Thoughts on the state of America...

Right now I am sitting in Starbucks drinking a double latte thinking about the state of America. This blog is being written in what English Lit. Majors would call “stream of consciousness”. Meaning I’m writing as it comes to my brain. I can’t help but think how we are no longer living, in this great nation, for our children’s children. We’ve been so trained to think of ourselves and our momentary comfort, because we, America, are such a people who believe we are entitled to our comfort, that we fail to see the impact our momentary comfort is making on generations to come. What we have built on the foundations of freedom and liberty for all men would astound our forefathers. We have built business and corporation on the ideas of abolitionist and freedom fighters. We no longer live for the good of all people, but rather we live for our own good at any man’s cost, even the cost of our children. We are not fighting to create a free world in the nations of the earth. We are fighting to create a free market. And my conclusion at the end of the day is that men are selfish. Men love power, and money gives them power. Men are lovers of themselves. And yet the worst thing I could do would be forsake the nicer things of life and spread morality in the earth. The bottom line is that men have no ability to be anything different than what they are without something greater working deep within. Moments like this I want to be a politician. And quite the politician I would be. But for no more reason than I can manipulate to get what I want- because men are selfish, and I am a pro at being selfish! I am the problem. The problem is that the world does not need a politician. The world does not need a moralist, a republican, a democrat, or a nationalist. Republicans will lead this nation so far to the right, that the rich will get richer and the poor poorer, and chance and time will rule every man’s life. Democrats, as we have well seen, will lead this nation straight to socialism, progressively into communism and ultimately America will take her place in history as a fallen nation. We can argue Capitalism vs. Communism, but both will fall. I suppose what I am getting at is that America is in need of God. America is in need of the one force that can deliver her from herself. You can say that this is the way the world has always worked, but I beg to differ. Men have always been men, but in that day men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud…despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Never in human history has it been ok for a mother to murder her child in her womb… and yet we have aborted over 50 million babies in America alone, and counting! Never in human history have so many children been trafficked through the nations of the earth, and through our own backyards, to be used as sexual slaves, and yet it is the fastest growing industry in the world! Never in human history has perversion flooded the earth that from Los Angeles alone America has built over a billion dollar pornography industry! And never in human history have men been so dull to the truth, and so cold to the desperation of the world. What the world needs is a savior. What the world needs are men who know God. Men who can tell of another age… men who have stood in the presence of the Almighty and live to tell of His nature. What the world needs is Jesus, and a crucified people who, with laid down lives, have become the highway between their desperate world and His beautiful cross. People who have no other agenda than to be walked on, that people might make their way to the cross of Christ. That man, that God-Man, hanging on that tree is the hope of every man. He is the light that is the life to every man. Friend, America needs Jesus, pure undiluted Jesus. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.

Behold, Children are a blessing from the Lord...

Psalm 127 says to Behold, that children are a blessing from the Lord. There are two dominating prayers of my life. I mean thoughts that keep me awake at night. Thoughts that the moment I begin to dwell on them bring tears to my eyes. Dreams that I don't need someone to stir me up to believe in. If I could sum up my life in a sentence it would be this: I want to build the House of the Lord bringing Him day and night worship to usher in His return throughout the nations of the earth, and I want to fill it with once orphaned children. The Bible says that this is true religion, to care for widows and orphans. Sometimes I believe that we think of ministry in a wrong sense. Ministry is not solely a platform. In fact I'd go as far as to say its not primarily a platform. More often than not I think we're not called to platform based ministry, and yet to most of us ministry equals platform. And we're missing it.

I do think that God says true religion is to care for widows and orphans because when we do we look like God in the earth. Derek Loux, a man who has impacted my life, says of adoption "My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him." I want to give the church a vision for adoption. I want to spend my life inspiring the church to care for widows and orphans. I want a ministry of my own one day. I want a huge ministry. But I can do without the platform. I can do without the green rooms and the entourage. I want ministry to look like 20 kids in my house. Kids who have disabilities, kids of other races, kids of my race, kids with disfunction, kids who take up my time, my money and my effort... I want my ministry to look like a life laid down for those who have nothing to give me. I want the world's children. If the world doesn't want them, I do. If you don't want them, I will take them.

I think we've been given a great opportunity by the circumstances of the world we live in. The world has given away there children. And if we don't take them and care for them and raise them in the presence of God, someone will take them. I am not saying that everyone has to have 20 children. But what I am saying is that we need a change of mindset. From an American culture christianity to "whatever you want God". He doesn't need much. Simply willingness. He can do wonders with that. It's expensive, but He will provide. He will feed every mouth he sends. It is hard, but He will give grace. It is taxing, but He is the rewarder. I once began to tell the Lord of all the things I wanted to do, of all the nations I want to go to and all the churches I wanted to build, all the people I wanted to heal and sermons I wanted to preach. And He said to me "Missy, let me show you the greatest worship leader on the earth. Heaven's perspective is not not earth's perspective." And he began to show me a picture of a mom who was teaching her children "Jesus Loves Me" before bed. And as simple as it sounds, Heaven stood in awe.

My dream is this: Every child a loved and wanted child. I want God to use my life. I want Him to make me willing. 80% of children diagnosed with down syndrome in America are aborted. That s outrageous, yet are we willing? There are more african american babies dying in America than are being born. That is outrageous, yet are we willing? There are thousands of children trapped in the sex slave trade who will come out with disfunction and wounds. That is outrageous, yet are we willing? There are currently 130,000 children (give or take some) available for adoption in the foster care system in America today. There are 300,000 churches in America. If every other church in our nation adopted a child we would have no more orphaned children in our nation. I think we can do this. I think God, in His great mercy, wants to give us an adoption movement. He wants to answer the shedding of the blood of 50 million babies with an adoption movement IF the church will be willing. We have no grounds to contend for the ending of abortion if we aren't willing to become the answer to our own prayers. If we say yes we can shape the world, one child a time.

Random thoughts on life...

I created a blog today for a place to write all of my random thoughts on life. I figure it'd probably be better to express my intense views on life in a blog rather than in large groups of people. That usually doesn't go over so well. And if people want to read it, good, and if not, oh well. In any case, this is it...