One of the mysteries of life is the balance between the sovereign control of God in a person’s life and their own free will in making choices. They are both very real, and very much part of the final product of who we become. God controls much of our environment as in a supernatural greenhouse to produce in us the character of Christ. But many people get messed up in the journey and don’t amount to much in the end in spite of God’s shaping forces in their life. As I have been actively involved in coaching, counseling, and pastoring people over the last 45years to be champions in life I have seen some common denominators in the lives of those who get messed up.

A very important part of any person’s growth to maturity and godliness are the presence of people who have grown a lot in character coaching, mentoring, and teaching them. It is very rare that a person becomes exceptional unless they are encouraged and influenced by a godly model, someone leading the way. It is God’s plan that parents are the foundational first step in any persons journey to being a winner in life. Those who struggle big time to grow consistently often have or had parents who are either so messed up themselves that coaching and training their kids to be champions isn’t going to happen. Or they are raised by just one parent and don’t get the balance and input of the wisdom they need to manage life. Single parent homes are a tough place for a kid to grow up with character and inner strength. Or they have two parents who have their act together, but they are so busy that they neglect the most important assignment that any person ever gets in life, raising a child to love and serve Jesus Christ. Parental neglect is so rampant in our culture today because of a million different things to do.

Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The key word in this verse is ”train”. That is an athletic term that implies time, effort, a plan, a goal, and lots of accountability. Two of my favorite movies of all time are the first two ”Rocky” movies. Rocky Bolboa wins a very unlikely heavyweight championships of the world, and the reason was because of his coach, Micky. Micky taught him the basics, encouraged him and gave him the heart of a champion.

There are many other possibilities for mentors to arise in the life of a person growing up such as teachers, coaches, pastors, youth pastors, other family members, and just caring friends. But many people get to be adults and have never had a real, powerful and positive influencer in their life or at least very few. One of the laws of life is that there are no self made people, we all are a product of the influence of others.

When we are kids growing up, we are victims; that is, we don’t choose most of what happens or doesn’t happen that shapes us. But there does comes a time in our life when we can choose who we are influenced by. Those choices are so absolutely critical in determining who we become.

There are so many instances where I have seen parents do a great job raising a son or daughter except they didn’t teach them the importance of choosing good friends, and everything that they as Dad and Mom accomplished all unravels because of the influence of wrong friends.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, So one man sharpens another.

If we are wise and humble we know that we always need to have positive models, mentors, coaches in our life. If we know that we need them we will seek for them. As soon as we think we have arrived and don’t need help we are done growing.

To be continued

God is a God of process. An oak tree starts with an acorn. Our Bible took more than a thousand years to write and collect. Full-grown, healthy, responsible, mature adults start as a baby. God planned for the process and growth of all things; they are woven into the fabric of all of his creation. As a 72 year old man I can look back and see the history of my own life, the events, the processes that shaped me into who I am today, good and bad. I can also look back on the lives of our own kids having seen them from the time they were an hour old baby to an adult, and I have seen and been part of the forces, the processes, and the principles that shaped them into who they are today. Those things that are most important to God seem to take the longest to process, and sometimes when something interrupts the process, the result is ugly. A corn plant gets interrupted with a drought, a chicken gets totally interrupted by a hawk, a person gets interrupted with an accident, cancer or COVID.

But with people, the worst kind of interruption is that which stunts the growth of their character, their heart and soul, their wisdom, and their ability to love others and God.

I am certainly not what you would call a wise old owl of a man, but I am 72 years old, and I have seen a lot of people go from weak to strong, foolish to wise, babies to mature, selfish to loving, carnel to spiritual, and useless to very fruitful. I have also seen those who, for one reason or the other got interrupted, and ended up being a messed up person who is selfish, prideful, a fool, relationally challenged, basically worthless for the accomplishing of anything significant, and with little to no interest in knowing The God of the universe.

How does that happen? I ask that all the time, and I also ask, what can restore a messed up person to healthy growth as a person created by God with infinite potential. The problem is that because of the depth of their selfishness and pride; they think everyone else is the ones messed up and not themselves; it is what Jesus called being self-deceived and blind.

(But, wait a minute, maybe I am writing this as being one of those messed up, self-deceived and blind people that thinks he is a wise old owl but in reality is a dumb possum, fixing everyone else’s problems but his own. In my occupation, I fear that being or becoming the case for sure, and I do a lot of reflective self-examination and asking others what they see in me, but that is another blog.)

I have arrived at some firm conclusions on why a growing number of people are messed up; I have pastored, counseled, and talked with so many people who are stunted in their growth that I have identified the common interrupters to most of them.

Reversing the results of being interrupted is tough, but very possible, but only if they see the need to change, which usually only happens with significant tribulations in their life.

To be continued:

The story of David and Goliath in the Bible is true, it actually happened, and God didn’t sovereignly put it into the Bible just to tell kids in Sunday School. God put events and stories like this one to create a picture in our mind on how to live life.

The entire Israel army was shaking in their sandals whenever Goliath came out and challenged someone to fight him as a champion for Israel, winner take all. David didn’t hesitate and he was just a teenager who was a shepherd who was not in the army and had no experience in war. When you read the story his confidence, courage, and coolness is amazing, this kid was something.

So, our life is often like Goliath, big, ugly, formidable, intimidating, and we don’t know what to do about him. The answer is conquer it, solve it, fix it, or kill it, but for sure we don’t want it hovering over our shoulder casting a shadow on our life.

God is always arranging the events in our life in such a way as to promote growth in our character and growth in our faith in Him. When we grow to the point in our faith in God that David had then we will be over-comers that God can use to bring about change in our culture and in the world that we live in.

I am of the opinion that archery hunting is the best way to hunt. I have a good friend who says archery hunters just wound animals that they can’t find and they die later. We fish together a lot, and I am sure that our opinion on hunting preference isn’t going to be an issue when we stand before Jesus.

I am of the opinion that the New American Standard Translation of the Bible is the most accurate so I read, study and memorize from that translation exclusively. I have a pastor friend who believes that the King James Version is by far the most accurate, and he gives me his reasons almost every time we see each other. We pray together for our churches, and I am sure I will see him in heaven.

I am of the opinion that Donald Trump is the best President the United States has ever had, but I have some good friends who voted for Biden, and they love Jesus.

I have strong opinions on face masks, hydroxychloroquine, shut downs, and the recent election, and I know some pretty smart and normal people who have the exact opposite opinion. I still like them, talk to them, and socialize with them, and when we all get to heaven we probably will never even think about it.

I do have some opinions that I am sure I am right on, and if you have a contrary view you will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Jesus is God, He left heaven and became flesh just like me, He lived a perfect life, was crucified on a cross as punishment for my sins, He was buried, rose from the dead 3 days later, and is alive today. If I believe all that to be true, that He died for my sins, and choose to follow Him as my Lord I will get a glorified body when I die and live for ever and ever in incomprehensible joy with Him. If you disagree with me I will work hard to convince you that you are wrong and that the consequences of being wrong is very bad. I will still honor you and treat you with dignity, but I will be super concerned about your eternal future.

Deaths in the USA over the years…

2010: 2.5M
2011: 2.5M
2012: 2.5M
2013 :2.6M
2014: 2.6M
2015: 2.7M
2016: 2.7M
2017: 2.8M
2018: 2.8M
2019: 2.9M
2020: 2.5M (as of November)

C.S. Lewis wrote this article 72 years ago about the obsession with the atomic bomb that people of his day had, and I have modified it a bit to fit our day.

In one way we think a great deal too much of the COVID “How are we to live with the threat of COVID?” “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.”
In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the COVID, and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.
We need to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be killed by COVID let that virus find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about viruses. COVID may make our bodies sick, but it need not dominate our minds.

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During the seven year Tribulation period there will be two men who are given the assignment by God to be witnesses for Him. It is during the last 3 1/2 years when all believers who attempt to witness will be martyred by having their heads cut off so God gives them extraordinary powers to resist any who would try and silence them. Their powers are amazing and sound like a super heroes movie. I was thinking that if I had that kind of power I would go to Washington DC and witness and clean up that place.

Revelation 11:3-6
And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.

But I don’t have that power but I do have power. Acts 1:8 also makes a promise to us, “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

The power we have now is that God will provide opportunities, open doors, divine appointments, but I tend to not look for them because I get so distracted by life and miss them. God will give me the wisdom to say the right words at the right time, but I have to open my mouth. And God will give me the boldness to open my mouth, but I need to be following Him as His disciple so He can make me a fisher of men.

Occasionally I need to remind myself why I do what I do, to focus on my one main motive in life, and that is to know the Lord Jesus more and more. As the Apostle Paul said in the book of Philippians, “I consider everything in life to be garbage in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” So, all of my spiritual disciplines are part of my effort to seek the Lord with all of my heart, claiming the promise that if I seek Him I will find Him.

This week I have been getting up at 4:30 am and going to the church to pray with others in our church. I have been praying about 6 hours each day, and along with that I am fasting for the five days of our prayer event. As a result of less sleep and no food I get weary, and have to do some serious self-talk to stay faithful to the goal that I have set for this week. The key thing to keep myself motivated is to remind myself that my motive is to know Jesus more, not just to be self-controlled.

While I am sitting in the prayer room listening to others pray and agreeing with them, I am memorizing scripture, writing down on paper the gist of the prayers that others are praying, I am also writing down thoughts that come to my mind, and doing some reflective thinking about my relationship with the Lord.

The disciplines are designed to focus and to train my mind and heart to keep Jesus first place in my life. A motto of my life is “I don’t grow close to Jesus by trying harder, but by training better, and I grow spiritually a little bit at a time by staying faithful to my training routine and rhythm.

It has been a good week of prayer and I have grown as a result.

Jesus fasted for forty days. Moses fasted Forty days and followed that up with another 40 day fast. Elijah fasted for forty days. Dee Duke is going to fast for 5 days! Yeh! Seems kind of pathetic, my 5 days, but you have to start somewhere. I am doing it in conjunction with our five days of prayer going on right now. There are a number of benefits to fasting, but the one that interests me the most is that when I fast in conjunction with my praying, my praying becomes more powerful and useful to God. God is sovereign over all, but in the midst of His sovereignty we have been given responsibility and authority to do something that matters, and prayer does make a difference, God does work in response to our prayers.

Psalms 106:23 Therefore God said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.

There are so many people who use God’s sovereignty as an excuse for doing nothing.

The devil is a very real being. He is powerful and can cause a lot chaos and pain as demonstrated in the book of Job. He isn’t omnipresent, he can only be in one place at a time, but I imagine he travels pretty fast. I doubt that he has ever seen me, he spends his time on people of power and sends his demons to work on me. The Kingdom of darkness has a goal, and methods to accomplish their goal. The goal is to control the world under one world leader, and usurp Christ’s rulership over the world. One of the key methods is to gain as much control over individual people as possible.

2 Timothy 2:26 that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.

There never has been a time when the whole world was doing a shutdown at the same time to the extent that it is being done now, nor has there ever been a time when the whole world were all wearing masks, or supposed to be, because someone said that it would save your life or the life of a loved one. The entire world has bought into the same view of the pandemic to such an extent that contrary opinions of espoused views are very effectively blackballed. The world is more “one” now concerning Covid than it ever has been since man’s attempt to build the Tower of Babel.

The only way to explain the “unity” of the world on this COVID thing is to recognize that it is controlled by the kingdom of darkness.

So far in 2020 there have been about 1,000 deaths credited to Covid with many reports claiming Covid was the culprit when in fact it was not. There have been about 900 suicides in Oregon in 2020. So let’s just say that they are tied for the cause of death in Oregon in 2020. How many people know that? Not many. Why? Because it isn’t hyped as COVID is because it doesn’t fit the agenda the way COVID does.

The fact is the world is perfectly set up right now for the antichrist to come to power. I hope he does because that means I am out of here.