Voice of the Introverts

Sometimes in this life, as Christians, we get a feeling that something else is needed, that we are someplace we do not belong. We go about doing our jobs and our ministries, and after a while it feels like it is time to move on. I think it is mainly about the fact that upon salvation we have different desires.

 In today’s world, over the last century, we have seen criminals and politicians alike flaunt the law. Our judicial system seems to be broken. We complain about it constantly. Criminals getting a slap on the hand and being released back onto the street. Corrupt politicians bending the law to standards that help them and their constituents with all sorts of pork barrel projects.

     No one wants to willingly admit it outright but the corruption extends all the way to the White House and beyond. Although the cause of corruption is pure evil no one seems to want to fight against it. 

Everyone of us has a different gift. Some of us can do great things; others cannot. We all have abilities, even though some of them are untapped and not realized or nurtured.

In nature, there are creatures that attract other creatures (for mating purposes, or just for lunch) in many different ways. The anglerfish have lures in their mouths that have a luminous glow; the glow sort of mesmerizes its target and gobbles the target up while it is still in a trance. Female giraffes urinate near potential suitors, who in turn drink said urine to see if this female meets his expectations. Lightening bugs (you can call them fireflies if you must) light up their butts to attract females. The point is that every creature uses something to attract others.

I have been planning on writing another article for some time. If you did not know this about me I have citizenship in several different countries. I am a child of the King, so I am a citizen of Heaven first.  I was born and raised in the United States of America, therefore I am a citizen of this country. The third country that I am a citizen of, I just happened to fall into. I have a hard time getting started with any project. I am a citizen of the Procrasti-Nation.

The Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Titus who was a pastor/teacher that Paul had won to the Lord. The early church was not big buildings or big ministries, it was local teacher/pastors that were holding meetings in their own homes. Of course, these were not big congregations, but these people were meeting together in small groups and then dispersing out to the community teaching and witnessing to others of the love of Christ that these, themselves had witnessed and felt. It seems that Titus, as all pastors everywhere do, was having trouble with some of the congregants. Duh! So what else is new? When you oversee people and try to give some sort of direction to them, there is always some sort of trouble and/or drama. 

If you have not read the last couple of issues, this is third in a series and will finish it out. The first two were Our Only Hope, and Childlike Faith. I am providing the hyperlinks to the last two, so that you can see where I am coming from with all three writings.

When I am writing this, it is from an American viewpoint. I am not sure what is going on in the rest of the world, but Americans have gone bonkers. 

In the last edition, Our Only Hope, I touched on a subject that I think we need a little farther contemplation on: that topic is having faith as a little child.

“And he (Christ) said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” 

-Matthew 18:3

It is very easy for children to come to Christ at an early age. I was saved when I was six years old. When we get older, if left to our own devices, we have developed our thinking from ideas of the world. Modern thinking is to let children develop their own ideas of morality, to try everything and zero in on what makes the most sense. The idea is that everyone has some good in them, so just let it develop on its own and the world will become a much better place because the good will overcome the bad.

We struggle and fret; we worry ourselves into early graves. What do you tell yourselves when you lie down at night? Does your head keep spinning with everything going on in the world? Is it hard to sleep because of all that is happening? Does it seem like you have no control, even over your own life? Is there anything you can do about it? The simple answer is no, there is nothing you can do that will make it all go away. There is only one hope, and that answer is not within yourself. 

From People being sold land that’s underwater, or Madison Avenue creating ads that make you want to buy things that you don’t really want or need, all the way back to when hucksters would travel through the countryside selling bottles of elixirs called “snake oil” – all these things have one thing in common – they are all lies. Our government, our new media, Hollywood: they are all purveying the same thing at this point in time – they are spouting lies faster than they can make them up! 

I always thought that this quote was written by Shakespeare. It turns out this was first written by an old English dude named Edward Bulwer-Lytton in 1839, in his historical play Cardinal Richelieu. It is more than likely an American thing that I did not know this. In fact, I had never heard of the guy. I guess this means that Shakespeare’s pen was very mighty indeed, since a lot of us think that he said it.