Intro to Ann Burwick

As a memorial to my first wife, Ann, I’d like for you to hear from her regarding the topic of security and how that fits into the series of building a positive self esteem.

She presented this material at various settings before her death. But before her material is introduced on this blog, indulge me in sharing with you her last moments on earth, which I had journaled.

"You're not having a stroke on me, are you?" I teasingly said to my wife of 36 years. I had just come home from Saturday morning basketball practice and found Ann making a bed. As she looked at me the left side of her face looked twisted. I took her to a mirror and she felt her face. There was no emotion. No fear. No anxiety. It was a definite twisted left side of the face. Within moments her speech was slurred. Then stumbling.

I quickly called 911. Within 10 to 15 minutes the paramedics were checking her over, suspicious first of an overdose. Not! A quick trip to the emergency room of the local small hospital. Nothing they could do for her there. Ambulance trip to a large hospital 40 minutes away. Enroute the ambulance driver said: "the dam burst" (brain aneurysm).

I was given the choice of surgery for Ann or not. The neurosurgeon's words were: "If I do surgery, chances are slim that she will live. If she lives, chances are extremely high that she'll be a vegetable. If we do nothing, she'll be gone in a few hours."
My initial response was, "no, I don't want to make a life and death decision of this magnitude. The life of my wife in my hands? No!"

However, after moments of consideration and a long distance call to our oldest child, Amy, the decision was made. The slim chance of her living would have surely placed her in a nursing home for the remainder of her life, not having presence of mind. Ann wouldn't want that. Seven hours from the twisted cheek experience she was in the presence of Jesus, singing with the angels. Good news for her. Devastating to those of us she left.

Ann was a great woman who had the skill of making people feel loved and accepted. She was an excellent counselor, attested by many who spoke at her memorial services. She had processed considerable emotional pain herself and used that to help others. Grandparenting was especially meaningful to her.

Ann's was a sudden death, completely unexpected. She was in great health. She was enjoying her position as a counselor at Bryan College. Our children later told me she had called all of them that Saturday morning in the best spirits they had heard her. Was it a premonition?

We’ll hear from her in tomorrow’s posting on the topic of Real Security. You will be enriched by her words..

Radical Gratitude 3

Leslie Gultch, Oregon Idaho border
This is the third and last posting of excerpts from the book RADICAL GRATITUDE.

Obstacles blocking a grateful spirit:
1. Not experieicnging God’s forgiveness (not having a walk of faith in God.)
2. Carrying guilt
3. Self focus rather than a God focus.
Pride. Renoucing any higher authority than the self means that people are at the mercy of any other self who happens to be stronger than they are. There is no protection for the weak.

In the end, our heart reveals the reality of our worldview. Our habitual gratitude, or lack thereof, shows what we actually believe, not just the nice tenets we may acknowledge intellectually, but do not practice in everyday life.

The biggest obstacle to gratitude is refusing to admit that apart from Christ, we can do nothing.
So how do we slough off pride and all those layers of sin and self-sufficiency that block us from thanking and praising God? We can’t. We need to be stripped by ANOTHER.

Gratitude is not a dsicipline. You can’t resolve to be more grateful. Can’t conjure it up by your own determined effort, or it will blow away in the first strong breeze. No, if grace is the gift of God, so too is the gratitude that grace creates.

Four things that we an do to practice the presence of gratitude.
1. Remember. 2. Forget. 3.Look up to God. 4. look around to His people.
1. Remember our deliverance. Our deliverer. Tools to help us remember: journaling, stones of remembrance, jewelry, photos, music, eucharist (means to be thankful), smell. The more senses that are involved, the more fully the memory is encoded in our brains.

2. Forget: our sins, our shame, our successes. We get lost in cheap snares and doubts when we look to ourselves, preoccupied by our sin, our shame, our success as if it were all about us.

3. Look up to the grandeur of God. – even in tragedy.

4. Look around and connect with the fellowship of friends. Satan wants us isolated so he can gain footholds.

Gratitude is like a pair of glasses that progressively sharpen. The more I thank, the more I see to be thankful for, and the more I end up praising God. Gratitude unleashes the freedom to live content in the moment, rather than being anxious about the future or regretting the past

Radical Gratitude 2

Leslie Gultch, Oregon-Idaho border.

Continuing excerpts from the book "Radical Gratitude.

"Two types of gratitude:

secondary is thankfulness for blessings received.

Primary called by Jonathan Edwards “gracious gratitude” gives thanks for who God is. It can grow in the midst of pain and distress. This is the person who overflows with joy, worship and mission.

God can refresh His people through the gracious gift of radical gratitude.

Developing the meditative habit of constantly whispering thanks to Him – no matter the situation – is in fact a mustrd seed of life-changing power.

Research indcates thankfulness leads to many health benefits including less depression and stress.

Truly grateful people can’t be stopped. They bubble and overflow, refreshing others. Their habitual gratitude serves as a springboard to give a reason for the bouyant hope bouncing within them. They attract those who are stuck in the cares of this world, and woo them to the eternal Good.

A posture of purposeful, perpetual thanks to God is absolutely central to Christian character. It gives glory to Him. It is the key defense against Satan’s temptations to despair, distrust, dysfunction. It protects us from sin and self.

Ungratefulness can become a heart-hardening habit.

First comes complaining,

then anger and bitterness,

then feeling victimized or entitled to things that we’re just not getting. Covetousness.

That mindset stealtfily lifts the latch and eases open the dark gate to all kinds of sin and destruction.

More tomorrow from Radical Gratitude

Radical Gratitude

Leslie Gultch, Idaho-Oregon border

I have been frustrated more lately with the increase of stuttering. Adhering to the Biblical principles of “Give thanks IN all things” and “Give thanks FOR all things” I was not! My Abba PaPa gently spoke to me saying, “It will take some pressure off you to just be thankful even for the increased stuttering.

I began the discipline and shortly thereafter, Theresa and I flew to San Antonio to be with our daughter Kristin, who gave me a birthday gift. She wasn’t aware of my gratitude growth objective. Guess what she gave me – the book Radical Gratitude. I think God has a unique sense of humor. Kinda like, "Burwick is trying to develop a more grateful attitude, let me give him some extrinsic help!"

May I share some excerpts from the book with you?
Radical Gratitude by Ellen Vaughn

Real renewal beats in the pulse of a purposely grateful human heart.

Living in a spin cycle of spiritual fatigue is a contaminate of a grateful spirit..

Scripture on the topic:
Ephesians 5: 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thes.5: 16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Col.4: 2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.
Phil.4: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

It’s incredible: The small, compliant human action of saying “thank you” constantly links us to the awesome Creator of the universe. In the practice of perceiving every part of every day as a gift from Him, we stay connected to Christ. The conversations of a continually grateful heart become a way of life, a fountain flowing in us, the means by which we acknowledge our dependence on Christ; enjoy Him lavishly, and run to do whatever He wants.

More on gratitude tomorrow

Spiritual Warfare 11

Leslie Gultch on the Oregon-Idaho line

This is our last posting on spiritual warfare. Be aware of the wiles of the evil one but

Don’t give satan too much credit!
In my younger Christian days, I often said, “satan doesn’t have to spend much time with me. He doesn’t bother me because I have enough challenge with my flesh (self-life).” It seemed my own insecurity and selfishness raised enough havoc with me and those close to me that satan didn’t have to spend any time diverting my eyes from Jesus.

I desperately desired to be a godly man, husband, parent, counselor, and friend. However, fear, worry, pride, seeking for recognition and love, anger, resentment and a host of other fleshly symptoms frequently reared their ugly heads. The devil “didn’t make me do it.” I was very capable to sin and live the fleshly life in my own effort - the flesh. However, I didn’t realize my fleshly patterns were giving the evil one a foothold in those areas of my life. My fleshly responses were exacerbated by the devil’s foothold and influence.
Look with me at what is termed “flesh?”

The self-life, the flesh is:
* that part of the Christian independent from God - doing its own thing, wanting its own way. It tends to selfishness, lust, greed, anger, fear, worry, etc. - that is the flesh or the self.

* That dimension of us that is influenced outwardly by the world with its enticements to take a bite of the “apple” (get our needs met outside of God) instead of obedience to God - that is flesh or self.

* The part that carries into adulthood the wounds and scars of childhood - that is flesh or self.

* The “before Christ person”, who acted and thought in ways contrary to Christ’s teachings - that is flesh or self.

As Christians, we have a choice to walk in the spirit or walk in the flesh. Galatians 5:16-17 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature (flesh). For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other...

Paul challenges us to aggressively put off the “old self.” Ephesians 4:22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Thought and action patterns take time to change. The person riddled with fear all of his/her life doesn’t become a person trusting in God overnight. Be patient and persevering as you are in the process of putting off the old self.
Jerry Bridges writes, “Sin (flesh) is like a defeated army in a civil war, that instead of surrendering and laying down its arms, continues to wage a guerrilla war. As a reigning power, flesh is defeated in the life of a Believer, but it will never surrender. It will continue to harass us and seek to sabotage our Christian lives as long as we live.”

Athletic scouting reports are helpful but never perfect. The opposition may change tactics or personnel. They may perform with greater excellence then when they were scouted.
I recall one team we scouted. I had a knowledgeable man scout them one game and I scouted a different game. I thought we had a thorough report and sound game plan to engage this good basketball team. They had better personnel but I thought our strategy would provide an upset victory for us. Not! They added an outstanding player we hadn’t seen before. And those we had observed shot the eyes out of the bucket. We got waxed.

There is a significant dissimilarity in the scouting report of our enemies, our flesh-life and satan. Our victory is guaranteed. We know the power and strategy of the flesh and how to combat it. satan is the prince of this world, very powerful, but "greater is He that is within us than he that is the world." We know the strategies of satan, the enemy, and we know our arsenal of defensive and offensive weapons. he is a defeated foe. Knowing God is our focus. Our concentration is as the catechism challenges: “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”

You have made known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:11

Spiritual Warfare 10

Our posting on spiritual warfare up to this point has dealt primarily with a Christian. satan works on the pre-christian also. His strategy with the person who has not come to faith in Christ is deception, inciting to disobedience, and control.
Deception:
2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Encouraged disobedience:
Ephesians 2:1-2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

Domination of the soul:
1 John 5: 19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.

Direct control:
Matthew 8:28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.

The non-Christian does not possess the power to break the hold of evil spirits. His/her only solution is found in Colossians 1:13-14
For he (God) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness
and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

How is this “rescue” accomplished? The first step in breaking satan’s stronghold for the non-believer, is to respond to Christ. To receive Him as Savior and Lord. John 1:12 says:
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God--
This new Believer has been redeemed (bought back), brought into Christ’s kingdom, sins forgiven, and is rescued from the control (dominion) of darkness. From that point of giving one’s life to Christ, the challenge is to understand the warfare of the evil one and put on the armor as described previously.

satan is a defeated foe!
As powerful as satan is, he is a defeated foe facing a total demise pictured in Matthew 25:41 Then he will say to those on his left, Depart from me, you who are cursed,
into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
Revelation 20:10 describes again satan’s ultimate rout:
And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake
of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet
had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
Our defeat of satan is reenacted daily as we: Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes (Ephesians 6:11).

Our focus up to this point as been confronting the enemy from without - satan and his warriors. There is at times a larger enemy within - self! We’ll just touch on that next.

Spiritual Warfare 9

One of my most respected friends was Bill Bright, president of Campus Crusade for Christ. While serving on Crusade staff for three years, I viewed Bill demonstrate a simple yet profound faith, a humble spirit, and a drive for excellence in communicating Christ to the world. He related the following story regarding spiritual warfare:

A young minister shared with me one day, “I am afraid of satan.” I replied, “You should be afraid of satan -- if you want to live your own life and do your own thing apart from God. But if you are willing to let Christ control your life, you have nothing to fear because the Bible says, ‘Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world’” (John 4:4).

Continuing, I said, “satan was defeated 2,000 years ago at the cross. Though he has great power to influence man, the Bible assures us that he is defeated by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11).
This friend lives in a city where they have one of the largest zoos in the world. I said, “What do you do with lions in your city?” He replied that they keep them in a cage. I said, ‘Like the lion, satan is in a cage, and he cannot hurt you unless you get into the cage with him. Get in the cage, and the lion will make mincemeat of you. But you have nothing to fear so long as you stay out of the cage. You have nothing to fear from satan so long as you are continually surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ and controlled by the Holy Spirit, by faith.”