This past Friday I had the worst or second to the worst day that I have had in my 10 year carreer at my place of employment.  It seemed like the world was falling down all around me and at several times during the day I just had to walk away to collect myself. 

During those times when I got away, I spent time to pray and seek the Lord’s help and the strength from the Holy Spirit that I need and that is available for the asking. 

The one thing that helped me make it through that day without losing it or breaking down was that I was reminded that God is in control of everything that happens in my life and that because I love Him and am called according to His purose, all things will work out for my good.  I truly believe that God is sovereign over my bad days and that these times are designed and ordained by God to build in Christ-like character.  

So, if you are a child of God; born-again by the living and abiding Word of God, rest assured that God is in control and will bring you through on the other end and although you may not see it now, God will work all things for the good if you love Him and are called according to His purpose!

I am convinced that children sense something in the spiritual realm. They of course can’t speak about it like you or I can.

How do I know this is true? Well, on numerous occasions now there have been little children that have come up to me, or have passed by me as I was either preaching or just standing there holding out a tract. They are diffidently attracted to what is going on in the spirit.

Their look on their faces tell some kind of story and it’s not superficial.

First off, I am talking about children in the age bracket of three to five years old. Their look on their faces is more than curious. Yes, you could say that when one of these little ones pass by as I am preaching they no doubt wonder in their little minds what is that guy doing. I will give you credit for that. But it is deeper than the surface of that thought. Especially when one is just standing there saying nothing.

Examine this case for instance:

Today, I was standing on several corners in the downtown area. I had just picked up some of my newest tracts from the printer. I had sensed that the Lord wanted me to just get them into their hands, He would do the rest.

So, I had noticed this mother of three children pass me by on three different corners at three different times. The first two times, I had pretty much noticed all three kids. Their ages where probably nine, six and five. Two girls and the youngest was a little boy of five (my best guess).

Each time they passed by they would all look at me as to try and figure out what I was doing. This is common with children, I have found.

However, the third time they passed by the little boys eyes caught mine before he came close, and we both kept eye contact as they passed by. The boy kept walking with his mother and siblings down the sidewalk. I kept my watch on him and he would turn around every few steps and look back at me.

They were almost a block away, when he turned around to see me. I leaned out a bit so he could see me because of the people standing next to the wall where I was. THEN I WAVIED TO HIM. AND GUESS WHAT HAPPEN NEXT?

HE WAVIED BACK! He was just about a block away. I prayed that God would raise him up to be all he was created for.

Now in my spirit, I know that this is very deep. It is deeper than I can grasp.

Is it because?

This little guy was someday going to be a real man of God that would turn the world upside down for Jesus?

Someday he would be doing the same thing? Standing their handing out tracts?

Did the spirit of God in him know what was going on and that is why the boy showed signs that he knew what was taking place, he just couldn’t come right out and say it?

Whatever was going on, I know it’s spiritual and I know that God loves little children and He is manifested in them.

“Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.” (can you imagine this?)

“But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven. And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.” (Matt.19:13-15)

This just came to me:

In heaven we are going to be with All the children that have died when there were young. Think about it. All the little ones that went out by no choice of their own. Those who where “aborted”. Those who where “killed”. Those who died because of some “incurable disease”. They all received a “Free Ticket” to heaven. How awesome is that! Does God love children or what?

“SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”    Amen.

(Formerly in Israel, if a man went to inquire of God, he would say, “Come, let us go to the seer,” because the prophet of today used to be called a Seer.”  I Samuel 9: 9)

One time I asked the Seer, “What is life all about?  What’s really going on?  Why are we here?”

And then the Seer answered in a sweeping monologue.

First of all, there is a Creator, a Supreme Being with a plan and purpose.  Modern man will just have to get over it and accept that there is Someone higher in the food chain.  Just look around.  Things that are alive come from living things.  If anything ever lived, it owes its existence to something else that was living–of its own kind.  Every living thing reproduces itself.  Since every living thing gets its life from another living being, then an Initial living being, a Supreme Being, had to have given life to all the living.

It is only logical.  Two pieces of granite cannot reproduce.  Only the living things of creation are reproducing, and their pro-creating drive has been ignited by the Creator, the Life Giver. 

But the kicker, though, is that the Creator has put in motion all this reproduction as a type or metaphor of what He is doing with Himself.  The Creator’s plan and purpose is written into the quintessential  action of every living thing–procreation.  His plan and purpose is written into nature, and it is just waiting there to be deciphered.

So what does the secret writing of both nature and the scriptures reveal as to what God is saying?  Answer:  Hey, creation, I’m reproducing Myself, too!  You didn’t think I was going to let you have all the fun of raising a family, did you?  I have a family, too.

And this is how I am going to do it.  My essence is Love.  And I desire to magnify and reproduce Love.  So, in order to reproduce the real Spirit of Love, which is Me, I will create a special being that can contain Me. 

I’ll create this special creature, the human being, male and female.  And I will place within them both a desire to procreate.  I will make them capable of loving with a heart that longs for love.  And their lives will be like a play, lived out on the stage of this earth.

But this play will seem like a tragedy in the first few acts, for the human beings will have tragic flaws.   As my crowning creation, humans will be extremely complex characters.  In their inner being, they will want to do good, but their innate selfishness will thwart their intents to do that good and right thing.

Some humans will eventually come to their wit’s end.  They will do craven acts of unkindness, driven by the first nature I have given them.  Their foolish and selfish heart will drive them to cheat on their spouses, steal from their fellow humans, and tell falsehoods to further their own selfish desires.  And other sins they will do.

But some will feel horrible about their actions.  Their consciences will torture them.  They will long to do good, despite succumbing to the temptations of the old nature.  It is from these who feel the need to repent that I will choose to reproduce Myself in.  They will know that they have done wrong and will search for a place of repentance and redemption as desperately as a lost man in the desert seeks water. 

And they will find forgiveness of all their past evil deeds and thoughts.  Then I will give them of My Spirit, which is their new seed beginning in the garden of their hearts.  And through this new spirit within, they will blossom in love.  And this love will be shed abroad, by them forgiving their fellow human beings–especially those who are still using them for their own selfish desires. 

They will learn to bless those who hurt them and persecute them.  They will love their enemies and do good to all unenlightened human beings.  They will forgive everyone in their old Adamic past, and they will reach out and love any and all.  And they will love Me who gave them a new chance–an opportunity to become one of My children, one of My princes or princesses.

And they will walk on this earth, shining forth this spiritual light of My own reproductive perfectness.  For I will multiply Love, which is my nature, through their realization of the great deliverance I have brought them through.  They will be fountains of forgiveness, shedding forth the refreshing water of life to all so called.

And in due time, I will change these redeemed ones into my immortal offspring.  For they will be those human beings who have believed My word.  In the face of all the gainsayers, they will have persevered despite the doubts of those who persisted in pernicious ways.

And then I said, “So this is what the Bible is all about.”

“Exactly.  It is not about sanctimonious ceremonies in “castles midst the poverty” once or twice a week.  It is about Life, an abundant Life, a life that will last forever.  It is all about God sharing Himself with His creation.  And this Life is the play foreseen and written by God and revealed to a few.  It is a real play produced and directed by God.  He wrote it eons ago, and we as the principal players in this drama should submit to the Director.  The sooner we do, the sooner we will be a part of the Greatest Hit of the Ages.”     Kenneth Wayne Hancock

*Romans 8: 28-30; Ephesians 3: 11-19

As pretty much anyone involved in the Victorian schooling system is aware ENTER scores come out on Monday.

There’s a lot riding on this score for most of us. I need an 86 (to get into Arts/Journalism at Monash) other friends of mine need higher (One needs a 97, crazy dentistry aspirations) .

Our lives, for at least the last two years, have been completely invested in this number. It’s hard to force yourself to view things from a rational perspective, to realise that the number (While it might seem like it) doesn’t actually define your potential.

Today, along with my whole class, I got a letter in the mail from my History teacher/VCE coordinator. In it she quoted a passage of Nelson Mandela inauguration speech:

‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is light, not darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves “who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and famous?”

Actually who are we not to be?

You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing Enlightened about shrinking so that people Won’t feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of god that is within us. It is not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.’

Who could feel angsty about a mere number after reading that?

I certainly couldn’t.

My teacher isn’t a religious crazy sort whose trying to tell us that because we’re children of god we’re obligated to act in a certain manner.

She realises the intrinsic truth of these words and their pertinent application in the life of anyone struggling with a crossroads that life has offered them.

Here is a great promise. It is to everyone. No exceptions. And …. it is a bold promise.

I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God’s very own Son. That makes me God-begoten. I am His child.

Every person who believes that Jesus is, in fact, the Messiah, is God-begotten. 1 John 5:1

Final Term Paper for Spiritual & Ministry Formation – Fall 2009 Semester at Covenant Theological Seminary – lots of reflection on Sinclair Ferguson’s Children of the Living God (only $4.65 @ wtsbooks)

Exploring the way my adoption at three days old into the Hess family communicates the truth of my second adoption into God’s family at 19 years old.

I have been adopted twice, and over this semester, especially through the writings of Sinclair Ferguson, my first adoption is helping me understand and appreciate my second adoption. My birth mother was an unmarried 21 year old college student when I was conceived. Early on in the pregnancy, the doctors told her that I would be born with Spina Bifida, a debilatating spinal condition that would prevent me from walking, maybe even crawling. It still amazes me that she did not have an abortion in light of the situation. She would have been a young single mother without a job trying to support a severely handicapped child. I have never met her and I have never spoken to her, but I am still quite certain that when she started approaching adoption agencies, she was pursuing a course of action that would be in my best interest.

Before my birth, when my adoptive parents were first approached by the social worker with the opportunity to adopt me, they were informed of the entire situation. They were told that they would be receiving a child with a great deformity that the doctors could not prevent in any manner. From day one, they would be receiving a baby with a poor bill of health and might never be able to function independent from their daily care. They already had two health children of their own—a boy and a girl. What could motivate them to take on the burden of another child that would dramatically change their lifestyle? The motivation came from the loss of a child they dearly loved!

Before I even came into the picture, my adoptive parents were foster parents for Catholic Family Charities. One of the children they became foster parents for was left by his mother. This baby, Michael, was very sick, unable to hold down his food. Every feeding needed three tries. As months passed by, they grew more and more attached to Michael. After eleven months of caring for him, they were approaching the day when they could legally adopt. Within two weeks of that date, Michael’s birth mother came back into the picture after months of silence. She took Michael back. There was nothing that my adoptive parents could have done to keep him. They had no legal rights. It is that experience that motivated them to be so forceful in making sure that I would be adopted into their family.

God the Father lost his first children through Adam’s disobedience and the entrance of sin into the world. Ever since that rebellion, He has been on a mission to redeem His creation and draw many sons and daughters to Himself. While the Biblical storyline certainly involves more, it is not inaccurate to assert that God’s mission can be described as one of adoption and the recreation of a family. In Knowing God, J.I. Packer writes, “If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father” (201). He continues, “Our understanding of Christianity cannot be better than our grasp of adoption” (202).

In my freshman year of college, 19 years after becoming a Hess, I was adopted a second time. This time, I was adopted into God’s family. While my earthly father remains, I no longer relate to God as a righteous Judge, but as my loving Father. While I conceptually understood that I had received the Spirit of adoption within me (Romans 8:15) during college, Sinclair Ferguson’s Children of the Living God has expanded my grasp of the associated implications and has brought my heart to a great awareness of my own sonship. Before this semester, I would have described my relationship to God in much the same way Ferguson did when asked by interviewers: “As a servant. And, yes, as a son!” (1). Reading Hebrews this semester apart from my assigned work, I was stunned to read the way the author describes our relationship to Christ as brothers (2:11, 17). I have understood Him as Savior and Lord, but never as brother. In many ways I have taken for granted the importance of family language that the Biblical authors employ in describing the way God relates to His creation.

Before I continue further in discussing how we are adopted into God’s family and how the Spirit of adoption transforms our life and worship, it is necessary to say a word about the doctrine of justification. Once again, J.I. Packer provides a helpful clarification, “That justification…is the primary and fundamental blessing of the gospel is not in question” (206). But he continues to write, “To be right with God the judge is a great thing, but to be loved and cared for by God the Father is greater” (207). I will focus my attention on God as Father to propel this discussion on adoption, which flows into practical implications for sanctification.

What may seem like a rather obvious fact of adoption must not be missed—I am not the natural child of my adoptive parents. Likewise, I am not a child of God by nature. The Apostle Paul is quite clear in his description of our nature before salvation and adoption:

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, that spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-3, italics added)

By nature, we all come into this world disobedient and deserving of God’s holy and righteous wrath. Scripture is clear that Christ died for us while we were still sinners and enemies of God (Romans 5:9-10). All this means, that there is nothing inherent within us that enables us to become children of God. Our new birth and adoption only come by God’s free choice. This free choice makes adoption even more beautiful and wonderous. The love my adoptive parents have for me is accentuated by the fact that they chose me. In many ways, they chose me despite me. They were not receiving a healthy child by any means. They were receiving a child that may have been unable to function independently at any point in time. When God the Father adopts children into His family, they are all sick with the guilt and shame of sin. They will always need to rely on Him for normal daily living. God the Father adopts on the basis of His love, not on the basis of His adopted children’s worthiness.

Over this semester, I have come to a greater understanding of the redemptive-historical vision of Scripture, which is truly the heartbeat of covenant theology. Tracking through continuities within the Biblical storyline, there have been certain aspects of the gospel message that have become more central in my mind and heart due to the great attention given by the biblical authors. Imaging-bearing is one of those very themes. Imaging-bearing is intricately woven into the biblical understanding of sonship. Sinclair Ferguson writes, “Christ is truly the second man—the only one to bear the image of God and to reflect God’s intention for man since the fall. He is the last Adam—because he brings to consummation for us all that God commanded the first Adam to be” (12). Both Adam and Israel, who are both called sons, failed to reflect God’s image as it was intended. Jesus Christ’s perfect sonship allows us to be adopted into God’s family.

In regards to adoption, many children do not end up looking like their adoptive families, but God’s desire is that all of His children perfectly reflect His image, just as Jesus did. Ferguson writes, “Jesus shows us what true sonship means. In turn he becomes not only our Redeemer, but the great prototype of the work of God in all his children…It should come as no surprise to us to learn that he is also the great blueprint for God’s work in our lives” (13). My parents and friends that know of my adoption often marvel at how similar I look to my older adoptive brother and adoptive sister. People that have seen Hess’ family photos are quite surprised when they hear that I am adopted. God the Father greatly desires for the world to look at Christians and see striking family resemblances. When I interact with Christians and non-Christians alike, do they recognize Christ, my Elder Brother, in me?

Our progressive sanctification is nothing less than conformity to Christ’s image. Paul makes this clear, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18, italics added). In the letter to the Philippians, Paul writes that the Lord Jesus Christ “will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself” (3:21, italics added). God is so committed to our sanctification, so committed to conforming us to Christ’s image that He does not leave us on our own to produce such dramatic change!

In both the passages just mentioned, God’s children are the passive recipients of His work. Now this is not to say that His children do not have a responsibility of their own to reflect their Father’s character, but rather to highlight His great provision. His sovereign work and His children’s responsibility are not in conflict. The same author—the Apostle John—that fully believes adoption is a sovereign act of God’s will (see John 1:12-13; 3:8), also commands God’s children to “love one another” (John 13:34) and intensifies that commandment later on, calling them “to lay down their lives for [each other]” (1 John 3:16). Here, the Father’s sovereignty is the indicative that empowers the imperative—His children’s obedient response. My adoptive parents did not wait to see if I would crawl or even walk before they adopted me! God the Father does not wait for His children to love one another and lay down their lives for one another before He adopts them!

Understanding the nature of our adoption has practical implications for our sanctification. While Sinclair Ferguson lists many in his work, I want to focus on two in particular—the sense of security & the role of the local church. Starting with security, God’s children have received the “Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom [they] cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” (Romans 8:15). The next verse is truly remarkable, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (8:16). When Satan tries to condemn us, he brings forth our sin to our mind in order to make us believe we are not actually God’s children. The Spirit of adoption inside of God’s children provides continual reassurance, helps us to pray in our weakness, and even intercedes on our behalf (8:26)! It should not come as a surprise that the Apostle Paul ends his discussion on the Spirit of God in this way:

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

In those declarations, Paul essential says, “There is nothing to fear because our Father’s love is stronger than any assault or circumstance we could possibly imagine.” For the Apostle John, we also have no fear of circumstances because we are united to the one who has overcome death (John 16:33).

Now, when the Father adopts us, He not only brings us to Himself, but brings us into a new family with brothers and sisters. We are adopted into a family. When I was born, I was the only child of my birth mother. When I was adopted into the Hess family, I gained an older brother and an older sister. Learning to be a Hess, involved learning how to interact with them in addition to my parents. In the same way, being in relationship with our Father involves us in the lives of His other children! Once again, the Apostle John makes this very clear: “If anyone says ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). The Father is about the business of reconciling us to Himself and to our siblings. John is saying, “If you love the Father, you will love His children.” Wanting me to be in a full family with brothers and sisters was a motivating factor behind my birth mother’s decision putting me up for adoption. She did not want me to experience loneliness.

So how does this impact our sanctification? In negative terms, one must seriously question if they are maturing if they understand their faith as just their private, “vertical” relationship with the Father. In positive terms, this means that we are not left to ourselves to produce change in our lives. Our (effective) sanctification is virtually impossible without the local church! Sinclair Ferguson writes, “As children of God we cannot be solitary, isolationist, or individualistic. Just as we are to live in the light of our new Father’s presence in our lives, and the new dispositions he has given to us, so we are also to live in the context of our family membership” (53). The campus minister that was influential in my life as a new believer would often comment, “Those who grow alone; grow weird.” Community is essential for our maturity in Christ. When we are truly engaged in community, that is, when we have relationships that involve vulnerability, honesty, and acountability, our sin is exposed in a way that would not be otherwise possible. These types of relationships work with the Spirit of adoption, which is also the Spirit of mortification that produces in us new desires and a hatred of our sin. While opening ourselves up to inspection from others is often nerve-racking, it is truly a blessing that God puts us in relationships that enable us to grow. In contemporary American society, the virtue of self-reliance and individualism is like the air we breathe. The gospel that brings us into God’s family critiques this pattern of the world.

As a minister of the gospel of grace, one of the ways I hope to combat legalisms that would deny the sufficiency of Christ’s work and the beautifully free gift of grace is to keep adoption and familial language within my preaching and teaching. Reflecting on my own father’s love towards me helps me understand my heavenly Father’s love (which is such a blessing, when many fathers have rejected their God-given role). As a child, I would become selfishly frustrated with my father’s discipline. In my anger, I would respond to him, saying, “You are not my real father!” When we do not follow the commandments of our heavenly Father, we are making that same statement. And yet, my father never disowned me. Although he was grieved, he did not look at me as an enemy. I was still his son, even though I was acting like an orphan. I want my people to know and experience the deep love of their Father. I want them to feel assured that when they feel like orphans, there are held in the arms of a Father that nevers loses his adopted children! I want them to hear Jesus say, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 6:37)!

Exploring the implication of my relationship with God as a Son is mind blowing.  Just reading Deut. 32 communicates the depth and expanse of God’s love for  His children. John in 1 John 3v1 is awed by the greatness  of the love the father has LAVISHED on us as sons, as children.

What are the things that are expected of God’s children? – They must bear His image, be a reflection of our father physically, emotionally, “everything-cally”.  We must be what the world refers to as being the true sons of our father, a chip off the old block!  Observation about this expectation include:

• it is the father’s desire and plan before the beginning of the world – that we would be like Christ (Rom 8v29);
• That the process of becoming like Christ is gradual not instant (2 Cor.3v18).  This happens as the Spirit of Light exposes us in increasing level to the light of God’s Glory (similar to the process the photographer develops his film and produces a photograph from the negative).
• That the final picture of how we match the image of Christ would be complete at His coming (v2).  These are God’s role, God’s part.

Our part in this process of transformation into the image of the Son include:

1. That we should continue in Him (2v29).  He would not force us against our will.  He desires that we respond to His love willingly, enthusiastically, warmly.  We should stay plugged into Him. In John 15, Jesus Himself observed that it is only in abiding in Him that we can do anything.
2. We must live a life of purity (3v3).  The Lord does not behold sin, His temple must be kept clean.  We must be humble and willing daily, regularly to submit to the cleansing power of the blood as the Spirit within, the Spirit of light reveals stains and dirt in dark corners of our lives.
3. We must not make a practice or habit of sinning (3v6; v9).  Put another way, sin must not become a habit or a second nature.  It is inevitable that sin would come (1John 1v8) but hurriedly get it washed by the blood of the lamb.
4. Love the brother (v10).  It is a test of our love for God.  It is the practice ground for   responding to the love God has so lavishly showered on us.

Father, I thank you for being my father, for making me your Son.  I praise you for giving me significance.  Make me pliable in your hands as you mould me increasingly into the image of your Son, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  AMEN.

Daily Bible Reading, Thoughts, and a prayer for November 20th

Today is the 20th of November.  This is the Daily Bible Reading, thoughts, and prayer starter for today.  Today we are reading from the Contemporary English Version Bible.  We’ll begin today from Ezekiel 40:28-41:26.  We will continue with James 4:1-17, Psalms 118:19-29 and Proverbs 28:3-5.

Ezekiel 40:28-41:26

 ²⁸We then went into the inner courtyard, through the gate on the south side of the temple. The man measured the gate, and it was the same size as the gates in the outer wall. ^29-30In fact, everything along the passageway was also the same size, including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, the entrance room at the far end, and the windows. This gate, like the others, was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide. ³¹The entrance room of this gate faced the outer courtyard, and carvings of palm trees decorated the walls of the passageway. Eight steps led up to this gate.

    ³²Next, we went through the east gate to the inner courtyard. The man measured this gate, and it was the same size as the others. ³³The guardrooms, the walls separating them, and its entrance room had the same measurements as the other gates. The guardrooms and the entrance room had windows, and the gate was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide. ³⁴The entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and the walls in the passageway were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.

    ³⁵Then the man took me to the north gate. He measured it, and it was the same size as the others, ³⁶including the guardrooms, the walls separating them, and the entrance room. There were also windows in this gate. It was eighty-five feet long and forty-two feet wide, ³⁷and like the other inner gates, its entrance room faced the outer courtyard, and its walls were decorated with carvings of palm trees. Eight steps also led up to this gate.

^38-39Inside the entrance room of the north gate, I saw four tables, two on each side of the room, where the animals to be sacrificed were killed. Just outside this room was a small building used for washing the animals before they were offered as sacrifices to please the LORD or sacrifices for sin or sacrifices to make things right. ⁴⁰Four more tables were in the outer courtyard, two on each side of the steps leading into the entrance room. ⁴¹So there was a total of eight tables, four inside and four outside, where the animals were killed, ^42-43and where the meat was placed until it was sacrificed on the altar. Next to the tables in the entrance room were four stone tables twenty inches high and thirty inches square; the equipment used for killing the animals was kept on top of these tables. All around the walls of this room was a three inch shelf.

⁴⁴The man then took me to the inner courtyard, where I saw two buildings, one beside the inner gate on the north and the other beside the inner gate on the south. ⁴⁵He said, “The building beside the north gate belongs to the priests who serve in the temple, ⁴⁶and the building beside the south gate belongs to those who serve at the altar. All of them are descendants of Zadok and are the only Levites allowed to serve as the LORD’s priests.”

 ⁴⁷Now the man measured the inner courtyard; it was one hundred seventy feet square. I also saw an altar in front of the temple.

    ⁴⁸We walked to the porch of the temple, and the man measured the doorway of the porch: It was twenty-four feet long, eight feet wide, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was five feet. ⁴⁹The porch itself was thirty-four feet by twenty feet, with steps leading up to it. There was a column on each side of these steps.

 ¹Next we went into the main room of the temple. The man measured the doorway of this room: It was ten feet wide,  ²seventeen feet long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was eight feet. The main room itself was sixty-eight feet by thirty-four feet. ^3-4Then the man walked to the far end of the temple’s main room and said, “Beyond this doorway is the most holy place.” He first measured the doorway: It was three feet wide, ten feet long, and the distance from the doorway to the wall on either side was twelve feet. Then he measured the most holy place, and it was thirty-four feet square.

 ⁵The man measured the wall of the temple, and it was ten feet thick. Storage rooms seven feet wide were built against the outside of the wall. ⁶There were three levels of rooms, with thirty rooms on each level, and they rested on ledges that were attached to the temple walls, so that nothing was built into the walls. ⁷The walls of the temple were thicker at the bottom than at the top, which meant that the storage rooms on the top level were wider than those on the bottom level. ^[l] Steps led from the bottom level, through the middle level, and into the top level. ⁸The temple rested on a stone base ten feet high, which also served as the foundation for the storage rooms. ⁹The outside walls of the storage rooms were eight feet thick; there was nothing between these walls ¹⁰and the nearest buildings thirty-four feet away. ¹¹One door led into the storage rooms on the north side of the temple, and another door led to those on the south side. The stone base extended eight feet beyond the outside wall of the storage rooms.

¹²I noticed another building: It faced the west end of the temple and was one hundred seventeen feet wide, one hundred fifty feet long, and had walls over eight feet thick.

    ¹³The man measured the length of the temple, and it was one hundred seventy feet. He then measured from the back wall of the temple, across the open space behind the temple, to the back wall of the west building; it was one hundred seventy feet. ¹⁴The distance across the front of the temple, including the open space on either side, was also one hundred seventy feet.

    ¹⁵Finally, the man measured the length of the west building, including the side rooms on each end, and it was also one hundred seventy feet.

   The inside walls of the temple’s porch and main room

 ¹⁶were paneled with wood all the way from the floor to the windows, while the doorways, the small windows, and the three side rooms were trimmed in wood. ¹⁷The paneling stopped just above the doorway. These walls were decorated ^18-20with carvings of winged creatures and had a carving of a palm tree between the creatures. Each winged creature had two faces: A human face looking at the palm tree on one side, and a lion’s face looking at the palm tree on the other side. These designs were carved into the paneling all the way around the two rooms. ²¹The doorframe to the temple’s main room was in the shape of a rectangle.

   In front of the doorway to the most holy place was something that looked like

 ²²a wooden altar. It was five feet high and four feet square, and its corners, its base, and its sides were made of wood. The man said, “This is a reminder that the LORD is constantly watching over his temple.”

 ²³Both the doorway to the main room of the temple and the doorway to the most holy place had two doors, ²⁴and each door had two sections that could fold open. ²⁵The doors to the main room were decorated with carvings of winged creatures and palm trees just like those on the walls, and there was a wooden covering over the porch just outside these doors. ²⁶The walls on each side of this porch had small windows and were also decorated with carvings of palm trees.

James 4:1-17 ¹Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn’t it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? ²You want something you don’t have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won’t get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. ³Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.

    ⁴You people aren’t faithful to God! Don’t you know that if you love the world, you are God’s enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. ⁵Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, “God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us”?  ⁶In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say, “God opposes everyone

   who is proud,

   but he is kind to everyone

   who is humble.”

    ⁷Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. ⁸Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t make up your mind. ⁹Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. ¹⁰Be humble in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.

¹¹My friends, don’t say cruel things about others! If you do, or if you condemn others, you are condemning God’s Law. And if you condemn the Law, you put yourself above the Law and refuse to obey either it ¹²or God who gave it. God is our judge, and he can save or destroy us. What right do you have to condemn anyone?

¹³You should know better than to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to the city. We will do business there for a year and make a lot of money!” ¹⁴What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. ¹⁵You should say, “If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.” ¹⁶Yet you are stupid enough to brag, and it is wrong to be so proud. ¹⁷If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.

Psalms 118:19-29¹⁹Open the gates of justice!

   I will enter and tell the LORD

   how thankful I am.

    ²⁰Here is the gate of the LORD!

   Everyone who does right

   may enter this gate.

    ²¹I praise the LORD

   for answering my prayers

   and saving me.

    ²²The stone that the builders

   tossed aside

   has now become

   the most important stone.

    ²³The LORD has done this,

   and it is amazing to us.

    ²⁴This day belongs to the LORD!

   Let’s celebrate

   and be glad today.

    ²⁵We’ll ask the LORD to save us!

   We’ll sincerely ask the LORD

   to let us win.

    ²⁶God bless the one who comes

   in the name of the LORD!

   We praise you from here

   in the house of the LORD.

    ²⁷The LORD is our God,

   and he has given us light!

   Start the celebration!

   March with palm branches

   all the way to the altar. ²⁸The LORD is my God!

   I will praise him and tell him

   how thankful I am.

    ²⁹Tell the LORD

   how thankful you are,

   because he is kind

   and always merciful.

Proverbs 28:3-5

³When someone poor takes over

   and mistreats the poor,

   it’s like a heavy rain

   destroying the crops.

    ⁴Lawbreakers praise criminals,

   but law-abiding citizens

   always oppose them.

    ⁵Criminals don’t know

   what justice means,

   but all who respect the LORD

   understand it completely.

Daily Bible Reading, Thoughts, and a prayer

Thoughts from Prayer for November 20th Bible reading

So Ezekiel is having a detailed vision to say the least; a temple that will be built, in all of it’s glory, and he is just visualizing it, at this point.  I think the thing that just jumped off the page for me today was just the last phrase; James is a very direct book, very pointed, which is fine.  But it kind of summed itself up in verse 17 today “¹⁷If you don’t do what you know is right, you have sinned.” It’s just kind of that simple; it’s not a complicated thing, do what you know is right and you know; I mean your heart does tell you, you have a sense if you slow down and listen of what you are to do.  God is not silent; He is not hidden, He is available to us.

Jill talks a lot when she does concerts about the presence, and not some mystical, I mean the closeness, the availability of God, and how she spent her life struggling through acceptance just believing that she had anything to offer.  She grew up feeling pretty much like she was maybe almost good; Good, but not quite good enough, so sort of secondary, kind of not quite there, but okay.  And she grew up feeling that that is pretty much how everyone, including God himself looked at her.  That every time she did something wrong that Jesus was crying, and this is something a lot of us have been taught through the years, so she felt like a disappointment all of the time, and that God would continually withdrawal, so she talks about parenting and the idea that okay, your kid’s coming home from school, and you get the idea that to teach them a lesson you are going to leave.  Maybe not far; maybe just down the street, but you’re going to get in the car and leave, and these little ones are going to come home and be scared to death, running all over the house looking for you; not knowing what to do.  And then a little later after you feel they have been scared literally out of their minds your going to show up and tell them see, this is what happens when you are bad.  This is not the way that God operates with his children, and so, he is available to us, and guiding us to all good things, He’s our Father.

Prayer for November 20th

(Prayer) And so; Father God, we come to You understanding what we are without You, we understand, but we embrace who we are in Christ and the love that You gave when You sent Your Son for us to rescue our hearts, to rescue us and completely change the entire playing field.  We are not who we were; we are something more, Your children, so guide us today Father, show us what is right.  Help us to know inside what is right that we will not sin against You, and guide us into all truth today, take us to where we are going God, take us to what we were born for, lead us to why we are here, so we can live the rich life which is our true destiny, what is the truth about us, as opposed to taking the time to try to get somewhere, anywhere, but not really knowing where that is.  God; we want to live purposeful lives and You have created us for a purpose, lead us there.  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Have a great day.  And I will be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Download today’s Podcast

There are so many children today that are in need of families and I hate for November to go by without remembering them.  It is important for us to realize that we need to get out of our comfort zone, no matter how old we are, and seek to help those children in need.

In Exodus, Pharoah made the Israelites do the slave work because he was afraid they would join up with the enemies.  The Egyptians worked them hard but the Lord blessed the Israelites through this.  It was a blessing in disguise because it kept the Israelites from intermarrying with the Egyptians.  He saw this didn’t work so he spoke with the Hebrew midwives and commanded them to kill the babies as they were being born.  This didn’t work and the Pharoah changed tactics.  He commanded all the people to kill as many Israelite baby boys  as possible.  During this time, a married couple, Amram and Jochebed, had a little baby and were able to hide him for 3 months.  When the mom realized she could no longer hide him, she made a little ark of bulrushes and put him in the river.  The sister, Miriam, hid in the bulrushes to see what would happen to her little brother.  The daughter of Pharoah went to bathe in the water and saw the little ark.  She commanded her maids to bring the ark to her and, upon seeing the babe, decided to raise him as hers.  The sister volunteered her mom to nurse the child upon which Pharoah’s daughter paid the birth mom.  Pharoah’s daughter named him Moses because she rescued him from the water.  This is an amazing account of how God used the whole situation to put him in a position to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt and out of slavery!

Our God is the Father of the fatherless and Husband to widows so why is it so hard for us to open our homes and hearts to those who are in need?  All throughout the Old Testament we see the Lord reminding the Israelites over and over again to take care of the fatherless and widows.  They were not allowed to harvest everything in their fields so when the fatherless or widow needed food, they would be provided for so they wouldn’t starve.

Jms 1:27, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” So, why is visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction part of pure and undefiled religion?  What makes it so important to God that He had it as two parts of a three part verse?  Maybe we should look at God’s response to the fatherless and widows to see why it is so important to Him!

Deut. 27:19, “Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.” God was so adament that the fatherless, widow and stranger be treated right that He cursed anyone that perverted the judgment of these three.  We find in many verses that God commanded the children of Israel to make sure that this class of people be not oppressed in any way.  The reason is summed up in several of these verses.

Ex. 22:21-22, “Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.”

Deut. 10:17-19, “For the LORD your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:  He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loveth the stranger, in giving him food and raiment. Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”

Deut. 24:17-22, “Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger, nor of the fatherless; nor take a widow’s raiment to pledge: But thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee thence: therefore I command thee to do this thing.  When thou cuttest down thine harvest in thy field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, thou shalt not go again to fetch it: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow: that the LORD thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hands.  When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.  When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward: it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow.   And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the land of Egypt: therefore I command thee to do this thing.”

Mal. 3:5, “And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.”

The importance of adoption actually accelerates as we look into the New Testament to see how it affects us as true believers, men and women who have been saved into God’s family!

Jn. 1:12-13, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:  Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Rom. 8:14-17, 23, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.   And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Gal. 4:1-6, “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;  But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.  Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:  But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,  To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.  Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”

Eph. 1:1-5, “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:  Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:  Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,  To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

What rich explanation in how we go from being children of Satan to being adopted into God’s family!  Before we were saved, we were dead in our trespasses and sin.  Now that we are accepted in God’s family, we can call God, “Abba, father.”  Our precious Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places.  We were chosen to be holy and without blame (Pure religion is 3 things…remember!  The third thing is to keep himself unspotted from the world) before Him in love.  If you notice in Ephesians, it is God who made us accepted in the beloved, God is the one that chose us, and God is the one that gives us spiritual blessings among other things that we are not deserving of!

Now, let’s go back to James 1:27.  What does it say about pure religion?  It says, “…to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”

Pure religion (or worshiping) and undefiled (unsoiled) before God and the Father is this:

1. To visit (to go see, relieve, look out for) the fatherless in their affliction
2. To visit (to go see, relieve, look out for) the widows in their affliction
3. To keep himself unspotted (unblemished — physically and morally) from the world.

There are so many children out there in desperate need of godly and loving homes that it seems sad that they go through life without homes because most families have no concern for them.  Will you pray about the possibility of adopting at least one child and make a difference in his/her life with the Lord’s help?

This was the lead album review in this issue, superbly illustrated by the excellent Mark Reihill. Seriously talented dude – he’s doing all the lead reviews now and the section is all the better for it.

GIRLS
ALBUM
FANTASYTRASHCAN/TURNSTILE

By now, you may well be familiar with the backstory of this San Fran duo (and if not, get thee to our Incoming piece on p. 19), but while it’s a ripping – and harrowing – yarn indeed, it doesn’t deserve to cast too large a shadow over the music on this splendid debut, already dubbed “a lo-fi Pet Sounds” by The Guardian. The pair are led by one Christopher Owens, a quintessential Californian longhair that bears ample resemblance to one of Wayne and Garth’s mates in Wayne’s World. He also has the faraway look of a man who inhabits a different world to the rest of us, which makes sense when you discover where he came from – a childhood stolen from him by the Children of God cult, before escaping to spend his late teens cultivating a fearsome drug habit in Texas, then being taken under the wing of a rich philanthropist who put him on the straight and narrow before he decamped to the bright lights of San Francisco, formed a band called Curls with his then-girlfriend, and then, when she left him, Girls with best bud and recording whiz Chet ‘JR’ White.

All of which would suggest that Owens and White are now fine, upstanding young men, perfect role models and pictures of sobriety. Not a bit of it. Their MySpace page lists the band’s official website as Drugs.com’s handy pills identifier, where you can input the code of whatever disco biscuit is in your clammy hand and instantly find out what’s in it. And in interviews, they’re not shy about their genuine love of prescription drugs, even going so far as to complain that they were stuck with ketamine during their first trip to the UK. Stoned slackers they are, and stoned slackers they sound, but to good effect.

Album wears its influences on its sleeve, jumping about from sun-kissed Californian pop to fuzz-drenched shoegaze and from Beach Boys-style surf to nervy nerd-rock, a comparison that’s helped no end by Owens’ Elvis Costello-style vocal tics – though he couldn’t look more different if he tried. Opening track ‘Lust For Life’ is a classic, happy-sad pop song in which Owens’ deals with the lack of a father figure in his childhood, declaring that “Now I’m just crazy and totally mad / Yeah, I’m just crazy and fucked in the head.” There are also references to the end of a relationship – probably the one that ended before Girls began – but it’s not a maudlin song. The melody is exquisite and the arrangement weightless, skipping along on a bed of tambourine and handclaps. The nostalgic, hedonistic video is a treat, too.

‘Laura’ and ‘Lauren-Marie’ are gorgeous, yearning love songs, but the very first single, the awkwardly titled ‘Hellhole Ratrace’ is the real jewel in the crown, a seven-minute epic that starts off at a gentle strum before exploding into life as a glorious, life-affirming hymn to sucking up your problems and getting on with enjoying life. Spiritualized, with their Royal Albert Hall-sized, narcotised take on gospel, loom large. Elsewhere, ‘Morning Light’ would sit well on The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s album with its frantic, soaring shoegaze, while ‘Big Bad Mean Motherfucker’ and ‘Headache’ are straight out of the early Sixties, the former a fuzzed-up ‘Surfin’ USA’ and the latter a rich croon, complete with wall of sound backing vocals.

Although defiantly lo-fi and a touch scattershot, the whole thing sounds gorgeous. White, whose brief it is to commit Owens’ songs to tape and silicon, has worked wonders – though Album is never quite sure what type of, er, album it wants to be, there is a measure of cohesion here. It sounds rich and aged, like it could scarcely have been made anywhere but San Francisco – all sunshine, warm breezes and the sweet smell of weed smoke. But if it does fall down, it’s in a few overlong songs and the constant flitting between genres. This is a debut and it sounds like it – the aesthetic and songwriting chops are there, but the vision and focus haven’t turned up yet. If they do, then we really could have a successor to Brian Wilson on our hands. Until then, enjoy a promising debut.

8/10

DOWNLOAD: ‘LUST FOR LIFE’, ‘HELLHOLE RATRACE’. ‘LAURA’.
FOR FANS OF: ELVIS COSTELLO, THE BEACH BOYS, THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART.

Come to my rescue

Falling on my knees in worship

Giving all I am to seek your face

Lord, all I am is yours

My whole life I place in Your hands

God of mercy humbled I bow down

In Your presence at Your throne

I called, You answered

And you came to my rescue and I,

I want to be where You are

In my life be lifted high

In our world be lifted high

In our love be lifted high

I do like this song, but some people could look at this as a song singing about us and not fully about God and Jesus Christ. It is tough though to figure out what exactly are biblical songs that are directed at God and not focused too much on us as humans.  This song still has a good message to it, even though it might be skewed in the focus of the song.  The part I am mostly focusing on is the chorus, where it says “I called, You answered; And you came to my rescue and I, I want to be where You are.” God did come to our rescue and we should want to be where He is, but us calling Him is something I don’t believe is true.  No one is going around saying “Hey God, I’m here! Help me out!” Usually, we rebell and want to do our own thing. It is not until the Holy Spirit come’s upon us and puts the regreat of what we just did.  God called us, those that are His children and the elect.  Our sinful natures did nothing before God sprouted a response in our soul.

This is how I think that part should go: “You called, I answered; And you came to my rescue and I, I want to be where You are.”  Another thing with the song, is a lot of times Christians just sing it and never really think to understand what they are saying.  “Falling on our knees; giving all we are; all we are is His; whole life in His hands; humbled we bow down; Life, world, love, God should be lifted high”.  These things are huge in someone’s life, becuase of how much we want to be able to control somethings.  We should be giving our alls to Him, and I even know of myself that I don’t do it all the time, but we need to keep that thinking constantly in our minds and ask God for help as well.

The Bahamas International Film Festival announced Tuesday that the indie dramas Children of God and Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire will open and close its sixth annual festival, which runs Dec. 10-17 on Paradise Island and Nassau. Children of God was written, directed and produced by Bahamian filmmaker Kareem Mortimer, who shot the film locally in Nassau and Eleuthera. As the fest’s opening-night film, Children of God (originally titled “Daybreak”) will screen at the Atlantis Theatre on Paradise Island on Dec. 11. “The film is a subtle and haunting look at race, sexuality and religion in the Bahamas, which makes it a very timely and important film and also an extremely gorgeous one to look at,” Mortimer said. “We are very proud of this effort, and to open at the Bahamas International Film Festival is a dream come true.”
Precious, written by Geoffrey Fletcher and directed by Lee Daniels, will screen Dec. 17 at the Galleria JFK.
“It is important to recognize a film such as Children of God, which was mentored at the BIFF Filmmaker Residency Program two years before,” festival founder and executive director Leslie Vanderpool said. “It is truly a discovery. BIFF’s closing-night film Precious has been a buzz throughout the year. This highly anticipated film will gain so much excitement among the Bahamian and international community upon its release.”
Vanderpool added: “Some have said that BIFF has come a long way in five years, as films with homosexual subject matter or abuse would have been prevented from being shown publicly. BIFF wants to get these conversations going.”
Children of God, which follows a struggling white artist and a conservative religious woman trying to escape the prejudices of Nassau, stars Van Brown, Johnny Ferro, Mark Ford, Margaret Kemp and Stephen Tyrone Williams. Precious, which Lionsgate opened last week in the U.S., stars Gabourey Sidibe, Mo’Nique, Paula Patton and Mariah Carey in the story of an abused Harlem girl looking for a way out of a miserable situation.

The Festival will also honor actress Sophie Okonedo (nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar for Hotel Rwanda and most recently in Skins) with its Rising Star Award. Okonedo will receive the award in a special awards ceremony December 16 in Nassau.  Vanderpool said the following in a press release: “Having Sophie Okonedo as the 2009 BIFF Rising Star honoree could not be any more perfect. She is one of the most talented and gracious actresses on screen today. We know the Bahamian community will embrace her and help us celebrate her past, current and, most certainly, future success. As anyone who has seen Sophie’s collection of feature film performances can attest, her star is most definitely one on a meteoric rise.”

For more on the festival go to http://www.bintlfilmfest.com/

The Girls lead singer with the insane backstory–growing up in the Children of God cult, watching his baby brother die due to lack of medication,  being raised by a prostitute mother, and finally escaping that life with the help of a benevolent millionaire named Stanley Marsh–is not lying, according to the Village Voice.

So huzzah, everyone, I guess.  What a relief that this dude’s life was every bit as surreal and hellish as he said it was!

Today Pastor Ron taught through I John 3:10b-11. 

I John 3:10b …nor the one who does not love his brother.
I John 3:11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

B. Loving or Hating (V10b-18)

  1.  The General Principle (V10b-11)

     a.  Children of the devil are made obvious by their hate. (V10b)

     b.  Children of God are made obvious by their love. (V11)

        1) Love is at the very heart of the apostolic gospel.

        2) That message is not a new message, it’s an old message.

One thing I was reminded of as we worked through this lesson is the fact that a true believer has a transformed life.  There is much easy believism in churches today where a leader asks someone to “make a decision,” for Christ.  Or, “come forward” and walk the asile as if that is something special that will make them a Christian.  These kinds of things may deceive a person into believing they are a Christian and ready for Heaven when in reality nothing new has taken place at all and they go home and live the same old life. 

Pastor Ron explains what true salvation is and how we can know for sure we are a Child of God.   Click on the link below to listen.

Children of God and Children of the Devil- Part 5

This world and the people of this world are sick.  The malady comes from a steady diet of doubt.  Almost all of the systems of man–the media, politics, education, and even religious denominations–almost all are starving God’s people and feeding them the poisonous pablum of lies.  And the major lie is that either there is no God or, if there is, He is untrustworthy and His word is no good.

It is getting so bad that people are afraid to speak of God; it is not politically correct to believe in the Savior.  The atheists, marxists, maoists, and communists have done a job on the American people–so much so that people are reluctant to even demonstrate for our great republic founded on Christian principles.  No matter what Pres. Obama says, America is a Christian nation, but we have lost our way.  

But some are finding the way.  In the midst of all of this immoral morass, God is still in control.  He has a plan, and it does not matter to Him just how dark the sky seems to us, He will bring His plan to pass.  He will raise up a few good men and women who will believe Him and His promises found in the Holy Bible.  Christ is coming back to earth soon.  He is searching for those with “like precious faith.”  He is looking for those who believe Him and take Him at His word.  “When the Son of man comes, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18: 8).  I believe He will. 

A Childlike Faith

He said to let the little chidren come to Him for the Kingdom of God belongs to them (Matt. 19: 14).  Why to them and those like them?  Because they don’t doubt.  They believe.  It seems that the older we get, the more doubts enter into our hearts.  But the little child believes.  Ralph Waldo Emerson knew this and believed that we adults could go back to a childlike state to see the world through a prism of belief or faith.

For God is calling out His future sons and daughters right now.  They will be His future rulers with Him in the world government that He will set up right here on earth.  And the very quality that we need in order to fulfill this calling is a childlike faith.

I was talking to my two grandsons, Cody and Austin, 12 and 10, the other day.  They had been playing a “Civilization” video game and asked me, “What are ages?”   I explained that they are major chunks of time marked by a certain characteristic of that era of time.  Now we are in the Information Age.  We have just left the Industrial Age, which started back in the 1800’s.

“Well, what does A.D. mean?”

“It is an abreviation of the Latin Anno Domini, which means year of our Lord, or since Christ was born.  Isn’t it amazing, guys, how man’s dates are reckoned by Christ’s life here on earth?  He was so great that everyone acknowledges Him when they give a date.”

I looked at my two grandsons.  Not one doubt clouded their shining faces.  Their childlike faith readily believed that Christ was so important to mankind that man would include Him in every date in their history.  No doubts fogged their thinking–just clear belief, unfettered by negatives, unhindered by man’s puny fears and foibles.

And then I smiled and realized that God has the last laugh.  Always has, always will.   Every atheist, marxist, and maoist that picks up a newspaper today will be faced with this year of our Lord, 2009 A.D.       Kenneth Wayne Hancock

This is Halloween by Marilyn Manson and the Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton.

Happy Halloween.

Do You Have Assurance of Salvation?

God wants His children to have that calm assurance and anchored hope of eternal life. God’s love for people is truly marvelous. He wants us to experience life and have it abundantly. Our adversary, the devil, wants to create doubt, shame and guilt in our lives. Allow the truths of Scripture, not varying emotions, to shape your theology.

I John 5:11-13 states, “And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

Have you personally received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? If you have, then you also have eternal life. You can know that you are His beloved child for “as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12, 13).

There are many passages of Scripture which give assurance to believers. There are also warnings given to show that not all people who “profess” to be a Christian really “possess” Christ in their hearts. The key? Where is your faith? Who do you trust in to save you? If you are trusting in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead for your salvation, then you also have eternal life.

Paul declares, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38, 39).

Jesus said, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one” (John 10:27-30). You’re in good hands with our Lord.

Hebrews 13:5 states, “He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you.’” Remember, if God is for us, who is against us? You can rest in God’s gracious promise to keep you in His loving care.

Girls, while essentially trading in the same circles and lyrical themes that many of their peers are, somehow rise above a lot of the commotion and obligatory static that the lo-fi scene thrives around. They’re potted in some rich artistic soil; not to say that bandleader Christopher Owens’ experiences as a childhood member of the abusive Children of God cult were positive, but these shift-in-your-seat discomforts always seem to make for some fascinating musical perspectives. As is often the case, the artist dies to be normal, and at the same time, they cherish that very dying. For artists like Owens, some even make their living by exhuming their closeted horrors and wallowing amongst them for our listening pleasure.

Though it would seem a ripe target for skewering, Owens doesn’t go for the throat of all the unspeakable difficulties he no doubt encountered in his young life. He seems a pretty genuine fellow, choosing instead to embrace the unique opportunities and places with which he has been presented. He speaks candidly about his life, romance, music, and heroes, some of it still stunted around middle school and trying furiously to catch up on all the teenage misadventures he missed while admiring and imitating the leather jackets from afar. Thus, in some sense, his compulsorily skewed worldview and love of unlikely favorites (like Michael Jackson’s Dangerous and Beyonce’s first disc from I Am…Sasha Fierce) make him all the more believable as an artist.

The few scraps of secular music he was able to steal away as a child had a profound effect on his musical sentiments, as did the chord progressions he aped while busking covers of the Everly Brothers and the Fleetwoods. His style as a guitarist, in fact, is basically a fusion of those late 50s pop favorites and the energy and attitude of the punk aesthetic he pursued so ruthlessly in his early 20s. Take his favoring of the major-to-minor fourth chord shift at the end of a phrase (“Lust For Life,” “Laura,” “Hellhole Ratrace”): it’s a page torn right from the 60s pop playbook all the way up to Radiohead’s “Creep.” That there are decades’ worth of missed music behind him is clearly of some significance; it should, for this reason, perhaps be less surprising that his songwriting seems so uniquely and sparingly seasoned.

Girls’ “Laura.” from Album.

Most of Owens’ lyrics have all the depth of a Neil Sedaka Collection, and perhaps it’s only due to his affected delivery, but his vocals still retain the warmth of jagged emotion: “reach out and touch me / I’m right here / and I don’t want to fight anymore / I really want to be your friend forever / friends forever (“Laura”).” Aside from the relentlessly catchy single “Lust For Life,” the seven minute heartbreak crooner “Hellhole Ratrace”  is probably the most feted track on Album. Owens sways his way plaintively enough through a few washed-out choruses before Girls turn the fuzz firehose loose and and the rest of the track becomes an extended “Hey Jude”-type coda, but the track’s repetition doesn’t seem worth the length, ultimately. “Morning Light” thrashes out an intro that sounds a whole lot like a cheap parody of Sonic Youth’s “Mote,” but it thankfully ends up being a late-breaking success with a fantastic guitar line as its pulsing impetus.

Elsewhere, Girls wholeheartedly succeed on the aforementioned “Lust For Life” and “Laura,” but also on the weepy “Ghostmouth,” the glittering acoustic intro of “Goddamn,” and the roaring quarter-mile anthem “Big Bad Mean Motherfucker.” “Curls” quietly revisits one of Owens’ earlier band attempts, actually; his former band went by the same name. Girls as a moniker, in fact, was a snap decision, chosen mostly because it rhymed with Curls. As the better part of its substance was a continuation of the same vein of songwriting (only without Owens’ now-ex-girlfriend), perhaps it only seemed civil.

So, does all this against-the-odds ascendancy add up to the crown jewel of the lo-fi scene this year? You be the judge, but the verdict is in on one thing: the ultimate crossover album? Get real. Certain critics would have you subscribe to the stunted belief that Girls have an instant sleeper classic; they’re calling Shawshank Redemption on the many Forrest Gumps released alongside Album in 2009. The obvious truth, however, is that it’s still a lo-fi album in a world where bands like Nickelback move millions of records and sell out the biggest venue any given city can muster up. Girls may have cracked the Billboard 200, but they certainly can’t have any delusions about sales, for one thing.

Under its own umbrella, then? Fair enough – if only within the year they’re being reviewed, Girls are simply overmatched, especially in the indie scene. And yet, this was all on the wavier; there have been some tremendous records released this year, and the only reason they’re not all stacking higher on Decade Best lists is because the critics don’t have the benefit of hindsight. Girls made a pretty good record, but they’re simply bringing too little innovation to the table to be a truly competitive musical force. Judge it on its own merits, some might say, but at the end of the day, it’s all a matter of what you’d rather listen to, and for a few tracks here, Album ain’t it.

- JB

The other day I was listening to Midday with Gary Eichten on Minnesota Public Radio and his guest was Mitch Albom author of “Have a Little Faith”.  This new book is the story of 2 men, one a Jewish Rabbi and the other a Christian Pastor and the intent of this book is to show that we are all children of God and while both of these men have different faiths, they both worship the same God. 

Religious relativism is pervasive in this present culture; in the name of religious tolerance, all religious traditions are to be considered equally valid and true and shouldn’t be spoken against.  Mitch Albom believes that all faith traditions are like separate trees whose roots are in the same place, so that it doesn’t matter what religion you adhere to or what god you believe in, in the end, everyone is following the same god. Albom says that just as God has created different types of trees and not just one variety, so there must be many various ways to God.

While this religious tolerance and non-judgmentalism sounds good, it is in actuality the damnable heresy of universalism that needs to be exposed and defeated in the arena of religious discourse.  As Christians we must defend the claims of Jesus who said that He is “the way, the truth and the life” and “no one can comes to Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Christianity is an exclusive religion because we follow Christ who said of Himself that He is only one way to God.

This belief that all paths lead to God betrays a fundamental ignorance of Biblical Christianity and sadly, many “Christians” today are too afraid of offending others to stand up for the exclusivity of the Gospel.

 So, the questions remain, are we all children of God?  No!  We were all children of the devil and wrath until some of us were born-again by the Holy Spirit and adopted by the Father. Here is some Scriptural support that not all people are children of God:

 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15)

 “But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, And said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13:8-10)

 “Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:42-44)

 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience- among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind” (Ephesians 2:1-2)

 “He answered, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one…” (Matthew 13:37-38)

 Only those who put their faith in Jesus Christ and repent of their sins are children of God:

 “Every one who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God…” (1 John 5:1)

 “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3:1-2)

 “But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness.” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5)

 “…that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…” (Philippians 2:15)

 “…for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8)

 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8)

 “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” (Romans 8:14-17)

 Are all religions all along the same path to God?  No!  There is only one way to the Father and that is though His only begotten Son.  Should we engage in respectful dialogue with people of other faiths?  Yes, absolutely!  We should “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel”.  We should not be ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes.

Friday

PRaP 10-23-2009

“Clear”

Why is the world so stuck on color?  I think everyone should be clear!  Then there would be no way to judge a person by the color of their skin.  Well I guess we wouldn’t be able to see each other.  Wait we could see our clothes but then we would be judged by what we wear.  Wait then we could just make everyone wear a neutral color.  Well I guess then we would be judged by our size or lack thereof.  Oh I know why don’t we all just stop the nonsense and see each other for who we are, children of God.  I raise my children to never see the color of a person’s skin but to see their heart yet everywhere he goes he is judged because of the color of his skin.  I raise my children to know and love Jesus Christ and love everyone and treat everyone as equal yet everywhere my son goes he is ridiculed for that love he tries to share.  I teach my children to do as I do and to do as I say yet when they do people call him names and push him aside.  Father today I lift up all the children of this evil world who are striving daily to do Your will and are ridiculed or hit or labeled or judged because of what they believe.  Father may the ones who judge them be judged not because of their color or belief but because of their hearts.  Father I ask that you allow the Holy Spirit to lift up these children who love You and lift Your name to glory each and every day even though the people around them honor hate.  Father in the name of Your son Jesus Christ I ask that You shake up the parents and teachers of hate because I am willing to bet that many of them call themselves “Christian” but do not walk Your walk.  Lord Jesus bring peace to Your little ones and help them to be the best of the best of the best in their schools and in their jobs and in their lives.  Father bring them wives and husbands that are from You and know and follow Your ways Lord that they may be a blessing unto You alone.  In Jesus Mighty Name Amen and Amen.

Matthew 18:6

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.
Matthew 18:5-7 (in Context) Matthew 18 (Whole Chapter)

Mark 9:42

[ Causing to Sin ] “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.
Mark 9:41-43 (in Context) Mark 9 (Whole Chapter)

Luke 17:2

It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.
Luke 17:1-3 (in Context) Luke 17 (Whole Chapter)

Jesus Bless,

Pastor Steve

Got my first real coverage. Wow. Do I have work to do. The reader had many questions and points which, at first, I thought “well it works THIS way and that should be obvious and fuck you!” but then I thought, hmmm, you know, that’s a good point. And that is too. I asked myself, what’s going on here really?

The answer is simple. Since The Family International still exists and still does bad things, I have felt that I need to get TW out there NOW. The problem of course has been that as a story, it just doesn’t work yet. And the difficulty with rewriting it is that I’m still so very close to it that it’s really hard to make the sometimes tough decisions.

In fact, I noticed with at least 2 other projects that have floated out there, when I’ve gotten notes or rejections, I haven’t felt this insane adrenaline surge, haven’t felt defensive, haven’t felt like shouting at the person giving me the notes or rejection, haven’t really cared at all.

I’m too fucking close.

So after thinking about the reader’s comments and the validity to them I thought, you know what? I need to take a break. I need to divest myself of responsibility. I may even need to let go of the idea of a movie. Because if I’m not able to do my job as a writer, none of it matters.

Thus I’ve decided that rather than burn through another draft in time for the Fade In Awards and anything else I might otherwise enter, I’ve decided I’m giving TW a rest. For how long, I don’t know. It might have to be a long, long time.

When I’d made this decision, I felt a good sense of relief. I thought, you know what, I have other things to write or rewrite, at least 1 of which is gonna be a lot easier to sell than TW. As soon as I gave myself permission to let TW go for now, I felt my shoulders fall. I think that’s a sign.

Time to give it a rest.

Got my first real coverage. Wow. Do I have work to do. The reader had many questions and points which, at first, I thought “well it works THIS way and that should be obvious and fuck you!” but then I thought, hmmm, you know, that’s a good point. And that is too. I asked myself, what’s going on here really?

The answer is simple. Since The Family International still exists and still does bad things, I have felt that I need to get TW out there NOW. The problem of course has been that as a story, it just doesn’t work yet. And the difficulty with rewriting it is that I’m still so very close to it that it’s really hard to make the sometimes tough decisions.

In fact, I noticed with at least 2 other projects that have floated out there, when I’ve gotten notes or rejections, I haven’t felt this insane adrenaline surge, haven’t felt defensive, haven’t felt like shouting at the person giving me the notes or rejection, haven’t really cared at all.

I’m too fucking close.

So after thinking about the reader’s comments and the validity to them I thought, you know what? I need to take a break. I need to divest myself of responsibility. I may even need to let go of the idea of a movie. Because if I’m not able to do my job as a writer, none of it matters.

Thus I’ve decided that rather than burn through another draft in time for the Fade In Awards and anything else I might otherwise enter, I’ve decided I’m giving TW a rest. For how long, I don’t know. It might have to be a long, long time.

When I’d made this decision, I felt a good sense of relief. I thought, you know what, I have other things to write or rewrite, at least 1 of which is gonna be a lot easier to sell than TW. As soon as I gave myself permission to let TW go for now, I felt my shoulders fall. I think that’s a sign.

Time to give it a rest.