The Story and Biblical Background

At one point in time God revealed to me how to help overcome the negative thinking that is often spewed forth from the mouth of the opponents of the gospel. During this prayer time, he led me to find some scientific studies that were done that proove the effectiveness of the gospel in reforming prisioners, these were used to help win a court case aimed at removing the gospel from schools. Additionally He used imagery from the bible that may not be familiar to all readers of this web page. So I have included the parts of the biblical story here as a reference to what follows. You can read the whole passage at a website like Bible Gateway. Clicking on that link should take you to the page with the bible passage. If not look up Samual 17 in a bible, it is the story of david facing off against Goliath. The two passages that follow will help clarify what I am talking about latter. To introduce the bible story it occured that the Philistines came and camped against Israel ready to attack it, and a Giant called Goliat challenged Israel.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”

David a young sheepheard boy went to the king of Israel and said he would take on the giant.

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Samual 17:33-37

Latter on the following occured

As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. Samual 17:48-50

The High Court Challenge

I recieved an email from a person in our church asking to sign a survey of support for chaplins in schools. That is a sensible thing to do I thought, becasue the natural things are important. Having the right approach. Being well recieved. I signed the letter and sent on some emails to family asking them to add their support as well. Every voice is very important. Then I thought about prayer.

So I sat infront of my computer after signing the letter of support, and started to pray, and it was as though all hell reared it's head, and I thought to my self this power is unbeatable. But I said to myself, I will not submit to this feeling. So started to pray, and walked around the room, reminding God of the small successes, he had performed in the past, and said in the same way David told Saul I can succed against the Giant in the same way I can succed against this feeling of hopelessness. Thoughs bombarded my mind you will not succeed, you will fail. But I started to rise my faith up and said to God, the small victories, we can use them as a training ground for bringing down the impossible situations. Like David I said, he slew the Giant, but had trained himself before hand, in worship, praise, and God used his little sling the only talent he had latter on to bring down an enemey of Israel, so I too can try to hear from you, as I have in the past, to bring down this situation.

From time to time I heard God speak, he said "I need a Deputy", and I was thinking what does he mean. Is he saying all those kids are like deputies, under the authority of the law giver, God himself. I did not know, but my thought was directed toward the term Deputy.

After a few hours of praying, I sat down at my computer again and though, I might as well try a google search for it, I typed "God's Deputy". There was a page there http://www.godsdeputy.com, it was talking about God's ability to heal lives, the man was selling videos, I though well I have nothing else to do I might as well listen to his recording at the bottom of the page. In the recording Baker Eddie Morton a prision minister said,

So I though that sounds like a good angle, God heals the worst people in society, and drugs effect youth. So I sent him an email. But it was time to go to bed, my wife had come in and told me it was late. I went into the spare room picked up my bible, and opened it at random to get a word from God before going to bed, as is my habit, and it opened to,

This encouraged me, becasue I had just been talking to God about David, and how it is possible to overcome obsicles when we keep our eyes on God's love, and abilities. But my mind was still spinning with negative thoughts, I could not sleep, intense waves of negative thouhts came against my mind, with strong feelings that this God's Deputy is just a newage wirdo, and voices said you only found his site becasuse I was a weirdo too, and he said look at those bright pictures on his website, all newages have bright pictures (trying any thing to throw doubt on it), and over and over he is lying, you will be prooved to be a fool, he has made it up.

But I refused to give in, reminding satan of the verse I had got from the bible about david triumphing over the philistine, and I said "God's Deputy mentioned 'what can I do to be saved', newages don't believe in salvation, being saved, and the bible", so after much toil I went to sleep. For days I tried in vain to find the study, and Unfoldment Inc. Other nights thoughts kept comming to me judging me silently, saying the chaplins will already have studies like that sort of thing, don't bother them. But I though, no I will see what I can find out so I sent emails to the Virginia prision department in the USA, they said "DC did have Lorton prison located in Virginia; however, the DC Prison System was absorbed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons" - I was a little disheartened becasue I thought maybe the study is old, and hard to find. I found Unfoldment Inc's address on a website, and they were a drug rehabilitation organisation, so this encouraged me I sent them a snail mail, to an address in DC, but there was no reply. I wondered if other studies had been done that were similar, or if they knew of the study. No one that I contacted had heard of the study, yet I did not give up. But one organisation I asked had another study that showed similar sucess rates to the mentioned by Baker Morton, the study showed that people exposed to the teaching of Jesus were far more sucessful in rehabilitation, and and less likely to reoffend once released from prision as an example 15% reoffence rates to people who completed the bible study to 42.2% for those that did not. Over the period of a few days I located the studies below.

Post-Release Recidivism Study
This is a seperate study to the one above. Performed in the 1970's.

Teen Challenge's Success
Bible based drug and alchahol programs are more effective in reducing cravings, and reuse. Summary of report Teen Challenge's Christ Centered Drug Rehabilitation compared to Secular Drug Rehabilitation

I did eventually make contact with the organisation called Unfoldment Inc, they had moved to Florida. The woman I contacted who was in charge of the Study at Lorton Prision at the time said that her father who was responsible for the spiritual direction of the study had passed away the year before, and she mentioned she would do what she could to get the study. As for the tiny website selling videos she was not even aware that her father who she loved dearly had made it. But I believe God wanted that study, but not only that, to let her know that her fathers legacy lives on. When I asked for a verse of encouragement from the bible for her I got, "A seed shall serve him; It shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness Unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done it". - Psa 22:30-31 So I encouraged her in the LORD that their work was still able to change lives, to a "Generation .. that shall be born".

As a final reference to previously opening the bible to the passage about david and goliath (see story above). As a funny little coincidence I was at my sisters house and reading books to my nephew about numbers, counting, writting etc, and then he got out the childrens bible, and I opened it at random, and it opened to the story of David slaying Goliath in pictures. So even with his little picture book God was able to open to a page to strengthen my faith, the exact same passage he opened to a few nights before in a normal bible. So next time a giant arises if it is Gods will and his purpose, for in God we are led peacebly into victory. It does not need to be a struggle. Some things God just lets us do easily and other times well it requires a knowledge of God's character of faithfulness to not give up in the heat of the battle. For even Jesus was lead into the desert to be tempted by satan, there will always be temptations to give up, to quit, and return to the old life. But the new life is better than the old, and leads to eternal life, and victory.

In june 2011 I came accross a post on a forum asking Muslums if adulterers should be stoned to death. I.e. have rocks thrown at them until they die. According to Muslum law it is a just penalty. The Muslums on the forum said they should be stoned no argument. I was opposed to the idea believing Jesus showed us the true example of how we should treat sinners which was to show forgiveness, as shown in John chapter 8 in the bible. I will first share the story of what Jesus did.

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" ...When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."- Joh 8:3-11

This is a story of God working between me and my wife to get his point across. One night I was laying on my bed and the verse of scripture came into my mind "With patience possess your souls". Latter that week my wife called me into the bedroom where she was reading the bible not knowing anything about what I had heard said to me "this is a verse you will like", a thing she never has done before. It was Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. - Jas 5:7-8

It was not that I was not being patient, for I was, when talking to my mother about it we both felt it meant, the coming of the LORD is near means his intervention in our lives is near. When we are patient we reap a harvest of his blessing given time. So by faith I believe some time, sooner or latter God will do something if we just wait patiently and obediently for him to act, even if it is his final salvation on his return.

This is a picture of my cute little boy on the day of his birth. Before little james was born I wanted to give him an important name. Something that had meaning. In the bible God often named people to match the plan that he had for their life. So I wanted to name the baby after God's plan. So I prayed for a name, James is the name that came to my mind. So I was sure from the begining that I would name him that. But one night I was on my bed and as I was sitting there James went through my mind, and the word Victor was spoken to me. I though to my self there is no better name to give him as his middle name than Victor. For God can make him victorious in life. During one of my doctors visits I mentioned that I planned to call the baby James and he said James was a great prayer, they used to call James camel knees. So what better picture of a victorious life but one that starts with prayer.

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; but when that which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known. 1Co 13:9-12

One small testimony on the night before my wife was to give birth I was troubled in my thoughts, I believe the devil was trying to annoy me, I felt I need to get up and pray. But God said to me "No you need to sleep" - and let me know that he would look after things for me. So I when ever I felt anxious I ignored it and slept. It was the best decision that I could have made. The next morning my wife had to go to the hospital, and she had a very long labour, I was exhusted by the end of it all, if I had not have slept I could not have handled it. But my wife was the hero I don't know how she managed to go through so much for so long. But in the end it was all worth it we had a very precious little boy. And all the fears that the devil tried to put on me the night before like "You will drop the baby", ect all turned out to be baseless. God is good. I remember once when I was unmarried being told by the devil "God hates you, he will never let you have a wife, or a baby, because you are not worthy to have an heir in his eyes, because you have out sinned God's grace". Again a basless lie. I now have a Christian wife, now I have a baby boy, who with God's help will grow up to be the best that he can be.

In closing the final verse that I have been given is With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God?...He has shown you O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God - Micha 6:6

Why were God's Old Testament Laws Harsh?

Many people look to written text to understand God, and there is nothing wrong with that recording an event is important. But when it comes to the bible you have to be careful how you interprate texts, you cant just pull one verse out of the air and say see that proves God is such and such you have to study the whole of scripture to understand its meaning, because as one of the apostles said:

Note an important part of that scripture it says equipped for every good work, not every judgmental or bitter work. The bible says,

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1Jn 4:16

So if God is love, why do certain scriptures in the Old Testament Law appear very harsh, surely a good God would not do anything harsh. Well the reason is preventative, as I will show from scripture. The law is put in place in an attempt to prevent crime. Like we have jail and fines to try to deter crime. Obviously the stricter the punishment then the less likely a person is to offend. We will now move onto a case study from scripture to show the law is in fact preventative. Take the following law:

"'If a man commits adultery with another man's wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. Lev 20:10

So if you read that verse alone you might think well God is fairly judgmental and bitter, he just wants to kill people for weakness, and sin. But what we find in he rest of scripture is that God never put one adulterer to death, in fact he pardoned them. Take the following three examples:

a) David the guy who slaid Goliath had sex with another mans wife, David then even had the guy killed to cover up the fact that Uriah did not have sex with his wife. Yet the prophet of God who God sent to tell David off, a man who knew God's character and had conversations with God, let him live, and did not ask any one to kill him. The prophet did not agree with his sin, in fact he said God would curse him for a time for it.

b) Jesus pardoned a woman caught in the act of adultery, saying to the angry mob about to stone her to death, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." Joh 8:7 only saying to her when they all left "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

c) Joseph was called "righteous", or good by the apostles because he refused to have his girlfriend put to death (made a public example) when it was found out she was pregnant. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.. Mat 1:19

So we can see clearly God never put an adulterer to death, as the apostles said

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2Co 3:6

In the Old Testament why did God attack Canaan?

So why did God get Moses to attack Canaan? We all know God is love so what was he doing initiating combat? To understand this situation we have to go to the source scripture. Scripture mentions God hated their customs, and I am not talking about dress standards. So what were their customs, what was so terrible about the Canaanites that they had to be destroyed? Well they believed in a God who required children to be thrown alive into burning fire, as a sacrifice to appease their god, note what Moses said of them from God's very mouth. "‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molek, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD. " Lev 18:21 Note what he says after directly after these passages "'Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways, because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled; so I punished it for its sin, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. Lev 18:24-25 See more on Molek So they were a fairly nasty people, but should God not have tried to save them from these practices rather than destroying them to clean out the bad teaching. Well he did, he parted the red sea allowing his people to escape from Egypt. But it has to be asked did the sinners know this? Well this is what a prostitute said to the spies who went into Jericho, Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof and said to them, "I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt... Jos 2:8-10 So clearly all the people knew what had happened to the Egyptians.

At other times after this God threatened to bring disaster on nations if they did evil. But as we see with Nineveh it was always with the aim to get them to do what is right and just. After proclaiming Nineveh would be destroyed for its evil ways. When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction he had threatened. Jon 3:10

Note again the two fold purpose of God from the following example where God bought the Babylonians against Israel. They turned their backs to me and not their faces; though I taught them again and again, they would not listen or respond to discipline. They set up their abominable idols in the house that bears my Name and defiled it. They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin. Jer 32:33-35