Category Archives: Kingdom of God

February 10, 2017 · 6:41 am

Geezer Up (Part 10)

Ching! Ching!

My iPhone’s text tone brought me back to earth. I stood up, realizing I had spent the whole night on my knees in traveling clothes. What time is it? I thought. I picked up my phone from the nightstand and clicked the power button − 6:15 a.m.

The text was from our lawyer Jacob: “A good lawyer and close Christian friend of mine, Artie Chin, has agreed to represent Dylan. He will be at the courthouse for the arraignment at 9 a.m. Let me know if you need anything else.”

I need to get ready now, I thought. Help me Lord!

 

J.C. and Shira drove me to the San Francisco Hall of Justice Building on Bryant Street, parking the BMW at an underground parking lot. The Justice Building resembled a drab concrete rhombus designed by second graders who were given cardboard boxes and told to create a building out of them. No ionic columns. No domes. No frills. No inspiration for those of us searching for hope.

A short walk later, we stood in a chrome elevator, heading to the fourth floor.

“Darling, why did you dress up so much? You look like you’re meeting the mayor,” whispered Shira, wearing blue jeans and white top.

“This yellow dress is Dylan’s favorite dress of mine. And the yellow heels? They add height and confidence, which I really need right now.”

“Well, this should be over soon and you two will be on your way to Tahoe,” said J.C., patting my shoulder.

“That would be great, but I have doubts.”

“Doubts?” asked Shira.

“This could be a long drawn-out battle with today just being the opening skirmish.”

“Do you know something we don’t?” asked J.C.

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

The elevator bell signaled our arrival at the fourth floor. We stepped out into a narrow hallway and walked toward the courtroom. A tall policeman directed us to remove our rings, watches, necklaces, pocket items, cell phones, place them in a silver bowl, and walk through a scanner. We passed our inspections and then rearranged ourselves before entering the courtroom.

The courtroom, unlike the boring building’s exterior, was almost lavish with its rich mahogany paneling, mahogany judicial bench, mahogany attorney’s tables, and black padded seats. There was seating for forty spectators, but only twelve or so awaited the arraignment proceedings. We sat in the second row, near the aisle.

At nine, a chubby bailiff, standing on the right side of the judge’s bench, announced, “All rise for the honorable Judge Esther Strong.”

Everyone stood as the thin female judge with dark hair swooped in and sat down on the bench. We followed suit and seated ourselves. The ruffling of clothes echoed throughout the courtroom.

Five Latino defendants with dark tattoos were arraigned for murder cases in a rather cut and dried fashion with very few comments from the judge, attorneys, or the attorneys. Bails were set at a million dollars each and all were remanded to the county jail.

Next, the bailiff announced, “The People of San Francisco against Dylan Matthews.”

I gasped when I saw Dylan approach the defendant’s table. His face looked like a Mafia hit man had worked him over with a baseball bat. His nose was swollen and both eyes blackened. What have those bullies done to my sweetheart, I wondered.

My ears tuned into the proceedings as the attorneys spoke and the judge then asked Dylan what he would do if she set him free on his own recognizance. Dylan’s words of defiance and his announcement of a fast stirred my heart so that I wanted to jump up and shout, “Hallelujah Gunsmoke, I’m with you,” but I bit my tongue and kept quiet.

I am not sure if he heard me say, “Dylan, Dylan, I love you,” when he left the courtroom, but the bailiff did. He pointed at me and shook his head at my outburst.

Oh, how I wanted to stick out my tongue at the bailiff, but I kept my lady-like composure by inwardly visualizing the action in my mind. The rebellious thought reminded me of my teenage years.

Oh well, I thought, now what?

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 11…the full series to date can be read here.)

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February 8, 2017 · 6:27 am

Geezer Up (Part 9)

Jacob Cohen (J.C.) Bates and his wife, Shira, waited for me in their BMW outside San Francisco International Airport in the passenger arrival zone. I noticed J.C. packed on twenty extra pounds to his five-foot seven-inch frame, but it did not detract from his rugged good looks. Shira stood a couple of inches taller than him, but the difference seemed even greater because of her model-like figure. Both were Messianic believers and servants of Yeshua the Messiah.

“Shalom, Jane,” said J.C., jumping out of the car and greeting me with a hug and a kiss. “Here, let me put your suitcase in the trunk.”

“Thanks and shalom to you, J.C.,” I said, handing him my black suitcase.

“Even though this may not be the best of times for you,” said Shira, standing outside the BMW’s passenger door, and also hugging and kissing me, “I was so excited to see you again that I went out and spent J.C.’s money on this new black sweater. But as usual, you win the fashion prize with your blond hair, Levi jacket, and khaki slacks. You look fabulous.”

Her gracious words should have reddened my face, but instead, I broke down and wept. Shira hugged me even tighter.

“God will turn your mourning into dancing,” she whispered.

“I sure hope so.”

“Let’s keep moving,” shouted a stocky TSA agent, walking toward J.C.’s car. He pointed at us with a black baton to emphasize his point.

We obeyed and took off for their home.

 

If you have ever wondered what type of home three million dollars would purchase in San Francisco, J.C. and Shira’s condo on the fourth floor of a prestigious address in Nob Hill would be the answer. Twenty-three hundred square feet, three bedrooms, two baths, hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, formal dining room, large family room with stone fireplace, and captivating views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge through floor to ceiling windows. The furniture and decorations looked like they had been selected by a top Bay area interior decorator.

Shira served a tossed salad with grilled chicken for dinner, but I only moved the food around on my plate without eating much. As soon as possible, I excused myself and headed for the guest bedroom. There I unpacked, hung up my clothes in the closet, and sat down on the bed without changing out of my traveling clothes. Somehow, I closed my eyes and dozed off.

Then, I had a terrifying vision.

In it, I stood before the Judgment Seat of Christ. I wasn’t alone because hundreds of other believers stood there in numerous rows, waiting for the Judge − Jesus − to appear in front of us. I watched Him off to my left walking down my row with a torch in His right hand. He stopped in front of each believer, looked down, and lit piles of what looked like grass and sticks at the feet of each person with His torch. The piles burst into flames. Then, the piles quickly burnt out to reveal gold, silver, precious stones, or nothing but scorch marks on the ground. Those who had precious metals and stones bowed down and worshipped the Lord. Those who had scorch marks wailed and screamed like they were in hell, even though they were in heaven.

I looked down at my feet and saw a puny pile. I knew this small heap represented all of my works done on earth for the Lord. Not much for a whole lifetime, I thought. A holy fear enveloped me.

I turned and looked at the person next to me and realized it was a successful Christian businessman, whom I greatly admired. He was an elder at Jedidiah Smith Community Church, Sunday school teacher, weekend street evangelist, and well-known benefactor. The newspapers were always reporting on his philanthropy and many works.

I watched Judge Jesus bend over and light the businessman’s pile with His torch. The pile quickly burnt out to reveal nothing but scorch marks on the ground. The businessman fell to the ground and wailed at the top of his lungs. His screams echoed through my mind.

Oh no, I thought. If this businessman’s life did not please the Lord, how will mine be any better?

The Lord stood in front of me.

I looked into His eyes and knew His love was not on trial, but mine was at that moment. He bent over, ready to touch my puny pile with His torch.

“Lord, give me a second chance,” I pleaded.

He looked at me without straightening up. His torch remained close to my pile. “And what would you do differently?”

“I will serve you night and day without complaining. If need be, I will crawl on my knees across San Francisco on streets covered with broken glass to be Your ambassador. I will gladly carry cups of cold water to people and minister to them as Your servant.”

He straightened up and looked me squarely in the eyes. His love melted every hindrance in my heart. “Remember to do your works to please Me, not to please other people like the businessman did during his life. He received his reward on earth. Go and be My servant.”

I woke up and immediately slipped off the bed onto my knees. I worshipped the Judge, King, and Lover of my soul − my Lord Jesus.

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 10…the first 9 parts are reruns and can be read here.)

 

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February 6, 2017 · 6:04 am

Why I Support President Trump and Why You Should, To!

 

4 minutes and 1 second of video which can be reduced to one word. That one word contains enough blessings to help power our economy for the next few years and to prepare us for the following years.

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February 5, 2017 · 10:57 am

Inside Israel

SHUK

The Shuk in Jerusalem

Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is —

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

May you be blessed and encouraged…and O Lord, please be glorified and blessed.

 

Mountains of garbage, sometimes life feels like that and sometimes it is right outside your window. Thankfully they are collecting it now, but there is nothing quite like a garbage strike in Jerusalem and the symbolic timing of it seemed perfect to me.

I haven’t been feeling too well lately, so I groaned as I came downstairs in time for the 6:30 a.m. train, 15 minutes later than the train that I would take if I were planning to walk part way to work. My morning exercise.  But the groan passed through my lips as I read the moving sign (in Hebrew, Arabic and English) which said: “Due to disruptions on the tracks, there will be no train service between the Central Bus Station and Damascus Gate.” That means that I would have to find a bus at the Central Bus Station and weave my way to work.

I joined the other disgruntled early morning passengers in wondering what the disruption was this time. Rock throwers? Unidentified packages for the bomb squad to dismantle? I pray for the security workers to be kept safe.  At the Central bus station another groan arises as we see that the next bus is still 18 minutes away.

The morning is cold and rainy and the bus stop already full when our train arrives.  Three more trains will arrive and deposit yet more displaced travelers every 6 minutes.  When the bus finally does arrive, I am thankful for the fact that age is honored here and younger people generally rise for their elders. So, on this very crowded bus I have a seat, and I praise God for it, and thank the young man who gave it to me.  The seat affords me a good view of the piles of garbage.

As we snake our way toward the Shuk, the piles become mountains and the mountains become slimy with crushed fruit and vegetables melting in the downpour. It’s ghastly.  I had tried to make sense out of this particular city strike, which we had heard rumblings about for a while.  No one seemed to know quite for sure WHAT the gripe was, but the city was claiming that a large amount of extra budget grant promised had not yet been paid.  It was not designated for any particular project that I could discern, nor was the problem paychecks, and certainly not for the garbage collection, so it sounded to me like coercion.

I understood later that there were plans (carried out a bit later because at 6:30 the disrupted tracks were still clear) to pile the train tracks in the Shuk area with garbage.  By the time that I returned home the tracks were indeed covered with tomato/banana/orange volcanoes.  Yech!  The whole city, called His by God Almighty, was filthy and that saddens everyone.  I know that when my home is messy it is hard to come before The Lord and I thought about what a blessing cleanliness and order are.  It is easy to hide an explosive device in the disarray of garbage.  I find that if I am cluttered, the enemy of my soul has an easier time hiding and attacking as well.

But thankfully, before I finished writing the above two days ago, the garbage strike ended and the army of sanitation workers labored through the night to restore order to the city.  My “garbage-meditation” ended with several days of cleansing rains and cold winter weather. The sun broke out, clear and clean through the newly washed air, bright, crystal clear, revealing what the summer dust storms had veiled.

Rain, sun and yes even fertilizer…and the inevitable happens. The branches begin to swell and small buds press their way into the tips of branches.  The older I get, the more years I see it, the more WONDERFUL it is, HIS FAITHFULNESS no matter what our own personal devastation is, the upheavals of death and war and horrors, the seasons reflect His faithfulness THROUGH IT ALL. It blows me away EVERY TIME!

Two mornings ago, I heard the first morning bird wake the dawn.  My, it’s COLD out and yet the morning bird knows his season and returns.  My husband looked out the window later the same day. “Hey! There’s a PARROT in the tree outside.”

He was right.  We have these smallish wild parrots here, several kinds actually and I love watching them.  They are green and have a wonderful song.  Another first sign that the cold winter WILL eventually pass.

 

In the Shuk, the price of strawberries has not come down this year.  Come to think of it, none of the prices have.  We are blessed with amazing strawberries and different kinds of Clementine’s and other citrus throughout the winter.  Winter grapes, apples, and this year persimmons still fill the Shuk stalls.  Soup pots boil with wonderful fragrant vegetable and bean soups, lentils, barley, roots and all sorts of spices blending to design the beautiful Middle Eastern tapestry that I admire and give thanks for. He has been so good to us, in spite of our unfaithfulness.

The Middle East. I often have to shake myself and remember that, yes, I live in the Middle East.  I hear the minarets’ shrill electronic call to Moslem prayer at least in the morning hours when the traffic is not yet causing all sound to blend into a dull roar.  I see the streets full of children running in large groups, laughing, as crime against children is not an issue here thankfully.  I see the general public sitting at outside tables lining the streets in all weather, cold or hot, wet or dry, drinking coffee or eating yummy salads, shakshuka, or an endless array of healthy Middle Eastern food or ice cream.

Soldiers run up to one another like piles of puppies, jumping on one another and hugging, uzzis (weapons) bumping, backpacks full of dirty laundry, which means they are heading home. Clean means they are heading back to base. The trains and buses full of young soldiers, girls and guys. Yes, it’s my home now and I do find that I take it for granted and forget that this scene is so unique.

The Shaheen family was in the Dr. Office where I work.  I’ve mentioned before that we have a number of Christian Israeli Arab families who come to the Doctor with whom I work.  They know that I am a believer and I greatly admire them.  They are such a small minority in the midst of rabidly growing Moslem extremism.  They come against dangers from Moslems and are not fully part of the Jewish society. They stand alone, and generally their faith is more of a traditional faith then a deeply rooted one in The Word and Spirit.

I watch their children struggle (very often a similar struggle to the children of Jewish believers here, as we are also a small group) with the temptations to be accepted and become radicalized.  They are generally very patriotic to Israel and often the children find themselves in a love relationship with a Jewish partner and the problem deepens. I ask the Shaheens how their children are doing.  I can see the worry in their eyes as they tell me that two are studying in France.  France has become a strong radical hotbed.  Their other son, Rami, is here and he is a joy, but he is not finding someone, a good girl, to marry.  The name “Rami” is also a Jewish name and Rami has been raised well.

My heart goes out to these and prayers for God to honor them with godly spouses.

The Kobti family has successfully raised their children.  All are doctors or professionals in other lines, and most married Christian Arabs who were living in other countries, but one lovely young man’s wife has become an Israel basher to the grief of the whole family.  I often think of this faithful group of people knowing that it is God Who walks with each one of us through the paths of His own choosing.

On another subject, a long time ago I remember explaining that city land taxes (called arnona) are paid by renters here, sort of a double whammy.  When we first made aliyah going on 23 years ago, we found that our life savings wasn’t enough to buy an apartment.  It is EXPECTED here that citizens will own an apartment and not rent.

Immigrants from many countries receive an apartment grant but from the richer countries this is not so.  We were among those who fell through the cracks, and so we have rented for all of these years, and will continue to do so, unless He chooses otherwise.

I remember when we first made aliyah, we were told IMMEDIATELY that you do NOT plan to do more than one bureaucratic chore in a day. For example:  You need to go to the post office.  Do NOT plan to also go to the bank.  AND if you should need to go to City Hall or Bituach Leumi (sort of national insurance office) figure two days at least per chore.  I laughed back then.  I THOUGHT that it was a joke.  Wrong!  Well, I have gotten used to this now, but had to laugh at a text message that I just got from a friend, a dear sister who is a volunteer here and is renting her own apartment and learning the ropes.  Her plan was to go to City Hall today and straighten out her arnona bill.

Her text read: “Not today…computers down.” I had to chuckle and wonder if the City is continuing its strike action. Please forgive me sharing these inside jokes with you.  If our enemies knew how things are run here,  I suspect that we might be in trouble, but perhaps that is the beauty of all of the belegan (uproar, confusion, mess), the fruit reveals the Merciful Hand of God Almighty Who put us here and certainly not our own efficiency.

But some things are particularly fun.

I just checked the Jerusalem weather on our nifty little local site and it showed a lighter jacket and a CLOTHES PIN, meaning: yes, it’s a good time to dry clothes.  I love it!  When we first came the morning weather report would be complete with “open your windows and air out the mold” and “don’t forget to take a sweater today.”

AND there was an elderly man at the bus stop who scolded our (then) slightly rebellious 13 year-old daughter, “TIE YOUR SHOE LACES YOUNG LADY!  THAT IS SLOPPY!” She dutifully bent over to tie them.  It is not considered interference here, it is considered “family.”

Thank you for truly being my family.  I am encouraged through you.  I would ask for prayer for many things, but one in particular, I have been deeply exhausted lately, more than usual.  I KNOW that He is The Source of all strength.  I thank you for prayers.

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13

Lovingly,

Your sister J in Jerusalem

 

(Below, I am enclosing an article from the Jan. issue of HERALD OF HIS COMING that touched me deeply for those who might be interested)

God Has A Word For This Hour

This is a tremendous hour in human history.  There are ominous movements in the world.  But I am constrained to ask, Has the Lord no plan for this hour?  Has the church no message?  Is there no word from the Lord concerning the spiritual recovery of this hour?  If not, then this is the first time in history that a major crisis has arisen under a silent heaven.

Before God destroyed the earth with a flood, He put His message of warning in the mouth of Noah.  When God judged Egypt, He sent Moses and Aaron to Pharoah with a divine pronouncement on their lips.  God raised up Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah in times of crisis in Israel and Judah.  They had God’s word for the hour in which they lived (Heb. 11:7; Ex. chaps. 5-14; 1 Kgs. 17:1).

And God has a word for this hour!

A Call to Repentance!

People are awakening to the fact that we are living in a solemn hour, and that our nation’s greatest need is a revival that will bring us to God.  There is a swelling tide of intercession to God – pleading for God’s intervening mercies and for a new Pentecost upon the churches.

What was true of Israel of old is true of us today.  Whenever declension of ­spiritual power is felt, the root cause is sin in the church.  Whittled down a little closer, the root cause of conditions in the world is the sin of individual Christians.  This is a time for flaming messages, inspired of the Holy Ghost, preached fearlessly by men who do not fear the consequences – calling men everywhere to repentance!

Unconfessed Sins

In God’s program for this hour, repentance must begin with Christians, who must turn in penitence from their worldliness, prayerlessness, indifference, and the dangerous sloth and sleep.  They must repent of their carnal strivings for position and place, and of their deadly church quarrels and denominational jealousy.  The unrepented, unconfessed sins of God’s people have chilled the atmosphere of the church until people are driven away.

It is high time for the pulpit to thunder and burn with the power and fire of the ancient prophets and apostles of our Lord!  It is high time for God’s people to awake from their Laodicean slumber, and strip themselves from their love of the world and love of self, and from the deceit, sham and hypocrisy of their shallow professions – and to turn to the Lord with all their heart, with fasting and tears, and with contrition and confession and restitution.

Where is the church “terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:4)?  Where are the Lord’s people whose prayers, like John Knox’s are the terror of evil rulers like Bloody Mary, Queen of Scots?  Where is the Gospel being preached with such unction and power from God that the enemies of God say, “These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also” (Acts 17:6)?

Why are not these things true of us today?  Because of the failure of God’s people, because sin is tolerated in their lives and hugged to their bosoms.  It is not perhaps great, blatant sin.  It may be only a multitude of little chiseling sins which have cooled off our love for Christ and our passion for lost souls, and dulled our spiritual ears so we cannot hear the voice of the Lord, and dimmed our spiritual sight so we have lost the vision of a world ripe for harvest, and palsied our hands and made us unfit for His service – leaving us carping and critical Christians (Song 2:15; Eccl. 10:1; 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9).

“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” (Matt. 7:20)

In the Song of Solomon, which contains wonderful church truth in figurative language, the Heavenly Husbandman says:  “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes” (Song 2:15).

If we are to see a great harvest, we must take out the little foxes.  They seem innocent and harmless but they kill the fruit.  The little sins and compromises with the world, the flesh and the devil – these kill our usefulness.  They must be taken out of our vineyard of the Lord.

 

Let us confess and forsake all. We will be amazed to find how greatly we need a spiritual housecleaning if we will let God search us and the Spirit probe us to rock-bottom (Psa. 139:23-24; 1 Chr. 28:9).

Some of us will find we have not put God first in our lives but rather we have given place to personal ambition, carnal comforts, and have yielded to the demands of friends and relatives and made God second.

Some of us have sinned directly towards God by rebelling against His known will and stopping our ears to His call to lay down our lives in His service.

Then there are the gross sins of the uncrucified self-life – self-will, self­pleasing, self-glorifying, self­seeking, self-pity, self-confidence, selfish affections, desires, motives, choices – all of which grieve the Spirit and unfit us to answer the call of the Lord to His people in this hour.

 

Some of us readily get angry, pouty, irritable. There is among us an unforgiving spirit, jealousy and envy (Jas. 3:14-18). With others there are secret and presumptuous sins – but they are not hidden from God (Psa. 19:12-13). There are also the deadly sins of gossip, backbiting, talebearing (Jas. 3:2-13; 2 Cor. 12:20). All of these God hates (Prov. 6:16-19). They close His door of blessing and hinder His answer to our prayers for our home, our community, our nation and the world.

   “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear….  Your hands are defiled…your tongue hath muttered perverseness.  None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth” (Isa. 59:1-4).

We need God!  We tremendously need a revival of the supernatural.  Nothing but a great visitation of the grace of God can in any wise redeem these present perilous hours.  Impending disasters warn us.  God’s Word warns us.  The Holy Spirit warns us.  “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law” (Psa. 119:126).  “Revive Thy work in the midst of the years” (Hab. 3:2).

 

I believe this is God’s hour for the Spirit’s outpouring. But God’s great present purposes in grace are dependent upon the whole-souled response of us – His people.

Therefore it is of vast importance to us whose hearts have been stirred about a visitation of God – that we leave no stone unturned in ourselves, meeting conditions for revival in our own heart, in our church, our community, our nation and the world.

Even if we cannot find in Scripture a specific promise of God’s mercies to us in this hour, there is, in almost every divinely sent message of judgment, the promise of salvation and deliverance if men and women will humble themselves and seek the face of God in repentance and in faith.

Think of the salvation of Nineveh, that wicked heathen city of ancient times.  God’s prophet Jonah was sent with the message of doom, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jon. 3:4).  No mercy was promised.  But the king and the people must have reasoned like this, “If God had no gracious thought toward us, He would not have sent us this warning.”  So they repented in sackcloth and ashes and with fasting cried mightily unto God, and God was moved to mercy and revoked His edict of judgment (Jon. 3).

If the God of all mercies would do so much for heathen Nineveh, when she repented, will He not do as much for His own people, if we repent and turn from our worldliness and selfishness to seek the Lord till He come and rain righteousness upon us  (Hos. 10:12)?

Plus God

The annals of sacred history are filled with accounts of God’s undefeatable minorities.  To the worldly-wise they appear foolish, weak, contemptible.  But – plus God, they have become mighty, invincible, unquenchable and triumphant!  They have time and again altered the course of history, and changed the face of nations.  Without strength, they have wrought prodigious works.  Without influence, they have transformed their generation.  Of such was the Apostle Paul, Luther, Wesley.  Thank God their tribe has not perished in these – our times.

What would happen today if Christians would cease to trifle and go all-out for God?    What if we would obey the Lord and fast and pray day and night, that we might be avenged of our enemies (Luke 18:7-8)?  What if we would get right with God, and with each other?  Without doubt this would bring a visitation of God.

I pray you do something today about the evils and dangers all about us.  It is a time for fasting and tears and prayer unceasing.  Begin today!  If you will, we shall have one of the greatest visitations of all time!

Revival Is the Beginning of a New Obedience to God

“If ye walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments, and do them; then I will give you rain (revival) in due season, and the land shall yield her increase …and ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you…And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight” (Lev. 26:3-8).

– Selected.

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February 4, 2017 · 7:41 am

Geezer Up (Part 8)

Because of my standby reservation, I was the last person to board the Virgin Airline’s Airbus A320. One hundred and forty-five other passengers walked ahead of me to their seats. I looked at my boarding pass − Row 24 Seat B − and tried to look over shoulders and heads for my seat, but my five feet three inches of stature hindered my efforts. I eventually arrived at my seat, lifted my black suitcase into the overhead storage compartment, and squeezed past the outside passenger’s long legs into the seat.

The young sailor with a shaved head in Seat A by the window looked up from his iPad and nodded at me. The lanky man to my right, sitting by the aisle in Seat C, paid no attention and opened his iPad, connecting to the Internet through Virgin’s free WiFi service. Both put headphones on as soon as the plane taxied toward the runway.

I reached down and pulled a Michael Connelly paperback novel out of my purse, but the Harry Bosch story failed to hold my interest for long. My mind kept wandering back over Dylan’s and my off-the-beaten-path spiritual journey.

It all began when Dylan walked out of Jedidiah Smith Community Church on that first Sunday in June three years earlier when the new pastor preached his first sermon. Dylan explained that he couldn’t listen to another sermon while he ignored the Lord’s voice telling him to branch off into a different type of church ministry. That different type of ministry ended up being a home church, which we called Last Chance. Two senior couples joined us in the new venture: Phil and Faye Strawmeier and Vinnie and Gracie Nguyen. Both couples had been four of our closest friends for years. Others joined our house church so that the original assembly now numbered eighteen people.

But it was Pamela Walter’s words to Dylan and me just before she died which stirred Dylan’s heart. “The Lord wants the Last Chance groups, like yours, to spread all along the West Coast, from San Diego to Seattle. He wants to use senior citizens as His last chance army to touch millions of people −” she said.

Dylan interrupted her and explained we didn’t know how to do something like that.

I still remember her words: “Shush! Of course, you don’t, but He knows how to do it. Fast and pray and He will show you.”

Then, she died.

Dylan focused his life on obeying Pamela’s prophetic words to us from that moment forward. He fasted, prayed, studied the word, and continually sought the Lord on what we needed to do. His seeking led to three new groups being started: one in Hemet, Lake Elsinore, and Corona.

I went along with whatever Dylan wanted, not because I heard the Lord’s voice for myself or even felt impressed to do so. I just trusted that Dylan had heard the Lord’s voice and followed him. Maybe I caved in too easily rather than seeking the Lord on my own, but that’s how I handled it.

But when Dylan said he felt the Lord wanted us to plant Last Chance home churches in San Francisco, I was shocked. As he spoke his vision to me, I comforted myself by figuring it would be years before we reached the Bay area. Yet, two days later, he received an invitation to speak at a Business Men’s Fellowship luncheon in China Town. He left a week later, hoping doors would open for Last Chance groups in San Francisco.

I watched him leave and waved at him, but in my heart, I prayed nothing special would happen. I hoped it would be a nice trip for Dylan but nothing more. Nothing more at all.

Maybe you think I’m selfish and maybe I am. But I am seventy-three years old and so is Dylan. I want to get off this spiritual merry-go-round and enjoy life again. I want to travel to Branson, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and even Paris or London. I want to enjoy our sunset years without worrying about jail or confrontations or planting more home churches. Why not? We deserve it, don’t we?

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 8…the first 9 parts are reruns and can be read here.)

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February 3, 2017 · 6:48 am

Geezer Up (Part 7)

“Hi Jane, I’ve been expecting your call,” said J. C. as he answered my phone call.

“Hi J. C., I figured you would.”

“You probably want to know what happened?”

“Right! Dylan said that it was no big deal, but he’s the master of understatement. So, fill in the gaps between hate crime, no big deal, and a broken nose.”

J.C. laughed.

“Well, as you know Dylan spoke and gave his testimony at our businessmen’s noontime luncheon down in China town. There were about thirty men there. All enjoyed his inspiring words. I’d say it was a great success.”

J. C. was the owner of Bates Properties, a commercial real estate firm in San Francisco. His success caused him to seek ways on how he could give back to the city he loved. He ended up being involved in Business Men’s Fellowship and became the chapter president.

“After the luncheon, I was driving him to Mission Terrace to spend some time together before I dropped him off at the airport. We were heading down Market Street, past the Castro District, when we saw a Pride parade. He asked to stop and watch. I pulled over and walked across the street with him.”

“So far,” I said, “everything seems okay.”

“Yeah, nothing happened until Dylan stepped off the curb and began preaching in a loud voice, ‘Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'”

J. C. paused for a moment.

“Then everything hit the fan. A couple of guys pushed and shoved him. Another hit him in the face, knocking his glasses off. He fell to the ground and quite a few kicked him. Two police officers came over and inquired what was happening. A man said that Dylan was preaching hate. One officer asked Dylan what he was doing and he replied he was preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God. They cuffed him and threw into a police cruiser and took him off to jail.”

“That’s all my sweet hubby did.”

“Yep and he even forgave the crowd before he was ushered away.”

We talked a few minutes more before J. C. offered to pick me up at the airport. He proposed that I stay in his home with his wife and him.

I agreed to his offers, but I still had an unanswered question gnawing at me.

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 8…the first 9 parts are reruns and can be read here.)

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February 2, 2017 · 6:20 am

Prayers for America (2/2/2017)

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I have just finished reading Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell. It was an eyeopening book.

As most of us realize, the Battle of Waterloo was a history changing battle for all of Western Civilization. Its biggest consequence was that most of our nations ended up being republics and democracies rather than empires and dictatorships.

Yet, the battle itself was marked by terrible mistakes by both France and Great Britain and its allies. Any of these mistakes could have made the difference in the battle if they had not occurred.

For instance, the Duke of Wellington overlooked France’s advance on British lines. Because of this, he and his staff attended a ball the night before the battle in Brussels. Many of these men fought the next day in their dancing sandals and their best outfits instead of boots and soldiers’ uniforms.

Napoleon, on the other hand, could have kept on marching right through the British lines while Wellington was dancing, but stopped for the night. He then delayed his battle plans the next morning for over four hours because the ground was wet. This delay allowed the Prussians to arrive on the scene later in the day to help gain the victory for the allies.

Also, Napoleon’s orders to his generals were so garbled that his leaders failed to act in a timely fashion. Each of his two top leaders could have turned the tide for the French if they had understood the orders.

But one thing the Duke of Wellington did do: he stayed with his strength, which was a defensive strategy. He knew Napoleon was an offensive strategist. So, he waited at the top of a ridge, forcing the French to attack across a wet, soggy field and then up a hill into his strength.

When Napoleon sent his best soldiers – the Old Guard – into the battle. The unbeaten French soldiers marched up to the top of the ridge to face a disastrous surprise. Wellington had kept his best soldiers hidden behind the ridge, lying on the ground, and out of sight. The British soldiers rose up when the French were 25-30 paces away and fired volley after volley into the French soldiers. It turned into a slaughter and the French fled the battlefield.

“A plan seldom survives first contact with the enemy. A plan is basically good intentions. The key question is not ‘Do you have a plan?’ The question is ‘…Can you take the plan and adapt it to the situation on the ground, no matter the situation?’ (Excerpt from Planning + Preparation = Survival by Larry Nevenhoven, © 2013, Amazon eBook)

Like Great Britain and its allies at the Battle of Waterloo, America and its leaders will make errors, some of them big ones, but we need to hold on to our strength in the days ahead, which is God.

My prayer today:

Lord, help us American believers to humble ourselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways so that You will hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land. (Based on 2 Chronicles 7:14)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you today?

Join with me on Thursdays to fast and pray for America.

 

 

 

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February 1, 2017 · 9:17 am

Geezer Up (Part 6)

Jane

My wife, Jane, can best explain what was going through her mind from the time of my phone call until the arraignment:

The first thought to cross my mind when Dylan phoned was to give him a big piece of my mind. We had planned our forty-eighth anniversary trip to Tahoe for months and even paid a nonrefundable deposit on a five-bedroom home on the beach. Our three children, their mates, and our eight grandchildren were going to be there, too. All of us in one home on the lake for seven days. It was a dream vacation and how many more of these could we expect to have in the years ahead? I could have chewed nails when I hung up, especially after him saying that it was no big deal!

I slammed the phone down and screamed.

That’s when the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “Quit acting like a baby. Call the lawyer. Get on a plane and fly to San Francisco. Dylan needs you.”

I fell to my knees and wept.

“Forgive me, Lord.”

But without missing a beat, I jumped up, phoned Jacob, our lawyer, and made a standby reservation for a flight on Virgin Airlines out of San Diego International Airport to San Francisco. My flight’s departure was scheduled for 6:15 a.m., which gave me just enough time to pack and make the sixty-mile drive from Temecula to the airport.

Bluetooth allowed me to make four important phone calls on my trip. The first three were to our children, telling them about Dylan’s situation. The words “hate crime” never ricocheted off my tongue, but instead I termed it a slight misunderstanding, one that a lawyer could easily handle. We would see them on Saturday and have a big laugh over Dylan’s latest faith escapade. The three had questions, but I pooh-poohed their fears with a couple of quick Bible verses.

When I finished calling the three, I looked down at the speedometer. Ninety miles per hour! Jane Matthews: beloved wife, caring mother, doting grandmother, and committed believer of Jesus was acting like Mario Andretti at the Indianapolis Five Hundred, passing every car in sight. I tapped on the brakes and slowed down to seventy-five miles per hour. A police car with a radar gun sat at the next exit.

“Thank you Jesus,” I muttered.

Then, I phoned J.C. Bates. Someone needed to fill me in on the details about Dylan’s arrest and J. C. was the man who could do just that.

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 7…the first 9 parts are reruns and can be read here.)

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January 31, 2017 · 12:02 pm

Prayers for Healing and Deliverance (1/31/2017)

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“*Emily, if you come to the meeting tonight, the Lord will heal you,” I said into the phone.

This phone call occurred twenty-eight years ago while I was doing some teaching at a small home group. I was an office supply salesman and felt the Lord was going to heal Emily of multiple sclerosis. So, I phoned her that afternoon.

Later, she hobbled into the meeting, using a cane to steady herself. She sat down on the sofa. The other four or five attendees sat down near her.

I opened with prayer and then taught a lesson from the Bible. As I finished speaking, I looked over at Emily and saw her with my spiritual eyes. She was totally healed.

I put my Bible down and walked over to her. I reached out my hands and said, “Emily, let’s dance.”

She took my hands and stood up. We then danced all over the living room. I stopped after a few minutes and asked, “Have you noticed anything?”

“No, what?” she said.

“You’re healed.”

She put her hands to her mouth. “Oh Lord, I’m healed,” she said through tears.

Emily walked home that night with the cane over her shoulder. The next day she joined a health club and began working out. Everyone in the city was talking about her miracle.

But sadly, forty days later, she was worse off than when she first arrived at the meeting that evening.

What happened?

She lost her healing.

How?

The multiple sclerosis symptoms starting attacking her body again, which caused her to react in fear and doubt rather than using her faith and trust in the Lord to resist the sickness. The sickness overwhelmed her.

Looking back, I feel it was my lack of experience that I did not take the time to teach her and follow up to help her fight the good fight of faith.

(*Emily: not her real name.)

My prayer today:

Lord, help us to learn how to submit to You and resist the devil so that he will flee from us. (Based on James 4:7)

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for new revelations on healing and deliverance for Americans NOW.

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January 30, 2017 · 9:01 am

Geezer Up (Part 5)

“The People of San Francisco against Dylan Matthews,” announced the heavy-set bailiff in a booming voice. He walked over and handed the case file to a clerk.

Almost with a snap of a finger, I stood to the right of Artie Chin while a junior prosecutor with sad eyes stood on the other side of Chin. Judge Esther Strong sat directly in front of us. The fifty or so year old judge looked down at the file in front of her and then over at me. A slight smile crossed her deep red lips for a nano-second before she resumed her judicial posture.

The prosecutor opened with a legal sounding statement. Chin countered with his defense lawyerly jargon. Back and forth the two fired legalese-laced salvos until Chin ended by saying, “My client enters a not-guilty plea.”

Judge Strong closed the file and turned to dismiss us, but then she stopped. She leaned forward and stared into my eyes.

“I’m inclined to allow Mr. Matthews to be released on his own recognizance, without bail, but I do want to ask him a couple of questions first,” she said, pausing to collect her thoughts. “What will you do if I set you free this morning? Will you go back to Temecula and return for your hearing in two weeks?”

Three possible answers crossed my mind at that moment: forty-eighth anniversary trip to Tahoe, playing with my grandchildren, or enjoying a few rounds of golf with some buddies. All would have pleased the judge so I could have walked out the door into the sunlight once again, but they all evaporated into nothingness. What then came out of my mouth caused a reaction like dropping a live grenade into the courtroom.

“I will walk out the door and go directly to the Castro District and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to that community. They deserve to be set free from the kingdom of darkness by the love of Jesus.”

Judge Strong jumped to her feet. A finger jutted out of her black robe and pointed at me. Anger stripped the judge of her judicial mask, revealing her true inner feelings.

“Mr. Matthews, you have no right to impose your self-righteous religious beliefs on our gay and lesbian communities. I will make sure your bigoted beliefs cost you dearly by setting your bail at one hundred thousand dollars and remanding you to the county jail. What do you think of that, Mr. Matthews?” she proclaimed loud enough for everyone in the building to hear her.

I shrugged.

“I shall not pay one dime nor allow anyone to raise money to set me free nor will I eat another bite of food until I am set free from this jail. Whether I walk out the door or am carried out in a casket is up to the Lord, I shall trust Him to set me free,” I replied.

“Well, we’ll see about your so-called God and how your arrogance holds up two weeks from now at your preliminary hearing. Next case.”

My lawyer resumed his normal breathing as he escorted me back to the small holding pen.

“Maybe you would have answered differently if I would have warned you ahead of time that Judge Strong is a lesbian and staunch leader in the LGBT movement,” he whispered.

I laughed.

“Probably not.”

Then, a voice from the courtroom cut my heart.

“Dylan, Dylan, I love you…”

I turned to see Jane waving at me. She looked great in her yellow dress, one of my favorites, but all I could do was nod my head and wonder about what she was thinking.

(A new sequel to Unhitched Geeser, which can be checked out here.)

(Continued in Part 6…the first 9 parts are reruns and can be read here.)

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