The Struggle against Culture

Psalm 1: 1-3

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the council of the wicked,

Nor stands in the way of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of Scoffers

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

Planted firmly by the streams of water

That yields its fruit in its season,

Add its leaf does not wither.

In all he does, he prospers

I have  started a book by Charles R. Swindoll entitled, “Living the Psalms: Encouragement for the Daily Grind.” It is already a great read and I’m only in week one day two. At the same time I have been reading a sociology paper that my son Stephen; who is in Rosedale Bible College, year one, left for me to read. I admit that I have put it off since it is a long paper and I have loads of books, magazines, and blogs and others things i like to read but something caught my eye as i picked it up this morning.

The paper is called, “Theorizing Religious Effects among American Adolescents” by Christian Smith who is a Professor and Associate Chair of Sociology at the University of North Carolina, chapel Hill. It was written in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2003)

I had previously read the opening and outline and today started the first point, Moral Order. In this point he described Moral directives as “American religions promoting specific cultural moral directions of self-control and personal virtue grounded in the authority of long historical traditions and narratives, into which members are inducted, such that youth may internalize these moral orders and use them to guide their life choices and moral commitments.”

He goes on to write, “That is to say that, as American adolescents go about forming practises and making choices that compose and shape their lives, religion can provide them with substantive normative bearings, standards and imperatives to guide those practises and choices.”

This brings to mind the last five years I have witnessed a group of teens at two churches that i have attended since moving to Alliance, Ohio. The first group of kids/teens were my two teens at the time of starting was in tenth grade and senior in high school along with the same aged boys and girls a couple a bit younger but was mixed into the youth department due to lack of available teachers.

In this group was taught the formative morals according to the Word of God. They were taught scriptures and about fellowship and group interest like praying for one another. All was going well, going to camps and Christian concerts and then BAM! Reality happened, One of the group committed suicide.

With all due respect the teacher and pastor did everything they could for the kids having one on one council, going to their homes and talking with them and their parents, but to a loss I started seeing a change in the kids. As time went on the best friend of the teen who killed himself, started to waste away from the group then his brother left and all in all it left a giant hole in the group, later i found out that the youth leader was divorcing the spouse and their own kids wasted away from the faith including the youth leader herself. The moral directive somehow was lost to secularism and overall failure.

The other church had just started the youth department. Our church resides inside the city mall and have had some great experiences with encountering the community in which the youth has helped out with various city festivities, but the teens here just weren’t interested enough to stay in fellowship for one reason or another. After a brief  break and change of youth leadership the group is restarting and hopefully with God’s blessing it will continue and even grow.

Within both of these churches I have seen the moral directives there. The first church lost their motivation due to death, sin and lack of a repentative heart. The results of the teen group in the first church I attended is one has become a Trans-gendered male to female, one is gay and the girls are not living a life of a Christian at all falling into a group of other teens in school who are mean, bullying others online and dressing inappropriately. The lack of moral directive within the church failed them thus leaving the teens to look for others to develop their own personal morals, morals that leave Christ out of their lives.

In the church I am attending, I do not know the home life of which most are living I know a bit but not enough to talk about. What I do know is that the leadership they had and have now both took and take action when they see a teen falling away from that which is right and good according to God’s ways and plan for a teen to follow, in that I am well pleased.

The fact remains that these two churches both have struggled with the moral code that is going the wayside to secularism, even within the church. I see reports online and from friends that many churches believe that homosexuality is just a result of changing culture.When mainstream culture takes a stand after having walked with the idea that homosexual is just a “change of culture” it makes it difficult for the righteousness of God to be seen, even in church, unfortunately.

Christian posed a question on the struggle against culture, “when various religious speakers say that they “struggle against culture,” they mean that they are up against other moral orders antithetical to their religion’s moral order that are vying for loyalty and conformity. The methodological question here, then, is how to assess or measure people’s relative commitments to different amoral orders, including a religious moral order. And the empirical question is: To what degree does embracing(or being embraces by) a particular religious moral order foster consciousness and actions consistent with the moral order that result in observable differences in significant social outcomes?

Before I go on I will not nor even presume to have the answer within myself. I intend to show you what The Holy Bible says.

Methodological-  relating to the system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity

Empirical-  based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic

I have started the empirical look at the beginning with seeing the start middle and last of my time with the youth group[ at the first church. By my observation The teens were unable to truly grab a firm hold of the basics of life according to God’s word due to the lack of leadership. They witnessed the destruction of a marriage and the the destruction of a family due to death in such a short amount of time. Was this the only things that transpired within this time? More than likely no, the teen who is gay and the other teen who is transgendered now more than likely was dealing with these sins before and during the time of the youth group. The fact that the youth leader was struggling in her marriage didn’t help at all. Thus, giving into temptation and leaving her spouse and then ultimately leaving teens behind to fend for themselves.

What I observed was, teens in trouble with no spiritual guidance from the one person they once knew to lean on during hard and difficult times. The church did get new teachers but the teens didn’t know them on the level that they once had with their prior teacher, so, liken to dominoes, one fell away then another and another. The one time closeness of the youth group was broken, leaving these teens to find substitute morals of the world to form their personal amoralistic ways.

The methodological question then is this, “how can we measure people’s commitment to different moral orders, including religious moral order?”

We can see in this example I am giving that due to circumstances so out of control that the teens without the proper help after crises’ left without help. Even though fellow Christians stepped in to help it was all but lost to some of the teens, who eventually grew up and into the world with a worldly view of life,  to some losing the little faith they had in God altogether, their commitment to God was little to nothing at all.

This brings me to what I saw when reading Psalm 1. Lets see it again:

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man

Who walks not in the council of the wicked,

Nor stands in the way of sinners,

Nor sits in the seat of Scoffers

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,

And on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree

Planted firmly by the streams of water

That yields its fruit in its season,

Add its leaf does not wither.

In all he does, he prospers (emphasis mine)

Three words leap out at me as did to Swindoll: Walk, Stand, Sit. It is most difficult for a Christian to live a life according to Christ. I John 14:15 Christ said “If you love Me, keep my commandments” what are those, ““‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

It seems like an easy thing to do, it’s easy to remember at least. Unless worldly morals are added to it and thus twisting the commands. Here are some questions I ask myself when I feel like the Lord is so far away:

1. Are you loving the LORD with ALL your heart?
2. Is the BIBLE the most important thing to read right now to you?
3. Are you in communion with GOD, do you Pray?
4. When you are praying is it all about you or God and others?
5. Are you living in a repetitive and habitual sin?
6. Have you asked for forgiveness?

This is just a few. Charles Swindoll’s book I read this morning he rights on the three words, Walk, stand and sit.

All in all he is saying we can and do get lots of council, some from the the Bible and for prayer and some from the worldly, wicked people. The latter council is from people who take care of things as they rise on their own understanding, what does the bible say of that, Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”  Is listening to the world and there ideas and morals proper for a Christian? No!. So we must not walk with them, meaning, “With its entire phrase, it implies the idea of one who does not imitate or “go through the casual motions” of wickedness. The word translated “counsel” comes from the Hebrew term meaning “Hard, firm” Here, it means a definite, firm, planned direction” (Swindoll’s book previously entitled pg. 4)

Instead of listening to worldly advice, as innocent as it seems we, must take that advice and then take it to the word of God, and if it not the same as God’s word then it is wicked.

How do we know to do this go to church, talk to other men of God if you cannot find the answer alone, Pray for one another (James 5) where two or more are gathered in Christ name He, God will hear.(Matthew 18:20) Google the problem as well, then look for good Christian teachers to learn from, those who use the Bible as their teacher.

If we walk with the wicked council it is easy for us to stand with them in agreement, “The Hebrew word for “stand “ has an idea of coming and taking one’s stand. The word “path” comes from the word meaning, “a marked-out path, a certain way of life.”(pg. 5 of Swindoll’s book). When we see something marked out for us in the world it is easy for us to take it. If one person in a group says , as an example, that it’s okay to take a drink or puff on a cigarette or joint “it’s only one time” We tend to fall to peer pressure and do that which we know is wrong. That makes us take a stand in their morals and taking up their own personal a set of values they created for themselves for our own, thus forgetting God, Is that Loving the LORD with all our heart mind soul and STRENGTH?

Sit the psalms emphasises here in v 1 Meaning we have relaxed our morals and are perfectly fine with the set of values of the world. That is what the Church Body has done with homosexuality individually and as a group for some Churches,  But again, is this following Christ Commandments. Luke 9:23 says If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

We who believe that Christ is the Son of God, believe that He came to earth to be a sacrifice for our sins, and rose from the dead conquering sin and death and is today sitting on the right hand of God, and one day will return for us and truly believes this knows that nothing will separate us from the Love of God(Romans 8). Then we must make a firm moral directive as a Child of God according to His Law and precepts, not out of obligation liken to a worker and boss you have no respect for but to the Father out of Love and respect.

We seek for moral direction daily, we as followers must seek with our spirit our soul, our mind and with all of our strength to be diligent to follow the moral God has set into our path, standing firm on these ideas and sit in God’s grace and thank him for guiding our feet and lighting our path.

The song by Amy Grant,“Thy Word” but it is based on Psalm 119:105 make this your prayer today. Walk, Stand and Sit in God’s moral directive.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet

And a light to my path.

106 I have sworn and I will confirm it,

That I will keep Your righteous ordinances.

107 I am exceedingly afflicted;

Revive me, O Lord, according to Your word.

108 O accept the freewill offerings of my mouth, O Lord,

And teach me Your ordinances.

109 My life is continually in my hand,

Yet I do not forget Your law.

110 The wicked have laid a snare for me,

Yet I have not gone astray from Your precepts.

111 I have inherited Your testimonies forever,

For they are the joy of my heart.

112 I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes

Forever, even to the end. (NASB)

The Wonderfully crafted Brain

The prior post was in response to an intern job questioner that I am seeking. The was on the questioner It asked, "Can you produce a draft on this topic: 10 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem" that was my draft. It had many questions one question that was asked was this:

What makes your interested in psychology?
To which I expounded:

The brain is a wonderful thing that God has made. It holds the keys to our life, past, present and future. When we put things in our mind to do, most of the time they can happen with our mental prowess. Other times, the brain is infected with a mental illness due to inward and/or outward traumas or a various kinds that hold us back. But with help from psychology and other wonderful helps we can return to our brain health in tact and sometimes better than it was before.

But there is so much more I am in awe of. Like my own brain and how God chose to make it for my life.
He chose to allow me to build separate personalities to take and then hide away, traumatic experiences so that I could move along with my life. Knowing the ending from the beginning, God allowed my brain to function differently than the average human, so i wouldn't have to remember those odd and horrid moments, until a later time when I was mentally ready. In 2013, God chose the time when I was ready, and I gain access to 27 other wonderful personalities or sometimes called persons, or alters (for Alternative personalities). For the past four years in August 2017, I have learned their names, their likes and dislikes and moods and etc. And am still learning to whom they are. As I grew to love them as family members I have grown to love my self- for every alter is a percentage of me.
Therefore getting a better understanding to why i act a certain way, or why people don't like me or is in fear of me or what have you, and knowing why I didn't remember buying a certain thing, like clothes or movie or food.(and sometimes missing a full bag of chips, thus gaining lots of weight suddenly and vice versa loosing a lot of weight from lack of eating)
But most of All, I have a better and proper respect for our Creator God. and the gift he has given me. Plus a great knowledge to The wonderfully crafted Brain. I have also learned to co-exist with my life in Christ and living with psychology.
This is a first step into learning to where God is planning my next portion of my life. It is something that I have longed for for the last four years. There were steps for me to step out onto,

Like stepping stones across a stream
I step onto each stone
Leaping over the waters in between
Looking down at where I place my feet
Looking within and moving forward
With a great help of The Lord
The Holy Spirit.
For I know now that as I leap
from stepping stone
to
Stepping Stone
I may be landing there
But it God who is placing my feet
and guiding my path.

10 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem

10 Ways To Boost Your Self Esteem

By Kevin Drew Woodson

In 2013, I learned a valuable lesson about mental illness; it's not other people's problems, it can affect anyone. It affected me. I was diagnosed with Anxiety and depression as symptoms of a major mental health issue, Dissociative Identity Disorder.

When I got the news I was devastated. I didn’t know what to do, but my therapist did, she sent me to group therapy sessions. It was here when I heard and read for the first time ways to help my self-esteem when nothing else seems to help.

Here are 10 of them not in any particular order just as I recall them:

1. Self-talk- try to change the way you phrase things. Example: when you find yourself say negatives like “I’m sorry” or “my fault” or my biggy, “I’m an idiot” think on way to change them to “Thank you” for example. Instead of saying I’m sorry for being late. You could say, “Thank you for waiting patiently for me.” There is no need to voice aloud your misgivings. When I was constantly saying that I’m stupid or an idiot, I remember to stop, take a breath and say to myself that everyone makes mistakes, no one is perfect.
2. Don’t compare yourself to others- Or listen to negative influential speech. We all have the ability within us to choose what to believe. We all have negative influences in our lives, choose what to say or think and what not to say or think. Unfortunately, there are people who choose to tell us what to do and when to do it. Everyone heals differently, don’t expect to heal mentally at the same rate as anyone around you, or people you read about.
3. Perfection- When you start to see positive things happening to you, revel in those and don’t get upset with yourself when you don’t reach the goals you put in front of you. Be patient with yourself. This leads to...
4. Written goals- Think about what and where you want to be in five weeks(or a time period that is good for you). I did this, but I set goals that were far fetched. Be simple in these, if you have trouble just getting up in the morning, write down “wake up in the morning”, awake and get out of bed the first time you walk up. Don’t stay in bed thinking about the things going bad in your life. Having a set of positive goals will help you focus on the positives.
5. Get rid of the should’s- This one comes from personal experience. The lead therapist at the group meeting, said this, “Kevin, rid yourself of the shoulds” You are shoulding yourself to death. I would say to her and daily, “I should know better than to act like that” or “I shouldn’t get so angry”  So I learned and still am learning to stop the shoulds and live for the moment, if you make a mistake don’t live there, and move on, don’t should on yourself, don’t beat yourself up when you make a mistake.
6. Do things you love- I love playing video games, singing, writing, and cooking. So for the past few years I have chosen to do these activities and thanks to my pastor at church, I now enjoy going to the coffee shop he opened and talking to him and other great people for a couple of hours. Each of us have our love’s that we like to do. Have some fun and choose happiness.
7. Volunteering - is a way to start getting out and about again, after having been in a low place mentally volunteering helping others is a great way to boost your own life.
8. Exercise- is great for the body and mind. Starting out small like walking around the house, then outside in the yard, then building up to the neighborhood and then the gym is a great way to outwardly show yourself the mentally you are moving forward.
9. Change your friends and family- When you find yourself getting better, but still find your friends around you and sometimes family, are still negatively affecting your mental growth to good health, you may have to find others who are going to be good for you. Like me, I changed churches, found a group of veterans at the coffee shop who are in a positive state of mind. It’s not easy, but think of your life on a road of changes and this is one thing that will help you stay on the straight path to good mental health.
10. Don’t be afraid to be happy- One thing that can happen to us as we move forward is that we look back at where we were. At times we see where we are now, then start to feeling sorry for ourselves. We start thinking, “I lost a lot of time due to this mental illness.” and the like. Don’t be afraid to be happy. When you choose to change the way you are and seek help to boosting your self-esteem, be happy you worked so hard in making your life better.

These are only a few of the many self-helps we can choose to get moving to a more healthy mental life. Be prepared for side effects to these and any other top 10’s for bettering yourself. One of many side effects is, the way you look at yourself. In a few months or years of choosing to boost your self-esteem, moving forward in a more positive light, you won’t recognise the new you, enjoy yourself and get to know the knew you as you never look back at the old you.