Punks Jump Up To Get Beat Down

Yesterday I asked a question, “Who is KONY & can someone spell it out phonetically please?” Immediately Tonee & Gerald replied with a link to a video that captivated me for the entire 29 minutes & 59 seconds…

What I saw brought up many emotions, it disgusted me, it made me angry, it made me think of my sister & three little brothers who grew up In Ghana, it made me happy that I grew up in the United States… Kony is a monster who needs to be brought to justice. A filmmaker named Jason Russell started a campaign to get rid of Joseph Kony & I commend him for that! He saw a problem & took action to find a solution. Yet, people who “been knew” are talking smack about those who are just becoming aware.

Now I have another question…or two… Why didn’t YOU spread the word. Why didn’t YOU start a campaign or petition? Why talk down about those who are just finding out when you did absolutely nothing to bring awareness to the problem. It is being called a “media frenzy” but is that not what the media is for? Is that not what we should be using YouTube, Facebook, Twitter & all social media outlets for? I’d rather see #StopKony than some of the crap I’ve unfollowed loved ones for. It makes me wonder, who really cares about the world we live in? Or do you care about nothing beyond your block? My friend Kristolyn tweeted “#makeKONYfamous I thank GOD this is happening. I was trying to get people on this waaay back in college!! Everything has its perfect time ” showing her gratitude for people catching on because she truly cares about others & does everything she can to make others aware & is an advocate on making the world a better place.

I also commend the celebrities who have hopped on board to spread the word. That is what being a celebrity is all about. Becoming famous, rich, or a person of influence has nothing to do with you & everything to do with glorifying God. He raises you up so that you can raise His up & do things in His name. He puts you in a visible place so that you can make an impact on others. I am so proud to see people I admire stepping up.

I have more questions… When did we become a people full of cowards? How can we say we come from the same bloodline of those who fought for civil rights, marched until their feet bled, & withstood water hoses to make a change?

We have dominion over this world, not just our homes, not just our city, not just our state, but of the entire world! John 16:33 says “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Take heart! He has already set the path, we just have to get up off our hind parts &  do something! God does not ever say “Go timidly” He commands us to Be BOLD. Yes, the US has enough problems of our own, but God also says to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Those innocent children in Uganda & all of the other places he is invading are God’s babies too & I am sure He would want us to do everything we can to help…

To you half cup empty people who say things like “what’s the point, there will just be another person to take his place”… you irritate me. AND WHAT!? We take down the next Kony, & the next, & the next & we keep fighting until those babies are free!

“Who are you to end a war, I’m here to tell you who are you not to.” ~Jason Russell~

I Gotta Get Mine, And You, You Gotta Get Yours…

Hey Hey Hey! Yeah so, I’m supposed to be writing a history paper, but I cannot go on until I get this off my chest. For months I’ve felt ummm stopped up, stuck, in a muck, in a rut, just like someone pushed the pause button on my life. Only to find out that it was God, He was giving me specific instructions about my life, but I was ignoring Him because I was afraid of the repercussions of man. Let me tell you something, just like a spouse, or a boyfriend or girlfriend know just what buttons to push to get a reaction out of you, the LORD knows exactly what you need to get you to where He wants you to be if you are not listening. Now God is a gentleman, He won’t FORCE you to do anything, but He does know how to deal with each of His children in a very specific way. Like a parent, He deals with us all according to our needs, our personality, our knowledge and our attitude, things like that. For instance, I let Christian (my son) get a tattoo for his 16th birthday, I know people will not agree but I know my son, and I know the significance of what he wanted. It’s a beautiful tattoo to remind him of my grandfather who was his bff. Now when I have more children, they may want one at 16, and I can hear it now “but you let Chris get one!” and I may have to answer “yes, but you want Tinkerbelle on the back of your neck, no ma’am”. Her pappy and I will have to deal with her accordingly. With that being said, God always tries to give me slight nudges, little pushes to say “go that way”, but unfortunately He usually has to smack me down on my face in a pile of tears and snot for me to listen…I know, I’m trying to do better, but it’s the truth, I don’t always listen! I like to live on the edge I guess (like this paper that’s due Wednesday that I haven’t started). :-/

Anywho, I finally decided to listen, and ever since I did I’ve felt like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders, I’m seeing and hearing more clearly, and I just feel FREE, like doors are opening and nothing is holding me down. I don’t know why people think that being a Christian is all about rules and regulations, it isn’t! It is about FREEDOM in Christ! You are so much more free when you are obedient to His word, especially when He gives YOU a specific word for your life. You can’t let others tell you what you need to be doing in order to be in line with Christ, and you can’t lean on other people’s anointing as your own and expect to reap the benefits! You cannot walk in someone else’s calling and expect to be blessed! You have to walk in the path that God has carved out especially for you even if others don’t understand, even if you don’t understand. Hello, lean not on your own understanding…we say we trust God yet we question His judgement lol that just sounds ridiculous! WE don’t trust HIS judgement…let’s let that marinate…

OK, yeah so as I say all of this, I must say that you gotta get yours when it comes to the Lord. Not in a selfish, self serving way, but in a way that is reflective of Jesus Christ. Praise and Worship for instance, is not a show for you to sit, listen and be entertained by the vocal styling of the best singers of your congregation. Because really, the Lord can pass you the mic at any time and ask you to sing wit yo non singin’, voice crackin’ self. Yes!! It can happen, you know why, because the person with the best voice may not be anointed, or they may be in the flesh, but your praise is so pure that it sounds beautiful to ears of God. Now an anointed beautiful voice is a blessing Halleujah!! but that cracking pure spirit is just as amazing.

We don’t go to church to always receive, receive from the pastor, receive from the praise team, just soak up all the goodness of “church”. It’s not about tingly’s when your favorite praise leader starts singing your favorite song. It’s about you getting yours, however you need to, if you have to lay out in the floor, or cry out to the Lord!! Now, I do not in any means mean to make a spectacle of yourself and put on a show, don’t be foolish. But whatever it takes to get what you need, you need to do it! No matter who is watching because they should be getting theirs too and not be paying attention to you! Today I was on my FACE and I’m sure my tracks were showing, but if you saw my tracks, then you weren’t where you needed to be in the Spirit. When you’re fighting for your life it is NOT the time to be cute! You have to put in work, not just wait for church to usher in the Spirit to get what you need. You should be able to do it on your own, in the car, in the grocery store, on the highway, in the shower whenever you need Him!!

Punctuality and an order of service is not what one should be looking for. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit in order to stay on your agenda, or your schedule. Funny, I wrote that two months ago but today the Spirit moved one way and changed the course of the service and who are we to complain? Should order be in the church? Yes, of course but don’t try and dictate what the Holy Spirit is trying to do. The Lord obviously wants you to get something – TAKE IT!

Old School Lovin’

As I sit here with my son Christian watching The Prince of Egypt (his favorite movie), we get to the part where Moses has to tell his wife what God told him to do. Now this post isn’t about Moses, it’s about his wife, his better half, his rock, Zipporah…

One must wonder what goes through a persons mind when their husband comes home & says “honey, when I was out, God spoke to me through a burning bush & told me that I have to go back to my land & set my people free” I can imagine Zipporah’s extreme side eye.

I have a question for the ladies, well a few…How many of us can honestly say that we could have done what Zipporah did? Honestly, be truthful with yourself, no one is looking. Most women today won’t even stick by their man’s side in a dispute, nevermind being by his side when he’s called by God to lead a people out of a country & face the most powerful King in the land. The person who had the ability to double the Israelites work load, or worse, kill Moses & his family if they even stepped foot into the palace.

But back to Zipporah, when one reads Exodus it doesn’t go into the conversation that she and Moses had when he told her about his encounter with God. When he said that they had to leave the confines of her daddy’s home. But in Prince of Egypt it does…well kinda, I mean it’s a cartoon but I imagine they portrayed a pretty accurate response. She had the “blank stare” “huh, are you for real” look on her face followed by the hanging of her head with a sigh. I’m sure there were many thoughts going through her mind, the danger her husband is going to face going home & telling his brother (not blood but…now The 10 Commandments plays every year at Easter you should know this story) Ramses that he had to let his people go. (why did I just think of the jail scene on Fresh Prince lol sorry) But ultimately she says “I’m going with you”. In the Bible God never said to pack up & take your family, like with Lot, God was specific about who was to go & with Abraham that he was to go alone. So I’m assuming she didn’t HAVE to go, she had a choice and she chose to be with her husband through the battle with his brother & withstand the trials right by his side.

Later on, when God was going to make Moses very ill because one of his sons wasn’t circumcised, Zipporah took a flint & circumcised him herself! She did that to protect her husband. I did a blog a while ago “Who’s Got You Covered” about husbands being the covering to their wives, wives need to have their husband’s back. Am I married, no not yet but the Lord has been preparing me lately. Now what if Zipporah had stayed home chillin with her pops Jethro & her sisters? Poor ole Moses would have been a goner…

A few months ago my friends parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. I think that’s soooooo awesome! Why can’t couples these days last 4 years, or 4 months!? Couples back in the day stuck it out! They didn’t run at the first sign of danger, they respected their vows. Why are so many couples today divorcing or shacking up like that’s really OK!? It’s not! Vows between a man & woman are sacred and marriage isn’t a contract. It’s a vow under God. Stop playin house, acting like a wife & wondering why he won’t marry you!! Get married!!

*Dismounts high horse*

Anyway, the whole point of this blog was to say ladies, let’s get it together. We’re always claiming that there are no good men, but I mean, one attracts what one gives off so…

I don’t know everything, but I do know what the Lord has been teaching me in the past month or so, changing my mind about somethings. Things I just had to have in my marriage…or not have. Like me saying that I never wanted to struggle with my husband until my wise sista said that the struggle brings you closer. Or that I HAD to get married in Connecticut, but one day God said to me “what if your future husband has someone who can’t travel?” I was like dang, OK Lord (but I really want to get married in Connecticut BUT now I’m open lol). Yeah so, God has just been pruning & working on me in that area. And having my husbands back will be #1, just like women did back in the day…

The Lord Is My Strength…No Forreals…

Hey ya’ll!! I know, a few of you have been at my neck because I haven’t written a blog since October I believe. Ay yi yi! All bad. But I had an experience yesterday that was so awesomely out of this world that I had to share.

I sent the longest tweet telling this story earlier, but I wanted folks on Facebook or who missed the tweet to be able to know what happened…

Yesterday I wasn’t feeling so well, yup, my blood pressure again. I go to the doc and as the receptionist is checking me out, there were a few of her co-workers behind her who were talking about Jesus, and about the word. So ole girl was typing and looking out the side of her eye to get a feel for what I was thinking, mind you, my blood pressure came down so fast that I was dizzy and no one could properly get a read on ANYTHING that I was thinking. She goes “you guys are loud” and looks at me again, they keep going, she says “shhhh you guys are loud!” again. LOL! I’m like, it’s cool I love Jesus, they can talk about Him all they want. Oh, she’s Catholic by the way, so she’s a believer but…

So another girl, pretty young, probably early 20′s says “i tell him that he should be a missionary all the time” about another fellow in the office. Trying to stand up to walk out I get dizzy again, as I hold on the the chair I told them that I went on a missions trip to Mexico last summer. She’s intrigued by this and starts asking me a gang of questions about homosexuality, levels of sin, sex before marriage… “but if you love someone it’s ok right?” No my sista, not until he’s your husband.

The more I tell her about what the word says about being gay, and sex before marriage, and how no sin is bigger than any other (people try to put being gay at a 10 and fornication at a 7, when really there’s no difference. You want to throw shade, but you having sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend last night isn’t any different than him having sex with his boyfriend last night or her…yeah you get my drift).

Back to what I was saying – the more I told her what the word says and how God is love and He wants us to love our brothers and sisters and not ostracize them, and how dangerous soul ties are when they’re not made with your husband or wife the more I felt better! The more upright I stood! The dizziness just COMPLETELY went away!! The more I proclaimed the word of Jesus more strength I had! It was amazing! Absolutely amazing! He gave me the strength I needed in that moment. She was taking it all in, I mean really taking it in, gasping at the points I was making, eyes wide open. She reminded me of my little sisters in Sister2Sister when we tell them something and it clicks in their heads.

Ahhhh! I just love God! He’s so tight! He uses every situation to help others, I felt awful yesterday, but if that means I helped one more girl cherish her virtue, and another one who believes but is afraid to talk about it because someone might get offended become unafraid, then I’m happy I was ill and that the Lord was able to use me in that moment. I just wanna run around the block when I think about it! But unfortunately I can’t because I still don’t feel so hot. As a matter of fact when I went to go drop my prescriptions off I felt dizzy again and had to sit down. That’s how I KNOW it was God at the doc.

People will get offended, I saw it first hand when a kid sang a praise & worship song in Spanish class. Mind you, he went way over his time limit and it was in English. BUT this one kid was literally shaking he was so mad!! Then says “he was totally praising dude” Dude? did you just call my Jesus dude? The one who died for you too, even when He knew you were going to make that comment right there? I wanted to punch him in his face, but that’s not WJWD. What if Jesus was afraid of sticking up for you? AH! Think about it! Think of all you’ve done and He tells His friends “Yes, I’ve chosen her to lead the dance ministry” I’ve chosen him to be a children’s church teacher” “Her, yeah her right there, I want her to be a missionary, the recovering crack addict yes, that’s who I want” “That one right there who use to sell drugs and run the street, yep I want him to be a pastor”. Do you KNOW how many side eye’s I’m sure He gets, BUT STILL He chooses us and stands by us no matter what!! So how can we deny Him and keep Him hush hush in public!!

Sigh, I digress, if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour I beg of you to PLEASE get to know Him! He’s the only way! The Way, the Truth and the Light!

The Lord is my strength and my strong helper, he has become my salvation: he is my God and I will give him praise; my father’s God and I will give him glory. ~Exodus 15:2~

2011 Fight For Air…

 

 

 

 

 

Christian & I are participating in the American Lung Association’s Fight for Air Climb on 04/30/2011 at Aon Center because breathing shouldn’t be an uphill climb. We are asking for your support because…

• Lung disease is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. and is responsible for one in seven deaths.
• Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S.
• Asthma is the number one chronic disease of children.
• COPD currently affects 10.2 million Americans.
• Air Pollution poisons the lungs of over 60% of Americans each day.

These are the facts. The crisis is real. The American Lung Association needs your help.

Christian struggles with asthma, and as a parent it’s one of the hardest things to watch your child go through. Let’s help support the American Lung Association by raising funds and spreading awareness about this disease and the others listed above and how important it is for them to have clean air to breath freely. We will be climbing 63 flights of stars, 1377 stairs in total. Our goal is to raise $200 ($100 each) please make a tax-deductible donation to our Fight for Air Climb team by visiting Christian’s Page or Ivonnah’s Page, click on “Support Christian” or “Support Ivonnah” or “Make a gift” to make your donation…

*Please, I ask that you split your donation in half. Our pages aren’t connected, and we each have to raise at least $100.

If you’re available please come and join us. Sign up to be a part of Team Elevated http://bit.ly/team-elevated2011

Details:
Registration: $25
Fund Raising MINIMUM $100*
*you will be charged the difference if you don’t reach $100 dollars
Check out the video of last year to get an idea…LIVELEVATED SERVICE PROJECT 2: Fight for Air

For more than 100 years, the American Lung Association has been the guardian of healthy lungs and clean air. Every dollar we raise enables the American Lung Association to continue its mission to save lives by promoting lung health and preventing lung disease. Every dollar makes a difference.

Thank you for your generosity and support!

Sincerely,

Christian & Ivonnah

The Day From Heaven

Let me tell y’all about my day… mind you it’s only 1:14 pdt  (did you know that it’s not pst until winter) anywho… This morning a friend of mine had to go in for a biopsy, as a church family we were asked by Pastor to wake up at 6am to pray for our sister as she went in for her tests. Now, most of you who follow me on twitter know that I’ve been having issues with Sprint about my phone. My OTHER new phone that I JUST activated Monday is already trippin’, so guess what? Yep! My alarm didn’t go off, the phone had shut down & had the “error 202″ message. But my God is so good, I’m usually awakened by the need to go potty around 6:40 or so, but He woke me up at 6am on the dot!! Let’s see what lesson did I get out of that? Simple, I had an alarm set for 5:59 & a wake up call from Erika as back up, I don’t need anyone but Him…

My twitter fam also knows that I just got my car out of the shop. When they fixed my fuel pump, something happened with my fuel line so my gas was leaking. GREAT!! So my plan was to leave early, stop & get gas before I took Chris to school because I didn’t want it leaking out over night. But my child wasn’t ready, so I say OK, I can get him there & get back, & get some gas before I bring my car to the mechanic. I decide to hop on the highway, on an UPHILL entrance! Ivonnah!? For reals?? My car starts stuttering & I’m like JESUS PLEEEEEASE. So I get off the next exit which had absolutely NO gas stations!! Sloan stops stuttering, & we’re riding smoothly, I’m like OK I can make it to the one near my house. I have no idea what happened but all of a sudden I was two BIG blocks past my turn! AHHH! I’m trippin’ with NO GAS, really? Ugh, I bust a U, & make a quick right (praying the whole time) trying to get to ANY gas station. Oh no! Red light & the street is slanted upward! AHHH “come on Sloan, you can make it”. By now I can smell the fumes my car was running on. I stutter to the light, she gets a little more gumption, I make the left tuuuuurn aaaaand stutter, stutter, I’m pushing on the steering wheel saying NO NO NO, stutter…it’s a wrap. She’s just cruising as I steer her to the side, I float past a sign, didn’t have time to read it to see if I could park there. *Sigh* it only gets worse…OK there’s a strip club parking lot & next to it is a post office (yeah, I know) I refuse to stall in the strip club lot, even though it was easier to get into. So I’m pressing the gas as hard as I can (like that’s doing something) & I make it to the post office……exit, which is slanted slightly upward as well, I turn in & Sloan just says sorry Von. So I’m stuck sideways in the exit. I get out to try & push LOL, oh that’s so funny. A man sees me & gets out to help, another man at the drive up box hopped out as well & they push me safely into a parking space. My lesson from this…Stay focused, when you’re not focused you get off track. Our main focus needs to be on the Lord, when we take it off of Him we end up going round about, the long way, & eventually running outta gas. Even if it’s seems like the other road is easier. But when you are one of His sheep, He shepherds you, guides you, & if you need a little more push He’ll send His angels & put the people in your life that you need by your side, walking your walk with you.

Whew! That’s over, now the easy part. I have a gas container from my days of running out of gas with Nia Chrystie, all I have to do is walk (4 big blocks) to the gas station. It’s cool, I was going to do 40 minutes on the bike anyway. OK, wait, hold up, where’s my, umm, my debit card is home!! Ivonnah Danielle Erskine! Putting $3 on a credit card just seems dumb. So between my purse, the floor & in the seat I scraped up $1.50 in quarters. So I’m walking up the street, black hoodie, bright blue sweats that say HOLLISTER in pink across the butt & a purple pashmina, black charcol mask on my pimple. Yep, lookin’ good. I had a nice walk, took the time to just be me & Jesus.

Funny thing is, I had on so many layers! I half get ready in the morning before I bring Chris, then I go back & finish before I go to class. But for some reason (Holy Spirit) I put pants under the sweats & a shirt & jacket over my tank top WITH my pash! Y’all know that “something told me to…” is the Holy Spirit right? God always makes sure you’re prepared! It was really cold this morning.

OK, now I get home, I’m making some eggs & bacon before I go to class…*sigh* I burn two of my fingers taking my bread out of the oven that I was warming up. Ugh, I eat, throw on some jeans, take off the purple pash & throw on a white one & brush my teeth. I leave to bring my car, Juan drops me at school, I’m walking & my right sock is smaller than the left one, (or maybe the foot is bigger) it’s sliding off my heel to the arch of my foot. I’m in Spanish class, I’m telling Patti about my morning & I realize that I didn’t take the mask off of my pimple. I get hot, I take my jacket off, where are my boobs? Oh geez I forgot to put on a bra…

Companionship, Marriage, Beans, Franks & Scrapple…

The other day I was talking to my friend about companionship, then the importance of a partnership in marriage & how important of a covenant it is to God. We hopped on over to how I’ll never get a divorce once I am married (’til death do us part sucka). Slowly but surely our discussion turned to his detest for beans & franks (together, they’re fine separately smh) & then somehow scrapple became the topic of conversation…don’t ask lol. This was all via bbm…

So later on I got to thinking about relationships. Now, when you’re in a relationship, well I guess when you start dating someone, how open is your conversation? Do you send your representative like Chris Rock said? Or are you yourself completely? I mean, they say that the best relationships come from great friendships, so how come we can be so open with our friends, or how come when we ARE dating someone we’re able to be open with “him/her” & not with “him/her”? What makes the difference? I’ll give you my take on this…

When I’m dating I’m always very cautious…1 reason is because I’ve had men flip from cool to groupie on me (& they call women groupies HA!), once they figure out I’ve been in videos or was on Wild N’ Out ugh boy oh boy. #2 The ones that know, but don’t care about that think they’re getting Ivonnah from TV & then begin to lose interest once they realize I burp & fart just like the next chick. Sometimes, as awesome as I am, I’m very leery about just being ME right off the bat. I’m a little coo coo, what if he doesn’t like my personality? Or I scare him? “I know, I need an artist who understands my thought process”. HAHA! All types of things go through my brain…

I think it’s pretty sad that at times, we feel like we can’t be ourselves, or we have to stifle who we are & put our personalities under a rock. That’s not OK, when we’re in relationships we shouldn’t have to tread water with what we say & how we act. We should be able to be free, open & honest. I’m not saying spill your guts or fart on the first date, ladies, don’t fart at all…ever…but we should feel comfortable with being ourselves with our mate, just as we are with our friends. I love bean casserole (nothin’ but beans & franks baked with brown sugar & butter)  now what if he didn’t tell me that my dinner sounded gross? lol I might have made that one day & I would get the “talk to the hand” & “sick face” like he did on bbm haha. We should be able to be ourselves at all times & be loved & appreciated for it…be able to talk about everything from being in love to corn beef hash. If you can’t be vulnerable with your mate then who WILL you be vulnerable with? The next man or woman? Whew! Jesus, I just felt something in my spirit as I typed that, I really want to start shouting, but I don’t think that’s appropriate.

I digress, Flaws & All by Beyonce describes me so well, “I’m a host of imperfection, but you see past all that”…

It all boils down to the fact that we’re not perfect. When we get into relationships we should be able to be as open & as honest as we possibly can be (without being overbearing). We shouldn’t be afraid to be us because we are wonderfully made. God picked every quirk, snort, & tendency when He was putting us together, He doesn’t make any mistakes, & there’s someone out there who’s going to love all of it. We’re all unique, perfect the way we are…to quote the legendary Marilyn Monroe: “I’m selfish, impatient & a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control & at times hard to handle. But if you can’t handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don’t deserve me at my best.”

Yep, I feel you Marilyn…

Who’s Gotcha Covered…

What are your requirements for a mate? Does he have to be tall, dark and handsome? Have enough money to buy you an island? AND get you there often (That would be amaaaazing, lol). But for real, guys, does she have to be fine? Have a body for days? Always have her nails done? What’s a deal breaker for you? What about your friends? Do they have to be spiritually grounded in Christ? How important is that to you…

When I was younger I was under the misconception that it was cool as long as he/they had SOME kind of spiritual guidance even though I believe Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. I thought that if they are spiritually grounded in whatever they believed that it was all good. Boy was I wrong…

So fast forward to the present…Last week at our church anniversary Pastor Dre was explaining how important it is to have Pastor Chuck covering her. It was like a light bulb went off in my head, well over…you know the one I’m talking about. Everything I thought was important in my mate in the past was so irrelevant, superficial and meaningless. I mean when I meet a man I still check out his shoes BUT, lol… Ok ladies do you know how  important it is to have a man (husband) who is going to cover you? Go to spiritual battle on your behalf and for the behalf of your family? When you’ve done all that you can do, and you’re tired, to have a man who’s going to keep you lifted in prayer? Do you even understand HOW important that is!? Gentlemen, are you aware of how important it is for your woman (wife) to be YOUR spiritual backbone? To make sure your kids are in the word? To get down on her knees and pray and fight through the spiritual battle with you?

What about your friends? In Romans 12 it says that we are one body. We are one body in Christ, therefore if we’re in this together and I mess up, I mess you up. Right? Take my high blood pressure for instance, when it’s acting up it causes me to have a headache, my sinuses to hurt, and my ears and my teeth, sometimes my legs feel funny AND now they’re monitoring my kidneys…ALL because of my blood pressure. Why? Because I have one body and when one thing is acting up it affects my ENTIRE body because it’s connected. The same goes for the body of Christ, if I slip up, I slip you up and guess what!? Guess who’s also connected to us? Jesus. Yep, we take Him right along with us into our sin, (as Pastor Kelvin calls it, Self Inflicted Nonsense) People are always quick to say “The Lord knows my heart” Yep! He sure does and He knew when you were lusting over that man or when you fornicated with that woman. He knew your heart alright and you dragged Him right along into that bed, He inhaled that puff of weed with you, and He was right there as you were cussin’ that lady out. Brings the idea of repentance to a whole other level huh?

Yeah yeah yeah, I know a lot of you are gonna say “well Jesus died for my sin” (insert eye & neck roll), but have we forgotten the part about being made in God’s image? So, if we were made in God’s image and so was Jesus and they are perfect then…hmmm riiiiiiiight. Oh don’t get your knickers in a tizzy, NO God does NOT expect us to be perfect that’s why Jesus died for us, BUT as Proverbs 26:11 says “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” So basically if we keep going back and doing the same SELF INFLICTED NONSENSE then we’re fools, God says so. We have to try our best everyday to be like Christ. There’s no way in the world we can be as dope or as fly as He was, not at all but we must strive to be, and have people in your corner who are striving to be as well.

This takes me to John 15, pruning…

He is the vine, we are the branches…We are connected to Him, He is connected to us, and as brothers and sisters in Christ we are connected to each other. Now if you have a tree in your yard and the branches are dead, dried up and not producing any fruit then what do you do? You cut them off so that they don’t kill the entire tree. Who are the dead branches in your life?

Jesus Christ resides on the inside of us! His Holy Spirit! How can we keep dragging Him into our nonsense, into our sin and keep using excuses meanwhile we’re killing ourselves in the spirit. Causing parts of us to dry up, wither and die! Nothing that is dead can be connected to Jesus. If we’re dying in the spirit there’s no way we can be connected to His vine. No way.

So You Want To Get Married…

The other day I was talking to my friend/sis Dani. Just about life and why things happen the way that they do. How tragedy seems like the end of the world, but then later on in life we realize why it was done and why it was in Gods plan.

When God created us He had our lives planned out down to the very second! We sometimes (because He gave us that tricky thing called free will) have the ability to screw some things up by making our own way, making our own decisions without asking for guidance first, but because our God is so awesome, He can even turn our screw ups into a way to benefit us and become our testimonies!

We need to learn to lean on our Lord and trust Him fully. He’s the ONLY one who makes the right decision ALL THE TIME! Growing up, I was taught not to question God, because every decision He makes is correct and perfect. But as a fleshly human being HELLO I HAVE QUESTIONS!! Why does this and that happen? She’s such an awesome person why does this always happen to her? How does he always get blessed when he is so evil?

One question I stopped asking was why am I 3….wait no, I asked before now it was more like why am I 28 and still not married with no siiiiign of a prospective husband, not even remotely close! I mean really, my godparents bought me a beautiful pearl necklace when I was 8 years old for my baptism. It had 8 pearls on it and my mom was supposed to put a pearl on it every year on my birthday until I got married…that sucker probably can’t FIT another pearl on it!

I digress…over the past few years I’ve come to realize that when I was in my twenties I had absolutely NO CLUE about what marriage was. Yeah I knew it was a vow to God that should never be broken, you have a ceremony, and I knew you wore a pretty white gown…or off white…cream? And then you partied after and now you are legally and spiritually bound to this person under God for life…life! Ahhhh such a scary concept for me at one point. I didn’t understand the importance of marriage and that marriage wasn’t about me it was about God and glorifying His kingdom. (You know that’s what our whole life is about right? It’s not about us) I use to say that I didn’t want to get married so much that I thought I cursed myself! But no, God knew exactly what he was doing because I also use to say that when I got married, I wasn’t getting a divorce. We gone have ta stick it out bruh…

Definition of covenant: A solemn and binding relationship which is meant to last a lifetime.

Back in the old testament they had to cut a lamb or a goat into two halves and walk between them O_O and say Lord I give you my solemn promise in this covenant and if I break it split me in two like this here carcass. Uhhh yeah, as far as ancestral tradition goes I think we’re gonna stick to jumping the broom.

But seriously! Marriage is a covenant between you two and GOD, it’s not a legal piece of paper, it’s a solemn promise that you’re making with your creator. The one who has the ability to wake or not wake you in the morning. Marriage is like thee most important covenant to God! Which is why you’re supposed to wait to have sex until you’re married. That’s when you two become one with God. (I’ll get into that on a later post) We need to take marriage as seriously as they did in the past. People take their promise to God far too lightly. “She’s not as cute as she use to be” “He’s not as cut as he use to be”. Maaaan please! It’s about so much more than that.

We were getting schooled by Miss Pam the other night and one thing she said was. “Go into marriage knowing you’re not divorcing, you have to work it out”, she also said meet their family (yikes for some of us). With that said, you HAVE to KNOW the person. People get married so quickly now and days you look up and they’re divorcing! Why? Because they didn’t know each other . They’re not on the same page. The person I marry will have to have the same mind set as me or it isn’t going to work. Will we have to agree all the time about everything? No, but on major things? Indeed. That comes with being equally yoked. I can’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah and he believes that Jesus was just a prophet. No bueno, not gonna work boo.

Ok, once again I don’t know how we got on this road over here lol. Maybe it’s because people keep telling me that I’m next…and I receive that in the name of Jesus. I’m so glad that God spared me the pain of divorce or the pain of “sticking it out” with someone that I didn’t want to be with or didn’t want to be with me. He waited until I was ready and mature enough to handle all that marriage entails. I can’t thank Him enough for that…now, how ’bout that husband

Jesus, Church and The NBA

me and ivonnah had a bet during the NBA Finals game. she was rootin’ for the celtics and i was rootin’ for the lakers. whoever won the bet would be able to write a guest blog post on the “loser’s” blog. we ALL know what happened last week.
so here i am.

hello. i am patricia. and i am a laker fan. i love food. coffee. people. prayer. i’m a single mother. i love Jesus. and i am determined to change the world. that about sums me up. if you wanna know more you can read about my wonderful life at my blog www.ricianne.com or follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/pa3cia

anywhoo, i decided that it would be apropos to write something about basketball since this was what the bet was all about. so here is my take on “life lessons from the NBA: what the church can learn from the lakers/celtics finals.”

1. HISTORY CAN BE CHANGED. [isaiah 66:8]
these 2 teams have met 12 times in the NBA finals and the celtics have won 9 times against the lakers. history and stats showed favor towards the Celtics winning this series. after the embarrassing loss in 08… the lakers were called “weak and soft”. it took this team being humiliated for them to work hard & grow in their “weakness”, as well as grow in their strength. and with determination, they were able to change stats and history.

the church has been called “useless” in this day and age. in fact, christians are mostly humiliated in media coverages, calling our stand for purity and life “weak and soft.” our teachings have been irrelevant and our lifestyles are a joke because, instead of being an example, we have become hypocritical, hypercritical, and judgmental. we need to study how and where and what we’ve been doing wrong and right as a body of Christ and see to it that we implement the changes that are needed to be made in order for us to win our family/friends/school/workplace/city/nation back for God.

2. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A ONE MAN SHOW. [proverbs 11:2]

game 2 – ray allen shot eight 3 pointers in one night and set a new NBA record… but during game 4 he couldn’t even make a shot. game 5 – kobe shot 19 points in one quarter and stole the show. and yet even the MVP could not win the game all by himself.   don’t rely on your “own” talent and strength to win.  you can’t be a one man show. which goes hand in hand with my next point….

3. BUILD A GREAT TEAM AROUND YOU. [ecclesiastes 4:12, mark 6:7; acts 2:1]
because you weren’t made to shine alone. you need a coach to help you become a better you. you need a gasol and a fast rondo. you need vets like garnet and fish who’s been there longer than you have and know how the game is played. you need a drooling big baby, a little nate and a flying shannon. and ofcourse do not discount the “weird” people in your life – ones like ron artest, the ones who we love to hate but grow to love.

to make it in this world, we need to build a team of christians around us who can help us live out this life victoriously. even Jesus invested His time and His life to His 12 big men and a few crazy women and with that team… they were able to change the world.

5. FOCUS AND BE DETERMINED. [hebrews 12:1b; james 1:4]
this video says it all http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2B-NSNn3IY&feature=fvst. you can have haters hate and talkers talk. but if you keep your head in the game (or in the destiny that God has called you to do) and stay on your mission, nothing will be able to stop you.

6. SUPPORT OTHERS AND STAY LOYAL. [ephesians 4:16, hebrews 12:1a]
jack nicholson. an award winning actor. he doesn’t really need to be on the court side cheering young kids on. but he does, and he has been for the past 20 years. he is NO bandwagon fan. his presence is so felt during the games that he’s even quicker to defend the players than the coach does. his loyalty to this team has paid off as he has become a laker/forum/staples icon that his nickname is “coach nicholson”. (it’s been said that he donates his own money for parades to happen.)

are you that loyal to your church family, friends, and the team that God has given you? do you stick with them through good times and bad? and if you’re one to have “arrived”…. do you stay complacent or do you still get involved and cheer the next generation on? this is a challenge to become like jack. make a mark in history by staying loyal to God and your team. do what needs to be done by sowing your life [money, resources, time, encouragement] to help the next generation reach their fullest potential so that they can be winners as well.

that my friends, is the top 6 lessons i learned from watching the NBA finals.

my finals thoughts on this: they need to bring the NBA short shorts back to make basketball more entertaining

have a great week!