Da Word... 159!

Yo!

Good evening!  It's starting to get darker earlier these days.  A change of seaons is on its way.  Oh wait, low and behold... schools are starting up right about now as well!  Matter of fact, most of our lives will be changing, probably revving up as a "new" year begins.  Great times!  Aight, on to... da Word.

checkit:

"Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks with deceit.  With his mouth each speaks cordially to his neighbor, but in his heart he sets a trap for him.  Should I not punish them for this?" declares the Lord...

- Pops (Jeremiah 9:8,9)

Whoa..... stop da music and hold da phone.  Say what!?  Yeah potnas, da mood just gotten grim.  Imagine bein' in the same room when Pops above got upset...... whoa..... whoa...... I have a feeling that would be a very very very VERY scary experience dawg... cuz I mean that is GOD yo!  N e who, let's check into this.

Pops is describing the state of the tribe of Judah, and probably some other kats.  His language presents and image that is none to rosie.  I mean come on, tongues like deadly arrows?  Words with deceit?  Cordial facades in order to pull an evil setup on one's very own neighbor!?  Yo I don't care what anyone says, that sounds REAL bad.  It doesn't sound like a good situation in the slightest.  Imagine being in that kind of situation?  You'd have to be doubly and triply watchin' yo' back son!  Where is the freedom of LIFE in that?  I mean, what else could it lead to?  Let me quote direct from Pops himself (cuz I can't say it much better):

Beware of your friends; do not trust your brothers.  For every brother is a deceiver, and every friend a slanderer.  Friend deceives friend, and no one speaks the truth.  They have taught their tongues to lie, they weary themselves with sinning.  You live in the midst of deception...

- Pops (Jeremiah 9:4-6)

DUUUUUUUUUUUDE!   WHOA!!!!!!!  WHOA!!!!!!!   I mean DANG son!  Who would ever want to live in a situation like that?  Or with a family like that?  Some cynics might say, "ey come on man, that's just practice for the real world playa, they just gettin' it early, that's GOOD."  I say BUMP that son.  It's so ridiculous I won't even dignify the thought with a response.  N e who, guess what?  There are regions in the world where this exact habitat exists.... and to even worse degrees.  Do a search for the 10 most dangerous destinations in the world in Google (should come up with a hit to Forbes).  Read da seriously messed up things that happens, make a brutha sick son (and not in the good way).  And, of course, there are MANY sociopolitical and economical factors also involved... but dagnam!  N e way.....

The kicker line is Pops above asking, "Should I not punish them for this?"  Someone once said to me that if God is love and all that, then he shouldn't have to punish people.  Tell me, then, which of these is evil: letting a nation at this state and spiraling to an even more crippled and self-destructive state continue without correction? or lacing down some punishment in an effort to steer people toward reconciliation and growth?  I think if Pop's stayed his hand, I'd stop following him in a heartbeat.  No, even quicker than that.  Why? Cuz it would demonstrate to me a God who has no love for his creation and is willing to let it self-destruct by refusing to give the aid we all know that we need. 

I mean, let's look at it even more practically.  Do you think any kid could make it, or become a semi-decent individual, if his/her parents never ever disciplined him/her?  Do you know the utter chaos that would result? Yo, I grew up and knew some kids who had parents that never told them otherwise, or even an explanation.  All's I gotta say is, whoa, these kids were off son, and on a path to experience a very rough life learning things the hard way... if he or she survived that is.

So what's the takeaway?  Firstly, sometimes exacting discipline is the most loving thing we can do, and witholding it is the most evil thing we can do.  Secondly, let's stop lying and instead speak truth to one another, for lying leads to hurt, hurt leads to distrust, distrust leads to a disintegration of relationships, a disintegration of relationships leads to loneliness, and loneliness leads to the death of the very essence of what Life should be about.  And when no one cares about life, life loses its value, and people start taking it without even a second thought.

Let's bring change.  Change starts with us.  Change starts with you.  Change starts from within.

G-bless,

   - patrick

Da Word... 158!

Goooood Evening!

What uP!!!  heh heh.  What's the word on the block potnas?  Anything brand spanking new and maaaaaaad tight?  holla at your boy!  Things here are going well, besides this ACL i tore on my right knee.  YUP!  It's gone peeps.  It didn't hurt that bad when it happenend though.... strange.... PRAISE GOD!   heh heh.  I'm startin' to walk around without crutches a lil bit (experimenting, it's been less than a week, hee hee).  So, if ya gots time, drop a couple prayas for a brutha ;-D  Aight, on to... da Word!

checkit:

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

- Jesus da Christ (Matthew 12:25)

Yeah yeah, my man J!  what!!!!  Checkit, J had just healed a demon possessed man.  Yeah, that's right, he busted open a HUGE can of whuppin' on them forces kid!  KAPOW!   After he did this, guess who rolls on up?   Da Pharisees.  They never seem to learn it seems.  Odd. N E WHO, they had the audacity to say that my man J did this by Beelzebub... that is to say he is able to drive out demons through the prince of demons.  IN OTHER WORDS... they were sayin' J, of all peeps, is in utter cahoots with straight evil kid.  So J broke down for them.

"Yo, don't u know that a kingdom divided against itself will come crumblin' down with a quickness?  Don't you know utter self destruction is reserved for any city, house, or kingdom divided against itself?  Why would I punk a fellow demon if I were in cahoots with them?  It would straight ludricrous son!  And would only serve to destroy our purpose.  This is war potna, good versus evil, da kingdom of Pops versus the kingdom of da evil one."   BAM!  The whole passage is very insightful and pretty slick too.  But let's check this concept. 

I have no doubt that we all have been witness to an organization, team, or family that was not united, but divided against itself.  I have no doubt we have witnessed how nasty that situation can get: peeps backstabbing each other, harsh environments, anger and hate, revenge, zero trust, etc.  If it doesn't change, that unit of people will be destroyed.  Families go under, harmful near unforgiveable acts occur, peeps are scarred, others become cynical, true joy and happiness is hard to find..... POTNAS!  It's an all around BAD situation for EVERYONE involved. 

Now an organization, team, or family that iss mad tight.... shoot they overcome the GREATEST of challenges.  Those are the units that rise above kid!  They further society, inspire entire communities, win championships, grow into strong and impactfull companies, da whole nine.  These units do not go quietly into the night, they don't give up, they build each other up, they surge forward, and they always find true joy and happiness.  Let us no longer be divided against ourselves.  Take a moment to think if there are any circles that we are a part of that is divided for invalid reasons.  Let's go and make it right,  especially that family circle.

G-bless,

  - patrick

Da Word... 157!

Hi All!

Sorry I missed last week!!!!  Brutha is back in the habbit this week ;-D  And man, it is a nice day outside.  For some reason, after the rain, the day becomes amazing.   Okay, on to... da Word! 

checkit:

Whoever loves discipline, loves knowledge; but he who hates correction is stupid.

- Proverbs 12:1

Heh heh, blunt!  I like it when da word is just straight BLUNT from time to time.  TRU!  I mean fa real, it is what it is potnas.  If ya luv catchin' discipline, then ya luv knowledge.  But potnas, if we hate correction, then we are just plain dumb, fatuous even.   Let's go into that a bit... about kats who hate correction.

Kats who hate correction never seem to learn.  Matter of fact, they actually get stuck in the most worst of ruts.  MATTER of FACT... they tend to struggle a LOT for a ton of reasons, many of which could EASILY have been avoided had this person taken to correction.  But NOOOOOO.... this kat is usually way to prideful to accept correction.  This kat is instead more likely to get in yo' face.... with a QUICKNESS. In my experience, this kat tends to get angry... FAST.  They hate correction so much that their mechanism for thwarting it is to develop a character will go ape at the mere scent of correction abrew.  This kat is UNSTABLE!  Unpredictable.  It gets to a point where there is NO tellin' what kind of reaction you will get if you try to pass on a word of knowledge or discipline to this brutha or sista.  Sound like anybody you might know potnas?  I know a couple.  Mmmhmmm.  They begin to "rule by force".  If you question them, woooo, better watch out!!!  Sometimes these kats amass a large organization, many like-minded, and very scary to be a part.  OH, and they might get whatever they want too!  Riches, cars, cribs, da whole nine.  But this kat will miss out on Life.  When times get tough, they will be alone.  When they need aid, they will be alone.  When they near the end of their lives, they will be alone.  See, this kat will probably never know what it is to have a true friend as they will have pushed them all away... and so, they'll likely die... alone.

Dang, all that just by hatin' correction!?  Heh, it's called errosion, and it eventually ripples throught a person's entire being.

On the other hand, kat's who like discipline... they tend to soar.  And actually, they might hate the moments when they receive discipline (sometimes it's not so fun, i mean, how many of you actually like to hear that you are dead wrong and your idea is wack son!? ??).  But the difference is.. this kat will take the discipline, learn from it, and change.  The more he or she does so, the better and faster he or she gets at it.  And you know what?  They soar.  Peeps tend to stick around and like to help them.  Peeps tend to give them more opportunities.  These kats tend to have great friends too, and KEY friends.  Hey, these kats end up becoming mentors and role models.  People start wantin' to be like them.  AND, these kats are not alone when the times get rough.  They, instead, have this amazing safety net underneath that catapults them to new heights.

I think.... I like the repercussions of bein' a kat who likes discipline ;-D   What about you?

G-bless,

   - patrick

ps - there are always exceptions too ;-D

for instance, a kat who loves discipline may use what he has learned for ill gain... ie he/she learns how better to manipulate peeps to his or her own designs.   Let's not be that kat!!!!

for instance 2.... a kat who hates correction may not let that corrode his/her character and push peeps away.  This could result in making true friends, but some who will progressively pass on correction less and less.  So this kat will continue to learn things the hard way (hopefully), but at least he/she will have true friends willing to lend a hand.