These Little Ones...

What Threat Are Children?

"I am no longer a part of your order"...

Oddly, what occurred to me in a dream related to the embed below.

It was profound. It was from G-d, and now I honor the message with the posting of this essay, and the notion laid out by Langston Hughes:

Still Here
been scared and battered.
My hopes the wind done scattered.
Snow has friz me,
Sun has baked me,

Looks like between 'em they done
Tried to make me

Stop laughin', stop lovin', stop livin'--
But I don't care!
I'm still here!

Langston Hughes Stillness Notes

Truth and Other Concerns...

Time: The Root of Mitt Romney's Comfort With Lying Mormonism Research Ministry: 10 Lies I Told as a Mormon Missionary Saints Alive In Jesus: The Ministry of Ed Decker

If You're Just Tired of Polls...

Isaiah 29:14 NKJV - Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hidden."

1 Corinthians 1:19 NKJV - For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent."

1 Corinthians 1:20 NKJV - Where [is] the wise? Where [is] the scribe? Where [is] the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

Translation: we'll know when we know. BTW: Baruch = Barack = blessed.

Mendacity and Madness...

To Whom it May Concern:

I pray for the president. Not in the crass way some have called for, applying a Psalms scripture to his destruction; taking him away from his lovely wife and family.

His name by-the-way: is mentioned 26 times in 24 verses in the Bible. It means exactly what he says it means: blessing. In Hebrew, it is Baruch.

Strangely, so-called Christian ministers have called for his demise...from the pulpit!

This is a sad comedy. I've been to comedy clubs and learned very quickly (from observation) one important rule: if you don't want to be a part of the act, DON'T do something stupid or heckle the comic on stage (also stupid).

Act 17:24 NKJV - "God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Act 17:25 NKJV - "Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

Act 17:26 NKJV - "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,...

We are in a post Citizens United world, and cynical powers in very rich and high places are using the faith, prejudice, hate to sway this election. They themselves have no faith: only avarice and ambition to control.

The president has been called a closet Muslim - something I wasn't aware existed - yet The Constitution guarantees religious freedom and NO religious tests.

Be that as it may: Mormonism has a history of at first labeling Africans, African Americans, Black Americans as cursed from a preexistence in their scriptures that do not compliment the Bible.

Also: the only way you can aparently be saved is not through confession-repentance-salvation: it can only be done through the Mormon church.

Rev 22:18 NKJV - For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book;

Rev 22:19 NKJV - and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and [from] the things which are written in this book.

The Mormon church allowed the African diaspora to join their ranks in 1978 (see link above).

After numerous fact-checked obfuscations, and a campaign manager that said they will "not let their campaign be dictated by fact-checkers, I am dizzy, suffering from whiplash at what used to be called "flip-flopping," but now breaking the 8th commandment is a sound debate tactic.

By not calling out truth or lies, we give those that would mock us material to mock us! We sound strange; crazy! It is a method to pimp the faithful for a political end. It will eventually cause a falling away. If we're against science and reason, we will diminish.

John 8:44 NKJV - "You are of [your] father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own [resources], for he is a liar and the father of it.

John 8:45 NKJV - "But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

And for my dear Christian friends: here is a study comparing the Bible vs. the Book of Mormon.

One and only one has to be true; the other not:

I'll see you on the other side of the election.

POTUS!...

Prayer for POTUS. Had any problems with Vice President Joe Biden last week?

Praise – Our Father, who is in Heaven. Hallowed be YOUR name!

El, El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU, JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, JEHOVAH-SABAOTH, Jehovah-Shalom, Abba Father. "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him." Thank You, Father in advance that this is the day that YOU have made, and I will REJOICE and be GLAD in it! I praise YOU becaue praise stills the enemy!

To the Chief Musician, on the instrument of Gath – A Psalm of David: O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Submission – Your kingdom come, YOUR will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

I will obey them that have the rule over me, and submit myself: for they watch for my soul, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for me. I submit myself therefore to God. I resist the devil, and he flees from me. I submit myself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme.

Request – Give us this day our daily bread.

"Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth." Let every seat at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church be FILLED in Jesus' Name. Let every seat in the sancuary at New Light Austin be FILLED. Let every seat in oURLife Austin be FILLED in Jesus' Name. Let us bring disciples to You from the hands of the enemy. I draw near to God and He draws near to me. I humble myself in the sight of the Lord, and He lifts me up. I therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed [are] those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. I AM blessed!

Tonight, President Barack Hussein Obama debates Presidential Candidate Willard Mitt Romney. I pray in the NAME OF JESUS, that President Obama not gaff, gainsay or speak falsehoods. I pray that the enemy be exposed for the pathological liar he truly is. Gird President Obama with the TRUTH, for YOUR WORD says: "you shall know the truth, and the TRUTH shall set you free." Truth is not for negotiation, obfuscation or "created realities."
"For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."

"Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

I declare in the NAME OF JESUS: LOVE is President Obama's weapon, his armor and his shield to withstand the fiery darts of the wicked who will manipulate the Gospel and people of faith for the end game of attaining power, of having the ability to send loved ones - not theirs - into harm's way; of enriching their own pockets for avarice and ill-gotten gain on the backs of the poor; for declaring America a "Christian Nation" and espousing no Christian actions. If so concerned about gays and lesbians, they would not alienate them from the faith; if so concerned about the poor and needy, they would not take away their safety net or health care.

"Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come [and] attack Jerusalem and create confusion." Your Word says: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." President Obama IS an OVERCOMER in JESUS' NAME! "A Psalm of David. The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You [are] with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever." Father, Your Word says: "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Let President Obama's ways please YOU, and his enemies be at peace with him.

Confession – Forgive us of our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

May You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in Heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. I will work on forgiveness as I seek it from You, Lord. Forgive me, all of us for doubting Your sovereign power: "[Let] nothing [be done] through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Then hear in Heaven, and forgive my sins, and bring me back to the land which You gave to my fathers. "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because I have sinned against You, when I pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from my sins because You afflict me, then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sins of Your servant, that You may teach ME the good way in which I should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people of these United States a "BLESSING" - a Barack - an inheritance, a future and a hope.

Fight the good fight – And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thanksgiving and praise – For YOURS is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever: AMEN!

I thank YOU heavenly Father, that You and YOU alone are Jehovah-Jireh: OUR provider, our pro-video: that YOU Pre-See our needs before WE do. All Heaven will praise Your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise You for Your faithfulness. [A Psalm] of David. I will not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. I will trust in the LORD, and do good; I will dwell in [this] land, and feed on Your faithfulness. I will delight myself also in the LORD, And You shall give me the desires of my heart. I commit my ways to the LORD, I trust also in You, and You shall bring [it] to pass. I THANK YOU Heavenly Father for President Barack Hussein Obama's debate performance. He will not just have "luck": he will have his Heavenly Father and the faith and hopes of millions on his side. You are entirely faithful and will carry out Your Word in Jesus' name. Amen!

Debate Prep...Debate Prayer...

This is the most partisan thing I've posted on this blog. However, I am offended when a party - Republican or Democrat - uses the faith of millions for political gain, tells falsehoods without batting an eye at breaking the Eighth Commandment and expect me to think they're for "family values." I may be saved, but I'm from "the hood." I know game when I see it. Go Joe!

Praise – Our Father, who is in Heaven. Hallowed be YOUR name!

El, El Shaddai, Elohim, Adonai, Jehovah-Jireh, Jehovah-Rophe, Jehovah-Nissi, Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU, JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH, JEHOVAH-SABAOTH, Jehovah-Shalom, Abba Father. "But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him." Thank You, Father in advance that this is the day that YOU have made, and I will REJOICE and be GLAD in it! I praise YOU becaue praise stills the enemy!

To the Chief Musician, on the instrument of Gath – A Psalm of David: O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens! Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

Submission – Your kingdom come, YOUR will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

I will obey them that have the rule over me, and submit myself: for they watch for my soul, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that [is] unprofitable for me. I submit myself therefore to God. I resist the devil, and he flees from me. I submit myself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme.

Request – Give us this day our daily bread.

"Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life. Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west; I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' And to the south, 'Do not keep them back!' Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth." Let every seat at Bethel Missionary Baptist Church be FILLED in Jesus' Name. Let every seat in the sancuary at New Light Austin be FILLED. Let every seat in oURLife Austin be FILLED in Jesus' Name. Let us bring disciples to You from the hands of the enemy. I draw near to God and He draws near to me. I humble myself in the sight of the Lord, and He lifts me up. I therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that I may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed [are] those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. I AM blessed!

Father: I have found Baruch in the Book of Nehemiah; I have found Baruch in the Book of Jeremiah: I have found Baruch mentioned 26 times in 24 verses in the Holy Bible! Baruch is the Hebrew spelling of President Barack Obama's first name, which means "blessed." He is blessed to have the true American Story that he has. He is blessed to have "pulled himself up by his bootstraps" from graduating from Columbia and Havard, to the Presidency of the United States. He has been vilified, called terrorist, communist, fascist, a liar and a "closet Muslim." Yet, he has espoused his Christian faith, he has identified himself as YOUR child. Your Word says: "Blessed [is] that man who makes the LORD his trust, And does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies." Barack = blessed, LORD. Governor Romney told 27 lies in 38 minutes in the first of three presidential debates. Sadly, pundits call it a "good performance" and that the "truth does not matter." YOUR WORD says: "These six [things] the LORD hates, Yes, seven [are] an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness [who] speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren."

Tonight, Vice President Joe Biden debates Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan. I pray in the NAME OF JESUS, that Joe Biden not gaff, gainsay or speak falsehoods. I pray that the enemy be exposed for the Ayn Rand go-it-alone philosopher that he truly is. Gird Vice President Joe Biden with the TRUTH, for YOUR WORD says: "you shall know the truth, and the TRUTH shall set you free." Truth is not for negotiation, obfuscation or "created realities."

"For such [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore [it is] no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works."

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual [hosts] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]: Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one."

"Love suffers long [and] is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

I declare in the NAME OF JESUS: LOVE is Joe Biden's weapon, his armor and his shield to withstand the fiery darts of the wicked who will manipulate the Gospel and people of faith for the end game of attaining power, of having the ability to send loved ones - not theirs - into harm's way; of enriching their own pockets for avarice and ill-gotten gain on the backs of the poor; for declaring America a "Christian Nation" and espousing no Christian actions. If so concerned about gays and lesbians, they would not alienate them from the faith; if so concerned about the poor and needy, they would not take away their safety net or health care.

"Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come [and] attack Jerusalem and create confusion." Your Word says: "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Vice President Joe Biden IS an OVERCOMER in JESUS' NAME!

"A Psalm of David - The LORD [is] my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You [are] with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the LORD Forever." Father, Your Word says: "When a man's ways please the LORD, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Let Vice President Joe Biden's ways please YOU, and his enemies be at peace with him.

Confession – Forgive us of our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

May You hear the supplication of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear in Heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. I will work on forgiveness as I seek it from You, Lord. Forgive me, all of us for doubting Your sovereign power: "[Let] nothing [be done] through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, [and] coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and [that] every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [is] Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Then hear in Heaven, and forgive my sins, and bring me back to the land which You gave to my fathers. "When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because I have sinned against You, when I pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from my sins because You afflict me, then hear in Heaven, and forgive the sins of Your servant, that You may teach ME the good way in which I should walk; and send rain on Your land which You have given to Your people of these United States a "BLESSING" and an inheritance.

Fight the good fight – And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Thanksgiving and praise – For YOURS is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever and ever: AMEN!

I thank YOU heavenly Father, that You and YOU alone are Jehovah-Jireh: OUR provider, our pro-video: that YOU Pre-See our needs before WE do. All Heaven will praise Your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise You for Your faithfulness. [A Psalm] of David. I will not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, And wither as the green herb. I will trust in the LORD, and do good; I will dwell in [this] land, and feed on Your faithfulness. I will delight myself also in the LORD, And You shall give me the desires of my heart. I commit my ways to the LORD, I trust also in You, and You shall bring [it] to pass. I THANK YOU Heavenly Father for Vice President Joe Biden's debate performance. He will not just have "luck": he will have his Heavenly Father and the faith and hopes of millions on his side. You are entirely faithful and will carry out Your Word in Jesus' name. Amen!

"People of the Book"...

PBS.org: Muslims believe that God had previously revealed Himself to the earlier prophets of the Jews and Christians, such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. Muslims therefore accept the teachings of both the Jewish Torah and the Christian Gospels. They believe that Islam is the perfection of the religion revealed first to Abraham (who is considered the first Muslim) and later to other prophets. Muslims believe that Jews and Christians have strayed from God's true faith but hold them in higher esteem than pagans and unbelievers. They call Jews and Christians the "People of the Book" and allow them to practice their own religions. Muslims believe that Muhammad is the "seal of the prophecy," by which they mean that he is the last in the series of prophets God sent to mankind. Muslims abhor the followers of later prophets. This attitude serves to explain the extreme Muslim animosity toward Bahais, followers of a nineteenth-century prophet, who in the Muslim mind is false.

So, from this description, "Muslim extremists" almost sounds like an oxymoron.

Violence has erupted in the Near East because of a video produced in the US that went viral on You Tube. The actors in the film said they were deceived...by the so-called "Christian" producers of it.

This breaks my heart.

Evangelism should never involve deceit. It should never involve denigration of someones belief system or in most cases, cultural practices.

I work as a manager in a high tech supplier firm. I've seen my share of diversity in cultures, ethnic backgrounds, religions (including Islam). I've never made anyone feel uncomfortable for practicing their faiths. Proselytizing at work is prohibited. That should come with wisdom and the right moment - away from work.

In closing, if our faith - Christianity, or "The Way" as it was once known - is attractive, let it be so on its own merits. No stunts, videos debasing others' faiths are necessary.

Matthew 10:16 NKJV - "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:17 NKJV - "But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.

Matthew 10:18 NKJV - "You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.

Matthew 10:19 NKJV - "But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak;

Matthew 10:20 NKJV - "for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

Matthew 10:21 NKJV - "Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father [his] child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.

Matthew 10:22 NKJV - "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved.

What The!...

There are no words. None. It is sick, psychotic, sociopathological to preach the Word of the Living God, and think yourself not accountable to it:

Jeremiah 23:1 NKJV - "Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!" says the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:2 NKJV - Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: "You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings," says the LORD.

Jeremiah 23:3 NKJV - "But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.

Jeremiah 23:4 NKJV - "I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking," says the LORD.

Gabby Douglas Praises God...

American Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Gabby Douglas has praised God following her amazing win in the Women's Gymnastics All-Around event in London on Thursday.

A score of 62.232 was enough to give Douglas victory and hold off tough competition from her Russian competitors.

Douglas' victory makes her the first African-American woman to ever win the gold medal in the Women's Gymnastics All-Around, making her mark in U.S. Olympic history.

Following her emotional win the 16-year-old gave an interview with NBC and celebrated the moment by praising God and offering her thanks for an amazing blessing.

See: Gabby Douglas Praises God; Christian Thankful After Winning All-Around Gold at Olypmics 2012

All Means All...

Philippians 4:13 "I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me."

Closet as Tactic...

Closet as Tactic

They Called It Football...

R.I.P. Andy Griffith...

Hypsēlos...

Similar article from Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel Prize Winner, Economics here.

Hypsēlos

Hip Hop Padre...

Listen to the words...his flow is tight!

Christian Woman Writes to 18-Year-Old Self...

LAUREN DUBINSKY (Huffington Post): I was born in the south, raised in the midwest, and home schooled throughout. The first of four, my parents raised us to be "set apart." For us, this meant being kept from contact with - and kept from resembling - the sinful world. While my father never followed any one movement entirely, we were raised under a strange breed of the patriarchal movement and the quiverful movement, with a dash of Vision Forum and No Greater Joy teachings.

Shortly after my 18th birthday, I chose to leave home, at cost of losing my family and friends. I have spent the last six years moving 22 times not including the last seven months of living in my car while traveling the U.S. Much of leaving was a clean break, but much of it was a slow, brutal tearing apart. The last six years have been a great experiment as I re-learn who I am, who God is, and how the world functions.

I grew up in a bubble, with restrictions like no television, no movies; no public schooled friends, and no books unless dad read them first. All letters I wrote and received had to be read by a parent before they entered or exited the home, and every church sermon was picked apart at the Sunday dinner table, truth re-stated and lies cast out, until my heart was bloody. I didn't have friends at church; youth group wasn't allowed, and I dressed funny, so the other girls in Sunday school class didn't talk to me. I never went on a date or kissed a boy before I was 18, and I went through my teenage years with no make-up, no nail polish, and no girls nights allowed. My teenage years were instead full of politics, speech and debate, and discussing the perversion that is American society. Somewhere between age 16 and 18, I began questioning things. I was introverted, and miserable. There were too many secrets I couldn't share, too many things I couldn't do, and too many books I couldn't read. And I was desperate to have fun, and to stop thinking. One day my story will be a book, but for today, it is in the form a letter I wish someone had written me 6 years ago.

God is not who you think He is. He is bound by nothing and no one. Don't be afraid to question what you know of Him. Don't be afraid to question the rules as laid out for you. God is big enough to handle it, and crossing the lines of religion, denomination, subcultures & belief systems will not break your God, or revoke your salvation.

God will fight in your defense. Even when you are suffocating and drowning in confusion, when the ground underneath you seems unsteady and faulty, He will always know your heart and will never condemn you for your lack of understanding. He is the God of wisdom and of truth. If you seek it from Him, He may re-write what you know, and that is okay.

It will be harder than you think. This isn't teenage rebellion, and it isn't the miscommunication of the generation gap. You will not wake up one day and have parents again, and your decision to walk out on your own means God will reassign new family members to you. Permanently. It will be painful, especially on holidays and birthdays, but in the end, you will find out that biological family is given to us to represent spiritual family - and you are simply learning it the hard way.

Your heart is not evil, nor is it deceitful. Do not be afraid of yourself; God created you and set those desires in your heart for good. Submit yourself to Him, and you have nothing to fear. Dig deep into what makes you happiest, what triggers emotional responses, and what you are drawn to. It isn't you being worldly or sinful, and you will not be punished by God for them. Live life fully, and don't be afraid to breathe. Your mistakes are already paid for, and fear does nothing to stop death - only to stop life.

It will get better. Those girls you envy, that are confident and beautiful? Those girls that have friends to laugh with and cry with? Those girls who have good men in their lives and a future they look forward to? Those girls who aren't plagued by confusion, depression, and loneliness? Those girls who can have fun? In six years that will be you. And those years will go by fast. Take it one day at a time, and don't try to become someone else. Become what you love, and a miracle will happen: You will become that girl.

Read, a lot. You have years and years of truth and love to re-write into your heart. You were born broken, just like the rest, but in your own unique way, too. It takes reading about others' childhoods, brokenness, and fears to see what Jesus can do to a woman's soul. Acknowledge that you're just trying to figure things out - and read everything that gets put in front of you that has to do with healing. It will slowly permeate your mind and heart, and truth will soothe the ache.

The numbness will go away, at the cost of your innocence. You'll slowly learn how to be human, and you'll slowly begin to feel normal. I know that in a desperate attempt to be 'just like everyone else' you'll get drunk at the frat house, you'll kiss boys whose names you don't know, and you'll watch pornography. I know you'll sleep with a guy you don't even like in a self-loathing attempt to destroy the Holier Than Thou reputation you've grown up with your entire life. It will wreck you, instead of heal you - but it will bring you to a new understanding of Grace that God needed you to experience. It will be part of your story.

Read the four gospels. Every single day. Take a break from theology, and let go of what is right and what is wrong. At the end of the day, your salvation rests on Jesus alone, and he cares only for your heart, not for how much you know. Pay attention to what he talked about most: Compassion, healing, taking care of the widows and orphans, dealing out grace and mercy, overlooking tradition for the sake of love, and making people new. Our first command is to love one another, and you will not be able to do that with judgement and bitterness in the way.

Be the little girl that you are. God knows you're scared of growing up, and he knows that right now, you despise men. He sees you as pure and innocent, and when you can't explain yourself, he already knows your heart. God desperately wants to be your Father, not your life coach, your teacher, your business consultant, or your boss. He just wants to be your Father, and sitting in His lap sobbing, "I don't know, I don't know" is okay - just as a little girl falls, gets hurt, and buries her face in her fathers lap to cry and beg him to fix it. God will always defend your innocence; Jesus loves the little children.

Choose to always believe that God is good. You'll always believe that God loves you, but you'll stop believing that He is good. Like dark-chocolate-and-a-big-hug kind of good. Your life is in shambles, and He knows it. You'll be a mess for awhile, but He has a plan. You'll hate it, you'll get sick of it, it won't make sense, and you'll cry yourself to sleep a lot - but He will always be good, and you must always believe it. The moment you stop believing it, your heart will break all over again, and you'll start sabotaging yourself. Dig your heels in and believe that God is good.

Being a girl is okay. All the things you weren't allowed to do in high school, go do them! No matter how silly, how impractical, and how pink they are. Buy the colored eyeliner, get a brazilian wax, color your hair, paint your nails black, spend too much money on shampoo, go see outrageous chick flicks, buy that sequined little black dress, buy the scandalous lingerie and enjoy laughing at trash reality TV. Not everything has to be practical, and you don't have to think in black and white. Find yourself somewhere in there, and learn to enjoy being a woman.

Your parents' definition of sin may not be God's definition of sin. Sin is missing the mark, choosing to live a life apart from God's way, and letting self-centeredness grip your heart. Just as one culture believes a woman without a headcovering is sin while another believes that voting Democrat is a sin, neither of these hold any weight over anyone's salvation. Don't give sin power where it doesn't deserve to have any. Choose instead to see people how Jesus saw them: all in universal need of His love to fill their empty hearts.

It isn't your job to find a man to love you. One day, after you've made way too many mistakes and gotten your heart broken, you'll decide to revert to what you believed when you were a little girl: You'll get married, and it will be amazing. I don't mean this in a naive, Cinderella sort of way - I mean that the man you're going to marry is already born, and when he meets you, you won't have to fight to get his love or attention. God made it that way, and it's okay to believe it stubbornly like a little girl. And it is true what they say: When you know, you will know.

It's your life. I know you don't believe me, but really, it is. You were created to live a life no one else can live. If you live a life dictated by someone else, then you were not necessary. And God does not create unnecessary things. There will be things only you feel, things only you experience, and at the end of the day, you need to be the one who loves what she is doing with her life. People will be unhappy with you, and family and friends will disagree with you. God has a story for everyone's life, and you will not live that story if you're letting others write it.

Harpazō...

1) to seize, carry off by force

2) to seize on, claim for one's self eagerly

3) to snatch out or away

CNN - Source: Gay porn actor suspected of dismembering, mailing body parts



WebMD - Bath Salts Drugs: Problems, Ingredients, Dangers and More

Harpazō...Harpazō...

1 Thessalonians 4:13 NKJV - But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:14 NKJV - For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 4:15 NKJV - For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive [and] remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4:17 NKJV - Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be "caught up" (Harpazō) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:18 NKJV - Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Harpazō...ready!

Choose THIS Day...

John 10:10 "The thief comes but to kill, steal or destry. I come that you might have LIFE, and have it more abundantly."

Spiritual Bullies..

This article calls it "rhetorical pornography," I call it bullying, and that serves no one, not the bullier and certainly not Jesus.

Matthew 24 (Documentary)....

Matthew 24:3 NKJV - Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what [will be] the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"

I AM...

I’ve posted on this elsewhere: “Old Tapes”; “BWB”; “Self-Portrait.” I’ve changed my Facebook profile photo to Trayvon, and spoken with my sons. Let me explain:

In “Old Tapes,” I revisited an incident in which I was forcibly frisked by a store detective. He didn’t care if I had a microscope, a telescope, a tool kit, a chemistry set at home, physics and science books nor did he ask if I had a complete set of the Encyclopedia Britannica. No, I was a suspect for shoplifting for merely combing my hair: guilty until proven innocent. “BWB” was an admittedly emotional response directly to the absurdity of a teenager losing his life over his dress, an iced tea and skittles; “Self-Portrait” was written earlier, but reflected the same concerns.

In Nanos Gigantium Humeris Insidentes, I did describe my background a bit, but not so the photo. I became Brigade Commander of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools '79 - 80 on the negative answer to what I thought was a rhetorical question to the Commander for the ’76-77 school year: “what would it take for someone to rise to your rank?” His answer was specifically addressed (to my ethnicity and potential): “Your kind will NEVER get to this rank!” (Never) say never: the complete irony was he went in an enlisted, I an Air Force officer. We saw each other on active duty at Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin, Texas. He had a Constitutional obligation to salute me.

Women and men of a certain age in my culture can trace back to when we lived in humble conditions on a segregated side of of our respective towns, I recall numerous times when the sight of drug dealers and runners; switch blades, kitchen hatchets (both directed at me) or guns threatened our lives. Despite these challenges, many of us went to college – HBCUs, Ivy League, Graduate Schools – and attained degrees for a better life. Our parents, and leaders of the Civil Rights movement (like my sister) inspired us to do this.

Tony Morrison said: "In this country American means white. Everyone else has to hyphenate." So, I am classed as African-American because Negro/Black wasn’t definitive enough for Malcolm X. As he went on his own pilgrimage of self-discovery to Mecca, he coined “Afro American,” founding the Organization of Afro American Unity (dissolved after his assassination). Reverend Jesse Jackson is credited as the source of “African-American,” since as a fellow engineering student from A and T pointed out: “there’s no such country as ‘Afro.’” And to be sure: Africa is a continent of 53 different nationalities, as diverse as this nation in cultures and ethnicity.

Yet, all this effort towards equity, to “pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps,” we as our parents must have “the talk” with our male sons, how to behave in public, how to talk to the police if stopped, how not to appear “a threat.” Yet, I still get quick looks when I get on an elevator, shifted purses, I must put others at ease; apologize when professionally embarrassed in email. Guilty until [I've] proven [myself] innocent...

I AM: the father of two statistics: The risk of dying from homicide among non-Hispanic black male teenagers (39.2 per 100,000 population) is more than twice that of Hispanic males (17.1 per 100,000 population) (Figure 4) and about 15 times that of non-Hispanic white males (2.6 per 100,000 population); at current levels of incarceration a black male in the United States today has greater than a 1 in 4 chance of going to prison during his lifetime, while a Hispanic male has a 1 in 6 chance and a white male has a 1 in 23 chance of serving time. That has nothing to do with their locale (suburbs); nothing to do with my education, their education or career choices. It is the aftermath of what historians tastefully describe as “the peculiar institution,” of the antebellum South, as with South Africa’s Apartheid, based on pigmentation, its wages and legacy. What happened to Trayvon is the unspoken nightmare; the uttered prayer each night, Psalms and Glossolalia. We do not have the luxury, or security to be blithely skeptic or agnostic. The slaughter of male children by Pharaoh and Herod are not biblical illustrations, but an evidential, everyday concern.

All I ask, all WE ask: is to be considered not as a threat, but for our potential.

Related links:

BlackAmericaWeb
TheGrio
TheRoot

Afterword (with the Word):

Daniel 10:6 NKJV - His body [was] like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 NKJV - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

1 Thessalonians 4:17 NKJV - Then we who are alive [and] remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.

1 Thessalonians 4:18 NKJV - Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Revelation 1:14 KJV - His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;

Revelation 1:15 KJV - And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Revelation 19:19 NKJV - And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.

I'm often amazed at how many Christians don't look forward to the Rapture.

Because as long as this world system exists, there will be more Trayvon Martins. It's inevitable. Science is great, and I'm not demonizing it. If science could solve our problems, we wouldn't have any, and we wouldn't have the means to destroy ourselves over again many times.

Pray for Florida. Pray for America. Pray for our sons and daughters.

Jeremy Lin...

I was going to say "Lin-you-know-what," but our brother has copyright over that phrase!

When he was sent down to the minor league the first time, Lin told a church group last year, he turned to his pastor, Stephen Chen, at the Church in Christ in Mountain View, California. Chen told him to spend an hour a day with God.

Lin memorized a few Bible verses, Chen says, including a passage from Paul’s letter to the Romans in the New Testament that reads in part: “We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.”

Zeitgeist...

Zeitgeist: is "the spirit of the times" or "the spirit of the age." [1] Zeitgeist is the general cultural, intellectual, ethical, spiritual, or political climate within a nation or even specific groups, along with the general ambiance, morals, sociocultural direction, and mood associated with an era.

The term is a loanword from German Zeit – "time" (cognate with English "tide" and "time") and Geist – "spirit" (cognate with English "ghost"). [Wikipedia]

More Whitney Videos...

Tribute

© 11 February 2012, the Griot Poet

She gave us a reason to love ourselves,
Emerging in the 80s post-Civil Rights, post-loss of
Medgar, Malcolm and Martin, if Michael was the “King of Pop”…
She was definitely “Our Queen.”
What 1980 male college freshman
Didn’t calculate that we were just
One year older than the voice that
Belted from her lithe frame, fantasize
“What we’d do” with 5 minutes of our
Best Mack if we had a chance
(Past her Bodyguard) to step to her,
As if she was “saving all her love for []”…
Her faux feud with Maria Cary set the
Diva pattern for Rihanna, Beyoncé, Jennifer, Latifah and Eve…
Yet, didn’t we laugh (instead of pray)
When she married Bobby, and starred in a
So-called “reality” show, showcasing her
Private demons for public display?
Post-Bobby, with the baby (Bobby-Christina),
She could never hit “the notes” she used to,
Her interviews shaken versions of
Her star’s former hue.
The human voice has depth and range
That cannot be enhanced or explained
In a digital software mix program or
Corporate studio...
Some things of exquisite beauty are
Born in choir robes, Sunday solos and
Christmas shows,
Before the Clive Davis’ discover angels,
Among us,
When NAPHESH kicked first breath
In Eden
And Deity pronounced self-awareness
To a creation with mind, will, imagination,
Emotion and intellect – defining the
Earthiness that we would call…soul…
The best of Adam’s rib performs now…celestial shows.
Whitney Houston, 1963 – 2012

Go Ahead, Mr. Anderson...

I've spoken on my own past before, and on a recent visit to South Carolina, I found out how things haven't much changed. My cousin and our family historian were granted a tour of the plantation that my Great-Grandfather Julius and his wife Epsy lived. They toured the grounds and the slave quarters. They were then told they (and by extension, any other family member) were "invited to never come again." Sad...

This is not physics obviously, but the tabulation of the cost of service - never paid, mind you - is quite accurate, and it expresses the time-worn phrase: "living well is the best revenge" (George Herbert).

Escaped slaves in Virginia, 1862, Library of Congress

Source of letter: The Freedmen's Book and Letters of Note

Dayton, Ohio,

August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir: I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable. Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy,—the folks call her Mrs. Anderson,—and the children—Milly, Jane, and Grundy—go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated. Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to. Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve—and die, if it come to that—than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,


Jourdon Anderson

Jourdon: Touché!

The god of this world...

The Bible does not say money is the root of evil, this is what it actually says:

1 Timothy 6:10 NKJV - For the love of money is a root of all [kinds of] evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

********************

The explosion ripped through Building A5 on a Friday evening last May, an eruption of fire and noise that twisted metal pipes as if they were discarded straws.

When workers in the cafeteria ran outside, they saw black smoke pouring from shattered windows. It came from the area where employees polished thousands of iPad cases a day.

Two people were killed immediately, and over a dozen others hurt. As the injured were rushed into ambulances, one in particular stood out. His features had been smeared by the blast, scrubbed by heat and violence until a mat of red and black had replaced his mouth and nose.

“Are you Lai Xiaodong’s father?” a caller asked when the phone rang at Mr. Lai’s childhood home. Six months earlier, the 22-year-old had moved to Chengdu, in southwest China, to become one of the millions of human cogs powering the largest, fastest and most sophisticated manufacturing system on earth. That system has made it possible for Apple and hundreds of other companies to build devices almost as quickly as they can be dreamed up.

New York Times: The iEconomy - In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad
The Daily Mail: The stark reality of iPod's Chinese factories

Revelation 13:1 KJV - And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.

Revelation 13:2 KJV - And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as [the feet] of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

Dreamwork China from Cineresie on Vimeo.

Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King...

Song of Songs 1:5 KJV - I [am] black, but comely (na'veh = beautiful), O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon.



Austin, Texas Area MLK Celebration