Started Writing on 9/9/21
Event on 9/8/21
On 9/7/21 I watched a pastor on YouTube, the newly preferred way of churching, and he spoke on how God wants us to be happy and holy. Like the two go hand in hand meaning if you’re not happy, probably not so holy. Discernment: I’m not implying that you need to be holy to be happy, but the pastor is so maybe it’s something to think about.
There were plenty of times I was happy doing unholy things, like swimming partially naked at the Encore pool on ecstasy, but the happiness was fleeting. The next morning I spent hours in the hotel room bathtub with all, ALL, the towels in the adjoined rooms trying to cool my body down from the jungle fever. So I’m talking about consistent happiness. Continual, everlasting, achievable happiness. Is that even possible?
The pastor gave me some helpful hints: Psalms 112:1; 97:12, remember that God wants you to be "Blessed", like presents and stuff?, then he said to read Purpose Driven Life, and to get to “Blessed”, don’t walk an unwise step. Not having read the other book, Purpose Driven Life, I inched a little closer to learn more about the ‘unwise step’ part. I grabbed my Bible and read some Proverbs like in 6:16-19,
16 The Lord hates six things; in fact, seven are detestable to him:
17 arrogant eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 a heart that plots wicked schemes, feet eager to run to evil,
19 a lying witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up trouble among brothers.
And Proverbs 19:2, Even zeal is not good without knowledge, and the one who acts hastily sins.
I highlighted these words for me personally I should be mindful of as I am very guilty of this behavior. I’m always scheming to get my way as the youngest of the family, I love stirring up my friends for a "good" time, and I’m overzealous when it comes to my relationships, although I prefer the term enthusiastic.
Psalms says to:
a. Give Thanks
b. Take Delight in his Commands
Well, but what are his commands? Like the command key? Hey, that makes sense, his commands are keys!! Don’t they say the keys to the kingdom are in here somewhere? Oh jeez, this sounds like Westworld. I used to know the commandments and I just watched the Charlton Heston film over the summer, but I looked them up for this idea that I have to create a map for this narrow road we’re supposed to be on.
The Ten Commandments
1. No other Gods before him :
He’s a jealous guy that one
2. Love your Neighbor As Yourself :
There's a theme...
3. Don’t Misuse his Name : OMG what?!
4. Honor the Sabbath : It’s still Saturday
5. Honor your Parents : Define Honor…
6. No Murder :
Of the Innocent, keyword there, don’t murder
7. No Adultery :
So cheating, promiscuity, prostitution…
8. No Stealing : Like at all, not even at Claires
9. No False Witness :
No false testimony under God, so lying
10. Do Not Covet :
Just point blank, stop the comparisons!
Well how do I navigate around all these rules?!
Glad I just read this so there’s the 7 directions that the Lord disapproves of aka Stop Signs. Let’s review…
7. Stirs Up Trouble : A little Schitt disturber
6. A False Witness : Oh boy, that’s there twice
5. An eagerness to Run to Evil :
You know you shouldn’t, but you book in advance
4. A heart plotting wicked Schemes :
Manipulation
3. Hands that shed Innocent Blood :
Like try to resist the urge
2. A lying Tongue :
Even if it’s white, polite, or out of sight
1. Arrogant Eyes :
More Pride, coveting know it all or just boastful?
Okay, I’m definitely seeing a theme here, are you? Still, super overwhelming to try and tread lightly through the thorns of this list. Can you imagine how our ancestors lived after taking this list and then adding the 613 laws to abide by. Does anyone know how many laws we have today in America? I just looked it up, since 1789, Congress has enacted 30,000 statues.
No wonder we don’t feel free! Discernment. Don’t go breaking laws because of this blog, those statues had to be put there for a reason, however, do we not navigate around them? Do you think you could navigate around 17? Really, or more like 2 commandments?
To learn how to read the map, I suggest reading Proverbs. Like all things in this world, there’s a balance. There are also 7 Green Lights that I found in Colossians:
Compassion - being considerate, sensitive, tolerant, brotherly love
Kindness - helpful, hospitable, generous, affectionate, goodwill towards mankind
Humility - modest, shy, meek, humble, respectful
Gentleness - quiet, mild, serenity, still, humane
Patience - restraint, calm, equilibrium, composure, resolve, endurance, sufferance
Forgiveness - pardon, absolution, remission, reprieve, vindication, delivered
Love - fondness, delight, enjoyment, appreciation, intimate, devoted, regard
So pretty much if I can train myself to go at green, stop at red, and yield at yellow then I should be able to act on the 7 in Colossians, stop on the 7 he detests, and yield to the keys and I’ll have my best life?
I love that journey for me!! How about you? Here’s the "promise" that this rings true for me… So my Aunt texted me and asked me to join her on 9/8/21 (the very next night) to a Church I’ve heard about, but never had the pleasure of seeing it for myself. I’m not much of a church goer, our generation perceives it as cultish, I’ll just YouTube.
The Promise Center meets on the second Wednesday sometimes for communion and personal testimonies. The facility was very nice, modern, clean, to the point – Here’s the entrance, the restrooms, the auditorium. I like that, no mazes. We’re greeted by familiar faces, haven’t seen in years, then welcomed in to take our seats.
I cringed the moment the worship team started playing Zealous for the Lord. In my head I didn’t know if they knew that zeal is not good without knowledge so for new believers or even non-believers that seemed to be a red flag. This church is a cult, I knew it! Half way through the song, the pastor of the church gets up and announces to the crowd…
“Man, the Lord is just scheming tonight! Can you feel his energy….. He’s just stirring in this room…”
He said some other stuff too, but after hearing the words I highlighted in my Bible the day before, my Apple watch told me to breathe because I was beginning to panic and tears began to gather in my ducts. I sat down to take a moment because I was scared. The Lord is telling me to run from this church because they are detestable. I’m officially Dora the Explorer and I need to make a map to navigate this churchy jungle!
The reason my Aunt had invited me to the service because she wanted me to pray with a woman after church who presumably is a prophet. After she introduces us to each other she looks into my soul and says, “You’re having revelations aren’t you?” Like first words, who is this lady? The ducts broke loose and the waters gushed down my face. How does this woman know I read Revelations on the day I was called? How does she know that God speaks to me? How does she know that my mind is exploding everyday with new revelations about myself, about this world, about our Lord!?!
You know that "promise" that the Lord makes about never leaving us? Apparently, it’s super true and once you’re receptive to the phone call it’s extremely difficult to not pay attention to his details. It's like Interstellar and Matthew McConaughey is God. Learn his character and the code is cracked.
Promises: A declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. The quality of potential excellence. An indication that something specified is expected or likely to occur. Assure someone that one will definitely do, give, or arrange something; undertake or declare that something will happen. Pledge (someone, especially a woman) to marry someone else; betroth. Give good grounds for expecting (a particular occurrence or situation) (of a person, publication, institution, etc.) to announce (something) as being expected to happen. Contemplate the pleasant expectation of.
Wikipedia. 2021. "List of United States federal legislation".
This page was last edited on 8 April 2022, at 18:19 (UTC). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_federal_legislation
Added Note: 3/30/22
Discernment: The church isn’t detestable, but it was a strong indicator to pay attention to the words that come out of another’s mouth for truth. I’ve been attending this church ever since and found many moments since that resonate with me so please continue to read the blog. I’ve since made a map which you can find under the Resource Tab for a downloadable PDF for the Christian Projection, the phases of my transformation, and what I think the keys are behind these commandments. I hope that it can help someone the way it’s helping me.
Also, I told Pastor Chad he was detestable and we shared a laugh. That’s my kinda church right there. Visit their link in the Resource Tab!