THE RUNAWAY BRIDE

Foundational Text: Hosea 1: 1-2
(Scriptural References: Hosea Chapters 1, 2 & 3)

Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price by giving His life at Calvary, making provision for "The Church" to be His bride. However there is a problem with the "modern church", as the modern church has tanted and diluted the very thing that Christ died for. The modern church has opened herself up to, and taken on, the perverse ways of this world. By doing so, she (the church) has allowed herself to be contaminated and polluted, and has lost her purity. As a result, instead of presenting herself as a "wife" before the presence of the Lord (which is what He died for), she has taken on the position of a "concubine".

A wife is a "free woman" that is legally and officially married to the "bridegroom". A "concubine" is a "bonds woman" (slave), that is in a unofficial "marriage-like" relationship with the bridegroom, but holds a lesser status and standard in society. And because the modern church has not upheld the holy standard of the Lord and has strayed from the righteous ways of God, she (the church) has allowed herself to be bond by sin and enslaved to the works of the flesh. For this reason, many of those in the world, has lost respect for the church and for those that profess to be apart of the church.

There was a time when the church was greatly respected and revered by society and viewed as a place of pureness, sanctity, help, hope, and refuge. However the modern church has been infiltrated by wolves in sheeps clothing. These wolves have planted currupt seeds of erroneous doctrine in the hearts and minds of many. These currupt seeds have sprung up and spread through out the church, causing many to be entangled by worldly things. In the process of being entangled, many have lowered their standard of living but yet profess to be a part of the Body of Christ. For this cause, society views the church in a much different and much lesser light. In many cases, those in society have even mocked, scoffed at and made fun of the church. This has come as a result of the church not maintaining and holding steadfastly to the honor and dignity that God had ordained for her as a "wife", but rather, she (the church) has subjected herself to being nothing more than a "mistress".

The wife is "married woman", who is dedicated to her husband. The wife is one that handles her responsibilities. She carries out her duties. She takes care of her husband and their children. She cooks, cleans and in most cases balances the budget. The wife nurtures and tends to her family. The mistress is a "kept woman". The mistress doesn't have to cook or clean or nurture or take care of anyone but instead she herself is the one being nurtured and taken care of. The mistress is wined and dined and doesn't have any duties or responsibilites to up hold, but rather she IS the responsibility.

This is the exactly where the church is today. The church wants to be kept and nurtured by God, but modern church, has not maintained her responsibilities to God. One of the churches major responsibilities to God is recorded in Romans 12: 1, "I Beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." It is the church's responsibility to present herself HOLY before the Lord! The Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) is holy! The bridegroom (Jesus Christ) is righteous! IF the Bridegroom (Jesus Christ) is holy, then He expect His bride (The Church) to be holy also!......in fact, He commands her to be......"BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY " (1 Peter 1: 16)! However, many in the church has not upheld this holy standard, but continue to testify of their relationship with God. The problem is, the relationship that they have, is not the one God has chosen. It is not a relationship of husband and wife, but rather they have limited their relationship to being merely "friends with benefits".

Friends with benefits enter into an intimate relationship, but with no strings attached with no commitments! Many in the church want the benefits of being the wife, but they just don't want to commit to being the wife. They want the blessings...they want the miracles...the healings...and the ways to be made out of no way...but they don't want to commit to living right! They want God to meet their needs...pay their bills when they don't have any money...heal their bodies when their sick...and open up closed doors...but they don't want to dedicate themselves unto the Lord! In fact many have resisted committing themselves to God. They know God is calling them to a closer more intimate relationship with Him, but they keeping fighting it. They know God is calling them to a higher height, but they refuse to answer the call. They know God is calling them to a deeper depth in Him, but they continue to run away from it and find themselves running back into more sinful works of the flesh! As a result, they have forfeited their wifely status and have fallen to the status of a "harlot".

We find a similar story in our Foundational Text. God spoke to the Prophet Hosea and instructed him to take a harlot to be his wife. A harlot is a whore, prostitute and/or tramp. The Lord wanted to show the Prophet what it felt like to a have a whore as a wife. He wanted him to understand His disapointment, betrayal, unfaithfulness, and the pain and heartbreak of loving someone with all your heart, but not have the same measure of love returned. However, the more you love them, the more they continue to run out on you and commit adultress acts against you. God had done so much for the people of Isreal, but yet they continued to leave him to worship idols such as Baal.

The church has done this same thing.  The church has runaway from being the wife that God has called her to be and committed whoredoms with the world!  Rather than running to God, instead many in the church run away from God and into sin. Some run into sexual immorality and fornication. Now-a-days, some are running into homosexuality and lesbianism.  Others are running to pornagraphy, drug and other type of addictions. Lust and promiscuity is running rampant in the church. The church has been over taken by money hungry and celebrity driven preachers. God has been to good to the church for her to continue to be a Runaway Bride. However, from midst of The Runaway Bride, God is calling forth a people that will uphold His standard of righteousness and holiness. God is now looking for someone that will commit, dedicate and set themselves apart for the master's use. God is on the lookout for someone that will stand up in the midst of a dying world and a sin sick church and proclaim as Joshua did, AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD (Joshua 24: 15)!! God wants someone that will determine in their heart soul and mind as Paul did, NOTHING SHALL SEPERATE ME FROM THE LOVE OF GOD (Romans 8: 38-39)!! God needs someone that will declare as Esther did, IF I PERISH, LET ME PERISH, I'M GOING TO SEE THE KING (Esther 4:16)!!......in other words, for God I'll live and for God I'll die. I surrender my life totally to Him......This is what God wants! God is searching for someone that love him with their whole heart. God is rejecting The Runaway Bride and is now calling forth a remnant of people that will rise up and be that Bride of Honor, Dignity, and Excellence that He ordained for the church to be originally!......WHAT KIND OF BRIDE ARE YOU?!?!

Please revisit WWW.WEEKLYRHEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM next week for another Rhema Word from the Lord.  Until then, Grace and peace...

"ADVANCING THE KINGDOM, ONE SOUL AT A TIME"

Whatever "He" Says, DO IT!!

Foundational Text: St. John 2: 1-10
(Highlighted Scripture: St. John 2: 5)

It was the night of January 2, 2012 (Monday) heading into the morning of January 3, 2012 (Tuesday), when God showed me the vision of the The Great Falling Away. For the course of the next two weeks, God provided the details, revelation and insight pertaining to the vision. Afterwards, God begin to deal with me about sharing what he showed me with the "entire Body of Christ", on a global scale.

Now I must confess even though God spoke this to me, my initial thoughts were to share it with a few friends, loved ones and my local church family (Washington Park Church of God in Orlando, FL) and that would be it. Once I begin to share it with friends and loved ones, God open a door for me to share the vision and it's details live on the radio on Rejoice 1140am with Grace Worthy Ministries. Afterwards I had the opportunity to share with my local church. This is when I saw God move in a way I have never seen before in my entire life!!! Once I shared the vision, people literally rushed and flooded the alter. People were literally almost stumbling and tripping over one another trying to find a spot on the alter to kneel. As the alter filled, people began to kneel  on the front pews. As the front pews filled, people began kneeling wherever they could find a place....in the middle of the floor...in the isles...at their seats...wherever they could! Almost ever soul in the entire church began to cry out to God with all their might!!....ministers...deacons....mothers....members.....even guest and visitors were crying out to Lord! I've NEVER seen anything like it!! The spirit of repentance and revival bombarded the sanctuary!! Lives were being changed and transformed. People were being renewed, restored, refreshed and rejuvenated spiritually. People were resubmitting, re-yielding, rededicating and recommitting themselves to God! It was as if everyone had had a "Great Spiritual Awakening" and was experiencing "Person Revival" in their own individual lives!

Then the Lord began to deal with me even more.  He spoke to me and said, "This is why you must share the vision and the revelation with the ENTIRE Body of Christ." God knew my heart. He knew my thoughts. He knew that I wasn't serious (at that time) about taking this word globally. God continued to speak to me and told me, that every believer that will hear, receive and adhere to this word, will experience a Personal Revival in their own individual lives and those that do not receive, but have read, will be held accountable.  (it's coming up again in Judgement).  Can you imagine if every believer in this entire world, experienced personal revival all at the same time....or about/around the same time??? Can you imagine how the Glory of God would overshadow the face of this earth??? Can you imagine how the the power of God would sweep across this world??? Can you imagine how God would move in and upon this land??? It would be the real life manifestation of 2 Chronicles 7:14!!......"If my people which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land!"......Not only that, but Joel 2: 28 would also be manifested......"And it shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy and your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions!" God then let me know, that as each believer experiences "personal revival", this will then cause a Great Spiritual Awakening to breath forth in The Church (world wide).

Now I must confess again, I began to toil with God in my spirit about this. I told God, "First of all I don't even know where to start. I don't even know how to get this message to the entire Body of Christ. Secondly, this is a very important message that the church needs to hear, but if I share it, people may not take it seriously, because no one knows who I am." (Let me be ebonic for a minute)......I told God, "I ain't nobody big or special. I'm just a lil chubby country boy from Bushnell, FL (Sumter County), who now lives in Orlando, FL. They (The Church) may not receive this word from me. There are more popular preachers and more well known ministers, with much bigger names, with way more influence, that carries more clout and weight in The Church and huge followings, that people (The Church) will be more willing to receive and accept this word from. It may not be effective if I tell them."  The Lord responded to me and informed me that He could have chosen anybody in the entire world for this assignment, but He chose me!....Oh my God, just the thought of that last statement is bringing tears to my eyes.....The Lord went on to tell me that it wasn't my job to produce the "Revival" and the "Great Awakening". However, my job is simply/only to share what He showed me and that it was His job is to produce the "Revival" and the "Great Awakening"! Further more God explained to me that He can't do His job, until I do my job. However, If I didn't do my job, He will find someone that will. It was then that I repented for my hesitation to obey God, accepted the assignment and decided that I didn't want God to have to find someone else. I wanted to be that someone!...I AM that someone!!!

God then gave me inspiration to start this Blog as an attempt to obey him and as an effort to accomplish the task that He had assigned to my hands. The blog has been running for seven weeks now and in those seven weeks, God has allowed it to viewed 730 times and by 9 different countries - and counting.

(USA = 701  ;  UK = 11  ;  Russia = 6  ;  Mauritius = 5  ;  Germany = 4  ;  Maylasia = 2  ;  Bahamas = 2  ;  Canada = 2  ;  South Africa = 1)

I've said all that, to say this, "Whatever God is calling you to do in this last hour, DO IT!!!" Whatever God has assigned your hands to do, DO IT!!! Whatever mandate God has placed on your life, DO IT!!! Whatever God is speaking into your spirit and dealing with you about, DO IT!!!  You may not have the backing or the support you'd like to have, but DO IT ANYHOW!!!  You may not have all the resources you feel you need, but DO IT ANYWAY!!!  You may not get the response you're looking for, but go ahead and DO IT!!!  Many people may not believe God sent you, but get up and DO IT!!!  Many people may not hear or receive, but yet and still, DO IT!!!  You may encounter mochers, scoffers, nay sayers, and even hatters, but you've got to DO IT!!!  No matter how large it seems or no matter how small you may think it is, JUST DO IT!!!

In our Foundational Text, Jesus and His disciples are guests at a wedding, but they had no wine at the wedding. Mary, Jesus' mother turns to Him and says, "They have no wine".  Jesus' responded, "It is not my time yet.", meaning it wasn't time for Him to step to the for front with regard to His ministry. Mary did not exchange words with Jesus. She immediately turned to the servants and said, "Whatever He says, do it! (St. John 2: 5)"   Even though it may not have been Jesus' time, however, there still was a need.  Anytime (and anywhere) there is a need, the Lord is provoked to move.  Jesus then instructed the servants to go fill some water pots with water and serve it to the guests. The servants obeyed the voice of the Lord and somewhere between filling the pots with water and serving it to the guests, the water had been turned into wine.  Their obedience to the Lord had brought forth a miracle!

That overwhelming unction that you keep feeling on the inside is God tugging on your heart and pulling on your spirit, trying to provoke to action.  That unquenchable urge that you keep feeling in the pit of your stomach is God, trying to inspire to move.  I submit to you, that your next miracle will come as a direct result, of your obedience to what God is calling you to do right now!  The next move of God for your life depends on your willingness to obey what God is dealing with you on and instructing you to do now.  Sometimes God calls us to things that seems to for fetched an unrealistic at times. Sometimes it seems like He's speaking something to us that is to big and to daunting of a task to carry out. Sometimes the assignments that God calls us to can be extremely overwhelming.  Sometimes it seems that what God is asking of us is unobtainable and unachievable.  Sometimes it seems that we're to insignificant and to inadequate to accomplish to the assignment. You may not even know exactly what to do or how to do it, but if you come to God with a willing heart and an obedient spirit, God is able to lead and guide you through the process. He's able to direct you through the process. He just wants to know if you're willing to follow Him through it. Once you start, it may even seem like what you're doing isn't effective - it's not working.  It may seem like you're not making a difference.  It may seem like no one else is concerned about this matter but you.  It may seem like no one else cares but you.  However, I have a word from the Lord for you today, if you produce the obedience, God will produce the results!  Whatever vision God has given you and/or placed in your spirit, He will also make provision, so that the vision can come to pass!

Then there are other times when it seems that God has instructed you to do something that seems insignificant and unimportant. However, I want to encourage you and let you know, if God is speaking to you and dealing with you about it, than there is a need for what He is calling you to do. And just like at the wedding from our Foundational Text, God has been provoked to move on behalf of that need and He has chosen to move through you!   He could have chosen anybody on the face of this earth, but He chose you! Your obedience to what He is calling you to do at this moment, will produce the next blessing and breakthrough in your life.......WHATEVER "HE" SAYS, DO IT!!!!!!

Please revisit WWW.WEEKLYRHEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM next week for another Rhema Word from the Lord. Until then, Grace and peace be unto you!

"ADVANCING THE KINGDOM, ONE SOUL AT A TIME"

A VISION FROM THE LORD: The Great Falling Away (Part 6)

NOTE: In order to fully understand what it is the Lord is saying to The Church in this hour, through this vision, please be sure to read Parts 1 - 5 (if you haven't already) before proceeding.......Thank you!
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Please read the following for Part 6 of The Vision: The Conclusion & Final Plee/ Warning..........

CONCLUSION& FINAL PLEE/ WARNING

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter, fear God and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil (Ecclesiastes 12: 13)........

The Rise of the new "Liberal Christian" and the new "Doctrine of Grace" are major reasons for The Great Falling Away. The Liberal Christian believes that God tolerates sin. Their position is, that He (God) knows we can’t live “all the way” holy. He does not expect us to live all the way by His word. The Liberal Christian chooses what parts of the word they want to live by and when they want to live by them. The Liberal Christian also manipulates the word of God to justify their wrong. The Liberal Christian talks a Godly talk, but can't walk a Godly walk. They believe that they can make it into Heaven; even if they are actively practicing a life of sin every day. They believe that God loves us to much to send us to hell. They believe that as long as I praise God and work for God in the ministry, He is ok with what I do and say; even though it may conflict with His word (he will give me a pass). After all, He knows that we are human and that we sometimes fall to temptation. If someone tries to correct the Liberal Christian or encourage them to line up totally to God's word, they will accuse you of judging.....and no one can judge them but God. They get angry when you tell them about their sin. They are quick to tell you the following: "I'm grown!...You can’t judge me!...I can do what I want to do when I get ready…God knows my heart!...I may not do everything right, but he knows I love Him. I’m not perfect…I don’t let nobody tell me I’m not saved!”

The Liberal Christian loves church, but doesn't want to change. The Liberal Christian has no problem speaking in tongues on Sunday and cussing and lying on Monday. The Liberal Christian has no problem dancing in the club on Saturday night and jumping and shouting on Sunday morning. The Liberal Christian doesn't faithfully pay their tithes, but they faithfully play the lottery and don’t see anything wrong with it. The Liberal Christian listens to both gospel and secular music (hip hop & R&B) and doesn't see a problem with it. They can shack and fornicate and still serve on the praise team, choir and music committee with no problem. They can drink and smoke, and still serve on the deacon board without being convicted. They can gossip and backbite, and still serve on the mother’s board with no remorse. They can whore-hop, sleep around and still preach the Gospel right on. They love doing ministry work, but don’t want to surrender/ sell out all the way to God. They want the benefits and blessings of God, but don't want to walk in total obedience to Him. They resist fully submitting to the will and ways of the Lord, but rather fully indulging in their own fleshly desires. They used the Word of God to justify their wrong, making the word fit their lives, rather than making their life fit and line up with the Word. They believe on Jesus Christ, but they don't believe in Him (There's a difference). They believe He is the messiah and only begotten son of the father, but they don't believe in His power to enter their lives, change their hearts, break their habits and enable them to overcome the temptations of this world (1 Corinthians 10:13). They have enough faith to get stuff from God, but not enough faith to get delivered from sin.

The Grace Doctrine teaches that one can do whatever they want to do and participate in sinful activity whenever they feel like it, because God is a forgiving God. It teaches that we can flip flop back and forth between the church and the world as much as we want, because God is a merciful God. It teaches that we can sleep around as much as we want without being married, because God is so full of grace. This doctrine teaches that Jesus already died for our sins; so in essence, this allows us to sin all we want, because he has already paid for ALL of our sins (old and new sins, current and future sins).

This Grace Doctrine has made grace into an excuse to do what we want, when we want, how we want and who want to do it to (and with). It has made grace in essence, a get out of jail free card. These Grace Doctrine teachers have it partially right....God did indeed die for our sins…God is merciful...God is forgiving...God is full of grace, but he never intended for His grace to be our license to sin, but rather our liberty from sin! God knew that we were liable to make mistakes, so he provided grace for us. However, there is a HUGE difference between a mistake/ accident and a continual deliberate intentional constant practice of sin. A mistake means I had full intentions to do right, live right, and please God, but in the process of trying to do right, I messed up, I missed the mark, I came up short. For this cause God has provided grace for us. However, if we are not careful, we will begin making the same mistake repeatedly (over and over), then on a daily basis (every single day), and then we begin making the same mistake multiple times a day. Eventually, what was a mistake now becomes a practice. Then practices when repeated, become habits. Then if we continue on flip flopping between grace and sin, it will move from habit to stronghold. So what happens is the individual goes from controlling or managing the sin, to now being controlled by the sin (stronghold). Once this happens, they can’t stop doing it even if they wanted to, because now it has literally intertwined with the essence of their inner most being and has taken possession of their life – you become a slave to sin (Romans 6: 16 & John 8: 34). God then has to literally do spiritual surgery and cut that mess out of our lives and make us free – IF we TOTALLY surrender to Him (Romans 6: 18).  The Grace Doctrine teachers are absolutely right in that no matter what we do (wrong), God will indeed forgive us IF we repent.  However, God does not want us to abuse, missuse and take advantage of His grace and mercy.  IF we insist on continuing in this way, God will allow us to be turned over to a reprobate mind (Romans 1: 28-32).  When this happends, we lose our conviction.  We get to the place were we can boldly step outside of God's will whenever we feel like it with no sense of guilt or remorse for doing it.  We then get to the place where we can commit sin without feeling bad for it or being convicted of it.  Since we're no longer being convicted in our spirits for doing wrong, we never ask for forgiveness, because we no longer see the need too.  We no longer acknowledge or recognize our sinful deeds as sin, so we no longer approach the throne of grace to receive grace...or mercy!  This is the part they (the Grace Doctrine teachers) are leaving out!  God wants us to grow so much in our relationship with Him, that our desire to love Him supercedes our desire to sin (Romans 6: 1-23).  God understands that we are faced with many temptation on a daily basis, but God also knows that He did not leave us defenseless against the temptation, but with every temptation, He has provided a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10: 13).  God wants us as Christians to mature to a place in Him where we are able (and willing) to choose to walk through/ in the "way of ecsape" rather than falling into temptation.  

So you see, according to how the Lord revealed it to me, The Great Falling Away is not so much of a physical fall, but an internal/ spiritual one. It's not so much that people will denounce God...or quit claiming Jesus Christ as their savior...or stop going to church (this is a part of it, but not the major focal point), however the major focal point, is that people will still be in church (holding offices, carrying titles, working in ministry...etc.), but it's the falling away of the heart from God. Still claiming Jesus, still confessing salvation, still professing their love for God, when actually (and in many cases unknowingly) they have fallen away from God in their hearts...proclaiming their love for God with their mouths, but their hearts are FAR from Him (Isaiah 29:13 & Mathew 15:7-9).

The Lord gave me this little illustration….A young man (we will call him Harry) and a young lady (we will call her Sally), are in a relationship together. Unfortunately, this is a one sided relationship or one sided love affair. Sally loves Harry with all of her heart. She is totally committed to him. She is completely faithful to him. She’s madly in love with Him. However, Harry has other women on the side. Although he claims Sally is his “main squeeze”, he has other love affairs on the side. Harry cares a whole lot about Sally; he doesn’t really love her though. He only loves what Sally can do for him. He loves how Sally cooks for him. He loves how Sally washes and folds his clothes. He loves how good Sally takes care of him and how good she makes him feel. He loves how Sally caters to his every need. He loves what Sally can do for him, but he doesn’t love Sally. In fact, Sally doesn’t hear from Harry until Harry needs something. If Harry doesn’t need anything, he doesn’t come by, call, text, email, or send her a message on Facebook……….And so finally, the Lord says, "the church doesn't love me anymore; they love what I can do for them. The church doesn't love me; they love the fact that I'm a way maker. They love the fact that I can heal their bodies when they get sick and afflicted. They love the fact that I'm a miracle worker, but they don't love me. They love the fact that I can pay their bills for them when they don’t have the money.” The Lord says, "The only time I hear from my church  is when something bad happens or they fall on hard times or they need me to move on their behalf....they don't love me, they love my wondrous works." The Lord says, they kicked me out of my church, but they kept the blessings I gave them. They put me out of my church, but they kept the miracles I performed for them. They kept the ways that I made for them. They kept the healings that I wrought for them, but they pushed me out. They want the “blessings” (stuff), but not the “blesser” (The Lord). The Lord says, "I was beaten for my church...I took a crown of thorns for my church...I was pierced in the side for my church...I shed blood for my church...I hung on the cross for my church...I died for my church…I resurrected for my church”…The Lord says, "I WANT BACK IN MY CHURCH!!!!"

If we're not careful, we all can be in this position and could find ourselves falling away.  NO ONE is exempt from this!  We all must take inventory of our lives (1 Corinthians 10: 11-12).  Examine ourselves to see if we've neglected God in anyway....to see if we've strayed away from Him in any manner.  The only way to prevent ourselves from falling away, is to tie ourselves to the horns of the alter and seek His face, submerge ourselves in His word and hide His word deeeeeeep within our hearts, and get wrapped up, tied up and tangled all up in Jesus Christ and allow him to live on the inside of us! This is our only hope to survive The Great Falling Away. Please don't take this for granted and please don't take it lightly. We (the church) must search ourselves. Let's go before God with a repentant heart. Let's do our first work over again. Return to our first love (every last one of us in the Body of Christ). Go back to the old land mark (Jeremiah 6: 16). Let’s let God take us back to the place where we received Him. Let's go back to how we were when we first got saved. Let's rekindle the fire (our hunger) and renew the passion (our thirst) for God - not stuff! Let us turn to Him and repent for polluting the holy and precious things of God. Let us repent for putting His blessings before Him and God will restore us (the church) and put us back in a place of purity (Isaiah 55: 7)..........TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS…(Hebrews 3: 15 & Psalms 95: 7-8).

He that hath an ear let him ear what The Spirit is saying to THE CHURCH (Revelation 2: 29)!!!........

Please revisit WWW.WEEKLYRHEMA.BLOGSPOT.COM next week for another Rhema Word from the Lord.  Until then, The Lord bless you and keep you...The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you...The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace!

"ADVANCING THE KINGDOM, ONE SOUL AT A TIME"