"Consider This..." Episode 2: Fear

Choose This Day

14 “Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:14-15

Idolatry is a huge problem in Christianity. If we honestly look at ourselves, we worship everything but God. I’m not one to categorize “sin” but idolatry has to be at the top of the list of most committed sin. God has called and commanded us to worship him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. Simply put, God wants us to worship him with our whole being. God understood that we would have other “gods” in our lives, hence the reason we are told not to worship these other “gods” before him. The problem is that we are easily distracted by so many different things in this world. We are distracted by our successes and our failures, our joys and our pains, our ups and downs. So many things vie for our attention and we graciously and willingly give it over to them.

However, God has given his recommendation that we “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all things will be given to you as well.” God has warned us that we cannot “serve two masters, because we will love one and hate the other, we will devote ourselves to one and despise the other.” God has advised us that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and with all your strength.” So let us begin to look into our lives and see what it is that we truly worship. What are the “gods” and “idols” in our lives that are preventing us from worshiping God? What is it that is blocking us from having real relationship with God? And then we must answer Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel: “choose this day who you will serve...but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” So on this day ask yourself “Who will I serve?” I know for me, I will serve the Lord.

This is Minister Mike and I want you to Consider This...

For Colored People in a State of Emergency Searching For Something to Fight For!!!

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:28-31

This past weekend I found myself in a place of deep reflection after watching For Colored Girls and Black Girls Rock. While watching Black Girls Rock, I felt this energy that I had not felt in a while. I saw a resurgence of power occurring in people byway of Twitter. Seeing the tweets from my sisters and the inspiration they felt encouraged and inspired me as a black man. Not to mention the intensity of For Colored Girls and how it challenged me deep in my spirit. Both productions touched me in a special way and caused me to look at the state of my people at the moment.

We are in a state of emergency as a people (some would probably argue that we have been in this state for a while). That is the only way I can express it. I am not going to list a bunch of statistics because I witness this emergency we are in with my own eyes everyday. The mental, physical, and verbal assaults we launch on each other is down right depressing and sad. Despite this, I feel like there is a shift in the tide.

My generation has been asking the question for a while “What cause is there for us to fight for?” “What is our movement?” When we look our ancestors, the clear cut enemy for them was the evil that is racism and many of them decided to fight against this evil, even putting their very lives on the line. And yes, racism is still an evil that exists in the world, but I am convinced that the enemy most prevalent and damaging to our community is the self-hate that we have for ourselves and each other. It saddens me because it appears this self-hate has become all too natural. It appears that the self-hate is a part of our very DNA and flows through our veins.

So you may ask, how do you reverse over 300+ years of mental damage? How do you reverse over 300+ years of being taught to hate yourself? It is simple, we start by reversing the mental damage today. We understand that people took the time and effort to mentally crush us as a people. That same time, energy, and effort must take place to resurrect us as a people. This can occur by each of us “young professionals” mentoring a young male and/or female. We must begin to affirm each other with words of encouragement. We must hold accountable the people who perpetuate self-hate. It is essentially a radical movement of love. By re-establishing love as a dominant force in this world to counter the hate and evil that is all too pervasive now. Love is an action and state of being that we should operate in on a daily basis. It is a love for God, ourselves, and our people.

So let us being the love movement so we can reclaim this world and reclaim who we are as a children of God.

This is Minister Mike and I want you to Consider This....

Clear Vision

"Then the Lord answered me and said: Write the vision: make it plain on tablets, so that a runner may read it. For there is a still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie. If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay." -Habakkuk 2:2-3

"Where there is no vision the people will perish..."-Proverbs 29:18

"I don't stop until I see the end my vision clear..."-Kanye West, "Power remix"

Since the beginning of 2009, I feel like I have been wandering with no vision. Yes I finished graduate school and I experienced other accomplishments since that time but I felt like I was lost. I was mad and frustrated because everything just didn't seem right. But then something hit me one day, I was lacking vision. I was walking through the world getting things accomplished but I didn't know where I was going. Just aimlessly walking with no destination in sight. But that all changed one morning.

I began to reflect on a Habakkuk 2. The text tells us to "Write the vision. Make it plain on tablets..." We lack direction because we fail to write down the vision God has shown us. For myself, I began to realize that I felt so lost because I did not write down the vision God placed in my heart. It's like going into Wal-Mart without a list. I can go into Wal-Mart without a list and purchase many items that really don't matter and spend more money than i expected and still leave without fully my intended purpose. However, if I go to Wal-Mart with a list, something written on paper, I am focused and only get the items on the list because they are essential. Writing down the vision keeps us focused on the path where God wants us and we don't wander all over store getting items we don't need.

So let us begin to live with vision. God tells us to write this vision so we will stay focused because it may not occur immediately. However, this written vision serves as reminder of what God has already planned and that we must be patient, persevere, and praise while the vision comes to fruition at its appointed time.

This is Minister Mike and I want you to Consider This...

“What Am I Doing?” (Drizzy Voice)

“You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’—but not everything is good for you. And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything.”- 1 Corinthians 6:12 (New Living Translation)

There was a report that hip-hop artist, Pittsburgh’s own Wiz Khalifa, was arrested on drug charges in Greenville, NC yesterday evening. Wiz Khalifa has now become a part of the revolving door of hip-hop artists who cannot escape their infatuation with criminal justice system. Lil Wayne was just released after serving a little under a year for a weapons charge. TI is headed back to prison for violating his probation after just being released from prison earlier this year. And the list can go on and on about artists who have been in and out of prison. I wonder if them and others ever ask themselves, “What Am I Doing?” (Drizzy Voice)

Now let me turn the light off these artists and focus it on ourselves. What actions are we engaging in that are detrimental to our progress? What actions are we engaging in that can undermine the work that has already taken place? What actions are we engaging in that are just not beneficial for us? “What Are We Doing?” (Drizzy Voice)

The Corinthians text above reminds us that we must be mindful of all of our actions. Just because we are in a position to do anything we want does not mean those actions are beneficial. We cannot continue to undermine the blessings of God by failing to make wise decisions. The above MCs are or have participated in actions that can, have, or will lead to their demise. What actions have we engaged in that can, have, or will lead to our demise? It is time to take assessment of our lives and begin to adjust life accordingly. We must make sure that we do not sabotage the work of God in our lives because of our foolishness. We cripple the body of Christ and ourselves when we live reckless lifestyles. Therefore I encourage us not to become slaves to our vices (drinking, smoking, sex, pride, ego, ambition, men, women,etc.) but remain faithful to the calling that Christ has placed on each of our lives.

This is Minister Mike and I want you to Consider This...

Consider This...Episode 1 "Who Controls Your Mind?"