What I Learned from a Bunch of Children going to celebrate Pride

Wisdom 7

Hebrews 4

Mark 10

Now it doesn't matter that I was late to church. I am home.

First off, those kids were too young to be going to Pride. Not questioning their choices, but making a statement on the adult nature of some of the activities at Pride. Only in Atlanta. (And New York, Miami, LA,...)

Anyhow, I was wondering what kind of conversation would take place if one happened to occur between these kids and I. Would I have to explain how my spirituality coincided with my acceptance of their choices. I came up with this.

By fellowshipping with different individuals based on one ore more similar beliefs, we learn about Love at its truest essence. That is exactly what those children were doing. They found strength in their group. That group should first lead them to learn to Love themselves then each other. Once they learn to Love one another they learn to Love people who are outside their group. Any religion/ideology/church that doesn't teach that is false.

Journal 8/26/15 - "Love Yo Self" The Gospel Musical (Dream Sequence)

Craziest dream!

Shalanda was escorting me to my church (a conglomeration of St Agatha's, Lady of Lourdes and Holy Name) except it didn't look like my church once inside. It was more like The Faith Dome with wooden pews. At center stage there was a woman who looked like Tenita Scott. I was far enough away from her not to notice she had no legs until someone came to lift her up and sit her in front of a piano... That song!

"Kill my self, na-uh

That's not what I'm going to do

I got too much living to do

Kill yoself, no-no

That's just not the way to go

He loves you more than you'll ever know..."

I woke up from that dream so inspired. I had no idea how much death, murder and suicide would plague 2016. There is such heavy a burden on so many people. Although I believe in the after life, we as a community have a lot of work to do on earth. We all have a purpose here. It's a major step to discover your purpose and should be your dying mission to fulfill that purpose.

Living well is the best revenge against the spirits who wish to convince you to give up.

Kill my self, na-uh

That's not what I'm going to do

I got too much living to do

Kill yoself, no-no

That's just not the way to go

He loves you more than you'll ever know..."

Love yo self yeah, yeah
That's what you have to do
You got too much living to do
Love your life, say yes
Always do your very best
Don't compare what's yours to all the rest

There's Always More Love

I may cuss at yall from time to time but most people know me to be positive all the time. I always have a smile. I always say yes to favors. I always give all that I can. I always find the bright side in every situation. I always choose happiness.

Believe me, it is not easy.

It's taken years of choosing the right friends after years of choosing the wrong ones. It's taken so much trial and error. It's taken trying so many things that don't work to find the ones that do. They say the road to happiness is always under construction. I am forever perfecting my foundation, especially the cornerstone of all that I am. It's never-ending work. It''s certainly the most fulfilling.

Yesterday, again, I felt like giving up on my journey. Today, again, my foundation kept me steady. I was gonna stop saying yes to helping people. I had forgotten why I do it. I had forgotten why do this. I felt like I just didn't have any more to give to anyone. I was over it all.

Quite a few times I've been distracted from my journey. Most recently, the struggles of life and poverty keep coming up to deter me. I've done it all to counter these struggles. I've studied money. What it is. Where it came from. How to get it. How to keep it. Before I get sidetracked from this thought, let me say I've fallen into the rut of the rat race a couple of times. The things, the routine of the things, I did to get money to pay for my dreams blurred my visions and eventually let me to abandon my dreams over and over. The bad part is that they showed no promise of anything even comparable to my dreams. I won't settle. So I haven't.

I have to thank God for the people in my life, the chosen and unchosen, who've kept me on track, physically, mentally, spiritually, financially, emotionally. And I thank them by staying on track. I will make it. For myself but can do no other thing but to share every reward, every milestone, every step, every success with the people who helped me get there.

Everyone is always right on time. The only person I'll name is Brandinika because she ha no social media presence at all. She surprised me last year by reminding me that people not on Facebook read my blog still. I write for them. All three of them. For the timely posts. For the accurate cussings out. For the wise words. For my best friend always reminding me directly to never give up.

Yesterday, I felt I had no more love in me. And at that moment, my foundation showed me a mirror. All I could see was Love.

What I Learned in Church: The Early Edition

Feeling a little inspired today. Thank God for my good friends and their good energy. The company you keep is very important. God has been answering my prayers and revealing some great friends and making room for them in my life.

So I finally decided what I’m doing for Lent this year. This year, I’m staying in-doors. That’s school, work, home (or someone’s house) til Easter. My apologies in advance to the three people who are going to miss hanging out with me.

So let’s get in this book. Deuteronomy 26 breaks down First Fruits and tithes, going into the reasons why we give God the primary glory for all that we are blessed with. Then we repeat, “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble.” That’s an easy way to remind ourselves that God is ALWAYS there, not just when the sun is shining! In Romans 10, (a VERY important chapter) we break down the basis of salvation. If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved. And then, in Luke 4, Jesus fasts for 40 days and 40 nights. The devil tries him up and he holds on to his faith, conquering the devil.

And you've heard all this before. But have you really thought about it?

On Friday, I listened to a radio show titled “Black Churches: Accountability to the Community”. My first thought was, “What’s the community’s accountability to the church?” Can you imagine Peter, Paul, Simon, or any of the founders of Christianity saying the things that Christians today say. They all got asked to follow Jesus and they ended up leading within a few years. Today, we grow up in the church; we stay in the church for years and are not becoming leaders. We give tithes wondering when we are going to get it back. We keep asking what the church can give us, without ever learning how to give.

Look at the book again. We've already been given the blessing. We already have the power. It’s because of God that we have. So we’re not giving our tithes and waiting for a return. We've already been blessed and are giving God what’s his. Giving without concern; giving full of joy is the blessing in itself. There’s no more to it. Remember, God always being there means he was there BEFORE you got the gifts to give. God has already given us to power to be a blessing to ourselves and others. What are we doing with it?

And what do we really believe in? What’s in our hearts? Sure, many, many of us confess with our mouths and call on the name of the Lord. But what we believe in our hearts will be manifested in our lives. That Jesus gave died and rose again means eternal life for us as well. AS WELL! It means that we have the possibility of being just like Jesus. THAT’s what the founders of Christianity attempted and taught. That we could also fast and resist the Devil. Not the way we do now. What do we do in adversity? Do we stand girded with the armor of God? Or do we run?

Saying you believe in Jesus is just a step. Putting true belief in our hearts is a process. Do it! Fast. Pray. Believe, not just when people ask you but especially when you get tried up! Stand!

Tomorrow, you may not get challenged this way so think on it now. Maybe you should stand tomorrow and help your church. God has already done his job. Have you done yours?

What I Learned in Church 2-10-13

Father Joe is always on time. Spiritually, that is! That man will have you forgetting you’re Catholic…five hour long church trying to play the saxophone and preaching two extra sermons… At least there’s only one collection.

Seriously, we’re still in and out in an hour and a half.  At least he makes people want to go. That’s huge in this day and age. People are ready to give up at the slightest bit of controversy or difficulty. Lord knows the Catholic Church has had some difficulties. (Understatement) We have greed running rampant in other churches, Sex, All kinds of Sex and Even More Sex. How do we respond? The same thing we always do. We run. "I don't want to go to church"

Don't let a few bad apples run all the good people out of church!

Don’t let a few bad apples run us out of anywhere. We abandon everything. We come, we consume, we ask, we take, we get full and when we get asked to do some real spiritual work, we pack up all we’ve taken over the years and run away, leaving only the trash behind. We do it in our schools, we do it in our neighborhoods, and we go all the way with church. We might change churches for a short while but eventually we just leave.

I read this book one time (or three/four). It may or may not be 100% true but it does illustrate the possibility of man. The one thing I believe is that we must never give up and (SPOILER ALERT) we (the good people) win! So why you running? Think you’re not good enough?

God will perfect whatever is defective

(Isaiah 6) “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

I’m not going to front; right after that God told Isaiah not to tell anyone they were saved so they would suffer a little more and repent before he let them off the hook. That happens. You can’t avoid it. Sometimes we try to avoid the temporary discomfort so we stay in the mess we’re in instead of moving forward through to the end. Go one through it! Again, a lot of ups and downs in that book but it ends well.

Isaiah 43:1,2 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;

You know there’s a lot of fire and brimstone in the bible. Don’t be afraid. If you choose the right side, you won’t get burned. Just make sure you choose right. No fence straddling.

(1 Corinthians 15)And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised.

It’s simple. We believe in Jesus, not some magic superhero who flies in and stops us from being assholes. We believe in a man being able to transcend the flesh and distractions of the world to attain true peace. We believe that we can practice and practice and attain a similar peace. (And that may be where we falter…) Too much unattainable magic and not enough practical advice.

So here it is:

•         Repeat after me “My miracle is on the way.”
•          Get ready. That means look at your faith.
•          Stop dwelling in the past.
•          If you don’t know how to pray, learn.
•          After you pray, meditate. (Meditation first step is clearing your mind)

Jesus removed his self from the world often to focus. And when he did, he was listening. He wasn’t doing a whole bunch of jaw-jacking and not waiting for an answer. Shut up sometimes! To be clear, shut up for at least five minutes every day (to start).

·       
             Keep casting your nets! Some of my friends are wonderful salesmen/women not because they know anything about what they are selling. They are great at it not even because they don’t take no for an answer. It’s because they keep going, believing that someone will say yes. Just like Colonel Sanders, it might take 1010 attempts and the majority of your life to get your miracle. Why are you giving up on yourself?

      A lot of yall give up at 23 after two ‘No’s. And still try to claim you believe in something.

Luke 6 - Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” … When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken,…

How many of yall would listen to someone who wasn’t an expert in “your field”.  I can hear the majority of you now running back to your egos at the mention of similar advice. “I been doing … for … years! What you trying to tell me?” “If you know so much, why don’t you do it?” The least we can do with any advice is to meditate on it. Find a way to make the best of everything given us.

So, one more thing before I go. Fight!

Believe in what you say you believe in. I’m getting tired of all the woe is me, look at how strong the devil is, illuminati, conspiracy this, conspiracy that talk. Too many of us say we believe in eternity and still deathly afraid of every little fool hollering boo at our God. SMH.

Isaiah 41:10 I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. “All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them.

Don't worry I will ALWAYS be with you (not only when the bullies aren't around). AND ALL (A-L-L, every single one) enemies will be ashamed and disgraced; they will be as nothing and perish. Shoot, you won’t even be able to find them if you look for them! And Lord knows yall like to look for enemies!

Gina noticed that the message is always the same and said that’s OK because that’s what the Bible is. Something happens, you maintain your faith, God shows up. That’s it. And it only works that way. Not – something happens, you run like hell or something happens, you have faith for two days, then you give up and do it your way on the third day… That’s the way you do it. It’s called faith because it works especially when it doesn’t look like it will. That’s it.

1300 words later, the simple truth is, if you say you believe in something, prove it. If it’s worthwhile it WILL work! Watch!

What I Learned In Church 11-11-12

Father Joe spoke about faith. By all means, the stories/concepts covered in 1 Kings 17, Hebrews 9, and Mark 12 were surely some tests of faith. You know I like to build on success. 


These are some thoughts I had:
What if the widow was greedy and Elijah actually enlightened her to eat smaller portions? Often times a perspective shift can seem like a miracle. The health movement is growing all over the country. For someone who  believed they HAD to eat a certain way (Carbs, processed food,..) to be shown that something else was actually possible can seem like a miracle. What is that is what happened to the widow who thought her food wouldn't last the week? That doesn't diminish God, we all know how hard it is to get people to change! That just makes the story less fantastic. 

Paul wrote about how Jesus sacrificed his life (ego) to erase sin. We must do the same. 'Christians' get too passive. Everyone loves the interpretation where Jesus died for our sins, we don't have to make sacrifices (killing pigeons, turtle doves and calves) and all our future sins are forgiven as long as we TRY not to sin... But there's more! Paul often writes about this battle with the flesh and the spirit, the things we want to do and the things we need to do. Those fleshly things may very well be what we call Ego. So the work we must do to actually be Christian is to sacrifice our 'life's. Give up the things of ego that make up the image of our lives. Most 'Christians' are still trying to be cool and keep their ego. God does NOT negotiate with terrorists! And the ego is a terrorist. Don't get caught in the middle. Choose a side and stay on it. THAT is Christianity - choosing the ego-less side of Jesus and Staying there!
"It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." We are heavenly things! This is in reference to the animal sacrifices of the past. We used to give up a little bit of another creature's flesh to repent. Now, to repent, we must give up ourselves. We can be siblings of Christ. IF, we choose to CONTINUE to achieve spiritual success. 

The story of the widow's two cents is well known. But knowing is not enough and, oddly enough, that is the true point of the story. It's miraculous and note worthy to choose God after your life has been devoted to sin. When a gang-banger walks down the aisle and stops banging, when the hooker leaves the street corner, THAT is on the level of the widow. Because those past lives were ALL they had and they gave it up for God. Make SURE that's ALL you have! A lot of us come before God with more to give and, AGAIN, try to negotiate. God want's it ALL. And it's not about money, your ego will tell you its about money. But you have time, you have talent, you have energy to give. You have bad habits, bad relationships, poor outlooks, bad feelings ... to give up. Give it ALL. God is not going to accept "I'm just an asshole. I'll be an asshole for God." NOPE!!! Give it up!Walking down the aisle at church or working you way up to leading a bible study is something great, congratulations, but you know there is more, keep going! Quit trying to go back. Stop trying to make your way, God's way. God's way has already won victory over ALL other ways! Be prepared to see things a different way, then do it. And then, DO IT AGAIN!!! Growth means your life will continue to change without end. Keep learning, keep living, keep growing, KEEP SUCCEEDING...

What I Learned Outside of Church...

Where is your faith?

I didn’t make it to church but, being a part of such an organized church, the weekly readings are easily found online. So, I’m taking a stab sharing my own understanding of the day’s readings. Usually, the readings are harder to put together into one message. This week, providence came in the form of various issues with family and friends. I thank God for the ability to connect and focus on the solution MOST, if not all, of the time.

So let’s start with the prophet Isaiah. In chapter 50 the church’s focus is not forgetting that God is there all the time to help, encourage and protect us from ALL things. But, sometimes, we forget. And, reading the WHOLE chapter (Because that’s how WE role), we see that Isaiah was REALLY discussing us turning our backs on God. God has never left us. We leave God. We forget that God is with us in the dark as well as in the light. If we want to receive those blessings from verses 5-9, all we have to do is remember and not turn our back on God because God won’t turn his back on us.

Moving on to James Chapter 2, we all know the verses about faith without works being dead. But let’s get into the details of the work. I work with a lot of different charities and community groups. The main hindrances are politics, egos and cliques. So while we all are focused on work, work, work to prove our faith, there is also a warning against the very divisiveness that will kill any good work. Treat Everyone The Same. Don’t have your favorites. Don’t choose political parties. Don’t make allegiances to cliques or classes, because THOSE things will become bigger than the work and turn a positive into a negative.

            My high school alumni are battling that right now. In order to work, some people want to consider class, age, social status, friendships, egos before just getting to work. So much so, a lot of the workers have been turned off despite the overwhelming need and urgency at my high school now.

I remember my faith so I respond with work. I work with everyone. I avoid cliques. I just WORK! I remember that the work is more important than any petty differences among my alumni. My faith in God and the success of my school means that I KNOW my work will not be in vain. I know that the real work will not be stopped. With a strong faith in God and my community, I remember that God in with me no matter how troublesome the problems within my alumni seem. So I work. And, with God, we will win.

And now, the gospel according to Mark… In Chapter 8, after Jesus feeds 4,000, he warns his disciples about eating of the Pharisees and Herod and they misinterpret that to mean real food. It’s the spiritual food he is talking about. They may have begun with good intentions but are now poisoned with rhetoric, politics, egos, and traditions of divisiveness. If only the disciples were able to hold onto that message… Then, after Jesus heals a blind man, he tells them of his coming death and Peter tries to rebuke him. After all Jesus has done to teach and prove his powers, including instilling his disciples with similar powers, Peter and the rest of the disciples still held onto selfish (corporal) beliefs and responded incorrectly. Death is not the end for Christ and true Christians. It’s just a process. But, because we still hold on to so much of this world (almost to the point of turning our backs on God’s world), we are still afraid of death. We still try to avoid losing all the things we can’t take with us.

So often, even in the midst of God, in the middle of doing Godly work, while the sun is the brightest, we bring the shade of worldly ways and lose our focus on God. We see it in politics, we see it in our churches, and we see it at home. We see people choose their own egos and turn their backs on God. We see people dismiss each other when they could be collaborating for the common good. We see people choosing failure over cooperation. And sometimes, we do it ourselves.

            Jesus came and went. Although he will come again, he’s not coming to lead us, but to see how well we have led ourselves. Dr. King, El Shabazz, Gandhi, and Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy are gone. They will Not return! But, like Jesus, they left us with instructions to lead ourselves. The work is not hard anymore. The focus is. Stay focused on God and not all the reasons to quit. We say we believe in victory but get discouraged when the other team shows up.

We must have faith in our work! We must also work our faith. We say we believe in this or that. We say out God is almighty. Prove it!

The Power of The Media

Mark Chapter 7 (Read it ALL) This is just a high light. “14 After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 [[f]If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]”

Everyone who knows this story knows it’s about food. But doesn’t Jesus use parable to go deeper than the surface? So let’s go deeper.

I have a friend whose favorite rap artist is Brotha Lynch Hung. If you don’t know who he is, he is likely the MOST vulgar rap artist out there. He makes Eminem seem like a gospel artist. This friend of mine hardly ever curses, didn’t drink until recently and still only rarely, and is one of the nicest guys in America. Isn’t that an oxymoron of American culture?  How could it be after more than twenty years of listening to vulgarity this man can lead an unvulgar life

            Simply, he is responsible to his actions. So many of us are so irresponsible for our actions.  [] Tradition is why we do it. “I just don’t know why I did it. Must have been all the Basketball Wives and Bad Girls Club.” “My friends…” “My Family…” Or the worst one ever… “These kids…”

            A picture was posted on Facebook and the question attached to it was simply, “Does this offend you”

The answer to a true believer should be ‘NO’. It is possibly offensive to the person who made it. He and he alone will have to deal with the consequences of his actions. That is, unless a person CHOOSES to internalize this picture and allow it to control their response.

            What I see and am commenting on is a tradition of being influenced and/or controlled by the outside factors. The people I read about and am descendent from in the Bible are stronger than that. The power to tread scorpions is ours. “…nothing shall by any means hurt you.” That is, you/we who believe.

            What goes in doesn't defile you. What comes out does! Be aware not of what's being given to you, the media, associates, environment, family; be aware and responsible of your response (what comes out). No matter what, you are responsible for your actions. Why is it that we know better and still give all the power over our actions to outside influences? Maybe we don’t know better. Maybe we don’t believe in what we know. Maybe… we don’t believe in what we think we believe in…

What I Learned In Church 3/4/12

Today we read: Genesis Chapter 22, Romans 8 and Mark 9. In these chapters we examined Abraham's faith, Paul told us “If God is with you, who can be against you?” and we witnessed The Transfiguration. We should know Abraham’s story. He was impatient so God put him to the ultimate test. He had to wait until he was 100 years old (exaggeration) to have children. Then he was asked to make a sacrifice and he offered up his only son who he waited nearly a century for… Some of yall don’t even like your kids and you wouldn’t give them up like that. Even for God. And that’s how he got his blessing.

            Fast forward a few generations. God gets tired of the endless cycle of messing up, punishment, forgiveness, trials, blessings… God says- let’s skip a few steps. Hey Jesus! Come do me a favor… Now we have an example of perfection to strive for and endless do-overs. And then theirs is the power. “If God is with you, who can be against you?”  No one!

            Lets look back at the example in the flesh. Two of the three men who went straight to heaven come back to chop it up with Jesus. That’s the power that is available to us and Peter wants to put Jesus, Elijah and Moses in boxes. God's power is limitless. Why do we always try to put the limitless inside a box.

            My boy Robert says it this way, If you didn't understand #TheMatrix the first time you watched it, you're a fucking idiot or at the very least you have ADD or ADHD or OCD.

            I’m a little bit nicer but, the sentiment is still the same. When you truly understand what it means to have access to limitless power, the sky is the limit. If you are still limiting yourself and/or God, something is wrong.

            I see a lot of people who “know the bible” but still live within limits. Something is wrong. We have a mental disorder or like Robert says… dee-deedee!

It’s simple. "Listen to God"   Trust what you hear from God. If you are having trouble, now is the perfect time to give up some stuff/distractions so you can hear. I believe in us. We can do it.

What I Learned in Church: 1/22/12

Let us pray:

            Forgive me for not seeing/seeking You in everyone. I’ve been distracted by dysfunction. I praise Your name to the highest heavens for giving me one more chance. Thank You for never changing, even when I did.

            Specifically, I got scared to be the man You spent all this time molding me into. I made some early mistakes. I released my passion and unleased the pimp hand physically and verbally. I don’t know if it was my time to act but I know it scared me into distraction and inactivity.

            My prayer is that those I have chosen as my family, will receive your humble ways through my humiliation. Let them see the true meaning of giving. Shw them through my constant humiliation the ultimate gift is self. Give up self. THAT is Christianity! Giving it all away. IT is ego. Give yourself away.

Show us how to give away our feelings, give away our understanding, give away our stuff, our pasts. And when we are stubborn, take it away. We will count it as a blessing. Forgive us and show us how to forgive ourselves. Help us let go of our baggage so we can receive your bounty.

            In Jesus’ name…

Our youth pastor began the sermon. He touched Isaiah 50:4, Psalms 127:3-5, Matthew 18:2-5, Psalms 82, Proverbs 22:6; 6:1, Philippians 4:13, and Leviticus 19:32. The overall message was to stay encouraged on this journey that is your relationship with God. Always stay focused on understanding, pathways and instruction.  “Reach for heaven. Heaven is farther than the stars.”

Then came the charge from the senior pastor:

            Ecclesiastes 12, after we’ve seen it all and realize it’s all vanity, we don’t take any more pleasure in the things we used to do. So…

            “Remember GOD now!”

            We don’t have time to be distracted for even a second. We especially don’t have time to only think about being good on twice a week (Bible Study and Worship day). Hell, we don’t even have time for the morning/bedtime gap. You know how it is. We wake up praising God for giving us one more day. We end the day asking for forgiveness and one more chance to get it right. In between, we miss plenty of opportunities to remember God.

            The church (in every generation) is going to be held accountable for certain things. [ie. money, inventions, music]. The religious tradition is to run these things out of church. The church has to be ready to receive. In James 5:20 we get the picture that He is saving us so we can get to someone else. We go through stuff so that other can see there IS a way out. (Realize I said ‘go through’ not ‘stay stuck’ in stuff.)

            A lot of us have gotten so into doctrine that we try to take control from God. Let God handle the discipline. We just have to be the beacon. Let his light shine through us and our journey.

            Tradition and doctrine have made us lazy. GET UP!!! We used to walk everywhere. Then we get cars and get too tired to drive to church. Hell, we get to tired to drive around the corner let alone walk. WALK? I know I’m talking crazy!

            The bottom line is right now is a serious time to get it in. and it’s not about 2012, the economy, the election, Al Queda, Iran or anything like that. Virtually everyone knows all there is to know about right and wrong. We are and will continue to be held accountable for ALL that we know. If you know better and ain’t doing it…

…just don’t try to block me on my way to glory…

[Talk about Blocks!]

My New Year’s Resolution

It’s been a few days. How is every doing with their resolutions? Me? I didn’t make any. After years of making fake ones, forgetting to make any until March, making unrealistic ones, not remembering what they were after two weeks and just trying to fit in with the masses; I determined to stop bullshitting myself.

Of all the improvements and changes we want to make in our lives, how many of those are really self-centered? Are you doing these things for you or to fit in? Is it just tradition to change your life on January 1st? Is there truly something about the changing of a calendar that makes us want to change? Why didn’t we think of these things before? Or what is it about January 1^st that makes it easier to do so, if it’s easier at all.

Sometime in June or July I started to question “traditions”. There is nothing wrong with tradition. I questioned a lot of things. I questioned our motivations. I questioned our priorities. I questioned the: who, what, when, where, how and why of just being ourselves. There IS something wrong with not questioning ourselves.

Within our individual spirituality, it’s much easier to fall back on dogma and doctrine than it is to deal with what’s right in front of our faces.  What’s right in front of us is our self. Whether or not we make resolutions or any changes in our lives we have priorities that guide our decisions. Those priorities should be controlled by us but if we remain afraid to address our self, then our priorities are controlled by a myriad of outside forces: tradition, emotion, other people, buildings, institutions, and holidays. All things which are not bad at all except for the fact that we are being held back by something!

So many of us are so close to our breakthrough, we can taste it. We can see it. Sometimes we think we can touch it. So we reach but there’s that something. All those outside forces can become that something if we don’t deal with our selves. Many of us have all the answers but none of the courage to face ourselves in the mirror and make our selves do what we know is the right thing to do.

So we turn to our outside stuff. We put our most important step off until next year. Now next year is here and tradition tells us to make some resolutions. Why not? Let’s lose some weight. Why don’t we remodel the house? Maybe it’s time to tell off all the people who’ve been getting on our nerves all year. It all sounds good.

But forgive me for asking so many questions all the time. I have to do it though. Why New Years Day? Why haven’t we made any changes before? Is October really that shitty of a month that you don’t want to make changes? Are you having too much fun in April? Why are we waiting on the calendar to tell us what to do?

One resolution I heard was something like – I resolve to stop putting up with the BS. I wish I could remember who it was. I would try to make them famous. Maybe its better I don’t remember, because one thing was missing. When are we going to stop putting up the main bull-shitter in our lives? That is, when will we stop bullshitting ourselves?

In our day to day lives, we talk a lot of shit. We talk the most shit to ourselves though. We say we want to start eating healthy for the New Year but we woke up on January 3^rd (We party that hard!) hung-over. We must have fried food and A LOT of it. Lately, I’ve noticed people starting their resolutions later and later in the year. Let alone January, some people start in March.

There must be some magic to changing the calendar that allows us to be able to what we couldn’t do during the rest of the year. But if there is, how does it work. Do we need to only make certain resolutions? Do we need to make our resolutions more realistic?

I say none of that. The magic of New Years is in the myth of a fresh start. We get reminded of God’s forgiveness and our never-ending fresh starts.  We don’t have to wait for a particular calendar day to come around in order for us to make a change. All we have to do is remember that we can change. Any day!

If you have made a resolution or three this year, good luck. If you haven’t, good luck too. No matter which group you are in never forget that you can grow any day, at any time. It’s never too early or too late to take honest inventory of yourself and make some changes. Once we start learning, we don’t stop.

Never stop learning. Never stop growing. If you didn’t do so hot this season and you need another holiday to jumpstart your growth, Ash Wednesday is February 22 this year. The Lenten season is the perfect time to fast and pray for a new direction.

Either way, good luck. You can do it!

My Businesses: The Mission Statements

RuggeD Productions

          In 1994, my boys (The RuggeD Posse) wanted to BBQ. I was eager to help. It all began an initial investment of twenty dollars. For twenty dollars, I became a part of my first party crew. I was in love. That year was my introduction to what it really meant to be a part of something. I was a part of a community. I was experiencing true cooperation.

          In 1995, I decided to take that same message of community and cooperation nationwide, starting with LA. Since then the vehicle has changed. RuggeD Productions has shifted from high school parties to adult nightclubs to commercial and residential real estate. It has shifted from promoting to production to building. The scope has grown from one city (LA) to one country (USA) to one planet.

          Through it all the underlying message of community and cooperation has only been perfected. RuggeD Productions is about strong individuals, families, communities and nations. Through entities such as RuggeD Publishing, Sloan Enterprises LLC, RuggeD Prime, RuggeD Premium and RuggeD Properties, the mission is to strengthen individuals, families and ultimately our world.

          The message of community and cooperation has grown under God’s leadership. Just as a young man has grown from helping out his crew to aspirations of inspiring the world, God’s gift of love and abundance can be achieved through community and cooperation. The mission of RuggeD Productions looking forward is to help community institutions grow as God intended, abundantly by providing plans and long-term growth strategies for small businesses.

RuggeD Publishing

Somewhere along the line, I realized I could write. Further along the in the journey, I realized I had a message to share. My journey has delivered me to a place of strength, peace, and love under God’s guidance. The truth of my experience is beautiful and meant to be shared.

          RuggeD Publishing’s mission is to inspire the spirit of abundance and love within the individual. One person, one word at a time the truth will be told and God’s message will be shared.

          As in all RuggeD companies, the mission is to inspire the world. We write about growth, love, community and personal journeys.

          Abundance, cooperation and Christ-like living, one word at a time.

RuggeD Properties

         

          Since high school, I have been impressed with the spirit of community. In my travels, I realized just how valuable that spirit is. Since about 1998, real estate has become vital to the mission of abundance.

          The mission of RuggeD Property is to build communities and inspire cooperation one home at a time. RuggeD Property seeks to build, rebuild and maintain communities across America as part of RuggeD Production’s larger mission of abundance through community and cooperation.

          Community, cooperation, abundance, Christ-like living, one project at a time.

RuggeD Prime

          As RuggeD Prime, our family (business) seeks to establish a tradition of improvement. Whether it’s new developments or rebuilding/remodeling neighborhoods; whether commercial or residential, RuggeD Prime carries the RuggeD family’s message of community and cooperation along with it. RuggeD Prime is improving every community if works in, one project at a time.

          Tradition, community, cooperation, abundance and Christ-like living, one neighborhood at a time.

RuggeD Premium

          Investing is about building a legacy. Investing is about growth. It is a tool for abundance and giving. RuggeD Premium is the company that achieves that goal. RuggeD Premium builds tradition, A tradition of growth, abundance, cooperation and giving for our (RuggeD) family and all of our associated communities. RuggeD Premium is not just about building bright futures but also blessed eternities for the world family.

          Investing in growth, tradition, community, cooperation, abundance and Christ-like living, one dollar at a time.

What I Learned In Church 12/19/11...

12/18/11

It may take a while before I get to my actual church. I’m visiting everyone else’s churches first. This week was Metro Church Calvary Chapel. A nice church. I like them smaller. I don’t want to be anonymous in a church. The pastor was a funny little man full of Love and energy. The congregation was like a big family. Real low key vibe. Cute little church in Santa Monica. I may go back.

After that, it was Masonic St’ John’s Day at Victory Baptist Church. I went with my father. Two Words, one day. And then I finally got to chop it up with my big-big sister T. Today was truly God’s day. I’m blessed to have been active in it.

So on the way to Calvary, Brandi called herself a pessimist. I said she just wanted to stay prepared for the worst case scenario. That’s not the same as expecting the worst outcome. The details are not important but we get mixed up by them. God winning in the end means you are not a pessimist. When you believe, you become an optimist. Different people get to God in different ways. But they get to God. That is all. The details (the how) is unimportant. The how is what distracts us from God. We try to control how but that's not in our power. That power is all God. Our power leads us to choose God and he takes it from there. I think God proved my point later that night.

The focus was on the coming of Jesus. After all, he is the reason…

The scriptures came from Isaiah Chapter 7 (14-17), Chapter 9 (6-7), and Luke Chapter 2 (8-20).

The Old Testament is full of Israel getting chance after chance to get it right and choose God. Then Isaiah foretells of a coming savior in the midst of Israel’s poor decision making. Then Jesus actually came to fulfill God’s promise. Unfortunately, after a million chances, a warning and fulfillment; we still don’t choose God. We prefer to stay stuck in the past. Per Pastor Steve – The Past often has to do with fathers. We may or may not have one and he may or may not be any good. But we have the fulfillment of Jesus. He came to make us all brothers and sisters and give us an everlasting Father. The everlasting Father is here now and endures forever.

So we have a choice. We can stay in our unfulfilling pasts or we can choose the brighter present and future promised us by God through Jesus.

Jesus was born to give us second birth. That we may die no more. But we still choose to die. We don’t choose God. We choose drugs. We choose stress. We choose getting older. Instead of preparing ourselves for the next step of our eternal lives we say things like “I’m seventy-five years old” as an excuse to stop living.

The time is not for excuses. It’s time to live and never stop!

Just a little FYI:

It is a myth that Jesus was poor/came from a poor family. 2 Corinthians 8:9 He was rich. He made himself poor for us. And then he handled the misinterpretation with humility. We misinterpret being born in a manger as a sign of poverty but it's OK. It still serves God. (Some details are not important to serving God)


(St. Johns Day)

The word came from Proverbs 3:1-6, Luke 1:26-33 and Matthew 1:18.

We get focused on Stuff so much during this time that we forget Jesus was not about Stuff. He came to change us. Not to change the law, but for us to grow past our current conditions to something better.

THIS is a season of change. Let the coming of Jesus represent the fulfillment of God's prophecy. New births and youth should remind us of the fulfillment of dreams and plans to honor God's word. And the word is Love. Bless and encourage change and growth EVEN and especially if it threatens traditions. There is only one tradition worth saving, Jesus' tradition of Love.

Mary reminded Pastor of the Unmarried Pregnant Black Teenaged Girl which, by the way, is becoming rarer. According to USA Today, from 2009 to 2010 there was a 9% drop in unplanned pregnancies among 15-19 year olds. Thank God and praise His name.

A few young people still get sidetracked. They end up missing out on their education, settling for any job and anybody. Some of us got side tracked. Some of us did some sidetracking. We all “made the best of it”. We were still trapped in a life we weren’t prepared for.

If we really cared about each other, as well as ourselves, we would not want to lock each other up. We would stop using tricks to sidetrack each other.

Because we choose God, we don’t focus on the past. No blame. We just don’t do sidetracking anymore. And if we have already sidetracked/been sidetracked, we stop. We DO building. We DO choose God. We DO what Jesus would have us do. We Love.

What I Learned In Church 12/11/11

What I Learned In Church 12/11/11

Let me start by thanking God for forgiving me for making my obstacles bigger than Him. Thank God for Your undying Love.

            This past Sunday I was at Triangular. I grew up there, as well as in other churches. I am just now though learning and understanding the philosophy of this particular church, just as I am coming into a fuller understanding of the Love of Jesus.

            Before we begin, let me share a few thoughts and announcements:

• Another day older but more so infinitely more mature.
• The Question of the Day was designed to show how we sometimes make man into idols and put men before God. I forgot, though, to ban preacher men from answering the question. (Thanks George!)
• Have you tried Jesus? Seriously!
  We have truly tried everything. All that IS left is choosing Jesus.
  That doesn't mean voting for a Crazy conservative next November. That means choosing Love now and letting that light shine everyday until November and beyond. This country and this world need and deserve your Love now and forever. Start with your self and watch it spread through your family to the world. Keep building. Keep growing. Never, not for one second, stop Loving. Choose Jesus from now on!
• We are Love so look for US everywhere.
• Keep on being a bright light; don't be a dim light.
  
  

And now the Word:

So, by his own words, Eddie Long's church is in jeopardy. Where Is The Healing? The healing is going on now. The people are leaving because they are supposed to. Revenues are down because they are supposed to be down. Eddie Long ("My church is in jeopardy") It is. But not The Church. Brick and mortar is in jeopardy all over because we've been choosing buildings and not God. God is clearing out the rift raft so we can choose Him and not idols. 

Healing is taking away obstructions between you and God. Obstructions are not just obvious sins like adultery or homosexuality or lying. Obstructions are making yourself, your life, your church and your problems bigger than the Real Church.

God is working with New Birth. In Matthew Chapter 9 Jesus first forgave the palsied man his sins so he could be healed. Then he told the man to rise and take his bed and go home. I’m sure Eddie Long asked for and was given forgiveness long ago. He and New Birth are still being healed. This is a specific process.

Healing is a process specifically for the individual. If you have someone to forgive, there is a healing process just for you. Remember the 7/70 plan (Matthew 18:20-22 - forgive him seven times seventy) It's not about being able to feel good It's about being able to do better. To Love better!

Attacking Eddie Long won't fix the problem. And forgiveness is not giving him a pass. Forgiveness is seeking and waiting till we find healing for Eddie Long and the church AND his accusers. The Church WILL get better. That may or may not
Include New Birth but The Church will be better.

"Pick[ing] up your bed" is taking dominion over your life. That bed was that mans life. Control that which has been controlling you. If it’s drugs, sex, lying, eating, did I say sex? Don’t play with it or let it play with you. No matter what it is, remember the Bible has a happy ending. Seek forgiveness and allow God to heal you. It’s a process. Go through it. God wins in the end. Despite how it looks now, God is working towards the best. Get on His team.

It’s funny. As soon as I heard Reverend Greg say Eddie Long. I said to myself – Awwwww man! More of that bull! But God uses everyone to shine his light. As we look to New Birth and pray for healing for that church, we should see God working in our lives to heal us as well. We should remember to remain patient and long suffering as we go through all that we must to be healed.

We’ll end with a special prayer for my Brother's Brother. Thank God for his healing hands.

Church Sex

Church Sex

Church is the new speed dating. Church is better than Tagged, It’s better than Eharmony, It’s better than the club, And dare I say, it’s better than FB. And there IS sex. Lots of hot steamy sex.

I’m not exactly sure how it works but it does. Isn’t that the way church is anyway? No details. Just go and let the spirit move you. Remain open. Stay cool calm and patient. And let the blessings just rain down on you.
You don’t have to dress up, just come as you are. You don’t even need a job or money. You don’t really need to have your shit together at all. Church people like to fix other people.
But there is no faking church. No jumping up and running into the first church on your block. NO parking lot pimping in front of church. The key to church dating is honesty. There is no talking about sex specifically but in all other areas complete honesty and full disclosure are required at all times.
That means you must practice your actual religion. If you aren’t looking to get married, you must say so. Your church will provide people with loose dating morals for you. You must find a church that fits your needs. Once you have found that right fit, join something in the church and let the dating begin.
Just remember, no naked-dicking!

Daily Words For One Week

I am free and unlimited.

Freedom is more than a state of being; it is also astate of mind. When my mind is free, I am at peace. I am open to the wisdom of God, the wisdom that leads me to hoy and fulfillment.
As I open my mind and heart to God, I am free. In realizing me oneness with God, I release the chains of negative thought and limitation and adopt and inner knowing of love and freedom. The words of a favorite hymn remind me: I am free. I am unlimited. There are no chains that bind me. I am free. I am unlimited, right now! Right now, I feel peace and freedom. Right now, I let go of the past and move forward in my life. Right now, I begin anew with a free spirit and joyful heart.

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.
-Psalm 32:11



I work with others in harmony and peace.

I am a magnificent creation of God, blessed with physical, mental and emotional abilities that enable me to co-create wonderful moments in life. I live in a world filled with other people who are wondrous creations, and as I connect with them, my power to co-create multiplies.
In my workplace, community or household, the best results often come through shared efforts toward a common goal. I model the ability to listen to others and consider their ideas. When I work with others effectively, the world is a little more harmonious than it would be otherwise. I celebrate the willingness and ability of all people to work together in harmony and oneness.

You are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God.
-Ephesians 2:19



I promote harmony by being at peace.

We are the peace of God in expression right where we are. As we join with one another in thought, prayer and action, we contribute to a sacred network of harmony, a powerful consciousness of peace that is growing person by person every day.
In every neighborhood, community, city, and country, we promote harmony, mutual understanding and cooperation as expressions of our spiritual nature, our true nature. We recognize and treat one another as sacred beings who are sharing in the abundance of our divine inheritance. Each thoughtful word and caring gesture is evidence of the love of God expressing through us to the world.

The dawn from on high will break upon us, …to guide our feet into the way of peace.
-Luke 1:78,79

What a week of reflection, reconnection and rebuilding! I started last month determined to focus on myself. The mantra was – I can’t help you if you I haven’t helped myself first. So I looked within and sought to build myself into someone who could help those around me. I distanced myself from everyone.
Having a clean slate, I can seek to add people to my circle. I am peaceful and strong in spirit so my persona attracts like individuals. I may have distanced myself from good friends who have similar positive outlooks. It feels really good to reconnect with them in a new harmony. I celebrate having God in common with my true friends and family.
And so we grow! Each of us has taken the time to reflect and become strengthened in spirit. Then we come together as a group of like-minded, strong individuals. This growth within ourselves is reflected in our group and harmony spreads to our friends and family to our neighborhoods to our communities to cities to our nations and throughout the world. And it all started with one person. Me. And became us!

God’s Plan

I’ve been hearing a lot of people say, in various ways, “Let Go and Let God.” I may have even mentioned it. But how many of us are ACTUALLY doing it. How much letting go are we doing? And how much letting God is going on? Are we blaming God for doing for we really wanted to do the whole time? Or are blaming God for not facing our fears?

I spoke briefly on how hard meditation is. Let me repeat. THAT SHIT IS HARD! It makes me wonder how a person can just say – Let go and let God. It’s Lent now. We are honoring the 40 days and 40 nights Jesus went into the wilderness before beginning his ministry. Our challenge is sit still and control our thoughts for 30 minutes a day. How is that going for us?

We are so quick to call ourselves Christian. But are we? How far away is 30 minutes from 40 days? (That’s if we are even committed to that type of meditation.) But we are letting go.

Letting go is key to letting God. Maybe, if we can achieve mental silence, we can see what’s inside of us. Then we can let go of the past and look forward to the future. Maybe we can see what’s really going on around us right now. Perhaps, we’ll be able to see which decisions we’re making as a result of which emotions.

I was thinking that perhaps we aren’t being as assertive in our own lives because we don’t know what God wants. So we sit back, chill and wait. But if we don’t know how to listen (better yet!), if we don’t know what/who to listen to, how will we ever know…

What I Learned In Church: Saved by Faith Not Works (An Alternative Perspective)

Current mood: animated
Category: Life
We are saved by faith not works.

I was concerned about missing church for so long. Then I was concerned about being late today. Then I walked in on that scripture. We often get caught up in the glamour of our religion, the glamour of our jobs, the glamour of our lives. We want to be able to tell someone "I'm a Christian" "I'm a Buddhist." "I'm an atheist" "I work here" "I work there" I'm a doctor" "I'm a police man" "I date him/her" "I married this or that thing" "I had kids with …(his/her name slips my name at the moment)"

And we all want to wear our badges of distinction. In Deuteronomy, the Hebrew people started wearing a phylactery (a tiny box containing a piece of paper with the heart of the Israelite law written on it.) Today some Jewish people still wear it when they pray. Just like some other Jews carry mini Torahs around, or Christians wear crosses, some Moslems wear the crescent and star, or Buddhists carry mini prayer books. I know some of us throw the bible in the windshield hoping for some protection when we drive. Police officers love to flash badges to gain special privileges. We want the world and God and his Mama to see everything good we do.

But Paul warned about getting caught up in deeds. If you truly want to help your fellow man, just help. Don't get caught up in the rules. As a child we might have gotten praise for following this or that rule. We all know as an adult there is no such thing. The reward IS the deed. We don't go to church to say we went. I mean, do we get extra prayers/blessings for writing our name and address on the donation envelope? We all went to medical school to save lives – I think. We became lawyers…to…(well that was for the money but you know what I mean.) And I know we got married and had kids out of love. I know weddings are cool, the open bar is REAL nice, naked-dicking is cool when you are married and someone has to take out the trash – nothing beats slave (I mean child labor…I mean allowances.)

And Jesus even told us, those crosses we got hanging around our necks will get us NOWHERE. All the flamboastin and flashiness, the vanity plates (4GOD, LVJESUS…etc) won't get us into, don't come with us in heaven. So what purpose do they serve? Check Matthew Chapter seven.

"A faithful response to God's way"
God is good all the time. But we don't trust that. We live totally in our perspective. Trust in the goodness of God. Life shifts. Things change. It may seem like turbulence and turmoil if you don't have the faith. It's about the way we change ourselves to fit God's ways.

It's not about The Show. It's about doing something. It's about being Christian, buddhist, Moslem. It's about finding the happiness and joy in BEING whoever/whatever you are. It's not so much about being good as it is about being good at being


Wow this is your best! This is so true.

Why thank you! I was leaning towards worst because I have just been squeezing them out lately. Plus, people didn't seem to be reading. But I have been getting pleasantly surprised this week.

I totally agree with what you are saying!! God bless you...

And also you sister!

Trying to Fail

Current mood: confident
Category: Life

Steve Harvey went off on a tangent this morning so had to find something else. I came upon the local "People's Station". A lady was getting advice from the special guest. (No idea who the special guest was, but she had a British accent so she must have been smart.) This lady was a stay at home mom with about six kids. The lady kept saying nothing was working. Everything she had been trying was failing. The guest gave her options and the lady kept saying I tried. I tried this. I tried that. Try. Try. Try.

All I could think was - she can tell her children she tried when they get knocked up, knocked out, and knocked around. Steve Harvey already called trying - failing with honor. Is that the best our children can hope for? To fail with honor?

I had already been thinking about how much lazier we are than our parents. And maybe this is why. The baby boomers, rich or poor, DO things. We don't do anywhere near as much as they did or do now. And half the shit we say we do we don't actually do. We only try to do those things. We try everything.

When it comes to trying, we got the Baby Boomers beat. We might have it backwards. Some of us try a lot of things and all we end up doing is recreational. We try school, we try occupations, we try marriage, we try to make a living. But we do dates. We do drinks. We do drugs.

Perhaps we should turn it around. Let's do a whole lot of living. Try dating. Try drugs. Try anything we don't plan on doing forever. Let's do the things we don't mind doing forever.

We are the "Just Do It" generation. So just quit trying to fail.


*Standing ovation* and the crowd goes WILD!!!! Ok I guess u got ur muse back, that was fantastic...love this blog!!! 5 kudos!!!
Since I've gotten older I've definitely been in "Do it and Get it Done" mode...Is it b'cuz I feel I have less time to do it and no more playing around I don't know....but great piece Jason.

23 kudos!!!!!!! Excellent Blog! I see u did get your muse back lol. Just because she had a British accent doent mean that she is necessarily smart. Very true statement bout the systematic teaching of our children to "FAIL WITH HONOR" as if u are already knocking yourself out of the game before u even play. lol

JR

Don't try, DO IT.

What I Learned In Church: 4/4/2008

Current mood: luminous
Category: Life


Announcements:
To everyone (Friends, family, and random strippers/whores and generally loose women) I got a chance to spend time with in Los Angeles, Thank You for providing one of the best birthdays and trips home ever. It won’t be so long before the next trip this time.

As luck would have it, while I was considering the logistics of attending my old church on Sunday, my sister mentions my Step-Mother is speaking at church on Sunday. What a pleasant surprise. I do enjoy the rare occasions when she speaks on more than the announcements. She possesses a wisdom I don’t think she even knows about.

A Word:
Church, the word for today is FAITH. The responorial Psalm is:
NO THING in the universe can negate the Good God has for me. Believe that. Live that. Let that make it easier for you to be yourself.
Repeat after me - "Here I am. As I am. Giving thanks THAT I am."
If you don’t know what to be thankful for, just look around. Be grateful.
Having faith means having the faith OF God instead of faith in God. Where is our faith? Are we faithful to God? Are we even faithful to ourselves? Mark Chapter 11 Jesus told a tree to die and it died. "If anyone says to this mountain, ’Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his/her heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. How far away are we from THAT level of faith? That’s Dalai Lama faith. That’s the Buddha’s faith.
If you say you have apply your faith. Live like you actually believe what you believe in. Ask and you shall receive. ONCE! One time quick hit and move. Pray, believe, work and wait. The key is working and waiting. We are most impatient and lazy when it comes to our blessings.
The time never existed for "believers" who don’t do shit. And pestering God won’t ever work. Who wants to help someone who doesn’t believe in them?
Anyone can attend a church but not everyone is a member. Anyone can pray but not everyone is a believer. And you can say whatever you want but not everyone has the faith their spirituality calls for. In fact, the faithful are few.
My step-mom always says practice the three Rs.
1. Release the past
2. Renew the relationship with God
3. Recognize the God power within you
No matter how much training, learning and studying, if you aren’t applying the lessons to your everyday life, you’ve only done half the work.
Take time to pray, love, live, be yourself, appreciate life and above all, believe in ALL of it.


Although I am not Christian I can see your Step-mom's advice being applicable to all people.

Release the past
Renew a relationship with the miracle of existence
Recognize the divinity within yourself

There....same concept framed outside of religious concept.

Yup! Good advice for anyone.

I don't just write for Christians you know. The truth and the light don't only shine in one's church. They shine at McDonald's, The Strip Club, Hooters, that one topless carwash in the secret location or where ever. You just have to want to see it

Pray, believe, work and wait.....I love this blog...jus recently I have been putting those 4 words into effect in my life and the results are incredible!!! To believe that you will recieve what youv'e asked for and take the responsibility of doing the work and "patiently" waiting on the results of the latter 3 is amazing and a joy....*sometimes the wait isn't very long either* Thanks for the affirmation and confirmation.

I'm working on the THREE