Jan 31, 2010
Recast Podcast: 2009 December InspirationSounds:GRAMMY Nominee Edition
Jan 21, 2010
Reflection's on Today's Devotion
Today's Passage: John 15:9-17
My wife sometime feels social networks like Facebook, Craig's List, Twitter are bad things but I say to her time and time again, "The social networks on the web are just like anything else, it's who hands it's in and how they are using them, that's the problem. Although a couple of years ago with the misuse of MySpace by a mother who pretended to make friends with a young girl and then tear her down resulted in the suicide of the young lady was a terrible thing again falls into the category of "the user" and not the site.
How did this tie in to my reflection for this devotion? Easy...connections
Many people feel that with today's technology with the World Wide Web (I know, I'm ol' school) people feel we are more in front of the computer than connecting with "real" people. Sometimes that can happen but what I have grown to learn is that by connecting with people from different places in the US and around the world via Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks I have now made connection with people that I would have never met and that is a very cool thing. Once I begin traveling I have connection from New York to California. These people can not only tell me and my wife where to go but also places to avoid.
True, you have to careful of who you meet on the web because there are scammers but for me what makes it so different is this, putting Christ Jesus first.
When you put Christ first in your life, study his Word, follow the Holy Spirit, He places people in your life with your same love of Him and love of life and the most important characteristic, people who loves themselves. When you connect with a person who loves themselves they treat you the way they wish to be treated. They are patient with you, they do not pass judgement. Is this person perfect? Of course not because we all have shortcomings but you look pass that because that is how friendships grow.
And look around now, many Christian organization are using these wonderful social networks because they are now realizing that you have to connect with young people a whole new way because this is where they are, on the web. We have to go where they are and when they see the older generation is trying to reach out to them and not writing them off and being negative of this new way of communication they will not only connect with their my generation but will connect with their peers showing them that people that are Followers of Christ are truly genuine people because trust me, the youth want to connect with people that are real, not perfect.
What Christ Jesus also tells you is who not to encounter because again Christ will never put His children in harms way as long as you obey the Holy Spirit and know Christ because one thing I have learned now that I'm older is that many times you lead not by your heart because feelings can sometime get you into trouble but I do know that when you turn your heart over to God's Son he gives you a heart of gold but wisdom for the streets so you will not fall into the pitfalls of life. You may pass through tough times because we live in a fallen world but Christ gives you the strength, the knowledge to get through tough times and tough situations.
When you connect with Christ Jesus with all your heart He connects you with people that are good to you and good for you.
photo: J.schobre
InterfaceLIFT.com
Jan 19, 2010
Reflection of Today's Devotion
Today's Passage: "Philippians 3:7-14"
"Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us."
~Philippians 3:13(b)-14
The entire passage is on point for me today but the part of the passage above really jumped out at me because I have a hard time doing this in my life. When I stumble in life sometimes I have to realize this is going to happen as long as I keep living and just learn from my mistakes and move on and when I have great accomplishments I tend at times to rest on them instead of being grateful and happy in the moment and learn from that moment and continue on because sometimes what worked today may not have the same results tomorrow.
It's funny how we want a balance life but two things we do not practice on a daily basis being a Follower of Christ Jesus: first, read, study the word of God. (This part I'm really speaking to myself the loudest); second, we must learn to put our priorities in perspective. There is nothing wrong with doing your best, but when hang everything on that, trust me it's never enough...you will always want more. We should be happy when we accomplish a goal or overcome an obstacle but we can't rest on that moment and think, "I've done it all".
Why do I slip back in that frame of mind time and time again. I know from the past that when I do all that I can and let God do all that I can't that I have best day physically, mental, spiritually because I know I put the most important thing first: knowing Christ. When doing that you learn how to love yourself and the people in your life, to have patience, you learn to avoid the pitfalls of life, to receive love, constructive criticism, what to tolerate and what not to tolerate. It's really true, the Bible is the greatest instruction book for your life.
We have to balance in our lives. I've said this so many times, God is not our "Genie in the bottle", in order for God to give us the best we must trust Him with everything and that means being obedient, doing what we need to do ourselves while at the same time knowing where our strength comes from and where our wisdom lies because when we try and do everything on our own it will not work and at the same time when we just set back and do nothing our lives will be filled with regret.
With a balance life comes a fulfilled life.
photo: The Real7
InterfaceLIFT.com
Jan 18, 2010
Reflections From Today's Devotion
Today's Passage: Leviticus 19:11-18
Sometimes devotions and passages when reading them do not register with me until later in a "ah-ha" moment; and then there are others that hit me right square in the face...this devotion is the latter. I'm not going to lie, what's going on in Haiti is terrible, the injured, the death, the loss of homes but it's one of these moments where I'm asking God, "why do I feel really bad about this tragedy?" and then it hits me and I know why.
Living in Florida was an eye-opening experience for me because of the many cultures and what I found out is that when living in the Midwest we as African-Americans encounter hatred toward Blacks every day one way or another and according where you live it's subtle or just blatant from White America but to live in a place where not only Whites but other races try to look down upon you kinda through me for a loop. I found out that many Haitians and Africans look down upon African-Americans and that's truly blows my mind at times. When living in Florida many times Haitians would bypass me to give wonderful customer service to a White person and give mediocre service to me. At first I thought this was just someone having a "bad day" but this would happen time and time again. It's sad in a way because in a way this has left a really bad taste with me because on one hand Haitians look down upon African-Americans but when disasters hit come their way we are all "one" and the older I become the more this bothers me.
In a way I can understand sometimes why they would feel this way toward African-Americans. If I lived in another country and when seeing the news and all the images I saw of African-Americans were negative I guess I would feel that way too, I guess their mindset is, "They are so lazy. They (Blacks) do not appreciate what they have in the states." But most Blacks do appreciate what we have every day. I guess the difference between African-Americans and other races is the when we see someone act un-neighborly we just chalk it up say, "That person" and we do not group a race in one barrel where with other races they lump us all together. It's been this way for years and I guess it will continue to be this way until the day I die but still it's hurtful because we as African-Americans are the first to lend a hand to others and many times we still get shunned but we keep going on with our lives, instilling in our children that you work hard for what you want, never give up, and just take one day at a time.
In Florida I met some wonderful people and I can't wait to get back there and touch base with friends I met there but at the same time now I know that in a melting pot you're going to encounter hurt and sometimes it will come at the hands of a culture or race you least expect. So my prayer to God is for my heart not to become harden as I get older but at the same time not to be surprised when dealing with people that look like me try and treat me like dirt. I will ask God to help me work through my feelings and not feel the way that I do because in the end it only hurts my walk with God and reflects on me as a Follower of Christ Jesus.
photo by paul.charles.k
interfaceLIFT.com
Jan 5, 2010
Why I'm Diggin' Yahoo! Mail Again
I'm digging Yahoo Mail again for one simple reason...folders. That may not be important to most people and someone has even told me that you can make folders with Gmail but in the end I'm finding myself using Yahoo Mail more and more. I'm not giving up Gmail by a long shot but something about Yahoo! Mail has grown on me again.
One thing I'm realizing is that with folders for me my inbox is looking much better because by me having folders I can move the mail I wish to keep and the rest I can trash and for me that's a cool thing. Gmail has labels and stars you can place by important emails but still for me it's a little overwhelming at times. My GMail account was overtaken by stars and labels at one time so I trashed all of the email to feel like I could breathe again.
Another thing I have begun is forwarding my Gmail email to my Yahoo Mail and I've set up my GMail to delete the email. I may change that in the future with the Gmail settings where it will keep the email and go through once a day and trash what I want I don't need but as for now it's cool be able to get a handle on email for the first time in a very long time.
Now I know Yahoo Mail sometimes places mail in the Spam folder but I'm learning that it's easier to move it from Spam to a folder...at first it would bug me when mail was go into the Spam folder but that was at a time when Spam was really growing and Yahoo introduced a filtering process and it was more miss than hit but it has greatly improved and with spam coming at you like a huge wave I welcome the Spam folder with open arms. Gmail Spam filter works well but with the way this spam is thrown at us it's a wonder many people do not make a new email address every year to combat spam. (let me move on...just mentioning spam makes my head hurts)
It's funny how for me how things come back around and for me now Yahoo Mail I'm loving again. Maybe this year I may invest in Yahoo! Mail Plus so this way I can forward my mail to my Outlook but why should I do that when GMail does it for free but then again for $19.99 annually charge for Yahoo! Mail Plus, I think that's a cool investment. I'm not too crazy with the new design of Yahoo Mail (which gives you the option of switching back to Classic mode which I like) but over all Yahoo! Mail for me is cool for me for now.
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