Know God

I looked up Jeremiah 22:16 in 19 English versions, 2 French, and 1 Italian. In doing so, I realised I do not know Italian as well as I should. Regardless, by the non-English translations, I noted again what English lacks--description.

I settled on the Amplified version--He judged and defended the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well. Was not [all] this [what it means] to know and recognize Me? says the Lord.

The one element that the Amplified version portrays more clearly is that of recognising God. To recognise God is to realise who he is. When one realises His sovereignty, one acts accordingly. In standing up for the poor and needy, Josiah was recognising God. As I mentioned before, English lacks description. In the French and Italian versions, the words used for know are similar. All 3 versions used a word for know that came from the Latin cognōscō. In French and Italian, there are also words translated as know that stem from sapere. Sapere means to have knowledge of , however, cognōscō means to know personally. Thus, we see that in his deeds Josiah did not just know of God, but he knew God.

So I wonder, could we interchange these phrases. Instead of saying, "I know God", could you say, "I judged and defended the cause of the poor and needy?"

Because it appears that if you can say the latter, you can say the former.

And so, here is my opportunity to say that a great way to defend the cause of the poor and needy is to sponsor a child through Compassion. And no, I have no affiliation with them other than that I sponsor a child through their program. I talk about Compassion so much because I am a huge fan of their ministry. Compassion is my proper noun of choice when it comes to charitable giving.

I Will Say it Again

Colorado. I want nothing more than to be there. But I have a peace as I have resigned myself to God's timing. Not sure if I could say I have completely resigned myself to his will if I am to be some other place. I have no answer from the family I wish to work for again. That is ok. If I do not hear from them by some point (this point I do not know), I intend to seek other opportunities, but I can say without any hindrance that I have gotta be in Colorado.

Right now my friend Alex is in the mountains to evade the distractions of this life. I envy him. In California, you actually have to go away to do that. In Colorado, you drive 10 minutes, park, and start walking. For a while last summer, I would hike in Ute Valley Park just before dusk. The day was fading, the temperature had fallen, and it was quiet. With Bono by my side, I would take off down the path, wandering through the park. I loved to go to the top of the bluffs, and look down the other side. With just the sound of my feet, Bono's tags clinking, and the scampering of squirrels in pine needles, I felt so free of distraction. Even with a full parking lot, I would run into few people. I miss those daily times alone with God in my thoughts.

Almost by Ezekiel Azonwu (transcription included)

one of the most dangerous terms in English diction

if it could be translated into audio it would sound like

pbb-bb-bb-bb from the saxophone of Lisa Simpson

two words designed and strategically combined

to form the biggest oxymoron in the history of mankind

ALL-MOST

But see, as far as the world's concerned, you could live your life vile

and could almost get away with murder if you had a nice smile

you could almost meet folks just to almost sleep around

and stop at your local clinic while you almost had a child.

see, 'almost' is no stranger to Satan. Here's proof:

he only tells lies when they're almost the truth

and it's amazing in our incompleteness we find complacence

but if almost is one of Lucifer's many traits

then we are inadvertently good Satan impersonations

But on the contrary, Christ did his job fully

and he proved he was God when he died on the cross like it was his duty

and to pardon my iniquities that I commited rudely

he resurrected from the grave just to tell death to excuse me

but excuse me, this is your life and that's something I can't impose on

but your body is God's home which was alone about to get forclosed on

See, an almost Christian looks right but lives wrong

Can't stand the conviction in Romans so they sit down to be comforted in Psalms

Never understood worship but loved to sing songs like I surrender all. . .MOST

Cuz it's far to expensive to spend your life on something that doesn't appeal to your five senses

see, nowadays, Christianity is like a Louis rag--

no function or use but we just rock it cuz it's stylish

not righteous, but right-ish

So now all God sees is a pile of ISHmael's when he intended for Isaac's

And we're moved by how we feel so we're saved when we feel like it

so technically we've never really been saved we merely tried it.

So no wonder why we're never sold out when we return it after we buy it

Let me break it down because you need to beware

that your life could lack the very standards that need to be there

Cuz on that final day of judgment while God's receiving his heir

will he say, Son, well done or [spits] medium rare!

Cuz even by earthly standards it would be highly insane

to start spending all of your money days before you almost get paid

like parents, you wouldn't send your kids to a school that's almost safe

and ladies, would you really date a man who claims he's almost straight?

and this is the very thing about God that we all try to get around

but his standards are like between two mountains--no middle ground

so a halfway life is unprofitable to you

cuz after all the Sunday service, Bible studies, and prayer meetings

and everything that goes between, God will say I never knew you

But that's not even the worst part of living your life as neutral

it's that you were once arctic but it is your lukewarmness that is causing him to spew you

and this is the very thing that had me

I was bound and held down by the unforgiving gravity of my spiritual reality

I was a Christian, or at least I portrayed the fantasy

With a filthy personal life but a "God bless you brother, how you doin' sister?" personality

I was a male enveloped by guilt because I was stamped a sinner

My message couldn't be received because I didn't represent the sender yet I was almost delivered

Till that one day when I totally, absolutely and completely surrendered

I took heed to a modern prophet who proclaimed it was time for change

now I'm no longer bound to sin point-blank off the chain

You can ask Umar Abdul Mutallab, he'll tell you the same--

you don't almost go to jail when you almost blow up a plane

like you don't almost go to hell when you almost get saved

despised the cross that he was slain and thus the cause for which he came

but don't worry i'm almost done, but before i leave this stage

we have all worked in sin and death was minimum wage

but if it wasn't for Christ we would have almost got paid

transcribed by annabelle minturn

A Sense of Urgency

Yet again I find a sense of urgency. I MUST get out of here.

I know I want to go back to Colorado Springs. Back to my old life? Maybe. I still do not know. I hate not knowing. But what I do know is that God has a plan. A good plan, better than any I could ever even begin to think of. And so, I wait. I trust him. Time after time, he has proven faithful; my loving father gives so much to me, even when my affections are not all his.

I know this feeling, the feeling that I do not want to spend another day in California. That I do not belong here, that I am unwelcome here. And despite a good deal of loneliness in Colorado, I miss it so. I miss the afternoon hikes when I was lost in my thoughts and felt so much closer to God. Life moves too fast here. Life costs too much here. Life takes too much out of me here. I miss the stillness of the mountains, and the clarity in the air. My soul and mind mirrored those characteristics.

I have a new passion, or rather, I have a name to my passion. I have always loved children, but now I have a way to best channel this desire. I know not in what capacity this shall be accomplished. I want again to be near Compassion. How great is it that they are based out of my favourite place on earth? I want to spend more time in their building, catching glimpses of what is going on there. I want to meet more people who work there. I want to hear more stories. My favourite reading material lately is contained not in a book, but in a blog. Compassion's blog. I love to read everything on there--the who's, how's, where's, why's, and when's. I have already read over 300 posts on there--I swear it is addicting. I love all the different styles of the various authors, but I have found that one in particular writes posts that I enjoy every time. There is something in what she writes that just resounds with me. I really want to meet this woman.

Anyway, this is just current life for me. Feelings that really are not that new. Just clearer.

Bailout Plan by Tim Glenn

“It’s extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can’t find $25 billion dollars to save 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases.” –Bono.

I don’t mean to make light of the current economic crisis in the United States, but there’s a part of me that wonders if we don’t deserve this.

As a country, we have been getting fat and lazy while two thirds of the world struggles just to stay alive. Not all of us, mind you, but collectively — as a country — we’re complaining not because we can’t survive but because our luxuries cost us more than we want to spend.

We want cheap gas and “affordable” four-bedroom homes. We want 200 channels on television and to be able to go out to eat two or three times a week.

As Americans, many of us believe we deserve those things. There’s a sense of entitlement. Meanwhile, on the other side of this tiny little planet of ours, someone is praying, pleading to God for a slice of bread.

So our government is working on a bailout plan. How can we maintain the “American way of life” without suffering the consequences of our decisions? A loan. We’ll loan ourselves money and turn a blind eye to the root causes of greed and selfishness.

We do that so well, don’t we? We attack problems by trying to change the circumstances, instead of battling the root causes. I know I’ve done it in my own life, so this is as much an indictment on me as it is on anyone else.

Then I start to think about the poor.

What is the bailout plan for that family living on less than $2 a day in a developing country? The family who struggles not with wants for luxury but needs for survival. Who will bail them out?

The answer, oddly enough, is us. Yes, the same “us” that’s struggling in the midst of this economic downturn. When our economy is bad, it trickles down to the poorest of the poor.

Higher food costs and fuel prices mean their $2 a day doesn’t go nearly as far. We have to look beyond ourselves, now more than ever, to be the church God intended us to be.

The Church is God’s bailout plan for the poor.

I’m not saying we should throw money at poverty and turn a blind eye to its root causes. I understand why Bono is frustrated over the lack of funds, I really do. But money alone won’t stop poverty.

It goes deeper than that. Besides, I think the Church can do better than any government. We understand the spiritual implications that despair and hopelessness cause. And no one can meet those needs better than the Church. If we’ll just be the Church.

This is a time to pray. Not just for the economic crisis in our country, but also for the ones hit hardest — the poor. And, there’s something else we can do: give more.

That’s right . . . more. I know it sounds odd, but what if, instead of hording our money during this time of economic struggle, we decided to be more giving? Wouldn’t that be something?

Imagine the headlines: GIVING TO THE POOR IS UP — EVEN AS STOCKS DECLINE. At the very least, we can’t afford to cut back on our giving. The poor simply cannot survive if we do.

I don’t know what giving more means to you. It could be sponsoring a child. It could be giving to a fund that feeds the hungry.

Maybe it means going on a mission trip and getting your hands dirty. But this is the time to do it. Now. Not tomorrow. Not to change circumstances . . . but to attack the roots.


Click the title to see the original post on the Compassion Blog

Passage

Today marks 4 years since my commencement. I believe I am beginning to see what an appropriate title that is.

year one-schooling. a semester of Bible College. a semester of community college.

year two-moves. moved a LOT. moved out, moved out of city, moved out of state. started a career.

year three-discovery. discovered where i belong. discovered what i like. chose contentment. and fell in love.

year four-development. developed more skills. developed a worthy passion. found the one.

what i believe is in store for me this next year is final (of sorts) development. development of my passions. development of my skills, including my new one. and the development of my relationship with my loves.

and hopefully for the next, fruition. a place with my passion, and a place with my loves.

Obey Him

Pastor Rob taught a sermon entitled "Yes, Lord" (acts 10:1-22)
yesterday. And one of things he specifically mentioned was singleness.
One of the things I have been wondering about is if there is anything I
need to accomplish in this season. It seems marriage is in the near
future for me, and instead of living in dreams of tomorrow I must choose
to live in the reality of today. I must also choose to be willing to
sacrifice any plans, including those of marriage in order to follow what
calling God has for me. God called Peter to forsake his traditions of
decades, what he believed, and what he had dreamed of. And he did it. He
obeyed. If there is anything that I wish to be said of me it would be
that I obeyed. Because if I love Him I will obey Him.

I read this post on the Compassion Blog. Read it, seriously, it is
good

http://blog.compassion.com/faith-of-a-child/

Why I Support Compassion

Compassion is my charity of choice, here are some reasons why

These are not in any particular order

1) Relationships: with the Child Sponsorship Program, I am not just giving money to an organisation. I sponsor an individual child. I am able to foster a relationship with the child I sponsor. The great thing about this is I can see the results personally. I do not just hear about how over a million children are being sponsored. I can hear about the child I sponsor, Tamirat, and how he is personally affected. I like such relationships.

2) I am commanded to: In at least five places in the Bible (NKJV), it explicitly says to aid the poor. Yes, I am going to list them.

Lev 25:35 If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty
among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that
he may live with you.

Deut 15: 7-8 If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within
any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you
shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother,
but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him
sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.

Deut 15:11 For the poor will never cease from the land; therefore I
command you, saying, 'You shall open your hand wide to your brother,
to your poor and your needy, in your land.'

Psalm 82: 3-4 Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the
afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the
hand of the wicked.

Proverbs 31:9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause
of the poor and needy.

3) method: Compassion works through local churches, that are already established and who demonstrate sound doctrine. They also look for long-term situations. Poverty cannot be fixed overnight. I believe stability is very important for children. Change is good, instability is not. To me, the most important facet of their long-term changes is the fact that they are not just releasing children from poverty, but they are "Releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name." To give a child food to eat and clean water to drink, but to leave their soul hungering for the Word and thirsting for Living Water is to accomplish nothing of great consequence.

4) integrity: Compassion has demonstrated great financial efficiency. Check them out on Charity Navigator and the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance.

5) the people of Compassion: one thing I can say about Compassion that a lot of sponsors cannot is that I have been to their offices, and I have met many of their employees. I worked full time for two employees and occasionally for another. I even lived with one of the people I worked for. They are different. They are so passionate about children, and it is apparent. Is that not important, considering what Compassion does?

6) the value given to children: I believe investing in people is the best investment one can make. Of everything around us, the only things eternal are people and the word of God. Children are the future, and the effects we have on them now will be present in eternity. Think about it--some of the people that will be in heaven are going to be Compassion kids that would not have heard the gospel if it was not for Compassion.

(I will post sources later-this is being sent from my mobile phone)

I have also worked with Samaritan's Purse and fundraised for World Vision. These are also great charities too, but I have chosen Compassion as the one I regularly give to. Remember that SP and WV work in different ways. Within the church, it is great to have unity in diversity.

Said of a church in Lome, Togo:

"The church would like to be able to do more, but in the meantime has
decided to be faithful with the opportunities that present themselves."

Wow. It is stated so 'matter-of-fact'. So easy to miss.

How many times do we wait until we feel we have the means necessary to
do some grand thing we believe God has called us to? Instead of waiting
till everything is in order and starting off with a bang, start by being
faithful in the small stuff.

Passion

• What advice would you give to a young director of a small starting ministry? (Gabe)

Make sure the cause of the ministry that you are leading is your absolute passion. Ask yourself deep in your soul

Is this really what I’m all about? Is this absolutely my passion?

The test that I put myself through every few days — and I would tell you to do the same — is this:

When you think about this ministry that you’re launching, test whether or not it can move you to tears in 30 seconds — either tears of great sorrow at the need that you are trying to fill or tears of great joy at the impact and the joy of making a difference in your world? If it cannot move you to tears in 30 second, my advice is … don’t do it.

Courtesy of Compassion International


I was wondering why I cannot help but shedding tears EVERY SINGLE TIME I read the Compassion blog.

I mean, I know my passion is children. But it is making more sense to me. I still do not know what I am to do. But I can say without a doubt, it involves children.