More is NEVER Enough!! The Story of GLUTTONY...

South High School was not a pleasant time for me. Despite graduating in 1967, I do not carry around the fond memories of those "happy days" that many do all their lives. My wife for example has never missed a high school reunion her entire life. She has maintained most of those friendships, and gladly re-kindles them every five years. I used to go because I thought it was my duty to support her, until one reunion I made a complete ass of myself by getting jealous of her "friends." Ever since then I have not been invited and with good reason...At 63 my wife remains fit, trim and beautiful, so when she attracted more attention than I thought was acceptable, I made a scene and remain forever banished from attending.

My memories were very different than Susan's. She was a born leader with plenty of brains and good looks, so she sailed through high school and college, while I flopped around like a fish out of water with black glasses with coke bottle lenses. I was not popular, smart or resourceful. I was good at very few things, like baseball, geometry, and Latin, that's right, Latin. In baseball I was an amazing pitcher, in fact when I was in 9th grade, the high school varsity team brought me up, ostensibly for one game, to see what all the commotion was about. You see I was striking out an average of 10 per game and had never given up an earned run. When the high school coach handed me the ball against Painesville Harvey's team, I was scared to death...After striking out 15 guys that game and pitching for several years, I got my one and only small letter "s" for my letter sweater. It wasn't long afterword that I got a broken hand and a chipped tooth on the same play, as I was trying to cover first base. That was it...I was never able to grip the ball the same, so my devastating curve ball was gone.

Scholastically, I was just above average in high school, except for three subjects: Geometry, Latin and English. For some reason I "got" geometry and loved learning about it, but my propensity for language was just beginning in high school, backed by four years of Latin study, which brings me to a Latin word that you need to know:

"Gluttio, Gluttire, Gluttavi, Gluttatus"

I won't bore you with the extreme difficulty of this "dead" language, so suffice to say that unbeknown to me at the time, it became my foundation for understanding how all languages work. As I traveled the globe over the years, it helped me with all the romance languages, like Spanish, French and Italian, as well as provided me with a deeper understanding of words and phrases used in ancient times, as well as current day law, like "in loco parentis." And of course the Pope himself, and many of his minions still do High Mass in the original tongue, Latin. All this means is that I should have taken a job in the Vatican, because I highly doubt Julius Caesar is coming to town any time soon.

Today I am going to focus on the on the second word from the left, "Gluttire." To start with this word, as does most of the "lingua latina" has multiple meanings, and we will explore them all, but first you need to know that this word is a verb. Latin makes it come in all shapes and sizes, that frankly would drive most of us crazy, but since I was the nerdy, unpopular type, I took solace in the intricacies of conjugating verbs. The literal translation of "Gluttire" is to gulp down food or drink continually with no end in sight. "Gluttio" means I gulp down food or drink continually with no end in sight. This is the etymology of word, "Gluttony."

Further study finds that the definition in the original language does not confine this verb to food and/or drink. It can also be applied to wealth, power, drugs, gambling, popularity and on ad infinitum...Since I am extremely overweight, gluttony directly applies to me, so I have personal experience with the power of this particular sin. We certainly would agree that someone who can never get enough alcohol lives in clutches of this same sin, but I want you to concentrate on the all the applications of this evil. In one way or another, we all have a part of a sin that society has perpetually legitimized. If you call it something else, like a disease, you are now able to shed personal responsibility, because this evil has been dressed itself up to be socially acceptable. After all, if you have a disease, it's not your fault...That logic is straight from the evil one himself, but I am here to tell you that stuffing yourself with food, alcohol, or drugs is not a disease. It is the rationalization of a deep seated sin that needs to be recognized, repented of and forgiven by God himself. By no means is this easy...My personal gluttony is food, not because I have a disease like measles or pneumonia, but because I haven't learned to control my appetite, stemming from my emotions and daily stress. I would love to say that it is out of my control and place the responsibility elsewhere, but that does nothing to improve me personally or my relationship with the Creator. We live in a world where very few of us want responsibility for anything bad or negative, but we can't wait for praise and adulation from anyone who will toss it our way.

Many of us spend our lives working, saving, scrimping, and pushing for some semblance of wealth. It's just like any other part of our existence that we refuse to control. Some wealth feels great, but more of it is never enough of it. If you have $1,000 you want $5,000. If you have $5,000, you want $25,000 and so on, making it possible to be gluttonous about wealth. It is just as easy to be gluttonous about fame or gambling. It's all about appetites that cannot be satiated no matter how much you consume in your lifetime, and of course, while you are pursuing your appetites, you forget about God. He never changed or moved away from you, but suddenly you have any or all of these things in front of serving the one, true Jehovah. Your appetites are no different than the children of God worshiping graven images and other gods in the early days of the Old Testament. How long will you worship at the altars listed above or your own personal alter? You end up worshiping anything or anyone that takes control over your life and pulls you away from self-control supported by God. The Bible teaches us balance and control in our daily lives. Moderation in all things is Godly, extreme behavior is anything but Godly. With God's help take control today, understand and accept your personal responsibility for your sin, and He will forgive and what's even better, forget...His promise of forgiveness is the only one that counts in this world and the next.

He is waiting for you to come to Him. With his help you can get off the treadmill of your particular appetite, gaining control and putting moderation back into your life. God has promised that, "if you seek him, you will find him."

May God himself light the way from your darkness into His light.


The Digital Disciple

The Highest Stake Shell Game

A walk through New York City in the summertime can be amazing, if you stay by the parks, watch the theatrical talent on most every corner and look up as often as possible. You are in a city filled with the finest shows on Broadway every night and the finest food, just about anywhere you go...Back in my day, Billy Hong's was the finest Chinese restaurant in town. They featured a lobster roll that remains a part of my permanent memory bank, because I never tasted one before or after. If you want to dance, act, play an instrument or sing, New York City has to be on your dance card as you learn and eventually perform.

If you ever get a chance to go, spring or fall are the best times. When the leaves change in Central Park, it is a sight to behold. Across 59th street from Central Park between Broadway and approximately 7th Ave. you will always find the "street vendors." You know the souvenir cart, the hot dog cart, the fake watch cart, and of course one of the oldest scams in this world, the shell game.
These games can be found in any city park and on any hot corner in the city. Game seems simple enough and has easy rules as follows:

• Need 3 half shells in a straight line
• Need one pea to put under one of the shells.
• Need one huckster to move the shells around in circles.
• Need one sucker to wager $20.00 on finding the pea when the huckster stops.

Sounds simple, just keep you eye on the shell with the pea until he stops and bingo, you win $20.00. Well, after $100.00 I figured out that the game was rigged right from the start. There never was a pea under any shell as soon as he began shuffling them around. You see it had dropped off the table into his lap or went up into his palm based on where you were standing. He made sure that I had no line of sight to what he was doing, and he needed only a second or two to make certain he was going to take my money. Nifty game of chance, with a better take than the best slot machines in Vegas. In my case, the huckster lets a shill win a time or two to get the crowd started, making it appear that someone can really win at this game, and then WAM, you make 5 plays and loose $100.00.

If you are still with me, there is a method to my madness above. It is imperative that you be able to see clearly in this world, because as time goes by your immortal soul is what is at stake, not the $20.00 wagered in the shell game. How do I know this, and what the heck does your immortal soul have to do with this stupid game? The answer is everything!

In our progressive, modern world we have many religious and non-religious groups. Some of us believe in Atheism, Satanism, Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism, Muslim, Buddhism, and on and on ad nauseum...In the global community we also have Democracy, Communism, Socialism, Dictatorship, Totalitarian Regimes, Monarchy, Military Junta, and so on ad nauseum. Believe it or not organized religion and organized government are each there own shell game. They are much bigger games with more shells and have incredibly high stakes. From a religious perspective you are waging you own soul and from the government perspective, you are wagering your freedom.

In my past I have gambled for some very large stakes, but it was only money. In the Bahamas about 10 years ago I had $36,000 bet in one game of craps at the Atlantis Hotel & Casino. Also, in the late
90's I attended an invitational golf tournament at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. That evening at a $100 crap table, I won $38,000 on one man's roll of the dice. His nickname was Goose, and he was from Alabama. By the time he finished, he roll 168 times over the course of one hour and thirty-eight minutes. This is the only time I have seen the "house" get killed in the 30 years I have played at a crap table. Once in a great while, against hard, statistical facts to the contrary, you can can win during a short span of time. While the casino was not happy, they know that they will get every dollar back and then some, over time. Like the shell game, you are a pre-determined loser whether you believe it or not. For this post I will stick with religion, and maybe after Christmas I will get back to the same thoughts concerning government.

According to the oldest, active religion, Judaism, the Hebrew calendar began 5,763 years ago, on the 6th day of creation. Adam & Eve were created on the 6th. You might get some argument from China whose history dates back about the same length of time, but we have little hard fact about those early years that span almost six millennia.

Of course there are many other religions, sects, and offshoots. The eternal shell game of which I speak is hosted by Evil, and he is not playing for money, power or fame. He is playing for your immortal soul. As long as he can keep you guessing during his life long game, he has you right where he wants you for eternity. As long as he can keep you challenging, rationalizing and sinning, he is in control, while you decide how long you will play. Short term you might beat him without God in your life. You might be amazingly beautiful, or very rich, or a talented singer, stock broker or ball player. In those instances and others providing a golden pathway through this life, you may believe that you do not need God at all. Just like the Hebrew nation in  the Pentateuch, every time they got settled, comfortable and satiated with life, they quickly turned away from God to all of the other gods in life, like clothes, shoes, money, fame, notoriety or worse to graven images of other gods. You are in control of your life, but Evil is pulling many strings to keep you in the shell game while time passes. Before you know it you are compromising yourself more and more to stay, "in the game," until you are doing things never imaginable by you or your family, much less God. I have seen it in my own family, and I have lived it myself.

Protect your gift from the "God of gods" by understanding it's power in your life right now, and its all important relevancy for eternity...

The Digital Disciple

Right and Wrong...

Less than a week before Christmas, and I choose to write about a topic that has little to do with our traditional holiday festivities, but believe me when I tell you, my house will have Christ squarely in the center of everything we do...I can't tell you how many Christmases in the past were about Santa and the Ole St. Nick. I didn't get to see my children this past Thanksgiving. They had other family obligations that I certainly understand, but after 33 years of celebrating with everyone at my home or my parents home over the years, I reluctantly waited to see them at Christmas. I openly admit to the selfishness of my feelings, but with our children thousands of miles away, it's hard to give up any opportunity to see them when they travel east.

Today we live in a world of turmoil at many levels. Chronologically, the farther we get from events in our personal lives and in the global community, our vision gets distorted. It's kind of like my aging cataracts. Dr. Murray says they are aging faster than normal, and that I might have to have some repair work done in the near future. Time is generally not kind to any of us. The aging process never stops as we move through this life into the next. Just like the inevitable physical changes brought about by the passing of time, it also changes the world around us. Much of what we believed when we were young has been completely distorted over our lifetime. Do you remember when right was clearly and absolutely right? Do you remember when wrong was absolutely wrong?

We used to live in a world with boundaries. Most of them were born of laws and regulations put in place eons ago by men and women smarter than me or by God himself. It's kind of like going to a baseball game. The ball diamond has two (2) foul lines, usually in stark white chalk or paint going down the first base side and the third base side, so that the game can be played properly between the boundaries. Over time these boundaries in our lives have been all but erased, slowly but surely...Things that were clearly wrong in years past are now considered right and vice versa.

How did we end up with a justice system that makes the victims out to be wrong in many cases. For example, if someone breaks into your house at night, and you shoot him dead or worse, hurt him badly, suddenly you are the one on trial, not him or her. Where did our great nation loose its ability to distinguish between right and wrong. When did the tail of the dog start wagging the dog? How much longer can we live with minorities of all kinds wrongfully changing the standards and belief systems that our country has cherished for more than 200 years. Last week we had children tossed out of school for wearing Christmas sweatshirts made by their parents. They have been doing it for years, but suddenly one student and his atheistic family were offended, so they had to go home and change or be expelled. Two (2) years ago all references to God had to be removed from the Atlanta Capitol Building, because we supposedly were infringing on someone's rights. Our entire national school system has been forced to remove any reference to God or Jesus, because we are infringing on some minority interest group.

All of these so called "compromises" have slowly moved what is clearly wrong, and outside historical boundaries, into the playing field of our lives. It is happening every day, all around you!! Minority interests that may have torn at your heartstrings in the beginning, now have their hands squarely around you neck, especially if you have any real sense of right and wrong. Compromises in the early days were to help those in real need get established and become productive in this great county. Now we have 14 million illegal Mexicans overwhelming southern California, New Mexico and Arizona. They used to be a "tail" and the USA kept compromising again and again. Now the Mexican nationality is threatening to be the dominant race in this country by 2020. If you are Mexican and have moved here following our procedures to be a dual-national or American, I applaud your efforts and welcome. If you are here illegally, you do NOT belong here taking advantage of the American people by using are goods and services, just because you got across our border.

Once we were a nation of proud Americans, "united under God, with liberty and justice for all." The definition of "all" needs to be re-asserted, so that the majority of our American population takes its rightful place as the dominant decision maker. We have gone from being a melting pot of people looking for a new place to work and raise their families to a national dumping ground for anyone with the gaul to sneak in unawares. Americans, we need to re-establish the physical boundaries, the moral boundaries and the religious boundaries right now. Please understand that in this country, we have national boundaries, state boundaries, city boundaries, and county boundaries, just enforce them. Moral boundaries have been set up by God, but in this country, what you do with those boundaries are up to you as an American. I may not like your moral choices, but I love this country and my God. Cherish this freedom of choice, because it came from Him as well.

Religious boundaries are always in the cross hairs of every media outlet in the world. Up to the current day, we continue to mutilate each other over religious difference. Again I say with all humility, if you are an American and want to worship Allah, then go right ahead, as long as it does not impinge on my right to worship the, "God of gods." The same goes for any other religion, sect, diocese, or belief system. Religious tolerance my friends has led us down a dark path, even to the point where, atheism, gets to decide in our culture. Stop being ignorant of the ramifications of continued compromise and rationalization. There will be an end to God's Grace, just like in the story of "Sodom and Gomorrah."
It is gratifying to note that Abraham beseeches our Lord to not kill any believers left after Lot's family exited. Starting at 50, Abraham tried to intercede for the city, and our beloved God allowed and participated in the discourse. Those outside the city went back in to find more souls to save before the impending doom, while Abraham kept negotiating with God. When Abraham got down to ten (10) from fifty (50), Lot came back and verified there was not one other believer in the city. Despite God's
distress over what this city had become, He showed amazing patience with Abraham and Lot. Once everyone agreed, God issued a final warning and told everyone outside the city not to look back. Everyone obeyed except one. Lot's wife was a believer. She was on her way to God's refuge, but she had to sneak a peek, for reasons we don't know. Here fate was sealed.

My friends, as you observe the world changing around you, you may still feel protected. Trust me the infection of unnecessary compromise and ridiculous rationalization is spreading and one day soon you will have to decide to between the refuge of God and looking back. Please listen to and obey God...


The Digital Disciple

Thou Shalt Not Kill...

Most of us have some recollection of the Ten Commandments...Few of us know that it was the beginning of Mosaic law. Fewer yet know that it was the 6th commandment etched in stone by God himself atop mount Sinai more than 2000 years ago. God had just taken his chosen race out of Egyptian bondage and knew that they needed some basic laws to live by during their journey to the "promised land."This was the beginning of their 40 year trek from Pharaoh to freedom, as was agreed to, years prior, by a special covenant made between our Lord, Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Their outstanding faith in God was rewarded with the end of their slavery.

Killing was not new to the Hebrew nation and had been around since Cain slew Abel out of jealousy over an offering to God. Today killing is a part of our daily lives. We read about it, we see it on television, we keep statistics on it, we create games that glorify it, we execute the guilty, and we wage war whenever and wherever we deem appropriate, and yet God Almighty said back then, "Thou Shalt Not Kill." 

Add to that there are thousands of deaths recorded in the Bible, including wiping out entire cities and/or races of people. The 12 tribes developed some skills in the wilderness that came in handy when they had to eradicate entire tribes of people as they occupied the "promised land." Throughout the centuries after the 6th Commandment, we have slaughtered each other mercilessly in the name of freedom, in the name of religion, in the name of slavery, in the name of oppression, in the name of homeland security, in the name of democracy, in the name of poverty and in the name of revolution. 

If you read a Bible and chart the killings from beginning to end, you have to be appalled at some level. Add to that all those that were killed by God himself, plus our own recorded history, and you see that this commandment was never taken seriously. I call this a conundrum of major proportion. Did God not mean it? Did He make a mistake? Was there a double standard, one for Him and the chosen, and one for everyone else. Well you get the picture...We have a conundrum!

For me, I live for the challenge of solving a conundrum...Before we get started, we must lay some ground rules. I can hear Moses saying the same thing to the throng of Israelites that just watched the Red Sea swallow all those Egyptian soldiers. The Ten Commandments were God's ground rules.

Anyway, here goes:

1. God is alive and well, dwelling up in Heaven. Yes, I said up, because He put it above the "firmament."
2. God does not make mistakes. I am free to ask the hard questions, but never would I challenge his Holiness. That would be arrogant and insubordinate of me.
3. God means what he says. I can ask the question, but will never impune His integrity or honesty.
4. God has no double standards. He has one standard. It is on every page of scripture in the Old Testament and the New Testament. It's called "sinlessness." This is not a real word, but it makes my point the best. God's laws were put in place to make us sin less, not sinless. None of us, including the Israelites of old can ever be sinless. You can get close with the blood sacrifices in the Old Testament, but you can never become pure in God's eyes, unless you are made clean by the only blood sacrifice that counts, Jesus Christ.

Why don't we take this SIMPLE, four (4) word Commandment seriously? THOU SHALT NOT KILL. Here is what's going on with this Commandment and every other part of God's law. It's a repeat of history that is easy enough for all of us to get our minds around. In the Garden of Eden, a Serpent taught Eve how to rationalize her way around God's clear words, given directly to both Adam and her. She said he "beguiled" her, but really Eve never took responsibility for her sin. Adam blamed it on her, Eve blamed it on the Serpent, and in the end they all gave up not just Eden, but walking and talking with God on a daily basis. God made the Serpent pay, made Eve pay, and made Adam pay. All of their lives changed in an instant.

In today's world, Adam and Eve would have gotten a high priced attorney to represent their maligned interests. They would have placed the blame on God by rationalizing away what he said with a new interpretation. They would emerge as having been victimized by God for making one tree off limits. He had no right to do so and caused undue stress on the real victims in this trial. Also, as it turns out God was being selfish by keeping the knowledge of right and wrong away from the defendants. And finally, the Serpent should not only get his arms and legs back, but he should be able to sue God personally in civil court for treble damages. 

If you learn nothing else after reading this, may it be that God always means exactly what he says...It's not up for debate, interpretation or rationalization, so do not kill anyone for any reason whatsoever, because it is breaking God's immutable law. God knows all the serpents out there in our lives telling us that God's word and his law, just don't apply in the "modern" world. This is just more rationalization, so that you feel not one iota of painful responsibility for your actions. Only God himself has the divine wisdom and authority to choose death for any of his creation. 

Don't let the modern day serpent "beguile" you about this Commandment or any of the other nine.


The Digital Disciple 

The Eternal Soul

No matter where you were physically born in this world, you were given a very special gift that you may or may not have thought about...It became yours the moment you took your first breath, just as your heart began pumping life-blood throughout your entire body. The electrical surge needed to get you jump-started was your first gift from God. It's called your immortal soul. It's everlasting energy in its purest form that creates electrical impulses to begin and maintain this thing we call life. It never needs recharging, and it has no half life with a predetermined path of energy release that grows smaller and smaller over time. This energy is quite literally "off the chart," the Periodic Chart. It cannot be simulated, duplicated or replicated even after centuries of exhaustive study and experimentation by our greatest scientific minds.

What else do we know about this phenomenon, referred to as the "immortal soul" in the early books of the Bible, by God himself and many of his well known Hebrew servants, like Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Moses. Upon reflection, I believe that this soul is the very same, incredibly intense white light that no one throughout biblical history has ever been able to look upon and live. It is why God never appears in all his Glory. Think about it...He mostly takes a form that is almost magical, just not deadly. He guided the Israelites as a pillar of smoke, shielding them from his pure white energy for their own good.

If you follow the news, you know that in several places around the globe scientists are avidly searching newly discovered sub-atomic particles with one major goal in mind. They want to find the "God Particle." At the Cern in Geneva, Switzerland they are hurling atoms at each other in what's called The Hadron Collider. Nothing new in objects colliding, because it happens every day. What these scientists are doing is colliding atoms at the speed of light. These high-speed accelerators are very rare, but they have already opened new horizons for mankind. Some have said, and I quote, "We are knocking on Heaven's door." This "Higgs boson," named by Mr. Higgs himself, provides physical mass to every other particle in the universe...Sound familiar? 

Science believes it's just physics taken to its logical extreme. I believe it is truly magnificent new technology and hopefully it will be put to good use in the future, but we become arrogant when we talk about finding the "God Particle" and "Knocking on Heaven's Door." We should be as concerned with knowing about our own soul. It's not about the "God Particle," it's about God Almighty and all of His parts. 

Once you come to grips with your soul, and how you received it in the first place, you can then understand that there is a small, but powerful piece of His pure energy in each of us. What you do with your soul is up to you, no matter what the color of your skin, country of origin or educational background. This amazing gift from God has been a significant part of God's plan from the beginning. Yes, you can choose not to believe any of this, or you can ask yourself how your heart keeps beating, all day everyday. Where does the power for you own brain waves originate? Your body produces electricity everyday. No one knows where it comes from or why it never stops. Our internal electrical engine is a small taste of God's power placed in you at birth. We have no ever ready bunny or electrical cords. 

Give it some thought...At the very least, tell him thanks for your personal power-plant, along with the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. 

The Digital Disciple

MEGABYTES FROM GOD...

No matter where you were physically born in this world, you were given a very special gift that you may or may not have thought about...It became yours the moment you took your first breath, just as your heart began pumping life-blood throughout your entire body. The electrical surge needed to get you jump-started was your first gift from God. It's called your immortal soul. It's everlasting energy in its purest form that creates electrical impulses to begin and maintain this thing we call life. It never needs recharging, and it has no half life with a predetermined path of energy release that grows smaller and smaller over time. This energy is quite literally "off the chart," the Periodic Chart. It cannot be simulated, duplicated or replicated even after centuries of exhaustive study and experimentation by our greatest scientific minds.

What else do we know about this phenomenon, referred to as the "immortal soul" in the early books of the Bible, by God himself and many of his well known Hebrew servants, like Noah, Abraham, Jacob and Moses. Upon reflection, I believe that this soul is the very same, incredibly intense white light that no one throughout biblical history has ever been able to look upon and live. It is why God never appears in all his Glory. Think about it...He mostly takes a form that is almost magical, just not deadly. He guided the Israelites as a pillar of smoke, shielding them from his pure white energy for their own good.

If you follow the news, you know that in several places around the globe scientists are avidly searching newly discovered sub-atomic particles with one major goal in mind. They want to find the "God Particle." At the Cern in Geneva, Switzerland they are hurling atoms at each other in what's called The Hadron Collider. Nothing new in objects colliding, because it happens every day. What these scientists are doing is colliding atoms at the speed of light. These high-speed accelerators are very rare, but they have already opened new horizons for mankind. Some have said, and I quote, "We are knocking on Heaven's door." This "Higgs boson," named by Mr. Higgs himself, provides physical mass to every other particle in the universe...Sound familiar? 

Science believes it's just physics taken to its logical extreme. I believe it is truly magnificent new technology and hopefully it will be put to good use in the future, but we become arrogant when we talk about finding the "God Particle" and "Knocking on Heaven's Door." We should be as concerned with knowing about our own soul. It's not about the "God Particle," it's about God Almighty and all of His parts. 

Once you come to grips with your soul, and how you received it in the first place, you can then understand that there is a small, but powerful piece of His pure energy in each of us. What you do with your soul is up to you, no matter what the color of your skin, country of origin or educational background. This amazing gift from God has been a significant part of God's plan from the beginning. Yes, you can choose not to believe any of this, or you can ask yourself how your heart keeps beating, all day everyday. Where does the power for you own brain waves originate? Your body produces electricity everyday. No one knows where it comes from or why it never stops. Our internal electrical engine is a small taste of God's power placed in you at birth. We have no ever ready bunny or electrical cords. 

Give it some thought...At the very least, tell him thanks for your personal power-plant, along with the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat. 

The Digital Disciple