The "Papal Root"

There is an expression rumbling around in my spirit the last few weeks that I have never heard... "The Papal Root."

There are so many traditions, understandings and practices of even the modern day "church" that are rooted in essence to Rome. Over the last 40 years I have seen men of God and various groups attempt to remove those false traditions, understandings and practices and seem to succeed for a while only to see that a few years later those things have reappeared and established themselves - even in their own lives. They do not die easily. To me it has always been a mystery.

There is a plant here called "Blackberry Bush" and from just one plant an entire acre can eventually be filled with it. It grows prolifically to about 4 feet tall and branches out everywhere through it's root system - so thick that no one can pass through it. The branches have huge thorns and if one tries to pass through it the thorns catch onto the garment and soon the person cannot move away from it. They are trapped. They have to call for help for others to try and carefully remove the branches that have trapped them.

The other thing about the Blackberry root is that even if all the vine branches are cut to the ground and seemingly the plant is pulled up by the roots, the root goes so deep that it breaks off leaving a part of the root deep in the ground. Soon the Blackberry root is sprouting shoots and begins to take over the entire area again.

The only known way to permanently kill the Blackberry bush is to kill the root. But what exactly is the "root"?

The Papal root is the lie that a singular man has been appointed by God to rule over the Church as his sole authority and emmisary. It is the child of the fallen Church at Rome committing fornication with the "kings of the earth." The result was the Papal root - an Emperor (or sole authority) clothed in religious garments - a religious Empire. That root has branched out and, even though it has taken on different names and identities, that concept has elevated itself in almost all of what is known as "Christianity" till today.

The concept of a "singular pastor" in today's church follows it's lineage back to that "Papal root." There is nothing in the New Testament that remotely upholds that concept. The early church appointed elders (or more accurately recognized in the Holy Spirit those that were indeed elders in the faith.) Some of them had pastoral gifts. It was not a heirarchy of authority with one person at the top over all. It was all about common servanthood to the other believers with the resurrected Christ as the sole authority.

Now a little advice here for those who find themselves in the position above. Years ago working on an old house, I went around between the bushes and the back of the garage with my back to the bushes started working on something. Suddenly when I tried to move I realized that one of the branches of the bushes thorns had embedded in the back of my jacket. The more I turned and stretched to free myself the more other branches' thorns began to cling to me. I was soon completely unable to turn in any direction or to free myself. I was stuck! I had to wait and pray that another worker would come back to the jobsite to help me carefully get free. It was over an hour till someone came and helped me. The lesson in that is that if you are entangled in the blackberry branches, be very careful how you attempt to untangle yourself and if at all possible, get help from others you trust not to get entangled themselves.

ps the fruit of the Blackberry bush is very tasty and sweet despite the fact that it is a very agressive.... WEED.

LEARNING FROM THE BIRDS

Yesterday thousands upon thousands of birds flew in V-formations going south. There was almost a constant stream of them all day. They know that something is coming and their survival instincts tell them to flee from it to a place of safety. They know that Winter is coming.

We recognize the signs of natural times and seasons yet we fail to discern when signs are placed right in front of our eyes that the "season" we have lived in for decades is about to change. Why is it that we can understand the drastic changes that go on between summer and winter and yet cannot comprehend that our lives and the society we live in can undergo just as drastic a change.

We are in the "FALL" (or transition period) right now. The once pretty leaves of the trees that gave shelter and protection to the biirds are now dying and falling off leaving the tree trunks bare and naked (and hopefully ashamed). Winter is coming... we should not be spending time lamenting the bareness of the trees. We should especially not be spending time getting caught up in admiring the changes in the colors of the leaves before they die. We should be trusting our spiritual instincts and begin to send out the call, getting into formations and fleeing to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. He alone has all the answers for the times we are living in.

If you don't know Jesus, now is a good time to get alone and pray to the Living God for mercy and unearned favor to change the direction of your heart. God has given us His all in His Son Jesus but we have to reach out to Him in faith and accept all He has for us.

Naked And Unashamed

I once got a word from the LORD about the nonprofit religious corporate status of church and ministry organizations in the USA.

"The spear that you are leaning on will pierce your hand."

The sign of it's coming would seen manifesting in the Boy Scouts of America. (Bear in mind that this was many years ago and I had nothing to do with scouting at all.)

I see it as a warning that there are going to be changes in the relationship between government and the Church. That it is not so much that non-profit status it is an "evil" thing of itself but that it will be turned into a liability - a method of control - a demand for compromise.

Please understand that when I speak of the "Church" I am not refering to the outer garment of "organizations" that will perish with the using. Organization has it purposes but when it's purpose is fulfilled or it ceases to align with God's purposes it will be discarded. Instead of submitting to God's plan we ultimately try to preserve that which He has discarded by building images of the now discarded garment. Nothing more than historical monuments along the road that leads to the return of the Messiah.[*]

Some of the garments that God will discard along that path is our love for our country, our denomination and our racial/ethnic background. Those three are very difficult to give up because they form a major part of our identity in the flesh. But those three also form barriers, sometimes very subtle, between believers as well. They can be, if not always, spiritually blinding and binding. Giving them up to God is about as welcome in us and the world around us as much as we would welcome having all our teeth pulled. We only allow the dentist to have his way when we are driven to submit in pain or danger to our own health.

Everything that God is allowing in this country is designed for the benefit of the believers. To shake us loose from that which binds us in spirit. To shake us loose from that which is temporal and release in us that which is eternal. God built into man the desire to identify with Him but because of the fall of man we are left with emptiness that drives us to find other things to identify with. We are, in the flesh, naked and ashamed. God is asking us, "Are you willing to be naked and unashamed before Him and all men. To have your sole identity formed within you be that which is W-holy reserved for Him."

We cannot be clothed by God in holy garments while we are still wearing those that are passing away.

Does that mean that we abandon our country, denomination or race? NO! (unless God leads you to personally) "Be in the world but NOT a part of it." It is only then that God can use us in those arenas effectively because we no longer have anything to gain from them. Our identity is hidden in Christ.

[*] The Kingdom of God is always in motion even if that motion is stillness which is just the preparation for the next wave. On earth it manifests as waves or moves of the Holy Spirit. Our tendency is to idolize the wave we have been priviledged to ride and when it discipates (and it will) we idolize that wave not noticing that there are many more waves to come. Our attempts to recreate a wave only serve to interfere with the next wave coming.

The Sin Of The Church of America

Perhaps 40 years ago a move began in Christianity in this country. The inaccurate expression, "The Moral Majority" seemed to catch Christians on a political fire. It all seemed great for a while. The trouble is it was based on the erroneous concept that most Americans are moral beings. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." "There is not one righteous." There has never been a "Moral Majority" in this country. In God's eyes it was a tremendous sin for us to promote the deception that if one is a "moral person" one is righteous before God. We know that is scripturally not true.When that movement promoted joining forces with the Republican party we never questioned it. If we were to look at the reality of that time, the "majority" of the Church leaders that spearheaded that effort were very wealthy men. Their financial inclinations and loyalties were already towards the Republican party. Unfortunately when the vast majority of professing Christians placed their loyalty in the Party, it took away a certain amount of their loyalty to God. It also left the Democratic party almost entirely unguarded and without much Godly influence.It also alienated over half the population of this country in a way that was extremely divisive. The fuit of which we are living with today. It eventually gave an excuse for over half the population to not be open to the gospel because they are "Democrats." Are all Repulicans saved? We have committed the sin of creating a hybrid entity that is in spirit at emnity with God. It has the appearnace of godliness but denies the power and authority of God. Oh the Republican party talks the talk but when in 40 years have we seen them walk the walk? From what is apparent, the party has influenced (and disarmed) the Christians spirtually more than Christians have influenced the party. It is the same sin that caused some church leaders in the 3rd and 4th centuries to merge with the political power of Rome. The "Christianity that evolved out of that time is a hybrid Christianity. Having the appearance of godliness but lacking the power of the Holy Spirit. Both parties are ruled by the powers and principalities of the air. By greed and the lust for ultimate power. They are the right and left hand of evil. The "Good cop" and the "Bad cop." Both have a mutual contract with unelected principalities and powers to imprison the people into another form of government. That "government" is standing at the door... "God's hand is not shortend at all that it cannot redeem." but "Make no mistake, Given the choice between the purity of His Church and the longevity of this nation, God WILL choose the purity of His Church." I truly hope I am wrong but I do not see another president of the United States of America (at least not the USA or a president as we have know it)

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

Years ago I had the pleasure and priviledge to observe something for about 6 months. We were back in Hawaii for 3 years living in an apartment building that was once housing for farm workers about 2 miles off the highway near some farms. In between two apartment buildings was some grass that a young lady kept her sheep fenced in. She loved her sheep.

One day a neighbor was hunting pigs nearby and his hunting "dog" (that was half wolf) got wind of those sheep while we were all gone and jumped over the fence and attacked them before his owner got him under control. When we came back those sheep were laying out in the grass with severe wounds. Some had gouges chewed out of them 2-3 inches in diameter and over 1/2 an inch deep. It didn't look good for them to live. The vet told her to put them down but she just couldn't do that to her sheep.

I watched that young lady nurse those sheep for quite a few months before enough growth was able to cover over those huge gapping gouges. Every day putting new dressing on them and trying to win the battle over the flies that would congregate around the wounds. Finally though they were all healed. It was slow and arduous progress.

The apartments faced that grassy area and their decks were about 6 feet off the ground. One day I was out in the parking lot (also facing that fenced in grass and the sheep) while fixing a car early in the morning I witnessed something that was utterly precious. The sheep were in there eating grass as usual but every minute or so they would all stop and stare the deck in front of that young lady's apartment. She hadn't woken up yet. This went on for over a half an hour every minute or so.

Suddenly, the young lady came out of her apartment and surveyed her sheep from the railing of the deck. I saw something amazing. From the second she stepped out on the deck those sheep stood motionless for quite a while staring at her in what appeared to be utter admiration for their shepherd, their healer, their protector. It was like they were in awe (and so was I) locked into their gaze of her appearance on the deck. It was as though they worshipped her and lived for her appearing every morning on that deck.

I couldn't help but equate what I saw to Jesus and His sheep. He will never leave or forsake us. He will never abandon us no matter how wounded we are or what it takes for us to be healed - even if others give up on us. And we should be watching and patiently waiting for His appearing and awestruck at even a glimpse of Him. The whole experience was such a wonderful picture of the Good Shepherd.

Now this was a beautiful picture of spiritual reality but I have to be honest and also mention that quite some time later, there came a day when this precious young lady had to move elsewhere and had to turn over her sheep to the care of another. That must have been really hard for her.

Now if you were God and you had some human "sheep," what kind of a shepherd would you pick to take care of them?

Well I better end this story but I should tell you that a few years later, at about 19 years of age, God called her to a mission field in a South American country where she has been ever since, working with young people and adult villagers. (over 15 years now)

I hate to even tell you how many times in my life I have given up on people only to have the LORD later prove me utterly wrong. He never gives up on us. That is a lesson each and every one of us should consider every day.

"Christ died for ALL sin, for ALL mankind, for ALL time."

OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS IS LIKE FILTHY RAGS

"The day of denominationalism is over. That which is highly esteemed in the sight of (religious) men is an abomination to God."

One night in 1980 I had this desire burning in me to stay up late to read the scriptures. As I was reading, it was like the Holy Spirit took over and suddenly I found myself opening the scriptures randomly and my eyes focused in the dim light of the oil lamp on the words, "To the Church at _____ (a locality)" then just as quickly I found myself opening the scriptures to yet another passage with the same words.... Over and over and over again until I had opened to every passage in the new testament with those words. I could not have possibly done so in the natural.

While this was going on the thought was burning inside me, "Lord, what does this mean?" "What are you saying?"

A Dream/Vision I also had In 1980...

In this dream/vision I was suddenly caught up very high in the air overlooking what appeared to be a subdivision of houses. The houses were all basically the same and were on both sides of a straight road. There were many, many of them. All of them had driveways that led to the road but I couldn't see where that road went to. Being a builder, I was somewhat impressed with all this.

I found myself observing this scene from high above for a time then just as suddenly as I had been caught up in the air, I found myself inside another huge house in the midst of a large crowd of believers worshiping God. I didn't recognize any of them but we were all caught up in the presence of God so much so that it was beyond anything I had ever experienced. I had been ushered into the presence of God many times before this in gatherings of believers but nothing anywhere near like this.

The presence of the Jesus was so powerful, so real, so permeating that if anyone had a question in their heart towards Him about something while they were worshiping , the answer was instantly revealed. As I looked around in awe at all this, a question came into my heart. "Where did all these people come from?" Instantly the words came into my mind,

"These are the ones that have come out of the houses you saw." (in the subdivision) [Note: I much later realized that this coming out was in our hearts]

I looked around in awe at the multitudes that were gathered in the presence of Jesus. He was there in the midst of it all. The gathering went as far as I could see. The house was like no house I had ever seen. God was the foundation and the floor. He was the very roof of the building. It was expandable for as many who would come to gather in His presence because the building had no walls. The foundation was laid on the earth but the roof was suspended from above so it didn't need any walls to hold it up. It was built by God and held together by Him and it was filled with the Glory of God Himself.

Then as quickly as I had been caught up, I was back from where I had been before the dream/vision.

The houses of men are built for the pride of men but the House of God in Jesus the Messiah is built for the glory of God Himself. There are no walls in His house. There is only the glory of God that fills those that believe from every nation on earth.

Is it possible that everything we are so proud of about "where we gather" and "who we gather with" named or unamed, that very thing to God is an abomination?

Even the Roman soldiers, when Christ was being crucified did not take a meat cleaver and chop HIS Body into pieces yet we think nothing of doing so ourselves.

Before this, I used to think that "ecuminical unity" was the unity that God desired but ecuminical unity is the upholding of the concept of the "subdivision." God's unity of the Holy Spirit is given to all believers in our hearts. The two are diametrically opposed to each other. In the one we endevour to create a unity but in the other the unity IS and we are commanded to maintain it.

I Once Had A Dream

I once had a dream that as I understand it, the outward form of what is known as the church fell into a bottomless chasm leaving us totally reliant on the pure light of Jesus to carry us across that chasm. That day the Lord spoke a confirming sign: That the doors to Russia were going to open... But someday they would close as quickly as they had opened. That was in 1987. In 1991 or 1992 the doors to what was formerly the USSR suddenly opened to everyone's shock. I'm not much of a betting man but the relationship between the USA and Russia has of late relatively soured and that door is being prepared to slam in the face of the USA. 

If my understanding of all this holds true (we see in part and know in part), the non-profit corporation that the "church" has been leaning on is about to pierce our hand. It will either not exist or we will be forced to choose between keeping it and denying God or following Him and letting it go. My sense from another vision is that the decision to hold on or to let it go will not have any in-betweens but comes with serious eternal reprocussions. It will be like a fire that will force us to one side or the other.

I am not by any means saying that we should at this time abandon the outward form and the non-profit status but rather to be very vigilant in the coming times and allow God to teach us how to do without it. We do need to recognize though that it will be God allowing these things to prepare us for the 2nd coming of the Messiah. That is very important so we can keep our discernment sharp. If we are all bent out of shape and blaming governments, political parties, Muslims or even other "churches" we will not see the day of our visitation coming. It is in spirit much like 9/11. A few saw it for the warning to this nation that it was (God's hand lifted for a second) and unfortunately many were found (and still are) blaming scapegoats to avoid the conviction and have totally missed the warning of the LORD at that time..

There is something we need to understand about God's ways. If it comes down to it He WILL sacrifice a nation to accomplish the purity of His Church. If we don't understand that we will stumble. Jesus is not coming back for a Church that looks like it just got chopped up at a butcher shop. He is going to have His way with His Church and our flesh is NOT going to like that one bit.

The Church is going to enter into this time of refinement as a huge ocean pleasure cruise liner with lots of room for passengers but it is going to come out of this time we are entering into as a sleek, much smaller fighting ship and everyone on it will be a functioning part of it's crew.

Christians - Why We Are Failing

We don't fight against flesh and blood but rather principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. Now if anyone is having a hard time understanding the first part of that scripture (and if we are, it is highly unlikely that we remotely understand the 2nd part) take a sharp object and insert it slightly into your arm or leg. The "flesh" will part and "blood" will come out. Is there anybody alive on earth that test will not produce the same result from? That is a very powerful concept because it just eliminated 7 billion potential enemies to fight and leaves only the second option as to who really is the enemy we should be battling furiously. But the truth is that we are hanging on to the first set of "foes" and failing miserably to defeat the second.

Islam is an ideology that is incompatable with not only the doctrines of the Messiah but the very Spirit of the Messiah. One is totally dependent upon the flesh and the other should be crucified to the flesh and completely dependent on the Spirit. But there is one somewhat common thing between the two as far as religions go:

One cannot say that all Muslims are violent extremists any more than one can say that ALL Christians are using their recreational time hanging out at graveyards raising the dead. But in the same way one CAN say that anyone who is a Muslim and is affected by the ruling spirit can at any time resort to violent religious actions just as any Christian can be moved by the Spirit and empowered to raise the dead. Now if we are not jumping in our cars to go to a graveyard right now perhaps we should humble ourselves and seek God's mind as to what may be more compatable with our level of faith.

So here is a spiritual principle: If we lump people together and identify them as a group or agenda in our mind and that is how we relate to them, we are actually empowering that ruling spirit and possibly maybe even likely creating a stronghold in our own mind that can make us useless to God. But if we allow God to instruct and empower us to see each and every human being as an individual that Jesus died for and refuse to lump people into "categories" of any kind then the the very premise on which a ruling spirit is functioning is defeated in us and whether we understand it or not in the people we are relating to. Every person then is observed based solely upon their individual behavior (which is exactly how God sees us). God is also then able to lead us to individuals and He in us to relate to them as such. If we approach an individual solely as one of a bunch or an agenda, we are already defeated because we are empowering the very thing that may be resisting God.

I don't think we realize how much of our lives (and prayer lives) are confined by not understanding this one principle. Human beings by fallen nature gravitate very powerfully to the security of group identification. That is true whether we identify ourselves and others politically, religiously, or even by our favorite sports teams. There is an endless list competing for our loyalty if we are not focused solely on indentifying with the Messiah and particularly in His death for us. What we choose to identify with personally is going to seriously affect our subsequent choices as to how we are going to relate to others.

The Basis of Marriage and the Church

This is not perfect but then we should never presume anything written as perfect except the scriptures. Please consider this in that light. I did not really feel comfortable altering it from the way it came out. Also as the the last section on "marriage", let it not be abused and taken as license to sin....

"My sheep hear my voice and they follow me." 

A brother and I were praying in the spirit one day in an old fire damaged house I had bought back in 2002 when suddenly there appeared a line of fire between us. It was forcing us to choose what side of the fire we were going to be on and then it got so big that there was no way to jump over it. Then the vision was over.

I worked on that fire damaged house for four long hard years and by using older materials from houses that had been torn down and some new material was able to not only restore it but it was the most beautiful structurally stable house in the neighborhood inspiring many others to improve their houses.

But the cost of restoring the house became so great that My wife and I struggled to make the payments to the bank and though we lived in it about 5 years, we finally had to put it up for sale for far less than it was worth.

When we walked out of that house after it was bought by two homosexuals all we had left was enough to start over. So for all my hard labor to build that house, the house was then occupied by what I detested (not the people themselves).

He who has ears to hear let him hear...

 I didn't understand how God was using all this prophetically. I just lived through it and He formed the situation. The external "houses of God" and country that we have built after 9/11's warning from God went unheeded by both the country and the church as a whole is about to be divided between the profane and the holy.

I do know that "the spear that we are leaning on is going to peirce our hand." with sorrows. That the decisions that He is going to bring us to will also force us to choose between the "houses of God" built by men and the "HOUSE OF GOD" He is building in Spirit.

Years ago the LORD showed me that the non-profit status in relationsionship to the government of churches and ministries was going to change dramatically and that those who were not willing to "compromise" with the "fire" he was going to allow would not retain that status and that the boy scouts of America would be the first one to fall by either compromising or losing their NP status by standing against an immoral and unlawful demand.. At the time decades ago I didn't know what that would be.

According to law a non-profits disolution [disolving] ] (funds, building, etc) has to go to another NP corporation. Many will not be willing to count that cost as true gain.

But the beauty of all this was that the True church connected by the Spirit would rise up in that day and be seen in it's true form and glory.

But then knowing that eventuality, why are we so relying upon political influence and power? What is wrong with us that we embrace something that should not even once be named among us. Our connection to the government is the very thing that allows us to divide endlessly into 10's of thousands of legal independent identities - something that is no different than the world system we now live in.

So that being said brings up an important point:

Are we married when we have a "ceremony" saying so or the government says so or is it the decision to come together as one as God designed even in our physical beings to be outfitted and honored not for our external status with the world or even our status with an external church that itself is living in adultery with it's own governments but rather our faithfulness to live out our lives together unto death.

Then much more so should the CHURCH and those of us who believe rely upon our status with HIM and faithfulness to HIM unto death and NOT our status with the government or even the external religious form of the church?

When JESUS died upon the cross and shed HIS blood, HE said, "IT IS FINISHED!" HE set indelibly the relationship between His church and Himself forever. No ceremonial or legal status can ever "further" or deny what he has done. We are saved solely by faith in the shed blood of Jesus and His Promise (or binding betrothal) that He will keep His word to us.

So if a marriage is not determined by ceremony or legal governmental status but by faithfulness to one's promise unto death, so it is with God's Church.

The Ingathering Of The Sheep

One of the most beautiful animal things in nature I have ever seen happened years ago when we were living in the center of Oregon. It's sheep country and almost everyone who lives in that area has sheep. I used to do a lot of carpentry for a huge sheep ranch (30,000 acres) and one day the manager who was a friend of mine told me to come with him to see something.

Mitchell is known for it's hills and highlands with a few canyon-like lowlands.

My friend pointed my attention to a hillside which is actually the edge of a highland. As a watched for a while the most amazing thing I have ever seen animal-wise in my life happened. The side of that very long hill suddenly was becoming covered with sheep coming over the top and down into the lowland. Over 3000 of them. All at once together decending the steep side of the canyon. It was like a wave of sheep decending until the whole side of the hill was alive and moving. I can't even begin to describe the suddeness or the beauty of it or how massive it was.

Photo from www.raisingsheep.net/

Sheep are wonderful creatures. Unless they are restrained by man-made fences, they naturally do certain things well. They know how to search out food and as a general rule will eat together. They also do not have to be encouraged to reproduce. A small flock over some years can become quite large and yet remain together. Some may wander off and get into all sorts of trouble but by nature especially when they begin to spread the alarm amongst each other over a danger they will flock together. They are natural flockers.

But I would be cheating you out of a part of the picture of those sheep I saw coming over that huge hill if I didn't tell you about the shepherds that guided and cared for them. Unlike the other sheep owners in the area, these men came from generations of sheepherders. Many of them were Basque's who were brought in. They ate together and lived together and worked amazingly well together. They knew that there was only one flock and that flock belonged to their master. I never once in over 5 months saw them quarreling over whose sheep were whose. They were men who would spare no lengths to go out and reflock those who had wandered off.

But if I might take the liberty to express. There was one sad thing about that day. Unlike the sheep over thousands of acres who gathered together, the sheep who were fenced in by their shepherd's claims were unable to attend. All they could do was stand longingly at the fences that held them from gathering with the rest of the sheep. Because men had fenced them in they were unable to join the others...

...in that Great Ingathering of the Sheep.

* In case you didn't notice, all the sheep in the picture above are looking in the same direction. The same thing is happening with the flock of God's sheep. They are all starting to long to gather together as one flock and their attention is being drawn longingly in the direction of their coming Master. If you get in the way of that or start building new fences (or refusing to tear down old ones) you may end up on the side of a hill somewhere tending goats... And that my friends is a warning of things to come... Claiming God's sheep as your own in the day that is coming is to risk the wrath of God...

The Trumpet Blast

A sound rising up out of dead silence,
Like no other, the trumpet blast is heard.

The sound of all the trumpets in the universe,
blowing at the same time...

From the highest pitch beyond reason,
To the most uncomfortable deep bass.

From the softest, almost inaudible sound,
To the loudest sound imaginable,
They all blow their trumpets together as one.

The earth trembles and shakes at the sound,
Men fall on their knees in fear and trembling -
And every thought is laid captive,
      to what is coming.

The mountains are leveled, the valleys filled,
And there is no place to hide from the sound.
It is the sound of the Body of Christ together with
The hosts of Heaven all crying out with one voice,

"The day of the LORD is at hand..." 

The earth is being prepared for that day,
The day of the return of it's Messiah (Saviour).

Those awaiting His return are crying out with one voice,
From the softest whisper to the loudest scream,
At the same time, with the same mind and heart,
with their voices beginning to sound out,

"Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!"

Blow, trumpets! Blow!

MUSIC: SECULAR OR SACRED?

A brother posted a really nicely done worship song recently and I found myself posting this in the comments:

"Whatsoever things you do, do them with all your heart 

as unto the Lord and not as unto men."

Such a guideline for us who listen to and perform music that in all things we do them to glorify God and not for the admiration of men!

When the Lord touched me and saved me decades ago, I was a musician playing in clubs in the hotels in Hawaii. That was my life but it was also my emptiness because performing in the secular world (and unfortunately in the "modern christian pop world" is a barren life craving for the attention and admiration of men.

When I first started going to a gathering sometimes they would sing a song out of the old "hymn book" and I couldn't appreciate the words because I just couldn't stand the music. Three months later, I had no desire at all to play or to listen to secular songs (and never did again after almost 40 years.) BUT I started loving to play and sing those old hymns and worship choruses and it didn't matter if people cheered the music or admired my person, whether there was a whole crowd or just me before the Lord.

I discovered that the whole reason God placed that desire in us to sing and appreciate music was solely to express worship and to glorify God.

There was one song from my secular musical past that I used to sing with all my heart in my early years. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young's "Find The Cost of Freedom." but I had changed the words to glorify God.

"Find the cost of freedom... 

Nailed upon the cross.. 

Jesus Christ has won it all. 

Laid my burden (of sin) down."

That is the only secular song I ever performed (besides "happy birthday to you".) in almost 40 years. Nobody influenced me or taught a "rule". It is just what God did from the beginning of my walk and I love Him for it.

It's funny because I have never shared that part of my testimony in words before today. I just found myself blessed with the living of it. Nobody ever taught on the subject. It was just pure grace and still is. It wasn't a "Thou shalt not." it was a "thou shalt." The work of God in us in that way can be expressed so beautifully in the scripture:

"Old things are passing away.Behold, all things are new!" 

- (2nd Co. 5:17)

USA: We Are Blinded By Deception

Genocide

53,000,000 children (Who would now be American citizens) have been butchered over the last four and a half decades by the USA. That's approximately 1/6th of the current population of the United States. If God was going to overlook that, He would have to have Adolf Hitler canonized as a saint. If we could hear those children crying out, "How many more have to die. How long Lord before you avenge us of our blood..." we would be rightfully terrified. Those cries have been mounting for 45 years and of late have become deafening in Heaven. If this nation ignores this warning any further, that will be a fatal mistake. This country is slowly heading towards eliminating not just the unborn "undesirables" but ALL "undesirables."

Wars

Since WWII, the greatest military power in the world has not won a single war (call it what you like) and ultimately has retreated leaving a horrible mess in the aftermath:

• Korea
• Vietnam
• Iraq
• Afghanistan (soon)
• By our foreign policies and questionable "covert" activities initiating a never ending "war on terror" that has spread out potentially all over the world causing untold millions to live in fear of the next explosion in their midst

Arab Springs

Covertly or openly supporting and encouraging "Arab Spring" revolts resulting in nothing less than chaos and misery for those whose countries and economies now lay in shambles in the hope of "spreading democracy":

• Libya
• Egypt
• Syria

The Statistics

1. 50-60% of marriages during that time have ended in divorce
2. 47% of present children were born out of "wedlock"
3. Reproductive Sex without the permanent commitment of marriage (as it has been known as up until now) is the norm.
4. 5% of third graders have had sex. 50% of all high school students have engaged in sex - a large majority with multiple partners
5. Has become the world's largest producer and exporter of pornography
6. The "Entertainment Industry" who has lost any sense of moral compass
7. A population who is rapidly discarding any sense of true moral values and replacing them with psuedo values who have been left with:

• An economy virtually crashed and artificially restored that is now nothing more than a helium filled balloon waiting to burst

• An endlessly rising national debt being "resolved" by printing money of virtually counterfeit value

• A government that has been for several years virtually dysfunctional who has lost all sense of direction or obligation to represent it's people.

Distraction

And yet with all this and much more hanging over this countries head and its citizens most of us seem strangely disconnected from the reality of it all. Probably like no time in the history of man, we are being bombarded by by the great god, "Entertainment." Whether it is news, or video/graphic fiction, that "god" like an electronic drug is designed to keep us from any rational thinking about these things for any meaningful length of time. It is designed (deliberately) to distract us from what is really going on around us and especially to distract us from seeing the truth and being driven into prayer to the one and only true God and Father of Jesus who alone is able to save us and this nation.

Deception

• If you take a frog and drop him into a boiling pot of water, he will instantly and instinctively try to jump out.
• If you take a frog and drop him into a pot of cool water, he will probably stay right there. If you very slowly heat the pot of water up one degree a minute at a time, the frog will never notice the difference. He will just sit there until the water boils him to death... 

That is what is happening in this country to it's citizens. Even though in many ways the heat is being turned up we will just sit there because we are being made comfortable even with the things we would normally be very uncomfortable about. It's happening in the general population and it's happening in the "churches" and it's happening to each one of us in some way or another.

So now that you've taken the time to read this I guess you can go back to your facebook or TV or latest political discussion...

OR... You can spend some time and consider the fact that if we don't jump out of this pot of water into the waiting hands of the very loving, powerful God and Father of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and savior of the world that we are all going to boil to death - very slowly and painfully.

"We do not fight against flesh and blood but against powers 

and principalities and spiritual wickedness in high places."

The problem is a spiritual one. We need a Spiritual answer...
Fighting in the flesh or with political power is only adding to the distraction...

My Early Testimony

40 years ago...

Trapped and drowning in a car turned upside down in a ditch. No hope. I'm going to die! Fear. No air left. No strength to try to get out anymore. I pass into the unknown. I am ushered into the presence of God. You know. The one I cursed and ignored. The one I didn't believe even existed. The one when others mentioned Him, I would laugh to scorn. The brunt of my jokes is now my judge. I have no lawyer. I am not allowed to speak. Every breath I have taken. Every thought, every motivation. Every secret wrong I have done. All played out in living color. I cannot hide. I realize I am a condemned man and there is no hope. There is no escape from the truth. It is utterly terrifying.

Suddenly there is great indescribable power displayed. I am whisked from certain death to life. I have a new breath of air. My body passes through a space that only a few minutes before I couldn't even get my arm through. All within less than a split second. My two passengers are sitting on a rock above the water. Their backs turned to the wreck. They are sad. The tow truck driver arrives. He looks shocked when I pop up to the surface. I didn't tell a single soul for years. I had no words to describe. I know now it is called, "The Mercy of God..."

I had a back injury from the accident so no one would hire me so I went up to Alaska to work. I tried to clean up my life but I kept falling on my face in the mud. No matter how I tried I knew that it wasn't enough to please God. I finally gave up but I was so empty. Came back home. Played in a band in the hotels. On the surface everything was great but inside I had no life in me and had to deal with constant back pain.

One night we had a 45 minute break and I went outside in the garden between two hotels and I stood there alone, empty, wondering if there was even any real meaning to life. Suddenly everything around me was filled with the presence of Jesus. Yes there was a certain fear but I was numb to it now. I knew I was a condemned man. I had nothing to look forward to in that way. But His presence was so beautiful, so loving and life was pouring out of Him towards me. I was awestruck. Then He said to me,

"Come into My Kingdom..."

 and those words were so full of life and forgiveness that all I managed to say was, "YES!" as I stood there basking in His presence. Then as I was standing there, the same power that had ushered me out of that car and out from the water that night went through me like a bolt of lightning and my back was instantly and permanently healed and my life was turned upside down in a wonderful way.

I was thinking today how sad it is that this generation seems to have turned it's back on God but then can we really blame them? Have they ever seen even one miracle (in "church" or out on the street) Have they heard the Gospel go out in power where man stands out of the way and let's Jesus run the show? (He is very good at it!). I think God is hearing a heart cry inside this generation. One that by and large we are ignoring. They want the real thing. They want evidence.

For decades now, by and large people have been hearing the Gospel of 2000 years of defiled churchianity but soon they will hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God preached in power. Power to save. Power to turn people's lives around. Power to heal and all that will be found in God's power to forgive and cleanse from sin. That is one purchase that has already been made for us and it was Jesus that paid the price to make it possible. People cannot see that because often we are obscuring their view. But that is all about to change...

Jesus is saying something but with all the noise we are not hearing Him.

"Come into My Kingdom or get out of My way!. There isn't much time left and I am not willing that even one perish..."

The Missing 12 Smooth Stones

I am reminded of when the children of Israel were exhorted in their crossing of the river Jordan into the promised land that they were to take from the river 12 smooth stones to remind them of all that God had done for them in bringing them through the wilderness and crossing the Jordan. (And they had many more difficulties to go through and overcome so would need those reminders to prevail.) Their instructions were to take those 12 smooth stones and tell those stories to subsequent generations.... And, they were commanded that for a reason.

Even though the Acts of the Apostles (Actually the Acts of God through and witnessed by the Believers at the time) ends where it ends in the scripture, the book of Acts in the Church is not intended to end until the Coming of the Lord. Throughout history there have been saints of God who have walked in incredible grace. When we leave all those smooth stones of God's moving through His people back in the Jordan river of History that the Church has passed through, when we have sentenced them to be forgotten by subsequent generations, we are doing a vast disservice to future generations of Christians. Christian converts who will accept a life in Christ far less than He has intended or is capable of working in us.

Much of the present generation of newer Christians lack a certain foundation of those smooth stones of the continuity of the LORD's work in and through His Church throughout history. I have never seen a generation like this that so much seems to need to be entertained to come to and remain in Christ as opposed to realizing the deep and constant need for conviction of sin and the need to submit out lives to Christ and bear our own cross. That our lives are no longer our own. We have been purchased with a price. Part of that reason is that we have all but erased the testimony of God in prior generations and by doing so have shortchanged ourselves and this generation....

And They Were One

From the heart and mouth of the Lord Jesus:

"and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (Jesus)." John 10:16
"I and my Father are one." - John 10:30
"And the glory which You gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." - John 17:22
"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father [GOD], keep through Your own name those whom You have given me, that they may be one, as we are."- John 17:11
"By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another." - John - 13:35

And affirmed by the Holy Spirit upon His outpouring on the disciples:

"And all that believed were together and had all things common" - Acts 2:44
"And the multitude of them that believed were of on heart and of one soul." - Acts 4:32

---

Is it wrong to desire such a thing if Jesus himself desired it to be so??? Do we dare to entertain such a thought that seemed so prominent on the mind of Jesus prior to his crucifixion??? That after Jesus ascended the promised Holy Spirit came upon them became so apparent???

That those who follow Jesus would be ONE.

What is it that hiders us? Is it the desire to rule our own kingdoms as in the world? How is it that there are endless splits within what is outwardly known as the "Church" to the point now that we have 10's of thousands of independent organizations all claiming our own identities.

Is identifying with Christ insufficient to our hearts that we find ourselves chasing after strange fruit to satisfy some carnal desire within our ranks and in our own hearts to "have our own?" Can we possibly see that desire as sin that Jesus died on the cross for? Something that needs repentance? What is the call to repentance that so many have heard and professed really about?

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." - 2nd Chronicles 7:14

It is not "America" (or any other country) that God is calling out to be saved. It is His Church splintered in spirit like a broken sheet of glass mirror, shattered into thousands of pieces all reflecting to some degree His image yet unable of it self to reflect that one quality of God that seems to have escaped our convictions: "Hear Oh Israel. The Lord your God is ONE God."

Jesus is not returning for the pieces of a shattered mirror but a perfect mirror image of his own likeness. We will either in our repentance finding ourselves being restored by Him or we will have to face the tremendous heat necessary to melt the shattered mirror that we have become to make us that perfect mirror image once again.

That day of extreme heat is fast coming upon us. Never underestimate the passion of a holy God for the purity of His Church. Individually, organizationally, locally or nationally...

No form of government either political or religious will save us from that day. We need to decide, each of us individually, organizationally, in our locality, nationally, to not break faith with one another other. To live in Christ as one. Rather than being puffed up about our differences to mourn before God over them until they are settled. To decide whom it is that we will truly serve, God or the shattered outward form. The failure of those in authority "above us" will be no excuse for us in that day.

"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6

I will leave you in this with a last thought to consider from Jeremiah 18:1-6

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, "Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words."

Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter?" saith the Lord. "Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of Israel."

The day of denominationalism is over. 
"That which is highly esteemed in the sight of religious men is an abomination in the sight of God." - Luke 16:15

We need to be careful that after 2000 years of religious traditions we are not found "choking on a gnat" yet having been tricked into "swallowing a camel"...

The "Oneness" of Cooperation

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that any of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. - Acts 4:32

Wikipedia is a non-profit effort formed to provide a knowledge forum where people can work together on any subject to enhance knowledge about it. The restriction is that they agree to allow others to use it freely and without restriction and that in passing that knowledge on they do not restrict others from using it or passing it on freely as well endlessly. The goal is to enable the passing on of knowledge not to profit financially from it and to insure that continues to be the case. It has always been upheld by that discipline and the contributions and financial donations of others whether small or large.

The same principle drives the working of the Free Software Foundation which cooperatively birthed the Linux operating system into existence worldwide as an alternative to Microsoft's which was produced solely on the basis of market control and financial gain. Microsoft shares nothing of it's advances unless it absolutely has to therefore it is often very slow or negligent to correct them. The free software and knowledge community shares with and cooperates on everything so that all benefit and can continue to develop and pass it on. We might be more familiar with the "Android" system, a somewhat derivative, that powers some phones and smaller computer devices as an alternative to Apple's potential monopoly.

Even though such efforts are prone to occasional error it is notable that correction or improvement of those errors can come by way of the most seemingly insignificant member/participant very often far quicker than those commercial systems can produce. It is inherent that because no one cooperating can claim exclusiveness in anything that there is tremendous openness to correction (rather than the hiding of errors and unwillingness to have them be corrected from the "outside" inherent in more commercial efforts.) The level of cooperation and selflessness is quite often astounding considering the dog eat dog world we live in.

When I built the software that powered the INCN site years ago, I learned what I needed to know from the freely available and correctable programing efforts of others in that cooperative world. In addition, the servers were running on Linux system created and maintained by the cooperative effort of others. The Christian news articles were all produced or passed on by various cooperative efforts. I only supplied (or at this juncture in my life prefer to say "funneled") the means to publish them efficiently on the web. I found myself cataloging them first and foremost according to country or locality rather than by organization, something that I partook of earlier in my walk and certainly not my own exclusively. How else could a carpenter with a GED and no experience accomplish something like that by himself. I can never say I did it or designed it because ultimately it was formed on the backs of others before me.

One day at my desk when I was finding myself overwhelmed by the awareness of all the cooperation that went before me, I was reminded of the scripture and warning from Jesus, 

"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light." - Luke 16:8"

What if the Church, the followers of Jesus in Christ was originally designed to function like that in utter selfless cooperation and willingness to be corrected. Where the greatest among us is as a servant. And, if so, is it possible that the Creator of the Universe who has His hands in every event that unfolds upon the earth, speaking to a Church which has fallen to the state of many independent Balaams that desire to prophesy for personal gain. Speaking to that Church through the very donkey that it is riding on? "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him (Jesus) the iniquity of us all." Isaiah 53:6

How about a revival of Holy Spirit led "oneness in cooperation" among all the believers in Jesus Christ?

The Testimony of Jesus

"Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends." - Jesus

One of the greatest news stories I have ever had the privilege of publishing at INCN (Inter-National Christian News) will probably never make it to the "Christian News" that we have today. Oh I could tell you stories of dramatic healings (some that I have witnessed personally) and even resurrections from the dead in Jesus name. But of all those reports, this one stands out the most in my memory because, of all of the stories I have been privileged to publish  in those "Newsie" days or even witnessed, this one perhaps expresses the Love that God has for us the most. It demonstrates the definition of a "Christian," a follower of Jesus that by it's nature humbles us before Him.

I believe it was in Iran where it is the death penalty to convert to Christianity. A relatively newer Christian had converted and was charged and sentenced to death. Another man who had become a Christian years before very quietly maintained his relationship to God. He was a fairly highly placed government official. It was extremely dangerous for him to witness to anyone. Even though he wanted to share the love of God that he had discovered in his own life for years, there was very little he could do to share it because of his position.

There is (or at least was at the time) a law in that country that said that a man's guilt and sentence could be absolved if someone else were to take his place. It was the greatest witness of that high ranking official to show the love of God in Christ that he presented himself as the legal substitution for that newer convert's life. He took the death penalty upon himself so the other man would be set free. Of all the years of his life as a Christian, his greatest witness of the Love of Jesus and faith in the promises of Jesus to everyone around him was in his death.

If his final testimony doesn't grab our hearts and humble us to our knees before God, then we are yet spiritually dead in our sins.

ps that was in the days when news articles actually had to be fully confirmed by reliable witnesses...

One in Him

I can't think of any content that I have more yearned for or more suffered for in the last three decades than what is in this post. It is not lightly presented and I would caution those that would misuse it for an excuse for rebellion. I have been spat at, shoved up against a concrete wall and beaten, threatened, castigated, accused, marked, cast out, moved more times than I would care to remember and exiled over the last 30 years for this content in one form or another, yet I still find myself loving those who perpetrated it. I understand it. Early in my walk I was taken through a scripture, "Go love a woman who is yet loved by her lovers so that you may know the love that I have for Israel. (and therefore the church)." I have always hated division and even been a victim of it. I very likely unknowingly caused some of it myself. In presenting this it is in no way prompted by a desire to do so but rather that we may all go forward to the promised land... Together... Little children love one another for love is of God...

I wrote a tract once about R.I.D.S. a disease that was spreading in much the same way that AIDS is except for one facet. AIDS attacks and weakens the immune system against other diseases where RIDS builds up the immune system to reject things that are beneficial to the Body by infecting and saturating the Body with a dead version of the real thing.

Religiously
Instituted
Deficiency
Syndrome

I just haven't figured out why so many people were offended by it. But then again that may have been an indicator of the disease itself. Like AIDS to a degree, RIDS comes with a certain level of shame and denial  (in at least half the cases of AIDS rightfully so) and people will go through any lengths to hide it. We haven't even remotely come close to resembling the early and much purer Church and may in fact be going further and further away from it. Centuries of religious viruses have polluted and disfigured the outward form of the Body of Christ. We cannot fix that. I would go so far as to say that we are powerless to fix it. It's like somebody once told me about the medical field: "In trying to fix one problem, we create two more."

We need to go back to the beginning when God established His Church. We as the Body of Christ need to be stripped down naked and go back to when Jesus was also stripped of His external clothing and made to hang on the cross. When He submitted His will to be ruled over by God the Father, He was acting out the words He spoke earlier in the night before, "Father not my will but yours be done." We need to die to our own will. To die to the desire to rule ourselves and rule over others. To submit to God to be stripped of our earthly organizational "garments" and identities in our hearts.

Jesus is the head of the Church, His Body. Without Him we are nothing. We are utterly connected to each other in Him. The life of the Body is in His shed blood which carries the life of the Holy Spirit in us and amongst us. The Church cannot be recognized by outward organization nor can it be restricted to it because that form of organization no matter how well intended is earthly and therefore corruptible. Yet, we endlessly glory in the 10's of thousands of "church" organizations and names, especially in the West (and counting) that we claim erroneously together constitute the Body of Christ. In doing so we are ignoring the scriptures and the pleadings of God to us all.

"In the beginning it was not so..."
"What God has joined together let no man put asunder..."
"If one suffers, All suffer. If one is blessed, All are blessed."

We are going to have to submit to God changing the way we think about how we are formed together by Him. The picture we have seen and for the most part are living is a distorted view of His reality. His reality is the blood that was shed on the cross. Our reality is, "If we feel like it."

"Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all. Nor was there anyone among them who lacked; for all who were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of the things that were sold, and laid them at the apostles’ feet; and they distributed to each as anyone had need."

There is nothing symbolic about the words:
"The Body of Christ." 

"I would that you be one."
"We are fearfully and wonderfully made."
"Endeavor to keep the unity that was once given to the saints."


We are entering into the age of personal accountability where we start to realize that God sees us as individuals before Him knit together in Him not as a collection of organizations. The internet in many ways has opened the door even further because in many respects we "see" each other without the veil of organizational or geographical distance. We are beginning to see the Body as God sees it.  This is a great privilege that we should not ignore. But, with this privilege comes greater responsibility to God and each other in every way as much as we were living in the same house, the same family (because we are being led there in spirit - One House - One Family). We are in all reality being knit together as One in Him. What has in times past been wonderful symbolism is becoming a very real reality. We are going to have to change with that reality. We are going to learn to think, pray and respond as One in Him. We have been living with RIDS so long that we no longer envision or want the cure. There is no longer, like AIDS, the stigma attached to it.

We are being prepared like a sheep for the slaughter. Like a woman in childbirth approaching that time of transition and travail, there is nothing we can do to escape God's purposes in this age. The child will be born. Like a woman in childbirth the more submitted we are to the birth process the easier it will be. We won't escape the pain but rather will be able to endure it. God is teaching us to submit, to focus on the birth of the child. It is His child. We dare not claim it in any way.

There are those who like Herod will try to protect their kingdoms, their control, their identities but like in times of old, when they try to destroy the child, God will catch the child up and hide it in the wilderness until it is time.There is no stopping His plan...

"That which is highly esteemed in the sight of (religious) men is an abomination to God."

The Bride of Christ is not a harlot whose existence and identity are upheld by the governments of this world system. It is certainly not a brothel full of them.

The cure for RIDS cost God the blood of His only begotten Son...

One Note of Caution for those who would think to try to make this happen or use it as an excuse for rebellion: Don't! It isn't any of our jobs to judge anyone or to "make things happen." I can guarantee that if you do it will become exactly what God despises, yet another division or identity. We are talking about our brothers and sisters here. God is not a God of disorder. (At least the way He sees it.) What God is calling for is a change of heart in each of us individually to see the truth of this, embrace it and to live it out towards others. Not an excuse to abuse others or to hold ourselves above anyone else...
Amen?

Tenacity

TENACITY IN SERVING OTHERS
You know, I have noticed a consistent characteristic among some of my friends that bares mentioning. Maybe you all can help me to understand how to describe it. It came up again today for the umpteenth time.

I had this burden for Okiror Geofrey (SOASK) for the last 4 days and a sense that his life was in danger (again). We are close like that so I'm not going to try and explain that. This time that sense didn't go away. No communication at all for over 4 days. I get a chat popup today and although he was too weak to chat much it was a relief to "hear" from him for a few minutes. He had come down with Malaria. Here not so much a problem. There in Uganda? Untreated? - Deadly. He told me that his relatives had found him in bad condition at his new quarters and carried him for treatment and now was at a relatives still being treated. That was a very close call. But the real clincher is this. I was telling him that his needs must be taken care of and that we need to really pray that through. His things and bed got stolen from his old place so he has been sleeping on the concrete at the new location where they found him. His last chat line before he got cut off chat?:

"Please pray for the children. My life is nothing seeing that I am doing well (now)". (Translation: Never mind me. Pray for the children.)

Almost 24 years old. Dedicated in heart. Loves the children, the widows, the poor. Driven by it. I've observed it time after time. More than I have room to express here although it would make good reading. Maybe even conviction.

Then there is Mukulu Jonathan (OOCM). Five years and running. Ups and downs, Bouts with malaria, Provision slowing down to a trickle, People get really sick, Some die, more are orphaned, Thick and thin I have observed him get back up from every potential crisis and go at it again. "God will do it... Prayer!.." I can hardly count the amount of times that I have tried to mention his needs to him and he will come back with,

"Focus on the children, the orphans, the widows, the destitute, Prayer, God will provide, It will get better... I know."

 I thought I knew something about tenacity before meeting him but I have learned more from him than I have given. There have been times when I have said in my heart, "Oh my God! This can't be happening." and he is under more pressure and hurting and yet he will come back from that experience ready to fight the good fight. He is like a cheerleader in the villages there cheering people on when sometimes it seems hopeless. Somebody from Uganda once said about him, "He loves those children." And there are a lot of them.

Then there is Luthy Monica a young nursing student in her twenties. I actually met Mukulu through her for which I owe her a debt of gratitude. She actually and amazingly got to go to nursing school for at least a year. but her "groom" mother fell ill of a debilitating long term illness and so her needs and that of her younger brothers fell in her lap making it even more of a struggle.

One thing became apparent that in her mind and heart, they come first. As much as it is her dream to become a nurse she will constantly choose to put others first. If I mention Mukulu and the children she has some inner priority that she will immediately turn attention on them even though she has serious needs herself. Ironically, Mukulu does the same thing when I mention Luthy. I mentioned her struggles to become a nurse once to Okiror (who doesn't even know her) and and his response surprised me. "Then she needs to be take care of first!" They know the value of a nurse. They know the struggle between life and death. Luthy was orphaned at a young age. She has that same quality about her. Others come first. The children come first. Yet, she is tenacious in her seemingly impossible pursuit to become a nurse. Not surprisingly, those seem like the qualities of a good nurse as well.