Interepret...how?!?!

Check this out!!

So I'm stoked! It's so amazing when you ask God something and He answers...and yes obviously not in ways we expect.!!!!

All right, so Pastor Ken just finished up a series on the book of Daniel and living in a Babylonian culture which essentially means confusion, an anti-God city. He simply stated that we have been inserted into our culture to interpret the dreams and visions of others. God speaks to non-believers ALL THE TIME they just don't recognize it!

Now for me, the past week or so, I've wanted to know Jesus in a REAL way, hard to explain other then that I just need this doubt to be non-existant! "God I BELIEVE, but forgive my UNBELIEF" Seriously, I've been in some just really wierd funky fog of confusion and just plain CRAZINESS it seems like. So I begin praying and I get on the subject of prophecy. I see pastors prophesizing over kids, saying things they couldn't possible know unless it was from God, and well I was like "God I can't tell you what to do but a suggestion...prophecy would be really cool, it's never happened to me, and it would sure seem like you're REAL if that happened..."

I got my prophecy...just not how I expected, it wasn't through a pastor but through me...hmmm. Here's what happened: I had a prophetic dream, not just for myself but for our generation as well, I didn't realize this as prophetic until just recently. My dream was about the Armor of God in a video game setting. People (myself included) were walking around holding some sort of black veil type thing in front of their face, so obviously they couldn't see what was happening, where they were going, etc... it was called the Helmet of Salvation...odd right. The next focus of the dream came upon the Shield of Faith and the Sword of the Spirit...it was ineffective. The sword was too small to be able to do any damage, and whenever we went up to attack something, we would stumble and drop the sword. The armor was too HEAVY!

This is my take on it: the black helmet of salvation is the opposite of authentic Christianity. It's a mask, just going through the motions: church, small group, outreach, etc...but not TRUELY believing it...it's deceit, no one can see what's happening b/c they have bought into their own deceit and don't know anymore what is truth and what is a lie, just walking around blind!
The issue of the shield and sword is that too many Christians aren't prepared. Not gonna lie, we want the rosy perfect life right...but when it comes to obstacles and attacks we haven't learned how to handle it and so aren't sure what do...our feeble attempts fail (dropping the sword, can't lift the shield high, etc...) The armor is considered too heavy a burden and yes myself included has considered quitting and going back to the life before Christ...taking the easy way out. We are heavily run by emotions instead of fact. It's a mark of FAITH to still believe even when you don't FEEL like it!! But God's not too fond of the easy way out he's all about the character building stuff: the good news is that God doesn't want his people to quit, and give up, but he wants us to know he has the strength we need in our weakness and embrace it! Like a video game, there's always a second chance, a chance to start over...it's the same with God isn't it!
Embrace WEAKNESS for it produces STRENGTH which allows for VICTORY! Even though you "feel" like you're losing, believe the Word of God that there is indeed VICTORY, there is HOPE! You may have LOST this battle but Christ has already WON the war!!!

Stranger on the Train

All right…well it’s about time I get this posted.
People keep asking me “So how was Washington D.C.? Did you have fun, what did you do, what did you learn…etc…” Well…it was definitely unforgettable…mutant mosquito bites, prayer meeting consisting only of speaking in tongues (which I must admit, was a little weird to me, since I don’t speak in tongues), we saw the monuments, and the ZOO!! Decided to prayer walk the city at 10pm in the rain! Overall, I have to say that I experienced ALL the emotions known to mankind during that week: Joy, Anger, Sadness, Confusion, Excitement, Love etc… basically sums up life. ;) But I really only have one story that I really feel compelled to share…one that I will never forget! This story to me…explains why it is I have a strong love for people…I always had it in me…but I became aware of it and it was magnified when I met…
A Loved Stranger -He glances at me before returning his solemn gaze back to the floor. I had just sat down on the metro heading to City Church with my fellow interns, all of whom were involved in their own conversations at this particular moment. I on the other hand, was captivated by this young man across from me. I didn’t know him personally, but something was stirring in my spirit. At random moments, he would glance at me. I smiled though he did not return it. I would glance away so as to not let on too much that I was watching him. Something was just…off. The one time we made eye-contact, I can’t explain what happened to me…his eyes held a pained expression, he was full of confusion, hurt…I felt it. I also felt God’s love for him. I wanted to act! I wanted to do something! But what? I knew I needed to talk to him but I couldn’t seem to get up from my seat and walk the 2 feet forward to the empty seat beside him.

I began reasoning with myself…and God. I knew I wanted to talk to him, I also knew God wanted me to talk to him. “God…are you serious? Really? Why me? I don‘t know what to say…”God responded “You don’t have to say anything, just tell him what I tell you. He’s not alone.” O boy…I wondered if this was really happening, of if I was going insane. My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest. O this isn’t happening…but of course it was. “Ok God, if he is still sitting there after the next stop, I will go over and talk to him!” Well, this proceeded for the next 3 stops and I still didn’t talk to him.

“God, I’m not sure I can do this!!” I started thinking would it really matter if I didn’t talk to him? After all, I probably wouldn’t see him ever again. Well, maybe that’s the point, why am I afraid of making a fool of myself, or what he thinks of me if I’m not going to see him again! What if my talking to him…stops something from happening! I became worried. He looked…sad…like really sad. His eyes had obviously been crying…I felt the pain again…and I was convinced. God convinced me…I needed to act now! Unfortunately my stop was here…but I wasn’t getting off without doing something so I took out a piece of paper and wrote “God loves you!!” …my pen died! No! My friend Sarah handed me a sharpie. I finished my note with “Have a wonderfully awesome day!! Psalm 139! :)”

The train jerked to a stop. I walked over and handed him my note! He replied with a soft, almost inaudible thank you along with guess what…a SMILE!!! His composure of pain and sadness began to melt!

GOD IS GOOD!!!

The man on the train is my loved stranger. I love him because God loves him, I can’t explain what I felt…but I felt God’s love towards this man and it was contagious. I hope he is doing well. I pray for him when he crosses my mind…and I will never forget what he has allowed me to be open to…open to feeling the heart God has for his people…you and me and the strangers on the train!