Before you all get fuming mad at what you think is my opinion, you might want to check out the bottom of this post for a few other opinions I've included...
One thing I seem to have to learn over and over again is that politics
in the USA is NEVER about what it appears to be. That in all the decades
that I have been alive, NOTHING is ever done politically unless there
is an economic value to those individuals that want to rule the world
economically for their own benefit. Those people make a call and a
country is taken over, someone gets
assassinated, a new government is put in place, a war is started,
funding is either provided or pulled back, alliances are made or broken,
etc. Those financial interests will use the USA and it's government to
accomplish their goals and it has been going on for a lot of years no
matter what party is seemingly in charge. Politics in this country are
just an illusion, a mask for what is really going on. It, like the TV
and news is just an entertainment ploy handed to us to keep us
distracted and manipulated. They know that a divided nation is a
controllable nation so we are being constantly and deliberately fed
divisive issues. Harsh statement?
This last Thursday I heard
something on the news that literally made me so angry I was at the
boiling point and I can count the times when I was that angry on the
fingers of my right hand. It was an announcement by the government of
the USA that they were removing funding from Uganda, "supposedly"
without affecting the health and welfare of the people of Uganda. (which
is not true at all because I have read reports of massive funding being
cut even before this for humanitarian purposes). Prior cuts in funding
have not brought the desired results of obedience and submission. It was
supposedly because of the "anti-gay law" but that is only a convenience
because there is a ready and willing public that will embrace that
reasoning. Something that has been carefully crafted by the govt and the
news agencies with exaggerations and outright lies that almost shock
the senses of anyone who wants to know the truth and actually looks into
the facts. Like "Obama Care" has anybody actually read that law?
Here's a hint. The American government does not make foreign policy
based on "human rights"... EVER (Unless it is being used as an
excuse)... Let me prove it to you. Let's take Saudi Arabia for instance.
An ally in the "war against terror" which has funded the bank accounts
of munitions manufacturers for over 10 years now. The penalty on the
books for gay sex in Saudi Arabia (notorious for other massive and
brutal rights abuses) is DEATH. Billions in logistics funding from the
USA. They are the mortal enemy of "gay rights." If I was to suggest
cutting off funds and denying visas to any of their government officials
as punishment for their brutal treatment of "gays" and a whole host of
others, the government of the USA would be on my doorstep in an hour or
less. "Come with us." That is not an exception by any means as far as
trade and military alliances with other countries who are rife with
rights abuses go.
So considering all this and the severity of
this attempt to dominate Uganda into submission on this issue is rather
perplexing. The powers to be aren't even remotely interested in "human
rights." If you don't believe me take a good look at some of their
factories in other countries. Somebody wants something there (aside from
control) and they are willing to bend the government and the population
of the USA to get it. What is it? The up until now budding tourism with
it's incredible lakes and wildlife preserves? It's incredibly friendly
population? It's coffee crop? Maybe there is an untapped incredibly
lucrative market for malaria carrying mosquitoes? (Hmm mosquito
warfare?)...
How about dominating a country and population to
the point of desperation that they would be willing to sell their rights
to their largely untapped oil reserves and mineral deposits? Those
deposits properly handled could pull Uganda from poverty to a robust
economy. Robust economies are not conducive to major profit for the
corporate powers to be. A desperate government willing to sell oil and
mineral rights for next to nothing and a population willing to work for
pennies on the dollar? Now that is worth something big time to them and
there is no human cost too great to accomplish those ends. To the people
who really control this country collateral damage is a forgone
conclusion, maybe even a desirable one.
The AFA (anti-gay law)
in Uganda is a convenient if not manipulated excuse for a much more
aggressive economic agenda. The people in charge at the top of the world
economic system and the USA know exactly how the government and people
of Uganda would react. It is a predictable outcome engineered for a
hidden purpose. I'm pretty sure the campaign contributions in the next
election are going to be rolling in.
Here's my proposal in a
fair and balanced approach. Immediately suspend all aid to all countries
that have anti-gay laws. Cancel visas from those countries. Immediately
suspend all federal aid to the states that have "anti-gay marriage
laws." Put anyone in government or civil life that is responsible for
upholding marriage as between a man and a woman on a no-fly list and
forbid access to federal facilities and funds.
Who is this
pullback of funding hurting in Uganda? I can well imagine and have seen
graphic and painful evidence of that. But I will leave you with not my
opinion but the opinion of others on the ground there in Uganda.
Opinions not filtered by the Masters Deception in the USA.
“I’m not an advocate for aid
cuts. Neither am I an advocate for bullying (political),” Julian Pepe Onziema,
Programme Director of Sexual Minorities Uganda (SMUG), a gay rights
organization, told IRIN. “There are so many horrible laws in this
country, but to single out, to radically react to the AHA is not only
patronizing but also further enhances LGBTI persons’ vulnerability to
both non-state and state-sanctioned homophobia.”*
“This aid in
particular is meant to serve vulnerable persons needing treatment and
relief,” said Dora Musinguze, executive director of the Uganda Network
on Law, Ethics and HIV/AIDS (UGANET). “I would firmly advocate for
finding other formula of getting government attention,” she told IRIN. *
“As a human rights activist, I would not want the donors to cut aid to
Uganda because they will deprive all Ugandans services that they need,
most especially those living with HIV/AIDS,” Dennis Odwe, executive
director of the Action Group for Health, Human Rights and HIV/AIDS
(AGHA) Uganda, told IRIN.*
Way to go President O. Glad you did your research so well. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?....
* Source: IRIN
humanitarian news and analysis
a service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Sunday, June 22, 2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
The Lost Revival
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:42-45
(This must have been the page that was stuck to another page in the Bible cause it sure hasn't gotten the attention it deserves...)
I once read a very small book about some believers in China before the communist takeover. Basically a fairly large village was touched by the Spirit of God and they were so transformed that they ended up "sharing all things in common and no man had anything they called their own." (That's another page in Acts that got stuck to another page) They experienced tremendous miracles and conversions. That went on for years but when unknown to them the whole communist takeover of China was approaching, they seemed to have less miracles and there was more teaching on suffering for their faith coming from the Holy Spirit.
When the communists took over they sent agents to approach this village to "preach" their communist doctrine but the agents were confused because this village was already living far above their doctrine and they willingly did so. After a couple times of visiting they asked, "Where is your leader?" The people of the village looked confused but finally decided to point out the man who had first brought the Gospel to them. He was busy working at his job clearing the ditches the villagers used the bathroom in. His job was to shovel out all the human waste, putting it in a crude wheelbarrow and taking it outside the village.
The communist agents were stunned that the leader of the village was doing this job because it was reserved normally for outcasts and criminals. They told him that he should not be doing this job as a leader of the village. He looked up at them imploringly and said, "Please do not take my job from me!" The agents left them alone after that for quite a long time even though the very violent communist revolution was taking place all over China. They were confused because they could find no fault with them...
Not to say that anyone should go out and make this all a doctrine (some of us know really well where that would end up) but it seems odd to me that of all that is taught about the early outpouring of the Holy Spirit starting with the day of Pentecost that somehow this fruit of that outpouring seems to be left out. One would do well however to recognize that it was a fruit and not a requirement. They were consumed with love for each other.
(This must have been the page that was stuck to another page in the Bible cause it sure hasn't gotten the attention it deserves...)
I once read a very small book about some believers in China before the communist takeover. Basically a fairly large village was touched by the Spirit of God and they were so transformed that they ended up "sharing all things in common and no man had anything they called their own." (That's another page in Acts that got stuck to another page) They experienced tremendous miracles and conversions. That went on for years but when unknown to them the whole communist takeover of China was approaching, they seemed to have less miracles and there was more teaching on suffering for their faith coming from the Holy Spirit.
When the communists took over they sent agents to approach this village to "preach" their communist doctrine but the agents were confused because this village was already living far above their doctrine and they willingly did so. After a couple times of visiting they asked, "Where is your leader?" The people of the village looked confused but finally decided to point out the man who had first brought the Gospel to them. He was busy working at his job clearing the ditches the villagers used the bathroom in. His job was to shovel out all the human waste, putting it in a crude wheelbarrow and taking it outside the village.
The communist agents were stunned that the leader of the village was doing this job because it was reserved normally for outcasts and criminals. They told him that he should not be doing this job as a leader of the village. He looked up at them imploringly and said, "Please do not take my job from me!" The agents left them alone after that for quite a long time even though the very violent communist revolution was taking place all over China. They were confused because they could find no fault with them...
Not to say that anyone should go out and make this all a doctrine (some of us know really well where that would end up) but it seems odd to me that of all that is taught about the early outpouring of the Holy Spirit starting with the day of Pentecost that somehow this fruit of that outpouring seems to be left out. One would do well however to recognize that it was a fruit and not a requirement. They were consumed with love for each other.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
The Mystery of the Universe
What
will our generation be likened to? We are like a group of intellectuals
standing continually every day on one side of a wide river discussing
how to make a way to cross it to get to the fertile ground and wealth on
the other side. We have spent our whole lives pondering it and
discussing it.
Along comes a simpleton who walks past us, walks around a bend in the river and without giving it a thought keeps walking right across a bridge he comes upon to the other side. When he gets to the other side he thinks, "I should go tell those men." So he goes back to our group of intellectuals and tells us about the bridge around the bend. We, upon hearing it, mock him and tell him to go away. "We don't need the likes of you. We are intelligent beings. What you just told us is completely stupid. Such a thing cannot be because we have not yet found a way across the river." So the simpleton does exactly as we tell him and walks back around the bend and across the bridge to live in that fertile land...
I've often thought and occasionally said that if we were to go to the edge of the universe (and there is one.), to see what is out there and come back to earth, we would spent the rest of our lives in an insane asylum. Our finite limited minds would not be able to handle the truth of what we would find out...
In reality, to an eternal God, the universe is nothing more in essence than an elaborate hologram of the eternal world that He exists in and has invited us to be a part of that eternal world by opening up the door of faith in His Son Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." God made a way where there was no way. "God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself." A way that bridges the distance between God and man. That is too simplistic for the modern mind to comprehend. The mysteries of the universe are so simple that our finite minds cannot handle the Truth.
Paul the Apostle of Jesus was caught up into the heavens and saw things "that are unlawful to speak of." Are there things we are not allowed to know in this present life? What prompted him to write, "Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has it entered into the minds of men, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him."?
If the truth were to be known, the entire universe would be found to be contained in a glass-like ornament hanging in the reality that God and all heaven exists in. On our own, there is a massive gap between us and God that is as wide as the universe. We can spend the next ten billion years trying to get there or we can simply go around the bend in our river and walk across the bridge that God has made for us. Maybe our "all knowing" brilliance can wrap our head around that one for a while.
I'm sure the simpleton will come will come and visit us in the psych ward. Maybe he will even bring us some fruit from the other side of the universe (Umm I mean river)...
"I will make a way where there is no way." Says the Lord. And He did. We don't need to figure it out. We just have to believe that it is there and walk across it."
Along comes a simpleton who walks past us, walks around a bend in the river and without giving it a thought keeps walking right across a bridge he comes upon to the other side. When he gets to the other side he thinks, "I should go tell those men." So he goes back to our group of intellectuals and tells us about the bridge around the bend. We, upon hearing it, mock him and tell him to go away. "We don't need the likes of you. We are intelligent beings. What you just told us is completely stupid. Such a thing cannot be because we have not yet found a way across the river." So the simpleton does exactly as we tell him and walks back around the bend and across the bridge to live in that fertile land...
I've often thought and occasionally said that if we were to go to the edge of the universe (and there is one.), to see what is out there and come back to earth, we would spent the rest of our lives in an insane asylum. Our finite limited minds would not be able to handle the truth of what we would find out...
In reality, to an eternal God, the universe is nothing more in essence than an elaborate hologram of the eternal world that He exists in and has invited us to be a part of that eternal world by opening up the door of faith in His Son Jesus. "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us." God made a way where there was no way. "God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself." A way that bridges the distance between God and man. That is too simplistic for the modern mind to comprehend. The mysteries of the universe are so simple that our finite minds cannot handle the Truth.
Paul the Apostle of Jesus was caught up into the heavens and saw things "that are unlawful to speak of." Are there things we are not allowed to know in this present life? What prompted him to write, "Eyes have not seen, nor ears heard, nor has it entered into the minds of men, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him."?
If the truth were to be known, the entire universe would be found to be contained in a glass-like ornament hanging in the reality that God and all heaven exists in. On our own, there is a massive gap between us and God that is as wide as the universe. We can spend the next ten billion years trying to get there or we can simply go around the bend in our river and walk across the bridge that God has made for us. Maybe our "all knowing" brilliance can wrap our head around that one for a while.
I'm sure the simpleton will come will come and visit us in the psych ward. Maybe he will even bring us some fruit from the other side of the universe (Umm I mean river)...
"I will make a way where there is no way." Says the Lord. And He did. We don't need to figure it out. We just have to believe that it is there and walk across it."
Friday, June 6, 2014
A Coalition Of The Willing
"After knowing the will of God in regard to a work which we undertake, we should continue courageously, however difficult it may be. We should follow it to the end with as much constancy as the obstacles we encounter are great." ~ St. Vincent de Paul
I'd like to do something I've been considering for a while now. I have quite a few friends I have met on facebook. Something I don't feel worthy of. Here are a few I have gotten to know over this last year and a half that we will very likely not read about in the news or see in the annals of history or even "Church" History. Beyond the organizational images they all love God and therefore love their neighbors. But their "love" goes beyond feeling and, however imperfectly as humans, translates into action. "Faith without works is dead." An opinion without action is meaningless. So with that in mind I present a few of some of the thousands of the COALITION OF THE WILLING around the world who unselfishly give of their own lives for others as many of you do as well in your own way and in your own circumstances.
Luthy Monica - Uganda
Future Nurse in Uganda where there is one doctor for every 18,000 people. A country where people die for lack of adequate medical care, even her own parents. Nursing is a valuable and altogether badly needed profession there. People need care from people who care. She cares. She is motivated. She needs friends who are motivated to see her get there. I am indebted to her because knowing her brought me out of my "American" shell to care about others.
I have a page for her on this blog HERE:
Mukulu Jonathan - Kamuli District, Uganda
Founder and Director of Oasis Orphans Care Ministry (OOCM) that ministers the gospel and cares for the needs of orphans, widows and the destitute in Butale Village since 2010. Through thick and thin has kept going all these years. Presently tries to sponsor 78 children to go to school as well. It has been said of him that he loves those children.
There is a page on this blog that also has a link to their website HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Okiror Geofrey - Mpumudde, Jinja, Uganda
A young Ugandan who has founded Support Orphans And Street Kids (SOASK) to more effectively minister to the needs of orphans, widows and the destitute north of Jinga, Uganda. Presently supports 20 children to go to school as well, although there are many more as it becomes possible. Recently was so sick that he could barely communicate on his phone. "My life is nothing. Pray for the children." There is a page on this blog set up for them HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Patrick Ssenyonga - Lwabenge, Kampala, Uganda
Founder and Director of Community Child and Youth Center Network (CCYC-Net) in Uganda. He has been building up this organization since 2008 to minister to the needs of orphans and the destitute in several villages. They currently try to help over 150 children of impoverished parents to go school. They also encourage different projects that will improve the lives and incomes of the villagers.
Their website is HERE.
David Oteko - Jinja, Uganda
Jesus Is Lord Ministries - Uganda (JILM) Wairaka Village, Kakira Sub County, Jinja District in Uganda founded to preach the gospel and minister to the needs of the poor in their area. Recently had all his belongings stolen and got back up again some days later to rejoice in the fact that they were holding a bible study. They recently helped the poor children in the area to go to school.
Their website is HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Javed Masih - Gajranwala, Pakistan
Pakistani Pastor of Church Growth Fellowship of Pakistan which is a growing church. Spends much of his time ministering to the people of several villages and training workers to go out and minister. (They presently have over 100 students in training yet have very few bibles. The also recently partnered with others to start a school for the poor in their home village. The people they minister to are the poorest of the poor. Some of whom live in squalid conditions. Their are many diseases to deal with as well.
Their website is HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
These are just a few of the thousands of workers around the world who are serving God towards others. There is a shift going on in the world of missions and it has been growing steadily now for some time. It used to be Western missionaries sent into other countries. Now it is the local believers who are standing up in their own countries and taking on the task. Get to know them. Support them in prayer and finances. Someday we may need them to come to us...
I'd like to do something I've been considering for a while now. I have quite a few friends I have met on facebook. Something I don't feel worthy of. Here are a few I have gotten to know over this last year and a half that we will very likely not read about in the news or see in the annals of history or even "Church" History. Beyond the organizational images they all love God and therefore love their neighbors. But their "love" goes beyond feeling and, however imperfectly as humans, translates into action. "Faith without works is dead." An opinion without action is meaningless. So with that in mind I present a few of some of the thousands of the COALITION OF THE WILLING around the world who unselfishly give of their own lives for others as many of you do as well in your own way and in your own circumstances.
Luthy Monica - UgandaFuture Nurse in Uganda where there is one doctor for every 18,000 people. A country where people die for lack of adequate medical care, even her own parents. Nursing is a valuable and altogether badly needed profession there. People need care from people who care. She cares. She is motivated. She needs friends who are motivated to see her get there. I am indebted to her because knowing her brought me out of my "American" shell to care about others.
I have a page for her on this blog HERE:
Founder and Director of Oasis Orphans Care Ministry (OOCM) that ministers the gospel and cares for the needs of orphans, widows and the destitute in Butale Village since 2010. Through thick and thin has kept going all these years. Presently tries to sponsor 78 children to go to school as well. It has been said of him that he loves those children.
There is a page on this blog that also has a link to their website HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Okiror Geofrey - Mpumudde, Jinja, UgandaA young Ugandan who has founded Support Orphans And Street Kids (SOASK) to more effectively minister to the needs of orphans, widows and the destitute north of Jinga, Uganda. Presently supports 20 children to go to school as well, although there are many more as it becomes possible. Recently was so sick that he could barely communicate on his phone. "My life is nothing. Pray for the children." There is a page on this blog set up for them HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Founder and Director of Community Child and Youth Center Network (CCYC-Net) in Uganda. He has been building up this organization since 2008 to minister to the needs of orphans and the destitute in several villages. They currently try to help over 150 children of impoverished parents to go school. They also encourage different projects that will improve the lives and incomes of the villagers.
Their website is HERE.
David Oteko - Jinja, Uganda
Jesus Is Lord Ministries - Uganda (JILM) Wairaka Village, Kakira Sub County, Jinja District in Uganda founded to preach the gospel and minister to the needs of the poor in their area. Recently had all his belongings stolen and got back up again some days later to rejoice in the fact that they were holding a bible study. They recently helped the poor children in the area to go to school.
Their website is HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
Javed Masih - Gajranwala, Pakistan Pakistani Pastor of Church Growth Fellowship of Pakistan which is a growing church. Spends much of his time ministering to the people of several villages and training workers to go out and minister. (They presently have over 100 students in training yet have very few bibles. The also recently partnered with others to start a school for the poor in their home village. The people they minister to are the poorest of the poor. Some of whom live in squalid conditions. Their are many diseases to deal with as well.
Their website is HERE.
His Facebook page is HERE.
These are just a few of the thousands of workers around the world who are serving God towards others. There is a shift going on in the world of missions and it has been growing steadily now for some time. It used to be Western missionaries sent into other countries. Now it is the local believers who are standing up in their own countries and taking on the task. Get to know them. Support them in prayer and finances. Someday we may need them to come to us...
Saturday, May 31, 2014
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.
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.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Having Done All To Stand
I've never really shared this except for a few people because it was so personal.
Years ago we had a christian newspaper in rural Oregon, USA and even though we weren't remotely qualified it was taking off in the entire area of towns and was welcomed by the different gatherings. There was a Billy Graham crusade coming up in Portland, OR so we decided to promote that in the paper. Any time the entire body gathers together the Lord is not far off.
One day a sister who lived with us came out of prayer and was weeping because she had just heard a word from the Lord. "Having done all to stand."... We already knew what it was like to suffer and deny ourselves when obeying God was concerned but when she said that word I heard it deep inside me and I literally gulped.
Having done all to stand.
(suffering the loss of all things).
That issue took everything we had in the way of energy, faith and finance to produce and distribute. There was suddenly a strange deep unexplainable resistance. Even the christian radio station was strangely uncooperative. My wife and family had to visit clear across the USA in Michigan cause her mom was dying. The sister that was also our secretary got called away and I was left to finish that issue and deliver it myself. It took everything. After the issue went out, everything started falling apart. I had to move out of our small office. Then there was no rent for our house and I needed to move out. There was suddenly no donations. There was this terrible silence in spirit.
One day I heard something from the Lord I did not want to hear and later I went over to an old brother's house on a prompt and he turned to me suddenly and said the same thing, "You have to wipe off your feet and leave. You are the third ministry like this that this town has rejected." I did not want to hear that. We loved that town. A brother later called and although he didn't know what was going on, offered to rent us a large house in another town 20 miles away for very cheap. I went to the PO box the next morning and there was surprisingly some donations there that were just enough to rent a truck to move. A brother suddenly was given the day off that day and he offered to help me move. I didn't have the money to rent the house yet so we put it all in the garage on the property of that new location.
I was homeless living in my car for three weeks and took a job roofing a brother's large house by myself only to find that a lower back injury from a work injury suffered before flared up and it was sheer agony to finish that job (which was on the hill above the town I had come from). I sold my car one day and hitchhiked to the town to finish the job and stopped by a brother's house on the way. He told me he was confused because he knew I had a car but the Lord had told him to give me their older car so when he saw me and knew that I had sold my car he was so delighted to know it was God who spoken to him. (The same brother who helped me move out of the other house.) I finished that job in such agony that I was crying out to God the whole time. I needed that money to rent that house and pay the deposits on elect. etc. When the owner of the house I was roofing came home, I was just finishing up and I went into their house. He looked at me kind of shocked. So much so that I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It didn't even look like me. Between the pain and crying out to God my face was transformed. (It's no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me.)
I finally had enough to secure that house and moved the living room furniture in from the garage. I really hadn't had any chance to sift through all that had gone on yet. The paper was out there by the thousands with the crusade on the front page and the call for the believers to gather but I had no phone so I had no clue as to what was happening. That first night I finally sat in my overstuffed chair and had time to think. I was financially broke. I had no phone to communicate with anyone. My family was stuck thousands of miles away in a place I had never been to. I was very alone. I felt deeply the sense of utter failure. It began to crush me. Overwhelm me. It was the first night of the crusade but it was over a hundred miles away in Portland and I didn't even have the gas to get there. I was so ashamed I'm not sure I wanted to. I don't know why but I went across the room and turned the christian radio station on. They had refused to cover the crusade earlier. To my utter shock the first song of the crusade was live on the air. A christian business person had apparently funded the whole thing at the last moment. When I heard the crowd singing in worship I sat in my chair again and broke down in deep heaving sobs crying out to God, "I have failed You. I have utterly failed You." Over and over again. There was no comforting me. That was all I could speak. Broken. Humiliated. Alone. I lost the newspaper. I had no income. No family and at that time I really wondered if I had any real friends I could trust.
Then something amazing happened. I sensed the presence of the Lord as I had many times but this time it was different. It didn't stop at a "presence" it got stronger and clearer. So much so that I dared not open my eyes for fear of seeing Him. He was sitting on the arm of my chair and I was sobbing beyond control. He reached over and pulled me into His bosom and held me and comforted me. It was Jesus. I was safe with Him. Nothing else mattered. Then He spoke to me something I crave for now and hope for in all eternity,
"Well Done!"
It didn't matter at that moment what anyone thought, or even what I thought. All that mattered was what He said. I was suddenly whisked in the spirit to the very top bleacher overlooking the Colosseum (?) in Portland, OR over a hundred miles away and as I viewed the massive gathering of believers without regard to "what church they belonged to" worshiping together, a cloud descended with Jesus on it and He poured out His utter pleasure on the gathering. Then I found myself back in my chair but I knew I wasn't alone and His words filled my heart.
I didn't know until later that hundreds from Central Oregon had gone up to the crusade. That someone had even rented buses to transport people. But I knew that He had poured out His pleasure on that gathering and that in that moment in my life He said two things to me. "Having done all to stand." and "Well Done."
There is a lesson in this and many other unheard testimonies which this generation needs to hear and learn from. There are thousands of people who follow Christ who are in prison, tortured for their true faith. Many of them go hungry. Many more suffer true persecution. Their testimonies are gold refined in the fire. (Jesus councils us to purchase that gold refined in the fire.) God is speaking to His Church. He is presenting opportunities to build His Kingdom. Not your church, not your denomination but His Kingdom, His Church, the assembly of those called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Those opportunities are calling to this generation. They are not easy. They rarely are. But we have to hear God's voice calling to us. And, we need to answer that call.
We cannot have the "Well Done" unless we are also willing to hear and walk in the "Having done all to stand." We have to pick up our cross and follow Him in order to have His pleasure over us. And in that final and eternal moment, Jesus will say to us one of two things (and no one will be there to defend us in that day) :
Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into your rest
OR
Depart from me you worker of iniquity...
There is nothing on earth that can equal Jesus telling us, "Well Done." I would trade the approval of all mankind to hear Him speak those words again....
Years ago we had a christian newspaper in rural Oregon, USA and even though we weren't remotely qualified it was taking off in the entire area of towns and was welcomed by the different gatherings. There was a Billy Graham crusade coming up in Portland, OR so we decided to promote that in the paper. Any time the entire body gathers together the Lord is not far off.
One day a sister who lived with us came out of prayer and was weeping because she had just heard a word from the Lord. "Having done all to stand."... We already knew what it was like to suffer and deny ourselves when obeying God was concerned but when she said that word I heard it deep inside me and I literally gulped.
Having done all to stand.
(suffering the loss of all things).
That issue took everything we had in the way of energy, faith and finance to produce and distribute. There was suddenly a strange deep unexplainable resistance. Even the christian radio station was strangely uncooperative. My wife and family had to visit clear across the USA in Michigan cause her mom was dying. The sister that was also our secretary got called away and I was left to finish that issue and deliver it myself. It took everything. After the issue went out, everything started falling apart. I had to move out of our small office. Then there was no rent for our house and I needed to move out. There was suddenly no donations. There was this terrible silence in spirit.
One day I heard something from the Lord I did not want to hear and later I went over to an old brother's house on a prompt and he turned to me suddenly and said the same thing, "You have to wipe off your feet and leave. You are the third ministry like this that this town has rejected." I did not want to hear that. We loved that town. A brother later called and although he didn't know what was going on, offered to rent us a large house in another town 20 miles away for very cheap. I went to the PO box the next morning and there was surprisingly some donations there that were just enough to rent a truck to move. A brother suddenly was given the day off that day and he offered to help me move. I didn't have the money to rent the house yet so we put it all in the garage on the property of that new location.
I was homeless living in my car for three weeks and took a job roofing a brother's large house by myself only to find that a lower back injury from a work injury suffered before flared up and it was sheer agony to finish that job (which was on the hill above the town I had come from). I sold my car one day and hitchhiked to the town to finish the job and stopped by a brother's house on the way. He told me he was confused because he knew I had a car but the Lord had told him to give me their older car so when he saw me and knew that I had sold my car he was so delighted to know it was God who spoken to him. (The same brother who helped me move out of the other house.) I finished that job in such agony that I was crying out to God the whole time. I needed that money to rent that house and pay the deposits on elect. etc. When the owner of the house I was roofing came home, I was just finishing up and I went into their house. He looked at me kind of shocked. So much so that I went into the bathroom and looked at myself in the mirror. It didn't even look like me. Between the pain and crying out to God my face was transformed. (It's no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me.)
I finally had enough to secure that house and moved the living room furniture in from the garage. I really hadn't had any chance to sift through all that had gone on yet. The paper was out there by the thousands with the crusade on the front page and the call for the believers to gather but I had no phone so I had no clue as to what was happening. That first night I finally sat in my overstuffed chair and had time to think. I was financially broke. I had no phone to communicate with anyone. My family was stuck thousands of miles away in a place I had never been to. I was very alone. I felt deeply the sense of utter failure. It began to crush me. Overwhelm me. It was the first night of the crusade but it was over a hundred miles away in Portland and I didn't even have the gas to get there. I was so ashamed I'm not sure I wanted to. I don't know why but I went across the room and turned the christian radio station on. They had refused to cover the crusade earlier. To my utter shock the first song of the crusade was live on the air. A christian business person had apparently funded the whole thing at the last moment. When I heard the crowd singing in worship I sat in my chair again and broke down in deep heaving sobs crying out to God, "I have failed You. I have utterly failed You." Over and over again. There was no comforting me. That was all I could speak. Broken. Humiliated. Alone. I lost the newspaper. I had no income. No family and at that time I really wondered if I had any real friends I could trust.
Then something amazing happened. I sensed the presence of the Lord as I had many times but this time it was different. It didn't stop at a "presence" it got stronger and clearer. So much so that I dared not open my eyes for fear of seeing Him. He was sitting on the arm of my chair and I was sobbing beyond control. He reached over and pulled me into His bosom and held me and comforted me. It was Jesus. I was safe with Him. Nothing else mattered. Then He spoke to me something I crave for now and hope for in all eternity,
"Well Done!"
It didn't matter at that moment what anyone thought, or even what I thought. All that mattered was what He said. I was suddenly whisked in the spirit to the very top bleacher overlooking the Colosseum (?) in Portland, OR over a hundred miles away and as I viewed the massive gathering of believers without regard to "what church they belonged to" worshiping together, a cloud descended with Jesus on it and He poured out His utter pleasure on the gathering. Then I found myself back in my chair but I knew I wasn't alone and His words filled my heart.
I didn't know until later that hundreds from Central Oregon had gone up to the crusade. That someone had even rented buses to transport people. But I knew that He had poured out His pleasure on that gathering and that in that moment in my life He said two things to me. "Having done all to stand." and "Well Done."
There is a lesson in this and many other unheard testimonies which this generation needs to hear and learn from. There are thousands of people who follow Christ who are in prison, tortured for their true faith. Many of them go hungry. Many more suffer true persecution. Their testimonies are gold refined in the fire. (Jesus councils us to purchase that gold refined in the fire.) God is speaking to His Church. He is presenting opportunities to build His Kingdom. Not your church, not your denomination but His Kingdom, His Church, the assembly of those called out of darkness into His marvelous light. Those opportunities are calling to this generation. They are not easy. They rarely are. But we have to hear God's voice calling to us. And, we need to answer that call.
We cannot have the "Well Done" unless we are also willing to hear and walk in the "Having done all to stand." We have to pick up our cross and follow Him in order to have His pleasure over us. And in that final and eternal moment, Jesus will say to us one of two things (and no one will be there to defend us in that day) :
Well done my good and faithful servant, enter into your rest
OR
Depart from me you worker of iniquity...
There is nothing on earth that can equal Jesus telling us, "Well Done." I would trade the approval of all mankind to hear Him speak those words again....
Thursday, May 15, 2014
The Trumpet
Things have changed a lot since then. We are like the proverbial frog that gets boiled to death one degree and a time so slow that he doesn't even try to get out and save himself. It goes from cold that is he is used to warm and somewhat comforting. He gets lazy. It starts to feel good. Until it is too late to escape. His muscles are so relaxed he doesn't even realize that he can no longer move them. His brain is foggy. This can't be happening he is thinking or doesn't even notice that the temperature is now raising very quickly. All he can do now is sit there and get boiled. It's too late? Is it?
There used to be so many nations that used to stand back and admire the USA. It was what they wanted to become. If that wasn't the case it was the nation that they most feared. It was called the greatest nation in the world. The land of the free and the home of the brave. Then the cold war was over. The USSR was dissolved and became a friendly nation. China became one of the USA's greatest trading partners. It was a time of prosperity for the people. There were so many opportunities. Even though there were two parties they seemed to get along ok. The presidency was a respected position both inside and outside of the country. When he spoke the whole world listened.
Without belaboring what brought that about, look at where the USA is today. A divided government that is almost useless. An economy that without constantly pumping it up artificially is like a balloon that is waiting crash in one day. Well over half the population is trying just to survive month to month. Two wars that in the final analysis ultimately have been lost. Invading a sovereign country under false pretenses and ruining it's population's lives. A war on terror that has multiplied it enemies. Covert activities encouraging "democracies" that has made some parts of the world a mess. Friends cannot trust it. Enemies ignore it. The president speaks and the world now sees mere hollow words. The nations that used to admire it now stand back and scratch their heads wondering what happened to such a great nation in such a short time.
What's even more perplexing, maybe even revealing is to observe that "God" is more and more not welcome any more. It is becoming more and more popular to mock Him, to deny that He even exists and to treat those that follow His Son Jesus like they have some strange disease that needs to be eliminated. The nation that once used to be the missions capital of the world has now become a mission field in all reality.
Friends the water around the edge of the pot is starting to bubble. How do you like it so far?
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