C.R. Mooney

So I was reading in Matthew 5 (the Bible) and I got stuck here: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”

So, what is peace? Well today’s short answer comes from philosopher Baruch Spinoza, “Peace is not an absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence.”

I like that.  Simple and to the point.

Webster says: Peace:

1: a state of tranquillity or quiet: as a: freedom from civil disturbance b: a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom <a breach of the peace>

2: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions

3: harmony in personal relations

4 a: a state or period of mutual concord between governments b: a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity

5—used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell — at peace : in a state of concord or tranquillity

What do you say Peace is?

In a press release given yesterday, Obama has declared June Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month.

My thoughts: Why is it not listed with the other press releases at WhiteHouse.gov? I had to search for it to confirm it wasn’t a scam.  Somehow this doesn’t surprise me.  Though Obama doesn’t support gay marriage, he will declare them a “Pride Month” to keep them somewhat happy.  If I were in this group, I’m not sure how I would take that.

Please leave your thoughts.

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                     June 1, 2009

LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENDER PRIDE MONTH, 2009
- – - – - – -
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
A PROCLAMATION

Forty years ago, patrons and supporters of the Stonewall Inn in New York City resisted police harassment that had become all too common for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. Out of this resistance, the LGBT rights movement in America was born. During LGBT Pride Month, we commemorate the events of June 1969 and commit to achieving equal justice under law for LGBT Americans.

LGBT Americans have made, and continue to make, great and lasting contributions that continue to strengthen the fabric of American society. There are many well-respected LGBT leaders in all professional fields, including the arts and business communities. LGBT Americans also mobilized the Nation to respond to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic and have played a vital role in broadening this country’s response to the HIV pandemic.

Due in no small part to the determination and dedication of the LGBT rights movement, more LGBT Americans are living their lives openly today than ever before. I am proud to be the first President to appoint openly LGBT candidates to Senate-confirmed positions in the first 100 days of an Administration. These individuals embody the best qualities we seek in public servants, and across my Administration — in both the White House and the Federal agencies — openly LGBT employees are doing their jobs with distinction and professionalism.

The LGBT rights movement has achieved great progress, but there is more work to be done. LGBT youth should feel safe to learn without the fear of harassment, and LGBT families and seniors should be allowed to live their lives with dignity and respect.

My Administration has partnered with the LGBT community to advance a wide range of initiatives. At the international level, I have joined efforts at the United Nations to decriminalize homosexuality around the world. Here at home, I continue to support measures to bring the full spectrum of equal rights to LGBT Americans. These measures include enhancing hate crimes laws, supporting civil unions and Federal rights for LGBT couples, outlawing discrimination in the workplace, ensuring adoption rights, and ending the existing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy in a way that strengthens our Armed Forces and our national security. We must also commit ourselves to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic by both reducing the number of HIV infections and providing care and support services to people living with HIV/AIDS across the United States.

These issues affect not only the LGBT community, but also our entire Nation. As long as the promise of equality for all remains unfulfilled, all Americans are affected. If we can work together to advance the principles upon which our Nation was founded, every American will benefit. During LGBT Pride Month, I call upon the LGBT community, the Congress, and the American people to work together to promote equal rights for all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim June 2009 as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month. I call upon the people of the United States to turn back discrimination and prejudice everywhere it exists.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this first day of June, in the year of our Lord two thousand nine, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

BARACK OBAMA

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Presidential-Proclamation-LGBT-Pride-Month/

Wake Me Up by Tim Reimherr

I feel a shaking though its faint
Something’s coming am I too late
I need to be ready
The earth is groaning as it waits
Longing for the coming day
I need to be ready

Pre-Chorus:
Grant to me the grace I need
To live a life found worthy in the end
Violently I will seek
For wisdom is justified in the end

Chorus:
Wake me up, wake me up
I don’t want to be sleeping
When You’re coming
Wake me up, wake me up
I don’t want to be lying down
In this final hour
Wake me up

The nations gather as they say
Let’s break their bonds
And cast their chains I need to be ready
Deep darkness is coming soon
Do I have oil to make it through
I need to be ready

Bridge:
Time is running out, I say to all who hear
Lift your voice and shout
The bridegroom is in the land
Turn while there’s still time
The Lord He may relent
Will the way you live your life
Make it through
When God judges you.

Copyright © 2006 Tim Reimherr/Forerunner Music

Many of the people who stop by here probably know me, and know that I am working on a book.  Some ask, “Hey, how’s that going? You’ve been working on that for some time.”

Honestly, I haven’t written in almost two months, for the book or this blog.  See, it’s a nonfiction, and in the course of writing, this line left my fingertips and found its way to my keyboard.  Maybe it left my heart and landed in my mind.

“Like a seed, my purpose is to die, so that He can produce life through me.”

I can’t get past it.

—————————————-

Life has been crazy lately.  There’s so much going on , but at the same time, maybe nothing at all (if that makes any sense at all).  Beth (my wife) and I were talking last night, and it occurred to me, that I am not sure who I am anymore.

I know that I am more than what I do, but lately, even figuring that out is crazy.  I’m 31, and the 13th will be Beth and my tenth anniversary!  Maybe it’s just that.  At this milestone in my life,  I look backward to see what has been done, and what hasn’t, maybe a little of what could have been done.

Maybe that’s the problem: Me striving to be something.  Maybe that is where I am missing it and why I can’t move on from that sentence. It’s all the things I want to be; could be. Maybe that is where Jesus found himself in the Garden weeping to His Father.

Maybe it’s time to just let go of the control.  Maybe it’s time to lay there, stop trying to produce something with my life, and see what God can grow.

Sounds so easy, doesn’t it?

EDIT:

A little video by John Schlitt (and lyric in case you can’t handle his vocals, expressions, or the awful video.  Basically just close your eyes and listen):

Show Me The Way:

Living in this space of time
I have to wonder where I’m going
Just who I am, what I’m supposed to be

Searching for that certain sign
That points me in the right direction
The path to take, the one that’s right for me

Oh, choices will come my way, but which ones to choose?
Oh, can’t do it on my own, there’s too much to lose

Take me, guide me, lead me
I’m trusting in You, Lord
Teach me and show me the way
Break me, love me, forgive me
I’m asking of You, Lord
Take me and show me the way

Knowing if I stand alone
I could never see the way that is meant for me
The life that we could share

Learning lessons I must know
From the source who has the answers of life itself
the one who really cares

Oh, in life there’s so many turns, which way to go?
Oh, when You’re beside me, Lord, You’re in control

I know for me You have the perfect plan
I know You had it before time began
Don’t want to listen to what others say
Just show me the way

Well, I hate when people disappear from the blogosphere, only to return some time later to apologize.  Here I am though, telling my story.

My January/February recap.  Let’s see, my Grandpa Corky died (mom’s dad).  We found out Beth’s grandpa has stage four of some cancer and only a few months to live.  My newly married brother-in-law fell victim to the recession, lost his job, and they moved in with us.  The democrats are single handedly running this country into the ground by forcing through an 1,100 page bill that no one had time to read, let alone let the public have it for 48 hours (as promised).

But praise be to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever!  though heaven and earth may pass away, his glory and mercy endure forever!

I will resume posting at least weekly.  you may have noticed I removed the wordcount for the book I am writing.  I am continuing work on it, and will have the first draft done in a few months.  you may be reading more on that later.

Thanks so much to the people who have continued to stop in and check on us.  And hey, if you read something here, and it sparks a thought, leave a comment!

- mooney

Well, once in awhile something in the Bible really gets to me; not in the upset way, but the haunting, don’t let me sleep well kind of way.  Such is it lately with the following verses from Joshua:

Joshua 5:13-14 – Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

It seems I ask that question a lot about people and organizations. Are you for me, or against me? It’s wrecking me that the “commander of the army of the LORD” wasn’t there to take a side, but to represent the Father. That is where I should be also.  How many times, whether in politics, religion, or just with friends, do I go into a situation with prejudice, always wanting to and forcing others to take sides?

Unfortunately, this mindset also makes it into friend and family relationships.  I find myself thinking, “you’re with me, or against me,” which is probably not the case at all.  Oh that I could get to this point where I step off my soap box and realize that as a representative of God, it is not always my duty to demand friend or foe.

The general here said, “I don’t take sides, I obey God.”  Unfortunately in this case, Jericho was on God’s hit list of cities to bury.  As I go forward, I need to remember to ask God what I need to do in a situation instead of drawing my own line in the sand.  Who knows, maybe instead of throwing stones, He’ll ask me to tell them, “Go and sin no more.”

Peace,

- mooney

I have been meditating a lot on Matthew 7:7-11:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

The part about the father/son relationship being an influence in the answer to prayer has been on my mind the most. Seeing that I have five children, I think I can relate to this better than I used to. I also have considered my own relationship to my dad, which I consider to be a better relationship than most men I have encountered.

All that being said, I think that the level of relationship that we have with God affects my prayers and God’s answer to them. That may seem a very obvious observation, but one often overlooked in the many times I ask God why He has not yet answered me or has denied me the things I have prayed for. I believe that the more I’m living as His child should, the more likely He is to grant me my petitions. I can remember times in my life that my dad and I were not on the best of terms, and I asked him for $200 to make my car insurance payment and his answer was a firm, “No.” Some would say that was cruel, others would say that is what I deserved. At that time, it is very likely that I blew my money on movies, dinners, parties, or whatever distraction came to mind that week. My dad, looking at this, knew that I would not learn to be responsible (as I was obviously proving myself otherwise) with my money if he just bailed me out every time (hmm sounds like the opposite of what the government is doing). Our relationship was also pretty distant then, so when I came to ask for the money, it was more than likely the only time my dad had seen me that

My dad and son Jaivin

month.

Let’s relate this to the prayers of a believer not walking whole heartedly with God. We do whatever we want, spending our time and resources on whatever pleasures that we desire and at the end of the month we need something. We then find ourselves crying out to God, “I need you to come through for me on this matter. I am sick and in need of your help to make this presentation, I have that mortgage payment coming up and my hours just got cut. Bless me and my family, amen.” God then looks at you and says, “Chris, it’s good to hear from you, it’s the first time in over a week that you have wanted to talk to me. I want to help you, truly I wish that I could, but you have not allowed me to. I have tried to provide for you, in fact, I had a promotion in line for you at work. You lost you cool in a meeting last week, so the boss picked Pete instead. If you were spending more time with me, I could have helped you, if you would have just asked for My peace. It’s hard for Me to give you more money this week because you are not faithful with what I have already given you. If you would just spend more time, and seek Me and My kingdom, I will provide all these things without your asking. I hope to hear from you again soon! I love you!”

Wow does that one get me.

There was another time a few years later when I needed to get my car fixed. My relationship with my dad was much better; I was seeing my parents on a somewhat regular basis and actually spending time with them. My dad looked at me and said, take it to the dealer, I’ll pay for it. I didn’t ask him to pay for it, I just mentioned my need and it was taken care of. In fact, my dad said he knew I was having car trouble and was just waiting for me to mention it to him. The bill ended up being about $1,600. What a difference this was from the previous experience.

What’s the difference? Instead of living my life rejecting my dad and refusing to help him around the house, living like a stranger would, I started to be a son. Loving him, making time to talk with him and enjoying it. We created a bond together, the father/son bond. It is this way with God. When we want to spend time with Him and enjoy that time together our relationship grows to the point where He wants to do these things for us. He wants to bail us out, and like my dad, he knows the need and is just waiting for us to tell Him we need Him so that He can bless us more than we could hope for. Abundantly!

If we want God to treat us like His children, and bless us like His children should be blessed, then we have to live like we are His. For us to be His children, He has to be our dad.

“…fatherlike giving is the divine response to childlike living.” – Andrew Murray

God Bless!

In the crazy world we live in today, you never know what you are going to get when you open up an email from a firend. Well, today is one of those days. The email I received was titled, “why you shouldn’t try plastic surgery on your own.” My initial thought was, “Man, this is probably going to be a train wreck.”

It was, I followed the link to a story run by AOL News about a lady who injected cooking oil into her face.  What I thought I would get a good laugh from turned into soemthing completely different.  There is nothing funny about it at all. 

Apperently this Korean woman had many cosmetic surgeries before this, to the point where a doctor gave her a siringe and some silicon so she could do it herself.  The problem came when she ran out of silicon.  I guess she thought the cooking oil would be the same.  Instead of making herself more beautiful, she is now unrecognizable.

I wonder if this is what we look like to God sometimes.  We see God as the perfection of beauty and want to be the same, so we try to clean ourselves up.  “If I could just stop doing this, or attend a few more services, He would love me more.  If I just read the Bible a couple more times a week… If I could just…”

The problem is that anything we could ever do would never be enough.  God says that our own righteousness is as filthy rags.  The only way to be accepted by Him is to accept that what His son Jesus did on the cross is all that is needed.  It is His righteousness that we need.  Any tampering or attempt to add to it by us can only end in disfigurement.

He loves you how you are. If anything needs changing, don’t try to operate on yourself, let the Great Physician do it.

- mooney

Well,

It has been an interesting week. I will say that If you have never read Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, you should find a copy. This my second time through the book. I read it years ago and am now listening to a reading of it I found online in mp3. For those who have not read it, it is an allegory of a man named Christian and his journey to the Celestial City. I am currently at Part One Stage Five where Christian is walking with his friend Faithful.  I would like to post an excerpt for your “viewing pleasure” from Stage Four, when Christian is walking through The Valley of the Shadow of Death:

About the midst of this valley I perceived the mouth of hell to be, and it stood also hard by the wayside. Now, thought Christian, what shall I do? And ever and anon the flame and smoke would come out in such abundance, with sparks and hideous noises, (things that cared not for Christian’s sword, as did Apollyon before,) that he was forced to put up his sword, and betake himself to another weapon, called All-prayer, (Eph. 6:18); so he cried, in my hearing, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul (Psalms. 116:4).

Thus he went on a great while, yet still the flames would be reaching towards him; also he heard doleful voices, and rushings to and fro, so that sometimes he thought he should be torn in pieces, or trodden down like mire in the streets. This frightful sight was seen, and these dreadful noises were heard by him for several miles together; and coming to a place where he thought he heard a company of fiends coming forward to meet him, he stopped, and began to muse what he had best to do. Sometimes he had half a thought to go back; then again he thought he might be half-way through the valley. He remembered also, how he had already vanquished many a danger; and that the danger of going back might be much more than for to go forward. So he resolved to go on; yet the fiends seemed to come nearer and nearer. But when they were come even almost at him, he cried out with a most vehement voice, I will walk in the strength of the Lord God. So they gave back, and came no farther.

One thing I would not let slip. I took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it. Just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind. This put Christian more to it than any thing that he met with before, even to think that he should now blaspheme Him that he loved so much before. Yet if he could have helped it, he would not have done it; but he had not the discretion either to stop his ears, or to know from whence these blasphemies came.

When Christian had traveled in this disconsolate condition some considerable time, he thought he heard the voice of a man, as going before him, saying, Though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. (Psa. 23:4). Then was he glad, and that for these reasons:

First, Because he gathered from thence, that some who feared God were in this valley as well as himself.
Secondly, For that he perceived God was with them, though in that dark and dismal state. And why not, thought he, with me? though by reason of the impediment that attends this place, I cannot perceive it. (Job 9:11).
Thirdly, For that he hoped (could he overtake them) to have company by and by.

So he went on, and called to him that was before; but he knew not what to answer, for that he also thought himself to be alone. And by and by the day broke: then said Christian, “He hath turned the shadow of death into the morning.” (Amos 5:8).

Now morning being come, he looked back, not out of desire to return, but to see, by the light of the day, what hazards he had gone through in the dark. So he saw more perfectly the ditch that was on the one hand, and the quag that was on the other; also how narrow the way was which led betwixt them both. Also now he saw the hobgoblins, and satyrs, and dragons of the pit, but all afar off; for after break of day they came not nigh; yet they were discovered to him, according to that which is written, He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death (Job 12:22).

Enough said.

- mooney

I read something interesting about the whole “faith of a mustard seed” thing. I have heard many different arguments on faith, the power of faith, moving literal and/or spiritual mountains, etc and this is not to start an argument, just maybe a different perspective not seen before.   So here we go…

Mustard Seed

Most people take Matthew 17:20, “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” And again in Luke 17:6, “And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.” and interpret this way. If I have even just a tiny bit of faith, as small as a mustard seed, then these things are available to me; but maybe that is not what it is saying.  See, the only other time that mustard seeds are mentioned in the Bible is in parallel passages referring to the Kingdom of God:

Matthew 13:31-32“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.”

Mark 4:30-32 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it.

Luke 13:18-19 Then said he, Unto what is the kingdom of God like? and whereunto shall I resemble it? 19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and cast into his garden; and it grew, and waxed a great tree; and the fowls of the air lodged in the branches of it.

Mustard Tree

Obviously these are the same story as accounted in the different gospels, but they reveal something. They are not talking about the size of the mustard seed, but the uniqueness of such a tiny herbal seed and how it grows. I did a little studying on mustard and here are what I believe Jesus was talking about.

The mustard plant has is one of the smallest seeds that are planted by farmers (obviously not the smallest seed of any plant) at 1/8 inch in diameter. The mustard seed, once planted, begins (noticeably) to grow the very next day. In fact it is one of the quickest maturing plants around reaching full maturity in about 40 days.

I believe that God used this plant as an example of our faith in that once we receive Christ, our faith begins to grow immediately. The number forty in the Bible points to tribulation or trials (Israel in the wilderness for 40 years) which would speak of a definite maturing process for our faith (part of growth and maturity come from overcoming trials in our life).  When mature, the mustard plant is much larger than any of  the other herbs which could speak to our faith having the potential to grow beyond that of others.

So “faith as a mustard seed” to move mountains I believe refers not to just a little faith can move a mountain, but rather that a faith that is growing and maturing, though it started with a small beginning, will give you the ability to move mountains (overcome trials).

Please leave your thoughts.

- mooney