You Got to Be Kidding Me!

Has Anyone Seen the Sorcerer?

So I’m walking into the bedroom and I notice that my wife was watching a religious program. As I began to ear hustle, it almost sounded like the speaker was asking for money. I looked at the screen and saw the following words; “Ezekiel 47:12 Miracle Seed of $47.12 or more”. To my surprise, the speaker communicated to the viewers that if they wanted the Supernatural Power of God, they would need to send a “Miracle Seed” in the form of $47.12! I wondered why didn’t the speaker round the number to the nearest dollar, which would have been $47.00, but my wife informed me that because the scripture was Ezekiel 47:12, the dollar amount was the same. It’s about three days before payday, so I’m not in a position to give $47.12; I guess I needed to wait until payday if I wanted to purchase the Supernatural Miracle. At this point, I’m feeling some type of way because what if I have $28.56, do I get the Miracle minus the Supernatural? You see where I’m going with this?

 So I decided to look at the verse that the speaker was using to promise the donors a Supernatural Miracle. After reading Ezekiel 47, I came to the conclusion that the speaker was using the right scripture because it was talking about the Supernatural Power of God doing the impossible. The only problem I have with the speaker’s fund raising tactics is the Supernatural Power that is mentioned in the Ezekiel 47 is the Holy Spirit! Follow me; in a sense, the speaker was telling people to send money for the power of the Holy Spirit. If the speaker can accept money for the power of the Holy Spirit, I wonder why the Apostle Peter said to a sorcerer named Simon, who wanted to purchase the same power, “May your money be destroyed with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money.” (Acts 8:20) I’m just gone lay it out there; those ministers/preachers have clearly missed their calling to be pimps. I say that because they have played the harlot, seducing people who are desperate and gullible. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit would bring these delusional pimps of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to repentance or cause their ministry (stable) to dry up. May the true Children of God get into the Word and we’ll be able to smell a wolf from afar off.

Special Ed Class (101)

I was combing through some articles in the news and stumbled across the usual; a teacher in Wisconsin barricaded herself in a classroom with kids and began to take her clothes off. Just before I had time to digest that situation, I find myself reading about a teacher in Georgia, handing out condoms to his students and allowing them to have sex in his classroom. I began to think, “What is going on with these teachers and where are they getting these heinous ideas from?” You would think that the principles of these two schools would be embarrassed and outraged but maybe not. I say that because I found an article regarding a principle from Palm Beach County, who was arrested for being found in the back seat of a marijuana-filled vehicle; partially clothed, with a student from her school.

Did I miss the memo that informed parents of the “Hands On” sexual education, provided by the school district? You mean to tell me that our children have to walk past the neighborhood pedophile, dodge stray bullets from the urban warfare, say, “No” to the drug dealer; in an effort to get to school for an education, just to fall victim to a 6th grade math teacher? Are you serious America? But what should we expect from a nation that has pushed God out of the public schools, in order to make room for predators, disguised as teachers. Just to bring home a point; 15 years ago, if I told you that a teacher took her 5^th grade class on a field trip to a strip club, you would think I was delirious; but ask yourself, “In our world today, would it really shock you?” 

Need a Job?

I was reading the other day and ran across an article that caught my eye. Saudi Arabia is now hiring for 8 new executioners. There are no special requirements for the job; you just have to be flexible, to not only perform executions but also amputations for those convicted of lesser crimes. So far this year, there have been 85 executions in Saudi Arabia; right on the heels of the 88 executions for the entire 2014.  38 of those 85 executions were for drug offenses; can you imagine if America had the same rules? If the number of executions are rising, that means that even death isn’t a strong enough deterrent for criminal activity!

Just before I get on my “Soap Box”, and rant about how inhumane Saudi Arabia’s judicial system is, maybe they’re on to something. Instead of individuals receiving a physical death for their crimes; what if they were sentenced to another death penalty?  The difference in this death penalty is that the inmate dies to self. This takes place by the lawbreaker surrendering his/her will, emotions and mind to the control of another. Every human being has inherently broken the law; which is sin. Every human is deserving of his wages for breaking the law; that’s right, you get a wage for sinning, which is DEATH. (Romans 6:23)  By acknowledging my crime (sin) and asking God for forgiveness; I can make a choice to surrender my will to His will. By dying to my own agenda and allowing Christ’s agenda to control my life; I demonstrate that the death penalty was served and I have risen with Christ. 

We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, may also be revealed in our body (2 Corinthians 4:10 )

Remember: You dont have to be on Death Row, to be on Death Row

"What you be about?"

Man! What is the world coming to? A 7 yr old boy in Chicago gets shot by a gunman; who asked the 7 yr old, “What you be about?” At 7 yrs old, what possibly could you be about? At age 7, I be about Now&Laters, M&Ms, Playstation and playing with friends. At 7 yrs old, I be about going to the park, playing ball, watching cartoons and eating candy. The question should have been, what could a 16 yr old be about, to see a 7 yr old boy as a threat? The land we live in is marinated with weak, spineless, non-thinking, angry, boys who haven’t been taught about the value of life. What have we done, that we cannot even send our children to school, without embracing them; as if it could be the last time, because they might not make it home? What will it take for a nation to return to its foundation? Will it take ISIS to come into our homes and drag our kids out into the streets and kill them? Will it take martial law to strip every right away from us, in order to wake us? At this point, God is our only hope! When our military needs protection on its bases, we are in trouble. The very people, who are supposed to protect us, need protection their selves; We are in trouble! Don’t be deceived so easily; do you think a country that is void of morality, can withstand internal conflict, as well as external conflict? To Elijah Dace, the 7 yr old who was shot, I apologize for the world we have forced you to attempt to survive in. I apologize for the shooter; he only did what he was programmed to do. But for you Elijah, I pray that you will ignite the passion for the next generation, to raise the standard that we have neglected. God help us.

Take One for The Team

One of the hardest challenges there is for a team is to maintain a “Team Perspective. What makes it challenging is when a certain player develops a “Me Perspective” with a team oriented task. The goal of the team becomes secondary to the player with the “Me Perspective” agenda.

Raising a child takes a collective effort, and a team oriented approach. The challenge most face is when the child has to play on the home field (Usually the mother’s home) and on the away field (Usually the father’s home). The team’s goal, which is raising the child or children void of as many emotional and financial limps as possible, get’s lost when the Mother/Father loses the “Team Perspective”. It is a privilege for a father to be able to support his seeds in a monetary way, but that privilege can quickly turn into an oppressive tool, when the mother decides to have a “Me Perspective”, and gets greedy. Not every mother falls into this category, and not every father pays support.

Mothers, there is no benefit for the child with attempting to leave the father financially destitute, because the child could go without while with the father. This would be a good time to exhibit the “Team Perspective”, placing the child’s needs above your vendetta.

Fathers, there is no benefit for the child with assassinating the mother’s character because after all, she is the child’s mother. I asked my son the other day, what he would think if I talked bad about his mother but said I love him. My son replied, “Ugh, I don’t know, I would be confused.” This also, would be a good time to exhibit the “Team Perspective”, once again, placing the child’s needs above your feelings.

To sum it up, parents, we will need to “Bite the Bullet” or “Take one for the team”; use which ever phrase tickles your fancy, but remember ; it’s a  child’s emotional welfare is at stake.

What type of hold are you in?

I believe that the title of today’s post is fitting for my audience today. Would you believe that each and every person on earth is in some type of hold? There is something in your life that you struggle with. Some of us struggle periodically and some of us struggle on a day by day basis, but make no mistake about it, there is a struggle. If you’re able to say that you don’t struggle with anything, maybe you’re right; you may have given up altogether. For some odd reason when we think of a struggle, the first thought is drugs or alcohol. But let’s think a little outside the box, such as; lying, defensiveness, stealing, insecurities, selfishness, anger, over-inflated ego, porn and low self-esteem. When we struggle with such items, it is possible that we are being held; and if that’s the case, we need to know what type of hold we are being held in.

A.     A Toe Hold- This is something that rears its nasty head from time to time, but the victim still has some leverage. 

B.     A Foot Hold-This one is kinda tricky because with this hold, its victim is under the impression that they’re in control, in spite of the obvious limited movement, due to this hold. With this hold, it restricts a person from being around certain people and the time that's spent with others.

C.     A Strong Hold- Once this hold is applied, its victim understands that they are no longer in control, only attempting to plea-bargain; agreeing not to move if the hold does not get any tighter.

D.    A Choke Hold- With this hold, the victim usually turns colors and there is only a shadow of the person left.  At this point,  there is only a glimmer of hope left in the eyes of the victim and without immediate, determined intervention, the Choke Hold becomes The Death Hold  

Are You Ready to Rumble!!!!!!!!

                                              

So you think you’re ready for sex? The obvious is the question, are you ready for a child? But let’s delve into the things that are not obvious. Are you ready to entangle your spirit with someone else?  Are you alright with taking on the character defects of another person? Are you ready to potentially have a condom bust or slip off and be the benefactor of A.I.D.S, syphilis, gonorrhea, or Chlamydia? Maybe I’m being too drastic with examples I’ve given; what about herpes, or crabs?  Are you ready for the lifetime of guilt due to having an abortion because you were ready for sex but not ready for a + E.P.T.? Our schools teach about sex education but they are not equipped to teach on having a stalker actively after you, because the sex was good.

But there is an alternative to saving yourself for marriage; you can entangle your spirit with 5-6 different people and wonder why you’re not acting like yourself. Maybe because the multiple deposits from multiple sex partners have you a “Little confused”. Let me be clear, ladies if you have 100,000 miles on that engine, you probably aren’t going to catch someone with an 800 credit score.

BOTTOM LINE- Think for a Minute

A Mother's Courage & A Father's Love

            Before I put my emotions or thoughts on this page, I would like to ask that we keep Erin Stoffel’s family in our prayers. While taking their dog for a Sunday walk on a trail, the Stoffel family was changed forever. 33 yr old Jonathan Stoffel was fatally shot and killed, along with his 11 yr old daughter, while his wife, Erin Stoffel suffered 3 gunshot wounds, she successfully got their 2 youngest children (ages 5 and 7) out of harms way. The shooter then turned the gun on himself and died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head. I’m sure that as Erin recovers from the attack this Sunday (Mother’s Day), she will be reminded of the courage it took to save her two youngest children, while family members come along side to support a thankful yet grieving mother/wife.

            Even though Erin hasn’t been able to verbally communicate, she has been able to write. While at the hospital, Erin was given a dry erase board and wrote the following; “Last words”, then she wrote out, Jon said, “Forgive the shooter.”

            What touches my heart about the story is the courage that a mother displayed regarding the welfare of her children and the love demonstrated by the father; even at the point of his death. You would think that a father’s last words would be, “I love you”, or “tell the kids I love them” but not this father. He had the insight to see the resentment, rage, and the entrapment of bitterness that would await his children and wife; so instead, Jonathan denied his own feelings, for the emotional healing of his family. Jonathan wasn't scrambling at the moment of death, attempting to ensure his love ones that he loved them; maybe the way he lived confirmed that. So much so, that Jonathan could utilize his last breath to break the potential, future chains of unforgiveness; sentencing it's prisoners to life, without the possibility of parole. 

          It's because of this family's courage and love, that I'm inspired to love my family in such a way; that when I too must leave this place, I can speak from my concern for my family future challenges instead of from my past regrets.

T.T.P.

Can you think of one thing in life that doesn’t have a process? As you contemplate on that question, I’ll wait. Did you come up with anything? Me neither. The word Process means, A series of actions or steps taken in order to achieve a particular end. Life in itself has a process that we are well aware of; just look in the mirror and you will begin to see a process in motion. It would be asinine for a piece of aluminum to believe it can tell GM motors what type of vehicle it wants to be made into. It would be down right hideous for a slab of rubber to insist that it belong to the Pirelli Tire Company.

While you’re breathing air at this moment, you are in a Process! If you’re like me, you have bucked, kicked and attempted to manipulate the Process. Because after all, who wants to waste precious time in a process; when we could enjoy the Progress? Throughout the time you spend in the process, you will be tempted to deviate from the Process because as you look around, you’ll see others who appear to be progressing. That maybe the case for them but you and I must be willing to trust the Process and the course that it takes us on. Your Process will be detail oriented around your past, current actions, potential and willingness to submit to the demands of the Process. Your Process will also include your failures, heartaches, mistakes and flaws of other people; so don’t lose sleep regarding the actions of others, whether instrumental or detrimental.

So what am I getting at? 3 simple letters; T.T.P. 

TRUST THE PROCESS

Choose One!

This post will be a little more engaging than the rest but you can engage rather safely, because you will be able to engage with out feeling judged by others; it will only be you and your conscience. How does that sound? Here we go;

Would you be good to go if you came home and your faithful wife was being mounted by the Dish Network installer? Probably not.

How about receiving a call while at work, that your daughter was killed by another kid at her school, would you be cool with that? No, No.

How would you feel if you just got paid and checked your bank account, being informed that you have been relieved of every cent in your account by a hacker? Can you say, “Pissed?”

I bet this will set well with you; while celebrating your engagement an onlooker is drooling with lust, gawking at your future wife’s backside with no regard for your presence.

You didn’t get that promotion due to the investigation behind someone accusing you of being a pedophile. I bet you can’t wait for the next Teambuilding outing at work.

You probably aren’t in agreement with waking up and having your 10yr old son, standing over you with an ax, with intentions of slicing and dicing because you refused to buy him a new cell phone.

     If you wouldn’t support or condone any of the above actions, through Democracy (The majority wins), you are in support of Theocracy (Government controlled by Divine guidance) because you agree with 6 out of the 10 Commandments. There is one more category for those who are in agreement with the majority of the 10 Commandments but choose not to follow the Commander, who inspired the commandments; that category would be Apostasy (Abandoning of your belief). So which category do you fall in?