As my writing exercises have increased, there has also been an increase in the amount of Christian expression in the content of my material. When you check out things I posted last year, like Hittin Licks or Black Entertainers, then you will notice a gradual movement toward the exposition of Christian principles. I didn’t even know it was gonna be like this. But the thing about the Lord, is that once He puts His hands on you and directs you toward a purpose, you’re either going to heed the call and be an obedient and fruitful servant, or you’re going to be subjected to being swallowed up by a great fish.
Servinemup.com has taught me that there is a vast group of souls floating around along the peripherary of obedience. They know what is right, because their parents and grandparents trained them up in the Word, so they know what’s up. But somehow, somewhere along their journey of life, they lost faith in Him. Doing what they wanna do because,
‘no one KNOWS if the Bible is the same as the ORIGINAL one, it’s been translated and printed by MAN!’.
I was one of these people for a significant part of my adult life, psuedo-Christian if there is such a thing. Jesus was cool and all, but how can He be the ONLY way??
It wasn’t until after I went through some serious life events, such as becoming an unwed father, and hustling to provide for my family in George Bush’s America 2000, that I reached a point in my life where I knew I had to know Him for myself. I could no longer ride along with the faith just because that was what I was brought up as…I thirsted for truth. So I started reading a Bible that my wife’s sister had gotten for her, it was a MacArthur Study Bible. A lot of my past ventures into the Word were met with confusion and ignorance, I just wasn’t understanding all of the reasons why God would do some of the things He does. But as I prayed a prayer for a teachable heart and an understanding mind, I delved off into the Book, starting with Genesis and making my way all the through to Revelations. It took me almost 8 months to accomplish the read. I took my time and read not only the scripture, but the footnotes and historical context notes at the footnote of each page. And once I was able to read for myself about the creation and the fall of man, the history of the nation of Israel, the prophesies, the prophets, the voice in the wilderness, the virgin birth, the bloodline, the life, the parables, the miracles, the love, the betrayal, the crucifixion, the burial, the resurrection, the ascension and the promise…it all clicked for me.
People can doubt the authenticity of the Word all they want, (and most people who do have never READ the Bible for themselves to really see what’s going on) , but once you start reading and studying the Word for yourself, God will touch you in a way that you have never been touched before.
So, I’m here..and I’m steadily trying to move closer and closer towards the glory of God, because I know that my day will come when my work here will be finished and the Lord will call me home. Some people get freaked out when you start talking about death, they call it ‘morbid’. But since it’s an inevitable thing for ALL of us, I don’t consider it morbid, I consider it real.
This past week, I served as a pallbearer for a very dear and distinct southern gentleman, Elga Steward, Sr. He’s ’Uncle El-gee’ to me. I had the privilege and blessing of marrying into the family and all of my conversations with Uncle Elga were intellectually stimulating and soulfully charged. He was a man that had strong convictions and it came out in his conversation. Once he found out that I was writing, he invited me over to his study and we sat and talked about computers, the internet, and the art of writing itself. Uncle Elga was a writer too, as well as a radio personality that was commonly known over the airwaves as the “Hip Skipper’. He told me about how he used to travel and cover local sporting events and write articles for various publications here in Houston..
When he passed, it was a bit of a surprise, but fortunately the family was already prepared for such an event, for we are an Easter people. When non-Christians keep trying to figure out what it is that Christians are about, you should observe the way we perceive our mortal death. The scripture reading at Uncle Elga’s funeral was right on point :
And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in and lay all night upon the earth. And the elders of his house arose and went to him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, neither die he eat bread with them. And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said; Behold while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him and he would not hearken unto our voice; how will he then vex himself if we tell him that the child is dead? But when David saw that his servants whispered , David perceived that the child was dead; therefore David said unto his servants, is the child dead? And they said, he is dead. Then David arose from the earth, and washed and anointed himself and changed his apparel and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; then he came to his own house; and when he required they set bread before him and he did eat. Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? Thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept; for I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me. - 2 Samuel 12:15-25
When Uncle Ray read this scripture at the funeral, I couldn’t help but feel a wave of consolation come over my soul. I had already read those same verses myself many times, but every time you hear the Word of God, it will feed you. God’s Word shall never return void. And when you see how David understood the order of the beyond, it makes those of us here in the world better prepared to accept God’s decision to bring one of His children home. Our faith lies in the fact that those who believe in the Lord, will be immediately whisked away into His presence at the time of our mortal death. Aunt Connie followed with the reading of the New Testament Scripture:
Therefore we are always confident knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord; For we walk by faith, not by sight; We are confident, I say and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 5: 6-8
So now a lot of you non-Beleivers can better understand, why Christians see funerals as a homecoming, because absent from the body means present with the Lord. Already. After the last rites were said, and uncle Elga’s veteran comrades fired off a 21-gun salute to another soldier going before the Lord, the family used this time to commune closer with each other. Catch up with each other, see what’s been going on, enjoy each other. Thanks for all the warm words of support and condolences that the family has received during this time of bereavement, but rest assured you don’t have to cry for us, for we are an Easter people, in life and in death. If Uncle Elga was here to read this, he’d probably point out my grammatical mistakes as well as my butchering of verb tenses, he was an English scholar ya know. But if there’s one statement, that I’m sure he would want everyone to know, it is to always remember ‘The Dash’. It’s not the numbers that portray the birthday and death date on a tombstone that are important, it’s what you do in between during those dates, ‘The Dash’, that’s most important.
