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.

The Week In Review 11/7/7 (Prayers)

Since I haven't been able to make church these past few weeks (due to sinning[lots and lots of sinning]NOT REALLY but probably), let's see if I can't get some clarity with a little reflection. In my church, after communion, we kneel to pray. This prayer more reflection time. I usually go over my week and thank God for stopping me from slapping the shit out of people I've come into contact with.

So let's pray:

Lord, thank you. Thank you for giving me patience when customers call to see if the car lot they just drove by has any cars for sale. Help me stay strong when everyone around me keeps asking me to lie. (You know - Am I getting on your nerves? Sale this car. Does this car run good? At $700? This 2002? Absolutely!)

Please Lord, look out for my people. Help me find a way to convince my cousin to stop lying on his dick about ugly women. Forgive all the nakeddickers who just couldn't sit they triflin asses at home on Black Out Friday. Forgive "The Dog", he didn't mean nigger in a bad way. Plus, he doesn't even know Al Sharpton and he never knew we now say "nakeddicker" instead. If anything, forgive his nakeddickedness. Maybe, I'll forgive him for not reading my blogs.

Bless Denzel and his new movie. I know so many people couldn't wait to watch the bootleg. I hope they were as eager to pay $10 (or more) to see it in the theater. Bless T.I. when he goes back to prison. He's a cute little guy. He may need your help. Bless Oprah. She didn't know women could be pedophiles and on the down low too.

As always, bless the children. Just because they come from retardation and nakeddickin' they don't have to be doomed to the same.

(Meditation...)





In Jesus' name.....














SLAP!!!!!!

LMFAO, you are hilarious, I love it!!!!!!!

So I've heard its best to pray "Lord have your will" than to request "specific blessings" because it minimizes our disappointments when our prayers aren't answered in in what we'd consider a timely fashion or according to our liking. And often times, what we pray for may not be in our best interest or the better interest of whom we've asked God to bless. Perhaps God has already blessed Oprah, The Dog, T.I., Denzel (and dare I include the NAKEDDICKERS too) with the very same "issues" you've requested their deliverance from... we're all in need of the occasional reality-checks to keep us real with God!


Thanks for the blog invite... I've enjoyed this mini trip into your would of thoughts... and am looking forward to reading more. Peace out!

What's a Nakeddicker? =)

LMAO!!!

What I learned in Church: Persistence and Faith

Posted Date: : Oct 22, 2007 4:19 PM

Listen to GOD

The gospel told a story of a dishonest judge and a woman who was persistent in asking for justice. Because she was persistent, the judge gave in. Jesus then asked how strong our faith was. This was not a story for people with low comprehension skills. (Don't get me started on retards again) Most people would assume this means we persist in prayer, keep asking and asking and asking. Two things pop into my head.

1. If we are always asking, when do we stop and listen? I didn't know that faith worked that way. Some people ridicule Catholics or Moslems for using the same prayers over and over or for praying over and over so ritualistically and then turn around and repeatedly request the same thing to God every night. I guess because they change their drawers more often than an Arab there's a difference.

            If occurs to me that if you believe, you shall receive. So why you keep askin?

Which brings me to:

2. Are we now treating God like a dishonest judge? Does he need constant reminding that you still have not hit the Lotto? I mean the whole block, your barber and Jesus knows your numbers are 5-4-7. When do we stop needing and start believing? When are we going to stop over clicking that mouse? You only need to click that link one time and you hit the button six just to read my blog. The computer will freeze up, GOD won't. And HE knows and HE won't forget.  In fact, he may have sent you a reply. Stop typing and check your inbox. Don't be scared to open that email that looks unfamiliar, they're not all chains.

Remember, it's US who need the reminding, not the other way around. It's us who need help learning the word from time to time. For the first time in a while (and only the second time ever) I feel like my church community is somewhere I can go and know the people there have my back. And I don't even know anyone at my church! THAT, my friends, is what church is.

            If you happen to be attending a church where that is not the case… In fact, if you know the people at your church and still don't trust them, why are you still there? RUN! You are in hell and you don't know it. Use your Jesus slap and get out of there!

In the name of Jesus…

And quit pesterin God for new shoes! He's busy fighting a war for Christ's Sake!

DANG!

Thank ya Jaysus, each time you post I always pray that you post something relevant, something that will actually make sense, something people will actually want to read and comment on. I stopped, and look what happened, my prayers were answered. (speaking in tongues now) Hallelujah, I'macomininahondaleavininalexus.

After catching up today on all of the blog reading I've been missing out on, I have realized that I am very interested in attending your church one day. You're definitely churching me. As for your friend Taima, he is a riot. You two are made to be friends. Two peas in a pod. and that I'macomininahondaleavininalexus... how innovative! You guys are way too creative. Holla atcha girl. One

My brother you said it. You are getting deeper and deeper with each blog and to think of the number of people you are sharing this good news to. Just something that makes you say ummmmm. Preach on brother man preach ..........on. love ya

That's what I'm talking about L.A. Give me some good word on a Thursday mornin! You've inspired to speak on it @ length! U better go u inspiration u!