Men...RISE UP!!

So two years ago the Lord called me.  He gave me His will for my life and what He has set me apart for.  In the middle of my anthropology class the Father gave me an open-eyed vision.  We were discussing men's and women's roles in society, the family, the church etc but our teacher, I felt, was not presenting biblical truths correctly about these things.  I remember feeling incredibly frustrated and angered during this time because I felt that the conversation was not being presented correctly and the spirit of the Lord was not invited into the room to aid the discussion.

Anyway, when I get really frustrated in group setting like that I don't talk because I do much better in one on one conversation where I won't blurt out something stupid.  And I am also scared of people disagreeing with me.  (interesting right now because I have never named this fear until now...cool)  So I was just sitting there staring at the floor and all of the sudden a skull appeared before me in the middle of the room.

It was an incredibly clear vision, that is, I could see it plainly.  And the skull was looking around as if it was lost or searching for something.  IT HAD NO DIRECTION.  (the significance of this will be revealed later)  Then, all of a sudden, a creature appeared above the head of the skull and clamped it's jaws around the skull.  It looked like an alligator, dinosaur thing.  If anyone ever got into pokemon it looked like a totadille.  haha, weird.  anyway, then it looked at me as if to say, "I know what you can do and I know what you are capable of, don't even think about."  then it turned away and began to direct the skull and guide it where it wanted.  Then a second of the creatures appeared on the right of the skull, but it didn't look at me.  

Just as soon as it appeared an hour long class was over.  It seemed like the class went by in 5 minutes. Afterward I didn't know what to do so I prayed and talked with mentors.  It took me awhile to get an interpretation and something new is revealed to me every time I talk about it, which is soo cool.  This is what the vision means:

The skull represents men as a whole, but more specifically in the Unites States I think.  And we have lost our way.  We lack direction because we have turned our eyes from the Lord.  We have lost the spiritual authority and strength God has given us as men.  We have lost he meat off our bones because we have chosen to follow other things.  We, as men, have become lost.  

The first creature represents pornography, masturbation, and lust.  It's important to note that this is the one who had latched on to the skulls head.  I believe that the enemy has such a strong hold on men in these areas.  Not only do we commit adultery in the physical realm with our wives, but also in our minds.  We lust after other women and pollute our minds/souls with unrealistic sex.  The devil has a major stronghold in this area on men.  This stronghold has drained men of our spiritual authority.  We are slaves to these things.

The second creature represents the media and popular culture and what they say a man should be.  The media (movies, reality tv, commercials, other advertising, pop culture) portrays the ideal man to be one who is tall, super buff, and white.  The ideal man, according to this world, is one who shows no emotion because that is a sign of weakness and the ideal man isn't weak.  The ideal man is one who has sex with as many women as possible and gloats about it.  Sexual conquests are good, says the world.  The ideal man does not ask for help or cry because real men hunt and fight and don't give in to emotions.  This is another stronghold the enemy has over men.

It is these things the Lord has called me to fight and speak out against.  I am called to rebuke these things and bring some form of revival to men.  I also didn't realize it at the time but I believe that the Lord will have me work with human trafficking victims, specifically with the children who have either escaped or been rescued from this horrific industry.  I desire to be active in the restoration process and the prayer/spiritual warfare against the demons who torment these children.

I didn't realize this either but these two passions I have are hugely intertwined.  God had me write my senior seminar paper on how all of these issues are connected.  How pornography leads to objectification of women and unrealistic expectations, and how that is connected with prostitution and human trafficking.  I believe that if there is revival of men and they turn back to the Lord, human sex trafficking will greatly decrease.

And of course I could go on and on about all this but I am trying to be general here.  Anywho, these things have been confirmed a whole bunch in my life by other believers receiving visions or words from the Lord.  And now we come to this past week in south Africa.

Last week in church a man prophesied over me that I would be very very moved this semester and would bring back the work of the Lord and Africa to the APU campus next semester.  He said I would be very burdened for things here and that I would bring that back to APU.  I've always felt a strong desire to speak in senior chapel at school ever since freshman year.  Don't know if that will happen but it would be a great movement of the Lord.  We'll see.

Yesterday all of us went to Umzinto and then went to the Indian ocean all day.  We hung out with the Indian community and an indian youth group at the beach because that area is primarily Indian.  Later that night at the beach, a group of about 6 other APU students were just asking me questions about life and what I wanted to do and I shared with them everything about men and trafficking.  Then they all prayed over me and the Spirit gave one of my friends a vision of me speaking powerfully through a book but swords were piercing through me like I was being attacked or refined or humbled.  Not quite sure.  But it's meaning was essentially that I would be speaking to people with power and authority through scripture.  The swords I am not quite sure of but it could be that I will be attacked by the enemy a lot, or it could be that I will be humbled by reading the scriptures and speaking truth to people.  

Another girl kept hearing the word prison throughout the time of prayer.  I think the Lord was just speaking to the fact that men are in a prison right now and they need to be set free.  Or just generally that there are so many young girls trapped and taken captive in sex trafficking situations.  I think it was more of a general thing because so many people are imprisoned and are in bondage by the enemy.  I long to bring the power and truth of Jesus Christ to set the captives free.

A woman came up to me in church today and said that as soon as she saw me she knew that I was set apart for some great purpose but she didn't know what.  She felt like I was a bright shining light.  Others have told me this as well.  When I told her all this she was overcome with joy and agreement and invited me to speak at their home group thursday night.

When I have shared these things about men to women the response has been tremendous.  literally, all the women I have told this have been overcome with joy and longing for the men to reclaim their spiritual authority and turn back to the Lord.  It's been awesome to hear and very encouraging as well.

so the Lord is beginning to seriously use me and I had to lay on my bed after church this morning and kind of take it all in.  I admit that I am kind of scared because this is big stuff.  I struggle with pride and constantly pray for humility and that the Lord would urge me, not my desire to be seen or heard by others.  I am scared.  Lots of people will disagree with me and the enemy will place more attention on me I think.  But the Lord has seriously given me more visions and interpretations this past two or three weeks than I have had all summer and maybe last semester.

I am excited to go deeper into the Lord.  Please pray for guidance.  Please pray for strength.  Could you please pray for my wife because I really long to meet her and know her.  I've been waiting for a while and get impatient sometimes but I really want to meet her.  Pray for her spiritual life and for her struggles.  Pray that she will see and know and love the Lord before me.  

And lastly, pray for men.  Pray for revival and open ears, hearts, minds, spirits.  MEN...RISE UP!