So the lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand sheassess. Job 42:12

I use today’s verse to illustrate the blessings that the bible teaches us our Creator will bestow upon you if you are faithful to his word. The scripture comes from the story of Job; where Job’s life had been turned upside down while the devil continuously meddled in his life. Despite all of the negativity, hardship, pain and suffering Job endured, he remained faithful to God. For that, he was blessed more in the latter part of his life than he was in the first part of his life. Might I add that the first part of his life was not too shabby either; so he was ballin in the end!

I use this story because today I was given some sad news. A fraternity brother of mine emailed me and asked me to pray for his family, his church family and his pastor for this morning their church had burned down. A year ago, I would have been like “man that’s messed up” and then continued on in my day probably never giving it much thought again. However today I was upset to hear such information. People have lost their spiritual place of worship, and everything that church was doing for the community around it is put on hold for just a second during these trials and tribulations. That’s upsetting when you understand the type of impact a church can have on a community. So I got down to pray and while praying I realized it was just a test. This church and congregation will be even more blessed in the second part of their existence than they were in the first, if they remain faithful to the Lord and his ways. I see a new and improved building in their future, more ministries that reach out to the community around them, and an undeniable faith placed in the people of the congregation when they get through this together. So I pray for this church and congregation but I know that they know they will be blessed ten fold just because of their faith. Might be some hell in the hallway but they will find that other door of opportunity that the Lord has blessed them with and they will overcome these obstacles. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Where there’s a will there’s a way

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: Romans 5: 2-4

The word said we glory in tribulation; you read words like that when you’re at your deepest bottom and you think to yourself, God is bugging. Alright maybe you’ve never had those thoughts but I have. Yet it was me who was bugging because the word also says that tribulation builds our patience. Through tribulations that we are patient enough to endure we are blessed with experience and through experience our Lord has blessed us with the ability to hope. Hope, you see the experience whether it was good or bad gives rise to a different way. That’s our hope, when we stop hoping for a better way, for a better tomorrow, it is then that our spirit is dying.

I can only speak for myself but when I allow an experience to strip me of my hope I become void inside and that to me feels like a spiritual death. So I don’t quite know if I glory in tribulation, glory might not be the first term that comes to mind. However, I see the good in hardship because it is my hardships that have made me a better man. It will be my continued endurance through this game called life, these experiences, that will allow me to hope for a better day. And when that better day comes hold it up as a testament to the Lord’s work. Moreover to even get to that hope, to get through life’s experiences we must be patient. I am one of the most impatient brothers you have ever met. My mother says I want everything on my time; she’s probably right, I mean I got things to do, lol. However I am slowly but surely learning, often the hard way that my time does not matter. God has a plan and I am more of a servant to his time. So all we can do is live, and through living we will acquire experience whether it be good or bad, it is these experiences that will build an unyielding faith in our spirits and allow us to hope for our greatest good. Peace and Grace be unto you.

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1 Peter 3: 15-17

The high road; often the road less travelled but yet still a road for us to take. We are challenged everyday and judged by the decisions that we make to those challenges. Sometimes those judgments are hard and very hard to deal with, but there they are staring you in the face. How do you react? Do you fight fire with fire, do you judge right back? We might, but for what, don’t you remember when you were little and your parents told you to ignore somebody. If you ignore them that they will go away, or they will become so angry that you aren’t fueling their fire that they would cool off. So how come now that everybody’s grown we have to have something to say. “No, I’m grown”, I hear it all the time, well then act like it and turn the cheek and do not concern yourself with such foolishness.

People are going to judge you, their going to judge your belief in God, your clothes, your choice of profession. People are so nosey they judge how you spend your money. Listen to the word, don’t get mad; simply respond in a respectful manner because you are a respectable person. Let them know why you do the things that you do and how great you feel for doing it. As the word says they will be ashamed of their slanderous words because you didn’t respond and help fuel their anger. I’m talking to myself so don’t think I’m talking to anyone else. People get on my nerves all the time, so much I have to call my mom! Lol! But seriously if you are doing the right thing, and being judged for it the word tells us it is better to suffer for doing good rather than doing evil. Don’t be impressed by those who are getting by, I can’t even front; when someone is causing me drama and I take the high road, I become obsessed with how they’re the ones doing wrong but I’m catching the jack. I have to lose that mentality, and realize that whatever lesson I am supposed to learn from that suffering is God’s will, not my own. Let’s learn to take the high road more often having faith that the reward at the end of that road is greater than any other reward we could ever receive. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Suffering is prior to attaining success or perfection

The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?
But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. “Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper” Genesis 4: 4-9

Pardon me, today I chose this verse because I am upset with the senseless killings in our neighborhoods. I thought what better way to illustrate such sin than the story of Cain and Abel. What causes such hatred, what makes people act the way they act! Jealousy and envy consume people and drive them to do heinous things. I’m not here to moralize on anyone but when young children are getting sliced in their face, murdered in cold blood we have to say something. It says it right there in the word thou shall not kill, yet often we show our children and family the energy that is behind such senseless nonsense. Jealousy! The Lord asks why are you angry, I ask too, why are we angry?

The Lord spoke to Cain, he told him when you think these evil thoughts, when you plot against another sin is crouching at your door. He said it desires you; that’s powerful we all want to be desired. When we lack attention and we start “hating”, we are showing our communities the same energy the Lord asked Cain to rectify. By no means am I calling us murderers, but I am speaking of the jealousy that is invoked when people see people living a life they wish they were living. The need to keep up with the Jones’, has caused us to lose sight and create a material world where our children don’t know the difference between right and wrong. The root of it all is our negative thinking minds, inspiring and injecting hate into the ones that watch us. Why not eject love, I know I’m guilty of being slick with my tongue. You know what words do, they conjure up a feeling, bad words conjure up bad feelings. If from day one we teach respect to our to sons, our mothers wouldn’t have to bury their sons. Maybe death is too deep for someone to understand well I see it in the church, I see it in the streets, man I even see it in the classroom. We are dying, if not physically, symbolically because we lack the love language that our Creator teaches us. God gives freedom, God gives knowledge, lets take that same knowledge and feed our youth, feed our people no matter what race or creed or gender! It may sound cliche but with a little bit of love this world would be a better place. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Anywhere I see suffering, that is where I want to be, doing what I can.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.  1 Peter 5: 10-11

After you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. I pray that this little while of suffering is not life and then I will be happy in the after life. I have heard scriptures be interpreted that way, I pray that is not the case. I think the Lord is saying I have given my all for you, I have been caused pain too by the sins of this world. Yet I have given my only son so that you can be strong, so that you may find a way to eternal happiness through the principles of love and peace that he taught. This temporary suffering is just that; temporary, and after you have suffered I will not only restore your original happiness, but I will make you strong, steadfast and firm.

We need opposition, we need tough times, we need them like we need those great moments in our life. We need tears, just like we need a beautiful smile. Common said “I guess knowing I’m weak is when I’m really being strong, some how through the dusk I could see the dawn”. It is at our moments when we feel our weakest, when we feel that the world is crashing down on us that we are exemplifying our beautiful strength that God has bestowed upon us. Why? Because we are still pushing, we are still hoping, despite whatever circumstances may be weighing us down we still have the ability to fight and push past these obstacles. Don’t be a slave to your vocabulary; suffering comes in many forms. It is not just physical pain or extreme heart break, no suffering is feeling inadequate about something, suffering is the mental anguish we deal with when things aren’t going the way we planned. But through faith in God and belief in oneself we can see the dawn. STILL WE RISE. Peace and Grace be unto you!

Many spiritual teachers - in Buddhism, in Islam - have talked about first-hand experience of the world as an important part of the path to wisdom, to enlightenment.

We ain’t thugs for the sake of just being thugs. Nobody do that where we grew at nigga duh. The poverty line we not above so out comes the mask and gloves cause we ain’t feeling the love. We ain’t doing crime for the sake of doing crime, we moving dimes cus we ain’t doing fine. 1 out of 3 of us is locked up doing time; you know what that type of shit can do to a niggas mind. My mind on my money, money on my mind if you owe me ten dollars you ain’t giving me nine. Yall ain’t give me forty acres and a mule so I got my glock 40 now I’m cool and if al sharpton is speaking for me. Somebody get him the word and tell him I don’t approve. Tell him ill remove the curses, if you tell me our schools gon be perfect. When Jena 6 don’t exist tell em that’s when ill stop saying bitch, biiitchhhh!!!!!

Jay – Z “SAY HELLO”
American Gangster

In the 2003 Fade to Black DVD, Jay-Z referenced taking time out in his music to address what’s going on in the hood, asking his peers, “am I wrong to do that, to have those feelings.” Well on the last verse of Say Hello from Jay’s latest album American Gangster, Jay addresses many inherent issues within the black community, its duality is indescribable, just vibe with me!

We ain’t thugs for the sake of just being thugs….. True but false, we live in environments where many feel that they have no other options but to resort to a criminal lifestyle because of the lack of resources to education, and job training to achieve that American Dream. However, we also live in a time where the commercialization of hard times has become intriguing to many youth. In fear of not being respected our youth are imitating thug lifestyles in an effort to replicate what they see on television and hear in songs.

The poverty line we not above so out comes the mask and gloves…….. True indeed, many of our families are living below the poverty line, suffering, living from check to check. So out comes the mask and gloves…. Wait a minute, who is this mask and glove being used to hide? Who is the victim of these tools the perpetrator you so vividly paint chooses to use while committing his crime that he’s not doing for the sake of committing crime? More than likely, people who look just like you, live in similar conditions as you, creating a vicious cycle of survival of the fittest in our communities!

1 out of 3 of us is locked up doing time…………. Oh I know what that type of thing can do to a brother’s mind, to a young man’s self esteem. When your peers are being hauled away in record numbers to institutions of enslavement, better known as prisons! However, thread this story together; already Hov has answered some of his own questions, showing you the circumstances which desperately rape our communities of our brothers.

Yall ain’t give me forty acres and a mule……….. So you got your Glock 40 now you’re cool. No….. Not cool, that’s misplaced anger. They did that to us, well who is they, is this “the proverbial man” who keeps his foot on top of the black man’s throat? No! This is a historical reference, reflective of the United States and promises that were made to people of color that were not fulfilled. Moreover, it’s institutionalized racism that Jay is talking about and how it affects the neighborhoods we live in. The lack of resources and awareness on how to achieve in this land of American opportunity. Back to this Glock 40, this gun, our anger and despair for a system that oppresses us is quite valid but to then take out that same anger on our own people only furthers a system of destruction upon us as a community.

And if Al Sharpton is speaking for me………. Say no more my brother; many feel that the Old Guard of leadership is out of touch with the issues of today’s generation. A few months ago I saw Sharpton attacking Nas over his new album title “NIGGER”. I thought, we have to get better communication within our community of leadership! Nas shouldn’t have to hear via MTV news that Al Sharpton has a problem; Sharpton should contact Nas directly and feed him some knowledge and wisdom as a younger brother. We should respect our elders and in turn they should respect us and what we are trying to create as an innovative and creative group of young people.

Instead, we need to openly communicate about issues respectfully and provide viable solutions to these problems. Because once again, I hear anger within ourselves when we truly should be coming together to fight against systems of inequality and their injustices. Sharpton can’t make the schools better and neither can Jay, but with an agenda targeting urban public school systems WE Can. Targeting legislation used to fund educational programs in underserved communities, using our right to vote, utilizing our freedom of speech against the ills that plague us, We Can. By reinvesting in our own communities and not spending our dollar in everyone else’s the minute it’s earned, we can create economic prosperity and create opportunity within our neighborhoods. Then the mask and gloves don’t have to come out because they are only hurting us. There’s an awareness issue in the hood, there’s misplaced anger in the hood, it’s time now that we unite together and build with each other to create an agenda and Make It Happen! 1
C. Shine