Divine Conspiracy

Absurdity reigns (the world), and confusion makes it look good

Gaming

Reading back at old entries, I noticed my struggles with gaming.  Just as an update, I have only been lightly tempted with WoW, and have not played Fable in a while, not because I don’t want to, but because I’ve been too busy with God.

Fasting

Jesus’ disciples did not fast (Mark 2: 18-20), but Jesus said when He departed, they would fast.

Sons of Thunder

James and John were surnamed by Jesus as ‘sons of thunder’ (Boanerges) (Mark 3:17)

Interesting Occurrences

There have been a couple of ‘occurrences’ in the last couple of days that I want to write about.  I don’t know what to think about these things, they may be completely coincidence, but I also know that God’s hand tends to seem like what people refer to as ‘coincidence’.

These two experiences are strange in terms of normal human experience, but not way ‘out there’.  They’re really just ‘that’s weird’ kinds of things.  However, I have no doubt in my mind that God can grant His power to His servants, and if these occurrences have anything to do with that idea, then I am honored and humbled, am not frightened, and pray expectantly that the Lord would teach me how to channel any power He grants solely toward His glory.

I was having a lot of problems with my computer.  It would load some web pages with no problem, others it wouldn’t load at all, and others it would only load half way.  I was struggling with this for a long time, and even thought to myself, ‘God why won’t you help me?  I know you can’.  I called HP to purchase a service plan for $100, and the payment process started taking a really long time, so I cancelled it, thinking that I’d go to Office Max the next day and purchase one of their computer service plans that I had recently seen on display (which is also somewhat of a coincidence, because otherwise I would have just gone ahead with HP).  That night (after HP) I was in prayer, and I envisioned simply touching the computer and knowing that it was now fixed – and I recall having absolute faith that that was well within God’s power to do – I know that anything is within His power.  I thought little else about it, and went ahead and purchased the service plan from Office Max the next day.  I came home, grabbed the laptop and placed it on my lap, and was ready to load the software and get support, but the computer worked!  Jen hadn’t been on it at all – but it just worked out of nowhere!

The second ‘occurrence’ was similar in that it had to do with a piece of electronics.  What happened was that I was watching TV – football warm-up show – and I had gotten up to get a drink.  On my way to the kitchen I decided that I wanted the sound to be muted so that I could read when I got back to the couch.  When I got back to the couch, the sound was muted.  I thought, hmm, the power of God, but somewhat in jest.  But the interesting thing was that the stereo was not in mute mode!  I pressed mute, and it entered mute mode, then I pressed mute again, and the sound came back on!

Forgiving Dad

Dad,

You tore our family apart.  You made me endure the worst experience of my life.  You set an example that it’s ok to betray your marriage.  You dishonored me and my mother.  You weren’t there when I needed you.  You didn’t provide the male role model I needed as a boy.  You didn’t teach me what I needed to be an adult and how to relate with other people.  You were absent.  You created such chaos that my life spun completely out of control.

I forgive you, Dad.  I trust that God was there, through it all.  I trust that God’s purpose will triumph through your mistakes and the tragedy they caused.  I release your judgment to God.  I trust that your mistakes have already cost you dearly, and I don’t want to hold on to that baggage any longer.

I forgive you.. I forgive you.. I forgive you.

The Rock San Diego – 7/6/08 sermon

1 Samuel

• Went from Judges to Kings
• Judges period was 300 years from when Joshua died until the first king – Saul
• After king Saul was king David (Jesus was son of David)

• Benefit
• How does God benefit from what you’re asking for?
• Lord, if you give me _____, I will give it back to you.
• Servant
• Everything you ask for should be designed for you to serve Him
• Changing
• Recognize how a delayed answer is changing your heart
• Don’t get attitude and drift away from the answer

• Change the power of your prayer
• Place
• Time
• Pen
• Paper
• Bible

• When He speaks to you, obey
• To be blessed today, go do what God told you to do
• God would rather you do what He says than do Him a favor
• If you don’t obey Him and you’re doing something on your own terms, you’re making up your own religion
• Decide what your ‘used to’ is / are
• You don’t do anything.  God changes you and then works through you.

• Admire
• Wait
• Confess
• Intercede
• Petition
• Admire

The Shack

After putting the book down for quite some time after reading a pretty disturbing first 25% of the book, I have now picked it back up and am really learning from it (even though it’s a fictional novel). This has come at a time when I’ve been lead to focus on my relationship with God, rather than book learning (after having read in Experiencing God about the love relationship. I felt that that was an area that I felt lacking, and it’s the one area that matters most.

The Shack has given me some good perspective on how the relationship with the Lord is very personal, and some good perspective on the loving nature of God. It would even be worth another read to capture notes.

The Shack

Paradigms power perceptions and perceptions power emotions

The Shack

Jesus fulfilled the Law for us, so that it no longer has jurisdiction over us.  And the Law that once contained impossible demands – thou shall not – actually becomes a promise God fulfills in us.