Are you more like Peter?

Have you ever followed close behind Jesus…

Witnessed His power with your own two eyes…

Been a conduit of His anointing and love…

Walked with Him…

Talked with Him…

Spent intimate moments with Him?

But,

When things got tough, uncomfortable or uneasy you acted like you didn’t know Him. Have you comforted yourself in the company of His enemy? Have you ever followed Him from a distance?

Have you denied Him?

Mark 14:54  (NKJV)

⁵⁴ But Peter followed Him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. And he sat with the servants and warmed himself at the fire.

John 18:25  (NKJV)

²⁵ Now Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. Therefore they said to him, “You are not also one of His disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not!”

Are you more like Judas?

Have you ever turned your back on Jesus for money? For influence? To satisfy your flesh? Have you gotten discouraged because things didn’t turn out as you thought they would. Have you ever put your motives above God’s motives? Have you ever put Him to open shame?

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Have you betrayed Him?

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John 12:4-6  (NKJV)

⁴ But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, ⁵ “Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii^[a] and given to the poor?” ⁶ This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

Matthew 26:14-17 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests ¹⁵ and said, “What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?” And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver. ¹⁶ So from that time he sought opportunity to betray Him. ¹⁷ Now on the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?”

Before we point a self-righteous finger at Peter or Judas, let us thank God for His grace and mercy because we have all been both of them.

Every time we yielded to our pride…our lust…temptation…

Every time we put others or ourselves before Him…

Every time we willingly lived contrary to His word…

Every time we influenced someone else to sin…

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We have both denied and betrayed Him.

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When we read about Peter denying Christ or Judas betraying Him, we are looking into a spiritual mirror.

Both were sorry for what they had done, but they both handled it differently.

Who are you more like?

Judas tried to return the money and was so grieved in His Spirit that he hung himself. He could have gotten on His knees and prayed for forgiveness. He could have rejoined the other eleven, admitted his mistake, and tell them he tried to return the money and been there when Jesus arose and ministered to them. They couldn’t have condemned him too much because they all scattered. Don’t you know that Jesus not only would have forgiven him, but commanded that his brother forgive him also? But, no. He hung himself in shame. If you have betrayed Him and not repented – you’re like Judas.

Matthew 27:3-10 (NKJV)

³ Then Judas, His betrayer, seeing that He had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, ⁴ saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.”

And they said, “What is that to us? You see to it!”

⁵ Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.

⁶ But the chief priests took the silver pieces and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the treasury, because they are the price of blood.” ⁷ And they consulted together and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. ⁸ Therefore that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.

⁹ Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of Him who was priced, whom they of the children of Israel priced, ¹⁰ and gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord directed me.”^[a]

After Peter denied Jesus, he rejoined the other eleven. He ran to the grave to find that Jesus wasn’t there. He saw Thomas put his fingers in the wounds. He ate a seaside breakfast with the risen savior. And, Jesus restored Him to become one of His most powerful apostles. Judas could have done the same thing. If you have messed up, repented and been restored – you’re like Peter.

John 21:15-17  (NKJV)

¹⁵ So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[a] do you love Me more than these?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

¹⁶ He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[b] do you love Me?”

He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.”

He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah,^[c] do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?”

And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.

Judas’ story ended in disgrace – Peters ended in grace.

So, even though we have all been like both, our stories don’t have to end like that of Judas.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

• 

If there’s one consistency between both the Old and New Testaments, it’s the fact that names matter to God. From God changing Abram’s name to Abraham to Yeshua changing Simon’s name to Peter (Cephas).

In an age when so many in the Body of Christ are politicizing sins that society considers BIG, while excusing those they consider small, the bible is clear that God takes how we identify ourselves very seriously…

Not many Christians are quick to name their children, Satan or Lucifer.

Why?

Because those names are used to identify the enemy, the accuser of the saints…the devil.

That’s why I don’t understand that while Christians are so passionately ‘campaign’ against the so-called BIG sins, why they never speak up against teams, many of which they allow their children to be a part of, that identify themselves with a devil.

They wear sports paraphernalia, fly flags, display bumper ‘stickers’ and worst of all cheer for, root for, in a sense ‘praise’…and glorify THE DEVILS!

Right now someone reading this knows in their heart it’s not right, but they are naturally inclined to do what Christians do when they want to continue doing something…look for reasons to justify it.

Do you think God is cool with you allowing your child to be identified as a ‘devil’?

Do you think God is okay with allowing a school, AAU team, or professional team to be identified as the DEVILS? The RED DEVILS? The BLUE DEVILS? etc.?

Names matter so much go God that He demands we be baptized in the NAME of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Here name doesn’t mean the combination of consonants and vowels that make up ‘Yeshua’, ‘Jesus’, ‘Emmanuel’, Adonai, or even Ruach ha-kodesh (Holy Spirit). Names denote authority, character…who you are, or what it is. Think about the fact that God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.

Think about the fact that most Christians are content with calling a day chosen to commemorate Yeshua’s (Jesus’s) death, burial, and resurrection by a pagan goddess’s name (Easter), which is the same as (Eostre, Ishtar, Ashtoreth) one of the very names He forbid us to make mention of, one of the very names that Israel and Judah invoked (said) and provoked God to anger.

NAMES MATTER: WHY WE SHOULD CELEBRATE JESUS’ RESURRECTION WITHOUT CALLING IT ‘EASTER’…

Joshua 23:7 (NKJV)

⁷ and lest you go^[a] among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,

Names matter, so we should stop trivializing what is important to Him.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

As we come upon the season of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I’m compelled to share what He placed in my heart years ago…my annual reminder.

John 4:24 proclaims that God is a spirit and we are commanded to worship Him in Spirit and Truth….Spirit and Truth.

God also commanded in Joshua 23:7 that we are not to make mention of or swear by the names of pagan gods, particularly those that were worshiped by the people who surrounded Israel.

 Joshua 23: (NKJV)

⁷ and lest you go among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not MAKE MENTION OF THE NAME of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them; you shall not serve them nor bow down to them,

Some of those names were Baal and Ashtoreth (Judges 2:12-15). One of Israel’s greatest sins was when they “did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and Asherahs”(Judges 3:7).

Well here we are in the 21st Century and the enemy knows you love the Lord and he can’t get you to reject Him for an idol, but he did cleverly find a way to defile our worship and get us to commit blasphemy every time we refer to the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua,  Jesus Christ.

In fact, if you ask why do we call the celebration of our Lord, Easter, many Christians will admit they don’t know or have never even thought about it.

The name Easter is derived from the name of an Anglo-Saxon/Norse goddess named Ostre or Eostre. This is the same ‘goddess’ that God forbade Israel to mention her name. The name is different in different cultures…Astarte, Ishtar, wife of Baal, Ashoreth, Aphrodite, Easter.

Even though the names are different, in all of these cultures ‘she’ was worshiped as a fertility goddess.

What were some of the symbols of her worship?

Yes, you already know…eggs, and rabbits.

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What better way for Satan to convince well-meaning Christians to disobey God by convincing them that they are depriving their children of some joy to keep these symbols alive for thousands of years.

The name Easter has absolutely nothing to do with Jesus. It doesn’t even remotely make sense, but you can’t get well-meaning Christians to stop using it because it’s so ingrained in the way we think (head) and the way we do things (hands) (Revelations 13:16). Remember that God warned us through the apostle John that the spirit of the antichrist was already here and working (1 John 4:3, 2 Thessalonians 2:7).

 Revelation 13:16(NKJV)

¹⁶ He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads,

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But some may say it doesn’t matter what you call the celebration of His resurrection as long as you know the meaning…

Think of all of the names God changed in the bible. Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Paul etc…

If names don’t matter then why won’t most men take their wife’s maiden name when they marry?

If names don’t matter what man would allow his wife to keep her ex-husbands last name?

If names don’t matter, then why is it important for us to be called by our name correctly?

Don’t you prefer being called by your own name?

Mary and Joseph were commanded to name Mary’s son Jesus, Yeshua, because He will save his people from their sins (Jesus, Joshua, Yeshua all mean Savior, God Saves or God, Yahweh is salvation, but that is a different discussion).

Names matter!

Using the name of another goddess to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and convincing Christians to defile his worship with symbols of her worship is blasphemy, and it is in direct rebellion to what God commanded us NOT to do (Joshua 23:7).

In fact, when you think about it, calling it EASTER Sunday is no different from calling it, Mohammed Sunday or Buddha Sunday.

Let me be clear.

I think it’s a wonderful thing to celebrate His death, burial and resurrection, but we must do it in Spirit and Truth.

Call it Resurrection Day, Resurrection Celebration, Jesus Lives Day you don’t even HAVE to celebrate it at all…but please let’s STOP calling it Easter.

Because names matter to us, and they matter to God.

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)

17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

 BE BLESSTIFIED!

People love clichés.

A well-placed cliché makes conversations, speeches and even sermons more interesting. One very popular cliché used when people have misfortune is or difficulty is, “When life gives you lemons make lemonade”.

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BUT WHAT IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANY SUGAR?

What if you have a health condition that doesn’t allow you to have sugar?

Sometimes in life we have to faith our way through some difficult days…

Sometimes we have to take some medicine that just doesn’t taste good…

Sometimes you have to swallow a really big pill that’s hard to get down…

Some people can’t have sugar in their diet…

Sometimes your healing comes from something bitter.

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AREN’T YOU GLAD THAT JESUS DIDN’T MAKE LEMONADE ON THE CROSS?

2 Timothy 2:3 tells us to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:2 teaches us to look to Jesus, who endured the cross for the joy that was set before Him.

People love quoting Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me” when they are trying to make their dreams come true, but this verse is most powerful when we are enduring life’s most difficult situations.

God wants us to always be able to make something good out of difficult situations, and to always see His will in them. As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, sometimes there’s nothing to make some situations feel ‘or taste’ better.

We just have to faith our way through and learn to sometimes drink lemonade without sugar.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

When you stop and take look, you can see God’s wisdom in everything…and I mean EVERYTHING!

God’s first institution established in His Kingdom was the family. He put man and woman together with a plan. He told us to be fruitful and multiply because God wasn’t going to continue creating men from dust or women from men’s ribs.

God gave us the gift of physical intimacy (sex) to bring children into the world, and to enhance our marriages. God wants us to enjoy one another just as much as he wants us to enjoy Him, and that’s very clear in the bible.

Proverbs 5:19 (NKJV)

As a loving deer and a graceful doe,
Let her breasts satisfy you at all times;
And always be enraptured with her love.

Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV)

4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

He even told husbands and wives to ‘take care of each other’ intimately so that neither is tempted…

1 Corinthians 7: 1-5

Now concerning the things of which you wrote to me:

It is good for a man not to touch a woman. 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

God made sex a physical crescendo that builds to a climactic, brief culmination of intense pleasure sought after by both those who are married and unfortunately, unmarried….We will use the euphemism ‘THE BIG O’.  Everything God did has a holy purpose. It’s not God’s fault that we misuse His gift…and what a perfect gift!

Here’s where God’s wisdom comes in.

God knew…

If we were going to ‘be fruitful and multiply’…

If we were going to have long, healthy marriages…

Our gift would need to be something we look forward to…something we crave and not something we dread.

Few people want the physical crescendo without the ‘BIG O’…

And, few people want the ‘BIG O’ to come too soon…

But, dig this!

As much as we enjoy…

As much we anticipate the ‘BIG O’.

As much as we enjoy reaching that brief moment of euphoria…God was wise enough to make it brief.

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It’s brief enough for us to look forward to it, but it’s short enough for us to enjoy it.

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Think about it…no one would be able to withstand 5, 10, 15 uninterrupted minutes of the ‘BIG O’. I don’t even know if our bodies could take it.

If the ‘BIG O’ was too big or too long…we would dread it.

If the ‘BIG O’ was too big we would avoid it.

There would be no ‘be fruitful and multiply’.

There would be a strain on marriages due to lack of intimacy.

Even the most holy person can admit that a well-timed ‘BIG O’ is just the pressure release valve needed sometime to relieve us of the stresses of life.

God knew just how good to make it…Just how strong to make it…and just how long to make it.

I told you when you stop and look at it, you can see God’s wisdom in EVERYTHING.

It’s easy to see why the apostle Paul proclaimed…

Romans 11:33 (NKJV)

33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

Our challenge is to love the sinner without condoning or justifying the sinful lifestyle…while we struggle with our own.

Our challenge is to call out sin and warn of it’s consequences in spite of our own imperfections, faults, failures and weaknesses.

We must remember that calling out sin, warning about it’s consequences and holding one another accountable is not judging…it’s our responsibility.

Condemnation and stating what we believe is in someone’s heart is judging.

None of us are perfect. Far from it. But, God still expects us to warn about the consequences of sin.

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The truth is that none of us are never at any moment, ‘sinless’. Does that make us all hypocrites?

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Nope. God justifies us and ‘views us as righteous’ only through faith our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus.

Romans 3:23  (NKJV)

²³ for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Romans 5:1 (NKJV)

5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have^[a] peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

The key is to never be content or satisfied with our own sins. To constantly allow His Holy Spirit to convict us of our own wrong, working diligently to ‘lay them aside’…

It’s your attitude about your sin that prevents you from being a hypocrite.

Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

12 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Pray for God to give you wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment and revelation for how to be His image, His voice, His representative in this generation. And, leave behind a heritage of good fruit for the generations to come.

Colossians 1:27-28  (NKJV)

²⁷ To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which^[a] is Christ in you, the hope of glory. ²⁸ Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

 Psalm 71:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.

 BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

 

 

 

 

As I use this Christian blog as a platform for Christ, I sometimes get insulting, and demeaning responses and replies from either atheists, people of other faiths, or believers whose hearts have been hardened.

Before my blog, there was a time when I would engage in argumentative cyber dialogue on social media, Facebook in particular, with people who disagreed with me, thinking I was planting more good seed. This usually only drove them deeper into their resentment and unbelief.

The initial statement(s) that I made which provoked the negative response was the ‘good seed’.

I would also at times tell them, “I’m praying for you”, sometimes out of sincerity, but sometimes I admit I was being ‘spiritually shady, using the statement as a spiritual insult out of frustration and anger rather than love. Either way, it usually pissed them off even more.

As I prayed for God to increase my passion to reach out to those who don’t believe in Him, and give me strategies to effectively touch them…it hit me.

I call it SECRET CYBER MINISTRY.

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People don’t have to know you are praying for them for God to hear it and respond.

Negative responses, as well as social pages and groups provide an abundant pool of names – real people to pray for God to touch.

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You can stop right now, get on Facebook, search for pages dedicated to atheists. There you will find names (and faces) of people passionate about their unbelief. You can begin regularly calling out those names to God. You can present those names to your prayer groups and prayer partners. You can secretly make these specific people your focus in prayer. Lift these names up to God several times a day during your quiet time.

No matter how deep someone may be in his or her unbelief, God has given everyone a measure of faith and the ability to believe.

Romans 12:3 (NKJV)

³ For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

You can pick out certain individuals and make it a point to consistently pray that God will soften their hearts to believe in Him through our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, Christ Jesus. That, He rebuke the devil and spirits of unbelief out of them. That, they attribute their measure of faith to Him. That they be saved, their faith be established, that it increases and they can bring forth a bountiful harvest of good fruit for God.

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Not only do they not have to know you are praying for them, in fact, it’s probably best they don’t.

Facebook, blogs, and other social media is a fertile field for cyber for secret cyber ministry.

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You can look at the cyber environment like Jesus did when He saw the crowds…

Matthew 9:35-38 New (NKJV)

³⁵ Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.^[a]36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary^[b] and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. ³⁸ Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

This is a powerful way to use technology and be a Laborer for God’s Harvest.

Instead of arguing, avoiding or even resenting these people. Sincerely pray for them…BEFORE YOU UNFRIEND, BLOCK OR DELETE YOUR ‘MESSY’ FRIENDS ON SOCIAL MEDIA…

I you plant the seed, God will give the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6 (NKJV)

⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

It’s been said that we only use a small fraction of the human brain’s capacity. I believe that’s true – thus, we limit our abilities. If we were able to utilize our entire brain, we could possibly achieve what is believed to be superhuman.

In much the same way, I believe that many of us only know a fraction of who God is because we have limited ourselves through the lens of the perspective of the church culture in which we were ‘introduced’ to God.

It may be the church culture in which we were raised…

It may be the church culture we chose as an adult…

If you are a member of the Body of Christ, take a moment and think about your church culture.

Think about how you approach worship.

Think about how you approach ministry outside of the church.

Think about the music ministry.

Think about the prayers… what topics are addressed during the public prayers.

Think about the sermons… What topics are addressed? Through which perspective are they addressed? What topics are avoided?

Our worship can sometimes be influenced by our past…our socio-economic status…how we experience family…how we experience America, or what ever country in which you live.

Many times our prayers and expectations can be centered around…

Our health…

Our economic status…

Our social views…

Our political views…

Sometimes we can reduce God to a genie in a bottle.

Sometimes we can expect God to worship our hopes, dreams, desires, expectations, pains, worries, our viewpoints when our worship is centered around these things.

Get the picuture?

Some people equate worship music to exuberant shouting, while others equate it being reserved and quiet…why can’t it be both sometimes?

The bulk of some church culture’s worship is centered around crying, lamenting and asking God for help, while others mainly consists of thanking God and acknowledging the beauty of His creation.

Historical example…

Christians during the Civil Rights Movement were introduced to God through how their ancestors experienced America…this varied based on race, geography, etc.

This directly affected how they worshipped, prayed.

It affected what songs they chose for worship.

It affected how they approached social issues.

It affected how they approached politics.

And, this is how they introduced and introduce God to the present generation.

How will this generation introduce God to future generations?

God is a healer.

God is a deliverer.

God is a keeper.

God is a God of love and kindness.

God is a God of anger and wrath.

God IS!

Psalm 71:18 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Now also when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.

Have you ‘experienced’ God from the perspective and context of…

Oppression?

Abuse?

Success?

Addiction?

Struggle?

How you perceive freedom?

This is why we have ‘images’ of Yeshua as White, Black, Mediterranean, Asian etc.

Don’t limit your relationship to God and definitely don’t limit Him when you share your faith.

CLIQUE-‘ISH’ IN THE CHURCH (YEP, ‘ISH’ IS A EUPHEMISM)…

WHEN WE MAKE CHURCH ABOUT US INSTEAD OF GOD…

WHEN WE GO TO CHURCH EXPECTING GOD TO WORSHIP US…

CIVIL RIGHTS & SOCIAL JUSTICE SHOULD BE ‘A’ PRIORITY BUT NOT ‘THE’ PRIORITY OF THE CHURCH…

QUICK FYI: 4 REASONS NEW MEMBERS QUIT COMING TO CHURCH…

7 ‘CHURCHY’ CLICHES THAT WE SHOULD BE CAREFUL OF HOW WE SAY…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

There are many in the Body of Christ who love quoting John 10:10…

John 10:10  (NKJV)

¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

But, we must remember that this verse applies to those of us who are being led by the Good Shepherd (John 10:1-17). Those who are ‘walking in the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:16-26). Those who not only believe, but are responding to being the ‘called according to His purpose’ (Romans 8:28). To those who are laboring for His Harvest (Matthew 9:37-38). And especially those who  are connected to the vine and bearing good fruit (John 15:1-8).

It is God’s will that we add to His Kingdom…that we make disciples (Matthew 28:19), and that every interaction brings glory and honor to His name, that’s bearing good fruit.

So by default, if we aren’t bearing good fruit we are either bearing no fruit or bearing bad fruit. God’s word addresses how He feels about those of us who are being nurtured by His love, grace, mercy, provision and protection and bear no fruit (. Many of us only use the resources that God gives us, not just money, but our anointing, gifts and talents on ourselves. It’s like a fruit tree with all leaves but no fruit (Luke 13:6-9),(John 15:1-8), and dig this one…

Isaiah 5:1-7  (NKJV)

 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:

My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
² He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a winepress in it;
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.

³ “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
⁴ What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
⁵ And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
⁶ I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”

⁷ For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

 So, I think the word of God establishes it well that it is very possible to believe but to be of no use to Him in the Kingdom. Even to the point to tell us that if we have faith, but are always sitting on it, that our faith is dead (James 2:14-26).

By deductive reasoning, we can also conclude that if we are not benefiting God’s Kingdom that we are…

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NO THREAT TO THE DEVIL

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That being established, and so-called believer who is no threat to the devil IS a threat to the Kingdom. They justify being an inactive, apathetic believer.

There are those also who claim to believe but have allowed the devil to manipulate them into pursuing his agenda, for example the scribes and Pharisees claimed to be God’s representatives but were actually working for the enemy, they sought to kill Jesus unknowingly fulfilling scripture (Matthew 12:14, John 5:18, John 7:1, John 11:53, John 16:2).

The Ku Klux Klan claimed and claims to be a Christian organization, but they are actually pursued and are pursuing the enemy’s agenda.

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SO IF YOU ARE OF NO USE TO GOD’S KINGDOM OR EVEN HELPING THE ENEMY WHY SHOULD HE TRY TO STEAL FROM YOU, KILL YOU OR DESTROY YOU? WHY SHOULD THE ENEMY TRY TO HARM YOU IF YOU ARE BENEFITING HIM?

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Do you have a genuine concern for those who are lost? Are you acting on it? Are you letting your light shine? Can people really tell you’re a Christian by how you live daily?

Remember the words of the 12-year old Jesus, “…I must be about my Father’s business.”(Luke 2:49).

Are you about your Father’s business? If not why should the devil fight against you?  In fact, if we aren’t about our Father’s business, then again by default who’s business are we about?

John 8:44-45  (NKJV)

⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources,for he is a liar and the father of it. ⁴⁵ But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.

If your life seems to be too easy…it may be for a reason.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Should you leave your faith at home when you go to work? Remember, that Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, engaged Peter, Andrew, James, John and Matthew while they were busy working on their jobs.

He could have waited until they finished for the day, but he ministered to them while they were still working.

Matthew 4:18-22 (NKJV)

¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

Matthew 9:9-13 (NKJV)

⁹ As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

Sometimes God places disciples in the workplace to be light.

Matthew 5:14-16 (NKJV)

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

I often hear people lament that one of the reasons our public school systems have declined and are declining is because we have allowed prayer to be taken out of schools. I humbly submit to you today…

IF YOU’RE PRAYING AT HOME, PRAYER IS STILL IN SCHOOLS…

IF YOU PRAY OVER AND FOR YOUR CHILDREN, PRAYER IS STILL IN SCHOOLS…

IF YOU’VE TAUGHT YOUR CHILDREN TO PRAY, PRAYER IS STILL IN SCHOOLS…

I wonder how many of the people who complain about prayer being taken out of schools actually teach their children to pray, pray with their children or have family prayer at home.

God gave parents the responsibility to instill the appreciation for prayer in their children,  promote a culture of prayer in the home, and let them know they can talk to God anywhere.

Deuteronomy 6:7 (ESV)

⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV)

 

We must teach our children that God isn’t limited to where you pray! The church prayed for Peter in Acts 12 and God released him.

Acts 12:5-17 (NKJV)

⁵ Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant^[a] prayer was offered to God for him by the church. ⁶ And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. ⁷ Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸ Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. ¹¹ And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and fromall the expectation of the Jewish people.” ¹² So, when he had considered this, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying. ¹³ And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate. ¹⁵ But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.” ¹⁶ Now Peter continued knocking; and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to another place.

When you pray WITH your child and FOR your child, God is with him, her or them IN the school. Consider this…if you allow prayer in schools, you have to allow ALL prayer. What if your child’s teacher isn’t Christian, and your child is subjected to the prayers of another religion?

Dear friends, don’t just pray individually, but I encourage you to make sure you’re having family prayer at home.

Spouses begin your day together on prayer.

Pray as a family.

Continue to pray for schools in your churches.

Pray for schools even if you don’t have children in school because good schools affect all of us. There is much power in praying TOGETHER…

Matthew 18:19-20)

19 “Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

MOST IMPORTANTLY…if your children know how to PRAY FOR THEMSELVES AT SCHOOL…prayer is still and will always be in schools.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

“Sheep!

“Sheeple”

It’s amazing to see how many Christians hurl these words at one another as an insult.

They say this implying someone is blindly following some ‘pied piper’ without any intelligence (especially politically), while they can’t see themselves doing the very same thing they are accusing others of…following some person, group, party or ideology.

These terms SHEEP and SHEEPLE are also used by atheists when attempting to insult Christians.

However, they don’t realize they are telling the truth. I’m glad to be one of Yeshua the Messiah’s ‘SHEEP’.

John 10:11-15 NKJV

^{11 (A)}“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a ^[a]hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(B)leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. ¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and ^(C)I know My sheep,and ^(D)am known by My own. ^{15 (E)}As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; ^(F)and I lay down My life for the sheep.

Matthew 25:31-46 NKJV

^{31 (A)}“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the ^[a]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. ^{32 (B)}All the nations will be gathered before Him, and ^(C)He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. ³³ And He will set the ^(D)sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. ³⁴ Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, ^(E)inherit the kingdom^(F)prepared for you from the foundation of the world: ^{35 (G)}for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; ^(H)I was a stranger and you took Me in; ³⁶ I was ^(I)naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; ^(J)I was in prison and you came to Me.’

⁴¹ “Then He will also say to those on the left hand,^(L)‘Depart from Me, you cursed, ^(M)into the everlasting fire prepared for ^(N)the devil and his angels: ⁴² for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

⁴⁴ “Then they also will answer ^[b]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ ⁴⁵ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, ^(O)inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ ⁴⁶ And ^(P)these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

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And apparently, King David was honored to be one of God’s sheep.

Psalm 23 NKJV

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is ^(A)my shepherd;
^(B)I shall not ^[a]want.
^{2 (C)}He makes me to lie down in ^[b]green pastures;
^(D)He leads me beside the ^[c]still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
^(E)He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of ^(F)the shadow of death,
^(G)I will fear no evil;
^(H)For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You ^(I)prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You ^(J)anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will ^[d]dwell in the house of the Lord
^[e]Forever.

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So, if someone calls you a SHEEP, they are most likely ignoring the fact they are following some ‘shepherd’ themselves.

And, if someone calls me a sheep I will quickly say, “THAT’S RIGHT, AND THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD!”

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Years ago, when I was in the radio industry, a prominent doctor was scheduled to record his own commercial in the studio. He arrived on time, but the studio was running behind and he was furious because he had to wait…

Think about it…A doctor was furious that he had to wait about 30 minutes after his scheduled appointment time. Think of how long doctors‘ patients have to wait for them.

In America, children have traditionally been asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“What do you want to be?” instead of “What do you want to do?”

It’s at that point we begin to program future adults that we define ourselves by what we do for a living. This unfortunately feeds a class system that bases peoples’ value in society on what they do every day whether than who they are every day and what KIND of person they are.

Think of how many people who claim to love Jesus Christ today, that if they are honest with themselves, would have looked down on Him if they lived during His earthly ministry because of His ‘social status’ . 8 REASONS WHY MANY OF TODAY’S ‘CHRISTIANS’ WOULDN’T HAVE FOLLOWED ‘CHRIST’…

Too many people get so caught up into their job title and authority ON the job, that they forget that they are EQUAL to their subordinates in the roles of father, mother, son, daughter, sibling etc.

They forget that on any job, in any school, in any office, in any manufacturing facility, in any organization we are all EQUAL in the role of just being people earning money to sustain our lives and families. Too many people begin…

“Smelling themselves…’

“Believing their own press…”

…and go to work seeking to get their egos ‘fed’ by others.

This is one of the reasons I feel that no adult has the right to ‘CHEW OUT’ another because they didn’t meet expectations or to discipline them at work. There is a process of consequences that can lead to termination. These consequences can be administered with respect…even when one feels that the employee doesn’t deserve it. WHY A BOSS SHOULD NEVER ‘CHEW OUT’ AN EMPLOYEE…

In some cases people expect other men, women, fathers, mothers to ‘kiss their butts’ because they are their ‘boss’. WHEN SOMEONE EXPECTS YOU TO ‘KISS THEIR BUTT’…

I’ve seen people in authority interrupt their ‘subordinates’ conversations at work, or duties they themselves assigned for something trivial, while they expect the same people to wait by their office door while they talk to their spouse on the phone, or joke around with another employee.

Unless it’s important, interrupting is rude,disrespectful and arrogant no matter what your job title.

From the CEO to custodian, principal to paraprofessional, manager to machinist… all employees of an organization are CO-WORKERS trying to earn a living, and the organizational hierarchy and authority stops when they are not doing job duties…and even when they are, no one trumps anyone else when it comes to deserving respect.

Never let your occupation or career TOTALLY define ALL of who you are because God could change that in an instant, and remember this…

We didn’t receive our gift of salvation because Jesus was a carpenter.

Mark 6:2-3 (NKJV)

² And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Himwere ^(A)astonished, saying, ^(B)“Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! ³ Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and ^(C)brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they ^(D)were offended at Him.

There’s more to you than what you do.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Just a little humorous reminder for married couples trying to keep the romance strong.

There’s nothing like a sensual shower or bath…TWOgether!

But, don’t MESS it up…literally!

Always, and I mean always take a shower BEFORE you take a shower TWOgether!

Please make sure you’ve washed all the most important body parts BEFORE you get in soapy tub TWOgether!

A bubbly bath is not for ‘bathing’!

A sensual shower is not the time to wash your 🍑.

It’s not the place to wash away the odors of the day…

It’s a place for play!

Song of Solomon 4:9-15 (NLT)

⁹ You have captured my heart,
my treasure,^[a] my bride.
You hold it hostage with one glance of your eyes,
with a single jewel of your necklace.
¹⁰ Your love delights me,
my treasure, my bride.
Your love is better than wine,
your perfume more fragrant than spices.
¹¹ Your lips are as sweet as nectar, my bride.
Honey and milk are under your tongue.
Your clothes are scented
like the cedars of Lebanon.

¹² You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride,
a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.
¹³ Your thighs shelter a paradise of pomegranates
with rare spices—
henna with nard,
¹⁴ nard and saffron,
fragrant calamus and cinnamon,
with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes,
and every other lovely spice.
¹⁵ You are a garden fountain,
a well of fresh water
streaming down from Lebanon’s mountains.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

DON’T TURN AROUND  IN YOUR TURNAROUND!

God told us we will have trials and tribulations in life. He also gave us a promise. 

“Many are the affictions of the righteous, but God delivers him out of them all” Psalm 34:19.

The devil knows of this promise and does everything he can to convince you to give up not only during the trial, but when things are TURNING AROUND. He may even attack harder. I’m in a turn around season myself, and the devil is trying to discourage me even as I type this word to inspire US.

I declare in the name of Jesus Christ that the devil is a liar! My wife and I can tell God is turning things around. If you are sensitive to God, and in constant prayer, you can tell that a change for the better is coming. You can tell that things are TURNING AROUND. That’s why you need to continue in prayer, thanksgiving and praise for your deliverance from the storm through out the trial, and in THE TURNAROUND.

You’re on the right path! Don’t lose your faith in God! Don’t turn back around! Don’t give in to frustration! Keep pressing on! Don’t get flustered by the devil’s distractions! Keep pushing your way through, around and over obstacles! Keep praying your way through disappointments! Keep praising your way to victory!

Keep working your way through THE TURNAROUND because even though the turnaround seems gradual, your victory comes suddenly. Think of a slow and gradual turn on the road. The turn may be slow, but if you keep going FORWARD, you suddenly find yourself going straight. Sometimes the turn, the change in direction is so gradual that you can barely sense it, but you CAN SENSE IT. You can tell God is working it out, and the devil wants you to give up. DON’T GIVE UP!

No matter how long, dark and gradual the night seems, the sun always breaks forth SUDDENLY! DON’T GIVE UP IN THE TURNAROUND!
Psalm 30:5 (NKJV)

“For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.”

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

It’s sometimes difficult for many Americans to see how everyone can be equal, but still not have the same ‘American Experience’. Many times they then judge others based on how THEY FEEL OTHERS should REACT to how they perceive their ‘American experience’. But, if we think about the fact that everyone doesn’t experience the organizations for which we work in the same way…it becomes more clear.

Before becoming an educator, for a decade, I worked for a great, very successful Fortune 300 company. This company is the source of a great standard of living for thousands of employees. It was a great company, just as America is a great country. Although, everyone in the company was ‘equal’ …they didn’t ‘experience’ the company the same.

I was a Marketing Manager, and everyone who was at manager level and above received an annual bonus based on company performance. Because of the industry, this company performed well in a ‘good economy’, but performed even better in a ‘bad economy’ (It still does, the stock price is incredible).

Employees who were below manager level worked just as hard, if not harder than many of those who enjoyed receiving the bonuses. They also played just as great a role, if not greater, in reaching the goals that resulted in those bonuses… in much the same way teachers aren’t respected as experts (by ‘experts’ outside the classroom) , even though they are on the ‘front lines’.

But, these frontline workers in that Fortune 300 company weren’t (and aren’t) allowed to share in those financial rewards.

During company meetings, when the leadership tried to ‘inspire’ everyone on every ‘level’ to push harder to meet goals…those who didn’t receive the bonus had less incentive to ‘work harder’ so others can reap a greater reward. It’s unfair for those who are higher in hierarchy to judge their co-workers as lazy and less dedicated because they don’t enjoy the systemic rewards system equally.

It’s clear that even though everyone worked for the same great company, that everyone didn’t ‘EXPERIENCE’ the company in the same way.

Think about your company…organization…school district. What’s your role? Do people higher in the hierarchy enjoy more perks…prestige…access…respect…compensation…rewards? Does every worker experience your organization the same way?

Of course not. The truth is that some people in every organization are treated better because of their role…no matter how much actual value they bring to the organization.

In much the same way, because of race, culture, social status, academic achievement, etc., everyone doesn’t experience America the same way.

Unfortunately, some people can’t see or relate to this unless they feel their ‘status’, ‘rewards’ or level of ‘access’ and ‘freedom’ are being threatened.

If you don’t want anyone judging you based on how you react to what you perceive as unfairness in your work environment, then don’t judge others based on their perception of how they experience America.

Matthew 7:12 (NLT)

¹² “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

I strongly feel that one of God’s spiritual purposes for allowing COVID-19 to interrupt in-person worship is so we can pause and take a good look at how we approach worship and our traditions.

One of the reasons the religious establishment sought to kill Jesus was because He challenged their traditions.

Matthew 15:3 (ESV)

³ He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?

He also made it clear that God demands that we worship Him in spirit and truth, not just what we choose to believe…

John 4:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

One of those traditions that I think that God wants us to reconsider is what we call ‘Good Friday’ or the day when Yeshua was crucified and buried. I can’t count the times I’ve heard or read arguments trying to make Friday through Sunday 3 days and 3 nights. And quite frankly, it always sounds like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

Many Christians feel they have to justify making two days into three because they don’t want to contradict what we have been taught… a tradition.

It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a circle.

Consider this.

Take another look at the account of the day Yeshua was on the cross taking into consideration that the Jewish day began at what we call 6pm or sunset to sunrise.

The Gospels say that Yeshua cried out and breathed His last breath around the 9th hour, or 3pm…

Mark 15:33-37 (NKJV)

³³ Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. ³⁴ And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

³⁵ Some of those who stood by, when they heard that, said, “Look, He is calling for Elijah!” ³⁶ Then someone ran and filled a sponge full of sour wine, put it on a reed, and offered it to Him to drink, saying, “Let Him alone; let us see if Elijah will come to take Him down.”

³⁷ And Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and breathed His last.

As we move forward to verse 42, it is now EVENING and Yeshua is still on the cross as Joseph of Arimathea asks Pilate for the body.

Mark 15:42-43 (NKJV)

⁴² Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, ⁴³ Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Upon the arrival of evening, it’s no longer the same day as it was when Yeshua was crucified.

Genesis 1:5 (NKJV)

⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. ^[a]So the evening and the morning were the first day.

God gave us His word from a Jewish perspective. Problems arise when we try and view it through the lens of our western perspective.

Notice everything that had to take place after before Jesus could be placed into the tomb after 3pm…

John 19:31-42 (NKJV)

³¹ Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. ³² Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. ³³ But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. ³⁴ But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. ³⁵ And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe. ³⁶ For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, “Not one of His bones shall be broken.” ³⁷ And again another Scripture says, “They shall look on Him whom they pierced.”

³⁸ After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. ³⁹ And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. ⁴⁰ Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury. ⁴¹ Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. ⁴² So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby.

Remember, harmonizing with Mark 15:42, it was EVENING when Joseph of Arimathea asked for the body of Yeshua. This was AFTER the soldiers came to break His legs (this was evening too) and realized He was already dead. This was after he was given sour wine to drink before He died. All this was after 3pm and took time. It took time for Joseph to go to Pilate, ask for the body, get His linen cloth, properly wrap His body in the cloth, get the body of our Savior off the cross, and take it to the tomb.

This all happened after evening had arrived…the next biblical day according to the Jewish perspective of a day beginning in the evening rather than at 12 midnight.

So, with the ARRIVAL of evening came the Day of Preparation, or what we call Friday, which means everything that happened BEFORE evening was on the previous day, what we call Thursday.

If the crucifixion occurred on what we call Thursday, then one can easily justify three days and three nights… no trying to fit a square peg into a circle.

Of course, some are so devoted to a tradition that doesn’t make sense, they will ask, “What does it matter?”

It matters because God demands to be worshipped in spirit and truth.

It matters because we don’t want to be guilty of teaching, preaching and believing a lie.

It matters because the Adversary wants to pervert everything holy (NAMES MATTER (WHY WE SHOULD STOP CALLING EASTER…EASTER).

I’m sure some ‘seasoned’ theologians will read this and try and make me seem as though I don’t know what I’m talking about…and that’s exactly what happened to Jesus.

Think about it.

BE BLESSTIFED!

“Hallowed be your Name” means “May your Name be KEPT holy”. Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, taught us in the Model prayer that referencing God should always be kept HOLY and never taken lightly.

For those of us who believe in God through His only Son and take the Word of God seriously, blasphemy is a big deal.

To make it simple, blasphemy is…

Elevating humans to God’s level…

Reducing God to human level…

Making God equal to man…

Making idol gods equal to the Lord God of Israel from Everlasting to Everlasting…

Attributing the works of God to the devil…

And, just plain making jokes about or belittling the sovereign God of our creation.

This is why the religious leaders continued to accuse Jesus, the Son of God, of blasphemy…

Luke 5:21 (NIV)

²¹ The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”^(A)

This is why Jesus warned them when they accused Him of having an unclean spirit…

Mark 3:28-30 (NKJV)

²⁸ “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;²⁹ but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— ³⁰ because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

So when people like the popular radio/television/social media personality Lenard McKelvey calls himself by the name Charlemagne Tha God (it bothers me to even type that)…it is just as offensive as insulting one’s father or mother.

It’s an insult to God’s holiness, reverence and Oneness.

It’s foolishness.

Especially because he chose that moniker it because he was quoted as saying “IT SOUNDED COOL”. I’ve read was raised in a Christian home and now claims to be a Muslim. However, they consider it blasphemy too.

He even has a talk show called THE GOD’S HONEST TRUTH, referring to himself.

So, if he wants to foolishly blaspheme, that’s his business. But, he is provoking others to blaspheme just to address or refer to him.

Call no man or woman god…

Not seriously…

Not for fun…

It may be marketable, but it’s not cool.

No matter how much ego, notoriety, money, influence, intelligence, wisdom or perceived power one may have…

No one who DIES can LIVE up to that claim.

WHY GOD DOES NOT NEED AN ORIGIN STORY…

BE BLESSTIFIED!

How many times have you heard someone say a particular evil behavior would “die out” when a generation of people are replaced with a new generation?

However, when the generations transitions, the behavior proves to have the resilience of weeds by persisting perennially.

You can study history and see the same behaviors that occurred decades and centuries ago still persist… chillingly in almost the exact same manner.

Why?

Because demons don’t die. The people of the previous generations allow those demons to continue to thrive as new generations accept their…

Attitudes…

Traditions…

Heritages…

Pride…

Arrogance…

Idolatry…

Cultures.

The reason that the Apostle John relayed the prophecy in The Revelation that the future fallen Babylon is referred to as a “dwelling place for demons

Revelation 18:2 (NIV)

With a mighty voice he shouted:

“‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’^[a]
    She has become a dwelling for demons
and a haunt for every impure spirit,
    a haunt for every unclean bird,
    a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal.

This is because the ‘Babylon’ culture provided a comfortable home for them to not just live but ‘thrive’… much like our bodies are intended to be a comfortable temple for God’s holy spirit to dwell…

1 Corinthians 6:19 (NKJV)

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who isin you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?

So don’t expect racism, oppression, violence and the others extreme evils to die out with a generation of people…because those are tools the devil has used since the beginning of time, and he’s not lying them down

But remember this…

1 John 4:4 (NKJV)

⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than ^(A)he who is in the world.

Just don’t let those demons live in you.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

I hope this short piece sets someone free of their guilt.

Repentance DOESN’T mean that you’ll never think of your sin anymore.

But, it DOES mean that you won’t linger on those thoughts when they enter your mind.

Repentance DOESN’T meant that you won’t desire the sin anymore…Because the enemy will continue to use any temptation or weakness to provoke you to backslide.

Repentance DOES mean that you WILL NOT PUT YOURSELF to hard testing by tempting yourself from that which you’ve turned away. You won’t intentionally put yourself in the position to do it again.

Repentance DOES mean that you have Godly sorrow and regret of your sin…it DOESN’T mean you don’t remember it.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10 (NKJV)

⁹ Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.

If you’ve totally rejected your sin and you’re doing everything else to avoid it…that’s repentance.

If you don’t want it to be a pleasant memory anymore…that’s repentance.

If you ‘don’t want to want it’ anymore…that’s repentance.

But, just the way that the devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, and though he fled, the bible said he would return at an opportune moment…

Luke 4:13 (NKJV)

¹³ Now when the devil had ended every ^[a]temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

Jesus was tempted in all points just like us…

Hebrews 4:15 (NKJV)

¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus understands. Yield not to temptation, and…

Through time, it will become less and less of a temptation.

Repentance DOES mean you’ve turned away from the sin, it DOES mean the sin has turned away from you.

As the song says, “Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin. Each victory will help you some other to win”.

God can help you get to the point that is isn’t a temptation anymore.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

There is a discussion, sometimes contentious, going on in America about how history is taught in schools. Many of the people who are passionate about controlling the narrative claim to be Christians. They claim to be concerned with the accurateness of how history is taught, especially because of it’s influence on future generations.

God has the same concern…

John 4:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Revelation 22:18-19 (NKJV)

^18 [a]For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, ^[b]God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God^[c] shall take away his part from the ^[d]Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

The bible makes it clear that Yeshua the Messiah was both human and divine. It also makes it clear that He was born a Jew. He was born in the Mediterranean, actually in Asia. It’s what we call the Middle East (relative to Europe of course). The region borders Africa and those born in that region don’t have the physical traits that are depicted in many images of Jesus.

It has driven thought among people of many races as to how Jesus looked. It’s interesting that many people who claim to be passionate about preserving history and it’s accuracy are perfectly fine with a European image of Jesus. Many people who claim to be passionate about scriptures, and will argue until they are ‘blue in the face’ about being true to the bible, will quickly claim, ‘his color doesn’t matter’ when this is mentioned. Many people who cherry-pick their way through the bible will say, ‘what does it matter?’

And, it especially, personally pisses me off when someone proclaims, “Why are you spreading division?”

Division?

Why is it than when certain narratives are challenged that it’s considered ‘division’? ‘Hate?’ ‘Negativity’?

I’m a Black man who lives in the United States of America, and unfortunately, many discussions come down to BLACK and WHITE.

I try to make it a point to challenge all of us with the content of this blog WHAT ‘BLACK-ON-BLACK CRIME’ & ‘WHITE PRIVILEGE’ HAVE IN COMMON…

Many people are introduced to faith in God through Yeshua the Messiah, believing that God is White. Jesus was born with White flesh, and the Gospel is preached from that perspective.

This has influenced thought to the point that many won’t accept a ‘Black Jesus’…

The fact that ‘White Jesus’ (Yeshua) is the one FALSE JESUS that people seem to resist challenging…

https://www.crosswalk.com/slideshows/10-versions-of-jesus-people-are-falling-for.html?utm_medium=fbpageu0026amp;utm_source=Facebooku0026amp;utm_campaign=ibupdateu0026amp;fbclid=IwAR3fCHdelEBoA6IKdHwkd_TA_vR2CVMbfKOfBpCQfa2Z_AydU3U9Zlyglck

This is one of the reasons that I believe that we are to never portray an image of Christ based on…

Exodus 20:4-5a (NKJV)

⁴ “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; ⁵ you shall not bow down to them nor ^[a]serve them. 

One could easily consider any image of the Son of God to be idolatry. Even though we don’t know exactly what He looked/looks like, by virtue of ‘race’ (for lack of a better word) FAITH, NOT RACE… and culture in which He was born, we know what He didn’t look like.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

You’ve seen it happen before. Anger always comes back…usually harder.
Words and actions released in anger always come back, but rarely return in peace. Only love can cool anger’s searing heat.

Put your anger in check before it turns into wrath, because even though love conquers wrath, sometimes the damage remains.

Wrath kills…both figuratively and literally.

Anger is a seed, if it is used wisely, it can ignite passion that allows love to diffuse the anger and plant seeds that lead to good fruit…

Such as being angry enough at wrong to do something about it…

Such as not returning an insult, can end an argument and lead to a lifelong friendship.

If anger is NOT put in check, it ignites emotions that allow wrath to plant weeds instead of good seeds…

Such as returning an insult can lead to a fight, and animosity that lasts for years and spreads to others…anger is a seed.

The next time you’re angry, stop, think…let your anger cease before you speak or act, if you don’t, not only will come back, but it can come back harder…JUST LIKE A BOOMERANG.

Psalms 37:8
“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;
Do not fret—it only causes harm.”
Proverbs 15:1
“A soft answer turns away wrath,
But a harsh word stirs up anger.
1 Peter 4:8.”
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Even though we may not all be Pastors, every disciple of Christ is a minister. We are all called to serve and represent the glory of God in everything that we do…

Proverbs 3:6  (NKJV)

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct^[a] your paths.

Colossians 3:17  (NKJV)

¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

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There are some things that God expects of every believer. We must remember that even though we aren’t always in church, we are always in worship…

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Romans 12:1 (NKJV)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

 Acknowledging God and honoring Him in everything that we do is a ministry in which we serve Him and worship Him daily. Here are 4 ministries that we all share as believers…

 

1. MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

Anyone who loves his or her parent wants to see their siblings be in good relationship with their mother and father. If they have an estranged brother and sister, they will do all they can to convince them to be reconciled to their parent(s). That’s the responsibility that God gives us as disciples of Christ…to convince our brothers and sisters to be reconciled to our Heavenly Father through our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.

 

2. MINISTRY OF FAMILY

Our roles in our families could also be defined as our responsibilities in our families. God has defined our family responsibilities in His word…

Colossians 3:18-21 (NKJV)

¹⁸ Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

¹⁹ Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.

²⁰ Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.

²¹ Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.

 1 Timothy 5:8  (NKJV)

⁸ But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

God expects us to not only be led by Him in how we relate to and manage our family relationships, He wants us to define to those who don’t believe how families deal with both the good and bad situations and challenges of life.

 

3. MINISTRY OF WORK

The word lets us know from the Old Testament to the New, that God expects us to work to sustain our lives and families…

Genesis 3:19  (NKJV)

¹⁹ In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground,
For out of it you were taken;
For dust you are,
And to dust you shall return.”

2 Thessalonians 3:10  (NKJV)

¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

He goes on to let us know that we our to honor Him as we do our jobs. That we represent His very presence while we are there, and that we are to do our jobs as if we our serving Him…

Colossians 3:22-23 (NKJV)

²² Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. ²³ And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,

Remember that the bible uses the term ‘servants’ interchangeably for both slaves and ‘hired servants’.

God expects us to define to unbelievers His integrity on the job. He expects us to define how to deal with the difficulties of the workday, office politics, unfairness in His Spirit and character without complaining of grumbling. It’s not always easy, but it’s possible…

Matthew 20:1-16  (NKJV)

 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. ² Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. ³ And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, ⁴ and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. ⁵ Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.⁶ And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle,^[a] and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ⁷ They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive.’^[b]

⁸ “So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, ‘Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first.’ ⁹ And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. ¹⁰ But when the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise received each a denarius. ¹¹ And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, ¹² saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day.’ ¹³ But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. ¹⁵ Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?’¹⁶ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.”

God expects us to recognize when our job or career is coming between us and Him, and to be able to choose which is most important. He expects us to not allow our jobs and responsibilities to our employers to provoke us to sin. DOES YOUR JOB PROVOKE YOU TO SIN?

  4. MINISTRY OF FUN

All lives need balance. God expects us to laugh and have fun. It is our responsibility to set the example of how to have fun.

Ecclesiastes 3:4  (NKJV)

⁴ A time to weep,
    And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
    And a time to dance;

But we have to be very careful of how we entertain ourselves and realize that we are setting the standard…

Ephesians 5:4  (NKJV)

⁴ neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

There’s nothing wrong with music that is not necessarily Gospel, but celebrates life and fun, as long as it’s doesn’t contain ungodly lyrics. There’s nothing wrong with romance as long as it is within God’s will… GODLY MARRIAGE: YOU CAN’T GET ROMANTIC WITH A HYMNAL… Again, we are setting the example to let the world know that you don’t have to give up laughter and fun to be a disciple of Christ.

Remember that when you leave the four walls of your church building, that worship doesn’t end, but the ministry of LIFE begins.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, Pilate, Caeser and Hitler all had one very important thing in common. They were not able to do anything by themselves. Their powerful influence began with words. Whether people were forced to do what they wanted or willingly complied, no leader was able to accomplish anything on their own. They had to work through those who followed them.

That’s why we must be very careful of our attitude towards those who lead us. Whether it be governmental, spiritual, career, social or family.

Be very careful that you don’t agree with EVERYTHING a leader says or does. Be very careful that you aren’t excusing or justifying when they are clearly or even vaguely wrong, especially in regard to the word of God.

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Any person who agrees with EVERYTHING that any leader says or does, is more dangerous than that leader.

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Most of the time…leaders don’t pull triggers, they don’t actually arrest, they don’t actually execute, imprison or persecute. They do it through their followers. Notice how quickly people turn on family and friends to support their ‘leader’. Notice how people insult or even hurt others to support their leaders statements and agenda. Notice the heated, insult filled discussions on social media because people are supporting their chosen leader.

I think the two of the most powerful forces in this world are INFLUENCE and AGREEMENT.

People follow the one who influences them the most, whether it be God or the enemy. And, agreement/unity/oneness is so powerful, that it’s the last thing that Jesus prayed about before He was betrayed… THE POWER OF UNITY WORKS FOR BOTH GOOD AND EVIL…

John 17:20-23 (NKJV)

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will^[a] believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Remember, you are not obligated to agree with, condone or excuse everything that a leader whom you support says or does. They are human, just like you and will make mistakes.

Remember also that when you support a leaders’ wrong, God will hold you accountable along with that leader.

1 Kings 14:16 (NKJV)

¹⁶ And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”

Agreeing with anyone 100% of the time is too close to worship for me. There only One who we should reserve that place for…God.

So, watch out for people who support or defend a leader no matter what he or she does, especially if it is a controversial leader. Be careful of what their passion will allow them to do. Many times, the followers are more dangerous than the leader.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

Be careful of what’s in your heart when you decide to “KILL THEM WITH KINDNESS”.

That IS NOT what God told us to do. He told us to love our enemies.

Love’s intention is to give life, not kill.

Love’s intention is to build up, not tear down.

God says don’t seek revenge, that belongs to Him. God says don’t repay evil for evil, but instead to help your enemy.

The problem is, that many of us choose to ‘kill them with kindness’, ONLY to “heap coals of fire on their heads“. Many of us are only being kind because we see heaping coals of fire on their head as just another way to get even.

If we’re honest with ourselves, we may just be showing kindness to show them up, to annoy them, to make them feel bad…if that’s the intention then we’ve totally missed God’s meaning.

Helping your enemy is an exercise in developing God’s character. It is planting seeds of  love for the enemy and those who witness. It’s allowing everyone to see the power of God. The goal is overcoming evil with good. Well, what about the coals of fire on their head? That’s just the end result of how acts of kindness affect an enemy…it’s a result, not an intent.

The goal is REPENTANCE AND RECONCILIATION. Remember, ‘kill them with kindness’ is catchy, but not of God.
Romans 12:19-21
Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”[a] says the Lord. 20 Therefore, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

BE BLESSTIFIED!

 

Two of the most common insults in today’s society is calling someone COUNTRY or GHETTO!

People use these insults to call people…

Low-class…

Lazy…

Not fashionable…

Not ‘cultured’…

‘Slow’…

Uneducated…

Sheltered…

Not progressive…

And, the list goes on and on.

However, people who look down on these demographics of our population could actually learn a lot from them…

Some of the strongest parents are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO…

Some of the strongest families are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO…

Some of the most resilient and focused students are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO…

Some people in the COUNTRY and GHETTO have the most grit, determination, commitment to those who are important in their lives.

Some of those with the strongest integrity and character are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO…

Some of the strongest values are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO.

And most of all, some of the strongest FAITH in GOD is in the COUNTRY and GHETTO!

I grew up in a small town that had many of the big-city problems on a smaller scale, such as drugs for example. Everyone knows the correlation between drugs sand crime.

However, there was one difference. When I grew up, there were also drug addicts of every race just as in the city, but EVERYBODY KNEW EVERYBODY in my small town. So, no matter how bad their drug habit was, they kept some sort of job to support their habit. And remember, smaller towns have fewer job opportunities. The result…less drug-related crime. Also, that sense of community led to people helping one another when in need rather than just turning their nose up at them. Those are distinct cultural differences.

As much as people in big look down on ‘trailer parks’. In smaller towns, those people who live in the smallest most humble trailers aren’t homeless.

One of the things that attracts people to ‘gang’ culture is the sense of belonging and loyalty. How much loyalty and what sense of belonging do you find in corporate America, politics, manufacturing, education, or in some of the most ‘affluent’ and ‘upper-class’ neighborhoods?

Some of the strongest family ties are in the COUNTRY and GHETTO. There are people who work two and three jobs to make sure their families are taken care of.

Many people label the ghetto as being filled with ‘deadbeat‘ dads because they say they aren’t there for there kids and don’t support their children.

However, I can’t count how many ‘professionals’ who are ‘deadbeat’ parents because even though they have the same address as their children, they are absent in their lives as they prioritize career over family…sometimes throwing money at their children to replace true parenting.

Many country and ghetto families keep their heads to the sky…knowing the only one they can truly trust with their lives, families, safety and future is God.

Remember what the Bible says…

James 2:5 (NKJV)

⁵ Listen, my beloved brethren: ^(A)Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be ^(B)rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom ^(C)which He promised to those who love Him?

I was raised in a small town and protect many of those values that were instilled in me. I’m unapologetically COUNTRY!

BE BLESSTIFIED!

We have all had people speak badly about us behind our backs. Sometimes it was true, and sometime is wasn’t true.

If we are honest with ourselves, we have all done it ourselves at sometime or another.

Many times we will hear something said about someone we care about, someone we love or someone we respect and rush to let them know as soon as possible. But, is that always the right thing to do?

Is it always good for the wife to tell her husband what her dad said about him?

Is it always good to let one co-worker know what another co-worker said about them?

Is it always good to let one friend know what another mutual friend said about him or her?

Yes, I said ‘mutual’ friend. Some would contend to say that if they were a real friend they wouldn’t say anything negative, but that’s not true. Our love for one another isn’t perfect. Our friendships, marriages, families and relationships are not perfect. We all say and do things to hurt those close to us. When this happens it doesn’t mean that there is no love, it just means that our love isn’t perfect.

Loyalty is not always telling EVERYTHING that was said about someone. When is it appropriate? That’s where wisdom, discernment, discretion and restraint come into play.

We must also examine ourselves and our motives for telling them. Do we want them to know? Do we enjoy the excitement of telling them? Do we want them to dislike the person who said it? Why are we repeating it?

This is why God gave us this powerful, but often overlooked wisdom through these two Proverbs…

Proverbs 17:9 (NKJV)

9 He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates friends

Proverbs 16:28 (NKJV)

28 A perverse man sows strife,
And a whisperer separates the best of friends.

Remember, some things are best left unsaid.

BE BLESSTIFIED!