We have been warned!

Rabbi Jonathan Cahn

From his New York Times Best Seller

The Harbinger

  An incredible look into 

God's message to

 America!

Wake Up America!!

Wake Up America!!

Daughter of Billy Graham sounds the Alarm!

WHAT TIME IS IT?

Anne Graham Lotz

Did I Really Say That?

An internationally renowned men's gospel music group had come to my small town.I was barely 15 at the time and making adjustments in my newest foster home.There was going to be a special afternoon luncheon with the group, and
 I was invited!

Huge buses with professional logos took up most of the space in the host home driveway. Wow! I had never seen such massive vehicles. I could only imagine what lie just beyond those secretive and guarded bus doors. I envisioned colourful costumes studded in crystals and gemstones. I could imagine guitars, fiddles, drums and microphones pressed into each vacant corner behind the gold and silver window drapes. This was a feast for a young girl's eyes, a young girl whose spirit had not yet been tainted by the dark secrets of the present world.

It was turning into an unforgettable smorgasbord of delights, food, fellowship and fun! I was especially delighted when two of the group members invited me to sing along with them on one of their songs. Although I really was not all that familiar with gospel music, I did know this particular song. We entertained the hosts and guests; afterwards, we settled in to a nice conversation about life, music and God.

A bit into the conversation, one of the group members stated how much he enjoyed talking with me, and then asked why I had not come to the special "Dinner on the Ground" the evening prior.

OK, when someone asks you a question, you just answer it truthfully - right?

Well, I answered the question with a truthful fact:
 “I wasn't invited.”

As life would have it, the host family female overheard my answer and immediately verbally chastised me. Shaking a multi-diamond clad finger in my face, she gnarled at me, growling with displeasure - lipstick stained teeth filling the gap between my sudden shocked surprise and her piercing angry eyes:

“That was very rude of you!”

I was startled and confused. What did I do? I merely answered the man's question. I had not answered with any pretence or disdain. I felt no animosity or vengefulness. I could not answer that I did not know about the “singing” and dinner, because I did. I could not answer that I was sick or out of town, because I was not.

I could not even say that I had not desired to be there, because that would have been a lie.

I just answered a question - truthfully.

Everyone who truly knows me, knows how very emotionally sensitive I am. I love deeply, therefore I hurt deeply. Well, a sudden flood of tears began pouring from my eyes and cascading down my face. I felt embarrassed and humiliated; the momentary joy of the moment had now dissipated into a dark shadow of despair. I did not know what to do. I did not know where to go. And there was no place to hide.

But as life would also have it, I was suddenly encased in a circle of loving arms. My new friends embraced me in my moment of suffering, filling my heart's ears with consoling words of comfort and encouragement.

“Don't you ever change, young lady.” “You stay just as you are.” “You are a joy and a delight.”

~

I have occasionally reflected back on that budding moment of young adulthood and those fading yet still fragrant trials of innocence. And in those reflections I have asked myself time and time again:

“How could I have restated that answer more respectfully and lovingly?”

“How can I speak honestly without deceiving my own heart or the heart of another?”

“Is it more important to save face or face disgrace?”

But more often than not, I find myself thinking and asking:

“Did I really say that?”

"And now here's what I want you to do: Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak.  Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts.  Don't cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others.  Don't do or say what isn't so.  I hate all that stuff.  Keep your lives simple and honest."   

Zechariah 8: 16-17 The Message (MSG)

"Jeethuth idth brownzth!!!"

He was the cutest little five year old guy since Casper the Friendly Ghost.  Shy of 35 inches in height and sporting brown leather pointie-toed cowboy boots, he made up lost height with his bold and vibrant personality.  If a question needed asking, he was going to get the job done. 

"Mitt Dahleen,  Wat cuhluh idth Jeethuth?"

I had just finished placing the last painted and glittering pinecone turkey on the windowsill of the small church recreation room to dry.  We had Parent Appreciation Day coming up the following week; we had all voted to showcase the children's art achievements. 

 I felt my eyelids rise in sync with the already risen brow as my heart began to thump a little bit harder and faster.  Oh dear, I really needed help with this one!

Turning around, there he stood. Big brown eyes staring up into my face, cowboy boots playing a rhythmic clackety clack on the hard tile floor, he continued:

"Mamma saydth Jeethuth idth wite."

Staring into the beautiful chocolate complexion of this special little guy, my heart melted.

"Lord, help me answer his question, as you might", my spirit silently prayed.

No sooner had I asked, a sudden burst of sunlight entered one of the windows of our classroom. The rays blended into one sharp point of light, striking a small bronze vase sitting on the windowsill and illuminating it in brilliant color.  Pointing to the vase, I responded.

"What colors do you see reflecting from the sun's rays on this vase?"

He stood on a chair and put his little face up to the vase, almost touching it with his nose.

"I sees wello, wed, owenge, bwown 'n wite, Mitt Dahleen; 'n I sees a wittle bit bwue too!"

"All those colors you see in this bronze vase, those are the colors of Jesus.  Jesus has all colors in him.  And Jesus has the color of Light in him.  And that is the pretty blue-white light you see.  Because Jesus is the Light of the world!" 

"Jeethuth idth all dem cuhluhs, Mitt Dahleen?"

"Yep...he sure is!"

*****

That afternoon, when his mama came to pick him up, I could hear his little boots skipping down the sidewalk as he excitedly proclaimed:

"Mamma!  Jeethuth idth brownzth Mamma!  He haths all duh culluhs of uths in him. 

                           Jeethuth idth duh wite ubv duh worle!                         
'n Jeethuth idth brownzth!!!"

 ~~~

Matthew 11:25 

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,

because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned,

and revealed them to little children.

NIV