Watch Your Back

A fact that has been brought to my attention while reading the Word is that Jesus had 12 disciples and he chose these 12 disciples. Some of you might be looking at me incredibly weird right now saying "duh" but think about it.  Jesus had 12 disciples.  He had plenty of followers.  But there were only 12 that he called disciples.  If you're like me, sometimes you forget that he had a host of "friends" following him, but he chose 12 men to be his real friends.

Take a moment for that to sink it.

He had hundreds of followers.  Hundreds of people that "adored" him.  Hundreds of people that tried to watch him perform miracles and wanting to touch the hem of his garment.  And hundreds of people 3 years later shouted at the top of their lungs "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Wait...so what you are telling me is that those people that followed him.  That was always around him, supporting him during the good times were essentially the same people that turned their backs on him when times became rough?  Does that sound familiar to your life (well maybe not the hundreds but you get the point)?

Once again Jesus is the perfect model to teach us that we really need to choose our friends carefully.  We need to watch who has our ears.  We have to guard our hearts.  We need people that will uplift us, not bring us down even if they don't fully explain what we are going through (as was the case with the disciples).  I'm not necessarily making the argument that you need exactly 12 friends, but I'm going to blunt with ya'll here: not everyone is your friend. As a matter of fact, not everyone is meant to be your friend.  It's up to you to discern those that are really your friend and those that are just your followers (or as I like to call them, acquaintances).

Lets be honest, out of those 12 friends Jesus chose one of them, Judas Iscariot, ended up stabbing him in the back.  Which, if we were to translate to our lives, we need to realize that those people that seem to have our backs might have some hidden agenda that will eventually come out and hurt us.  We need to be aware that we all have these sinful desires lurking inside of us and every once ina while it comes out.  But don't let your Judas ruin all your friendships forever.

Jesus didn't stop with the 12 disciples.  He narrowed the 12 down to 3. What I would argue were his "best friends," James, John, & Peter.  These were the three he took up with him to the mountain where the infamous "Transfiguration" happened.  None of the other friends saw him at the peak of his glory because quite frankly, they probably couldn't have handled it.

Even his best friends gave up on him for a time.  They weren't very confident when he was he was being crucified   So what does this tell us?  It tells us that people will let us down.  It's not wise to put all of our eggs into the basket.  But when it came down to it, the 12 disciples became the 12 Apostles and the 3 best friends all have major publication in the bible.  Peter's crazy self if found all around Acts as well as 1 & 2 Peter (where Paul sent a letter to him).  John is the author of the Gospel of John (not 1 & 2 John).  You guessed it, James is the author of James.

If you didn't feel like reading this entire thing and just want the bottom line here it is:

• We need to watch who has our ears; we need people around us that will uplift us.
• Not everyone that's around you is your friend.
• Even within your circle of friends, we should develop the inner circle

In essence: we just need to watch our backs and guard our hearts.

--MJA

Every Timothy needs a Paul

There's a biblical axiom that I surround my faith around.  (Well actually there are many axiom but, for this case there's one in particular.)
Every Paul needs a Timothy and every Timothy needs a Paul.

Or if you want to be gender pleasing, every Paul (or Paulina) needs a Timothy (or Timotheia) and every Timotheia (or Timothy) needs a Paul (or Paulina).

What does that mean?  I mean I kinda know that Paul was a great man.  I've heard that he was a thing called an Apsotle and wrote letters to churches.  But who the heck is Timothy?  Wait...is he the same Timothy in the bible.  Erm..as in 1 Timothy & 2 Timothy??

Why yes, yes he is.  You sir, deserve a cookie!  But Timothy is more than a book in the bible.  He was Paul mentee.  He was the person that Paul sowed into.  He met Timothy while he was a young age in Act 16:1-3 and taught him.  And then eventually sent him out into the world to start his own church.  But, Paul didn't leave good ol' Timmy alone.  He checked up on him as often as he could through at least 2 letters.  These letters are affectionately known as 1st and 2nd Timothy.

It's important to highlight here that Paul, like Jesus, recognized that we are put on this earth for a reason. One of the reasons is to speak life into others, especially those younger than us.  There are two things that are necessary for this occurrence to happen.  Firstly there has to be a willing "Paul," a man or woman that is willing to share their knowledge with someone.  And there has to be a willing "Timothy," a person willing and eager to learn.

Any well rounded Christian has the capability to be both a Paul and a Timothy.  I don't care how old you are, there is always someone watching you and you are always watching someone else.  It's about having the right attitude.

For me, I've been more than blessed with Pauls in my life.  Some of them have come seemingly for a season and some can happen a lifetime but I can say without a shadow of a doubt, that I am who I am because of them.  If it wasn't for their lecturing and constant perstering and prodding I just wouldn't be me. I need to personally thank them for speaking life into my heart sometimes when I've felt like giving up (and they might not even know that they have).  It means a heck of a lot that they even dedicated 5 minutes to me because they just didn't have to.  I'm not going to give full names, but they know who they are!

Rev. Dr. Byrd, I wanna thank you for continuing to press on me for my calling in this life to be a minister of the gospel.  I don't know when and I really don't know how, but you have kept the Word of the Lord in my life.

Mr. Frank, who would've thought that the man that I met in High School, whom I at times had an issue with would become someone I could call a mentor and a friend.  You have influenced me in more ways that one which is including but not limited to my trek to Messiah College where I became a History Major!

Now that I'm at Messiah, I might as well mention Dr. Fea.  I had no idea that you would've helped me in the ways that you have.  I never thought I would get this close to a History professor let alone an intimidating giant such as yourself!

Staying at Messiah I have to mention Dr. T!  This man has literally been like a second father to me.  We've hit every topic from music (most importantly) to relationships to ministry.  I wouldn't have survived my last two years with you!

If it wasn't for Dr. T, I wouldn't have met Pastor Woody.  Even though are time was relatively brief you have sown sooo much into me.  I just want to thank you for that and hopefully we can do a better job at staying in contact.

DKP, you have sown into me like no other Lawyer have.  This journey in my life is a new one for me but I am glad that you are willing to embark on it along with moi.

Finally, Min. Tucker.  Yes, you aren't that much older than me but you have spoken life in me from time and time again!  I am proud to call you my real brother and I love that despite the difference, we've kept in touch with each other.

Well, that's it!  I'm sorry this was soo long haha but I had to get out my sense of gratitude.  On a final note, I do realize that I have a bunch of Timothys and no Timotheias but that's ok.  I grew up in a household of mostly older women so I have PLENTY of those to hold me accountable! :)

--MJA

You Are So Beautiful!

I've realized that I've gotten away from my blogging roots.  The reason that I started to write blogs is to mostly encourage people.  To help boost people's self-esteem by telling them that they are better than they think.  Recently I've caught myself talking more about little 'c' christians and instead of uplifting people, I've been putting challenging them.  At the face of it, it's fine.  But, I'm the type of guy that needs balance and it's been far too long since I posted a truly uplifting blog (June was the last one).

I feel a need to speak life into someone's life.  I feel the inherited need to help someone out there.  I feel the need to tell someone something that they already knew: you are beautiful.

You are sooo beautiful.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made.  You are created in the image of God. I need someone out there to believe that right now.

Maybe I'm ina extra lovey dovey mood.  Maybe I'm dealing with my own issues, but I need to tell all my readers/nonreaders, believers/nonbelievers, friends/enemies (jk), groupies/haterz...You are loved.

I don't feel weird saying this as a man, because as a man, I've realized that I need to get better at expressing myself.  I need to get better at becoming vulnerable.  I need to be open and honest about my feelings.  However, as a man, I also realize my boundary of mushiness and I do believe that I have reached my threshold. So this first half was my gender friendly blog.

*Insert Woman Friendly Line Here*

This second half is dedicated to my ladies.  I know I've said this before but ya'll amaze me.  The essence of your being; your ladiness perplexes me.  Ya'll aren't just beautiful, ya;ll are gorgeous.  One of the things that I hope never ever ever ever happens is if I make a woman feel less than she's worth.  I don't know, maybe I have in the past and if that's the case I'm sorry.  I really am!

I'm not gonna lie, you women drive me up the walls Day N Nite (Kid Cudi Song).  Somedays I wanna yell at you.  Somedays I wanna curse you out (the Christian in me stops me), but when it alllll comes down to it: I love ya'll.

I don't care what other men say.  I don't care what your parents told you.  I don't care what other men say.  You are precious. You are sooooo beautiful.  (Borderline hot but only because I loathe that phrase).

*INSERT GENDER FRIENDLY LINE*

Don't ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever. EVER (did I say ever enough) let someone tell you different.  Don't ever let someone bring your self esteem down.  I used to let other people affect me (and I still do from time to time).  But once you realize who you are in God.  How amazing of a person you are in Christ.  You establish your identity in your Maker.  You realize that you are a privilege.

So I'm glad that I've had the privilege to know the men and (especially) women.  I don't always see eye-to-eye with them.  But I do see their beauty (once again especially women) coming from their eye.

You are all amazing!  To the women in my life, I love ya'll. To the women not in my life as much as you used to be, I love ya'll. To the women soon to be in my life, 1. What's taking soo long & 2. I love ya'll.  To the brothas in my life, you are beautiful (I say that in my deepest manliess voice possible).

Much love to God's Creation.  Always remember to smile!

Never underestimate the power of your smile. Smiles have the ability to light up the room. Even when skies are dark sometimes if you just smile, your day becomes better! Smiles are beautiful. Smiles are great! Why don't you go ahead and smile right now!

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

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

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

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

What A Friend We Have...

I know who you are...you are struggling with low self-esteem...you are struggling with depression...you are just struggling with the concept of love. Well, can I let you in on a little secret. There is someone I know that can be there for you 24/7, that will love you more than any man ever could, that can understand you better than any woman ever could...His name my friends is Jesus.  No matter what you are going through just know that You have a friend in Jesus.

Even in those nights when you are crying because you are all alone...you have a friend in Jesus.

Even in those moment that you feel like no one cares...you have a friend in Jesus

Even in those times that you are going through a living hell and you think no one can understand you...you have a friend in Jesus.

Even in those nights when you can't stop the tears from falling down your face because of what HE did...still, you have a friend in Jesus

Psalm 34:18 says: The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those crushed in spirit.

Am I bowling down your lane? At this point in your life do you feel hopeless? Crushed? Abused? Unloved? Unappreciated? And just all out down? Well I'm here to encourage you to just go to God in prayer and I PROMISE you this: your prayers will be heard. Surrender yourselves friends and be healed...