To be...TAKEN

"I will look for you, I WILL find you, and I will kill you!"

This breath-taking line was quoted by actor, Liam Neeson in the action-thriller "Taken". In short, a CIA agent overhears his daughter being kidnapped by Albanian Mafia to be sold into the international lucrative business of sex trafficking. After briefly threatening to pursue and destroy these strangers, he travels across seas, annihilates every barrier that tries to stand between him and his daughters' abductors and finally rescues her before her demise.

In the moment when he rescues her, she whimpers "You came for me?" and he replies, "I told you I would!" What an amazing illustration of an age old story that rings in eternity. God has a history (dating back to Israel and the Old Testament) of rescuing HIS people from prostitution and slavery and slaying his foes in His relentless effort to demonstrate His unfailing jealous love for her.

You may not know it, but we too are HIS. Upon being led away by our own desires, we are abducted and turned over to the cravings of our flesh, prostituted to our natural behaviors that reak in the nostrils of our Holy Father. Yet he promises to crush our enemy's head as he aggressively pursues us and restore us to His Love. And doubtedly we may wonder, "You would come for ME?" He would reassuringly respond, "I told you I would!" ~Galatians 1:4

Undercover Boss

OWN (Oprah's new channel) includes a heartfelt show entitled "Undercover Boss" where a CEO of a company goes undercover at his/her local units for a week and serves as an employee under a different name at different locations and with different jobs. Their purpose is to see where their company could use improvements and work at making their company more efficient.


During this week, the CEO, disguised, gets to know various employees (his subordinates) in a personal way, in addition to the flawed areas in his/her company. The show ends with the CEO revealing their true identity and their purpose for being undercover. And finally, the Boss not only reveals their intentions for bettering the business' vocational woes (solving their problems) but also bears gifts of personal financial and emotional relief for the employees need. From paying off student loans and house mortgages to giving away thousands, paying for vacations and child college tuitions. This often relieves the various burdens of the employees, bringing them joy and unexplained tears, not to mention making them feel like an important asset to their company.



Now, imagine God, going undercover as Jesus Christ...coming to Earth to experience the woes and weight of humanity. To feel what loss and pain really is; to learn the brevity of working and rejection of those whom you love. He then satisfies the anger of the Father by taking upon Himself what we deserve- eternal seperation from God. And this gift to us ought to bring us to tears (as we are receiving what we DONT deserve- a sentence of NOT GUILTY!) This gift ought to evoke within us a sense of belonging to His family not only because He solved the problems of mankind, but because He personalized a gift to meet us at OUR individual (spiritual) need.

UnPlugged!

MTV Unplugged is a show where music by artist that is usually heard on amplified instruments such as electric guitar and synthesizer is, instead, rendered on instruments that are not electronically amplified, for example acoustic guitar or traditional piano.

One of my favorite albums to listen to is Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged. I enjoy it not only because of the lyrics in her songs and the content of her messages but also because of the rare form she allows herself to be presented in. Lauryn strums her guitar while her voice is under construction due to a mild case of laryngitis. Despite that, she pushes through cracked notes and forgotten lyrics and exposes herself as raw as she physically is. I admire that she didn't care. In this- not having to sort through musical composition and background harmonies to judge the validity or understand the content she truly defined "unplugged"!

This past week, I unplugged myself from my TV, computer applications (Pinterest online virtual pin board), Social networks (Twitter and Facebook), and even my cell phone. It was a difficult task to meet. When I go on retreats, I am forced to 'unplug', but naturally so for no one brings all THAT stuff with them. Not only that, but internet and signals, in the 'woods' are often hard to find if not impossible to access. But the point in unplugging is to disconnect from all the background instruments called distractions and tune more closely in to the lyrical lessons that are often drowned out. There are so many truths the Lord wants us to clearly hear, both about ourselves and concerning His heart towards us. When we pull the plug on the things that entertain us, we stifle the messages that tend to choke the words our Lover wants to convey to us.

So how do you unplug? Simply choose those tools that consume your spare time and take a temporary"break" from them. For a set time frame (ie: a week), when you would ordinarily be watching, listening to or reading your normal music, shows, or literature; choose, instead to read or listen to something that is infused with God's heart. I found video messages online from practical Pastors; podcasts from Spirit-led speakers; music that spoke words of encouragement, read magazines with articles about Right living and spent time meditating in my Word. I kept a bank of things like journaling and those listed above so that I wouldn't get bored. Before my week began, more importantly I devoted myself to preparing my mind and prayed the Lord would show me things about myself and about Himself that I needed.And finally, I wrote needs that I had (such as "transform my mind in regards to my finances") that I expected Him to answer. And...HE DID!

Unplugged is just a modern mode of fasting. Try it! Don't wait for a retreat; your commitment to growth depends on it and your spiritual life will benefit from the practice of discipline!