Urgent prayer by Mike Gantt

 https://mkgantt.com/urgent-prayers/

Urgent Prayers

 

When my heart ought to be rejoicing – and in fact – is rejoicing, I am also troubled. This post may be a bit long and poorly edited, but its late – I haven’t really slept in two days –  but I desperately need to share my heart.

I visited with two folks at our regional teaching hospital at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center today. They were there under very different circumstances. I want to briefly tell you their stories.

In August of this year our church family along with others from all over New England gathered at our old campground in White River Junction where christians have been gathering for over 130 years. Three year old Michael Vose is usually a bright-eyed, beaming little boy with long, wavy golden curls covering his head.  However, he did not feel well during the entire week of camp. We later found out why.

Michael continued to be lethargic and without his usual bounding energy into the fall. Finally, his local doctors recommended that he be taken to Dartmouth Hitchcock for more careful study.  Soon after checking him into the hospital Michael suffered several violent seizures and slipped into a coma, and on a Saturday night in September his parents learned that the doctors had found a large tumor on his brain stem.  

This 3 year old cherub has brain cancer.  

On Sunday morning the team of doctors gathered with his parents and grandparents to tell them that they were fighting a fight they could not win.  In their opinion, Michael will not survive this battle. Already, the monitors he was connected to were showing less and less brain activity. They stood helpless, watching their son die.  My son Bryan, who pastors with me was with the family as they received this heart wrenching prognosis. As I was preparing to head over to the church to prepare for morning worship, Bryan called me to share this terrible news. Even though I could not see him, I could hear the agony in his voice as he struggled through his tears to give me an accurate account of what was happening.  He suggested, and I agreed, that the church should not hold church as usual, but that we should suspend our normal program and call the church to prayer. After a brief time of worship, I came down from the pulpit to stand on the floor with the congregation and shared with them the heartbreaking phone call I had received earlier that day.

As hot tears ran down my face, I called the church to prayer.  You see, we are a congregation that truly believes that the fervent prayer of the righteous avails much. We still believe in miracles. We still believe God heals. And we don’t believe that doctors, as gifted as they may be, get the last word. At that moment, the church as one bowed before a holy God and for more than an hour we cried out to God on behalf of Michael Vose. It was not pretty. It was not eloquent. It was not orchestrated.  It was heart wrenching, passionate, desperate, pleading, weeping until snot runs out your nose warfare prayer for one of our own. Old men, pre-teen girls, moms, grandmas, hardened laborers, grey hairs, brown hairs, red hairs, and no hairs on our faces before God crying with the most incredible sense of urgency one can imagine.

After more than an hour, I sensed that the church had wrung its heart out before the Throne so we sang a chorus and slowly people drifted out of the church and traveled home.  There was a heavy, but determined spirit in that group of people as I encouraged them not to stop – to keep on praying; to do battle for Michael’s life.

From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. Matthew 11:12

Sometimes the urgency of a moment demands urgent, even violent prayer that clashes with the kingdom of darkness and demands that it back off.  That was the prayer the church entered into that Sunday morning in September.

Just about the time our congregation was parting company with many tears still flowing, Michael Vose woke up. The brainwave monitors came to life as he opened eyes and began to interact with his mom and dad.  I believe that morning that the spirit of death was confronted and pushed back by violent, forceful prayer of a congregation of men, women, and children who refused to let go.

The battle is not over.  Michael has just completed his third round of chemo, but the tumors have been shrinking and soon he will move to Boston for targeted radiation as the battle wages.  The fact that he is still alive is a miracle and he continues to be buoyed up by a global network of prayer. At last reckoning, somewhere between 40,000 and 50,000 people have declared their intent to pray for Michael. Throughout the United States, Europe, Australia, the far east, and Africa multiplied thousands of people, of every tongue and color and culture are warring  for his life. Michael Vose is carrying the weight of the battle, but he has a massive support team ready to battle with him. That’s story number one; there is another.

On Monday afternoon of this week, my wife and I listened with interest as the emergency scanner in our kitchen got very busy as local emergency services were called to a serious accident just across the river in New Hampshire.  In an area which has seen a lot of motor vehicle collisions, there was yet another. Three cars were involved but only one person was seriously injured. So seriously that they called for a helicopter to fly down from Dartmouth to rush the injured party to the trauma center there for treatment.  As we listened with interest, we breathed a prayer that whoever was involved would survive even as they called for the helicopter and the jaws of life to extricate the female victim from the mangled pile of metal that had been her car. Her injuries were so severe and the shock so great, they ended up sedating her at the scene, effectively putting her into a chemically induced coma to reduce the possibility of greater injury as they transported her to the trauma center.  We saw some photos on social media and electronic news and you could tell that it was bad – really bad.

Several hours later, I got a frantic message from one of my closest friends – a pastor that I have worked with for a number of years and a man that I love and respect deeply.  I truly consider him to be like a brother. The victim of the car crash was his wife and he was flying up the road some 80 miles to Hanover unsure whether she would be alive when he got there.  

My heart sank. We had just had dinner together on Friday night, and what a great time we had – and now Marietjie Chase lay at death’s door. I did the only thing I knew to do – I started to pray.  I prayed all night long, sometimes just crying her name out over and over again, hoping to fill the Throne Room of Heaven with Marietjie’s name, if possible to lay siege to heaven on her behalf. Even as I was praying for Marietjie, I was on my computer contacting friends all over the world mobilizing men and women in every time zone where I have influence to prayer.  In many parts of the United States, in Africa, Europe, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand – I reached out to enlist an army of prayer warriors to stand in the gap for this dear sister and for her husband, Pastor Steve. I don’t think I slept for a minute all night, and when I would doze off, I would wake up speaking her name as if not to allow God to lose sight of her. My prayer was not pretty. It was not eloquent. It was urgent, desperate, warfare prayer as I and many others around the world took up our place on the battle lines for her life.

As soon as I could organize myself this morning I drove to Hanover.  I had no idea what I would find, but intercession just kept driving me as I covered the 70 miles or so between the hospital and my house.  When I arrived, I went directly to the ICU unit and asked the receptionist to call Steve and let him know I was there. Within a minute, he was in the hall to greet me.  I didn’t know what to say, so I just grabbed him and held on for a minute.

He said, “Come with me, you’ve got to see this.”  As I walked into to her room in the critical care unit, there was Marietjie, sitting up in a chair, wrapped in a blanket, waiting on her breakfast.  She greeted me with a weak, but sincere smile and I just stood there an looked almost in disbelief. The woman had been in a coma from the time she left the accident until around 6:00 a.m. awoke this morning with a headache and some chest pain.  

Steve said, “I don’t know what anybody else calls this, but you and I know that we are looking at a miracle.”  

Marietjie doesn’t remember anything about the accident. From the time she delivered her last package until she woke up this morning she has no memory.  She was flown to the hospital in a helicopter with the utmost urgency and by this morning she looked like someone who might have tripped over a throw rug.  I wanted to see Michael Vose and my son-in-law’s mother who was recovering from back surgery, so I prayed a prayer of thanksgiving with Steve and Marietjie and left them for my other visits.  She was released from the hospital and back home before I was.

Late this afternoon, as I drove home from Hanover, New Hampshire; bone weary and bleary eyed from no sleep I started to weep, first in joy and then in frustration as I realized that when those of us who love Michael Vose and those of us who love Marietjie Chase were touched by the possibility of losing them something rose up in us and threw us into a full on assault for their lives.  We cried, we shouted at God, we moaned with mournful spirits, we threw ourselves at the mercy seat, grabbed hold of the horns of the altar and refused to let go. An urgency of a moment overshadowed us and it drove us into deep, targeted, keenly focused prayer as we cried out for those whose lives we hold so dear.

My frustration began to boil over as I realized that each of us live in proximity to men and women who are going to stand before God someday without Christ, judged by a righteous God, cast into outer darkness for eternity. I shouted out at no one and everyone in the solitude of my automobile, “Where is our sense of urgency for them, for the lost?”  “Why will we not fall on our faces and plead with the heavens for their lives?” How can we go to work, or to the market, or to the homes of many of our families day after day after day and not feel the same urgency for them that we do for Michael Vose and Marietjie Chase?”

In our community, we are heartbroken over the problems the opiate crisis is creating. We bemoan publically the problems it causes, the homes that are broken, the children that are left orphaned, and yet if we get ten people out for a monthly  community prayer time – we feel pretty good. Where is our urgency for these broken and ruined lives.  Truthfully, most of us would be just as happy if they would just go away, disappear so that we don’t have to deal with them and the problems they create. Where is that urgent, desperate, violent prayer for these ruined lives?

I am not disappointed in anyone more than I am myself. It is my own shame that I expose to you now, my own self-loathing that I can assail the heavens for a Michael Vose or a Marietjie Chase, but my warfare for the broken and lost of our community is really no warfare at all – it’s more of a token prayer, prayed without any desperation or urgency at all.

And, what of our nation? Why is there only finger pointing and name calling and political tug of war being waged while we hope that the right political party will rule to support our own personal preference and agenda. Why are we assassinating President Trump rather than praying for him – but not just him – why are we not in fervent, urgent, desperate prayer for Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer and Maxine Waters, among many others?  Why do our mouths cry out for political victory with far more urgency than for a spiritual revival?

I have been faced with truth about myself today. My urgent, desperate, zealous, violent prayers are clearly reserved for those close to me and for whom I have a tender affection. Perhaps there are many of us who reserve our urgency for those closest and little for those who so desperately need a church that will weep for them, who will wage spiritual warfare for them.

I am ashamed.

Curve Balls.

 One of America's favorite sports is baseball. All my boys started playing this game when they were about 4yrs old and the ball was placed on a plastic T for the little guys to hit in place of a pitcher. It is also a nice father-and-son pasttime to put their gloves on and through the ball in the yard.

For those who do not know the game:

 It's a bit like cricket in that the ball is hard, a little bigger than a tennis ball. There is a pitcher and a batter, an opposing team trying to catch the ball once it is hit. There the similarities end.

Baseball bats are round and often made from metal. The field has 3 bases that has to be run to and homeplate from where the batter hits. The ball often bounces back on the batter when hit and, even in professional games, the bat

ter may get hit by the ball. For this reason, they wear helmets.

The pitcher has to deliver the ball over homeplate. It also has to be between the knee and waist of the batter. But with this restrictions the pitcher attempts to make the batter miss or hit bad. If the batter swings at a pitch and misses it is a strike and counts against him.

 Occasionally the pitcher may throw something called a "curve ball". This is accomplished by putting a spin on the ball that makes it fly straight at first but then fly away somewhere else. 

Now that we all understand what a "curve ball" is: 

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. You are sure it is nothing out of the ordinary and sure you are going to hit it square and solid. But then it bounces up and hits you in the face. It hurts!  The pain is excruciating. You try to right yourself and go on with the game but your mind cannot help searching for "Where did I go wrong", " How did I not see that coming", " I could have, should have done this or that". 

The truth is you could not have seen it coming and nothing you did or did not do, could have prepared you for that curve ball. You only have the option of recovering as best as you can and move on. And yes, the damage may be permanent. Remember, the ball is rock-solid hard. 

BUT do not quit the game!!! 

You have a whole team depending on you. You see, baseball is a team sport. Life is a team sport. You may not see straight right now. You may be hurting more than you think you can stand. But hang in there. The Coach will have it covered. The Coach will know what to do. Just do as He says and keep on going. You are not responsible to figure out the game plan. That is the Coaches job. You just obey Him and go on. 

Yes, it hurts! Go on!

 Yes, you may never recover! Go on!

Yes, you may not see straight right now!

Just, GO ON!

Obey and go on!

RUN! GIRL, RUN!!

If you are out on a date and he flirts with anyone other than you, the waitress for example. When he oogles the girls in bikinis on the beach and turns his head to look at the backside of some skinny model-looking person....He is disrespecting you and he will most likely never respect you. And is most likely addicted to porn.

Call a taxi and lose his number. 

If he orders for you, chooses your clothes and insists on your style be identical to his wishes... if he always have to do what he wants, watch what he wants and visit his friends... when he disrespects your friends and make it unpleasant for all, if you do drag him there.... if his opinion about decorating and style has to be met. Then you have a controller on your hands. He will strangle the life out of you. And you will never escape... if not now.

Run Girl! Block his number. Erase his pictures!


If he pitches a fit like a two year old when he does not get his way, when everything he does for you has strings attached and will come back as a demand for something else, when he is nice to you, your family or your friends and later demands his way in return... He is a manipulator, very cunning and will erode your trust in humanity. You will never have a life of your own with him. He will conn you out of everything that is good and healthy.

Run girl! Hide until you can think straight.

When his thoughts are always better than anybody else's. When he has to find fault with what others do or say... when he has to frown on your efforts, mock your hobby or career... when he minimizes and despise your life. He has an inferiority complex. He will always be swayed by where and with whom he can get his ego stroked. He will be unpredictable and erratic. You will long for peace and tranquility.

Run girl! Run!

When he cannot stand pets and hates little kids... when he enjoys retelling stories of his abusing, beating, someone... when the only movies he would watch are filled with gross violence... when he enjoys the killing of animals and smirks about people's pain.
You have an abuser by the hand. He will take your heart and stomp on it. He will abuse, dehumanizing and assault you.

Run, lady, run! Run while you still can.

When he complains about his job non-stop and his days off is spend laying around doing as little as possible. When he expects to be waited on and you discover that his mother always waited on him. When he expend so little energy that you have to do it for him... You have a child, a spoiled child, a Bonsai of a man. He will never take responsibility. You will have to "mommy" him because he does not see himself as an adult.

So, Run lady, run!

When his head is held high and his mind is made up so that you cannot even discuss an issue.... when he blows cold air on any other person's thoughts and often do not even listen.... when he seldom to never compliment anybody and are nicer to strangers than his own. He is arrogant and full of pride. He will treat you like a queen in public but you will suffer in private. He will humiliate you in the most creative ways.

RUN!! Run girl, run! Save yourself. Put some distance between you. Block his number!

How small we are. How little we know.

It came on like a thief in the night. There was no warning. All of a sudden we were all in a storm. It slammed into all that we were and what we had and did. Our lives, our worlds, were upended in a day, an hour, The clouds hung low. People kept a frightened eye on it and soon all we could talk about was this storm, this crisis, this thing.

The almost visible haze of fear became a suffocating reality. It throttled every iota of joy out of our lives. Most of us ate too much without realizing it. I guess we subconsciously looked for solace in food. Some slept way to much. Most got exhausted from doing nothing. Those with fragile bodies got inflammation. Stress has a very negative affect on the human body.

Lies, deception. schemes and scams, negative, nasty and neurotic we attacked one another. Small things made us cry like two year old's in frustration trying to walk or run. We were buried in the thickness of uncertainty and helpless search for information, truth really. It became a perfect storm. A psychological, financial and physical disaster.

How small we are. How little we know.

God is still where He always has been. This thing did not caught Him by surprise. He is still on the throne and in control. I wonder what Joseph thought when his brothers tossed him in a pit, sold him to some Egyptian slave traders and when he reached his incarceration. Could it be that his mind was milling about like some of ours in the midst of our storm? Could it be that he had similar fears and anxieties'? Or maybe put ourselves in the shoes of Daniel and his young friends. Kidnapped and taken captive to live in the Babylonian Kings court. They are mutilated and schooled into the culture and education of a heathen nation, What must have gone through their minds when the golden statue came to be and the demand to worship it? And when they are cast into a fiery furnace, did they thought like some of us do now: "God where are you?"?

A narrow place often leads to victory. A dark alley more times than not brings one out into incredible light. A place of terror, uncertainty and need too often solidify the truths we have inside of us.  And out of affliction we learn to hold tighter unto His hand and trust our own inclination less and less. The everlasting arms carry us when our knees buckle and His grace is sufficient when nothing else makes sense. We admire the Hero's. We honor the veterans. We listen to the stories. But we fail to realize that it took some unconventional, uncomfortable circumstances to make them.

Trusting God is not a theory. It is something to practice, to live out, to exercise. One cannot learn to ride a bicycle or learn to swim by reading a book or listening to others talking about it. In the middle of the storm, lift up your head and see the Father's loving hand in it all. See Him holding your universe in His hand and trust Him. He knows the end from the beginning and loves you so very, very much. Trust Him. He is in control.

Emotions...

I killed a mouse the other day. Actually I killed a few with traps. Some of the cabinets in the pantry had to be cleaned out and I discovered a nest. The day after I was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of tea when the cutest, fuzziest, little furrball showed up to warm itself at the heatingvent. I apologized and stepped on it. Then picked it up with a napkin and tossed it in the trash.

Yeah, I know. I do not like killing things either. This time of the year they crawl through every little crack in these woodhouses and the war is on.
No, we cannot humanely dispose of them. There is no Mice farm where they can peacefully live out their days. They will return and spread disease.

Human compassion, human emotion recoils at my mouse-murdering streak. That is, if you are a normal tenderhearted person. But wisdom says that humans and rodents cannot exist in the same space.

Our human emotions is part of what makes us human. It seperates us from other species. As Christians we need to have our emotions sanctified by the cross. What does it mean? It means when the emotion does not line up with what God says, we have to resist and change the emotion.

Yes, you can change how you feel. Emotions do not rule you. If they do, you are a slave and not free.

When Jesus started to prepare His disciples, His intimate group of twelve, for what was about to happen to Him, Peter rebuked Him. Peter, impulsive, choleric Peter. Peter, led by his deep affection for Jesus. Overwelmed by what they already sacrificed to walk with Jesus those three years, he was not having this talk about a bloody, cruel death. We can understand that. These men left family, wives, fathers, bussiness, homes and land to follow Jesus. Now, He wants to quit and die. Human emotion had a response to this.

But Jesus... Jesus rebuked Peter harshly: " Get behind me satan!! You are mindfull of the things of man and not of the things of God."

Too often it is the good that derails and hijacks the best. Too often it is the parent or the friend who loves us who interferes with God's plan and call for our lives.

It happened to Paul the apostle. After the prophet Agabus tells him of his impending imprisonment, the church wailed and wept. Paul rebuked them: "  Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. " Acts 21v13

Biblical examples abound.

How do we first deal with our own emotions? And second, how do we deal with our loved ones when they have an emotional response to what  we follow God in?

We have to constantly bring our emotions in line with God's word. For this to happen, we need to know the book. Our emotions by itself is not bad. How we allow it or use it to glorify God or steal our own peace, is important. You shall love the Lord, your God with all of your mind, heart, will and strength. Sounds like emotion is part of it. All of us, all of what we are, needs to  bow down before Him.

When our loved ones respond emotionally, we need to recognise it. Honor and respect them but listen and obey God. We are responsible for our actions before God. We are not the keepers of their emotions. We love them and treat them with respect but we have only one Master; the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sustainability

sus·tain·a·ble
/səˈstānəb(ə)l/

1.
able to be maintained at a certain rate or level.
"sustainable fusion reactions"
2.
able to be upheld or defended.
"sustainable definitions of good educational practice"

This is the "in" word for this season. It seems to be what they all talk about. Environmentalists and politicians alike seem to camp at "sustainability".

Makes me think about our new brand of feel good, all's good Christianity. Is it sustainable? With all the advances in technology and yet, the human proximity so far, is this non-committal, uninvolved faith sustainable?

Paul wrote about it when he said that he wants to come in the power of God and not in words only, so that their faith would be in God. Have we, the leaders of today's Church(global), created personality cults at the expense of authentic faith?

I wonder how many of our disciples could recognize the voice of God? How many can stand on their own two feet in faith?

At the same time I see the depression in the young and the weariness in the true disciple makers. Lord help us! How will this endure? How will Your Church stand?

Maybe there is a price to be paid for authentic, sustainable faith. Maybe it will cost some personal comfort and entertainment, maybe even fasting. How can we not pay such a mild token of a price when our brothers and sisters in North Africa and the Orient pay with blood? How shamefull our grotesque, characiture of faith we embrace in the West.

O God, revive us again to authentic, genuine faith. Cleans our hearts from psychotic love of self and ease. Deliver us from apathy and impassion. How will we bring glory to Your name in this state of shame?

Why  Christian Women Stay in Abusive Relationships.

Is God a God of abuse? Does He not say something about hating violence in Malachi 2. He is the Father of the fatherless and the Husband of the widow, single woman. Is God abusive? Really, is God abusive, degrading, condescending, controlling or manipulating in any way?

Too many, way too many, Christian women stay in abusive relationships. Few speak about it and fewer still let anyone know what is truly going on in their homes. Some even think that they can hide the true state of their marriage to their children. But is this a God thing to do?

Christian marriage as it is traditionally taught in most churches is first un-Biblical and secondly un-Godly. It gives the husband complete power and control over the wife and her duty is to submit to his every whim. Even the kids have to make his every wish their command. This sounds awful if I say it like this, but is this not what the church teaches? “Men are the king of their house.” Is it not that women are somewhat lesser than men and that a wife cannot even approach God without her husband? We have made some sort of Christian family hierarchy. Jesus first, under Him the husband, under him the wife and under her the children. Is it any wonder that parents think it their right and duty to abuse their children? I am not against discipline. Beating a four year old bloody with a wire hanger because she lost her shoe is not discipline, its abuse.  Children who are abused by thei#r parents do not hate their parents, they learn to hate themselves.

The abuse allowed and propagated by this traditional heretical view of marriage is the root of so many ills in society. If you are the king of your castle, you have ultimate and absolute authority. Anyone who opposes you is opposing God. Or so goes the thinking. And then the person who are in your employ is part of your kingdom and it does not matter how you treat him or her because you are the king, the boss, the authority.

What happens in a family where the husband is mistreating the wife and children? What is the long term residual affect and fruit of this dynamic? Someone described it as the family being on a float. The one person’s erratic behavior causing all the others running franticly to balance the float. When dad has a bad temper and abuse mom and the children, everyone try to keep the peace. ”Peace at any cost” becomes the family moto. This is seldom successful since abusers are erratic on purpose to keep their victims in a constant state of tension and fear. They mistake fear for respect. 

So, Christian mother who believes that her husband has to be served as she serves the Lord and excuses or hides, or attempts to hide, his bad behavior is teaching her children that God wants the boys to repeat their father’s behavior and girls to condone and expect such treatment.  Girls will often marry their fathers  - men like their fathers - because they blame their mother for his behavior. If only she behaved better, then he would not have done this or that. Very seldom do children from these homes learn healthy responses to personal conflict. Their normal is abnormal. If the stick with which you measure is crooked, then everything will be crooked.  

Christians are taught that divorce is the unpardonable sin. That women who leave their husbands are Jezebels, who have no morals and are breaking up the family for selfish reasons. Is this true? Is staying in an abusive marriage better for the children than living in peace but with one parent? It is obvious what I think. What does the Bible say? Is the woman better off alone, even raising her children alone, than staying in an abusive relationship? What does the Bible say?

Jesus gives adultery as a valid reason to end a marriage since adultery, itself, breaks the marriage covenant. Some say forgive and continue. I cannot see how forgiving a covenant that is broken, annulled, renew the covenant. Unless the couple renew their vows and so renew the covenant. Can we really sweep adultery under the rug of forgiveness? In the Old Testament people were stoned for this. The ten commandments says: “ Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Forgiving is one thing. Acting as if the adultery did not matter or change anything is another. Did the covenant mean anything if it can be broken and so easily be accepted or continued. Why have a marriage covenant at all then? No wonder so many people do not bother with a marriage covenant anymore.

God hates divorce. Because divorce is violence to the family. He hates violence. He hates divorce yet He divorces Israel. For their idolatry, adultery against God, He gives them a certificate of divorce. It is God’s plan and purpose for a husband and wife to be married for life. But nowhere in scripture does it condone one person controlling, manipulating and abusing another. There is also not one verse that calls divorce sin. The picture is often drawn throughout the Bible that God created marriage as a picture, an allegory, of His relationship to Israel and the Church. Jesus loved the church before it was the church and gave His all for her.

The Biblical view is this. Submit one to another as fellow heirs of the grace of God. He that leads should not lord it over people as the gentiles, heathens, do but serve as minister of God. If you want to be great in God’s kingdom, learn to be servant of all. Husbands love your wife like Christ loved the church and gave His life for her. Wife honor and respect your husband as the head, leader of the home. Nowhere is God placing a women’s relationship with God as contingent on her husband's say so. There is NO priests in the New Testament. Jesus is the last and only priest we have. He is Master of us all. Actually in Christ Jesus there is no longer male and female, Jew or Gentile, free or slave, child or adult or any other divisions humans cling to. We are all equal in our standing before God.

We each have a function, a job, a purpose to do. Like apostles, prophets, evangelists are functions, there is no hierarchy. We all stand before God with a job to do. What is it that God requires of you? Fathers bring your children up in the fear of the Lord. Train up a child when he is young in the way he/she shall go and when he/she is old he/she will not divert from it. Parents are required by God to train up their child in the plan and purpose that God has for him/her. How is this possible if all the child sees and hears is abuse, selfishness and inconsistency? How is he/she ever going to learn to trust God if he/she cannot trust their earthly father?

Mothers are we raising children up to be all that God wants them to be or are we teaching them to duck, hide or appease a man’s unbridled, selfish temper? We are leading by example. The question is just, what is your message? Do we serve God by submitting to a man’s abuse? Or is it a spirit of fear that has imprisoned us? Is God glorified in a marriage like this? What good and eternal fruit can come from a wife submitting to a cruel and abusive husband?

Ladies, too often the blazing signs are preceding you. You may think you are a great actress, pretending that he is the perfect husband and your marriage is wonderful. The truth is written on your soul. Any person with an iota of spiritual discernment sees it. How many woman of God are trapped in this prison, unable to fulfill their God -given purpose? Is it not time that we stand up straight? Is there not a cause?

Let me answer the first question asked: Is God a god of abuse? No! never! As a matter of fact, abuse, control, manipulation, demeaning, condescending, injuring, scarring actions and behavior is most definitively instigated by the devil. Read the list! Sounds just like satan. Why tolerate, excuse and endure his assault any longer? Do you not know, daughter of God, that you were bought with a price? Do not become slave to any human. Do not let sin rule over you, yours or his.
 There is power in the Name of Jesus to break every chain. There is power in the blood of Jesus to ward of every assault of the evil one. 
DO NOT LET it continue. 
Arise! 
Stand up and call the enemy out. 
No more! Not today! 
Be done with being a victim. You have not received a spirit of victimhood, cowardice and fear but of power and love and a sound mind in the Holy Spirit!

A Warning.

The prophet said: "Stay in Judah. Stay the course. Just Keep on keeping on. God do not want you to go, to flee to Egypt."
The people rejected the word of the Lord through the prophet because they were afraid of the Chaldeans, Babylon. They ran to Egypt. God used the same thing they were afraid of, to punish their disobedience.

"Nice story. What does it have to do with me?" you may ask. Wel, you may be living it right now.

Take it like this:
Judah means praise, but is also Yeshua/Jesus' tribe. He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. So Judah represents Him.
The Chaldeans, Babylon represents Religion or a religious spirit.
Egypt represents the world or the spirit of the world.

Can you see where we are going with this?

It's been a while now that all that live by the Name of 'Christian' has been rejecting the religious spirit. " It will kill us," they say." We will end up being slaves of religion." People do the most outrages things to be 'non-religious'. At the same time the beaten path of prayer, worship and the word is cast aside. Really, how many congregations still have a midweek prayer meeting where people truely pray?

The more mature, grounded ministers warn: "Stay the course. Just focus on Jesus. Keep the focus on Christ and Him crucified." They call for a return to the Word, to praying, to true worship. They are scoffed at, dismissed and ignored.

The people run to the spirit of the world. They dip into Egypt's feeding troths. They "borrow" the methods of the world and wonder why the Holy Spirit never shows up in their meetings. Their gatherings look like Rock Concerts or Corperate Conventions. They have programs and some have none, its one big hippie fest. They organise like the world, they advertise like the world, they train like the world, they sin like the world.

Running scared of the spirit of religion, they rejected God's warning, and ran right into the spirit of the world.

Listen to me!!!!
Stay the course. Pray! Every day, pray. Every meeting pray. Pray about everything. Ask God to intervene. Pray, pray, pray!!!
Open the Bible. Yeah the old fashioned New King James will do. Read it and do it. Re-translating it to fit your pet doctrine does not work. Just read it. It does explain itself if you would just bother to stick with it.
Then worship Him in simplicity, sincerity, with all your heart. You do NOT need two guitar players, a keyboard, drums and a leadsinger who sounds like a rockstar. All you need is a heart that truely loves Him, adores Him and wants to give Him glory.

And don't worry about the religious spirit. God is well able to manage His own house.

King of Kings

The article was about the queen of England. Her likes and dislikes that is a rule, an etiquette, for the house of Windsor. It included things like, no eating shellfish, crossing your legs at the ankles when seated and when you dine with the queen; the meal is over when she is done. She is not an absoluut, sovereign monarch. The country has a parliment and house of lords. Yet, she does have power and a lot of it.

Somewhere else in the world there are Kings who has absolute power. Their word is law. Their likes and dislikes becomes the culture. When George Bush Snr. was president of the United States, it became common knowledge that he disliked Broccoli. Many youngsters took his cue and told their mothers that they agreed with the president.

We, humans, love to crown people as king or queen. Many do not call themselves kings but they rule a kingdom. We speak of the king of Rock and Roll. There is also kingdoms of medicine, art, science, war, politics, economics, religion, education, fashion, entertainment, sport, etc

During the era of Kings in the history of Israel it was apparent how much power a king had, but also the responsibility to lead. Just think of King David, King Saul, Hezekiah, Nebucadnesar and King Ahasuerus. A king had absolute authority, sovereign power. He commanded and it was done. His word was law. He was ultimately in control of his Kingdom.

The subjects could choose to disobey and dishonor their king. They could rise up against him. They may even have betrayed him and joined the enemy. But he was the King. He held life or death in his hand.

There is a King of kings. His authority is absolute. He rules every other king and kingdom. It is all His. It does not matter much what people's opinion is about His rule as King. He cannot be dethroned. He has all power, all authority. He is in charge. He is patient and kind. His wrath is fierce.

Let us come humbly to His throne and entreat Him to intervene in this time of trouble. He truly is the only one who has authority to change anything.

When You Interpret the Bible.

Recently heard someone re-define the word "fruit" in John 15 as "answered prayer".
I went to my trusty concordance and online dictionaries to see if fruit means "fruit". That made me look at Rules for interpreting Scripture. There are different lists 8 and 16 rules etc.

Here is a list that may or may not help. Try it and see.

1. First ask what does the words mean?  Does the grammar change the meaning? What was the common use at the time?
Figure out what the real meaning of the words are. Ex. When the Bible speaks about "dogs" (Rev 22:15) it is not speaking about fourfooted mammals but about perverts.

2. Ask what is the context? Read the whole chapter or book. Ex. The 4th chapter of Ephesians is about the unity of the Body of Christ yet, the 11th verse has been pulled out of context, used to divide and grade the Body of Christ.

3. Ask: Who wrote it? To whom? What is the Historical background? Ex. When Paul writes that women should be silent in church,  he was addressing a culteral issue of women making a raccus in meetings by yelling at their husbands because they were not sitting together. 1 Cor 14:34

4. Ask: When is the first time this was written in scripture? Let Scripture explain scripture. Make sure that your intrepetation is consistent with the whole of scripture. Ex. God is love. But the rest of scripture also show His other attributes such as holiness and righteousness.

5. Do not make doctrine/teaching based on one single verse. A minimum of 3 unrelated verses are required. You cannot use the same thing repeated in three of the "Gospels".
Do not make doctrine that contradicts scripture. If it contradicts even one verse, it is out.
Ex. We all know cults that use one obscure verse to justify a practice or doctrine like snake handlers based on Mark 16:18.

6. Ask the Holy Spirit to explain what it means? He is the original author of it all. He is with us to help us. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit is our Helper and reminder. John 15:26

"Have you learned to love yet?"

Her tears splashes from her face like a gush from an elephants trunk. The story involves pain. She seems to have dozens of friends and all are intense, intimate relationships. Yet, a large percentage have been rotten, hateful at times. The pain of the tale did not start the waterworks. What did?

It was when she begun to explain why she could forgive and love again with no trace of offense.
 " I figure, I am God's child. He is my Father and He loves me."  This made the waterfall. "And He forgives my mistakes. He even gets me out of the pickles I caused for myself. What they do is not my business."
Internally I gasped. How does a person come to such a place of total abandonment?

Later we are sitting around the piano, singing some old hymns. The presence of God is thick in the atmosphere. My inner ears are pitched to hear His voice. He spoke only one sentence: " Have you learned to love yet?"

O How do we miss it when we try to force the work of God even in our own lives. We read the words:"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as yourself" and set out determined to make it so. Our will and determination runs out. Pretense and hypocrisy only covers so far. The rosebud can never be forced to open.

How little do we really, truly know this God we portend to know and serve. He judges sin and declares the verdict of death but then He provides His own sacrifice. That is how He works. He commands and then enable us to do as He commands.

What does He requires of us? Where is our part in it? Do we have a role to play?
"Have you learned to love yet?"
My hart and soul, my very being, yearns to love with forgiveness, with NO offense at all. I want to love like He loves giving of self until every last drop of blood is spend. I want to, I desire to, I try to. I am willing.

But I turn back to the tear stained face, to the bloody man hanging on a cross and I grasp that there is a price. O, open my heart for the love and the pain. Let God pour His love in my heart, His love is not fake, plastic, 90 minutes on a big scream. His love is in 21 years of loneliness, learning to lean. His love is in 30yrs, 50yrs of not reckoning the injury as an offense. His love is to keep short accounts and to embrace the entire human being, thorns and all.

Could I, would I love like that?  When His love oozes from every pore of my being and fills the atmosphere like expensive perfume. O, that He would change my heart, enlarge my soul so that I can know the width, height and depth. So that I may be a dwelling place for Him, a comfortable place for His home.

Let my heart, my life be His love; pain included.

Fight Back! Fight Back! Fight!!!!!

Moses writes in Exodus that the Lord is a warrior.
David says in Psalms that it is God who trains him for war and makes him so strong that he can bend a bow of bronze.
"The warfare", says Paul" is Not carnal but mighty in the Holy Ghost to the pulling down of strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ."
 Fight the good fight of faith.
After doing all to stand, stand and put on the entire armour of God.

None of these, and there is a ton more, tells me that we Christians are suppose to play possum. We are not suppose to roll over and let the devil play soccer with us. We were created for God's glory and NOT for the enemy's entertainment. We were endued with power to stand against the viles of our enemy not to be timid and cower under his attacks.

Time to get angry! Time to get like the guy in the book of judges that took a sword and defended a hill of beans from the Amorites. It is time that we say, enough is enough. It is time that we recognize the power that is in our hands and call those things which aren't as though they are.

When the enemy attack on one front, don't just defend. You will always dance to his tune if all you do is react to his actions. Start going on the offense. It goes something like this: When we first got married and started a church, Steve will disappear at night and the enemy would tell me that he is out having an affair. I was young, broken and unsure of myself. I would try to focus on other things, Bussy myself with the children or pray for my husband. But the next time he would disappear I would have to go through the same torture. Until one Saturday night he went out and did not come home until after midnight. I put the kids to bed at their regular bedtime and settle in to do my usual waiting routine, fretting and fighting anxiety...... this was before cell phones. This night I got mad at it. I started praying for the salvation and deliverance of every person on our block. I prayed for about an hour.  Never prayed for my husband. Got in bed and went to sleep. The enemy only attacked a couple more times like that but every time I did not engaged in his fight, I prayed for the neighbors. I kept praying for the neighbors. Our direct neighbor got saved, after two years and brought her mother, sister, brother and best friend in along with their families. The enemy never used that attack on me again. The other neighbor  were saved and delivered from drug addiction. We filled up a church because our neighborhood got saved. Now, we can get into a fight that is not ours and get ourselves killed like King Josiah but as long as we know and understand our jurisdiction lets take the fight to him.

Yes, we ll pray for our loved one who is suffering and sick. We will call on the healing in the name of Jesus Christ but we will also pray for salvation and deliverance for the sons and daughters of our families and friends. We will call upon the power in His name and His blood to deliver those in bondage and enslaved in addiction. We will pray for revival to come to the hearts of the spiritual leaders in our area. We will draw the sword of the Word and the Spirit. We will fight like those who know who the Captain of their salvation is.

I do not believe that poverty brings any glory to God. I do not belief that suffering and sickness and disorder comes from God. I do not believe that families divided and at enmity is from God. I do not believe that old people getting attacked and stabbed in their own back yard is from God. I do not believe that children being kidnapped, sold and abused is from God.

You can see where I am going with this.

We have the authority to speak to these situations.
We have the power of His name.

Don't you think it's time that we start using it?!!!

We Are Family!!!

I am the middle of three sisters. Our oldest sister died last September. Earlier this year I received a lengthy letter from my younger sister. At the end the summation was that she was done with me and did not wish to ever hear from me again. My response were considerably shorter. "I do not blow that way" She is my sister and I love her. During my visit to South Africa in September I showed up at her house with a bag of snacks and asked for tea.  We enjoyed two days more together.

Why bring this up?

I was thinking of my other family, the Body of Christ, the Kingdom of God, the family of Believers. We are ONE family. We are born from ONE Holy Spirit, by ONE Father, with ONE brother, Jesus Christ who died for us all. 

Often we get angry at one another. So what!

Often we offend one another. So what!

Often we disagree with one another's actions, theology or understanding. So what!

So what!?!? 

Yeah, So what!!

We are family. 
If you love God; If you have received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; If you have surrendered your life by faith to the Holy Spirit's working; then we are family. You are my brother. You are my sister. 

We may not agree. My personality may grade at you. My methods, choices or believes may irk you. It does not change the fact that we are family. You are my family and I love you. You are stuck with me for eternity.  

Think on that for a bit.

Keeping Secrets

The older I get the more I realize that not everyone can handle everything that happens in a life. We do not purposely keep secrets, we are just a little selective in whom we share our intimate experiences with. The things we share bonds us together. Worship, actually true worship, is such an intimate vulnerable experience that it binds us together. "Let me sing of my Beloved, how He loves us, how we adore Him. He is fairer than ten thousand to my soul. I can't get enough of You, Jesus." This is the language of intimacy. This is an open heart letting it all hang out. Can we worship together consistently and not learn to love one another? How often I thought of someone: " I love how you love Him." I want to be swept up together with those that love Him to the point of pain. Tears streaming down our faces. Singing in English, Afrikaans, Spanish, tongues..... just singing and embracing Him with our voices and spirits. This is oneness, this is unity, this is the secret of Christians gathering together. This is why some of us risk life and livelihood to gather together.

When we gather together as one to adore Him, He starts to share His secrets with those who love Him and search for Him. We become aware of a new revelation, as fresh as a black forest chocolate cake that has to rest before it can be consumed...  Such is His secrets, His revelations, we have to let it sit inside of us and rest for a while. Let it percolate. Steep your soul in His words. Let it drench you. Let it become part of you. Keep it untill it becomes a river inside of you. Hold it untill it burns like fire shut up in your bones.

Then when He moves you, share it with those He wants in to the secret. Let Him direct your passion. Let the full body of the wine of His Spirit flow from you to the thirsty soul. See how the parts of you that have been soaked up in Him are changed and how it now has power to bring life.

Two year olds, toddlers, do not have the ability to immerse in something. They scatter things. The run through a room like a tornado. How many secrets can they keep? None. How long will we stay babes, infants, toddlers... not able to hear or keep His secrets.

"Jesus, here I am Your favorite one.
What are You thinking what are You feeling I'd like to know.
I am after Your heart!
I'm after You."

The Weapons of our Warfare

"For though we walk in the flesh, as mortal men/people, we are not on our warfare according to the flesh and using weapons of carnality. The weapons of our warfare are not physical - of flesh/carnal. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

These weapons are not the same as the armor of God listed in Ephesians 6. These are spiritual weapons that makes no sense in the flesh. They are to defeat and destroy the fortresses in the soul, the life of a human being. Look at what it says:" We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every lofty, exalted, proud thing that sets itself up against the true knowledge of God. These things have become strongholds inside of people to keep them from walking in an intimate, close relationship with God and to enjoy the fellowship in Jesus Christ of other people.

Weapons are useless and even dangerous in the hands of someone who do not know how to use them. I was maybe 10 when I fired my first rifle. Surprisingly, I had a natural aptitude for being accurate with firearms. Later on, I could reach targets with reasonable accuracy but I would be useless in a gun battle because this skill was never developed. A person skilled has to keep practicing every day to keep their skills up and current. Concert musicians practise every day to keep the quality of their performance at best. Athletes does the same and so does soldiers. We are in a war of eternal consequences. How much more do we have to hone our skills at using the weapons of our warfare? We need training in using these weapons and using them well. We need mentors and trainers to help us be effective. I used to be enthralled at the fencing skills of the knights in medieval movies. It takes some practise to stay out of the way of a blade coming towards you that hard and fast.

What are these weapons?

The first and most important one is Love; Godly, self-sacrificing, agape love. It is the same love that God the Father manifested when He sent His Only begotten Son to die in our place. It is given to us when the Holy Spirit is deposited in our hearts. Romans 5:5

How is Love a weapon? It destroys strongholds, fortresses of rejection, abandonment, incorrect self image, lies and a myriad of other internal flaws. It comes at a hardened heart that cannot feel anymore or to a high minded, arrogant, proud mind and melts these things away. It disarms and creates vulnerability. This kind of love does not give up. It stays no matter the return. Just follow the history of God and Israel. This is Godly love as a weapon.

There is much written in the New Testament about this. Love, this God-kind-of-love is the theme of the Gospel of John, the First Epistle of John and of course the 13 chapter of 1 Corinthians. It sometimes takes a lifetime to learn how to skillfully love; how to have His love flow through us to those who needs it. His love in the heart of a human who are skilled in letting that love reach out to others, is a weapon of mass destruction to the works of the enemy. Love lifts us up. Love heals. Love validates us. Love conquers fear. Love makes us whole and gives us a hope and vision for  the future. It asks nothing in return. It has no strings attached. This is weaponized love.

The second, that comes as a companion to the first, is unity. Colossians 3:14 O, how inept are we at using this weapon. We are weak-wristed, dropping this weapon, and with so little skill end up wounded and destroyed. Unity, the true unity of spirit brings a blessing from God. Psalm 133 It fortifies against assault from the enemy and ward of temptation much like the herds on the African plain keep the weak and young in the middle. Unity that has been practised to the level of mastery will not allow offense to set in. It does  not allow stranglers or straying. Unity deals with issues in a mature and Godly way to keep darkness out of the camp. Unity reflects the Divine Trinity in our midst and it multiplies our strength. Unity is like a vacuum cleaner against the enemy's broom.

This weapon is not easy to master since there are many levels of unity. It is easy to pervert and unify around offense, issue or opposition. Unity is modeled in the life of Old Testament Israel and spoken about quite often in the  New Testament. Jesus prayed in John 17 for unity amongst His disciples. Paul writes about it in Ephesians 4. Interesting how people use this very chapter to justify their elitism and divisiveness.

Unity as a weapon puts the enemy out of the camp. It protects and brings a blessing from God.

Another weapon, spiritual weapon, is peace. It is told that when Wesley traveled to America via ship there were some Moravian Christians on the ship. During a particular nasty storm these Christians behaved in such a peaceful way that it impacted Wesley, founder of the Methodist denomination.

Peace takes skill to develop because there are a few counterfeits. Even Jesus mentions it:" Peace I give you, My peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives, do I give to you." He continues to warn against letting your heart be troubled and fearful. Now this takes practise. It is easy to run around in hysteria and be swept away by every wind of drama. It is easy to be afraid, anxious and letting the storms of life take over our souls.

His peace rules and reigns if we let it. We have to allow peace into our souls and guard it to keep it there. It is like the armory on a military base, worth protecting.
We practise peace by being on guard about the things we allow into our mind, heart and life. When it robs you of your peace, you are not skilled  in this weapon. You can refuse to be robbed. You can keep the thieves out.

Peace keeps us from making hasty, wrongly motivated decisions. Peace keeps us from running in wrong directions. Peace umpire our hearts in teaching us to listen to God's voice. Peace guides, protects and leads. Peace is an effective weapon against the war, divisions and destruction of the enemy. When peace keeps us from fighting his way, we win.

The last weapon I would like to highlight.....and there are many more.....  is Faithfulness. Faithfulness says:"I will not quit. I have put my hand to the plough. I am not looking back. Faithfulness as a weapon destroys the enemy's  plan to destroy our destiny in God. If we get skilled in faithfulness we will receive our reward in the end. This is a difficult weapon to master because there is no immediate satisfaction. The victories are not easily noticed. We kind of wake up one day and  realize that a stronghold has  fallen. This has something to do with covenants, commitments and the courage to not give up when the  going gets hard. It has a bit of a stubborn streak.

Faithfulness works with every one  of the other weapons mentioned here and skillfulness in this will strengthen the mastery of the others. We are faithful when we love and keep on loving. We use faithfulness when we endeavor to keep the peace and not be swayed to walk away. We use faithfulness to keep the unity of the saints when we remember our covenant of oneness before God.

The weapons of our warfare are handed down to us by our Master and Commander in Chief. It is however, our responsibility to practise and master the skills. We pray and ask God to reveal to us other weapons of spiritual warfare but also to show  us how to use these skillfully to defeat the enemy in our own souls and also in the Body of Christ.

Avoid Divorce By Getting Good Godly Counsel

...    Before You Fall In Love.

It always breaks my heart when a couple decides to call it quits on their marriage. So much goes through my head: "Where did things go wrong? When did things go wrong? Can it be fixed? Is there hope? What about the families?.....????"

Married in 1967...5 kids...still together.

I am convinced that most divorces can be prevented maybe not during the marriage but before the wedding. Few people, young and old alike, will listen to reason, counsel, advice when they are "in love". Family and friends who are not part of the whirlwind romance are much better suited to speak wisdom into the choice of a life partner. Once the hormones start raging, reason goes out the door.

It is important to knit a safety net long before this happens. Some people prefer courtship rather than dating for this very reason. The process of courtship requires a lot of relationships to be pure and in tact and Godly. Most families in our day are in different stages of brokenness. Courtship will do for those who are less broken. For the rest there is the safety net.

A safety net is simply a few people, two or three, to whom a person gives permission to candidly speak into this area of their life. The intention is to listen and seriously consider the advice, observation and counsel. - These counselors would be people who has shown their desire for your best interest in the past, knows you well and are honorable without any self-interest in your choices; A pastor or spiritual leader, a parent or grandparent or other family member or a good lifelong friend.

It goes without saying that a lot of praying or even prayer and fasting, to seek the will of God in the matter, is needed as well. Marriage counsel before the wedding is in my opinion one of the best ways to avoid divorce. That is if it is the kind of counselor that would ask the tough questions. Who controls the money? Would there be children? Who and how do you discipline, educate and raise the kids? What is your religious convictions? How important are they? What are the family's traditions? What and how are they to be incorporated into the new family? What are the expectations, honest expectations, of each person from themselves, their partner and Gods in this proposed marriage? 

It seems to me that truely special care in choosing a spouse, a life partner should take at least the same consideration and effort that we invest into choosing a career. If we truely expect to be married only once in a lifetime, would we not do this with a bit more care?

You may say: "What is the big deal? Everyone is getting divorced and remarried these days" The problem is that we do not live for ourselves. No man is an island. Whether we acknowledge it or not, our lives are tightly intertwined with the lives of other people. Our acts and re-actions spill over into their lives. If it was not so, funerals would have been unnecessary.

When marriage ends in divorce, it hurts not only the husband and wife, it rips a hole in the children, the parents, the friends, the extended families. If we truely understood the injury of divorce we would mourn every divorce as a death, as a great loss and do our utmost to help marriages work. We would do our utmost to choose the right spouse and be the right spouse and once we are married to work at it for the rest of our lives.

That said ladies, I am in no way, shape or form propagating staying in an abusive marriage. Please, please, please get help, get out and yes do it even with the children...... and that is another talk for another day.

~ Pictures in this section by:
   Licia Photography - Nelspruit/Pretoria
      072 470-2947. 

Does Sin Matter?

After a person is born again and become a child of God, does sin matter?  If Jesus' death, burial and resurrection covered all sin of all people for all times, does sin still matter? After we receive His cleansing blood and our will has been freed from bondage, is sin still an issue? Can we sin as much as we want to since it is already paid for?

Paul, the Apostle, in Romans 6 addresses these questions with a resounding: "God forbid" , "May it never be!". He says: "How can we who are dead to sin, continue in it?" We are no longer in bondage, slaves to sin, Satan and self to fulfilling the lusts, passions of sin. We actually have the God-given power to resist the devil. We can and must so "NO!" to sin. Our dead self has no longer any obligation to give in to temptations, we do not have to sin. In other words, Christians who sin, choose to sin.

Hebrews the 3rd and 4th chapters addresses these same questions on a different level. All actions originate from the heart. Here the author of Hebrews says that unbelief is disobedience is sin and it not only stems from a hard heart but also hardens the heart. Think back to Eden.... Did God really say.... ? In comes unbelief resulting in disobedience which is sin.

Hebrews do not leave us in the mess but continues to propose the answer to our sin, disobedience, unbelief, hardened heart problem. It is twofold:

First; The Word of God will discern sin in our lives and bring to light the thought and intent of our hearts. The seed of our actions will be purified by it. In reading and studying the Word (logos=written word) of God, we guard our heart from unbelief, disobedience and hardness. Sin is deceitful. The Word of God will unmask it. As we submit to the Word our hearts will change and sin, disobedience, unbelief will become less and less of a problem.

The second part of the answer is to go to Jesus our advocate. He understands our every weakness. He was tempted in all ways just like us, yet never gave in to unbelief, disobedience, sin and hardness of heart. He suffered, He endured. He agonized about His approaching torture and separation from God the Father yet in all of this never gave in to the temptation to sin.

Because of our Savior we can now with confidence approach the Throne of Grace to ask for help in the day of evil, the day of temptation. It is the help we need to keep sin, disobedience, unbelief and hardness.of heart away from us. This is the victory in Jesus.

The answer to whether sin matters is: "Yes, it does."  It will lead to unbelief and hardness of heart. It will make you a bitter, cynical, angry, irritated human. It will rob you of joy, peace and prosperity. It will bring darkness, death and misery into your life. After you have been born again YOU have the choice to allow it in or by the Word and Prayer keep it out of your life.

Who is your Father?

This past generation had an inordinate amount of single mothers raising children without a good father figure. The men were either "unknown", abusive or just plain lazy and lame. The result are boys who became young men without an idea what it means to be a man. The girls have learned that they can't trust a man and if they want something done to do it themselves. This does not sound like a big change from previous generations untill these children  begins to pro-create. Their struggle to relate to their children is so great it screams to the Heavens.

Sadly the same thing happened in the spiritual/Christian realm. The role of the leader/pastor of a congregation is to lead the people to have a relationship with God the Father. Instead of doing this job during the past 30 years, the pastors were busy building personality followings and fiefdoms for themselves. What came across most pulpits were second hand, watered down, political motivated speeches. Pet doctrines, yelling at other preachers in their absence or the government, correcting behaviour via sermons, or whatever irked them for the moment were served up to hungry people not knowing any better. And of course I am generalizing. The result is a Christian people who do not have a clue who this God is that they are supposedly serving. It is evident in the things coming out of their mouths, their behaviour and the lack of power in their attempts at ministry.

Jesus said that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I came to show you the Father. 

This is eternal life, to know God and Him whom He sent.

My dear friends, Isn't it about time that we get to know the Father?

God can do it again

Early August 2010 I took the four loads of wet laundry to the laundromat some time at night. Our dryer was dead. I folded and stacked the laundry one at a time back in the baskets. After putting it all away I went to bed. Waking up the next morning my back would not straighten without excruciating pain. Somewhere near the bottom of my back something was out of wack. 

I took so many painkillers that my insides started to pour blood. After fourteen days the doctors took cat scans. They could see nothing wrong and surmise it must be arthritis. In which case I will have to learn to live with it. The painkillers they gave me, made my brain useless. I stopped using it during the day and only took it at night. I kept working through all this.  For thirty days I cried through the night and grind my teeth through the days.

 Last Sunday in August I went to a country church. A person got up and ask for prayer for a bad back. While the pastor prayed I said inside of me:" Lord, if he opens it up for anyone I k o  It's for me." Sure enough the pastor asked if anyone else needs a miracle in their back. My hand shot up. He called me.to the front. A couple of ladies started to cry and wanted to pray for me. They laid hands on me and said a simple prayer. I bend down but did not feel any different. 

The next morning I woke up for the first time in thirty days with no pain in my back. It has been pain free ever since. I do laundry carry heavy buckets of mail around, pick up my grandkids and still my back is fine.

God Is still in the miracle bussiness.