Update on Persecution

Just a quick update on a story I ran a week ago.

Please join with me in praying for J and his family.  Also pray for others that are coming to faith in Jesus, for the trials they will face are many and they are often severe.  Families will disown them...even try to kill them. They will have no choice but to leave there old life, old friends, old ways.

And then, no matter where you find that God has placed you, share the gospel of Jesus.  Tomorrow will probably find you at work, at school or in your neighborhood.  It will find J and others like him in prison for their faith ... and they will continue to let the light of Jesus shine.

We should do no less.

Here is the update:

I want you to turn on all the lights in your room, and then light a candle and see how much that helps you to see.  Then I want you to snuff out that light with darkness by turning off all the lights.  Doesn't work does it.  I remember a preacher saying once, "The greater the darkness, the greater the light."  What he meant was as we live our lives and we are surrounded by darkness, our light shines even brighter.  Look at our Lord, when they were nailing Him to the cross, he cried out, "Father forgive them.  They don't know what they are doing."  All around him was hatred, jealousy and violence.  He responded in love, forgiveness and tenderness.  What a contrast.
The Devil wanted to put J's light out, so he put him in jail.  But the Light within him, has to come out.  Thursday, his sons went to see him.  He said that 3 men have come to faith and 2 are asking all the right questions and are on their way to joining the family.  The devil could not put out J's light, so he put him in GREAT darkness, where his light shines even brighter.
We are no longer asking God to release him, or sending emails to people in high positions.  We are relying on the fact that God put him there to reach people who are in darkness.  Isaiah 9:2 says, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.  J's light shines bright no matter where he is. (like a spotlight in crosshairs, on a dark MO night).  Please pray that J's light will shine even brighter, and more will come to believe in the LIGHT.  Please intercede for his family that they will have patience in this time.  They are excited that the Father is using their dad in such a miraculous way, but they sure miss him.  Also pray for the other believers here.  Many are afraid but some have become more bold.


John <><

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Giving an Account

This morning was the fourth time that my new men's accountability group has met for breakfast so I thought that I'd post a few early observations.  These observations are not meant to give any real insight to our group, just general thoughts on building relationships.

We've been meeting at a local waffle house for breakfast each Monday morning.  I've been told that I'm odd for ordering oatmeal when I go out to breakfast, but it's what I've had each morning that we've met.  Last week, three of the four of us ordered oatmeal, this week--a different three of four.  I only bring this up because one of the other three guys is one of the people that, at one point, thought I was weird for ordering oatmeal at a waffle house.  As a matter of fact, he points it out on a comment to this post...almost three years ago! (His is the fourth comment.)
...And now, he has ordered oatmeal for breakfast at a waffle house (even though he couldn't finish it!).

I think that we are starting to get more comfortable with each other and we are starting to talk about things that affect our attitudes (positive and negative).  We are encouraging each other to read the Bible daily and talking about our roles in our church and as Christians in general.  I expect things to develop into deeper discussions as we continue to meet.  Actually, I'm enjoying getting to know these young men a little bit more each week.  I hope that are also enjoying the time together and are not growing impatient with our progress, but learning about each other and looking for ways to help each other as we grow together towards being more like Jesus in our daily lives.

Do you have somebody that holds you accountable in your Christian walk?  Do you have somebody that encourages you? Lifts you up? Challenges you?

I think that we all need somebody to help keep us on the right track.  It seems that women have an easier time of finding friends to fill this role than men do.  It seems to come natural to them.  Guys have to be more deliberate; more purposeful about it.  In either case, find an accountability partner or group and start building each other up.

Just do it!

John<><

 ⁹ Two are better than one,
   because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
   one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
   and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
   But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
   two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

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Looking for a Candidate for Public Office

It's been said that anybody that really want's to be President of the USA should be automatically disqualified for the job.  One doesn't have to look very hard at the current list of presidential contenders to agree with that sentiment.  And I think that it probably filters down to the local levels of politics, as well.

If you could choose your candidate--even if you had to really work to convince them that they owe it to their community/country to serve--who would you nominate for office?

I would think that one could look around the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri and find a much more qualified Congressman than Billy Long.  Really guys?  The only thing that he's actually proposed in Congress is that we have a National day to recognize...wait for it...
...auctioneers! Oh boy! Boss Hog at his finest!

He said that he'd bring change to the way we do business in DC but has voted the way his party has told him to vote on every issue.  Is he really the best that we have?

Are the qualified teachers/business men and women/professionals/clergy/or everyday commonsense neighbors just too smart to enter the political fray.  Are the career politicians Roy Blunt and Claire McCaskill really the best choices to represent Missouri in the Senate?  For the past few decades, the only job they've had is in public office.  Do they have any idea what it's like to work (or be out of work), raise a family, worry about rising gas prices, rising health care costs, lousy housing markets or any of the other dozens of issues that we face on a daily basis?

We have a bunch of elected officials that say they want to go back to the Constitution and government the way it was intended to be. What about citizen representatives that go to DC to represent their communities and then GO BACK to live in their communities?  When did six years as a Senator or a few years in the House warrant a lifetime pension?

I've never been a big fan of term limits. I've always figured that we already have them--they're called elections--and happen at regular, predetermined intervals.  If you don't want them in office for another term, vote them out.  Unfortunately, the current climate of corruption in campaign contributions, the willingness of certain media outlets to tell outright lies to a public that is more than willing to let somebody else think for them, and campaigns that are all about why you shouldn't vote for an opponent rather than why you should vote for them--have all combined to make me reconsider how I feel about term limits.


The Republican Congress, under the Contract with America was going to establish term limits -- until they became the majority party, at which point it didn't seem like such a good idea anymore.  Or maybe they just never got around to that one.  How about term limits and no pensions?  Yep, I seriously doubt they're going to vote that one in!  


Let's get back to my original thought:  If you could choose a candidate to represent your community, state and country, who would it be?  


For a national office, this guy Warren Buffett seems to have some good ideas on money management. I imagine that we could come up with a few other names of people that aren't career politicians.  It can't be too hard to find somebody more qualified than the current list of candidates.
Maybe Ford Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally.  I was pretty impressed that Ford made the decision not to accept any of the government bailout money.


Southwest Missourians wouldn't have to go farther than the local Walmart to find somebody more qualified than Billy Long.

What's that, you say? 
Oh, we found him at Walmart! 

Never mind. It just goes to show you--you really do get what you pay for!
In any case, I'm more than a little embarrassed that he's the guy that represents us.  There are many people that are much more qualified to do the job.  But, how do we get them to run for office?

Who would you want to run for office--any office, and why?

Just wondering...

John <><

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Guarding Against the Negative

Recently I was witness to a Facebook pile-on.  You know what I'm talking about: somebody innocently posts a status and then others pile on with mocking and condescension. Have you ever been at the bottom of a big pile-on?  I think that one or two comments may have been a little humorous, but at some point somebody has to realize that the pile on is starting to cause some pain.

The end result was that several "friends" that just thought they were being funny, found themselves "unfriended" by the person that they were mocking/teasing/making fun of/ or whatever else you want to call it. The original owner of the post (now deleted along with the comments) said they were deleting those friends that continued to bring negative things into their life.

There have definitely been times that I made changes to guard myself (and my attitude) from the negative input of certain people.  When I started taking extra mid-shifts many years ago, the main reason I did it was to keep away from the office politics and labor/management stuff that goes on during the day/evening shifts.  Overall, I found that I was a much happier individual when I wasn't exposed to the negativity of others.

I know that we all need a safe place to vent from time to time.  I know that I can be as guilty as some about wanting to complain about circumstances or people. But don't you just find that some people are always dragging you down by their constant complaining or by always finding fault in others?

How do you guard yourself against the negative?

Sometimes you just can't avoid those people.  It may be your boss or co-worker, a neighbor, a family member--maybe even a person that considers you a friend because you're always there to listen to them.  The truth is--we all need that kind of friend.

And (for me) it's one thing to set aside time to meet with a friend and another thing to just be dumped on every time you encounter a person.  I gladly meet with friends that say "I really need somebody to talk to."  I know that we have issues that we need to be able to talk about.  That's way different than just being a fault finding, bitter, unpleasant person that people tend to want to avoid.

So, back to my question:

How do you guard yourself against the negative?

I'm interested in knowing your methods.  It may be of help to me or to other readers. Please be gracious and share.

John <><


 ⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Philippians 4:8-9

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Persecuted for Jesus

My message this morning is going to be about being persecuted for Jesus--let's just face it: we aren't!  This is an e-mail from a Christian brother serving in a land hostile to the followers of Jesus. It is a story of his local pastor that was taken to prison because of his belief.

Js family came over last night for dinner and were happy they were able to see their dad.

July 6^th, J was taken from his home by the local authorities.  Now matter how much the family tried to see him, they were not allowed to see him.  In fact the government denied taking him.  Finally, August 11^th, his brother was allowed to see him.  Today, August 18, 2011, J’s wife, daughter and youngest son were finally allowed to see him.  He told them his story.
After he was taken from his town, he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and taken to the capital.  For 10 days, he was constantly handcuffed, blindfolded and put in solitary confinement.  During the day he was confined to a room where there were 3 air-conditioning compressor units blowing hot air on him, and was not given any water or food during the day.  At night he was put in a very small jail cell, and his hands were released just long enough to eat a small piece of bread and drink 1 liter of water. At night he was not able to sleep.  He stayed awake praying and singing praises.  The guard would beat on the door and tell him to be quiet so he could sleep.  J would reply, “This is my room, if you want to sleep don’t let me keep you from sleeping.”  And he would continue singing and praying.   He endured these conditions for 10 days.  When he went into prison, he weighed 231 pounds (105 kilos).  Now he weighs 187 pounds, (85 kilos) and his skin is like leather from the heat and dehydration.
Everyday when he was in the hot room, he prayed and sang praises to himself.  On the 10^th day of this torture, he thought he was going to die because he was very weak and would lose his balance and almost fall over while sitting in the chair. His body felt cold even though it was extremely hot and his clothes were soaked with sweat.  Suddenly his strength returned and in a loud voice (J has a voice like a bull horn) he began to pray and sing praises loudly so that all could hear. As he was doing so, he could see below his blindfold, there were many feet in front of him.  He continued for some time as they stood there, listening not making a sound. Then they took off his blindfold and took of his handcuffs and brought him a table, food and water.  He gave thanks in the name of Jesus and ate his food.  After he was done, he thanked the guards and they took the things away.  Then one of the higher-ranking officers asked him if he was crazy raising his voice and making all that noise. 
J replied, “this is my room.  I am here alone.  What’s the matter?”
They said, “Being in this room has made you crazier.  We are sending you to the general population.”
After these 10 days he was taken and interrogated.  Before they took him to the interrogation room he was blindfolded and handcuffed.  They questioned him for 20 days after the 10 days of torture.  During the questioning, he was not physically abused but verbally abused.  The interrogations would last three to four hours or so.  They would ask him questions about why he worked with Americans helping people in dangerous places.  They accused him of having relations or permission from terrorists and they were allowing him to take people there and do his missionary work.  (Terrorists would kill him, they would not allow him to do this.  They can’t even lie good.)  They accused him of being a spy for America. 
They accused him of having friendships with bad people.  Now many of these people are followers of Jesus and are good people.  The government is accusing him of being bad just like the people he befriends.  They also said they had followed him for many weeks and noticed that he only left his house if he had something to do.  They asked him what he did at home all the time.  He told them he prays, reads, and sings songs to God.  They told him to quit that.
But in the end of the questioning, they always asked him why he became a follower of Jesus and left Islam.  This is the only reason they have imprisoned him; because of his faith in Jesus. 
Many people questioned him many times.  Only one time has he been before a judge.  The judge told J, “Last time we put you in prison for your faith, and now we have done it again.  Why haven’t you returned to Islam, are you getting paid good for this?” 
J replied, “I do not receive anything because I am a believer in Jesus.  I am on this Way because of Jesus, and what He has done for me.”
The Judge replied, “Then go back to jail for Jesus.”
The Judge again asked him if he would leave his faith and quit spreading his religion.  He said, “There are many people in your city, even Christians, who do not like what you are doing.” 
J replied, “What I do, I do it for those who want me to do it, not for those who don’t want me to.  I will gladly go back to jail for Jesus because I am much closer to him there.  Also I am freer in jail than I am outside.  I do have one request from you though,” he told the Judge.
The Judge asked him, “What is it you want.”
J said, “Everyone in the jail is Muslim and has a Koran.  I would like to have my glasses and my Bible.”
The Judge told him forcefully, “Get out of here.” 
This was 2 weeks ago and they have not interrogated him any more.
He is in a jail with about 50 terrorists, real terrorists.  When he is among them and he talks about his religion, someone tells the guard and they put him in solitary confinement to keep him from talking about his religion.
This is a perfect example of Middle Eastern Democracy. But most importantly this is a perfect scenario of what believers endure all over the middle east and Asia.  Believe it or not, governments in this part of the world are not worried about their citizens individual rights.  

Please keep the family and J lifted up.  

And next time you have the opportunity to share your faith and don't because you are scared, think about the freedom you have to do so.

Thanks,

Tim

Take a stand for Jesus. What's the worst that can happen?

John<><

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Fair Warning

Over the past few years, I've tried to reduce the number of political rants that appear here at Out of My Hat. I find them to often be divisive and create an atmosphere that quickly becomes more about who is right and who is wrong than a place for discussion, debate and a sharing of ideas.

Unfortunately, I still share political links that I like and post opinions over on Facebook.  This often generates unwanted comments.  While I realize that posting such links and status updates can appear to give the impression that you are invited to disagree with me; it really doesn't.  You have your page to post your opinions--use it.

To date, I've never censored comments on Facebook and have only done that once at Out of My Hat.  I'm a big boy and can take it. At this point, I just want to make sure that you are able to take it as well.

My friends are a diverse group. I have some very conservative friends through church relationships and some very liberal friends through my Union relationships; family falls on both sides; classmates-- I'm unsure of.  Most of those that are willing to take on the debate are very well versed in the legislative process and have their facts pretty well squared away.  It has been my experience, that the left side (politically speaking) tends to be better informed of the facts than the right. There have been several national surveys that also bear this out.

I'm sharing this as a kind of public service warning.  It seems that we are getting into the 2012 campaign season much earlier than usual and I have a feeling that it's going to be an ugly one. I am going to try to refrain from posting a lot of political stuff here, and perhaps reduce the links on Facebook. (Follow me on Twitter  @magicianary and your comments are limited to 140 characters!)

If you choose to engage in political debate with my friends -- know your stuff.  Your information, sources, facts and opinions will all be challenged.  Be polite -- I won't put up with meanness. Don't get personal.  Even though our elected representative are engaged in unreasonable and unproductive debate doesn't mean that we have to be. If you can't do these things or just don't want to make yourself a target, then keep your opinions and comments on your own sites.

You've been warned!

John <><

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Just Do It!

Monday afternoon I was building a couple of walls to cover with lattice. They extend out from the deck by a 2x12, are 8' long and make up the corner on the south and west sides of the patio.  We'll plant climbing flowers from the ground and have planters on the 2x12s with vines that will hang down. Once I borrow a truck and get the lattice up, I'm sure that it will look nice.

Those of you that know me well, know that building stuff is not really my thing.  As a matter of fact, this project replaces an earlier project that didn't last.  As I was building it, I was thinking about when I worked at a lumber yard (many years ago).  Whenever we had to build a new display or work with lumber and tools, the guys would always make fun of me.  I'd respond by telling them that if they would have asked me if I could build things when they hired me, I would have told them the truth. But they only asked me if I could sell the stuff, and that's what I do! Since I led the store in sales every month, they'd leave me alone -- until the next time.

I was taking a break and thinking about putting off finishing the job when I made the decision to stop thinking about what I didn't want to do and just do what needed to be done.  Sometimes, that's really what we need to do. It wasn't a matter of whether or not I liked what I was doing; it simply needed to get done.  I've had other jobs like that in the past.

Working at the aluminum factory wasn't fun. It wasn't something that I liked. It was incredibly hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The pay wasn't so hot and we worked tons of overtime.  I did the job because that's what I needed to do.

I've worked in "boiler rooms" making phone calls soliciting subscriptions for the St. Louis Post Dispatch newspaper.  I've been up at 2am to deliver newspapers in the downtown St. Louis area before going to work selling insurance.  Again, not things that I liked but things that needed to be done to pay the bills.

It's easier to do those things without the complaining.  Complaining doesn't get the work done and creates an atmosphere that is non-productive. It's a lot easier to just focus on getting the job done. I'm going to start adapting this attitude to other areas of my life...beginning with:

Exercise.  Yeah, not my idea of fun.  Even when I was younger and had to run for track, it wasn't fun.  I was never one to 'like' running.  I don't really like any particular form of exercise but would probably say that weight lifting is the thing that I have disliked the least and will probably add it into my daily routine at some point. Tuesday I started exercising by riding on our exercise bike.  I had to get up early to get it done before work, but managed to put in 30 minutes.  Wednesday I managed a full hour. I'm not doing it because I like it. I'm doing it because it needs to get done. I'll post my times on Facebook...just to keep myself motivated.

I'll write more as I add other areas of this "Just Do It" philosophy.

John <><
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