Real Talk

"In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

-Luke 10: 30-37 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

- Matthew 23:23 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."

- Matthew 23:25 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean."

- Matthew 23:27 (NIV)


"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

- James 1:22-27 (NIV)


"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

- James 2:14-17 (NIV)


Peace and blessings,

Out of the many topics I have been blessed with the opportunity to write on over the past two years (by the grace of God), this one has probably been the most pressing on my heart. I originally thought of the idea for this topic last summer, during a time when God was speaking to me in "unique" ways so to speak.

Throughout the years I have learned (through sermons as well as through personal experience), that a common misconception about the Christian walk is that once we "join the squad" (i. e. give our lives to Christ), then things will generally go smooth from there. Sure there are a few bumps or minor setbacks along the way, but for the most part, life will not really be difficult. Although the bible tells us that as believers that all things will work out for the good (Romans 8: 28), it also tells us that the things we experience in life can help built our spiritual character (Romans 5: 3-5). Taken together, I interpret these scriptures to mean that for Christians, we will inevitably experience hurt and pain, but that all of our experiences (good or bad), insofar as we seek out God in the midst of those experiences, can yield spiritual rewards for our life on earth and for our eternal life in heaven.

In general, I feel like God has been showing me that many of our experiences as Christians are sort of like "check points" to assess the extent to which our lives are consistent in three areas:

our worldview (how we view the world, our place in it, others' place in it)

our words (the things we say,, words we live by, the advice we give to people)

our works (how we act in the world, treat others)


Let me preface this by saying that I am not arguing that we as Christians have to be perfect, because Lord knows we can't be (lol). What I am arguing, however, is that many of our experiences provide a measuring stick for us to assess in what ways our worldview, words, and works line up or do not line up. This level of consistency is a difficult task because there may be certain areas where we are more or less consistent. For instance, in certain contexts it is more easier for me to be consistent in all three areas, others more easier to be consistent in two of the three, and other areas where there is no consistency. The goal in my opinion is two-fold. One goal is for us to continually work on those areas that we have partial or not consistency and build on those areas. As mentioned in

New Beginnings,

one of my prayers this year is for God to help me view things the way He views them, because there are times when I find myself telling others to view setbacks through a spiritual lens yet I myself am viewing my obstacles through a purely human (limited) lens. Second, our goal is to recognize those areas in which we do have consistency, and learn from them so that we are able to live our lives in a way that best pleases God; through our expression of love, faith and humility in how we view the world, the things we say, and how we live.

What do you think? Any areas where you see consistency? Inconsistency? What are some steps you think yourself as well as us as Christians in general can take to achieve and maintain consistency? Take care, God bless, and speekonit...

Labels: character, Christian, consistency, experiences, God, James, life, Luke, Matthew, Romans, spiritual, words, works, worldview

Peace and blessings,

It appears that as a result of the

Christian Defense Coalition putting pressure on civil rights leaders,

and the controversy that has surrounded hip-hop lyrics in the midst of the Imus incident, folks are taking action. On the music side,

Russell Simmons is now urging companies to censor some of the artists' lyrics,

a bold move given the issue of free speech and expression that characterizes all forms of music and all artistic expression. On the business side,

Rev. Al Sharpton plans on purchasing stock in Time Warner and Universal Music Group,

so that he can attend the board meetings and advocate for the censorship of offensive and degrading lyrics.

Although these moves are a long time coming, I am glad that serious, concrete steps are being taken in the right direction. While we may applaud these steps, however, we must be careful as to not become complacent such that we think that by these and similar moves, the problem will be "solved." When I look at this issue in its entirety, I see a three-pronged problem that requires and three-pronged solution. Two of the three aspects appear to be addressed in the above examples. Russell and Sharpton's moves address both the artist (via personal responsibility) and corporate (business) aspects of the problem and solution. What area these moves do not appear to address (at least explicitly), is the issue of women (and young girls') choices to be participate in these videos, recite the very lyrics that degrade them, and purchase the music. A while ago I was told that the majority of consumers of mainstream hip hop are white people and women. When I thought about it, that made sense. I know from personal experience as a hip-hop fan that if I wanted an album, I could find it somewhere (bootleggers, internet) for free and probably before the official release date. For real hip-hop heads, there really was not a need to purchase an album unless you really wanted to support them, because you could find it for free (this was until they started cracking down on bootleggers and illegal file sharing). Before moving on, let me clarify that I am not supporting bootlegging or illegal file sharing, but I am simply talking about what I used to do in the past when I really wanted an album.

Ok, back to the topic at hand. The point I am trying to make is that unless we (males, females, old, young, as a community) address the factors that influence womens' choices to participate in these videos and allow themselves to be degraded in these videos, then our efforts to limit arists' offensive lyrics will only be partially implemented and successful. I'm not saying that women shouldn't be in any videos, because there are videos that present women in a respectable, "degrading-free" light. What I am saying, however, is that we cannot only address the corporate heads and artists without addressing, supporting, respecting, and caring our women as well. Moreover, it is difficulty for women who oppose these offensive and degrading lyrics to state a legitimate claim when their fellow sistas are willfully participating in the very videos the women are trying to denounce. A problem affecting the whole community requires a community-wide solution. Plain and simple.

"Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall." (Luke 11:17, NKJ AMP)

Now is the time for all of us to address this issue at many different levels. Not to point fingers, but to form a fist and knock out this problem once and for all. Check out this

website clearinghouse for grassroots efforts to combat misogyny in music

for more information and to get involved.

Labels: artist, choices, controversy, degrading lyrics, Don Imus, hip-hop, Luke, mainstream, media, videos, women

Peace and blessings,

I would like to start off with a quote from Lecrae’s “I did it for you,” which I think is the best song off of his album, “After the music stops”:

“The say Mack got saved/ and (???) is a Christian/Well I don’t really know them/ but I pray they both listenin’/ it’s hard trying to grow up in a sinful land/and you don’t have an example of an godly man/well hold on!/just keep your eyes on Christ/when you’re in or in the world/man our lives are alright/they say heaven gotta ghetto/ but that ain’t true/ and if God has a standard then that ain’t you/ and that ain’t me/ that’s what I learned late one night/till a man named James White/Changed my life/he told me that Christ paid the price for sin/every lie I ever told Christ died for them/See, I never knew that I offended God/I just knew I really wasn’t trying to live for God/And my sins all cost me/yeah pretty costly/I couldn’t blame the hood for death sin brought me/All that I could do was blame myself/ and realize there was no way I could change myself/so I, trusted Christ with my lust for life/and He saved me that’s why I’m trying to touch the mic/Yeah, so if you ask me who I’m spittin’ this to/that’s right yall I did it for you/I did it for you/and if you ask who I’ve written this to/that’s right yall I did it for you/I did it for you”

Lecrae, from “I did it for you” off of his album, “After the music stops.”


While growing up, I was blessed to have both parents around and a good education. Despite these blessings, however, I was exposed to my share of gang violence. I vividly remember when I saw someone shooting at another person in my driveway, only to find out moments later that the person was shot and killed on my front porch. Some years earlier I remember overhearing my pops’ telephone call when he found out that my cousin, who had a scholarship to attend UCLA and was a honor roll student and athlete, was shot and killed over a CD players just days before his high school graduation. Further, I have and currently know plenty of people who are involved in gang life.

Now that I’m older and have tried to learn more about the contexts and experiences which encourage youth to get involved with gang life, I often wonder “what if that was me?” “What if I didn’t grow up with two parents who loved me and encouraged me to be great, and didn’t have a great-aunt to anoint me with olive oil and pray over me often?” I think that asking these type of self-reflective questions is a start to realizing that regardless of the “endowments” or supports we may have grown up with, it is only by the grace of God that we do not have to live a life of crime, violence, and desperation. Does that mean that God is the reason why there are “those” people who are in gangs and who commit violent acts toward each other? I emphatically say no. What it is a result of, though, is the many sins and choices that we have made (via free will) that have created the conditions to where some people feel like joining a gang is their best option for survival or a decent life, given the alternatives. Every choice we make, big or small, has some kind of effect on someone other than ourselves…

Once we get to the point where we realize that we could easily be in the same position as our brothers and sisters who are severely impoverished, involved in drugs, and/or gang life, we must then ask ourselves, “what kept me out of that situation?” Once we realize that the only answer is the grace of God, we must then ask ourselves, “how do we tell those who are in these predicaments that this is not what God intended for them, and that God, through Jesus Christ, will free them from their bondage and change their lives around?” Whenever I think about the power that we as Christians posses to reach those outside of the church walls, I recall an ever-important question that a woman raised during a discussion on whether or not Christians should embrace hip-hop as a ministry tool. She simply asked:”If Jesus was to come back today, where would he spend his time?” This immediately struck a cord with me because one of the first things that came to my mind were the people most likely to not “get down with” the church (although there are some more progressive churches were this is not the case). When I look in the bible at how and where Jesus spent most of his time, it is clear that Jesus was deeply concerned with those who were marginalized and written of as “outcasts.” In Luke 5:32 Jesus states,

“I have not come to arouse and invite and call the righteous, but the erring ones (those not free from sin) to repentance [to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins” (NKJ Amplified)



Someone who has taken this scripture to heart is Bishop George McKinney, who has a

ministry in San Diego

which focuses on ministering to and improving the lives of gang members, prostitutes, drug dealers, and any other force the enemy tries to enslave our people with. Another thing I like about this ministry is that it doesn’t just focus on the individual (although it comes to choice that must be made by the individual), but also focuses on the context and structural sins that contribute to these outcomes (e.g., poverty, materialism, racism, and so forth).

What do you think? What do you think are the main causes as to why youth get involved with gang life? What role do you think Christians should play in addressing this issue? Weigh in and speekoint…

Labels: After the Music Stops, Christian, Christian hip hop, church, drugs, gangs, Heaven, Jesus, Lecrae, Luke, New Slavemasters, youth

Peace and blessings,

I mean I joke about things being "apocalytpic" (i.e., that mini snowstrom steez in Cambridge, MA last year) and that we are in the end times, but now it doesn't seem so funny. For those of you who have not yet heard, here's some info on

Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda

Despite the fact that his claim to be the second coming of JC is all wrong, his steez is wrong on so many levels:

#1: He "preaches" that there is no such thing as sin because JC destroyed sin when He died on the cross. Therefore, we can do no wrong in God's eyes.

This statement is beyond inaccurate on at least two accounts. The first account is the fact that although JC died and resurrected, he did so so that we, through Him, can have a closer relationship with God, given that we accept and live for Him. The second account is due to the fact that sin is still very real. You would be lying to yourself and jeopardizing your soul if you tried to convince yourself otherwise. Jesus is very much alive, and yes He did die and rise for our sins, but that does not mean that we are exempt from obeying His commandments and trying to live like Him. If anything, His death and resurrection is all the more reason to live right. Lastly, JC, who was there since the beginning of time and will be there after the end, never said anything about there will be a time when we could do no wrong in God's eyes. Although He often told people to "go and sin no more," He NEVER said "do what you want because there's no more sin."

#2: He "preaches" that prayer is a waste of time (as if "#1" was not inaccurate enough).

There are too many bible verses where JC emphasized the importance of prayer and fasting. I mean dang, He did both for forty days! If he prayed, fasted, and was tempted with sin (although he NEVER succomed to the temtpations), who are we to think that we are exempt? If anything we should be treated more harshly than He was, but instead He showed HIs unconditional love for us by humbling Himself among us and paying the ransom for our transgressions. Neglecting prayer is spiritual denial because it's like saying that there's no need to talk to God, and that God doesn't work through/answer prayers.

#3: He makes His congregation get a "666" tatoo like him. What more is there to say?

How can one speak this blasphemy when the very things that he claims are irrelevant now (sin and prayer) are two things that JC spoke of passionately and often. Heck, that's what most of his ministry was about. Also, if there is no such thing as sin, then why did JC often speak about the sin of greed and how it can prevent one from entering heaven (Matthew 19:23-25; Luke 16:19-23)? If there was no more sin, the JC would have told His disciples that after He died, that everyone would automatically go to heaven. Further, He would not have comissioned us to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20).

I don't know what bothers me more. The fact that he has the audacity to promote such garbage, or the fact that his followers are growing. In one conversation with the disciple Peter, JC speaks against everything that Miranda "preaches" about:

"Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren."
-Luke 22:31-32 (NKJ AMP)


What do you think? Are you more bothered by Miranda's claims or his increasing number of followers? Weigh in and speekonit...

Labels: blasphemy, God, JC, Jesus, Jose De Jesus Miranda, Luke, Matthew, Peter, prayer

Peace and blessings,

I pray everyone enjoyed their weekend. As we are approaching the last few days of the government-sanctioned "Black History Month," I thought it appropriate to acknowledge

Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950)

, an individual who not only revolutionized the importance of recognizing the history, struggles, and value of people of African descent, but embodied the spirit of what it means to use our gifts and talents for the benefit of our fellow brothers and sisters. Although the quotes that are to follow were taken from "The Miseducation of the Negro" and thus focus on people of African descent, I believe that the themes addressed in this book (which everyone must read) apply to people of all backgrounds, experiences, and ethnicities, as it deals with the emancipation of mental slavery. Come to think of it, I'll probably have to revisit this book again, because there is not enough room in one post to include all of the "food for thought" that is in this book. Without further or do, let's get into business...




This quote is probably one of the more popular of the book, as it not only highlights the potential danger of mental slavery as an idea, but it gives a stifling example of what mental slavery looks like in practice:

"If you can control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his action. When you determine what a man shall think you do not have to concern yourself about what he will do. If you make a man feel that he is inferior, you do not have to compel him to accept an inferior status, for he will seek it himself. If you make a man think that he is justly an outcast, you do not have to order him to the back door. He will go without being told; and if there is no back door, his very nature will demand one." (pgs 84-85)

This next quote is also powerful, although insteasd of mental slavery, it focuses on the importance of service, not leadership in addressing society's ills:

" If the negro could abandon the idea of leadership and instead stimulate a larger number of the race to take up definite tasks and sacrafice their time and energy in doing these things efficiently the race might accomplish something....Under leadership we have come into the ghetto; by service within the ranks we may work ur way out of it. Under leadership we have been constrained to do the biddings of others; by service we may work out a program in the light of our own circumstances. Under leadership we have become poverty-stricken; by service we may teach the massess how to earn a living honestly. Under leadership we have been made to despise our own possibilites and to develop into parasites; by service we may prove sufficient unto the task of self-development and contribute our part to modern culture." (pgs 118-119)

Now I don't think that Carter G. would be against recognized leaders such as Martin Luther King or Malcolm X because they made it a priority to encourage the members of their respoective movements. More importantly, within both movements, especially the civil rights movement, everyone, regardless of "rank" played an active role in bringing about social change. For instance, teh bus boycott did not happen because of Martin Luther King, but because of the hundreds (and probably thousands) of people who chose to walk instead of taking the bus, organized carpools, raised money, got the word out, and so forth. In other words, service was at the core of the movement.

The most revolutionary figure, Jesus Christ, also put a high premium on service:

" But Jesus said to them, The kings of the Gentiles are deified by them and exercise lordship [ruling as emperor-gods] over them; and those in authority over them are called benefactors and well-doers. But this is not to be so with you; on the contrary, let him who is the greatest among you become like the youngest, and him who is the chief and leader like one who serves. For who is the greater, the one who reclines at table (the master), or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am in your midst as One Who serves."
Luke 22:25-27 (NKJ Amplified)

As those who notice that "things aren't right" with regards to our local, national, and international affairs, let's pray that our God-given talents and abilitities be used in the name of service and not just in the name of leadership. Take care and speekonit...

Labels: African, Carter G. Woodson, education, God, history, Jesus Christ, Luke, Malcolm X, mental, Miseducation of the Negro, MLK, service, slavery

Peace and blessings,

The following scripture speaks to the power and necessity of prayer. Given the events that transpired in Peter's life after this conversation with Jesus (i.e. his betrayal of Jesus three times and Jesus returning to redeem Peter three times), Jesus' prayer for Peter speaks volumes. The pic is courtesy of

Suite 101

"31Simon, Simon (Peter), listen! Satan has asked excessively that [all of] you be given up to him [out of the power and keeping of God], that he might sift [all of] you like grain, 32But I have prayed especially for you [Peter], that your [own] faith may not fail; and when you yourself have turned again, strengthen and establish your brethren."

Luke 22:31-32 (NKJ Amplified)

This scripture reminds me of the importance of praying for myself as well as others, because the devil stays on his grind. Since we already the victory through Christ, prayer to me is simply verbal confirmation between Jesus, God, and myself that the devil has no hold over us. Stay blessed and speekonit...

Labels: Christ, faith, Jesus, Luke, Peter, scriptures