I'M HARD HEADED LIKE THAT...

God is alive. He's a living God. Why put your faith in one that is dead I don't understand. Muhammad died in 632. He was alive in the 3 digits. Joseph Smith died 1844. Buddha is dead. My bible says those trust in the Lord shall renew their strength. I blogged last week about the Bible. The living word. His word is alive. This same Bible says God inhabits the praises of His people. In order to inhabit anything you got to be what? Alive, right?

I've been talking with Mormons lately and they've been trying to get me to read the Book of Mormon. I told them I would think about it, but like I said last week, I stand alone on the Word of God. Another testimony of Jesus Christ they call the book of Mormon. I personally believe the Bible speaks for itself. They gave me a verse to justify the Mormon book, the last verse in John which says, "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." So they claim that Book of Mormon is everything else Jesus did? The verse says, the world can't contain it. Which means to me the World would not be able to handle it. Don't give me a verse to justify your thoughts and don't expect me to read it. I'm hard headed like that.

I watched a video on YouTube where a couple of Mormons tried to talk to this guy about Jesus, but the guy knew the Word for himself. He old them the truth and one of them got mad. Ain't it funny how mad people get when you don't bow down to their thoughts? Or when you use the same thing they try to use against them? Now I don't want to use this blog to blaspheme anybody, but I realize the skepticism I've been getting when I say I've been talking with these two Mormons. I know one is named Elder Borrows. I apologize to the other gentleman for not remembering his name.

All I'm saying again like I said last week you got to study the Word of God for yourself. Don't just take what anybody says verbatim. Trust in the true and living God.

In that video I mentioned earlier the guy that was talking to the Mormons, brought up this verse Luke 21:15 which says, "For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist." I looked into it and the study Bible I use went back to Luke 12:11-12, and it hit home with me, "And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say."

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Side Note: I hope this doesn't come off as hate. I have no hate for anybody...that you know of.

THE B-I-B-L-E YES THAT'S THE BOOK FOR ME.

The B-i-b-l-e yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-i-b-l-e.

The above are lyrics of a song I learned when I was a little kid. It came back to me when I was thinking about some things. Lately I've been having conversations with some Mormons. Cool couple of guys. They strongly believe in what they believe. Should I say boldly believe in what they believe. I don't agree with most of it, but I have to respect the boldness. Why do I respect the boldness? Because it shows what kind of boldness I should have for what I believe in. What do i believe in? The Bible is what I believe in. There's an old song that says, "I know the bible is right. Somebody's wrong."

What I have a problem with is people putting other books on the same par as the Bible. Same level as the Bible. I have a problem with that. I read (past tense) in the Bible, Word of God, that in the beginning was The Word, and the Word was with God., and the Word was God. So if God is the Word, then isn't putting another book on the same level like worshiping another God? I believe that one of the 10 commandments is, "thou shalt not have no other gods before me." Around the 4th to 5th grade my sister and I want to this daycare, Sunshine Learning Center. There they taught us a song that says, "Read your Bible, pray everyday, and you'll grow, grow, grow." Read your BIBLE. Get to know your God. Study your God. Stand on the Word. Believe in God. Can't believe in God and not believe in the Bible when they are one in the same.

The Bible says, "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, KJV) In other words you have to study the Word yourself. Don't just go by what you've heard all your life because 9 times out of 10 you might miss something. For example, most of my life, I've been hearing about Sodom and Gomorrah. Every time I hear about that it's mostly about the homosexual stuff that's happened in that. But once I studied it for myself, I realized that the ones that brought up that story nearly always never brought up the fact that no righteous living people could be found in that city therefore God destroyed it. Now a lot of people call America modern day Sodom and Gomorrah, and believe me I get the comparison. But again I bring up that God could not find 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, or 10 righteous living people in that city. So you mean to tell me that America has no righteous living in the country? America is going to have to pay for it's sins, I know that, but I believe the reason it's still running is more than "In God We Trust" on the money.Why I say that? Because mainly the bible says if you love God you will keep his commandments. It's more than lip service. I believe that, "I have never seen the righteous forsaken..." Then again, I could be wrong. But this is my blog, and--

Anyway, another good reason to study is your success. It is written that, "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success." (Joshua 1:8) So with that being, making your way prosperous can't come by depending on whoever your spiritual leaders are. You have to read the Bible for yourself. It clearly says, THOU shalt make THY way prosperous. Not your pastor, not your bishop.

The B-i-b-l-e yes that's the book for me. I stand alone on the Word of God, the B-i-b-l-e.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

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GET BACK ON FOCUS

Something that has been bothering me lately, and I talked to a couple of guys about it. Churches are getting off focus. Again let me say that the church is not a building. The church is the people. Without the people, there's no church. Now, we as the church, are losing focus. We're supposed to seek God. Focus on God. Keep God first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. If there's one thing I can't stand it's when I go to a church that's not focused on the kingdom and more focused on what he or she is doing or not doing.

Nothing like going to a church that's actually God oriented and unashamed about it. We've become so focused on the entertainment aspect of church. Who can dance the best. Who can praise the best. Who can yell the loudest. Who can play the best. More about the show and less about the oil. The oil meaning the anointing. I guess being God oriented won't put butts in the seats, but I heard it said, "Take care of God's business, He'll take care of yours."

It is written, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee." Wondering why the church has no peace? The focus may be off. When the body is not listening to the head, it's out of order. We got body parts disrespecting the head and wondering why everything is all messed up. When I was growing up, and I disrespected the head of the household, I got what is missing in most homes today, disciplined. Discipline is missed in some churches as well.

Discipline is more than using the belt. It's defined, "the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience." If God speaks to you pastor what the church needs to do, or where the church needs to go, just shut up and obey. Don't say, "Well I don't think that..." You're the body part for a reason. God placed the pastor there for a reason. He sent the pastor there to lead. Stay in your lane. You're over the sound system. That's all you need to put your mouth on. Stop putting your mouth on what is not in your lane.

"Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7) When worry come we tend to pass the blame instead of going to God in prayer. Instead of hitting our knees in prayer, we let the Devil come in and jack up relationships and close down churches. I wonder how many churches have closed the doors because of losing focus. Learn who God is again. The holy spirit is not the only spirit that talks to us. Think before you speak, and keep you mind stayed on God.

Two old hymns came to mind. One says, "There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No not one. No not one. None else can heal all our soul's diseases. No not one. No not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide 'til the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No not one. No not one." The other says, "What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and grieves to bear. What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh what peace we often forfeit. Oh what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer." "Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. All we got to do is take it to the Lord in prayer"

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

SHOW JESUS...

Doing this via a blog may seem like a real punk move, and I know I have to do this in person. Yet I go on. I would like to apologize to everyone who may be reading this that I may have offended or bad mouthed in anyway shape or form. I also want to forgive anyone who may have done it to me. The bible says that if we don't forgive others, God won't forgive us. i don't know about any of you, but I want to be forgiven. Will this change anything doing it this way? Time will tell. With that being said...

I think one of the problems is that  we try to force people to accept salvation. Don't get me wrong. I know that we are in the end times. I do know that Jesus is soon to come. I do know that we are in the last and evil days. I also know that if Jesus came back too soon, some of the people that we would think would be caught up will be left behind. Matthew 7:21-23 says, "
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." I heard it said recently that we can't sham God. We can't fool God. God sees all and knows all. Galatians 6:7, "Be not deceived; god is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

You can't make someone get saved. You can't make someone accept Jesus. What we do is give the message and let them make the decision. Right? Think about when you accepted the Lord as your personal savior. Was it because someone forced you to? or did you hear a message that convicted tugged at your heart that you decided to follow Jesus. This is a debate in church believe it or not. People say you didn't decide to follow Jesus, you were chosen. Here's my take. Again I may be wrong on this, but I may have been chosen to play on a football team, but that doesn't automatically mean I'm going to play. It doesn't automatically force me to play. Like I was chosen to be one of the soundman at church. I didn't sign up for it. I didn't hold my hand up and say, "Pastor choose me I want to do it!" No. Pastor basically said, "Daniel, I want you to run the sound." and I said, "Ok." That's basically it. So yes God chose you and yes the bible does say that we are "a chosen generation." But does that necessarily make you saved? Does that necessarily get you in to the gates? You still have to believe in your heart and declare with your mouth that Jesus in the son of God and that he rose from the dead, right? You still have to choose or decide to do that right? I'm just saying...again I may be wrong...it's happened before, and it's bound to happen again.

All I'm saying is that we have to go out in he highways and byways as the Bible says, and allow me to say, that can mean Internet highways also? I know it means literal highways and byways, but if folks are always on the net, why not get to them where they're at? We got to show Jesus in and out the 4 walls of the church. There's some people that will never show up to your church or any church, don't they got to know Jesus too? I've heard it said that the church is a hospital, but some people don't know that their sick. So since they don't know we have to be prayed up and studied up so when the opportunity presents itself we'll be ready to speak the word. and you never know it may be the Word that leads them to Christ. Right or wrong?

If you don't know the Lord, the bible says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." The song says, "Come to Jesus, while you have time. Come to Jesus, make up your mind. He will make your mind brand new. Oh He will take care of you. Come to Jesus while you have time."


Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

LET THE WORD WORK AS IT IS

"We no longer have to perform for God" ~Kirk Franklin

I was thinking of posting what I spoke on Sunday. And then I began thinking about ones that try to spice up the Word of God like it's an unseasoned raw piece of meat. The Bible is already good enough as it is. No need to put your opinion on it. The Word is alive by itself. Donald Lawrence had a song that said, "Let the work do the work." Part of the problem of why we see no growth in church is because, I believe, the Gospel is not being preached. Opinions are being preached. Your opinions are not going to get people saved. Your opinions are not going to get people delivered. Your opinions are not going to catch the fish you want to catch. Opinions fail. But the Word (Bible) will never fail. Opinions die when you die, but the Bible is what will stand forever. No matter what man says.

We live in a world now that is doing what is against the Bible, but we as a people have to be unashamed of the Gospel. Romans 1:16, "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." Opinions are what you sometimes end up being ashamed of. Opinions have power. But you really want to really on the power of human opinion? That's called politics, and I'm know I'm not the only one that believes that we don't need any more politicking in the church.

We don't need to try to impress God with our fanciness. It's timeout to just dance and praise in church, then as soon as you leave the "church ground" you get mad of every little thing. It's timeout just showing the love of Christ in the four walls, but outside the four walls you show the false love of the Devil. Now is a time more than any to be real with God. To be real with your spiritual life. Now is a time to start applying church and stop just going to church. Now is a time to start living church.

Somebody is always watching. I'm not talking about God cause God sees all and knows all. I mean non believers and young believers. Keep that in mind the next time you let your temper get the best of you.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

*UPDATE 8/10/14*
Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." let the word do the work

ARE YOU PERFORMING OR BEING?

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Timothy 3:5.

A conversation with my sister prompted this blog. People know how to do church. People know how to dance, run, play the right chords, and make the right faces to get by. There's a difference between people that just do church and the ones that are the church. Church is not a building. Despite of what you may think. I learned a long time ago that the church is the believers. Which one are you? The ones that just do church, or the ones that are the church? 

Now let me say this that I'm not casting stones. I'm guilty sometimes of just doing church and not being the church. Before I changed the name, I called the blog site, Keeping It Real. I'm doing my best to not come off as a perfect guy. Please believe I'm far from perfect.

I heard it said that the anointing it will break the yokes. Dancing or shouting is all well and good but is anybody getting free? Or are all we doing is exercising? I'm half black, but I will say black people are known for enjoying a good beat. So with that being said, being saved has to be more than a dance, right? It has to be more than a song that gives you goosebumps and gets you emotional, right? I mean people get emotional over "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" by Aerosmith. That's not a gospel song. Then the question comes is being a Christian about putting a performance or is about becoming Christ like to the point where people see more of the God in you rather than you yourself? 

Rapper Lecrae who is saved has a song from one of his old albums that says:

"After the show, after the set, after the music stops what's next?

Will there be fellowship, prayer, disciples?
Will you open your bibles after the music stops

After it's over, after it ends, after the music stops, what then?
Will you understand that Christ is King?Or will you just like the words we sing after the music stops"

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

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GET YOUR ZEAL FOR CHRIST BACK

This is going to be a bit of a call back to a blog I typed back in 2009. Before I get to it, I'm asking for your prayers. Now things may change after I post this but as of right now, I've been asked to do something real big. At least to me it's big. I'm not going to mention what that thing is just yet, but I'm asking for your prayers that God has his way and that no flesh gets the glory.

So back in 2009 I typed a blog called, "No Joy, No Strength. No Faith, No Strength." If you go back and read the blog remember it was back in 2009, and I've typed worse things in a blog. Anyway, this is the part of the blog I really want to call back to:

 You hear it said all the time, "The joy of the Lord, is my strength." Yeah, that really sounds good, don't it? But, do you really carry the joy of the Lord or do you let the Devil ride? (Shout out Deacon Moody, the coolest deacon I've ever met.) Do you carry joy, or do you carry hate? Some of us, including me, need to check ourselves. We say the right stuff, but do we really mean it? A lot of us are weak because of our lack of joy. By the way people can sense that, which is why you can't get through to people. We often use the Bible verse, "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy's gonna come in the morning." That's true, don't get me wrong. I truly believe that, but I think and believe that we can cause the night to linger longer than it has too. For some of us, the morning could've been here, but we let the Devil influence how we think and feel. Thus we stop believing. Thus we start to doubt. When people go to the altar to give their lives to the Lord, the verse found in Romans 10:9 "That if thou confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shall be saved." A lot of people confess but they don't believe, and I think that's how we lose joy. In our heart, we truly stop believing thus we lose joy. Faith is also important for strength, because if we lose faith, we lose joy. My pastor defines faith as this, "You got to see it before you see it if you're ever going to see it." Now the Bible says, that life and death lies in the power of your tongue. So with faith, you got to see it, but I feel that speaking it will add more confidence to your faith. Now if you're gonna have faith, doubt has got to go. Trying to have faith with doubt is like trying to have a classy show on VH1. It's not going to work. I'm just saying if you're feeling weak mentally, maybe you need to get some joy in your life. Use your faith and speak that you will have some joy in your life. How to get joy, you ask? Jesus. Jesus can give you joy. As the late Rev. James Moore would say, "I know Jesus can give you joy! JOY! JOY!"

To be honest there's not much I can add to this but here's an attempt. Don't you wish that you didn't have to force a smile on your face? Don't you wish that you didn't have to be fake? There's an old hymn that says, "Since Jesus came into my heart,Since Jesus came into my heart;
Floods of joy o’er my soul like the sea billows roll,
Since Jesus came into my heart." When someone really has the joy of the Lord, they don't need to fake it. They don't need to force a smile. That's not to say that they don't feel other emotions, but they don't let the devil upset their rest. It took me a long time not to let people get to me. I'm not perfect in that yet, but I've gotten much better with that. As far as letting people do what they do and not letting it affect how I act. There's a phrase that has been used in the past decade that says, "Haters are gonna hate." People are going to do what they do behind close doors. What's done in the dark...you can only hide who you really are for so long until the mask comes off.

So the question comes how does one truly be joyful. I said in the post in 2009 that Jesus can give you joy. Kurt Carr has a song that says, "We got to put Jesus back number one." We have become so dependent on our phones and social media that when we wake up in the morning what's the first thing most of us do? Check for text messages and notifications. What if we woke up and actually started off when a Thank you to the one that woke us up? What if we started with a prayer? What if we started off with meditation on the word of God? If we really put Jesus number one, make him the first priority of your every day, joy will follow. Real joy. No longer will we have to fake being joyful. No longer will we have to force a smile on our face. Get back to when you first received Christ into your life. We need to get back to the zeal we had when we first got saved.

Now if you're not saved, the bible says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Nice try Devil but you have lost again...

I'm not going to go into detail. All I'm going to say is that the devil tried to get me. He thought he had me, but somebody prayed. But God has won again. When they say there's power in the name of Jesus? I dare you to try it. Try using that name and the power that comes with it. I'm a living witness that it works.

Now to the regular scheduled blog. Well not that scheduled and that's my fault. Cue The Chidrens Bread by Tonex.

I realize at I'm becoming more of a crier. I'm becoming a little more like my dad than I realize. I'm already like him in certain aspects, but never was that much of a crier outside of church of course. What brought this on is I was watching Kevin Durant's MVP speech an when he got to talking about his time growing up with his mom and all that she did, I had to literally scream to keep myself from crying because the tears were there and ready to flow. I fought them back though because that's not what I USUALLY do. We as people are scared to get out of our comfort zone and that might hold you back from a miracle. Step out on faith just one time and I promise it will make an impact. Now make sure that it's God leading you. Don't step out of the will of God, that's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that if God wants you to do something that's out of your comfort zone, step out on faith and do it. And of course it might not be as bad as it seemed to be.

Like take the song I'm listening to now. God Is by DeWayne Woods. I'm a natural shy guy. Been one all my life. I'm just not one to open up to folks in person. So I bring God Is up because I led this song at this church I used to attend New Harvest Ministries COGIC. And it was always nerve wrecking. Every-single-time. But I stepped out on faith and did it. It ended up being like a release of some sort for me.

Next week I'll be 27 years old. I didn't think I'd make 25 let alone 27. To God be the glory for the things he's done. Yes I'm still single. Never had a date in my life. But is that necessarily a bad thing? I mean I'm still here. Sill alive. God has done too much for me for me to be ungrateful because I've never "had a girlfriend." That's not to say that I don't want to go on a date or have a girlfriend or one day have a wife and all that, but my life does not depend on that stuff. I'm not just going to settle for the first girl that winks at me. And that's all I'm going to say about that.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
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JESUS LOVES YOU....LOVE HIM BACK

Before I get going, just want to thank everybody who reads my material. If you're new, hello!

The other day I was googling time travel because I was thinking how cool it would be to travel though time. I know it's impossible, but let me dream. Some parts of my life I would avoid, because I know I wasn't the easiest mulatto to deal with. Still to this day I can be a major pain to some people. The difference is though is that now I'm starting to care. I'm starting to care how I act or react to certain things and situations. Not to say I didn't care then but I would not think before I did things. So googling time travel took me to an interesting video talking about reincarnation. In this video it showed this little boy that knew about what happened when the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor. Apparently he was one of the piliots that died. He knew everything about the pilots life and everything. I don't believe in reincarnation but this was interesting. And it was this other lady that apparently was Anne Frank. She knew where Anne Frank was hiding from the Germans at and all that. Now I know this maybe as some old country people say, "Horse pucky." But how does one explain that? I'm not buying reincarnation, I'm just talking bout the video I saw.

So I watched all that, and that lead to the story that the Heaven is Real movie is about. I watched a video regarding the little boy and going to Heaven when he was 3, and that lead to me watching two powerful video regarding aithest experiencing a little bit of what Hell is and turning their lives around. The one constant I found in both of the videos I watched was 3 words, "Jesus loves you." Like inspite of all you're doing or what you have done, Jesus loves you. Some people just need to know that because they feel alone. They feel unloved. Thy feel unwanted. You don't hear about the other gods saying they loved their servants. But Jesus loves you. He loves you. One more time for the trinity, He loves you. That's why we can't call the young people out their name. If God loves them, and we serve God, then who are we to call them out their name? or anyone for that matter? The Bible talks about drawing people with love and kindness. Can't win anybody calling folks out their name. That's not spreading love.

I heard a guy asked a question that it's not a matter of God loving us but do we love God enough to turn away from our sins? Some of y'all know what is sin and what isn't? Do you want to turn away from it, or continue there in? Believe me I'm not throwing stones from a glass house here, I'm just asking in general. They say love is a two way street. So wouldn't one to expect one that if some one loves you past you, you would love that someone back, right? I'm sure those who are married reading this love your spouse passed who they are, right? I haven't yet found my one, but I'm sure that I would love her like that. I believe it's written that Jesus is coming back for a bride. To become a bride or groomsman is based on love right? Should be anyway.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
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Praise God for the residue

Isaiah 6:1 NLT It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.

To be in the presence of the Lord is an awe inspiring thing. Some people embrace it while some watch for the entertainment value, and there's some people that don't believe anything is happening either way. But I believe that there is residue from being in the presence of God. It's becoming more of a reality that when your praises is not just for you but for the people that may be around you and for the people connected to you in one way or another.

I was having some issues for a couple of days. Let's just say my stomach was bothering me. Sunday at church the presence of God filled the temple. Young and old crying out. Went home and realized that the issue I had, I no longer had. I believe that was from the residue of the service. This is why it's important to go to the house of the Lord. My pastor quotes this all the time, David said I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord. Those who don't believe in "organized religion" and that being the reason you don't go to church...I heard a minister bring up recently that the Bible says God wants things done decent and in order which is one of my favorite verses. Also it is written, "How good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity."

I'm not trying to force anybody to go to church, but I'm saying if you do find the right service where the spirit is high, expect some residue from being in the midst. I heard somewhere that a lady went to a tent revival to spectate and ended up getting saved when it was all said and done.

It is written to seek first the Kingdom of God AND his righteousness...anybody can seek God, but can you live right? Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and He will supply your needs. Paraphrasing of course. The residue is good, but I don't know about you, I would like to have more than residue. Praise God for the residue, but if you want more than that...you got to do more than go to church you got to be the church.

Mom told me this one time some years back and I'm going to share it with y'all. P.R.O. Pray, Read, Obey. Just came to me so I don't know who it's for may have been just for me. But I'm going to share it anyway.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

THAT'S NONSENSE!!

Matthew 6:5-8, GNT says, “When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites! They love to stand up and pray in the houses of worship and on the street corners, so that everyone will see them. I assure you, they have already been paid in full. But when you pray, go to your room, close the door, and pray to your Father, who is unseen. And your Father, who sees what you do in private, will reward you.  “When you pray, do not use a lot of meaningless words, as the pagans do, who think that their gods will hear them because their prayers are long. Do not be like them. Your Father already knows what you need before you ask him."

This came to me the other night. You know how you go to church and who ever is praying is trying to "usher in" the spirit of God, and all there doing is more or less trying to be seen? At least that's what it looks like to me. If you read the above verses in the KJV it says basically if you pray to be seen, you already got your reward. So the only thing you get out of it is that people saw you do what you did. You just wasted everyone's time. I've always thought that if you have the presence of God in you, then you shouldn't have to pray to be seen. If you're praying to be seen, then you're just telling of your prayer life. If you're praising to be seen, you're just telling on yourself.  What God sees you do in private he will reward you openly. You praise and pray in private, you'll get rewarded openly. I've always been taught you come to church to connect with other believers to praise and pray together not to out prayer or out praise each other, am I right or wrong? I know my mom will let me know, but this is my blog and I can be right or wrong if I wanna. Booyaka.

BS stinks no matter where it's coming from. Google it if you don't know what BS stands for. If you don't know what google is, then I can't help you because its 2014, and that is just sad by this point. Anyway, I'm the type of guy that's allergic to nonsense. If there's one thing I can't stand is when I call someone out on there nonsense and they put nonsense on top of the old nonsense. I smell nonsense from a mile way, and who ever it's coming from, whether it's a saint or sinner, nonsense is still nonsense. I usually keep my opinion to myself when it comes to nonsense but when I call you out on it, don't keep trying to nonsense me. Please. That will tick me off even more. 

How does that flow you ask? I don't know, but let me see what I can do. If you're praying to be seen, you are doing nothing but nonsense in the church. If you're praising to be seen, then what's the purpose? Nonsense. I go back to this verse all the time that goes something like this, "God wants things done decently and in order." If it's not in order, then what is it? Non---you got me. and I pray to God that if there's anything like that in me. If I have the tendency to nonsense anybody or nonsense in the church, please deliver my soul oh God. I ain't trying to be a hypocrite.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Stuff on my mind...

So I've been thinking. About my future. About any particular dreams I may or may not have. What do I want to do in my life? For one, I want to one day be successful enough to help out my mom, dad, and sister because they've done so much for me and are a major part of the reason I'm still here today to type this. Also I want to give back to the church. And get a new snare and cymbals for the drum set. Travel these United States to meet certain people. Some would say travel the world and I'm not about that life. I want to travel to places where I don't need a passport. Feel me?

Something else I've been thinking about. When or if that day comes and I decide to tie the not. Get married if you will. Who would I choose for a best man? I mean the only people I "hang" with is at church and they're old enough to be my biological father (Tracy Morgan voice). Seriously though who would be my "best man?' Shoot scratch that, who would be my bride? I guess I'll cross that bridge when it happens.

I think about these things often. Like to one day again have cash of my own and not depend on anybody but Jesus. I also think of what if one were to ask me if I could change anything about my past would I? If you ask me this now, I'm going to be honest. I would change one simple thing. All of it. Again this is me right now. I would change it all.

To do all this though, traveling and such, it takes a dream. But it also takes action. I hear my mom telling me some time ago to put feet on my prayers. It's gonna take grind and time. But it will happen. As was said in the movie, Angels In The Outfield, It could happen. Just got to make it happen. Take that one step and God will take two as it's said.

There's a song out that says, "Who opens doors that I can not see, Jesus will. Jesus will." So my prayer is, "God lead me to the open door that I can't see." That may not make sense to you but it does to me. So why do I keep typing blogs with no comments on them since February of 2012? Because I like to blog, and if only my mom tells me what's she thinks so be it. It's something I like to do, and who knows, it may lead to something big.

Don't give up on your dreams. Don't give up on your purpose. Chase after them. Trust in the Lord, and He'll will make a way.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

INSPITE OF ALL I'VE DONE...

I'm going to go a different route with this one. I'm going to start off with song lyrics. This is Lookin' Out For Me by Kirk Franklin, one of my all time favorite songs by Kirk.

Remeber when the doctor said
He said he couldn't help you and
Remember when the money was gettin' low
You're hurtin' now your feeling low and just
When you thought the night would never end
The sun came out now you can smile again
Jesus you keep on lookin' out for me

You keep on lookin' out for me [3x]
In spite of all I've done
Jesus you keep on lookin' out for me

 I'm a living witness that in spite of all I've done, Jesus keeps on lookin' out for me. If you know should have been dead and gone, you should have been filing for bankruptcy, you should be in jail...it's not the "universe" that's making this happen. It's the creator of the Universe. The one who reigns over the earth. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Jesus Christ the King.

We live in a generation of people that are scared to preach Jesus. That are scared to preach the gospel. And these are the same people that quote, "I'm not afraid of the darkness whom shall I fear if God before me. What shall we say to these things. I'm not afraid anymore." We talk about it, but now is the time to be about it. Faith without works is dead. That simple.

I said in the last blog that greater is here. We just got to believe and receive it. There's an old song that says, "You just trust and believe/and when you ask you shall receive/whatever you want/God's got it/Whatever you need/He will supply."

And I'm spent.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty

When the enemy comes in like a flood---

Hello Hello once again coming from the Greenwood Public Library. I left my head phones at home so even if it did allow me to listen to music...ah well. Again no music for this one. Let's move.

I'm getting  more and more irritated at the fact that we spend more time bashing and criticizing and not praying. We got to pray for our leaders. I'm talking from our pastors, bosses, all the way up to the President. Bashing them isn't going to change a thing. I heard it said that prayer changes things. Prayer changes things. Let's be about it then. I put up a status on my facebook that we got to be about it. We talk a lot of stuff while at the same time ain't about nothing (double negatives I know, but who's blog is it? I thank you. Plus I was raised in the south, give me a break.) I'm learning more that talk without action is just talk. You know like a presidential debate. All talk and no actions makes a good politician....I believe that's how it goes. But back to the point. I believe the Bible says, Life and Death lies in the power of the tongue. What are we using out power for? Life or death? Recently, not going in to details, I used the power more for death rather then life. My anger really got the best of me. The Bible says be angry and sin not. I got the angry part down, but the sin not part is where--

There's a song that was sung when I was coming up in the church that said, "God's got a blessing for you. God's got a blessing for you. If you want it, reach up and grab it. God's got a blessing for you." Regardless if you know it or not, God is moving. God is blessing right now. All we got to do is live right and believe in what God says. I believe that that miracles signs and wonders are not on the way. They are here. There's a song out that says, "Greater is coming." Greater is here right now. We just got to believe and receive it.

I'm going to share this. On my Tumblr an individual asked me about my beliefs regarding homosexuality. Telling me that it's a fact that it's not a choice. Telling me that it's hateful to be against homosexuality. Basically saying that homosexuality is natural. And here's how I responded:

 "I think that its not hateful being against something that one has to come out and say that you are. I don’t have to come out and say that I am mixed. You can see it. You can see Clinton is white. You can see that Jackie Chan is of Asian decent. let’s get this straight, I do not hate gay people. What they do in the closet does not affect job performance or anything else. Also I am not against love. I believe that a man can love a man. I believe a woman can love a woman. Its the sex that I have issue with. That’s all. Let me precurse all this and say I am a Christian. I believe the Bible and what he says, and the Bible says for God so loved the world. He may not love what the world does but he loves the world. Like a parent. A parent, a true parent, loves his or her child despite of what they do. May disagree with what they do but that should not affect the love for the child. God bless."

Now was there anything disrespectful in that? I tried not to come off as disrespectful, but apparently this individual didn't see it that way, saying that I was "blindly following the Bible." That's when the conversation ended and this individual was blocked. I play and clown around about a lot of things, but one of the major things I don't play with is the Bible and food, but mostly the Bible. I believe homosexuality is a sin just as I believe adultery is a sin. Sin is sin. And if the Bible says its wrong, I'm going to say it's wrong. I'm not going to degrade gay people as I've done in the past cause I don't want to be degraded. But wrong is just wrong.  I've never been one to follow trends or fads. So if everyone says that being gay is natural and there's nothing wrong with it, and I'm standing alone saying it's wrong, then so be it.

I didn't mean to dwell on that, but I heard from  a preacher recently that we as saints have been too silent when it comes to things not of God, and I'm not trying to be silent anymore. I believe it's written that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will lift up a standard...

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty
Instagram.com/big_dusty

I'm LEARNING

Happy Black History month my readers and judgers! Why black folk got the shortest month of the year? I don't know, I'm mixed...

No music today, in the library, and the streaming media is blocked. Straight to it.

I'm learning to think before I speak. I'm not going to say that it's working 100% of the time because I'll still unleash some mess from time to time, but again I say, I'm learning. Gotta take baby steps people that's all I'm saying. There's a little song I learned when I went to this daycare, Sunshine Learning Center, which was a Christian based daycare and they taught us, "Read your Bible, pray everyday and you'll grow, grow, grow." Corny kids tune, but the words are true. Now my knuckle head self as a joke I used to reverse it. Like we did the movements and everything. like when you grow we elevated ourselves and when we shrank, you know we...shrank...get it? So me as a joke, when others grew, I shrank and when they shrank I grew. Look don't judge me on what I did as a child...I've been ignorant a long time folks. Pray my deliverance in the Lord.

Moving on, that's what I've been trying to do lately more. Reading the Bible and praying more. Now when I pray, I don't pray like the old mothers at a convocation. I do as the old hymn says, "Have a little talk with Jesus, tell him all about our troubles." I believe some people get a little fearful when they're asked to pray or asked about their pray life. Cause some "saints" believe that if you don't pray like them, then you ain't praying. If you don't fast like them, you ain't fasting. If you don't praise like them, you ain't--and I say I'm ignorant...You got to live this life. You can't depend on others to live your life for you. The choices You make dictate the life You lead.

Ever had a dream about yourself, and all of the sudden you caught a vision on how you really are and it scares the mess out of you? I mean it's like looking in the mirror for the first time and realizing how dirty you really are. So you immediately jump in the shower. Basically what I'm saying is people in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks. He that is without sin cast the first stone. We as Americans tend to think that we're the end all be all of this globe, when if we really turn the mirror on ourselves and stop judging other countries, we'd be a bit more humble...maybe. Like the winter Olympics going on, right? The olympics going on in Russia and they haven't approved gay marriage, so we as the high and mighty Americans are casting stones at the country for not being like us. You know it's weird as a so called "God fearing" nation, we accept things NOT of God.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty and Instagram.com/big_dusty

GOD, PLEASE REMOVE THE HANDCUFFS FROM OUR CHURCHES

Hello Hello again everyone. Before I get going first me say, in the middle of the month, Happy New Year! Hope things are going well for you so far but if not, still got 11 months to go we can still get-r-done. And now--

Cue Made A Way by Bishop Larry Trotter. It's been a minute since I've blogged, so lets see if I remember how this works. Let's go.

So I've got plenty of stuff I could blog about. Some stuff will stay off the blog site because well, for one, I've gotten chewed out enough for what I post on the internet weather it's on blogs or other social media sites. For two, blogging about certain things won't necessarily change situations, so what's the sense? So besides personal things, of course you got the Phil Robertson thing. Which I will stay away from for the time being because it's not even worth it by this point. Then you got Kanye West who always has something going on in the news. He's beyond hope right now, I mean let's be honest. So I got plenty of things I could blog about.

This is something I've been thinking about today that I think I can get away with. If I can't I'm sure my mom will let me know. A popular song out right now that is probably being sung at every penecostal holiness church around the globe is, Break Every Chain by Tasha Cobbs. Some love it, and some are sick of it. Anyway, when we bring up chains in the church it usually has to do with the chains of the world like bad habits or just sin period. Some of our churches are in handcuffs weather we know it or not. I say that because some of our churches should be packed out every week, but they're not. I'll leave the music departments alone because I know for a fact that would cause trouble. But you got people wanting to be a "mega church" but yet don't want to get out the "country" "store front mentality". You think TD Jakes has the Potter's House going strong with a store front mind set? No! You can't run million dollar equipment on two dollar battery power. If you try that, the battery power will go out quickly. Can't run a 9 volt power microphone on double A batteries. Stop trying to fit double A batteries mindset on something that requires a higher ranking of thinhking. I believe the Bible says something to the fact of, "As a man thinketh, so is he."

So my prayer is that God removes the handcuffs from not only our lives but our churches also. Now when God removes them, don't go back what got the handcuffs on in the first place. That's like getting out of jail then going back to jail for the same stuff that got you in before. A mindset change has to take place at some point. Common sense is not against the law ladies and gents that's all I'm saying.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
@big_dusty on Twitter and Instagram
Facebook.com/bigdusty

COMPLAINING ABOUT WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE...WHAT ABOUT WHAT YOU DO HAVE

For i would say several months or more I was pulling triple duty at church. I was on the Praise and Worship team, I was the sound man, and I was the camera guy. Mind you I was the camera guy when I had a working laptop of my own I could edit the church services on and sell them on DVDs after church. Time went on and the lap top due to probably a virus. So I moved to the desk top and lo and behold that also got a virus and wouldn't turn all the way on. So I haven't had my fair share of "luck" if you will. So with no cpu to edit the dvds on I stopped filming the services which caused a bit of an uproar with certain people when even after I told them what happened wasn't satisfied. Which turned me into a complainer. People would look at me and ask me if i was filming and I'll look at them in a way like, "I've done told you what's up and yet you keep on asking me the same dang thing..." then that leads to insults...moving on. So, in the midst of complaining, I became bitter. I became lazy. I became blind. Why do I say blind? My sister has a lap top where I can edit the DVDs on. Why I never asked her to use it? Because I've used it before but it would build up memory on her laptop and I would become lazy (see I admit my faults), and my sister don't play that. So the services I'd record and save on her lap top wuold become deleted. Can't say I blame her. To be honest I couldn't handle the pressure. I've never been to good with pressure. Especially when it came from people that get on my LAST nerve. Anyway, let me get back on topic. So you don't have the car you want. You don't have the dream car you have, yet you have a car that gets you to where you need to go. You don't have a mansion. You don't have a deluxe department in the sky, yet you have a roof over your head, and a place to sleep in. You're not eating steak and lobster every night, yet you've never gone hungry. I feel we complain so much we not only become blind to the things we don't have, but I'll go as far to say that we become ungrateful. The bible says, in everything give thanks. The song writer put it like this, "Give thanks with a grateful heart/Give thanks to the holy one/Give thanks because of what he has done for us." You don't have what you think you should have, but you are saved. You got God. Stop complaining. There's wealthy people in this world that are heading to hell in a cadilac, and you're heading to heaven in a used punch buggy. A short one this week but I hope you got something out of it. If you like what you read don't be afraid to click that follow button and leave a comment below sharing your thoughts. You don't have to be a member to comment by the way. Thanks for stopping by and... Stay Saved, Daniel Richerson

I DON'T NEED NO MUSIC

I usually don't type blogs without some kind of music playing in my ears, but I'm going to try with this one.

In other countries, people walk for miles to get to a church service. I don't know this personally, but I've heard from gospel artists that have been to other countries. I bring this up because where I live it's getting cold now. Not as cold as other places in America, but cold enough. I'm already hearing excuses about not going to church or coming out to the building where we fellowship because it's too cold. How spoiled are we in this country? They're people all around that wishes the only thing keeping them from going to church was the weather outside. Let the weather drop a little bit that will require you to wear a coat and actually turn on the heat in your car, and you don't want to leave because it's too cold. SMH...all caps so you know it's real. What if God treated us the same way? What if Grace and Mercy did not exist? What if God didn't love us? We sing the song, "We being the sacrifice of Praise, into the house of the Lord." Yet we don't sacrifice praise. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but what I'm am saying is enough with excuses because God has plenty of excuses to not deal with us.

Hebrews 4:13 in the Good News Translation says, "There is nothing that can be hid from God; everything in all creation is exposed and lies open before his eyes. And it is to him that we must all give an account of ourselves." I bring this up because I hear young people blocking they're parents or any other authority figure from their personal social media pages. You can do all the blocking and private pages you want to but you can't block God from anything. God sees all and knows all. Plus the Bible says in Luke 8:17 also in the GNT, "There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed. There is nothing kept secret that will not come to light." So your parents don't see what you're doing on Facebook or Twitter. You can fool parents easily. I do mean easily. Especially the new millennium parents, that's another blog for another day. Now my mom is connected with me through social media. She follows me on Twitter and is friends with me on Facebook. When I post stuff out of line, she doesn't call me out in front of God and everybody. She messages me and tells me her thoughts and most of the time I change the way I say stuff out of respect. I got nothing to hide. I'm friends with my pastor on Facebook. I used to be friends with all the ministers from church but...let's leave that alone. Back to the point I got nothing to hide. Who I am on Facebook is who you will meet in person...or at least I try to be. So keep denying your parents friend request. Keep blocking other authority figures that try to help you. Now I do think that parents shouldn't try to get connected with the kids to spy on them. Got to let kids be kids. When I teach Sunday School or just teach the youth at church in general, it's more of a rap session than anything else. Most of the kids get preached at already by the Pastor and their parents. I like talking to the youth. The little I know about what's going on in the "secular" world I talk to them about. With that being said, I'm the last person in the world from being relevant with what's going on that's "hip."

Like I said I talk to youth I don't judge them or chastise them for their actions. That's not my job. If they befriend me on Facebook, and I see them post filth and foul and filth, etc, I'm not going to rat them out to their parents. That's not how I roll. I prefer giving them the message and let them make the decision to get right. Most of the youth do know better. They just don't do better. Does it have to do with the living environment? I'm willing to say some of it does. At the same time though, they are old enough to know right from wrong, and old enough to decide what to believe in. What I try to do is lead by example. Do I like to laugh? You bet. I like to have fun believe it or not.  I just don't do everything by the doctrine or tradition. By that standpoint, I guess you can call me a rebel. Any other rebels out there? Holla at your boy.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/Big_Dusty

NOT YOUR AVERAGE ANTI HALLOWEEN BLOG

Today being what it is one would think that I would talk about Halloween and all that. I may talk about it a little bit, but that's not the direction I feel like going with this blog. I don't celebrate Halloween, just to put it out there. The reason I was given was, "It's the devil's birthday." I was told that as a little kid, and I remember going to the daycare, Rocking Horse Daycare, and I told everybody why I don't celebrate it. I never really got envious of other kids either. At least I don't remember getting envious. I just remember us putting a sign on the door that says we don't celebrate Halloween please don't knock. Funny story with that though. One year we put a sign up. We went to what the church calls Hallelujah Night. Came back and someone changed the sign to say, "We Celebrate Halloween. Please Knock." Pretty clever.

I asked the kids at church why we don't celebrate Halloween and most of them said, "It's the devil's birthday." Ok let's put this out there. If you study the Word of God, Lucifer was an angel in heaven  before he tried to arise above his position then got sent to hell. One could assume God always had angels, so how could one figure out when the Devil was born? I mean are we going by when he was sent to hell? Or are we going by when he was made in heaven? I mean where are we going with the "devil's birthday?" thing? Now is it the Devil's Day? I give you that, but the birthday thing is too much for me to fathom at this age. Now I've been told the origin of Halloween by my dad plenty of times. Do I remember what he said?

Moving on. Sticking with Halloween subject a little bit. So, Miley Cyrus Halloween costume this year is Lil Kim. Some years ago, I want to say 1999, Lil Kim an outfit on that stole the show. and Miley trying to wear the same outfit is laughable. Lil Kim actually has a chest. Miley has a chest God gave a preteen that hasn't had her first period yet. Lil Kim covered a nipple but you could still see the outer boob. Miley covered the whole boob. I'm so done with Miley. Miley is going through a mid life crisis and she's only 20. People are giving Miley credit for the outfit, which gives you a reason to stay off of drugs kids. Have y'all seen or heard that song Miley did with Wiz Khalifa and Juicy J called 23? And the fans of 106 and Park have the audacity the unmitigated gall to have that video not just on the countdown but number 2 on the coutdown. Biggie and Tu Pac, well Biggie for sure, are turning in their graves with the state of hip-hop right now. If it wasn't for Eminem still being around, and A.S.A.P. Rocky, and Kendrick Lemar hip hop would be dead as a genre which would make COGIC pastors around the world estatic. Now am I'm saying I listen to Eminem, Kendrick Lemar, or A.S.A.P. Rocky? No. I listen to Lecrae, KB, Flame, T-Bone, KJ-52, and cats like that. I'm just saying, Eminem and nem are keeping the essence of Hip-hop alive. Having Miley Cyrus, the girl who tries to pop her back because she has no booty, in a hip hop video is just blasphemous in my opinion.

Didn't know I was going to go there, but I talk to myself a lot and this is what I think about. Ok, I'm done. Have a good one y'all. If you celebrate Halloween, be careful. Check your candy or fruit before you eat because folks are crazy.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

WHAT YOU INHALE, YOU'LL EXHALE

You ever like hear the same message over and over then at one random moment it hits you like a dart? I think I've even blogged about it at one time talking about watch what you eat. What's in you will come out. Or as my mom would say all the time, "You eat fat greasy food, you'll be a fat greasy dude." I heard this all the time but never really had it sunk in before. When old folk talk about be careful what you watch, they mean it. Example, lately I've been watching Paul Mooney videos. Paul Mooney is a all time great comedian that's still working the roads. I believe the man is 80 or close to it. Anyway, Paul is not the cleanest guy in the world. The man wrote for Richard Pryor. The Richard Pryor. So one cannot expect him to work clean, and trust, he doesn't. So it wouldn't be surprising that if a situation got to a certain point, certain words might "slip" out. It's not really a slip though if that's what's you're inhaling. That's like eating nachos and then when you burp you have the taste of nachos and be like, "Where did that come from?" What you put in will come out.

So with all that being said, I got to listening to this song Paradise by Isaac Carree. The lyrics go like this, "Everybody wants to go there, but nobody wants to die.
So if you wanna see Him, you gotta live this life right, yeah.

Nothing's for certain, but this one thing's for sure.
We all gonna leave here, I pray I make it through them doors.

There will be (no more tears and no more pain).
I wanna hear Him (say, " well done," when he calls my name).
Can't wait to get to paradise (paradise).
Can't wait to get to paradise (paradise). Paradise."

I had this song on repeat. It was just sinking and sinking in. Most of us want to go to heaven. Nobody in their right mind wants to go to hell. But to reach a specific destination, you have to take the right directions. Can't go to heaven playing around with certain stuff that I know is unbiblical. Like the job I got terminated from, right? I went in and they trained us to operate under certain rules. I didn't follow the rules. I broke the rules and got punished for it. Was I mad? Yes. But I couldn't really be mad at the company because I did break the rules. They say if you know right you do right. I say if you know right and don't want to do right, it doesn't really matter.

One big pet peeve that I have is old religious folk talking down to young people like they don't know anything, and then wonder why the young people rebel. Got to use common sense. Another pet peeve is when old religious folk that has seen you grow up and at the same time treat you like you're still that teenager. Even though you're grown with a beard. But anyway, I believe young people do know better, they just don't care. Young people are not stupid. When they want to do better or be better, they will be better. Like for me, I didn't want to eat healthy. I thought eating healthy was not that important. Until I went to the hospital for congested heart failure and realized that this ain't a joke. I say keep teaching the young people the right way. The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it." Sometimes it takes something catastrophic for change to happen. 9/11 ring a bell? Before 9/11, unity in this country was not that important. After 9/11, even though it didn't last long, this country was for once United.

So let me say, to bring this all home, that there is a purpose for all that we go through. We can't waste time worrying about stupid people and what they think they know. The Bible says, "Study to show THYself approved." Keep on keeping on. And..

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

CUTTING OFF DEAD BRANCHES

I talked to God before I started posted this blog because I knew that i had to be careful of what I typed. I will say this much how ever. I sorta understand how the Republicans in congress feel. We all know about the government shut down that's going on. Congress didn't like what Obama presented so besides being grown up and having a conversation with Obama on what to do to compromise, they decided to shut down in protest. The reason why I say I understand how Congress feels is because I too understand what it is like to disagree with leadership. Some people in leadership, to be blunt, really suck at leading. I'm not saying that's Obama, I'm just talking general, but even if they are horrible at their post, we got to show them respect. We may not respect the person holding the position, but we got to respect the position.

Now, a couple of days ago I posted a status on my Facebook, that said, "Have to turn some people off…for my own health and peace." In the comment section I was asked how do we do that? How do we cut people off? I said, "You got to choose to. Delete them from from your facebook. Keep the conversations short. Don't give them a thought." To add on to that delete any text conversations. Turn them off from your memory. The questions comes, who was I talking about in that status? or why did I post that status? That I won't get into on this blog, but I will say that I question if some people really care, or are they just nosey? or if they do care, do they care for the right reasons?

Also I will say that when an athlete is out with an injury, people try to rush them back on the court or field. When the athlete comes back too soon they risk permanent injury. Or they do what Derrick Rose did and sit out an entire season to make sure they are ready to come back to play. Now I'm more of a Derrick Rose. Those that know and read the last blog post know that I was in the hospital. And a lot of people know that I sing in the choir and on the P&W team at my church. At a recent choir rehearsal I tried to come back on the choir and realized that I was no where near ready. At that point I realized that I needed to take my time coming back to the choir stand. I'm not going to let anybody rush me back or force me to come back. I don't care who they are.

I'm going to stop right there because if I keep going, I'll start mentioning names, and that's never a good thing. Update after the hospital btw, I'm feeling better day by day. I'm taking my meds like I'm supposed to. and my weight is coming down also. Yet I shall not be rushed. So yes I am cutting people off in my life. Why? Because, one, I'm tired of losing sleep. Two, my blood pressure is already bad enough as it is. Third, I got better things to do then to spend my time staying mad at folks that don't matter. And I'm tired of having no one to confide in. I can count on one hand of people I can actually confide in on this planet. So I'm trimming off dead branches if you will. I am a bit too sensitive at times I admit that, but at the same time some people are just not worth my time or my thoughts. Y'all got people like that in your life also. I say turn them off and get your sleep back. Nobody is worth your peace.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty

THIS BLOG POST SHOULDN'T EVEN EXIST, BUT GOD

I've heard this all my life, "We're overcome by the word of our testimony."

So I went to this funeral. I was sitting all the way in the back because I didn't want to see the body. I'm definitely not about that life. Anyway there I was sitting in the back. Mind y'all I'm not a big crier. But I was getting emotional and shooken up. Why?

Ok for a long time my blood pressure has been a big issue. Only it took me a while to go to the doctor for it. When I finally did, I got medicine for it. I took it like I was supposed to and then I stopped taking it. Why? Good question. To be honest, I probably forgot one day and then the trend the continued. Plus in my own mind I was feeling fine so I figured I don't need it. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was having a lot of issues breathing which caused a long time of sleepless nights. I figured it was one of those, "God is trying to tell me something" type thing so I didn't think to go to the ER or doctor for it. I figured it would blow off eventually. Well it didn't. So one Sunday night it got really bad and I had my little sister take me to the ER. Got to the ER, and not only couldn't I breathe properly, but I was sweating like I stole something. Now I'm a generational sweater anyway, but I've never sweated this bad. So not only couldn't I breathe, but I was sweating like a politician in church.

Again, I shouldn't even be here typing this right now. If my sister wasn't there to take me to the ER, I probably would've been hard-headed. So I was knocking on death's door, but I got another chance. That's why at the funeral, I was overcome with emotion. I got chills. I was scared to be honest. Just to let y'all know I am taking my medicine and I've changed the way I eat. Lifestyle change I wasn't comfortable with at first, but I'm adjusting to it. I still don't trust doctors. Oh let me tell you why. So I was laying on my hospital bed eating my lunch, and this Herman Munster, Google it kids, look a like came in to "check on me." Again I was eating during this. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "You'll be dead by 30." Now I think he was trying to tell me that, "If you don't change your way of living, you'll be dead by 30." But he didn't say that. Again I was eating my lunch. So in my mind I was thinking, "Dude, why don't you just shoot me and end it now?"

I was also told that my heart beat will never get back to where it's supposed to be. See why I don't like the doctors? But I one time read in the Word of God, "My flesh and my heart faileth:  but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." (Psalm 73:26, KJV) Thank you all for the prayers and concern. I will be fine. I will be ok. You know, I've heard all my life, "Doctors say one thing, but God." I never thought I would experience that.

Stay Saved,
Daniel Richerson aka Big Dusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty
Facebook.com/bigdusty

Random venting...ness?

So here's the scoop. I have not been sleeping well at all for the past I say week....maybe a little more than that. I don't know why. I've been going to bed at a decent hour, but for some reason or another I can't fall asleep. Before this thought enters your head let me say that the coffee machine is broke. So if you're even considering that thought, zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket.

Also, it's going on 8 months, not 10 (you know who you are), since I've had a job. It has not been plesant either. It's been frustrating. Sometimes I feel I'm going to break. Honestly I feel useless without money in my pocket. And when I'm supposed to have money in my pocket I get screwed out of it. It's like a down hill roller coaster with no up hill in sight. And the pressure that I and others have put on me is becoming unbearable. Its like when I was working, and I got hungry, I could eat. Grocery shopping without a budget. I wasn't loaded but I was comfortable. This sudden change of circumstances really sucks to be honest with you.

I don't show that I'm grateful for things, but I really am. I'm grateful to have a bed to sleep in and food to eat. I'm thankful for a drivers liscense and a car to drive for the time being. And I'm am searching for a job contrary to what some people may think. I know I have a rep of being lazy. And when I make positive steps, I still get razzed about what I'm not doing. I'm starting to learn and figure out that I can't live to please people. I can't and will not please everyone. I got to leave to please Jesus. If I don't please you, so be it. Just cause I'm not doing things your way doesn't mean I'm wrong.

Things are going to be get better. There are some things that I got to work on personally. Just continue to pray for me.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
@Big_Dusty on Twitter and Instagram

USE WHAT YOU GOT

It's been a long time. Little over a month. With a lap top that doesn't work and a desktop that went out on me, it was hard to post anything, but let me take this time thank you all for sticking around. Thanks for reading my stuff. Got a wrestling blog posted, and got my ipod on shuffle. So with that being said...cue Prodigal Son ~ Tye Tribbett. Before I go into this blog, I've heard Tye Tribbett's new album and I'm going to say it's his best album yet. Just awesome. I also listened Isaac Carree's new album, and I liked it also. I'm an R Kelly fan so that Clean This House remix is the cut as far as I'm concerned. But anyway--let's do this.

You can tell somebody what their doing is wrong. You can even tell them the consequences of the actions, but to be honest, it sometimes is not going to do anything. Some people got to be experienced to finally get it. Like you can tell thief about how wrong stealing is and it'll go in one ear and out the other. But when that jail cell closes, not all the time, but usually the realization kicks in. A prime example is the late great Sammy Davis Jr. Just imagine if he would've left the cigarettes alone. He'd still be alive today and killing it, possibly. But he just couldn't stop smoking even when he told people he stopped, he'd sneak off and get a puff in. Don't wait until it's too late to get the realization. I know I got realizations in my life and thank God I'm still alive to get stuff straight.

Some of the bad habits you can't seem to break, I say if at all possible, change your habits, or seek help. Don't wait until the consequences of that habit start to happen to realize, "Hmm, I my need to stop this." Believe me on that. An old song has become one of my favorites. I encourage anybody going through to YouTube Wave It Away by John P Kee. The song basically says give it to Jesus because he can bare them. Matthew 11:28-30 reads like this, "Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on you, and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit; and you will find rest. For the yoke I will give you is easy, and the load I will put on you is light." Now that was Jesus speaking.

A popular song in the church now is Break Every Chain by Tasha Cobbs. It's an awesome worship song. I'm willing to bet it's a song sung out of key and tune at churches around the world. That's when you know you got a hit folks. Anyway the song says, "There is power in the name of Jesus. To break every chain." We love that song. We "go in" on the song. Yet we don't use the power. An old congregational song says, "There is power. Power. Wonder working power in the blood of the lamb." We don't call on Jesus nor do we plead the blood of Jesus anymore. That may sound old school but the blood still works. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big supporter of new school. But some stuff we shouldn't stop doing as believers. Calling on Jesus and pleading the blood is right up there. We are a generation that loves singing and quoting but doesn't like applying.

We're wondering why chains aren't being broken. We wondering why we're still bound. Seeking God might help. 2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicket ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." #Boom! Let me bring this in the mix though. Acts 16:25-26 "And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were open, and every one's bands were loosed." Is your praise being heard? Maybe that's part of the problem.

Now the seed has been planted or watered. I pray that God provides the sunlight to provide the growth. I learned that I can't force anyone to do anything. I learned that what goes on in your personal life is just that. Personal. It's none of my business. All I'm supposed to do is speak truth. and the Bible says in John that the truth shall make you free. The decision is yours. Believe me that this blog is just for me as it is hopefully for some of you reading this.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
@Big_Dusty on Twitter and Instagram
BigDusty on Facebook
 

MY TEST WILL BECOME MY TESIMONY

Cue Psalm 150 by Vashawn Mitchell. There was a time where I was asked to pick songs I would like to lead at church. Too bad this song wasn’t out at that time. I would definitely take a shot at it.


My life has some very dark times that I haven’t really blogged, vlogged, or podcasted about. I don’t talk about them, and I try not to think about them because I got enough current problems to be thinking about the past. So I was going back and forth with an old friend of mine from high school on Instagram, and I mentioned that at one time in my life I was homeless. It’s not something I promote and brag about. Anyway, I got to thinking about it. In high school, I never had a thought about the possibility of living in a Kia Sedona. In High School, things weren’t perfect but they weren’t bad either. After High School, tried to college thing, but with the major I chose, I ended up didn’t liking it so I left with what I should’ve done is choose a different major and take the basic classes seriously, which I didn’t. I took nothing seriously at that time. At that point I didn’t take anything seriously, until I had no other choice but to. Even after I left college, I didn’t take it seriously. Probably thought that it was no big deal. Mom was working in the Midwest. She came up with the idea of me going up there with her to get a job and stop being lazy. I even got my hair cut for the move thinking it was going to be a “new start” not realizing that a new start would require some work on my part. I figured it was all going to happen miraculously. 6 months later, mom sent me back to South Carolina. Back in SC, nothing changed. Same bad habits. Same attitude. Nothing changed. Until—

It was definitely one of those things where you think, “This will never happen to me!” until it does. It slowed down my life to the point where that really right now I’m still trying to get it moving again. Not to say that it was all bad. I did have times where I smiled. In the Midwest I met people I’ll never forget, no matter how hard I try (jokes). I did some YouTube videos that made people laugh. I wrote some blogs that people were touched by. I met some people through this “beast” known as the internet that I’m still friends with. I would love to meet them in person one day. Not like in a MTV Catfish type of way, but just to meet them face to face to see if they’d like the real me because they seem to like or tolerate the internet persona. Also another good thing. I finally got my license November 2011. So it’s not all bad, but far from perfect. I got a job working that lasted over a year which was a positive. Getting canned wasn’t part of the plan but that old mindset that’s haunted me all my life reared its ugly head.

My test will become my testimony. Even when I doubt that, which I do, but just by what I was told at certain times of my life that’s stuck with me by not only my parents, but preachers as well, my life as it is can’t be it. Have I failed and fell? More than I care to admit. But that’s part of the pressing the Bible talks about. The old song says, “Nobody told me the road would be easy, but I don’t believe He brought me this far to leave me.” So what I got to do is keep doing what I can, doing moving, and keep pressing forward. And after I’ve done all I can—

Sorry mom.

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

Facebook.com/bigdusty

Twitter.com/big_dusty

Instagram.com/big_dusty

Whose report do you believe?

Cue Awesome by Pastor Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago. A song that is probably being sung at every church around the world. I know the last couple of blogs have been venting. I probably should apologize---


So as I was studying in the Word of God, a little song came to me that I haven’t heard in years. It says, “Whose report do you believe? We shall believe the report of the Lord.” Think about it. How many times has the doctor said there’s no way and God made a way? How many times have folks been told that they’re nothing and God made something out of nothing? Whose report do you believe?

So people talk about you, so you’re called ugly, so you’re called worthless. Whose report do you believe? I believe the bible says, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. More than a conquer. Chosen generation. Royal priesthood. So you’re sick. You need surgery. You need a transplant. You’re told that only have a certain amount of time to live. Whose report do you believe? His report says I am healed/His report says I am filled/ His report says I am free/His report says victory.

The same God that did it before, He can do it again. I’ve been out of work since January 28. This Thursday (June 26), I got an interview for a potential job. 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 a mind to go on.

So this may be for somebody or may be just for me, whose report do you believe?

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

http://www.facebook.com/bigdusty

http://www.twitter.com/big_dusty

HAVE SOME THINGS TO DO BUT HAD TO GET THIS OFF MY CHEST

Cue Clean This House remix feat R-Kelly by Isaac Carree. I cannot wait to get this song on June 25^th. I’m counting down the days. So I know the last post was heavy. But it was real. And it was definitely what I was feeling at the time. So with that being said…

James 4:17 says “So then, those who do not do the good they know they should do are guilty of sin.” We’ve all heard that excuse, “God knows my heart.” Cop out. You know better. Saying you can’t break that nasty habit. You can’t stop this or that. I would stop this but blah blah blah. I would stop but I can’t help it. Yes you can. We all got our struggles, trust I knows I do. But when we know to better and we don’t because it’s a habit that we choose not to break, come on now. It can be done. Matthew 6:22-23 says, 22 “The eyes are like a lamp for the body. If your eyes are sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23but if your eyes are no good, your body will be in darkness. So if the light in you is darkness, how terribly dark it will be!” Donald Lawrence said it like this, “Guard your hearing/Guard your seeing/Guard your speaking/Guard your heart.” If you stop feeding what you’re struggling with, it will die. It’s as simple as the life of a plant. If you stop watering the roots of a plant, that plant will die. Stop cutting leafs and branches of the habit and kill it at the root. You may have to stop watching certain things that you love. Starving something is not going to be easy. It’s going to put up a fight. But if you’re in a true relationship with Jesus the Christ, then he’ll fight that battle for you. You have to let go and let God.

Now I was going to end the blog there and just post it. You know Stay Saved, and all that. But fortunately I got to thinking and I got some things I want to get off my chest, again. Why don’t I talk to somebody, because I can’t get out what I want to say through talking. This is unfortunate, but your reputation has affect on how you get treated. If you have a rep of being lazy, even if you’re trying to do better and actually doing something…most likely it won’t matter. People will continue to question what you do from day to day if you do anything at all. It’s fair to a point. If you have a reputation of being a child molester, I wouldn’t hire you at a daycare. Or if you’re in this situation where you got fired for violating company policy and you haven’t a hard time finding a new job. It’s understandable why you’re not getting call backs from applications you put in. It sucks, but life is life. I just wish that when you see people trying to change that people will accept it. If they are willing to change, who are you to continue to hold their previous decisions over people’s heads? I got to watch my words here because what I really want to say could get me razzed 4 life.

Or how about getting accused of something you’re apparently not doing because of your reputation? I’m sorry but that’s a crotch chop waiting to happen from me. You know what they say in church, “If I can’t say a word, I’ll just wave my hand.” Well ever felt like, “If I can’t say a word, I’ll just wave the finger.” Not saying to do that, but you definitely feel like doing it sometimes. Especially when you get called lazy for doing something that somebody else is getting praised for.

Now I know I got things to do but if I didn’t get this out, I would’ve been pissed off all day.  My name is Daniel Richerson and I have been a world class screw up. I admit to all my faults. That’s one thing that old job cannot accuse me of. I came clean about everything. But when I try, or when I am redeeming myself, but still get treated like I’m the same screw up…nigg—you ain’t perfect either. The same way you get mad when people call you out, hello? So please believe, I’m doing better and I’m going to be better. I realize my faults. I’m not naïve despite what you may think about me. Instead of worrying about me being the screw up you know me to be, how about try praying for me and ask me how I’m doing? Don’t ask me how I’m doing with the mindset of the screw up, but hopefully with the mindset of really wanting to know how I’m doing? How bout that? It may be too heavy but at this point? My level of giving a—is welp—

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson
Facebook.com/bigdusty
Twitter.com/big_dusty

TRYING TO SMILE BUT CANT

A song I got on repeat right now on my ipod is I Smile by Kirk Franklin. Why? Because I’m trying to. I’m trying to smile. It’s not easy right now for me to smile. I’m trying to keep the faith. I’m trying to have faith. I believe that the same God that gave blessed me with a job in 2011 will bless me with one again, but it’s been over 4 months since I’ve been working. I’m looking but I keep getting nos. I haven’t found that yes yet. I posted a podcast yesterday trying to motivate myself to chase my dreams yet 24 hours later, I find it hard to put a smile on my face. (I’ll post the link to the podcast at the end of this blog) This coming from a guy that when I was a kid I would go up to anybody that had a camera and say, “cheese” I’m that guy. This coming from a guy that when I smile, people actually compliment it. This coming from a guy that wants to be an entertainer one day. That wants to be that guy with a tux on making people laugh. Here I am in this apartment trying to find a smile through all this crap I put myself through.


I’m not going to sit here and blame the devil for my troubles. He gets too much credit for stuff already. This is all from bad decisions I made. This is why I’m finding it hard to smile. When I do smile people don’t believe it’s genuine. I get this, “What are you smiling for?” or “What’s wrong with you?” Like I’m not capable of smiling! Getting judged for trying to be positive. What goes around comes back around. I think that this may be that kind of scenario for me.

I should be in a good mood though despite of my situation. A young buck I know just graduated from high school. I still got a place to sleep. I still got food to eat. Yet due to bad decisions and bad management of certain things, I’m sitting here with my bottom lip on the floor.

I get jealous of my little sister. No lie. She’s working. She got her license before I did. She went to college and graduated. I went to college and left. She’s always smiling and has this amazing faith. I’m always frowning and don’t have enough faith to make up the size of a mustard seed. She would get folks calling her, to check on her. My phone would stay silent. She loves people. I turn them away. She’s the daughter the calls mom every day. She has a good relationship with mom and dad. I don’t. I turn away when they try to help. Last time I talked to my mom on the phone was May 22. My 26th birthday. She’s done all these things for me, and I’m that ungrateful child. My sister on the other hand she’s grateful for everything. I take things for granted. My sister calls me the best big brother. I see myself as the big brother that would bully her when we were kids.

Why am I like this? I don’t know dude. I never thought as a kid that my life would be like this. Forgive me for this y’all. I know this is not the most positive blog I’ve ever wrote but like I told y’all before, I don’t talk to nobody. So I get my feelings out this way. I know I’ll make it through this period of my life. Like the old song says, “I know somehow, I know someway, we’re gonna make it.” It’s just tough man.

The problem with writing a blog like this is that I don’t know how to end it. I guess I’ll end this with what my pastor told me some time ago in his office. He quoted the 24th Psalm “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”

Stay Saved,

Daniel Richerson

http://www.facebook.com/bigdusty
http://www.twitter.com/big_dusty
http://eastsideafro.podomatic.com/entry/2013-06-03T23_45_01-07_00 (the podcast)