Last night I saw part of a dvd called "The Finger of God." If you've ever seen the Transformation videos, by the Sentinel Group and George Otis Jr. and you really enjoyed them, the Finger of God is a dvd you should probably look into.
The particular video wasn't necessarily professionally done, but they were very encouraging. They were about areas in the world where people are experiencing supernatural miracles of God. Blind eyes seeing, deaf ears hearing, the dead being raised up again! It was really neat to see. They had stories of the church in China, Mozambique, Bulgaria and a few other places in Europe. Such as someone going into a village, asking to pray for someone who is blind or deaf and this person praying for this person and they get healed! And then the whole village turns to Jesus!
Wait, you mean they got healed and then got saved?!?! Yep! One of the best parts about it was the fact that little children were praying for these people and they're getting healed! There were parts that could've totally offended my precious little pathetic theology (after all, theology is just us trying to explain God. It's good to have proper theology, but at times, God does stuff to just mess with us.).
In any case, the video's were encouraging to see how the Kingdom of God is growing. The Lord is doing some awesome 'stuff' today and its fun to hear the stories and be a part of it.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Forgive All
The title here kinda says it all.... Have you ever been hurt/offended at something that happened to you in life? Someone say something to you that just rubbed you the wrong way? Or someone told you something and maybe they didn't hold true to their promise? Maybe your a teenager or child and your parents or someone you trusted did something just really wrong to you. Maybe there's a divorce that you were victim to? How do you handle it?
One thing you could do is hold onto that hurt and let it rot in your heart, never forgiving them who have hurt you.
Or you could say "God, I know what this person did to me way wrong. Whether or not they know it (and perhaps you need to just say something to this person/group of people and let them know). But regardless God, I release the hurt and pain that's been caused by this. I choose to not let this build into hatred. I love them and pray the biggest blessing onto them."
Believe it or not, but I'm one who has encountered a lot of hurt in my life. I had things said about me behind my back and all sorts of false accusations leveled at me and misunderstandings. But through all of it, the Lord has always given me the grace to get through and just be like "God, i love and release them."
That doesn't come right away. But over time and through prayer, forgiveness was granted. You're probably thinking "Well Shawn, that's easy for you to say. But have you ever gone through a divorce or been physically/sexually/mentally abused? What about those?"
Your right, there's a lot in life I haven't experienced. And I don't know the pains that that causes people. There are people who have gone through horrendous ordeals in life, and I wouldn't even want to try and imagine the pains they've suffered. But I know of Someone who has. Someone who came to set people free from their bondages that separate them from God. (Yes, His name is Jesus...)
You may have gone through divorces, or been raped or some sort of other abuse. Your not alone. But I do want to tell you that through the grace of God, you can forgive those who have hurt you.
I'll tell you where this is coming from. I don't know about you, but I have days where I just don't want to be around folks. Sometimes, different times for different reasons. But sometimes, offenses just like to get in their. And sometimes, the very people who your trying to get don't understand that and they don't take your help or they misread you and your like "believe it or not, but I'm trying to help." And in that, grudges and bitterness start forming. Then you have to pull back on the reigns and just be like "ok, no matter what they might have thought, I still love them and want the best for them."
It's usually not that easy to forgive all. I know whole books have been written about this very idea. One time, i heard this story from a friend of mine who he was loosing his wife to breast cancer. And he was starting to get mad at God. After all, he was a good and faithful missionary in Asia. And here he's having to deal with this disease! I mean, its like "Hey God, i'm trying to work for you here, could you help me out?!!?" And the one question he got from God was "If you loose her, will you be offended at me?" (Lesson learned in life: When God asks you a question like this, the wrong thing to do is to try and answer it, because its a set up!). In the end, my friend lost his wife to cancer, got remarried and is to this day still serving the Lord.
I just lost my grandpa just a couple months ago. He was faithfully serving God and he just died. He was in his late 70's and he went to his church to help with the viewing of a 17 yr old who had just committed suicide. He went up to his pastor and asked if there was anything he could do to help out. Before his pastor answered him, he fell forward and died. Granted, my grandpa is in Heaven with Jesus, so he had a good turn out. But its in situations like that that you have to wonder at times.
In any case, there were lately some situations in my life that happened and I was hurting. In the end, the Lord was telling me to forgive. It's not easy and not fair. There were probably misunderstandings and preconceived ideas that weren't true. But still, He said forgive. Thank God for His grace. Because I know I can turn to Jesus who dealt with a lot of the same things and probably soo much more, and He still forgave. Even after being nailed to the Cross, He still said "Forgive them Father, because they don't know what they're doing."
Of course, I'm sure that for all 4 of you who are reading this have absolutely NO unresolved issues. If that's not the case, may the Lord extend grace to forgive. It's nothing you can do on your own, you need to fall on His grace and love.
One thing you could do is hold onto that hurt and let it rot in your heart, never forgiving them who have hurt you.
Or you could say "God, I know what this person did to me way wrong. Whether or not they know it (and perhaps you need to just say something to this person/group of people and let them know). But regardless God, I release the hurt and pain that's been caused by this. I choose to not let this build into hatred. I love them and pray the biggest blessing onto them."
Believe it or not, but I'm one who has encountered a lot of hurt in my life. I had things said about me behind my back and all sorts of false accusations leveled at me and misunderstandings. But through all of it, the Lord has always given me the grace to get through and just be like "God, i love and release them."
That doesn't come right away. But over time and through prayer, forgiveness was granted. You're probably thinking "Well Shawn, that's easy for you to say. But have you ever gone through a divorce or been physically/sexually/mentally abused? What about those?"
Your right, there's a lot in life I haven't experienced. And I don't know the pains that that causes people. There are people who have gone through horrendous ordeals in life, and I wouldn't even want to try and imagine the pains they've suffered. But I know of Someone who has. Someone who came to set people free from their bondages that separate them from God. (Yes, His name is Jesus...)
You may have gone through divorces, or been raped or some sort of other abuse. Your not alone. But I do want to tell you that through the grace of God, you can forgive those who have hurt you.
I'll tell you where this is coming from. I don't know about you, but I have days where I just don't want to be around folks. Sometimes, different times for different reasons. But sometimes, offenses just like to get in their. And sometimes, the very people who your trying to get don't understand that and they don't take your help or they misread you and your like "believe it or not, but I'm trying to help." And in that, grudges and bitterness start forming. Then you have to pull back on the reigns and just be like "ok, no matter what they might have thought, I still love them and want the best for them."
It's usually not that easy to forgive all. I know whole books have been written about this very idea. One time, i heard this story from a friend of mine who he was loosing his wife to breast cancer. And he was starting to get mad at God. After all, he was a good and faithful missionary in Asia. And here he's having to deal with this disease! I mean, its like "Hey God, i'm trying to work for you here, could you help me out?!!?" And the one question he got from God was "If you loose her, will you be offended at me?" (Lesson learned in life: When God asks you a question like this, the wrong thing to do is to try and answer it, because its a set up!). In the end, my friend lost his wife to cancer, got remarried and is to this day still serving the Lord.
I just lost my grandpa just a couple months ago. He was faithfully serving God and he just died. He was in his late 70's and he went to his church to help with the viewing of a 17 yr old who had just committed suicide. He went up to his pastor and asked if there was anything he could do to help out. Before his pastor answered him, he fell forward and died. Granted, my grandpa is in Heaven with Jesus, so he had a good turn out. But its in situations like that that you have to wonder at times.
In any case, there were lately some situations in my life that happened and I was hurting. In the end, the Lord was telling me to forgive. It's not easy and not fair. There were probably misunderstandings and preconceived ideas that weren't true. But still, He said forgive. Thank God for His grace. Because I know I can turn to Jesus who dealt with a lot of the same things and probably soo much more, and He still forgave. Even after being nailed to the Cross, He still said "Forgive them Father, because they don't know what they're doing."
Of course, I'm sure that for all 4 of you who are reading this have absolutely NO unresolved issues. If that's not the case, may the Lord extend grace to forgive. It's nothing you can do on your own, you need to fall on His grace and love.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Instant Messaging
Modern technology really is something neat. It's amazing to think that I can be talking to someone in Asia in a heartbeat and its like they're right down the road from me. Now, in those times, there is jargon that is used and lingo that is tossed around. The following is a link that has a lot of this lingo and the explanation for it.
http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/public/article.php/3694251
http://www.instantmessagingplanet.com/public/article.php/3694251
Thursday, February 5, 2009
All My Eggs In One Basket
Everyday, I'm getting emails from groups like the A.F.A and other watchdog groups. Such and such a bill is going through and I need to contact my congressman immediately and voice my opinion.... After a while, I just stop. I thoroughly believe in being active in every sphere of life, but I also believe in praying for those in authority.
I think the next couple of years is a great chance for God to arise and His enemies be scattered. I want to see laws changed to protect the unborn and help the country. But if you get to someone's heart, that's better than legislating. You can only do soo much before you just have soo many rules that someone is bound to snap. What's going on in their heart that makes them want to do what they do?
When investing, its not a good idea to put all your money in one place, but rather, spread it out. It's called diversifying an investment. The Kingdom of God isn't like that. You put your trust in the Lord and stay close to Him and His heart and your 'investment' (life) can't be anywhere safer. You continue to read the Bible and continue to pray (seek God) and your life is taken care of. It may not seem be taken care of like you want it to be, but God's got you.
Let us continue to seek God for change that we can believe in.
I think the next couple of years is a great chance for God to arise and His enemies be scattered. I want to see laws changed to protect the unborn and help the country. But if you get to someone's heart, that's better than legislating. You can only do soo much before you just have soo many rules that someone is bound to snap. What's going on in their heart that makes them want to do what they do?
When investing, its not a good idea to put all your money in one place, but rather, spread it out. It's called diversifying an investment. The Kingdom of God isn't like that. You put your trust in the Lord and stay close to Him and His heart and your 'investment' (life) can't be anywhere safer. You continue to read the Bible and continue to pray (seek God) and your life is taken care of. It may not seem be taken care of like you want it to be, but God's got you.
Let us continue to seek God for change that we can believe in.
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