Real Talk

1)

A book on Mother Theresa's private thoughts and fears

2)

A book that calls the church to focus more on making an impact outside of the church walls as a way of both advancing the gospel and strengthening our hunger for God

3)I'm not sure if he actually ended up performing, but a month or so ago

an Islam-based group protested against R. Kelly performing in the same venue that is used by a Southern California church

Labels: church, Mother Theresa, news, R. Kelly, Southern California

Peace and blessings,

I pray everyone had a safe, wonderful, and blessed Christmas and New Years. For those whom for whatever reason had a difficult time during this holiday season, I pray that God continues to shower you with His love, peace, and comfort (Psalms 55:22; Matthew 11:28).

It seems fitting that I would begin my first post of the new year on the birthday of my late grandfather, who was one of most admirable and honorable men of God I will ever know. I pray that through my life I will make you proud...

In 2006 while attending a church in Cambridge, MA I was prophesied to. When I approached the pastor right before he laid hands on me I can honestly say that while I believed in the gift of prophecy, I did not put too much stock in someone speaking into my life about specific areas in my life that were "cut off" from those around me. To my surprise, however, that's exactly what happened. I think for all of us there are some things we believe without witnessing it first hand, and other things we have to witness first hand to believe. For me, prophecy was one of those things.

After I told him the three things that were weighing on my heart at the time, he told me what God was telling him with regards to those three things. It wasn't until he "changed course" in a sense that I truly felt the presence of God. He basically said that before I come into what God has for me, God had to "take the lid off and show you some things." Once he started revealing what one of those things was, I suddenly felt encapsulated by the Holy Spirit to where I literally couldn't move (i. e. my legs felt cemented into the ground despite me trying to move them). It was at that moment that I knew that only God could have told Him that, because no one else knew.

After that experience, I have since been wondering what were some of those other "things" that God had to show me. In 2007, I feel like some of those things have been revealed to me, as well as the purpose for me experiencing those things. Given that "7" is the biblical number of completion, I feel like the ups and downs of last year occurred the way they did because for me (and I am only speaking for myself), it could not have happened any other way. In other words, I believe that there are some things that we each must experience in order for God to straighten out our "character-kinks." Put frankly, God loves us such that He is always concerned with building our character and making us better people, and thus a better reflection of Him.

There are some things in my spirit that if left unchecked, can do tons of damage to myself, to those around me, and to my relationship with God. Through experiencing the ups and downs of 2007, and seeing God reveal Himself to me in many different ways during those experiences, I can honestly say that I am a better, stronger, wiser man of God this year than I was last year. This is only the beginning, however, because God will never stop working on us because we can never be perfect on our own. Understanding that what defines us is not who we are when things are going "as usual," but who we are when things in our life are anything but usual, I am really looking forward to this year. Therefore, my new year's resolution is three-fold:

1) To work on viewing people and myself the way God views us

2) To work on viewing the situations and experiences that come up in life the way God views them

3) To work on viewing the world the way God views it.

What about you? Anything you've learned in 2007 that you think will make you a better person in 2008? Any new years resolutions? God bless, happy new year, and speekonit...

Labels: 2007, 2008, church, God, Matthew, prophecy, Psalms

Peace and blessings,

Below are a few articles that I came across, which offer some important perspectives on many of the issues facing us as God's children. In addition to reading about these and other issues, I also encourage us to continually and fervently take these issues up in prayer. Take care, stay blessed, and speekonit...

1) A Bishop and pastor discuss

how the Jena 6 case may reflect larger racial issues that are affecting the body of Christ

2) An Op-ed contributor to the NY Times

argues that the racism within the justice system is only a fraction of the larger issues plauging black families.

3) The Million Father March comes to the West Coast, holla! Videos on the Million Father March in Sacramento, CA, and the Black Cross March protesting youth violence in Chicago:

Click Here

Labels: Bishop, church, justice system, Million Father March, pastor, prayer, racism

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,



In recent news, hundreds of letters to God were found in the Atlantic Ocean. The letters were addressed to a minister at a Baptist church, but they were never delivered to him. You can find more info by clicking on the link in the "Christianity" news section. Check it and share your thoughts. Speekonit...

Labels: Christianity, church, God, minister, news

Peace and blessings,

I've been meaning to put up a trailer for a movie that I saw a couple of months back, and within a week or so of renting it I purchased it online. It's called "the Second Chance" and it's about the politics and inequality that exists among two sister churches and their respective communities (one church is in the suburbs and the other in the urban city). I thought the movie was very good simply because it was a Christian film (of which we need more mainstream access to), but because it dealt with alot of social issues that I think are not always addressed among and between the body of Christ and people in general. When u get a chance, rent the movie and/or cop it and let me know what you think. Have a blessed weekend, and speekonit...

Labels: Christian, church, economic, movie, Second Chance