Monday, January 08, 2007

Love the Brotherhood




"Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king." - I Peter 2:17 KJV

Happy New Year everybody! Hopefully everybody is grinding away at their God given purpose in life and those who haven't discovered their purpose yet, then you should be praying to get it!

But be careful what you pray for, cuz once God 'breaks you off a piece' of that direction and purpose that He has for your life, you better be ready.

These past 3 years of writing publicly on the internet has given me a greater sense of awareness. It's made me a lot more conscience of the things I say and do. Yep, ol D. Wash is still growing!

I'm still not a completed product, there are still a lot of things I need to work on as I continue to grow stronger in my relationship to the Lord. The Christian walk is not a static position, we move from glory to glory. At least, we're supposed to be moving.

But sometimes we get caught up in holding patterns or stuck in ruts and we stop looking up.

One of the stabilizing influences in my life, is the time I spend with my church family. I know some people aren’t down with ‘church’ because of all the hypocrites and janky preachers that’s trying to get all the money they can out of your pocket.

But once I stopped worrying about what everybody else was doing, and focused on my personal relationship with God, going to church no longer was a chore or bore for me. Instead it grew into a vital piece of my survival kit. And now I NEED to go, so that I can be spiritually fed. TV ministers and radio preachers just ain’t enough for me.

Beyond the normal Sunday morning, Bible school, worship service routine, I also attend weekly brotherhood meetings. Our church is one of the few that does this weekly (most churches do it monthly), but I’ve come to cherish those times of studying the Word with the brethren.

Some may see this as exclusive, ‘Why can’t women be a part of it??!!”, but I see it as directed training. When Paul and the other writers of the New Testament were writing their epistles (letters), they were directly written for the specific audiences. The church at Corinth, Ephesus, Philippi, to name a few.

I see the brotherhood in a very similar light. I believe there are explicit Biblical directions and responsibilities that are required of men for us to assume our positions as providers, protectors and priests of our families. So many men want their wives to submit to them, but yet they haven’t submitted themselves to Christ and that’s a problem.

Even though Eve was the first one to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden, the Fall of Man wasn’t sealed until Adam committed the sin. There is a higher level of responsibility and accountability for men. Call me old fashioned or chauvinist if you want to, but that’s what I believe. And if you look at the decaying state of our families today, you can invariably trace a lot of the problems back to men who never stood up and made themselves accountable to the Lord.

So it is at this time of year, that our brotherhood has its annual banquet. It’s not a black tie affair, some people come in suits, and some (like me) only wear ties to hangings. Ain’t nobody tripping.

This year, we have the privilege of having a dynamic gospel preacher, Rev. Lloyd W. Scott, Sr., Pastor of Eastern Star Baptist Church in Port Arthur, TX. deliver the keynote address. Trust me, those who have heard him speak before know that you have to come with a loosened belt. You have to be ready to laugh and also ready to be spiritually fed whenever you hear him preach.

One of the things I’ve learned in brotherhood, is that only the things we do for Christ is going to last. Everything else is going to fade away. When your ticket gets punched in and it's your time to go before the Throne, is He going to say, "Well done my good and faithful servant"?? or is He going to say, "You was tripping"??

Too often the American media portrays Black men as violent, simple or ignorant men. But I’m proud to say, that there’s still a large community of strong men who have enlisted into the army of the Lord.

Firemen, policemen, judges, constables, engineers, writers, truck drivers, barbers, realtors, construction workers, chefs, mechanics, loan officers, accountants, teachers, the list goes on and on.

And once you connect with a group of strong Bible believing men, its like having workout partners, sparring partners, mentors and teachers as a normal part of your life.

So I’d like to invite all of you to our Annual Brotherhood Banquet. We might be a small little church on the Southside of Houston, but the fire that we have for the Word brings heat comparable to any other ‘big’ church out there. Hmph. Already.

And for those who are out of town and can’t attend, or have a previous engagement, you can send in a donation to help defray the cost for one of the youths or senior citizens on fixed incomes. Thanks to Michael and the Pickrum family in D.C. for all your support!

Our late pastor, Rev. W.D. Richardson used to always say that we will reach a time where if you want to see a black family intact: father, mother, children, you’re going to have to go to a museum. Because with today’s soaring divorce rates, teenage pregnancies and single parents, God’s intended structure for family is becoming extinct. And my argument remains, that a key cause of all of this, is men who stray away from the Word.

Love the Brotherhood.

That’s what’s up.


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