"The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in
fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption
to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
So, I was thinking last Friday night about how I feel like I'm in a season of adoption. Here's the story.
I started this fast from women on October 21st, 2011. I remember sharing this to people and the funny looks I would get. Like, how do you fast women? Haha. At the time, I didn't know how either. I just knew something had to change. I had been pursuing women since I was around 9, and never relented. I also had this thirst for women, this great desire for intimacy with the opposite sex. It fueled bad decisions, regrets, long term memories, and of course heartache. So there I stood, sometime in October, frustrated with a certain situation and like we always do, try to blame God for our mess. And this whisper spoke to me.
GET RID OF THEM.
Well God, I can't eliminate all the girls in the world. That's a silly idea.
GET RID OF THEM FROM YOUR HEART.
Interesting. So, as I stated earlier, had no idea how that looked. I just obeyed and attempted it. I had to stop talking to a few girls that already had my heart at the time, in hopes of I would turn that pursuit of them into feet geared to pursuing God. And I will confess that just like any other fast, the first few weeks were difficult. I remember walking around campus and every girl that made eye contact with me caused my heart to skip beats.
Pathetic? Yeah I know. But there, I found the issue.
It seemed to me that I valued the love of a woman over the love of God. So God began to show me how I was longing for this earthly love above His. This special connection that you can share with a woman, emotionally, physically, and the newest joy, spiritually---I was longing for it. I'd lay awake on those sleepless nights and imagine being able to share a bed with a woman I love, able to have something to hold at night, having someone to share memories with, build a family with, and couldn't wait for the day for that to happen.
Guys aren't that emotional right? Lol. I'll just say this. It cracks me up that men think that we're not governed by emotions sometimes. God exposed to me that my mad dash for women was simply my desire to be loved. I'd say that's pretty emotional. #boom . Moving on.
So as Jesus is exposing to me all of this junk that's been in my heart for years, He also tosses me a shovel and suggests we get it out. The first thing He showed me was that I was a son. A son of a Holy God. That I've been made new, I have a new home, new inheritance, new beginning. And as the months progressed, things slowly but surely got better. Yes, it was hard. I'm a terrible motivational speaker because I will not say it's been cake and ice cream, or all you have to do is live, laugh, and love, or God and I have been going out on dates and no, none of that. It took me fearfully and painfully but willingly submitting to God. And then this happened.
So, imagine this newly adopted son. The life he had before he was adopted was, sad to say, was terrible. But at the time, he didn't know any better, so he said things to himself like, "Well, it could always be worst." So here's the newly adopted son in this new home, with new rules. He remembered he used to have "freedom" in the orphanage where he was dying and more often miserable, but now he had to submit to his new Father in order to dwell in His house. But, the son noticed something. In the orphanage, there were times when he would go hungry. But in this new house, he gets three meals a day, and the fridge is ALWAYS full. In the orphanage, there were times when he couldn't take a shower everyday to be cleansed. But in this new house, he can shower everyday. He sometimes splurges and takes two or three just because he can. In the orphanage, he remembers the lonely nights he had to fall asleep by himself, humming some song he heard on the radio earlier in the day. But in this new house, his new Father tucks him in at night, reads him a bedtime story, and stays there until he falls asleep.
That newly adopted son is me. My poor Dad, (lol), He's so patient with me. I had gotten so used to the loneliness that I forgot that He's always there. I had gotten so used to being hungry that I forgot there's food in the fridge. And again, poor Dad, I forgot that I didn't have to walk around with this terrible stench but that I could be cleansed daily. He had and still has to constantly remind me.
"Son, you know you can come shower, anytime right?" Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
"Son, you know you can come eat, anytime right?" "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty John 6:35
"Son, you do know you can come talk, anytime?" Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
I am a son. I have a new Dad. A new home. Yeah, it'll take me awhile to get used to the new perks I have available since I've arrived, but the most important thing is......
I am home.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The Self Help Bible (NKJV)
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
I have much praise to give to my brother Jonathan Brown and his sharpening of me. And this blog entry and many others have been a result of our friendship, so let's work.
The title of this blog is The Self Help Bible. As usual, I try to theme the title with a hint of sarcasm, hopefully to draw you into reading it. So welcome. Now, as with everything, I'm here for your joy. I wish I knew how to blog all the happy things. Like I'm sure you guys would love to know how I haven't jogged in a week due to laziness or how I cut my leg on a car door yesterday, but, I didn't create this blog for you to be admired of me and my inabilities. I desperately want you to be admired with Christ. All of my motivation for these blogs is birthed out of that key element, be admired with Christ. And speaking of happy things, let's get into the subject.
So, I've slowly been noticing that a lot of pastors or speakers are very happy. Like very happy in their teaching. Now please don't misunderstand me, I'm all about motivating people and getting to them emotionally, all for that. But what I have the burden now is that I feel that a lot of us are Feel Good Christians------
Yeah, that pause was intentional.
We're Feel Good Christians. And it's not our fault. We've been pumped this message or this gospel weekly of how much God loves you and there's grace and forgiveness and He's desperate for you. All biblical trues. All exactly correct. But what I think has happened is that a cultural perspective of all of these words have gotten us into only being consumers of God. That's honestly why I love my church. Pastor Chris Hodges at Church of the Highlands encourages people almost every week to join the Dream Team and begin serving in the church. That helps change that perspective in a physical way. But perhaps even more important than that, we still have to stop being consumers of God in our thinking as well. Here's the thing.
It's been presented to us that the bible is a self help book. Hey, dealing with hopelessness, Jeremiah 29:11. Dealing with depression and loneliness, John 3:16. Dealing with hard trials, Romans 5:3.
The Self Help Bible.
And quotes like "Let go and let God" and "Only God can judge me" and "Name it and claim it" and "Trust in the Lord He will make a way" and "This too shall pass" and "I'm too blessed to stress" and "I'm blessed and highly favored" and so many more have become widely popular among us modern day Christians. Almost common speech among the Bible Belt talkers. Now again, all are in someway correct, so that's not the issue.
But have we gotten more focused on making our lives better here than we have making our eternity better?
I mean, nowadays the world and the church are preaching the same message! Hey, join us and you'll be successful and happy. And I have yet to see this in scripture. Now what I have seen in scripture is that Christians will face persecution because of their faith. And some of us can't even handle missing a bus or making a C on a test or stubbing a toe and we're cursing the devil for a bad day. Woe to me, my life is in shambles. Newsflash, Christ tells us to focus on heavenly things in Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Here's the danger of this feel good mentality. A. It creates bitter people towards God, and want to know why? Because life hits these people in an unexpected way and they were told that God is a good and loving God. They were never explained the weight of their sin and the curse on the Earth and the effects of it, no, they were told that God will spoil you and be like your grandpa and slip you cookies when your mom isn't looking. What are we doing? What are we communicating? What do you tell people when they lose a parent "prematurely"? What do you tell parents who lose children? What do you tell a wife who's loving husband wants a divorce? What do you tell a girl who's boyfriend just dumped her? What do you tell victims of self trafficking? What do you tell these people? The concordance doesn't say anything!? Look in James? No, nothing there. What if there is no bible verse to make them feel better?
But what there is----there is a Savior to overwhelming comfort them. Because here is where we'll settle and just tell them something like, "Just trust in the Lord." I remember going through a season in my life and I was venting to a friend and she started to ramble off all of these verses to me about trust in God and yada yada and I was like, "Shut up, I've used those already. I know these verses."
So what happened?
I was a feel good Christian. The verses were like temporary hits of satisfaction. My nicotine patch for my urgent craving for my situation to change. I'd quote them or Tweet them on Monday and by Wednesday I was back feeling the SAME way I was. Or you'll have the Christian girls saying, Lord, I've been delighting in You and You said you'd give me the desires of my heart! And God is saying, you've only been delighting in Me for a month.
Ok, let me stop with the analogies. Here's the point. If we're not pointing people to Jesus instead of the encouraging words He says, then we're selling people short. Hey, I can't answer any of those questions, but I can say is that we should set our hearts on things above because what happens on this Earth really doesn't matter that much. When I arrived to this eternal perspective on life and this eternal quest of making sure I'm chilling with God come Judgement Day, this life has started to just pass me by. This life tends to throw its darts and daggers at me and I end up talking like Paul when he says, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. Philippians 1:21-23
Really Paul? I mean really? You've stepped off the deep end huh? Had a little too much to drink huh Paul?
No, Paul got it. Paul had something that a lot of us know nothing about. Ok, I won't say that. We MAY know a little bit about it. Paul had joy. And a serious abundance of it. Joy is hard to spot when things are going well, because you're happy. Let me say it this way, the joy of the Lord is this deep delight in Him, not in just His words, but in Him. You can't get there reading the bible like it's a self help book. Everything in the Bible isn't applicable or even possible without a relationship with Him.
So to get people truly healed, let's shoot Jesus straight. Not His comforting words to make the emotions go wild, but let's shoot them Jesus. Let's present Him so they know who said the words. Let's present Him so they encounter Him and they too can have this joy that we speak of. They deserve that. People deserve to know the truth, and the truth is, this life ends. So that having a better life in 60 days, yeah, that will only last a little while. So focus on eternity. And once your perspective is there, your life will naturally get better, as you await the uniting of you and your Father in Heaven.
Let's step away from being Feel Good Christians and work our way into being true followers of Christ, which makes it sound like I'm implying that they're two different things. :)
I AM.
Read this to understand that inside joke. Christian or Follower of Jesus.
I have much praise to give to my brother Jonathan Brown and his sharpening of me. And this blog entry and many others have been a result of our friendship, so let's work.
The title of this blog is The Self Help Bible. As usual, I try to theme the title with a hint of sarcasm, hopefully to draw you into reading it. So welcome. Now, as with everything, I'm here for your joy. I wish I knew how to blog all the happy things. Like I'm sure you guys would love to know how I haven't jogged in a week due to laziness or how I cut my leg on a car door yesterday, but, I didn't create this blog for you to be admired of me and my inabilities. I desperately want you to be admired with Christ. All of my motivation for these blogs is birthed out of that key element, be admired with Christ. And speaking of happy things, let's get into the subject.
So, I've slowly been noticing that a lot of pastors or speakers are very happy. Like very happy in their teaching. Now please don't misunderstand me, I'm all about motivating people and getting to them emotionally, all for that. But what I have the burden now is that I feel that a lot of us are Feel Good Christians------
Yeah, that pause was intentional.
We're Feel Good Christians. And it's not our fault. We've been pumped this message or this gospel weekly of how much God loves you and there's grace and forgiveness and He's desperate for you. All biblical trues. All exactly correct. But what I think has happened is that a cultural perspective of all of these words have gotten us into only being consumers of God. That's honestly why I love my church. Pastor Chris Hodges at Church of the Highlands encourages people almost every week to join the Dream Team and begin serving in the church. That helps change that perspective in a physical way. But perhaps even more important than that, we still have to stop being consumers of God in our thinking as well. Here's the thing.
It's been presented to us that the bible is a self help book. Hey, dealing with hopelessness, Jeremiah 29:11. Dealing with depression and loneliness, John 3:16. Dealing with hard trials, Romans 5:3.
The Self Help Bible.
And quotes like "Let go and let God" and "Only God can judge me" and "Name it and claim it" and "Trust in the Lord He will make a way" and "This too shall pass" and "I'm too blessed to stress" and "I'm blessed and highly favored" and so many more have become widely popular among us modern day Christians. Almost common speech among the Bible Belt talkers. Now again, all are in someway correct, so that's not the issue.
But have we gotten more focused on making our lives better here than we have making our eternity better?
I mean, nowadays the world and the church are preaching the same message! Hey, join us and you'll be successful and happy. And I have yet to see this in scripture. Now what I have seen in scripture is that Christians will face persecution because of their faith. And some of us can't even handle missing a bus or making a C on a test or stubbing a toe and we're cursing the devil for a bad day. Woe to me, my life is in shambles. Newsflash, Christ tells us to focus on heavenly things in Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Here's the danger of this feel good mentality. A. It creates bitter people towards God, and want to know why? Because life hits these people in an unexpected way and they were told that God is a good and loving God. They were never explained the weight of their sin and the curse on the Earth and the effects of it, no, they were told that God will spoil you and be like your grandpa and slip you cookies when your mom isn't looking. What are we doing? What are we communicating? What do you tell people when they lose a parent "prematurely"? What do you tell parents who lose children? What do you tell a wife who's loving husband wants a divorce? What do you tell a girl who's boyfriend just dumped her? What do you tell victims of self trafficking? What do you tell these people? The concordance doesn't say anything!? Look in James? No, nothing there. What if there is no bible verse to make them feel better?
But what there is----there is a Savior to overwhelming comfort them. Because here is where we'll settle and just tell them something like, "Just trust in the Lord." I remember going through a season in my life and I was venting to a friend and she started to ramble off all of these verses to me about trust in God and yada yada and I was like, "Shut up, I've used those already. I know these verses."
So what happened?
I was a feel good Christian. The verses were like temporary hits of satisfaction. My nicotine patch for my urgent craving for my situation to change. I'd quote them or Tweet them on Monday and by Wednesday I was back feeling the SAME way I was. Or you'll have the Christian girls saying, Lord, I've been delighting in You and You said you'd give me the desires of my heart! And God is saying, you've only been delighting in Me for a month.
Ok, let me stop with the analogies. Here's the point. If we're not pointing people to Jesus instead of the encouraging words He says, then we're selling people short. Hey, I can't answer any of those questions, but I can say is that we should set our hearts on things above because what happens on this Earth really doesn't matter that much. When I arrived to this eternal perspective on life and this eternal quest of making sure I'm chilling with God come Judgement Day, this life has started to just pass me by. This life tends to throw its darts and daggers at me and I end up talking like Paul when he says, For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. Philippians 1:21-23
Really Paul? I mean really? You've stepped off the deep end huh? Had a little too much to drink huh Paul?
No, Paul got it. Paul had something that a lot of us know nothing about. Ok, I won't say that. We MAY know a little bit about it. Paul had joy. And a serious abundance of it. Joy is hard to spot when things are going well, because you're happy. Let me say it this way, the joy of the Lord is this deep delight in Him, not in just His words, but in Him. You can't get there reading the bible like it's a self help book. Everything in the Bible isn't applicable or even possible without a relationship with Him.
So to get people truly healed, let's shoot Jesus straight. Not His comforting words to make the emotions go wild, but let's shoot them Jesus. Let's present Him so they know who said the words. Let's present Him so they encounter Him and they too can have this joy that we speak of. They deserve that. People deserve to know the truth, and the truth is, this life ends. So that having a better life in 60 days, yeah, that will only last a little while. So focus on eternity. And once your perspective is there, your life will naturally get better, as you await the uniting of you and your Father in Heaven.
Let's step away from being Feel Good Christians and work our way into being true followers of Christ, which makes it sound like I'm implying that they're two different things. :)
I AM.
Read this to understand that inside joke. Christian or Follower of Jesus.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
A Woman's Dilemma
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
We're stepping into the Garden of Eden again. And I love the opening scene in the Bible, it's so rich in drama and tragedy and humor and explanations of why we act the way we act. So right after Adam and Eve sin, and God is dishing out their punishments. To the woman He says this,
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”Genesis 3:16
Now, I remember the first time I read that, I chuckled and said oh, this is why women are ALWAYS thinking about getting married one day. But, further study exposed a hidden truth in this text, or a hidden translation. This term, which is actually often debated "desire for your husband" actually means "dominate or rule" over your husband. This text is embarrassing for some women because they don't like to think that part of their design is this. Of course, completely understandable. Who would want to know that women have a natural tendency to war against men. Hmmm..is that apparent in the 21st century? Let's investigate.
Maybe it can be seen in the feminist movement? When women wanted to be treated as equals. Now, rightfully so, you all have an argument. Men have been abusive and inconsiderate and disrespectful for years, this I know, I'm not letting us off the hook---- but it seems to me instead of allowing God to handle us, you all took it upon yourselves. "We want to be equals". Which actually, thinking as I type this sentence, this may have actually been a cry for ,"We just want to be appreciated." Hmmm..I'm going to chew on that one for later.
Anyways, I've also had the privilege of being around a lot of strong independent women growing up. I've experienced first hand a woman HAVING to play both roles in the household. And again, rightfully so, she had no choice in the matter because of men. But what has happened and my reasons for this blog is that I've started to see women take pride in this brokenness. It's like they have actually taken on the male role in the household in seeking to find value in their ability to lead or their accomplishments. And it's carried over into raising up daughters to do the same thing. And I continue to watch women try to flex their strength and power by how they behave, whether it's afraid to be vulnerable or heavy sarcasm, bad attitudes, or constantly reminding people how strong and independent they are--which are all responses of brokenness.
And it breaks my heart, honestly, to even watch it. And I continue to play it over in my mind, why do women like to date bad boys. And my mom has always told me that women like projects. And I think she had something there. They like to get a guy and change him to fit their ideal. Perhaps is that Genesis 3:16 working itself out? Maybe I can get this guy and mold and shape him into the man I, I mean God, is calling for him to be. Right ladies? No, you're not actually thinking this.
But it's how you're acting.
Oh, but the typical excuses I get. "There just aren't any good men anymore." "He's a nice guy, he just needs to be pushed." "He's only that way around his friends." "Maybe I can draw him to loving God." So what happens, you again take matters into your own hands again and jump into a relationship with a guy you have already admitted you're unequally yoked with.
Ladies, here's a hint. You actually don't want a man you have motivate to do anything this important. And, it makes me laugh because you think this works.
"Let me tell men to man up and lead my family." "Let me tell men to man up and pursue women." "Let me tell men to be better men." "Let me tell men to honor and protect me."
If you're having to do this, I'm sorry. But it's not a good thing. You don't want a guy that you have to spark a fire under for him to do anything this important for you. There's a hidden issue that's there, and it can be missed if you, we, or whoever just focuses on what he's NOT doing.
You never want to devalue a man.
And that's what you're doing when you do that. You're basically telling him, SINCE YOU'RE NOT A MAN, SINCE YOU'RE NOT MAN ENOUGH, A WOMAN HAS TO COME IN HERE AND KICK YOU IN YOUR BUTT AND FIRE YOU UP. And men's secret desire is that we want to be valued. Read the brother of this article, The Male Dilemma, for more about that. But instead of insulting---or as you call it, encouragement, throw some praise his way. Hey, again, if our desire is to be valued, then we will continue to do it OR do more to get that value up and more praise. We're men. We're the crazy species that plays golf one time and wants to go buy the best clubs we can find! We want to be valued and be the best at whatever it is. That's why we swap old football stories because that's when we were valued. That's why we do these things. Hey, calling us dogs isn't too far fetched if you ask me. If a dog wants to continue to get a treat, it'll continue to do what caused him to get that treat. ;)
That's a joke by the way. Don't be walking around petting every guy you see, that's not okay.
Now, here again is where the first part kicks in. I'm sure the 21st century new age woman is thinking, pshh, I don't want their heads to get big. I don't want to do that. So, you're rather rule over them and muscle them into behaving and devalue him and risk getting a guy that you have to remind that its your birthday and you want something nice. Or the guys you have to remind to send flowers just because. Or the guys you have to remind to love you unconditionally even when you're having a bad day and just want to be mean. (Oh, sorry, you all don't do that do you? ;) Hahaha) So, yeah, trust me on this one, you really don't want a guy like that. So if you're having to do any fixing up to get him to where you want him, just get ready to continue working until the day you two wed and die.
"Your desire will be for your husband."
Hmmm....interesting isn't it? Now, as your brother, shall I encourage? I suggest learning to love. Stop reading books about being the perfect wife and mother, no more Steve Harvey books, no more Twilight and Bachelor TV shows, and no more pinning your dream wedding on Pinterest--- all these things do to you is give you this dream of love and what love is. Did you not know that you are already dearly loved? You don't have to dream about it, you can experience it. So, just learn to love. Learn what your Savior has done for you. Experience it fully and truly. Because it is in HIM when you find the kind of man you deserve. And no, I'm not saying be the Christian girls that think wanting a husband is somehow showing God you're discontent with being single, all I'm saying is right now, learn to love. Experience love. Right now. And tomorrow too. Learn how to serve as the wife of Christ before ever being a wife. Learn how to nurture and show compassion before having children. All these are fruits of women who have learned how to love.And not the Lil Wayne version.
Again, did you not know that you are dearly loved?
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" Colossians 3:12
We're stepping into the Garden of Eden again. And I love the opening scene in the Bible, it's so rich in drama and tragedy and humor and explanations of why we act the way we act. So right after Adam and Eve sin, and God is dishing out their punishments. To the woman He says this,
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”Genesis 3:16
Now, I remember the first time I read that, I chuckled and said oh, this is why women are ALWAYS thinking about getting married one day. But, further study exposed a hidden truth in this text, or a hidden translation. This term, which is actually often debated "desire for your husband" actually means "dominate or rule" over your husband. This text is embarrassing for some women because they don't like to think that part of their design is this. Of course, completely understandable. Who would want to know that women have a natural tendency to war against men. Hmmm..is that apparent in the 21st century? Let's investigate.
Maybe it can be seen in the feminist movement? When women wanted to be treated as equals. Now, rightfully so, you all have an argument. Men have been abusive and inconsiderate and disrespectful for years, this I know, I'm not letting us off the hook---- but it seems to me instead of allowing God to handle us, you all took it upon yourselves. "We want to be equals". Which actually, thinking as I type this sentence, this may have actually been a cry for ,"We just want to be appreciated." Hmmm..I'm going to chew on that one for later.
Anyways, I've also had the privilege of being around a lot of strong independent women growing up. I've experienced first hand a woman HAVING to play both roles in the household. And again, rightfully so, she had no choice in the matter because of men. But what has happened and my reasons for this blog is that I've started to see women take pride in this brokenness. It's like they have actually taken on the male role in the household in seeking to find value in their ability to lead or their accomplishments. And it's carried over into raising up daughters to do the same thing. And I continue to watch women try to flex their strength and power by how they behave, whether it's afraid to be vulnerable or heavy sarcasm, bad attitudes, or constantly reminding people how strong and independent they are--which are all responses of brokenness.
And it breaks my heart, honestly, to even watch it. And I continue to play it over in my mind, why do women like to date bad boys. And my mom has always told me that women like projects. And I think she had something there. They like to get a guy and change him to fit their ideal. Perhaps is that Genesis 3:16 working itself out? Maybe I can get this guy and mold and shape him into the man I, I mean God, is calling for him to be. Right ladies? No, you're not actually thinking this.
But it's how you're acting.
Oh, but the typical excuses I get. "There just aren't any good men anymore." "He's a nice guy, he just needs to be pushed." "He's only that way around his friends." "Maybe I can draw him to loving God." So what happens, you again take matters into your own hands again and jump into a relationship with a guy you have already admitted you're unequally yoked with.
Ladies, here's a hint. You actually don't want a man you have motivate to do anything this important. And, it makes me laugh because you think this works.
"Let me tell men to man up and lead my family." "Let me tell men to man up and pursue women." "Let me tell men to be better men." "Let me tell men to honor and protect me."
If you're having to do this, I'm sorry. But it's not a good thing. You don't want a guy that you have to spark a fire under for him to do anything this important for you. There's a hidden issue that's there, and it can be missed if you, we, or whoever just focuses on what he's NOT doing.
You never want to devalue a man.
And that's what you're doing when you do that. You're basically telling him, SINCE YOU'RE NOT A MAN, SINCE YOU'RE NOT MAN ENOUGH, A WOMAN HAS TO COME IN HERE AND KICK YOU IN YOUR BUTT AND FIRE YOU UP. And men's secret desire is that we want to be valued. Read the brother of this article, The Male Dilemma, for more about that. But instead of insulting---or as you call it, encouragement, throw some praise his way. Hey, again, if our desire is to be valued, then we will continue to do it OR do more to get that value up and more praise. We're men. We're the crazy species that plays golf one time and wants to go buy the best clubs we can find! We want to be valued and be the best at whatever it is. That's why we swap old football stories because that's when we were valued. That's why we do these things. Hey, calling us dogs isn't too far fetched if you ask me. If a dog wants to continue to get a treat, it'll continue to do what caused him to get that treat. ;)
That's a joke by the way. Don't be walking around petting every guy you see, that's not okay.
Now, here again is where the first part kicks in. I'm sure the 21st century new age woman is thinking, pshh, I don't want their heads to get big. I don't want to do that. So, you're rather rule over them and muscle them into behaving and devalue him and risk getting a guy that you have to remind that its your birthday and you want something nice. Or the guys you have to remind to send flowers just because. Or the guys you have to remind to love you unconditionally even when you're having a bad day and just want to be mean. (Oh, sorry, you all don't do that do you? ;) Hahaha) So, yeah, trust me on this one, you really don't want a guy like that. So if you're having to do any fixing up to get him to where you want him, just get ready to continue working until the day you two wed and die.
"Your desire will be for your husband."
Hmmm....interesting isn't it? Now, as your brother, shall I encourage? I suggest learning to love. Stop reading books about being the perfect wife and mother, no more Steve Harvey books, no more Twilight and Bachelor TV shows, and no more pinning your dream wedding on Pinterest--- all these things do to you is give you this dream of love and what love is. Did you not know that you are already dearly loved? You don't have to dream about it, you can experience it. So, just learn to love. Learn what your Savior has done for you. Experience it fully and truly. Because it is in HIM when you find the kind of man you deserve. And no, I'm not saying be the Christian girls that think wanting a husband is somehow showing God you're discontent with being single, all I'm saying is right now, learn to love. Experience love. Right now. And tomorrow too. Learn how to serve as the wife of Christ before ever being a wife. Learn how to nurture and show compassion before having children. All these are fruits of women who have learned how to love.And not the Lil Wayne version.
Again, did you not know that you are dearly loved?
"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" Colossians 3:12
The Proof of Our Guilt
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
The title says it all right? I heard this idea in a message by one of my new favorite pastors Matt Chandler. How many of us ever think about Hell? "Yeah? Not where we're headed right? So why bother thinking about it."
Oh, because scripture tells us to. It tells us its real and people not knowing God will go there.
Pshh..come on Claude. Oh I know God. I love God.
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4
This is love for God: to obey his commands. 1 John 5:3
So? Still think you know and love God. See here's the thing. If we're not doctrinally understanding what it means to know God and to love God then we're missing out on the fullness of God, and could very well be headed to this place we try not to think about AND will argue that we're not going there. Here's the illustration.
Ever wonder why everybody in jail claims they're innocent? Or ever watched a trial and the convict is sitting in his chair with this head in his lap, waiting to hear the final verdict. And the judge slams down his gavel and screams out GUILTY AS CHARGED! Does the convict jump up with joy? Does he boast and brag? High five the judge?
Of course not. Just like the inmate and just like the convict, when we're feeling guilty, all we want is MERCY.
So, naturally...and of course...we're going to want to believe things like, "Well God is a loving God, He wouldn't send me to Hell." Or, "If He is a loving God, why would He create Hell?" Or my favorite that people say, "I feel like God loves me to much to send me to Hell."
This is only a result of our culture's lack of awareness of sin. "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God" Romans 11:22. Kindness of God, yeah, I can get that. Peace, joy, love, happiness, purpose, hope, yes. Well, the same mouth also said all those other things we want to ignore. And since our culture doesn't have an understanding of how doctrine explains sin and how God feels about it, we flaunt it. We'll tweet it, we'll blog it, we'll rap about it, we'll sing about it, we'll protest about it, we'll mock it, we'll write books about it, we'll go on Oprah and agree about it........
But we all desire heaven.
Why? What is heaven? Can we seriously think we can ignore God here AND ignore Him in His home? Hey God, nice crib, I'll just hang out on the porch.
That's like if I could, right now as you're reading this, reach through the computer and punch you in face, and then tweet I just did it, but oh, can you loan me $20, I need some gas.
I think our grasp of eternity is off, or we don't even have one. Imagine it for a second. And what cracks me up about us, we'll try to experience God in our fullness rather than in His fullness. We don't even know the people driving on the streets outside of our apartments or homes but we think we have the understanding of God.
I'm learning that we have to be careful with ministering to our generation. We're wired to think about ourselves first. We've even corrupted hearing Jesus loves you. Like, of course He does, I love me some me. Don't we say stuff like that? Or rather, we act like that.
Here's the wrap up.
Don't fret my dear, this story always end good, for the ones who take heed. Because it takes you truly understanding the wrath of God and the sin that's attached to your body right now to understand how much God loves you. You can't understand the weight of Christ's love on the cross without understanding the weight of God's anger with you for sinning.
And we're all operating in free will right now, aren't we? You do know free will will eventually end. We may have a choice now of what we do and where we go, but that choice ends on sentencing day. You're either in, or you're out. God doesn't want you out, and neither do I. This blog is for your joy, not your happiness.
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:9
The title says it all right? I heard this idea in a message by one of my new favorite pastors Matt Chandler. How many of us ever think about Hell? "Yeah? Not where we're headed right? So why bother thinking about it."
Oh, because scripture tells us to. It tells us its real and people not knowing God will go there.
Pshh..come on Claude. Oh I know God. I love God.
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2:4
This is love for God: to obey his commands. 1 John 5:3
So? Still think you know and love God. See here's the thing. If we're not doctrinally understanding what it means to know God and to love God then we're missing out on the fullness of God, and could very well be headed to this place we try not to think about AND will argue that we're not going there. Here's the illustration.
Ever wonder why everybody in jail claims they're innocent? Or ever watched a trial and the convict is sitting in his chair with this head in his lap, waiting to hear the final verdict. And the judge slams down his gavel and screams out GUILTY AS CHARGED! Does the convict jump up with joy? Does he boast and brag? High five the judge?
Of course not. Just like the inmate and just like the convict, when we're feeling guilty, all we want is MERCY.
So, naturally...and of course...we're going to want to believe things like, "Well God is a loving God, He wouldn't send me to Hell." Or, "If He is a loving God, why would He create Hell?" Or my favorite that people say, "I feel like God loves me to much to send me to Hell."
This is only a result of our culture's lack of awareness of sin. "Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God" Romans 11:22. Kindness of God, yeah, I can get that. Peace, joy, love, happiness, purpose, hope, yes. Well, the same mouth also said all those other things we want to ignore. And since our culture doesn't have an understanding of how doctrine explains sin and how God feels about it, we flaunt it. We'll tweet it, we'll blog it, we'll rap about it, we'll sing about it, we'll protest about it, we'll mock it, we'll write books about it, we'll go on Oprah and agree about it........
But we all desire heaven.
Why? What is heaven? Can we seriously think we can ignore God here AND ignore Him in His home? Hey God, nice crib, I'll just hang out on the porch.
That's like if I could, right now as you're reading this, reach through the computer and punch you in face, and then tweet I just did it, but oh, can you loan me $20, I need some gas.
I think our grasp of eternity is off, or we don't even have one. Imagine it for a second. And what cracks me up about us, we'll try to experience God in our fullness rather than in His fullness. We don't even know the people driving on the streets outside of our apartments or homes but we think we have the understanding of God.
I'm learning that we have to be careful with ministering to our generation. We're wired to think about ourselves first. We've even corrupted hearing Jesus loves you. Like, of course He does, I love me some me. Don't we say stuff like that? Or rather, we act like that.
Here's the wrap up.
Don't fret my dear, this story always end good, for the ones who take heed. Because it takes you truly understanding the wrath of God and the sin that's attached to your body right now to understand how much God loves you. You can't understand the weight of Christ's love on the cross without understanding the weight of God's anger with you for sinning.
And we're all operating in free will right now, aren't we? You do know free will will eventually end. We may have a choice now of what we do and where we go, but that choice ends on sentencing day. You're either in, or you're out. God doesn't want you out, and neither do I. This blog is for your joy, not your happiness.
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" 2 Peter 3:9
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
god's Grace
Hello readers, welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
The title was intentional. It is not a typo. I wanted to talk about this illustration that's been running over in my mind about how we try to grace ourselves outside of grace. So for the sake of having to explain everything, here's a key to follow.
Upper case G, is for God and His Grace.
Lower case g, is for us and our grace. Ready? Let's work.
So I had this idea one time about why do we always try to grace ourselves outside of Grace? Here's the illustration.
So, you're driving down the interstate one night and your car breaks down. You pull over to the side of the road and immediately pop the hood of the trunk. Now, even though you have NO IDEA what you're looking at or looking for, you still look. Or even if you do have an idea, WE STILL LOOK. We think, "Hmm, maybe I can fix it. Maybe I can save the mechanic or tow truck some trouble if I can fix it myself?"
We do this exact same thing with God.
We try to grace ourselves outside of God's Grace. We try to fix things ourselves. We try to "save God the trouble" and won't pray about everything and seek God for it. Here's where this is stemming from.
I remember a season of my life where I was trying to deal with some issues I had. And for some reason, I was trying to do it on my own. This literally was my thought, "God I know better than this. I shouldn't be feeling this way. I shouldn't be desiring to do this." And honestly what I was doing was pushing God away and telling Him, no, I'll fix it, I can handle it. And now I know why.
We're always looking for our own glory. We, the little god's, are running around so desperatly to be praised ourselves. What joy it would have brought me that "I CONQUERED THIS DEFEAT! I CONQUERED THESE ISSUES! And besides, I have a reputation to maintain, I can't let people know I struggle with this. I'm supposed to be a man of God, I can't let people know I have this problem." Right there, wanting glory for myself. Trying to operate in my own grace, the little that I have and it's temporary. I think back to Adam and Eve. Part of their motivation to eat from the tree was because they wanted to be like God. (Genesis 3:5) And the funny thing, ------we're still trying to do that. Let me give you a hint. WE'RE LOUSY GODS. Horrible. Terrible.
We couldn't keep ourselves in the garden. We couldn't save ourselves from our sins. We couldn't provide ourselves a healthy birth. We couldn't decide who our families were. We couldn't decide how we looked, what happened to us, how tall we got, how short we are, how our facial features turned out. Hahaha, we can't even create a government that works flawlessly. Man, we can barely chew food without swallowing down the wrong pipe! We can't even stop ourselves from dying! And, this is funny. We'll continue to try to create our own word. Hey, every time we disobey God that's exactly what we're doing.
"The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so".Romans 8:7 says that we're hostile to God. Because in our attempt to create our own word with our little god efforts we're rebelling against His word, telling Him that I disagree with it so I'm going to do my own thing. I can't imagine the slap in the face. Think of an expert cook. Cooks a meal for friends and family. And as soon as he serves it to them, people start adding salt to it.
"But you haven't even tried it yet."
"Well, it needs salt." Or they start to add barbeque sauce to it.
"You haven't even tried it yet."
"Well, I love barbeque sauce." LOL...funny illustration but I hope it makes sense. We're hostile to God when we're operating in this flesh get what flesh wants mindset. And flesh wants its own glory. Flesh wants to be elevated. And to even show how sickening our sinful nature is, flesh even wants to be elevated with God's name on it---the Pharisees for example.
So focused on BEING MEN OF THE GOD, that they forgot the very essence of what that means. Being men and women of God means knowing you're weak and worthless and incapable, that God has to grant us grace for us to even approach His throne. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16.
Be vulnerable and transparent. Remind people that you are weak. Because strong men and women of God are weak and dependent. Crazy right? Check what Paul says.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
The title was intentional. It is not a typo. I wanted to talk about this illustration that's been running over in my mind about how we try to grace ourselves outside of grace. So for the sake of having to explain everything, here's a key to follow.
Upper case G, is for God and His Grace.
Lower case g, is for us and our grace. Ready? Let's work.
So I had this idea one time about why do we always try to grace ourselves outside of Grace? Here's the illustration.
So, you're driving down the interstate one night and your car breaks down. You pull over to the side of the road and immediately pop the hood of the trunk. Now, even though you have NO IDEA what you're looking at or looking for, you still look. Or even if you do have an idea, WE STILL LOOK. We think, "Hmm, maybe I can fix it. Maybe I can save the mechanic or tow truck some trouble if I can fix it myself?"
We do this exact same thing with God.
We try to grace ourselves outside of God's Grace. We try to fix things ourselves. We try to "save God the trouble" and won't pray about everything and seek God for it. Here's where this is stemming from.
I remember a season of my life where I was trying to deal with some issues I had. And for some reason, I was trying to do it on my own. This literally was my thought, "God I know better than this. I shouldn't be feeling this way. I shouldn't be desiring to do this." And honestly what I was doing was pushing God away and telling Him, no, I'll fix it, I can handle it. And now I know why.
We're always looking for our own glory. We, the little god's, are running around so desperatly to be praised ourselves. What joy it would have brought me that "I CONQUERED THIS DEFEAT! I CONQUERED THESE ISSUES! And besides, I have a reputation to maintain, I can't let people know I struggle with this. I'm supposed to be a man of God, I can't let people know I have this problem." Right there, wanting glory for myself. Trying to operate in my own grace, the little that I have and it's temporary. I think back to Adam and Eve. Part of their motivation to eat from the tree was because they wanted to be like God. (Genesis 3:5) And the funny thing, ------we're still trying to do that. Let me give you a hint. WE'RE LOUSY GODS. Horrible. Terrible.
We couldn't keep ourselves in the garden. We couldn't save ourselves from our sins. We couldn't provide ourselves a healthy birth. We couldn't decide who our families were. We couldn't decide how we looked, what happened to us, how tall we got, how short we are, how our facial features turned out. Hahaha, we can't even create a government that works flawlessly. Man, we can barely chew food without swallowing down the wrong pipe! We can't even stop ourselves from dying! And, this is funny. We'll continue to try to create our own word. Hey, every time we disobey God that's exactly what we're doing.
"The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so".Romans 8:7 says that we're hostile to God. Because in our attempt to create our own word with our little god efforts we're rebelling against His word, telling Him that I disagree with it so I'm going to do my own thing. I can't imagine the slap in the face. Think of an expert cook. Cooks a meal for friends and family. And as soon as he serves it to them, people start adding salt to it.
"But you haven't even tried it yet."
"Well, it needs salt." Or they start to add barbeque sauce to it.
"You haven't even tried it yet."
"Well, I love barbeque sauce." LOL...funny illustration but I hope it makes sense. We're hostile to God when we're operating in this flesh get what flesh wants mindset. And flesh wants its own glory. Flesh wants to be elevated. And to even show how sickening our sinful nature is, flesh even wants to be elevated with God's name on it---the Pharisees for example.
So focused on BEING MEN OF THE GOD, that they forgot the very essence of what that means. Being men and women of God means knowing you're weak and worthless and incapable, that God has to grant us grace for us to even approach His throne. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16.
Be vulnerable and transparent. Remind people that you are weak. Because strong men and women of God are weak and dependent. Crazy right? Check what Paul says.
That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10
Monday, January 30, 2012
Adopted Fathers
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
Hope you're ready to enter a controversial subject. This is completely opinion based, no scripture to fully back up, but I will confess that this was a matter of the heart God has been working on me about, so therefore it validates it enough for me to share it.
So, have you tried to figure out what the title of this blog means? Adopted Fathers? Strange concept right? Like, normally, parents adopt children right? Hmmm....let's dive.
I challenge you to consider this, that there are a lot of guys that have a lot of sons that they don't know about. This idea of adopted father is stemming from this quote, "Like father like son." Now this quote implies that sons look up to their fathers and desire to follow in their footsteps when they get older. So the son without a father's footsteps to follow in, what does he do? He adopts a father and follow in his.
Hmm..can't miss that. Repeat.
So the son without a father's footsteps to follow in, he adopts one and follow in his.
Ok. So I have a beef--- or for the intellects, a conflict, with culture for this reason. I feel we continue to communicate things that are slowly and secretly destroying us. If you've read my blog called Male Dilemma, you have a basis on which I stand about this topic. The topic of where are all the men? This blog title was birthed from a revelation I was having about why I was having this certain conflict. Journey with me.
So for awhile, I've had a distaste for the hip hop culture, for many different reasons. I remember BET had the Hip Hop vs. America Debate. And I remember I was tuned in with my foam finger and popcorn ready to cheer on the tomato tossing at Hip Hop. But as I journeyed through my reasons for not liking Hip Hop, God began to convict me. We have to stop looking at the bad fruit and focus on the dying trees. Follow this visual. The bad trees produces bad fruit, and when the bad fruit is eaten the bad seed is planted and more bad trees grow up. So Hip Hop---or...lets not do that. Let's say most of the rappers in hip hop are only products of a bad tree that was already produced. So that ended that debate for me because I couldn't cast blame on the rappers for exclaiming their brokenness in nearly every song, and I couldn't blame my brothers eating it up. They say sin sales, I mean, they say sex sales. Sorry, almost misquoted them. So, that's not the issue here, forget the subject of RAPPERS, that debates over. Instead, I want to blame the lack of fathers in the household. Now for clarity sakes, here's a little background.
So, I was raised without a father. And, subconsciously, I was always looking for a role model. Again, I was never actually thinking, I NEED A ROLE MODEL, but I was always looking for someone to look up to. Someone I can take pride in, and then to follow in his footsteps. And as I look back, I can remember my hand-me-down-dreams changing depending on who was my role model at the time. I remember when I realized I could sing, ooo, I wanted to be the next Michael Jackson. Loved basketball, oooo, I want to be a basketball player, next Kobe Bryant. Started playing football. Man, I want to be like Emmitt Smith. Even took a stab at a rap career. (Yes, I know.) So after realizing that I was BAD at all of these things, I remember being confused---and almost feeling short-changed. Because here's the thing, the world has SHOWN me, no, no one is saying it, but the world has SHOWN me that the people who reach these places in their lives are somebody, and BOY DO I WANT TO BE A SOMEBODY! I want to be a person of significance! I'm regular old Claude, average Claude from the projects and a poor family, I want to be important, I want to be significant! And significance to the world's standards means you're successful, and to be successful you have to do one of these many different ways to become famous or have a lot of money. So, my list of adopted fathers was, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Emmitt Smith, Jay-Z.
I remember watching these guys craft and imagining myself doing the same thing they did. I'd listen to Jay-Z fluid lines and wish I could do the same thing. I'd watch Kobe's graceful play on the court and imitate his moves on the basketball court when playing friends. I'd watch highlights of Emmitt Smith and just be in awe, just like a son watches his dad as he works on the car. And subconsciously I was thinking, MAN, I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE YOU...
My adopted fathers.
So, this thing we call culture and mainstream, oh man, this is why I hate it. No...sorry, have a distaste for it. Because what I'm seeing is a lot of little boys without fathers becoming spitting images of their adopted fathers. Learning lyrics and creating lifestyles by them. Or every little boys dream is to play in the professional football league, or be the next Michael Jordan. I see an entire generation of replica's of things we see on television. I thought about listing, but I don't want to insult. I just want to offer an, "I understand, I've been there."
Now I remember when God first started to deal with me about a men's ministry. And I was praying for the wisdom and spiritual eyes of God to know how it actually looks. What would I say? How are we going to do this? And I remember God softly saying son, you have to become a true man before you can show it to someone. So my journey began. And as all of this uncovering God began in me was just for you...reader.
Even when I talk to guys that may be falling into this, I don't want to knock their dreams or their role models. I even dislike the ministries that almost insults them for choosing these things as role models I mean honestly, what do you expect from us? We didn't have a dad so dang it we chose one. And of course we'd choose one that everybody loves. Of course we'd choose the guy that everybody wants to be. Every kid is super proud of their dad on Bring Your Daddy to School Day when your dad has a cool job. So I choose not to knock their dreams because I don't want to take away their desire to dream, or their desire to imitate something. Instead I prefer to redirect their focus. Like, here's what I've learned. In my thorough obedience to line up with my adopted father, I recognized that my desire to reach the place they are was because I desired a subconscious, "Son, I'm proud of you." I wanted to meet Kobe Bryant on the night of me making the McDonalds High School All-American Game, and him walk up to me and shake my hand and give me my props and just, "Good game." Interpreted, "I'm proud of you son."
Like Father, Like Son. Is it surprising that we're becoming spitting images of our adopted fathers? And our only interactions with these fathers are what we see in the media, and of course its distorted. That's why you have young boys with poor grammar, dressing a certain way, womanizers, smoking weed, chasing hand me down dreams, getting our bodies completed tatted---because our dads are doing it. I have more to say on this but I will end it here.
This is my burden. And again. Please don't miss my heart. Because I understand.
We just want to be like our dads.....
Hope you're ready to enter a controversial subject. This is completely opinion based, no scripture to fully back up, but I will confess that this was a matter of the heart God has been working on me about, so therefore it validates it enough for me to share it.
So, have you tried to figure out what the title of this blog means? Adopted Fathers? Strange concept right? Like, normally, parents adopt children right? Hmmm....let's dive.
I challenge you to consider this, that there are a lot of guys that have a lot of sons that they don't know about. This idea of adopted father is stemming from this quote, "Like father like son." Now this quote implies that sons look up to their fathers and desire to follow in their footsteps when they get older. So the son without a father's footsteps to follow in, what does he do? He adopts a father and follow in his.
Hmm..can't miss that. Repeat.
So the son without a father's footsteps to follow in, he adopts one and follow in his.
Ok. So I have a beef--- or for the intellects, a conflict, with culture for this reason. I feel we continue to communicate things that are slowly and secretly destroying us. If you've read my blog called Male Dilemma, you have a basis on which I stand about this topic. The topic of where are all the men? This blog title was birthed from a revelation I was having about why I was having this certain conflict. Journey with me.
So for awhile, I've had a distaste for the hip hop culture, for many different reasons. I remember BET had the Hip Hop vs. America Debate. And I remember I was tuned in with my foam finger and popcorn ready to cheer on the tomato tossing at Hip Hop. But as I journeyed through my reasons for not liking Hip Hop, God began to convict me. We have to stop looking at the bad fruit and focus on the dying trees. Follow this visual. The bad trees produces bad fruit, and when the bad fruit is eaten the bad seed is planted and more bad trees grow up. So Hip Hop---or...lets not do that. Let's say most of the rappers in hip hop are only products of a bad tree that was already produced. So that ended that debate for me because I couldn't cast blame on the rappers for exclaiming their brokenness in nearly every song, and I couldn't blame my brothers eating it up. They say sin sales, I mean, they say sex sales. Sorry, almost misquoted them. So, that's not the issue here, forget the subject of RAPPERS, that debates over. Instead, I want to blame the lack of fathers in the household. Now for clarity sakes, here's a little background.
So, I was raised without a father. And, subconsciously, I was always looking for a role model. Again, I was never actually thinking, I NEED A ROLE MODEL, but I was always looking for someone to look up to. Someone I can take pride in, and then to follow in his footsteps. And as I look back, I can remember my hand-me-down-dreams changing depending on who was my role model at the time. I remember when I realized I could sing, ooo, I wanted to be the next Michael Jackson. Loved basketball, oooo, I want to be a basketball player, next Kobe Bryant. Started playing football. Man, I want to be like Emmitt Smith. Even took a stab at a rap career. (Yes, I know.) So after realizing that I was BAD at all of these things, I remember being confused---and almost feeling short-changed. Because here's the thing, the world has SHOWN me, no, no one is saying it, but the world has SHOWN me that the people who reach these places in their lives are somebody, and BOY DO I WANT TO BE A SOMEBODY! I want to be a person of significance! I'm regular old Claude, average Claude from the projects and a poor family, I want to be important, I want to be significant! And significance to the world's standards means you're successful, and to be successful you have to do one of these many different ways to become famous or have a lot of money. So, my list of adopted fathers was, Michael Jackson, Kobe Bryant, Emmitt Smith, Jay-Z.
I remember watching these guys craft and imagining myself doing the same thing they did. I'd listen to Jay-Z fluid lines and wish I could do the same thing. I'd watch Kobe's graceful play on the court and imitate his moves on the basketball court when playing friends. I'd watch highlights of Emmitt Smith and just be in awe, just like a son watches his dad as he works on the car. And subconsciously I was thinking, MAN, I WANT TO BE JUST LIKE YOU...
My adopted fathers.
So, this thing we call culture and mainstream, oh man, this is why I hate it. No...sorry, have a distaste for it. Because what I'm seeing is a lot of little boys without fathers becoming spitting images of their adopted fathers. Learning lyrics and creating lifestyles by them. Or every little boys dream is to play in the professional football league, or be the next Michael Jordan. I see an entire generation of replica's of things we see on television. I thought about listing, but I don't want to insult. I just want to offer an, "I understand, I've been there."
Now I remember when God first started to deal with me about a men's ministry. And I was praying for the wisdom and spiritual eyes of God to know how it actually looks. What would I say? How are we going to do this? And I remember God softly saying son, you have to become a true man before you can show it to someone. So my journey began. And as all of this uncovering God began in me was just for you...reader.
Even when I talk to guys that may be falling into this, I don't want to knock their dreams or their role models. I even dislike the ministries that almost insults them for choosing these things as role models I mean honestly, what do you expect from us? We didn't have a dad so dang it we chose one. And of course we'd choose one that everybody loves. Of course we'd choose the guy that everybody wants to be. Every kid is super proud of their dad on Bring Your Daddy to School Day when your dad has a cool job. So I choose not to knock their dreams because I don't want to take away their desire to dream, or their desire to imitate something. Instead I prefer to redirect their focus. Like, here's what I've learned. In my thorough obedience to line up with my adopted father, I recognized that my desire to reach the place they are was because I desired a subconscious, "Son, I'm proud of you." I wanted to meet Kobe Bryant on the night of me making the McDonalds High School All-American Game, and him walk up to me and shake my hand and give me my props and just, "Good game." Interpreted, "I'm proud of you son."
Like Father, Like Son. Is it surprising that we're becoming spitting images of our adopted fathers? And our only interactions with these fathers are what we see in the media, and of course its distorted. That's why you have young boys with poor grammar, dressing a certain way, womanizers, smoking weed, chasing hand me down dreams, getting our bodies completed tatted---because our dads are doing it. I have more to say on this but I will end it here.
This is my burden. And again. Please don't miss my heart. Because I understand.
We just want to be like our dads.....
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Christian Zombies
"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sin—it is by grace you have been saved." Ephesians 2:4-5
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
The story of Lazarus's resurrection is what made me realize how humorous the Bible can be. This story is found in John 11. Even thinking about it cracks me up. There's reasons why I think it's funny. Not that Lazarus died, but the different emotions that Jesus went through while trying to get the people around him to understand what He was getting ready to do. If you haven't read the story, please do. It's great.
So, quick parahphrase and context so I'm not just jumping right into it. So, Jesus is told by Lazarus's sisters that he is sick, who tries to guilt trip Jesus in to responding rapidly. Jesus waits two days before going to see about Lazarus. By the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus is dead. After some dialogue and groaning in the spirit and 21st century skeptics and haters (seriously, read the story), Jesus prays to God and gets ready to raise Lazarus from the dead. That's where we'll begin.
"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:43-45
In this moment, Jesus has raised Lazarus to from the dead. Lazarus, who had been literally dead for four days, stepped out of the grave wrapped in grave clothes, or his burial clothes. And at the ending, Jesus instructs him to take off the grave clothes. Why do you think He did that? You'd think it was obvious right?
Of course it was. I mean, who wants to be confused with the dead? Who wants to still be looked at as dead?
WE DO.
WE being, Christian Zombies.
Some Christians are proclaiming to be alive in Christ, which is absolutely and positively what it means to declare Christ as your Savior, but still resembling the dead, or still being confused with the dead. Some Christians are still walking around like they are dead. We're still acting like the dead. Still talking like the dead. Still being seen where the dead flocks to. Still obsessed with the same things the dead is obsessed with. Still unloving like the dead. Still unforgiving like the dead. Still cold hearted, ruthless, angry, lustful, etc----LIKE THE DEAD. This Spiritual dead meaning before we were believers and when we were dead in our sin, like Ephesians 2:4-5 explains. So, we're still walking around with our grave clothes on. Remember those clothes? It was what defined you before you gave your life to Christ. You were formally buried in your sin in those grave clothes and now Christ as risen you from the dead, just like the opening verse says----why do we continue to wear them? We're free right? We're, alive right? Yes you are.
So take off the grave clothes.
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" Romans 6:18
Hello readers. Welcome to my heart. Let's begin.
The story of Lazarus's resurrection is what made me realize how humorous the Bible can be. This story is found in John 11. Even thinking about it cracks me up. There's reasons why I think it's funny. Not that Lazarus died, but the different emotions that Jesus went through while trying to get the people around him to understand what He was getting ready to do. If you haven't read the story, please do. It's great.
So, quick parahphrase and context so I'm not just jumping right into it. So, Jesus is told by Lazarus's sisters that he is sick, who tries to guilt trip Jesus in to responding rapidly. Jesus waits two days before going to see about Lazarus. By the time Jesus gets there, Lazarus is dead. After some dialogue and groaning in the spirit and 21st century skeptics and haters (seriously, read the story), Jesus prays to God and gets ready to raise Lazarus from the dead. That's where we'll begin.
"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:43-45
In this moment, Jesus has raised Lazarus to from the dead. Lazarus, who had been literally dead for four days, stepped out of the grave wrapped in grave clothes, or his burial clothes. And at the ending, Jesus instructs him to take off the grave clothes. Why do you think He did that? You'd think it was obvious right?
Of course it was. I mean, who wants to be confused with the dead? Who wants to still be looked at as dead?
WE DO.
WE being, Christian Zombies.
Some Christians are proclaiming to be alive in Christ, which is absolutely and positively what it means to declare Christ as your Savior, but still resembling the dead, or still being confused with the dead. Some Christians are still walking around like they are dead. We're still acting like the dead. Still talking like the dead. Still being seen where the dead flocks to. Still obsessed with the same things the dead is obsessed with. Still unloving like the dead. Still unforgiving like the dead. Still cold hearted, ruthless, angry, lustful, etc----LIKE THE DEAD. This Spiritual dead meaning before we were believers and when we were dead in our sin, like Ephesians 2:4-5 explains. So, we're still walking around with our grave clothes on. Remember those clothes? It was what defined you before you gave your life to Christ. You were formally buried in your sin in those grave clothes and now Christ as risen you from the dead, just like the opening verse says----why do we continue to wear them? We're free right? We're, alive right? Yes you are.
So take off the grave clothes.
"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness" Romans 6:18
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