Seeing Through God's Eyes

I've been praying lately that God would help me to see the world the way He sees it. Well, He is answering that prayer. The basis of it begins with the understanding that God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. Now put that together with His great compassion and His heart for justice.

When I boldly dare to approach the majestic throne of God in prayer to know Him better and lay my cares upon Him, I must stop and think, what has He seen that day, and what IS He seeing as we commune. He, no doubt, is seeing all the beauty of those broken ones coming to Him to be restored, but He is also seeing the oppression and abuse of His little ones. While giving me peaceful sleep He has watched a nine year old girl abducted from her home, taken across a border and placed in a brothel and made to sleep with 40 men per day (true, I've read her story and still see her face). My great and compassionate God has watched a little one beaten after a 14 hour work day for not producing enough pogs (he was sold to a job recruiter to help provide for his poor family). and on, and on, and on...

I cannot fathom the depths of His love, nor the depths of his pain in seeing all He sees...and he looks at the Church...

Do we squander the gifts we have? Are we so self-centered that we won't reach out?

The enemy has built gates around evil people, businesses and cities, and the Church is either scared, confused, blind, or unable...but make no mistake, we are NOT unable in Christ. He tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail! It's time to break down some some gates! Don't know how? Pray! He is faithful and is certainly willing that we go.

God, I want to be moved by what moves you.

Trafficking Resources

Here are some great resources/info from a group in Houston fighting sex trafficking.

Coalition Against Human Trafficking

How do we define trafficking?

Here are the UN and US definitions of trafficking:

United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, Supplemental Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children

'“Trafficking in persons” shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs;

The recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of a child for the purpose
of exploitation shall be considered “trafficking in persons” even if this does not involve any of the means set forth in subparagraph (a) [see above] of this article;'

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Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) of 2000, [United States federal law; the definition below is of 'severe forms of trafficking in persons', for which there are criminal penalties in the United States]

1) Sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion or in which the person induced to perform such an act is under 18, or

2) The recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, for the purpose of subjecting that person to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.

Time to get rolling

Ok folks, how do we combat sex trafficking? Here are some great resources to start learning what the problem is and how to get involved to rescue the oppressed. Take it on in your city!

Polaris Project (secular non-profit focused on the U.S.)

International Justice Mission (Christ centered non-profit focused overseas)

A Passion for the Bride of Christ

I'm not critical, I'm passionate for the bride of Christ, the Church!

We need to “Go Big” for Christ but using an Ozzy Osborne song during your Christmas program is too big in the wrong direction. Do we seriously need to add worldly stuff to make the Gospel more appealing? I believe that it ends up cheapening it. The Gospel is POWERFUL without all the fluff. I’m afraid these practices of using the world's ways to draw unbeliever's into a church service results in false conversions, ultimately vaccinating people with a weakened strain of the Gospel so they never get the real thing.

People need to be confronted with the majesty of God and the wretchedness of their sin; Spurgeon, Wesley, and Edwards style. The Church needs to be strengthened in understanding scripture and prepared for persecution and trials. Maybe a shift from feeding goats to feeding the sheep.

So much concentration on drawing in goats while the sheep suffer on a constant diet of skim milk. It is time to move on to the greater things of the Word.

There is a lot of hurt in this world. When I’m reading about 9-year-old sex slaves in Guatemala and indigenous missionaries in India being hacked with machetes (both of which I’ve read about today) and then I see the “Church” in America dancing around to Ozzy Osborne music and giving ourselves new cars and big screens…I just think we can do a lot better.

I have a general disgust of American “Christianity” and the impotent gospel being preached too often with man at the center (i.e. get free heaven, your “Best Life Now”, etc). I don’t see any anguish. Anguish for my sin, anguish for the lost, anguish for the oppressed, anguish that makes bloody knees.

Is Our God is so weak we have to draw people in with material things and crazy antics?! Some of these "pastors" are presenting a god to the world that needs help saving people. Where is the POWER of GOD in this imputant plan. Jesus, the Son of God, died a horrifying death for you, so that you could experience His love, forgiveness and be reconciled to Him.

This life is all about glorifying God. How is it glorifying God to sing ungodly songs during church? How does it glorify Him to dance (worldly style) during the offering and turn His house into a party house?? How is it glorifying God to bring all kinds of material things into the church for raffle, resorting to feeding people’s greed just to get them to walk in the doors?

International Justice Mission

The Church has figured out evangelism, feeding the hungry, and sheltering the homeless, but we are just starting to get our minds around how to rescue the oppressed. Check out International Justice Mission.

Some good things happening in Cambodia

Some folks doing a good work with kids in Cambodia.