A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.
"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes sir," the student says.
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
& quot;Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
&qu ot;Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
The student remains silent.
"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er...yes," the student says.
"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From God"
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"
"Yes."
&quo t;So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"So who created them?"
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."
The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir, I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"Yes."
"Ac cording to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"
"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."
"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"
"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."
"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"
"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."
"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."
"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.
"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."
The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.
"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."
"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."
"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"
Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
Well... i've been running this race for 6 months now, can't believe i've made it this far... i'm surprised in myself, it seems like yesterday when i was busy battling myself on whether i was ready to give the world up for our awesome Creator... here i am again... what can i say?
i'm dragging my feet, almost crawling... Loving Him gets tough sometimes. He's so close yet so far away. Sometimes i can literally feel His love in my heart, the next i'm asking Him where He is or if He can even hear me
Trust me, this is where i wanna be... this is where i need to be. Even when i've fallen there's something in me that won't let Him go.
I guess the thing is this relationship needs my devotion and commitment. At times i feel like going down on my knees and saying, "God, I can't. I'm in over my head with You. You're too great for me and i feel like i'm not worth it so why should i even try? I keep making the same mistakes over and over, i feel like i'm at the same place You found me. I have nothing to offer. I'm so close to giving up. I'm so close to letting go"
I've come too far to turn back now. I've given Him my heart and i don't want it back, i want Him to fix and repair it; i don't want Him to do alot with it, just touching it is enough for me.
Darkness slowly creeping. My face is gently weeping. Pain ever growing. Love quickly fading!
Darkness is after me, I'm running out of places to hide- all these feelings stuffed inside
Evil is persuing me, the darkness is to thick I really can't see.
I cant escape its around every corner. I knew I never should have been such a loner.
I keep running now, My head is spinning now. My heart is aching now, My feet are moving now, My eyes are crying now...
Will this evil ever cease to be? Will I ever be able to cry out with glee? There is somthing I have not seen, Theres just gotta be a way to wipe me clean.
Jesus help me,I am falling. Evil is overcoming me,darkness is winning, I have rebelled against you and now I'm losing. I recognize you now,you are the only thing to start me healing.
Jesus save me,scoop me up in your arms and I'll say I'm sorry. I wont rebel against you anymore dont you worry.
Then I saw it. A light getting closer, in my mind it got brighter, as darkness got further.
Healing,slowly repaired me. Arms embraced me, Fear left me. Love entered me.
As I felt his love, the war inside my heart faded, away into itself.... Darkness into darkness.
The thing that i want most, is that when all is said and done, my life meant something.
I wantto know that I changed people's lives for the better, and that what I did affected not only the poeple around me, but people I don't know; people I don't see.
have you ever noticed how so many of those who call themselves christians are hypocritical? where in church they will lift up there hands and praise God but the moment they walk out those doors they lie, they steal, they deceive, they sin in many ways.(ex.committing adultery) some thing i have realized is itdoesn't only matterhow you act in church because that is not where you are reflecting God's love to those in need of God the most... it is when you are walking into the grocery store, when you are at work or school... i am not saying it is an easy task i know what you are thinking... " what if they look at me weird for spreading God's word... or what will they say about me?" well i have one thing to tell you... WHO FREAKING CARES!!!!
do you think jesus cared about what those around him thought? do you think that what they said about him influenced him enough to not do it...
just think about how many chances you have had in the past to possibly change someones life and turn their life aroundbut didn'tbc you were afraid to go and talk to them...
scary thought isn't it? what mask is it that you wear? think to yourself.. are you a hypocrite? i know that at times i am...
i screw up some times... i make mistakes... FYI we are human we aren't expected to be perfect... but we should always strive for perfection... strive to be just like jesus...as we strive for this we will better ourselves from the inside out....
so i ask this of you... if you are reading this search your heart and find who you are in christ...
I wrote this poem about a year ago, and there are MANY others I'll probably put up later. I like to see what other people think of my art and poetry. I've even submitted a couple of my works to our school literary magazine, called Inkwell...But anyway...What do you think? :)
I am dirty, I am broken. I am smudged I am soft spoken. Its tough to love a guy like me...
I am not what you say, My tongue speaks words ill-behaved. My mind seeks your name, But my heart fails again. Its hard to love a guy like me...
I am not handsome I am not strong, I am not fast, And I cannot last that long, In the storm of what is wrong. Its tough to love a guy like me...
Though, Your gaze, Never changes. It is beautiful And always amazes me. Even if a haze of sin Makes a maze of my heart. Just a simple touch of your love, Sends me into a daze. Into a world not far. A work of your art.
I am like a jewel unclean to you. Dirty and Smudged. Broken and Crushed. Misled and Decieved.
Take me into your collection. Send me on the path of eternal correction I wont ask you any more questions Because you have the answers.
I love that you love me.
(second attempt to post this,after waiting a week and a half for the other to get approved.)
*WRITTEN BY A 15 yr. old SCHOOL KID IN* *ARIZONA * >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *New Pledge of Allegiance (TOTALLY AWESOME) !* >>>> >>>> *Since the Pledge of Allegiance* >>>> >>>> *and* >>>> >>>> *The Lord's Prayer* >>>> >>>> *are not allowed in most* >>>> >>>> *public schools anymore* >>>> >>>> *Because the word "God" is mentioned... * >&g t;>> >>>> *A kid in Arizona wrote the attached * >>>> >>>> *NEW School prayer :* >>>> >>>> *Now I sit me down in school* >>>> >>>> *Where praying is against the rule * >>>> >>>> *For this great nation under God * >>>> >>>> *Finds mention of Him very odd.* >>>> >>>> *If Scripture now the class recites, * >>>> >>>> *It violates the Bill of Rights. * >>>> >>>> *And anytime my head I bow* >>>> >>>> *Becomes a Federal matter now.* >>>> >>>> *Our hair can be purple, orange or green, * >>>> >>>> *That's no offense; it's a freedom scene. * >>>> >>>> *The law is specific, the law is precise. * >>>> >>>> *Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice. * >>>> >>>> *For praying in a public hall* >>>> >>>> *Might offend someone with no faith at all. * >>>> >>>> *In silence alone we must meditate, * >>>> >>>> *God's name is prohibited by the state. * >>>> >>>> *We're allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, * >>>> >>>> *And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks. * >>>> >>>> *They've outlawed guns, but FIRST the Bible. * >>>> >>>> *To quote the Good Book makes me liable. * >>>> >>>> *We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, * >>>> >>>> *And the 'unwed daddy,' our Senior King. * >>>> >>>> *It's "inappropriate" to teach right from wrong, * >>>> >>>> *We're taught that such "judgments" do not belong. >>>> * >>>> >>>> *We can get our condoms and birth controls, * >>>> >>>> *Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles. * >>>> >>>> *But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, * >>>> >>>> *No word of God must reach this crowd. * >>>> >>>> *It's scary here I must confess, * >>>> >>>> *When chaos reigns the school's a mess. * >>>> >>>> *So, Lord, this silent plea I make: * >>>> >>>> *Should I be shot; My soul please take! * >>>> >>>> *Amen*
As some of you may know, Skillet and Red are touring with three very secular bands: breaking benjamin, three days grace, and seether. ALL of the secular bands need God!!!!!!!! especially seether. Pray for skillet and Red, that they would be strong witnesses for christ andget a chance toshare the gospel with these bands in a powerful way. keep them in your prayers until it happes, cause i believe it WILL happen. Imagine the impact these bands could have on the kingdom if they used their AMAZING talents God has given them for Christ. WOW. plus, breaking benjamin was my favorite secular band b4 i stopped listening 2 them, Red is a lot like them that's y red is my favorite now but anyways PLEASE PRAY
After this amazing worship, I had several worries...
Because,
More than anything, I don't want to lose this bond with God. I didn't want to lose this wonderful feeling I have in my heart. I don't want to do anything else. I wish I coul just listen or play music all day, and read the bible all day. I don't feel like going to school or doing homework. Yes, God has touched me, but I guess i'm getting lazy on God by trying to put my life on hold?
I don't know how to explain this feeling. I just want time to end righthere. Seriously, I think this is the feeling of being in love, there's no other explanation. Everything I've wanted to do, it feels worthless to me. I still want to experience more, I'm still, thirsty.
I'm not filled as I would like to be. I want to look for more of Him. I just can't have enough...
It's not just an event, such as vision or aquire the fire, but I really want to genuinely worship Him forever. I want more opportunties for worship. I just can't stop, I finally feel that I've found what I've been seeking for all my life.
Life changes as one's perception change. As soon as I realize how big God is, I become so small. It's not really about, "am I satified with my life", but my goal is now, I really want Him more in my life. It really dosn't matter how messed up we are. Alcholic, druggie, abused, mentally challenged, shy, a liar... Because, these are the people who God came into this world for. When God talks about "unconditional love", he truly means, unconditionally, withouth judgement.
Reealizing how big the universe is, I realize how small, and nothing I am.
I close my eyes, and I just feel Him.
This feeling is more than an attachment to a single Christian event/concert/retreat or to a single person. For many years, I've gottn God mixed up with many things. At times, I associated God to a single person, or a single event, but now I know that is not the truth. God looks into my heart, and it dosn't matter where or who I praise God with.
I'm beginning to understand love a lot more. I realize, love is serioiusly a one way street, called the giving street. From the bottom of your heart, you just pour out to the other person, wanting nothing in return. It's pure sacrafice, and insanity; however, that's what God is calling us out to do, because God understands it all. He will reward us for loving others with His love.
I remember when I amounted to nothing in middle school ages. (Well, I'm still nothing, today,but back then, whew, I was just full of crap). But, seriously, at this retreat, this pastor poured out God's love to me. He seriously, prayed for me, with me, and told me who I am in Christ. Due to my stubborness, I've refused to listen to God, but God used intercession to speak to me via another person.
It's just, I was really nasty to this pastor. I was mean to him, I don't quite remember why. (Well, actually I was nasty to, um, couple of pastors. I think I made one cry, haha.) Anyways, my point is that, when I wasn't on fire for God, God was on fire for me. When we "minister" to other people, we can't expect anything in return, because that's the ministry God wants us to serve Him through.
We found God, when we had nothing to give. No, God found us, and called out to our ghettofied life. How can we judge others, when we were the exact same sinners as they were? We've had deciet in our hearts, and wanted to exalt ourselves. (Although we still do today, the degree is different). How can we be sinners ourselves, judge others who have sinned, just at different timing?
It's like a former slave master, bucking on a current slave master. What in the world? They are both guilty of the same crime, one isn't just comitting this current crime at this specific time.
I'm tired of being pushed around by Satan. He uses thousands and millions and billions of old profession technique to become our slave master. He pushes us when we're down, when we're weak. He uses anger, unforgiveness/grudge, pride, hartred, jealousy, tainted desires, infatuation, insanity, lies, fear, laziness... The list is endless, but I know that with God, we can control our actions, one second at a time. Once we start fighting against Satan, he will leave us. He will, indeed, flee.
It is true, one we let go of everything, we own the whole world. Everything that I'm holding into my hands and my heart, I truly want to lay it down on the cross to Christ. At the foot of the cross, everything I want to throw down...
I don't want to carry extra, unnecessary luggage. My life has been on slow motion for too long. I'm not going to change my life, but God will. I'm not going to expect anything else, other than to lean on God, and get Him to lead me to my desires.
No more living is self-pity. God has already forgiven us, now, it's time to speak louder than our voices. "Make it louder, no, live it louder" - Michael Gungor's
Yes, silence is the loudest. The truth is that, actions without voice could be so much louder than any yelling. I could preach to people for hours, or I could let my life speak. One'sself-reliazation is much more valuable than any teaching passively given to a student.
Any words of comfort I may say to you, is nothing compared to my prayers. Because, prayer is alive, and genuine. Where there is prayer, there is love, because God is love. Sometimes, we "pretend" to pray, we only pray with our words, voice, and mouth, but leave our hearts to us.
But, seriously, no.
It's time to pray for our generation.
We our the next generation to rise up to take the place of the one leaving.
It is time to pray. It is time to pray. It is time to pray.
With our hearts...
A sincere hallelujah is a better prayer than a prayer of solely words of one's head. We can't expect to see God with our brain, we need to see Him with our hearts. It is not slavery God calls for, but he calls for love.
Without heart, Christianity is nothing. Truly, more than strength, wisdom, or hope, we need more of love. Where there is love... there is God.
Not the love, our media calls on, but truly, we need to love...
We need to love God.
We need to love ourselves.
We need to love others.
We need more, "I do's" than empty "I love you's"
We need more, "I love you's" without "I don't think it's working out"
We need more loyalty than wondering eyes.
We need more tears than fake smiles.
We need more honesty than decietful lies.
We need more forgiveness than acting like you forgave.
We need more heart filled apologize than silence.
We need more voice for God than voice to shout of nothingness.
We need more silence and act.
Sometimes, we need to be quiet to be loud.
we need to cry to be happy
we need to hate to love
we need to give up to gain all
we need to let go to hold on
we need to let things go out of control to let God be in control
we need to be ignorant to understand
we need to be weak to be strong
we need to be sad to smile
We can't fake our way through life. For a period of time, it's possible, but...
I promise, it will only backfire.
to doubt is to believe << okay, I have no clue where I got this from. But, this makes me think of a certain friend. Because he doubts, I secretly believe he is beliving. I cannot really explain... I just feel His passion for wanting to disprove God too much, it actually seems like He really wants to follow God. I choose to believe, that it's his way of calling out to God. It might be his cry out for help. I don't know if this is true, but I suddently had this weird thought.
I keep thinking about April 5th, and about the ATF's the past few years, and I get so frustrated. How do I get back to where I was? I go to church and I can't stand it. Everyone's at a place that I want to be. I listen to the same music I did when I was doing well. I haven't picked up any new habits or anything. But I feel like God is so far out of my reach. I don't mean that to sound like a "God where are you!" sort of thing. But I honestly don't know how to get close to him again. I miss it so much. But there's so much doubt in my head. I haven't worshiped in such a long time. I sing the songs and try and press in. But he feels so far away, like no matter how long I stayed in that place I wouldn't be able to find him. I know my problem, well, part of it. When I worship, it's like I think that if I can concentrate hard enough, God will show up. I don't want an emotional experience. My life's not that terrible at the moment, actually it's pretty good. Nothing's going wrong right now. I have my bad days, but I'm not depressed like I used to be. I was so desperate for God back then that he wasn't hard to find. I could feel him everywhere and I wouldn't let myself get in the way. What is it going to take? I know God's willing to put in the effort if I am, but how do I "draw near" to him? I don't know how too anymore. I'm so lost that part of me is thinking, was I ever really close to him? Did I ever really know him? I know I did though. I was never so at peace and bold as I was when I knew him. But I don't know him anymore. I guess that's the problem. I don't really know who God is anymore. I can't see him as loving or living or modern. I can't see him as a God of today, as a God who's for me. Honestly, I don't think I love him. I want too though. But how do you love someone you don't know? He seems as best intimidating and indifferent, and at worst sexist and
I have not been a Christian my whole life. I am 19. Seven of those years have been as a Christian. Only 2-3 years have been spent as a true disciple of Christ. In these seven years of truly being alive, I have had many ups and downs. I have been happy and sad, angry and ecstatic. I have literally felt Jesus' arms wrapped gently and protectively around me, and I have felt as though I was suffocating.
I have engaged in spiritual warfare, and I have allowed Satan to walk all over me. I have declared God's goodness, and I have literally screamed at God, wondering where he is now. I have been through spring, summer, fall, but mostly winter in my walk with Christ. As they say in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it has seemed at times to be "always winter, never Christmas." Now, however, the snow is melting. Grass is beginning to grow in this once barren desert wasteland, and I can truly say I feel more alive now than I have in a very, very long time.
Why? Why do I feel this way? Why did I nearly burst out in spontaneous laughter last night, as the thought of God entered my mind? Why is it that now I can bow down before God at His throne and know with every fiber of being that he is smiling at me? Why is it that I, as insignificant as I am, have been given the honor of dancing- yes, dancing- with Jesus Himself?
I don't know. All I can say is that in those times when I felt most desperate, I have learned the value God places on little me. I am God's daughter. I am literally- not wishfully, not figuratively, but literally- a princess in God's kingdom. I am God's beloved. God loves me more than all of creation now and forever, combined.
Oh, I can feel what I am trying to say, but it won't come out!! How do you describe a feeling that you just don't understand? I feel pure joy and wonder and awe. It is sweet, like honey or really, really good chocolate that just melts in your mouth the moment you bite into it. It is mysterious, like the universe, or the ocean. It is wonderful, like the first day of sunlight after a long and dreary winter.
These feelings can only come from God. A couple of nights ago, God asked me to share an experience I had at the last ATF in Phoenix. Maybe that will help explain. I hope so, because I feel sooo bad for rambling like this.
It was the last night, I believe. We were all worshiping. I was desperate. I felt cut off from God, as though someone was literally cutting me away from Him, or physically holding me back from running to Him. I was worshiping with a desperate heart. I was begging God to look at me and to see me, to really truly see me.
After a while, I don't know what happened. It was almost like God just cut away whatever was holding me back. In my desperation it seemed as though I was spiritually flung through a suddenly opened door. Light surrounded me. I was blinded, and yet I could see so clearly. I didn't see much through the light. What I did see literally dropped me to my knees. I was standing- well, kneeling- before God's throne. The light cloaked a man, and I knew with every fiber I was looking at God. His glory and majesty was blinding and even scary. At the time I was afraid. I saw myself, and all I could think at the time was how unworthy I was. I could only think how dirty I was compared to God. I didn't want God to look at me.
Now, I know that God looked at me because He loves me. He no longer sees the darkness that I saw. He sees me. He sees who I am and who I will be. He sees what I will do, who I will help and what I will accomplish. He sees every little mistake I will make and he takes pride in my every little accomplishment.
God looks at YOU in this same way. He loves you for who you are now, right this moment. He also loves you for who you will be. We can't see the end of our lives. We can't really even see tomorrow. God, however, does. God loves you no matter where you are in your journey. Even if you are in the very throes of winter, and see no hope for a coming spring.
God loves you. He wants you to know that. His love is too great for me to describe in a single sitting, and already I have written too much. I fear that too few will read this. If you do, I pray that God will show you something that will help you in your walk.
Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Press on with perseverence to win the prize that God has for you in Christ Jesus. Do not give up hope, but bring everything through prayer before God's throne. Even when you feel like you are hitting your head against a brick wall, God hears you and is even now sending help to you. Press on. Dig in. Hold on. If someone like me can do it, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can too. Jesus has over come the world so that you can be truly free, and truly alive.
There was a girl. She was beautiful so. She was only eight. And she loved to dance and play. In the rain.
She had a mother And she loved her so. She would use any moment. To let it show.
And when she got hurt. Or cried the most. Her mother would be there. To hold her close..
Her mother would say...
::Chorus::
Don't you cry, It'll be alright. Don't you worry. I'm right here. I won't let go. I'll hold you close. Close to my heart.
::V2::
It had been some years. She was thirteen today. Her love for her mother. Had never changed.
Her mother called. And said she was sick with cancer. When the young girl asked how bad it was she didn't answer.
As time went on. Her mother died. And her father came. He wasn't the nicest man...
::Chorus2:
How could he Hurt her so? How could she Survive so long? What did she do wrong?
::V3::
She was talking to one of her friends. They were talking about Jesus. A God who cures and heals Hurts and pains. It was then that she met her savior
She was filled with joy. She couldn't help but laugh. She felt release From the sins she had.
She went to tell her father. Of Jesus Christ her redeemer. He rejected her words. And hurt her some more. He took it to far. It was then that he killed her...
::PreChorus::
At her funeral, There was letter. It was signed. Mother and Daughter. To their friends. Who were teary eyed.
It said.
Jesus came, he held us close. He took away our pain and replaced it with joy.
He said.
::Chorus::
Don't you cry, It'll be alright. Don't you worry. I'm right here. I won't let go. I'll hold you close. Close to my heart.
(I wrote this song for a woman that has had most of her family die from cancer.The truth behind the song is,sometimes things go wrong...But God is good always.)
1. Just because we may do something on the outside that a Christian would be considered doing doesn’t really mean that we are.
· If I go to church does that make me a Christian? Nope, just because a mouse gets inside a cookie jar it doesn’t make it a cookie does it?
· Maybe if I carry around a big Bible I’m a Christian? If you tote around something that is meaningless to you what’s the point.
· Maybe if I wear a Christian t-shirt then I’ll be one. Wearing a shirt with Jesus on it or some church doesn’t automatically make you holy.
· The one we hear the most, if I believe in God then I must be a Christian. NO! Just because you believe in “God” makes you no more a Christian then the very demons.
James 2:19 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God , but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them ?
3. Teens, as we can see doing none of this outwardly stuff makes us a Christian.
(A). They will recognize you as a Christian by your relationship with Christ.
Mar 14:66 While Peter was still in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came up 67 and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, " You were with Jesus from Nazareth !" 68 Peter replied, "That isn't true! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any idea what you mean." He went out to the gate, and a rooster crowed.
Guys, there is a huge difference between just believing in God and having a deep faith rooted in God. Teens, during the summer when you spend time outside in the sun people can see it. The sun leaves physical evidence on you that people can see. Guys when you spend time in the presence of the sun of God Jesus Christ you will see, and most definitely people will see it as well.
(B). They will recognize you as a Christian by the people you spend time with.
Mark 14:69 The servant girl saw Peter again and said to the people standing there, " This man is one of them !" 70 "No, I'm not!" Peter replied.
This is a saying I want you guys to always remember, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your destiny.” The people that you spend most of your time with will help shape and determine your future. Teens you want that light in you to always stay bright as a light house, stay close and connected to Church and fellow believers. You really do have no idea how essential fellowship is.
(C). They will recognize you as a Christian by your speech.
Mark 14:70 A little while later some of the people said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them. You're a Galilean!" 71 This time Peter began to curse and swear, "I don't even know the man you're talking about!"
Any of you guys ever heard you need to talk the talk and walk the walk? Well as important as living a blameless life in front of our unbelieving friends is it’s equally important to talk the talk.
‘Sup skillets. I’ve got a news flash for ya’ll. I know it’s long, but it’s about your calling, so skim it and see if you’re a watchman.
Now, all of you know me, and I’m very fun and light-spirited and I love the bridal paradigm between God and his church (Isaiah 54:5 and all of SOS), but every once and a while I end up in the Psalm 104:4 reality and now here I am. Both realities are the church: the warrior bride, but let me be a warrior for just a moment:
Joel 2:2: “Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.” The whole book of Joel is a complete story, end to end, of this generation and our children after us. So if you wanna know what the world will look like in 30 years, the book of Joel is your answer. Joel 2 talks about the church in this generation, and this is his opening line to his description of our generation, and the events therein.
Isaiah 42:13: “The LORD will march out like a mighty man, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.” Isaiah had a vision tucked away in verses 10-17 about a generation thousands of years in the distance. Most of Isaiah 43 is about Christ in AD 30, but there was no way Isaiah would ever write about the first coming of Christ without hinting a measure at His second coming (hence this snippet). How do we know this references the second coming? Answer: Isaiah 62 and Revelation 19-22. How do we know this hints at our generation? Answer: our nearness in current events to the completion of all the prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord (and Joel 2… and the prayer and worship revolution). You’ll read these passages and feel something tugging you just a little. Let me explain:
Jeremiah 4:19: “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.” Jeremiah had many of the same snippets that Isaiah had, and he, too, wrote concerning the second coming of Christ and about THIS time in history concerning current events. This verse perfectly captures the tugging (or even yanking) that happens to those who God is calling to be watchmen. Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel (and Jesus and Paul and Timothy and the Disciples and Martin Luther and Zinzendorf) were all watchmen for the Lord, and the Lord is calling forth watchmen for this generation:
Isaiah 62:1-7: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent… 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Here are the watchmen. How do we know this is about this generation? Psalm 132:3-5, David makes a vow to the Lord while he started a worship and pray revolution that has carried to this day: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob." When David said that, God raised him up to be a watchman, and David himself prophesied about the second coming of Christ (Psalm 2, etc.). David built a house of prayer and staffed it with 5,000 musicians and singers who did Isaiah 62:6-7 day and night, 24-7. Every once and a while, that calling returns, and it did so throughout the kings of Israel. Then the Moravians answered the call to night and day prayer, and Zinzendorf led a prayer revolution. Thousands of years later, that same call has erupted all over the earth today. Unknowingly, in 1999, several different parties received a calling on different sides of the earth, and they all made the vow in the same month and started a 24-7 house of prayer according to David’s vow. Since then, 24-7 prayer has been igniting revivals all over the earth, and you and I are currently witnessing the greatest breakthrough in missions work EVER! All of this coincides with God’s building watchmen all over the earth.
Now, I’m not calling for a 24-7 house of prayer in Olathe, but I am searching out the watchmen. There are already houses of 24-7 prayer all over the earth, multiple in all 50 states, so I’m not looking for a 24-7 house of prayer in Olathe, but I know the watchmen are here. You look at this generation and you see something different that you can’t explain. You hear the word “revolution” and you heart skips a beat, and you believe that this generation will see a huge shift in how Christians live. You may have even heard about it from the Lord, or seen it in a vision. You’re willing to die for the Word of the Lord because it has consumed you, and you’re ready to see the church unite and become the bride she was called to be in this generation. Guess what! You’re a watchman! And you’re definitely not alone! Adults and teenagers all over the earth and discovering an outpouring of the Spirit of God over this generation, and watchmen and being set up all over the earth!
What the heck is a watchman?! A watchman is straight up crazy. Not really, but if you ask the world, we’re straight up crazy (1 Corinthians 1:25)!
1) Watchmen are prayer warriors. We pray from sun-up to sun-down, and even then we love praying at 3 AM in the sweetness of God’s heart in the morning. We intercede for just about everything, meaning we stand in the gap and add our prayers to the incense rising to the thrown in Revelation 4-5. We pray with boldness for our schools, and for our peers, and our jobs, and our churches, and for the random waitress at Applebee’s, and for the dude that just flipped us off in traffic. We pray like Jesus is coming! Ha ha ha!
2) Watchmen are lovesick worshipers of Jesus. The church is the bride of Christ, and watchmen set the example for extravagant longing for the heart of God. We do the Psalm 27:4 thing “one thing I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze upon his beauty, etc.” We are the “greet one another with a heavenly kiss” people, and dramatically in love with Jesus.
3) We are the “Hey I quit my job so I could be a watchman” people. Plain and simple. Being a watchman is a job, and David paid for 5,000 singers and musicians to serve as watchmen in his house of prayer. So, do not quit your job today (unless you read that statement and heard the voice of God say “quit now.”), because you can be a watchman and still work (be a watchman at work), but as time progresses, and you become more and more consumed, you’ll discover that your calling is way far away from McDonalds and is more geared towards carrying crosses around the world (kind of thing). Do you want to know what Ezekiel’s job was?
Ezekiel 33:7-9 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”
And from that point on, Ezekiel was a living dead guy (Galatians 2:20), and he started to see things like Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 37 spawned the current 24-7 prayer movement in Europe with “you see dry bones, but I see an army”), which is directly tied to you and me. Which leads me to my next point:
4) Watchmen are messengers. Watchmen aren’t always Ezekiel kind of messengers, but they are messengers. Watchmen don’t always hear the audible voice of the Lord, but many of them do, and perhaps you have. What does this mean? In reality, you get attacked a lot more. No one listens to you, you struggle lots with porn and lust, and you struggle with your thought life, and you struggle with your reputation or appearance, just to name a few. Why? Because Satan doesn’t want anyone to hear the word of the Lord through you, he wants to destroy your eyes so you can’t see the Lord, he wants to corrupt your thoughts so you can’t connect with God, and he wants you to look like a fool so you won’t be taken seriously. But you hear God, and what he was to say for this generation, and you say it, some of you with a “Thus says the Lord” attitude and some of you with a “the Lord has been highlighting this…”
Why would Satan sacrifice 40,000,000+ unborn babies to heaven through abortion, just in the U.S.? If you really think about it, such destruction among infants has only happened three times in history: Moses, Jesus, and now. Moses: the Jews were overpopulating Egypt, and Pharaoh was scared so he killed off a bunch of babies. Jesus: Herod was scared of an old prophesy about the Jew’s Messiah supposedly taking his thrown, so he killed a bunch of Jewish infants. Both of those times, God was sending a great deliverer to his people, Moses and Jesus, and Satan tried to kill the deliverer early on. So what about today? Now: Satan is scared out of his pants because this generation is going to witness the ultimate deliverer’s second coming, Jesus Christ, and Satan’s ultimate destruction, and he wants to thin our ranks. Satan doesn’t want watchmen on the walls that pray his demons out of schools, or that worship God day and night, or that pray for Jesus to come back. Satan doesn’t want generals in the Lord’s army to lead revolutions on earth that lead to his downfall. Satan would rather see billions of babies worldwide go to heaven than see then enter earth, because we are his last generation, and he knows it.
So I’m looking for more the watchmen in Olathe. Who hears the voice of the Lord for this generation? Who sees what’s happening in this generation? Who feels that tugging on your heart? You may have never heard of this stuff before, but you feel the tugging anyway, and that’s perfect too. You may hate the term “watchmen,” and you’d rather say ‘revolutionary’ or ‘Gideon’ or ‘Jesus Freak’ or whatever; doesn’t matter.
And not everyone is a watchman… well I take that back, sort of. There are different watchmen, such as prophetic watchmen, intercessory watchmen, healing watchmen, demon-killing watchmen, song-writing watchmen, tongues-speaking watchmen, etc. You’ll find that a lot of these dimensions overlap.
What I’m really looking for is an intense prayer network. If all of the watchmen find each other in Olathe and start praying together and calling each other with prayer requests and speaking the word of the Lord together, Satan will get really pissed! Demons will get driven out of our schools if the watchmen rise up and say “HEY! God is bigger than these lies and I’m speaking and praying for truth!” So I’m looking for other watchmen who know they are going to be set on the wall as intercessors and warriors (and brides) of Christ. Alright watchmen (or whatever you are), let’s come together and start discovering who we really are…
Hey, this is Elijah, this is my first blog post so i'll start of with something i've, actually, never shared before... my testimony. Somehow the opportunity never came for me in my church or my camp trip. So since I now have an ATF blog (I really don't use my myspace anymore), I can share it:
As a kid, I never went to church, I grew up Catholic because my grandmother was Catholic. So all life was for my grandma was a bunch of rules and commands. We never went to the church because of how my father detested the Catholc church saying it was "dull and boring", but he had no religion. My dad was an alcohalic and life was always hell for me. Everyday from school my dad would be either drunk or not their for me when I really needed him. It was one pacifc day that changed my father, one of my dad's friends helped him, he led him to Christianity. I didn't go to church with him but he said he was a changed man. He was saved, but I wasn't. My dad led me to the church, but I never was like him. My dad wasn't an alcohalic anymore, and it made me happy. My dad was the happiest being in the world, and I wanted to have some of his happiness, unfortunately I looked in the wrong places. I was consumed by the media. MTV, The Internet, everything. I was, and i'll admit it, a "wannabe". I was laughed at ever since 3rd grade. When 7th grade came, it was even harder and the jokes where way more insaulting. I put too much energy into nothing to get even the littlest acceptance from people. Then, the day came. The day of the unexpected. Wondering where i'm leading to? I'm leading to my first Acquire The Fire. On the first day, before I entered the arena as a sinner. After Ron's message I fell into an outburst of tears. His message was so powerful that (as far as I can remember) I collapsed and woke up to the sound of a rock band. I kept on wondering what happened to my body but their was no explanination. The band that was playing was Skillet and to this day, I think their the best Christian rock band ever! I partied soo hard and it was great!!! I was completely changed. I was no longer sad anymore. Now my life is full of joy!!!! I got rid of my "wannabe" self and I deticated myself to serving the lord in all that needs to be done!
Present day: I'm now a greater at Crossroads Community Cathedrel and I'm a member of their teen cell group "Student Impact". I'm now typing comfortly on my laptop given to me by one of my dads friends. My mission is to be a youth pastor and, even mabye, a christian rapper (sorry guys that I can't upload any of my rap song on my page, I don't have the right software and a computer mike). I must go into the world and sound...THE BATTLECRY!!!!!
Warisn't necessarily a good thingbut it has too be done. Although people tend to think it is bad thats because thars all theyv'e heard is the negative and its all the news reports. One thing is that you cant have peace without having a war first. I personally like the peace but it seems to never last.
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Hey, who went or is going to ATF? What did you think about it, what was your favorite part, and what did you learn?
GOD ROCKS!!!!!!!
God vs. Science
"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes sir," the student says.
"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."
& quot;Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."
"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."
&qu ot;Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."
The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"
"Yes sir, I would."
"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."
"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."
The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"
The student remains silent.
"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.
"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er...yes," the student says.
"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."
"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From God"
"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."
"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"
"Yes."
&quo t;So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"
The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."
"So who created them?"
The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"
The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."
The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"
"No sir. I've never seen Him."
"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir, I have not."
"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"
"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"Yes."
"Ac cording to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"
"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."
The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"
"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."
"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."
The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."
"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."
Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.
"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"
"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"
"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."
"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"
The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"
"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."
The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"
"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."
"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."
"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"
"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."
"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"
The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.
"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"
The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.
"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."
The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.
"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."
"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"
Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.
Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."
"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"
Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
Like Everyone Around Me
I ask my mom and dad for money they don't really have
to buy me clothes and shoes
to impress everyone around me .
I spend an hour each day
painting my face and smooothing my hair
to look like everyone around me .
My Bible rests on my nightstand-
no time to read or pray,
but I have time to watch the shows
and bop to the music
of everyone around me .
I went to the mailbox today
in the pile was a magazine with pictures of everything I want
and another one from a ministry
with pictures of
childrenb who have no shoes.
They wear tattered clothes
and rejoice for a bowl of rice,
but their smiles glowed with a beauty
unlike everyone around me .
It struck me:
I don't rejoice,
I want.
I am anxious, discontent, jealous, and insecure.
I let the Holy Spirit speak to me,
"Be like me:
Be like me,"
And suddenly I didn't want to be
Like eveyone around me .
I want to be like him.
DO YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL?
Well... i've been running this race for 6 months now, can't believe i've made it this far... i'm surprised in myself, it seems like yesterday when i was busy battling myself on whether i was ready to give the world up for our awesome Creator... here i am again... what can i say?
i'm dragging my feet, almost crawling... Loving Him gets tough sometimes. He's so close yet so far away. Sometimes i can literally feel His love in my heart, the next i'm asking Him where He is or if He can even hear me
Trust me, this is where i wanna be... this is where i need to be. Even when i've fallen there's something in me that won't let Him go.
I guess the thing is this relationship needs my devotion and commitment. At times i feel like going down on my knees and saying, "God, I can't. I'm in over my head with You. You're too great for me and i feel like i'm not worth it so why should i even try? I keep making the same mistakes over and over, i feel like i'm at the same place You found me. I have nothing to offer. I'm so close to giving up. I'm so close to letting go"
I've come too far to turn back now. I've given Him my heart and i don't want it back, i want Him to fix and repair it; i don't want Him to do alot with it, just touching it is enough for me.
I know He's here... somewhere, He's here.
Do you know how I feel?
Save Me.
My face is gently weeping.
Pain ever growing.
Love quickly fading!
Darkness is after me,
I'm running out of places to hide-
all these feelings stuffed inside
Evil is persuing me,
the darkness is to thick
I really can't see.
I cant escape
its around every corner.
I knew I never should have been such a loner.
I keep running now,
My head is spinning now.
My heart is aching now,
My feet are moving now,
My eyes are crying now...
Will this evil ever cease to be?
Will I ever be able to cry out with glee?
There is somthing I have not seen,
Theres just gotta be a way to wipe me clean.
Jesus help me,I am falling.
Evil is overcoming me,darkness is winning,
I have rebelled against you and now I'm losing.
I recognize you now,you are the only thing to start me healing.
Jesus save me,scoop me up
in your arms and I'll say I'm sorry.
I wont rebel against you anymore dont you worry.
Then I saw it.
A light getting closer,
in my mind it got brighter,
as darkness got further.
Healing,slowly repaired me.
Arms embraced me,
Fear left me.
Love entered me.
As I felt his love,
the war inside my heart faded,
away into itself....
Darkness into darkness.
A life of meaning
The thing that i want most, is that when all is said and done, my life meant something.
I wantto know that I changed people's lives for the better, and that what I did affected not only the poeple around me, but people I don't know; people I don't see.
I'm not talking about beco
hypocrites in the church...
have you ever noticed how so many of those who call themselves christians are hypocritical? where in church they will lift up there hands and praise God but the moment they walk out those doors they lie, they steal, they deceive, they sin in many ways.(ex.committing adultery) some thing i have realized is itdoesn't only matterhow you act in church because that is not where you are reflecting God's love to those in need of God the most... it is when you are walking into the grocery store, when you are at work or school... i am not saying it is an easy task i know what you are thinking... " what if they look at me weird for spreading God's word... or what will they say about me?" well i have one thing to tell you... WHO FREAKING CARES!!!!
do you think jesus cared about what those around him thought? do you think that what they said about him influenced him enough to not do it...
just think about how many chances you have had in the past to possibly change someones life and turn their life aroundbut didn'tbc you were afraid to go and talk to them...
scary thought isn't it? what mask is it that you wear? think to yourself.. are you a hypocrite? i know that at times i am...
i screw up some times... i make mistakes... FYI we are human we aren't expected to be perfect... but we should always strive for perfection... strive to be just like jesus...as we strive for this we will better ourselves from the inside out....
so i ask this of you... if you are reading this search your heart and find who you are in christ...
never give up...
babyluvWWJD
"Stand Proud" Poem :)
I wrote this poem about a year ago, and there are MANY others I'll probably put up later. I like to see what other people think of my art and poetry. I've even submitted a couple of my works to our school literary magazine, called Inkwell...But anyway...What do you think? :)
Stand Proud
(c) Patricia Kelly 2006
Fear is just a word
People use to pull you down
But you can't let them sink you
You can't sit around and frown
You've gotta make something of your life
Show them how it's done
And we'll see who's laughing now
Cause you're stronger than you know
Don't walk staring at the ground
Hold your head high
Your dreams can't be anchored down
Take them to the sky
Dream small, lose it all
Never stop to cry
Don't walk staring at the ground
Keep on aiming high
You'll never be a winner
If you're always set to lose
So live it up and do your best
On every path you choose
And if anybody tells you
That you're nothing, it's a lie!
They're probably just jealous
That you always wear a smile
So, don't walk staring at the ground
Hold your head high
Your dreams can't be anchored down
Take them to the sky
Dream small, lose it all
Never stop to cry
Don't walk staring at the ground
Keep on aiming high
...Whatcha think everybody? :)
Tough to Love
I am dirty,
I am broken.
I am smudged
I am soft spoken.
Its tough to love a guy like me...
I am not what you say,
My tongue speaks words ill-behaved.
My mind seeks your name,
But my heart fails again.
Its hard to love a guy like me...
I am not handsome
I am not strong,
I am not fast,
And I cannot last that long,
In the storm of what is wrong.
Its tough to love a guy like me...
Though,
Your gaze,
Never changes.
It is beautiful
And always amazes me.
Even if a haze of sin
Makes a maze of my heart.
Just a simple touch of your love,
Sends me into a daze.
Into a world not far.
A work of your art.
I am like a jewel unclean to you.
Dirty and Smudged.
Broken and Crushed.
Misled and Decieved.
Take me into your collection.
Send me on the path of eternal correction
I wont ask you any more questions
Because you have the answers.
I love that you love me.
(second attempt to post this,after waiting a week and a half for the other to get approved.)
New Pledge of Allegiance
please pray
As some of you may know, Skillet and Red are touring with three very secular bands: breaking benjamin, three days grace, and seether. ALL of the secular bands need God!!!!!!!! especially seether. Pray for skillet and Red, that they would be strong witnesses for christ andget a chance toshare the gospel with these bands in a powerful way. keep them in your prayers until it happes, cause i believe it WILL happen. Imagine the impact these bands could have on the kingdom if they used their AMAZING talents God has given them for Christ. WOW. plus, breaking benjamin was my favorite secular band b4 i stopped listening 2 them, Red is a lot like them that's y red is my favorite now but anyways PLEASE PRAY
the nerd in me............
i am a total nerd/geek/dork! look at this
j f m a m j j a s o n d
the months of the year..... this is the last half or six months
jason d
Jason! as in the first the name and D as in Dunn!
Jason Dunn, lead singer of Hawk Nelson!
I am a total Geek!
i am also a loser!
just something i thought was cool!
later!
Thoughts after ATF
After this amazing worship, I had several worries...
Because,
More than anything, I don't want to lose this bond with God. I didn't want to lose this wonderful feeling I have in my heart. I don't want to do anything else. I wish I coul just listen or play music all day, and read the bible all day. I don't feel like going to school or doing homework. Yes, God has touched me, but I guess i'm getting lazy on God by trying to put my life on hold?
I don't know how to explain this feeling. I just want time to end righthere. Seriously, I think this is the feeling of being in love, there's no other explanation. Everything I've wanted to do, it feels worthless to me. I still want to experience more, I'm still, thirsty.
I'm not filled as I would like to be. I want to look for more of Him. I just can't have enough...
It's not just an event, such as vision or aquire the fire, but I really want to genuinely worship Him forever. I want more opportunties for worship. I just can't stop, I finally feel that I've found what I've been seeking for all my life.
Life changes as one's perception change. As soon as I realize how big God is, I become so small. It's not really about, "am I satified with my life", but my goal is now, I really want Him more in my life. It really dosn't matter how messed up we are. Alcholic, druggie, abused, mentally challenged, shy, a liar... Because, these are the people who God came into this world for. When God talks about "unconditional love", he truly means, unconditionally, withouth judgement.
Reealizing how big the universe is, I realize how small, and nothing I am.
I close my eyes, and I just feel Him.
This feeling is more than an attachment to a single Christian event/concert/retreat or to a single person. For many years, I've gottn God mixed up with many things. At times, I associated God to a single person, or a single event, but now I know that is not the truth. God looks into my heart, and it dosn't matter where or who I praise God with.
I'm beginning to understand love a lot more. I realize, love is serioiusly a one way street, called the giving street. From the bottom of your heart, you just pour out to the other person, wanting nothing in return. It's pure sacrafice, and insanity; however, that's what God is calling us out to do, because God understands it all. He will reward us for loving others with His love.
I remember when I amounted to nothing in middle school ages. (Well, I'm still nothing, today,but back then, whew, I was just full of crap). But, seriously, at this retreat, this pastor poured out God's love to me. He seriously, prayed for me, with me, and told me who I am in Christ. Due to my stubborness, I've refused to listen to God, but God used intercession to speak to me via another person.
It's just, I was really nasty to this pastor. I was mean to him, I don't quite remember why. (Well, actually I was nasty to, um, couple of pastors. I think I made one cry, haha.) Anyways, my point is that, when I wasn't on fire for God, God was on fire for me. When we "minister" to other people, we can't expect anything in return, because that's the ministry God wants us to serve Him through.
We found God, when we had nothing to give. No, God found us, and called out to our ghettofied life. How can we judge others, when we were the exact same sinners as they were? We've had deciet in our hearts, and wanted to exalt ourselves. (Although we still do today, the degree is different). How can we be sinners ourselves, judge others who have sinned, just at different timing?
It's like a former slave master, bucking on a current slave master. What in the world? They are both guilty of the same crime, one isn't just comitting this current crime at this specific time.
I'm tired of being pushed around by Satan. He uses thousands and millions and billions of old profession technique to become our slave master. He pushes us when we're down, when we're weak. He uses anger, unforgiveness/grudge, pride, hartred, jealousy, tainted desires, infatuation, insanity, lies, fear, laziness... The list is endless, but I know that with God, we can control our actions, one second at a time. Once we start fighting against Satan, he will leave us. He will, indeed, flee.
It is true, one we let go of everything, we own the whole world. Everything that I'm holding into my hands and my heart, I truly want to lay it down on the cross to Christ. At the foot of the cross, everything I want to throw down...
I don't want to carry extra, unnecessary luggage. My life has been on slow motion for too long. I'm not going to change my life, but God will. I'm not going to expect anything else, other than to lean on God, and get Him to lead me to my desires.
No more living is self-pity. God has already forgiven us, now, it's time to speak louder than our voices. "Make it louder, no, live it louder" - Michael Gungor's
Yes, silence is the loudest. The truth is that, actions without voice could be so much louder than any yelling. I could preach to people for hours, or I could let my life speak. One'sself-reliazation is much more valuable than any teaching passively given to a student.
Any words of comfort I may say to you, is nothing compared to my prayers. Because, prayer is alive, and genuine. Where there is prayer, there is love, because God is love. Sometimes, we "pretend" to pray, we only pray with our words, voice, and mouth, but leave our hearts to us.
But, seriously, no.
It's time to pray for our generation.
We our the next generation to rise up to take the place of the one leaving.
It is time to pray. It is time to pray. It is time to pray.
With our hearts...
A sincere hallelujah is a better prayer than a prayer of solely words of one's head. We can't expect to see God with our brain, we need to see Him with our hearts. It is not slavery God calls for, but he calls for love.
Without heart, Christianity is nothing. Truly, more than strength, wisdom, or hope, we need more of love. Where there is love... there is God.
Not the love, our media calls on, but truly, we need to love...
We need to love God.
We need to love ourselves.
We need to love others.
We need more, "I do's" than empty "I love you's"
We need more, "I love you's" without "I don't think it's working out"
We need more loyalty than wondering eyes.
We need more tears than fake smiles.
We need more honesty than decietful lies.
We need more forgiveness than acting like you forgave.
We need more heart filled apologize than silence.
We need more voice for God than voice to shout of nothingness.
We need more silence and act.
Sometimes, we need to be quiet to be loud.
we need to cry to be happy
we need to hate to love
we need to give up to gain all
we need to let go to hold on
we need to let things go out of control to let God be in control
we need to be ignorant to understand
we need to be weak to be strong
we need to be sad to smile
We can't fake our way through life. For a period of time, it's possible, but...
I promise, it will only backfire.
to doubt is to believe << okay, I have no clue where I got this from. But, this makes me think of a certain friend. Because he doubts, I secretly believe he is beliving. I cannot really explain... I just feel His passion for wanting to disprove God too much, it actually seems like He really wants to follow God. I choose to believe, that it's his way of calling out to God. It might be his cry out for help. I don't know if this is true, but I suddently had this weird thought.
What am I doing?
I keep thinking about April 5th, and about the ATF's the past few years, and I get so frustrated.
How do I get back to where I was? I go to church and I can't stand it. Everyone's at a place that I want to be. I listen to the same music I did when I was doing well. I haven't picked up any new habits or anything. But I feel like God is so far out of my reach.
I don't mean that to sound like a "God where are you!" sort of thing. But I honestly don't know how to get close to him again. I miss it so much. But there's so much doubt in my head.
I haven't worshiped in such a long time. I sing the songs and try and press in. But he feels so far away, like no matter how long I stayed in that place I wouldn't be able to find him.
I know my problem, well, part of it. When I worship, it's like I think that if I can concentrate hard enough, God will show up. I don't want an emotional experience. My life's not that terrible at the moment, actually it's pretty good. Nothing's going wrong right now. I have my bad days, but I'm not depressed like I used to be. I was so desperate for God back then that he wasn't hard to find. I could feel him everywhere and I wouldn't let myself get in the way.
What is it going to take? I know God's willing to put in the effort if I am, but how do I "draw near" to him? I don't know how too anymore. I'm so lost that part of me is thinking, was I ever really close to him? Did I ever really know him?
I know I did though. I was never so at peace and bold as I was when I knew him. But I don't know him anymore.
I guess that's the problem. I don't really know who God is anymore. I can't see him as loving or living or modern. I can't see him as a God of today, as a God who's for me. Honestly, I don't think I love him. I want too though. But how do you love someone you don't know? He seems as best intimidating and indifferent, and at worst sexist and
cold.
Stand in Awe
I have not been a Christian my whole life. I am 19. Seven of those years have been as a Christian. Only 2-3 years have been spent as a true disciple of Christ. In these seven years of truly being alive, I have had many ups and downs. I have been happy and sad, angry and ecstatic. I have literally felt Jesus' arms wrapped gently and protectively around me, and I have felt as though I was suffocating.
I have engaged in spiritual warfare, and I have allowed Satan to walk all over me. I have declared God's goodness, and I have literally screamed at God, wondering where he is now. I have been through spring, summer, fall, but mostly winter in my walk with Christ. As they say in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, it has seemed at times to be "always winter, never Christmas." Now, however, the snow is melting. Grass is beginning to grow in this once barren desert wasteland, and I can truly say I feel more alive now than I have in a very, very long time.
Why? Why do I feel this way? Why did I nearly burst out in spontaneous laughter last night, as the thought of God entered my mind? Why is it that now I can bow down before God at His throne and know with every fiber of being that he is smiling at me? Why is it that I, as insignificant as I am, have been given the honor of dancing- yes, dancing- with Jesus Himself?
I don't know. All I can say is that in those times when I felt most desperate, I have learned the value God places on little me. I am God's daughter. I am literally- not wishfully, not figuratively, but literally- a princess in God's kingdom. I am God's beloved. God loves me more than all of creation now and forever, combined.
Oh, I can feel what I am trying to say, but it won't come out!! How do you describe a feeling that you just don't understand? I feel pure joy and wonder and awe. It is sweet, like honey or really, really good chocolate that just melts in your mouth the moment you bite into it. It is mysterious, like the universe, or the ocean. It is wonderful, like the first day of sunlight after a long and dreary winter.
These feelings can only come from God. A couple of nights ago, God asked me to share an experience I had at the last ATF in Phoenix. Maybe that will help explain. I hope so, because I feel sooo bad for rambling like this.
It was the last night, I believe. We were all worshiping. I was desperate. I felt cut off from God, as though someone was literally cutting me away from Him, or physically holding me back from running to Him. I was worshiping with a desperate heart. I was begging God to look at me and to see me, to really truly see me.
After a while, I don't know what happened. It was almost like God just cut away whatever was holding me back. In my desperation it seemed as though I was spiritually flung through a suddenly opened door. Light surrounded me. I was blinded, and yet I could see so clearly. I didn't see much through the light. What I did see literally dropped me to my knees. I was standing- well, kneeling- before God's throne. The light cloaked a man, and I knew with every fiber I was looking at God. His glory and majesty was blinding and even scary. At the time I was afraid. I saw myself, and all I could think at the time was how unworthy I was. I could only think how dirty I was compared to God. I didn't want God to look at me.
Now, I know that God looked at me because He loves me. He no longer sees the darkness that I saw. He sees me. He sees who I am and who I will be. He sees what I will do, who I will help and what I will accomplish. He sees every little mistake I will make and he takes pride in my every little accomplishment.
God looks at YOU in this same way. He loves you for who you are now, right this moment. He also loves you for who you will be. We can't see the end of our lives. We can't really even see tomorrow. God, however, does. God loves you no matter where you are in your journey. Even if you are in the very throes of winter, and see no hope for a coming spring.
God loves you. He wants you to know that. His love is too great for me to describe in a single sitting, and already I have written too much. I fear that too few will read this. If you do, I pray that God will show you something that will help you in your walk.
Allow the Holy Spirit to guide you. Press on with perseverence to win the prize that God has for you in Christ Jesus. Do not give up hope, but bring everything through prayer before God's throne. Even when you feel like you are hitting your head against a brick wall, God hears you and is even now sending help to you. Press on. Dig in. Hold on. If someone like me can do it, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you can too. Jesus has over come the world so that you can be truly free, and truly alive.
Baby Girl.
Baby Girl.
"Baby Girl"There was a girl.
She was beautiful so.
She was only eight.
And she loved to dance and play.
In the rain.
She had a mother
And she loved her so.
She would use any moment.
To let it show.
And when she got hurt.
Or cried the most.
Her mother would be there.
To hold her close..
Her mother would say...
::Chorus::
Don't you cry,
It'll be alright.
Don't you worry.
I'm right here.
I won't let go.
I'll hold you close.
Close to my heart.
::V2::
It had been some years.
She was thirteen today.
Her love for her mother.
Had never changed.
Her mother called.
And said she was sick with cancer.
When the young girl asked
how bad it was she didn't answer.
As time went on.
Her mother died.
And her father came.
He wasn't the nicest man...
::Chorus2:
How could he
Hurt her so?
How could she
Survive so long?
What did she do wrong?
::V3::
She was talking to one of her friends.
They were talking about Jesus.
A God who cures and heals
Hurts and pains.
It was then that she met her savior
She was filled with joy.
She couldn't help but laugh.
She felt release
From the sins she had.
She went to tell her father.
Of Jesus Christ her redeemer.
He rejected her words.
And hurt her some more.
He took it to far.
It was then that he killed her...
::PreChorus::
At her funeral,
There was letter.
It was signed.
Mother and Daughter.
To their friends.
Who were teary eyed.
It said.
Jesus came,
he held us close.
He took away our pain
and replaced it with joy.
He said.
::Chorus::
Don't you cry,
It'll be alright.
Don't you worry.
I'm right here.
I won't let go.
I'll hold you close.
Close to my heart.
(I wrote this song for a woman that has had most of her family die from cancer.The truth behind the song is,sometimes things go wrong...But God is good always.)
How to spot a Christian
How to spot a Christian
study notes from last night at Fusion
1. Just because we may do something on the outside that a Christian would be considered doing doesn’t really mean that we are.
· If I go to church does that make me a Christian? Nope, just because a mouse gets inside a cookie jar it doesn’t make it a cookie does it?
· Maybe if I carry around a big Bible I’m a Christian? If you tote around something that is meaningless to you what’s the point.
· Maybe if I wear a Christian t-shirt then I’ll be one. Wearing a shirt with Jesus on it or some church doesn’t automatically make you holy.
· The one we hear the most, if I believe in God then I must be a Christian. NO! Just because you believe in “God” makes you no more a Christian then the very demons.
James 2:19 Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God , but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them ?
3. Teens, as we can see doing none of this outwardly stuff makes us a Christian.
(A). They will recognize you as a Christian by your relationship with Christ.
Mar 14:66 While Peter was still in the courtyard, a servant girl of the high priest came up 67 and saw Peter warming himself by the fire. She stared at him and said, " You were with Jesus from Nazareth !" 68 Peter replied, "That isn't true! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have any idea what you mean." He went out to the gate, and a rooster crowed.
Guys, there is a huge difference between just believing in God and having a deep faith rooted in God. Teens, during the summer when you spend time outside in the sun people can see it. The sun leaves physical evidence on you that people can see. Guys when you spend time in the presence of the sun of God Jesus Christ you will see, and most definitely people will see it as well.
(B). They will recognize you as a Christian by the people you spend time with.
Mark 14:69 The servant girl saw Peter again and said to the people standing there, " This man is one of them !" 70 "No, I'm not!" Peter replied.
This is a saying I want you guys to always remember, “Show me your friends, and I’ll show you your destiny.” The people that you spend most of your time with will help shape and determine your future. Teens you want that light in you to always stay bright as a light house, stay close and connected to Church and fellow believers. You really do have no idea how essential fellowship is.
(C). They will recognize you as a Christian by your speech.
Mark 14:70 A little while later some of the people said to Peter, "You certainly are one of them. You're a Galilean!" 71 This time Peter began to curse and swear, "I don't even know the man you're talking about!"
Any of you guys ever heard you need to talk the talk and walk the walk? Well as important as living a blameless life in front of our unbelieving friends is it’s equally important to talk the talk.
Are you a watchmen?
‘Sup skillets. I’ve got a news flash for ya’ll. I know it’s long, but it’s about your calling, so skim it and see if you’re a watchman.
Now, all of you know me, and I’m very fun and light-spirited and I love the bridal paradigm between God and his church (Isaiah 54:5 and all of SOS), but every once and a while I end up in the Psalm 104:4 reality and now here I am. Both realities are the church: the warrior bride, but let me be a warrior for just a moment:
Joel 2:2: “Like dawn spreading across the mountains a large and mighty army comes, such as never was of old nor ever will be in ages to come.” The whole book of Joel is a complete story, end to end, of this generation and our children after us. So if you wanna know what the world will look like in 30 years, the book of Joel is your answer. Joel 2 talks about the church in this generation, and this is his opening line to his description of our generation, and the events therein.
Isaiah 42:13: “The LORD will march out like a mighty man, like a warrior he will stir up his zeal; with a shout he will raise the battle cry and will triumph over his enemies.” Isaiah had a vision tucked away in verses 10-17 about a generation thousands of years in the distance. Most of Isaiah 43 is about Christ in AD 30, but there was no way Isaiah would ever write about the first coming of Christ without hinting a measure at His second coming (hence this snippet). How do we know this references the second coming? Answer: Isaiah 62 and Revelation 19-22. How do we know this hints at our generation? Answer: our nearness in current events to the completion of all the prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord (and Joel 2… and the prayer and worship revolution). You’ll read these passages and feel something tugging you just a little. Let me explain:
Jeremiah 4:19: “Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the battle cry.” Jeremiah had many of the same snippets that Isaiah had, and he, too, wrote concerning the second coming of Christ and about THIS time in history concerning current events. This verse perfectly captures the tugging (or even yanking) that happens to those who God is calling to be watchmen. Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel (and Jesus and Paul and Timothy and the Disciples and Martin Luther and Zinzendorf) were all watchmen for the Lord, and the Lord is calling forth watchmen for this generation:
Isaiah 62:1-7: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent… 6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.” Here are the watchmen. How do we know this is about this generation? Psalm 132:3-5, David makes a vow to the Lord while he started a worship and pray revolution that has carried to this day: “I will not enter my house or go to my bed- I will allow no sleep to my eyes, no slumber to my eyelids, till I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob." When David said that, God raised him up to be a watchman, and David himself prophesied about the second coming of Christ (Psalm 2, etc.). David built a house of prayer and staffed it with 5,000 musicians and singers who did Isaiah 62:6-7 day and night, 24-7. Every once and a while, that calling returns, and it did so throughout the kings of Israel. Then the Moravians answered the call to night and day prayer, and Zinzendorf led a prayer revolution. Thousands of years later, that same call has erupted all over the earth today. Unknowingly, in 1999, several different parties received a calling on different sides of the earth, and they all made the vow in the same month and started a 24-7 house of prayer according to David’s vow. Since then, 24-7 prayer has been igniting revivals all over the earth, and you and I are currently witnessing the greatest breakthrough in missions work EVER! All of this coincides with God’s building watchmen all over the earth.
Now, I’m not calling for a 24-7 house of prayer in Olathe, but I am searching out the watchmen. There are already houses of 24-7 prayer all over the earth, multiple in all 50 states, so I’m not looking for a 24-7 house of prayer in Olathe, but I know the watchmen are here. You look at this generation and you see something different that you can’t explain. You hear the word “revolution” and you heart skips a beat, and you believe that this generation will see a huge shift in how Christians live. You may have even heard about it from the Lord, or seen it in a vision. You’re willing to die for the Word of the Lord because it has consumed you, and you’re ready to see the church unite and become the bride she was called to be in this generation. Guess what! You’re a watchman! And you’re definitely not alone! Adults and teenagers all over the earth and discovering an outpouring of the Spirit of God over this generation, and watchmen and being set up all over the earth!
What the heck is a watchman?! A watchman is straight up crazy. Not really, but if you ask the world, we’re straight up crazy (1 Corinthians 1:25)!
1) Watchmen are prayer warriors. We pray from sun-up to sun-down, and even then we love praying at 3 AM in the sweetness of God’s heart in the morning. We intercede for just about everything, meaning we stand in the gap and add our prayers to the incense rising to the thrown in Revelation 4-5. We pray with boldness for our schools, and for our peers, and our jobs, and our churches, and for the random waitress at Applebee’s, and for the dude that just flipped us off in traffic. We pray like Jesus is coming! Ha ha ha!
2) Watchmen are lovesick worshipers of Jesus. The church is the bride of Christ, and watchmen set the example for extravagant longing for the heart of God. We do the Psalm 27:4 thing “one thing I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord and gaze upon his beauty, etc.” We are the “greet one another with a heavenly kiss” people, and dramatically in love with Jesus.
3) We are the “Hey I quit my job so I could be a watchman” people. Plain and simple. Being a watchman is a job, and David paid for 5,000 singers and musicians to serve as watchmen in his house of prayer. So, do not quit your job today (unless you read that statement and heard the voice of God say “quit now.”), because you can be a watchman and still work (be a watchman at work), but as time progresses, and you become more and more consumed, you’ll discover that your calling is way far away from McDonalds and is more geared towards carrying crosses around the world (kind of thing). Do you want to know what Ezekiel’s job was?
Ezekiel 33:7-9 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.”
And from that point on, Ezekiel was a living dead guy (Galatians 2:20), and he started to see things like Ezekiel 37 (Ezekiel 37 spawned the current 24-7 prayer movement in Europe with “you see dry bones, but I see an army”), which is directly tied to you and me. Which leads me to my next point:
4) Watchmen are messengers. Watchmen aren’t always Ezekiel kind of messengers, but they are messengers. Watchmen don’t always hear the audible voice of the Lord, but many of them do, and perhaps you have. What does this mean? In reality, you get attacked a lot more. No one listens to you, you struggle lots with porn and lust, and you struggle with your thought life, and you struggle with your reputation or appearance, just to name a few. Why? Because Satan doesn’t want anyone to hear the word of the Lord through you, he wants to destroy your eyes so you can’t see the Lord, he wants to corrupt your thoughts so you can’t connect with God, and he wants you to look like a fool so you won’t be taken seriously. But you hear God, and what he was to say for this generation, and you say it, some of you with a “Thus says the Lord” attitude and some of you with a “the Lord has been highlighting this…”
Why would Satan sacrifice 40,000,000+ unborn babies to heaven through abortion, just in the U.S.? If you really think about it, such destruction among infants has only happened three times in history: Moses, Jesus, and now. Moses: the Jews were overpopulating Egypt, and Pharaoh was scared so he killed off a bunch of babies. Jesus: Herod was scared of an old prophesy about the Jew’s Messiah supposedly taking his thrown, so he killed a bunch of Jewish infants. Both of those times, God was sending a great deliverer to his people, Moses and Jesus, and Satan tried to kill the deliverer early on. So what about today? Now: Satan is scared out of his pants because this generation is going to witness the ultimate deliverer’s second coming, Jesus Christ, and Satan’s ultimate destruction, and he wants to thin our ranks. Satan doesn’t want watchmen on the walls that pray his demons out of schools, or that worship God day and night, or that pray for Jesus to come back. Satan doesn’t want generals in the Lord’s army to lead revolutions on earth that lead to his downfall. Satan would rather see billions of babies worldwide go to heaven than see then enter earth, because we are his last generation, and he knows it.
So I’m looking for more the watchmen in Olathe. Who hears the voice of the Lord for this generation? Who sees what’s happening in this generation? Who feels that tugging on your heart? You may have never heard of this stuff before, but you feel the tugging anyway, and that’s perfect too. You may hate the term “watchmen,” and you’d rather say ‘revolutionary’ or ‘Gideon’ or ‘Jesus Freak’ or whatever; doesn’t matter.
And not everyone is a watchman… well I take that back, sort of. There are different watchmen, such as prophetic watchmen, intercessory watchmen, healing watchmen, demon-killing watchmen, song-writing watchmen, tongues-speaking watchmen, etc. You’ll find that a lot of these dimensions overlap.
What I’m really looking for is an intense prayer network. If all of the watchmen find each other in Olathe and start praying together and calling each other with prayer requests and speaking the word of the Lord together, Satan will get really pissed! Demons will get driven out of our schools if the watchmen rise up and say “HEY! God is bigger than these lies and I’m speaking and praying for truth!” So I’m looking for other watchmen who know they are going to be set on the wall as intercessors and warriors (and brides) of Christ. Alright watchmen (or whatever you are), let’s come together and start discovering who we really are…
Testamony
Hey, this is Elijah, this is my first blog post so i'll start of with something i've, actually, never shared before... my testimony. Somehow the opportunity never came for me in my church or my camp trip. So since I now have an ATF blog (I really don't use my myspace anymore), I can share it:
As a kid, I never went to church, I grew up Catholic because my grandmother was Catholic. So all life was for my grandma was a bunch of rules and commands. We never went to the church because of how my father detested the Catholc church saying it was "dull and boring", but he had no religion. My dad was an alcohalic and life was always hell for me. Everyday from school my dad would be either drunk or not their for me when I really needed him. It was one pacifc day that changed my father, one of my dad's friends helped him, he led him to Christianity. I didn't go to church with him but he said he was a changed man. He was saved, but I wasn't. My dad led me to the church, but I never was like him. My dad wasn't an alcohalic anymore, and it made me happy. My dad was the happiest being in the world, and I wanted to have some of his happiness, unfortunately I looked in the wrong places. I was consumed by the media. MTV, The Internet, everything. I was, and i'll admit it, a "wannabe". I was laughed at ever since 3rd grade. When 7th grade came, it was even harder and the jokes where way more insaulting. I put too much energy into nothing to get even the littlest acceptance from people. Then, the day came. The day of the unexpected. Wondering where i'm leading to? I'm leading to my first Acquire The Fire. On the first day, before I entered the arena as a sinner. After Ron's message I fell into an outburst of tears. His message was so powerful that (as far as I can remember) I collapsed and woke up to the sound of a rock band. I kept on wondering what happened to my body but their was no explanination. The band that was playing was Skillet and to this day, I think their the best Christian rock band ever! I partied soo hard and it was great!!! I was completely changed. I was no longer sad anymore. Now my life is full of joy!!!! I got rid of my "wannabe" self and I deticated myself to serving the lord in all that needs to be done!
Present day: I'm now a greater at Crossroads Community Cathedrel and I'm a member of their teen cell group "Student Impact". I'm now typing comfortly on my laptop given to me by one of my dads friends. My mission is to be a youth pastor and, even mabye, a christian rapper (sorry guys that I can't upload any of my rap song on my page, I don't have the right software and a computer mike). I must go into the world and sound...THE BATTLECRY!!!!!
WAR
Warisn't necessarily a good thingbut it has too be done. Although people tend to think it is bad thats because thars all theyv'e heard is the negative and its all the news reports. One thing is that you cant have peace without having a war first. I personally like the peace but it seems to never last.