Who Urinated In The Water?

If someone passed you a glass of water and they said someone had urinated in it, would you drink it? I am probably right in saying that you would not. Why? No one in his or her right mind would drink something that had been obviously contaminated.

Did you know that when we talk bad about other people to other people; we are actually urinating on that person's character? Sometimes unknowingly, but many times intentionally, the jabs we throw at people are design to contaminate people’s personalities so that others will not drink from their cup. We are urinating in the water.

Scripture calls these individuals wicked and worthless people (Proverbs 6:12-19). They constantly sow discord among people. These individuals are constantly negative and complaining. When you allow someone to bring you mess, you become the toilet used to urinate on someone else’s character.

We can never know all the reasons why people do such, but the scripture give us the root of some of this behavior. Psalms 109:3 says this behavior stem from hatred. Matthew 15:19 say it’s because of an evil heart. Whatever the case, its an evil work (Psalms 52:2) and foolish (Prov 10:18).

Today, decide to be the bigger person. After all, if they are quick to urinate on someone else’s character, it won’t be long before they are spraying the walls of your personality.

Love and Peace

Pastor Rich

Foreclosure 2010

Foreclosure is the legal process by which a mortgagee, or other lien holder, usually a lender, obtains a court ordered termination of the relationship between Mortgage Company and the borrowers.

We are nearing the end of 2010. As with every other year, many people are promising themselves to make integral changes in their personal and professional lives. Some want to stop smoking, some want to lose weight, some want career changes and so forth. These changes are great, especially if they impact your health in some way.

However, there are some changes that are more pivotal than others. There are some changes that many need to make, but they don't realize until its too late. These changes are in the relationships we have with some people. For example, bananas are only meant to be in your household for a short period of time. If you try to keep them longer than purposed, they will begin to rot. There are people in your lives that may be close to you, in your house, but they have become rotten. You can only harbor something rotten for so long before it begins to stink. Like the bananas, they are not long useful and need to be disposed. Some relationships are seasonal like the bananas, but some relationships, like the foreclosure, end as result of someone not holding up to their end of the bargain.

Before someone’s property is foreclosed they received several notices. These notices indicate that the relationship is becoming sour. There were signs that some of the relationships in your life were going south, but you may have chosen to ignore them. The notices were stamped on the door of your heart, but you trashed them. You ignored the changing landscape and the nonpayment. Just because you ignore something, doesn’t mean it ceases to exist. Here are some overt signs that its time to end.

1. You invest more into the relationship than they do. So many times relationships are one-sided. As a result, one party becomes bankrupt because they are giving out more than they are receiving.

2. Their fingerprints are on the knife that stabbed you. Most Christians believe they need a Judas in their life to keep them alert. Jesus needed a Judas. I don't. I want people around me that reciprocate loyalty, because I give loyalty.

3. You only developed a relationship with them through a temporary condition. Be careful of trying to make temporary people permanent. Some people are simply meant to give you roadside assistance, visa versa.

4. You don’t see them in your future. Sometimes you simply grow apart. Time and distance has a tendency to do this. Your thinking, your actions, and your believing becomes different. This is natural so accept it and move on.

5. Their rottenness is polluting your relationship. When items began to decay, it releases toxins that can contaminate anything that comes into the sphere of its influence. Some people are so toxic that they speak venom and everyone that comes in contact with them are poisoned with their limited scope, philosophies, and bitterness. Be careful of this person. They are more dangerous than your enemies.

So in 2010, don’t be afraid to send some people eviction notices, remove some people from your phones, Facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc. Get them off the property of your life, before they cause damage that will be costly later.

Love and peace

Pastor Rich

The Diary of a Mad Black Man

How disheartened it is to turn on the television, view Facebook statuses, and even watch the most popular movies to see how black men have been emasculated and degraded to near nothings. From Tyler Perry escapades to Terry McMillan novels, our black men have been lifted up as the serpent upon the staff carried by feminist and males jockeying for female viewership. I personally have had enough.

The black man was created to be the foundation of the earth to which everything was built upon him. He is the foundation of the household. In fact, the word husband comes from a old Norse word which means householder. He is the backbone that holds the entire family together. Man was meant to be the foundation of the community, business, politics, and the center of which everything is evolved. Greatness is interwoven in the very fabric of his existence. He was created like God to carry the authority on earth like God.

Yes, somewhere along history, the attacks on the man have weakened his pedigree resulting in the reproduction of men that do not reflect God’s original creation. From the biblical onset, men have been targeted for mass genocide. When wicked kings sought to destroy a generation, they went after men, not women, to kill any potential for future generations. During slavery, the black men were used as trophy whores to impregnate multiple mammies throughout the plantations as if they were some thoroughbred horse.

Even today, men are feeling the pinch of societal pressure. According to a recent report, “A Call to Change,” in the second quarter of 2010, the unemployment rate for Black males ages 20 and over was twice as high as the unemployment rate for White males of the same age. Black males had a double-digit unemployment rate (17.3 percent), while the unemployment rate for White males was in the single digits (8.6 percent) and below the national average (9.6 percent). Black males age 18 and over were more likely to have a lower income than White males with similar educational backgrounds. Generations of devaluing and perpetuated public degradation, the man has been through hell to hold up his head to say, “I am black man.”

Yes, there have been and are some who rob, steal, kill, and rape. They are the aberration from the norm. There are strong black men who love their wives. There are strong black men who take care their kids. There are strong black men who operate in integrity. There are strong black men who partake in civic engagement. There are strong black men who good for more than laying pipe, but can lay the foundation of business entities.

Contrary to popular belief, there are some good men out there. As you ruminate and contemplate on the transparent truths in this blog, some of you ladies are too trifling for strong black men in your lives. So before you become the hand that knocks a man from his God-given position, be the hand to help pick him up from decades of degradation. Be the hand that helps the young man, whose father may be incarcerated. Be the hand that helps some single mothers rear their child in the admonition and fear of the Lord. Until you open your hand to become a positive solution to the problem, you don’t have a right to open your man-mutilating mouth.

Peace and blessings!

Pastor Rich

The Diary of a Mad Black Man!

I've had enough!

1 Kings 19:4 "while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, LORD," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors" (NIV)

In 1 Kings 19, the Prophet Elijah experienced one of the greatest attacks in his entire life. This attack came on the eve of some of his greatest successes. He had just raised someone from the dead. He called fire from heaven and killed over 700 people. He was miraculously feed by a raven. He had just outran a chariot to name a few. Understand that your greatest accomplishments many times are followed by your greatest tests!

All of a sudden Jazabel, a wicked woman, launched an all out attack against him. Some of the greatest challenges a man can face are those that come from a scorned woman! The scriptures says he ran for his life. No matter how great you are superman, superwoman, there is some kryptonite with your name on it. There is something that we all know, will have us running for our lives.

In verse 4, the man of God was sitting under a broom tree. After looking deeply into the story, I realized that Elijah had enough. It wasn't a spiritual problem. The man was just tired. He had just outran some horses! The man was tired in his physical body. Many times we can become like him. People look at the types of jobs we have. They look at the types cars we drive, the houses we live in, and they want what we have. Yet, they do not know what we had to go through to get what we have. Many of us who prosper publicly, struggle privately. Elijah was tired of being Elijah!

Have you every been tired of being YOU? People look at your lives and want to be you, but have not a clue of the type of attacks you have to sustain and overcome. The type of scrutiny you are under. A guy said to me the other day, "I admire you. I want to be like you." I told him quickly, you better be careful what you ask for!

There are couple of things that that you need to do when you are tired.

1. Be careful what you speak out of your mouth. He told the Lord, "take my life." He didn't mean it. Sometimes we say things to our loved ones that we really don't mean when we are tired. We have go back later and apologize, but the damage has been done! Be careful of being trapped by the words of your mouth!

2. Access the attacks on our lives. This man had just killed 700 prophets of the grove and baal and one woman had him speaking suicide! When you are tired, you can be defeated by things that you can easily conquer. Temptations to do things become greater to fight off. When you assess the situation, you will realize that the problem ain't that deep.

3. You need to be ministered to. Angels had to come down and tend to his needs. Sometimes when you are tired and seemly have had enough in life, you just need to sit your butt down somewhere! Even Jesus rested. Fellas, if you are overcome by sexual temptation. Tell your wife. I guarantee that she will fix it! Ladies, if you are not receiving enough affirmation, take him to see "Why did I get married too." Go on a vacation! GET MINISTERED TO!

4. Don't compare yourself to those around you. He said that he was no better than his ancestors. Never measure yourself by another man's yardstick. You will always fall short! This unhealthy comparison gave him a shallow image of himself and a faulty tool for measuring his progress. You are the best you! No one can be better at being you!

Love you!

Pastor Rich

WHEN THE SEX STOPS (BOOK COMING SOON!)

Greater Scope

It is hard to ignore the increasing sexual innuendo in the American culture. From Burger King to Trojan commercials, our culture is inculcated with images, sounds, suggestions, and acts. Sex is not wrong, immoral, or bad in its proper context because God created us to be sexual beings. Like any other effective advertisements, this exposure of sexual content has had an overwhelming impact on the psyche of people young and old. Commercials that originally sparked individual’s appetites for food now ignite the monstrous appetite to quench the sexual urge.

In a Drought?

A drought is when an ecological system or an area goes without precipitation for a prolonged or short period. No matter how long the drought last, it can have a significant impact on the land, farmers, animals, and plants. Results of drought can leave the soil without nutrients to reproduce healthy seeds. Regions experiencing droughts can become a breading ground for unwanted pest such as snakes. Aquatic life can be severely affected and some regions never recover.

All around the world, marriages are experiencing sexual droughts. These droughts leave relationships paralyzed and incapable of producing the fruit marriage was intended to produce. Unwanted pest such as side lovers, perverted behaviors, and pornographic affairs bombard the marriage, until it is vulnerable enough to dry the ink on the divorce papers. It impacts the kids, the pets, relatives, and ultimately the couple’s relationship with the Father. Many marriages never recover from these droughts.

I’m Hungry

When people see advertisements for the “Big Mac” or the “Whopper” they have free course to leave their premises and retrieve that sandwich to quench their thirsty urge. The satiety of the first bite deflates the appeal and brings comfort through food like a hunter claiming its kill. The same principle can reluctantly be applied sexually. Many people young and old, male and female grab their black book or rummage through their mobile phones looking for their next meal. Their list become like menus in their favorite restaurant looking for the next person to satisfy their beastly “God-given” urge.

Trapped by Contract

Fast food seekers have the ability to go and claim the kill of the day. They are tied to nothing but their budgets that may restrict them from their favorite meals. What happens when you are hungry and can’t fulfill that thirst? Like having a lock on the refrigerator, married men are caught between having food in the house but cannot access it at their sexual leisure and not having the liberty to leave the house search for their next meal. Many married men have experienced this contractual conflict. They become hungry, but can’t get to the sexual food that fulfills this God-given appetite. Sadly, although immoral and sinful, many men including those with various religious affiliations choose the latter. This work is aimed at assisting those married men during the time in their lives WHEN THE SEX STOPS!!