About 'bethel bible college'|A repost: Colleges that ARE promoting Contemplative/ Emerging/Emergent teachings and DO have a Spiritual Formation program
I wrote this on Thanksgiving Day, 2008, my 40th consecutive Thanksgiving holiday out of prison. Later that day, I spoke to a group of prison inmates at the Durham (NC) Correctional Center and outlined for them a workable plan they could use to get out of prison and stay out! Here is what I told them,after demonstrating the power of a bounce-back. You can demonstrate it yourself. Take a rubber ball, and let it roll gently from you hand, and you will see, of course, that the ball will not bounce very high. Now, retrieve the ball and slam it to the floor or concrete as hard as you can, and the trajectory of the bounce dramatically increases. Here's the principle: " You must learn to use the power that slams you down and transform it into the power that energizes your bounce-back.!" Today, Thanksgiving 2008, more than 40,000 men ande women languish in the state's more than 80 prisons in North Carolina. In fact, across the country today, more than two million other men and women also languish in the nation's state and federal prisons. One might ask, what have these men and women to be thankful for? You could ask the same question. I did in 1960--my first Thanksgiving day in prison. I asked again in 1961, 1963 and 1965--all Thanksgiving Days that I spent in North Carolina prisons. But on Thanksgiving Day 1968,my final one in prison, I asked a different question, a question I recommend to you. "How can I make certain that I never spend another Thanksgiving Day, or any other I day in prison, once I am released? Another way of asking that question is: How can I make the challenging journey from conviction to contribution? How can I become transformed from a social predator to a community contributor? In other words, what must I do to bounce back? Today, my 40th consecutive Thanksgiving Day in freedom, I want to share with you the principles of bouncing back, of how to get out of prison, stay out and succeed in life. First, some personal background. I did crime and time for abouit 20 years, from six-years-old until 26-years-old. I was released from prison on Dec. 9, 1968, and since then I have been a journalist and free-lance writer, a college professor, a television and radio program producer, a radio station manager, and since 1979 the owner of a successful home based business. God has done all this by teaching me biblical principles of success. You see, God promises, even guarantees success when we follow His specific instructions. You find those instructions summarized in Proverbs, chapter three,. Here we find seven fundamental promises, based in spiritual principles that guarantee success. Read them and let's see what we learn: 1. Do not forget God's teachings! 2. Trust the Lord, not your own understanding! 3. Trust God's wisdom and shun evil! 4. Honor God with your blessings and receive additional blessings! 5. Accept and embrace God's discipline because with it, He demonstrates His love for you! 6. Find wisdom and understanding, the twin powers by which God does all that He does! 7. Hold onto sound judgment and discernment! In Chapters 27-37 and 39-41 of Genesis, we find the story of a young man--Joseph, the second youngest son of Jacob-- who followed these principles and others, and thereby, lived one of history's greatest examples of bouncing back, of going from conviction to contribution. Joseph grew up in a dysfunctional family. His father, Jacob, a known con artist, had conned his brother out of his birthright, and, in a conspiracy with his mother, stole his father's final blessing from Esau, his older brother. Jacob, also known as, the heel grabber, married Leah because that was the only way he could get to marry her younger sister. Rachel worshipped idols and in fact stole of her father's idolatrous statues and then lied about it. The two sisters, Leah, who couldn't see very well and Rachel, the pretty one, were fiercely competitive, particularly about which sister could have the most sons for Jacob. Leah gave Jacob his first four sons--Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah. With each birth, Leah hoped that this son would cause Jacob to love her more than he loved her sister. Then one day during the Fall harvest, Reuben brought his mother Leah some wild vegetables and Rachel wanted some. Leah was furious. But then Rachel said that Jacob could sleep with Leah that night. They struck the bargain and Leah met Jacob as he came in from the fields and said: "You must sleep with me. I have hired you with my son's mandrakes." Leah got pregnant and bore a son that she named Issachar. Shortly thereafter, she got pregnant again, and had a son that she named Zebulun. Then Leah said: "God has endowed me with a good dowry, now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons . . ." Rachel, frustrated and angry, threatened suicide if Jacob didn't get her pregnant. Ticked off, Jacob told his favorite wife: "Don't blame me, God must not want you to have childen." Rachel, said, okay, then marry and sleep with my servant girl, Bilhah, get her pregnant and I'll take the boy." Rachel named Bilhah's first son, Dan. Now Rachel was pretty, but she was crazy. Bilhah had another son and Rachel said: 'I have had a great stuggle with my sister and I have won. So she named his Naphtali." The name means "struggling." Here why I say Rachel was a little off. How could she consider herself the winner of his struggle for sons with her sister, when Leah, herself, had borne Jacob six sons, and Rachel had simply taken two sons from a servant woman? Not to be outdone, Leah, who was still jealous of her younger sister, probably because Jacob spent most of his time with Rachel, rather than Leah, told Jacob, go marry and sleep with my servant, too, and I will take her sons just like Rachel claimed ownership of Bilhah's two boys. So Jacob did and Zilpah had a boy that Leah took as her own. Leah named him Gad. Zilpah had a second son that Leah named Asher. Finally, Rachel got pregnant and gave birth to her first son, Joseph. Meanwhile, Jacob was working hard with his father-in-law's sheep and became richer and richer every year. Jacob's brothers-in-law became jealous and Jacob realized it was time to leave his father-in-law's house, after being there about 21 years, and return to Canaan. During the journey, a young man of Canaan,Shechem,who was named after the community in which he, his father and his household lived, raped Dinah, Jacob's only daughter by Leah, Jacob's sons were furious, particularly Simeon and Levi, but Shechem asked if he could marry Dinah. Jacob's sons, led by Simeon and Levi, plotted a vicious conspiracy and ultimately murdered the men of that community, stole their possessions and took the women and children into slavery. As Israel and his entourage continued toward Bethel where they planned to settle, Rachel, who was pregnant again, gave birth to a second son and died in childbirth. Jacob named this son Benjamin. So Jacob had 12 sons and a daughter. Six of his sons--Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulun were born to Leah. Two of his sons--Dan and Naphtali--were born to Bilhah, Rachel's servant. Two other sons--Gad and Asher--were born to Zilpah, Leah's servant. Jacob's two youngest sons--Joseph and Benjamin--were born to Rachel. This family's dysfunctional drama continued. In Gen. 35:21, we read the following: "Jacob then traveled on and camped beyond the tower of Eder. While he was there, Reuben slept with Bilhah, his father's concubine and someone told Jacob about it." Thus, Reuben disqualified himself as the firstborn and lost out on the opportunity to inherit 75 percent of his father's fortune. Consequently, the family faced another crisis--who would Jacob name as the firstborn? Three sons qualified: Dan, Bilhah's firstborn; Gad, Zilpah's firstborn, and Joseph's Rachel's firstborn. Now, notice what Gen. 37:1-4 says: "Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending his flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them. Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age, and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him, and could not speak a kind word to him." Joseph, himself, exacerbated the situation when he began sharing his dreams with his family.. The Bible says they hated him all the more. They began plotting to kill Joseph, but Reuben talked them out of that. Instead they sold their younger brother to some slave traders headed to Egypt. There Joseph was, 17-years-old, and enslaved in a strange land. That happened to some of you when you found yourslef in the "land" of drugs and alcohol abuse and violence. It was a strange land and before you realized it you were enslaved, aka addicted. But now we come to an extremely powerful concept, one that dictated Joseph's perspective and governed all that he saw, said and did. Gen. 39:2 "The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. So he left in Joseph's care everything he had. With Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate." So being enslaved, aka addicted is not an insurmontable challenge when God is with you. We will get to how to take advantage of this blessing later, but now consider that almost without warning, Joseph's life appeared to go from bad to worse. You will also see however, that often in the beginning God's greatest blessings often look like the worse adversities posssible. Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to sleep with her, and when the young man refused, she accused him of attempted rape. Potiphar imprisoned Joseph. Notice, though, what God did for Joseph while he was in prison. Gen. 39:20-23 "Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined. But while Joseph was there in prison, the Lord was with him; He showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prision, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did." Continue in chapter 40: "Sometime later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, and put them in custody in the house of he captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. You probably know the story! The two men had dreams. Joseph interpreted them and it turned out that the cupbearer was going to be re-instated and the baker was going to be executed. Events occurred just as God showed Joseph they would. About two years later, Joseph gets a call that Pharaoh wanted to see the prisoner. Gen. 41:14 "So Pharaoh sent for for Joseph and he was quickly brought from the dungeon. When he had shaved and changed his clothes, he came before Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Joseph: 'I had a dream and no one can interpret it. But I heard it said of you that when you hear a dream you can interpret it.' 'I cannot,' Joseph replied to Pharaoh, 'but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires.'" Pharaoh told Joseph the two dreams, and God revealed the answer. Egypt was going to have seven consecutive years of prosperity, followed immediately by seven consecutive years of economic depression, to put the issue in modern terminology. Verses 30-32 of this 41st chapter says: " . . . but seven years of famine will follow them. Then all the abundance in Egypt will be forgotten, and the famine will ravage the land. The abundance of the land will not be remembered because the famine that follows will be so severe. The reason the dream was given to Pharaoh in two forms is that the matter has been firmly decided by God, and God will do it soon." Now we come to the big bounce back! In his 1937 book--Think and Grow Rich--Napoleon Hill wrote the following: "One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success . . . Success comes to those who become success conscioius. Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious . . . We refuse to believe that which we do not understand." In a modern-day classic, multi-billionaire Donald Trump and multi-millionaire Robert Kiyosaki wrote in the book--Why We Want You to be Rich--All people essentially exist in one of three categories: 'the cannots' who are thoroughly familiar with why they cannot succeed. The 'won'ts' who do not believe anything and thereby also fail, and the 'cans' who accomplish success repeatedly. In his run-away best seller--The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People--Stephen Covey listed the seven habits as: 1. Be proactive, instead of reactive 2. Begin with the end in mind, or, in other words, adopt a long term vision for your life. 3. Do first things first. That's another way of saying, put the hard jobs at the top of your priority list. 4. Think win/win, instead of win/lose, or worse, lose/win. 5. Seek to understand before trying to be understood. 6. Practice synergy, or, in other words, become an effective and efficient team builder who works with others to achieve mutual success. 7. Sharpen the saw, another way of saying improve your overall knowledge, and especially your financial information. In this biblical scenario, it's clear that Joseph was an "I can" person! Joseph also practiced the seven habits of highly effective individuals. Joseph also believed that all he needed for success was one sound idea. After interpreting Pharaoh's dream, Joseph shared his sound idea: Gen. 41:33-36 "And now let Pharaoh look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance. They should collect all the food of these good years that are coming and store up the grain under the authority of Pharaoh to be kept in the cities for food. This food should be held in reserve for the country to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt, so that the country may not be ruined by the famine.'" Pharaoh agreed with Joseph's idea and appointed this foreigner, a former slave and a prison inmate, to be a sort of Vice-Pharaoh, in charge of agricultural development. Everyone in Egypt, including Joseph's former master, Potiphar, now answered to this son of Jacob who believed and trusted God more than he focused on his background or his dilemma. So let's summarize the principles that guaranteed Joseph success because those same principles guarantee that you can stay out of prison and become succesful. 1. God was with Joseph! 2. God gave Joseph favor! 3. God caused others to give Joseph favor! 4. God gave Joseph a unique ability to serve others! 5. God empowered Joseph to be effective and efficient! 6. God empowered Joseph to be a bold servant, unafraid to share potentially outstanding ideas! 7. God put Joseph in the right place, with the right idea, at the right time! Now, let's consider Joseph's role and responsibilities in this scenario because you have the same ones! 1. You must believe and trust God, despite the circumstances of your background and heritage! 2. You must believe and trust God, rather than blame people! 3. You must believe and trust God to take care of you, even in your worst conditins! 4. You must refuse to allow lust to overrule your belief and trust in God! 5. You must not allow mistreatment to diminish your belief in and trust of God! 6. You must not take personal credit for abilties, talents and gifts God provides! 7. You must listen for and to God's ideas, and when they come, express them in the right place at the right time! So in summary, what does all this mean to you? You have 21 principles, laws, if you will, that guarantee that you do not have to return to prison. But not only can you stay out of prison, you can also become successful! Here are all the 21 principles: 1. Do not forget God's teachings! 2. Trust the Lord, not your own undestanding! 3. Trust God's wisdom and shun evil! 4. Honor God with your blessings and receive additional blessings! 5. Accept and embrace God's discipline because with it, He demonstrates His love for you! 6. Find wisdom and understanding, the twin powers God uses to perform all that He does! 7. Hold to sound judgment and discernment! 8. Believe and trust God, despite the circumstances of your background and heritage! 9. Believe and trust God, rather than blame people! 10. Believe and trust God to take care of you, even in your worst conditions! 11. Refuse to allow lust to overrule your belief and trust in God! 12. Do not allow mistreatment to diminish your belief in and trust of God! 13. Do not take personal credit for abilties, talents and gifts God provides! 14. Listen for and to God's ideas, and when they come, express them in the right place at the right time! You can launch this process today, even before your release from prison, by inculcating the final seven principles into your life now! 15. Renounce your criminal thinking and your criminal cohorts! 16. Accept complete responsibility for your current conditions and circumstances! 17. Accept the power of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ! 18. Turn to Christ in faith, so you can . . . 19. Break the crime habit! 20. Ean an ever-free life! 21. Achieve your crfme and prison background into insignificance! There you have it, the 21 powerful, irrefutable priciples I have used for the past 40 years to stay out of prison and to become successful as a professional writer, a college professor and now a home based business owner. I commend them to you! See you at the top! |
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