Friday, October 08, 2004

A Heartbeat Away

A Heartbeat Away - Friday, October 8, 2004



Whatchu been up to D??



Grinding daily baby…doing what I do.



What’s up with your title? ‘A Heartbeat Away’??



It has a two-fold meaning actually…on the serious tip, we’re ALL a heartbeat away from getting our number called and having to go see the Judge.



You got them warrants too huh?



Nawww n’ga!! I ain’t talking about warrants and those judges here on earth…I’m talking about having our books closed and having to go before the Throne and answer to Him.



Oh..yeah..that’s real..we all gotta go before God one day and give an account of ourselves.



Already!!..You ready??



Almost..I got a few thangs I need to gone and get right.



The time is now mane…tomorrow is promised to NO man.



Yeah..I think I’m go be alright though..I don’t be tripping or nothing no mo’.



Being ready isn’t about tripping..being ready is all about where your faith is..do you BELIEVE? You gotta believe in your heart mane.



Oh yeah..I forgot..you’re all on your Jesus crusade thing..I believe in God mane..but you know I ain’t sold on Jesus being the ONLY way mane..but I’mma let you make it on that, cuz I know that’s your thing.



Naw..you ain’t letting ME make it..cuz I stay ready to defend the reason for my faith..sounds to me like you’re procrastinating on making a spiritual decision in your life.



I already told you that I believe in God!



Yeah..but do you SEEK Him?? Do you worship Him? Do you exalt His name? Do you read His Word for guidance and comfort??



Alright now n’ga..don’t start getting all ‘holier than thou’ on me now…I know you…you like to do all the same things that I do..it seems to satisfy us all!



I’m not trying to get ‘holier than thou’ on you..I’m just trying to tell you what’s real. Now whether you accept it or not..that’s on you. But don’t try and front and say you believe, but then you turn around and through your actions all you do is give God lip service, ‘God is great, God is good’ while you pause and pray with a mouthful of French fries..if you believe in God, you’re going to give Him the glory..it ain’t what it say mane, it’s what it DO!



I hear ya mane..but like I told ya..everybody ain’t in to the Jesus is the ONLY way thing.



I understand that..and all I’m telling you is that even if you don’t have faith in Jesus..you still need to seek after the Lord and don’t just keep putting it off..and putting it off..thinking it’s something you’ll be able to ‘figure out’ later when you get older..cuz if I haven’t learned anything else in my 33 years here on this earth..it’s that tomorrow is promised to NO MAN.



So I guess you’re just Mr. Church now huh?



Naww..I mean, I go to Sunday School worship service every Sunday to learn more about the Bible and God’s will..and I stay for church services sometimes…but when you’re REALLY into God, worship doesn’t start and stop on Sundays. You worship in your car while you’re praying and driving..or you worship at home when you’re reading your Bible or listening to evangelist on TV..you find your ways to worship and praise God daily..going to church is all about gaining strength through the fellowship of other Believers.



I guess I never thought about it like that.



Yeah..I went to a revival last Friday and the minister was very descript in expounding the reasons WHY we should enter the house of the Lord and worship God. He preached out of I Thessalonians the 5th chapter all week and I just caught that last sermon on Friday night. But he was explaining to us and going through each verse, on how God wants us to line up to Him.



Line up?



Yeah..if you BELIEVE, then you first have to SUBMIT to leadership. Most folks just want to do whatever it is THEY want to do..they don’t want to submit to a higher authority and follow HIS rules. After you submit, then you’re supposed to find a church body so that you might share in your fellowship and the last point he made about ‘lining up’ was how we all need to surrender to worship.



Surrender?? What is this..like a stickup or something?? “I give up!! You got me!! I’m coming out!!” (laughing)



You know..it actually IS like that. Because you WILL reach a point in your life, where you realize you can’t do it by yourself…and you’re going to need something real and eternal to lean on. That’s when you’re going to humble yourself and surrender yourself to Him..it’s not about you mane..it’s not about me..it’s all about Him.
What church do you go too again??



Blueridge Baptist Church mane..my uncle, Rev. Ceola Curley Jr. is the Pastor.



And who was the preacher who gave the revival??



Rev. A.W. Colbert..he’s the pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in Galveston, Texas.



I might have to come check ya’ll out and see what ya’ll are talking about.

You’re more than welcome mane..Sunday School starts at 9:30..morning worship at 11:00am..it’s a intimate little church in the hood and we uplift the name of Jesus..He’s our Lord and Savior. Don’t wait too long to start giving God the glory mane..He’s more than worthy.



Already!
____________________________________

Last week, I gave a rundown of the 1st presidential debate. A couple of people have asked me about doing the same thing for the vice-president debates, but I had to be honest with them, everything I wrote on it would be from written transcripts, cuz I didn’t see the debate. Sometimes I like to take a time out from all politics and ‘serious’ issues and just get off into the things that I ENJOY. This past week has been a wonderful ride for sports enthusiast, especially here in Houston. From the Astros making the playoffs, to Trinidad’s stunning 9th round TKO of a more than game Mayorga, to the great NFL games that were on Sunday and Monday..it’s on a popping if you enjoy competition.



But away from the world of sports and church worship, we had the 1st debate of the vice presidential candidates. And since I didn’t actually SEE the debate, I decided to read the transcripts and see what I could surmise to be ‘real’. While doing a little research, I found out some interesting facts about the history of the office of Vice-President of the United States of America.



The requirements to be Vice-President have the same Constitutional rules as the office of President. The candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, at least 35 years old and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years. When they first started having elections, the office of Vice-President was filled by the candidate who had the 2nd most votes for President. But once political parties took shape, this practice’s flaws were exposed, so in 1804, Amendment XII directed the electors to use separate ballots to vote for President and Vice-President.



The official job of the vice-president is to serve as the first in the line of presidential succession in case the president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office. That’s why thy often refer to the vice-president as the person who is ‘a heartbeat away’ from being the president. Other than that, the only official duty of the vice-president is to serve as President of the Senate and oversee procedural matters. In the event the Senate has a tie in voting, then the Vice President casts the deciding ballot on an issue.



Our two vice-presidential candidates. Senator John Edwards and V.P Dick Cheney squared off this past week and they both had a chance to express their parties (and personal) platforms for the upcoming election. Of all the items they went over in their questioning, there were 3 main issues that just seemed to ‘jump out’ and me and make me go..’Hmmm..interesting’. Politics will bring out the claws in candidates, so you already know every chance they get to make the other one look bad, they’re going to jump on it.
Cheney remarked that even though he has been vice-president for the past 4 years, and thus had the job of residing over the Senate (of which Edwards is a member), that particular evening at the debate was his first time meeting Senator Edwards in person. He made comments to Edwards low attendance record in the Senate and he even went so far to refer to labels of Edwards as ‘Senator Gone’, due to his frequent absenteeism while the Senate was in session. This was odd to me..because this photo taken a couple of years ago, show Cheney and Edwards crossing each other’s path at a Senate prayer breakfast. Obviously this meeting had slipped Cheney’s mind as well as Edwards’ because he didn’t refute Cheney’s remarks. I guess I’m just happy to see ANYBODY attend a prayer breakfast though..so it’s good that they both pray!



The next part that jumped out on me, was when the moderator brought up the issue of same-sex marriage and how the candidates feel about it. Edwards said what he had to say,
"And I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and so does John Kerry.

I also believe that there should be partnership benefits for gay and lesbian couples in long-term, committed relationships. "



Cheney on the other hand completely passed on the question. The wild part here, is that although Cheney is part of the Republican party and he has to be affiliatied with their parties’ conservative platform on this issue..Cheney declined to comment. The moderator brought it up and Edwards referred to the fact that Cheney has a gay daughter and his views on same-sex unions are not in line with Bush and the rest of the conservative line..so Cheney just stayed quiet on the issue.



The last part that made me pause and go, ‘Huh??’ was when the moderator (a Black woman by the way) brought up the issue of the soaring HIV rate among Black American women reaching epidemic levels and what the candidates saw as the best course of action to address it. Cheney was very frank and blunt..he had NO IDEA that there was such a problem in the U.S. In 2004..the Vice-President of the United States of America had NO IDEA that a large section of the citizens of our country..namely Black and Hispanic women, were contracting HIV at epidemic levels???? To me..that speaks volumes as to what he’s really interested in and paying attention to. You can’t find a solution to ANYTHING, until you first recognize that there’s a problem. Uhh..Mr. Vice-President?? We have a problem mane!! But this is yet another example, of how our government officials rarely start taking notice of anything, until some rich white folks start getting infected..I mean, affected.



Anyway..I guess this is why I temper my journeys into politics, because it can be very disturbing. If you want to go through the full transcripts of the debate, here’s the link. If you want to learn more interesting facts and history about the role of the vice president of the United States..check out this webpage. But when you’re ready to talk real and just chill with a Southside Christian writer on the internet???...come get your serve on!! SERVINEMUP.COM BABY (Tell yo peoples about it!!)