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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Whats Your Angle?

I read a recent posting and decided to add to it…..It would seem God has been smacking me around with this recently and so im like okay, okay, okay Lord I will share it!
 Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
  This scripture confirms that in whole truth there is a selfish side to the human race. I have witnessed both in the common workplace and church the plans, dreams, and hopes stall because people begin to operate outside of humility. Think about God’s humility……He never had an additional game plan other than what the father gave him. Every movement that he took was to give God glory. He was the truth and he was perfect, but unfortunately we are not.
   That doesn’t mean we can’t be cleansed and operate at a high level through the Spirit. While God is the truth we must constantly be seeking and living in the truth! A man or woman must be willing to examine themselves on a daily basis to seek the truth. The truth cannot be tampered, rationalized, or massaged to justify what we have done. At that time it is no longer the truth.
    I once worked to the bone for a job that didn’t reward me how I felt I should be rewarded. I justified it as Corinthians (In whatever you do –do it for the good of God). I wanted to do a great job, but deep down I also wanted something more…..I wanted my come-up ins. I was perfectly justified to feel that things the employer and I had agreed upon before taking the job where not coming to be as promised. I was told I was going to be moved into a higher position soon, but it wasn’t happening despite the additional responsibility that was “dog piled” on me.
   In order to identify the humility in yourself you must be honest. Ask yourself….What is your true motivation? What are you really trying to prove? I had to face the facts that my ambition was great, but was starting to darken me. I had to readjust myself in order to be in a place where I could give God glory. I continued to do a great job and found that the position no longer mattered… The relationships with other people began to take precedence over titles and recognition.
  The co-workers began to respect my work and gave me senior respect even though I was a co-worker. God has a funny way of making you visible and brining you into and around situations at the right time. In order to continue God’s work I have to check my own agenda and then abandon it in order to adopt the Lord’s plan. Ask yourself the following questions on a daily and find out if you are living in humility. Are you accomplishing the Lord’s will or are you to busy trying to impose your own?
I also thought I would include a great parable I read about Pride vs Humility.
“The proud man will see himself as humble and the humble man will identify the pride in himself. To be proud is to be blinded to reality and the truth. Therefore the proud man is a simpleton who is unable to recognize the flaw in himself because he is too busy trying to prove he is humble. The humble man evolves in life because he is busy trying to further live a life of humility…God’s humility”
Ask on a daily
1.      What am I am really trying to do here?
2.      Am I doing what the Lord has asked…Or what I would like?
3.      What is my motivation for doing this?

  

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Shot that wouldn't fall!

The Shots that wouldn’t fall.




This week was a fun week for me as I had an opportunity to play basketball with my friends over at a local gym. I must warn you that I had been off the court for about a month or two so I was expecting to be a bit rusty. Additionally my fancy black Jordan sneakers where beginning to show signs of wear. Yet I didn’t have 100- and up dollars to invest on the pair of shoes I really wanted, but enjoyed the time in fellowship none the less. I took the court and seemed to be able to get open using my speed and athleticism.

I ran for open layups and three point attempts that I thought should’ve normally went in, but they didn’t.  In the past months I knew that I had developed a reputation for being a scoring machine and often my teammates needed my contributions to secure the win.  The more I missed, the more aggressive I became in my attempts. I would slash and cut my way to the basket for a close shot, but it wouldn’t go in. I was getting worried…..I felt like I was letting my teammates down.

I began to turn the ball the over to the other team. In back of my mind I was pleading “Lord let me have the confidence to make these shots”! 

Frustrated with my play I stopped shooting and set a pick for another teammate who made the shot. The next play I was able to steal the ball and pass it to another teammate for some points. Running back down the court my teammate looked at me and said “we can win this”.  At that time I felt I had received a lesson for the day that I thought I would share. Sometimes the best contributions that we truly make are not visible or necessarily the ones we prefer. I was drawing a double team in offense, but had advantages on defense. On the offensive side I was getting multiple assists…I could spread the floor by cutting to the basket and then finding the open man. The rebounds and steals I was getting were contributing to the team…..I didn’t have to score a bunch of points!

The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.

The point behind that verse is to illustrate that Apollos made a contribution, Paul did a portion and then God gave the increase for his glory. Imagine if Apollos would’ve been visibly mad because he didn’t accomplish what he thought he should’ve in his mind. The end result is that God gives the growth and gets the glory! It no longer becomes a matter what we accomplish in ourselves.  Often times in ministry and in our journey called life we carry expectations inside of our own mentality instead of the reliance on God.

We have no clue the results or effects of the contributions we make amongst each other. When we develop a mentality to contribute at the capacity God would have us to and not what we would prefer it to be, the glory can truly be his whether we are around to see it or not.  Just my thoughts today- Be Blessed

Friday, April 13, 2012

Sharing A post from My Buddy Jerry Kay Sr.

Im sharing articles from the non-profit newspaper called the Word (www.thewordnewspaper.org)

I appreciate the writings brother!


“Not long after September 11, someone scribbled these chilling words on the wall of a building in Washington, D.C.: ‘Dear God, please save us from the people who believe in you.’”

I ask you to consider these words, and as you think on them let the Holy Spirit speak to your Heart. The acts committed on that day were done in the name of God. I have seen that same mentality, hatred, and distrust among Christian people from one Race of people and denomination to another.

Not long ago a man that I love as a Christian, ask me to come visit him, actually it was more than an invite, it was more like a heartfelt plea of a friend reaching out to a friend for fellowship. He is the kind of friend that every time he greets me he sheds tears of joy and almost squeezes the breath out of me.

A few years ago, I did some things that caused a company I was affiliated with to buy a very large amount of equipment from him and they have continued to do so, and more than likely it will continue for many years to come. It just so happened that the market for that type of equipment was very slow and still is. The day I approached him to make a deal, I had many choices as to where I could go, and I was the one that would make the final decision on the purchase. We are talking about several million dollars, and has been millions sense then. For him it was a gift from God, and Poppa was the delivery boy.

While in the process of bargaining and doing the deal, I discovered he was a Christian and I shared a poem I had written. And we talked about the love of God. It seems that he shared it with coworkers at his company along with his general manager. That particular company surprisingly has a lot of Christian folks employed there. Several are preachers and Poppa picked up a built in fan club!...Can you say Amen?

When making a deal of that size there are always details, details, and more details to be worked out, so I made several trips to their offices. Every time I drove into the parking lot someone would greet me and tell me they had read one of my poems or articles, and how much they enjoyed it. I often wondered if it was because of the business I brought to them or did they genuinely like what they read.

On one occasion while I was in my new friends office, several of the employees gathered, so we moved into the conference room and made coffee. As we conducted our business the conversation turned to religion, not on my part, but first one then the other would bring up a question to me about my affiliations in the church world. What did I believe about this or that, what did I think about this denomination or that one, what did I think about Joel Osteen, T.D. Jakes, Charles Stanley, Oral Roberts, Billy Graham, A.A. Allen, Jack Hyles, Benny Hinn, Paula White, Marcus and Joni Lamb, Paul and Jan Crouch, Do you approve of the way Jan Crouch dresses and wears all that makeup? Are you filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues?, Do you believe in once saved always saved?, do you believe in progressive sanctification?, are you post-tribulation or pre-tribulation?, what day do you believe is the Sabbath?..Do you believe Catholics are saved?.... I was overwhelmed and amazed!..I was told they argue like that all day everyday..They thought they were being spiritual, and they were...but not with a Godly Spirit...they were in the flesh. They were sincere, but sincerely wrong... and hell loves it....I could see where this was leading and I was grieved in spirit.

The general manager was one of those in the room and he is one of the preachers there. I told him if he wanted me to address all this, He would need to ask the receptionist to hold these folks calls for about 30 minutes. He agreed, and I told them a burro parable...I happen to be very fond of mules and burros, they remind me so much of the people of God!...Can you say, Hallelujah?

An elderly man was traveling with a boy and a burro... As they walked through a village, the man was leading the burro and the boy was walking behind. The townspeople said the old man was a fool for not riding, so to please them he climbed up on the animal's back...When they came to the next village, the people said the old man was cruel to let the child walk while he enjoyed the ride. So, to please them, he got off and set the boy on the animal's back and continued on his way...In the third village, people accused the child of being lazy for making the old man walk, and the suggestion was made that they both ride. So the man climbed on and they set off again...In the fourth village, the townspeople were indignant at the cruelty to the burro because he was made to carry two people. The frustrated man was last seen carrying the burro down the road!.....Do you get my drift?...Sometimes we, (the church) frustrate people so very much with our know it all critical attitudes the last thing we see of them they are carrying their "Donkey" on down the road, and happy to not have to listen to our opinions and dogmas!

I have always believed even though many theologians do not agree, every word in this bible has been given to the church chocked full of spiritual goodies that will help us as we journey through our time on this earth. When I say church I mean every individual that makes up the body of Christ. I also believe, Every Promise in the book is mine, Every chapter, every verse, and Every line. I am aware that many theologians are carnal minded and will never see the spiritual treasures tucked away therein. I don't care how many DD's, Phd's, Dm's. Md's or Copd's they have for qualifications. Mind you, I am not talking about all students of the word. I also know many that are filled with knowledge, wisdom and the Holy Spirit.

Consider your self to be fortunate if you are blessed with a pastor that really sees the spiritual meaning and significance of the scriptures.