P
Phyllis Graham
Guest
September 13, 2010
To: Pastor Rod Parsley
World Harvest Church
Columbus OH. 43216-0100
RE: Phyllis Graham
944 Sherman s.e.
Grand Rapids, MI. 49506
Greetings Pastor, In the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Christ is truly the Savior and a rewarder of those that do well. I am convinced that the only way to obtain His blessings and favor is through what we do for others. I often think on this subject matter, and throughout life, I have made it a habit to give to all that ask, if and when I have it at my side. The Lord has upheld me in times of trouble and despair, although many times these situations were the result of my own mistakes in judgment amd a flawed decision making process.
Pastor, I have received many of your letters; it’s getting harder to keep up with the current state of affairs. By “current affairs,†I mean the issues presented in each letter, and their subject matters. Pastor, situations change quickly, and time waits for no one –
I first sent word to you in response to correspondence proclaiming “One Seed Changes everything.†I keep mentioning this because it denotes a new beginning and renewed friendship with your ministry. The phrase means much to me, because for me it says, things can change. Believe it or not, change is rare, and it is only with the help of Christ that change can affect our lives in areas we need it most. The unconscious mind betrays us; it whispers to us speaking to the inner recesses of the heart; this allows the element of surprise and its devastating effect. Not only that, but the unconscious mind contains information about past experiences, beliefs, and fears that are recalled at the wrong time! When this happens, it can have a paralyzing effect on our ability to function, and cause errors in making sound judgments and decisions.
Asymmetrical Information –
Many do not believe that a person can only do what they know to do. There is a difference in saying the person knew better not to do something. We often talk about acts of omission and commission. One is when we do not follow orders, and the other is when we fail to follow orders. It’s easier to fail in following orders because doing so depends on certain variables, in other words, the person could follow orders to the best of their ability, but still fail to complete a task or otherwise, “obey†the order. In both cases, what is missing is information. We often talk about “Moral Hazard.†Moral Hazard has different meanings; however, in insurance and finance, its equivalent resembles asymmetrical information, which is the lack of accessibility of information by one or more parties involved in the transaction. Wikipedia encyclopedia explains asymmetrical information this way;
“Economists explain moral hazard as a special case of information asymmetry, a situation in which one party in a transaction has more information than another. In particular, moral hazard may occur if a party that is insulated from risk has more information about its actions and intentions than the party paying for the negative consequences of the risk. More broadly, moral hazard occurs when the party with more information about its actions or intentions has a tendency or incentive to behave inappropriately from the perspective of the party with less information.â€
This condition affects the decision making process, because either party does not have the information they need to make a sound decision. Often there are people in government, politics, and even church organizations that present a “moral hazard.†Often they organize, have protection, and engage in reckless behavior under the umbrella of Christianity, and its safeguards. These individuals bring their own vision of how the church should operate and often engage in debates about how the administration should go about carrying out its mission. The enemy within, termed, the“Fifth Column†is a concept that came to light during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. Emilio Molo, a nationalist general coined the phrase – that evolved to describe enemies of a state or country or any organization of people – who undermine authority from a position of authority to help an external enemy (In our case, this would be Satan in his capacity as Opposer). These are generally smaller groups, that “clandestinely undermineâ€Â¹ a larger group. This term refers to intelligence activity or military activity on behalf of an operative.
Intelligence is described as;
“….[an] umbrella term describing a property of the mind including related abilities, such as the capacities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, learning from past experiences, planning, and problem solving.â€
My situation –
As individuals, we need a man of God, which is honest and sincere, and from whom we can seek guidance and understanding about personal issues as well as financial issues in their lives. Privacy is also important. The scripture tells us that even when we pray, we should enter a private place where no one else will hear, and advises that we should not let our left hand know what our right hand does. More importantly, our communication should not be undermined by asymmetrical information which could set off a chain of events that is counterproductive, or endanger the well being of ourselves and our family.
What if I told you pastor that I have never taken responsibility for my own life? What I mean by that is that I have always entrusted my life to Christ, and his administration. Even in those times when I did not adhere to the rudimentary values of Christianity, I still knew that God exist, and respected that fact by never debating issues with unbelievers; I refuse to question, or contemplate whether God exists and whether not Jesus ever existed. In addition, I never debate the limits or boundaries of God’s mercy; I believe my actions shows that I Faith.
Recently, I was accused of leaving God out of my pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree. The exact wording being, “you cannot take credit for what God has done by allowing you to get this far.†In addition, the preacher said, I had promised to punish someone for an act against me, in which I had no authority to do, and that God could stop me, just as He allowed me to come this far.
Pastor, of course the accusations are untrue, but even more importantly, why would He want to stop me? I am not hurting anyone by pursuing the degree, and it’s a personal and honorable achievement. Wherever and whoever supplied him with this information did not accurately portray the events, and certainly not in the sequence they occurred. First of all, I never take credit for anything that God does, or will do in the future. It’s amazing how a person can take a simple goal and vilify it, and call it evil! My goal was simple; in 2005 I decided I needed to get a degree, Jobless and still depending on federal and local government to support me, I decided education would provide the key to successfully landing a better job, and with the degree, I could get better opportunities, and earn money in the job I wanted, not the one others wanted to have!
The journey toward the bachelor’s degree has been dismal. And I am facing situations that are difficult and challenges that seem almost insurmountable. However, after completing the Associates Degree two years later, I decided to continue to receive the bachelors. This story contains many twists and turns, and some travesties the first being the election of Mr. Obama as President in 2008, the economy, and the dismissal of my goal as a self serving bias. The ugliness of the third problem is that it has to do with prejudice. Why in the world would anyone consider getting a degree anything but honorable? However, I did not stop because of these sentiments. The degree is for me, not them!
Secondly, circumstances began to develop that normally would cause anyone to quit. They were the diagnosis of a terminal illness of my son, and my baby son’s surgery. That was in 2006 and 2007. Through all of this, I still continued to pursue the bachelors. Finally, in December 2007, after taking a break from school, (or at least I tried to) something inside of me would not let me quit. I wanted the degree. So, I re-enrolled in college for the 2008 school year, and again in a sectarian college in 2009. I could not win for losing with this proposition. I was accused of playing two ends against the middle, and being coy by enrolling. You see, in some people’s eyes, I was not considered a Christian and it turned out that the local television ministry that I contributed to over the years since moving to the city did not consider me Christian either.
All of this was strange to me, and it wasn’t until taking a World Religions course that I learned many churches are considered secular. And lastly, the minister whose organization I joined in 2004 as a result of attending the church my mom was attending felt he had helped me receive my Associates in 2007, (something I was not aware of) developed an attitude because I did not send any money to the organization. I won’t mention their name, but eventually, I left that church when I grew weary of their pokes at “Apostolic†folks. In addition, they treated my mom wrong, and I tried to get her to make a better choice. Eventually, she started her own ministry and that solved our church issues.
I began to realize that getting the Bachelor’s degree was going to be much harder than I anticipated. Eventually, unable to get credit for my work at Malone University, I switched back to the previous college, only to be told after 9 months, I could not continue because of funding issues. It was there that I began experiencing senseless accusations and delays. My point in telling you all this is that I have experienced delays, and now after three years of diligence, persistence, and sweat, I may be unable to receive a bachelor’s at all. The total tuition bill is stated at approximately $87,000.00 dollars, which includes $37,700.00 in grant money that I never received. I am not saying the schools did not receive the money, I am saying I didn’t and a third of it was not applied to tuition to offset the amount of loan money spent approx. $50,000.00. It is important that people realize that students that use federal funds to attend college "do not" order their money. In other words, they do not tell the government how many loans they are going to need or how much grant money they need, the schools do. In addition, the funds pass through three revolutions before they are applied to tuition, the lender, the school, and then their FA offices. The student never sees that money, and checks from the government are cashed by their FA departments. The institution are suppose to give the student the opportunity to reject funds sent by notifying the student of the arrival of the disbursements, this does not always happen, and the stress and performance criteria alone distracts the students from asking questions. At least this was the case for me.
Where did that money go? I am facing tracking money that I never counted, and I certainly did not cash any of those checks! The state became involved after I contacted Direct Loan, who noticed the outliers, but they have not gotten back to me regarding this issue. I am feeling a little anxious to say the least, you see for three years now, I’ve been thinking and counting the days and hours to receiving that degree. I have worked diligently, ignoring other aspects of my life, and made sacrifices in many areas. All I know is that someone, somewhere, even with a 3.11 GPA decided I was not deserving of the Bachelor’s degree.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Graham
To: Pastor Rod Parsley
World Harvest Church
Columbus OH. 43216-0100
RE: Phyllis Graham
944 Sherman s.e.
Grand Rapids, MI. 49506
Greetings Pastor, In the name of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Christ is truly the Savior and a rewarder of those that do well. I am convinced that the only way to obtain His blessings and favor is through what we do for others. I often think on this subject matter, and throughout life, I have made it a habit to give to all that ask, if and when I have it at my side. The Lord has upheld me in times of trouble and despair, although many times these situations were the result of my own mistakes in judgment amd a flawed decision making process.
Pastor, I have received many of your letters; it’s getting harder to keep up with the current state of affairs. By “current affairs,†I mean the issues presented in each letter, and their subject matters. Pastor, situations change quickly, and time waits for no one –
I first sent word to you in response to correspondence proclaiming “One Seed Changes everything.†I keep mentioning this because it denotes a new beginning and renewed friendship with your ministry. The phrase means much to me, because for me it says, things can change. Believe it or not, change is rare, and it is only with the help of Christ that change can affect our lives in areas we need it most. The unconscious mind betrays us; it whispers to us speaking to the inner recesses of the heart; this allows the element of surprise and its devastating effect. Not only that, but the unconscious mind contains information about past experiences, beliefs, and fears that are recalled at the wrong time! When this happens, it can have a paralyzing effect on our ability to function, and cause errors in making sound judgments and decisions.
Asymmetrical Information –
Many do not believe that a person can only do what they know to do. There is a difference in saying the person knew better not to do something. We often talk about acts of omission and commission. One is when we do not follow orders, and the other is when we fail to follow orders. It’s easier to fail in following orders because doing so depends on certain variables, in other words, the person could follow orders to the best of their ability, but still fail to complete a task or otherwise, “obey†the order. In both cases, what is missing is information. We often talk about “Moral Hazard.†Moral Hazard has different meanings; however, in insurance and finance, its equivalent resembles asymmetrical information, which is the lack of accessibility of information by one or more parties involved in the transaction. Wikipedia encyclopedia explains asymmetrical information this way;
“Economists explain moral hazard as a special case of information asymmetry, a situation in which one party in a transaction has more information than another. In particular, moral hazard may occur if a party that is insulated from risk has more information about its actions and intentions than the party paying for the negative consequences of the risk. More broadly, moral hazard occurs when the party with more information about its actions or intentions has a tendency or incentive to behave inappropriately from the perspective of the party with less information.â€
This condition affects the decision making process, because either party does not have the information they need to make a sound decision. Often there are people in government, politics, and even church organizations that present a “moral hazard.†Often they organize, have protection, and engage in reckless behavior under the umbrella of Christianity, and its safeguards. These individuals bring their own vision of how the church should operate and often engage in debates about how the administration should go about carrying out its mission. The enemy within, termed, the“Fifth Column†is a concept that came to light during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. Emilio Molo, a nationalist general coined the phrase – that evolved to describe enemies of a state or country or any organization of people – who undermine authority from a position of authority to help an external enemy (In our case, this would be Satan in his capacity as Opposer). These are generally smaller groups, that “clandestinely undermineâ€Â¹ a larger group. This term refers to intelligence activity or military activity on behalf of an operative.
Intelligence is described as;
“….[an] umbrella term describing a property of the mind including related abilities, such as the capacities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, learning from past experiences, planning, and problem solving.â€
My situation –
As individuals, we need a man of God, which is honest and sincere, and from whom we can seek guidance and understanding about personal issues as well as financial issues in their lives. Privacy is also important. The scripture tells us that even when we pray, we should enter a private place where no one else will hear, and advises that we should not let our left hand know what our right hand does. More importantly, our communication should not be undermined by asymmetrical information which could set off a chain of events that is counterproductive, or endanger the well being of ourselves and our family.
What if I told you pastor that I have never taken responsibility for my own life? What I mean by that is that I have always entrusted my life to Christ, and his administration. Even in those times when I did not adhere to the rudimentary values of Christianity, I still knew that God exist, and respected that fact by never debating issues with unbelievers; I refuse to question, or contemplate whether God exists and whether not Jesus ever existed. In addition, I never debate the limits or boundaries of God’s mercy; I believe my actions shows that I Faith.
Recently, I was accused of leaving God out of my pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree. The exact wording being, “you cannot take credit for what God has done by allowing you to get this far.†In addition, the preacher said, I had promised to punish someone for an act against me, in which I had no authority to do, and that God could stop me, just as He allowed me to come this far.
Pastor, of course the accusations are untrue, but even more importantly, why would He want to stop me? I am not hurting anyone by pursuing the degree, and it’s a personal and honorable achievement. Wherever and whoever supplied him with this information did not accurately portray the events, and certainly not in the sequence they occurred. First of all, I never take credit for anything that God does, or will do in the future. It’s amazing how a person can take a simple goal and vilify it, and call it evil! My goal was simple; in 2005 I decided I needed to get a degree, Jobless and still depending on federal and local government to support me, I decided education would provide the key to successfully landing a better job, and with the degree, I could get better opportunities, and earn money in the job I wanted, not the one others wanted to have!
The journey toward the bachelor’s degree has been dismal. And I am facing situations that are difficult and challenges that seem almost insurmountable. However, after completing the Associates Degree two years later, I decided to continue to receive the bachelors. This story contains many twists and turns, and some travesties the first being the election of Mr. Obama as President in 2008, the economy, and the dismissal of my goal as a self serving bias. The ugliness of the third problem is that it has to do with prejudice. Why in the world would anyone consider getting a degree anything but honorable? However, I did not stop because of these sentiments. The degree is for me, not them!
Secondly, circumstances began to develop that normally would cause anyone to quit. They were the diagnosis of a terminal illness of my son, and my baby son’s surgery. That was in 2006 and 2007. Through all of this, I still continued to pursue the bachelors. Finally, in December 2007, after taking a break from school, (or at least I tried to) something inside of me would not let me quit. I wanted the degree. So, I re-enrolled in college for the 2008 school year, and again in a sectarian college in 2009. I could not win for losing with this proposition. I was accused of playing two ends against the middle, and being coy by enrolling. You see, in some people’s eyes, I was not considered a Christian and it turned out that the local television ministry that I contributed to over the years since moving to the city did not consider me Christian either.
All of this was strange to me, and it wasn’t until taking a World Religions course that I learned many churches are considered secular. And lastly, the minister whose organization I joined in 2004 as a result of attending the church my mom was attending felt he had helped me receive my Associates in 2007, (something I was not aware of) developed an attitude because I did not send any money to the organization. I won’t mention their name, but eventually, I left that church when I grew weary of their pokes at “Apostolic†folks. In addition, they treated my mom wrong, and I tried to get her to make a better choice. Eventually, she started her own ministry and that solved our church issues.
I began to realize that getting the Bachelor’s degree was going to be much harder than I anticipated. Eventually, unable to get credit for my work at Malone University, I switched back to the previous college, only to be told after 9 months, I could not continue because of funding issues. It was there that I began experiencing senseless accusations and delays. My point in telling you all this is that I have experienced delays, and now after three years of diligence, persistence, and sweat, I may be unable to receive a bachelor’s at all. The total tuition bill is stated at approximately $87,000.00 dollars, which includes $37,700.00 in grant money that I never received. I am not saying the schools did not receive the money, I am saying I didn’t and a third of it was not applied to tuition to offset the amount of loan money spent approx. $50,000.00. It is important that people realize that students that use federal funds to attend college "do not" order their money. In other words, they do not tell the government how many loans they are going to need or how much grant money they need, the schools do. In addition, the funds pass through three revolutions before they are applied to tuition, the lender, the school, and then their FA offices. The student never sees that money, and checks from the government are cashed by their FA departments. The institution are suppose to give the student the opportunity to reject funds sent by notifying the student of the arrival of the disbursements, this does not always happen, and the stress and performance criteria alone distracts the students from asking questions. At least this was the case for me.
Where did that money go? I am facing tracking money that I never counted, and I certainly did not cash any of those checks! The state became involved after I contacted Direct Loan, who noticed the outliers, but they have not gotten back to me regarding this issue. I am feeling a little anxious to say the least, you see for three years now, I’ve been thinking and counting the days and hours to receiving that degree. I have worked diligently, ignoring other aspects of my life, and made sacrifices in many areas. All I know is that someone, somewhere, even with a 3.11 GPA decided I was not deserving of the Bachelor’s degree.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Graham
