So I was going to write a little about mercy and grace as usual but I just saw the movie rise with my brother and it awoke an old dream of mine and I wanted to talk about dreams. But before any of that, if you read my last blog this is just an after thought from it…..
What if my calling is to raise my son. Who is to say that raising a child is not the greatest calling this world has ever known. What if you are in charge of raising the next John the Baptist who will usher in the return of Christ. Who is to say that that in itself is not the greatest calling. Some may say the circumstances are not right. Well two things. One God definitely can take what Satan wants to use for good and glorify Himself. Two Christ’s entrance into this world was not free from social scrutiny. To me and especially now with the kids I work with, the greatest calling is to raise a child or children in the ways of the Lord. It is the hardest and takes the most sacrifice. Because as you consecrate that child to the Lord he is no longer yours but Gods. Something to think about…
And on to the blog.
So mercy and grace. A month or two ago its what I thought I wanted. I wanted to be let back into a position of leadership and work with kids as a spiritual leader, when me myself had no spiritual ability to lead as I was struggling to lead myself. Yet all I did was get mad at the fact that I had to go through restoration and not be in a ministry job for at least two years. But, is that what I really wanted. As I was contemplating this I came up with some ideas.
One, do we get mad at others because we want mercy and grace and no one wants to give it. And why do people not give it? Is it because society says that mercy is a sign of weakness? Is it because in the movies we don’t want any mercy to be shone to the villain in the end, be honest, we all wanted the hero to blow the bad guys head off. Why as a society do we think that mercy is a sign of weakness. The Word even says turn the other cheek. But for some of us turning the other cheek means that we have to get hurt again. But what about Christ? Did He himself not turn His cheek more than once, twice….. First Judas sells Him out, cheek one. Then Peter His other boy sells Him out not once, not twice but three times. Not to mention Christ put him on front street about it before it happened. Now according to my count Christ just ran out of every cheek found on the human body. But yet He still died for all of them and the generations to come. And I know that throughout my 24 years of life I have slapped Christ more than my share and have been shown mercy and grace. Some would say, yah but He knew His role and the outcome. Well when we listen to God and trust Him we then find our role and trust Him for the outcome. Christ was the strongest man that has every walked the earth. To know that you have that much power and still take it from dumb sheep, that takes power of heart. To say that I love you so much I will put up with your crap and still die for you, so I can show you mercy and grace. COME ON! His entire life was to be the living form of mercy and grace. And to not have an angel come from heaven and jack Judas and Peter after they were punks takes power.
TANGENT: Imagine for a second that every time we sinned an angel would come from heaven and spank us or scare the crap out of us. Like my parents did to me. How different would you or I be, this world even.
So as Jesus was the most powerful man that ever walked the earth and His life was mercy and grace. Why do some of us look at it through societies eyes, and think that showing mercy is a sign of weakness. Plus, last time I checked we are to live our lives according to the Word and not from the social conditioning we have faced all our lives. Plus who’s mercy and grace is more important man or Gods.
Two, so as soon as we sin and get CAUGHT. All we want to do is say sorry and be forgiven and shown mercy. But is that what we need? We may not want to admit it but the fact of the matter is that we need consequences or we would never learn anything. To every action there is a re-action/consequence, both good and bad. True, that life would prove to be so much more manageable if we could just say sorry get mercy and go on. Well consequences are like speed bumps on the road of life. They are there to get your attention. But on this road sometimes we miss the signs that say slow down or turn around and hit those speed bumps at 80 and jack our car. Now imagine if we didn’t have signs telling us that were going in the wrong direction (conviction, wisdom…). How long would it take for us to realize we’ve gone in the wrong direction, turn around and get back on track? My point being is we may not want consequences, we may say all we need is mercy and it’s not fair. But in the end consequences are what gets our attention, most of the time, and re-directs our thinking and actions. So after you get caught, it’s easier to say show me mercy and move on then accept Gods mercy and face the consequences and learn something. To be pretty honest I myself had to learn the hard way concerning my current situation. Being that this was the third time I though I might be going through this, but this one being the only real one. My next two years are exactly what the Dr. ordered and will give me the chance to back track and get on the path I once was. Everyday is a new mile taken back and seen with different eyes. And I’m blessed to be able to go through it now rather than later. And even through the consequences of it all I still get the biggest blessing, my first born and greatest calling as a man, being a father. This child and situation WILL bring God glory.
So on to the dream.
So I watched this movie rise today and it awakened an ancient passion. I noticed myself on the verge of tremendous emotional bursts in the form of tears. You know when your eyes start to water and you feel something rising in your soul with such compassion, joy, pain, desire that it overtakes you. Well since the movie was not a drama or tear jerker I held back. But what was unleashed was a forgotten dream.
For those of you who know me you know I am diverse in my ability to move with in different social groups. But the one I identify with and have the biggest heart for is urban, ghetto, the hood, Pittsburg, what ever you want to call it. As I watched this movie I began to envision a recreation center. Not the YMCA. But a hip-hop youth center in urban settings, So. Ca., NYC, ATL… All across the nation. This center would include basketball facilities as well as the center being focused on hip-hop. Raising up a generation of young people in the gifts and talents of today’s world. From having DJ equipment and computers for video editing. As well as space to dance and learn to dance. And don’t forget the production wing. Where kids could come learn how to produce and make music, through technology and instruments. As well as record their own music. This would be a place that provided young people the opportunity to have something after school on the weekends, anytime. On the weekends it would be a club for teens and in the week a place to learn, practice and use gifts and talents. As well and I mean a big part, receive tutoring and counseling. And one of the parts of my dream is to have some of today’s biggest artists come to these facilities and not only speak a positive message but teach the young people in their gifts as well. For instance, Dj Skribble could come and teach them how to mix and scratch, Ludacris could come and teach them how to freestyle and Timberland could come and teach them how to produce. As well as many other very gifted adults who have talents specific to the demographic of the community. And the counseling we would offer would be Christian, Coping with a rough home life, Addiction, Sex…..
But, I know for most of you as you read it you say well where’s God in all of it? Are you retarted? It’s the focus, the beating heart behind it. Did you know that the YMCA is the young men’s Christian association. But somewhere along the way it got confused. The whole thing would be driven by Christian principles. Not to mention that there would definitely be a mid-week youth service as well as a Sunday service, you know me.
Well those are my thoughts love them or hate them, their mine. If you read this you rock, and any prayer you shoot my dream or the dream Gods given me would be awesome.