2018 Christian Random Thoughts ... Forsaking Compromise

Here's an update from my post on January 1st...Look at God, even in the middle of winter:

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So beautiful!
I've given up on trying to grow white orchids.:( They are so finicky!

Tell me about it! I suck at it too, but I'm trying to do better :lol:, especially since it was a gift. Believe me, I've killed many a plant/flowers :look:. Now I try to talk to them in the morning, my sister and co-worker say it makes all the difference :yep:.
 
Awesome read! "The spirit of Python" by Jentezen Franklin:

" There is no 'gift of prayer' ...It takes faith and persistence. ... You have a spiritual life if you read the Bible (inhale) and pray (exhale). The Bible is the inspired Word of God, which means it is 'God-breathed' "
 
Here is a tool for repetitive spiritual attacks:

It is the principal of blessing those who would either bless or harm us and using it as a weapon against the adversary and his minions.


Testimony, this really works! I just planned a couple of quick 1 line prayers that I can do anytime anywhere even while having a conversation when I pause to listen while they talk I send off my quick prayer-BOOM!
 
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Heard Sunday ..(paraphrasing).'You cannot outgive God, He's a Giver, not a debtor and therefore owes you nothing. It's hard to owe anyone anything if you are giving to them..'
 
Reality check: perspective for those who live in 1st world countries we are BLESSED! And spoiled cause many of us don’t acknowledge the little things
Take time out today and everyday to give thanks to God for little things we all can take for granted and Praise God in heaven for them. Because a lot of people in this world don’t have a fraction of what we have. Zip up those complaining lips and be grateful, thankful, and full of joy and praise for our great Lord and King Jesus Christ who started it all!
John 1:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.




Don’t just be a talking Christian be a doing Christian professsing your faith is great but it’s not all there is how are yo helping your fellow man today?
Doesn’t have to be big or special or recognized publically actually it’s better that it’s not but how do you serve God? Just with empty words or with action doing our Fathers will.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven- Matt 6:9-13


 
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Received correction in a dream: my fledgling ministry is in trouble due to partial neglect. *sigh*

It pisses me off I still have to dumb down or ease up on discussing spiritual experiences with supposedly "mature" believers. Yup, I am weird and have accepted this fact many years ago.
 
Came across an interesting article:

Speaking Out
What ‘Black Panther’ Means for Christians
This celebration of black culture and black success points to a bigger story for the church.
Esau McCaulley| February 20, 2018
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Image: Courtesy of Marvel Studios

A while ago, I stopped watching a certain type of black movie.
In the wake of the black suffering that I saw in real life, I didn’t want to see another black slave scene. I didn’t want the water hoses of Alabama to once again wreck my hopes. I didn’t want to see us integrate another school, sports team, or profession despite the overwhelming odds. I didn’t avoid these films because I was ashamed of our history, but because my soul needed rest.

The film Black Panther presented itself differently. It did not set out to highlight black suffering, but black achievement. Furthermore, it was black achievement in a black context. For black people, this was a film for us, by us, and about us.

The Marvel movie—set in a fictional, futuristic African country (Wakanda) and featuring an African and African American cast—has even inspired black viewers to come to the movie dressed in traditional African clothing.

This response might seem excessive, but given the history of cinema, the chance to center the black experience outside of the setting of extreme poverty is no small thing. Black audiences are celebrating the vision for a bigger story for black boys and girls; their support is a call to attend to the whole of black life and culture.

American evangelicals might look to Black Panther as a starting point for dialogue and reflection as they increasingly address concerns about diversity, reconciliation, and representation in their churches and the church at large.

This movie milestone exemplifies how deeply we as a people want to be our whole black selves and tell our whole stories. We resist the expectation that we must conform to cultural norms in order to be accepted in white spaces, including evangelical institutions.

If eschatological vision of the kingdom of God contains a strong affirmation of cultural distinctives (Rev. 7:9), can we glory in those distinctives now? Can evangelicals accept strong affirmations of black culture that do not recount black Christian forgiveness of racism?

The bigger black story reflected in Black Panther also leads us to ask how that narrative challenges, affirms, or ignores elements of the Christian story. Black Panther does have something to say about the black diaspora that is directly relevant to church and its mission.

At the heart of the film lies the question: What are those with resources (the Wakandans) going do about black suffering in the world? The film posits three responses: violent black nationalism, isolationist black nationalism, and an engaged nationalism that addresses the rest of the world.

These responses are not unique. In Jesus’ day, the zealots believed that violent revolution was the only solution to Roman oppression while some Essenes opted to separate from the world to preserve a pristine Judaism. Eventually, the Wakandans opt for the third solution, and it’s a black woman, the humanitarian covert agent Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o), who most clearly articulates the vision for an engaged Wakanda.

Black Panther shows us that rejecting violent nationalism need not carry with it rejecting the concerns of oppressed peoples. This idea is deeply Christian. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. could say that “riots are socially destructive and self-defeating” and that “a riot is the language of the unheard.”

In the same way, Black Panther gives the black revolutionary tradition, represented by a father (N’Jobu played by Sterling K. Brown) and son (Erik Killmonger played by Michael B. Jordan), a sympathetic hearing. When attempting to rally his brother, the king (T’Chaka), to his violent position, N’Jobu weeps when describing the plight of blacks in the US. T’Chaka’s cold-hearted pragmatism, by contrast, rings hollow.

If the father embodies a sympathy that leads to violence, the son embodies rage. We first encounter Killmonger discussing African artifacts at a museum. After declaring his plans to rob the place, he asks a pointed question to the curator: Did your ancestors buy them at a fair price or take them?
In the church,
can we be painfully
honest about the past?
Killmonger is such a compelling antagonist because audiences are left to wonder whether to see him as a criminal or the inevitable outcome of society’s past sins. His path of violence is thwarted, but the questions he raised still linger. How do we come to grips with the legacy of what was done to African peoples?

In real life, we also find ourselves grappling with whether or how to address these kinds of questions. In the church, can we be painfully honest about the past? I tend to believe that black and evangelical churches are not separated by different understandings of the Bible but different readings of history.

Black Panther also showcases how isolationism creates a void that will be filled by something else. The great sin of the movie occurs when the Wakandans, in their success, separate themselves to protect their resources. This results in Killmonger directing his rage at the world and the Wakandans. They are complicit in the suffering of the black diaspora by their inaction.

In a telling encounter, T’Chaka tells his son that it is hard for a good man to be king. We know that it is only the truly good man who can be king. The story of that kingship is big enough to encompass a real acknowledgment of our sins—individual and corporate, present and historic—along with real hope for reconciliation.

This is a story that the church needs to recover to bear faithful witness in our time.
__________________________
Esau McCaulley is assistant professor of New Testament and early Christianity at Northeastern Seminary. He writes about New Testament scholarship, Anglicanism, and the black experience for The Living Church and his blog, Thicket of the Jordan. He is also one of the organizers of the Call and Response Conference, an event examining the past, present, and future of black Christians in America.
 
God will always show His love and will always have His glory.

Praise Him, for He is our God, who reigns forever in our hearts and souls.

Amen and Amen ❤❤❤
 
I would like to write about my life with Yah on here more, but I hesitate. Criticism is not the issue; wilfully misunderstanding is.

No matter what you are doing or where you are, keep seeking after the Father and His correction. Do not wait until you have "cleaned up" for it is a waste of precious time. We are supposed to be working with Him to manage that distraction called darkness (willful dysfunction). I think how often we overcome darkness through Him, the lengths of time we are a tool in His hand, and enjoying the rest periods He gives us are good indicators to spiritual progression.

Every living thing serves its purpose (Yah's function), then it dies. We are called to join His family, His life, His desire, which goes beyond basic functionality. Seeking after Him tells Him how much we want to join in His will and purpose (desire). Even in dysfunction, Yah's desire is fulfilled - remember Joseph's brothers! Remember David's many sins! Remember the purpose of Nebuchadnezzar!

Amen.
 
By our actions, we tell the Lord and others who we are.

Guide my steps, Father, as I walk.
Guide my hands, mouth, and heart.
Although I make mental mistakes,
I trust Your judgement and Your part.

Amen.
 
That's beautifully said... I had to pray for Father God to purse my lips at the right times just the other day (at work). Might I add that our INACTION also shows the Lord and others who we are...like with sin - omission and commission. It's a daily walk for me!


By our actions, we tell the Lord and others who we are.

Guide my steps, Father, as I walk.
Guide my hands, mouth, and heart.
Although I make mental mistakes,
I trust Your judgement and Your part.

Amen.
 
I hate the phrase "free will" because it implies humans are separated from Our Creator (all existence comes from Him). A more precise way to say it is that "we have choices to make." Even after answering His call, our souls make decisions nearly everyday concerning our walk with Him. Does the soul choose the spirit or the beast? Remember, Eve (the soul of man) chose the beast (the flesh of man) over the words of life (the spirit).

Love is a choice.
Trust is a choice.
Service is a choice.
Rebellion is a choice.
Seeking Him is a choice.
Embracing His judgment (correction) is a choice.
Understanding His supernatural work is a choice.
 
John Calvin was dead wrong about predestination. Predestination is simply this: The Almighty created each person; therefore, only He knows what will happen to each one no matter which direction one takes. The so-called multiverse (multiple existences occurring at the same time) is all in His mind/heart. All have the potential of good and bad (function and dysfunction), and He uses it all to fulfill His purpose (Proverbs 16:4, Genesis 50:20).

Augustine was dead wrong about a few things as well because he did not understand the depth of Yah's love and forgiveness due to his agony over his past life.

The moral of the story: Don't trust anyone but Yah.
 
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DISCLAIMER: This is not safe for work, not safe for CHILDREN. I’m not responsible for nightmares or anxiety from watching these videos. Parents You have been warned.


Is voodoo and it’s branches a legit religion? Yes, but the real question is what is it’s true purpose, and who are they truly serving?



Some points on Haitian voodoo, Santeria, Macumba, Candomble, Obeah, Babalu-Aye, Palo Mayumbe, etc.. mostly in response to the 1st video above and people who turn a blind eye to the true evils of voodoo, they’re enablers thus giving this “religion” and those who practice it more power.

First all these things apply to these and all other forms of voodoo practiced in other countries under different names but it’s ultimately witchcraft, sorcery, sacrifices to manipulate energy, spirits, people for money power fame whatever it’s people from all walks of life, doctors, lawyers, teachers, janitors, celebrities, maids (not all famous or rich people are involved) every socioeconomic background, race.
If anything in these videos or post sound like something you’ve seen or heard about where you’re from, please post the local name for it, the country, region, and give some details if you can.

There’s a Haitian band called Ayebobo and theres also song with a Kompas beat where the chorus is just ayebobo sung over and over again in the beginning one the 1st video, I doubt she even knows what she’s dancing to of course the beat is good there’s nothing wrong with komoas or merengue in itself it’s who it glorifies and the results effects from it that make it good or bad, but so are other songs that don’t glorify voodoo.

Here’s the thing though, Aye bobo means Amen! In voodoo religion and Amen means agreement to all that was just said or will be said after, btw.

This video claims that voodoo is a religion and by indirectly she’s saying that because it’s a legit religion then it can’t really be evil, then she proceeds to tell gruesome true tales and show abominable rituals and ceremonies that are not only disturbing but still practiced today it’s not a myth or scary story from the past it’s alive, well and active today just as it ever was and it’s worse cause people are doing this for nothing not even riches now just some twisted power and they’re getting younger.

Just cause it’s a religion doesn’t mean it’s honoring or serving God or Jesus, let’s be real even Satanism is a legit religion that mocks Jesus, and all those “religions” go against the 1st commandment in Exodus 20 I am the Lord they God thou shall have NO other gods before me.

The whole point of voodoo is to learn how to prepare the location, atmosphere and the person/initiate to be possessed by “spirits” called loa (you should look up what those spirits are and what they really do) and have those spirits help you get what you want through witchcraft practices, rituals (either by paying for something to be done for you or getting the info and doing it yourself) psychic readings fortune telling with cards, bones, telling the future etc...all of which is condemned in the Bible also it’s all witchcraft and sorcery.

Now when these people are possessed they will take on all the mannerisms, personality, speech patterns, physical gait of spirit they have to have the spirits “color” or chair or favorite food, cigar liquor ready for them and know how to properly address them. Here’s the problem with voodoo in its many forms and levels for example if a woman is having an affair with another woman’s husband the wife will go to a “mambo” or “houngan” to have the side chick cursed but not only her but all her children too (if and when later she has any now or in the future) and everything she tries to do are cursed as well. Don’t think it’s just Haitians cause Italians do cursing too through gypsy spiritism and witchcraft too.

Other outcomes are more cruel like taking a child or young person usually a man to become a zombie, it’s a long drawn out process of potions, poisons and rituals they ritualistically traumatize the person and poison them so that when they wake up the person has almost no memory of who they were and then they can be used to guard land, or work for free until they drop dead. This having their lives robbed from them. How this is supposed to be good knowledge I don’t know. The exact process with al, it’s components is only known to advanced voodooists what have been initiated into,the “religion”and have been picked by the lead priest or priestess for that job. The other thing is human sacrifice for money and power.

These voodoo priests sometimes light a candle to Jesus to put Jesus over everything so it will seem legit and ok with God, when it’s not. Also they will seek them for healing, help to get a job etc... check out the 1st video on that. But it’s always temporary and ends badly because there’s always a price to pay and the price you pay isn’t decided by you it’s decided by the spirit who tells you which person/soul they want you to sell to them. They’re is more evil acts, and unimaginable things these practitioners do so don’t ever underestimate them.

2 Chronicles 33:6- He sacrificed his children in the fire in the valley of Ben Hinom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulate mediums and spiritists, he did much evil in the eyes of the Lord and aroused His anger.

Leviticus 19:31- Do not seek out mediums and spiritists for you will be defiled by them, I AM the Lord thy God.

Leviticus 20:6

I will set my face against anyone who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute themselves by following them, and I will cut them off from their people.

Revelation 21:8

8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

Micah 5:10-12

In that day,” declares the Lord,

“I will destroy your horses from among you

and demolish your chariots.11 I will destroy the cities of your land

and tear down all your strongholds.12 I will destroy your witchcraft

and you will no longer cast spells.


Acts 19:17-20
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed what they had done. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.[a] 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

Deuteronomy 18:10-14
Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so.

The MEV states these things are an abomination to the Lord.

10 There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or who uses divination, or uses witchcraft, or an interpreter of omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts spells, or a spiritualist, or an occultist, or a necromancer. 12 For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God will drive them out from before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.

Gal 5:19-21
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Isaiah 47:8-14

Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures,

who sit securely,

who say in your heart,

“I am, and there is no one besides me;

I shall not sit as a widow

or know the loss of children”:

9 These two things shall come to you

in a moment, in one day;

the loss of children and widowhood

shall come upon you in full measure,

in spite of your many sorceries

and the great power of your enchantments.

10 You felt secure in your wickedness;

you said, “No one sees me”;

your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray,

and you said in your heart,

“I am, and there is no one besides me.”

11 But evil shall come upon you,

which you will not know how to charm away;

disaster shall fall upon you,

for which you will not be able to atone;

and ruin shall come upon you suddenly,

of which you know nothing.

12 Stand fast in your enchantments

and your many sorceries,

with which you have labored from your youth;

perhaps you may be able to succeed;

perhaps you may inspire terror.

13 You are wearied with your many counsels;

let them stand forth and save you,

those who divide the heavens,

who gaze at the stars,

who at the new moons make known

what shall come upon you.

14 Behold, they are like stubble;

the fire consumes them;

they cannot deliver themselves

from the power of the flame.

No coal for warming oneself is this,

no fire to sit before!


Voodooists , Santarians, Macumba, Babalua, Candomble, Obeah, they’re just practicing voodoo under another name let’s say it’s a branch of voodoo mostly weaker branches. Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, South America, Louisiana, Former English colony islands etc...different languages, countries but basically it’s all the same religion and practices. Haitian voodoo low level is just what Haitians call “semps” which are little rituals little things from biting the hem of their skirt or sleeve cause they bit their tongue-it’s to return the tongue biting to the person assumed to be talking about you at that time, to cleansing baths of certain herbs or flowers but they ask an unknown entity for luck, jobs, to be irresistible to men etc... higher level Haitian and other forms of voodoo routinely sacrifice small animals like chickens or large animals like goats, also they turn people into zombies (how is that a good thing to steal someone’s whole life and make them serve as a mindless slave for the rest of their natural lives) and the big one, human sacrifice or as she stated “hornless goats” they prefer children cause of their innocence but adults are fair game too, drinking blood and cannibalism. By the time they get to high level practices they know who they’re really serving they don’t even bother to call on Jesus and blaspheme unless they want to brazenly provoke God’s anger. Again abominations to God, and when the invoke the name of Jesus to preside over their rituals small or high level it is blasphemous.


Please tell me how any of this is good and serving the Lord. What she’s talking about them blending voodoo with Catholicism is them pretending to be Catholic while still worshipping their gods under cover is called syncretism look it up. Syncretism is as simple as those “coexist” bumper stickers you see on people s cars, it doesn’t mean you practice your religion and I practice mine, it means let’s fuse it all together into a contradictory pantheistic hodge-podge and see what we get. Syncretism of voodoo and Catholicism is one big reason why people say Catholicism is witchcraft when it’s witchcraft imitating hiding behind and really mocking Catholicism.


The biggest myth in voodoo is that it’s harmless and your still serving Jesus in your own way and it’s part of the culture like to be a real Haitian, Cuban, Brazilian etc... you must either be ok with voodoo by supporting it with your agreement by turning a blind eye to its evils or practice it-and that’s the biggest lie of all. Voodoo is a vicious cycle of superstition feeding into fear, need for power over circumstances and controlling other people and the mistaken belief that it’s cultural and so must be Ok and followed because everything from Africa is good for African diaspora people’s right?


Let me clear this up for you drum music, dancing singing in a particular way is cultural, and there’s nothing wrong with it as long as it’s righteous and good clean fun even King David danced into the city, Psalms 150 says to dance make music...the purpose is just as important than the actual act or thing done with the music. What’s voodoos purpose is, to use drums, music dancing, liquor to put a person into a trance to call up spirits to possess that person or persons, that became “cultural” long ago because the enemy took what was African culture and attached sorcery, witchcraft trance possession onto it so long ago that the devil has successfully fooled people into thinking it’s really a part of their culture. That’s the hoodwink, and the Okey-doke and the jokes on us.







https://www.gotquestions.org/voodoo-Bible.html



No everything is not black magic or voodoo etc... sometimes people just pass but sometimes it is voodoo or witchcraft, wicca, sorcery etc...we as Christians need to stop burying our heads in the sand and be vigilant with prayer and awareness, when we see or hear off things like new age sorcery or new age Christian fusion (syncretism) we need to alert our pastors in the church to shut it down.

The unfortunate results if they don’t come to Jesus, for practitioners and victims are mental illness, becoming psychologically dysfunctional, sometimes physical aches pains, life altering or terminal diseases especially involving the kidneys, (I’ve met 3 self-proclaimed so-called ghost hunters, no training, not Preists, pastors so no laying if hands no belief in God, Jesus or scripture whose wives were straight up witches and they have either heart or kidney diseaseor both at a young age ) heart issues, high blood pressure, or deformities and curses on the familial line.
Basically they got whacked by some demons for messing in things they didn’t have the authority to mess with.

Isaiah 41:10

fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

Luke 10:19

Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

Philippians 2:9-13

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

12So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”
Christ’s peace be with you!
 
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Sometimes God has to remind me of who I am and whose I am in Him. Early this morning was one of those times. He gently led me through a few scriptures to refresh my memory of the promises He gave to me and that I have but to trust Him to keep His word. I will wait patiently on the Lord and hold my peace.
 
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