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)
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label USA. Show all posts
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
PRAYER: AMERICA NEEDS "A GREAT AWAKENING"
25 years ago I was living in a small town in Oregon where in the area racism was quite entrenched. Coming originally from Hawaii with it's mixed ethnic and racial culture, I really didn't have much of a clue as to all that.
I had a pastor/friend there and we used to joke around a little with each other. I called him one day but had to leave a message. I was going to say something funny but the strangest thing happened when instead of saying what I was going to I found myself saying, "My name is Katinka Motobu and I am from Nigeria. I am staying at the house of Paul Rapoza. The Lord has shown us to bring 400 African evangelists to come and aid the believers in your area and I would like to speak to you." I got off the phone and said to the Lord, "WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?" and "WHO is Katinka Motobu?"
I never heard from that pastor again and some months later we were warned to flee for our lives. Every once in a while I would remember that instance on the phone and being perplexed all over again I would ask the Lord, "Lord, Who is Katinka Motobu?" Probably a couple years after that happened, when I asked that question again, the words came to me, "Katinka Motobu is the spirit (or angel) of the Church at Nigeria." I didn't know exactly what He meant then but I do now over 20 years later.
The picture enclosed in this post is only a tiny glimpse of the work of the Holy Spirit through the "spirit" of the Church at Nigeria. Hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of small christian gatherings from miles and miles around all coming together for days in the Spirit of the unity of the whole Church once given to the early saints. Going from city to city and now spreading over many parts of Africa. Millions gathering together under the power of the Holy spirit with millions overall getting touched by God and being saved. Hundreds if not thousands being healed.
If we are going to pray and ask God for anything that is sufficient to save this nation, let us pray for this: A massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit and a "Great Awakening" the likes of which this country of 300+ million people (Christian or non-Christian) have ever seen.
"Without vision, the people perish." - Proverbs 29:18
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
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.
Monday, September 7, 2015
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.
"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.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Natural Laws Planted In Creation
The natural laws of the creation cannot be broken. It is only a momentary deception when we find ourselves able for a time to circumvent them as natural beings. They are there for our own benefit and protection but violating them can lead to death.
The law of gravity keeps us from simply drifting out into outer space and suffocating to death. It keeps your toddler from taking a few leaps and bounds and ending up miles away in minutes from your protective arms. Most people think that when they get into an airplane, (which circumvents the law of gravity for a short time), that they are "flying" somewhere. That is deception because you are actually sitting stationary in your seat grounded by the law of gravity. The airplane is flying... You are NOT - nor can you. Not single law of government or religion can change that - it is a natural law.
It seems like almost an entire generation is seeking to circumvent a natural law designed to propagate the species of mankind. Like any other natural law of the creation, it is only a deception when for a while you seem to have circumvented it without "falling to the ground" and getting hurt. If you try to fly without artificial means of support, the ground and the natural law rule over all and will have the last say in any argument to the contrary.
This generation has gotten in a Jetliner, are all comfortable secure in their seats and rejoicing in the fact that they and all their friends are on board and the airplane is taking off. They are having a grande party like usual, but...They don't realize that the pilot of the plane they are trusting in and thrilled about is a terrorist...
Friday, February 13, 2015
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:
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":
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
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.
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...
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
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
- 50-60% of marriages during that time have ended in divorce
- 47% of present children were born out of "wedlock"
- Reproductive Sex without the permanent commitment of marriage (as it has been known as up until now) is the norm.
- 5% of third graders have had sex. 50% of all high school students have engaged in sex - a large majority with multiple partners
- Has become the world's largest producer and exporter of pornography
- The "Entertainment Industry" who has lost any sense of moral compass
- A population who is rapidly discarding any sense of true moral values and replacing them with psuedo values who have been left with:
Distraction
- 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.
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...
Tuesday, January 6, 2015
Gathered Together In Him
If the West will not respond to God's call for this hour we are living in, Africa and other 3rd world nations will...
|
The picture above is almost overwhelming I still cannot get over such a sight. That is how God looks over the entirety of the Body of Christ.
This morning I had a flash of this picture in my mind out of the blue and the Holy Spirit said, "How many people do you see?" The thought was staggering to imagine how to count that many people and before I could answer (I am not sure I actually could) the answer came from Him and overrode everything in me. The Father's answer:
"I see ONE..."
"I see my SON..."
God has gathered us from many nations and kindreds into His Son. He is in us and we are in Him. And we are all ONE in HIM. The Father looks out over the expanse of all of us gathered together in HIS SON and sees only ONE!!! He sees Jesus! Let us all see ourselves together as ONE in HIM.
Because anything else is SIN...
Location:
USA/Africa
Saturday, October 4, 2014
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?
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?
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Monday, September 8, 2014
Empathy and Gratitude
There is an old saying that we can never fully appreciate something until we have considered fully what it would be like without it. Far better to consider that than to have go through the actual loss of something (or someone) to find out.
I find it most humbling to be involved with people whose life circumstances have dealt them the blow of having to living under far less advantageous or even cruel conditions than I. Whether that blow is seemingly endless poverty, the absence of any daily sense of security from harm, the untimely loss of a loved one or the devastation of a missing leg or arm, these blows in life to others seems to bring a certain unique character to people. I dare not say I would stand as well as those that still carry on under those adverse conditions. Even though somewhat uncomfortable to our sensibilities, it does a world of good for us to be exposed to the hardships of others especially if we take the time to consider what it would be like for us if we were made to live under those same conditions. It's called empathy.
Empathy does not come without cost. It can actually hurt to relate to someone on that level. That is why many people choose to "turn away" from someone elses circumstances as it begins to make them start to feel uncomfortable. There is a benefit to it as well though. Empathy, by it's nature, can form a much deeper gratitude in us for or in spite of our own circumstances - even circumstances that we normally treat as uncomfortable or even with disdain.
Children who grow up with a healthy attitude of empathy will very likely grow up to be very grateful children, even more so if their parents carry that trait in them and actually communicate that to them. They are the very ones who will walk across the playground in school and without a single passing thought of "what the other kids will think of them" and offer to be a friend to that unpopular child, or the child that is being bullied, or that child that just doesn't fit in.
We might do well to learn something from being exposed to the lives of others less fortunate than us
- Something that is almost guaranteed to change how we think about our own lives. It's called Gratitude.
So the next time your child or grandchild complains about having to go to a well funded school like this,

Or to have to wear designer clothes like this,

show them a picture ...
of this makeshift school in Uganda, a country where children often can only dream of going to school,

Show them a picture ...
of children who would love to have more than one set of clothes even if it is only rags as is often the case.
do your child a favor and print these pictures and hang them around your house a little higher than their head and let their curiosity lead to a conversation about them. Children, unless they have been hardened, are naturally curious and empathetic. Don't make a lecture out of it. Let their curiosity and empathy lead the conversation. We might even learn something from from how they respond.
I'm sure Mukulu Jonathan, the director of Oasis Orphan Care Ministry (OOCM) and Okiror Geofrey, the director of Support Orphans And Street Kids (SOASK) in Uganda won't mind at all. They love children...
You can find out more about those local efforts in Uganda in the menu to the left. There is even a PayPal "Donate" button on each page where if so led you can connect your Empathy with your Actions. You can also "Donate" through my personal General Fund which goes to the needs as they present themselves. I never have to wait very long at all.
TODAY (09/08/2004) school just started in Uganda. There are children hoping and praying to go back to school - many of them orphans. On average it costs about 25.00 USD for fees and supplies per quarter to send a child to school - a fortune for those living in poverty in Uganda. I can't think of anything more "sustainable" than a child's education.
I find it most humbling to be involved with people whose life circumstances have dealt them the blow of having to living under far less advantageous or even cruel conditions than I. Whether that blow is seemingly endless poverty, the absence of any daily sense of security from harm, the untimely loss of a loved one or the devastation of a missing leg or arm, these blows in life to others seems to bring a certain unique character to people. I dare not say I would stand as well as those that still carry on under those adverse conditions. Even though somewhat uncomfortable to our sensibilities, it does a world of good for us to be exposed to the hardships of others especially if we take the time to consider what it would be like for us if we were made to live under those same conditions. It's called empathy.
Empathy does not come without cost. It can actually hurt to relate to someone on that level. That is why many people choose to "turn away" from someone elses circumstances as it begins to make them start to feel uncomfortable. There is a benefit to it as well though. Empathy, by it's nature, can form a much deeper gratitude in us for or in spite of our own circumstances - even circumstances that we normally treat as uncomfortable or even with disdain.
Children who grow up with a healthy attitude of empathy will very likely grow up to be very grateful children, even more so if their parents carry that trait in them and actually communicate that to them. They are the very ones who will walk across the playground in school and without a single passing thought of "what the other kids will think of them" and offer to be a friend to that unpopular child, or the child that is being bullied, or that child that just doesn't fit in.
We might do well to learn something from being exposed to the lives of others less fortunate than us

So the next time your child or grandchild complains about having to go to a well funded school like this,

Or to have to wear designer clothes like this,

show them a picture ...
of this makeshift school in Uganda, a country where children often can only dream of going to school,

Show them a picture ...
of children who would love to have more than one set of clothes even if it is only rags as is often the case.
Better yet,
do your child a favor and print these pictures and hang them around your house a little higher than their head and let their curiosity lead to a conversation about them. Children, unless they have been hardened, are naturally curious and empathetic. Don't make a lecture out of it. Let their curiosity and empathy lead the conversation. We might even learn something from from how they respond.
I'm sure Mukulu Jonathan, the director of Oasis Orphan Care Ministry (OOCM) and Okiror Geofrey, the director of Support Orphans And Street Kids (SOASK) in Uganda won't mind at all. They love children...
You can find out more about those local efforts in Uganda in the menu to the left. There is even a PayPal "Donate" button on each page where if so led you can connect your Empathy with your Actions. You can also "Donate" through my personal General Fund which goes to the needs as they present themselves. I never have to wait very long at all.
TODAY (09/08/2004) school just started in Uganda. There are children hoping and praying to go back to school - many of them orphans. On average it costs about 25.00 USD for fees and supplies per quarter to send a child to school - a fortune for those living in poverty in Uganda. I can't think of anything more "sustainable" than a child's education.
Labels:
Africa,
Compassion,
Education,
Empathy,
Gratitude,
Thankfulness,
Uganda,
USA
Location:
Uganda
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Dream - The Coming Storm
Today, I found myself needing a rest in my heart and mind from things so I lay down on the couch for a "few minutes" and found myself in a state where I was neither awake or asleep. I had this very long dream unfold where I was trying to get into someone else's basement because I was aware that a "tornado" was coming because the sky had gotten very dark and ominous. Apparently the house had been abandoned because I got into the house very easily.
While I was pounding on the door of that basement to get to safety, I discerned that there was somebody down there but they wouldn't respond or let me in. I forced my way in and found I had interrupted a man who had kidnapped an older middle aged Asian woman and was attempting to rape her in that basement. Just as I was about to intervene, the storm and it's destruction came and I quickly pulled the woman into a small space in the basement for safety. The only thing I was aware of was the darkness, the incredibly loud noise of houses being destroyed and the sense of the fearful power of that storm.... When the storm seemed to have passed and we went out from that small space, the man had been pierced through with debris and was dead. The entire house had been destroyed.
We went out and saw devastation everywhere for miles and miles as we walked to find an area that was not devastated. Most of the dream (over an hour) was walking and seeing endless miles and miles of the devastation. If it was a "tornado," it was like no tornado on earth...
While we were walking, it became apparent that those who had survived the storm, (and there didn't seem to be many) had become desperate in their quest to survive to the point where they were acting like packs of animals. They were roaming about in the miles of devastation raping, murdering and stealing at will. Even from each other. They seemed to bear the same character as the man in the basement. Even though they were committing evil, they had no sense of remorse. It was like they expected their victims to submit to their evil as though they were somehow justified in what they were doing.
The woman had apparently suffered some kind of trauma earlier in her life and she could not speak as a result of that trauma. That is also why she could not call out when I was banging at the door of that basement in the beginning. Even though she had suffered trauma earlier in life, which I suspected was rape, she had an abiding air of purity to her and I had a deep sense that I needed to be her protector and reassure her of the purity of my intentions to do so.
Apparently we were walking to the place where the woman lived and when we finally got there, to my surprise, the house was completely intact. I asked her, "This is your home?" and she lowered her head like someone in shame. Discerning the situation, I then said to her, "You are a slave in this house?" She nodded yes. She had been a slave in that house all her life... It didn't seem like anybody was there but she insisted upon staying there despite the danger of the roving gangs finding her so I reluctantly went off to find my children...
Then I slid out of the dream completely rested and in a wonderful sense of peace. Ironically(?) my facebook news-feed was still on and when I went to the computer, there was a short post from an acquaintance who mentioned that he was having spiritual dreams of a very destructive tsunami... The thought went through my mind and heart, "Pay Attention!"
Several hours later, I had some insights come to me even though I wasn't especially looking for it.
While I was pounding on the door of that basement to get to safety, I discerned that there was somebody down there but they wouldn't respond or let me in. I forced my way in and found I had interrupted a man who had kidnapped an older middle aged Asian woman and was attempting to rape her in that basement. Just as I was about to intervene, the storm and it's destruction came and I quickly pulled the woman into a small space in the basement for safety. The only thing I was aware of was the darkness, the incredibly loud noise of houses being destroyed and the sense of the fearful power of that storm.... When the storm seemed to have passed and we went out from that small space, the man had been pierced through with debris and was dead. The entire house had been destroyed.
We went out and saw devastation everywhere for miles and miles as we walked to find an area that was not devastated. Most of the dream (over an hour) was walking and seeing endless miles and miles of the devastation. If it was a "tornado," it was like no tornado on earth...
While we were walking, it became apparent that those who had survived the storm, (and there didn't seem to be many) had become desperate in their quest to survive to the point where they were acting like packs of animals. They were roaming about in the miles of devastation raping, murdering and stealing at will. Even from each other. They seemed to bear the same character as the man in the basement. Even though they were committing evil, they had no sense of remorse. It was like they expected their victims to submit to their evil as though they were somehow justified in what they were doing.
The woman had apparently suffered some kind of trauma earlier in her life and she could not speak as a result of that trauma. That is also why she could not call out when I was banging at the door of that basement in the beginning. Even though she had suffered trauma earlier in life, which I suspected was rape, she had an abiding air of purity to her and I had a deep sense that I needed to be her protector and reassure her of the purity of my intentions to do so.
Apparently we were walking to the place where the woman lived and when we finally got there, to my surprise, the house was completely intact. I asked her, "This is your home?" and she lowered her head like someone in shame. Discerning the situation, I then said to her, "You are a slave in this house?" She nodded yes. She had been a slave in that house all her life... It didn't seem like anybody was there but she insisted upon staying there despite the danger of the roving gangs finding her so I reluctantly went off to find my children...
Then I slid out of the dream completely rested and in a wonderful sense of peace. Ironically(?) my facebook news-feed was still on and when I went to the computer, there was a short post from an acquaintance who mentioned that he was having spiritual dreams of a very destructive tsunami... The thought went through my mind and heart, "Pay Attention!"
Several hours later, I had some insights come to me even though I wasn't especially looking for it.
- That the massive destructive storm was financial in nature and more devastating than anyone can even conceive of.
- The Asian woman was those people who live in a communist dominated Asian country (or countries) that had (have) suffered greatly during the communist takeover of their country and had been made to be silent and serve the communist agenda that has ruled their country all these years.
- Her purity is found in the believers in the Lord Jesus (the church) among them that has been purified through the fires of suffering and persecution.
- The rapist was trying to gain control of her and get her to submit to what he wanted from her.
- His terrible death was the judgement of God.
- Both the rapist and the gangs of lawless men are those who control the finances of the world through their wealth and power, so much so that some of them survive the financial destruction of the "storm."
- Their self-serving nature will no longer be subject to any form of conscience towards others.
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