Last night, I had the honor of speaking at my church home Shiloh Apostolic Church for evening service on Brotherhood Sunday. I didn’t get to record the audio or video, but I felt like it’d be cool to post a portion of the message and what I wrote in preparing for the message. I hope you enjoy it or find something you can use from it. As I’ve said before, I might be a rapper, but I’m more than just that.  So after the break, you’ll find the text transcript of my message entitled “Do You Believe” as well as the song where I got the inspiration partly from. PEACE!

Do You Believe?

In the past, id lived a life of sin. Like so many, I followed the things the world presented to me as if they were my purpose and my point of being. I’d lost sight of living right. I mean living right as in doing what’s right. At a young age, we’re all taught what is right and wrong. We know that stealing is wrong. We know that hurting other people is wrong. We learn that cheating is wrong. Somewhere along the way, I just started ignoring all those things. Or maybe, I just flipped everything around.

I was actively doing what was wrong. I was stealing. I was hurting others, fighting, embarrassing others. I was cheating in every sense a person could think of. I had found ways to do wrong and feel like it was the right thing to do. In no uncertain terms, I was the heathen that the Bible sternly warns us about.

Now, that is about as close to giving the Devil any glory that I will get. And for the duration, know that whatever power the enemy THOUGHT he had…the power of my God is infinitely greater. DO YOU BELIEVE?

In Ezekiel, God presents the fact that the people will be removed from the sin and iniquity that has consumed their being. As he says “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.” Someone might say that sounds like baptism. Yes that’s what it is. And God says “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” And I distinctly remember the writer in Hebrews warning the church not to harden their hearts as in the day of provocation. Finally God says unto them “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.” And I’m reminded of what Paul wrote to the Ephesians saying “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Now my question is to you, Do YOU BELIEVE?

The power of God is undefined, infinite, without measure, without match. We serve an awesome God. What kind of power could take that which is ruined, destroyed, filthy, unclean, sinful, unrighteous and make something of majesty, of righteousness and clean and glorified existence?

“And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced, and are inhabited.”

Many of us have found ourselves to be the desolate and ruined cities. We had allowed ourselves to become the waste, the unusable, the trash to be thrown out on Mondays and Thursdays. BUT GOD. Could take that which is called waste, desolate, unclean and make it a sight to behold. IN HIS Glory. No man, by his own power, No person by his own words, No child by his own thought, could make the worthless into valuable. To some that might be confusing, but to answer, I ask the question, Do You Believe?

By faith in Him and through Him, can we begin to approach righteousness. By BELIEVING in his Word, can we begin to grow stronger and closer to righteousness. I don’t know about you but if I BELIEVE in something that I have faith in, my works show themselves to be true to that faith and that belief. So I ask you, DO YOU BELIEVE?

James said “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” So if we believe and we have faith we must do as we have been shown to do by the Word of God. These blessings are not given to us just because we thought we needed it, or because my clothes are nice or my car is clean or my wife is pretty. It is through being obedient to the Word, submitting ourselves to the Word of God and diligently seeking His approval and acceptance that we are blessed. Do You Believe?

And not only has he brought us out from where we once wallowed, destined for damnation. Well I don’t know about anyone else, but he brought me from a long way. From where I should have been dead more than once, where I should no longer be breathing, no longer free, no longer happy, no longer able to love. From a slave to the world, an instrument of unrighteousness, to a servant of the Lord, an instrument of righteousness.  Who else could bring you out from amongst the heathens and darkness, and have you shine brightly upon those very same people, to show them the light. He said “Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the LORD build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the LORD have spoken it, and I will do it.” Do You Believe?

I know this is a hiphop site. But its my site. And part of me is the stuff i’m into. Well as you can see on some of my pictures, I’m a heavy guy. Too heavy for my liking. So, recently I embarked on an operation to lose a good amount of weight. I called it Operation Lumberjack. This post won’t get too detailed. But this week, I’ve dropped 4.4 pounds. I didn’t exercise much this week because I’m trying to rest a very painful shoulder injury. I started to alter my nutrition, eating more vegetables, less meat, no soda, and eating at specific intervals to speed up my metabolism. Each of my true meals has been about 15oz of chicken and vegetables. Anyway, its not how you start…its how you finish.

Clarity of Vision

God in His wisdom anticipated that we would fumble on this idea about whether or not His Word would be misunderstood, misinterpreted and misapplied, and addressed this very issue through the lips (and pen) of His servant Moses to His children -

“For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

God’s Word was never intended to be esoteric, dark, enigmatic, cryptic, abstruse, obscure, ambiguous, occluded, enshrouded, inscrutable, or vague. Rather, it is a perfect, sure, right, pure, clean and true light, illuminating the character and plan of God -

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:7-9) “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Psalm 119:105,130)

Paul asserts to the church in Corinth that his letters have been straight-forward, and there is nothing written between the lines and nothing we can’t understand -

“For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and acknowledge and I hope you will fully acknowledge–just as you did partially acknowledge us, that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.” (2 Corinthians 1:13-14)

Paul also exhorts and encourages the church in Philippi regarding the clarity of God’s message -

“All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:15-16)

Paul also tells Timothy (who had understood Scripture from childhood) that the Word of God is profitable. How is it to be profitable if it is not understood? Furthermore, its purpose is that the man of God may be competent. He does not say that only the competent man of God will be equipped. No, he indicates that the Word itself has the power for teaching, reproving, correcting and training -

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:14-17)

The writer of Hebrews reminds us that God’s Word is not some lifeless document that needs some kind of special insight to comprehend it, but that it is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Peter echoes these thoughts on the sufficiency and perspicuity of Scripture -

“His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” (2 Peter 1:3-4) “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

You might be wondering why this is in the “x” directory? Or you might not have noticed… or worse you may not have cared. Well this is the TENTH iteration of BLAZEROCK.COM since i registered the site in 2003 (yikes). And also since i’m a lover of all things Mac – i figured the X would be fresh. It doesn’t hurt that X is just an ill letter and I tend to use it as often as i can.

Instead of pretending to have 100s of posts here already, I figured it best to start with a clean slate, fresh and new. Feel free to browse around the new digs and make yourself at home. I hope you’re going to be coming back pretty often. I’ll be putting up new music and updates on a regular basis including music, sports and my own life, sports and topics. It’ll be fun.

While you’re here though, add me to your social networks of choice, they are listed over on the side. Welcome to BLAZEROCK.COM.