The Naked and Hungry Soul

Tonight, as I was getting ready for a shower ironically enough, I remembered a quote from Rob Bell that struck me in a way I never really thought of before. This might make your 12 year old self come out a little bit, but what I'm about to talk about is very biblical.

The quote says as follows: "It's easy to take off your clothes and have sex. People do it all the time. But opening up your soul to someone, letting them into your spirit, thoughts, fears, future, hopes, dreams...that is being naked." (Just in case you missed it in the picture above) I had seen this quote through pictures similar to the one above that had floated through social media and for some reason it wouldn't leave my mind tonight until I really thought about it more in detail. The epiphany that I had was one that had crossed my mind before, but not in so much detail.

Whenever I read the bible, I try to read it in 3 ways: Literally, Figuratively, and Historically. There's a passage related to tonights topic that I had to read in the first 2 ways. Matthew 25:31-46. I won't put the whole passage up, but I'll do a summary of what it says. Jesus is talking about his return. He's separating his followers and non followers. To his followers, he's allowing into heaven and the presence of God. To the non followers, he's pretty much telling them to roll bounce. Both parties are confused as to why they are given what they are given. Jesus gives the same answer but to one in the positive and the other the negative. Cue the tie in to the topic of this blog post.

To the followers, Jesus says to them: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." (35-36) The followers ask "When did we do all these things?" (37-39, summary) Jesus responds with saying: "Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me." (40) Likewise, Jesus pulls the same stuff on the non believers, but opposite of the believers. They, the non believers, didn't do what the believers did as mentioned above and Jesus isn't very thrilled with this.

"Okay Richie....Where are you going with this?" -You

Well....hear me out.

So, when I first read this passage when I was a bit younger I read it very literally. If I saw someone who was hungry, I needed to give them a meal. If I knew someone in jail, I should go visit them (which I do and have done terrible at this, by the way), so on and so forth...

but then tonight, I thought about this from a figurative mindset, and remember the quote from the picture above.

This thought may just blow your mind, possibly even piss you off, but...what if Jesus wants us to take this passage, not just literally, but figuratively as well? Sure, Jesus wants us to actually go and do those things mentioned above, but what if he also wants us to do those things in a much deeper context?

I re-read that scripture tonight and applied it to a much more deeper meaning than just the physical, tangible implications behind it. I thought of it like this: Many of us hunger for the love and joy that only God can truly provide. And though Jesus can fulfill that need and desire whenever he'd want to, one thing about God is that he likes to reveal himself to us through each other. So, how do we do that in context to this passage? Well...If a person is hungry for God, and is searching for him, God might just use you to help reveal himself to that person in a way that person needs. For example, a person might really be struggling to hold on to his/her faith in Christ, and it's slipping from them. Let's say for this example, that the major cause for this persons faith to begin slipping away is that person hasn't seen a true reflective example of Christ. He/She is skeptical of the church and doesn't trust anyone and no one really seems to give them their time of day. Here you have a choice: Do you take notice of this persons need and go feed their faith? Or do what may seem that others have done and leave that person to starve? My hope is you do the former.

Switching gears, let's talk about the figurative meaning behind clothing the naked. There are people who want desperately to be able to trust those around them. To be able to bear to them everything about them: The struggles, the successes, the fears, the dreams....basically everything from Rob Bell's quote. In essence...they want to be naked. Probably not physically naked, but spiritually naked. To be able to truly trust someone with everything about them. So what does this have to do with clothing them? Well, from the figurative stand point, clothing here means to basically say to them "You can trust me." Them being in this nakedness is them saying "I need somebody, anybody who is willing to cover me. I need help. I'm vulnerable." Imagine being physically naked on the street, or in your church, or at work, or you know, wherever, and you really don't want to be. It's humiliating isn't it? It is you literally baring your all to everyone around you and it can be rather embarrassing and, again, humiliating. So, you can do what most people do and say something along the lines of "Eww....get this man/woman some clothes. That's not right." And proceed to walk away in disgust or even embarrassment while leaving the need unattended, OR...do whatever you can to meet that persons needs, which in the figurative case, is taking the time to be there for that person and provide what you can, whether that means time, money, effort, energy, patience, and so on while they are dressing themselves to "be clothed in righteousness." By being there to provide for that person those "clothes" will help them to become just that...Clothed in righteousness. By being there through those rough things in that persons life, the very core things of the soul, you are helping that person in more ways then you may realize. You very well be the influential make or break it for that persons spiritual journey.

I want to make a follow up post to this to go into much more detail, but I'll save that for another time, but before ending this I want to leave you with a challenge. Read the end of Matthew 25, and look at the examples Jesus is giving those people as more than just the visible, tangible things that it says, and instead look at those things as spiritual needs. Thirsty for God's word, looking for a church home of true acceptance as they are, visiting those who are stuck in the prison of their sins and working with them to be released from that prison, and so on and so forth. Then challenge yourself to go and meet those needs for someone in your community, in your church, in your school, in your town or city. Try it and see if it gives you another perspective on what Jesus wants you to do and see how it challenges you in where you are in your own spiritual walk. Or you can do nothing about any of those needs and just keep on with your own life. You know...it's your choice. I can't make you do anything, just suggest. :)

Till next time

Richie The Rapper.

Gulf Coast Getaway 2014-Thoughts and Personal Reflection

Every January, hundreds of college students get together in Panama City Beach, Florida for a weekend of community, worship, and just plain old fun on the beach. Myself and others from the campus ministry I'm involved in were just some of those hundreds of college students. Getting up anywhere from 6 to 7:30 in the morning (or not sleeping at all), pack up a 15 passenger van, and hitting the road for a really long road trip from Kansas to Florida (or flying for some). I know for me, I was hoping to ride comfortably the entire trip. Not sure where in the world I got that idea from, but I digress.

After stopping in Memphis, Tennessee for the night and finally getting to the beach after a good 32 total hours of travel I was ready to see what God had in store for this weekend, and to my surprise, he had something in store that I wasn't really expecting nor really wanting. The theme for this year was "Empowered" with the Holy Spirit being the topic. I guess I'm not really sure exactly what I expected from the trip, other than to maybe learn a little more about the Holy Spirit and feel a much needed spiritual refresher, but what I ended up getting was something completely different.

The first half of the trip went rather well. I got to get to know people within my campus ministry a little better, or for the first time. I had fun, I slept a lot more than I wish I had, and had a nice bit of nostalgia while playing Pokemon Yellow on my phone. Everything is going good and going great. Got to the conference and started off with some amazing worship, a good message on the Holy Spirit, and enjoyed my annual "Sit on the balcony and stare at the ocean for hours and reflect and think" time.

The next day started off really well. Had more worship, great group conversations, good lunch food, and some great time hanging out on the beach and the hot tub. Then, for some reason, something really hit me and hit me hard that evening, and I began to get depressed. I began having this overwhelming feeling that I wasn't being all that included in the group. I was beginning to have feelings that I didn't want to have this weekend. I felt myself beginning to get angry, enraged even. I had such a wave of emotions, that to be quite honest, I'm not exactly sure what all I felt. All I know was something wasn't right, and I had no idea how to deal with it. I was torn. I wanted to be with people, but at the same time wanted nothing to do with anybody. There was something going on deep inside me, and needed to be addressed.

As I sit here writing this, I realize in hindsight that this trip was a trip that I was going to be directly impacted from the conference in the most indirect way. This weekend, in my life, the Holy Spirit moved, and it moved hard. These issues, these...inner conflicts I was feeling, have been things I had been feeling for quite some time. I've talked about it to some degree in recent posts, but on this particular weekend, I firmly believe that the Holy Spirit brought these feelings out so that maybe, just maybe, I could get my foot in the door of actually addressing them in a face to face manner to those that I need to communicate to about it with. I have issues, I have struggles. All of us do. If you don't have anything wrong with you, please by all means show me, I'd love to see it. One of the speakers this weekend said that you can't really explain the Holy Spirit, instead you experience it, and that the Spirit moves in whatever ways it wants to. I'm pretty confident that I experienced the Holy Spirit this weekend, and that I experienced it in a way that it wanted me to experience it.

When we talk about the Spirit, we often assume that when you encounter it that it usually ends in an emotional time of worship and what we usually feel to be this burning feeling where we begin to come in (or back into) this true state of servanthood and dedication to Christ. Now, I'm not saying this isn't always true, but if I'm to be completely honest, majority of the time, I don't think that's truly a work of the Spirit. I think it's more of just the emotional connection we get through whatever venue or event we're at at the time. After this weekend, I have become more convinced that the Spirit cares more about the deeper things then just giving you a quick spiritual high that usually wears off after a few days. I'm convinced that the Spirit cares more about bringing up the sins, the struggles, the issues, the deeper emotional issues that need to be addressed and worked on. Not only just for you and in you, but for the church body.

The Spirit is moving and it wants to be on every believer in the world, but I feel (and I'll target the Church body in America for now, just because I can observe that easier than the rest of the world) that we are just refusing to let him in. I've been in gatherings where people pray and welcome the Spirit into their presence and yet, for some reason, each and every time by the end of the gathering, it feels like if there was any trace of the Spirit, it's long gone by the time everyone makes it out to the foyer.

So why is that? Well, to be honest, I don't have an answer, only guesses and assumptions, but I feel that they should still be thrown on the table. The closest thing that I have to an answer is that one or many within a group or congregation just won't allow the spirit into them, and for all I know, could be having an impact that is hurting the congregation at large. I can guess that maybe we don't really want to invite the spirit, after all, we've placed such a high taboo on it. Or maybe when one invites the spirit he is doing it for show, to look good in front of his brothers and sisters in Christ, but really, I think it really boils down to to one main thing, and that is where are hearts are at. I've so many people who are starving for the Holy Spirit and end up leaving a congregation because they aren't being nourished enough. Now, with that said, does that mean that the body of believers doesn't have the spirit with them? Of course not, but it sure is a sign that they are also being malnourished and may not even realize it.

Where does things go from here? I've only scraped the top of the iceberg in addressing this and am purposely leaving out a lot of stuff in this post, because I only wanted to address what I have thought about since returning from this trip, but I don't want this post to be the only thing about the Holy Spirit that you stumble upon. I know God has things planned for me this upcoming year regarding his Spirit that is going to make things extremely rough and uncomfortable, and I pray that whatever may happen that through it his Kingdom may be furthered where I'm at, but I also pray for you reading this. I pray that if you do believe, that you will spend time on the Holy Spirit. That if you belong to a church that is being malnourished, that you will let God show you a way to allow his Spirit into your body and breath new life into it again. And if you don't believe, I pray that you may soon experience the Holy Spirit in a way that could never be explained, and that you will see that this God that we serve is so much bigger than any of us Christians could ever try to make him out to be. 2014 will be a year where things will happen regardless if we want it to or not. I just hope that we will.

Till next time

Richie Tha Rapper  

It's Time For A Contest

Alright ya'll. As a break in between posts, I'm going to make a short post that you get to interact with.

I'm holding a contest. That's right...a contest.

I'm in need of an idea for a song that will go on my freshman album "God's Chisel'd Masterpiece," and I want YOUR help.

There are a few basic guidelines for what I'm looking for, and there are some pretty simple rules for submitting.

I'm praying that this will be the year for me to at least get my foot in the door. I know quite a lot of you, my regular readers, have been waiting for me to come out with something, and I don't want to fail at delivering to you any longer. You're submissions could very well help me speed up the process (and you may not even know it).

The guidelines are as follows:

1) No ideas or concepts that are explicit in nature. Sorry, I'm not rapping about how many shawty's I tap or how I'm so angry at the world that I'm going to cuss and start making death threats. Not happenin'. Keep it clean.

2) It doesn't have to be specifically Christian in nature, but it's preferred. At the very least, keep it something that is positive, or I can put a positive spin or take on.

3) Keep it somewhat universal. Don't make it extremely specific. Give me an idea of something I can make a song about that will connect with a broad audience.

Now for the rules and where/how to submit ideas:

Rule 1) Don't spam me. I'm not stupid. I don't click links. I'm not going to do video submissions. Sorry.

Rule 2) Limit of 2 ideas/concepts. Call me communist, but I like everyone to have a fair chance to submit an idea.

Rule 3) Any submission that is hateful, violent, gang related, or sexual in nature will automatically be turned down (see guidelines)

Where to submit:

Here in the comment section of this post

Twitter: @richie116

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Richie.Buzz

Or if you know me personally, you can message me on my personal profile or come and actually talk to me in person. Either or....you know, whatever.

This contest will run as long as it needs to until I begin studio work on the album. So for now will say sometime in mid May. I'll make updating posts as time goes on to let you know how I'll pick a winner and when that time will be. Keep up to date for news and updates. Part 2 of "A Bounded Spirit" will be posted sometime early next week.

Till Next Time

Richie Tha Rapper

A Bounded Spirit Part 1

I haven't posted in a while, and I apologize for that. I've been getting really busy lately and keep forgetting to update my Blogger and YouTube accounts. I promise I'm working on being better at this. I have a lot on my mind, and I feel that you, the reader, could greatly benefit from what I have to share with you. 

Over the last several months, I've been feeling myself going in a very downward spiral in my faith and walk with Jesus. I've begun having this "I don't care" attitude towards people, God, and life in general. It's really sucked and I'll be honest, even with all the good things I've got going on (obtaining a job, getting a pay raise at said job, preparing to beginning renting my first house, etc), I still find myself feeling like in the end there isn't much hope for me. I literally feel stuck where I'm at, and the problem is, I don't know how to go about fixing the problem. I'm suffering from a broken heart, I constantly have self-worth and trust issues, I feel extremely unwanted most of the time, and more importantly, I'm feeling myself grow farther and farther away from Christ.

In a lot of ways, I feel, and I am, enslaved.

Normally, I really hate making posts that are going to be extremely depressing and will end up with me getting concerned phone calls from my parents. I can't promise this post won't end up like that. I can promise, however, that I am writing this with more of an "Outside-Looking-In" perspective. So with that said, I want to talk about the things that I'm pretty sure are making me feel this way.

DISCLAIMER: Some of the "things" are actually people, but I'm going to try and not make it seem like I'm calling any one individual out, so if certain parts of this post seem vague....they are.

In a sense, this post is more or less a spin off to my last post (ok, second to last post, link here: http://bit.ly/1dM3DgR). Why? Well, because I'm going to be going back to my issues with church in very slight more detail. I feel that explaining why the church, and more specifically, my church is causing me to feel the way I do without it sounding insulting, blaming, or dare I even say hypocritical may be close to impossible, but I'm going to say what's on my heart. Call it tough love.....really really tough love, but there's always a method to the madness, and I never do anything without a reason. So, to my church, please know that what you are about to read is not an attack. It's me communicating in a way that I can that there are issues that need to be addressed, challenged, and solved. 

I may or may have not mentioned it in previous posts, but I got baptized Sept. 11, 2011. It was a good day and was a day I felt I needed to have happen. I had been wanting to be baptized for several years, but never had the opportunity until then. Looking back on it now after 2 years, I wish I had waited a little longer. Or even better, I wish I had been more prepared to face the spiritual battles that I would end up having to fight. I'm saddened more than I am anything about how ill-prepared I became for this new aspect in my spiritual life. I really feel like I was just thrown in the water and that was about it. I feel like I've had to fight the battles on my own. I feel like after I came out of the water, spiritually, I was abandoned. I'm not disciplined. Metaphorically, I feel like a Timothy without a Paul, and I can tell that if I don't find a Paul soon I'll be down to strong embers of faith at best. 

There is what's known as the Five Love Languages. I won't bore you with all five of them, but I want to spend time talking about my number 1 language: Quality Time (and yes, I did the test, I scored 11 on this). Being someone who grew up a loner, having people spend quality time with me has always been detrimental in my growth, socially, mentally, and spiritually. Yet for some reason, even today, after all the growing up I've done and all the challenges and obstacles I've overcome, I still don't receive the thing I need the most. Now, I have to say that I'm not completely alone and I do spend time with people that I'm close to. I'm not belittling that. I'm also not saying that no one tries to spend time with me, however, I don't get enough. I don't get enough from my friends, but my church specifically. If you attend my church...or I guess, if I attend your church, and you're reading this and you've done things to be there for me, I don't want you reading this and thinking that I'm attacking or belittling that. I'm not. I'm very thankful for anything that you have done for me. I am, however, saying that if you want to know how to help me, actually be there for me. Call me out of the blue and invite me to do something. Seriously. I'm not that difficult. I'm really not. I'm willing to say that if more people went out of their way to be there for me to show they care, 75% of my problems will be solved and disappear. 

Now I know I can't call out the speck in a brothers eye without first taking the log out of mine. I know I'm not that great at engaging others to try and find out how I can better serve them. It's something that I'm learning and something I'll have to keep practicing, but I'm still young and, as a young Christian, I know I can do much better if I have people be a better example. I know I can follow Jesus' example by myself all day long, but it's not going to mean much if I can't learn from people in my life. It's for reasons like this that I believe God made us need community. 

So church family, if you read this, please know that I'm saying this as my way of calling for help. I love you guys and want to see God do big things with this congregation and the ministries in part, but I have to be blunt and honest. I feel that if things don't begin to change, that if people don't start getting out of comfort zones and begin to put discipleship into action within our own family, we will become stagnate and eventually die as a church. And keep in mind I'm saying this from an outsiders perspective. Elders (both title holders and actual elderly church family), train us youngsters right. Be there with us, for us, and by us as we try to become who Christ meant us to be. Because in the end, thats what I want to be.

To shift the focus off the church, and more on what's going on with me. I wanted to spend a little time talking about inner struggles and how I'm attempting to deal with them. My hope is that if you struggle with any of these issues, you can, at the very least, find comfort in knowing you're not alone, and hopefully I can share some insight on how to fight or deal with what's going on.

One of my biggest struggles right now is pornography. Not so much porn though as much as just lust in general. Yeah, I know. Taboo subject, but if you know me you'll know that I'm not really one to care about keeping social boundaries in place. I'm willing to put myself on the line by talking about this online, so I might as well go all out. 

I first got introduced to porn at the age of 10, completely by accident. I stumbled into it on the computer at my house, and even though I didn't understand what it was, it left an impression that would later catch me into a trap that so many people, both men AND women, get caught into so often and so quickly. 

So, instead of talking about the habit itself, I want to talk more about what I'm doing to try and fight my way through the habit so that way I can kick it for good and begin to heal in the areas where this has affected me, because it's affected me. If anyone ever tells you that porn is harmless....punch them....in the face.

No, I'm just kidding, don't punch someone. You'll go to jail for that. In all seriousness though, the best way I've heard the effects of porn are like being picked up real fast and then dropped like a sack of potatoes. It's not good.

I've been taking baby steps, big baby steps, but baby steps nonetheless to fighting this habit. When I face the temptation to go online and view, I do anything and everything I can to try and distract myself so I can get it away from my mind. If that means I have to go to a site that'll keep me busy reading, being interactive with, or just something that can engage me enough to keep me from going to a site, then I'll do it. 

I feel alone, and that I think is the biggest reason why this is a struggle for me. There are quite a few posts out there that talk about how that plays a role in this habit, so I'll let you research that for yourself. Still though, it's an important aspect to keep in mind. 

I know this is a lot for one post, so I'll stop here for now and do a part two later, but please, keep checking in and seeing where I'm at in life and where I'm going as I keep taking steps to reaching the goals I have. 

Till next time

Richie Tha Rapper

"If You See This": A Poem

If you see this, you know who you are
You know that I'm still here
Wishing I could hold you in my arms

You can call this cheesy, but believe me
it's not easy, knowing I've got so much fighting for my heart
and I don't know what will deceive me

Why has fighting for you become so hard though
Every thought of you has me working out my breath call it cardio
I've been pushing my limits just to see how far it'll go
You the princess always in another castle got me feeling like Mario

You've been the most consistent so sorry if I sound a bit obsess
but we haven't even seen each other in 3 months, I think it's time to end this recess
My goal as a man of God was to love you, not to manipulate
and replicate the "men" of the day, to get you to stay up late
push to intimate, and end in sex

You a queen and you don't even realize
cuz all you've ever known are the lies
but if you could see through a different pair of eyes
you would know that you're worth so much more
than the effects of borderline

At this point I don't care if people know who I'm talking about
I love you girl, you're all I seem to think about
I pray for you, I'd be more than willing to stay for you
No matter how many times you hurt me I will never hate you

But here comes the flip side
The moment that caught my blind side
We both ended up turned around
and now something is eating me alive

I wish that we could try it out
all the laughs and anger, we could have cried it out
For you, I would go to hell and back
You better believe...you can run and tell that

I was willing to fall for you
Now let me see if I can rise for you
I've been told that I spent to much time for you
but it was worth every dime for you

We can't deny we clicked
but there was always tension
I could hear the story in my head
and it was much stranger than fiction

If this indeed the end, then let me begin
to share how honored I've been
to share in your life
your smiles, your tears
your blood, your sweat
your joys, your fears

If you see this I pray that God will bring you closer to him
and if it's his will the day we meet anew will become closer again.

 I love you.....

But God loves you more.

Why "Churchy Answers" Don't Help The Church

“Why ‘Churchy Answers’ Don’t Help The Church”

I’ve attended several churches over the last 8 years and as I reflect for a moment I realize something that has just begun to greatly bother me. I’ve noticed that somehow, we as Christians, have trained ourselves to give answers to problems in a very, well….churchy way. When we’re presented with a challenge, mainly when trying to help a brother or sister in Christ out with a problem s/he is facing, we have this tendency to give advice or solutions that you usually hear from the pulpit. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, however, from my experiences, as well as what I hear and see from others who are constantly struggling, this approach tends to be the go-to approach for when we want to help, and there’s a problem with this. Though the intentions are almost always good and pure, giving someone purely a “churchy answer” may not be the best or even right way to help. In fact, giving just “churchy answers” might actually damage your relationship with the person or people that you’re trying to help. In turn, damaging the church.

Speaking with myself included, when a person (doesn’t even have to be Christian) comes to a Christian for help, they usually come with the hope and mindset that that person will be able to act upon providing help (or at the very least attempt). I’ll use myself as an example here and try to keep the details vague, as not to call out or appear that I’m calling anyone specifically out. All growing up I got use real quick to always being the loner kid. I generally accepted it, but it always bothered me that whatever friends I did have never really went out of their way to try and get to know me, and I mean really try to know the real me. This really hurt me when my Christian friends wouldn’t do this. Even friends of mine from church did this to me. They’d talk to me at church, but wouldn’t say a word to me in school. They wouldn’t even check up on me, and if they did, it wasn’t exactly because they thought “Hey, I should go check on Richie to see how he’s doing.” It was more of “Oh Richie’s walking by. Might as well say hi while he’s here, then I got to get to class.” Or something like that.

I’ve always been very socially awkward, mainly because I didn’t really have friends until high school, and even then, the friends I had weren’t exactly great influences at the time (though, one of them has recently believed or re-believed in Jesus, so that’s been pretty awesome). I have a high fear of rejection. I have trust issues. I fear abandonment. I’ve been told that I’m a survivor. Sadly, that’s 100% accurate. It’s also sad, because with being a survivor, I am also very skilled at doing what I have to do to survive, and sometimes I make decisions that I regret later. I wasn’t prepared for the real world, for adulthood, and so I’ve been having to make due with what I have and what I know. At the same time, I also have to rely on God, and what or who he’ll use to help provide and get me by. It’s really tough trying to live with the mindset that God is providing when he uses someone to help you and all you can think of is your survival skills. I use to be ashamed to ask people for help, because I felt that I’d be manipulating someone for something or, because they would reject me. Even now, I have to try to shake those feelings when I go for help for certain things.

Fortunately for me, and surprise surprise, for you as well, God works in mysterious ways through the ordinary. The last couple of years have been extremely rough for me, and even that is a massive understatement. Through a long, complex series of events, God has been bringing out all of the problems, emotions, and pains that I’ve been repressing throughout the years and has begun working on them. Needless to say, I wish that it could just be done and over with so I didn’t have to go through all of this pain, but of course, I’m not God and God always knows what he’s doing. God has been using a couple of people in my life right now to help me start building the most fundamental thing of really anything that has to do with positive things (most vague, generic statement ever!): Trust. God has been working through an older gentleman and a couple of guys my age to help me start trusting not only in people, but in Him as well. It’s still shaky, but I’ve trusted God a lot more lately now than I ever have in my past, all because he’s brought people into my life that have proven themselves trustworthy.

To slightly change gears here, and go from positive to slightly negative, I want to talk about the actual topic of this post. While I’m typing this, I’m not sure exactly how I want to present my idea about this, but somehow my idea will be completely written, so go with this and hopefully it’ll make sense.

How have “churchy answers” affected me? Well, quite frankly, a lot. The statement “Actions Speaks Louder Than Words” may sound cliché, but they are completely true. Especially for people with any kind of social or psychological issue. I’m so used to hearing people say one thing and completely do something else. I try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but quite frankly, for me, it is really hard for me to trust people. Sadly enough, this has even affected how I view my church family. I won’t go into detail, out of respect and the fact that at some point I want to address my issues I have with my church personally, but I want to present you with a challenge. The main problem that I feel is current within the ENTIRE church body is this: We simply do not take the time to invest in each other, and communally, help tackle each others problems. We’re quick to take care of the surface issues, but we like to stay stuck in our comfort zones. We like to think that when it comes to the deep issues, we only worry about our own. We think that we cannot do anything to help someone get out of the dark areas of their lives, sinful or not. We get afraid of what might happen to us when we go out of our way to make a distinct impact on someone’s life, no matter how big or small the impact, or how big or small the issues the person is facing. And to be fair, it is difficult. When you invest in someone and really try to be there and be active in their life when they deal with major issues, it can take a lot out of you, but believe me when I say that if you do it with the right intentions and depend on God, he will give you the strength you never knew you had. I know this from personal experience.

So, as a challenge, I’d like to present a list of things that you can, and should try, when you are presented with someone who is hurting and may very well need you, and I mean YOU. Check it out:

#1. Act Godly Advice, Don’t Just Give It.

It’s easy to simply give someone a piece of scripture to read or to simply say “I’ll pray for you”, but it could be more detrimental to actually sit down and read through an entire section of scripture or pray for someone right on the spot. Or if you want a biblical reason, well James 2:15-16 comes to mind. “15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?” (NIV)  For all you know, speaking or acting when someone approaches you may make all the difference on how a persons relationship with God will go. Always keep that in mind.

#2. Make Time For People, Don’t Let Time Make You

Generally, when most people are asking for help, it usually means that in some way, shape or form, they are looking for someone who will spend time with them to help them overcome their current situation. As we all know, we live in a very speedy society where time isn’t really on our side, and that’s our own doing. We get so caught up in what we’re doing that we lose sight of what Jesus called us to do. He called us to look out for others interest (Philippians 2:4), bear one another’s burdens (Galatians 6:2), to love one another with brotherly affection (Romans 12:10), be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another as Christ has forgiven you (Ephesians 4:32), and maybe one of the most important commandments of all is the Greatest Commandment. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. I’m sure it’s no surprise that we like to make time for ourselves, but we’re told to think of ourselves less. So if you enjoy making time for yourself, but want to live out Jesus’ greatest command, try making time for others as well. Even those who don’t need help, but I challenge you to make them your top priority.

#3. Leave Judging To Judy…Or God. Mostly God.

If there was one flaw that I wish I could magically erase from all Christians, it would be that we all think we have the answer or solution to everything. Or better yet, that my way is the right and/or best way. Quite frankly, we may belong to Christ, but we’re still human. When people who are hurting come to you the last thing they want to hear is you telling them that it’s their fault and that they got into it themselves. Regardless of how true or not that is, that doesn’t help…at all. In fact, it usually makes things worse. I’m sure if you came to me with your bills and taxes problem, the last thing you want to hear me say is “Well, you shouldn’t have used up your credit card on that 90” flat screen T.V., BMW, Pool Table, and your own personal liquor collection. Then you wouldn’t be over $9000 in debt.” No one wants to hear that. I make light of that, but the fact of the matter is that, for the most part, people already know why they are having a problem. They just don’t know how to fix it or get out of it. When helping someone deal with sin (or even just a bad habit), judging them is the last thing you want to do. In fact, you shouldn’t want to do it at all, ever. If a person brings up something going on in their life that they need help getting through, telling them that it makes them a bad person is pretty much a nail in the coffin and you may have just screwed yourself in helping them, and possibly screwed that person’s confidence and trust in either you, God, or themselves. There’s a time and place for rebuking sin, but judging someone should be done by God and God alone, and occasionally Judy.

And finally, #4. He Who Has An Ear, Let Him Hear

Something that I’ve been trying to work on over the last few years is listening to people, and I mean actually listening. Not listen for a bit, and then interject a thought or idea that I have, but actually take the time to sit, and really pay attention to someone talk, even if I find it annoying or difficult to be still. Going back to James, I get challenged when I read the famous scripture, “Be quick to listen and slow to speak.” (James 1:19), but it’s so important. I get frustrated at both others and myself. I get frustrated at others, because very seldom do I get people who are willing to fully listen to me, and I get frustrated at myself because I’m not exactly the greatest talker. So telling people what’s going on gets tough, and thus, usually, people listening to me gets even tougher. Listening is a choice, and it’s a hard one. You have to have the right attitude and mindset when you choose to listen to someone talk about what they’re going through. If you don’t give that person you’re full attention, they will begin to think that they are wasting your time, and that never helps. While we’re on the subject, something that Christians as a whole, myself included, needs to work on more is listening to God, and I mean really listening to God. Exactly like I’m talking about here. The next time you pray after reading this, be completely still and quiet and listen to see if God says anything to you. He may surprise you.

So, this has been one of the longest posts I’ve ever written. I’m pretty sure I could even make this a sermon, but it’s something that’s been on my heart for a while, and something that I think needs to be addressed within the Christian community. We, as the body of Christ, want and desire to go out of our churches and homes and go share God’s message with our communities, our cities, counties, states, country. Our whole world. However, even though we still make impacts all over the world, and praise God for those impacts, we can never make a fully complete impact out there if we can’t make an impact inside the Body. It creates tension and division. It creates mistrust. If we can’t be there to help each other, then what good are we really going to be to those who we want to share this amazing, perfect savior Jesus Christ? In short term, it may look good, but from a long term, possibly eternal perspective, it’s caused problems in the past, and history is always doomed to repeat itself.

To put it much simpler: Churchy Answers will never help the church, but Christ-like Actions will.

Till Next Time

Richie Tha Rapper

A Reflection of My First Week Being 21

So, my 21st birthday was last week, and I've been meaning to write a blog since the first minute of my birthday. I wanted to write about how I was feeling the few hours prior to my 21st birthday, and the realization that came to me when the clock struck midnight last Sunday.

So for my international readers, in America, as you might be aware of, the legal drinking age is 21, and as such, most people get super hyped for it. I mean you can drink alcohol legally now, you can gamble, plus all the things you can do at 18 stay with the deal (although, you do have to renew your drivers licence, which is kind of a downer). I was no exception. I had never thought I was going to live to see 21, let alone 18, and so knowing the fact that I was about to reach an age that I thought I was never going to see really started getting to my head, and by 6 PM the night before my birthday, I let the hype of knowing that I'm going to be able to drink legally get to my head. I was so pumped for this, not because I wanted to get drunk, but I do like the taste of most alcohol (for the record I didn't get drunk that night. I was with a couple Godly men who kept me in check). I was so excited, I was going to be able to go into bars and have drinks, I was going to be able to really experience what the bar scene on a Saturday night was like, but as I've been reflecting, there was something else about the night leading up to my birthday that got me all excited: People were going to be paying attention to me. People were going to be taking time out to focus on me and help me celebrate this big milestone. I'll tell you what, the attention I got during my birthday was a high that I haven't felt in a long time.

It was a high that has since worn off as this last week has gone by. I've still gone and had a few drinks here and there, and  I still get asked if I feel 21 yet, to which I answer, with a laugh, yes. But for the most part, this last week has been just as normal of a week as any other week. Went and visited my mom for a few days, went to a banquet, painted part of my church, slept through service this morning, and now writing this blog post. Not exactly an every week thing, but nothing crazy.

But here's something I really wanted to mention in this post (actually this point is the very reason I'm writing this post), something that came to my mind as I was heading towards the bars last Saturday night. As I was walking, I could feel myself getting really hyped over knowing that within 15-30 minutes I was going to be able to go into my very first bar. I could literally feel my body shaking with excitement, and as I got closer to the bars, this thought occurred to me: "If I'm feeling this hyped right now over going to drink alcohol, why can't I feel like this everyday for my Lord Jesus?" I almost stopped walking to let that thought really sink in for a bit after it occurred to me, but I kept walking. It didn't leave my mind though, and that thought has stuck with me all week. It's stuck with me because it's so true. Why don't I feel so hyped for Christ on a day in-day out basis? Maybe it's my human nature. Maybe it's the circumstances my life is in right now. Maybe it's the people that are in my life.

Maybe it's because my faith has gotten so weak, that I'm hanging on to Jesus by a thread.

A problem that has been recurring in my life is having a hard time feeling like anybody cares about me. I mentioned this in my last post, and unfortunately it hasn't changed much over a couple week time span. I really wish that I could feel loved and cared for by not only other people, but Jesus as well, and not have any doubts about it, but I do, and I think that's why the excitement of my birthday went to my head. When I went to my mom's house, I realized that with this problem comes other problems. I've always turned to eating as a coping method, and since turning 18, cigarettes as well. Two things that I did a lot of over the course of 2 days while visiting my mom, and I'll tell you what. After consuming as much food and cigs as I did, not only did I hate myself for how I handled things, my body did as well. It still kinda does. It's a problem that I haven't been able to overcome and I fear that it'll get worse.

I have been in such a darkness my whole life that even my faith in Jesus is blurred. It's been so blurry that I have to admit that I may have been putting hope in the wrong things. I have to admit that I haven't been able to hear God speak to me, and even go as far as to say that I have been, purposefully or not, disobeying what He's telling me to do, and that's even assuming that I know what he's telling me to do. I don't have very much light coming through my life. I have little pockets here and there, but it seems like no matter what I do to get through to the light, the darkness continues to dwell and it's a fight that I hate so much.

So that brings me back to my thought: Why can't I be as hyped for Jesus as I was for being able to finally drink alcohol? I think the answer, no, I know the answer lies in my heart. My perception of reality has been skewed for as long as I can remember. I don't know what, but I know there's something wrong with me mentally. And I can feel the spiritual warfare going on in and around me almost every waking moment of my life. I know it's tiring for me, and I know it's got to be just as tiring for those who are trying to be involved in my life.

I don't have a plan just yet as to how I'm going to fight this, but I can tell you that after the first week of being 21, my life looks very uncertain, but I know God has it in control. I just have to learn how to battle the doubts and find out how to have the faith to feel him guiding me, and that's going to be a battle that I will be scared to death to fight, but I will take it one step at a time, and will do everything I can to let God meet me where I am and work from there.

I still plan on enjoying the benefits of being 21. I still plan on having drinks from time to time. I plan on partaking responsibly and not going out and getting drunk, at the very least not in public. I will continue to search out God and his will for my life, and allow him to work on me so that way I may be able to go out and become a light in this very, very dark world. Nothing's going to happen overnight, but I know that he will make things clear over time. I just pray that I'll be able to start seeing God doing work around me. Allowing me to feel his love and presence through those around me, and that I may be able to be used to show others around me the same.

So until next time may God shine upon you and give you peace. May you be blessed and given strength.

Until next time

Richie Tha Rapper.

Oh! And by the way. Feliz Cinco de Mayo!