Already a Threat

I had not yawned
Nor opened eyes yet
The day not even started
I am already a threat

I paused to get up
Had not really slept
Still laying in bed
I am already a threat

Showered and shaved
My face is still wet
Brushed teeth, fully dressed
I am already a threat

Take a bus, walk or drive
One thing’s a sure bet
Once skin and face are seen
I am already a threat

Will I make it back home?
My fear and my fret
Guilty, by color
I am already a threat

Turn Invisible Moo into Meat

Only the Creator can do it
Only He can perform this feat
Make something from absolute nothing
Turn invisible moo into meat

We can season and stir lightly
We can cook at just the right heat
Only He makes void become substance
Turn invisible moo into meat

He doesn’t stop with one item
From cucumbers to red beet
Put oink, swish and cluck on the menu
Turn invisible moo into meat

Evolutionists will shout and laugh at you
Their theories are lies and deceit
Black cow eats green grass, get white milk
Because God turns invisible moo into meat

Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Hebrews 11:3
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

When One is Violated: We Are All Violated

Martin Luther King said: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

This violence has not touched me directly. It involves those people, and it is committed by those other people. I don’t have to worry about it because I don’t live over there, I don’t look like them nor do I behave like them. I am safe. I live in a stable community. I have my doors locked, alarms on and when it is all said and done, I am a god-fearing man with a gun within easy reach.

We watch and listen in horror and amazement, yet once again as a member of the majority population violates without remorse members of a minority population. It is revolting to most of our senses and our idea of civility and our supposed sense of unity.

Benjamin Franklin said “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

We can either continue on this pretend reality of the American dream or come to the truth this dream continues to be a nightmare for a significant portion of our fellow citizens. When one of ‘them’ is violated, I am violated. This continued violence is continuing to shred the fabric of our society. We trust each other less. We don’t trust our government, our churches, our neighbors and even some family members. It will continue to destroy us as long as we hide behind our supposed secure spaces the bolts and locks on our doors and our personal retirement portfolios.

It will destroy our children and our children’s children. We ignore the violation of others at our own peril.

To that end, the Nazarene Narrative will work with the churches of Philadelphia region to sponsor a walk for peace this Spring 2021. We are asking all denominations, all ethnicities, all like minded citizens to join us. The date will be announced soon. In addition, Tasker Street Missionary Baptist Church will sponsor the 4th Gun-Buy-Back event during that same week.

Storming the Capitol: Does Not Advance the Kingdom

James 1:20 the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God KJV

Would Jesus the Christ be storming capitols and taking hostages? Just what would Jesus do?

A righteous, even holy agenda, cannot assume unrighteous, unholy methods and tactics. Jesus never asked his followers to use violence to bring about His kingdom. We can add all the ‘pro’ prefixes we want, and it won’t make it ‘pro-Jesus’. Pro-life, pro-gun, pro-death penalty, pro-secure borders, pro-…, you add the issue. Storming the capitol does not advance the kingdom.

Whenever I find myself trying to force someone to my point of view, I am more likely to do just the opposite. I am assuming the place of God in their lives by putting myself as the one who punishes disobedience. I will mete out justice to all who do not conform to the image of Christ that I see. The truth is I cannot convince someone of anything of which the Holy Spirit has not convicted them. Storming the capitol is not the same as advancing the Kingdom.

Jesus left Himself open to be ridiculed, abused, and injured, even unto death. He never asked a legion of angels to descend to destroy His tormentors. The Christ had all authority in His hands and could have easily decimated His detractors.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr stated: “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.”

John 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

If I find myself threatening lives, cursing and abusing people created in the image of God, I am not advancing His kingdom. I am merely storming the capitol.

Waste From My Wealth

I share the waste from my wealth. I don’t miss anything with the gift that I give to the poor and needy. I give them from the scraps that fall from my financial plate and on to the floor. I give without noticing that it is missing. This kind of giving does not glorify God. It gets great notice from people, but really, it is just the waste from my wealth. It is superficial, not sacrificial. I brag about it. I take pride in it. But if it is painless, it is not sacrificial. If it costs me nothing, it is worthless. It is waste.

All these people gave gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty, put in all she had. Luke 21:4

Matthew 19:21 KJV “Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.”

Black Lives Won’t Matter

I understand completely the furor, indeed righteous anger associated with the openly brazen acts of murder of black citizens of this country when those acts are committed by those responsible for protecting the citizens. I agree with Colin Kaepernick, as I agreed with the late, great Muhammad Ali, Tommie Smith and John Carlos the Olympians of 1968 who all stood in protest against racism and oppression in the United States. I understand the problem because I have lived it and continue to live it.

However, there comes a time when I must ask my own community to take in account of how much our lives matter to us. I am fully aware that this will not be accepted by many of my friends, colleagues, cohorts and family. But it must be said. Every time a black man, woman or child dies in a drive-by shooting, gangster violence, drug related activity that life matters. Every time a baby is pulled from the uterus of a mother either by sucking, dismemberment, ingestion or injection of lethal substances or scraping the walls of the womb that life matters.

Every time a mother buries her son or daughter who has been caught up either by accident or chance in a violent episode in our community that life should matter.

Murdering black men and women in the streets by those who are entrusted to protect is without excuse. But their excesses will continue until we make it a point to protest vehemently, argue unceasingly and protect our own from our own. Black lives won’t matter to anyone unless they matter to us.

Butchering the Body: When Politics Divide Believers

Galatians 5:15, KJV: “But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another”

We pride ourselves on our denominational, political, and social divides. We embrace these points of view to the exclusion of Christ.

The apostle Paul expressed his outrage over the sycophant mentality of the early church. Believers wanted to be identified based upon the popular religious ideologies. They took pride in their affiliations rather than humbly identifying with Christ.

1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

We are no different. We think it is important that people understand our convictions about racial and social justice, economic equity, gender issues, foreign policy and wars. We would rather be known as left, right or center on these issues. We equivocate on Jesus so we can bear the labels liberal or conservative. After all, isn’t that why we were called in Jesus? Is it not the Holy Spirit’s job to remind us to grow to be more like the members of government and civic organizations? Aren’t we supposed to stand up for our rights like Jesus, even if it takes hurting someone in the process?

No reasonable non-believer should, nor would accept a faith where the members are so at odds with things that matter in time but not in eternity. If we focused on the love we are supposed to have for one another, the distortion of the things in time would disappear. If we loved more, we would resent less and condemn less.

We have let the world know that we would rather not sit with people who claim to know Jesus if they don’t advocate for issues we see important. We proclaim they are worthy of damnation because they hold a particular position or opinion. What the world sees is we fight each other, when our real enemy is the world, the flesh and the devil.

We crucify Christ afresh. We put Him to open shame. We butcher the body of Christ. Dividing the church, the body of believers is no way to conquer the world.

We are meant to conquer. Romans 8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

When the Doctor Has to Lie: The Strong Delusion

I had no intention of lying, but it seemed I had no choice.

I could not believe I was saying these words. This scenario was contrary to everything I had learned in kindergarten, grade school, high school, college, and medical school. I had chosen my wife based upon these very sound principles. We named our children following traditions and understanding that preceded human history. Now I was called upon to ignore, relearn and explain to myself and the young woman/man and her/his mother something I did not believe. So, I started slowly, being careful to try to not upset his mother (could be father) who sat at the bedside. I had to appear to accept this delusion.

‘Yes sir, you can still have a menstrual cycle until the hormone replacement and surgery are complete.’

That seemed to calm them a bit. He/she was still experiencing menstrual cramps and break through bleeding. He/she had persuaded the doctors that a trial of hormone therapy was preferable to immediate hysterectomy. The breasts had already been removed, but he/she wanted to wait. He/she might change his/her mind.

‘Thank you so much doctor. We just wanted some straight answers from you. You have answered our questions and made things very clear; he/she and she said.’

I felt stupid just trying to make sense of this clinical situation. I did not believe the very things I was sharing. I was lying. I was pretending that the scenario in front of me made sense. In a world where we have chosen which science we want to believe; this seems the pinnacle of science being subverted.

The world mocks creationists, global and climate change deniers. But it is so willing and ready to embrace the belief that XY is the same as XX. The world decries the conspiracy theories about pandemics, but accepts without questioning whether men are men and women are women. Girls and boys can choose what they want to be and their parents are dissuaded and even ridiculed for not allowing their children to accept their natural selves. As if a child who wants to smoke a cigarette or drive a car cannot make the appropriate choice, but choosing their own gender, now that is only natural.

So, I lied. I ignored the obvious in this setting, so as not to upset the two people in front of me and pretended that anatomy and physiology didn’t matter. If I can lie to them about this, what lies can I tell the man who wants to be a woman? Can he still get prostate cancer? Will I measure his hemoglobin and hematocrit based upon his choice of gender or upon the persistent physiology and endocrinology that will rage in his body once the exogenous hormone levels drop? If I remove this body part and reconstruct it to look like this body part will this be more natural?

I don’t even try this on my car. Steering wheels are not the same as rolling wheels.

Will we continue to lie to our patients? I pray that these scenarios are rare and that we can find a way to avoid subverting science. I fear we are most likely to keep on lying.

2 Thessalonians 2:11 for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie

Hungry to Hate

He offers me His bread
I said I already ate
He said His bread is love
I replied I feed on hate

He said you will never get enough
Your appetite won’t abate
I pushed Him far aside
Serve up some more hate

There are many sweet delights
Good things to fill your plate
I refused His generosity
Scoop me up more hate

Jesus welcomes us to His supper
Don’t delay or procrastinate
His love can satisfy your craving
He invites you, He will wait

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20 KJV

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35 KJV

Go Preach: Gun and Gay Rights

Buy the package as a bundle, cable, internet, and phone. If you want the gospel as projected by the American church, you must Go ye into all the world and preach gun and gay rights.

Anyone even barely familiar with the gospel of Jesus recognizes this is not even close to what He commanded and commissioned His disciples. However, the gospel has been subverted with an agenda of ‘rights’. We have completely ignored the command to suffer and serve and instead made the message of Jesus about advancing our personal and political agendas.

We have bundled the gospel with items that we describe as left and right leaning, liberal and conservative. With this bundling, we have bungled the message that salvation comes from our Father and is found only in His Christ.

We have not merely neglected the gospel; we have completely rejected it. We have substituted God’s righteousness with our own traditions and values. That is why we see no danger in the equivalency of gun rights, gay rights, and gospel.

There were three crosses at the crucifixion of Christ. Only one cross bore the sinless Savior. The other two, one on the right and one on the left were sinners, just like you and I. We don’t know the political or personal agenda of the other two. We do know that the Christ on the center cross gave us one commission, one commandment. Go and tell people about me. And if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me. John 12:32 KJV