So this guy comes up to me and says, “What’s the vision? What’s the big idea?” I open up my mouth and the words come out like this… The vision? The vision is Jesus: Obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus. The vision is of an army of young people. You see bones? I see an army. And they are free from materialism— They laugh at nine-to-five little prisons. They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday. They wouldn’t even notice. They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the West was won. They are mobile like the wind. They belong to the nations.They need no passport. People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence. They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting, dirty and dying. What is the vision? The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes. It makes children laugh and adults angry. It gave up the game of minimal integrity long ago to reach for the stars. It scorns the good and strains for the best. It is dangerously pure. Light flickers from every secret motive, from every conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps—their Satan games. This is an army that would lay down its life for the cause. A million times a day, its soldiers choose to lose that they might one day win the great “well done” of faithful sons and daughters. Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night. They don’t need fame from names. Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!” And this is the sound of the underground, the whisper of history in the making, foundations shaking, revolutionaries dreaming once again. Mystery is scheming in whispers, conspiracy is breathing… This is the sound of the underground. And the army is disciple(in)ed— Young people who beat their bodies into submission. Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms. The tattoo on their back boasts “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes. Winners. Martyrs. Who can stop them? Can hormones hold them back? Can failure succeed? Can fear scare them or death kill them? And the generation prays like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulfuric tears and great barrow loads of laughter! Waiting. Watching. 24-7-365. Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules, Shaking mediocrity from its cozy little hide, Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, Laughing at labels, Fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late-night parties before the cockerel cries. They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive on the inside. On the outside? They hardly care! They wear clothes like costumes: to communicate and celebrate, but never to hide. Would they surrender their image or their popularity? They would lay down their lives, swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell: a throne of an electric chair. With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days, they pray as if it all depends on God and live as though it all depends on them. Their DNA chooses Jesus. He breathes out. They breathe in. Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus. Their words make demons scream in shopping malls. Don’t you hear them coming? Herald the weirdoes! Summon the losers and the freaks. Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes! They walk tall and trees applaud. Skyscrapers bow. Mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension. Their prayers summon the hounds of Heaven and evoke the dream of Eden. And, this vision will be. It will come to pass. It will come easily. It will come soon. How do I know? Because, this is the longing of creation itself, the groaning of the Spirit, the very dream of God. My tomorrow is His today. My distant hope is His 3-D. And, my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking, great “AMEN!” from countless angels, from heroes of the faith, from Christ himself. And He is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner. Guaranteed. -Pete Grieg
February 17, 2009 at 3:48 pm (Christian)
Sometimes we all feel lost. I can look back and easily see the things that I know are God’s work, but then too, I can also look back and remember things that fill me with doubt. I know that there are a lot of people that think we christians are stupid. I know why too. But in my heart, I know that there is more. I have been pretty close, but not as close as I want to seeing his face. The things he has done in my life are too many to even recall, he has saved my marriage, we were young and careless, but he took us and made us one. It went to spending many nights in my car thinking I had made the biggest mistake of my life, and just wanting to go home to, loving my life and my husband more than I ever thought possible. God taught me how to die to myself, and stop negativity. He taught me that love is an action, a decision, not just a feeling, I made a decision to love him and God opened up my eyes. Things changed before I even noticed, and now our marriage is great. When hard times come along, he has taught me how to fall back on him, and he always shows me the way. God saved my sister. He opened up so many doors and did such a great work in her life, it was a miracle right in front of my eyes. I know in my heart that she is struggling a lot now, but if she holds onto Him, he will guide her. I have seen his great love for her. He will never leave her nor forsake her. I knew for so long that He was real and wanted to have my own prayer language, and struggled and struggled trying to get it, and one night, lonely and weary, he gave me revelation, and I was filled to the full. I had got what I had asked for a long time ago, but I was too blinded to notice. His love for us is so great, and he comes and overwhelms me when I am not even expecting it. He shows me his heart, and I run after it. I fail all the time, but I’ll never quit. He is my heart, he is all I hold dear.
November 6, 2008 at 3:58 am (Uncategorized)
I find myself trying to go into a depression. I have had the taste of blood in my mouth ever since this morning. Even though there is no blood, I know it is to remind me of the unborn babies being murdered. I won’t let myself fall because of any of this. I am disapointed about the election results, but I am putting my trust in God. At least it isn’t Hillary going into office. Our prayers mean everything. I feel like America keeps spiraling downward, and it was a big wakeup call as to how ignorant we have become. I will continue to stand for righteousness. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I trust in Him to lead me and keep us safe in the midst of the coming darkness. I should rejoice, because surely the time is drawing near. Awake oh sleepers, Arise, we have to wake up and take our place.
The Heart of a Child
October 17, 2008 at 1:05 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Children, dance, destiny, dreams, future, goals, God, happiness, heart, Jesus, life, love, peace, Religion
The world is still so blurry. She knew that there are many things to learn and see. The one thing she did not realize is what her mother did see in her. I did not believe that she was a girl up until the very minute she was born and I saw for myself. Still, when she was born, there was something about her. Her daddy was the first to hold her, embrace her. A few minutes later, when she was carefully handed to me for the first time, she made a strange growling sound, as though she just wanted to be held by him. I stared at her for days. This child that came from my womb looked different than my first. On the outside, she looked like one of those angelic looking people from the paintings of Leonardo DaVinci, which was strange enough. Her mother could see the outside difference, but still there was something on the inside I could not identify. She grew fast. Her head full of dark hair quickly turned into wavy blonde hair flowing down her back at only the age of two. She grew fast for her age, and her soul did too. Things came to her easily and naturally. She was content to play by herself, but also had a mischievous side. Deep thoughts ran through her head all the time. This was natural since this was the way she had been made, never realizing she pondered on things most adults never even come to realize. Here is one of the things I want you to know, names are of great importance. Her first name, Savannah, which means large grassy plain, was just pretty to us, and did not seem to have much significance. But, we ended up nick naming her Nana, because her brother could not pronounce her name right. Nana can have two meanings: Yaweh is gracious, and vegetables or greens, which of course represents life. Her name can also be traced back to mean “favor” or “grace.” The most significant part is her middle name, Amber, which is the color that represents the Glory of God. She is never aware of any of this since she is only four years old. A name is important. It can prophecy a person’s future, it can be a literal prophetic meaning in their life. So it was with her. She often played by herself, while her brother was at school. She would come into my room, and tell me things Jesus said. See, Jesus came to see her. Since Jesus is Lord, I guess she assumes everyone sees him and talks to him regularly, not knowing that what is happening is out of the ordinary. Jesus would even feed her french fries, how funny is that? She says he is so pretty and nice. He sits and plays with her. I know, surely the Glory of God is on her life. She was singing the song she has been into lately. “I can hear the rhythm of the Lion of the Tribe Of Judah.” Over and over she sang those words, and danced to the warring music. I watched her, and realized her dance was not of her. She was moving so gracefully and doing these strange hand motions that surely she could not come up with herself. I believe she was dancing before him, lost in a different realm, worshiping him. She, this little life, was dancing before her father, the Spirit leading and guiding her steps. Oh the Glory it did bring! I know the Glory is on her very life. What will become of her? What will she do? What is she destined for? This life is not yet consumed with the world, but of heaven. It dances with her. She is in two dimensions at once. I pray that she stays there. If we can just be quiet and listen to His rhythm, could we hear it too? Could our steps be taken over like hers? How can someone so little accomplish so much. “The way to the Kingdom is that of a little child.” Can an adult really learn such life changing lessons from them? I am constantly in search of him, and she is constantly living with him, interacting with him. Why do we not see? He is here, and he is waiting. Let’s be more like her, go to him with the heart of a little child. Lets dance with him, and get lost.
Oxycontin taking over!!!
October 10, 2008 at 5:58 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: addiction, death, drug abuse, govenment, intervention, life, love, Oxycontin, pain, saving our kids
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How Can You Help Stem the Tide of Deaths and Addiction to OxyContin?? DEMAND ACTION BY THE FDA!
In February 2005 Citizen Petition 2005P-0076 was filed with the FDA by Barbara and Kirk Van Rooyan on behalf of all those who have died or become addicted to OxyContin. (link to petition)
The petition requests that the FDA change the indications for OxyContin to use with SEVERE pain only from documented tissue disease. The petition also requests that OxyContin be temporarily removed from the market until it can be manufactured in an abuse resistant formulation.
The FDA may act on either or both of these requests but instead has chosen to IGNORE all requests.
U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein has twice written the FDA requesting that they act upon Citizen Petition 2005P-0076. The requests thus far have been IGNORED. (link to Feinstein letter)
If a U.S. Senator or Representative from every state in the nation wrote the FDA asking for action on Citizen Petition 2005P-0076 it would be virtually impossible for the FDA to continue its silence!
So, please take the following steps:
1) Find your U.S. Senators’ and Representative’s phone numbers at:
2) Call and ask for the name of the congressmember’s legislative aide in charge of health issues. Ask to be connected to their office. You will almost certainly get voicemail. 3) Leave a message that you have important information concerning OxyContin and a Citizen Petition currently in documents management of the FDA. Let him/her know you would like an opportunity to discuss the issue and/or e-mail or fax them a copy of the petition and other pertinent information. Ask for a call back so that you may get e-mail and fax information. 4) Most aides will call back, will listen and will read what you send. HOWEVER, it is important to follow up and follow up and follow up. Once you have the e-mail address for the legislative aide you can begin educating and asking for the senator or representative to send a letter to the FDA in support of the petition. (you can send Feinstein’s as an example). Send information about the Purdue plea agreement and sentencing and other pertinent articles frequently, then follow up with phone calls to see if the aide has received, read them and had a chance to discuss with the congressmember. It took 3 years and the final clincher of the plea agreement to bring Senator Feinstein on board but I think now that she has supported the petition other members of Congress will be easier to persuade. But they do need to hear from YOU and have you ÅSK for their support. THE FDA CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE IN SILENCE AS PEOPLE CONTINUE TO DIE AND BECOME ADDICTED TO OXYCONTIN. We need at least one person from every state in the nation contacting Congress and asking for support for Citizen Petition 2005P-0076. Thank you. |
testimony about Abiding Glory Ministries
October 6, 2008 at 12:15 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: Abiding Glory Ministries, Glory, God, Jesus, Miracles, Religion, ryan wyatt, The Habitation
I want to give a testimony about Abiding Glory Ministries because of something that personally effected me there yesterday. I have known since I found it that is is a miracle. I never thought I would find such a glorious army of believers here in Knoxville Tennessee, and I have been so blessed because of this ministry being here. I had felt alone for so long, then I found a home that is truly after God’s heart. My sister in law has been a drug addict for quite some time, constantly struggling, desperately wanting to be free. She is in a bad situation in her home life, which keeps her down in the dirt a lot. I had been spending the past few days with her ministering to her, and it was miraculous. God’s glory came in the midst of us and got though to her. We prayed, and I had not realized that she was not saved, and she didn’t either I don’t think. I am sure she had prayed the prayer for salvation before, but she told me she knew she had just been reborn. So her soul was saved. If that wasn’t wonderful enough, I was with her the next day,and she got even more. With my personal experience, I tried for three years to “get” the baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of tongues, but couldn’t get anywhere. I never realized that I got it the first time I asked for it, and I made it the hardest thing in the world, thinking you had to be good enough to get it, and something must had been wrong with me. One day I realized how easy and simple it was and that I had been Spirit filled a long time, and in August of ‘06 I just got revelation of it and my prayer language flowed easily. I had tried to work so hard for something that had already been freely given. Five minutes with her, five minutes compared to my 3 years, and she was speaking with other tongues. To see the look on her face, such shock and happiness. So she was saved and Spirit filled in two days. To top that when we went to the Habitation(Abiding Glory Ministries) on Sunday Morning, God blew her out of the water. She lives with a critical, judgemental, religious spirit at home, and this person would never accept that this “good for nothing drug addict” would be good enough to be Spirit-filled, so I knew she had been questioning her “worthiness” from what she feels at home. I felt the thickness of God’s presence in the middle of worship, and when the time came for testimonies, she leaned over and whispered, “I’m about to do something that will blow your mind.” And with that she got up and went up front. She testified to everyone that she was a drug addict and believes that she has been delivered and that she had been Spirit filled recently and believes that she is gonna be used to reach out and intercede for other drug addicts. I remember all the people standing up and clapping and rooting for her like four times. Susan hit everything on the dot when she got surrounded by people with prayer. She spoke of the pain in her childhood, her insecurities, everything, and that hit her so powerfully because this woman knew nothing about her past. They wacked her, man! They got her higher than a kite. I had been telling her there was no “high” like the most high, and she defintely got “high.” She is so used to being condemned and feeling unloved, and she got loved on so much yesterday. I know she has never felt that before in her life, she was literally blown away to be shown the Love of Our God like that. Then the message was like it was meant just for her, he even called out her name multplie times. I mean, she recieved so much yesterday, I know her cup is overflowing. This beat down person came in and was freely given more love than she had ever had. She recieved a family yesterday with the greatest Daddy in the world. Words can’t even express. A life was literally forever changed yesterday, and I just wanted to share. I am so full of joy, it hit me on such a personal level, because I know she has struggled for so long. She says that I am the only person who hadn’t given up on her, that believed in her, and now she has a whole army of believers backing her all the way. Now she KNOWS she is not alone, and that she can do this. It is soo awesome. She doesn’t need drugs now, she has a new addiction, the best one, Jesus.
Hard Times
September 30, 2008 at 4:07 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: deliverance, economy, election, fear, freedom, God, liberty, life, politics, Religion
I know a lot of people are worried about the economy. I believe that we are in the midst of a storm. God is no longer the back-bone of this nation. The only thing special about us is that our country was formed on the rock. It was birthed as a Christ-centered country, but unfortunately, we have turned our ways.
” If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
This is only the beginning. Trouble is definetly on the horizon. But the people of God have nothing to fear. Now is the time to understand when we put our trust in the government, in man, we are failing to trust him. Man made systems will fall, but the Lord will uphold his people, he will never fail them. Now is the time to get your heart in the right place, in front of his face. Do not make the mistake of turning to him just because of fear for your life. You need to realize that we are at a turning point where every person has to come to a decision, who to follow, God or man. We are in the end of days, the earth is groaning for the sons to be revealed. The church is to awake, and I don’t know about you but I do not want to be left out. Fear is gripping men’s hearts, their hearts will fail them. People that walk close with God will fall away due to fear. This is not a time to be weak in our faith. It is the time to hold fast to your beliefs, cast out everything you have that gets in the way of your relationship with him. We have to decide, do we trust him? If we don’t find solid ground in these dark times, surely we will not stand. Grab onto him and his word, and hold fast, don’t let go. Strap in, we are in for a ride. Do not fear, fear doesn’t come from God. I came to the realization long ago that we seem to have more faith in the devil to deceive us than for God to protect us. Guard your heart, stand firm, place all your trust in the one, true king, and you will not faulter. People are saying a lot of things about the election. I just want to say that people can preach a lot about change, but all you have to do is look at what they stand for. Can you stand with someone who supports abortion? We will stand in judgement one day. These babies were denied the right to live, and I do not want to be responsible for that. I do not want socialized medicine, if something were to happen to me, the government has no right to choose whether I live or die, only my family should have that priveledge. I want to keep my freedom. What little there is left. Yes these are hard decisions, but we have to stand for righteousness, if we allow these things to happen we are placing our country in more dangers. This is the time when the battle becomes all the more fierce, be careful, let the Holy Spirit lead you, he is the only truth, the only thing that can keep you free.
Happiness
September 25, 2008 at 1:15 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: church, freedom, God, happiness, Jesus, life, love, Religion, truth, unforgiveness
Happiness is not a feeling, but a choice. Your life is your life. No one else is living it, but you. We can say all we want that we are not happy because of him or her, but in reality that is a BIG lie, and if we think about it we know it. When someone hurts you, they go on about their business without a care, and you are the one miserable driving yourself crazy. You are not hurting anybody but yourself when you hold onto anger, hurt, unforgiveness, etc. You CAN choose to be happy, no matter your circumstance. If you let others control the way you feel by what they do, then you are living a life that doesn’t belong to you. You are being held in invisible chains, in the past. God gave us free will, and people can and will hurt you, but if you will let that go, and choose to be happy anyway, God will take the most awful things that have happened to you, and turn your life into something beautiful. See, we have free will to mess up whatever we want, but when we hand over our free will, realizing that we don’t know what’s best for us, and give it all to the one who does, he will take it and turn it into a beautiful garden. Jesus gave up his life on his own free will so that we may be able to do the same. That means that no longer are we obligated to respond to things the way that we naturally would, because we are no longer in control. If we recieve his love and goodness into our lives, we become changed. We Know Him, and know that we are deeply loved, and we walk in that love. Before long, we no longer live by our emotions, we live by truth, the truth always sets you free. There is only one truth, HIM, if we seek him above anything else, the best we can, our lives become transformed into the truth. It seems complicated, but it’s not. You are alive, he put you together in your mother’s womb, made you the way he wanted, and gave you an eternal gift that you are free to take or reject. If you reject it, you will always have a void, a hole in the pit of your heart, never being filled no matter how you try to fill it. If you recieve it, and learn to have a relationship with him, learn that you are a child of the most high God, and that he has a great purpose and plan for you, know that he loves you, created you to be loved by him, and him by you, your life will become meaningful, filled beyond measure with purpose, happiness, and love. You will be one of the few who knows TRUE happiness, and your life will be great, beyond anything you could ever imagine. Why do we so often reject the greatest gift ever given, the one we are searching for but have been so blinded by false rules and religion we don’t even see that it is such a great gift. We often just see boring religion, a bunch of rules. That was not the way he wants it, it’s not about rules, it’s about your heart and your willingness to hand it over to the greatest lover in this world
A Thousand Times
September 23, 2008 at 3:28 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: christianity, God, Jesus, life, love, passion, Poems, Religion
I have awoke from sleep a thousand times.
I have put on my shoes a thousand times.
I have been to school a thousand times.
I have been to church a thousand times.
I have been to the store a thousand times.
I have smelled flowers a thousand times.
I have done so many things in my so few years.
But how many times have I healed the sick?
How many times have I raised the dead?
How many times have I stopped suicide?
How many times have I stopped abortion?
How many times have I been there?
How many times have I been brave enough?
Strong enough?
Loving enough?
Not nearly as much as the things I have done a thousand times.
I can get up every morning and easily say I do the right thing. I take care of my kids, I am a good wife. I am a good person, but is that all I really want?
No, I won’t settle for that. That’s a life of mediocrity. Yes I do do things I should, but what about the things I am not doing? The things that require effort, integrity, courage?
Do those things not matter? We are in a lost dying world, how can we settle? We go day after day focusing on ourselves, when there is a whole other battle to fight.
I declare in my lifetime, I will be all that I was made to be.
I will move mountains.
I will head the sick.
I will raise the dead.
I will rise up and be victorious.
I will recieve and walk in my full inheritance that has already been given to me.
These things I will also do…..a thousand times.
Deep Within
September 22, 2008 at 1:56 pm (Glory, dreams, spiritual encounters)
Tags: destiny, dreams, emotions, God, life, love, Religion, spiritual encounters
I do not live in this world.
I am a stranger to this land.
I wait patiently for the one who comes and puts joy in my heart.
A fire churns in my belly.
I feel the warmth on my face.
His light is shining on me, resting on me.
He longs to be with me, embrace me.
No deeper intimacy could a human give, only he can love like this.
My heart is a deep pool, waves crashing to the rim and spilling over and running through me.
Then out of my heart, his heart becomes known.
He deeply desires to consume us all, his creation, his precious little ones.
Oh, there is more, there is so much more.
More to come, more to know, more to see, more to feel, more to love.
His love is an unending love, it swirls everywhere, willing to come into whomever invites it.
His eyes wonder to and fro, searching constantly for those who will welcome his embrace.
Do you know of this lover?
He comes quietly, gently, when you least expect it.
So softly that you can miss it if you’re not careful.
His love is beyond any love you have ever known.
Magical.
He rides with the wind, blowing past your face whispering ever so softly, “Surrender your heart, and I will show you things you have never known before.”
His grace and his beauty is beyond measure.
Do you know him?
He longs for you, calls for you, his passion for you burns in his sharp piercing eyes.
His hands long to touch your face, and take you with him.
He waits to tell you of the kingdom inside you that is hidden so deep.
Walk the mountains with you.
Show you this place of rest.
This place of hiding.
Will you go?
In the deepest shadows, there is light, a light that is covered.
When this light is let out it shines brighter than the sun.
It has been hidden for a long time, but now is the time for it to come forth.
Destiny is calling, oh, who will answer this call?
How very few answer, how very few see, now is the time, who will take this walk with me?
