The Human Experience

So if you've never read the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, I recommend you check it out. It is super prophetic and awesome and it spawned a super prophetic and awesome movie with the same name.

Anyway, I got to see the movie today and without giving too many spoilers away, I will try to tell what it meant to me.

Firstly, the story is set in a futuristic world where people have given up certain things like emotions, color, animals, etc. in order to lead lives free from pain or inconvenience. There are only a couple of people who retain the ability to have these things via memories of the past, and one of them in our protagonist. The story is much bigger (and more amazing) than that, but I want you to actually read the book, so I shall say no more about it.

But I was watching the movie today (opening weekend!) and during the movie they showed clips of the modern (20th-21st century) world from various locations. We saw wars and rumors of wars, dances, weddings, prayers, Christmases, and hunting trips where innocent elephants were poached for their ivory tusks. There were just so many clips of everyday life: the big and the small. And in it was such a mixture of beautiful and horrible things.

And I saw that the world was beautiful. Sometimes it's easy to forget that. Horrible things happen every day to people I know and in places far away but still the world is beautiful. The human experience is beautiful.

Because the bad cannot mar the good. It cannot change it, cannot erase it, cannot nullify it. It can only exist apart from it and one day it shall be no more. What Yahweh created is still there, underneath all the wreckage that was put upon this world by the curse that came when Adam sinned. But since Yahshua came and took away the curse, creation awaits the redemption. And when all the grease and grime and muck on the surface is washed away, underneath will be all that Yahweh created, unsullied and whole. Because the bad couldn't touch it, not really.

And the bad is disappearing. No, it wouldn't look that way at first as Babylon self-destructs but that's what Babylon is supposed to do. It can do nothing else. And so as Babylon dies, even though it looks like things are getting worse, we know that things are getting better because the death of Babylon is the cleaning of the grease and grime of the world. Once Babylon is dead, Yahweh's Kingdom will still remain underneath it all. The good. The beautiful.

The world is beautiful. The human experience in its entirety is beautiful because nothing can change that beauty. Nothing can affect or alter it in any way. The beauty of knowing Yahweh and experiencing His presence and partnering with Him in stewarding creation is unending and eternal. And I, for one, am grateful.

Keepin' It Real

Well, I'm going to be real here. I'm having a bit of a walking out thing.

You see, the enemy thinks he can use the same old tactics against me and they're going to get me to cower down and be afraid and doubt myself. But they won't work anymore.

It's the beginning of a new school year, and I'd forgotten how the enemy can try to put fear in there. You know what I mean, that nagging "something is wrong, you need to fix it, why do you suck?" feeling that comes in the night before you're supposed to get up and go out there and defeat the enemy and fulfill your purpose and bring Yahweh's Kingdom to earth. AKA, that feeling I get at night during the first few days of school.

But see, the enemy needs to know this, so here I post it on the world wide web: you cannot stop me! Because nothing is wrong, I don't have anything to fix, and I'm awesome! And I'm stable and steady in faith. So I'll say again what I've said at the beginning of every school year in some way or another: I'm not giving up so quit trying to make me!

And, to be honest, all this pressure just reminds me how important my purpose is. After all, the enemy wouldn't be spending so much time trying to keep me out of my school if I weren't meant to be there. He's scared now!

So, seriously, run, enemy. You should be afraid! Run because I'm coming in the power and might of Yahweh my God! I'm going to keep going and I'm going to keep bringing Yahweh's Kingdom to a place that's never seen it before. Run because I'm running. I run with endurance the race set before me (Heb. 12:1).

And all shall see and know that the hand of YAHWEH has DONE THIS THING! AMEN!

Summer 2014

Well, it's that time of year again. No, not that one, the OTHER one. The time for my annual end of summer blog post! I've already written an end of summer journal entry, so that explains why this year's end of summer blog post is on the actual last day of summer...

I love being a teacher for so many different reasons, but one of them is that my life has built in thresholds and seasons. Summer and the school year are so vastly different that I cannot help but change and grow through these different times, and I love it!

At every threshold, I feel like there is a good opportunity to stop and take stock of where you are and where you've come from so that you are completely ready for the dimension you're about to step into. It is also always helpful to build up your faith by reminding yourself of how Yahweh has been faithful in the past dimensions so you know He's just going to keep being faithful in the new one!

This summer has been truly amazing. I think it's been the best summer yet! I've really gotten to know who I am since I came into the Kingdom, but now I'm starting to see where I fit in relation to others, to Yahweh's Kingdom and plan for the world, and to my ecclesia. I've been able to minister to people this summer in ways I have never been able to minister before and I've also had that quintessential summer relaxation.

For the first time, I got to see the ecclesia that sent out our apostle. They are one giant 14 hour drive away, so it's not an opportunity that comes along all that often. There is also a beach near this ecclesia, and I got to enjoy some ocean time (and get a lovely tan)! But the best part was seeing where we come from and realizing that I am part of something so huge. There is a big responsibility to carry on what they've started to the next generation so that Yahweh's Kingdom can be perpetuated eternally, but I am not burdened by this responsibility because Yahweh has promised that He is faithful and merciful to those who love Him and keep His ways up to 1,000 generations (Deut. 7:9) and He is faithful to do what He has called you to.

After this gigantic trip, I came home and continued my summer and the excitement thereof. I have never had so many opportunities to hang out with people. I was afraid I'd be sitting home alone all summer bored... but Yahweh had better, and it was great! As I said, I got to minister to people in new ways by offering a creative writing class that was led by the Spirit to some really awesome people who have amazing anointings in writing. I also got to experience the physical and spiritual benefits of Praise Moves, a Christian alternative to yoga that was offered by a friend at ecclesia. And then there were the random movie nights, sleepovers, splash parks, and lunches with people I love and can both impart to and draw blessings from.

Throughout all of this, I have learned that not only do I have a unique place in the world, but I have one that matters and one that fits. It is the first time in my life I have a place that I fit in, and it is good. I also have realized that I have things to offer people. There are graces and anointings in me that people need and will not get if I don't take my place.

But the best thing of all was being told twice this summer by my apostle that I'm doing good. I'm where I'm supposed to be and on the right path and carrying on the Kingdom as Yahweh has promised. And just as my apostle and his apostle were not afraid to lay everything down to build a foundation for Yahweh's Kingdom that they will one day turn over to my generation, I am not afraid to lay everything down to build Yahweh's Kingdom and one day hand it over to the next generation.

But then, I am a teacher and I have the privilege of being part of preparing the next generation to receive the Kingdom of Yahweh into the Earth. And so as the school year begins, I look forward to doing just that and receiving all that Yahweh has for me in the new season just as I have taken hold of everything that Yahweh hid for me in this dimension.

So goodbye, Summer 2014! And HalleluYah! Praise Yahweh for this season! Hello 2014-2015 school year. You are blessed and I will receive everything from this dimension that Yahweh has hidden for me and also help others to find the special treasures that Yahweh has hidden just for them. It's going to be the best school year yet!

Breakthrough

I know an apostle who has said many times that you're either in a faith fight, just finishing one, or just about to start one.

Another way to look at this is this:

You've either just had a breakthrough, are having a breakthrough, or are just about to have a breakthrough.

KEEP GOING!

100 Years

I was thinking recently about 100 years. One century. A nice round timespan. And I was thinking about all that humanity has accomplished in that time. It's rather astounding. I am an American, and so many of these items are from an American perspective, but all have had a global impact on the world.

In the last 100 years (1914-2014) we have:

Begun and ended two world wars: WWI (1914-1918) and WWII (1939-1945).
Invented the most dangerous weapon on Earth, The Atomic Bomb (1945).
Established the widespread use of commercial airplanes
Replaced horse and carriage travel with automobiles throughout the USA.
Invented the television (1927) and established the widespread use of them in American homes.
Discovered penicillin (1928) and then every subsequent antibiotic used today.
Established the widespread use of movies as entertainment in theaters and at home.
Crashed the stock market (Wall Street) (1929)
Had the first American president elected to four terms (Franklin Roosevelt) (1932-1945).
Reestablished Israel as a recognized nation (1948).
Had the first war of ideologies between two great countries. (Cold War, 1940s to 1990s).
Entered the "space age" with Sputnik, a Russian satellite, being launched outside of this planet. (1957)
Invented Rock and Roll in the 1950's.
Seen the end of systematic racism in the United States starting with the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's.
Put a man on the moon (1969).
Invented the modern computer (1940's) began to sell it to the public as personal computers (1977), then linked them all to a network known as the Internet, which came about in its modern form in the 1990's.
Globally eradicated one of the most frightening diseases known to man--smallpox. (1979)
Invented the cellular phone (1973), began selling it commercially (1983), and then added features such as text messaging (1993) and eventually led to smartphones such as the iPhone (2007).
Weathered the only two foreign attacks on US soil in our nation's history: Pearl Harbor (1941) and September 11 (2001).
Elected the first black president of the United States (2008).
I was born.
You were born.

In the past 100 years we have reached outside the borders of our planet, becoming a global society where news travels at the speed of sound from one end of the world to another and there is no hidden thing in mass media. We have drawn and redrawn the geopolitical borders of our nations. We have seen countless wars, births, deaths, extinctions, genocides, inventions, new art forms, and more. We have changed the landscape of every country, building cities and highways with skyscrapers and cement, establishing national parks, and accessing places that were before unknown. We have seen what was once considered unacceptable become commonplace, and what was once commonplace become unacceptable. We have seen America become the leading superpower of the world and now we are seeing that change. We have seen the end of most hereditary monarchies in Europe, the beginning of many dictatorships, and the continuation and expansion of democracy. We have, literally, changed the world. Someone who fell asleep 100 years ago wouldn't know the world they would wake up in today.

In 1914, the world population was approximately 1.8 billion people.
In 2014, the world population is 7 billion people. 

And if we can do all this in a century as a group of chaotic and disjointed societies without many who were following the guidance of Holy Spirit, I wonder...

What will we of Yahweh's Kingdom do in 100 years? 

In 1914, the revelation of modern day apostles and prophets establishing Yahweh's ecclesia in the Earth wasn't even spoken of.
Today, I've seen the Kingdom in action, and it is huge and only growing.

Thinking Like A Child

Do you remember what it's like to think like a child? I don't mean when I was a child I liked sugary cereal and teddy bears, couldn't read, and was afraid of the dark. No, I mean, do you remember what it was like to see the world...have an entire world concept... as you did when you were a child?

I suppose that's impossible--and not altogether desirable. After all, maturity has its perks. Especially for those of us who walk in the Kingdom of Yahweh. Every day we become closer to Him as He changes our mindsets and allows us to see the world as it really is: His way.

But how much of His way of seeing the world is like that of a child? Obviously He doesn't want us eating sugary cereal and being afraid of the dark, but perhaps the simplicity of a child's view of the world is better than the complex way adults view reality. Especially those of us who were taught in school that "there is no one right reality or way to see the world." (I can't tell you how arrogant this concept is and how much I utterly detest it.)

But back to the original question. I can remember specific instances in my life when my child's mindset was irrevocably altered. When I made some startling discovery that all adults had known for years, but to me, was this life-changing epiphany. One such event was when I was in the sixth grade in social studies class. We were making timelines and I read about the atomic bomb and it's first use in World War II. The textbook said, "...the world would never be truly safe again." I remember being shocked and horrified to learn that there was a device out there that could destroy everything in seconds. I'd heard of nuclear bombs before. I'd even watched "Atomic Cafe" in elementary school, I think. But before I read that line in the textbook, the sheer scope of what nuclear bombs were capable of had never occurred to me. The idea that there was a weapon out there that could make the whole ENTIRE world "unsafe" scared me to no end. Because until then, I hadn't thought the world was anything but safe.

But I grew up, assimilated that information, and learned to live with the knowledge that at any moment some random government person I don't know could press a button and end the world. But what else was I to do? It's not like I could change the existence of nuclear bombs. *Bam!* There goes one wall in my previous framework of existence. My whole view of the world changed.

Another time, I realized that at any given moment, somewhere, there were people starving or dying in a war. How sad! I thought, and how dare I feel contented and carefree while these people are dying. (Incidentally, this "white guilt" or "rich guilt" or whatever issue is plaguing modern America is frequently seen in academia and also politics) and in taking on the burdens of these sad people somewhere, I again changed my whole view of the world.

Once my mother told me that no moment happens twice. I must've been very young at the time, because I thought about our dog Zoe (back when she still had black hair) sleeping there on the floor of the living room. I realized, even if I could get her to lay in the exact same spot the next day for her nap, everything else that had been happening while she slept would not be happening. I couldn't get flies far away to buzz the exact same way or cars in other states to drive past the exact same tree that they were driving by while my dog was sleeping. And in knowing that each moment is the only one of its kind, BAM! Mindset change.

I suppose this process of mindset changing is called learning, which to me (a teacher) is a word that conjures up warm fuzzy feelings. It has a good connotation, in other words. For in learning we become able to do more, be more, know more. But learning isn't positive. It is neutral. What makes it positive or negative is what we learn and what we do with that information.

Because when I learned about the atomic bomb, I let it make me feel unsafe. That wasn't good. It was good that I knew about it (because, duh, everybody should know history and wouldn't I look silly if I didn't know about nuclear weapons) but feeling unsafe doesn't make sense, for the God of the Universe loves me, is in control, and is on my side. And when I learned about starvation and world wars, I let it make me feel sad. As if it were my responsibility to carry the pains of the nations. And when I learned that each moment could only happen once, I let it make me want to suck each moment for all it was worth, and became so anxious about enjoying the moment that I managed to miss it altogether.

But none of these were Yahweh's plans. And so I had to undergo a process of relearning, or learning again the correct way what you originally learned incorrectly. So I still know about nuclear bombs and wars and the strange and wonderful concept of time, but now I know them as Yahweh meant me to know them.

Yes, bad things happen, but I'm meant to be joyful anyway, for Yahweh is in charge and He keeps me safe just as He holds all people in His hands. Yes, time is irreplaceable, but I can enjoy each moment as a gift from Yahweh and a blessing, and knowing that He has given me an eternity's worth of moments with Him, even if all of them are not on this planet.

And so, in relearning, I learned again what I once knew before I "grew up." That Yahweh is sovereign. And BAM! Mindset change. Only now, instead of being unaware of what the world might call "the facts," I've put them in their proper perspective. And I suppose this is one way to see maturity. The combination of the framework worldview of a child with the factual materials out of which that framework was constructed of learned adults.

We cannot ignore all the negative things that are going on in the world, but we do not have to let them get us down. For these things are doomed to failure, and bad things will always come to an end. And one day the God of the Universe will reclaim His lost treasure and reign in totality without opposition and then we shall dance on the grave of Babylon.

It's all about perspective. Faith: the ability to see reality in the midst of the illusion, to put what we see in it's proper place in our view of the world. Or, as Hebrews 11:1 says "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

And so we have the faith of a child.

Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. ~Mark 10:15

Yahweh is Faithful

Well, last week was a really hard week involving someone I love being in the hospital and someone else I know--a really good person--dying unexpectedly. As you might expect, my soul was sorrowful. On top of all that, I had to finish out the school year and prepare for our first ever Shake the Earth event, which is where my ecclesia is branching out and releasing Yahweh's sound in new places in our region.

But Yahweh was totally faithful and I never lost faith. At first, I felt guilty for being sad and angry. I've spent years learning that my emotions have been wrong and that they need to be controlled. But being sad and angry when people do stupid things or really bad things happen isn't wrong. That's the reflection of truth! Because the things that happened were not righteous.

It's ok to be sad and it's ok to be angry so long as that is the righteous reflection of truth. And so long as you never lose faith. Because faith allows you to receive grace, and grace is Yahweh's power to change a thing in the Earth. So without faith and grace, nothing good can happen.

And it can be hard to maintain faith in the face of such adversity...of any adversity, really. Because things come against your faith. Yahweh told me that life didn't have to hurt all the time and since then I have had relatives go into the hospital, someone has died, I temporarily lost my ability to move my body, I had to deal with bad things happening to good people that I love, and I had to fight emotionally with old mindsets and curses. But you know what? Life doesn't have to hurt all the time! Because that is the Word and nothing is going to change that. And because I stand firm on this Word, I know it is what is going to manifest in this world.

But things come against the Word. It's pretty much automatic. The enemy doesn't want the Word to manifest in this world and the way he tries to keep that from happening is to make you believe that it isn't true...that it can't come to be. How devious! By making you believe that it isn't real, he ensures that it never becomes so.

But he is a failure and a liar. Because Yahweh is faithful! And every Word that He has spoken is, and was, and will always be. And I shall see it in this land, in this world! Because Yahweh is faithful to make me faithful. He has spoken a Word, and then He ensured that I could stand upon it. And since I do so, I know that His Word is real in this world.

So I am not hurting today. Because Yahweh is faithful. Every Word He speaks is true and He keeps His promises. He gave me a good day today. The person who was in the hospital is home and improving. I went to ecclesia, hung out with good friends, and had a hot fudge sundae (for the first time in 2 years!). And I know Yahweh will be faithful to comfort the family of the person who was lost--and indeed, all who knew him. And I know more joy is coming because I've seen those things too. And I stand on the Word that they shall come to pass and manifest. Because I know Yahweh is faithful. I've seen it already.