In a lot of ways, I guess I could be labeled as a people observer. When you listen to what different people from all walks of life have to say and when you watch how they react and interact with others in society, it can be quite intriguing. This voyeurism of the human condition probably has a lot to do with my passion for the written word. No matter how dynamic the prose that flows from my pen, there is nothing stranger or more bizarre than real life.
I was on the phone with a friend of mine the other day, and I happened to glance up at the television and they were showing the services from Luther Vandross’ funeral. As I was looking at the different people who got up to give remarks about Luther’s wonderful life and career, the camera panned across the immense gathering of folks that were packed inside Harlem’s Riverside Church and I started thinking about all of the lives that Luther had touched through his music and I started thinking out loud…
“Wow! Did you see all those people at Luther Vandross’ funeral??!!”
“Yeah..it was sad to see him go.”
“How many people do you think will be at your funeral?”
“What??!!”
“You know..have you ever thought about when it’s your time..how many of your family and friends will come and pay their last respects?”
“Man..look here..I don’t even WANT to think about nothing like that! Have you?”
“Of course! I don’t think death is something to be afraid of..I think it’s something we all should prepare for, because we ALL have to go that way one day.”
“Well..maybe I’ll think about it when I get older, but as for now, while I’m still young and healthy, I ain’t even trying to go there and you’re younger than me, so I don’t know why the hell you would even think about something morbid like that!”
“Hmph..that is IF you and I make it to be ‘older’..you never know what may happen.”
“Look..don’t even start with that’ going up yonder to the upper room’ talk. I’ll worry about death when I have to face it, but as for right now, I’m focused in on enjoying LIFE.”
“Me too. But you can’t fully enjoy life until you realize how brief our time really is here on earth. “
“Yeah..whatever. I mean, I hear ya D..but like I said, I ain’t trying to get into all that right now, I’ve got too many other things on my mind like keeping these lights on and keeping my kids fed, than worrying about how many people are going to be at my funeral.”
“See, that’s where you misunderstood me..how many people are at your funeral should be the LEAST of your worries. If anything you should start thinking about where your soul is going to go after you take that last breath.”
I guess since I’ve been a part of a lot of funerals these past couple of years, all of the experiences of having loved ones pass away has caused me to become a lot more focused in preparing for the day of my last breath.
To some people this just means making sure your burial insurance is paid up and that you have your will and paperwork in order so that your family doesn’t have to scrape up money just to bury you. But to me, having your affairs in order on earth is just a logistical bulletin item, the REAL issue isn’t life insurance, but rather eternal life assurance.
I was reading an issue of VIBE magazine that had an article about Al ‘Grits’ Green and the event that gave him that well known moniker. A lot of people know that it came from his experience of being burned by having a pot of hot grits thrown on him by a woman. But what most people don’t realize, is that same woman who threw those hot grits on Al Green died that same night, from what the police and medical examiner deemed as a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
In the article, they had a quote from one of Al’s close friends at the time, Isaac Hayes. Hayes said that after that whole incident (Al did have to go down to the police station and have ballistics check his hands for gunpowder residue and was later released after the reports came back negative), Al grew closer to the LORD and subsequently he became Rev. Al Green. But the point Hayes made, was that it is often after close experiences with death, that people tend to seek God for comfort and understanding.
Some people go through traumatic experiences and losses of close loved ones, and instead of seeking the LORD, they turn away from Him, because they feel that if there IS a God, He definitely doesn’t care about them, because if He did, He wouldn’t have allowed such tragic and traumatic events to occur.
No one can explain all the reasons of why God allows these things to happen. To our mere mortal mind, it would make sense that someone as loving and full of a giving spirit as Luther Vandross would be around a lot longer than 54 years on this earth. We can’t explain all of the reasons why, all we can do is keep looking up to our Creator for the strength and guidance to keep living our lives the way that He wants us to live it.
Of course, the next obvious question is exactly how are we supposed to know how God wants us to live our lives? (Those who do believe in God of course)
Some people meditate and try to be in tune with nature and the Creator, others go to some form of religious worship service, to be uplifted by songs from the choir or to hear words of inspiration from the minister or speaker. But ultimately, the responsibility of being in tune and attentive to what thus saith the LORD, rests on each and every individual soul.
Those who grew up in strict religious households, where it wasn’t an option, but rather a mandate for all under the roof to attend services often stray away from any form of religious observance once they become adults.
Because it was ‘forced’ on them as a child, they feel the need for spiritual freedom that is not dictated to them or forced down their throats. There are so many different religions, denominations and cults in our society today, that some people refuse to make a choice, and instead drift along a path of spiritual individualism. Not attending or participating in any form of organized worship/praise service. The common lament is,
“Religion is man-made, I’m down for God..but not religion”
I can say this, because I know that I was one of these people for a large part of my adult life. I was raised with a strong Biblical foundation, but once I got out there into the world with the freedom to worship or not worship, I chose the path of individualism.
But invariably, whenever you venture out into the wilderness of life, you’re going to start running across some wild animals along your path and you will begin to realize just how wide open and vulnerable you are to what London described as the ‘Law of Club and Fang’ in his classic novella, ‘The Call of the Wild’.
Some people see the occurrences of the barbaric nature of life and they surround themselves with guns and ammunition, barricading themselves away from the world with burglar bars and home security systems, with hopes of keeping the prowlers and predators away. Some get so paranoid, that the can no longer rest without having a gun under their pillow or in the nightstand nearby.
“Pistol grip pump on my lap at all times!”
Even after my eyes began to open, and I could vividly see the vampires and wolves roving to and fro seeking to devour, I still refrained from participating in any form of organized worship, because although I believed in God, I still wasn’t ready to bow down and submit myself to Him. Church was good and all, but since I was living my life in ways that I knew wasn’t lining up to what ‘thus saith the LORD’, I preferred to avoid worshipping, because I didn’t want to be like so many hypocrites that’s in church singing loud every Sunday and shouting Halleluia, even though they just got through breaking all 10 commandments the night before.
In my mind, when I DID start going to church again, I was going to be real about it and ready, not one of those fake the funk hypocrites that’s in church in body, but not in spirit. My father used to talk to me from time to time and remind me that I needed to give the LORD some of my time.
“I will Dad..I’m just not ready for all that right now. I’ll start going back when I get myself together.”
“You can’t get yourself together on your own..you need Him to do it. God wants you to come as you are..He’ll work on you as-is.”
Although I wasn’t attending church regularly, I was studying my Bible diligently. I even embarked on a personal goal to read the Bible in it’s entirety from “In the beginning..” all the way to, “May the grace of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.” It took me 9 months to accomplish it that first time through, but it is to date the most rewarding thing that I’ve ever done in my life.
And once I was set in my conviction for the Christ, the Spirit of the LORD began to move inside of me and I knew that it was God calling me to stand up and be the obedient disciple that He had called me to be. So instead of watching my wife and kids leave for Sunday School every morning as I got comfortable on my couch getting ready for the football games to come on with my cold beer (Psssht!), I started getting up and going with them.
People can talk about how much they love God, but if you truly love Him and have faith in Him, then you will heed the call of discipleship and become obedient to His command. Although Jesus fulfilled the Law and we are saved through faith and faith alone, that does not negate the command to obey. And no one can ignore the 10 Commandments.
And although the 1st commandment is still the greatest one..
“You shall have no other gods before Me.” – Exodus 20:3
The other 9 are still applicable today, including remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy. (Ex 20:8) Some people may watch a televangelist or two on Sunday, to appease their conscience so that they can say they DID do something to remember the Sabbath. But that doesn’t excuse anyone (who’s physically able) from participating in a praise and worship service.
People who have read my Statement of Faith often ask me what ‘set’ or denomination I’m throwing up. Although I was raised in and practice within the Baptist faith, I don’t feel constrained by a denomination. If anything, the one thing I do see as a necessary, is to be part of a church or worship community that is Bible based.
The trick is realizing that there are a lot of faiths and denominations that use the Bible, but yet they don’t consider it the complete and inerrant Word of God. Instead they use the Bible as a sampler platter, picking out the parts that line up to their practices, and completely ignoring or discrediting the parts that don’t jibe right with what they’re teaching.
And when I say Bible, I’m speaking of the 66 canonized books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. A lot of people even claim to be ‘Christian’, but yet they discredit the complete authority of the Bible.
“Aww, don’t even worry about that part, that’s just something that Paul wrote.”
“The Old Testament was made invalid by the New Testament.”
“If you ain’t never spoke in tongues, then you don’t know the LORD.”
“The Bible is a good book, but it’s been changed, so you need to read this---, because this is what God REALLY meant to say.”
People who don’t read and study the Bible for themselves, are left defenseless against a lot of slick preachers and false prophets who distort and discredit the Bible. Just because a building is labeled a church doesn’t mean that it’s serving the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And until I began to study to show myself approved unto God, I was reluctant to commit myself to any church, because I was wary of having someone pee on my head and try to convince me that it’s raining.
There are a lot of people who see the Bible as a good book of inspiration and good stories, but yet they don’t recognize it as the complete and inerrant Word of God. They’re almost as dangerous as the people who see the Bible as complete fiction. And until I studied the Word for myself, I was unable to step out there on faith and believe something just because my parents and grandparents believed it.
Soo…I said all of that to bring us to the first 3 verses from the first chapter in the book of Psalms. There are 150 Psalms, half of which were written by David. The 150 Psalms or ‘songs’, since they were set to the accompaniment of stringed instruments and served as the temple hymn-book and devotional guide for the Jewish people, cover a diverse topic range, such as: jubilation, war, peace, worship, judgment, messianic prophecy, praise and lament.
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." - Psalms 1:1-3
This particular passage contrasts two ways of life: godly and ungodly. The first thing to note from the first verse, is the separation that occurs once a man places his faith in the LORD. If you’re going to stand up and be counted as a child of God, you have to remove yourself from the counsel of the wicked. Those people, places and things in your life that you know are contrary to the Word of God. That’s what sanctification is all about, separating you from the ungodly.
Instead, the God fearing man will find his delight and joy in the ‘law of the LORD’, which is the Word of God. Until you start going through some things that you can’t control, you will have no idea of the delight and comfort that is granted when you read and study the Bible. It’s not something to use as a genie either, rubbing it and reading it when you know you need a blessing, then putting it away once that storm passes and forgetting about it. No, the Word of God is a lifetime commitment, and once you get rooted IN the Word, then you will have the need to meditate on it day and night.
Now of course, a lot of people only come to God, because they’re looking for a blessing.
Because they’re trying to get paid like Jabez. They want some of that increase in their life. That’s why those who meditate on the LORD have to be real with themselves. God is not to be mocked. He’s not like Aladdin that you can rub when you need Him and then once you get your blessing, you go back to living an ungodly life. But the good part is, no matter your reason for coming to His table to partake of the Bread of Life, when you study His Word with an open heart, your spirit will be fed some real nourishment, and you will start growing spiritually.
I say this because I know that there are a vast number of people out there, even a lot of the www.servinemup.com readers, who are fooling themselves when it comes to their relationship with the LORD. From those who completely avoid even thinking about it, to those who appease themselves by saying a prayer over their food and listening to a TV preacher every now and then, to those who worship in the church of EMC , (attending only on Easter, Mother’s Day and Christmas to appease their grandma or spouse)..it’s a wild world out there ya’ll. And if you haven’t found something real to anchor your soul in, so that you’re prepared to take that last breath..well, then what are you really doing then?
Stacking that paper? What does it profit a man to gain the whole world yet lose his soul?
Raising your kids? Whatchu go do once they grow up and leave?
You just trying to survive? Why go through hell on earth and then have to deal with the eternal lake of fire?
And you can’t even pull that, “Aww mane! This is the same stuff I hear from my grandma/mama/daddy/wife/holy roller neighbor all the time” Because this is coming from a hard headed brother that, truth be told, never even liked going to church.
Going to church always seemed like a complete waste of a perfectly good weekend day to me. You had to comb your hair (ick!), wear some clothes and shoes that you normally never wore and sit up and listen to some fat and sweating preacher screaming that all of us are going to hell if we don’t repent. But that was back when I thought as a child and I didn’t want anybody telling me what to do.
All of those who are single with no kids and still resisting making any steps in growing closer to God, I’ll let you make it (for now), because you are obviously still caught up on that idol worship..whether it’s bowing down to that wooden idol (paper is made out of wood), or falling into that self-worship, “I don’t need God, I am a god!!” hater mentality that triggered the fall of Satan. I just pray that the LORD spares your life long enough to realize that you need Him like he did for me.
But for all ya’ll people out there with kids in this world, that you’re supposed to be training up in the way that they should go?? ya’ll don’t have ANY excuse..you need to get yourself and your kids into a Bible based church just like T.I. says,
‘ASAP, ASAP!..git on yo job!’.
