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by Michael Boldea Jr
…The hour is upon us when the words spoken by Isaiah against the people of God, (Israel) will be made manifest in our present generation. The hour is upon us when he who departs from evil makes himself prey!
So how did we get here? How is it that a once Christian nation has come to have its hands defiled with blood, its fingers with iniquity, its lips with lies, and its tongue with perversity? Why is it that no one calls for justice anymore, no one pleads for truth, our feet run to evil, and our thoughts are thoughts of iniquity?…
To read moreclick here
by Jon Acuff
I read an article in last month’s Men’s Journal about some coal miners that died in a tragic accident. While trapped miles under the earth, with their oxygen running out and death coming quickly, the men decided to write some notes to the people they loved.
One note said:
“It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep.”
That is a gift…if you are dying.
That was a kindness, a man letting his family know that he did not suffer. I was overwhelmed by the selflessness of that action. With only a few short breaths left, that man did not focus on the pain he was in, but instead used his last energy to do everything he could to ease the pain of the people he loved.
But if you are alive…if you still have years ahead of you, if you are still above ground, breathing and living, that note is not a gift.
It is a curse.
It is a note that I wrote to describe my own life for many, many years.
“It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep.”
Things weren’t horrible, I just went to sleep. I stopped caring about anyone but me. I stopped giving and focused on taking. I let go of risk and settled into a nice, safe, comfortable life.
“It wasn’t bad. I just went to sleep.”
I am tired of living that way.
Tired of writing that note.
Tired of being those words.
I don’t know if you’re like me and it’s easy for you to fall asleep. Easy to focus on the wrong things. Easy to miss the love and the life and the joy God keeps whispering in the corners of your day.
Well, this year, I’ve got two words for you: Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
Wake up.
That is my prayer for 2009. That I would not sleep. That I would not live a life that is really not all that alive. That I would remember Revelation 16:15, “blessed is he who stays awake.”
What kind of note will you write this year?
Jon Acuff writes the site www.stuffchristianslike.netHe has a book coming out with Zondervan in 2010, lives in Atlanta and thinks it’s weird to write his own bios.
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to “recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:”
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
“So many times in history in the last 100 years, citizens have stood by and done nothing, allowing evil to prevail. As America stood up against and defeated Communism, now it is time to stand up against the terror of religious bigotry, hatred and intolerance.”
Stop Islamic totalitarianism threatening freedom worldwide
Add your name to the group of 5,085 people who have already signed using the Internet! Here.
The “Process” of waking up
February 23, 2009 in Commentary, Prophetic | Tags: Arise. Shine, Awake, church, Hearing, Prophetic, sleep, The Lord, Waking | Leave a comment
Lisa Elshaug
2/22/2009
There are those in the church who are in complete denial of what is going on and where we are all headed.
There are those in the church who have come to realize all of the above….who are wiping the sleep from their eye’s and are suddenly gripped by fear, and confusion to what they’re waking up to.
(kinda like…the house is on fire, and the alarm is going off)
There are those in the church who have calmed down to some degree, and are now asking God….O.K… what do you want me to do?
And then there are those in the church who are calmly hearing The Lord, and moving.
I have come to realize that there are various stages of “waking up”.
That the first group above are still very much asleep.
The next two are in the process of waking up.
And the final group are wide awake and ready to go.
It truly is time to stop denying what is going on.
To wake up, and get moving.
To put our eye’s on The Lord and keep them there.
To open our ears/hearts to His voice, and do what He is telling us to do.
And the good news is….
If we will do this, God will absolutely protect, and provide in way’s we have never known.
Way’s that we can’t even imagine.
Right in the midst of all the bad God will and is doing good.
Now what that will look like from moment to moment, for each and every person who is choosing this walk…..I cannot say.
And I know it sounds simplistic….because it really is.
It just won’t always be easy.
It’s time to wake up, get up, and get moving!
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
Isaiah 60 1-2