Dyno Domains Center

When I was a new Christian, The Lord taught me many lessons about putting Him first. I was raising my daughter, and I was always so concerned about her well-being and education. It seemed that my life was revolving around her. One day, The Lord spoke to me that if I continued putting her first; He would have to take her home to Himself. He told me that she was “His” daughter, and that He had chosen me to raise her up in the way she was to go. I was putting my daughter on a pedestal without realizing it. Later, I was fixing up an old home, and it took me three months to paint the home, plaster the cracks and to clean it. I remember that I was just enjoying the home so much after I finished the work, and I would often think of how much I loved the home, the yard and the beauty there. The Lord again spoke to me, and He asked me, “Would you be willing to leave this home right now if I asked you to leave?” I thought about it for a second, and I said, “Yes, Lord”. He then allowed me to stay in the home for several years after that. God requires first place in our lives as He did with Abraham when He told Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son. We always talk about the blessings of Abraham, but Abraham was totally obedient to God in being willing to obey God. We will be blessed when we put God first in every area of our lives. The Lord taught me about money many times. I remember one day, when I was making plans to attend a Christian Breakfast Meeting that would cost $6.00 for myself and my daughter. At the time, I was going to school, and so it seemed like an extravagance, and I decided not to go because I needed the money for other things. The afternoon before the Breakfast Meeting, my good friend came to my house, and she told me that The Lord spoke to her to come to my home and give me a specific amount of money. She then took six one dollar bills and counted them out in my hand. My daughter and I went to The Breakfast Meeting, and I learned that where God guides; He also provides. Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Our main concern must be to seek what is important in God’s Kingdom above everything else. Most of all He requires our love for Him, and others, and to do His will in our lives. We must always be willing to say Lord, “Not my will but Yours be done”. If we are not willing to say and pray that wonderful prayer; we need to ask The Holy Spirit to reveal what is blocking our total surrender to The Lord. We are never to be striving after the attainment of money, reputation, prestige or titles because all that we should have will be given to us as we seek The Lord first. Our love for Him is first, and all else will fall into place when we love God above everything else in our lives. Many ministries have fallen because their emphasis was raising more and more money. They had gotten off of the straight and narrow road which leads to the Kingdom of God. Matthew 7:13, Many Christians have gotten off the straight and narrow road in order to seek after the things of the world. The love of the world lured them onto an insidious side road. 1 John 2:15, The Lord wanted the rich, young ruler to give up all of his worldly goods out of love for Him. We will all be tested in this area. God wants us to always care more for His commandments and His will than we do for our money and possessions. We must always be willing to give away all that we own if The Lord tells us to do that. 1 John 3:17, God doesn’t need our money, but money is a means of exchange, and when we refuse to use it according to The Lord’s will and for His glorious purposes; it can become an idol. Money is a common idol, but an idol can be anything that separates us from putting God first in our lives. An idol can be a husband, a wife, a child, our home, our savings, our jobs, our title, our education, our ministry and the list can go on and on. An idol is what we think about, talk about and seek after more than we think, talk about and seek The Lord, His Kingdom and His righteousness. An idol is anything that has become a god in our lives. For those in sin, it could be alcohol, sexual lusts and/or perversions, gambling, pornography, adultery, fornication, lying, stealing and the list can go on ad infinitum. We must always make sure that our source of strength, wisdom, love, joy, hope and faith is based in The Lord Jesus Christ. If we are looking to any other source for our contentment; we must repent and get right with God. We must come back to our first love of The Lord Jesus Christ. Today, He is looking for those who will be sold out to Him and not to this world. The world is everywhere, and it permeates every area of our lives, but we must look beyond the world, and the things in this world. We need to be like the five wise virgins, who were instantly ready and prepared to meet The Lord. The Holy Spirit in them was burning brightly. They had their eyes fixed and their hearts focused on their Lord. They were ready. Are you ready? Are you watching and waiting for Him? Rev. 3:3, None of us know when our time will come to meet Him. Our breath is as a vapor. (Luke 21:36),We are commanded by The Lord Jesus Christ to “watch and pray”. Why? So that we will be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come upon this earth, and to be able to stand before The Lord Jesus Christ. We are not to wait until a disaster comes, or to wait until we are ill or dying, but we need to get right with The Lord today. Now, during our good days; we are to seek The Lord with all of our hearts, and to put Him first in our lives. (Psalm 32:6), Some Christians during these times, think that they no longer need God or His wisdom, and some even think The Bible is old-fashioned, and that the things of God should be modernized. They use Madison Avenue techniques to raise huge sums of money, and they copy the music and entertainment of the world in order to attract people who love the world and its ways. (Matthew 7:21-23), These leaders cannot make true disciples of Jesus Christ because they themselves are not disciples of Jesus Christ. These “religious” leaders are making their own disciples which are manipulated into their own images. They are not making disciples of Jesus Christ because those that follow them will not be able to know or find the true love, fruit and character of The Lord Jesus Christ in them. They will find a counterfeit Jesus that is formed in their own image. Their main goal is to gain more and more popularity which then produces more money, power and prestige. They sacrifice the real truth found in the whole Word of God in order to win many people to themselves. They find Scriptures that entice their followers into believing that their luxurious lifestyles are Biblical. People who are not grounded in the true Word of God are easily deceived. Jesus Christ warned us about these hypocrites repeatedly in His Word. (Matthew 7:15-17), These religious leaders are not putting God first or His Kingdom because they are building their own kingdoms. All that they are building through their own efforts will be burned up as wood, hay and stubble. Only The Lord Himself can build His church, and then the gates of hell will no longer be able to prevail against it. These charlatans preach an easy salvation without the conditions necessary for true conversion. These religious leaders and those who think that their salvation is easy and light need to have a fear of the living God. We have heard about a God that is of our own creation, but we need to study the Word and find the real Jesus Christ, and the real Gospel message. (Phil. 2:12), The Word of God tells us that only those who obey God and endure to the end will be saved. The attainment of our salvation by Jesus Christ on the cross was not easy, and our denying ourselves, taking up our crosses and following Him will not be easy, but by The grace of God we can finish the race victoriously. Tit. 2:12, Our blessings are not automatic, but they are based on contingencies. These requirements are clearly stated by our Lord throughout The New Testament. Jesus commanded us to love Him first, to love even our enemies, and He said that if we loved Him; we would obey His commandments. 2 Tim. 3:12, Are you suffering persecution because of your walk with The Lord Jesus? Many true Christians throughout the world are suffering persecution because they follow the Lord. Many are being persecuted by the religious leaders and their many followers because they are preaching The pure and holy Word of God. When you put God first; you will no longer be a man pleaser. If you are still trying to please people for your own purposes; you cannot be a servant of Jesus Christ. Gal. 1:10, When we refuse to put God first and as Head in His church; the church will not have its needed power, authority and effectiveness. When we stop doing everything”our” way, and we start doing everything in the church His way; we will experience the magnificent, glorious power of God in The church. When The church becomes one, and it becomes all that God ordained it to be; the people of the world will know That Jesus Christ is The Son of almighty God. When they see Him and His love in His people; then they will believe and know The Lord Jesus Christ. Many “religious” leaders want to make their own doctrines, their own rules, and their own methods which are no different from the ways of those who never knew The Lord Jesus Christ. These are those who believe that they are rich, well-dressed and they think that they know everything and can see, but Jesus says that they are poor, naked, miserable and blind. It is very sad because those who have so much of the world’s goods, titles, prestige, money and power are unable to discern or understand their true condition. Jesus says to them: Rev. 3:17-18, Jesus is giving these “Christians” wonderful advice, and He is even standing at the door of their hearts trying to come into their hearts and lives. They have ceased to put God first in their lives. Wealth, prestige, possessions and power have turned their heads away from God. They think that they no longer need Him or His Truth. They have become very “prosperous”, but it is not the kind of prosperity that The Lord honors. God honors the prosperity found in a soul that is totally yielded to Him. God’s prosperity consists of having a pure heart, a right spirit and clean hands before Him. There are so many godly men, women and children who are humbly working out their own salvations with fear and trembling. They are following The Lord Jesus Christ every day, and seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness. These are those who will go through much persecution because they have chosen to live a godly life and live righteously in a world that is completely opposed to living a pure and holy life. Mat. 5:10, These are those who have put God first, and they will be greatly blessed.

The Lord came to earth with nothing, He didn’t have a place to lay His head and He was of no reputation. He came to set the supreme example for all of us as He said that we are to deny ourselves and take up our crosses and follow Him. He had nothing, but He accomplished more than all others by laying down His life, and by putting His Father first. He only did what His Father gave Him to do. He had given up everything in order to fulfill God’s glorious purposes. We are called and commanded to do the same. It is not an easy salvation, but it is a great salvation that cost God and The Lord Jesus Christ everything. Through God; we can do all things and nothing that He requires will be impossible to those who believe and trust in Him. Real success is putting God first in every area of our lives.

Just when we thought spring had finally arrived, we got blasted with snow flurries and wretched weather all day Saturday. Rain mixed with snow and sleet…and spring spirits dashed right along with hopes of getting anything done outside in the garden…or of simply catching a whiff of fresh spring air. Because my calendar tells me that spring has officially arrivedwe’re ten days into it for crying out loud and chocolate bunnies, eggs and marshmallow chicks line rack upon rack of grocery store shelves after allyet my eyes tell me that winter is indeed, still in our midstwe cannot leave our homes without bulky overcoats and sweatersI’m caught between the desire for celebrating spring’s freshness and vitality with the inescapable resignation that winter, at least up here in New England, is still here.

Such is Holy Week. We want so badly to celebrate the Resurrection at Easter, but we feel overcome with the passion and trial of the days leading from Palm Sunday through Good Friday. This season signalsaround the worldtime for reflection. During Holy Week, we moveday by dayfrom sadness to enthusiasm. From the valley of darkness to the tunnel of light. And that entails conflict.

Many of us feel conflicted these days. Overall, general “conflictedness.” The war in Iraq might be bogging us down in one way or another; college acceptance and rejection letters might be cause for overall malaise or even panic; and figuring out the calendar for summer activities for your kids in light of your own schedule might be more than you can emotionally handle.

I’ve been unusually conflicted lately. I’ll most likely be re-entering the official workforce in the next few weeks or months, and I’ve been interviewing, taking tests and talking with lots of different folks from varied areas of the work-world in an effort to nail down what I should be doing with myself, professionally, for the next oh, twenty years or so. A huge decision. We’re trying to figure out how to transition from having a mom in the home to having one gone during the day; how to shuffle kids to various activities without a mom-chauffeur yet with a new teen driver on our roster; and yet how to deal with the financial reality of multiple college tuition bills for most of the foreseeable future which, in and of itself is enough to cause discomfort. Perhaps my family just has too many balls in the air. Too many unanswered questions. Too many variables in the equation.

Yet as I look around, I see so many others facing conflict and discomfort. I cannot go one week without receiving an email or a phone call from a reader whose family member is struggling with one problem or another. Financial problems, health concerns, relationship issues. Most of us hate being uncomfortable. We hate conflict. Hate uncertainty. Hate dealing with the struggle in order to celebrate the victory. And yet that’s the real lesson of Holy Week.

However tempting it is to focus your thoughts and energies this week on the celebration of Easteron resurrection and renewalI hope that you allow yourself some quiet time to sort out the conflicts and discomforts of Maundy Thursday and of Good Friday. To focus on the sacrifice. For as you grow more fully aware of the sacrifice that Christ made on your behalf, you will gain immeasurable joy at the power of the Resurrection.

And if you are of another faith, please be sensitive to the fact that this week brings with it introspection for millions of people around the world. Passover will be celebrated by Jews and they will have rituals and holy remembrances, too.

So as tempting as it is when you’re in discomfort, confused…or just in a funk…to focus on spring’s lightheartedness and brightness, on chicks and on chocolate, remember that for a few days anyway, it’s not about that. It’s not about the bunnies. Even though, I admit, they’re taking up inordinate amounts of windowsill and tabletop real estate in my own home these days, and as much as they emotionally lift me out of the doldrums of winter, out of my own confusion and state of disequilibrium and into the sublime celebration of spring, they have little to do with the days ahead of us this week.

Go ahead and splurge on chocolate and on baskets. On flowers for your home or in a new outfit or on travel. This is a time for celebration, to be sure, come Easter Day. But allow yourself in the next few days, to internalize the conflict of Holy Week. It is one time of year when your internal struggle should be palpable. For we cannot get to Easter, to victory, without coming to grips with the sacrifice of Good Friday. Throughout life, we cannot get to true celebration without coming to grips with life’s struggle.

Carolina Fernandez earned an M.B.A. and worked at IBM and as a stockbroker at Merrill Lynch before coming home to work as a wife and mother of four. She totally re-invented herself along the way. Strong convictions were born about the role of the arts in child development; ten years of homeschooling and raising four kids provide fertile soil for devising creative parenting strategies. These are played out in ROCKET MOM! 7 Strategies To Blast You Into Brilliance. It is widely available online, in bookstores or through 888-476-2493. She writes extensively for a variety of parenting resources and teaches other moms via seminars, workshops, keynotes and monthly meetings of the ROCKET MOM SOCIETY, a sisterhood group she launched to “encourage, equip and empower moms for excellence.”

Please visit http://www.rocketmom.com

YOU WANT REVIVAL? IT TAKES PRAYER

Joel 2 verse 17 “Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?”

Indeed, where is our God? The God of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Elisha, Paul, Peter, John and others is waiting for our prayers unto him. I don’t know about you, but I know we need a revival in our land, a great turning unto the LORD God. He is waiting to show himself strong in behalf of those who love him. Prayer is the key to moving the hands of God, and the effectual fervant prayer of a righteous man availeth much. When is the last time you have gathered with others just to pray? Maybe your church is going through a dry spell, and you earnestly want the LORD to do a new work in your midst. Gather together to pray.

I remember my late Uncle Rev. Owen Rozier’s church, Pleasant Hill, having a revival right after Uncle Owen went to be with Jesus (see story below). Although I was not a member there, I was invited to a men’s prayer meeting before the revival was to begin. We turned the lights down low, and gathered around the altar to seek God’s blessings upon the revival (out of over 70 men that attended that church, there were only 15 of us there praying). Let me tell you, the glory of the Lord fell down in that little Baptist church, as we all brokenly poured out our hearts to the Lord. To hear grown men weeping before the altar is a sound I will never forget!

The next week, the Lord added 15 souls to that church, and the members were greatly encouraged. What if ALL 70+ men had attended? Maybe the Lord would have added 70+. Prayer is the key!

Joel 2 verse 18 “Then will the LORD be jealous for his land, and pity his people.”

Gone Home…God Honors Faith And His Servants

This is a short version from story number five (out of 50) from my recently published book, My Walk with the Lord.

Psalm 116.15: “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.”

I had a dear uncle, the Rev. Owen Rozier, who came down with cancer. Although his body was weak, his faith in the Lord was strong. Just like the verse in Amazing Grace “Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come”, Uncle Owen had his share of tribulations while preaching the word for over thirty years. He and my father, the late Rev. A.J. Rozier, were close in age and close as brothers. Daddy went home to be with the Lord in 1966, and here it was in 1987.

On July 17, 1987, about 7 PM, the Lord spoke to me and said, “I’m going to take Uncle Owen home tonight. Go on over to his house.” As I was driving over there, the song “I Won’t Have to Cross Jordan Alone” came on the radio. It played twice. As tears filled my eyes, the Lord gave confirmation of what He had told me.

When I arrived at Uncle owen’s, I noticed several other cars were there. Other people started arriving. No one had called them to come. The Lord drew them so Uncle Owen could preach his last sermon. We all gathered around his bed; I read Psalm 23. Uncle Owen called on someone to pray, and then feebly preached his last sermon..the few words he spoke was precious.

As one of his daughters sang a beautiful song, one she hadn’t sung in 20 years, Uncle Owen took his last breath and went home to be with Jesus.

What was amazing about this, is several days earlier, Uncle Owen told me that he desired to preach one more service. As I prayed for him that day, I asked God to honor his request. On his deathbed, Uncle Owen preached a sweet service. God honors the faith of his servants!

Rev 14.13: “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me. Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”

Rev. Irvin Rozier, Captain (Ret) US Army aka walkin2e

About the Author

Author, preacher, retired military

The Emmaus Journal

Strangers In A Strange Land

Do you often feel like an Alien? In fact, have you recently inquired if you were
really still on Planet Earth? Do the things of this World just seem more and more
foreign to you?

Well, Dear Friend, you are in good company! Our Apostolic Brother Paul felt the
same way and said the same things. Perhaps in a different language, but it is still
relative for today. In fact, Paul went one step further. He said you were suppose to
feel and speak the same way. In fact, if you didn’t, Paul again took it one step
further! Paul questioned your so called “born again” experience.

It is quite apparent within our global society today that ANYTHING GOES. We are
living in the day and age of pure lasciviousness. Modesty, integrity, morals,
discipline, and accountability are rejected values. Our so called human rights and
personal ethics have degenerated on an over all scale leaving common sense to fly
the coop. Both, rarely to be seen anymore like an extinct species. All the while our
acute intelligence in academia is at its highest peak within our quantum race toward
prideful superiority. Leaving dysfunctional disorders to coagulate into heart attacks
and obesity. If it takes a “village to raise a child” nowadays, that village has
seemingly been swept away by a deluge of universal disrespect and idolatrous
arrogance.

The pitiful end to this scenario is - most Christians blend so well into all of that!
The major congregations of Christianity has unfortunately become just another
organization, and a vast one at that. Especially in the promoted church world of
today, which has become homogenized to the point of dilution, polluted to the
point of stagnation, assimilated to the point of derision. All multiplying into a not so
innocent ignorance full of mindless delusion.

Thankfully, even thru all of this, Yahshua (Jah’s Salvation) has kept the few who will
not bow to this worldly profusion of erosion. These few thru the ages have been
called, and right up into our 21st century, the ‘Remnant’. Only to find the ‘Remnant’
is almost impossible. To locate one who might be separated out of this conformed
multi commercialized staging of todays Christian hierarchy is a challenge. To find
one who might be separated from the party spirit within the highly organized and
socialized Christian order is another challenge altogether. The Remnant surely
remains just that, a small trace that is still remaining from the original. Only
Yahshua is the true discerner of His own Remnant that have been willingly and
purposely separated. Separated from and then separated to.

Our Brother Paul continued to exhort and rebuke the early Believer’s as he
missioned from city to city, telling them not to be conformed to the world; but to be
constantly transformed by the renewing of their minds. (Romans 12:2) Renewing of
the minds to what? Yes, the Gospel of Yahshua (Jesus), but more intently and
purposely, that they would discontinue to think and act like the rest of the world
they had been brought out of thru Yahshua’s salvation. Meaning quit plainly, stop
the pagan and idolatrous ways once walked in out of ignorance. Come out and be
separated with the power of The Holy Spirit and do not reflect or give homage to the
pagan practices of the world. Whether in Church (Synagogues) or out of Church.
Whether in the Spirit or out of the Spirit. Whether being in bonds or not. Whether in
sufferings or not. They were instructed to show the fruits of repentance and to live a
life now that portrayed the spiritual transformation that Yahshua had provided. To
daily live from a heart that is cleansed of worldly pollution’s. Whether from within
the religious order or the secular order. Yahshua himself admonished people to
observe and do as the scribes and Pharisees taught regarding the Torah, but not to
do what they performed in their daily lives. For their hearts were still within the
pollutions of religious order and worldliness. (Matthew 23) i>

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© C.L. Mareydt d23

Brief Author Bio:

Liberated and Inspired thru The Holy Spirit, C.L. Mareydt writes to Purposely
Share from the Spirit to the to the Spirit. Motivated and Parallel with a Divine Vision,
each Writing is Thoughtfully Expressed to Progressively Inspire, Encourage, and
Propel Inner Growth toward Personal Enlightenment.

Muslims now form one of the largest religious groups in the UK. At a time when great misunderstandings and stereotypes circulate the media and society regarding the religion, it is crucial for an effort to be made at all levels to go beyond archetypal images and to begin to understand Islam and Muslims.

With a population of approximately 1.5 million Muslims and growing, UK based companies are employing more and more young Muslim men and women. With this increase comes a greater need for HR practitioners to be aware of the respective cultural sensitivities.

As with individuals from any background, if they do not feel comfortable and understood in their office or company, it is likely that they will eventually seek employment elsewhere. In order to maximise retention of young Muslims, it is ever more important therefore, that their sensitivities are kept in mind.

The following information contains basic tips and guidelines for HR staff and others to bear in mind. Please note that these are very generic guidelines. Muslims differ from generation to generation, culture to culture, some are more devout than others and interpretations and practices of the faith are numerous. It may also be the case that the individual is Muslim by name only and chooses not to practice their religion.

Prayer

A Muslim, both male and female, is expected to pray five times a day. This prayer involves facing Makkah (in Saudi Arabia), usually on a prayer mat or clean surface and reciting prayers which follow a procedure of bowing and prostrating. This typically takes between 5 - 15 minutes depending on the individual. Prayer times are calculated according to the movement of the sun and take place at dawn, midday, late afternoon, dusk and at night.

For Muslims in your company it is a good idea to allocate a neutral space for them to use for their prayers. This can be a dedicated prayer room or simply access to a seldom used office or medical room. Such a space will make your Muslim staff feel at comfort knowing they have somewhere private and clean to say their prayers.

If staff are required to be committed to a desk space at certain times it may be a good idea to agree on allocated times in which they can read their prayers. This may involve the use of break times.

Friday Prayers

Most Muslim men attend the mosque on Friday afternoons for obligatory congregational prayers. Let your staff know you understand their requirements and agree on an extended lunch break and/or allocate their Friday lunch breaks to convenient times. Most mosques conduct prayers at 1.30 p.m. so try to aim for an hour between 1 - 2p.m.

Fasting

Fasting takes places during the month of Ramadan. Ramadan does not correspond neatly to any Gregorian months due to its method of calculation. It changes from year to year by about ten days. The more devout Muslims may also fast on Mondays and Thursdays throughout the year.

Fasting involves abstinence from food, drink, chewing and smoking from dawn till dusk. At dusk, Muslims traditionally break their fast with dates and water before proceeding to eat a meal.

In the workplace it is best to be aware of staff who are fasting as this avoids potential offence if the staff member declines an invite to lunch or to some other function involving food.

Dress

Most Muslim men will be wearing a shirt and tie like their colleagues and very few would challenge a dress code. This is simply because dress is not an area where strict guidelines exist in Islam.

One area Muslim men may clash with company policy is in their wearing of beards. If you have strict guidelines regarding facial hair or follow certain health and hygiene procedures, then it is wise to ensure that potential male Muslim employees are made aware of these procedures. You should also be willing to either compromise on religious grounds or ensure that beard covers are made available.

Muslim women are required to cover their hair (hijab) and to dress modestly. Many do neither but it is best to be aware of the needs of those who do. If your company has a uniform or a certain dress code be sure it permits the wearing of hijabs. Many companies have now taken the step to provide hijabs which match the company uniform.

Holidays

Generally Muslims in the UK take holidays as and when they need to. There are however a few dates of significance that should be noted.

Eid al-Fitr - this holiday celebrates the end of the month of Ramadan and fasting. It is traditionally a time when extended families congregate and presents given to children.
Although this holiday extends over a three day period, many Muslims typically take a single day holiday.

Eid al-Adha - celebrates the end of the Hajj (pilgrimage) and commemorates the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son. In Muslim countries sheep, goats and camels and usually sacrificed and the meat distributed the family, neighbourhood and the poor. In the UK such meat is ordered through a butcher due to our laws.
As with Eid al-Fitr, Muslims typically take a single day holiday during this period.

Socialising

One of the major discomforts for Muslims in the British workplace may involve the socialising culture of the office. Typical business culture involves after work socializing in pubs or restaurants. As Muslims do not drink any alcohol and places such as pubs, bars and discos are not considered suitable venues for relaxation, then Muslim staff may politely decline such offers.

This should not be interpreted as bad manners of unfriendliness, but rather a difference in cultures that should be respected. When planning team building trips or exercises or team outings always bear in mind a Muslim member of staff may feel uncomfortable if the venue is a pub, bar or even a restaurant serving alcohol. It is always best to check with that staff member first.

Try to think of alternative venues where all staff will be comfortable.

Food

There are certain restrictions as to what a Muslim can/can’t eat.

Meat must always be halal. Such meat has been slaughtered according to Islamic practice. If halal meat cannot be sourced then Muslims are allowed to eat Kosher meat too. Pork is not eaten at all by Muslims.

Always check ingredients of foods you plan to share out or use in staff lunches. Foods not suitable for vegetarians may contain non-halal meat or meat derivatives (e.g. gelatine) and cannot be eaten. Similarly, foods with alcohol content should also be avoided.

An easy way to overcome any catering difficulties is to provide a vegetarian option.

Touch/Personal Space

There is an opinion among some Muslims that touching between men and women should be avoided. Although not common in the UK, as compared with the Gulf, you may occasionally come across Muslim men and women who do not like to shake hands with members of the opposite sex. If you are unsure then it is advisable to wait and see if they extend their hands first.

Muslim men and women may also find close personal contact between sexes very uncomfortable. Unless you know otherwise be sure to leave a good deal of personal space.

As mentioned in the introduction, these are broad guidelines only and the degree of support from a business / HR perspective will be entirely dependant on the individual involved. Care should be taken therefore not to assume the needs of a member of staff, but to simply be aware of possible issues and resulting interventions if these become necessary.

If you feel you or your staff could benefit from a more detailed briefing on the above information, then please see http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cross-cultural/islam-breaking-stereotypes.html

About the Author

After extensive work and travel throughtout the Middle East, Ridha successfully completed his MA at SOAS University (London) in Middle Eastern Studies. He now works as a cross cultural consultant for Kwintessential.

When God Inspired John to write the book of Revelation, he did it for a purpose, to warn people during a certain era, one that he saw equal to the time before the flood, a time when evil was ran loose, when the Angelic Renegades, those watching the world for God left abode on high, above the clouds and came down to cohabitate with human females: he gave it to John to warn man of what was going to take place, happen. This was of curse not the end of the story but the beginning of a long played out itinerary (see the book of Genesis, chapter 6 for the sons of God came from the heavens and cohabitated…). No one knows the time or place this will all take place, so the Bible indicates, but it also says, to be alert, wise, prudent, in its signs (thus, to keep abreast of the times, what is happening in your world, and it is happening right now, right before our eyes):

This book was originally written in 1984, revised in 2001, published in 2002, and review by two clergy, and used in the churches at present in Haiti as a study guide:

Zone One:

Spread of Communism (Almost past, three countries left who proclaim Communism):

War, Rumors of wars, commotions (happening now)

A Time of Terror (Terrorism, assassinations, est.)) This is part of the New World Order make up at present; unforeseen 20-years ago))

Hope for Survival is Actually gone (we just pretend we got lots of time left)

Antichrist is Presently Here [Perhaps born around 1969?]

Zone Two:

Satanic power, signs and lying wonders

A New Church in the making

A World Common Market (Already here)

Building of Great Cities

(I traveled just recently to Panama, and they are building more skyscrapers than in any city I’ve ever been to. And no matter where I travel, and I travel a lot; people are building, building like crazy. Perhaps they should stop building and start feeding their people; and stop trying to get nuclear warheads and build water supplies instead of complaining they have no food or water, but enough guns to go around)

Expansion of Egypt (presently underway)

Growing Importance of the Middle East

(I believe we are at the end of Zone II, ready to enter Zone III, but the world needs to feel a little more before it can jump into the next zone, and it will.)

Zone Three:

The Earth at Rest

The Rapture

Zone Four:

Satan Takes over the Earth (Tribulation)

The Mark of the Beast

Gospel Preached to all Nations (95% so far)

Famines and Pestilence becoming more pronounced by the day, although most Americans don’t feel it)

Falling Stars

Many Martyrs

Zone Five:

The Return of Christ

Note: When I first wrote this book in 2001, or revised it in 2001, for it was originally written in 1984-85, I had put mankind in the First Time Zone; I believed of course that is where we belonged; with other parts of time zones interwoven, but now we are surely in the deep part of the second time zone. There are about 21-events from the bible I’ve indicates during these last days, and in 2001, I had counted 15-occurring, we are past that mark, and there are only a few left, such as Building the New Jewish Temple, which is on hold at present, but ready to be build at the blink of an eye. There are signs I have not added into this articlemany, no need to, we will witness them unfolding soon, or they have come and gone.

See Dennis’ web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com

Most of us get up each day and go through the same routine whatever we do in life - most of us are reasonably happy and content and just get on with living.

There is of course nothing wrong with that in the slightest but what would you say if you were granted the gift of REAL happiness which lead you down a path of such peace and contentment that no other experience you’ve had to date could compare.

You know what it’s like when you are looking forward to Christmas, the anticipation and the excitement just builds and builds. The same is true when the countdown to your holiday begins and then the joy of the holiday itself.

Well how would you like those feelings of pure joy, anticipation and excitement to be with you on a daily basis and then to find that the fulfilment part is even better - a feeling that you could just “burst for joy” and an inner peace and contentment that you’ve only ever seen at the movies?

Well I’ve found just that and the adrenalin seems to be pumping all the time and the buzz and excitement I get from life still amazes me.

I had the most amazing experience just under 3 years ago and my life changed dramatically from that day on and the incredible thing is that it just gets better and better - the miraculous gift that I’ve been given is something that I feel driven to expose the rest of mankind too, regardless of race colour or creed.

It was for that reason my book formed (I had been writing a few details of my experiences and at the time I had no intention of actually writing a book) and I just want to share this experience because if we could all feel like I do now the world would be such a different place to live in not just for us but for our children and their children and so on - a happy life is there for us all if we just accept the wondrous gift that is on offer - a gift that actually costs us nothing at all.

A recent testimonial, exerts of which are included below, show just why I want this book to reach and touch people who are looking for what I’ve found.

I LAVISHED your book. My life was in shambles; my wife had divorced me and tonight I was in such a state of despair that I had rung my Mother to tell her that suicide was my only option - after reading your book I have a peace about me that I have not had since I was 19 and I’m 56 now. Thank you thank you for allowing God to speak through you to me - I now feel a complete relief from all the pain and misery I have known for the past 37 years and I thank you for saving my life - actually GOD SAVED MY LIFE but you threw me the life preserver - may God continue to bless you, your family and your ministry.

Roy Thompson, Atlanta, Georgia - royjrthompson@bellsouth.net

One thing is for sure…the Bible is not child friendly. Actually, if you really know the book, Old and New, you will have to admit that small children must not have been much a part of the culture. The first humans were the first parents, Adam and Eve, not the first children so I imagine they have no good childhood memories. Well actually they have none since they never were children. Their kids, Cain and Abel come on the scene pretty much full grown. No pleasant times frolicking in the Garden of Eden.

They actually show up just in time to have Cain murder his brother and get himself booted out of the Garden by God afraid of those who don’t exist killing him, go figure. Seth comes along, pretty much fully grown too. We certainly get no hint that this family every had picnics, hugs or good memories of being glad they had each other. The grown kids marry, who knows who, must be sisters that weren’t worth mentioning who also only show up as full grown women having babies by brothers. Ewwwwwww, but that’s the alternative since they had no girls or boys next door to get their attention. There was no next door. Incest was a necessary thing, so say literalists, until they got enough humans on the planet to marry mere cousins and then people you eventually figured you weren’t related to, but were.

The main heroes of the Old Testament were adults, who in some cases were given remarkable birth and childhood mythologies to show how great an adult they really were. Often stories from previous or surrounding cultures were borrowed for the baby to show what an amazing adult he was. You know, Abe Lincoln was never really a kid until he was a famous adult. Then we find he was so darn honest as a kid, studied by the light of one lone candle by night but did succeed in not being born of a virgin as we might not have taken that all that seriously. You never heard that the child called George Washington, “could not tell a lie,” until he was famous. No one waits at the hospital for famous baby to be born. The stories of remarkable children always come when the adult becomes remarkable. After all, remarkable adults must have had remarkable childhoods. This is how Moses, David and Jesus are portrayed, but any idea that we are seeing the lives of real children is illusionary. Amazing adults are pretty ordinary kids I would imagine, unless you are Bible Times adults.

We read about grown armies killing “men, women and children,” but that’s just a sanitation problem and incidental to the great exloits of Israel obeying the Loving Heavenly Father. Sometimes the children get murdered in the womb or special attention is paid to the fact that their heads were smashed against the wall. Nice touch there. Sometimes they get sacrificed as in the case or near case of Abraham and Isaac. Great story of childhood ala Bible times. Even though it worked out ok, according the script, I imagine Isaac was no longer interested in following Dad into the hills for weekend campouts. He prolly wondered what nonesense Dad was into now and passed choosing rather to hid under the table until Dad fell asleep

Here are some of the Bible’s greatest childhood hits…

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod [sceptre], he shall not die.

– Proverbs 23:13 (AV)

This is really good to know. Beating them was fine and dandy and it doesn’t say spank. It says beat with a rod! Hit with a stick. Bash with a hoe. Smash with a sceptre. The reason is because “it won’t kill them.” Whew…good news there.

Execute stubborn kids

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son … Then shall his father and his mother … bring him out unto the elders of his city … And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die.

– Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (AV)

Whoa! Excellent! No attempt to encourage or find out why this might be occuring in the child’s life. Prolly is the parents beating him all the time with rods, knowing full well he won’t die. He might be mentally ill, but we can attribute that to demons and not take any personal responsibility. The Bible is not big on understanding how one way of being leads to other ways of being or how abuse leads to mental illness. It’s all about Dad. It’s all about the parents. It’s really never about the kids.

Kids killed for mocking hero

Some small boys came out of the city and jeered at [the prophet Elisha], saying, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” And … he cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she-bears came out of the woods and tore forty-two of the boys.

– II Kings 2:23-24 (RSV)

Well that should teach them. Of course the kids were making fun of Elisha’s boss who was taken up in a fiery chariot and thought Elisha should give it a try. I sense they were skeptical the first rapture happened. At least, they seem not to have been convinced so as not to make fun of the man who took over after the boss left rather abruptly.

God orders child sacrifice

God did tempt Abraham, … And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest … and offer him there for a burnt offering…

– Genesis 22:1-2 (AV)

Oh I know, God didn’t really mean it. He was just joshin Abe, but in those days, God’s didn’t Josh. If you asked God if he loved children, like WC Fields, He would have said, “If they are properly cooked.” Kids just had no value and certainly no say in the fantascies of their adult parents.

Daughter: a burnt offering

Jephthah made a vow to the Lord: “If you give the Ammonites into my hands, whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return … will be the Lord’s, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering.” … and the Lord gave them into his hands…. When Jephthah returned to his home…, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! And he did to her as he had vowed. And she was a virgin.

– Judges 11:30-32, 34, 39 (NIV)

So in come his sweetie, Biblical Ipod blaring and pow! “Sorry Sarah, I had a chat with God and told him if I got to win as a Bible man needs to win…well…just follow me. I’ll explain it on the way.” Of course, Mom just said, “Sarah, do as your father says. Love ya!” Later that night as Jephthah and Mrs. J held each other gently in bed, the both thought back on how the Lord had blessed them even though it had been a difficult day.

I have always been inspired and informed by these two examples of what it was like being a young Bible Times girl.

Woman must marry rapist

If a man [meets] a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her … He must marry the girl … He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

– Deuteronomy 22:28-29 (NIV)

A marriage literally made in heaven! “Ok, I raped you. You want to kill me. You must marry me…me who raped you and we are stuck forever or they will cut both our heads off. Kiss me and act like you mean it.”

Virgin women are war booty

“Have you allowed all the women to live?” he [Moses] asked them…. “Now … kill every woman who has slept with a man, but save for yourselves every girl who has never slept with a man.”

– Numbers 31:1-18 (NIV)

“So you like women do you….caught you, caught you! Ok, check out these sweet things _________. If it is not intact, kill the _________. If she is pure and new…keep her for your pleasure and enjoy boys. “I, the Lord, through my Servant Moses, the most meek man on the planet, decree it.” Uh huh.

Lets see…New Testament kids that got into the story…

There would be demon possessed ones that Jesus heals. There would be kids that were dead that Jesus and few of the skilled Apostles resurrected, and of course Jesus himself, who had an amazing birth because he was an amazing adult. We have some great stories of Jesus killing some of his playmates for mocking him, but those books didn’t make the cut. Oh yes, we have the infants slaughtered by Herod as Mary and family slipped out of town smirking “I know something you don’t know,” at her neighbors with small children. I know some adults were called “children of the Devil,” so that counts I suppose and false churches were called whores but those would be older kids.

No, kids don’t make out so good in the Bible. They are used, abused, disowned, fried, burnt, slapped, kicked, hit, beat, sacrificed, speared, sold, eaten, ignored, marginalized and mauled. The famous ones that make it to adulthood get delievered, Angelic choirs, Kingdoms and babes galore. They get visited by Wise Men, who survived their own childhoods intact but left home as soon as they could, which is why there were called Wise Men. Bible Times were something no kid in his right mind would ever wish to return to. I’m sorry that babies were born in cultures where Bible Times parents were so ignorant of what to do next they just asked the Priests.

There are some kids in this world today who sadly do live in Bible Times. Their parents read the Bible and faithfully follow it’s loving guidelines for childrearing and interpersonal family communications. These kids learn that all they need is “the rod of correction,” or be told, “because we said so that’s why.” The often hear, “God is not going to be happy with you,” or “you might go to hell for that Johnny.” Every week they get to hear the Minister remind parent and child that they must bring up that kid in the way he “should” go, should being relative to whatever the Preacher thinks they should be, so that “when they are old, they will not depart from. it.” Of course most depart long before they are old just to recover and get their minds back in tact. There are American Bible Times Talibanic parents who are soaked in the childrearing techniques of the Bible (see the list above) every week or most every month. God said it, we practice it, that does it for us. Of course, when the child grows up a bit, they will walk and should.

Go get a concordance, or topical Bible and look up “snuggle, kiss, blowbelly, “a boo”, picnic, swimming, hugs, vacation, free time, love you mom, love you dad, love you son, love you sis, sports, college, education, free thinking, respect, reading, children’s literature, Goldilocks, quiet time, caress, self esteem, mental health, smiling, mommy, daddy, bedtime, stuffed animals, puppets, cook out, fishing, zoo, did I say “blowbellies?” …. oh you know, the good words. Good luck… and we’ll keep the flames of Molech on for ya!

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within you. Do you believe that? Have you ever experienced His presence? I’ve observed that most Christians barely have the power the get up on Sunday morning or make it to a mid-week Bible Study. These days, one would be hard-pressed to find a Christian who could muster the faith to believe for the healing of their own sniffles.

The Apostle Paul said, (Philippians 3:10), “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death….”

Notice the four statements Paul makes in this verse:
1) “that I may know Him.”
2) “and [that I may know] the power of His resurrection.”
3) ” [that I may know] the fellowship of His suffering.”
4) “[that I may be made] conformable unto His death.”

Isn’t that amazing? Here’s Paul, an old man by this time, still zealous for his faith in Christ as he ever was, maintaining that his #1 aspiration in life is this: “that I may know Him.”

Evangelist Leonard Ravenhill used to say “the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the Standard of power in the New Testament.” Well put, Len. You see, everybody wants power. Everybody wants to rule the world; at the very least, the world they’re living in. For some, it’s getting enough food and water to make it one more day. To another, it’s selling more dope than the competition. To someone else, it’s done by climbing the corporate ladder or making another business acquisition. The Satanist who becomes a Christian will confess that the main draw to Satanism was the “power” that he saw exhibited there. Seems some people are overly impressed with parlour tricks.

Regardless of how we do it, “Vene, Vidi, Vici” - I came, I saw, I conquered - is everyone’s personal mantra, whether we admit it or not. Fact is, we can’t conquer anything that satisfies until we conquer sin in our own lives. Everything else will be found wanting.

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the miracle of miracles. By that miracle, Jesus conquered Death, Hell and the Grave, proving that He was God in the flesh. Muhammed never did that. Confucius never did it. Buddha never did. With all due respect to those dead religious leaders, they could NOT do it. Nobody could. Nobody, that is, but Jesus Christ.

Easter Sunday must be Satan’s high un-holy Day. Satan’s empire fell at the moment of Resurrection. To those who plead with God, “Lord, destroy the work of the devil!” or pray, “Deliver us from evil,” here’s the truth: Jesus has ALREADY done these things.

Ravenhill said, “The standard of God’s power in the New Testament is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The standard of God’s power in the Old Testament was the deliverance of the people of Israel through the Red Sea which brought them finally into the land of promise. In the Old Testament the miracle is the raising of a dead nation, because they were in captivity, in Egypt, which is a type of the world. They were under the dominion of Pharaoh, which is a type of the devil, and they were brought as the Word of God says, “God called them with a strong hand. He delivered them with a strong hand and a stretched out arm.” All the way from Moses to Malachi there is a constant referring to “Look what God did when He delivered Israel.” Now, is anything bigger than that? Have you got a problem bigger than that? Can you imagine anything that demands on God more than that?”

Man, I love ol’ Ravenhill.

GOING DEEPER WITH GOD
Because of Christ’s Resurrection, WE can be Resurrected, too. He is called “the first fruits.” So He is. Ephesians 2:5 says: “You have been quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sins.” Notice something there: it doesn’t say that we WILL die. The verse says that we WERE dead. That same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will also raise you and me.

John 3:16 tells us that God loved the world - you and me - SO MUCH - that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus. The cross represents God’s love; the Resurrection represents God’s Power.

Imagine being the Apostle Paul for a minute. You’ve raised the dead and many believe you were raised from death yourself. You’ve healed people, cast out demons, wrote more world-changing literature than anyone in history ever would…and your greatest ambition is “I want to know Him.”

Does that impress anybody besides me?

Is that your goal? It certainly is my own. Don’t settle for counterfeits, my friends. Religion, ritualism, dogmatism, doctrines of devils and of men…there are many traps that the enemy has set that are intended to appease the religious nature of man and tap into our spiritual nature. They seem spiritual, sound spiritual and make us “feel” spiritual. They are counterfeits that may even raise a few goose pimples. Yet most who settle for these trappings and partake of them regularly are no deeper in their relationship with God than a committed Army soldier is endeared by the military branch of which he is a part. They’ll cut you loose in a heartbeat after decades of service. Institutional Christianity is no different; “Churchianity,” I call it.

Do you want a deeper revelation of Christ? There is something about the Resurrection that we have yet to grasp. My wife and I recently had a well dug on our property. They had to dig over 500 feet to find it but there was cool, clear water down there that just had to be untapped. Let’s tap into the Resurrection a little bit more. Everything we know about Christianity balances on that one occurrence, the crowning miracle of God. For if there is no resurrection, we are yet in our sins.

WE’RE GONNA DIE!
What was so unique about the Resurrection? Others in Scripture had experienced resurrection, after all. Elijah raised the widow’s son (I Kings 17:17-24). Elisha raises the Shunammite’s child (II Kings 4:32-37). Peter raises Dorcas (Acts 9:36-41). Paul raised Eutychus to life (Acts 20:9-12). Jesus Himself is recorded as having raised a few. What is the difference between these resurrections and His own?

First: theirs had no power in itself nor did theirs offer any power to anyone else.

Second: they were all called forth from the dead by Jesus or some other man of God. Jesus wasn’t called forth by anybody.

Third: when they were resurrected, some were wearing burial cloths. Jesus walked out and left those rags in the tomb like a caterpillar slips out of a cocoon.

The biggest difference between His Resurrection and anybody else’s was that, eventually, they all died again. Years ago, while I was praying and asking God for a friend’s healing, He reminded me that everyone Jesus healed eventually died. What was the purpose for those who come back - cheated Death - as we say? To bring glory to His name, I imagine. To share the experience with others that they might repent and receive Him, I guess. God has a plan, that’s all I know.

Everyone who was resurrected died twice. They must have, unless they’re all hiding away in secret somewhere, like an ace relief pitcher awaiting “the nod” to get into the game. But Scripture states: “It’s appointed unto man once to die and then the judgement,” (Hebrews 9:27). In general, yes, that’s true. Any exceptions in Scripture involved Jesus or those He used - and currently IS using - to do so. That’s right, people are STILL being raised from the dead around the globe. Some might say, “But Enoch and Elijah didn’t die!” The end of Revelation says they will after lying about in the streets of Jerusalem. Perhaps they’ll die from a terrorist’s bomb in a nightclub. Who knows. God says in Adam all die. That means we’re ALL gonna die.

Matt 27:50-53 is telling us something strange happened after Jesus “gave up the ghost.” It says: “And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice ["Tetelestai!" a Greek word meaning "It is finished" or, literally, "Paid in Full!"], he gave up His spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.”

Only after Jesus’ resurrection did these resurrected Saints enter Jerusalem, confirming once and for all that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. Can you imagine living there and seeing all these resurrected people walking around town? The Scriptures are silent as to whether these saints testified about Jesus; it only points out that they walked the streets of Jerusalem. Their presence alone was proof enough that Jesus was no ordinary man. Their resurrection could only confirm the fact that Jesus was the Messiah.

We could only speculate about what happened to these people. One thing is certain: They were the firstfruits of what will happen when Jesus returns (1 Thess 4:16-18). The fact is, their function as witnesses was fulfilled.

MEET MR. RESURRECTION
Jesus declared,”I AM the resurrection.” Get that? The Resurrection isn’t mere Christianity at all; the resurrection IS A PERSON!

In Acts 24, Paul asserts that because Jesus rose, EVERYBODY will rise. Jesus was the LAST Adam (1 Cor 15:45). God expects us to have the world, our flesh and the devil under our feet. It’s certain that our uncertain emotions will get in the way as they rise and fall with our bank account balances and circumstances. Jesus said we will have MANY troubles. But He went through life in His own flesh, too. He knows life can be tough as nails.

The best part of Christ’s Resurrection is, and I say this selfishly, I admit, that He raised ME from the dead! That’s right, God perpetuated that particular miracle in US! I was a zombie, walking about in pursuit of life, stinking the high heavens. I was smelly, and others experienced the rotten stench of my existence. At the end of the Book of the Revelation, Jesus says: “Listen, I am He that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive and I have the keys of death and of hell.” I take comfort that I won’t die one minute sooner than God wants me to. He knows when my work is completed. Nobody will destroy me before the appointed time. Besides, I could be the most healthy physical specimen of a man and I could get run over by a beer truck while jogging or drive off a cliff while racing to a loved one’s death bed. “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints,” (Psalm 116:15).

Romans 6:8 says: “Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.”

The Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead is the Spirit that quickens us, because man is dead in trespasses and in sin. That’s why some people cannot acknowledge that they’re sinners. They’re not rejecting the Gospel. Truth is, they never actually heard it. Sure, their human ears heard it, but dead people - zombies - are pretty unresponsive as a whole. A kernel of corn looks lifeless and dead until it is watered and begins to decay. Then, life springs forth and produces many more kernels. Get the analogy? So, we keep watering. The harvest comes when it’s TIME to come.

No man comes unto the Father, unless the Father draws him (John 6:44).

Paul wrote, to the Christian people living in a depraved cesspool called Corinth ( 2 Corinthians 5:17), “If any man be in Christ he is a new creation.” That’s Good News! He makes a brand new YOU! No patch jobs here! Romans 6:4,5 states: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.”

Like a butterfly leaving a cocoon perhaps?

LOOK UP!
Look at Colossians 3:1, 2. Paul says, “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things ‘which are beneath.’”

Why do we see such radical changes in some people but, in others, we’d never know they’ve ever entered a church? It’s one thing for God to make things possible, it’s quite another for us to appropriate these things. Romans 2:12 says: “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven all trespasses…” Now look at verse 20: “Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (Do’s and Don’t’s) after the commandments and doctrines of men?” Romans 3:1 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, ‘wherein’ Christ sitteth on the right hand of ‘the Father’”

Seek the high life, the holy life, that which is ABOVE. Walk the Spirit-Life, the life of prayer, the life of inspiration, the life of joy. Remind yourself today, not while on your death bed. Start victorious living NOW. Tozer said: “Remember this: that while you and I are on earth we are passing through enemy territory.” Yes, it’s hostile country. The enemy is going to open fire even at our newest recruits. The world doesn’t like what we do. It doesn’t like what we say. It doesn’t like the way we act.

You must draw, moment by moment, upon the Resurrection Life of Jesus. That Resurrection Life of Jesus is the Spirit who raised up Jesus form the dead. Gone is every sin that man has ever committed from here to eternity past and future. No matter how “badly” you may have sinned, it makes no difference. Sure, there will always be consequences for our sins, but nothing will never separate us from God’s love. The Word says that Jesus was raised from the dead and He die no more. And because He lives, we shall live also.

Ravenhill said, “Jesus is risen. He’s cut off from the world. He lives in it, but He is not of it. Again, I can’t explain what this does to me, but when I think that for 40 days and nights He didn’t say a word to the world…Makes me wonder…if God turns His back on America before long we are in for an awful, awful lot of trouble. Worse than we’ve ever dreamed of. Maybe if Gabriel could shout a word to America right now, or to England, or to Australia, so called civilized countries, he’d say, what Jesus said: “Oh, Jerusalem, oh Corazin, oh Bethsaida, if thou knewest the day of thy visitation.” We don’t know how blessed we are… We’ve food, we’ve clothing. You think it might take a judgment, or prison to get some people really together? To break down bad spirits, and unforgiving spirits, and hardness of heart? Will it have to be done in tears, because it hasn’t been done at the cross through the love of the Lord Jesus?”

Selah. That’s good stuff.

Let’s aspire, by the grace of God, moment-by-moment to trust in the Resurrection Life granted to us by Jesus Himself. He died that we might be cleansed, purified, that we might lead a victorious life and, thereby, advance His cause. The resurrection life of Jesus quickens our mortal bodies.

Don’t resist. Though the war has been won, there’s a mop-up operation that needs to be tended to.

Let’s roll!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Michael’s mission is to bring Discipleship and Encouragement to the Body of Christ. Since 1999, he has broadcast over 300 hundred inspirational articles and a dozen booklets on subjects that will interest the thinking Christian, all designed to accelerate the process of spiritual development in God’s people.

He is the founder of t.e.a.m. ministries (team1min@aol.com). An Author, Pastoral Counselor and Teacher, his eMail broadcasts, known as “Your Town for Jesus” are reaching millions around the globe WEEKLY. Write team1min@aol.com if you’d like to SUBSCRIBE.

A licensed/ordained minister, a Certified Workplace Chaplain, and a Professional Member of NIBIC, he has ministered in Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Disciples of Christ, College and Cowboy churches. He is also a Speaker on the Christian Speaker Network and may be available to speak to your church or Christian group.

If ever there was a time to repent of your sins and accept Jesus as Lord, today is the day. The financial world is lieing to all. They are saying that this world is in great shape. China and the United States are spending money like there is no tomorrow. Both are becoming broke.
[CNN; Bush's proposed Pentagon budget for the fiscal year that began October 1 is $419 billion, not including as much as $50 billion that Congress is likely to add to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and against terror worldwide(Babylon?). He mentioned no budget figures, but the U.S. Defense Department has earlier said China might be spending $90 billion on defense this year -- three times the announced total.(Gog and Maygog?)] [''People should not be forced out their homes at the will of any private development,'' said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo.,
The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in June that local governments could take homes for private development projects that generate jobs and tax revenue.]

Psa 146:3-5 Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:

We hear lie after lie concerning the financial positions of not only this country but all. This is one of the things that the anti-christ will use to get the world to trust in Him. Many today are wanting signs from God that His word is true, but, He has showed you signs and wonders, time and time again. Floods, earthquakes, fires, Hurricanes, Tsunamis, signs in the heavens, but still people are blinded by what they do see. Science is blinding people to the truth, always coming up with some logical reason for each and every catastrophe. We have seen man at his best and at his worst. Can you not see, that man cannot handel all these catastrophes, money is becoming tighter and tighter. You cannot put your trust in man and his money.

Isa 2:19-22 And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.

In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats;
To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ?
Who is man that you can put your trust in? Where is it stated that this world will last forever? Where is it stated that your savings will be there when you need it? No where. There is no guarantee for tomorrow. Just look at the news here lately, Company after company are taking the benefits and retirement away from there employees, a man who has worked for 25 or even 30 years for his retirement, loses all and has to start over again. The rich getting richer and the poor are paying the bill. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of ? Think, Think about what is going on, think about the prophecys of the Bible, Think about your future in eternity. There is no such thing as “Social Security”, who can guarentee your future?

(Barnes)A man shall cast … - That is, “all” who have idols, or who have been trusting in them. Valuable as they may be - made of gold and silver; and much as he may “now” rely on them or worship them, yet he shall then see their vanity, and shall cast them into dark, obscure places, or holes, where are moles and bats.
Isa 31:7-9; For in that day every man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your own hands have made unto you for a sin.Then shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man; and the sword, not of a mean man, shall devour him: but he shall flee from the sword, and his young men shall be discomfited. And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
The destruction of Babylon is simple enough. Rev 18:16-19; And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
The idea that Silver and Gold will continue to be of great price is a deception that many are believeing. When just the debt of this country is over $7,000,000,000,000, where will the rest of the world be in the next couple of years? Who are we to turn to, who are we to trust? Each day the debt grows and grows around the world. Do you really believe that things can continue on.
There are going to be great wars coming. The anti-christ will rise up, He will make war and He will decieve the world into thinking He has all the worlds problems solved. Do you really want to put your trust in man and Silver and Gold ?

Temple of Spirit & Truth Ministries
A.R.Smith Sermons International
http://www.ourchurch.com/member/a/arsmithsermons/