The Prime Directive: The Should Be Foreign Policy of the United States

For the last two years I have been an advocate for the Nation of Israel in the church. I have spoken on the subject numerous times to many people on the Biblical basis on the Church’s need to stand for the nation of Israel, to pray for it’s salvation. I’ve written blogs on it and I’ve led the intercession prayer set at the House of Prayer Hattiesburg for the nation of Israel for two whole years.

But on the other hand as of the last year I have become a dedicated Libertarian and as most people are aware of, Libertarians are in favor of a Non-Interventionist foreign policy. We are in favor of getting out of Iraq and Afghanistan with all deliberate speed. We do not believe that it’s the federal government’s responsibility to police the world and play baby sitter to the rest of the world.

Now, one would ask, “Then how can you be for Israel but be in favor of a Non Interventionist foreign policy?” My response is; It’s not the federal government’s responsibility to play baby sitter to the nation of Israel it’s neither Constitutional nor biblical. It’s clear in the Bible that the responsibility of the nation of Israel rests solely on the church. The government’s jurisdiction is clearly over the people who elect them and no further.

The government I see and the kind of government outlined in the Constitution are in my opinion two completely different entities. I believe that things must change if the United States is to survive as a nation. I’m a big Star Trek fan and there’s a principle that Roddenberry added into Starfleet that really outlines my point. The Prime Directive is the cardinal rule of Starfleet. It says that Starfleet must by NO MEANS interfere in the development of worlds with inferior technology.

I sincerely believe that the United States adopt it’s own version of the Prime Directive which favors a non interventionist foreign policy. There are those who will get in my face about the moral obligation that we have in the Middle East to which I will respond, What about the moral obligation that our elected officials have toward those who elect them? I call your bluff on that. What nation who allows the existence of the Federal Reserve and enslaves their people to mountains of debt has any right to declare any morality? What nation who just jumps into someone else’s yard telling them how they are to live has any right to declare any kind of morality?

Israel is the responsibility of the church. The United States is our government’s only MORAL obligation. Time to adopt a Prime Directive United States.

2000 – 2009 A decade in review…

For me this decade was one full of changes hits and misses. Good and bad decisions and choices. Hey, a lot can happen in the span of 10 years. Let’s see between the years of 2000 and 2009 I have… obtained a driver’s license, graduated high school, gone to college, saw the Boston Red Sox break the Curse of the Babe, watched the White Sox break their ‘curse’ the year after, gotten saved and set free, joined a worldwide prayer movement, and have had my life altered in epic proportions!!!!

But I figured I would take a page out of what many people do and organize a list of top things of the decade. For one Music… my top albums of 2000-2009 are in no particular order…

Switchfoot The Beautiful Letdown

Skillet Comatose

Thousand Foot Krutch Phenomenon

Anberlin Cities

Emery The Question

mewithoutYou Brother Sister

Switchfoot Nothing is Sound

Showbread No Sir Nihism is not Practical

Underoath Define the Great Line

Mae The Everglow

Justin Rizzo Found Faithful

Misty Edwards Always on His Mind

Misty Edwards Relentless

Cory Asbury and Matt Gilman Holy

Cory Asbury Let Me See your eyes

Luke Wood The Law and the Prophets

Chris Tomlin Arriving

Charlie Hall Flying into Daybreak

Project 86 Songs to Burn your Bridges By

Project 86 Picket Fence Cartel

These albums are ones that have inspired me musically and spiritually and have all influenced me in my musical growth in this decade.

I have met so many friends this decade that have impacted my life over these 1o years it’s almost unfair to try to name them for the fear of forgetting and offending someone… I am so grateful for all the friends have have made this decade and the ones that I have made in the 90s that have carried over into this decade! God Bless You all!

God Bless the International House of Prayer and Mike Bickle you guys have changed my life in unimaginable ways and I have barely met even a few of you. God Bless the House of Prayer Hattiesburg and Dennis Aldy for allowing me to experience a glorious two years in the presence of the Lord. Seeds were planted in me during my time there that I am sure will come to fruition later in my life. You have made a lifetime investment and with God’s grace you will see fruits of that investment!

God Bless Bradley Williamson, James Stockman and his lovely wife Ruth, Chris Castanza and his wonderful wife Stephanie, Tabitha Chandler, Kerri Bell, Marcia Pullen, and all the wonderful families at the House of Prayer The Carraros, Pattersons, and the Aldy families!!

God Bless those friends I have made through Facebook, Twitter and through this blog! I hope this blog has been a blessing to you all! I hope this blog will continue to be a blessing to you as we begin this next decade!

My night at and after the Saints Patriots Game

Tonight with Adam and Paul in Buffalo Wild Wings was epic awesome. Our server was awesome the food was great and the Saints were epic awesome as always. Drew Brees became the only QB to throw 5 touchdown passes against a Bill Bellichick team? This game set the record for most hours of sleep Bill Bellichick will lose tonight because of the nightmarishly awesome offense the New Orleans Saints have!

But that’s not the half of it. On Black Friday I made an effort to go into the mall and brave the crowds to buy a Fleur De Brees shirt in the Hibbet. I was so excited about this shirt and the game. I was ready for the game. We get in B-Dubs and we get our food and I wind up spending 20 dollars there. We celebrate after the win and we go outside and stand beside Adam’s truck which is in the Handicpped spot so we’re right in front of the door and these two girls walk out and they see my shirt. They come up to me and here’s the conversation:

GIRLS: Hey, where did you get that shirt?

ME: Hibbet in the mall.

GIRLS: How much did you pay for that shirt?

ME: 15 dollars.

GIRLS: I’ll give you 20 if you let me have it.

ME: You serious?

GIRLS: I will pull the money out now.

I took the shirt off and took the money. I stood in the parking lot of B-dubs and drove home shirtless but those chicks just paid for my meal… only bad news is i need another shirt.

The Faithful One

Interesting story behind this one. I spent most of the night practicing my guitar and I had just put it up to go to bed. I was in bed and I got this melody and this song just downloaded into my head. I couldn’t get it out. I knew it was the Lord but I was tired. I just wanted to go to sleep. But the song persisted in my head. So giving up finally, I got out of bed and wrote and chorded this song in 5 minutes. I played it twice and went back to bed.

The Faithful One

You were there before the foundations of the earth were laid
And you have always been here
You established my steps from the very beginning
You will see me through to the end

You’re Alpha
You’re Omega
You’re Beginning
And You are the End (2x)

You have always been faithful to me
You have always been true
You have always been here for me
You’re the faithful one

Time and time again, You’ve proven your love for me
And you will do it again
How can I doubt your love for me
Give me grace to not do it again

You’re Alpha
You’re Omega
You’re Beginning
And You are the End (2x)

You have always been faithful to me
You have always been true
You have always been here for me
You’re the Faithful One

No matter what I’m going through
No matter what’s going on
You’ve always been the Faithful One that I can depend upon
No matter what my trials are
No matter my tribulation
You’ve always been there for me through ever situation

You have always been faithful to me
You have always been true
You have always been here for me
You’re the Faithful One

New Song: A Familiar Face (Different Light)

This is a song that I wrote some time ago I just wanted to share it with my readers. One thing about the songs I write is I like unique names and names that draw you in without giving you the total picture of the song.

A Familar Face (Different Light)

Hey, Look over there
I recognize that guy
Hey, There’s something about him
That I know but I don’t know what

I’m seeing myself in a Different Light
With none of the things I used to hold inside

I knew you very well You was the me that everyone knew
As I sat in the corner afraid to come out, Afraid of what I’d do
How in the world could this person inside be me I don’t know what to say
And I let you deceive me and keep me down my true self I let you betray

Now I’m seeing myself in a Different Light
With none of the things I used to hold inside

There came a day in my life when I traded the truth for the lie
You know that day very well It was the day you came to life
You were the man that I once knew the creation of my own design
Every imperfection I could ever have the fabrication of my mind
I  remember the day you died I never felt so alive
Escaping from the cocoon like a butterfly I watched you die inside

And as the Spirit of God comes inside
I turn and say Goobye
To the person I created me to be

Goodbye (x4)

I’m seeing myself in a Different Light
I’m seeing myself through Your eyes (x4)

Why I am a Libertarian.

I have been a Republican for so long. Neo Conservative Bush backing and all that jazz. I didn’t like Obama and I like him even less now. But it wasn’t till maybe about 2003 of years ago that I became so interested in politics. The main issue to me was the issue of abortion. I am staunchly pro life. I will give my life to ending abortion in America. Seeing as how the majority of Republicans are conservative and pro life I decided to latch on to the bandwagon. Being from Mississippi I actively campaigned for Hayley Barbour to be elected Governor. I also have in my possession a letter from G.W. Bush commending me for getting him re-elected in 2004 (which wasn’t hard in my opinion).

So why the sudden switch. One thing I was sick of while Bush was in office was the underhanded tactics that Democrats were playing against Bush. The only thing that seemed to unite that party was their undying hatred for (then) President Bush. Now I see that now the only thing uniting the GOP is their undying hatred for Obama and they’re playing the same political game to get Obama out of office or paint him a traitor to America. To be honest I’m fed up with both parties, just give me the drinks and I’ll just go home.

Democrats and Republicans will sacrifice principle as long as it’s to their advantage. They waste American tax dollars by pouring them into government programs and if the money isn’t there they use the Federal Reserve to create the money. Now I’m not in favor of eliminating government programs like my fellow Libertarians, but I am in favor of restructuring and restrictions placed on government programs to prevent others from cheating the system.

I remain pro life and desire to see Planned Parenthood run into the ground and crashing and burning like the worthless entity that it is. I stand in favor of House Resolution 1207 and to see the Federal Reserve audited and eventually shut down to prevent the inflation and devaluing of my hard earned money.

As far as the life issue is, I’ve noticed that there are Pro Life Democrats and Pro Choice Republicans and there are those on both sides of the fence in the Libertarian Party. It’s the issue of how our money is being handled. My principles are the same and my convictions are the same.

And so now I am a Libertarian.

I love Fantasy Football…

It’s that time of year again. Football season. I love it. It’s one of those things I can really get into. But what really makes it fun is the element of Fantasy Football. Where a group of friends get together and talk football. It’s like those conversations that always come up “Man you know Joe Flacco would do as well as Kurt Warner against those guys?” Just imagine your average conversation about football and fantasy football tries to answer those questions. Questions like: “What would it be like if Drew Brees and Frank Gore were on the same team?” It’s a fantasy world based on real life statistics.

I always play online every season with some people that I don’t even know. I just play. But this year I got invited to be a part of a fantasy league with some friends at work. This was only the second live draft I have ever been a part of and I was nervous going in. Luckily I drew the first pick and picked none other than Saints quarterback Drew Brees. I was ecstatic about getting him. Woot Woot!

Watching football is fun to begin with, but when you have a player on your fantasy team on television tearing it up, you go haywire. When you’re matched up with one of your friends for the week and you’ve spent x amount of time figuring out who to start and who to bench it gets pretty crazy. You can celebrate your genius by picking a sleeper and you can lament at the star of the day that you so ‘wisely’ benched. It’s a paragon of emotions all wrapped up in the fall pastime of America.

Really there is no money involved, just good clean fun. You can chalk it up to the reality that you win some and you lose some.  I love the fact that when I mop up a friend of mine I can rub it in his face a bit and take it when I lose the next week. It’s all up in the air. Because when they kick off, you do too!

Now it’s time to set my roster for the week! Lata bros!

A New Change

An announcement that has been long in coming. 

As of September 5th, I resigned as an Intercessory Missionary at the House of Prayer Hattiesburg. The reasons were financial and personal. I have a desire to be out of debt by the end of this year and I have met the most wonderful girl on the planet and I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that this is the one that the Lord has picked for me.

As a result of me resigning, I can no longer receive financial support through the House of Prayer. But… whatever you give through the link on the right will go straight to the House of Prayer which is why I will leave it up. It’s a really hard transition for me. But I’m working more on my new business venture with my friend Andrew Kodger. We are doing a Martial Arts magazine known as Alive: Practical Fighting Concepts which specializes in teaching practical self preservation concepts to people applicable in real life. We are also doing a venture as a production company known as Straight Blast Productions. If it’s in print, internet, or DVD, we can do it. It’s a great venture.

Now, to the ones asking whether or not I am going back to being an IM at the House of Prayer, that remains to be seen. I am using this time to really seek the Lord in really finding out my place in the prayer movement. I want to see his house built. I also know that to do that we need money. I have always had a heart for supporting missionaries and their efforts. I am not leaving the team, I’m re-evaluating my position on the team. I am still connected to the House of Prayer (not like I had any choice in the matter lol). I am still committed to building his house and I am in no way regretting my experience as an Intercessory Missionary, I am rather grateful for it. Should I find that my calling is that of a Cyrus/David nature, I will know by experience the diligence and dedication of those at the House of Prayer. I am committed to locking arms with my fellow intercessors in the House of Prayer and in the marketplace. 

I have a desire to connect people to the House of Prayer. In my exit interview, Matt pointed out to me that was a particular gifting of mine. I have noticed it more when I talk to people about my business so pray for that gifting to be made more manifest in me in the months to come. 

So, please don’t be discouraged or scared that I’m giving up. I’m not at all. But pray for me that this transition will become easier as I adjust to life as a normal get up, go to work, go to bed, human being. Thank you so very much for the support that all of you have given me! 

I love you guys!

Timmy

Thank you Jesus for the Gravatar Widget, Amen

Ok… that was a close one. I had a blogger account and a blog up that said I was moving from wordpress and setting up shop on Blogger… for one simple reason.

As an Intercessory Missionary I need to make money. One of the benefits of having a blog is that it can inspire people you don’t know and yet believe in night and day prayer to give to you. I have had people do that out of nowhere by my blog. But here’s the catch… my paypal link was on one page and even then it was hard as the dickens to find.

I got the code for my paypal button from a fellow IM at the House of Prayer and tried to setup my button on my sidebar on my WordPress site, even some friends tried to help me, but to no avail. So I threw up my hands and got a new blog at Blogger. Now the benefit that it would allow the Form HTML code that my Paypal button was, but the con was that cut and pasting 59 blogs did not appeal to me at all.

So here I was tonight at the House of Prayer logging into my WordPress to begin the long task of copy/pasting my blogs and lo and behold right in front of my face, was a blog about the Gravatar widget. So, while I can’t set up a button on my WordPress blog, I can make my image a link on my sidebar to my PayPal link! So instead of moving my blog (PRAISE THE LORD!), I am putting this particular widget beside my blog as a means for all of those with big hearts for Jesus and and money to give (no matter the amount) to show your support for me and my ministry and there’s no missing it. There is no more trying to find it and coming up fruitless.

So notice the picture to that stunning specimen of man beast to your right; You click that picture, and it will take you straight to the page where you make your donation to me through PayPal. You can’t miss it!

So with all the gratitude I can muster, Thank you WordPress for this amazing widget! You make me money and saved me time! Thank God for you guys!

Who am I?

Something I have often struggled with as a Christian is where is my identity? What defines me as a person? Where is my identity found?

One day I was at work washing dishes at my old job and I was pondering this identity crisis that I was having. God spoke to me and told me that what I defined myself as was not in agreement with his. I was so frustrated that I shouted in the middle of work “God, I don’t know who I am or what I want?  So, if you don’t mind could you please tell me?” I was in inner turmoil wrestling with the lies that I had believed about myself and what I was and the person I had created myself to be.

Now if that was the end I wouldn’t be writing this blog. We have been spending the last few months at the House of Prayer taking the Burning Lamps Internship. I have found that a prevalent thing that I have found working in me in the Internship is this issue of identity and the lens I have viewed myself through that have clouded this issue in my life. Issues with self pity and my frienship with it, issues with my past and feeling entitled to something because of what I had been through in the past. Every relationship I have ever been in in the past have been adversely affected by these issues.

Something that I read in the scripture confounded me. I read this passage in Matthew 16. We all know this one. Jesus took his disciples near the region of Ceasarea Philippi and he asked them, “Who do men say that I am?”. This is a question that we all have asked our friends at one time or another, “What is everyone saying about me?” So this was an easy question for them to answer. Doubtless they have heard the stories and the rumors and the speculations about Jesus as they walked with him and heard what the people were saying. They knew what the Jerusalem Enquirer said about him. Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah and some say one of the prophets.. i mean where do we start with this Jesus guy?

But here came the kicker, the one that really mattered. “But who do YOU say that I am?” Note Peter’s response, “You are the Christ, the son of the Living God.” Jesus goes to him and says the famous lines, “Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven and I say to you that you are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church.”

Notice how the Spirit of God revealed the son to Simon and in turn Jesus identified Peter and from then on his name and his life changed. There are plenty of times where men have had encounters with God and their names and their lives were changed forever. In Isaiah 62 God promises Jerusalem a new name that her enemies will agree to. The mouth of the Lord will give Jerusalem a new name that her enemies will proclaim. Hephzibah, my delight is in her. He does this despite what Jerusalem has done to him. He says this despite her evil works and rebellion against him. He does this despite the fact that they murdered his innocent son.

So when you look at the Bible and the character of God, he loves us DESPITE what we do. It’s not what we do that makes him love us. It’s who we are that he’s so in love with. He is ravished by one glance of our eyes! Everytime we agree with God and  behold him and agree with the person HE made us to be, he just EXPLODES! Imagine that… he’s like gaga over us everytime we agree with him. Man, even I have a hard time believing this because it’s so easily forgotten. I have spent so much of my life creating this person out of hurts and offenses and finding that this person is the most ungodly creation known to man. This isn’t what God created me to be. I wasn’t born this way. I was created to be with him. I was created to know and love him.

I am your beloved your creation
And you love me as I am
You have called me chosen for your kingdom
Unashamed to call me your own
I am your beloved