charles19695

Fix it or Forget it…Finish it?!

August 8, 2022 charles19695

It has been some time since I wrote out a blog article. My YouTube channel—Lessons To Learn Ministries (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCChmO5z9Xq-9G8ddPyjF0EA)–and the Vlogging there, has been the focus of my attention since the Coronavirus came into our lives! For the past year, I have also become increasingly busy speaking around the world and seeing God work everywhere His Word is going! I have thought of many things I wanted to write, but am finally writing out this article now, which I will also use in a Vlog on my YouTube channel! Coming to my attention in a number of ways, is what I see as a key philosophical behavior, driven by human nature and prominent throughout the culture. This is so important, that understanding it more will help you be more productive and even more accomplished. What is your M.O. (modus operandi) or method of operation? Will you Fix it or Forget it…will you Finish it?!

What do you do when you notice something that is not as it should be? Do you stop your momentum from what you were doing and try to fix it? Do you just ignore it or forget it? Do you keep working on what is needed to finish it and make it what it should be? Now, you may not realize just how much this choice presents itself to you!? We are faced with the choice of fixing or forgetting things dozens, if not hundreds of times each day! When you think about it, you really start this decision process the moment you wake up. It first comes in thoughts you have or just dismiss, even before you get out of bed. When you get up, you can either fix or make your bed or just forget it…Afterall, you’ll just sleep in it again the next time you lay down! 😉 Unless you are a “neat freak” or perfectionist with perfect living quarters, you will have many things in your home that you can fix, just forget or even finish! If you work outside your home, your job will involve this very decision process, regardless of what you do! You have many opportunities to fix situations or things needing fixing to be what they are intended to be. You may have so many things to do, that you cannot finish all, but whatever you do not fix when you can, may be something you just forget.

Too often, when we see something wrong, we just let it go or forget about it! It then easily becomes a habit to just forget about more and more things. When you fail to put energy into it and fix it, then entropy just takes over and things get less and less organized and things become more and more of a mess! Are you following what I am saying? You always have this choice in everything you see or do: Fix it or Forget it!? What is your M.O.? Now, those things you do try to fix, you must bring to some completion—you must Finish it! When you fail to finish what you work to fix, you just leave it to be fixed later and even risk forgetting about it.

Friends, we live in a fallen and degrading world. There is plenty needing to be fixed! God says that He has allowed the Creation to be subjected to futility, but that there is hope, for one day He will deliver all and finish all that He has promised (Romans 8:18-25)! For the time we have now, God gives us the job of fixing things that are broken and finishing things on the levels that we can! He wants us to know that He helps us and is working all together for our good and to finish His work in us (Romans 8:28-30)! What job does He have for you to do? Will you pay attention and see what He wants you to fix or will you just forget it and become less effective and usable? Will you be like Paul and finish all that God has for you to do (2 Timothy 4:7)?!

Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work” (John 4:34). One of the last things Jesus Christ said on the cross is, “It is Finished!” (John 19:30). He accomplished our salvation and we must believe in His work to be fixed from what happened when mankind fell! If we fail to pay attention to Him, then we may as well forget it, for eternity apart from Him is hopeless!

Sick Until Proven Healthy!?!

September 20, 2020 charles19695

Well, here we are already mostly through September and officially entering into the Fall season, and there are still lockdowns and restrictions affecting each of us! Some businesses are still shut down (especially in more left-wing states that are still locked down) and others have announced they will permanently shut down and go out of business. Schools have delayed opening, are doing less in-person training, or are reluctantly opening with more limitations. Masks are often required for even younger children in schools and many trips and outings are being cancelled or curtailed again. Sporting events have also been cancelled (like much of college football), just like in the Spring and Summer and while some sports are starting again, fans are often limited, if even they do get to attend a game. Shopping is still limited, and masks are still being required or mandated in most places! When will these restrictive times end? Will a Covid-19 vaccine be the end? Since all is so politicized, perhaps the November election will end the restrictions?! When you think about it, what we have really done is to change the way we consider things—we are now considering people to be “sick until proven healthy”!?!

Think about it: have we ever made people that are healthy wear masks or limit themselves in order to protect those that are sick? In the past, it has always been those who do have compromised immunity who are responsible to stay in or only come out with a mask or keep a certain distance from others. What a shift this has been! In the name of safety and compassion for others, we now demand that the healthy also need to restrict themselves! Now, positively, many people have been willing to do what is reasonable to try to protect the sick or vulnerable. This indicates the good in human nature to consider others; however, there is also the bad in human nature coming out! Many are also looking down on those not complying or still worse, complaining and even cursing or strongly rebelling against any mandates, often living even more risky than normal! Should healthy people be kept from or limited in working (as is true in many places, such as in California)? Should we all, whether sick or healthy, be required to wear masks? Ah, “To mask or not to mask” is certainly a good question!😉 Now, there is also a well-known expression coming from our justice system that should help us here: Aren’t we supposed to be considered “Innocent, until proven guilty”?! If this is true, and it should be, then why does it then not follow that we should (as has also historically been the case) be considered “healthy, until proven sick”? Demonstrated evidence is the basis for proving whether someone is guilty of a particular thing and demonstrated evidence should be the basis for proving whether someone is sick with Covid-19 or anything else!

Most demonstrable cases of spreading of the Coronavirus have occurred when symptomatic people were coughing or sneezing close to others, and thus more of the virus was shed from them to others and in the air around them! Yes, it is also possible to shed the virus when you are pre-symptomatic (before you exhibit symptoms) and you can even have Covid-19 without showing any symptoms (Asymptomatic), at least according to some testing (though there is not even 100% accuracy on testing and there are a lot of false testing reports)! This means you are a potential carrier to give it to others, even if you aren’t sick. However, does the demonstrated evidence in the data (we didn’t have a lot at the beginning) prove that asymptomatic people are causing this virus to spread or is this still conjecture or fear? Contradictory information and the typical vague and non-absolute answers (such as, “likely,” “maybe,” “potential,” “risk,” etc.) make the question difficult to be factually or demonstrably answered! We have come to the place in this case, that because there is potential spreading by asymptomatic people, then all people must be considered sick until proven healthy!?! This means, as some have even said, that we will never be able to shake hands again or choirs can never sing again or you will always need to practice social distancing, and you must wear masks at all times (even in houses and outside) to prevent the spread of Coronavirus! This is craziness! This is unsustainable! You will never be safe enough! You will never be absolutely healthy! There will always be scientists and doctors (especially in infectious disease fields of study) that fear contamination of viruses and pathogens! There will always be potential risk of exposure to something that can make you sick or even kill you! Unless we back away from this potential exposure idea, we will continue to promote “sick until proven healthy,” instead of “healthy until proven sick!”

Now there is a virus that we all have; there is a sickness that impacts each of us, even to the point of disease! It is a spiritual death that causes us to eventually die and even makes us susceptible to all kinds of sicknesses! This 100% infected virus is SIN and there is only one eternal cure! Receiving this cure through faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ is the only way to recover from being sick and to become healthy! If you truly have faith and trust in God, you will not let Covid-19 or any potential sickness keep you restricted and isolated, without greater evidence of imminent infection. As noted before in a previous blog article, this is indeed The Perfect Test that you cannot fake! In this spiritual disease, you certainly will be sick, until proven healthy!!

Essential?!

May 12, 2020May 13, 2020 charles19695

By now, especially in the midst of this Coronavirus shutdown and lockdown, you have been faced with an often-repeated question—is that Essential? Likely, you first considered this when thinking of products you might need in an emergency situation, such as disinfectant, hand-sanitizer or even toilet paper (what about those paper product shortages, especially from the early high demand? Most consider toilet paper to be an essential!😊)! Following the serious consideration of personal essentials, came the decisions businesses had to make about what products were more essential. Then, in an attempt to slow the spread of this novel virus and prevent deaths and overcrowded hospitals, the federal recommendations led to state and local governments mandating many businesses to limit or even shut down their operations, if they were considered “non-essential” businesses! In addition, many activities began to be cancelled or even ordered to cancel, as most activity outside the home was not considered essential! Now, as there is a phased or gradual re-opening of businesses and other activities, the same question of what is essential must be considered again! So, it is ESSENTIAL that you think with me further about what is Essential?!

Essential means something is needed or necessary. Saying something is essential really begs the question. How do you know what is needed? Is the same thing needed every day and for every person at every time? What do you need in the mornings…to wake up, to get out of bed, perhaps you “need” to get a cup coffee 😉?! Is it really necessary for you to have a good breakfast (it is said to be the most important meal of the day!)? For that matter, is it essential that you eat 3 meals a day and have snacks to eat in between? If so, what food and snacks are essential? What grains or fruits and vegetables, or even what meat is essential? Is it essential to have a dessert with every meal? What drinks are essential? Is it essential to have a dentist office open if you get a toothache? Is it really essential that you go to a scheduled doctor visit for a check-up or get a screening to check on other health issues? Are doctors and nurses really essential? Is exercise essential? Is it essential to have the latest and best television (or any T.V. for that matter; they have been selling out everywhere!😐)? Is furniture essential? Are computers essential? Is the Internet essential? Do you need a cell phone? Is it necessary to have games to play or puzzles to put together? Are sports essential? What entertainment is essential? Are craft supplies necessary? Is education essential (there is a buzz, even today, about possibly not opening schools and colleges this fall!?! 😐)? Are our vehicles essential? Are news media outlets essential? Are lawyers essential? What about our law enforcement officers? What about the Courts? Are all of our Local, State and Federal government operations essential? What about the churches—aren’t they ESSENTIAL?!? When you think through this more, as I am here, you realize it becomes clear that there is no one thing that is essential for every person, at every time and in every situation; a good argument can be made, however, that almost everything we have had and enjoyed in our lives, at least to some degree, can be considered Essential!?!

Now, there is a very contagious, person to person, and often deadly Coronavirus out there! How it got out, is another question many will continue trying to determine! It is important, if not essential, that we be as informed about this as possible and that we take proper precautions to keep ourselves and those around us safe! Ah, but who do we trust on this?!? The instructions about what we should do and the models about what would happen with this Coronavirus have consistently changed! 😐 Even officials we are listening to now initially said that this virus was nothing to worry about and that the risk was low. Initially, we were also told that masks were not necessary or not really even helpful (with scientific support for this), yet now, masks are recommended or are even being mandated as Essential by businesses, and even for every citizen in some states!?! Granted, the situation has developed and changed, but has the science changed? Should we never even shake hands with anyone again?!? What really is essential? It will be interesting to see, if not essential before any future such actions 😉, what the statistics (here, and all over the world) really show, once things finally do go back to a sense of what has been considered normal!

Friend, what I said in my last two blog articles is still true!😊 This has been a “Novel Viral Separation” and it still is “The Perfect Test”! It is still true, and as ESSENTIAL as ever, that you are prepared for when you will get sick and even if you were to die! It is Essential that you know how you should respond, if you have to sacrifice or even suffer in this life (we all will suffer, at least at times, as we do live in a fallen, sin-cursed world)! It is ESSENTIAL that we are ready to meet our Creator, whether it be because of this virus or a whole host of other, even more likely things that can and will eventually end our life! It is ESSENTIAL (for eternity and a better life here—John 10:10) that you consider the historical and Biblical Person of Jesus Christ! HE is the ONE Who sacrificed HIS Life to pay the necessary payment for the penalty of your sin (Luke 19:10)! Is it ESSENTIAL that you have faith IN HIM!!

The PERFECT Test!

March 31, 2020April 1, 2020 charles19695

Do you remember taking tests in school? Maybe you’re still in school and have tests you have to take (at least online right now 😉). Do you dread tests? Do you study for them? Do you benefit from them? Do they not test your knowledge and even your ability to think and reason about facts and even greater things in life? Testing is important; testing is necessary; really, all of life is about testing! As I’ve noted many times before, all of life is about learning. And learning is how we change and grow! Life teaches us many lessons, if we let it! It is actually The Creator of life Who is teaching us through the reality that HE Created and HIS Personal involvement with each of us, and HE IS THE MASTER TEACHER! So, how does HE test us? How does HE want us to learn? I don’t think I’ll be able to fully address those questions, but I do want to address the greatest and most far-reaching test that modern mankind has more knowledgeably faced together. I am talking about The PERFECT Test!

This Coronavirus is certainly schooling our Country (and really all of mankind, throughout the whole earth) and bringing us to the ultimate place of personal testing! Think about it. Especially think about it from the beginning, when there was little to no hope of recovery, if it took hold in you! If you are really seeing how deadly and serious this is in those it impacts, then did you pass this PERFECT Test? How did you do at that first moment you realized it then? How are you doing now with a greater spread and more deaths and many increasing restrictions impacting each of our lives? What a test! And it isn’t just for a moment, it continues! America has been on top of responding to this as good or better than many other places in the world. The 15 day plan to slow the spread has tested us, for we are not accustomed to such limited activity in this day and age and with the freedom we normally have in this Country! Now, we are tested even further and looking at another 30 days of limitations to try to hold down the number of deaths that today were projected to be as high as 100-200 thousand people (but hopefully far less)! If authorities had done nothing but let this ride out, it is said that the peak would have been higher and likely over sooner, but deaths would have been in the millions (as high as 2.2 million!). Well, you may still be skeptical, but if the virus does hit near you or takes one of your friends or family members, you will be tested there, too! This PERFECT Test continues for now!

Now, just why is this such a PERFECT Test for the world and for you? Well, all the facts are not known! As noted in my last blog, it is Novel, or new, so the effects are UNCERTAIN! We have had to learn what it is, how it spreads, who is vulnerable, where it came from, when it is most dangerous, why it does what it does, how can you treat symptoms, etc. This highly contagious virus humbles us all! True science will help us find the answers, but science can’t just guess here (at it does with origins or unrecorded history 😉). Science still doesn’t know all the answers here, because science is about observing and testing until you can prove something! We do know that this virus primarily attacks the weak, but it can also attack the strong and healthy! A weak immunity leads to it filling the lungs with fluid and a very strong immunity can lead to the body attacking the lungs. The elderly are at the greatest risk, then the sick, but even healthy and young people can be hurt or killed by this novel virus! This Coronavirus is a PERFECT Test because it forces you (unless you just deny it) to at least consider that you could catch it, get very sick and even die! What really happens after death? What if we end up suffering? Will we get this virus and infect others around us, making them suffer or even die? Wow, what a PERFECT Test for me, for you, for The Church and for the world!

Why is GOD allowing this and letting these concerns continue? HE tests each of us (Psalm 11:4)! HE tests our minds and our hearts (Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; Proverbs 17:3)! When the people of Israel became fearful after seeing the natural effects of HIS POWER on the mountain, when God had written out the 10 Commandments, Moses exhorted them: “Do not [only] fear; for God has come to test you, and that HIS fear may be before you, so that you may not sin” (Exodus 20:20). HE wants us to not live by our fears, but by fear/faith toward HIM! HE wants you to trust that HE can take care of you, no matter what HE allows to happen and that HE will keep you safe Eternally! HE wants you to trust The Risen JESUS CHRIST, who died to pay the penalty that justice required for your sin (pride, lack of faith, etc.). Will this PERFECT Test bring you to trust? Will it turn you inward to attempt to satisfy yourself with media and pleasures or will Faith allow you to trust HIM, so you can be confident and encourage and serve others and help those that are weak?! I trust HIM and test all things (I Thessalonians 5:21). I do have the personal advantage with this PERFECT Test of the Coronavirus, since I have already been tested to my core (my book details this). I have learned to walk by Faith and not by sight or emotion (fear). I have learned to “Trust GOD and HIS Word, no matter what!” (the theme of my book). Will you? Will HIS Church humble Itself and PRAY, to help heal and end this Coronavirus threat? Will you, my friend, pass this, The PERFECT Test!?

NOVEL VIRAL SEPARATION!!

March 14, 2020March 16, 2020 charles19695

CORONAVIRUS! SARS-CoV-2!! COVID-19!!! What do we know? What are we learning? What can we learn for the future? On my Lessons To Learn Website (www.vtlessonstolearn.com) and in my 233+ Blog articles, I seek to bring truth and The Truth to the table of our thinking and to help as many as will, to learn to prevail in this life and even more importantly, for eternity! The current climate in this Country and even around the world, has driven me to research and study this subject more and to write this specific blog article. Despite all the attention, opinions, and information out there on this novel coronavirus, I have found that there is much ignorance, overreaction, and even misinformation about what this novel coronavirus is and what danger there is to human beings. Living in the United States, where there have been new responses and new reactions that have escalated to the separation of many people, especially demands I take time to respond to this novel coronavirus threat and the separation it is bringing! Here and abroad, this is leading to a NOVEL VIRAL SEPARATION!!

When something is novel, it is new. That is the case with this virus, hence that official name for it. So far as we know, it is new to human beings (but not necessarily animals) and has even been quite contagious and somewhat lethal (primarily for those over 80), which is why there has been such an aggressive response thus far (especially by an older leadership 😉). The response, in fact, has ironically even gone viral (a term we use when something, like this response, has spread so quickly and even broadly). The effect has been and is a growing separation: those infected, from most others (rightly so); fans from their sports; students from their schools; individuals from their jobs; voters from their primaries; groups from their gatherings; and even church members from their gathering together with each other. Where will it end? If we are consistent in our safety applications, it will lead to total immobilization, isolation, or even lockdown (as Italy and even Spain are doing at this writing) and then to an ensuing greater panic and disruption in the supply chain of products and services, until there is utter chaos and self-seeking survival! At what point will people stop cowering to uncertainties and fears (that are not even as statistically dangerous as other things, like the regular flu virus, other leading causes of death, or even imminent natural disasters) and live their lives in a more normal way again? This is a far greater separation from regular activity than I have ever seen or heard about! This is a Novel Viral Separation!!

It is good that many are becoming more conscious of good hygiene and cleaning or disinfecting more, as we really normally should! It will be good if people do learn to be more compassionate and be more considerate for others! I trust we will not let the separation go on and so far for much longer, especially with this new or novel virus! One danger is that many will soon see that this is not as bad as most have feared (true for most fear and worry) and not be as careful as they should when there is an even more serious situation. How many more are not now evacuating from imminent natural disasters, just because past dangers turned out to be less than predicted?! Could it be like, “The boy who cried “wolf!”? Time will tell, but please do take time to not simply be more sarcastic about any toilet paper or other shortage and be newly educated and look at the more trusted websites (like the CDC and the facts and frequently asked questions about this virus)!!

Friend, the bad news is that we all are infected with a far more dangerous virus of sorts that has led to 100% infections and a 100% mortality rate (not an average so far of 3.4% worldwide mortality rate, as reported by the WHO, for COVID-19, varying by demographic). This “virus” called SIN is worse than reports from all of the other major pandemic viruses in the past 50 years+, which also only infect limited people (Eboli: 33,577 cases with 40.4% fatality; Nipah: 513 cases with 77.6% fatality; SARS: 8,096 cases with 9.6% fatality; and MERS: 2,494 cases with 34.4% fatality)! This “virus” leading to all diseases and death, will lead to an ultimate separation from our Thrice Holy GOD!! The only ultimate cure and earthly power over this 100% lethal “virus” is through trusting in the blood sacrifice of The Creator and Savior, Jesus Christ, who was Crucified, Buried and Rose Again to save us from our completely lost condition!!! Do not give in to fear with the coronavirus or the Novel Viral Separation it is bringing, but especially DO NOT DELAY in RECEIVING THE SIN CURE by simple faith in the sacrifice of JESUS CHRIST!! 😊