My website host is very good, but not perfect. Periodically it will post or not post things differently from what I have set up. (A post I had pushed out to September got posted in July; a post from June is missing, etc.) Since I have determined that the various host site glitches are God's way of telling me things, like 'Don't post that.' I am (happily) letting all of these glitchy posts be, and, specifically, I'm not reposting my June post.

While I'm not concerned about what I wrote, the June post bordered on a type of post that God has been steering me away from, which I find rather fun. I find it fun because it’s really cool that God is directly influencing what I share, fun that I can learn what I should and shouldn’t be posting, and fun that I can change what I’m writing in response to God’s direction for me. While I am curious as to how these changes relate to my spiritual gifting, I’m grateful that they directly relate to growing in how I share Christ.

​If you're curious, I feel God limiting my blogs to subjects and examples that directly relate to me. The posts that haven’t made it onto the website are either using others as examples or using examples, like marriage, with which I have no personal experience. The June post that is missing is about the death of Prince and what others wrote about his life. Since this post directly relates to my spiritual gifting, it seemed appropriate, and I feel I was respectful in the way I wrote it. Only God’s use of the removal from the website makes me think that this is not an appropriate blog, at least not right now. It's possible I just need to wait a while before I post another like it, as another post He had prevented me from posting twice, He released me to use when it bumped the scheduled post.

I’d be interested to hear about ‘unusual’ ways God has spoken to you. (Ways I consider 'usual' are through reading the Bible, an inner voice and through other Christians, although there are times even these seem unusual.)

The United States has embraced a new morality of late that is disheartening to those who love the God of the Bible. Embracing morality that feels good while it removes the beauty of how God made us, the United States has legalized same-sex marriages, the killing of unborn children, the glorifying of demonic gods and more. In all of this, it holds onto a principal taught in the New Testament by Jesus himself. This principle was expressed when Jesus said the law says that a man must not sleep with another man's wife however I say that anyone who looks at a woman with lust in his heart has committed adultery. And with this statement, Jesus introduced the law of intent.

In the book The Four Hour Workweek, Tim Ferris teaches how to use the letter of the law to get what you want. His incredible examples are how he used the system at the time to cheat the wrestling weight classifications and compete in a wrestling weight class that was below where he should have been. He had a decided advantage over his lighter weight opponents. His argument was that he met the letter of the law, and it is true that he did. He even brags about teaching others how to do the same thing. But what is more disheartening to me is that he went to China, a country that puts honor above all else to the point of having a whole set of rituals around killing yourself when you have been or brought dishonor, and proceeded to use a rule to dishonor every single one of his opponents, all to win a bet. He gloried in this victory of shame because he followed the letter of the law and thereby got what he wanted, regardless of what it cost others.

So, if Americans are embracing and being taught to embrace this letter of the law philosophy, why am I saying that we are following Jesus' rule about the intent of the law? I'm saying this because of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. After the financial market collapse, which was blamed on the greedy manipulations of individuals in the financial industry, President Obama pushed through a financial watchdog agency that was supposed to help make better rules to guard the people of the United States. In reality, this agency proceeded to rule by action and has created regulations by disciplinary action. In other words, no matter what the law says, if the CFPB believes that you have acted outside the intent of the law, they will sue you and hold you financially accountable. So, while Tim Ferris and so many others herald using the letter of the law to circumvent the intent of the law, our government is using the intent of the law to punish those it feels have stepped outside of that intent.

What does loving God mean to you or better yet how do you go about it? There was a book put out sometime ago by Chuck Colson that was called, Loving God. The very first section was titled, “Obedience.” I never did like that start because, and this is hugely important, love does not start with obedience. You see, obedience without love is duty. It’s the form without substance; and it’s where all religion goes wrong. So how do you go about loving God?
 
Recently Francis Chan wrote a book about loving God and started with who God is and what things He’s done for us. I found this to be a much more appropriate start, so that when Francis moved into obedience it was clear that obedience grew out of love as opposed to being the start of love. But I want to push it even further.
 
If you truly love God then it needs to be passionate, a driving motivator, something bigger than anything else in your life. You can love God a little and He will be a part of your life; you can love God a lot and He will affect your life; or you can love God passionately and He will be your life. Don’t we all want to love God passionately? But how do I get passionate about God, since I’m not right now? How do I serve God with my whole heart when I am so half-hearted about it now? I am desperately seeking to love God as He whispers sweet promises to my heart and woos me like the beloved He refers to me as in the Holy Bible.
 
Are you passionate about God? Or are you seeking to love Him more? All I can say for sure right now is just keep talking to God. He loves you so much and He will woo you, just like He’s wooing me.
 
Philippians 1:6 (NET Bible)
For I am sure of this very thing, that the one who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.