Thursday, June 17, 2010

Who got your back? (originally written 6/13/10)

So this past Thursday, I reunited with an old friend that I’ve known since the 3rd grade. This friend bought up another friend of both of ours that back in the day was my manager. To make a long story short about the manager thing, I wrote stories back then and he appointed himself to be my manager. That’s how I’m going to label him in this blog. My old manager.

Back in the day, I guess starting in like the 7th or 8th grade, my manager knew that I liked this girl. He knew that I wrote notes to girls but never gave them out. The main thing I remember my manager saying to me was, “Man, just give it to her!” Of course that didn’t happen. I remember he wrote a note for me to give to a girl, and I still didn’t do it. Sad ain’t it? I didn’t even write the note from me, and I still couldn’t give it away. Anyway, I thought about that because thinking about myself now, I really haven’t changed when it comes to that stuff. I don’t write notes anymore, but when I have the opportunity to open my mouth and say something to the opposite sex, I don’t. Can you imagine where I would be if I would’ve opened my mouth?

What am I saying? Some of the things we don’t have are due to the fact we didn’t open our mouths when we had the chance. We hear it all the time. When praises go up, blessings come down. When praises go up, healing comes down. And so forth and so on. There’s also something we hear all the time that says, “And his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” What I see there is in order for praise to be in your mouth, something has to be spoken. Don’t get me wrong, I know clapping your hands is a form of praise, but some of us live and die by the clapping of our hands and not ever opening your mouth. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.

My old manager would tell me when I didn’t have the guts to give a girl a note, “Man, just give it to her.” In other words, put some action on your faith boy. Faith without works is dead. What my manager was teaching me was that in order for the note to do the purpose it was written to do, I had let go of all fear, gain confidence and put action on it and give the note away. Some of us lost all faith because of fear. Fear of rejection. Fear of what other people think. Also because of fear, we lose confidence. Deuteronomy 31:6b says in the CEV (Contemporary English Version), “The LORD your God will always be at your side, and he will never abandon you.” Now my manager was a big dude, and I imagine if anything would’ve happened to me while giving away the note, I’m sure he’d have my back. It doesn’t come any bigger than God. With God on your side, there’s no need to lose confidence. In Deuteronomy 31:8, again in the CEV, Moses told Joshua, “The LORD will lead you into the land. He will always be with you and help you, so don’t ever be afraid of your enemies.”

Last Sunday from when I’m currently typing this, I led a song at church called God Is. It’s based from Psalm 73:21-26. One part of the song says, “God is the joy and the strength of my life. He moves all pain, misery, and strife. He promised to keep me. Never to leave me. Never ever fall short of his word!” Nuff said.

Philippians 4:13, “Christ gives me the strength to face anything.” Of course, I didn’t know better back then. I knew the verse, but I didn’t know that we were supposed to apply that. Plus I wasn’t saved then, but either way.

Basically what I’m saying through this blog is that the things we go through in our lives are not for our health. It’s to not only draw us closer to God, but I feel that also it’s to teach us something. Yes I understand the past is behind us. When God steps in your life, your past goes away. The Bible says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.” With all that said, your past is your testimony, and like I said, you didn’t go through your past for nothing. You can help people that are going through the same thing you went through.

Anyway thanks for reading. Comment, share with your friends!

Stay saved.

~Daniel Richerson

Saturday, June 12, 2010

I miss...(originally typed 5/31/10)

It’s going on two weeks since I’ve back home. What’s real sad is that it feels no different from when I left. I feel like I took a step back from going forward. I’ve heard the saying that says, “Sometimes you have to go back to go forward.” Well I feel like I’ve step back so far, the process forward looks to be no where in site. Don’t get me wrong, I’m trying to stay positive, but right now I’m just keeping it real. No pun intended.

One thing I miss is the fellowship. Having fellowship with church family and not being about church. It was just about getting together and talking. Church came up in conversation, but that wasn’t the intent. I think that’s what missing in some churches. There’s no fellowship outside the church. I’m not downing the fact that we all hug, kiss, shake hands after church service to put on the front that we all know each other and get along. I know the act. I’ve been in the game for 23 years now. I’m not going to say I’ve seen it all, but I’ve seen enough. The church is not the building. The church is the people. The building is just a facility used a holding place for the gathering of the people. Ok, now the Bible says, “Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to gather together in unity.” Just because you’re in a clique doesn’t mean you have unity. I understand that there’s no perfect church. As my mom always says, “If you find a perfect church, leave.” Every church has its fault. I’m just saying that there’s nothing wrong with talking to and fellowshipping with each other outside the church sometimes. Going out to eat, and not just eating together after a church service. Now I know that you can’t eat out with everybody at church because well, people can and do work your last nerve. Yes I said it, and you know it’s true. I know we don’t want to admit it because it’s a church and everybody gets along! The devil is lie! Please tell the truth, shame the devil. So let’s get that out the way. You’re not going to be friends with everybody, but I’m going to say this, you should be able to find somebody who you can eat and fellowship with. I hope my point is getting across. Not trying to call out a particular church, I’m just saying what I miss, that’s all. Like I told someone who accused me of talking about her through Twitter, “If you don’t call yourself out, nobody will know.”

Before I go on let me say that on the subject on fellowship that’s something I personally got to work on. Time and time again I was at gatherings, and I wasn’t the most sociable person. I stayed in front of a computer most of time and played music that nobody really listened to anyway. I made it hard on myself. Nobody made it hard for me. People invited me to a part of the conversation, and I passed. Why? The question tonight is why? I’ll tell you why. I labeled myself as a loner some time ago. Once I put that label on me, I made it hard on myself to open up at gatherings. The Bible says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Be careful what you and what you let others label you as. Just saying.

Now, I will say that I miss some people in the two weeks I’ve been away from the mid-west. Amazing that in the almost 6 months I was there, I met some people that made me feel comfortable and wanted more than I’ve ever felt in the almost 20 years I spent…anyway. To those people reading, you know who you are. Thanks for making me feel like I was somebody again. Thanks for making it easy for me to be myself and not forcing a persona just to be accepted. Thanks for showing love. Didn’t say it much, but showing was enough for me.

All right. Thanks for reading. It’s probably a little dated, but I doubt my opinion will change by the time this gets posted. Remember to share your comments and share with your people.

Stay Saved.

Daniel Richerson