#46 Forgive.

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“The Vision” by Pete Greig

The vision? The vision is Jesus. Obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.

The vision is an army of young people. You see bones? I see an army. And they are free from materialism. They laugh at 9-5 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 and dirty and young.

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 minimum 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, every private conversation. It loves people away from their suicide leaps and 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 discipl(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, sulphuric 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 very lives, swap seats with the man on death row, guilty as hell: a throne for 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 if 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 weirdos! Summon the losers and 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 hound of heaven and invoke the ancient 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.

"Kings" by Steven Khoshaba

Kings

I could write about a million things,
Like kings in villages or villages in despair. 
One hundred people in one hundred places,
Every road leads to somewhere new.
A thousand places I could travel,
But I’ll start my path on the gravel and head to ancient Greece.
The path to riches, the path to poverty,
Every man has a soul, coins and cloaks are just extras.
There is water for drink; pour the wine down the drain,
The children are hungry, save the pennies in your pockets.
The fine linen we dress in has become our cancer,
One by one, they say goodbye without taking the cure. 
The day is twenty-four hours long but the sun will surely set,
Write your wrongs, forgive your fathers, invest in your neighbors.
These are the words I have gathered up from the well,
Drink until the moon is bright, then fill the jars for the month of July.

Open Their Eyes: A Prayer

Dear God,

Do you hear their cries? 

They're suffering in the middle of the night.

She taunts the body she lives in, and is tempted by sin when she gives in.

He cuts his skin to release the pain within. 

They're hurting inside, and hide behind their pride. 

They're hungry for the truth, but full of despair.

If their were a God, why would He care? 

They listen to the lies, as their hope slowly dies.

How could one man's blood, wash away all their sins,

Save them from who they are, and who they've been? 

They find you, but choose not to seek you.

They hear you, but choose not to listen.

They're afraid to accept what they want to believe,

The love and renewal they will receive. 

Open their eyes, and make them see,

Who You are, and what they can be.

Let it be known You're coming again,

to take back the one's who chose to repent.

Until that day may they find their way,

to Your loving arms, and a brighter day.

May they seek Your face in all their suffering,

and embrace the love that You will bring.

Amen

I wrote this after encountering so many hurting people; it's a prayer I recite in hopes the lost will be saved, and love will be found. I've been given this love from a Savior I adore, it would be a shame if I kept it all to myself.

One and Only Truth

From the beginning of time, we were given a choice. I choose to live my life for Christ. Not because I was born into it, influenced, or told to, but strictly because I willingly accept the truth as the one and only reason  to live. Here's my theory: No matter how many times you throw paint at a canvas, you'll never get a fully painted picture with intricate design, heavily crafted lines and colors, perfected to make one beautiful picture. No randomness can create that. It needs a painter; a creator. And as the artist strokes the brush against the fibers of the paper, their "original" work isn't so original after all. That landscape they paint, person, mountain, sky, is all just an imitation of the bigger picture the "original" artist once created. There is a God no matter what anyone says, makes up, or thinks. Look outside your front door, see the world, and you'll find your proof. Better yet, look into the mirror and tell me how randomness or coincidence leads to a functioning body with a systematic programing that has heart that pumps blood to the brain, which tells body parts to move and so on. Even better, how can you explain emotion, without there being a higher power, meaning, and reason for existence? And although those are very OBVIOUS reasons as to why there is a God, it's the experience that sells it to me rather than just the belief. What separates Jesus Christ from all the other religions out there? It's the love He presented in the life He lived. (all throughout the new testament you can read about Jesus' life) That love has carried on after He died, through the Holy Spirit, and lives in the hearts of all who choose to seek it out. Like I said, I chose to live for Him, therefore I've been impacted by His unconditional, never ending love, that I find evident in every aspect of my life. His mysterious ways, and freeing love is what keeps me believing, seeking, and living. He gives me rest, peace, and He gives me purpose. If I were to wake up and deny ever knowing this love, and that God exists, well, I'd be fooling myself. After I've come this far in the journey, there's no questioning it was God that created me to be the loving, happy girl I am; or else I'd be walking in the world hopeless with no knowledge of an answer to live. That's the amazing thing about being saved, it's not just a declaration of faith, but a true celebration of being rescued. It's no fairytale. The Bible isn't Peter Pan or Cinderella. It's the living TRUTH. It's up to you to believe what is true, or fool yourself into believing this world is all there is, nothing else, no reason, no purpose, just matter, time and coincidence. As for me, I choose to believe what is true. You can take everything I say, and not believe a word. But it's not till you experience the love of Jesus Christ, that you will fully understand why I so passionately believe and stand by my faith. It's unlike any other. It's hope for the hopeless, and hydrates the thirsty.

But whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never become thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a well of water for him, springing up to eternal life."

John 4:14

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.
Deuteronomy 7:9

REVOLUTION

REVOLUTION

This last weekend I got to experience one of the greatest retreats of my life. There I stood amongst my generation, around 475 students and leaders all together for the same reason. We want a Revolution. This retreat was different than most; usually it's all about "ME ME ME," but this time it was about them. The world, the lost, the unsaved. In our lives we walk through halls, our work place, the classroom, everywhere, and pass so many people lost and hungry for the truth. Yet, we're so consumed with our own lives to even take into account their fatal future. We're all asleep, daydreaming about what we want, and the world is dying by the thousands. But there is a fire burning in the hearts of the believers who choose to seek it in themselves. There is something stirring deep within, and it's coming with a war. No, not a war of killing, violence, and destruction. Love is our weapon, and we are fighting sin, and saving lives. Each day is a battle, and we have to be prepared to fight. The Revolution starts with the young. It's a movement that is far more powerful than the darkness that destroys the hearts of so many, for it's Light outshines over all the blackness sin stains. It's more than just believing in Christ, for just as it states in James 2:19-20, "You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?" It's an action that will shake the world, wake them up. But before we can change this world, we have to fix ourselves, and prepare for battle. Open your eyes, wake up! It's time to save this world, to share the love of Christ and give them what they need. It was truly an amazing weekend. Tears shed, lives changed, and the push we needed to really go out and BE THE CHANGE! 

Because, we are the REVOLUTION!