You won't like me when I'm angry

What do you do when you get angry?

At work, school, home or in relationships it is easy to become angry.

Sometimes folks can get on your last nerve. Everyone gets angry: preachers, teachers, leaders, spouses, boyfriends, girlfriends, siblings; everyone you know has been angry at one time or another.

Some have been angry with each other for years.

Charles Swindol in his book "Three steps forward and two steps back" says there are phases of anger that begin with irritation. The next are: wrath, fury, and rage.

When we get to rage we become the Incredible Hulk. That's when we tear things up, hit, shoot and kill. The Hulk always says, "Don't make me angry, you won't like me when I'm angry."

I get angry sometimes. I can feel myself moving up the scale: irritation, wrath...then I have to do something stop before I become the Hulk. (I have been the Hulk a few times, what about you?)

No one likes that side of us; we are out of control when we get to the point of rage. There is nothing wrong with anger. Even Jesus became angry and ran the money changers out of the temple. The trick is to keep it under control.

First, we should never let anyone know the buttons they can push to send us into a rage. They'll push them for the fun of it.

Second, take Thomas Jefferson's advice, when angry count to 10 before you respond. If you are really angry count to 50 or 100. Slow yourself down.

Third, never go to bed angry with your spouse, friend, teacher, employer, etc.

The Hulk never counts to 10, becomes destructive in a rage and regrets it later. So do we.

There is a bible passage in Ephesians 4:26-27 that says, "Be angry but do not sin.Do not let the sun go down on your anger and do not give the devil an opportunity."

That means that it's OK to be upset about wrong things you see or injustices but not to the point that you go into a rage; and never to the point that you begin to hate.

Dealing with anger is a life-long struggle.

Nobody likes us when we become the Hulk.

In fact, we don't even like ourselves.

X-Rated Life Movies

Have you ever watched an X-Rated movie?

The X-Ray movies are generally considered ponographic because they appeal to the prurient interests of the viewer and exhibit little or no artistic value.

They are hard-core, raw, and go beyond the boundaries of decency. Yet, most of us have taken a peek at least once.

Some are still peeking.

If our lives were rated in heaven, I wonder what the rating would be?

X-Unsaved sinner who sins, loves it and plans to continue.
R-Church members who feel they are old enough to sample the world. They sin a little, feel bad, then come back to church.
PG-Youth who believe in God but are fascinated by and attracted to the sinful life.
G-the Godly person who chooses to live for God, without peeking, pandering or having any interest in the life of sin.

What rating describes you right now. I never never made it to X but I can remember being "PG" and "R." What about you?

Some say the godly life is no fun; is that true? What I've discovered is that the godly don't need to get drunk, use drugs, engage in illicit sex or wild parties to have a great time.

The godly enjoy their families, lead successful lives, love their spouses, enjoy sports, art, music, and recreation. They fly airplanes, play basketball and are romantic, too.

In fact, the truly godly are having so much fun leading G-Rated lives that they have no interest in peeking, sneaking or venturing into the world of those who can't have fun unless everything around them appeals to their prurient interest.

The godly life is a blast.

The bible says in Psalm 1, "Psalms 1:1-2 (TLB) "Oh, the joys of those who do not follow evil men’s advice, who do not hang around with sinners, scoffing at the things of God. But they delight in doing everything God wants them to, and day and night are always meditating on his laws and thinking about ways to follow him more closely."

Sounds pretty good to me, especially since only lives rated "G-godly" are blessed by God.

Try God's Way this year

Did you fail last year? Did you give up? Try it again, but do it a different way.

There are two ways to approach life goals. One is the way popularized by a song written by the late Frank Sinatra called "My Way."

In that song Sinatra boasts that he lived his life, "My Way."

He is not alone. There are many who are trying the "my way" approach: living, loving and dying according to their own rules. To do it "my way" is to do it alone without any divine assistance. It is also a formula for unhappiness and often failure.

That's what happened to many people last year.

Some used or sold drugs or became addicted to something or someone.
Some lived so wild that they slipped way off course.
Some never got started; they proscratinated
Some nearly died.

Things work out a little better on the Godside of life. That's when you decide to do it "God's way." The difference is that God's way gets us godly support and favor for our efforts because what we do is according to his plan. It also points us away from destructive activity and points us to things that build us up.

When we do it God's way we may fall down..but we picks us up and we try again.

The bible says in Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Many saw their dreams die last year. They did it their way.
When we do it God's way we may fall down..but we picks us up and we try again.

This year, try God's way.

Appreciate the little things this year

Don't underestimate the power of the little things.

We are moving at a quick pace; in fact it is so quick that we often look for the big picture and overlook the the small things.

When we think about it, it's the little things that bring us the most lasting pleasure.

That may explain why sometimes a child gets a big present but instead of playing with the present he plays with the box and pops the little plastic bubbles in the packaging.

We look for the big superstar experiences and relationships and overlook the fact that only a few of them stay married or even have the pleasure of doing the little things, such as sitting on a porch and watching the cars go by without a frenzy of photographers.

Howard Thurman once wrote that "Little things make big differences."

A little thank you is big when someone feels unappreciated.
A little kindness can soften an angry response.
A little time can bring more lasting please than a lot of gifts without the giver. Little things can make the difference.

That applies to our relationship with God, too.

There is a bible verse in Numbers 16:9 that says, "Seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the LORD.."

Time to pray, worship and think about God in this world of MySpace, Facebook, cell phones and the internet, may seem like a little thing, but it goes a long ways with God.

While we talk to God about the big things..don't underestimate the little things.

Crucifixion on Friday?

When I began preaching in 1969, for many years I closed my sermons
with something like..

"One Friday, they nailed him to an old rugged cross!"
or

"One Friday he died for all my sins!"

I had the whoop and everything. I really pushed it hard.

"Does anybody know about Friday?"

"One Friday!"

"ooooh Friday!"

I took a seminary class and learned that I had been wrong about Friday. The instructor painstakingly showed us that despite the old tradition that Christ was not crucified on Friday, but Wednesday.

That really upset me because it meant I had been teaching and preaching the wrong information for about three years. I was so troubled because in my zeal I did not seek knowledge and mislead hundreds of people in the process.

The key to understanding the error is Matthew 12:40. Jesus said he would remain in the grave for three days AND three nights (72 hours).

I tried all of the fancy explanations the old preachers gave me to make sundown Friday to early morning Sunday three days and three nights but none of them would work.

Have you heard the explanations? "They had a different calendar or they
counted days differently or it was not literally three days."

As I studied, I realized my professor was right. I had to change my message to fit the truth I found.

If you are interested in this topic there is a website that gives the same information my professor gave me.

As I learned better I changed. It's worth a look.

http://members.aol.com/member888/goodfriday.htm

Grandpa on the Web

I have a myspace page! I found that the young hang out on the web.

They hang out mostly on wesites called "myspace.com" "Tagged.com" and a few more.

This year I decided to be a 57 year old youngster and hang out with
the youth of America on myspace.

On myspace you see a side of people that you never knew including
their music, fantasies, fears and ideas of fun.

I found it a great way to minister as well.

I also have tagged.com page. It's strickly for the young at heart.

If you choose to open a myspace page, you must keep an open mind.

You will learn a lot about today's young people and get the pleasant
opportunity to minister to many in a private way.

I learned more about the youth of my church on myspace than I ever
learned in person.

I'm 57, hanging out with the youth.
However, I found out that many of them enjoy their myspace grandpa.

For many, I am the father figure they never had.

You can set up a page for yourself. You'll be surprised to know how
many of your friends have a page too.

If you are curious, he's the link to my page:
http://myspace.com/rooseveltwright

Love Ya
Grandpa on web
Roosevelt Wright, Jr.

Three Door Cadillac

Have you ever prayed for something and did not receive it?

How did you feel?

When I was nine years old I heard the minister at Tabernacle say that if we asked God for something and believed it, we would receive it.

I took him at his word. That night I prayed for a long Cadillac with three doors like I saw President Eisenhower step out of on television. I went to bed comfortably believing, without a doubt, that my prayer request would be answered. The next day I anxiously ran to the front door looking for the Cadillac. It wasn't there.

Had the preacher lied? I was confused.

When I questioned him later, he reminded me that I heard what I wanted to hear. I didn't hear the part about my request being in the "will of God." The car was "my will" but it was not "God's will." -I didn't hear that part.

There are many adults today who do not hear that part either. We pray for many things that may not be according to God's will and get frustrated when we don't receive them.

He promised to give us anything we ask for that will help us to accomplish his will for our lives.

Anything.

Owning a Cadillac limo at nine years old certainly was not in his will for me. It works the same way with other requests too. I prayed for pizza for breakfast, that didn't happen. I prayed not to get a whipping for acting up at school, that didn't happen. I prayed to be rich and famous, that didn't happen either.

One day I prayed for a good wife and a successful ministry.

That happened.

It was according to his will.

Just Plain Roosevelt

I received a letter addressed to "Dr." Roosevelt Wright, Jr. recently. I was amused.

For several years my name was listed among the faculty of the National Baptist Congress of Christian Education as "Dr." I wasn't amused, I was embarassed. Although I have college degrees, what's the point in wearing them on my sleeve?

A seminary in Philadephia wanted to confer a life time "doctorate" upon me, and I politely thanked them but refused.

Why?

When I began in the ministry as a 19 year old, I vainly sought to impress others with titles.

I put a "Rev" in from of my name. After college I put my degree notations after my name.

Then I saw the wisdom of being just plain Roosevelt, without all of the titles and self describing adjectives.

Now after 37 years of ministry and 30 years pastoring the same church, I'm still just plain "Roosevelt."

Whether I'm in front of large audiences, rubbing shoulders with the big wheels, rapping with the youth, or serving food to the homeless, I'm very comfortable being just plain "Roosevelt"-Servant.

That's the only title that will count before God anyway.

Are We Still Niggas?

I see many of my young friends still refer to themselves as “Niggas.” They say, “My Nigga” and “Good Nigga” “Still my Nigga.” That’s sad.

I’m aware that the hip hop culture now says that “Nigga” is a term of endearment and affection. So when a person says, “What’s up my Nigga?” It means he is down with the hip hop culture. In the hip hop world even whites call each other “Niggas.” In the world of hip hop it carries no negative meanings at all; in fact it’s just the opposite.

However, the label Nigga or Nigger is not viewed that way by the rest of the world. It is still a stereotype of a poor ignorant person who can’t read, can't spell, is lazy and performs poorly everywhere except in bed, on the basketball court and the football field.

The Hip Hop culture has helped this generation to internalize a self degrading and negative label. The slave master called us that but he could never get us to believe it and wear it as a badge of pride; especially outside of our racial circles.

The Hip Hop culture has succeeded in doing what the Klan and racists couldn’t do for 300 years. It has convinced our young that it’s a good thing to be a “Nigga.” Many of our youth have accepted the lie.

The late James Baldwin once said, "You can only be destroyed by believing that you really are what the white world calls a nigger.”

When we start believing it and accepting it, we are conquered.

There is a verse in the bible in Romans 8:37 that talks about God’s people overcoming the negatives, having conquered them through his power. The words are, “in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”

To see another generation dive into a pool of negative spit and swim in it means that this generation has not become conquerors; it has been conquered.

If the present trend continues, when Jesus returns to begin the rest of eternity he will probably be greeted affectionately by millions of young believers, who will shout with one voice, “What’s up my Nigga?”

I wonder how he will respond?

Who is the Pilot?

I saw a funny commercial today. It was the one where the man goes up in a helicopter only to find that the pilot is still on the ground. He asks the man who is sitting in the cockpit, "You are not the pilot?" and the man answered, "No, but I did spend a night at the Holiday Inn Express."

I rolled over laughing. He actually got in a helicopter and left the real pilot on the ground! Ha Ha Ha! Hee! Hee He!

What's not so funny is that often we often jump into life and leave the pilot on the ground. We do whatever pleases us at the moment and take off with the pilot on the ground screaming at us, warning us!

Sometimes we crash. There have been many near misses.

Who has been your pilot? Your mother? Grandma? Father? Spouse? Have you taken off in your own direction and left them screaming?

Is the person or thing driving your life now ....competent?

And there is God. Often we want to let him drive, but we don't want to go in that direction.. not now. So we take another path.

There is a verse in the pilot's manual (Bible) in Proverbs 3:6. It says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

That's the bible's way of saying..."Don't leave the pilot on the ground!"

What's In The Cup?

What's in the cup?

A young member of my congregation sent me a photo in which he's holding a cup. It can hardly be seen in the picture, but it is there. I viewed other pictures available and kept coming back to the photo with the little cup.

What's in the cup? It struck my curiosity. So I sent him a private email and inquired. He responded by asking me a question, "What does it look like?" He never said what was in the cup.

It could very well be water. But then it could be gin. It could be Sprit but then it could be Vodka, too.

What's in the cup?

Sometimes the most innocent things can give the wrong impressions to others. Maybe we should be more careful about appearances. It's possible to do an innocent thing in a way that is perceived as devilish.

Our first thought is that those who get the wrong impression have a problem, not us. But somewhere deep down, something we were taught in Sunday School keeps coming up. We are responsible for the image that we project to others. We can control that.

The least we can do is to avoid things that we know will give the wrong impression.

There is a bible verse in 1 Thessalonians 5:22 that says, "Avoid the appearance of evil." It means that what we do may actually be innocent but if we give them impression to others that it is not, evil communications often result.

What's in the cup?

I guess it's like Vegas.

What's in the cup stays in the cup!

Time to Move On

A time for everything!

Those were the words given tonight by a minister who pastored a church for 46 years.

He is about 90 years old, his voice is strong, he has a young wife, and is in excellent shape. However, he said there is a time for everything. He is retiring, he said, to move on with his life, which he says is just getting started at 90.

We gain much if we learn learn to do things in the right season season. There is a time for the wildness of the adolsecent life, when we do stupid things and take reckless chances with wild irresponsible living.

There is also a time to grow up and take responsibility for our lives.

We can't be grown and children too. The two don't happen at the same time.

There is a verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1 which indicates that there is a time for everything under the sun. Everything has its season. If we are not careful we may try to stay in one season too long forcing the seasons to run into each other. Then life becomes a blur.

The elderly minister recognized his season and plans to move on.

I wonder if there is a lesson we can all learn from that.

It may be time for us to stop holding on to our childhood season and grow up.
Then we can move on.

My S.E.X. Education

A young friend of mine sent me a message with a link to S.E.X.

I was curious, because I it appeared to be a salacious invitation. So I contacted the youth for an explanation. I received an education. It was a S.E.X. Education.

The post was a reference to Lyfe Jenning's song, S.E.X.. I searched down the video and then searched down the lyrics to make sure I caught each word. The video warned young girls to protect their innocence because once it is lost it can never be regained.
It also warned them of male predators who want relations and not relationships. It had a very strong postive message of abstainence.

The title caught my attention. Maybe that was the whole idea. It was a warning to all girls to be careful.

The bible gives the same warning in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." There are many predators in the world waiting destroy the innocence of young girls --and boys. Wow!

Whether Lyfe says it or the Bible says it, the message is just as clear; when many talk of love and affection they really have their eye on another direction and it's not respect it's just S.E.X.

I thank my friend for the the S.E.X education. I thought the post about S.E.X. was about sex. It was more. It was about respect.

Just goes to show that everything is not what it seems.

I Reserved My Space

I began a Myspace page a few days ago. At 57, I'm probably one of the oldest members of the Myspace crowd.

It's interesting to watch the way the young view themselves. I just I can hang!

Myspace reserves a small space for me in the infinite realms of cyberspace. In this space I can say a few words, post a few pictures and share them all with friends.

Yet, according to the promise of God, there is a place being prepared for those who live according to his will. This space is more expansive than myspace. In fact space will not be limited at all. There will be plenty of space.

In fact my space there will be bigger. I don't know how big, but the master has said that there will be many mansions or spaces in the father's new creation. It could be in one place or on different planets. I don't know. I just know that I will have myspace and many friends too.
So for now, I'll tinker with this space; but it's not myspace.

My space is being prepared.

That will be crump.

I can hang.

She Looks Great

I attended the funeral of my uncle, Lonnie Crawford, last week. He was the second uncle to pass in a two week period.

In attendance was my aunt, Saphine Thompson, from California. She flew back to Louisiana for both funerals.

To be 77 years old, she looks great. She and my mother look similar. Had she lived, she would have probably been as well preserved as Aunt Saphine.

There were about 50 people at the funeral, nearly all family members. Aunt Saphine, now the matriarch of the family, stood out.

I told her I want to sit down and pick her brain about family history. She told me to hurry up because she wasn't getting any younger.

She could have fooled me. She'll probably outlive us all.

At 77, I hope to have her presence, stamina, health and optimism. By that time she'll be 97 and and will still be clucking along and looking good!

It's amazing how beautiful a life can be when it's in God's hands.

More than Enough

The computer in my office has been upgraded. The technicians say that I now have a server that has four huge disk drives that operate at the same time. Should one stop working, another will automatically kick in. It holds an awesome amount of data.

I only have four of the drives running. It can handle up to 16 drives, all running at the same time. If something happens to one, the other automatically kicks in. Wow!

That's more than enough. I'll never use it all. But it's available.

The grace of God is the same way. It is more than we will ever need. In our short lifetime we will never be able to consume all of the love, mercy and blessings God can provide.

It's like that computer in my office. The only reason I won't have more is that I don't install the disks and use them.

Right now, I have more computer space than I can use.

God's grace is not just "sufficient"; it's more than enough.

I'll think about that today.

Flash Backs

During Worship yesterday we showed flashback slides of "The Way We Were" while the choir sang a variety of selections emphasizing that we have "Come a long way."

The snapshots brought smiles and laughter as we saw younger versions of ourselves and our friends in the congregation. Everyone has changed. Even those who were older agreed that time did most of them a favor.

Included in the photos was a shot of my wife Joslyn at age 23. Then there was a picture of me at 22. I was wearing Sansabelt, highwater pants, Nylon socks, and a Banlon Turtleneck. I thought I was it..then. Size 28 waist. Slim and Trim.

Well, 35 years later I'm a size 38, but spiritually I think I'm still slim and trim.

Snapshots give us a way to measure how we have matured over the years.

Flashbacks have a way allowing us to see how God has blessed us and worked with us over the years.

The good news is that even the snapshots I take today, will look funny a few years from now, because God is not through with me yet.

I thought I was "it" at age 22. However, when God gets through with me..that's going to be a great snapshot. That will be "it."

Whose Hand Is In The Puppet?

I watched our church puppet team practice last night. The group of high spirited youth made the inanimate puppets come to life. With their hands inside their mouths and rods working their hands, the puppets danced and moved at the will of the puppeteers.

I noticed at one point in the practice that the puppeteers changed places. It was interesting to see how the same puppet, in a another hand, acted differently. It was the hand inside the puppet and not the puppet itself that controlled its actions.

There is a hand that guides us too. We can tell when that hand changes from God's hands to Satan's hand. Like the puppet, we are often guided by the hand that directs us. Our job is to stayed prayed up so that we are always guided by God's hand.

The puppet is not real. It can't detect when its operators have changed. We can.

I will be sensitive to the hand that is guiding me because it's that hand that will determine where I go, what I say, and what I do today.

Help, I Have No Sewerage!

"Does your church help people with no sewerage?"

That was the question I was asked Monday from a desperate caller who explained that she was a poor mother on a fixed income whose sewerage has backed up. She said she had no way of paying to have it done.

As I was on the phone trying to help this woman I could not escape the irony of the moment. As I worked to help her, the Roto Rooter truck was parked at my house because my sewerage was backed up too.

There were towels all over the floor. Carpet had been stripped. Washing machine water flooded the house and was bubbling from the floor.

When Joslyn and I walked on the carpet, it was like walking on a wet sponge!

When the plumber left, the Roto Rooter man told me about 40 feet of drainage line needs replacing. When everybody finished: The carpenter who replaced my bathroom tiles and woodwork, the plumber and the Roto Rooter man, we needed $2,000.

I felt like the lady who called me. I need a number to call.

Then I remembered a song, "Jesus is on the mainline, tell him what you want!"

Hello Jesus, do you folks in heaven help people with $2,000 sewerage bills?

We have sewerage now.

Anyone need the number we called?

Look At Jesus

I attended the 60th birthday party of Sister Mildred James on Saturday March 11th. It was sponsored by her eight children and grandchildren.

When I looked around the room, I saw all of her children and grandchildren. There were almost 100 people present to celebrate her birthday.

I am humbled to know that I have had the honor of being pastor to all of her children and grandchildren. I have seen the family at its high moments, struggling and also in its sorrow. I have married its children and buried its dead.

Saturday night was one of those high days for Sister James.

Staring around the room, I saw all of the happy faces and listened to the testimonials and expressions of love. Powerpoint photos of smiling family members and fun times danced across the screen. It was inspiring.

Sister James was happy. She looked like a woman of 40. She glowed.

She is known in our congregation for a saying she normally says whenever someone is blessed, "Look at Jesus."

When I saw a hundred happy family members and friends, all healthy, reasonably happy and all saved, her little motto had a great significance.

I shared her sentiment.

Look at Jesus!