Harold Camping Vs. Lady GaGa - just some thoughts!

The ultimate act of self-righteousness is not listening to someone. Jesus, standing silent before His accusers, still let them speak. Confident in who He was, He listened to those who opposed Him while at the same time listening to His Father in heaven. He knew the Father approved of His Beloved Son, so that is why He could stand in the face of opposing thoughts and idealogies - resolute and unmoved but yet humble and graced by heaven itself.  As Christians, what are we afraid of? And I do believe we are afraid which shows itself by the defensiveness and powerless of our Gospel. That should not be so. Do we actually believe what we espouse? Why are we trying so hard to prove ourselves while the world watches or should I say does not watch for at this time we are basically irrelevant unless we realize that the Kingdom is not about talk but about power - moving out in Him. Outside of religion and our constricting paradigms to reach a world that is in chaos and lost, lost lost.

So why say this? I want to speak. After years in a spiritual desert and a physical desert, the word burns in me like a fire. My heart is soft but I have a rhinoceros hide so as to dodge the arrows that continually come our way. But it is better to get it out, so here is how this post came about.

It was any other day when I turned on Bay Area News this morning. I cringed. I more than cringed. I gasped. There is before me, exactly what I had expected. The complete mockery of Harold Camping, the Judgment Day guy.  Hence the mockery of Christianity in general. More ammunition on the national news to show the totaly irrelevancy of the Christian faith. Harold got more press than Jesus and it was all foolishness to the world whom we are called to reach. Selah.

This whole judgment day thing - fueled by a deep deception. What a mess! Once again, we will be put on the defense with all this and our words will prove powerless to a world that believes we are irrelevant.  We definitely need to be heard as Christians but first we need to learn to communicate. So onward with this daily journey. There is more and I am going somewhere. Keep reading!

Fed up with what I saw, I thought, "There has to be something better to watch than this!" I haphazardly turned to FUSE station and saw the LADY GAGATHON in progress. Suddenly I knew I was to stop and watch. Oh my - is this blasphemy? Can I do this? Is anyone watching? Gasp! Cough! Shriek! But I did watch a woman speak who is now one of the most iconic personalities on the earth today, able to gather attention wherever she goes - and the world is listening. But, alas, she is fueled by the same deception and delusion that is on Harold Camping. What goes here and why am I watching this?

GaGa spoke about creativity, religion, idealogy, Jesus, Judas, Apostles, Being Born This Way, Gay Rights and on and on............I continued to listen. Was I losing my Christianity in this facada of ideas? Heck no - I was intrigued by this language that the world is listening to and I wanted to know what she was actually saying first hand. She spoke of her grandparents going to glory. She talked of cultural baptism and to honor your vomit. Still I watched intrigued by the charisma oozing from this woman. Do I agree with her? Of course not! But I don't compromise or lose my Christianity by listening. To minister effectively to the world we have to listen to what it is saying and who it is following. Harold Camping is bringing people to a dead end through judgment. Lady GaGa is harnessing the power and creativity of the univers to bring people to destiny and freedom. Come on church - who do you think the world is going to listen to? We have a better answer than Lady GaGa but not many are actually listening to us and then up shows Harold Camping. At least, he stood for something and even though it is a dead end, he also got press. Lady GaGa stands for something and she got press.

The church, diluted in many ways and following the agenda of the world with seeker friendly services, an abhorrence to the supernatural, eliminating the preaching on the power of the cross and the blood and so much more is actually saying nothing yet has the truth........but who is listening?

Just some thoughts for today that challenged me to shake off some of this religion and go forth! Who would I rather listen to today? Hands down................the winner in this corner is Lady GaGa...............don't hate me for saying this! Again I am not losing my Christianity - just my religion! Listening to her challenged my faith! Just listen!

The world according to GaGa sounds like the lady has some mixture of Christianity abounding through all the deception. Same with Harold Camping but both have it wrong. Yikes! What a day! All I wanted was to drink my coffee! She spoke of mixed idealogies of love, power, pop culture, and more. In this vast flowing river of nebulous talk, she floats along and is gathering millions into her agenda of social justice. And the world loves it.

Contrast Harold Camping presumably talking for Christians to some point or at least this is what the world is thinking. Doom gloom destruction. A narrow path filled with delusion and prophecy of the end of everything as we know it. The world also loves this but to mock and belittle and to justify that indeed here is one more Christian that is irrelevant.

So what to do? I, of course, have no answer but I want to walk out into a new paradigm - into the darkness with the confidence of the light, Jesus Christ, within me. That is more than evangelism. It is carrying the very heart of God. It is more than an act but life itself.

So, a few more thoughts. Read on if you have come this far.

I will be part of the solution to this mess that the church is in at large by avoiding any measure of self-righteousness and listening to the sound of the world to hear the sound of despair coming from those around me, whether they are Harold Camping or Lady GaGA.

I will be scripturally sound and Spirit led. Will you?

I will walk outside the confines of Christian boxes and outside the confines of Christianese talk to reach a world who is speaking a totally different language.

I will pursue the Gospel, speaking it forth in the midst of confrontation, in humility and grace, not fearing what man can think of me or do to me. :)

Looking for confrontation to present truth, I will speak, shaking people and dismantling demonic structures that stand in the way of truth. Will you?

I will listen to what is around me so I can truly hear by the power of the Holy Spirit. I can hear a new sound and bring it forth as truth in the midst of chaos.

The world indeed can tire you but at the same time it can energize you to think outside your paradigm and go beyond your borders. I want to be energized in the midst of darkness, not the midst of religion or seeker friendly churches which say nothing and stand for very little. There is a power which awaits us in Christ that the world needs to see!

Yes, this is what I believe. Do I say more? Just a little bit. Read on.

Harold Camping has it all figured out on a sea of delusion and self-righteousness. Lady GaGa is also on a sea of delusion accompanied by a nebulous self-expression that is coming from a belief system which is vague and unclear, without a revelation of Christ. Hmmmmmmm which to listen to today? Whom do you think?

Can you figure it out? Lady GaGa is not really my cup of tea but if young people are amazed by her, then I probably should know why. She has something and I can see now what that something is by just watching and listening. I can't help but see that she has a little bit of Jesus, totally distorted and twisted by all means. But can't you see? So many are like her. We can help them find their way along with many others......are you ready? I am. Harold is going down a dead end with no one or just a few others who are very deceived. So sad. Lady is going down a dead end too but she is going with millions who are following her....................Wake up church!

Forsake religion and come out of hiding.

Wake up.

Let go of fear.

Let your faith be challenged in the midst of the darkness.

Is anybody listening? I feel good...........see ya!

Iconic Chrisian personalities or movements - is there such a thing? Or is there only Jesus?

I want to say this in humility and grace but I want to say this................so much in Christianity in the States centers around a person or a movement. One says I am of the Bickle camp, another the Bethel camp, another the Joyner camp, another the river camp, another the holiness camp, another the word camp, another the fire camp, another the prophetic camp, another the evangelistic camp and on and on and on.

My head is spinning and my spirit grieves because of this. I am not judging any of these people BECAUSE each has blessed me through teachings or books or some such thing over the years. No man is an island BUT it seems that there abounds here so much of Christianity based upon templates of leading ministries of ministers or movement, not often because of the minister or movement and at times because of the ministers or movement. Do you get the picture?

In any case because of this there is rampant immaturity in the Body of Christ to follow this person or that person. It has not gone away and we have been overseas for some years now. It was somewhat refreshing when a Christian in the Middle East did not know Rick Joyner...........American Christians seem to love the celebrity status but it often causes the Body here to be built on a template of some kind. When meeting some people it appears that they wait for you to say some magic catch phrase of some type so they can PUT YOU IN A BOX so they can try to figure you out to a certain extent. Now we all do this at times but I want to get out of that box. Rivers of Eden is Rivers of Eden........the name and the ministry is from the throne of God. What it will be will not be based upon another ministry, as i hope yours is not, but built on the foundation God has set it to be and formed it to be....................I can't solve this problem but I can opt out of Christianese talk of all sorts especially on FB. Where is the creativity in the Body of Christ.............that is sorely missing at times so let's all do something about it. Don't compare or contrast yourself to anyone but Jesus. In that way you will fall short of His glory but by the Blood..........oh the precious blood...............it brings us all to a leve field. I feel a song coming on.........I GOTTA BE ME...............I GOTTA BE ME............ see ya!

Part of the Great Equation - Summed Up In Christ!

Well, thanks to everyone for responding to the post about Paradigms and Pictures. I just got to read some of them today and they were marvelous. It seems that all who are seeking Him, are indeed finding Him, His way and His way alone. We take comfort in creativity, diversity in Him.

Okay so here I sit with this verse impacting my space today. I am writing and processing today with no forethought but just moving in Him right now. Here goes:

Eph 1:10-11
10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth — in Him. NKJV

No great theological treatise and no debate. Just meditations and thoughts today. We are in the great equation of being gathered into Him. All of everything (what a way to put it :) is being magnetically pulled into Him, whether we like it, agree with it, or any such puny mind set. We are being gathered into His Lordship so that every knee will bow to Him and Him alone. This thought, when meditated on, will either leave you breathless or totally confused.  I guess one can say that this whole thing is not about you or me but about Him and it is about time we see this and act upon that revelation. It is not about you at all. The self-centeredness of God's people must be awakened to the call of true discipleship and truly following Him in all ways so that He alone is glorified and the light of the glory of Christ is seen in and through us. Should be that way but look around. It is not but it can start in you and in me. So I say amen to that.

Magnetically being pulled through the cross purges us and refines us into His image and the excellence of who He is. The cross is that place where all that is not like Him, through submission to Him, will willingly fall by the wayside so that we become more like Him. To gather actually tells us that we are moving toward the culmination of all things which are apart of Christ to be pulled into Christ. This gathering is taking place in us individually and corporately in the Church, His Bride and in the whole universe. The King is on His throne and will come back in victory so let's focus on being in the right position to be gathered into Him - not religion, or denomination, or some such thing. Into Him. And when we come to that revelation, let's make our Christianity a light that gathers people unto Him through our lives day by day. No more whining about what could be, should be but what is and right now, you and I have all we need to step out to BE in Him, wherever we are and with what is already in us.

Can you feel it, sense it, know it that there is something greater going on that we can explain or figure out? God is moving and on the move. He moves here and there. The earth rumbles and moves. Storms rage and nations rise and fall. And all of this is happening simultaneously all over. We look here and there and unable to truly grasp the magnitude of what is going on and we either will faint from fear or rise in faith. I will choose to rise in faith.

I read Facebook and sometimes I am so tired of words and words and words so I am not on it as much as I used to be when I was fascinated by it. I am no longer fascinated by it at all. It is too many words that lead to confusion and lack simplicity. Who can interpret what is going on? No one actually - not prophet, not king, not newscasters, not politicians. For God is doing things His way and in His way He will reveal Himself to those who walk in simplicity and simply follow Him, obey Him and listen to His voice. There is more wisdom right now being cultivated in silence than all the words coming forth. Be still and KNOW He is God.

This magnetic pull of being gathered leaves me silenced in my prayer times, waiting on Him to show me what He is is doing and where He is going. How to walk and how to move in Him. He is looking for those who are simple for in this type of people, He can capture their heart and anoint them for His purpose. The magnetic pull on my life is to simply submit to His will and His ways so that His glory is flowing through my life in the reality of the submission to the cross. So what else to say today?

Nothing for I must still process the glory of His revelation. So I leave you with no conclusions other than to seek Him and you will find Him. Do you feel a magnetic pull on your life? You are part of the equation He is forming. Forsake the mundane, the status quo and seek Him and you will find Him. Amidst confusion, you will have clarity. Amidst chaos you will have peace. You are being gathered into someone greater than yourself. Not something but someone. Selah.