Squelch - Dec 2002

My first job was as a bus boy (in modern terms - a table management and waste removal specialist) at an all you can eat restaurant. At 15, I was excited about regular work and I was completely naive to the work environment. I had mowed yards, worked around the house, done chores, and shoveled driveways, all for a little bit of money prior to my bus boy job, so working hard was not new, but the concept of being a regular employee was. The three years I worked there were filled with a lot of messy, hot and frustrating work. To this day the bus boy job is still a source of funny stories for me.

The most significant part of this experience was it was my first real job. I was part of the working world then. For the first time, I paid taxes, I had a uniform, I had a set schedule and in return I was provided with a regular pay check. Many employees came and went while I was there. Like any entry level position, people quit as fast as they were hired. Some of the older employees (in seniority, few people there were over 25), liked to mess with new employees by sending them to find a box or case of Squelch.

For those that do not know, Squelch is a non-existent product. The purpose of the joke is to make the new person realize how naive and uneducated they are about the job. The new employee would spend an hour or more searching through a stock room for something that did not exist. I can honestly say that I never participated in sending someone on a Squelch search. I also have to admit that I was sent on a Squelch search a few days after I was hired, I also figured out in about ten minutes the stuff did not exist. I just went back to busing tables like nothing happened.

One of the mangers found out about the other employees pulling the Squelch prank. The next week the manager ended up giving the entire staff a speech about not wasting company time. This speech coming from a person that set at a table near the front of the restaurant and smoked cigarettes all day while sipping coffee meant the speech feel on deaf ears. Within a few weeks, some employees were back to pulling the Squelch prank on new employees.

The “Squelch speech” had no effect on my life, the lesson about the Squelch search did not. The world is full of people that will send you on meaningless journeys. Sometimes they do it for their pleasure, and for a quick prank on your behalf. The joke is on you, and the embarrassment of your naivety is quickly gone and forgotten. No real damage is done and all soon forget about it.

However, sometimes people intentionally lead you astray to do you harm. They continue this process of lying where they can manipulate you and control you. These are truly dangerous people. People like this know they are lying to you and they are intentionally working to cause you pain. The use their positions of influence, be it bosses, family members, teachers, community leaders, personal friends, spiritual leaders, or many other numerous titles, to keep you in a position of need. Your place is always a position where you can not succeed without them. Unfortunately, with their kind of assistance you will never succeed, for in their world the student can not surpass the teacher.

They are never honest about their intentions. These liars work quietly and secretly to make you pursue things that do not exist or that are impossible. They keep you searching to find things that require you to return to them for further guidance and leadership. Their control over you is rarely physical, it is a control via emotion and subtle words. They hold positions of authority, not because of their knowledge or wisdom or experience, but due to their cheating and work to constantly destroy the work and paths of those that would unseat them. They show their weakness in their manner of control. No one other then themselves is able to lead, no one other then themselves has a valid viewpoint, all should respect them because of who they are, not because of what they have done.

Within the spirit realm these types are called demons. Demons are lead by a fallen angel named Satan. Satan is the father of lies. Like human liars, Satan’s pull upon you is never obvious. Satan beckon with pretty little lies and a life full of pursing things that are against God and God’s will. Satan’s work is usually accomplished by people willing to act in any manner they see fit. Sometimes Satan’s workers are false teachers that have been lead astray, sometimes they are well meaning souls that are lost, and sometimes they are intentional frauds.

All three types of these personalities are throughout society today. Society, and the spokespersons for society, are constantly telling us to pursue what feels good, or pursue the quick and easy fix. If it brings you pleasure, do it. If you need a change, only do if you want too, no one else can tell you how to live. No one else’s feelings are important. Promises are conveniently made whenever they are helpful, only be broken when they become burdensome. Responsibility and consistency are old ideas, and are only for the simple minded and unenlightened. Enlightened people all know that truthfully no one is able to truly control their emotions, so we must follow our urges and pursue our wants. Cutting corners if fine as long as the end is accomplished, be it in your personal life, in your relationships, in your walk with God, in your job, in your marriage, and anytime else that you feel like.

These lies will not lead us to a better life, or a happier existence. They lead us to dead end lives with nothing to show. People end up with deep emotional, mental, spiritual, and sometimes even physical, scars. We do not trust like we once did, for we no longer assume that others are trying to help. Our view of others becomes colored by the actions of those that have harmed us. Eventually this leads many to ignore even those that are really trying to help them. Many hurting people are no longer willing to risk further pain, even if the outcome is better then their current situation. Jaded and closed people are the norm. The above mentioned traits are not the habits of a person that is free from burden, toil and pain, they are the traits of a person that is leading a dead end life. Sometimes, if these dead end lives are not addressed and corrected, these lives come to a end with acts of great violence and destruction, like suicide, drug addiction, affairs, and even violent rampages, because they have no hope left. They one thing they were searching for, true happiness, is the one thing that they receive. That is the crux of the great lie of Satan.

The exact things that society is moving us toward are the exact things that destroy our hope, our joy and our future. This is the general plan of Satan. Satan’s normal goal is not to destroy you in one day, though sometimes he does choose that route, it is to destroy every part of your life, one relationship, one job, one marriage, one parent, one child, one family, one day at a time. Satan uses his agents all over the world to accomplish his goals. Rarely do these agents fully understand how they damage and inflict pain in the lives of those in their sphere of influence. Satan really has no reason to fully enlightening his agents, as it is easier to get a person to destroy things when they are naive to the destruction they reek. Many destructive people are acting with good intentions, but with horrible consequences. Good intentions are sometimes the most fertile ground for bad actions. It is easy to cover a destructive action with the statement - “I was only trying help” or “I was doing what was best for them”.

The lies of Satan are like a constant stream of falling water on a rock. Over time the water breaks down the rock and then the water continues on to destroy more rocks further down’s its path.

The wonderful news is that Satan, his minions, his agents, and his lies are defeated. The Bible is clear that the teachings that are so prevalent today will be shown to be fraudulent in the end. God tells us that He will never lead us astray and will not allow us to live our lives in search of meaningless goals and toiling in worthless activities. He will not cause us to act to destroy the those around us, and He will not send us on meaningless quests for His ego. He is God, He does not need us to tell Him that He is in charge or to prove to Him that He is commanding the universe, He knows it.

It is great to know that when I am with God I will never be sent on a quest of the spiritual equivalent to Squelch. Valueless, meaningless, worthless teachings and wisdom that do nothing but show my naivety in the area of faith, God and truth wisdom. If I follow God my actions will never destroy and hurt those around me, or those that I am trying to help. Wonderful and amazing things occur in the lives of those that no longer have to fear being the source of spiritual amusement, and the embarrassment of living for worldly wisdom.

Glory be to God, and as the Psalmist David said in Psalm 40 (NASB):

PS 40:1 I WAITED patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. 3 And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.

PS 40:4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done,
And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

Thank you Lord for being the great teacher, the great protector, and most of all my savior.

A Formerly Searching Soul

John 8:42(NIV) Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God."

1 John 3:8(NIV) He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

2 Corinthians 11:3(NIV) But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.

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	My first job was as a bus boy (in modern terms - a table management and waste removal specialist) at an all you can eat restaurant. At 15, I was excited about regular work and I was completely naive to the work environment. I had mowed yards, worked around the house, done chores, and shoveled driveways, all for a little bit of money prior to my bus boy job, so working hard was not new, but the concept of being a regular employee was. The three years I worked there were filled with a lot of messy, hot and frustrating work. To this day the bus boy job is still a source of funny stories for me. The most significant part of this experience was it was my first real job. I was part of the working world then. For the first time, I paid taxes, I had a uniform, I had a set schedule and in return I was provided with a regular pay check. Many employees came and went while I was there. Like any entry level position, people quit as fast as they were hired. Some of the older employees (in seniority, few people there were over 25), liked to mess with new employees by sending them to find a box or case of Squelch. For those that do not know, Squelch is a non-existent product. The purpose of the joke is to make the new person realize how naive and uneducated they are about the job. The new employee would spend an hour or more searching through a stock room for something that did not exist. I can honestly say that I never participated in sending someone on a Squelch search. I also have to admit that I was sent on a Squelch search a few days after I was hired, I also figured out in about ten minutes the stuff did not exist. I just went back to busing tables like nothing happened. One of the mangers found out about the other employees pulling the Squelch prank. The next week the manager ended up giving the entire staff a speech about not wasting company time. This speech coming from a person that set at a table near the front of the restaurant and smoked cigarettes all day while sipping coffee meant the speech feel on deaf ears. Within a few weeks, some employees were back to pulling the Squelch prank on new employees. The “Squelch speech” had no effect on my life, the lesson about the Squelch search did not. The world is full of people that will send you on meaningless journeys. Sometimes they do it for their pleasure, and for a quick prank on your behalf. The joke is on you, and the embarrassment of your naivety is quickly gone and forgotten. No real damage is done and all soon forget about it. However, sometimes people intentionally lead you astray to do you harm. They continue this process of lying where they can manipulate you and control you. These are truly dangerous people. People like this know they are lying to you and they are intentionally working to cause you pain. The use their positions of influence, be it bosses, family members, teachers, community leaders, personal friends, spiritual leaders, or many other numerous titles, to keep you in a position of need. Your place is always a position where you can not succeed without them. Unfortunately, with their kind of assistance you will never succeed, for in their world the student can not surpass the teacher. They are never honest about their intentions. These liars work quietly and secretly to make you pursue things that do not exist or that are impossible. They keep you searching to find things that require you to return to them for further guidance and leadership. Their control over you is rarely physical, it is a control via emotion and subtle words. They hold positions of authority, not because of their knowledge or wisdom or experience, but due to their cheating and work to constantly destroy the work and paths of those that would unseat them. They show their weakness in their manner of control. No one other then themselves is able to lead, no one other then themselves has a valid viewpoint, all should respect them because of who they are, not because of what they have done. Within the spirit realm these types are called demons. Demons are lead by a fallen angel named Satan. Satan is the father of lies. Like human liars, Satan’s pull upon you is never obvious. Satan beckon with pretty little lies and a life full of pursing things that are against God and God’s will. Satan’s work is usually accomplished by people willing to act in any manner they see fit. Sometimes Satan’s workers are false teachers that have been lead astray, sometimes they are well meaning souls that are lost, and sometimes they are intentional frauds. All three types of these personalities are throughout society today. Society, and the spokespersons for society, are constantly telling us to pursue what feels good, or pursue the quick and easy fix. If it brings you pleasure, do it. If you need a change, only do if you want too, no one else can tell you how to live. No one else’s feelings are important. Promises are conveniently made whenever they are helpful, only be broken when they become burdensome. Responsibility and consistency are old ideas, and are only for the simple minded and unenlightened. Enlightened people all know that truthfully no one is able to truly control their emotions, so we must follow our urges and pursue our wants. Cutting corners if fine as long as the end is accomplished, be it in your personal life, in your relationships, in your walk with God, in your job, in your marriage, and anytime else that you feel like. These lies will not lead us to a better life, or a happier existence. They lead us to dead end lives with nothing to show. People end up with deep emotional, mental, spiritual, and sometimes even physical, scars. We do not trust like we once did, for we no longer assume that others are trying to help. Our view of others becomes colored by the actions of those that have harmed us. Eventually this leads many to ignore even those that are really trying to help them. Many hurting people are no longer willing to risk further pain, even if the outcome is better then their current situation. Jaded and closed people are the norm. The above mentioned traits are not the habits of a person that is free from burden, toil and pain, they are the traits of a person that is leading a dead end life. Sometimes, if these dead end lives are not addressed and corrected, these lives come to a end with acts of great violence and destruction, like suicide, drug addiction, affairs, and even violent rampages, because they have no hope left. They one thing they were searching for, true happiness, is the one thing that they receive. That is the crux of the great lie of Satan. The exact things that society is moving us toward are the exact things that destroy our hope, our joy and our future. This is the general plan of Satan. Satan’s normal goal is not to destroy you in one day, though sometimes he does choose that route, it is to destroy every part of your life, one relationship, one job, one marriage, one parent, one child, one family, one day at a time. Satan uses his agents all over the world to accomplish his goals. Rarely do these agents fully understand how they damage and inflict pain in the lives of those in their sphere of influence. Satan really has no reason to fully enlightening his agents, as it is easier to get a person to destroy things when they are naive to the destruction they reek. Many destructive people are acting with good intentions, but with horrible consequences. Good intentions are sometimes the most fertile ground for bad actions. It is easy to cover a destructive action with the statement - “I was only trying help” or “I was doing what was best for them”. The lies of Satan are like a constant stream of falling water on a rock. Over time the water breaks down the rock and then the water continues on to destroy more rocks further down’s its path. The wonderful news is that Satan, his minions, his agents, and his lies are defeated. The Bible is clear that the teachings that are so prevalent today will be shown to be fraudulent in the end. God tells us that He will never lead us astray and will not allow us to live our lives in search of meaningless goals and toiling in worthless activities. He will not cause us to act to destroy the those around us, and He will not send us on meaningless quests for His ego. He is God, He does not need us to tell Him that He is in charge or to prove to Him that He is commanding the universe, He knows it. It is great to know that when I am with God I will never be sent on a quest of the spiritual equivalent to Squelch. Valueless, meaningless, worthless teachings and wisdom that do nothing but show my naivety in the area of faith, God and truth wisdom. If I follow God my actions will never destroy and hurt those around me, or those that I am trying to help. Wonderful and amazing things occur in the lives of those that no longer have to fear being the source of spiritual amusement, and the embarrassment of living for worldly wisdom. Glory be to God, and as the Psalmist David said in Psalm 40 (NASB): PS 40:1 I WAITED patiently for the LORD; And He inclined to me, and heard my cry. 2 He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. 3 And He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear, And will trust in the LORD. PS 40:4 How blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood. 5 Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which Thou hast done, And Thy thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with Thee; If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count. Thank you Lord for being the great teacher, the great protector, and most of all my savior. A Formerly Searching Soul John 8:42(NIV) Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. 43 Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! 46 Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? 47 He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." 1 John 3:8(NIV) He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 2 Corinthians 11:3(NIV) But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. 5 But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those "super-apostles." 6 I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.