Bologna and Cereal April 6, 2010

Everybody who knows me knows that my favorite TV show of all time is The Cosby Show. I love it for many reasons, but mostly just because it was funny and boy did I love how Theo dressed, especially in the last few seasons of the show. One of the most poignant episodes was the very first. In one part, Theo brings home a D on his report card. When questioned about it he gave his usual blithe response, “No Problem.” But, hid dad, Dr. Huxtable wanted to show him that he was going to have many problems if he kept getting Ds in school. 

To illustrate his point Dr. Huxtable pulls out the old monopoly money to show Theo what life would look like in the real world. When it came time to figure out how much money he’d need for food, Theo said he could “get by on bologna and cereal.” 

That’s an interesting concept. Theo thought he could live on bologna and cereal was because it was among the cheapest foods you can buy. He wasn’t interested in nutrition or health, just getting by. 

That reminds me of how many of us approach life with a “get by” mentality. We not only have bologna and cereal eating habits shown through the high obesity rates. But, too many of us have bologna and cereal marriages, bologna and cereal study habits, bologna and cereal relationships and bologna and cereal churches. We are unfulfilled in these areas, but we’re only doing enough to “get by.” 

What’s worse is when you figure out that bologna is made from pig intestines and most cereals, especially the cheap kind, are mass produced, processed foods, neither of which makes for healthy living. A lifetime of this kind of diet will certainly send you to an early grave. No less, if we don’t change our bologna and cereal mentality, we will die a spiritual death as well. 

God says, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from His mouth. We have to change our diets from just “getting by” to “getting better.” God wants you to live better and eat better, but you will have to decide if you want what easiest and cheapest or if you want put in the word and tap into what your eyes haven’t seen or your ears heard, the next level. 

Ironically enough, Dr. Huxtable’s conversation with Theo had a profound effect. The last and final episode of The Cosby Show ends with Theo graduating from college and headed to graduate school. He gave up the bologna and cereal for meat and potatoes.

Sugar, Apples and Faith March 25, 2010

As Christians, we are called to walk and live by faith. Everything you do is tied to what you believe. For us, hope lies in the Lord from whom we obtain our sufficiency and strength. 

Faith is not an easy subject to discuss, nor is it an easy thing to do. Though we face a myriad of issues on a daily basis, we are supposed to trust God through them all. Faith is what moves the heart of God to act on our behalf. We know what scripture says about faith. Hebrews 11:6 is one of the most direct. 

For without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him earnestly. 

The only impossibilities that exist with God involve an absence of faith in Him. Faith is the make or break ingredient to obtaining a move of God in your life. No faith in the life of the believer is like no sugar in Kook Aid or no sweet potatoes in sweet potato pie. It’s non-existent without it. 

Your faith makes a powerful two-fold statement: “I believe that God exists,” and, “He will reward me because I seek Him earnestly.” Knowing that God is real is powerful in itself. It will surely move God’s heart. But, to know and believe that he’s working on your behalf, that he is capable of rewarding your faith in response to your diligence is another thing entirely. 

God is faithful. His word is sure and true. 

Our faith is necessary to deal with life’s issues. Whatever you are dealing with right now is the precise area that God is calling you to trust Him. You may be looking for a job, desiring to get pregnant or dealing with unruly children. Whatever your area of difficulty or need is exactly the area God is calling you to exercise your faith. Believe Him for the job, believe Him for the baby, believe Him for help with the children. 

Use your faith to believe God in those areas. And, because you believed, he will reward.

Where Did He Go? January 25, 2010

The other day after the kids woke from their nap, I sat them down to feed them. I gave my daughter, Simone, something to drink and went to the kitchen to get my son, Stephen, some juice as well. He stared at me while I walked away as if to say, ’I know you’re not leaving without giving me some juice.’ As soon as I turned the corner and was out of his sight, he started wailing like it was the end of the world. 

Now, that’s not an unusual thing, kids cry like that all the time. But, right then, God helped me understand that that’s how most of us are as adults. When God appears to be out sight and we don’t hear from him or feel his presence, that’s when we feel that sense of abandonment. We start to lose faith and act as if he’s left without meeting our need, the need we’re screaming and begging for, and that he’s not coming back.

Stephen saw Simone get her juice, but all he knew was that he didn’t get his. When we see others get blessed and ours hasn’t come yet, our carnality sets in. It’s amazing that we don’t immediately rejoice when our sister or brother gets blessed. No. We want our own. But, little did Stephen know that his daddy was just around the corner pouring him a nice, cold, fresh cup of juice and was ready to bring to right to him. Of course, little babies can’t be expected to comprehend these things like adults, but God definitely illustrates adult actions through them.

Friends, I know it’s difficult when we don’t see God moving in our lives or sense him nearby. But, you must trust that he has not abandoned you. In fact, he’s behind the scenes working for your good and preparing your blessing. Also, you must understand that if he’s working in your sister’s or your brother’s life, then you can know and trust that he’s ready to move for you. Praise God when those close to you get blessed because you’re next. 

If you had a father like the kind I’m trying to be, then you know that he does everything he can to give you the best. But, even your earthy father has flaws and comes up short sometimes. That’s why God gives us a saftey in him. Matt 7:11 says, If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! 

Beloved, trust and know that God is, even at this moment, in the kitchen of your life working on your behalf. Have faith and wait patiently for Him and your breakthrough will come.

Thankfully Broken October 9, 2009

Daryl Coley is one of the great gospel singers of our time with songs like Beyond the Veil and When Sunday Comes. He’s Preparing Me is one of my favorite songs. A line in the song goes; He’s preparing me for something I cannot handle right now. That song lays out exactly what occurs in the process of being broken. Being broken is preparation for what we desire, but can’t yet grasp or understand.

Often before our prayers are answered and we realize the manifestation of what we seek, there is a period of breaking. The breaking process is characterized by many things including rejection, isolation, indecision, loss, doubt and introspection, all of which Christ experienced.

When you want something bad enough, you pray for God’s help and strength to obtain it. We pray that prayer not fully knowing how God will get us to the thing that we seek. That’s where the breaking process comes. A careful self examination would reveal that we’re not always ready for what we want and things in our lives – habits, character, skills – need to change or be broken. So, when we go through that process it’s for our good, but it can internalized as God’s punishment. It’s not. God is allowing you to go through it in order to get you to the destiny and purpose he has for you.

In all truth, we bring it on ourselves because we prayed for something great. When Elisha asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit, his response was, “You’ve asked a hard thing.” Eventually Elisha received the double portion and performed twice as many miracles as Elijah. Conversely, the rich ruler spoken of in the gospels desired eternal life, but was unable and unwilling to commit to the breaking process.

Here’s the lesson to remember in the breaking process. Don’t blame god for breaking you, praise him for allowing you go through the breaking process. As the song says, he’s making you ready because he cares. He knows that its only when you’re broken that you can hear him and begin to rely on his strength and power. His strength is perfected in our weakness. It’s at that point, after you have no other options, you’re in a position to be propelled into your destiny.

You Are Not Alone July 15, 2009

Some of you may know that I’m currently unemployed. I have been for the last two months. It is the worst time to be unemployed, especially in this economy and job market, but it has been and continues to be a time of spiritual refreshing. Even in these difficult days, I feel an outpouring of God’s love and presence. I’m thankful that my family in this with me, but more importantly, My God is too.

 

In my prayer and meditation, God has been illustrating His compassion to me. It is the compassion of God that gives us encouragement when we are down. God’s compassion comes in the form of love, mercy and grace, which flows from the throne room of heaven and comforts us.

 

Compassion is defined as feeling sympathy or sorrow for someone who is suffering. When a friend or family member hurts, we hurt too. But, the word has a deeper meaning. Compassion, in the sense of God, means to suffer with. In other words, God is not only sympathetic towards our suffering, but he’s literally suffering with us. We see this illustrated in the story of the three Hebrew boys.

 

After being thrown into the fiery furnace, the king jumps up and asks why he sees four men walking around when they threw in only three. The answer to that question is that God was in the fire with them. We don’t have a high priest who’s out of touch or disconnected from our reality, but He is Emmanuel, God with us in and through our reality. He’s an ever present help in the time of need.

 

Saints, I’m thankful that though I’m in a difficult situation, perhaps the most difficult of my life, I’m not in it by myself. It seems like it sometimes, but I’m convinced that God is in the fire with me.

 

Are you experiencing hard times? Perhaps someone you know is struggling financially or suffering sickness. God may be leading you to get down in the dirt with that person. Show them the same love and compassion that God has shown you. Hurt with them. Cry with them. Suffer with them. We are called to be walking epistles, examples of God’s unfailing love.

 

In life, there are such things as certainties. Fire will come. Suffering is guaranteed, but believers can be assured that they don’t have to go though it alone. Hallelujah!

The Vein of Praise July 2, 2009

Recently God spoke to me during a time of praise and worship and said that as long as your hand is raised in praise then your arm becomes like a vein through which God’s blessings flow. Naturally, a vein transports blood, the body’s life source, from the heart throughout the rest of the body. Without it, we’d die. An arm extended in praise literally reaches into heaven and touches the heart of God who causes the life to flow to us. When we make ourselves open and available to God, He pours Himself into us. We get a deeper revelation of who He is and His plan for us. We get answers, ideas and vision through that vein. 

For some, the blood may have stopped flowing because our hand is no longer lifted. As long as Aaron and Hur kept Moses’ arms lifted, Israel prevailed in battle, but when his arms dropped, their enemies overcame them. Your victory is not in a person, position or prosperity, but it’s in your praise. When we lift our hands in praise we release all our troubles to God. In return, He dispenses his blessings on us through the vein. 

Our hand wave is a sign of praise that scatters our problems like ashes. God exchanges those ashes for beautiful blessings. This would not be possible if we didn’t release those issues to him in praise. 

Worship the God of your salvation. He inhabits the praise of His people.

Proud but not content, Part II July 2, 2009

After being defeated at Ai, Joshua drops to his knees and prays, If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan! He took the traditional view of contentment – be happy with what you have and desire no more. Israel was defeated and Joshua felt they pushed too hard, desired too much and should have been content living as freed slaves. When our hunger for God declines, so does our ability to receive from Him.

God’s response to Joshua was, STAND UP! Get off your face, there’s sin in the camp. Now, go claim what’s yours. God knew that securing the Promised Land meant a journey over the Jordan and battles along the way. But, when Israel encountered trouble, they were ready to forsake the promise.

God’s word to you is – Don’t settle. The blessing is on the other side. You will go through some difficulties getting there, but remember that it’s guaranteed if you remain faithful to Him.

I believe it saddens God’s heart when we stop believing Him. A lack of faith is a slap in His face. It calls Him a liar and says He can’t deliver.

Many folks are living on the wrong side of the promise. Chase every vision and obtain every blessing that God has spoken. It’s got your name on it. Just press on through the job, family issues, sickness and recession knowing that there’s victory on the other side of the Jordan.

Proud but not content – Part 1 July 2, 2009

After overcoming great odds, rigorous campaigning and personal sacrifice, Barack Obama made history by becoming the 44^th President of the United States. But he’s not resting on his laurels. When asked recently to summarize his first 100 days in office, President Obama said I’m proud, but not content. 

One of the primary hindrances to our growth is contentment and complacency. Extraordinary miracles don’t occur in an atmosphere of contentment and complacency.

Some prominent scriptures on contentment are:

• Luke 3:14: a man is told to be content with his pay
• Phil 4:11: I’ve learned to be content…
• 1 Tim. 6:6: Godliness with contentment is great gain
• 1 Tim.6:8: If we have food and clothing then we will be content with that
• Heb 13:5: Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have

 Tradition has given us a false view of godly contentment and satisfaction. 

Your contentment has less to do with accepting what you have, and more with where you set the level at which you become satisfied. We don’t decide what is enough, God does. When we establish limits, we literally contract with the enemy to shut God out. We put a stop payment on our blessing.  

It’s not about you, but about what God wants to do through you. Let Him do it.

Marriage: What am I getting myself into? Part 1 June 13, 2009

I just completed a series of counseling sessions with a young couple about to get married. I will officiate their wedding in June 2009, which will be my first. I’m totally excited about it. Seeing people who are happily married makes me feel great. I am passionate about helping those in relationships to have healthy ones.

So, in the coming weeks, I will be laying out some of the Biblical principles and information about marriage that I shared with this couple during our counseling sessions. Hopefully, it will help you in your coming nuptials. Or, if you’re already married the Word is potent enough to help work out even the toughest situations.

Be on the look out. It will be hot.

Half on the Gospel May 26, 2009

There’s a lot of huff and puff over the Miss America “gay marriage” question. During the competition, Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was essentially asked her position on same-sex marriage. Her answer brought adulation from the Christian community. She defended the faith on a national stage. It was a, “In your face, liberal America,” moment. But, that victory was short-lived as photos of a semi-nude Prejean were discovered days later. 

Not only did the topless pics cloud her pure image, but she apparently lied to contest officials when she said no such photos existed. She was in jeopardy of losing her title and pretty much embarrassed herself. 

Prejean now joins the long line of outspoken Christians who look like judgmental, self-righteous hypocrites. It’s the “Half On the Gospel” syndrome where Christians know the limits for others, but miss Scriptures concerning their own issues. Did she not know it was wrong to lie or pose nude?

Of the photos, Carrie said she’s a model and models pose in swimsuits. Well Ms. Prejean, models might do a whole lot of stuff, but Christians don’t, especially those who have an ounce of integrity. Lies, soft porn and hypocrisy. I’m more upset at this than I am at a gay person trying to get married. Hypocrisy is what we should be protesting. 

I’m not trying to judge anyone. Trust me, I’ve got my own issues to deal with. But I’ve just about had it with public figures who proclaim holiness and yet live like the rest of the world.

We need to put some things in reverse order. Try living it before you preach it.