Dear Mr. King.......

2 Cor. 5:16-19 16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Dear Mr. King,

It was April 29th, 1992 and I sat on my couch holding my 1 week old son witnessing the world seemingly come to an end. At 22 years old, that is what it looked like to me. LIVE, on the news, filmed from a news helicopter, I saw men, pull a man, Reginald Oliver Denny, out of his truck and purpose to beat him to death, gleefully dancing about and tossing bricks at his head until all you could see was a crumpled heap of what barely resembled a human being face down on the asphalt in the middle of the street. Other footage caught people walking into stores looting everything from televisions to baby diapers to gallons of milk to furniture. That night, as I lay in bed, I could hear gunshots, yelling and fighting in the distance. We didn't live in the best of areas at the time, so whether it was related to the Riots, I don't know. I wasn't going to go outside and find out. My husband, his mind heavy with the financial responsibility of a supporting wife and newborn, had ventured to work amidst the chaos. From his employer's building that night he called me to let me know he was OK, but that he was watching multiple buildings burn from where he was standing. I hoped he'd make it home and that nothing would happen to him. That night, the possibility of something happening to him was a very real and sobering concern for me. I gazed upon the moon lit face of my newborn son, as he peacefully slept next to me, unaware of the kind of world he had just come into. I wondered about his future in this twisted world. 

Mr. King, I know you know this but I will go over it once again for those that don't know or might have forgotten.....

All this was happening because of an injustice. A man by the name of Rodney King was beaten severely by Los Angeles County police officers. 4 of the policemen charged in the beating were acquitted. This was the response. The city was paying for what had happened. 53 people died. 2,000 people were injured. Estimates of the material losses varied between about $800 million and $1 billion. Approximately 3,600 fires were set, destroying 1,100 buildings, with fire calls coming once every minute at some points. An entire city of people were held hostage for a week by the violence and much longer from the fear of more violence.

A couple of weeks later, when it was all over, in true "Los Angelino" style, we all went back to our lives and tried not to look back. I don't even remember discussing it much with family or friends. It's like something embarrassing we didn't want to discuss. Uncle Fred got drunk and busted up the place so lets not discuss it. I guess I am different. I do want to discuss it. That event really changed me. I think of it often. It lingers in my mind. It impacted me greatly because of my son having just come into the world. I look back on that event and I suppose it was the first time I realized how really awful human beings can be to one another and how really "justified" we can feel inflicting pain on one another in response to an injustice or even a perceived one. Mr. Denny just happened to turn onto the wrong street. He was just a hard working truck driver trying to make a living. I had been through some "bad stuff" before, but I guess I was a little late to the party coming out of my naivete. Before that event I really believed most people, at heart, were good. Never have I thought Mr. King deserved to be beaten like he was, but never did I think what happened as a result ever made anything better for him or anyone else. He is known for saying on the third day of the L.A. Riots, "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?" That would be nice Mr. King.

People have tried to cite all sorts of reasons for the Riots, besides the beating, such as the high unemployment rate at that time, the heat wave we were having that spring or the poverty the city was experiencing. I think it happened because of human nature, because all man kind is fallen and operates in a fallen nature. I guess, from my point of view, almost 20 years later now, I understand that at our core we are all capable of great evil. I don't think most people would agree with me. That might be because most people have really never suffered. I am sorry, it's just true. Most Americans don't have a concept of suffering. I don't think you really see "who" people really are or what they are made of until they are "pressed". Most people in America are "nice" because they have it pretty good and always have. What I mean by that is this; you can be wonderful, generous and kind until life gets really, really difficult and then what is revealed at that time, well, that's YOU, who you really are. What is revealed is sometimes really admirable, but most of the time, it is not. It's downright disturbing.

Mr. King....

I don't live in California anymore. I left long ago to raise my children somewhere else. Partly because of the economic state of things there and partly because we wanted a slower, more traditional upbringing for our kids and to live somewhere they would be safe or just safer. Now, though, it doesn't seem like you can really hide from it anywhere. In my community, small as it is, we have problems. Among believers there are many problems. There is no rock to hide under. No perfect place to retreat to. No "perfect" group of people to go join. Where ever there are people there is evil. Why is that? Why can't we all get along Mr. King?

Mr. King, we can't get along because the ruler of this world, at this time, is not Elohim. This world is in chaos because we were supposed to manage this place for our Abba and we turned it over to the prince of air, the adversary, the enemy or whatever you want to call him, in the garden. Now, he is the big cheese. He calls the shots. When we did that, took his advice and ate that forbidden fruit, we died spiritually. Now we are enslaved to our "fallen nature", our flesh. We made him king. Now his rules apply. We gave him control. We are still doing that today. Every time we take justice into our own hands. Every time we "get even." "Quid pro quo"....... do you realize who the author of that is? Do you realize he is the author of the Riots and every evil known in human history and that mankind is simply an all too willing "tool" in his hands. That really reduces our imagined importance in the scheme of things when you really think about it. We are selfish and self centered like he is. In making him king we have bought his lie that we can worship the god of self and we do. His end is coming but boys and girls it is going to get pretty hot in the kitchen before the meal is complete if you get my drift.

So how now do we live? That is the question. If you have truly surrendered your life to Yahovah, our Creator, you don't live. He lives through you. You die......to your agenda, your plans, your "quid pro quo" or need to get even, your desires, your comfort, your feelings, your need to be right, your desire to be defended and your right to be offended.....all of it. If you haven't surrendered your life to Him and you are still living for YOU then you are lost. Time is growing short and there is no time to beat around the bush. I am deadly serious. Get found....by Him. Get out of the driver's seat or you will crash.

In this "movement" we have been blessed to stumble upon some important truths. That is all well and good. Are we "living them" or do we just know them? Are we loving Him with all our heart, mind and soul and loving our neighbor as ourselves? Or are we so puffed up in knowledge that we indulge in vain, divisive arguments and put out an unpleasant odor to the world rather then a sweat fragrance to the lost? Are we everything but loving? When the world looks at us do they want what we have or do we repel them with our back biting and fighting amongst ourselves?

I am looking around lately and I see a world that is lost. I see a world that needs to know a story. A true story of a Creator that loved it so much that He sent what was most precious to Him to die so that mankind could once again have relationship with Him. I see people that claim to represent Him fight and squabble amongst themselves and I think that disturbs me more that the day I saw Mr. Denny almost die on LIVE TV. Do you know why? Because a lot more people are going to die forever as a result of the body of believers inability to get it together and accurately represent our Creator to a lost and dying world. It won't be because we don't have a great children's ministry. It won't be because our chairs are not comfortable. It won't be because the carpet doesn't match the paint. It will be because we are fraudulently representing the good news and Him in our ignorant quarrels!

Dear Mr. King,

You asked a really good question almost 20 years ago. I don't have a simple answer. All I can say, about believers, is yes, we should ALL get along. We should have the ability and maturity to agree to disagree at times but still love and respect one another. We are supposed to be one. We are supposed to be "ministers of reconciliation." We have failed you Mr. King and a lot of others over the years. I am truly sorry. But, I think there are a lot of us that are still trying. We are trying to be better and represent our Savior in a way that He deserves. As for the world, I don't know what to say about that. He is going to fix that soon. I just want to thank you for asking the question. The world might have believed your question to be a lame one, but I think it was profound. We should all be asking ourselves the same question.


More than a Conqueror

Oh Yonah....(Jonah)

I have read the story of Jonah many times to my children over the years. All the children's stories paint Jonah as this reluctant and rather judgemental prophet not wanting to see the citizens of Nineveh spared Yahweh's wrath because of the gross sinfulness of the people. While I am glad he obeyed in the end and delivered the message he was commanded to, and the people were spared, I understand how difficult it is to convey a message that in one's perception might be received poorly and possibly even violently. Sometimes you just want to run away!

It is difficult to approach people with the message of the besorah (good report, good news, the gospel). It first identifies them as sinners in need of a savior without the possibility of redeeming themselves with any works of their own. THEN it requires them to turn from their sin, repent, and receive Yahshua Ha'Mashiach (Jesus Christ) as Lord and Savior and allow His shed blood to cover their sin AND begin to seek to walk in obedience to what He has commanded. A pretty tall order from some folks, coming out of the world, and not always a very welcome message!

There is always the possibility of making the message more palatable and diplomatic if you will. It would certainly go easier for the messenger, but is it the right thing to do? If one waters down the good news in order to make it more palatable, one must ask themselves, is it the same message? When my children were little I would add water to their apple juice in order for them to not digest too much sugar. My question is this, is that juice still in it's original form or has it changed by my adding something to it? Obviously, it is different. Water is a chemical component and while apple juice contains some water obviously adding more water to the original juice changes the very form of the juice and it's chemical make up by diluting it. It is no longer in it's original form. It doesn't taste like real apple juice. It doesn't look like apple juice. It doesn't even smell completely like real apple juice! It contains apple juice, but it is no longer apple juice in it's pure form. When my kids finally had a taste of the real thing they weren't even sure they liked it or what it even was! The real thing, well, it was pretty hard to swallow at first. Eventually they loved it!

I don't know what the people were like exactly that Jonah spoke to. I do know they were sinners. I do know they received what he said and were spared, halleluYAH! Yahweh has given us all a message to give and there is no guarantee how it will be received. Will we be rejected? Will we be hated? Will we be labelled or scorned? Will we lose our friends and our family? I am sorry to say that is hard to tell and all those things are a real possibility. The Word is very clear that there will be division. That is the bad news. The good news is that He will be with us and enable us to do what He asks us to and that our treasure is in heaven and not on this earth of which we are not citizens. The temptation will always be there to run away, hide or simply water down our message to make it more palatable.....or dare I say "politically correct?"

There is another "Jesus" being preached and taught all over this great land or ours. He is a Jesus that requires nothing of you and will give you anything you ask for like a genie in a bottle. He is a Jesus that does not honor His Father or anything His Father has spoken before His coming. He is a Jesus that just wants you to "feel" good, agree with the status quo, and never challenges one to self examination, repentance of sin or any personal responsibility. I don't know about you, but the more I read the Word the more I discover those characteristics do not describe Him. He was ALWAYS in the will of His Father. He brought conviction when one was in sin and did not beat around the bush about it. He caused people to look at themselves in the mirror and evaluate the state of their spiritual poverty. He asked individuals to repent of their sin and take responsibility for their actions. Sometimes I read and see things on the "airwaves" that don't reflect the Savior of the Bible, but someone I do not recognise. You could say that there is another "Jesus" being preached or perhaps another gospel all together? What do you think?

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so you mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preachth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or it ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might bear well with him.

Lets seek Yahshua's (Jesus's) strength to do the right thing in boldness when we are led of the Ruach Ha'Kodesh (The Holy Spirit). Let us then go forth in His love and convey the message of the genuinely wonderful good news of our Lord and Savior and what He has done for all of us!!