dsweetgoober

I had lunch with two coworkers Friday and sat at the local Shakey's Pizza eating pizza, watching Fox News and talking about current events. The usual news stories floated by either at the top or the bottom of the screen eliciting commentary from my two friends--- and with stories about Guantanamo Bay, Fort Hood and Somalia Pirates dominating the show--- eventually we ended up in one of our frequent discussions about crime & punishment in America as regards "terrorists".

The conversation was something like this:

Ken "They're bringing those guys to New York for a trial? Those guys that blew up the Trade Center? Some Senator is saying that's a bad idea."

Scott "Yeah, you know what they should do? They should strap them down, cut off one finger tip at a time..."

Ken "Yeah, they want to be martyred anyway so..."

Scott "...then cut off their fingers and toes..."

Ken "...I'd tell them, 'Hey we'll let you be martyrs..."

Scott "...then cut they're arms and legs off real slow..."

Ken "...we just want to kill you our way here in front of all the people you hurt ..."

Scott "...then shoot them in the head with a BB gun like 50 or 60 times...."

Ken "...instead of letting you blow yourself up and take innocent people with you."

Scott "...then just kill them somehow to finish it off like with a dull knife or something."

From there of course we went the full gamut through torture at Guantanamo Bay, nuking them back to the Stone Age and many other suggestions for “fighting fire with fire”.

Believe me I'm not in favor of showing mercy to proven terrorists, and I have no problem with them being tried and put to death for their crimes, but I always find it odd when Christians seem to agree with this concept of breaking all the rules in the way that we deal with them. I hear them talking about practicing terrorism against our enemies to put us on an even footing. Did you know that terrorism, in the Middle East, actually started with Israel planting bombs in civilian areas during the war for independence in 1948? How did that work for them?

Even more odd though is that the same people that believe in this also believe that we are a Christian Nation, called and ordained of God, to be a light to the world. Can we have it both ways? Can we believe that The United States of America is the beacon of Christianity to a lost world while at the same time believing that we have the right to practice torture, terrorism or genocide?

See fighting fire with fire sounds like a good idea when you’re mad, or hurt, but would you really want the fire department to show up and fight a fire at your house with flame throwers?

"OH, thank God you here! My family..."

"Back up sir, we're gonna fight Fire with Fire baby!!

"What!! No! My kids are in there!! My wife!!!"

"Hey we didn’t start this thing but let me tell you buddy we will end it! Stand back!!"

Well guess what? This is God’s house. Those are his kids. And we are here to run in, grab them from the flames and drag out as many as we can before the fire consumes everything in Judgment. Remember the Bible says that “God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to eternal life through Jesus Christ”.

I know this is a ridiculous thought, but maybe we should resist the temptation to take revenge and pray for our enemies.

I know, I know, too ridiculous to consider.

Where’s my flamethrower?

A Place Called Shiloh

by David F. Sweet

©1997 David F. Sweet

"...the Bible is constantly sending people into the desert for redemption, because it's there, away from the ease of settled life, far removed from ready water, that they turn to God for sustenance"
Bruce Feiler

Chapter 1

As I lay on the hot sand, face to the sky, watching several large birds circle slowly above me I could not help but wonder at how I had come to be here. Miles from anywhere in a seemingly endless desert with no one, not even the vagabond, with which to share the rigors and loneliness of my journey.

"My Journey" I said aloud to the circling vultures, "Perhaps if I live I'll write a book of that name recounting this trip."

"My Journey" I said again "When did it become my journey anyway? It was your journey" I said sitting up and casting a small stone toward the mound of sand at the bottom of the hill I was resting on.

I had buried the vagabond there and scratched his name on a flat stone which protruded up from the head of the mound. It read simply "Abel". The date seemed unimportant and I knew nothing more about his life than what I had written on the stone. That and a few of other things I could not write because they concerned the living and not the dead.

I began to think back to our meeting the day before. It started with him straggling into town and asking me for a drink from the village well. It was obvious that he had come across the desert and that was something that we tended to look down on in our village. All the elders had made it clear that there was nothing in the desert but sand and nothing beyond the desert but more sand, so anyone emerging from the desert with knowledge contrary to that was obviously delusional.

"I want to tell you about a place called Shiloh" he had said after drinking deeply and resting for a short while "but to tell you the truth, I don't know where to begin."
"Well" I said examining him doubtfully "Why don't you start at the beginning?"
"Too far!" he shook his head rather violently "We don't have that kind of time."
"Uh huh" I said trying hard not to sound rude "Look, I do have other things to do so perhaps, if you're going to tell me, you could just pick a place and begin?"
"Well the place would have to be Shiloh" he said "and the beginning, maybe, would be to tell you that I found it. Out there." he finished, nodding his head in the direction of the desert.

"Hmm. Beyond here? In the desert?" I asked.

"Yes" he said nodding his head vigorously "You've got to believe me. This place is real! I know you believe there's nothing beyond Beulah but it's out there!" he said waving his hand out toward the edge of town "I've been there!"

"OK, tell me about it." I said thinking, if nothing else, at least this might be an interesting way to pass the early evening hours.

He told me about his early life in the village and spoke well of his education in the Fellowship Hall. He had been to the High Place at all the appropriate times and had apparently been considered an aspiring member of The Council at one time. Something had gone wrong though after his ascension to adulthood.

"I was too adventurous for this place " he said "I believed that we were the only village under the Kings control, like I had always been taught. I believed the story about the rebellion and how that all the other villages were destroyed except Shemer, where his enemies live. And I believed that Beulah was the only place where his people had ever lived. Still, something drew me to the desert."

I nodded to let him know I was listening.

"I used to go out there." he said "Just walking".

"Alone?" I had asked him.

"Yes" he said "With no fellowship at all. Just me and my pack carrying some bread, water and a few old maps I found in the library. It was wonderful. I saw things that you cannot see here in the village."

"Things that we no doubt, were not meant to see." I said "But you were alone?"
"Yes" he said slowly and deliberately "I was alone. No elder to read the map for me. No one to share the heat of the day with. No one to hold my hand and lift me up or let me down. And you know what?" he said "I lived."

"I know you lived, that is if you were really there." I said "If you hadn't lived, we wouldn't be here talking now would we?"

"No, you don't understand." he said looking down at the ground and then back up at me "I lived. What ever I was doing here in the village it wasn't life. I think it was just existing, but I mean I really lived!"

"So you think that we should all head out there and live in the desert?" I had asked him.
"No. We need to live here in the village, where we can eat and drink and fellowship but listen there are some things out there in the desert that we need to see."

"Like what?"

"Like Shiloh."

Shiloh. He had this thing about Shiloh, although I could not see what it was that attracted him to the subject. It was some sort of village that he had stumbled on in his travels and it seemed extremely important to him that we knew of it's existence. He had been many places in the desert but Shiloh had impressed him more than any other because it was not on the maps available from the town hall. He had first noticed it noted on an old map from the library and had gone to the Elders to help him figure out the significance of the name. He said that they were very angry about his insistence that it was a village.

"First they told me it was a valley that the shifting sands had filled in long ago" he told me "then they tried to claim that it was an error made by a map maker who had long ago lost his position for carelessness."

"So this Shiloh is a village then?" I asked him as he leaned back against the well and closed his eyes, "Who lives there?"

"No one lives there any more." he said simply.

"Okay. So what's your point then?" I was getting a little irritated with him. He seemed to want to talk about this Shiloh place and yet he really did not seem to have any real knowledge.

"I'm not sure" he said growing secretive all of the sudden "But I'll tell you this..." he added opening his eyes and looking around to be sure that we were still alone "...the elders don't want us to know about it."

"Well then perhaps we shouldn't know about it then." I said "Did that ever occur to you?"
"Why would they want to deny the existence of a village that the old maps in the library acknowledge?" he asked "I guess I should say that the maps used to acknowledge it's existence because all those maps have been altered now."

I don't know why I even listened to him but I did. When I finally got bored with the conversation I went to bed. I felt sorry for him though and let him sleep on my porch that night and in the morning, on my way to my job, I stopped by the library and looked for the name of the village he had mentioned. An old man was seated in the main chamber on a stone bench and I asked him for help.

"Shiloh?" he said quizzically, furrowing his bushy brow "I'm afraid There is no village of that name in the archives young man. Never has been."

"Umm, yes" I said "I see. Well thank you. Where are the desert maps kept anyway sir?"
"There are no desert maps son, no one goes there." He answered narrowing his eyes and watching me suspiciously "Why do you ask?"

"Oh, uh, no reason" I told him backing up a little "Just curious I guess."

"Curiosity can be a very dangerous thing." he said standing up and following me as I made my way back through the curtain that covered the drab plaster doorway.

"I must be off or I'm going to be late for work. Perhaps I could check back later." I told him hurrying off back along the main avenue through the village, and out to the scribe who employed my services for copying legal documents.

I could feel his eyes watching me as I hurried off until finally turning a corner and moving beyond his vision. I was not apparently beyond his thoughts though. The morning passed uneventfully until we broke for midday prayer and Master Scribnal informed me that the Elders had summoned me to answer some questions regarding the visit I had made to the Library that morning.

"I'll go by and see the Elders right after work this evening Master Scribnal" I said acknowledging his note.

"That won't be necessary " he answered coldly "You've been excused for the remainder of the day and may go now."

The confrontation that followed and my flight back home was something that I wish I could forget. I had never seen the elders so angry as they were that day. They questioned me about the vagabond, the library, my lineage and everything else they could think of.

"Shiloh does not exist and you are foolish to be asking questions about it!" shouted Ebeneezer the Chief Elder, "Why have you sought to follow this error?!"

I patiently explained again about the vagabond and told them that I was only seeking to disprove what he had claimed not to prove it by any means. That seemed to appease them some what, and they finally allowed me to leave after making me swear to bring the vagabond back to them to confirm my story. I ran all the way home, hoping to find the vagabond and bring him back with me, but instead I found him waiting on the edge of the desert, beyond my house, with a fresh pack at his feet. I figured he was getting set to head back out the way he had come and I was extremely happy to see that he had not left yet. Until I recognized the pack as being mine and began to think about where he might have gotten the provisions to fill it.

"You thief! You've stolen my pack" I cried "And probably taken all my provisions too!"
"You misunderstand me." he said lifting his hands and trying to calm me down.

Before I could answer, or he could explain, I heard the twang of a bow and the vagabond lurched forward and fell into the sand with an arrow protruding from his stomach. Crimson blood flowed and stained the white tunic that he wore under his blue cloak.

"This pack is for you" he said "Take it and go. I have the maps in there for you already."

"What? I'm not going anywhere!" I said as I spun around and saw the archer who had sent the first arrow winging our way. He seemed to be alone and he was stringing another arrow to fire from the shade of a locust grove 50 yards away.

"You must go" he said struggling to get to his feet "I am too tired to finish this search and now I am wounded."

I have to confess I did not take the pack, or resume his journey, because I believed in Shiloh or even cared about it's existence. I cared nothing for him. Rather I saw what the elders had intended for the vagabond and I knew what I could expect myself if I stayed to face them again. I hoisted the pack to my shoulder and then helped the vagabond to stand. Soon we were scrambling across the desert with arrows falling in the sand around us.

He did not live long, a few more hours, and was not much help before he died. I learned his name and listened again as he told me, roughly, how to read the maps and use the compass he pressed into my hand.

"Curse your stupid Shiloh!" I said as I picked up another rock and flung it at the pile of sand below me on the desert floor "I wish I had never met you!".

On Easter Sunday my family and I finally called it quits on attending the same circle of churches here in our town hoping that somehow one of them, after 15 years, would magically turn into what we were looking for. We decided to just meet in our living room, worship Jesus, study the Bible and fellowship together.

I have to admit it was difficult to do. It felt right but it also looked so wrong to me. I've been saved nearly 30 years and have never not gone to church in all that time. But enough was enough and we (my wife, daughter, Son-in-law and myself) liked what was happening here and did not like what was happening any other place we visited.

Our vision of what church should be is simple. People come who are hungry for God and they get fed. The Holy Spirit is not only welcome but craved. It should not be a social gathering with dress codes and a multitude of programs. People come needy and they should get what they need rather than hiding behind a mask and pretending that everything is fine until they go home and cry themselves to sleep.

We have run across others who feel the same way over the past few months and we have grown. Last nights meeting was 18 people, or 6 families. We love it. There is no program other than we show up and see what God has in store for us. People start arriving at 7:00 or so and they were all still here at11:00. And no one was looking at their watch wondering when they could leave. We spent the time worshiping, praying for each other, prophesying and fellowshipping over the wide array of food everyone brought. I have been looking for this type of fire for 15 years in this town. Thank you Jesus that we have finally found it.

7/7/94

Soldiers

I hear the ring and stamp of feet,
soldiers streaming through the street,
plans of mischief to complete,
brought by ever hastening feet.

Soldiers all, some wheat-- some chaff,
they seek a shepherd and a staff,
a garden lies across their path,
a tender plant awaits their wrath.

Swords and knives and sticks abound,
a little lamb they must surround,
a figure stirs without a sound,
and gently rises from the ground.

And soldiers lead him off to die,
defenseless and without a cry,
and no one speaks a word but I...

"Oh Lord! Have you no soldiers?"

Soldiers find a robe to place,
upon his shoulders while his face,
is stained with blood to purchase grace,
for hounds who brought him from the chase.

And soldiers sport and play a game,
"Tell me prophet! What's my name?"
Sea waves frothing out their shame,
and yet he loves them all the same.

And soldiers lead him off to die,
defenseless and without a cry,
and no one speaks a word but I...

"Oh Lord! Where are your soldiers?"

And soldiers place him in the ground,
with soldiers stationed all around,
while in the tomb without a sound,
he gently rises from the ground.

First to Hell and Death below,
then to Heaven he must go,
to bring what soldiers need to know,
mercy and forgiveness flow.

And Hell and Death have met defeat,
and we see victory complete,
as soldiers bow before his feet,
to find salvation full and sweet.

And soldiers learn that they must die,
defenseless and without a cry,
I hear them say and so do I...

"Oh Lord, I'll be your soldier!"

(Excerpt from CS Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, in which Screwtape advises Wormwood on using time to wear down a soul.)

The enemy has guarded him from you through the first great wave of temptations. But, if only he can be kept alive, you have time itself for an ally. The long, dull, monotonous years of... middle aged adversity are excellent campaigning weather. You see, it is so hard for these creatures to persevere. The routine of adversity, the gradual decay of youthful loves or youthful hopes, the quiet despair (hardly felt as pain) of ever overcoming the chronic temptations with which we have again and again defeated them, the drabness which we create in their lives and the inarticulate resentment with which we teach them to respond to it--- all this provides admirable opportunities for wearing out a soul by attrition."

If you are unfamiliar with this work of CS Lewis it is a fictional account of one demon writing to another demon instructions on the best method of causing a Christian to fall.

Paul seems to have a similar thought about this possiblity when he writes of himself "...lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." A falling away in old age. A collapse, after years of service and struggle. Is it possible to let the years of struggle wear us down by attrition and bring about in old age what the enemy of our souls could not accomplish when we were young and strong, with the word of God abiding in us?

I think so. We have to finish the course strongly. We have to understand that "God's mercies are new every morning". Past failures speak nothing of today and his grace can renew our hearts even in the twilight years just as it did in youth. Paul elsewhere taught that experience should produce hope and that hope would not lead us to shame.

"A man went berserk today and gunned three people down,
in a fast food restaurant in someone else's town,
Everybody said they'd never seen the man around,
But anybody knew that he was from somebodies town.

But nobody reached him for the Gospel,
though anybody knew that it was right,
and everybody hoped he'd see somebody's light,
but in the end nobody was in sight..."

Nobody, David F. Sweet (1986)

Without an inkling of what was coming we find ourselves faced with the latest reminder that we live in an ugly world. If ugly can even cover it. 33 people dead on a college campus, victims of the latest demonic assault on America's youth and our national psyche. It's horrible and sad beyond words.

On one side stands another social outcast who imagines a world that hates him and has conspired against him. In his mind they have ridiculed and ostracized him. He feels oppressed and helpless and can find no better answer than a demonic frenzy of bloodshed and bravado. What can we do as Christians? Pray for the families? Pray over our schools and campuses daily asking for God's divine protection? Yes.

Beyond that, what? What can we set on the other side as guilt that would ever outweigh the horror of what that young man did? Nothing. His crime is too horrible. Our sin is small by comparison and hardly worth mentioning. We sometimes laugh with the world when they single someone out as being strange or socially inept. Sometimes we allow our own issues to keep us from seeing the need in others. Can any of that make a difference in the life of a certified monster? I don't know. In fact it's a separate issue. One man's guilt never affects another's. We stand alone.

But as a former sociopath that recalls firsthand the helpless rage that comes from ridicule I know a bit of that dark side. I know what it is to be the foil for the rich and the popular in school and to feel so despised as to take it as an absolute impossibility that I could ever be "good". It's easy to believe that when the Devil whispers in your ear that you have no place in decent society and that in fact your only hope is to be as bad a you can be. I know those thoughts, they were my thoughts.

One of my favorite songs during the dark years before I found Jesus was Elton John's "Tickin'".

"‘An extremely quiet child' they called you in your school report,
‘He's always taken interest in the subjects that he's taught',
So what was it that brought the squad cars screaming up your drive?
To notify your parents of the manner in which you died?"

If you don't know the song it's all about boy as timebomb. Suffering in silence until one explosion with a handgun leaves "14 people lying dead in a bar they call the Kickin' Mule" Even now I can write the words from memory because I lstened to it so many times. I connected with the song and felt it was my own story. There were many times when I daydreamed about making such an end to my life. One final act of revenge. One final way of saying "I can cause pain too". It's no more complicated than that.

Thank God he had other plans for me. Thank God someone preached the Gospel to me. Someone who was living it out in front of me. My heart aches for the families of the slain but I thank God for the fact that no one is beyond his grace. Even monsters can turn and find mercy at the foot of the Cross. And that's the whole point of this post.

Please, don't anyone think that somehow I am defending a murderer or being disrespectful toward those grieving souls who will never be the same. I post this here with the sole hope that maybe another tragedy can be averted. Maybe someone will read this obscure post and realize that they are not too far from God. You need to know that every lie of the enemy, and every bondage, can be broken in the name of Jesus Christ. There is no sin that you have committed, no oath that you have sworn, no allegiance that you have accepted that can possibly hold you from becoming his child if you will just call out to him.

Colossians 2:14 "Let no man judge you in respect of a holyday...or of the sabbath days."

Romans 14:5 "One man esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike..."

Of all the days to go to church Easter Sunday has always been the one I dread the most. It has always been that way for me as a Christian. It always seems to be so religious. So trivial. So fleshly. So far from the point, no matter how hard I try to make it about Jesus. Why do we have Christian Holidays (holydays as Paul called them) anyway? Was that part of God's plan? Did God look down on a tired humanity and say "My people could use a three day weekend."?

God did not send his Son, Jesus did not die on the cross, to establish holidays. The only thing I am cognizant of in the NT that Jesus labeled as worthy or remembrance was his death (through communion) and the extravagant, spontaneous outpouring of love accomplished by the sinful woman at Simons feast. He said what she did would be remembered "wherever this Gospel is preached." Us? We have "Christian" holidays.

How did we get here? Much has been said and written regarding the apostasy of the early church following the decrees of Constantine so I wont rehash it all here, but, do we really believe that this paganization of Christian worship can somehow be made meaningful to us? Do we imagine that the early church, meeting in the catacombs, would have thought it sane to dress up in their new Easter outfits to crawl through the sewers and assemble for church? After which they had a cookout and turned their children loose to hunt Easter eggs in the stench and filth of the catacombs?

Don't get me wrong, I'm no grinch. When our kids were little they got baskets of candy. We celebrate Christmas with trees, lights, gifts and turkey dinners. But, attempt to somehow wrest the holidays from their pagan roots and the entangling vines of tradition and expect believers to find some deep spiritual meaning in them? Please. That's available to us every day. In fact, when Paul was teaching that there are no longer sabbaths and holydays he was not exhorting people to abandon them but realize that they were types and shadows of which Jesus was the fulfillment. It's not a matter of Christians tossing out Holydays and believing every day is common but rather realizing that everyday is holy now and none are common!

I'll go to church this morning, begrudgingly, and watch the parade of empty finery fill the pews for a Christian social event. But I will be praying that some brave soul of a Pastor will have the courage to not bow down to tradition, perhaps even break down in tears, and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a hurting world.

In fact my prayer for next Christmas Lord is persecution for your church. When I hear Christians whining about Target, or Wal-mart, or some mall somewhere refusing to treat their holidays with respect I feel like Pharaoh observing of the Jews in Exodus, "Ye are idle! Ye are Idle! That's why you have time to worry about your religious observances! Get to work!".

Awake Asleep

1.)

Awake asleep it's all the same to me,
can't recall the last time my eyes were open or closed.
Day or night I can't remember anymore,
Can't recall the last time it even mattered at all.

Black or white I can't distinguish anymore,
Can't recall the last time there was anything but gray,
Silent speaking what's the difference anyway?
Can't recall the last time I had anything to say.

Bridge

But I've been so spun around
To where I can't tell up from down,
but If you'll just make a sound...I'm awake again

2.)

You're here or there I can't remember anymore,
Can't recall the last time you were with me or away.
Dancing mourning don't know which I'd rather have,
Can't recall the last time I was happy or sad.

Feast or famine don't know what I'm looking for,
Can't recall the last time I was empty or full.
A man a slave it's lost it's meaning to me,
Can't recall the last time I was captive or free.

"...I hear that there are divisions among you when you meet as a church....but of course there must be divisions among you so that those of you who are right will be recognized."

1 Corinthians 11:18-19 NLT

The church that we have been attending since around Labor Day has disintegrated. It’s very confusing trying to pinpoint exactly why but it centers on personality conflicts and a power play by a family that had been there 12 years and felt slighted. Accusations were made against the Pastor and his wife and they resigned. The accusations included one concerning our family forcing a visitor to move so that we could sit together. We love the Pastor and his wife, and feeling unwelcome ourselves, we left too.

Tuesday I was reading my Bible on my palm pilot and started by typing the word "church" after the FIND: function, thinking (jokingly) that we needed to find a church and maybe this would help. Instead I found a slew of verses that convinced me of the following:

 Jesus is the head of the church
 He nourishes and cherishes it
 It is his body
 It has suffered divisions, schisms and doctrinal disputes from the beginning
 The purpose of those disputes is (above) to sift out the wheat and the chaff

So if my reason for leaving was that the church was suffering from strife and contention is that a valid reason to leave? If the reason for leaving is that a schism has occurred how does it work that God sifts out the wrong and approves the right if the right leave? (assuming I’m right). If I left over the family that made the power play what's my reason for leaving now that I know that the board has dealt with them and they are gone?

Rachel asked me in tears when we left “When does someone stand up and fight for the church? Why do you always just leave?” I have always felt that fighting for a church is like two children fighting over a cream puff in a sand box, by the time the fight is over what would be left worth having? You can't fight (in the flesh) and expect that anything good would be left. Nevertheless I am beginning to wonder if we have to go back and fight for the church. Not against flesh and blood, but in the Spirit. It goes against my whole nature to even consider it. Any advice?

-


1 Peter 3:12 "For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers;"

I dont know why this scripture had such a profound effect on me today. I don't struggle with prayer in a theological, or doctrinal, sense. I know what I believe about prayer. I guess I have to admit though that when I fail to pray regularly it is a way of saying that I don't believe it matters. And if I feel it doesn't matter then how can I really believe that God is listening? There must be an issue of unbelief on a fundamental level that leads me to feel that the skies "turn to brass" at times. It was refreshing to hear this word from God today though.

Latest Song I've Written:

Conversation

We have this talk a couple times a year,
if you don't remember, it's because you're never here,
It's just me and I'm talking in my mind,
Driving, while the world falls off behind...

But it's conversation,
and it helps me pass the time,
and someday I'll tell you,
everything that's on my mind...

But right now I'm driving everywhere, all the time,
going to someplace from someplace else,
to do something that justifies my pay,
So I keep moving, but I always seem to move away...

But it's conversation,
if it's only in my mind,
and someday I'll tell you,
If I can only find the time...

And there's so much to say,
So I reach for words,
and find emptiness again.

But I love you,
and I'm as proud of you,
as a person's ever been.

We have been attending the other Assembly of God church here in town and loving it. Its called Church of The Harvest. The Pastor and his wife (Tim & Cassie Cooper) are everything we tried to be at our church. Same Spirit, same vision. We love it. They let me preach on Wednesday Night and have invited Debbie to come and practice with the Worship Team. And Friday Night they asked us to be pray about me coming on staff as an Assistant Pastor. We're excited. I think we found a home, and more importantly, the next step in this walk with God that we committed to.

I was born in 1961. When I was born the United States of America was 185 years old, today it is 230. I am 45. That being the case I have lived through 20% of our nations history. That astounds me. I have lived through a full 1/5 of everything that has happened since we became a nation. If I live to be 91 our nation will be 276 and I will have witnessed 1/3 of our entire existence. Does that seem real? I have shared the earth with 11 of our 43 presidents (26% of the total) and have been alive through 9 of their reigns (21%). I have been here during the lifetimes of over a quarter of our total presidents. In my life time the world has doubled in population from 3 billion to 6 billion and the US has gone from less than 184,000,000 to 300,000,000.

If you have read Steve's journal (http://thelistsofsteve.livejournal.com/) then this picture above may not seem so strange.

This is by far the most frequently encountered set of instructions that I find on hand dryers and the message, although clear, seems out of place on a hand dryer. Look close (double click on the picture if necessary)...isn't the message saying what your mother always said "Don't pick your nose or it will bleed!"

20 Years ago I wandered into an antique store in Adams NY and found some old Bible Study commentaries for sale. Not knowing the value of them at the time I passed up on most of them and have always regretted it. When I was strong enough I dedicated my life to searching antique stores, thrift stores, flea markets and used book stores trying to hit the mother lode once again. I promised myself I would not fail if given another chance. To day, October 10th, 2006, shall live in infamy as the day that I redeemed myself.

In a flea market between Coosada and Wetumpka on Alabama State Route 14 I found the mother lode:

1) 13 volume set on church history
1) 6 volume set on church history
1) 7 volume set on church history
1) 4 volume Hands Fulls on Purpose commentary
1) 4 volume set of Vincents NT Commentaries
1) 10 volume set of Barnes Notes on the Bible
1) 4 volume set of Collier classics
1) 9 volume set of Treasury of Literature, etc, classics
1) 3 volume boxed set Lord of The Rings trilogy.

Total 60 Books @ $.075 per book for $45.00 no taxes. WOO HOO!!! I may need to build a new bookcase!!!

"Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?"

2 Kings 10:15

I recently received a phone call from my brother updating me on his heart problems. At 48 (3 years older than me) he has already had one heart attack and is needing more bypass surgery. Our Dad died at 38 with many health issues including heart problems. At the time of his call I had been experiencing chest pains myself for a couple days all of which led me to do something I had been putting off for years. I went to my Dr and said "Run all the tests you have. I want to know what shape I'm in".

The tests seem to be of three types, an EKG (to check the rhythm), a blood test (for chemical issues) and a stress test (how it performs under stress). For the last few years my DR had been telling me that I am "fighting a genetic battle" that predisposes me to health issues like hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol. I figured it would be better to know now than later.

All the tests came out fine but I was saving a question for the end. After they told me all that the tests had revealed I was going to say "Yeah, but what about blockages?" Because Every time I turn around someone is going in for emergency surgery because they found out 90% of this artery is blocked, 80% of that one, etc.,. But after the last test the DR was showing me the pictures from the stress test and said "See the 4 walls of your heart? All of them were moving when you BP went to 190. That's good. It means there are no blockages or dead spots." It was a relief to know every thing was fine.

This morning when I went up for the altar call God was drawing a comparison for me about how we all are so afraid to face Him. We're afraid to go to the Holy Spirit and say "Go ahead, run every test you have. I want to know." I think we find the same tests awaiting us essentially. The EKG, to check the rhythm and see if we are in tune with him. The blood test to see if there is anything chemically wrong. Any poison seeping in somewhere that needs to be dealt with. The stress test. To put us under a tremendous stress to see if our heart is still soft. No dead spots or blockages.

And I think the enemy likes to lie to us and create the same fear that made me wait so long. Like Elijah said "Let me die. I am no better than my fathers". I was harboring a lie ignoring that fact that a lot of lifestyle issues were different. My Dad and brother both drank and smoked heavily for years while I have done neither for close to 30 years. That made a big difference. Don't let the enemy lie to you. The work that God has done in you has given you nothing to fear when you stand before him. The only thing that can interfere with our relationship with God is if we are to afraid to come to him. I say "Run every test you have Lord. Even the stress test".

Ecclesiastes 8:14 "There is no discharge from that war".

15 years ago, or more, we attended a presbyters meeting in Watertown where Paul Canon, Eldon Wilson and others prayed and prophesied over people from the congregation. I have received many "words" from the Lord over the 28 years I have been saved, and many that were legitimate, but I felt that most were given out of a sense of concern or friendship and were often colored with the sense of familiarity that existed between myself and the "prophet". People tend to get overwhelmed with emotion at times and express as prophesy their best wishes for us or their darkest warnings.

That night was different. They laid their hands on us and shaped our destinies with prophecy as surely as Abraham had with Jacob and Esau. As sure as Paul and the other elders had with Timothy. In the midst of Eldon Wilson's prophecy he said "...and there is no discharge in that war..." quoting either consciously or unconsciously from Ecclesiastes. Above all other words that I have ever received it stands out. It meant the same to me as saying "the gifts and calling of God are without repentance" but laying the burden on the other side. Not God saying that he would never change his mind about his call on my life but that he would never allow me to change my mind.

I happened upon that verse this morning reading my Bible at home before church and it struck me anew with the urgency and permanency of the call on our lives. It also shed new light because my current KJV Bible had a translation in the margin that renders "discharge" as "casting off weapons". It is a cowardly act to walk away from the battle. It affects everyone around us. In Nehemiah 4:14 he tells them "Do not be afraid of them (the enemy), remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." In this war there is no discharge.

David F. & Debbie Sweet
1005 Fitzpatrick Ave
Opelika, Alabama 36801
(334) 745-6061



First Assembly of God (Opelika )
510 Simmons Street
Opelika, Alabama 36801

Attention: Provisional Board

Dear Saints:

I have heard that there is some talk of confusion over our departure from the pastoral duties at the church and I want to send you a letter that should clarify our reasons for leaving and remove any confusion that may exist.

As you know on the morning of Sunday, August 13th God spoke to our congregation in a prophetic message that consisted of two parts. One delivered from the midst of the congregation and one delivered from the pulpit. The first message seemed to be more of a general word to the church but the second was directed to the leadership of the church who have been there long term.

The 2nd message contained a charge from God concerning two historical sins that he was holding you accountable for as leadership. The first is refusing to yield to the Holy Spirit. You have a history of rejecting God’s attempts to move in the service in the exercise of the gifts attributed in the Scripture to the Holy Spirit. It is not blatant, but it is constant resistance which the Holy Spirit will not tolerate. God must have control of a church, and must be welcome, or he will not stay.

The 2nd charge was resisting the pastors that God has sent you and not acknowledging their authority in leading the church. You must submit to the man of God that he sends you, not in word, but in deed. You cannot wait for a man who is perfect because there isn’t such a thing. You must trust the word from Jeremiah that says “I will send you pastors according to my heart to feed you”. Submission to such authority is not a matter of words but of supporting the programs and initiatives that he institutes.

I do not have any way of knowing your history, I simply obeyed God in delivering the message, but my experience during our 2 years there bears witness to the accuracy.

In the matter of submission to authority you often were quick to speak obedience but it only came when you were in agreement with what I was doing. When it was not to your liking you simply refused to participate or pushed us aside and did as you felt was right.

In the matter of resisting the Holy Spirit’s moving during the service our experience was that when God moved, you refused to participate and attributed the events to us being in the flesh or my wife or children being out of order.

If an organization is simply of a worldly or fleshly nature and you own the organization or control it, you certainly have the right to determine what should occur during the meetings and you have the right to hire someone with the intention of dictating to them what should happen during those meetings.

If on the other hand you are claiming to be a church, a part of the body of Christ, then you are claiming to belong to God not men. As painful as this may be for you to realize you have no right to exercise control over spiritual things other than offering accountability to make sure that your pastor is not sinning or violating any scriptural standards. You also have a duty, as I expressed to you in writing some months ago, to come with humility and seek God with the pastor in prayer to find God’s will for the body. You can not come with an agenda looking to build alliances to push your plan. I plead with you to see the plain difference between those two attitudes.

Let there be no confusion, when God speaks and accuses you of sin and calls you to the altar to repent there is no room for “I don’t get it”. You receive it or reject it. Your refusal to obey the word of the Lord means that you have rejected God’s authority. In your mind you may view it as simply rejecting my authority by choosing to believe that I was not hearing from God when I delivered the message but if I was correct, which I believe that I was, the effect in heaven is the same.

If there exists any confusion over our love for you, or our appreciation for the love and care you showed us during the 2 years we were there, let me clear that up. We love and appreciate you. We simply love you enough to tell you the truth and when God says that we are done in a situation then, as Peter said in the book of Acts, “We ought to obey God rather than men”. The last thing that God told me that morning (which I shared) was “Take Debbie and get out of here. It is no longer about you. It is between me and them.”

Please do not misunderstand the intent of this letter. In no way am I looking to defend my actions that morning or submit an account of those actions to the court of public opinion for anyone’s approval. As a friend I simply want to make sure that there is no confusion about what happened that morning and why we left.

Please do not mistake my confidence in affirming the accuracy of my perception of this matter as arrogance. I may not know everything but I do know how to hear, believe and obey God, which is the heart of what I have preached to you over the past 2 years. Anything that we call faith which stops at hearing God, or even believing him, but does not culminate in obedience, is no faith that can be found in the scriptures.

In Christ

David & Debbie Sweet