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

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