Addictions

Addictions are caused by feeling isolated, left out, feeling cheated, or feeling as if your life does not matter, and that all things in life that you did value are so fragile that you could lose them at any time, for reasons out of your control.

An addicted person has formed a connection with a substance, situation or pleasure that gives them a false feeling of connectedness, and the control over this connectedness. The addiction gives them something to get out of bed for, something to live for, and something to be connected to.

Disconnection is a problem. We feel disconnected from being able to control the most important factors in our lives. We feel disconnected from the things we think will make us happy. We feel disconnected from people. We feel disconnected from purpose in our work and play. We feel disconnected comfort, love, significance, and security.

When those who are addicts become addicted to substances that are illegal, we usually shame them, or they shame themselves, and go into further isolation, making the disconnection worse, and the hope for recovery more remote.

Many of us believe that addictions have physical triggers, and there have been many treatment centers developed to try to deal with the “physical” addictive properties we believe to exist. Many times these centers fail in that they tried to solve a disconnectedness problem by further isolation and shame.

Punishing addicts does not work. Loving them does work. Connecting them works. Doing life with them works.

The Bible often talks about the motive of love and the power of love to overcome all odds.

I have been in the hospital often, and been under the knife of several occasions. I have been to the emergency room with severe pain, and whether I was in for an operation, or due to some other interesting malady, I have been given Diamorphine, which in reality is a very pure form of heroine, to ease the pain.

I have never become an addict, and in fact, I have asked that I not be given those substances again, as they did not seem to ease the pain, but rather had an effect on my mind that made it so that reality was a dream world.

When you are connected and enjoy your connections, the escaping from reality is not something you desire.

I am not alone in not becoming addicted to pain killers, heroine, or other substances. There are many grandmas and grandpas who have had hip replacements who were given legal drugs to fight pain, yet who are not now hanging out in dark alleys trying to find a dealer. My generation was the generation that fought the Viet Nam War. During the war there were many soldiers who got into heroine, and the fear was that when they returned to our country, we would face a tidal wave of addictions. In reality, most of them, upon returning to the States just quit, cold turkey.


What happened to the physical triggers that caused addiction in both the hospital and Viet Nam cases?

I’m not sure what happens to a proven theory if there are many who defy what has been proven.

I was listening to a Ted Talk and was told about a man, Bruce Alexander, who conducted an experiment on an experiment.

What I mean is that for years we based the idea of addictions off of a study done on rats that put a single rat in a cage with two bottles of water. One bottle was pure the other was laced with some kind of drug. The isolated rat would go to the drug water over and over again, and eventually died early from a continual overdose, obviously proving a physical trigger to addiction.

However, Bruce did an experiment where he made a rat cage that had a tremendous amount of connectivity. There were rat neighborhoods, plenty of food, and places to play. This cage also had two bottles of water. What he found was that the rats in this cage seldom, if ever, used the drug water, and none of them became addicts.

It is obvious that man desires connectivity and that Satan has worked this lack of connectivity, or the feeling of non-connectedness, to its fullest. Our culture is saturated with the pretend lives shown on television and in movies, and, in many case, the entertainment world has become our reality. We watch others live while not living ourselves, and we begin to identify with the pretend more than the real. We see advertisements that are cleverly meant to show us how “disconnected” we really are, and we spend time with others who watch all this with us, while never experiencing real connectivity with them.

Somehow we always feel disconnected, like we are missing something.

Smartphones, internet, Facebook, Twitter, etc. were creations that seemed to help our connectedness, and they have people “addicted” to them in that they actually appear to solve our connectedness problem, when in reality, they are causing the problem to become even more complex.

Today, the most disconnected can portray themselves as being the most connected, and addictions of many sorts are more the norm than the exception.

Addicts’ problems are not the availability of drugs, alcohol, sex, money, etc., but the lack of connectivity to God and to each other.

The Bible clearly shows that man was created to be connected with God and each other, and that sin has destroyed our connectivity. Sin always separates. It always isolates, shames, and distances us from God and others.

Every human being desires significance and security, and many are searching for them. We often do not realize that this significance cannot come from power, comfort, or control, but from connectedness. While we were sinners, disconnected with God, hopeless, and alone, God sent Jesus to pay the price for reconnecting us.

Without this connection, there is no hope for significance, and no hope for the addict. With this connection, there is a new and healthy addiction, that of being addicted to the connection with God. When one is connected with God they will find that all other attractions pale in comparison and lose their grip.

We find that this connection with God allows us to position ourselves to then have proper connection with others. Our connection with others is about them, not us. Addicts make their connections with others about themselves, which proves that they have not understood how God made this connection thing to work.

When Jesus was asked what was important he said that we should love the Lord our God and each other. He told us that we should be involved in connectivity to God and to each other. In fact, we are told that it would be impossible for us to be connected with God and each other and also be connected to the world. Those who love, or are connected to, this world, cannot love, or be connected to, God.

Satan seems to play the game of disconnection by making the promise of connection by means that actually cause disconnection. He has us looking for significance in all of the wrong places, in doing things rather than being someone, and in using people and enjoying stuff, when we should be using stuff and enjoying people.

Perhaps the most dangerous addiction that comes from disconnectedness is the addiction to self. When self is on the throne, all others become subjects rather than friends. When we are on the throne, we look down upon all, use all for our pleasure, and trust no one. Being our own royalty gives us the impression of significance and security, but deep down we realize that it is only an impression.  When we are addicted to self, we are most isolated, and all others, including God, do not matter. It is those who have given into this ultimate addiction that often take it upon themselves to end their lives. Since they are the only ones who matter, it makes sense to them to continue to satisfy self, alone, and the suicide they commit becomes the ultimate self-centered act in that the feelings, thoughts, and relationships with those they should be connected to, no longer matter.

Connectedness is something we are created to have, but not connectedness to just anything. Addiction is taking that need for connectedness with God, and people and satisfying it with things that can never really satisfy it.

Satan has worked the system well, and he is very good at what he does. In the United States we live in big houses and have many ways of isolating ourselves while in the midst of family and friends. We have normalized the use of people for pleasure, and lost the art of going through pain while perfecting avoidance techniques. We try to show connectedness with things rather than time, objects rather than self, and favor rather than responsibility.

One can go to church and not be connected in that it has become less about real community and more about perceived community, more about programs that give the appearance of connection, and less about real connection. Discipleship and mentoring have become meaningless buzz words in that they are systems that are trying to work at reconnecting in a format that gives the connection appearance, while not having the ability to crack the isolation factors that are ever present in our culture.

God and His truth are actually rather simple. When we make it to complicated, we give Satan a foothold in our lives, and open the door for all sorts of spiritual loopholes.

God created me so that He could love me, and be connected to me. This love connection demands choice and is thereby significant. If that connection is not right, I will try to find connection elsewhere and fail, for it cannot be done. Eventually, the very things I connected to will prove to be the fuel for the ultimate disconnection.

We were made to be relational beings, and need to live in the context of the connectivity that healthy relationships provide. Alcohol, food, sex, or drug addictions are symptoms of a greater problem.

Healthy people with healthy relationships do not have addiction problems. If someone is struggling with addictions and they want help, they must first see their need for being connected to God, family, and friends, and begin the process of real connection.  Since the addict may be blind to these things, those who are connected must make an effort to re-connect. God showed us how to do this in that while we were sinners, addicts, He made the effort to send His Son, so that the real problem could be solved.

Satan is a genius at deception and has many thinking they are connected because they “fit” into the norm of society. They are fans of the same sports team, members of the same church, citizens of a country, or alumni of the same college.

God is realit,y and has made it so that all people, regardless of circumstance, can have what is necessary to be significant and secure because He provides these things to those who are connected with Him.

Antigo Shooting

On Saturday night there was a random shooting at the Antigo High School in Antigo, Wisconsin. There were two students shot. One was treated and released the other was taken to the hospital, has had surgery and is doing well.

The police in this small city did a fantastic job as they acted quickly and decisively. We are thankful for such people who protect us day in and day out.

The shooter died in this incident and their family is grieving as this was a surprise to them as well as to the entire community.

The family of the victim released this official statement.

"(The student) is doing well. He has come through a long surgery and will recover with time and effort, but we have always believed that God is good and has a plan even in the midst of tragedy.

We are so thankful for his girlfriend and two friends on the scene who acted so bravely and calm. We would also like to thank the police officers who responded so quickly, the medical staff, doctors, and the surgeons that have already gone above and beyond to help our son, and all the law enforcement from many counties who have dedicated themselves to investigating this shooting. We would like to especially thank the officers who saved the lives of our son, his girlfriend, their two friends, and the countless amount of students, staff, and others in and around the school. Lastly, we cannot express enough thanks for our family, friends, fellow employees, church, employers, school administration, and those in the community who continue to shown and communicate their kindness and love to our son and family.

Please continue to pray for (the student), his girlfriend, two friends, fellow classmates, and everyone else involved as they recover from this traumatic night. Please also pray for the family of Jakob Wagner. As much as we are struggling through this event, we cannot imagine the grief they are experiencing at this time. We want everyone to know that we believe and trust in the eternal God. We are so thankful for the hope that we have in Him. That all can be forgiven of their sins and have eternal life when they believe in Jesus Christ as Savior."

I appreciate this family, their honesty and their relationship and trust in God. This is not an act but the result of a real relationship with God. There is no hope for a solution to our nations' issues without our people turning to God.

During these tragic times we hear of people praying yet we cannot help but wonder who they are praying too since God has been removed from the public square.

The epidemic that plagues our nation is one of unbridled sin that has become normative and without the absolute authority of God and His Word we have no way to make right what is obviously wrong.

Young people today are too often abandon and allowed to be immersed in hours and hours of violent video games, television as well as porn, greed and continual gossip on the internet. There is an effect to such things and it is an effect we will not like and cannot stop.

I do not know if this shooter had these influences but my experience in life would guess that he did. These things in and of themselves are not the problem. Our sin is the problem and our sin has separated us from God. These other things just fuel the problem.

However, God, in His mercy has given us an answer. He sent His son, Jesus, to experience an unjustifiable death on our behalf in order to pay the price demanded for our sins.

Sin always separates, it is the spoils of our sin. It is ironic that God used the death of His son to reunite us with Himself while at the same time giving us the significance and security we lack without Him.

Without God we have no absolutes, no standards of conduct, no line in the sand. Without God all is random, good and bad replace right and wrong and man becomes the measure of all things.

Guns do not kill, sinful people do.

If we want to solve this problem we need to address it's cause and I am beginning to think we are no longer capable of doing so because we do not want to deal with God or the absolutes He declares.

We will never be able to legislate righteousness so our government is not capable of solving this problem. If we are to solve the real problems we need to work on it ourselves, one life and family at a time.

It starts with me knowing I am incapable and needy, as a orphan child without hope. My hope is not in myself but in the one who will show me mercy and has the capability to care for what is broken. God has offered all mankind this opportunity.

After I am adopted, due to God's mercy, I get to live in the way I was created to live. I can now find true significance and security and live in a way that was meant to be. In fact, I get to experience more than  I ever imagined and will never receive the punishment I so deserve.

The parents of this shooting victim and the victim himself have experienced this mercy and are now living in the grace of God, as children of His. They know that they have been forgiven much and therefore are willing to forgive much. They are making our society a better place to live because of their relationship with God.

The answer is not found in religion, or government but in a repaired relationship with God that is offered to us through His Son.

It is the starting point that all must start from or forever live in hopelessness.

The following are verses from Scripture that speak of our sin, God's mercy and the hope of those who have accepted God's forgiveness. I leave you with them without comment in that my comments are not needed to clarify God's Word.


“ For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
(John 3:16-17 ESVST)

“ None is righteous, no, not one;
 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
 “ Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
 “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
 “ Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
 “ Their feet are swift to shed blood;
 in their paths are ruin and misery,
 and the way of peace they have not known.”
 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.
(Romans 3:10-18 ESVST)

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
(Romans 3:23 ESVST)

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 6:23 ESVST)

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8 ESVST)

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
(Romans 10:9 ESVST)

For “ everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
(Romans 10:13 ESVST)

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Romans 5:1 ESVST)

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
(Romans 8:1 ESVST)

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:38-39 ESVST)

A Confused People

 

We are a confused people, and confusion causes us to lose our alertness. This plays well into Satan’s schemes.

Some might already be comfortable in their confusion, and insist that those around them live in confusion as well, so that we can all get along. Can you picture what the world would look like if we all were confused about all things?

Confusion happens when people do not have a grip of reality, and when we dismiss God from being the cause and purpose of all things. In fact, we have attempted to make us the cause and purpose of all things.

Chelsea Clinton recently discussed abortion rights and said this: “A woman’s right to choose is at the core of our human rights and what should be equity in our country^[1]”. Making a statement like this, and having it accepted by anyone, anywhere, shows how confused a people can be.

When we think that our feelings or our belief in something makes something right or wrong, we are in big trouble. A man who believes he is really a woman is really a man, and a woman who believes she is really a man is confused. A man who believes he is a cucumber, or a horse, or dragonfly is confused at best.

Society used to make accommodation for such people in special places where these people could be cared for and not harm or confuse others. Yet today, confusion seems to be the new normal, and the more confused we are, the more normal we are.

Not only is confusion becoming normal, but those who are confused are continually wanting to force those who are not confused to accommodate their confusion as normal.

The nation, as a whole, is playing out the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes, and we the people are the Emperor. In thinking we are impressing the world with our “tolerance” and accommodation, we are the laughing stock of those who are not confused.

How did all of this come to be, and what can be done to stop this erosion of sanity?

I am sure there are many causes to this effect, but we can start with the simple, and realize that the ignoring of God as God is the start of trouble. If God is not God, then we create one of our own liking, and often times, we become or take the place of God.

If the earth was an accident, then so are we. If we are just accidental blobs of protoplasm, then nothing matters anyways, so we might as well allow our feelings, emotions, and desires to create truth rather than to actually discover what truth is.

I heard a news reporter the other day say that Hollywood is the number one influencer of thought in our nation. This may or may not be true, but if it is true, it helps answer why the fantasy life of so many is becoming their “reality.”

For years we have immersed ourselves in the pretend world of Hollywood to the point where now the pretend is more reality than reality.

Once again, this leads to confusion.

In order for confusion to reign, reality must remain foggy. In order for confusion to reign, good and bad need to replace the words right and wrong, and mutually exclusive ideas need to “coexist” in order for us to find “peace.”

In order for confusion to reign, belief needs to be the criterion for truth, and feelings need to be the proof of reality.

Well, in reality, if I may use that term, good and bad are cultural terms that always need comparing, and right and wrong are absolutes around which one can build their life. God is the author of right and wrong, and things are only good if they are right, and things are always bad if they are wrong. To mess this up messes us up.

In reality, mutually exclusive ideas cannot exist. God in the Scriptures and Allah in the Koran cannot both be God, in that they are portrayed differently, and to say that they are the same, or to tolerate both ways of thinking will mess up or confuse our thinking.

In reality, males and females are determined at birth by God, who gave these individuals male or female characteristics. Genetics determine gender, not feelings, wishes, or desires.

President John Adams once said this: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

John Adams understood the purpose and meaning of the Constitution as did John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was appointed by George Washington himself and who once said this: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”^[2]

The young people in our nation today are confused, and thereby will be the most depressed, unproductive, and unresponsive generation in our history.

Those who have been set free by the truth need to put themselves in relationships with those who are confused and enslaved by lies before this confusion reigns supreme, and sanity becomes something talked about in historical terms.

God is not tolerant, but patient, yet His patience is only available to those who will show movement towards the truth, not those who insist on living in ignorance.

---

^[1] http://www.lifenews.com/2016/04/18/chelsea-clinton-on-abortion-womans-right-to-choose-at-the-core-of-our-human-rights/

^[2] Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/americans-prefer-christians-for-their-rulers/#1zcXbFmY60MZ7gyW.99

Reframing of Ministry

God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”

(2 Chronicles 1:11-12 ESV)

Those who are successful in this life are successful because of God, not because of their human ability.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them

(Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 ESV)

Individuals and/ministries that seek to be swift, strong, wise, rich, intelligent, and knowledgeable can easily fail in that they have forgotten the fact that God is in charge of the time and chance, and those are ultimately what matters.

Ministry accepts uniqueness as the norm.

One thing, not many. All that we do must run through the one filter that we have.

Ministries often evolve into places that work diligently at supporting the mission, and use the mission as the motivator rather than work the mission as the mission.

Some would use the word balance. Some would use common sense. Some would talk about the practically of the things we do and the importance of the practical.

When you read Hebrews 11, about the ones who got it right, balance, practical, and common sense were not the descriptors we should use.

First and foremost, we must understand that balance, common sense, and practicality are things that often eclipse God.  As the eclipse takes place, we are awed, as we would be for a lunar eclipse, but the amazement is not because we have seen the hand of God, but because we have obscured the hand of God, and are awed by the eerie effect.

However, balance, common sense, and practicality are tools we should use in the context of what they mean in the scope of knowing God and making Him known.

For example: Did Noah or Stephen or Daniel display common sense, practicality, and balance?

Since they knew God, they did. It is perfectly sensible and extremely practical for one to listen to God. If you know God, you trust Him. You may not understand Him, but you trust Him. Therefore you do as He tells you, immediately, and without question. Humanly, it was not practical, nor did it make common sense, but in the context of Who it was who told you to build, it was both.

Likewise we talk about balance in life. God seems to teach balance in life in teaching us to work six days and then spend one day focused on relationships. God seems balanced in that He gave us daylight hours and night time hours.

The Apostle Paul was in the will of God and worked his mission, while working on his own, in order to be able to eat. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others were often pressed beyond what a human should endure.

Perhaps we have westernized the idea of balance, common sense, and practicality, and because mankind has eclipsed God, we see no problem.

Ministry today does not need more balance, common sense, or practical advice from those who do not love, enjoy, and obey God. We do not need to make sure we are cared for. We need to make sure we are enjoying and obeying the only One who can care for us.

It seems as if many churches have become about people rather than about God, and para- church ministries have become about people rather than about supporting the church.

As a Godless politician believes that he/she gets his/her power from the people, and adjusts his/her focus in order to win a majority of them to their side, ministries can easily begin to think that they, too, receive their power from the people, and begin to work the crowds like skillful politicians, rather than someone like John the Baptist.

If repentance is what we need, then where is the genuine cry for an example of repentance?

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

(2 Chronicles 7:14-15 ESV)

Because God is who He is, we are here to show the world that He is who He says He is. We do that first and foremost by having a staff and board who enjoy Him and obey Him. We do that by looking for ways in every area of our daily work to show who He is and how He operates.

We do not work at portraying a place and a people who love and honor God. We work at actually loving and honoring God. We are about knowing Christ, first and foremost, and then allowing the Holy Spirit to use us and our circumstances to show the world who He is.

Perhaps Mary was the most blessed of all people. She was one who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, misunderstood by her fiancé, friends, relatives, and country. She was the one who had to travel when she was about to give birth, and then landed in a barn among relatives who somehow rejected this girl by not giving up their rooms in the inn. Mary gave birth, had to go on the run, lost Joseph somewhere along the way, and watched her innocent son get taken, beaten, and crucified.

In a human, practical sense, she did not seem blessed, yet she was, as defined by God.

Our goal is to be blessed of God. This may not mean comfort, wealth, fame, fortune, etc., and we must remain focused on what that looks like. In all things we must consider how we might show the world in which we live who God is, to give a visibility to the conceptual ideas of God to the Godless.

Ministry is and should be unique or holy, and will remain that way as long as our goal and efforts are directed towards knowing Him and making Him known.

Contentment- Our Weapon Of Choice

I was recently reading a blog that was written by an accomplished advertising guru aimed at helping the next generation of copywriters.

I have always known that advertising in general is not for the benefit of the one they are trying to persuade, but for both the copywriter’s ego/financial gain, and the company’s bottom line.

With that in mind, one must be discerning in that what is read, said, or imagined in that it may represent some of the most destructive principles known to man. (I am choosing to not reveal the blogger.)

The blogger stated this: “…in theory and sometimes practice, we are efforting to ‘make people want what they don’t need.’” Can you imagine being one who lives their life dreaming about how they can convince people to covet things for which they have no real need?  Does this make life better for anyone other than those who write the copy, get paid for their writing, and those who benefit from the sale? This seems like, at least a purposeless existence, and at most, evil.

The blogger continues to say this: “Admit it, copywriters. When you’re drafting a manifesto for a product or service or company (it doesn’t much matter what the thing is) don’t you feel the power at your fingertips? There, at your desk, you are creating a myth. Our words are like sparks and we want them to ignite. We are toying with Pandora’s Box and it is nothing short of thrilling.”

This comes from a man who is an “expert” in the field, and who hopes to help young copywriters get it right. The idea of control, deception, and the creation of importance from the meaningless seems more Satanic than noble.

He continues: “Who doesn’t want their copy to go viral? To be shared. To spread like, frankly, a disease….With powerful alchemy, we will have turned people into consumers. Into Believers. We will have become god’s of advertising!” 

There seems to be an obsession with controlling people and gaining something at their expense, at creating something from nothing, and focusing on using our persuasive abilities for personal gain rather than for the good of others.

What has happened to responsibility? He states this: “Your exact philosophy will be a function of percentages. I’d say my current philosophy is 60% passion to 40% responsibility.” This leaves a person to be driven mainly by their passions, and somewhat subdued by their responsibility. Yet without God, what does responsibility even look like?

What is even sadder is that this advertising guru seems to have captured the actual thinking of our culture. This mindset is confused, self-absorbed and out of control. He said this: “The fantasy of winning untold riches is at the crux of human desire. It drove countless throngs into the California wilderness looking for gold. A few found some. More died trying. Still, there was that chance…And yet who didn’t buy a lottery ticket this week? I’m willing to bet millions of people who otherwise despise the 1% stood in line for a shot at becoming one. Perhaps these myriad hopefuls believe, upon winning hundreds of millions of dollars, that they would not become selfish snobs living only for pleasure and hedonism. One need only look at rock stars and pro athletes to see how that plays out. Sure, I’m generalizing (there are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are great philanthropists) but you must concede the point: We are all willing to chance our integrity for the possibility of riches. It’s the American Dream.”

The American dream--the idea that our forefathers fought and died for--was that we might have the chance to abandon our integrity on the altar of chance? This seems like a distortion at best, and, once again, Satanic at worst.

Those who have learned to be content in any state, they are truly unique. They are either mentally challenged or challenging others’ mentality.

If one is chasing significance, security, or contentment, they will never find it, for it is a gift that cannot be earned and is given to those who discover and respond to God’s mercy.  The purpose behind the advertising industry is to foster a dissatisfaction with all things present, while promising that whatever they offer will finally bring them the satisfaction, in the present.

False hopes and dreams based on lies and manipulations do not make for a better life.

Americans are easily manipulated into believing that it is possible to have our best life now, and they diligently seek it, until they realize that it has all been a sham, and it is too late to pull out of the materialistic tailspin we have started.

Modern advertising is based on using people, not loving people. It is based on greed and covetousness, and uses half-truths, lies, and distortions to manipulate. Advertising, television shows, movies, etc. are based on the “pretend,” and have become more important to us than reality, which is getting even harder to identify. It is the stuff American dreams are made of.

The only way to render this medium powerless is to turn it off. We need to choose to often and intentionally create a Sabbath rest when we spend time with God and each other. We need a standard by which we can measure all information. We need a filter, outside of ourselves, that can sort out the clever lies from the sometimes mundane truth.

Truth sets us free, lies enslave, and those who have no truth have no good choices. If we refuse to reject that which destroys, we choose to be destroyed.

It is even possible and even probable that the very people and institutions that were set up by God to oversee abandons their responsibility as they did in Jeremiah’s time. Jeremiah 14:14 states this: And the Lord said to me:“The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Any nation that is ruled by the “lie” is not ruled, but is manipulated, and will pay a significant price. Right before the previously stated Jeremiah passage, God told Jeremiah the following: The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. (Jeremiah 14:11-12 ESVST)

No one is guaranteed a second, third, or fourth chance, and those “prophets and priests” who proclaim that God never gives up must not read what God has said and done in the past. Believing something does not make it true, for truth stands even if I do not believe it.

Unless Christians actually become Christ-followers and guard our minds, we will lose our minds, and the very purposes we were created to enjoy will be the considered unachievable.

It is impossible to love this world and love God. We will prove God right on this one way or another.

Purposeful Rest

The idea of a Sabbath rest is foundational throughout Scripture. In fact, the Sabbath is the only “ritual” mentioned in the Ten Commandments. There is something very special about the idea of Sabbath that those of us who live in the western world may have lost.

First and foremost, we need to understand that we were created to be relational. We were made to be in a relationship with God and each other. In the “each other” category, we were made to focus on family, then others, and to love all, even our enemies.

The concepts given to us by God are concepts that are rather simple, but at the same time are profound enough to spend hours and hours contemplating them and the significant role they play in our lives, the universe, and eternity.

Satan is described as God’s enemy, and is one whom God says is clever, or cunning, and sly. He would gladly use something that God has created and deemed good in ways it was not meant to be in order to destroy it. In fact, mankind would not willingly or knowingly destroy themselves, so Satan would need to work at making our destruction appealing, desirable, and perhaps, even normal.

One might ask how Satan could and would do such things, and that would be a valid question. I do not think that I or anyone else can really tell you what Satan is up to unless we have read about it in the Scriptures. However, I would assume that Satan would be attacking us in the most foundational areas of life, knowing that if the foundation goes, the building is sure to follow.

God is the cornerstone, or the most important foundational brick. Without Him, you have no foundation, so it seems natural that His enemy would attack the very idea of God. In fact, the Bible starts with this quote in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God….”

There is both written word and physical evidence that God exists. In fact, we are told that those who choose to ignore this fact have pushed the truth, that was implanted in us, away, in favor of believing an error.

Believing lies never turns out well, and we all know that, but we do not all know the lies to which we have been exposed. Mom and dads could be exposed to lies at work or at the coffee shop. Sons and daughters could be exposed to lies at school, on the playground, or by watching a movie.

Since truth is important, and we can be exposed to and eventually believe lies, we need to be able to safeguard the truth and have some way to check to see if we have begun to fade from knowing the things we should know.

Perhaps that is why God created life to be relational. As I spend time enjoying God, reading His Word, and talking to Him, I get to see clearly what is right and wrong, and see if anything I have seen or heard is a “lie.” As one spends time with family, as they do life together, they will be able to see how we live, respond, and think, and if we are beginning to hear and actually listen to lies, they are there to help us refocus.

What has happened in our culture is not good for relationships. We are people who can easily be busy all of the time. We have access to work from home, and to home from work. We have school, sports, and social lives to live, and have immediate and constant access to events and people via some sort of electronic device.

Some would say that our culture is unique in its opportunities to be busy, but that is not so. In fact, people have had the opportunity to be busy and distracted in every era and place in history.  In this world there is always more to do. Today, we have many ways of being distracted, of mistaking arrangements for relationships, and often, in our attempt to use things, the things in our lives use us.

Sadly to say, one of the signs of a culture that is too busy is that they begin using things and people rather than enjoying them.

Everyone lives differently. Some live in chaos or a mess until cleaning day, making cleaning day quite a chore. Others attempt to live and clean and organize as they go, making cleaning day quite bearable.

The Sabbath is really about taking the time to put things back where they belong. If it is done on a regular basis, the changes in life are small and relatively easy. If we live our lives out of control and then take a moment now and then to try and straighten it out, we become weary just looking at the mess, and want to just destroy it all and start over.

That approach might work for a garage, but it is not acceptable in relationships.

Those who want to live as we were intended to live, and enjoy the fruits that accompany healthy thinking and living, need to do so in relationships. Without a relationship with God you cannot have healthy relationships with people, and both need to have intentional and undistracted time in order to thrive.

Intentional and undistracted would be the key words to try to incorporate.

If one would sleep 8 hours a day, seven days a week, he/she would have 112 hours awake each week. One seventh of 112 would be about 16 hours a week, or 2 hours and 20 minutes a day. Those who want to have healthy relationships need to schedule time for them. Ideally, you should spend 16 hours one day working on relationships. In our culture, that may not work, so maybe we should work towards spending two hours and twenty minutes a day in relationships building and renewing.

Legalism is not the goal; relationships are the goal. However, intentionality is not legalism.

With this in mind, The Omega Force, in conjunction with Silver Birch Ranch and The Wolf River Refuge, invites you to be intentional a couple times a year at our beautiful property on the Wolf River.  The Wolf River Refuge has cabins that are available for families to come and use for a couple days to a week, and helps you with the “intentional” part of the formula.

Just as one would make regular dental appointments to ward off problems, one should make regular “relational” appointments that do not include distractions, in order to repair, renew, or just enjoy God and each other.

While at the Wolf River Refuge, you will be hosted by Steve and Kris Tice, Biblical Counselors, who will do whatever it takes to encourage you to leave the rest of the world behind for awhile while you focus on those who are actually important to you. If you need time with them to discuss various areas, they would be available and willing to help.

If you’re planning to come, or just planning on being more intentional at home, perhaps you could incorporate some of these elements, and even work towards making them a normal part of your “sabbath” rests.

Dress nicely in a way that your spouse and family would be proud.

Prepare food ahead of time to enjoy, or enjoy meals prepared for you by the Wolf River Refuge staff.

After sunset, the night before, bless your children. Talk to them, thank God for them, and encourage them.

Spouses--thank and affirm each other in front of the children.

Discuss the time period before the sabbath…what’s going on in life.

Nobody works, no electronic devices, no movies, no television…no normal pressures.

Have everyone spend time reading and praying.

Go for a long walk and talk along the way.

Take time to notice the “creation” and talk of what it says to the created.

Leadership

Leadership is easy while being a leader is quite difficult.

Leaders are those who follow. They have a desire to find the truth and yield to the truth.

Following is hard because followers are admitting that they are not in charge, that they cannot control the situation and their pride becomes a formidable foe.

Leadership is really about position, not positioning.

If  the goal is to obtain a following or control others one could do that through various means. Forcing someone to follow or manipulating, coercing, begging or pleading does not make someone a good leader.

In fact, the idea that leadership is about having a following has caused many in leadership to focus on how many are following them and the methods to which they must use to gain that following. The focus of these leaders shifts from providing an example to making them the example.

This opens the door for all sorts of abuse creates an atmosphere of fear, doubt, debt and regret.

Any person can study people and then focus on what it takes to manipulate then to do what they want them to do. Anyone can coerce others by somehow manipulating their worlds and making themselves needed rather than wanted.

In reality, God alone is the authority and all who truly are dedicated to following Him are positioned to become true leaders. Those who do not believe in God, who do not follow God are positioned to become dictators, tyrants and despots. Dictators, tyrants and despots may, by definition be leaders but in reality they are those who destroy life and block the masses from ever being a position to reach their God given potential.

The world needs more Christ followers and less leaders.