Hell, no.

I'm not cursing. I'm literally telling hell 'no'. I was reading facts this morning about the world's poor and oppressed. Yes, I do that in my spare time...and so should you.

Over the past four days 1,000 people were killed in the Ivory Coast , Libya is in shambles, Japan has nuclear meltdowns, 70% of the world's poor are women and children. In the whole earth, women hold only 1% of the property. Looking over the numbers of people starving, orphaned, dying by violence, trafficked into slavery...I felt my blood boiling at the injustice. It isn't right. Not on my watch or in my generation. I found myself wanting talk to hell itself and tell it 'no'. I would look it in the eyes and say:

Hell, no more will you control people. Cloak men with shame so that they take their own lives leaving behind families. You will not rob another child of their parent due to the violence of hatred. Too many father's have died defending their children from angry armies. You will not take the innocence of another young girl sold into prostitution. Hell, you will not destroy marriages with selfish perversion. You will not take another child from the arms of a desperate mother helpess to provide them enough food. Hell, you do not have permission to whisper in people's ears that they are forgotten and unwanted. You will not terrorize the widow and the orphan. You can not destroy the soul of a nation with lies and despair.

Watch out because the church is about to show its teeth. We will not trade our birthright as overcomers for a bowl of comfort. The tide is turning and you will be the one having nightmares about us. We won't let you act like you have dominion over this earth. The earth is the Lords. And everything in it. Everyone.

I'm not hopeless when I read about the devastation because the Gospel is enough. It is enough for every orphan, addict, slave and slaveholder. God is not idle. He is moving in these broken places on our earth. Breathing life into dry bones and telling them to live. He has life and dreams for them yet.

Broken nations are dreaming. I say 'Let your Kingdom come. On earth as it is in heaven.'