God's Man

Makes Me Wanna Holler.com - Man, Dad, Husband: COMING SOON: Love Notes - An eBook by E.Payne Eric Payne of Makes Me Wanna Holler is going to be releasing his first ebook soon.  I am looking forward to what he will be sharing.  Having lurked around on his site  http://www.makesmewannaholler.com and his posts over at http://www.blackandmarriedwithkids.com . Check him out! I am excited about what 2011 has in store.

A couple of years ago I bought Where the Sidewalk Ends" by Shel Silverstein  for Princess Mighty.  It is a collection of poems and drawings that I remember finding at the library in my elementary school.  She has been carrying this book around and reading the poems and commenting on the drawings.  I love the fact that she loves to read and write.  As someone who reads like crazy and fights my way through NaNoWriMo every year I want my children to enjoy being creative. Here is one of my favorites from way back then. LISTEN TO THE MUSTN'TS Listen to the MUSTN'TS, child, Listen to the DONT'S Listen to the SHOULDN'TS The IMPOSSIBLES, the WONT'S Listen to the NEVER HAVES The listen close to me-- Anything can happen, child  ANYTHING can be.  This take me back to this word from Phillipians chapter 4:13 I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me You will hear all kinds of voices in this life.  There is only one voice, howeve...

Today is our national observance of Martin Luther King Jr 's birthday which was actually last Saturday Jan 15th, 2011.  Today I want to share 2 letters that were written in 1963.  The first letter below was written by eight clergymen and published in a local paper in Birmingham, AL.  Their letter was a rebuke of demonstrations that were going on in Birmingham during that time.  It was also a call to the blacks there to disassociate themselves for the "outsiders" that had come in to make trouble.  The second letter is a response from Dr. Martin Luther king Jr, written while he was sitting in jail in Birmingham.  This is going to be a super long post and different from what I normally post but it will be so worth the read.  All emphasis below is mine.  I have a tendency to highlight what jumps out at me when I read things.   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   April 12, 1963   A Call for Unity   We clergymen are ...

So the princesses are both sick today so I get to work from home while they recuperate.  Let the record show that they are just like Daddy going between computer and art time.  Princess Mighty (pink) is working on her 3 play and Princess mini (green) has decided to switch from drawing with her markers to building a tower out of them.   Enjoy your Friday

This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. http://bible.us/1John1.5.NIV84 Examine your walk. If you are saying one thing and doing another than you are lying and unproductive. Be transformed by renewing your mind and acting differently.

This last one is amazing for 2 reasons.  I love this rendition of My Funny Valentine I cannot place who the singer is.  At first I thought it was Etta James then Ella Fitzgerald.   If any of you know drop me a comment.    Download now or listen on posterous 14_My_Funny_Valentine.wma (5625 KB)

The next t w o talk about the same thing .  T he first is Love by Musiq SoulChild. After that there is this one from Sade, Ordinary Love I don't know how many times I can say that I love my bride.  I loved her then and I love even more now.  I just can't get enough of her.  I love to hear her voice.  I love to see her smile.  No matter how rough things get, as they do in marriage, I wouldn't change anything. Back then I knew very little about Love and even now I only know a little more.  What I do know is that God put us together and we are enjoying it. Throwing this one in because I can: So In Love

The Next 2 songs are  from Boyz II Men  and Kelis . For most of our dating relationship we were apart.  After a few months living in the same state my bride returned to FL to complete her MBA.  Shortly after that I left MD to move to CA to chase my dream of working in Video Games (SEGA!!!).  Having a long distance relationship was hard.  For me I was in a new city away from everything that I had ever known.  From a spiritual perspective I was running from the call that God had for me but something about her kept me from going completely sideways.  The song from Kelis was extremely poignant for us because we would miss flights on purpose so we could spend more time together.. That connection has stayed as we have grown in our marriage.  We are there for each other in a way that I have never experienced with another person.  I have truly been given a good gift from God .   Still So In Love...

The next track is Soul Sister by Bilal.  We always felt that there was a connection between us that went beyond the physical.  We felt connected intellectually even spiritually, as much as we understood a spiritual connection at that time.  We never believed the who soul mate thing and we still don't but we knew we were linked.  Or maybe it was just me.  I didn't tell her until we were engaged but I knew I was going to marry her after our 3rd date.  There was just an ease to how we navigated around each other.   We were so comfortable around each other.  It was like meeting an old friend from very early on in our relationship. It is the same way now but now I know what it is to truly be united with someone.  I didn't understand so much back then and I only know a little more now.  I remember our 1st day as a married couple and how different it was from our last day as an engaged one.  I look at how things are now, 8...

So I found this CD that my bride made while we were dating. It was a  V alentines gift  from 2001.  I flew from CA to FL to be with her that Valentines Day and on the 17th of February I proposed.   Each of the songs, with a few exceptions spoke something about our relationship then and now.   Here is track number 1.  Computer Love by Zapp & Roger   When I put this in my radio this morning as I was driving I was grinning hard.  I mean Computer Love, classic.  Our relationship began with a simple statement that I posted online, "Wanted:  A Good Woman to Spoil".  I won't tell you all the details but needless to say I waded through a lot of responses to that request.  Now this was back in in the 90's so the internet was a different animal.  Blogging was not the dominant force that it is today so I was reading a lot of emails.  We began chatting over email alot before we finally met.  From that our relation...

So I looked out over the house tonight and amidst the chaos of homework, sharing, dinner, not sharing was this one moment. The picture, hastily snapped, can not convey how perfect this moment. It was as if the peace of God came and blanketed everything. After taking this picture I landed here in Isaiah. This was my song: In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. - Isaiah 26:1-4 Find your praise afloat the chaos. That is where you will find Him. God's Man Posted via email from Pulling It All Together

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. http://bible.us/Isa43.19.NIV84 Posted via email from Pulling It All Together

Finally we have Malachi Chapter 4. 1 “Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,” says the LORD Almighty. “Not a root or a branch will be left to them. 2 But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. 3 Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,” says the LORD Almighty.  4 “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel.    5 “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with ...

Continuing into Malachi 3 ...    1 “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty.    2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.    5 “So I will come to put you on trial. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fathe...

Continuing our walk through Malachi... Malachi 2    1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the LORD Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.  3 “Because of you I will rebuke your descendants; I will smear on your faces the dung from your festival sacrifices, and you will be carried off with it. 4 And you will know that I have sent you this warning so that my covenant with Levi may continue,” says the LORD Almighty. 5 “My covenant was with him, a covenant of life and peace, and I gave them to him; this called for reverence and he revered me and stood in awe of my name. 6 True instruction was in his mouth and nothing false was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned...

So since this is the last day of 2010 I will be sharing the last few chapters of the Old and New Testaments.  The last book of the Old testament is Malachi and we will look at chapters 1-4 along with what I took from them. Malachi 1    1 A prophecy: The word of the LORD to Israel through Malachi.   Israel Doubts God’s Love    2 “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’      “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob, 3 but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.”    4 Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.”      But this is what the LORD Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish....

So I just did the last check of the night and the Princesses are conked out and my Queen is also softly sleeping. This made me think about how God has truly blessed me over this last 10 year cycle and how excited I am for this one. God is truly capable of amazing things. I have seen Him heal people both mentally and physically. I have seen marriages on the brink find reconciliation. I have seen children born to those previously thought to be infertile. I have even seen him bring peace through death. I haven't always understood it but I have recognized it for what it is, a loving God who desires to have a relationship with us. As we approach this New Year, I hope that you would take the time to examine what is truly important. He is waiting to recieve you. All you have to do is call on Him. Happy New Year if I do not post anymore before 2011. Posted via email from Pulling It All Together

As most of my friends know I am not a sports guy.  Love to play but rarely watch.  Unless it is my beloved Raiders.  I found this video through one of my Twitter peeps.  The question that this brings up to me is Who Defines You? Go GO GO! God's Man

Here is the second of the 5 Minute Drills that Princess Mighty and I did last night.  The actual drill was Why I Love School but since I am not here is,   Why I love to learn I think that learning is very important and value it above many other pursuits.  The reason for this is because God has called us to always be growing in our knowledge of His word and of the world around us.  While we should not live to emulate the world we should know how to operate within it.  I didn't always get this.  When I was in school I didn't work as hard as I should because I didn't see how important that an education was.  I let my peers define my production.  This made it very hard for me to get into college.  Through God's grace I was able to get into college and my mind was really opened to what learning really is.  Outside of my classes I was able to study poetry, art, religion, politics, philosophy.  I was also able to learn about business...