Well, there is some legitimate stress in my life right now, but I’m going to attribute the excruciating headaches, sensitivity to comments/situations, and dry skin to becoming hypothyroid… which I am not happy about at all.  I don’t mean to be harsh, but I feel like shit and I’m quite down.  I found myself breaking down today on multiple occasions about nothing particular and my forehead is just unbelievably painful to the touch!

Anyway, I’m going to do a small Thyranksgiving post to sum up my thyroid afflicted holiday this year:

For the first time since I moved to Germany I had thanksgiving with my family… this occasion was groundbreaking in many ways– first, my family truly tried to accommodate the vegetarians (myself included) which made for probably the most food options at a family gathering able to be eaten by myself in YEARS… perhaps even since I became vegetarian (and that’s about 8 years back!)!  Secondly, it was the first time I had seen my father’s aunt and her family since my cancer diagnosis, which became extremely apparent after looking at my now 17 year old cousin, H, and him gasping at the gash across my neck (something I haven’t really taken notice of as “gasp worthy” since the steri-strips were removed and one no longer saw old caked on blood!).  He asked me what happened and I thought to myself, go figure, it’s been left up to me to break the news to all of my little cousins!  As I started to explain that I had thyroid cancer and that’s where the thyroid gland goes and what not he nodded his head and, in his very teenagery way managed something like a “oh right, I remember”.  Third groundbreaking moment was the whole evening going by without discussing my condition at all (with the exception of H’s reaction and conversation).  Fourth groundbreaking moment is that my uncle’s mother died on thanksgiving evening, which sort of brought a solemn, grave tone to the holiday.

In other news, I am moving along in my finishing up in the USA process in that I have purchased the gifts I needed to for my return to Heidelberg, and managed most things remotely from the USA for Heidelberg.  I hope things come together!

Here’s the scupdate I promised– it’s sequential from the past few days:

You can see the swelling! Imagine the pain!

Not nearly as swollen as above, but still not exactly in Joy-town!

Scar is still healing, "and we are still swollen" <--those were my lymph nodies chiming in! ;-D

Are you like me stuck bang in the middle of  a problem/problems?

What would the Lord have me do?

First of all, we do not live by reason, the opinion of others, or our own wisdom. Rather, we conform our minds, heart, and will to the biblical standard. Romans 12.2

Secondly, we turn to the written word of God (logos) till it becomes the personal spoken word to you (rhema) for ‘man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord’.

Job was counted as blessed amoung his peers and yet for a season he was vastly afflicted. Later it came to pass that the Lord changed his situation and gave him double portion of all that he had previously. 

What is that has been robbed of you? Is it your health, your family, your wealth, your memory? Are you  struggling with your studies, job, business? No matter what the thief has stollen, destroyed or killed the Lord is able and willing to restore it to you double, nay even seven-fold.

Take your eyes off the problem and renew your mind daily, moment by moment with the TRUTH of the Word and you will soon walk in your victory. Can you see in your mind’s eye the moment you will take that victory walk with the King of Kings beside you?

Praise Him in the Morning, Praise Him in the noon, Praise Him when the Sun goes down! Praise Him, Praise Him, Praise Him when the Sun goes down! Halleluia!

I just got labeled “afflicted” for going to eat lunch at 11 a.m. today.  Is that so crazy?  See how normal your lunch hour is by voting below:

“It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” Ps 119:71

I read this Psalm during my morning Office. It struck me right away; this is not a topic most American Evangelical preachers, and for sure no Pentecostal/Charismatic preachers, would dare speak about in any type of sermon. God, it seems, is no longer the sovereign God who both wounds and heals. He is, instead, the means for a better you today. That a wounding may be actually beneficial seems to escape us as we  focus upon what we believe to be our felt needs.

What was the Psalmist’s affliction? The word “affliction” here means to be bowed down or afflicted. Its used a lot in the Christian Scriptures as being sick. I think the Psalmist has been afflicted health-wise and socially. The ancients believed, especially the Jews, that if you were sick it was a sign of God’s displeasure. I think he was facing physical illness and a palace coup.

I gotta admit that I really don’t take ill all that much. I’m a relatively healthy guy. If you don’t have your health, you don’t have anything. ;o) So I have that going for me.

But I do know this: in many other ways I have been afflicted. I am 45 years old and have almost nothing to show for my life lived to this point. I am in the middle of a divorce and there are no assets or children to fight about — the whole affair is very amicable. I have a ‘90 Geo Prizm and a Macbook laptop worth, combined, about maybe $1500 and there is only a couple of hundred bucks in the bank account. What’s a savings account? I am also, because of school politics, unemployed for the time being. I was the only teacher laid off in the entire school after two above average evaluations during the school year. In every earthly category I can think of, when it comes to the season of life I am living now, I am a failure by worldly expectations.

This isn’t exactly a break from, say, the last ten years.

There was a period of time, say between 2001 – 2006, that every day I woke up I  emotionally and intellectually felt like I was on fire. I hurt so bad during this time that, for the emotional/psychic pain I was going through, it literally hurt me physically to breath sometimes. During this time my marriage fell apart, my Mom died, I declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and I was told I needed knee replacement surgery; all the while working full time and taking two classes a semester. This was working full time with a full load while I earned my M.A. I had a re-occurring dream during this time: I went to a doctor and was told I had only a matter of weeks to live because they found cancer. This dream made me so happy that I would wake up grinning because I was so happy to hear the doc’s news.

My wife and I reconciled, I graduated with an M.A. and quit the food service job at the University, began teaching HS history and went past those hard times. Of course it only lasted till last November… Instead of having a bad day for five years, I’ve only been in a bad mood since last Thanksgiving.

Am I angry at God? No.

“Though now for a season (if need require) ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations, that your faith once tried, being much more precious than gold that perisheth (though it be tried with fire) might be found to laud, glory, and honour at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom ye have not seen and yet love him, in whom even now, though you see him not, ye yet believe, and rejoice with joy unspeakable and glorious: receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” I Peter 1:B, Tyndale’s New Testament

There was a man in Indiana that, from 2002 to just last month, faithfully supplied my rent and electric bill every month. He never ever missed a month, there has never once been any strings attached to this money. It is my sincere hope that in heaven I will be allowed a little cottage on the edge of this man’s reward. God’s faithfulness is beyond any questioning on my part.

Because I was afflicted I walked close to Jesus. I literally do not know what it is like not to experience the physical presence of God: Christ with me, the Spirit in me, and the Father watching over me. The presence of God is often so intense that I will inadvertently speak out loud to the chair or sofa nearest me because Christ is there…

I sometime experience the joy of God so intensely that I often compare it to an ecstatic state, far more powerful than any time I was involved in a Pentecostal altar call. It is like a clean fire that literally burns thru everything, heightening time, space, and perception…

There have been times with my Anglican prayer beads that I swear I have been momentarily transported to the cross of Christ as I contemplate the repeated Jesus Prayer I pray in repentance…

Don’t get me wrong — I still struggle with indwelling sin, I am still tempted, I still take one step forward and two steps back. But I know this: God will complete the work that He began when He filled me with His Spirit. I know this: if I had not been afflicted, I would never have learned what I now know about God or learned and experienced that joy unspeakable and glorious.

“God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

Have you ever had one of those days where you felt like you didn’t know anything about anything?  I have.  I’ve had days where the pressures of being a husband, father, employee, department manager, Bible study teacher seemed to be too much.  Where do you turn to for help?  Who cares enough about you to pay complete and total attention to your needs?  I turn to God.  In my almost 37 years of life I have had several occasions to test Him.  Some situations were worse than others.  The cool thing about God is that He is concerned with everything in your life.  It doesn’t matter how big or how small you think your problem is because it all matters to God.  The verse I have quoted above says he is “ever-present”.  Do you understand what that means.  It means that He is there ALL the time.  He is ALWAYS available.  God will never leave your or forsake you.  When you don’t feel Him in your life it is your fault and my fault.  He doesn’t leave.  We leave Him.  I encourage you to make God a part of your life.  Spend time reading the Bible and praying.  You will be amazed at how God can make an impact on your life.  I’m not saying that you will never have trouble.  Don’t be misled and think that if you accept Jesus as your savior that life becomes a cake-walk.  What it does do is give you a source of strength you have never dreamed possible.  God can and will bring comfort and peace to your spirit as you endure those hard times.  So as you look at your life today, where do you turn for help?

[Rip's editor's note: Jurgwena is back today to talk about Arena UIs. We're going to keep the ratio of PvE to PvP high, but this is exciting stuff for me! Anyways, left to my own devices today, you'd all have been stuck reading the type of nonsense I write when I can't think of any topics for a guide.]

Hey everyone. As promised, this article will explain how to craft the perfect arena UI. To get ready for this article, I downloaded some new mods and totally redid my own UI.  For starters, I want to discuss what mods you should be using, and then what your UI should do for you. After that I’ll address more specific tips that will help you get the most out of a UI, and then at the end hopefully we’ll have time for a quick discussion on keybinds.

Mods

I find Gladius to be the only really indispensable mod for arenas.  With it you can see if your opponents have their trinkets up or not, when they are under the effects of crowd control, silences, or Aura Mastery, and what their health and mana totals are. You can also set anyone as your focus with one right-click. The most important thing of all that Gladius (or proximo- they’re interchangeable in my experience) lets you do is target an opponent with a keybind.  But more on that later.

There are other mods you can use, like quartz, which give you a customizable cast bar for yourself, your target, and your focus frame.  I arena with a priest who sets his cast bar to stretch right across the middle of his screen, from the left side of his monitor to the right.  Afflicted is another mod that many people use which will show you all kinds of things; including which enemy is casting what spell on who, and the cooldowns of the other team’s abilities (especially interrupts).  NECB will show you DRs (diminishing returns) and is very useful for a class with multiple crowd control abilities that all share DRs, such as hunters.  There are others, but I want you all to know that out of these, I get by with just Gladius and ForteXorcist, which tells me when my trap is about to fade, among other things.

What should a UI do for you?

If you recall my first article, I said that you should only use the macros that you find useful, and that’s true with UI mods as well. Some people need a UI to be aesthetically pleasing.  For others, looks are not important at all. I think human beings are hard-wired to prefer beauty over ugliness, and playing with an ugly UI like the default UI probably takes a hidden toll on your psyche if you use it for very long… [ed note: that explains a few things- ow, my soul]

I don’t care about aesthetics that much, but I certainly don’t use default frames, and I like clean lines and smooth textures.

A UI designed for arenas does need a few specific things. You need to be able to see:

• Your target
• Your target’s target
• Your focus
• Your focus’s target
• Your party

All the frame addons I’m familiar with (ag_uf, Pitbull, Shadowed Unit Frames) will support all of these. So will the default UI, but these let you put these frames wherever you want, color the bars according to class, modify the size and location of cast bars, and so on. I installed Shadowed Unit Frames recently as it’s billed as the frames addon for pvp, but before that I used pitbull and only had a couple complaints with it (waaaaay too many options, and way too hard to use).  I think SUF strikes the right balance between accessibility and flexibility.  You can customize most things a reasonable person would want to customize, but you aren’t swamped by choices, and it’s simple to configure.

The most important thing an arena UI does for a player is let them filter through a lot of data to quickly learn when they need. I like any UI that enlarges the icons of my debuffs on a target, and lets me increase the size of castbars. I especially like Shadowed Unit Frames (other mods may do this too) because it will hide the castbar when your target or focus or party member isn’t casting. That means that there is a much larger contrast between those frames when that player is casting and when they’re not, so it’s easier for me to notice. Another good feature is that it lets me put buffs and debuffs on any side of a frame. This is great because I don’t care about my party’s buffs so can put them off to the side, but their crucial debuffs, I put on the bottom or the right where they’re more obvious. The key for you, reader, is to figure out where your eyes are inclined to seek out buffs.  Are you used to seeing your target’s buffs on top of the frame with debuffs on the bottom?  Then set it that way.  In an arena, you have very little time to react, and you don’t want to waste any time looking for things.

click for full size

This is a slightly dated screenshot of my UI. In it, I’m still using pitbull, but even with Shadowed Unit Frames, all my frames are in roughly the same position.

All the arena mods, focus frames, and cast bars are for naught if they aren’t positioned somewhere that is easy for you to see.  I place Gladius between my pet frame and my target frame. This gives my eyes easy access, as I’m mostly looking at my target in an arena anyway. My focus frame is off to the right, but I have trained myself to pay attention to that part of my screen too, because you can’t have every frame smack dab in the center.

My UI does have a lot of clutter, but it works for me because hunters are a ranged class, and we don’t need half a monitor’s worth of space to be free and clear for us to watch an entire fight. As long as you aren’t wasting space with mods like Omen and Recount that have absolutely no place in an arena UI, you should be fine.  And don’t be afraid to expand or shrink (but especially expand) the size of any bar, frame, or buff/debuff list. If it works for you then do it.

Keybinds

Now, a word about keybinds. Hunters have a lot of binds to begin with, but our life has been made easier by the dual spec changes, so don’t complain. Keybinds are very personal, just like your macros and your UI. Furthermore, I expect you to be as creative in finding keybinds for focus Wyvern Sting and focus Viper Sting as you are in Ulduar when it’s time to kite Mimiron’s fire.

I once fought an arcane mage who had keybinds that allowed him to cast all his dps abilities like Arcane Blast, Arcane Barrage, and Arcane Missiles on his focus target.  He would have me targeted, but he’d be dpsing my healer. (Disclosure: We lost. A lot). That’s the kind of simple tactic that will get you wins (and is an article for another day). My point is that if you use an ability in arenas, you should have at least one keybind for it, and sometimes two.  You would do well to keybind macros that let you hit your focus target with stuff like Scatter Shot, Silencing Shot, Wyvern Sting, etc.

The other thing you want to do is keybind /target arena1, /target arena2, /target arena3, /target arena4, and /target arena5.  With a mod like Gladius, this will let you target the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth player (from the top) on the other team in an arena.  You can also go into your keybindings menu and do the same thing under “Gladius”.

You should have your strafe buttons keybound (mine are “Q” for strafe left and “E” for strafe right, but you can use “A” and “D” or whatever), and you should use them almost exclusively to move around (which can be done by holding down your right mouse button). The only exception to this is when you have activated Deterrence, at which point you may need to use “S” to back up. We are probably the only class where “s-keying” is acceptable, but if Deterrence isn’t up, you better not be doing it!

Ok, that’s it for now guys. Next time we’ll take a break from the arena scene and take a look at tips and tricks that we can use to counter each class in a pvp setting. If you have any requests, leave a comment. Bye for now!

Ps 119:67, 71: Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word… It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees” (NIV).

The psalmist was ridiculed and persecuted for his faith by people of higher authority and position than him, but he remained strong by diligently studying God’s Word. In fact, he tells us that the persecution or “affliction” was necessary to keep him from straying. “It was good … to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”

When we are successful, we tend to want to take personal credit. When we face trials, however, we tend to turn to God for answers. How could this happen? Why me? What did I do wrong? If seeking those answers causes you to turn to Bible study and prayer, you may have part of your answer. Trials teach so much better than triumphs. Perhaps that is why Paul urges us to “

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” (James 1:2 NIV).

Trials can motivate us to seek God’s truth and wisdom.

“Stricken, Smitten, Afflicted”
By Thomas Kelly, 1804

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
’Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, ’tis He, ’tis He!
’Tis the long expected prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
By His Son, God now has spoken:
’Tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting His distress:
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would interpose to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him,
Was the stroke that Justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great,
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the Sacrifice appointed!
See Who bears the awful load!
’Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man, and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost.
Christ’s the Rock of our salvation,
His the Name of which we boast.
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

General Surgery 2009 is something old and something new, thrown into the grinder with the days aging meat and other giblets and it is this stylistic spanning of all the era’s of death and grind, which gives the band a very lethal lease on life (or death?). Featuring members from bands such as Maze of Torment, Afflicted, Repugnant, Jigsore Terror and others,  “Corpus in Extremis” skillfully holds onto the classic sound and riff writing style that has become the staple for Swedish death metal, but they inject this very modern edge to their sound by way of complex structures and an exacting speed attack that erupts on occasion from the core of this material with blistering results. Fans of Aborted and the like will greatly appreciate the technicality of Carcass inspired tracks like “Exotoxic Septicity”, while older fans of Dismember and Grave will gravitate towards pure Swedish burn and churners like “Virulent Corpus Dispersement” (this is probably my fave on this album) and “Restrained Remains”. When General Surgery stick to the slower elements of their sound, it’s where I find my head nodding the hardest and my senses yearning for even more of those sick harmonies and mid-paced tremolo searing riffs that always stick within my thoughts. Vocally, deep brutality co-exists with a cancerous snarl for diversity and a bit of simplistic layering.  I’ve found myself hitting repeat on this CD on more than one occasion for the well written hammering that GS uphold and revel in with boundless skill and venomous execution. –Marty

Listenable Records

The daughter of Zion had to be afflicted, cast out, and halted. 

God had His purpose in bringing affliction upon me, casting me away, and halting me.

(Mic 4:6-8)

He told me…

“I did it (your ruin and hurt) for the greater good (of the purpose of God).”

I knew that He was speaking of my, (my husband, and children’s) desolation, demise, heartache, myself being as a widow or a wife forsaken in her youth (Isa 54) when He called me to follow His Word. Does not Zion say that the Lord has forgotten and forsaken me? (Isa 49:14) Thank God, He did not forever hide His face from me (Isa 54:8), but rather, came back and told me to arise, shine, thresh, (Isa 60; Mic 4) and go about the city (So 3) seeking the one whom I love!  We are all heirs with the freewoman of the promise. She is the New Jerusalem. (Gal 4:23-31) Interestingly enough, just as the star constellation of Cassiopeia, the woman is first in bonds as a slave before going to the throne where the scepter is held out to her. The star constellation of Cassiopeia looks like a \/\/ or a crown. The circumstances of life had literally made me speechless and unable to move into the promise due to the continual depletion of resources. Yet, all the while, my heart yearned to cry out to the lost and help the believers in their walk with Christ. Most importantly, I was in travail as a desperate barren woman, like Hannah, desiring the fulfillment of what was show to me, especially the spiritual birthing of children for the Gospel of Christ during the harvest time. Wasn’t Ruth a beggar without an estate before rising to her position?

 I WILL MAKE HER THAT HALTED A REMNANT.

Halteth                  =              To be made lame or limp 

Driven Out           =              To be thrust out, driven away, thrust aside

Afflicted               =             

To be bad or injurious, or evil; to be displeasing; to be sad; mischief; to break or shatter;

to be broken in pieces, be broken asunder

Notice: He told me:

I did it for the greater good.

It is important to note that the Lord said: “I will gather her that is driven out and HER THAT I HAVE AFFLICTED. And I WILL MAKE HER THAT HALTED A REMNANT! And thou, O tower of the flock… UNTO THEE SHALL IT COME, EVEN THE FIRST DOMINION; THE KINGDOM…

Yet, what does the Lord promise His Bride?

THE KINGDOM!

His mercy returns to her as seen in Is 54 when she extends her cords and her children, the captives, return unto Zion. 

They are jewels in the crown of the wise woman, wisdom, who is the Lamb’s wife.

She is depicted in the sky in the shadow form in the star constellation of Cassiopeia.

Lu 12:32               Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  

Es 5:6                     And the king said unto Esther at the banquet of wine, What is thy petition? and it shall be granted thee: and what is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.

- By Sis Shoshana Joy

Copyright 2009 Shushan Eduth – Rise Up My Love

Domonic, our two and a half year old grandson was “helping” Papa (Grandpa) do some much needed spring clean up in the back yard. Our backyard is terraced, so when we went to the second layer he started to cry. I asked him why he was crying, and he said, “Me Scaredy!”  It turned out he was scared because he had seen the wild deer wander across that part of the yard in the past, and he was afraid that they might come while we were there. I sat down and enfolded him in my arms, then asked, “Do you think Papa can take care of you? Do you think your Papa can chase the deer away?” He calmed down and seemed to like the idea that Papa could chase the “scary” deer away.

I realized I am not so different than Domonic. I have fears, too. I attempt to deal with fears in a variety of ways. I don’t tend to cry like Domonic did, but I get mad, worried, withdrawn, defensive, over analytical or immobilized, just to mention a few. In the same way that I enfolded Domonic in my arms and assured him I could take care of him, I need to experience God’s embrace in moments of fear and be reassured.

I remember one dark star-filled night walking alone, perplexed and with tears running down my face, crying out to God for help. His response was not verbal but it was so clear. It was as if God was saying to me, His child, “Who made these stars and put them in place? Do you think I’m big enough to handle your problems and fears?” In that moment my fears seemed to shrink, and in a fresh way I understood God’s presence and power. The problem did not go away but I had confidence to move forward knowing God would care of me.

In a world that has many uncertainties the words from Psalm 147 can bring comfort. God is big enough to comfort His child in the midst of all possible fears!

Praise the LORD!

He brings down the wicked to the ground. Psalm 147:1-6

Psalm 147 is one example of a passage that can bring comfort in times of distress; which passages of scripture bring you comfort during troubling times?

I have it.  I knew there had to be a name for it.

This is from Dictionary.com
spoonerism \SPOO-nuh-riz-uhm\, noun:  The transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words.

The best example is one that I tend to use on purpose:  “Dude, I’m so tired I’m totally dain bread.”   Which translated into spoonerismless English should be, “Dude, I’m so tired I’m totally brain dead.”

But, then I find myself unintentionally saying stuff all bass ackwards.   For example:

I’m gonna take my bett to bud. (butt to bed)

If I tell ya I’d kave to hill ya. (have to kill ya)

In addition, I also have anomic aphasia.  Although not officially diagnosed, I’m almost certain I can claim it, too.  It’s been a problem for me since I had sepsis back in 2000.

Anyone else deal with frequent spoonerism or anomic aphasia?

Isaiah 53:3-6
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Comentary:
This passge of Biblical scripture starts out describing Jesus Christ as a man (perfect) of sorrows, acquainted with grief, despised. Because He came to earth so he could experience “first hand” everything we experience, that he may succor us in our time of need. Then through the atonement he gained add first hand insight to our griefs, experienced our sorrows and wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities and with his stripes we are healed. The LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

From this passage we come to understand that if anybody undersatands what we are going through it would be our Redeemer. No one in life can have perfect first hand knowledge of our pains, sorrows and sufferings. Surely we can and must empathize with others and try to help bear their burdens but no can do like Christ can because he experienced it first hand just like we have and will have.

* Asia stocks sink as investors eye US stimulus plan (Jeremiah Marquez)

* Filling the system full of money is insufficient to threaten a rise in inflation (The Financial Times)

* Peter Richardson – 31/01/09 (Lancashire Evening Post)

* Q&A: Enterprise Homes (Jamie Smith-Hopkins, Baltimore Sun)

Article I: The Glory is Gone

     Prophets, Apostles, and Healing Evangelists are finally admitting it:
 
     The Glory is gone.
 
     Oh, they aren’t admitting it openly and directly.  To do so would be a “negative confession.”  But they are admitting it quietly and indirectly.  Nearly every Charismatic Christian television program, book, and CD is proclaiming to us “The Glory is coming!” And, “Get ready for the Glory!” Also, “Pray for the Glory to come again!”
     For it to “come” it has to be presently absent.
     In other words, “gone.”
     The Glory left us.
     Oh, we still have good services here and there.  We still have the occasional miracle.  People are still saved and filled with the Spirit.  But the manifested Presence and Glory of God that has been in Pentecostal, Charismatic, and Word of Faith services in the past, is simply not there anymore.  The kinds of awesome services held in years past by Wigglesworth, the Goodwins, Kathryn Kuhlman, the old Healing Revivalists, and so on, are nearly unknown today.   
     Apostles and prophets at the forefront of our movement are finally acknowledging that, frankly, not much is happening.  There is a manifestation of Glory that we are not seeing anymore.
     They promise us much though.  Since 1983 when Brother Copeland returned from a 30-day fast declaring that the “new move of God” was imminent, and that it would be greater than all the other revivals that preceeded it, they have promised us for the last 25 years that the Glory was about to burst upon us at any moment.
     Well . . .
     Where is it?
     I do not define “imminent” as a quarter of a century.  Do you?  Clearly, they missed it on the timing.  Is it possible that glory experts who claim the Glory is coming have also missed other aspects of the next expected move of God?
     To date, I have not heard a single national minister ask the most important question of all:
Why did the Glory leave us?

     It is a fair question.

     In this article, I will show from the scriptures the seven sins that cause the Glory to leave the people of God.  Then in follow-up articles, I will examine each sin’s presence in Charismatic and Word of Faith circles today.  
     We will see from the Bible that seven sins that stopped the Glory during the childhood of Samuel.  And we will find that the sins that caused the Glory to depart in Samuel’s day are the same sins that brought the Healing Revival of the 1940’s and 1950’s to a halt, and they are also what has now killed the Word of Faith Move.
     Yes, I meant that–killed. 
     I don’t know the specific day the Word of Faith Movement died, but it has been dead for some time now. 
     Allow me to compare a move of God with an ocean liner at sea.  When men want to stop a mighty ship, they shut down the engines, and drop anchors over the side.  The drag of the anchors quickly bring the ship to a complete stop.  In a similar manner, a move of God dies when it is burdened down with more and more sin and excesses.  God is still in the move, but the drag of the sin and excesses act like anchors.  Before long, there is no more forward movement. 
     When a ship comes to a stop out in the ocean, it is considered to be “dead in the water,” having no more forward momentum.  The ship still exists.  It may still have people on it.  But it really isn’t going anywhere.  This is the sense in which I say that the Word of Faith move is dead.  It is dead in the water.  Although people still identify with it, there is no discernable forward motion. 
 
     There is a sense in which no move of God ever dies.  People still identify with the move, but it loses sight of its original purpose and does not continue forward.  A good example of this is the Protestant Reformation of the 1500’s and 1600’s.  Even though it is dead, it still affects us to a certain extent to this day.  Non-Catholic Christians still call themselves “Protestants.”  However, the original Protestants started out as Catholics who were “protesting” the corruption and doctrinal excesses of the Catholic church.  They sought to reform, the Catholic Church, for this reason the move of God of that day was called the Protestant Reformation. 
 
     Protestants eventually gave up on reforming the Catholic Church, and broke with it.  No Protestant today seriously thinks in terms of working to reform the Catholic Church.  Nor do they see themselves as “protesting” the excesses and errors of that church.  They are largely oblivious to the Catholic church.  And in fairness, the Catholic church cleaned up a great deal of their corruption, even though they still teach a great deal that has no scriptural backing.  The name “Protestant” remains in use, and people identify with this branch of Christianity, however the passion and momentum of that movement is long gone, hence, dead.
     The Pentecostal Move of the early 1900’s is dead.  People still call themselves by that name, however.  The Healing Revival of the 1940’s and 1950’s is dead.  We still believe in healing.  However, the few Healing Revivalists of that are still alive, admit that the movement has lost its momentum, and it is dead.
     We thought our Word of Faith Move would be different.  We thought that we would be able to remain focused with laser-like precision on the preaching and teaching of the Bible, teaching people how to release their faith in God’s Word.  We didn’t realize that sin and excessive teachings would creep in, and slowly bring our movement to a grinding halt.  But they did, and our movement died.  There are still people on our ship.  The hot air from alot of preachers are trying to fill our sails to move us forward again.  But no ship can go forward while dragging the anchors of sin and error along the bottom of the ocean.  There is no real forward move in the Word of Faith anymore.
     Like leaders of denominations which were birthed out of previous moves of God, our leaders continue going through the motions, re-preaching the same old dog-eared sermons, but there is no real life, power, passion, or unction in most of it.  Although there are still some signs of life here and there, our Word of Faith churches, for the most part, stand more as monuments to the past than as power centers of the present.
     In other words, the Glory has left.
     Years ago, I read an article in which David Wilkerson wrote that before God could move in a greater way in our midst, we needed the kind of correction that came only from “searing sermons.”  I disagreed with him then.  But after sitting through 20 years of sermons in which I was woozed and schmoozed, pampered and petted, was promised everything and challenged in nothing, and the Glory is still gone, I’m ready to cut through the fluff and get to the heart of what has to occur before God blesses us with His Glory again.
 
     Are you ready?
 
     It will be painful. 
 
     Correction, chastisement, and rebukes are always painful:
 
     “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”  Hebrews 12:11.
 
     What happens after the painful, grievous chastisement?
 
     “. . . it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness.”
 
      This scripture tells us that the only way to future Glory is to endure the painful chastening of the present.
 
     Every great move of God has begun not with fluff, fanfare, and flattery, and fat offering buckets, but with grief, repentence, remorse.  Even before the greatest move of God–the life and ministry of Christ–God sent John the Baptist, not to endorse their present spiritual laxity, but to rebuke them and tell them to “make the crooked ways straight!”
 
     Every great move of God begins by “making the crooked ways straight.”
 
     If walking by faith, confessing the word, and taking up big offerings were capable of bringing the Glory, we would have had it long ago. 
 
     The first step in getting the Glory back is to understand WHY the Glory left us in the first place.  Then we can correct ourselves so that it may return.
 
     Let’s look at the life of Samuel.  The reasons the Glory left back then are the same reasons it has left us today.

Ichabod! The Glory Has Left!

     Samuel’s mother Hannah had been unable to become pregnant, and had prayed to the Lord for a son. She promised that if God answered her prayer, she would loan her son to Him for His service. God answered Hannah’s prayer and she gave birth to Samuel. At a young age, she entrusted Samuel to the care of Eli the priest.  He lived with Eli and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas who had been trained to be priests also.

     When Samuel was older, the Children of Israel fought a battle with the Philistines. The battle went against Israel.  So Israel decided to bring the Ark of the Covenant into the midst of their camp, thinking that by doing so, God would be with them and they would win the war.  However, they lost the war and lost the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines.  Additionally, Eli’s two grown sons Hophni and Phinehas were taken and killed.

     When word of the loss of the Ark and of his two sons reached Eli, he fell off the seat he was sitting on and broke his neck.  At that moment Phinehas’ pregnant wife went into labor.  Read with me:

     “And she named the child Ichabod, [which means “There is no glory”] saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.” I Sam. 4:21,22.

     Why did Israel lose this battle?  Why did the Ark of God leave their midst?  The scriptures show us that the Glory departed because of seven sins committed by Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas–the priests of God.
     Let me state this very clearly:
     Sins in the priesthood caused the Glory to depart from the people of God in Samuel’s day, and also later from the Pentecostal Revival, the Healing Revival, and now from the Word of Faith Move.
     There were seven sins that caused the Glory to leave.  Let’s examine these seven sins one by one, beginning with:

‘WHY?’ QUESTIONS No.14

Psa 10:1 Why, O LORD, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?

Small children, child-rearing experts tell us, need the presence of their mother. As they grow, we’re also told they do best when they have the presence of a father around as well. The reason is fairly obvious; you hardly need an expert to tell you this, but we get comfort and security as children when a loving adult is there for us, to protect us, care for us, and encourage us. It’s all fairly obvious really. As God’s children we naturally feel the same. Something within us expects God – especially when His word tells us that as Christians He has become our Father – to be there for us. This especially comes to the fore when we find ourselves getting ‘beaten up’ by the enemy. It may be in the form of direct Satanic attack, or it may come in the form of people oppressing us, abusing us, attacking us, or generally harming us. At that time we want to run to ‘daddy’ and cry for Him to do something and redress the situation. Sometimes when this happens it seems like God is miles away.

The experience of God seeming like He is standing far off, is not uncommon. On a bad day it seems like He is in another universe and we are left with a sense of loneliness. Where is He, why doesn’t He appear? These are the natural cries of the young children when troubles come. Where is my dad?

In this psalm, the reason for this cry is spelt out in the following verses all about the wicked who “hunts down the weak” (v.2), boasts about what he wants and speaks out against God (v.3) is proud (v.5,6), has a mouth full of abusive language (v.7), ambushes the innocent weak (v.8,9), knocks down his victims (v.10) and declares that God is helpless to do anything (v.11). This is the playground bully at his worst. But he’s also the bully at work, or over the fence, or at college. This person is bigger and stronger and more powerful than you, and they abuse you, and so, as a Christian you pray and cry out to God, but He doesn’t seem to answer. It doesn’t seem like He’s around, in fact it feels like He must be off visiting another universe! For some reason He’s doesn’t seem to care. He seems to stand at a distance. Why Lord?

Now the psalmist, frustratingly we might think, doesn’t come up with an answer, and in this he is being absolutely true to life, for at the time at least we often don’t seem to get answers. It is almost as if the Lord is waiting for us to declare truth anyway, which is what the psalmist does: “The LORD is King for ever and ever.” (v.16). Whatever the circumstances appear to be saying, he knows that ultimately God is THE ruler who is over everything. He may not understand why these things are happening or why God seems to be standing at a distance, but one thing he is sure about, one thing he is certain hasn’t changed, and that is the God is the ruler of all things. There is a sense here of needing to declare trust in who God is, even when we don’t understand His apparent reticence to turn up on our behalf. I am personally convinced that when we get to heaven, if the Lord allows us to look back over our lives and see perfectly what happened and why it happened, we will not be able to find anything over which to criticize Him. Nothing! If the Lord allows the sky to drop on me, I am convinced He will be allowing it for a reason. I am realistic enough to be sure that I will cry out, “Why Lord,” and feel deeply distressed by it all, but coming through the other side will know, He is “King for ever and ever.”

But the psalmist says more: “You hear, O LORD, the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry.” (v.17). He may be standing afar off (at least that’s how it seems) but He still hears and He will encourage us. Somehow in the midst of it, His quiet whisper will come through in an encouraging way. We may not have a great sense of His presence, but somehow in ways we cannot define or even anticipate, He will speak to us and it will act as an encouragement to us.

But he adds more: “defending the fatherless and the oppressed” (v.18). Somehow in the midst of it all He will actually be defending us. We may not be aware of His presence, we may not have the comfort of His strong arm around us, yet He will defend us. ‘Defending’ speaks of standing against the enemy to protect us. ‘Fatherless’ speaks about the loneliness, the absence of relationship we feel. We feel we have no one there for us. ‘Oppressed’ speaks of the action of an enemy coming against us. When we feel lonely, without loving relationship, and in the sights of the enemy, somehow in some intangible way, the Lord will come through for us and defend us against these attacks against our vulnerable state. Have you noticed how these things seem to come upon us when we are feeling particularly weak and vulnerable?

So, the Lord may seem distant, but our role is simply to speak the truth: He is the Lord – still – nothing has changed, even though it feels like it. This is a time for speaking out in faith! Moreover, even though He seems to be miles away, that doesn’t stop Him whispering simple words of encouragement into our hearts in the midst of it all, and it doesn’t stop Him standing against the enemy and defending us while we feel down, weak and vulnerable. Thus far and no further! Take comfort in the truth.

God is faithful to His word.  His Word is trustworthy.  That is the message of Psalm 12.

The “faithful” of the Lord, the “afflicted” are devastated.  They perish from the earth.  The wicked increase.  They continually “speak falsehood…[and] speak [of] great things [such as] with our tongue we will prevail, our lips are our own, who is lord over us?”

But they will be cut off.  The Lord will not allow their “vileness” to continue forever.  He has determined to keep the “generation” of His faithful ones “forever.”

It is interesting to me how much the saints of old were concerned for the destruction of the wicked and the preservation of the righteous.  Now; however, that doesn’t seem to be much the case.  Certainly it is the case that those who are righteous long for deliverance from God.  But it is not often a deliverance that speaks of the contrast between the righteous and the wicked.  It is not a deliverance that is concerned with the vindication of God’s righteousness in the earth.   We are often shortsighted.  We are too often concerned with our day to day dealings, day to day issues and stresses.

The Psalmist repeatedly cried out for salvation from God…for “help” because of the greatness of transgression and wickedness around him.  Certainly he needed immediate help because of intense persecution that he was under.   But overall he was more concerned with the definitive judgment of those who are wicked in the earth.   Perhaps part of the problem for us is that our society is so much more tolerant and so we don’t face the same type of persecution that he did.  But should that make a difference?

Shouldn’t all of God’s people be more concerned with the vindication of God’s righteousness?  The ungodly of the earth certainly continue to boast of great things…claiming that there is no one who is lord over them.  The godly among the sons of men certainly seem to be wasting away.  There are not many faithful ones, who continually seek the favor of God and who submit to His Lordship over them.  Why then are we not more concerned for God’s glory than our own, in this day?  Perhaps we are too used to ungodliness.  Perhaps we are too used to the wickedness around us, and we have grown to accept it as a natural part of life.  For sure, the Evil one controls the world.  Certainly sin prevails over all the earth.  But where are those who would speak out against evil?  Where are those who would cry out to God for deliverance from this wicked age and vindication for the righteousness of God’s people?  Where are those who live righteously and who trust in God’s promise to bless those who are righteous; who are persecuted for living righteously and who therefore long for God’s righteousness to be vindicated?  Where are those who love the name of the Lord and who place their whole trust in the Word of the Lord, that it is “pure, as silver tried in a furnace on the earth refined seven (seven indicating completion) times” and who long to see His name and His word vindicated?

Do you trust God’s word?  Do you believe that He is faithful to His word?  Are you one of His faithful ones?  If you are then your heart will long for the vindication of His name, His Word and His righteousness on the earth.  And not just by the means of some political activism or philanthropic endeavors; which many who do not acknowledge Him as Lord also adhere to.  But by means of His supernatural and final intervention into this world…when finally the wicked will be cut off and the “righteous will shine forth as the Sun…”  You will long for it and you know in your heart that it will come to pass because it is the Word of the Lord.

Matthew 13:41-43

41 “The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness,  42 and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  43 “Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

My favorite verse in the Bible for the past few years has been Mark 9:24. A father has brought his only son so that Jesus could cast out a demon from him. But when He arrives, He learns that Jesus has gone up the mountain, leaving the disciples in charge. They try over and over to cast out the demon with no success.

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By the time Jesus returns from the mountain, it’s a circus. A huge crowd has gathered, and the disciples are in a fight with the legal experts of the day about the boy’s condition and what to do about it.

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The boy’s father cries out from the crowd and explains the situation. Jesus rebukes the disciples (they failed to have faith that God could or would cast out the demon) and asks that the boy be brought to Him. When the boy sees Jesus, the demon throws the boy to the ground, foaming at the mouth. All eyes are on Jesus to see what He will do.

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Jesus, diagnosing the problem, asks the father for some background information, and the father tells him that the boy has been afflicted since he was young. Often the demon would throw him into the fire or into the water to try and kill the boy. In the next statement, the father’s heart is revealed:

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“But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”

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“If.” It’s the biggest two-letter word in the dictionary. It often communicates more than we intended to say, showing our doubts and our fears. It might be appropriate when we are talking about the capacity of a friend or a boss or a loved one, but it’s misplaced when talking about the capacity of God. With God, it’s never “if He can;” it’s only “if He will.”

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Jesus’ reply might have included emphasis on His first word:

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“If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”

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“It’s not about My capacity,” Jesus seems to be saying. “It’s about yours. Can you believe? Can you have enough faith? Can you have more faith than these apostles who have been with me these several years?”

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And then, my favorite verse:

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Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears,

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

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It’s so full of love for his son. It’s so desperate. It’s so….honest! I’ve been there. I want so badly to put my total and complete trust in God to help me with problems, to watch over my kids, to provide for my needs… but I just don’t have enough faith. With the child’s father, I cry out, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”

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God always has to meet us more than halfway. He doesn’t require that we have 100% faith before He will go to work, but He does want us to want to believe at the very least. Beyond that, I think the official measurement is “as small as a mustard seed.” And if we can muster up that much faith, all things are possible.

Caregivers and the "Baby Boomer" Generation

Caregiver’s and the Baby Boomer Generation is an autobiography of one woman’s life as a caregiver for over 23 years.  It is filled with spiritual lessons and gives insight into the role, responsibility and challenges that one may encounter while caring for the sick, afflicted and infirmed.  It highlights the correlation of how the enemy uses spiritual wickedness in high places to afflict the minds and bodies of people and it gives a comparison between SIN, SICKNESS & SATANIC INFLUENCES.  Baby Boomers are being faced with one of two challenges in this present day and age.  They are either caring for someone or being cared for due to sickness and disease being rampant in our society.  It is a must read for anyone who is a caregiver and gives a bird’s eye view to non-caregivers as to the enormous responsibilities that caregivers are faced with daily.  It also gives hope and encouragement to those who feel like their life is over because of their role as caregivers.  This is a true story of how one woman went from caregiver to DIVINE DESTINY!  It will make you laugh, cry, prioritize, dream again, visualize and it gives a new perspective for your life when all hope is gone.