Reap The Whirlwind…
I get such a foreboding sense in my spirit, watching events roll out this year with such rapidity. All the while, these words echoing in the background, as daily, events play out upon the stage of our nation.
“… Famine, Pestilence, Wars, and rumors of war.”
I didn’t think I would see this all happening so quickly in my lifetime. Suddenly, a FAMINE of coinage that is driving the concept of a cashless economy. The PESTILENCE of COVID-19 ravaging our land, worse than the plagues of the dark ages, with no end in sight. The fierce trade WARS going on in economies across the globe and the escalating RUMORS of war between the superpowers of America and China.
I’ve made my life a study of these end times, waiting and watching, crying out of their coming – and here they are! The recent prophetic dreams of pastors and seers, of men close to God being warned, that we must prepare ourselves, we must brace ourselves. Indeed we must. But how and by whom?!
I believe unless you know Jesus Christ and are listening to His voice, you will be lead astray by the powerful forces moving and blowing across our land, forces herding the people with their reactionary winds. Fear and hopelessness are driving these winds, as souls are being set ablaze en masse with panic and uncertainty. Yet the Bible has been here, telling and showing us – it has been a light upon these events all along, warning and guiding us, crying out to prepare us for these very events. Few will hear its warnings and even fewer will be saved, yet there is one simple vaccine that can provide a safe haven from these tempests which shape the face of the land and sweep the people’s feet out from under them.
“…if you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth, Jesus as Lord – you will be saved.”
Don’t allow the ‘contrary winds of doctrine’ to sweep you along in the tides that now grip this nation’s soul. Don’t look to money as a savior in this current trial, for it is merely the bait for a trap that is set, and once that trap is sprung – there will be no going back.
“You can not serve God and Mammon, for you will either hate the one and love the other.”
“For it will be harder for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God than a camel to go through the eye of a needle.”
Why did Jesus point to money as the one factor that will separate you from the Kingdom of God? Look how important a role it is playing in the theater of events occurring across the planet right now! We are on the brink of events that will separate the goats from the sheep – the taking of ‘The Mark’.
What I believe will be the implanting of the chip that will allow all people to ‘buy and sell’ in a cashless economy.
Don’t take this ‘chip’, because then you will be putting yourself under the control of Mammon, he is a spirit not just a thing(money), and you will be forsaking your allegiance to your Maker.
To those of you who can hear what the Spirit is saying: tell them. We must work while there is light, for the days are coming when no man can work, days of darkness.
There is One who has all hope, may you find Him now.
Believe on Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!
Still Life With Dishes…
It is the
mating call of
this dishwasher
that leaves me
each evening,
as I occupy this
empty apartment,
so sad and forlorn.
As she cries out
through these paper
thin walls,
to the other
washers
above and around us,
that they might come
and fertilize her barren
womb,
to multiply her many
children,
which I deliver,
every night,
sterile and
still-born.
Stand, Therefore, Hong Kong!
The residents of Hong Kong should stand up and defy the new constraints imposed on their freedoms by mainland China, make it a row China and the world will never forget, like our Viet Nam protests, our civil rights movement, its protests, and marches, our recent globe-spanning Black Lives Matter movement ignited by the unjust deaths of men and women of color in this country. The young people of Hong Kong should take a cue from their own people’s example in Tiananmen Square.
Human lives matter in a world where dehumanization is becoming more prevalent, as greater and greater power is consolidated among the few privileged. The corruption of power is becoming blatantly evident in regimes worldwide at the expense of a downtrodden humanity – the world’s poor.
How are we evolving, what are we becoming? It is the Chinese people’s time to have a voice in the global matters of human rights. Don’t run from the cost. Yes, history has shown it is a bloody price – THAT will not change. What must change is mankind’s heart. Is blood too high a price to pay for change?
My Savior didn’t think so…
Parker…
Richard Stark wrote 28 novels in the ‘Parker’ series, a crime noir genre collection about a professional thief, who was crew boss to a freelance network of criminals that stretched across the U.S.A. and Canada. I own 18 of them.
Parker went underground for 23 years, when Donald E. Westlake’s(i.e. Stark) creative well ran dry, but came back with a vengeance in the 90s to flesh out the collection of books written about this heist mastermind.
Hollywood tried three times to do two of these novels, but only one portrayal was true to the storyline AND the exact picture of the main character, Parker himself. That was Mel Gibson’s, ‘Payback’, but unfortunately, he wasn’t true to the character’s name, opting to use ‘Porter’ instead. I’ll never understand this, although his choice of novels – the first in the series, ‘The Hunter’, was the best choice of material. Of all 28 novels, the first three are by far the best.
Lee Marvin was the first to portray Parker in a very unsuccessful attempt that came out when the series of books was getting a lot of attention in the 60s, but this movie was a box office disaster.
In a more recent and modern attempt at updating the character, Stratham’s portrayal in ‘Parker’ wasn’t in keeping with the character’s roots. To any fan of the series, Stratham’s accent does not ring true whatsoever to this uniquely American criminal. The choice of material didn’t do this movie any justice either. ‘Flashfire’ was not the best of the Parker novels.
‘Comeback’ would have been a better novel to base this most recent of Hollywood attempts at adaptation upon. This novel is the first that brought Parker out of his 23-year hiatus in 1997, and reinvigorated Westlake’s writing in the genre about his most notable and prolific character.
Although it is important to note that to choose script material from the more recently written books(the second revival of Parker, 1997), which would bring Parker into the modern age and out of the early 60s crime noir dark age, was a wise decision by its producers.
Wherein the language of the early novels was very dated and the limited crime detection techniques were constrained by a non-digital era, making Parker look like a genius back then – those earlier novels would not have held-up to today’s modern crime cinema standards.
Richard Stark, i.e., Donald E. Westlake would later die in 2008, having added about 8 to 10 more novels to the voluminous archive, bringing the total to 28 books. This total fluctuated depending on the print house producing the collection and as in some Westlake works, Parker was a walk-on in the stories, where Stark’s other characters took the lead. Up until the author’s last few months of life, he was still writing about his favorite character, Parker. The last in the archive was printed and released 4 months before the author’s death on the very last day of 2008.
I watched Payback in the early 90s and loved it. Going back over the title screens, I found the name of the novel it was based upon and started into reading everything our local, public library had in the series – which was, surprisingly, about five of the 28 novels in print. I then proceeded to collect them on Amazon.
After 18 books, I’d become burnt out on them, so I stopped buying them. Tonight’s re-viewing of Payback had me pulling the novel, Backflash out of my collection for a re-reading.
Mel Gibson’s portrayal in Payback is still and always will be how I hear and see Parker, an indelible image, forever imprinted on my mind by this actor.
The End Of The World Trophy…
“Swarms of murder hornets were part of the opening festivities, while players took a knee at the flag-burning ceremony that opened The Covid-19 Superbowl. It is halftime now, as we watch The Downtown Protestors & Police Ensemble dance to the melodic strains of Looty & The Blow-up Fish’s latest number 1 hit with a rubber bullet – Teargas! The game will begin again for the 3rd & 4th quarters culminating with the winner being presented The Fire & Brimstone, End-Of-World Trophy🏆! This year’s Superbowl is one of the best ever. Us and Them did great in their regular seasons and REALLY deserve to be here. Could you pass the popcorn?”
Molten Remorse…
From the depths of despair,
over the brutal and horrifying murder of a helpless,
handcuffed man by dragoons,
paid with our tax dollars to protect the very
life they were taking…
…to the exhilarating heights of the first-ever,
flawless manned,
commercial space launch
to leave our soil.
We have become
a society of extreme
and devastating polarity.
We are pulling apart,
rending our nation-fabric,
bursting at seams,
as cloth-dust spewing across our landscape,
to settle like ashen heaps upon our burning cities.
We are a crashing phoenix
that will not arise from
its fiery ruin
lest God perform
a mighty resurrection.
God help us,
God help us!
…is all I can cry.
Audibles From The Throne Room…
I was contemplating last night, as I lay on my bed, the three times I have heard God speak to me audibly. Each and every time, it consisted of only five words.
The first was during my after-death experience, when Jesus said to the angel of death, “You can’t have him yet.” With those Words – I was immediately back in my body, wrapped tightly like a package in an old Army blanket, and awakening to a dark room, where people were lying all over the place, crashed out after a night of drugs and partying…
The second time, I was working at Bristol Aluminum Company. I was with the Church Of Bible Understanding back then. The aggressive style of evangelism that the church had trained us in, had caused me to draw a lot of fire from my co-workers, and I was feeling the heat of persecution that day. Two of my fellow laborers had actually made outfits out of the extruded aluminum(one a devil with horns and a pitchfork, the other an angel with wings and a halo), they had come marching down the stretcher table, taunting me. That one is written in Heaven’s books – I kid you not. They had written all kinds of curses all over my work area that day in resentment for the overt way in which I daily brought them the gospel and confronted them about their faith in Jesus Christ. I looked up, weary and distraught and asked, “Am I going to heaven?!”
God, quite loudly, exclaimed, “Philip, you are in heaven!”
The most recent time was back in 2010. My money was running out, I had no income, could not get work, it was the end of February and the rent and bills were coming due. I was desperate. While in prayer on my knees I cried out toward heaven, “MMMMEEERRRRCCCCCYYYY!!!”
…I immediately heard The Father say, “A man will call you!”
The first call I received two hours later, was a woman, saying I had the job I had recently applied for that week, at the very apartment complex where I lived. I was going to be the new grounds attendant. I was to come in the following Monday to start the paperwork on my background check and take the drug test.
At first, I started to question in my mind, ‘…but You said, a man would call?’. I realized what I was doing and immediately repented.
Five hours later, a man did call, it was my brother Ed. He asked how much money would it take to get all of my debts paid. I said $3,500.00. That weekend, $15,000.00 was wired into my bank account.
Five words, each time, five simple words in one sentence – and mountains were moved. My life was spared, my faith was confirmed forever, and my debts were wiped out completely.
My Father in Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ are more real to me today than anything I’ve ever experienced. I’m getting to the age where I sometimes look back on my life and say to myself, “Did I actually do those things?”
But when it comes to the presence of God in my life and the many things He’s brought me through – I have no doubt.
Birthed in Fire, the beginning of Mission House…
In 2016, under Apostle Karen Bettis-Davis, The Word came to me, as regards my status in the House of the Lord, with regard to the type of vessel that I am. I’ve known for some time that under Micheal, I am warrior class, because of having completed deliverance and leadership training in the School Of The Prophets at River Christian Fellowship over a ten year period. But I was unaware of the type of vessel that I was. The Bible says, in the house of the Lord there are many vessels, some of clay, some wooden, some of iron and some of silver and gold.
While receiving a chastisement from my Father, in that same year, over the issue of my addiction, He directed me to my wooden martial arts practice sword, telling me, that until I overcame this addiction through warfare – I would be a vessel of wood in the house of the Lord. I remained in that state for three years, until the trials by fire and missions to souls, of 2019.
The trials that occurred earlier in 2019, in the final days of my marriage, prepared my faith for the first mission involving a homeless woman. It was upon the successful completion of this first mission, wherein I received my promotion from a vessel of wood in the house of the Lord, to a vessel of iron. It is my current status in the house of the Lord at this writing…
It is the events of the night of my promotion in the Spirit, that I wanted to share here today, for I’ll never forget them. It was a night of great honor for me and has drawn me much closer to my Heavenly Father in many ways. Some of you will be incredulous, as was Mary upon reading the account I had committed to paper, but none the less, these are eternal events and will stand at the judgement – whether you receive them or not. Your believing is not the issue here – it is the telling, the testimony, that is important…and that it be given in your hearing, because on THAT day – YOU will have to give an account of its telling.
I had taken a homeless woman, living in her car in the local Walmart parking lot, into my home directly after the events of early 2019. I’ll write in detail of those events at some other telling. The Virginia court system had ordered my wife and daughter out of my apartment on February 19, 2019, which had left me bereft of my family. I knew there was a woman, I had trained years ago at Walmart, who had fallen into homelessness after leaving the job I had trained her for. I texted her one night and sure enough, she had been living in the parking lot of my Walmart for a year and a half. It was a cold winter that year, so I invited her to come live with me. Up until that point I could not help any of the homeless I knew of in my area and I knew several people who were living on other people’s couches or in their cars. My wife was not open to doing this kind of missions work and I had a daughter and small child in the apartment at the time, as well. But now with them gone – I could open the apartment up to help others. Mary would be the first.
She was able to move her belongings out of storage and get settled quickly. But she was not happy at her current job and soon after moving in quit that job without counseling me about it, so that I could prepare for the financial duress I would find myself in. That was all part of my Father’s plan to stretch my faith and prepare me for the missions that were to come later on during that year. For two months I covered all the expenses of the house, totaling over $2,500.00, while keeping that pressure away from Mary, as she looked for a job. She wanted to be able to work at a job utilizing her degree and skill sets, and after finding this out, I supported her decision. I knew her testimony, She was a specialist in her field and had worked for a general at the marine base in Quantico, Va..
We were both believers of strong faith and while she used that faith to open doors of employment – I used my faith to carry us through the financial demands of the apartment on my small income. Miracle after miracle occurred during those two months, as windows of heaven opened, by way of events happening, and or people’s hearts being touched, so as through their generous gifts over $1500.00 dropped in my lap, supplementing my meager income. God did His part as I never once relented in giving my tithes and seeking, by faith, His guidance. Mary faithfully tried several opportunities, until finally, what she had sought was given her by faith and the grace of God. She landed a position as an Executive Specialist for Lumbee Tribes L.L.C.. By August she was settled into her new position and the apartment’s financials started to stabilize and were getting back on track. But again, Mary had other plans she wasn’t telling me about, and in the last week of September, four days before rent was due – she announced to me she would be leaving. Giving me four days before she would have to move into her new home, she broke the news to me. I was angry, yet I knew, God had gotten me through June and July penniless, so He would do the same here. By then, I was seeing the patterns of His power and support and knew I would be just fine. That night after getting the news of her leaving, as I wept in prayer before Him – I heard three voices, loudly in unison, speak the word ‘FAITH’, as I sat in the dark on the edge of my bed.
But it was the events of the night that Mary proudly announced that she had been hired by Lumbee Tribes L.L.C., that I wanted to share here. It was the last week in July and Mary had been promised to occupy the position by the first week in August. The great news had left the house in an exuberant state and a celebratory spirit filled the apartment. This is the account of what happened that night, as I wrote it down the following morning:
“I had decided to walk the property last night after mid-night. It was a balmy, beautiful night. I could pick out the constellations my dad had trained me to spot as a kid. Big Dipper and its appendage, guiding stars on the outside of the ‘dipper’ that point directly to the North Star. I searched for Cassiopeia, but couldn’t make her out. I’ve been looking for the evidence of her ‘sitting in Winter’ and ‘standing in Summer’ all my life.
I looked out over the winding road leading into the property, as the street lights over head lavished their golden hellion light on the pitch of the tarmac. Tree frogs performed their symphonic melody over in the huge water reservoir behind the community’s pool. Clearly, I then heard,
“Walk the grounds with Me.”
…and I knew where I wanted to go.
Around the ridge that encircles our ‘pond’ behind the rental office. But first, I stopped, just above the pool deck on the sidewalk near the office and waved my hand over the cave created by the over-hanging deck in that little swamp.
I asked,
“The fox and the deer, have their home here – peace to them and protect their home, Father.”
Then continued on…
I have lived here 21 years now, the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere in my entire life. You could say, I’ve found my home.
The ridge out back of the pool is where we first held Teen Bonfire on Friday nights for teenagers only. The first night we had 28 kids, largest assembly of our community ever. The ridge is a man-made, flat-topped bluff, built to contain water run-off for the storm drain. It’s like a circular mountain that has been razed flat across its top, forming a perfect runway, that twists in a huge ‘S’ ramping downward into a clearing behind the management office.
As I walked, The Spirit said,
“Every place you put your foot, I will give you.”
Please don’t misunderstand this – He meant, whatever you ask of Me, I’ll give you. So I tailored my prayers according to scripture, asking only for the peace of the community. Anointing poured over me and I sensed that as I walked the perimeter, the Kingdom of God was being staked out. Alternating in tongues and in English, I began my impassioned intersession for peace, in accordance with the Word, over my community. I was in the Spirit now…
Finally coming to the end of the lawn covered, S-shaped runway in the woods, as it sloped down to ground level again, I heard,
“Kneel.”
Coming into the clearing of the glen, kneeling, I heard a group of angels announce,
“Warrior class.”
I’ve been aware of that for many years, that was just a stating of my class in the presence of my Father, being called out as I came before Him, the El Eloah. This is what I then heard Him say,
“You are no longer a vessel of wood in the house of The Lord.”
Since my assignment in 2016, under the Apostle, when I was given my prayer warfare sword(made of wood), that has been my humble position. As I came up, speaking scripture, I sensed Micheal’s presence, and I gave our salute. It is my right hand, north and south, my left hand east and west in the sign of the cross over my heart.
Then, I continued to head back to my apartment, being sure to encircle the boundaries in the complex, speaking peace over every unit.”
I never questioned what type of vessel I had become, as I knelt there on that grassy knoll, because I knew in due season He would reveal it to me. About two week later He did.
…but that telling is for another time.
Facebook Graphic Battle Card Game…
This is the set of rules and turn based play that came out of our experience that fateful weekend that The Batman showed up on the pages of The Friends Of Jimmy K In Fredericksburg Facebook group and started fighting with us. As we rallied our forces – some with Batman, some against him, a three day battle ensued, until all of us were thrown off the page and out of the group by its originator, Cory C. What fun that weekend was and it will go down in RANA history!
FACEBOOK BATTLE CARD RULES OF PLAY:
1. Comment first on the graphic your laying down on an opponent’s page or in the chat window. The graphic should depict the action your taking in a ‘role-playing’ battle. No need to get overly nasty(personal) or (sexually) foul – this is supposed to be a fun ‘role-playing’ game, although violence is a part of battle – seduction is as well….be creative within the confines of common decency!
2. NEVER attempt to kill or ‘finish off’ your opponents. Allow all adversaries the chance to either: make an escape or give up, submitting to arrest, surrendering, or getting knocked unconscious. We MUST live to fight another day.
3. Graphic card lay-down is ‘turn based’, wait while your opponent or his or her ‘seconds’ finds a response graphic(via browser on the internet) or creates one(PhotoShop, other apps) to answer your action against them(moves can take days in a role-play battle, if an opponent is willing – like in a good game of chess).
4. A role playing battle can be initiated by anyone at any time with a graphic lay-down on your opponents page or via private chat window. If the chosen opponent DOES NOT WANT TO PARTICIPATE, merely do not respond or delete the lay-down from your page or chat window. Laying a Battle Graphic on an open page is better, because it affords the opponent’s network the opportunity to join in the battle, that they may be supported by role playing friends! A chosen opponent can call on ‘seconds’ at anytime. Graphic Battle Card can be played by as many people as are willing to join in. At any time, a combatant can bow out by surrendering or by making his or her escape. Other combatants(seconds) can continue that battle, if so desired, following it to it’s conclusion.
….one of the most successful and satisfying versions of Facebook Battle Card was first initiated impromptu in 2013, on a ‘members only’ private society page, lasting the span of several days, with over 100 lay-downs and comments, involving almost 15 newly created characters. It was spontaneous and the impetus for my creating these rules and continuing in that tradition. When done right and within the guidelines of decency – it’ll be the closest you’ll come to WRITING YOUR OWN COMIC BOOK!!!
Technical aside:
It is a proven time saver, that you have several ‘tabs’ open in you browser, one being a good search engine for finding images pertaining to your battle. Example: search parameter, ‘Joker makes an escape with Harley Quinn’, then click on ‘images’. I keep my graphics software up and running to tailor images I cull from the internet, producing responses in as little as 5 minutes or so. I’m an ‘old hand’ at this and was a graphic artist in the printing industry, so I have an unfair advantage. One technique that will save your rear end is: create all your battle cards for your intended opponent FIRST(editor’s secret: go to your intended opponent’s Facebook page and down load usable photos of him or her to create your cache of battle card ammunition) – then go pick a fight with him or her. Create a folder and keep all your ‘cards’ in that folder, playing them like a hand in the game of ‘War’. Have fun battling……
