While the northeast USA is experiencing harsh winter weather which is shutting down everything and the southern hemisphere is experiencing lots of heat – we are sitting here in the fog and mid-forties.  Hopefully it will lift later today.  It is already better than it was when I got up and you could barely see the garden from the window.

I will be off line for a few days, not sure how many.  Operation is tomorrow, and it seems every time they sedate me – which has been about a dozen this past year - it takes longer for me to come out of the fog. 

Exodus 3:13-14  And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?

¹⁴ And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

God was sending Moses to the people of Israel to bring them out of Egypt, out of bondage.  Moses was ‘reluctant’ to say the least of the many things he said to try and get out of the assignment was: What is his name? what shall I say unto them? God needed no introduction they knew God.  He is who He is and He knew that when Moses said I am that I am, they would believe him.

Moses used many excuses and God answered each one.  He gave him miracles to perform before the people that confirmed “I Am” sent him.

God had prepared Moses for this leadership task.  He had placed Him in Pharaoh’s house for approximately 40 years, he was given all the education, and benefits that the rest of the family received.  When Moses was driven into the desert, he spent the next approximately 40 years in a more humble environment as a shepherd, living a hard life.

He was ready, but he kept trying to back out and God used signs to show him he was the one God had chosen to lead His people. 

Exodus 4:31 And the people believed: and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshipped.

While they indeed submit themselves to God through Moses, throughout their journey in the wilderness – despite the many miracles God performed and signs they were given that they were to worship Him – they continued to fall away. 

Even 3 days after being led through the Red Sea on dry land with walls of water on either side, even though they had watch Pharaoh and his army destroyed they needed another miracle to show that Moses was doing what God wanted him to do.

Exodus 15:22 -24  So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water.

²³ And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.

²⁴ And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?

Throughout the Bible we read of the many miracles God performed for the Jews and yet, they continually pulled away from Him.  They continually demanded signs that what He wanted done was ordered by Him.

Sometimes He was willing, other times He was not. 

For thousands of years this demand for signs and the falling away of even the leaders, who remained in power, continued.

It was still the same when Jesus walked this earth.

Mathew 16:1 The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.

This was after the many miracles Jesus had performed, the many signs that He was sent by God to the Jews.

Even His disciples would forget what He had done, and had to be reminded by Jesus.  We read these things and shake our heads.  Were these people blind, did they have such a short memory that they couldn’t even remember the miracles performed just a few days before?  We may even think of them as ‘idiots,’ or at the very least foolish unbelievers, who like a child, has to be reminded over and over again.

Not like us.

The Word of God has given us documentation that He is God.  It shows what His expectation of us is; how we must serve Him.  It gives us examples of His power and of those that trusted Him.  It gives us examples of what happens when we turn our backs on Him.  In addition to His Word, we have all experienced His love and dedication to us, many of us have been healed and/or have witnessed miracles.

AND then we too, question Him.  We too, find ourselves reluctant to accept what He tells us and demand a sign from Him as affirmation.  There are times that God places burdens on us that we feel are far greater than we can carry.

We do not have the skills or energy to perform these tasks.  We look around and find others that we believe could do the job better.  We question whether it is our desire to serve Him, or truly Him using us in this manner.  He will affirm His commands and, if we listen, we can see that affirmation – it may be He sends someone to tell us they too feel we are to perform the work, or open doors that are closed to us – except by the miraculous power of God.

The truth is we too offend must see signs to determine if God is speaking or not – and those signs are actually in His Word and we have been told many times this is His desire.  Confidence in Him comes from our relationship with Him, based on His Word and the communication with Him through prayers.

There are many Christians who have that confidence, who step out when He tells them to, who witness to others as the Holy Spirit leads them – not asking if they are supposed to or not, they know because of that relationship with Him. 

My prayer, the desire of my heart is to have that kind of relationship with Him.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

Fog lifted from this morning, but around 1600 it started rolling in, to the point that we can barely see the houses around us.  Looks like we are on the coast.  As the fog rolled in the cats came into the house and hunkered down.

Baked a one skillet chicken and stuffing dinner for lunch, should have plenty of leftovers so Carla won’t have to cook the next few days.  

Exodus 12:12 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord.

As I read through this Chapter of Exodus this verse stood out to me.  God is patient, He gave the Pharaoh ample warnings in both words through Moses and Aaron and the actual miracles of plagues, yet Pharaoh did not listen.  As a result, God destroyed the first born in Egypt of those that did not have the blood of the lamb on their door posts.

God wanted to make it clear that HE, and HE ONLY, is God; I am the Lord.  The gods of Egypt, the leaders of Egypt could not save the people from this horrendous plague, only those that believed Him and listened to Moses were to be spared.

God expected strict obedience from His people.  He gave them orders to eat only unleavened bread for 7 days and on the night of the Passover of the Death angel a specific menu.  Then of course they had to put the blood of the lamb on the door posts.  Things that may seem foolish to man, were a command of God. Failure to obey would mean that He would cast them out and they would be condemned as the Egyptians were condemned.

His message was clear and undistorted by those that would try and water down His message.  Obey and be saved, disobey and suffer the consequences.

Mathew 16:6  Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

And verses 11-12  How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees?

¹² Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees had been manipulating the Word of God for some time.  They had inserted their own ideas and message into the commandments of God.  They had done the equivalent of using leaven bread instead of unleavened bread as God had commanded.

As Christians we must be sure that we are examining the teachings of Christian leaders to make sure they have not placed leavening in the Word of God including the Gospel of Christ.  We must look at the doctrines laid down by the leaders and evaluate them by comparing them with the Word of God.

There is grave danger in today’s world.  Men who claim to be ‘Men of God’ are manipulating His Word for their benefit.  They want the adulation of men feeding their egos; they want the things money can buy so they beg for money to be sent to them – supposedly to further the Word of God, but in reality to support their lifestyle.

Preachers preach a Gospel that ignores the fact that God is God and we have a responsibility to Him.  Jesus was more than our Savior; He was the Son of God.  He was God placed on earth to confirm who God is and to confirm His Word.  Through His life we learn what God expects of us – to be perfect as He is perfect.

For many Christians today, their religion is separate from their everyday life.  They are not inconvenienced because they know that they are forgiven and will be forgiven of any misdeeds, so misdeeds they do. 

We do not want to mistake God’s Grace through Jesus Christ for God’s unwillingness to discipline either His children or the people of the world.

May we focus on service to God, obedience to His Word and a daily reaffirmation of our love for Him and His directions to us.  May we thoughtfully review any doctrinal directives from man and/or the interpretation of God’s Word by comparing them with His Word.  May we strive to convey His love and directives as HE wants them conveyed, not according to man’s word, but God’s.  

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

Pretty day today, got into the low 60’s with a nice bright sun.  Didn’t get a lot done outside, but it was nice.

Last night’s dinner was good.  But Deed thought there was too much garlic.  Too much garlic.  I had didn’t notice, of course, I really enjoy garlic, can’t figure out how much is too much.... Had some leftovers today, and the food was even better than last night.  Blaze liked it both days. 

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Malachi 3:6 For I am the Lord, I change not;

Many of us got upset when we were ‘informed’ by Obama that we were no longer a Christian Nation.  It has been pointed out that over 70% our nation believes in Christ, many more believe in God.  So we are a Christian nation – take that!

But is it the God of the Bible?  Is it the Christ of the Bible?  AND further, do they believe in Christ or God – or just say they do?

In the last 50 years we have allowed the name of God, (of the Bible) His authority and power be eroded to the point that for many He is just an entity out there somewhere, but has no bearing on their lives. 

Christ is no longer the Savior and the only way to God.  He is just a name, an historic person who had good ideas and teaching like Mohamed, or Buddha or any number of ‘great’ men throughout the history.

America – and the world - has watered down the true God in such a manner that it cannot understand who He is, or what He represents.  We have allowed the Bible and His Word to be ousted from the schools; children are taught that the religion of evolution is the one true entity and God is just a myth in comparison. 

Items that represent anything that stands for God and particularly Christ are being cast out and destroyed from public places.

Where once almost every home in America owned a Bible and the vast majority of them actually read it and/or took it under their arm to church on Sunday, those numbers are dropping dramatically.

People, particularly large numbers of those that are under 30 or even 40, do not understand who God is, and those of us that are older are to blame.  We have allowed too many things to come between us and God and God has taken a very back burner – maybe even off the stove – to living.

Christ is preached, but the understanding of what His background is becomes minimalized if used at all.  I have heard too often that the Old Testament is no longer of use to the modern day Christian.  But without that understanding and reference of God as He showed Himself in the Old Testament, is there a foundation of God and Christ is the New Testament?

God is God.  Those of us who have been around for a few decades understand what that means.  However, the world is getting farther and farther away from understanding what it means.  They do not have the foundation required to understand.  Yes, many are saved, but many more are leaving the church because they feel it has no relevance.

They do not understand why God is important, how He is relevant today and why they should worship Him as God the Father and not just as Jesus.  But the young people are not the only ones who don’t understand the proper place of God.

A conversation in one of my adult Sunday School class becomes more and more relevant to me as I grow closer to God.  The question asked was who was more important, God or Jesus?  Now you have to understand most of these people were over the age of 50 – many had been Christians for most of their lives.

They had a long history of service to God in many ways, deacons, teachers, bible study leaders among other services.  Almost to the person the answer was Jesus.

C.K. Barnes, a member of the class, a retired fire and brimstone preacher, a man of God whom all of us respected, came down on us like thunder from God Himself.  GOD the FATHER is the most important, Jesus served God, not the other way around.  Jesus answered to the Father, not questioning His commands to Him.

We cannot forget who God is; how He is defined by His Words in the Old Testament and by His relationship with Israel. 

Jesus reaffirmed, over and over again that God was the Lord and He was the servant to Him.  Yes, Jesus is vital to man, He is the method and means we have to relate to God the Father, He died for us – but God the Father is the One who sent Him.

God is the God of Genesis, the Creator.  When we minimize God by trying to minimize His Word; in trying to pacify scientists or religions or the world view prevalent today, then we do a disservice to God, ourselves and those that need Him and His Son.

So what are we to do?  We cannot assume that everyone we talk to, yes, even those in the church, truly understand Who God is.

While we think the term ‘gods’ is obsolete that God means the God of the Bible, others think along different lines.  ‘Higher Power,’ ‘Brahma,’ one of the hundreds of Hindu gods are just a few.  We need to define God, we need to make sure they understand that there is but ONE TRUE GOD, the Hebrew God of the Bible.

We need to teach in such a manner that they do understand.

Have you ever been in a beginners’ class on almost anything?  The teacher starts with the basics, they do not assume that everyone in the class has the same experience.  They want to be sure that everyone understands how to begin, maybe even going into the history of the subject, before they proceed into the actual meat of the subject. 

We teach those that have a base understanding of what needs to be done, differently than those that have no such understanding.  If a man has been a hunter all his life, we do not need to go into details of proper shooting, but when a person just starts out we must go to the very basics, what a bullet is, what it is capable of doing, breath control, sight picture, safety, etc.

Even terms must often be defined.  As one President so infamously stated, “it depends on what the definition of is, is.” 

Different professions have acronyms which mean entirely different things; In Ombudsman terms C.O. means Certified Ombudsman, in Law Enforcement it means Corrections Officer; Facility means a home that cares for people as a Nursing Home or a hospital, to a Cop it means jail.

We assume people know what we are talking about all the time, but often words are misunderstood or not understood at all.  To some parts of the United States a carbonated beverage is a soda, to other parts it is pop and to many it is just ‘a coke.’  One may say it is time for supper, another it is time for dinner thinking we are saying the same thing, when we may not be.

Yes, it is important that Salvation through Jesus be preached, His teachings and His parables be subjects of Sermons and discussions in fact it is imperative – but NEVER at the expense of who sent Him, who is the One True God, God the Father.

Jesus taught that, the best example is the prayer He gave the manner in which we should pray and it starts out with “Our Father, who art in Heaven.”

Jesus used quotations from the Old Testament when talking to the Jewish people and particularly the leaders.  THEY understood what He was saying, they understood His references because they knew God’s Word.  It used to be when we talked to people, Christian or not, about God they knew immediately who He was and how our world came about – that is not always true now and we must remember who we are talking to in order to give them an understanding of their need for Christ.

Acts 26:23  That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.

What is the light?

Psalm 119:104-106 Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

¹⁰⁵ Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

¹⁰⁶ I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

The light is the Word of God, not just the New Testament, but the Old also.  It leads us into a Holy life.  One that is pleasing to Him.

John 1:1-5  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

² The same was in the beginning with God.

³ All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

⁴ In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

⁵ And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Christ is God’s Word in the form of a man; His light to this world, but He was before the beginning.  To understand His message fully, to understand who He is, we must understand who God is and that only comes from God’s Word.  When we ask Him for guidance His Holy Spirit is there to help lead us into righteousness, as defined in HIS Word.

When the Apostles preached to the Jews they did not have to define terms, because the Jews knew them.  But when they talked with those that did not have a Jewish background they were required to define who God is, to explain His Word and how it relates to Jesus.  To the Jews, He was the Lord, to the Greeks he was the unknown god, one of many.

Lord, may we never forget who you are.  May we respect and love you as God the Father, the Creator who sent your only Son, Jesus, to die for us.  We owe you our allegiance and our praise and our worship and our thanksgiving for you are the Lord our God who changes not.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

Well, I put Ken’s roast with carrots from the garden into the oven for the birthday dinners.  We will have mashed potatoes from the garden as a side dish.  Cake – NOT from scratch – has been baked and two kinds of frosting – NOT from scratch – is ready for the birthday girls, even though it will be a bit before they mark the anniversary. 

But, I wanted to celebrate with them and this was the best time, next few weeks are going to be challenging.  We will have an early dinner this evening.

Not much else going on in our neck of the woods, trust all is fine with you.  

Mathew 15:7-9 Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,

⁸ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

⁹ But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Isaiah 29:13 Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

Jesus was quoting Isaiah to the scribes, and Pharisees – they were challenging how His disciples were acting when they themselves were creating or honoring traditions that had nothing to do with God.  It is a long time problem, as it was the through the ages, it is today.

Man thinks he can improve on God’s message.  He cannot.  People want to know how they can be holy, so there will be those that will provide a formula, not from the heart of God, but from their own hearts.  They will twist the Bible message to mean what they want it to mean – and then provide rules to follow so that a person can be ‘holy.’  -- But they must follow those rules or they cannot be saved.  It was the same thing the Jewish leaders did for thousands of years.

There are many ways to present the message and as long as it is true to His Word, it will be used by the Holy Spirit to reach a person’s heart.  I am not all that excited about some of those methods – I don’t care for Rap and many of the more ‘modern’ music.  But it reaches those that God wants reached and as long as the message in the music and the behavior of the musician follows God’s Word it can be used for His glory.

The same is true of using the different social media outlets, I have not joined any of them but many people are on it.  They can be reached by using the outlets for His glory. 

Just as television was a taboo thing in years past, Christians have learned that it is a good way to get their message across to people.  We know the dangers of that instrument and how it has gone from a media that used to pride itself on watching what went out over the airways, to an anything goes and even the most innocuous programs can contain things we neither condone, nor believe in or want our children to watch.  Still it is the message that goes out that is evil, not the method itself.

We need to discern what the message is, how it impacts us and how it lines up with God’s Word.  We must be diligent at all times.

Deception by satan and slipping away from God is like a child taking his first cookie knowing he is not supposed to have it, or lying knowing what he has done is wrong and he is trying to not be held accountable – it is a gradual process.  The child’s conscience hammers him, he is scared, but he also is excited, with some his conscience makes the cookie taste bad, others his guilt is assuaged by the excitement and it tastes all the more sweeter.

Once they have done one thing wrong – and got away with it, it is easier to do it again.  Eventually the actions can become more aggressive and costly in both what is taken, and to the person’s conscience. 

If we think something is harmful to our spiritual well-being it probably is, it ‘sounds’ wrong for a reason.  But sometimes it seems too sweet to be wrong, a ‘new’ way of looking at things can disguise an attack on both God’s Word and our sensibilities.

With so much out there that is promulgated by those that have yielded to satan’s message, and a lot of it sounds ‘okay,’ how does a Christian know what is right and what is wrong?

We can ask God; and I don’t mean just a lip service, but an actual meeting with God in prayer and with a heart open to Him.  We need to know His Word, the Holy Spirit will prompt us with that and if we are unsure, we need to search His Word.  God will give us the insights to discern right from wrong.

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

He wants us to be Holy as He is Holy, to do that we must ask Him how, we must search His Word and we must listen to the Holy Spirit as He guides us through our days, through the maze that satan tries to lay before us.

Some sin is black and white, we are not to murder, commit adultery, take God’s name in vain just to name a few – the Ten Commandments pretty well lay those out for us.  But sometimes it is not.

If the Holy Spirit is telling us to take action – and we know that it is He that is directing us, and we refuse to do as He tells us, it is sin.

James 4:17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

As an example, many churches forbid the use of alcoholic beverages, calling it a sin.  Is it?

John 2:8-10 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it.

⁹ When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

¹⁰ And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

That was the first public miracle that is recorded of Jesus’s ministry. 

Ephesians 5:18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;

Paul did not forbid the drinking of wine, but said do not drink to access.  We all know what happens when that is done, the person does things that they would never do when sober – and much of that is wrong.

The other danger, of course, is addiction.  Alcohol is one of the most addict substances around.  Once addicted they have great difficulty remaining sober and even the smell of an alcoholic beverage will entice them to over indulge.

Like any drug, it can be addictive to some people with one use of it.  Others become addicted over a period of time, they need it to calm their nerves before speaking, they need it to relax, they need it to wash down their meal.  After a while they need it to make it through the day, and then through the hour.

The same is true of many substances – marijuana being one of them that is becoming ‘legal’ in so many states.  It should never have been done.  People who, before now, have not partaken of the drug will feel it is okay to do that now.  The abuse and wrong use of it is going to create a multitude of problems for all of us.

Drinking wine, in of itself is not a sin, but it can be if we are drinking around people for whom alcohol is a problem.  And it is a problem for tens of millions of people in the USA alone.  Sometimes we are not even aware a person has a problem with it until they hit bottom.

While it is true that not everyone will become addicted or misuse alcohol or some other drug, why take the chance, and even more important why tempt those that have problems with it.

I don’t drink.  I have only done so one time.  I was one of several community leaders that drank measured amounts for a local program that was produced to show the results of alcohol on a person.  I was asked to participate because everyone knew I didn’t drink and it helped show how even a few drinks can influence a person.  Just a couple of drinks can impair a person’s decision making ability and reaction times.

That was thirty years ago, and I haven’t drank since.  A lot of my fellow Christians were very upset with me for participating, but I felt the message was worth it.  Was I wrong?  I didn’t and don’t think it harmed my testimony – but we have to be careful about that. 

The message was don’t drink and drive, but some of the participants demonstrated why a person shouldn’t drink at all – their behavior was affected and they did some stupid things.  One of them wanted the production pulled from the television because he looked like such a fool.  I was asked what I thought.

I made it clear that I had participated to demonstrate the bad effects of alcohol and I had gone out on a limb to do so, against my religious beliefs of not drinking and those of many of my friends – I wanted it to be shown for the very reason the other person didn’t want it shown, drinking is a dangerous activity.  They left it on for the entire scheduled time.

I have never been a drinker.  But I do remember talking to my first Pastor about the church’s ban on alcohol and smoking.  This was a major issue in the 1960’s one that a person could find themselves forced out of the church if it was taken to far.

However, I also want to make something clear here, one of the things that Christians, who have their heart toward God, can do is forgive, pray for and help others.  Knowing they, themselves, are not perfect, listening to and obeying Jesus’s command to forgive others, they are willing to work with sinners and help them overcome their sins. 

So if drinking itself is not a sin – why shouldn’t a Christian drink?

I truly believe that we must live our lives as pure and holy as possible – despite being a sinner who just can’t seem to avoid temptation, there are certain lines I know should not be crossed and imbibing in alcohol is one of them, for me.

I believe, as Christians, we must remember this verse and if we forget then we are indeed disobeying it: Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

Because we need to be mindful that partaking can cause a brethren to falter, and can justify – in the mind of a person looking at struggling with an addiction and thinking that it isn’t something they should worry about having anything to do with their salvation since ‘that Christian’ is doing it:

1 Corinthians 8:9-11 But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

¹⁰ For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;

¹¹ And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?

There are always people who struggle with sin in their lives, if we know that something is a stumblingblock to someone – and especially when we know many people suffer from the sin, we should refrain from exposing them to that problem. 

That was the major message the Pastor gave me, one that I have strived to live up to since.

Paul, in my opinion, said it well:  1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Let us look to God for our guidance.  Measure all our traditions and what man says is holy living against the Word of God so that we will not be led astray.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again

Mom has today off; we will just be puttering around the house.  I have to type up some recipes for Mary and get them sent off.

One of those blah days as far as weather goes, everyone in the house hold is just taking it easy today.  A good day to sit by the fire with a hot cup of cocoa and let the world go by. 

I got one of those how are we doing calls from an outfit that was surveying patients.  They always ask what my race is, and then go through a list, Mexican, White, Black, etc. I always say ‘Human.’  Sometimes I get a reaction, sometimes not.  When they say that they need one of the named, I tell them to put it in other.  

1 Peter 3:15-16 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

¹⁶ Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

As a Police Officer one of my favorite duties was that of training officer.  Most people that go into law enforcement have some idea of what the profession is all about.  “To help people” is a common response I would get when interviewing potential officers and deputies when I asked them why they wanted to get into law enforcement.  They aren’t entirely sure how, but they do want to make the world a safer and better place for others.

Most either know someone in law enforcement or have had some exposure to the profession by being a reserve or some other emergency provider.  But they do not know the nuts and bolts, just the general duties; and many times they just ‘think’ they know.

We had a training manual to work with to help guide us in teaching the nuts and bolts.  It had three columns to be checked off on each item we were training in; told, demonstrated by the TO and performed by the recruit.  The manual was to be completed over a year’s period of time and then turned into the State Board showing it was done.  To be certified as an officer that manual had to be completed.

Once they put the uniform on they had the full authority of an officer that had been on duty for years.  There was no difference in authority, just experience, knowledge and training.  While it is better now, it was not unusual in smaller agencies to put the uniform, badge and gun on the officer; put them in a patrol car by themselves and send them out after a day or two of orientation.

Even in our department, way back in the early 70’s even, many of us were sent out with little training and the admonition to not get into trouble; easier said than done.  Then over a period of time the manual would be completed.  BUT, I remember seeing my manual for the first time when it was time to be sent into the Board.  We sat down for an entire shift and went over it.  I had done everything, but couldn’t give the exact dates, etc. of when I had done them; and of course the sergeant that signed off had not observed all of it since he hadn’t been with me all that long.

In between times I had gone to the academy – at that time it was the first five week academy, prior to that it was a four week academy – now it is several months.  I had handled many cases as either the primary or covering officer so while we had not used the manual as it was designed to be used, I had done most of the things in it.

Some things just couldn’t be completed in a small community; one of the things in the manual was murder investigations.  We don’t have many homicides in this area, so we just had to show we understood the basics as to what a Patrol Officer would do at the scene.  For the responding officer it is basically securing the area and making sure no one disturbs the evidence while waiting for trained and experienced officers to arrive to process the scene.

When I became a training officer I tried to be more diligent in going over the manual with my trainees.  I started the practice of having the recruit be responsible for the manual – found that they were more interested in getting it filled out than I was; we would then go over what they had done every week or so and fill in the boxes that applied.

As a training officer I had to be up on the current laws, the ten-code, used to dispatch officers in a shortened code, and in the policies and procedures of the department.  By training someone else, I retained more information than an officer that wasn’t training.  For instance the 10-code had over 80 codes, of which only 15 or 20 were regularly used; most of the others were forgotten.  If a code, other than those few, was used we had to pull down the visor and check it out – a recruit, and therefore the trainer, was expected to know them without having to do that.

Throughout my career I enjoyed watching officers/deputies improve; going from raw recruits to veteran officers capable of doing almost anything in the field.  You learn techniques to help them along and challenge them to do better.  You watch them and critique their work, to help them do better.  The whole goal of a training officer was to help, not hinder the recruit, and determine whether or not they will make a good officer.

Attitude, training and experience are what makes an officer.  How they use these things separates an average officer from a good one.  Natural skills in observation and dealing with people can go a long way in utilizing the training to do the job well.  But even if they don’t possess the natural skills if they have the right attitude towards the job they can still do well.

While I recommended permanent status for many, I also recommended we do not extend that to others and they were terminated.  As in any profession, not everyone is cut out to do the job.  That is why an extensive process is used to hire someone and a long probationary process is used to be sure they can handle the pressures of the job.

But the only requirement God has to become a Christian/disciple, a recruit, is to accept His Son as our Savior and serve Him. 

John 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

He accepts all comers, rich, poor, educated or not, literate or illiterate, pretty or plain, old or young – it doesn’t matter to Him.  What He wants is a change of heart and a desire to serve Him.

Mark 16:15-16   And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

¹⁶ He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

The disciples walked with Jesus for about three years, intimately learning from Him.  Privileged to observe, and given the opportunity to practice what they learned while He was with them.  Even Paul, who was very familiar with the Word of God as written in the Old Testament, had to spend time with a mentor before he went into the world to preach Christ.

God expects us to be ready to proclaim our faith immediately upon accepting Christ.  One of the most critical jobs in the world, telling others about the salvation through Christ – with the person’s very future on the line is given to new born Christians.

John 8:30-32 As he spake these words, many believed on him.

³¹ Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

³² And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

A disciple is one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.

How can that be?  How can God expect the new Christian to perform as a ‘veteran?’  He doesn’t, but He does expect us to always share what we know with sinners.

A new born Christian has the experience to lead others to Christ because he knows what has happened to him when he accepted Christ.  He is not expected to know all the intricacies of the Gospel, but he can still proclaim the love of God.

But God wants more of His people, He wants us to grow in Him, to learn the Word so we can better explain who He is and what He represents.  There are always those out there that have some information from God’s Word who either wish to try and prove it false, or looking to see if it is true.  It takes spending time and studying God’s Word with an open heart to Him to answer those questions.  – and even then it may have to be referred to someone with more knowledge and wisdom than we possess.

The Church – body of people – is designed, by Him, to help people grow in Him, to learn and share their information with others so that they participate in the helping of others grow in Him.  

All too frequently though we rely solely on the church to help us grow.  We have Sunday Schools, Sermons and maybe special programs in the church to teach people – and there are those that learn a lot by using that information.

I can remember one young man who went to Bible College and on the first break came home.  He was asked to give testimony to the church as to what he had experienced thus far – the first thing he said was if I had been listening to all the sermons Brother Cook had been preaching, I would ace all my tests.

A good teaching Pastor is a boon to the disciples.  A teacher who does more than just read the Bible and the teacher’s guide but gives personal experiences and relates the teaching to today’s people can be a boon to the disciples.

The bottom line, though, is each disciple has the responsibility to learn.  To study, to put into practice what they have learned.

Christians’ study guide, their training manual, is the Word of God.  We relate to people by relating to them, talking to them, demonstrating in our daily lives who we are in Christ.  By learning how to speak of our faith, to answer questions and the full value of that ability comes from growth in our faith and relationship with God the Father, God as the Son and God as the Holy Ghost.

Yes, we can learn from commentaries and examples, but to be able to translate what we know to others takes an understanding of God and that understanding comes from His Word and our relationship with Him; a relationship which comes from walking with Him, from mediation and prayer.

Mathew 28:19-20  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

²⁰ Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.

There are basically two kinds of teachers, those that teach from theory and those that teach from experience.  Both may have access to the same information, but the teacher who has the experience makes the teaching relevant to life and can give a better understanding of what they are teaching  really means.

While we have the experience of God’s Love through Christ, by using the Word of God as the manual for successful living in Christ we can become better and more effective teachers for Him.  May we truly study to make ourselves more valuable to Him.

2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again