Men of the Morning Prayer Line

Imagine you walked around with a #hashtag blinging in gold drapped at all times from your neck. Remember the old rope chains. The thick ones! Some had a word blinging in framed gold. PIMP, PLAYER, STAR, etc. What would your HASHTAG read? #pissedoff? #tired? #angry? Or are you someone who brightens a room when you walk in? #joy #childlikewonder #superetch I know many people that people avoid. You know the one I'm talking about, they have a laundry list of problems and will talk about them in detail to anyone who would listen. I listen, but most people stopped listening. I can’t blame them; it difficult listening to someone else's issue when you have your own to deal with. Sometimes I can envision a hashtag for the brother with so many problems #stayaway! Many of these #problembrothers met Jesus. And #joy took over. There are quite a few of us on this prayer line. Amen! But guess what? The new hashtag wasn’t affixed with some magical Galaxy Glue. It was more like do...

Crabs! Crabs in a bucket! Remember the story of “Crabs in a Bucket?” One day a man was walking along the beach and saw another man fishing in the surf with a bait bucket beside him. As he drew closer, he saw that the bait bucket had no lid and had live crabs inside. "Why don't you cover your bait bucket so the crabs won't escape?" he said. "You don't understand," the fisherman replied. "If there is one crab in the bucket it would surely crawl out very quickly. However, when there are many crabs in the bucket and one tries to crawl up the side, the others grab hold of it and pull it back down so that it will share the same fate as the rest of them." Brothers, does that sound familiar? It should. Many people are crabs! If a brother tries to do something different, get straight with God, improve oneself, escape his environment, or start working big plans; negative people will try to drag him back down into a bucket of shared fate. Nega...

As men who pray, we understand the verse in James 5:16, which reminds us that the prayers of righteous men can be powerful and effective. We see this need for powerful and effective prayers in the news, where we witness human suffering due to fires, flooding, other natural disasters, wars, and a host of other catastrophes and political fallouts. We also see this need in our own lives, as we listen to our friends share their work, health, financial, relational, and spiritual challenges. Maintaining a right relationship with God and others enables us to pray powerful and effective prayers. Today's verse states that we should “confess our faults to one another and pray with one another that we might be healed.” The word “faults” can be understood to mean our “slips, false steps, offenses, and sins.” Consistent confession of these faults and accountability to God and trustworthy people can be considered disciplines of a righteous person. If receiving God’s grace and Christ’s sacrifice ...

We want Faith. We want Faith to be alive and well. We want Faith to thrive so we see the miraculous, the amazing, and God’s handiwork all over our lives. We want relationships changed due to faith. Hardships pacified, due to faith. Loneliness gone, due to faith. A marriage healed, due to faith. A deep, authentic closeness to God, due to faith. In God’s economy, yes, faith finances our Christianity. Yet, doubt robs our spiritual banks. We should know; at some point in our lives we emerged out of a horrible season of doubt. No doubt right, has anyone here on the prayer line lived a doubtless life? While shame tells us to hide this fact, reality tells me, everyone has moments of doubt, fear, and uncertainty. So brothers, today I can tell each of you that not long ago as much as I wanted to believe God was near me, I kept on believing He was far away and He didn’t much care for Palmer. Thank God, I’ve stepped up and out of that pit. So today, from a place of retrospect, let's a...

If you believe all you see on social media or cable news, you may be under the impression that the world is on the verge of implosion. That we have finally tipped the balance where climate change, politics, and the Illuminati will finally destroy society once and for all as we spiral into anarchy and oblivion of our own making. But once you put down your phone, take a deep breath, and let your brain rest a moment, you will likely realize that the times we live in are not really unprecedented. In fact....this is all pretty normal. From ancient times the world has generally been in a state of chaos: empires rise and fall, universal justice has never been established, and road rage has been going on since our distant relative got on horsebacks. This is not the first US government drama, and it is surely not going to be the last.  There truly is nothing new under the sun. Only new forms of media to inundate us with all the negative images and scripts. So why are so many living in...

We live in an ever-changing world - one that, at times, just makes no sense. From natural disasters to terrorist attacks, hate crimes and unmentionable acts of violence, we get the in-depth report from every news outlet in the United States. And, we watch these special reports, trying to find some kind of reason for the craziness, some perfect explanation for why these things happen and who is responsible and how can we make a difference. And, while we will never get all the answers on this side of eternity, we know that as Christians, we are called to trust God, share His love and pray. With today's scripture passage  in mind,   “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God,” let us pray… Almighty Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - As we face these uncertain times in our nation, we ask you, Lord, to dwell among us. We are comforted by the knowledge that You alone are our Savior and Lord, and t...

Have you ever been upset at yourself? Maybe for something you recently did, or for something you did long ago that now you are answering too? Have you done something so many times, that you've given up asking for forgiveness because the act of asking the Lord for forgiveness has been done so many times it's lost meaning because you keep doing the same nonsense over and over again despite saying you are sorry? Have you been called sorry by a loved one? Have you called yourself sorry? Have you given up on yourself? Few men call the morning prayer line every morning if the answers to the above questions are, "Naw, never bro, not me." Why is it so hard for men to forgive themselves? Why do we repeat transgressions against our faith? I don't know. Yes, I said that. I don't know? But what I can tell you is this, you are still here, on the prayer line. Brother Francis has said it so often, "Not everyone is blessed to wake up to another day." We are ...

I love words and their uses, in particular, I love how the Bible masterfully uses words to teach us the truth about our lives.I love how the Bible masterfully uses words to teach us the truth about our lives. We are often told never to judge, that it's sinful, and inconsiderate to our fellow men. The Bible states that there are two behaviors associated with judging. One is judging motives and the other judging actions. Sadly many Christians often mistake what the Bible actually says about judging others. Check it out, one of the most widely read passages of the Bible on judging others is Matthew 7:16, in this Scripture we learn to be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for the character. Who a preacher is, is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your bankroll. One day these diseased trees with their...

Last night I was doing that thing I do oh so often, you know, thinking, I asked myself, "What do you have to do, and what does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit?" I thought deeply about the questions and of course the "Repent of your sins! Fire and brimstone!" thoughts pressed in my mind. I knew this was not the right answer to my specific questions, so I crushed those thoughts and simply said to myself, "Asked the Lord for forgiveness and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit." Funny how more than often the simple answers are the right course of action. I continued to ponder - once filled with the Holy Spirit I will feel conviction when I have done something wrong because the Holy Spirit within me will grieve. Hmmm… how do I understand and recognize conviction from plain guilt? Are they the same? Once on the “right” path, the proper question is not how much of the Spirit is in us, but rather how much of me is accepting of the Spirit. In scriptur...

Every so often I have conversations, overhear a conversation, or hear something on television or radio; something that arouses my Christian senses. The other day while listening to satellite radio a song caught my ear. The lyrics were different than the typical worldly lyrics I hear in commercial music. I've found that people of a Christian nature hear/listen differently. The world around us is in pain. I can see, hear, and even feel it. Can you? I've had conversations with certain people where the discussion despite my kind efforts remains focused on negativity in the form of gossip, ignorance, or outright hate. No matter the positive nature of my words, the person I'm speaking with remains focused on the pain. As a Christian in many cases, I can hear this hurt so much so that it becomes visible through the person's non-verbals. Face, gestures, etc... Nonetheless, as I listen my heart focuses on the beauty in sight. Yes the pain of the world is real but the beaut...

The drama of radio, television, movies, videos, and social media are widely welcomed by many who fail to examine what they are doing. Today, we have become so accustomed to drama that it has wrongfully become an acceptable part of our daily life. Women and men should never deal with drama especially having drama in their family and church. There are many ways drama can start such as gossip, slander, and pure hate which are not a part of Christianity. God is not pleased with quarrels between Christians, but women and men of Faith should never indulge drama. Many drama demons are those individuals who put on a Christian hustle and thrive on drama inside the church, and within relationships, these are the culprits that make Christianity look bad. Stay away from tension and all unhealthy conflict. Don’t listen to gossip. If someone insults you repay them with prayer. Don’t argue with friends and create drama, but instead kindly and gently talk to each other. There are those times whe...

Today and yesterday I was emailing back and forth with a relative of mine and I was inspired to write down four attitudes that help turn negative experiences into positives. 1. Appreciate that it could have been worse. However bad a circumstance seems and feels, it could always be worse. It may seem unnatural and perhaps silly to think of hypothetical situations when you have a real problem at hand, but thinking of all the ways the situation could have been worse makes it so much easier to accept and deal with it. 2. Trust that everything happens for a reason. Whether good or bad, there’s a reason behind everything. Realize that if a door closed, it’s because what was behind it wasn’t meant for you. The world is so unpredictable. Things happen suddenly, unexpectedly. We want to feel we are in control of our own existence. In some ways, we are, in some ways we're not. We are ruled by the forces of chance and God's Will. 3. Have faith in blessings in disguise. W...

Yesterday AnTuan asked a question about repentance. I’ve noticed in my occupation as a public affairs specialist that a question asked by one is often a question asked for many. So, I’ve decided to share the answer in today’s meditation. As we discussed yesterday morning, the most common translation of "repent" is "turn" or "return." In Christian terms, repentance means "to turn from evil, and to turn to the good." If one turns away from God, that is pure sin at work. In the Bible three times Ezekiel included God's call to the people of Israel: 1) "Repent! Turn from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices!" 2) "Repent! Turn away from all your offenses", and 3) "Turn! Turn from your evil ways". Such a call was characteristic of the prophets. Prophets called on the people to repent a lot! Repentance is part of confession. Confession of sins is both commanded and frequently spoke of also. When yo...