HOW DO WE WIN?!

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of 
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set 
before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; 
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising 
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. 
(Hebrews 12:1-2)

We have so many 'witnesses' that have gone on before us. So many men 
and women of faith (Hebrews 11) that are the examples the Lord has 
given us to follow. We are to lay aside every weight. Now, what are 
these weights? They are the things that bring about stress and worries. 
They are the things Jesus wants to carry for us! We also need to lay 
aside our sin. Sin is inevitable. Even the lives of the very witnesses 
spoken of in Hebrews 11 are fraught with sins and the remorse of sin! 
Even though we cannot be perfect of ourselves, we must lay aside our 
wants and desires and choose to follow the Lord (Romans 6:15). This is 
a hard thing to do, but we must run with patience. 

Jesus has given each of us a race to run. Each of our races are 
different, this means that we cannot compare our race with others. At 
times, our race is difficult. We become tired and worn out, but then 
God reminds us of how much we need Him! We are not running alone! We 
have the Creator of the world running beside us and He is willing to 
carry us when we cannot go on! In order to run and run well, we need to 
fix our eyes on Jesus. 

There are so many things that can take our gaze off Jesus! People. 
Circumstances. Difficult struggles. Self-pity. But as Peter learned, it 
is when you take you eyes off Jesus that you sink! In all that we do, 
no matter the circumstances, we need to keep our eyes focused on Him 
for He knows all things (Proverbs 4:25-27)! If we fix our eyes on 
Jesus, our paths are made straight. 

Jesus has endured the cross for us! We are the joy set before Him! He 
went through so much pain and shame, for us! Think about it, Jesus, the 
SON of GOD came to EARTH as a MAN and was crucified as a CRIMINAL!! 
What a humbling experience! We often do not recognize how much shame He 
went through for us! But now! Now He is seated at God's right hand! And 
He continually intercedes on our behalf!

LETTING GO

Sometimes it’s easy to surrender to Christ and other times it’s not. I love those easy days, but what about the ones where I don’t feel like surrendering? You know how it goes—where you’re like: “Yup, I know what’s the right thing to do, but to be honest, I just really don’t feel like doing it. Yeah, I know I’m in a bit of a mess making some wrong decisions and I know what I’m supposed to do, but I’m just kinda enjoying the mess I’m making at the moment.” 

In moments like these this is the worst time to run from God, because did you know that he’s looking upon you with the hugest smile and love even in the midst of your junky choices? He actually loves when you draw near to him during these times of craziness!!! But here’s the kicker--which I’m sure you’ve heard before--so let’s “cliché it” for a moment: God loves you exactly the way you are right now, but he loves you WAY TOO MUCH to let you stay the same. So when you start to notice the nudge of God wanting to re-arrange the inner house’s furniture a bit (you’re the house; your ways of doing things is the furniture) let him in! Yes, God is a redeeming God--but also know this--before he wants to be known as a God that wants to cleanse and redeem you he wants to be known as a loving father who madly and passionately loves you, pursues you, thinks about you, and is incredibly & wildly enraptured by you.

Let’s get back quick to the conversation mentioned above where we’re in a position of enjoying junky choices. Personally, if it wasn’t for me FIRST knowing and having the out-of-this-world revelation of God’s passionate love for me, I probably wouldn’t really care about a God who was ONLY concerned about how pure and holy I was acting. I mean seriously, can you imagine having a parent who didn’t love you at all, but only talked to you or noticed you when you were doing something wrong in order to fix you? 

Yeah, well God is not that parent. Is God a redeeming God who cleanses us of our sin by the power of the shed blood of Jesus? Yes and thank God. But just a sweet reminder that he’s looking at you with his love for you first and foremost before he is concerned with molding you into his image of beautiful righteousness. So, THIS is what helps me surrender to Christ and what he wants for me—knowing him, knowing his love. And when I deep down know this, it is all the more a pleasure to surrender to this almighty God who is beyond worthy of my love. If the greatest lover that ever existed wants my surrender, I’d be a fool not to give it to him. Yep, a love-sick, dearly beloved, child of God signing out now.   

Scripture of the Day: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8: 37-39.

by: Maggie Shunk

ASK FIRST!

I believe that many of the issues we face have been because we failed to ASK God, FIRST!  Some of our challenges and struggles could have been avoided altogether.  Do any come to mind right now?!

In Joshua 9, the Israelites and Joshua made a decision where they failed to ASK FIRST. The Gibeonites, their enemies, heard the report that the Israelites were taking everyone down and they didn’t want to be next. So they devised a deceptive ploy to get the Israelites to be their allies. They pretended to be from a far away place (when in fact they only lived 3 days away), lowly and helpless. Not only did the Israelites respond by giving them some of their own bread and provisions, they entered into a full-blown peace treaty with them!! God sat by quietly and allowed them to do so because they didn’t follow His known order – ASK FIRST. The Israelites lives were not their own. They were God’s chosen people and every decision they made was to be approved by Him. Even though it seems like they were doing a good deed to help those in need, their decision cost them greatly! Once they found out that these “far away foreigners” were in fact their enemy neighbors, the covenant had already been made and could not be undone!

In the very next chapter, the drama unfolds big time. The Gibeonites’ enemies were now assembled against Israel because of their alliance and the Israelites had to fight a battle that would have otherwise not been theirs. However, this time, Joshua received God’s word of victory on the issue BEFORE he jumped into action. That made all the difference!

Years and generations later, Saul, the rebellious, lawless king, destroyed the Gibeonites and because of this, God’s judgment fell on the Israelites. Even though the Israelites were deceived by the Gibeonites, they were still required by God to honor the oath that they had made. David inquired of the Lord on how to rectify the situation and it required him to make some very difficult decisions. Undoing something is ALWAYS more complicated than doing it.  Don't believe me?

Well, on average, it takes about 1-2 hours to get a tattoo, but it can take 6 months to 1.5 years to completely remove it! It’s also about 10 times more costly and much, much more painful. The same can be said for retail transactions. It takes about 2 seconds for the clerk to swipe your credit card and the bank to put a hold on your money, but if you want a refund, it can take almost a week! Sometimes God has to allow the consequences of our actions to fall on our own shoulders so that we will learn the lesson and avoid repeating it.  ASK HIM FIRST!

The next time a decision is required of you, ask the Holy Spirit now to remind you to pause and ASK FIRST. Unnecessary battles and frustration can be avoided when we follow God’s divine order!

He is ruler of our lives, if in fact we have given Him our life, so let Him rule.  ASK THE KING FIRST. RECEIVE YOUR ORDERS.  ACT AND SEE VICTORY IN ALL YOU DO!

CRAZY US VS. CRAZY LOVE

I asked God today when He was going to fix the thing I've asked about for so long.  I  asked when He was going to give me the gift of my prayer request.  Then I realized something. He owes me nothing.  In actuality, I deserve Hell.  But, He's given me mercy.  Because He LOVES me.  Let's look at reality folks.

He gave us a garden and we invited snakes into it and now it's so infested we cannot live safely in it anymore.  That's the reality of this world, and our lives.  

We want, yet we don't give.  We ask questions, yet we never listen to the answers.  We make excuses for not doing what we are told time after time.  Then we're mad at God because we're unhappy because we essentially chose to be unhappy when we did that thing we knew not to do.  We do that 'thing' over and over and over. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and each time expecting a different result.   That 'thang' your doing WILL eventually make you INSANE!  Crazy!!!  YOUR choices are making YOU crazy, and sometimes they're even making those around you crazy.  Yet you choose that 'thang' you choose to do over God constantly.  And, how's it workin' out for you?!  

Seriously, who would anyone want to be friends with you.  You're a crazy person?  Especially, God.  Why would He choose to help, provide, protect and guide?  Why?

Why would He die for us?  

Why would He live with us?

Because He loves you.

Because He wants you to be happy.

Because making us happy truly makes Him happy.

You can't blame anybody but yourself for you lack of success, your failure, and your messed up day!  You are the result of your choices.  You can choose to sit at God's feet until He gets you right and delivers you from your desire for sin or you can sit down with your sinful choices and be mad at nobody but yourself when those choices make you....CRAZY!

When you know some guys are only about that 'thang' why do you do that 'thang?'  Because you thought this time that 'thang' would be different.  Same action over and over...same result.  Stop thinking and start listening to the word of GOD.  Fornication IS a sin!  DON"T DO IT!  If you sit at His feet long enough He will show you how desperately insecure you are and how your low self esteem and lack of Godly vision is killing you...making you CRAZY!

When you have been told in prayer to do something to achieve the results you want, why do you bring a list of excuses to God about why you cannot do what He told you repeatedly to do?  Your list of excuses is limiting Him from giving you what you keep asking Him for!  You are stopping your own blessing.  That's CRAZY!

Why do you say you believe in God, you have faith in Jesus, yet you live like the rest of the non-believers in the world?  You run around living for yourself without a thought of Him, without any need to submit your life to His authority.  You think you're the man and you're in control yet when the rug gets pulled out from underneath you, and believe me it will, you will look like what you are...CRAZY!

Being down, and angry, and disappointed in God not giving you what you want is CRAZY! 

But, if you read this and feel a little down, angry, and disappointed in yourself, that may be the first sane thing you do today!  

Especially, if it makes you stop the madness, sit at His feet, and refuse to move, until He has spoken to you about how crazy you are and how He wants to fix you.  Then do what He says.  

Constantly doing what God says, is the only time you can do something over and over, and get the result you really want.  

IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS

Our moral climate as it relates to this years election is really driving me crazy, like never before, because of such a widespread lack of education about what's really behind the agendas being advanced by Democrats or Republicans. It doesn't matter what you are, please KNOW who and what you're voting for. Obama is a staunch advocate of Planned Parenthood.  He recently promoted them to a group of...high school students. It's shocking to me for many reasons in light of the following easily attainable FACTS about Planned Parenthood. 

Planned Parenthood's legacy of racism and eugenics is firmly established through its founder Margaret Sanger. Google Margaret Sanger quotes. She started PP. She was a sick, twisted, racist, woman who wanted to kill the unborn babies of the less educated, ethnics, who were dirtying her country. Especially the blacks. She is akin to Hitler....and how ANY black person or person of color could support PP is an abomination of intelligence to me!

See some of Margaret Sanger's quotes for yourself:

"I accepted an invitation to talk to the women's branch of the Ku Klux Klan...I saw through the door dim figures parading with banners and illuminated crosses...I was escorted to the platform, was introduced, and began to speak...In the end, through simple illustrations I believed I had accomplished my purpose. A dozen invitations to speak to similar groups were proffered." (Margaret Sanger: An Autobiography, P.366)

On blacks, immigrants and indigents:
"...human weeds,' 'reckless breeders,' 'spawning... human beings who never should have been born." for the purpose of racial "purification," she believed that couples should be rewarded who chose sterilization.

"We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through a religious appeal. We don't want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population. and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members." Ms. Sanger addressing a KKK Women's rally

On the right of married couples to bear children:
"Couples should be required to submit applications to have a child." she wrote in her "Plan for Peace." Birth Control Review, April 1932

On the purpose of birth control:
The purpose in promoting birth control was "to create a race of thoroughbreds," she wrote in the Birth Control Review, Nov. 1921 (p. 2)

On the rights of the handicapped and mentally ill, and racial minorities:
"More children from the fit, less from the unfit -- that is the chief aim of birth control." Birth Control Review, May 1919, p. 12

On respecting the rights of the mentally ill:
In her "Plan for Peace," Sanger outlined her strategy for eradication of those she deemed "feebleminded." Among the steps included in her evil scheme were immigration restrictions; compulsory sterilization; segregation to a lifetime of farm work; etc. Birth Control Review, April 1932, p. 107

On adultery:
A woman's physical satisfaction was more important than any marriage vow, Sanger believed. Birth Control in America, p. 11

On marital sex:
"The marriage bed is the most degenerating influence in the social order," Sanger said. (p. 23) [Quite the opposite of God's view on the matter: GOD SAYS: "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled; but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." (Hebrews 13:4)

On the YMCA and YWCA:
"...brothels of the Spirit and morgues of Freedom!"), The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On the Catholic Church's view of contraception:
"...enforce SUBJUGATION by TURNING WOMAN INTO A MERE INCUBATOR." The Woman Rebel - No Gods, No Masters, May 1914, Vol. 1, No. 3.

On motherhood:
"I cannot refrain from saying that women must come to recognize there is some function of womanhood other than being a child-bearing machine." What Every Girl Should Know, by Margaret Sanger (Max Maisel, Publisher, 1915) [Jesus said: "Daughters of Jerusalem, weep... for your children. For, behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed (happy) are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts which never gave suck." (Luke 23:24)]

I could go on and on...This woman was against women, blacks, browns, jews, the handicapped, gays, and definitely against GOD! She is disgusting!!!  Yet, our first African American president stands in front of their billboards posing for photo-ops and recommending them to high school age kids?! 

Is this an oversight of historical knowledge, plain old ignorance, or what?  How does anyone support this organization?
You can get free birth control from some awesome agencies that are about protecting women....and yes, some want to protect unborn children too. They NEED protecting! 

WHY?


Because, life undisputedly begins at conception. Nobody argues this anymore on either side of this debate.  A scientific textbook called "Basics of Biology" gives five characteristics of living things; these five criteria are found in all modern elementary scientific textbooks:

1. Living things are highly organized.

2. All living things have an ability to acquire materials and energy.

3. All living things have an ability to respond to their environment.

4. All living things have an ability to reproduce.

5. All living things have an ability to adapt.

According to this elementary definition of life, life begins at fertilization, when a sperm unites with an oocyte. From this moment, the being is highly organized, has the ability to acquire materials and energy, has the ability to respond to his or her environment, has the ability to adapt, and has the ability to reproduce (the cells divide, then divide again, etc., and barring pathology and pending reproductive maturity has the potential to reproduce other members of the species). Non-living things do not do these things. Even before the mother is aware that she is pregnant, a distinct, unique life has begun his or her existence inside her. Furthermore, that life is unquestionably human.

Faye Wattleton, the longest reigning president of the largest abortion provider in the United States – Planned Parenthood – argued as far back as 1997 that "everyone already knows that abortion kills." She proclaims the following in an interview with Ms. Magazine:

"I think we have deluded ourselves into believing that people don't know that abortion is killing. So any pretense that abortion is not killing is a signal of our ambivalence, a signal that we cannot say yes, it kills a fetus."

On the other side of the pond, Ann Furedi, the chief executive of the largest independent abortion provider in the UK, said this in a 2008 debate:

"We can accept that the embryo is a living thing in the fact that it has a beating heart, that it has its own genetic system within it. It’s clearly human in the sense that it’s not a gerbil, and we can recognize that it is human life… the point is not when does human life begin, but when does it really begin to matter?"

Naomi Wolf, a prominent feminist author and abortion supporter, makes a similar concession when she writes:

"Clinging to a rhetoric about abortion in which there is no life and no death, we entangle our beliefs in a series of self-delusions, fibs and evasions. And we risk becoming precisely what our critics charge us with being: callous, selfish and casually destructive men and women who share a cheapened view of human life...we need to contextualize the fight to defend abortion rights within a moral framework that admits that the death of a fetus is a real death."

David Boonin, in his book, A Defense of Abortion, makes this startling admission:

"In the top drawer of my desk, I keep [a picture of my son]. This picture was taken on September 7, 1993, 24 weeks before he was born. The sonogram image is murky, but it reveals clear enough a small head tilted back slightly, and an arm raised up and bent, with the hand pointing back toward the face and the thumb extended out toward the mouth. There is no doubt in my mind that this picture, too, shows [my son] at a very early stage in his physical development. And there is no question that the position I defend in this book entails that it would have been morally permissible to end his life at this point."

I find these people to be dangerous, disgusting, and evil...thankfully, they are also honest. To keep debating and playing ignorant about the fact that life begins at conception isn't even a position embraced by the biggest advocates of abortion.

Life begins at conception.

These people are simply acknowledging what millions of Americans will not...they don't value the life that has begun because it cannot vote, speak up, or defend itself. And, furthermore, they don't care about committing murder.

I ask this one question. When people say that all this focus on social moral issues doesn't matter but that our focus should be on the economy. Don't you see that our economy and our prosperity is directly tied to our morals?

Our economy will never be blessed as long as platforms that support murder and perversion are advanced by our country. 

We are being given over to sin.  Young people cannot even see how deluded and deceived they are by the illicit sexual drives they run after.  They seek companionship and they get abandonment at every turn.  They seek honesty yet they seek it in sinful unions.  It pains my soul to understand that the world they're inheriting is so much worse off morally than when I was their age that if they waste the time I did playing what I thought were just college kid games, they will likely end up broken spirited losers in a game they didn't know was playing them.  Especially, our young women who still just want to be loved, yet end up the victims of their own inability to live the way God set out so that they can win in the game, instead of constantly lose.

Ask yourself....what would Jesus do, think, or say? He would probably say 'my dear children this is why they have had to first take me completely out of the schools, the textbooks, and limit my name in the media. But, with less of me, less God, there will simply be....less. Less jobs. Less financial stability. Less freedom. Less love. Less U.S.  Less us.  LESS!

The United States of Less! Tragic. 

Soon we will be singing Blank....Bless America. Because God will be gone!

Passionately WRONG!

Have you ever felt so strongly about something and was so very passionate about it that at that time, no one could convince you that you were wrong?  I have.  Before I gave my life to Jesus Christ and even in the very beginning of my walk with God, I had adopted ideas on many subjects that were based on my opinions and my feelings.  Opinions and feelings are dangerous when they're not backed with Biblical knowledge.  Yet, the more that I read my Bible and listened to The Holy Spirit, the more I saw  that I was wrong about some of the passionate stances I was taking.  I quickly saw for myself, in The Word of God, what God thought about these areas.  And then when I understood what He said, I had a choice to make, either surrender what I thought to what God thought or continue to go against The One that I was now saying was My Lord.  I chose to submit to Jesus and His Ways and not my own.

As time passes, I saw how wrong I really was about so many things.  As time passes, I am convinced I will see how wrong I am about many more things.  Before Paul gave his own life to Jesus Christ, he was passionate about not only opposing Jesus, but he caused many Believers in Jesus to go to prison, voted for them to die, punished them and killed many of them.  Paul truly believed and was passionate that what he was doing was right, good, and the best thing for all.  But he was wrong.  And it wasn't until he totally surrendered his ways for The Ways of Jesus, that he saw how wrong he was.  

Is there some 'thing' or 'things' that The Holy Spirit has been bringing to your attention that you are believing, backing, saying, or doing, that is against what The Word says about it?  Are there opinions, views, or beliefs, that you have had that are against what God’s views and beliefs are?  Do you even KNOW what God's opinions, views, and beliefs are?  Or are you blindly and unknowingly living wrong?  

Let me encourage you as one, like Paul, who has been passionate, but wrong in the past.  ALLOW THE BIBLE TO BE YOUR SOURCE AND BASIS OF EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE, NO MATTER WHAT THE SUBJECT!   When someone asks you what you think of a certain issue or topic, go to The Word of God and tell them what God says about it.  My opinion doesn't matter.  My feelings don't matter...and neither do yours.  I didn't create this world and I certainly didn't create YOU!  "What God thinks is what I think and His opinion is my opinion.”  God wants to use each of us and He wants us to be passionate.  We just need to check ourselves to see if what we are passionate about, is right or wrong.  Be Passionate. But...Be Right.

Scripture of the Day:  “I used to believe that I ought to do everything I could to oppose the very name of Jesus the Nazarene. Indeed, I did just that in Jerusalem. Authorized by the leading priests, I caused many believers there to be sent to prison. And I cast my vote against them when they were condemned to death. Many times I had them punished in the synagogues to get them to curse Jesus. I was so violently opposed to them that I even chased them down in foreign cities.”  - Acts 26:9-11 

Needless to say, Paul went on from this passionate stance above to live a life completely opposite of these passionate beliefs.  He admitted how passionately wrong he was every day of his life and from him we have a multitude of instruction on living exactly the opposite of those prior beliefs of his.  

What is the Holy Spirit nagging you about in your heart?  What are the people who love you teasing, talking, and joking with you about that upsets you, in an effort to make you stop and examine God's word on what you're believing or doing?  Are you angry at people who love you because you believe how you're living is right and that they're just judging you?  Do you feel supported by others who have less knowledge of God's word than you?  Do you feel persecuted by others who don't?  

Here's my advice...Check yourself before you wreck yourself!  And, before your example causes many to turn from their Lord and Savior, or worse, never to see Him at all. Go to His word, not mine, not your friends, and ask Him what He feels and thinks and find His instruction.  Then you have a choice to make because He gives us the free will to choose whether we follow Him or not. 

Live like Him or die like you!  Your choice!

HE WANTS US!

God Almighty, The Ruler and Creator of the universe, of mankind, The Omnipresent, All Powerful, King of all kings, and Lord of all lords, LOVE Himself, chose you and He chose me!  

He actually “picked us out for Himself as His own . . . before the foundation of the world!”  HE WANTED US!  He “foreordained” (to decree before hand, to predestine) us.  He pre-planned us and spoke (decreed) about us before we ever were. 

So, if you have ever been told you were an accident, or that you were never planned or even if you were told that you were not wanted, let me NOW TELL YOU THE TRUTH . . . you were not an accident, you were vividly planned, and you were and are wanted by LOVE Himself, Father God and Jesus Christ of Nazareth!  

You my brother or sister, YOU ARE A GOOD IDEA, YOU ARE GOD’S IDEA!  YOU ARE A VERY IMPORTANT PART OF THE FAMILY OF GOD!  If you have trusted and given your life to Jesus, and living for Him, you have been adopted into the Family of God!  You are one of His Children!  Praise God, He WANTED us!  HE chose us!  HE picked us!  Choose Him today! 

It's that simple.  CHOOSE HIM!  Choose LOVE.  Choose Victory!  Choose real power.  Why else would so much come against you to keep you from making that CHOICE.  Don't listen to your conflicted and angry mind.  Don't listen to your broken heart. DOn't listen to the hypocrisy and confusion of men.  Listen to His word, His love, and His way.  He wants you!

Scripture of The Day:  “Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love. (5) For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be ADOPTED (revealed) AS HIS OWN CHILDREN through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]-” - Ephesians 1:4-5 (AMP

THE WITNESSES!!!

OK, its been too long!  The basketball season was incredibly long thanks to a divinely successful run that took the Jayhawks to the Final Four and the championship game.  We lost to Kentucky but the things we won along the way are to numerous to count.  Families united in prayer, cheerleaders and dancers joined together in prayer, a witness of faith that to me is far to unique in the world today.  We are blessed to be a part of it.

But…basketball isn’t what brings me to today’s blog, although it is certainly the catalyst for all the good that I see.  This morning I was reading a letter one of our Bible Study students sent to my husband about this past Thursday night.  WOW, what a letter from an amazing young man of God!  My husband had issued an amazing challenge to the boys to go out street-witnessing.  For those of you who don’t know what that is I will tell you; it is praying for God to lead you to the people He has chosen to encounter and going out into the streets to share the love of Christ with them and others.

It’s a radical way of expressing faith, especially for a bunch of good looking, young college guys, some of whom are known in the community because of the basketball and football teams they play for.  I mean they could be out with the hottest girls on campus chillin’ on a Thursday night in the VIP section of the coolest bars…but they were not.  They are not.  They have laid their lives down for the sake and love of a gospel that is completely ALIVE in their lives.  Thanks to their presence on Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, Kansas Thursday night, that love is alive with countless others who, while in the pursuit of their evening, were encountered and changed forever by the love of a Savior who lives and redeems.

AWESOME.  The spirit in me has been dancing and singing for joy for days since they came home, in between their witnessing, to eat dinner…they are young, healthy, college boys so food is a must.  They were so inspired sharing stories of the people, young and old, that they encountered, that they inspired a car load of girls who had just finished Bible Study in our home to join them also.  So we prayed, asked for God to guide the way, and off they went for round two; the late night round-up of souls lost in bars. LAUGH.  Love it! 

Anyway, I edited a bit so as not to share WHO wrote the letter below, but I think it best describes the evening and the powerful impact of it!  It so touched my heart to read it, that, tears of joy have started my day!

Roger,

First off I hope everything is going well in LA right now and this would have taken more like 500 text messages.  Last night Lawrence was on fire with the Holy Spirit. I wasn’t able to go out to street witness earlier in the night because of commitments but I met Jordan around 9 to support Matt while he was being honored at the Navigators meeting. Jordan and I were asked to speak and you could tell how much our words meant to Matt but more importantly the example of Christian brotherhood that we brought. I was able to speak on my faith in front of a large group for the first time which gave me untold confidence and a greater connection with the Spirit within me going into the night.

               Jordan, Christian, Dane, and I all went in your SUV to witness to those people leaving the bars and make sure they got home safely.  I was skeptical to say the least about how it would work at first with four guys pulling up to random strangers and asking them to get into an SUV with tinted windows. This only grew when the first people we asked could not say no to us fast enough. After the third one I turned inward and check myself and offered up a little prayer that God would help me overcome my skepticism and trust that if it was His will it would be done.

   Jordan had been saying since we got in the car that we should go over by one of the Fraternity houses so we moved on from the Hawk and Wheel and drove down to 17th and Tennessee. That is where we found the first person God intended us to encounter of the night. Her name was Hannah and as she should be, she was reluctant to get into a car with people she doesn’t know.  Christian dove right in after we had introduced ourselves and asked “So what do you know about Jesus Christ.” She was hesitant to answer but started talking about how she was a sinner and that it was too late for her.  We all assured her at that point that it wasn’t, that it is never too late, and we were all sinners.  We had moved maybe a hundred yards before we stopped and picked up Kyle, our second encounter of the night. Kyle was distraught from the onset of our conversation.  He had just received his third MIP this year and was not going to be able to return to the University in the fall.  He had come in with the intention of pursuing a career in Nursing but was afraid, with good reason, that it would no longer be possible. Once we had heard his story Christian asked if he knew Jesus Christ and he said yes but not as well as he should.  Kyle said that his relationship had suffered after coming to school because he had gotten caught up in all the pitfalls that surround a college setting. At this point Christian asked if we could pray for him and he emphatically accepted. We finished as we pulled into the Oliver parking lot with him in tears after re-professing his belief and love of Jesus with Christian.

         God obviously put Kyle in the vehicle with us not just for his sake but also for Hannah.  After he got out of the car Hannah immediately said how beautiful the prayer was and that she had never heard someone pray like that. We continued to talk with her about God’s love and that nothing in this world could ever love her like Him. This seemed to really stick with her and once we got to her house she let us say two prayers over her. Before she got out of the car I challenged her that when she woke up if she found these events on her mind not to just dismiss them as happenings of the night but to peruse information. To seek out God in whatever way the Spirit was guiding her.  I believe Christian added her on Facebook and I pray that he hears from her.

               As soon as Hannah left the vehicle we rolled up the windows and erupted. Both Dane and I had never done anything quite like this and it was the best feeling I have ever felt. Right then I said that we had to thank God for working through us and for making his Spirit in us reach out to these people and touch them.  From that time on the night rolled. It seemed like everyone we asked got in the SUV.

               After Hannah we picked up a group of three girls from over by the Football Stadium. We ended up running into them three more times.  Two of the girls prayed with me and Christian talked to the other who was Jewish. One of the girls I had prayed with was also Roman Catholic and wanted to continue to pursue Jesus Christ through the Roman Catholic Congregation. I invited her to Church with me this Sunday and have yet to hear from her but I have a funny feeling I will see her there. She had a very similar problem as I did with roots of bitterness towards those who had condemned her and made her feel as if she were not a Christian or like a second class Christian for being Catholic. I believe that the Holy Spirit allowed me to impart some of the wisdom you shared with me onto her and that now it will be less of an issue. Roots of bitterness are dangerous snares on the path that we are all trying to walk with Jesus especially those growing towards our fellow Christians.

Once we dropped them off we had two of the most profound encounters of the night. A young man hailed us as we drove past The Bull on 14th and Tennessee and asked if we could give a girl that was with him a ride home. She seemed sober and just didn’t want to walk home alone after her friends had left her.  She turned out to be a practicing Christian looking to further her walk in the Lord.  She had participated in other campus ministries but had not found the right fit.   We prayed that her walk would be strengthened and that God would show her the way to a fellowship that fit her best. As we were driving her home we ran into John. John was walking through campus with a beer in hand when we picked him up. When we asked about his understanding of Jesus and his walk he seemed curious but conflicted. He had been attending Morningstar these past few weeks so It was no coincidence that he found his way into the car. We took the young lady home and invited her to the Wednesday studies and got her information and what not. Once we had dropped her off I asked John if he wouldn’t mind if we prayed for him and if we laid hands on him. I don’t know why I said it, and honestly that’s ok because it wasn’t a decision for me to make it was something that the Holy Spirit compelled. Christian prayed first and once he was finished I said a prayer for John.  Honestly Roger this was one of my most passionate prayers I think I have ever said because despite how we found him the Spirit was pushing me too.  I prayed that God would bless John by opening his Mind to the voice of God and the knowledge of the others, to open his eyes and ears that he could see God’s great works and hear God’s words. And finally I prayed that He would open John’s heart to God’s love.  By the end of it he was balling and to be honest I wanted to also because I have rarely seen the Spirit work so powerfully through me. God not only did something for John by putting him in the vehicle with us but He did something great for me.

We picked up two other young ladies and talked with them about Jesus and the good news but the next most compelling case came with two young men outside of one of the dorms. Dan and Lee both had been at an event called Miss Phoggy Dog, which is notorious as being a competition for lack of a better way of putting it to see who can be the most promiscuous girl at the bar. They were talking about that and swearing in joy that we had agreed to drive them to the Hawk (another bar).  Lee was baptized Methodist but had not been active in his congregation or his faith and relationship with God.  When we asked him about his relationship he was quiet and seemed to be embarrassed to answer the way he had to answer. Dan believed in God but did not believe Jesus was his lord and savior.  He took a universal approach to this question meaning he did not believe any one person was responsible for our salvation.  As we rolled down the 14th street hill we stopped and prayed over them individually and then Christian asked them if they wanted to commit/re-commit their lives to Jesus and acknowledge Him as their savior. Lee prayed with Christian right away and re-proclaimed his love for God and it was obvious the fire of the Holy Spirit had rekindled in some way inside of him. Originally Dan started to pray with Christian but once he said Jesus Dan stopped.  Once Christian and Lee prayed, however Dan was moved and he prayed with Christian and acknowledged Jesus as his savior. They got out of the car and were so thankful but something… I’m not sure the other guys noticed… but it struck me, was when they walked away they didn’t walk down the hill to the Hawk (their original destination) they walked back in the direction of the dorms.

We picked up some other people after that but those were the most profound encounters for us last night.  It was so clear that everything about last night was of God’s own doing and not ours. Even the guys we had in the car.  All of us had different testimonies that applied to each of the people we picked up. Without one of the guys and the Spirit working through him we may not have been nearly as rewarded. Last night touched me in such a profound way it cannot be described with words.  I am still on fire from last night even as I’m finishing this up almost a day later.  I said this earlier in the story about John, but last night was almost as big of a gift to me and the other guys in the car as it was to the people we talked with. Dane gave me a ride home after we got back to your house and prayed. The ride was spent talking about how we had been skeptical and how we had just been ignited by the Spirit.

I can’t wait to talk about this with you and the rest of the guys when you get back.

God Bless,

WHAT IF...I WAS ME

What if...today I was a REAL Christian!

What if...today I decided NOT to tip-toe around the truth so as not to offend, and defend the Word of God that lives inside me!

What if...today I decided not to look like the rest of the world, but to look like Jesus, by whose name I am saved?!

What if...today I told you to your face that you're lying and that to lie is a sin?!

What if...I told you I don't want to hear about the girl, or the guy, that you slept with this weekend and how good the sex was, because fornication is a sin and if you continue in it you risk going to hell?!

What if...I asked you not to curse around me.

What if...I explained that the fruit of the Spirit of Christ is joy, and kindness, and patience, and gentleness, love, and self-control.

What if I told you that you're not a Christian, because by your fruit I don't even recognize you?!

What if...What if...

What if...I lost my patience with compromising my faith to make you comfortable.

What if...I threw you out of my house when you use the Lord God Almighty's name in vain?!

What if...I was loving, yet honest, about how the compromises of this world and the serving of Satan sickens me?!

What if...I dared to be politically incorrect and actually BE a Christian?!

What if...I told you that I refuse to live in secret hoping not to offend your beliefs when you offend me and mine EVRY SINGLE DAY by your words, your deeds, and your actions?!

This would be very dangerous! I know.

Yet, what if...

What if...I dared to be dangerous for Jesus?!

What if...I dared to stand up for my faith by my life, my love, and the depth of His wisdom inside me...and not my words?!

The Kingdom of God suffers so much violence.

What if...we violently, forcefully, took it back?!

What if...I told you that Jesus will do just that?!

What if...I dare to live my life violently taking it back from you, and what you want me to be to be liked by you and accepted by you?!

Because I don't care if you like me or accept me!

What if... I told you that you do NOT define me, you will never DEFINE me, and you cannot even try to define ME?!

What if... I lived ONLY for my Creator by whose will and for whose pleasure I exist?!

What if...

YOUR HIGH!

The following is an email dialogue between myself and someone else, who advocates smoking weed as cool, natural, and from God, that is all to worthy of sharing:

So you think that Rihanna shouldn't have to look over her shoulder when she is on vacation gettin' high?! WOW. This isn't about looking over your shoulder it's about being Godly and living that way because it's truly who you are. She is being who she is. Yes. But, you are lying to yourself, or extremely deceived, if you think GOD wants us smoking marijuana or altering our minds in any way. Jesus drank wine, as did everyone else in that day, with a meal, not to the point of drunkenness and certainly not to the point of debauchery.

• Go to Revelations 21:8 "But the cowardly, unbelieving, [fn] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers (pharmacia), idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
• The word 'Pharmacia and Sorcery" are the same word in the original Greek biblical manuscripts. These are the first words which are the root of what we now call our modern day PHARMACY where we get drug prescriptions. The word Sorcery was originally the word to describe 'someone who mixed or took drugs/potions...witchcraft.' Your typical, and uneducated and uniformed statement about marijuana being from the ground and grown by God is an untrue line of reasoning....a common trick of the enemy/SATAN. There are plenty plants grown from the ground that man knows he should not eat...like poisonous mushrooms!!!! Why don't you advocate eating those? BECAUSE WE ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO KILL OURSELVES NOR ARE WE TO ALTER OUR MINDS AWAY FROM CHRIST WHICH ALLOWS THE ENEMY TO ENTER IN AND SET UP SHOP IN YOUR LIFE. Seriously? Do you understand what that means? I do!!! You need to look at what fruit you want to produce in your life because success and happiness will ALWAYS elude you if the enemy has the RIGHT to do what he wants to you, your loved ones, and your interests. A RIGHT you provide when you go against the Word Of God whether you even know you are going against His words and warnings or not. God didn't give us the BIBLE as a nice book of poetry, or a book of suggested readings, or a way to crunch our buzz and make us not have any fun. It's a friggin play book for this life in this world because He knows the end at the beginning and because He wants US to live happier and more freely protected from the enemy's attacks and tricks against our lives and our families and our businesses. God doesn't NEED you to BELIEVE. He WANTS, DESIRES, with all His love for you to BELIEVE.... for YOU!!! Not for HIM!
• Read Galatians 5:20-21 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, [fn] drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told [you] in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
• WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD!
• Read Ephesians 6:10-18...our fight is not against each other but against spiritual forces of deception that will destroy the ignorant. Our armor is the WORD of GOD.
• You need to read it and KNOW it before you speak for God telling others what He's cool with. You bring sure judgement on yourself for such a thing. And, I speak as someone who KNOWS that she KNOWS BETTER about the WORD OF GOD! Nobody is perfect...thank God for Jesus. But, we do have a responsibility after we are saved to not continue on in sin...and certainly not to open our mouths to others advocating it when one is soooo off point, and incorrect, which I am sorry my brother but you are. Yes, we all have fallen. I thought it was cool to smoke pot back in the day...way before I REALLY understood the game of spiritual warfare in this world. But, as a woman of color who is not as famous as Ree...but acquainted intimately with 'celebrity' let me tell you I try never to hold the truth in unrighteousness. A wise man just repents faster.
• So, I am NOT religious. Jesus came to do away with the empty religiosity of the day. I am a sinner, saved by the grace and BLOOD of Jesus Christ the Son of God. And, I am extremely well versed and studied in the WORD OF GOD. So please do not make ignorant statements like yours above saying God wants me to smoke cuz it's natural and doesn't mind me drinking wine. I do, on occasion, drink wine. I don't drink to the point of being DRUNK because we are not supposed to. Did you ever SEE or ever HEAR about Jesus and the Apostles being drunk? C'mon. And, He DOES NOT want us doing drugs, which includes smoking weed, my friend. Educate yourself. Free your mind with the truth...and the rest will follow!

• Here's a good rule of thumb...if it doesn't look, or sound, like Jesus and the Apostles it probably isn't right. That should convict ALOT of Christians and Sinners alike.

BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL!!!

This week a friend from a bible study group I attend, sent me an email about a message I delivered before the holidays, when I spoke at an annual luncheon in Kansas City. She told me that my openness and boldness was inspiring her to be bolder for Christ as well. My reply to her, and to all of you, is this.....

If 2012 is beginning and you look the same as 2011 then I'd deeply analyze my relationship with Jesus. If you're concerned about what 'others' think then you're not concerned enough about what 'Jesus' thinks. If the pursuits of the flesh are still as important as they have always been then it's time to slam on the brakes of your life and beg God to CHANGE you. Trust me. Time IS running out.

I am truly happy that the Lord is pushing you into boldness, if in fact He is. Many Christians today often fall so easily into 'holy complacency' and we don't look to God to be as BIG as He is, so we are rather small about Him in return. I believe that the bolder we are the bigger He will be. I need Him to be HUGE! I need Him to radically shake up my family and change the course of directions on roads traveled on for years. I need Him to truly be the author and finisher of my faith and to bring to pass all the dreams and visions and prophecies He has allowed to be spoken into my life, and my families life, for years! I think we all want that, so I hope to inspire by my own boldness, a holier, louder, bigger, bolder love of Jesus Christ in others. If not we believers kind of look like the rest of the world.

And, that is a big problem with Christianity today. We look way too much like THEM! We want to act like them, dress like them, talk like them, and live like them, and in return we talk about God like them; not at all. We are silent watchers of life, and silent voices in the kingdom who never impact anything, or anyone. And, worse, we sit idly, and sheepishly, by while others go to hell, never allowing them to experience the big, beautiful, beauty of a bold, believing, loving heart for Christ. I don't. I refuse to shut my mouth about Jesus and how He has changed, and blessed, and loosed, and delivered me into total freedom! Tim Tebow sure doesn't. But, sadly most Christians do! They never step out and SHARE boldly the gospel that they say they believe in.

When the first believers in Acts were set on fire on the day of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit fell on them and they all began speaking in strange tongues, which were oddly the native languages of dozens of foreigners in the land, they didn't look like the rest of the community they were in. People thought they were nuts in that Holy Spirit, anointed, time of renewal and promise. They were so in awe of the experience of God's power that they didn't care who thought what, or who said what, they clung to the rock of salvation and jumped in head first, excited, to share what Jesus had done.

Surely, they LOOKED radically different. Surely, they ACTED radically different. They sought to live like Christ; a man-God who healed the sick, cast out demons, and spoke words of love and life in the face of persecution.

WOW, Jesus didn't look like ANYBODY else in the world. He was BOLDNESS personified.

That should be us today! And, I really believe that if God is nudging you in that direction it is because He sees you that way. He sees those you will touch and offend and ultimately serve and save. He sees Himself in YOU. That thought moves me, because it reminds me how truly powerful and wonderful and unique and beautiful He created each of us to be. Your beauty is in your boldness. Your worth is in your boldness. Your freedom is in your boldness. And, surely, your success is in your boldness too.

If you don't believe me just ask the TEBOW BRONCOS. Tim Tebow, is one kid who KNOWS that his boldness has set a nation on fire talking about Jesus. No matter what happens next he has already won the Super Bowl. We all know who Tebow is. He is now a noun, a verb, and an adverb. Are you Tebowing? He has a name attached to good and great things and he has a platform from which to change nations. He is the most talked about player in the NFL hands down, and some of those folks talking, are also recognizing that Jesus is KING! Some are just plain mad, and jealous. And, some, even Christians, are just plain uncomfortable and wish he'd be a little less bold and look a little more like other football players. To that I ask why? Why should he look more like them? What's wrong with them looking more like him? Tim Tebow challenges most people, especially Christians, to look at their own pitiful, mediocre, sheepishness about the subject of Christ, and question themselves and their real belief in Jesus.

For what is faith if not an action, I ask you?! What is faith if not the happy, willingness, to boldly proclaim His goodness and mercy!

So be bold! You're looking more and more like Christ every day!!!

And, as this Hip Girls journey into 2012 begins I hope that by the end of it I look nothing like even the bold witness I am today! I wanna be radically, over the top, completely, in love and loud about my Savior by 2013.