My Drunken Babies (Commentary 41)
www.ra2676.blogspot.com
My
Drunken Babies… Bless the Lord oh my soul and all that is with in me. I
am so psyched to share this Commentary with you all! I wanted to start
writing this on Easter Sunday, but I was still writing about my
experience reading the book of Job. I have learned from experience not
to try to write more than one Commentary at a time. This Commentary is
a little different from the ones I normally write because its not so
much about a revelation I experience that caused growth, but more of an
observation and an appeal for you to do something with me.
On
the night of the music / drama event (that I announced to my mailing list), there was an
alter call for those who did not know Jesus as their personal Savior. I
was training to assist with that so I had to go with the people to
another part of the church, because the event was still going on. Well
while I was back there, one of the brothers asked me if I wanted to be
on a team that goes out into the public and either invites people to
come to the church or prays for them. This sounded a lot like what I
did in the previous ministry I was in. It was one of the things I
really enjoyed about it. I agreed. I was told to come the following
morning at 10:40am. I thought it was for a class. It wasn’t.
The next morning, I came at about 10:30am.
There were only a few cars in the parking lot with people in them. I
pulled up to one and started talking to one of the more seasoned team
members. It was amazing how down to earth these people were. The person
I spoke to told me that we were essentially going to hit the streets
that morning. I was excited, because I have done this before and know
how self fulfilling it is. He told me to remember that the word says;
one plants, one waters and God brings the growth (1st Corinthians 3:7-9 ). This is an important thing to remember.
After
everyone arrived we established the purpose of what we were doing that
day and set parameters, we prayed and went to five neighborhoods. We
were having great successes getting out the message we were trying to
convey. It was so perfect! There were about 10 people in this group
present that day, talking to people inviting them to church and
informing them of a community out reach our church was sponsoring after
the second service on Easter. So many people were receptive. There were
three that weren’t. That is the purpose of this Commentary…
12 For we[a]
are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil
rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in
this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12 (New Living Translation)
I
remember walking with a group of brothers around the first neighborhood
to make sure we went to every unit. One of the guys said that we were
in an area where the enemy had a foot hold. What he meant by saying
that is we were in a neighborhood where crime and poverty seems to be
prevailing. He continues by talking about how what we are doing angers
the enemy. We all agreed that we were ok with this and that the enemy
would just have to find a way to get over it. Get over it not because
we were grouped in numbers, but because the earth is the Lord’s and the
fullness thereof (Psalm 24:1), and that Jesus had been given all power in Heaven and Earth (Matthew 28:18), and that we are joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17), and that the Holy Spirit lives presently proclaiming Jesus (John 15:26)
and that there is nothing Jesus wont grant us when we pray if it honors
God. With all of this knowledge, we remained humble, knowing it is God
who will bring increase (1st Corinthians 3:7-9 ).
We went from place to place, working the will of Christ. !0:40am turned to 12:30pm, which turned to 1:30pm.
All the walking around, up and down stairs was a little exhausting. No
one ever complained though. In fact, we all were still excited at the
harvest. We energetically went door to door, invading the enemy’s “foot
hold” boldly.
1:30pm turned to 2:30pm.
It was the last neighborhood, and we were all going over all of the
units to make sure everyone had been reached. Just then, at the end,
when we had winded down, and were ready to end our wildly successful
afternoon, the enemy showed up.
When
I say enemy, I am not referring to the three young men we encountered,
but the intended purpose for which they moved out. These were three,
young men who were dressed in all black, militant style clothes (black
cargo pants, army boots, and some really cool looking head wear). It
had the Star of David cut out (by design) at the top.
These
men asked us questions regarding our faith. Of course this was a set
up. They weren’t Muslim, although they were trying to be deep. I had
never really seen this before and was initially confused, because they
had Holy Bibles. Yes Bibles. They started asking us if God hates some
people. The one who coordinated this evangelistic effort took the lead
by rightly dividing the scriptures. As he started to answer the
question, with scriptures, the leader of this Pharisee like group
started interrupting him and telling his people to go to a set of
scriptures that he knew. This initially was impressive to me, because I
study my bible now, but I cannot index scriptures like this yet… They
tried to argue a point that God hates some people, and is therefore
unable to save them or even bless them. They started going through
scriptures to prove their point. They were butchering the word. Once we
gathered our composure, after hearing such a bold misinterpretation of
God’s Word, we attempted to show them their error in scripture. They
were loud and unwilling to listen. Finally after probably 15 to 20
minutes of this we decided to bring this interaction to a close.
After
leaving, we went across the street, where we were parked and prayed to
God. Then we started rejoicing (loudly) for the people we were
successful in reaching. I initially felt some heaviness because we were
unable to help the three men who had database like knowledge of where
to find certain scriptures, but the interpretation of drunken babies.
This saddened all of us. They were being used by the enemy, and are in
error. What is worse is that they are in danger of losing their souls.
That’s real based on scripture. The interaction upset us, because they
were so rude and disrespectful, but the truth of the situation saddens
us. After so many people were reached the enemy used these three to try
to spoil the harvest.
Just
then I thought about the message the enemy was trying to channel
through these three. Then I thought about what the point of that
interaction was. Obviously it wasn’t to change our faith. Or was it? I
have said again and again that the enemy’s primary target is our faith.
Just about everything the enemy does can likely be traced back to a
faith element. Think about it: when someone close dies, sometimes we
think God doesn’t care, which goes against what we actually know about
God.
This
exchange between our group and theirs was intended to divert our
attention away from the positive things that occurred that day. Also, I
believe based on something one of my leaders said, that “Darkness will
stay until light shows up.” Well, we are lamp lights to this dieing
world, and our fuel source is Jesus. Not wanting to relinquish any
rights or local authority, the enemy strategically placed his
obstructions in our path as we were leaving. The enemy offensive wasn’t
on the harvest, but the harvesters.
As
we were returning to the church I was compelled to point out to some of
the others that in less than 24 hours, their theory would be rendered
inaccurate. What I meant by that is this: If God hates some of us, why
would he save us? I was really looking forward to the Easter services,
because I wanted to see the enemy suffer additional head trauma. I was
absolutely serious about that.
The
next day came and something like 89 people responded to the alter call
for the early morning service. I stayed for another back to back
service, not so much for the message (which was awesome), but to see
people get saved. Next for the 10:00am
service, over 130 people responded to that call. So in all about 200
people responded to the call to accept Jesus as personal Savior. I was
so psyched at this! Some of those who accepted Jesus were people we
talked to the previous day. God was able to save them all. I don’t
recall God turning them away apologizing for not being limited and
unable to save them for personal reasons. No. God in his unfailing love
took care of each of them. I guess it’s true what one of the ministers
said… Darkness will stay until light shows up… I pray the Lord has
mercy on those three, and shows them their error, so that they to will
have an opportunity to get their faith right. After all, he did it for
me.
The
really cool thing about this experience is that I got to see the Lord
body slam the enemy again, and again. Over 200 people responded to the
alter call that day. That was just at our church. Imagine what the
numbers looked like from heavens stand point. I know there was an
awesome celebration going on up there.
What
I had the privilege of observing that weekend was that the Lord is
forever victorious, and that His grace thrives. Even though the three
were in error, that doesn’t mean they will always be.
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
James 5:16
Think
about how powerful those brothers can be once they submit that
knowledge and zeal over to the Holy Spirit for correction. The Lord
totally exceeded my expectation concerning Salvation on Easter. I don't
normally make appeals in my Commentaries, but I would like to appeal to
those who are willing to pray for those three brothers who are in
error. We are righteous because we accept Jesus into our hearts, not
because we may serve in ministry, sing, teach, pay tithes, attend
church, or even behave. That righteous status assures us that our
prayers are important to the Lord. What better way to show the love of
Christ, who currently intercedes for us, than to pray for those who are
clearly lost. Weren’t we lost? Are we perfect? I cannot speak for you
all, but I can say that Yes, I was lost, and no, I am not perfect.
God’s grace toward me is!
I
have been praying for them among others on a more so consistent basis
now. My heart really goes out to them. I know that just as the Lord was
able to save so many of us from the end result of the stuff we did to
where we are now, growing spiritually and increasing in our hunger for
him and his ways, he is undeniably able to turn it around for them. I
observed the Lord save so many people that day.
Back
when I was just a student working as a computer technician, I prayed
and observed the Lord load a video driver successfully into a HP laptop
at Circuit City
after I did 3 consecutive restores with restore media unsuccessfully.
Drivers (software that tells hardware how to work within an operating
system) are usually included in the restore media. The Lord showed me
that he too is a computer technician after I prayed for help. Wasn’t he
a very present help in the time of trouble? My mom, who was a Buddhist
prayed to Jesus when I was hit by a car and put into a coma for my
recovery back when I was seven. Did he have to bring me out of it? Of
course not, it was by his unfailing love he did it. I am here as a
result of that prayer! There is an Elder at my church who prayed for me
by name for years before I ever met him face to face. Then there was
the Encounter!!! I was told to go to the Encounter by that same Elder.
Some of you remember what my struggle was with and how I was deeply
affected by it. My Elder said for me to go, and I listened. WORDS
CANNOT REMOTELY DESCRIBE WHAT I WOULD HAVE MISSED IF I DIDN’T OBEY MY
ELDER. I obeyed my Elder and God moved. I will never forget that
weekend on the mountain with God… What role do you suppose prayer
played in my deliverance?
Selah (Seriously… Think about that for a moment)
If
I had a jerry curl and a gold tooth I would look sweaty right now, and
you all would be standing up shouting right. Right. I have seen so much
more the Lord has done in bleak situations. The three young men have a
wonderful chance to submit themselves to Jesus. We can help by praying
for them.
Once
again I want to thank you for allowing me to share this with you. I
guess to sum it all up; I could say that I was privileged with another
chance to see the Lord be mighty in observing all of the people he
saved on Easter. Because I have seen this and witnessed many other
things, I am able (along with some / most of you) to pray for three
young men I recently met, to come out of darkness, just like we did. Oh
that warrants the highest praise! Hallelujah! You all be extremely
blessed…
Back to Class (Commentary 5)
www.ra2676.blogspot.com
Testing…
Most of us remember the test we took in college, or high school. We
studied the text, went over our notes that were high lighted, and
underlined. Some of us more tech savvy students went over our mp3
recordings of the lecture. Yup, we burned that class straight to a CD
and listened to it. What ever our preferred technique was, we did it in
hopes that we would be prepared for that quiz. If it was a class that
had a part two, like Calculus, or Advanced UNIX Administration, we
saved those notes because we knew how important they would be. But how
important were they really? How often do you use anything you learned
in Calculus? That information is completely irrelevant to real life
unless you are one of the.02% of people who actually have to use it at
work (and that may be an over estimate). And even then it’s in the form
of some expensive software that does it for you right? Right. So what
about what’s really important? What is really
important? What do we learn that actually has a real life application
that matters? I think our educational system has a lot to offer. I
think it could certainly offer more. Since our educational system is
set up in such a way that faith in a religion is not tolerated (even
though blind faith and allegiance to a government is), I
would like to touch on the real life applications we learn from the
Word of God, that we get by listening to someone outside of our
wonderful school system.
Many of us take notes in Church. I have been
to churches that actually print out an outline of the sermon to be
preached. Some pass out notes. Some churched have audio and or video
recordings of the services. Many churches even air their services.
There is even a ministry called Evangel Fellowship here in
Greensboro NC that has live web cast of services. Can you imagine how
much easier college would have been if their system were like that.
Some of us wouldn’t have to go to class. Speaking personally, I did
well in college, partially due to studying the highlighted materials
and handouts. I did well with minimal information. Why is it that with
so much available information out there, I struggle with the real life
important applications readily available through church? I came across
this the other day. Simple lesson:
James 1:2-4(Amplified Bible)
2Consider
it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or
encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.
3Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
4But
let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a
thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully
developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.
This
is pretty straight forward right? I mean if you want to you can pick it
apart to a 2.5 to 4 hour sermon. That’s ok and helps us understand
biblical principals. But for the sake of argument we will take this at
face value. Having this pretty straight forward text in front of us, it
become obvious what the application is right? So why do we fail it
every time? This is an important real life application. This text even
has a positive outcome.
I
suppose I could go on and on about this but I think the point has been
demonstrated effectively. I’ll go over it more as my faith is being
tested. Folks your faith gets tested regularly. According to the text
we should be thankful for that. There in lies the application. I can’t
help but wonder about my personal study habits as it relates to the
subject of my faith. Maybe I’m less likely to retain the information
because I only read my notes once as they are being taken. To put it
more clearly, here is another simple lesson:
Basic PC Maintenance and Configurations
When
installing a single hard drive, ensure the jumper is set to MASTER and
that the IDE Data Ribbon is connected to IDE motherboard port 1. Also
on some Legacy motherboards,
you must manually line up pin 1 from the board to pin 1 on the IDE Data
Ribbon to Pin 1 on the device. In this set up the optical drive Jumper
would be set to SLAVE and would be connected to the second (lower)
connector on the IDE Data Ribbon. If no more Optical Drives or Storage
Drives are to be added, IDE Port 2 can be left empty. Standard ATX
motherboards can Support up to 4 IDE devices, unless a PCI / ISA IDE
control adapter is used…….
Simple
enough right? I don't ask that to be condescending, but to prove a
point. That material as complex as it may seem is extremely simple to
apply because I saw it, studied it and did it at school, home and work
(life). How much of that did you retain after reading it once. Its can
be like that for me, as well as others when we write notes from church
that we never read over. So much relevant real life applications can be
collected at church or even at home because of technology. Then there
is the text. No you don't have to spend $98.00 like for the Chemistry
book (unless you want to). It’s even online for free. With all of this
information so readily available, I can’t think of one excuse I can
give for failing real life tests that matter. These are all open book
open note tests!!! The Word of God is so available folks.
