Endless Possibilities

Sipping on a fresh homemade strawberry kombucha, I’m sitting in a 600 square foot room we call “the cave”. It’s snowing outside, while I’m watching flames in the woodstove through the glass door.  The contrast of extremes is interesting.  My charcoal gray T-shirt states, I’m currently unsupervised.  I know, it freaks me out too.  But the possibilities are endless!  My long gray beard matches it well. 

My wife says that I’ve evolved into a hippie.  Yes, I do hunt mushrooms in the woods.  I also make my own herbal teas and medicines. My ROKU is playing Tibetan meditation music in the background… so she probably isn’t far from the truth.  But not a hippie, I see that culture as leading us to the drug induced, sex craved culture we see today.  I do, however, like the peace and love aspect.

It’s okay to mellow a little as we age.  Even explore new ideas and hobbies.  I wish I had discovered my older self at a younger age.  I believe the Creator cuts us some slack as we age.  I don’t believe He’s as mean as I once thought.  I really won’t get struck with lightning if I don’t attend church this week. Today, I even find a forty five minute Bible study lasts all day.  It just seems to never end.  When did Sunday school get soooooo long?

I still go to church. I just get more religion working outside, in nature, than I do in attending.  I’m at the point in life where I need more than a church, which is obsessed in the past, can give.  I like Romans 1:19-20, For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Give me a class study on string theory, quantum mechanics, or near death experiences.  We are eternal beings of light!  If we don’t stop studying Jewish history, science will discover the real Creator before the church does.  I understand the preoccupation with the past, but is it at the cost of our present, or possibly our future?

I do have many questions about God, which remain unanswered.  But I’m looking for those answers.  It’s the person who doesn’t seek that’s in real danger.  Rejecting completely the concept of a divine creator is not even an alternative answer.  Looking at nature, the only correct one is that God is real. Design is everywhere!

The problem, is that the church has presented to us an active communicating God who has our best interest at heart.  It’s nice, but He is often silent and passive when we call.  Our pleas go unanswered as we struggle through life seemingly unaided.  It makes people reject that business model and opt for another, less religious and less churchy.  I’m not anti-church.  I am anti a church, which cannot change, especially one that claims to have all the answers.

The Bible is Religion 101.  It should make you thirsty for more knowledge, more seeking of a Creator where possibilities are endless!

Philippians 2:12-13 says to Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is producing in you both the desire and the ability to do what pleases Him.   Is there a “holistic” religion?  Edgar Cayce said, “Then, to be able to remember the sunset, to be able to remember a beautiful conversation, a beautiful deed done where hope and faith were created, to remember the smile of a babe, the blush of a rose, the harmony of a song—a bird’s call; these are creative.  For they are a part of thyself, they bring you closer and closer to God”

The temperature outside is 23 degrees with a wind chill of 11.  The snow is still falling along with the temps… guess I’ll go watch some UFO videos.  Just kidding!

If I Were President

I was sitting in the living room this morning drinking my coffee and watching the news.  It all seemed to be bad and most of the stories had something to do with what the President should or shouldn't have done.  I thought, "maybe I could be a better President".  Granted, I'm a conservative with a Biblical worldview.  I also feel the Republican party is soft when it comes to pressing the issues they get elected on.  My ideas concerning business are vastly different from the majority of the Republican Party as well.  Both Democrats and Republicans have a tremendous amount of money thrown at them from corporations.   Their loyalty to the American citizen, with his empty pockets, has to be questioned. 

Having said that, let me give you my thoughts on occupying the oval office.

If I were President...

I would fight to end abortion from day one!  If congress fully supported me, it would be illegal by the end of my first day in office.

The United States border would be secured quickly.  It would be guarded by troops and the most sophisticated equipment available.  

All those who are in this country, illegally, would have ninety days to leave.   After that, they would be transported to the nearest border!  Being born on or above American soil would NOT grant you citizenship.  You may become a citizen through proper channels.

Full employment would have a high priority in my administration.  The jobs vacated by illegals would immediately be filled by Americans.  I would encourage grants to businesses for hiring additional workers and moving jobs back from overseas.  There would be supplemental pay for older workers.  This would encourage those nearing retirement to leave early, thereby opening up additional positions for our graduates.

Companies who have moved offshore would find their products can no longer cross the border without additional costs.  If you sell it here, it must be made here!  Greed must take a backseat to the American workers.

I would encourage the rewriting of Corporate laws so that shareholders no longer come first.  Corporations would have to be responsible to the communities where they are located and must demonstrate how they have "assisted" that community and state through various and diverse projects.  CEO's and corporate hierarchy could not be paid more than a proper multiplier of the lowest employee's wage.  Corporate greed must be "reined in" if America is to succeed.  I would strongly encourage business to also end the process of exorbitant bonuses to management.  Those bonuses drive worker abuse through unneeded stress and change the focus of the business to a numbers game.

I would strongly discourage corporate mergers.  Bigger is never better.  It always costs jobs, raises product costs to pay for the lawyers, and destroys competition.  I would strongly encourage new business startups and mid-size business grants for additional production and jobs.

I would vastly change the IRS.  America needs a flat tax and a simple tax code.  When it's simple, there will be less abuse and no confusion.  Anywhere from 8 to 10 percent seems like a good number to start with, but it would have to be capped based on income.  Some could afford 10 percent, while others could not.

Congress would also have to send me a balanced budget every year.  We must pay the debt down and become self sufficient.  Our financial system has had too many pigs at the trough for too many years.  Things will change.  There would be no spending based on "buying votes".  That will be illegal and some Congressmen would find themselves behind bars for stealing taxpayer dollars.

I would put America back on the gold standard and audit the Federal Reserve!  I would tell the European bankers that the dollar will be in great demand very soon and it would be in their best interest to stand back and not interfere.  

We would slowly ween most non-handicapped citizens off welfare.  If you are able to work, we will find a satisfactory job where you can work and earn a salary.  People who earn incomes tend to be happier and less of a burden on society.  This would also help the crime rate in most of our larger cities.  

The Department of Education would be closed and those responsibilities handed off to the various states.  We would have fifty laboratories of the best and brightest in education.  States could work with each other to choose the best methods for learning.  Education is always best when left to the local and state level. 

My environmental protection would be very strong.  We only have one place to live and we will keep it clean and healthy.  I would reexamine "fracking" very closely.  If ground water is being contaminated, I would stop the process through executive order. 

The process of solar radiation management, also known as geo-engineering, would halt.  The process sprays too many chemicals on our citizens and is changing the ph balance of our soils.  

My administration would take an "America First" policy.  If you want to be our friend, that's great.  Want a Jihad, we'll give you one that will not be "soon forgotten".  We would fully support Israel with no reservations.  We would not discourage Israel from dealing with ANY of her problems and would be standing as backup if needed!  It would be a tag-team you will only fight once.

I would encourage congress to pass "term limits" laws for all offices.  Our founding fathers never intended for political dynasties to develop. We need fresh faces and fresh ideas in Washington.  The best way to do that is through limiting our politicians terms in office.  Judges also need to be limited in their time of service.  There should be NO lifetime appointments!

America was founded on Christian principles and the majority of our founders were believers in the Bible.  The organized effort to destabilize religion in this country would cease.  You don't have to be a Bible believer to live here but you would never be able to force your non-belief on others.  The efforts to remove religious symbols, religious activities, and religion in general would not be tolerated.  Everyone has a right to worship as they please and your rights end where theirs begin.  With that said, mosques tend to be places of terrorist education and religious subversion.  They would be watched closely for signs of trouble and closed down immediately at ANY incident involving injury to others or American property!  

America has always been a "melting pot" and a good one.  We've been made stronger with legal immigrants who wished to live here peacefully and meld into society.  They learned English, started businesses, raised children, and helped others.  I would be very intolerant of terrorists who come here with the intention of transforming America into their third world country.  You would live longer staying in your own country during my administration.

Hope this hasn't been too hard on you liberals.  American history shows the ideas that work and that lift up the populace to prosperity.  Your ideas have moved us down on every list imaginable.  Help us rebuild America to the power and prestige she deserves.  She can once again be a light to the world for freedom, bravery, and democracy.  

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

and to the republic for which it stands,

one nation under God,

indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Believing in God

I firmly believe that God exists!  Everything I’ve read about Him in the Bible seems correct.  I find few conflicts in scripture and realize most to be only translation errors.  It is for me, comforting and reasonable to trust in the intelligent design argument.  The old adage that “a tornado in a brickyard doesn’t produce a building” is true and will always be true.  The random chance that everything we see, touch, taste, hear, and smell happened by accident requires even more faith than mine.  An incomprehensible  design requires an incomprehensible designer.

I could quote scripture for my argument but atheists and agnostics are repelled by it and only adds to their confusion.  They want theists to argue with both hands tied behind their backs and duct tape across their mouths.  It is easier for them to win their argument by shouting down the competition and pounding the table loud enough that no one can hear the truth.  If I were an atheist, that plan alone would be enough for me to explore the other side of the argument even quicker.  My question would be, “have I been misled by an argument that was flawed beyond belief and one which has eternal consequences?

The decision of whether God exists or not is the greatest question you will ever face.  It is a verdict that demands a correct answer because if God exists then He will expect honor and obedience from those He created.  If God does not exist, then there is no hope for mankind.  There would be no reason for goodness here on earth and no promise of a reward after death.  It’s an eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die” kind of existence.

Much of western culture has gotten on the “godless train” and had their ticket punched to an unknown destination.  Promises of free food and great fun encouraged even some of the faithful to get on board.  Leaving the station, they all shout curses at Christians from their windows while we urge them to get off before it’s too late!  It’s actually just the opposite of what happened in the Book of Genesis.  Noah and his few faithful helpers built an ark as God planned to destroy mankind for wickedness.  Their belief in God’s faithfulness was rewarded with life and not death.  Only a few were saved in the worldwide flood that followed.  If scripture is correct, and it always is, the majority will perish believing in a lie.

In America, the main stream media, our educational institutions, corporations, and the government have had tremendous influence in reshaping us from a Christian nation.  I believe scripture teaches there will be degrees of reward after death and likewise, degrees of punishment.  Many will suffer greater damnation for teaching and leading people to believe the lie that God doesn’t exist.  If you are guilty of this heinous teaching, please repent.  If you want to disbelieve in God, so be it, but don’t deceive others as well.  If you are one of those who aren’t sure if you’re supposed to be on the atheist train, like the parable of the lost son in Luke 15:11-32, there is always opportunity to change ones path and come home to God!  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that He rewards everyone who searches for Him.”  Then in Hebrews 11:1 we have the definition of faith, “faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.”

If you’re a “prodigal son or daughter”, God loves you and knows that you really believe in Him.  You’re frightened by the reaction of your peers if you acknowledge your mistakes and turn away from them to Him.  Think about this, if your courage and change of heart saves others, they will thank you for an eternity!  Those who reject you were not worth following anyway.  God will take care of you.  Be strong and be brave!  Christians will be there to support and help you get back on the journey to Heaven.

Christian Benefits

Usually, a person’s yard is one of the safest places to be.  I always thought that about mine, until last week. A young man got into his car about five houses down the street, started it, and then had a seizure of some type.  His vehicle lurched forward with his foot on the gas pedal, crossed the street at an angle, completely removed a large crepe myrtle tree in our yard.  He then crossed the driveway and smashed into a brick retaining wall.  The vehicle was almost balanced on top of the wall with only the right rear wheel still spinning  trying to get traction.  Smoke from the tire boiled up as our son, Stephen, ran out of the house and reached through the window to turn off the engine.


My wife called 911 and Alabaster police and fire personnel responded quickly.  The young man was taken to the hospital and released that afternoon.  He and his wife came by for a visit, apologizing for all the damage.  I was home from work by that time and we talked about how quick bad things can happen.  He didn’t remember anything after starting his vehicle, not the wreck or even being taken to the hospital.  My wife told him that she had prayed for his safety and tears came to his eyes as he thanked her.

It was a bad accident which could have been horrific.  Normally, there are children playing nearby or people walking down the street.  My wife, five minutes earlier, had stopped mowing grass.  She left the section with the crepe myrtles for the late afternoon, when it would be cooler.  One more unusual thing, was that Stephen normally parks his truck in front of the retaining wall.  For some reason that morning, upon returning home, he parked on the opposite side of the drive.

I know most people don’t believe in guardian angels, preferring to let their world spin on random chance.  But I can promise you from a lifetime of examples, that God works every day in this world.  He didn’t start it spinning way back in Genesis then walk away!  He is involved in your life every day just as He is mine.

Three weeks ago, I was about to climb a pole while working on a telephone trouble.  I heard a loud noise and the pole shook.  Turning to my right, toward the noise, I saw power lines dancing violently with sparks flying just before they hit the ground.  Needless to say, I stopped working.  I discovered a large tree had fallen two spans down.  The weather wasn’t bad and there wasn’t any wind.   The tree was rotten at the base and it’s time was up.  A definite close call.

One day last week, I was in a hurry to get home from work.  Delayed by a repair job, I was only fifteen minutes later than my usual time.  Halfway home, I found myself caught with traffic at a standstill.  I waited about 10 minutes with no traffic coming from the opposite direction either.  I decided to turn around and go the long way home.  I found out that evening two people had been killed in a head-on crash at 4:15pm, just ahead of me.  I missed being near that ground zero by the time I spent on the earlier trouble.

Now, I don’t want to sound redundant, but it’s pretty neat being a Christian!  Just consider a moment how it is having the God of the universe as your life coach.  Imagine the world as a gym with Jesus as your trainer.  It just doesn’t get any better.  Or, imagine  you’ve got to disarm the next catastrophe in your life and you’re sweating bullets wondering whether to cut the red wire or the blue one… snip the wrong one and everything unravels…  But wait, with God on your side, there is no catastrophe in the first place.

Have you ever seen those people who try to assemble one of their kids toys without the directions?  It isn’t pretty and it’s terribly stressful being around them!  God’s directions make your life easier and lets the disasters become manageable.

In Christians Make a Difference, I invited those of you who aren’t Christians to come over and join us.  I hope you have been reading your Bible and understand God a little more.  He is a loving creator who has made some tremendous promises.  If you’ve got some time, check out a few Bible verses and see if it might be in your best interest to join a winning team!

This is God’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. Jeremiah 29:11

Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
   or, whine, Israel, saying,
“God has lost track of me.
   He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
God doesn’t come and go. God lasts.
   He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.
   And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
   gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
   young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
   They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired,
   they walk and don’t lag behind. Isaiah 40:29-31 (MSG)


And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes. Phil. 4:19 (MSG)


“Because you hated Knowledge
   and had nothing to do with the Fear-of-God,
Because you wouldn’t take my advice
   and brushed aside all my offers to train you,
Well, you’ve made your bed—now lie in it;
   you wanted your own way—now, how do you like it?
Don’t you see what happens, you simpletons, you idiots?
   Carelessness kills; complacency is murder.
First pay attention to me, and then relax.
   Now you can take it easy—you’re in good hands.”  Prov. 1:33 (MSG)


But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master.  Rom 6:23 (MSG)

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.  Matt. 11:28-29 (MSG)

If you feel your life is a little busted up and needs serious repair, I know just the God who can do it!  Oh, and don’t wait too long, you just never know when “something bad” might make your lack of choice… permanent!

Pray Without Ceasing

I must confess that I’ve been enjoying somewhat of a media fast lately.  The last two weeks have been good for me, spiritually, by refocusing on more important issues.  I still enjoy blogging, and there have been lots of good topics around, but we all need breaks once in a while.  I increasingly find our fast paced lifestyles, both at work and home to be dangerous in many ways.  We all need to slow down and reprioritize on the things that really matter.  If you were asked to make a list of what is REALLY important, my guess is that the person driving slow in front of you, wouldn’t be number one.

We let all kinds of unimportant stuff elbow its way up the list, instead of, going to the back of the line.  Let’s be honest and think about the important things a minute.  Number one has to be your spiritual state or your relationship with God.  I looked at my list and had to reach way down and pull that one back up where it should be.  On April first, my wife and I joined the Church of the Highlands here in Birmingham.  I can only believe that God was pleased with the decision because it seems that every lesson I’ve heard since then, seems to apply directly to me.

Putting God first is one of the best ways to reorganize your life to make everything else fall into place.  My illustration of a cluttered, out-of-order life, is like walking into a “hoarders” home.  You know, those people who can’t throw anything away.  I’ve walked into people’s homes and had to actually step on things to get where I was going, usually a broken telephone jack.  A Godly ordered life is just the opposite, it’s a clean home, with everything in its place.  We’re still going to misplace some stuff, but it’s much easier to get back on track.

I find that prayer to God helps immensely in staying pliant for His wishes.  We are here for a purpose and it is not what most seem to be striving for like money, power, and a good time.  The title of today’s blog came from 1 Thessalonians 5:17.  In context it says this, “Live in peace with each other. ¹⁴ And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. ¹⁵Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. ¹⁶ Rejoice always, ¹⁷ pray continually, ¹⁸ give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

In prayer, sometimes we just don’t know what to say.  At least our brain might be a little slow in speaking, I’m not sure the inner spirit is ever that way.  Often, a simple written prayer is a good start.  The internet is full of some great ones like the AA-Serenity Prayer…

God, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change, Courage to change the
things I can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.

Here is another, called

Matt’s morning prayer for sobriety and peace throughout the day

God, Show me throughout this day how to be of service to Thee and those around me.Allow me to show my love and gratitude to Thee, by loving, helping, listening to and comforting others.

Bless me to let go of the expectation that I need to be shown love, listened to, or comforted.

Bless me to do, what I do,  for Thee, and not for the outside reward that may or may not come.

Bless me to trust thee, and with this trust, to release the need I feel to direct or control the lives of others.

Bless me to lose my fears and live each moment as it comes today with a peace and enjoyment I feel when living for thee.

Divorce me today from dishonest self-seeking and selfish motives, that I may be an instrument in thy hands and show others, through my example, Thy way, Thy love, and Thy peace.    Amen

Whatever you use to kickstart your prayer life, I encourage you to get started.  Throw some things out that have pushed God down the list and reprioritize!  Hey, your prayer line is ringing…  are you going to answer that?  It just may be life changing!

Originally published April 17, 2012 at Thechestnutburr.com