, impatient coughs came to mind. I knew I was not yielded to His spirit and asked forgiveness for it. Learn what you can from God's "pop quizzes". He reads your heart and knows your thoughts / motives. Be open and honest with him in your repentance. It helps to write it down or "blog" it so you can share it with and encourage others. May God Bless you thru this.

To God Be the Glory! Epistle IX “Repentance and Faith"

How do you know you're saved?!It's a question that we Christians should be asking our unsaved family and friends much more often! But, sadly, the reason we don't is because we don't have a firm enough grasp of it to be able to defend, with God's word, what their answer would be. Salvation is a two-sided coin w/ repentance on one side and faith on the other. The questions then become - What do I repent from, and what do I believe in? One must repent (change your life) from the old, sinful way of living. This includes the "obvious" ones like fornication, drunkenness, lust, wrath, etc. But one must also change his belief system about how to be saved. You must believe, only, in the finished (once for all) work of Jesus Christ (God, in human form) on the cross. That he died, was buried 3 days and rose from the dead providing "the way" for mankind to be right with God. You must believe with your heart; be convicted on that most personal level in your innermost being that you are a sinner and in need of a savior, and you must believe that what the Bible says for salvation is the only way.

"Good works" won't get you saved. "Going to church" won't get you saved. "Being a member of a church" won't get you saved. "Reading the Bible and praying" won't get you saved. One iota of faith in anything you do will condemn you to Hell. You must be whole-heartedly convicted that Christ is the only way. Verses for your consideration- John 14:6 - The way; The truth; The life- Ephesians 2:8-9 - Saved through faith; Not of yourselves; Not of works- Romans 3:23 - All have sinned- Romans 3:10 - There is none righteous- Romans 4:5 - To him that worketh not, but believes; Faith is counted for righteousness- Romans 5:8 - While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us- Acts 16:31 - Believe on Christ and thou shalt be saved- Acts 26:20 - Repent and turn to God- Acts 20:21 - Repentance toward God; Faith toward Christ Repentance from anything contrary to God's word and a heartfelt desire to change, along with a whole-hearted belief in Christ as the only way will result in real salvation.

To God Be the Glory! Epistle VIII “A pragmatic life - The positive side."

The only things in life that are biblically pragmatic, or practical, are those that bring glory to God's name. God looks on our hearts to see if what we're doing is really for him. If our job is done with the attitude of getting money to buy stuff, then God will not be pleased. Our work ethic should be to get enough money to provide for needs and use the extra to meet others' needs. Also, our workplace should not be seen as a place for "social interaction," but as a mission field where we are actively seeking to develop relationships with people to bring them to Christ. There are many other daily responsibilities we do that can easily become an end in themselves; we must always consider if our purpose for doing them is focused on ourselves or focused on God's glory. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says it very plainly and simply: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, (among the most mundane daily activities) or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

To God Be the Glory! Epistle VII "A Pragmatic Life - The Negative Side"

I really enjoy reading "Days of Praise", a daily devotional by the Institute for Creation Research! It always gives a daily challenge from the Word of God and is the inspiration for much of my blog material. A pragmatic life can be looked at in two lights: One negative and one positive. The word "pragmatic" involves the idea that the "end justifies the means". That sounds alright on the surface, but this concept has been used by Satan to get many Christians to involve themselves in many ungodly and worldly practices. Taken to an extreme, this concept would allow for rationalizing ideas such as: "We need more men in attendance at our churches to hear the Word of God". (This is an "end"). We should use positives to attract men to the church. (This is a "means"). The idea of more men attending church services to hear God's Word is a good thing, but God obviously wouldn't approve of the means of achieving that end in our scenario!

In II Timothy 2:4, Paul warns of something many Christians are guilty of: Becoming entangled in life's affairs (Greek pragmateia). These “affairs" would be anything done outside the power of the Holy Spirit's power working in and through your life! Anything that doesn't please God and bring Him glory (Both in its end and means), is simply not to be bothered with. The only tool to use to determine what brings glory to God is the Word of God! We must be careful not to rely on our rationalizations because all too often we allow ourselves to become involved in seemingly “good activities" which yield "good results", but at what cost?

Could all of that time and energy be used for a much more pleasing-to-God activity: Personal discipleship (Which includes personal daily discipline), personal Bible study (which doesn't include the TV as background noise), and prayer, cultivating spiritual relationships with people to talk to about Christ and seek to win them to Him: instead of recreational relationships for "fun”. These are questions we all need to think about when we self-evaluate and family-evaluate (Dads), to see if we really are "doing all to the glory of God"! I Corinthians 10:31.

To God Be the Glory! Epistle VI "Disposable people"

My pastor (Dr. Lance Ketchum) comes to visit me weekly. We always talk about the previous Sunday's messages. (My wife graciously gets print-outs and mails them to me every week). On 4-20-08 the message was about selfishness, and how the selfish sin of scorn develops from angry/bitter feelings. These scorners hold people in contempt, are self-righteous and hold people to higher standards than others. My pastor said that something that caught my ear when we were discussing the sermon: "They view people as disposable".

A disposable item is one that can be used for awhile until we're sick of it and then be tossed in the trash and buried in a stinky landfill, never to be seen again. How can we ever think such a thing about a person, whom God loves so much, that He sent Christ to die for him? We do because we are selfish. We expect more from someone else then we expect from ourselves. We don't openly admit this, oh no! But secretly we avoid or shun that person. We non-verbally, through our actions/attitudes look down on them, and don't see them as God sees them; a lost soul that needs a Savior, or a fellow believer that needs help in his/her spiritual walk. I felt convicted when he said "disposable person" because I've "written some people off" in my own life.

Oh, I still love them dearly but not as God loves them. I'm not confronting them about their sin (in a loving manner; Galatians 6) and helping them to grow, or leading them to true salvation. Instead, I'm avoiding them and avoiding the confrontation. First, I'd have to humble myself and ask for forgiveness for being a scorner, and then have boldness to talk with them about their sin. You can only reach someone if you are open, honest and real with them.

To God Be the glory! Epistle V "Complaining about God's Manna"

(John 6:31, Psalm 78:24, Nehemiah 9, Deuteronomy 8, Exodus 16, Numbers 11, Joshua 5, Revelation 2:17.) When I hear someone complaining about the lack of amenities in jail, I just want to shout, "Then don't do dumb stuff that gets you locked up!" but I don't, and I remember all the blessings God has provided during my jail experience. However, that isn't always the case.

I, too, am not always thankful for my manna. Christ is our ultimate provision for life from God. He died for the punishment of all sin so you and I have a chance to be born again into the family of God, by grace, through faith in Christ's once-for-all sacrifice on the cross. However, if we have a living, working faith, God will also provide for our physical needs and any other needs we might have. This is where many of us forget the miracle of manna and begin to complain. Just as Israel got sick of manna and started taking it for granted, we, too, become accustomed to our "way of living" or "routines" in life and lose sight of the God who gives us so much to be thankful for. When we do this, we are not living in faith. We're trusting in the routine, not in the God who made the "routine" possible by working out all of the little details of that routine.

God has given me a routine in jail that I am so thankful for. There are countless blessings that I have every day and am constantly reminded of how great God is and how much He cares for us. How hard is it to trust Him with your life if you can trust Him with your eternal soul? Do you believe your ways of life are better than the guidance He gives for life in His Word? You only actually believe it if you stop complaining about it and live it.

Gratitude/ Humbleness or Ungratefulness/ Pride YOU CHOOSE

To God Be the glory! Epistle IV "Take a step back - The Battery Incident"

When going through any circumstance in life, whether great or seemingly insignificant, and you get overwhelmed and lose sight of eternity - take a step back! Examine how you have handled the experience. Talk to Christ about your feelings, actions, responses to people "attacking" you, and listen for His still small voice of comfort - or in some cases conviction. We all expect to hear comfort from God in life's circumstances, when we more than likely should be listening for the convicting whispers because we haven't taken a step back and evaluated our sin and confessed it to God.

We get too caught up in our circumstances when we should look at this existence as God intended it - a chance to bring Him glory by making Him and His salvation known to the world. How well can we make Christ known when we are blinded by our own life's circumstances? Not well at all! Get some godly perspective! That's what I learned through the battery incident.
Some of you have heard the case of the missing battery.

For those of you who have not, here it goes. Someone took one battery out of the remote control for the T.V. Why? No one knows! No one also knows who... for sure. The guards did three separate shake-downs, two inmate pat-downs, and many serious ultimatums from the jail's captain, himself! It's just a battery! But it's the principle of the thing. The jailers need control. A missing battery (or anything for that matter) does not equal control; it equals chaos. All the inmates began speculating about the threats about losing good-time or work release/ S.T.S. (sentence-to-serve) privileges if the culprit didn't fess up. There were very heated discussions about who took it and accusations, name-calling, and chances for the culprit to confess. We didn't all want punishment for one person's stupidity! I, too, got caught up in the atmosphere of chaos. I didn't want to lose work release privileges! I didn't take a step back and view it from God's perspective of eternity.

He would still protect no matter what could have happened! Ultimately, the two "main suspects" that the guards had on camera were booted out of the cell and lost privileges. There wasn't enough valid proof to accuse. The rest of us had no T.V. for two weeks as corporal punishment (Praise God for that!), and I learned a valuable lesson!

To God Be the glory! Epistle III "Where are your dust bunnies hiding?"

We have to clean our cell about every other day. The jailers bring us the cleaning supplies and we have to do the usual: sweep, mop, sink, mirrors, toilets, shower, etc. Sometimes it can get pretty dirty in here. Toothpaste spray on the mirrors, coffee stains in the sink from mixing instant coffee, soap scum in the showers, (I won't mention about the toilet), and little clumps of fuss and dust and dirt all over the floor... Dust bunnies. If the guards don't check the cells, the dust bunnies build up because of a poor cleaning job by the inmates. We get lazy and don't do a thorough job of cleaning up the dust bunnies that find their way deep into corners and under the bed and under the tables, out of sight. Unless we're confronted about our secret sins in our lives (with the power of God's Word), they will build up in the corners and under the bed out of sight until they become overwhelming. Openness about sins/faults with an accountability partner is a good way to help keep the "dust bunnies" under control in our lives. Constant prayer and much time spent in God's word will help in answering the question: "Where are your dust bunnies hiding?"

To God Be The Glory! Epistle II "I've never been in jail with such a self-righteous person!"

"I've never been in jail with such a self-righteous person!"
That is a powerful statement. It cuts directly to the heart. John and Mike (names changed to protect the guilty) were talking at lunch time and a very filthy joke was blurted out. I took offense and said how disgusting and inappropriate that joke was and I said it in a condescending and condemnatory tone of voice. John's perception was that I thought that I was better than he. Soon thereafter I heard him make a comment "I have never been in jail with such a self-righteous person."

Man that hurt... because it was true! In my head, I know I'm not better than anyone else. But out of the heart the mouth speaks. The reason I came across to John as self-righteous was because in my heart I actually did think I was better. "I would never say something like that" is what I said in my heart. I thought for a few minutes about what to say to him and it dawned on me that to combat self-righteousness you have to go to the other extreme . . . humility. I said to John, "John, I'm sorry for coming across as self-righteous. I really don't want to be that way. I'm one of the worse sinners in here, and I want you to know I don't judge you for anything you say or do. My faith is real to me and I try to live God's Word as well as I can and that's why I avoid joining in or listening to the jokes or swear words, but I don't condemn you for anything. I just want to be clear and honest about this."

He immediately listened as soon as he heard me say," I'm sorry, and I had a captive, attentive audience for a few minutes. The Lord taught me how important humility is when confronting, not just an unbeliever, but anyone about sin in one's life. It's an important lesson we all need to learn and practice.

To God Be The Glory! Epistle I "Pride and Selfishness"

Pride and selfishness are ugly characteristics! But praise God they are easily detectable... at least for those who are looking for them in their own life with the intention of eradicating them completely. My pastor (Dr. Lance Ketchum) encouraged me to share some things God is working on in my life while in jail. My faith has been tested and is more real to me than ever before. That is how we can glorify God through extreme life-circumstances- because we know it is for His glory and our good.

Pride and selfishness are evident in every Christian's life (to varying degrees), but only few ever actually realize how devastatingly wicked these sins are. Those faithful few will seek God's searching-out in every facet of their lives so their pride and selfishness will be manifested unto them. Then they can confess, repent, and forsake pride and selfishness and ask for God's help moment-by-moment to live in the Spirit-free from those sins! God has really shown me the depths of man's depravity (propensity for sin and therefore sinful acts) and how important it is to live the Christian life with all your sins (actions and attitudes contrary to God's Word) "confessed-up", and in the power of the Holy Spirit. We seldom realize how little it takes for us to be out of fellowship with God.

One little ounce of bitterness, one little teaspoon of anger, one little speck of "no one will know...", one little iota of "wow, she's/he's hot" (and then a lingered look of lustful thought). Just a little leaven leavens the whole. Then, left un-confessed, un-confronted sin festers and boils and pusses and oozes out through our choices in life and then eventually it will result in a catastrophic decision.

In the "Days of Praise" daily devotional (put out my ICR) on today's date (3-11-08) it says, "the closer one comes to the Lord, the more clearly one sees his own sinfulness... no one who is satisfied with his or her own state of holiness has yet come to know the Lord in His state of holiness!" When they are "satisfied" they mean, "any one who is not continually self-examining their life to see if there is sin in any aspect of their life". We must constantly look at our ourselves to conform to what Christ wants us to be.