To Whom Much is Given...

This is ringing in my head so strong, and "no" I have not been watching "Spider Man." I have been in conversations and debates with many people, about the "realness" of GOD and how people are looking for "signs." What more do you need? First of all, you woke up this morning, like the old folks used to say, "enclothed in your right mind." This is where it ends though, because if you have grown enough to question GOD, you cannot possibly be in your right mind. The Bible says that, "HIS ways are not our ways..." Quite simply put, we obviously do not know what is best for us, we think we do, but we don't, and I can admit that.

Back to the topic, I was thinking about those who are so enamored with finances. They pray for financial freedom and they are not in a proper mind state to be able to handle any kind of prosperity. I have found myself in this situation, and until I am ready for a financial blessing, I will NOT receive one. So people, I ask you, please stop praying to become rich. That is just stupid. Instead pray for the understanding needed in order to handle finances whether it be what you have or what you would like to have, in this gaining of understanding, you are fulfilling the exhortation of,"...in all thy getting, get understanding." (Proverbs 4:7)

and as always,

Be blessed!

Truth of the Matter

As I sit here on the 16th of July 2009 reviewing some of the current events, I am going to share the "truth of the matter" like:

1) The media is so powerful they can fool people into believing things that are NOT true, the truth of the matter is that, as lovely a woman that Beyonce Knowles (Carter) is, she CANNOT sing. So many people are gassed up to see her and pay their (or someone else's) hard earned money for her concert. It really puzzles me.

2) While being an elected official is an honor and a privledge it comes with a lot of responsibility, the truth of the matter is, it SUCKS when you make decisions that effect people whose salaries more than double yours, in some cases....triple!

2b) Which leads me to this...since when did it become about anything else but the children? Truth of the matter is, people don't care, how do I know this? Because the very people that work in the neighborhood, will not allow their children to go to school in the very area that pays you an exorbitant amount of money, Whisket Tango Foxtrot is wrong with this picture?

3) Monica Conyers had "Kwame Kilpatrick Syndrome" squared. First of all, she was elected on her name (trust me, I have room to talk on this one...LOL) and she made a circus of the city council. However, more than that she probably thought that she was untouchable because of who her husband is. Truth of the matter is, let me say this so that you all understand where I am coming from....(clearing my throat)

If you break a federal law, the feds WILL GET YOU!

flat out, plain and simple.

4) What is the fascination with Sasha Baron whatshisname (Bruno and other ridiculous characters)? Truth of the matter is, his success is a reflection of how society is going to hell in a handbasket. Well he will not get ANY of my money, I guarentee it!

5) People are just stupid. I just have to be honest, truth of the matter is, if you dont have anything, dont put your mouth on someone who is working their behind off to provide for their family while you are a ward of the state, and my taxes are feeding your trifilng @$$!!!

6) In spite of everything GOD still loves us and HIS love is eternal and forgiveness is always available. Truth of the matter is, HIS mercy is new every morning and thank GOD because we are all human...

Mental Makeup (Integrity)

I was chatting with a young man when I realized something wife said, "We go through the things that we experience to help someone else." This was a profound statement. I think about the people who spoke to me and told me things that I dismissed as rhetoric. Now that those men are gone on, I recognize that the things that they said were true and I wish that I would have been listening a little closer.

These days, I am blessed to spend a LOT of time with my father. This time, I listen. Plain and simple, I know that I really don't know much and the wisdom that my father gives me is worth more than money can buy. I could literally write a book of the things that I have learned. A lot of things would actually raise some eyebrows, but that is for another time.

The greatest thing that I have learned from my father is integrity. You see, integrity is is defined by yours truly as just being real. If you say you're going to do something, do it. If you say you are going somewhere, go there. That is the greatest testament to you is your reputation, your name.

Imagine what happens when people know you are coming, they actually look forward to seeing you because it is a break from the phony and fake.

How is your mental makeup? Are you operating in integrity? Do people say that you are a man/woman of your word? That is my goal, because in all facets of my life, I have to be a man of integrity. In my relationship with my wife, I must have integrity. My wife needs to know that when I say something she can take it to the bank. My kids need to know that when dad says he is going to do something or take them somewhere, we are going.

Have I been this person always? No. I admit to that. However, I know that I have raised my level of integrity since I got a revelation. Your word is your bond. That is the basis of integrity. There is more such as doing the right thing all of the time, even when no one is watching.

What do you get when you are a man/ woman of integrity?

Trust.

Be Blessed!

Time

As I sit here watching the NBA draft, I ponder on the lives of Ed McMahon, Farah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson I hearken back to a time where I would sneak and stay up to watch the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson (still the best) if it was a Wednesday night I would have already watched Charlie's Angels and if I said I didn't like Mike, I would be lying.

While I could give a commentary on the three of them who died at the ages of 86, 62, and 50 respectively, I choose to zero in on the six year old who drowned at the Knights Inn a couple of days ago. What is my point? My point is this, 6 or 86 time is precious. You see not one of these people thought that this day would be the one that would be their last. They were in different places Ed and Farah had cancer, MJ died from heart failure and the child, well the child drowned. That's why my status showed Job 14:1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble." Your few may be more or less than my few but best believe a few is a few. We are obligated to make our "few" count. What are you doing to make your few count? Let your loved ones know what they mean to you. Repair broken relationships, remember, you are not judged on how people treat you, but how you treat people.

Be Blessed!

Husbands

As inspired by Pastor R.A.Vernon

Men men men. We here the word everyday. Phrases like, "I am man!" "Man I ain't no punk." "Man c'mon" and etc. What is it to be a real man? Most guys mistake masculinity for being a man. Most don't think about that. I know women who are heterosexual, who have masculine traits. Most not by choice, but they have been forced into having to be that role model. Some women are just better than their male counterparts at doing things that society deems "a man's job." One of my parents neighbors can be seen outside weekly cutting her grass, qhilw hwe husband goes in and out of the house. I even recall a few years ago, having to replace the faucet in my bathroom, I was attending a memorial for the father of one of my (military) brothers. My wife had arrived a little bit late when I said that I had to get home to fix that faucet. My wife informed me that she had already installed the new one.  A pleasant surprise to me, of course! My point is this, guys want a woman who is feminine, but these are the same individuals who have forced these same women to take on masculine traits. This is not an attack on all men, this is just something that was revealed to me by Pastor Vernon, and I would like to share with the husbands.

     How consistent are we? I mean seriously, how consistent are you? Is your integrity in line, do you do the right thing, even when no one is looking? Even when you know you could get away with it? Do we tell our spouses that we will do something, and then conveniently forget? Now memory loss does happen, but does it happen often when you tell your spouse that you will do something? Let's discuss this.

First lets look at Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Now this is a common passage of scripture and most men always want to go to the part where the wives are supposed to submit, we will deal with that a little bit later on.

Men we are tasked to love our wives as Christ loved the church, it doesn't say that we are to be "in love," it says "to love." In the comparative voice we (men) are compared to Christ, women are likened unto the church. I think that it is safe to say that Christ loves the church always no matter what. HIS love for us in unconditional and it always exists. HIS love is consistent. This is how we are to love our wives. We need to be constantly consistent. I had to learn this because I found my wife constantly getting on my nerves. This is a constant test, however Colossians 3:19 (KJV) states: "Husbands, love [your] wives, and be not bitter against them."  Kind of simple isn't it? 

Now back to the submission statement, the Bible instructs us in I Peter 3:7 (KJV) "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."

 The beauty of the Bible is the symmantical aspect of how it is written. Notice the Bible does not say that the wife "is" the weaker vessel it says to honour her "as unto" or as "if" she is the weaker vessel. If you think that a woman is weak, you try giving birth to a child. I personally want no part of the physical aspect of it. Why do you think that the curse that GOD placed on woman in the garden of Eden was to greatly multiply their sorrow in childbirth? All men got was to eat bread from the sweat of our face (Genesis 3:17-19). The final strike to women was that men would rule over them, nothing was stated that men rule over them because men are superior. Take that into consideration the next time you tell your significant other that they need to submit to you. Know the reason they are to submit, and then treat them as you are supposed to treat them. If you treat them in the correct GODLY manner, you will be blessed. If you go back to I Peter 3:7 the last part says, "and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."  

You see men, if you treat your wives the way that GOD intended, then your prayers will not be hindered. Here is a way to look at the whole thing, if a prayer is figuratively a dollar and a man is worth $.50 and you treating your wife like a quarter, you'll never add up to that dollar to get your prayer through, it will be hindered, because no matter what you do, you will never add up, but when you treat her like an equal you will make your endeavors successful. Together we are heirs, not one without the other.

Be blessed!

Memorial Day

This holiday has a special meaning to me. It was 4 years ago when I spent this holiday with an M-16 in 120 degree weather, with 35 lbs of gear on guarding our area. I often think back about 2004. Believe it or not, those times were not all bad. I grew close with guys whom I consider my brothers to this day. You see, when I come to you, I come from the perspective of a redeemed man of GOD, with an experience unlike most that we come into contact with. I have been in the heat of battle, I have been under attack in more ways than most of you could imagine, I have been involved in things that I am almost ashamed of, however I know I went through the experiences to edify my brothers and to educate young men who might be in need of guidance. 

The reason that I am reaching out is that we must be careful in how we address and use words like "into battle" and we "went to war." Now I know we as saints of GOD are in a spiritual battle, the Bible says that. However, when we are living our day to day lives, we are to be witnesses by our actions more so than our words. I tend to have issue with those who talk about being at war, and they have never even thought about enlisting in any military service. We do not choose our battles, we do not get to interject our opinion into what we are doing when we are in the desert, sweating like slaves shoveling lime into a hole that we use as a latrine. There is a lot of glamour that is portrayed concerning war and wartime situations, truth of the matter is this: IT IS NOT A GAME.  

I have been reading stories about my comrades who have given their mortal lives to help people who could not help themselves, a marine who saw two youngsters in the atlantic ocean and swam out to save them, only to surrender his life, when his daughter came out to help and had to choose between saving the teenagers or saving her father. Others who have made sacrifices: guys like Pat. Pat is a man who fought of a mugger who was attacking an elderly couple. Pat subdued the offender and held the guy, who was twice his size, until the police came and arrested him, he did this with no help from bystanders who chose to watch and not take action. Jarodd is another person, who awoke in his apartment smelling smoke coming from the hallway could have just easily got his wife out of the building, but he went above and beyond, he not only evacuated his wife, he got most of the tenants out of the building. These are things that most will not hear about. 

So as we turn in this Memorial Day let us not be so "super spiritual" that we cannot appreciate those who risk and have laid down their lives for their fellow man for Jesus said, 

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends"- John 15:13

Be Blessed!

Idolatry

After a brief hiatus, I have gotten somewhat of a revelation. This is not so much Biblical as it is something that just bothers me. Earlier this evening, the finals of American Idol were held and over 100 million people took the time to vote for someone. This leads me to question our country as a whole. In case you did not know, I recently was involved in the school board election in my neighborhood. I actually came in second with 166 votes. This is absolutely ridiculous! I am going to be effecting the decisions that help or possibly hinder the children in my community yet people feel that the Idol is more important than what is going on in their own community. Another example, the Mayoral election in Detroit. Only 15% of the registered voters showed up to vote. What further distrubs me are people who say that they don't vote. That is the DUMBEST thing that a person can say to me. People have DIED so that this skinny kid from Inkster could go to the polls and cast a simple little vote. I guess this is simply ignoracne overtaking the masses. Here is the Biblical relation, "My people perrish for a lack of knowledge..." How much do we value this simple life that we lead? It is just a vapor, yet, someone decided to lay down their own existence to allow both women and minorities to vote. The very same reason that we worship Jesus for laying down HIS life for us so that we may have life everlasting, Christians flock by the millions, yet we cannot get 1000 people to vote. What is up with this? The spirit of idolatry is alive within the world that we live in. There is nothing new under the sun, what the enemy tends to do is to rename and repackage sin and it becomes okay with the masses. For example idol worship. In ancient times one of the false gods were worshipped via the impregnating of women, inducing them to give birth to the child (alive or dead) and sacrificing the child, in a jar, by fire. How does this relate to anything? Check out how abortion is actually completed and you tell me. People please wake up. Like the old song says, "Time is winding up."

Be Blessed!