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Which Way Does Your Life Point?

Sheeri Mitchell — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:48:10 +0000

John 1:19-27 (New Living Translation)

“This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants[a] from Jerusalem to ask John, ‘Who are you?’ He came right out and said, ‘I am not the Messiah.’

‘Well then, who are you?’they asked. “Are you Elijah?”

‘No,’ he replied.

‘Are you the Prophet we are expecting?’

‘No.’

‘Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?’

John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:

‘I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!”

Then the Pharisees who had been sent asked him, ‘If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?’

John told them, ‘I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize. Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.’

By the time John the Baptist (as we now know him) arrived on the stage of world history in Israel, the Messiah has been long awaited for centuries. No doubt news about “The King” had been even more widely rumored since the wise men’s visit to Herod three decades prior (Matthew 2:1-15) and Herod’s subsequent attempt at genocide, when he ordered the murder of all male babies ages two and under. (Matthew 2:16-23)

The Jews had been anticipating the arrival of the Christ. So it’s natural that when John appeared baptizing in the desert, the religious leaders sent a delegation to question him.

Notice John’s answer above. He is as certain of who he is as he is of who isn’t. John knows that he is not the Messiah. He knows that he is not Elijah. He boldly tells the delegates so. He defines himself by the words of Isaiah. John knows his place in relation to Christ. He is not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandal. His job is to point the way to Christ.

That is my job here at Elev8 and anywhere else the Lord sees fit to place me. I point people to Christ. That is the job of all believers – to point others to Christ. There is a strong temptation, especially in ministry, to want to fix people, to want to fix their situations, to impose upon them your opinions, your viewpoints, instead of showing them scripture. No matter how well intentioned you are or I am, we endanger a soul when we take on the role of Christ in their lives, if for no other reason than because we will fail them. At some point we will lie, or say something hurtful or mean. We will act selfishly. We will blow it. We will, in short, behave like the fallen human beings that we are. And what of their faith then? True, we can apologize, but the damage is already done.

I know what it is like to see someone you love deeply facing spiritual death. You reach out to offer the Source of all hope, but they reject him. You ache for them. You want them to know Christ the way you do, because if they just knew him…

But it comes down to this: If God respects people’s choices, then so must you , even if their choices lead to their destruction. By all means love the people in your life as best you can God’s way – not yours. Pray fervently for them. Be available. But respect their choices. Years ago, I hurt a young woman I had been mentoring by brutally expressing my very negative opinion about an endeavor she was undertaking. When I learned that I had wounded her, I apologized, but it was too late. She wanted nothing to do with me. I had mentored her as a teenager, but at this point she was grown and married. I had to respect her decisions, her pursuit of her endeavor, which was to join a cult, and her request that I back out of her life. I told her that I would always be present if she ever wanted anything to do with me again. I have never heard from her. I doubt I ever will.

Had I not been trying to “fix” this young woman, and instead lovingly disagreeing with her yet respecting her choice, had I been pointing her to scripture instead of to the gospel of Sheeri, I might still have a relationship with her today.

You and I are a sign posts. Everything about us should point people to the only One who can save, the only One who can heal, the only One who knows everything.

Likewise, Jesus should be the singular object of our focus. If we focus on him instead of on those who serve him, we’ll be able to forgive them when they blow it. If we accept the people in our lives for the gifts they are to the body instead of worshipping them in God’s place, we may be saddened by the news of the next pastor caught in a scandal, or the next elder who embezzles money from church coffers, or the next faithful husband who cheats on his wife, or murders his family, but we won’t turn away from God.

As followers of Christ, our hearts should break over the things that break God’s heart. We should be so moved by those in need that we share our resources with them. We should be so burdened for the lost that we pray continuously.

People fail all the time and sometimes very publicly. You and I are no different. That is the main reason why we must say as John did, “I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming.’”

Let’s use our lives to point people to Christ by living upright, virtuous, obnoxiously joyful lives in plain sight. Some will reject him. But many won’t. Ask yourself if there are any areas in your life or the life of others where you are attempting to take on the role of Christ. If the Holy Spirit reveals these areas to you, repent and start again. And the next time you’re tempted to hand out unsolicited advice, or your opinion in place of scripture, flip off a bad driver in traffic (Oh, I know you don’t do that – you only know someone who does), “go off” on your neighbor, children, co-worker, friend, spouse…Think to yourself “Sign post,” and remember John’s humble response to the question “Then who are you?.”

Be blessed, Family!

Christianity Is Not A “White Man’s” Religion

Travon Potts — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:00:07 +0000

Well, before we even get into this topic of ethnicity and African presence in the bible, we have to deal with certain regions in the bible. Once we do that, we then have to look at the climates of those regions. After looking at those two things we must then look at the people in the bible. Lastly we will look at Jesus himself. Why does this matter? It matters because there is still a detachment from Christianity that some African Americans feel because most of the art and movies about biblical characters look more Caucasian than African. This is not a new topic for me. Starting as a teenager and then moving into my young adult days I became radical thinker. If you’ve read my blogs you may have noticed that not much has changed. As a Christian I was very intrigued by other religious beliefs. In the late ’80s and early ’90s I learned a lot about my own beliefs by having very spirited yet respectful discussions with young men who were a part of the Nation of Islam. The Nation of Islam is thought by some to be a hate group and by others to be an Islamic sect that strongly emphasizes African American self-esteem. Either way the guys I talked to studied the Bible a lot and challenged me to become a better Bible student. One thing that the guys from the Nation of Islam challenged me on is the topic of Christianity being a “White Man’s” religion. This was something that stuck with me. They would show me pictures of a blonde haired, blue eyed Jesus. They pointed out how Cecil B. Demille avoided having any of the biblical characters in his movies showing any hint of African lineage. If that were not enough, they then pounded me with Elisabeth Taylor playing Cleopatra. This forced me to study. I was shocked to find what I found. I came to learn that they were right about some of the distortions of historical fact. They were correct in pointing out that a lot of the biblical imagery that is portrayed in art and movies was and still is at times very Eurocentric. In the first chapter of Genesis God created everything in 6 days and then God rested on Saturday. Things get very sticky for some when we get into the 2^nd chapter. Most Sunday school lessons and Biblical commentaries omit any discussion that involves verses 10 through 14 of the 2^nd chapter. In those verses the writer of Genesis tries to give the readers the location of Eden and it’s surrounding territories. In verses 11 through 13, the writer gives a lot of detail but verse 14 is almost an afterthought. The writer describes the flow of an unnamed river that flows out into four rivers. Where this river is placed is important because it flows out to four critical locations. The main regions were named after the people who first settled those regions according to scripture. The first place mentioned is the land of Havilah. I will get back to Noah and the flood in a moment but if you look up the land of Havilah you will find that it is the name of the land now known as Arabia. Havilah is also the name of one of Noah’s great grandson. The second place mentioned is the land of Cush which the Greeks called Ethiopia. Cush is one of Noah’s grandsons. The land of Cush is on the African continent. The writer went into a lot of detail to talk about what is found in Cush and Havilah. What is interesting is the fact that the Nile flows northward, meaning, from south to north and at one point flowed to all of the regions mentioned by the writer of Genesis. Many scholars and theologians fail to mention or write about the similarities of the Nile and the unnamed river in the 2^nd chapter of Genesis. Hmm, I wonder why? In the 14^th verse Tigris and Euphrates are mentioned as after thoughts with not much detail. If we look at the way the passage says the river flowed into four heads, in order to flow to Tigris, Euphrates, Ethiopia and Arabia this river would have to flow north and not south. This puts Eden somewhere in the continent of Africa. With this being the case it is highly unlikely that Adam and Eve would be, by American standards, white or Caucasian. What is also mentioned in Genesis 3^:8are the words “…the cool of the day”(KJV). There is no “cool of the day” without the warm or even hot of the day. Hot and even warm means sun. To my knowledge there were no buildings in Eden, so that meant that Adam and Eve were outside all day. If you are out in the sun all day every day, it is impossible to have a light completion. One of Adam and Eve’s descendants was Noah. I know you have heard about the flood but some taught the falsehood that Noah’s 3 sons represented the three hues of man (Mongoloid, Caucasoid and Negroid). According to false teaching, a White man named Noah had a Black son named Ham, an Asian son named Japheth and a White son named Shem. It’s obvious that if Adam and Eve were dark skinned people from the continent of Africa then their descendants would be dark skinned as well. By American standards, Noah and his family including his 3 sons were all of African descent. In Genesis 10:6 we find that one of Ham’s descendants is Cush. Remember the writer of Genesis called a region Cush that was near Eden. The Greeks named the people of this region Ethiopians which means burnt faced people. The Greeks named where these people lived Ethiopia, because it was the land of the burnt faced people. In other words, these people were dark skinned Negroid or black people. In Genesis 10:7 Cush had a son named Havilah. Havilah, as a reminder, settled in Arabia. Scientists would even be hard pressed to prove that life began in Europe. What some would deem Caucasian people didn’t existed at this point in Genesis if you use Genesis as a historical guide to the beginnings of humanity. Once we get to the 11^th chapter, we reach the story of the tower of Babel. A brief synopsis goes like this; everybody on earth was in one place and decided to build a tower as high as they possibly could. God sees what they are doing and knows that it is possible as long as they were unified. In order to stop this building project God came down and caused everyone to speak different languages. At this point those who spoke Spanish found others who spoke Spanish and migrated to Spain. The same happened with English speaking people and so on and so forth. If you think about it, those who went to colder climates adapted to those climates. Over time, after many descendants, it’s safe to say they probably began to look different from the darker skinned people who remained in the hotter climates. Let’s move to the story of who is believed to be the writer of Genesis, Moses. I’m sure you know or have read about Moses being put in a basket by his Sister to float down a river to a place where Pharaoh’s daughter was bathing in Egypt. Moses was taken in by Pharaoh’s daughter and raised in the house of Pharaoh as her child. There is no way Moses could have looked like Charlton Heston and flown under the radar in the house of Pharaoh. Moses had to at least resemble the Egyptians to be treated as one of their own. Keep in mind the Egyptians you see today are not the Egyptians Moses saw. In 353 BC, Egypt fell to the Persians. This fall meant that those peoples intermingled. Prior to that Egyptians looked like Ethiopians. All of them were burnt faced people, according to the Greeks. Keep in mind that this was not a derogatory term by the Greeks but merely the best description they had to describe dark skinned people. With that said the Hebrew people including Moses had to look like the Cushites or Ethiopians or as the Greeks described burnt faced people. Hold on to your hat for this one, according to American standards, Abraham and his descendants, including Moses, at the very least, looked like what Americans would describe as Negroid or black. I could go into all of the times Ethiopia and Egypt are mentioned in the Bible but to some that would seem heavy-handed. Keep in mind I am only expounding on what the Bible clearly lays out about the appearance of certain people in scripture. There is so much biblical history about Africa that it would take much longer to go into all of the facts but I will point out something else that is quite interesting. In Matthew 2:13 an angel of God tells Joseph to take his family to Egypt. The angel gave these instruction to Jesus’ earthly father because Herod was about to kill all of the boys 2 years and younger around Bethlehem during that time. We’ve already noted that Egypt was a region of dark-skinned, African people. Would God have His angel to tell Joseph to hide himself, his wife and Jesus in a region where they could be easily spotted? Can you imagine Joseph, Mary and Jesus being white by American standards trying to move about in the midst of a bunch of dark-skinned people, African people? To put it bluntly Herod would have found Jesus and killed him. Going to Egypt was smart because they could blend in. Wait a minute!!! That means, by American standards, Jesus had to be black. How do I come to this conclusion? First, he had to look Egyptian, second, he was a descendant of Abraham and third, he was in a sun drenched region that is still very close to Africa. One last thing, check out Acts 21:37-39. A Roman commander thought Paul was an Egyptian. Even the Apostle Paul looked like what Americans would call a black maan. According to Ephesians 1:7 “He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.” Is this passage saying that the the whole body of Christ is black according to America’s “one-drop rule”? Ok, I have now scared a lot of people so let me say here that in the Bible skin color didn’t matter. Unfortunately in a lot of art and literature skin color mattered too much. Sadly in most American churches Africa is conveniently forgotten about as it relates to biblical history. Christianity is for all people of all colors and nationalities. I just wish that the African presence in scripture was not extracted through ignorance or blatant racism. With that said, the Church should be more like the church was in Antioch. In Acts 13:1 we see that many nationalities were in this church’s congregation. This blog should help dispel the myth that Christianity is a “White Man’s” religion. Other Related Articles: President Barack Obama Gets Daily Prayers On Blackberry We All Bow Down To Something Barack Obama Invokes Jesus More Than George W. Bush Red, Right & Blue: How Faith And Politics Are Changing

10 Ways To Know Your God Is Too Small

Sheeri Mitchell — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:23:06 +0000

Your God is too small if:

Your biggest and most frequent requests made to him are items for personal comfort (bigger house, bigger car,more clothes).

Matthew 6:33 (New Living Translation)

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Your thought life is consumed by what Pastor Donald Bell of Covenant Blessing in Gardena, CA refers to as the “Three P’s” namely Power, Position, and Possessions

Matthew 6:24 (New International Version)

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

You over-react to an inconvenience as well as a crisis.

John 16:33 (New International Version)

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

You believe the bible applies to “spiritual” matters, but not to real life issues, like pressures on your job, dysfunctions in your marriage, the way you parent your children, or spend your free time.

2 Timothy 3:16 (New International Version)

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

You are afraid and therefore refuse to tithe.

Malachi 3:10 (New Living Translation)

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!

You seldom/never apologize or seldom/never forgive (even yourself).

James 5:16 (New International Version)

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

You never attempt anything at which you might fail.

Mark 10:27 (New International Version)

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

You’ve turned away from your BIG CRAZY IMPOSSIBLE Holy- Spirit-inspired dream, because other people convinced you it was big, crazy, and impossible.

Luke 1:37 (New International Version)

For nothing is impossible with God.”

You love yourself first and best.

John 12:24-25 (The Message)

“Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

You have lost hope.

Ephesians 1:18 (New International Version)

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Our God truly is an awesome God, who does wonders everyday. If you don’t know him personally, have put something else in his place, or have limited him to what you can experience with your senses, then you are missing out on your life’s purpose. Please explore the scriptures above on your own time. Meditate on them. Allow God’s word to saturate your mind, and experience what it is like to be made new. Talk to him. Ask questions of people you respect who have a vital, thriving relationship with God. Then share what you learn with others in the form of encouragement.

If you allow him, God can change your life, your circumstances, and most importantly, your heart. Be blessed, Family! Happy Friday!

Should Bruthas Hike?

Bryan Loritts — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:05:06 +0000

Call it my nature or ethnicity (maybe a combination of both), but I’m not much into the outdoors. I think as a black man I’m genetically predisposed to twitch when I hear words like hiking, rock climbing or repelling. So when I stepped off the plane in Missoula, Montana some weeks ago you can understand why I kept asking myself what in the world am I doing here? Especially when you consider that Montana is not a state that’s real popular with the brutha’s. Maybe this solidifies my point about not being genetically predisposed…

About an hour after our plane landed I found myself in the middle of a twelve thousand acre ranch filled with mountains, ponds, streams, elk, deer and mountain lions! For the next week this was to be my home. And each morning my wife and I would peer out the living room window and soak in the incredible sights that the ranch had to offer. I remember being surprised when I wondered if life could get any better than this. A few days later as my trip was winding down I had an answer to that question.

Our time in Montana ended standing a top one of the mountains on the ranch. Looking out from the observation tower my hosts told me that I could see several states (which I had to take their word for since I never did that well in geography class). Through binoculars I saw more wildlife, the cabin where we were staying and a lot more of God’s creation. From where I was standing it became incredibly clear that those things that once seemed to tower over me looked awfully small! For those few hours that I spent on top of that mountain I gained a radically different perspective on the ranch, and really life in general.

Author Chuck Swindoll tells us that the problem with life is that it’s so daily. Back home in Memphis I too often find myself getting lost in the trees of dailyness. There’s a church to lead, sermons to write, staff to manage, blackberry’s to check, kids to pick up from school, a marriage to nurture and bills to pay. Sometimes the fog of life can blur your vision and diminish your perspective. There’s too many days where I feel as if I’m in the middle of a wilderness with no compass to guide me. Ever been there?

Standing on top of that mountain in Montana created in me a drive to get to higher ground. To find a place in my life where I can get my bearings, look out and see where I’m headed. No, I’m not talking about a literal mountain- Memphis doesn’t have those. Instead, the need to pull back, get away and look out. After all, Jesus did. When you read the biographies on his life you see him constantly getting away so that he could meet with God and gain some perspective. You have to believe that his pulling away gave him the strength he needed to sleep in the middle of storms, deal with the annoying religious leaders of his day, and handle the brutality of the cross. Because Jesus was always getting to higher ground this outfitted him with what he needed to navigate the dailyness of life. I figure if Jesus needed to get away, so do I.

Since Memphis doesn’t have mountains, what does my higher ground look like? Well it has different forms. On Monday’s, my day off, my higher ground is a golf course around the corner from my house. I’ll typically walk 18 holes by myself, praying, thinking, disconnecting as I walk. I turn my phone off, and just unplug. Once a month I go to a farmhouse not too far from where I live that a friend of mine owns. I don’t take my computer, again no phone. Just a bible and a notepad. This is my higher ground, where I can disconnect, and listen to God.

Where’s your higher ground? Where do you go to breathe, and see the forest from the trees? The older I get the more I realize that this isn’t an option, it’s a necessity.

Bishop T.D. Jakes Video: How You Can Win

Sheeri Mitchell — Tue, 26 May 2009 09:00:13 +0000

Bishop T.D. Jakes reminds believers that the best way to win a round against the enemy is to “stay out of the ring.” The enemy of our souls knows our weaknesses and how to exploit them. The best way to defeat him, is to refuse to engage him.

African-American Christian Bar Mitzvah

Sheeri Mitchell — Tue, 12 May 2009 05:25:38 +0000

As my son approaches the age of 12, I recognize certain changes that signal the onset of puberty. His voice, which has always been surprisingly deep for a little guy, is growing deeper still. “Peach fuzz” has begun to sprout on his upper lip. He has developed an “interest” – his word choice, not mine, in girls. His shoulders are broadening – a good thing for a running back. Having worked closely with youth and young adults from all walks of life, my husband and I realized early on that keeping a child ignorant was arguably the worst way to protect him from life’s dangers. We decided that we would be the kind of parents who honored our children’s curiosity. Our stance is, if a child is old enough to ask the question, then (s)he is old enough for the age-appropriate truth. This philosophy was tested early on, when after securing my promise that I would never lie to him, my then nearly-3-year-old son demanded to know if Santa Claus was real. Caught off guard, and painfully aware that he was studying my reaction, I told him the truth. “No, Buddy (my nickname for him), Santa is not real,” I conceded. Then quickly remembered to add, “But Jesus is!” This answer seemed to satisfy him. As he bounced away repeating to himself, something along the lines of, “I thought so!” I knew then that ours was an uneven match – and not in my favor. But I felt as if I had passed a very important test. I had been honest with my son and encouraged him at the same time.

As more questions have come over the years, my husband and I have been careful to separate Truth from opinion. Since we are a family of Christ-followers, that means Truth for us begins and end with God’s Word, both written and Incarnate. We have endeavored to “train up [our] child[ren] in the way [they] should go.” To that end, we study the bible individually and as a family. We pray together as well as on our own. We attend weekly church services, serve in some form of ministry, and attempt to walk out our faith in daily life both in public and in private. But as our oldest reaches puberty, I am reminded that there will come a time when he must do these things for himself, apart from his parents. He will be charged to take up the mantle of his faith and engage his God in a real, personal, intimate relationship that is uniquely his own. He will wrestle with scripture, attempt to apply what he understands, and repent when he blows it. In short, he will become a man.

In Jewish tradition, at the onset of puberty, children are honored in a public ceremony known as a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. I had always assumed that the words referred only to the ceremony. But I have recently learned that Bar Mitzvah in Hebrew means “son of the law.” Bat Mitzvah means “daughter of the law.” The instruction, the ceremony, and the celebration combine to provide a powerful imparting of identity to the child, and mark his/her formal entrance into adulthood. I want that for each one of my children. The closest Christians come to this rite of passage is the Catholic sacrament of confirmation. Although I was confirmed in 8th grade, I am no longer a practicing Catholic. Furthermore, confirmation usually involves several candidates instead of a single individual.

That is why my husband and I decided to research Christian Bar Mitzvahs. The first thing we learned was that the Christian version of the ceremony is called Bar/Bat Barakah, which translates into “son/daughter of the blessing.” This makes sense because in Christ, we are no longer under the law, but under grace. Overall, we were pleasantly surprised by the amount of information that exists. It seems other parents also recognize the benefits of a ceremonial blessing for their children. My husband and I will take classes and read materials recommended by Family Foundations International out of Colorado, to better prepare ourselves and our son for his big day. Our son will then undergo preparation through studying and discussing scripture and a few selected texts in private sessions with his father, for a period of 12 – 18 months. I had hoped to participate in this part, but after reading Craig Hill’s guide to a Christian Bar Mitzvah entitled Bar Barakah, I better understand and agree with Mr. Hill’s explanation of God’s design for fathers to impart identity to, and to bless their sons and daughters.

This preparation will be followed by a church ceremony, presided over by our pastor, during which other men will speak into our son’s life, and welcome him into adulthood. I am anticipating that the most significant part of the ceremony will be when my husband speaks a public blessing over our son and affirms him as a man. Thinking about it now, makes me teary-eyed. A big, fun party, akin to something like a wedding reception will follow, where family and friends will have the opportunity to further bless (albeit less formally) and congratulate our son (and by extension, his parents) while we all celebrate by sharing great food, much fun, and lots of dancing.

In a society where fathers are often regarded as little more than knuckle-dragging sperm donors, unfit and ill-equipped to parent their children, or lead their families (and therefore disposable); and young men, left to their own devices to define manhood, engage in acts of violence and/or sexual promiscuity, I am grateful to learn that God has provided a proper and holy means by which to welcome young men into adulthood. While my husband and I are excited and a bit sad to see our oldest get closer to the day when he will strike out on his own, we are convinced that the blessing inherent within the Bar Barakah will go a long way in building a solid platform for a successful launch of a noble, young man into his adult life.

Follow Sheeri on Twitter! Or Visit her on Black Planet.

Daily Promise

Elev8 — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:18:40 +0000

1 Corinthians 1:30

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:

Reflection

God is the one who chose us from the foundation of the world. He chose us as the foolish things of the world so that, in Christ, His wisdom would be declared. Christ has become our divine wisdom, which is our righteousness, holiness, and our redemption. Though we might be of little value in the world’s eyes, we are of the vastest worth in God’s eyes-for it was Christ Himself who gave His life to redeem us.

Courtesy of www.BlueLetterBible.org