The Other Side of #Blacklivesmatter

While we are protesting, marching and declaring #blacklivesmatter we are still seeing self destrruction in every major city in this country. It is tragic that lives have been lost to over agressive policing, but it is inexcusable the way we continue to exterminate ourselves with gun violence. How can we believe anybody else should be outraged by loss of life in our community when we prove on a regular basis we don't rightly value our own lives? In a sleepy little town like Summerville, South Carolina we are experiencing death by gun slayings much too often. It was personally heart breaking to sit in the home of another mother that has lost her son to gun violence. This boy attended the church I serve from the time he was a baby and he is now dead. His mother tried so hard to rescue her son but she was not successful. He sat in our Sunday school, children's church and regularly attended our youth SHARE service. I know we can't save them all, but how did we miss it so badly? What didn't we do that we should have done? Why couldn't I get through to this young man? How is it that with so many churches in so many of our black neighborhoods our boys are choosing gangs over Christian fellowship? We have to find a way to change these hard realities. We have got to errect a plan that gets our youth to see their value and the opportunities they have to be great. Our great God has put greatness in every life and we must teach our kids how to tap into it. Our kids have got to know what it is to dream big again. There is obviously too much despair overtaking them. Too many of them don't believe they can make it without getting involved with crime. Crime leads to death. The strange quality of being young is the thought that death will always and only touch somebody else. They don't seem to believe that death can catch up to them. Well it is and way too often. Why is it so difficult for them to see life as a positive possibility? Apparently we are not representing life well when so many are by defalt choosing death. As frustrating and overwhelming as it may be something has to be done. We have got to have a step by step, long range, systematic strategy to address this crisis.  Instead of getting lost in the problem we have to start thinking from the middle of the solution. There is an answer. The answer is love. Jesus is love and we have to lift Him up in ways that they can truly see Him. After all, "love never fails."This is our challenge. We have to rise and fix this in His name. Let's work it out!

A Few Personal Thoughts on Our Community

I’m sure this is not going to be a popular entry. I’m not the leader of anything but a small church. I don’t hold a PHD in anything. What I’m saying doesn’t represent anyone, but me. This is strictly my point of view.  I believe that we do have a serious issue in our country concerning justice with minorities. The most public and recent examples are only visible signs of things that have been happening in minority communities for a very long time. The response to this crisis has been strong and outside of a few exceptions peaceful. The cry for change has picked up considerable momentum all across the country and that’s a wonderful thing. We should continue to push for equality in our justice system.

I believe we also need to take a long look at our community and strategically plan where we are going to go from here. This is where some corrective action needs to take place among ourselves and probably where some will begin to tune me out. I don’t know why we fight so hard against constructive criticism. Everyone needs to hear hard truth once in a while.  I think there are three things we can do to see positive change and increased health in our community.

One thing we need to do is solve our identity crisis. Do we really want to keep promoting the image of gangsters and half naked women as role models for success?  Do we want to continue to be portrayed as a people that are almost always angry? Why do we continue to allow these negative stereotypes to be blasted all over television? Why do we promote fights, cursing contests and lewd dancing all over our timelines via social media? Are we really happy that the world sees us like that? Is that the way we really see ourselves? Do we really believe that a group of our women can’t go to a restaurant without fussing at each other in full volume? Do we think there are no couples amongst us that can be faithful to their wedding vowels? Why is it that a family with class and dignity, like the 1^st Family of our nation, are viewed as sell outs by so many of us? Is our idea of success so twisted that a suit, an education, monogamy and functional behavior means being ethnically untrue?  One of the things we need to boycott is this genre of filthy shows that perpetuate such a negative image of who we are. Then we need to challenge each other on social media to clean up negative, stereotypical image entries on our timelines. It’s not cute. It’s not funny. It’s damaging us more than we realize.

The next thing we need to do is obey the law. Law and order does not just apply when our civil rights are being violated. The laws of the land are in place so that we can live in peace. I’m aware that allot of things that happen to us are a result of laws being disproportionately applied. I know that other people groups commit crimes and get away with it at a higher rate than us, but we place ourselves in bad positions when we engage in criminal behavior. We should stand up and protest for due process and fair and equal treatment. We should also be law abiding citizens. We should also teach our children to do the right things in and out of our presence. The violence that we have allowed to spiral out of control in many of our neighborhoods is unacceptable. Turning blind eyes to continuous criminal behavior and refusing to report those that commit crimes right in front of us because of some upside down honor code is not helping us fix our problems at all. We have to clean up our own act. Nobody else can do that for us.

Lastly and most importantly we need a restored spiritual dependence on Almighty God. We talk a great spiritual talk but we are lacking the living evidence of a true connection with God. Our churches have very little influence. Our preachers and I am a preacher, have become essentially ineffective. Our view of God is "He’s only for emergencies" while we live however we choose. These things are a formula for long term disaster in any community. Deserting God can never bring good results. When we decide we will firm up our relationship with God in a way that is real and serious we will see change. Individuals must repent and return to God through Christ. Preachers must forsake personal agendas and live and lead as The Lord directs. Churches must reconnect with communities in meaningful ways so these complex issues can begin to be reversed. Any meaningful progress must begin with God. He is Lord and therefore He must be first.

I realize I have just poured out my personal feelings here. I’m not even sure I have an audience that can do much about what I’m trying to say. I do declare that I’m willing to be part of the solution. I’m willing to join in with those that want to do more than just make some noise. If you feel that way, talk to me.

#FERGUSON

I am disappointed with the grand jury decision but not surprised. The anger that is being destructively released in some cases is not a surprise either. I suppose there are a couple of questions we need to ask and answer. How do we respond to this situation in a way that is constructive? What can we do that will bring change to these types of injustices? It seems that the only language people in power understand is money. Pressure is what brings social change. Civil rights laws were passed due to unified pressure. A great deal of that pressure came through economic boycotts. Even the recent emphasis of domestic violence and child abuse issues via the NFL is driven by money. If we really want to see these situations begin to turn we have to use our collective economic influence. Stevie Wonder and others had it right when they talked about boycotting Florida after the horrible verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. We just didn't have the collective will to follow through. We have a trememndous opportunity to make a national statement this Friday. We need to hold every "Black Dollar" on this "Black Friday." One day of discipline refusing to spend money anywhere for any reason will have an impact. This has been suggested by others and in my view it is the best place to start. We can only do something about this together. How long are we going to be willing to go backwards before we use our collective strength?

#BLACKFRIDAYBOYCOTT

Goals

Setting goals and reaching them can be significant to our life improvement program. According to those with much more experience than myself, our goals need to be specific, measurable, agreeable, realistic, and timed. We should know exactly what we want to accomplish, how we will know it has been accomplished and when our deadline for the achievement is. What we want to accomplish should be in line with our core values. Once we have all those things in place, the only ingredient that remains is discipline. The best made plans mean very little until hard work kicks in. The whole idea of this blog, no matter the topic, is nothing worthwhile comes to us without hard work. We are responsible to do consistently what needs to be done to move forward. Magic formulas for success and lucky breaks to stardom are rare. The overwhelming majority of us must draw a target and then work hard to hit it. Work it out!

Faith That Looks Beyond

Hebrews 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.


On our faith journey we will develop an attitude of detachment as we grow. In our baby stages we feel as though the only signs of active faith are matrial blessings sent our way. As we mature we begin to understand that everything that is here on earth will be consumed by firey judgement. What we stack up down here means very little. Every material status symbol is going to burn and melt. It is only what we do to rescue and impact souls that will matter beyond the earth. We may not like to think about it but there is coming a day when time will be no more. The real key to effecive living is doing things that will endure forever. Work it out!

Faith and God's Timing

Hebrews 11:11 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

The miracle power of God is real. The promises that God makes are true. The difficulty of application for us is discerning God's timing. When we are believing God for something we tend to place an urgency on it that makes us impatient. God is not in a hurry. God is not going to be hurried by us. He knows what He wants to do. He knows when He wants to do it. He is faithful and will fulfill His promises, but He is not impressed by our tantrums. Sara considered God faithful and yet she still had to wait. The Lord kept the promise that was made but there was a twentyfive year gap between promise and realization. We will enjoy what God has promised, but we need to learn whatever lessons He is teaching in the meantime. There is no need to be miserable while we wait. There is no need to compound the situation we may be in further by moving ahead of God. We will wait as long as it takes anyway. We might as well grow in grace while we are waiting. Work it out!

Faith and God's Promise

Hebrews 11:9 By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:

Abraham moved all around in the land of promise like he was a stranger in a foreign country. He dwelt in tents which demonstrated his nomadic existence. We can be in possession of a promise from God, enjoying the promise of God and it can still seem strange to us. We can hold blessings in our lives and not even be aware of what we hold. The promises of God are so far above and beyond the flow of this natural world order that we must be spiritually senstive to understand what we have. The other thing that strikes me in this verse is the tent dwelling life. We don't like change and movement very much which is why it's so hard for most of us to live by faith. We can get so comfortable with what was, that we can totally miss what can be. Faith and movement go hand in hand. We must be careful not to get stuck in somethimng that's over. When we can fold up our tents and move to whatever is next we are following the example of Abraham, our faith father. Work it out!   

Following by Faith

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went.

Abraham went out not knowing where he went. He did that by faith. We have already seen how faith must have some type of direction from God. Abraham heard the call. When direction has been received something must be done. Abraham got up from where he was. He followed God even though he didn't know where he was going. Not knowing is an element that is very basic to faith. Nevertheless, it is still the element that challenges us the most. We like to know, or at least have a pretty good idea, of what the outcome will be. We want to predict the consequences of our obedience before we even take a step. Well, God wants us to learn how to trust Him with the consequences. When He directs we can move even when we don't know how things will work. He wants us to have such a firm believe in His character that we can move out when we don't understand His plan. This is not easy, but we miss a great deal of God's glory when we are determined to be safe all the time. The faith adventure was not just for Abraham. We are being summoned to walk with God by faith without having all the details too. Work it out! 

Faith that Hears

Hebrews 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing where he went.

The first thing this text tells us is that Abraham heard the call of God. Faith is looking for direction from God. Faith hears when God speaks that direction into our lives. The call of God is for every man, woman, boy and girl to be saved from sin. It takes faith in the work of Christ on the cross to see that call fulfilled. The call of God is for us to follow Christ as faithful disciples. We are not here on earth to see how much stuff we can gather. We are here to do the will of God. Our faith when accurately applied prioritizes obedience to the word of God and the Spirit of Christ. When we stop learning from Christ and following the leadership of Christ we have also stopped walking in true faith. The danger in allot of these modern faith notions is they push what we want over and above what God wants. We are called by God for a purpose that He has chosen. Our faith walk is designed to have His purpose realized through us. Any other brands of faith no matter how pragmatic or attractive are outside of proper, Biblical boundaries. Hear God's call and walk by faith. Work it out!

Faith and Action

Hebrews 11:7 By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

Today let's focus on the phrase Noah "prepared an ark to the saving of his house;" After receiving God's message and adopting an attitude of reverence, Noah did something that many people don't do. He acted on the message. He obeyed the word he received. He verified his faith as genuine with the works that followed. How can we ever know that God will open up the windows of heaven and pour out blessings if we don't bring Him the tenth? How can we depend on seeing God's guaranteed provision of food and clothing if we do not seek first the kingdom of God? How can we know eternal life is real if we don't embrace Christ The Son? The message that comes from God is not given to inform and entertain us. The message requires an obedient response. Noah received a word to build a ship. He built it and his household was saved. We receive results from God when we act on the word of God. Work it out!   

Faith and Reverence

Hebrews 11:7 "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house;"

Noah followed the direction of God by his faith. Noah also acted upon the direction of God with an attitude of reverence. He moved with fear. He operated in holy fear. He did his work with a sense of awe. He knew the God directing him is altogether awesome. Reverence seems to be greatly lacking in our times. We hear so much about what faith can do that we end up hearing very little about what faith should do. Our faith, when properly adjusted to who God is, should be saturated with reverence. The ways of our Lord are still high enough to blow our minds and we should never forget it. The person and work of Christ are more significant than any individual and their accomplishments could ever be. God's power is not just to be appreciated and valued for what it can do for us, we reverence Him and what He has done and can do all around us. May we never forget that the One we are in relationship with is greater than all. He is an awesome God. He is not ust to be adored. He is to be reverently feared. Work it out!  

Warned by Faith

Hebrews 11:7  "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear..."   Noah was an amazing individual that provides for us an interesting twist on faith. By faith Noah was blessed with the benefits of God's warning. With hindsight, we know what Noah and his family were preserved from. In the days of the warning he knew none of the things from the story that we know. He didn't know what a boat was but he built a great boat. He didn't klnow what a flood was but he was saved from a severe flood. He didn't know what rain was but he built shelter from the rain. He did all of that because by faith he received the message that God spoke to him. The warning that God gave Noah was in response to all the wickedness that was in the earth. Do we know how to receive a warning from God by faith? Are we so comfort and blessing oriented that we are dull concerning the warnings that can help us just as much? Do we recognize that God is still angry at sin everyday? Words of warning from God are just as essential to our well being as words of comfort. In these dangerous times of ever increasing wickedness we had better open our spiritual ears. God does still warn those that have the faith to hear Him. Work it out!

God Still Does It

(Hebrews 11:3 AMP) By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. 

All of the things we now view around us came from a place that is immaterial. Not only that, the ages are programmed to unfold according to God's intented purpose. This great God of ours has commanded something to come out of nothing. We enjoy what He has called into existence everyday. He has also set things in orderly patterns so that what happens fits into His purpose. It is way beyond us to understand how evil, free will, and unbelief can be calculated into the purpose of God. In ways that only He completely understands He makes it all work together. Although He doesn't cause everything He is big enough and great enough to use everything that happens for His glory and our good. Even better news for us is our faith in God can still cause visible help to come from invisible places. Our faith in God can still introduce order into chaotic environments. We cannot sit around and continually watch things that need to be changed as if we are impotent. We are citizens of the kingdom of God. We must believe that his kingdom is to come and His will is to be done on earth as it is in heaven. The things we do not see are the things we need to believe God for. The chaotic scene that threatens our peace is the very setting we must by faith introduce order into. God still does what nees to be done. The question is can we believe He is able to do it in our everyday situations. Work it out!  

Pleasing God by Faith

(Hebrews 11:5-6 MSG) By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. They looked all over and couldn't find him. We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken he pleased God. It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. 

Some of the faith topics I have been explaining are not nearly as glamorous as much of what we hear about faith in our times. These topics may not be as flashy but they are basic and essential to mature spiritual living. Our self centered nature has thrown us off course in many ways. We have forgotten that the primary reason we exist is to glorify God. So much faith is exercised in order for our lives to be more pleasing to us. We need to take a serious look at how much emphasis we actually place on pleasing the only one that really matters. The Lord of heaven and earth is the one who is to be pleased. Every word of our speech should be pleasing to the Master. The literal steps of our daily walk should be taken with pleasing God in mind. The things we allow to enter our bodies should be ingested with the pleasure of our heavenly Father as the goal. It is not the spectacular event but the ordinary everyday expressions of life that defines our faith. Utilizing faith with the focal point of pleasing God in all we do will keep us on target. Work it out!

Our Best by Faith

God is going to be generous to us anyway; Isn't it time for us to refocus our attention on bringing Him the best we have to offer. We have been given an example in Hebrews 11:4 MSG. "By an act of faith Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain…" Abel went to the best group of lambs and then took from them the best lamb of the bunch. He gave God the very best he could offer Him. Instead of us whining to God about all the things we want, we should concentrate on giving Him the best of ourselves. We know Him to be wiser, greater, more generous than anyone we could ever come in contact with. It doesn't take faith in our faith to get something from Him. We don't have to get all the faith formulas down just right to impress God. Good and giving is just who He is. Our focus needs to be more about giving God what He wants. He is worthy of the best of our time, the best of our talent, the best of our resources, the best of our energy. It is improper for us in light of the absolute supremacy of God to always be thinking about ourselves. We worship Him. We commune with Him. We have already been blessed beyond measure just to be in relationship with Him. Let's start today with a change of focus from us to Him. We will find that He is big enough, strong enough, and loving enough to give us all we need. Work it out!

Faith as Substance and Evidence

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

We have come to know that faith is a substantial thing. This knowledge is not academic in nature. There is a subjective, mysterious side to faith that is more than the things we study. The description of faith as substance and evidence is important. Faith is tangible enough that there is a real influence inside of us that occurs. Faith has an essence that helps us to discern when it is there and strong, or when it is not there and weak. God’s grace is always flowing with favor and supply to meet our every need. We tap into that supply by our faith. We never force God to do anything. He wouldn’t be much of a God if we could. What we do is put ourselves in position to receive what He already wants to give by using our faith. When faith is as it should be, it becomes the evidence of the answer. Faith assures us that what we believe God for is sure even though we don’t see any physical signs of where or how the answer will come. We must be encouraged enough to know that God will supply what we need. We just silence the voices of doubt, discouragement, and fear by actively spending time in God’s word and in His presence. It is useless for us to try to trick God or others by what we claim to believe. Faith is a real thing not an imaginary deceptive tool. When we really believe God for something we know it. Work it out!

Visible from the Invisible

" By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen (Hebrews 11:3 NLT)." It's hard to look at all the beauty of God's creation and not be inspired. Bright blue skies, fresh leaves on soaring trees, flowers bursting into full bloom with amazing colors, birds and squirrels scampering about, what a mighty God we serve. We need to remind ourselves in times of frustration that all we now see came from the dimension of the unseen. If God is great enough and loving enough to speak this universe into existence for our enjoyment, how much more will He help us to work through our personal situations. We don't have to see victory yet to know victory is ours. Everything came from nothing and if God can create the sun from nothing, He can create whatever we need that has yet to appear. We must familiarize ourselves with God's will. We need to grasp and embrace God's promises. Our greatest struggle is with our unbelief not with people or things. Work it out!  

Honoring our Presidents

On this President's Day I want to pause and honor all of our presidents especially our sitting president Barack Obama. I am a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I don't agree with every policy our president espouses. For that matter I have never seen a president that hits every policy just right according to any one's opinion. However, there are many things about this president that I like. I deeply admire the grace and dignity with which he carries himself under constant criticism. I like the devotion that he has to his family. I like the compassion that he has shown toward the common man. I appreciate the way he has prepared himself educationally and experientially for the post that he now holds. As an African American man, I love the image that he portrays and the strong example of manhood he has demonstrated. In my view he has served us well. I couldn't be by myself or he wouldn't be serving a second term. I believe many of the critics of this president are going to be embarrassed by the way history evaluates his administration. Whether I am right about that or not only time will tell. For now I exercise my right as an American citizen to honor every president that has served us and to say God bless President Barack Obama. May His grace guide you contiually!

The Benefits of Fasting

The Bible makes it pretty clear that one of the disciplines we should practice as Christians is fasting. In these modern times dominated by the mentality of consumerism, the idea of fasting has lost much of it's grip. I just want to remind those who pay attention to the things I say that there are great benefits to fasting. One of the immediate benefits that comes to mind is it's an exercise in obedience. Some things in life we just ought to do because the Lord said we should. Those of us that were raised "old school" know our parents didn't always provide an explanation to us. However, we new it was best to follow simply because they were the authority and we were not. The Bible also teaches us that we don't always get the spiritual results we are looking for because of our unbelief. When "The 12"sought to provide deliverance and a cure to the epileptic child, they couldn't do it. After Jesus provided immediate relief to the victim of this disease they asked Him why they were unsuccessful. Jesus said it was because of their unbelief. In that same passage the cure he prescribes for their unbelief is fasting. We are plagued by unbelief more than we think we are. Fasting then is a necessary discipline to help us overcome unbelief. A final thought for today is faith by nature reaches for the unseen. Without fasting we are occupied, tied to, and in some cases enslaved by the world of the seen. Our lives are primarily dominated by our senses. Fasting denies us of the things our senses crave. This practice of self denial strengthens our ability to perceive the unseen. The flesh and the spirit are at odds with each other. It's not just competition. It's hostility. We have to show the flesh from time to time we will not let it dominate us if we want our spiritual ability to be strong.

The Pearl of Great Price

If the Kingdom of God known as "the pearl of great price" is so wonderful it is worth sacrificing all we have to gain it, it is certainly worthy of treasuring after we have it. There is so much value at our disposal in the Kingdom of God. It's a wonder that we spend so much time chasing the things of the world when God has given us so much. It seems to me that the same principle that determines true value to gain a thing would carry on for as long as we live with the thing. When an earthly treasure is found people go through all kinds of changes trying to protect and preserve it. The value of the treasure is appraised on a regular basis. Alarms and sophisticated locks are provided to keep it safe. Everyone who is known by the owner is usually familiar with the joy the owner holds for the treasure possessed. Experts study the piece to learn more and more about it. Since what we have is more valuable than any earthly treasure, doesn't it make sense for us to extend ourselves to learn everything we can about it? Shouldn't we be happier than the possessors of earthly riches? Shouldn't we do all that is in our power to protect and preserve our relationship with it? The Kingdom of God is more precious than anything the kingdoms of this world can offer us. Let's be sure we truly understand that. Let's be sure we are acting on that. Have a great day!

Stick With It!

Hebrews 10:36  For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. There is one side of our walk that makes it important to let things go. Bitterness, self condemnation, hatred, and the failure to forgive would be a few things that fall in that category. On the other hand there are things that we need to hold onto tightly with a determination to persevere. Doing the right thing in this upside down world never needs to be abandoned. Allowing the love of God to flow through our lives to others will never go out of style. Staying the course to accomplish worthwhile goals is always important. Overcoming the difficulties that tend to rise and get in the way of progress will always be necessary. Life is not as complicated as we claim. Trusting everything to God and doing what He says is all it takes. He has the plan and we follow the plan. When we follow as He leads even when it doesn't seem like things are working, we win. When we go with the crowd or choose convenience over obedience even if it seems like things are going wonderfully well, we lose. Life with a long range focus woks best when we walk with God enjoying the good times and enduring the down seasons. WORK IT OUT!