What I learned in Church: Pimps, Streets and Hiding in the Church

Announcements: Please read the disclaimer above the blog. I'm coming with a new spirit this week. And welcome for all my first time visitors. My apologies for the lateness of my message. Let me get right to it then...


So Saturday night I went to a gospel stage play. "The Lawd Done Sent Me A Man" was wonderful. It went far beyond my expectations. Well acted, well sung, well written and it was just genuinely entertaining. And they are traveling. If you want to see it or want to bring it to your church or theater, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the producers.

Among the many messages in the play, one that stood out was about a devil lurking inside the church. Evil pimps (Not good pimps) are in the church, so the church (the good pimps) needs to hit them streets. It's so important because many churches are hesitant to let their congregations mingle with the world. The World is who we are sent to speak to.

Like most church plays, there was the standard message. God will have his will in the end. After you try everything else. After you've tried all that you can, just stand. Let go and let God.




Now to Sunday. OMG! What a pleasant surprise! We had a guest speaker. His name was Father Maurice Nutt from New Orleans. I wasn't big into church when I lived in New Orleans. He is definitely not the typical Roman Catholic Pastor. He is every Charismatic, Baptist, Methodist, Christian Preacher ever. But he should be, after all, we (Catholics) started it all. If you are ever in New Orleans (Chicago now), I am sure you are sinning and need to go to church anyway, look him up. Edutaining is what he is.

This week we went from:

Genesis Chapter 12 - Abram's received a promise from God. A promise for generations to come.
to
2 Timothy Chapter 1 – Paul encouraging us to suffer WITH the Gospel. God promised. Be patient. If you can't be patient with God just go to hell…

Matthew Chapter 17 - Jesus changed (Transfigured [not to be confused with transgender]) and God told the apostles not to be afraid.

Father Maurice was reminded of movie previews. These texts were "A preview of the coming attractions"
Wets your appetite
Stimulates
Motivates

From Moses to Elijah Dueteronomy 15:18 (The people asked for a gentler message. They were tired of the raining fire.) to Jesus (And they STILL didn't want to listen!) The mountain top symbolized removing ones self from ALL distractions. My father would turn the TV off so we could hear the voice of God whenever we "had to talk". And it worked. (Remember the focus we are trying to achieve this Lenten season.)

So God will make us promises. And we can never tell exactly when those promises are coming. They could come immediately or years down the line. But we must suffer ((verb) 3. endure something) with patience and faith. Change IS coming. We must endure WITH the word of God. And the suffering is not limited to the waiting. The important part is after. In an instant, change can come. But the effects will remain forever. Your friends will run from the new you. We are all afraid of change. ADMIT IT. Think about the people who have and have not left your hometown. A lot of people want to. But who actually does.

Expect the suffering. Expect the trials. Expect the tribulations. When you have been brought to higher levels, expect new devils. And that is where we are going. Don't ask why me. I didn't do anything. YES YOU DID! You met Jesus. You made the change. You prayed. You set the goals.

Don't sit on the mountain top. MOVE! Don't sit on your blessings. He wants to use you. Bless somebody.

I know a lot of people have promise. I know even more with talent. I know even more with dreams. AND I STILL KNOW EVEN MORE WITH HOPES. The common factor in all of our failures is choking. We all choke at some point because we get impatient, or we get too scared of the change or we get tired of hearing people tell us to be scared of change. We can't afford to be scared. We are all so close. Plus, God promised. Focus on that. Keep you eyes on the prize. When we come out of this Lent, we will be strong enough to withstand the haters and the doubters and the scary assed people.

It's the scary assed people who want to stay inside the church and not mingle with the world. Its scary assed people who tell you to stay in your small town or on your own side of town (in the larger cities).And it's scary assed people refuse to grow or learn or do anything different. But we can pimp the system for God. We can hit them streets, those gutters, those sewers, those back alleys and juke joints and spread the truth.

Keep it real people