Tuesday, November 24, 2015

STOP LIMITING GOD

Pharrell, a popular music producer, and in my opinion one of the best producers working today and maybe of all the times, was recently on Live with Kelly and Michael discussing what was his hardest decision he's ever had to make during his time on The Voice. He stated that the hardest decision he had to make was during the battle rounds this season when it was Mark Hood battling Celeste Betton. During the round, both were phenomenal. Pharrell could only pick one. I'm paraphrasing, but he basically said, he chose Mark as the winner to help him stop running from his calling. He stated that Celeste seemed to know the road she was going on, but Mark was running from Gospel and trying to do more R&B. 

What stuck with me was the "running" part. How many of us are running from what God is calling us from? I know I've been guilty of it. I understand the "fear of the unknown" if you will. There was a line I heard in a movie one time, House Arrest, and it said something like, "Feel the fear and go for it." I got asked once, how do you sing in front of people. I just do it. I'm still nervous. I'm still fearful, but once I knew there was no backing out and me "going to the bathroom" or crying to get out of it was not going to work any longer, I just had to suck it up and do it.

Now people are going to look at the fact that I mentioned Pharrell in the first part and immediately turn a deaf ear to what he said because it's Pharrell, and he produced Drop It Like It's Hot for Snoop Dogg and other songs, so what could he possibly have to say that could benefit anyone? So besides just getting the message, besides eating the meat and spitting out the bones, we turn a deaf ear because of his past. I'm no bible scholar, that's my mom and dad, but I have studied the bible more and more lately, and I remember hearing that God once used a Donkey and a rooster to get a message across. God even made the donkey talk.

Don't put a limit on what God can do. A popular phrase now a days is, "There's nothing my God can not do." So, if there's nothing that God can not do, if God can do anything but fail, then why do we put exceptions to that? What do we put a limit to what God can do? It is written, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us." We need to stop with this half way believing mentality. This halfway trusting that God know what's He's doing mentality. Either God knows what he's doing or he doesn't. I choose to believe that God knows what he's doing. I choose to believe the Bible when it says, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."

Don't miss the message for the messenger. What if Balaam missed the message because it came from a donkey? What if people that knew Paul as Saul and remembered him killing Christians, and now he's preaching for Christians, and they decided to miss the message? What if people knew your past and when you tried to speak some truth--? God can do anything and He can and has used anybody he wanted to. Even you.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

SCABS CAN'T HEAL IF YOU KEEP SCRATCHING

At first I planned this blog to be a review of Kirk Franklin's latest masterpiece, Losing My Religion, because I haven't done a review in a while. Or this blog was going to be on a new theory I have concerning hip hop and the church. Maybe the church sees to much of itself in hip hop to see what benefit hip hop can have, but I'm not going there this blog. Yesterday, as I'm typing this, I looked at a scar on my finger that is just about completely healed, and I told my little sister, "It's amazing how much a wound can heal, when you don't mess with it." She looked at me and said, "That'll preach." I thought about it, and I realized how deep that statement I said was.

Isaiah 53:5, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

That verse is more than just another verse. It's a reminder that all your hurt and all your pain that you've experienced is already healed. Because of what Jesus did on the cross. The hurt is just part of the healing process. The scar on my finger stung a little when I would touch it and mess with it, but when I stopped messing with it and just the healing process go without a hitch, that's when the scar went away. One of my favorite Kirk Franklin songs says, "He'll take the pain away, I know, He'll take the pain away." Some scars don't go away, unfortunately, but with Jesus, the pain of the scar can be taken away. Whatever that scar is. It could be church hurt. It could be a hurt from your past. Jesus can take the pain away. If you don't believe me, all I can say is try Jesus. An old song says, "Have you tried Jesus, he's alright."

When you get a cut on your body, you put some kind medical liquid or cream on it, and then maybe a bandage. After you put the bandage, you let the bandage do the work. You keep removing the bandage to mess with the scar, it can't heal like it's supposed to. When you give your problems to Jesus, and you keep going back to the problem, it can't heal like it's supposed to. Give it to Jesus and let him do the work. Jesus can work if you let him. That bandage can work if you let it. Those medicines can work if you let them. There's a song out that says, "Let the Word do the work." The "Word" being the Bible. The Bible works, just let it work. We call it the living Word, right? Let it live.

What ever the wound is, stop messing with it. Stop scratching the scab off so it can bleed again. That was my problem growing up. I would get scabs, and besides just letting it heal, I would scratch the scab off and open the wound. That probably carried on to other problems in my life. Without letting the problem heal, I would scratch scabs off and open up unnecessary issues that should have died a long time ago. So of your issues could have been over and done but because you keep scratching off the scab...leave the scabs in your life alone. I know scabs can be irritating, but let them heal.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

GOD MADE ME WHO I AM

I've gone through like five different intros to this post. I know where I want the body of the post to go, but how to get the ball rolling has my mind going back and forth. But here it is:

Remember the movie 8 Mile, and the final battle rap scene. The character, B-Rabbit, started the final battle by going down all his flaws so his opponent couldn't say anything about him. Something happened me recently to help me embrace who I am. I won't go into it, but I will say this, if you grow up being made fun of because of how you smell and how you walk or as they say now, bullied, you learn to get over it, but a piece of that never leaves you. You try to contain it as much as you can, but there's still a piece of that victim still in you. At least in my case. I can't speak for everybody else. So yes even at 28 years old, I still deal with low self-esteem regarding my flaws, looks, etc. But again something happened and it helped me really realize that not everybody is going to accept me. Not everybody is going to like the face that my head is bigger than average. Not everybody is going to like that I'm overweight. Not everybody going to like that my feet are not straight when I walk. But I realized after this incident, that God made me who I am, and in spite of my imperfections, God still loves me.

I know there's a lot of stuff out now for women to embrace their flaws, but not really much for straight men who also deal with image issues. I guess it's a pride thing men have that make them act like they're not insecure. Well it's not an act for me. I am insecure, or should I say still a little insecure.

Growing up there were those that took pleasure at laughing at my flaws, but at the same time there were those that looked passed my flaws, and got to know this mixed boy with image issues. So when ever there was times in my live to have my head down, there was at the same time reason to keep my head up. It was as if God was saying, "I got you, Daniel."

Like just some time ago, I was thinking nobody cares. Then my pastor asked me something I never really got asked before. He asked me how I'm doing mentally and spiritually. Never got asked that by anybody. Again, God was letting me know, "I have not forgot about you."

I've heard all my life, "What the devil, meant for bad God turned it around for my good." This incident was meant for me to go to another state of depression, but it turned out to teach me how to forgive and sleep peacefully. It taught me how to accept the flaws I got and go on living.

My dad preached a message one time that was talking about how Jesus was asleep in the midst of the storm before Jesus said, "Peace be still." Dad kept repeating, "Grab a pillow and go to sleep." That's just what I did. I forgave and got the one of the best nights of sleep I've got in weeks.

"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." Isaiah 54:17

Stay Saved, 

Daniel Richerson

Wednesday, September 02, 2015

GRATEFULNESS BRINGS BENEFITS

So the other day my sister treated to see the faith based film War Room, which is a brilliant movie, and as we were leaving my sister said something that stuck with me. She said, "I'm just waiting on a thank you." As soon as she said that it hit me that maybe we haven't received our "you're welcome" from God cause he hasn't received a thank you. For example, you ever do something for people and never receive one thank you? You usually stop doing stuff for them because of their what? Ungratefulness.

Being grateful is not only polite, it has it's benefits. Old saying in the church say, when the praises go up, the blessing's come down. The problem with some of us is that we want the benefits but none of the work.  Kevin Hart put it like this, "Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to be the work in." I want to be an author one day. I hope to one day learn to play other instruments besides the drums. But I can't expect to get on a piano one day and automatically know the scales and the keys to put a singer in without any prior work. It has been said that some are just naturally gifted when it comes to pianos, but can't expect that for everybody.

Now I believe, my opinion, that God won't stop blessing because you didn't say thank you. I believe that's where grace and mercy comes in. They're not a excuse to sin or not say thank you, but it gives you chance after chance to say thank you. Shawn Bigby put it like this, "Lord I want to say thank you / I need to say thank you/ I gotta say thank you for always being there." Saying thank you should not be a forced thing. My sister shouldn't have had to ask me for a thank you. God shouldn't have to beg you to praise him. It's amazing that in Psalm 150 it's written, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." Yet you seem to have to beg people to praise. A lot of us are so ungrateful it's no wonder we're going through what we're going through.

Ungratefulness can ruin relationships and future relationships. Cause you being ungrateful can travel like a plague and other people will hear about it and not do any favors for you. Imagine if God treated us like that. Imagine if because of our ungratefulness to God, He decided to cut us off. Imagine if because of our ungratefulness he never sent his son to die for our sins. Just imagine. How many of you are glad that God is not like man?

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Thursday, August 20, 2015

JESUS IS THE PROBLEM SOLVER

It is written in 1st John, "greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world." Mary Mary had a song called "God In Me." Side note: should we really be surprised that I Luh God was released then? Just saying...Anyway, what I can't understand is why is it that in church we hear more about how bad the world is than how great God is? I thought we go to church to hear about the Gospel, but mostly we hear about how jacked up the world is. If somebody from the world comes into your church, the last thing they want to hear on a constant is how bad they are. 99% of the time they already know how bad they are, they want to know how to get out.

Whenever I hear, "You know in the world today, blah blah blah..." I roll my eyes. Don't get me wrong, I know we don't live in the most civilized society, but my thing is the "world" has been jacked up for years. I mean if the "world" today is so bad, then the world yesterday had to have it's problems as well, right? Today's generation learned it from somewhere, didn't they? Even if you blame the media of the day, the seeds had to planted by someone of yester-year, right? I always go back to what my dad told me, "You can't throw rocks from a glass house."

Let's go with that then, the world today is jacked up, but does that give you an excuse to be jacked up? I thought we were supposed to be "salt and light in the world?" I thought we were supposed to come out from among them and be ye separated? Talking about the world without offering a solution seems pretty "worldly" to me. That's like a math teacher teaching you that there's a math problem on the board, but has spent no time showing you how to solve it, but all the teacher has told you is that, there is a problem on the board. If you don't know how to solve a problem, then the problem will still be a problem that will grow into a major problem that will drive you crazy until you can get it solved.

Jesus is the problem solver. If we don't introduce Jesus to this world, the problems will never go away. We talk and talk about how bad the world is today, but if we never introduce Jesus to a dying world, then what have we don't to solve the problem? We talk and talk, but we got to do. I believe it's written that we need to be doers of the world and not hearers only.

You hear it all the time that, "Everybody is a Christian now." And we just accept it. We let it continue. We talk about it in our Sunday Schools and expect things to change. If we continue to treat this life as just another religion, that's how the world is going to see it. I was taught that this is a relationship not a religion. Can't we really be mad at the world making fun of the church, when we give them material? Maybe if the church will start showing more Jesus and less trying to keep the seats full...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

I DON'T REALLY CARE IF THEY LABEL ME A JESUS FREAK

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:  for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith:  as it is written, The just shall live by faith." Romans 1:16-17

As I type this, a few days ago, I commented a status on FaceBook that was condemning "Jesus Freaks" by saying they all happy about going to church on Sunday then going back to the regular "B.S." by Tuesday. And I commented the status saying that some go back right after the benediction. At the time I thought nothing of it. Then I started thinking about it. I started to feel some discomfort about the whole thing. Then an old song came to mind that I first heard in Elementary School when this kid did it for a talent show thing we had to do in music class. The song was called Jesus Freak by dc Talk. Before that, I didn't know a gospel song that didn't have a choir or an organ in it. I heard that song and I was amazed at the sound of the music was putting out a message like Jesus Freak.

As I got older I liked the song more and more. And there's a part of the song that says, "People say I'm strange. Does that make me a stranger that my best friend was born in a manger." So why are we ashamed to be "Jesus Freaks." Atheist are unashamed. Gay and Lesbians are unashamed. Some celebrities are unashamed of how they live. Yet, you find some believers ashamed of their lifestyle. When most of us were "out in the world," as it is said in church, we were unashamed. Some of us made it known. We didn't have social media growing up yet people knew what y'all were about. Now with social media people REALLY know what you're about.

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable, unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world:  but be yet transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1-2

Stop worrying about what people think. It's funny how the world today is all about anti bullying yet the world tries to bully you into a "politically correct" way of thinking. Saying you have to accept everybody the way they are...except if you profess Jesus Christ. Interesting isn't it?  Even with all that being said, be ashamed. David said it like this, "The Lord is on my side; I will not fear:  what can man do unto me?" I believe that's another verse that says, "When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up a standard."

Stay saved. Stay Unashamed,

Daniel Richerson

Thursday, July 30, 2015

LOVING KINDNESS DRAWS, THAT MUST MEAN HATE AND MEANNESS TURNS AWAY

"The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:  therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee." Jeremiah 31:3

Jesus drew us with lovingkindness. There's an old song that the church sang when I was growing up, "Thy lovingkindness is better than life. My lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee. I will lift up my hands unto thy name" Based off Psalms 63:3-4. I've been thinking on this for the past couple of weeks. How important loving kindness is. Why is loving kindness important? Well I think we all can say there's a lot of fake kindness going on in the world today. I like to call it sometimes PC kindness. Ellen at the end of her talk show says, "Be kind to one another." If one would truly take heed to that alone. Be kind to one another. There's a "golden rule" if you will that says, "Who ever has the gold makes the rules." Also there's another one that says, "Treat someone how you want to be treated."

You reap what you sow. That's not only biblical, that's life. You sow an apple seed, you get an apple tree. You saw an orange seed, you get an orange tree. You sow loving kindness, you should get loving kindness. But we learned from the Charleston 9 situation that you can treat one with loving kindness and still get a bitter treatment in return. Now do you let that stop you from being kind to people? No. I've always said that you don't treat people how you were treated. You treat them how you want to be treated.

When I worked customer service at a call center we were taught to be kind no matter what. No matter how the customer treats you, you still treat them with respect. I never really got cussed out but I got fussed out many times and I had put the phone on mute many a call in order to keep my job, if you catch my drift. Amen praise God. Proverbs 15:1, "A soft answer turneth away wrath:  but grievous words stir up anger." And allow me to say the softest answer you could give sometimes is saying nothing. Old saying says, "If you got nothing nice to say--"

So if lovingkindness draws, then hatred and meanness must turn people away. Be careful of the attitude and look on your face because that may be why you have nobody around you. Oh me. My pastor says, if you can't say amen say oh me. That's where some of these debates miss with me. You can't draw people to your argument by calling people out their name. Name calling doesn't draw anybody, but if you talk in a calm tone and eloquently present your thoughts, you still may not draw anything, but you'll definitely be more respected that way. It takes respect to get respect. That's where the "God hates Fags" people miss the mark. First of all, God so loved the world, and if God hated anybody, why would there be grace and mercy? Second of all, name calling never ends up in a positive situation.

He who has friends must show himself friendly. Again, oh me. But nevertheless...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Thursday, July 16, 2015

TEMPORARY THRILLS ARE JUST THAT TEMPORARY

Before I go on, and I know this guy is like Ice Cube in the fact he somehow turned into the N**ga you love to hate as far as Gospel music, but one of Tye Tribbett classics is song called Everything. I have it on repeat right now. For some strange reason Tye Tribbett and Bishop TD Jakes have turned into easy targets for the religious in the church as far as hating. May not be where you all are at, but I hear it all the time. I guess they are not traditional, and of course tradition is all what Jesus was about, right? Or it may be the fact that Tye got caught and they didn't. Moving on...

Thrill seekers. We seek stuff that will thrill our flesh. Like you hear bungee jumpers and sky divers talk about the thrill they get when they do what they do. But after the thrill is gone, what's next? Like these marriages that come together for the sex part but forgetting that marriage requires relationship. The sex is a thrill but the relationship requires actual work. For some reason, the word "work" has become like profanity. It's not just the young generation which gets accused of being lazy. Some of the older generation is just as or even more lazy than...

A lot of people seek the thrill but don't seek the consequences of the thrill. Consequences? Yes. Now I'm not saying that you shouldn't seek the thrill or enjoyment of certain things. If you're a bungee jumper or a sky diver, do your thing. I'm not mad at you, but as for me, that's not a thrill I'm seeking to have in my life.

Some want the prize of work, but don't do the process of work. Some want to eat and not work. It is written, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." Like some want to make to heaven but don't want to travel the road to get to heaven. Taking the road to hell will not get you to heaven. Taking the road to NY will not get you to California. If you want to get to a specific destination, you have to take a specific route. Not to say there won't be detours on the way, but you still have to head a certain direction to get to that specific destination.

Thrill is defined as a sudden feeling of excitement and pleasure. A temporary fix if you will. Like why some get high looking for that temporary fix. It's like cell phones. Some of us always wants the newest phone, even when your current phone works fine. You just want that temporary excitement or thrill of having the newest gadget on the market, that will only end up getting replaced.

All these thrills we seek is all well and good for the temporary, but there's still a void looking to be filled. A hole in the soul if you will. Only Jesus can feel that void. Only Jesus can feel that hole in the soul.

Bottom line, the thrill our flesh seeks are temporary thrills. But why not seek for an everlasting thrill? Why not seek for a thrill that will give you a feeling that you'll never get past? Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but Jesus never fails. Have you tried Jesus?

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

NEVER THOUGHT I'D KNOW GOD LIKE THIS

June 11, 2015 marked 4 years since my mom picked me up from the hotel to take me to Greenwood, SC. The night before that my Dad and I slept in a bed for the first time in 3 days. More than that if we're talking comfortable bed. First time taking a shower in days. First time taking a good shower in probably weeks. Just coming off sleeping in a van in parking lots and spending the day at the park. Dad took Ginger, our dog at the time, to the human society. I really don't know what happened to her after that, but I like to think that she found a good home. I hate to think the worse. I wasn't the best owner when it came to Ginger...

Back to that day of June 11, 2011. Mom picked me up and I had some of my clothes in a garbage bag. I was badly in need of a haircut. And I got one. No charge at that.

A lot has changed since 2011. I've been in the hospital twice for high blood pressure. I got a full time job and got fired after a year and 4 months. Had a few temp jobs. Finally got my drivers license.  I became one of the sound men at church. I started teaching Bible Study on Wednesday Nights. To the same most of the same folk my Dad was the pastor over. Never thought that would happened. I remember when Bishop Johnson would ask me, "You're going to be preacher like your dad?" I would quickly shut that down. I really should've known better than that. My mom and Dad both teachers in their own right, and now here I am. My current pastor would ask me, "Daniel, are you ready to teach?" My eyes would get wide and I would say, "No sir." The seeds were watered.

Now negative, I'm staying under my mom's apartment at 28 wasn't a life goal I had in life. Neither was going to the E.R. Never thought I'd still be single and not ever have a date. I'm learning more and more that God's timing is not our timing. Never thought I'd have an EBT card at 28. Never wanted that to happen. Never thought I'd be starting the day off taking 6 pills for my blood pressure, weak heart, and one kidney. Never thought I'd be on a low sodium diet. But God is still faithful.

Song writer said, "Who would've thought I know You [God] this way?" I will admit that resistance is not my strong suit, but I am still here by the Grace of God. I'm also learning how to be myself. Like really not be ashamed of Daniel Richerson. I am who I am. I'm crazy. I'm learning I have a choice to be weird or mopey. I choose to be my weird self more than my mad mopey self. I tell my family all the time in responds to "You seem chipper today."I say, "It's better than the other mood right?"

God is not through with me yet.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Tuesday, June 02, 2015

RIGHT IS RIGHT...AND WRONG IS WRONG

We live in a confused society. We as a whole seem to think that one sin is bigger than other sins. I was raised to believe that sin is sin. Wrong is wrong. Right is right. If you're wrong you're wrong. If you're right you're right. Truth is truth. So forth and so on. I watch this satire news show on Comedy Central The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. I don't agree with everything Jon Stewart says on this show, but he does make strong points in my opinion. On a recent show he interviewed presidential hopeful Rand Paul. During that interview he made the point that if you see people you don't ask them what sin they committed, but some how when it comes to homosexuality, they automatically get questioned. Honestly, when the subject of homosexuality comes up on The Daily Show, it's always on the side of the LGBT, and I usually change the channel. But, I watched this interview on a rerun that came on in the morning and I thought what he said it was a valid point. And it really struck me that we as a Christian or "Kingdom Minded" society has made the lifestyle of the LGBT the major cause of the world's issue. Because they compare it to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now here's my belief on that and I may have blogged about it before, but here we go. If you really read up in the Bible about that, yes homosexuality was involved in the story line, but remember God said, if he could find 50 righteous, he'd spare the city. Could not find 50, could not find 45, 40, 30, 20, or 10. Maybe America has been spared all this time because He found...

Back to the point, sin is sin. Not one sin is bigger than the other. Liars get served all the time without being questioned. Liars preach in our churches without any conviction, but let a homosexual lead a song or play the piano, all of the sudden, now the church is in trouble. Sin is sin. It is written that all of us have sinned and fallen short. We got praise and worship leaders, Sunday school teachers, and other leaders in the church have done crazy things that God consider sins, and they come back week after week like nothing is wrong. But when it comes to homosexuality, they are automatically condemn to hell because homosexuality is the worse sin of all the times.

John 3:17-18 says, " For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Jesus didn't come to condemn, but for some particular reason, some of us feel we have the God given right to condemn folk. Word? Quick question. What makes you better than Jesus? The only begotten son of God? Sin is sin. Wrong is wrong. Yes, but we have no right to condemn anyone. The bible says that those who do not believe are already condemned, what more can you do?

John 14:6 says, 'Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me"'

So Jesus is the door. Stop blocking the door for people who are trying to get through. I recently saw an interview that really bothered me. Secular rapper Tech N9ne did an interview with Rapzilla stating he wanted to work with Christian Rapper Da Truth but Truth's people blocked it. Tech then went on to say that he needed help with certain things, and wanted to talk to Truth about it, but it didn't happen. People are begging our help, and we are so close minded, that we can't see past a lifestyle we don't agree with. We have no heaven or hell to put ANY body in. If someone asks for help, we should try our best to help, or lead them to who or what can help them. We're supposed to lead people TO Jesus not AWAY. 

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Sunday, May 24, 2015

EVERYDAY IS A MIRACLE

I've heard it said that everyday you give a gift. When you open your eyes, it's a gift. I was at the barber shop waiting to get my haircut and there was a conversation going on and it was talking about high blood pressure. Go figure that I happen to have high blood pressure issues, right? Anyway, I was sitting there and they were talking about high blood pressure and then something was said that really stuck. It was mentioned that this lady died of a sudden massive heart attack, and after further research it was found that she had not took her medicine in months.

Why did it stick hard with me? I already documented that I spent my Christmas of 2014 in the hospital. Before that I had not took my blood pressure pills in months. Through God's grace I didn't have a heart attack, but it easily could've been me. My blood pressure had 3 digits with a 2 in front of it. It was very very high. If I remember right, the lady in the Urgent Care said it was high enough for stroke.

So now when I wake up every day, I'm very grateful. Cause it's another night I didn't have a heart attack or anything like that. I make it a priority to take my medicine everyday when I'm supposed to. This past May 22, I turned 28. It's a miracle that I made it to 28. Song writer put it like this, "It's really no goodness of my own, but it's by the grace of God that I've been kept all this time and I still have the mind to go on."

Everyday is a miracle because it's written in the bible that the wages of sin is death. Some of us have done some stuff that we will never tell anybody. Some real diabolical things, but because of God's grace and mercy we're still here. We thank God for new seasons, but why not thank God for a new day that you made it to? I'm not going to say everybody, but for Daniel Richerson, everyday is a journey. Everyday I have a choice to make. I don't make the right choice every time. I don't live pure and holy every second of the day, but I'm trying to make the right choice.

Old song says, "I am a promise. I am a possibility. I am a Promise with a capital P. I am a great big bundle of potentiality. And I'm learning to hear God's voice and I am trying to make the right choice. And I'm a promise to be anything God wants me to be."

I'm learning to live by this creed. Like the song says, "I say to my soul, soul take courage. The Lord will make a way somehow." Sometimes you really have to encourage yourself. It's not just a good slogan or a good quote. Put some action on it. 

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Monday, May 11, 2015

I GOT A SMALL WITTLE PROBLEMO

Why do we as a people, I mean us a human beings, not talking race or ethnic groups, but why do we as a people believe he say she say more than we believe visual evidence? Back in the 90s there was a gentlemen named Rodney King. Y'all may have heard of him. But this guy was beaten on camera. I repeat "on camera" and all the officers got was a slap on the wrist. To old for ya? Ok let's go to the Garner situation that happened in NY. Again, on camera, caught choked out by the camera. Wasn't really a punishment for it, and America goes on it's "merry" way.

Let me mention Bill Cosby. It's my blog, I'll believe I'll mention his name again, Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby, third time, has been accused by over 40 women of being raped and drugged. No visual evidence. Just based on he said and she said. And just about everybody, expect for a few of us, believe Cosby did it. Cosby is guilty according to "public opinion." I remember another guy, Jesus,  that was guilty according to the public. I'm certainly not comparing the two, but it's amazing how he said she said can put a tarnish on somebody's life. I have read that Cosby was in trouble for the same stuff in 2004 and nothing came of it. But about decade later and comedian working a comedy club, said on stage that Cosby was a raper. And the video that was recorded got posted and spread, and then the accusers came out of hiding. Apparently what Hannibal Burris, the comedian, said, sparked a memory of "hurt" and they came out.

We all know what has been said by now, and if you don't you can google it. Because of all this un proven accusations, Cosby has been called out his name. Based of he said she said. Nothing yet proven. Now one asks, how can over 40 women be lying? I say, easy. They're lips are moving, no pun intended to Meghan Trainor. Or, for the love of money. I hear ya tho. "Daniel, it's over 40 women, he obviously did it." Word? Obviously? May not be obvious to everyone cause the old man is still working.

"How can money be made from this?" Books and Lifetime.

Now, those who know me, know I'm a big fan of Eddie Murphy. Some time ago, Eddie did a movie called Holy Man. Not a lot of people liked it, but I personally loved the movie. Anyway, Eddie played a character named G. G was a spiritual guy i guess you can say. He was on his pilgrimage and ran into this guy, Ricky, who worked for this home shopping network. Long story short, Ricky puts G on TV and sales sky rocket. G because a national phenomenon of spreading a positive message. Meanwhile another guy, Scott, is not understanding this popularity. So his motive is to take G down in any way. Spoiler alert, Scott, finds a family that G "abandoned" only to find out the woman was paid to accuse G. As soon as the accusations came out, the media lost all respect for G. Until the woman said she was lying, G was painted as the bad guy.

I compare Cosby to G because Cosby was a positive figure in the black community. Not all the black community, because Cosby told black people to act like they have common sense, he was painted as a old man who has no idea what's happening. So with the accusations, those same haters had more ammo.

I'm not trying to turn your thoughts on the Cosby situation one way or another, but what I am saying is don't believe the rumors of everything you hear. Check the motives. In church we often hear and say, "Try the spirit, by the spirit." Basically what I'm saying. And if you disagree with me, I don't hate you. I know that's a popular way to do things now, but I'm not that guy..

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Thursday, April 23, 2015

AN EXAMPLE, GOOD OR BAD, IS BEING SET BY YOU

You really can't be mad if the next generation follows your example. Good or bad, what you do is being watched and learned by the next generation. Even when you think you're getting away with it, you're being watched by the next generation. You know that saying, "Actions speak louder than words?" Best believe your actions are being watched also. From the day you're out the womb to the rest of your life, you watching the next generation. We never stop learning. I'm almost 28 and I'm still learning watching the next generation. Good and bad.

That's why you always gotta be careful of what you do and say. Because somebody's watching. That's why you always hear this excuse, "Hey, I didn't know anybody was here or watching." Can't always pass the blame on the media. Music gets blamed for stuff that it has nothing to do with. Don't get me wrong, music is influential, but you can't just put all the blame on the music that's not your style for what's wrong with a particular generation. That's where the next generation gets it from of not taking the blame for stuff because they see our generation and older generations passing the blame for stuff that we clearly brought on ourselves. 

I hear all the time that this generation, "don't care about anything or anyone." Well I ask, do you show that you care or do you give the shoulder shrug and eye roll if they want to show you something they find interesting. How many times has a kid came to you and say, "Hey look at this!" and you groan and roll your eyes? And you have the audacity the unmitigated gall to pass the blame on the media for the fact that the kids don't care when you show that you don't care?

When I was coming up, we had bracelets that had the letters W.W.J.D. (What Would Jesus Do). Basically telling us to follow the example of Jesus. I was told to wear this and always look at it and think about that before I did anything. Didn't last long but that was the thinking behind that. Let us not be ignorant to the fact that Jesus is the only example we're following. Those that say they following Jesus has an example to set to. Those that say put God first has an example to set to. Like back in school in math class there was always an example of how to solve a problem. What example are you setting to the problems you face? Think about it, the next generation is watching. Or are you just going to pass the blame again.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

ELIMINATE THE HATE...NOT FOR WHAT YOU MAY THINK

Warning: If you're a fan of G. Craig Lewis and Ex Ministries, you might as well leave the blog now. You will not agree with this blog. If you preach against rap music, you might as well leave the blog now, because you won't agree with this blog. If you don't believe in delivering the gospel through rap, you might as well leave the blog now because you won't agree with this blog. Ok, you've been warned.

The LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual Transsexual) community uses the term sometimes, "Eliminate the hate" in regards to their rights. I'm going to take a switch with that term. If you've been reading my blogs for some time, you know that I'm a fan of gospel rap. I believe it can be used to spread the gospel. The Gospel is not changing it's just the delivery of the Gospel. I look at it like this. Some preachers you don't like to listen to. Some like Bishop T.D. Jakes, and some like Joel Osteen. Both are preaching the Gospel, but the delivery is different. Some like Rod Parsley, and some like Billy Graham. Both are preaching the Gospel, but the delivery is different.

Now to the point. Some like the Canton Spirituals, and some like Lecrae. Both spreading the gospel but the delivery is different. It's not for everybody. Me advocating Gospel rap is not going to change your opinion on the genre. But if you don't like the genre, don't hate on the individual doing what he do to spread the Gospel. It's not for you. Paul said it like this, "When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law."

For some particular reason, when something comes along that's different, it's wrong. It's satanic. It's the devil. It's a sin. The Bible talks about nothing being new under the sun. Going back in history when TV's first came out, they were considered a sin. When movie theaters came out, a sin. When Jazz was big, it was being preached against, and in some places still being preached against. Why? It's different. We are scared of different. So naturally so spiritual. Naturally, the LGBT sees disagreement as hatred. Spiritually, when you disagree with ones thoughts, or opinion, it turns into a rift or hatred.

We need to stop hating one another over petty little things like disagreements. The Bible talks about we got to love everybody to go to heaven. Stop hating people that are different from you. That's called being prejudiced. Disagreement shouldn't mean hatred. I don't hate my family members because I disagree with them. I don't hate some preachers cause they say things I don't agree with. When disagreement turns into hatred, that's when it comes a time to check yourself. Don't let your misconceived notions on anything, turn into hatred.

One argument on Gospel rap I hear, is that, "Gospel music should lead your to worship not to twerk." My response, twerking is something that was already in you to do. I think if some music leads you to twerk, it's something you got to do some self checking on yourself. Twerking came from the strip club, did it not? If twerking is what you do, don't blame hip-hop, blame the visual the videos give off. Not all hip hop gives the visual of sex sex sex. Don't blame what people of done to hip-hop and put that on everybody. Now again, if you hate gospel rap, what I'm saying is not going to change your outlook on it. I hate quartet music. I don't like it at all. It's not for me. But I respect anybody that spreads the gospel. I'm not in the quartet audience. I'm in the gospel rap audience. Should that mean we hate each other? No.

Let me put this out there, just because it's has the label hip-hop does not mean twerking is involved. Ok? Strip clubs has been out before hip-hop. Music was talking about sex before hip-hop. Hip-hop gets blamed for stuff that was happening before the genre even started. Lest we forget some of our favorite Gospel artists does not have the cleanest record out there. Kirk Franklin, he put his stuff out there so there's no reason for me to bring that up. James Cleveland? I'm not making this stuff up, you can look it up. Donnie McClurkin. Tye Tribbett? My point is, it's not the genre that's the problem. Da Truth said it like this on TBN, "It's nothing wrong with hip-hop culture. It's something wrong with the heart that's corrupt."

And that's really all I have to say about that. All and all, let's stop allowing the devil to make on disagreements lead to hatred. Stop giving the Devil more power than he actually has. You may not be a fan of Gospel rap, I'm the minority in my house hold when it comes to the genre, but I respectfully disagree with them and continue to do my thing. Some of the dislike for it is fair. But I feel it's no different than raising the roof in church or saying, "Ain't no party like a holy ghost party cause a holy ghost party don't stop." I don't see it as we're bringing the world into the church, I see it as an evolution of delivery.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Monday, March 30, 2015

DON'T TURN A MISTAKE INTO A HABIT

I was thinking of going one way with this post but then it would come off as "why couldn't you say that to that person's face" type blog. Been there done that. Don't do blog's off conversations...especially if you feel "some kind of way" about it. I've learned that the hard way. By the way, those blogs are still up.

A mistake is defined as an action or judgment that is misguided or wrong. Everyone make mistakes. If you say you don't, that leads me to a question, you know where liars go? The point is though not to continue to make the mistake. You learn from the mistake and not do it again. Get away from what started the mistake. Stop turning the mistake into a habit. Once it becomes a habit can't really call it a mistake any more, it's just a way of life by that point. The Bible says, in James 4:17, "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." In other words, if you know better but continue to do what's wrong, it's a sin. As my sister tells me on a constant, I never listen but she continues to say, "Get your life together, Daniel." Your name may not be Daniel, but you get me?

Don't be one of those, "you know the devil's busy" type people. If the Devil is busy, then get busy getting closer to God, and get busy resisting the Devil. If your excuse is "the devil is busy" that's like saying "the devil made me do it." Flip Wilson is dead, so let that excuse die with him. The Bible says in James, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

Now changing the subject completely, I've been seeing all over Instagram, post talking about surrounding your self with the right people. Surround your self with good people. Takes me back to a mens meeting I was at, and my pastor at the time said that everybody needs at least 4 people around him. Using for an example the story of the lame man seeing Jesus from Mark, "And when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was: and when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay." Anyway, it was like post after post on Instagram about surrounding yourself with the right people. I'm thinking I haven't found that group of people yet, but I'm not giving up. I'm not big "it's a sign" type of guy, but I do believe God has ways of telling you something. He used a donkey and a rooster in the bi-ble to get a point across, so...

Guilty by association. Can't surround yourself with just anybody. Can't let everybody in your friends circle, whether we talking online or off line.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Thursday, March 05, 2015

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS

Watching a service where Wess Morgan brought the word, I sent out a tweet that said, “the internet is not bad, it's what you do that's bad.” Stop putting the blame on what you’re using to do what you do. It’s not the internet, magazines, or dvds that’s the issue, it’s the heart that’s corrupt that’s the problem. What are you using the internet for? What magazines are you looking at? What DVDs are you buying and watching? What are you choosing to watch on the internet? Who are you letting feed your spirit on social media? It all starts with you. You make the decision. 

The devil is doing his job. You’re just not doing yours. It’s written, “Resist the devil, and he will flee.” You don’t resist, he’s not going anywhere. If you know you shouldn’t watch certain shows because it vexes you, makes you feel some type of way or some kind of way, then you take the initiative, make the choice to not watch said show. I’m not going to sit here and say that’s an easy choice to make. It’s like if you exercise something they always say is push your body past the pain. In other words, force your body to do what it doesn’t want to do. Your flesh wants to continue to be in bondage because it’s used to the chains. But if you want to be free, you got to force your body to change. It’s not going happen instantly for most of us. Not saying it can’t happen instantly, because it can, but I wouldn’t go in thinking that it will happen instantly. I’ve heard it said you got to make a habit of not doing the habit.

Now I could use clichés and say, “Jesus breaks every fetter” or “There is power in the name of Jesus to break every chain” but when you don’t use the name of Jesus, then what? Jesus works, don’t get me wrong, but if you’re not willing to use the name, don’t get mad if it feels that nothing is happening. You can hold the remote all you want, but that alone is not going to change the channel. You got to push some buttons and make something happen. Holding the phone is not going to make the phone call for you. You got to make some moves to put that call into action.

Don’t blame the phone if you don’t know how to use it. Don’t blame Jesus, if you don’t know how to call him. Don’t blame the Bible, if you’ve never opened it and read it.

Stay saved, 

Daniel Richerson

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

TRUE UNITY IS NEEDED

Unity can be defined the state of being one; oneness. When I think of unity or the state of being one, my mind goes to Colossians 3:15, "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called to one body and be ye thankful." or Amos 3:3, "Can two walk together, except they be agreed?" Can't be unity within a bunch of bickering and backbiting amongst each other. That's one of the reasons America is so jacked up. We call ourselves, "United" and yet we're the furthest from it. We in the church like to talk about how messed up America is when the church is not at a perfect state right now itself.

The church is supposed to be an example of unity, but it's the furthest from it. Prove it you say? What's the most segregated day of the week? Sundays. Unity? I know we as people have different thoughts and ways we do things, but why do we let that stop us from unifying? The head and the feet are different but they both serve a purpose on the body, right?

I'm going to use the Church of God In Christ for an example. The break down goes something like this: local church, then district, then jurisdictional, then national. It takes more than one church to make a district. So if the district superintendent wants to have a meeting of the churches and one church shows up it's not really a district meeting is it? Or if the jurisdiction calls for a convention and one district shows up, then it's not really a jurisdictional meeting. It takes more than one finger to make hand. It takes more than one house to make a neighborhood. It takes more than one car to have a collection of cars. It takes more than one team to make up the whole NFL.

Think of a family. If a family only comes together only during the holidays, where is the unity in that? Being blood related makes no unity. You have to spend time together. Get to know each other to create unity. Of course a family reunion is going to be awkward if you only have it once a year. The C.O.G.I.C. has multiple conventions for all the churches in the organization to come and worship together. That creates unity. "Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Psalm 133:1)

How can you say you're unified with God when you don't pray. When you don't try to get close to God how is that being unified? Think of getting unified like a relationship, and what's one of the main keys to relationships? Communication. Usually when there's no communication, the relationship falls apart. Where there's unity, there's power. We as believers have to be more unified. I'm not talking denominations, I'm taking believers as a whole. Red and yellow. Black and white. We are precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Monday, January 19, 2015

TEMPORARY VS EVERLASTING...I CHOOSE EVERLASTING

Temporary: lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.

Everlasting: lasting forever or for a very long time

Eddie Murphy has a song called Temporary. Yes the same Eddie Murphy that did Party All The Time. Anyway the chorus goes like this, "Temporary. Everything is only temporary. But God is everlasting." Before you get thought that Eddie is trying to sing Gospel. Nah. It's just an inspirational song. Inspirational and Gospel go hand and hand, but just cause a song is inspiring don't make it gospel.

Let me go back on topic. Some of us that are addicts tend to look for the temporary fix. Whether it's a swig of alcohol, a hit of a joint, or sex, whatever it is, the satisfaction is only temporary. Why? Cause the next day or sometimes minutes later, you're looking for another fix. Why go for the temporary when you can go for everlasting? God's love is everlasting. It lasts forever. To me that's a no brainier. Don't get me wrong, I understand addictions. Some addictions you can't stop cold turkey. James 4:7 says, "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." How do you resist? Don't talk about it. Don't watch it. Get away from certain people that are no help to you. You may have to literally run away from it. Certain shows I can't watch. I have to change the channel. Music is usually my get away from a lot of things. A major way is to pray about it. Read the Bible. Fast. Mark 9:29, "And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting."

Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Another word for "filled" is satisfied. We go back to the temporary fixes looking for satisfaction but nine times out of ten we don't find it. If we start to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, we'll find an everlasting satisfaction worth it all. I know there's a saying out that says, "After you try everything else, try Jesus." Why not try Jesus first? Try God first. Don't try religion. Try relationship. Relationship with the try and living God. Temporary fixes vs an Everlasting loving God. Makes sense to me.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Saturday, January 03, 2015

CAN'T BE SILENT ANYMORE

October 03, 2013 I posted a blog entitled, THIS BLOG POST SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST, BUT GOD. Reason why I wrote that blog was to tell a little bit of the story of me going to the hospital that September because of my blood pressure and shortness of breath. I got out of the hospital for what I thought was motivation of a lifestyle change. Changed the way I ate, and all that. Only when it came time to testify that God brought me out of the hospital, I didn't say anything. Of course I blogged it, but life and death lies in the power of the tongue. I wasn't that good in biology, but I do know that my fingers have no tongue. Also what I didn't blog about, the hospital bill got wiped away through some kind of program through the particular hospital I was at. Again, said nothing.

December 25, 2014, over a year later. Back to the E.R. for the same issue. The night before I couldn't sleep a wink. I tried to lay down, but every time I couldn't breathe. I was also coughing my lungs out as well. So went to the E.R., and again, my blood pressure was sky high. How high? I would venture to say higher than Snoop Dogg on a 4/20. Of course got checked in to the hospital, and spent my Christmas in the hospital. During this stay, I found out that my heart was weak, and also that I have one functioning kidney. At age 27, this is unheard of. All the nurses, said, how did this happen? I really didn't have straight answer. But in all honesty, I didn't care about myself. I felt like no one REALLY cared, so I didn't care. Notice, I put the "really" in caps. I heard people say they cared, but in my mind, they were just staying face. I didn't buy it.

"What the devil meant for evil, God turned it around for my good."

The calls to my family, Facebook posts, some Instagram comments, and even a snapchat. I really felt that people cared for my well being. I can't tell y'all how happy I was to finally get out that hospital gown, and finally sleep in my own bed again. I was let out on that next Monday. That Wednesday night, I went to Watch Night at my church, Prayer and Faith Ministries COGIC where the pastor is Pastor Anderson Gray, I got a chance to testify and this time I did it. First words out my mouth, "I know if I didn't do this, I'd get a whuppin'."

Psalms 30:11-12 KJV

Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; To the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

Romans 8:28 KJV

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Again, I want to say thank you for all the prayers and the thoughts. As I'm typing this my weight is coming down, and my blood pressure is doing well. I've been taking my medicine and sticking to a low sodium food plan. Don't stop praying, the Lord is nigh. Don't stop praying, He'll hear your cry. For the Lord has promised, and His Word is true. Just don't stop praying, He'll answer you.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson