Something i typed today

"Even the things/issues that seem utterly insignificant can mean the world to a young person; it's amazing how what is important to a youth  can make them someone great or break them. Find out what is important to them and you will have an avenue to influence them, to help them, to make then feel significant, to do whatever it is they need."

"You came down with imagination..."

"You were gassed with the masses and handed a magazine."

Do Something

if you have ever read my blog, well, if you have read it even a couple of times, you probably know that i do not have a television that gets stations that i can watch things on, like the news. this being the case i miss a lot of the global, national, and even local tragedy in the world. i know very little of people in other states going through hardships, getting, beaten, being stole from, or living on the streets- in fact i can hardly think of anyone that i don't know that is going through those circumstances.

i do, however, know several people who are going through these issues, personally.
i know the kid whose iphone was stolen.
i know the girl who is living with a guy she doesn't want to be with so she has a place to stay.
i know the 19 year old whose only friends are the old guys at the homeless shelter, the only guys he can relate to.
i know the kids who at age 9 and 11 are out until 9pm at night because no one cares where they are at.
i know the girl who sold her body to afford rent so she wouldn't lose her kids.
i know the kid whose friend was run over- i guess that was on the news.
i know the people who go up to random strangers and knock them out for no reason.
i know the girl who dances at night to pay for drugs, but works at Tim Horton's during the day.
i know the guy who only wakes up because he can not get high while sleeping.
i know a lot of kids with marked up arms, stds, and drug histories because there was no one they could trust when they needed it the most.

because i know them i know that if anything good happens in this world it is because of Jesus. but i know evil. i know there is good and bad; and i know that god values every one of these people and gave his life to save them, for it isn't is will that any single one should be lost. as his son his will is mine and i will do something to bring good to those who are surrounded by evil. i am no one special as a human; we are the same. i know that you and i can do something.

(if you pray specifically, pray for the people mentioned above they are real people)

Encouraging Quotes (for the most part)

Quotes From Curry Blake

If your gospel isn’t touching others, it hasn’t touched you.
God will use you. Don’t think that he’ll just use you for headaches. He will use you to do ANYTHING that needs to be.
The power of God is mechanical.
You are God’s son, man’s servant, and the devil’s master.
The truth willl set you free, But first it will make you mad.
If you haven’t found a gospel worth dying for, you haven’t found a gospel worth living for.
When a son of God speaks, Heaven hears and agree. Hell hears and obey.
Healing isn’t a reward, it is a gift. You don’t work for it or earn it.
If your knowledge of the word of God exceeds your obedience to the word, you are a backslider
Be hard on self, easy on others. You can give them truth, but don’t expect others to consistently walk at a standard that you have set for yourself. If you set yourself with the standard of the Bible, that is good. But, give people mercy. Give them room to grow. Everybody doesn’t know what you know. Everybody hasn’t studied as much as you’ve studied. Everybody hasn’t been where you’ve been. So give them room.
People dont care how much you know, until the know how much you care.
True apostolic ministry doesn’t say ‘Come sit at my feet and let me be your father’…it says GO. Apostolic ministries don’t gather…they spread. When you gather, you build an empire. When you spread, you build the Kingdom of God.
Fasting doesn’t get you power. Fasting gets you out of the way so power can flow easier.
Healing is warfare!
A lot of people today would rather be lied to with a smile and soft words than to be told the truth without mincing words. They think that if their feelings get hurt then the person who hurt their feelings was not walking in love. This is the surest sign of spiritual immaturity.
Anything that prevents you from blessing of God is a devil for you to overcome and destroy.
Friends are like elevators, they will either take you up or bring you down, but they will never leave you in the same place.
Quit having faith in your faith.
God can’t say ‘No’ to a promise He’s already said ‘Yes’ to.
You will never be who you are supposed to be if you can’t forget who you used to be.
There is no reason why any person should not be healed.
You can’t have resurrection life until there is a death, and you won’t have a death until you decide that your old life is something you hate.
To the degree that your mind is renewed, is the degree that your life is transformed.
Exalt God…Exhort Men…Exhaust the devil.
The Name of Jesus and what it stands for and represents is ENOUGH to get ANY job done and ANY need met.
What we’ll give our eyes to, we’ll be doing.
Jesus only gave 2 reasons for failure, and every failure can be traced back to one of these: Unbelief or Traditions of Man.”
Jesus never said “gather up and sit” He said, “As you go, preach and heal”.
The reason why we’ll do greater works than Jesus is because we’re facing an enemy that’s already been defeated.
The Bible is a receipt of what was PAID FOR by Jesus.
You are not a leader if you will not say what you believe simply because you fear the consequences.
The fastest way to know what’s really in someone’s heart is to remove all restrictions.
Jesus said if you drink the water He gives, you will NEVER thirst again. You will never hunger or thirst. There is a difference between thirsting/ hungering and zeal. Thirsting keeps you waiting….Zeal gets you busy doing the Fathers will. If you thirst, you will be filled (no longer thirsting).
The church is so busy training people to go out, that they feel like they are doing something…when in fact, they are just staying busy but not going out to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons!
If believing in God was the only requirement to get saved, then devils would be saved too. Devils believe and tremble when hearing His name and because they KNOW His power. Some Christians believe and don’t even tremble . Other Christians believe and obey. Which one are you?
If the harvest is ready, you are ripe!
You are made perfect as you work.
If you wake up on Sunday, and you do not go to Church, some Christians have a religious withdrawel because they are so addicted to their Sunday morning service and they are taught that if they do not go, then…… .
Train the way you want to fight, because that is the way you are going to fight!
No army ever won a war by showing how much it could suffer.
If you’re gonna talk it, live it.
Most people talk to God about their problems, when in reality, what you ought to do is talk to your problem about God.
Most people are trying to live a resurrected life without dying.
The greatest deliverance you ever get is from yourself. Forget yourself! Get over yourself!
The devil wants you on yourself.
Fasting is getting you out of yourself.
You are a Spirit, you have a soul, & you live in a body.
There is no part of you that is good. You have to die.
I don’t make decisions based on money. I go & know God will provide when I get there.
You can’t feed the hungry if you are hungry.
The fullness of God is him living IN us.
You do what you can where you are with what you’ve got.
A sin you will defend is a sin you are in. Jesus preached a gospel that made grown men walk away from everything they had.
There is no hinderance to God except YOU!
If you are HID IN CHRIST your life is hid in him, then the enemy can’t find you to put something on you.
Wherever you are the Kingdom of God is there.
God does NOT use the devil to spank you.
God has NEVER said anything negative about you.
When you make decisions based on money, then money is your God. Don’t make decisions based on money, make them based on God’s will for your life & the money will come.
If you want boldness, get sure.
Don’t hang on to the world. Touch the world, & hang on to God.
Knowledge puffs up, love builds up.
The devil in under our feet because he is under Jesus’ feet.
We are ordinary people who have an extraordinary God. The essence of Christianity is in the being, not in the doing.
Correction is for restoration, not for destruction. If you are going to error make one in His favor not against Him.
What is in you is BIGGER than what is outside of you.
Don’t follow signs. Let the signs follow you.
I don’t need revival. I am revived!
If you pray, believe, then receive.
Judge things. Not people.
To know the will of God, read the Bible. To be led by the Spirit, DO the Bible.
The first preacher of the gospel was a woman.
The world is waiting for us to grow up & show up.
My job, and the job of the five-fold ministry, is to work ourselves out of a job.
You find out what the Word of God says, you decide to agree with it and believe it. Then you begin doing it, you do it every time. You force yourself to do it, you force yourself to do it when you don’t feel like it. You never have to force yourself to do stuff you want to do. So discipline comes in when you don’t want to.
Training means doing what you’ve been taught; to practise and drill it, because when you get in the heat of the battle, you can’t THINK, you have to REACT, and you will react according to where the majority of your mind is.

A Dream in November

There was a lady, she was dressed in a business suit and had a grand plan to open up a portal to another world which would let the Teenage Mutant ninja Turtles into our world. i knew this was a bad idea, but wasn't sure how to stop her.

Somehow myself and my companions were locked in a different part of this factory complex, we could see here, but could not get out.

she had the world opening gizmo and opened a portal. It was blue and green, swirled and had some lightening in it. The Teenage mutant ninja turtles fell out of it.

 I'm not sure what happened to them, but i was aware that the presence of them in the real world would cause the real world to collapse; it would mess up it's integrity.
The group with me were people i didn't actually know, there was a large man with muscles, a guy with a tie on and a couple other people with no distinct features. At one point were were escaping from our portion of the factory by shimming along a large red pipe.
Before the dream ended, i dreamed that i was writing down the dream in specific detail, though the details escape me now.

OCTOBER 31ST

Halloween
As an American I do not celebrate many holidays of other nations, mostly because they mean nothing to me; to American national heritage. Just as I would guess independence day isn't so well celebrated in England, the day the cardinals won the world series by the many teams they have beaten or the conquering of Ethiopia to Mussolini by the Ethiopians.

Hypothetically...
Let's say you are a Jew in Hitler's Germany. The Nazis have sworn to destroy you and your kind. Let's say each year they celebrate the day they enrolled the Hitler youth. Every year They celebrate this with dressing as Hitler youth with swastika badges and candy given to everyone. As a Jew who has watched the Nazis burn, cage and destroy your family and relatives, would you celebrate this day with them? It is just dressing up and enjoying candy; no harm done. but would you celebrate with your enemy? Would you celebrate separately from your enemy in a different fashion?

Christians, we are in a war. Let's not join in celebrating a day that centers on our enemy, seemingly devised by our enemy. A day Certainly not promoting the love and life of our king. instead celebrate our king everyday.

P.s. If you have any left over candy send it my way.

Tess Wiley-Raise Your hand (+playlist)

GODISNOWHERE

Do  I "believe that there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything. .. mystical energy field control(ing) *my* destiny" ? Actually after 30 years of belief I sometimes ask myself this question-still. Even after having multiple metaphysical encounters and too many "coincidences" that have worked in my favor. After knowing that creation, entropy, the laws of nature, the multifaceted aspects of humankind are by grand design and that these effected by people speaking, people praying, and acts that should have no effect on them, do indeed effect them; I sometimes wonder can this be true (although brought up in a post-modern world, i do in fact believe that there is truth).

It happened again the other day, I was reading a passage in the Old Testament  of the bible something about the following: sacrificing your son, killing hundreds under the power of god, sacrificing goats, sheep, doves etc. and the similarities between what was causing the evil in the world and what was causing the good didn't appear so far apart. But when looking at the New Testament it's almost as if the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus saved God from this comparison; these similarities. I, for one, prefer things a little more clear; seeing the right and wrong. It reminds me of the season finale in Smallville; the conversation between Lex and Clark:



It is, and would be much easier to accept God in the New Testament  without knowing of him in the old testament. I realize that the old covenant was only a shadow of the new covenant  One could see the battles and victories over the armies in the old testament as a shadow of the victory of the Christian over the devil and spiritual forces of evil in the new covenant. In fact, we often do; i know it encourages my soul, maybe my spirit as well. Someone told me, "like they said 'Saul has slain his thousands,, but David his ten thousands' you will be like David". I took the meaning to mean that I would effect many lives for good and actually just briefly thinking about it i probably have effected about 3,000 people so far, so 10,000 wouldn't be far fetched. I just have to wonder, did those tens of thousands of people have to die so i could be encouraged with a prophetic word a few thousand years in the future? I don't know the answer to that, but I still believe and trust in God as described in the bible.


Another thing happened; I recently came across this explanation of our world:

To Sum Up

There are at least 27 dimensions and rays, and 7 solar planes.  Each plane in our solar system signifies higher levels of physical and etheric existence in our solar system.  The first Ray energises the 1st chakra to activate the 7th chakra, and so forth.  Chakras are components of the aura (electro-photo-magnetic field in seven layer or auric bodies surrounding a human), and the aura and chakras interpenetrate the other.  Each chakra feeds into one of the auric bodies. The civilisations are seven cycles of materialisation and spiritualisation on Earth, which activate the energies of the chakras. "

Truly my favorite part of the above was the "to sum up" as it went on with a confusing array of created terms and figments of realities. Truly, people are looking for an explanation to what they think, feel, and see around them. I do believe there is but one conclusion.

In PSALM 14:1 it says"
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

I'd like to say, that I am no fool, I know there is a God out there, in here somewhere. Lately I've been traveling down the highway/freeway at about 65 miles an hour and looking at the people next to me; the people passing me. There are so many of them, each of them know so many more people. Through my car, the tires on the pavement, i can feel a vibration connecting me to them to the people at the stores, the waitresses, the cooks, the robbers  the cops, the robbers and I see a world so large so many people, so many living organisms (sometimes i even sense the cats, dogs, frogs, worms, bees, the trees). The world is so connected in intricacies that we rarely realize or hardly fathom. I don't mean the connections that our internet, 3G, 4G, and social media have created; like most things in technology these mimic the natural world.  We are all so close; when we think we are alone. So close to God; when we are redeemed.

Certainly this post has done very little to explain or prove the existance of God here, or god no where, but it hopefully made us think about our lives; how we can impact each other; how we already do; why we do.

GREAT ARTICLE: Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism

Middle-of-the-Road Policy Leads to Socialism:

'via Blog this'

disappointments abound

Isaiah 58 has been my life verse for nearly 15 years now, nearly half my life. Part of it says this:

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

This is how i have chosen to live; daily, almost daily, i invest in people hoping to bring them out of the darkness, give them some, hope, or just make their general day to day life better. I often do not see the results of this. I hope for the best and God does the rest. I rarely feel disappointed in any of the young people that I work with when they do not succeed to the level that I was hoping they would. Thee are some that have disappointed me; but most I view on a different level, and i am aware that they are making these decisions for success or failure. 

it is another event altogether when i have a perceived idea of someone, a friend, and they disappoint you. i only say perceived idea because i may assume they didn't change, but were always the way they now appear. As a christian we have many choices before us, many paths to choose, many items to take up, many items to put down, and a life to live for Christ. (i'd go so far as to oppose the view  that says God's ultimate joy is seeing humankind doing whatever they find brings them pleasure). 

by god's help i will not be a disappointment-(tell me if you think i am; i will do something to change it).

Trust in the Lord

I do my best not to lean on my own understanding and in all my way acknowledge God.

The Church on a Swaying Bridge

" people aren’t willing to embrace the challenges of a lifestyle of obedience to Jesus as emphasized by the sound teaching in the New Testament" -Mike Bickle



"Some believers don’t hunger to grow in righteousness in their daily life. Rather, they seek to know how far they can go in sin and how little they need to talk with Jesus to keep their salvation intact." -Mike Bickle

Where are you?

God I am thankful for where I am right now.
So many times and so much time is spent trying to get to where we want to be or where we are going.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
This house, this land, this country, this earth.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
This job, this income, these material items.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.
So many of us envy to be others or to be like others; feeling jealousy continually.
God I am thankful for where I am right now.

There are people in our lives for a reason; don't take them for granted before they are taken.

God I am thankful for where I am right now.

Just yesterday I spoke with a few individuals that I hadn't seen in a little while. Each of them may have a tough time saying "God I am thankful for where I am right now", maybe not- but listening to them made me say it.

The first guy I hadn't seen since December. He had taken a trip to southern Ohio to live in a community of Juggalos (not to be confused with gigolos). He came by and said hi with his traveling backpack and a girl with bright pink hair. He said he plans on being around permanently.

The second guy I hadn't seen in about 3 months. He had been staying at an out of town shelter and working long days as a roofer for the summer. I will say he looked like he was in better shape than the last time I saw him. I surmised he probably made good money seeing that he didn't have any bills at the shelter. He said he only had a couple hundred dollars saved and was thinking of moving to Georgia with some nice people he had met at the shelter.

The third guy I hadn't seen in about four months. He is a pretty hyper active guy and it really is hard to follow his conversations; they are always so emotional as well. But I did get that he had been traveling with the carnival for the past few months. He told me that he met a lot of people who had warrants out on them and they were keeping on the move. He mentioned that he didn't particularly fit in so he came back to stay with his parents; whom he usually doesn't get along with.

The fourth guy I had seen about a month ago. He only lives a short distance away (by car). He has a medical marijuana license so people let him live with them (though I don't see what it would matter if they didn't have a medical marijuana license). He didn't say much other than the fact that he had to be going to get the bus soon (he told me the time to the minute).

People everywhere are living their own lives. Some may appear better than others, some may appears worse than others. But, God I am thankful for where I am right now.

 Timothy 6:6-11

New International Version (NIV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Tyranny of the Urgent, Again.

This morning I took a shirt trip to Sams Club and bought a couple items. Sams Club brings a mixture of people; those who are meandering and carefully looking at items, while they lean on their over sized carts, and there are those who are buying for business with their flatbeds and lists hurrying about and looking determined.

I found myself shifting between the two today; only speaking or making eye contact when a collision ensured, but moving slowly and taking in the different products and people purchasing them. It wasn't a particularly busy morning in Sams Club. I got into a lane where a couple who appeared Chinese in ethnicity were finishing up their purchase. Their change was a dollar and some cents. I handed my card to the young lady who had multiple visible tattoos and she asked me to leave the heavier items in the cart. Items were scanned and she told me the total. I paid in several twenties and she was meticulously counting them; rubbing her fingers together, making sure I didn't over pay her (I'm not sure if that's the reason). But she was over zealous and tore one of the twenties right in half.; right don the middle. She looked shocked and repeated that she had ripped a twenty in half a couple times and told me not to worry about it (i wasn't). She finished the transaction; she was still holding the twenties, all of them. The receipt printed and she handed it to me and I started to leave; as if i was in a hurry. She said, oh don't forget your change as she was holding a half of a twenty in each hand and the others were strewn around the checkout counter. I said, oh that's right, as I realized that I really was not in a hurry. So I backed up and waited for her to get the change out of the drawer as we made small talk about ripped twenties: "it's like two tens" "wish i had some tape" "maybe i should put it i a special spot in the drawer" "money is money".  I noticed her name tag (mostly because I just read a couple pages from a book my wife was reading from her work about customer service), told LaayLaah to have a nice day and went to get my items inspected and marked by security on the way out.

It is so easy to get caught up in the importance of  "our time" and be hurried about what we are doing to get t the next thing that we will be doing.You know, it isn't only busibodies who succumb to the tyranny of the urgent. The lazy do the same thing: waiting until the mail comes then rushing to get it, waiting for the W-2s to spend the refund as quick as possible (like the money is on fire and it would burn if put into your pocket). Hurrying to watch a show impatiently because the one they wanted to watch is on next.
STOP.
Stop recording shows to make you think you are controlling the urgent(though I am sure that some people do manage this well), only to get home and watch everything you have recorded as fast as possible.
STOP.
Meditate on the goodness of God in the peace and quiet.
Sit and do nothing for a couple minutes.
Stand and look around you at the store; what's happening?
Listen to the leaves fall (in Michigan).
Listen to the cars drive, and as you quiet yourself listen to the tires, the fan belts, and even the people or music inside.
Feel the cold (or warmth depending on where you are).

Doing this will help clarify what is urgent and what is important. Breathe.

▶ Eight by La Dispute - YouTube

Two totally different worlds,
Sharing nothing but longitude and latitude.
There was the nation in the day, and the nation at night,
Existing side by side but each fleeing the other;
A daylight nation and a midnight nation.

I saw a country bifurcated by more than just the presence and absence of light,
But by lives cast aside and lost and uncared for;
The walked away and the thrown-away on one side, and on the other,
Those who pretended not to see them, because not seeing is easier.

▶ Eight by La Dispute - YouTube:

'via Blog this'

The Voice

I remember listening to a sermon over and over and in it the speaker said " be a voice, not an echo". I believe what he meant by this was not to just repeat good things that you have heard from others, not even to just repeat what you have read in your bible, but whatever you say to "make it ours" speak with conviction and believe it. i  am always quoting people, using good quotes that I like. Many of these have resounded deep within me and are words put together to relate what I have felt inside for years; or what I am feeling at the moment. Sometimes we quote or echo people who we wish we could be like and hopefully one day by the excessive quoting these words will become ours.
I always remember what I learned in history class." If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe i" ; a quote from Adolf Hilter , written by his speech writer. i think this holds true, though it doesn't have to be a lie; could be a truth.

Well I am sure this was meant to be a well thought out deliberation of evidence on the power of words; I'm simply saying be careful what you say and what you hear.

The Exit

So, I was listening to this band called Lydia. They have this one song called "The Exit". Some of the lyrics go.


"I've just been sitting here counting ghosts.

And you look scared again.
Just sing it out loud, it'll sound like this:....I don't hang this cross for him,
I hang it for my mother's grin.
If I wasn't so far away,
I'd ask my pops if he's free today.
But everyone, everyone here looks like they're on their own."






It's one of those songs, one of those bands really, that makes you think about your past and maybe what is going on right now, why you did what you did, the things you'll never get back, the things that won't happen again, how good your life is now; some basic life contemplation. I started thinking about life. There are hundreds of people that I've known, hundreds that I have been good friends with, hundreds that I don't talk to anymore(i.e. there isn't time, we don't have similar interests anymore, the conditions aren't right, we forget). This all made me think two distinct thoughts that are parallel but not the same. One is that I've known a lot of good people, that have meant a lot to me, that have effected me; that I will probably never meet again (due to the above i.e.). The second thought is of the people I know that i talk to briefly or minimally; maybe i don't say everything i could say to them.






I felt like doing a romper room, without the mirror, listing the people i will never have contact with again, but that have effected me and that i have thoughts of periodically; who i ask God to take care of.






There are the people from high school; we all spent so much time together. We experienced so many things together; became who we are today in part by our interactions with each other. (4 years)






There are the people from Elim Bible Institute all of whom I grew closer to as I saw who i was in Christ and became who God created me to be; we experienced so many things: miracles, emotional times, frustrating times, and each other. Some of you have impacted me the most. (1.5 years)






True I did attend St Clair Community College, Macomb Community college, and Oakland university; but I don't have one person that I am in touch of now because of those classes. I do have a couple that I think of from time to time. (7.5 years)






It's funny how time doesn't necessarily determine closeness or meaningfulness in relationships. For instance, I an closing in on 12 years with the non-profit that I work with. Nearly all of the relationships that I have with the people that i have worked with over the years, even for 12 years, is purely professional; we are not friends. There are some exceptions, that I am grateful for.






Then there is the Blue Water House of Prayer; the musical/prayer group that we traveled around the thumb of Michigan with playing at different church congregations weekly for about 7 years. Some people we came to be very close with. Some people we drifted apart. Some people we never spoke to again. some people we can pickup right where we left off. It's always different when you are meeting people in times of heightened spiritual awareness and emotionalism.






The hundreds of young people, kids in trouble, homeless people that I have met, tried to help out and loved are mostly passerbyers. Some I know for a day some for a few years, but non have really been a permanent connection, but they have effected me; for better or worse. I hope I've had an effect on them. You have to do whatever you can for each other.






Now there's family, whether they are blood or someone you call family, because of some past experience or your feelings; i'm very glad that we have made it a habit or tradition to end all of our phone calls and meetings by saying "bye love you god bless you". Even though sometimes it is said so quick only we know what is being said, it is still meant and means.






What I am seeing and saying is that people really are the most important aspect of this life. There are people who commit horrible acts, people who are miserable, people who love everyone, people who need people.










Some of Lydia's other lyrics (though I don't know what they mean, they make me feel like this blog):


"It's still not quite the way it was

But you promised me this is love

So stay and watch the hospital

That's just across the street

From your apartment balcony

I'll never ever leave there

I'll never leave




Oh, no one is watching now

Sing like you just might drown

But always come back home

'Cause I never got to see you once more, no

I guess that's all I wanted

Yeah, I guess that's all I needed"

Why I don't need cable TV

Just had a heartfelt powerful conversation with a young guy. A 22 year old black guy who grew up in Detroit, has seen, a couple friends shot, never had a father, now lives in Mount Clemens in low income housing. 
He recently got his CNA certificate and is working at the DMC.

He asked me for some information to help someone who had been a victim of domestic violence.
First, he told me a story about something that lead up to his coming to ask me where to get help.

His girlfriend, whom he is faithful to and helps take care of her 6 year old daughter, has a friend who has a 3 year old son and a boyfriend. This girl comes to his girlfriend saying she left the 3 year old with her boyfriend and now he cant find him. She is bruised and bleeding a little bit. So the 22 year old man goes with his girlfriend to the house to ask the boyfriend where the boy is. The guy says that the grandma stole the boy.

They are about to put out a missing person/ kidnapping report into the police when someone gets a hold of the grandmother. She says she stopped by the house and say the 3 year old was hurt so she took him and called protective services. After verifying this with CPS the 22 year old talks with the boyfriend who said the grandmother took the 3 year old. The guy says that he doesn't know what is happening and still says the grandmother is trying to take the 3 year old.

After some arguing it comes out by the girl who was bruised and bleeding that the boyfriend is the one who made her bruised and bleeding. Just then she gets a call from CPS about the report and her 3 year old. It is officially reported that the 3 year old has 3 broken ribs and some other bruises and reportedly done by the boyfriend who also beat up his girlfriend. This is when the 22 year old says to the girlfriend, leave him and come with us. She starts to leave with them and the boyfriend tells her to stop. She stops, but so does the 22 year old who came to talk to me. He turns to her and tells her to get in the car with his girlfriend. He tells me about his inner turmoil about getting a good job and doing well in life and how something little can mess it up. 

Once the girls are in the car he tells the boyfriend that he is "not cool" beating up his girlfriend and child. He then makes his decision; to beat the guy up; but not to kill him. 

This was two weeks ago. The girlfriend is living with them and CPS still has the 3 year old. A few times since then the 22 year old has gotten in his car to beat the guy up again, but chose not to but instead encouraged the girlfriend to press charges, which she did. 

I gave him some advice and encouragement; he gave me some hope.

A Poetry Book

In 2000 I spent a month living at an inner-city missions facility in Queens NY. Throughout this time Monday through Friday a group of us went throughout Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx giving food, faith, and hope to the impoverished hopeless masses in New York City. Some experiences I will never forget is playing cards with those on deaths door at the AIDS hospital, preaching in Mexican Town with a translator, taking sandwiches to those on the streets at midnight, the countless soup kitchens and coffee houses and making hundreds of children laugh as a clown on the streets in the Bronx.

Coming back to Michigan shortly thereafter, I enrolled in college and needed an income. Moved by the hand of God, in spirit, I searched online for any job openings. I simply typed in ‘youth” in the search. I went for the interview, got hired, and got trained as an Intervention Counselor in the city of Mount Clemens. This began my journey in the helping field. The field where you meet the hopeless, hurting; those people whom the devil has tried his best to destroy physically, emotional, spiritually, people the devil has attempted to devalue and dehumanize.  You meet them in hopes of undoing the devils work, in hopes of repairing, restoring, showing them their value, loving, and caring for those who have no one else; no one.

Over these past years, beginning in New York, I began to write poetry, both reflecting on situations, deflecting pain, empathizing with the hurt, and examining these effects on my life. Now these poems are together in an e-book recently published in the Kindle store.

megan

I am so impressed by how well megan did in college. She also scored the highest score on the state board test of any macomb graduate. She is very smart.

A Match to Light a Fire not to Burn Out

Just recently I finally watched a movie called Patton; about Gen. Patton. While it seems he was a pretty messed up character from the analysis of the character I am choosing to glean somethings from his life (i'm sure people don't use the word glean anymore in America anyway, do people still glean in fields?)

I recently put up a couple quotes in my office at work:
"better to fight for something than live for nothing"
"courage is fear holding on a minute longer"
"work harder than you think you can"
"do more than is required of you"

While it may be true that  (as some have told me) i am under paid and don't receive the recognition or reward for the work i do; this does not pave way to an apathetic or disgruntled outlook at my work. In fact if i worked in a retail store making minimum wage i would carry the same quote mentality with me; in fact encourage others to do the same. i would.

so i  remember a man once said to me while i was sitting in a large room. It was a room of about 300 people we were sitting down and he was on a stage talking and he said " young man stand up." i actually looked around me. He said "you there in the hat (i had a tigers hat on). i stood up and he said while pointing at me ," you are the match that is going to light the fire of thousands of young people" ;he said some other things as well. it's my choice to use those words as fuel or to disregard them. they are fuel. Another guy told me in a room of about 100 people; he pointed to me and quoted from the Bible saying, "saul has slain his thousands but David his ten thousands. you aren't going to be slaying people but you will be changing them". more fuel. Still another time a homeless man grabbed my hand and said to me one on one, "when you meet these young people look them in the eyes and give them hope."

i didnt make these things up, but maybe these things made me up. so i will burn until i "am utterly changed into fire".


(i just E-published my poems from over the past 10 years)

Teeth Dream

After eating a ton of pizza before bed last night I had a dream. I dreamt that I was in my parents house, their bathroom by the front door. My teeth started hurting and I looked in the mirror and felt my teeth with my hand. The bottom row on the left side came out in my hand as a set. There was a small amount of blood and some pain as well.  Since they were a set I tried to place them back in but the pain was to great so I held on to them. I was rinsing my mouth out and spitting out blood when out popped the top half of the back left side of my teeth, all in a set. These bleed a lot and I continued to rinse my mouth. When there was less blood coming out I looked up at the mirror and saw that without teeth that side of my face sagged in and it was extremely painful to put my too gums together. I must have been making some noise I thought ( I also thought I wonder if my gold cap fell out); because my younger brother and mother came in to see what was going on. I showed them my mouth with the missing teeth and my mother was horrified. I told her it didn't’ hurt that bad.  She said it was the redness and the bumps. I looked in the mirror and noticed that that side of my face was also missing, this exposed my missing teeth and gums as well as some muscles. At this point I said to y self, that’s enough. I woke up and my teeth on that side were very sore; I am certain I was grinding them.

Heath dream 3.26.2013

(any intrepertations welcome)

CareCare

Care is a word used to show a type of affection  or concern.  We tell people we care for them or we may even provide care for them, but what does it mean to care for someone.
There seem to be very few people who are not living for themselves.  Notice drivers,  notice yourself when you drive,  are they looking out for the benefit of other.  Just today I was cut off,  tailgated,  and flicked with cigerrate ashes.  I am guessing if each driver had my benefit in mind things would have been different. 
Let's try to live for others,  Jesus did.

12 Vainess

Well, I am at 12% body fat. It really isn't what I was hoping. 8?

the Office

My office

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There is therefore, now no conviction to those who are in Christ Jesus.... (did you notice this is a misquote?)

These are just some quotes from Leonard Ravenhill to think about.

The Church used to be a lifeboat rescuing the perishing. Now she is a cruise ship recruiting the promising.


Today Christians spend more money on dog food than missions.


If I was to ask you tonight if you were saved? Do you say 'Yes, I am saved'. When? 'Oh so and so preached, I got baptized and...' Are you saved? What are you saved from, hell? Are you saved from bitterness? Are you saved from lust? Are you saved from cheating? Are you saved from lying? Are you saved from bad manners? Are you saved from rebellion against your parents? Come on, what are you saved from?

Today's church wants to be raptured from responsibility.


How can you pull down strongholds of Satan if you don't even have the strength to turn off your TV?


Children can tell you what Channel 7 says, but not what Matthew 7 says.



Jesus did not come into the world to make bad men good. He came into the world to make dead men live!


The early church was married to poverty, prisons and persecutions. Today, the church is married to prosperity, personality, and popularity.


The church is supposed to do what? To stop corruption? Is the church doing that? No! The world is corrupting the church!


I wish, in America, (that) we were as concerned about separation from church and sin as we are about separation between church and state. Church and sin-- it's a monstrous problem.


I'm sick to death of the so-called Christianity of our day. What's supernatural about it? When do people come out of the sanctuary awed and can't speak for an hour because God has been in glory there? Dear God, as soon as they get out, they're talking football, or sports or something or there's going to be a big sale downtown or somewhere. We are not caught up into eternity!

What are you going to do when you get to eternity, if you can't stick in an hour with God down here? In God's name, what are you going to do in a million year s in God's presence? Expect some reports from earth about football or something?

Unsubstantiated Miracle Part 3 and 4

As I continued to get better...

Part 3

The third item I read was God’s Medicine by Hagin as well. It’s starts with this verse:

My son, attend to my words; Incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; Keep them in the midst of thy heart. For they are life unto those that find them, And health to all their flesh. “(Proverbs 4:20-22) Sometimes we have to unlearn things before we can learn the right things. Our minds have been clouded up and filed up with a lot of things which are not really so. Unless people are going to give you the Word of God on a subject, you can’t listen to what they say. Don’t let HIS words depart from before your eyes. The Bible says it. I believe it. That settles it! We have to get the word of God built into our spirits.  The bible says, “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. “

(Isaiah 53:5) “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning. “

(James 1:17) Christ is the healer. Satan is the oppressor. Jesus healed all who were oppressed by the Devil. “The thief cometh not, but that he may steal, and kill, and destroy: I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.”(John 10:10)

Part 4

Finally I picked up my copy of Bodily Healing and the Atonement by Dr. T. J. McCrossan; I had started this a couple years ago and never made it to the end. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to keep making life in these mortal bodies. Every sickness, disease, and deformity Christ cured while on Earth was the result of Satan’s work; and it is the same today. God is now constantly keeping life in our bodies. All Christians should expect God to heal their bodies today, because Christ died to atone for our sicknesses as well as for our sins. Christ is still preaching the gospel to the poor through his disciples. Christ is still healing the brokenhearted. Christ is still giving sight to the blind. Every miracle Christ performed while here in the flesh was performed by the power of the Spirit. We have the same spirit dwelling in us who raised Christ from the dead. Christ has redeemed us from the Curse of the law. All saints should expect God to heal their sickness today, because all sickness is the result of Satan’s work, when he introduced sin into this world, and Christ was manifested to destroy Satan’s works. Jesus came, died on the cross, rose again that He might destroy the works of the devil. He did. Christ died and rose to destroy the power of sickness. The very same faith which saves the soul, heals the body, and this faith is a gift of God. Every sick person does need a physician, and if he or she, for any reason, cannot exercise expectant faith in the promises of Christ, the Great Physician, then all such should send for a doctor. The joy of the Lord will be my strength.

So five days later I have a small tickle in my throat and a bit of a runny nose. Tomorrow I will be fine. It was time I needed to read and study the Word, to find answers to some questions, and to make up my mind not to get some quick anti-biotics when something goes wrong in my body. Of course I have no documentation to confirm any of this, but I did experience it.

Unsubstantiated Miracle Part 2

So as my self-diagnosed strep throat got better...

Part 2

Next I picked up  The Past Tense of God’s Word by Hagin. It’s a little booklet clearly explaining the things that God has done for us that we don’t need to strive for in our won strength. The gospel is a world-wide emancipation proclamation of liberty from service and bondage to the old tyrant master of sin and sickness the devil. We are free, but are we going to live it? Hope expects it sometime; faith takes it now! Everything that is in the past tense in the Word of God is God’s will for you. And I know that I am more than a conqueror in Christ. All of my needs are supplied according to his riches in glory. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: “(Galatians 3:13) Christ healed me in the past so I am healed today. “Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”(Mark 11:24)

So in many circumstances we do not visually see a change, we do not feel with our senses anything happening. Faith refuses to see anything contrary to what God’s word says. With the eyes of our spirit we can begin to behold supernatural, satisfying  lasting realities of God’s spiritual eternal kingdom. Faith is the evidence of things not seen; but it is evidence. God has already purchased healing. It’s our responsibility to accept it. God has already supplied all of our needs. It’s our responsibility to act like it is so. The devil has to run when he sees a Child of God who know who he is in Christ Jesus coming down the street, because he has already been defeated.

Unsubstantiated Miracle Part 1

Unsubstantiated Miracle

Part 1

On last Tuesday I noticed a bit of a scratch in my throat and thought it maybe was due to the house being a too dry or the woodstove letting off a little smoke. Well, it persisted on Wednesday and Thursday I found it a bit more irritating and I was becoming extremely tired at work. I took an Advil brand ibuprophen at work due to feeling achy. Friday morning I work up with a quite severely sore throat and aches all over my body. I gave work a call and told them “I was calling in”; I must’ve sounded pretty bad because the manager said, “sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well”. I didn’t tell him I wasn’t feeling well, but I wasn’t.

Using WebMD and my past experience I concluded that I did have strep throat, though I didn’t do a culture test. I had a severely red sore throat with all types of white spots and streaks in it. I had some post nasal drip, very achy bones and muscles, I’m sure at night I had fevers, but never did take my temperature. I felt generally weak. The first night I slept close to sixteen hours , and never any less than nine. Really I felt pretty miserable.

So I spent the next 4 days drinking tea with ginger and honey. I made some ginger, honey, xyilotal, lemon candy. I mixed up a apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, honey, and cayenne pepper drink once a day. Each day I took garlic, olive leaf, and apple cider vinegar tablets. On Friday and Saturday I also found some Naproxen Sodium that made eating much easier. We kept the house warm as well as keeping two humidifiers on. I’m sure all these measures were greatly appreciated by my body.

But I am also certain that my recovery was due to the fact that when I made a decision to not go to the doctor to be prescribed anti-biotics I picked up a few small books and my note book. I opened my notebook to the last page I had written on and scrawled on the top of the page was the quote “God’s word describes a reality.”

Starting with Kenneth Hagin’s Your Faith in God Will Work I read, By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear. (Hebrews 11:3) God had faith that his own words would come to pass. Jesus had faith that his own words would come to pass. I have faith that my own words will come to pass. And Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou taken up and cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that what he saith cometh to pass; he shall have it. (Mark 11:23) Every person born into the family of God has the same redemption. Consequently the same authority. Satan was conquered for me personally, who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love; in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins: (Colossians 1:13-14)

Christ’s redemption is personal. Christ’s redemption is an absolute redemption from the dominion of the devil. Satan does not have dominion over us. Satan has no right to rule us with sin, sickness, or anything else that belongs to him. With each passage and idea from the Kingdom of God I could actually feel my faith growing in me and the infection waning.

“Having despoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. “(Colossians 2:15) Jesus stripped Satan of his authority over man. “Ye are of God, my little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) You and I have overcome the devil. In Christ, I conquered Satan, I stripped him of his authority and when Jesus arose from the dead, I arose with him! Phrases and verses like these I repeated until I felt they were getting into me, into my brain, into my soul, connecting with my spirit.

And you did he make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins, wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience; among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest: - but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved), and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus:

(Ephesians 2:1-6)

1 John 5:12 says, “ He that has the son has life.” I have the son so I have life. I have God’s ability, because I have God’s nature. I have dwelling in me the same great, mighty, wonderful Spirit that raised Jesus from the Dead. John 4:4 says, Greater is he who is in me that He who is in the world. “Him who knew no sin he made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in him. “(2 Corinthians 5:21) I am the righteousness of God. No one has any better standing with God than me. There is no reason I shouldn’t expect great things from God. I’m a new creature in Christ Jesus. I am a child of God. I am an heir of God. I am a joint-heir with Christ. I am the righteousness of God. No one has a better right to the name of Jesus than I do. Jesus declares that whatever I ask in His name, He will give it to me. The healing power of God is working in me. My faith in God works. In Christ I have overcome the Devil. In Christ I can stand in the father’s presence as though I had never committed a sin. With Christ I am joint heir to all of Heaven’s blessings and provisions. No one has a better right to use the name of Jesus than I do. When I exercise my faith in God, according to his word, I receive the results his word promises. My faith in God works.

Vainness like last year

So were now 18 days into P90X and 14 days into phase one of the Doug Kaufman diet. I've lost nearly 14 lbs and assume there are some muscles under my skin somewhere. On last check my body fat percent was 14%; the plan is to get it down to 8%. then I assume I will look like Justin Hartley.

Heroism happens when you make it happen

For the longest time I was watching Smallville. Not necessarily because it was  wonderfully written or amazing acted but perhaps because it is a coming of age story and more so that is is a story where so many people depend on a hero.

Truth be told we are all continuing a coming of age story daily. Though some of us believe we have arrived at what we call "adulthood" and no longer look to the moment when we will arrive. Daily I learn, change, grow, make decisions that not only vitally effect my life, but the lives of not quite countless (but they would be hard to count) others. There are so many moments where my decisions either make or break peoples motivation, aspiration, sometimes survival. I choose to not believe that acts are random or coincidental  but almost every moment happens for a reason; if not for a reason to an effect. 

Throughout my years of interacting with people with the goal of helping them in some form or another, there are often times where I see no positive effect. I, however, know that everyone needs a hero. I also know that that hero ultimately is Jesus Christ. If I can be the moment of hope for one person that is what I will do. I don't shoot burning fire from my eyes, but I do shoot the fiery love of God into peoples hearts. It only takes a moment.

Yesterday I was visited by a young man who I first met when he was fifteen years old. He was disrespectful to adults, dangerous to his peers, and unpredictable. There were times where I had to encourage him to not cuss out a peer, not ambush another with a lead pipe, or stop choking his girlfriend. Now he is 20. He told me simply that he wouldn't have made it (life) without me. He showed me his autobiography put to music on YouTube  It is not a nice story, not a pretty but it is his story of survival and keeping on. His Autobiography is actually pretty awful. But truth is he is here. I am not saying I saved him; I am saying I cared for him, never gave up on him, and prayed for him.

Thinking of where I grew up in China Twp., spending most of my childhood playing in the woods or working at the restaurant I can only think that I could have ended up anywhere, but where I am today.

A quote from Smallville's Braniac: "A hero is made in the moment, not from questioning the past or fearing what's to come."

Cigerrates and coffee

We were talking the other day about coffee, how people are offering others to get them a coffee while they are out. For a ling time coffee had crated an atmosphere of community with cafes an coffee houses.

But it appears that over the past couple years there has been a rise in both coffe drinkers and coffee accessibility. There Is a possiblity of a corrospondance between the outlawing of smoking in public places and this rise inn coffee.

I personable know several people who have either began drinking coffee or greatly increased their coffee consumption since this law passed in Michigan. Perhaps it is an exchange in a way of coping, perhaps it is a way of crating a healthier society, perhaps it is a way for the economy to make up loss sales in cigerattes. Wheezed the CSS is there seems to be some correspondence between a 6.00 pack of cigerates and a 6.00 cup of coffee.