Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
I mean no disrespect to Jesus by putting these words in red. I did actually read all of John while I was in the mental hospital this last time in 2008. What a loving example of how God truly thinks. Really excellent work.
Now if you want to believe that Jesus was the only begotten Son of God and that he actually did this work: Go for it. If it works for you, it works for me.
I believe that the legend of Jesus was inspired by God and told by someone like me to people like you.
Either way, Jesus was the creation of God.
I’d like to decipher the 1st Psalm and use it to comment on some of my recent posts about the Salvation Army as a model for religious organizations and the undercurrent of psychological power that they wield.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
This means it’s not your job to stop sinners from sinning.
Frankly, some Christians take it upon themselves to change people by putting psychological pressure on them. They think they’re doing God’s work. Perhaps they make the excuse that they should not be in a position to empower sinners to sin, but I sincerely think that the evil nugget inside them is thrilled to exercise the unlimited power of God.
There is the idea that God will break you down in order to rebuild you, but I would caution human beings to remember that job is for God (at the invitation of the believer himself) and that job is not for you to carry out.
Remember when Christians took it upon themselves to go convert the masses? Do you think they thrilled as the power? Did they lust for the kill? Did they purify or terrorize?
Those people set back God by a thousand years and they set up the conflict we are in today with those people Christians went to convert.
In essence, Christians are to blame for 911.
Don’t worry, I don’t mean you. I mean old-timers.
Why would a witch float? I don’t understand.
Let’s use this gun to see if you’re Superman!!
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful
This is a good one. Would you put someone out on the street because that person didn’t follow your arbitrary rule?
When I stayed at the Salvation Army lodge, I was not required to ever keep or show a receipt.
The social services manager thought I was a Christian. Grayson is not a Christian. He had to show receipts.
So did they check his receipts because they didn’t like his lack of faith?
I don’t think so. I believe they probably saw his truck at the casino.
Remember that Grayson WAS saving the money they had agreed that he should save. Remember that Grayson paid rent to stay at the Lodge. Remember that Grayson never made trouble, never raised his voice, attended all meetings and went to church. Grayson did his chores.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night
In other words, you are blessed if you delight in thinking about God and observing what you think God wants for you. You are not blessed for punishing the wicked, or enforcing that law. It’s not your job. Call a cop.
If you don’t believe in God, you are still blessed if you spend time thinking about how to be a good human being. Frankly, what goes around comes around. If you’re a better human, then people see that, and they want to help you out.
Zig Ziglar said, “You can have anything you want in life if you will help enough other people get what they want.”
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
What a genius King David must have been. Of course, I’m sure God helped put these thoughts into his head.
That bit about fruit in season literally turned my attitude around.
I really don’t want to go on a witch hunt here. That would be going against David’s advice.
But, I’m concerned because there are lots of stories like Grayson’s. It seems like some people just aren’t liked there and management finds a way to get rid of them.
There’s also something weird about putting together a faith organization in the form of an army. I mean, it seems cute, and it gives you a title, but the purpose of an army is to take actions according to the chain of command.
In a fighting army, this is necessary because it’s not possible for people on the ground to know everything that the generals know. You need to follow orders so that goals are met.
According to Rush Limbaugh, the purpose of an army is to kill people and break things. I thank God our armed forces are the best at killing people and breaking things.
But in a religious organization this doesn’t make any sense, because EVERYONE has access to the WHOLE PLAN.
So, the only reason for being organized as an army would be to provide power to people up the chain of command. The person at the very top is the most powerful.
And, if you’re God’s army, then you get a subconscious sense of righteousness and you thrill when you get a taste of the power of God himself as his instrument on Earth.
If you’re up the chain, then you have multiplied power. The person at the top is supreme.
People in Shawnee are going to see this. I’m not sending around the link, but I’ve been to places of business and I’ve done stories about them and I’ve left them the url so they could read their story. Someone who visits this blog knows one of the Majors.
I love the Majors. They are DEFINITELY not thinking like I have accused an organization like that of thinking, so perhaps I’m off base. I’m sure this cannot be generalized to the whole organization in Shawnee or internationally.
But there’s a problem at that one position. I witnessed many things and I personally was the butt of some scorn.
Once I had a hard day at work. I worked from like 7:30 to 7:00 and it wasn’t an easy time. I was tired.
The Salvation Army was having a spaghetti dinner fund raiser. When I got there I had to sit down for a minute, so I did. This person came through and asked me what I was doing. I told her. She said, “Well, if you’re not going to help, then you need to go outside.”
Sure, perhaps I should have been outside. I was going to help clean up.
It was the way she said it — it was hateful.
So, you need to consider that I’m writing this scornfully because of that incident. I’ve thought about this article for a while now and I assure you I am not.
I watched this person humiliate a resident in front of a bunch of church ladies by discussing his personal business in a packed kitchen. During that conversation, she really put him down. It was also about money and his job.
I thought there was supposed to be a committee to protect residents from arbitrary and personal uses of power. If there is, and if these expulsions really are happening anyway, then perhaps there is something wrong with the system.
If someone is staying in your house, sure, you have the right to make whatever judgments you want, but isn’t the Salvation Army God’s house?
It’s something to think about.
I will add that I’m thankful that the Salvation Army provided me with a place to sleep and with food for my belly. I know they’re doing great things, but are they really doing the most good they can do?
I originally planned on supporting the Salvation Army in order to combat homelessness, but I now think it makes more sense, and will make a bigger impact, if I support secular organizations like the Community Action Agencies.
The one who helped me was Central Oklahoma Community Action Agency based in Shawnee, OK.
October 24, 2010: OMG, how embarrassing for anyone who knows me.
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