Sunday, December 6, 2009

Precious II

Today I was driving and reflecting on the movie precious and I got a very interesting thought. Precious went through a whole lot. She was obese. She was physically abused. She was emotionally abused. She was sexually abused by her father. She was illiterate. she live in a raggedy house in a raggdy neighborhood. And, in the end, she found out she had HIV. However, despite all the bad things that happened to her, I noticed that her name never changed; she was still called Precious. I hope this encourages someone today. That no matter what you experience in life, you will alway be precious:)

Peace!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

If Tyler did it, so can you

I don't know how many of you have heard Tyler Perry's story but he has come a long way. He grew up in a home with an father who was verbally and physically abusive. As a result, he tried to kill himself. He even dropped out of high school at age six teen. Furthermore, Perry's plays about Madea failed numerous time. Nevertheless, he continued to endure and he is now one of the most successful African American writers and producers that ever lived. I recently read something that said Perry made $75 million dollars, which made him close to being one of the top five highest paid men in Holywood.
I wrote this to encourage others to never give up on your dreams. It does not matter how your life started out, you can still achieve your dreams. It does not matter what oppositions you are currently facing, you can still achieve your dreams. Not only can you achieve them, but you can do exceedingly, abundantly, above all you can ever imagine. How? I wholeheartedly agree with Perry...only with the assistance of God. If God did it for Perry, he will do it for you and me. Remember, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Peace!

Why Did I Get Married

I've heard numerous people say that "Why Did I Get Married" is the best movie Perry has every made. The short synopsis of the movie is that several married couples gathered for a weekend trip to search their soul and discuss why they decided to marry their spouses. Though most of the marriages were good, numerous "bad" things happened over time that made them ponder if they made they right decision; if they needed to stay with their spouses.
As I think about the fact that those couples raised that question in the movie, I believe God has asked himself that question billions of time. The NT Testament speaks about how God is married to the church and that we are his bride. I'm sure if any of us were to take a short evaluation of some of the things we've done just today, we would have to agree we haven't been the best partner to God. But we are not the first ones to disappoint God. The Israelites in the Old Testament did the same. In an effort explain how God feels when we do "bad" things, God used the prophet Hosea to tell the story about his cheating wife. At the end of the day, despite all the cheating and illegitimate kids she had, Hosea took his wife back because he loved her and, most importantly, because he made a covenant to remain in relationship in sickness and health, good or bad, until death do us apart.. The same is true for us. Regardless of how much wrong we do, God still loves us and he honors his covenant.

Peace!

Tyler Perry, God, and Jesus

A few years ago I wrote a sermon for my youth group in which I used Tyler Perry and his numerous roles to explain God and his numerous roles. Though I know this example falls apart on so many levels, my youth still found it helpful. First, Tyler Perry conceives all of his plays and movies in his mind. He then turns around and writes the script, from beginning to end, for what he conceived in his mind. Perry then uses all of his resources to make what he initially saw in his mind come to life. What's most interesting is that though Perry is the creator, write, and producer, he is also the leading character, Madea, in most of his work. Is it me or does this help us understand God a little better? God conceived the world and everything in it in his mind. God (author and finisher of our faith) wrote the script for what he created. God then uses all of his resources to ensure what he conceived and wrote comes to pass. Finally, Jesus, God reincarnated, will forever be the leading character because he died for all of our sins. Hey, you may not like this comparison, but it worked for my kids:)

Peace!

Meet the Browns

I think the Brown family is one of the most dysfunctional family I've ever seen. Everybody in the family has problems. I mean I can dedicate numerous blogs to the multiple issues with Mr. Brown. Nevertheless, I didn't write the blog to pick on the Browns, rather, I wrote thhis blog because I wanted to note that all families are dysfunctional in some way or another. Just in case you think your family has issues, consider all of the dysfunctional things prominent families in the Bible did. Abraham's wife, Sarah, gave him permission to marry her servant, Hagar, and then she turned around and tripped out on Hagar by ultimately having her thrown out the house. Lot offered his daughters to strangers in an effort to show his visitors hospitality. Jacob's brothers sold him into slavery because they were jealous. Moses's sister, Miriam, dogged out his black wife behind his back. David's son dethroned his father and made him flee for his life in the wilderness. In short, our families are not the only dysfunctional families God has dealt with. The good news is that though all of these families were dysfunctional, every last one of them were still blessed and highly favored by God. All I'm trying to say is that God is powerful enough and loving enough to bless us despite our dysfunction.

Peace!

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Laugh to Keep from Crying

Tyler Perry allegedly has a play called 'Laugh to Keep from Crying" that is scheduled to be released early 2010. Though I do not know what the play will be about, the title, nevertheless, gives me insight into a biblical text. In Genesis 18 we learn about Sarah, Abraham's wife. There we see that angels come to Abraham and they ask him about his wife Sarah. They also inform Abraham that in one year his wife will have a child. After overhearing this conversation, Sarah laughed to herself and then she noted how old she and Abraham were--she was close to eighty and Abe was close to 100. I believe Sarah laughed that day because of two reasons. First, she laughed because she knew it was biologically impossible for a woman her age to have a child. Second, she laughed because the notion of her having a child had been a painful topic for her for many years. In that day, women who could not bear children were viewed as less than. Furthermore, because every man wanted a son--heir to his possessions--they also dealt with the pressure of knowing their husband was disappoint about their inability to have children. So, when Sarah laughed, she actually laughed to keep from crying. Her laugh didn't reflect happiness, it was deceptive symbol of her saddness. The reality is many of us do the same sometimes, we laugh to keep from crying. We have cried over somethings so long until our tear ducts are dry; it's not even possible to cry anymore, so we laugh. Well, the good news in the text is that God shows us that he will always have the last laugh. Despite her history, God made good on his word and Sarah gave birth to a bouncing baby boy. My point in this blog is to encourage everyone to never reach a point in which you stop believing the impossible cannot be done. Just as it happened in Sarah's life, I believe it can happen in yours.

Peace!

Madea Goes to Jail

"Madea Goes to Jail" is one of the funniest Tyler Perry plays I've ever seen. The most hilarious part of the movie to me is at the beginning when Madea does numerous extreme crimes such as pick up a car with a fork lift and try to fight the police. Though Madea knew she was wrong, she acted on impulse and ultimately landed herself in jail.
As I think about Madea's actions I cannot help but acknowledge that bad decisions always have consequences. The consequences of Madea's bad decisions landed her in jail.
A biblical character whose life parallels this instance in Madea's life is Jonah. God told Jonah to go to a certain place to spread the Word. However, he made the bad decision to board a ship and get far, far, far away from dodge. Jonah's disobedience--bad decision--ultimately landed him in the belly of the whale, which I view as a type of jail.
The reality is many of us are in some type of "jail" situation today because of bad decisions we may have made in the past. As we move forward, I want to encourage everyone to always remember to stop and think before you act. Taking a few seconds or minutes to think before we act could mean ensuring we are able to enjoy the future freedom God intends for all of us.

Peace!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

$1 Million Dollar Donation

A lot of people are celebrating because Perry's recent donation to the NAACP. True, donors have contributed to the NAACP for many years, but Tyler Perry is celebrated because his donation is the largest single donation the organization has ever received.
Some may wonder why I chose to write this particular blog because it is a little different than the norm. I chose to write this blog because I think Perry's donation illustrates his commitment to Christ. I note this because I recently had a conversation with someone who said she would be surprised if Tyler Perry entered heaven because his movies and plays are just sinful. Yes, I laughed.
Tyler has noted in the past that he like to give back to the community because he is appreciative of how God has given him so much. As I reflect on the fact that he likes to give back to the community or those less fortunate, I cannot help but think of Jesus' comments in Matthew 25:35-36 where he states, "for i was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in; I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me." At the end of the day, Perry's generous donation will advance a lot of people. Without a doubt, God smiles whenever we step outside of our self zones and attempt to make other people's lives better. Will Perry's donation get him into heaven? No. But I do think his donation to the poor reflects what's in his heart, which is what Jesus is most concerned about.

Peace!

Precious

I went to see the movie Precious the other day and it almost had me in tears. I kept asking myself, "Can anything else go wrong in that poor girl's life?" I mean she was abused by her mother, she was raped by her father, she was a single mother to two kids, she was around sixteen years old and was still in the eighth grade, and, to top it all off, she found out at the end of the movie that her father gave her HIV. Wow! Tough time!
Many of us who experience such hardships would begin to feel depressed and would probably want to check ourselves out of life (suicide). If Precious committed suicide most of us would be sad, but we would probably agree we can understand why. However, regardless of what happens in our life, we should always remember that our life still has significant value.
A text that comes to my mind about our value is Psalm 139:14 where the psalmist says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works and my soul knows it well." As I consider this text, I can think of three reasons as to why we should always recognize that we have value.
First, we are valuable because God made us. The psalmist notes that he is special simply because he was created by God. Regardless of if his parents say he was a mistake, that does not negate his value because his existence was planned by God. A few years ago I went to Paris, France and had the opportunity to see the renowned Mona Lisa. Before I could enter the art gallery I was instructed on what I could and could not do once I entered. When I finally entered the gallery, I noted several police officers in the room, the painting had a barricade around it, and the painting was behind several inches of thick glass. After that experience I realized that if Michael Angelo can create a painting that receives so much respect, then surely anything created by the one who created Michael Angelo deserves nothing less. Since God mad you, you are valuable.
Second, we are valuable because all of creation demonstrates God's perspective of us. When God created Adam and Even, immediately after, he told Adam and Eve that everything belongs to them. I'd like to think of it as God giving us a special gift. When I was in high school I used to be very shy and I couldn't talk to girls. There was this one girl who I really liked, but I couldn't muster the words to tell her my feelings. Well, on Valenties, in an effort to express my love, I purchased her several gifts and I had her best friends to place them in her locker. When she opened the locker and saw the gifts, though I couldn't tell her how I felt, the gifts spoke for me. The same is true for God's gifts to us. The next time we feel down we should just look at the sensational sunset and realize that's God's way of saying we're valuable. When we have low self esteem we should just look at the marvelous moonlight or riveting roses and recognize that God thinks we're very special.
Finally, we are valuable because of what's inside of us. The psalmist said he is fearfully and wonderfully made and that his SOUL knows it well. Note, our soul houses our purpose and destiny. In other words, the psalmist is special because of what's inside of him. I once heard a story about a father who purchased all of his college daughter's books for her Spring semester. This was a Christmas gift. In an effort t make the boring gift look better, he went took them to gift shop and had them specially wrapped. When he gave her her gift on Christman, she instantly commented on how beautiful the outside looked. However, she then proceeded to unwrap the gift. Though the outside looked good, she unwrapped went beyond the outer wrapping because she knew that the most important gift was on the inside. What would change her life and the world wasn't the stuff on the outside, it was the stuff on the inside.
At the end of the day, regardless of everything that Precious went through, her name was still Precious. The same is true for all of us. Despite our trials and tribulations, our value never changes.

What's Done in the Dark

What’s Done in the Dark” is a play that first opened in September 2006. Most of it is about questionable activities that occur in the dark. One character, Brenda had a son who sold drugs, in the dark. A drug deal goes bad one day and Calvin gets shot. What was done in the dark, comes to light.Another character, Kerry, dated one of the doctors for years, in the dark. Kerry later discovers that the doctor has been married to another woman for years and his wife is pregnant. What was done in the dark, come to light. There was also a married couple in the play, the Lovetts, who discover they both have an STD. One of them had been cheating, in the dark. The wife blames the husband, but in the end we discover the wife was the one cheating. What was done in the dark, comes to light.
What’s done in the dark refers to the stuff we do when no one is watching. The stuff we hope our family, friends, and coworkers will never discover about us. It is the stuff that we know we shouldn’t be doing, but we do it anyway. What’s done in the dark is the stuff that if people found out they would say, "OMG! I never would have guessed in a million years that you—deacon, brother, minister, evangelist, missionary, pastor, sister so and so—would do such a thing. I expected so much more from you." In short, what's done in the dark refers to the sins we commit.
Interestingly, King David in II Samuel chapters 11 & 12 had a major "what's done in the dark comes to light moment" when he 1) slept with another man's wife 2) tried to manipulate the husband into sleeping with his wife to make it seem like the baby is his and 3) had the man killed because his plan failed. The rest of David's story teaches us three things about sin.
First, sin breeds other sins. David started out by looking at the woman. After looking for a while he began to covet (strongly desire) her. Coveting led him to sleep with her and commit adultery. Adultery led to a child and to cover up the child in told multiple lies. Because the lies didnt work, he ended up murdering the husband. Notice, it all began with one act, looking. Looking led to coveting and the rest is like a domino affect. We must be careful not allow ourselves to intentionally consider committing the smallest sins (though God doesn't rank them, you know what I mean:) because they usually serve as gateways to larger ones.
Second, sin always has consequences. Because David had the husband killed, one consequence is that he displeased God. A second consequence is that the child he conceived with Bathsheba died. Third, his punishment for committing the sins was that his own children would turn against him. Those few moments of lust resulted in years of heartache and pain. Benjamin Franklin once said, "Sin doesn't hurt because it is forbidden, it is forbidden because it hurts." At the end of the day, God doesn't want us to commit sin because he understands the pain it will cause us and those around us.
Finally, confession causes our sins to be forgiven. When David was confronted about his sins, his response was, "I have sinned against the Lord" (12:13). Immediately after his confession, the prophet tells him that his sins have been forgiven or taken away. David coveted his neighbors wife, but his sin was forgiven. David slept with another man's wife, but his sin was forgiven. David had a man killed, but his sins were forgiven. All I'm trying to say is that no matter how bad you think your sins are, they are never too bad for God to forgive. When we ask for forgiveness, God is faithful and just to forgive us. When you ask for forgiveness know that God's forgiveness means that God has taken them away. Since God has taken them away you should not live the rest of your life with the guilt of what you've done. If God can let it go, so should you.

Peace!