Complicity II

      We all play our part, don't we? We all have a voice no matter how small, and we all play a part no matter the squall. Still, we all realize at some point, money seems to to have the biggest voice. Tis' a sad place to dwell, when following the money exposes the root of it all. Complicit we are at the end of the day, when money we have found to rule the play. Even the sheep, as often as not, perpetuate the lie that defines our fate, compelling us once more, "to cleanup our plate". We dig the same hole that defines our very fate, a final resting place to constrain the debate. 

     Do you remember back in the 80's when we had the birth of designer drugs? Now, we're living in the age of the designed virus. Boston University has developed a new one by combining the original Chinese covid virus with the more rapidly spreading omicron. The kill rate with mice is eight out of ten. Why would they do that? They already told us a new pandemic is coming and Biden is planning to turn the whole control of it to the WHO despite the research that shows the mask mandates had no effect. In fact, the whole of the mandates had zero to nil affect on the transmission. Still they will have the pack running scared. Compliance will come by the sword and cut the last threads of freedom. It's real and it's going to be our reality. The sad truth of it will lie in our own complicity. 

     This "sad truth" is clothed in a double standard running a muck today. Philosophic ideologies are at war with each other. What used to be a Christian basis for governing our once Christian nation, with their ethical restraints, are now pretty much dismantled and replaced with a morally bereft floating crap table with no checks or balance  and which merely subsists in the furtherance of a perceived goal. To stand in the way, or too question such advances, as we are seeing today, can put you in the sights of governing bureaucracies without recourse or protection.  This is the primary reason why democracies implode and why the founding fathers warned us of such. The anchor for our republic, which was based on God's law, has been successfully neutered and the demise of law is eminent. Follow the money and the trail always leads to the rule of an oligarchy.

     This is why we are seeing what we're seeing. People being imprisoned with for years without representation or recourse. Parental rights, human rights, government corruption, duplicity and the accompanying loss of freedom is where we are now, not where we're headed. Rational thought is lost in the mist of indoctrination, the foundation has crumbled, and all that remains will be our ignorance and complicity.

https://youtu.be/N4r0VUybeXY     This is a link to quickly refresh your understanding of governmental systems.

A Complicity Complex

      An apartment building will sometimes be referred to as an apartment complex. The apartments, to a degree,  will adhere to a standard design accompanied with a set of prescribed rules under which the tenant must abide. There's a degree of flexibility in the conversion of the residence to a home as long as it remains under the guidelines of the owners authority. That sums up the conditional terms of the agreement under which the tenant has an obligation. This is the basic premise under which I'll attempt to explore a disturbing trend in much of the nonsensical conditioning being portrayed as a necessity in curbing or directing public conduct to meet with a specific groups agenda. Oh! and I might add that opposition or failure to be compliant does occasion varying degrees of persecution.  

      The real question that arises here, is how we regressed into this state of involution? The picture that arises in my mind is that of getting entangled in a strand of barbed wire. How do we get released from this ensnarement with the least amount of damage and pain? Or better yet; how to prevent further entanglements? We as a people rarely view what ends up being implied or implicit as a result of a previous inference. Apathetic negligence certainly comes to mind. What are the precautions to be made before cutting that strand of barbed wire to avoid the painful act of extraction? Implications can sometimes be deceptive by the simple act of misdirected representation or hidden under the guise of beneficial conditions wrapped in promises never quite realized. Careful or prudent examination are deprecated by lack of foresight and implicity rules the day. What I'm really wrestling with is a lack of critical examination that would bridge the gap between fanciful implication and explicitness, leaving obscurity behind. The playing field seems to be damaged to the point of collapse and now we will face the consequences. 

     This brings me back to what I would label as a complicity complex built by our own ignorance and laziness. Is freedom erosion by design or lack of discipline on our part? I believe both played their part.  We're merely a faint semblance of what we used to be giving birth to our ownership of failure to sustain the freedoms we once revered. Like the apartment complex I described, the cost to preserve it is becoming more than we can bear, collapse becomes a reality, and the truth reveals our complicity. The implicit fails when the explicity reveals your own complicity in the final demise.

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.     2nd Peter:19 

 

Involution:  The action of involving or infolding. The state of being entangled or involved; complication.

Implicit: Resting on another; trusting to the word or authority of another, without doubting or reserve, or without examining into the truth of the thing itself.

Explicit: Literally, unfolded. Hence plain in language; open to the understanding; clear, not obscure or ambiguous; express, not merely implied.

Complicity: The state of being involved in an illegal or wrongful act. 

Crazy Love

 This is a standard bluesy jazz progression I took from my Boss drum machine, saving the drums, adding my own departure in the middle section, and bieberizing the rest with my fretless bass and real guitar tracks. The song is about my Lord dragging me out of my chair to share in a walk with him. It's just a little bit crazy, but shows a need inside to actually follow and not wallow in a self defeating laziness that is so easy to gravitate to. I would highly recommend taking that time, the Lord has graciously given you, to take that walk with Him.

We Know That We Know Him

     This is a song I wrote back in 2016. Wrestling with scripture is akin to wrestling with myself as is portrayed in the lyrics. God's word can take a beating, so I guess I can too. I can never stand in the winners circle unless God is there also.

2nd Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

1st John 2:3 And hereby we do know Him, if we keep His commandments. 

 

WHAT IF, IF IS! OR IS IF A CHOICE?

     Relationships, if we want to be honest, are contingent on certain conditional terms of engagement, or interaction with another party. We certainly find our selves, in time, progressing onto intimacy or sometimes stagnancy. At some point, the relationship may even terminate. This, I believe, is indisputable. Most translations of the Bible use the word "if" between fifteen and sixteen hundred times. The word signifies a conditional statement and I'm aware of the argument that they are used in five different tenses, but they all still remain conditional. They always signify a choice. All throughout the Bible we see that God's relationship with His people is governed by a covenant or, as translated another way, a testament. The Old Testament [The Law] and the New Testament [The Age of Grace] contrast the transition into the dispensation of which we are now living. Still the "ifs" abound, or to say it another way, it still remains relational. There are still the same admonishments given by the apostles and Jesus to guard our relationship as were given by the Prophets in the old testament. Confession and repentance are still holding hands. The warnings of digressing into a reprobate state of mind remain and are preceded with that small but immensely significant word, if. 

     So, is "if" a choice? Do we have to "work out our salvation with fear and trembling?" [Philippians 2-12] When we are saved by grace, can we still fall into depravity? Better yet; who's saved by grace? Do we have to endure to the end, as Jesus stated? [Mathew 10:22] Do we have any obligations in our relationship? Can we choose to walk away and forfeit our salvation, or is freewill, at this point in the relationship, ultimately denied? This is where you will always hear that "they must not have really been saved." Can you fall and still be saved? One wonders at this point, as illustrated in the parable of the seeds, about those who received the word gladly, but were shallow in depth, which looks remarkably like the church today; "are they saved?" If you're honest, one might admit that you don't actually know, but God knows because He's the judge. The early church, known only as Christians and not as Methodists, Baptist, Lutheran and a host of other names, had to deal with this early on during the persecutions. Could one that denied Christ in order not to be eaten by beasts, burned at the stake, or otherwise butchered be brought back into the fold? After much examination and deliberation, they were welcomed back after REPENTANCE. So it was decisive in that you could fall but you can't quit. That lays the foundation for the basis or definition of the new covenant of grace. Is their a point of no return? [Hebrews 11:39] I would say yes, simply because of the warnings in scripture. The earliest writings of the church fathers supports this dogma, mentioning Mathew 10:22, in one incidence to support their position. 

     So, where does the once saved, always saved doctrine originate? I've done some research on the sinners prayer. It became a popular selling point during the reformation, especially taking off during the first and second great awakenings. Prayer is a huge game changer in the Bible and is clearly seen with the early church and on; but used as a means of putting the power of salvation into our hands, as in the 'sinners prayer' raises a red flag for me. For a Jewish person in the time of Jesus, obedience was inclusive with the word belief, or in simpler terms, doing as Jesus does. God held the key to salvation. As I previously stated, He opened the door, made salvation a possibility, and we have to choose whether to walk through it. We have to make a commitment. "If we make a commitment or covenant" with God we have an obligation to partake in the relationship. God has already done what was impossible for us to do on our own. Jesus did what we couldn't. This is a picture of what God did with Abraham. A sacrifice was done in which the animals were split in two, and as God was the only infallible party, He put Abraham to sleep and walked through the divided sacrifice to fulfill the vow. This was one of the two immutable promises as we saw in Hebrews 6:17-18. It sounds as if I'm splitting hairs at this point. Acceptance for what Jesus did for us is on the one hand, and acceptance of that accompanied with the obligation that follows, in our hand. The disagreement or the fly in the ointment, lies strictly in the obligation on our part. God does not do that part for us. "nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. "Nothing can separate us from the love of God"; I love that verse. What a lot of people imply, is that it negates our choice to walk away. Read it over again. Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature; now reread the parable of the seeds. What you'll see are the very ways we lose faith, interest,or just the old rejection of what we at one time received.         

      What if, "if" is!? When did "if" become non-conditional? How is  the larger looming question of,"when" resolved? Was it when Gods' word looked oh so good until the realization of sacrifice you might have to make seemed too daunting and obligation reared it's ugly head? Let's sum up by saying it's pretty much as Paul stated; "I've run the race." The grace part has been fulfilled, the faith obligation continues to the end of the race. I do not walk in doubt, I walk in faith. My advice to anyone willing to accept this walk with Jesus, is to simply put on you're running shoes, and keep your eyes focused on the finish line.

Last Chapter, Last Page

      So many people dying; or so it at least seems, at this point of aging in my life. Maybe, it appears more prominent, because of the social media connection today coupled with the onslaught of birthdays I've tucked under my own belt. Two sentences and I've already defaulted to my own acknowledgement of my forthcoming departure out of this world. "O death where is thy sting?" Well, to be honest, to the majority of people it stings like Hell and it brings me to the forefront of my own convictions. Why, as a christian, do I sit on my convictions? My own belief puts me on trial. I truly do believe the word of God, but faith continually wants to kick me in the rear. Death reveals a host of repugnant realities that bang at the door of relevance, duty, obedience, and honor. I believe the temptation at times is always to throw it back into God's lap, except reason still tells me what else could He do other than to open the door as he has. 

     I understand that freewill has opened up the door to all the good that can be done in this world. At the same time, to all the prevalent evil imaginable. The fields are ripe, the workers are few. God presents us with a promise to those who will answer His call. He will never leave us if we pick up the plow, be persistent in nurturing those who answer his call, and joy in the harvest wherein His grace has covered us once and for all.

 

                        Last Chapter, Last Page

First step, First challenge, First stumble, First fall,

     First friendship, First love should have conquered all

Last step, Last challenge, Last stumble, Last fall

     Last friendship, Last love, Why do I still fall

Courage at times, eludes me still

     Failure would be my companion and bid me ill

If not for knowledge, I dare not to bow

     Humbled by thirst, to the fount He allows

Dare not to be sullen, this path to be trowed 

     Each step if we see it, is to be heaven's gold

Suffer me not to be discouraged, pray me patience to endure

    For God has never left me,  His love will secure

Last chapter, Last page in His book He will write

    Come sup at my banquet, Come bathe in my light

Last Spring, Last Summer, Last winter, Last Fall

     Last Chapter, Last page an end for us all

                                         Gordon Bieber 12-2-2022

 

The Closet Sweater

      Closets .... we all have them; but that's not news and I'm not writing a dissertation on them per se. We all have our closet things; things that invariably end up taking residency there. I have a sweater there, not that that's remarkable in and of itself, except that it has taken up residency in every bedroom closet of mine for the last fifty-five years. I don't wear it or ever intend to. I didn't get it new. It's just a plain faded blue, worn weary, v-neck. So why would I keep it? It was probably new in 64' or 65' and no celebrity ever owned or wore it. I can guarantee it's totally worthless to anyone else but me, and if you're thinking it has to be for a sentimental reason, you hit the nail on the head.  My big brother gave it to me. His options weren't other than to throw it away or see if someone else might use it. I did try it on. I didn't dazzle anyone or myself with it, I just kept it because my big brother gave it to me and it will reside in my closet til I die or decompose, which is common for musicians.

     Why keep it? It's a link to another time and place I suppose, where it's value laid simply in a boys mind that this was, what it was, because it tied me somehow to this iconic personality that I could call my brother. That's my brother! Bruce, my other brother and I, in truth, were real pains in the rear for the most part, especially at bed time when he was trying to read. We were rotten to the core, not uncommon for younger brothers. Still, the sweater remains, not so much as a tribute, but a tie to a time and place when we were family and that was good enough.

     "Family," It seems so fractured or disarrayed in so many ways now. It's not that I thought it didn't always have it's challenges in times past, and here comes the "but," but I believe the glue that kept them intact has been systematically altered in a way to defeat the cohesiveness we knew just fifty years ago. In fact, defining family, or the attempt to define it you may find yourself wanting. Loosely defined, it may be found to mean any group of people relationally bound together for a wide array of reasons. I'm talking here of the Ma and Pa, brother, sister, and well, .... the dog or cat extension. We may be unwise to exclude the "Fluffy factor" if we truly want to be true to a tee! Family, definitively defined is not bound by cookie cutter attributes. One would be hard pressed to find any cohesiveness by personality, looks, likes, dislikes, aptitudes, attitudes, and beautifier attributes from my "fam". We are the beautiful people in a twisted, tangled, and undefinable way; and I believe that to be true in most families. In a roundabout way that brings me back to the sweater in the closet and my brother.      

     Today, we aren't on the same page on a lot of things, but that doesn't change the fact that he's my big brother. It doesn't remotely affect my concern for his well being; I pray for him often. Family is always family and always will be. We are the good, the bad, and the ugly.  My sweater, in a way, will always connect me to the time when all that mattered was he was my very own brother and nothing will ever change that.  Life alters a lot of things ...... but not that! If you don't have a sweater in your closet, I guess that's okay, but my sweater serves me well and is here to stay.