What Are We Doing!?

On November 11, 2016, I felt a push.  I felt a call to go outside of my comfort zone and speak up and out.  I felt a push to speak to both sides, liberals and conservatives; democrats and republicans; white and minorities.  To, in one regard take the conservative side on issues, but also to take the liberal side of the argument.  Both sides have merit.  Both sides have a significant thing to say.  Both sides deserve to be heard.  Nevertheless, most importantly, both sides are wrong and need Jesus. 

Let us start with conservatives.  Pointing out racism, sexism, gender-ism, and whatever ism is not a liberal thing.  At least it should not be.  That should be a moral (or as a Christian, a Jesus) thing.  Pointing out the suffering of a particular group of people is what I believe we as a people are called to do.  The fact that it has seemingly fallen upon the shoulders of liberals is quite disturbing.  

One of my favorite things to do (unfortunately) after a tragedy is to view how CNN (a liberal media) portrays an event versus Fox News (a conservative media).  To my chagrin, Fox News, if it's about a minority portrayed as a victim, doesn't always cover the story (at least not on their Facebook page).  On the other hand, if they do, they'll only publish one article despite the fact it's national news.  Why is that the case? Why does it feel like speaking up for the unheard...the minority is seemingly only a liberal thing?  Doesn't Jesus talk about Justice a TON in the Bible (Luke 11:42; Matt 23:23-28; Luke 4:18-19)?  Doesn't he profess to an upside down kingdom? Isn't the adage, "you're only as strong as your weakest link" mean anything to people?   

Conservatives, open your eyes.  Have a conversation with minorities and instead of judging or the condemning the areas lived, listen, empathize with us and try to understand.  Yes, the aftermath has of this election has been horrendous for minorities.  My mom is an urban high school teacher whose school had to send kids home after the election because they were afraid for their families.  (My mom's school has a high immigrant and Muslim population).  Throughout my city, you see swastika correlated with Pro-Trump.  You have videos of kids bullying other by shouting "white power" or "go back to where you came from" because they've felt empowered by Trumps election.  Please, I'm pleading with you, don't ignore the cries of the oppressed.  This isn't made up; there are videos that show these scenes and so much worse. 

Now Liberals, I have a bone to pick with you.  Immediately after the election, I continuously heard two responses.  First, how can a Christian vote for Donald Trump (and to be honest, I've had to repent of that myself).   Secondly, "all trump voters need to apologize to minorities for the oppression."  I'll start with the former because of the pure nonsensical nature of the statement.  Last time I check, in America, who you vote for is not usually synonymous for who you are as a person.  The Democratic Party is NOT the party of Jesus and neither is the Republican Party.  Please....Stop it!  You may dislike Trump as a moral person, you may not trust him, and you may despise him.  However, trying to determine someone's salvation based upon a vote is not your job.  AND last time I checked, you can't read the hearts of people, only Jesus can (1 Sam 16:7).  It is hurtful and it make us Jesus followers that are trying to make a difference work fifteen times harder. 

To the former,  yes, as I mentioned above, conservatives have frequently turned a blind eye to injustice.  However, voting for a man or woman doesn't mean you support everything they do or say.  In life, there are direct consequences and indirect consequences.  For example, a direct consequence of Donald Trump winning is that minorities (who overwhelmingly voted for Hillary Clinton) felt unheard.  That's predictable.  But the indirect consequence is that the minorities feel afraid and persecuted.  Asking Republicans to apologize for injustice is like asking personal injury lawyers to apologize for car accidents.  It's not in their control, they just react.   Liberals need to stop the blame shifting rhetoric.  I agree with Senator Sanders who said that there are more Democrats in the USA than Republicans.  Therefore, if the democrats would've just voted, there probably wouldn't be a President-Elect Trump.  Would there still be hate crimes, racism, and sexism?  You had better believe that.  Don't try to force people to understand.  If you want them to understand, show them what's going on instead of spewing the "all Trump supports must be racist rhetoric."  That's a blanket statement and I don't remember the last time a blanket statement was helpful or convincing to another party. 

In short (or maybe not too short), this election has done one thing for me: brought me out of my blogging funk.  Nevertheless, we NEED EACH OTHER.  I can't yell that to the mountaintops any more dramatically.  This us versus them mentality will only drive the wedge between us even deeper and we'll never be able to live peacefully.  My older brother would say that I'm being my idealistic self again, but I can't help it.  I believe in people too much.  I believe that there are more good people than bad.  I believe that the worst thing good people can do is say nothing in the face of injustice.  I believe that eyes need to open, ears need to be unclogged and hearts need to be filled with the Spirit.  I refuse to live in a society where I don't speak for the oppressed and misunderstood.  I will fight my heart out to push against the grain.  

If I lose some followers because of my rhetoric, so be it.  I know that I'm attempting to speak the truth in love.  This is the beginning of my uncomfortable breaking in.  I pray that the Lord uses this, and future posts/conversations, to his glory. 

Peace and Love to everyone,
Michael

Great Wall - Stand Together

I have to admit that I did not grow up in poverty.  Sure I was born and mostly raised in North Philadelphia, but just before my adolescence, I moved to Northeast Philadelphia.  I've never had any true run-ins with law enforcement besides looks and being followed in a store every once in a while.  However, I knew many people that would come to me explaining some of the brutalities they faced, and I would often chalk it up to nonsense.

Please do not get me wrong, there are more good, honorable officers than dishonorable ones.  But the sad news is that we are judged by our extremes- from Westboro to Jihadists.  The best thing we can do is to continue to show others that our negative extremes aren't who we are legitimately.

However, due to the recent events, it's becoming much harder for me to continue to turn a blind eye to the cries of my African American brothers.  The boiling point came to me when I saw a video of a black man being arrested, willingly surrendering by going face first into the ground.  As he was descending, one of the white police officers kicked him in the face, breaking his jaw, and knocking him unconscious.

My first reaction to this video was: ARE YOU KIDDING ME.  Forget the fact that this incident happened in the area I live in, but it's going to put me in utter disgust when I hear people justify this officer's actions.  There is no justification.

Do you believe that he is a criminal?- If answer is yes, please proceed.
Do you believe that he is human? - If answer is yes, please proceed.
Do you believe that he was violently resisting arrest? - If answer is yes, please proceed.
Do you believe that a human that isn't violently resisting arrest, deserves to get a broken jaw from an officer's boot?...Enough said.

Disbelief.  Utter disbelief.  What more needs to be done?  What more can I do?  These are the questions that are frolicking through my mind like little kids running through a field.

Then, I heard a song.  One of my absolute favorite songs.  It's a song that calls for unity.  A song that calls for unity first and foremost with those that are covered in the blood of Jesus Christ.  If we, as the Church, take a stand, there is no force of Hell that can overtake us.  Lets be honest, we might not like each other, but we need each other.  Don't believe me, take a look at 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.

The song is called Great Wall and it's by a rapper named Da' T.R.U.T.H.  I beg you not to judge the song by the cover because it's a rapper.  No, listen and read the words.:

I'm going to leave you with some of the lyrics that hit hardest to me and keep in mind, this song is talking about the bride of Christ--the Church.  We have a TON of work to do if we are seriously planning on changing the world.

"We choosing our membership based on the hour and the reverent skin;

So from the pews to the president;

We struggle to love each other like the Jews and Samaritans."

"It's like the movie "Crash" --it's a vicious cycle;

Like aluminum cans, the hatred gets recycled."

"Lord, what kind of madness is this?

I'm looking at your body, it's like a caste system.

But in Revelation chapter 7, when we snap the picture;

We see the king and every Christian, every land's forgiven;

Every tribe, every tongue (of) man is represented;

And unified by the Son and his plan of redemption;

To reconcile the nations, the great and the small;

So we life our hands and give him praise (because) he's breaking the walls."

I REFUSE to take an "us" versus "them" mentality within the church.  There is no us, there is no them, there is only We.  When one of us suffers, then we all suffer.  I'm calling on my fellow brother and sister in Christ to examine yourself and at least consider, that there may be, just may be something wrong.  We need to be together.

No more silence

My morning routine consists of my alarm going off precisely at 6:55 am and immediately I turn on my television.  There I turn to ABC and see the last second weather forecast for the day and prepare for Good Morning America (GMA).  This particular morning, December 4, 2014, I uncovered something that shocked me.


We are a nation incredibly divided on this issue and it is tearing me apart.

Take a second a look at the numbers again, this time focusing solely on the grand jury decision portion.  Half of America agrees with the grand jury's decision and the other half doesn't.  Fine.  But let's look at the racial divide.  60% of whites agree while 40% disagree...10% of blacks agree while 90% of blacks disagree.

We've all seen commercials or informercials where they say that 9 of 10 {fill in the blank} agree that {fill in the black}.  Why is that phrase so widely used?  Because usually we are led to believe that there will always be "that one person" who disagrees, but we are supposed to go with the over whelming majority right?

Lets forget the facts of Ferguson and whether justice was done shall we?  Why do you think that 90% (or 85% if you're trying to be cute) think that there is something wrong?  Probably because there is.  I'm not concerned on whether you think that justice is rightly administered, I have people that I hold a ton of respect to give split answers, my problem is the fact that this is such a racially divisive subject.

90% of blacks are saying that there is something wrong.  Let me repeat that: ninety percent.  And I hear some of my fairer skinned brothers and sisters indicate that in some way there is an overreaction?  There's no way that I can get on board with that.  I can't be silent anymore.

Through Trayvon Martin ordeal I was silent because I respect the court system too much.  This decision to not indict Officer Wilson did not surprise me.  What did surprise me was the backlash I received.  This recent incident with Eric Garner admit-tingly surprised me.

These issues have uncovered an issue that is continuously swept under the rug because it's uncomfortable.  That issue is that there is a huge stereotyping problem.

I've seen this photo circulate a ton and I refused to repost it only because it's missing the point:

Yes, there are exceptions to every rule.  But let us do an experiment.  To all of my white brothers and sisters out there, why don't you ask 5 people of color if they ever had a crude experience of being negatively stereotyped and how that made them feel.  Then ask them for another.  This post is to my white brothers and sisters.  No, we aren't crazy.  No, we aren't all overreacting.  Yes, there is a huge problem.
But I have hope that this can be rectified.  I have hope that we can look upon each other and see the real person underneath the melanin.  I have this hope and i will NOT let it die.
People are telling me that I'm wasting my time because the difference is too vast.  I'm sorry but I must disagree.  While none of my fairer skinned friends will not understand how it feels to feel like you're being condemned because of your skin tone, they can empathize and somewhat have compassion on it.
Jesus, my role model, was a man of compassion.  He had love for everyone, especially those that were different than he.  This is my plea to America.  Please understand that we, as a African American community, are deeply hurt by this issue.  We are consistently negatively stereotyped and it all comes from fear.  Please don't fear us.  Please don't be afraid of us...me.  I just want to be loved and loved back. But I can no longer sit back and be idle.  I can't and I won't.

-MJ

I Mourn...

I mourn because we are fighting like dogs on an issue that should unite us.
I mourn because another guy that looks like me is dead on the street.
I mourn because another guy that looks like me shows no respect to the police.
I mourn because more violence does not create more violence.
I mourn because everyone that looks like me is up in arms.
I mourn because half of those that don't look like me do not understand.
I mourn because there is sin rampant in the world and at times it feels hopeless.
I mourn because racism is still alive and kicking.
I mourn because these circumstances in Ferguson and Staten Island are dividing us.
I mourn because not enough of my Christian brethren are talking about the decisions.
I mourn because of poverty.
I mourn because of segregation.
I mourn because of the cycle of hopelessness that is continuously spinning.
I mourn because Dr. King's dream might not ever be realized.
I mourn because my family mourns.
I mourn because I'm tired of arguing/debating the validity.

I simply mourn because I am a black man living in the USA that doesn't feel united.

Does It REALLY Matter?

Yesterday, October 4, 2014, I was invited to go to a friend's church that once a month has a gathering of young adults (20 and 30 year olds) to network, chat, sing, and hear a message.  I'm not going to get too much into the nature of the message or songs because they were all pretty good but there was this one specific instance that rubbed me the wrong way...

So it was after the message and we were waiting for the food to arrive (it was catered Cosi which is always a good idea).  It was a quite informal experience where people felt comfortable enough to just walk up to others and randomly start having a conversation (which if you know ANYTHING about me, that's not my specialty).  Nonetheless, this guy and I believe a girl walked up to me and started to have a conversation with me.  It went as follows (note I'm trying to recall the entire convo so this is an approximation):

-A little short talk-
Guy:  So are you a Christian?
Me: Yessir.  Jesus is alive!
Guy: How do you know that he's alive?
Me: *thinking that this is an interesting convo* Well I interact with him every day through nature, I talk to him, I pray to him...
Guy: WRONG, you know that he's alive because of the Spirit.

Pause.

Right when he said that statement he had this sly look on his face like he was trying to prove, (whether to me, himself, or the lady next to him) that he knew some theological lingo.  Congratulations buddy, but come on!  Why does it matter if I didn't use the correct theological lingo? Was my answer incorrect? No.  Was your answer more biblically standing? Sure.  However, the need to completely shoot down my answer just to relay your supposed theological superiority took me aback.

It has led me to ask the question: Is this how we seriously evangelize now?  Are we overly consumed with having the correct (or should I say supposedly) correct answer that we're out to prove that we know what we're talking about?  My intention is not to bash the guy because I'm sure his intentions were at least somewhat pure, but brother, does it REALLY matter if I didn't recount Theology 101 and give credence to the Spirit at the moment of a spontaneous conversation?

If I ever have a conversation like the above that emphasized the core of Christianity, hopefully, I'll take the answer given as an acceptable one.  I mean the fact that I acknowledged Jesus' presence should tell you something about my beliefs.  Besides, the Holy Spirit was sent in Jesus' name (John 14:26)!  So me interacting with Jesus is acknowledging the Spirit.

Let's not get bogged down into the semantics of theology unless we are having a deep theological discussion of which acknowledgment of discourse is being partaken.  It's a waste of words and I'm afraid that it may rub people the wrong way.  Our job is to show people the light, not disgust them with our proud Christian-ese words that leads them with a poignant taste in their mouth.

Why I Am Against Homogenous Worship Services (Especially In America)

Recently I've been reading John Piper's book Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian.  This book talks about his plight in fighting racism in his own life and how the Gospel of Jesus Christ broke that chain.  In the book, I came across this sentence:

"If Christ died - mark this, Died!- to make the church a diverse, reconciled body of Jew and Gentile - "red and yellow, black and white," and every shade and shape in between - then to glory in the cross is to glory in the display of the fruit of that cross."

In the context that Dr. Piper is referring to, he's talking about what I would describe as the big "C" Church as opposed to the little "c" church*.  Jesus' death and resurrection unified the Church; there is no more Jew or Greek, there's only of Christ and not of Christ.  That's Dr. Piper's main point.

I'm taking it a step further: because of Jesus' death and resurrection, church's should not be seperated by race, ethnicity, or worship styles.  Now admittingly, I'm only a worshipper.  I'm part of the worship team at my current church and I've been a gospel choir director for my alma mater Messiah College and Harrisburg Brethren in Christ Church.  So I'm not too deep into church politics.  However, what I do know is that there probably isn't a much larger battleground in church structure than worship.  As a worship leader, I've been in the mix of some of the wars, so take my comments with that grain of salt.

With that being said, we are called to unify.  To declassify.  To shed off our own skin and become united with Jesus and when we do that, we are united with the body and when we do that, those in the body are no longer just my friends, they are now my brothers and sisters.  

So I ask this question: How can [honestly] I love my brother and sister if I don't take the time to understand them?

Now Michael, what you're saying is that all believers should just join one (small "c") church!?  No.  That's not what I'm saying.  Obviously there are legitimate reasons for SOME denominational splits, especially when theologies are on different ends of the spectrum, aka Protestant vs. Catholic/Orthodox.  But, despite those differences, there is absolutely no reason why there shouldn't be diversity in two ways (with one leading to the other).  Firstly, there needs to be diversity in the congregational body and that leads to diversity in the worship styles.

I will probably never find a church that I agree with it's theology 100%.  Probably because I don't even know what I believe sometimes (other than the core of Gospel -- Jesus lived, taught, was crucified, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and is coming back).  But if I can find a church of which I agree with 75% of the theology, I feel secure.  As a result, I would surmise that most protestant congregations, theology-wise, I would be comfortable in.  

So why do we only stay with our race, ethnicity, or group that makes us feel "comfortable?"

There is absolutely nothing comfortable about being a Christian.  In fact, when we feel comfortable, we run the risk of becoming complacent or lukewarm, and that is not what we are about.  If you are comfortable every day of your Christian journey, then there is probably something wrong with your Christian journey.

This boils over to a homogenous congregation.  When I'm around people that look like me (racially and/or ethnically), think like me (culturally), and act like me, I'm probably not going to grow.  I'm not leaving room for my faith to be stretched.  This is why when I came back home from Messiah College, I could not join the largest African American Church in Philadelphia, PA called Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church.  No knock on Enon, but I didn't feel comfortable being around people that only looked like me anymore.  I needed to be challenged...

When the congregation structure begins to change, worship styles are going to have to change. One of the largest challenges in the diverse church is worshipping on a song style that just isn't your cup of tea.  But, it's necessary.  Many cultures are best defined by their music.  In many ways, it's our identity.  Wait a minute, Jesus should now be our identity, not the worship style...I digress...

In an effort to shorten this blog post, I'm going to reiterate what I said earlier whether you agree with me or not:

There is no way I can [honestly] love my brother and sister if I don't take the time to get to know them.

If I just stay in my comfort zone in church, I won't grow as much as I could.  

Oh, and newsflash, when we get to heaven we are all going to be together worshipping Jesus, our Lord and savior anyway.  So let's start now!!

-MJA

-I may need to write a part 2 on this one, but we'll see.-

*Big "C" Church is referring to the entire body of Christ.  Little "c" church is referring to the individual worship services.

Foolishness of Christ (#Anomaly)

The older I've become, the more frustrated and misunderstood I'm beginning to feel.  Maybe it's because I was encompassed by the ignorance bliss of my childhood youth to recognize that I don't fit it.  In fact, I've never really fit it.  Despite my best efforts to assimilate through life, I've never really fit it.

Over the past few weeks, I've had various conversations about dating, money, life choices, and convictions (mostly in that order) and the more I listen, the more frustrated I'm finding myself becoming.  It's like the concepts that are embedded in my head come from this out of world experience that just seems foreign to many people I speak to.  It's as if I'm trying to explain a whole nother language to them...

My most recent studies have taken me through the minor prophet Joel, 1 Kings, and most important for the purpose of this blog, 1 Corinthians.  In 1 Corinthians, Paul is approached with a lot of division within the church at Corinth.  Sects (err denominations) are being formed between Paulites and Apollosites (followers of Paul's teachings and followers of Apollos' teachings).  Now I can go and talk about this divisions for a while, but lets save that for another blog.

What has continuously hit me however, is twice in the opening 3 chapters, Paul talks about wisdom.  The wisdom of the world versus the wisdom that the Holy Spirit gives us.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. - 1 Corith. 1:21

Ok. This is weird.  The concepts that go on in my head about the before-mentioned topics clash with the general concepts of the world.  And it bothers me.  I'll show a few examples here:

Dating
It's important for me to always be committed to my [imaginary] girlfriend.  Commitment, honesty, loyalty and the values I [now] cherish the most.  I'm a romantic at heart that wants to spoil my [imaginary] girlfriend by holding the doors open for her, dropping her off near the door when the weather is bad, waiting until she enters the house at night before driving away.  Ya know, what I thought were the basics.  They (whoever they are) say that chivalry is dead, well as long as I'm alive, chivalry will not be dead. Real talk.

Money
Money is not very important to me.  Yes, it's nice having a steady job, kinda sorta living paycheck to paycheck because of the pimp know as Sallie Mae, and just being comfortable.  However, one of the fears I have, and this is an honest fear ya'll, is having too much money.  I'm afraid that I'll become consumed by it.  That it runs the risk of becoming my idol.  It's seems to me that everyone wants a little more money, and if/when they get that little more money, they want a little MORE money and so forth and so on.  Listen, not everyone has the money "Sin Giant" but many of us are capable of it.

Convictions
I always thought that people knew what convictions were.  I guess is ASSumed incorrectly.  Probably the easiest way to describe it is one's conscious.  I often tell people that the reason I stopped cussing is because I started to feel bad about it.  My conscious, aka the Holy Spirit, began to convict me because that's not how a man of God should be using his words (See James 3:1-12)  When I tell people this, I get one of two reactions: A.) Oh that's really cool or B.) *Looks at me like I'm crazy*.  Yep, story of my life.

I am not, I repeat, I AM not claiming that my words or thoughts are the way the "perfect" man or Christian should live.  I'm also not judging you if you have different mindsets different than mine.  These are just my convictions (see what I just did there) and my observations on how I'm just a #Anomaly.

Don't lose faith my brothers and sisters if you just aren't understood (whether it's in the physical, emotional or spiritual sense).  We are all created to be different parts of God's body.  We have different thoughts, different skills, different appearances, and different brain sizes (with mine being the largest.....just KIDDING).  Do what you feel is right.  I believe that we are all born with a conscious (there are scientific exceptions to that rule I guess) that hint us in the right direction.  It's all about listening to it.  One of the sure fire ways to check to see if what you're doing is the "right" thing is to ask the rhetorical question, "Am I blessing others with this decision or am I only doing it for myself."  And please please please be honest to yourself.

With much blessings,
MJA#Anomaly