Thursday, December 10, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
life at memorial north park
The Ninevah Experence
Here is an idea.
Suppose you woke up one day and said to yourself
“Said to your self”, heh, I guess that’s the first sign that mental health is questionable here
But
Suppose you woke up and said to yourself
“Hey”
“See that guy over there”
“Yeah the one who got sick and had to come home to his only living relative”
“Yeah the one who has an incurable eye disease that’s blinding him”
“Yeah that guy”
“Well I HATE him”
“Nah I don’t actually know him”
“But I am going to do everything I can to get him”
“For What?”
“It don’t matter … I ain’t got no reason.”
“I am going to break into the house and plant cameras and microphones. I am going to get everyone in da hood to help and if it gets to be too much I am going to hire a big expensive company to help. I am going to put a gps device and some microphones in his car. I am going to watch him 24 hours a day at home, at work and at church. I am going to poison his food and pay as many people as I can to try to make things hard for him”
“Nah I don’t know him, I hear he ain’t been in town in over twenty years”
“Well nah he a’int done nothing to me.. but”
“I still HATE him”
Psalm 37:32 The Wicked watches the Righteous and seeks to slay him
Thats kind of a strange way to start a article....
But that’s my life in Chattanooga.
You are wondering first of all why someone spends a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of effort going after someone who doesn't even know their name? Its really a good question and i have to admit i have asked myself that question from time to time. But when i don't understand something I turn to God's word.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction. And your ears to the words of knowledge.
See I am not operating under the illusion that i actually know anything. The fact that i am not dead already is just a testimony to the saving power of my incredible all knowing, all powerful God. But I am smart enough to know that i can get on my knees and pray to a supernatural God that has all my answers.
Daniel 1:22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
You may think you are doing dirt on the down low, but trust me....
God knows
and he will reveal it
That’s called revelational knowledge,
You have no logical way to have known it
But the Holy Spirit will download it into your spirit.
Its sort of like Holy ghost itunes,
......without the silly charges.
But you have to ask and it has to be in his will for you to know.
Daniel 1:23 I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might. and have now made known to me what we asked of you.
The problem is that I don't always know the correct questions to ask. I mean I could ask God how long? I could ask God why? I could ask God if the Titans will ever win the Super Bowl?
But God's ways are higher than my ways and those of coach Fisher
Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts
How can i hope to understand why or how God allows the sons of disobedence to do the things that they do. I mean its like a french man trying to understand a bollywood movie without the corny sub titles. I will never understand how you can hate someone you don't know.
For that matter if i could understand hate at all, i wouldn't be a child of God.
If you can look at your life right now and name one person that you hate then you are not saved.
Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was
Matthew 22:39 […] You shall love your neighbor as yourself
The word of God also says
Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart
I'm not even trying to understand how so many people can think it’s such a great idea to persecute, poison and stalk another human being.
Much less a human being who you don’t know
It makes a statement about the nature of the pagan world.
For most of my life, I never saw the difference between Christians and Pagans.
I used to think, well Christians are the ones who get up Sunday and go to church.
That was the only difference that I saw.
Well now I know the difference, Christians are the ones who can not hate their brother.
You know I said I didn’t understand how so many people could think doing evil to a Christian was such a good idea…
But Jesus understood, he said
John 15:18-19 If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you
It’s spiritual
Look, If you ever find yourself spending two years trying to get even with someone you don’t know who has never done anything to you…
You probably have a problem
Hate is a problem.. and it’s a spiritual problem
Jesus knew it and he said
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Hate is a spiritual problem.
But it’s not my problem.
When this all started, I thought it was a curse. I mean here I have a whole army of people who don’t know me but are willing to do anything to get me. But the word of God has a way of putting things in proper perspective. See I thought it was a curse, but it was actually a blessing.
The word of God says
Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake
Philippians 1:30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear in me
You see, I am suffering for the sake of Christ
And that’s good news..
If you are a sinner the devil doesn’t bother you. Why should he? He’s got you on the highway to hell… with an alcohol wash rag around your neck.
If you are just a lukewarm I just go to church to talk about people Christian. The devil is not going to mess with you. You might as well be on his payroll.
But, if you are really in love with the word,
if you really want to live for Jesus…
If you read the word of God and delight in it….
If you are a tongue talking holy ghost filled person with a heart to submit and serve the lord your God..
Well then the devil has got to come at you with both guns blazing
And the fact that he has to throw so much at you, tells you
Just how close you’ve gotten to God
And Just how big a destiny he has for you
And if that doesn’t make you do a holy ghost happy dance nothing will
God is in control of the situation
And God has a purpose for you being in this situation
Maybe you can’t see it yet..
But the word says
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the lord, and he delights in his way,
So God is guiding my life…
He may have taken me through a valley, but the only way to get to a mountain top is to come from a valley
It makes no sense for me to worry about it. So I don’t worry. I simply trust in the Lord. I don’t know why people do the things they do. I can’t understand and I have given up trying. I simply know that god is in control and I know what Gods thoughts are toward me
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope
I may be in a storm.
But I still love the Lord and one day the storm will be over.
And I will be rewarded
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart
I can’t look at the storm… I am too busy looking at the sunshine that’s coming over the horizon
Here is an idea.
Suppose you woke up one day and said to yourself
“Said to your self”, heh, I guess that’s the first sign that mental health is questionable here
But
Suppose you woke up and said to yourself
“Hey”
“See that guy over there”
“Yeah the one who got sick and had to come home to his only living relative”
“Yeah the one who has an incurable eye disease that’s blinding him”
“Yeah that guy”
“Well I HATE him”
“Nah I don’t actually know him”
“But I am going to do everything I can to get him”
“For What?”
“It don’t matter … I ain’t got no reason.”
“I am going to break into the house and plant cameras and microphones. I am going to get everyone in da hood to help and if it gets to be too much I am going to hire a big expensive company to help. I am going to put a gps device and some microphones in his car. I am going to watch him 24 hours a day at home, at work and at church. I am going to poison his food and pay as many people as I can to try to make things hard for him”
“Nah I don’t know him, I hear he ain’t been in town in over twenty years”
“Well nah he a’int done nothing to me.. but”
“I still HATE him”
Psalm 37:32 The Wicked watches the Righteous and seeks to slay him
Thats kind of a strange way to start a article....
But that’s my life in Chattanooga.
You are wondering first of all why someone spends a lot of money and a lot of time and a lot of effort going after someone who doesn't even know their name? Its really a good question and i have to admit i have asked myself that question from time to time. But when i don't understand something I turn to God's word.
Proverbs 23:12 Apply your heart to instruction. And your ears to the words of knowledge.
See I am not operating under the illusion that i actually know anything. The fact that i am not dead already is just a testimony to the saving power of my incredible all knowing, all powerful God. But I am smart enough to know that i can get on my knees and pray to a supernatural God that has all my answers.
Daniel 1:22 He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in darkness, and light dwells with Him.
You may think you are doing dirt on the down low, but trust me....
God knows
and he will reveal it
That’s called revelational knowledge,
You have no logical way to have known it
But the Holy Spirit will download it into your spirit.
Its sort of like Holy ghost itunes,
......without the silly charges.
But you have to ask and it has to be in his will for you to know.
Daniel 1:23 I thank you and praise you, O God of my fathers; You have given me wisdom and might. and have now made known to me what we asked of you.
The problem is that I don't always know the correct questions to ask. I mean I could ask God how long? I could ask God why? I could ask God if the Titans will ever win the Super Bowl?
But God's ways are higher than my ways and those of coach Fisher
Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts
How can i hope to understand why or how God allows the sons of disobedence to do the things that they do. I mean its like a french man trying to understand a bollywood movie without the corny sub titles. I will never understand how you can hate someone you don't know.
For that matter if i could understand hate at all, i wouldn't be a child of God.
If you can look at your life right now and name one person that you hate then you are not saved.
Jesus said that the second greatest commandment was
Matthew 22:39 […] You shall love your neighbor as yourself
The word of God also says
Leviticus 19:17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart
I'm not even trying to understand how so many people can think it’s such a great idea to persecute, poison and stalk another human being.
Much less a human being who you don’t know
It makes a statement about the nature of the pagan world.
For most of my life, I never saw the difference between Christians and Pagans.
I used to think, well Christians are the ones who get up Sunday and go to church.
That was the only difference that I saw.
Well now I know the difference, Christians are the ones who can not hate their brother.
You know I said I didn’t understand how so many people could think doing evil to a Christian was such a good idea…
But Jesus understood, he said
John 15:18-19 If the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you
It’s spiritual
Look, If you ever find yourself spending two years trying to get even with someone you don’t know who has never done anything to you…
You probably have a problem
Hate is a problem.. and it’s a spiritual problem
Jesus knew it and he said
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Hate is a spiritual problem.
But it’s not my problem.
When this all started, I thought it was a curse. I mean here I have a whole army of people who don’t know me but are willing to do anything to get me. But the word of God has a way of putting things in proper perspective. See I thought it was a curse, but it was actually a blessing.
The word of God says
Philippians 1:29 For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake
Philippians 1:30 having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear in me
You see, I am suffering for the sake of Christ
And that’s good news..
If you are a sinner the devil doesn’t bother you. Why should he? He’s got you on the highway to hell… with an alcohol wash rag around your neck.
If you are just a lukewarm I just go to church to talk about people Christian. The devil is not going to mess with you. You might as well be on his payroll.
But, if you are really in love with the word,
if you really want to live for Jesus…
If you read the word of God and delight in it….
If you are a tongue talking holy ghost filled person with a heart to submit and serve the lord your God..
Well then the devil has got to come at you with both guns blazing
And the fact that he has to throw so much at you, tells you
Just how close you’ve gotten to God
And Just how big a destiny he has for you
And if that doesn’t make you do a holy ghost happy dance nothing will
God is in control of the situation
And God has a purpose for you being in this situation
Maybe you can’t see it yet..
But the word says
Psalm 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the lord, and he delights in his way,
So God is guiding my life…
He may have taken me through a valley, but the only way to get to a mountain top is to come from a valley
It makes no sense for me to worry about it. So I don’t worry. I simply trust in the Lord. I don’t know why people do the things they do. I can’t understand and I have given up trying. I simply know that god is in control and I know what Gods thoughts are toward me
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope
I may be in a storm.
But I still love the Lord and one day the storm will be over.
And I will be rewarded
Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart
I can’t look at the storm… I am too busy looking at the sunshine that’s coming over the horizon
Saturday, August 15, 2009
who is crazy
Who is really crazy?
Suppose you were being stalked night and day by a group of criminals. Suppose they had placed spy equipment all over your car, home and even at your job. Suppose they watched you 24 hours a day. Suppose they were constantly trying to poison your water, food and medication. Suppose everytime you left the house they were breaking in and poisoning your food and going through your things. Suppose they stole your mail and garbage looking for something to use against you. Suppose all the people on your job knew about it and rooted for you to die on a daily basis. Suppose the police could not help because some of the people helping to murder you were police.
Sounds like a impossible situation.
The bible said that the enemy came to kill ,steal and destroy.
That is the devil and thats what he does. Just as we are the children of God and we follow his ways, so do the children of Satan follow his ways. The big diffrence is we chose what we do. The children of Satan are deceived by Satan into doing his will. But the question we face today is not why.The question becomes how will you react? The way you react tells what kind of a person you really are.
If you are a Christian you will turn to God. The Apostle Paul was put in prison by the Roman empire for no reason and he spent his time praying, preaching and singing to the lord.
To the Roman soldiers he looked crazy.
The Roman empire was the greatest military force in the world. The empire stretched to the limits of the known world and it had no rivals. Paul was but one lone disciple of Christ chained and watched by elite Roman soldiers day and night. If one looked at the surface of the situation what hope could Paul have had against this mighty evil empire.
But Paul knew the word.
2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
He turned to God.
2 Chronicles 20:15 [...] Do not be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but Gods.
He did not sit around worrying about how he would get out of prison, or if he would even be allowed to live he focused on what God had called him to do. He preached, he prayed and he gave praise to the Lord in song.
The guards thought he was crazy.
And if you pray and praise the lord in the midst of your trouble your coworkers will think that you are crazy too. They will talk about you and maybe even hate you.
Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for my names sake
They will laugh at you behind your back, stop speaking to you and probably even try to make life more difficult for you on your job. But you have to ask yourself whom you believe in. The devil wants you to give up and give in. the devil wants you to walk in fear because fear is the opposite of faith. The devil will try to tell the believer that these things are happening to you because you are not in the will of God. But do not assume that a wilderness experience means you are out of the will of God.
You better ask Moses about it.
You better ask Joseph about it.
You better ask Paul about it.
For that matter you can ask Jesus about it.
They were all in the will of God when they went through a wilderness experience. But they all believed in God and they all walked out of their trial better than they had walked in.
The question remains who is really crazy? Is a man who takes his problems to the living God with prayer, praise and supplication in the face of impossible odds crazy or are those who seek to endlessly persecute him for no cause save that of hate.
Who is crazy the man who carries the bible or the people who watch him through tiny hidden cameras day and night?
Who is crazy the man who speaks the word or the women who can’t wait to spy on him using the bathroom?
Who is crazy the coworkers who give him poison food or the man who lifts his hands and speaks in tongues?
Who is really crazy?The world is going to think you are crazy because
I Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God
Paul believed and the Roman empire fell and Paul went free.
The same God that did it for him is still in charge you just have to relax and let God fight your battle. If you fight, its your fight. But if you praise the lord and bring him to the battle field. You will find that even thought they called you crazy you will be a crazy man still standing and better off than you were before.
God has never lost a battle.
You are crazy if you don’t praise him
NOTE: I hope someone gets blessed by this, I know I was
Suppose you were being stalked night and day by a group of criminals. Suppose they had placed spy equipment all over your car, home and even at your job. Suppose they watched you 24 hours a day. Suppose they were constantly trying to poison your water, food and medication. Suppose everytime you left the house they were breaking in and poisoning your food and going through your things. Suppose they stole your mail and garbage looking for something to use against you. Suppose all the people on your job knew about it and rooted for you to die on a daily basis. Suppose the police could not help because some of the people helping to murder you were police.
Sounds like a impossible situation.
The bible said that the enemy came to kill ,steal and destroy.
That is the devil and thats what he does. Just as we are the children of God and we follow his ways, so do the children of Satan follow his ways. The big diffrence is we chose what we do. The children of Satan are deceived by Satan into doing his will. But the question we face today is not why.The question becomes how will you react? The way you react tells what kind of a person you really are.
If you are a Christian you will turn to God. The Apostle Paul was put in prison by the Roman empire for no reason and he spent his time praying, preaching and singing to the lord.
To the Roman soldiers he looked crazy.
The Roman empire was the greatest military force in the world. The empire stretched to the limits of the known world and it had no rivals. Paul was but one lone disciple of Christ chained and watched by elite Roman soldiers day and night. If one looked at the surface of the situation what hope could Paul have had against this mighty evil empire.
But Paul knew the word.
2 Chronicles 20:12 O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.
He turned to God.
2 Chronicles 20:15 [...] Do not be dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but Gods.
He did not sit around worrying about how he would get out of prison, or if he would even be allowed to live he focused on what God had called him to do. He preached, he prayed and he gave praise to the Lord in song.
The guards thought he was crazy.
And if you pray and praise the lord in the midst of your trouble your coworkers will think that you are crazy too. They will talk about you and maybe even hate you.
Matthew 10:22 And you will be hated by all for my names sake
They will laugh at you behind your back, stop speaking to you and probably even try to make life more difficult for you on your job. But you have to ask yourself whom you believe in. The devil wants you to give up and give in. the devil wants you to walk in fear because fear is the opposite of faith. The devil will try to tell the believer that these things are happening to you because you are not in the will of God. But do not assume that a wilderness experience means you are out of the will of God.
You better ask Moses about it.
You better ask Joseph about it.
You better ask Paul about it.
For that matter you can ask Jesus about it.
They were all in the will of God when they went through a wilderness experience. But they all believed in God and they all walked out of their trial better than they had walked in.
The question remains who is really crazy? Is a man who takes his problems to the living God with prayer, praise and supplication in the face of impossible odds crazy or are those who seek to endlessly persecute him for no cause save that of hate.
Who is crazy the man who carries the bible or the people who watch him through tiny hidden cameras day and night?
Who is crazy the man who speaks the word or the women who can’t wait to spy on him using the bathroom?
Who is crazy the coworkers who give him poison food or the man who lifts his hands and speaks in tongues?
Who is really crazy?The world is going to think you are crazy because
I Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God
Paul believed and the Roman empire fell and Paul went free.
The same God that did it for him is still in charge you just have to relax and let God fight your battle. If you fight, its your fight. But if you praise the lord and bring him to the battle field. You will find that even thought they called you crazy you will be a crazy man still standing and better off than you were before.
God has never lost a battle.
You are crazy if you don’t praise him
NOTE: I hope someone gets blessed by this, I know I was
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