It's Time To Loose The Chains Of Injustice

Terina Dutton January 11, 2024

A DIFFERENT KIND OF FAST:

This morning the Holy Spirit prompted me to a time of fasting and prayer as a critical strategy to combat and overcome the enemy during this season of unprecedented warfare we’ve experienced.

Typically, fasts often consist of giving up food combined with intentional prayer. However, I believe God is mandating a very specific fast to not only release further breakthrough, but to serve as a blueprint for how to restore biblical justice in the earth.

This blueprint is critical in the new era we are entering into. God is directing his awakening bride to further demonstrate His character to a hurting and broken world that is desperately crying out for justice and solutions. Unfortunately, the church hasn’t fully comprehended and executed biblical justice. This has created a void, causing a desperate world to be drawn towards Satan’s counterfeit of social justice and Socialism. We must counteract the enemy’s advance with the truth: God has a solution! The 1st century church demonstrated so in Acts 4. We have an opportunity to exalt the Father by displaying His love & care through administering biblical justice.

“But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice…” Isaiah 5:16(a)

Zechariah 7:9 portrays what His justice looks like in action. It states, “this is what the LORD Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.”

“But let him boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who exercises kindness, JUSTICE & righteousness on earth, for in these I delight” Jer. 9:23-24

“Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire…” Jeremiah 21:12 (a)

This is why God is calling us to a particular fast found in Isaiah 58.

To Loose The Chains Of Injustice…

I want to encourage you to read all of Isaiah 58, but to keep it short; I want to highlight a few components regarding justice here. Isaiah 58:2 states,

“Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the justice of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God. ‘Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?’ Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers.”

In verses 5-7, we read; “Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself…Will you call this a fast…a day acceptable to the LORD?”

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him…”

The Israelites “sought Him daily and delighted to know His ways,” and yet, the prophets called their actions evil. Why?

Isaiah 1 (please read) and Amos 5:21-24 explains. God informed the Israelites that he hated their feasts, songs, sacrifices, incense, and offerings, stating, “I am weary of bearing them.” He further stated, “when you make many prayers, I will hide my eyes from you & not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves…remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.”

(See also Amos 6, Is. 5:23, 10:1-2, Jer. 22:3, Ez. 18, Ez. 22:29, Ez. 33:30-33, Ez. 34:3-4, Mal 3:5, Micah 3:9-11)

During the height of Israel’s prosperity the prophets rebuked them for their wickedness as they had become greedy and self-serving. While enjoying the finest of everything, from their paneled houses (Haggai 1:4,9) to the spoils inside (Is 3:18-24) the choicest meats (Ez. 34:3-4), to using the finest lotions (Amos 6:4-6), wearing expensive garments (Ez 34:3) and adding house to house and joining field to field (Is 5:7-8), they did so at the expense of His house (Hag 1:4) and those in need.

“Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit…they have grown fat and sleek, and have excelled in evil matters. They have not taken up the cause of the fatherless, that they might prosper; nor have they defended the rights of the needy.” Jer 5:27-28

“Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy.” Ezekiel 16:49

(See also Amos 5:12, Amos 6:4-6, Is 3:14-15)

TURN FROM YOUR WICKED WAYS…

In contending for 2 Chronicles 7:14, there is a key in us “turning from our wicked ways” which is, in part, by returning to biblical justice.

“Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.” Daniel 4:27

““For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly execute justice one with another, if you do not oppress the sojourner, the fatherless, or the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own harm, then I will let you dwell in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your fathers forever.” Jeremiah 7:5-7

“So you, by the help of your God, return, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually for your God.” Hosea 12:6

“Zion shall be redeemed by justice, and those in her who repent, by righteousness.” Is 1:27

“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer Me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; for your peace offerings of fattened cattle I will have no regard. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” Amos 5:23-24

It’s time for justice to roll down like rivers; let it’s acceleration begin with an Isaiah 58 fast!

“Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return? Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. I will rebuke the devourer for you…says the LORD of hosts. Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight.

Malachi 3:7-12

Other verses for reference…

“Woe to those at ease in Zion and those secure on Mount Samaria, the distinguished ones of the foremost nation, to whom the house of Israel comes…Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!” Amos 6:1,4,6

Stats On The American Church & Wealth

Terina Dutton September 25, 2023

“I have been generous to you so that you can be generous to others.” 2 Corinthians 9:11

Please take some time to review the Stats on the American church, giving, poverty, and spending habits. Reflect on what this reveals about the heart of the church. Examine your own heart to see if there would be any areas God is wanting to change, in order to better impact the world, for His house and glory.

THE AMERICAN CHURCH:

• Though American Christian’s make up only 5 percent of the church worldwide control approximately 50% of Global Christian Wealth. 4

• Christians make up 33% of the world's population, but receive 53% of the world's annual income and spend 98% of it on themselves. 4

• Income of $5.2 trillion a year. 6

AMERICAN WEALTH:

• If we make $10,066 a year, we are in the top 16% in the world in wealth. 1

• If you make $32,400 a year, you are in the top 4% in the world in wealth. 2

WE LIVE in the top 2%-5% in world, ever.

• The American living standard today is about 50 times what it was in 1600 England or 1978 (Maoist China)

• 1% of the population has almost the same amount of wealth as the rest of the world combined.

• The Average American Today is 90 Times Richer Than The Average Historical Human Being

• The American living standard of today is about 50 times what it was in 1600 England, or 1978 China.

• The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years. 3

Christians are giving at a 2.5% per capita or tithe. During the Great Depression, they gave at a 3.3% rate. Today, 33-50% of church members, those who claim they have bought in at a deep level to your ministry, give nothing.

If we were able to have our people increase their giving from 2.5% to 10% of their annual income, an additional $165 billion would flow into the Kingdom.

To SHOW THE GLOBAL IMPACT THESE RESOURCES COULD MAKE, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

• It would take just a little over 1 percent of the income of American Christians to lift the poorest one billion people out of extreme poverty. 2

• Twenty-five billion dollars would relieve global hunger, starvation, and deaths from preventable diseases in five years. 7

• Fifteen billion dollars would solve the world’s water and sanitation issues. 7

• $1 billion would fully fund the Great Commission. 7

• $100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion. 7

• 2.2 million people die every year due to lack of access to clean drinking water. That’s equivalent to 20 jumbo jets crashing every day!

• According to number crunchers at the World Bank and United Nations Development Programme, it’s estimated that it would cost somewhere around $20 billion to solve the global water crisis. That’s less than 5% of what’s spent in this country during one holiday shopping period in December.

American Christians have enough resources to end world hunger & give the world clean drinking water with the amount we spend at one Christmas!

LUKE 12:48 states, “To whom much is given much is required.”

To say we have been given much is an understatement. It is clear He has given us much, and if much is required in return, we must examine how we are stewarding what He has entrusted us with.

American Christians spend over $700 billion a year excess, non-essentials:

• $3 billion/ year on bottled water

• $4 billion/ year on cosmetics

• $7 billion on sports events

• $11 billion a year on coffee

• $13 billion a year on their pets

• $13 billion/ year on diet programs

• $17 billion a year on golf

• $17 billion a year on boating

• $20 billion a year on soft drinks

• $21 billion on cable TV

• $76 billion a year on eating out 1

This list doesn’t mention the endless other gadgets we purchase for ourselves and families. The average U.S. household has 300,000 things, from paper clips to ironing boards. U.S. children make up 3.7% of children on the planet but have 47% of all toys and children’s books. 5

• There are 300,000 items in the average American home 3

• The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years. 3

• 1 out of every 10 Americans rent offsite storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. 3

• While 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle 3

If we make over 50% of the worlds wealth, and only give 2% away, what is left for the rest of the world?

What does this stat reflect?

• North American and European Christians spend $12.5 trillion on themselves and their families each year. 4

• Only .1% of all Christian giving is directed toward mission efforts in the 38 most unevangelized countries in the world. 4

• The average American Christian gives only 1 penny a day to global missions. (Yohannan, Revolution in World Missions, 142)

• Out of the Top 10 places where tithers put their money, the least likely demographic that they would give money is children and orphans 6

Meanwhile:

• ½ of world lives on less than $2/dollars a day

• Over 1 billion attempt to live on $1/ day

• Estimated $13 billion to provide basic nutrition to every starving person in the entire world

• Over one billion people hurting for a lack of basic resources. At the same time, we Christians happen to have most of those exact resources, more than any group of Christians in world history. 6

When you hear these stats, what does it reveal to you?

One thing it revealed to me was the reality we are not necessarily as generous as we ascribe ourselves to be. If over 1 billion people hurt for lack of basic resources, and God has, at that same time, entrusted to us those very same resources, knowing His heart for the orphan, poor, widow, sojourner, and oppressed we must conclude there is a reason.

2 Corinthians 9:11 states, “I have been generous to you so that you can be generous to others.

It’s as simple as that!

James 5:5 states, “now listen you rich people, weep and wail, you have hoarded wealth in the last days…you have lived on earth in luxury and self indulgence.”

The concept of hoarding is highlighted in Luke 12:13-21:

“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘this is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘you fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”

In light of many kids that will be trafficked, abandoned, etc. do we really need all of this excess? He has been generous to us SO THAT we can be generous to others. This means we must learn how God defines generosity! It can be very subjective, but it’s important. The story of the rich fool speaks of a man who stored up for himself and wasn’t rich, or generous, to God.

“Looking at our times, says writer close to the 16th century, I marvel at the sparseness of the ancients & think that it would be well with us, if any above the poor were content with what were, of old, delicacies to kings & nobles.”

This write up is a part of the Rise Up Movement Study. You can view a powerful talk in the Spoil of the poor here. To dive deeper fill in the questions below.

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Answer the following:

1) When 1/we get our paycheck, I/we feel it is “ours.”

2) When I/we get a paycheck, I/we first ask God what portion is for His kingdom, before spending any of it.

3) When I discover I am going to receive extra money (a bonus, tax return, overtime) I am aware this may be a provision for someone other than me.

4) When I receive extra income, my thoughts immediately go to needs around the world as much as my own needs, and I prayerfully weigh the way I spend apportion it.

5) I find myself praying for ministries, missionaries, and churches around the world daily.

6) I constantly pray for the needs of missionaries, ministries, and churches to be met, and pray for God to make a way for me to meet needs as they arise.

7) I consider it a joy and privilege to be asked to support ministry causes around the world and am not annoyed or burdened.

8) I feel personally responsible for my role in making sure ministries, missionaries, and churches around the world are well funded and check in regularly to see what currents needs they have.

9) I pray and intercede for Missionaries, pastors, and ministry leaders who are fulfilling the great commission and are on the frontlines.

10) I reach out and ask missionaries, ministries, and pastors what personal needs they have and help them meet those needs when I am able.

11) I feel it’s important to strengthen and encourage missionaries, pastors, and ministry leaders and look for ways to refresh and encourage them.

REFERENCES:

1. Vimeo, Video from The Christian Alliance for Orphans, http://vimeo.com/channels/593323/13831236.

2. Global Issues, “Poverty Facts and Stats,” www.globalissues.org/article/26/poverty-facts-and-stats.

3. https://intellectualtakeout.org/2016/02/15-stats-that-show-americans-are-drowning-in-stuff/

4. (Barrett and Johnson 2001, 656)

5.https://www.becomingminimalist.com/clutter-stats/

6. https://healthresearchfunding.org/21-tithing-statistics/

7. Church Leaders, “Generous Church: Top Ten Characteristics,” by Brian Dodd, http://www.churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-how-to/151049-brian-dodd-generous-church-ten-top-characteristics.html)

What are you doing about your purchasing POWER?

Terina Dutton July 21, 2022

Tears rolled down my face as I stare at a picture of a small child, who bore the scars given to him by a hot grill, used to torture him, permanently engraved into the tissue of his bare chest. His big beautiful eyes and radiant smile conceal years of unfathomable abuse: abuse that began before he was 2 years old.

Barely a toddler, yet he had already been trafficked, enslaved, raped, and tortured.

Can you pause and picture this for a moment?

SCARS FROM BEING TORTURED.

A child.

Made in the very image of God.

How is this humanly possible?

Can we really read this, see this, and just go on with life, just keep scrolling?

His eyes plead with me, with the world: DO YOU SEE ME?

Do I matter to you?

And if so, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO PROVE IT?

I often ponder the same question. I run a store that helps children just like this one. The store brings rescue, redemption, and restoration to lives worldwide, yet, I marvel that there are days where no one shows up to shop, to buy, or to support the prevention of more children from being trafficked in the first place.

As I listen to his story, I am crying…hard. I wonder how many more children we will allow to be treated so horrifically before we take radical action.

How many more kids will needlessly suffer, all because we continue to treat with indifference the reality that human trafficking exists, and there are ways we can fight it, if only we would try.

One way is through shopping. When you realize that behind every product we buy is a person.

A life.

And our purchases can either fund their freedom or oppression.

Our purchases have the ability to do good or evil. We can create jobs and empower individuals and families OR fund large corporations who not only hate our nation, but build their businesses often off of the exploitation and slavery of others.

Our purchases support ethical sourcing and transparency or exploitation and corruption.

Or purchases fund biblical justice or injustice. Ministry or nothing.

It makes me wonder…When will people show up, not because they need to or want to, but because, as consumers, they HAVE to!

So this week, One Heart will swing open the doors yet again and pray for people to CARE by showing up, joining the fight, and to choosing to shop where their money funds freedom not exploitation.

We will pray for people to donate, and to help us not only to sustain, but grow. Expand. We’ve barely scratched the surface of all that is possible by transforming the marketplace but it can’t be done without every one of us!

Can you fathom the purchasing power of redirecting the hundreds of billions of dollars we so easily spend on apparel, food, accessories, home decor, etc. to ministries where those funds are literally rescuing, redeeming, and restoring lives all over the world? It’s not cliche to say it could literally change the world!

It’s not about another cute pair of earrings, or a new shirt to shove in our already filled closets, it’s about the life of a person, a child, who begs the world to see them by not only being aware of their horrific abuse, but by choosing to take action and truly do something about it.

The question is, WILL THEY?

WILL YOU?

That I Shall Come Forth As Gold

Terina Dutton February 3, 2022

There are seasons in life when trials, adversity, suffering and loss come roaring in like the waves of the sea: one right after the other. As each wave hits, crashing down on you just as you are attempting to resurface and catch your breath, you find yourself wrestling just to break above the water and set your feet on the ground. Flailing, kicking, and gasping for breath, the battle to simply stay afloat becomes a battle for life or death as the swirling waters rage against you…

What Are You Busy With?

Terina Dutton January 29, 2021

This morning during prayer I felt God showing me that Satan’s arrows of BUSYNESS (or distraction) and WRONG FOCUS have penetrated the people of God. I heard the question I have heard many times before…

”What are you busy with?”

It brought me to a scripture that has been heavy on my heart for over a year now. In Haggai 1:4-6,9 it states:

“Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.

“My my house that lies in ruins, while each of you BUSIES himself with his own house.

There are two things in this verse I want to focus on.

First: The arrow of BUSYNESS.

We see a people who are busy with their own houses: they are busy with their own homes, and yet, the house of God was in ruins.

I felt God was using this verse during my time in Uganda last year as a constant record player in my head. As I looked around I saw His house, His people, in ruins. I saw the destruction satan has made on homes, lives, and children. The poverty of the heart & sin, and also the physical poverty, orphans, street kids, and hunger, and over and over I would hear:

“My house is lying in ruins, what is everyone busy with?

While there are many good things, it seems we have lost our focus on the greater things.

HIS HOUSE HIS PEOPLE. HIS KINGDOM.

This is not to say we should never train for a marathon, workout, blog, scrapbook, spend money on a remodel, watch TV, spend time browsing on the internet, go on a vacation, (or whatever activity comes to mind when you think of what you spend your time doing) but it is to say that if our time, money, and focus are building OUR kingdom on this earth, there could be a problem.

If God is asking us what we are busy with, we need to look at our schedule and ask ourselves exactly that?

What do I spend my time on?

Does it have an eternal value?

When I die will any of it matter?

Is it making a kingdom difference in the life of another?

Is it serving a greater purpose than myself?

While again, this isn’t to say we should never enjoy anything in our lives, God also commands us to “redeem the time because the days are evil” and we need to honestly reflect on what things may be distracting us and keeping us busy from the things that have eternal value.

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Second: The arrow of WRONG FOCUS.

When I think of this arrow, it is MUCH more tricky. We all know that food, shelter, and paying the bills are vital to our life. We must be careful, however, that we don’t begin to develop a wrong focus where we unintentionally are driven by meeting our needs first, and we forget that our entire motivation should be motivated by the love of God and His people.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them…

“And why do you worry about clothes? …”if that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

But “Seek first the KINGDOM OF GOD and His righteousness, and ALL THESE THINGS will be added unto you”.

If our first motive for working or keeping a certain job is to pay bills and provide for ourselves, our focus is wrong. If our motive is to store up for our future first, our focus is wrong. We are commanded to seek (look after/ focus) HIS kingdom first, knowing that our daily bread, our most vital needs will be met when we do.

The slippery slope in making a living is that in our attempt to meet our needs, we never know quite where to stop. We begin to see our income as an opportunity not only to meet our most basic needs, but the extras as well. We end up spending our money on a lot of things BEFORE we concern ourselves with the kingdom and building HIS HOUSE. That is why our entire motivation in every job we have should be for the kingdom of God.

A good way to check our motivation is to ask ourselves: “What am I working for? So I can give more? So I can support His kingdom work on this earth?

In the verse in Haggai we see a people who never have enough.

“You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.”

They want more. They are earning a living doing so to put it into a “bag with holes”.

This verse reminds me of the rich fool who has made a lot of money. (anyone who makes over $16,000 a year is in the top 16% in the world in wealth making almost all of us qualify as the RICH)

When he is thinking about what to do with all he has amassed, his first thought is HIMSELF: his kingdom on this earth: his home, life, pleasure, and how he will benefit from all his wealth.

He decides to build a bigger place to store up for HIMSELF and enjoy all he has laid up.

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself: ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

And I will say to my soul, “you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:13-21

Are we, like the rich fool, busy with our own house, our own kingdom, our own homes and life, possessions, and pleasures, while not busy building FIRST into the kingdom of God?

I love a quote by Billy Graham that states: “give me 5 minutes with a mans pocket book and financial records. I will tell you where his heart is”. What does our pocket book reflect?

Satan’s arrows of busyness and wrong focus are all around us. They are tempting us to focus on many good things, but not the ONE thing that matters: His kingdom, His people, and His house on this earth.

May we be a people who can answer God’s question with “YOUR KINGDOM”.

When Giving Makes You Cry