paths

After many kilometers this is my advise:
I saw many hells on the road to paradise,
when I got there it was raining, but it was God's green earth,
the next morning, the baker stared into the rain, and my heart was filled with mirth,
his hands had no burns, he was a little fat,
and his family was there inside,
his friends came by, to me his life felt right.
-

In this life you can choose the path of the lion in his jungle, or the on his rocky tower, but you can't be on both the same hour.

you may wish for the advantages of the lion, and bemoan the disadvantages of the goat, but are you willing to forsake the benefits of the path of the goat, will you be satisfied leaving them behind?
If so, when the next bridge over comes, you may take it, but until then do not focus on the discomforts of your path, or the things you long for on the lions path.
Until the next bridge, think of the unique advantages of your current path.

-

In the midst of this surreal beauty of mist and butterflies, fresh flowing stream, and great mountains, I still have flashback of those I've seen suffering, bent over, trapped in a position of need, amongst vile pollution and open sewage, and wonder why, why stay there, why not continue up the path to a land of beauty where you can fish and garden, and sell things, and bake, why not leave these hells that man keeps on making, and find your way to God's creation, to a paradise ( not this place, this place has been infiltrated by the fake)

I can think of a few things that cause human suffering:

addiction
oppression by other humans
ignorance
lack of discernment of what is valuable
unhealthy environments
hatred
too much concern of mankind's opinion
not enough concern of God's opinion
selfishness
over confidence
a slowness to act, when persistent action is necessary

(I have come to the conclusion that healthy holiness, may be peaceful, but is not passive, it will take persistent discerning decisions of righteousness.  I stepped chose twice but the third time not, then injured, perhaps injured others.)

I can see something that causes the feeling of peace,
I can feel it, breath it, It's the earth God made with it's many gifts,
free, free gifts, free rain, free streams, you do not buy your children or wife,
they are a gift from God,
the path of life is a gift from God,
don't stop till you get there
don't settle for a hellish existence,
don't let any pressure keep you there,
don't be dissuaded by distractions, imitations, and distance,
don't let someone talk you into another way,

but even here people are constantly smoking cigarettes, home-grown weed, anything,
smoke, smoke, smoke, HERE
God has given this clean air, washed by rain, and it is being filled with smoke,
I love the mist floating near the mountains, these beautiful clouds, these sounds of birds, the beauty of butterflies,
stop killing.enjoy life. Children are a blessing, have many with the wife of your youth. enjoy life.
and be generous, keep an open door for others to enjoy life,
to turn from the way of killing,
call out on the hellish roadsides,
invite all wretches,
be gracious to those who have been graveling for survival in the midst of mankind's mess,
bring them to sanctuaries of peace and life, and they can be happy, let them also enjoy life.

-

When one sees a follower of Jesus the first thought should not be "There is someone who really knows how to suffer, to sacrifice." but rather "there is someone who knows how to love." I would rejoice to see followers of Christ sharing their homes and their bread, and their stories of hope. Their wisdom, their songs of God, their appreciation for life and its giver, its redeemer. That we would call out on the paths of suffering and destruction "Come, come know a way of peace and rest, come on the path to life. We will share whatever burdens you have till you can lay them down.Come love the creator, creations redeemer, and creation. Change your path to the path of life, and enjoy all it's benefits. "And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent."

What is Justice?

What is Justice?

By Michael Brandon Falk

All of us have heard of some form of injustice or other. Some may have even realized that they have been unconsciously being a link in a chain connected to injustices. Most have seen a documentary, video, or at least advertisement calling for a change of behavior towards a more just world. It can draw out in us a range of emotions. When faced with injustice, I have observed others and myself react with fear, anger, urgent recklessness, disillusion, laziness, bewilderment, despair, and confusion. Then there are the times when when despite all this we face it with courage. A book I recently read, The Good News About Injustice, described a Biblical view of a just God that enables Christians to courageously seek justice. One of my favorite things about reading the book, was the appendix that included a list of verses related to justice, many of which I will include.

When looking at these scriptures it becomes apparent that justice, judgment, righteousness, and compassion for those with less power (ei. the poor, the oppressed, the fatherless, the widow, the oppressed, mistreated laborers, the weak, the lost, the injured, the foreigner, the needy). Reality check, when we ask the question what is justice, do we want an answer. Is the question really, do we want justice/ should we get ourselves involved with justice? At this point I am going to list some of the above mentioned scriptures. I am well aware that this method is often used on two sides to argue conflicting points, which seems to only lead to further confusion, but if we do not look to the Bible for guidance, where are we too look? For God is our creator, therefore He makes the rules and knows the answers. So the first thing we must listen to on our search for truth on the matter of justice was addressed originally to Job who also was looking for answers from God.

( Job 40: 6-8 ) - Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm “Brace yourself like a man, I will question you and you shall answer Me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?”

So like I said, God is the authority on justice. He made this world, He owns it, He is the rightful judge.

Alright now that we have that established let's proceed.

( Hosea 12:6 ) - But you must return to your God: maintain love and justice, and wait for your God always.

( Proverbs 18: 5 ) It is not good to be partial to the wicked, or to deprive the innocent of justice.

( Proverbs 21: 5 ) When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous, but terror to the evil doers.

( Proverbs 29:7 ) The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

( Isaiah 1:17 ) Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the cause of the widow.

( Isaiah 51:5 ) My righteousness draws near speedily, My salvation is on the way, and My arm will bring justice to the nations, the islands will look to Me and wait in hope for My arm.

( Isaiah 51:4 ) Listen to Me, My people, hear Me, My nation: The law will go out from Me, My justice will become a light to the nations.

( Isaiah 56:1 ) This is what the Lord says: “Maintain justice and do what is right, for My salvation is close at hand and My righteousness will soon be revealed.”

( Isaiah 58:6 ) Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chairs of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

( Isaiah 59: 15) Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice.

( Isaiah 61:8) For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. In my faithfulness I will reward them and make an everlasting covenant with them.

(Jeremiah 22:13) Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by injustice, making his countrymen work for nothing, not paying them fair labor.

( Ezekiel 34:16) I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

(Amos 5:21-24) I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings … I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never failing stream!

(Micah 6:8) He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?

To act justly, and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Zechariah 7:8-10) … “This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and

compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.

(Mathew 12:18) Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.

(Matthew 23:23) Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices – mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the later without neglecting the former.

(Revelation 19:11) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war.

(Psalms 103:6) The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

(Psalms 106:3) Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times.

(Psalms 112:5) It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice.

(Romans 3:22-26) But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it-the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He has passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

So God wants us to maintain it, it should make us rejoice, we need to care about it, it's something we should seek, we should hope for God to bring it, it is coming as a light, it is the fast part of the fast God has chosen, God is displeased when it is missing, God loves it, it should be observed in all our doings, it is part of how God looks after us, it affects God's view of our assemblies, it is part of what God requires, it should be for everybody-just like your love should be, Jesus proclaimed it, we shouldn't neglect it, it will be enforced from heaven, the Lord works it, blessed are they who observe it, Christ Jesus made it possible for it and forgiveness to simultaneously exist.

Uh-Oh, it just got way more complex. That last passage raises a lot of questions for those seeking justice. At least it does for me. So God loves justice, it is a good thing to seek and administer throughout our daily lives, but how does that play out. I mean sure we can gather to deal fairly, not cheat, be compassionate, take care of those with less power, but what about the punishment side of it.

So if God is the one judge, sure we need to take care of our fellow man and live in an honest fashion, but do we actively seek a payment for injustices done. Do we prosecute or not? Are we strictly accountable for ourselves and to let our neighbor run rampant? Should we stick to moral rebukes and focusing on keeping ourselves unspotted from the world, or do we use the authorities and powers God has established to punish injustice and thus propitiate justice?

Honestly, the best method to administer to justice is something I am still trying to figure out, but just cause I can't figure everything out, it does not render me void of responsibility. Pilate would have done well to remember this, but aren't we all guilty of ignoring it in so many areas of our life. Sure, we don't want to rush around rashly, but I hope we can come away from this short writing at least convinced of this: God loves justice, He is displeased when it is not found, we need to administer it. So may we seek justice and keep learning to do right, with love, humility, gratitude, faith, and mercy.

in His grace,

brandon

Jesus Saves!

Notes from Phoenix Stop Human Trafficking Panel 2-25-12

*** These are not all exact quotes from the panel but just what I could paraphrase.


Is there a difference between trafficking and prostitution?

S - It's a power thing, You are asking them either at the point of a gun, or at the point of money, they are absolutely the same

M - There is not a sense of choice, they are scared.

C - This is something we have to address right now, there may have been abuse nobody saw, now they try to cover up, so out of shame or desperation, one person told me she really wanted to be a nurse.

B - this reminds of the slavery back around the emancipation proclamation, I am glad no one was looking at the right and wrong way to do slavery. It was just wrong.

I was watching the evening news here in Phoenix and the reporter said "The porn industry is moving to Phoenix, and whether you like it or not, it means more money." Is there anything being done to oppose this, or show we do not approve? If not what can we do?

S - If not controlled by the law, it is demand driven, the problem is we have never gone after the 100, 000 casual users.
What we remain silent on, we approve on.

M - Education, we really need to show the whole piece of what the community is getting, and get the community to say, I don't want that money.

B - a lot of people say they don't want porn, but they want it, they don't want the loss of revenue,
we need to get to a point were we say "it's ok to lose this part of the economy", most porn buyers are people who make good money, conservative, religious, the church.
It's a $13 billion industry, that's more than the NFL, NBA, and Baseball all together,
Let's look at the stats of hypocrisy.
In the church theses percentages view porn according to one study: 50% of men, 30-40% of Pastors, and 30% of women. This may surprise some but one sight's percent of women viewers went from 9% in 2000 to 53% in 2004. when I was growing up this type of thing was just viewed as a stepping stone to Universal Studios.
Within the church there is no difference, and that's an issue.
The issue in the church is gigantic - confession is always seen as a negative, it has kept us in a state of hypocrisy, we might vote one way, but by our actions don't do anything different.

What about the idea that arrest in Phoenix are pushing the problem down to Tucson?

S - I thought I would save the world, 2 hours I realized no.
Take care of your little corner of the world.
The next little corner of the world will notice and they will take care too.
We need to attack the user.
There was a week were 20 departments put everything else to the side and focused on this and arrested 500 johns

What are your thought's on the Swedish Model (prosecuting demand not supply) ?

S- It say's it is ok for you to sell but not to buy, mixed message. What happens is, if there is no crime happening, resources get sent elsewhere, right now drugs is the only thing that is beating it, if there is no crime involved we won't be paying attention to it.

M- There is clinical aspect to it, telling the girls, it is ok to sell your body, doesn't play out. Right now our system has 2 ways of dealing with kids, CPS or Judicial. For drug use there is a decriminalization process but not for prostitution. That is something that could be addressed.


What advice could you give someone wanting to help? What are the struggles?
Aren't broken homes a root issue? What about Collaboration?

S- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - in WWII 7-12%
in Iraq and Afghanistan up of 20%
Someone who has been through this - 60%
Like the lady on the video said they can take the heroin out of a heroin addict, but they can't take the memory away from a trafficking victim. There are no normal victims. Not everyone can quit an addiction at the same time. Help does not have a finite number of opportunities. It's : I'm
gonna be your help-bottom line. The pimp says he is the only one there for her, so don't make a promise you can't keep, If you say you are going to take them to McDonalds, don't take them anywhere else but to McDonalds. Little things matter. You gotta send the message, you matter, not your body matters,

M- Therapeutic needs are so intense. A counselor told me "I would take a heroin addict any day of the week over a trafficking victim." It's not just stockholm syndrome (loving your abuser). We are beginning to figure out the problem. We need to figure this out.
There is a girl who has completely rearranged herself, and is able to get rid of a tatoo of her old pimp, but is not sure if she wants to get rid of that last piece of her old life. See she came to the city looking for family, transference of family figures, that matters, being there for them, most run back 5-7 times. One girl just ran way one day, but she wrote me, we are in her head along with those messages that she has another family. Another girl is going back Texas where she will not go back to the streets again. So even when they run, we are in their head.

C- It takes everybody, they need someplace to take these girls, we need to address this in our churches, schools, and work. We need to change the language. We need churches leading the charge.
It is really hard sometimes when you see the tattoos calling themselves somebodies ho, and right now that's common.
Prayer really works, I could feel the churches prayer. We need to educate and let people know it's happening on this side of the track, or we're gonna loose a whole nother set of girls.
Streetlight needs donations- gas cards, one church can dedicate to just bringing green-beans.
Everybody wanna just love em, but everybody can't deal. Love feels dirty to some of these girls.
Sometimes I want to just act like a police man and go rescue them, but that ain't my job, my job is helping them recover ...

B -It's what people see in their life growing up, John 4, I have something far better, If we help them with their identity, seeing through the lens of Christ.

hear the need? then help

(these notes were from Sunday School at Morse St. Baptist Church, the passage is liteed first, then the notes)

Nehemiah 1

¹ The words of Nehemiah son of Hacaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, ² Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.

³ They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire."

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:
"O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands, ⁶ let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father's house, have committed against you. ⁷ We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.

⁸ "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, ⁹ but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.'

¹⁰ "They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. ¹¹ O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man."
I was cupbearer to the king.

NOTES:

Look for the need.

How are you meeting the needs of those around you.

When faced with needs what do you do?

Walls- things are connected (Physical things can be linked to emotional and spiritual things)

Sat down, weeped, fasted and prayed.

pause- profound impact,

God promises to His servants who return and carefully observe his commandments.

servants who revere His name, can ask for success and compassion in their attempt to help.