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Listening is Life itself

Philippians 2:4 (NASB95)

4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

I thought I had learned to listen. But more times than I will admit to myself I think of what I am going to say to someone while they are still talking. Not as much as thirty years ago when I started on this listening journey but choosing to think about what I am going to say next still interferes many times with deep, empathetic listening and understanding. I have no trouble appreciating how important what I have to say is :>) But if I am going to treat others as I want to be treated why can’t I equally value what you have to say? Clearly I am still the center of my universe and have much to learn from Jesus about the value I truly give others in my crowded consciousness. Crowded by the Big Three: Me, Myself, and I. Crowding out you.

I can be watching the stupidest TV show and my son will start excitedly telling me something. I will struggle to look him in the eyes and give him my full attention. I will have the pull on my consciousness that something terribly important is happening on that stupid TV show the whole time my son is pouring out his heart to me, his only earthly dad. I value my son and what he has to share with me. The TV show is, was, and will be forever stupid. Yet I struggle in the moment my son is talking to me to see those values clearly.

In the movie “The Shift” the devil defines evil. And this is the only time the devil told the truth. He defined all evil as simple “selfishness.” Other people are an intrusion on My Plans and I just don’t have time for them. Not if I want to get what I want. That reminds me of Jesus saying, If you seek to save your life you will lose it, and if you lose your life for Me you will save it. If I get what I want I will realize it is worthless and it will crumble like ashes in my hands. But if I realize the interruptions of others are God’s divine appointments and it is where True Life happens I can listen to and truly hear others and share the love of Jesus with them and together we three (you, me, and Jesus) can reap joy.

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Welcome to I AM for You!

My goal is to share the love of Jesus that he has shared with me.

Love does not condemn people, but love does condemn that which harms people, known in the Bible as “sin.” These actions I am against, not the people doing them. My life was sinful when I met Jesus. I denied it. And spent ten years under His wrath while He humbled me. When I admitted my sin and accepted Jesus my life changed. Now I am not sinless, but I do sin less. I still fall short and need His forgiveness.

Join me as we discuss Jesus, Mental Illness, and the combination of both.

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The Dominant Servant

I have precious little dominance. I scored almost zero in dominance on a personality test. I hate directing people. I don’t see the big picture. I am better one-on-one, listening, empathizing, and encouraging.

One of the things I hate to see is someone with high dominance using their God-given strength to serve themselves. They can be pushy, rude, scheming, intimidating and more; with a trail of hurt people in their wake (and those hurt by them include themselves).

One of the most beautiful things I have ever seen is a person with a dominate personality with a servant’s heart. They don’t try to dominate you, they try to serve you. They use their personality to easily do the things I can’t do. They see the big picture. They anticipate problems and work on solutions while options are available. They warn you of the problems that are coming. They include others in decision-making. They know the strengths of the people they work with and strategically suggest the best way to use those strengths. Though they are essential they realize they are an equal member of the team, and deserve no more credit than those with other personalities and contributions who are just as essential.

Those who are greatest in God’s kingdom of love are servant’s of all. And we can all be the greatest, because we can all serve one another. God has given us different but equally valuable personality strengths. And when persons with dominant personalities use their strength to serve others, all the personality strengths are orchestrated for the benefit of everyone; to the glory of the God who designed us to complement, serve and love each other.

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What is a "Strong" Personality?

Our culture uses the term “strong personality” in a way that seems funny to me. If you are loud, selfish, and stubborn, insist on your own way, and get it by force, the culture calls you “strong”. If you are quiet and listen to others, if you don’t insist on your own way, but work synergistically to find a better solution than either of you had alone, you are “weak”.

Truly strong personalities can be dominant or laid-back, expressive or analytic. What makes someone truly “strong” is servant-hood. What makes them “weak” is selfishness.

Jesus was the strongest and the most completely developed personality I know. He used His dominance to lead and protect 12 men from the attacks of men and satan. He used His laid-back qualities to promote peace between a former Roman-sympathizing traitorous tax-collector (Matthew) and a former revolutionary Roman-hating Zionist (Simon the Zealot). He expressed His love for others openly through laughter, weeping and everything in between. He was calculating, telling Judas to hurry, revealing He knew Judas plot and making sure He would be buried before sundown.

Jesus used His strength to serve others, not to seek what He wanted. He was and is committed to His Father and to us.

Are you strong?

The Opposite of the “Dominant Servant”

I once heard a leader of a group of large factories say that he was frustrated talking to the “low level” workers because all they considered was “minutia” or to him: meaningless details. This man was not a “dominant servant” and his “low level” workers were not wrong to deal with “minutia.” If this leader’s factory was a vehicle he was entrusted to steer then the “low level” workers are responsible to make that steering possible.

These workers are responsible for tire pressure so that there is accurate steering and not early wearing out of the tread, they are responsible for monitoring tread depth so the leader can stop in the rain, they are responsible for tight bolts that hold the wheel to the car, and responsible for brake pads which wear out much earlier than the leader thinks they do.

This opposite of the Dominant Leader despises “low level” workers because they don’t think like he does. And THANK GOD THEY DON’T. They are concerned with details critical to the success of the vehicle, which all together make the vehicle able to function at all. This “leader” is annoyed by details, all this leader understands is steering the vehicle.

“Low level” workers are not low at all. They are critical thinkers in the area of their responsibility and expertise. Their knowledge is different but just as valuable as the “leader’s” knowledge. And if the leader doesn’t believe they are as valuable as the leader, it is the leader’s responsibility to listen to, cultivate, encourage, and develop each and every worker until they are just as valuable as the leader.

The father of modern acting Constantin Stanislavski said, “Remember: there are no small parts, only small actors.”

And I would add, there are no low level workers with low level jobs, there are only small Leaders.

Constantin Stanislavski Quotes. (n.d.). BrainyQuote.com. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from BrainyQuote.com Web site: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/constantin_stanislavski_155177

Let’s “fight” Tyranny: Peacefully, Legally and Lovingly

(About the headline. By using the word “fight” I AM NOT calling for violence. That is why it is lowercase, in quotes and followed by qualifiers Peacefully, Lovingly and Legally. ‘ “fight” ‘ here means peaceful, loving and legal action to counter loss of rights, etc. . Anyone who interprets differently, that different interpretation comes from their mind. By this disclaimer I have proven not to put any other meaning in the headline).

I am not a racist. I only present race in the previous piece (American slavery . . .) as a counterpoint to current lies. I grew up in the era of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s influence. I share his dream, that we won’t see color but unique people and not infer anything by skin color. You have to ask questions and listen to get to know people, not make assumptions. Racial hatred, and other division is stoked by Obama, Biden and the Left through lies. For example, Obama says in his movie that White people cannot be trusted. He is no more Black than he is White (his mother is White). Does he distrust half of himself? For another example of lies spreading division among Americans, do you remember when Biden blamed anti-vaxxers for the spread of Covid-19? Remember when a TV personality said anti-vaxxers should be left to die outside the hospital because they were the cause of Covid-19’s spread? The truth is, and was then, that the Vaccines did not stop you from getting Covid-19 from others or giving Covid-19 to others. The vaccine maker didn’t even test their vaccine for stopping the spread of Covid-19. It was a lie from Biden that caused the division of the American people in order for the Left to take control of a fractured, and so weakened, American people.

Reparations, Critical Race Theory, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are all presented by the Left with a High Moral Tone. Dig deep into these writings and actions and you find the seeds of the destruction of our country, (including our rights and freedoms), that are already bearing their evil fruit. The truth is that before Obama and Biden, America was on track to end racism. Obama and Biden even campaigned on the theme of unity, disguising their true motives. Their actions, once in office, immediately revealed their hypocrisy.

Their malevolent influence we must legally, lovingly, and peacefully counter. Government Censorship of Free Speech through the Biden Administration pressuring Social Media (Twitter Files), Election interference (through 100 indictments against Republican Presidential Candidate Front runner President Donald J. Trump), lack of credible court inquiry and judgement into facts gathered about the apparent insecure elections (my opinion), a newer law that says I can’t tell the truth about “institutions” if someone (who? elected? accountable to voters?) thinks that that truth causes “harm” or reduces confidence in that institution. That newer law outlaws political dissent and is in direct opposition to the First Amendment guaranteeing Free Speech.

It is unconstitutional.

It is tyranny.

All the above is my opinion, shared in a Free Country, with Our Creator endowing me with inalienable rights that are not given by man and cannot be taken away by man.

The Constitution is the law of the land, with Free Speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. Come, let us counter tyranny peacefully, legally, and lovingly and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

James Bruce McNaughton

I AM for You! https://i-m-4-u.com/

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