Monday, October 13, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Vision: The Flight Of Wisdom
Vision: Voice Of America
Vision: The Giant Hideous Bird In America
Vision: White Dove Over America
Vision: Mad Britain: Insane America
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Men Lose Their Shirts
VISION: AMERICA- CAN YOU HEAR THE SCHEMES
Vision: A New Thing In China
Vision: America Watch The Back Door
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: SCHOOLING IN AMERICA
CROSSING THE RUBICON-BY STEPHEN SMITH
Vision: The Three Trains
Vision: Voice Of America
VISION: WISE LEADERS SIT OUT THE DANCE
VISION: 5 UNEXPLODED BOMBS IN AMERICA
Transcript OF Audio-Vision: America O AmericaVision: The Giant Hideous Bird In America
Vision: White Dove Over America
Vision: Mad Britain: Insane America
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Men Lose Their Shirts
VISION: AMERICA- CAN YOU HEAR THE SCHEMES
Vision: A New Thing In China
Vision: America Watch The Back Door
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: SCHOOLING IN AMERICA
CROSSING THE RUBICON-BY STEPHEN SMITH
Vision: The Three Trains
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Things Things Things-By Samuel Chadwick
(Thanks Fred for emailing me this article)
The European Prophetic College
TWENTY-FIVE SUNDAY MORNINGS
WITH SAMUEL CHADWICK
9 THINGS! THINGS! THINGS!
’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’ Luke 12:15.
I have ceased to wonder that Jesus Christ was crucified. For many years it was impossible to imagine how men could so misunderstand and hate Him. But a fuller understanding of His teaching and wider knowledge of the world have led me to the conclusion that there is only one end to a ministry like His – and that is a Cross.
There are woes enough in these two chapters to account for all that happened. He unmasked iniquity where it was least suspected; and attacked the vices of the wealthy and powerful in terms of liquid fire; He shocked and angered the most religious people of his time; called them ’whited sepulchers’, and defied their traditions; He hurled woe upon woe in all directions. His own friends understood Him but little better than His enemies. He talked of His Kingdom, but rebuked their determination to make Him King. He denounced sin in terrible terms, but would not let them call down fire from heaven.
He preached righteousness and justice; poured scorching scorn upon hypocrisy and oppression, but when actual cases were brought to Him He declined to interfere or even to pronounce judgment. He condemned wrong, but refused to take sides. Here is one of many cases that might be cited. A man, perhaps a follower, has been wronged by his brother, and appeals to this preacher of righteousness to secure him his rights. Instead, He rebukes the petitioner, and asks, Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Disappointment was inevitable. To preach sternly and then refuse the responsibility of practical application to particular cases always brings provocation. The explanation of His attitude is plain enough now.
He came to establish a world-wide spiritual kingdom. He laid down principles that are universal, not precepts which were local. He sought to correct the dispositions of men rather than to secure their rights. He would destroy wrong, not by direct attacks upon vice, but by saving the sinner. That is His method. A new world through a renewed humanity. So here, instead of interfering in the quarrel, He reads the motive behind the appeal, and warns against covetousness. He detects the undue eagerness to gain possessions, and corrects the false estimate of the things of this world. And in so doing incidentally states one of the profoundest truths concerning the true philosophy of life. ’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’
The World’s Estimate Of Things
To the world things are everything. It longs for them, works for them, fights for them, lies for them, lives for them. Its one ambition is to possess abundance of things. To secure them it will pay any price, endure any hardship, suffer any obloquy, sacrifice any thing. Its homage and its envy are reserved for those who have the most things. It never troubles about how they got them, nor what they do with them, it is enough that they have won for themselves piles of things!
The cry of the world is for things, things, things; always more things. This is a purely pagan view of life. After these things do the heathen seek. Pagan philosophy is based upon the supposed supremacy of things. Heathen religions find their heaven in the abundance of things. And, alas, most of us are pure pagan. We live for the things. We toil and strive for the possession of things. Our only idea of heaven is a place where we shall have undreamed abundance of glorified things.
We call ourselves Christian, but our lives are heathen.
Christ’s Teaching Concerning Things
He declares that true life does not depend upon things at all. Indeed the only way into life is by the renunciation of things. We must forsake them, sacrifice them, die to them if we would live. Not only He, but all the world’s greatest have proved that life is not measured by the possession of the world’s things. The greatest of all had not where to lay His head. Things are an encumbrance to the man who would rise.
They cannot secure for their possessors the best even of this life. Even here the best things cannot be bought with money. Wealth can give much. Solomon says, ’it answereth all things’. But its limitations are as marked as its power. It can give you doctors, but not health; a good table, but not appetite; houses, but not homes; followers, but not friends; envy, but not love. An abundance of things becomes a useless burden. You can only use a few of them, the rest are a care and a snare. You may have many carriages, but you cannot ride in all of them at once. You may have many houses, but you can only live in one at a time. You may have many courses, but you can only eat till you are full.
Wealth consists not in the abundance of things. For the greatest needs of life they are utterly useless. They cannot even ensure existence, let alone life. And it should never be forgotten that the world can only be secured at the cost of the man himself. He who wins the world loses his soul. To live for things is to die to all that is spiritual and divine. Life is being, not having. It is what a man is, not what he has that really matters. What you have will perish, what you are abides for ever. Seek not things. They perish, they corrupt, they pass away.
SEEK TO BE, To be manly, honest, brave and good. ’Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Seek God first, always first. In Him only is the true life
The European Prophetic College
TWENTY-FIVE SUNDAY MORNINGS
WITH SAMUEL CHADWICK
9 THINGS! THINGS! THINGS!
’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’ Luke 12:15.
I have ceased to wonder that Jesus Christ was crucified. For many years it was impossible to imagine how men could so misunderstand and hate Him. But a fuller understanding of His teaching and wider knowledge of the world have led me to the conclusion that there is only one end to a ministry like His – and that is a Cross.
There are woes enough in these two chapters to account for all that happened. He unmasked iniquity where it was least suspected; and attacked the vices of the wealthy and powerful in terms of liquid fire; He shocked and angered the most religious people of his time; called them ’whited sepulchers’, and defied their traditions; He hurled woe upon woe in all directions. His own friends understood Him but little better than His enemies. He talked of His Kingdom, but rebuked their determination to make Him King. He denounced sin in terrible terms, but would not let them call down fire from heaven.
He preached righteousness and justice; poured scorching scorn upon hypocrisy and oppression, but when actual cases were brought to Him He declined to interfere or even to pronounce judgment. He condemned wrong, but refused to take sides. Here is one of many cases that might be cited. A man, perhaps a follower, has been wronged by his brother, and appeals to this preacher of righteousness to secure him his rights. Instead, He rebukes the petitioner, and asks, Who made Me a judge or a divider over you? Disappointment was inevitable. To preach sternly and then refuse the responsibility of practical application to particular cases always brings provocation. The explanation of His attitude is plain enough now.
He came to establish a world-wide spiritual kingdom. He laid down principles that are universal, not precepts which were local. He sought to correct the dispositions of men rather than to secure their rights. He would destroy wrong, not by direct attacks upon vice, but by saving the sinner. That is His method. A new world through a renewed humanity. So here, instead of interfering in the quarrel, He reads the motive behind the appeal, and warns against covetousness. He detects the undue eagerness to gain possessions, and corrects the false estimate of the things of this world. And in so doing incidentally states one of the profoundest truths concerning the true philosophy of life. ’A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he possesseth.’
The World’s Estimate Of Things
To the world things are everything. It longs for them, works for them, fights for them, lies for them, lives for them. Its one ambition is to possess abundance of things. To secure them it will pay any price, endure any hardship, suffer any obloquy, sacrifice any thing. Its homage and its envy are reserved for those who have the most things. It never troubles about how they got them, nor what they do with them, it is enough that they have won for themselves piles of things!
The cry of the world is for things, things, things; always more things. This is a purely pagan view of life. After these things do the heathen seek. Pagan philosophy is based upon the supposed supremacy of things. Heathen religions find their heaven in the abundance of things. And, alas, most of us are pure pagan. We live for the things. We toil and strive for the possession of things. Our only idea of heaven is a place where we shall have undreamed abundance of glorified things.
We call ourselves Christian, but our lives are heathen.
Christ’s Teaching Concerning Things
He declares that true life does not depend upon things at all. Indeed the only way into life is by the renunciation of things. We must forsake them, sacrifice them, die to them if we would live. Not only He, but all the world’s greatest have proved that life is not measured by the possession of the world’s things. The greatest of all had not where to lay His head. Things are an encumbrance to the man who would rise.
They cannot secure for their possessors the best even of this life. Even here the best things cannot be bought with money. Wealth can give much. Solomon says, ’it answereth all things’. But its limitations are as marked as its power. It can give you doctors, but not health; a good table, but not appetite; houses, but not homes; followers, but not friends; envy, but not love. An abundance of things becomes a useless burden. You can only use a few of them, the rest are a care and a snare. You may have many carriages, but you cannot ride in all of them at once. You may have many houses, but you can only live in one at a time. You may have many courses, but you can only eat till you are full.
Wealth consists not in the abundance of things. For the greatest needs of life they are utterly useless. They cannot even ensure existence, let alone life. And it should never be forgotten that the world can only be secured at the cost of the man himself. He who wins the world loses his soul. To live for things is to die to all that is spiritual and divine. Life is being, not having. It is what a man is, not what he has that really matters. What you have will perish, what you are abides for ever. Seek not things. They perish, they corrupt, they pass away.
SEEK TO BE, To be manly, honest, brave and good. ’Seek first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.’ Seek God first, always first. In Him only is the true life
Saturday, September 27, 2008
The Justice of God by Arthur W. Pink
The Justice of God
by Arthur W. Pink
EXCERPT
It is scarcely surprising that far less has been written upon the justice of God than upon some of the other Divine perfections. We are accustomed to turn our thoughts unto those objects and subjects which afford us the most pleasure, and to avoid those which render us uneasy. But no servant of the Lord should be guilty of pandering to this tendency. Rather must he endeavour with all his might to declare “all the counsel of God” and to portray the Divine character just as it is set forth in Holy Writ. He must not conceal a single feature thereof, no matter how awe-inspiring it is or how repellent to the fallen creature. It is impossible for us to entertain right conceptions of God unless we have before us a full-orbed sight of His varied excellencies. To view Him only as “Love”; to refuse to contemplate Him as “Light”—will necessarily result in our manufacturing a false God in our imaginations, a caricature of the true and living God.
http://www.eternallifeministries.org/awp_justice.htm
by Arthur W. Pink
EXCERPT
It is scarcely surprising that far less has been written upon the justice of God than upon some of the other Divine perfections. We are accustomed to turn our thoughts unto those objects and subjects which afford us the most pleasure, and to avoid those which render us uneasy. But no servant of the Lord should be guilty of pandering to this tendency. Rather must he endeavour with all his might to declare “all the counsel of God” and to portray the Divine character just as it is set forth in Holy Writ. He must not conceal a single feature thereof, no matter how awe-inspiring it is or how repellent to the fallen creature. It is impossible for us to entertain right conceptions of God unless we have before us a full-orbed sight of His varied excellencies. To view Him only as “Love”; to refuse to contemplate Him as “Light”—will necessarily result in our manufacturing a false God in our imaginations, a caricature of the true and living God.
http://www.eternallifeministries.org/awp_justice.htm
Friday, September 26, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Inside The Scroll - Inside the Catholic Catechism
Inside The Scroll - Inside the Catholic Catechism:
Inside the Catholic Catechism
Index of Doctrines
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/cat-ndx.html
Inside the Catholic Catechism
Index of Doctrines
http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/cat-ndx.html
Friday, September 19, 2008
Vision: The Three Trains
Vision: Mad Britain: Insane America
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Men Lose Their Shirts
VISION: AMERICA- CAN YOU HEAR THE SCHEMES
Vision: A New Thing In China
Vision: America Watch The Back Door
VISION: 5 UNEXPLODED BOMBS IN AMERICA
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: SCHOOLING IN AMERICA
CROSSING THE RUBICON-BY STEPHEN SMITH
Vision: Mad Britain: Insane America
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Men Lose Their Shirts
VISION: AMERICA- CAN YOU HEAR THE SCHEMES
Vision: A New Thing In China
Vision: America Watch The Back Door
VISION: 5 UNEXPLODED BOMBS IN AMERICA
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: SCHOOLING IN AMERICA
CROSSING THE RUBICON-BY STEPHEN SMITH
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Vision: Gloating Eagles:Bloodthirsty Eagles
VISION: DANGEROUS AND RADICALOUS
Vision: Gathering Balls Of Darkness
Vision: Window Pains
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Eagles Are Cackling
Vision: Eagles In A Hurry
Vision: On Mounts Of Error
VISION: GOD SPEAKS TO POTENTIAL TERRORISTS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: THE CLOCK AND PEN
VISION: THE BARNS
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: THE SWORD SHIP
VISION: DANGEROUS AND RADICALOUS
Vision: Gathering Balls Of Darkness
Vision: Window Pains
VISION: THE SPIKED BALL AND CHAIN
Vision: Eagles Are Cackling
Vision: Eagles In A Hurry
Vision: On Mounts Of Error
VISION: GOD SPEAKS TO POTENTIAL TERRORISTS
VISION: ROMAN CENTURIONS IN D.C.
VISION: THE CLOCK AND PEN
VISION: THE BARNS
VISION: RAIDERS OF THE AIRWAYS
VISION: THE SWORD SHIP
Friday, September 12, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Spiritually Blind - 2-By Anton Bosch
Spiritually Blind - 2:
"Spiritually Blind 2
Many people are spiritually blind because of pride or because they choose to see only what they want to see. But the scariest reason people cannot see is because they are under God’s judgment! That’s right – the reason they cannot see is a clear sign of the worst kind of judgment any person can fall foul of – God imposed blindness."
"Spiritually Blind 2
Many people are spiritually blind because of pride or because they choose to see only what they want to see. But the scariest reason people cannot see is because they are under God’s judgment! That’s right – the reason they cannot see is a clear sign of the worst kind of judgment any person can fall foul of – God imposed blindness."
Spiritually Blind-Anton Bosch
Spiritually Blind:
"Why can some people just not get it? Why can they not see things that are as clear as the nose on their face? Because they are spiritually blind. Even though some people may have been Christians for a long time, they are blind and cannot see those things that are obvious to other believers around them. I am sure you have come across people like that and have wondered how one can become so blind and what we need to do to stop this disease from attacking us and bringing us into this terrible darkness."
"Why can some people just not get it? Why can they not see things that are as clear as the nose on their face? Because they are spiritually blind. Even though some people may have been Christians for a long time, they are blind and cannot see those things that are obvious to other believers around them. I am sure you have come across people like that and have wondered how one can become so blind and what we need to do to stop this disease from attacking us and bringing us into this terrible darkness."
Promises-A true story shared by Dana Hills, Willow,Alaska
Promises
A true story shared by Dana Hills, Willow,Alaska
What possible impact could a child of eight have upon his tiny world? Scotty was just a normal, rambunctious boy whose eyes were taking in everything around him with curiosity and wonder. His teen aged brother, Jeff, was doing the same--but in a more mature way, being the older sibling.
One Friday night the teenagers in our church were having their youth group meeting. Relunctanly, Dana allowed Scotty to tag along with his older brother--but at the same time, was fearful he might be disruptive and would not understand any of the teaching. But Mom reminded herself of a vow she had once made twenty-five years earlier: if God would entrust her with children of her own, she would raise them to be Godly and to love the Lord with all their hearts.
Several weeks had gone by when Scotty came home from school looking a little sad. He said to his Mom:
"Mom, I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Scotty?
"Mom, today at school I got in trouble and I had to stand on the wall for 20 minutes."
"Scotty, what did you do to get in trouble?" Mom asked.
"I was talking to Brennan (another student) about God and Jesus. The teacher heard me and told me that I was not allowed to talk about God and Jesus in school and that I would have to stand on the wall."
"Scotty, were you talking while the teacher was teaching? Were you disrupting the class?"
"No, Mom. It was free time when we can choose what we want to do if our work is finished."
"Scotty, did you go stand on the wall?"
"Yes, I told the teacher that sending me to the wall was ok, because they punished Jesus too. I told her that I had made a promise to God to talk to someone about Jesus everyday, and I am going to keep that promise."
"Scotty, what do you do when you stand on the wall?"
"You just stand there until your time is up. I stood there for awhile and then another kid got sent to the wall too, and I started talking to him about God and Jesus. The teacher didn't hear us, so I didn't have to stand on the wall longer."
Tears welled up in Mom's eyes. Lately, she had been feeling the weight of so many problems; needing a job, health issues., so many struggles. But always, in the back of her mind was the promise she had made to God herself, some twenty-five years earlier--to raise her children for Him. Was she fufilling that vow?
"I really needed to be reminded that in His eyes, I was doing something very right, even though the natural world was telling me that I was doing everything wrong, I needed to feel that God cared and was happy with me. But on this day through my eight year old son, I was reminded that God truly hears us and lets us know that we have favor with him as His children. On that day, through my eight year old son, I was reminded that sometimes when the natural world has beaten us up, we forget that we have a heavenly Father who laughs with us and cries with us, and above all is always there."
"Who would have thought that God would use my little son to remind me of that promise I had made long ago. I must be willing, like Scotty, to stand up for what I believe, even though I could lose friends, be ridiculed or punished for my beliefs."
For promise is a promise...
MARY E. ADAMS
November, 2007
A true story shared by Dana Hills, Willow,Alaska
What possible impact could a child of eight have upon his tiny world? Scotty was just a normal, rambunctious boy whose eyes were taking in everything around him with curiosity and wonder. His teen aged brother, Jeff, was doing the same--but in a more mature way, being the older sibling.
One Friday night the teenagers in our church were having their youth group meeting. Relunctanly, Dana allowed Scotty to tag along with his older brother--but at the same time, was fearful he might be disruptive and would not understand any of the teaching. But Mom reminded herself of a vow she had once made twenty-five years earlier: if God would entrust her with children of her own, she would raise them to be Godly and to love the Lord with all their hearts.
Several weeks had gone by when Scotty came home from school looking a little sad. He said to his Mom:
"Mom, I have something to tell you."
"What is it, Scotty?
"Mom, today at school I got in trouble and I had to stand on the wall for 20 minutes."
"Scotty, what did you do to get in trouble?" Mom asked.
"I was talking to Brennan (another student) about God and Jesus. The teacher heard me and told me that I was not allowed to talk about God and Jesus in school and that I would have to stand on the wall."
"Scotty, were you talking while the teacher was teaching? Were you disrupting the class?"
"No, Mom. It was free time when we can choose what we want to do if our work is finished."
"Scotty, did you go stand on the wall?"
"Yes, I told the teacher that sending me to the wall was ok, because they punished Jesus too. I told her that I had made a promise to God to talk to someone about Jesus everyday, and I am going to keep that promise."
"Scotty, what do you do when you stand on the wall?"
"You just stand there until your time is up. I stood there for awhile and then another kid got sent to the wall too, and I started talking to him about God and Jesus. The teacher didn't hear us, so I didn't have to stand on the wall longer."
Tears welled up in Mom's eyes. Lately, she had been feeling the weight of so many problems; needing a job, health issues., so many struggles. But always, in the back of her mind was the promise she had made to God herself, some twenty-five years earlier--to raise her children for Him. Was she fufilling that vow?
"I really needed to be reminded that in His eyes, I was doing something very right, even though the natural world was telling me that I was doing everything wrong, I needed to feel that God cared and was happy with me. But on this day through my eight year old son, I was reminded that God truly hears us and lets us know that we have favor with him as His children. On that day, through my eight year old son, I was reminded that sometimes when the natural world has beaten us up, we forget that we have a heavenly Father who laughs with us and cries with us, and above all is always there."
"Who would have thought that God would use my little son to remind me of that promise I had made long ago. I must be willing, like Scotty, to stand up for what I believe, even though I could lose friends, be ridiculed or punished for my beliefs."
For promise is a promise...
MARY E. ADAMS
November, 2007
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
The Anatomy of Backsliding
read here:
The Anatomy of Backsliding :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library:
"Psalm 119:176
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek thy servant,
for I do not forget thy commandments."
The Anatomy of Backsliding :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library:
"Psalm 119:176
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
seek thy servant,
for I do not forget thy commandments."
Friday, August 29, 2008
NASA Technology Illuminates Dead Sea Scrolls - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Arutz Sheva
NASA Technology Illuminates Dead Sea Scrolls - A7 Exclusive Features - Israel News - Arutz Sheva:
"NASA Technology Illuminates Dead Sea Scrolls
by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) Scientists are using American space-age technology to bring to light the faded script on thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest existing record of the Old Testament. Israeli authorities said experts will digitally photograph the scrolls and post them on the internet for the entire world to see."
read here
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127375
"NASA Technology Illuminates Dead Sea Scrolls
by Hana Levi Julian
(IsraelNN.com) Scientists are using American space-age technology to bring to light the faded script on thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest existing record of the Old Testament. Israeli authorities said experts will digitally photograph the scrolls and post them on the internet for the entire world to see."
read here
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127375
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Dream: His Ministers-By Mary Elizabeth Adams
HIS MINISTERS
By MARY ELIZABETH ADAMS
Alaska-U.S.A
meamin@mtaonline.net
In a dream, the Lord spoke to me.
I had entered a church that was overflowing with people. There was a lot of loud exhuberant shouting and rejoicing going on. As I came in, I stood by the doorway, because I somehow knew that the pastor would come ask me to preach there—and he did, even though I did not know him nor had I ever been in that church. As he escorted me to the platform, I suddenly was struck with the thought that I must remove my shoes, which I did. As I walked upon the stage I was suddenly taken over by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. My mouth was speaking things that were like darts, flying and hitting targets. People sat stunned and speechless. I myself was almost overcome, as a holy hush descended. It was as though the entire audience had entered into a supernatural cloud and were afraid to even breathe for fear it would disappear. The words rolled off my mouth, revealing and exposing secrets of hearts. We were all being swept clean, just as some gigantic tsunami would have done to a coastline. It was so awesome and powerful!
There was nothing more to do…no altar call, no laying on of hands. I simply left the stage and walked away down the aisle, stopping for a brief moment to speak a word of encouragement to a woman that I noticed was especially touched by all that had happened. That was the end of the dream.
The following is what I believe God was saying to me and to you:
“God’s ministers are all those who seek to be used of Him. They seek no reward but to please Him. They seek no praise of human lips. They will follow His directions only. They will not falter nor give way to their inabilities or human frailties, but will trust Him and not be fearful. God’s ministers will be led by the Spirit of the Lord. They will then find themselves knowing that they are in the right place at the appointed time. He will give them the foreknowledge of His will and there will be no questioning in their minds of what is to take place.
Likewise, God’s ministers will have confidence that they need do nothing of their own flesh to make things happen…they will simply know the proper timing of things. They will also recognize and heed their own need to respect the holiness and significance of their calling, by first stripping themselves of all worldliness in their own flesh and recognizing that the special thing He has called them to do is as “holy ground” on which their feet will touch. They do not dare to bring the contamination of the world upon it. Once they have removed the shoes of this world (symbolic of that contamination) and put their bare feet into His revealed plan, they will then become enveloped in the cloud of His Glory. He will take their lips and speak through them with unexplainable power and authority. The Spirit of the Lord will overpower and expose the hidden secrets of hearts just as an unexpected tsunami strikes a coastline. All will be laid bare as a force of conviction comes in to sweep away the walls of resistance and fortresses of sin. There need be no words of persuasion or begging needful, for the Spirit of the Lord will penetrate and wound like an arrow. Its work will cause a deep mourning of soul and spirit to cleanse the hearts and minds of God’s people.
God desires that we worship Him “in the beauty of holiness”, and it is an awesome experience when that happens. We may wonder why it was that the priests could not stand in the temple and desire to experience that for ourselves, but only when the true Spirit of the Lord arrives can there be that overpowering presence to melt away our fleshly, self-exhalting motives and desires. No man can stand in His presence, nor can human hearts ever be truly satisfied with anything less.
God is concerned about His church. Many run to and fro seeking such experiences, but not finding--sampling and tasting here and there, but not finding the real nectar that satisfies. It is because of those who “call themselves ministers” have come to His pulpits without His summons and arrogantly polluted His altars with the contamination of the world that is upon them. Therefore they speak out of their own spirits and devise trickery and falsehood to deceive His people and line their pockets, trading promises for money.
Some of you once wandered into their camps and sat by their fires which have long since died out, for they were not ignited by His eternal flame. You were wounded by your experience. But the emptiness you feel is also His work, as He is calling His people to know that their wanderings here and there to find “the move of God” and to experience “revival” was not bad in itself. Their mistake is that they sought for it in men who had never found it in themselves.
For we must never forget that it was only when God’s ministers came out of the Holy Place that the cloud of His glory descended…
MARY ELIZABETH ADAMS
By MARY ELIZABETH ADAMS
Alaska-U.S.A
meamin@mtaonline.net
In a dream, the Lord spoke to me.
I had entered a church that was overflowing with people. There was a lot of loud exhuberant shouting and rejoicing going on. As I came in, I stood by the doorway, because I somehow knew that the pastor would come ask me to preach there—and he did, even though I did not know him nor had I ever been in that church. As he escorted me to the platform, I suddenly was struck with the thought that I must remove my shoes, which I did. As I walked upon the stage I was suddenly taken over by the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit. My mouth was speaking things that were like darts, flying and hitting targets. People sat stunned and speechless. I myself was almost overcome, as a holy hush descended. It was as though the entire audience had entered into a supernatural cloud and were afraid to even breathe for fear it would disappear. The words rolled off my mouth, revealing and exposing secrets of hearts. We were all being swept clean, just as some gigantic tsunami would have done to a coastline. It was so awesome and powerful!
There was nothing more to do…no altar call, no laying on of hands. I simply left the stage and walked away down the aisle, stopping for a brief moment to speak a word of encouragement to a woman that I noticed was especially touched by all that had happened. That was the end of the dream.
The following is what I believe God was saying to me and to you:
“God’s ministers are all those who seek to be used of Him. They seek no reward but to please Him. They seek no praise of human lips. They will follow His directions only. They will not falter nor give way to their inabilities or human frailties, but will trust Him and not be fearful. God’s ministers will be led by the Spirit of the Lord. They will then find themselves knowing that they are in the right place at the appointed time. He will give them the foreknowledge of His will and there will be no questioning in their minds of what is to take place.
Likewise, God’s ministers will have confidence that they need do nothing of their own flesh to make things happen…they will simply know the proper timing of things. They will also recognize and heed their own need to respect the holiness and significance of their calling, by first stripping themselves of all worldliness in their own flesh and recognizing that the special thing He has called them to do is as “holy ground” on which their feet will touch. They do not dare to bring the contamination of the world upon it. Once they have removed the shoes of this world (symbolic of that contamination) and put their bare feet into His revealed plan, they will then become enveloped in the cloud of His Glory. He will take their lips and speak through them with unexplainable power and authority. The Spirit of the Lord will overpower and expose the hidden secrets of hearts just as an unexpected tsunami strikes a coastline. All will be laid bare as a force of conviction comes in to sweep away the walls of resistance and fortresses of sin. There need be no words of persuasion or begging needful, for the Spirit of the Lord will penetrate and wound like an arrow. Its work will cause a deep mourning of soul and spirit to cleanse the hearts and minds of God’s people.
God desires that we worship Him “in the beauty of holiness”, and it is an awesome experience when that happens. We may wonder why it was that the priests could not stand in the temple and desire to experience that for ourselves, but only when the true Spirit of the Lord arrives can there be that overpowering presence to melt away our fleshly, self-exhalting motives and desires. No man can stand in His presence, nor can human hearts ever be truly satisfied with anything less.
God is concerned about His church. Many run to and fro seeking such experiences, but not finding--sampling and tasting here and there, but not finding the real nectar that satisfies. It is because of those who “call themselves ministers” have come to His pulpits without His summons and arrogantly polluted His altars with the contamination of the world that is upon them. Therefore they speak out of their own spirits and devise trickery and falsehood to deceive His people and line their pockets, trading promises for money.
Some of you once wandered into their camps and sat by their fires which have long since died out, for they were not ignited by His eternal flame. You were wounded by your experience. But the emptiness you feel is also His work, as He is calling His people to know that their wanderings here and there to find “the move of God” and to experience “revival” was not bad in itself. Their mistake is that they sought for it in men who had never found it in themselves.
For we must never forget that it was only when God’s ministers came out of the Holy Place that the cloud of His glory descended…
MARY ELIZABETH ADAMS
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Life Into Christ-Introduction-By Michael Clark and George Davis
Life Into Christ
http://awildernessvoice.com/LifeIntoChrist.html
Introduction
By Michael Clark and George Davis
Jesus not only gave His life on the cross to take away our sins, but He gave Himself to us that He might live His life through us. We are not doomed to live out a life of sin in our sin-prone weakness. Paul wrote to the Roman saints, "Know you not that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?" Notice the two into's. These are that same word in the Greek, eis. Yes, Jesus died once for all who were placed by the Father into Him, but that is not all....
"As long as we expect God to do for us what we ask or think, we limit Him. When we believe that as high as the heavens are above the earth, His thoughts are above our thoughts, and wait on Him as God to do unto us according to His Word, as He means it, we shall be prepared to live the truly supernatural, heavenly life the Holy Spirit can work in us—the true Christ life."
Andrew Murray
The Two Covenants, 1898
"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we hit it."
Michelangelo
Introduction
This has been a difficult book to write. On the one hand we have seen something supernatural and heard the Spirit call unto us, "Come up here," and we have set out to describe that call we have heard. How do you put in human words those things that the Spirit speaks to our spirits? Language at best is the result of the fall of man. It was called Babel because they were cast into confusion by not speaking the same language to one another. When we wrangle with doctrines, the result is the same.
If you minister or write with a motive of building something temporal (to make a name, or build a legacy on this earth), you are doomed to add to the confusion of Babel. All fleshly motivated builders reject the Cornerstone, the tried and true Stone on which and by which all eternal habitations are built. Sooner or later that Stone not cut with hands falls from heaven and strikes this unholy mixture of iron and clay in its feet and its glory fades from memory or becomes a living example of everything that is wrong.
The other thing that makes a book like this difficult is the awareness that when you set out to illuminate a truth that is beyond where most of us exist, you can be seen as setting forth an exclusive calling. This is not our heart. The call is to whosoever wills. The question is, are we willing to leave those things built by men, those comfortable doctrines that say, "I'm okay, you're okay." Will we go humming on down the path, content with our mediocrity as nominal believers, or will we press on into the depths of the Son of God? The goal of the gospel of Jesus is summed up in His final prayer to our Father: "That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us." To exist as Christians that are divided into sects and denominations, to even be divided against one another inside these groups, even in our own congregations, is a blatant testimony that we are living in Christian mediocrity and have fallen short of the goal of the high calling of Christ. Jesus is one with the Father and extends that same wondrous existence unto us.
One final word. This document is not a treatise on proper usage of Greek or Hebrew. We are not scholars, but brothers who have set out early in our lives to have hearing ears tuned to the voice of God. We have set out to leave everything that attracts and fortifies our sinful selves and live lives that require constant repentance as God shows us His more excellent ways. With Paul we can say,
I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward--to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision--you'll see it yet!
(Philippians 3:12-15 MSG)
Let us press into the Son and we will walk together in His love.
Chapter 1: What is Salvation?
Chapter 2: Saved by Jesus' Life
Chapter 3: Christ's Body, "Bone of His Bone"
Chapter 4: Identification in Jesus' Walk
Chapter 5: Christ Crucified - the Logic of God
Chapter 6: Identification in the Cross of Christ
Chapter 7: The Cross of Christ, Our Cross
Chapter 8: Identification into His Glory
Chapter 9: Into All Truth
Chapter 10: Power of His Resurrection - Identity in Jesus' Life
Chapter 11: Let Us Go On
Chapter 12: Christ's Righteousness is Our Righteousness
Chapter 13: Identity in Christ, Our Wisdom and Knowledge
Chapter 14: Power in God's Kingdom - Laying Down Our Lives
Chapter 15: Thou in Me and I in Thee
Appendix
to top
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
I dreamt I went to a carnival-By Bryan Hupperts
I dreamt I went to a carnival-By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
2004
I dreamed I went to a carnival billed as THE GREATEST CARNIVAL SHOW ON EARTH! As I pulled in to the lot, there were smiling greeters with flashlights who guided me expertly as I parked.
I exited my vehicle to the sound of excitement, the glare and flash of multi-colored lights and the screams of thrill seekers on the various rides. The cacophony was almost overwhelming. I followed the crowd of people who were happily murmuring about the various things they had come for: blessings, thrills, to be fed, to be entertained.
I had just paid the full admission price when someone started walking towards me from the shadows. While I could not quite recognize his face, I knew he was a friend. He said, “Why are you wasting your time and money here?”
“But,” I stammered, protesting, “This is the greatest carnival show on earth.” He was silent for a moment, then replied simply, “We’ll see.” And off we walked together into the charged, frenetic atmosphere that was the carnival.
The sights and sounds of merrymaking were amazing! This was a traveling show and it brought out the crowds. There were singers, actors, dancers, and those skilled at rhetoric, yet each seemed hell-bent on outdoing the next person. “Is this some sort of contest? Is there a prize?” I asked my guide. He replied, “Yes, it is a contest, but they already have their reward.” I didn’t grasp his cryptic remark and shrugged it off.
We walked down the midway amid the swarming crowd. There was so much competing for my attention that it was difficult to focus. There was a Big Top with the curious sign that read Trap Ease; perhaps it was a typo. The finely dressed ringmaster told jokes, made people laugh, and encouraged people to buy his videos and tapes “for a blessing,” but I didn’t hear the rest since we kept on walking. I wasn’t sure why, but I began to be uneasy, afraid.
Carnies would hawk their particular game and attraction promising fame, wealth, beauty, and personal satisfaction if I would only step up and lay my money down. At the nudging behest of my quiet companion, we stopped at a game of Balloon Pop.
The fast talking carnie assured me that all I had to do was pop the balloons with a dart and I would win fabulous prizes. I paid the fee, took careful aim, and threw dart after dart but I kept missing. Was this game rigged? My friend then handed me a curiously bloodstained dart with the word TRUTH inscribed on it, and said simply, “Use this.” I took it, aimed carefully, threw it and popped balloon after balloon. The carnie shrieked and finally excommunicated me from his booth – no prizes awarded. He accused me of cheating!
There was a trained Lion of Judah in a cage doing tricks for the ringmaster to the squeals and delights of the crowd. “Make him heal,” yelled one. “No, make him bless me with money,” cried out another. And the strange thing was that the lion seemed to be going along with it. However, as I got closer to the exhibit, I looked into the lion’s eyes… It was not the Lion of Judah at all, but instead a killer lion stalking its prey, seeking someone to devour. He was a fraud, but he looked almost like the real thing. I jumped back and we walked away as the beast growled menacingly at us.
There is not space to tell of the baptismal dunking booth, or the house of smoke and mirrors that distorted reality through the haze of religiously themed rose-colored glasses. Especially disturbing was the Fortune Telling Prophet who, as his sign promised, would give you a guaranteed, genuine Word From God for an Activation Fee of $40.00. I was ready to kick over his crystal ball, but my companion stopped me. “This is their festival, not mine,” he said. We walked away.
The carnival was overcharging for the love feasts of corn dogs and lemonade and I kept getting the feeling the food and attractions were supposed to be provided for free, but perhaps it was just a feeling. After all, business is business.
And then a wave of nausea began to rise in my throat as I took the spectacle in. It was like music without a melody, or a painting without color. There was a growing sense of – violation. And suddenly, in the distance like a welcome breeze on a hot, humid day, I heard a quiet sound, almost like a chorus of voices rising in song. I turned and began to walk towards the music, walking away from the beguilement and clang of the carnival.
My head began to clear and, as I was walking away, the lettering on the carnival signs began to rearrange to read, THE GREATEST CARNAL SHOW ON EARTH! “How do I get out of this madhouse? I am almost ready to hurl,” I asked. My companion agreed, saying, “I am almost ready to vomit, too.” He pointed me towards the Tunnel Of Love. As I walked towards it, I began to notice others quietly leaving the carnival one or two at a time, sometimes in small groups, walking away from the carnival following the drift of the music that led inexorably towards the little boats that rode the gentle waters of the Tunnel of Love.
As I stepped into the little boat, my companion spoke from behind, “I’ll see you on the other side where we will dine together,” and he was gone. And in the Tunnel of Love there was no fear. The clang of the carnival began to fade as the music and singing grew louder. It was, it was… worship, but worship as I had never experienced, for it was borne of passion and offered up in Spirit and Truth! It washed over me, cleansing me, inviting me to join my voice to the swelling chorus of adoration and praise sacrificed to the Most High God. And as the darkness began to fade as the Tunnel of Love gave way to LIGHT!
2004 - Bryan Hupperts - SheepTrax Media
http://www.sheeptrax.com/
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
2004
I dreamed I went to a carnival billed as THE GREATEST CARNIVAL SHOW ON EARTH! As I pulled in to the lot, there were smiling greeters with flashlights who guided me expertly as I parked.
I exited my vehicle to the sound of excitement, the glare and flash of multi-colored lights and the screams of thrill seekers on the various rides. The cacophony was almost overwhelming. I followed the crowd of people who were happily murmuring about the various things they had come for: blessings, thrills, to be fed, to be entertained.
I had just paid the full admission price when someone started walking towards me from the shadows. While I could not quite recognize his face, I knew he was a friend. He said, “Why are you wasting your time and money here?”
“But,” I stammered, protesting, “This is the greatest carnival show on earth.” He was silent for a moment, then replied simply, “We’ll see.” And off we walked together into the charged, frenetic atmosphere that was the carnival.
The sights and sounds of merrymaking were amazing! This was a traveling show and it brought out the crowds. There were singers, actors, dancers, and those skilled at rhetoric, yet each seemed hell-bent on outdoing the next person. “Is this some sort of contest? Is there a prize?” I asked my guide. He replied, “Yes, it is a contest, but they already have their reward.” I didn’t grasp his cryptic remark and shrugged it off.
We walked down the midway amid the swarming crowd. There was so much competing for my attention that it was difficult to focus. There was a Big Top with the curious sign that read Trap Ease; perhaps it was a typo. The finely dressed ringmaster told jokes, made people laugh, and encouraged people to buy his videos and tapes “for a blessing,” but I didn’t hear the rest since we kept on walking. I wasn’t sure why, but I began to be uneasy, afraid.
Carnies would hawk their particular game and attraction promising fame, wealth, beauty, and personal satisfaction if I would only step up and lay my money down. At the nudging behest of my quiet companion, we stopped at a game of Balloon Pop.
The fast talking carnie assured me that all I had to do was pop the balloons with a dart and I would win fabulous prizes. I paid the fee, took careful aim, and threw dart after dart but I kept missing. Was this game rigged? My friend then handed me a curiously bloodstained dart with the word TRUTH inscribed on it, and said simply, “Use this.” I took it, aimed carefully, threw it and popped balloon after balloon. The carnie shrieked and finally excommunicated me from his booth – no prizes awarded. He accused me of cheating!
There was a trained Lion of Judah in a cage doing tricks for the ringmaster to the squeals and delights of the crowd. “Make him heal,” yelled one. “No, make him bless me with money,” cried out another. And the strange thing was that the lion seemed to be going along with it. However, as I got closer to the exhibit, I looked into the lion’s eyes… It was not the Lion of Judah at all, but instead a killer lion stalking its prey, seeking someone to devour. He was a fraud, but he looked almost like the real thing. I jumped back and we walked away as the beast growled menacingly at us.
There is not space to tell of the baptismal dunking booth, or the house of smoke and mirrors that distorted reality through the haze of religiously themed rose-colored glasses. Especially disturbing was the Fortune Telling Prophet who, as his sign promised, would give you a guaranteed, genuine Word From God for an Activation Fee of $40.00. I was ready to kick over his crystal ball, but my companion stopped me. “This is their festival, not mine,” he said. We walked away.
The carnival was overcharging for the love feasts of corn dogs and lemonade and I kept getting the feeling the food and attractions were supposed to be provided for free, but perhaps it was just a feeling. After all, business is business.
And then a wave of nausea began to rise in my throat as I took the spectacle in. It was like music without a melody, or a painting without color. There was a growing sense of – violation. And suddenly, in the distance like a welcome breeze on a hot, humid day, I heard a quiet sound, almost like a chorus of voices rising in song. I turned and began to walk towards the music, walking away from the beguilement and clang of the carnival.
My head began to clear and, as I was walking away, the lettering on the carnival signs began to rearrange to read, THE GREATEST CARNAL SHOW ON EARTH! “How do I get out of this madhouse? I am almost ready to hurl,” I asked. My companion agreed, saying, “I am almost ready to vomit, too.” He pointed me towards the Tunnel Of Love. As I walked towards it, I began to notice others quietly leaving the carnival one or two at a time, sometimes in small groups, walking away from the carnival following the drift of the music that led inexorably towards the little boats that rode the gentle waters of the Tunnel of Love.
As I stepped into the little boat, my companion spoke from behind, “I’ll see you on the other side where we will dine together,” and he was gone. And in the Tunnel of Love there was no fear. The clang of the carnival began to fade as the music and singing grew louder. It was, it was… worship, but worship as I had never experienced, for it was borne of passion and offered up in Spirit and Truth! It washed over me, cleansing me, inviting me to join my voice to the swelling chorus of adoration and praise sacrificed to the Most High God. And as the darkness began to fade as the Tunnel of Love gave way to LIGHT!
2004 - Bryan Hupperts - SheepTrax Media
http://www.sheeptrax.com/
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The Belt-By Mary Adams
The Belt
Saturday, August 16, 2008 12:22 AM
meamin@mtaonline.net
THE BELT
Beloved, I see a belt.
It once was used to hold up garments that covered the Body.
Yet the body has lost weight; and though the belt is tightened again and again, suddenly it holds up nothing.
All has collapsed.
There is nothing left except the belt and the clothing lying on the floor.
Strange.
The body was still eating.
But not of the Living Bread.
The body was still drinking.
But not from the Living Waters.
The body was still excercising.
But not strengthened with might by His Spirit.
When she began to lose weight and become undernourished, she assumed the belt would hold things together.
Notch by notch she would call upon the belt to secure her garments and cover her nakedness. But there was only so many notches, and when there were no more, everything collapsed to the floor.
Too late, it was discovered that It was not the belt that held the clothes to the Body.
It was the Body itself.
"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev 16:15)
Saturday, August 16, 2008 12:22 AM
meamin@mtaonline.net
THE BELT
Beloved, I see a belt.
It once was used to hold up garments that covered the Body.
Yet the body has lost weight; and though the belt is tightened again and again, suddenly it holds up nothing.
All has collapsed.
There is nothing left except the belt and the clothing lying on the floor.
Strange.
The body was still eating.
But not of the Living Bread.
The body was still drinking.
But not from the Living Waters.
The body was still excercising.
But not strengthened with might by His Spirit.
When she began to lose weight and become undernourished, she assumed the belt would hold things together.
Notch by notch she would call upon the belt to secure her garments and cover her nakedness. But there was only so many notches, and when there were no more, everything collapsed to the floor.
Too late, it was discovered that It was not the belt that held the clothes to the Body.
It was the Body itself.
"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." (Rev 16:15)
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
A Short History of Medicine
2000 BC -"Doctor, I have an ear ache."
"Here, eat this root."
1000 BC - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 AD - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 AD - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985 AD - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 AD - "That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!"
"Here, eat this root."
1000 BC - "That root is heathen, say this prayer."
1850 AD - "That prayer is superstition, drink this potion."
1940 AD - "That potion is snake oil, swallow this pill."
1985 AD - "That pill is ineffective, take this antibiotic."
2000 AD - "That antibiotic is artificial. Here, eat this root!"
Monday, August 4, 2008
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Randy Murray -- Headlines, Sound Bites & Bumper Stickers
Read here:
Randy Murray -- Headlines, Sound Bites & Bumper Stickers:
"Most folks are in too big a hurry to learn all the details these days. People want facts condensed into fragments of information, believing that a bullet comment, headline, sound bite, blog posting or bumper sticker can take the place of thorough research, careful analysis and in-depth study."
Randy Murray -- Headlines, Sound Bites & Bumper Stickers:
"Most folks are in too big a hurry to learn all the details these days. People want facts condensed into fragments of information, believing that a bullet comment, headline, sound bite, blog posting or bumper sticker can take the place of thorough research, careful analysis and in-depth study."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.
KJV
KJV
Saturday, July 26, 2008
beyond grace
beyond grace:
"School of the Prophets
Exam Time "
Rob DeLuca, from His Way Church International in Auckland, New Zealand is the 'prophet' who 'prophesied' the Great Florida Healing Revival' into existence. Or so those who don't buy into the notion of a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' might say."
Read full article here:
http://beyondgrace.blogspot.com/2008/07/school-of-prophets-exam-time.html
"School of the Prophets
Exam Time "
Rob DeLuca, from His Way Church International in Auckland, New Zealand is the 'prophet' who 'prophesied' the Great Florida Healing Revival' into existence. Or so those who don't buy into the notion of a 'self-fulfilling prophecy' might say."
Read full article here:
http://beyondgrace.blogspot.com/2008/07/school-of-prophets-exam-time.html
Friday, July 25, 2008
Drinking at The Black Hole-By Bryan Hupperts
Drinking at The Black Hole
By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
The din of the jukebox, the familiar smell of sleaze, the hustlers and the hustled all swirling madly together like a slithering shadow silhouetted against the cheap Christmas lights that twinkled unmerrily around the trim of the bar; such is the ambiance that is The Black Hole, the place I drink to nurse my sorrows and feed my demons. It’s a hopeless dive but its home.
All my life I’ve searched for the perfect drink, the one that would satisfy. I started bar hopping in college. My first haunt was Darwin’s Folly where I wasted my educational opportunity sucking down Blind Monkeys till I couldn’t think straight. Post-graduate, I became a regular at the Flesh Factory, inebriating my soul with the house specialty drink, a Blind Lust. One sip of that poison and you burn for hours finding neither relief nor fulfillment. And the more you drink, the more you burn.
To quench the fires that come from doing shots of Blind Lust, I got sloshed a bit at The Purple Wino. Their house drink is called a Flaming Fury, a volcanic swig that rages uncontrollably. In the end, I decided I preferred my vengeance ice cold rather than in a hot, drunken frenzy. Some drink to forget but I drink to remember.
That’s how I fell into The Black Hole.
Every bar has a specialty drink, their signature house concoction that puts them on the map. Like a sports team or a band you identify with and adopt, the Black Hole became my bar. Why? Their house specialty was my perfect poison. One sip of that familiar spirit, a venom called a Seething Grudge, and I knew I was home. No one can hold a Seething Grudge like me.
It’s so intoxicating, you can sip away the hours while the shot glass never seems to empty. It carries you away back to old offenses, real and imagined, to betrayal and disappointments, leaving a bitterness of regret in your gut no antacid can quell.
There are some drinks that can swallow you.
A Blind Lust can set the body aflame, but a Seething Grudge ignites the soul. More potent than an Oblivion from Dante’s Inferno, you can nurse it for countless hours and, the more you nurse it, the more potent it becomes. Sure, a Seething Grudge is an acquired taste that’s repugnantly bitter to swallow but, as they say, better the devil you know.
My loveable slosh of a college roommate had a motto: “If you’re at odds with God, make peace with your bartender.” Mine can pour three fingers of stout, instant therapy and, if it doesn’t work, I am usually too drunk to care. On this fateful day, my bartender called in sick so a temp was brought in to serve.
I watched the Stranger cross the room, pick up a towel and put it on his arm like a well-heeled servant, and step behind the bar. My bar. “The usual,” I said more out of boredom than habit.
“I’ve come with a new drink offering. Taste and see that it’s good,” said the Stranger.
New drink? Uh-uh. My bar. My rules.
“The infamous toxin of choice here at The Black Hole is a Seething Grudge and right now I need a double,” I said tapping my fingers on the bar, glaring at the upstart bartender. My fellow lounge lizards murmured in agreement.
“Sorry,” grinned the Stranger, “but I’m here to offer you a new drink.” He glanced at the Christmas lights, and said with a wry smile, “You might say Christmas has come early.”
He ignored the jab and set a line of shot glasses up on the bar then pulled a carafe from nowhere and began to pour. Is this new drink on the house? The Stranger replied, “Yes, but only because I paid for it in full. Please drink freely. Others who have tried it call it a Sweet Release. Drink up. It’s free.”
Free? Nothing’s free, I said flatly, and he shrugged, suggesting I take his offer on faith.
You can’t get a Sweet Release from The Black Hole. It’s just, just… wrong, a violation, an intrusion into my personal hell. And the old adage is dead wrong, too: misery hates company. I wanted to be left alone to drink so I threw the barkeep an angry look and demanded my Seething Grudge. He assured me again that what I really needed was a Sweet Release. Why not try it? After all, he was buying.
“You don’t look like you’ve ever been hammered in your life,” I said, dismissively sizing him up. “Have you ever had a Seething Grudge?”
The Stranger shook his head No but said he once gotten totally hammered in a contest in another black hole of sorts when he deliberately chugged a vile concoction called a Sinners’ Lament down to its bitter dregs. “Loosing sucks,” I admitted. He nodded in agreement but replied, “Actually, I won.”
OK, he had me confused but curious. If this was a challenge to a dirking contest, I was in. “OK, I’ll taste it to see if it’s good. Give me a Sweet Release.” He pushed the shot glass at me and I noticed odd scars on his wrists as if he’d been… hammered… with spikes. Very weird. In total seriousness, he said, “Drink this and you’ll never thirst again.” It’s that good? Fine. As I raised it to my lips, I had to ask, “That time you say you got hammered, was there a prize at stake?”
The Stranger looked on with triumph in his eyes as I slowly drank away the darkness in my soul with every healing drop of his Sweet Release. He said softly, “A prize? Yes. The prize is you.”
Bryan Hupperts © 2008
www.SheepTrax.com
By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
The din of the jukebox, the familiar smell of sleaze, the hustlers and the hustled all swirling madly together like a slithering shadow silhouetted against the cheap Christmas lights that twinkled unmerrily around the trim of the bar; such is the ambiance that is The Black Hole, the place I drink to nurse my sorrows and feed my demons. It’s a hopeless dive but its home.
All my life I’ve searched for the perfect drink, the one that would satisfy. I started bar hopping in college. My first haunt was Darwin’s Folly where I wasted my educational opportunity sucking down Blind Monkeys till I couldn’t think straight. Post-graduate, I became a regular at the Flesh Factory, inebriating my soul with the house specialty drink, a Blind Lust. One sip of that poison and you burn for hours finding neither relief nor fulfillment. And the more you drink, the more you burn.
To quench the fires that come from doing shots of Blind Lust, I got sloshed a bit at The Purple Wino. Their house drink is called a Flaming Fury, a volcanic swig that rages uncontrollably. In the end, I decided I preferred my vengeance ice cold rather than in a hot, drunken frenzy. Some drink to forget but I drink to remember.
That’s how I fell into The Black Hole.
Every bar has a specialty drink, their signature house concoction that puts them on the map. Like a sports team or a band you identify with and adopt, the Black Hole became my bar. Why? Their house specialty was my perfect poison. One sip of that familiar spirit, a venom called a Seething Grudge, and I knew I was home. No one can hold a Seething Grudge like me.
It’s so intoxicating, you can sip away the hours while the shot glass never seems to empty. It carries you away back to old offenses, real and imagined, to betrayal and disappointments, leaving a bitterness of regret in your gut no antacid can quell.
There are some drinks that can swallow you.
A Blind Lust can set the body aflame, but a Seething Grudge ignites the soul. More potent than an Oblivion from Dante’s Inferno, you can nurse it for countless hours and, the more you nurse it, the more potent it becomes. Sure, a Seething Grudge is an acquired taste that’s repugnantly bitter to swallow but, as they say, better the devil you know.
My loveable slosh of a college roommate had a motto: “If you’re at odds with God, make peace with your bartender.” Mine can pour three fingers of stout, instant therapy and, if it doesn’t work, I am usually too drunk to care. On this fateful day, my bartender called in sick so a temp was brought in to serve.
I watched the Stranger cross the room, pick up a towel and put it on his arm like a well-heeled servant, and step behind the bar. My bar. “The usual,” I said more out of boredom than habit.
“I’ve come with a new drink offering. Taste and see that it’s good,” said the Stranger.
New drink? Uh-uh. My bar. My rules.
“The infamous toxin of choice here at The Black Hole is a Seething Grudge and right now I need a double,” I said tapping my fingers on the bar, glaring at the upstart bartender. My fellow lounge lizards murmured in agreement.
“Sorry,” grinned the Stranger, “but I’m here to offer you a new drink.” He glanced at the Christmas lights, and said with a wry smile, “You might say Christmas has come early.”
He ignored the jab and set a line of shot glasses up on the bar then pulled a carafe from nowhere and began to pour. Is this new drink on the house? The Stranger replied, “Yes, but only because I paid for it in full. Please drink freely. Others who have tried it call it a Sweet Release. Drink up. It’s free.”
Free? Nothing’s free, I said flatly, and he shrugged, suggesting I take his offer on faith.
You can’t get a Sweet Release from The Black Hole. It’s just, just… wrong, a violation, an intrusion into my personal hell. And the old adage is dead wrong, too: misery hates company. I wanted to be left alone to drink so I threw the barkeep an angry look and demanded my Seething Grudge. He assured me again that what I really needed was a Sweet Release. Why not try it? After all, he was buying.
“You don’t look like you’ve ever been hammered in your life,” I said, dismissively sizing him up. “Have you ever had a Seething Grudge?”
The Stranger shook his head No but said he once gotten totally hammered in a contest in another black hole of sorts when he deliberately chugged a vile concoction called a Sinners’ Lament down to its bitter dregs. “Loosing sucks,” I admitted. He nodded in agreement but replied, “Actually, I won.”
OK, he had me confused but curious. If this was a challenge to a dirking contest, I was in. “OK, I’ll taste it to see if it’s good. Give me a Sweet Release.” He pushed the shot glass at me and I noticed odd scars on his wrists as if he’d been… hammered… with spikes. Very weird. In total seriousness, he said, “Drink this and you’ll never thirst again.” It’s that good? Fine. As I raised it to my lips, I had to ask, “That time you say you got hammered, was there a prize at stake?”
The Stranger looked on with triumph in his eyes as I slowly drank away the darkness in my soul with every healing drop of his Sweet Release. He said softly, “A prize? Yes. The prize is you.”
Bryan Hupperts © 2008
www.SheepTrax.com
Monday, July 21, 2008
Killing the Heir to Possess the Vineyard-By George Davis
Killing the Heir to Possess the Vineyard
By George Davis
http://awildernessvoice.com/KillingTheHeir.html
People were so excited about what God was doing through the whole body (Head plus body), that they came early and went home late. I have never seen such corporate excitement before or since. ...It became apparent that all this threatened the leadership, so they set out to bring things in tow. They announced the following Sunday that it was time to get things back into order.
Years ago, I was to be licensed as a pastor, by a denomination that I will not name. The previous week had been a blur of activity, as the district supervisor shuttled Charlotte and me around the vast state of Montana, showing us the "churches" that were in need of a pastor. On the day of the ordination God spoke to me saying, "If you will give this up and walk away, I will show you what true ministry is." I walked away, realizing that the concept of ministry I previously held was not true ministry. All I had left was God's promise, "I will show you what true ministry is."
Sunday, July 20, 2008
A Chess Game with the Devil-By Bryan Hupperts
July 19, 2008
A Chess Game with the Devil
By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
A senior pastor was sent a challenge to play a game of chess. The anonymous note said, “Victorious One: You are an undisputed Grandmaster. You’ve beaten your fellow servants frequently. You played against other senior pastors and won. Now, come play me.”
Game day came and the senior pastor found himself seated across a chess board from none other than Satan himself. In this knockout tournament, the pastor drew white winning the right to begin first. The devil grabbed the white piece from him and said arrogantly, “I always move first.”
Each set up their pieces and began to formulate strategy. The senior pastor was nervous but confident and declared to the enemy, “I will win. I have the mind of Christ.” Then the devil smiled a devilish smile and said, glancing at the senior pastor’s side of the board, “I cannot outwit the mind of Christ but you I will easily beat.”
The first match was on. Satan played with cunning and strategy and it became quickly clear the senior pastor was outgunned. Satan moved a pawn in gambit striking from the flank and taking an unguarded rook. Loss piled upon loss. No matter how valiantly he tried to respond, no matter if his moves were rooted in sacrifice or power, the senior pastor blundered. Every move he made seemed to benefit the adversary.
The chessboard carnage was brutal and the senior pastor was finally humbled to desperate prayer. The devil laughed as he cried out, “Lord, I need wisdom. I have your mind yet I am being outplayed, outmaneuvered, and beaten at every turn. Why, Lord. Why”
They played to endgame and the dreaded word was pronounced: checkmate.
The stunned senior pastor watched his king fall as he listened to the enemies’ taunts and, though he felt he had failed God, he humbled himself further crying out all the more for wisdom. How do you beat a master tactician and swindler like the devil? When the 2 minute warning sounded, he began to reset his side of the board for the next round. He was weighed down by a sickening dread when suddenly the Holy Spirit of God came upon him and said:
“Review the board.”
The senior pastor looked at the enemies’ pieces: pawns aligned on the front row with rooks, knights, bishops, queen and king in the back. Everything was in perfect military precision waiting for the strategic battle to commence.
The senior pastor then looked at his side of the board. He had the same pieces: pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queen and king. He noticed, as if for the first time, that things were askew. Mentally reviewing the rules of engagement, he realized he had placed a pawn where a rook should be, a knight in the place of a bishop and, as he thought back on the failures of the first round, he saw that even the queen was occasionally out of place taking over the kings’ role. These foolish blunders were done at his command.
And the senior pastor had an epiphany. He had all the right pieces but many were serving in the wrong place on the board in roles they were not empowered to play. “I have played like a fool,” he said aloud. “I am only a servant and not the Master of the game.” He began to rearrange the board setting the pieces, kingside and queenside, into their rightful places. And the chessboard transformed into a battlefield.
The devil looked at the repositioned board in alarm. His eyes narrowed and he said slyly, “Perhaps, senior pastor, your first strategy was right. Move those pieces any way ‘ole you wish. After all, you’re in charge, right? I must have gotten lucky the first round; that’s all it was, just dumb luck. You’ve played your brothers in Christ and beaten them all.”
The pastor knew his cagy opponent was only seeking for an opportunity to devour him again, and replied, “I did beat my fellow servants and I was wrong to do so. Today, I repent. Devil, you did not defeat the mind of Christ. You only defeated me. I see now it is not mine to tell a piece how to serve not is it mine to dictate anyone’s destiny or calling. My role is to help all to work together in their unique giftings for the advancement the kingdom of God .”
The devil’s face went ashen and he said, tempting the pastor to pride, “You are the Grandmaster, the senior pastor. You decide what people should do and be!”
The servant pastor smiled humbly as he placed the last pawn in correct position. “It occurs to now that to have the mind of Christ in operation in my life and ministry, He must be the senior pastor and I must be the undershepherd. I will rely on his leadings to beat you. And, as you yourself so wisely said, you cannot beat the mind of Christ.”
The devil began to panic and said, “No, go back to your nepotism. Your church has always been run like a family business with you, your family, and your friends in charge. This could go badly for you. You will no longer be the senior pastor. Why give up your power?”
And the undershepherd servant pastor said meekly, “Christ alone is the senior pastor and it was never mine to dictate who serves where or how. Each piece must move in the light it is called to just as He himself is in the light. It is his kingdom, not mine.”
He continued, “The board was out of order. I was out of order. Christ is now our Senior Pastor and divine order has been re-established. I neither submitted myself to God nor did I resist you at first play which gave you first-move advantage. I will not be so foolish again. And now,” he said, redirecting his attention to the strategically placed pieces on the board, “let us pray for guidance as we play for victory. Christ himself will lead us as our senior pastor and Grandmaster!”
This match was to be played to sudden death. The devil raged for he now knew his time was short. And the battle was on.
Bryan Hupperts © 2008
http://www.sheeptrax.com/
A Chess Game with the Devil
By Bryan Hupperts
bryanhupperts@hotmail.com
A senior pastor was sent a challenge to play a game of chess. The anonymous note said, “Victorious One: You are an undisputed Grandmaster. You’ve beaten your fellow servants frequently. You played against other senior pastors and won. Now, come play me.”
Game day came and the senior pastor found himself seated across a chess board from none other than Satan himself. In this knockout tournament, the pastor drew white winning the right to begin first. The devil grabbed the white piece from him and said arrogantly, “I always move first.”
Each set up their pieces and began to formulate strategy. The senior pastor was nervous but confident and declared to the enemy, “I will win. I have the mind of Christ.” Then the devil smiled a devilish smile and said, glancing at the senior pastor’s side of the board, “I cannot outwit the mind of Christ but you I will easily beat.”
The first match was on. Satan played with cunning and strategy and it became quickly clear the senior pastor was outgunned. Satan moved a pawn in gambit striking from the flank and taking an unguarded rook. Loss piled upon loss. No matter how valiantly he tried to respond, no matter if his moves were rooted in sacrifice or power, the senior pastor blundered. Every move he made seemed to benefit the adversary.
The chessboard carnage was brutal and the senior pastor was finally humbled to desperate prayer. The devil laughed as he cried out, “Lord, I need wisdom. I have your mind yet I am being outplayed, outmaneuvered, and beaten at every turn. Why, Lord. Why”
They played to endgame and the dreaded word was pronounced: checkmate.
The stunned senior pastor watched his king fall as he listened to the enemies’ taunts and, though he felt he had failed God, he humbled himself further crying out all the more for wisdom. How do you beat a master tactician and swindler like the devil? When the 2 minute warning sounded, he began to reset his side of the board for the next round. He was weighed down by a sickening dread when suddenly the Holy Spirit of God came upon him and said:
“Review the board.”
The senior pastor looked at the enemies’ pieces: pawns aligned on the front row with rooks, knights, bishops, queen and king in the back. Everything was in perfect military precision waiting for the strategic battle to commence.
The senior pastor then looked at his side of the board. He had the same pieces: pawns, rooks, knights, bishops, queen and king. He noticed, as if for the first time, that things were askew. Mentally reviewing the rules of engagement, he realized he had placed a pawn where a rook should be, a knight in the place of a bishop and, as he thought back on the failures of the first round, he saw that even the queen was occasionally out of place taking over the kings’ role. These foolish blunders were done at his command.
And the senior pastor had an epiphany. He had all the right pieces but many were serving in the wrong place on the board in roles they were not empowered to play. “I have played like a fool,” he said aloud. “I am only a servant and not the Master of the game.” He began to rearrange the board setting the pieces, kingside and queenside, into their rightful places. And the chessboard transformed into a battlefield.
The devil looked at the repositioned board in alarm. His eyes narrowed and he said slyly, “Perhaps, senior pastor, your first strategy was right. Move those pieces any way ‘ole you wish. After all, you’re in charge, right? I must have gotten lucky the first round; that’s all it was, just dumb luck. You’ve played your brothers in Christ and beaten them all.”
The pastor knew his cagy opponent was only seeking for an opportunity to devour him again, and replied, “I did beat my fellow servants and I was wrong to do so. Today, I repent. Devil, you did not defeat the mind of Christ. You only defeated me. I see now it is not mine to tell a piece how to serve not is it mine to dictate anyone’s destiny or calling. My role is to help all to work together in their unique giftings for the advancement the kingdom of God .”
The devil’s face went ashen and he said, tempting the pastor to pride, “You are the Grandmaster, the senior pastor. You decide what people should do and be!”
The servant pastor smiled humbly as he placed the last pawn in correct position. “It occurs to now that to have the mind of Christ in operation in my life and ministry, He must be the senior pastor and I must be the undershepherd. I will rely on his leadings to beat you. And, as you yourself so wisely said, you cannot beat the mind of Christ.”
The devil began to panic and said, “No, go back to your nepotism. Your church has always been run like a family business with you, your family, and your friends in charge. This could go badly for you. You will no longer be the senior pastor. Why give up your power?”
And the undershepherd servant pastor said meekly, “Christ alone is the senior pastor and it was never mine to dictate who serves where or how. Each piece must move in the light it is called to just as He himself is in the light. It is his kingdom, not mine.”
He continued, “The board was out of order. I was out of order. Christ is now our Senior Pastor and divine order has been re-established. I neither submitted myself to God nor did I resist you at first play which gave you first-move advantage. I will not be so foolish again. And now,” he said, redirecting his attention to the strategically placed pieces on the board, “let us pray for guidance as we play for victory. Christ himself will lead us as our senior pastor and Grandmaster!”
This match was to be played to sudden death. The devil raged for he now knew his time was short. And the battle was on.
Bryan Hupperts © 2008
http://www.sheeptrax.com/
Saturday, July 19, 2008
To My Fellow Bloggers « Theology Today
To My Fellow Bloggers « Theology Today:
"The other day I was watching a guy attempt to teach his wife how to play tennis. The dude didn’t even know how to hold the racquet let alone play but he was acting and talking like he had spent his life on the tennis court. I see this quite a bit…..people without a clue what they are talking about acting like they know what they’re talking about yet lacking a clue.
I’m starting to see this same thing in what is known as the “Christian Blogosphere”….folks who pretend to know what they are talking about yet totally lacking a clue and leading innocent sheep into the ditch because they have no clue as to what they are talking about."
Read full article here:
http://phillyflash.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/to-my-fellow-bloggers/#more-177
"The other day I was watching a guy attempt to teach his wife how to play tennis. The dude didn’t even know how to hold the racquet let alone play but he was acting and talking like he had spent his life on the tennis court. I see this quite a bit…..people without a clue what they are talking about acting like they know what they’re talking about yet lacking a clue.
I’m starting to see this same thing in what is known as the “Christian Blogosphere”….folks who pretend to know what they are talking about yet totally lacking a clue and leading innocent sheep into the ditch because they have no clue as to what they are talking about."
Read full article here:
http://phillyflash.wordpress.com/2008/07/19/to-my-fellow-bloggers/#more-177
Herescope: Watchman or Gossip?
Herescope: Watchman or Gossip?:
"Watchman or Gossip?
Part 7: Contentiously Contending
By Anton Bosch
For years the evil King Saul pursued David like a man does an animal. He tried to kill him many times, broke David’s marriage and caused him to live the life of a vagabond and a fugitive. There is not any good to be said for Saul, and by all estimations the sooner he died and David ascended the throne the better for the nation.
One day Saul did die. The young Amalekite man who assisted in Saul’s suicide ran to bring David the good news and the crown he had taken from Saul’s corpse. He thought David would be glad to hear that his tormentor was dead so that David could finally claim the throne. But instead David mourned for Saul, rent his clothes, and sang a lament over the death of the king and Jonathan (2Samuel 1). The young man who killed Saul and who carried the news was executed for his trouble. David says of the event: “When someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,' thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag – the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news” (2Samuel 4:10)."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/07/watchman-or-gossip.html
"Watchman or Gossip?
Part 7: Contentiously Contending
By Anton Bosch
For years the evil King Saul pursued David like a man does an animal. He tried to kill him many times, broke David’s marriage and caused him to live the life of a vagabond and a fugitive. There is not any good to be said for Saul, and by all estimations the sooner he died and David ascended the throne the better for the nation.
One day Saul did die. The young Amalekite man who assisted in Saul’s suicide ran to bring David the good news and the crown he had taken from Saul’s corpse. He thought David would be glad to hear that his tormentor was dead so that David could finally claim the throne. But instead David mourned for Saul, rent his clothes, and sang a lament over the death of the king and Jonathan (2Samuel 1). The young man who killed Saul and who carried the news was executed for his trouble. David says of the event: “When someone told me, saying, ‘Look, Saul is dead,' thinking to have brought good news, I arrested him and had him executed in Ziklag – the one who thought I would give him a reward for his news” (2Samuel 4:10)."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/07/watchman-or-gossip.html
Herescope: The Indigenous Peoples Movement
Herescope: The Indigenous Peoples Movement:
"The Indigenous Peoples Movement
The Doctrines of Dominionism: Part 7
The other day we received the following letter from a friend working for a private contractor in Iraq. Here is his experience:
Dear Friends,
I just came back from a military Bible Study with an Assemblies of God chaplain. Unfortunately my experience with Bible Study was not as good as that in the church service. We were studying in Romans Chapter 2. When it came to Romans 2:16 through the end of the chapter, the chaplain told us that this proved that if you were an aborigine and never hear of Jesus you could still be saved if you had a good heart. At this point I stopped him and asked if that meant that he need not believe on Jesus to be saved. He said that was right. What was worse there were many that agreed with him. I reminded them that man was not that good: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And “There is none righteous, no not one.” I told them that no one was good enough to go to heaven on their own. I was told this did not matter because Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world and not just some."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/08/indigenous-peoples-movement.html
"The Indigenous Peoples Movement
The Doctrines of Dominionism: Part 7
The other day we received the following letter from a friend working for a private contractor in Iraq. Here is his experience:
Dear Friends,
I just came back from a military Bible Study with an Assemblies of God chaplain. Unfortunately my experience with Bible Study was not as good as that in the church service. We were studying in Romans Chapter 2. When it came to Romans 2:16 through the end of the chapter, the chaplain told us that this proved that if you were an aborigine and never hear of Jesus you could still be saved if you had a good heart. At this point I stopped him and asked if that meant that he need not believe on Jesus to be saved. He said that was right. What was worse there were many that agreed with him. I reminded them that man was not that good: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” And “There is none righteous, no not one.” I told them that no one was good enough to go to heaven on their own. I was told this did not matter because Jesus Christ died for the sins of the whole world and not just some."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/08/indigenous-peoples-movement.html
Herescope: Changing God's Name
Herescope: Changing God's Name:
"Changing God's Name
The Doctrines of Dominionism: Part 8
'It is time that Christians reclaimed the many beautiful names of the One Creator God in native languages instead of falling into Satan's trap and destroying them. We should reclaim those names and wash the dung of corruption off of them instead of giving them up to Satan. We must cast off the corruption that Satan has thrown on the many beautiful names of God in native languages. ."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/08/changing-gods-name.html
"Changing God's Name
The Doctrines of Dominionism: Part 8
'It is time that Christians reclaimed the many beautiful names of the One Creator God in native languages instead of falling into Satan's trap and destroying them. We should reclaim those names and wash the dung of corruption off of them instead of giving them up to Satan. We must cast off the corruption that Satan has thrown on the many beautiful names of God in native languages. ."
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://herescope.blogspot.com/2007/08/changing-gods-name.html
Friday, July 18, 2008
DELAYS Are NOT DENIALS
Forwarded by: David Smith.
source:
http://www.revivalschool.com/
DELAYS Are NOT DENIALS
-Unknown.
How often have we been tempted to give up on God, on prayer, on
waiting, on patience and endurance, because God delayed in
answering prayer immediately? How many parents, after praying
for decades, have still not seen the salvation of a child? How many
believers have prayed night and day for healing, but still suffer or
have to behold the suffering of a loved-one? Not a few have prayed
and fasted for their financial needs to be met, and have agonized
because of mounting debt? BUT GOD…was in full control and had
a reason for the delay, for delays are not denials. We must keep
the bow string taut and continue to pray, for only God knows how
close to the crest of the hill we are. We must not give up despite
disappointments, for God will justify Himself and bring glory to
Himself. That great man of faith, Elijah, not only prayed to God for
rain. He also kept gazing toward the horizon for the tell-tale signs
of a cloud, until eventually a cloud the size of a man’s fist
appeared. He persevered until the heavens unleashed its glory,
and God’s word was fulfilled.
George H. Morrison in “Devotional Sermons” has given hope to the
weary. Read on, dear saint, and be reassured that “as soon as
you began to make your request, a reply was sent. I have come to
give you the reply…” (“You had no sooner started your prayer
when the answer was given” – Msg) – Daniel 9:23.
{Please don’t give up on the quality of speech in this devotional.
You might learn from it the treasures of the English language.}
The Doctrine of Delays
....There are myriads of creatures who are born and dance and die
in the short span of a bright July day. No one in watching them
would ever dream of charging the Creator with delay. But a nation
of men which is to serve the high ends of heaven is never fashioned
hastily like that. Through pilgrimage and war and struggle and
blood and tears, by heroism that oft seems unavailing and sacrifice
that is like water spilt, it becomes the polished instrument of God.
Delay, then, tends to become more marked, the higher you rise in
the Creator's purposes. Great delays in the mystery of providence
are the highway for the chariot of great blessing. The joy that
cometh in the morning might be far less thrilling, had not the
weeping from which it springs endured all night.
Had Jesus forgotten Mary and Martha? We see this very clearly in
the raising of Lazarus—that tenderest and most touching of all
miracles. When Lazarus was ill - when his state had become critical -
Martha and Mary, you remember, sent word to Jesus. Now Jesus
loved Lazarus and his sisters, and the happiest memories
encircled that village home; yet the Gospel tells us that when
Jesus heard the news, He abode two days still in the place where
He was. There are seasons when two days seems like a moment;
there are seasons when two days seems an eternity. When a life
is in the balance half-an-hour is endless; twice four-and-twenty
hours is unbearable. What did it mean? Had Jesus quite forgotten
them? Was He deaf and dead to the prayers of the sisters' love? I
think that Martha and Mary, with their eyes on dying Lazarus,
knew the burden of divine delay. They knew its burden then; they
know its meaning now. They see it irradiated with purpose and
with wisdom. A little boon might have been granted instantly, but
the great actions of God have tardy wheels. The greater and richer
the blessing that we pray for, the more must we reckon on the
delays of God. Nor should we forget—for this is very important—
what I might call the moral training of delay. Did we get everything
we craved for in the very hour of asking it, I think it would be a long
farewell to manhood. The one sure way to ruin a young child is to
give it immediately all for which it asks; and to the Ancient of days,
whose hairs are white as wool (see Dan_7:9), I fancy the oldest
readers are but as little children.
Think of Christ's treatment of the Syro-phoenician woman when
she came to Him praying for her daughter. All her motherhood was
on her lips and in her eyes as she pled and interceded for her child.
Do you think it was cruel of Christ to answer her never a word?
Do you think it was harsh to speak about the dogs? How much
we should have missed, and how much Christ Himself would have
missed, had it not been for that practice of delay! It was that which
called out in her fine persistence, her faith, her wit, all that was
brightest in her. She might have been anybody when she began,
but she was a woman among women when she ended. And many
a person has begun by being anybody, and ended by being a
woman among women, because they were kept praying and
pleading long for something that was to be granted by and by.
Work reveals character, but so does waiting. Waiting shows the
baby or the man. We need to be tested to prove if we be worthy
just to receive and use the thing we crave. So it often is that God
delays, and will not answer us, and keeps us waiting. It is not in
scorn, but in the wisest love, that He will not for a while.
There Is Silent Preparation behind God's Delay
Then it is very helpful to remember that divine delay does not mean
inactivity. God is not idle when He does not answer us; He is
busier preparing the answer than we think. There have been men
of genius who could only work irregularly; for long periods they
seemed to do nothing at all. Then suddenly, and as if by inspiration,
their powers took fire and they wrought at a white heat. You may
be sure of it that the periods in between were not so idle as the
world considered them. By thought, by reading, by communion
with glad nature, half unconsciously they were preparing for their
work. And when the kindling came, and the fire burned within them,
when they were divinely swept into utterance or action, they owed
far more than we should ever guess to the silent preparation of
delay. As it is with men of genius, so with God, only in loftier and
nobler ways. His delays are not the delays of inactivity. They are
the delays of preparation. In an instant the tropical storm may
burst and break, yet for weeks—unseen—the storm has been
preparing. The sunshine of May comes, and all the world is green,
yet on God's loom of January that robe was being spun. And the
morning breaks when at last some prayer is answered, and the
desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose, yet the answer was
being fashioned in these very years when we said there was no
eye to pity and no arm to save.
It takes a million years to harden the ruby, says the poet, yet
through all the years the hardening goes on. It takes a century
for the sea to wear away one cliff, yet every night when we sleep
the breakers dash on it. So when we pray and strive and nothing
happens, till we are tempted to say "God does not know, God
does not care," who can tell but that, behind the veil, infinite love
may be toiling like the sea, to give us in the full time our heart's
desire?
"My Father worketh hitherto and I work." It is a mysterious word
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps God, like some of the busiest
men I know, is doing most when He seems to be doing nothing.
There Is Love in Delay And so in closing I would say to you: do
not lose heart at the delays of God. Speed, after all, is but a
relative term, and there is more love in God's slow method than
you think. I was staying the other week with some friends in
Ireland, when word came that our friend's place of business had
been broken into. It was a holiday and he was away in Galway,
and was not to be home again until that evening. Well, he came
home, very tired and famished, and a foolish wife would have
rushed out to meet him with the news; but his wife was not foolish,
she was Scotch and sensible, and she let him wash and eat and
rest himself a little; and then when he was ready to see things
rightly she broke the news, and I saw there was wisdom and love
in that delay.
You who are mothers here, and who look back on those sweet
years when your innocent children played about your feet, had you
never some great news to tell your children, yet you deliberately
withheld it for a time? "If we tell them tonight there will not be one
wink of sleep; if we tell them when they waken, there will not be
one bite of breakfast"; and so deliberately you held back the
blessing, and you did it just because you loved them so. If ye
then being evil, act like that, is it incredible that God should do
the same? Is it fair to distrust our Father, to say He has no pity,
to charge the heavens with being brass above us? I think it is
wiser to pray on, strive on, casting all doubts to the devil who
inspired them; believing in a love that never mocks us, and that
will give us our heart's desire in His own time.
source:
http://www.revivalschool.com/
DELAYS Are NOT DENIALS
-Unknown.
How often have we been tempted to give up on God, on prayer, on
waiting, on patience and endurance, because God delayed in
answering prayer immediately? How many parents, after praying
for decades, have still not seen the salvation of a child? How many
believers have prayed night and day for healing, but still suffer or
have to behold the suffering of a loved-one? Not a few have prayed
and fasted for their financial needs to be met, and have agonized
because of mounting debt? BUT GOD…was in full control and had
a reason for the delay, for delays are not denials. We must keep
the bow string taut and continue to pray, for only God knows how
close to the crest of the hill we are. We must not give up despite
disappointments, for God will justify Himself and bring glory to
Himself. That great man of faith, Elijah, not only prayed to God for
rain. He also kept gazing toward the horizon for the tell-tale signs
of a cloud, until eventually a cloud the size of a man’s fist
appeared. He persevered until the heavens unleashed its glory,
and God’s word was fulfilled.
George H. Morrison in “Devotional Sermons” has given hope to the
weary. Read on, dear saint, and be reassured that “as soon as
you began to make your request, a reply was sent. I have come to
give you the reply…” (“You had no sooner started your prayer
when the answer was given” – Msg) – Daniel 9:23.
{Please don’t give up on the quality of speech in this devotional.
You might learn from it the treasures of the English language.}
The Doctrine of Delays
....There are myriads of creatures who are born and dance and die
in the short span of a bright July day. No one in watching them
would ever dream of charging the Creator with delay. But a nation
of men which is to serve the high ends of heaven is never fashioned
hastily like that. Through pilgrimage and war and struggle and
blood and tears, by heroism that oft seems unavailing and sacrifice
that is like water spilt, it becomes the polished instrument of God.
Delay, then, tends to become more marked, the higher you rise in
the Creator's purposes. Great delays in the mystery of providence
are the highway for the chariot of great blessing. The joy that
cometh in the morning might be far less thrilling, had not the
weeping from which it springs endured all night.
Had Jesus forgotten Mary and Martha? We see this very clearly in
the raising of Lazarus—that tenderest and most touching of all
miracles. When Lazarus was ill - when his state had become critical -
Martha and Mary, you remember, sent word to Jesus. Now Jesus
loved Lazarus and his sisters, and the happiest memories
encircled that village home; yet the Gospel tells us that when
Jesus heard the news, He abode two days still in the place where
He was. There are seasons when two days seems like a moment;
there are seasons when two days seems an eternity. When a life
is in the balance half-an-hour is endless; twice four-and-twenty
hours is unbearable. What did it mean? Had Jesus quite forgotten
them? Was He deaf and dead to the prayers of the sisters' love? I
think that Martha and Mary, with their eyes on dying Lazarus,
knew the burden of divine delay. They knew its burden then; they
know its meaning now. They see it irradiated with purpose and
with wisdom. A little boon might have been granted instantly, but
the great actions of God have tardy wheels. The greater and richer
the blessing that we pray for, the more must we reckon on the
delays of God. Nor should we forget—for this is very important—
what I might call the moral training of delay. Did we get everything
we craved for in the very hour of asking it, I think it would be a long
farewell to manhood. The one sure way to ruin a young child is to
give it immediately all for which it asks; and to the Ancient of days,
whose hairs are white as wool (see Dan_7:9), I fancy the oldest
readers are but as little children.
Think of Christ's treatment of the Syro-phoenician woman when
she came to Him praying for her daughter. All her motherhood was
on her lips and in her eyes as she pled and interceded for her child.
Do you think it was cruel of Christ to answer her never a word?
Do you think it was harsh to speak about the dogs? How much
we should have missed, and how much Christ Himself would have
missed, had it not been for that practice of delay! It was that which
called out in her fine persistence, her faith, her wit, all that was
brightest in her. She might have been anybody when she began,
but she was a woman among women when she ended. And many
a person has begun by being anybody, and ended by being a
woman among women, because they were kept praying and
pleading long for something that was to be granted by and by.
Work reveals character, but so does waiting. Waiting shows the
baby or the man. We need to be tested to prove if we be worthy
just to receive and use the thing we crave. So it often is that God
delays, and will not answer us, and keeps us waiting. It is not in
scorn, but in the wisest love, that He will not for a while.
There Is Silent Preparation behind God's Delay
Then it is very helpful to remember that divine delay does not mean
inactivity. God is not idle when He does not answer us; He is
busier preparing the answer than we think. There have been men
of genius who could only work irregularly; for long periods they
seemed to do nothing at all. Then suddenly, and as if by inspiration,
their powers took fire and they wrought at a white heat. You may
be sure of it that the periods in between were not so idle as the
world considered them. By thought, by reading, by communion
with glad nature, half unconsciously they were preparing for their
work. And when the kindling came, and the fire burned within them,
when they were divinely swept into utterance or action, they owed
far more than we should ever guess to the silent preparation of
delay. As it is with men of genius, so with God, only in loftier and
nobler ways. His delays are not the delays of inactivity. They are
the delays of preparation. In an instant the tropical storm may
burst and break, yet for weeks—unseen—the storm has been
preparing. The sunshine of May comes, and all the world is green,
yet on God's loom of January that robe was being spun. And the
morning breaks when at last some prayer is answered, and the
desert rejoices and blossoms as the rose, yet the answer was
being fashioned in these very years when we said there was no
eye to pity and no arm to save.
It takes a million years to harden the ruby, says the poet, yet
through all the years the hardening goes on. It takes a century
for the sea to wear away one cliff, yet every night when we sleep
the breakers dash on it. So when we pray and strive and nothing
happens, till we are tempted to say "God does not know, God
does not care," who can tell but that, behind the veil, infinite love
may be toiling like the sea, to give us in the full time our heart's
desire?
"My Father worketh hitherto and I work." It is a mysterious word
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps God, like some of the busiest
men I know, is doing most when He seems to be doing nothing.
There Is Love in Delay And so in closing I would say to you: do
not lose heart at the delays of God. Speed, after all, is but a
relative term, and there is more love in God's slow method than
you think. I was staying the other week with some friends in
Ireland, when word came that our friend's place of business had
been broken into. It was a holiday and he was away in Galway,
and was not to be home again until that evening. Well, he came
home, very tired and famished, and a foolish wife would have
rushed out to meet him with the news; but his wife was not foolish,
she was Scotch and sensible, and she let him wash and eat and
rest himself a little; and then when he was ready to see things
rightly she broke the news, and I saw there was wisdom and love
in that delay.
You who are mothers here, and who look back on those sweet
years when your innocent children played about your feet, had you
never some great news to tell your children, yet you deliberately
withheld it for a time? "If we tell them tonight there will not be one
wink of sleep; if we tell them when they waken, there will not be
one bite of breakfast"; and so deliberately you held back the
blessing, and you did it just because you loved them so. If ye
then being evil, act like that, is it incredible that God should do
the same? Is it fair to distrust our Father, to say He has no pity,
to charge the heavens with being brass above us? I think it is
wiser to pray on, strive on, casting all doubts to the devil who
inspired them; believing in a love that never mocks us, and that
will give us our heart's desire in His own time.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Fires, foreclosures increasing risk of West Nile virus - Inside Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO —Two plagues in California, fires and foreclosures, may be increasing the risk of another: West Nile virus.
Wildfires have sullied the air in the Sacramento area so badly that officials there have held off aerial spraying of insecticide to combat the virus, which is spread to humans and animals by infected mosquitoes.
At the same time, backyard pools left with standing water in abandoned, foreclosed properties have created a breeding ground for mosquitoes, elevating the risk of West Nile infection.
Read full article here:
Fires, foreclosures increasing risk of West Nile virus - Inside Bay Area
Wildfires have sullied the air in the Sacramento area so badly that officials there have held off aerial spraying of insecticide to combat the virus, which is spread to humans and animals by infected mosquitoes.
At the same time, backyard pools left with standing water in abandoned, foreclosed properties have created a breeding ground for mosquitoes, elevating the risk of West Nile infection.
Read full article here:
Fires, foreclosures increasing risk of West Nile virus - Inside Bay Area
Monday, July 14, 2008
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Eternal foundation-By Francois Labuschagne
Eternal foundation-By Francois Labuschagne
SOUTH AFRICA
Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:10:14 +0200
The LORD allowed me to experience or ‘feel’ the ‘firmness’ of the Eternal Foundation in prayer last night and it is just beyond words to describe. I want to go back ‘there’ but I know I am there always. It was just an impartation of His kindness. So I share it with you for encouragement. I was lying on my bed and talking to Him and I gradually started experiencing what is under me, in me and around me. It was the ROCK. I would never have guessed that I would have the opportunity in this world to experience the ROCK of my salvation like this. I ‘felt’ the ETERNAL and unchangeable, unshakeable and true ‘FOUNDATION’. My being was exposed to the monumental inexpressible reality of the ‘real’ world. The Kingdom of Heaven . It cannot be described in words(at least not with my vocabulary), but it can be ‘understood’ and that is the purpose. What our eyes can’t see now or our minds can’t fathom is actually real. More real than this passing world. I was in awe of the absolute, eternal, concrete strength and stability of the foundation beneath me but also IN me and I in it.
So I could just worship the KING.
Blessed Rock of our salvation. Eternal , Sovereign, Unchangeable LORD who governs in wisdom and equity. The Almighty who created all things by your power and upholds it with your Word. Yours are the glory in eternity for all eternity. You have planted us, enclosed us, taken us INTO YOU. How secure is this immovable unshakable indestructible, AWEful place of eternal SAFETY. All honour to You who have saved us with so great a salvation. The mountains will break and the fountains and streams will dry up, the earth and this world and all that can be shaken will be shaked but YOU the unchangeable and unshakeable will remain. There is no strength and no power that can save and sustain but YOU. AMEN
Brethren, I suspect that satan’s strategy has been and is to have us ‘look forward’ to visitations of grace and times of blessing and to ‘become’ more Christlike and to ‘get our house in order’. These are all right and good things but he managed to get most of us always waiting that maybe tomorrow we would be close to Jesus. Maybe after continuous prayer and fastings we will one day experience true fellowship with Him. Perhaps we will find revival in the ‘coming days’. The only problem with these is that it somehow contradicts HIS Gospel truth that these are ours by faith in HIM. What did the LORD mean when He said “will I find faith….?”.
The Lord has been trying to teach me truths about this topic for some time now but it is hard for the flesh. The old man(which is supposed to be dead) wants to ‘get down and do the job.’ And fail and fail…….
“NOW” is actually really all we have. If He isn’t ALL to us today, will He be tomorrow?
Deu 33:27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms
Joh 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
2Co 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2Co 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
1Co 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
1Sa 2:2 There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.
2Sa 22:2 And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer;
2Sa 22:3 The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.
Psa 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Psa 89:26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.
Blessings
Francois
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Love of God-By Sherry Mason
Tue, 24 Jun 2008 10:01:41 -0500
The Love of God
By Sherry Mason
U.S.A
I have been thinking on "faith". We are always telling people they just need to have faith or we say "if only we had faith then we would be healed, then we would be delivered, then people would be raised from the dead"...etc. And yet all those people who say, "faith, faith, faith...all we need is faith" seem to me to be harsh, cold, withdrawn, demanding, condemming and when they speak these words it always causes my heart to sink within me. I feel like I have no hope because I just don't have enough "faith" and therefore I will never be healed nor have the power to heal others.
The other day, yet once again, I was told I needed to operate in faith...and I lay in my bed thinking about this. Then I was reminded that there is passage of scripture that says:
"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love" I Cor 13:13
and I realize that is it not a lack of faith but a lack of love that we have. Jesus was ALWAYS moved by compassion and when that happened, EVERYONE got healed.
I remember when I first gave my heart to God and invited Him into my life God gave me the gift of prophecy. I had the gift to speak His heart for someone, but what I really needed was to HAVE His heart. The heart of God speaks volumes without even uttering a word. I was driving down the street a few weeks after I committed my life to the lord and I saw a "bum, a vagrant, a homeless man". Once upon a time I would have been really harsh and judgemental, but I remember praying and asking God to give me love for him and those like him. I knew that my "gift" was nothing if I did not have love.
Here I am 28 years later and I know that what I want to do is to serve the needy of this world. I still love the gift of prophecy, but how much greater to serve people and present the Love of God to them.
So...I realize that my prayers in this season must change...instead of asking for faith...I need to ask for compassion and love. If I gain these, then faith and hope will find their way into my life also.
And about raising the dead? It's a wonderful thing to raise someone out of death into life but there are so many walking dead around us...everywhere we go...what if we desired to raise them up from death into the life that God has for them? Isn't this the greatest miracle of all? Isn't this why the Love of God was presented to us through His Son, crucified?
Sherry
The Love of God
By Sherry Mason
U.S.A
I have been thinking on "faith". We are always telling people they just need to have faith or we say "if only we had faith then we would be healed, then we would be delivered, then people would be raised from the dead"...etc. And yet all those people who say, "faith, faith, faith...all we need is faith" seem to me to be harsh, cold, withdrawn, demanding, condemming and when they speak these words it always causes my heart to sink within me. I feel like I have no hope because I just don't have enough "faith" and therefore I will never be healed nor have the power to heal others.
The other day, yet once again, I was told I needed to operate in faith...and I lay in my bed thinking about this. Then I was reminded that there is passage of scripture that says:
"So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love" I Cor 13:13
and I realize that is it not a lack of faith but a lack of love that we have. Jesus was ALWAYS moved by compassion and when that happened, EVERYONE got healed.
I remember when I first gave my heart to God and invited Him into my life God gave me the gift of prophecy. I had the gift to speak His heart for someone, but what I really needed was to HAVE His heart. The heart of God speaks volumes without even uttering a word. I was driving down the street a few weeks after I committed my life to the lord and I saw a "bum, a vagrant, a homeless man". Once upon a time I would have been really harsh and judgemental, but I remember praying and asking God to give me love for him and those like him. I knew that my "gift" was nothing if I did not have love.
Here I am 28 years later and I know that what I want to do is to serve the needy of this world. I still love the gift of prophecy, but how much greater to serve people and present the Love of God to them.
So...I realize that my prayers in this season must change...instead of asking for faith...I need to ask for compassion and love. If I gain these, then faith and hope will find their way into my life also.
And about raising the dead? It's a wonderful thing to raise someone out of death into life but there are so many walking dead around us...everywhere we go...what if we desired to raise them up from death into the life that God has for them? Isn't this the greatest miracle of all? Isn't this why the Love of God was presented to us through His Son, crucified?
Sherry
MUST READ-The Disarming Of The Church-1998 by John Green
The Disarming Of The Church-1998 by John Green
PREPARED For The SLAUGHTER: The Disarming Of The Church
PREPARED For The SLAUGHTER: The Disarming Of The Church
HOMELESS IN BEAUTIFUL CALIFORNIA
( DOUBLE CLICK ON YOUTUBE ICON ON RIGHT TO READ COMMENTS)
Tent city highlights US homes crisis
MARCH 14 2008
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7297093.stm
Tent City keeps growing in Southern California
http://www.selectopedia.org/video/business/tent-city-keeps-growing-in-southern-california.html
Tent City growing
Ontario's homeless enclave becomes regional haven
By Andrea Bennett, Staff Writer
Article Created: 02/15/2008 09:55:59 PM PST
ONTARIO - Nobody knows the exact population of Tent City, but the area has swelled beyond expectations.
The dusty, undeveloped city-owned parcel at Cucamonga Avenue and Jefferson Street is filled with tents, campers and makeshift shelters.
"It took on a life of its own," Mayor Paul Leon said. "It didn't occur to us it would grow to this size this fast, which reflects the need."
The area, just west of L.A./Ontario International Airport, was created in July as a haven for the city's homeless.
It has grown to include 300 to 400 people from throughout the region.
"It's growing and it's growing," said Carlos Villalobos, a Tent City resident the past four months. "And I haven't seen nobody leave."
read full story here:
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_8277825
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Man Allegedly Injured After Being ‘Slain in the Spirit’ Sues Church
Man Allegedly Injured After Being ‘Slain in the Spirit’ Sues Church
Matthew Lincoln is seeking $2.5 million from the charismatic congregation because he claims altar workers failed to catch him.
[06.12.08] A man is suing his former Knoxville, Tenn., church and its pastors for negligence, claiming he was severely and permanently injured when church “catchers” failed to assist him during a prayer service last year.
In a $2.5 million civil action filed last week, Matthew Lincoln, a 58-year-old recording engineer, accused Lakewind Church pastors Michael and Monique Sexton of not properly “supervising the catchers.” Both the church and the pastors are named in the lawsuit.
Lincoln, who had been a member of Lakewind since 1995, claims in the suit that in his many years attending the nondenominational church, he was always “caught” if he “fell out in the spirit” because altar workers were customarily in place during prayer ministry. According to the complaint, Lakewind Church typically positions altar workers behind parishioners who receive prayer to catch them in the event that they experience “dizzying, fainting or falling in the spirit.”
But during a service on June 6, 2007, Lincoln said visiting minister Robert Lavala slightly touched his forehead, and he “received the spirit,” fell backward and struck the carpet-covered cement floor with the back of his head and back. The lawsuit claims the fall aggravated a degenerative disc disease in Lincoln’s neck and back that he had “reasonably recovered” from before the incident.
“To me this is not a complicated matter,” said Lincoln’s attorney, J.D. Lee. “The [church] had a set duty that they recognized, that the [church] board recognized … and they didn’t catch him. The poor guy fell out, and they breached the duty that they had.”
In addition to losing income due to his alleged injuries, Lincoln claims he can no longer care for his disabled 25-year-old daughter. His wife, Shirley, is suing Lakewind for $75,000 as a “derivative action” that resulted from the “loss of consortium, loss of services and companionship of her husband.”
According to his lawyer, Lincoln has incurred many medical bills during the last year and is scheduled for extensive back surgery next week.
Lee said the church’s insurance company, Zurich in North America, refused Lincoln’s claim because the church did not have a duty to catch him and because Lincoln's account of the incident was not completely factual. Zurich confirmed that Lakewind Church is their client but declined further comment. Dana Holloway, the attorney retained by Zurich to defend the church, also told Charisma he could not comment on the case because it was in litigation. —Paul Steven Ghiringhelli
Matthew Lincoln is seeking $2.5 million from the charismatic congregation because he claims altar workers failed to catch him.
[06.12.08] A man is suing his former Knoxville, Tenn., church and its pastors for negligence, claiming he was severely and permanently injured when church “catchers” failed to assist him during a prayer service last year.
In a $2.5 million civil action filed last week, Matthew Lincoln, a 58-year-old recording engineer, accused Lakewind Church pastors Michael and Monique Sexton of not properly “supervising the catchers.” Both the church and the pastors are named in the lawsuit.
Lincoln, who had been a member of Lakewind since 1995, claims in the suit that in his many years attending the nondenominational church, he was always “caught” if he “fell out in the spirit” because altar workers were customarily in place during prayer ministry. According to the complaint, Lakewind Church typically positions altar workers behind parishioners who receive prayer to catch them in the event that they experience “dizzying, fainting or falling in the spirit.”
But during a service on June 6, 2007, Lincoln said visiting minister Robert Lavala slightly touched his forehead, and he “received the spirit,” fell backward and struck the carpet-covered cement floor with the back of his head and back. The lawsuit claims the fall aggravated a degenerative disc disease in Lincoln’s neck and back that he had “reasonably recovered” from before the incident.
“To me this is not a complicated matter,” said Lincoln’s attorney, J.D. Lee. “The [church] had a set duty that they recognized, that the [church] board recognized … and they didn’t catch him. The poor guy fell out, and they breached the duty that they had.”
In addition to losing income due to his alleged injuries, Lincoln claims he can no longer care for his disabled 25-year-old daughter. His wife, Shirley, is suing Lakewind for $75,000 as a “derivative action” that resulted from the “loss of consortium, loss of services and companionship of her husband.”
According to his lawyer, Lincoln has incurred many medical bills during the last year and is scheduled for extensive back surgery next week.
Lee said the church’s insurance company, Zurich in North America, refused Lincoln’s claim because the church did not have a duty to catch him and because Lincoln's account of the incident was not completely factual. Zurich confirmed that Lakewind Church is their client but declined further comment. Dana Holloway, the attorney retained by Zurich to defend the church, also told Charisma he could not comment on the case because it was in litigation. —Paul Steven Ghiringhelli
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Gay couples cheer California high court ruling
Gay couples cheer California high court ruling
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - Gay and lesbian couples around California are planning their nuptials following a refusal by the state's highest court to delay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
The California Supreme Court's announcement Wednesday cleared the final hurdle for same-sex couples in the nation's most populous state to wed beginning June 17, when state officials have said counties must start issuing new gender-neutral marriage licenses.
Judy Appel, executive director of Our Family Coalition, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for same-sex couples with children, said she was thrilled by the court's refusal to stay the ruling.
Read full article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080605/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage;_ylt=AuOmvtrr6nGxO0iiPuVjUGRH2ocA
By LISA LEFF, Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO - Gay and lesbian couples around California are planning their nuptials following a refusal by the state's highest court to delay its decision legalizing same-sex marriage.
The California Supreme Court's announcement Wednesday cleared the final hurdle for same-sex couples in the nation's most populous state to wed beginning June 17, when state officials have said counties must start issuing new gender-neutral marriage licenses.
Judy Appel, executive director of Our Family Coalition, a San Francisco-based group that advocates for same-sex couples with children, said she was thrilled by the court's refusal to stay the ruling.
Read full article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080605/ap_on_re_us/gay_marriage;_ylt=AuOmvtrr6nGxO0iiPuVjUGRH2ocA
( Archive photo) Then it was .....Fires in California
AP photo
NOW THE DROUGHT
Read news here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRq52nOBAO6RNu2DFELz1lyhiOXAD913QTSG0
Reuters Photo: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks after meeting with border governors from U.S. and Mexican states...
CALIFORNIA
Other articles on California-On this Blog:
California Court Strips Children of Right to Mother and Father (1)
California Fire-Raging fire forces evacuation of Sierra Madre homes (1)
CALIFORNIA STORM NEWS (1)
California's top court overturns gay marriage ban (1)
AP photo
NOW THE DROUGHT
Read news here:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRq52nOBAO6RNu2DFELz1lyhiOXAD913QTSG0
Reuters Photo: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger speaks after meeting with border governors from U.S. and Mexican states...
CALIFORNIA
Other articles on California-On this Blog:
California Court Strips Children of Right to Mother and Father (1)
California Fire-Raging fire forces evacuation of Sierra Madre homes (1)
CALIFORNIA STORM NEWS (1)
California's top court overturns gay marriage ban (1)
Schwarzenegger declares drought in California
Schwarzenegger declares drought in California
By DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought after two years of below-average rainfall, low snowmelt runoff and a court-ordered restriction on water transfers.
Schwarzenegger warned that residents and water managers must immediately cut their water use or face the possibility of rationing next year if there is another dry winter.
"We must recognize the severity of the crisis that we face," the Republican governor said Wednesday at a news conference.
Read full article here:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080605/ap_on_re_us/california_drought
Monday, June 2, 2008
I had a dream early in the morning on May 31st-By Sherry Mason
Sun, 1 Jun 2008 11:35:33 -0500
From: Sherry Mason
I had a dream early in the morning on May 31st.
In my dream I was in a large, quite cavernous building with an arched ceiling along with several other people. We were ALL dressed in the style of Gypsys. Our clothes were bright, colorful and mismatched. Scattered around the edge of the large main room were some much smaller rooms. Some of these contained beds and the beds were assigned to various people. I was off in one of the small rooms but I could see into the large center room. People were in small groups talking or wondering about alone. There were a couple of other people in the side room with me.
Suddenly, I began to sing through the doorway into the center room. I was singing a new song of the glory of God. The words were even coming out in rhyme. I sang as loud as I could but wondered if my voice could be heard in the main room. I felt I needed to sing and hoped that others would join me in this song. I felt that if they did and we all began to sing one song in unison that the glory of God would tangibly fall on us.
A few others began to open their mouths to sing and my heart swelled in hope and joy...but to my disappointment they all began to sing their own song and the words were a jumble and the tunes did not match and a confusing cacaphony of disjointed noise arose. It was all wrong so I stopped singing.
When I stopped everyone returned to doing "business". There were two women in my room and they had their heads together gossiping, gigling, talking about the things of the world that interested them. I just could not stand it.
I went my bed which was a lovely little twin bed with a colorful handmade quilt on it. This bed was what I had hoped for when I found that we had been assigned these "Places of rest". I laid down upon it on my back and just lifted my voice again...only this time I really did not care if anyone else heard...I was singing to the Lord. The women in my room did not like the song and they left...then I saw that people were beginning to seperate from one another. Those who did not like the song began to come together on one side of the main room...and slowly others began to come into the room where I was and began to sing as they came.
There was a separation of the people.
On thing I would like to mention is that the building was shaped like half of globe. It was like being inside the top half of the globe. It hit me that God is showing that this seperation is a world wide event.
Sherry Mason
U.S.A
2nd E-MAIL FROM SHERRY MASON
Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:57:22 -0500
Subject: comments on dream from May 31
I wanted to talk a little about the dream I had sent out yesterday...I should have taken time then to do it but was pressed by other duties that needed to be done.
I think the idea of the gypsies is that they have no real "home". They wonder from place to place. They are also generally outcasts and rejected by society. They are very free spirits in one way...they dance, they sing, they laugh, they sorrow, they express their emotions.
But for me...it is the idea of not having a home. I am reminded of Hebrews 11:10 (Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God).
Those who have come out of the system are looking for a body whose builder and maker is God. We haven't left the Body of Christ...we have only left the religious system. Too many people equate one with the other.
But while there are many who appear to have left (just as all in my dream were dressed in the gypsy clothing)...yet they are still engaged in the system in some way (i.e., I used the excuse that I cared about the people). I do care about the people but I wasn't doing any good for them or myself by staying in that system. So for those who are still tied some way to the system, cut the ties. Otherwise you may end up in the group (in my dream) that did not "like" the song of God's glory and the call to "come to Him while coming out of the world" that was in the the song.
That's what those little side rooms were...a place of coming out of the world and there is no doubt in my mind that the religious system is part of the world's system. I fully think that the large central room represented the world.
Those who have come out are going to find that place of "rest" customized just for them (just like my bed in the dream). When the separation occurs then the one's who are fully leaving the things of the world behind (the religious system) will come to those places of refuge and rest.
I would like to address the clothing. These clothes was really a thing of joy because while they were mismatched and of multiple colors...the colors were bright and crisp and the clothing appeared new and not faded in any way. Maybe they represented God's favor (Joseph's coat of many colors)...I don't know. But they were comfortable, not constricting or binding.
I just reread Swarna Jha's vision "Raiders of the airway" and there is a part of it which reminds me of this dream and about the separation. I am copying it below.
Sherry Mason
OUT OF THE SYSTEM BUT IS THE SYSTEM OUT OF YOU?
In a vision flash, I saw some among the Raiders of the Airways who had broken free from the 'churchy' bondages, or the 'anything goes' type of ministries.
When they had broken free from such filth and left, I saw in the vision flash, that in the far corner of their jacket's left pocket deeply embedded in a crevice, was a teeny weenie little 'shiny' stone that these could not resist bringing with them when they left such ministries.
This stone was slowly growing in their pocket. Some had forgotten they had such a stone and the moment they saw it growing in their pocket, they repented and threw off the jacket which contained this 'shiny' stone.
But those who thought that the stone was nothing more than a mere thing, and saw no harm in it, and kept it, started to every now and then say and do things exactly in the manner in which their 'old masters' had done.
Money /resources in the hands of such would in the long run be dangerous for their spiritual health, for they would go the way of their old masters, and commit similar if not the same errors.
Be warned Raiders of the Airways check your pockets, and your intents and see if they reflect the nature of those old masers, you once served under.
Repent and DEAL WITH IT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
From: Sherry Mason
I had a dream early in the morning on May 31st.
In my dream I was in a large, quite cavernous building with an arched ceiling along with several other people. We were ALL dressed in the style of Gypsys. Our clothes were bright, colorful and mismatched. Scattered around the edge of the large main room were some much smaller rooms. Some of these contained beds and the beds were assigned to various people. I was off in one of the small rooms but I could see into the large center room. People were in small groups talking or wondering about alone. There were a couple of other people in the side room with me.
Suddenly, I began to sing through the doorway into the center room. I was singing a new song of the glory of God. The words were even coming out in rhyme. I sang as loud as I could but wondered if my voice could be heard in the main room. I felt I needed to sing and hoped that others would join me in this song. I felt that if they did and we all began to sing one song in unison that the glory of God would tangibly fall on us.
A few others began to open their mouths to sing and my heart swelled in hope and joy...but to my disappointment they all began to sing their own song and the words were a jumble and the tunes did not match and a confusing cacaphony of disjointed noise arose. It was all wrong so I stopped singing.
When I stopped everyone returned to doing "business". There were two women in my room and they had their heads together gossiping, gigling, talking about the things of the world that interested them. I just could not stand it.
I went my bed which was a lovely little twin bed with a colorful handmade quilt on it. This bed was what I had hoped for when I found that we had been assigned these "Places of rest". I laid down upon it on my back and just lifted my voice again...only this time I really did not care if anyone else heard...I was singing to the Lord. The women in my room did not like the song and they left...then I saw that people were beginning to seperate from one another. Those who did not like the song began to come together on one side of the main room...and slowly others began to come into the room where I was and began to sing as they came.
There was a separation of the people.
On thing I would like to mention is that the building was shaped like half of globe. It was like being inside the top half of the globe. It hit me that God is showing that this seperation is a world wide event.
Sherry Mason
U.S.A
2nd E-MAIL FROM SHERRY MASON
Mon, 2 Jun 2008 09:57:22 -0500
Subject: comments on dream from May 31
I wanted to talk a little about the dream I had sent out yesterday...I should have taken time then to do it but was pressed by other duties that needed to be done.
I think the idea of the gypsies is that they have no real "home". They wonder from place to place. They are also generally outcasts and rejected by society. They are very free spirits in one way...they dance, they sing, they laugh, they sorrow, they express their emotions.
But for me...it is the idea of not having a home. I am reminded of Hebrews 11:10 (Abraham looked for a city whose builder and maker was God).
Those who have come out of the system are looking for a body whose builder and maker is God. We haven't left the Body of Christ...we have only left the religious system. Too many people equate one with the other.
But while there are many who appear to have left (just as all in my dream were dressed in the gypsy clothing)...yet they are still engaged in the system in some way (i.e., I used the excuse that I cared about the people). I do care about the people but I wasn't doing any good for them or myself by staying in that system. So for those who are still tied some way to the system, cut the ties. Otherwise you may end up in the group (in my dream) that did not "like" the song of God's glory and the call to "come to Him while coming out of the world" that was in the the song.
That's what those little side rooms were...a place of coming out of the world and there is no doubt in my mind that the religious system is part of the world's system. I fully think that the large central room represented the world.
Those who have come out are going to find that place of "rest" customized just for them (just like my bed in the dream). When the separation occurs then the one's who are fully leaving the things of the world behind (the religious system) will come to those places of refuge and rest.
I would like to address the clothing. These clothes was really a thing of joy because while they were mismatched and of multiple colors...the colors were bright and crisp and the clothing appeared new and not faded in any way. Maybe they represented God's favor (Joseph's coat of many colors)...I don't know. But they were comfortable, not constricting or binding.
I just reread Swarna Jha's vision "Raiders of the airway" and there is a part of it which reminds me of this dream and about the separation. I am copying it below.
Sherry Mason
OUT OF THE SYSTEM BUT IS THE SYSTEM OUT OF YOU?
In a vision flash, I saw some among the Raiders of the Airways who had broken free from the 'churchy' bondages, or the 'anything goes' type of ministries.
When they had broken free from such filth and left, I saw in the vision flash, that in the far corner of their jacket's left pocket deeply embedded in a crevice, was a teeny weenie little 'shiny' stone that these could not resist bringing with them when they left such ministries.
This stone was slowly growing in their pocket. Some had forgotten they had such a stone and the moment they saw it growing in their pocket, they repented and threw off the jacket which contained this 'shiny' stone.
But those who thought that the stone was nothing more than a mere thing, and saw no harm in it, and kept it, started to every now and then say and do things exactly in the manner in which their 'old masters' had done.
Money /resources in the hands of such would in the long run be dangerous for their spiritual health, for they would go the way of their old masters, and commit similar if not the same errors.
Be warned Raiders of the Airways check your pockets, and your intents and see if they reflect the nature of those old masers, you once served under.
Repent and DEAL WITH IT NOW, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.
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