Black Greek Fraternities and Sororities have been an important part of our society. They have done critical work in our communities and continue to be a valuable part of black culture. I admire their commitment to community service and their visible love for one another.
I would like to issue a challenge to my Greek brothers and sisters in Christ. What good could be accomplished if you represented Christ with the same fervor and tenacity that you represent and defend your precious fraternities and sororities? What mighty works could be done in the name of Christ if every Christian Black Greek (notice Christian came first, that is not an accident) could quote scripture with the same speed that they can rattle off the names of their founders, or recite their Greek poems, or sing their Greek songs. How many lives would be changed if our Christian Black Greeks would wear Christian T Shirts with the same regularity and pride that they display their Fraternity letters? Some Greeks have gone so far as to get branded or tattooed with their fraternity logo, I wonder if they would be so bold as to get branded with a cross? What would be the impact on our community if Christian Black Greeks would work as hard in church as they do for their fraternal organizations?
If you are a Christian then you are a new creature, and your purpose is to glorify God. You understand that Jesus has called his followers to suffer and even die for his sake. You have accepted the gift of salvation and all of the responsibilities that come with it. You have knowledge that as Christians we are to be separated from worldly, carnal lusts and practices.
My Christian Black Greek friends, have you examined your relationship with Christ through the lens of your fraternity or sorority? Have you relaxed your Christian standards so you can 'fit in' with your fraternity brothers or sisters? Is it more important to you to be Christian or Greek? Can you do both well, and never have one conflict with the other? Have you done things with your fraternity brothers or sisters that can be considered less than Christian? The bible admonishes us to examine ourselves to see if we are really in the faith. Use these questions for self reflection. If this post makes you angry, that is not the intent. The intent is to not have my brothers and sisters ignorant of what they may not be able to see. If you cannot say amen, you can always say 'ouch'.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, August 13, 2010
What are you doing
Matthew 25:13 "Watch therefore: for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
What if He did return this day. What would you be doing? Would he be pleased with what you are saying, thinking, watching, listening too, reading? Would he be able to take you to everlasting paradise? Think about it friend. How many times are you going to say, "I'll get right with the lord tomorrow?" It is tomorrow.
Friend, the devil has distorted our view of time so that we believe we always have tomorrow to change. First, we don't know when the true ruler of this earth will return. Secondly, we don't know when our own personal time cards will be punched. If you met Him today would he welcome you, or throw you in the lake of fire? Those are the only two choices open to us, and when your life is over it is too late to decide.
Friends, midnight is always closer than we think. Everyday we say, there are not enough hours in the day; or 'time flies.' Has anyone noticed that time only moves in one direction, and that direction is always moving toward the last day. No man knows when He will return, so everyone must be prepared.
The word of God says everything physical will pass away. Gold and money will rust and disintegrate. Nothing on this earth is forever. Why put your trust in something so weak as to have an expiration date, when God is eternal. He wants us to be with Him in heaven, so he sent his Son, Jesus, to sacrifice himself for us. All we have to do is repent, and follow the example of Christ, and we will have everlasting life. Our bodies will die, but He will give us new, incorruptible bodies, that will not die! That is good news. That is gospel. What are you waiting for....REPENT and be saved!
What if He did return this day. What would you be doing? Would he be pleased with what you are saying, thinking, watching, listening too, reading? Would he be able to take you to everlasting paradise? Think about it friend. How many times are you going to say, "I'll get right with the lord tomorrow?" It is tomorrow.
Friend, the devil has distorted our view of time so that we believe we always have tomorrow to change. First, we don't know when the true ruler of this earth will return. Secondly, we don't know when our own personal time cards will be punched. If you met Him today would he welcome you, or throw you in the lake of fire? Those are the only two choices open to us, and when your life is over it is too late to decide.
Friends, midnight is always closer than we think. Everyday we say, there are not enough hours in the day; or 'time flies.' Has anyone noticed that time only moves in one direction, and that direction is always moving toward the last day. No man knows when He will return, so everyone must be prepared.
The word of God says everything physical will pass away. Gold and money will rust and disintegrate. Nothing on this earth is forever. Why put your trust in something so weak as to have an expiration date, when God is eternal. He wants us to be with Him in heaven, so he sent his Son, Jesus, to sacrifice himself for us. All we have to do is repent, and follow the example of Christ, and we will have everlasting life. Our bodies will die, but He will give us new, incorruptible bodies, that will not die! That is good news. That is gospel. What are you waiting for....REPENT and be saved!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Keeping it Real
Attention Readers, if there is anything in this post or any previous posts that you know in your heart to be true, please do not attribute it to me. All truth comes from the Father, all praise is due to Him.
My topic for today is the propagation of the falsehood commonly known as 'keeping it real.' As a culture, Black folks especially, but also the nation as a whole, is very accepting of someone, 'keeping it real.' To be certain, the definition of keeping it real as I am defining it is as follows:
-to act on ones thoughts and emotions as they occur, to effectively communicate one's natural thoughts, to behave in a way that is consistent with one's feelings
Working from that definition, let's talk about why 'keeping it real' as a positive notion is undesirable for the kingdom of God.
According to the word, as descendants of Adam, because of his sin, we are born into sin. Because of his transgression, we are all natural sinners. Our first natural inclination in most situations is to sin. We are by virtue of being human, wretched, sinful beings. That is the whole of humanity, not just the poor, or the minority. That applies to every human being that ever walked, or will walk the planet sans Jesus Christ.
Working from the established premise that we are sinful in our very nature, then it would follow that our natural behaviors are sinful. What we think, feel, and desire in our flesh is wretched in the eyes of God. So by definition, 'keeping it real' is sinful, because it requires that we act on those naturally sinful impulses that are hardwired into our DNA.
What the Bible requires of us is to behave in a way that is counter intuitive. We are to arrest our inclination to act on our desires and hold them up to the light of truth according to the word. Thus, when our natural desire is to tell that irritating coworker to 'get a life', thus keeping it real; the world tells us to love that coworker in words and deeds. Our natural reaction would lead us to sin. When that driver cuts us off and almost causes us to wreck with our kids in the car, we want to display a finger to that driver that symbolizes something less than Christian. Again, the word tells us to pray for those individuals, while the flesh would have us behave wrongly.
I am not suggesting that christians should not, or do not have sinful thoughts and feelings. I am suggesting that a christian will not act upon the same. Christian's should not seek to 'keep it real'. Christians should instead seek to be an example of the word of God through their actions.
We are all sinners. Christians are merely sinners who have repented of their sin. God has given the world a law that cannot be fulfilled by humans. He has given us the law so that we understand that we need the gift of salvation. Reader, no one can enter into God's peace who is blemished. God is holy and he demands holiness. We, by ourselves can never be good enough to enter into the kingdom. Jesus died a horrible death as a sacrifice for our sins. Because he sacrificed himself, we can accept his salvation and enter into paradise.
Reader, let's stop keeping it real, and begin the process of modifying our behavior to reflect the example set by Jesus. I understand that the world is urging you to 'be true to yourself,' and to 'keep it real.' I even understand that this sounds good and right. However, man's wisdom compared to God's wisdom is foolishness. The enemy is a liar, a thief, and a murderer. He is also very crafty at popularizing foolishness that sounds like wisdom. You will 'keep it real' in hell. Christians will 'keep it Christian' on earth and in heaven.
My topic for today is the propagation of the falsehood commonly known as 'keeping it real.' As a culture, Black folks especially, but also the nation as a whole, is very accepting of someone, 'keeping it real.' To be certain, the definition of keeping it real as I am defining it is as follows:
-to act on ones thoughts and emotions as they occur, to effectively communicate one's natural thoughts, to behave in a way that is consistent with one's feelings
Working from that definition, let's talk about why 'keeping it real' as a positive notion is undesirable for the kingdom of God.
According to the word, as descendants of Adam, because of his sin, we are born into sin. Because of his transgression, we are all natural sinners. Our first natural inclination in most situations is to sin. We are by virtue of being human, wretched, sinful beings. That is the whole of humanity, not just the poor, or the minority. That applies to every human being that ever walked, or will walk the planet sans Jesus Christ.
Working from the established premise that we are sinful in our very nature, then it would follow that our natural behaviors are sinful. What we think, feel, and desire in our flesh is wretched in the eyes of God. So by definition, 'keeping it real' is sinful, because it requires that we act on those naturally sinful impulses that are hardwired into our DNA.
What the Bible requires of us is to behave in a way that is counter intuitive. We are to arrest our inclination to act on our desires and hold them up to the light of truth according to the word. Thus, when our natural desire is to tell that irritating coworker to 'get a life', thus keeping it real; the world tells us to love that coworker in words and deeds. Our natural reaction would lead us to sin. When that driver cuts us off and almost causes us to wreck with our kids in the car, we want to display a finger to that driver that symbolizes something less than Christian. Again, the word tells us to pray for those individuals, while the flesh would have us behave wrongly.
I am not suggesting that christians should not, or do not have sinful thoughts and feelings. I am suggesting that a christian will not act upon the same. Christian's should not seek to 'keep it real'. Christians should instead seek to be an example of the word of God through their actions.
We are all sinners. Christians are merely sinners who have repented of their sin. God has given the world a law that cannot be fulfilled by humans. He has given us the law so that we understand that we need the gift of salvation. Reader, no one can enter into God's peace who is blemished. God is holy and he demands holiness. We, by ourselves can never be good enough to enter into the kingdom. Jesus died a horrible death as a sacrifice for our sins. Because he sacrificed himself, we can accept his salvation and enter into paradise.
Reader, let's stop keeping it real, and begin the process of modifying our behavior to reflect the example set by Jesus. I understand that the world is urging you to 'be true to yourself,' and to 'keep it real.' I even understand that this sounds good and right. However, man's wisdom compared to God's wisdom is foolishness. The enemy is a liar, a thief, and a murderer. He is also very crafty at popularizing foolishness that sounds like wisdom. You will 'keep it real' in hell. Christians will 'keep it Christian' on earth and in heaven.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
False Teachers
Brothers, the enemy is unceasingly busy. I would not have you ignorant of any of his deceptive ways. Inasmuch as you are members of the body, both your thoughts and your actions must conform to the purpose of the creation, that is, to glorify Him. In this time, long after the dispensation of the Holy Spirit to the apostles, it is increasingly more difficult to discern truth. Those of us who are pious enough will read the scriptures, others will attempt to gain spiritual insight from televangelist, or radio ministries. Therein lies my warning. Brother, be very mindful of those teachers who have gained fame and notoriety through their teaching. Do not assume that God's favor is the catalyst for the success of any ministry. Brother, the enemy will raise up his own teachers, to pervert the gospel and lead the elect astray.
If a teacher has attained a status in the popular culture--beware! The world would not embrace Christ in any form, and it will not embrace the teachings of those who love Him. Remember, they killed John the Baptist, and several of the apostles. Most assuredly brothers we should have a healthy distrust of anything popular, for if the world loves it too much, Christ cannot be in it too much. This is not my opinion. This is a biblical principle.
My warning is this, measure everything uttered from these teachers against the word of God with the utmost scrutiny and diligence. Do not allow yourself to be led astray by those who would pander the gospel for personal gain. The purveyors of prosperity give a measure of the truth without delivering the whole message. This is a trick of the devil. They say, 'sow financial seeds in faith and God will bless you 100 fold'. This is a tool of the enemy, and it is a gross distortion of god's promise. However, there is just enough truth in it to pass with those who have not hidden the word of God in their hearts.
Here is the danger. As more people are bamboozled by the enemy's minions, the windows of heaven are still sealed and the blessings that have been promised are not being poured out. If the deception is complete, the unfulfilled expectation of blessings is not attributed to the false teacher, but to God himself. Those who were already weak in the faith are now almost totally disenfranchised. Not to say God does not fulfill his promise, rather that his blessings are not always tangible. In fact, the type of blessings promised by these pulpit pimps are almost always material goods. Does the scripture not warn us against these things. Does the scripture not say these things are temporal and our focus should be on the eternal. Why then would a loving God give us all kinds of stuff to remove our focus from him.
Brothers, it falls to us to defend the gospel. We may not have the platform to do it, but if our lives are conformed to Christ, then others can see the real Christ spirit in us. There we can speak with authority in our sphere of influence because we are known as men of prayer, study, and meditation. We can challenge the brother at work, in love. We can show the brother on our softball team where the false teacher is perverting the gospel. We can say to our family, 'I love you, and I see you being led astray.'
Brothers, this is no small issue. Do you love your brothers and sisters enough to risk their temporary anger to gain their eternal salvation. Men speak order into chaos. Men defend their territory. Men stand up.
If a teacher has attained a status in the popular culture--beware! The world would not embrace Christ in any form, and it will not embrace the teachings of those who love Him. Remember, they killed John the Baptist, and several of the apostles. Most assuredly brothers we should have a healthy distrust of anything popular, for if the world loves it too much, Christ cannot be in it too much. This is not my opinion. This is a biblical principle.
My warning is this, measure everything uttered from these teachers against the word of God with the utmost scrutiny and diligence. Do not allow yourself to be led astray by those who would pander the gospel for personal gain. The purveyors of prosperity give a measure of the truth without delivering the whole message. This is a trick of the devil. They say, 'sow financial seeds in faith and God will bless you 100 fold'. This is a tool of the enemy, and it is a gross distortion of god's promise. However, there is just enough truth in it to pass with those who have not hidden the word of God in their hearts.
Here is the danger. As more people are bamboozled by the enemy's minions, the windows of heaven are still sealed and the blessings that have been promised are not being poured out. If the deception is complete, the unfulfilled expectation of blessings is not attributed to the false teacher, but to God himself. Those who were already weak in the faith are now almost totally disenfranchised. Not to say God does not fulfill his promise, rather that his blessings are not always tangible. In fact, the type of blessings promised by these pulpit pimps are almost always material goods. Does the scripture not warn us against these things. Does the scripture not say these things are temporal and our focus should be on the eternal. Why then would a loving God give us all kinds of stuff to remove our focus from him.
Brothers, it falls to us to defend the gospel. We may not have the platform to do it, but if our lives are conformed to Christ, then others can see the real Christ spirit in us. There we can speak with authority in our sphere of influence because we are known as men of prayer, study, and meditation. We can challenge the brother at work, in love. We can show the brother on our softball team where the false teacher is perverting the gospel. We can say to our family, 'I love you, and I see you being led astray.'
Brothers, this is no small issue. Do you love your brothers and sisters enough to risk their temporary anger to gain their eternal salvation. Men speak order into chaos. Men defend their territory. Men stand up.
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