Garden Of Eden

A Message of love and hope.

God revealed the star shining over the African American. It is like the star that stood over Bethlehem that foretold of something great.

Black people need to know that their sojourning in America has been for a glorious future that God has prepared for them. I needed God to confirm this outside my little world, and then ran into a book by modern day prophet Rick Joyner. God has given him special gifts to predict things that will occur, proven by what has already occurred. His knowledge is by the spirit of God and has gone out to that part of the church that recognizes these gifts.

His little book is entitled Overcoming Racism. Here is an excerpt:

“If the white race, or any other people, had suffered the same historic problems as the black race, we would be having the same problems they are having now. I have heard many white leaders actually say that we would have no inner city problems if blacks just had some ambition. What do you think slavery did to the work ethic? Such deep cultural wounds cannot be healed without the intervention of the cross.

The black race in America was allowed to be subject to slavery for the same reason that the Lord allowed Israel to become slaves in Egypt - they have a destiny with God. When they come into this destiny, the rest of America is going to be very thankful for this great and noble people in our midst. It is the destiny of the black race to carry freedom to a new level. This will be true freedom, with the dignity and honor that God created men to have.

THE POWER FOR HEALING

It was by the Lord's stripes that we were healed. In a sense we too, receive the authority for healing in the very place where we are wounded, once the wounds have been healed. Even when the wounds have been healed, there is sensitivity in that area that remains. Someone who has been subjected to abuse will be sensitive to others who have been abused. When someone who is subjected to abuse is truly healed, they will not only be truly free, but they will have the authority to carry healing to others with those same wounds.

The black race is going to embrace the cross, receive healing for their wounds, and start loving white Americans with such power that we will all be set free by that love.

The Uncle Tom of Uncle Tom's Cabin [you know how negatively black people have thought of this man] truly was a prophetic figure. In spite of all the abuse that he suffered at the hands of his ‘owners,’ he was freer than they were, and he was willing to use his freedom to lay down his life if that would result in his owner's salvation. The black believers in America, when they have been fully healed will bring revival and true spiritual liberty to the whole nation.

The inner cities of America will ultimately become the inner sanctuary of God's tabernacle; the place where his glory and presence dwells. The greatest move of God that America has ever experienced will come out of the inner cities. The suburban church may have the gold, but the inner church will make them jealous with the glory. Those who are wise will take the gold that they have and use it to build a tabernacle for the Lord that is not made with hands, but with people.”

I was shocked to read this. I had the same "premonitions" but thought it too bold to say as much as he has said. " Bring freedom to a new level!"

WHAT YOU ARE

You are the ones who have been humbled. You are the people of God who have been put into the iron furnace that God talked about when He said that he would take the Israelites out of the iron furnace of Egypt (Deut 4:20).

African Americans are not just called, they are chosen. The journey has been leading to things that eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and the heart has not conceived of.

White people will come bleeding and broken to you, asking for mercy, telling you they are sorry for treating you like dirt. Sorry that they thought you were simple and less than they. Sorry that they ignored you and kept you in a box. They will come for mercy and knowing you, you will embrace them with open arms. As my mother has said, I have never seen people who change more through the power of Jesus Christ to become forgiving and loving than the African American.

If this is true, and I believe she is right, then it means that you glorify God in ways that no other people on earth glorify Him.

While some African Americans cringe to think of Jesus Christ as the banner for the American Negro, or of Martin Luther King being the prophet, because they feel that all has failed, you know that this is not true. You know that who you are in Christ is more precious in your journey than it has been for anyone else in America. You must also know that you are chosen, precious, singled out and created for a special purpose in America that will amaze every American and the world.

It's the African American and not the African, in particular. It's what you have become in Jesus Christ in your journey, your humiliation and travail in America that has made you the unique people that you are. Your place in God, your destiny is similar to the Jews, even to the point of having been slaves.

Don't you know that God doesn't waste our tribulations?

THE WORD 'BLACK'

Why are you called black? We call sin black, we call dirt black, and we call night black and equate night with the darkness that one hides in to hide from sin. But I've been told that the blacker real dirt is, the richer it is for growing crops. The red river valley of the North has rich black dirt. So has southern Minnesota and northern Iowa.

I am a night person. I love the night. I love the quiet of the night, the peace of darkness that doesn't make my light-sensitive eyes strain, and the beauty of the lights that show in the sky against the backdrop of dark.

I wear black often because it is a dignified color. When I was a little girl I would walk a mile to school every day alone, and relish things in nature along the way- leaves, stones, and more than anything, the chestnut. I remember clearly how I loved the color of the chestnut. I would keep and collect chestnuts because of the beauty of the wood.

Do we look at mahogany and think of sin? Do we look at the gorgeous slick sides of a dark reddish-brown Arabian horse glistening in the sun and think of it as evil? When we open a can of coffee and look a the rich color and take in the rich aroma of coffee, which is awesomely more beautiful than the taste, do we think of human dung or of the filthiness of human hearts?

Why would the skin color of the African-based human being have any ugly connotations compared to the beauty of other things that also have rich tones created by the sun?

Lots of people through the ages have seen the African skin and thought it was beautiful. Anyone who thinks otherwise is blind, absolutely blind and stupid. This is a beautiful color. White people want to get a tan, many times in excess. Doesn't that say enough?

Black people are a piece of art.

From my window far away, growing up in a small town with rather indifferent white people, to living in the inner city, I have watched black people everywhere and waited. I have waited for this sojourning to come to a beautiful purpose. God has shown it will someday come to be.

It can be discouraging, but a black face is still a happy thing to behold.

WHAT YOU POSSESS

You have the most incredible endurance of spirit. You have passion and energy. God gives greater burdens to the strong than to the weak. You are strong people. Oh my Lord you are strong people.

I am a musician. When I taught music, I ventured into teaching some flute students who had only classical music in their background, to play flute to a CD background of rock inspirations such as the Beatles. This was far more difficult for them than the mechanical style of classical. All rock and similar styles are rooted in blues and jazz - the creations of African Americans. It is the work of true genius.

Genius has been overlooked. Not very many white people think about that, maybe because of pride or just ignorance.

It is not a myth that musical genius runs strong in the black race. It is a great legacy. Rhythm is a beautiful heritage. Being a musician I also know that math and music have a strong connection. People good in music have that sense of order that makes them good at math as well. Many black people seem to excel in this area.

Black people tend to be aggressive and excellent in the power of persuasion. This implies having a gift for sales.

Black people tend to be flexible, hearty, resilient - able to bounce back.

What are you waiting for? You have genius, sales ability, flexibility, and endurance. Go in and take the Promised Land.

WHY HASN'T IT HAPPENED?

Black people, you don’t have a passion for becoming a part of the white world, or becoming a part of their ways, for the most part. This has been an important factor in the fulfillment of the prophecy. You don't want the messed up ways of the white world, but you need an alternative to your own problems.

You know the problems. The list is long, and I don’t need to spell it out. But Rick Joyner and Jesus say that you will come out of this and set an example to others - to the white race. That is awesome!

FEAR OF MAN

One of the biggest obstacles to going into the Promised Land is the fear of man. It brings a curse according to the ancient prophet Jeremiah.

Though fear of man is wrong, God understands how hard it is not to fear him. But black people, this has got to go in order to conquer and go into the Promised Land.

The death of Martin Luther King inspired fear, but God doesn't want black leaders to die in their prime. It's not His will for us to die before we have finished our work on earth. Since this battle to emancipate the African American is vehemently hated by the devil, we need to fight a spiritual battle to stand strong. Perhaps Martin Luther King waged too much of a political battle. This is not to say that he wasn't a true Christian or that it wasn't also a spiritual battle. This is not to say that people weren't praying or that Christians failed.

But the weapons of the Spirit are the only weapons that will win in this battle, no matter what we do on a human level. And we don't need to wait for any one person. We already have that one person - Jesus Christ.

Stand against that fear by God's spirit. It is not too late. God is watching over His word to perform it. He will perform it in you - His black people.

FORGIVENESS

Everyone has a problem with forgiveness to some degree. It is one of our greatest obstacles to moving forward. Forgiveness must be a very difficult thing for the African American. But bitterness has to go if you are going to possess the Promised Land.

Black people actually possess an amazing ability to forgive and embrace another human being. It is called being "magnanimous."

One of the best portraits of forgiveness is the black Baptist minister who visited Jeffrey Dahmer in prison, resulting in his conversion. What kind of character would it take to be the only person visiting a man who killed and ate black men, and be black yourself? This minister is the kind of black person I have seen that I believe in.

So you may ask, if that is true, what has been going on in our world with people such as negative rappers, demonstrating such rage? It is because the sojourning has gone on for so long, and African Americans have begun to buckle under it. The time is ripe for a breakthrough.

God usually asks us to make the first move. That move is toward forgiveness. He understands how hard it is for black people but He cannot bless sin. Maybe your ancestors sinned. Forgive them. The heart of stone must turn to a heart of flesh. That is when we will see this prophecy fulfilled.

BELIEVING THE LIES

Stop believing the lies about you! You can do that when you stop trusting man and start trusting God. "Cursed is the man who trusts in man," says Jeremiah. You don't need to hear what people think of you when God has you in the palm of His hand and has created you for good works before the foundation of the World. What God thinks of you is what matters. His opinion is the one that matters.

SHAME

People who have been degraded take on the shame themselves. Stop the shame. Stop blaming yourself. Stop accepting shame just because someone may look at you in a certain way and it may be that they don't like your color. It may be that you imagine it, or it may not. God made you in His image. Jesus sees you as His righteousness. You were created in Christ Jesus for good works. You are the apple of His eye. You are His workmanship.

IT'S TIME.

It's time, black people. It's time to win. It's time to go in and possess. It's time to know who you are in Christ.

In the world you have been the sad brunt of a joke and sometimes the object of scorn. But as God has it so often in His kingdom, you are the pearl inside the oyster (black pearl). You are the treasure that He has been working on for a glorious purpose. You are the fulfilling of the prophecy in Micah that says He is doing a work in our day that we would not believe if we were told.

But I know and believe, in part. I want to go to the Promised Land with you. I just want to be with the winners.

YOU CAME INTO JESUS LATE

The white race had Christianity in a whole culture in large numbers before any race on earth. We probably needed help a lot sooner!

You came late.

In America, you may not realize that though Europe had Christianity all the way back to early AD (England, not long after 500A.D.) Europe was still a bastion of evil and oppression.

My Swedish ancestors were sharecroppers. Most people were poor and the wealth was inherited and owned by an elite group - the upper class. Over all of Europe this was true. My ancestors as sharecroppers lived on the property of someone rich and were allowed to live in a dump and survive by working for the people on that land. They did not necessarily even eat well. The need for forgiveness was great for them too.

There was no religious freedom in Sweden. The Lutheran church in Sweden was oppressive. You were not allowed to worship God in the way that you chose.

My great-great grandfather was fortunate enough to come to America after the great exodus of Swedes in the mid 1800's. The rest is history. My family from there on was able to make a simple, adequate living. My grandfather was a schoolteacher. My father was a minister. We always had enough and my parents taught me the value of giving and of having enough and that it didn't have to be more than that. They also taught me that racism is a sin.

My English ancestry goes back to some guy that baled out of the army and got a boat to America.

Most American Caucasians have similar backgrounds and stories. We were humiliated and degraded in many cases in Europe. We lived no better than slaves, even lived like slaves. In America, those people who ran the slave trade were the same people who had enslaved white people and who many Europeans were trying to separate from. The people who opposed slavery were people such as my ancestors who despised the ways of the old world.

We had a head start in America, though we too had humble beginnings. The African American beginnings were more difficult.

White people were the first in America to have the chance to reverse the evils of our original homeland. We didn't fully succeed. Our generational bondage has been deep and lasting. Our need for Christ's salvation is also evident.

You were last. We had Christ before you. You were last, but the last shall be first.

Believe in the meaning of that passage and seize the Promised Land!

To order Rick Joyner's booklet call: 1-800-542-0278

Or write to: Morning Star Publications

16000 Lancaster Highway

Charlotte, NC 28277-2061

Or go to: Morningstarministries.org

Some of the basic principles of Bill Gothard’s teachings have come back to me in recent years because they were so true. So, I have thought maybe he was a wise man in many ways, and just left it at that. I haven’t thought through it any further. Then, a friend from the past talked about attending his seminars, and how she thought he was good, and there was this red light that went on. I knew something had been terribly wrong back then, so that I felt Gothard was off in left field. I looked up online and found a website where a man was asking people to share their experiences with Bill Gothard. I read so many negative comments, and suddenly it came back to me. I remembered the talk about “having no rights,” the talk about women who were abused staying with their abusive husbands. I remembered how he believed that people who received grace from God had actually earned it in some way. He was completely without grace. He totally and completely had no comprehension of God’s grace, and dispensed to me the absolute worst legalistic spirit that brought the most violent rebellion into my soul, so that one day, taking a walk in the woods, I told God I was finished with Him.

If this was God, and it was all I knew of Him by that time because my parents were so steeped in legalism, then I didn’t want to have anything to do with Him. And so I made a fatal error. I became an out and out atheist. I didn’t want to believe in God, and I refused to believe in God for several years that spanned the years I went to High School. At the end of my High School years, lo and behold, I became mentally ill.

Jesus said to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees – Gothard is the leaven and worse!

The teaching on submitting to authority is true – there is wisdom in submitting to authority, and I have applied this in many situations. The teaching on being under a covering of authority is also true, and parents are one covering, and for a woman, a husband is a covering. These are true. For anyone, authority is very important to have in one’s life – to be accountable.

Resolving issues with your key relationships in your life – your immediate family members, will bring health and restoration to your mind and your life. I have experienced this.

All these Gothard was teaching. But like Satan, Gothard used truth to trap you into lies. What was true about him got people hooked so they felt they had to buy into his legalism. There is something very provocative about legalism. And people easily buy into it. I don’t know why. But I guess it is a thing of the flesh.

The final conclusion: Bill Gothard is dangerous! Stay away!