FROM CHAOS TO CREATION: NEW CREATION IN CHRIST

Greetings and Salutations all of you Old and New people. I am not talking about a chronological age...a blip on the time-space continuum...but being born the second time...being born again. To tell any good story...you use the literary device...of a flashback...or starting the story IN THE BEGINNING...so you can see where you are at NOW.

"In the BEGINNING...God CREATED the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

BEGINNING: (ray-sheeth)= the first place in time, order or rank (specifically firstfruits)--beginning, chief, principal thing.

CREATED: (baw-raw)= to create, to cut down (a wood), select, feed (a formative process), choose, create, dispatch, do, make (fat)...creation out of nothing...NO THING...ZILCH...ZERO...NADA.

In Dr. Henrietta C. Mears book...WHAT THE BIBLE IS ALL ABOUT (Bible Handbook)...Dr. Mears speaks of the nature of Genesis (origin) and beginnings.
"Genesis is the book of beginnings." She outlines some of the beginnings:

1. The beginning of the world--Genesis 1:1-25
2. The beginning of the human race--Genesis 1:26-2:25
3. The beginning of sin in the world--Genesis 3:1-7
4. The beginning of the promise of redemption--Genesis 3:8-24
5. The beginning of family life--Genesis 4:1-15
6. The beginning of civilization--Genesis 4:16-9:29
7. The beginning of the nations of the world--Genesis 10-11
8. The beginning of the Hebrew people--Genesis 12-50

Dr. Mears also writes, "Genesis is the record of the BEGINNINGS of all these things. No wonder that when PEOPLE, because of spiritual blindness (Ephesians 4:18) REJECT God's revelation in this peerless record of BEGINNINGS, they worship CHANCE as the CREATOR, BEASTS as their ancestors...and FALLEN HUMANITY as the flower of natural evolution."

Verse 2 of Genesis 1...describes the condition of earth at this time. "And the earth was FORMLESS and VOID, an DARKNESS was over the surface of the deep..."

FORMLESS: (to-hoo)= to lie waste, a desolation, desert, a worthless thing, in vain...confusion, an empty place, without form, of nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness

VOID: (bo-hoo)- empty, a vacuity, indistinguishable, ruin, emptiness, void

DARKNESS: (kho-shek)= misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness, night, obscurity

There were TWO THINGS...that CHANGED the condition of this chaotic mass. (1) The Spirit of God (2) God speaking a word.

"..."and the Spirit of God was moving/hovering/sweeping/brooding...over the surface of the waters. Then GOD SAID..." (Genesis 1:2-31)

When Paul was writing about Abraham...the father of faith...who BELIEVED GOD...AND IT WAS RECKONED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 4:3)...Paul wrote that Abraham had a promise (of children)...but when he was so old that he it was beyond his physical ability to reproduce...where was dried up and Sarah's womb was a tomb...He CONSIDERED NOT HIS OWN BODY (his abilities)...but BELIEVED HIM who made the promise in the first place.

"As it is written...a father of many nations have I made you (Genesis 17:1-8)...in the sight of Him WHOM HE BELIEVED...even GOD...who
GIVES LIFE TO THE DEAD...and CALLS INTO BEING THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST (calls things that are not...as though they were). (Romans 4:17) This was how GOD OPERATED in the CREATIVE PROCESS...and this is how we move by faith. We hear His Word...we do not consider our impossibilities...and we begin to TALK the LANGUAGE OF FAITH. As a Speech Pathologist...I love stuff like this.

God saw the condition of earth...formless, void, dark...and SPOKE (and God said)...into existence ORDER. He gave life to the dead...and called into being that which does not exist.

What started this Rambling for me...was...and is...me RUMINATIN'...on my own inabilities...my own impossibilities...my own frustration... in my B.C. state (before Christ...before the fall of 1970)...and in 2008...as the world is falling apart. Maybe your world is falling apart. Things are shaking on the personal and global level...and you are being overwhelmed by the storms of life... the earthquakes, famines, spirits of doubt, loved ones dying, and your money just won't last (this is a line from a song I wrote in the 70's called WALKIN' ON THE WATER). The problem...in the song...was that I took my eyes off Jesus...now I'm sinkin' mighty fast. The solution...get my eyes back on Jesus.

I am a NEW CREATION...IN CHRIST. Outside of CHRIST...I am an OLD CREATIONS...but because I accepted what SATISFIES GOD in relation to my SIN STATUS...I am a NEW CREATION...the OLD THINGS...passed away....BEHOLD...NEW THINGS ARE CONSTANTLY COMING. (II Corinthians 5:17) The way that I have to walk in this NEWNESS...is like Abraham did...

"And without becoming WEAK IN FAITH...he contemplated (not) his own body...NOW AS GOOD AS DEAD since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah's womb; YET with RESPECT TO THE PROMISE OF GOD...he did not WAVER IN UNBELIEF...BUT GREW STRONG IN FAITH, giving glory to God...and being FULLY ASSURED that what He (God) had promised (to Abraham) He (God) was also able to perform." (Romans 4:19-21)

In my flesh...I cannot live the life...but by faith...as the Spirit of God is IN ME...I SPEAK FORTH what God SAYS ABOUT ME. I can start of with a GENESIS EXPERIENCE...every single day of my life...by the blood and forgiveness of Jesus...and the D.B.R.

"The steadfast love of the Lord (the Lord's lovingkindnesses) NEVER CEASES (indeed never cease)...for His compassions NEVER FAIL... they (mercies/compassions/lovingkindnesses) are NEW...EVERY...MORNING. Great is Thy FAITHFULNESS (even when I am not)...The Lord is my portion says my soul...therefore (because of what I just read) I HAVE HOPE IN HIM." (Lamentations 3:22-24)

Thank God for his CREATIVE PROCESS IN ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He ain't through with me YET!!!

Love and Ordered Kisses
Rodney "Ain't Ya Glad He Ain't Through With Me Yet" Boyd

CHEERS

Cheers and Cherrio to you my friends. When you lift a cup of kindness to someone, you are wishing them well.

CHEERS: (1) state of mind or of feeling; mood; spirit; now usually in such phrases as be of good cheer, with good cheer (2) gaiety; gladness; joy; a source of encouragement (3) festive food or entertainment
(4) anything that makes one happy; encouragement (5) a glad, excited shout used to urge on, welcome, approved, etc. (Webster's)

CHEERIO: (1) goodbye (2) good health; used as a toast

CHEERS: A situation comedy television show of the 80's...1980's that is. The story of an ex-baseball player who is a recovering alcoholic who also happens to run a bar that caters to a variety of characters each week.

The theme song is a catchy little diddie written by Judy Hart Angelo and Gary Portnoy...and goes a little something like this (sing along if you know it):

Making you way in the world
takes everything you've got,
Taking a break from all your
worries , sure would help a lot...Wouldn't you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go...Where everybody knows your name...and they're always GLAD you came...you wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same...you wanna go where everybody knows your name.

Hmmmmmmmmmmm....sounds like a church...but it's not...it is that Boston bar called cheers. One of the characters that walks in is a man named Norm Peterson (played by George Wendt). As he enters in... the entire bar shouts out his name...NORM!!! Then whoever is behind the bar would ask him various questions at which time he would come back with a funny little saying.

Here's some examples:

What's new Norm? Terrorists, Sam...they've taken over my stomach and they're demanding beer.

Hey Norm...how's the WORLD been treating you? Like a baby treats a diaper.

Women...can't live with 'em...pass the beer nuts.

What's the story Mr. Peterson? Boy meets beer..boy drinks beer...boy meets another beer.

What's happening Mr. Peterson? The question Wood, WHY is it happening to me.

Well..you get the idea. His answers are reflections and mini-commentaries on his pathetic life...and his need for beer to numb the pain.

My favorite comment is as Woody asks him..."How's it going Mr. Peterson? Norm responds..."Its a dog eat dog WORLD...and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear."

The WORLD is just not treating Norm Peterson very nice. And guess what...the WORLD ain't treating you very nice. Do you feel the nipping teeth of the dogs of this world snapping at your Milk Bone underwear. In the words of the drill Sgt. who had the privilege of training the Three Stooges... "Why does everything always have to happen to me?!?!

Like the Morton Salt slogan states..."WHEN IT RAINS...IT POURS. It seems like you receive the punch of one fist...and the second one sneaks in on you.

What's a person to do? Well...instead of doing like Norm Peterson...and complain and drink... as a believer in Jesus Christ...the anointed one with an anointing to do good and heal all who were oppressed by the devil...for God was with Him (Acts 10:38)...who had an anointing of the Holy Ghost and Power...with an anointing that was yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing dunamis (explosive, dynamic ability) power...we might ought to correct our speaking by renewing the mind.

Usually what we speak is what we think. The Bible states that out of the abundance of the heart...the mouth speaks.

There is power in the words that we speak.. and they can bring life or death..."Death and life are in the power of the TONGUE and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." (Proverbs 18:21)

"O generation of vipers...how can you being evil...speak good things? For out of the ABUNDANCE of the HEART...the MOUTH SPEAKS." (Matthew 12:34)

"A good man...out of the good treasure of his HEART brings forth that which is good...and an evil man...of of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of his HEART his MOUTH SPEAKS." (Luke 6:45)

In the Ruminator Sunday School class...we periodically use and example of our HEART/MOUTH connection by going to someone in class (usually someone new to the class) and have them shake their cup of coffee until it spills over onto the table (if they don't shake hard enough...I give them a hand). The question is then posed: "Why did coffee come out of that cup?" They usually answer because it was shaken." Of course...that is the wrong answer. "The reason coffee came out of that cup because... that is what was IN THE CUP. The shaking was only the thing that revealed what was IN THE CUP."

The same thing with our WORDS. When the world shakes you up...when the dog eat dog world is nipping at your milkbone underwear...when situations, circumstances, world events, personal issues take place... the question is...what is coming of your mouth via your heart.

The key to changing the heart content...is changing the mind content. The old computer programming saying still rings true..."garbage in... garbage out." We need a reprogramming of our MIND SET. As believers in the D.B.R...death, burial, resurrection of Jesus the Anointed One...we RENEW OUR MINDS.

Romans 12:1,2 speaks of a WORLD MINDSET versus a RENEWED MINDSET..."I urge you therefore brethren...by the mercies of God...to present you bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your reasonable/spiritual service of worship. And do not be CONFORMED to the WORLD but be TRANSFORMED by the RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may PROVE what the WILL OF GOD is...that which is GOOD...ACCEPTABLE...AND PERFECT."

Conformed means to be shaped into the box of thinking of the world. Transformed means to metamorphose into something different under pressure much like a butterfly breaking through the coccoon. This is done by taking the WORD OF GOD...and changing your way of thinking...or as Zig Ziglar calls it...STINKIN' THINKIN'... where you are dead from the neck up. This in effect changes our heart thinking...which in turn changes our mouth speaking.

It is all about our MIND SET...that reflects in our MOUTH SET. One give out life and peace...the other gives out death.

"For those who are according tot the flesh SET THEIR MINDS ON THE FLESH...but those who are according to the Spirit, THE THINGS OF THE SPIRIT. For the MIND SET on the FLESH...is DEATH...but the MIND SET on the SPIRIT...is LIFE...and PEACE, because the MIND SET on the FLESH...is HOSTILE TOWARDS GOD...for it does not SUBJECT itself to the law of God...for it is not even able to do so; and those who are IN THE FLESH...CANNOT PLEASE GOD (See Heb. 11:6)
(Romans 8:5-8)

Today...stop and listen...really listen to people around you. What's coming out of their mouths. Then stop and listen to yourself. What's coming out of your mouth. Are you sounding like the conformed world or are you sounding like a transformed mind. What's in your cup when it is shaken?

Love and Renewed Kisses
Rodney "Hey...who put this coffee in my cup" Boyd

THE NAME GAME

Greetings (fill in the blank with your NAME)...how ya doin'?

Do you remember the song THE NAME GAME by Shirley Ellis?

Shirley!...Shirley, Shirley, bo Birely Bonana fanna fo Firley...Fee fy mo Mirley, Shirely.

Rodney! Rodney, Rodney, Bo Bodney, Bonana fanno bo Bodney...Fee fy mo Modney, Modney!

A name is a representation of who you are...and how people identify with you. If you mention the name ELVIS...you will most likely think of Presley...or Costello.
Mention the name Madonna and you will either think of an 80's pop icon or the mother of Jesus. Mention the name Rodney and you immediately think of a good looking, manly stud...or not.

Mention the name of JESUS and you have a diversity of thoughts. To some a prophet...to some a nut...to some just another word in the arsenal of curse words to use. To some a blessing to be embraced to some a revulsion to be shunned. Barry McGuire (see the photo)...was a 60's icon. He was mention in the Mama and Papa's song Creque Alley along with Roger McQuinn who "couldn't get much higher." He was in the original Broadway production of Hair, in the movie The President's Analysis starring that British Bulldog lookalike James Coburn...and was with the Christy Minstrels and had a big hit with the song EVE OF DESTRUCTION (that is more relevant today than when it was first recorded). Barry was on a quest for truth that ended at JESUS. After searching for truth in everything from drugs, alcohol, multiple sex partners, fame and fortune, Eastern religions, philosophy, humanism... he accepted the D.B.R. of Jesus Christ. It took him a while because as he put it, he loved this cat Jesus...but could not stand his followers.

Barry's music took rock and roll and expressed his Christianity. He still had extremely long hair...sang songs of social relevance...but spoke of solutions instead of just protesting the problems. On one album...called TO THE BRIDE...along with The 2nd Chapter of Acts, and a Band Called David...Barry asked a question. Why do people always attack the NAME OF JESUS. You never here someone drop a rock on their toe and then begin to curse using the name of Buddha...or Mohammad. Curse words always involve and invoke the NAME of Jesus and the NAME of God. People are always asking God to damn something or someone...or using exclamations of Jesus H. Christ...or for Christ sake. They do it so often... that we become numb to the context...and it deflects off of us like Teflon.

Jesus' name is a derivative of the name Joshua...and means God is Salvation. We see in the genealogy found in Matthew 1:16 that Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom was born JESUS who is called CHRIST.

NOTE: Jesus' last name was not CHRIST. The mail box at Mary and Joseph's did not read Joseph Christ...Mary Christ...and all the little Christs. Christ is the Greek word for Messiah... which means ANOINTED ONE. Jesus (God is Salvation) was anointed with the Holy Spirit and Power and went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil for God was with Him. (Acts 10:38)
As a matter of fact another name that Jesus was given was Immanuel.
"And she will bear a Son and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will SAVE His people from their sins....Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son and they shall call His name IMMANUEL
which translated means GOD WITH US. (Matthew 1:21,23/Isaiah 7:14)

NOTE: The anointing that Jesus was anointed with means yoke destroying, burden lifting, devil oppression removing power. The NAME represents the authority (exousia) of the power (dunamis) to accomplish this mission.


If I was the devil (the name means accuser, liar, thief, deceiver, destroyer, etc.) and I knew that there was saving power in the NAME OF JESUS...I would do everything I could do to discredit it. I would try to make it common and tarnish it and make people numb to it. The name itself has no magical powers in it. In the "Bible days"...the name Joshua or Jesus was like a popular baby name is today. There were at least 5 people with the name Jesus in the New Testament. It is the anointing and purpose of God that elevates the name of JESUS. Jesus (God is Salvation) The Christ (the anointed one anointed with yoke destroying, burden lifting, oppression removing power)...to a place where people are SAVED. It's not just using the name for a cuss word that is using the name of the Lord in VAIN...it is decreasing it to just another name and using it recklessly.

WHY IS THE NAME OF JESUS THE CHRIST AND/OR GOD USED IN A DEROGATORY MANNER?

"And it shall be that every one who calls on the NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVE."
(Acts 2:21)

"And there is salvation in NO ONE ELSE; for there is no other NAME under heaven that has been given among men, by which we MUST BE SAVED." Acts 4:12

NOTE: The boys (aka the disciples, apostles, followers of Jesus...were beaten and commanded not to speak that name. The name was OFFENSIVE. Let's just call Him Christ...or let's just call Him the man upstairs...but don't mention JESUS) Just mention Jesus in a crowd and see the silence or the mocking or the shift in conversation.

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus (read Philippians 2:1-4 for the attitude that Jesus had and the attitude that we are to have)... who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

NOTE: Notice that Jesus had an attitude...in the good sense. He was God in the flesh..had equality with God...but did not consider this something to grasp. Why do we...when we become Christians...start to think we are better than other people and begin to grasp onto our spiritual gifts...that we did not earn...to be a thing to grasp?

THE CAUSE AND EFFECT OF PROPER ATTITUDE

"Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME...that at the NAME OF JESUS every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, an on earth, and under the earth...and that every tongue should confess that Jesus (the name) Christ (the anointing) is LORD (kurios=boss), to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

NOTE: As a Speech Pathologist...we know that everything has a name. We attach meaning to every object, thing, thought, disease, good, bad and ugly. Language is merely the agreed upon code of the name of something. The NAME OF JESUS is above EVERY NAME. (Fill in the blank of anything you want)...and then place the NAME OF JESUS above that THING. Notice also that every knee should bow or yield their will to that name. You either will now by your own choice...or later by demand. Either way you will bow.

Well...are you ready to quit playing THE NAME GAME?

Love and Namely Kisses
Rodney "Bodney Bo Bodney" Boyd