Marriages under Attack-My Testimony88
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By mosfar2009

Visit to the Holy Land

The Wailing Wall-Jerusalem
I am sharing this real -life testimony in order to show how the devil is real and is working overtime to destroy the marriage institution. It is also a sign that we need more of God in our lives. We need to seek him first and his Kingdom otherwise we are doomed to failure. Do not be fooled, there is no way the devil wants you to be happy. He is against everything right about God’s system.

If we refer back to the very beginning in Genesis 2 vs. 18, “Now the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper meet ( suitable, adapted, complimentary) for him”, this shows us that marriages were designed from the beginning of human life. They were meant to provide companionship and completeness. In Genesis 2 vs. 24, it says “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall become united and cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” I’m quoting from the Amplified Bible.

If God had wanted man to be single, separated or divorced, why would he make that statement in Genesis 2 vs. 18? It is therefore not God’s plan for man to be single, separated or divorced and this is the area that the devil uses to trick people. He comes and tells us to taste the forbidden fruit, with promises of happiness, wisdom and knowledge. He sows the seed of doubt about the effectiveness of God’s system and provides the possibility that we could have something better.

I was married for 8 years before the devil struck my marriage. In those 8 years, we were really happy and doing quite well for a young couple. The Lord blessed us with four children, a house, two cars and holidays etc. We were actually the envy of our extended families and peers. It also happened that at that time neither I nor my husband was fully committed to God. I was a Christian but a lukewarm type. My husband’s role went as far as dropping us off at the Church gate and picking us up after the service.

We did not know how spiritual attacks worked and were not mature enough to know how we could fight or protect ourselves. The signs were there for all to see that a spiritual attack on our marriage had begun but as I said neither of us was mature enough in that area to know what to do. It started off with my husband getting into wrong company, drinking excessively and having illicit affairs. I got to know about each of these affairs as if God was revealing them to me but I was too weak to protect myself. This graduated to episodes of abuse toward me and I was confused but I did not seek help. For the next 5 years, this went on and off and I pretended all was well as if to wish it all away. I would cry until my eyes were sore but I did not know how this would end. As time went by, the frequency and intensity of abuse increased and I began to seek means and ways to cushion myself from being hurt. I still did not tell anyone what I was going through as I think I was in total confusion as to how what I thought was a perfect marriage had suddenly turned sour. I did not understand how at one time we were the best of friends but now were fast becoming enemies.

I began reading books and magazines in the hope of finding solace and ideas. The internet was a new thing at that time and I began to use it as an escape avenue. One book I read stated that most women are divorced or separated by the age of 35. I believed this statement as at that time I was about 33. I also began to seek comfort and joy outside of my home and in the process made male friendships. To me this was the only way I could satisfy my need for love and companionship as the gap between me and my husband continued to widen. It’s surprising how we moved from a communicating couple to a situation where we could barely hold a conversation without it degenerating into a war of words. So, I found out I could talk to other men outside my marriage and that to me was a way out, while still keeping my marriage.

Unbeknown to me, the devil had another arsenal up his sleeve. In the 2 years that followed, life became totally unbearable and the abuse turned to threats on my life .By then I had read about domestic violence and abuse somewhere and was now fully aware of what was happening to me and what psychological effects it was having on me. I was also oblivious to the fact that I was also contributing to it by my reactions and actions. Things came to a head one day when my husband physically assaulted me and I decided enough was enough. I told myself, I deserved better and was going to find a better life out there. However, the biggest mistake I now realise was that through all this, I never consulted God; I did not seek him or seek biblical counselling. Instead, I used my own human judgement of what I could see and understand at my level.

I went to work the following day and did not return home. I had decided to leave my husband, children, house, property, cars, everything! To cut a long story short, for the next couple of years I was separated from my husband. I did manage to get custody of all my four children but had to start afresh in all other areas. I did not realise that God had a plan for me and was not going to allow the devil to destroy me. In that time while I was separated from my husband, someone introduced me to a Bible believing, Spirit-filled church. The moment I started attending that church and re-committed my life to the Lord, life became easier and bearable. I received support and counselling from ladies who attended the same church and one of them prophesied that the door was not shut on my marriage and I should seek God about it.

At the end of the two years, I had become more spiritual, committed to God and very prayerful. I however, still had some seeds that the devil had planted during the period of strife in my marriage. I could not stop the friendships I had developed with men outside of my marriage. When I tried to pray about this, the devil would intercept my prayers and make it look like it was okay, I deserved to have company. After all God wanted me to be happy. On the other hand my husband had also become entrenched in the illicit affairs that he was having, especially now that I was out of the way. It is now clear that even then, neither of us was happy or satisfied, even though we each wanted to believe we were.

It so happened quickly that there was a shift in the battlefield for our marriage that, as we entered the third year, and one day by coincidence, or due to something negative that happened, we got talking with my husband. I now know that God uses bad situations to produce something good because overnight we had made a decision that I should return home. So, in the following month, I prepared my children for the trek back home and we did return and many people could not believe it was happening. Apparently, a lot of people had an interest in what was happening to us, some were concerned while others were celebrating our downfall. So, this about turn unsettled a lot of people and the devil himself was not amused.

In the following days and months after my return home, there was massive warfare in the spiritual realm, but by now I had been enlightened and was aware of the available weapons. 2 Corinthians 10 vs. 4: “For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.” I began to earnestly seek God about my marriage and he responded by baptising me with his Holy Spirit. I became empowered and started to see some of my challenges from a spiritual angle. Victory was in sight and as they say; the match was now fixed.

My husband also decided to join my church, received the Lord Jesus and was baptised. However, this did not end the struggles in our marriage as the devil attacked from different angles. I went into warfare and began to cry to God, waking up at 3am daily praying and fasting. Then the Lord spoke to me and I was surprised because he said to me: “I want you to stay in that marriage because I have a plan for you. You shall soon know why.” During that time, the Holy Spirit himself comforted me and spoke to me in the midst of strife in my home. I was so strengthened and empowered, that I even surprised my husband and he began to attack my prayer life. He accused me of praying in tongues so that he would not know that I was praying for him to die. I laughed because I knew this was far from my intentions as I was actually praying for his good and the good of our marriage.

I now know why God himself says in Hosea 4 vs. 6, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…”, if I had known then what I know now; I would not have been plundered by the devil the way he did. By the way, in all those years that we were fighting with my husband and separating, we lost most of the wealth we had acquired i.e. the cars, land and investments etc, except for the house. When we got back together, we were even driving a borrowed car that my brother had given me to use and my husband was not gainfully employed. I struggled as the main breadwinner to put food on the table and to send our 4 children to decent schools.

Anyway, to cut the story further, getting back with my husband was no walk in the park as the devil tried his best to put asunder God’s plan, but as it is with all that God purposes, the devil is no match. So, the next couple of years saw intensity in spiritual warfare. My husband and I even made a trip to the Holy Land, yes to Israel. I believed my life would never be the same after making this trip and for sure God is faithful and he is not a man that he would lie. If you seek his Kingdom first, everything else will be added to you. It was not until I had repented of all sin and made a decision to be pure before God, that I began to see real change. As I continued seeking him and praying for my husband and family, I began to see victory.

Recently, I got involved in a 21-day prayer marathon organised by the prophet of God, Elisha Goodman and as a result have seen God work wonders in my life. For the first time in years, my husband and I have sat down to discuss our marriage, the trials and tribulations we have gone through and how we have overcome. We both recognise the spiritual attack that we suffered and have made a pledge not to allow the devil to destroy our marriage again. I believe that this was the vital time of complete healing and forgiveness and release. We both acknowledged our wayward and illicit associations with people outside our marriage and that we should never go back there. I believe, this is the opening of doors by God and whatever God opens, man cannot shut. My husband and I have decided to use our testimony, to help other people going through the same challenges to understand that, it is a spiritual warfare and our weapons are not physical. We need to engage God when faced with such an attack on our marriages. The battle belongs to God because he is the creator of marriages and he needs to defend his institution. This year we are celebrating 21 years of marriage!

I pray that this will also be an eye-opener for anyone reading this testimony. Glory be to God. Amen.

On December 8, 2009, reggae singer Buju Banton slipped on his swim trunks, pulled a pair of jeans over them, and, along with two friends — a female companion and his longtime driver and pal, Ian Thomas — jumped into his silver Land Rover with a “Jah One” vanity plate. They left his modest duplex in suburban Tamarac and began the drive to the Gulf Coast for a day of fun in the sun.

Alexander JohnsonAlex JohnsonDavid Oscar MarkusReggaeArts, Entertainment, and Media
As the exit sign for Naples came into view, Buju called a man they were to meet named Junior to give him a heads-up they would soon arrive. But Junior said plans had changed. They needed to drive to Sarasota and meet him at a restaurant. From there they would grab keys for a friend’s boat. Buju agreed.

In Sarasota, the three men sipped margaritas at a restaurant while the lady friend sat in the car. A short while later, the trio headed for a dimly lit warehouse, where someone closed and locked the shutter door behind them. Inside, a stranger who was lurking in the corner began speaking to Junior in Spanish, leaving Buju clueless. There was no boat or keys in sight.

With his long dreadlocks pulled into a ponytail, Buju paced and swayed, his lanky frame oozing nervousness. He asked to use the bathroom but was told the toilet was broken.

“Let me go do it outside,” he said.

Junior and the stranger avoided answering him. Then the stranger walked over to a parked car and opened a hidden compartment in the trunk to reveal 20 plastic-wrapped kilos of cocaine.

“I felt my stomach turn,” Buju testified months later. “I tried to play it down and be calm. I keep telling myself… be cool, be cool, it’s gonna be, just be cool.”

Buju’s friend Thomas was cool. He plucked a kilo from the pile and plopped it onto a workbench. Buju followed closely behind, peeking over his friend’s shoulder as he made a small incision in the packaging. Thomas dabbed a fingertip of the powder on his tongue and proffered the blade to Buju, who followed suit.

After tasting the cocaine, Buju sank into a chair in the corner. He fiddled and tried to occupy himself while Thomas pulled out a phone and negotiated prices with an apparent buyer in Georgia.

“Yo, find out how much he wants,” Buju murmured. He later claimed he had no idea who was on the line and that his remark was just an attempt to appear legitimate, to play it cool. Thomas carried on without pausing.

When the warehouse door screeched open, the men exchanged phone numbers. Buju claims he spent the long drive back to Tamarac throwing up from a combination of stress and margaritas. Later that night, Junior phoned the singer twice. Buju avoided the calls.

The next day, Thomas drove back to Sarasota alone and met Junior at an Applebee’s for a round of negotiations. Junior pushed to get Buju involved in that day’s antics. “He does not want to do nothing, man,” Thomas responded. “That’s not him, you know? Music, eat, sleep, shit every day.” Junior agreed to sell five kilos to Thomas’s connection in Georgia, then left the restaurant, called his supervisor at the Drug Enforcement Agency, and said it was a “miracle” that he held onto the deal.

On the morning of December 10, 2009, authorities busted Thomas and a guy from Georgia named James Mack at the Sarasota warehouse, where the two were caught with a gun and $135,000 in cash while trying to buy several kilos. Cops then pulled Buju from his Tamarac home and placed him under arrest on two charges: conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense — even though the firearm at issue was carried by Mack, not Buju.

It’s a case built upon the handiwork of a mendacious snitch — Alex Johnson, AKA Junior — with an extensive criminal history and clear financial motives to see Buju arrested. An aggressive federal prosecutor spent big in two weeklong trials in Tampa to secure a celebrity conviction. The saga sheds light on how far the government will go and how dirty it will play to win the few big battles left in the long-ago failed War on Drugs. Now, while one of the most successful and controversial Jamaican artists — a man who won a Grammy for best reggae album a year ago — sits in a Miami penitentiary, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals is considering whether unconstitutional tactics were used to nail a man who had no known criminal record.

Mark Anthony Myrie, better known by his nickname Buju (“Banton” is a title applied to storytellers and DJs), was born into the blistering heat of Kingston in July 1973. The youngest of 15, he grew up immersed in the poverty and political strife of a country that had gained its independence from the British Empire only a decade earlier. His mom sold provisions at the local market; his dad was out of the picture. As a young boy, he sneaked out at night and peeked into the nearby dancehalls to wtach locals perform.

I can remember there was a particular song by a great singer from my country by the name of Mr. Dennis Brown, and this song was called ‘Promised Land,'” Buju would later testify. “In those days, we lived in a — what is called a board house, and we had… like metal sheets on top of our roof. Whenever the sounds would be playing across the street, our neighboring community, it would shake the very foundations of this house. And I always admired that song and tell myself one day I want to be part of the… creation of this kind of music.”

Curly Cash, a Jamaican-born musician now living in Miami, remembers when Buju didn’t have a pair of shoes and owned few clothes beyond his khaki school uniform. They would hang around Kingston, Buju climbing orange trees to pluck his lunch. There was something pesky about him, Cash says. His confidence and determination seemed absurd for such a young boy. The older Cash once lent 20 bucks to Buju. He also suggested the boy spend some time looking for a job. But poor, hungry Buju just laughed. It was music or nothing.

United States Marshals Service
Buju’s mug shot after he was arrested at his Tamarac duplex in December 2009.

Buju and his Miami-based attorney, David Oscar Markus.
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Alexander JohnsonAlex JohnsonDavid Oscar MarkusReggaeArts, Entertainment, and Media
In the ’80s, it took months if not years for an artist to get into a recording booth in Jamaica. Aspiring performers waited around the gates of studios praying that a producer would give them a break. It was a rainy day when Buju’s chance came. He ended up in a taxi with an older DJ named Clement Irie who was going down to Blue Mountain studio. Irie wrapped up his set and asked the producer to give the boastful teenager a shot. The producer told Buju, who was then toasting under the moniker Gargamel, to sing when the red light came on.

“I didn’t stop singing until the rhythm itself stopped playing,” Buju recalled during court testimony. “When I opened my eyes and looked, they were all jumping around here like they liked what I was singing. Yeah, and that is where I really got my first start.”

He was pure dancehall, spitting out lascivious boasts over pummeling beats. His roaring delivery quickly became a trademark many would emulate. Buju began churning out singles, and in 1992, he broke Bob Marley’s record for number one hits in a year.

But also that year, “Boom Bye Bye,” a single he had recorded while still a teenager, was re-released. It is a violent antigay song that, among other things, discusses shooting homosexuals and burning them “like an old tire wheel.” The song opens with this declaration: “World is in trouble/Anytime Buju Banton come/Batty bwoy get up an run/At gunshot me head back/Hear I tell him now crew/It’s like, boom bye bye/Inna batty bwoy head. ” Batty bwoy is a derogatory term for gay men.

Buju’s old friend, silk-voiced reggae star Wayne Wonder, remembers how “Boom Bye Bye” came about. He and Buju blew up in Jamaica around the same time. In the early days, Wonder says, they would “campaign,” or party, through the dancehalls to build up their following. They collaborated on numerous hits at Kingston’s Penthouse Records and went on to tour Japan, Europe, and dozens of other places together.

“We were listening to Punanny Riddim [a popular reggae beat] in my two-door Civic [and] just picked up Buju,” Wonder recalls while working at his home studio in Davie. “We were driving back down and pick up one of my little girlfriends. And she gives us dis story about two guys who got caught in a bathroom. ‘Boom Bye Bye’ wasn’t intended for any animosity or to incite violence ‘pon gays and lesbians. It was just a personal thing, you know. And a vibe come out in the car, and Buju just says, ‘a boom bye bye in a batty bwoy head,'” Wonder recalls to the beat of the song as he rises out of his chair.

It is widely reported that the song was inspired by the rape and murder of a young boy by a gay man in Jamaica. While the song grew popular as a way for Jamaicans who were enraged by that incident to funnel their anger, it had the opposite effect in the United States and Europe. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and dozens of other groups denounced the violent lyrics as hate speech. His airplay abroad diminished. Labels took a step back. Even years after the song’s release, sponsors would back out of festivals when they learned Buju was on the bill.

Carolyn Cooper, PhD, a professor of literary and cultural studies at the University of West Indies, explains, “The Jamaican language is very metaphorical. I try to make the argument that when Buju says all homosexuals must die — it sounds very literal — it’s an indictment of homosexuality and not an incitement to actually kill all homosexuals.”

But people like Brian Winfield, managing director for Equality Florida, contend that “Boom Bye Bye” couldn’t be a clearer incitement of violence against gay people. “The lyrics talk about shooting gay people; they call on listeners to shoot gay people in the head and burn gay people with acid and fire,” he says. “[Buju] has been profiting off the song for 20 years.”

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2012-02-09/news/reggae-great-buju-banton-is-locked-up-on-dubious-drug-charges/2/

Dimplez

Met new drama inna dancehall KIKI CHERISH seh shi a breed fi Dimplez Instyle man BUT mi hear seh the man talk seh him wah a DNA