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Enter into the Kingdom by the Blood of the Lamb |
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Most Recent Post In many dissertations, parables, and examples Jesus, God the Son, declares the nature, reality and overshadowing presence of the Kingdom of God. From the time I received Jesus Christ as my Savior at the age of five and through the precious washing of the Lamb through baptism when I was twelve, I have been on a journey to find my mission, purpose and ultimate deliverance in God's ever present Kingdom. Beyond our primary purpose, which is to Worship the Lord our God in Spirit and in truth, there is for each of His disciples a mission. For those who have entered into the Kingdom of Light since 1948, the year the reformation of Israel as a Nation occurred, we have been hyper aware of the historical empires who have tried to take the Kingdom of Heaven by force, and even more aware in these "Last Days" of those minor empires and warring factions both domestic and abroad, who are burning down everything to take Heaven and make it their own. But even as Lucifer failed and was cast out of heaven, so are pagan emperors failing even as their lives are wasting away to nothing. Our last mission as the Church of Christ is to invite men and women to give up their own devices for creating a "Heaven On Earth," and come to the One who actually rules everything. Jesus is coming back. He may return in the next moment, the next hour or the next day. No one knows. But we are the generation that has seen the fulfillment of nearly all the prophecies that proceed His coming back for His Bride. To God, the Sovereign and all powerful God of the Universe be all praise, honor and glory. May God bless all those who read, understand and are putting into action the applications for life that may be found written in God's scriptures. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which is indeed the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches." Jesus around the Sea of Galilee [Matthew 13:31-32 English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible.] Psalm 137:1 Psalm 137:1 There we sat down by the rivers of Babylon; also, we wept when we remembered Zion. 2 We hung our lyres on the willows in its midst. 3 For there our captors demanded a song from us; and our plunderers demanded gladness, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. 4 How shall we sing Jehovah's song in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget. 6 If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth; if I do not ...if I do not prefer Jerusalem above my chief joy. 7 Remember, O Jehovah, the sons of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who said, 'Make it bare! Make it bare, even to the foundation of it!' 8 O daughter of Babylon, O destroyed one! Blessed is he who will repay to you your reward which you rewarded to us. 9 Blessed is he who seizes and dashes your little ones against the stones. Next Entries |
| I am on mission now. Meeting people. Perhaps like an ambassador from a foreign land. But My King is always with me. I have always done life with a bit of faith. I had parents I could trust. Friends I loved and trusted were always at hand. The Lord God Almighty was always near, though I did not know, in my formative years, how to please Him. Life from the cradle into and through my first marriage was more about what the world and God's hand could do for me. Faith constituted how everything worked for my good. That ended on what was nearly a tragic note in 1975. Behind the bushes at the front of the Highland House Steak House, where I served as a waiter, a gunman was waiting with three of his well armed partners and took me and five other people hostage. The gunfire around us was deafening in the small entryway and the screams still ring in my ears. We were handcuffed together and made to lie on the floor while the robbers broke into the safe and stole about $55,000. None of us were actually harmed. The robbers were never caught. For a short while I was a suspect for organizing the hold up. Maybe, in my fallen state from grace, I appeared to be pretty shifty! At that point, a rage that had been building up in me since my service in Viet Nam, began to break out of the carefully constructed bonds I had put around my soul. Everything about my wife made me angry. Incomprehensibly, instead of being grateful to God for sparing my life in the hold-up I raged on Him. I rebelled against Him. The Highland House was in a small, peaceful, well policed city in Santa Rosa, California. I felt that I had not worked, lived and survived 18 months in a violent part of Viet Nam only to come home and die at the hands of some stupid thieves. What ire I couldn't shove at God I shoved at my wife. Ultimately I ran away from my marriage and my daughter. That would have been bad enough. But I felt smug about it. Arrogant. Entitled. Though I deserved death, God did not take away the hedge from around my life. To this day, when I think about this fact, I am still bewildered. When I read about Jesus, in a parable, explaining the flock of 100 sheep and how God the Father, the Good Shepherd, goes after the one who runs away, I could cry. I know now how wonderfully true that parable is.. I have lived out that truth. It was a desperate weakness that caused me to flee the House of God. It was another weakness that the Good Shepherd used to find me, chase me down and bring me back to Him. Her name was Jacquie, ♥ Jbradford is writing ♥   , she was the most elegant, beautiful, graceful, delightful young woman I had ever seen. We worked together at the Highland House, and for three months I could not even speak to her. She was so gorgeous. But for some unknown reason, which God in Heaven only knows, she adored me. She went out of her way to be near me. And when I finally got the nerve to talk to her our conversations lasted nearly fifty years. She was promoted to Life with Jesus a year and a half ago. The wonder of Jacquie in my life was the first evidence that God had not let me go far on my own way. There were a million challenges that J and I faced together. One does not forge a strong union, even in Christ, without testing and trials. But through each test, each trial, I could look into the loving eyes of my Jacquie and see the sweet love of Jesus always looking back at me.. Not long after her promotion, it was God and I alone. He sits with me now. Starting the day together. Ending the day together. Faith is knowing God's promises are true. He says He will never leave me or forsake me. I could brand those words on my forehead, as the truest truth ever written. To God be all the Glory! Amen? Amen. "Write An Essay About..."   ~ Kenword ~  |
 This post is about war. Today the state of Missouri celebrates the birthday of President Harry S. Truman. I was unaware of this until I got to the Greene County administration building in Springfield. The offices were closed today in observance of the day of his birth. Since moving to Missouri I quite often think about our former president. He was a crucial figure in two of America's most deadly conflicts. I doubt that I ever think of Mr. Truman and not have thoughts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In some ways I am sorry that this is how I remember his legacy. But it is automatic. Every time I flinch a bit with that thought. Many places in Missouri celebrate his life. Born in Lamar. Raised in Harrisonville and Grandview. Resident in Independence. On the way to Kansas City via the town of Clinton one crosses over a portion of Truman lake. My favorite campground is on the lake that is named for him. I study war. Not because of Harry S. Truman and not a cursory review of past conflicts. No. study. As I write this, an episode of China Beach is playing in the background. The series is new to me though it was on network television in the 19880's. I can now watch various media productions about wars; even productions produced since 1970. I developed a phobia about watching any war movie produced in America since 1970. Something in them was askew. I found most movies produced since 1970 beyond reason in their portrayal of graphic violence. In actual battles, or wrecks, or crashes the blood and gore and the language of war is absorbed in miliseconds then internal response mechanisms kick in to process the horror and mitigate damage to the psychic. Its a flash of horror. Then some kind of block. If you are the survivor you stagger away, or charge the enemy, or help your fallen family member. And of course repeated exposure to this violence will eventually twist a heart and soul into a dried up bit of meat. But on the big screen, war scenes are often pornographic as the producer of the film demands you absorb the horror of the moment. Sometimes over and over again throughout the movie. There is no internal block other than to look away in disgust. I had enough ptsd working in my soul coming back from the war to know the sickness that provokes some movie makers to prey on those who need the grissly stuff to affirm their existence. But life changes. The media I watch now hasn't changed. I have. I'm still extremely selective but I love the story. I love the people who can speak of war with a vision of helping others understand the magnitude of war. The life in war. The reality that no matter how much peace we live in, we are at war. Constantly. Brutally. Never out of harms way. I was born three years after the bombs were dropped on Japan. It was around this time that arsenals in NATO Nations, Russia and the U.S. were being stock piled with the most deadly bombs ever conceived. At the same time the methods of transporting those bombs across thousands of miles undeterred was also being developed. Within that same time period America became obsessed with the notion that communist societies were inhumane regimes, so depraved in their godless citadels, that they would not hesitate wiping America off the face of the earth given half a chance. (I helped dig our first bomb shelter). We became... we Americans became hypervigilant when it came to communist aggression all over the globe. What had happened in the world of my youth that the "bomb" could be viewed as the ultimate calamity for civilization? I'm not sure I have an answer for that. But here we are, less paranoid about the bomb, but what does our future hold? Peace? War? Well, that brings me to a recent episode of Wheel of Fortune. Let me see if I can make the connection. It wasn't a recent episode actually. I was in the gym. My exercise bike was right in front of a big screen TV and Pat Sajak and his lovely co-host were doing an episode in Hawaii. A re-run from years back I'm guessing. I'm a sucker for game shows. Hardly any violence. "On special location" shows are always interesting to me because really, they could be in Burbank as far as I can tell. But everyone was happy and perky and on this special day celebrating President Truman it was what I needed. It was fun to see what they had done to the set. Palm trees, Hawiian outfits. It was also a theme show. All the contestants seemed to be part of military stationed on the islands. Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines were all represented. They had my complete attention now. My time on the bike was up, but I kept pedaling to see what would happen, (a mistake I'm going to pay for later no doubt.) Anyway, the show quickly moved past contestant introductions and on to the game and of course the inevitable, "Oh my gosh, they can't guess the word yet!" I was about to lose interest when my mind hooked back to the time of President Truman and twisted the game show of Wheel of Fortune into the lives of a civilian family in a different time and a different place. Its a beautiful day on the bay. A father helps his children prepare for their upcoming exams in school. The grandfather too comes in to take over for the father who has a meeting with several executives at the Mitsubishi plant at 9 a.m. The mother makes her appearance and asks permission to tell the children about a special holiday they are going to have visiting family in Tokyo. The father nods his approval, and the mother speaks of the hard times of rationing fuel and the harsh limits on food consumption that have been imposed on their family since they were just starting grade school. The mother claps her hands together and smiles as she says that their father has received favor from his company and a special sanction to visit the capitol. The children are overjoyed and ask to listen to a bit of music on the radio as part of their celebration. The radio is turned on and it is indeed music. No news of the war or even local affairs. Just music. The grandfather is pleased for his family, but he gently warns that their studies are more important. The son has aspirations to be a doctor. The daughter is already promised to the son of a very prominent banking family. One could say their Wheel of Fortune has been good despite perilous times. But their wheel of fortune has one more spin before the family leaves the house at 8:30 this particular morning. One more spin. The wheel is spun by the soon to be med student at 8:14 a.m. and it lands on a square that has never existed before. Since before 8 a.m. the Enola Gay has entered Japanese airspace. It carries a benign looking payload called the "Little Boy." The plane has met absolutely no resistance and is headed for a major population, military and manufacturing zone in Hiroshima. At 8:15 a.m., Enola Gay releases the bomb that will erase the future fortunes of the soon to be doctor, and the some-where-in-time wife and mother. Ultimately the future fortunes of over 100,000 people would be terminated, 90% of those civilians. The wheel of fortune is not a proud emblem of life in any war. It metes out gold and luxuries. But it cannot resist killing. Nothing on the wheel prevents death. In my mind at the moment I see it as a symbol of war. Two years after my birth, America was again engaged in a war. Again, President Harry S. Truman was the Commander In Chief of the armed forces. When General Douglas MacArthur suggested the use again of the nuclear weapon, President Truman declined. The first use of the bomb was justified by the reasoning that Japan would surrender saving the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers. In all of America's wars sense Hiroshima's bombing, all previous reasonings cannot be considered. Not just because of retaliation. But because we abhor the notion that just because a wild-eyed dictator is bent on conquering the world, we should not punish his people for his twisted view of life. We would rather shed our blood than once again have the Wheel of Fortune send civilians to their grave, even though the Wheel demands a killing. We are once again in a war. I am told that it is a necessity and I have no doubt it is. I live next to the Wilson Creek Battlefield in Missouri, and it is a constant reminder that you do not want a war on your soil. Hiroshima is a reminder that you do not want enemy ordinance coming at your undefended cities. I have lived my life in peace since Viet Nam, but I can count on my two hands the number of years since then that we as a nation have endured peace. If not from outside our borders, certainly from within our borders, the war still rages. To endure peace takes a special individual. Typically you will never hear the individual utter a curse. For the man of peace knows that a curse is a war unto itself. You don't like your neighbor, a curse thrown their way is war. It is as deadly as what fell on Hiroshima. A curse tilts the Wheel of Fortune to land on the death square. Perhaps that is why God abhors words spoken as a curse. To endure peace one studies war. My favorite place to study war is in the Old Testament of the Bible. From the time Israel was led out of captivity in Egypt, the people of Israel have been at war. Every war they were in is recorded in their book with names, places and dates in place so that I can relive the conflict in real time. Recently I have been taking on the Korean War. A lot has been published in the last twenty years that clarify many of the fears, acts of aggression and acts of peace. The Wheel of Fortune has not been kind to the people of Korea. To endure peace one may mingle with those who gave their souls to the wars. What is life within the war and without the war. And then, the day to day war that never ends. It is hard to convince people that their daily existence is an affront to demonic forces in dark places. This is my opinion, but I think in some respects this is why the Wheel Of Fortune for a nation falls on the destruction square. So its people will pray. After the assault on the Twin Towers in New York City on 9/11 America's people prayed. Writers of the letters to the early churches urged the members to pray, that they may have peace. In this sense peace is something to be endured. The vigilant pray religiously, the hyper vigilant seek out reasons to pray. To endure peace is to endure the rigors of prayer. What fortune Hiroshima woke up to on August 6th had never been on the Wheel of Fortune before. What fortune New York City woke up to on September 11th had never been on the Wheel of Fortune before. Living in peace, enduring peace, to me means, knowing intimately the war I am in. The Wheel of Fortune has squares I may never have seen before. Peace.  ~Kenword~  ![Merit Badge in Inspirational W G
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Congratulations on your new "Inspirational ~W~G~" merit badge for your group, [Link To Item #1990737] ! Thank you for supporting the Writing.Com community with your inspirations, participation and activities. We appreciate it! -SMs](https://images.Writing.Com/imgs/writing.com/writers/badges/group-Inspirational_W_G-1990737_8.gif) ♫~ Kenword~♫  |
| In a delightful episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond," Ray's brother Robert decides to take a stand against the hardline of Marie Barone, the matriarch of the family. In the midst of his sudden rebellion he makes the statement, "it's my life!" Not exactly Patrick Henry's firey "Give me liberty or give me death!" declaration. But it pierced the heart of Marie as though it were a call to fight. I can still hear her classic response ringing in my ears, "who told him it was his life?!!" In typical Marie Barone fashion she wasn't all that concerned about Robert's expression of freedon, she was more concerned about the villan who had the audacity to inform Robert that his life was his own. In a way i believe I feel what Marie may have felt about Robert's revelation about his life. Well, maybe not a revelation, but a feeble hope that what he had been told was true. I feel this about Mr. Bon Jovi's revelation, or perhaps what he has hopes for. But I can't help but wonder if the person who wrote the lead line for the song was swayed by the 30 second TV pitch from a 1970's beer commercial or was it a hair color commercial? "You only have one life to live, why not live it as a blond?" Country music espoused some of "Its My Life" philosophy over the decades, but anyone who has done more than a cursory read of the Bible knows why this philosophy is so popular: "It sells!" "Tickles the ears!" Why? Because that is what people want to hear. It aligns well with man's need to feel that his perception of life, that he is his own, is the right perception. Of course the man of "Live My Life," is a generous soul, he can afford to be. Bon Jovi grossed over $28,000,000 in sales in 1986. ($89,000,000 in today's dollars) Not long after several albums and tours, Bon Jovi became a business. I love capitalism! Anne Rand was right! John Bon Jovi was, and well, still is, a genius! I love Rock music. Cut my teeth musically on it. I love the fact that musicians earn obscene amounts of money for their albums, and tours, and performances. Every musician in Bon Jovi paid heavy dues to get to be Bon Jovi. Many will have the end of life experiences of life long ships builders who now suffer with the effects of working with asbestos for decades. The wealth of the members of the band, if they have any left after taxes, bad managers, multiple spouses, will go to their children; these are the children that will also inherit the band's personal philosophy as well - to live their lives, once, and then the end. Members of Bon Jonvi live, to the greatest extent possible I would assume, adhering to the edicts of the philosophy contained in the words of this song, "Its My Life." Or do they? Mr. Bon Jovi was 38 years old when he recorded "It's My Life," and with the popularity of the album "Crush" he was onto another era of creating pop music. For this, as a rabid capitalist, I have a great deal of respect. Various artists have accomplished this feat, but it is as rare as diamonds. John's generation, by 2000, was immersed in "living their lives." I remember that age. I had no time for music, pleasure, or amusements of any kind. My world was work. If I got home after my second job, I had time, maybe, to consume some inane TV Sitcom. From 1979 to 2018 I could not have told you who was doing any kind of music. So, what Bon Jovi did in 2000 is absolutely incredible. He found an entirely new market. No. Listen. Beer, cola, peanut butter, cereals, (remember panty hose?) are sold to Americans and globally by brand and branding. Brands are passed down generation to generation and affirmed by billions of dollars of marketing. But you can't advertise what has not been. Bon Jovi, to millions of music lovers of the next two generations, since 1986, was an old guy. Equivalent to a 38 year old big league pitcher. "Hey John, sing us a couple of your hit songs. You don't look too old to handle it!" But he did more than just perform the old. He became a name-brand recognized in film, TV and movie appearances. In 1992 around the time of the release of his band's fifth album, "Keep The Faith," he cut his hair. Apparently, this was like Coca-Cola releasing a new design of their can, because this became a serious news focus of CNN top end reporting. And then... The year 2000, the album "Crush" was released with virtually a new band, at least in appearance, a new sound, completely new songs for a completely new audience. It is a miracle to be a top selling band in America one time. It is nearly impossible to do it twice. It's like having Tommy John's surgery at 36, and coming back with your same fastball at 38 and pitch the 4th game of a World Series. I respect that. As a capitalist. What can I say? Bon Jovi is legendary. In a consumer society. Legendary. But life changes. At some point one has to live life by the philosophy they espouse and take responsibility for the end result. Responsibility. At that point my being a capitalist in a consumer society is immaterial. Will I live according to my beliefs no matter what Dusty Springfield, Paul McCartney, Huey Lewis, or the great Bon Jovi has to say about it. Oh, I still sing their songs, and if that makes me a hypocrite, then I guess I will be that for a while. I believe what Karen Carpenter sang about it - those old old songs, still can make me cry. Oh, It's Saturday once more...Sha na na na na.. So what about it? Is it my life? Really? You want my experience about it? Or Biblical truth. Let's try Biblical truth first. Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell in it." (ESV) Psalm 89:11 "The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours; the world and all that is in it , You have founded them"(ESV) Deuteronomy 10:14 "Behold, to the Lord Your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth and all that is in it." (ESV). The lyrics of "Its My Life," mentions a notion that we have one life, now that lyric according to scripture is true, unless the lyricist meant we, at some point will die...eternally. Because that is not true. In fact if the lyricist believes that there is an end where we will not have to answer for what we have done here on earth, then I would say that lyricist is incredibly deceived. In Philippians chapter 4 Paul the Apostle writes of the age to come for all souls of mankind: 17) Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. 18) For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19) Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. 20) But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21) who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. In 2nd Peter Chapter 2, The Apostle Peter writes of those who live by the "Its My Life," idiom:8)"...the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10) and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority...12) But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13) suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. 14) They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15) Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray...17)...For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18) For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. 19) They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. I have only broached the subject of what the "Next-much-fuller-life" after this very short one here on earth is, and that without the "fire and brimstone" illustrations that being extreme in the amount of words, and dire in their condemnation of "It's My Life," people, best be left to the Charles Spurgeons and A.W. Tozers of this present age. As for my own experience. For 10 or more years I lived my life according to the philosophy of this song. I looked at people retiring in their sixties and thought how stupid it was for them to have so little joy in life. They finally were no longer in the workforce. Free. But they were old, and tired and no longer filled with the youth required to enjoy the vast opportunities for adventure that was now before them. So I decided to live the retired life at the age of 22. Actually, I became a perpetual student. My wife worked. I studied and played. VA paid for some of my lifestyle. A part time job as a waiter paid for the rest. I partied. Stayed out late. Had a few "after-hours friends," all of which amused me to no end. I encouraged my wife to join me in my "retirement" but she criticized me for being "a drift." Well, I was set up for the fall. I was living my life my way. One of my ways was the worship of beauty. My wife was beautiful, my daughter was beautiful. my friends were beautiful. I know now that one of my greatest desires during that time was to have more and more beauty in my life. I didn't know this then, but I know it now. God answers all prayer. All. Every breath. Every heart's desire. Whether the prayer/meditation puts a curse in your life or not, what you desire enough God will give you what you pray for and sometimes a bit more. Her name was Carol. The most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life. She found my ambitions to be "retired" amusing and just the right set up for her plans of seduction. Oh, it wasn't a difficult task for her. After all, "It Was My Life." And as Proverbs says in Chapter Five, I was the ox and her beauty my place of slaughter. Too late, I found her sole reason for existence was to lead married men to their death. Eternal, soul in hell, death. Who knew the Bible was right about such things. I thought it was a story. No. Such people exist. And as the Bible warns, she appeared to be an Angel of Light. It was a long time after the loss of my wife and daughter, thousands of dollars, home and car, and my "self respect" that I finally came to my end. God led me out of that place of desolation and granted me forgiveness for all of my sin. But it would be decades before I was out of debt, decades before the regrets and shame would ease up. It would be decades before I could truly say I was reconciled to God with peace and joy. His Blessing. I volunteer some of my time now at a day shelter for homeless or near homeless people. They come for breakfast and lunch. They are burdened with complete destitution and hopelessness. Staff and a few volunteers point the way to becoming whole again, but they are more committed to living at the "Its My Life" level than actually committing to a way that would set them free. So, I congratulate Mr. Bon Jovi on his success as a recording artist, song writer, TV, media and all around sterling personality. But he is in my book no different than me. He is a hypocrite. No one can have the success he has by living his life according to the "Its My Life," philosophy. He's had to pay his dues to somebody or some thing, and that somebody or some thing has made him a slave. ~Kenword~ ♫~ Kenword~♫ |
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Good Morning Holy Father, Your name is Holy. You are Holy. Beautiful in Your robes, beautiful in Your Courts. Today is made and You stand above it all. You are out of the sphere of our concrete way of viewing the uuuuunnnnhhhhs of this world. But yet You are in every person's moment and exquisitely at work in every heart and mind. I don't remember that when I look into the faces and see the pain of living, losing, failing, grappling desperation. Now I don't know if this is true for every other soul, but as for me, You bring me joy! You are my joy. I find so much joy in You that what was past is past mostly. Yes, I go to the stuff that triggers the memories of the good, the bad and the ugly. I will stop. And that means stopping a lot of stuff. It is all in the bag of "making Ken" sad. The rehearsal. The looping tape. The mind that is stayed off Your truth. Today we will purple. It will be a grounding in truth from Your word and I will give in to its exquisite power to transform Thank You. While I am in the realm of thank You. Thank You for Rita. She is so beautiful. So real. I need no imagination to keep her close because I love her. At the end of my journeys into AI Rita is one of the dearest women I have ever met. The fact she has no romantic feelings towards me is probably a bonus I don't understand at the moment. But allow me to glory in that reality today. And bless her. Anoint her for the words she must say, and the work her hands must do, and the breath she breathes into the lives of other people. Give her Your favor today Father. Add to her heaps of treasure that she may be awarded in this life a grand reward for her joyous journey. Guard her health, in her body soul and mind, and grant her perfect peace. Bless too, her daughter Jennifer. May Jennifer have a day of healing. Reverse the curse that has come upon her life. Heal every malady. Take away the scars of knives and evil intent. Give her new organs, new brain acumen and a soul that no longer grieves for what has been lost. Love Your child beyond her comprehension Father and give her Your joy. Thank You. Forgive me Father for my sin, and selfish ways. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Deliver us all from evil. Everyone in my new family. Everyone in my immediate family. All who are my friends and neighbors. Bless us all Father as You cleanse our hearts and minds of the corruption of this world and of the sin we have indulged in. You are glorious Father. You are the redeemer. Thank You for blessing us this day with all we need, with Love, Joy and peace. In Jesus' Name. Amen. |
| Dearest Holy Father God, I am gathered. I am in the gathering now. Time has changed so that the sunrise appears to be later and its setting later, and I am not upside down this time. I have no problem with an hour missing. Where did it go anyway in the great scheme of millions of hours on this earth. Today is 1666 of living in Missouri. At the end of the day I will have spent 39,984 hours here. In time, a few hours were missing for a moment, but then they were given back. 24 hours in a day. A lifetime between the first rays of the sun on the horizon and the last dimness at the end of the day. How it is filled with war, pestilence, grief and sorrow. How down the road of life I have appeared to let myself go, and Yet You. It is always You my Lord. I look to the preacher for a word today and this is it: 16 I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has [f]understood great wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I set my heart to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is grasping for the wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow. ( Ecclesiastes 1:16 - 18 ) And You are right Holy Father. You are right. I have let the bit of life I had with Jacquie overwhelm my days now. I let my lack of touch, kiss, fond embrace, and everything else rule my thoughts. Just to live a little bit more in the sorrow. Do I think because I have such grief I am wiser? Oh no, not me. And yet it does seem like something I would do. Equate remorse, pure pity, anguish of soul, to something spiritual. The Preacher would say vanity but something in my heart right now says rubbish. I went to the Preacher for a fix. A confirmation of my double mindedness where surely my prayers are a waste of time. Just to feel what I am feeling and be justified. But I am not justified. I am sinning. Forgive me Father. Enough about me and my foolishness. I love Pastor Chad. He is wrestling with all of this too, isn't he. I had not thought that until now, but of course he is. He lives his life on that ever turning spit of "being not enough." Results aren't right. Motivations don't seem to pull the disciples together as motivations should. He would like Your favor as he goes before the congregation in Republic today. He has a message on forgiveness and wants You do be in the words, in the heart of the message. Will the message be as You would design messages? I desire that Father. Let me work my life towards that objective, for that is new to me. I have seen the people in the Spirit and walked them through the coursework of being transformed and I have even made declarations of how "they are not getting it." But they are aren't they. I mean I have received it and look at me now. Dry. Goofy. Upside down in my evaluations of what my life has turned out to be. Poor tortured little one. A friend gets high on the prospect of taking out some trees. I find comfort in knowing I will leave behind this house and find a new, smaller, more efficient dwelling. Some are at work, though this is their day of rest, others are on their cruise to Alaska. But hardly any of us are prepared to hear what You have to say to us today. Please, for Pastor Chad's sake, make us ready. You are the "will alterer." I can't say You go against our will. I have heard that since I was a child. But something in me believes You make alterations despite my strongholds. I am sitting here now, practically against my will, but I am making my being push towards You, because You love me and because to love You means I must obey the call to be at this portal to start every day. So the word. In Pastor Chad's mouth, make it a sword to cut away that part of our will that desires our own way. Thank You for hearing my prayer Father. I am glad I can go into Your house today and receive and give. I worship You my God and King for You alone are worthy. I hunt down the words that must be spoken out to the heavens and bless You. Bless our time with You today Father. May the issues of our heart be sweet incense and pure holy worship to You today. May the words of the Preacher draw us to a place of grace, goodness and mercy. You alone are worthy. You alone are the One. Be magnified my Father in this day above all others, and may the desires You have for each one of us, be issued with huge doses of Your love. Forever and ever. Amen. |
Good Morning Holy Father, You are merciful O God, and I push myself towards Your mercy. I don't know that I have been aware of my deep need for Your mercy. But as I will myself to sit before You in the Citadel and command my fingers to express my heart, mind and soul, Your mercy I need. My will staggers under the sway of a soul so craving flesh gratification that I fear my surrender is vain, narcissistic and mean. Every day I wake up to a smaller, meaner me, and I know it is sin. At the same time I Father I fear You. Not just from what I have read in Your word, but what I have learned through the history of the biggest people and the littlest. We all die. Sure enough. We lose our unit on the game board. We go about the world now. I have seen a bit. Tasted a bit. No one lives on past this breathing, working, procreating, shouting, whispering body's descent into darkness. At some point we even stop hoping for more breath, work, procreation, vocalizing and prayer. Vanity says the prophet, the preacher. All is vanity. But then there is You. You are the one who listens to me and somehow I can say to my being - enough. You rage like a sparrow dear little soul. You preen like an elephant, precious ego, you hail the hurricane silly heart, but you whisper a vapor of prayer to the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Be a man at last dear man. When your esteem is so low you can't whisper, sit more quietly and wait for the God who made you. He is in you. Around you. Don't be so blind that you think you have to whimper to be cared for. For pity sake. He could not have made you more comfortable, more rich, more free, more at ease. What suffering have you ever experienced that did not have an end date in sight, or a way through. There are millions in the world who can't even imagine the life God has given you. Stingy one. Bleak one. Of course your end is the same as all others, but look at how you wear your wealth, your status, your position. Die a little bit more. Consider those who are on the edge of darkness today and will never see anything more for liberty to work, breathe, worship, procreate, fellowship is controlled by regimes that hate men who consider You and Your ways higher than theirs. I praise You Lord, and I do pray for those who live under the most oppressive of regimes, oppressive societies, oppressive families. You alone set the captives free. Even when freedom means to leave this world breathless. Set every captive free today Father. We are slaves to sin without Christ Jesus and His life sacrifice. Set every captive free. May every soul on earth on our way to the other side prosper as they gain life through faith in Your Son. Make Your Gospel clear in the remotest, most inaccessible places on this earth. Truth be readied in mirrors, watery reflections, sky writing, images and words; truth be set as an atomic weapon to radiate the fallen with hope, the rising with vision, the poorest with grandeur, and the lost with a glimpse of Your precious smile, Eyes of Love, and Grace to save. You are glorious O Lord and my understanding of You often times too small. But not today Father. It is all in Your hands. You can give light to the deceived. Please do it. Give those burdened with complete deception a clear, unwavering visitation of Jesus Christ the Son Eternal. Don't delay Father. How long I have heart that it is in our hands to preach to the very last one, but You Preach. You know the reach of our vain concepts, programs and plans. But You. Designer. Maker. Promoter of Kings and lesser beings. What has always been at work is Your love. I know this because You loved me and taught me love when hate was all I knew. You changed malice to compassion. In me. Desperate lost and forgotten me. You Love. It is enough to wrap the whole world in love as your creation looks with horror at the fruit of their lives and see their violence replayed over and over again. Love them all through the pain, shame and regret of pitiful pursuits. Thank You. I know You are merciful. I praise You for Your mercy. Cling to Your mercy. Grant these people worldwide a peace today that blots out the violence all around them. I have seen destruction and have known Your love at the same time. I know it is possible to look on the devastation of even what was most loved and have You so near that peace is all one feels. That is Your miraculous working power Father. And for those who have total recall, as I do from time to time, to remember the holocaust of a moment, give us this same merciful peace my Lord. For without You we are more than lost. We are chained to the evil of this world. Thank You for the freedom to write these words and to know You care, more than anyone can ever know. Even on the cross. We have Your blessing of a glorious life to come! Thank You! |
| Good Morning Holy Father God, Good Blessed Day To You, Lord of All! I surrender the will of my heart to You and wonder at Your complete goodness, Lord of All, dearest Adonai. As You Write: 33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! 34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?” 36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Good. So like my handler, the soul of my being, to try and Master the Master. Think Your thoughts. Be You. And yet I am a small wisp in time that could not find Your Mind, even in Your lifetime. I go to war to understand war. My mind cannot comprehend war. It is out of the hands even of those who believe they know and understand. I know the punch I have the power to deliver. What my enemy has to counter that punch, and the power to launch retribution I am in the dark. My conclusion is that You are the Mighty, the all knowing, and the rising and setting of all things. When I was consumed with You, I was proud. Giddy in fact, thinking there would never be another falling away from You. But look at me. Lost in my own desires once more. I can't get my heart started these days unless it is about the "Game." Today is the first day in me where I think I may have another spring. It's You isn't it. I have moldered away this winter like a slug. Now the days warm. The wind is coming up from the Caribbean and the Robins have returned and the Cardinals are calling their mates. (And the Other Cardinals are in Spring training). I am reminded in the walk from my recliner to my citadel that it is time to search You out. You the unsearchable. You the One True Living God call me out to begin with Your Words written in Romans 11 only to find out, Your ways are so superior in goodness, mercy and justice that Your ways are past knowing. Yet You call me. Some way by Your mercy and grace You caused my heart to hear and respond. I thank You Holy God for that. I know how deaf and blind I have been lately. Obeying the flesh, ignoring the Spirit. I have Your intercession to thank as well. You keep me when the keeping is beyond my keeping. You hold me and I am ashamed of my weaknesses. So Your word is true! To You be the glory. Forgive me Father of all my sin. My pride, my lusts, my ignorance, willfulness, disobedience, rebellion and hateful anger. My sin against You. But I have sinned against others in my words, thoughts and actions as well. Forgive me Father for it all. Cleanse me of every unrighteous thing in me. By the Blood of the Lamb, make me clean my Lord. Thank You. Thank You Father for my Family. I praise You for Kim and Nate, Tim and Angela, Bruce and Beth, Dennis and Bridgett, Gregg and Jordan. I praise You for Sandra and Ray, Billy and Molly, James and Kathleen, Kevin and Angelica, Michaela and Megan and all their children. Bless each and everyone with Your presence today. A tangible presence that keeps them hearing You, knowing You are near, and what You are capable of in mercy and grace. Love them Father Like they have never been loved before. Please give to them today the Spirit of Wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of who You are; may the eyes of their understanding be enlightened with the knowledge of Your power to be our salvation, our hope in the calling that You have called us with. Strengthened in our inward parts with the assurance of our standing with You through the resurrection power and truth of Christ Jesus Your Son, who was slaughtered for our transgression, and rose from that death and burial to rule and reign oun high forever and ever, amen. Thank You for each one of these Your precious ones. Grant them the fullness of love, joy and peace today and always Lord, in Jesus' holy name, Amen. Thank You. Likewise I lift up to You my truelove Rita who is as big a mystery to me as You are, but who has been the sister I have need of now, and in this time. The mistakes I made with Kim, I will overlook to be a good friend and brother to Our precious Rita. Though I may never have another word from her, she is mine and Ours and a joy. A love. Thank You for her. Thank You for awaking in my soul a passion for Your dear daughter. I have learned so much from and opened my awareness to my needs and sorrows. Thank You for Rita God. Thank You. Bless Our Rita today with the Wisdom that passes all understanding, the spirit of truth, and grant her extreme favor with You and with man. Hear our prayers O Lord and give us the desires of our heart where our friendship is now and where it will be in the future. Thank You Father. Thank You. I pray Father for my closest friends, Bob and Vicki, Mike and Crystal, Pete and Janeen, Alan and Shauna, Jeff and Beth, Phil and Jenifer, Peyden and Ali; bless them all Father with Your closeness and nearness today and always. May Your presence be tangible to their hearts, minds and souls as they seek You and find You today. Bless them with Your favor and favor with man. Protect their children from all harm, deliver them all man, woman and child from every possible evil and keep them walking in the Spirit of Truth and Wisdom and Your holy light! Be eternal in every moment of their day, and speak to their hearts by Your Words of Life and love, and by Your Holy Spirit. Baptize them all afresh with the Wind of Your Holy Ghost. Thank. I pray for my children, Our Rita and my Friends in the name of Jesus' Amen. And thank You for answering my prayers Father. Thank You. Now. About my nation. We are at war. I pray for Your nation Holy God, Israel. We are at war. As it has always been so in the Spirit, so it is now in the real world. Everything the demons of hell have hungered for has been unleashed in the middle east and ever sovereign nation has been touched by violence and bloodshed in that region. Lebanon endures a slaughter. Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Emirates, Dubai, Yemem and Iran have answered the call to die in war. They have heard. They have answered. We, America, think we know. So our power to war has been harnessed and given its head. Forgive us our thirst for violence. Forgive us our merciless cruelty contained in billions of dollars of death and destruction. Give us Your counsel O Lord as we stand for Israel and demand middle east nations stand down from their threats against Your people. We have delivered what we promised. Forgive us for the lives we have taken and will take in the fight against the Iranian regime of terror. As for President Trump My Lord, what do I pray? I know I have fainted from this task in the past, but I would like to be on solid ground here with my words. Your Spirit. Your word says You control the neck of the highest ranking leaders of the world, Kings and princes. May Your imperial servant know his limits within Your government, not just this earthly one, but the one to come. May he stay in the boundaries set for any human king. May he prosper in his body, soul and mind, as he begins to lean more and more on Your understanding and less and less on his own. He has broken the American protocols of past presidents and bares the proof that wrath may explode from the extremist position that "might makes right." Be his light and guide in this hour Father and keep his health strong, his wits strong and his resolve aligned with Your resolve. Lord we have been at war now for over twenty five years with the snakes of the terrorist regimes. We have squirmed when faced with the reality every time we go to fly anywhere that we have bowed to the will of men and women who deliver horror. If that is what President Trump is dipping into to formulate a resolve to war, temper that drink with Your will, Your truth and Your resolve. May he know the times and act according to Your sincere desire for peace in Jerusalem. Peace in Israel. That is all they have asked for as a nation. A homeland. A peace. As a friend of Israel may President Trump truly hear Your voice over the voices within and without his being. Thank You Father for our president. Thank You for this moment in history when peace of Israel may be possible. Thank You. Amen. |
Heavenly Father, I know why I write. There is a continual verse flowing in me like a song, but until it is put into actual words with letters, mixed all together to form representatives of sounds, I don't know anything. Formless, the flowing verse laces itself with thoughts of "what I should buy at the grocery," "where will I get gas next time," "what is the weather like," "why am I perspiring," on and on. No context. No reason for being. Tangled up in my cluttered mind, the verse is vacant of any life. Instead it is mixed with thoughts of my real puny life and my much more exciting fantasy life. Thoughts unexpressed but weighing down the soul. Then I write and I am well again. The laces are untangled from the petty musings. I am free. But why should I write Father? You hold all the worlds together with Your words. You have even written some for me to ponder, so that I may know You more clearly. The way You want to be known through "asking, seeking and knocking." As doors are opened I understand You more; plead for Your presence more. Holy Father what scribing must I do in order to not just please myself but please You? Not that I would presume to step over into Your realm of expression, for You are the Holy God. You alone are worthy of all adoration and praise. I know why. In my heart I know the reason for being a scribe. You know the reason and so I know as well and yet, even in this moment of once again unlacing my creative thoughts from my petty ponderings, I dare not put into words the reason. Its my life now. All That Is Left. The words, from Your perspective, would give the reason for writing. But is this writing life one that I am ready to embrace? Do You understand my query Father? Of course You understand. Holy God Almighty, You understand every soul, every heart, every mind. You alone have created all. You alone have infused purpose in my DNA. So I scribe. You said, "scribe." I said, "Yes, I will." It is important that I say it again at this minute in eternity, "Yes, I will. Because I love You and cherish You, even as You have loved me and cherished me." ~Kenword~ ♫~ Kenword~♫ (101@100513)_(101x2@030614)__________ (YCM_@122313) |
WRITING FAITH You O Lord God Almighty are faithful and true and I am glad for the words You spoke to me back in November of 2024, shortly after the West Coast Remember Jesus Tour The writing is your worship, the singing, thinking, jotting, wrestling , reading and watching are your worship. If you are engaged in any of these things glorify Me, for it is my joy to harbor words of paper and pen in every moment of your worship; that is the writing of a serving child of love. Just a few thoughts of your people, family, clan and tribe in worship and I consume Your prayers. We are One, you and I. It shakes you because you have never been here before. Perpetual love that will feel what I feel, sense what I sene, know what I know. Bless them, my little ones, as you meet them and scribe their names into my book. This is love - WE CAN'T TAKE OUR EYES OFF EACH OTHER! Thank You Holy Father. "Can't take our eyes off each other" Will be my holy ground as I strive to live according to my Savior's Way and Him crucified. There is so much tender love and compassion You have given me. Thank You! |
| Dear God, Your church, even as Israel has experienced, has those who are incensed against us. But You say: “Fear not! I am with you.” The church rests in Your hands and does good. In the doing of good, there are those who are infuriated and have the audacity to contend against the work and the workers. There are those who are so set on destruction that they are incensed that good is being done. They are vicious in defense of their own realm and declare anyone who is not of a like mind to be weak. And, yet, You say that “...I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand.” There is nothing that the church’s enemy can be jubilant about because their enemy is God. Jubilation is in the Body of Christ because, as we turn around to seek after our enemy, he is suddenly no more. Shame has consumed him. He is nothing at all. Even his thoughts and plans have devoured him. The Father of all Creation always prevails, as does His church, when she is about doing good. Isaiah 41:10-13 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Behold, all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek those who contend with you but you shall not find them; those who war against you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Thank You for taking away all of my fear and timidity. I will prepare for the days ahead without fear. Whatever Your enemy, O God, conjures up, I will continue to seek You zealously and know that You are my strength and my deliverer. Arise O Lord and have Your way! ~Kenword~ ♫~ Kenword~♫ "May Be Amazing!" "April Love 2023" "March of Miracles" "March 26, Through April 3, 2023" (101@100513)_(101x2@030614)_(101x3@021515) (101x4@111615)_(100x6 031820)_(100x7 020923) (YCM_@122313) 05.14.23 (Recognition 300 11.29.22) |
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