Saturday night was the first home game for my school's team. The stadium was packed, everyone in the  kind of hyper-jolly mood that only happens in South, on saturday night, at the first home game of the season. It also happened to be the largest crowd of Wildcat Field history. The entire college population, decked out in royal blue and orange, hollered for their teammates/classmates, parents hollered for the boy who just got the ball ("Did you see him!? Did you see the way he just took back those yards?! That's MY boy!" in the way only a Southern momma could say it.), and little kids with waaay too much caffeine hollered just because they could. Crazy, hyped, happy mayhem.

Ryan Montague, the dude you want to have the ball :) 

Just before the game started, the lady sitting in the bleachers in front of me stood up and started wildly waving her arms and calling out for "Susan." I assume "Susan" was somewhere below us, somewhere in the noise, the color, the crowd. I felt bad for the woman. There was no way, unless she was standing still and looking, that "Susan" was going to see her friend frantically waving her arms. And I suddenly thought:

"What is that's how God feels like?"   

Does He feel like He's standing in the stadium of our life, barely visible to us because of our crowd, or the noise or the color, or the general hype of life here on earth?

We're constantly surrounded by the world, and I don't mean that in an entirely negative way. The people that God puts in our lives can sometimes become a distraction. The job that He's given us, the school He's led us to, the ministries He's called us to... these can all be distractions. They add color, texture, flavor, and other wonderful things to our lives. They can easily become what holds us back, what weighs us down if we forget why they're there.

Those things were given to us to be enjoyed, but not to be controlled by.

Maybe "Susan" didn't see her friend because she wasn't looking for her. Look for God, people. He says He will be found by those who are truly seeking Him. Sometimes when we get into a tight spot, we whimper and cry about "where was God when...?" But the fact is, He was there the whole time.
We just couldn't see Him for all the colors, the lights, and crowds with which we surround ourselves.

"Seek and you will find." 
Matthew 7:7

God grabbed me. God's Spirit took me up and set me down in the middle of an open plain strewn with bones. He led me around and among them—a lot of bones! There were bones all over the plain—dry bones, bleached by the sun.

  He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" 

I said, "Master God, only you know that."

  He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones: 'Dry bones, listen to the Message of God!'"

  God, the Master, told the dry bones, "Watch this: I'm bringing the breath of life to you and you'll come to life. I'll attach sinews to you, put meat on your bones, cover you with skin, and breathe life into you. You'll come alive and you'll realize that I am God!"

  I prophesied just as I'd been commanded. As I prophesied, there was a sound and, oh, rustling! The bones moved and came together, bone to bone. I kept watching. Sinews formed, then muscles on the bones, then skin stretched over them. But they had no breath in them.

  He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man. Tell the breath, 'God, the Master, says, Come from the four winds. Come, breath. Breathe on these slain bodies. Breathe life!'"

  So I prophesied, just as he commanded me. The breath entered them and they came alive! They stood up on their feet, a huge army.

  Then God said to me, "Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Listen to what they're saying: 'Our bones are dried up, our hope is gone, there's nothing left of us.'

  "Therefore, prophesy. Tell them, 'God, the Master, says: I'll dig up your graves and bring you out alive—O my people! Then I'll take you straight to the land of Israel. When I dig up graves and bring you out as my people, you'll realize that I am God. I'll breathe my life into you and you'll live.Then I'll lead you straight back to your land and you'll realize that I am God. I've said it and I'll do it. God's Decree.'"

Ezekiel 37: 1-14

A Lamb, a Priest, and a Ram's Horn

 "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation."

 Leviticus 23:24

This is the basis for the Jewish holiday Rosh Ha'shanah, the celebration of the New Year. Also called the feast of Trumpets. Rosh Ha'shanah 2012 happened on September 16. 

When I was little, my family celebrated Rosh Ha'shanah by making a crown out of golden construction paper and placing on the globe as the centerpiece of the table. This celebrated the fact that God is Melek b'ha'shamyim, vha'eretz, King of heaven and earth. It's the coronation day for the King, for on this day He brought the crown of His creation into existence and became their King! 

Later in the evening, after supper, we would go outside and my father would blow the shofar, the ram's horn. (In ancient times, the shofar was used in times of war or celebration. Now it is mostly used ceremonially.)  Sometimes we all had paper party blowers and we would make quite a racket! After my father had given the Tekiah, (one single long blast) followed by the Shevarim, (three short blasts) we would all take turns trying to get a sound out of the shofar. (Its a lot harder than it looks, especially for the small lips of children!) I didn't understand the meaning of blowing the shofar, only that it was part of the celebration of Rosh Ha'shanah, but the pattern of blasts had a deep meaning for the ancient Jews. 

The first blast is Tekiah- one long blast signifying the King's coronation.

The second is Shevarim- three short blasts, like wailing, signifying repentance.

The third is Teru'ah- nine staccato blasts, like a warning call to awaken the soul.

The fourth and final is Tekiah ha'Gadol- a great, loud, long blast.   

 The celebration of Rosh Ha'shanah  is just that, a celebration but it also is closely tied with another feast, Yom Kippur. The celebration of the coronation of the King of Kings also brings to mind the holiness and justice of the King and the people's realization that they are neither holy nor just. 

The next ten days in the Jewish calendar are called the Aseret Yemei Teshuvah,  the Ten Days of Repentance. The blowing of the shofar called the people to self-examination and repentance in anticipation of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. On this day the Kodesh Gadol, the High Priest, would lay his hands on the head of a goat and confer on it the sins of the people. The goat would then be driven out into the wilderness, carrying the sins of the nation with it. And the people would be forgiven and in restored fellowship with God. 

When my family celebrated this feast, we would commemorate this taking away of sins by gathering a handful of stones and casting them one by one in the lake, where they disappeared from view. I always remember this, because it usually happened on or near my birthday. When I was quite young, it was sort of a birthday tradition. But as I grew older, the realization of what I was doing started to dawn on my consciousness. Though simple enough for a child to understand, the spiritual implication of that casting away of sin (the stones) is enormous. 

I have found myself in solemn contemplation during this year's yomei teshuvah, days of repentance. For myself, yes. But also for this nation. For revival to bring repentance and a return to God. We don't have to wait for that one day of the year when a priest, a man like the rest of us, would go into the Holy of Holies and intercede for us. We have a living and holy Kodesh Gadol, high priest. 

His name is Yeshua. 

Son of God.

Son of Man.

Creator that became as the created. 

The korban pesach, the sacrificial Lamb.

Now the Kodesh Gadol, the Great High Priest. 

With the blood of His sacrifice, He obtained our redemption and stands as minister and mediator of His sacrifice. 

For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up {Himself.} 

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats... sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall {the blood of Christ,} who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot before God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For Christ has not entered the holy place made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us... 

Hebrews 7:26, 9:11-14,24-25

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth

For some time now, I've been conscious of a burning in my soul for the persecuted church. I am still not entirely sure what to do with that knowledge but I know it has caused me to be much more aware of global happenings and how they affect the global church. It has also caused me to pray so much more than I ever did before.

I pray for the physical safety of the pastors and their congregations. I pray for spiritual awareness in the leaders. I pray for faithfulness for those who have lost everything because of their identification with the once broken, now resurrected body of Jesus. I pray for the children who grow up in such hostile places; who only know violence and fear.

I pray for unity in the church worldwide. But sometimes it seems like, no matter how many prayers are said, violence and the prince of the air still separate the bodies from the souls of the redeemed of God.



Recently, an Iranian brother, Pastor Youcef, was imprisoned.

 For 1,062 days he was held in an Iranian prison and told that he must recant or die. But he did not recant. So he was sentenced by the Iranian government to die. There were, in the course of his imprisonment, many campaigns for his release, including various government officials from all over the world and many civil rights activists who contended with the Iranian government for Pastor Youcef's life. A friend of mine faithfully tweeted the Voice of the Martyrs updates every day. And millions of people prayed.

The day of his execution drew near and I wondered what would happen on November 13. For three years, the release of the pastor had been demanded, but with no result. One day, as I read an update on his situation, I thought to myself, "He's going to die."  Like the millions of others, he was going to pay with his life for what he believed. I felt slightly angry with God for not intervening, for not honoring Youcef's steadfastness and commitment. God felt far away and impersonal as I sat at my computer in my little dorm room. Governments and parliaments, presidents and royalty, people with connections and money, they were fighting for his life. And they were so much more likely to get results than I was. Or so I thought.

Oh small mind! Oh weak faith! Did you so easily forget who holds the universe in one hand and the sparrow in the other? Have you forgotten the Father who mended your broken heart and caused it to sing again? Have you forgotten the One who fashions every tiny baby and writes their names on His hand? The One who sends His Spirit to people in the stronghold of darkness and awakens them to Life everlasting? The One who gives life to our breath and causes us to be living beings? He who said, "None shall pluck them from My hand..."?

I forgot Him, but He did not forget me. He did not forget Pastor Youcef. Though Pastor is still in police custody, he has had the death sentence revoked. Because God spoke through the words of the politicians and activists. Because He inhabited the prayers of His church. Because He is the Great I AM, sovereign over the affairs of men and angels. He sees the farthest star, the deepest ocean, the smallest ant, the highest mountain, and each individual person who draws breath. He heard our prayers for our brother. Your prayer. My prayer.

Church, He hears.