I don’t know how you feel about human trafficking.
I don’t know what thoughts you may have gathered on the subject.
I’ll tell you how I feel about it.
HATRED.
Hatred that right now there are women here in our country that have been imported and kept as sex slaves. Hatred that there are men here who are used to produce and package drugs. Hatred that some of the chocolate we eat was made with coco from slave labour in Africa. Hatred that men from here in Western Europe fly to Asian countries and go to brothels filled with children stolen from poor homes and the governments don’t give a damn.
Men. Women. Children. Slaves.
Conservative numbers estimated 30 million slaves world wide in 2008. Liberal ones estimated 200 million.We kid ourselves into thinking that we’re basically good people because our country has signed some crap UN paper written in Geneva by guys in suits. Some of those same guys support the industry when they online porn, some of which is produced using forced, slave labour in the form of sexual exploitation. Enjoy your viewing delegate. Chocolate?
In Psalm 10 David calls out to God when he sees this kind of situation. He says: Arise, O LORD! Punish the wicked, O God! Do not ignore the helpless! Why do the wicked get away with despising God? They think, “God will never call us to account.” But you see the trouble and grief they cause. You take note of it and punish them. The helpless put their trust in you. You defend the fatherless.Jesus is the one who brings ultimate justice to our world. If we are to see justice brought to this issue it must be through God’s people calling out to him night and day to liberate the captive and punish the oppressor. Please, commit yourself to taking 30 seconds (or more!) a day to call upon God until He brings Justice.Jesus left the freedom of Heaven and came to earth to die as a slave that you and I might be free. If he has done this for us, shouldn’t we do the same for our fellow humans? If you really believe the gospel, you will.
Thursday, 26 February 2009
Sunday, 31 August 2008
3 street witnessing truths in Norn Iron and Europe
Hey all, here is a post from a Blog made by Paul Hockley who is a friend of mine from Marseille. It’s 3 truths about street witnessing in the UK and Europe
Lesson 1: The place in Europe where people are the most closed to the Gospel is in the brains of the Christians.
Wherever I have been, in the north, the south, east, and west of Europe, there is openness to the Gospel among the youth. I have yet to come to one place where more people are not interested than those that are. When I am out on the streets, I tend to be very selective as to who I would like to speak to depending on people’s appearance. However, I have discovered that frequently, those that are very interested are those that don’t seem to be on the outside.
Lesson 2: People want the supernatural — pray for the sick.
All over Europe, many of the people I have met recognize the genuineness of my experiences with God, but then go on to affirm that they need their own experiences to be able to believe. I have found out that asking people if they have pain anywhere in their bodies, and then praying for them, is a great way to witness. When Jesus heals them on the spot, they are immediately interested in hearing more. Try it out for yourself! The more you pray for the sick, the more you will see healed…
Lesson 3: People need to dissociate their thoughts of Jesus from their thoughts of the church.
I admit that this is a trickier one. The church has not always been a great example of Jesus’ love; as the DC talk song intro puts it: “the greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians.” You can use this simple example that I was taught: Christianity can be assimilated to an orange. If you bite straight into it, it is very bitter. But if you take away the peel, the inside is very sweet. Often, if people look at Christianity, it looks rotten or bitter. This is because of the peel of man-made religion that has been put around the inside: Jesus. He is the very heart of religion, and will never disappoint. When people get this, their picture of God changes.
Hope this was helpful for you! Do you agree? Do you have any tips for witnessing?
Lesson 1: The place in Europe where people are the most closed to the Gospel is in the brains of the Christians.
Wherever I have been, in the north, the south, east, and west of Europe, there is openness to the Gospel among the youth. I have yet to come to one place where more people are not interested than those that are. When I am out on the streets, I tend to be very selective as to who I would like to speak to depending on people’s appearance. However, I have discovered that frequently, those that are very interested are those that don’t seem to be on the outside.
Lesson 2: People want the supernatural — pray for the sick.
All over Europe, many of the people I have met recognize the genuineness of my experiences with God, but then go on to affirm that they need their own experiences to be able to believe. I have found out that asking people if they have pain anywhere in their bodies, and then praying for them, is a great way to witness. When Jesus heals them on the spot, they are immediately interested in hearing more. Try it out for yourself! The more you pray for the sick, the more you will see healed…
Lesson 3: People need to dissociate their thoughts of Jesus from their thoughts of the church.
I admit that this is a trickier one. The church has not always been a great example of Jesus’ love; as the DC talk song intro puts it: “the greatest cause of atheism in the world today, is Christians.” You can use this simple example that I was taught: Christianity can be assimilated to an orange. If you bite straight into it, it is very bitter. But if you take away the peel, the inside is very sweet. Often, if people look at Christianity, it looks rotten or bitter. This is because of the peel of man-made religion that has been put around the inside: Jesus. He is the very heart of religion, and will never disappoint. When people get this, their picture of God changes.
Hope this was helpful for you! Do you agree? Do you have any tips for witnessing?
Sunday, 24 August 2008
Paradigm coming from whose paradigm?
The musical culture of Norway, who in the past has produced excellent musicians, especially in the genre of metal, is in something of funk. Literally.
I am speaking about our co-labourers in the Oslo based Jesus Revolution and their new CD Paradigm. Appropriatley called because one must have a reather unique paradigm to appreciate this music. Jesus Revolution has just formed and released its new global band, and what genre of music have they chosen for their global audience? "Pop funk". Now who on God's great earth actually listens to this stuff? Either this is a poor CD or it is a great CD of a poorly chosen genre.
As far as I can tell fromt he CD cover JR has established an all chick band and, quite frankly, the music does lack any masculine quality to it. I feel this much anticipated realease may not make much waves outside of Norway, or perhaps out of JR circles where people will listen to and praise it out of a sense of loyalty to the organisation.
Save yourself the money. A good, theologically Christian, CD released this year would be Thrice's "Alchemy Index"
I am speaking about our co-labourers in the Oslo based Jesus Revolution and their new CD Paradigm. Appropriatley called because one must have a reather unique paradigm to appreciate this music. Jesus Revolution has just formed and released its new global band, and what genre of music have they chosen for their global audience? "Pop funk". Now who on God's great earth actually listens to this stuff? Either this is a poor CD or it is a great CD of a poorly chosen genre.
As far as I can tell fromt he CD cover JR has established an all chick band and, quite frankly, the music does lack any masculine quality to it. I feel this much anticipated realease may not make much waves outside of Norway, or perhaps out of JR circles where people will listen to and praise it out of a sense of loyalty to the organisation.
Save yourself the money. A good, theologically Christian, CD released this year would be Thrice's "Alchemy Index"
Friday, 21 March 2008
it's a shame
welcome to the world of the blog! if you're not new then welcome back!:D
from time to time me or joshua will post a few thoughts we have. feel free to comment and have your say. cheers!!!
I was listening to a song by a guy called david ford. he's amazing! check him out on youtube. the song he was playing was one called "state of the union" in which he talks about how our "Great Western Christian" society is nothing more than a selfish, blinkered, free for all where it's dog-eat-dog and me, myself, I.
this guy is not a Christian but he hits the nail right on the head! it's a shame that even we as Christians engage fully in this "survival of the fittest" mentality instead of "love your neighbour."
two lines really stuck out for me. one as a swear word in it so i'll change it but you'll still get the meaning!
"Come on, Jesus Christ, come back, all is forgiven. We are lost, we are lost, we are lost"
"What a model of Christian behaviour
Preach on with the message of "Go [screw] thy neighbour"
It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame"
there you have it..... the reason for my blog
if you would like to listen to it here's a link on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qv4QBRS-U50
so here's my response..... (hardly seems worth it now!)
dave
from time to time me or joshua will post a few thoughts we have. feel free to comment and have your say. cheers!!!
I was listening to a song by a guy called david ford. he's amazing! check him out on youtube. the song he was playing was one called "state of the union" in which he talks about how our "Great Western Christian" society is nothing more than a selfish, blinkered, free for all where it's dog-eat-dog and me, myself, I.
this guy is not a Christian but he hits the nail right on the head! it's a shame that even we as Christians engage fully in this "survival of the fittest" mentality instead of "love your neighbour."
two lines really stuck out for me. one as a swear word in it so i'll change it but you'll still get the meaning!
"Come on, Jesus Christ, come back, all is forgiven. We are lost, we are lost, we are lost"
"What a model of Christian behaviour
Preach on with the message of "Go [screw] thy neighbour"
It's a shame, it's a shame, it's a shame"
there you have it..... the reason for my blog
if you would like to listen to it here's a link on youtube.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qv4QBRS-U50
so here's my response..... (hardly seems worth it now!)
IT’S A SHAME
In this world of “rip-off central” you can’t be original
It’s hard to be your own
In this world of “me, myself, I” it’s hard to be kind
So easy to disown
Why are all the best things so hard to find?
Why are all good things left so far behind?
In this world there is so much wasted potential. It is wasted because of pride, stubbornness and lack of humility. We put ourselves first and thus our selfish desires prevent others from reaching their full potential. Academically, sporting or otherwise. It’s a shame.
We all want to be the best and so we “can’t see the woods for the trees”. If we stood back encouraged others as well as striving to achieve our own goals then maybe society wouldn’t be as bad as it is now. Maybe we’d be able to say that our society is not just richer or more successful or better off than that of our fathers’ but is also happier, safer and more content.
It’s a shame.
Right now we live in a disposable society where nothing is made to last and no-one is happy with “hand-me-downs”. It has to be topshop/topman, d2, firetrap, quiksilver, billabong, Abercrombie & Fitch or Hollister. I mean nobody wants to be seen dead in George or F&F from Tesco and Asda!!!!
It’s a shame.
We are so caught up in today’s latest fashion that we neglect the work of our ancestors to get us to where we are today and don’t care about the future and what it will bring. We live for the moment and the weekend. Mon-Wed is spent talking about last weekend and Thursday and Friday, talking about what you’re doing this weekend.
It’s a shame.
We are old before our time but still live longer. We make more money yet the pensioners are poor. We know more about science and technology but still can’t find the answers to the tough questions. We take an “expert’s” word because the tv told us to instead of finding out for ourselves.
It’s a shame.
We are closer now than ever to the end but further than ever from God.
We have greater knowledge of created but less knowledge of the creator.
We know more about the finite but not so much of the infinite.
It’s a shame.
It’s a shame.
It’s a shame because that’s all we do….. we just say “it’s a shame”.
The bible teaches that “now is the day of salvation”. People have been blaming others for too long. Now is the time. Now is the change. Now is day of hope.
This is the generation of change. This is the generation of hope! The generation that settles for no less than the best, not in material but in the spiritual because the only thing that matters is the redemption of lost souls. The only thing that matters is Jesus. Jesus and his love for all mankind. Jesus and his coming judgement.
Time is short.
The day is at hand.
The time is now!
Don’t delay! There’s a field that needs harvesting but where are the workers?
It’s a shame that question even needs to be asked.
How will you answer it?
dave
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