Warfare Tactics

 

 

 

            There is much to be said about the disposition of every individual, the state of the family, the shape of the nation, and the condition of the world.  Like congress, we seem to be at an impasse on how to move forward because we are so caught-up in appearances, being entertained, and living in the world for the moment through instant gratification.  We are so caught-up to the point where we have taken our eyes off God because he does not move according to how we think He should move.  Blame is being placed on this party, that party, the government, the preacher, the deacon, the doctor, the lawyer, the secular; yet, we fail to accept our part in it all.  Whether it is a sin of omission or a sin of commission; from doing too much, too little, too late!  Some way or the other we failed to make a choice and take a stand for the Lord.  We failed to choose our battles carefully, seek God’s council and take that stand that is essential to allowing our light to shine so that we may draw all men unto the Lord.

            At what point will we take this ‘spiritual warfare’ seriously?  When will the church wake up and get back on the battlefield on behalf of the Lord?  What will it take for the Church to realize that Satan is on a mission and He does not mind taking prisoners and turning them into his minions to do his bidding an oh how busy they have been wrecking havoc in the Lords’ house, making a mockery of the Lord’s name and taking the Lord’s name in vain.  It is no wonder why it is such a challenge to get others to come to Christ.  Look at or listen to the news:  preachers sleeping with boys, confusing them and scaring them immensely; preachers sleeping with every woman in the church except his own wife; preachers sleeping with wives and daughters; preachers having children out of wedlock and then denying them their rightful name; preachers stealing from the storehouse to appease their own greed and lustful desires; preachers who have swollen-up in pride and taken the Lord’s name in vain and completely forgotten about the Lord all together!

            The church is under constant attack in various forms – internally as well as externally – and the devil has carte blanche and utilizing every arsenal within his weaponry.  Yet, let us not forget that we too have an arsenal of weapons provided to us by the Lord.  Do you know what they are?  Are you familiar with the way they work?  Are you serious about your stand for the Lord and serving in his Army?  Well then, what are you doing?

           

Perservering through Brokeness

 

 This morning I awakened w/ two things on my mind:

·         Changed – Song by Tramaine Hawkins was in my spirit, so I had to get the words right. (which drove me to view the lyrics online)

·         Brokenness – I had joked w/ my spiritual mentor about how I have small conversations w/ God and in discussing brokenness I said to the Lord, “If you break me anymore I will be powder!”

In searching online I found the lyrics and went a little further to look up scriptures regarding brokenness (I knew what I was in search of, but did not know the scripture, so yes the internet is a wonderful search tool).  Well, I found them and logged them for further study later during the day.  Then I came across a news article in Clutch Magazine regarding the death of a preacher, but not just any kind of death – a SUICIDE!  My soul cried out for the tortured soul and for his family.  I subscribed for follow-up and left my condolences in the comment section. 

I was moved to leave a message for my youngest – encouraging her to never give up on life; there is something in persevering and that there is a purpose on her life and the only way to reach the destiny she had to keep going – no matter what.

Perseverance is an essential key in life, in kingdom building, in achieving ones’ goals – in everything!  We can never allow anything to deter us from our mission, destiny, goal – whatever you choose to call it – we must not be deterred.  Even when it SEEMS, LOOKS, FEELS like we are all alone.  You must KNOW that God is in control.  You must KNOW how to call on Him, wait on Him, Trust in Him as well as Rest in Him.  KNOW that God chose you before you were even knitted in your mother’s womb, so Fret not when you are going through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  HAVE NO FEAR for God is with you!  God goes Before you and that God has your back, front and sides – He has you covered – even if you don’t see, hear or feel Him.  Just take Him at His word that He will never leave or forsake you.  That was and still is God’s promise to us all!

Change your Mindset and let nothing deter you from your journey.  God is with you!

http://www.askdro.com/2013/01/pastors-wife-commits-suicide/

http://crossmap.christianpost.com/news/georgia-pastor-teddy-parker-jr-committed-suicide-on-sunday-before-worship-service-6476

 

Wretched Man Syndrome

 Song:  I am Free, praise the Lord I am free; No longer bond; no more chains holding me.  My soul is resting, It just a blessing, praise the Lord Hallelujah I am free!

 Tell me something:  If we have decided to walk w/ God; if we have decided to serve God; if we have decided to represent God, then are we not ‘free in deed’?  Then can someone please explain to me why in the world do we still cling to the ‘wretched man syndrome’?  I know we are human, but do we not serve the risen savior?  I know we are human, but hasn’t our gracious father equipped us with an array of weapons w/in our spiritual arsenal to not only wage war, but promised the victory?  I know Satan roams the earth seeking whom he can destroy; but do we not house the Holy Spirit that is just as powerful as Satan?  Then why, please tell do we always fall short?  Why, are we still submitting to the flesh if we have chosen to follow the Lord?  Is this not a sign of lukewarm behavior?

It would seem that we Christians have succumbed to the terminal disease which is eating away at us from within and it is only curable by God.  But wait!  Did he not already handle this matter?  If I am not mistaken Jesus said for us to ‘go and sin no more’.  What has happened?  Why are we not utilizing that which is available to us?  Why do we continue to turn to this sinful nature especially when Christ dwells in us?  Or does He?  Apparently there is some much needed re-evaluation and repenting that needs to take place.

If we are truly ‘called by Christ’, truly serving the Lord, truly dedicated to the cause of saving souls for the Lord, then we cannot continue to fall back on this scripture of being ‘just human’ --  it’s a copout.  We cheapen his death and resurrection, because we have not yet taken hold to our purpose; we have not truly accepted our calling whole-heartedly; we have not truly ‘totally submitted’ to Christ and we do a terrible injustice of representing Him.  The power to live a righteous life resides within us for He equipped us for the job while we were yet in our mother’s wound.  So tell me – no, tell the Lord, what is it exactly that is preventing you from fulfilling your obligations?  Why can’t you be on your job the way Satan is on his?  Do you not have the power to overcome any and everything put before you?  Did God not supply you with his grace, mercy, and strength when he embraced you in His love?

Why have we yet to embrace His love?

 

ScandaMania Skanks

 

In today’s society SCANDAL sales and the individual who can create the most gossip with some outlandish or unorthodox statement that is totally disruptive and disrespectful to the average woman will be at the top of her/his game – well that is the media consensus of the overflow of skanky representation that has been going on in 2013.  Yes, it has been going on longer, but this year seems to have put the audacious acts of nudity to a new level of whoredom.  Let’s take a look at the reigning skank-a-danks of the year:  Miley Cyrus twerking her works; Rihanna show’s us all ‘how to be a whore in her videos and patting her va-j-j, marking it with the dollar sign; Lady Gaga butt-crack; tricky Nicki Minaj’s boob exclusive and finally let us not forget the seeded devil Robin Thicke and how he calls for the scandal in the music, risqué picture where his hand is fondling the butt of Lana Scolaro and the feminist video (his words)  of ‘Blurred Lines’. 

Well there are no blurred lines to me and all of these ‘artists’ have crossed the line on inappropriate and lewd behavior and should be censored.  Speaking of censorship, what has happened to that department which monitored what could be released into public?  There was a time when simply implying promiscuous behavior was inappropriate, now it seems to be the norm not to only imply, but provide a visual ‘how to’ for the unimaginative viewers.  I must agree with Rashida Jones article in Glamour entitled The Pornification of Everything as well as Rhiannon L. Cosslett article in The Guardian:  This is a fleshy, naked emergency – pop stars are too sexy for our kids.  Our kids are emulating these boo-bacious slut-like images and it is not okay!  The time has come for us to speak out and say, ‘this is totally not acceptable and demand that such lewdness be censored’. 

What can we do?  Well, Change.org has a petition in effect to change the laws on dehumanizing women in videos.  Our children are the future and if we continue to desensitize them with these wanton videos then the moral value of/and self worth of our youth will plummet to zero.  There are so many more artists I could have listed, but these are up for awards this season and thought it worthy to acknowledge such.  Let’s make it our business to police what our kids are being exposed to; let’s take a stand and not allow females to be exploited any further; people, let’s take a stand!

 

Immoral Representation

America seems to be in a spiral downfall and it is not because of the President!  Everything seems to be happening in clusters, as if they were strategical moves. Let's take a look at some of the earth shaking events:

•  Zimmerman's Aquittal on the shooting death of Travon Martin.
•  Supreme Court Ruling on Amendment 5
•  Supreme Court Ruling on Afirmative Action/College Entrance
•  SCR on same sex marriages
• Congress Failure to make any legitimate progress other than to block everything President Obama does.
• Numerous representatives (politicians, preachers, pillars of the community) that have been 'caught in the act' for one immoral reason or the other seems to be praised for their actions instead of penalized.  Everything about life in America seems to be one disappointment after the other when we take inventory. 

What is really important now days?  Where do we draw the line?  Why aren't we forcing these people with such high immoral character to be accountable for their actions?  Why do we place more value on the life of an animal than human beings?  It is pass time that we take a closer look at those we have representing us?  What does your representative say that you stand for?  Whatever happened to accountability and the consequences for one's action?  America needs to take a serious assessment and ask what type of unconcious messages we are relaying to our children, to the world!

Customer Service

     Have you ever wondered what has happened to good customer service?  Why is it so hard to receive good service from those who are hired to serve the public?  After all, if it were not for the patrons of the establishment or the customers to whom the business was established to serve there would be no need for the business right?  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that excellent, even good customer service guarantees repeat customer business.  Yet if you will notice that is not the case at all.  Take Wal-Mart for instance:  they send a subliminal message out to their customers, ‘we do not require nor do we appreciate your loyal patronage’.  How so?  Well, by the endless long lines during prime time, like week-ends, lunch hour and after work.  There are never enough cashiers available to serve; there are approximately thirty registers available, but there is never more than nine open during peak time periods (I am being generous with the nine) and then consider the returns register which stations no more than two cashiers, but experience just as high volume of returns due to various reasons (like tainted meat and poor quality merchandise).  Yet, they still rank as America’s #1 place to shop.  Go figure!