OK. So a couple days ago, I posted on a story of a friend of a friend of mine. To recap, 16 year old girl decides to go to youth instead of follow the ways of the world. Supposed to be home 10:30 PM, never shows. Found a little later lying on the sidewalk with her head kicked in, with a letter reading: "Let this be a warning; we hate Bible thumpers." Dies later in hospital. Sad story.
And also, just one among the many stories of the unsung war in which we find ourselves. So to get down to it.
The Good:
God is good. We all know this. We all believe it. Therefore, even in an event as brutal as this, some good can come from it: the girl is now in heaven with her creator and saviour, and the family has at least that comfort.
The Bad:
Well, for starters someone died. Never a good thing in it's own right. Death is a byproduct of sin. This, however, was murder, which is even more bad. And, the forces of darkness essentially won this one.
The Ugly Truth:
WE ARE AT WAR. We're on a battlefield, shooting at something we can't see. We can hear it. We can feel it. But we can't see our enemy, which makes it that much harder to hit. Our biggest problem? We don't have a big enough army. Not enough people are willing to volunteer, and most of those who say they are simply sit around and do what? Not much of anything. We need a bigger, better trained army.
Our Weapons:
Well, the Bible and Prayer for one thing. The name of Jesus has more power than any president. Or any exploding star, for that matter. Then there are the various weapons and shields and such from the Bible:
The Armor of the Lord:
The Belt of Truth
The Breastplate of Righteousness
The Sandals of Peace
The Shield of Faith
The Helmet of Salvation
The Sword of the Spirit the word of God.
We have been called, among many other things, to take part in this spiritual battle that is penetrating every aspect of our lives. Everywhere we look, it is there. We must evangelize to A) obviously bring people to Christ Jesus our Lord and Saviour, and B) we must also recruit more people, ESPECIALLY people who are already 'Christians', into this war. We must train them. Teach them. And we must continue to learn ourselves.
So I am going to make this a call for people to join forces and fight against that which tries to attack us at every move. A call to rise up, and shout the truth from every hilltop. A call to arms!
A call
For Revival.
Thursday, 10 September 2009
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Modern Day Martyrs
A lot of us have facebook, right? It's a very good way to communicate with friends and family. Well, some people I know have used it to communicate things like miracles and other Christian related subjects.
Not five minutes before beginning to write this, I read one such story. It was the first story of a modern day martyr I had ever read. And it happened to a family close to a friend of mine.
Basically what had happened was one night, a young girl had opted NOT to hang out with her old, druggy friends, and instead attend a youth group. She and her sister spoke several times over the phone to make sure everything was OK. She said she'd be home around 10:30.
10:30 came and went. Her sister called her and the pastor several times after that. The pastor answered, saying she had just left. (Her house was only a couple minute walk away).
The pastor then walked outside, and saw someone lying on the sidewalk. It was the girl. Her head had been smashed against the concrete and kicked, and a note lay beside her: "Let this be a lesson; we hate bible thumpers". That's what the note read.
She died later in hospital, on September 7, 2009, at sixteen years old.
A sixteen year old martyr. That's not sad. That's outrageous. A pathetic display of cowardice and contempt on behalf of those who did it.
What I find many Christians fail to realize is that we are fighting a war. Martyrdom is a product of war, regardless of how subtle that war may be. And rest assured, this is no subtle war.
What I have seen and heard in the last year is nothing less than outright scary. I'm not scared of much. This scares me.
We as Christians need to realize that we are fighting a war, a war against the forces of darkness. A war against Satan, and his minions. I have seen battles won; this is a battle lost.
It's real. It's big. Awareness needs to be spread. We are called to shout the truth from the hilltops. And yet we sit at home, comfortable in our beds and safe. We are afraid to take chances.
This girl was NOT afraid to take a chance, take a stand. And she died in the name of Jesus Christ, her Lord and Saviour. So even in the shadow of death, God can bring good. What Christian is afraid of dying for their Saviour? I'm not. But still, awareness must be spread. Just because good can come out of a murder, it doesn't make it right.
I'm going to do a series on this, because the briefly put-together spiel above is confusing and to some may seem contradictory. I think that's where a lot of people either don't believe, stop believing, or don't know WHAT to believe. So over the next few days, I'm going to do the best I can to clear up some questions.
In the meantime, I hope this at least made SOME sense, you know where to post questions/comments, it's nearly one in the morning so I need to go.
But think about this. About the reality of what we're dealing with.
And have a good night/morning/day.
----Mike----
Not five minutes before beginning to write this, I read one such story. It was the first story of a modern day martyr I had ever read. And it happened to a family close to a friend of mine.
Basically what had happened was one night, a young girl had opted NOT to hang out with her old, druggy friends, and instead attend a youth group. She and her sister spoke several times over the phone to make sure everything was OK. She said she'd be home around 10:30.
10:30 came and went. Her sister called her and the pastor several times after that. The pastor answered, saying she had just left. (Her house was only a couple minute walk away).
The pastor then walked outside, and saw someone lying on the sidewalk. It was the girl. Her head had been smashed against the concrete and kicked, and a note lay beside her: "Let this be a lesson; we hate bible thumpers". That's what the note read.
She died later in hospital, on September 7, 2009, at sixteen years old.
A sixteen year old martyr. That's not sad. That's outrageous. A pathetic display of cowardice and contempt on behalf of those who did it.
What I find many Christians fail to realize is that we are fighting a war. Martyrdom is a product of war, regardless of how subtle that war may be. And rest assured, this is no subtle war.
What I have seen and heard in the last year is nothing less than outright scary. I'm not scared of much. This scares me.
We as Christians need to realize that we are fighting a war, a war against the forces of darkness. A war against Satan, and his minions. I have seen battles won; this is a battle lost.
It's real. It's big. Awareness needs to be spread. We are called to shout the truth from the hilltops. And yet we sit at home, comfortable in our beds and safe. We are afraid to take chances.
This girl was NOT afraid to take a chance, take a stand. And she died in the name of Jesus Christ, her Lord and Saviour. So even in the shadow of death, God can bring good. What Christian is afraid of dying for their Saviour? I'm not. But still, awareness must be spread. Just because good can come out of a murder, it doesn't make it right.
I'm going to do a series on this, because the briefly put-together spiel above is confusing and to some may seem contradictory. I think that's where a lot of people either don't believe, stop believing, or don't know WHAT to believe. So over the next few days, I'm going to do the best I can to clear up some questions.
In the meantime, I hope this at least made SOME sense, you know where to post questions/comments, it's nearly one in the morning so I need to go.
But think about this. About the reality of what we're dealing with.
And have a good night/morning/day.
----Mike----
Thursday, 2 July 2009
Encounters: Chapter One
OK. So like I said a few days ago on Araken's blog, I've been one of many witnesses to something A) simply amazing and B) something none of us ever thought we'd encounter.
I was out late Saturday night like I usually am, hanging out at a friend's house with about six or seven others. About 1:30 that morning (like I said, I stay out LATE), I received a text message from a good friend of mine saying that they needed prayer, his house was under serious attack. I don't remember the first thing that came to mind, but I did text him back asking what exactly was happening. His reply was this: 'A close personal friend is possessed in my living room.'
Surprised? Yeah. So was I.
So that night I carried on as usual, getting home around 2:30 3:00 in the morning. The next day was a little bit odd, just cuz everyone was tired. I wound up again where I had been the night before for a couple hours, then got an invite over to my other friend's house (the house where the proceedings had been taking place). Actually, two of my friends lived there at the time, three now, but that's beside the point.
So that day we went out of town to look at knives at the House of Knives (great place...hehe) and grab dinner.
I don't think it was an hour after we'd gotten back to the house that we all heard screaming from upstairs. No. Not screaming. Bloodcurdling shrieking. And my friend's Dad yelling at SOMETHING to leave, now, now, NOW!
For another half hour, we sat where we were in the basement praying. A little while later found us all upstairs, praying and telling demons to leave.
I asked this question in my last post, how many people have read the Forbidden Doors series? Because what is described in those books is EXACTLY what happened Sunday night.
What happened over the next two hours is quite nearly impossible to describe. A room full of about 12 people sitting or standing in a circle around a person who is writhing on the floor, being held down by five people, the demon inside her screaming out for water and begging not to be sent back to hell. Actually, that was every demon. There were over 20 demons inside this person, and each has to come out one by one.
Then something I did NOT expect happened: another person began to convulse and shake like the first person. She got one as well. That one took about fifteen minutes to purge, and the one we were dealing with in the first person couldn't be cast out until every person in that room was 'clean', as in, no outstanding sins, unforgiveness, anything. In fact a couple of people that night were cleaned.
The demon we were dealing with most of that night, like every other, (that night there were four or five, I was only present for two) had a name: Violence. The other's that night were Anger, Control, and a couple other's the names of which escape me now. Violence was a brutal pain to get out. It did not want to leave, kept screaming for water. Once, when noone was holding her down, the person with Violence inside her began to crawl to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" we asked.
"Water!" was the only reply; it sounded like someone was dying of thirst, the voice said it like..like it hadn't drunk for days. It pretty much gasped the word.
A little bit before that, another ... 'interesting' thing happened: The person began to go to the washroom to fix her shirt, BUT!, only made it to the doorway when the demon began to shriek again. Apparently, demons don't like seeing themselves in the mirror. It scares them.
Anyway, that night everything went well eventually. Violence was purged, sent back to hell, my friend's Dad who was standing over her most of that night yelling at the demons physically pulled the demon out of her mouth. It wasn't quite visible, but every time he grabbed hold and pulled the demon screamed, until it was out. A rather large round of applause broke the air, and every one sat back and just ... rested. The night was finally over.
***
I didn't sleep that night. Actually, I slept. But I didnt' rest. My mind replayed the events of that night over and over again; it was the first time I had ever witnessed or taken part in a spiritual battle. So I woke up that morning absolutely bagged, but I couldn't sleep longer than about 9:30 (I tend to sleep in..I don't start work till three in the afternoon). I couldn't stand to be in the dark, it was as if SOMETHING were there, watching, waiting.
And we'll probably be back at it again tonight. It all started Sunday morning, a little after midnight. Nearly a week later, we're still not done. God most certainly has something in store for us. I don't know what, but I do know that this has made us all closer together. We are all growing in our faith, and there is no longer ANY question whatsoever of what and who God is and that he exists. Not that I had any doubts, but...This was definitely an eye-opener.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll post as more happens.
----Mike----
I was out late Saturday night like I usually am, hanging out at a friend's house with about six or seven others. About 1:30 that morning (like I said, I stay out LATE), I received a text message from a good friend of mine saying that they needed prayer, his house was under serious attack. I don't remember the first thing that came to mind, but I did text him back asking what exactly was happening. His reply was this: 'A close personal friend is possessed in my living room.'
Surprised? Yeah. So was I.
So that night I carried on as usual, getting home around 2:30 3:00 in the morning. The next day was a little bit odd, just cuz everyone was tired. I wound up again where I had been the night before for a couple hours, then got an invite over to my other friend's house (the house where the proceedings had been taking place). Actually, two of my friends lived there at the time, three now, but that's beside the point.
So that day we went out of town to look at knives at the House of Knives (great place...hehe) and grab dinner.
I don't think it was an hour after we'd gotten back to the house that we all heard screaming from upstairs. No. Not screaming. Bloodcurdling shrieking. And my friend's Dad yelling at SOMETHING to leave, now, now, NOW!
For another half hour, we sat where we were in the basement praying. A little while later found us all upstairs, praying and telling demons to leave.
I asked this question in my last post, how many people have read the Forbidden Doors series? Because what is described in those books is EXACTLY what happened Sunday night.
What happened over the next two hours is quite nearly impossible to describe. A room full of about 12 people sitting or standing in a circle around a person who is writhing on the floor, being held down by five people, the demon inside her screaming out for water and begging not to be sent back to hell. Actually, that was every demon. There were over 20 demons inside this person, and each has to come out one by one.
Then something I did NOT expect happened: another person began to convulse and shake like the first person. She got one as well. That one took about fifteen minutes to purge, and the one we were dealing with in the first person couldn't be cast out until every person in that room was 'clean', as in, no outstanding sins, unforgiveness, anything. In fact a couple of people that night were cleaned.
The demon we were dealing with most of that night, like every other, (that night there were four or five, I was only present for two) had a name: Violence. The other's that night were Anger, Control, and a couple other's the names of which escape me now. Violence was a brutal pain to get out. It did not want to leave, kept screaming for water. Once, when noone was holding her down, the person with Violence inside her began to crawl to the kitchen. "What are you doing?" we asked.
"Water!" was the only reply; it sounded like someone was dying of thirst, the voice said it like..like it hadn't drunk for days. It pretty much gasped the word.
A little bit before that, another ... 'interesting' thing happened: The person began to go to the washroom to fix her shirt, BUT!, only made it to the doorway when the demon began to shriek again. Apparently, demons don't like seeing themselves in the mirror. It scares them.
Anyway, that night everything went well eventually. Violence was purged, sent back to hell, my friend's Dad who was standing over her most of that night yelling at the demons physically pulled the demon out of her mouth. It wasn't quite visible, but every time he grabbed hold and pulled the demon screamed, until it was out. A rather large round of applause broke the air, and every one sat back and just ... rested. The night was finally over.
***
I didn't sleep that night. Actually, I slept. But I didnt' rest. My mind replayed the events of that night over and over again; it was the first time I had ever witnessed or taken part in a spiritual battle. So I woke up that morning absolutely bagged, but I couldn't sleep longer than about 9:30 (I tend to sleep in..I don't start work till three in the afternoon). I couldn't stand to be in the dark, it was as if SOMETHING were there, watching, waiting.
And we'll probably be back at it again tonight. It all started Sunday morning, a little after midnight. Nearly a week later, we're still not done. God most certainly has something in store for us. I don't know what, but I do know that this has made us all closer together. We are all growing in our faith, and there is no longer ANY question whatsoever of what and who God is and that he exists. Not that I had any doubts, but...This was definitely an eye-opener.
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll post as more happens.
----Mike----
Monday, 29 June 2009
Encounters: Prologue
Okay, I've only got a few seconds right now but I'm gonna post tomorrow on something truly amazing, and just a tad unnerving, that happened to me this weekend.
Has anyone ever read the Forbidden Doors series by Bill Myers? If not, I strongly recommend them not only are the a good read but they are packed with spiritual truths, the likes of which the majority of humankind would pass of as fairy tales and myths.
In these books, the supernatural comes into play a lot. And, not only CAN it occur, but it DOES, in REAL LIFE! And I was a witness and participant in one of these encounters with the supernatural.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for more details!
Has anyone ever read the Forbidden Doors series by Bill Myers? If not, I strongly recommend them not only are the a good read but they are packed with spiritual truths, the likes of which the majority of humankind would pass of as fairy tales and myths.
In these books, the supernatural comes into play a lot. And, not only CAN it occur, but it DOES, in REAL LIFE! And I was a witness and participant in one of these encounters with the supernatural.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for more details!
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
Her Song
Remember the friend I spoke of a few months ago? Well, here is a song she wrote, and performed 3 DAYS before she passed...
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Who We Are!
96% of teens wont stand up for God....copy and paste if ur one of the 4% who will
Who are we?
We are God's people.
Why are we here?
We are here to praise and worship God, and to proclaim his name!
Who are we?
We are Christians! We are God's people! The sheep of his pasture!
THIS IS
WHO WE ARE!
Many people profess to be Christians, yet they sit around doing absolutely nothing about it.
Then when their so called 'faith' is attacked, they have nothing to back it up! And their faith dwindles and dies. But this is not what we are called to do; we are called to worship God in everything we do, and to be like him.
The YCF has done an incredibly good job of the latter. We have grown drastically, especially for an online group of teens. But, it's as Sapphira said: no matter how young we are, God still has some awesome hidden purpose for us.
"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity." -1 Timothy 4:12 (NIV).
Which means, even as teens and young adults, we can still go about proclaiming the name of God our Father! Sure, we don't know EVERYthing there is to know, but that's why we're young; so we can learn. Not much point knowing everything, that'd make life pointless, and boring, now wouldn't it? Odd, I was just talking to a friend about this very thing...huh...
Anyways, don't be a plain, regular person; get out there, do something drastic, make a difference however you feel called to do so!
I know I will.
So once again, who are we?
Christians! Children of God!
that's WHO WE ARE!!!
Praise God!
----Mike----
PS.: My first posting on the book of Revelation will FINALLY be published tomorrow around 1:00 PM PST.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
2008
HELLO AGAIN, FRIENDS, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's certainly been awhile. I haven't much time right now...just figured I'd pop in and give a shout.
And, while I'm here, reminisce about the last year that has passed.
2008 Was probably the single most active year of my life. I finished my grade 12, (although still not technically graduated because of the course I am taking :(...), I found myself a steady job (finally) after two long years of looking, where i still work even with school 7 months later. I left my old church for a new one, where God has spoken to me tonnes over the last few months, and at the same time I have found a large group of friends there as well. So for the most part, 2008 was a good year.
However, it did have it's downs as well. My relationship with my family is...questionable at best, I regret, and we are often at odds. But I love 'em anyways.
Also a very good old friend of mine drowned in a river in the middle of August. I suppose I should share her story one day, as it actually proves the existence of God. I hadn't spoken to her aside from facebook for almost 5 years!!! And somehow we remained good friends... Although, in a way I envy her...She's now in Heaven, a participant in the eternal party. But she will be missed.
All in all, it was a very enlightening year, I learned lots about God, people, friends, and myself.
I look forward to talking to y'all again, and in the meantime I wish you a very Happy New Year 2009!!!!!!!!!
Adios For Now...
----Mike----
"My Mind is a Universe, as Vast and Infinite as the one in which we Live. Wherein exist endless possibilities, adventures, on both a realistic plane and a Fantasmic one."
It's certainly been awhile. I haven't much time right now...just figured I'd pop in and give a shout.
And, while I'm here, reminisce about the last year that has passed.
2008 Was probably the single most active year of my life. I finished my grade 12, (although still not technically graduated because of the course I am taking :(...), I found myself a steady job (finally) after two long years of looking, where i still work even with school 7 months later. I left my old church for a new one, where God has spoken to me tonnes over the last few months, and at the same time I have found a large group of friends there as well. So for the most part, 2008 was a good year.
However, it did have it's downs as well. My relationship with my family is...questionable at best, I regret, and we are often at odds. But I love 'em anyways.
Also a very good old friend of mine drowned in a river in the middle of August. I suppose I should share her story one day, as it actually proves the existence of God. I hadn't spoken to her aside from facebook for almost 5 years!!! And somehow we remained good friends... Although, in a way I envy her...She's now in Heaven, a participant in the eternal party. But she will be missed.
All in all, it was a very enlightening year, I learned lots about God, people, friends, and myself.
I look forward to talking to y'all again, and in the meantime I wish you a very Happy New Year 2009!!!!!!!!!
Adios For Now...
----Mike----
"My Mind is a Universe, as Vast and Infinite as the one in which we Live. Wherein exist endless possibilities, adventures, on both a realistic plane and a Fantasmic one."
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If you believe this is true and you except jesus as your personal savior copy and paste this and spread the word of jesus!