Human Trafficking must STOP!

It's been awhile since I've written.  Life has had it's challenges, but faith has brought me through them.  Yet I find myself on a new journey.  A seed planted in my heart many years ago is breaking open and taking root.  I can see it poking through the soil of passion and I must write about it.

Human trafficking.  How?!  In this day and age of awareness and human rights how can it be that people are bought, sold and stolen to the benefits of others fleshly wants and desires?  How can any human think that using another human being for their own self-gratification is justified?  Yet, this atrocity is soaring to new heights in this supposedly "enlightened" age we live in.

Now my burden for such horrid acts on human beings must grow to something more affective.  No longer is it just a hearts cry to God to bring justice into an unjust and perverse world, it is an active mission in every fiber of my being to DO something.  I am praying for God to lead my steps as I step out in faith to act rather than to be bothered.

I wondered what I could do and I found a website with a petition to sign regarding kids being charged as criminals in an obvious sex trafficking arena.  So I started there and have been passing out the petition on facebook and through emails.  Here's the site too if anyone is reading this blog in the US.

http://www.change.org/petitions/state-lawmakers-kids-not-criminals-pass-safe-harbor-laws?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=url_share&utm_campaign=url_share_after_sign#

Then I thought of other ways to act.  I am an artist and therefore I have some ideas of making awareness fliers and posters.  So that's next.  Also I am reading to educate myself and sharing with everyone I know about being aware of those around us.  I put a contact number in my cell phone (1-888-373-7888) to report any suspicious activity or people I may suddenly "see" in my daily activities in the communities surrounding that meet the criteria.  Awareness opens our eyes to see things we would never notice before.  So word of mouth is an action.

My family has just moved to Texas and we know no one outside of family and a few of their friends.  So I must connect to others and get awareness out there too.  Every act is like a drop of water in a giant pond that causes a ripple effect.  With each person we share about Human trafficking it's like more drops of water in that pond.  Some day with much prayer and action and God's help, those of us who fight for those who cannot fight for themselves will become like a torrential rain storm on those who commit these horrid acts on humanity!  May God set these captives free and may we love them and nurture them to healing and wholeness by His love and with the power of His glory.

Look at your loved ones;  your children, nieces, nephews, sisters, brothers, mothers, daughters and grandchildren.  They could be the next targets of these sinister people.  We must fight to protect them and help those who are already victimized.  We must act.  It IS happening in our own back yard.

http://www.polarisproject.org
 http://www.endslaverynow.com/

This is written for all the “religious” family we have out there in the world

Where does your theology lead you?  How does your dogma invite the lost into the Family of God?  How is it your version of the Bible, or your denominational titles are being a light in the world?  How did you get so far off track from the path you started?  People, “religion” does not save men.  Do not think that your billboards telling passerby’s that you read from the King James Version (not that there is anything wrong with this version, it's just an example I am using because I see it on church billboards so frequently) is going to save a single soul.  Or that your programs will entice the lost when the world sees how God’s people are divided! 

How do you not see that your religion has become an idol around your own necks?!  You spend more time condemning and criticizing other children of God for loving on people as Jesus did because your views on the scriptures are skewed.  There is a void of love in your religion that pushes people away from God rather than drawing them to Him!  

When did Jesus ever take the Word of God and use it as a hammer of condemnation over men’s hearts?!  When did he turn up his nose towards sinners and act disgusted?  Did He enter into the tax collectors house (which also was full of prostitutes) and scream at them that they were going to hell because they were “sinners!”   Did He yell at his disciples and condemn them for their uniqueness or for having their own style of ministering to others?  Where did Jesus say that only the Baptists, or the Lutherans, or the Presbyterians, or the Pentecostals or the charismatics, or the Methodists and so forth had the only true theology?  The Jesus I studied was full of compassion on the lost and loved them with such kindness and respect that they were drawn to Him and recognized their own hunger for the Truth.  They knew somehow that they could receive something from Him they could not get from the religious of their time.  He offered them hope and shared a gospel message that had never been heard before.  Well it was not new but He shared the heart of the Father concerning the Laws of Moses and lived a life that completed and complemented the Truth to help people, not hinder them.  Jesus gave people hope that they could find forgiveness for their sins by living the life of Truth and Love. 

Jesus was also not passive when it came to the Truth.  He did not fear the religious or even the lost but stood on the Word of God while walking in the Love of God.  There are religions who would rather turn the cheek to the gospel so as not to offend man and have allowed “sin” into their congregations, and their teachings are pleasing to itching ears rather than hungry hearts or their doctrines are watered down.  We cannot condemn sinners but we cannot condone sin in God’s sanctuary either.  We are God’s sanctuary on the earth and our own lives must be cleansed before we can attempt to help another who is bound in sin.  We cannot be passive, apathetic hypocrites.  This means we cannot water down the Truth to suit our own desires to be popular with the world!  This is also not the Church as she was meant to be! 

God’s doctrine is sound and just and He is able to protect the integrity of His Word no matter the denomination as long as it is His Truth and not a derivative of another man’s ideas on the Truth.  This is how cults are formed and people are lead into deception.  There is so much dissension in the Body of Believers because of men’s attitudes towards people.  We are NOT to use the Truth to imprison people brothers!!!!  The Truth is to set the captives free!  God is the Truth and God is Love and all those who are in God are also in Love.  Whoever claims to love but hates his brother is deceived and God’s love is not in him! 

My point?  How can the lost in the world see God in the Body when the Body is like a lampstand outside full of dirt and dead bugs and our light is dim at best?!  WE MUST clean our lamps with the Love of God’s Truth and purify our hearts in Christ Jesus so that we can illuminate in these dark times!  It’s God’s Love that transforms the world through the Church, not any version of the Bible, or denomination or theology.  We are saved by grace alone through the blood of Christ in his death and resurrection.  If we can all agree on this and set aside our dogmatic differences and unite under this Truth alone then, and only then can we be the salt of the earth, a lampstand on a hill and vessels of righteousness.  Only then can the world finally see Jesus in us and through us.  God’s love changed us and convicted us of our own sinfulness and it seems we have forgotten what it was like to have been lost. 

Love, not condemnation (for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save it through Him) will reveal God’s mercy and compassion to man.  Love, not criticism will heal the wounds of the lost.  Love with grace and mercy will expand the Kingdom of Heaven.  We must unite brethren if we’re to complete the mission at hand as the Church (The body of believers, aka the Bride of Christ).  We have been adopted into God’s family and we must stop the sibling rivalry and stand together in Christ Jesus as a family. 

Sadly, some of those “religious” will find something wrong with even this plea and condemn me to hell because many are waxed cold in love and are themselves now blinded to the Truth just as the Pharisees were.  The worst part of deception is that the deceived don't realize they are deceived. God help us all and forgive us our absurdities and foolishness of thinking.  Raise up Your People to be a beacon of light in the world; reflections of Your Love and glory to those groping around in the darkness.  Draw them to Your Light Lord that they may be saved!  Break our hearts with what breaks Yours Lord.

Invasion of the Peace Snatchers

Some days you can go along and be "minding" your own business and whistling joyfully and you feel no cares at the moment  when suddenly out of nowhere this thought pops into your head that steals your peace, stops your joy and your whistle is no more.  Your peaceful and happy thoughts turn into thoughts of rejection, or maybe fear, or anger, or resentment or whatever.  Your mood turns from happy to crappy in an instant.

Too often we can keep on that path of negativity and it can ruin our entire day, maybe week and in many cases our relationships.  We have those imaginary conversations with those we are directing our thoughts towards.  Sometimes it's ourselves and we become emotionally self-condemning and naturally we will withdraw from those around us.  Where do these thoughts come from?  How do they invade our minds so quickly and change the direction of our days without us even realizing it?  How can we battle these alien hosts that invade our thoughts and steal our peace and stomp on our joy?

I will not give credit to the evil that berates but rather I will focus on how to overcome their dissension and refraction. Think about what you're thinking about!  Notice!  Pay attention!  And FIGHT to keep your peace!  We don't have to receive the garbage.  We can choose to counterattack with good thoughts.  We can rethink with good things.  Peace is worth the battle.  It only takes a moment to lose it but when we labor to keep it our lives will benefit as well as those lives we are linked to.

The battle is not an easy one and Lord I pray for Your strength to help me to press through.  I may get bruised and bloodied in the process but the victory will be mine and I will be stronger from it.  May these mental assaults prepare me to be like a seasoned soldier who can walk out a valiant life here on earth and reflect Your glory to all I meet and come across.  May these experiences enrich and encourage the lives of others and in turn their lives can bless others and so forth.  Let Your dominoes fall but not for the collapse of Your people but to the connection of us all throughout the world.  Help us to take our thoughts captive to the loving obedience of Christ who is our strength!  Let us kick out these peace snatchers and live with renewed minds so our lights will shine and Your love will permeate the world.