Do you REALLY only live once? #YOLO

I’ll begin this post with a quote from the infamous, Dewayne “Lil Wayne” Carter:

“Ladies & Gentlemen, if you got anything from me, its to find your thing and do you!”

The urban culture of music has desperately desired to create an environment where living reckless is normal. As rap began to truly surface in the early 80s, it was an art form; used to motivate people against what was unfair in this world. Later, it began a competition. Strictly on the basis of talent. Before long, it became personal and since then, has ushered in a new era of fame, fortune, and “gotta-have-it-ness” within the culture.

What do I mean? Well, the rapper named Drake has coined a phrase that is not new. The idea that “you only live once” has been quoted for years…but somehow, it never truly became a popular idea until it was uttered on top of music. Now it’s a huge phenomena because if a rapper said it in a “hot line”, it’s gotta be what we live after. After all, we’re doing our best to create the mirage that we’re living just like Drake… right?

What am I saying? You can be swayed to believe anything. But it’s much easier to be swayed into doing something you’d rather be doing. How many times, as a youth, have you fallen asleep in church? How many times have you thought about what you COULD be doing with this time as this preacher is sitting up yelling at you and everyone else?  The YOLO lifestyle is a direct contradiction of God’s word. Most of these rappers aren’t rapping about ANYTHING in respect to God and His ways. Here is an example of what I mean.

Revelation 21:8
New King James Version (NKJV)
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[a] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

Whoa… second death? But I thought Drake said you only…live…once?  Paul said it best in Romans 3:4 when he said,

Let GOD be true and every man a liar.

Now begins the fight.  Now I have to put on the gloves because this is sure to make anyone who’s been doing it “their way” upset.  You see, this isn’t a black thing or white thing. This idea has spread world wide. The idea that says, you might as well do what you can right now because once you die – that’s it. You’re dead. There is nothing left for you.

There is an unfortunate end to this blog post.  There was a young man who was trying to get his rap career off the ground.  And when your in Rome, you act like the Romans.  So what did this young man do? He lived like the lifestyle that most urban rappers display.  That of the infamous “YOLO”.   This young man made a few tragic mistakes; texting and driving, intoxicated, and reckless driving (speeds of 125mph).

What could possibly be so important at this moment that you need to tweet?  Here are his final, recorded thoughts…

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31749_162-57510385-10391698/southern-california-rapper-tweets-yolo-then-dies-in-a-suspected-drunk-driving-crash-reports-say/

If your looking for me to condemn this young man and his friends to hell, I will not.  I have no clue what he could’ve said or done within his final seconds or previous to this situation.  What I do know is this: It’s time to truly live like a Rebel for Christ.  Look at the path that our culture has set up for us to live like… and look at the results.  I don’t expect everyone I encounter to believe me when I say God is real and wants a relationship with them.  But all I can do is try.  But I’m not the only one trying…

…so is every demonic force that is on a mission to rob souls from the Kingdom of God.

Living contradictory to God will eventually catch up with any and everybody.  But as a Christian, I am forever grateful for His undying grace and mercy!

To all those who’ve decide (right now) to YOLO’it, I’d like to share one of my favorite songs.  God bless you all!

Can You Pray for your Boss?

Praying for your boss… Can you do it?

A lot of times, in regards to interpreting and preaching God’s Holy word, people tend to stretch the meaning of scripture to fit their situation/context of conversation.

I have worked in the childcare field for almost 8 years. I’ve learned and seen so many examples of what TO do and as well as what NOT to do. They are 2 very different perspectives. You have to truly love children to work in this field because the money isn’t enough to keep teachers.

In today’s world, many people have worked hard or simply have been favored enough to move into upper management. It’s a great thing if it’s handled correctly. The unfortunate piece is that many workplace leaders have not been trained on what it means to actually “be” a leader. Too often, we confuse leader with boss, in the workplace.

Since I’ve been immediately responsible for the Youth Ministry at my church for the last 2 years, I’ve learned a new realm of leadership. I’m not only a minister to these youth, but to their parents as well. When I see things in the spirit, I have to communicate what I’ve seen, respectfully and in a way that the parents will actually receive what it is I’m saying to them. I’m very careful about how I come off because the last thing I want to do is say something that can be taken the wrong way and create a negative riff between the parents who trust their children with me and myself.

So what am I saying? It’s simple. Supervisors can be difficult people to get along with. How can you identify who you’re working for? Here are a few clues:

Now that we’ve identified who we’re working for, the next question is, does it matter? A Boss a very difficult person to deal with from 9-5 every day. Especially when they have NO regard for your life and the issues of it, nor any interest in helping you become a better employee. If your supervisor is a leader, you can officially click on the X in the corner, this blog post isn’t for you.

Now what does the Bible say about this? Hebrews 13:17:

17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

Surely, earthly supervisors man not be watching out for your soul, but they have that ability if they are equip with the knowledge and wisdom to do so. But the 1 st word of that verse is the nastiest word any Christian person can say to one another. “OBEY”. Obey means to follow the commands or guidance of. In today’s world, we are so self-sufficient that we don’t need ANYONE telling us what to do. Especially not someone that walks in that “BOSS” spirit.

I want to encourage you to begin to humbly pray for your BOSS. That’s right. Those people that seek to intimidate you, sit in their office all day and do nothing, and pushes you around because you “need” a job. Yes, them. Pray for them. Why am I making this such a point? Look in your smart phone and see if you can find an app called “Whack Your Boss”. It is an extremely outrageous display of actions to cause serious bodily harm to bosses. Why is this game so popular?Because many of us have held on to grudges and developed harden hearts in regards to the way we’re treated on our job. And even though we as mature Christians would never carry out the actions we’ve seen on this app… it’s APParent that there are plenty of people that are silently dealing with people who are causing undue stress to their lives.

So, I want to encourage you again, but differently. First, release your boss from all the unfair situations they’ve placed you in. I get it. It is not fair. It stinks. You don’t deserve it. But the fact of the matter is that God has commanded us to forgive. So forgive. If it helps, write your boss a TERRIBLE letter. Be sure include how much and often you’ve been disrespected and left for nothing by them. Tell them about all the things they’ve done and how much you wanna cause physical harm. Sign your name to it. Walk around your desk, and stand in front of the shredder. Take a minute to reflect. Do you want to truly be ruled by these feelings that are within this letter, or would you like to earn God’s approval over your life by shredding it AND your unforgiveness towards them?

God cannot forgive us for our sins unless we forgive those who’ve hurt us! (Matthew 6:15).

Secondly, pray for them. Sincerely and from your heart. Pray that God speaks to their very core about how they treat people. Ask God to also fix how YOU respond to the way you’re treated. So that you can work in peace, even when your boss is acting as if they’ve lost their mind.

So, I’ll ask you one more time… can you pray for your boss?

Parental Breakdown… What’s happening to our Youth?

Proverbs 22:6
New King James Version (NKJV)

Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

I came for a 2 parent home. That was my normal. There wasn’t much to compare that against because many of the friends I had in my part of the suburb had the same situation. When I began to stretch out a bit and get to know people (school), I realized just how blessed I was. I had no idea that there were so many families that were broken by circumstance, violence, divorce, and so on…

I am an Assistant Director at a Preschool and I truly enjoy how God has centered my life around youth. Between work, I am a Youth Minister, as well as a father of 3 wonderful children. That doesn’t qualify me as some sort of “Child-Professional”, but I do get to see things that most people don’t.

I also own a photography business and the maturity of that business has helped my eyes grow. I notice the world around me. So with all of this being the backdrop, I can confidently say, we are dropping the ball.

I was born in the early 80s. WAY before people started calling the police on parents for spanking their children. Before I say anything else, I will NEVER condone the abuse of a child – mentally, physically, or verbally. When my sister and I got out of line with our parents, it was a foregone conclusion that a spanking was on the way. I got WAY more than my sister, because my behavior warrented correction.

Example: My parents told me not to eat in our den. If I had food, keep it in the kitchen. So as they left to go play tennis, I decided that at 11, I was grown and I could eat wherever I wanted to. So, I got a big bowl of Oreo’s and a nice glass of milk. I turned out the light and made a quick right turn towards the den and then… POW … I ran into a wall! But me, being the grown young man that I was, decided it was better to write

“I hate this wall”

as small as I could. That way, I wouldn’t get in trouble and I was still able to display my utter hatred for the placement of this wall. What’s the 1st thing my Mom noticed when she came in? You guessed it, my writing. But I lied about it. And I got the spanking of my LIFE!

OR, there’s the time when my friends and I were playing outside and it was SOOOO cold. Nobody wanted to go inside, so I decided to go inside and grab a lighter. We’d decided to light some pinestraw in the woods next to my house. So, after we were finally warm, we stomped and spit the fire out. Hours later, my friend paused our riveting game of NBA Jam (Sega Genesis boy!) to say that the woods were on fire! I sprinted down the street to see firemen from the left & right spraying flames until they were out. I also saw my two other friends pointing at me as they were being accused for arsen! After a few minutes, most of the firefighters started to recognize me… because their Lieutenant was my Dad. So remember that spanking I spoke of earlier, cross that out. THIS was the spanking of my life!

But there was something ground breaking and monumental about this one. You see, my Dad and I had a unique relationship. I wanted to be grown and he wanted to teach me. Something I never appreciated until I became a man. After he gave me this spanking, he reached down and picked me up. He hugged me. He told me that he loved me.

This, my friends, is discipline.

This is also where I believe the breakdown has begun. There are plenty of people who have similar or even worse stories than I do about spankings and discipline. Many people didn’t receive their spankings with love or discpline at all. They were told to go to bed and were never given an explination about what was the thing they did. Those kids have grown up since the 80s… and become parents. With that fuel of the past behind them, they DARE NOT put their kids through that. They dare not put their hands on their kids in a manner of correction. Now, we have implimented time-outs and dog leashes because our kids need “Choices”.

This disconnect and unresolved group of emotions has led to a sharp decline in children learning how to respect their parents.

It seems almost every day that I hear a child saying “Why not?!?!?” or “NO!?!?!?!” to their parents. The parent, embarrassed, “ask” the child again to do what they asked…. BUT WAIT… How does it even get to that point? It’s a very simple thought.

We are looking to be our children’s friend and not their parent.

Where their times when I couldn’t stand my parents? Absolutely! My Mom would always say “You just wait until you get grown and have some kids of your own! You’ll see!” And you know what, she was right!

Am I saying that children should have NO choices and walk a straight line or be clothes-lined by their overbearing parent? No, absolutely not. What I am saying is that the line between parent and friend has been blurred. I would love for my kids to understand why their are being discplined immediately. But the truth is, they probably won’t. So how do I remedy that?

We have a conversation. We talk about why they are about to get a spanking. I also check myself to make sure I’m not angry. Afterwards, I tell them I love them & hope they’ll rethink it next time.

I find it a true shame that me, as a teacher, can speak to your child in a way that they understand and decide against continuing in disruptive behavior; especially when the parent comes to pick their child up and the child looses their mind! To that point, discpline is not ALL spanking. But how you communicate with a child. The children I work with, I can’t spank… and they behave.

I’ll leave you with this. The Bible says “He who spares his rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”. We are doing our kids an injustice by refusing to correct them… because if you don’t, it’s a foregone conclusion that your child could end up like this…

So… I get ANGRY!

So now, you are a Christian. You have accepted the fact that Jesus died on the cross for your sins. It’s a great feeling isn’t it? I mean, before your Grandma’s Grandma was even thought of by their parents, God knew YOU. He ordained this life for us to prosper and be blessed in it.

Life as a Christian is pretty good… but what happens when our sinful nature starts to show? What happens when you get angry? It happens to the best of us. No one is exempt from the ways of anger.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Anger is something that will happen. Unavoidable. What is avoidable is our response to anger as well as how we behave while we’re IN our angry moments. The problem with most of the situations that we find ourselves angry in is simple. We forget to think clearly. We forget how much we love Jesus. The most important thing is what just ticked us off.

In my mind, the best way to attack anger is in situations. So let’s say you get into a pretty bad argument with your parents or loved ones. Feelings are hurt. Emotions are high. And everybody is prideful. So what happens? We shut the door, turn off the lights and go to bed.

Ephesians 4:26 says

Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger

So, I guess that means we have to quit doing that, be mature and [gulp] apologize? Even if we aren’t in the wrong? I picked up a bit of wisdom when I got married. My wife and I decided to never go to bed angry. If one of us was angry, we could be angry, no problem. But when its time for bed, it HAS to be talked about. Not a shouting match… talked about.

What’s also mentioned after the aforementioned scripture is “do not give a foothold to the enemy.”. Wow… So sitting in angry and sleeping on it can cause you to open a door for the enemy to come in? I wonder what his attack’ll be? Maybe’ll he’ll help magnify your thoughts… expand on your hurts… really make you feel like the victim. So that your anger turns into hatred. Hatred into unforgiveness… and at THAT moment, he’s got you. Why? Unforgiveness is deadly. [Read my blog on Unforgiveness]

I also learned that in the heat of the moment, LOTS can be said and said in such a way that feelings are truly hurt. Later on, you remember that your saved [lol] and you go to apologize. But when you’ve said very hurtful things just because you were angry, you’re trying to do something that’s about as great as putting a band-aid on a shotgun wound. The Bible tells us that “The power of life and death are in our tongue”… or the Message Bible’s version says “Words give life, words give death. You choose.” God has given us complete control to make the decision on how we speak to people.

Seriously, what’s wrong with losing the argument? Maybe your pride’ll take a hit. Who needs pride anyway? It causes a mountain of issues!

Maturity is such a wonderful thing. It gives history to your through processes and shows you how far you’ve come from who you used to be. One example of that is from James 1:19-20:

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

So for me, the guy that use to blurt out all kinds of crazy things because I was angry has died. Don’t get me wrong, even in all my “saved-ness”, I still get pretty mad. It’s easiest to get mad with family, please remember that.

But the wisdom of God says that “For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” in James 1:20. So you may not know who you’re talking to when your angry OR may not know who is watching you. But if you are parading around in anger and you’ve told everybody with ears that you’re a Christian, these are the moments they are watching from near and far. How will you respond?

What Seeds Produce…

What Seeds Produce…

Every tree in the world began with a seed that was planted in an environment that encouraged & nourished its growth. It’s crazy to imagine how some of the world’s largest and record breaking trees began as a seed that was smaller than a pencil’s eraser.

This process of growth can be related to so many areas of our lives. Everything that has room in our lives started as seeds. Diabetes? The seed is unhealthy eating. AIDS? The seed is sex. I could go on and on but you get the idea.

So what kind of seed is unforgiveness? Unforgiveness is a special seed, unlike many. Unforgiveness needs and breeds off other seeds to grow and when they reach their full potential, they become the biggest hedge or bush you’ve ever seen.

Unforgiveness really needs 2 key seeds to begin its growth: Offense & Compassion. Let’s start with offense. Think back to the last time someone offended you. (Literally, think about it.) Now, remember how that felt? Oddly enough, lots of people become offended and instead of dealing with the person who offended them, they swallow it and decide to brush it off. Let me give you an example: You’ve been faithful to your place of employment for x-amount of years. Everybody in your office knows that when the higher seat becomes available, it’s all yours. However, your boss decided to invest in someone other than you, for unnamed reasons. Are you going to walk up to your boss give him a piece of your offended mind?… or will you do like most and be offended in private?

We’ve established your offense and when you feel so completely alone in it, here comes compassion to keep you company. Compassion is that friend you hold dear to you that says “What’s wrong?” As you begin to spill your feelings on the passed over promotion, your friend responds, “You too? That happened to me last year! I could not believe it!” Now, you have a friend that can share in your misery and validates your emotions. It’s easy to feel like you might be overblowing things when you’re the only one considering that. But when you have people who can relate to what is going on with you, it makes it so much easier to vent to each other about it. There is nothing wrong with that. But what generally happens is that offense and compassion vent back and forth and the end result: we agree.

So now, instead of forgiving your boss for looking you over, you’ve put it on the back burner because Compassion said “we just have to move forward and not let it bother us”. Which is true, BUT you never dealt with being offended.

This is the ROOT of unforgiveness. When you can get with someone who shares your suffering and you two go back and forth until you feel better about it, never addressing the offendee!
A few years ago, I was watching a movie called “Shooter”. After being set up by an unnamed division of the government, the main character was on the run. He had been accused of attempting to kill the president of the USA. In his running, he met a few people that actually helped him prove his innocence. During his journey, he met a war expert in a rural area (the country, lol). The main character asked the old man who could have pulled off such a scheme. This was his response (view it from 2:30 ):

“There was one guy. A ruthless son of a [expletive]. Most boys shoot to kill, he’d shoot to wound; wait til his friends come to help; killed them too; turned 1 target into 4. Men, women, children, killed them by the hundreds. The other side (US Government) wanted him, bad. Finally narrowed him down to a 6 store abandoned building. They quit the subtle tactics. They called in an artillery strike; leveled a square block; brought the building down on his [expletive]. Some say he crawled out of there…”

The emphasis here is on how this character turned 1 target into 4! He knew the group of individuals cared about each other and would be beyond willing to come and help them out… sounds a bit like COMPASSION.

To make it relatable, let’s say you’ve been dating a girl (or boy) for a while now and you accidentally forgot you guys’ anniversary. Your girlfriend gets on the phone with her best friend and tells her how upset she is that you forgot. Now, the best friend has an issue with you too because you hurt her friend! Offense & Compassion are best friends!

Now, what does GOD say about this? Mark 11:22-25 says,

22 “Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. 23 “Truly[a] I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. 25 And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Wait. So we’re supposed to be able to speak to mountains and they move by faith? We’re supposed to be able to ask for anything in Jesus’ name and receive it by faith? But the kicker comes in verse 25:

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins!

But, how many times must we forgive someone for the same offense… or basically always wronging us? Matthew 18:21-22 says

“21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.

As members of the body of Christ, we MUST be willing to forgive and actually go through with it, regardless of the offense. We cannot allow ourselves to sit back and fall victim to this very classic trick of the enemy. Take a minute now to seek God and confess to Him that you officially forgive every single person, group, or organization that has wronged you and you never forgave them. Be confident that God remembers exactly what you’re talking about. Simply because He won’t forgive you unless you have forgiven them. The only thing that can keep your prayers for forgiveness bound is having unforgiveness present in your heart. Yes, that’s right. You can pray for forgiveness from God for all the dirty & grime your life has produced and not be heard because you haven’t released someone from your unforgiving grasp. Example? Matthew 6:14-15 says

“14 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Everyone complains about this because no one seems to understand WHY we must forgive people when they are clearly wrong! I’ll leave you with this…

Leave the toilet seat up!

Boldness in the midst of unbelief

It’s a shame that there are so many politically correct Christians. Political correctness is the idea that the things that come out of our mouths should not offend anyone. In this way, nobody is ever offended. That’s not the world I live in. When I turn on the TV, I see shows that give you disclaimers about the content before you watch it. Also, have you ever watched late shows like Leno and Letterman? They don’t care if your offended or not. Or maybe you’ve heard of MadTv.. they REALLY don’t care.

So why should I have to be so quiet about my faith? Why should you?

I have worked in the childcare field for about 7 years now. During my journey, I’ve come in contact with many different types of women. Women dominate this field traditionally and it holds true today. At my particular place of employment, I have about 30 coworkers who are women and one other guy. The staff all share 2 bathrooms. So, one day, after my lunch break, I dropped by the bathroom en route to my classroom. A line formed while I was in the bathroom. Once I came out, I held the door for the next coworker.

I bumped into her a few hours later and she got on me because I “need to recognize that I work with a bunch of women and I can’t leave the toilet seat up!” I was immediately inspired. Why can’t women leave the seat up for us? Or better yet, why don’t women look behind them before they sit down? (Women, stop giving me that look, lol.)

It’s a really “stupid” idea to leave the seat up in the midst of an environment FULL of women. Women don’t want to sit down with the assurance of a toilet seat, only to fall in and get soaking wet. In the same, we as Christians cannot afford to be afraid of allowing someone to be soaked with the Word we carry in our hearts.

The best part is this: No matter how many situations we miss to share the gospel & love of Jesus Christ, God still wants us!

Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place for everything. Wisdom and discernment are required to to effectively share the good news.

What’s my point? This world will offend you. Everything that you stand for, as a Christian, is against the stance of this world. So are you going to be bold enough to share the good news of Jesus Christ? Or are you going to let all these women make you leave the toilet seat down?

The Devil made me do it!

The spirit of God has n unmatched presence that cannot be reproduced by man. Having that as one of His divine characteristics is just one of the reasons why He’s worthy of our praise. God is omnipresent.

Very often in life, we fall victim to temptations. Let’s be clear, not all temptations are physical. When you have decided against a certain thing because it is against the will or Word of God, the entertaining thought of doing it again is the presence of temptation.  As belivers, we cannot afford to place ourselves in situations that stregnths the air-deprived stench of sin.

As a child, I had a terrible time dealing with lying. Not because I didn’t want to get in trouble (not all the time, lol) but because I didn’t want to let people down who expected my decisions to be better.  Once, my parents left me home alone and I immediately assumed the role of “an adult” in my mind. I knew they didn’t want me eating Oreo’s in the den, but so what? I was home alone. So after I poured my milk and got my cookies, I turned out the light and it was pitch black in the house. I turned the corner and slammed into a wall. I was actually embarrassed since we had been living there so long. So, I responded by writing

I hate this wall

as small as I could, in pencil.  My Mom got home & noticed it almost immediately!

I straight lied about it. Even though my sister wasn’t tall enough to reach that spot and it wasnt there when they left.

So easily, we fall victim to pointless sins. Instead of accepting responsibility for our role in the failure, we shift the blame and start praying that God would rebuke satan on our behalf. I mean, let’s face it, satan knows what tempts us to do his will. He’d be a terrible demon without that kind of knowledge and planning. But when are we going to get past that?

When are we going to realize that we WILL go through somethings, its gonna happen. We can waste time pointing fingers or we can get on our knees.

Before every moment of would be sin or failure, you have a moment to breath. In that moment, you must decide if you are going to accept God’s provided way out (whatever that may be) or are you going to try to fend for yourself?

Lastly, satan is full of pride. He believes he can steer this entire world into hell. Do we really need to give him any more ammo? All satan has is a suggestion. It’s up to you to entertain it. So the next time you start to go through trials and tribulations, start to praise God, right where you stand. You will confuse the enemy! But stop yourself short of saying “This is Satan’s fault.” or worse, “The devil made me do it.”

Overnight Millionaire

Life after our wedding was shaping up to be great! I moved to a city about 40 minutes from my “College Town” to be with my wife. We got a nice deal on a townhouse and all was well! I got a new job as a Benefit Representative (Call Center, ugh, lol) and my wife had a great paying position as an Office Manager.

About 3 months after our wedding, I was called in the office for my review and to discuss my new pay rate! A month before that, I had been warned about not keeping accurate files when clients called in to request information and help. Personally, I thought I did a pretty good job. So when I arrived on this day to work, I noticed that my files were out of order and messy. Basically, someone had taken files that had already been scanned for accuracy and rescanned them.

I got nice and comfortable in the office and my manager walked in and said, “I looked back of your files a few days ago and I realized that you still have not shown the consistant growth that we talked about. Unfortunately, I’m going to have to let you go. Wow! My introduction into that meeting was warm and inviting. Once I thanked them for the opportunity and moved back toward my desk, the mood of the employees changed. It felt like all bout one or two of the employees knew I was being fired.

After being deceived like that, a natural reaction would be anger. However, I felt the peace of God fall on my heart. All was well until I got home and broke the news to my wife… on my daughter’s birthday.

After making the decision to break our lease and move in with her parents (my pride was completely disassembled) we rode the last few weeks out of our soon-to-be-broken lease. I was down to 15 dollars and I needed gas and I was hungry. Thankfully, the kids had all they needed.

I stopped at a gas station near our house and decided to put $12 on gas and spend the final three on some kind of snack for myself. I walked in and looked around the large store, not really knowing what it was that i wanted. I looked up and realized I was in front of the Lottery Station. Upon closer inspection, I saw the numbers left on the counter from someone’s fortune cookie. The fortune cookie had 5 numbers on the back. I decided to accept this as a sign and I grabbed a pencil and started to copy the numbers. When I got to the 5th number, I realized that there were 6 numbers to be filled in. I had no idea what number to choose and since I realized that 5 minutes has passed and I was still standing there… I looked up at the ceiling and said to God,

“You know what God, I want to earn my millions.”

I got home that Saturday evening and settled in front of the Tv. Seemingly, I never caught the news but today, I did. I remembered the numbers I was going to play and 5 of those numbers were right. If I had submitted that ticket, I could’ve turned $1 into roughly $17,780.

So, a little while later, I started polling people on their views of the lottery, trying to gain some kind of Godly insight into the subject. That was my 1st mistake: Asking people of their opinions of God’s principles. I came across a scripture from Proverbs. It read:

Wealth gained hastily will dwindle,
but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.

That hit me like a ton of bricks. Even if I received that 18 thousand bucks, it would’ve poured through my hands like water in a fishing net. The world has attached such an obsession to fame, fortune, and wealth that people has latched on to the bait. If I (although unknowingly) turned down 18 thousand dollars because I wanted to earn it with God’s help, shouldn’t that be an indication that I am destine for success.

I’ve also learned that success isn’t measure by money. But by Godly character, determination, and spiritual growth. With these three things at the basis of your desire to mature your business or anything in life, you cannot go wrong. By being who you’ve been called to be in Christ, focusing and ordering your priorities to align with His will you are already on your way – And season that dish with the growth of your Spirit, success will become a rung on the ladder in comparison to your value in Jesus Christ.

I challenge you today to re-align your priorities. Don’t focus so much on money, but really lay out what’s most important. Make a plan for what’s more important, and seek God. Don’t be shocked if he shreds your plan and gives you another… at least you know His will is far different from yours, and your in it.

The Limelight

In today’s world, many people are infatuated with entertainment. Many of today’s jobs, careers, and establishments have been birthed from the platform of entertainment. Entertainment, in US culture, has many different genres. For example, the NBA, NFL, Rappers, Singers, Actors, Actresses, Authors, and so on and so forth. These jobs were created by the demand of society and have thrived for the same reason. While reading the book “Doing Business by the Good Book”, I stumbled upon this phrase: “As a business owner, I have an obligation to lead by example. This puts me in the limelight: my actions are observed…”. What did he mean by “limelight”? this simple word has been overly used for years to describe the position of being in the eye of the public.

When people went to see Broadway shows & the stage was full or actors and dancers, the writer needed a way to deter your attention from what was going on, to the most important person… the main character. Thus the spotlight was born. A simple but bright light that casted itself in the spage of a circle that demands the attention of every person in the room. If the entire room was dark, the spotlight was sure to illuminate all of the area it touched.

Often times, we are reminded by the media of the power that comes with the spotlight. The demand for consistency in regards to entertaining us. It can be a very good spot but can also be a very bad spot. The rise of entertainers is met with personal opinion, media scrutiny and a host of other things.

Green is most commonly related to jealousy or envy. So at some point, the spotlight was handed over to the limelight. After replaying the line from the book over and over again, I was reminded of a line from the popular, late 90’s rap song by Christopher Wallace aka Notorious BIG. From the song, “Juicy”, Biggie says “Not I’m in the limelight cuz I rhyme tight”. A confirmation of what I previously mentioned. By the time Tupac & Biggie were on top of the rap world, there was room for the enemy to slide in jealousy, envy, and greed. These rappers were so large that they were hated by an entire United States Coast! But why? The limelight had reared its ugly head. These lights created a lime-tinted separation from darkness.

Simply put, the world has created a realm to show you what success looks like. They have placed height under talent & power to elevate people who can handle it above the rest.

-Satan was very familiar with music before he was kicked out of Heaven.
-Music is one of the more powerful channels of influences known to man.

So, if the enemy can create an atmosphere that people are “dying” to claw into, eventually, the limelight gives an appearance that it can be shared. Entertainers start to do community service messages with Youth to tell them “You can do this too”… The end result is a distraction. A distraction laced with temptation is a recipe for disaster.

It’s not God’s intention for us to be broke without a dollar to our name. We are to be successful, but in the right way, His way. We have to get the word out to our Youth that it is time to stop anchoring success by the examples of the world. We have to remind them that they are indeed in this world, but not of it. We have to teach them that the Love of Money is the root of all evil. “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls.

The things of this world will pass away, as believers, we have to make sure that we are different and not willing to conform to the ways and patterns of this world.

Be who God’s called you to be, not the next American IDOL.

…I can’t let that happen…

Once the shock & awe came out about a certain man of God in Atlanta, my mind took me back to a preached message by a prophet.  He told us about this man of God that would eventually fall because of his intentioned & premeditated (I’m paraphrasing) sin.  The prophet said that God was about to take his hand off him.  Then he said something that changed my entire life… “God is the only boss that can fire you & let you keep working…”  I sat and pondered on that as the prophet began to become very emotional.

I wondered how that’s possible.  To be fired and keep working.  Once I realized that I had seen the message come to pass, that man of God had spent more than a year since I heard that message preaching the Word of God.  God had allowed him to continue to preach, cast demons out, and lift the heads of his congregation.  God really allowed this man the ample space to clean his private life up.

Now, this really hit home for me.  Despite the Man of God I aspire to be, I have my hang ups.  But I too, pondering on entering in the same sinful trap, over and over again… Now, I realized that I’m tired of it.  I want to change and move past this part of my life.  The sin creeps in, I block it… with a weak attempt.  Minutes later, I’m in.  I walk downstairs to get a drink and I hear a Pastor on TV say “God is about to be done with you…” Hit me like a TON of bricks.  The funny thing was… the Pastor didn’t even mean it in the context I took it in, but God said he would provide a way out for you when temptation arises.  God is so faithful to His word.

God, I lay my burdens and sinful nature down at your feet.  I do NOT desire to have these things tormenting me any longer.  I am YOUR child and I desire… no, I won’t stop praising you until… well, never.

If there be anything in your life that God is not pleased with, release it now.  Why spend a lifetime of Sunday’s and Mid-Week Services, proclaiming to know a man that has decided to pass your gift/anointing to someone else?  Why take every attempt to stay to someone, “Do you know Jesus?”… only to realize, at the end of time, that God has NOT been pleased with your life and says, “Depart from me, I know you not.”…  Cannot happen to me.

Will not.