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. 

The Mystery of Salvation.

I have had a conversation recently with a mother whose children were born again at a young age and now as adults lives like heathens. The absolute pain of seeing our children who were raised in the church, in Christian homes, being born again and yet choose to follow the world into the abyss is excruciating. It brings a person to re-evaluate what you belief.

The mystery of salvation is probly as mysterious as the mystery of natural birth. We all know the mechanics of making babies, carry them inside for about 9 months and then giving birth. That is the general idea. Hopefully the kid survives childhood, including the parent's ignorance, and grow into a responsible adult that contributes to life. That is the idea in the natural. The mystery is why some who seemed to have the best of everything still end up a giant flop and others who seem to have every obstacle possible thrown at them, survive and thrive.

Spiritual birth have so many mysteries to it. We all know the basic mechanics to it. A person believes the Word of God concerning Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross as well as His resurrection. This faith causes the life of God via the Holy Spirit to enter the person's spirit and cause a new life from within. Therefore the term: "born again". So where is the mystery? It is in the ones who do not make it despite all the effort from those around them and in those who made it even though they are  tossed aside and not taken care of like the allegory in Ezekiel.

Why does some people just get a hold of God and refuse to let go while others are ready for any excuse to quit on God? I honestly don't know. As many others I can surmise but there are so many variables. Suffice to say that I am convinced, absolutely 100% certain that God - in three persons - is fantastic. I know that does not sound very theological or religious. But really. He is the biggest adventure anyone can ever engage in. He is the most endless love , true love, to get lost in. I cannot imagine why anyone would choose anything above a relationship with Him.

Why do they? Maybe they never truely were born again. Maybe they never really got to know Him, and was left with the lies they saw lived out in the people who were supposed to mentor them. Maybe their heart were hard like a road, or covered with worries and shame or maybe they lost their faith somewhere in their pursuit of what this world can offer... and there is surely more maybe' s.

What can we do about this? I do believe that every prodigal can come home. I do believe God's grace is enough. I do believe there is power in prayer, love and forgiveness. I do believe that He who begun a good work in them is able to complete it. And I belief God who saved them will bring them back into a relationship with Him, if we can believe and ask Him in that faith.

Can anything be too hard for God?

FIRST.........LOVE.

When my children were young I once took our youngest two sons to a fastfood restaurant for lunch. They may have been 5 and 9. We were enjoying our sandwiches while talking. An elderly lady stopped by and said: "I've been sitting there watching how well you obeyed your mother. Now I would like to know, is it because you fear her or love her?"

Most humans and animals have a need for love. Love. Is a universal language crossing language and racial barriers. It breaks down walls and melts pre-conceived ideas. Love empowers, envisions and energies. Motivated by love, we endure , we sacrifice, we conquer, we lose ourselves. 

To know God's love is what is life- changing. To know His love enable us to love as He loves. We cannot begin to love and accept ourselves without an experiential knowledge of God's love for us. Without love and acceptance for ourselves we cannot love and accept someone else. His love gives us worth. His love opens life to us. It brings us from a mere, grey existence into a place of living, vibrant light.

God is love, perfect love. He is motivated by love. He proved His love by sending Jesus as sacrifice for sin. This removed the obstacle of sin so that we now have access to God. We can have a relationship with Him. Perfect love drives away fear. Fear includes punishment. Fear makes stupid decisions. Even if we obey because of fear we are selfishly motivated. It is only when we are moved by love that we give ourselves unreservedly, unconditionally.

Sin hardens our hearts so that we become callous about the love of God. This affects our faith. Faith works through love. When we know that God so loved us that He sent Jesus, we believe and this faith brings eternal life. This great love with which He loves us, is the first step. Know, really know, that He loves you. 

John 3:16, 1 John 4:7 - 5:3,  Galatians 5:6, Romans 5:8, John 14:34-35, Rev 2:4

Treasure of our heart.

Mary, a young teenage bride, pregnant and in a precarious situation had a treasure in her heart. Today, if people were asked about the treasures in their hearts, the answers would range from human relationships to material things. Maybe someone may mention a sports team or knowledge. But this wise girl kept the things of God, the supernatural occurrences surrounding her baby-boy, in her heart.

Few keep anything in their hearts anymore. Almost anything and everything is "shared" , plastered on social media for the world to see: From what you had for breakfast to the driver in front of you causing road rage. It's all hung out there like laundry over the narrow streets of old Europe's cities. Who keeps anything inside?

Therapists encourage people to let it out. They are focusing on negative emotions for the most part. Deep thinkers, meditaters, ponderers is an odd thing these days. It may be, because we are too buzzy and noisy. Mostly from our own choices and this culture.

"Come away" I hear the Lord calling "and rest. Find some place to think, to ponder, to treasure"

Forgive, forgive and forgive

I broke a bowl last night.
I opened the refrigerator and out came a bowl with some cranberry sauce in it. It fell on the floor and shattered.
This surprised me a bit since I've dropped this particular bowl many times in the past but this time it broke in a thousand pieces. I picked up the larger pieces and put it in a cardboard cereal box and in a paperbag. Then took great pains in sweeping all the little chips up, so that our dog would not walk in it or someone in bear feet wouldn't get cut.
Our youngest son, who was close by, handed me my flip-flops and went and got the broom from his room without being asked.
As I was sweeping I felt a burning on one of my feet and noticed a black spot. Thinking it was a mosquito, I swat at it. It was blood from a tiny cut. There were several tiny cuts on both lower legs.
This morning I opened the refrigerator and saw some large shards I missed and some tiny chips.
I am not sure that I got it all out.

As I was cleaning it this morning, a thought came: "This is like forgiveness"
When the initial event takes place, one tries to properly dispose of it: Forgive right away. Isn't that what the Bible say.
There may even be someone close by who love you enough to try to help you get over it.
You think you are okay and it's all taken care of, dealt with. But then you notice tiny wounds in your soul that needs some attention.
After taking care of these you think that it is done. Finish and "klaar".
Some time pass and one day you find, just in the course of your life, that the issue is not finished.
Now you realize that maybe there could be some lingering danger, some little residue, that may hurt you or someone near you in the future.

"Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Heretic, Demonic, Possessed:  Are THEY?

In the Church - the Greater Global Church - we run around with our labels and categorize our brothers and sisters. Looking from a human perspective we make all sorts of judgements or rather; condemnations. We major on the minors. We bite and devour one another. "Love covers a multitude of sin"  scripture says, but we strive to be right rather than to love. We ignore what Jesus said.

For those who feels the need to judge, condemn and reject people for whom Jesus paid His life and who may love Him and serve Him; here are a few points to consider:

It Is God's Church. He is well able. to manage it.

We resemble Absalom in his anger over the rape of his sister. We judge our Father apathetic and incompetent, taking matters in our own hands or mouths. We decide that someone is a heretic or demon possessed with no solid evidence. In the first century church when Paul went to preach to the gentiles, there was a matter concerning circumcision and obeying the law of Moses. They came together in Jerusalem and talked things through.  They did not call one another names and dis-fellowship one another.

We may not know all the facts.

This may come as a shock to some, but really, we may truly not have all the facts. Our understanding of a situation depends largely upon the information we have or do not have. When the leaders. of a congregations makes decisions concerning everyone, it is often with knowledge gained through counseling or confidential conversation. There are always some person, mis-informed, who questions the decisions.

Only God has all knowledge and understanding. He is the only righteous judge. We have to have our words and actions submitted to His Holy Spirit. The crazy camel-haired, desert-dwelling, homeless man, may be in truth a prophet of God.

God deals with His own without our permission.

Consider these men whom God used mightily:
Moses was a murderer, yet God never mentioned it. Abram lied about his wife and cowardly sacrificed her to save his own skin. David had five or six wives, one stolen from another man, an  his household was out of order. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived could not resist a pretty woman and his wives eventually led him into idolatry. Hosea was commanded by God to marry a prostitute. Nehemiah, Peter a d Paul had problems with their tempers. Jeremiah and Solomon both suffered with bouts of depression. And the list goes on and on. Recent church history tells many tales of flawed men and women used mightily by God. The fact is that our opinion matters little.

We should and can pray for those whom we see straying from the clear Biblical path. We can call attention to their actions, teachings or doctrine, but we ought to have some fear at making condemning judgements on the people of God. We must have discernment for our own sake. But when we divide the Church of Jesus Christ into "us" and "them", we are in error. We are one. Both Daniel and Nehemiah included themselves in the repentant intercession for Israel although they were personally and individually innocent.

Maybe, just maybe....

Maybe what seems like heresy is just a blossoming prophet trying to get it right. Remember the goof-ups of our own youth and zeal, when wisdom was lacking.
Maybe the uneasiness we feel is due to our own issues, secret sins, fear of losing position or control, competitive attitude, inadequacy or feelings of inferiority.
Maybe this person was sent by God not for you to set straight, but so that you may be polished by them. These rough edges will not be made smooth by a sweet gentle cloth.
Maybe the situation and people are an answer to prayer. We often ask God or make promises to Him without actually knowing what we are talking about. Peter stated that he will never deny Jesus but before the sun was up the next day, he had to eat his words. We ask for patience, God gives us tribulations. We promise full surrender, God send horrible people who tempt us to take matters in our own hands. We declare our undying love and devotion to God and He brings us the most annoying and arrogant people to love.

Let love cover a multitude of sins. It is almost impossible to truly pray and intercede for someone while running a smear campaign against them. If we can't bring ourselves to pray then at least  stop adding to the negative flow of words and be quiet.

Focus on serving God and let Him deal with His own household.

Teaching our Sons to Love

Neglecting to actively teach our sons how to love leave them to cob it together themselves. Often the examples they grow up with does not help much to educate them either.

Men, boys, remember the girl you fell in love with. It is easy to forget why you were attracted to her to begin with because women change. They respond, react to the action of the people they are in relationship with. If you are kind and considerate consistently they will respond in kind. Women also go through a ton of biological changes when they become mothers. It may be best to have an attitude of celebrating the changes. At least you will not be bored and if you stick with it, she will keep the relationship interesting. Yes, most men hope that she will not change but the fact is that she will. The man in a woman's life have a great deal to do with how she changes.

You owe it to your children to model a relationship with your spouse that they can reproduce and be happy in. Loving their mother is the best thing a father can do for his children. Model respect so that they may become respectful adults. Model kindness, love and generosity so that they can become people of character. Nothing speak louder than your actions.

Dominating, controlling, manipulating a person, is NOT love.
Keeping all the money, keeping her in basic poverty, is NOT love. Refusing to do chores, expecting her to be your slave, is NOT love. Screaming at her, calling her derogatory names, mocking her, berating her, verbally assaulting her, is NOT love. Controlling her association with family and friends, is NOT love.

Well, maybe some thick skull need things spelled out. When you tell her what to wear, and how to wear it, it is abuse not love. When you portion her food out and control what and how much she eats, it is abuse not love. When you limit her time spend with family and friends or make it unpleasant and embarrassing, it is abuse not love. When you control how much money she has and how she spends it, it is abuse not love. When you yell and scream, curse and threaten, browbeating her into complying with you, it is abuse not love. The man is NOT the dictator in the home. The woman and children are NOT your property or slaves.

So how do you fulfill the role of leader in your home while avoiding these pitfalls? It begins with an attitude of the heart. A humble heart, aware of of your own fears and shortcomings, will be more able to lead in a kind and gentle way. Consider how our heavenly Father deals with us and emulate that. Be aware that your wife and your children are precious gifts to you. They belong to God. He only let you have them to brighten your life. Your actions and words matter a great deal. Find somewhere else to blow of steam not at your family. Be unselfish. If you are only concerned for yourself, everyone is a potential enemy, even the people you profess to love.

The Bible says: 
Husband love your wife just as Jesus loves the church and gave Himself for her. Eph 5 :25
When men are abusive to their wives, God does not listen to their prayers. 1 Peter 3:17
Those who lead among us should not "lord it over" those they lead.  1 Peter 5:3, Matthew 20:25
Fathers do not frustrate your children. Eph 6:4

This is Heresy

Hebrews 13:9, Galatians 1:7, 2 Corinthians 11:3-4 

Here are a few recent teachings we have encountered in otherwise loving, sweet and popular assemblies. Some are dear friends we have known for many years and although I love the people truly, the teachings are un-Biblical and heretic.

1. The resurrection already happened. The second coming of Jesus Christ happened on the day of Pentecost. Heaven is not a place but a state of awareness, a different dimension.  

This is heresy! 

2 John, 1 Corinthians 15, Mark 14:25, Matthew 22:23-32, John 5:29, Romans 6:5, Philippians 3:11

2. Your spirit is sinless, seated with Christ in God and therefore you cannot sin. All that you do in the flesh does not matter because grace covers it. Your behavior, your actions matter little. Your spirit is the real you.

This is heresy!

James 4:4, Jude 1:4, 1 Peter 4:1, 3 John, John 14:21, 2 John 1:8,1 Corinthians 6:15,  2 Corinthians 13:7, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 2:2, James 2:14-26, Romans 6, 2 Peter, Revelations 22:12, Matthew 6:1-18, 1 Corinthians 3:8-14

3. If it is God, you will feel loved. We love people and want to meet their need, so we pursue God to get the power to do it. The purpose of the church is to serve people.

This is heresy!

Galatians 4:16, Mark 12:30, 1 John 4:1-2, 1 John 5:1-3, 2 Corinthians 5:14, John 14:2, Ephesians 3:19, Matthew 10:37

4. There are two salvation plans, one for the Jews and another for the rest of humanity. There are two brides. The Jews do not have to receive Jesus as savior, there is another way for them.

This is heresy!

John 14:6, John 8:12, Mark 15:2, Matthew 1:21, Ephesians 2, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Romans 11, Romans 9:3-8, John 10:9

5. If people oppose what I say, if they disagree with me, then they are evil or demonic. Because I am called and anointed by God I cannot make a mistake. God only anoints truth so I am truth and everyone who does not agree with me is evil. I am free to malign them and attack them because they are the enemy. 

This is heresy!

2 Thessalonians 3:15, Romans 13:8, James 2:1-13, Luke 6:35, John 16;13, Matthew 18, Matthew 5:43, Romans 12:20, Galatians 4:16

The Scripture references to refute these false doctrines are in no way comprehensive. It is just a starting point. There are also much more to each of these that intertwines with it and flows out of it. But as I understand it, these are the root of the teachings.

We Are Changed

Matthew 17:2; And he was transfigured before them. And his face shone as the sun, and his garments became white as the light;

2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, looking on the glory of the Lord, with unveiled face, are transformed according to the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.

His glory transforms us into the same image from one degree of glory to another... 

Forgiveness of sin does not really become an issue for a person who are a sinner. It is not an issue because it is normal for sinners to sin. It is the nature. A bird does not have to think to fly, it just flies.  Speaking to a sinner about their sin is a futile effort. It is taking the cat by the tail. 

But speaking to a sinner about the great love with which God loves them is another thing all together. God loves the world, everyone. Because of our misconception of what love truly is, we think that love is the same as license. God loves sinners enough that He sent His Son to pay the price for every sin. This allows the sinner who dare to receive this gift, entrance into a relationship with God. 

A sinner does not as much need forgiveness of sin as a transformation from being a child of satan and darkness into the Kingdom of Light and life. A pig may be washed 10 000 times but will return to the mud every time. If a person could somehow transform the pig into a lamb, it will no longer seek out the mud. Transformation of the nature of a sinner, be-ing born into the family of God changes the "who" of the person and therefor changes their incline, their bend, their nature. 

Now that the sinner became a Christian, a saint, now we need to speak of forgiveness of sin. I caught a snipped of an interview with a woman who worked in an abortion mill. She never had a problem with what they were doing. She became aware of the love of God, received Jesus as her personal Lord and Savior. The next day at work, she was left with the responsibility to dispose of the residue of a late term abortion. All of a sudden the depths of what just happened hit her and she wept over this baby. Before the light of the life of Jesus Christ entered her, there was no awareness of the true nature of her actions. A person sitting in darkness cannot discern the darkness. 

Once a person has been born again of incorruptible seed, sin becomes an issue. The weight of individual transgressions becomes a crushing reality. A Christian lives in a constant state of forgiveness since the conviction of the Holy Spirit never lets up. We are sensitive to the sinfulness of sin and can no longer be oblivious to it. 

One will not seek for an answer unless the problem is apparent. We seek God's forgiveness because we are convinced that sin is sinful. We avoid living in habitual sin so that our nature, the light in us, will not become dark. Once the Holy Spirit indwells an individual their relationship with sin changes. He, the Holy Spirit, convicts of sin, righteousness and judgement. 

John addresses his first letter to Christians. He says that if you are happy and comfortable in your sin, you are most likely not a Christian. He also said that Christians make a choice to love one another and obey God. Christians can choose to sin or not to sin. Sinners do not have a choice.

1 John 5:18 We know that every one begotten of God does not sin, but he that has been begotten of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.

One of our Times true Hero's, 

anointed man of God 

and Christian martyr. 

In 1950's America, the equality of man envisioned by the Declaration of Independence was far from a reality. People of color — blacks, Hispanics, Asians — were discriminated against in many ways, both overt and covert. The 1950's were a turbulent time in America, when racial barriers began to come down due to Supreme Court decisions, like Brown v. Board of Education; and due to an increase in the activism of blacks, fighting for equal rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr., a Baptist minister, was a driving force in the push for racial equality in the 1950's and the 1960's. In 1963, King and his staff focused on Birmingham, Alabama. They marched and protested non-violently, raising the ire of local officials who sicced water cannon and police dogs on the marchers, whose ranks included teenagers and children. The bad publicity and break-down of business forced the white leaders of Birmingham to concede to some anti-segregation demands.

Thrust into the national spotlight in Birmingham, where he was arrested and jailed, King helped organize a massive march on Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963. His partners in the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom included other religious leaders, labor leaders, and black organizers. The assembled masses marched down the Washington Mall from the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, heard songs from Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, and heard speeches by actor Charlton Heston, NAACP president Roy Wilkins, and future U.S. Representative from Georgia John Lewis.

King's appearance was the last of the event; the closing speech was carried live on major television networks. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, King evoked the name of Lincoln in his "I Have a Dream" speech, which is credited with mobilizing supporters of desegregation and prompted the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The next year, King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The following is the exact text of the spoken speech, transcribed from recordings.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of theConstitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing apromissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory noteinsofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, acheck which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. 

Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

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