What if God posted His holy status... ?

What if God were on Facebook or Google+, what would be His Holy Status?

"Almighty God enjoying daily indescribable eternal joy of Father, Son, & Holy Ghost with so many believers and the saints in heaven." 

Maybe His post would read like this:

We were so happy that several thousands more came thru the gate today.  What an incredible journey for some!  We had that big party again today as thousands more confessed the name of Jesus today, some in Mali, some in Bali, and even some in Philly!

There's trouble in so many lands and families as Satan tries again and again to thwart my plan.  Why doesn't he just give up?  Can't he realize the final victory was won at the cross n tomb?  Seems some believers are smarter than this pompous dangerous rebel!

My friends Billy, Modibo, John, Bev, and so many more are sick again.  But they keep on running the race n trusting me.  As their bodies give pain and weakness some still struggle to realize I’m in control; I am!

Quite a few of My young believers were put to test again today, some to the point of spilling their blood.  Ugh!  Their faith is a strong testimony of the choice they've made and many more see their character n believe; it is all working out.

So many churches argued again today, even on Sunday, so self-defeating.  Satan deceives so many into pride lust n greed.  I just love those that humbly get along and bear witness of My grace.

That big volcano, that terrible bombing, that devastating storm showed again the continuing powerful effects of sin, so many are deceived and miss this truth.  Yet so many show their great divinely-born-love in the midst of these crises and continue to trust me to intervene for their help and well-being.

I like that, and help comes abundantly when they just ask like so many did just today.  It was so nice just to talk n fellowship with so many simple yet wise folk today.  I never change; how could I?

I'm so glad My Holy Word is being read n broadcast more n more.  They have so many means now in spite of all the confused languages and complex rules of the daily game [culture].  It is hard indeed to get most to simply read n listen to My message, the whole thing is not too much and designed just to bring them along in My ways in all situations n tests.  Why do those who have so many copies rarely sit down with their family and friends to look it over so to teach the new ones, while those who have little means or ability devour it?  Oh Satan loves to lie about even My good book.   He did it with Jesus, we can expect he'll do it again!

Fulani shepherd and his donkey cart in the Sahel of Africa.

Jesus showed himself to so many today with the help of the Spirit.  Many were convinced, many convicted, and many were even persuaded.  How He is so tireless and so loving and inviting after His time on earth - His servant brotherhood shines through.  Alleluia!

His one great sacrifice was just what they needed.  But Satan loves to twist that too & make people believe they can work their way to My Kingdom.  This Kingdom of Heaven is so different from false ones, but Jesus' work n grace will continue to show how My plan is best & triumphant.

Tomorrow's post will be similar.  I could go into details, I know all about everyone, but I think that would overwhelm all the servers of the world combined. Just read My Good Book again.

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I am not trying to presume God's thots, here's just a simple imagination I wrote out while riding a bus across Mali and Burkina Faso recently!  Any misspellings or grammar mistakes are obviously mine.

Jimbo 

Recommended book Review: Foster

       Foster, Richard, & JB Smith, ed, Devotional Classics, Selected Readings for Individuals and Groups, A Renovare Resource for Spiritual Renewal, NYC: HarperOne, 1990-2005, pb, ~500 pp, I# 978-0-06-07750-0, LC#  BV4801.D39 1993; 242--dc20. 

       Foster has 52 selections from historical and modern spirituality authors in 6 areas:  Contemplative (the Prayer-filled Life), Holiness Tradition (the Virtuous Life), Charismatic (the Spirit Empowered Life), Social Justice (the Compassionate Life),Evangelical (the Word-Centered Life), & Incarnational (the Sacramental Life). He gives a short bio of each to past them in their setting and value, some questions for reflection, and lists of resources for further reading.  See Renovare.org  on the web.  

      I found this @ G&B Bjorkman’s, July ’12, but Jenn says we have it, too, in MALI!  They graciously gave us a copy that they had used in a small group of their Elmbrook Ch. J  In the past year I've read a number of  the selections, and I have appreciated the passion and seeking after God represented in them, so far.   Foster's questions for reflection are useful.

    L I realized later that many of his selections were Roman Catholics from before & even after the Reformation [Bernard & Francis as well as Ignatius of Loyola, Fenelon, F DeSales, Thr. Avila, John of the Cross, Bro Lawrence, J-P Caussade, GK Chesterton, etc.(some outright against the evangelicals of their time!)] as well as Quakers (his denomination) [G Fox, T Kelly, I Pennington, Jn Woolman, etc.],  and some seeming liberals [Wm Temple, Eliz O’Conner, ES Jones, A Dillard, S Kierkegaard, Dag Hammarskjold, K Norris, etc.].  I’m uncomfortable studying and relying on these to help show me the path to trod in this dark world.  I’ll read them, but it would require more study and reflection than expected if I knew they were all evangelical oriented.  

It is a good resource for finding authors and digging deeper, but I see some yellow flags as well! L  I appreciate their struggles and attempts to seek & serve God; all of us face tough spiritual times, both before and after conversion, but not all solutions are the same.


Cf his Spiritual Classics, Foster and E Griffin, eds. (might be better!).

Recommended BOOK Review: Bock

Bock, PH.D., Darrell L., The Missing Gospels, Unearthing the Truth Behind Alternative Christianities, Thomas Nelson Pub, 2006, pb, 229, pp, I# 9778-0-7852-8906-7, 14 chapters, foreword by Dr. Edwin M. Yamauchi. 

                Bock seeks to carefully show the weakness of the popular ideas that other Christian faiths developed parallel to orthodoxy but simply orthodoxy won out!  He counters ideas of the ‘new school’ of Walter Bauer, and modern popular writings of Bart Ehrman and Dan Brown, etc. He proceeds by examining a large sampling of the new materials, especially those like the Gospel of Thomas found at Nag Hammadi and a sampling of the Bible early church fathers like Ireneaus, Justin Martyr and Clement, etc.  I enjoyed finding many of these traditional texts also on the CCEL site in the Anti-Nicene Fathers of Philip Schaff, and reading the contexts.  The so called new materials took further seeking out. Bock seeks to show the origin and nature of the gnostic materials and how the Bible philosophy is not at all like that, but better.   

This work is parallel to that of Dr. R Price’s Searching for the Original Bible, too that I’m also currently reading.  McDowell’s Evidence that Demands a Verdict also has much from the early fathers but it was written before current claims about alternative Christianities.

Gift from P Siebert, 2011, read May 2012 in Senegal.J 

Recommended Book Review: McConnell

         McConnell, D R, A Different Gospel, A Historical & Biblical Analysis of the Modern Faith Movement, Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Pub, 1998, pb 195 pp, I# 0913573-78-7, 10 chapters in 2 sections of Historical Analysis and then Biblical Analysis and a good bibliog.  

             McConnell, an insider Pentecostal writer (ORU, YWAM, BPC), seeks to show the fallacies of the popular teachings of the charismatic faith healers, revelation knowledge, identification, & the popular prosperity gospel, & he strongly critiques the modern Faith Movement of E W Kenyon (d 1948), and Kenneth Hagin (1917- ), & Kenneth Copeland, John Osteen (father of Joel), Robert Schuller, Jimmy Swaggart, & even Oral Roberts, & Pat Robertson, etc.  Classifying the movements as a new Gnosticism, dualistic, & cultic, he also exposes the corruption, plagiarism, and nepotism that such teaching inevitably leads.  Well documented.

Found at UWM-Phare, once Jose Oliveira’s, May ’12.  It was worth reading to get a better distinction of charismatics and faith healing movements and to see the weaknesses of such prevalent ‘Christianity,’ especially the Prosperity Gospel.