WHEN THE CRY FOR HELP IS SILENT

Ever been in a situation where you help and help and help, but you can't get the same help in return? You start to feel alone. You start to feel that nobody cares. You get the occasional, "You ok?" and with tears rolling down your face you say that you're ok just so you're not a burden. The question then comes, "Well, why don't you just ask for help? A closed mouth don't get fed." In your mind, you've been screaming for help, but it doesn't necessarily come out verbally. Silent screams for help still count. When you're suffering mentally, your call for help may come out as silent. Your call for help sounds mute to the untrained ear. When I talked before about being that young guy at the table at the convention crying, you don't think I was screaming for help? Dafney Unger, Robin Williams, Chester Bennington, Chris Kanyon, Hana Kimura, Ashley Massaro, and many others...you don't think they were crying for help before they ultimately decided to give up hope?


I often bring up music on my post. We talk about songs that "brought us through," but allow me to say that those songs are still being written. I was raised on old hymns, but hymns are still being written. They may not be in the COGIC or Baptist Hymnals as of yet, but they are hitting just are hard as the old hymns, in my opinion. One song that really helped me recently was Nobody Cared by Canton Jones.


"Jesus you loved me When nobody cared You loved me When nobody cared You loved me When nobody cared At all"


That part was on repeat in my mind as the tears were flowing down my face. Another song that does that for me is I Will Find A Way by Fred Hammond.
"I've lost so much down through the years It seems that all I find of late is a face so full of tears I search each dark and empty place The peace I used to know somehow I have misplaced Searching here and over there For the things I've lost I don't have them anymore But I will find a way to lift up my hands And I will find a way to worship You, Lord Though my heart is low I'll find a way to give You praise I will find a way to love You more"


My blogs come from a real place. Especially within the last year and a half. This blog came from the stress of not receiving the same help that I give other people. Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon 3 when Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Lorna (Renee Russo) asked Murtough (Glover) to cover them, and Murtough said, "Cover you, Cover me, Cover everybody. When is somebody going to cover me for a change?" With all that being said, I have to continue to do right for others. I have to continue to help when I can even though it hurts to not get the same help in return. With tears coming down my face due to feeling like I'm being used up just to the thrown away. I have to continue to do what's right. I have to continue to help where help is needed.


This is my therapy. Sometimes I feel like I'm still that young guy at the table with my cries for help falling on deaf ears. I didn't say I was that young guy because that incident was years ago, but sometimes it feels that way. Why does it feel that way? Because it becomes overwhelming. I cried for at least 30 minutes due to giving all I had to give, doing this for this person and doing that for that person, but when it comes for me getting what I need to get done it felt like I was alone. If you've never felt alone, you have no idea what's it's like to be around people and yet feel like nobody sees you suffering. You become blind to the people that are there to help because of the overwhelming pressure that comes from loneliness. It's not that we're rejecting the help or appreciative of the fact that some are reaching out, it becomes hard to accept because of trust issues.


Please don't get frustrated when it seems like the help is being rejected. It's not being rejected as you think, maybe it's hard to fathom some actually wanting to help because of the silent screams not being heard.


I don't apologize for blogging on my mental health or mental health in general. Please continue to pray for me and those who deal with this. Don't throw us away. I've been told that, all this is only a test. Don't ignore when we ask for help during the test. If you got this far, and you got something out of the blog, please share this post if you feel led.


Stay Saved and keep going,


Daniel Richerson Facebook.com/bigdusty Twitter.com/D_Rich864
Twitch.tv/DanielRicherson
Instagram.com/D_Rich864

HYMNS

I was talking with God before falling asleep and I started thinking about hymns. I hear it in church all the time. "It's nothing like those hymns." or "I go back to hymns because they had power." So, being the mark that I am, I started thinking about what exactly is a hymn? If you look at Ephesians 5:18-21, it says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." Then you look at Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heats to the Lord." Donnie McClurkin had a 2 disc album called, "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs" So again I ask the question, what is a hymn?

Webster defines a hymn as, "a song of praise to God." I do understand and realize that when the word hymn, our minds immediately go straight to the hymn book. Don't get me wrong, I love those old hymns. Those old songs are timeless. One of my all time favorites is Great Is Thy Faithfulness. So please don't get the idea that I'm burying those old songs. All I'm saying is that just because it's not in the hymn book, doesn't make it any less powerful. Personally, a lot of songs NOT in the hymn book have spoken to me. He's Able by Deitrick Haddon. It Could Be Worse by James Fortune. Made A Way by Larry Trotter, and not just because I used to sing lead on it. God Is by Dewayne Woods, again not just because I used to sing lead on it. Alpha and Omega, as sung by Israel and New Breed. Smile by Kirk Franklin.

I'm sure who ever is reading this, have songs not in the COGIC hymn book or what ever denomination you are in that have ministered to you. "...singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;" Another song I love that has been sung in churches all around that's called, "Sound of Praise" as sung by Larry Trotter. Song says, "There is a sound that is pleasing to His ear. A sound of praises lifting into the atmosphere. Every time you lift your voice, you need to know. Jesus loves to hear the sound of praise. Hallelujah the sound, He loves to hear."

I do agree that some of these new songs that play on radio is not the most church friendly type songs, but that doesn't make them bad songs. By church friendly, I mean, it's not the taste of music by the majority of the older members. Because we want the lyrics to talk about Jesus, but the music has to be what we like or it's not right. That's about how it is in the mind of some people. If the music doesn't sound like all the older songs, It's not gospel. It's not just the lyrics. It's the music. So when Christian rappers rap lyrics about Jesus, it's bad because the music doesn't match Jesus I Never Forget. Sigh.


Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

P.S. Yes, I was contemplating quitting these blogs, but as Steve Harvey once said, "He's not through with me yet." Keep praying for me.

WHAT IS BRAINWASHING YOU?

Dictionary.com defines "brainwashing" as any method of controlled systematic indoctrination, especially one based on repetition or confusion. I believe that we are all brainwashed in one way or another it just depends on who did the brainwashing. We're all, I believe, are a product of who ever brainwashed or taught us. If what was taught to me doesn't agree with what was taught to you, in today's society, it turns into disagreement which sometimes leads to hatred. The problem then lies when it comes trying to teach people the same way you were taught until you realize that who you're teaching is not accepting the brainwashing like you did. Is it the fact that they are smarter than you are? Have they already been brainwashed? What is the problem?

Roman 12:2, GNB, "Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to him and is perfect."

Philippians 2:5, KJV, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"

Philippians 4:8, GNB, "In conclusion, my brothers and sisters, fill your minds with those things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and honourable."

Eddie Murphy has a song which I've used in these blogs before, but I think it fits with this blog/speech/message call it what you want. The song says, "Temporary, everything's is only temporary, but God, God, God is everlasting yeah." We let our minds conform to temporary thinking when there's an everlasting mindset that we need to seek after. Again I do believe that we're all brainwashed it just depends on who did the brainwashing. Did you let Jesus do the washing, or are you still walking in the brainwashing of opinions and traditions? There is a difference.

Jesus said in John 8, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. If the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." So if the truth makes you free, think about what lies do? Elisha Hoffman penned, "Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood? Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

I don't know about you but I have never in my life known an opinion to bleed. I've never known tradition to bleed. The blood of Jesus is what can give you that everlasting mindset. My blood or anybody else's can't do that for you. The blood of Daniel Richerson can't do a thing for anybody. The blood of my or your pastor, can't do a thing for anybody. The blood of our president can't do a thing for anybody. "O! Precious is the flow. That makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

Let Jesus brainwash you. Let Jesus clean you. Let Jesus in your heart. Let Jesus give you that everlasting mindset.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

LET GOD BE GOD

Let’s go head and get it out the way in the beginning. Follow me on Twitter @Big_Dusty. Get at me on Facebook.com/BigDusty. Alright?

I want to grow. I want to grow mentally as well as spiritually. To be honest with you though, lately I feel that I’ve been on hold. I’m not being stupid and putting the blame on God, but I feel like somehow or another I’ve put myself on hold. I see God moving in my family and amongst my friends, yet when the camera zooms in on me, it’s like I’m walking slowly backwards while everyone else is moving past me going 100 mph. If you look at my face, I’m smiling thinking I’m moving forward blind to the fact that everything around me is going on in the name of the Lord, and I’m going backwards and sinking at the same time. Song writer says, “I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore. Very deeply stained within sinking to rise no more. But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, and from the waters he lifted me. Now safe am I.” That’s from one of my favorite hymns, Love Lifted Me. Search for it on youtube. My suggestion is a BeBe Winans and Donnie McClurkin version that was done like back in ’93. Anyway, let’s get to the part where it says, “…the master of the sea heard my despairing cry..” What is despairing? Looking it up in the dictionary, it simply means to be without hope or hopeless. So the writer here was at the point of no hope. He had nowhere to go, so he cried out to God. I would go on to say that he was crying out to anything or anybody that was willing to help. When you’re hopeless, you’re desperate for just about anything. If you’ve ever been desperate for anything, you know that you sometimes get to the point where you’ll take help from just about anything or anyone. Why? Because You’re past the point of what Kurt Carr said, “I almost let go.” You did let go, and once you do let go, you lose focus. Once you’re lose focus, you get to the point of desperation. That’s where the danger comes in.

“…the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, and from the waters he lifted me…” What that says to me is when you cry out to God, he will not only save you but he will lift you out of the sin you’re indulged in. That means it doesn’t matter what you’re struggling with, the master of the sea, God, can lift you out of sin no matter how deep. So that tells me also that there’s no sin too deep that God can’t lift you out of. Now here comes the question. Why do we put a limit on what God can do? I said, we because I will admit that I do it. I put a limit on God. All my life growing up I heard the old saints say, “There’s no limit to what God can do.” Yet, here and now, I’m struggling in a rut of habitual sin. Why? It’s not God’s fault. His hand is there to lift me up, but I’m not reaching up. We’re not reaching up. I remember the old saints used to sing, “God’s got a blessing for you. If you want it, reach up and grab it. God’s got a blessing for you.” Seems too simple, right? You’re telling me that all I have to do is reach up to God, and I will blessed? Psshhh, please, right? It can’t be that simple, can it? Why do we put limits on God? Why do we make elementary math hard like calculus? We’ve gotten so educated and technology savvy, that when something as simple as just reaching up to God for help, we can’t comprehend it. When a baby wants to be picked up, what does it do? It reaches up or out to you. Crying out to you until you pick it up. Interesting concept. Crying out to someone bigger than you that can pick you up and make your world seem better. Interesting…

“…the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, and from the waters he lifted me. Now safe am I.” Safety. Protection. Not only safety and protection from the sin, but protection from yourself, right? So here’s what I got to do better with. Here’s what we all got to do better with. We got to let God be God. Again, it seems too simple, but obviously what we’re doing now ain’t working. I know what I ‘m doing now ain’t working for me. I used to lead a song talking about God is…well I got to let him be….God. The video of me leading a song that says, “For the rest of my life, I’m going to praise You.” I listened to that last night, and I had goose bumps. We are not living what we’re singing about. Let’s keep it real. We got to do better. We got to let God  be God. Bottom line. Once we do that, the stress we put on ourselves will be lifted before we know it. I’ll end this with another old song that says, “Take your burdens to the Lord and leave it there.” Simple.

Stay Saved,

 Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty

You're still breathing!

I was looking through the C.O.G.I.C. Hymnal the other day because one of the hymns has become one of my favorites to sing, "Great Is Thy Faithfulness." The verse it's based on is Lamentations 3:22-23 which says, (CEV) "The LORD's kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. The LORD can always be trusted to show mercy every morning." While reading that, I thought to myself why not read the whole chapter, and I did. When I got to verses 39-40, it said this, "We're still alive! We shouldn't complain when we are being punished for our sins. Instead, we should think about the way we are living, and turn back to the Lord." That'll preach.

We sing a song, or used to sing a song, that says, "God's not dead. He's yet alive!" People would shout on that. Here's something else you can shout on: You're not dead. You're yet alive! What am I trying to say? God could've took you out in your sin, but you're still here. So while you're breathing, you have another chance to "turn back to the LORD." Then you can sing the third verse of "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" which says, "Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth. Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide. Strength for today and bright hopes for tomorrow - Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside!"

Another song I love, that is also based out of Lamentations chapter 3, says, "As I look back over my life I can see how Your love is guiding me. Even though I've done wrong you've never left me alone, but you forgave me, and your kept on blessing. This I recall to my mind therefore I have hope. It's because of Your mercies that we are not consumed. Because thy compassions fail not, they are new ever morning. Great is thy faithfulness."

Now sometimes you're not being punished for your sins. You're going through tests and trials, but you're still living. So you still got a a reason to shout. Psalm 150:6 says (CEV), "Let every living creature praise the LORD. Should praises to the LORD!" I heard my pastor say this. He said, "Death is just a doorway for the saints." That's true, but what if you're not a saint? Then death is a doorway to eternal torment. So while you're breathing, "think about the way you're living and turn back to the LORD."

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson