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| Sword of the Spirit= WORD of God. |
<If> Love Hates + Peace Fights <then> Make War!!!
Genuine Love must Hate (hate what is evil +that which destroys+hate sin) and Peace-Makers must Fight
(it may look like it's against flesh n blood but it's really against the principalities that enslave).
Therefore, Make War!!! against
all lust in ourselves, all enslaving desires, against indifference to
injustice. The only foothold the enemy, Satan, has in our life is our
flesh and our sin.
There's a mean streak in Christianity & it's not against anyone but ourselves; it's against the meanness of ourselves against others.
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The Past
The above was in my drafts from Summer and the original name of the post was "Make War." So last Spring, God was calling me to do something that I didn't want to do because I knew what the results would be. He told me to be myself and to use My Voice to expose the disunity that existed in the fellowship. I knew that it would lead to me being misunderstood and rejected which is why I didn't want to do it also because I knew that the Truth would hurt so I didn't want to expose it to protect some people's feelings. But God told me that it was inevitable and I had to do it if I loved Him and if I loved my friends because it would be worth it in the end. In my Shakespeare class last Spring, we were reading Richard iii and God spoke through the lecture. Yeah that's random and funny but it was like a prophetic word I needed to hear right then. I can't find my notes :/ but it was something like: though Richard is obviously a dark character throughout the play, the war he caused at the end (which he dies in) is in a way what paved the way for "Richmond being crowned King Henry VII. Promising a new era of peace for England, the new king is betrothed to young Elizabeth in order to unite the warring houses of Lancaster and York." (Sparknotes) So through that God was confirming to me what I had to do: make war (things will be ugly and it would lead to death of self) to make peace (in the end there would be unity). It's not a fun role to play but someone had to do it. Before, I was trying to get everyone to do it, to fight for Truth and Love, but I realized all it takes is ♫ one man ♫ to start something (check out this song by Pita (Praise in this Age), David Nkennor, a Nigerian artist: One Man)“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn “‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’" (Matthew 10: 37-39) Guess who said this?? JESUS. Yup. You see that's what His Word does. It tears you apart first (coz whatever you were using to hold yourselves together is shallow and temporary hence fake) then it mends you together with the real stuff.
"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
"It's better to be divided by truth, than to be united in error. It's better to speak the truth that hurts & then heals, than to speak a lie that will comfort & then kill. It is better to be hated for telling the truth than to be loved for telling a lie. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude. It is better to ultimately die with the truth, than to live with a lie." ~Adrian Rogers.
This was Sho Baraka's performance at the Believers Conference a while back. ♫ I got the Word on my lips, the Word in my heart... reading that Word, living that Word, digging that Word... I got my pride on low and my faith on high (shield of faith) .... ♫
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So when I bring up the past when I talk to people they're like, "well that's the past." And it yeah that's right, it is the past. But the point of bringing up the past is to learn from it in order not to repeat it; to change. And I also hear, "Well InterVarsity is different now... new people, some new staff...." But the thing is the messages I shared is not for an organization it's for people. So if you look at the people from last year nothing has changed. There is still disunity... I don't think you get what I'm saying so let me shift gears...
Present: Disunity. Future: Unity. I went to Beatrice's and Chris Barcelon's prayer meeting. I got there late and they were praying for Nigeria. They prayed over various issues facing the country from this cool facts & prayer request book for missionaries. I just prayed for Nigerian students at UCSB and America for God to build them up in their identity and to guide them into the destiny He purposed for them. Then right after Tarra prayed for the Nigerian community in America, against racism. And she prayed for the Nigerian church... "that there shouldn't be any sects in the Church but that the Nigerian Church and the White Church would be brought to complete unity. That it would be like Acts 2 where all the believers had everything in common." I found it interesting that she prayed this... more confirmation, also because it's so easy to see what the problem is when looking at others and harder to recognize when the problem is among yourselves. Get to the point Charlene. Ok I will.
Remember in the previous section when I said that my role was like that of Richard: to make war (expose disunity) in order to pave the way for unity among the warring houses of....? Well let me explain that... What is disunity? I have exposed that in a number of posts such as Colors of the Wind, Let My People Go and Who Cares? But still nobody cares, it seems. So I think a better question to ask is what is unity? Unity, which has been the main goal and application for the messages God gives me for the Church at UCSB, is what is described in Acts 2. People sharing their lives (their "natural" lives as well as their spiritual lives). Do read Acts 2: 42-47 for yourself. So that's unity. People from different ethnicities treating each other as family, God's family and loving each other deeply in truth and with actions. Now look around you. Look at the group of friends you hang out with. And then now answer this question: Is there unity in the fellowship, multi-ethnic InterVarsity? Is the unity in the Church at multi-ethnic UCSB? Is there unity in multi-ethnic America? Is there unity in the multi-ethnic world??? If you are finally admitting that the answers to those questions is NO! Then What are you doing about it??? Why are you comfortable with the disunity in the fellowship? We need to Make War! against fakeness/shallowness (if the love aint deep, it aint real) and unequal concern. It's time to divorce the darkness (anything that keeps us from pursuing deep/real love with others and keeping us from loving God with our all). Children of the light (that's who we are), arise and shine! Arise and love! Check out this video I made. If you are wondering why the great revival God promised us hasn't happened yet, that's because it starts with us, the church. On an individual level and also God wants us to be united in His Love coz that's what it's all about: Loving God and Loving others. So yeah let's love each other deeply. As we do that a great revival shall break forth then God will send us out to spread the Love! Oh and I'm not talking about years from now. This year. This hebrew year (started in September). Yay! Revival! God please revive our hearts and bind us together with Your Love. In Jesus' Name, Amen! =)
The Present and The Future
So when I bring up the past when I talk to people they're like, "well that's the past." And it yeah that's right, it is the past. But the point of bringing up the past is to learn from it in order not to repeat it; to change. And I also hear, "Well InterVarsity is different now... new people, some new staff...." But the thing is the messages I shared is not for an organization it's for people. So if you look at the people from last year nothing has changed. There is still disunity... I don't think you get what I'm saying so let me shift gears...
Present: Disunity. Future: Unity. I went to Beatrice's and Chris Barcelon's prayer meeting. I got there late and they were praying for Nigeria. They prayed over various issues facing the country from this cool facts & prayer request book for missionaries. I just prayed for Nigerian students at UCSB and America for God to build them up in their identity and to guide them into the destiny He purposed for them. Then right after Tarra prayed for the Nigerian community in America, against racism. And she prayed for the Nigerian church... "that there shouldn't be any sects in the Church but that the Nigerian Church and the White Church would be brought to complete unity. That it would be like Acts 2 where all the believers had everything in common." I found it interesting that she prayed this... more confirmation, also because it's so easy to see what the problem is when looking at others and harder to recognize when the problem is among yourselves. Get to the point Charlene. Ok I will.
Remember in the previous section when I said that my role was like that of Richard: to make war (expose disunity) in order to pave the way for unity among the warring houses of....? Well let me explain that... What is disunity? I have exposed that in a number of posts such as Colors of the Wind, Let My People Go and Who Cares? But still nobody cares, it seems. So I think a better question to ask is what is unity? Unity, which has been the main goal and application for the messages God gives me for the Church at UCSB, is what is described in Acts 2. People sharing their lives (their "natural" lives as well as their spiritual lives). Do read Acts 2: 42-47 for yourself. So that's unity. People from different ethnicities treating each other as family, God's family and loving each other deeply in truth and with actions. Now look around you. Look at the group of friends you hang out with. And then now answer this question: Is there unity in the fellowship, multi-ethnic InterVarsity? Is the unity in the Church at multi-ethnic UCSB? Is there unity in multi-ethnic America? Is there unity in the multi-ethnic world??? If you are finally admitting that the answers to those questions is NO! Then What are you doing about it??? Why are you comfortable with the disunity in the fellowship? We need to Make War! against fakeness/shallowness (if the love aint deep, it aint real) and unequal concern. It's time to divorce the darkness (anything that keeps us from pursuing deep/real love with others and keeping us from loving God with our all). Children of the light (that's who we are), arise and shine! Arise and love! Check out this video I made. If you are wondering why the great revival God promised us hasn't happened yet, that's because it starts with us, the church. On an individual level and also God wants us to be united in His Love coz that's what it's all about: Loving God and Loving others. So yeah let's love each other deeply. As we do that a great revival shall break forth then God will send us out to spread the Love! Oh and I'm not talking about years from now. This year. This hebrew year (started in September). Yay! Revival! God please revive our hearts and bind us together with Your Love. In Jesus' Name, Amen! =)
I'm behind on blogging so I have other stuff to share in my drafts that I should have posted before this one. But I did this one first for InterVarsity... to let you guys know that I love you all. I don't hate any Staff, I just had to say what God told me to. And The Word is not against them, it's for us all. I didn't abandon you guys, God was re-directing me to reconnect with "my people"- my family and the black community on campus and He was working on me - I was a broken mess and He wanted me to remember who I am- He's still at work though. But yeah, I still wanted to be a part of your lives not just confined to seeing each other at certain events. I can't take surface-level stuff anymore. My heart craves depth. I want to know you more. To love you more. Yeah I'm leaving soon but I still want to care while I'm here and we can always keep in touch. K, love you guys! (whoever reads this) Peace! :)
Application: (If you didn't catch it go back and Read Acts 1 and 2) Last week at Impact Bible study the topic was community and we talked about the Acts 2 church and here was some questions were left with:
1. What can keep us from forming close relationships with other Christians?
2. What is one action you can take this week to begin to overcome those barriers?
3. Can you think of any of your relationships with believers that aren't as they should be?
4. Identify one or two those relationships, seek, reconciliation, or just take an active step to improve them.
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