2023

CLOSING TIME

The power of narrative.

Over the past few weeks we have seen the power of being able to tell the story- the way you want to.

We had the Snowden leaker.

He’s the guy who worked for the NSA and ‘leaked’ the secret Prism program to THE PRESS.

It was the program that gathered billions of pieces of data- on phone calls and contacts- of people who have committed no crimes.

Was this wrong?

In my mind- yes.

Ahh- but the war began.

Yes- we had the various congress people go on the talk shows and present their case.

Both Dems and Repubs called the guy a spy- treasonous- etc.

I found it amusing to hear Mike Rogers- a top Repub- keep saying that Snowden stole this information FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

I mean it’s laughable.

He tried to shape the story [narrative] in a way that said ‘see- you Americans- he stole what belonged to you’.

And what was that again?

Oh yea- the fact that the US govt. was basically spying on its own people.

And they kept this tid bit of info secret from us.

Yeah- that’s what he stole- info that the govt. was basically breaking the law [if you think violating the US constitution does that].

And Snowdens giving this to the press [which used to be called whistle blowing] is now called ‘stealing property from the American people’.

It would be funny- if not for the fact that most people have swallowed the bait!

So- that’s the power of narrative- the power behind the ability to ‘get the word out’.

The reason nations are shaking [trust me- they are] is because this power has now been put into the hands of everybody- that is everybody that has a computer and internet hookup.

Yeah- that scares them.

This year has been a Roller Coaster for me- to say the least.

As I type this morning- I’m sitting next to boxes filled with my books- that were in my bookshelves a few days ago.

Yes- many of them are going to be donated to Church Without Walls- a ministry to the homeless folk here where I live.

I mean there are a couple of thousand’s of dollars of books that are going.

But- I can’t take them with me- so this is the next best thing.

As I read the paper yesterday- I went thru the crimes section- and as my habit is- I tried to pick a few serious cases- and pray for them thru out the day.

I saw a case where 3 kids [I say kids- in their 20’s].

They were arrested for attempted robbery- and a few other charges.

I noticed the name of the girl sounded familiar.

Crystal Barrera.

It’s sad- but as I looked- I recognized the face of one of the early church members of the little church I started in Kingsville back in 1987 [if I remember- I’ll try and post the one picture of me preaching from those days].

Yeah- Crystal was the little girl who used to run around my house- I would go and pick up her dad- Emmet- her granddad- Emmet Sr.- her Aunt [who raised them] Aunt Bee.

Her mom- Veronica- her other grandma- Yolanda.

Well- I guess the list could go on.

This was simply one of the families I worked with for many years- I met them all by going to the jails and doing bible studies with the guys.

Emmet senior was one of the local drug guys- and he and Elias and a few others were ‘founding members’ of the church I started.

Yeah- it was a congregation of addicts- Ex-cons- and their families.

Yet- it was the real deal.

This Gringo- Yankee- and a bunch of Mexican drug guys- all working together for the Kingdom of God- no joke [some were actually members of the Mexican Mafia/Texas Syndicate while in prison- cant give the name- he’s been dead for a while- but I would still be considered a Rat].

So- as I saw sweet little Crystals picture in the paper- I just felt like God was saying we have all come full circle this year.

The ‘Cup was Full’ so to speak- and the time of reaping was at hand.

About 2 weeks earlier I saw another one of my good friends daughter’s in the local rap sheet- she too was a little kid who ran round my house years ago [met the dad the same way- prison guy- etc.]

Yeah- the Cup is Full.

I like hearing the old rock songs.

The other day I was listening to Semisonic- Closing Time.

‘Every new beginning starts with another beginnings end’.

Yeah- good stuff.

In the book of Samuel- chapter 12- we read the story of King David.

The prophet Nathan has a story to tell.

Remember- the power of narrative.

He tells David;

‘There was a rich man who lived in this city- and a traveler came to him on his journey and stayed with the rich man.

The rich man had lots of sheep- but he took the one lamb that some poor guy had- the lamb was like a pet to the poor man- his kids grew up with it- it slept in the bed- the whole 9 yards.

But the rich man took this poor mans sheep and killed it- and used it to feed the stranger’.

Now- when king David heard this- he was irate!

‘How dare he- that SOB [I’m ad libbing here] - I will tell you what needs to happen.

The rich man needs to be put to death [wow- makes Perry and his death squad look like girl scouts!] and pay back 4 times what he stole! [geez- that’s kinda hard Brother- I mean are you sure we kill him first- then make him pay back? LOL]

So- the simple narrative- the simple way the prophet told the story- got this type of response.

Then the other shoe falls.

Nathan says one more thing.

DAVID- YOU ARE THAT MAN.

Nathan then goes on and confronts the king with a sin he committed.

David took the wife of one of his top military men- Uriah- and he slept with her.

Her name was Bathsheba.

He got her pregnant and eventually killed her husband and took her for his wife.

Nathan said that David- like the rich man- had all the women he could ever want- yet he took the one wife of Uriah.

Just like the poor man’s lamb.

David was a good man- yet he did some bad stuff.

He repented and admitted his sin.

Yet- God was still going to judge him.

The new born from this union got very sick- David fasted and prayed and begged God to spare the kid.

The kid died.

David and Bathsheba had another child.

His name was Solomon.

I didn’t do a search on this [don’t have time anymore].

But from memory- I would guess that Jesus uses/mentions Solomon- more than the ‘kid’ of any other king.

Jesus said ‘look at the wild flowers- even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like these’.

Or he would say ‘you have heard of the wisdom of Solomon- yet a greater than Solomon is here’.

Yeah- God took a terrible situation- and made something good out of it.

We live in a day where we all have the opportunity to shape the narrative- we have access- to the world- if we have a lap top- or any other mobile device.

We need to use it responsibly- but we do have the ability like no other generation has had.

This has put nations and kingdoms on alarm.

When you read/hear a news story- be careful- remember- each side is trying to get you to take ‘their side’.

That power is tremendous.

It is so strong- that king David passed a death sentence on a man- and that man was him.

www.corpuschristioutreachministries.blogspot.com

Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John. Don’t forget to scroll down on the timeline [FaceBook] - I have posted lots.