This morning a fraternity brother of mine gave me some bad news about his church burning down. News reports state that the Prince of Peace Baptist Church which is located on 32nd and Berks Street in the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia has burned down and caused other neighboring houses to catch fire as well.
However let the Glory be to God because in this time of trials and tribulations, its members are not losing hope. A woman was quoted saying “”It’s bad seeing this happen,” she said, “but I firmly believe that in this God will get the glory. We have a crusade coming up in May. We’re not going to let this stop us. We’ll find a way.” My prayers go out to the community in which this church resides, the church itself and all of its members. They will get through this tough time and they will be blessed even more as they remain faithful to the word of God.

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.

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Luke 12: 22-26

You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? Romans: 1-3

What perfect Christians, muslims, buddhists, people; what perfect people we are that we feel that we can judge others. Of course I am being sarcastic, but this is the attitude that some people, not all, but some have towards other groups of people and individuals whose actions differ from theirs. Judgment of people is at an all time high and when I read this scripture it bugs me out how we have the nerve. The word clearly states that when we judge one another we are essentially condemning ourselves. When did we become God and have the right to judge man/ woman and their actions?

No sin is greater than another, so to hear folks degrading people because of something that they do, that you do not approve of, when I am sure you sin as well makes no sense to me. I am speaking specifically about people who choose to condemn people in the name of God. God says right here that you do not have the right and because of you exercising this right that you do not have he will make sure to pass his judgment on you. This attitude of being better than thou is what has us struggling as a people. Struggling to get to the Kingdom of God, struggling to create a world where we can love each other and grow together. Let me be clear, I am not judging those who judge, I have no room to judge anyone. I have been living an imperfect life since birth, but I pray that the Lord sees that I am trying. I pray he sees the sincerity of my heart and forgives me for the mistakes that I continue to make. Lets move as a people toward kind words to one another, towards helping one another get through our trials and tribulations rather than passing our criticisms on our own people. We all live imperfect lives, let’s work to build our relationship with God and help each other build a relationship in the name of God so that we can succeed together. Peace and Grace be unto you!

He who is guilty is the one that has much to say.

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Romans 12:3

Self-esteem, how many of us truly have it. If we do, where do we get it from, if we don’t, to what do we allow the pleasure of taking it away. Many will read the word self-esteem and immediately say, this isn’t talking about me, you are actually the person this scripture is talking to the most. The word says do not think of yourself more highly than you should, I would also say do not think of yourself lower than you should which I have been a victim of from time to time. The people who I have found to be the most self confident, who can deal with trials and tribulations and their glow is still phenomenal are those who have a firm belief in God. Those who have a stark faith in God seem to not allow the daily troubles of the world get them down because their belief is that their Creator has something greater in store for them.

I admire such strength, I admire anyone who is wise enough to know in their heart of hearts that God has a plan for them. That the plan he has is better than the plan any of us have conjured up in our minds. It is our attachment to these thoughts which cause us to either think to highly of ourselves, or to not think highly enough. I am looking forward to having that same type of faith, the type of faith where nothing can shake me because I know that I am protected, because I know that no matter what curve balls are thrown my way I will still knock them right out of the park. The only way we can get there, and have true self confidence, true self esteem is to look deep within ourselves and trust in our Creator. Peace and Grace be unto you!

A man’s character always takes its hue, more or less, from the form and color of things about him.

Amityville’s own Donnie McClurkin

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH5cpjuS-SU&hl=en]

March 5, 2008

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” - Proverbs 19:21

What is your calling, what are your dreams; what is the ambition inside of you that drives your desires?  Are plans in a man’s heart the equivalent of thoughts in one’s mind. Often we have many notions of how life “should be”, how “we should” be treated. However, when these thoughts of ours do not manifest in our lives we become disengaged. We become disengaged with the process of achieving these goals and can become sincerely impatient. Well the scripture baffles me because I have two entirely different understandings of it, are the plans in my heart wrong or am I too impatient to receive the proper understanding?

First Thought: We may believe in plans that we have created for ourself but some of those plans may not be our destiny. We may have a different calling that we are fighting, however the Lord, our Creator has a purpose for our lives and he will prevail. So we must not become too involved in what we “think” is right for us, we must allow our God Given talents and the purpose that he has for us to reign supreme.

Second thought:  But then I see it as, my heart is connected to my soul, it’s the base of my understanding, so the plans of my heart guide me. If I am in touch with the Lord, and have accepted the Creator into my heart and soul, then our plans won’t be too far from each other. So then what about when those plans and my ideas do not match up with what is happening in my life? Does this mean that my ideas are different from the Lord’s purpose for me? Hmmm, at a first glance maybe, but then I think of the trials and tribulations we must endure to get to our dreams. Those plans remain steadfast within our hearts, the purpose that the Lord has for us may not be revealed immediately. Some say patience is a virtue, so we have to dream, we have to answer our calling and allow our ambitions to guide us. The plans in our hearts may be very well the Lord’s purpose for us. But as this earth wasn’t built in a day, neither will our dreams and aspirations. We must be still, use prayer, and truly plan with our heart in order to bring to form our purpose and or destiny. Peace and Grace be unto you!

There is so much to write about

To sing about, to shout about

In the Negro race!

On each page of history

America sees my face–

On each page of history

We leave a shining trace–

On each page of history

My race!

  My race!

          My race! ! !- Langston Hughes

February 29, 2008

Hard hearted people are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they wander far from the life God gives because they have closed their minds and hardened their hearts against him. They have no sense of shame. They live for lustful pleasure and eagerly practice every kind of impurity. Ephesians 4: 17-19

Another scripture that has been running through my mind as of late is “a heart at peace gives life to the body”! I think of that scripture because a closed mind and hardened heart seems to be the direct opposite. Going through trials and tribulations in life harden us all, we all deal with these things differently but how we deal with them can affect our future progress. This verse is very descriptive, calling us who have had these feelings hopelessly confused, full of darkness. We shouldn’t be offended by these words because at times we all have dark periods, but once again it is how we deal with the dark period. For me when it speaks of closing ourselves to God, I think of when I am in a place of darkness and I call out to God in prayer and I don’t feel like he responds. It is sometimes in our human nature to feel abandoned even though that is not the case but sometimes we have these feelings. We build walls around ourselves, not allowing our loved ones in, and not allowing the Lord’s conventional wisdom in, propelling us further down a dark path further from the light. When we face drama, we must look to handle it in the way that will bring us the most peace and try not to close ourselves which will lead to more confusion.

The second part is interesting though. It reminds me of a story a wise woman told me recently. She did a focus group with a group of young women who were in the church, had children, and then were judged by the church for their promiscuity. The girls were angered by this of course, they felt betrayed, while they were in the church the church knew what they were doing and made no strides to reach out. This is these young ladies opinions, this is how they felt. However when they had the baby out of wedlock, people wanted to judge them. Not only driving them further from the church but further from God and his ever loving guidance. “They have no sense of shame” We all have been riddled with troubles and lost our faith, it does not mean that we live for lustful pleasure and wish to be impure, we are just confused. It is at this point that we as a community must love those who are in conflict with the Lord, and in conflict with themselves. Through our love and lack of judgment the hard hearted people become kind hearted people, their closed minds become open and loving. Why? Because we are doing what God has asked us to do, spread love and spread his word! Together this type of action will do what my man Mike calls “turning the tide” and make being spiritually minded socially acceptable, moving us all closer to having a spiritual connection and moving closer to God. Peace and Grace be unto you!

A proud heart can survive a general failure because such failure does not prick its pride.

February 19, 2008

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 NLT

This is a familiar message that we often hear but I often struggle with. There is a season for love, a season for pain, season for growth, it’s said that things happen in seasons, for reasons and some things last for a lifetime. None of us are mad when it is a joyous season, when the reason was a good one, and a lifetime of happiness would be something to marvel at, wouldn’t it. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case because there are other times when we will be confused and weak and ask God why did he bear such a burden on us. They say God will not put a larger burden on you than you can bear but when you are going through the valley before you reach that mountaintop, that burden can feel like a lifetime of bricks and adversity.

Like I said I have issues with the seasons at times; my mother says it’s because today we don’t have patience, and we want answers to questions immediately. I will give her that, but even more of a lesson is to look right within the word and find stories of the people of God and the tribulations that they dealt with. In the end they were victorious, blessed with more than they ever imagined because they remained faithful. So no matter what your season is right now, good or bad, lets remain faithful so that we can reap the blessings the Lord has for us! Peace and Grace be unto you!

– No sin in looking prosperous just your way of showing your faith in the Lord, showing him you’re ready whenever he is!