First, Joshua Harris renounced his books and now he’s renounced his faith in Jesus Christ. This is disheartening to the Christian community. You can see his Instagram post below where he makes statements specifically denouncing his faith and former self-righteousness:

It’s not uncommon for young people to have a form of self-righteousness as it relates to their faith or personal convictions. That’s no reason to leave the faith or deny Christ. That is a fault of our humanity which tends to pride. This is why we need Jesus, and God’s grace is enough to cover, heal, and forgive the self-righteous.

I read both of Joshua’s books coming up and personally, I did not see a problem with them. I recall him sharing his testimony in the first book about how he used to date to feel girls up and let his flesh loose sort of speak without looking for the commitment of marriage. He became convicted about that lifestyle and decided to kiss dating goodbye—no longer dating to please his flesh, but for a greater purpose. He wrote a workbook to follow-up with this idea assisting men in the workbook to choose love over lust.

He cautioned single men about the pitfalls of pornography and to have accountability with one another in their search for purity. Finally, he met his wife and continued to be transparent sharing about his courting experience, which is essentially dating, but with a specific purpose of marriage in mind. These were all good things that contributed well to the body of Christ; however, it’s the nature of man to look at things in extremes instead of for what it is.

There is a lot of imbalance in church culture regarding dating, purity, and the topic of relationships. Some took Joshua’s message and refrained from dating altogether no matter what their hearts were like. Many because of fear of being imperfect or impure; simply refused to date. Others said to heck with the idea altogether. They just did themselves tossing an idea that one can be pure and date with pure motives completely out the window.

All of this interpretation and misinterpretation can easily take the focus off of what truly matters placing it on rules instead of the disposition of our hearts. The most important thing for us as believers is not even to defend sexual purity, although it’s important. The most important thing is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. When we genuinely love God the way he requires, everything else begins to line up in our lives including our sexual purity.

We will at that point date with the right intentions and purpose and no one will have to remind us to honor God with our bodies. There is entirely too much religion in the church meaning people doing things that appear religious without relying on the power of God.

When we do work, focus on morale, and rules without relying on knowing Christ and his power to keep us; we can easily fall away from the faith. Christ is the foundation and the life-blood of all that we are. Without him, we can do nothing. The greater acquainted with that revelation we become; the more firmly rooted we will become in Christ, and the harder it will be for us to fall away from the faith–because our faith isn’t built on our self-righteousness or ability to keep rules, but our ability to depend on the God who makes us righteous.

In this world, we will have questions, meet people of varying faiths and beliefs. This is why we have to study. We have to become lovers of the truth meditating on it day and night. It isn’t easy to be in a position like Joshua was–representing purity and carrying the weight of others and their interpretation on his shoulders, but that was not entirely his responsibility. Our responsibility as teachers of the gospel is to say what God gives us to say and not worrying about who receives it or not.

We are to be patient and to walk in love with all not grappling with who does not receive or believe what we’ve given. It’s God’s responsibility to convince men once they’ve heard the word God has given us to share. It’s men’s own choice to choose whether they will obey God. If they choose not to obey; their blood will not be required at our hands as long as we obeyed God in sharing what he’s given us. I pray that he comes back to himself and what’s important which is Jesus Christ and knowing him personally.

Recently, I’d seen on social media how a street preacher protested against Kirk Franklin outside of his concert. He boldly rebuked Kirk saying that he did not represent God properly at the BET Awards. He accused Kirk of listening to preacher’s who were drunk with wine and refused to shake Kirk Franklin’s hand.
See the brief video below:

First, it’s always good to have a healthy discourse about the Word of God and God in general. This is the most important topic for man-kind. It was also good the street preacher bought up the wrath of God as people have only associated God with love within the broader culture. However, it was clear that the brother has got to be young in the Lord or his faith because he was not using wisdom nor interpreting the scriptures properly. He used for an example a scripture stating:

​“The blood shall be up to the horses’ bridle.” – Revelations 14:20

This is a scripture that he suggested for Kirk to use on the Award show. What does that scripture mean? It seems to be of a unique context that most people may not be familiar with. It’s not wise to confuse people with passages of scripture that will require an enormous amount of explaining to get a simple point across.

The other scripture he misinterpreted is when he shared that Kirk had friends in the world, thus; he could not be a friend of God. That scripture does not mean that you literally cannot have an unsaved friend or associate. It is stating not to take on the spirit of the world which is clearly described as the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. If we take on the spirit of the world; we cannot take on the spirit of Christ. They are opposite. The Bible is clear in John 17 that we are to be in the world and yet not of the world. There is a difference. Also, he bought up another scripture in John that says those that are born of Christ do not sin. Sinning means missing the mark, which is something that we all do including the street-preacher. The scripture in John is talking about intentional habitual sin. It is significant to having an unrepentant heart that is unwilling to change.

Secondly, he was very judgmental, which is a sure sign of a believer, who is young in the Lord. He accused Kirk Franklin of having a heart after money and fame instead of for God and people. How does he know what’s in Kirk Franklin’s heart? Because Kirk did his job, using his God-ordained gift to perform at the BET Awards. The Bible says we will know men by the fruit they bear. I have not seen any fruit that shows Kirk as the street preacher described him.

Instead, I’ve seen the opposite. Kirk seems to genuinely care about people. I met him only one time at a radio interview in Chicago. He had not had much sleep, but he insisted on listening to someone at the radio station who wanted a moment with him. He greeted all of us as if he had all the energy in the world, and even shared wise words of advice. If you ask me, I’d say he has a fathering spirit about him. He cares for many people that can benefit him in no way except for maybe buying his album(s).

Would the street preacher have preferred for Kirk to not have been at the Awards at all? That’s what would have happened had Kirk taken his advice in using the 3 minutes he was supposed to be performing to preach them a condemning sermon on how they all were going to hell. There would be no representation of light in darkness if the preacher’s advice was followed. Thus, it would be even more detrimental for the young kids that he spoke about who are influenced by entertainers who do not follow Christ.

It is far better to have artists like Kirk, Erica Campbell, and Johnathan McReynolds present to be a light and an example of what it means to follow Christ. This speaks louder than words of condemnation. This is a clear example of why the Bible says he that wins souls is wise. The street preacher is zealous without wisdom in this area. That’s why he isn’t called to a platform similar to that of Kirk for the time being.
However, I love Kirk’s response to the young brother. He responded with humility. People have commented on the look on Kirk’s face as if he was losing a battle with the young man, but Kirk is very sure on who he is and his calling in Christ. When you are sure on who you are and your calling in Christ; you don’t have to defend yourself. You can simply humble yourself and walk in love toward your accusers. He went the extra mile inviting the young man into conversation with himself, and his pastor Tony Evans afterward.

The young man, still immature in his walk with the Lord, stood firm on his zealous stance without proper knowledge. It was not a totally bad experience though. People who oppose others in such a way can keep others sharp as discipline, self-examination, and an aptitude to study the scriptures is often the result of dealing with such a person. Let’s keep the young man in prayer as he grows in his walk with the Lord. Let’s be thankful that he is in Christ. Let’s also continue to pray for some of our intercessors on the front-lines like Kirk Franklin that he will continue to stand firm in his submission to Christ and the gospel.

I’ve been meditating all week on embracing my weakness for acquaintance with God’s power and a whole other level of faith. According to the below scripture, God wants our faith not to simply rest on wisdom from men, but on his power:

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power. – 1 Corinthians 2:4-5

God wants us to be acquainted with his power. He wants us to know his power so much that it builds our faith.

Faith: Complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Strong belief in God or in doctrines of a religion (Google Definition.)

God doesn’t want us staying at the same level as when we came into the faith. He wants us growing stronger and more confident in him. We grow stronger and more confident in the Lord and in our faith through embracing our weaknesses. This is where we give the Holy Spirit room to work.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. – Romans 8:26-27 (NIV)

Above, we see when we are too weak to find the right words to pray; the Holy Spirit prays for us, and not only does he pray for us, but he prays God’s will for us being the Spirit of God; he knows the mind of God concerning us. Just like men know the dealings of men.

Paul speaks of the importance of not boasting in himself, but instead boasting in his weaknesses:

2 Corinthians 12:5 – But I will not boast about myself, except my weakness.

Paul continues to speak of refraining from boasting in himself even though he’d be telling the truth about himself. He chooses to boast in his weaknesses so that men do not think more of him than who he really is. By Paul sharing his weaknesses, it allows him to appear human to his followers as he relies on God. This lets his followers know they can also rely on God.

To keep Paul from looking to himself for strength because of his history of revelations; God allowed a thorn in his flesh making him acquainted with his weakness so that he could be acquainted w/God’s strength and power. This, in turn, builds his faith. Paul sees the value in this process and instead of complaining, he embraces his weakness looking for a full manifestation of God’s power and strength.

In conclusion, we see Paul embracing his weakness within himself for God’s greater power. See 2 Corinthians 12:9. He learns to love this process despite the discomfort of his weakness. In the church, there is a facade that to be a real believer; you have to be strong all the time, ignore or simply don’t address weaknesses for an appearance of righteousness and holiness. However, that isn’t it. That’s not the structure God has built up or ordained. Actually, it’s a set up for a break down because none of us are strong enough to stand up strong all of the time unless we are depending on the Holy Spirit’s power to help us where we are weak.

Don’t be deceived or fooled by those who boast in their reputation or strength as if that is the way to proceed. The way to proceed is to embrace the fact that we are weak allowing God to elevate our faith, confidence, and maturity in him through showing his strength and power within our weakest places.

Did you know that death can be used as a catalyst? What is a catalyst? A catalyst is something that provokes action or change. One of the best examples of this is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was assassinated April 4th, 1968. Just 7 days after his death, congress pushed out the 1968 Fair Housing Act in response to the unrest, rioting, and protest for justice across the country. His death became a catalyst for change. It pricked the authority figures in the nation to change the laws on the books producing equality in housing for all citizens no matter race, color, national origin, gender, or religion.
Previously, there was no urgency to pass this law. It was an afterthought or something approached in a melancholy way. Death has the ability to do this in our personal lives. It makes us question if we are living in our purpose as we should. What more does God want us to do here? It is a sobering experience to experience the loss of a loved one.
I’d recently been thinking about how the Bible mentioned death as a sting. When I begin to study the sting of death. I found something similar to death being used as a catalyst:

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. – 1 Corinthians 15:55-56

First, let’s properly exegete the above scriptures: Death exists because sin was introduced into the world by Adam and Eve. However, Adam and Eve would not have known about sin had God not given them the commandment not to sin. Thus, God continued his plan before the foundation of the world to extinguish sin and death by offering his only son as a man to pay the penalty for sin. This introduced everlasting life to man-kind again if we’d only trust in Jesus Christ. Thus, the sting, or prick of death and sin separating us from God no longer exists for those who trust in God.

This is the proper interpretation of the above scriptures for those who die in Christ. However, what about those of us who are still alive in Christ? Can death be used in a positive way to prick us to some form of action that can be used for God’s glory? I think it can.

We know the definition of prick in the sense to cause pain as if getting pricked by a needle, but there is another prick that takes that pain and wakes up to a greater purpose.

Prick in the above scriptures in Greek means the below:1.    A sting
2.    An iron goad, for urging on oxen, horses, and beasts of burden. i.e. here the proverb “to kick against the goad” i.e. to offer vain and perilous or ruinous resistance. (Thayer Greek Dictionary)
Follow me as I break this down:
Goad: To provoke or annoy (someone) so as to stimulate some action or reaction.
    i.e. “He goaded her on to more daring revelations.”
Synonyms: Provoke, Spur, Prick, Sting, or Prod (Google Definition)The above term kick against the goad is from the conversion of Paul, whom the Lord asks why he kicked against the prick? I’d always wondered what that terminology meant. It means why is Paul fighting against the purpose of God for his life. God had to place him in an uncomfortable situation that would sting him taking his eyesight and stopping him in his tracks to prod him to submit to the purpose of God for his life. When Paul finally submitted, he was on fire for God taking the message of Jesus Christ far beyond his generation.
A goad is also a physical tool used to prod animals such as oxen who are used for a particular purpose. When the animal is struck with the goad, it prods him on the direction to go. My point is this sting is significant for being used in a manner as to provide a sting that doesn’t only result in discomfort and pain, but far more. It also results in direction, sobriety, action, and change.
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God doesn’t allow anything to go to waste in our lives. He uses it all for his glory. In what ways might the Lord be prodding you for change through the loss of a loved one? In what ways might the Lord be providing direction on how to move forward through the loss of a loved one? In what areas might you have been fighting against the Lord or his purposes for your life? In what areas might you have been melancholy prior to the death of a loved one that you feel a fire or prod for change coming on? Think about these things and allow the Lord to walk you through them as you continue on knowing your deceased loved one is at rest.