Clever Free Methodist

Work with me on this one, please. As a retired military chaplain, I have studied many faith groups. One in particular had a very interesting “teaching” of sorts. Don't be shocked or alarmed, but I learned something from Satanism and from studying some of the teachings in  The Satanic Bible  written by Anton  LaVey . Like I said, work with me. We can learn something from this to help us. I came across a concept known as  "psychic vampire."  In a nut-shell, it is a person who is emotionally immature and not overly respectful of those around them. This is basically a process where someone simply emotionally drains the life from other people. These are people who “have it worse than you” and always seem to complain about everything. Nothing is ever good enough. They will always blame others. They will always make a mountain out of a molehill. They are so miserable that they can manipulate any circumstance into trying to make you feel guilty for not “understand

People can be mean. People can be hurtful. People can even become hostile to the point of not only hurting, but attacking, abusing, and killing. It is not easy to withstand the verbal and physical abuses of another person. It is even more chilling when they group together and join forces to inflict their pain and destruction. What sparked this thought? Well, I was intrigued by a statement made by Jesus referring to our enemies. This statement only appears two times in the entire New Testament. Both references are found in Matthew 5:44 and Luke 6:28. It says “…pray for them which despitefully use you.” Have we ever stopped to wonder what “despitefully using” someone looks like? We need to know because Jesus requires us to pray for such people. The phrase “despitefully use” means to “treat abusively,” “to accuse falsely,” “to threaten,” or “to revile” (insult/condemn/censure/berate). Jesus says to pray for these people who dreadfully do these kinds of things to others.

Life is not easy and it is not void of struggle, challenges, pain, sorrow, loss, grief, and suffering. I am sure I can come up with more words than that, but this article would soon blossom to two to three pages in length. I am sure we are familiar with the trials and frustrations of Job in the Old Testament. Some of us might even be familiar with the words of Habakuk in 1:2 , “How long, Lord, must I call for help, but you do not listen?” When things don’t go well or something tragic or unfortunate befalls us, we are faced with the struggles of crying out to God, “why me?” “Why, God, did you let this happen?” Many times, we too, grow frustrated and angry at God, for how He chooses to work within our situations and circumstances. We sure do end up asking God a lot of “why” questions. I believe “why” could be the wrong word to be using. Asking “why” seems to imply a lack of faith, ungratefulness, and, somehow, that we think God owes us an explanation, an answer or reaso

We’ve probably have all heard the little tune “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” I learned this as a child, but as I grew older over the years, it became more and more apparent that this small jingle is far from the truth. Words can hurt me. Words can be deadly and even life-threatening. I have concluded that the only form of homicide that goes unpunished in the world today is “verbal homicide.” We can use words to “kill” the self-esteem of another person. We can “kill” their potential or "kill" their momentum and ability to grow and learn. All by the words we use. Proverbs 18:20 (NLT) tells us, “Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction.” Proverbs 11:9 (NLT) also says “With their words, the godless destroy their friends, but knowledge will rescue the righteous.” We need to seriously consider the choice of words we use when speaking to others. We must formulate in our minds, before speaking, wo