I Am Living Proof

Caught this little jewel of an article, entitled “Indefinite Detention? That’ll Set Those Damned Kids Straight” from a local Dallas paper called The Dallas Observer. Richardson is a suburb that sits not 10 minutes from downtown Dallas (that is if Central Expressway had zero traffic). Really, this makes me proud to be in North Texas. *sniff

Excerpt:

Last March, an immigration lawyer named Griselda Ponce testified before the U.S. District Court in Austin about conditions at Hutto, and told of an occasion when the five- or six-year-old daughter of a woman she was interviewing had to go to the rest room. The captain on duty told the girl that she could not do so during a head count. Ponce said that the girl made “six or seven requests,” and was rebuffed each time; after about fifteen minutes, the girl “smelled of urine.”

Children were regularly woken up at night by guards shining lights into their cells. They were roused each morning at five-thirty. Kids were not allowed to have stuffed animals, crayons, pencils, or pens in their cells. And they were not allowed to take the pictures they had made back to their cells and hang them up. When Hutto opened as an immigration-detention center, children attended school there only one hour a day. Detainees, including children, wore green or blue prison-issue scrubs …

Detainees said that when parents or children broke rules guards threatened them with separation from their children. Kevin Yourdkhani, at the prompting of one of Hines’s law students, wrote a brief description of one such occasion. “I was in my bed and my dad came to fix my bed,” he wrote. “When the police came and saw my dad in the room, he said, ‘If He comes and see my dad again in my room His going to put my mom in a siprate jail and my dad in a sipate jail and me a foster kid.’ I cried and cried so much that I lost my energy. I went to sleep. I felt If I will be siprated I can never see my parents again, and I will get step-parents and they will hurt me or maybe they will kill me.”

What did God say about immigrants in our country:

Leviticus 19:33-34 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.

If you think you have seen that before, you are not crazy.

Allow me to be harsh here. If you think that commandment was for the Israelites in the Promised Land, let me respond to that by asking one simple question: “Do you believe the Word of God is timeless?”

Can we pick and choose what applies to us and what doesn’t? Or does is the Torah is the absolute standard of God which is absolute perfection.

What about immigrants? What about capital punishment? What about divorce? What about tattoos? How can we possibly live up to that standard?

Short answer: we cannot live up to that standard. That is impossible.

Long answer: we cannot do it without God. God never intended to lay down His law for us to mindlessly follow him. God wanted us to love Him and fully depend on Him. By God, we are righteous and not by what have done or will do.

By what we know of God, how would His heart respond to our treatment of immigrants that we have labeled, ‘illegal’? By His heart, how we suppose to treat immigrants?

I felt about Prosperity gospel in the same way John Piper does. When I talk about it, I start cussing. When John speaks about it, he does it with a whole lot less cussing.

Thank God.

Jeremiah 13:17 But if you will not hear it, My soul will weep in secret for your pride; My eyes will weep bitterly And run down with tears, Because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive.

ht: Hope Road

Oprah’s New Jesus (Ben Arment)
Excerpt:

Oprah has skyrocketed the career of another author on her book club. But this endorsement is a bit heart-wrenching. She’s taking her fans through a year-long “Course in Miracles” by Marianne Williamson. Each day, her book club site features a different lesson on this essentially new religion. Here are some quotes from this book:

• “There is no sin.”
• “A slain Christ has no meaning.”
• “The journey to the cross should be the last ‘ useless journey.”
• “Do not make the pathetic error of ‘clinging to the old rugged cross.”
• “The name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol… It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray.”
• “The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself.”
• “The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation.”

I have but one thing to say:

Romans 3:21-26 (NKJV) But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This new job I took, while very giving in time, didn’t pay so well. In my complete oversight, I suddenly realized my paychecks would not cover my expenses.

I am very good with math but this one went right by me. (I am more of a calculus guy and less of a calculator guy like my brother.)  All weekend I just simply prayed and asked God for guidance. I wanted to volunteer everywhere I could and I now have the time to do so. But with the lack of funds, I would have to get another job.

Perhaps God was going to send me to be a blessing to somebody who needed it. Wherever He wanted, I will go.

Monday morning I walked to my boss and just explained the situation that I wasn’t making enough to cover my bills. He told me to give him an amount that would cover it. After I gave him that amount, he responded with, “Is that all? That ain’t much.” In my world, it is more than enough.

If my Lord is trying to prove to me that He is my Provider then He has over-delivered.

How can I not chase after His heart? How can I not praise His name? How can I not give thanks to the Almighty. I would love for anybody to come take a crack at answering those questions.

In my life, right now:

• Time has falling by the wayside - The contract that sent me to South Africa back in October ended near the end of December. During the following four weeks as I searched for another contract or job, I entered into a time of intense prayer, fasting and bible study. I am so thankful for that time so that God could realign my direction with His will. (There is no need to question that God provided for me.) Now, there are many times all throughout the day and night when I am trying to squeeze in time for prayer, solitude, worship and bible studying, I really miss the immense amount of time I had. I will forever be thankful to the One Most High for giving me that blessing.
• Time was not only restored but grew - God provided a job that puts me 5 minutes from my son and 10 minutes from my church. Every time I visit my son during the week, my visitation increased by two hours. Every time I want to go to church during the week, I am usually an hour early. That heaviness on my chest with always being late to see my son or not being able to participate in volunteer opportunities because of the mere whims of Dallas/Fort Worth traffic or my boss has left me and only peace fills that void.
• Time is there for the taking - In addition with the close proximation to all things that matter, my boss is hardcore. No, not the type of boss who makes you get to work early and stay late. He is hardcore about closing shop at 5PM sharp.

Now my question to the Lord: what do I do with all this time and to use it wisely? I am sure He will provide the answers in perfect time.