Back to Camtasia. I have been using at work for a few years. Great tool for creating simple short “how to” movies that can be published through our new SharePoint sites. But now I have this great tool on the Mac OS, I can create instructional guides and provide feedback like never before.

This week started last week. Friday afternoon I felt the coming on of the chills and throat/cough thing. By Friday night I knew I was heading south for  while but thought I could tough it out over the weekend if I stayed put in bed and rested. By Monday thought feeling no better I went to the doctor who informs me I have a full blown sinus infection. I did have to weigh in so now my official weight is 320 lbs. 3 days later now Wednesday evening the endless nose blowing has died off but the lingering cough is hanging on for dear life, but alas, I think I’m good enough to return to the workplace.

So now knowing the full extent of my weight, and my goal remaining at 200 lbs, money has not yet been a strong enough incentive to get me to start exercise, or eat less, I am open to suggestions from far and wide as to other incentives that might help motivate me to get this weight off once and for all. Perhaps there are other men in my midst whom are up for a similar challenge who no longer want to be carrying an excess person around with themselves.

Perhaps even there is another man or two whom are waiting on the Lord to work to get focused and fast… Only you know… and God of course…

Friends,

Many of these statements in the list below have come from my lips in time past, and perhaps from yours too. So perhaps if you hear your self repeated in this list too then this article is worth a few minutes of your time to read…. and after you have read, consider sharing with your believing friends too…

Tony Maden

Excuses for Myself, or, Statements of Unbelief By Fred Pruitt

This morning I posted on Facebook an article I sent out over a year ago, called, “I AM the Resurrection.” The article contained a list of statements that people make, that I called “statements of unbelief.”

Below is that list:

“I know Christ is in me, but I have to die to self.” “I know this is true, but a lot of me is still in God’s way.” “I’m in union with Christ, but it hasn’t yet started to work in me.” “God’s biggest problem is me.” “I’m still not fully dead to some things.” “That sounds good, but I’m not that spiritual a person.” “I see what you say, but we have to remember that this is a process.” “I wish I could make that work, but I sin every day.” “I know that’s true in my spirit, but my flesh and my soul still have a long way to go.” “I’ve still got lots of obstacles to discover and overcome before I could say Christ is manifesting Himself fully in me.” One Facebook friend wrote me back and wondered about those statements, saying that she had those thoughts, too, and aren’t we still in process?

Here is the reply, as well as a link to the old article in its entirety if anyone wants to read it.

1. Perhaps I’m a little strident to call those statements of unbelief just as the words themselves. Obviously it has to do with meanings behind words. But what I find is that people hide behind those statements — and statements that seem to indicate “process” to stay incomplete in their faith. They do not accept God’s total completion in them in the now. Like a lady who used to frequently write me and talk about the “part of me that isn’t dead yet.” So, in that lady’s mind, part of her was still outside Christ, and that “part” of her was the part that was still impatient, had selfish thoughts, desires, etc. But I say that NOW HE has taken our whole selves, and not one part of us is left outside Christ, — get our eyes once and for ALL OFF BEHAVIOR, EMOTIONS, etc. — & onto the Truth that we are NOW complete in Him, that Today “as He is so are we in this world.” In other words, we accept the Christ part, i.e. that Christ lives here, but we still do not accept the vessel HE chose!

2. You see, grace isn’t just a “cover” over our still faulty sin-bent selves. I know you know that. But grace is this living reality of God to reproduce nothing but Himself in the re-captured human self. God wants sons who know who they are and live in who they are. They must be conscious. Sons who are always in transition and never “there,” aren’t going across the Jordan to possess their possessions. Their must be a total acceptance of our humanity — as it is, God accepted and God driven — in our new birth and union/grace awareness. Any “shortcomings” we believe about ourselves are usually from condemnation and the accusations of the enemy. If God speaks to something about us, He fixes it on the spot, rather than continually reminding us of where we are failing. God accepts us and even says we ARE (not will be) righteous through the Cross of Jesus. That’s a pretty big deal. The Cross of Jesus says WE ARE RIGHTEOUNESS! Well, we better get about agreeing with that!

3. Let me mention a little more about process, too, since you mentioned it. Yes, we are in process and yes, we do go from glory to glory. However, people again hide behind process and call it humility when it is often unbelief. We are complete and perfect in every stage of the process, because it is His same life expressing every moment in it. Will I manifest more or know more, etc., tomorrow? Probably. But that does not negate the total perfection and glory of today. Today, the book of Hebrews says, is the day to believe. We do not gradually pass from darkness into light, and He does not gradually take us over. It is complete and total from the beginning — in the Cross old deity, spirit of error, out — new deity — Spirit of the Living God, in! Total. What is happening is that our consciousness (understanding) is catching up to it in a process of TIME. We are seeing more of what IS, not being more of it. There is a sense in which you can “be” what you “see,” but that isn’t our emphasis. Our emphasis is to see the total in the temporal, even though it happens to manifest little by little. We aren’t in charge of that. He is.

Remember the story of Jesus coming to Nazareth in the beginning of his ministry? It is found in Luke 4:17-30.

Jesus reads the scriptures which refer to the Messiah. When He is finished the reading, all eyes are turned on him to comment on the scripture, which as a male Jew He is entitled to do. It was a normal thing. What Jesus then said, however, was NOT normal. He said that in their sight and hearing, that scripture was now fulfilled.

Of course that enraged them. Why? Hadn’t Jesus grown up among them? Wouldn’t they have had some sense while He was growing up that He was special somehow?

Apparently not. To them, Jesus was just like them in every way. He was Joseph’s son, they believed, a man like them, and HOW DARE HE say the scriptures are fulfilled in Him. He’s just a carpenter!

Well, that’s what we are saying when we by faith say that He has come into us to live His perfection in us, right now, today! People are offended because we are just like them. We are nothing special. We don’t glow. We aren’t especially “good.” Just normal folks living normal lives doing more or less normal things. How DARE WE say we are complete in Him! How DARE WE say, “I and my Father are one.”

Now if we say we are in process, that one day we’ll get there but we’re not there yet, well, they’ll pat us on the back and applaud us for that.  Because that makes us like everybody else — in unbelief! But let us break the mold, step out of the “Matrix” so to speak, and say, “He and I are one, and when I walk around walking and talking, it is He walking and talking.”

“No, that’s too much, too far!” they’ll say. “You are a man, but you make yourself God.”

But that is not the case. In order to get here, we had to thoroughly find out we are NOT God! We cannot walk in Him and still think we are “something.” (If a man thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Gal 6:3). We find out to the uttermost we are nothing. That is our death.

But then, we find out how completely and how HIGH we rise in His resurrection. Ephesians gives us the totality by the word “together:”

1:10 — In the fulness of times he might gather TOGETHER IN ONE all things in Christ ….

2:5 — Hath quickened us TOGETHER with Christ ….

2:6 — Raised us up TOGETHER and made us sit TOGETHER in the heavenlies IN CHRIST JESUS ….

2:21 — Building grows TOGETHER as a holy temple in the Lord …

4:16 — We are joined together by the Spirit.

He has made us accepted and complete in the beloved, and all those places we are TOGETHER is now, right now, today, this moment, as you read these words.

If you say you are complete and total in Christ and walk as He walks in this world, it is likely you will along the way encounter a synagogue full of folks who will look at you and tell you it could not possibly be. You’re like everybody else, just like us, they will say. We’re not there yet. We’re still in the wilderness of our sins and our preoccupation with ourselves. You are just like us, stuck here with us. Don’t try to put on airs or elevate yourself above us. You lack humility! Etc. Etc. Etc.

Don’t listen to them. Instead, continue to shine the light of who you are. Some will see the light; others will feel its burn. Either way you minister Christ whereever you go.

To read the complete article referred to, click here.

Every one of us, unconsciously, works out a personal philosophy of life, by which we are guided, inspired, and corrected, as time goes on. It is this philosophy by which we measure out our days, and by which we advertise to all about us the man, or woman, that we are. It takes but a brief time to scent the life philosophy of anyone. It is defined in the conversation, in the look of the eye, and in the general mien of the person. It has no hiding place. It’s like the perfume of the flower - unseen, but known almost instantly. It is the possession of the successful, and the happy. And it can be greatly embellished by the absorption of ideas and experiences of the useful of this earth.

Immediately I can sense the man knows from his own experiences, much like my own, the ways on men and the lessons we all learn when we have slowed down either by choice or not, to notice our own ways.  “By which we advertise…” and  “it takes but a brief time to scent the life philosophy…” and “It’s like the perfume of a flower – unseen, but known immediately”. These seem so obvious to me, someone who has had his portion of illumination and chastisement from the Lord. God has shown me the ugliness of my ways and I know without His presence within, I would be on the dang pile without hope.

Yet, for me at least, the question remains. What to do with the life the Lord has given. Immediately coming to mind “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself” and “Go, and share the Gospel”, the next question is “How Lord, how?” How do I really do this in my family who are sick of hearing about Jesus, my coworkers who see my testimony, with whom when I share starts to irritate and one could end up without the means to support ones family getting fired for sharing the gospel at work, its like one possesses truly the “pearl of great price” but no one cares nor wants it for themselves, unless it will give them something.

I have now, not a care of the world. Of course I so desired that my family know that life does not need to be worried over, or pursued in the way most men do, I do not care what another man thinks of me, just what our Lord and God thinks. I care not for possessions, or wealth, or things, each are means to an end. Time seems plentiful in this season. Yet change goes on each day through the seasons and the temperature, the months float by. What grieves and burdens me now is that knowing the fullness of Christ within I have this richness that I cannot give to anyone unless the Lord opens the door. I tried (Read “I”) with books and CD’s, yet most read but none seemed changed. I looked for visible signs of change. What kind of faith is this Tony? Not.

Lord I feel stuck. The machine of religion is fully at work. The church of today is of buildings and teaching and comfort and entertainment. And of calling down a God “out there” and giving at the end of a sermon the “10 things we must do” what a load of crap. God is within!!! We do nothing! He does the work! The Kingdom of God is within you!!! Man shall no longer teach man, the anointing within you, and teach you. Not one fallen head teaching another fallen head.

I digress, but once you know yourself well you can see in each mans work the truth, it stands out, regardless of if another man says the work is “Secular” or “Sacred” – what crap – it is all from God. God permits the evil one to operate. What kind of everywhere God cannot see what all His creatures are doing?

Not my kind of God.

So moving on, here are a few more of Adam’s quotes culled from the Internet…

1. What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you.
2. It’s what each of us sows, and how, that gives to us character and prestige. Seeds of kindness, goodwill, and human understanding, planted in fertile soil, spring up into deathless friendships, big deeds of worth, and a memory that will not soon fade.
3. Everyone knows that weeds eat out the life of the garden and of the productive fields. The gardener and farmer alike each has to keep the weeding process alive. It’s like that in the building and developing of character. No one knows our own faults and tendencies better than we do ourselves, so that it is up to each one of us to keep the weeds out, and to keep all growth vigorous and fruitful.
4. It is no disgrace to start all over. It is usually an opportunity.
5. One reason why men and women lose their heads so often is that they use them so little! It is the same with everything. If we have anything that is valuable, it must be put to some sort of use. If a man’s muscles are neglected, he soon has none, or rather any worth mentioning. The more the mind is used the more flexible it becomes, and the more it takes upon itself new interests.
6. I wonder if the human touch, which people have, is not one of the greatest assets that one can have. You meet some people, and immediately you feel their warmth of mind or heart. You read a book, sit before the performance of a fine actor, or read a poem - and there it is - something that streams into your consciousness. Those who keep climbing higher, in their chosen work, all have this outstanding something. The nurse in the hospital, the man who delivers your mail, the clerk behind many a store counter, and the effective minister or public speaker. Without this human touch, hope has little on which to feed or thrive.
7. There is no such thing as a ’self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others.
8. Every one of us, unconsciously, works out a personal philosophy of life, by which we are guided, inspired, and corrected, as time goes on. It is this philosophy by which we measure out our days, and by which we advertise to all about us the man, or woman, that we are. It takes but a brief time to scent the life philosophy of anyone. It is defined in the conversation, in the look of the eye, and in the general mien of the person. It has no hiding place. It’s like the perfume of the flower - unseen, but known almost instantly. It is the possession of the successful, and the happy. And it can be greatly embellished by the absorption of ideas and experiences of the useful of this earth.
9. The difficult tasks to be performed are not the ones that mean physical and mental labor, but the ones that you dislike, are the ones that you do not love. There are unpleasant angles to nearly every important job to be done in this world, but there must be an over all love for doing each, else precious time and effort are uselessly wasted. I shall never forget noting a sign above a construction job that read: “Builder of Difficult Foundations.” That man must have loved that calling, else he would not have made a point of advertising the fact!
10. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken a word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and our thoughts, as well as our success.
11. This world and life of ours are filled with inequalities. The worst possible use to make of this fact, however, is to allow resentments to possess us. All of us have imagined limitations, but we have also the privilege of pushing them aside, and spreading our lives out! We never know any of our limitations until we put ourselves to the test. There are always “growing pains” working within us.
12. There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don’t care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.
13. He who does not get fun and enjoyment out of every day . . . needs to reorganize his life.
14. Anyone who has had a long life of experiences is worth listening to, worth emulating, and worth tying to as a friend. No one can have too much experience in any line of endeavor. We readily welcome to our group of friends that one who talks with the voice of experience and common sense. We know that we are safe in his hands. He is not going to get us into trouble. Rather is he going to point out the pitfalls and mistakes that experience has taught him to avoid. There is no experience but what carries its lasting good for us along with it. And you don’t have to discard experience. It’s a coat for life! It never wears out.
15. Each day of your life, as soon as you open your eyes in the morning, you can square away for a happy and successful day. It’s the mood and the purpose at the inception of each day that are the important facts in charting your course for the day. We can always square away for a fresh start, no matter what the past has been. It’s today that is the paramount problem always. Yesterday is but history.
16. Enthusiasm is a kind of faith that has been set afire.
17. Note how good you feel after you have encouraged someone else. No other argument is necessary to suggest that one should never miss the opportunity to give encouragement.

The reason you have time now is that I said and I know you said last week, nothing physical in this world gives you pleasure any longer, yet I know like your brother Allen you share the burden to speak my Word to the lost, this is why I put you together. Your idleness is the time when I will grow you more in my ways, of waiting, praying reading but the output will not be as you have been but your heart will burn as my heart burns, and when the time is right, My Words will flow from you as they do from all my true sons out to the thirsty world around you. You surf the net, reading multiple rabbit trails, and eat in place of doing what i have commanded you do - proclaim my word.In your time this morning with Chris as you told the story of Allen’s work for me as me reaching out with my burden for the lost whom I came for, in a flash, I could see the penny drop in your mind. You knew what James had said through Chris’ lips that faith without works is no faith at all.

While you have been snagging and processing “A call to anguish” youtube clip for Fred & Bob, you have been operating your mouth and stomach on autopilot, eating constantly, but my son, you are not really hungry are you? this motion has become your habit, as does reading the word and proclaiming to another brother who may agree with you but neither of you and sharing with those whom do do know.

You smelled years ago the incongruity of men so called praying for revival yet there was no anguish or weeping, they were not even on their knees before me but comfy in the chairs, like I said in Psalm 1. You saw it even then.

And now I have separated you from them, and am training you up, you will be obedient to my word. All my children are.

So have I got your attention yet? Wait on me my son, lift you voice to me in prayer, make time with me and talk with me as others have, and I will cause you to walk in my ways.

Not sure? really, do you want me to name a few of your less redeeming ways that still hinder our relationship? gluttony, deceit, slothfulness, disobedience. You eat out of habit, not out of hunger. The flesh of your body rules your mind, not the other way around.

Remember, I’m calling you, not them. Craig McElvain, Mark Seversen, Byron Whetstone, Mike Abare, Bob Lynch, etc, etc, your coworkers etc. I’m talking to you Tony. You are the one hearing my voice now, not them. We have work to do and you are my chosen instrument. I have separated you out for my good pleasure. I know you are burdened for the lost state of the world around you and those who are deceived in your midst.

We are going to fast. Get focused. And you will wait for me. No one will touch you because you are operating under my blanket of protection. Do not fear my son. But listen and obey my every word.

Do you love me more than the world? Are you a man that enjoys darkness and avoids the light?

Lord, crush my independent will, destroy my fleshly ways, so I may used of you to reach the lost in my midst, may family, neighborhood, set fire to me Father, break me so completely, or I will walk away from everything, of course I have no where to go besides you, but what man in my midst bar Allen is authentic? COach me in your word I beg of thee, drive me from this device, break my heart that I am compelled to rise and walk, preach and speak your Word and power to the dying world. We are lost Lord without Your driving force. It’s all a sham Lord. All of it. All faking the one true Church. None have power without You.

My son, you are listening. You heard my plea through Angus and his story (Faith Like Potatoes), you heard me call you through Bro. Allen, and through Bro. Fred, from Len and David Ravenhill. You will and con not act without me so rest in me and I will work through you in my perfect timing, trust in me with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Now go to sleep, rest and awaken afresh for the new day that I shall bring with abundant opportunities. Do it now!