Thursday, August 21, 2014

The Mike Brown Situation #PrayForStl

Why There Is No Peace Until There Is Justice #PrayForSTL


So as most of you, or all of you know I have been live and
in action when it comes to the whole Mike Brown case and I have been at many
rallies, peaceful and non peaceful, and most of the press conferences and
church services since the beginning and I will be attending the funeral. First
of all I did all of this so I can keep a honest report for all of my FB,
twitter and blog followers and I have stayed out of the marching but only to
sit on the side lines and video tape, interview people and see what the political,
media and civil rights leaders have to say.


Let me start off by saying this: it is my belief that the
only TWO people that have a dog in this fight are Mike Browns mother and father
because as I have repeated myself they are the only ones who have to put their
child in a box and then put him in the cold ground and if you have ever
experienced that 1st God Bless you and second you know that the
worst tragedy besides someone dying and going to hell because they don’t have a
relationship with Jesus Christ  (and I didn’t
say be a church member but if you’re looking for a church let me know) is to lose
a child. So that’s been my whole stance from the beginning and that is where I come
from so before you attack, comment or question anything that I am going to say
from here on out please note that this is my heart, soul and mind when I think
about the details that we know so far about this case.


6 bullets are aggressive and excessive for an unarmed man. I
can justify in my head two, and remember my late father worked at a jail and
his assignment was to break up fights and violent riots and I have seen videos growing
up of what the police had to do so I totally understand and support physical
force to stop a situation but 6 bullets I can’t justify in my own personal
head. For me after the two shots that connected in his side, that’s what the examiner
said the other day on the news,  I am
calling for back up immediately and then I am beating the suspect down because
any parent would rather have their child judged by 12 than carried by 6.


I think that the officer had high adrenaline in the moment
and it was not his intent in the moment to kill the young man, so that’s why I don’t
believe that he deserves to go to jail I just think he needs to sit down in
private room with his lawyer and the parents of Mike Brown and their lawyer and
explain to them what happened. I don’t think he needs a desk job after thinking
about it because personal experiences that happen to all of us affect us all in
some way, its human nature and we all would be lying if we said differently. I
think the city needs to buy his house and assist him in moving somewhere out of
the state and for him and his family to start over, life has plenty of “start over’s”;
I have had a few in my life, change is always comes to teach us something and
we can either be positive or negative about it, but it’s our choice and for the
safety of his family, that is the best option in my opinion. And for all of my
friends who are saying to me why are you not supporting the officer if you don’t
believe what he did was intentional, the answer is this because he is still
alive and his parents don’t have to bury their child and remember I am not
supporting Mike Brown because I saw the video tape of him robbing the store, he
clearly an aggressive person, but his parents are separate from him. My father
was a HORRIBLE parent to his child, me, but that does not reduce in any way my
continued prayers not only for myself but also for my grandparents who had to
put their baby in the ground 29 months ago. When it comes to being a bad parent
he was on the top ten list in history, he didn’t do his job in training me to
be a man, thank God for my grandpa, but I still have a broken heart for my
grandparents because his wrong against my soul doesn’t cancel their misery.


I applaud all peaceful protestors and all church and faith
leaders for leading the peaceful protest and while we may disagree with their
signs, chants, and opinions at least they are doing it without conflict or
violence and that needs to be applauded. And to all the officers, especially Johnson
we need to be appreciative of him and the other black and white officers who do
their job well. We even saw the other night a white officer hold up a gun to
protestors saying he was going to “Cuss Word” kill them and I applaud the city
for letting him go indefinitely the next day. Alderman French, Rev. Jones, Rev.
BoBo, Rev. BT Rice, Former Congressman Carnahan who I think should take another
run or at least support French 1000% in getting Congressman “No Show” Clay out
on the next election; all of these people need to be commended for their
leadership and so many more.


When it comes to the riots, the people who have robbed,
broken into and vandalized property this one statement sums up how I personally
feel: PUT THE DOGS ON THEM AND THEN PUT THEM IN JAIL WITH A FELONY FOR ROBBERY
AND A TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR BAIL! #JustMyView Because the bad people are making
the good people look bad and instead of talking about the grief of these two
parents were talking about idiots, instead of talking about all the good
businesses and coming to support them were talking about idiots. And for the
record I am not just talking I went to the shoe carnival that was broken into
the other day and spent $100 and thanked them for staying in business in the
community.


Also I do believe that the Country Prosecutor does need to
step aside in the case because a young black man killed his father and I am
just not convinced that in a high profile case like this you can put your
personal views aside because when you lose a parent to a tragedy it changes
you, trust me on that one. So I think that governor Nixon should hire two women
one black and one white and have them take over the case because then no one
can say in whatever decision is made it is based on race or gender, that’s just
my way of avoiding problems later on and even have the black one be a
conservative and the white one be a liberal, let’s try to eliminate all bad
press ahead of time.


I also want to encourage everyone to register to vote and to
vote in every election, I hear so many people say I don’t vote because I don’t want
to get called for Jury Duty, just tell them you believe in the death penalty, that’s
what I do it works every time lol. But please if you want things in your city
to change, then vote. They even send you a card with your voting place on it
and the date of the election so go and vote!!!


When it comes to Race in America let me say this I was
raised by my parents and grandparents to treat people how they treat you, I
have people in my life who have the same blood running though their veins that
treat me worse than an enemy, so it’s not about social class, race, gender or
even religious background for me, it’s about how you treat me. I have Muslim, LGBT
Community, atheist, liberal and all kinds of friends, Yes I am always telling
people “get to Jesus” but I am never rude about it and I love all of my friends
and I just don’t believe in tolerating people I believe that true maturity happens
when you can accept people right where they are, Jesus taught thatJ! Because that is what
he did; Jesus didn’t say go get right first then come to me he said “Anyone who
calls on the name of the Lord Shall be Saved”. I am a young black pastor of a
majority older white church and our secret is the Jesus. At the cross were all
sinners in need of a savior and we take the time to get to know one another. I
am 6’3 240 pounds and young and black with my own swag. The world says that doesn’t
work but our church shows it works everyday because I have people who were born
before blacks and women could vote, still while the KKK was a dominate force in
America, before interracial marriage was legal, before Brown Vs. The Board of
education; who call me Pastor Robert. Don’t tell me the world can’t change, don’t
tell me there is no hope, don’t tell me that it doesn’t happen because my
church is on the front lines leading it every day.


So the question is how did we do it? And the answer is we
got to know each other and daily are getting to know each other. We worship,
pray, talk and get to know each other. We have liberals, conservatives, and
people from different religious backgrounds in our church and we get together
every Sunday and we say “Hey I’m a sinner, o wait you’re a sinner too… Perfect let’s
get to Jesus”.  When the world finds
common ground and realizes we all have our prejudices and “sacred cows” and all
of us have idols that get in the way of our hearts being fully pure and just
simply get to Jesus no matter what else you believe then and only then will we
see any lasting movement because God is everlasting all by himself. So more
importantly let’s call it what it really is not a race problem a sin problem.
Blacks and whites will always be different just like men and women. I didn’t know
what green bean casserole was until I went to college and I’m still trying to
teach some of my white friends how to do the eclectic slide (that was just a
joke, yall know I don’t dance- LOL). The point is our difference should bring
us together and say I want to know what that is or try that or experience that
and not tear us apart. I might not make it a part of my daily routine but the experience
will make my life better. That is what we all should be striving for because
life is a journey, not a destination.  Pray
for our city, Pray To Jesus and May God Have mercy on us. Let’s continue to
pray for the people who have to put their kid in a box and in the ground, that
is our responsibility as people who believe in something bigger than us. Also
my final point in this for all born again baptized people, if the world will
come out by the thousands to rally for a death, what do you think can happen if
we effectively tell the world about a death that gave them life #JustSaying J… OK God Bless, be nice
in your comments, I am not looking for approval or an argument this is just my
view of what’s gone on so far… #PrayForSTL

Monday, August 11, 2014

Martin, Malcolm, Bobby, John, Rosa, Coretta, Dorthy... Why We Need To Pray For STL #GodHearsPrayers

Maybe you have forgotten or even more realistic maybe it wasn't taught accurately or imprinted on the hearts, souls and minds of the next generations of those who where to come. Just because you didn't boycott, sit, stand, protest, march, or have to suffer doesn't mean you don't carry the weight, responsibility and blood on your hands. Martin was murdered for standing up for freedom, Malcolm was shot in cold blood in front of his family for changing his position, Bobby was struck down because people didn't like how he was merging the races together, John was murdered in cold blood because of his unwillingness to compromise, Rosa was put in jail because she just wanted to be treated with fairness, Coretta put aside her grief and marched on anyhow, and Dorthy carried the torch until she witnessed for herself "Yes We Can". As a black man 365 days a year for the last 29 years and a proud black man I am disgusted with the events of tonight in the city of STL. What has not been focused on is that a mother has to put her child in a box and then put him in the ground. I think of my own mother and how if the events of this last week had been her child she wouldn't have wanted this chaos to over shadow her heart break rather she would have wanted you to tell her how much of a positive influence her baby had made in your life. This mother will never again see his face, touch his skin, or smell his fragrance. And more importantly a soul has had to come into judgement in the presence of a Holy God. We have a racial problem in this country and we are seeing a glimpse of it played out in STL tonight; the truth is we have a sin problem that corrupts the soul of this great nation. But more importantly and really the only thing that matters to me is that we see the consequences of a lost, sinful world, and a generation that doesn't know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We are all SINNERS and no persons sin is bigger or worse than another persons sin so what we have to do is focus on the only thing that can help us try to strive to be better people and that is real Love. Real Love comes through knowing Jesus Christ more each day and when we acknowledge that we need to get over ourselves and we need to let truth ring loudly and freedom penetrate every area of our nation; only then will we be able to have real, lasting and mind changing results. We have taken prayer out of our schools and expect for kids to have self worth, fathers have abandoned the homes and we expect for boys to know how to be men and for girls to know what leadership and virtue are really about, we have a society of grandparents that are raising their grandchildren and we expect kids to know their value and importance, and we have sugar coated Jesus Christ as truth and now for tolerance sake calling the divine "the universe" so we don't offend people.  Well I am over it and tonight it has hit our very own backyards and the "chicken of evil" has come home to lay it's egg and all of the political correctness and sensitivity has left us with "bad yoke" on our faces.
I am saying this as a young black minister of the gospel of the good news, that it is time now that we bring moral, ethics and biblical truth back into our communities and we teach people how to live a life that is acceptable, loving, kind and caring; otherwise know that this is just the beginning of destruction to our very own community. The picture is bigger than black and white or poor verse the police. I have been raised all of my life with white people, all of the schools I went to where majority white but my fifth grade year; all of the churches I have been on staff at have been majority white, and my father worked at a prison most of his life so I know about the police system.
This has to do with the sin sick souls of a generation that doesn't have a moral compass and people of faith have to get out there and stop being timid or scared of being called "whatever" and present the good news that God is love and that Jesus can save you from sin and yourself and that when hard things happen in life and in this community that you can push through it. I am tired of people whining and complaining about a system when the majority of people don't vote their hearts and beliefs and then sit down and complain about it. People in STL county complain about change but they let Charley Dooley who was doing a great job and was the only black leader to show up tonight to try to calm people down get voted out last week. Where is Lacy Clay? Where is Rev. Nance? Where is Rev. Bobo? Where is Rev. B.T.Rice? Where is Darlene Green who is the longest serving black official in the this generation of STL? Where is Rev. Jones? Where is Alderman Reid? Stop complaining and vote or sit down and be quiet because you just let a great American be kicked out of office because you didn't show up to the polls and now you want to complain and yet he still showed up for you....
I'm tired of the nonsense in our very own community. And instead of taking a positive note we are making ourselves look like animals and the devil is winning and getting joy out of this terrible situation.
What we need to do is let the investigation take place, pray for the mother who has to put her child in the ground, and come together and say what's really going on and how do we get to the root of the problem. I could have easily been a statistic. Divorced home, alcoholic father, six different schools in my life; but the difference was this: the church was the center of my life. My life wasn't fair, but who's is? But because biblical truth was put in me, eventually the fruit of the labor blossomed and now I see that everything that showed up on my doorstep to my heart was to help me to have empathy, understanding and compassion for people and that is where I operate from when ministering to a lost and dying world. I am just one beggar trying to tell others where I found eternal food and His name is Jesus. Its a personal relationship not based on yourself but rather on God's grace and His mercy. So with all the horrible worldly events that have happened tonight let us remember this in this moment and hour of horrible destruction: that all things are lessons that God would have us to learn so what we must do is learn from this moment, join together in prayer and make sure we are training our boys to godly men and our girls to be biblical women; this isn't about the shooting or the death of a young man, beloved, the picture is so much bigger this is about a generation that is starving to be raised in truth, because we can clearly see the consequences of neighborhoods, communities, cities, states and a nation that don't have Jesus Christ as the center of its compass... #KeepItMoving #GodBlessSTL #PleasePrayForThisGeneration

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Singleness Is Not A Disease

“Hope for love, pray for love, wish for love, dream for love…but don’t put your life on hold waiting for love.”

In January my grandparents will celebrate 55 years of commitment through biblical marriage to one another and as sit back and watch them and how they operate I am amazed at the grace of God and how he shows them how to daily give grace, understanding and strength to one another. Their marriage has been my front row seat to what commitment to just one person really looks like mentally, physically, emotionally and yet keeping their own identity and embracing the fact that some part of the other person resides in the whole picture of who they are as a person. It’s about daily forgiveness and liking a person more than you express romantic love to them. Most of my seminary friends got married while we were in college and while I was never the first person to sign up for a relationship, at each wedding or when I found out someone was engaged I hoped the best for them but was never envious of what they had because I knew for me I never wanted to be married in the abstract just because everyone else was doing it or because I was getting older and it was the “normal” but rather I wanted to be married to someone: their whole personality, their whole being and all of them on the good and bad days. I believe in biblical marriage and I fully support it and think it’s the best choice emotionally, physically, financially, and mentally; it just hasn’t happened for me yet. Marriage takes a lot of compromise and sacrifice in everything that you do,  you have to not only think about how it will affect the other person but you have to be excited from your soul to want to bring pleasure to that person. I don’t want us single people to look at our current state as bad or rush into marriage because we want to “fit in” or “be normal”. For me my life as never been conventional or normal according to the unspoken rules of society. My life has always had a twist to it and I’m ok with that now, it took me a minute to get there if I’m honest but looking back, all of the things that seemed broken to me were not broken they were just different stones on my path to finding my place in God’s ministry. Those unique situations helped me to come to an understanding that being right where I am today is right where I am suppose to be. Don’t long for love when you can love yourself by viewing yourself through what God says about you and if you don’t know what he says about you then pick up His book and read it (The Bible); Starting with John 3:16. You're loved, you're enough and you're perfectly planned the way he wants you to be, yes we should always be striving for more, but the more is him and not what this world thinks. Again marriage is a good thing, relationships are a good thing, but if its not meant to be for you right now in this time of your life don’t stress or worry about it, what it means is that your suppose to be putting your energy into something else at this moment and remember you don’t want to just settle because your lonely, you want someone to want to be with you, to cherish your time, to appreciate you, and to love you unconditionally and if that person cant or wont then RUN away with the quickness because you were created for so much more. Don’t be in a relationship or get married just because it’s a trend “well everyone else it doing it”; no you focus on what God wants you to do and be happy for those who he has blessed with a spouse because it’s their time and wait on your time and if it never comes, that’s ok too because what God’s plan for you will be perfect. Stop trying to change God’s plans for your life and enjoy the journey your on now because this is the life you were given so celebrate it and celebrate God’s personal individual Love for you; Remember Life is not a rehearsal this is the show: everyday, every minute, every second; so look at how your performing and focus on that!!! … #LoveYa #KeepItMoving