Does your gift satisfy you?

Brother's and sisters, first I want to wish you all very Merry Christmas.  I'd also like to encourage you to focus on your relationships this holiday season.  I've learned that gifts mean very little if the relationship is strained or even bad.  But that is not my topic today.

My topic today is about a choice we all will make.  It is rooted in eternity and it will determine our destiny.  We all know that Jesus is the reason for the season.  However, what is Christmas without the gifts.  Yes, the pretty wrapping paper, the excitement of opening the presents, the anticipation, and yes the disappointment.  Gifts are a critical part of Christmas.

Brothers and Sisters there is a war raging in places we cannot see and in ways we cannot understand.  But it is happening in us and around us.  The war is between the ruler of this world and the God of the universe.

Ephesians 6:12 - For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]

1 John 5:19 ESV / 11 helpful votes

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

The ruler of this world is not God.  Not yet.  This world belongs to our enemy and he is controlling it more completely everyday.  Brothers and sisters we have only to look in the newspaper, or TV news to see that the enemy in engaged in all out warfare on Christians.  He wants to discredit us, ridicule us, marginalize us, and make our beliefs so unattractive that no one would want to come to Christ.  

So, then, what does this have to with gifts----------everything.  Read on.

Our enemy has more gifts to give than the fat man himself.  Call him Satan Claus.  He is in the business of giving great gifts.  He is the ruler of this world and he will give you your hearts desire.  Because he knows the nature of the human heart----because it is his own nature.  

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV / 6 helpful votes

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Ephesians 2:3 ESV / 9 helpful votes

Among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind

So the enemy of your soul knows exactly what your flesh wants.  And he will give it you to keep you satisfied and complacent.  He gives those gifts so they will become important in our lives.  He gives us things that become 'gods' to us, or 'idols.'  Ask yourself these questions:
Who gets more of your time, God or your Facebook friends?
Who gets more of your attention, God, or your iphone?
What is more important to you, spending time with your TV, or spending time with God?

I wont ask you what your answers are, but I can guess many of you want to punch me in the face right now.  

So, here is your choice.  Christ, who actually does own the place, came down to offer us an alternative gift.  He lived a perfect life and gave himself up as a sacrifice to give us a gift that we cannot redeem while we live.  His gift requires faith that if we believe and repent that we will have an eternal life in paradise with Him.  He offers it free, hence the term 'gift.'  We also know that the alternative to His gift is eternal damnation.  

Romans 6:23 ESV / 8 helpful votes

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The enemy's gifts are prettier, bigger, shinier, and more fun looking.  The problem with those gifts is that they have the illusion of satisfaction, but they cannot satisfy.  This is why Satan is always inventing new things (he must be exhausted).  The enemy understands that all of his gifts have a shelf life and sooner or later we will need a new idol.  So Satan Claus and his evil elves from hell are constantly at work on the creation of new idols.  

His gifts are like food.  You eat and are satisfied for a time, but you will get hungry again.  The gifts of the enemy always disappoint. Everything in this world is like that.  But Jesus says this:

John 4:13-15 ESV / 86 helpful votes

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

So here is the choice.  You can love this world and worship the things of this world and have a great time indulging your flesh, and go to hell.  Or, you can believe, repent, trust in Jesus and still enjoy your life and live in paradise for eternity.  

I've walked both roads.  I have followed after my flesh and I can testify that your flesh is never satisfied.  It always wants more and it will literally kill us to continue to feed it.  I walk with Jesus today.  And His words are true.  He satisfies fully and completely.  Nothing lacking, nothing missing.  He satisfies the soul.  

This year, consider opening the true gift of Christmas.  Consider doing the one thing you can do that will last forever and never cease to satisfy.  If you have already opened the gift of salvation, tell someone else about it.  Pray with them and guide them to receive the gift you already know is the best gift ever.  

Free Will and Pain

You have heard that life is a journey.

You have heard that life is a box of chocolates.

I say to you that life is a multitude of journeys and each journey is its own separate box of chocolates.

I am nearing the end of one of my great journeys.  And as I press on over the final peak I cannot see what lies ahead because of the fog. 

I believe that I have lived with false hope for a very long time that God would not allow this particular journey to end.  I have prayed and fasted and obviously misinterpreted scripture,  believing that God would move on my behalf. 

What I just now realized is that in order for God to move on my behalf he must interfere with the free will of another. 
And while God can do that,  I realize that this is something He wont do.

I am greatful for God not affecting our free will.  You see, brothers and sisters, our free will is what makes us free.  God wants us all to be free.  So he chooses not to cause us to do anything.  But rather allows us to choose on our own. 

Free will allows us to love one another and love God.  If God put limits on us and we love Him then that is not love, but bondage.  So the act of allowing us to have free will also allows us to love unconditionally. 

So then I have been foolish.  I submit this to the reader in hopes that someone else will be helped.  I trusted God as long a I believed he would fix it.  I found every verse in the Bible about it and I read them again and again.  I knew God would move if I just stayed still.  But He did not.  Because what I asked for was His desire, but it was not the will of the other party.  And I was expecting God to give me favor with the person.  But that is an issue of free will.  And that was just recently revealed to me.  And I have been angry ever since I realized what a fool I was. 

Doors close and windows dont always open.  Things are lost and stay lost and are not replaced.  Broken hearts are not always  mended.  People leave and dont return.  Dogs die.  Things end.

But I have to remember two things.  1.  God is sovereign.  2. God is good.  So if the one in control of everything is good then there must be purpose for all of this pain I am in.  I dont see it now, but I will.  I dont understand it now but I trust God to sustain and lead me to where He wants me to go. 

Naomi lost a husband and two sons.   Her loss became a blessing for all of mankind.   Job lost everything and God gave it right back.  The Hebrews lost their freedom many times, and today they are back in the promised land. 

I dont know what God is doing.  Or why this happening to me.  I will trust the Lord and lean not on my own understanding.
Paul said this and I must commit this to memory because I will need it

11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 12  I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

 13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

 

Crushsed by the Potter's Hand

Maya Angelou wrote a book called "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."  I never read that book, but the title is speaking to me today, like it never has before.  I'm not saying I'm in a cage.  I'm not saying I am a bird.  But the last 5 years of my life have taught me that God is with us, even in the deepest, darkest valley.  He will sustain us through every trial even if the end of the trial is not the end we sought.  That knowledge, if we hold on to it, will allow us to sing.  We may sing with tears in our eyes.  The words of the song may get strangled while we gasp for air.  And we can still sing, because God said that he will never leave us or forsake us.

The bird sings during the trial because that is what the bird was designed to do.  We were made to praise God and bring Him glory.  If we are not doing that then God will allow or even send a trial to remind us that we are to be constantly seeking Him and conforming ourselves to His image.  Thus we are like clay in His hands as we go through the storm.  A potter, when making a piece of pottery will shape and form that piece on the wheel.  When it comes to a point that the piece of pottery takes on a form that the potter does not will, then the potter will grasp and knead and shape the pottery.  If that piece of pottery still does not acquire the desired form, then the potter will crush that piece of pottery and using the same material, begin the process again; shaping and molding the piece of pottery.

God has crushed me on His wheel.  He has taken His mighty hand and slammed it down upon me.  I can only thank Him that he loves me enough to do this so that one day I will acquire the desired form.  It is painful to go through this process.  There are tears and times when all I can do is wait on the Lord.  But the Lord is faithful to fulfill his promises and in this place of remaking it is quiet enough for me to hear his still, small voice.

And, my God says to me, David: I created you to worship Me.  I loved you so deeply that I made My son to suffer for all of your sins.  David, if I love you that much, then surely you can trust me to lead you and to restore your soul.  Son, I know you are in pain.  I know your heart is broken.  I know you feel like you are unwanted and unloved by man.  I know you feel worthless.  I know you feel weak and powerless to stop this thing that hurts you so much that you want to take the very life that I gave you.  But David, My word says to fear not over 80 times.    My Son, what the enemy has taken I will restore in time.  You must go through this so that I can perfect you and prepare you.  Those are no longer your people.  That is no longer your home.  I am taking you to a new place and I will be with you every step of the journey.

And I say to my Father: Lord, I have fasted and prayed.  The burden is yours now.  I cast my care upon you and I await your perfect answer.  Through tears I say that I am yours and yours alone.  My mind cannot comprehend what you are doing, but Your word says you are working all things together for my good.  I ask you to protect and preserve those that I love.  I ask you to allow your spirit to enter into their hearts and minister to them.  I ask you to bless them and prosper their lives with much fruit.  Father I ask that you would restrain the hand of the enemy in their lives.  That you would cancel any assignments given in an effort to upset your plans.  I ask that You would forgive them of their sins and replace their hearts of stone with hearts of flesh so that they will be sensitive to You.  And I will praise you Lord, all of the days of my life.  I will sing to you at midnight when I am in jail.  I will sing your praises from the depths of my soul in the dry places.  I will speak of the joy only you can give.  And I will   Father I ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ.  

How to Respond to a Hard Heart

Brothers and Sisters when I posted my previous post I was unable to understand the importance of this concept.  Having said as much I need to warn the reader that I may need to break this into two segments.  

Firstly, as I wrote in the previous entry, there is someone close to me who has a hard heart against me.  If you don't know what that looks like, or feels like, please read that part again before reading ahead. 

So, brothers and sisters, the first thing I must do is reveal the effects of a hard heart on those that love the possessor of such a heart.  To avoid confusion, from here on the hard hearted person will be the "victim" and the object of the hard heartedness will be the 'bystander'. 

 In order to put it in a perfect context (I think), there is a death that occurs inside the bystander that changes them.  It is a humbling sort of emptiness that can be consuming.  The victim's behavior is so thoroughly degrading that the bystanders state is perpetual melancholy and extreme anger.  It is this state of the bystander that is both dangerous and necessary.  

It is dangerous because we have an enemy that wants to tempt us.  He knows us, and he is aware of the conditions that make us weak.  The greatest danger for the bystander is 'sin' because what the bystander desires more than anything else is to escape the pain.  The easiest way to escape is to self-medicate through sin.  Overeat, get drunk, let a few choice words fly, slam doors, kick things, go hangout at places you should not be in, look at things you shouldn't look at; listen to music you shouldn't listen to, all so you can forget how badly you are being treated if only for a short time.  And then, your opinion of yourself is lowered even more because you sinned.  So a cycle begins and the bystander struggles mightily to maintain an identity in Christ while they are in the storm.

But this is a necessary condition in that the bystander must exist in this state so that God can be glorified!  The bystander must understand that nothing can be done for the victim's heart apart from God.  The bystander learns to trust God by continuing to 'go through' the storm which is the victim.  The bystander learns to depend on God's grace and learn that God's grace is sufficient.  What the bystander must learn is that a person cannot control another person's heart.  They can only pray and continue to love unconditionally.  From this perspective, the bystander becomes stronger in Christ by picking up that cross and following Jesus.  Once again, God can show victory in those who are broken.  Not by their own power, but by his grace.

^{Hebrews 12}

⁷ But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

⁸ We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;

⁹ Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

¹⁰ Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

¹¹ For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

Forgiveness and Pain

Brothers and Sisters, I apologize in advance for the length of this post.  Please read below:

²¹ Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

²² Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.^[g]

²³ “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. ²⁴ As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold^[h] was brought to him. ²⁵ Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

²⁶ “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ ²⁷ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

²⁸ “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.^[i] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

²⁹ “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

³⁰ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. ³¹ When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. ³³ Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ ³⁴ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

³⁵ “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

This is from Matthew 18.  And it is here that I would like to begin dealing with today's topic.  People will test your godliness all of the time.  They will do and say things to you that will cause your heart to break and your blood to boil.  

I have someone in my life who has hardened their heart against me.  This person will be in a great mood talking with someone else, and in the same breath give me the coldest answer and coldest look for no reason.  This person will laugh with, joke with, dance, touch, eat with, hug, and enjoy life with until I arrive and then that person shuts down.  If I call this person on the phone I always get an annoyed 'hello' or 'what.'  I find things to do as acts of service for this person.  I pray for this person multiple times in a day.  I ask God to soften this persons heart.  I've even fasted so God will give me the strength to endure.  

But this has no impact.  In fact, this person has grown colder and shorter and meaner than ever.  It's gotten so bad that I use other people to relay messages because sometimes I don't think I can stand hearing the hateful tone in their voice.  I only call when I have to.  I find that it is much easier to send text messages because it makes me feel horrible to hear the disdain in this person's voice when I call.  I seems like when I'm at my lowest point, this person kicks me.  When I'm at my highest points, this person finds a way to bring me down. 

So I do everything I can to not retaliate, evil for evil.  I compliment this person daily.  I cater to this person as much as they will allow me.  I tell this person that I love them.  And all the while I am crippled by the blows I am dealt daily.  I am wounded, bleeding, crawling, begging for mercy.  I used to be a confident person, and now I am a shipwreck, kept afloat by the grace of God and nothing else.  I used to believe that with the support of this person that I could do great things.  Now, I can only suffer greatly.  I often think of myself as a leper in this person's presence.  They go out of their way to stay away from me.   

Brothers and sisters, I have known this person for a long time.  And we have both said and done things to the other.  I am in no way a martyr here.  I am not innocent and quite frankly, I cannot blame this person for how they treat me.  

Here is the real problem.  I want this person to go to heaven.  I want this person to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.  But the bible verses above tell me that this person has not forgiven me.  This person has become bitter and sour toward me because of the forgiveness in their heart.  This person believes I should be made to suffer and because I do not suffer anywhere else, this person has become my tormentor.  So I pray for this person, that they begin to understand the principle in the verses above from Matthew.  

If you have a relationship like this in your life, do not let your heart be hard.  Some days I am beaten and bloodied so much that I can hardly stand up.  No matter what I do, it's wrong.  Someone else can do the same thing, and be praised.  It's enough to make a grown man cry (but not this man, get back in there tear).  But I can attest that God's grace is renewed daily.  When I awake in the morning, the wounds have healed and God has placed a new song in my heart.  I am sad, but I can still find joy.  I can give that person grace, because that is what I have been given.  I can forgive that person because I have been forgiven.  

Because I am on this topic, I must address something equally difficult next week.  What to do when the pain is just too much.  Stay tuned.  

On Love and Grief

Brothers and Sisters I have been neglecting you and I apologize for that.  But I have returned with the following thoughts about love.

I have learned that love is a gift that we give to those which we choose.  As such it is free, and should be given with no expectations of reciprocity. 

Then we must determine that there are really two kinds of love.

On the one hand there is love returned.  Love returned is beautiful.  It is the mother and child looking into each others eye's and smiling at some private thing.  It is the elderly couple holding hands after 30 years of marriage.  It is the young couple dancing as if there is no one else in the room. The beauty of this love is enough to make the toughest man misty eyed because placed deep inside all of us is the desire to experience this type of mutual love.  

The returned love allows its participants to truly be themselves and know that they are sufficient just as they are without additions or subtractions. 

This type of love is a picture of Christ and his church.  He loves them and they have acknowledged and returnedbhis love.  This is the picture of Christ as the bridegroom.   Christ's love allows us to be full of love and pour out that love on others.  Because just as Christ loves his church, so then, does He love the unbelievers.  

This then leads to the second form of love.  This type of love is unreturned love.  It is when one person loves another but that love is unreturned. 

This is the mother whose face is filled with pain as the child she loves continues to run away over and over again.  This is the wife who knows her husband is cheating and she still makes his lunch and kisses him goodbye everyday.  This is our Lord inviting the world to accept his love and sacrifice only to have people persecute Him and those that love him. 

This 2nd type of love produces a deep grief.  It is still love but it is sad and it is painful.  The object of the love is an ever present reminder that somehow the love giver is unworthy of the object's affection.  In the mind of the love giver they are less than what they should be in the eyes of the object.

Which love then is of more value?
I would say the second type of love has more value for strengthing the spirit.  It produces grief but it also works to conform us to the image of Christ. 

Christ went to the cross to die for the very same people that not only did not love Him but they also ridiculed and beat him.  Yet he loved them enough to endure the pain so that he could save them.

Knowing as much as I do concerning unreturned love I must say that it is both the most painful and wonderful thing that could happen to a person.   It actually deepens your love for that person by removing all conditions.  So you no longer care if the person mistreats you,
Or has not made you a priority, or is mean to you and nice to eveyone else.  All of that pain is transformed into to love for that person that is exceedingly great and boundless. 

This second kind of love, brothers and sisters,  will give you more understanding of the Gospel than anything else.  So if you have a relationship like this do not give up.  Just know that God is at work in your life and that you by continuing to love are storing up treasures for yourself on the other side. 

Treyvon Martin and the Dysfunction of the Black Family---last chapter

The final installment in this series comes at the end of a summer in which I actually felt the enemy breathing down my neck.  He attacked me on all fronts and I became his punching bag.  Brothers and sisters, I know the word tells me to 'count it all joy,' but I failed miserably.  I became angry, bitter, and I even questioned my creator----and I know better.  I questioned his promises, and purpose for me.  I even asked him to send the chariot for me.  But, here I am; wiser and more prepared for the next time.  What I have learned is that, His grace really is sufficient.  And having that promise securely planted in my heart is worth all of the trouble.

During my exile, I was able to watch and digest some of the Zimmerman trial.  I, like many of you, was obviously outraged that there was no consequences for a young, unarmed (a rock does not fit the definition of an arm unless you are David and use a slingshot),boy being killed.  But we know our justice system is flawed.  In the days and weeks that followed I hoped that we would go into a huddle as a people and really talk about it-------but we didn't.  Not really.  This leads into my topic.

Martin was, like too many black boys, a trouble-making, pants sagging, weed smoking, wanna be thug.  He was suspended from school, which is why he was not in his home town at the time of the incident and he was out hanging late at night.  Those are facts.  You put all of those facts together and it equals a lack of a strong father.

I said it.  Any boy who has been suspended from school should be at home with no TV, no cell phone, no video game, on lock down. I'm not saying Zimmerman was not guilty.  I'm saying, if Martin had a better father, he would have never been out there to begin with.

The final, and most important problem with our community is that we are fatherless.  It hurts me to write it. I I hope it hurts you to read it, because without fathers, we cannot prosper.  Fathers are God's representatives in the home.  They are the ones through which God speaks, and to whom God speaks about the function and direction of the family.  The protection and blessings of a family, biblically speaking, come through the father.

In the 23rd Psalm, we see what a good father will do.  He leads us beside quiet waters, he makes us lie down in green pastures, his rod and staff comfort us.  A fathers job is to provide, protect, lead, and sacrifice for the greater good of the family.  We are missing that in our homes.  We are missing that in our churches.  We are missing fathers who will do those things.  Instead, we have 30, 40, 50 year old boys who have not had the men called out in them yet.  Some cannot hold a job, some cannot settle down with 1 woman, some are unstable because they are double-minded, some are too busy playing video games, or trying to buy Jordan sneakers and tire rims to be good fathers.

Brothers and sisters, we will not know the fullness of God's blessings until we begin to create men who will be good fathers.  Pray for every male in your family today and everyday.  Pray for the ones incarcerated, pray for the ones in college, the ones in the streets.  Pray for them, and tell them you are praying for them.  Invite them to church.  God can turn anyone into what He wants them to be, but that person has to die to self first.  Bring your men to God, and let Him make us the fathers, and husbands he wants us to be.

The Dysfunction of the Black Family 3: We don't know when to be grown

Greeting Brothers and Sisters!
What a great day it is in the Lord. 

The actual title of this post is: We are children when it comes to Satan; but we are grown when it comes to God.

Our families are not producing quality fruit- agree or disagree?  This entire series hinges on that one statement.  We are not as a group of people producing the kind of fruit needed for the kingdom of God.  Of course, there are pockets of good fruit, but in a larger context, we resemble the fig tree in Matthew 21:19.  Thus, the purpose of this series is to examine our family culture and attitudes through the lens of the Bible. 

Okay, this post is going to make people mad.  I already know this.  Bring it on. 

Our families behave like children when it comes to things of Satan:  we go to the devil with our arms open, our mouths open, our ears open, our hearts open, our minds open and we want everything our enemy wants to give us.  We do this as adults, and we pass on these covert attitudes to our children, so they too will go to our enemy with open arms. 

This point boils down to what we value, and how we make the determination if something is valuable or not.  Our problem is that we put far too high a value on cars, clothes, jewelry, hair (c'mon now), food, and entertainment.  I can even add to the list cell phones.  Thus we unconsciously go after these things, or allow ourselves to be drawn away from the presence of God by these things.  So this is what our children value.

All the enemy has to do is dangle a shiny new phone in our face, or promise us a good time with our friends, or promise us prestige because we have this car; and we flock to him like children to the ice cream truck.  We are the proverbial putty in his hands for these foolish trinkets. 

Or the enemy can allow someone we know to have these things and cause us to be eaten from the inside out with covetousness. 

But when it comes to God we want to be grown.  When it comes to travelling on the narrow road to salvation, we all of a sudden want to follow our own path.  We don't go to God as children like He said.  We get grown up when it comes to the Lord.  Lord, I know I'm not supposed to do this, or do that; but I'm going to do it anyway, cause I'm grown!  Lord, I know I'm supposed to be follwing your example, but I'm not because I'm grown!  So Lord, I'm going to watch what I want to watch, listen to what I want to listen to, buy what I want to buy, go where I want to go, and who I want to go with, because I'm grown! 

And we pass this attitude on to our children as well. 

Is there any wonder why our families fail.  Is there any wonder why our young men go to jail.  We have it backwards.  We are to go to God as little children.  We should get grown with the enemy and tell him what we are and are not going to do. 

Wait, is that an Ice Cream truck I hear..... 

Dysfunction of the Black Family: A Biblical Perspective 2- No Nathans

Today, I attended a home going service for a spiritual father of mine.  He was the Paul to my Timothy, and I will miss him greatly.  If it were not for his counsel and constant encouragement my sons would not have a father in the home, and I would not have a church family, nor a home family.  I can never repay him, and I never got a chance to thank him for what he did.  Praise God that I will have an opportunity on the other side to say all of the things I did not say on this side.

Now, Brothers and Sisters, lets speak about us.  Our families are in disarray, and I believe it is because we have abandoned biblical principals and allowed Ceasar to raise our children and inform how we practice our family lives.  Today's installment is about Nathan.

Who is Nathan, you ask?  Nathan was the prophet who went to King David about his sin.  David was King and he committed adultery, fathered a child out of wedlock, and had the woman's husband killed to cover up his sin.  There had to be people in the kingdom who knew what David did.  He could not have done all of these things without others knowing his crime.  Yet no one, save Nathan, uttered a word to David about his terrible sin.

Which, brings me to my point.  Black families tend to ignore one another's glaring, obvious sinfulness.  We think we are turning the other cheek, but in reality we are being selfish and unloving.  May I submit to you that we are in a sad state because there are too few Nathan's in our homes and in our churches. 

 If our brother goes astray and is unwilling or unable to heed the conviction of the Holy Spirit, then he continues to travel down the wide path of destruction, and we are too selfish to speak a word to Him.  We would prefer to stay comfortable and let our brother go to hell.  

Instead of reproducing Christ-like individuals we are reproducing the sinful culture that we live in because we are afraid to be Nathan's to our loved ones.  For the record, brothers and sisters, if our family is in trouble, here is what the Bible says we need to do:

Matthew 18:

¹⁵ Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

¹⁶ But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.

¹⁷ And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.

Brothers and sisters, none of us are perfect.  We have all sinned and there are always people who know about our sin.  But how many times has someone confronted you about you sin in love, like the passage above says.  How many times has someone sought to get you delivered from your own sin?  

We are hateful toward our friends and our family when we do not act as Nathan.  Our silence conveys acceptance.  We do not stand in judgement when we go to our brothers and sisters in love.  We do not condemn our brother and sister.  We only remind them of who they are in the Lord and what the word of God says.  The rest is the work of the spirit.

Let's be more like Nathan.  Let's love one another enough to tell each other the truth.  

Dysfunction of the Black Family from a Biblical Perspective

Brothers and Sisters, I heard a man recently say at a banquet that in African villages a question often asked is this, "and how are the children?"  That question is very important because it is an indicator of how the family as the basic unit of the community is operating.  If the children are well, then the family is probably well, and the community is most likely well.  So, this is the question I ask you now, 'and how are the children?' 

Are the children respectful?  Are they driven?  Are they successful in school?  Are they lovers of God and good?  Do they make good choices most of the time?  Do they know how to be resilient?  Can they control themselves?  Do they consider others around them?  How are the children?

Our beautiful Black children are not well.  It is not their fault, it is ours.  Our children are not well because we have failed them as families.  We have mistreated them and called it love.  Brothers and sisters, let us talk about our beautiful Black families and how they function, or fail to function, from a Biblical perspective.  Let's take the foolish wisdom of man out of the equation and go to the only source where there are real answers that will always be true regardless of the date--God's inerrant word. 

Dysfunction #1- As for me and my house......

Joshua 24:15


New International Version (NIV)



15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”


Before we can enter into a serious conversation about dysfunction, we must first define function.  For my purposes I am defining function simply as performing according to the standards in the Bible.  Therefore dysfunction would be everything that falls outside of that.

Above you will read a familiar verse from Joshua.  In this verse is a declaration that those of us that reside in this home will submit to God.  It is here that I think we must begin.  In order to function correctly, every head must make this declaration and then go about the business of making this happen in our homes.

One of our problems is that we say this thing (see above verse) and then we allow all manner of activity to pervade our lives and the lives of those in our homes.  In short we don't inspect what we expect.  I can hear you all now...."but you cannot force Jesus on people." 

I agree, but if you are the head of your house you have every right to govern what people will say, watch, listen to, read, and participate in under your roof.  Therefore if it is not godly, then it should not be going in a so-called Christian home.  We allow too much Satanic foolishness in our homes in the name of peace, then we want to reign it in when it gets too far out of hand.  The truth is, if we would have never let the mess start in the first place then it would have never had an opportunity to grow. 

According to the word of God;
Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

So what we do is allow a little 'sin' in our homes.  It's ok to listen to that music--all the kids are doing it.  But while we are allowing this mess, Satan is busy whispering in our children's ear.  It's ok to watch that TV show, it's just entertainment.  I'm going to wear that outfit because it shows off my good parts.  I'm going to wear those shoes because they are sexy.  I'm going to go to that thing even though I know there is nothing godly about it.  I'm going to that movie, although I know that there is language and scenes that are not Godly.  And as we compromise again and again we give Satan and his world a foothold.  But the word of God says:

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

The first major dysfunction of the Black family is that we have not truly committed to serve the lord.  We pay lip service to serving the lord, but we allow the world into our homes just like every non-Christian home.  Thus we are dysfunctional because we have not truly divested of the world.  When we can truly forsake the world, then we can begin to function the way God wants the family to function.  

More next week.  

Pillar 7: Ressurection, Life and Death

Brothers and Sisters it has been a week of tests and trials.  Thank God we made it through.  I'm so glad that God is so gracious to tell us to cast all of cares upon Him.  I'm not sure I could stand to bear the burden of the cares of this world.  Glory be to God.  Now for the final installation of Pillars of the Faith.

Time is always the enemy of man because man is finite.  Given enough time, man can accomplish anything.  However, none of us has enough time.  We all die, we all run out of time.  But if you are Christian, you really do have all of the time in the world, because Jesus is risen!  Read on.  

Adam and Eve were never meant to die.  They were created to be eternal, like the angels.  They were made in the image of God, and God is eternal.  When sin entered the world through their folly, death became a part of life.  But it was never meant to be that way.

If you read the last post, you would know that God must punish sin, and the punishment for all sin is death.  What is often misunderstood among believer and nonbelievers alike is the meaning of the word death.  Let's look at 2 scripture verses to give us a better idea of what the word of God is saying to us:

1.  For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

If we read the verse as a whole we can clearly see that Paul is drawing a contrast between death and eternal life.  If Paul merely means a physical death, then it would make sense to compare that with physical life.  But Paul makes it a point to use the word 'eternal' to qualify his usage of the word life.  Not just 'life' but 'eternal life.'  So we are not just reading about death like an obituary, we are reading about damnation, an eternal death.

2.  “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Matthew 25:46

Here Matthew is comparing eternal life to eternal punishment.  This is the same eternal punishment referred to by Paul who called it 'death.'  

So we can substitute the word death as it is used in several verses as damnation, or eternal separation from God.  Looking at death this way, we can begin to understand the significance of the resurrection of  Jesus Christ.  

The entire Christian faith hinges on Jesus rising from the dead.  It is based and rooted in the idea that our savior has power to save us from the eternal damnation that will befall each of us if we do not repent and believe.  If Christ did not rise from the grave then our faith would fall apart overnight.  Jesus first became sin, died, and then defeated damnation, and rose.  He became sin and shed his own blood to satisfy the atonement.  He rose again to show that the grave itself, or damnation itself, has no power over Him.  



Our Lord has defeated the ultimate enemy.  He has slain death, and in doing so demonstrated the ultimate power to forgive sins, because sin and death are inseparable.  

Brothers and sisters, because He rose, we can trust that He is everything He said.  He is a true and living God.  He can be trusted to do all He said He would do.  All we have to do is trust Him.  Taste and see that the Lord is good!

Next time we will begin a new topic: Dysfunction and the Black Family---a Biblical Perspective.

Pillar 6: Atonement

Imagine yourself as the defendant in a courtroom.  The prosecutor is the best in the business.  You have no defense attorney; and the judge has never heard of probation.  In fact, the judge is known to have zero tolerance for everything; and for every crime the penalty is the same: death.

After the judge hears all of the testimony from the prosecutor, who has accused you of every thing you've done since birth; there is no doubt about it, you are guilty.  You cry out in your own defense---throwing yourself on the mercy of the court.  You begin to tell of all the good you've done in your life.  You begin to recount all of the things you have done for others.  As you speak you realize, your good far outweighs your bad.  As you remember your own goodness, you begin to believe you have a real chance of walking away from this horrible ordeal.  Now imagine the same judge sentencing you to death, saying to you that your good works are not suitable payment for your crimes.  He states that your crimes have incurred a debt; and that the debt is only satisfied with blood. 

You are lead to the place of execution.  The tools are ready, the people are gathered, and you are lead to what you believe is the last seat you will ever sit on.  The guard calls for the prisoner to be brought out and you stand ready to face your punishment.  Just then a door opens and the judge walks over to the place of execution and offers himself as a substitute for you.  As his blood covers the place of execution, the doors open and you are freed.  His blood has satisfied your debt.

What you have just read is my terrible attempt at describing the principle of atonement.  Atonement is reconciliation between a debt and a debtor.  It does not have to be money, or material things.  When you mess up at home, men,  you may have to offer an atonement of flowers, or some extra duties around the house.  It is a payment.

As Christians, we should be able to talk about the atonement because it is critical to our faith and it is the thing that makes us unique among the other world religions.  Basically the atonement works like this:
1. God creates the world and everything in it.
2. God makes rules (start with the 10 commandments) for man.
3. Man breaks rules.
4. God, being a just judge, must punish man for breaking rules.
5. God sets up a system for man to atone for sin through blood sacrifice.
6. Man cannot stop breaking rules.
7. God loves man so much that God comes to earth in the flesh and sheds his holy blood as a perfect sacrifice that will cover every sin. 
8. God says all man has to do is believe in Jesus (the God-man) and repent of his sins and the blood sacrifice can be applied to those who do.
9. The blood allows the believers to escape the judgement and spend eternity in heaven.

So the blood is the ultimate atonement for our sins.  The beauty in the atonement and what separates Christians from other religions is that we do not have to depend on our good works to get us into heaven.  The work that needs to be done for us to be in paradise for eternity was accomplished at Calvary.  It is finished.  Every other religion has to do with man getting into heaven based on his own good works, or their own following of the path God has made for them.

Thank God for Jesus!  Thank God that the blood shed was an acceptable atonement for our sins.  Thank God we don't have to worry about if our good outweighs our bad.  Thank God for the atonement.

Disclaimer: this post is in no way a comprehensive view of the work at Calvary.  Jesus accomplished a number of things at Calvary, the atonement is only one of many.

Pillars 5: Repent

In my work, I have many occasion to ask certain people what the difference is between the rules of the organization and one or more of their own actions.  Over the years, I have developed a working theory that is surprisingly accurate.  Those who quickly identify that their actions are not compliant with the standards set for them; and demonstrate a genuine contrite attitude over their shortcoming are almost certain to not make those same mistakes in judgement again.  However, those who blame others, blame their circumstances, or deny any wrongdoing altogether, are the same individuals who are doomed to repeat said offense multiple times.  This pattern of action, then denial or excuse, continues until a consequence is necessary.  In short, people do not stop doing something wrong until they admit to the wrong, and are convicted in their own minds to change their own behavior.  This is the Biblical principle of repentance at work. 

In the book of 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says this:
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

I love this verse.  It illustrates the principle of repentance.  God says, first we must humble ourselves.  We must do battle with the pride that lies within ourselves and admit that we messed up.  Then we can turn away from the wickedness (sin) in our lives.  The turning away from is repentance.  In turning away, or repenting from sin, we are telling God that we agree with Him that we have sinned.  We are also making a real effort to do away with our sin.  Repentance does not mean we stop sinning--we cannot stop sinning.  We can change our mind about sin.  We can agree with God that some actions we may have been making excuses for, or believing were right actions are actually sinful actions.  That is repentance. 

You see, repentance is key to a relationship with God through Jesus because God is holy, and a holy God cannot abide in sin.  Therefore our sin is a barrier between ourselves and God.  Thus, repentance is critical.

Jesus said in Luke 13:3, "Except ye repent, ye shall all like-wise perish."  Perish does not mean die, because 100% of us will die.  Perish means that our souls with spend eternity in damnation.  So, you see here how serious it is that we all repent.  Let us all repent and agree with God that we are sinful and recognize that we need the salvation of the cross.

Pillars of the Faith: The Infallibility of Scripture

There are two types of biographies available on bookshelves today.  There are authorized biographies, and there are unauthorized biographies.  The authorized biographies are written in conjunction with the person whom the book is about.  The unauthorized version is not.  If you want the facts straight; which biography do you choose?

The argument that some people have, even some Christians, is that the Bible is an unauthorized biography because it was written by men.  However, the same critics, believe that Jesus existed, and they do not criticize his words. 

I would say to anyone who believes that the Bible is flawed, to closely examine the evidence on their own.  The Bible is comprised of 66 books, written over a period of 1400 years by 40 different authors.  Although so much time and so many different people were involved--the Bible never contradicts itself.  Now folks, you can't get two people who witnessed a purse snatched to agree on the facts.  These are 40 different men over 1400 years.  The reason the Bible is so consistent is because it is God speaking through men, and God is immutable, and so is His word. 

I did not write the next part, but it is interesting.

There were several secular historians who wrote about the events of the New Testament at the same time the Bible was being written. Josephus is the most well-known of them. He was a Jewish historian. Tacitus was a Roman historian who would have no benefit from not telling the truth. Both these men, as well as others, can be used to back up the historical accuracy of the Bible.


There are historical discoveries regularly coming to light that continue to support the accuracy of the Bible. Merrill Unger, who compiled a Bible dictionary wrote, “Old Testament archeology has rediscovered whole nations, resurrected important peoples, and in a most astonishing manner filled in historical gaps, adding immeasurably to the knowledge of Biblical backgrounds.”

There are more than 3,200 verses with fulfilled prophecy either within the Bible itself or since the Bible was written. But there are still more than 3,100 verses with unfulfilled prophecies.


Read more: http://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/10-amazing-bible-facts/#ixzz2Hu9Org21

Ok, me again.

No other book can claim to have 3,200 verses of prophecy fulfilled.  If this is not proof that the Bible is the infallible word of God, I don't know what is. 

Lastly, Brothers and Sisters, Jesus.  If Jesus was who he said he was, and I believe he was, then we can never deny the infallibility of scripture.  Why?  Because Jesus quoted the Bible 78 times in the Gospels.  So, then, we have the man whom the book is about, quoting from the book which was written about Him before the book was finished.  Incidentally, we also have that man quoting scriptures about himself that were written hundreds of years before he was born.  The evidence in favor of the infallibility of scripture in the life and words of Jesus Christ alone is staggering.