YES MASTER

Greetings O Ye Rock Em, Sock Em Ruminators. I want each of you to repeat after me...YES MASTER. Now...say it again...but say it in a monotone, submissive voice...YESSS MASTER. Now...say it again after I give you a command. Go to your banks...withdraw a $100.00bill...place it in an envelope.. address it to me...put a stamp on the envelope...and mail it to me now.
Your response: YESSSS MASTER.

The good news is that we are not hyp-mo-tized...or drug induced Zombies...or programmed ROBOTS. We have been created (if you subscribe to that notion) with what is known as VOLITION. Aaaaaaaaah Sweet Volition. NO...I did not say Sweet Videlia ..but Sweet Volition. Volition is merely...the concept of FREE WILL. To be...or not to be that is the question. We have talked many times about our abilities to CHOOSE...life/death...blessing/curse...obey/disobey...
yes/no.

I love science fiction stories...and movies. Robots are central characters in the stories and moves...from CP3O, R2D2, Robbie the Robot(in the classic Sci-Fi movie Forbidden Planet)...and of course Robbie the Robot refurbished in the T.V. show...LOST IN SPACE, etc. Issac Asimov introduced robots with his science fiction short stories. The word ROBOTICS was 1st used in Asimov's 1949 story LIAR!. In 1950 he published 9 short stories that were connective by a narrative device of a story teller. Part of those short stories was one called I, ROBOT...which was seen on the T.V. show THE OUTER LIMITS...and later in the movie I, ROBOT with Will Smith in 2004. Asimov introduced what is known as the THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS (that go awry when the created robots...develop human emotions and volition. DANGER...DANGER WILL ROBISON (Lost in Space reference).

THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS

1. A robot MAY NOT INJURE a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot MUST OBEY ORDERS given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

3. A robot MUST PROTECT its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the 1st or 2nd law.

Good laws to live by...if you are a ROBOT. Instead of I, ROBOT...we are I, HUMAN.

Man...Wo-man...Man/Woman-kind...were CREATED with the capacity to worship, fellowship, love, commune...and CHOOSE.

In the book of Genesis (beginnings)...we see an overview of creation by the Creator...with Genesis 1:1-25 God SPEAKING into existence various things from light to animals...with his assertion that what He had CREATED was GOOD. Then in verse 26 we see God saying..."Let US make man in OUR image according to OUR likeness...." He goes on to say, "...and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over ALL the earth, and over every CREEPING THING (including creepy serpents) that CREEPS (authority over the creeps). Verse 27 continues with a description of the creation process..."And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him: male and female He created THEM.

NOTE: That this authority for the created beings was given to MALE and FEMALE.

Verse 28 continues..."And God BLESSED them (male and female) and God said to THEM (male and female), be fruitful and multiply (and God was not talking about mathematics)...and fill the earth (with the cause and effect of the multiplication process)...and subdue it (utilize the delegated authority)...and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Verse 29-30 continues on with what God had given man and woman...male and female. In the end...in verse 31..."And God saw all that He had made...and behold, IT WAS VERY GOOD..."

While Genesis 1:1-31 gives a broadbrush overview of creation in a 7 day thumbnail sketch...Genesis 2:7-25 zeros into the specifics of the creation of man/woman, male/female, husband/wife.

In Genesis 2:7...we see the first case of CPR...jumpstarting a lump of clay..."Then the Lord God formed man of DUST...from the ground...and BREATHED into his nostrils...THE BREATH OF LIFE...and man BECAME (cause and effect) a LIVING BEING/SOUL." Later on we see the first surgery performed with anesthesia as God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept...and then He took one of his ribs (pre Famous Daves) and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God FASHIONED (1st fashion show) into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man and brought her to the man. (Genesis 2:21-22)

NOTE: Remember that woman was not an after thought. She was in the original plan of creation...in the image of God...and was to have authority and dominion over earth as was man.

Then the union of man (Ish) and wo-man (Isshah)...became bone of my nones and flesh of may flesh...and for this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his WIFE and they shall become ONE FLESH. (Genesis 2:23)

Well Mr. Ruminator...what does all this mean? Well...Mr. and Mrs. and Miss and Ms Ruminators and Ruminettes...it's like Pastor Bruce Coble says..."we are just lumps of clay filled with the glory of God."

We are NOT robots. We have a divine link with the CREATOR of the universe. What gives value to a container...is not the container...it is what is IN the container that gives it value.

We are lumps of clay...with the breath of the creator of the universe...that was set into motion in the Garden...and continues to breath... until he stops it.

Part of the VOLITIONAL PROCESS that we have...is found in the song HAVE THINE OWN WAY, LORD

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the POTTER...I am the CLAY
Mold me and make me...after Thy will
While I am waiting...Yielded and still

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have thine own way
SEARCH me and TRY me...MASTER today!
Whiter than snow, Lord...wash me just now
As in Thy presence Humbly I bow

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary...Help me , I pray
Power all power...surely is Thine
Touch me and heal me...Saviour divine

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway!
Fill with thy Spirit...surely is Thine
Till all shall see
Christ only, always...LIVING IN ME!

This song penned by Adelaide Pollard and George Stebbins...with a copyright in 1907...still rings true to me in 2008.

YES MASTER....I choose to obey and yield to your desires.

Love and non-robotic kisses
Rodney "I, RODNEY" Boyd

CHOOSE OR LOSE

Hello fellow Choosers. What have you chosen lately? One of the beautiful things about being a human being...we were created with the capacity to CHOOSE. We are beyond ROBOTS...that are programmed to carry out every command that the creator of the robot desires...we are CREATED by the CREATOR of the universe...with VOLITION. Volition is what is known as FREE WILL...the power of CHOICE.

On a Friday night...when me and Sweet Brenda are hungry...we decide/choose to go out to eat. The conversation goes a little like this:

BRENDA: Where do you want to go eat?
RODNEY: I don't know...where to you want to go eat?
BRENDA: Let's decide before we start driving.
RODNEY: We can decide as we drive.
BRENDA: OK...let's see what we have down the road.

NOTE: At this point we start driving and begin to name the eateries.

BRENDA: Well...we have O'Charley...Corky's...Red Lobster...Outback...Hardees...Ryans...

NOTE: We will make a tour of Murfreesboro...and still have not made a CHOICE.

If we go to a Chinese Restaurant...if you don't get the buffet (with Crab Legs)...you have more choices to make...Column one...Column two...Column three...Column four...and then have to choose what kind of soup...Won Ton, Hot and Sour, Egg Flower. I can choose and have whatever I want...I JUST HAVE TO MAKE A CHOICE. Usually at every establishment we choose to eat...the waitress will come up for the order and ask..."Would you like me to give you a few more minutes?"

In real life...the choices that we make...have consequences. That is one principle that we have tried to impress upon our son Phillip...your choices have consequences. There is a thing called CAUSE AND EFFECT. What you cause effects not only yourself...but others also. Throw a stone into a lake...and there will be a splash at the epicenter where the stone lands...but the ripple effect shoots out in every direction. The bigger the CAUSE (stone)...the bigger the EFFECT (ripples).

"Therefore...just as through one man (Adam) entered into the world (disobedience)...and death by sin (cause and effect)...and so death spread to all men...because all sinned (ripple effect)" (Romans 5:12)

That does not sound very fair!!! Life is not fair. The devil does not play by the rules. "CAUSE AND EFFECT...rains on the just and the unjust" (Matthew 5:44-45 Ruminator paraphrase). The EFFECT (fall or stand) of the CAUSE(rain and wind) is different for different people based on the foundation (sand or rock). (Matthew 7:24-27) The choice is this passage is either Jesus is Lord or Jesus is NOT Lord....and LIP SERVICE is not an option. (Matthew 7:21-23)

One of my favorite Debby Boone albums is CHOOSE LIFE. You may remember Debbie as the oldest daughter of one of my favorite singers...PAT BOONE.

NOTE: Pat Boone financed Randy Stonehill and Larry Norman's first independent Jesus rock albums. Randy's album was called BORN TWICE and Larry's album was called BORN TWICE . Pat also formed a label dedicated to the new wave of Christian artists called LAMB and LION RECORDS with such artists as Dogwood.

Debbie had a huge hit called YOU LIGHT UP MY LIFE. It was a sugar sweet A.M. hit. Later she released an album called CHOOSE LIFE. It was a collection of songs by another of my favorite artists...MICHAEL AND STORMIE OMARTIAN (pronounced Oh Mar Tee un). Michael is a producer of some of the biggest secular hits over 3 decades including the T.V. theme to SWAT.

The album title is based on a passage in Deuteronomy 30:19:

"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have SET BEFORE YOU...life and death, the blessing and the curse. So...CHOOSE LIFE in order that you may life, you and your descendants..." (Deuteronomy 30:19)

NOTE: You may be asking yourself...who in their right mind would choose death and curse? Well...look in a mirror and ask yourself why you choose the things that you do that are not good for you. I may wrong choices based on what I want versus what is good for me. Before I was Christian...my CHOICE PATTERN was even worse...because my choices did not have the compass of the Word of God. There were NO ABSOLUTES in my life...so everything was relative to my selfish desires.


Larry Norman...hit the streets in L.A...gave up fame and fortune (he had a million seller hit and album with his group PEOPLE...with their hit song I Love You)...and took his music and message to the common man. As the Jesus Movement grew around the world, Larry become one of the spokesman for the group. One symbol...attributed to Larry was the ONE WAY SIGN. That is where you took you index finger and pointed up to the sky. This represented heaven...and the ONLY WAY to heaven...JESUS CHRIST.

When Jesus was talking to his followers about going to heaven to prepare a place for them...he made a startling statement to Thomas who asked..."Lord, we do not know where You are going...how do we KNOW THE WAY?" Jesus responded matter of factly..."I AM...THE way...THE truth...THE life...NO ONE comes to the Father...BUT THROUGH ME." Well....all roads may lead to Rome... but ALL ROADS...do not lead to the Father in heaven. In the words of George Harrison..."Isn't it a pity." In John 101-10...Jesus talks about doors of thieves and sheep. "Truly, truly, I say to you...he who DOES NOT ENTER by the DOOR into the fold of the sheep...BUT climbs up SOME OTHER WAY..he is a thief and robber. But he who enters by THE DOOR is a shepherd of the sheep. " (read the rest of the verses but skip to verse 6 as Jesus explain his figure of speech of doors) "This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them...but they DID NOT UNDERSTAND what those things were which He had been saying to them. Jesus THEREFORE (in reference to verses 1-5) said to them AGAIN...Truly, truly...I say to you...I AM THE DOOR OF THE SHEEP. All who came before me were thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I AM THE DOOR...IF ANYONE ENTERS THROUGH ME...HE SHALL BE SAVED...and shall go in and out and FIND PASTURE."
The THIEF comes only to steal, and kill, and destroy...I CAME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE...AND MIGHT HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY." Many people choose to try to climb over the wall versus going through the door/gate.


Robert Frost and Larry Norman speak of CHOICES...choices of ROADS. In the movie Back To The Future...Doc Brown comes back to pick up Marty to go to the future. The DeLorean time machine use to need to reach a certain speed on the road to trigger the jump to the future. Marty asks the Doc if they didn't need more ROAD. The Doc responds with a smirk..."Where we're going....we don't need roads." Then the machine begins to fly.

Well...the ROAD that we need to get into the presence of the Father....is JESUS. Larry and Mr. Frost said it correctly:

ONE WAY...ONE WAY to Heaven...hold up high your hand
Follow...free and forgiven...Children of the Lamb
Two roads DIVERGED in the middle of my life...I heard a wise man say
I TOOK the one LESS TRAVELLED on...and that's made a difference...every night and every day
So I say...ONE WAY...one way to heaven...hold up high your head
ONE WAY...free and forgiven...children of the sky.

It all comes down to CHOICES. Choose death...choose life...choose blessing...choose curse...choose the road to heaven...or as AC/DC recommends...choose the highway to hell.

Lord...help me to make better choices.

Love and Kisses from Column A
Rodney "Taking The Less Travelled Road" Boyd