Freedom

In "faithfulness in prayer" and in "true love" - if you truly love God above all - there is a point at which you must be willing to let go of everything else completely. I believe I am there. I am letting it be. I am letting it go. I am laying it down. I am free!

I will continue to be faithful in prayer
I will continue to hope
I will continue to dream
I will continue to feel the way I do (I can't imagine that changing)

HOWEVER...

I am laying down my hope
I am laying down my dreams
I am laying down my feelings

Dimensions

How high and how wide?
How deep and how long?
How sweet and how strong is your Love?
How lavish your grace?
How faithful your ways?
How great is your Love, Oh LORD?!

You know. I love my prayer life. It is vibrant and I can hear God clearly and no one but He and I know how much time I spend alone with Him! However, there has been an intensity to the last two weeks of prayer that we have not had to have in quite a while. God is purging my heart to another level. He is drawing me in even deeper and I love it!!!

In the midst of one of the most emotionally draining and painful times in my life, I have a peace and a joy that makes ABSOLUTELY NO SENSE! Oh, I still have times of prayer where I am crying so hard that my ribs and abs are fatigued from convulsing with tears and writhing in pain, but it is all OK. I know it may sound weird, but it is fun to be in pain on behalf of someone you love. It is an honor. God has been using this situation to take me to new levels of trust, faith and love. I am receiving His love more than ever before. He's always been trying to give me more, but now God has been able to open my heart more and I can accept it more now than I could have ever before. I am so thankful!

Just in the last 3 days, God has done so much SIGNIFICANT stuff in my soul, that it took me about 45 minutes to tell Chris about it tonight. His love is so gentle. He has never forced Himself upon me, but He is always there, ready to give me more. His love is so strong, that I cannot receive it all. It is so strong that it shows me how unworthy I am and I want to be more like Him. It is so strong that I know that my unworthiness doesn't cross His mind. The more I receive it, the more it can flow out of me. I am so humbled by how Good God is to me and all I can do is stand here and cry and say, "Thank you Jesus!"

Can Pain Be Fun?

OK, I know this may sound a little masochistic, but it really isn't! At least not in the normal connotation of the word. There is nothing sexual about this!

God has allowed me to come to a place and a season where doing what He wants me to do, hurts. I don't just mean emotional pain, I mean emotional pain to the point where I am having physical pain. I am REALLY digging "in there" in prayer. I am praying for strength to do what He wants me to do. I am praying for the desire to do what He wants me to do. I am praying for some deliverance from my emotions. I am praying for the woman I am in love with. I am praying for my future wife. I am praying for my brother. I am praying for his wife. I am praying for everyone that I love. Man, am I praying!!!

Anyway, I am actually very thankful that I am in this place. I am having to give up something that I don't want to give up. I am doing it out of my love for the LORD. I believe that God will eventually bring it back to me, but even if He doesn't, I am so grateful that He allowed me to be in the place I am now. I was in a place last summer (2005) where I had all but given up on a HUGE desire of my heart. God allowed me to meet some people and my hope has been rekindled. It is not specific hope, but my hope in the desire has been rekindled. (I don't know how much sense that makes with me being so vague...) My hope isn't in a person or a situation, but the people that I met showed me that I was premature to give up on the hope for my desire to be fulfilled. (OK, I don't know if that cleared it up AT ALL)

ANYWAY.... The pain that I am feeling now, I can only view as a good thing! I know God is working it for my good! I know that hardship is to be viewed as discipline and that discipline is a PROOF of God's love for me! I know that I am going to grow closer to God and more like God through this! Does it hurt? Oh yeah!!!! It is excruciating beyond anything I have ever experienced! I don't recall EVER crying this much or this often. I feel like a "sissy man!" BUT, even in that, I can see God's love. I can feel God's peace. I'm OK :)

The BLESSING of trials

I am now thoroughly convinced that trials are a blessing from the LORD

WHY?!

Well, you find some interesting things about yourself when you go through trials. You can say all sorts of things about yourself, but you never completely know the state of your soul until you go through something VERY difficult. The Bible mentions, in several places, (and I know I'm butchering these quotes) things like "a man's heart is judged by the praise he receives" (Proverbs 27), "the inclinations of a man's heart are evil from childhood" (Genesis 8) and "The LORD looks at the heart when judging the actions of men" (Jeremiah 11:20 & 17:10) and "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45) --> I have found out some things about my heart that are disturbing (like how emotional I still am) and also some very good things (like the fact that I am not going to be moved by those strong emotions - I am going to move in love). I need God to help me, because I can't change the "bad stuff" by myself. He needs to allow these situations so that I can recognize, confess and pray against the foolishness that is still in my heart. I want to love those whom He has called me to love in the same way He has loved me: which is so gentle, yet strong that I can't even receive it all and I KNOW I don't deserve it!

Hebrews 12:7-14 says:
"7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 "Make level paths for your feet," so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. 14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord."

God is trying to get it through our heads that trials are a GOOD thing. In fact, they are a GIFT!!!! They are a sign to us that He loves us!
*** He is helping us to attain the goal of our faith which is the salvation of our souls. (I Peter 1)
*** He is wanting us to share in his holiness (v.10) - why does He want us to share in His holiness? Because He wants us to be able to see Him!!! (v.14).
*** "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful..." - that seems like such a "DUH!!!!" statement, but God is communicating that HE KNOWS THAT!!! He's not ignoring the fact that it hurts, He is saying that we should look beyond the pain to the goal and the "harvest" that we will reap: Righteousness and Peace - Keep in mind that the Kingdom of God is Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit! (Romans 14). God wants us to experience the Kingdom!

This is awesome to me! :) There aren't a whole lot of specifics in the New Testament, but every one that I can think of is about how to THINK.

My Father, help us to think the way you want us to, and be focused in the way you would have us be. As we obey, You promised that you would change us "...to will and to act according to [Your] good purpose." (Philippians 2) Thank you that you have begun this work in me (and us) and You are going to be faithful to complete it! I want to be like you LORD!!!!!

Receive the Love of God!!!

I'm posting this, because in order to really love God you have to receive His love first! I wrote this in October of 2005:

Receive the Love of God

On August 23^rd, 2005, about 3 AM I was driving on highway 295 in New Jersey, coming back from visiting my brother Chris Lee and his gorgeous wife Hyo Chin (Kim) and their ridiculously beautiful daughter Alyssa when God spoke to me and began to show me who I am to another level.

Let me back up, Chris and I met at VCU in the spring of 1999, just walking through the commons. We never really got together until the next spring, as we both had busied ourselves with campus activities. Chris was in a fraternity and the Black Awakening Choir (a gospel group). I was in the leadership of Chi Alpha (a campus ministry), the Wednesday Bible Study that ReJOYce in Jesus sponsored, and I was the Vice President of COUP (Christians Ordained to Unite for Progress), which was made up of leaders from the different campus ministries. Well, in the spring of 2000, Chris and I met again (after ridding ourselves of our busyness) and at once, we knew that we were going to be good friends. We spent a lot of time with each other, praying, talking about the Word and what God was showing us about ourselves, confessing our faults, eating together, and witnessing, you know – fellowship. We became so close that in March, I got Chris signed up to be my roommate in the dorms the next year. We had gone past a threshold of relationship where we ceased to be friends and we became brothers. That summer, Chris went to work at a summer camp in North Carolina and I went to be a missionary and to be discipled by Stuart Royall in Creighton Court.

By the end of the summer, I had found out that God didn't want me to go back to school in the fall. I wasn't confident in my ability to hear his voice yet, so He had to show me through financial circumstance. I got the message. I was going all out for Jesus. I had given up everything else during the summer – all of my possessions, my friends, and my family. This was the only thing that I had not given up to follow the LORD. Now God wanted it all. I had a very hard time with this because, back at VCU, in the Gladding Residence Center, in Apartment 439, I had security. I had been staying there for just over 3 semesters and in my roommates, Adolph, Josh and Ricardo (and in the fall, Chris) I had finally felt like I was living in a place where I KNEW that I was loved. God wanted me to give that up. He wanted me to get my sense of security from Him. My possessions, my friends, and my family were not that hard to give up. Most of my friends were gone for the summer anyway and neither my possessions, nor my family meant much of anything to me. God was now asking me to give up something that I held very dear to my heart. I was broken-hearted. I cried hard for two days, because growing up in the unstable, hostile environment that I did, I had never felt like I had a home – until GRC 439. I love God more than my own security, so I obeyed and stayed in Creighton Court.

God has repeatedly shown me that this was the right decision; I needed to be spiritually fathered – to be discipled. God helped me out that fall (as my emotions were still hurting) and showed Chris how much I had grown spiritually and he wanted to grow closer to God too, so he started coming down to Creighton Court too. He was at 6:30 AM prayer almost every day and by the next February, he was living and ministering and being discipled in Creighton Court too!

Chris and I were together whenever possible until October of 2002 when he left Richmond to go to Air Force Basic Military Training in San Antonio, Texas. Over the last three years, we have only grown closer. I drove down with his father to San Antonio to see Chris graduate, and the three of us ate Thanksgiving dinner at Golden Corral. When he met Kim, he asked me to come up to New Jersey (where he is stationed) to meet her. Though it was unspoken, he was seeking my approval of his choice of wife. And when I am in that situation, Chris and Kim will meet her first and they will have "veto power."

I went up in August of 2003 and spent a week (three days in a hotel and four with Chris due to a lack of hotel vacancies). Chris and I had many times, during the course of our relationship, in which we talked and prayed about our desires and preferences for future wives and what they would be like. When I met Kim, we didn't have much time to talk, because she was half asleep (I arrived at about 3:30 AM and she drove Chris out of the base to meet me). The next night, I went to shoot pool with Kim and one of her friends, but that didn't allow us much dialogue time, so I really couldn't give Chris any feedback other than "She's gorgeous, Chris." Luckily, after the hotel kicked me out in favor of someone who had reservations, I stayed with Chris and she came by one day while he was at work and brought us some groceries. While she was there, we sat in the kitchen and talked for a good five hours. As the conversation went along, I became more and more convinced that God made this woman to be Chris' wife. It was amazing how God had gone above and beyond everything Chris and I had prayed about, and added some awesome qualities to her that we hadn't thought to pray for. The goodness of God was clearly manifest to me in Kim. The first thing I did when Chris came home from work was give him a hug and say, "God is the bomb, bro! I have no doubts."

I did not see them again until March of 2005, Chris was going to be deployed to the Middle East and he wanted to come down to see me before he left. He actually made the family circuit. He saw his dad in Norfolk, then he came to see me in Richmond, and then he went to see his mom and sister in Washington, DC. I met his daughter and got to spend time with them as a married couple, which was awesome. Then we talked about how we all have a desire to raise our children together, and Chris was glad Kim got to see Richmond, so that God could work it in her heart to want to come too. By the end of their weekend in Richmond, Kim wanted to move to Richmond too. When Chris gets out of the military, they are going to move here.

In the first week of May, Chris was deployed and he was supposed to be gone for 120 days, but God brought him home after 60. That is another story. During his deployment, Kim and I spoke frequently and usually for long periods of time. God has, throughout the course of our relationship, used Kim as an encouragement to me. I believe the three greatest callings a man can have are (in this order) to know God, to be a husband, and to be a father. I have a great desire for all three of these. I am straining to be in a place where, in my soul, I am focusing solely on the first. My faith tells me that the reason I do not have to focus on the other two, right now, is because God is allowing me to focus on the first and I want to do that. That, truly, is my greatest joy. I am excited about my relationship with the LORD and I would not compromise that for anything. I believe God has made me to desire a wife and children, because I believe I am called to all of the three callings I mentioned before. Where I can go off is, my heart can VERY easily slip into wanting the lesser two too much. When this happens, my attention shifts from God to my present circumstances. This is understandable considering the fact that I desired to have a wife and children for 9 years before I really desired to know God. Since I have met Kim, she has been the woman that I can point to and tell my soul, "Look what God does for you when you trust Him!" Every time I talk to her, God ministers to me. When I hear of the way she feels about Chris, the way she trusts him, and the commitment she has to him and to God, I am so blessed. It makes my week, every time, because I see how perfect God's gifts are. All Chris had to do was wait for the right time and trust that God's timing was best.

In late August of 2005, I am driving back from seeing them again and God shows me, through memories, how I was made for intimacy. I am one of those people who doesn't get tired of people I am close to. I want to be around people I love, because then I get to show my love and share my life. I was crying as I was driving because I had just experienced 4 days of that with Chris, Kim and Alyssa. It was great, but it was over. I had to drive back to Richmond, and resume my single life.

Suddenly, I was lonely. I hadn't even gotten on the highway yet! Because of my being made like I was, I didn't like being alone if closeness wasn't clearly visible after a relatively short amount of time. I was okay being alone at VCU because I was going to pray with Josh and/or Adolph that night. I was fine with being alone in Creighton Court because at least once a week Stuart and I would get to hang out, or Chris was around and we could hang out at the end of the day. God began stripping me of these things, as God was requiring more time of me in prayer. I would neglect prayer to be with people I love and God wasn't going to continue letting me get away with that. My prayer life had grown to four hours alone with God every day. During my stay with Chris and Kim and Alyssa, I had not been able to spend that amount of time with Him. God was allowing me that time to catch up and spend with my family (if we saw each other more, we would never allow each other to get away with not praying). I was driving back home, and back to my everyday life, and I was crying. Why? Somewhere deep inside of my soul, I was saying that I preferred to be loved in the natural, where I can see it – where I can feel the hugs. I was saying that this was better than the love of God. I was saying that the love of God is not enough for me.

The truth is that God's love is enough for me and it is much better than any love that we can experience apart from Him. I have in my lifetime broken all 10 of the Commandments: I have not put God first in my life and had other gods before Him (football, money, TV, etc.), making me an idolater I have used His name as a cuss word, making me a blasphemer. I have neglected the things of God (not keeping the Sabbath holy). I have dishonored my parents. I have not physically killed anyone, but I have hated people (like Saddam Hussein, or the guy that tackled Bo Jackson for the last time) and the Bible says that hatred IS murder, thus making me a murderer. I have committed adultery, but even if I hadn't, I have looked upon a woman with lust and Jesus said that, by doing that, I had already committed adultery in my heart, which makes me an adulterer. I have stolen things, making me a thief. I have told a lie and that makes me a liar, no matter whether or not it hurt anyone. I have desired something that belonged to someone else, making me envious. I've broken the law over and over again. I knew it every time I did, too. I can't say I didn't because I had a conscience to tell me. I deserved to go to hell. I had earned my place there by being such a bad person. Knowing how bad of a person I was, God extended his love for me. I John 4:10 defines love, "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." On top of this, I know that God's love was so extensive that He has been trying to give it to me since the foundation of the earth (Psalm 78:2, Matthew 13:35, Matthew 25:34, John 17:24, Romans 1:20, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 4:4, Hebrew 9:26, and I Peter 1:20). If God is this passionate about loving me, how in the world could I even think to say it is not enough? The problem is not with God or the sufficiency of His love. The problem was with me.

I tried to figure out what my problem was for about a week. I was wrestling with this thing because I don't want anything in my to hinder my relationship with God. Don Coleman, my spiritual Grandfather – I call him that because he discipled Stuart, who discipled me - was speaking at Mechanicsville Christian Center on August 30^th and the subject of what he shared was that God was showing him that he needed to receive God's love to another level. As soon as I heard it, I said, "That's what God has been trying to say!" I heard it I just couldn't verbalize it.

Since God gave me utterance to what I was going through, (through Grandpa's testimony) I have gone through an interesting process. I asked God to help me receive His love to another level. I knew that this would involve cleaning out the things in my heart that cause me to not receive His love. God began to show me some junk that was in my heart. I felt like God was teasing me because when He provided for me financially, because it was "just enough" and not "abundance" and because I feel like I am incomplete. When I met Stuart and Grandpa and Chris I knew that God had shown me pieces of myself that I had been missing. I believe I am called to be a husband and a father, and to some extent, I feel like God is keeping me from being complete without them. I can't be either of those things without a wife or children and God has not brought them to me yet. The truth is that God has given me more and more in terms of finances as I have become more faithful with what I have. Also, God has constantly shown me that the call to know Him is much higher than marriage or fatherhood. Plus, He has proven to be faithful, time and again, by giving me what I need - exactly when I need it.

So, knowing the truth, I became very upset with myself for feeling that way. I actually went into a funk for about two weeks because I knew that I had that mess in my heart. During this time, God was trying to get my attention and speak peace to my heart, but I was prideful and decided that I had a right to be upset that I did not fully love God. I was accusing Him of toying with me and that line of thinking is satanic. The devil is the father of lies (John 8:44) and Satan means "accuser" (Zechariah 3:1) and he is called the accuser of our brothers" (Revelation 12:10). God led me reread the definition of love in I John 4:10 and I began to read the context and I saw it clearly said - three times - that love comes from God (one time in those words). He was showing me that it was perfectly natural for me to not be able to completely love Him right away. I have to receive his love before I can give it back. Then He brought to my remembrance II Corinthians 4:18, which is actually the first scripture I ever memorized, in which the LORD says, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." God does not want me to focus on the ways that I am not receiving His love. He wants me to be aware of them and play my part in ridding my soul of them, but the changing part is His (Philippians 2:12-13). Rather, God wants me to renew my mind and not be conformed to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2). He wants my mind focused on what is unseen (II Corinthians 4:18). I am to fix my eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith (Hebrews 12:2). He wants me to press on to take hold of what He died for me to have; to forget what is behind me (good and bad) and strain toward what is ahead, the prize for which He has called me Heavenward. He wants me to do this according to the level I have received. If I am focused on earthly things, I am living as an enemy of the cross of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:12-19) The LORD wants me to rejoice in Him always and not be anxious about anything, but in every situation present my requests to God through prayer and petition with thanksgiving. In doing this, God will set His peace like a sentry, guarding my heart and mind. God wants me to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. He wants me to put into practice whatever I have seen in Men of God (including the Apostle Paul), and what I have learned and received from them or been taught by them. (Philippians 4:4-9) When I am in humble circumstances, God wants me to focus on my high position in Christ. When I am rich, he wants me to focus on my low position because all that is "good" about me is fading quickly (James 1:9-10). I am to be obedient to do what I know God wants me to do, and His promise is that He will change me to will and to act according to His good purpose (Philippians 2:12-13). Christ who has begun a good work in me will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

His love is the constant.

I must receive it!

Receiving the love of God is my greatest job, want and need.

Do you REALLY love God?

I tell you what, this brother, Oswald Chambers heard from the LORD in this jahnke:

February 21

Do You Really Love Him?

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She has done a good work for Me
—Mark 14:6

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If what we call love doesn't take us beyond ourselves, it is not really love. If we have the idea that love is characterized as cautious, wise, sensible, shrewd, and never taken to extremes, we have missed the true meaning. This may describe affection and it may bring us a warm feeling, but it is not a true and accurate description of love.

Have you ever been driven to do something for God not because you felt that it was useful or your duty to do so, or that there was anything in it for you, but simply because you love Him? Have you ever realized that you can give things to God that are of value to Him? Or are you just sitting around daydreaming about the greatness of His redemption, while neglecting all the things you could be doing for Him? I'm not referring to works which could be regarded as divine and miraculous, but ordinary, simple human things— things which would be evidence to God that you are totally surrendered to Him. Have you ever created what Mary of Bethany created in the heart of the Lord Jesus? "She has done a good work for Me."

There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him even small gifts of surrender, just to show how genuine our love is for Him. To be surrendered to God is of more value than our personal holiness. Concern over our personal holiness causes us to focus our eyes on ourselves, and we become overly concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, out of fear of offending God. ". . . but perfect love casts out fear . . ." once we are surrendered to God ( 1 John 4:18 ). We should quit asking ourselves, "Am I of any use?" and accept the truth that we really are not of much use to Him. The issue is never of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself. Once we are totally surrendered to God, He will work through us all the time.

P.S. - Janke is a pronoun that is useable for any impersonal noun

Scientific Facts in the Bible

1. Only in recent years has science discovered that everything we see is composed of invisible atoms. Here, Scripture tells us that the "things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."

2. Medical science has only recently discovered that blood-clotting in a newborn reaches its peak on the eighth day, then drops. The Bible consistently says that a baby must be circumcised on the eighth day.

3. At a time when it was believed that the earth sat on a large animal or a giant (1500 B.C.), the Bible spoke of the earth's free float in space: "He...hangs the earth upon nothing" (Job 26:7).

4. The prophet Isaiah also tells us that the earth is round: "It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22). This is not a reference to a flat disk, as some skeptic maintain, but to a sphere. Secular man discovered this 2,400 years later. At a time when science believed that the earth was flat, is was the Scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world (see Proverbs 3:6 footnote).

5. God told Job in 1500 B.C.: "Can you send lightnings, that they may go, and say to you, Here we are?" (Job 38:35). The Bible here is making what appears to be a scientifically ludicrous statement—that light can be sent, and then manifest itself in speech. But did you know that radio waves travel at the speed of light? This is why you can have instantaneous wireless communication with someone on the other side of the earth. Science didn't discover this until 1864 when "British scientist James Clerk Maxwell suggested that electricity and light waves were two forms of the same thing" (Modern Century Illustrated Encyclopedia).

6. Job 38:19 asks, "Where is the way where light dwells?" Modern man has only recently discovered that light (electromagnetic radiation) has a "way," traveling at 186,000 miles per second.

7. Science has discovered that stars emit radio waves, which are received on earth as a high pitch. God mentioned this in Job 38:7: "When the morning stars sang together..."

8. "Most cosmologists (scientists who study the structures and evolution of the universe) agree that the Genesis account of creation, in imagining an initial void, may be uncannily close to the truth" (Time, Dec. 1976).

9. Solomon described a "cycle" of air currents two thousand years before scientists "discovered" them. "The wind goes toward the south, and turns about unto the north; it whirls about continually, and the wind returns again according to his circuits" (Ecclesiastes 1:6).

10. Science expresses the universe in five terms: time, space, matter, power, and motion. Genesis 1:1,2 revealed such truths to the Hebrews in 1450 B.C.: "In the beginning [time] God created [power] the heaven [space] and the earth [matter] . . . And the Spirit of God moved [motion] upon the face of the waters." The first thing God tells man is that He controls of all aspects of the universe.

11. The great biological truth concerning the importance of blood in our body's mechanism has been fully comprehended only in recent years. Up until 120 years ago, sick people were "bled," and many died because of the practice. If you lose your blood, you lose your life. Yet Leviticus 17:11, written 3,000 years ago, declared that blood is the source of life: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood."

12. All things were made by Him (see John 1:3), including dinosaurs. Why then did the dinosaur disappear? The answer may be in Job 40:15–24. In this passage, God speaks about a great creature called "behemoth." Some commentators think this was a hippopotamus. However, the hippo's tail isn't like a large tree, but a small twig. Following are the characteristics of this huge animal: It was the largest of all the creatures God made; was plant-eating (herbivorous); had its strength in its hips and a tail like a large tree. It had very strong bones, lived among the trees, drank massive amounts of water, and was not disturbed by a raging river. He appears impervious to attack because his nose could pierce through snares, but Scripture says, "He that made him can make his sword to approach unto him." In other words, God caused this, the largest of all the creatures He had made, to become extinct.

13. Encyclopedia Britannica documents that in 1845, a young doctor in Vienna named Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis was horrified at the terrible death rate of women who gave birth in hospitals. As many as 30 percent died after giving birth. Semmelweis noted that doctors would examine the bodies of patients who died, then, without washing their hands, go straight to the next ward and examine expectant mothers. This was their normal practice, because the presence of microscopic diseases was unknown. Semmelweis insisted that doctors wash their hands before examinations, and the death rate immediately dropped to 2 percent. Look at the specific instructions God gave His people for when they encounter disease: "And when he that has an issue is cleansed of his issue; then he shall number to himself even days for his cleansing, and wash his clothes, and bathe his flesh in running water, and shall be clean" (Leviticus 15:13). Until recent years, doctors washed their hands in a bowl of water, leaving invisible germs on their hands. However, the Bible says specifically to wash hands under "running water."

14. Luke 17:34–36 says the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will occur while some are asleep at night and others are working at daytime activities in the field. This is a clear indication of a revolving earth, with day and night at the same time.

15. "During the devastating Black Death of the fourteenth century, patients who were sick or dead were kept in the same rooms as the rest of the family. People often wondered why the disease was affecting so many people at one time. They attributed these epidemics to 'bad air' or 'evil spirits.' However, careful attention to the medical commands of God as revealed in Leviticus would have saved untold millions of lives. Arturo Castiglione wrote about the overwhelming importance of this biblical medical law: 'The laws against leprosy in Leviticus 13 may be regarded as the first model of sanitary legislation' (A History of Medicine)." Grant R. Jeffery, The Signature of God With all these truths revealed in Scripture,how could a thinking person deny that the Bible is supernatural in origin? There is no other book in any of the world's religions (Vedas, Bhagavad-Gita, Koran, Book of Mormon, etc.) that contains scientific truth. In fact, they contain statements that are clearly unscientific. Hank Hanegraaff said, "Faith in Christ is not some blind leap into a dark chasm, but a faith based on established evidence."

From "The Evidence Bible" at Hebrews 11:3

tired doesn't BEGIN to cover it.....

This past week has been very encouraging, very tiring and very scary. Encouraging because God has already honored my faith in this season of my life. Tiring because I have driven about 1300 miles in the last 5 days. Scary because I am moving out in faith and God isn't telling me what is going to happen... He just said, "Go" so I'm going.

As most of ya'll know, I am now a resident of Marietta, GA (where, apparently, "everything is betta" - according to an advertising slogan I heard). Getting from last Sunday to this Sunday was pretty serious:

My brother Chris and I had been talking for a couple of weeks about how we really wanted to see each other before I moved. Last Sunday I was talking about it with him again and looking at the resources God has given me to steward. I said, "Bro, if I can make $700 by Wednesday, I will come up there. If I can't, then I just won't be able to spend that money (for the trip) in faith." Meaning of course that I was putting my faith out there that God would allow me to make that amount and I could "justify" spending $100 for a two day trip to New Jersey.

Well, in the afternoon on Sunday, a sister blessed me with $150. I was REALLY encouraged! Then, Monday, I got an email from a guy who had been in a couple of classes with me at VCU. He wanted to get massage lessons from me, so that he could bless his mother and friends with good massages. We made plans to get together on Tuesday for the first 3 hours of the 6 that it takes for me to teach the full-body routine. Then I went to a massage appointment I had for that night. It was a 90 minute massage (that actually ran closer to two hours) and the client almost tripled what she would have been charged, as a gift to me (she "owed" me $110 and she gave me $300). Long story short (kinda): God came through with more money than I'd asked for and that allowed me to go up to New Jersey on Wednesday night. I left to come back to Richmond on Friday night and got in on Saturday morning. Saturday, I had to teach the other three hours of lessons and I saw a few more friends and said good-bye. I said good-bye to my sister and I drove down to ATL. I got here about 8:45 AM and service at the Father's House begins at 10, so I just went straight there. Service went until about 2 and then they had a reception/birthday party for Bishop Boone (58 today). SO, I got to Marietta about 3:30PM and I shopped the prices for hotels for a little while until I decided on La Quinta.

SOOOOOO, by faith, I have travelled back and forth to New Jersey and I moved to Atlanta, knowing nothing except that God wants me to go to Chiropractic school at Life University. 5 days and 1300 miles later, I am sitting here exhausted, getting ready to go to bed. La Quinta is my home until next Sunday. I wonder what will happen this week? I'm going to get some stuff done tomorrow and start looking for a job and a place to live on a more permanent basis. :)

Agape,
Joe

"Save Gomer!"

Israel and the End of Days

OK, by "End of Days" I'm not talking about the movie where California's Governor is taking on the devil!

The world is going to come to an end. Do we know when? NO! The "signs of the times" we are seeing, were said to be just the "beginning of birth pains." (Matthew 24 & Mark 13) You never know, but we do know that it will come when people don't expect it - even with the "signs." What is the point? BE READY!!!!!!!!

This is an excerpt from Newsweek:

Are These the End Times?

The coauthor of the popular Left Behind series explains why he believes Christ will return in our lifetimes.

By Brian Braiker

Newsweek

Updated: 8:37 p.m. MT July 28, 2006

.. language=JavaScript> function UpdateTimeStamp(pdt) { var n = document.getElementById("udtD"); if(pdt != '' && n && window.DateTime) { var dt = new DateTime(); pdt = dt.T2D(pdt); if(dt.GetTZ(pdt)) {n... = dt.D2S(pdt,((''.toLowerCase()=='false')?false:true));} } } UpdateTimeStamp('632897374664670000'); ..> July 28, 2006 - When Tim LaHaye talks, the faithful listenby the millions. The conservative Protestant minister is the coauthor of the wildly popular apocalyptic Left Behind novels. The controversial books, which have sold more than 60 million copies, depict the biblical end of the world: the Christian eschatology of the upheaval that precedes the second coming of Jesus Christ, known also as end times. LaHaye recently spoke with NEWSWEEKs Brian Braiker about why he believes the events currently unfolding in the Middle East reflect biblical prophesy. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: How do you interpret whats happening in the Middle East? Are you seeing signs that these are the end of days?

Tim LaHaye: Biblically speaking, the very nations that are mentioned in prophecyand have been mentioned for 2,500 years as occupying the focus of the tension of the last daysare the very nations that are involved in the conflict right now. That may be one of the reasons theres a sudden interest in bible prophecy because all of a sudden they realize end-time events could possibly take place and break forth right now.

But first-century Christians believed that the end of the world could come during their lifetime.

We call it the belief in the imminent return of Christ. Its a motivational factor to serve the Lord and not let the world be so much with us that we dont serve the Lord in the spiritual environment.

Couldn't almost anything then be taken as a clue that any point in history might be the end times?

Down through the years thats true. But never the accumulation of events as we have today. I have often said that no one knows the day nor the hour that Christ will come, but no generation has had so many signs of the times as our generation. We have more reason to believe that Christ could come in our lifetime than any generation before us.

You mentioned biblical prophecy. Im not the student nor the scholar that you are

Well, Im not the journalist that you are.

[Laughs.] But my understanding is that current biblical scholarship reads some of the apocalyptic scenes in the Bible as metaphorically addressing events that were taking place as the Bible was being written.

These are usually liberal theologians that dont believe the Bible literally.

So the Revelation should not be interpreted, for example, as a polemic against Rome?

Thats what they say. We believe that the Bible should be understood literally whenever possible. The next big event is the second coming of Christ. Thats preceded by a number of signs. And some of those signs could be stage-setting right now. Theyre not going to come out of nowhere. For example, the Bible predicts when the antichrist comes and sits at his kingdom after the Rapture, hes going to have one world economy and one world government and one world religion. Were already moving rapidly in the direction of those very things.

Really? It seems were a ways off from one world religion.

Thats the least developed, but there are many particularly liberal theologians that just think that "Oh, if we could just get everybody together of all beliefs ..." If you dont have a strong belief system, youre willing to compromise your beliefs with other religions.

Youve written about the threat of secular humanism.

Part of the opposition to our position is from the secular humanists, but part of it is from the liberal people of theology that reject the Bible. I dont see a great deal of difference between them. Their basic conclusions are often the same.

Youve also written that millions of unbelievers will be saved during the terrible time of the Tribulation'. What do you mean by that?

I take that from Revelation, chapter 7. One of the things thats going to happen after the Tribulation, after the church is gone, therell be no one here to witness the faith in Christ. So the Lord raises up 144,000 Jewish witnesses and he names the tribes that they come from. The result of those witnesses is they reach a multitude of souls that receive Christ.

Does this explain how living right with God, in a Christian sense, would entail supporting the Israeli state right now?

I think those two things are related. Christians who take the Bible literally are generally supportive of Israel because God promises to bless those nations that are a blessing to Israel and curse those nations that are not. And the history of America bears that out.

But is it accurate to equate the state of Israel, which is a geopolitical entity, with all Jewish people around the world, who far outnumber the people actually in Israel?

No, thats just a third of the number of Jews in the world.

So believers in the Rapture dont necessarily foresee a damnation of the Jews then?

No, we dont believe in the damnation of people in ethnic groups. We believe thats an individual decision. Now, it often follows in people groups. Take the Muslims that weve been talking about. Everybody knows that they do not accept Jesus Christ as a means of salvation from sin. Thats the only way you can be saved, is to call on the name of the Lord. Theyre not about to do that.

Neither are Jews.

Correct. But during the Tribulation period, therell be a sea change, and many Jews will accept Christ. Not all. Again, its an individual decision.

You recently donated a whole lot of money for a hockey rink at Liberty University. If these are the end times, why make an investment like that?

[Laughs.] My strategy is that Canada and Northern America produces the bulk of hockey players. We use the ice rink to get the hockey players to come to Liberty University where many of them are exposed to accept Christ. Many of them come because they are Christians. They are challenged to go into the ministry, and weve already had some of the guys in the earlier classes that graduated, and theyre going home to Canada to start churches.

Proselytism with a hockey puck?

Evangelism with a hockey puck would be better.

But if the end times are indeed near, why would there be any point in working toward fostering peace?

Right now the Church of Jesus Christ is busy in the spiritual vein of trying to win people to Christ. Were concerned about the salvation of individual souls. This whole thing has heightened the spirit of evangelism. Wars have always done that. But never have we had a war that is so specifically following the pattern of the scripture.

Michael Standaert is a critic of yours who has written recently in a blog that this belief in the end of the world in a big explosion of violence, reflects a spiritual malaise a hopelessness in humanity and that youre making money off of fear and hopelessness in your Left Behind series. How do you respond to that?

I would say that hes just betraying his poverty of faith. If he had faith in the Bible, faith in the future and Jesus Christ, hed recognize that our passion is just like the theme song in our books: we dont want anybody to be left behind.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

Distance Schmistance!!!

Due to some recent events, and others that are impending, I have been thinking a lot about the issue of "distance" in relationships. Natural family relationships, Spiritual family relationships, and Soulish family relationships all can have the issue of distance cloud them.

Well, first let me define the above relationships:

Natural family:
Your human biological family. Your parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, etc...

Spiritual family:
Born-again believers in Jesus Christ have all been adopted into the family of God (John 1:12-13, Romans 8:16, Romans 9:8 & Galatians 3:7 among others) - Jesus said that God's children love Jesus (John 8:40-42) and that if you love Jesus, you will obey Him (John 14:15). Elsewhere, Jesus said that those who do the Will of God are His family (Matthew 12:50 & Mark 3:35)

Soulish family:
The soul (your thoughts, your emotions, and your decision-making - or "will") connects with others throughout the course of your life. Those with whom you bond become more than natural family or friends, they become Soulish family. Soulish family is about connection: in thoughts, emotions or by an act of your will - these people cease to simply be friends or just biologically linked to you. They are more. They are family.

***It is important to note that these families can be, and usually are, interwoven. They are by no means mutually exclusive.***

OK, Now that we understand each other let me just say that I have never had the experience of having a person be all three kinds of family. I hope to, but it hasn't happened yet. No one in my natural family is also spiritual family. Out of 23 living natural family members, only 7 are also soulish family. The largest section of family that I have is spiritual family: every born-again believer in Jesus Christ is included there. I have about 49 spiritual and soulish family members.

I have had many people (that were more than one kind of family) move away. I've also frequently been the family member that is moving away! It always stinks, but it is seldom (if ever) as serious as it feels. When you have a soulish connection with someone, you are always going to hurt when they move to another city, state, or country. It is natural. The wonderful thing about living in the time period in which we live is the methods of communication. We can instantly communicate with someone around the globe. Is it the same as physically looking at someone who is sitting on the couch next to you? No. But I know that relationships can grow and even flourish in the midst of distance. My brother Chris and I talk more now than when we lived together and it would take me 5 hours to drive to his house!!!

The point I am trying to make here is that, while the increase of physical distance is definitely unpleasant (and can fill your emotions with a sense of loss that hurts), it is not necessarily a barrier to growth or intimacy in a relationship. The will to continue to love someone and to be available in their life is all that is necessary (but it is necessary on both sides). Family is for life!!!

My "Potential Wife" Grading Scale

I was feeling dumb and decided to write out "MY grading scale" on how I evaluate a "potential wife."

This should give you an idea of how important things are to me.

On this scale, 1 point = 1% confidence that she is my wife.

100% confidence will put me on one knee with a ring in my hand.

- 50 points - Is her heart SET on following the LORD?

Those 50 are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY and they are first.

- 10 Points - Physical Beauty (on that proverbial 1-10 scale) Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder and since God is good, I believe that my wife will be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen (as I behold her). I simply do not believe that God will bring me a wife that I do not see as a 10!!! So, if you are not a 10 to me, I will not ask you out.

The next 15 are in no particular order.

- 5 Points - Believes in Biblical gender roles within marriage (Ephesians 5:21-33, Colossians 3:12-19, & I Peter 3:1-7)

- 1 Point - Has a great personality (AND it meshes well with mine)

- 1 Point - Has a great sense of humor (and can handle all of my silliness)

- 1 Point - She is VERY intelligent (at least as smart as me - however smart that is? )

- 1 Point - She loves kids and wants kids of her own

- 1 Point - She has a kind heart

- 1 Point - Is she valued among her friends (do her friends just kinda see her as one of the girls, or does she stand out?)

- 1 Point - Is she willing to nag me about stuff I should be doing?

- 3 Points - Does she handle stress well?

- 25 Points - Do I believe that she is the One God made for me?
This is last on the list because this is what I am trying to find out after I ask her out - ie: the purpose of dating. These are the points that will "seal the deal" (for lack of a better expression). Of these 25 points, 10 belong to "confirmation" by my spiritual grandfather (since my spiritual father is in South Carolina) and my brother , Chris, and his tremendous wife, Hyo Chin

As a general rule, I'd say that I have to give her at least a 60 to ask her out. During the first date, that point total has to reach 65 or there won't be a second date. After it hits 65, I will let her know that my intentions are to find out whether God would have us get married. I'm not trying to put any pressure on the relationship, but I do want to state the purpose of me asking for her time and attention. That's part of MY Biblical gender role, to bring direction and servant leadership to the table. I'm going to be asking for a lot of her time and attention and she deserves to know why. Obviously, if she says that she is not interested in pursuing marriage with me, there is NO WAY I'll climb above 75% and I will IMMEDIATELY cease to see her as a "potential wife."

*** At 70% confident, I'll start introducing her to friends and family.

*** At 80% confident, I will begin "looking" at rings.

*** If I reach 90% confident, I'll take her to meet Grandpa (if she doesn't know him already by that point).

BY THE WAY - There is NO WAY I'll climb above 89% if she isn't fellowshipping with me by that point.

*** If I reach 95%, I'll buy the ring and take her to meet Chris and Hyo Chin.

Do you feel priveliged to know this about me?

Decisions, decisions

OK, here is what I'm thinking. There is more to this, just ask if you want to know.

Romans 12:5 intimates that we, as born-again believers in Jesus Christ, belong to one another. There are people who are not very happy, to say the least, at my impending move to Atlanta. I have prayed a lot about this:

*** I know that God has told me to go to Chiropractic school. He has not, however, told me to go now.

*** I know that if I leave now, I will graduate sooner. However, if I leave now, it will hurt the feelings of people that I love.

*** I know that everything at the Chiropractic school is taken care of already (Admissions, Financial Aid, and Housing), but none of that seems too hard to push back a quarter or two.

*** I know I am moving out of the place where I live now at the end of June whether I go or not. But if I go, I wont have to look for another place in Richmond.

*** I know that every reason that I would go now is either selfish or being moved by money:

As a Chiropractor, I know Ill be able to support my wife and whatever children the LORD gives us. I am not excited about having it be a long time before I can do that.

My finances are beyond tight right now and moving to ATL will alleviate some of that.

It is definitely the easier route to take, there are fewer uncertainties inherent in moving to ATL now

Ya'll know, I am not one who shies away from impending hardship if I believed that God was leading me through it. I am not going to do something just because it would be "easier." Furthermore, I dont want to be moved by money. I cannot serve both God and money and, hopefully, its obvious to everyone who knows me that my choice will always be to serve God.

Like I said, I believe (and it was confirmed several times) that God wants me to go to Chiropractic School. I do not believe that He wants me to go now. It was always simply my preference to go now. Honestly, this was because I was in a hurry to be able to make enough to support a family. In my mind, it has been hard to see myself as husband material because I am so poor. God help me!!! That statement sounds so shallow to me!

I feel kinda like Paul when he wrote that it would be better for the Philippians that he loved if he stuck around longer. (Philippians 1:23-24 - Obviously, he was talking about staying alive, but I believe the principle is the same. He desired to depart, but he knew that his preference was self-motivated and because of his love, he wanted to stick around longer does that make sense?). Selfishly, I would like to begin my schooling and get my pre-requisites finished. However, I love these people more than I love myself and that is what love is (I John 4:10). Love is self-sacrificing. And the attitude of Jesus that we are encouraged to emulate in Philippians 2 (verses 1-16 but especially 3-4) further demonstrates this. As does I Corinthians 13. The point is clear. If I loved only myself, I would be going.

That is not the case.

I need to stay.

Please pray for me. I need to find a new place and I need to find gainful employment

Understanding Gethsemane

Is there anything as frustrating or painful as taking the punishment for what someone else has done?

I remember as a child, my sister would have all of her friends over during the summer days while my mother was at work. Without fail something would either get broken or they would end up doing something stupid like using a cup as an ashtray and not washing it afterwards. Also without fail, my sister would say, "Joe did it." And my mother always believed her. I remeber being so frustrated because there was absolutely nothing that I could do to prove my innocence.

Have you ever been in a situation where you say or do something, and someone overreacts in a BIG way? If you haven't I would be surprised. All of us have had someone hurt us. Most of us have had someone that we love desert us or stab us in the back in some way. Those are the wounds that cut the deepest, aren't they? Those are the ones that seem to linger for years. When someone, who is well-meaning, happens to do something that sparks that memory or puts you in a similar situation, it is EXTREMELY hard not to revert back to the pain of the original instance. This is the kind of thing that can start a fight or even end a friendship. It hurts, and it seems SO hard and SO unfair. Why should I have to deal with your bitterness or pain over what someone I've never met did to you? Why should I endure the pain and the punishment that is caused by someone else's sin.

Right?

On a mountainside, in a lush garden, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus Christ dealt with this same thing. The difference is, what we deal with is, normally, taking the brunt of the sin of one or two other people. If we are honest, we have sinned enough in our lives to deserve any punishment. We deserve to go to Hell, based on our own righteousness. But this Jesus, was completely sinless and He was dealing with ALL of the sins, that EVERYONE else had committed, EVER!!!

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins" (I John 4:10) Therein is the definition of love. You can find a good description of love in I Corinthians 13, but it is defined here. Jesus Christ was willing to go through the beatings, the mockings, the crucifiction, the death, not only that, but He was also willing to go through the anguish of taking the blame for what we did. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus cried out with pain coming out of emotions that we all face when someone lashes out at us or responds to us based upon someone else's sins. "God, do I have to go through this? I didn't do anything wrong here!" But He left the garden resolute in His decision to go through whatever He had to. His love for us was so great. It didn't matter who was at fault, He would take the punishment that would bring us peace. He would be mistreated so that we could see the love of God.

Are you willing to do that?

Obviously, we don't need to die on a cross, but we do need to die to ourselves. This is what I have heard called "Bloodless Martyrdom," it is setting aside your rights and allowing yourself to be abused in order for someone else to be able to see the love of God. Sometimes the people in your life will react to you based on what someone else has done. Are you willing to take it and love them through that? Are you willing to be like Jesus?

What's so "good" about Good Friday?

I offended God...
I was rebellious...
I broke all 10 of the Commandments...
I deserved to die...
I deserved to go to Hell...

He humiliated Himself....
He lived without sin....
He was rejected...
He was beaten....
He was killed...

FOR ME!!!!

THAT is why this is GOOD Friday!

Thank you Jesus!

New Focus

I spent this night with my Church Family. We had so much fun. We ate and watched some football (at least some of us did ) We exchanged some gifts since we didn't see each other last week. We prayed for a while... We worshipped the LORD in song, and in word, and prayed for each other. We took communion, taking time to proclaim the LORD's death, burial and resurrection at the beginning of the new year. Then we spent a while just talking. I got there early (about 6PM) and I left about 2:45AM. It was a great night. Lots of fun, just being family.

Have Your Heart Fixed in 2006:

1) Fixed, meaning healed from past hurts and issues, moving on in faith and not out of hurt or fear.

2) Fixed, meaning totally focused on the LORD! UNMOVED by circumstances and emotions.