PEACE, Is that possible for believers?

Dear friends and readers,

The subject of followers of Christ living through evil times in a beleaguered world has been much on my mind lately. The Bible is full of admonitions for us to be peaceful---to live in peace and promote peace. But I for one have long since noticed that achieving true peace in our lives is one of those "easier said than done's".

With age and experience I have discovered that peace in my own life is possible but that requires daily and sometimes minute by minute decisions on my part. I am sure you have heard the old expression "the mind is the devils playground". A truer word has never been spoken.

Have you ever had one of those days when you fight a mental battle ALL DAY LONG because you have been injured, insulted in some way or simply slighted---and all you can think about is telling that no good so and so off? You know, that rascal that hurt your feelings. Or hurt someone else's and you are simply enraged by it? Let's be honest here, I certainly have. And probably will all my life. The question is, do I have any control over it? And have you noticed that when you are in the very center of some kind of contention, it is not so easy to simply throw scripture at the problem and expect it to immediately go away?

I am a peaceful man. I value peace in my life. Whenever possible I CHOOSE to walk away from contentious people. Nor do I choose to fight or even argue with anyone. Have I always been able to do that well? No sadly I have not but I am learning. My desire not to fight or argue does not in any way infer that I am a "pacifist" because I am not. A pacifist is a person who is opposed to war and violence in any form. That's not me because I know that sometimes war---as evil as the reality may be, is unfortunately necessary. Had the United States and the Allied powers not taken decisive action during WWII, the Nazi's of Germany may well have conquered great swaths of the entire world. On the other hand, there are no winners of war! Oh, the Allies overcame evil at that time in history but at the battle of Normandy alone, 9000 Allied soldiers died in one single day. That is not what I would call "winning" anything.

On  a personal basis, I come from a violent background and have many scars on my body as testimony to a career in Law Enforcement and also some military background. I chose to do those kinds of jobs because I know that true peace between countries and within societies can only come through strength and the rule of law. And to this day I would never stand idly by and see my family or friends physically abused or anyone else for that matter. No I am not a pacifist but when I have a choice to make in the matter I choose to live a non violent lifestyle--in peace. Not just physically but also emotionally, spiritually and in every other aspect of life. Admittedly, sometimes that is easier said than done!

Biblically speaking much is expected of us where peace in concerned. Jesus gave us the tools; John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you, NOT AS THE WORLD GIVES YOU, do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let if be afraid". So, we have a choice, we can try and find our peace through worldly ways or the way the Lord would have us do so.

I will tell you a story. One of my own because I don't like telling other peoples testimonies. In the area where I live, everyones houses are on septic systems. There are two houses on my property. One is equipped with it's own system and the other has always been in question. Since every thing is deep under ground it is difficult to discover for certain. The local authority over these public systems has always maintained that our second house is hooked to the community system. I have never believed that is the case and have expressed my opinion frequently. But I was basically forced to pay bills for 5 years that I never believed we owed. Recently the community system had to be worked on and guess what they discovered? My home was not hooked to it in any way. Never was!

Can you imagine my reaction to this news? "I WANT MY MONEY BACK!" But the answer I received back was basically "no way Jose". In the next 30 seconds, various scenarios went racing through my mind---I am sure you can imagine. 1). Make a huge ruckus in the community and cause my neighbors to take sides, thereby taking everyone's peace away. 2). Sue the creeps. But then that is a costly two year process during which time myself and my family would be embroiled in dispute and contention and our peace would be shattered. 3). Walk away!

Was it worth it to me to prove my point? To get that ounce of flesh that I rightly deserved? After all I was in the right. Was it not a matter of honor? Or did I just want to be proven right publicly?

At about the 29 second mark, the light came on for me and I CHOSE to walk away. Silly to think? Look at it this way. If I fought, the dollars I would have received back would get us to disneyland for about 2 days. But my peace would have been in tatters for months getting there. NOT WORTH IT TO ME! By the way, that was only a few days ago and guess what? I have lost no sleep. My peace is in tact, and I caused no ruckus in the neighborhood. Was the action taken by other people right? No it most certainly was not. But I have found out something very important in my life. I am not responsible for other people choosing to be jerks. And I have also discovered that I really don't need to prove myself right. Nor do I need to accept insult when it comes my way. That's a personal choice. I don't have to allow my feelings to be injured, that is a personal choice.

I don't have to be in unforgiveness toward any other human being no matter what. That is a personal choice. I do not have to be embroiled in other peoples problems unless it is to the extent of being able to help them in some small way. I don't have to be around people who are constantly living their lives from one drama issue to the next. I do not have to spend my time in fellowship with people who are contentious. In fact I have Biblical direction NOT to do so. Titus 3:9-10 "But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law. For they are unprofitable and useless. REJECT A DIVISIVE MAN after the first and send admonition". And I have a choice NOT to listen to bad mouth about other people. No No, I don't have to do that.

In the country there is an old expression; "Have you ever been around someone for a few minutes only to discover that their corn bread is not fully cooked in the middle"? That means don't eat of that guys verbal meal. You don't have to hang around people either talking or acting trash.

And here is the biggie, getting back to unforgiveness; If a Christian allows themselves to be in unforgiveness, they might as well take a high powered hand gun and blow a hole in their own foot. Either way they are only hurting themselves. Matthew 6:15 "If you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your (heavenly) Father forgive your trespasses".

Now that is scary because without the forgiveness of sin, ask yourself---what is in my eternal future? Would I serve the Lord all my life and then allow myself hurt by hanging onto someone else's jerky actions or evil mouth?

For me the answer is no. It is simply not worth it nor is the lack of peace that comes as a close neighbor to unforgiveness.

So you say there is someone in your life who is mean spirited? Someone who takes your peace away? You know back in my law enforcement days we would often get complaints from ladies who had received lewd telephone calls. I would ask them how they reacted and nearly always they said something like "I screamed at that pervert and slammed the phone down". But he just keeps calling back, what should I do? My advice? Next time don't scream, don't call him any names, in fact don't react at all and above all don't slam the phone down. All that guy is doing is trying to get a reaction out of you and he is succeeding. Next time don't say a word and just silently press the button to hang up the call. Do you know what happened every single time with those ladies who followed that advice? The idiot making the calls stopped calling and chose another victim.

The very worst thing that can happen to a mean spirited, evil speaking person is to be ignored! Invariably what they really want is attention. They want their 15 minutes of fame. Don't give it to them. Keep your peace and walk away. That also applies to listening to evil speakers.  If you do that you are only becoming their audience without the price of admission. Walk away.

One of the most precious gifts the Lord provided for us is being able to walk upon this earth in peace. That does not mean that bad things don't happen because they most certainly do. And sometimes we are injured in the process. But absent some kind of sever accident or ailment, most issues in life, particularly involving other people, are within our own control. Or perhaps I should say, the WAY WE REACT is within our control.

We can CHOOSE to be at peace if we want to. I will leave you with a thought; When it comes to mean spirited people and those who want to cause contention, there can be no argument or fight if one person chooses not to engage in the issue.

Get your peace back and keep it.

God bless,
Pastor Rance.

RED WAVE/BLUE WAVE??? The REAL wave is Believers voting!

Dear friends and readers,

Tired of speculation over the coming mid terms? Burned out on trying to figure out if we will see a RED WAVE or a BLUE WAVE?

The real wave will be Christians, followers of Christ going to the polls, We are millions and millions strong! Followers of the Lord can not only influence but turn any American election anyway we want. BUT ONLY IF WE VOTE!!!

Staying home and sitting on our collective hands will see defeat for the conservative cause. It will insure the continued advancement of political correctness, the squashing of free speech, the eventual demise of the second amendment, repeal of tax reforms, more regulations back in place, and a general degradation of our once great American society as it gives way to socialism.

Ask yourself some questions;

Do you like being a parent who has zero to say about your children's sex education classes in school?

Do you love high taxes?

Do you want to continue seeing our cities filled with homeless?

Are you sick and tired of seeing your tax money dolled out to people on welfare (at least to those who can actually work for a living but don't)?

Does it bother you that the United States gives money to (MULTIPLE) countries who hate us?

Are you concerned that country after country that we have trade agreements with are shafting the American tax payer---and past administrations have allowed that to continue---by the BILLIONS OF DOLLARS annually?

Do you suspect that big government is the reason that social security and Medicare are going broke?

Are you tired of hearing career politicians tell you how to vote?

Are you worried that ultra liberal values will continue degrading a once proud nation?

Are to sick and tired of hearing about honest Bible believing business people being told who they can make cakes for and who they cannot?

Do you want to live in a place that values mom, apple pie and Old Glory---and the BIBLE?

Me too and while we are at it, I am also sick and tired of politicians ridiculing my Bible and what it says, trying to tear down crosses and dictate who can display a Nativity scene on their front lawns.

We can change that---ALL of it, but ALL the millions and millions of us have to register and vote!

It is a God given right in our democracy. Let's ban together and use it!

Don't wait till the last minute to decide---the mid terms are a very short 5 months away.

Good bless,
Pastor Rance.