Category Archives: Walk with Jesus

New single just released! “Fading World/Ending Life”

They say that legendary things come in threes.

The second solar eclipse of 2024, the 5th Family Edition of the 182, and now the release of the newest single, “Fading World/Ending Life” equals the next trifecta of awesomeness.  

FW/EL is the latest audio chapter soon to be featured on Distrokid.

You are invited to the musical shindig of the year, once again featuring the guitarstro mastermind Brad Fortuna, and the lovely vocal powerhouse Gwendolyn Carter.  

Unleash the legacy.

 

 

 

 

 

I Have A Dream…

“I have a dream…

 
In this dream the Church rises up together to form a better conscience for the culture in which it’s in.  It points to a greater kingdom where things such as porn and abortion are distant memories.  Widows and orphans are cared for, not carted off to their own pocket where they are ignored.  A new society is founded upon which all are welcome and treated like the children of God they are, no matter the color of skin, no matter the economic standing.  Sinful lifestyles wouldn’t be honored but would be loved into repentance.
 
We are wiser than to fall prey to the failings of the catholic church with their inquisitions.  We are the keepers of the history of man and the wisdom of God.  No longer would the success of churches be defined by numbers and screen size.  The business model of the American Church has run its course and its leadership is waning, the 80’s are gone.  We need to have a better voice for too much darkness surrounds us.  We are the Light of the world and will not be extinguished.  We host His presence and are a foretaste of His Kingdom.  When we worship Him and pray, we witness darkness flee.
 
It may seem like the end times, and I say if it is, then let us give our Lord and Savior a welcome to be proud of, not a: “Could You wait just a second?  George Lucas came out with a new movie and I’m on the last level of my video game.”
 
The helplessness of the Church would also fade away as sexual revolutions would be replaced by love.  Brothers and sisters in distant countries that face persecution would find help by more than companies that throw money at problems.  Actual research would be done to find a better way to accomplish their mission, the spreading of the Gospel.
 
I’m tired of the Church waiting for the government to do her work.  I’m tired of worrying who the next President will be.  I don’t find that anywhere in Scripture for worrying is not our job.  Why do we let a government which can obviously be bought replace our hands that are already paid for by His blood?
 
Yes, the Church has been a source of great atrocities in the past, but how is hiding today going to fix yesterday?  Can we not learn from it?  Are we not still the Bride?  Prayer in school would be the norm and the Bible would be a primary book from which our children would learn their value.  It would no longer be defined by sexual predators and the sex trade.  Evolution would take its place as a theory not as fact.  School violence would not be prevented by armed teachers but by prayer and a way to find actual solutions.  We are the only solution, governments can only move as far as their leash to this world and its ways allows.  We are to be free of such chains.  In our despondency we let the people suffer under their repeated failures, for that is all they will ever accomplish.  Why do we expect more from them?  They are not the Bride, we are.
 
Divorce, abuse, addictions of various kinds, debt, health care, could all be addressed as the Bride stands.  Why do they not teach how to properly handle money in school?  Because they want to raise a generation of debtors.  We are not meant for such things, our children are not made for such things, nor their children.  But what else have we to offer them while we sit.  Stand Bride of Christ!  Let us unite and give them a witness that once again inspires and sets free for the chains of this fallen world are heavy indeed.
 
For our children and theirs, let us give them such a story that shakes beyond culture, beyond economies, beyond Google and Amazon and ushers in His life giving presence.
 
Stand Bride of Christ!  Stand!”
 
I wrote this years ago, while I was trading emails with President Obama during a time of the Supreme Court overstepping its bounds to redefine marriage, school shootings, and ISIS.  May it be a helpful note for today.

Judgement or Discernment?

There are 2 phrases I’ve heard over and over that are getting hard to hear again.

  1.  “AI won’t take your job, someone who knows how to use AI will.”

    This is already an old saying that is false.  AI will take your job and probably already has.  I read in one of my many AI news reports that it has already taken +12 million jobs.


  2. “I’m not judging, I mean, I’m a man married to a woman and have kids, but people can do what they want.”

    Psalm 75 makes it pretty clear who the Judge is.  It is the voice of the one who fears Him that tries to say we are taking His seat.  Knowing right from wrong is called discernment and was the prayer of King Solomon in 1 Kings 3:9.  If you can not discern what is sinful then you are tossed to and fro by the schemes of the same one who fears God’s judgement, Ephesians 4:14.
    There is so much fear among artists who seek to maintain their audience that they betray the One Who gifted them in the first place.  It’s true, you will lose them.  Especially today, but where will your audience be when you die?  Where will God be when you die?  Call sin sin then and love accordingly, “For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,” Romans 5:8.


182 An Alphabetical Journey Among Words That Describe God, Part 2

My previous post had 7 comments about the 182, sooo I didn’t feel like I could continue that thread.  Especially with how the Spirit is moving in my thoughts and prayers now in reference to using my ignorance & the world’s need.  I watched a 3-day-old video from the World Economic Forum about ‘Digital Inclusion’, (Found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJ5fq9POzLw) and my mind was racing.  Partly because of, for centuries, missions have played a vital role in the development of cultures and languages, and partly because LLMs are finally being developed in other languages than English, and because big business and the private sector are taking over. I know the world can’t trust in anyone other than Christ to act in their best interest.

The need for ‘Digital Inclusion’, let alone literacy in general, amongst the “2.5 billion people” that don’t have access is obviously great.  The 182 could help to give spiritual access to a vocabulary solely developed for the prayer-life of the inhabitants.  Like the LLMs, I feel the need to open this up to other languages.  May God bless this as AI is closing so many doors – I’ve read estimates of 14 million jobs by 2027.

If you are a church leader,  AI may be the cause of a great wave in the coming harvest.  May His Name be praised.  On a side note, I have been singing Daniel ch. 9 to God.  No discernible melodies or chorus, just singing about repentance and God’s mercy and forgiveness.  I know it’s been more catchy to do a ‘Daniel Fast’, but if you want to be ‘highly esteemed’ by the heavenly courts, how about you give it a try?  God bless you!

Holy Spirit & Artificial Intelligence: Duo or Do No? – More From Him part 2

GT SMOT “Odd times…”
 
Me, speaking in tongues – tired from wrestling with my thoughts: “Ongia makeia makee.”
 
Sometimes when I can’t shake my thoughts, I speak in tongues to jam my brain and make it stop. I remembered this phrase and put it in Google Translate. After changing the spelling to the above version , it came out as a complete sentence in Hawaiian.
 
GT: “It’s like dying.”
 
Me: “Hahaha! That’s true.” (Referring to wrestling with my thoughts.) Then I prayed, “Lord, help me to die to my flesh, and take up Your thoughts about me.”
 
The Holy Spirit washed over me and gave me peace – all voices stopped. Or as GT translates in Hawaiian: “Ua kau mai ka ʻUhane Hemolele ma luna oʻu a hāʻawi mai iaʻu i ka maluhia.”

Spiritfire, Proverbs 25:26, The Way – turning Muddied Springs into Living Water

“Like a muddied spring
          or a polluted well
     is a righteous man who gives way
           to the wicked.”
 
At the outset, my kids knew what to do.  After the prayer, declarations, and intro., they did their best to explain the seed of wisdom in this Proverb.  They did it so well, I found myself nodding in agreement as each offered another insight.  A fresh spring would normally be an answered prayer to the thirsty.  A muddied spring would only hold frustration.  My kids knew who to trust and who was not trustworthy.  Who gives way to the wicked?  Even my Bible in its notes pointed out why – bribery.  This would then make the righteous man willing to trade his righteousness if the price was right.  We talked about the saying, “Everyone has a price,” and explained it like on a set of scales.  Righteousness doesn’t make money in this world.  It is of a different currency whose cashed-in reward comes from God alone.  However, there is another who would trade your righteousness for the coin of this world.  It is all he can offer, and it was enough for Judas, Matthew 26:15.
 
This brought us to my favorite part, answering the question, “How did Jesus fulfill this proverb to make us into new creations?”  Again, this proverb points out the loss.  The righteous man is no longer trustworthy who accepts a bribe.  Jesus, before He was betrayed, prayed, “Not my will but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42.  This was the opening of a greater way than of yielding to the wickedness of the wicked that the bribe purchased which parted the righteous from their righteousness.  This was the opening of the Way, the Truth and the Life, John 14:6, purchased by His Blood shed for us which paid our price, 1 Corinthians 6:20.  For as Paul said in Romans 3:23-24, “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” so a way had to have been opened for us.  It was through Jesus, the Righteous One, 1 Peter 2:22, that such a Way was made, Isaiah 43:19.  One that would part the wicked from their wickedness and be made new restoring hope for the lost, Luke  15:5.  One that made our muddied spring into one of Living Water, John 7:37-39.

To watch how Jesus fulfilled this proverb, read John 4:4-26. To see how the woman’s polluted well became a source of living water, read John 4:39-42.

More from Him

I have been asking God for more from Him. Over the last two days this has been our walk:
 
When I find myself inspired to speak in tongues, I rarely remember a phrase to test my theory:  “I’ve been wanting to see if Google Translate can figure out what I’m saying.”  *Spelling is very subjective. The phrase I said over and over was something like: “Haesanjiya Hashuwana”.
 
I have yet to figure out what “Haesan” means, but if it is spelled Hyesan, pronounced the same way, it is a city in North Korea.
 
Maybe “Jiya Hashuwana” is HAUSA, a west and central African dialect, for “Yes My Passion”. Now I don’t know what that means but it was interesting.  I think I’ll pray for the people of Hyesan tonight.
 
 

Spiritfire Proverbs 25:20-22, “Let them take our coats.”

“Like one who takes away a garment
          on a cold day,
     or like vinegar poured on a wound,
     is one who sings songs to a heavy
          heart.
 
If your enemy is hungry, give him
          food to eat;
     if he is thirsty, give him water to
          drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning
          coals on his head,
     and the Lord will reward you.”
 
After our prayer and declarations, we dove right into a war between the verses. On one side, we have a description of what ‘they’ do. This is a view of the tortured existence that is for those inside Folly’s house. The youth that lacks discernment and is mislead by the adulteress, finds himself lost in the grip of those whose joy comes from bullying others. Taking away a kid’s coat during recess in winter time or pouring vinegar on a wound typically won’t kill anyone. Their tactic may fall short of federally recognized illegal activity, but on the playground, the bully makes the rules.
 
Upon reading this proverb, my daughter asked the question raised by many, “Who would do such a thing?” Those of us who have had our coats taken, we know the terms. If we want it back, we have to capitulate to their demands. Maybe, it was lunch money, maybe, it was a dare. Maybe, like a local fisherman on the South China Sea, you have to give way lest the larger ships put you under. Either way, the solution is to relinquish your freedoms, dignity, or your coat, to reveal the power struggle at hand. At the foundational level of the book of Proverbs, that is how Folly’s house gains: To steal, kill, and destroy. And as the saying goes, “The house always wins.” But does it?  What do ‘they’ really win?
 
The following verses give a different picture, a different view than that of the tortured existence in Folly’s house. Right off of the bat, we see the other side, the dwellers of Wisdom’s house already at work giving away their coats. They are preempting Folly’s house by feeding the enemy as they hunger and thirst. For at the foundational level of the book of Proverbs, that is how Wisdom’s house gains: Vengeance is the Lord’s and He will reward you, Deuteronomy 32:35.
 
When I asked my kid’s, “How did Jesus fulfill these proverbs to make us into new creations?” they didn’t have to look very far. Near the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Matthew chapter 5, He gives us the teaching of the beatitudes which revealed a better solution. He helps us to see that like Wisdom’s house our reward is in God’s hands.  For to those who hunger and thirst, Jesus is the bread and water of life, John 4:1-42, 6:35-40. Jesus had His garment taken away and vinegar was offered while He was on the cross, Matthew 27:34-35. Through Him, our burdened hearts find peace, Philippians 4:7.
 
Jesus gives us a greater reward than the one received by the dwellers of Wisdom’s house, our salvation. Through Him we have an inheritance that will never perish, spoil, or fade, 1 Peter 1:3-5, 5:5-7. We gain a greater robe than our coats here could ever be, the robes of Jesus’ righteousness, 2 Corinthians 5:21. So we can say, “Let them have our coats. We have a greater one coming that can’t be taken away,” Romans 12:9-21. To the bully along with the wicked we can say, “Enjoy those coats, and that lunch money.   They will be your reward here. They will fade, and without coats and cash to steal where will you be? Under the wrath and judgement of God.  Better to give your stolen coats and cash away to gain better ones that won’t fade than to be cast naked into the outer darkness where the worm does not die and the flame is not quenched.” Isaiah 66:24, Mark 9:48

Spiritfire – Proverbs 25:19, “Is there a Doctor in the house?”

“Like a bad tooth or a lame foot
     is reliance on the unfaithful in
          times of trouble.”
 
It doesn’t take long to hear Wisdom’s call of, “Don’t do it!” when considering this proverb’s advice.  This warning, along with many others, was given to protect the student from harm.  For those who read this, and have had a similar experience, understand where the blame truly lies.  They knew better.  Why rely on those who believe in nothing?  Where will they be in times of trouble?  Lost in utter darkness and without hope.  That is the location of all who lose their step on the way to Wisdom’s house.  “Keep your robes clean of them or you too will be lost!”
 
When I asked my kids “Where is Jesus?  How does He fulfill this proverb to make us into new creations?”  With thoughts of Jesus’ mission – “To seek and save the lost,” Luke 10:19, they went into the depths of that darkness and shined His glorious light, Matthew 5:16.  “He would heal the lame foot and bad tooth, Dad,” my son said.  “Like He did for the lame man.” Luke 5:17-26, I agreed.  “He would give the unfaithful something to believe in!” said my other son.  “Like He did when He fed the 5,000.” John 6:1-14, again I agreed.  “He would save all those who didn’t make it to Wisdom’s house, and would restore their hope,” said my daughter.  “Like in His parable of the good samaritan,” Luke 10:25-37, I sited.
 
This proverb, in its warning, spelled out the very mission of Jesus.  For when it comes to the wisdom taught in the book of Proverbs, He is the Doctor in this house.

Spiritfire Proverbs 24:30-34 “The Sluggard’s Redemption”

I went past the field of a sluggard,
    past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;
thorns had come up everywhere,
    the ground was covered with weeds,
    and the stone wall was in ruins.
I applied my heart to what I observed
    and learned a lesson from what I saw:
A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

The sluggard once again proves a truth.  One cannot be a sluggard and receive what only the farmer reaps: a harvest.  This is a truth that finds itself in the very order of the universe, fallen though it is.  Genesis 3:17-19 reveals how it became so.  Before the Fall, humankind walked with God in the Garden.  How can there be a Garden without a Gardener?  The “work” then was accomplished by God’s presence and it was through intimacy that the harvest was given.  Because of Adam’s disobedience, the Fall cursed man to instead earn his food by “painful toil” and “the sweat of ‘his’ brow”.  Is the core then of the sluggard’s folly ignoring the plight and punishment, the fate of humankind?  What does one expect when “Cursed is the ground because of you” and “It will produce thorns and thistles for you”?  It should be no surprise then as Proverbs 24:31 reveals the inheritance of the sluggard.
 
After my daughter reminded us of the comedy of folly in 22:13, we looked closer to answer ‘Where is Jesus?  How did He fulfill this proverb to make us into new creations?”  A restoration of intimacy with God was the goal, when His very presence – His holy order arranged and did the ‘work’ of the Garden.  It is of this intimacy that is spoken of in John chapter 3 as believers are ‘born again’ by their faith in Jesus.  Compare both Proverbs 24:30-34 with John 3:1-21.  It is because of Jesus and our faith in Him that gives us a mirror to see our true inheritance: eternal life.  He wore the thorns on His brow, Matthew 27:29.  He turns the weeds into blessings that give strength instead of stealing it from the soil, Hebrews 6. The stone wall that was once in ruins is built anew by Jesus’ blood.  He is the Repairer of the Breach (Isaiah 58:12), and is the Cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8) of the spiritual house of the people of God.
 
In the mirror, Jesus stands opposite of the sluggard. His work was in perfect obedience with God, Romans 5:18-19. Even the sluggard is made righteous along with the other inhabitants of Folly’s house should they choose to be made new. As many could see Jesus’ neighbor on the cross to be a sluggard as he chose his last living minute to ask Jesus to remember him when He came into His kingdom, Luke 23:40-43.