consistent grace

I've been contemplating God's consistent grace in the everyday of life. Sometimes it's so easy to see the things that are wrong or difficult or unjust - and it is important to have our eyes open to those things so that we are equipped and prepared and ready to fight... but on the flip side it is also apparent if you have eyes to see that God's grace is literally everywhere... all around us and working all the time. Even before we recognize Him - already He is drawing us to Himself. This morning I was looking out the window and enjoying the marks of spring... the real tangible, physical, evidence of God's grace in nature... and then in people, and then in strategies and on and on it goes.
Everyday, if we have eyes and ears we will sense and see and hear that God is full of love... poured out. Hope you can experience all of what God has for you today.

The Call to WAR...

Words from Lisa Thompson that bear repeating after the posting of an assault against the Salvation Army in Canada for campaigning against human trafficking and the links between prostitution and sexual oppression - by the way, I have just returned from brothel visits this afternoon and I'm ready for a fight... I hate prostitution and what it does to women. I hate that brothel are full of women who lack other choices, I'm sick of there not being any way out, I'm tired of sitting around in comfort while other women are forced into oppressive conditions and told that's what they deserve... I'm really getting tired of the endless rhetoric from women who have bought into selling themselves (AND OTHER WOMEN) in order to simply make a profit at the expense of their own lives and girls after us... anyway, don't get me started today... but hear Lisa (who offers a very refreshing take) and read these articles and PLEASE join us in prayer (check out justsalvos.com for resources including a prayer directive and an mp3 song recorded just for the occasion) and join in some public prayer!!

Also check out the truth isn't sexy campaign for a glimpse of the amazing work of the human trafficking taskforce in British Columbia - congrats guys!!
Dear Friends:

Here is some exciting news from Canada! Why do I think it's exciting that a pro-prostitution lobby in Vancouver is making a public protest about The Salvation Army's anti-trafficking campaign and that they plan to protest our International Weekend of Prayer and Fasting for Victims of Sexual Trafficking being held later this month? Because I take this as a sure sign that by prayer & fasting we are unleashing the forces of God engaged in the unseen battle "against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12)."

We must be doing something right to be getting this type of response! So, with all the more sincerity and passion let's pray and fast, even now, for the victims of sexual trafficking and the commercial sex industry, as well as for The Salvation Army in Canada and their efforts. Please also lift up those who are protesting, in particular Ms. Davis.

Lastly, please keep in mind that sex trafficking doesn't exist in a vacuum. There is a normalized sex industry that generates the demand for females (and some males) for sexual use. Moreover, countless numbers of women in prostitution are victims of sexual trafficking -- just because they may not appear to be forced on the surface does not mean that they are not victims of extreme psychological coercion and physical brutality. Moreover, I think we can all agree that the sex industry is harmful to all persons who come within it's radius -- prostituting persons, pimps & madams, and sex buyers. They all need our prayers, and most especially our love as modeled by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Abolition!
Lisa

Pro-prostitution lobby wages war on Salvation Army
Protesters will target prayer vigils
Mark Hasiuk
Vancouver Courier
Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Name the greatest threat to Vancouver prostitutes toiling on street corners and in storefront brothels:
A) pimps B) abusive, disease-carrying johns C) an apathetic public D) the Salvation Army

According to Vancouver's pro-prostitution lobby, the answer is D, the Salvation Army.
Tell them what they've won, Regis...

The Salvation Army launched its local anti-human trafficking campaign last September after working on global sex trade issues for years. The charitable organization joins a growing movement of feminist and church groups who fear a spike in trafficking as the 2010 Winter Olympics draw near.

Human trafficking is among the world's fastest growing criminal industries, rivalling the illegal arms industry and drug trade in scope and impact. According to the U.S. State Department, approximately 800,000 victims are trafficked annually across international borders. Victims include women and children from Asia, South America and Eastern Europe.

In Vancouver, where brothels bloom like dandelions in some neighbourhoods, the magnitude of the problem is unknown. Due to a lack of law enforcement, Vancouver's sex trade industry--fuelled by domestic and international trafficking--remains a mystery.

Like most other anti-trafficking campaigns, the Salvation Army campaign targets the demand side of prostitution--pimps and johns. Last month the Salvation Army hung posters, depicting young women being beaten and abused, above urinals in downtown bars.

"This is a bold step for the Salvation Army," says Brian Venables, a Salvation Army spokesperson and chief architect of the campaign. "We've stepped out of the shadows and said this isn't going to happen anymore, and we're going to do what we can to stop it."

The pro-prostitution lobby is not amused.

The Salvation Army received several threatening emails about the campaign, but Venables says the criticism is misguided. "Our campaign is not against or about prostitution, it's about people who are forced into sex slavery," he says. "The issue is about those who don't have a choice."

But according to Susan Davis, a vocal member of Vancouver's pro-prostitution lobby, anti-trafficking campaigns are dangerous. Such campaigns, she says, prompt law enforcement to raid massage parlours--which she describes as "safe work places"--and drive the industry underground.

However, according to the city's licensing department, no massage parlours have been shut down this year.

Davis, a 41-year-old career prostitute, also claims that "Vancouver police are raiding Asian massage parlours" in a "racist and anti-immigrant" assault on the industry.

While the VPD cited "ongoing investigations," no massage parlours have been raided this year.

In fact, more than 50 de facto brothels--officially known as health enhancement centres--operate in Vancouver. Countless other unlicensed establishments operate with tacit approval from city hall.

Davis also attacked UBC law professor Ben Perrin, Canada's foremost expert on human trafficking. (The Salvation Army crafts its campaign on information complied by Perrin and others. The Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada and the U.S. State Department have confirmed Perrin's findings.) Perrin, she says, uses "fear mongering" and "demonization" to promote his anti-trafficking agenda.

Perrin dismisses the attack, noting Davis unsuccessfully lobbied in 2007 for legalized brothels in Vancouver. "This a pro-brothel lobby group," he says, "whose business is threatened by individuals who try to help people exit the sex trade and who try to confront exploitive pimps and traffickers."

Davis plans to mobilize other pro-prostitution activists and protest the Salvation Army's upcoming day of prayer, scheduled at churches and Salvation Army sites for Sept. 27.

She also targets Salvation Army volunteers who will visit Downtown Eastside street corners to pray for the anguished and abused. Davis plans to produce pamphlets warning street prostitutes about the Salvation Army threat. The pamphlets, she says, will be distributed by the publicly funded Mobile Access Project--also known as the MAP van. MAP van spokesperson Kate Gibson says she was unaware of Davis's plans but didn't rule out distributing the pamphlets.

"There's potential for a violent clash between sex workers and Salvation Army people, who have no comprehension of the way that we live," says Davis. "They assume we need rescue when in fact what we need is rights."

Davis may not need rescue. The vocal members of Vancouver's pro-prostitution lobby claim to live charmed lives.

But considering the widespread misery and abuse associated with the sex trade, her opposition to the Salvation Army campaign is desperate and her intentions are small.

Nevertheless, when she waves her placard in protest outside a Salvation Army church, she'll be included in those prayers--whether she likes it or not. (Amen to that! - Lisa)

© Vancouver Courier 2009

Courage

I spent the day with several people who exhibit a lot of courage. Courage is a place of strength that often we don't even find till we visit a place of weakness. It struck me today as I reviewed the events that people who make great decisions, even when they are hard and not the 'easy way' but the 'best way' are exhibiting signs of God's presence. I was testifying to one friend that I couldn't have made the life changes in my life without the strength of God - who filled me with courage to face the things I needed to and to keep walking forward... even sometimes falling forward. That's the power of God which is much greater than me. Just to say I was very thankful to God today for the signs of courage in ordinary people: courage to make good decisions, stop bad behaviours, challenge existing prejudices, choose life, search for God, tell the truth, start again, and many more. I'm so thankful that we don't journey alone. And I'm praying for more courage to live a bold life of fullness every day.

Jordan Belfort

I heard Jordan Belfort, known as "the wolf of wall street" at 614 today.

His bio: Over the last twenty years, Belfort has soared to the highest financial heights, earning over $50 million a year as the notorious Wolf of Wall Street—and then sunk to the lowest societal-lows, succumbing to a massive drug addiction and doing twenty-two months in a Federal prison camp, for stock-fraud.
Today, his life represents the ultimate redemption story. After barely surviving his rise and fall as an American Entrepreneurial Icon, he is now twelve-years-sober and a world-renowned motivational speaker, who assists both people and organizations in breaking through whatever barriers hold them back from achieving success.
Jordan Belfort’s two bestselling books have been published in forty-three countries and translated into eighteen different languages. He is a frequent guest-commentator on CNN, CNBC, Headlines News and the BBC. His life-story is currently being turned into a major motion picture by Warner Brothers, with Leonardo Dicaprio set to play Belfort and Martin Scorsese set to direct. Filming is to begin in 2010.

He's a very interesting and inspiring communicator - although not like I'm used too... he's not for the faint-hearted or for the overly religious... he tends to tell it like it is in graphic Jersey boy speak. There were many things he spoke about that are true... not completely whole (because Jesus is the only way to get to the wholeness part) but true none the less. One thing that stuck out were the beliefs that we carry around about ourselves. These can often be negative beliefs... like 'I'm ugly'. He suggested that the belief can't be broken from the top (like a table) you have to look at the situations that informed those beliefs... and you have to deal with those (in other words - attack the legs that hold up the belief). This is true. I believe Jesus can dismantle the legs of our beliefs when they aren't true and likewise we can build new beliefs based on the truth of who Jesus is and who He says we are. 'I am a child of God' is one strong belief that is essential for success.

Bottom line is that all truth comes from God. But Jesus is not just truth but the fulfillment of all Truth. So as much as Jordan is fantastic - I'm hip to know and love the God who can cross Jordan and bring me into the promise land! Bring it on.

Revelation

spent a couple of hours last night with fellow worshippers pondering the book of revelation as Rich Swingle (guest from new York) unpacked the whole of the book in a dramatic one person play. Incredible performance and a great spirit of worship on the whole crowd. Revelation has always been a difficult book for me... but the themes of God's love, ultimate justice and accountability mixed with Jesus' invitation in the gospel to pray and seek God's kingdom COME now as it is in heaven is amazing to think about. A bunch of us took the opportunity to symbolically accept the sign of the cross on our forheads in oil as a testimony that we were absolutely submitted to the Lordship of Jesus. Instead of fear - that awesome book should inspire true believers to love. Perfect love drives out all fear. Do you have this revelation??

the Glory of God

I've been hanging with some people over these last couple of weeks who have been studying the glory of God.
Interesting stuff actually.
The theophanies are occasions where God has been seen - notable examples in Scripture are Abraham, Moses, Daniel, Joshua, Isaiah, technically anyone who encountered Christ, and Saul and John on Patmos in revelation.
years ago I started a habit called Praying The Bible which was taking these scriptures and praying them out loud to God - actually using them as ways of training myself to picture God and address Him. It's a powerful way to pray - and if I am honest it also helps to infuse my prayer life with energy - the Word gives life... even to my feeble attempts to pray. I like that.
Tonight we are going to try it in a small group - should be fun! And we are also going to contemplate Christ some more. Christ is the image of the invisible God (John 1) - He is the longest theophany ever... 2 Corinthians 4:6 says it like this, "For God who said, 'let light shine out of darkness,' made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." Ravi Zacharius broke it down not only in scripture but in culture... the romans loved glory, the hebrews loved light and the greeks loved knowledge... all of the hunger of every civilization in the world can be met by the face of Christ.
That's some good news. Why not take some time to contemplate Christ today... I marked a youtube video of Heidi Baker (well worth googling) speaking of having a theophany of the Christ and seeing into His eyes - as she saw Him and all the love He had in His eyes she realised that she could reflect that light to the orphans of Mozambique. Now she is 'the mother' of thousands of unwanted children who have all been touched by His love. Worth a bit of reflection I'd say.

The Ordinary Radicals - Trailer

if you lie in america - well worth watching/hosting a screening near you? give it a go and join the revolution...