Now...Be Nice

As if the pull of sin isn't strong enough, you wouldn't think that Christians are the ones escorting people to Hell would you?  Yet daily I read something that reeks of condemnation and no fragrant trace of love.  From demanding that true Christians only can go to church on Saturday to claiming only 144,000 people can get to Heaven; their literal translations have Believers confused and non-Believers uninterested.  In contradiction of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20), they abolish spreading the true Gospel...as they leave out the key element of its' existence...Grace.  And what's seldom understood is that their approach is as sinful in nature as the very people they claim to be ministering to.

Selling Donations

The year: 32 A.D.

You and your two brothers, who are farmers in an area just southwest of Jerusalem, overhear some rumblings that the latest religious craze is coming.  He's supposed to be at the temple, but He may stop by a couple of people's houses as His custom.  You three, who are also avid students of the Hebrew scriptures, decide you can afford to leave the farm under the care of your servants and see what this Jesus is all about.  People are saying He's claiming to be the Son of God; so you gotta see for yourself.  You guys arrive in town just in time.  A herdsman you know from your same area has a cousin in Jerusalem where Jesus is staying; and he said Jesus is going to start teaching in a couple hours.  However, before you can get your donkey ready to move out, the herdsman tells you, "you gotta buy a ticket, though."

Good Money

Here's something you won't hear a lot of Generation Xers admit: hip-hop and rap music encouraged many people to admonish (and in some instances covet) poverty.  While the world has probably enjoyed a good rags to riches story since the beginning of economics, hip-hop culture has always given more credence to the artist who's struggled financially just before or while making his or her first major product.  Music critics perceive the artist is hungrier for success.  Suburban kids emulate the speech and the dress associated with the rappers [alleged] struggle.  But when the artist "makes it", when he's [allegedly] achieved the financial goals that could equip him or her to care for responsibilities that were neglected in the past, that artist soon is deemed less valid in his art than the new poor kid....probably because it is assumed, sometimes through the artists' deliberate portrayal, that the once starving rapper is now a money-greedy pig.

The Ratchet Years

Raise your hand if you know a 40+ year-old aspiring pornogra...uh...urban model.  You and I probably know about 20-30 each, with maybe one or two of those who are honest enough to declare that tag for themselves, and another few more that are...well...you.  Via their pics and the captions, the love they have for themselves is so strong, so real, that they force their children to prepare for real life 'yo mamma' jokes.  They're so secure in their call center jobs that they don't bat an ill-advised fake eyelash when taking a quick bathroom pic...on company time...while wearing their badge.  They spend hundreds of dollars on perverts with expensive cameras and Photoshop.  They're all about the dollar, all about respect, and please...hold the judgement.  They are the shining glory of the ratchet years.

Narrow Road Ahead

Even though I wasn't Spirit-filled in '99, I still claimed to love me some Jesus.  So when Ma$e left Bad Boy Records to work in the field of saving souls for Christ, I was pretty excited and pleasantly shocked.  It's not everyday a platinum selling average MC with steroid-strong production and marketing teams drops it all for the Gospel.  But Mr. Betha did...until the bills pilled up and the creditors came calling.  Then it was a verse here, a verse there.  A sexually explicit lyric here, an N-word there.  And before the collection plate came around, Ma$e was back in the studio.