The WORD

This is a true conversation that me and my mother had about a month ago while I was down on my life:

Me: *sigh*

Mom: Have you been reading your Bible?

Me: (with a guilty look on my face) No....

Mom: Why not?

Me: I don't know...

And I can tell you that ever since that moment my life and my perspective has changed 1000000 percent.

First off I would love to thank my mom for putting this perspective on me and holding me accountable on reading my Bible.  But the thing is, about a month ago I was downright depressed.  I was putting in a gagillion applications with no calls-backs, write-backs, e-mail backs...NOTHING. And my mom sensed my despair and found an interesting correlation  previous to that funk I was in, I was reading the Bible and then all of a sudden...WHAM the funk came and for some stupid reason, I couldn't figure out why it came.

And then it hit me!  I was missing my weapon.  I would say that I had on my breastplate  grieves, helmet and all the rest of my armor (Ephesians 6:11), but I didn't have my weapon.  Or should I say, I wasn't using my weapon.  What sense does to make to have the greatest weapon known to man and not use it against the great enemy know to man aka ze' Devil?

I can tell you that ever since I listened to Paul's words in Romans 10:17, I've realized the validity of it.  You can read all the "spiritual" books in the world, you can listen to sermons until your eyes turn blue, but until you dive into the Word yourself, nothing really changes.  You start to understand God more and most importantly you are able to defend your faith against the Enemy.  Look at it this way, even the greatest warrior at some point will need a weapon; you can fight with hands all you want, but once those conquistadors come with guns you are toast.

That's exactly how it works! I mean look at Jesus' life.  Look at when Jesus was being tempted by the devil and how the Devil would utter scripture to him!?  Really Satan...you have the audacity to utter the scripture to the "Great I am", to the man that was present before the beginning??  How arrogant!  And if the Adversary uses the scripture on the Perfect One, just imagine what he does to us.  That's why we absolutely need to stay scripitured up.  Cuz we are ina a nonstop spiritual War! (Matthew 4:1-11)

I know...I know, there are statistics out there that consistently state that Americans don't read...and if they don't read things they "want" to read like newspapers, comic books, and novels, they why the heck would they read something as "boring" as the Bible? Blah...Blah..Blah...I say that lovingly, but when it comes down to it, we live in the 21st century, so you can get Bible apps and you can even listen to the Bible while you are driving like one of my closest friends   The important thing is that you are getting it into your system.

And once you start reading the Word, don't stop!  There are going to be various forces that try to hinder it.  Your body might say "I'm tired" or you phone might be blowin up with text messages or whatever.  Don't stop.  Keep pressing on, because take it from me, once you stop, it's extremely hard to restart.

I'm reminded of deep gospel song by Deitrick Haddon called "The Word" whose chorus eloquently says:

Lets live This Word

I need the Word

Gotta have the Word

He is the Word

And His Word

Keeps us from day-to-day

Nuff Said!

So, let me ask you, when was the last time you really read your bible??  Are you a little overdue?  If so, pick it up and read it.  If you are consistently reading your bible, keep on reading it!  Go...Go.. Go!

God Bless You All!
--MJA (Love God.Love People.)

God Is Good!

I'm going to try something here that I don't know whether it's going to work or not.  I'm going to post the 3 reasons that I love Jesus.

And I want to see how many different responses we can get.  So for any of my readers, I invite you to comment on the bottom of this posting and post your reasons you love Jesus.

Despite the fact that this might be a dark and rainy time in your life there are still sooo many things to be happy about.  Sometimes we need to force ourselves to look at the positives when our life for the moment is filled with gloom.

I would like for anyone that is reading this blog that might feel down to be able to view this post and look at how mich people have been blessed and have no choice but to put a smile on their face!  Awwww man that would make my day!

1. I am just thankful that He gave me a life to live.  A life where I have the freedom to make mistakes, have failures, and learn from them.  Because I know personally, if I was forced to follow Him, I definitely wouldn't have.  So I'm just in love with his ability to love an imperfect being like myself.

2. This man, lived a sinless life, went up on the cross for me....for everyone, died a humiliting and excruitiang death.  I mean come on.  That should speak for itself.  Took on the depths of Hell.  Wow.  He deserves all my praise.  He deserves all my love.  Thank you Jesus for dying, coming back to life, ascending to heaven, and coming back.

3. He's the ultimate Comforter.  He's there when I always need him.  When my close friends are miles away or are just busy with their lives and I need someone to talk to, I always have him.  He's omnipresent.  Everywhere at all times.  24/7 365/yr.  When I don't feel the best about my appearance, dealing with self-esteem issues, uncertain about life, or just angry.  I know that I can go to God in prayer and I will be comforted

I know this is a weird blog with no guarantee to work, but lets give it a try!  It doesn't have to be 3 reasons like me.  It can just be one!  Lets be a blessing to others!  

Love God.Love People

--MJA

I'll Make It

I'm going to be completely honest, I'm not as all chippy as sometimes my blogs may portray me as.  Currently, I am a college graduate, unemployed and stuck in my parents house which is driving me absolutely INSANE (no offense to my parents).  It doesn't help that I look around and see successful preachers and I keep asking myself, How can I ever be that successful   These men of God have PH'Ds, leading choirs, singing while they are preaching, like MAN. How in the world would I EVER be able to do that.  Next thing I know, in the middle of a revival service, I'm just down....the complete opposite of a revival service.

One of my greatest issues/weaknesses is the need-to-be-needed.  The need to feel important.  The past four years I was part of a family, my UVP family (Messiah College's Gospel Choir) and for the last 3 years I was a selected leader part of that family as well as the choir director of my church choir.  However, that season has passed in my life, and I find myself just doing nothing.  No job, no life, no money. Just blah.  I feel like I went from the pinnacle of Mount Klakilaki (My made up mountain..don't judge me) to now the bottom of the grand canyon.  And no matter how much I try to climb through those walls to get into leveled territory I keep slipping.

The more I think about my future, the more I become nervous and become stressed out.  Will I ever direct a choir again?  Will I actually ever preach again in my life.  The foreseeable future is uncertain about that and that drives...me....BONKER$!!!

Where in the World Do I go from here?  Sometimes when I blog about struggles, I write that "I heard a still small voice telling me that it'll be alright" but to be honest.  I'm not hearing that right now.  Where I am right now, is I'm at a place in my life where I need to be.  I am in a place in my life where I need to be fully dependent of God.  Somehow I'm still able to pay my car note because money is literally coming out of nowhere.  Somehow I can be down in the dumps for the entire day, but out of nowhere something happens to lift me up.  Sometimes I feel abandoned by God, and I, like the great psalmist David cries out: Where are you Lord? Why aren't you listening to my prayers?  You know my needs, why aren't you supplying them?  Why am I still in this place in my life?? (An example of David crying out can be found at Psalm 22)

It's frustrating.  It's very frustrating.  But after going to revival I actually feel a little better.  After hearing the preacher preach, I do feel a little encouraged   Hopefully I can pass this along to one of my readers.  The preacher preached from Isaiah 43:2 & 5.  And the part that really spoke to me is the end of verse 2, where it says: "When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."  The preacher pointed 2 points of emphasis   The fact that the passage says "when" and the fact that the passage says "through".

When you walk.  When you walk.  Not IF you walk through the fire. I mean think about it.  We will walk into the fire.  We will struggle.  We will be down.  So we need to prepare for it. We need to put on the full armor of God.  The myth that followers of Jesus won't struggle is asinine!  God does NOT taking away all of our sufferings   Sometimes, we need to suffer in order to become new.  A caterpillar doesn't become a butterfly with a snap of finger.  It has to eat, get fat, and stay ina tight, annoying cocoon until nature (erm...God) tells it that it's ready. Struggle isn't always bad.

The second point is through.  The fact that the passage says that you will walk THROUGH the fire.  You aren't going to get scorched   You will not become set ablaze.  Wow.  That's encouraging.  That though we will have to walk through the fire, we will survive.  We will make it like the Hezekiah Walker song.

Even though I get annoyed with myself.  Even though at times I feel like God has abandoned me.  Even though I don't know the future.  I know that I will make it.  I know that I know that I can Stand.  No matter what may come my way.  My life is in YOUR hands. (My Life Is In Your Hands) Mannnnn....I'm encouraged!  I'm being completely honest with ya'll, at the start of this blog, I was down.  But the more I wrote, the better I was feeling.  So, this blog in general isn't just to encourage you the readers, it also helps me express myself and answer my own questions.  So, I thank you for reading.  I pray that you've been encouraged as I have been.

God Bless You All!
--MJA

Created and Called for....Friends

I honestly can't believe I'm writing this, but this blog kinda is an advocate for my Created and Called for Community Class (CCC) at Messiah College.  Lets be clear, the class within itself, I am not necessarily advocating for, however, I am advocating for it's literal message.  We, as human beings, are indeed Created & Called For Community.

Whether you believe that the story of Adam and Eve was a literal or figurative story isn't a debate I'm trying to have here.  But, if you just take the lessons and what God said throughout the story, you would notice that God made Adam first (sorry ladies but don't worry, thats not the main point).  However, Adam was alone with all these animals and fruits and plants and cells and gooey stuffs (maybe?) when God realized that maybeeee something is missing.  Maybe, just maybe, man should not be alone. (Genesis 2:18)  In fact, it is not good for (man) [or people] to be alone.  So, he made Eve!  What does this tell me?  That we are created and called for community.  We are created and called to be around other people.  We are created and called to laugh with other people. It's part of necessary structure to stay alive.

I'm going to be honest here, this is a pretty simple blog to write, and basically anyone could've written this.  But for me, this is a personal blog post.  This is a blog post where I am thanking my multitude of diverse friends far and near for accepting me into their community and becoming part of mine.  I've been extremely blessed to have all types of friends; all different shapes, sizes, races, and genders.  And the amazing thing is that I know that although we might not always agree on everything, that when it comes down to it, they have my back.  And I wanna say thank you to them, for loving, cherishing, and just being there for me.

Awwww, wasn't that sweet...Ok, now back to business.

I personally think that it's important for everyone to have a set group of friends.  Now obviously, there are going to be friends that you "like" more than others.  There are friends that you will just naturally wanna be around with more than others (Unless you are me because I AM the exception to the rule...just kidding).  And that's great and peachy.  So, you may be like me where you have Childhood friends, Grade School Friends, Freshman of College Friends and other College friends.  And if you have those I pray that you continue to cherish them.  I pray that you continue to love them.  Friends, are just amazing.

But, what I've learned is that there is one sub-sub-sub category of friends, that just seemingly transcends months, years, and decades.  I'm talking about Spiritual Friends.  Friends that you have a spiritual connection with.  Friends or a friend that, every time you hang out, you just become closer and closer.  You can't seem to put your finger on it, but somehow it just happened.  Those friends in my opinion are the rarest to find and if you happen to find one, consider yourself extremely blessed.

The Biblical example of probably the greatest spiritual friendship is between the (apparent) heir to the throne, Jonathan and the actual heir to the throne David.  Now check this out, these two fellas were actually competing for the same exact throne!  Jonathan was the son of the current King Saul but David was the king God had foresaw.  Now lets be clear, Jonathan was a baddddd man.  He slew people by the dozens but he came across a thing that he couldn't even defeat.  Goliath.  And David was just a little shaped   My man Jon, the warrior, wasn't able to kil goliath.  But my boy David, was able to with a rock and a slight shot!  What!?

Now, David didn't really care about the glory.  But when he gave the head of the giant Goliath (see what I did there? Double G...ima stupid) to Saul, it was all a wrap.  And you know what Jonathan did? He could've been jealous that he lost his throne, but he wasn't.  He was happy for David.  And it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  A friendship where they had love, connection, vulnerability  loyalty, and prayer.  What more can you ask for ina friend! (For more info on this connect check out 1 Samuel 18-21-ish)

I am not trying to bash any friends here cuz I appreciate every single one of mine and I'm sure you do of yours, but when you find that spiritual friend do not...I repeat: do NOT let him or her go!  It's a great friend to have.  It's a great person to rely on...Now I'm personally not going to say who my Spiritual Friend is because this is a public thingy, and I don't wanna put alllll my life out there.  But he knows who he is, and he needs to know that I thank the Lord for his friendship and his prayers.

Welp, that's all I have for this post.  Do me a favor.  Send a text, facebook, phone call, tweet, airplane, shout over to your friends.  Let them know that you appreciate them all!  That's what I'm going to do! Until next time my brothers and sisters.

--MJA

Truth Is I'm Tired

I know that I said I wasn't going to blog for a while, but this has entered into my heart like a fire.  Like a raging, rushing river.  I'm just disgusted.  Epically Disgusted at what I've seen.  What I've read.  What I've heard.  We...are killing each other.  We are drawing people away from the Truth.

If I was to sum my Christian beliefs in a 4 Point Sermon, I would say:

1. Jesus Lived

2. Jesus Died

3. Jesus Rose

4. He's Coming

Am I missing anything?  Did I omit anything?  Where's my talk about the hatred of homosexuals?  Where is my debate about Abortion?  Where's my controversial decision to pray in schools?  Oh wait, that's not there.  You know why?  Because when it alll comes down to it, those ideas aren't that important.  The important things in my life all circle around those 4 ideals.

Firstly, I believe that Jesus lived on this earth.  He was the living example of how all humans should be, both male and female.  He was perfect in all ways, never sinning.  And you know what is the most important thing that he taught in his ministry?  To LOVE.  Jesus ate and drank with prostitutes and tax collectors (whom at that time were perceived as some of the most vile people).  He reprimanded the "religious" because they held all God's statutes but forgot about God's creation.  They didn't love each other or the others.

Secondly, I believe that Jesus Died on the Cross.  He died on the cross Just for me.  But wait, it wasn't just for me.  He died on the cross for everyone.  The Jew and the Gentile.  The Greek and the Hebrew. The Westerner and the Easterner.  The believer and the non-believer.  I know I've said this before, but Jesus died the worst death possible for the time he lived, crucifixion   And He did it when everyone deserted him, mocked him, and forsake him.  But he still Loved everyone!  When the robber on the side of him proclaimed him to be the Son of God he told him that the robber would go to heaven.  While he was up there giving his life, he thought of me...he thought of us.

Thirdly, I believe that Jesus Rose from the grave.  Why did He rise?  So that all those people that mocked him, would see who He really was.  He rose so that the unbeliever would believe.  I picture it as Jesus telling everyone, "I'm not dead!  Wake Up! I'm right in front of your face!"  He also rose again to combat the devil.  To tell the devil that this isn't your kingdom.  It's mine!  You think you can kill my savior?  You don't have any chance!

Most importantly, I believe that he is coming back!  It is my motivation to do what I do.  To say what I say.  No one knows when that day comes, but it is coming ya'll.

So what am I angry about?  I am angry that the "believers" aren't acting like it.  We seemingly don't have the urgency that we should.  Keep in mind that I am saying the "we believers" in a general tone because if one of us is failing, it looks bad on all of us!  We are too busy occupying ourselves with the politics of the body, politics of the mind.  We are killing ourselves....we are killing everyone.  I'm not even talking about a Physical death.  I'm talking about a spiritual death.

For me, you will never see me get into a heated debate about the "controversial" topics.  I personally am against abortion except in extreme cases.  I do believe that homosexuality is a sin.  It is a sin along with drukenness, audultry, gluttony and a host of other things.  When it comes down to it, I honestly don't care about the "controversial" topics. If I met a woman who had an abortion or a person that is attracted to the same-sex I wouldn't care.  I'm not going to turn away and judge somebody for their past.  I'm going to do what I'm commanded to do.  To love them.  To show them Christ's love through mine actions, through my words.

Wake up people!  We are driving generations (especially mine) from the Church in astronomical numbers.  I read in a recent book that ina a recent survey, 91% of young adults who are nonbelievers call christians judgmental.  Whoa.  Aren't we the ones that believe in Jesus.  And isn't Jesus the one that said on numerous occasions that He didn't come to condemn the world?  Why are we going around condemning everyone?  Why are we going around judging everyone?  What's up with dat! (For more information check out my pervious blog post "No Condemnation"

It's hard for me to find a church family as a believer because I go in alot of places and I feel a disconnect.  And it's not necessarily from the congregation, but it's also some times from the pastoral staff!  We are called to spread the Gospel.  To shed light on the world. Ahhhhhhh!!!

No more!  No more of it!  No more woman being turned away from the church because you found out she had an abortion.  No more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender men and women being turned away from the hospital because you feel like their sin is too great.  REALITY CHECK!  ALL sin kills.  The wages of sin is death people. As Pastor Woody said: "STOP ALL THIS HATIN'" Chill with the judgin and start focusing on the lovin'.  In theory, for the Christians, the Word should've changed you life.  Well......act like it! GAH!

We are in a war people.  The Devil is trying to tell everyone that us CHristians are judemental.  That we hate homosexuals.  That we are overly political.  But let me tell you that the devil is a LIAR!  Let's act like it!

Love

Love

Love