Hello Family,

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard some rude comment about my bald head from one of my three children. I love them but they are crazy and just because I’m a little thin on the top does not mean they need to make insulting statements all the time.

I think it all started some years ago when my now 19 year old daughter was having a sleep over for her birthday. All of the girls were in the basement yelling and screaming and making a lot of noise like little girls do and as I went downstairs with more snacks, someone made a comment about a clown. In excitement my daughter looked at me and asked if I was getting a clown for the party. I told her no and that’s when it got down right disrespectful.

I remember it like it was yesterday. One of my daughter’s friends looked at me and said, “Mr. Rodney, you can be the clown.” And then she started to chant, “Bal-dy the Clown, Bal-dy the Clown, Bal-dy the Clown,…” and before you knew it there was a chorus of these annoying little girls chiming in and calling me outside of my name.

I walked upstairs and I contemplated calling their parents and telling them to come get their daughters from my front yard (because that is where I was about to put them) but I decided to let it go and be the bigger man and let the party continue as planned.

For those who know me know that I wasn’t really insulted and I actually thought it was funny. They were good kids and just having some fun at my expense.

Now I may not have considered them to be disrespectful but there are a lot of kids who are. They don’t have an ounce of respect for their elders or anyone else for that matter.

As a kid my friends and I did some things that I know my parents would not approve of but we were respectful when we were around our elders. We changed our behavior, we watched what we said and we acting like we had some common sense when we were in the presence of an adult. A lot of kids these days aren’t like that. They will talk back to AND cuss out an adult in a heartbeat.

The bible makes it very clear why and how youth should respect their elders. First of all it is right and it leads to long life. They are to set an example and stand up and honor them. Also respecting elders could save their lives. I truly believe our society is in a mess partly because of the way youth treat their elders. They have lost all sense of what is right and wrong.

Now for me personally, I had to share this scripture with my 19 year old daughter a couple of days ago when she made a disparaging remark about my bald head and when she read it, she was amazed. I told her to be careful of her remarks because they could get her in some serious trouble.

2 Kings 2:23-24 says Then he went up from there to Bethel; and as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him, and said to him, “Go up, you baldhead! Go up, you baldhead!” So he turned around and looked at them, and pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord. And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Now that is what you call a punishment. My daughter will think twice before she disses my dome anytime soon.

Be Encouraged and Have a Wonderful Weekend!

P.S. Please share with this with your Facebook friends or anyone who just needs a good laugh.

Hello Family,

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a permanent attitude.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I read this statement by Dr. King in a book recently and it is very profound and really explains and defines the true essence of the word forgiveness. To most people to forgive is something that’s done in the moment when in reality it is ongoing.

We can’t forgive someone and the next time they mess up we throw it back in their face. We can’t keep a record of everyone’s wrongdoings in anticipation of them making the same mistake. We should ALWAYS have a permanent attitude of forgiveness and remember to let stuff go.

Now I have a question for you. I know you’ve heard the statement to forgive and forget but do people really forget? I personally don’t think so and that’s why forgiveness is ongoing. When we are hurt by someone, that sticks with us. It is imbedded in our memory especially if it was a traumatic situation.

Now since we can’t psychologically remove it from out memory, we probably need to redefine what it means to forget. To forget means that we won’t bring up another person’s mistakes and throw it back in their face when the opportunity comes. We will let the past stay in the past.

Ephesians 4:31-32 says Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

The word is very clear that ALL bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking with all malice be put away from us. We should not harbor bad feelings towards anyone who wrongs us. Everything bad that they have done should not be carried around with us stinking up our lives. We need to let it go!

And once we let it go we should be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving. Not only should we let the funky stuff go we should be compassionate, loving and gentle to those whom we should forgive. We should love them.

Now if you let someone borrow your car and they get drunk and crash it, I don’t expect you to give them the keys to your new car the next time they need transportation. You may not forget what happened but you can forgive them and love them and pray that they get themselves together and stop drinking and that they purchase their own car. I’m just saying.

Anyway, forgive everyone just as God in Christ forgave us. Lord knows we need it because forgiveness is for us and not for the other person!

Be Encouraged and Forgive Everyone This Weekend!

P.S. Is there someone you need to forgive today? Leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Hello Family,

As with any holiday season a lot of people have been traveling to visit family members and close friends. Some have been traveling by plane, train and bus but some packed up the automobile and hit the highways.

Most people know where they were headed because it’s familiar territory but even in some cases a few folks had their global positioning system (GPS) in place to guide them in the right direction.

I don’t have a GPS but I think most people use them sparingly unless they regularly drive to a lot of unfamiliar places. I do think they’re good to have because who knows when you’re going to get yourself off track and need to be redirected.

For those who have never been in a car with a GPS, they give out visual and verbal instructions to help you reach your destination. It tells you how far you have to go until your next turn and when you get close, it tells you to turn left or right. It will even tell you when you’re off course and the GPS will recalculate your directions automatically for you.

How many times have you gotten off track in your life and got yourself in a jam? You strayed from the course and found yourself doing something that was destroying you.

Proverbs 16:17 says The highway of the upright is to depart from evil; he who keeps his way preserves his soul.

As children of God we are required to walk on a straight and narrow path. Our highway of life is not broad and all over the place. It is focused and deliberate and when we stay on our path it is easy to depart from evil.

In order for us to reach our destination we need to stay on course. We need to use the Holy Spirit as our Gospel GPS and let Him guide us in the proper direction and our decision making.

Now sometimes in life we get sidetracked and don’t stay on course and when that happens we get in trouble. We invite evil into our lives by traveling on unadvised roads. We hit road blocks, we run into detours and sometimes the road runs out on us and we fall hard.

But just like a normal GPS, our Gospel GPS will get us back on track when we stray.

Who or what is guiding you in the decisions you make? Is it your Gospel GPS? If not I guarantee you are way off track and headed for trouble.

Be Encouraged and Expect Great Things for 2012!

P.S. Please share with others so that they may start their New Year off in the right direction.

Hello Family,

Mankind has once again shown how foolish we can be. I had something else in mind for today but this story of foolishness, idolatry, priorities, ignorance, violence and lust drew me in and I had to voice my opinion.

Just in case you didn’t know, today is a big day in the world of Nike and Michael Jordan. They have a shoe out today for sale that has captured a lot of people’s attention. Here are just a few of today’s headlines…

-Mob presses against gate at Finish Line to Air Jordan XI shoes in Portage mall

-Houstonians line up early to snag Air Jordans

  Houstonians have been lining up for days… 

-Georgia police: 4 arrested in mad dash for Air Jordans

  Officers said they had to break a car window to get two toddlers out after a woman went in after the shoes

-Fair Oaks Mall Calls Cops to Handle Air Jordan Fans

 -Pandemonium Breaks Out at Stonecrest Mall in Lithonia Over Limited Edition Michael Jordan Sneakers

-Greenville Shoppers Camp Out For New Jordan Shoes

-Crowds Pack Stores For Air Jordan Sneakers

-New Air Jordans Draw Crowds

WHAT IS GOING ON?

OneGeorgialady left her two toddler children in the car to get in line for some sneakers. Am I the only one who finds this crazy? What are we talking about here

?

I really thought the pandemonium sneaker phase was over but  it’s not.

The Air Jordan Retro 11 shoes cost $180. Notice I said “retro” shoe because this is not a new shoe. This shoe came out in the 90’s and Nike is reselling them again on a limited basis.

Why do we have such a strong desire to get something that will be old in three weeks? As a society how did we get so messed up and our priorities out of line when it comes to something that is useless and carries no true value?

In all of my life I can’t ever recall when there was such a rush or anticipation for something meaningful and worthwhile. I don’t ever remember a buzz around town about something that was so valuable that people stood in line overnight to get it. This is sad people, really sad because people aren’t running to Jesus like they are running for these shoes.

Somebody please tell me what’s going on?

I don’t have just one scripture to reflect on for today but four because this story has so much going on.

Proverbs 1:22 (NIV) says How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?

Exodus 20:3 says You shall have no other gods before Me.

Matthew 6:33 says But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Ephesians 4:17-19 (ESV) says This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.

Be Encouraged and Have a Jesus is the Reason for the Season Weekend!

Hello Family,

For generations and generations, parents have been heard on numerous occasions telling their children to shut their mouths. It’s like a family tradition in some households. Not only does the parent tell the kid to shut their mouth but you’ll hear the grandparents do it too.

Now I know it sounds harsh but there are some kids who really don’t know when to close their trap. Some kids talk so much that they drive their parents crazy and force them to speak foreign words. Some kids are very disrespectful in their speech and infuriate their guardians and force them to shout at the top of their lungs.

Some parents take it a step further and inform the child that if they don’t shut their mouth, bodily harm will be inflicted upon them. Or maybe the parent will straight out say I’ll kill you if you don’t shut up.

Regardless of the situation, a mouthy child can put himself in some severe danger.

The same goes for adults. Some adults have no idea of when they should talk or when they should be quiet. I think they believe because “they’re grown” they can say any old thing out of their mouth regardless of who it offends. But just like a child, a loud mouth can cause you severe danger.

Proverbs 13:3 says He who guards his mouth preserves his life, be he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

I don’t know about you but I want to do everything possible to live a long life and if I have to bite my tongue every now and then, I’ll do it.

I don’t want to be in the category of one whose mouth writes a check that his behind can’t cash. I don’t want my harsh words spoken to someone to be my last words. I can’t let my lips cause any destruction in my life.

How many times have you decided to give someone a piece of your mind and it turned out bad? How many times have you decided to tell someone about themselves and it went all wrong? How many times have you made an effort to be totally honest with a person without any regard for their feelings and it didn’t end the way you thought? How many times have you ran your mouth continuously and got your butt kicked?

When I do speak I want to practice speaking words of love, support, motivation, enthusiasm and triumph. I want my words to be encouraging and full of life and that’s why I do what I do on this blog.

Running your mouth can get you in a lot of trouble. The bible states that it can cause you destruction but you don’t have to live like that. Through Christ you have the power to speak life into your situation as well as others.

So the next time you feel like giving someone a piece of your teeny weeny mind, remember your big mouth could cause you some unnecessary destruction.

Be Encouraged and Have a Blessed Day!

P.S. Share, share, share with your friends. Don’t keep your mouth closed on this one.