Mark 13:9
ESV
9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.
Criminal Threats / Terrorism? Or using a Metaphor towards Providing insight as to How much capital a family hoards vs how much they help their less fortunate family members.
Romans 3:10
NASB
as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
It started simply with my parents understanding that I was using WiFi phone, and was in the process of looking for a job. My iPhone4, with Google Voice became my phone number when my ex and I broke up and separated the AT&T plans. I found out that when we merged the plans, the representative who said that we could easily separate the phone numbers and go back to individual plans, lied. I have found that there is a lot of misinformation in the technology industries, specifically cellular, because the people who have been hired, aren't truly required to be professionals. It is kind of upsetting that I know all this information, read it for fun, and yet pulling off one of these jobs still seems to be a one in a million shot.
At any-rate, the parents said that they had an extra handset, with a phone line that nobody was using. They allowed me to use 100 minutes on the phone, and it received unlimited texts. So that gave me a mobility that I didn't otherwise have, because instead of being tied to wifi, i could now text people, or shoot out a short phone call. I still carried the iphone4, because there was no possibility for apps, or any internet browsing on a clamshell type phone; and the camera was very archaic - when pit against the Apple device.
When I moved back from Iowa, after the bad break up (practically a divorce), Dad said that I could stay at their place for 3 months. He told me after two weeks that I had to move out. On the third week I was moved out. He does this often. He makes a deal with me, gets freaked out and then doesn't feel like he has to abide by his word. He'll then pick the most expensive way to deal with the problem, directly in opposition to any agenda I have, or any plans I would put together, and then forces me into the new plan by pushing me out, or cutting me off, or by choosing ultimatums while I am in an unstable position. He does this because he is stubborn, and really likes having his way. He wants to be the King of his castle. A proud man, who doesn't read the Bible, and who has for the most part chosen to surf rather than go to Church. A self righteous man, who will then try and use Christianity against me, as if he is a saint, and I am then demonized as the unsuccessful eldest son.
He's infantalizes his children, until they are in their thirties, and then he acts as if they are old enough to do everything on their own. He however has been given much help from his father along the way. First there was college, and then he dropped out. Then he was given a VP position at Grandfather's company, and later Grandfather acted as a silent partner in the purchase of an IHOP. He also helped Dad out when they lost their house, by allowing them to stay at their place. When we lost our house - he allowed us to move into one of his offices. Grandpa has done his best, time after time to build add ons to their house to give them added value.
The parents receive money from Mom's side of the family as inheritance, and the receive help from Dad's side of the family through "investments in their greater well being". But me and my siblings do not. I should say, My little brother and I are the one's who receive little to no set up, while the favorite son - my middle brother gets help with college and debt, and the youngest (technically my step sister - the only one who is a true blood offspring of my mom and dad (technically step dad) - gets all the help she needs. She's been coddled, and invested in since she was little. Even now she is well on her way to receiving her master's degree and teaching credentials.
I don't mean to say this as if I wish any ill will or lack of success for my siblings. It is just easy to compare the life and help that they received and what I was allotted. The parents say that they are poor. And yet they make a very handsome living as teachers in the La Habra School District. My mom has a Masters Degree, and my Dad is 3 classes shy of his own. Three classes it looks like he will never actually take.
What burns is that they are educators, who don't believe in education. They are basically the kind of teachers who just follow the rules, and abide by the curriculum. They don't try to go above and beyond. They don't see the need to be good citizens and keep up to date with politics. Heck, they don't seem to even keep up with their religion, even though they cram it down our throats to keep us meek, and keep themselves in charge. I do believe. I have read the Bible four times. And i make time to read it 5 out of the 7 days a week. I read Christian authors, I look into different sects, and different religions/philosophies. I compare, and contrast, and I look to the words that are in the Bible to give me direction. But, i wasn't given help the way the others were. And i have been struggling. Obviously struggling. For most of my life I have not had access to a car. I've been struggling to get transportation. Or i've been struggling to get my license, registration and insurance in order.
When I asked if I could put a different handset on their plan, to switch out with the old clamshell, Mom said ask Dad. And when I asked Dad, after he came out of the surf, I laid out all the prices of what would be paid. If i used my iphone4, and went to AT&T, i'd pay $50/month. But, if i added a smartphone to their plan, I would just have to pay $30 for the data, and use the 100 minutes and the free texting from the phone number that i was already using. I'd pay the parents the $30 rather than getting a new sim card, and just getting voice and text from AT&T's pay as you go plan. The problem being - i don't have credit. I don't have bad credit, not good credit. There is a line that comes up - a dash! It means, I haven't had credit for over 12 years. No Fico score. So I would have to pay $500 plus the cost of the phone to start up an account on AT&T (regular monthly plans). With me moving out on the third week, I was going to need more phone minutes, because i wasn't going to have a home phone. Dad heard all of this and he said, "yeah, sounds good. Let's do it."
Dear Lord, God of All the Universe, Creator, God of Abraham and Isaac, may your will be done, now and forever. Please help me in my quest to follow your Word, to obey your commandments, and seek out the Kingdom of Heaven, first and foremost. In my transgressions, I have psychologically injured my parents, and ruptured the harmony of my family. I lay here in jail seeking your word, and trying to find out how much of my voice is an action, and how much fear can be created by the idea of something or the perception or possibility of an action rather than the action itself. In the United States, we have fractured ideals. Many different beliefs compiled upon each other, without congruency, or logical transition. I am starting to understand that power, and emotion are very strong motivators. Some people will do anything to avenge the fear of something that might have happened, rather than it actually happening. Their dreams, and their sleepless nights being an anguish which we hold the one making the threat accountable for. I wonder, if innocent until proven guilty is an ideal you keep in heaven. Or if the courts are naturally corrupt, and I am just noticing that in this time, and this place, they seem especially so. Please help me to focus on your truth, and to keep my own rationalizations to a minimum. Dear Jesus let me keep your ways and follow the instructions that are laid out in the Holy Bible. Help me to find passages which lead me towards truth. With regard to reading the Bible, and trying to follow it's instruction implicitly - help me to hear the real meaning, and not bend the words to my own devices, and my own agenda. Be with my family as well, Lord. As they say that they are Christians, but rarely do they cite the Bible. They will summarize, or use commentaries, or deploy philosophy which sounds like a bastardization of Christianity, a merging of the general idea of what is good with Capitalism, with law and with modern schools of secular thought. When we actually take a look at the Bible to find verse and passages, there is a disconnect between was was acceptable, or what was Christian in the ancient era, and how we are to live now. Please close the gap between that disconnect. For me, and for my family members. Please help them not to let their pride get in the way of our fellowship in Christ. I love you Lord, & I lift your name on high. We worship you with our lives. Help us to be strong enough to recognize the truth, the light, and to be salt on this Earth for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
1 Corinthians 6:5-11
ESV
5 I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers, 6 but brother goes to law against brother, and that before unbelievers? 7 To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded? 8 But you yourselves wrong and defraud—even your own brothers!
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
Does 1 Cor. 6:6-7 Mean We Can't Take Other Christians to Court? Is it worse to penalize family members by using the law and the courts to "teach them a lesson?" Is there an obligation for Christian parents within Biblical teachings to pass along an inheritance to their children?
Ezekiel 47:14
NASB
"You shall divide it for an inheritance, each one equally with the other; for I swore to give it to your forefathers, and this land shall fall to you as an inheritance.
And so i ordered the iPhone5. Now i ordered the iPhone5 by going onto Mom's Verizon account, which she had given me permission to do ages ago. In fact, according to Verizon, I was a person who could make decisions for the entire account. So i ordered the iphone5, which was to be delivered a month later because they sold out. I paid for it with my debit card. But here's the thing, i used my Dad's upgrade. The parents had been conned into getting a whole different phone line, and paying $15/month so that they would have "insurance" on my Mom (or my sister's) iPhone4S'. The upgrade had been available for 8 months, and so it was just wasting away. Also, if my Dad were to get a "free phone" it would be a waste of an upgrade, because he wouldn't be getting the full value of the $150 discount (which normally goes to someone who is purchasing a premium device). I rationalized that i could easily just find a phone that suited him later, if he wanted to change his handset - by going onto craigslist and just buying the phone off contract. Dad doesn't like techie things, and hes a really simple gadget kinda guy, so this made perfect sense to me.
I talked to Mom about the Share Everything Plan, that Verizon was introducing - because technically, if we switched to that plan, with me paying an extra $30 for my data plan, we would basically get unlimited talk and text, something that we were starting to need - because with all of us on this plan, and me kinda going over the 100 minutes, and my sister moving up to Santa Barbara, and going past her minutes, it was becoming an issue. So i thought it was all simple. I even had $60 to give them for the first 2 months. AND, just so that i wasn't doing all this behind their back, I'd put down my mom's email address so that it was her who got the notification when the iPhone was shipped. I did this on purpose because i felt like i would be being sneaky if i just put my email address, and then got the phone.
Well, Mom didn't like idea of a SHARE EVERYTHING PLAN. And when she got the notification from verizon of the iPhone5 purchase, she freaked out! The were mostly worried about the upgrade. She said Whatif i drop my iphone or something? And i said, well, you will be able to get a new iphone in less than a year, because you and sarah's upgrades will open up. And worse case scenario, you can always just get a new phone on your plan and do the same thing you were doing, because i was planning on usurping the number as my own, because they said i could use it, and i was giving it out to everyone, i just assumed i'd be taking the number when/if i left the plan. But why leave the plan if i don't have to. Paying $30 and getting everything i want, and having them have everything that they want and more, seemed like a great deal. Plus, it solved my lack of credit issue.
Mom says that Verizon won't let her cancel the shipment, and so they decide that i can keep the phone, but i can't activate it on their plan. This brings about an interesting situation, since the iphone5 is able to go to different carriers, unlike any other verizon phone. It also comes unlocked out of the box. So essentially, i decide i'm going to take it to Tmobile, and just activate it through them. Although, there might be an issue with the nano-sim card, i find out through my research that i can cut the micro sim into a nano if need be. And so i'm all set. And then i wonder - what about the ECF fee? There is an Early Cancelation fee for Verizon. But if i don't activate the phone, the clam shell will still be on their plan, and no cancelation. I tell the parents on the day that they move me to Costa Mesa. They take me to dinner at Oh's American Eatery. And after i explain it, Dad says that i will just have to research it, and we won't cancel the phone until we hear back from me that they will indeed charge the ECF fee.
I start to feel suicidal. I lost Dad's bike, my car is out of gas. I fix it, but i'm struggling, and I feel like i dont have any friends. And i just feel like I am so far away from being successful. Like my life - is just this spinning tail chasing story of woe. I feel like i'm never going to get a girl, never going to own property, never going to get a degree, and i was depressed. She never responded. My brother Kenny called me later on the next day, but by that time the feelings had subsided. I was invited to celebrate Thanksgiving early at a friends house, and it brought me a little bit out of my funk.
And then a day later, Mom calls me and tells me she cancelled my phone. I was mad. Angry. Specifically, because I felt like she could have talked to me, before she acted. And so i tried to tell her this. I tried to tell her that you can't be messing with other people's property. I tried to tell her that I had already sent off my iPhone4 and gotten paid for it so that I could purchase the new Iphone. This left me with no iPhone, and with my money in a lurch, trying to get reimbursed. And then i got really mad because she didn't care. I said that i was going to burn down their house. I told them that they didn't know what a desperate man was capable of. She shrieks and says: "Oh my God, you are threatening me!" and then hangs up.
30 minutes later, I call back, and she doesn't pick up. Then she calls me back 20 minutes after that and says "did you call me?" I say yes, that i didn't like how our conversation went, and i was going to come over, do a load of laundry and talk to her and dad. She tells me she doesn't want me to come over, and i tell her i don't care - i'm already in the car. i hang up. turn off the phone. And when i drive up the drive way, and open my car door, there is a police officer standing there shining a flashlight at me. It's 8:30pm.
They arrest me for Criminal Threats / Terrorism. And take me off to jail.
Mark 11:25
NASB
"Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions.
Mom comes into court, after the hearing, during my 2nd time in court, and wants to read a statement. But the judge just runs over her, and asks her if the police report was true. My parents had basically decided just to go to the police and give them all kinds of dirt, even to the point of making up things. So that when the police saw me pull up in the car, he had so much ammo, he just arrested me from their statements. I didn't give any statements, because police officers: Can and will use anything i say against me. And i don't think that that bodes well in the grand scheme of things.
Mother actually made the whole situation worse, and now until i finish anger management classes, i cannot go to their house, or within 100 ft of my mom. I can't see my dogs. And i can't argue with them. I also have 15 days community service i need to do, a restitution fee of $250 and time served of 36 days in LA County Jail - which is ROUGH, let me tell you. How much is too much? I've never been violent, never had an altercation with my dad, or any of my family members. Anyone other than my family either. Is saying something tantamount to it actually happening? I keep going back to the 1st Amendment, and the words innocent until proven guilty. I understand that post 9/11 we are utilizing preemptive strike as a way to minimize terrorism; but i'm a veteran of the United States Army. At what point is this vengeance from my parents? They had my car towed too, which basically means that the city stole my care, because at $950 + getting it registered (another $150 probably) it just isn't worth it to pull it out of the tow yard. And none of my family offered to go grab it for me while i was in the jail. In fact, my middle brother was the only person who visited me while i was in. My parents to this day, have not talked to me about any of this. Today is 10/27.
And so here i am after 18 days of jail trying to put my life together. In jail i was able to pour myself into the Bible, and came to understand that I am called to forgive others for their transgressions, because Jesus forgives me mine, so long as I repent and ask for forgiveness. But, with God's mercy being so great we as Christians are called to forgive our brothers, sisters, and yes even our parents. And so i decide i am going to not only forgive them, but release the built up resentment that i have had with my dad. The problem i'm having is they don't want to hear my point of view. They are acting as if they are self-righteous and did nothing wrong. As if they are the victims of this "Terrorist" threat. I'm offended because my Dad keeps lying to me. And i'm upset because i ask them flat out, and then they bend the truth, and "remember" what happened differently than it actually happened. Or they will make up a fictional version that even one of them will know is fictional. How do i reconnect with my family, get the help i need to be successful and bury the hatchet if they don't even want to have a dialogue?
What's also interesting is that I'm watching the first season of The United States of Tara, and the young gay son burnt down the shed in one of the later episodes because one of Tara's Transitions (she has multiple personality disorder) kissed the guy that he was starting to have intimacy with. The family cleaned up the mess, didn't call the cops, and the kid said he was sorry. Families rebuild.
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