Jump to navigation

You are currently browsing all posts tagged with 'Oswald Chambers'

Leisure time for my heart.

  • Posted on February 3, 2010

Extracted from The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers, in his book The Moral Foundations of Life, under the chapter The Soul’s Awakening, were these words that spoke loud and clear to me about my being bothered over not being understood by neurotypical people:

By heeding the reality of God’s grace within us we are never bothered again by the fact that we do not understand ourselves, or that other people do not understand us. If anyone understood me, he would be my god. The only Being Who understands me is the Being Who made me and Who redeems me, and He will never expound me to myself; He will only bring me to the place of reality, viz., into contact with Himself, and the heart is at leisure from itself for ever afterwards.

After having thought about that, I realized how true it is. It explains the craving to be understood and to know oneself. Both things are a trap, especially because of how impossible it is to satisfy either yearning.

When I reflect upon how much torment my heart would endure because of being an Aspie in a NT world, I find Chambers’ advice awesome! I can only imagine how something like this rubs against the grain of today’s Asperger awareness movement.

I’m not saying anything against neurodiversity advocates or those opposing them. What I am saying is that I’m beginning to believe I will quietly exit out of the arena of the Asperger movement. I have no regrets being an Aspie, but the more time I spend of my life focused on Aspergers, the more I feel I’m not living up to my full potential.

I can’t think of anything better to retire from than the work of trying to get others to understand me.

The last time I went to an Asperger group meeting for adults was on December 12th of last year. If I were to continue, it would be almost three years of going. There isn’t anything much left for me to give to the group information wise about Aspergers that I haven’t already said and there isn’t anything much left for me to gain by going.

Group meetings are not like gathering together for leisure activities; such as hanging out at a pub for pizza, going on a picnic or hike, etc. A lot of time in my life was occupied in settings similar to classrooms, bible study groups, support groups, and other special interest groups (e.g., computer clubs, sportsman clubs etc.). Rarely have I been able to simply enjoy time with another person outside of some programmed or planned project that’s restricted to a scheduled time and run by a leader.

I grew up in the era of when people dropped by unexpectedly for a cup of coffee, answered their phones, and made time to do fun things together. I can’t bring them back, but I also don’t have to do things that are not satisfying to me.

Long ago, church was satisfying and I attended many different ones. Today I realized I have a pastor again and he’s bar none the best I’ve ever experienced! Just because Oswald Chambers isn’t alive anymore does not mean he can’t shepherd my soul through his words left behind in print. God did it by leaving us His word in the Bible and He can just as well keep a pastor (or chaplain, which is what Chambers was) blessing congregations after that individual has been taken home to be with the Lord.

It seems fitting that Chambers was a chaplain rather than a pastor. The basic difference between a pastor and a chaplain is that a pastor stays put in one place while a chaplain is “God on the go.” Chaplains serve people where there is no organized church.

Chambers wasn’t famous in his lifetime (1874-1917). Now he’s somewhat famous. I say somewhat because he should be more well-known than what he is by now. I can imagine why his popularity level is relatively low. One can’t read much of Chambers without it having a strong effect on his or her life. Modern Christianity wants God diluted. Chambers gives God’s message in concentrate and concentration is what it demands.

How often do you see nothing but the highest rating given by all reviewers?

Spring Seeds

  • Posted on February 2, 2010

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you’d know by now that the titles for my posts can be misleading. In this case, the kind of garden I’m going to till this spring (pun intended) is for the roots of my soul. Gardening is getting back to the basics and I’m composting my soil with these nutritious books:

Simple Life

Oswald Chambers

The Simple Life: Devotional Thoughts from Amish Country is by Wanda E. Brunstetter. Her book offers sixty intriguing and encouraging lessons. Each reading features a brief story of the Amish, providing a “behind the scenes” insight into their culture; a spiritual lesson, accompanied by scripture, drawn from the story; and a “bonus” of an Amish witticism or recipe. I’m looking forward to enjoying the peace and quiet of Amish country that’s reflected within the pages of this book.

The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers is packaged with a companion searchable CD-ROM using the Logos software. A program like that is very helpful for readers reading a 1,492 page book that’s a must for Chambers aficionados. Transcribed by his wife Biddy, and drawn from his numerous sermons, lectures, and speeches, this monumental book includes more than forty titles from the popular, thought-provoking chaplain, including never- before published notes on Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah.

If that’s not enough to cultivate my spirit, I can tap into the Amish America blog for more refreshments! It contains plain insights and observations from Pennsylvania to Oregon and is loaded with wonderful photographs!

The bedrock of my garden is always God’s word. The creator of our universe is the light for the core of my being. When spring beckons me to be outdoors more, I want to hike along with some good food packed for thought as I enjoy the nature God so perfectly made.

I just realized it’s Groundhog Day! My thoughts must be deep within the ground or something today?!?!

Illuminating Disillusionments

  • Posted on January 28, 2010

In my post I wrote last January 18th I said, “I’m also going back to 1 Corinthians 2:2 and being thankful for God’s never ending perfect love.” I never really stopped being thankful for God’s love. What would have been accurate for me to say was that I’m more appreciative of His love, especially after realizing how easy it is to take things for granted.

What I meant by going back to 1 Corinthians 2:2 was going back to meditating upon what it means. I don’t know why that verse impulsively came to my attention as I was finishing that post. I can only guess that I was unconsciously connecting it to the devotional for April 2nd from Oswald Chambers’ My Utmost for His Highest. It’s entitled THE GLORY THAT EXCELS. At that time, my eye was in a lot of pain from a recent accident and I didn’t know if a permanent visual impairment would be the result. To see the connection between my physical/emotional state of being and the devotional including 1 Corinthians 2:2, all you need to do is read it:

“The Lord . . . hath sent me that thou mightest receive thy sight.” Acts 9:17

When Paul received his sight, he received spiritually an insight into the Person of Jesus Christ, and the whole of his subsequent life and preaching was nothing but Jesus Christ – “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” No attraction was ever allowed to hold the mind and soul of Paul save the face of Jesus Christ.

We have to learn to maintain an unimpaired state of character up to the last notch revealed in the vision of Jesus Christ.

The abiding characteristic of a spiritual man is the interpretation of the Lord Jesus Christ to himself, and the interpretation to others of the purposes of God. The one concentrated passion of the life is Jesus Christ. Whenever you meet this note in a man, you feel he is a man after God’s own heart.

Never allow anything to deflect you from insight into Jesus Christ. It is the test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you.

“Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside,
So enchained my spirit’s vision,
Gazing on the Crucified.”

The last time when I read that day’s devotion, I didn’t have the same understanding of it as I do now. I also didn’t have the same understanding of the one for July 30th as I do now. The deeper insight behind what Paul meant by saying he determined not to know anything among the others he was with except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified came to me sometime between the 19th and the 23rd of this year’s January. It’s now the 27th and my deeper understanding was just now confirmed when I did a search for which days Chambers based his devotionals on 1 Corinthians 2:2. If you take a look at the one for July 30th (entitled THE DISCIPLINE OF DISILLUSIONMENT), you will not see that bible verse referenced to, but yet the message is applicable to the verse:

“Jesus did not commit Himself unto them for He knew what was in man.” John 2:24-25

Disillusionment means that there are no more false judgments in life. To be undeceived by disillusionment may leave us cynical and unkindly severe in our judgment of others, but the disillusionment which comes from God brings us to the place where we see men and women as they really are, and yet there is no cynicism, we have no stinging, bitter things to say. Many of the cruel things in life spring from the fact that we suffer from illusions. We are not true to one another as facts; we are true only to our ideas of one another. Everything is either delightful and fine, or mean and dastardly, according to our idea.

The refusal to be disillusioned is the cause of much of the suffering in human life. It works in this way – if we love a human being and do not love God, we demand of him every perfection and every rectitude, and when we do not get it we become cruel and vindictive; we are demanding of a human being that which he or she cannot give. There is only one Being Who can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human heart, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Why Our Lord is apparently so severe regarding every human relationship is because He knows that every relationship not based on loyalty to Himself will end in disaster. Our Lord trusted no man, yet He was never suspicious, never bitter. Our Lord’s confidence in God and in what His grace could do for any man, was so perfect that He despaired of no one. If our trust is placed in human beings, we shall end in despairing of everyone.

Jesus says in Luke 13:32, “…Go ye, and tell that fox,…” and in chapter 23 of Matthew he uses the words, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!; Ye fools and blind guides; Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers…” John the Baptist also used similar language; plus, he added, “who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” Fools would describe that kind of talk as being suspicious and bitter. There are more verses besides those that are said by others in the bible which some might misinterpret as being ungodly behavior.

There are several bible verses where God advises against trusting anyone other than Him. Because of Christ’s righteousness imputed into God’s elect, not only are Christians free from guilt,¹ the ability to not know anything about others that only God needs to know is something attainable with determination. That means Christians don’t need to try to figure people out completely.² Whatever way others are, that’s between them and God.  Those who depend on self rather than God seek security in their confidence to size people up beyond what they’re capable of.

[A portion was removed from this section of my post on 1.28.10 for editing purposes.]

I’m still skeptical about the idea that being cynical is completely bad. Something within me is saying that it may be wise to blow off the dust from my by book Mark Ellingsen called Blessed Are the Cynical: How Original Sin Can Make America A Better Place and take some time to re-read what’s inside.

Being cynical is like a fire. It can burn people or it can provide necessary protection from the cold and predatory wildlife; plus, it can bring light to expel darkness. A fire is only useful and safe when it’s contained to where it belongs (e.g., a fireplace). If it burns out of control, it can be deadly.

To never be skeptical of the motives of others would be like being willing to leave a fox in charge of the hen house.

I think Matthew 10:16 illuminates any disillusionments by saying, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” In other words, if we want to protect ourselves from criminals, we need to know the way their minds work. What we can’t know is what God has planned for their hearts, nor do we need to know. It would be criminal to relish in the death of a murder rather than pray for his salvation. Capital punishment may kill a human being, but it’s not the same thing as murder. Murder always resides in a malicious heart, but not necessarily all acts of killing.

Maybe it’s because we can’t see the internal sins of ourselves and others as easily as the external ones that we’re tempted to stray beyond the boundaries of seeking to know more than what’s necessary about others? If we can’t gather enough information to satisfy our carnal cravings (caused by not trusting God), imagination kicks in to fill the void.

¹“For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.” — Hebrews 10:2

²This includes Aspie Christians!

Mental Health

  • Posted on December 8, 2009

Unless you’re willing to exercise an open mind, it might be best if you do not read any further. What’s written here in this post is a fine example of controversial subject matter. If you feel equipped for such things without also feeling frustrated over views which may be radically different from what you’re accustomed to, then continue on.

More and more people in today’s society don’t believe there is such a thing as sin. That’s logical considering that those people also probably don’t believe God exists, at least a God that would dare to say there is right versus wrong. It’s easy to see murder can’t be right. Things like obsessive/compulsive behavior and chronic depression are also readily accepted as wrong, but are not viewed as criminal. Who would have ever imagined that law abiding citizens would be forced to pay a certain portion of thieves disability? Most probably don’t even know that kleptomaniacs are entitled to disability. We’re also forced to financially support those who are incarcerated in human zoos rather than do the logical thing of making them pay society back all that they stole (and they should also pay interest on the value of what they helped themselves to just like those who make purchases using credit cards!). People who attempt self-murder (i.e., suicide) also get “disability” benefits.

In God’s eyes, most things the mental health profession labels as a mental illnesses are sin. Homosexuality was once labeled in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as being a mental illness. It was later revised for society to refer to it as being an “alternate lifestyle.” If it took the same route as autism, homosexuality would be said to be a disease of growing epidemic proportions. God would say it’s a sin of growing epidemic proportions. Today, humanity calls people who agree with God homophobic.  It’s popular because the DSM has been granted higher authority over the bible. The government is subtly acquiring higher authority over God in areas of marriage and the church when they license marriage and churches incorporate. Now it’s the government who defines marriage rather than our Creator.¹

I call people who think of Aspergers as being a “condition” that belongs in the DSM Aspiephobic. If I seem angry, that emotion is not towards people; it’s towards Satan for once again taking deception another notch further.

On the flip side, The American Psychiatric Association made no mention of Aspergers until the year 1994, which is when it was added to their DSM IV. Now they say the Aspergers Syndrome label is vague and confusing. They propose to eliminate the use of the term and instead refer to Aspies as being High Functioning Autistics. I do not want to say any more about autism other than what Dr. Catherine Lord said in an article published in the New York Times on November 2, 2009 by Claudia Wallis entitled, “A Powerful Identity, a Vanishing Diagnosis” states,

The proposed elimination of autism subtypes comes at the very moment when research suggests that the disorder may have scores of varieties. Investigators have already identified more than a dozen gene patterns associated with autism, but Dr. Lord, of Michigan, said the genetic markers “don’t seem to map at all into what people currently call Asperger’s or P.D.D.”

Sinful behavior is increasingly reaping financial rewards and less punishment in this world, while those who struggle to stay as far away from sinning end up punished for good behavior. The body of the mental health profession has an undetected cancer growing within its fellowship that’s making it chronically ill. A section of it is much like a mutating virus. If that wasn’t so, they wouldn’t keep revising their definitions, continually get confused, and disagree with some others in this world with their assessments of human behavior. They’d have success with “curing” diseases like schizophrenia.

I’m progressively perceiving schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder (previously known as split personality or alter ego) as extreme expressions of not being able to take every thought captive; the self-generated thoughts captivate the individual enslaved to this world’s ultimate cruel master. One such example is displayed in Jani Schofield’s life (it’s admitted in that article she battles demons).² Jani (nickname for “January”) is a sweet and lovable child to those who meet her (for example, this is what an associate producer from Oprah’s Show said. However, when she spoke the name January, Jani flipped out over it).

Because she (Jani) portrays a child-like innocence, it’s hard (if not impossible) for unsaved people to consider that within that adorable exterior is a heart in need of salvation.

Man, by nature, perceives humanity in an opposite manner than God does. That’s what God means by saying, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” in Isaiah 55:8. There are videos for those who missed Oprah’s episode covering Jani Schofield.

The Psychiatric Association would say the brain is the cause of the undesirable behavior. Drugs are experimented with to see which ones do the best job at “managing” the unwanted behavior. Periodically one is discovered that seems to do a fairly good job at doing so. They admit that they can’t cure it, but they will never admit that the cause is spiritual. They cannot ever consider a deeper root (i.e., the heart). It could destroy their profession, reputation, and income. More importantly, it would cause the devil to lose a huge foothold he now has over humanity. God goes one step further than these humanistic experts by telling us that the heart (figure of speech—not the physical heart) determines how the brain will react (and how the individual’s physical human body will react).

Pride repeatedly proves to obstruct truth. For example, when George W. Kling (an expert on carbon cycling) tried to convince volcanologists that they were wrong about their theory behind what caused the death of 37 people nearby Lake Monoun on August 15th, 1984, the volcanists refused to give credence to the results reported by Kling’s personal investigation into the matter.³ Even when the greater disaster of Lake Nyos occurred on August 21, 1986 (suffocating 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in nearby villages!), there were volcanists still unwilling to accept Kling’s claim on what caused it. It wasn’t until a few years later that the rest of the vocanologists finally surrendered to the truth that those deaths were not caused by volcanic activity; that they were caused by CO2 (Carbon Dioxide) poisoning.

The ultimate disease that exists in mankind is pride. Pride is rebellion against God’s will. That’s why the mental health experts pay little (if any) attention to pride and would distort its definition when they do. Any and all behavior that’s not in harmony with God’s will is sick and evil. Those are strong words, especially these days. The only cure for this condition is salvation. All of mankind is born with a carnal nature that lusts against God’s Spirit. The best book (apart from God’s word written in the Holy Bible) there seems to be for explaining what mankind’s body, soul, and spirit is, is by Oswald Chambers. It’s titled Biblical Psychology. Reading that book made up my mind what I want this Christmas! → The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers. Oswald Chambers is the author of one of the best daily devotionals (if not the best) in existence → My Utmost for His Highest. Sample his work for yourself, but be forewarned about reading his book Biblical Psychology — It is NOT a quick read; it makes you think hard if you dare to read it in its entirety.

¹The devil is busy flip-flopping as much as he can. Couples who refuse to bow down to the gods of human government for their recognition of marriage are labeled by most Christians as living in sin. Satan is the master of confusion and marriage is one area he must mess with. One of the best articles I’ve read lately about the topic of marriage is by Michael Pearl, written in June 2009, called Holy Matrimony. He offers some wonderful advice on how Christians should handle their stand on maintaining what a traditional family is.

²Jani’s imagination is obviously so powerful that it will not allow her to behave sanely. She cannot have a sound mind because the children and animals in her imagination will not allow her to know God. God is her only hope for her brain to express its thoughts without them enslaving her to the nightmare she is trapped in. Jani’s mind isn’t the problem; it’s the symptom. Jani’s heart needs to receive Christ, because He is the truth and the light she needs to set her free.

³When I first watched a documentary about this catastrophe and they mentioned blisters on the skin of some victims, it immediately made no sense to me that it could have been from heat burns. It also made no sense to me that those deaths could have been caused by a volcano. Since I don’t specialize an interest in Earth Science, the invisible factor (CO2—Carbon Dioxide) didn’t occur to me ( an out-of-sight, out-of-mind case). Regardless of my lack to consider frost bite from concentrated amounts of CO2, I still could not automatically accept the theory of heat burns. I’ve developed a habit of taking statements and considering their opposite first; then (if there isn’t enough information to ground the matter) I will flip-flop (swing back and forth) until there is. That’s usually how information stays in my mind until further notice.

Top


Creative Commons License
© 2008 - 2010 Sheila Schoonmaker