The Prayer

Saints of God I wish you all a Happy Sabbath!

As we once again celebrate this day of rest God has set aside for us

let us pray this beautiful prayer

Psalm 139

"Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."

We are all in need of change in our lives and we cannot perform this change ourselves. Just as a vehicle cannot perform its own oil change, or fix its own engine, unless a certified mechanic do all of these things and more, we too are unable to change ourselves unless The Mechanic transform us into his liking.

This is my case, at least

Happy Sabbs!

Enjoy "The Prayer" by Yolanda Adams and Donnie McClurkin

Like Father, Like Son?

Note: This entry has a lot of sentimental value.

"Ask a little boy who he wants to be like when he grows up and his answer would most likely be, “I wanna be like my daddy!” Ask that same little boy who is his role-model and he will mention his father. To many sons, their father is the image of who they want to become and who they aspire to be. To me, my father is the image of everything I do not want to become, a person I do not aspire to be.

I do not hate my father. The Bible says in Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and your mother…” We have several similarities: I look like him, we have similar hands, I’ve discovered that I laugh somewhat similar to the way he laughs, we are both laid-back, and regardless of how much we eat, we never gain weight. These, among several others, are things of nature, biological, unchangeable. Because of our similarities, there seems to be a tendency for society to assume that if my father walked down a certain path, naturally, because I am his son, I too will walk down that path. Thus far, I have proven that assumption otherwise; for example, my father never graduated from neither high school nor college and I have done both. He has taken taxi-driving as his career choice. On the other hand, I have chosen to pursue a career as a theologian.

As a child my father was not a major part of my growing up. My parents were separated while I was yet young. Their separation was not marital but physical: my father left Venezuela en route to the United States in search of a better life, leaving my mother, my sisters and I behind. The plan was for him to work in order to reunite us with him some time later. During the long years of separation, my father briefly visited twice. At the early age of eight I did not realize how important his presence would have been for me, therefore I relied on the presence of my mother to show me how a man should be like. A young boy cannot look up to his mother for guidance on how to become a man. Instead of playing with remote-controlled cars, part of my early manhood included fighting with a life-size doll belonging to my older sister and trying on my mother’s dresses and shoes with my two sisters.

By age ten I learned that my father had broken the seventh commandment and that he’d dragged me into a situation where I had to witness it shortly after arriving to the States. After almost ten years without knowing my father, I finally found myself living in a small Brooklyn apartment with him and his lover and her daughter and my older sister. Because of my mental innocence, I could not fully understand everything I was daily being exposed to. “I thought he was married to my mother…” “Why did he kiss this lady on the lips?” “Why is her stomach getting bigger and bigger…?” Although these thoughts crossed my mind, I refused to understand the reality, my reality. Shortly after, I began to gain a clearer understanding of what it took to be a man and so I began my pimpin’ career as an eleven-year old, with a girlfriend in church, school, and around the way.

Life took my father away from me for another three years and reunited us again by the time I had reached fourteen. By then I was not so mentally innocent; I had eaten of the fruit of life’s hardship and my eyes were widened. By that time, too, my mother was no longer living alone in Venezuela. She had managed a way to reunite herself with the rest of her family in New York. For the first time in almost fifteen years I lived in what seemed to be a normal family: father, mother, and sisters. Because of my father’s mistake, however, the relationship between he and my mother was destined to cross bitter waters. In my eyes, he never took responsibility for his actions or offered an apology adequate enough for what he had done. Instead, he insisted in incorporating his mistake into his family’s everyday life and insisted on pretending that things were on good terms, and insisted...

I recall some “man-to-man” conversations my father and I have had and he always managed to say, “Son, you have to be a man. A man blah blah blah…” by the time he’d reached that far, my mind kept saying, “It takes a man to make a man."

This essay was written a few years ago for an English composition class I was taking, and my professor loved it.

The key is the introduction:

"Ask a little boy who he wants to be like when he grows up and his answer would most likely be, “I wanna be like my daddy!” Ask that same little boy who is his role-model and he will mention his father."

Matthew 5

In this chapter, Jesus broke it down for his disciples. After he hit them with what we know as the Beatitudes, he plunged head first into some touchy things, cuz' he got it like that!

In other words, he hit them with what I'll call the "Forget What You Heards":

"You heard the commandment that says...But I say [screw that!]..."
"You heard the law that says...But I say [screw that too!]..."
"You heard they told our ancestors...But I say [screw all of them!]..."

Obviously Jesus didn't say screw this or that, but he surely preferred his way of doing things, cuz he got it like that!

In the "Forget What You Heards" Jesus was presenting the disciples, and all those who had gather to hear him speak, a new lifestyle, a new way to think, a new way to speak; a complete makeover. He must have noticed that they were not striving to be like ultimate role-model, you know, the big G.

And like I've said time and time again, Jesus never leaves us hanging; so he points them in the perfect direction:

"But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Matthew 5:48

I cannot imitate anyone else here on earth and expect to be perfect. Achieving perfection is not impossible for humans, because Jesus is actually encouraging us to be perfect! I know I don't want to be like my dad, but I sure as heck want to be like my Father: perfect!


Enjoy "He's My Son" by Mark Schultz

Where's Waldo?

Oh man! Let's take another stroll down memory lane...

Where's Waldo?

Remember them books? Spending hours at times looking for one lil' dude, Waldo? Man! Those were the days! I'm so excited just writing about it! I mean, who comes up with such genius?! That's what Where's Waldo is, genius!

And how about the entire scene, huh? I mean, goodness! What detail and complexity! I mean, who has that amount of time to dedicate to each individual figure like that? And then there are the other little details that you gotta find, like Waldo's key, or the other characters, a scroll, a pair of glasses,... and the list goes on and on and on; just like these paintings.. I mean, man! This is great stuff!

I get confused by just looking at one of those pictures, you know?

Am I the only one this excited about this?

Can you imagine yourself in one of those paintings? Can you imagine all the commotion you'd be surrounded by? All the noise of people talking, walking, eating, laughing, crying and complaining, singing, burping, and once again, the list goes on and on and on... Matter of fact, NYC has nothing on Where's Waldo, yo!

The crazy thing is that all the commotion and confusion of a Where's Waldo joint is the same commotion and confusion of our world, country, state, city, zip code, block, house, life.

Get it?

The crazy thing is that all the confusion and commotion of a Where's Waldo joint is the same confusion and commotion in our spiritual lives. At least in mine.

You know what I mean? Way too many people talking. Way too many fresh and new ideas. Way too many doctrines. Way too many a lot of things. You know? Way way way too many voices?

1 John 4

Some say more is better. I'll add: not always, in parenthesis. There are so many spiritual voices that at times, it's hard to hear God's voice clearly. Feel me?

Honestly, like on some real stuff, we've filled our mind with so much junk that's it's hard at times to hear ourselves. Imagine having a million flies in trapped in your head, constantly buzzing and buzzing and buzzzzzing. . . How can you hear your own thoughts, or anyone else outside your body talking to you?

It's kinda like that, spiritually. Except that, it gets trickier. A lot trickier.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit..." 1 John 4:1

Straight forward. In other words, "Dudes, don't believe everything you hear, because everyone kinda looks like Waldo, but they're not." It's a stretch, but stay with me.

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." 1 John 4:1

This ain't no Where's Waldo game. It says here that too many wanna-be's are out there. This is telling me that there are too many posers and pretenders posing and pretending to be what they're not. Things just got trickier, huh?

Check it.

I got this from yesterday's Sabbath School lesson:

"The spirit of the antichrist says that Christ came in a special form that could not sin, thus denying or rejecting the accomplishment of Christ, excusing sin in the flesh, and declaring that nobody but Christ can live above sin since Christ's flesh was different from ours."

Have you ever heard that it is impossible to live a sinless life?
Do you believe it's impossible to live a sinless life?

"These are the foundation stones of antichrist theology, which form such concepts as the immaculate conception or the Arian view that Christ is a created being. With this knowledge, once can not only identify the essential spirit of antichrist but also avoid it... Teachings from God show that because Christ actually came in the flesh, He was able to leave us an example of how to overcome sin...
The spiritual teaching that we can never overcome sin in this life is one of Satan's deadly lies. Overcoming sin is not an option. It is essential to the plan of salvation." Collegiate Quarterly, p. 59, Lesson 6, Monday, August 3.

Can you see it? Can you see how easy it is to misidentify Waldo? I personally believed that it was impossible to live a sinless life, until recently. It's that easy.

"Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error." 1 John 4:2,3

Just a side note:

Antichrist, who's that? Well, anti- means contrary to; against; in opposition to; opposing. I'll assume Christ does not need to be defined. So antichrist is he who opposes, is against, is contrary to, Jesus Christ, aka Satan, Lucifer, whatever you wanna call him. Here is what the Bible further say, "And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist." 1 John 2:22

The question is: who are we listening to?--sorry: who am I listening to?

Yo, if you haven't peeped yet, we are living in the final hours--not to sound too biblical. And if we let ourselves get swayed by everything and anything we hear and/or believe, without researching their biblical roots, dudes and dudettes, we ain't gonna go far at all. And that's a bit scary.

Just like always, God never leaves us hanging, you dig?

"Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them [them meaning the antichrist dudes and any other dudes trying to take our crown of victory away]: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.[he! he! he!]" 1 John 4:4

Enjoy "Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns

Also, enjoy "Where's Waldo"; if you want to kill some time online, you know

Untitled Post

Jesus left us with homework as he was being taken up to heaven.

He said, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you." Matthew 28:18-20

In other words, our main jobs as followers of Jesus is to tell others his teachings.

Agree?

This is interesting: "For the word of God [in other words, Jesus' teachings. Remember Jesus said that everything he spoke came from the Father, God] is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable." Hebrews 4:12,13

Great.

So this is the type of message we've been told to tell those who need to be told.

Personally, I would not like it if someone exposed my innermost thoughts and desires. I wouldn't like it if a message pierced my soul and spirit, joint and marrow.

I'd be highly upset, to say it nicely.

So what if I don't wanna do it?

Ezekiel 33

WARNING:

The following are not the words of the author of this post.
If you experience any problems, you may contact
1-800-THE-WORD to speak to one of His representatives.

"Once again a message came to me from the Lord: 'Son of man, give your people this message: ‘When I bring an army against a country, the people of that land choose one of their own to be a watchman. When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die. They heard the alarm but ignored it, so the responsibility is theirs. If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives. But if the watchman sees the enemy coming and doesn’t sound the alarm to warn the people, he is responsible for their captivity. They will die in their sins, but I will hold the watchman responsible for their deaths.’' 'Now, son of man, I am making you a watchman for the people of Israel. Therefore, listen to what I say and warn them for me. If I announce that some wicked people are sure to die and you fail to tell them to change their ways, then they will die in their sins, and I will hold you responsible for their deaths.' "
Ezekiel 33:1-8

Oh, by the way, we are all watchman.

Thankfully, the message does not stop there:

"But if you warn them to repent and they don’t repent, they will die in their sins, but you will have saved yourself." Ezekiel 33:9

Strong words.

I'm just gonna leave it as that...


Enjoy "Your Will" by Darius Brooks

Party Time!

Happy Sabbath!

You ever wonder why no one ever says 'Sad Sabbath' or 'Sorrowful Sabbath' or anything of that matter?

I think that'll be an oxymoron. No, I'm not calling anyone a moron; that's just how the word is.
There is no reason to be sorrowful or sad or depressed on worried on the Sabbath, because that's the Lord's day!

Imagine how you'd feel if on your birthday, or wedding day, or graduation day, or any special day of yours, someone or a group of people show up to your celebration sad, depressed, sorrowful, worried.

That would really really really suck.

Psalm 150

No one wants to be that guy who messed up the party with his negative attitude. I mean, do you want to be that guy...?

Think about it, it's never cool being that guy.

Friend 1: Hey! What's going on?
Why are all these people gathered around?
Friend 2: Some dude being a party pooper!
Friend 1: Oh, don't tell me it's that guy!
Friend 2: Yea, he just had to be that guy...

Really though! It's not that serious.

"Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heaven!
Praise him for his mighty works;
praise his unequaled greatness!
Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;
praise him with the lyre and harp!
Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;
praise him with strings and flutes!
Praise him with a clash of cymbals;
praise him with loud clanging cymbals.
Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!" Psalm 150

Get your praise on on the Lord's Day!


Enjoy "You Reign" by MercyMe. If I've linked this song already, then enjoy it again.

Hey! Focus!

I believe that one of the toughest things for me as a young follower of Christ is directing my focus in the right places. I don't believe that I am the only one struggling with this problem. Let's face it, it's tough being a Christian, especially being a young male or female. I know I've mentioned this somewhat before in another entry, but check me out on this one:

I know that Jesus said, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me." Mark 8:34 And by 'take up your cross' he's implying that, basically, it ain't gonna be easy.

But, geez! It really ain't E-Z!

I know that we are "temporary residents and foreigners" 1 Peter 2:11 and that we shouldn't get caught up on worldly stuff, and all that jazz,

but really, that's not so easy either!

Where am I going with this?

There are so many things in this world claiming our attention and focus.

You know what they are. I know what they are. We know what they are. And we get so caught up at times, that we lose ourselves in the things that quite frankly don't matter.

We focus so much on earthly things, and the enemy sees this, and trust me, he takes advantage. Quick. And we get rocked by life. Over and over and over again. Time and time and time again. Then we lose faith. We lose sight of what truly matters. We forget who we are and what we're supposed to be doing. And we're weak. And faint. And quit or want to quit. All because we get so caught up on earthly things...

I've been there. And it continues to happen to me till this day.
I find it so easy to focus on things of this world and so
hard to focus on things above.
I can watch ESPN all day long but to find
time alone to pray, like Jesus did,...
I can spend an entire day with friends and stuff,
but to spend 15 minutes with Jesus...

What is going on?

1 John 2

" I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one. I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one."
1 John 2:12-14

Read the previous verses so you can better understand what these verses mean.
Now check out what this is saying. John goes from writing "I am writing to you...because" to "I have written to you...because" just to make a point: everything he's written so far, his readers already knew. Which is kind of like us; we already know everything, right?

The focus of his message is to walk in the light and stay away from the darkness. And he's told them that over and over and over again. I mean, he's told us that over and over and over again. I mean, he's told me that over and over and over again.

I wonder what he's trying to prevent...?

"Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." 1 John 2:15-17

No wonder we get rocked by life over and over and over again. We have fallen in love with the world; aka, in love with this darkness; aka, this perfection turned junk by sin. We've gotten caught in earth's filthy webs and feel comfortable being upside down and sideways, distorted and disoriented, filthy and blinded by the same thing we've fallen in love with.

But check this out

I like what the King James Version says:

"I have written unto you, young men [and young women], because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one." It's the same exact thing as the other Bible version, but I like the words here best because it's more empowering.

Although it's not easy, we're strong!

Although we are unsure of where to turn, know the word of God abideth in us!

Although we feel defeated, we have overcome the wicked one!

Take a deep breath and remember when you just got baptized.
Remember how you felt once you came out of that water knowing you just got a fresh start.
Did you know the Holy Spirit was poured out on you?
Remember how you felt the day after in your brand new walk with Jesus.

Remember?

Check it

"I am writing these things to warn you about those [people or things] who want to lead you astray. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ." 1 John 2:26, 27

I want to stop wasting my time and for once--and for as long as I must--turn [and keep] my eyes on Jesus.

you with me?

Enjoy "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus" by Newsboys; it's an excellent version

2 Tags

Tonight I heard one of the most amazing stories I've ever heard. Actually, I've heard similar stories before, but for some reason, every time one of these come about it always feels as if I've never heard a similar one before.

If there is one thing I cannot understand right now is the love of parents for their children. I mean, let's face it, as children, we were/are not exactly a walk in the park. I know I was one heck of a ride as a lil' dude duding around doing what lil' dudes do.

And some are worst than others.

Anyway, I heard this story tonight on the radio while driving home.

It's the story of Tim, his son Ryan, and Tim's wife.

When little Ryan was born, he had some some issues with his liver. Apparently, his family always knew that it would not be the last time they'd have to face this issue of little Ryan's liver problem.

It happened that several years later, a much older Ryan--about 8 or 9 years old--is battling for his life as his liver issues get more serious. Obviously his parents are feeling the full effect, the full blow of the entire situation... I can only imagine what is going on through Tim's head...

Maybe he thought he would never be able to teach his son how to drive, or give him advice on dating and women, or attend one of his high school baseball games.

Maybe he thought nothing at all.

And what about Ryan's mom, what could she have been thinking? Maybe she closed her eyes to cry and simultaneously remembered carrying an unborn Ryan around for 9 months. Maybe she thought about that connection that only a mother and a child have. Maybe she thought about that happiness that only a woman is privileged to feel after giving life to a new creature. Maybe she felt angry seeing her son's life slowly being taken away after she happily gave life to him several years earlier.

Maybe she thought nothing at all.

Maybe.

Little Ryan's life was at stake, and like any parent, mom offered to give a piece of her liver to save her son's life. In the end, Ryan and Mom became Tim's heroes because the one taught him the meaning of fighting for life, and the other taught him the meaning of sacrifice. Self sacrifice.

As I listened to the story I could not help but to feel moved by it. Then the radio lady said something which is the inspiration for this entry; she said, "Now your wife has given Ryan life twice: first when she brought him into the world, and again by giving a piece of herself to save his life."

You know, my Daddy did the same for me too.

First, he brought me into this world:

"Then God said, 'Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us'...Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. So God created human beings in his own image." Genesis 1:26, 27 & 2:7

At first I was simply an inanimate object. Unconscious. Unaware. Un-alive. I was just a creation. A special creation, though. To make sure I was his, my Creator gave me a piece of himself and I got life. Conscious. Aware. Alive.

Then my life too was hanging on the balance when I got infected by sin. And the originator of sin wanted to claim my life. And the originator of sin claimed my life. And said I was his.

I can only imagine what was going through my Daddy's mind.

Maybe he remembered how carefully he detailed every part of me:

"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it."
Psalm 139:14

Maybe he remembered that connection that only a Creator feels in the moment he looks into his creation's eyes and sees himself reflected. Maybe he thought about the times we were able to stand in each other's presence, without needing a mediator--yet.

Maybe he thought nothing at all

and simply acted out of pure, genuine love

In any case, in order to reclaim me--although I never stopped being his--he was not willing to give up a piece of himself. Instead, he gave himself up entirely.

Entirely

"For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son..." John 3:16

So now I'm not only his by creation, I'm also his by redemption.

Let this sink in: we belong to God twice! aka, I have two of the greatest tags in the story of mankind.

Created in the likeness of the Creator & redeemed by the Creator/Redeemer.

Yeah, let that sink for a minute...

Enjoy "I Know My Redeemer Lives"




BTW: I stumbled on this song; it's not the one you think it is