The Unlikely Missionary

The life of a Christian is not, I repeat, is NOT an easy one. Choosing Christ is not an easy choice. Living of the world is easy because that is how our nature is inclined. In my devotional time today I was reminded of this fact. That we as Christians are to be partakers of Christ's suffering. Jesus' life was not an easy one. His choice to die was not an easy one. So why do we assume that our lives, if we truly want to live a life according to the will of our Heavenly Father, will be easy? We suffer not because God hates us but so that thru our test we will be able to lead someone else thru theirs. How could Jesus comfort the sick if He had never been Himself? How could He sympathize with poor if He had never been poor Himself? How could He understand sorrow if He had never wept a single tear? All God asks of us as we walk this narrow road is to be faithful because He promises to be faithful to us, to the end. I have watched members of my church suffer cancer, illness, deat

There are times when we begin to question the things that we do and the calls God places on our lives. We get into a routine. We go to work or to school, we play sports or hit the gym, we're involved in our communities, we are dedicated to our ministries; all things that are great. But I found myself recently asking the Lord, "God, is this what you want me to be doing? I feel like I'm doing all these things and none of them well. I feel like I'm failing. I know you have called me to ministry and you have placed me at this place in my life but is this what you want?" I was really discouraged and on the verge of tears. I was frustrated but more hurtful to me was I felt that I was letting my Savior down. I told a friend of mine what was on my heart and the advice they gave really blessed my heart. All we need is a little bit of faith and God will do the rest. We don't have to be dynamic people or extraordinary. We just have to be faithful to God. In my de

All that matters me is what you see when You look at me All that matters to me is how you feel when You think of me No more distractions my one affection Is only you my Jesus now…. You’re all that matters * When I was younger I worried so much about what others thought. All of my worth was bound up in other peoples opinions. My self-esteem and self-worth hit rock bottom when I was 19 and I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted it all to end. During that time of total and utter self-hate the Lord showed me that my worth is found in His eyes. When you look into the Father's eyes all you is love shining down at you. No matter what you do or what you look like to God you are beautiful. Worth dying for. We will always be tempted to measure ourselves against the world but your worth isn't measured in worldly measurements because we can't measure pricelessness. Only God can. All that matters to me is who and what He sees when He looks at me and that should be all that

Matthew 7:7-11   7 "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.   9 "Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!  Over the last few months I have seen the Lord move in a mighty way all because of one simple thing, I asked Him to. The Lord wants us to ask. His Word says ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and God will open the door and invite you in. I'm NOT talking about facetious prayers; I'm talking about asking for the Lord to rain down His blessings, asking the Lord to shower you with His grace and mercy. Petitioning Him for strength when you feel tota

In the midst of the fear, sadness, and uncertainty that blanketed New York this day 9 years ago so did love. I am an eternal New Yorker. Born and raised... I plan to raise my family here. This attack hurt my heart and paralyzed me. All eyes were on us, but not because of Fashion Week or because the President was in town or because the Pope was visiting, but because we were hurting. We New Yorkers have an slight arrogance about us. Our city suffered a great blow and it was a tough pill to shallow. We grieved. Together. People helped each other. Color and all those other prejudices didn't matter. This was our city. We were all hurting and we all needed each other. When cops and firefighters ran into those towers they didn't say hmmmm, I can't help you, you don't look right, they just went in to save people. I often wonder that if we treat everyone with love, not suspicion or hate or prejudice what our world would look like? If we were kind to others would they ever

Just finished listening to this song and it just filled my spirit with the beauty and glory of the Most High God. This has been a tough week for me but God is so good. He is worthy of my praise even when it seems that what you want is so far out of reach. But when you remember that just the Name of Jesus makes things happen you realize that you need to stop worrying and just praise Him. Now I'll just let Ms. Yolanda sing and you not just listen but fully understand the power of Jesus name. There is a name that is so precious, a name so wonderful to me. This name is worthy of all praises. Because of him, I am made free. That name is Jesus, oh, how I love him. The one who gave, his life for me. Because of love, so unconditional, I will have life, eternally. This name speaks peace, unto my storm clouds, This name speaks calm, unto my fears. And when I feel, that no one loves me. His loving presence is so near. That name is Jesus, oh, how I love him. The one who gave,

"I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." - Genesis 28:15 Don't you love how people promise you things and never deliver on their promises?  Yeah I didn't think so.   My grandfather always said your word and your name is all you have and once you go back on your word your reputation is destroyed.  Didn't Dru Hill sing, " I never make a promise that I can't keep, that ain't me"? That's what God says in His Word, I never make a promise that  I can't keep, that ain't me. Over and over, time and again God has made promises that He never renegs on. His Word is His bond. When you hear His name you know it is trustworthy. Ask anyone that He has made a promise to and they'll tell you, "He's good people." Hey, I'm one of them. God promised to never leave me nor forsake me and He's still with me go

The minute YOU put a price on yourself you underestimate your worth. We are creatures that are prone to self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness. We beat ourselves down and up and sideways everyday because we don't think we're good enough. We settle for less than the best because we don't think we deserve it. We let foolishness dictate how we see ourselves. We buy into the lies. A guy that I was seeing once gave me some great advice, Know your worth! But what is that? How do you measure that? If you measure it by the world's standards you will always sell yourself short . Because we feel we will never measure up to the " ideals " of this place we call our earthly home. But if you measure your worth by God's standards you will understand that you are, "fearfully and wonderfully made!" (Psalm 139:14) When you understand that the price God paid was a life for a life; when you truly grasp that God gave His precious and blameless son Jesus

I found this in my Facebook inbox this morning. I think this is great. THE RESUME OF JESUS CHRIST Address: Ephesians 1:20 Phone: Romans 10:13 Website: The Bible. Keywords: Christ, Lord, Savior, and Jesus Hello my name is Jesus Christ. – The Christ. Many call me Lord! I’ve sent you my resume because I’m seeking the top management position in your heart. Please consider my accomplishments as set forth in my resume. Qualifications I founded the earth and established the heavens, (See Proverbs 3:19) I formed man from the dust of the ground, (See Genesis 2:7) I breathed into man the breath of life, (See Genesis 2:7) I redeemed man from the curse of the law, (See Galatians 3:13) The blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant comes upon your life through me, (See Galatians 3:14) Occupational Background I’ve only had one employer, (See Luke 2:49) I’ve never been tardy, absent, disobedient, slothful, or disrespectful My employer has nothing but rave reviews for me, (See

The song How He Loves Us by the David Crowder band has been singing in my heart for the last week. When I think about my God and all He gave up for us, I know how much He loves me. So many things try to strip us of the love of Jesus. Those circumstances and those obstacle and those people may change but God is NEVER changing. His love is deeper than the ocean, his thoughts toward us are more numerous than the grains of sand on every beach in all the world (Psalm 139). He doesn't owe us anything but He gives us everything if we are willing to receive His gift. If you doubt He exists just pause for a minute and try to understand how your breathing and your not telling yourself to. How is the earth spinning and your not feeling it. How your eyes see and your ears hear and your small feet and ankles are able to hold you up without you falling down. Look outside at the trees. Think of the thousands of species of animals that cover this earth all with names. All designed in their

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel The Gospel of Jesus Christ I am not afraid to be counted But I'm willing to give my life See I'm ready to be all He wants me to be Give up the wrong for the right I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ " I couldn't always say that I wasn't ashamed. Not of the gospel that my faith is based on but I was ashamed to say I was a Christian because of all those who proclaim to follow Christ and are perpetrating a fraud. Who are quick to call one a sinner forgetting they are one themselves. Who say they are loving and then will talk about you behind your back. The ones who hoop and holla on Sunday and will curse you out on Monday. Those who cause people to judge you and say, "Oh, you're a Christian". People that even I couldn't stand. People I didn't want to call my brother or sister. Being authentic whether Christian or not is what is the most important thing but in today's society they tell

You don't realize how fast paced your life is until you are forced to slow down.  Friday I found out that I sprained my ankle. So I have to wear a soft cast for two weeks and this ugly boot thing (at least its black so I can work with this fashion-wise). What I realized about myself over the last couple of days is that I walk incredibly fast and that I am always on the move. For some reason I am always in a rush and I don't really like to sit for extended periods of time. But now that I am forced to slow down I appreciate my feet all the more and I sympathize with those who have problems with their feet. It is a bit (ok, A LOT!) frustrating because I can feel how much slower I am going and I find that when I've been standing/walking for awhile I need to find a seat quick and something to put my foot up on . But today as I was walking (slowly, lol) to my office I really got to see the beauty of the world that God created for us. I could feel the cool breeze on my skin, the

I like how we say we love ourselves then we snip and tuck and poke and pinch and nip and sow and glue and suck and inject everything and the kitchen sink onto or into or out of ourselves to make us a better us. But how do we measure better? When we measure ourselves against what the world deems beautiful or acceptable we will always fall short. I know I definitely do. My hair isn't always done, my outfits aren't always fly. I'm skinny but I can't say that my body looks like Naomi Campbell's or Eva Pigford's. My skin ain't flawless, my thighs jiggle and sometimes I thoroughly enjoy just being bummy and not caring a lick. I was always unhappy with the way I looked cuz I never measured up until... I looked at myself through a new lens. Through the lens of  my Creator. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Created loving and planned for by the same man who fashioned the stars and carved out the oceans. I am important and I matter because I am important and

This Christ walk I'm on ain't easy. I have doubts. Not about who God is to me and what He has done for me. But about the process. Sometimes I struggle with the waiting. God promises to take care of you and lead you in down the right path. But He doesn't reveal things right away. Sometimes He shows you ahead of time but more often then not He doesn't. I am one that struggles with patience. I have very little of it. Its a terrible thing. Its one of the fruits of the spirit that I have yet to master. Waiting on the Lord is hard because we are people who live in a world of instant gratification. We want it and we want it now. God doesn't work that way. If He places a desire within you He will grant you that thing but in His perfect timing. I know that He knows when I'm ready for things and that everything happens for a reason but its INCREDIBLY hard. Knowing that God will do it and then trusting He will are two different skill sets. But I'm trying. *sigh

Crazy concept when I say I serve someone huh? Romans 6:18 (The Message) Offer yourselves to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God and the freedom never quits. All your lives you've let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you've started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom! So many people say they are free. Hmmmmm. So where did addiction come from? We all say we can stop at anytime. If we could we wouldn't need rehab for drugs, sex, overeating, alcohol, gambling, shopping, smoking, etc. You name it they have rehab for it. We have patches and gums and shots and Pavlov tricks to help us try to break our addictions (sounds like being enslaved to me). But I don't do those things.... How many times a day do you check your facebook page or twitter? What would you do if one day you left your cellphone home by accident? I bet you would go back home (or at least w

Its funny how many different versions of Jesus people have. He's black, he's white. How silly that is because he was Jewish. They say He was rich but His cradle was an animal's feeding trough. My Savior was a poor carpenter who depended on the kindness of others for food and shelter. He was a person that most people would ignore if they passed Him on the street. He wouldn't be given a second thought. All the things that we think savior's should be He was not. He wasn't regal or rich and powerful in society. But He was definitely whom we needed. He cared about the poor because he was. He was willing to touch the untouchable because He knew that at the end of His life we would treat Him like a leper. His heart broke over the death of a friend. He knew what it was to go hungry, to sleep outside, to have friends and family turn their back on Him. He knew what it meant to feel physical pain. And when it was all said and done He endured torture and crucifixion bec

I started this blog almost 5 months ago. It was birthed out of my experience at Urbana . Urbana is a christian missions conference that took place in St. Louis, MO. While there I felt God calling me to missions but not the way you might think. I am not missionary like AT ALL . I like running water. I'm not a fan of roughing it. I can't STAND bugs or wild life. As I like to say, Nature is not my friend. And I don't really have a desire to travel. When you think missionary you think of someone who goes to Africa or Haiti or India or some other hurting country. To know me you know that just ain't me. God isn't the type to put you in a situation where He knows you will fail. Then I realized, there are hurting people in my neighborhood. There are scared uncertain people on my block. I pass them everyday on the street. My mission field isn't some country 30 hrs away its right in my backyard. Then I had a Moses moment. I said to the Lord, " Who am I? "