Archive - February, 2010

Keith Green

February 26, 2010 in Manuscripts with 0 Comments

No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green No Compromise: The Life Story of Keith Green by Melody Green

My rating: 5 of 5 stars READ THIS BOOK, “No Compromise- The Life Story of Keith Green”! Keith’s story will not only make you want to have amazing long curly hair and mad skills to jam on the piano with no restraints; it will change your life! Weather you are a believer or not, a musician or not, this amazing testimony from Keith will rock you to the core! From start to end; Keith had passion, talent, and natural leadership skills. You will find out how his journey for something “greater” went from the hippie love/drug scene in the 1970’s, to the beginnings of a new life in Christ which supernaturally launched Keith into a forefront message that still needs to be heard today!

This “Life Story” written by Melody Green, Keith’s wife, gives wonderful insight to the man behind the music and the message. Melody shares their intense story as well as allowing us to read Keith’s thoughts directly from his journal entries! Keith was not satisfied with the things of the world that he kept chasing after; Keith was not satisfied until he experienced the only One that could truly satisfy his hearts longings. When Keith and Melody found Jesus, their lives turned around in a heart beat! Although they were young in their faith…they had found what they were longing for and held onto it with no compromises! In Keith’s black and white vision he took the Word of the Lord as truth and made sure that everyone that came across his path took it for truth as well. This new lifestyle immediately launched them into ministry, a new and powerful kind of music, as well as an ever growing hunger to see the lost saved through the message that the Lord had placed in Keith’s heart.

Keith and Melody realized how important prayer was and before every big decision they sought the Lord through prayer and fasting! Keith said, “Our whole life should be a prayer!” I believe it was this foundational truth that continued to humble the Greens as they allowed the Lord to lead them in all aspects of their lives. Keith Green really had a heart that chased after the Lord, much like King David. He longed to spread revival, learning patience in the process.  Keith was able to mature quickly in his walk as he was constantly surrounded by “newbie’s” in the faith that had him pouring out what he knew all the time. This caused him to go deeper for more so he could pour out more. Keith was also blessed with some “big” connections of wise council that allowed him to see and grow even more. From reading this book it sounded like he was always going while passing on everything he was learning to those that were in his sphere of influence. Although he was not perfect he longed to be closer to God.

Keith’s music career quickly launched him to the top of the Christian music arena. He remained humble and dedicated to the Lord, saying, “If someone writes a great story, people praise the author, not the pen. People don’t say ‘Oh what an incredible pen…where can I get a pen like this so I can write great stories?’ Well, I am just a pen in the hands of the Lord. He is the author. All praise should go to him.”

Keith recognized that it was the Lord that blessed him musically, so he allowed that to be the “tool” to share His message. What was the message that he and his “Last Days Ministries” shared? “Quit compromising with the world and start living radically committed lives” and have “A radical relationship with God, without the trappings of religious systems or dead institutions.” This message was preached to millions across the globe and thanks to Melody and the team it is still being shared today! This book really stirred my heart and caused me to reflect internally to see what I am compromising over Christ. I’ll be honest, I was in tears after hearing the messages that Keith preached. This book will bless you and encourage you to live a radically committed live to Jesus Christ! View all my reviews >>

At What Cost?

February 23, 2010 in Future, Past, Present with 0 Comments

Would you still be a Christian if every Church got destroyed?

Would you still be a Christian if all copies of Scriptures were burned?

Would you still be a Christian if it meant you could no longer publicly assemble in fellowship to worship?

Would you still be a Christian if it meant you were deprived of honor and public office?

Would you still be a Christian if it meant you were enslaved or forced to go to jail?

Would you still be a Christian if execution through out the body started?

(Execution meaning: being tormented, strangled, scourged, decapitated, burned alive, yes, MARTYRED!)

Would you still be a Christian if this “great persecution” lasted for 10 years?

On this day, February 23, 303 started the “greatest persecution” of the Christian faith under Emperor Diocletian.

When Diocletian first started his rule, Christians, were encouraged because it was rumored that the emperor’s wife and daughter were believers.  Weather that was true or not, Christians, for the most part lived in a state of peace and prosperity for the first nineteen years of his reign.

After those nineteen years, the way of life for all Christians changed drastically.  Emperor Diocletian decided that religious unity would strengthen his empire.  It was said that Diocletian and Galerius (his son in law) sought advice from an “oracle” that said the “just on earth” hindered Apollo to give advice.  So after hearing this; Diocletian, Galerius, and the members of the court concluded that “the just” must be the Christians of his empire. With this new way of thinking and encouragement from his wicked council, he published three edicts in attempts to secure the Roman religion as the only religion.

On February 23, 303 the first edict stated: All copies of scriptures to be burned, all churches destroyed, property confiscated, and Christian worship to be forbidden.

The second and third edicts were pretty much the beginning of the enslavement, imprisonments, and executions of those that resisted sacrificing to the Roman gods. It was said that the jails were filled with Christians and that the real criminals were removed to create space.

It was declared that everyone in the Roman Empire must sacrifice to the Roman gods.  This lasted all the way up till 313 until Constantine declared an edict of toleration.  As church history goes, the martyrdom of many strengthened and encouraged their Christian brothers and sisters. The result ended in Christianity being the preferred religion under the rule of Constantine.

Well it states in Revelation 13:11, 14-15 that there will be a time when all Christians will be faced with this choice again.  To bow down to a statue and worship it, or die!

We are living in a time that has many choices, ways, distractions, and religions.  But there is ONLY ONE way that brings a life of ETERNITY and that is through the accepting of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It does not say it is the easiest way; will you still be a Christian when…YOU HAVE COUNTED THE COST?

Blessings,

Patrick Judah

(Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diocletian#Great_Persecution and “The One Year Book of Christian History” by E. Michael and Sharon Rusten)

Man of God

February 22, 2010 in Past with 0 Comments

Happy Birthday George Washington!

George Washington, a man full of mystery.  There are many “legends” surrounding our first President of this great nation.  Did he really have four bullet holes in his coat and have two horses shot from underneath him during an attack in the French and Indian War?  Did a chief Indian come up to him 15 years later stating that he and his men fired at him 17 times during that attack but could not hit him…then prophecy that he would “become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire.”? Did he really “pray” in the winter of 1777 at Valley Forge to the Almighty? Did he also receive a “vision” from an angel about the future of America?  Did he even believe in God?  Well, I’ll let you guys look into that.

In my research and study of our first President of the United States, I found it unbelievable how many people have written George Washington off as just another great leader with no belief or faith in the ONE TRUE GOD!  Now, I know it is easy for HISTORY to be changed by those that research it and write it how they want it to sound.  So, instead of listening to those “historians” I am simply going to quote the “Father of our Country” and those that knew him well.

Nelly Custis Lewis (George Washington’s step granddaughter) shared that,

“His life, his writings, prove that he was a Christian. He was not one of those who act or pray, “That they may be seen of men.” He communed with his God in secret.” In response to Jared Sparks, the author of “The Life of Washington”.

Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee described George Washington as:

“First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifying to all around him as were the effects of that example lasting…Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtue always felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues…Such was the man for whom our nation mourns.”

George Washington himself said that, “It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.” George Washington, being the first President inaugurated under the Constitution, took oath of office with his hand on a Bible that was opened to Deuteronomy 28 . At the end of his oath he said, “So help me God” and leaned over and kissed the Bible.

Then Washington said in a portion of his Inaugural Address, “It would be peculiarly improper to omit, in this first official act, my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, [and] who presides in the councils of nations…no people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.  Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency… We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained…”

On October 3, 1789 George Washington issued a national day of Thanksgiving Proclamation stating, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God…Also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions, to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually, to render our national government a blessing to all the People, by constantly being a government of wise, just and constitutional laws…to promote the knowledge and practice of the true religion and virtue…”

So from these words directly from the man himself, in my research and in my “freedom of speech”, can truly say that George Washington was a man of God and a man for God.

Be encouraged:
“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” But “Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains taken to bring it to light.” George Washington


Honest Abe

February 12, 2010 in Past, Present with 1 Comment

Happy Birthday Abraham No Middle Name Lincoln!!!

So here’s a brief overview of Lincoln’s beginnings: Abraham Lincoln was born February 12, 1809 in a one room log cabin in Kentucky, Illinois. His parents, Thomas and Nancy, were farmers.  His mother passed away when he was nine and shortly after his father remarried. Lincoln was known for his height, telling stories, wrestling, and wielding an axe. But in search for something greater he ended up leaving home at 22.  Lincoln got his share of odd jobs and was even the Captain of a voluntary company in the Black Hawk war.  Things started to look up for Lincoln as he was elected to the state legislature in 1834 and soon after he received his license to practice law. By 1838 he was elected for the third time to the legislature.  Did I mention that he only had 18 months of schooling?

Then by 1842 Abraham Lincoln was married to Mary Todd.  They had four children: Robert, Edward, William, and Thomas. Unfortunately Robert was the only child to live to adulthood.  It was said that Abraham loved children, and the loss of his sons was very hard for him to endure.  Abraham Lincoln was elected as the Unites States President in 1860 and inaugurated March 4th 1861, thus the beginning of the Civil War. President Lincoln was re-elected for a second term in 1864 and the war ended April 9, 1865.  Of course 5 days after the freeing of millions of slaves, Lincoln was assassinated in Ford’s Theater.

So now that you have a rough background of our 16th President, I would like to share some quotes from him that he addressed, that I believe still stand true today!

First I would like to state that Lincoln was voted in as President in a time when slavery was huge in the US and it was considered “normal”.  Lincoln’s stance from the beginning was strongly against slavery and yet he was still elected President.  I do believe God had raised him up for this time in history.  Lincoln was uneducated and a very unlikely candidate, with a message that angered many men.  His whole time in office was challenged with the Civil War, and yet he did not back down on his beliefs.  Because of his moral stance, he was able to weather the storm and live to see the day of the freeing of millions of slaves!

In a speech at Edwardsville, Illinois:

“Familiarize yourselves with the chains of bondage and you prepare your own limbs to wear them.  Accustomed to trample on the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence and become the fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.”

Regardless of what some might say it obvious that Abraham Lincoln was a man of Faith who put His trust in the Lord.  Here are some words exchanged from Lincoln to his pastor, Rev. Byron Sunderland:

“ The ways of God are mysterious and profound beyond all comprehension-“Who by searching can find Him out?”  God only knows the issue of this business.  He has destroyed nations from the map of history for their sins.  Nevertheless, my hopes prevail generally above my fears for our Republic.  The times are dark, the spirits of ruin are abroad in all their power, and the mercy of God alone can save us.”

On March 30, 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued a historic Proclamation Appointing a National Fast Day:

“It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history: that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord…”


I know that today, in America, there is a new breed of slavery that has been rising up.  It has been creeping its way into many US cities.  This is a business for many men and has become a way of life for many innocent women.  It is known as HUMAN TRAFFICKING.  From the past shared here through the story of Lincoln, we know how horrific this issue of slavery can be on a nation.  Lincoln even stated that the Civil War was a punishment in itself for the sins of the nation.  He said, “And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?”

Thankfully there has been a move against this “modern day slavery” that has brought awareness to our nation and others.  But we the people need to take the stand and hold our ground until we see the freeing of millions of those that have been bought into human trafficking.  How can you help? I think Lincoln had it right by declaring a day of fasting and praying, so let’s start there. Then you can know the truth, take action, and raise awareness.

Here are some websites you can go to, to learn more about HUMAN TRAFFICKING

http://www.exoduscry.com/

http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/

For those of you that have more information on this issue of HUMAN TRAFFICKING please share!

(sources:

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Abraham_Lincoln.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln

America’s God and Country: Encyclopedia of Quotations)

Thank you for reading!

Patrick Judah

music and me

February 5, 2010 in Music, Present with 1 Comment

MUSIC AND ME:

When I started my journey back to the Lord I realized how much music could lift you up or bring you down.  I wanted to get closer to the Lord so I started reading the Word, but I was still listening to the same music.  I LOVE MUSIC, but most, if not all of the lyrics in the music I was listening to was a complete contradiction to what I was reading in the Bible.  I didn’t realize how much words could change my moods and feelings.  I finally came to the conclusion (with the HELP of the Holy Spirit), that I could no longer entertain both of these worlds.  It says in Matthew 6:24, ” No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other…” Now I am not saying that all music is bad, please don’t take it that way.  I know the Lord has anointed many musicians and singers out there and it is not wrong to listen to them or to follow them.  But please be sensitive to what you are allowing yourself to consume.

Just remember that the Lord SPOKE everything into creation, we also carry a certain power in our own words.  What words are you allowing to be spoken over you? I know God gives the talent, even to those that do not follow Him.  So be praying for those musicians and artist.  How amazing would it be if mainstreams music artists had an encounter with the Lord and started influencing their fans with a message of love and truth?

CD REVIEW:

If you guys are hungry and searching for more, fill your airwaves with Cory Asbury’s new CD, “Let Me See Your Eyes”. This CD has both soaking and upbeat worship.

Cory has a new and fresh sound that inspires the heart to come before Him.  The lyrics are filled with the message of seeking the Father!  This album is mixed with 15 diverse tracks from smooth keys and strings to some powerful drumbeats and bass!  You an play this in your quite times or in your car stereo system full blast with windows down. For those of you that watch the IHOP Prayer Room you may have heard some of Cory’s sets and songs like, “My Beloved” or “Always Faithful”. Super good! I would encourage you to check out the full CD and preview it here or on Itunes.  You can also purchase it at the IHOP store.

What music have you been listening to lately? Let me know, I love to hear new artists!

Blessings,

Patrick Judah

Mystic of the Month: Teresa of Avila

February 2, 2010 in Mystics, Past with 2 Comments

“Whoever has not begun the practice of prayer, I beg for the love of the Lord not to go without so great a good. There is nothing here to fear but only something to desire.”

Saint Teresa of Avila desired to seek God at a very young age.  She loved to learn of the Saints while pursuing a life of prayer and blessing the poor.  At the age of 14 her mother passed and in this lose of a loving and encouraging role model she found herself being distracted with things of the world. She was 14 when these distractions started…at what age are American kids distracted by things of this world?

She was encouraged by her father to enter into a local convent in hopes to rekindle her passion for the Lord.  She fell sick and returned home.  After recovering she knew that she wanted to become a nun and left home against her fathers will to enter into the Incarnation of the Carmelite nuns in Avila.  Again she fell ill (malaria) and experienced tremendous pain and suffering.  Through this time of her illness she was in a coma for three days and was not able to use her legs for three years.

It was in this time of pain and suffering when her prayer life increased to phenomenal levels of ecstasy in the Presence of the Lord.  She spent many hours in meditation with what she called, “prayer of quiet” and the “prayer of union”. These encounters continued to take place even though she never sought after these “mystical experiences”, but kept herself to the will of God and counted the experiences as “divine blessings”.

As you could imagine, many of those around her found her, “experiences”, to be bizarre and not from the Lord.  Regardless, her encounters were revealed from the Lord in her passion and pursuit of constantly going deeper in prayer with the Lord.  History has revealed to us that those with lifestyles of prayer often hear and encounter the Lord in mysterious ways, beyond that of the average believer (if there could be such a thing???).

One vision that Teresa had was described as this, “I saw in his hand a long spear of gold, and at the iron’s point there seemed to be a little fire. He appeared to me to be thrusting it at times into my heart, and to pierce my very entrails; when he drew it out, he seemed to draw them out also, and to leave me all on fire with a great love of God. The pain was so great, that it made me moan; and yet so surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it…”

WHOA!!!  Truly incredible and mind blowing!  “So surpassing was the sweetness of this excessive pain, that I could not wish to be rid of it“??? Think about that!

While St. Teresa continued in this way of unceasing prayer she was also founding convents that focused on this same way of life.  She joined with like-minded “mystic”, John of the Cross and they started reforming the order for men as well.  This new “reform” of the Carmelite order became known as the “Discalced” or barefoot, Carmelites.  Of course her radical lifestyle for the Lord and the influence that she brought into the Catholic sphere was eventually persecuted to the point of her being forced to “retire”.  During these times she also wrote some inspiring books that I hope to read soon, “The Way of Perfection”, “Life” (autobiography), and “The Interior Castle”.

In the midst of the persecution she continued to seek after the Lord, all the while being brought into new levels of trances, levitations, visions, and much more.  She knew that prayer is the place to hear and experience the Lord; so she did that continually, not to receive these things but to get closer to Him!

And I will leave you with this, “Let nothing disturb thee; Let nothing dismay thee; All things pass; God never changes Patience attains All that it strives for. He who has God finds he lacks nothing: God alone suffices.” St. Teresa

(sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_of_Ávila

http://www.karmel.at/eng/teresa.htm )

Stay tuned for next months Mystic: Augustine of Hippo

Thanks for reading,

Patrick Judah