Are you waiting on God for something and it seems it’s taking ages to come? Will you wait on Him till your change comes? Many Christians tend to give up after a while instead of waiting till their change comes. This usually costs them the best that the Lord has for them. This article encourages you to wait till you receive God’s promise for you.

If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come – Job 14:14 (KJV).

For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry – Habakkuk 2:3 (NKJV).

God is a God of time and season; He has different times for His various purposes. Walking according to the God’s time leads you to the best He has for you. This calls for your faith and trust in the Lord, for he who believes will not make haste. It also calls for patience on your part, for you have need of patience that after you have done the will of God you may obtain the promise.

God is not slack concerning His promises but is working out all things for your good who love Him. The promise may tarry but wait for it for it will surely come to pass greater than you can imagine. The farmer that planted cocoa waits longer time for harvest than the farmer who planted corn, but when his harvest time comes, it is very productive compared to the corn farmer who reaps after three months and will have to sow again before harvesting again. Also, the profits from sales of cocoa are much higher than profits from sales of corn. Therefore, based on the above analogy, it is profitable to wait for your appointed time, even if many people are reaping before you.

Job said that all the days of his appointed time will he wait, till his change comes (Job 14:14). Truly, his change came and his possessions were multiplied. God blessed his latter days more than his beginning. Throughout his period of waiting he didn’t sin against God but trusted him till the end. God is too faithful to fail.

No matter the circumstance surrounding your case, choose not to focus on any other thing but the word of God concerning that issue and listen for His directions. Remain spiritual, serving the Lord and make thanksgiving and praise your lifestyle. Your change will surely come!

Abraham waited for twenty-five more years, after God promised him a son, to have Isaac. Throughout his period of waiting, he trusted the Lord and gave glory to God. He was too persuaded that God would do even as He had said. He didn’t consider his aged body nor the deadness of Sarah’s womb, and the Lord proved Himself faithful to His word. Interestingly, Abraham lived more than thirty years more after Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah and saw Isaac’s twins. The blessings of God come in complete packages!

Joseph was another man who waited for his change to come and he was not disappointed. God showed him that He was going to lift him above his brothers in dreams, however, he had to go through a pit, Potiphar’s house and prison-house before the dreams came through. All through his period of waiting he never sinned against the Lord, neither did he give up on God; rather he remained ever joyful serving the Lord and his masters. All things were working together to get him to his destiny, the fulfillment of his dreams. At the appointed time, he found himself as the prime minister of Egypt. One night, he slept in the prison-house as a prisoner and the next day woke up to be number two ruler in Egypt (Genesis 37, 39, 41). That will be your story too in Jesus name.

In conclusion, no matter your present situation, choose to hold on to God’s promise unto you. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don’t lean on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

So, will you wait on God till your change comes?

I first met Elder Mordakhai Joseph in Jerusalem during my first Feast of Tabernacles in 1980. Later, when I attended Sukkot/Tabernacles again with the Worldwide Church of God in 1982 in Jerusalem, I stayed on as a volunteer at Kibbutz Ramat Yohanan near Haifa for five more months. Right next door in Kiryat Ata was where our only member in Israel, Simcha Gombo lived with her deaf daughter, Michal.

During my initial search for Simcha’s home on Hannah Senesh Street, I “just happened” to ask directions from a young Israeli reporter who helped me to find her place. Once there he started talking with her and revealed he was a reporter and wanted to write an article about her, since he found our beliefs fascinating, since sitting and listening to us talk. He was graciously waiting to help me find my way back to the kibbutz. She told him to write about me.

Ilan Itzhayek wrote a full length article that was published in the entire Galilee region. It was about my former drug addiction, wandering in different religions looking for the truth, and how by a series of miracles God brought me into the Worldwide Church of God, mentioning some of our beliefs about Europe, and how we considered Herbert W. Armstrong in the spirit of Elijah.

I was later interviewed by the local high school principal and Bible teacher about our beliefs, especially why we keep the Jewish holy days and believe we are Israelites. (I’ve since discovered Brit-Am Israel, a Jewish organization, also teaches the Israelite origins of the West).

That same article was posted at the kibbutz in the communal dining room for all to see and read and led to an invitation for me to speak against drugs. I resisted, feeling most people have to learn for themselves, but when Ofrah, the volunteer leader, persisted saying perhaps it could help someone, I relented on the condition I could give God the glory and mention Him as the reason for my deliverance. She agreed and I spoke to over twenty young people from all over the world and mentioned how we’re all missing something and try to fill it with this and that and only God and His Holy Spirit are the answer.

When Richard Frankel, a minister who used to live in Israel and served as the regular Feast coordinator for the Middle East, found out that this little ol’ “shepherd boy” in the field was “making waves,” he basically demanded that I return to America since he “trusts that God will get His message to the Jews through His apostle…” and how Mr. Armstrong had carefully built bridges with Israel over the years. (Acts 7:25, 35 flashed through my mind). He said in no way was Ilan (the reporter) to consider himself a spokesman for the Church or me a representative of it! (The Worldwide Church of God always taught we are representatives of God’s Church and Kingdom).

I wondered why Mr. Frankel didn’t trust God to see that nothing could be done to undermine those bridges that God through Mr. Armstrong had built, besides Mr. Armstrong NEVER went to the average Israeli but only addressed leaders in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, I complied.

However, another article had been sent out by Ilan for possible publication that I did receive permission from Mr. Armstrong through Aaron Dean to go ahead with it. Obviously, Mr. Armstrong didn’t feel threatened! Mr. Richard Paige, then in charge of the Ambassador College digs in Jerusalem, met Ilan and I in Haifa for a pleasant visit, during his trip to make arrangements for the next archaeological dig. I humbly presented him with some grapefruits I had picked from our kibbutz orchard. He said he loves grapefruit and later reported they were the best!

I wanted to return to Israel to live, fulfilling a goal I had to live all over Israel, study Hebrew, learn the culture, etc., (which I’ve since done) but Mr. Frankel’s influence required that I wait until I could have a minister over there to “supervise” my activities. (God had supervised them very well, thank you!).

When Raymond Clore, a Consul General for the US was assigned by our government to work over there for four years (and with whom I briefly corresponded), I appealed to Headquarters again to move over there and was denied permission because they hadn’t sent Mr. Clore – the US government had! So I encountered petty politics from ministers I permitted to have power over my personal life. A local elder questioned whether they were setting an unusual precedent with me in deciding where a member can live!

During that time, Mr. George Kackos (Toledo, Ohio’s wonderful minister, who was on the refresher program at Ambassador College) and Mordakhai Joseph both encountered the attitude that “we don’t need him, we have plenty of AC students to send if we want.” In fact, a female Ambassador College graduate from Oregon, Sylvia Owens (top of her class Mr. Paige informed me), was permitted to stay and live in Jerusalem (whom Ilan and I had arranged to meet and visited the Biblical Zoo with)!

Mark Joseph encouraged me that Jesus’ disciples also tried to stop someone from casting out demons in Jesus’ name because he wasn’t of their clique. He was later basically told to stay out of this situation! I still remember him fondly and what correspondence we’ve shared and wish him all the best with his new book on the Middle East. Meanwhile, I yearn to return to Zion.

David Flood and Aggie Hurst’s story of redemption is a picture of unending grace that has captured hearts for decades. In the early 1900’s David and Svea Flood entered the mission field in Africa. Another missionary couple joined them. After little success at reaching the people around them, the other missionary couple gave up and returned home. The only contact the Flood’s had was with a little boy who sold fruit.

Svea Flood gave birth on the mission field to a daughter, but died from malaria shortly thereafter. It was then that David gave up as well, gave up the mission field, gave up his faith, and gave up his newborn daughter. Feeling abandoned by God, he left the baby at the mission station and returned to his home, broken hearted. The people that adopted her named her Aggie.

For as long as Aggie Hurst had been alive, her father David Flood had remained on the other side of the ocean, ignoring her attempts at reconciliation. Years later she found out he was deathly ill. She was determined to see him. When father and daughter met for the first time since she was an infant, he tearfully told her he never wanted things to end up like they did.

Aggie attempted to comfort him by sharing that God had been there through it all, working faithfully behind the scenes. David erupted in anger and told her not to mention God in his presence. Forty years a widower, forty years since the mission field, forty years an alcoholic had left him filled with bitterness at the thought of a creator.

Then Aggie showed him an article, it showed a picture of a cross, a memorial to his former wife Svea. She told him about the revival that happened in the Congo after he left the mission field in disgust. She told him about the little boy that sold fruit that became a preacher and led the village to Christ.

Forty years was a long time to wait for healing. But David Flood experienced it that day, turning his heart back to the one with the nail pierced hands.

It was not long after Aggie’s visit that David died, finally at peace with God. But the Flood’s story was far from over.

Years passed and Aggie and her husband were in London at a conference listening to a preacher from the Congo. After the conference they approached him and asked if he knew David and Svea Flood. “I am the little boy that sold your family fruit,” he proclaimed!

Then he told her that Svea Flood was one of the most famous people in the Congo. Then he told her that after the village was converted, the gospel spread like wildfire. He was now in London as a representative of over 120,000 believers in the Congo who traced their spiritual foundation back to Flood’s. Their story is a picture of grace, amazing grace indeed.

In “The Jewish Approach to God”, Rabbi Neil Gillman shares his views on the comparisons between Jewish and Christian theology. Those are two belief systems that although are so closely tied, can only be understood by sharing and uniting with one another.

As a beginner in exploring tackling the Hebrew language, I sat down with a notepad to take notes of new vocabulary words. I had recently read another book written by three women, a Jew, a Muslim and a Christian from a Catholic/Episcopalian background.

The idea of sharing experiences sounds easy but to fully understand history, one needs to start digging into the languages. This is a large task that takes time.

One thing I was unclear about was that he used the word God. I’m glad but I thought Jews weren’t allowed to use that name.

Another thing that was a little difficult was it was so intellectual. My belief in Christianity seems so simple.

I keep in mind that within every religion are various denominations and practices. Some people only practice what traditions they are raised in as holidays and others are searching for the deepest meanings.

I follow Jesus with all my heart and keep it simple. To some non-religious people I may be seen as deeply religious and yet, to some conservatives seen as too liberal. I believe in mercy and charity and trust God to take care of the rest.

To me, the New Testament seems easier to read than the Old Testament. I don’t know if that is because languages changed or times changed. Just like today is so different from the Middle Ages, there seems to be a difference in communication.

For the Gentile reading this book, if you are a first time explorer, you may want to get out a pad of paper, a pen, a Bible and a dictionary or the internet to look up words that are new to you. It will make reading an adventure.

Not all of my questions were answered but I may need an elementary version such as children’s books to start with. This was like starting in seminary so it was a big chunk to take on.

I do have my notes and questions. I do plan on going back and finding more resources. I am doing this at home on my own first and then may audit a class and finally, try a course for credit. Wish me luck.

Art Braidic (a minister of the Sabbath keeping Church of God) and I have enjoyed a biblical discussion about whether or not God’s covenant with Judah is still active. I trust others may glean something profitable from our fellowship. I start with his initial response and add my comments:

My conclusion is that God brought the Jews back to fulfill prophecy, not to re-establish them as a nation permanently.

Thank you, Art, for prayerfully considering all this about Judah’s return under Ezra and Nehemiah and taking the time to respond. May God bless our fellowship and inspire us all to a better understanding of this holy subject. Such discussions prove true that “iron sharpens iron.”

God did indeed bring Judah back (but not all were willing to return just like today) to fulfill prophecy, but I must question if that was the only reason why did God not only send a scion of David (Zerubbabel), and a governor (Nehemiah), but a PRIEST to instruct the People in the Torah? Ezra had his Work cut out for him and did a marvelous job (Ezra 7:10).

His NATIONAL CONGREGATION repented of their Sabbath breaking (Nehemiah 13:17-22) and mixed marriages and entered into a COVENANT WITH GOD. We have no record of the Gentilized Israelites ever repenting, even in part, or returning and submitting to any biblical instruction (Ezra 10:1-3).

Judah had sinned worse than Israel originally, but THEY REPENTED and were brought back. Israel never repented and was never brought back. Some of Judah remained repentant from THE RETURN to the time of Yeshua, the New Testament bearing them record:

The priestly parents of John the Baptist (Luke 1:6), Simon and Anna – two holy and elderly witnesses and the Torah-observant Yosef and Miriam (Luke 2:25, 36-39).

And Yeshua said of the Gentiles and testified about the Jews:

John 4:22

22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.

He couldn’t say that about the Gentilized Israelites who had lost it all!

The Old Testament was to have seven eras.

I know the Church of God teaches this and I have shared it with others, but the Church of God isn’t consistent when they reject the God-given authority of the scribes and the Pharisees that Christ acknowledged on the matters of the sacred calendar and responsibility to properly proclaim the holy days.

Christ was to come from Judah. All this was fulfilled

and then, God destroyed the nation and scattered them exactly like He did their sister Israel.

God had already destroyed the former Judah and Jerusalem and scattered the Jews, but many of them repented and returned (part of true national repentance is to return to the Land, not just the Law). Those faithful Jews, the parents of John, the parents of Yeshua, Simon, Anna, and others like them remained faithful and accepted the Light that God had sent Judah and when the others rejected Him they were rejected.

But the physical and spiritual foundation of converted Jews continued without fail! The early Church of God was entirely Jewish, as you know. That Jewish/biblical foundation was most instrumental in the construction of the spiritual Temple that includes Gentile converts into that holy Branch. Most of Judah were temporarily cut off, just like the Gentilized Israelites, but SOME of them never were and continued right on as pioneers of faith towards the “New Jerusalem!”

Antiocus went through the land devastating it it and putting the abomination in the temple. I submit that if these people were God’s people, in a covenant with them, then they would have not suffered so.

Isn’t that a gospel of peace and prosperity? Don’t true believers suffer persecution? If God wasn’t in covenant with Judah, why did Yeshua call the defiled and CLEANSED Temple “My Father’s House?” God sent Judah – still His covenant people at that point – the Macabbees as in the days of the Judges, just as the Church also teaches that Daniel prophesied of them as the “people who know their God and do (military) exploits,” and they formed part of the seven eras of the Old Testament. Another traditional inconsistency!

To me, after Christ’s death, any relationship was completley over.

Yes, I agree that after the unwarranted hatred Yeshua experienced at the hands of His brethren, like our father Joseph did earlier as a type, the Anointed One who came to purify Judah’s religion and correct their misunderstandings and rebuke idolatrous traditions (which is why He spent so much time with the God-ordained Pharisees). He warned Judah of the Temple’s imminent destruction and their dispersion and they rejected Him and His warning message and many of them paid for it with their lives, God was through – for the most part – with collective Judah. However, as stated above, God kept His Word to be the God of our fathers and our God to a remnant, folks like the righteous I’ve mentioned whose kind made up the early Church.

As Paul writes… Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

I do know your point, but to be technical, it’s speaking of US being dead to sin (and its penalty) and resurrected in Christ, able to now marry Righteousness – it doesn’t state that about Christ.

So, in the marriage to Israel, God was married to Judah. Once He died, He was able to remarry. He now is espoused to those He has called, and He will marry them at His return.

I know and have also shared this Church of God teaching, but the Scriptures reveal God saying to physical Israelites in these last days, God pleading with us to return to Him as our Husband, that He never divorced us! Judah and Israel are still married to God even if we’ve broken our part of the covenant relationship and God has “SEPARATED” us from Him due to our unrepentant sins. But He wants us back! (Isaiah 50:1, Jeremiah 3:14).

The Church of God, like the Prophets, ought to call our people back to the Law and the Covenant that God made with our Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (and confirmed with our fathers at Mount Sinai) and wants to RENEW with us and improve upon it by writing His Torah upon the tablets of our converted hearts and minds, so help us God!

I actually do not know what replacement theology is.

It is denying the spiritual importance of physical Israel to God forever, regardless of our present sins that will soon be history.

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel, Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.

All this is saying is that race alone isn’t sufficient. That a physical Israelite must also have a spiritual Israelite identity or they’re nothing more than physically circumcised spiritual Gentiles! And that physical Gentiles can be spiritual Israelites and join the Body of converted Israelite believers: the remnant of physical Israel who isn’t blinded!

Rom 11:1 I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid.

Replacement theology would say it doesn’t matter because spiritual Israel has replaced any need for physical Israelites to be in a covenant relationship with God and such a damnable heresy is dead wrong! Paul then stresses his PHYSICAL TRIBAL IDENTITY – he didn’t dismiss it as unimportant. God must always have at least a chosen few physical Israelites to keep His Promise to our Fathers to be their God and the God of their literal descendants.

But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.

So, there is a remnant according to grace, not race. Who is that remnant comprised of?

Not so! The very example Paul used were ALL ISRAELITE. Why speak of a remnant except to refer to the relatively chosen few ISRAELITES who have not gone astray or been blinded? The remnant pertains to physical Israelites who are converted Israelites!

What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded

The election or remnant of physical ISRAELITES! Just like the vast majority of Jews rejected Jesus but a remnant of physical Jews remained faithful and formed the foundational Church of God in Jerusalem!

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree

While not the firstfruits, they are still holy because they are God’s people.

It is converted physical Israelites who are the firstfruits, converted physical Israelites who are the roots, a converted physical Israelite olive tree that converted Gentiles can be grafted into! We are the Israelite Church of God, as Herbert W. Armstrong taught, and it is counterfeit Christianity that is a Gentile Church that seeks to replace physical Israelites in every way, physically and spiritually.

For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.

Blindness IN PART, a partial blindness among Jews and Israelites. I really don’t understand why God had to blind any of our people, maybe you know? Why couldn’t He just work with Gentiles and Israelites at the same time like He does in the Church? Ancient Israel always accepted Gentile converts and they weren’t at the expense of any Israelites. I really don’t understand this part of the mystery and pray to grasp it better!

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Back to physical Israel, showing their physical descent from Jacob-Israel remains important to God despite “spiritual Israel.” Again, it’s because of the covenant that God made with our Fathers. That’s why the “Time of Jacob’s Trouble” will be cut short – mainly for the ethnic election, the physical Israelites’ sakes! not the spiritual Church of God alone.

Matthew 24:22

22 And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.

Isaiah 1:9

9 Unless the LORD of hosts

Had left to us a very small remnant,

We would have become like Sodom,

We would have been made like Gomorrah.

Leviticus 26:44-45

44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, nor shall I abhor them, to utterly destroy them and break My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.

45 But for their sake I will remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the LORD.'”

This GOOD NEWS is why the first chapter of Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall is gladly called “Survival Guaranteed!”

Rom 11:28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes.

Just like Elijah was opposed by most of his nation of Gentilized

Israelites, and the 7,000 were the chosen few (COG – Cave of God), all physical Israelites, so most of the nation of Judah rejected My God Yah in the flesh except for the chosen few physical Israelites who became converted and were the Church of God in Judea! The election, the ethnic elect, the Chosen People, will finally respond to our calling to become a Kingdom of Priests, a Light to all Nations, so help us God! Hosanna in the Highest!

Rom 11: 30 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

This is the mystery I wrote of above that I would like to understand better.

As you stated, their time will come again, but I believe it is not now.

I agree that the vast majority of Joes and Jews are presently blinded, but I believe there are individuals with whom God is working, His Holy Spirit is WITH THEM (not yet in them, like with His disciples originally), as part of the process of national redemption, laying the groundwork, preparing the way, for when God chooses to call us all again into a COVENANT RELATIONSHIP with Him, like Gershon Salomon of the Temple Mount Faithful and other faithful Jews, exceptions, just like Simon and Anna.

Even as Herbert W. Armstrong taught the children of Worldwide Church of God members are SANCTIFIED (I Corinthians 7:14), so too are the children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Ezra 9:2). I believe this revelation needs to be better understood and taught in the congregations.

I love the Jewish people. I find them among the most bright, professional, and talented people in the world.

I know you do. I never doubted it. I also know that Judah offers the best and the worst in this world! We can either become “stars” (as the descendants of Abraham) or so much “dirt” (grains of sand).

May God bless klal Yisrael (all Israel/12 Tribes) to fulfill our incredible NATIONAL potential! (Isaiah 62:1-2, 6-7).

When my mother was dying last year, I made it a point to try to make her experience one which involved thinking about pleasant things in her life. I had learned some cognitive exercises from a psychologist friend of mine, who had used them with her own her mother who was was dying about a decade before.

As my friend did, I made my mother write in a ‘memory book’. It was a simple diary I had bought to chronicle some of the good memories in her life. The point of the book was to reaffirm the goodness of her life, rekindle happy memories and to reinforce God’s love.

In it, she wrote details such as the names of the nuns which taught her while she was a little girl in a convent school in Italy, names of her friends, pets, favorite foods, etc. I also asked her to write down wishes for each of her children and extended family. In her memories, the topic of God inevitably would come up. Other family members were shy about bringing up the topic of her imminent death, but she was well aware that she was dying and would soon be leaving her physical body and I think that she found the writing, thinking and talking to be spiritually therapeutic.

During one of these conversations, as she lay in her hospice bed, we were talking about heaven. I instinctively and nonchalantly asked her to remember to let us know what color of God’s eyes were when she got to Heaven. I was trying to make her smile and break the otherwise bleak conversation. I told her I suspected that God’s eyes were blue, as in the picture of Christ which she was using as a bookmark in the memory book in front of her. I asked her to promise to let us know as soon as she met God face to face. She nodded the nod which she usually provided me, accustomed to about 50 years of my asking her seemingly peculiar questions.

Months later, after she died, I kept thinking about that exchange. While we all know that God does not have human form, it often helps for us to think in those terms. Of course, God did have a pair of human eyes, as he took the form of a human in Christ. These were the eyes which brought vision and the clarity of truth to a world often troubled and often blind. I don’t think it’s a mere coincidence that much of the gospels makes mention of eyes – the windows to the soul. Human eyes are blessed and healed in several passages of the New Testament.

I had almost forgotten about the conversation with my mother…till one clear Autumn afternoon, soon after she died. I was walking under a brilliant blue sky in a nearby park, and there were many people enjoying the sunshine and the rustle of leaves swirling in the wind. There were young people and old people, and people from different backgrounds. There were lovers, babies, friends, parents and children…all reveling in the crisp air. As I looked around at the rainbow of folks enjoying themselves in the park, the answer to my question was painfully obvious.

To my surprise, God eyes were indeed Blue! His eyes are also.. Brown.. and Green…and Gray. These colors were all around me that afternoon. God’s eye’s reflected all the brilliant colors which are the beautiful hues and spectrum of our human family. I am now assured that my mother knows this.

For if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, our God has made us a truly wondrous vision. When it is each of our opportunities to meet God face to face and look into his loving eyes, I am sure that we will see this to be very true, and find God to be one that reflects each of us..

Todd Rundgren is one of the most influential and innovative pop musicians of my generation [Baby Boomer, if you’re wondering]. Unlike the deification of Eric Clapton, which, legend has it, was announced on a London subway wall, “Todd is God” seems to have been coined concurrently by those of us who have been deeply touched by his music. He has written hit songs [Hello It’s Me, I Saw The Light, Can We Still Be Friends] and produced hit albums for other artists [Meatloaf’s Bat out of Hell, Grand Funk’s We’re An American Band], and yet has managed to fly under the radar of pop music’s mainstream and, not coincidentally, maintained his artistic integrity.

Todd is God the lyricist: There are dozens of elegant, profound Todd Rundgren lyrics, from the spiritual [Love Is The Answer, Can’t Stop Running, All The Children Sing] to those that speak of social conscience [Bread, Unloved Children, Bag Lady], from the sublime [Hurting For You, Couldn’t I Just Tell You] to the ridiculous [Onomatopoeia, Piss Aaron].

Todd is God the composer: Todd’s gift for melody, particularly in his ballads, is noteworthy. Songs like Lucky Guy and Can We Still Be Friends have melodies reminiscent of the best of the Great American Songbook, i.e. Gershwin, Cole Porter, etc. And although the chord progressions from these 2 songs are basically diatonic [staying within the confines of one key, like most pop/rock], Todd was an innovator in changing the color of his harmonies by replacing chord roots with alternate scale tones in the bass. For example, the triad built on the 5th note of a scale [G major triad in the key of C] with an F in the bass.

Todd is God the comedian: Humor is an essential element to Todd Rundgren’s music. There are lyrics that are silly [Bang On the Drum] and sarcastic [Eastern Intrigue]. And, of course, the chorus from Slut [“S-L-U-T, she may be a slut, but she looks good to me”]. There is the wonderfully corny, Gilbert and Sullivan-esque musical arrangement of Onomatopoeia, replete with sound effects for every onomatopoeia mentioned in the lyric.

Todd is God the musician: A world-class guitarist [an excellent blues-rock soloist]. Todd is also a strong pianist and alto sax player, and played drums and bass on the Hermit of Mink Hollow and Something/Anything albums. He is also an accomplished arranger and singer of vocal harmony and backgrounds, and a soulful, r&b-style lead singer with a sweet falsetto register.

Can we consider Todd Rundgren God of American pop music? Perhaps, as in Greek mythology, Todd Rundgren is one of several gods [Brian Wilson, Randy Newman and Walter Becker/Donald Fagan come to mind]. But there is no denying the significance and influence of his music.

The famous graffiti proclamation “Clapton is God” first appeared at the Islington underground station in 1967. Today, although recognized as one of the great guitar players of the modern era he would hardly be considered the best, let alone attributed “God” status. So why did the 60’s music fans so idolize Eric Clapton?

In 1965, then popular guitarist with the up and coming group “The Yardbirds” Eric Clapton joined John Mayall and recorded the Bluesbreakers album. His contribution was immediately recognized as being way in advance of any other guitarist up to that time (Jimi Hendrix and the release of “Hey Joe” were still over a year way) his Freddie and Albert King inspired playing was a revelation and established Clapton’s name as the best blues guitarist on the club circuit.

Today, it is difficult to connect with the standards of that era. The most popular British guitarist for many years had been Hank Marvin of the Shadows whose style belonged to a previous, more sedate, safer era. The Stones; Kinks and Animals had all moved towards a more Chuck Berry inspired guitar style but in no group did the guitar dominate. The Bluesbreakers album not only featured Clapton front and centre but included two guitar instrumentals “Steppin Out” and “Hideaway” that were far more energetic; and complex than anything recorded before. Clapton used tones, and sustain that could only be achieved by playing at great volume. There was no precedent; Eric Clapton may as well have arrived from Mars!

By 1966 Clapton had formed “Cream” which provided the perfect platform to showcase his long sustained blues solos and build on his reputation. Cream took conventional blues and interpreted it in a new free form way allowing total expression of the musicians, and heralded a new arty, psychedelic pop trend in popular music. By exporting the sound to the USA before any imitators could master the new techniques, his fame became international.

Soon there would be many imitators, and also a very real, unique alternative in Jimi Hendrix. As is always the case, die hard fans will stick by there heroes especially those that have such a dramatic effect on their lives. In a demonstration of that allegiance the graffiti in Islington appeared.

Has Clapton stood the test of time? Well although the passage of time and the advent of many brilliant guitarists since have lessened our opinion of his playing skills, we should remember that it was he that first perfected the style of Freddie and Albert King and developed it into a new guitar language. Furthermore, his influence is undoubtedly greater than any other electric guitarist, not only in Blues but also Country Rock; Rock and Reggae. His version of “I Shot the Sheriff” introduced reggae to a mass market.

He is a recipient of seventeen Grammy Awards, and is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In 2004 Clapton was awarded a CBE for services to music.

Yes, I believe he has earned the title.

I am committed to be happily married with the woman of my dreams to create a lifelong marriage and family that will last forever. I am visualizing that my wife and I will be defining America The Beautiful and realizing the dreams of all our fellow Americans and the rest of the world. We are committed to fulfill on The American Dream founded by The Founding Fathers on July 4th, 1776.

I am an innocent child with your guidance with the Holy Spirit

I am lost without you

I am crying for your arms to hold me like a vulnerable child

I am nothing without you

I am desiring you God that I dance and sing to you like King David

I am sinner 24/7 if I don’t have you next to me.

I am committed to our love to last forever.

Please God never forsake me until we are married to one another for eternity.

Una Oración a Dios

Soy un niño inocente con el Espiritu Santo

Estoy perdido sin Ti

Estoy en lagrimas por tus brazos para que me sostengan como un niño fragile

Soy nada sin Ti

Estoy deseandote Dios que hasta canto y bailo para ti como el Rey David

Soy un pecador las 24 horas del dia y todos los siete dias de la semano si no te tengo conmigo.

Estoy comprometido en nuestro amor que va durar para siempre

Por favor Dios nunca me dejes hasta que estemos casados para vivir juntos eternamente

Ideal relationship requires excellence at every level. From the North to the South, you must do things that are worthy to write home about. If your parents, guardians and mentors will not be proud of you if you do what you intend to do, then do not do it. From the East to the West, you must be the best! You can not afford to live a low life. You must become the person God created you to become. Why will you seek to do things that have no eternal value?

God has done everything to put you over and make sure all is right and well with you. You are the object of His love; the personality of His deepest affection, the apple of His eyes, and His treasure of inestimable value. God loves you more than you can ever image. God’s love is the ultimate. Knowing God’s love for you means walking in love at God’s high levels of excellence. It also means being full to the superior manner of the character of your love, beyond human weakness. You walk in love and you are fulfilled in love! You do not have to seek fulfillment in how anyone makes you feel.

God’s love is the greatest power in the world! Perfect love comes from God, and it is always yours. God is the only One who can fully love you even when you think you are not worthy. He will do much more to fill your life with the best love than a person ever could. Make sure you operate in the love of God and not in ordinary human love. Build your relationship with the love of God and always be on the right track in your love-walk. Do not be afraid to relate with God, perfect love casts out fear. Understand how much God loves you. God loves you and wants you to be the very best. He is the love of your life! Live in the perfect love of God, being deeply rooted in and securely founded on His love. Choose to love the God’s way! Walk in love.

Value others but be careful when you are getting physically attracted to anyone. Everyone is valuable and loveable but there is a place for a head, heart and hand connection in love. You need to do it right the first time and for all time. You need to be able to express virtue that builds your faith completely. You are full of love and thoughtfulness! And true love never fails. You can not afford to fail and your body can not fail you; your body is the temple of God; treat your body with respect. You are the love-child of a love-God; therefore do not give yourself to anymore to mess you up. No you can not do that! Beware of physical bonding especially one that comes like a flash and in a flash.

You are sharp, intelligent and wise. The future belongs to you. Why would you mess up your future because of gratification that does not last long when true love is forever? Set your mind to work and be the very best. Do not be compelled to love when there is a better way to love. God is seeking to bring you to the knowledge of the depth and magnitude of his love in your heart, so you can walk daily in His love. Immoral living is not accepted. Love is come of age and in the flower. You need to be of age and nourish your flower in this day and age.Love the true way and you’ll be glad you did at end of the day. You do not have any business, exploring anyone’s body, allow the person to take care of his or her body. You can do good to someone, you can practice true love today and rest in God’s love. Be the very best! Love the God’s way! Celebrate and honor others. Let the love of God arrest you and save sex for marriage.

Copyright, Anyaele Sam Chiyson