Yeah, Stop Praying

It always amazes me when someone finds out that I am a preacher.  You usually get one of two responses.  Either that will be the end of all conversation or the conversation will become something like a Catholic Church confessional.  This does not happen with Tre the Christian Rapper, but Tre the preacher is different I guess.  I have tried it both ways on several flights, trust me on this one.  Well today, I am in a store, and a clerk comes up to me and asks me to pray with her.  She says to me that she is praying for God’s direction about her current relationship.  She is currently living with her unsaved boyfriend.  OH LORD WE REALLY NEED A BURNING BUSH WORD FROM YOU!!!!! Really??? I’m a pretty straight forward type of cat, so I looked at her and asked, “Are you serious?” She responded, “I have been praying about this for a while, but God has not given me an answer”.  So I asked the most profound question I have ever asked in life, “Why are you wasting your time praying about that?” Now, going to good old Christian school when I was younger, two things that were said to me:  There are no stupid questions and you should pray about everything.  However, this question about praying, I would deem stupid.  As I began to talk to her, what I realized was she was using prayer as an excuse for not obeying.  What a concept, but are many of us any different?  We know what God would have us to do, we know the right thing to do, we know what we are called to do, but we hide behind the ritual of “praying” knowing that God is not going to respond to our stupidity, because you already know what to do.  I am not knocking the power of prayer, nor am I saying that we need not pray.  What I am saying is we need to quit lying to ourselves when we already know the answer to some of these make believe questions that we are asking.  God what do I do? I’m not God, but here’s your answer. OBEY!!!!!!!!!!!   BE BLESSED. 

We can not allow circumstances or pressure to determine the path we take as it relates to the will of God for our life. Be still.....

Y??? Y are they remaking bugs bunny cartoons? Y is Allen Iverson trying to come back to the NBA? Y does the weather in Philadelphia feel like Selma?

Lawd!!!! Church folks. I still gotta preach after that. Lord forgive me for wanting to kag that "blessing". Lord keep me near the cross; need your anointing to speak and keep from slapping folks. If you're in the crowd and reading this, when I get up, just stick your hand up for me to see. LOL then PUT THE PHONE AWAY

God's Timing

“The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity.” Leonard Ravenhill

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter I’ve been tryin’ to get down to the heart of the matter, But my will gets weak, And my thoughts seem to scatter, But I think it’s about forgiveness, Forgiveness, Even if, even if you don’t love me anymore,

Never really listened to this song “The Heart of the Matter”. Not really my genre. However, I heard this lyric and I began to really think about what it was saying. He was saying, I’m going to forgive, not because it will make you love me, but I will forgive you even if you don’t love me. True forgiveness is not based on conditions or expectations of a certain return. What a concept. Whether forgiving yourself or someone else, we have to forgive. If we don’t we are essentially imprisoning ourselves. We got to FORGIVE. He hurt me, she hurt me. You don’t know what they did Couple of things I had to learn. There is nothing I can do to change the past. It’s solid, it’s history, it’s written in stone, immovable as a mountain. Whether me or someone else. What’s done is done. Regret, resentment, or even revenge- none of these can change what has been done. These things will essentially ruin me. Grief and bitterness will only keep me thinking in the past. What is sadder is all that time spent has not changed a thing. We cannot change what has happened, but there is a means for healing. God will redeem my past if I allow him. He can take my worst choices, biggest mistakes, and worst experiences and bring about something magnificent. God promises to forgive and redeem. I have to be willing to let the past be the past, giving up all thoughts to change it, refute it, but most importantly fixate or dwell on it. Gotta give it to God. Even the hurt caused by others is an opportunity for God to radically change our lives forever. Lewis Smedes said it best, “Forgiveness manifest a wiliness to give up to God the right to judge and punish an offender, to see that person as a real human being, and to begin to wish him or her well. Forgiveness does not always restore the relationship, which requires movement from both sides. But it lets the hurt go and moves on. Forgiveness assumes that God is in control, that he will do justice at the proper time, and that he will make all things right in due time. Even when the relationship is not restored, because the offender doesn’t care, or continues to offend, or disappears, or even dies, forgiveness works redemption into the heart of the person who does the forgiving. The act of forgiveness becomes a conduit for God’s grace to work in that person. God’s grace can work wonders too, whether or not the offender takes responsibility for the wrongdoing. Grace can heal the soul….create peace…”

Sincere forgiveness isn’t colored with expectations that the other person apologizes or change.