I Never Dreamed

For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law— a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
- Jesus Christ (Matthew 10:35-37)

Jesus Christ said some pretty shocking things during His time on earth. The passage I have quoted above is certainly one of the most disturbing. In it Jesus stated that His coming would bring division between the most intimate family relationships – division so intense that it would make the members of one's own household his enemies. For years I thought – wished perhaps – that Jesus was merely being hyperbolic. I recently discovered that He was not.

Last week, the Lord directed me to study Ezekiel 33. In that passage the Lord told Ezekiel that He was making him a watchman for Israel. God told Ezekiel that if He sent a warning through him and he failed to deliver it to the people then Ezekiel would be responsible for their failure to respond, but if he delivered the message and the people ignored it their calamity was on their own head. I felt that God was giving me the same charge.

A few days later God called me to deliver an important message to someone who is very close to me. They have been openly engaged in sin and effectively asked me to endorse it. I reminded the individual of my position and the reason why I could not approve. I explained the hope of the gospel to them and encouraged them to repent and turn to God. They were offended. I got unfriended (on Facebook). And from what I have heard some less than kind words were spoken about me.

I'll be honest, it makes me sad. I had hoped that the individual would be born again. Unfortunately, it went the other direction. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. I hope it won't be, but the violent reaction I got made me wonder just how this person will respond if they continue down the path they have taken much longer. I love this individual and really hope that one day our relationship can be restored.

As much as I desire that, there are some things that I cannot compromise: I cannot endorse something that the Bible calls sin, and I cannot allow a person to walk in sin without warning them.

I love this person too much to allow them to believe that their sin is OK. I cannot withhold the truth when directly confronted by the deception that they are living under. A person may think that a stick of dynamite is a candle, but if I let them walk around with a lit stick to find their way I am not loving them as I should. If I don't try to stop them their destruction is certain. Thus it is with sin.

The Bible tells that there is coming a time when people will not endure sound doctrine, but will seek teachers that will tell them what they want to hear, leading them away into deception (2 Timothy 4:3-4). As Christians it is our duty to hold the line and not compromise the message of the Bible. That doesn't mean that we have to be hateful. In fact, it would be best if we're not. We are to speak the truth in love. Does it guarantee that we won't still be hated and reviled as ignorant? No. Jesus always spoke the truth in love and they crucified Him. The Bible tells us that we will become a fragrance to all we encounter – to some we'll be the beautiful fragrance of Christ but to others the stench of death. It will all depend on the path they are taking.

We must be willing to stand unblinking before the wrath of the spirits controlling those we love and desire to see born again. We must hold up the mirror of the Word before them so that they know their true condition and recognize their need for the radical change that can only come from the Savior. We must keep loving them even though they think we are the enemy. And we must believe that God will get through to them eventually as we pray and hold the line against their deception. Never quit! He is mighty to save.

I never dreamed that Jesus' words in Matthew 10 would be true for me. But I was wrong.

Total War

Part One In The Spiritual Warfare Series

I have been pondering the concept of total war lately. Americans are really not comfortable with the idea of total war. This fact is clearly seen in our impatience with the current war in Iraq and in our approach to the war against terrorism in general. The most recent example of total war in American history was World War II. Yet even that war did not carry the concept to its extreme limits. According to Wikipedia

Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a belligerent engages in a mobilization of all available resources at their disposal, whether human, industrial, agricultural, military, natural, technological, or otherwise, in order to entirely destroy or render beyond use their rival's capacity to continue resistance. The practice of total war has been in use for centuries, but it was only in the middle to late 19th century that total war was identified by scholars as a separate class of warfare. In a total war, there is less (or no) differentiation between combatants and non-combatants (civilians) than in other conflicts, as nearly every person from a particular country (or opposing area), civilians and soldiers alike, can be considered to be part of this belligerent effort.

The "civilized" world in general doesn't seem to have much of a stomach for total war, and I am glad many industrialized nations have embraced the concept of more limited warfare. However, the concept of total war seems to be a good description of the spiritual war in which humanity finds itself.

Consider the reality that exists on Earth. Two kingdoms are engaged in battle for supremacy of the earth. There is no Geneva Convention governing the prosecution of this war. It is a bloody, no-holds-barred fight. Neither side fights fairly, and the weapons of each side are devastating.

The devil and his forces are doing everything that they can to steal, kill, and destroy. They are not above attacking infants in the womb. They put hideous diseases on people. They spawn physical wars. They keep people in bondage physically, mentally, emotionally, economically, and spiritually. They pervert justice and do everything that they can to destroy God's creation. Worst of all, the devil takes advantage of people's fallen, sinful nature to keep them bowing to him. Condemnation and intimidation are some of his most effective weapons. This kingdom uses deception and lies as propaganda to prevent its victims from finding God's light and to entice them to destroy themselves.

On the other hand the Kingdom of God uses weapons that the enemy cannot resist. Those in this Kingdom have access to the precious blood of Jesus that the enemy has no defense against. They can use the name of Jesus that causes every knee to bow in submission. They have the Word of God that is like a mighty two-edged sword. The praises of God in their mouths inflicts "vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with fetters, their nobles with shackles of iron, to carry out the sentence written against them." They have the grace of God at their disposal to set them free from condemnation and from the fleshly sinful nature that their enemy had used to keep them in bondage. And they have Almighty God backing them up.

The greatest insult of all to the kingdom of the devil is that the Kingdom of God doesn't destroy anything except the works of the devil. The Kingdom of God is all about restoration. It takes its enemy's greatest warriors and converts them and uses them as weapons against the devil's kingdom. In fact, the word of a Christian's testimony has great power to overcome the devil. So even the things that the enemy intended to destroy are used to overcome his kingdom. And he can't even kill these liberated prisoners to stop their influence, because the blood of the saints of the Kingdom of God is the seed of the Church.

The sooner that we embrace the reality that we are engaged in a total war the happier we will be. For when we finally recognize this truth we will be able to readjust our expectations in a way that will allow us to begin to walk in victory. So many Western Christians have been deluded into believing that spiritual warfare is a metaphor instead of truth. As a result we are perplexed when we see the suffering that exists in our world. We wonder why our lives are so destroyed and why sickness, bondage, poverty, conflict, and trouble are our constant companions. We wonder why our lives as Christians are such a poor representation of the examples that we see in the scriptures.

John Eldredge described it this way in his book Waking The Dead:

Until we come to terms with war as the context of our days we will not understand life. We will misinterpret 90 percent of what is happening around us and to us. It will be very hard to believe that God's intentions toward us are life abundant; it will be even harder not to feel that somehow we are just blowing it. Worse, we will begin to accept some really awful things about God. That four-year-old girl being molested by her daddy - that is "God's will"? That ugly divorce that tore your family apart - God wanted that to happen too? And that plane crash that took the lives of so many - that was desired by God?

Most people get stuck at some point because God appears to have abandoned them. He is not coming through. Speaking about her life with a mixture of disappointment and cynicism, a young woman recently said to me, "God is rather silent right now." Yes, it's been awful. I don't discount that for a moment. She is unloved; she is unemployed; she is under a lot. But her attitude strikes me as deeply naive, on the level of someone caught in a cross fire who asks, rather shocked and with a sense of betrayal, "God, why won't you make them stop firing at me?" I'm sorry, but that's not where we are right now. It's not where we are in the Story. That day is coming, later, when the lion shall lie down with the lamb and we'll beat swords into plowshares. For now, it's bloody battle.

- John Eldredge, © 2009 Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive, pp. 17-18 Thomas Nelson Publishers

Once we embrace the concept of total war we can begin to act like we are in a war. Instead of wandering around the battlefield naked and unarmed we can begin to gird ourselves for the battle that we are in - and like it or not we are all in a battle. There is no sideline. No quarter is given based on age, sex, race, religion, economic status, handicap, or anything else. We are all combatants on one side or the other. If you fight you will be attacked, and if you don't fight you will be attacked. I don't know about you, but if I'm going to be attacked one way or the other, I intend to bloody my adversary as much as I can.

It is important to remember the nature of a Christian's weapons. They are not physical weapons, but spiritual. And our enemies are not flesh, but spirit. That isn't to say that the spirits don't manifest themselves through people for they surely do, but our warfare is against the spirit and not against the individual. When a Christian wars, success will be far more likely when anger is not allowed to be expressed against the individual that the enemy is using for his purposes.

But why do we have to fight? If a person is born again he belongs to God, right? If God is all-powerful then why do we have to fight? Couldn't He just win for us? He could. But that has never been the way that God has operated in the Earth. Even from the beginning, He created mankind in His image and authorized him to rule the Earth. The New Testament does not change this arrangement. In the end God's saints rule with Jesus when He comes back to take physical dominion of the Earth. A good picture of God's attitude towards warfare can be found in the book of Judges:

These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan (He did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience): the five rulers of the Philistines, all the Canaanites, the Sidonians, and the Hivites living in the Lebanon mountains from Mount Baal Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

God actually WANTED all of the Israelites to be trained in and experience warfare! We are no different. The scriptures make it clear that we are to personally engage in warfare through the power and strength of the Lord.

One of the most significant realizations that I have ever come to as a Christian is that the devil does not fight fairly and that I don't either. I am OK with that. The enemy will go after anything that he can to get to me. My family, friends, property, health, and anything else that he could use to harm me are all on his list of potential targets. Anything that I have not protected is likely to be attacked. However, on the other hand the Lord has given us tremendous promises in His Word that allow us to defend ourselves against the devil's schemes.

Peter tells us to "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." Another version tells us to "be sober, be vigilant." Soldiers in a battle zone learn to be vigilant or they end up dead. God has already given us the weapons to defeat the enemy. If we are alert and on guard against the devil's attacks we can thwart him when he tries to devour that which Jesus purchased for us at Calvary.

There is no doubt that the enemy will get in some cheap shots, but as we learn to fight we will make it harder and harder for him to breach our defenses. Even better we will learn to plunder his kingdom, taking back not only what he stole from us but setting other captives free! We will begin to cause more damage to the enemy than he does to us! When we are on the offensive the battle becomes fun.

I hope that you see that there is no avoiding combat in this war. Our actions either contribute to the victory of the enemy's kingdom or the Kingdom of God. As you begin to engage in the battle do not be dismayed if the enemy intensifies the battle around you. Remember that intimidation is one of his tactics. If you will continue to resist him he will flee. And you don't have to fight by yourself either! We can team up against the devil, and that teamwork multiplies our effectiveness.

Soon I hope to address some of the practical ways that I have learned to engage the enemy and to discuss the weapons that I have learned to use in that fight, but these topics are outside the scope of today's post. I hope that these thoughts have spurred you to recognize the nature of the battle in which we all find ourselves and have encouraged you to take up your armor and weapons to defend yourself against the enemy's attack. May God grant you much grace and reveal Himself to you through His Word.

Go To Spiritual Warfare Series Part 2: Choosing Your Ground

Extravagant - To the Rising Sun with The Risen SON (Part 2)

I am sitting here at my computer, drinking some lovely Japanese tea (the only word I can read anywhere on it is Suntory the rest is in Japanese), and pondering just how much of a show-off my God is.

I think that we (especially in America) tend to think of God in deistic terms: that God is up there and He created everything and set everything in motion and then got bored and left it to its own devices. This seems to be borne out by the wickedness and brokenness that we see all around us. We don't often see the miracles of the Bible in operation around us. We don't often hear His voice. This is even true of many Christians (although we don't want to admit it) and is a great source of vexation for us. We see the great disconnect between the stories in the Bible and our experience here in this life.

Such a view couldn't be further from the truth. God is still quite involved in our world and in our lives. The problem is with us and not with Him. We have allowed the weeds of the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lure of entertainment to so distract us that we cannot hear the voice of the Lord.

We also do not actually trust the Lord to do anything. We believe that our provision and success comes from our ingenuity and hard work. We believe that our health comes from doctors and medicine. We believe that our security comes from a good job and lots of stuff. We believe that knowledge comes from our scientists. And we believe that our safety comes from our strong military, intelligence community, and law enforcement agencies. This even happens in our churches! Whether God's Spirit shows up for the service on any given week or not, we'll still have a pretty good show.

Why would God do anything dramatic for people that aren't humble enough to recognize that they need His help? This is the reason that we don't often see God at work among us.

We have grown accustomed to getting everything right when we want it and just how we want it. We are not used to thinking of anyone actually ruling over us - that anyone actually has the right to tell us what to do or to tell us no. So when we pray and things don't go just exactly as we think that they should or exactly when we think that they should or if the cost is too painful or too great, we go off in a huff and quit praying and quit believing and accuse God of not caring about us.

We really don't know God. What little bit we do know about Him is so often tainted by the lies of the enemy. But I want to reiterate to you today that God is a bit of a show off.

God was showing off when he sent the plagues against Egypt to set His people free. He was showing off when He parted the waters of the sea for His people to escape. He was showing off when He allowed the enemy to kill Him through evil people and then rose again from the grave three days later. And God is still showing off today.

To prove my point let me tell you a true story.

Not too long ago, right here in America, there was a man who loved God, but his life seemed to be cursed. He loved to give to other people but found that he really never had the resources to do so as he wished. He had changed careers three times, but had never found a vocation - something that was more than a job to him. It seemed like everything he tried just came crashing down in failure.

After leaving his last job he had been unemployed for two years. He had looked for jobs in a field that he was well-qualified in, but couldn't get any responses to his job applications. For a while the Lord miraculously sent him financial provision; for over 6 months the Lord brought him the money that he needed to live on without having to ask anyone for help. But by the end of the first year of unemployment the assistance had dwindled to the point that he had to depend on the help of his family to get by.

During this time the Lord was working on his heart, healing old wounds and correcting incorrect views that the man had about Him. The Lord began to break the power of fear over the man's life and caused him to recognize that God is good and trustworthy - even in the midst of hardship and even when His provision did not come in a way that was preferable or comfortable. God stripped away many of the man's distractions and took away his desire to be constantly entertained. He helped him to become used to quiet and solitude, and in that environment began to speak to the man more clearly than the man had ever heard before.

The Lord began to teach the man and explain to him why this extended period of leanness had come. He began to tell the man that the time of leanness was nearly over and that the major pruning that He had been doing in his life was nearly finished. The man wanted to believe these messages, but honestly had difficulty hoping that such a wonderful promise was true and that it was coming to him soon.

The hard times had taught him how to survive emotionally through a teeth-gritted perseverance that did not look for the struggle to end (though he often cried out to God that it would) any time in the foreseeable future. In fact, out of a desire to never EVER go through such a trial again, the man sometimes prayed that the Lord wouldn't end the trial until the message was so thoroughly learned that he would NEVER have to go through such a trial ever again.

One day the man was praying for a friend of his who has a heart for Japan. His friend had visited the nation before and the Lord had showed him amazing things about the spiritual climate of that nation. God had begun to stir in his heart that it was time for him to return to Japan.

Well, the man was praying for his friend about him going to Japan and asked the Lord, "Please give my friend wisdom about the next step with Japan. Please help him to hear Your voice clearly." When he had finished his prayers the man went to check his email. He had a message from the friend that he had just finished praying for that said, "Wanna go to Tokyo with me? My plan right now is to go Feb. 14-Feb. 25. I'll give you more details later. Maybe we can get together one weekend for prayer and hanging out."

Sensing the significance of the fact that he had just been praying for his friend and a trip to Japan and that he had felt an enthusiastic yes in his heart to the invitation the man wrote back, "Hmmm. Funny you should mention that. I just got done praying for you and your mission to Japan! I am definitely interested, although there is much that would have to be worked out (passport, money, etc...) I look forward to talking to you about it."

That night the man prayed to the Lord, "Father, I know that this is not difficult for You, but I have some questions. How am I to go about getting the money to go? My friend says it will probably be about $2,500. How am I supposed to justify spending that much money on a non-necessity when I can't pay my own bills?"

The Lord answered and said, "Who says it is a non-necessity?"

The man agreed, "If You want me to go then it is necessary, but please help me to be able to justify this. I have no money for a passport, and that will need to be started now or very soon at least. There are still bills to be paid here. How can I ask for the money to go on this trip without the money to pay my bills?"

God said, "Perhaps you will have the money for both?"

"Yes, this is possible," the man agreed. "In my heart I want to go. I feel that You want me to go. I need some confirmation, and I am either going to need a plan or a windfall. I am willing, send me. Give me the grace and the faith to see it through. I know You can do it. I must admit that I am struggling with believing that You will do it though. Please help my unbelief."

The Lord advised him, "Son, spend some time praying about this and I will make things clearer."

The man traveled two hours away to visit his friend that weekend. They talked about the trip and prayed about it. They agreed to seek the Lord about whether they were supposed to go on the trip together. They determined that one way that they would know that the Lord had ordained the trip was if the money came in for the man's passport in time for him to get one before the trip. (The scheduled departure for the friend was only 5 weeks away.)

While he was there the man began to think, "There's no way that I could get that kind of money together in that short amount of time. Besides that, how can I justify spending that kind of money when I'm not even able to pay my own bills? I think that I am not actually supposed to go on the trip but that I am supposed to just support my friend in prayer and availability here." To him the matter was more or less settled in his mind.

When he came back home the man avoided bringing up the topic in prayer. In fact, he got very busy with many other things and quite distracted, for he was afraid of what the Lord would tell him. He was both afraid to be told yes and afraid to be told no. (Unfortunately, fear isn't something that is easily conquered....)

The man was pretty much convinced then that he wasn't to go and had allowed himself to think that for the two weeks that he was running from hearing God's voice about the matter. Then one Sunday night three weeks before they were supposed to depart his friend called him back up and told him, "I spoke at my church tonight about the trip and afterward someone gave me $100 for your passport. So now you have the money for your passport, and that's what we said would be our sign that you are supposed to go."

Oh boy. This definitely created a situation. Now the man had to admit that he had not been operating in faith at all about whether he was supposed to go or stay. He had only been looking to the natural and his ability and hadn't believed that God would possibly make a way for him to go on this trip.

The man and his friend had agreed to fast and pray about the trip on Tuesday of that week. They were going to seek a clear and final answer over whether the man was supposed to go.

Tuesday came and they fasted, but the man struggled to pray about the trip. He was still running and afraid of what he would hear. He finally managed to sit down to pray and said, "Father, my doubt and unbelief when it comes to money is so incredibly strong. I know You have provided for my needs for months now, and yet when it comes to a large (to me) sum of money that is needed I tend to shrink away and not believe. It isn't that I don't believe that You can do it, it is that I rather doubt that You will do it. Forgive me for my unbelief. There is so much that seems to be pointing to me going on this trip with my friend, but my doubt and unbelief - especially about money - has caused me to hesitate to even talk to You about it."

"Father, my needs have been so great for so long, and I have just learned to cope and not think about it too much. And yet I know that eventually the bills will come due and nothing will be able to stop it then. I need the money to pay my bills. I need the money to pay those taxes. I need the money for food and clothing. These needs are real and present and urgent. And yet I find that You ask me to go to Japan at what seems a great expense to me. How can this be when there are so many other needs?"

"I feel overwhelmed. And here I am fasting today, and I don't feel like I have even done what I should be doing for that. I haven't even done my prayers today. And I haven't spent time in concentrated prayer in over a week. How do I bring balance to all of this?"

"I need direction, Lord. I need You to speak to me. Open my ears. I bind the devil from being able to cover them. Angels please do warfare on my behalf. Father, I must be able to hear."

The Lord answered him and said, "Calm down."

"I'm trying," the man replied, "but I feel anything but calm. This is change, and it is radical change, and I don't feel like I have assurances that everything is being covered. Something about this trip has triggered a fear response in me that I don't understand."

"Well, you are not much of one to draw attention to yourself, and you are afraid that you will be doing that on this trip," said the Lord.

"True," he answered. "And I don't know the language. And I don't have the money. And I don't want mom and dad to be offended. Plus when I have gone out on limbs like this before I have often come back disappointed."

God asked the man, "Son, how often have you really gone out on the limb?" (OUCH!)

"I did with the mission trip to Scotland after college."

"And the money was there, wasn't it?"

"Yes," the man had to admit.

"I've made provision for you every time you have responded to My call," said the Lord. (OUCH again.)

The man asked, "Why does it seem like You haven't?"

"Because I didn't do it the way you thought I would," God replied, "and because the enemy is a liar."

"That's true enough," agreed the man. "He's a pain in the butt too."

The Lord said, "You want to stick it to him? Then you need to go on this trip. What you and your friend will be doing will rock his kingdom to its core. You will help to set a whole people free."

"Wow. Really?" the man replied. "OK. I believe that You want me to go. What must I do for that to happen?"

About that time the man's friend called. The man told him, "Well, I believe that the Lord wants me to go."

His friend was excited, "Well, we need to order your plane ticket now before the plane gets filled up. I'll put it on my card and you can pay me back when the money comes in."

Panic seized the heart of the man. "Uh, you sure you want to do that?"

And his friend said, "I'm willing to loan the money to the Lord for a little while. If He wants you to go He'll bring it in."

Later that night the man prayed, "I know You are generous of heart. I have heard that Your name means 'the God of more than enough.' You aren't pinching pennies in heaven. Everything in all of creation belongs to You. Finances are not a problem to You."

"Father, I am still scared - especially with my friend fronting the money for my plane ticket. I'm sorry I am doubting. But it doesn't pay to try to pretend. I must confess this sin and ask You for Your help. Please forgive my unbelief. Help me to trust You. Please give me grace to believe. Please give me the grace to trust."

The Lord replied, "Son, I will demonstrate My ability to make this happen. Follow My direction and watch and see what happens. This is the beginning for you."

Excited, the man asked, "The beginning? Does this mean that the leanness is finished for now?"

"It means that I am beginning to open the door to your destiny," God answered. "You won't walk in the fullness of it yet, but it is beginning. You need some time to get used to this and to learn the ropes. The leanness is about to start paying dividends."

One day the man decided that he would see if God would provide for the trip through a windfall from the lottery. He spent the money for the ticket and scratched it off only to come up empty. God showed him that He wasn't going to provide for him that way. He showed him that if he won the lottery that no glory would come to God. The Lord showed him that the lottery was man's solution to things. It was the best that a lost person could hope for - but not the answer for a child of God. God could take much better care of him than that.

That night he prayed, "Please forgive me for seeking the world's way to pay for this trip. Please forgive me for my lack of faith and unbelief. Help me to trust You to bring the finances for this trip in. I believe that I am supposed to go. I believe that You are sending me. I believe that You will provide. If You do not provide I cannot go. I need the money for my passport. That really needs to happen today or at the very latest tomorrow. Please help me to get it."

Well, it was evident that the next step was for the man to get his passport. The only problem was that he had no cash on hand with which to do it. By now there were over $300 that had come in to help pay for the trip, but all of it was with his friend. The man prepared his application and then planned to travel to visit his friend again to get the money and order his passport.

Not surprisingly there were some hurdles to be overcome. Most of the Post Offices where his friend lived were overbooked with appointments for passports. The earliest appointments for most of them was a week after they were supposed to leave! However, the friend found a location that only allowed walk-ins. The man left that night to go there so that he would have plenty of time the next day to apply in the event that there might be some delay or unforeseen obstacle.

He had about ¾ of a tank of gas and about $13 cash. If he didn't spend any money on anything else he should have the money for gas to get back home. So instead of asking his dad for money, he left, trusting God to get him there and back.

The next day he went to the Post Office. There was hardly a line. Within 30 minutes he had completed his application. The real danger though was that the projected turn around time for the passport was only one day before he was supposed to be leaving on the trip. The agent suggested that if he wanted to be sure that he would get the passport in time that he should get an appointment and drive to Washington, DC where he could get the passport that same day. In a flash of faith the man determined that he wasn't going to be afraid, but would trust that if God wanted him to go on this trip then He was more than capable of getting the passport there on time.

The trip home was a real test of faith. Gas prices were higher than he expected and he wasn't able to purchase as much as he had anticipated. He drove home, praying hard that the Lord would help him to make it. He did with about a gallon or so to spare.

Six days later the man's passport arrived. Over the course of that week without asking one person for money, God brought the man $210.

This story is true. And if you haven't figured it out yet, I am that man.

Does it make sense at all that God would take a man who has no income and has plenty of debt and would send him to Japan on a mission trip that will cost almost as much as 3 months' expenses? Would anyone believe that you could get a passport in less than a week? We are talking about a government agency in the midst of an administration change! What are the chances? How often do people make contributions without being asked? God's hand is all over this. God is showing off. He is proving that there is absolutely no excuse for not obeying Him. He is doing something miraculous through a very unlikely vessel. If he can take someone as beaten up as I am in so many ways and make a way for them to go to the other side of the world, then He can do anything. It's kind of his MO.

Grab your popcorn, folks. This story is starting to get good. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Konnichiwa - To the Rising Sun with The Risen SON (Part 1)

Hello there friends. Sorry it has been a while since I have posted. Things have been pretty busy lately. I have been working on some new disciplines and it has rather upset the applecart of my schedule. I'm still trying to figure out how to balance everything and get stuff done.

In the news of what is happening with me, it would seem that I will be going to Japan for a short mission trip in the middle of February.

I had been praying for a friend recently who made a trip to Japan last year. I had just finished praying about him taking another trip to Japan when I got an email from him asking if I wanted to go there with him. Something inside of me said, "Sure!" So we began to talk about the trip. It was clear that he was supposed to go. There were ample signs to that effect, but it wasn't so clear that I was.

After all, my finances haven't been the most hearty in the past couple of years. How would I go? How would I finance it? How could I justify it?

I even went as far as to go up and visit with my friend. At the time I thought, "Nah, I'm probably just supposed to lend logistical support." To be honest I kind of put it out of my mind. There was no way it was going to be feasible.

Yet, the question wasn't answered for sure and I had frankly been dodging the question in the prayer room. Don't ask me why. But last Tuesday I finally got back around to talking to the Lord about it and He made it pretty clear that I am supposed to go. I still don't know how. I still don't know why, but I believe that I am supposed to go.

The Lord has begun to bring in the finances for the trip. That is an exciting thing, but I guess the Lord pays for the projects that He has endorsed. Hopefully, we will have the full amount for the trip before we leave and hopefully my passport will be here in time. I ordered it last Friday morning and there was a two week wait. That gives me just one day of cushion. Definitely cutting it close.

We still don't know exactly what we'll be doing on the trip, but we are trusting the Lord to guide us. I'm going with my friend who spent a month in country a couple years ago. He documented his trip in his blog, David's Mobile Blog. I will update you here as the news unfolds, and I'll be sure to post some updates and pictures from the trip while we are there. I guess that is all for now. More to come soon!

NOTE: Thanks to my cousin, Gary, for the title suggestion for this series and the admonition that I should be journaling this experience.

Powerful Song

Cal Thomas Cuts To The Chase

This is a brilliant and insightful article to those of us who consider themselves Evangelical Christians. We should take note.

Cal Thomas: Religious Right R.I.P.

Does this mean that we should abandon politics completely? Should we leave the public life for the cloistered life? No, but we need to understand where our true power comes from, and quit being blown about by the winds of circumstance. (I will remind you that the Apostle Paul ministered at the time Nero was using Christians as garden torches.)

Our God is mightier than any man or government, and His power working through us towards our neighbors is mighty in effecting change. The prayers of the righteous are efficacious. Be encouraged!

Scripture For Today

Psalm 91

1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High
will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 This I declare about the Lord:
He alone is my refuge, my place of safety;
he is my God, and I trust him.
3 For he will rescue you from every trap
and protect you from deadly disease.
4 He will cover you with his feathers.
He will shelter you with his wings.
His faithful promises are your armor and protection.
5 Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night,
nor the arrow that flies in the day.
6 Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness,
nor the disaster that strikes at midday.
7 Though a thousand fall at your side,
though ten thousand are dying around you,
these evils will not touch you.
8 Just open your eyes,
and see how the wicked are punished.

9 If you make the Lord your refuge,
if you make the Most High your shelter,
10 no evil will conquer you;
no plague will come near your home.
11 For he will order his angels
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you up with their hands
so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.
13 You will trample upon lions and cobras;
you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet!

14 The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
I will protect those who trust in my name.
15 When they call on me, I will answer;
I will be with them in trouble.
I will rescue and honor them.
16 I will reward them with a long life
and give them my salvation.”

General Quarters

In the aftermath of the Obama victory, many Christians are wondering, "What now?"

I believe (as I posted the day before the election) that the key issue at stake here is the heart of our nation. I believe that the choice that was made was a true reflection of the attitudes of the people of our country. That is the thing that concerns me most.

If you read the post that I referred to a moment ago, you will recall that I believe that the Lord showed me that shakings are coming to our country very soon. As I prayed about the election and this prophecy yesterday, I believe that the Lord gave me additional instructions for His people that I will share with you later in this post.

It is a weighty thing to bring a message from God. I do it with a great deal of seriousness and caution. Indeed, I have been rebuked by the Lord even today for not having a heart and mind aligned with the message that I have to bring. I hope that my error has been corrected.

To set the stage for these instructions I would like to explain some things about the nature of what the Lord has shown me. First of all, I want to make it clear that the Lord is saddened by the fact that judgment is coming. He does not delight in it. Secondly, I want to say that the discipline of the Lord is not mean-spirited. It is just. It is severe, but it is for the good of His children.

Let's consider the state that our nation is in. We are a nation that murders millions of its unborn children every year. We have shed much innocent blood. We are a nation that has perverted justice. Our rulers accept bribes and determine public policy on the basis of who will give them the largest campaign contributions. Our nation is perverse in almost every way imaginable. It is impossible to escape sexual images in our culture. We are bombarded by them constantly. Our nation is consumed by greed. Our corporations do not care who is hurt by their actions or decisions as long as they are making a profit. Our companies exploit workers the world over to satiate their (and our) lust for more. We hold to a form of religion but deny its power. We have perverted the Gospel of Jesus Christ and substituted a doctrine of good works or amorphous 'spirituality' in its place. We have abandoned the Scriptures and we have been systematically evicting God from public life. Our nation is full of lies. Our media cannot be trusted to tell the truth. To make a long story short, as a nation we have broken every one of God's commands, and sadly the Church is as culpable as the rest of society.

God spoke to Jeremiah saying, "Shall I not punish them for these things? And shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?" (Jeremiah 5:9) Fearsome words. When I read the prophets I fear for my people because I believe that God is just. If He punished Israel He must certainly punish us.

Brothers and sisters, punishment is coming. I believe that it is coming soon. There is a very small window of time before it begins. I do not know the extent of it, but I know that it will be severe. Let me share with you the words that I believe that I received from the Lord.

There will be a grace period before the shaking begins. During this time President Obama will show his true colors. I will use this to give My people who have been deceived the chance to repent of their mistake and to turn to Me. This is their window of opportunity to shield themselves from the wrath that will be unleashed.

The things that are coming against America will be staggering. It will cause even those who love Me and know me to be dismayed. My people MUST learn to press into Me. They must begin to start devoting time to knowing Me NOW. This is the real deal. It is no drill. The only way that My people will not become overcome by fear and despair is by pressing in deeply into Me. Many will be scorched, but I will protect those that are Mine.

Pray fervently that I will place My people in strategic and influential positions around the President. I will reveal them at the right time. I will give them apt words to speak at just the right moments. Pray for them because these will be the most trying days that your nation has ever seen.

Tell My people to pray that President Obama will repent. Tell them to ask for a complete change of heart. Tell them to pray for those in the Congress who will stand against the measures that he and the others will try to implement. Pray for their courage and pray that they will trust me - even in the face of threats against their lives and the lives of their family members. Pray for strength for them to stand.

Weep for those who will be lost. They have chosen their doom, but how tragic it will be.

Guard your hearts. Cling tight to the truth that I am good. Never lose sight of this. The enemy will do his best to convince you otherwise.

During this time I will reveal the true hearts of those in leadership and those of the people. The fire will show what is there. I will expose things that have been hidden in secret. Carefully hidden plots will be revealed to broad daylight for all to see. I will expose this country's corruption and idolatry and the truth of it all will sicken the people. Then I will be able to bring healing.

When I have removed the stumbling blocks - when I have taken away those who refuse to come to Me and are determined to take others to hell with them - then I will bring an awakening to this land. It will be glorious beyond anything that you could ever imagine. It will not be localized like many of the outpourings in your land have been. It will be a great wind that will sweep through the entire nation simultaneously. It will not be driven by personalities or men - it will be completely orchestrated by My Spirit. Entire regions will be completely converted.

Once again, I pray that I am wrong about this - well, the judgment part. But I feel it to be true as certainly as anything that I have ever heard before. Please take advantage of this opportunity to seek the Lord. Dig into the Word of God and pray that He will drive its truth deep into your spirit. Pay close attention to God's nature as you read. See what He is like and cling to that. In the midst of judgment the enemy will lie to you and twist the truth about who God really is.

I have seen in my own life that the Lord's discipline is sometimes quite severe. It often lasts much longer than we would desire, but it is always for OUR best good. God does what must be done to heal us - and sometimes that requires breaking us first; much like a physician sometimes has to re-break a bone that is not set correctly. The process is painful but is GOOD.

I know that this is a fearful word. I know that it is not pleasant. We were not promised pleasant. We were promised that God would look after us and that He would cause all things to work together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28) He has seen fit to allow us to be alive at such a time as this. Be brave and seek your strength in Him. He will not let you down.

PRAISE GOD!!!

California's voters have passed the constitutional amendment banning homosexual marriage!!!!

I am also very grateful that the Republicans managed to hold on to enough seats to retain the ability to filibuster. I hope they know how to....

UPDATE: 11/6/08
Arizona and Florida also passed amendments to their state constitutions that define marriage as being the union of a man and a woman. A law was also passed in Arkansas that prevents unwed couples from adopting. Good news in the midst of a pretty bad news sort of day.

Sonnet XII

My God – A Sonnet To My King
By Jonathan D. Eller

My God, My God, who loves as well as You?
Your patience is more broad than all You’ve made,
And though all men are false your word proves true.
Your promises, vast as the stars arrayed,
Speak goodness, love, and mercy without end.
Your power stuns my intellect and yet,
The helpless and downtrodden You defend.
Your heart’s inclined to forgive and forget
The sins confessed by children penitent.
But anger flares towards those who mock Your path
And scorn Your truth with actions insolent.
They, sowing foolish seed, invite Your wrath.
Lord, let Your kindness cause them to repent.
Please draw them to the Holy Lamb You sent.

October 27, 2008

Another installment in the poetry series!

Undone

I am utterly undone by this song this morning.

Amazing Miracle!

In Galilee an infant born prematurely was declared dead and placed in the morgue. Five hours later the mother asked to see her baby one more time and was shocked to find that the child was alive and breathing! According to the article:

"When we unwrapped the baby to see her, she realized it was moving. I began screaming and ran with it toward the doctors," he (the father) said.

She was then rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit,
where doctors are fighting for her life.

"I was in shock," the mother told Channel 2 last night. "I thought I wasn't hearing it right when they said she was still alive."

Dr. Moshe Daniel, the hospital's deputy director, said that in his 35 years as a physician, he had "never heard of such a case. It was like a medical miracle."

Like a medical miracle? Moshe! Come one, man. Get a little faith! For crying out loud, you are named after Moses! Let's not qualify, OK? Number one it isn't like a medical miracle. It IS a miracle. And two, there is no need to qualify it as a "medical miracle." Medicine had nothing to do with it. Even if there was gross negligence on the attending physician's part, a baby that was mostly dead isn't likely to have survived 5 hours in a morgue refrigerator.

Chalk this one up to God.

Ever Seen Baby Corn Before?

I grew up in the country around such things, but never saw the beginning of an ear of corn before yesterday.

I'm not exactly sure why this is. It is either that I wasn't curious enough to try to find out, or I just wasn't around at the right time in the process. Either way, I thought I'd share this with you just in case you would also like to know.

Here is the thing that just amazes me with this garden thing: the stuff happens so dang fast! I mean one day you're out working and notice that something is starting to change a little bit and then BOOM! All of a sudden it has happened. It is so easy to miss the miracle if you don't see it pretty regularly.

In the picture above you can see the very beginning of an ear of corn. (Coming out right between the stalk and the leaf.) This began just days after the tassels began to show up at the top of the corn.

What is really cool is that it doesn't stay like this very long. Within a day or two BAM! You already have silk! Isn't that the coolest?!

Now this picture is from my Ruby Queen corn. Something you will notice about this is that instead of having white or golden colored silk this corn has red silk!

That isn't all. It also has red pollen on the tassels too. You'll probably have to click on the picture below to enlarge it so that you can see the color on the tassel.

I don't know. Maybe I am easily impressed, but I just think this is one of the coolest things that I have witnessed.

It is a lot of fun to actually see this stuff happening instead of showing up after all of the amazing bits have already taken place and it is time to start working.

If you have never grown anything from a seed you should really do it sometime just so that you can watch the miracle take place.

I planted this corn and it was a tiny seed... barely the size of a pencil's eraser. Within seven days it had already popped up through the soil, and now it has grown from that tiny seed to the point that most of it is over 6 feet tall and is beginning to produce fruit!

All of this has transpired in less than two months. According to the seed packet I should be enjoying the corn that I grew myself by the end of July. This just rocks!

The Sombrero Galaxy

This is called The Sombrero Galaxy. Its boring, official name is M104. This galaxy contains 800 BILLION suns and is 50 light years across. The picture was taken by the Hubble Telescope. I don't know about you, but to get pictures like this it was worth every penny they spent on it.

Laminin... Who'd Have Thought It?

You can see a picture of the molecule over at Deborah's blog, Thoughts Along The Way. That's where I found the video.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN, INDEED!

This is the really good news. Not only did Jesus die, taking our sins upon Himself, but He rose again, conquering death and the grave. Now we share this hope of our own victory over death through His death and resurrection. And we now have the power to conquer sin in this present age.

Gone Home...

Perhaps you remember my post a little while ago about Pete? He was a man who came to know Jesus late in a life that had been ravaged by the devil. According to a post on Chris Elrod's blog, Pete got to meet Jesus face to face yesterday.

I think this testimony from an earlier post written by Chris is awesome:

Last week we took a large print Bible to him and he’s been falling asleep with it on his chest every night…he’s been reading it all day…every day. Our visits have mainly consisted of conversations about doctrine, what certain verses mean and what Heaven is going to be like. There was a question he asked me about Scripture that had me stumped…Pete said, “That’s okay…I’ll just ask God in a few weeks when I get there!!!” He’s in a lot of pain…but he still has a joy and sense of humor about him that just lights up the room.

It is astounding to me that God can overcome a life that seems wasted by sin and the destruction of satan and rescue that individual late in life. If that were all it would be shocking. But what is even more amazing to me is that in the very few weeks that this man lived as a Christian, God caused him to even bear fruit.

It is just like Aaron's rod. The stick was completely cut off, identical to all of the other 11 rods, but overnight God caused it to grow leaves, flowers, and almonds. Is there anything God cannot do?

I serve a RADICAL God.

An Extremely Good God...

In my last post I wrote about how God can even forgive a sinner as heinous as an abortionist? Check out this story at Chris Elrod's blog.



Welcome to the family, Pete.

UPDATED:

Check out the follow-up to this story on Chris' Blog.

Good News!

My Grandfather seems to be doing much better. Thank you for the prayers, but by all means do not stop praying for him. He still has a long way to go before they will release him from the hospital. I am hoping and praying that he will be able to be home in time for Christmas. Ambitious? Yes, but is anything impossible for God? Absolutely NOT!