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!

They Gave Me A Car

Apparently the men of Tabernacle didn't like the fact that the pastor drove a 1985 Honda CRX around town, so they did something about it.

I bought the little car for my son back in the 1980's. He went to the Marines, returned and decided it was too small for him. He moved up and purchased a new car leaving the little Honda.

I wasn't about to waste a fully paid automobile. For $2,000 I put a new engine in it, had the body work retouched and amused myself driving all over town in the little car that's about the size of a Volkswagon. I could drive a month on a few gallons of gas. In two years, there was never a repair needed.

However, the men decided that the pastor deserved something better.

For Christmas, they presented me with the keys to a Ford Taurus. They made sure I knew that it was paid for and had a tank of gas.

I drove away in the Taurus, giving God and the men of Tabernacle a great thanks.

I didn't ask for the car, but I certainly received it in the spirit in which it was given.

What about the Honda? It still runs. It is paid for and insured. It reminds me never to get too high and to keep the common touch.

The Taurus is a sign of God's favor.

I'll keep them both.