This is a recent photo from the streets of Spokane Washington.  

What a nightmare! We watch our country, ravaged by drugs and alcohol, descend and implode. What can be done? 

I often hear Christians say, "You can't help people in addiction until they are ready to help themselves." Or, "You are wasting your time until they want to stop." 

But Jesus didn't take that approach, rather, He said, 

 "You have heard others say, be patient, we have four more months to wait before the crops are ready for harvest. But I say, take a closer look and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready for the harvest."

For a Christian to sit and watch the gates of hell pour into our streets and say, 'Be patient, we can do nothing, it's too early, the harvest isn't attainable yet.' That contradicts every thing Jesus did and the Apostles after him, that went to barbaric countries, tribes and cultures where even greater evils than we face, dominated. 

We can all pray, and some of us can spark hope that change can happen by simple acts of kindness. Another may help spark hope by sitting with them and praying for them; another may share a timely word from scripture; another may help strengthen their resolve; and other guide and teach the way to overcome; another to help point out triggers to prevent relapse; another to support inner city missions. 

We can all do something, but to do nothing is not the way of Christ's kingdom. 

 

 

“Take a careful look at my servant, my chosen one. 

I love him dearly and I find all my delight in him. 

I will breathe my Spirit upon him and he will decree justice to the nations. 

He will not quarrel or raise his voice in public. 

He won’t brush aside the bruised and broken. 

He will be gentle with the weak and feeble, 

until his victory releases justice. 

And the fame of his name will birth hope among the people.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭

This passage describes the ministry of Jesus, and the ministry we are to continue. 

  

 "One of the wonders I witness in the work of God’s Holy Spirit, is the call to adventure that is awakened in those where He is moving. 

I see and hear it in word and song. Every note, lyric and verse is a key unlocking a door to some new possibility. 

Every prayer, touch and tear an opening to becoming someone we’ve never fully knew we were meant to be, or doing something we didn’t imagine we would do. 

It’s a daring act to open any door, talk or listen to a stranger or sing a song that calls upon the Divine. 

Adventures unfold in unexpected places, moments and faces. In the realm of God a mere confession, plea, loving intercession, an embrace or holding the hand of one trembling in the awakening of spiritual Light and Life, is a step into the wild and unknown journey God is calling us to begin. 

These adventures can unravel our seemingly neat and tidy lives or bound and broken souls. Whatever our habitations may be, we all can discover we’ve become too comfortable and are in danger of attracting wandering wizards with unexpected invitations. 

“Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” (John 4:10)

“If you only knew…”

What a line. 

One sip of living water and everything is about to change. 

It’s a dangerous thing stepping outside the door of your normal routine. God is on the move and he’s searching for someone whose “apparently settled down immovably” but is actually a perfect choice for an unexpected journey. 

You’ve been warned." 

Pastor Eric. 

 Some feelings have no words, they are too deep to fully disclose. 

The moving of the Holy Spirit among the poor and downcast, touching us with their pain, falling on us, within us, defies explanation, but it creates a throbbing hunger and thirst to be more like Jesus. 

Simple deeds, the very briefest encounters, can be so meaningful, they leave an indelible mark. To see all my sons working with the downcast, the maimed, the heartsick and oppressed, leaves me with a heart filled with unspeakable praise.                                                                                                               

Rick Warren's wife Kay defined this captivity of the soul this way, she called it a - 

"Dangerous Surrender, where we are gloriously ruined and seriously disturbed." 

 

 

Preaching with Power

The following is to aspiring preachers whose word, like their Master’s, shall be “with power.” 

Power, energy, efficiency, that is the endowment to be communicated showing great care, attention, and effort by the ministers of Christ’s church.   

By the power of which I have spoken, I mean that strong action of the understanding, conscience, and heart on moral and religious truth, through which the preacher is quickened and qualified to awaken the same strong action in others.

 I mean energy of thought and feeling in the minister, creating for itself an appropriate expression, and propagating itself to the hearer and able to arrest attention, rouse emotion, and give a new spring to the soul. 

Knowledge when accumulated, as it often is, 

with no strong action of the intellect, 

no vividness of conception, 

no depth of conviction, 

no force of feeling, 

is of little or no worth to the preacher. 

We want force of thought and feeling, and purpose. What profits it to arm the pupil with weapons of heavenly temper, unless his hands be nerved to wield them with vigor and success? 

The word of God is indeed “quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword:” but when committed to him who has no kindred energy, it does not and cannot penetrate the mind.  

We want powerful ministers, not graceful declaimers, not elegant essayists, but men fitted to act on men, to make themselves felt in society.

 I mean power to act on intelligent and free beings, by means proportioned to their nature. 

I mean power to call into healthy exertion the intellect, conscience, affections, and moral will of the hearer. 

The loose conceptions of Christianity which prevail among the high as well as the low, do not deserve the name of “knowledge.” 

The loftiest minds among us seldom put forth their strength on the very subject for which intelligence was especially given. 

A great revolution is needed here. 

The human intellect is to be brought to act on religion with new power. It ought to prosecute this inquiry with an intenseness with which no other subject is investigated. 

And does it require no energy in the teacher to awaken this power and earnestness of thought in others, to bring religion before the intellect as its worthiest object, to raise men’s traditional, lifeless, superficial faith into deliberate profound conviction?

And is energy not needed to break through the barriers of pride and self-love, and to place the individual before a tribunal in his own breast as solemn and searching as that which awaits him at the last day?  

The preachers in Christ’s church are to give Spirit led vitality to the thought of God in the human mind; to make His presence felt; to make Him a reality, and the most powerful reality to the soul. 

Is it easy, in a world of matter and sense? 

amidst crowds of impressions rushing in from abroad, amidst the constant and visible agency of second causes, 

amidst the anxieties, 

toils, 

pleasures, 

dissipations, 

and competitions of life, 

in the stir and bustle of society, and in an age when luxury wars with spirituality, and the development of nature’s resources are turning men’s trust from the Creator, -- is it easy, amidst these gross interests and detracting influences, to raise men’s minds to the invisible Divinity? to fix impressions of God deeper and more enduring than those which are received from all other beings, to make Him the supreme object, spring, and motive of the soul? 

It is the minister’s duty to inculcate a piety characterized by wisdom as much as by warmth;  

The minister is to teach an earnest but enlightened religion:” a piety which, far from wasting or eradicating, will protect, nourish, freshen the mind’s various affections and powers; 

which will add force to reason, as well as ardor to the heart; which will at once bind us to God, and cement and multiply our ties to our families, our country, and mankind; which will heighten the relish of life’s pleasures, whilst it kindles an unquenchable thirst for a purer happiness in the life to come. 

Religion does not mutilate our nature. It does not lay waste our human interest and affections, that it may erect for God a throne amidst cheerless, and solitary ruins, but widens the range of thoughts, feeling, and enjoyment. 

But it is the minister’s duty to rouse men to self-conflict. To warfare with the evil in their own hearts. This is in truth the supreme evil. The sorest calamities of life – sickness, poverty, scorn, dungeons and death – form a less amount of desolation and suffering than is included in that one word, sin. 

In revolt from God, in disloyalty to conscience, in the tyranny of passions, in thralldom of the soul’s noblest powers. 

To redeem men from sin was Christ’s great end. 

To pierce them with a new consciousness of sin, so that they shall groan under it and strive against it, and through prayer and watching, master it: this is an essential part of the minister’s work. 

Let him not satisfy himself with awakening by his eloquence occasional emotions of gratitude or sympathy. He must rouse the soul to solemn, stern resolve against its own deep and cherished corruptions, or he only makes a show of assault, and leaves the foe intrenched and unbroken within. 

We see then, the arduousness of the minister’s work. He is called to war with might of the human passions, with the whole power of moral evil. He is to enlist men, not for a crusade, nor for extermination of heretics, but to fight a harder battle within, to expel sin in all its forms and especially their besetting sins, from the strongholds of the heart. 

I know no task so arduous, none which demands equal power.

And finally, with this purifying purpose of duty, pray for the Holy Spirit and you will receive it. A secret influence will aid your efforts after oneness with God. 

I believe too, that you may be favored with those blessed seasons of universal light and strength, of which good men have often spoken, in which the mind seems warmed by a new flame and quickened by a new energy from on high, and which, though not miraculous, will bring a near consciousness of Christ and bring the very breath of God upon your soul.” 

William Ellery Channing.  

 

    Last night, my son and a mutual friend and I, took the men working at the Union Gospel Mission's Thrift Store to a men's BBQ at one of the Mega Churches here.

The venue for the evening was first games, then the BBQ, and then a message.

I stood awestruck at the spreading campus, nestled in the pines with multiple green grass sections, acre after acre.

800 men attended from this huge church, and they were frolicking and playing shuttle cock, corn-hole, and other amusements.

It was like Paradise Found! I was amazed as I viewed, what looked to my eyes, like a beautiful Country Club, where everyone was enjoying the sports while waiting for the BBQ to be served.

The dinner bell rang and they presented 140 racks of ribs, pounds and heaps of pulled pork with all the fixings. Thirty coolers containing soft drinks and ice cream, something for every palate.

We found an area to sit, in the nose-bleed section, a group of rag-tag men that stood out like a thumb among the cashmere and Metro men's fashions.

But there we sat, all the men but one were strangers to me, but my son introduced me to the men when we picked them up at the store to whisk them off for an adventure outside the walls of the Mission.

The conversations were easy, humorous, engaging and my heart drank in every moment with the men.

As we sat there, underneath the pines, the conversations were going on at rapid rate, hearts were open, their souls were desperately hungry, and conversation flowed, as all the activities around us dimmed, and in our little group, we had CHURCH!

We all stood up when the singing began, led by a fella who looked to me about 17, with his guitar pouring out the latest contemporary Christian songs, none of which I knew; and one of the men I was talking with sat down and I could see he wasn't engaged, so I asked him if he wanted to go and talk somewhere, he immediately said yes, so we got up and found a place sitting on concrete stairs away from all the froo-froo and beauty, and for the next hour he poured out his heart.

We got up when the crowd began dispersing and looked for our group, easy to spot in the huge crowd of metro clothes.

There wasn't a single pause in the conversations all night as these men, coming from horridly traumatic backgrounds, drank in simple fellowship where connections were made, laughter and stories flowed; and all this without intoxicants or evil conversations.

The men thanked us as they hugged us, and we parted.

My son and I drove home drinking in the Holy Spirit's afterglow that permeated every fiber of my being.

 

 

"Did we forget there is a battle raging for the lives and souls of men and women of all ages?

“You are My battle-ax and weapons of war: For with you I will break the nation in pieces; With you I will destroy kingdoms…”

Jeremiah 51:20

I had a morning dream picture as I was meditating on my week of mission outreaches and ministry opportunities.

It was a picture of a man bearing only a large battle axe, throwing himself upon the shields of a hoard of enemies.

It looked like a desperate but defiant act. It was a call to action within the knowledge of a seemingly impossible scenario.

I’m in a lot of different circles of mission, ministry and mentoring and one of the most concerning challenges I see is the rarity of a battle focused warrior.

“The warriors of Babylon have ceased fighting; they remain in their strongholds; their strength has failed; they have become women; her dwellings are on fire; her bars are broken.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭30

‬ ‭

There’s too many men that have lost their fighting edge, 

the spirit of war has been replaced with timid pursuits, 

easy endeavors and listless lives. 

The horn of battle is sounded and few are roused to alarm.

The enemies of all that is good, beautiful and true have seized the most meaningful places of true power and lasting influence and there are few that feel hot blood boiling within them to retake the ground lost or stolen.

“The fords have been seized, the marshes set on fire, and the fighting men are terrified.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭32

 ‭

Blades have been turned into fishing gear, 

recreation has replaced rescuing 

and entertainment has distracted the regiments.

Meanwhile the cities and communities of America are smoldering battlefields of countless lives destroyed by every type of sin and suffering.

“King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon has devoured me; he has crushed me. He has set me aside like an empty dish; he has swallowed me like a monster; he filled his belly with my delicacies; he has vomited me out.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭51‬:‭34‬

 ‭

The frontlines are desperately waiting for reinforcements as the war weary are being pressed to bayonet proximity.

Too many Christians have settled into a peace that’s really an illusion built out of compromise, complacency and culpability.

We need a fresh move of repentance that awaken us from lethargy and lukewarm affections and breaks through the comfortable addictions that have turned us from the causes of Christ.

I tire of roaming believers who seek churches like house hunters on HGTV instead of glory hungry soldiers seeking death defying assignments.

When did we breed out the New Testament apostolic and prophetic spirit and replaced it with shopping list religion?

The whore of Babylon is in the business of castration and hysterectomies. She reduces us to mere shifting shadows of the image of God we were created to enjoy and reveal in this dark age.

Our betraying deconstructions are not hidden to Jesus as we mimic the 

“Surely it isn’t I”

 around our Last Supper confessions like a Judas planning our great exit from the fellowship of the called and confirmed.

Doubt and even denial are not the sisters of betrayal. They are the stumblings of the faithful, not the hangings of the dead.

It is long past the time for revelry, it’s the hour of decision. Who do you serve: Self, Satan or the Savior?

“He is famous for breaking the spirit of the powers that be and the kings of the earth will know him as the Fearsome One!”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭76‬:‭12‬ 

Pastor Eric Blauer.‭

(Art: Frank Frazetta ‘The Destroyer’)

 

*Warning, Graphic post*

The following is a description of a woman's husband and his behavior. 

It is graphic, sadly, life can be graphic and disturbing. If you don't want to read about the oppressive and debauched behaviors of some men, don't continue. I talk with women, and men, that are in toxic relationships and try and guide them to resources and programs that can help them escape abusive relationships. I wish this was rare, but this is not that uncommon. Men such as this are what fuels women's movements and hatred. Sadly, there will be someone reading this that acts like this, in greater or lesser degree. This is her true story ---

"Our relationship is hanging by a thread. 

He works part time and makes a good living at his job. 

He took me and my kid in when I was struggling and basically saved me from being homeless. 

He wanted me to be a stay-at-home mom, at one point demanded it. 

Financially it’s the most logical thing for me to stay home. But he has had this mindset that since he makes the money, it’s my job to not only clean the house (sweep, mop, dishes, counters etc.), but also be his maid, picking up all the tons of candy wrappers he throws all over the place, soda cans, Powerade bottles, his clothes off the floor, wipe up all the messes he makes (spilling things, blowing snot on shower walls etc.). 

He also says he’s not Mr. fix it. 

He doesn’t change light bulbs, doesn’t fix anything that breaks in the house (haven’t had a dishwasher for several months, it just needs the spinner that shoots water replaced), we have doors that are off the hinges and won’t close, our bedroom and the bathroom, he won’t fix it. 

He says I’m at home all day so it’s my job to fix things. 

He also only focuses on his sexual needs, he says it’s my job to give him the sex he wants (anal sex and blow jobs only) and basically daily, sometime more than once a day, and my sexual needs only get taken care of once a month or two and typically is just him using a device while he lays there. He doesn’t have an ounce of passion or intimacy towards me. 

Only time he touches me is if he’s trying to get some.

 He smokes the green stuff daily. He has as lowered his intake after me nearly leaving because of it, used to be $600 a month for it. Now is at about half that I think. 

It makes his stink, his clothes, his breathe, everything. Not to mention he snores so bad because of his bad health from smoking, the two weeks he didn’t smoke or cbd vape, his snoring got so much better, he says it was just a coincidence cause his allergies were better at that time. 

I can’t sleep at night. It’s so bad, 

I’m constantly tired during the day from lack of sleep mixed with depression from all of this. 

Also he controls everything. We live together, and he has to be in control of when the bedroom light gets turned off at night, when the tv gets turned off in the bedroom, what the ac in the room is set to, and what position I sleep in so he can cuddle how he wants. 

What we do as a family is always what he wants to do as a family. What food we eat is typically what he wants, usually being eating out where he spends $50-100 just on his meal and drinks, while me and my child collectively spend $15-30 depending on where we go. 

He is in complete control of the money, he makes it so I’m not allowed to have access to the account. I have to go to the check-out and give him a total and wait for the cashier to give me a total and tell him and have him Cash-app me the exact amount so I can pay for groceries and household needs with my card. On occasion he will send an extra $5 or $10 with it for me to splurge for myself. 

He literally has 3 sometimes 4 days off a week and lays in bed all day most of his days off watching sports, playing games on his phone, smoking the green, and texting me telling me to come in the room to handle his sex needs. 

He also calls me names when he is mad at me, bitch, retard, dumb, etc.

My child loves him." 

 

 

 

 

 I read this quote from Homer’s Odyssey. 

“Yet taught by time, my heart has learned to glow,

For other's good, and melt at other's woe.”

It reminded me of the verse from Psalms 126:5-6

“Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.”

I think, with few exceptions, the “Great Commission” is about investing in people; pouring ourselves out for others as Jesus did.  

If we sow the word of God in tears we will see results. 

    

 

I was reading in Psalms 116-118 and I wove together some verses that explain why I love the Lord.

"I love the LORD, for He heard my voice;

He heard my cry for mercy.

The cords of death entangled me,

 the anguish of the grave came over me;

 I was overcome by distress and sorrow.

 Then I called on the name of the Lord:

 “Lord, save me!”

I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”;

And You freed me from my chains.

You rescued my soul from death,

My eyes from tears,

And my feet from stumbling.

I was pushed back and about to fall,

But the Lord helped me. 

Because He turned his ear to me,

I will call on Him as long as I live. 

 

 

  "Any man can cultivate having the heart of a father. Reaching out and showing care and concern to kids that don’t have or are separated from a healthy father is critically important today. 

I witness the power of purposeful attention and loving recognition of a child every time I step inside the Union Gospel Mission Crisis Shelter for Women and Children. 

I saw this yesterday when we were transporting 7 moms and four kids from the Shelter to our Church on Sunday. 

There’s a few different looks on a child’s face when I encounter them. 

One is a hesitant distance in the eyes and body language. It’s a skittish demeanor resulting from the lack of consistent contact with a safe, gentle and touchable man. It’s part ignoring, part distaste and part ignorance. It’s a difficult posture to overcome, but it slowly yields to proximity, opportunity and consistency. 

The other is hunger, longing, memory and need. It’s noticeable in the eyes first. I walk in and many eyes turn to me. Like little birds in a nest heart-mouths open. Chatter begins. Faces then hands then hearts. Closeness happens, smiles dawn, shadows flee and laughter sparks. 

Sometimes it’s just calm, like a dog that turns over on its back revealing its belly in an act of surrendered vulnerability. Sometimes it’s gentle confidences and trust exhibited by a willingness to talk or look you in the eyes. Sometimes they will reach out to be held. 

Yesterday one of these little boys got secured in a car seat in the van and the mom was making sure he was good. She then grabbed her baby and was heading for the second car we had for transport. I was surprised since this was their first ride to an unknown place and I thought he might be scared without mom close by him. She assured me he wouldn’t and that he didn’t have separation anxiety because…they hadn’t been living together for awhile. He was comfortable being alone and away from her. 

I didn’t quite know how to process that quick explanation. It landed in my mind as an understandable explanation, but as it moved down into my heart it took on a sadness of realization. Separation is a common reality in the chaos of life lived in these struggles and hardships. 

I purposefully reassured him, gave him supportive compliments about his big-boyness and watched him as I facilitated moms, car seats, babies and all that comes with trying to get them all in a van. 

As we travelled he was quiet, looking out the window. The only thing he said was “That’s my day care!” when we passed it on the way to our church. We got there, he jumped out and reunited with mom and integrated into the kids program of the day easily and enthusiastically. 

As I was dropping them off at the shelter after church I gave him a fist bump and told him I was amazed at how good he was. 

His mom told me that he said he had fun and was coming back tomorrow. My heart ached a bit realizing he thought it was going to be an every day joy. 

Thankfully his mom has entered the long term program and our ability to continue our connections will grow." 

Pastor Eric. 

 

  Jonathan Edwards, a hero of the faith, became one of the most prolific American Colonist’s preachers, and was an integral part of the "Great Spiritual Awakening" in America. 

 He was married in 1727 and was known to be a very loving, compassionate, man who spent quality personal time with his family. 

He had 11 children. 

In the evening, he would sit down with his children for one hour each day. He took the time to talk, listen and pray over them. And then pray a special blessing over each one. What then was the result of his loving care? 

In 1900, a man named A E Winship tracked down 1400 of  the descendants of Pastor Jonathan Edwards. 

Here’s what he found: 

285 College graduates 

300 Preachers 

13 College Presidents  

65 College Professors

100 Christian Lawyers 

1 Dean of Law 

30 Judges 

56 Physicians 

80 Public Officers 

3 Senators 

1 Vice President 

1 Comptroller the US Treasury 

Jesus said, "Men ought always to pray." 

 "Death has climbed in through the windows"

“Teach your daughters how to wail; and have everyone teach one another a song of mourning. 

For Death has climbed in through the windows, 

and has entered our fortresses; 

it has removed the children from the streets 

and the young men from the public squares."

  These sobering scriptures should wake us up! 

Our streets are lined with young men in the depths of addiction, our children are captured in the jaws of the enemy, who crushes them with pornography, fills their minds with anarchy, and steals them for child sex trafficking. 

Surely death has climbed in through the window! 

And what comes from our pulpits? What urgency is proclaimed? 

Sadly, 

 

"They dress the wounds of my people as though they were not serious." 

"Your prophets and priests alike, all practice deceit. 

"Peace, Peace,” they say, when there is no peace.”

Are you lulled to sleep, has your conscience been hardened? 

Does the Gospel you hear allow you to sit inactive in the midst of evil? 

Are you in peace while countless thousands are oppressed and in bondage? Is the message you hear, 

"Learn your Bible more, and make sure you strive for sinlessness. You can remain isolated from the cries of the needy and oppressed, you are saved by Grace you are not called to action."   

Jeremiah 8:11, Jeremiah 9:20-21

 Here is a report about the work that goes on in our Urban Missions all over the U.S., where the truly destitute take harbor.

 If you consider yourself an evangelist for Christ this post will rivet you.

  

Resistance in Rescue

 She stood there with her fingers in her ears, her face turned into the door jam. Her heart and mind fighting some battle in the moment.

Eternity and time collide in the UGM chapel. If the veil of our visible reality could be pulled back, we’d see beasts and beings, life and death wrestling over destiny and destruction. 

It’s a confrontation with demons in the flesh, the past or the present.

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” -‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭12‬

 ‭Spiritual transformation doesn’t come without spiritual resistance.

There’s a war being fought in the mind and heart and in the depths of the soul.

It’s a fight with terrors, troubles, abuse and abuses, arguments, wounds, fears, mistrust, lies, deception, false identities, bruised and broken minds.

Gospel work is bringing a message of hope and healing into the madness and the mess. 

It’s a rescue mission in the stormy seas of people’s complicated lives that are all wrapped up in the ocean seaweed of life moments, happenings, horrors, hells and hemorrhages. We are caught in Jonah’s deep decent, fleeing the Lord…but drowning.

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭10‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭

“We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”

Singing songs of deliverance isn’t easy.

Not everyone in need, wants help.

Not everyone who is sick, wants to get well.

Not everyone hurting, wants free.

Not everyone crying, wants comforted.

‭‭

Psalms‬ ‭32‬:‭7‬-‭9‬

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you.”

But Christ finds us wherever we are at and continues to compel us to surrender. 

His mercy chases us.

In these chapel services I watch women and men present themselves as conduits for the love, truth and power of Jesus to flow through. 

They stand as Christ’s heart and hands extended. 

Singing, praying, holding, hoping, hurting, weeping and fighting for all that is good, beautiful and true to conquer.

‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17

“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

 ‬ ‭Some of the greatest battles ever fought have been waged in small, stuffy, packed crisis shelter basements like this one.

To God be the glory and may the resistant eventually become the redeemed. 

Pastor Eric Blauer.

  I was reading in Acts chapter four and five today and these are the verses that struck me, so I weaved them together to paraphrase the message.  

“Oh Lord, look at their threats, (look at the power of Hollywood, the evil influence of television, music and social media, the continuing flood of drugs into our land)

and grant it to Your bond-servants to speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus. 

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was SHAKEN, 

and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.

The people from the cities in the vicinity were coming together as well, bringing people who were sick and tormented with unclean spirits, (addictions, degrading passions, vile affections, violent behaviors) and they were all being healed. 

In the midst of all this perversion, confusion and hostility, “an angel of the Lord came and said, 

“Tell the people the full message of this new life.” 

And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul.”

-------------

Yes, the times are evil, the enemy is armed and furious, but as we join together and pray, 

the Holy Spirit will fall and shake us with His power, 

to speak with confidence, to heal the tormented and unclean, as we boldly 

“Tell the people the Full Message of This New Life!”   

 

Flirting or Friendship? 

If you have a friend of the opposite sex that you are close too, here are some ways to know it has progressed into a budding affair. 

The friendship starts to influence each individual's mood. When they receive a digital, visual, written, or verbal exchange, they will have a mood-altering reaction. That reaction creates a rise in interest, distracts from pressing needs, lifts the spirit, and brightens their day. In other words, they feel better, lighter, and happier. Pressures disappear, discouragement vanishes, stress is gone. 

This is the "bright spot" in the midst of the mundane, the "sweet spot" where everything comes together. The individuals involved will actually start to think about this relationship when they need a boost, feel overwhelmed, or are just plain down. It becomes a highly addictive medication of choice that is easily available and doesn't create guilt (yet!).

This paragraph is from Dave Carder's book, "Anatomy Of An Affair" one of the best books I've read on how and why affairs, attractions, addictions happen, and how they make the offended spouse feel; and how long it takes to get over being betrayed, and what behaviors to expect.   

  

  "The true teachings of Christianity, I believe, is that just in proportion as a person rises in the scale of intelligence and virtue, he becomes knit by tenderer sympathy with inferior orders of beings. In truth, he rises above the idea of different orders. 

He regards all beings, who possess thought, conscience, and the power of knowing God, as his Brethren. He respects them as essentially his Equals, in consequence of their capacity of indefinite improvement. He recognizes his own nature in the lowest human creature; and is most eager and concerned to raise the most fallen. 

Yes! My belief is, that the beings who sympathize most with human infirmity and sorrow, and who feel most deeply for human guilt, are the beings who understand most. That's when I learn to know and feel the Mind of Jesus. It is when I see Christ associating with the ignorant and lowly, and conforming Himself to their lot, that He might more effectually bring great truths within the reach of their intelligence, and might enrich them with new virtues and hopes. 

  To this comprehension of the Mind and Character of Jesus Christ, I attach infinite importance. To me, it is the greatest good received from Him. 

In so saying, I know that I differ from many Christians, who rejoice in Christ's birth chiefly because He came, as they think, to purchase by His sufferings, the pardon of their sins. I rejoice in His birth, chiefly because He came to reveal, by His suffering, His Celestial Love -- to lay open to us His Soul, and thus to regenerate the human soul. To regenerate and exalt human souls was Christ's ultimate end. And by what means could He more effectually have ministered to this end, than by manifesting, as He did, His own excellence, unselfishness, and Divine Love?

This seems to me more and more to be the great good which we derive from the birth of Jesus. His inmost Spirit was thus laid open to us. Nothing has wrought so powerfully on the human soul, as the Mind and Character of Jesus Christ. 

  You see then, why I delight in the human and the humble birth of Jesus. It lays open to me His Character, His Mind, His Spirit, His Divine goodness. 

Others are more interested in studying Christianity under different aspects. Not a few attach supreme importance to understanding the times and the seasons, interpreting the essence of repentance, or what Rank Jesus holds in the universe. Such inquiries it is in no way my wish to discourage; for all truth his its value. But for myself I ask to comprehend the CHARACTER of Jesus. I ask to approach His pure Spirit, to learn His thoughts, feelings, emotions, principles and purposes. I ask to comprehend more and more of that Love, which was so calm, yet so intense, within His heart. 

These are the mysteries I am most anxious to explore. To understand all theology, I should esteem a privilege, yet I may know this, and be no better and happier for the truth. But to discern the beauty, loveliness, harmony, and grandeur of His Mind, this is a knowledge which cannot but exert a creative and purifying power on every one who can attain to it." 

William Ellery Channing.   

 

Foundational Truth

I began reading in Proverbs and came across this verse 

“One who gets “heart” loves his own soul;

One who keeps understanding will find good.”  Pr. 19:8

In the text it said the word heart is the literal translation of “wisdom” which they used. I looked for some other scriptures that used the word “heart” and came to 2 Kings 10:30

“Yet the Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in performing what is right in My eyes, and have done everything that was in My Heart, your sons to the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.”

It struck me that Jehu had done “well according to everything that was in God’s heart.” How rare it is to hear that message.

 Our goal is to learn and seek “everything that is right in God’s eyes and in God’s heart.” How does one reduce that down? How can it be summarized? I ran across this quote years ago and I think it describes the answer as well as can be. --  

“The principle of God’s Universal love, which is embraced in true Christianity, 

and is indeed its Essence, 

inspires the mind to the most enlarged thinking, 

and at the same time makes knowledge active and practical, thus converting it into Wisdom, by directing it to the promotion of the highest good in the service of mankind.”

If my love for all mankind is not growing and expanding,

I have been distracted from the heart of God. 

“Go into ALL nations..”   

 

 

   Why is it we don't resist those who exhort us to seek personal purity, which is beyond our power; but we do resist those who exhort us to earnestly seek to do good works, which are within our power?

Seeking to be pure and seeking to do good works are both equally important. They both require God's power and anointing, they both take vision and dedication and desire, but they aren't both considered the same by many Evangelicals.   

I think the Grace message has been emphasized so strongly that many think Good Works are incidental. The verse below shows the expectations Paul had for the believers to press ahead in faith and "Their every desire for goodness, and every Deed prompted by faith. 

"...We constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, 

and that by His power He may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith." 2 Thess. 1:11

 

  I love this photo! Not because I promote militant feminism, but because in my counsel to women, and men, that are survivors of domestic violence, many find themselves trapped because they weren't raised to be independent and self-sufficient. 

No one should be caught in circumstances that are abusive with no resources, faith or inner belief that they can change it. 

Good parenting demands we rear our children in an environment where they are cherished, respected, and equipped to face life's strongest gales. 

Strengthening the child inwardly, as well as outwardly, is the utmost of importance. 

Far easier to teach them to do a mechanical task than to teach them to believe they deserve to be appreciated, honored, loved and valued. 

Prevention, of course, is of prime importance, carefully evaluating anyone they have a romantic interest in. But even the "best laid plans of mice and men" can fail, and if they do, they must believe they can and will find solutions.  

  I was reading G. Campbell Morgan this morning about the "Unjust servant, the "Ten Virgins," and "The Talents."

After a lengthy commentary he summarized with this --- 

  "It is important that we keep these three parables in connection with each other. They reveal the threefold responsibility of the Church.

  First, communal responsibility, right behavior among its members, the ending of all malice and unkindness; - to use the figure - beating one another. 

Then the personal responsibility, that we have far more than a name, far more than a torch, far more than a wick which can be dim, if it has become encrusted. We must have oil that keeps the light burning. 

Finally, imperial responsibility, our responsibility for the goods of the Lord, for the enterprises of Christ in the world. 

In each case the responsibility is defined by our relationship with Him. True to Him, the household is always at peace. Waiting for Him, the lamps are always burning. Working for Him, the Kingdom is hastened, and the glory is brought to His name. 

 

 

Whether we work with our next door neighbor, 

or in inner city missions, with survivors of abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence, 

or with those in recovery from substance abuse or pornography, or just the tyranny of circumstances that can overwhelm us; 

loving people "cheek to jowl" will cause our hearts to bleed, struggle and suffer. Be that as it may, our hearts also leap for joy over every victory, every step and movement forward! 

Spiritual battles anointed with Christ's love and grace, 

take us where we tread on snakes and scorpions, and battle to crush the jaws of wickedness, and it ain't always easy. 

Though always rewarding. Praise Him!

 We live in a world where darkness has almost extinguished the light,

so I share this email to motivate others, and so I don't forget her, and to recognize the urgency of the times in which we live,

and truly try and live like Jesus did, He is the only answer.

Here's her story -- 

"I've never really had a mom. Since I was born, my mom has basically always been addicted to hard drugs.

When I was little I always thought she was such a good person, and so funny and spontaneous.

As I grew up I realized that she would ditch out for months at a time,

come back married,

or with a shaved head,

or get her whole body tattooed in a two day span,

or I would sit in the dark for days with her while she was going through withdrawals and would just be getting sick and shaking and crying, or I would find her thinking she was dead because of withdrawals.

I was constantly being around druggies,

and her friends stealing my stuff,

or she would be in jail.

The more time went on, she brought a lot of abusive men around and chose drugs and men over me, and my siblings.

And then my siblings got adopted by other family members,

while I stayed with my dad mostly,

but also off and on with my mom,

watching her struggle with addiction and taking a lot of it out on me.

When I was younger I felt numb to it.

It felt normal.

I genuinely didn't think it affected me.

Now that I'm older and have kids of my own, I see other women who have their moms to lean on, or be their best fried; and it honestly breaks my heart.

My mom is so far gone; she is not normal even she she isn't on drugs.

She is a thief,

a pathological liar,

and mentally slow.

I don't ever like being around her. I feel like I'm grieving somebody who died."