Burma (Myanmar) August 28, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Uncategorized.Tags: Allen Hood, Asia, Burma, Freedom, FSM, Girls, God, Government, Healing, Human Trafficking, IHOP-KC, Industry, Media, Myanmar, Prayer, Prayer Room, Prostitution, Protest, Raid, Regime, Rescue, Sex, Siam, Union
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We have been praying for the country of Myanmar the last few nights here in the prayer room. There is a team of people from IHOP-KC going out there on a humanitarian effort soon. I didn’t think it was that big a deal until I heard that Allen Hood was part of the team, then I decided to look it up. Allen Hood is the associate director of the International House of Prayer in KC, as well as the director of the Forerunner School of Ministry.
The Country
So, the basics on Myanmar. It’s the largest country in southeast Asia, and though officially (since June 18th, 1989) it’s called the Union of Myanmar, the inhabitants are called Burmese and still call it Burma. It was renamed after the current government group, the Myanma Naingngandaw, which is little more than a violent military regime. The persistence of it’s inhabitants to call the nation Burma is a protest to that regime. Oh, and in the Milton-Bradley board-game Risk, it’s called Siam. Still can’t figure that one out…
The Bad
In 1948 Burma became a republic, and the Union of Burma was one of the fastest growing nations in Asia. They were actually the world’s largest exporter of rice at one point. However, in 1962 General Ne Win led a military coup d’etat (pronounced: koo-da-ta) and in 1974 established the Burma Socialist Programme Party. Since then the nation has been in steady decline in every area imaginable, and in 1987 the UN designated Burma as a fourth-world country.
The Ugly
Protests of any kind, or any attempt to speak out for freedom in Burma, is almost always immediately stamped out by the military/government. There is not a lot of media coverage on Burma, because the military tries not to use lethal force on protesters, preferring to make thousands of arrests instead. And the average prison sentence in Burma is 16,616 years.
Burma is one of the biggest human trafficking and child-prostitution hubs in the world, and the government is not making it a priority to do much about it. For example, in 2006 the government arrested a Burmese woman for selling two girls into prostitution, and she was sentenced to only 12 years in prison. From 2002 to 2007 the government arrested 1484 people for human trafficking and child prostitution; only 748 were given prison sentences (I couldn’t find anywhere that said how long the sentences were).
And So…
Recently, there has been an increasing number of “raids” by humanitarians going into Burma to rescue girls forced into prostitution. We can continue to pray that God will guide and protect those who are going to help, and that He will bring healing to those involved in the human trafficking industry.
-J
Why Night and Day? — Part One August 26, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Prayer Room, The Night Watch.Tags: Acts, Amos, Chronicles, David, Day, God, House, Isaiah, James, Jesus, Levite, Moses, Night, Nightwatch, Prayer, Prayer Room, Prince of Egypt, Psalms, Tabernacle
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Over the next two weeks the Nightwatchers at RHOP have been given an opportunity to write a paper on the reasons why we pray both night and day. I’ve decided to make the subject into a series of posts, and then I’ll put it all together into a paper when I’m done. That way you — my loyal readers (assuming you exist) — can be the first ones anywhere to read it. Who knows? It may be part of my About Me page later, or maybe a new page all together…
David (you know – shepherd, giant killer, king, psalmist, man after God’s heart, the great(x26) grand-daddy of Jesus – that one) was the first one to establish night and day prayer the way that we think of it today in the prayer movement. His tabernacle (that’s a fancy word for “dwelling place”) for the Lord is described in 1 Chronicles 15-17. During David’s reign over Israel the Levites ministered to the Lord “continually” (1 Ch 16:37), and David says in Psalm 27:4 that he wished he could stay in the house of the Lord all the time himself.
Amos 9:11-13 tells us that before the judgment of the Lord, the Tabernacle of David (a house of the Lord with 24/7 worship and prayer) will be rebuilt. In Acts 15:13-18 James (the disciple of Jesus) quotes Amos, and then goes on making it clear that worshiping in this way is meant for everyone.
When Moses (burning bush, parting of the Red Sea, Prince of Egypt – that guy) built the tabernacle in the wilderness God said to him, “I will consecrate the tabernacle and the alter [...] I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God.” (Ex 29:44-45). God desires to “dwell among us,” and establishing his tabernacle – or house of prayer – is one of the ways He chooses to do that.
When king David set up the tabernacle he assigned Levites to minister unto the Lord 24/7. That created a situation where Psalm 22:3 can occur all the time. “Yet You are holy, O you who inhabit the praises of your people.”
Not only that, but by praying “continually” we are also fulfilling Isaiah 56:7 where God says His house will be called a “house of prayer.”
-J
It Should Be Called ‘Slowing’ August 20, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Knowledge of God, Life, Prayer Room.Tags: Dinner, Fasting, Food, Humble, Humility, Hunger, Knowledge of God, Obedience, Pizza, Prayer Room, Sacrifice, Soul, Water
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The kingdom of heaven operates on a different set of rules than we do. The concept of fasting to bring myself low enough to see The Most High may seem weird, but that’s how it works. I don’t eat, and I tell God what He already knows. Yeah I know, doesn’t quite make sense to me either.
I’ve been trying to fast more regularly, but it’s harder than I thought it would be. Just fasting two days a week is bringing up all sorts of weaknesses in my soul, while simultaneously bringing me to an emotional state that makes it very difficult to deal with those weaknesses. And that’s in addition to all of the normal effects of not eating; like hunger, irritability, hunger, exhaustion, hunger, and also… hunger.
I am reassured in scripture that the Lord sees my sacrifice and obedience, and will honor it in due time, but it sure is hard to just ‘take it on faith’ when I don’t see anything happening. Just a moment ago a friend in the prayer room offered to buy me dinner. I quickly said, “No thanks” before I had time to think about it, despite the fact that things like that don’t happen often. After he left I was sitting here telling God, “Did you see that? Are you paying any attention to me starving over here? I’m doing this for you, couldn’t you make it a little easier?” Yeah… soulish moment there…
Of course He could make it easier, but that would kind of defeat the purpose, wouldn’t it? Part of fasting is the sacrifice of not eating. Funny, a month ago I thought that was the whole thing: don’t eat. But there’s more to it than that. It’s a declaration to the spirit-realm that I want the knowledge of God more than I want to be healthy. It’s a God-ordained method of humbling myself before the Lord. And it gets rid of a lot of distractions that would otherwise take my focus off of pursuing Him.
I really want pizza right about now… pass the water.
-J
Proverbs 2 August 18, 2008
Posted by Josiah in IHOP-KC, Knowledge of God, Life.Tags: Bible, Fear of the Lord, IHOP-KC, Knowledge of God, Prayer Room, Proverbs, Solomon, Verse
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If you’ve read my blog at all then you know that I believe the pursuit of the knowledge of God to be the most important thing in life. That being said, I found a few verses that I found quite interesting in Proverbs 2:
(v1) My son, if you will receive my words and treasure my commandments within you, (v2) make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding; (v3) for if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding; (v4) if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures; (v5) then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
Wow… only just realized all five verses were one sentence; apparently Hebrew grammar doesn’t translate to English well. Anyway, Solomon says right there how to find the knowledge of God. He makes it sound so simple, and yet I still don’t understand.
I tend to avoid listening to a lot of teachings, but my girlfriend tells me that IHOP-KC has a good teaching on these verses, and I really want to hear it. I read Proverbs 2:1-5 and I get the feeling that what I want is right in front of my face and I can’t see it.
-J
Life and Disc Golf August 13, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Life, Prayer Room.Tags: Bible, Biblical, Disc Golf, Frolf, Golf, Humble, Humility, Identity, Inferior, Prayer Room, Pride, Respect, Shame, Superior, Technique, Video, YouTube
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I like to play disc golf; only problem being that I’m just not that great at it. Anyway, while watching YouTube videos on disc throwing technique just now, I had a thought. Everyone seemed to be saying the same thing: technique is good, and practice is good, but the way to get better is by playing with people that are better than you.
It kinda seems like common sense: if I want to get better than I am, hang out with people better than me. However, I couldn’t help but notice how tempting it is to surround myself with my peers and/or inferiors in any given area. It really feels good to be the best at anything, or at least to not be worse than the guy right next to you. It’s really just pride and shame though; proud of being better, or humiliated by being worse.
There is little to gain by being around people I’m better than in anything, unless I’m there to teach them. In immaturity I would only get puffed up with pride, and we all know what pride comes before. On the other hand, there are all sorts of stuff I can learn by spending time with my superiors. I can learn to walk in humility, to show respect, and to find my identity in God rather than whatever it is that I’m currently sucking at. Then maybe I will be mature enough to spend time with my inferiors while modeling those Godly attributes that I have learned.
Funny how spending 40 hours a week in the house of prayer causes one to see Biblical principles in everything, even disc golf videos… =)
-J
New Theme August 12, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Uncategorized.add a comment
Hey everybody. I just changed the look of the blog. Anyone who remembers the old one, please lemme know if this one is easier to read. That was kinda the goal.
-J
Some Encouragement August 9, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Encouragement, Knowledge of God, Life.Tags: Alcohol, Blog, Choices, Death, Depression, Desire, Drunk, Encouragement, Focus, God, Help, Honest, Hope, Knowledge of God, Life, Pain, Pleasure, Problems, Purpose, Pursuit, Real, Smoking, Sober, Suicide, Testimony
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The most viewed post on my blog for weeks now has been my testimony, even though I only very briefly went into it. I’m starting to think that there are people out there who are depressed or alcoholic or suicidal or all three, and are finding me on accident while looking for someone who understands. Oh, and something I didn’t put in my other post is that I also smoked cigarettes for two years, and still struggle with that occasionally even though I kicked it over a year ago. I mean, while we’re being honest and all, I just thought I’d mention it.
So, I’d like to offer some encouragement to anyone that found me by searching for any of the things I just mentioned.
First of all, there is always hope. While there is life, there’s hope. Looking back, all of the times that I thought my life was hopeless and just wanted it all to end, I was choosing to ignore the hope that was really there. I mean once you’re dead, you’re done. That’s it. You only get one shot at life, and if you give up there’s no restarting.
Friends are good. A good friend will watch your back even (sometimes especially) when you don’t. If you’ve got friends like that then spend time with them, if your friends don’t care then get new friends. God created you to be your friend, I’m sure He’s available.
Whatever you do, don’t isolate yourself. If you are considering suicide you’re obviously not thinking clearly, so making sure you don’t get any input but your own will sooooo not help. If you don’t have anyone who understands, shoot me a comment and I’ll talk to you myself. Every life is worth saving, even seemingly crappy suicidal ones. =)
As for alcohol, I don’t believe that alcoholism is a disease, it’s habitually making bad choices. Anyone who tells you that you don’t have control of your actions or that you can’t help it, is lying to you and can’t help you.
I would drink (usually alone) until I couldn’t afford any more alcohol every night, because I had nothing to live for. If nothing matters, then you will need something to dull the pain of the emptiness. Alcohol really works… for a while. You will not feel a thing as long as you’re drunk. But as soon as you start to sober up you will remember how much you’re in pain and reach for the bottle again.
If you’re finally sick of feeling like s–t, there is a God that created you for His pleasure. There are no accidents, He created you because He wants you to know Him. It’s all over the Bible, and as soon as I started pursuing the knowledge of God I was convinced that it’s the only thing worth living for.
Trust me when I say that you can’t just remove something from your life, you have to replace it with something. God has the ability — and desire — to replace every self-destructive aspect of your life with the knowledge of Him.
As a parting thought: you inevitably travel in the direction of your focus. If you focus on your problems, you will be consumed by them. If you focus on God then He will honor that, and your problems won’t seem so important compared to Him.
-J
Mad at God August 7, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Knowledge of God, Life.Tags: Abuse, Adam and Eve, Alcohol, Depression, Faith, God, Homeless, Israel, Knowledge of God, Mad, Offense, Promise, Suicide
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I often don’t understand why God chooses to let bad things happen. I just finished trying to encourage one of my sisters in the Lord to not give up hope. She is in a really crappy situation, and blames God for not preventing the inciting event. She was seriously abused as a little girl, and is living her life out of the hurt that it caused. Don’t get me wrong, I am not negating the effects of child abuse; it’s a very, very serious thing. But she has moved on from broken-hearted girl to bitter and angry adult.
There is so much crap that happens that God could prevent with a thought, but doesn’t. I have been through so much that might have been easier to skip. I have experienced first-hand suicidal depression, alcoholism, homelessness, verbal abuse, and more. I understand how some of it benefited me, and some of it I’ve had a hard time forgiving God for. It may seem silly to not forgive God, like an ant shaking it’s fist at an elephant, but I still struggle with it at times. Knowing how quickly offense can sneak into my own heart, I don’t condemn anyone who is mad at God.
Some things that happen to us are our own fault. For example, if I drink too much and wreck my car it’s not God’s fault for letting it happen. He gave us a free will, and sometimes that means the freedom to hurt ourselves. Being mad at God for something like that would be like me taking a walk with my brother, tripping on a curb I didn’t see, and then punching him in the face. If I had tripped and acknowledged my mistake my brother would’ve been right there to help me up, but instead I had to get up myself and then put a strain on our relationship to boot. Yeah… that’s just plain unintelligent.
Other things are totally out of our control. Like my friend who was abused. That was someone else’s free will that hurt her. That’s when it’s easy to yell at God, usually something along the lines of, “Come on! How hard would it have been to protect me? You broke your promise to be there for me!” I don’t understand completely why God lets things like child abuse happen, but I know that God’s Word is true, and He tells us that all things work together for our good.
Take Adam and Eve for example. I could sit here and say, “Oh great. We had it perfect until those stupid people disobeyed God. Why couldn’t God have just stopped them from eating the dang fruit?” Because it’s been six thousand years, we can see that God used that situation to make it possible for us to be the bride of The Man Christ Jesus, but how do you think Adam’s children felt? They didn’t have anything except their parents telling them that God told them He’d make it right someday. Or how about the generation right after the Israelites were told they would wander for forty years? “Waitaminut… I have to spend the first half of my life in the desert because, why?” It’s not easy to forgive and trust when the hurt is still so near.
Either what the Bible says is true and God sees all and is going to make things right, or life is crap and we are all merely the victims of each other’s stupid decisions. The first point of view leads to faith, the second leads to suicide.
It really comes down to faith, or lack thereof. If I can believe that the all-knowing and all-powerful God of the universe sees the big picture and is working for my good, I can rest in that knowledge and not be mad anymore. That takes a lot sometimes, but He is God and He is good, and He really does have my best interest in mind.
The less you know of someone, the harder it is to trust them. I’m convinced that once I know God well enough, it won’t even be difficult to trust Him. Ahh… just imagine how much happier I’ll be…
-J
Lost in Translation August 5, 2008
Posted by Josiah in Knowledge of God, Life.Tags: Happiness, Intelligence, Knowledge of God, Language, Reality, Worry
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I noticed something the other day while watching a few guys ahead of me in line at the grocery store. They were speaking Russian, and laughing and obviously having a good time, and they looked rather unintelligent to me. Nothing against Russians or anything, the problem was with me, not them.
It got me thinking; when I don’t understand someone, the more serious they appear the smarter they appear. If someone is just sitting there with a big grin on their face, they could be retarded for all I know. But if they look serious or worried I assume they are thoughtful, because thoughtful people see problems and worry about them, right? Or put simply: I’ve always thought that the smarter you are, the more potential problems you can see in everything, therefore making you worry; therefore only someone disconnected from reality could be happy all the time.
So right about now you’re probably thinking, “Dude, you have issues,” and I totally agree — but hear me out. Look at it backwards; take the intelligence part first. God is obviously the most intelligent being in existence, so He must see all the problems in everything, therefore also making him the most serious being in existence, right? Hmm… Now do you see why this is a big deal to me? There’s more too.
Let’s say that I am trying to believe in a glad God, a God who “rejoices over me with singing,” but I don’t understand Him when He speaks. Now I have this image of a happy God speaking a language I don’t understand. Put through my little intelligence formula that equals an oblivious God. Dang I have issues…
So there must be something God knows that I don’t that let’s Him be both smart and happy. Maybe He is so ridiculously smart that He not only sees all the problems in the world, He also sees all the solutions to all of the problems. Yeah, that must be it. But wait… It’s impossible for me to obtain omniscience, so unless I just trust God to take care of things, I can’t be happy. Aaw crap… I had a feeling the problem was with me and not God…
-J
