psychoconstruct

[velvetbunniie-archive]

bit terrified of how this book is going to end. either if she says yes or no, the execution of it is either going to make this an excellent commentary on grief and death or a glorification of abuse in a thinly veiled attempt at a beauty and the beast story.

[impalementation]

if you're interested, i'd love to hear your thoughts on That scene in empty places, bc the way that i've seen most people talk about it doesn't always feel very nuanced and like... i get being frustrated and i for sure think some extremely unfair things to/about buffy were said, but i don't think it's as cut and dry as buffy being totally blameless (even though i love her) and everyone else (particularly the main scoobies, who don't have her responsibilities but have fought alongside her and earned the right to disagree w her imo) being terrible. Like it may have gone too far?? But idk, I have trouble articulating why, but I think there's more nuance to the situation than people want to say, so I'm curious about your thoughts

Anonymous asked:

whats your take on empty places and the scoobs kicking buffy out of her house?

Anonymous asked:

Why did Buffy allowed Dawn to kick her out in Empty Places?

Wow, so many questions about “Empty Places”! Sorry, as ever, that these took me a while to get to.

I actually agree, I think there’s more nuance there than it’s given credit for. I talked about that a bit in this post a while back. I wouldn’t say that the character build-up to that scene is as well-executed as it could have been, but it hardly comes out of nowhere, and it’s not some random thing. Or, as I’ve seen people suggest, simply there to make Spike look good and push him and Buffy together. I’m sure their romantic arc was a factor in the storytelling, but to call that the only motivation seems to me a vast oversimplification and dismissal of ideas that were built over the course of the season.

Season seven is, as I’ve discussed before, about how the Slayer system is broken. It’s a system that isolates Buffy and puts all of the decision-making in her hands. Meaning that it’s a system that is neither good for her, nor good for anyone around her, no matter how strong and brave Buffy is. All season long, we see Buffy struggle with both the limits of her power, and the demands of her authority. She wants to be able to save every girl, and fight every ubervamp, but she simply can’t be everywhere and stronger than everything. She wants to be a caring friend, but when she’s the one who has to make decisions about whether people should live or die, she can’t always be. When she’s the one who has to make all the hard choices, that means the blame always falls on her shoulders. When she fucks up, there’s nothing for her to fall back on. The fact that Buffy is forced to be this kind of sole authority means that the people around her are right to feel that they aren’t being listened to, or fully considered. Because often they aren’t. They see the people around them getting maimed and killed and suddenly realize that maybe it isn’t right that all their eggs should be in Buffy’s basket. But at the same time, they’re wrong, because they’re the ones who put their eggs there. They’re the ones who kept looking the other way as Buffy made hard choice after hard choice on their behalf. They’re as complicit in (and victimized by) the broken system as Buffy is.

Keep in mind the season’s perception themes. Everyone gets mad at Buffy, and Buffy gets mad at herself, because they’re all too close to the situation to see that the problem isn’t really Buffy, it’s what being the Slayer has forced Buffy to be. The dynamic it’s forced between her and the people around her. Notice how in the very next episode, Faith finds herself dealing with the exact same problems that Buffy was. The same hard decisions, and the same ambient resentments. It’s actually very important that Faith has to be a leader for a bit, in order to show this--the fact that the problem is being the Slayer, not Buffy. I’d even argue that it’s the much more thematically relevant motivation for the scene than getting Buffy and Spike alone.

As far as thematic motivations go, I also think it’s crucial that Buffy is thrown out of her house. That is some powerful symbolism for a season that leans so hard into the symbolism of Buffy’s house in general, and it’s disappointing to see people ignore it in their eagerness to be mad at everyone. The house is a lot of things—the familiar, the stable, the normative, the safe—but most importantly it’s also Buffy’s self. Notice how Spike and Faith, both Buffy’s shadow at different times, hang out in Buffy’s basement: the realm of the id and subconscious. Notice how as the house breaks down, Buffy gets injured as well.

So for Buffy to be thrown out of her house, it’s the climax of the season’s isolation themes not just in terms of story, but also metaphor. She has literally been cast out of herself. She’s been banished from her identity and role. But at the same time, once she’s on the outside of that myopic, claustrophobic system, she is able to connect with her shadow (Spike) and see the situation with new eyes. The reason that Spike is the one who can talk Buffy back is that firstly, unlike the Scoobies, his later seasons arc is all about learning to not ask Buffy for things that aren’t appropriate--romantic reciprocation, moral structure. Secondly, he was once the tool and symbol of her isolation, the icon of her shame and guilt and belief that she needed to isolate herself. For her to make peace with Spike is about her rejecting that isolation and shame, and transforming it.

Of course, I can talk about symbolism all I want and it doesn’t necessarily matter if the writers didn’t make it believable on the object level too—the level of character and plot and all of that. It’s a regular problem on Buffy, the writing caring more about symbolism than sense. While I think that most of the characters have adequate motivation for the scene—really, it’s been building from the beginning; remember the confrontation between Buffy and Xander as early as “Selfless”? or Buffy fighting with Giles and Wood two episodes earlier? or the way she argued with everyone in “Get It Done”? or the Potentials doubting her from basically their first episodes?—the one character that seems truly undeveloped is Dawn. She got that warning from the First in “Conversations With Dead People”, but the season doesn’t follow up on it well enough to draw a clear line between that seed of doubt and her attitude in “Empty Places.” Given that Dawn is Buffy’s “humanity” or “youth” or what have you, it’s symbolically significant that she would be the final one to cast Buffy out. But that seems like a clear case of the story not earning its metaphor, unfortunately.

To answer the third ask: as far as why Buffy let Dawn kick her out, on a character level I think she was pretty defeated by that point. But symbolically, I think the part about Buffy’s human self rejecting her is important for that. Buffy has a tenuous relationship to her belief in her humanity at the best of times, so it’s pretty easy for me to believe that she would feel lost and numbed enough by being rejected by that part of herself, that she wouldn’t fight it.

(Controversial opinion, but I actually kind of like that “Empty Places” isn’t due to the First sowing obvious discord. I’ve seen lots of people suggest that that would have been the stronger and more believable choice, and I get the instinct. But if the point of the season is to show that the villain is the Slayer system, then it makes more sense for that to be the thing that drives the conflict, and not an external force influencing them. There might have been a way to use the First that was compatible with that, but it wouldn’t have worked if the problem was just The First. Imo, of course.)

All of which is to say, that if you see the season as being about faulty perception, broken systems, and the dangers of isolation, then “Empty Places” actually makes perfect sense as a climax of the season. The problem really comes down to whether you think it was earned enough (which in some cases I think it was, and in others it wasn’t), or generally handled well, and whether you think those ideas are interesting in the first place.

[whentherewerebicycles]

(1) i’ll start by saying i’ve loved many of your posts, your thoughtful processing inspired me to process the same way; as a teacher myself, i love reading about your relationship with teaching and your reflections on writing & teaching. i’m not sure if this will be a useful message — i debated sending it anonymously because i am not sure if i really want to engage. if someone is anti-black there isn’t much to be done, imo. but i really respect your thinking and writing so i want to reach out.

2) i’m surprised you shared a quote from a wapo article endorsing biden. biden co-authored the 1994 crime bill, basically was an architect of mass incarceration. he has denied responsibility as a white person to be anti-racist, he has insinuated black parents cannot parent their children (very tied to the effects of the 1994 crime bill). biden is a racist very good at convincing folks he isn’t while engineering systemic racism in the background.

i’m happy to engage with you further on this, and connect you to more analysis and clarity. i’m reaching out in good faith, and mostly surprise, because i felt initially that i had a different reading of your politics. thanks for thinking through this, if you do.

i appreciate you reaching out and writing such a thoughtful message. biden was not my first choice candidate. however, for me personally, it is this simple: in november we face a choice between a white man who has a deeply flawed record on racial politics and an imperfect antiracist practice... and a white man who is literally, openly, proudly a white supremacist, who gleefully courts the support of white nationalists, who elevates open racists to prominent government positions, and who seeks with his every breath to incite racial hatred and sow even deeper divisions. our country cannot survive another four years of trump. the human suffering that trump has personally orchestrated is staggering, and the damage he could do with four more years in power is something i find too horrifying to even imagine. i could not live with myself if i abstained from voting or cast a symbolic third party vote in the november 2020 election. not only will i personally vote for biden, i will do absolutely everything in my power to register voters, campaign for biden, and get people to the polls to put trump out of office.

biden is not perfect, but no candidate is or ever will be. but if you compare biden to trump, i believe that biden is at least capable of experiencing empathy for other human beings, and that he has at least some shred of moral decency that could be appealed to. trump does not. trump will never respond to pressure from progressive activists and community advocates. he will never be forced to be accountable for his misdeeds. he will never, ever experience even a flicker of shame or self-doubt or regret for his actions. he is incapable of doing or feeling any of that.

in terms of biden’s past record: I believe that intelligent people who are capable of empathy are also capable of learning and growing. it seems likely to me that biden has a different understanding of racial politics than he did in 1994, given how much the political landscape has changed. that does not excuse someone’s past racism or past contributions to perpetuating/deepening structural racism, nor does it mean that you have to give him the benefit of the doubt if you don’t feel he has changed. but to me, that is not a reason not to elect him. we are not choosing between biden and a candidate who has a flawless—or even just a better—record on race. we are choosing between biden and a candidate who is, again, literally, openly, proudly a white supremacist. activists can push and pressure and perhaps persuade biden on issues like race. we can ask him to be accountable for his past and we can call out future policies that seem to engineer structural racism in the background, as you put it. we will never, ever, ever be able to push trump. he is shameless. he is gleeful in his hatred of people of color. he is a monster.

i also want to say that, while anti-Black racism is central to my understanding of antiracist practice, it is not the only form of antiracism that shapes my politics or my work as an educator. i want to be super clear here that i am not suggesting that there is a hierarchy of oppression here, and i also understand the vital importance, in this specific historical moment, of highlighting anti-Black racism. but as someone who lives in texas and works closely with latinx students—many of whom are from immigrant families; some of whom are Dreamers or from mixed-citizenship status families—i am keenly, agonizingly aware of the suffering trump has inflicted on these communities. our country’s fucked up immigration system can’t be laid solely at trump’s door, but we do know that he has devoted himself with glee to terrorizing migrants and refugees. he stokes racial hatred against immigrant communities at every possible opportunity. he is directly responsible for policies that have torn migrant children away from their parents, condemned human beings to indefinite detention under inhumane conditions, and cut detainees off from legal and medical aid. he has done everything in his power to make life a living hell for undocumented people and their families, and he has also ruthlessly pursued policies that make it even more difficult for undocumented people to access basic medical care, housing, and protection from employer exploitation.

i know already that biden will not advocate for the kind of sweeping overhaul of our inhumane immigration system that i might want, just as you know that he will not (on his own) advocate for the sweeping overhaul of policing or the end of mass incarceration in america. that sucks, and it’s worth feeling anger/disappointment over—especially if those feelings can be channeled into sustained pressure campaigns once he’s in office. so yes: i know he’s not perfect. but i also know that he has not based his entire campaign on demonizing immigrants and advocating for a border wall. and i have to believe that, while he may not be the progressive candidate we dream of, he will be a better, more humane choice than trump. the choice is, again, between an imperfect white liberal and a man who is literally, openly, proudly a white supremacist. in my mind it is no choice at all.

i want to note two more things. first, biden surged to the forefront of the race because Black voters in the South showed up to the polls and overwhelmingly chose him over other, more progressive candidates. i’m not going to speculate about why that is—lots of people have done so, and i’m not informed enough to weigh in! but i am more than happy to follow the lead of Black voters here, because I’m going to assume they know better than I do. the second thing i want to say, in closing, is that a president is not the only person who exercises power within the federal government. i’m not even talking about the courts and congress—i’m talking about all the people the next president will appoint to oversee and work in various government agenices. that includes his entire cabinet, plus (according to this article) “a total of 3,799 politically appointed federal positions,” who are “expected to support the policies and goals of the president's administration.”

part of what has been so absolutely devastating about the trump presidency is that he has installed incompetent and/or maliciously minded people at so many levels of government—not to mention his ongoing (and thus far distressingly successful) effort to stack the federal courts by forcing through as many lifetime appointments as he can. trump still hasn’t even managed to fill some of those appointed positions—which means that he’s doing this much damage operating at less than 100% capacity. imagine how different our federal government could be if we ousted those people and instated 3,799 people who were at least marginally more competent and perhaps even more progressively minded. biden is also much more likely than trump to appoint people of color, LGBTQ people, and/or women to those positions (because, again, trump is a white supremacist and a proud misogynist).

i want to be clear that i hear your concerns and that i think they are legitimate. i’m not trying to shut down criticism of biden—i have zero emotional or intellectual investment in biden himself as a candidate. and i think it is very, very much worth pointing out that he, like most white people, has expressed and may still hold problematic views; and also, that historically, he played a role in creating structures that continue to inflict harm on Black and brown communities. we must demand that our politicians be accountable. in fact, that is what democratic citizenship demands of us! it is our job to pay attention, to be informed, and to expect that our elected officials work towards the common good, rather than privileging one group while disproportionately inflicting harm and privation on other groups.

in a healthy democracy, it is also our job to debate, to discuss, to reflect, to seek to persuade each other, and, ultimately, to vote according to our values. on election day you will ultimately choose to do what you feel is right, and that is absolutely your right. but i will also choose to do what i feel is right, and for me, there is no question about what that is. after the election? that’s a different story. because if biden is elected, people who are committed to social justice will have work to do—just like we will always, under any presidency, have work to do. i am ready to continue that work, as I am sure you are. but god, i would so much rather pursue it under a flawed liberal presidency than under the leadership of a fascist.

[pwolfministries]

For God, Not for Flesh

Maddie Knudtson

I'll confess: I have a terrible habit of thinking too highly of myself. Whether unintentionally praising my abilities, thinking myself better than most, or criticizing others harshly, I wind myself up into a ball of judgment and superiority. This happened my senior year of high school when I complained that I deserved this role or that solo, not her; freshman year of college when I thought myself deserving of recognition and struggled when it was not given; sophomore year when I went to church and payed more attention to how I sounded than the One whom the worship was supposedly for; even now, I have moments in which I'm critical of how people around me sing, write, speak, and even engage in faith . . . and yet I still fail to do something as simple as pray every day. I'm looking for specks in the eyes of others when I have a plank in my own! How can I claim that I'm intent on God when my mind buzzes with unaddressed pride, envy, and wrath?

I know how easy it is to just glide through life, satisfied—or, more accurately, complacent—with the way that things are within you. But God has a bigger vision than that. He designed humans for the very beginning to love, to worship, and to be near to Him. Living in our sin is akin to standing by while evil presses keys at our control panel. Don't accept this aspect of you! Especially if its hiding in plain sight within your thoughts and heart, call it out into the open and cast it away!

Galatians 6:3-5; 7-8 (NIV): "3 If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. 4 Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, 5 for each one should carry their own load. 7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life."

If this doesn't convict you, pop open your Bible and read again, because I certainly stagger under these words. We deceive ourselves with thoughts of purity or superiority. But God cannot be mocked. When I allow my mind to produce judgmental thoughts (especially when making unfounded assumptions against others) without addressing them, I am not just doing something to stunt my own spirit—I am also attempting to make a mockery of You, God. Elevating myself doesn't further Your kingdom. It doesn't nourish my heart or improve my relationships. It doesn't make You happy.

That being said, pride placed in the correct position is not inherently bad. One thing that I'm slowly learning is how to take pride in my gifts for reasons detached from the flesh. I shouldn't be happy about how well I can sing because it overshadows the talents of whoever's standing next to me, for example. Singing beautifully and boldly to worship and lead others in worship is another story altogether. When I let go of worrying how well I sound and center on Who is being worshiped, I gain new freedom. All the brilliance I once tried to wrangle for myself comes naturally. God gave us specific gifts to revel in and share with others, and in order to truly fulfill that vision, we must learn to harness what we have for the glory of God. Only then can we take pride in ourselves, without comparison, without attachment to flesh for personal glorification on earth.

So take the sins you've been allowing in your life and present them above. Even if you feel that you're pure, that you're doing pretty well at being humble or content, don't put too much trust into emotions. Feel good about yourself on God's terms—it's so easy to stumble into spiritual complacency. As for any gifts that you've been hoarding for flesh instead of God, reassess, and seek how you can place them under the Lord's authority. Take my experience with singing, for example: the process of committing my voice to true worship is an ongoing process, not to mention a hard nugget of pride to shove into the light, but doing this has completely changed the way that I worship. I've begun to feel more inspired and assured in my voice because I've allowed it to be nurtured towards its true purpose.

Every morning we make the choice whether to follow flesh or God. Let me assure you: the path towards reconciliation is worth every difficulty of repenting.

Psalm 32 (NIV): 1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord." And you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.

8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord's unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. 11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

[patchouliandrose]

I’ve started reading the Book of Judges, because of a book I read recently entitle Ready to Rise by Jo Saxton. I may have mentioned the book in my previous post. It’s a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to women, especially women leaders – whether in the home, in small groups or large organizations – it’s a fabulous resource. When I bought it, I had no idea it was faith-based, so that was a pleasant surprise to me. I read it because I felt compelled to buy it based on the fact that I felt like God was urging me to lead.

Let me be clear on this. I don’t know that God wants me to lead on a large scale. I used to think that and I tried to force things to happen and when things didn’t happen, I got discouraged and gave up, but God has never relented in his urging me to lead.

The thing is though, he seems to be urging me to lead in my family and to lead in small groups. I’m no longer worried about a large following (which is why I deleted my old Instagram account that had nearly 1000 followers, which I know is not huge, but who am I? I’m just somebody’s mother), nor am I worried about who supports the cause, because it’s not MY cause. It’s God’s and God keeps sending me to women in the Bible who led by supporting their families and their own homes.

Which brings me once again to the message I received in my early twenties: Set your house in order and wait on the Will of Heaven.

God has never stopped telling me that.

Recently, with all that’s going on in the world, I began to lose hope. I went to bed early one evening and cried myself to sleep, cussing at God and telling Him about my hopelessness and my anger and my sorrow for all that’s going on. I told Him everything. I wanted to give up on the idea of a ministry (which is what He’s been pressing on my heart for the last year) and I told him I really didn’t want to do it, but if he wants me to, then He better get to showing me what on earth He wants of me, because I was losing hope.

That night, I woke up with Seeds of Hope and Seeds of Change in my mind. I wrote them down. The day before, my mother said she received a message of Seeds of Prayer. That morning, I awoke with a strange sense of peace over me and I realized finally, what I needed to do and that is why Seeds of Hope was started.

What I love most about it is it’s small. It’s a small group of kind-hearted people who want to make a change in the lives of children who are impacted by poverty and/or homelessness. Since it started, we have donated $800 to City Gospel Mission, and we’re set to give 25 nature-inspired kits to local businesses and a church to give out to children, and we have a collection of books and quilts/blankets to give to SAFY, for children in foster care in Kentucky. We are also putting together a free seed exchange so that we can help to increase food diversity in our country.

It’s not much, but it’s something. I’m learning that big change rarely happens suddenly. It happens through small, daily actions and through grassroots movements.

I think this is what God had been trying to tell me all these years, except I was too hard-headed and proud to listen. I wanted to be recognized. I wanted to be noticed. I made it all about me, not Him and because of that, I failed.

What I’m learning about in the Book of Judges was how Deborah and Jael did things on a very personal level to bring freedom to the people. Deborah spoke with Barack and encouraged him through her faith in God’s word, to fight against Sisera and even then, Barack was not willing to do it unless she went with him. Then, it was Jael being underestimated by Sisera himself that she was able to go through her duties as a woman – providing him with drink and rest – that she was able to slay him and thus free Israel. When I think of this, I wonder, what would have happened if either woman decided to go against what she was called to do? What if Deborah spoke publicly to the people herself rather than speaking with her husband privately? Or what if she had blown off God’s voice completely and said nothing? What if Jael had turned Sisero away instead of welcoming him and being a good hostess as women were expected to be then?

God is teaching me that His work is large no matter how small it seems when we’re doing it. Everything we do can be to His glory and therefore very big and important, even if to us it’s just sweeping out the garage and hanging garlic and parsley to dry, as I just finished doing.

I think God is teaching me that family and community are vital in these times and they are two things that have been undermined, while fame and popularity have become the goal. The more followers you have, the more clout you have, the more perceived authority you have and yet we have seen throughout world history that many leaders are not good, nor do they have the best interest of the people in mind. Deborah had discernment and I think we all could use a little more of that. Time to step back, have personal, private conversations and build up our families and our communities.

Because I truly believe that without those things, healing cannot happen in our world. We cannot care about our environment, or our country, or our town, or our own neighborhoods until we care about ourselves. It’s easier to build each other up on a personal level than it is to watch what’s happening in this world and feel so overwhelmed we feel hopeless and helpless.

You can make a difference. One day at a time. One person at a time. That’s all it takes and that’s all it has ever taken. And that’s the only way it is sustainable.

Do you feel a bit uneasy these days? If so, you may be interested in this Bible Reading Schedule that I found recently and plan to follow. If you’d like to join us in our Bible Chat group on Facebook, please visit our Seeds of Hope page in the menu.

    Keep sowing seeds of prayer, hope, and change.

Xx

    God’s Work Is Large, No Matter How Small It Seems I've started reading the Book of Judges, because of a book I read recently entitle Ready to Rise…

[dailyaudiobible]

04/25/2017 DAB Transcript

Judges 4:1-5:31 ~ Luke 22:35-54 ~ Psalm 94:1-23 ~ Proverbs 14:3-4

Today is April 25th.  Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible.  I'm Brian. It's great to be here with you for the next step forward in this beautiful week we have and the next step forward in the scriptures and we have been learning about Israel's judges, those who came after Joshua and kind of rose up to lead Israel; hence, the name of the book that we’re reading in the Old Testament, the book of Judges, and we’re reading from The Voice translation this week.  Judges chapter 4, verse 1 through 5:31.  

Commentary

Like we said at the beginning, we’re getting to know the judges of Israel which is a period of time of leadership in Israel where most everybody, the tribes, have kind of settled in some land and there is no real central leader other than in Shiloh at the Tabernacle.  The tribes are kind of independent, but over time they just kind of mix in with all the other people and things happen.  Different tribes are oppressed.  Different tribes are conquered or under other leaders and then a judge seems to emerge and God uses that judge to reunite his people and kind of reset things.  

We came to the story of the judge Deborah today which I love because this is a valiant woman now leading Israel and in the Deborah story is another valiant woman named Jael and she has some courage, courage enough to defeat a general of an ally in her case, which is not going to make the king very happy, which is aligning herself with God's people.  Pretty big stuff.   So if you’re one of the women who was at the More Gathering or if you’re just a woman within the sound of my voice, don’t think that you’re not a valiant person, which is not to say you should drive a tent peg through somebody's head.  I'm saying you have courage.  You have what it takes.  You are seen.  

Sometimes loving in the face of every bit of drama that comes into our lives, sometimes that is a very valiant thing to do.  Sometimes just telling the truth is a very valiant thing to do. Sometimes being patient in another's story and walking with them and staying with them when they keep tripping up and keep messing up is a valiant thing to do.  We all have it in us.  We all have that stuff rise up in us, that courage, but a lot of times we’re just aiming it at the wrong place.  Sometimes we’re aiming it in the wrong direction at the wrong person at the wrong time when we have incredible amounts of authority, power, valiant hearts and courage.  If we would understand that we are fighting the forces of evil and darkness first, if we would understand that first before we go in all these weird directions, finding the darkness and coming against that with a valiant heart, with a tent peg as it were, we would do so much more good and bring so much more goodness, if we aimed all of that courage at darkness instead at whoever is closest nearby.

May we take the story of Deborah and her song that she sang and her words that she has become the mother of Israel to heart as we move through the remainder of this week.  May we take that courage and use it against the forces of darkness in this world and in our communities and in our homes and in our families and in our relationships.

Prayer

Father, we invite you into that because sometimes it just feels like we’re the ones getting beaten down, beaten down, beaten down, just like the children of Israel, but you always brought rescue and that rescue brought a unity. So come Holy Spirit and let us each understand that what we’re really fighting against is darkness in any form, in any place, not a person.  Come Holy Spirit and help us.  We ask in the mighty name of Jesus, amen.    

Announcements

Www.DailyAudioBible.com is the website.  It's home base.  It's where you find out what is going on around here so be sure to check it out.  Check out the resources that are available. Check out the Prayer Wall.  Stay connected.  Find out all the places to stay connected on social media.  Just check it out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at www.DailyAudioBible.com as well.  I thank you humbly, profoundly for those of you who have taken the time and made the effort to sow into the community that we are.  There is a link on the home page.  If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible App, you can press the More button in the lower right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is P.O. Box 1996, Spring Hill, TN 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, (877) 942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that's it for today.  I'm Brian. I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer Requests and Praise Reports

Yeah, hi.  I'm a 7-year listener, first-time caller.  For this call you can call me the sex addict from Central Washington. All of the consequences of my sin are falling on my wife – hurt, betrayal.  She is all alone.  And now, after a fight, I followed the advice of legal counsel and reported domestic violence, not knowing if these charges go through, that my wife could lose her job. So please, Biola, Blind Tony, Delta Alpha Foxtrot, Asia, James, Drew, Sam, Pastor Gene, Slave of Jesus, and all the rest of you listeners, please pray.  Pray that these domestic violence charges will be reduced or stopped and that God would heal our marriage.  And I will call back with a praise.  Thank you.  

Hello my DAB family.  This is Mark S. from Sydney, Australia.  Today is the 22nd of April.  I'm calling today just to say how much I just love all of you, my community.  The response that I’ve had, the loving response from God through all of you, especially Pastor John who posted on Facebook Friends and all the people there, just too many to mention, you certainly are the hand and extension of God's love to me.  Steve from New Hampshire I heard today.  And Lisa the Encourager, you certainly encouraged me.  Lee from New Jersey, I wish I had so much more time. There is so much that I would love to say, but two minutes is not enough.  Family, I just want to let you know that I have dusted myself off.  I'm back on the narrow path and, through the mercy of God, I will keep moving forward.  There are so many miraculous things that have happened in my life true to God, and Brian and Jill, I just cannot express my gratitude that you have listened to the Lord and created this amazing body of Christ, this community that extends love to anybody who wants love from God.  How I wish…  There is nothing I can say to show my appreciation.  Thank you, my family.  I love to hear from all of you.  I love listening to everybody.  I love praying along.  I wish I had more time to do more like a lot of you do, but I’ll do what I can at the moment and keep loving all of you as well.  Thank you.  Bye-bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible family.  This is Nidia from New Jersey.  It is April 22nd and I'm calling for you, Annette.  I love you so much, Annette.  I love your voice.  I love your joy and I love your love and steadfast faith in our Father God. I just want to lift up right now, if we all could pray for Alex.  Father God, we just lift up, Father, Alex.  You created him and you love him so much, Father God.  We just thank you that his only injury was a broken ankle physically, Father God, but we know that his soul, Father God, is sick because he is not having a relationship with you, Father God.  You just love him and you created him for such big plans that you have for him, so Father, now that he's in prison, Father, please, please Holy Spirit, open his heart, open his eyes.  Give him faith.  Give him the faith so that he can feel the love, Father God, that you have for him, the joy and the sadness that you have because you don’t have that relationship with him.  Annette, can you send him the Reframe audio, DVD, the CD?  I just listened to it three times and I'm just so filled with God's love. Maybe Alex is in prison so that he is stayed put in one place to receive our Father.  So Father God, I just lift up Alex and Annette and we just stand in your promise because we know that you are going to heal Alex's heart and soul. In Jesus’ mighty, mighty and precious name we pray and we just thank you for Brian, for Reframe, for the message that he sends to the world and the seed that he is sowing.  In Jesus’ mighty and precious name we pray.  Amen.  

Dear Lord Jesus, this week we commit our marriages into your able hands. Thank you for our marriages. Thank you because when the enemy comes as a flood, you will raise up a sword against him.  Thank you because you are now starting to work in our marriages, O Lord. Thank you because the hearts of husbands are turning back to their wives and the wives’ hearts are turning back to their husbands too.  Thank you because you’re pulling down the stronghold of the enemy of our marriages. Thank you because you’re setting captives free.  Thank you because wives are now going to submit to their husbands as husbands submit to you, O Lord.  Thank you because husbands will love their wives and be very considerate and treat them with tenderness.  Thank you because you will rebuke Satan to get his dirty hands off our marriages. Thank you because your blood is setting captives free right now.  Lord, please ignite the fire of love, deep love between husbands and wives.  Lord, let your Holy Spirit move in our marriages. __ has been the cause of strife in our marriages, Lord, please hold __, Lord.  Please let husbands desire their wives only and wives not __ their husbands. Same thing, let husbands be very, very gracious to their wives.  Lord, help us to use our finances wisely.  Help us to always encourage each other and not pull each other down.  We speak life over our marriages.  We ask, Lord, that you remove unnatural behavior that may be destroying our marriages.  We ask, Lord, for a mighty hedge of protection over marriages. Please bring back those spouses that may have left marriages, O God, if it be your will for them to come back. Lord, we ask for total renewal in DAB marriages and yes, we thank you in advance because we know you hear our cries. Thank you, Lord.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.  This is Sheila from Texas.  

Hey, good morning.  This is Stephen from Cullman, AL.  It's Sunday, April 23rd and I just wanted to call.  I’ve been listening for I guess about six years.  Haven’t called too many times, but I was reminded today about why this has been such a life-changing habit.  I used to try to figure out what I was going to read.  I was challenged to spend time in the morning with God and I would go back and forth and didn’t have a good plan. Following this rhythm of the scriptures every day, going through the One Year Bible has just been amazing.  There are so many times where God has given me the answer right when I needed it and today I was reminded in Psalm 91 a couple years ago my youngest daughter, she was having nightmares and she was very afraid and she was convinced somebody was going to come in our house at night and shoot her.  Her room is closest to our front door and despite everything I could do to try to convince her that I would protect her and tell her I have guns and I’ll do whatever I could to protect her, it wasn’t really enough.  Until one morning about this same time a couple years ago this chapter came up and I immediately went, printed it out, I read it to her, prayed about it.  We started praying about it at night.  Taped it on her mirror in her bathroom and ever since we’ve had it taped on our garage door and it is a constant prayer I pray for my family and children.  So God used that to help me be a better father when I didn’t have the answers.  So fathers out there, I hope this encourages you.  I listen to the prayers.  

Hello everyone.  Good morning. It's Jay calling from New Jersey. I'm calling for Steve whose been listening to the Daily Audio Bible with his wife for the past 8 years and he said he is in Franklin County.  Steve, I'm going to pray for you and I'm going to pray for your daughter-in-law and your son and new baby.  Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we come to you now adoring who you are, standing and praying in awe, uniting our hearts around the love that you have given us.  God, your word tells us that we love you because you first loved us.  Father, we confess of any sins that we have committed now that we can think of, that come to our minds, into our hearts.  We ask for forgiveness, Father.  Receiving that forgiveness, we thank you.  We thank you.  We thank you for life, for health, and for strength.  We thank you for the ability to come to you as your children with these prayers.  Father, we lift up Steve and his family.  We lift up Anna.  We lift up Baby Josanna, Father.  God, this baby that is so beautiful and so precious that was born on April 1st, we thank you for her.  Father, we thank you for the union that you put between her parents.  And God, we bring forth Anna as she is going through the healing process, Father, and we prat that you will invigorate her cells to begin to heal like never before, that it could only be described as something that God has his hand on.  So we thank you, Father, for what you're doing, what you’ve already done, and what you’re going to do.  In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.  

[topicprinter]

I'm having trouble managing my time. I understand some people in startups become ninjas at their own time management. I don't feel capable of this. I'm not willing to sacrifice my sleep, exercise or socialization once or twice a week. To me, a startup either is an economically better decision or I get a job.Currently, as a technical founder (and sole prop!) I spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone doing sales-y calls. I loathe the time chasing down invoices. I loathe the people skills and people management aspect of the job. I like schmoozing, but I value honest hard work too much which is why I'm in engineering.The engineering is in a good place. Releasing software is simply stressful, and I value the process of getting eyeballs on the released software to make it better. My customers are paying me to build my products, and I keep the IP. I have to remind myself that in large enterprises writing 200 lines of code a day is a good pace. I am keeping a good pace, but I am hitting an end of budget for technical debt. Have you learned to control expectations and your financial runway during times when you need to take the leap of faith and do the zero-cashflow activity of code quality management? What gains do you make when you spend the two weeks for $0 clearing your technical backlog?The fact is, the type of code many write in startups scares me. I've been there, and I won't go back. It was a valuable education for me. However, it's bad for business, health and sanity.I have some experience as a consultant. I have enough experience to remember that at one point in my life, I took pressure like I face now and I got 20% and 40% more money. I was a jerk when people spent more than 15 minutes on the phone with me for what needed to be a 5 minute call. At one point, I felt I spent a lot of the time lying, and focused myself on taking people's money and fulfilling contracts instead of creating real value.The fact is, I want both the dollars consulting gave me and the joy building products gives me. As such, I'm softly turning away customers and instead focusing on a customer that contacted me last week and gave me go-ahead for a $20,000 SoW ceiling at $150/h. It's mostly custom development, but it uses my product in a similar capacity to a current engagement. This nets me the profit I need and gives me more runway. This is exactly what I needed, and I'm having trouble closing down other loose ends.My major decision is what to do about my existing customer. Existing customer has lapsed on the SoW expiration date I set without writing to extend the SoW. Therefore, we're outside of our contract. Customer is authoring me written email requests for more work, but we're being informal about it which makes me feel uncomfortable. For the moment I'm billing $100/h which is good money, better than what I make on my other line items. We're only at $100/h because I spent a few months developing this customer. I love/value my customer, but I'm not seeing the drive to create a deeper relationship on paper. Without them putting steam into the engine to formalize more money, it makes me feel risk that I can't pull the sustenance from this account I need since I'm stuck playing a margin game. Then again, now that I'm billing them for custom development I am making more money than I ever have. The more work we slow-roll, the more it'll snowball in value to something larger. Then again, I have a dozen backlog items in my product wheelhouse I need to address. I want to pause the relationship or relax expectations for two weeks formally. Then again, we've informally not done much and there's been no big issue.I'm just not sure what the hell to think. It's simply too much for me to handle. I got the flu last week, and I'm inclined in part to do nothing on all accounts because it's all just a bunch of insane gobble-dee-gook. Blah blah blah blah blah.

[mybravesong]

Week 4

DAY 24 Monday (30th July) We started the day with morning exercise. Here’s a picture of what it’s like in the morning.

Everyone’s half dead. We power walked with Leonie on the bridge under the bridge towards Optus stadium. During quiet time, I asked God for a word and I had the word 'tu' which means you in Spanish and the word dance. 

Jeremiah 31:13 NIV Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.

I thanked God for who he is, He brought to mind the lady we walked past on the way to bbt on Sunday and another lady I saw sitting on a bench, downcast. I prayed for healing and for her to personally encounter breakthrough. We went into morning chores, this week for me that is checking fridge for expired food. We’ve started on the weekly topic which is, “Worship and Intercession”.

I had Lunch and lunch duties and straight into band practice! 

^ This is my band! Tavita, Joshua David, Iel, Leonie, Sam, Randi and Sarah!  We finally played the song once through. It was fantastic!! :D Then we had dinner and showered and went to bed. Also handed in my first book report.

 DAY 25 Tuesday (31th July) We started with a fun morning exercise which was Dance Dance Revolution! It was super fun cause we got to dance together and be wacky with one another. I had quiet time and I asked God what He thinks of me and he says kind and gentle. Are u always affirming? He said yes. He also gave me this verse.

Jeremiah 19:3 - about a stiff neck people that did not listen and put foreign gods and idols.

Isaiah 6:10 - about a seedling coming up from a stump.. I RMB praying about it before but I forgot who it was and God says I love you with an everlasting love. He pat my head and said have a good day today.

We went for Morning chores and I asked Kari to be my staff of the week (it’s part of the journal that you have to introduce yourself to a staff and find out their story. After that, we went into Intercession class. Tess was taking about the history and this is what she mentioned:

First wave - 15 century ships Europeans 2nd wave - main land 3rd wave - rise of airlines, unreached places 4th wave - more Christians growing in Asia going into other nations. Focus on ppl on all nations going to nations The theme was to pray for God to send people from nations.

We broke off into groups and I got this verse: Hebrews 12:26‭-‬29 NIV At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”  The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.  Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” There were a couple of words about fire and about people coming from libra and going into america to preach the gospel. After that, we had lecture, lunch and lunch duties. After that, we had a class on  songwriting. These are the principles they explained.

Principles of song writing 1. Partnering discipline and inspiration together What's God talking about to us, to the nation or the school 2. Hear from God 3. Finish your songs 4. Use the Bible 5. Record your bits 6. Songs from encounters

I finished my 2nd book and went for dinner. Right after, I did my 2nd book report and finished it. Then at 7:30pm we had small group. Sam Hakes spoke on the goodness of God. Definition of goodness - goodness in its truest form is right. Goodness - beneficial, nourishing, a general quality recognised in others. After that we had to do application. 

Application 1. Where are you at with being good I honestly wouldn't say I'm good hahaha just cause we're all not good after the fall but it is through Jesus that we received that righteousness. In loving wise, I think I can be loving haha, providing wise, not as good as I would like.. I try to contribute to my family where I can. Faithful wise, I still have room to grow for that haha. 2. How can u grow more in this character God gave this to me which is to think good thoughts of people. 3. 1 application that u can actually do Write down the person's name and what qualities you love about them 

We did the 5 languages test as well and then went off to bed.

DAY 26 Wednesday (1st Aug) We had no exercise that day but I had quiet time and God was saying to me that I was taking too much time doing and not expounding on relationship. So I asked God to give me the godly grieve for things that break His heart, whether it's unforgivenness, pride, etc. God was talking to me about enjoying relationship rather than doing more things because I had finished my second book report already. I had pride in my heart - look what I have achieved and that's not the way of God. We had morning chores and then we had Missions Morning. It was really interesting cause we got to see what ministries YWAM ran. 

Then we had lecture, lunch, lunch dishes. Then I had a one on one with Abigail and the question I had to think about was - why am I having pride? And how to overcome it? God said to think good thoughts of others and write them down. She also got me to think about strategies to resist temptation. We had dinner and then song and dress rehearsal - Never getting back together and He’s got the power in his hands. I went back to shower and got sick. Started shivering badly, had a fever. My fever broke and I woke up at 1ish. Went to toliets and came back to sleep.

DAY 27 Thursday (2nd Aug) Woke up at 6.30am. Feeling really groggy. Kate gave me cereal and Katie gave me almond milk to go with my cereal for breakfast. Really thankful for them! I had morning chores after. We then had class. We broke into our small groups and talked about where we were for outreach, financially. The verse I got from God was Luke 6:38 give and it shall be given to you. I had the impression to sow into someone’s outreach fees and also an amount for the wireless mic (faith project). We had lectures and after our lunch duties we went to class. We were introduced to Destiny who was teaching us how to prep for our Mexican food fundraiser. After that we went for dinner. After dinner, Matt and I worked on collecting data and finalising the order list while a couple of them were playing jackinthebox(which is really fun btw! everyone should try). I asked Matt to walk me home, went to shower and went to sleep. I woke up at 4am, went to the toliets and sneezed (mucus came out - right side) and I went back to bed again. DAY 28 Friday (3rd Aug) Woke up at 6am and felt like God wanted me to go to base at 6.30 for quiet time. During quiet time, God said I am righteous and holy. But I don't feel that way. I asked if I should give towards someone’s outreach fees that He had laid in my heart the day before and.. he gave the verse Zachariah 6:3 - Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north.” That was a confirmation for me as the person is going North. On top of that, I also asked Him to heal me! And I coughed up thick flam. Took a photo of it in the toliets. Praise God! 

After that we had Music DTS worship, lecture, lunch. During lunch, Cristine approached me about doing a testimony about what we’ve been learning throughout the DTS and I said YES o-o! Had lunch duties and I went to accounts to submit my funds into the person’s outreach fees and faith project. I had wanted to go during lunch duties but Alex rebuked me (thank you Alex). I had to come to terms with my reaction and I asked God to forgive me and rebuked the spirit of pride. I decided to send in my funds via bank transfer instead and got them sent out. 

After that, they spread out a map across the auditorium and got us to intercede in prayer over the whole earth.

After that, Matt and I started prepping for the Deliveroo with Destiny (Mexican food) and Karen (a girl I had met previously in the school of arts gave me a sneakers bar (so sweeet!) We had the burrito run. 

It went well, I think we managed to raise a good amount. But right after that, we had service and I felt like I didn’t quite prepare well for it. But lol God gave me the courage and I spoke. It seemed like a lot of people found it funny haha Praise God for that. Went back to the dorm after and started doing my weekly journal! My bunk mate, Sarah encouraged me about genuineness and boldness of authority in prayer that I’ve been having! God is so good!

DAY 29 Saturday (4th Aug) Leonie, Iel and I spent the morning on our journals. We finished them and went for lunch. After lunch, my baby sisters came to pick me up for a sister outing. We went to the pharmacy to get me some meds and then we hung out at yagan square and had a long chat! <3 It was fun!

We then went to Cristine’s place for the pizza party. 

It was a lot of fun but I was so tired! xD After that, we went back to 228, showered and the girls had a movie night thing. We watched 10 things I hate about it. Brings back so many memories!

DAY 30 Sunday (5th Aug) I woke up at 1.57am cause God was speaking to me and I wanted to write it down. 

God reminded me that His love covers a multitude of sin. I had a picture of Leonie holding tea and stating a different view. Someone who had a very different opinion and then everyone still gathered  round them I think I got the bible verse Isaiah 53 something... I’m not quite sure I couldn’t rmb it. He also gave me a revelation. His love is enough. God celebrates our differences. God loves therefore we must love too. Prayed for unity.

I went to sleep and woke up at 7ish to visit Riverview Church. Low and behold. The pastor was preaching about having the right posture or heart and He was talking about James 4:8 (which so happens to be the jumper I was wearing today! And at the end, he mentioned that He is enough! And it was totally crazy cause that was what God was speaking to me about this morning! I loved that confirmation! Praise God for that. Draw near, less talking, more doing. His presence is enough, God is enough!

I came back after and just chilled on my bed for a bit. Feeling extremely tired today! Ate lunch and just worked on getting this journal up! :D

[danilfink]

a prayer for april

dear God,

march was quite a month! i spent the enitre month relating with people. shar + sicily, kezia, haylee + maddie. it has been a month of learning how to have internal peace and relationship with You while doing life with others. in the past i categorized the two. i had my relationship with You when i was alone. and i often left You behind when i was with my people. but march gave me the gift of relearning the art of integration. how blending these two categories together is true freedom. to know i can miss people and still be alone. to know i can utilize Your strength when the emotions of others are weighing on me. i’m learning more and more about how everything in my life is affected by how well i’m taking care of me. how the solution is not outside of myself; it is within me. it is me tapping into You. 

this month, i realized that it didn’t matter where i went, i always took myself with me. i know this is not a new revelation, but it hit me a different way than it has before. i could be visiting the queen of england, but if i’m mad at my friend back in colorado, that affects my ability to enjoy shaking the queen’s hand. i could be standing in line at my local king soopers and the sun hits the building in such a way that the entire place glows and becomes the most magical moment because i’m at peace. i so often want to go off and explore and adventure and do new things, and i think some of that desire comes from wanting to avoid unresolved feelings. i had this hope that the more new i experienced the more i’d forget about the pain, frustration, or disappointment. but it’s not true. in fact, many times this month, as i was experiencing something new, an old thought/emotion would come up. 

as these feelings have surfaced, i’ve imagined You as a house inspector and You’ve come in with your tools to make sure my house is in tip top shape before it is put on the market. but as You walk around my house, You frequently stop at places i had hoped you wouldn’t notice: my inability to express my needs to my friends is the crooked shelving that has to be taken down and releveled. my defense mechanism of going quiet when there’s conflict is the missing tiles on the roof. my desire to fear about a potential problem instead of pray to You about it is the leaky plumbing. 

i see You going around assessing my home and making notes. i am not ashamed and You are not condemning, but the list looks long and in my head i’m thinking, “don’t be so picky. surely it’s not that big of a deal if the shelving is crooked. can’t the person who buys the house fix the leaky plumbing? is it really that important to fix ALL of these things?” but i know that Your standards are high, not only because You are comparing them to the house You dwell in, but because You intend to sell this house for a high value. You have been the ultimate fixer upper. You bought me in a broken state. over the years, and especially this last one, You have been doing demo projects on me. ripping out my foundation, expanding the deminsions, rewiring, new appliances. and now the house could go on the market. buuuut, if i take up the challenge to fix the minor things You’ve pointed out, the house will sell for even more. (not to say that i am a piece of property to buy or sell, but y’all get the metaphor.) the person who metaphorically buys my house is the person who chooses to be with me. and the higher the listed price, the lower the number of prospects who can afford it. i sense You are wanting to make it very clear who can afford to be with me. 

Lord i pray that in this time of fixing the minor issues in my house, You will reveal more of my purpose. like a well written ad, i pray You will highlight the areas of my house that will attract the people who are supposed to visit and live in it. i pray You will put specific people in my life that can help accomplish the renovations You desire. i pray that i find joy in taking down every stronghold and limitation i’ve knowingly and unknowingly held onto. i pray that You will give me vision to see the final product of what my home will look like. the original design of how You created me. the facets of You that i carry and need to show to others. i pray that You give me a greater level of faith to believe that what was once a sad, little shack for one will one day be a mansion where many dwell. 

dear dani, 

go big or go home. in the kingdom we believe in big faith, big prayers, and big miracles. and that is what april will be for you. a month of big faith, big prayers, and big miracles. and they lead into each other. big faith means you can pray big prayers and big prayers sow the seeds to big miracles. this month you will see a big miracle. but it starts with waking up each day demanding more of your faith. you may have no physical evidence of your mansion, but you need to have faith the size of your mansion. this month i want you to give up social media and you will see a miracle done. give up obsessing over other people’s realities and watch me rearrange yours. april is a month i am highlighting for you. april means to open or to blossom. i am opening up heaven to you this month. i am unlocking blessings that have been reserved for such a time as this. “see i am doing a new thing. now it springs up; do you not perceive it? i am making a way in the wilderness. and streams in the wasteland.” (isaiah 43:19) when your faith springs up, you will perceive the thing i am doing. like your flight home from maui, when you took off on a rainy morning. you launched under the weight of heavy clouds, but i am taking you to a new level where you will break free from the clouds and find yourself soaring through blue skies while the sunrise brakes out across your horizon. april is your new dawn. 

i love you without fault. i see you as my queen strolling through our palace’s hallways. i see you fit in royal robes and crowned with splendor. you walk with grace and strength. you carry authority. you walk towards me and i smile. i am well pleased. you are my queen. fit to rule the kingdom i have given you. i have given you a thrown to sit on so that when people come to you, you can rule over them the way i rule over you. i trust you to rule in place of me to those i send to you. and when the situation is too hard for you alone, just whisper my name and i will come rule next to you. i do not wish to keep you locked up in some room until i am in need of you. i will never be in need of you. i only desire you. i desire you speak to my people instead of me sometimes. i desire you to make the final call after i’ve given you the options. i do not need you but i desire you. i desire your presence in my kingdom. i would not want my kingdom if you were not in it. i desire to take walks with you and tend to my people with you. i love you and i always want to be with you. anything that is mine is yours and anything you ask from me shall be given to you. ask boldly for you know the resources i have and how deeply i love you. i give my all to you and ask for the same in return. total devotion. all allegiance to my kingdom. i have won the victory. no other kingdom will ever overtake us. no kingdom can compare to what i have created. the kingdom of the enemy is small and borrows from me. anything they do has to be granted permission from me. they are weak. they are for but a moment and one day will be completely overcome. do not fear their small attacks at our fortress walls. or if they come disguised into our halls. i will defend you and you will learn how to better defend yourself if i ever step away for a moment. you are a queen. you are not my servant. you are not an orphane. you are mine. i am yours. share in my kingdom. add to my kingdom the gifts i have given you. 

in order to gain new territory, you must not be afraid to step outside the kingdom walls. i am asking in this month for you to trade your royal robes for battle armor. i have been training you in the safety of my kingdom. you have had practice with my teachers. it has felt difficult, but the real battle begins now. i am releasing you into battle. to take action against the enemy. to deal lethal blows to his army. you are a warrior. you wear the breast plate of being in right standing with me. you wear the helmet of secured salvation. you are held tight by the belt of my truth. you hold up your sheild of faith against the darts of the enemy. you walk boldly in your shoes of readiness. and you kill with the sword of my spirit. the enemy has no chance against you. you are fully trained and equipped. he stands in rags and holds no weapon. all he can do is tell you lies. do not believe him. and do not let the comfort of a victory keep you from gaining more ground. do not say, “a mile of new ground is good. we can stop there.” when there are still a million miles to take hold of. do not settle with the current ground you have. every day take another foot. another ten. and when you tire, come back and rest in our palace. sit in my presence and let me tell you all the things i love about you and am doing for you. every foot of ground you take from the enemy i plant something beautiful. and sometimes i will fight your battle and plant the seed. but it is important you feel the pride of conquering too. 

this month i am pouring out heavenly blessings and miracles onto you. and i am calling you to put on your armor and go into battle with me. be ready for both. 

[iamjephthah]

Lesson 103: Spiritual Failure and Restoration (Luke 22:54-62)

FROM THE SERIES: LUKE PREVIOUS PAGE | NEXT PAGE Lesson 103: Spiritual Failure and Restoration (Luke 22:54-62) Related Media John Newton was a wild-living sailor and slave-trader who got saved and became a godly pastor and the author of many hymns, including the beloved, “Amazing Grace.” He said late in his life: “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things: that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.” Even if your past is not as wicked as John Newton’s, you should be growing in your awareness of those two great facts. The longer I am a Christian, the more acutely I am aware of the exceeding wickedness of my own heart. I can identify with the hymn writer, Robert Robinson, who wrote, “Prone to wander, Lord I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.” But, thank God, the more I see my own sinfulness, the more brightly God’s grace shines. As Robinson also wrote, “O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be!” The story of Peter’s denials is recorded in Scripture to underscore these two great facts: the weakness and sinfulness of even the most prominent saints; and, the greatness and abundance of God’s love and grace toward those who fail. For those who are walking with the Lord, this story warns us to take heed lest we fall. For any who have fallen, the story holds out the hope of pardon through God’s abundant grace if you will turn back to Him. Even when we fail the Lord badly, if we will repent God will restore us and use us again in His service. 1. Sometimes we fail the Lord badly. Luke draws a stark contrast between Peter’s failure to confess Christ under pressure and Jesus’ faithful confession under pressure. Jesus confessed that He is the Messiah and Son of God before the powerful Jewish Sanhedrin, but Peter failed to confess Christ before a lowly servant girl. When you place Peter’s earlier confession, “You are the Christ of God” (9:20) next to “I do not know Him,” you wonder how the same words could have come out of the same mouth within the space of a few months. Some might question whether a true Christian could ever do what Peter did on this occasion. But we would be in error to say that Peter was not saved when he committed this terrible sin. He had recognized his own sinfulness in that first great catch of fish, when he fell at Jesus’ feet and implored, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (5:8). Later, when other disciples had turned away because of Jesus’ hard teaching, Jesus asked the twelve if they, too, would turn away. Peter proclaimed, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. And we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68, 69). Peter definitely knew Jesus as Savior and Lord. Becoming a Christian is a matter of repentance and faith (Acts 20:21), which are flip sides of the same coin. Repentance means turning to God from sin (1 Thes. 1:9). Faith is trusting what Christ has done to pay for our sins on the cross, rather than trusting our own efforts or good works to save us (Eph. 2:8-10). Just as we cannot turn north without turning our backs on the south, so we cannot turn to a holy God for salvation without turning our backs on any known sin in our lives. We cannot trust in Christ to save us without repudiating trust in our own efforts to save ourselves. But the repentance and faith which save us do not put us in a protective bubble so that we are free from all sin until we get to heaven. The Christian life begins with repentance and faith, but it also continues with repentance and faith on a daily basis whenever we sin or when God’s Word opens our eyes to sin that we previously were not aware of. If a person is not walking in repentance and faith, there is reason to doubt whether he truly knows Christ. Still, we need to ask, “How can a believer who enjoyed the privileges Peter enjoyed—who walked as closely with Jesus as Peter did, who saw the miracles Peter saw, who heard the teaching Peter heard, who professed his commitment as strongly as Peter did—how can a believer like that fall into such terrible sin?” The answer—please note—is, gradually, not suddenly. A. THE COURSE OF SPIRITUAL FAILURE: A SLOW LEAK, NOT A BLOWOUT. We all have had the shocking experience of seeing someone we looked up to spiritually fall into a great sin. At first glance, it looks like he was just cruising along at 75 miles per hour when, BAM! he had a blowout. We think, “Wow, that’s scary! I hope it never happens to me.” But the fact is, there is no such thing as a spiritual blowout; there are only slow leaks. When you examine any spiritual failure, you always discover that there has been a slow spiritual decline. It was probably in secret. He kept up the outer appearances. He continued to look the part of a godly man. But in his heart, he was not judging sin. He was not evaluating himself in light of Scripture. Slowly the air was leaking out of his spiritual tires, but we didn’t see it until they were flat. No man is walking closely with Jesus on Monday and on Tuesday gets seduced by a beautiful woman. Adultery (or any other sin) always starts in the mind (Mark 7:20-23). A man begins tolerating lustful thoughts. He secretly looks at pornography. He discretely checks out the sexy women he sees. On the surface, he may be a pastor or church leader. He may be preaching or teaching God’s Word every week. But his Bible study and prayer life are superficial. He isn’t judging his sin and walking in fellowship with Christ. He justifies it, thinking, “I’m just a normal guy. It’s not hurting anyone. Besides, I’d never be unfaithful to my wife.” But, he likes it when women flirt with him. He enjoys hugging them, as sisters in Christ, of course! Satan bides his time until the opportune moment. Then he drops the bait, the man falls, and everyone is shocked. The precise course of spiritual failure will vary from person to person and from incident to incident. But we may learn how to avoid the slow leaks in our own lives by tracing Peter’s decline. B. THE CAUSES OF SPIRITUAL FAILURE: There are more, but let’s look at six:  We refuse to submit to the hard teachings of Scripture. Just after Peter’s famous confession, Jesus began to teach the disciples that He must suffer many things, be rejected by the Jewish leaders, and be killed. But Peter couldn’t accept that. He actually took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Him. Jesus in turn rebuked Peter by saying, “Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s” (Mark 8:31-32). We have also seen that, just hours before, when Jesus predicted that Peter would be sifted by Satan, Peter protested that he would follow Jesus to prison and to death (Luke 22:33). He directly contradicted Jesus’ word because it was a hard thing to submit to. We’re all inclined to do exactly what Peter did. There are many difficult things in Scripture, things that run counter to our liking. If we’re not careful, we focus on the Scriptures we like and skip the ones we don’t care for. We like the idea that man is free to choose his own destiny, but we don’t care for a God who has mercy on some and who hardens others according to His will (Rom. 9:18). So we clip Romans 9 and many other Scriptures from our Bibles. We like a loving and tolerant God, but we don’t care for a holy God who lets us reap what we sow and who visits the iniquity of fathers on children to the third and fourth generation. We like a God who heals us and makes us happy, but we don’t like a God who refines us through trials and hardship. The first step to a spiritual fall is when you start picking and choosing the Scriptures that tell you about the kind of God you like and ignoring the Scriptures that tell you what God is really like. A woman in my church in California had earned her degree in counseling from a Christian university. She wrote a letter to our elders complaining about my preaching in which she said, “I’m tired of hearing all the time that I’m a sinner. I want more sermons that tell me that I am a person of worth, made in God’s image.” The elders said to me, “When the Bible says that we’re made in God’s image, you preach it. When it says that we’re sinners, you preach that. It just so happens that the Bible says that we’re sinners far more often than it says that we are made in God’s image!” I advise you to read all of God’s Word. Read it consecutively, not skipping the hard parts. And, submit yourself to the whole thing, not just to the parts you like.  We do not face up to our pride. Peter believed in his own commitment more than he believed the word of the Lord (22:31-33). The other gospels reveal that Peter also believed that he was more committed than the other disciples: “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not” (Mark 14:29). But Peter was blind to his own pride and self-confidence. Alexander Maclaren observes, “Over-reliance on self leads us to put ourselves in the way of temptations which it were wiser to avoid” (Expositions of Holy Scripture [Baker], Luke 13-24, p. 267). Pride is the most common and troublesome sin that we face. Satan fell when he boasted, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14). He tempted Eve by appealing to her pride, telling her that she could be like God. Ever since, the human race has been plagued with the sin of thinking too highly of ourselves. This is being fed in our day with the false teaching that we need to build our self-esteem. Scripture no where teaches such a thing. In many places it tells us to clothe ourselves with humility and to regard others as more important than ourselves (1 Pet. 5:5; Phil. 2:3). One clue that we are blind to our pride is when we hear of someone who has sinned and we think, “I could never do such a thing!” “Even though others fall away, I will not!” “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12)! “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Prov. 16:18).  We come under satanic attack. Satan had demanded permission to sift Peter like wheat, but Peter was oblivious to the danger, even though Jesus warned him (22:31-33). Later Peter wrote, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). If a real lion were loose on the streets of Flagstaff, we would walk much more carefully than normal! We would be always on the lookout, and probably be armed with a weapon to defend ourselves. And yet we often ignore the adversary of our souls, living as if he did not exist.  We grow spiritually dull and distant. Peter was not only dull with regard to the enemy without, he was dull with regard to the enemy within. Jesus had warned the disciples, “Keep watching and praying, that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38). But not sensing their spiritual danger, they fell asleep when they should have been praying. As a result, when Jesus was arrested, Peter reacted in the flesh, whacking off the servant’s ear, then fled in fear. Now, he came back, following at a distance, and sat down among Christ’s enemies to warm himself by the fire. Whenever I deal with someone who is having serious problems, I ask about his devotional life. Invariably, it has either turned into an occasional routine, or it has ceased altogether. The person has allowed his first love for Jesus to cool. Your private devotional times with the Lord are the roots that sustain the tree. If a tree lacks deep roots, it may look pretty for a while, but invariably, a storm will hit that topples the tree. If you lack deep roots with the Lord, frequent times where you meet alone with Him to read and meditate on His Word and to commune with Him in prayer, you will fall when the storms of temptation hit.  We respond to crises in the flesh, not in the Spirit. When the mob came to arrest Jesus, Peter started swinging his sword, but his response was not what the Lord wanted. I suppose that Peter meant well, but his zeal did more damage than good. He was fighting when he should have been submitting. Then, sitting by the fire, he was submitting to group pressure when he should have fought in the Spirit. Even so, when we have been dodging the hard truths of Scripture, we have not judged our pride, we’re under satanic attack, and we’re spiritually dull and distant, we will respond to crises in the flesh, not in God’s Spirit. Something will happen that demands a godly, spiritual response, but we start swinging the sword or we say and do things to deny our faith in Christ. That’s the last bit of air leaking out of our spiritual tires:  We compromise our witness by our words and behavior. You wouldn’t think that the bold, brash Peter would be toppled by a servant girl, but he was! He was like a mighty tree that has been eaten inside by bugs. Outwardly, it looks tall and strong. Inwardly, it is rotten and weak. One day a small breeze blows on it and it comes crashing down. Although Luke is kind to Peter, the other gospels hint that his three denials began small and grew to horrible proportions. He first said to the girl, “I don’t know what you are talking about” (see Mark 14:68). Perhaps as she kept insisting that he had been with Jesus, he gave the response Luke records, “Woman, I do not know Him.” He changed locations, hoping to avoid any other confrontations. But the girl came again and repeated her charge, and was joined by some of the men. Now Peter had to stick with his story, so again he denied that he was one of the disciples: “Man, I am not!” (Luke 22:58). For about an hour he tried to block out his failure by making small talk around the fire. Then the bystanders began to accuse him of being a disciple because of his Galilean accent. At this point, Peter began to curse and swear, insisting that he did not know “this man” (he wouldn’t even utter Jesus’ name; Mark 14:71). At this point, we can’t believe what we see: Peter, the bold apostle, openly denying that he knew his Savior and Lord! That’s the awful process, how the air leaks out of our tires until we are running on the rims. We would have thought it inconceivable at first, but that’s where we end up when we don’t fix the leaks. Thankfully, the story doesn’t end there. In Peter’s restoration, we see God’s abundant grace: 2. If we will repent of our spiritual failures, God will restore us and use us again in His service. The turning point for Peter involved two things: the crowing of the rooster, which reminded him of Jesus’ prediction; and, the Lord’s turning and looking directly at Peter (which only Luke records). What a look that must have been! I don’t know whether they were moving Jesus from one place to another, and He caught Peter’s eye as He was being pushed along; or, whether He was inside, but within visual range. Normally a guilty person won’t look you in the eye. But the Lord turned, which probably caught Peter’s attention. Then He looked at Peter and Peter looked at the Lord (Luke twice refers to Jesus as “the Lord” to emphasize His deity, v. 61). Peter instantly fell apart in repentance and godly sorrow over what he had done. He went out and wept bitterly. A. THE PATH OF RESTORATION REQUIRES REPENTANCE. I can only briefly comment on several aspects of repentance:  Remembrance of God’s Word. “Peter remembered the word of the Lord” (22:61). All repentance begins when we remember the word of the Lord. What does the Lord say about what I have done? That is the issue. Men may minimize my sin: “Don’t worry about it! Everyone slips up occasionally. Don’t be too hard on yourself.” But God’s Word is the final authority. It tells me that I have sinned.  Conviction of our sin. The Lord’s look penetrated down to Peter’s conscience. Jesus didn’t have to say anything. Peter was deeply convicted in his heart. He didn’t try to paper over it or make excuses or rationalize it away. Conviction acknowledges that God is right and I’m wrong.  Godly sorrow over sin. This will vary with the seriousness of the sin and the personality of the sinner, but when our consciences realize that we have sinned against a Savior who loved us enough to die for us, we will mourn over our sin. We won’t be flippant or shrug it off.  Appropriation of Christ’s sacrifice for our sin. Jesus had already begun to suffer for Peter’s sins as He endured abuse at the hands of sinners. That sacrifice would be completed on the cross, where Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). We cannot atone for our sins by our sorrow or penance. Christ fully paid the penalty that we owe. We can only appropriate Christ’s sacrifice to cover our sins.  Appreciation of God’s abundant grace. Christ’s look not only conveyed the pain He felt at Peter’s failure. It also communicated His great love and grace. Peter remembered the word of the Lord, which included the fact that he would be restored because of Jesus’ prayers for him (22:32). What amazing grace, that Christ chose Peter and us, knowing full well how we would fail Him! His grace saved us and it keeps us unto the day when we shall be with Him forever. If you say, “I’ve sinned too badly; I just can’t accept God’s forgiveness and grace,” you’re not trusting in Him alone. You’re proudly trusting in your own method of atonement. Christians believe in and thank God for His grace as the only basis for forgiveness. If you need to be restored, you must repent of your sin and trust again in God’s grace and mercy. B. THE PATH OF RESTORATION RESULTS IN RENEWED SERVICE. As you know, the Lord personally restored Peter and did not kick him off the apostolic team. When the Day of Pentecost came, it was Peter who stood in Jerusalem, before some of the same people who had heard him deny Christ, and boldly proclaimed Him as Savior and Lord, risen from the dead. If Peter had clung to his pride, he would have said, “I’m never going to show my face in Jerusalem again. Someone else can preach, but I’m going back to fishing.” But thankfully, Peter recovered from the fear of what people thought and was restored to care about what pleases Christ. So he preached and God was pleased to save 3,000 souls. Conclusion The hymn writer I mentioned earlier, Robert Robinson, was a wild young man who lived a debauched life as a teenager. At age 17, he went with some friends to scoff at the famous evangelist, George Whitefield. But Robinson was so impressed by Whitefield’s preaching that he got saved. At 23 he wrote the hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.” For many years he served as a Baptist pastor, but later in life he got involved with the doctrines of Unitarianism and strayed from the Lord. One day he was riding in a stagecoach when he struck up a conversation with a woman. When she realized that he was well informed on spiritual matters, she asked him what he thought of a hymn she had just been reading. To his astonishment, he found that it was the hymn, “Come Thou Fount,” which he had written as a young man. He burst into tears and told her, “I’m the poor, unhappy man who wrote that hymn many years ago. I would give anything to have back the joy I knew then.” The woman assured him that the “streams of mercy” referred to in the song still flowed. Robinson was deeply touched, turned his wandering heart again to the Lord, and experienced His grace and forgiveness. That same grace is available to all who have failed the Lord. If you will turn back to Him, He will abundantly pardon and restore you to fellowship with Him and to service in His cause. You may be a great sinner, but Jesus is a greater Savior! Discussion Questions Is all spiritual failure a slow leak, or are there occasional blowouts? Does the fact that believers can sin badly run counter to so-called “lordship salvation”? Why/why not? Why is it dangerous to camp on favorite passages of Scripture, rather than to read it all? What are some difficult biblical truths which American Christians are ignoring or denying? Have we truly repented if we don’t feel sorry about our sins? Can this turn into an unbiblical system of penance? Is it right to restore to pastoral ministry a man who has fallen into sexual sin? Support your answer from Scripture. Copyright, Steven J. Cole, 2000, All Rights Reserved. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture Quotations are from the New American Standard Bible, Updated Edition © The Lockman Foundation

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Thoughts on Manchester Attack....& Responses that Just aren't Helping

The Manchester terror attack broke my heart, as each and every terror attack does. It chilled me to my core…again. 

Image from CNN.com

With the frequency of these attacks, it’s hard to process them all and properly mourn the loss before your attention is diverted to yet another tragedy. 

During the time I finished up this very blog post, I heard of deadly attacks in Baghdad and Kabul. It's hard, so hard to take it all in and grasp the magnitude of loss around the world. 

My thoughts are with all those who have suffered. 

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The Manchester attack targeted children while they were out having fun, enjoying music, enjoying life... 

Image from here

It’s those very freedoms that terrorists hate, they abhor those who don’t live in the same ideological cages as them. 

I sit here and try to absorb all the fragmented commentary coming from all angles, trying to make sense of this, trying to understand how we can change it for the better. How do we stop this from happening? I don’t know.. because the terrorists motivations seem to lie in a tangled web of things, parts of which each side wants to deny. The most obvious of those is extreme blind faith in an ideology they consider to be infallible.  

I look around me, and see there’s nothing new here…

The left though well intentioned, nor the right, theists, nor atheists - no one is hitting notes (on this subject) that deeply resonate with me anymore. It’s pretty much the same tired commentary, the same motions we go through after each terror attack. 

“Islam is evil”

“”Nothing to do with Islam”

“Muslims must do more” 

“Muslims should not have to apologize for something they have nothing to do with” 

“Islam is war”

“Islam is peace” 

“Its all about foreign policy”

“Its all about religion” 

We really have to do better than this, because neither side on this issue is getting through to the other. Just screaming at each other till we’re blue in the face isn’t going to accomplish anything. 

It’s obvious this is a problem that needs to be addressed, denying links to Islam as people shout Allahu-akbar and take lives just doesn't suffice. It’s not helping anyone, least of all muslims. 

This isn’t to say that how all muslims practice Islam is hateful, divisive and dangerous...but we must acknowledge that some extreme muslims do take it this far, if we want to start solving this. Of course every community has it’s extremists..but Islam does have a lot more Westboro Baptist equivalents …and too many who are even more extreme than Westboro level.

There is a fundamentalism problem coming directly from the rigid orthodoxy that Islam commands in the 21st century. Our communities can certainly do more to promote diversity and inclusivity…we do fall short there, we’ve got to own it…only then can we begin to tackle it.

All that said though, here’s another thing thats not cutting it; Laying the blame on all Muslims collectively. 

This is like me saying portland, Quebec, NYC - white supremacist murders all by you white people. Its just not right to lump innocent people of the same demographic with violent savages who murder people. 

In this case in particular, it’s not fair to say Muslims could have, or should have done more as a community…as the bomber, Salman Abedi had been reported to authorities multiple times. There are mixed reports about him being banned from his mosque, so I'm not sure about that. But mosques can always do more to try and root out extremism. 

Full story here

With a frightening surge in white supremacist and anti-muslim attacks in this Trumpian era, the polarization amongst us is growing at such an alarming rate...I fear we’ll end up at a point where we have to pick a side between nazis and jihadis. Already people seem to think you can’t care about both…each team trying to emphasize the horrors of ‘the other side’ while trying to downplay or deny the horrors that come from people within their communities. 

Full story here

Full story here

We’ve got to do better, all of us. Looking inwards, is important for all communities, self-critique is how we improve.

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The post terror attack scenario, is sadly our reality more and more often…around the globe. I understand its a moment of panic, anger, high emotion. People aren’t always thinking clearly on any side of the debate. But we have to do better, it’s the only way we can beat this monster. The one thing they want is to divide, disrupt and create chaos, sow hatred... in the days, weeks, months after…it’s something we should not let them have. 

There are a lot different types of counterproductive behaviour that emerge right after a terror attack, I feel we can make an already horrendous, painful situation a little more bearable if we refrain from this type of behaviour: 

'The Nothing to do with Islam’ chorus - I get it, it’s a reflex to distance either yourself (if you’re muslim) or an already persecuted minority from the worst, most violent people among them. But as all the liberal/muslim defenders of the religion will tell you, Islam is not a monolith. There are many people, majority of muslims in fact who manage to ignore or ‘re-interpret’ the same verses that drive the terrorists to kill. Why then does it all of a sudden become a monolith with boundaries that exclude terrorists when convenient? You simply cannot deny that those verses too come from the same religion. Just a different interpretation…if you start defining ISIS as ‘not real muslims’ you are playing their game. This is essentially what they do to dehumanize muslims that aren’t living up to their barbaric 7th century standards. The defensiveness and the desperation to distance terrorists from the religion that they themselves claim inspires them, makes defenders appear intellectually dishonest or in deep denial. In order to see the whole picture we cannot keep hiding from the fact that religion has a major role to play in religious extremism. There is hatred of music, hatred of women, of LGBT, of non-muslims coming from Islamic scripture, and theres no way you can modernize, reform or improve things if you at the very least don’t acknowledge that this problem exists. Fine…say this is not how you read it, but you can’t deny that the raw material exists for others to interpret in more violent ways. 

Sharing selective out of context Quran quotes guy - Nope. If you think you can share selective positive quotes, then don’t forget that people can and will rightfully share selective violent quotes to counter that too. This just looks like dishonesty or incomplete knowledge (which is also an issue, as many muslims are taught a curated version of scripture and often in a language they don't understand, I honestly didn’t know the existence of some of these verses till I did some research on my own…and hence, ‘ex-muslim’... 

I’ll make the same point for those who randomly share selective violent Quran quotes in the aftermath of a terror attack…not as a rebuttal to anyone denying violence in scripture…but just putting it out there that ..’look the scripture is violent… this scripture ALL muslims live by is dangerous” - no, this isn’t the time or place for that. I wholeheartedly agree…the scripture is vile, violent and all that. But tying ordinary muslims to these violent words when they may not fully be aware of its meanings, or even know of its existence is just in poor taste when they will likely already face a backlash of anti-muslim sentiment after an Islamic terror attack. I would say at other times, absolutely share this stuff, make muslims aware that this is what it says, and ask them to question if they’d really endorse this stuff. But RIGHT after a terror attack? Not a good idea imo. The bible has some vile violent verses too…we’ve just reached a point where many people don’t take it literally, and I hope we get there for Islam too…but if thats the goal tying *muslims in general* to violent verses in ancient scripture post-terror attack is harmful and counterproductive. 

Reminder, for the 'but what about Islam' types, I'm not sharing this to deny or shift blame from the fact that the Quran has equally violent, abhorrent verses that do inspire such horrors. But just to demonstrate that it is not uniquely evil, it is just unique in how seriously it is still taken today by many...unfortunately. 

Being blindly narrative driven without any regard for the truth - whether on the left or right, all muslims bad or all muslims good. This can take the vicious Nazi-esque Katie Hopkins form (far more dangerous and sinister of course), or it can take a well-intentioned but dishonest form from a magazine trying to portray muslims in a good light. You might be well intentioned but if you knowingly lie about things (see Cosmo screenshots below), ultimately you’re doing more harm to Muslims than you are good, and also providing fodder to the far right…who will find it easier to dismiss positive stories about muslims because of things like this.  

So they seem to know it's a Sikh person at this point...

How then...does this dishonest headline get printed? I mean there might very well be muslim Taxi drivers doing this as well, but juxtaposing it with this picture of a Sikh man, is really misleading!

Jump to Islamophobia concerns community leader - usually a guy being interviewed on TV who actually barely says two words about the horror of this attack before turning it around and making it about him and his community. Come on dude, priorities…yes there will likely be an anti-muslim backlash…i feel you…I get your concerns, I think anyone of muslim background shares those…generally people with brown skin might be fearful, as some non muslims have been killed as well in anti-muslim attacks. So i get it, legitimate concern….but in the aftermath of an attack, the first thing on your mind shouldn’t be the impact this will have on you…have some sympathy for the victims, for the horror their families will be dealing with.  

Similarly, on the fliplside theres the 'You can only care about one thing at a time' person - To this individual if you are concerned about a woman’s hijab being violently ripped off at the same time as the attack, you clearly have no regard for the victims of this brutal attack. This seems absurd to me. You can simultaneously express concern for both…because both harm innocent people. To assume there is no real violence being committed against perceived muslims is deeply foolish or deeply sinister…this isn’t about a few mean words hurled at muslims. This is about pregnant women being kicked till they lose their babies, this is about innocent people being killed. Their lives are no less valuable than those who went to the concert. You can and should express concern about both, of course one of these is not a large scale terrorist attack so one is more pressing and urgent, but this doesn’t mean that anyone expressing concern for both cares any less about the victims of the actual bombing. It just means they are looking at the bigger picture and concerned both about longer term as well as immediate effects. Sad this has to be explained, but there are many 'skeptical takes' out this week saying the victims of the bombing take a backseat if u care about anti-muslim sentiment rising during this attack. Its not one or the other, this is tribalism, plain and simple. And until we stop making it about us vs. them…and see that it is a cyclical problem where hate feeds hate...and that far right anti-muslim hate also fans the fires of Islamism, we won’t be able to combat it. 

The niqabi who decides to wear a grenade t-shirt on TV - ok this is rather specific…but i’m referring to a real fucking person who thought it was a good idea to be on TV and be interviewed about radicalization in the muslim community while wearing a black t-shirt that spells love in fucking *weapons*. 

At first i thought it was a photoshop job.. but sadly not...See video here

What kind of a person thinks thats a fucking good idea..? I mean of course Tommy Robinson was all over that. I don’t think it necessarily says anything about her sympathies or affiliations, as it appears to be a widely available 

t-shirt, 

but I mean the optics of this on a hipster kid and on a niqabi talking about extremism on TV after an *islamic* *terror* *attack* are completely different. Of course people are going to draw conclusions about what she was thinking. It might very well be that she foolishly thought it was a good ironic msg about peace, love and being anti violence or something…but fuck...it does not come across like that. Terrible terrible idea. NOT HELPING. 

'Hashtag Terror attack you say?!...Buy my books because I generally talk about Islam & stuff' person - 

Seriously...don’t be that person…don’t plug your non-specific stuff using a terror attack that took many lives. Of course some content is genuinely helpful and some content has been created as a specific response or commentary to this attack. That’s not what i’m talking about… it’s perfectly ok and also necessary for us to have access to different commentary and viewpoints after an attack. It’s how we process and form our opinions. This very piece is that… I’m talking about unrelated things that people are plugging using the hashtag and all. Don’t do that. That’s really in poor taste. 

Projecting negative intent on anyone that’s visibly muslim - Don’t be like Molyneux, probably a good rule in general.

(This is from the London attack, but the point remains.)

Whining about how people express their grief - Im sorry but people cope in different ways... are you that miserable of a person that you cannot let people heal in the ways that suit them? Coming together in groups, singing, feeling part of a community can feel powerful....and unite us at a time we feel so helpless otherwise. It can make us feel like we're doing something at least. Expressing ourselves through music and song is one of the things jihadis hate... its why they attack concert halls ffs. Don't be the guy that piles on to that. "Liberals just sing while the terrorists bomb us" - right cuz the singing is how they specifically plan to combat bombing. Liberals would go to battle ISIS armed with Jon Lennon songs I'm sure. 

I mean can people seriously have a problem with this kind of thing?

Goosebumps! The amazing moment Manchester crowd joins in with woman singing Oasis - Don't Look Back in Anger after minutes silence http://pic.twitter.com/Cw4mOq8yde

— Josh Halliday (@JoshHalliday) May 25, 2017

Is this not a valid & beautiful unifying, powerful response to human suffering? I don't understand the pettiness...

But What about [Name other Tragedy] - This isn't a contest, human suffering isn't a contest, please don't try to negate one tragedy by saying another deserves more attention. Yes some things get more air time than others, sometimes because it's closer to home, other times because of some aspects of the story. I wish i knew how to insure that all tragedies got equal attention, but this doesn't happen in the real world...so please don't take away from other horrific acts because the one you're talking about got less coverage. 

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I’m sure there’s a ton of more examples of unhelpful behaviour… feel free to add your observations too, in the comments below. But I just felt I had to put this out there after seeing so many cringeworthy takes, making an already tragic situation worse. 

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