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Tony, my favorite preacher and friend invited me to his new church in Besonhurst, Brooklyn. He’d preach, I’d lead worship and get to meet some of the newly converted locals I’d heard about. They were an eclectic group and as a shy suburban girl, I found them both exciting and intimidating.  The epitome of cool, they were heavily pierced, tattooed urbanites. It was a good hour’s drive from home, but totally worth the trip. Tony delivered a persuasive, powerful gospel message and I was excited to see the Lord at work. Many more surrendered their lives to Christ and I was grateful to have played a part. We took advantage of the Lenny’s Clam Bar right around the corner and afterward celebrated with shrimp scampi, linguine and butter drenched garlic bread. Yum.

Bensonhurst is comprised of narrow streets where vehicles park on both sides and now midnight, I was beginning my trek back to Long Island alone. Stopped at a red light I noticed a group of guys uncomfortably close to my car as they vacated the corner nightclub.  They were rowdy and loud and I tried to be invisible, completely avoiding eye contact.  I knew they were locking their attention on me and I ignored them. With cars in front and back there was nowhere for me to go.  Thankfully this was a well populated neighborhood.

Within seconds all four of them surrounded my car and started rocking it up and down. My heart pounded but I would not let them know how frightened I was.  I leaned on my horn and tried to make them feel stupid, motioning to get off my car.  My heart stopped as one of them jumped on top of my car’s hood and pressed his sordid face up against my windshield. His eyes bulging, his tongue gyrated in his open mouth with only the glass between us.  Obscenities spewed from his mouth as he described his intention to rape me. The contrast of the two worlds I was in that night could not have been more stark.

The veins in his neck bulged and the pounding in my chest went into my ears and made me deaf.  I waited for someone on the street to come to my aid but no one did. The cars in front of me were still not moving and there was a row behind me.  The other three guys began pulling on each car door handle, each one seemingly hoping theirs would pop first. They cursed and kicked the car in frustration when the locks didn’t immediately give way but given the age and condition of my older model Chevy Caprice I knew they would.  With panicked breath I screamed the name of Jesus in my heart. I simultaneously leaned hard on my horn letting the cars in front of me know it was time to MOVE, MOVE, MOVE ALREADY but the city gridlock held everyone in place. Fear paralyzed me and made them roar with laughter as the windshield pervert yelled his intentions. Gripped in panic my eyes darted around searching for help from the near by cars. In terrifying amazement I realized I was alone in this urban grid and no one was going to help me.  It was then the miraculous happened.

Under my rib cage a bizarre sensation seized me. Something, that felt like a grapefruit size substance was moving. It was not indigestion, it was not nausea. I was not in pain. Something within was beginning to erupt. It was something outside of my physical body, yet it was entirely physical. It began to move up slowly, very slowly but very powerfully into my chest. To say it was substantial would be an understatement. It was more than substantial. It was absolute power. Although they were still yelling I no longer heard their obscenities as they rocked my car, unwavering in their commitment to get my doors open. It continued to move upward. The sound of the rumbling filled my ears and no other sound was audible. My entire body began to literally quake, not shake from fear, but quake from the spiritual titanic inside me. A volcano of force erupted within my body, within my spirit. It was moving up into my esophagus.

It was not emotional, it was not contrived. It was not a byproduct of panic. Suddenly fear fell off me like a garment. Absolute power overtook me. The paralyzing terror that held me moments earlier disappeared as God’s power exploded within and in an instant incredible FREEDOM was mine in a THRILL of release. The power of God was transforming me into someone, or something different entirely. It continued to move upward through my esophagus and I understood it would articulate. It was rising against darkness, great darkness. Against evil. In the most awesome sense I saw there was no contest, no battle. In overwhelming amazement I surrendered completely to it. I vibrated with an intensity of being that was not of myself. To the utter astonishment of these four men, I rolled down my window and ordered them to be silent. They immediately obeyed. Three of them froze as the fourth slid off the hood of my car.

The supremacy that spoke was pure and absolute. It was total authority. I commanded them to vacate.  The man who had climbed on my hood looked at me in utter astonishment and shook his head as he walked away. Two others followed. I understood the one left standing was a former follower of Christ. I knew God was going to restore his life and heal him. I told him so. The Lord was calling him back and the pitiful existence he was now living, demonstrated by this event would be behind him. Forgiveness awaited him. He had a call of God on his life and a purpose he needed to fulfill. A destiny within the kingdom of God.

In a whisper he described burying his grandfather that week and as his lips trembled he broke into tears. He started to tell me he had just lit a candle for his grandfather when I suddenly realized there were no cars in front of me and I drove away.
I spent the next hour on the road trying to understand what had just happened. My body calmed and the substance within dissipated. I understood the scripture passage from Isaiah 59 had just become a spiritual and physical reality. “When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will raise up a standard against him.”

The Greek word DUNAMIS describes “the inherent power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature.”  The seed of Christ planted in my spirit when I was born again produced that same nature. His nature in me. The very core of my being was permanently altered from the events that night and spilled into every other area of my life.  For me this changed everything.

 

“As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe and it tore. So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you…” 1Samuel 15: 27-28

As I think back on my life and the times my heart has been set on HIM, peace reigned and joy filled me. But I’ve known what it is to reached for things of my own accord.  Separate and apart from Him.  Even good things that became too important and carried an affection of my heart meant for Him alone. Even things that were “rightfully mine”.

As the accompanying strife and dis-ease confirmed, they were meant to be given, not taken. Proverbs 10:22 says, “It is the blessing of the Lord that makes rich and he adds no sorrow to it.”
If you’ve reached for things that don’t fulfill you and leave you empty, do what David did. Do what I’ve done. REPENT!  Turn around! None of us are above repentance and although perceived as a disgrace,
it is an opportunity FOR grace!  The shame is not in having TO repent- the shame is in NOT repenting.

Repentance is a golden bridge that enables us to connect again with the place of favor and blessing. With a place where his face shines upon us and the blessing of the Lord overtakes us!
Lord forgive us for not putting you first in our lives and following YOU with our whole heart. For if you are not Lord of all, you are not Lord at all.

 

According to a recent Bloomberg report and Gallop pole, same sex marriage is considered the “fastest moving social issue in United States history.” Yet surprisingly, out of thousands of Americans who were questioned, most reported to believe the percentage of gay, lesbian, bi-sexual or transgender population to be roughly 25%  of our nations population. According to these reports the real stats place that segment of our society under 4%. It is interesting that the perception of most believe it to be more than six times that amount. There’s no denying, the LGBT community has done a stellar job of coming together with one voice and an inexhaustible commitment to shift the cultural perspective of American family, love and marriage. Taking strong public stands and utilizing every media tool at their disposal, they have won a reported 60% in support of same-sex marriage. Quite a feat for 4% of our populace.

Persistence, tenacity, passion for a common goal and well organized strategies have enabled this reportedly small percent of our population to bring about a radical re-interpretation of American values. Interesting, especially given the most recent figures provided claim 70% of Americans profess to be Christian.  It is certainly no secret that for Christians, biblical teaching places issues such as same sex marriage and abortion at polar opposite sides.  It would stand to reason that even our pro-choice and LGBT family and friends would not expect Christians to support their stance on these issues.  They do not apologize for their convictions on these controversial debates, and I presume they would not expect us to.

Still most of the two hundred and twenty five million Christians (according to the recent reports) remain largely silent and non-participatory.  The “God bless America” in our heritage and its associated blessing continues to evaporate as many of our nations Bible based laws and values vacate. God bless America, how does that go again? It’s been a while since we’ve heard it. When one considers the “fait accompli “these 13 million, give or take, out of 322 million have attained it is nothing short of staggering.  Tirelessly working together, bound in purpose and vision they have proven to be passionately committed to their objectives while remaining fiercely unified.  What a concept. Maybe they read Psalm 133.

Storming our countries legislative system, rallying, protesting, litigating and funding the necessary platforms it takes to succeed, they reach into their pockets, show up at meetings, strategically plant themselves in the center of the public eye and demand change, even at personal cost. I guess that’s what it looks like when something is really important to you. They’ve even won the bathroom battle, claiming transgender individuals (reported to be approx. 0.3% of our population according to the Williams Institute) were being discriminated against. Now all public schools are required to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their choice. They don’t want to make the one child out of  32,103,000 feel uncomfortable.  Let the other thirty two million deal with it.

So as we comfortably sit at home and choose to shy away from taking a public stand for Christ and our nations Judeo- Christian values, making our daily routine and personal to do list our greatest passion, are we not passively endorsing the decimation of our country’s Christian Heritage? Is not our apathy and lethargy supporting the changes in our cultures mindset  and governmental laws? Are we not breaking the oath of covenant our forefathers entered into with Jehovah-God at the onset of our country’s formation,  or are we too disinterested and unaware to even consider that? Maybe we’re afraid of  being falsely accused of opposing women’s health or being homophobic.  Are we that thin skinned and inept at defending life and marriage? Do we not believe that God is on our side?  And when by the way, did killing your unborn child become women’s health and family planning? I guess while we were sleeping.

Unfortunately I have more so come to believe our convictions simply pale in comparison to those in the other camp.  The fervor, passion and commitment to show up and take a public stand for the cause of Christ doesn’t seem to be there despite our profession. Maybe we’re waiting for somebody else to do it.  As the “one nation under God” slips through our fingers and the mention of His name goes from a politically incorrect faux-pas to a provocative offense, let us not point the finger at any one person or group. Let us place the blame squarely where it lies; on the church of God, the body of Christ, on me and on you. For this country from its inception and covenantal oath with God has only been ours to lose.

So maybe we should take a tip from the beloved LGBT member in our family, or friend or co-worker.  Just like they did, maybe we should search our hearts and souls and determine what is really important to us. Maybe we need to rediscover the passion in our own lives, in our personal relationship with Christ. Maybe we need to repent and return to our first love.  To re-establish the very foundation on which our lives and our faith is said to be built. To rally as so many others have and publicly support what we say we believe in.  Or will unity, power and passion in the body of Christ remain just another lofty ideal our Sunday message Pastors preach about? Oh I forgot, we hardly show up for that anymore either. I wonder if we can measure the cost of our quiet disregard.

In our culture today, one can not help but notice all of those who have come out of the closet with gusto.  Who scream, fight, take a stand, rally and persevere for what they believe in, hardly counting the cost.  Maybe it’s time we as the church re-discover our passion, come out of the closet and do the same.