BoldGrace

Lisa Wrote: Do you remember Uncle Joe saying, I’ve been crazy all my life but its kept me from going insane!!

Love this song!!

We will be having a celebration of Life ceremony Saturday, April 25th, 2009 (4:00p.m.-??) It will be held at the American Legion located at 109 North 6th Street, Richmond, Indiana 47374. We will laugh, sing, cry and tell amazing stories about Cliff! We will have pictures and videos so we can share some of his incredible moments with all of you.

Clifford L. Hazelbaker II, 57, of Richmond was born January 13, 1952 and was reborn on April 16, 2009. Cliff was the son of Clifford and Barbara (Goodwin) Hazelbaker. Cliff graduated from Centerville High School in 1970. He was married to Nancy McBride Hazelbaker on March 6, 1970. They recently celebrated their 39th Wedding Anniversary. Cliff enjoyed spending time with his incredible family. Their family motto is “Love Never Fails!” He also enjoyed sharing his love of God on www.boldgrace.com. Here is an excerpt from that site… “Clouds don’t seem to care where they’re going. They are content to follow the directions of the spirit of the air, enjoying the journey as they make their way to their purpose. Though they are unaware of their designation or their purpose as they travel along, they find themselves eventually called upon to join forces and deliver liquid life to the earth. Often exhausted, they whither and die, having given all of themselves in doing their work. But, as those clouds die, others are reborn from their seed to carry on the purpose.” Cliff is survived by his wife Nancy ; Mother, Barbara; Children: Tammy (Bob) Thompson of Centerville, Clifford (Bridget) Hazelbaker III of Richmond, Mindy (Charlie) Hill of New Carlisle, Ohio, Amy (Todd) Witter of Bath, Indiana; He is also survived by 9 grandchildren: Josh, Jacob, Paige, Samantha, Clifford IV, Abby, Emma, Lilly and Phoebe. Brothers: Andy (Teresa) and Doug (Cindy) Hazelbaker.

Jim Palmer (divinenobodies.com), left a comment on the thread which grew from the post, "the post that never ended (a world without options)", that really spoke to me. See if it has the same effect on you…

A popular Bible verse says to, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Romans 12:2
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I’ve never liked the word “repent.” For me, it conjures up images of judgment, condemnation, and fear. Jesus often says in the gospels, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” For years it was troubling to me that Jesus so often used this word because it smacked of everything that repelled me about religion. But then the Spirit began to open my eyes to its true meaning and place in my journey with God.
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First I realized that Jesus could not have been using the word pointing a finger of condemnation. Jesus said in John 3:17, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” I discovered the word “repent” (metanoia) actually means a change of mind or having a new mind. The word suggests a radical revision and transformation of our whole mental process. That “change of mind” allows God to take center place in our consciousness, in our awareness, and in our minds.
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You’re getting it if you can imagine Jesus walking into a crowd of hurting, rejected, empty, lonely, fearful, wounded, hopeless people and saying, “God’s kingdom is now within your reach! But you’ll have to undergo a change of heart and mind to grasp it.” Metanoia literally means “beyond the mind.” So it’s an idea of stretching or pushing beyond the boundaries with which we normally think and feel. For me, it has often involved pressing beyond my religious conditioning.
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Initially, Jesus “calling me to repentance” went something like this:
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“God’s kingdom is now within your reach Jim! But grasping it will push you beyond the boundaries of what you normally think and feel about yourself, God, and life. It will even call into question certain religious notions you have learned. You don’t feel deserving of the life, peace, and freedom God wants to give you. Press beyond those feelings Jim. The truth is, God loves you and freely offers all of this and more. Jim, you think and act as if your daily performance and behavior determines your good standing with God. The truth is, there’s nothing you could ever do or not do that would alter your worth, favor, and acceptance to God. Wherever you are now on the journey, you are loved and accepted by God. You feel inadequate to know and understand God and the things of God. Consider this Jim, you have the Spirit within to guide you into all truth. Pay more attention to the ways of a child and you’ll get it. You are a son of God. I was resurrected from the dead within you. When it all works right, you won’t even know where “you” end and “I” begin. It will be like the life you are living is me living in and through you. You tend to think of your separateness from God, I want you to feel and experience your oneness with God. Trust me Jim. You’re just scratching the surface. There’s more to it than you think. I’m always at my work within you. Rest in me.”
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“Metanoia” has been more of a process that an event for me, and has involved changes such as:
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• Associating my deepest feelings with the voice of truth
• Locating the source of life, love, peace, freedom, contentment, goodness, and connectedness within me
• Seeing myself and all people as sons and daughters of God and therefore my brother or sister
• Opening my heart to the spiritual dimension of all of life, regardless of how mundane or ordinary it mat seem through human eyes
• Understanding the significance and relevance of Jesus in terms much greater than I had ever realized before
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I’m sure others will have further comments to add about metanoia. Lately I’ve tended to use the word less and less because it felt like I was making too much of a concept and religion out of it. So, rather than focus on the word or concept I just allow myself to be in tune with the reality the word points to, which is akin to “marching to the beat of a different drummer.”

Our friends Glenn Klein and Mike Williams

Peace Geo

Lyrics | Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love lyrics

Over the last week or so, I’ve been keeping track of some things I’ve said in conversation with others. These are by no means original thought. They are sayings that have rattled around in my brain through the last few years, some coming from my friends, some from various books, and some from my heart. But, sometimes I write something, and find the resulting verbiage remarkable! Sometimes, I’m not really sure where it came from, but it was the perfect thing to say at that time. So, I jot them down so I can remember. And now, I share them with you. Use them freely in your own conversations, and please add you own through the comment section! Thanks!

• Freedom is only for the free.

• If your salvation is determined by "what you believe", doesn’t that make you responsible for your own salvation? And if only God can save someone… doesn’t that make you God?

• You can only know if your love for God is genuine if you understand that he loves you completely and deeply, and without expectation or requirement.

• Love is a response, not an action.

• If you think God doubts you, then you will doubt God.

• If you know that God loves you, then nothing else will matter. If you don’t know that, nothing else will make any difference.

• Is God’s love so fickle that he only loves those who love him first?

• God in me loves God in you.

• Only love can birth love.

• Christ was the greatest teacher of the Law. He expanded on the depths of its purpose to the point that everyone had to admit that complying with it was far outside their grasp. He pushed and pushed and let them fester in their fears. Why? Because he needed to set the stage for a redeeming event! He used their religion against them to show them their self-righteousness and cause them to cry out for a savior!

• The definition of "self-righteousness" is when we think we can influence God’s thoughts for us, or against us.

• The concept of Universal Reconciliation doesn’t imply that God forces everyone to choose him. It simply states that God chose us! Why? Because he created us in perfection, and loves what he created.

• God says that we should love others, even when they fail us. It is possible that he holds himself to the same standard?

• If you think God will hate you because you don’t believe the correct things, you will give yourself license to hate others because of their incorrect beliefs.

• True belief can only exist when the requirement to believe is removed.

The trip out to California last week was a long one. All the seats were full, three across leaving no wiggle room for a big guy like me hahaha! It was a two-part trip with a change of planes. The first leg was Pittsburgh to Phoenix, which was 4 ½ hours. And only 25 minutes from the time I got off one plane to get to the other. Needless to say I just made the connector. Then a 1 ½ hour flight from Phoenix to Burbank, Ca. where I picked up my vehicle and drove to Corona, Ca to the hotel. The week was uneventful except for the California Freeway traffic! What a cluster !@#$%^&>:?<!!!!!! So that brings me to the reason of this post. After a week in California I was now not looking forward to that 5 ½ hours plane ride! But one thing was for sure I wanted OUT of California! I boarded the plane and sat beside a young man who looked to be in his early to mid thirties. He on the window side me on the aisle with a seat waiting to be filled in the middle. If you have never flown SWA I will tell you the seating is NOT assigned it is first come first served. So as the plane began to be filled I keep thinking, please no one choose the seat between us so that I have some of the before mentioned wiggle room! Hahaha And no one did! WOW! What a relief. So as the plane was leaving the ground the guy in my row says to me he doesn’t like planes especially take offs and landings. To which I reply, Don’t let it bother you because you are not leaving this life until your time has come and anyway its not the plane going down that is the problem it is that hard crash that is the issue! We both laughed and he said, you know I believe that about life ending only when your time is up and not before. Then the conversation went silent until we reached cruising altitude. And then we made small talk about where we were from, sports teams and occupations. He was from a beach city in California was a in the tile business and lived on a boat. Again after a few minutes the conversation went silent. Then I don’t remember how it came up but he said he was in a 12 Step Program for Alcoholism. We talked of that and of his progress to which I congratulated his on his sobriety. Then he proceed to tell me how his brother was this weird evangelical Christian who had figured out the world was going to end in thirty two months. He said his brother claims to have it down to the very day! Well then that opened the door for me to tell him the REAL GOOD NEWS! That the world already ended 2008 years ago and that his brother was redeemed and that he also was redeemed regardless if he accepted Jesus or not Jesus accepted him and lives in his heart! He said, so you believe my higher power is Jesus even though I don’t call it that”? “Yes I do”  I responded. And he said that’s cool. “So you think Jesus is in everybody”, he said. “YES I do “, I responded. They just don’t know it yet. And that is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about I told him announcing to people what has already taken place. WITHOUT their acceptance or belief! Of course we went on to discuss many of the same things we talk of here on Bold Grace to which he said, “I wish my brother was here to hear this”! I can’t wait to get back from my trip to talk with him about what you have told me! I love my brother he said, but on this topic of religion he is a nut! I wished him well and requested that he always look within himself and follow his heart because that is where God is. He is not out there somewhere waiting for you to follow Him. He is inside waiting to be let out!
I was going to write of both of my encounters on this trip but I will post of the encounter with the Hollywood Pastor’s Wife in another post. Just as a little taste, we talked from Phoenix to Pittsburgh non stop for four hours!

Stay Tuned
To be continued…………….

Grace & Peace   
Geo