Refocusing on God (Clear The Stage)

This is going to be a unquie blog post.  It's going to be the longest, but the most meaningful.  For this blog, I'm going to do an entire exegetical study of one song.  It's a song that randomly pops into my head every once ina while, and when I listen to the lyrics, I glean even more from it.  So here's what I suggest you doing, listen to the song before you read my exegesis, and then read the lyrics+my commentary, and then listen to the song again.  The song is called Clear the Stage by Jimmy Needham, here's a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpYClnBtH-4

Verse 1:
Clear the stage and set the sounds and lights ablaze if that's the measure you must take to crush the idols.
This first line from the verse is the premise the the entire song.  It'll make more sense as you progress through the song, but what it's basically saying is that we need a refocusing.  We need to clear the stage in our life, we need to set ablaze or burn fiercely (according to the dictionary  all the stuff that covers our lives; the sounds and lights.  "if that's the measure you must take to crush the idols."

Jerk the pews and all the decoration too, until the congregation's few, then have revival."
This can be taken both literally and figuratively.  You know that in a typically church setting, not everyone is there to worship God.  Some people are there because the music is good and/or the pastor is a vibrant speaker.  But when you take the pews out, all the great tapestry and drapery and make it a room, who's going to be left?  That's the true congregation.  Thats the congregation that's ready to have a revival  a restoring.  And your body is the same way.  Strip down yourself (ok not literally so you wouldn't be so nasty, but figuratively.  Take the time and be honest and real with yourself and God.  It's that moment, in your weakness, you are made the strongest,

Tell your friends that this is where the party ends; until your broken from your sins you can't be social."
This is one of the hardest parts and I don't know if Jimmy means this literally.  There is nothing wrong with parties when done on an occasional basis.  But when it comes down to it, when you realize that you have a problem you have to fix it.  Sometimes you have to put other things on halt.  Put it on halt, fix your issue with your priority.

Seek the Lord and wait for what he has in store, and know that great is your reward so just be hopeful.
This is fittingly the last part of the first verse.  When you put your friends on pause.  When you recognize your priority, when you seek the Lord you're reward will be great.  I promise you that!  So even though you are ina bad spot in your life you gotta have hope.  If you don't have hope, you are dead basically.

Verse 2:
Take a break from all the plans that you have made, and sit at home alone and wait for God to whisper.
How many people know that God doesn't always shout.  I've learned that you can hear God's voice the most when you take rest in him.  When you just listen.  Stop talking and listen.  Sometimes whispers can sounds the loudest.  Picture this: have you ever been in a really quiet room where a couple is whispering and its the loudest thing ever!  But when everyone in the same room is talking at the same time, you can barely hear the person you are talking to!  Just be patient...

Beg him please to open up his mouth and speak; and pray foreal upon your knees until they blister.
Sometimes we have to do what Jacob did. (Genesis 32:22-32)  Sometimes we have to be intentional with ourselves and tell God, listen I am NOT going to let you go until you bless my soul.  We have to literally wrestle with our innerselves.  Yes, prayer works, but sometimes you just need to be persistent, like the persistent widow parable that Jesus told.  Don't give up on God, cuz I can assure you, he won't give up on you.

Shine the light on every corner of your life until the pride, the lust, and lies are in the open.
This goes back to the point that you just need to be honest with yourself.  No, you don't need to tell the whole world your business, but we need to be real.  When need to understand our fallings.  We need to understand that we put other things before our God.  If we can't be open about God, how can we expect to have a healthy relationship with him?? Think about it.

Then read the Word and put to test the things your've heard, until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken.
Another great way to end the verse!  After you've become intentional about spending time in prayer with God, you have to read his Word.  Faith comes from hearing, but from hearing (and reading) the Word of the Lord. (Romans 10:17)  And not only read, study.  Anything you see me write here, anything you hear your pastor say should continuously be put to the test.  Now this testing process isn't easy.  Your faith may be rocked, it may be broken, but take it from me, it will grow like crazy because of it!  I'm a testimony of that.

Chorus
Cause you can sing all you want to; Yes you can, sing all you want to...You can sing all you want to, and still get it wrong; worship is more than a song.
Such a legit and convicting chorus.  It's a very rigid and dense chorus when you look at it.  You can sing the songs of Zion.  You can extol the Lord all you want with your mouth like a trumpet.  But real worship, true worship isn't just singing.  It's praising with you heart, mind, body, and soul.  It's not about sounding good, it's not about looking good (cuz Lord knows I'm not an attractive worshipper).  It's about God.  It's about having a moment with your savior.  My..My...My.

Bridge:
We must not worship something that's not even worth it.
Plain and simple.  Jimmy Needham is getting to the point of this song.  Refocusing on God. The only...I repeat only thing that's worthy of our praise is God.
Clear the stage, make some space for the one who deserves it.

Hook:
Anything I put before my God, is an idol.
Here it comes.  The most memorable part of the song.  Everything drops out instrumentally except the piano. Absolutely anything.  Material Gains, Work, Parties, Relationships.  Anything that take all your time, anything that you put before God.  I'm sorry to say, it's an idol.

Anything I want with all my heart, is an idol.
Here's a nasty one.  You ever have that thing that you absolutely had to haave.  Whether it was the girl/boy of your dreams (for me it's Meghan Markle) or that car you lusted for (Benz for me again).  Well if it gets to the point where you legitimately want with all your heart.....idol.

Anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol.
I don't think people understand that one.  When you are soo consumed with one thing that you get lost in it, it has become an idol in your life.  I think workaholics are very guilty of this.  No matter what time of day, the only thing they can think about is work.  Work.Work.Work. Hardly any family time or social time.  That's a problem.  I found a cool line from author Craig Groeschel that said: "If your iPad is you iDol, it's time to put it down." Nuff Said!

Anything that I give all my love is an idol.
I've always had a problem with love songs that the man (inpartiuclar) is telling his lady, "I'm always going to put you first in my life."  That right there is rank idolatry   You cannot, shallnot give all your love to any human.  Humans will let you down.  I promise.  The only thing you can give trust your heart fully in.  That you can give all your love to is Jesus.  He lived in the world without sinning.  Wow.

Final Thoughts
This song is so convicting because of how simple the instrumentation is while the lyrics are absolutely amazing.  I apologize for the length of this blog and I can tell you that I probably won't have a blog this long again for a lonnnng time.  I do hope this helps you.  I don't know where you are in your spiritual journey but just stay encouraged   Everyone can learn something from this song and when you feel convicted  when your heart and soul is broken, just run..run to the cross...run to God the Father who has his arms wideeee open.

Here's the song again.  This is the official video of it though.  Much more impactful.  Clear the Stage ya'll.  Paint it white.  Refocus your focus.

Racism is still alive..unfortunately

The recent College Football events have led me to ponder the topic of racism in today's life.  Let me start off by saying that I am indeed an African-American man whose decedents were brought over from Africa.  I personally have had direct acts of racism acted towards me, so racism doesn't have a deep effect on me.  I would be remissed to note that since I've been to college, most of my close friends are now white, so I have absolutely nothing against white people forrr the record.

Let's be clear here, I am not one of those crazy people that overuses the name of racism such as some of the politicians whom I disagree with.  I have been called a "nigger" before.  It wasn't a bad intent.  The guy who called me it just thought it was cool   So I calmly told him the origin of that word and he apologized for it and it was all good. But, I'll get back to that in a little bit.

If you don't know the issue, here it is in a nutshell, now former Colorado State Football coach, Jon Embree was fired yesterday after 2 years for bad performance.  Now firings in College Football (FBS) are nothing new, but it was Embree's comments after he was fired that started the discussion.  He exclaimed that if his skin color was different (white), he would probably still have the job.  This comment at first glance just felt like another man playing the "black card." But after hearing his argument dissected, there's evidence to support that claim.  The idea that his predecessor, whom happened to be white and happened to last his full contract term (5 years), was just as unsuccessful as Embree and received 3 more years was enlightening.

Couple that with the statistic that I stole from Stephen A Smith that notes: in the past 33 year, there have been 41 African American head coaches in FBS that left a team (voluntarily or involuntarily) and only 1 of them has been rehired.  Now let me pause right there, because I don't have any statistics on their white counterparts, however let me point out 2 issues.  Firstly, the fact that only 41 African American coaches were there in 33 years is alarming bad.  Secondly, that's a little more than 2.5% of black coaches given a second chance.

Maybe Embree has some merit?  Let's get beyond all the "official" mumbo-jumbo though.

We have a problem.  I do not believe that racism is really alive in the public (maybe a little, but nothing compared to before), but I do believe that it still exists deep in the soul.  When it all comes down to it, we all have racist/stereotypic  tendencies.  But, racism at it's core is a deep, ugly, nasty and rigid thing.  Let's be clear, I'm not just talking about Black vs. White (and visa-versa).  I'm talking about Black vs. Latino, White vs. Latino, Easterners vs. Whites vs. Blacks vs. Latinos...I can go on and on (all of them visa-versa).  What I'm trying to say is that at it's core, it's a heart issue.

There are people that are going to blabber about how there were Christians that justified slavery using the bible in the 18th and 19th centuries, which is fine.  And to that I say that I have a history degree from Messiah College when all I did was study stuff like that so I've heard it and I can refute it by saying one word: Different.  In the past there were different values and understandings so you have to look at it with different lenses.  You can't look down on an ideology in the past just because it seems invalid to you.  At the heart of it, it may be unjust, but you have to understand why they felt that way. Unfortunately, that's beyond the scope of this blog.

Like I said before, it's a heart issue.  It's not something I think we can tangibly change in 5, 10,or 15 years with strict legislation because when you try to force people to do something, there's resentment.  But something needs to be done.  Here's what I'm going to do, and I know I'm gonna sound like a Christan (Heaven forbid), but I'm going to pray.  I'm going to pray for the nation.  I'm going to pray my butt off!

When it comes down to it, the Bible tells us a story.  It tells us a narrative of huge issues between Jews and Gentiles...aka Jews versus everyone else.  For thousands of years, they hated each other.  They fought wars, rumored wars, killed, torture, and sometimes married to the detriment of themselves.  A lot of it stemmed because the Jews thought they were better than everyone else.  And if I had to be honest, they were, because they were God's chosen people.  BUT (and that's a big but) when Jesus came and died on the cross, he eliminated the "I'm better than you barrier."  He took on the sins of the entire world.  Thus, those that believe in him are now the "Jew" or the chosen one.

Wait!  It can be taken a step further!  Paul, in his letter to the Galatians tells us that we are all one in Christ! "There is neither Jew nor Greek (Gentile), there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ." (Galatians 3:28)  That's the beauty of it.  All one in Christ.

Lets be clear. Something needs to be done in FBS. Maybe they need to establish a Roony Rule such as in the NFL where at least one minority has to be interviewed during a coaching process.  That was a good way at giving minorities exposure to other teams because while they might not be hired, at least other organizations might know who they are and say "hmmm...I never thought about Jon Embree, lets take a look."We are all family.  We are all humans.  MLK said that we are human first.  We need to recognize and be proud of that!

I love all my black, white, Latino, Asian, male, female, lesbian, gay, short, tall, big-boneded, thin, light-skinned, and dark skin peeps.  Just keep the love comin!

Christian + Man = Paradox?

This post is strictly for the brothas.  Women, you can read it if you like, but it's about time I write something for men!

This is what the world tells us:

Christian + Man = A Paradox.

I mean how can a real baddd man. Be like Jesus?  Be a humble, meek, loving, man.  These values are completely different than what I grew up with.  A real man doesn't back down from nuthin!  A real man takes care of his family and himself.  A real man doesn't let no-one tell him nothin!  A real man does what he wants at all times.

Ok, maybe I'm going a little extreme.  But that's some of the values, albeit exaggerated  that I grew up with.  I grew up with the idea that I had to be Da Man.  Now don't get me wrong, I didn't learn that from my dad, but in the streets, in the schools that's what I saw.  I saw that we were graded upon how many girls numbers we had.  How many fights we've been into.  Basically, we were striving to be Samson (Judges 13-16)  Ya know, the things that are really important.  Just another typical story of an urban born boy.

But then, I grow up and run into this man called Jesus.  Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus was a smooth operator.  When those Pharisees and Sadducces tried to trick him, Jesus basically told them: "nahhh man,  you can try to trick me, but I'm smarter than youuu."  But here's the kicker, most of the times Jesus did a marvelous, miraculous miracle  he told the healed not to tell anyone what happened (of course they did it anyway).  He was meek in the sense that he wasn't looking for a fight.  He was looking to love people and save them.  He wasn't a Macho Macho Man in the earthly sense however, he fought and died for what he believed in.  The hardest thing for me to wrap my head around is the fact that Jesus was humble and selfless.  He did the will of his father regardless how much it hurt him.  Not my will but thy will be done right?

So how does this translate to the 2012 man?  It's hard.  It's hard to be a man in this day and age.  For me personally, it's hard to be a man of color in this day and age.  I have people around me that all they care about is money.  I have my fellow men of color in the hiphop genre that talk about 1 of 3 things 95% of the time: sex, drugs, or money.  I have the pressure from women to be different...to be different that all my bros that are leaving their women because they can't handle the responsibility   I got my bros that have absolutely no respect for other women while just seeing them as a trophy to obtain.

And ya know, if I'm going to be completely honest, I bought into that lifestyle for a little while.

Thenn, I have the church, (which is mostly filled with Holy Ghost Women) trying to tell me to break from the norm.  Trying to tell me get involved in the church because the kids need more (black) male influences. And don't get me wrong, theres nothing wrong with that, but there's an inherited problem...Where are all my Christian Men at??

You want to know what a real man is?

A real man is a man that loves, protects, and cherishes the ones he cares about.  He doesn't walk out on his responsibilities just because it got tough.  Sure, Jesus complained about the pain and agony he was in.  But when it all was said and done, he got the job done.

A real man knows how to exhibit self control.  Yea there's a lot of temptation out there.  Ya got pretty ladies dressing in skimpy dresses and outfits just begging to be holla'd at.  But ya know, I got to say this: There are things more important than sex.  There's a thing called love (which I, personally am still on the look-out for). I know its tough...but as a man, we gotta be man enough to control that urge inside of us and keep yo' zipper up!

A real man endures.  He doesn't give up.  Regardless if he has the entire world mocking him.  Regardless if he has people calling him a liar, a cheater, a deceiver   He knows in his heart of hearts, that he's doing the right thing.  They mocked Jesus, called him a hypocrite, called him the "King of Jews" and you know what Jesus said to that? "You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."(John 18:37)  I am defined by what the Father sees of me, not by a statistic.  Not by a news article.  Not by a blog.  I am a child of the most high God.  What he views of me is what's important. Real Talk!

Finally, a real man submits.  He knows when he needs help.  He isn't afraid to call for back up.  He's prideful enough to not give up, but he's humble enough to ask for help.  And I don't just mean spiritually.  But I mean physically.  We need the help & support of other men because the world (including the women around us) just do not understand what we go through.  The struggles, the issues that we have.

A real man steps up to the plate.  The church needs us men.  Ladies, I love ya'll, but the church is yearning for men of God to step up.  I get tired, I got annoyed, I get heart broken when I survey the congregation and its over a 2-1 ratio between women and men.  I feel like I'm at Messiah College all over again!  Yes, statistically  there are more women in the world than men.  But I promise you that the world's population is 66% women while 33% men.  So why is it like that (sometimes even worse that that) in our churches? We need to step up and take our places, our roles in the church more seriously.  Women, I love you, you are doing a great job. BUT, we, as men, need to step up and take some responsibility   Not just over our kids, not just over our stuff, but over other people's issues.  It's not about me me me...It's about learning about me and figuring out how I can help you and then helping you!

It is not a paradox to be a Christian Man.  I repeat it's not a paradox!  Jesus was a man's Man.  He got his business done even to the death.  He rarely whined and complained, but handled his responsibility   He didn't shoot up those that he didn't agree with.  He didn't give people black eyes cuz they were lookin at his girl (metaphorically speaking).  He defended himself with words.  Made people look like fools.  When it all came down to it, he accepted his duty in this life.  He submitted to the authority of his Father, he loved and took care of those around him, and he, unlike David, exhibited self-control like none other.

Now let me be honest, I'm not perfect. I don't do all these things well. When I write this blog, I have a mirror in front of my face. But what I do know is that:

Jesus is the Greatest Man I Know.

Time to Breathe (It's Thanksgiving)

Well, the holiday season of thanks is coming up in less than 24 hours, so I absolutely have to write a blog post about it.  While you are being surrounded by craziness in life such as the great (horrible) Thanksgiving Song: "It's Thanksgiving"impeding school work, house preparations for the great family meal, I'm going to invite you to do something unnatural.  Take the time to breathe.  Instead of being consumed by the busyness of life, how about you spend this break from work, break from school, to breathe.  To have time with your family and loved ones.  To watch some football. To yell at the TV...to breathe.

Many of us have been living with a theory that seems like it is the right thing, but in reality it may not be.  I'm talking about workaholism   Doing too much work, not giving yourself margins to live your life.  Not being about to literally live your life to the fullest because you don't have any time to live out! Having margins in your life are not only necessary, but also, refreshing.

You know when you wrote a paper in school, and when you would type it on Microsoft Word (or something else), you had margins.  You had margins to restrict how much you are writing, but if you wanted to say, be cheap and get more bang for your buch, you could make the margins smaller...and smaller....and smaller...just to fit everything in.  But here's the problem, teachers had standardized margins, so when you tweaked with the default, you would lose points right?  Well if you look at life as a standard word processing document, and God as your teacher, you might view things a little different huh?

This is an interesting dynamic.  In our American lifestyle  the more you do, the better.  I mean logically, the harder workers (generally) will get paid the best.  (Generally) will live the more abundant  (Generally) will be the happi.... Oh wait.  I need to stop there because the hardest workers aren't (generally) the happiest are they?

An old wise saying noted to us that, "if the Devil can't make us really bad, then he'll try to make us really busy."  Why?  Because being busy with seemingly important things, stops us from paying attention to the most Important thing.  I'm too tired to work-out...I'm too tired to read...I'm to tired to do this-to do that....I don't have enough time to read my bible.  Sound familiar? (yes, Michael, it does)  God, err, Teachers, give us the perfect amount of space to get everything we need to get done.  When we fill our lives, errr..papers with fluff, we feel like we don't have enough space.  What we need to do is sift through our papers and dwell on the important things, God, our family...and then you can just keep going down the line.

I know..I know you need some scripture.  Well, if you turn yo Bibles to the story of Mary & Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  I'm not going to go into it too much because I want you to do some reading on your own.  But notice what Jesus said in verse 42.  If something great is 100 yds away, you shouldn't be occupied by the "good" thats 10 yds away.  Keep on pressing toward the mark my friends! (Phillippians 3:14)

So this Thanksgiving, be happy.  Sure there is going to be some prep time.  But the key is, don't let it drive you crazy.  Don't let it hinder your time with your loved ones.  This season is a time to have a heart of gratitude.

I'm going to end it with a great quote from Craig Groeschel:

"When something small loudly demands all our attention, 

its noise often drowns out the whisper of what's enormously important"

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

--MJA

Do You Know Who You IZ?

Yo. Yo. Yo. Do you know who you IZ??

You are a son of the most high God!

You are a daughter of the most high God!

So why are you hanging out there with your head down?

Why are you letting your haters tear you down?

I mean seriously, do you realize that you are an heir?

You daddy has a throne.  Your daddy is a king.  Your father which art in heaven loves you.  Doesn't want you to hurt.  But sometimes, sometimes, his kids get into trouble.  But guess what??? "God sent his Son, they called him Jesus, he came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died, to by my pardon."  (Because He Lives) To by your pardon.

I mean when you look at it, you should already know what haters are gonna do....

Seriously though, why are you letting fear run your life?  Why are you letting your past dictate your future.  The Word says that when we are in Christ, we are a NEW creation, old things have passed away. (2 Cor. 5:17)  And for that reason, we shall move forward with our lives.  For that reason we shouldn't let fear hold us back.  For that reason we should do what God has placed on our hearts to do.

Don't let the doubts the Enemy puts in front of you tamper you.  Don't let it hamper you.  Don't let it...ummm...samper you? Maybe? Nah...

I guess when it comes down to it, we all have things on our minds.  A wise person once told me that when you survey your environment  the thing that you are the most annoyed with, the thing that you have the strongest feelings and desires for are usually the ones you should be interacting with.  Take me as a example.  When I go to a concert I used to be enamored with the Bass Guitar.  So, I eventually went out and bough it anddd I haven't been happier.

Ok...maybe that wasn't the strongest example.  But...Do You Know Who You Are??  By the end of this post, I want you to recite who you are.  Recite that you have a father that calls you his own.  Believe that you can do all things through Christ that strengthens you.  Believe that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly  ABOVE all you can ask or think.  (Eph 3:20)

You were made in the image of God. Wow.  Amazing. The Image of God. (Gen 1:27)

You are a child of God. Never ever lose grip of that. Young or old, bald or mullet-fied, dark or light, short or tall, 2-eyed or 4-eyed.  You are beautiful.  Don't let anyone tell you anything different.

--MJA

Get Out Of My Life!

Do you have that thing?  Do you have that thing that you can't get rid of?  That fallacy that will probably follow you for the rest of your life...That weakness that you have that you consistently have to keep it under grips or else it can ruin your life.  That burning desire that you just have to constantly be aware of or else it can consume you and those around you...

Of course you do.  We all do. We are broken, sinful people that are just screwed up.  We all have fallacies but we all have that one major fallacy.  For me, mine always seems to come out at the most inopportune times.  At times when I'm the most vulnerable. And to be honest, it's only my the grace of God that I don't allow it to consume those around me.

You know what I'm talking about.  That issue that you have that you hide.  That problem that you lock deep down inside of you.  You can't let anyone see it.  It's just between you and God right?  The Apostle Paul knew exactly what was going on. 

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleased with the Lord to take it away from me." - 2 Cor. 12:7-8

A messenger of Satan to torment you.  Does anyone here know what I mean??  TORMENT, won't leave you alone! Why can't these thoughts just leave my head...Why do I have this huge flaw?  I've asked God to take it away.  To fully cleanse me of this issue but He hasn't.  Are you listening to me God?  I need to stop, I need to fully take charge of my life.

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties   For when I am weak, then I am strong." - 2 Cor. 12:9-10

Why does Paul, why do you, why do I have this thorn in the flesh?  For one, it's to stop us from being conceited   But more importantly, it's so we realize...we recognize that it is literally only by the Grace of God that we are able to control it even a little bit.  When I have my "outbreaks" I have to literally stop and pray.  It's the times when I am the weakest, when I actually paradoxically become the strongest because I'm fully relying in the Lord.

But lets not stop there because trust me, I know.  I know that sometimes I slip.  And sometimes I have to repent.  Sometimes I say or do the wrong thing.  Sometimes my weakness(es) win.  And for that, I'm coming to realize that I need to tell someone about this.  I need someone to hold me accountable for my actions.  To check on me, to keep me grounded ya know? 

Here's the thing, I wouldn't suggest using a person that is of the gender that you are attracted to (for example, I shouldn't use a woman) because when you open up like that, feelings can become attached and if something were to happen such as a break-up, it could scar you for life.  Find someone that you can confide in.  That you can trust.  But most importantly, isn't afraid to get into your face and tell you to STOP IT. Or at least that's what I've realized.  I've come to the point where I keep losing.  My thoughts, my actions are failing.  My willpower is becoming futile.  I need help.  I need help from a brotha.  

You need help.  My brotha, you need to be able to trust another man to have your back!  My sister, you need to trust ya girly to hold you accountable.  It's a scary life out there.  BUT there is hope!   I know you need some scripture  "For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them." (Matt 18:20) And a huge emphasis on the power of 2: "How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the Lord had given them up." (Deut. 32:30)  By yourself, you can chase 1,000, but with another...10,000.  That's kind of a big deal.

Most likely, my Thorn(s) will always be around.  Most likely, I will succumb to it.  But I know that when I fall, I won't be weak.  I'll be stronger than ever before.  However, falling into is still isn't fun.  I don't want my thorn to tear apart my future, my friends..my life. So, I'm going to chase off the ten thousand and find an accountability partner. I will NOT let this ruin me.  And I know you won't either.

--MJA

My Prayer

This post is going to be a little different.  For one, it's probably going to be my shortest post, but it's also not going to be a normal one.  This one is My Prayer.  I don't know if people are actually going to read this or not, but this is My Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come into you name lifting up the readers,

I don't know if they are young

or if they are old.

I don't know if they are believers

or if they haven't yet professed your name.

But, I know that they are hurting.

I know that they are struggling.

I know that they need help.

I know that they need encouragement....

We all do.

I pray that you continue to use your Spirit.

To continue to dwell in the temple of your New Israel.

I just pray that you don't leave us...

I just pray...

Continue to bless our lives according to your will

Continue to accept us despite our faults...

our mistakes...

our blunders...

our sins...

I want to thank you for your Son.

I want to thank you for giving him up for the ultimate sacrifice.

I want to thank you for sparing your wrath.

Watch over us.

Please... watch over us as we embark on this crazy this crazy thing called life;

We need you...I need you!

I pray that this blog is reaching people in need.

I pray that your Word is being proclaimed eloquently and sufficiently.

Father, Your Grace Is Enough for me.

Ahhh your grace...it's so amazing and soooo undeserved.

I pray that you continue to use me as a vessel...

To use your people as a vessel for your namesake.

Teach us how to love...

how to forgive...

how to bless others as you did us.

When I doubt, be that comforter

When we cry, be the greatest hugger

When I yell, be my shoulder I can lean on

When we pray, hear us...

Bless Your people. Love Your People. Keep Your People

In Your Matchless Name I Pray.

Amen.

--MJA

I'd rather be Clark Kent than Superman

One time, my co-blogger, Moises made a status on his Facebook that said as follows:

"I've been reminded that it's okay to be weak because that's when God works in crazy amazing ways. I'm honored to serve an awesome, mighty God!"

Instantly, when I saw that I began to have a mini-shout in my head especially because of the first part of that statement. It's ok for me to be weak.  I don't have to do it all.  Thank God for that!

I recall that in my series about relationships (What's Goin On [part 1]) where I interviewed ladies on what annoyed them about me, one of the surprising things that popped up was that they don't like it when men try to fix everything.  Sometimes they just like to vent to us.  And if I'm going to be honest, that, as a man, as a man that loves to fix problems, shocked me.  Actually, it kinda rattled me.  But after hearing woman, after woman saying the same thing, I knew that it was a problem.  

Now, when I look back on it, I'm thankful that ya'll don't expect us men to be Superman; it's ok to be Clark Kent!  To be honest, I'd rather be Clark Kent than Superman.  God is similar, but different at the same time.  Let me explain what I mean:

There are over 600 Laws in the Old Testament (OT) that God gave the Israelites to follow which were transcribed through Moses.  The reason for the amount of laws, is because that would be Israel's way to prove to God that they loved him.  If they didn't follow the laws, God's wrath would be placed upon them (which happened PLENTY of times).  However, if they did, God would bless them and keep them from harm.  The problem is, they went through ebs and flows of doing the right thing, and then turning around doing the wrong thing.  They would worship only God for 20 years, and then devote themselves to idols for five years. And that drove GOD crazy! (The book of Exodus articulates this topic a ton)

It not only drove God crazy, but it also broke his heart.  He didn't want to see his people keep doing stupid self.  It got to the point, that there was soo much blood on their hands, sin had stained their souls that it was basically irreversible.  The only way to fix their faults was for a sinless man to be offered up a sacrifice.

Now, there wasn't a sinless man alive until God sent his only begotten son, Jesus into this earth. And let me tell you, Satan tried EVERYTHING in his power to blemish Jesus...butttt...it didn't work.  When it all came down to it, Jesus took on the wrath of God, conquered the deepest depths of Sheoul (Hell) to wipe our slates clean and to set us free from the wrath of God.

Because of that, we no longer have to be perfect under the law.  I'm hear to tell you that Christianity is not a set of do's and don'ts.  It's not about who is the "better" Christian.  It's not about legalism.  It's about love.

God wants you to have a good time.  But we have to keep in mind that every single commandment given to the Israelites also centered around one principle: love.  Take a few of the 10 Commandments, Do not love other Gods (because God loves you, so why would you love others), Do not murder (murdering implies anger towards your neighbor, complete opposite of love), Do not commit adultery (cheating on someone is for one a selfish act that act isn't loving others as you love yourself).  I can go on...and on.

But here's the thing.  Yes, Christianity, following Jesus isn't about legalism.  Because if it was....I would've failed a looooooonnnnng time ago and so would you have...don't front! BUT, when you commit yourself to love.  When you commit yourself to God. Something changes. The Bible tells us that, "when you are in Christ, you are a NEW Creation, the old ways have become new."  So, what does that tell me?  It tells me that, when you fully devote yourself to God, there's no way you can possibly do all the stuff you used to do and it feels the same.  There's a thing called the Holy Spirit that lives in us and that connects us to God and I don't know about you, but everrry once ina while, when I do something that I KNOW I shouldn't be doin, I get a little inner pull.  Now I can choose to ignore that tug and then I have to repent, butttt I've learned that it hurts a heck of alot less to listen and concede to that pull than not.

I have a problem with "religious" people that have placed the myth in peoples heads that God wants to keep you in bondage.  That God wants you to be boring.  That God wants you to be unattractive to others. Nahhhhhhh!  (I'm going to steal a line from Pastor Waller right here):  

God doesn't want to keep you in bonds; He wants to keep you from going OUT-OF-BOUNDS. 

He wants you to be safe in his arms.  He doesn't want you to get hurt.  You are his chilren'.  Ya hear me??  That tug, that kick, that pull you get from the Spirit isn't anything but God saying, hold on, if you keep going down that road something negative might happen.  It might not happen today, or tomorrow, or this year, but it will happen.  

Despite all the warnings in the world we get.  We still choose to go down the "bad" paths.  And the amazing thing is that we aren't going to Hell for it.  No one here is able to keep all 600+ rules faithfully to a teed.  But, you can easily confess that you are a sinner and that you need to be saved, and instantly, that weight is lifted off your chest.  I mean can you imagine trying to lift a 600lb barbell...I sure can't!

I'm so thankful that Jesus called to me when he said: "come to me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Ahhhh rest.  A book I just finished called Disciples of a Godly Young Man sums this point up perfectly:

"God save us from the misery of such a system that sets up spirituality as a series of wooden laws and then says, 'If you do these six, sixteen, or sixty-six things, you will be godly ' Christianity  godliness, is far more than a checklist.  Being 'In Christ' is a relationship, and like all relationships it deserves disciplined maintenance, but never the 'shrink-wrap' of legalism." - pg. 175

Mistakes are made, we live through them, we learn from them, but we don't go to Hell just because of them.  And I thank GOD for that!

--MJA

I Disagree...(2012 Election)

So, the election is finally over and we now have a victor.  Congratulations President Barack Obama.  But also, congratulations to Republican Candidate Mitt Romney for a well fought campaign that literally came down to the wire.  It was the prime example of how a great election could be numbers wise.

I now have to write an obligatory "political" blog about the election and how elated and/or disappointed I am in the results (I'll let you choose which one if any).  However, I've seen enough hate out of my Facebook friends, Twitter follows and talk within my ear that I don't feel the need to gloat/vent about the turnout of the election because everyone is doing it for me!

There isn't anything wrong with being passionate one way or another.  But it is wrong to put down someone else's view, to try to take someone else's joy just because you are upset with the outcome.  It is wrong to just be downright disrespectful to the victor or the loser.  It's dehumanizing as well as un-Christ like.  And that's what's bothering me about the outcome.

I can handle all the mudslinging for the politicians because that's what we've come to in todays life.  But when I hear, just like I did in '08 that the world is going to end, that everyone that's against the election is gonna move to Canada, my heart aches.  In life, there are winners and losers, in sports there are winners and loser, in politics there are winners and loser.  It's just the way things go.

Disagreeing with ones policies is one thing and if people were to say, that they don't think the economy, the deficit, education, etc etc is gonna improve then thats fine with me.  It's those extra extremities that is too much.  Whatever happened to civil disagreement.  That's how We are supposed to act.  We, Christians especially, are supposed to love one another despite differences, so why is there hate?  I just don't understand. And it reallllly frustrates me as I look through my feeds.  Aren't we supposed to do everything ina loving Christian manner as Paul continuously says through his letter?  Aren't people supposed to feel the love of Jesus through us?  Aren't we supposed to be the Salt and Light of the world??? (Matthew 5:13-16)

Mitt Romney put his heart out on this election.  He was sooo into it that he didn't write a concession speech. He didn't even wanna let the idea of losing creep into his head which is the sign of a great competitor   But when he lost, he went out with grace, respect, honesty, and love.  One of the (if not THE) most disappointed man in the nation, had to get out in front of his peeps, and tell them that its over.  I can't imagine all the thoughts that ran through his head...disappointment, anger, fear...But he knew what he had to do and did an absolutely amazing job at it.  He stated that we need to pray for this nation and the President.  And I get the feeling he wasn't just saying that if you know what I mean. He put it all out on the line, no remorse, just moving forward.

And that's what we all should do.  We should respond to the results with love and grace.  You can be disappointed, but don't become disrespectful ESPECIALLY in public my friends.  Join Mitt and pray for our nation, pray for our President, pray for each other.  There are plenty of issues in our daily lives that stress us out, sooo lets not let politics become divisions from friendships, spouses, or even the church!  You can disagree, you can be sad, you can be a little upset, but remember, in alll things do it with love. (1 Corinthians 16:1)  Let's chill with all this hate ya'll.

--MJA

I'm Changing My Perspective

I wish I was a better singer. 

I wish I spoke without stuttering.  

I wish I had a job. 

I wish I was still a choir director. 

I wish I had a girlfriend that wasn't in Italy.

I wish I didn't live so far away from my friends.

I wish I could get closer to God without going backwards.

I wish I....

Ugh.  That was even starting to annoy me!  And there's a significant problem here.  A lot if not all of these things on my "wish" list are things that I offered up to prayer to God.  Things that I personally want.  Things that I think that I need.  And that's...the problem.  Too often we view God as a genie.  A what-have-you-done/what-can-you-do for me entity.

Why?  Why does it have to be this way.  God has done soo much for me.  Why do I have an unsatiable appetiate.  And the fact that it's unsatitable, why do I take it out on God?  For all the great things God has done for me which is capped off by the Son.

So, I'm going to take a reality check.  I'm going to take a pause.  And pardon me while I extol my Lord.  Pardon me while I thank Him for what he has done for me.  Ima thank Him for loving me.  Because when it comes down to it, I didn't come to love God for what I anticipated him doing for me in the future, I'm thanking him for everything he has done for me in the past.

So...

 I wanna thank him for giving me a voice to sing with even if it isn't as good as Michael Buble.  The fact that I can hold a pitch is good enough for what I wanna do with the rest of my life.

I wanna thank him for giving me a voice to even speak with.  He could've allowed me to be mute for the rest of my life.  Stuttering is nothing!

I wanna thank him for giving me jobs in the past. For allowing me to be secure enough in my financies that I'm able to still survive even though its not completely ideal.

I wanna thank him for showing me that I love to direct choirs.  For opening up the door, for opening up the opportunity for me to even direct a choir.

I wanna thank him for giving me a girlfriend. A girlfriend that supports me, that cares about me, that just wants to see me happy.

I wanna thank him that I have some of the greatest friends in the world.  That I was able to meet these great people that have changed my life.

I wanna thank him for loving me, for caring for me, for making the sun when I'm cold, for making the night when I'm sleepy.

I wanna thank him for just being GOD!

Yessss! Sometimes you just need to revamp your perspective.  A wise person once told me that there is an infinite amount of good and an infinite amount of bad, it's just about your perspective.

Changing Your Perspective is key to having a positive life. It's key to having a positive outlook.

If you are blessed, which everyone is.  You need to act like you are blessed.  If you are loved, you need to act like it.  If you are a child of god, then you need to act like it.

I'm going to sing like the psalmist David sang:

"I will bless the Lord at ALL times: his Praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Ps. 34:1)

It's all about Changing your Perspective.

I Will Bless the Lord - Byron Cage

Introducing....

Welp, as you can see, this blog LoveGod.LovePeople. is now co-authored!  This guy didn't even give me a chance to introduce him, that he's just so gung-ho to just unleash his capabilities on the bloggersphere!  Well just so that there is a legit introduction, je te presente (I'm introducing) my friend, Moises aka "MOreAble."

This man is basically like a brother to me and we sometimes question whether we were separated at birth even though he's latino and I'm african-american. Go figure!  We met in college when he was a Freshman (I mean first-year) and I was a Sophomore.  At the initial onset, we didn't like each other.  In fact I could contend, and I would think he would agree, that we borderline hated each other.  But, slowly and surely, all because of God, we grew closer and closer as brothers in Christ, but also legit bros-from-anotha-motha.

As you noted in his first blog, "Your Conviction: Standing Up When Others Come Against You," this man has a mind, has something to say, and can write.  Eloquence, is what I saw, and passion is what I felt in his writing.  And trust me folks, it's only going to get better.

Now, enough with all the mushy stuff...

I decided to invite his to come blog with me for the simple fact that we are very similar in many ways, but we are very different in others.  We have different approaches but we agree that we need to LoveGod.LovePeople.

The story is that, I was just happening to look at the settings of this blog (as you can see it has changed profusely), and it had a section to add other authors.  And instantly, as if I was ina cartoon, a lightbulb shone in my noggin and I said to myself, "self, you need to get Moises (or as I call him Caramelito) on board.  I had only recently found out that he blogged, and once I found that out, it was a wrappp!

I wanted, I dreamed that this blog would reach a larger audience.  Reach more people that need it.  Reach more people, Christians and Non-Christians alike, and let them know that Jesus loves them.  Tell the Christians that are struggling with various things, that it's gonna be a Brighter Day as I always used to say.

So, this blog is just as much for my enoucuragement, for our encouragement as it is for you, our readers. Be Encouraged my brothers and sister.

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." - Romans 8:18

And just because I'm ina sappy mood, I'm going to post a picture of us 2 at my recent college graduation. I'm sureee you can tell which is which!

--MJA

Your Conviction: Standing Up When Others Come Against You

First, I think it's pretty awesome that I'm getting to share thoughts/blog with Mike. With similiar thoughts but different ways to approach certain topics, I hope that my contributions to this blog will become something that edifies and not destroy.

Second, the main topic:

Just this past weekend I had the pleasure to attend a men's retreat with some of the guys at Messiah College. This year's theme was "men of conviction" via Joshua 1:7-9.  It was a bittersweet experience because although I was with a group of three other guys, most city boys would panic from getting lost in the middle of the woods (and I might have for a couple of minutes when we finally declared "we're lost"), I enjoyed being in the stillness of God's creation. There were various lessons that I've learned throughout this retreat, but one was being able to speak out for God when the obstacle says otherwise.

After watching a sermon this morning by Francis Chan from the Passion 2012 conference on youtube, Francis Chan reads from 1 Kings 22  when Jehosphaphat king of Judah and the king of Israel wanted to reclaim land from the king of Aram that they believed belong to them but nothing was done to reclaim the land after years. What's the first thing that king Jehosphaphat does before going to war?

 “First seek the counsel of the Lord.” (v.5)

That was the best thing the king of Judah thought of before entering a situation that might get messy. For the most part, all of us have the desire to ask God for some approval. If God approves through a bunch of people, you know that things will turn out well. This comes to the point when we need realize that individually we need to seek God and His truth to distinguish what is the truth from the lies.
We’ve become accustomed to go to Sunday service to listen (hopefully we do pay attention) to the pastor preach, or an invited preacher and we decide to let our Bibles collect dust until Sunday comes around.


The verses go on to say that after bringing four hundred prophets to ask "Will I win this war?" (v. 6, paraphrase) all of them replied with "“Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.”". How much more evidence do you need to proceed with whatever you desire after 400 people have approved? Although the king of Judah might have had selfish motives behind taking the land back and to go to war to reclaim, 400 prophets approved? OKAY!

 It reminds me of the times when I used to shoot hoops with my brothers and say "if this shot goes on, it means that God wants me to be with that new girl from church!" If it made it in (which for the most part happens...just kidding!), it would mean I would ask the new girl out. If it missed, I would try so many times to try to make it in so that I can say "yup! God wants me to ask her out!" How unfair is that?

To end, after 400 prophets confirmed that the war will be won by the king of Judah, the king asks if there are any other prophets left. The kind of Israel finally says,

The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one prophet through whom we can inquire of the Lord, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me..." (v.8)

Yet when Micah, the last prophet said "you're going to win this war." However the king asked for the truth and Micah finally said "you know what? to be quite honest, you're going to lose this war." (v.17, paraphrase).

When I read this, I thought "how could I ever do something like that?" It's so easy to go with the flow and agree with others when God tells you otherwise. Why? Acceptance. You (by you, I also mean myself) might be seen as "that guy/girl who never agrees", or maybe you're just scared how others will react towards what you say.

Are you able to stand up as women/men of conviction? When God gives you a word and tells you to do it even though others agree with the opposite of what you think, would you still be willing to proclaim what God has put in your heart? If not, we need to start strengthing each other up and start diving into the Word of God and become like a David - men and women after God's own heart! We are called to be unashamed of God and His will in our lives.

Be encouraged and continue to encourage others in the faith!

-  Moises -

" For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes..." Romans 1:16







Just...Empty Me.

I went to a bible study today with my pops and I particularly enjoy this bible study because the pastor legitimately does an exegetically (verse-by-verse) rendering the scriptures.  Currently they are working their way through Paul's letters and tonight we focused on Phillippians chapter 2 in the entirety.  Now, this was my first time reading any part of Phillippians in my known memory but when I read the first part of the chapter I was hit...hit hard.

Phillippians chapter 2 focuses on the church in Phillipi and how they should treat each other (as most of Paul's letters were about).  This specific chapter focused on humility   It focused on imitating Christ's Humility.  Now I know the phrase that the person who says that they are humble usually isn't   But, I honestly thought I had the humility part down.  I mean, as a man, as a young man,, as a young black man, I have my family, my community telling me to take pride in who I am.  As a former choir director, I would have constant people coming up to me telling me how good of a job I have and etc.  And anytime something like that would happen, I would always say that it's not me, it's alll the Lord. I would consistently iterate that I am nothing but God's willing vessel.  With that mindset, I was golden.  I felt good.  I felt like I wasn't taking too much or basically any credit.

But then, during the bible study.  I was hit...

In Phillippians 2:3, Paul says: "Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves." Wow...regard others as better that yourselves.

That got me thinking, how often am I lifting up other people.  I find myself too often worrying about getting my own, at times puffing my esteem, my ego up at the expense of others and here the Bible is telling me to view people as being better than me.  That's what real humility is.  When you look around your house, your church, your workplace, your school and you see the talents and abilities that other people have.  Or you see how other people may not have had the same opportunities you had or else they might even be better than you! When you look at life, when you look at your brother  when you look at your sister that way.  It changes how to treat people, how you value people, how you looove people.

Paul continues with the next verse by saying  "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others."  We all have our own ambitions.  We all have our own aspirations.  Which is fine.  But we need to look at how our dreams, how our ambitions work with the Kingdom.  When it all comes down to it, we need to help each other.  Love your neighbor as yourself right!  I'm not saying throw away your entire career, but I am asking you why is that your career?  If you are doing EVERYTHING to the Glory of God, then when it all comes down it, you are looking into the interests of others.

Am I really doing that?  All this focus on me...me...me.  How am I really furthering the Kingdom when I'm worried about myself?

And thennn Paul really hit the nail on the coffin when he brought Jesus into this.  I mean, look at Jesus, he was/is God.  He legitimately humbled himself as a human, felt all the pain and the suffering that we do and then some.  And why did he do it?  To advance the kingdom.  "Not my will but thy will be done."  Completely humbling.

If you keep on reading the chapter, Paul talks about Jesus and how he "...emptied himself, taking the form of a slave...and became obedient to the point of death."  Whoa.  And when I read that, I immediately thought of the song Empty Me.  Empty Me was one of the last songs I directed for the United Voices of Praise (Messiah College Gospel Choir).  And the chorus goes:

Empty Me;

Empty Me, yea.

Fill, won't You fill me.

With You.

And I desperately want that.  I want more. I want more. I want more of you Jesus.  Teach me how to put the interests of others before me.  Teach me how to look at your creation as better than myself.  I need it.  I'm making this my prayer.

The final thing I'm going to say is that, there's another song that instantly popped up in my head.  It's from my newly-found favorite contemporary artist Matthew West.  For anyone that's reading this blog, I want you to consider this song.  Listen to it, and try to decipher how it makes you feel.  I know how it makes me feel...

Love God.Love People

--MJA