There is no way that I could let time pass without saying anything about this terrible situation that has happened. We have all been watching, listening, and participating in what has become a tragic event surrounding one young man and his family to people protesting all over the country about justice for this young man who was gunned down. What is causing people to be extremely upset and irate is the fact that all Trayvon had in his hand was a can of Arizona Ice Tea and a bag of skittles, that the gunman, George Zimmerman felt was a threat enough to kill him. Regardless of Zimmerman being told to stop following Trayvon and leave him alone he continued following this young man and later killed him for being a 'threat' to the community. The nation is in an uproar, while wearing the gear of Trayvon Martin, a hoodie; because while Trayvon's family is planning a funeral, George Zimmerman has been allowed to seemingly walk away from this crime...FREE!!! Are you serious?!?
What kind of world do we live in where you can now kill people just for looking like they are a threat?!?!? What kind of world do we live in where you still get nasty looks and bullet wounds just for the color of one's skin??? Be honest with me for a moment...Soon after 9-11 happened, every time you saw an Arabic person, your thoughts turned to anger and annoyance because they had the appearance of a threat!
I'll be honest, as a pastor, who feels called to address and speak on social concerns will no doubt this week at church be in a hoodie while I preach! Though there had been much discussion on what will wearing hoodies do, or information surrounding how Trayvon died is not really an issue for me. The facts are clear that Zimmerman was told to STOP following Trayvon, and I would suggest that if he was obedient to police Trayvon would still be alive. I do however want to post something that I find extremely shocking yet eye opening:
George Zimmerman, after his shooting was allowed to walk around like nothing happened. Despite reports that he has feared for his life because of threats on his life, he still has his life. I want to focus on the FACT that it was almost like he carried on like nothing happened...DESPITE his shooting and killing Trayvon Martin....BUT (and I know this is rough to compare) isn't that was God does for us?!??! We do crazy crimes every day against God...and yet He allows us to go around like everything is fine. His grace toward us is crazy isn't it?
I do however long for the day, when these situations won't happen. When we all get to heaven and true justice will always be the rule of the day. Be blessed!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Waiting
One of the most difficult things for us to do is wait on God. Most of us are right now, waiting for God to do something specific in our lives. I continue to wait for 100 percent healing in my body. For some, you may be waiting for God to give you a much needed job. Others may be waiting on him to bless you with a life partner in marriage. Still others may be waiting on God to work out particular situations in your life that no one knows about but it definitely keeps you up at night! We are all waiting on God for something...
If you are like me, especially because its something I feel every single day, you get frustrated, disappointed and wonder at times if God is even listening to your prayers. If you are like me there are, if you are honest with yourself, times when you don't even feel like praying because you have been praying the same thing for so long and you haven't seen any desirable results from your prayers. Its at this particular time that I have learned in my world that the Enemy loves to come and play the most mind tricks with you. He will literally talk to you and say things like this: God is lying to you. You know its because of something that you did as to why God hasn't answered your request yet right? You are not good enough for God to answer that prayer! You should just stop praying and do something better with your time! Anybody ever felt or heard these things? They came from the devil! I hate him and and now realizing more than ever that for many of us, we have listening to the devil for so long that we have forgotten what God has told us already:
They that wait on the Lord
He will renew their strength
They will mount up on wings as eagles
They will run and not be weary
They will walk and not faint
I'm not that young and I'm not that old, but I do know that God has never lied to me. If he said it, I know that one day, and it could be just around the corner, that God WILL make good on His promise! Besides, there's something that you learn about yourself while waiting on God. You learn how far away from him you currently are. When you wait it reveals how many of his promises you may not know, which allows the enemy to tell you something that God hasn't said. Can I encourage you that while you, like me, wait on God to perform something in your life: Find as many promises in His word as you can. Memorize them, Read them back to yourself and Remember how powerful our God really is!!! Thats what I've learned to do...In my world, in wash's world!
If you are like me, especially because its something I feel every single day, you get frustrated, disappointed and wonder at times if God is even listening to your prayers. If you are like me there are, if you are honest with yourself, times when you don't even feel like praying because you have been praying the same thing for so long and you haven't seen any desirable results from your prayers. Its at this particular time that I have learned in my world that the Enemy loves to come and play the most mind tricks with you. He will literally talk to you and say things like this: God is lying to you. You know its because of something that you did as to why God hasn't answered your request yet right? You are not good enough for God to answer that prayer! You should just stop praying and do something better with your time! Anybody ever felt or heard these things? They came from the devil! I hate him and and now realizing more than ever that for many of us, we have listening to the devil for so long that we have forgotten what God has told us already:
They that wait on the Lord
He will renew their strength
They will mount up on wings as eagles
They will run and not be weary
They will walk and not faint
I'm not that young and I'm not that old, but I do know that God has never lied to me. If he said it, I know that one day, and it could be just around the corner, that God WILL make good on His promise! Besides, there's something that you learn about yourself while waiting on God. You learn how far away from him you currently are. When you wait it reveals how many of his promises you may not know, which allows the enemy to tell you something that God hasn't said. Can I encourage you that while you, like me, wait on God to perform something in your life: Find as many promises in His word as you can. Memorize them, Read them back to yourself and Remember how powerful our God really is!!! Thats what I've learned to do...In my world, in wash's world!
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Inhale
A few years ago, I was pumping gas at a station on a chilly fall day. I stayed outside of my car while I filled up my tank even though it was rather cold. Just across from me there was a car with a lady who was filling up her car as well, but because of the chill she decided to wait inside while her tank was filling up. While her tank was filling up I noticed something extremely sad but also interesting. A young man, who appeared to be her son, was inside the car sitting in the passenger seat. While he sat there, the lady proceeded to pull out a cigarrette and began to smoke. I have probably seen it before, but this time I watched it with fresh eyes. Here was a mother who was smoking with her son sitting there inhaling everything that she was putting out. The windows were rolled up and there was no escape from him inhaling ALL of the nicotine that she blew out. Whether or not he wanted to smoke didn't matter. He was smoking, just because of his proximaty to his mother. Because of how close he was sitting to her and the fact that there was no other ventilation, he was taking in everything.
While driving home, God gave me this revelation: Wouldn't it be great, if I was so close to Jesus that I inhaled everything that He put out?!?!? Every blessing, every miracle, every instruction, every direction that I needed to be absorbed in my life would be received because of how close I was to him! What usually happens to most of us though is that we end up chocking and coughing terribly in life because we are inhaling the wrong people, places, and things. We get so close to certain people that we inhale every bad habit that they give off. We get extremely close to certain places (not for the sake of ministry lol) that the poor stench of remains on us for years! We get too close to things that we wonder why is so hard to shake bad habits!
However the word is clear: By beholding we become changed! Our behavior really reveals what we are inhaling!!! Are you chocking your way through life? Or do you breathe easy? iNHALE Jesus today!
While driving home, God gave me this revelation: Wouldn't it be great, if I was so close to Jesus that I inhaled everything that He put out?!?!? Every blessing, every miracle, every instruction, every direction that I needed to be absorbed in my life would be received because of how close I was to him! What usually happens to most of us though is that we end up chocking and coughing terribly in life because we are inhaling the wrong people, places, and things. We get so close to certain people that we inhale every bad habit that they give off. We get extremely close to certain places (not for the sake of ministry lol) that the poor stench of remains on us for years! We get too close to things that we wonder why is so hard to shake bad habits!
However the word is clear: By beholding we become changed! Our behavior really reveals what we are inhaling!!! Are you chocking your way through life? Or do you breathe easy? iNHALE Jesus today!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Jeremy Lin
I couldn't resist the urge to blog about the person who many people are talking about in the sports world...Jeremy Lin. This guy can shoot, pass, dribble...He does it all!!! Who would have thought that mid way into the NBA season for this year that we would be talking about this guy? Last year he couldn't even get on the court. He averaged just under 3 points a game last year with the Golden State Warriors but this year he is the starting point guard on the New York Knicks and is surpassing everyone's expectations of him.
He graduated from Harvard University, a school not noted for sports but for academics and almost slides his way into the dream of his lifetime...playing in the NBA!!! With poise, grace, and a winning record he continues to WOW audiences, fans, coaches, and players who almost look forward to what will be the next thing he will surprise them with.
As I think about Jeremy Lin, I can't help but to think of the fact that last year nobody talked about him, but this year people can't stop talking about him! What excites me about Jeremy Lin, is not his popularity...its his will to keep pushing to be better! Most of us would be content with just being in the NBA, making a lot of money, and having people call your name. Many of us would be fine with just having said that we got on the roster of a NBA team; but what I like about Jeremy Lin is that he is not content with staying where he is.
As believers we can NEVER get comfortable with where we are with God! There is always more bible to ready, always more time that can be spent, always more prayer and communication that can be done...There is always something that we as believers can improve on! Don't become satisfied with status quo living! Don't get happy or satisfied with where you are! Don't be ok with being in the same place this year that you were last year. There should be something different in your game; improvement in your speed; and what most of us have a problem with...BEING MORE COACHABLE as a believer!
Lets improve!!! Lets grow!!!
He graduated from Harvard University, a school not noted for sports but for academics and almost slides his way into the dream of his lifetime...playing in the NBA!!! With poise, grace, and a winning record he continues to WOW audiences, fans, coaches, and players who almost look forward to what will be the next thing he will surprise them with.
As I think about Jeremy Lin, I can't help but to think of the fact that last year nobody talked about him, but this year people can't stop talking about him! What excites me about Jeremy Lin, is not his popularity...its his will to keep pushing to be better! Most of us would be content with just being in the NBA, making a lot of money, and having people call your name. Many of us would be fine with just having said that we got on the roster of a NBA team; but what I like about Jeremy Lin is that he is not content with staying where he is.
As believers we can NEVER get comfortable with where we are with God! There is always more bible to ready, always more time that can be spent, always more prayer and communication that can be done...There is always something that we as believers can improve on! Don't become satisfied with status quo living! Don't get happy or satisfied with where you are! Don't be ok with being in the same place this year that you were last year. There should be something different in your game; improvement in your speed; and what most of us have a problem with...BEING MORE COACHABLE as a believer!
Lets improve!!! Lets grow!!!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
RSVP Believers
My apologies for not blogging in a while. I have been investing most of my time trying to finish my book, and last week I actually finished so thank you for those who have been praying for my completion!
Before I begin today's blog, I want to place a disclaimer and say that this blog is specifically directed towards believers. Its directed toward people who profess to believe in Jesus Christ and desire His presence in their lives.
That being said I wanted to reflect on some events that have happened in recent history. This past weekend people all over the world started mourning the loss of an African-American and music icon: Whitley Houston. With shock people took in the news on this past Saturday night, as reports were spread throughout the news, social media networks, text messages, and phone calls about her passing. As you can remember, it was similar to what happened when another African-American and pop icon, Michael Jackson died. Please, don't misunderstand me, I am not in any way minimizing their deaths. Anytime ANYONE dies its another sign of how much of a punk the devil really is!
However this blog is directed toward believers, and I must say that I am a bit confused...While I was shocked to hear the news of the passing Whitney Houston as well; I was also a bit shocked at the response of most believers. People were crying and giving commentary about how much she would be missed. Believers, Followers of Jesus were, it appeared so overcome with every conceivable emotion. As I stated before, I am not minimizing or disregarding her death at all, but this is directed toward believers: Why is it that we as believers can get more emotional about people who we don't personally know and yet we seldom get excited, emotional, or enthusiastic about Jesus who we claim to love so much!
Maybe thats why the world has rejected Jesus so much, His representatives are so poor! Please understand that God's will is always accomplished, however aren't we oftentimes such poor representatives for him?! We, as believers, will shout, scream, cry over celebrities that we've never met. We will run around, cheer, and wear clothing, representing our favorite sports teams....AND yet it seems that Christ seldom gets glory from our lives.
Many of us waiting up on Sunday night to watch the Grammy Award Show, a show that many of us haven't watched in years. We waiting up and sat on the edge of our seats to see how they would pay tribute to our beloved Whitney Houston. We went to sleep extremely disappointed as the tribute was, to us, not a good representative of her lifetime accomplishments. We then, as believers, were upset at the seemingly demonic performance by Nikki Minaj. We sat there saying to ourselves, what in the world is this?!? But why wouldn't secular programs have a secular influence? We shouldn't get mad at her. My anger is with myself that my Holy Ghost influence isn't at most times as influential as her demonic one was. When is the last time that people talked for weeks about the performance of God in your life! Will the real believers please stand up...RSVP!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Encouragement
I have learned in my world that EVERYONE goes through low moments of despair. Sometimes there are things we go through that we would have never dreamed that we would experience. For some of you, our lives have been so difficult that they would pay you to make a movie out of your life story. It doesn't matter who we are or where we were born; anyone who is alive has gone through at least one thing that causes you to question things, cry much, or drop to your knees in prayer.
As I've talked about in earlier blogs, one of the things that really helps in our moments of despair is when we surround ourselves with people who we know have encouraging spirits. There are far too many of us who actually begin enjoying our moments of despair and will invite thousands of people to our pity party because we don't have people in our lives who encourage us. One of the things that has been rather difficult for me when I was at my lowest points of health was hearing people who really knew how to encourage me. There are times when we definitely have to do like David and encourage ourselves in the Lord; but there are other times when we find ourselves in a garden of gethsemane and look for people who can just pray for one hour!
I encourage anyone who is reading this blog right now to make sure that you have in your life right now at least ONE person who will do the following:
1. Who will NOT co-sign on your mess. Don't crowd yourself around people who keep you where you are. Stay away from people who tell you that its okay to stay stuck on stupid and parked on crazy.
2. Who will be honest with you about who you are. Don't accept people's lies about yourself. Don't tell me stuff that will allow me to stay beneath my potential
3. Who love you unconditionally. Oftentimes relationships are based on ifs. Some of the people in your life are only there because of something, and if that something wasn't there neither would they be.
4. Who know how to encourage you. We all hit low moments and need people to speak peace and a Word from God into our lives
As I've talked about in earlier blogs, one of the things that really helps in our moments of despair is when we surround ourselves with people who we know have encouraging spirits. There are far too many of us who actually begin enjoying our moments of despair and will invite thousands of people to our pity party because we don't have people in our lives who encourage us. One of the things that has been rather difficult for me when I was at my lowest points of health was hearing people who really knew how to encourage me. There are times when we definitely have to do like David and encourage ourselves in the Lord; but there are other times when we find ourselves in a garden of gethsemane and look for people who can just pray for one hour!
I encourage anyone who is reading this blog right now to make sure that you have in your life right now at least ONE person who will do the following:
1. Who will NOT co-sign on your mess. Don't crowd yourself around people who keep you where you are. Stay away from people who tell you that its okay to stay stuck on stupid and parked on crazy.
2. Who will be honest with you about who you are. Don't accept people's lies about yourself. Don't tell me stuff that will allow me to stay beneath my potential
3. Who love you unconditionally. Oftentimes relationships are based on ifs. Some of the people in your life are only there because of something, and if that something wasn't there neither would they be.
4. Who know how to encourage you. We all hit low moments and need people to speak peace and a Word from God into our lives
Friday, January 20, 2012
Lost
I had the privilege this week to go to New York, NY and visit in Manhattan. It was great catching up with good friends and seeing sights and watching a play and just enjoying each other's company. Its been a while since I experienced New York traffic (which is like none other) and so I was cautious when driving around in the city.
While leaving the city in the evening I had an unexpected revelation from God that I wanted to share. As I was pulling out, I had my gps out and ready to show me how to get out of the city. Traffic wasn't too bad as it was around 10p. As I was driving out of the city though, for some reason the gps was not giving me proper directions. Even when I thought it was showing me the correct way to go, I ended up in another area trying to find my way out of there. I would circle around and then hear on my gps what we all hear from a gps when we have made wrong turns: "recalculating". I was hearing that a little too much on this night! I finally pulled off to the side, but because of traffic and some cars not moving I found my way still basically in the middle of the street, but because I didn't know where I was going I said to myself: "I'm not going anywhere until I know where I am going". Despite the constant honking of horns (for some reason the horns in NY seems so much louder...lol), the hand and verbal gestures and even police cars telling me to move on; I told myself that I wasn't moving until I knew I was going to be headed in the right direction. What's the use of going around in circles, burning up unnecessary gas, and getting more and more frustrated...when I don't have a clue where I'm going.
I was able to finally get my bearings and gps got on track and I found myself on the correct way home. God taught me an extremely valuable lesson through this. Most of us are going around in circles in life, frustrated on our jobs, fed up in our relationships, and are oftentimes very moody people because we are literally LOST and don't have a clue what we are doing or where we are going! Do you often always find fault with everyone else but yourself? Do you spend a lot of time critiquing other people's lives and how they are living them? Do you often get frustrated in your position in life and know that you are smarter than your current bank account? Be honest with yourself today and understand and realize that you may actually be lost...Lost in your purpose and direction in life and what you were actually created for.
I want to encourage you today, and let you know that its okay if you are lost, because if you feel that you are lost today, recognizing you are lost is a great step in finding out how you can get on the right track!!! What most of us have to understand though is that you can't get on track constantly hanging out with people who are lost and off track as well. Get in His word, Listen to His Spirit, and allow Him to show you what the next move is. Pull over, take some time, get refocused...and allow Jesus to get you in Purpose! God bless you as you get where you need to be in God!
While leaving the city in the evening I had an unexpected revelation from God that I wanted to share. As I was pulling out, I had my gps out and ready to show me how to get out of the city. Traffic wasn't too bad as it was around 10p. As I was driving out of the city though, for some reason the gps was not giving me proper directions. Even when I thought it was showing me the correct way to go, I ended up in another area trying to find my way out of there. I would circle around and then hear on my gps what we all hear from a gps when we have made wrong turns: "recalculating". I was hearing that a little too much on this night! I finally pulled off to the side, but because of traffic and some cars not moving I found my way still basically in the middle of the street, but because I didn't know where I was going I said to myself: "I'm not going anywhere until I know where I am going". Despite the constant honking of horns (for some reason the horns in NY seems so much louder...lol), the hand and verbal gestures and even police cars telling me to move on; I told myself that I wasn't moving until I knew I was going to be headed in the right direction. What's the use of going around in circles, burning up unnecessary gas, and getting more and more frustrated...when I don't have a clue where I'm going.
I was able to finally get my bearings and gps got on track and I found myself on the correct way home. God taught me an extremely valuable lesson through this. Most of us are going around in circles in life, frustrated on our jobs, fed up in our relationships, and are oftentimes very moody people because we are literally LOST and don't have a clue what we are doing or where we are going! Do you often always find fault with everyone else but yourself? Do you spend a lot of time critiquing other people's lives and how they are living them? Do you often get frustrated in your position in life and know that you are smarter than your current bank account? Be honest with yourself today and understand and realize that you may actually be lost...Lost in your purpose and direction in life and what you were actually created for.
I want to encourage you today, and let you know that its okay if you are lost, because if you feel that you are lost today, recognizing you are lost is a great step in finding out how you can get on the right track!!! What most of us have to understand though is that you can't get on track constantly hanging out with people who are lost and off track as well. Get in His word, Listen to His Spirit, and allow Him to show you what the next move is. Pull over, take some time, get refocused...and allow Jesus to get you in Purpose! God bless you as you get where you need to be in God!
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