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.