I am nearing that age when people will begin to describe me as “that eccentric elderly gentleman…” I don’t think I’m up for that yet.
I have no issue with the “eccentric” part. I’ve made peace with that years ago.
This past year has been a whirlwind. Loss, grief and unimaginable blessings, all at once. One year ago, I never heard of Faribault. Now it is my new home and God has opened so many doors.
What was meant for evil against me, God meant for good. Since I have been driven out of my former circles, I have been placed in a unique position to minister and serve those who also have been driven out. The stories of abuse that I am hearing break my heart. So many have had nowhere to turn. So we meet with Jesus outside the camp, where he is. I consider than an honor.
With my new work in kitchen management, I have become more active than I have been in years. My cholesterol and glucose are under control, I’ve lost 15 pounds, and I feel better than I have for years. The first few weeks were brutal, but I’m slowly catching up.
This has nothing to do with my birthday, but it is interesting in light of the national meetings of several huge southern-based churches: These churches have insisted that sexual assault and abuse are “tragic, but there really isn’t anything we can do about it.” But if there is any hint of a woman in a position of authority, they will move heaven and earth to put a stop to it. It seems to me that if they put just a fraction of the effort that they put into keeping women in place into fighting sexual assault and domestic abuse, they might actually accomplish something.
But Jesus did say that you will know them by their fruits. They have exposed themselves by refusing to protect the sheep. It is time for the sheep to meet Jesus outside the camp.
I’ve just discovered a singer from Norway named Aurora. Wow. Scandinavia is producing some wonderful music lately.
And a final note – Isaiah said in Chapter 28 that all the tables of the priests and prophets are covered with vomit and excrement. When you say that Bill Gothard says some pretty good things, even if he is wrong about other things – it is like offering God a great feast, only contaminated with just a LITTLE bit of shit and vomit. How much makes the table inedible? Surprisingly to some, not very much. The leaven of the Pharisees poisons everything.
My Only Comfort 
Cross-contamination is deadly when it comes to food preparation after all…. Just a sprinkle of fresh salmonella juice makes freshly prepared, cooked to 165F chicken parmesan uneatable. OUT with the leavening of the Pharisees even if its just a sprinkle!!!!
On another note, happy birthday!
❤️
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Pastor Powell!! You will ALWAYS be a pastor to me – inside or outside of the camp.
If you are feeding bodies as well as you have been feeding souls, I believe your new career path will be an outrageous success! But I do rejoice for the wounded who have found a rest with you. May God truly BLESS you and your scatterlings!!
May you continue to feel the Lord in your life. A life giving, warm, sure and comforting presence … so much more real and constant than the ones who thought they were freezing you out!!
Happy birthday! I’m so happy that you’re experiencing the health, joy, and fulfillment that’s so long overdue. Hoping this next trip around the sun is the best one yet!
So happy about the good health updates! That is amazing!
I like how I can now say things like “in my day” at my age! And I can emphatically say: do NOT “repeat” my day. There are so many things that went on that should never have been allowed, should never be allowed to continue. Especially in how we treated marginalized, disenfranchised persons.
“But if there is any hint of a woman in a position of authority, they will move heaven and earth to put a stop to it. ”
You know, I think that those kinds of people would be FINE to allow a woman in a position of power, as LONG as they made sure that she believes and behaves as they do. So it is as IF a woman is in authority, but she is only an extension of themselves. Kind of defeats the whole point of being in an authority figure, definitely no point in encouraging diversity and differences. BUT I would venture to suggest that it is not much better for men. If one of their own dares to not be like them, you are no longer one of them. I bet that sounds VERY familiar to you!
“Isaiah said in Chapter 28 that all the tables of the priests and prophets are covered with vomit and excrement.”
That is one of the many reasons why Isaiah is so profound and potent—he doesn’t hold back! Neither is he “subtle” or “suggestive” at all! He is truly in your face.
It may seem uptight to be so “obsessed” about just a “LITTLE” of this or that: we might say, can’t you “be positive?” Don’t knock the whole thing just because of a few “little” things. A speck of this or that, doesn’t mean the entire thing should be thrown out. Perhaps that is why men like Gothard are not only surviving, but thriving. No one can bear to treat his entire theology like trash.
” The leaven of the Pharisees poisons everything.”
If we were talking about a few specks of dust on a table, of course no one in their right mind would say to throw the whole table out. But we are talking about (metaphorically) what we actually ingest into our bodies. And no one in their right mind would suggest that a little bit of a contaminant in a food is still okay to ingest. You throw the whole thing out; it is simply not worth the risk.
Theologically, we are talking about what we feed our souls. I am pretty positive that there’s a lot of “Pharisee leaven” in me, that I am fighting to get out of me. It’s amazing how easily and subtly it can sneak in there, and stay there indefinitely–only getting worse and worse. I don’t know how bad it is exactly, but I certainly don’t want to add any more fuel to that fire. Or any more poison to that pile. I certainly try not to be “too” pretentiously paranoid, but diligent vigilance is imperative.
Biblical discernment is the key, and all we have to do is ask Him for it in order to receive it. To go from there, it is not so easy, but the results are certainly worth it.