We're livin’ in a time when
we’re seein’:
Profound moral ignorance
despite efforts to increase intelligence - devoid of moral valiance (and
even moral sense).
Affluence, extravagance and
opulence alongside of indigence as dominance is forged through political
and economic alliance as people place their soul's reliance on influence
and finance.
Impatience, grievance,
annoyance, petulance, intolerance, variance and discordance resulting in
the increased virulence of vengeance.
A quest for convenience,
leading to indolence, indifference, ambivalence, complacence and
negligence, seeing increased incompetence.
A battle for the power to
influence and competition for heart allegiance. And it is oft misplaced.
Pretense, contrivance,
fraudulence and the breakdown of jurisprudence bottom line: finance.
Acquiescence to
self-indulgence, concupiscence, decadence and deviance.
Increasing absence of any
sort of abstinence. As if moral dalliance and disobedience were devoid of
consequence.
Multitudes bound by
chemical and psychological dependence, overcome by every sort of
pestilence.
The loss of innocence and
increasing imprudence among adolescents living for the moments - reduced
to a pittance - forfeiting their inheritance.
Institutional impotence,
malfeasance and even obsolescence leading to arrogance, defiance,
impudence, impertinence, insolence, recalcitrance and irreverence,
disabling the possibility of governance.
A strange indifference to
anything unless it creates a difference that works to our own personal
advantage.
Mistaking insignificance
for significance and vice versa.
People living in suspense,
growing tense, taking offense, shoring up their best Defense against
growing global turbulence and escalating violence. Warning: Incoming
Disturbance.
Unexpected recompense is
coming. Is that good or bad? Both.
Furtherance of reluctance
to do what is right.
Adherents with misplaced
adherence.
What kind of days are these
and what kind of days are coming?
Independence
Daze?
Dependence Daze?
Interdependence Days?
Seeking deliverance but on
our own terms - risking severance. Under surveillance.
All around deference -
seeking transcendence and immanence - making true relevance irrelevant and
irrelevance relevant - a loathing of subservience - unaware of the Divine
sequence - negligence, litigants and insurance - issuance of warrants -
pursuance with vehemence.
The Divinely ordered
confluence of events - equivalence.
We are going to see
indifference while many seek intense experience.
A strange incongruence to
the demands of a holy God - sons of disobedience woefully oblivious to His
Presence and Pre-eminence.
The conditions
of a solitary bird are five:
The first,
that it point its beak skyward;
The second,
that it fly to the highest point;
The third,
that it does not suffer for company, not even of its own kind;
The fourth,
that it sings very softly;
The fifth,
that it has no definite color.
Unknown author
One day, a
man went to visit a church. He got there early, parked his car, and got
out. Another car pulled up near and the driver got out and said, "I
always park there! You took my place!"
The visitor went inside for
Sunday School, found an empty seat and sat down. A young lady from the
church approached him and stated, "That's my seat! You took my
place!"
The visitor was somewhat
distressed by this rude welcome, but said nothing.
After Sunday School, the
visitor went into the sanctuary and sat down. Another member walked up
to him and said, "That's where I always sit! You took my
place!" The visitor was even more troubled by this treatment, but
still he said nothing.
Later as the congregation was
praying for Christ to dwell among them, the visitor stood up, and his
appearance began to change. Horrible scars became visible on his hands and
on his sandaled feet.
Someone from the congregation
noticed him and called out, "What happened to you?"
The visitor replied, as his
hat became a crown of thorns, and a tear fell from his eye, "I took
your place."
Unknown
God and the Spider
During World War II, a US marine was separated from his unit on a Pacific island.
The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.
Alone in the jungle, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction.
Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock.
Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.
As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me.
Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."
After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close.
He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one."
Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.
As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.
"Hah, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web. God does have a sense of humor."
As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another.
As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on.
Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while.
"Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."
We all face times of great trouble. When we do, it is so easy to forget the victories that God would work in our lives, sometimes in the most surprising ways.
As the great leader, Nehemiah, reminded the people of Israel when they faced the task of rebuilding Jerusalem, "In God we will have success!" [Nehemiah 2:20]
Remember: Whatever is happening in your life, with God, a mere spider's web can become a brick wall of protection.
Believe He is with you always. Just speak His name through Jesus His son, and you will see His great power and love for you.
WHEN I SAY, "I AM A CHRISTIAN"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not shouting, "I've been saved!"
I'm whispering, "I get lost! That's why I chose this way"
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't speak with human pride
I'm confessing that I stumble — needing God to be my guide
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'm weak and pray for strength to carry on
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not bragging of success
I'm admitting that I've failed and cannot ever pay the debt
When I say, "I am a Christian," I don't think I know it all
I submit to my confusion asking humbly to be taught
When I say, "I am a Christian," I'm not claiming to be perfect
My flaws are far too visible but God believes I'm worth it
When I say, "I am a Christian," I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartache which is why I seek His name
When I say, "I am a Christian," I do not wish to judge
I have no authority--I only know I'm loved
Copyright 1988 Carol Wimmer
"People say N***** like they say 'Pass the salt.'. .. This is a word carved into the bodies of so many Africans before the rope went around their neck and they were burned.
And you're going to play this in your car, for people to listen to?
Excerpt from Bill Cosby's commencement speech at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
on May 18, 2003. Disclaimer :
While we agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments expressed in this
statement, we lament the other "issues" that he (as a fellow
fallen human being) has seemingly disqualified himself with. ( All the
more reason to stop looking at the creature and focus on the Creator. )
![YUBM [' yueb-oum ] pr.n.: Young Urban Black Male : distinguished tribe : distinctive vibe : uniquely positioned for a strategic role in redemptive history.](YUBMLog1.gif)
