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The Nine Gifts of the Holy Spirit

“And Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  Acts 2:38-39.

The gifts of the Holy Spirit were intended by God to bring forth the brotherhood of Christians, and yet, when you put Godly things in the hands of mankind, division arose.

One of the most difficult aspects of these gifts is understanding that God has already given them to believers.  I have witnessed services in which people were told to beg God for the gifts.  It is unnecessary to beg for something that you already possess.  The biggest hurdle for believers is to just accept the gifts.

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 gives us the 9 gifts:

  1. A word of wisdom: Supernatural insight for decision-making and understanding God’s will.
  2. A word of knowledge: Supernatural information or understanding of truth given by the Spirit.
  3. Faith: A supernatural ability to believe in and expect what is needed beyond ordinary faith.
  4. Gifts of healings: The ability to be an instrument of God’s healing power.
  5. Working of miracles: The supernatural power to perform acts that are beyond ordinary human ability.
  6. Prophecy: The gift of speaking forth God’s message to people.
  7. Discerning of spirits: The ability to distinguish the spiritual realm and identify true or false spiritual influences.
  8. Kinds of tongues: A supernatural ability to speak in a language one has not learned.
  9. Interpretation of tongues: The ability to understand and communicate a message spoken in tongues.

Today, a Christian must arm up against the powers of darkness.  In the day of fake news, having the gift of discernment is handy.  It is hard to decide which of the gifts are most important.  It is easier to decide which ones are least important.  I was a deacon in a charismatic church that believed that if you didn’t speak in tongues, you probably weren’t saved.  As my faith grew, I came to learn that it was the least important gift, unless you have someone with the interpretation of tongues.  And even then, it is no good unless you have the gift of discernment.  It can be amazing as to see something Godly coming out of the hole in our face that spews such wickedness.  Okay, sorry for that tangent.

The Holy Spirit pours Himself out to us in full measure; but our limitations restrict the manifestations of how the Spirit works within us.  It is this Spirit that holds the Church of Christ together, no matter how frayed.  It is easy to spot the differences between denominations, but we are all held together: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16.

I know, it sounds too simple.  Yet, that just shows how much He loves us.  If you believe in Him, you belong with the rest of us.  Heaven is the place where we stop arguing over doctine.

 

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Reverence

I confess, I was put off by the lack of reverence at a recent church service.  My irritation was ignited by my studies of the Seven Spirits of God in Isaiah 11: 2 – 4.  Our minister was calling people forward to accept Christ, and a group of people were rushing to be the first ones out the door.  Apparently, the parking lot is hard to navigate after a church service.

I liked the gentle manner in which the pastor reminded folks that leading people to Christ is likely the most important part of the service.  He didn’t mention how disruptive these folks are or their lack of reverence.

Don’t think that I don’t know my own faults.  I will have my own list on Judgement Day.  I pray that the lack of reverence isn’t one of them.

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The Seven Spirits of God

2     “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3     And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4     but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth…”  (Isaiah 11: 2-4)

God the Father poured out His Spirit in full measure upon His Son.  In turn, Christ passed along these manifestations of God’s Spirit to His followers.  If you were counting, there are seven independent manifestations of God’s Spirit:

  • The Spirit of the Lord
  • The Spirit of Wisdom
  • The Spirit of Understanding
  • The Spirit of Counsel
  • The Spirit of Might
  • The Spirit of Knowledge
  • The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord

 

Jesus received the Spirit in full.  When God fills us with His Spirit, we accept all of His Spirit, and yet few of us can manifest more than a couple of them.  God wants us to have all of them, and they belong to all of us, but sometimes we stand in the way of the Spirit within us.

The reason that Charlie Kirk was such a great man is that he manifested so many of those Spirits in his life.  It is no wonder that we looked up to him—his love for God, his love for his family, and his love for Country.  Charlie manifested the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

So? What are these Spirits?

  • The Spirit of the Lord gives us boldness because it is when we are inspired by the Spirit of the Lord. Some think that the Spirit of the Lord is “a still, small voice.” Because that is how they know Him.  But, He’s the Spirit of boldness. This Spirit brings authority and power.
  • The Spirit of Wisdom gives us knowledge that is beyond ourselves. Wisdom is a force providing divine insight into the plans and purposes of God.  It is understanding spiritual realities. It gives us the ability to see what is missing and helps us make good judgments.
  • The Spirit of Understanding goes hand in hand with Wisdom because Understanding gives us the ability to comprehend what the Spirit of Wisdom has revealed to us. It allows us to see from God’s perspective.  Revelation, or understanding, means to bring light to hidden things.  This understanding brings forth prophets (small “p”).
  • The Spirit of Counsel is simply God’s advice for a plan of action, showing us what to do by providing us with continual guidance, keeping us on the right path.
  • The Spirit of Might gives us boldness to turn the Spirit of Counsel outward. It gives you the courage to do what God calls you to do with overpowering and extraordinary power.
  • The Spirit of Knowledge shares with us information that is beyond our ability to comprehend. It is as if God has given us a library card to His library.  It gives us access to information that makes fools out of the intellectuals of our generation.  It provides the kind of knowledge that you want to act upon.  It is the knowledge that brings awareness.  More importantly, it brings us the will of God.
  • The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord brings us reverence. It keeps us from becoming casual before God.  We are constantly reminded in the Bible that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. When the Spirit of reverence enters a place, things change.  Yield yourself to this Spirit so that you can walk in reverence and humility.

 

Understanding the Seven Spirits of God gives you a better understanding of walking in the fullness of God.

Charlie, thank you for being an example for the rest of us.

 

 

 

 

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Property Rights

One of the problems that we face in our self-righteous world is making moral decisions that exceed the confines of the law.  Recently, a veterinarian was convicted of theft in Michigan for refusing to return a dog to a homeless man.  The veterinarian felt that the local animal welfare organizations would not do proper justice in investigating the welfare of the dog.  She further went on to exclaim that it was her ethical duty as a veterinarian to take the dog, and besides, the dog wasn’t licensed.  Okay, that was pretty lame.

The veterinarian’s “act of kindness” backfired when a Grand Rapids jury convicted the veterinarian of theft.  Her defense attorney spoke to the Associated Press that, “What is right and what is legal are not always the same thing.”  If she gets any jail time, she will get an opportunity to review her actions and determine if “being right” was worth it.

Animals are considered personal property.  By law, only animal control organizations have the authority to take legal possession of a person’s pet, following a practice of exercising due process.

In a perfect world, the court could order the veterinarian to return the dog.  But, it turns out for whatever reason, this “humane act” resulted in the euthanasia of the dog.  This kind of weakens the resolve that the veterinarian was actually performing an act of kindness.  We are all left wondering if the dog was better off with the involvement of the veterinarian.

The feelings that you have about this should feel oddly familiar; we experience this every day.  We have front row seats to some of the worst pet owners in our communities.  Yet the property status of a pet is no different than a person owning a car.  And yet, if you are doing your job right, you can prove to your community that there is a difference:  you are much less likely to go to jail for mistreating your car.  The veterinarian should have trusted her local animal welfare professionals.

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Police Officer Shoots Dog

I have spent a career working with Police Officers and dogs.  Police Officers tend to overreact to dogs acting aggressively.  Police Officers seem to have some notion of self-preservation.  Unlike Animal Control Officers, Police Officers don’t get a lot of practice in being attacked by dogs.  As such, they perceive a doggy threat much higher than an Animal Control Officer would.

Police Officers work with a continuum of threat assessment, but that assessment protocol doesn’t work well with animals.  In a perfect world, an officer might first consider a nonlethal means of handling dogs.  They have little or no experience in testing pepper spray or a taser on dogs, so it makes sense that their gun might be the first tool they grab.  They know, from experience, that their gun is an effective tool.

In that same perfect world, dog owners would be smart enough to reel their dog in (or even place it on a leash) when an officer approaches.  Dogs die because officers don’t want to be bitten.  Dogs die due to stupid owners.

If I were to make the world a better place, I would let the officer take a small bite and then sue the owner for a million dollars.  The dog would live, and the officer could take a nice fishing trip.  And, who knows, maybe the owner learns something in the process.  I know, that’s a long shot.

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Pet Limit Laws

As with most laws, pet limit laws exist because some people lack the common sense to understand their limits. This blog is the result of a seizure of 97 dogs in our community. The notion of pet limit laws is the belief that as the number of animals that increase at a residence, the issue of animal-related complaints rise. Many communities enact pet limits in preparation for the idiots who come into their communities lacking the necessary common sense needed when people group together.

Pet limit laws can be found either in the local zoning code or in the animal control ordinance. Most limit the number of pets to less than a half dozen (over six months of age). As an incentive, many communities allow people to own more sterile pets than fertile ones. The idea is that people who spay/neuter their pets are generally more responsible than those who don’t.  Exemptions are often given to people who are fostering animals for the animal shelter.

A large number of pets at a specific residence increases noise related to pets and odor related to pet waste. Given these issues, it is understandable that people make animals one of the issues that are most reported to city/county councils. The worst part of people owning too many pets is when the government has to step in. Most public animal shelters are unprepared for a large influx of animals. So it comes down to one person’s lack of common sense creates a crisis for those who have to deal with it.

If I sound a little harsh here, it is because I have dealt with my share of pet seizures resulting from stupid people owning pets. From a professional perspective, there are a lot more stupid people in our communities than you could ever imagine; unless you are living next to one, and then you know.

It will be interesting to see how our community deals with this latest seizure. Will they address pet limits due to a single idiot, or do we need a few more incidents of our shelters being overburdened?

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DEI in Animal Shelters

Animal Shelters were practicing DEI far longer than it being accepted in business. If you look at the position statements of most national animal welfare organizations, you’ll find a statement of breeds. These statements began to materialize when communities were banning breeds that posed a risk to public safety.

We began to see statements claiming that “There are no bad dogs.” Or, “All breeds are the same.” I cannot help but feel that the people who wrote these position statements never worked in the business of animal control. Not all dogs are bad, but the ones that are can inflict varying amounts of injury. Some breeds, although aggressive by nature, can only inflict minimal injury. Some breeds have the propensity to inflict larger amounts of injury or even death. It is this last group of animals that communities wanted to ban.

Breed bans began with pitbulls because that is the breed that has always attracted the worst owners. It is tragic that you have to ban a breed based on who owns the breed but “it is what it is.” The early pitbull owners were attempting to breed their dogs for aggression and many of those deleterious genes remain in the pitbull’s gene pool.

Due to reputation, pitbulls began to accumulate in animal shelters and quickly overwhelmed the shelters. It was not uncommon to see pitbulls making up over 70% of the dogs in shelters. It became difficult to place pitbulls and shelters felt that the only way to get a pitbull adopted is to lie about the dog. It problem became so great in Virginia that laws had to be created to insure that animal shelters were not misrepresenting their dogs. No longer could an animal shelter lie about the aggressive behaviors that previous owners experienced with the dogs that they had surrendered.

The battle over adoptions and public safety became a war zone. While working in Virginia, I ended my career by deciding public safety was more important than adoption numbers. When dogs (pitbulls) became aggressive towards staff, the best (only) solution was to end the dog’s life. Keeping the public safe was more important that keeping your adoption numbers up. If you are going to lose your job, do it protecting your own species.

Before the laws were created in Virginia, a prospective dog owner would be safer getting a dog from a newspaper ad that getting the dog from an animal shelter. The ad would allow the prospective owner to have a sit down with the previous owner to get a first-hand account of the dog’s behavior.

I’d like to report that animal shelters are honest when dealing with prospective pet owners. The problem is that pitbulls still make up the greatest percentage of dogs in our shelters and philosophies have changed to eliminate euthanasia. The longer that a pet remains in an animal shelter the greater the chances that a dog will become aggressive. If euthanasia isn’t an option, then lying to prospective pet owners may be the only option that animal shelter staff have in moving the dog out of their shelter.  Keep in mind that their statistics are often more important than your safety.

I have preached over and over about integrity, but lying about a dog’s previous behavior is where animal shelters first begin to strip away their integrity. Once the first layer of integrity is removed, the remaining ones are easier to strip away. As such, if someone is thinking of adopting an animal from an animal shelter, it might be a good idea to take along an animal control officer before committing to a particular animal.  If one isn’t available, ask to see the intake paperwork (anything that might have been offered by the previous owner).

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Woke Rebellion

If the Sydney Sweeney affair taught us anything, it is that she has great jeans and that the Woke have bad genes.  It is unclear if American Eagle was preaching anti-wokeism, but if “go woke, go broke” has any say, their stock shot up.

In response to the Wokes’ outrage, “normal people” are rushing to American Eagle to buy jeans.  If it isn’t clear to the Woke, our message is that we are done with your crap.  We have stopped listening to those who pull the race or natzi cards because we don’t recognize you in our gene pool.  Wokeness is a genetic disorder, and that is how we see you.

So why is Ms. Sweeney such a big deal?  For the past several years, we have had advertisers using people whose gender we can’t discern.  All of a sudden we witness a real woman, in all of her glory, selling jeans.  We are holding onto hope that the world might, in some way, return to normal.  It doesn’t hurt the conservatives when everyone realizes that conservative women don’t look like freaks. They are just as God created them.

It just comes down to realizing that there is no superior race; just a bunch of inferior people that make the rest of us look superior.  We are all equal at birth, and then we begin cultivating our good and bad genes.  Woke riots exhibit our worst genes.  Those who want to burn down their cities are, quite honestly, inferior people.  Those people come in all colors.

We have all expressed inferior behaviors in our lives.  God calls that sin.  He has provided a way out: confess your sins, believe in Christ, and walk anew.  You can have a new life.  Call on Him.

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Logos Software

By far, the best tool I have found to be a resource for my Bible studies is Logos software.  If you would like to check out this resource:  click here.

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To the Rescue.

I read a post this morning that people wake up in the mornings, gender confused, not knowing if they are male or female. I have to admit that I, too, have awakened and found myself feeling off. After years of being inside my body, I have recognized this feeling as a need for coffee. It has always worked for me.

There is a large segment of society that finds that coffee doesn’t help and may worsen their gender fluidity. For the first time in our profession, those of us in animal welfare can put down our ketch-poles and help society in a new way. The world needs us, and our years of experience in sexing animals will be critical in helping society.

People say that gender identity is complicated. It isn’t; just look under the hood. If you wake up in the morning feeling confused, just look under the hood. If you were born with a penis, you are a male. It is just that simple.  Even if you wish it away, you just end up being a man without a penis… I guess that’s where the problem lies.  If you have body parts added or removed at some point, morning confusion may occur.

One day, people will look back upon this time in our history and wonder if solar flares were adversely affecting the electric impulses in our brains that made us think that a person with a penis could ever be a woman. If you cannot define what a woman is, my advice to you is to stay out of the sun.

Besides being backed by the Bible, I think of young girls forced to shower with foux girls is a crime.  Women should be able to pick the time they experience penises and not have them forced upon them.  But, for some odd reason, the Woke seem to think the desire to dangle your penis in a woman’s shower exceeds the rights of the women to be free from such sexual harassment.