DESENSITIZED!
A Reflection for Combat Veterans
I have just read an email from a combat vet who has just read, “After the Trauma, the Battle Begins: Post Trauma Healing.”
His PTSD trigger is the sound of a helicopter, which would signify danger, the signs of trauma, a life threat in a fire-fight, plus casualties.
These noises would catapult him back forty years. . .noises that would shut him down! He lives near a helicopter port!
Now, he has managed to place Jesus between the helicopter, the threat, and himself.
He has been desensitized, set free by Christ!
Thank You, Jesus.
Personally, I have a neighbor who has all sorts of weapons: single-shot, rapid-fire, automatic, and Black-powder.
Every time he would spend a morning or afternoon firing, I would be triggered.
My mind catapulted to combat memories. . . most unpleasant thoughts.
Now, with Jesus standing between me, the noise, and my unseen neighbor, I am completely at peace.
A gift from God!
I have been desensitized!
Thank You, Jesus.
Let’s not limit God, even after all these years.
Two veterans set free!
Has the Lord set you free yet?
Soul Stirrings. . .
Fr. Nigel Mumford+
Author Archives: Nigel W.D. Mumford
Life Plan Instructions ©
Seven steps to Godly alignment ©
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.”
Jeremiah 29:11
“Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
Thessalonians 5:16-18
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
In these tough economic times, we have to really trust in the Lord. Just like a car that needs to have the front wheels aligned, we need to align our lives with God and with each other. If one wheel is pulling one way and the other, another way, we are going to rip the treads off the tires. Here are seven steps I might suggest for Godly alignment
1) Spend at least twenty minutes (or more) writing everything you would like to do in your life. Do not let money, situation or geographical location be a block. In fact there should be no blocks. Just write everything you would like to do! This list can be added to or taken away from and is totally malleable, flexible and pliable. If you are married, spend time with your spouse, writing but not telling each other what is on your list …yet.
2) Spend some time picking out the top five and put them in order of priority.
3) If you are married go over the list together. See where the threads connect; have fun.
4) Now elevate your lists and pray. “Lord, this is what I/we would like to do, what would you like to bless? I align myself with you, knowing that you have given me the gift of free will. Into your hands I commend my life as “I try less and trust more” in you. I stand on your word in Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you.”
5) Fold your “Life Plan©” and place it in your bible. Leave it with the Lord.
6) Be proactive in your life journey and do not let others hinder you or put you down. It is important to share your life plan with your spouse. I would not suggest sharing it with others. Just with your spouse and with God.
7) Do not sit back and expect your top five to land in your lap. Live your life. Christ died that we might live and have life abundant. LIVE YOUR LIFE to the fullest, be proactive.
God bless you, Fr. Nigel+
The Rev. Nigel Mumford
www.Byhiswoundsministry.org
(757)716-7812
© Copyright 2010 Nigel W.D. Mumford
THE CASE FOR GOD:
Deductive reasoning,
Using evidence to reach a sound conclusion.
Struggling with God?
Approach God with an open mind.
Approach spirituality with an open mind.
You can put up many barriers and road blocks
to convince yourself that this is some cosmic joke. . .
OR. . .
you can apply deductive reasoning.
Observe the evidence.
It’s all around you.
Allow the Truth into your heart.
I ask you,
“Are you prewired to know the Lord?”
Observe.
Look at the details.
Have an open mind and put the puzzle together.
See the result. . .
The Truth:
God the Father,
God the Son,
and
God the Holy Spirit.
The Trinity has been around for a while, you know!
It was Sherlock Holmes
(actually Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
who said,
“When the impossible is excluded,
what remains is what happened. . .”
Conversely,
the Bible writes,
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for,
the evidence of things unseen.”
Hebrews 11:1 (Emphasis added.)
Forensic scientists say,
“Whenever two things come into contact, a trace is left. . .”
Has God touched you and have you missed it?
Is there a trace somewhere?
So, I speak to your soul, dear person.
Perhaps, you are “on the fence”
when it comes to allowing the Lord into your heart.
Do some deductive reasoning!
Then, allow Him in . . . your life will be so fulfilled!
No pressure, your choice.
If you are still not there,
ask Him into your life.
He’s waiting . . .
Fr. Nigel Mumford+
Your Quantum Leap into the Nanotechnology of Faith.
By Rev. Nigel Mumford+
What is a Quantum leap? A jump over the Grand Canyon? A huge displacement, a leap of untold measure? A huge distance where the mind cannot even begin to fathom how to get from A to B? A distance of such magnitude that even the closest star cannot fit into our continuum of thought?
When it comes to faith many feel it takes a quantum leap of faith to know the love of The Lord. They are actually right. Many feel that there is a huge cost and distance in taking that leap when actually all it takes is a nanometer of faith. Indeed it does take a quantum leap. The thing is that a quantum leap is not a huge length of measure. The nanometer is often used to express dimensions on an atomic scale so small and minute it is not even visible to the naked eye! All it takes is a nanometer of measure to take that quantum leap.
“In physics, a quantum (plural: quanta) is the minimum amount of any physical entity involved in an interaction. Behind this, one finds the fundamental notion that a physical property may be “quantized,” referred to as “the hypothesis of quantization”. This means that the magnitude can take on only certain discrete values.” (Wiki). In fact a nanometer is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a meter. Unseen by the naked eye!
So, all it takes in that leap of faith is a very slight shift. A slight redirection in course. A nanometer of change. The quantum leap is a minute shift of faith to know the presence of God.
To add to this train of thought that I have been pondering for a year or two, is that a photon is a single quantum of light, and is referred to as a “light quantum”. The energy of an electron bound to an atom is quantized, which results in the stability of atoms, and hence of matter in general. Jesus said that He is the light of the world. Therefore every atom has light attached to it creating stability. All it takes is one photon of the light of truth to penetrate the soul and we know the love and presence of God.
“As incorporated into the theory of quantum mechanics, this is regarded by physicists as part of the fundamental framework for understanding and describing nature at the smallest length-scales.” (Wiki)
Perhaps this is the fundamental framework for understanding and describing our relationship with God at the smallest length-scales.
Perhaps we could allow our mind to take a nanometer shift or indeed a quantum leap of faith to invite The Lord into our very being. The Lord being the designer of all this unit of measure and this very universe.
So lets put this nano technology into biblical proportion as we look at Hebrews 11:1 (AMP)
“Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, [a]the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].”
Can we be quantum mechanics in this train of thought?
Have you made that quantum leap, a photon, and nanometer move to invite The Lord into your very being?
“A small step for man, a giant leap for mankind.”
~ Neil Armstrong July 21, 1969
Be well, do good works, and for the sake of God,
Love one another.
© Rev. Nigel Mumford+ all rights reserved.
PERSONAL PRAYER LIFE:
Rationalizing the Dry Spells and the Mountain Tops
I don’t know about you but my prayer life is all over the place.
What do I mean by that?
Sometimes, I am plodding onward like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. Sometimes, I am elated like the Road Runner, bouncing off the walls in total intimacy with The Lord.
Right now, my soul is totally “in the zone”. . . to coin a phrase.
I feel so deeply connected and when I go into prayer; all is very well with my soul. It is so peaceful, so connected, so blissful. I am totally in awe of God, deeply filled with the Holy Spirit and, this is rather tricky to put into words, for Shakespeare I am not!
I just close my eyes and there I am, my soul present with The Lord. Awesome. Words fail me.
I need to tell you that it is not like this all the time. In fact, it is rather rare that I feel so connected.
I just had to write about this in the moment, trying to capture the depth of prayer, as I feel totally immersed and joined with God. Actually, it is a knowing beyond words. I am completely one with His Presence!
My sense is that I want to stay in this place of prayer and in this state of mind
all the time, at all times, totally there. An all-knowing state.
I know in reality there are brief moments of time when one is so at peace with God. One catches glimpses of the perfection of God’s Kingdom for a while, and then, it’s back to asking, “Where are You God? Oh, there You are.”
It is, indeed, a rare mountain top experience to be so in tune.
A momentary glimpse, a true sense of God’s Holy Presence, that all is truly well.
My prayer would be for longer and more frequent times of pure intimacy with The Lord.
My prayer for you is that this experience, this knowing,
this being “in the zone” is difficult to explain, but entirely available to you.
So I just want to encourage you to keep praying, and to know that every prayer you offer is heard by God. Of this I have no doubt.
Is it the feeling I crave or actually the intimacy with God the Father in knowing His Almighty Presence? Clearly the latter.
I pray that as we all go through dry spells of prayer,
where there is aridity and loneliness for days or weeks or months, we would hear God saying, “Keep going, keep going.” The memory of literally crawling along The Valley of the Shadow of Death comes to mind. The sense of going deeper into the relationship is made manifest.
God says,”I will never leave you or forsake you.”
It seems that each one of us has to come to our own personal understanding of God, And what He is all about. I am writing about my experience with the Lord, hoping to encourage and uplift you to do the same. Ultimately, we, as individuals, make up our own mind if this is real or some cosmic joke. Well, as for me, I know my redeemer lives.
Keep praying, dear soul. Keep praying through and through the dry spells knowing that He is with you in every thought and deed. There will be glimpses of His Glory!
Dame Julian of Norwich said these words in the thirteen hundreds,
“All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.” I would add,
Keep praying and all shall be well.
Persevere in prayer, dear souls.
Be well, do good works, and for the sake of God, love one another.
Fr. Nigel Mumford+
Book Review
By The Rev’d. Joseph K. Acton
“After the Trauma, The Battle Begins. Post Trauma Healing.”
Fr. Nigel Mumford has managed to provide a very helpful and unique kind of book called After the Trauma the Battle Begins: Post Trauma Healing. It is both a study and spiritual reflection on PTSD, providing both clinical and historical understanding of this condition. His book is timely in the wake of the Iraqi and Afghan war veterans returning home and our becoming more aware of the level of trauma with which they are dealing. After the Trauma is also a very personal reflection on Mumford’s own experience of trauma and subsequent healing. But perhaps what was most meaningful, was the way he has woven these themes together into a spiritual odyssey, providing insight into God’s wonderfully mysterious work of healing for all of us. It is a book not only for PTSD survivors and their loved ones, but for anyone who has experienced trauma, adversity, loss, fear and desires healing.
There is so much practical help in this book. He provides compassionate encouragement, not only to PTSD sufferers, but to over eaters, the depressed, the anxious, and the doubter. He speaks eloquently of the way words can become “grenades” and illustrates various kinds of interpersonal “terrorism.” While the book speaks a great deal about war, it continues to apply spiritual principles to our own very personal everyday battles.
I am moved by the generosity of this book, as Mumford shares with us the discord and chaos of his personal life as a traumatized Marine, his many near death experiences, and his own “Dark Night” of the soul. Issues of guilt, fear, regret, obsession, are all lifted up into the transforming presence of Christ. Each strand of story telling, each confessed failing, each practical answer, leads to what in the end could be called a Litany of Gratitude, for here is a man who has felt the pain of wounds and the joy of healing. His words clearly focuss the reader on the wounds of Christ, “by which we are healed.”
Finally the book speaks with the authority of a man who had been so close to death he had received last rites three times! Mumford has overcome death most recently by coming out of a coma and what was the final stage of the H1N1 virus. I, along with thousands of others, prayed for Mumford as we heard his condition was going from bad to worse. It is an incredible witness to all of us that today that Nigel Mumford lives and writes, speaks and heals in the name of Jesus. And so with the authority of a modern Lazarus, and the gentle compassion of a lover of Jesus and servant of the Gospel, Mumford has provided a must read for all of us who seek to overcome trauma and adversity, and live in the victory and power of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Fr. Nigel Mumford, for this wonderful book!
—
The Rev’d. Joseph K. Acton
Executive Director
Desert Call Ministries, Inc.
Pastor, ACTS Church Hemet, CA
The book is available at www.nigelmumford.com
Or www.amazon.com
GOD’S WILL
So many people ask me in frustration,
“WHAT IS GOD’S WILL FOR ME? Can you help me discern it?”
As if I have some all-knowing answer!
Here are some Bible verses for those of us seeking God’s will in our lives.
All are from the NIV. My personal favorite is 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18*
I pray that this might help you, as you give your frustration to God.
Be at peace, dear soul.
If you have a project in mind, perhaps start it by praying to God,
“Stop me if You don’t want me to do this, and bless me if You do.”
If there are several things you think God is calling you to do, write them down,
pray over them, then offer up your list to God saying,
“What would You like to bless on my list?”
Put the list in your Bible and then be proactive . . .
This might just change your life!
Remember Grandma Moses. She began her life in her eighties! It’s never too late!
Stop your winging and go for it.
I really pray that this might help you.
Please let me know how it does.
Blessings,
Fr. Nigel Mumford+
Romans 12:2
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is, His good, pleasing and perfect will.
Exodus 18:15
Moses answered his father-in-law, “. . .the people come to me to seek God’s will.”
Mark 3:35
[Jesus said,] “Whoever does God’s will is My brother and My sister and mother.”
Romans 15:32
. . . so that I [Paul] may come to you with joy by the will of God, and in your company be refreshed.
1 Thessalonians 4:3
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality.
* 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Peter 2:15-16
For it is God’s will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.
1 Peter 3:17
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
1 Peter 4:19
So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Testimony from M. Canavan
My husband and I were excited to find out that we were expecting our second child after 17 years. On December 9th 2011, while 3 months into my pregnancy I was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy; which is a chronic disease of the heart muscle that can lead to heart failure. The doctor made it clear to me that I was very sick and immediately I was placed on medication for the condition. I was devastated and scared which made me have more anxiety than I could handle. I didn’t know how I was going to cope with this news.
Later that evening my mother knew how upset I was, and searching for answers reached out to my aunt Patsy, who is a retired nurse. The only thing that she could do was to offer to bring me to a healing service that Sunday evening after. Father Nigel was leading the service and noticed my distress and my aunt filled him in on the diagnosis. He brought me to the front of the service and had everyone who was attending lay hands on me and prayed for my health, and the health of my unborn baby. Father Nigel also prayed for the medication I was taking, and for my pregnancy to be full term and natural. It was an amazing feeling that rushed through me that evening.
The original cardiologist referred me to a heart failure specialist, I seen him the day after attending the healing service. The doctor explained to us about the various options that I could be dealing with, like being sent out of state for treatment, and possibly being put on a heart transplant list. He also made it clear to us that it would be better to treat me if I wasn’t pregnant; suggesting that we might want to consider terminating the pregnancy. If I was going to decide to proceed with the pregnancy then I might have to be put on bed rest and face early delivery depending on the state of my condition. By the end of the visit he noticed how upset I was and suggested running another test. That same day, one hour later, the doctor called me himself saying that he thought I could use some good news. He wasn’t sure if it was the “medication”, but the test results came back better than the first. It showed that my heart was at the low end of normal. Thank you Jesus!
We decided that we were definitely going to have this baby. I continued to go to healing services on Sundays and Tuesdays. I would pray for strength, a complete healing of my heart, and for my baby to be healthy, strong and happy. When the test results kept showing up better than the last, I thought that maybe the cardiomyopathy would be gone after the pregnancy, and I could possibly come off of the medication. But the Doctor insisted that I would be dealing with the condition, and be put on a stronger combination of medication for the rest of my life. As discouraging as it was to hear that news, Father Nigel and the community of Christ the King helped me to sustain my hope and faith.
The pregnancy went full term without any complications or bed rest, and our baby Michael Christopher was born perfectly healthy, strong & happy. He is our true miracle. The next day, my blood pressure was reading on the low side. It was not considered unhealthy, but it was low enough as to where they would not give me my heart medication. I was reluctant and told them that I had to take my medication; I took it every day religiously. They explained that they couldn’t give it to me because my blood pressure would drop even lower. I realized then that this might be a good thing. I was feeling anxious about not taking the meds and I made an appointment with my cardiologist the next day. He told me that the last test on my heart showed no sign of cardiomyopathy and I no longer needed to take any medication.
I was overwhelmed with joy and I thank Jesus everyday all day for my health and my little miracle baby Michael Christopher. I want to also thank Father Nigel for all of his guidance and healing prayers. And thanks to Lynn for her words on that first night of healing, that she sees me giving my testimony holding my baby. Those words definitely helped me to cope. Thank you to everyone that prayed for me, and to my family who were there through this difficult time. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
The Christening of Michael Christopher.
By Fr. Nigel Mumford+
I had the privilege of Christening Michael Christopher. I remember the service so well. As I was about to pour the water over his forehead, he looked at me as if he knew who I was. It was a look of love, joy and recognition. It was as if he was saying I know you!
I not only baptized him with water but with my own tears of joy. I was weeping so much I could not even see the words on the prayer book.