I know some of you are already a little on edge or more interested in what I have to say because of the title of this blog, and if that is the case–I'm thrilled. While reading this blog you may get angry and pissed off. In fact I hope you get angry! Some of you might already be thinking: "Woah Cody do you really need to be saying "pissed" so much, and are you really saying you hope I get angry." If that's the case I hope that by the end of this blog you can understand that there are probably far worse words I could use to describe the things that should make us Christians angry.
I say all that to tell you a real account from my time here in Thailand. The other night my team and I went to the red light district. A district known all over the world for prostitutes and sex-slavery. A place where children can be sold at unbelievably young ages to be bought by pedifiles and perverted people. While we were standing there I overheard a group of middle-aged white men talking outside of a bar. The were all smiling and deciding where to go when one of the men turns and says while laughing and smiling, " Hey man, there's your girl right there!" and the both continue to laugh as a prostitute walks by and flirts with them. Something just roared inside of me, and I simply could not help but clench my fists in my anger. The evil that we were witnessing was hard to bear. Most people would get crazy angry at these men, and it is incredibly hard not to be. But God loves those men. The fact that the Devil has made these men believe this is okay and deceived them so much is what should make us angry! The justice that is not being served. That should make us angry! The fact that there is over a billion people in this world that go without clean water every day. That should make us angry! The fact that children die every day from starvation. That should make us angry! The fact that girls are raped all over the world every day. That should make us angry! Do you understand what I am getting at? Do you understand that injustice is everywhere? God hates these things, so shouldn't we? Heck Yes we should!
Now I did not just write this blog with the purpose of getting some readers angry and depressing you with all the crap in this world. I wrote this blog with the hope that Christians will understand that it is good and healthy for us to get angry when we realize the injustice in this world, and it's even better when we DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!
WOW I am angry and crying for these children. Praying daily for your safety honey and I thank you for showing God’s love to these children and even your maturity for these sick men. I will try to pray for them as well but I must admit that is very difficult for me so I need to pray for myself first. Again you and your team are in my daily prayers.
MOM
Cody you are right and that is what John 7:24 is about – righteous judgment!! This stuff does make me angry, and I actually just signed up to volunteer at a place here in Raleigh called “Emma’s House.” It is a part of the Transforming Hope Ministries that deals with Child Trafficking.
Sadly, we help places like this when we make the decision to look at any type of porn, and even, sometimes, racy magazines like Maxim, FHM or even Cosmo. However, you said, God does love these men, they were made in His image and they have lost sight of the law that God wrote on their very heart.
Cody, if you ever go on another trip, or need more money, you tell me, because if there was one person I would want to invest into for the sake of building God’s Kingdom, it would be you.
T-Rav
Mom-Thank you so much for the prayer, feeback, and encouragement.
T-Rav- Thank you so much for your comments. You’re right Jesus wants us to stop freakin’ focusing our time and energy on stupid nitpicky things and realize that there are things in this world that are terrible. Dude thats so awesome you volunteered at that house. Thats incredible and a great opportunity.
I did not even know about the help these places got from those sights and magazines. Thats crazy!
thank you so much for that offer. I will definitely let ya know if i do. your willingness to help a brother out is so encouraging. I really just want people to realize that the Kingdom of God is here and now! and i want the church to wake up and start loving people! Thats what i want haha
Cody,
at the begining of life, God gives each of us a most precious gift a soul.
the Bible does not say we are to love the person, but we are to love as God loves.
it says we look at the outward but God looks at the soul.
we are to love the soul of each and every person, for the soul’s position at the end of each life determines where it will spend eternity.that should make everyone equal in our sight as it does in God’s.
the soul has to rely on it’s host person to make the right decision, so therefore we have to go through the person to get to the soul, but we must see the soul instead of the person. no matter how dispicable a person is, we are to try to win that soul for God.
I agree, we Christians are a lazy bunch. we say we will pray for you and we think we have done our part and yes we need to get pissed off.
Cody, you see just some of the things people are doing to other people and you get angry, can you imagine how it must hurt God’s heart when He sees it all???
I am proud of you and how you have grown in your faith and for the work you are doing.
God bless you
Marian Holloway
Cody, You are getting to see sin as you’ve never seen it before. Probably never before has the verse of Romans 6:23 stood out so large. You are seeing people who’s lives are slowly being destroyed by the grip of sin. Many not of their own choosing. Not only is it sad to see in Thailand but the same is happening right here in our own country, state and cities. Our prayers for what you are learning on you missions trip and for safety. God Bless You Cody!
Papa Sharp
Dear Cody,
We have always been told that God looks at all sin the same, but your sharing these horrible things make that statement not seem true. We pray you are so protected from the evil all around you. God bless you and your team as you serve God and the Thailand people.
Grandma Sharp
Marian- Thank you so much for your response! It really means a lot to me and im glad you agree!
Grandma and Papa- Thank you so much for your feedback and prayer! It has definitely been hard seeing these things but i am better for it. God has been doing great things in my life and im so happy about it! i love you guys!
Marian- Thank you so much for your response! It really means a lot to me and im glad you agree!
Grandma and Papa- Thank you so much for your feedback and prayer! It has definitely been hard seeing these things but i am better for it. God has been doing great things in my life and im so happy about it! i love you guys!
Cody, I AM SO impressed with how you are handling what you are seeing and dealing with! It is truly hard to love as God wants us to. I pray you. Will continue to let God work in your life and continue to use you, I pray daily for the health and safety of you and your team. I really miss you, but I know you are exactly where God wants you to be, I’m so proud of you and love you very much! Grammy
Thanks for sharing this, Cody! While we have been in India we have seen a lot of this brokenness as well. There are so many slums here, it is unreal. We talked to the International Justice Mission while we were in Mumbai, and they told us how big of a problem prostitution and slavery is in India. It’s becoming more of a secret too, because of these organizations. It breaks my heart. Thanks for sharing, Cody, and thanks for being a world changer. Let’s chat soon.