A conversation in progress with a Chaplain friend

I made a post on another forum and thought it might make for interesting reading here;  The beginning premise of the questions are,   prevenient grace from God.

O.K.

The accusation of not being able to be objective wears a little thin with me and here’s why. For most of my life you could have called me an agnostic at best.

I studied, compared, analysed, debated, argued, fussed, fumed and finally said, the hell with it all, at about the age of thirty two.

Then came Jan 8th 1983….ah crap!!! talked to my counsellor I was seeing at the time, told him what happened and finally said to myself, O.K. fool, now you know what a nervous breakdown feels like!! And got on with it….that’s the way I am, for a whole host of reasons, quit B***chin and GET ON WITH IT!!!

I Kept reading though, checkin’ things out, still wouldn’t fully commit to ministry, though I did attend church sporadically from 1991 on and did work as a lay speaker and things.

2002 June, Bang!!! Slam!!! Dunk!!! Alright why me, and moreover, why NOT me?? Started REALLY checking things out and found out something….there have been literally hundreds of times when things that I did, made no sense what-so-ever for the person I was at the time, but they all each and every one of them turned out good and sometimes with totally unforseen outcomes that were NEVER seen that way before by me till I sought the answers.

And man, did I get some flipping answers!!!

Now, I don’t ask a single person to accept, or believe, the reality that I have found, because they have to find it on their own….but it is real, it is proven, and I live it every day and will till I die!!

AND!!! It was REASON that brought me here!!

So make of it what you will, I will not argue it, I will not defend it, it needs no defense, I’m not selling it to you, if you want it, it’s free!! Take it or leave it…your choice…..

Choose wisely….T

And, immediately followed that with this for others who participated.

Alright fellas I needed to say the forgoing first, because there’s more!!

The above is about me, and me alone. Others have had similar experiences and feel as I do. Some are not as erudite as I, so be it. Some are much more so….so be it.

There are others though, that have NOT done the work I and others have done. They listen to others tell them things and parrot those things as gospel and fall into large dark places and bring others with them. I don’t argue that point with you, or anybody else, because it is true.

Extremeism is ugly, destructive and deadly, as we all know and it is destructive in ways that are not violent but destroy the person, not the place, on personal levels not seen with the eye, in families, in society and in the world in general.

All of you also know I’m not afraid to call a spade a spade and point out along with you, those times when it needs doing, and I do more than just point fingers, as you all know as well.

But to stop the destruction, stop the violence, and stop the devision, you guys of no religious systems and I, are in my mind, allies and brothers in arms, as we once were, for real, in the world. I take pride in seeking justice with you in those times when it is hard to find, or simply overlooked because of biases that some possess and can not see beyond.

So, stick that in your hooka and smoke it!!

T

And then my friend asked the following question;

Bruce…

Did you ever wonder why we only see the real prevenience when looking back. Sometimes over many years and in many situations, but always when looking back. Just some thoughts…
Be well…
CJ

And, the answer was………

Yeah C.J., I have wondered that, and don’t any longer.

What has to transpire, is the loss of surity of, “self”.

Some thing, or series of some things, must occur to rattle you down to your very core and force you to ask questions of your self, that are too frightening to ask under normal circumstances, or the need simply never arises within you to ask them.

That something does NOT have to be life threatening, destructive, or simply uncomfortable. It must motivate you, to do the work, to see who you REALLY are though.

You must be willing to stand naked in front of the mirror of your mind, SEEING the scars and how you got them, the pimples, the warts, ALL of it, and take each answer as it comes, honestly, no matter how disparageing to your self image it may be, no matter how painful the truth is, and incorporating it into who, and WHAT, you truly are.

I have learned, that very damned few of us will do that.

I learned it by the time I was twenty, I never could stand the illusions that people try to foist off on me, and could not stand excuse making on my part either. This has caused untold misery for me in my life, because if you have no illusions about yourself, others see that, and they understand that you will not tolerate theirs, about themselves. This is enemy making 101 in the social hierarchy that we have created in the world today. Perhaps it always was, I don’t know.

I mostly kept to myself, even when participating in so many different things, throughout my life.

The short answer to your question is, we always credit ourselves with too much, when citing our accomplishments, forgetting family, friends, co-workers, and too many others, that are forgotten along the way, that we learned from, took advantage of, or simply observed and copied, to achieve whatever it was, we have achieved.

Never mind giving credit to God, for the very life we enjoy!!!

I sincerely believe, that when people see how little it is, that they truly “control”, it is of a power to drop most to their knees!!! It scares the average person to their core, to realise the helplessness that each of us truly labors under, when we tout ourselves so highly, unthinkingly!!

Then when you see, as I have, the indomitable courage of the aged to face life on it’s own terms as the end come rushing toward them, it is the most humbling thing to endure as you witness it.

The posturing of the politicians, and the power that people ascribe to them, to control their existence is laughable. When you KNOW the truth about life. The atheists have, by and large, bestowed the fealty that you and I feel toward God, to men, politics, and themselves. It would be sad, if it wasn’t so futile and empty, becuase of it’s predictable futility.

Politics is the new religion of the twenty first century. It’s too bad that it is already showing itself threadbare and worn, as the politics through the ages, have shown them selves to be.

CLUE; the oldest continuous writings we have, are found in the Bible and almost EVERYBODY misses the point!!!

This is the story of human kind!! NOT how it was formed. NOT who God is. NOT what God wants!! BUT, the stories of HUMAN BEINGS and how they interacted with each other, and the things they SHOULD have learned about God, and didn’t, along the way. The stories always have a human protagonist don’t they? There’s a reason for that, the POINT, is how the HUMAN responded, NOT God!! God is consistant, even predictable, while through out the Bible man is not!! All the variables, the foibles, the frailty, the dishonesty, the thieving, murderous nature of us all, is exposed for all to see, and people concentrate on God when they ought to be examining themselves!! THAT is the point!! Self examinination and THEN, apply the lessons learned in the BOOK!

So, all in all, that is why we don’t see it, till we look back!!

T

As you can see there is some stuff here to think about that is of a personal nature for us all, as I said choose wisely!!

Rev. Bruce…………………………………….Tawodi

Time to do the Mission

This is a time for reflection on our mission as members of, Tree of The Mustard Seed Ministries and  The People
of Abraham.

We see from the news that a great conflagration is raging with
increasing loss of life and displacement of peoples around the region
of the Holy land.

As The People of the Books, we owe our brothers and sisters who are
caught up in this clash of arms, the offer of solace and support no
matter who they are, or what faith they follow.

We as people of peace will face a test in this time of chaos and
tumult. That test will be staying true to our course and calling for
peace no matter who may be at fault in this current clash.

Hundreds of years of war MUST BE STOPPED!! The cycle of death MUST
END!!
It is the INNOCENT who pay the greaatest price, for the hatred of
others. The women, children and men, who just want to live, and find
safety, in the homes and countries where they live, suffer the
greatest.

I am sending you, as members, the request, that you take the time and
effort to send to the leaders of Israel the fervent prayer for their
peace, but also to remind them that killing of the innocent, no matter
who does it IS WRONG!!

Also, the leaders of Hamas should be apprised of this fact, There is
no “right” in killing of the innocent, It is a perversion of what ever
faith you follow. This will be followed by other requests of the same
nature. Be strong, pray hard for God to prevail over the foolishness
of men!!
be well friends,…….Reverend Bruce

What is a “calling ??”

I was asked in an E Mail;

 Why do you say it is your “calling” to form and maintain a Ministry of visitation? I never though of this as a ” Ministry” before.

To illustrate why I know it as my Calling,  rather than re state one of the epiphanies of my life, I chose to explain what I had encountered at the very beginning, when years ago I submitted to God’s  “request”. This is taken from the  “Pastors page, ” at the Tree of The Mustard Seed web site. If you are interested in “epiphanies” they are filed here under the category listed as “evangelism” in the left hand blog roll column. The title of the piece is I’m not what you think!

  It was a month ago that I put up the article about the wedding of the young people.

This time I would like to draw your attention to what it is I do for the major portion of my ministry.

   Ministry takes many forms as most of you know. Mine takes the form of service to the elderly, disabled, those recovering from injury, and those who are lonely and forgotten, such as the homeless and the poor.

   This ministry is one of the most forgotten aspects of all, and in my estimation the most important I can do. In 2002 in June of that year My heart was opened by God in an epiphany on a country road in McHenry Illinois. If you would like a full accounting go to my blog page Life Religion Family and The People of Abraham it is there, listed under evangelism, titled “I’m not what you think”.  It is there for you to learn from. It is NOT about me, but is rather, to have an idea of your own relationship with God and the many forms it can take.

   Once engaged in this ministry, I learned in very short order, how cruel well meaning people can be, to those so in need of human contact. The single biggest issue I encountered was the one of being forgotten. The aged are a lost section of humanity both in society and from their churches. Imagine your self a life long supporter and member of a church. It doesn’t matter which one, they ALL are guilty of this. You have reached the time of your life where you are no longer able to drive, this has great consequence to this group of people. They can’t go shopping for food easily, they can’t get to the doctor,dentist or visit friends and relations. They can’t go to church, and right here is exibited the cruelty that I mentioned. You have given time, love, effort, and money, all of your life and nobody and I mean NOBODY cares about you any more. All of your friends that you had accepted as your church family, all or most of your life, never calls, never visits, never sends you cards or letters, you simply cease to exist!! And worst of all?? The Pastors that you have supported all of your life with your church contributions and fund gathering efforts won’t call, write, or visit either!! But!!!  The pledge cards keep showing up in the mail!! Some Pastors even have the unmitigated  gall  to call the poor soul and ask where their money is. It’s true I have seen it and heard it!!!

  How do you think you would feel about them now?? How do you think you would feel about your old church now?? How do you think you would feel about your old pastor now?? And,  last and the worst ….how do you think you would feel about religion now??? How about God….now?? You have served faithfully all of, or most of,  your life….do you think you would be hurt?? Feel kind of like a SAP???  Of course you would!!  Well virtually every day I walk through some one’s door that has been abandoned this way. I see the results of this cruelty, and I mourn for my fellow humans who can be so unwittingly cruel. Especially Pastors!!! I know how precious time is,  but there is no excuse for this…. none!!  You don’t have time??  Send someone who does!!  Form a committee of people, educate them in how to be a simple human being.  They don’t need to do the God talk, but to sit for an hour and play checkers, cards, write a letter for someone, who no longercan, there are a hundred ways to bring God to these people and never mention His name!!!  If these people are well versed in their faith?  Well that’s a real boon, go for it!! You don’t need to be a pastor, just a human being who can read a few verses and pray with them.

   Now you must beware!!  Once you have started this, these people will not trust you for about three or four visits, do you know why?? They’ve heard it all before!!  So once you start, make SURE that you or someone else, keeps it up, or at least invest fifteen minutes and a phone call, if you have a cold or are going on vacation,  keep the connection open. You have no idea how appreciated you will become,  as a bringer of light, human contact and simple human caring to these people. The same goes for those you may visit in a nursing home. Never forget these are still human beings,  they feel everything you do, still, and “happy”, is usually in very short supply, Bring them some!!!

 

  If you are interested, contact me, I will tell you how to go about this if you wish,

It is such a simple,  but so great a deed and gift,  you can give them.

Be well, my friends and, be blessed by God……Rev.  Bruce

 

RAMADAN GREETINGS!!

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Monday, September 1, 2008

Ramadan

Today, or yesterday, depending on where you live in the world and the method of reckoning, it is the beginning of Ramadan.

To our Brothers and Sisters of Islam, Salaam Aliekum!! May this Holy season of rededication to Muslim, be fruitful for you.

May your observance bring you peace as you once again fast and move closer to The One God of Abraham, Lord of ALL, the benificent, The bringer of all things sweet, The bestower of blessings, beyond counting, of all of His creation.

The bringer among us, of all the prophets,(p.b.u.t.) to lead us to submission to His way.
The teachers of restoration, of relationship in submission to Allah, The most merciful.Peace be upon them all!

May He attend you in your reflections on how you can relate, May He grant you peace in your life, peace in your family, peace in your countries, peace in your soul, as you move toward rededication contemplating ALLAH (pbuH) in this Holy season for you as you submit once again to Allah.

This from your brothers and sisters of Judaism and your brothers and sisters of Christianity, helpers all.

Wa, Aliekum Salaam

Rev. Bruce Holzrichter Sr. The People of Abraham

In answer to a question

This was an answer to a question posed by a young man in regard to the status of the Jews in the world today and if God’s covenant was still in effect.

 

 

 

 

 

I will endeavor to answer your questions seriatum.
God’s covenant with Israel was never rescinded. The laws He gave Moses, over time, became enmeshed with the laws of men. As such they were not true to the spirit of the law. By the time of Jesus’s birth they had become a travesty of legalisms and, virtually impossible for people to understand, let alone follow. The priesthood and scribes from the time of Moses had added to the ten commandments 603 “Fences” that they felt were to protect the laws of God. As if He needed their help!!

The first hint of a Massiah appears in Genesis. Chapt. 3 verse 15 through the entire Bible there are over two hundred and twenty “hard” prophesies, concerning the Massiah and his two forms. The first is as the suffering Massiah and interssesor “Priest” on the order of Melchizedek. And, the second is as the conquering King.

In His time, it was believed that the conquering King was the ONLY Massiah. The people of the Jewish faith still hold this view, as probably do you.

No one, and no thing, can take Israel’s inheritance from them! Once again, arrogant men in the form of Preachers and Pastors over the centuries have foisted this view that God gave up on the Jews, there is no way that these men and women could be farther from the truth.

God does NOT, change His mind!! When He said an everlasting covenant He meant it!!!

We are now in the age of the Gentiles, soon to end. Hopefully we, as the people of the Book, can forstall the violence and blood shed foretold, and bring peace to all our brothers and sisters as we, as those said people, have been commanded to do by our Creator!!

Any of God’s burdens are light, it is man’s arrogance and bridling at any restraint, that causes us to rebel. It is in our nature to do so. God knows this, and has provided many means to bring ourselves to Him in submition. You may notice I did NOT say surrender, Jesus NEVER surrendered!! He submitted to the will of God!! There is a vast difference between the two.

Some men should not be Pastors, some should not be teachers and, some should not be counsellors. It is the arrogance of being educated, that causes so many to lead themselves into temptation. God doesn’t do it as we beseach Him in the Lords prayer not to do. It is we in our stupid surety that we, and we alone, have THE answer, that leads us into temptation!!

None of us have THE answer, unless it comes from God, it is no answer at ALL.

At the end of this age, there will be a reckoning, and all will be restored as God told us. It will be HIS will, that WILL be done!!

Now I’m just a man, do you need to believe a word of what I just wrote?? No, of course you don’t!! But ask God to lead you, search your heart, as you should with every thing of the spirit. If it rings true, it IS true!! If it does NOT, it is NOT. That is the best that any living man can tell you, or instruct you to do.

As always, choose well!! Be well friend……..Tawodi

GUESS WHO’S BEEN HERE FOR A WEEK!!!

I wrote a while ago about why I put up the picture of the Tree of the Mustard seed.  Surprisingly it affected someone deeply and they took comfort from it, and moreover wrote a comment thanking me for it.  Also was the hope that Leigha Grace had arrived safely. Well she was going to wait with her arrival, until we assured her what school she would be made to attend!!  She was born at 9:32 Monday morning July twenty eighth 2008,  It seems she decided our choice of schools could be negotiated at a later date!!  So for my son Jim and the MOM,  Christie, here is Leigha Grace……oh yeah,  all of you too!!!

Operational Notice!!!!

Posted at The People of Abraham   http://peopleofabraham.blogspot.com  tuesday  July 15 2008

 

Today I announced, on Tawodi’s Hawks Nest, that today, the Board of Advisers is open for questions. We have the great honor and good fortune to have as volunteers, Nine people very knowledgable in their religions. Some have Masters and upward degrees in their disciplines and worship practices. Welcome to all of them!!

To take advantage of this service, you can contact them at the following E Mail address….

the-people-of-abraham@googlegroups.com Pose your question in a proper form, your email address WILL NOT be given for any reason to anyone after your question is answered it will be discarded. We will keep the questiion and assign it a file number but your name and any information, will be deleted. SO! don’t get angry with us if we don’t remember you!! On your answer you will recieve this file number, keep it! Use it to refer to the first question if you want to correlate them for some reason, to us.

The second way to pose a question is to use the comment section on this blog. Yep, that’s right, you can do it right here. We have expanded the comment section to full page size!! This is to give you plenty of room to pose multiple questions and even submit an article!! That’s right, you can post here!! It will be moderated, (for obvious reasons) and then, posted if you wish. Or we will simply answer your multiple questions.

You need not be a member of The People of Abraham to use this service, we’d like it if you were, but it is not necessary. This service is open to all. And, more importantly free!! We are all volunteers, everything here is FREE, there is no charge to join, no charge to use the services, no charge for anything you copy and use elsewhere. This is our Calling, take advantage of it!!

The most important thing to remember is this, we will allow NO cross religion debate, NONE!! It is devisive and sometimes destructive and will not be tolerated. If you want to fight, go somewhere else!!

The form to pose a question, is as just that, a question.

Items that are submitted such as “Did you know that such and such religion does/believes thus and such.” Any question posed this way will be considered a “challenge question” and will be given a file number and discarded. The second submission of this nature, after the first one has been flagged, will result in your being banned from ALL of our sites, NO EXCEPTIONS!!

This group is kind of unique in one way. Most are for people who are professionals in their faith structure. We are for ANYBODY, blue collar, white collar, any religion, anywhere in the world.

Welcome to all,   Be well friends………..Rev. Bruce…………….Tawodi

From The Pastor’s Page, Tree of The Mustard Seed Ministries

 

Today, after listening to the archived version of my show, a very important thing occurred to me. Prayer, yes I know it is second nature to me,  but is it to you?

 

While I was listening, I decided to create a segment for the show and flashed on this new site and thought, WOW  what a way to introduce the page, and people, to just what it is we do here at The Tree of The Mustard Seed! After all, we don’t sell anything, why are we here!! We are here to bring to people a little something they don’t get anywhere else. Themselves and their relation to God, most that we serve can not go to church, for health reasons, or debility due to age. One of the nursing homes I serve, down loads my show and plays it on M.P.3. players for their residents and  it is enjoyed by them. It is free this way and they can make as many copies as they want by loading it into their computer and downloading to all their M.P.3’s!!

 

                     So,  here is the first installment of The Pastors Page

Have you ever heard of active listening? In relation to prayer? What it entails is learning to find that still small voice you may have heard so much about, but don’t know how to hear. Remember God speaks to us in the stillness, or the quiet places. His voice is often lost among the hurly burly sounds of life as we struggle through our daily existence, you are not alone in this maelstrom of noise and confusion. Even the people who are homebound, feel the pressures of life, just in a different way.

   I myself, must actively create a quiet time for prayer, usually in the early morning when my wife and daughter are still asleep. First you must compose yourself as best you are able, it will take some time to learn to do this. Then you simply pray as you normally do. The difference comes now, still yourself, listen.Allow at least fifteen minutes to do this.  People usually ask at this point, “what am I listening for! This is the question! What you are literally trying to hear is, God!  Will you?  Eventually yes. How?  By feeling mostly, it is a hard thing to accept that God would talk to you isn’t it?  But ask yourself, why wouldn’t He? After all,  your Bible, your preachers and pastors,  have been telling you all of your life, you are a child of God haven’t they? Well, then why wouldn’t He talk to you!!

   Maybe this is the problem,you don’t really, deep down, believe that do you? Your not worth talking to, at least by God are you?  WRONG!!!

You certainly are worth it!!  How do you know this Rev. Bruce? ? How…..it’s simple…..Jesus gave up his life for you didn’t He!  Why.  WHY,  Would He do that,  if you weren’t worth it!!!  By your lack of faith in your own worth, you have been crippled in your prayer, probably all of your life! If your prayers are crippled by this lack of faith in you. How can your faith in anything He told you be believed? This is really terrible to think about isn’t it? Well don’t give up, faith takes time, time well spent in listening. You WILL hear that still small voice. When?  When you are ready, it can not be forced,  it can not be willed,  it can not be wished into existence,  it simply must be accepted. That is terribly difficult to believe I know, but if you have the faith of a grain of mustard seed you will be rewarded! It is written! And, it is true. I have seen so many times, when people are ready to give up,  when their hearts are broken when they think not even God can love them He shows them that He does indeed love them. You see God didn’t go away….You did! Come back to His unlimited love, it is waiting for you still, in the silence of compassion and love that God is, in the stillness, that He will share with you, God is still there, always was, always will be.

   May his blessings sustain you,  may His peace fill you,  may this coming week be full of God’s enveloping grace, Selah,  AMEN.

 

UPDATES ON ACTIVITIES of THE PEOPLE OF ABRAHAM

Today is the fifth of July, there have been a few changes and additions, for this blog site and, other places on the net, concerning The People of Abraham.

The first order of business is the inclusion of this site in The Tree of The Mustard Seed Ministries, web site index of links and organizations. Look on the right, you will see a widget that contains the link to get there it is a short web page with full support used to promote various aspects of our, and others, work in interfaith efforts. It is run and maintained by me and others, of these ministries. A short word is in order here as another change is going to take place. It is important to not give the impression of the new Ministries link being a “doorway” to the People of Abraham or any other site. The Tree of The Mustard Seed Ministries is a local church,  visitation  and Bible study conducted by me and other people whose calling is to homebound people and those in nursing homes and Hospice care. Since I am one of the founders I don’t mind, but encourage to some degree, the group. T.P.O.A. but, the work I do locally for it, is recruitment and organizational in nature. There are people who do participate in one place only. They have their own churches, or places of worship, but help in our efforts toward peace. The other thing to realize is that neither I, nor anyone else in this ministry, takes one red cent for anything we do…ever.  Donations, sometimes offered, are referred to  nursing home, resident moral funds, or gifts to Ronald McDonald House, or other charities in the name of the person donating it,  or they may do so in our name. We accept no fees whatsoever,  and never will. The same can be said for membership in,  or affiliation to,  The People of Abraham. I felt it important at this time to clear the air on that issue, thank you for your forbearance. It is also for what ever search engines are looking at us!!!  They don’t like “doorways” !!  And now, back to the point!

We are just about ready to field our Board of Advisors. These are people who possess degrees in various fields of religious study, some Masters degrees, others baccalaureates, two with DR. after their name. The purpose of these people is to answer questions from members and non members alike. Too much dissention occurs between people of different faith systems of belief, especially when a person makes a statement about someone’s faith and they don’t even have a firm grasp of their own!!

How anyone can tell me what I believe, when they do not worship in my faith, is a mystery to me, as it is to almost everybody else! Cross religion debate, is not allowed on any of The People of Abraham sites. It too rapidly becomes contentious and destructive and our purpose is to bring people together. Not foster dissention and enmity!!

So, the existence of a board of advisors. If you are engaged in discussion on another site and someone raises a question you would like the REAL answer to, from a scholar trained in that discipline, well, come to one of our sites, pose your question and it will be forwarded to the appropriate person and you will recieve your answer via e mail, ( you must leave an address) If perchance, you do not mind an open posting on this forum here, we will answer it openly, but will not use your name and no information about you will be divulged.

The open posting of questions can take place in the comment section, available after any post. These have been expanded in size, so that an entire page is available to insure you have room to be as thorough as possible, or may have more than one question.

Also if you would like to post an article you have written or present material from you or somewhere else you can use this feature as there is a whole page available, and if you need it, you can simply fill a page, stop, file it by clicking send or submit, and then logging back in and finishing what you are writing and completing your submission. PLEASE! Be aware of copywrite laws and credit material from other sources, as we cannot control access and /or dissemination of material once you post it, we do not want to face copywrite infringment lawsuits!!( niether do YOU!!!)

How do I become a member of The People of Abraham?? EASY, go to the face book site via hyper link, and sign up!! OR do so right here, click on “the google help group site for us, and sign in there, it is more secure as we control access, your information will not be shared. We make no money from these efforts, so there is no reason, at all, for us to give your info to anyone!! We are setting up a directory of benifits and/or activities. You will be asked for opinions, on chat sessions, or maybe even occasional guest appearances on talk shows, if you want to address certain aspects of faith or the group’s outside activities for gatherings and rallies, that sort of thing, to increase the group’s size and scope that you may participate in, or even organise yourself!

Printed materials, to bring to your Church, Synagogue, or Mosque, to share with your congregations to invite people to join us in this effort. We will be making downloadable forms you can download your self and disseminate that way, there is no cost except for the paper, no postage, no printing, etc. etc. This way we can operate with no dues, no membership fees, and each in his, or her own way, can participate for pennies and we can reach so many more people this way.

Print this page if you wish, it is a blue print for all the things that are taking place, or are on the horizon for The People of Abraham. We need you!! Please join in this important work toward peace. So many say they want it, but so few are willing to do anything for it. We are setting this up so most can be of vast benefit to the work right from their office or living room, it doesn’t get easier, or cheaper, than that!!!

Be well all, Rev. Bruce………………………………..Tawodi

What role does God play in the modern world?

In a discussion on another forum I wrote this in answer to an atheists statement. That we need alittle less God, as when was more God any good for anybody. Of course he was blaming religion for all the ills of the world as many do without knowing what the role of God and more important, what our role in relation to Him, is.

Joe,

The problem is not God.

The problem is that very, very, very few, human beings understand just what place God has in society at large.

In ancient times God was in the forefront of the formation of society and culture, as that was a formative time.

As time progressed, God turned over to us dominion, as has been stated in more ways than anyone can count. As the civilization matured we as humans pulled away from God and since it is a function of free will to do so, He let us do just that.

What so few fail to realise with That maturization process came responsibilities, which to date we humans still refuse to shoulder ( generally speaking )

God always wanted to have a personal relationship with US, not with governments, but with human beings!!!

Our tribalistic herd instinct and mulishness will not let us, on some level, grasp that fact! And, fact it is, and is also how we as religious people, get in so much trouble in the world.

We find ourselves attracted to the trappings of certain religious structures for their majesty, or to some others for precisely the opposite!! But, in all cases, ALL cases, we still apply the “herd” as the governing factor in our choice. To wit “Well all these people agree with me, so it must be right!!”

This applies to what ever religion, sect, denomination, or god, you choose to worship, except in rare instances.

The exceptions?? They are when some one asks themselves, what does God want, and listens in the stillness for the answer. It is in the stillness, we get that answer we seek.

That answer is never, band together with this band of lunatics and kill that band of lunatics!!

It is always, If you would have what you seek, do as I ask. If you would have all that I offer, give to Me, all that is Mine. When it becomes apparent that all that you are, is exactly what is required, we turn away. The price is too high, we must live in the world! Some few will submit, realizing that submission is not surrender, but glorying in the fullness of what becomes revealed to those who do not tell God what they want, but accept what He offers. A whole different form of existence, totally foriegn to most, in their ability to understand.

And, so we grope in our poor way, to come together in a semblance of agreement, of what God wants of us and, the answer must needs be flawed, because we are flawed, and any answer we provide, will be flawed as well.

It is not so much that atheism should be taught, or any other ism, but that our place in the scheme of things as the children of a future, that will depend on all of us being there, cannot be fulfilled, unless we take and apply, those measures that ensure we will be there.

Recognition of individual human beings, no matter who they call God. The richness of the human experience, in and of, a relational nature will ensure that we are there.

If we do as Jesus instructed, even if only on a secular level, this will come to pass.

Every Master who has ever walked the Earth has given us the same message, use it, choose well.

Joe, Be well friend………………Tawodi