God, may you pour out your Spirit today in Zimbabwe like you did in Jerusalem all those years ago.

Freedom.  Power.  Fire.  Wind.  Gospel in every tongue. Kingdom coming.

We are your witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

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My friend Andrew just came back from Zim. Here’s a bit of what he experienced.

Note: there are some hard to look at pics. That’s torture.  That’s Zimbabwe.

Pray for Zimbabwe. Pray for us as we feel God is calling us to be involved in different ways.

zimbabwe

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I’ve got a plan for nearly everything.  I guess because I’m full of ideas, fairly capable, and have lots of freedom to put them into action.

The problem is that I’ve got a plan for everything. And in that, I don’t always let God speak, move, act.  I’m not relying on God enough.

So I throw myself at God, asking for help.  Do in me what I can’t.  Use what you’ve gifted me with, but don’t let me take too much control.  Show me where I am weak- where I can’t do it myself - and help me.

I need you God.

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I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I arise today
Through God’s strength to pilot me:
God’s might to uphold me,
God’s wisdom to guide me,
God’s eye to look before me,
God’s ear to hear me,
God’s word to speak for me,
God’s hand to guard me,
God’s way to lie before me,
God’s shield to protect me,
God’s host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man’s body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.

Amen.

I pray this prayer with fervency today

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I grew up listening to Bob Marley. One of my favourite cds - though not most popular among casual fans - is “Survival.” It’s about Africa, a continent I loved long before i lived here. The song “Zimbabwe” has been on my mind a lot recently. Bob wrote that song in 1979 or so when Robert Mugabe was overthrowing the colonial powers to establish a new, independent, African state. Here are the lyrics:

Every man gotta right
To decide his own destiny
And in this judgment
There is no partiality
So arm in arms: with arms
We will fight this little struggle
Cause that’s the only way
We can overcome our little struggle

Brother you’re right, you’re right
You’re right, you’re right, you’re so right
We gonna fight, we’ll have to fight
We gonna fight, fight for our rights

Natty dread it ina Zimbabwe
Set it up ina Zimbabwe
Mash it up ina Zimbabwe
Africans a liberate Zimabwe

No more internal power struggle
We come together to overcome
The little trouble
Soon we’ll find out
Who is the real revolutionary
Cause I don’t want my people
To be contrary

Brother you’re right, you’re right
You’re right, you’re right, you’re so right
We’ll have to fight, we gonna fight
We’ll have to fight, fight for our rights

Mash it up ina Zimbabwe
Natty trash it ina Zimbabwe
Africans a liberate Zimbabwe
I an I a liberate Zimbabwe

To divide and rule
Could only tear us a part
In everyman’s chest
There beats a heart
So soon we’ll find out
Who is the real revolutionaries
And I don’t want my people
To be trained by mercenaries

repeats chorus

I wish Bob Marley was alive today. What would he say now? Mugabe has ruined Zimbabwe. He turned his back on the people long ago, and now he continues to torture and oppress the very people who have voted him out of power. Church leaders and rights groups have warned that this could reach genocidal proportions quickly.

So now will we find out who is the real revolutionary?

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Today, I am faced with something new and difficult. I apologized to someone close to me for something I had done that hurt them, and they didn’t accept. This has to do with the depth of the hurt, my own history of bad actions toward them, and my general inability to do better than I do. So, despite my apology and expressed desire to be different toward them, they appreciated my sentiments, but didn’t receive the apology.

Would you pray for me, pray for us? I’m not sure where to go from here - don’t want to gloss over the situation, don’t want to try to “prove my apology,” don’t want to assume I’ve fulfilled my responsibility. I’m at a loss…

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This is an amazing finish - both to the Premiership & Champion’s League!

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How about this one… If you are like me and tend to define yourself by what you do, why not do less?

Shock.  Faint.  I can hear you fall on the floor from here.  “But I love what I do.”  Me too.  But just because you CAN do something doesn’t always mean you SHOULD.

I understand this is one of those “swing the pendulum really far the other way” type approaches.  I know this because even though I think it’s a good idea, at the end of the day I haven’t decreased what I am doing.  This has become a must for me because the “to do” list never goes away.  It will never go away.

Part of me takes great comfort in having things to do.  Part of me longs for the freedom to just live (and btw, do along the way).  Heck, when I really think about it, half the things I do aren’t all that significant anyway.

I submit the following piece of scripture which haunts me, partially because I know it is true and has the potential to be liberating.  Partially because it pierces me for the truth it speaks of my own heart:

What do you benefit if you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul?  Is anything worth more than your soul? Matthew 16:26

Is anything worth more than your soul?  What is the cost of doing everything you do (and most of us are far from “gaining the whole world” through our many efforts)?  Is it worth it?

Undoing the do-er #1: Do less.

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For the first time, my son Arthur (my 9 year old son) knew something that I didn’t.

child: “Do you know what a blue moon is?”
me: “Uh, when the moon looks like it is blue????”
child: “No, it’s when there is more than one full moon in the same month”
me: “Really? Impressive”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon

so, explains the expression “once in a blue moon” for something rare (like two full moons in one month). don’t get me wrong, i’m glad to have learned something new today. just not ready to learn it from my eldest child.

This is where it all goes downhill…

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