NO! Are you out of your mind!

I can't seem to get my head around how so many people give up so easily.

Why even start something that you are not willing to put enough effort into completing?

Let's be more specific... Why profess to have faith in God and say that you give your life to Him, but after things get a little hard, start to pout and say I quit? I'm sorry, but I just don't get it.

Every since I was a small child, there was one characteristic that I learned and kept with me. That is to never start something you are not planning to finish. And once you have started, no matter how hard it gets, don't give up without a fight. Really it's to fight to the death.

Your never a failure, until you stop fighting. If I was trying to become a famous designer and I pursued it for years and years, but then I died before ever making it. No one could say that I failed. I simply died before succeeding. But I died trying. The most important thing is to never stop fighting.

Many times people will come at you with negative words to discourage you. And your own thoughts will try to create this negativity as well. So you have to know when to be nice and when to be strong. For someone to give up on their faith or on a dream, something had to happen along the way to discourage them. And normally it was someone or something that happened or came into their life and started to pollute them. That is why we need to be careful with who we call friend, and with who we start a relationship with.

Whoever and whatever I allow into my mind will certainly plant seeds, and if not soon, then later those seeds will sprout and bear their destructive fruit.

So what should I do with people who come to me trying to discourage me, or trying to break me down? I can tell you what I would do. I would tell them to get out of my face with their negative words or discouraging words. And if that person is trying to get me to turn my back on my dreams or my faith, I would tell them " Are you out of your mind!"

There is a time to be nice and a time to be strong. Even Jesus Himself did not play with His faith. He was very sharp with those who tried to discourage Him. For example when Peter tried to stop Him from going to die for us, He said to Peter "Get behind me satan!". I guess you wouldn't say that was polite. But he had to protect his faith.

There are some things that are more important than feelings. Our future is one of them.

Just one of those days...

Sometimes you have those days where a minute feels like an hour. It seems that if anything can go wrong it will!

No one wakes up in the morning hoping for a bad day. But bad days do happen. Their just seems to be days that no matter how hard you try to turn it around, there is another "surprise" just around the corner. It's awful! You wake up and the iron is broken, now you have to go to work or school wrinkled. Then you get to the bus stop and some "wonderful" person speeds by kicking water up onto your already wrinkled shirt. Then you get where you are going, only to find your superior is in a bad mood today, so she is giving attitudes like free lollipops. So you go through the dreadful day at work, and trying to be positive, you say "this day is going to end well". But when you leave the job, someone picks a fight with you on the way home, because you brushed against them on your way off the bus. By this time, you are thinking, could it get any worst? Oh yes it can! You get home expecting to find some peace of mind. But no no, not today. The family! Yes, it could be the wife or the mom or siblings. But someone has to start complaining or nagging or asking what seems to be 1000 questions, when you are not in the mood. So of course, an argument starts. By now you are thinking, "when will this day end?"

The good news is, it will end! No matter how bad of a day it has been, you can close your eyes at night and wake up and start over. Who knows the next day could be the best day of your life.

We can't avoid problems. It doesn't matter how hard we try. If we don't go looking for them, they will find us. So we can't be afraid to face problems and hardships. Of course, it is never pleasant to go through a frustrating moment, but it can build character. If you just put the past behind you and start each new day afresh, you will learn a lot. It takes a lot of will to lay down after a horrible day and say, "tomorrow is going to be a great day!" Because normally after a bad day, you dread the thought of tomorrow, assuming it will be the same or worst.

Please understand this. Everyday will not be good, but we can go into each day expecting it to be. And if it is not, then we can expect tomorrow to be. But we must make sure that we also do what it takes to make it good. Because sometimes the day goes wrong because of our own decisions.

And the same applies to life itself. Problems do come. But we have to decide how we will deal with them. We can either get down and discouraged, or we can pick our head up and say "come on problem, I'm gonna deal with you". The choice is really ours.

Remember Jesus said, "in this world you will have tribulation (problems), but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world". If our Lord overcame, can't we? Think about it.

P.S. Have a GOOD day!

What if I had...?

There's a nice song called "I don't wanna go through the motions" that I have been thinking about in the last couple of days. I actually haven't heard it in a while, but I keep thinking about it.

You may ask what is the point? Well, it's not really the whole song that I keep thinking about. It's really just one line. The singer says "I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, what if I had given everything... instead of going through the motions".

How deep is that line? "What if I had given everything?"

I know one thing. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking that question. But many people will.

Right now all over the world there are people doing this 21 day fast from secular distractions. And some will do it right, and really go all the way, and be truly filled with God's presence and receive the Holy Spirit and change inside.

But others will just go through the motions, meaning just do it any kind of way. Just caught up in the hype of everyone else doing it. That is sad. Because on the 17th when nothing happens for them, they will be left asking, "what if I had given everything...instead of going through the motions"?

And the same rule applies to life. Many people talk so much about what they will do, or what they will change. But they are just going through the motions. They are not really ready to make the commitment to change at all.

And that is why we have so many defeated people in this world. Especially those who are Christians. They say they believe in a great God, but they just go through the motions, they don't act on their faith in a bold enough way to make something happen. It is almost as if Jesus is just a comforting fairytale king to them. It's as if God were a bandage for a bleeding wound. The bandage covers the wound, but doesn't heal it.

It breaks my heart to see how many people start stuff and don't finish, or worst off, are not even willing to start something because it is "too hard". They just go through the motions in life, and that is it.

Listen dear friends, this 21 day fast that we are doing is not a joke. It is not just for the old or for the young. Not just for members or just for pastors or bishops. This is not just for people who are very holy or have been in church for many years. This is for everyone!

There is death and devastation all over the world right now, and the signs of the end are evident. Now ask yourself this question; one day when you have to stand judgement, do you want to spend ETERNITY asking "what if I had given everything...instead of going through the motions?"

I WISH I could...

We as a people have some really bad habits that we need to break.

One of many, is the habit of always saying "I wish..."

I was taught some time ago that there is a huge difference between a wish and a want.

What we really want, we make a way to get. What we wish for, is actually more of a fantasy.

How many times do people say things like, "I wish I could lose 10 pounds" or "If only I could get a better job" or "how I wish I had this or that". All the while they do absolutely nothing to make it happen. So do they really, really want to have that? Of course not! Because if they wanted it, they would be doing more to make it happen.

What they really need to say is, "It would be nice to have this, but honestly, I am not going to move a foot to make it happen". These are the ones who are full of excuses, why they can never have this or that. But they fail to look in the mirror and see that if they really wanted what they are saying they wish they could have, they would be out doing something to make it happen.

But of course, that would be too much like right.

If you want something, you have to set your mind on it and go after it. You want to lose weight, great. But you need to change your diet and exercise. You CAN do it. You just need to decide on it, and go after it. If you want a better job, who says you can't have it. But what are you doing to find one, or prepare yourself for when an opportunity arises?

What you really want is shown by what you do. Not by what you say.

It's like a wise man once said, "people who want make a way, people who don't want make excuses".

Gotta watch those "little" foxes!

I was reading the bible this morning, just looking for a passage that I had heard some time ago. But what I ended up stumbling across got me to thinking. Here is the passage I found:

"Catch the foxes for us,

the little foxes that ruin the vineyards—
for our vineyards are in bloom." (Song of Solomon 2:15)

What I find the most interesting is, the way it is stated. Not only catch us the foxes, but catch us the "little" foxes that ruin the vineyard. It's like the writer is saying, I'm not so worried about the big foxes, because I see them coming. But help me to see when the little sneaky ones are trying to get in.

Let's look at this from another point of view. In life, there is always something trying to destroy us or bring us down. Sometimes there are big threats that come right up to our face and try to break us. Other times they are smaller threats. But which are the most dangerous?

I think the "little foxes" are more dangerous to the farm than the big ones. Why? Because you see the big ones coming. And even if you don't see them, they have trouble getting through the fence. But the little foxes creep in through the holes in the fence, and they destroy everything.

Now let's think about life. It is the "little" sins that really destroy us. We see the big threats coming and quickly say no. Those who have been in the church or in the youth group for awhile are not going to just jump up one day and say, "God is not real", or go and kill someone, or rob a bank. So those bigger mistakes are not the ones that get you easily. But the ones that do get to you are the little things. A "little" pornography, a "little" lie, a "little" gossip. The small things that sometimes seem so harmless, but later become much bigger. It is the little things that we have to watch out for. Those are the sins or mistakes that really pose a threat. Because they sneak in unnoticed and plant themselves in our hearts and destroy us little by little. So watch out! You may not see a big fox with fangs dripping with saliva ready to pounce, coming at you. But that sure doesn't mean that the little foxes aren't creeping in. In fact, they may already be in the vineyard (your head) destroying all the good things that are there.

Let us pray daily for God to help us protect ourselves from the little foxes that creep into our lives to destroy us.

Give me a Man of God

Give Me A Man Of God

Give me a man of God - One man!

Whose faith is master of his mind.

And I will right the world of wrongs,

And bless the name of all mankind.

Give me a man of God - One man!

Whose tongue is touched with heaven’s fire,

And I will flame the darkest hearts

With high resolve and clean desire.

Give me a man God – One man!

One mighty prophet of the Lord,

And I will give you peace on the earth

Bought with a prayer not a sword.

Give me a man of God - One man!

True to the vision that he sees,

And I will build Your broken shrines

And bring the nations to their knees.

The day after tomorrow...

What's the most common, yet weakest, most pitiful statement you've ever heard from someone, who doesn't want to do something? Can't think of the answer?

How about, "I'll do it tomorrow".

This is the biggest load of garbage that can ever be stated. If you really want to do it, then why wait until tomorrow? But the funny thing is, we hear this so much that we even become numb to it. When a person says, " I need to go on a diet. You know what, I'm gonna start on Monday." But today is Thursday, so why are you waiting four days to start? No one really believes that they will follow through with this sudden declaration. And why? Because if they were serious they would start immediately. If you see you need to do it, why not start today, or tomorrow at the latest.

The truth is we say these things to comfort ourself. We want to convince ourselves that if we just have a few more days to prepare, then we will finally be ready to make a change. But that is not how it works. Change comes when we decide on something and act. Once I know I need to do something, then the next step should be to start on it right away. I myself have been a victim of this excuse, "it's no point in starting in the middle of the week. I might as well start afresh next week." But normally, when Monday comes, then you say Tuesday, then on Tuesday you say Wednesday. Then on Wednesday, you say there's no need to start in the middle of the week, I will start on Monday. And the vicious cycle continues.

The point is a procrastinator will go nowhere, because he is always finding a reason why not to go. Action is the only remedy. When you think it, if it's right and you know you need it, then do it. Don't let time slow you down. Momentum is so important. Many times a person has a great idea, but lacks the go ahead to get it done. If you truly believe in it, then go ahead and jump in. The attitude of a winner is simple," I'd rather live with failure than to die knowing I never tried." But the funny thing is, if you give your best everyday, and don't procrastinate when action is needed, I have a hard time believing you will fail.

As long as you keep learning...

You know, I really believe that we should not be afraid of making mistakes.

Of course, no one wants to mess up. And when we do, it feels really crappy. But no matter how hard you try, you will always mess up sometimes. The truth is, no one really knows how to get it right all the time. You can be the nicest person in the world, but you will offend someone. And even if you speak the truth to everyone, there will be someone who doesn't like it, and it may even make you rethink how or why you said what you said. The point is whether intentionally or accidentally, we will all mess up.

How many times have you promised yourself that you would never do something again? Then after a short time, you fall right back into it. Sometimes not even on purpose! It seems like problems just come to us, there's no need to go looking for them. On the other hand, how many times do you set goals for yourself, saying "I will accomplish this, by this time", etc? But close to the alloted time, you see that you are far from the goal you set. And why? Normally because you feel off the wagon along the way.

I think the biggest problem is that when people mess up, when they let themselves or someone else down, they get so discouraged that they fall into a rut. And that doesn't solve anything.

What we should do is learn from our mistakes. But I mean really learn from them. We need to think about a few things, like; What was wrong with what I did? Why did I do it? What lead to me doing it? What can I do to ensure that I don't do it again? Is there something or someone I need to let go of in order to steer clear of this mistake? And so forth and so on. You have to see what was wrong and fix it. And even when it is not fixable, at least see what was wrong and take note of it so that you can avoid it next time.

If we are not getting better, then we are surely getting worst. So learn from your mistakes and look forward.

A terrible thing to waste!

A mind really is a terrible thing to waste isn't it?

Our mind is funny (but not really). It seems to go wherever it wants sometimes without ever asking permission. Many people catch themselves day dreaming about nothing important or almost anything. But the dangerous thing is, that the places our mind likes to take us to the most, are normally not places it needs to be going at all. All sorts of thoughts go through our head each day. Some good, others bad. Everything from memories from the past, to funny movies that we saw. But one thing is for sure... our mind is NEVER empty.

The fact is, our thoughts are sort of like a car. You can crank it up and step on the pedal, but if you don't control it, you will crash. Our minds need to be controlled. Our thoughts are the beginning of our actions, so we need to control them. No one would try to drive a car blind folded. So why let your mind roam without restraints to any far away place it so chooses? You have to grab hold of the steering wheel in your head and control your thoughts.

Sure there is no way to stop any and all bad thoughts from entering your mind. But one thing is for sure, you can stop them from staying. You have to reject bad thoughts and quickly move on the thinking about something better.

I met a women one day who lost her mother 20yrs before the day we met. And up to that day, she still cried everyday over her mother, and never managed to move forward. How many young people use the fact that they don't have a dad, and can't forget that he walked out on them, as an excuse for failure? They do this, because their mind is constantly thinking about the bad things that happened. So much so that they never move forward. Your thoughts can build you or break you. Even Jesus said that it's not what goes into a person that corrupts them, but what goes out. Where does what goes out originate? In your mind!

So we need to be very careful with our thoughts. Don't waste your mind on none sense. And don't let garbage from around you fill your head. Think about what is good, let go of the past. No matter how hard it may be to do, just let go. It's not worth holding onto things that hurt you.

And be careful with the media, music, gossip, etc. They can all fill your head with negativity. Choose you conversations wisely, and especially the ones that are not positive. And when you can't avoid listening to negative words, dismiss them from your mind as quickly as they entered. Don't hold a grudge, don't hate, don't seek revenge.

Remember it's your life. When you focus on negativity, you are allowing another person or thing to control your life.

Your mind is the car... but you are the driver.

No Gunk, No Junk, Just You

I was remembering this juice I used to drink called "Just Juice". No, I'm not hungry or thirsty, I was remembering something else about it. The slogan on the carton always said these words "No Gunk, No Junk, Just Juice". That got me to thinking. What are they trying to say with that? It is clear that they are saying their juice is not full of a bunch of impure junk. It is not loaded with fillers, or unhealthy ingredients. They are saying it is pure, it is clean, and most importantly it is what it is, juice. They are saying, if it says orange, you will not get apple, or if it says pineapple, you will not get grape. They are saying that they are genuine and real.

By now you are probably thinking, but what does this have to do with me. Well, let's look at it this way; how many people live each day pretending to be something they are not? How many others are full of "fillers" meaning they are not real, they change according to whatever goes in them. They let music go into their mind and corrupt it with "junk". They let terrible friends into their life that slow them down with "gunk" like gossip, rumors, bad ideas, pressure to do wrong, etc.

Many people are filled with gunk and junk. The things they let into their lives are a bunch of garbage. And as they say in the world "you are what you eat". In the same way, you are what you eat spiritually. You eat filthy music, you will be filthy minded. You eat gossip, you sin with your mouth, you eat pornography you will be a pervert. You eat laziness, you will be a loser! If you fill yourself with junk, then that is what is going to come out of you. It will either come out in your words, actions, or at least in your thoughts.

Not to mention what I said earlier about those who don't even want to do these things, but end up following the crowd. You are really being pathetic. Why do I say that. Because you are going to destroy your life, whilst living a lie. So you will end up hurt in the end, for something you didn't even want. What's the point in that? You need to be true to yourself. And stand up for what is right.

Remember, it's your life. You can make it as clean or as dirty as you want. No one can stop you. But if you want a clean, pure life, you need to get the junk out. And you know what junk is in your life.

Like that juice company, you need to adopt a policy... No Gunk, No Junk, Just YOU.

DETERMINATION Pt. 2 "Oh, so your mad?"

It really trips me out, how many people are soooo upset about the way their life is, but are doing NOTHING to change it.

How many people right now are saying "I'm sick of this relationship, it is going nowhere" or "I am tired of drinking myself to death" or "I fed up with this or that". This list really goes on and on. But most of these people put little or no effort into changing their life. If you are tired of something you do something about it. No matter what it takes, you put in the effort to change it. And yes sometimes it will have to cause you a little pain. It will hurt a bit, but to change the way your life is; that's what it takes! It's like the story of that man who was a rock climber and got stuck in the canyon and had to saw his own arm off. That was a neccesary pain. And for a better life you will find times that you have to go through neccesary pain. The pain of leaving someone, the pain of losing a friend, the pain of leaving a job, the pain of missing something that was supposedly exciting, the pain of exercise, etc. Anything that is going to have a good ending is going to cause you some pain.

And that is exactly what determination is. It is a die hard attitude that says "come what may come, I am getting over this, or getting to that, etc." It is an energy in you, that doesn't allow you to stop going. I have seen countless people say they are determined to do something or to change something, but you know what happens. After a short time of so called "trying", they just give up and resort back to the old way of thinking and living. That is NOT determination!

Those who are determined don't allow friends, family, money, addictions, complexes, or anything else get in their way. They face any challenge with an iron will, ready to show who they are. People will not see who you are based on what you say. They will know who you are, based on what you do.

So ask yourself this question, who am I? Am really determined to change my life this year, or am I hoping to find an easy way around problems and difficulties? To you who want a hand out in life, who don't want to fight, who want things easy.

I just have this word of advice for you...

Don't hold your breath waiting for the easy way to come. You'll probably die before it gets there.

DETERMINATION

On the picture above, below the word determination it says:

"Overcome the obstacles, before they overcome you."

That it is the mind of those who want to succeed. They don't give problems a chance to overcome them. They attack and defeat a problem, long before it gains momentum.

Faith & Determination= Success

Still Ain't had Enough?

A lot of people have spent a major part of this year just looking for "fun" and excitement. And now that the year is about over, they are more ready than ever to jump at the chance to go to the big Christmas party, or New Year's Eve celebration. And what will they do there? Get drunk?Stay high the whole night? Kiss every pretty girl or boy in sight? Bust a few shots in the air to declare they are strong for another year? What? What is the point of all this. When is it enough?

I think it is sad that young people especially, throw their life away for a few moments of pleasure. How many youth are killed each year drunk driving? How many overdose? How many get killed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Now, what I would really like to know is; do you think that the party scenes that will be full to the brim during these holidays are the right place to be or the wrong place to be? What will be the outcome or all the "excitement". NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! Or worst of all, the outcome could be fatal. Literally.

When is enough, enough? I think the young people of today need to wake up. It is actually sickening to see how silly most are. They think everything that MTV or Hot blah bla blah says is cool. They want to be the person with the title of the craziest, or the one who doesn't care. But how stupid is that? I don't want to be the one who doesn't care. I DO care about my life. And in fact, if you don't care about your life, no one else will care about it either. You will end up doing something dumb enough to destroy your life.

So what is the point.

You who are wise will show some self control during these last few weeks of the year. You will not be thinking about the party seen. But instead you will be setting goals for yourself. You will be planning what you can do to make the next year a great one. Don't follow the celebraties, or the media, or your school or work mates. Use your head! Think! And make good decisions. So what if they laugh at you for not doing what they do.

A wise person once told me, "he who laughs last, laughs the loudest". And in the near future those who want the glamor and excitement of the world outside will not be laughing at all, but you with your happy successful life, will be laughing very loud.

Sneak Peak of Shoulda Been Dead Book

Chapter 1

God help me, I’m fallin’,

Helpless, I’m callin’,

Restless! Hell of a hand,

But I was dealt it.

Now what’s a brotha to do?

I flipped the butt of the smoked-out blunt toward the storm drain. “Hey, Chachi, you believe in God?”

He looked my way with a smirk. “Only god I know is ‘Mr. God Damn,’ but why would I ever believe in him? What’s he ever done for me?”

“That ain’t right, man,” my brother Derrick chimed in. All three of us were sitting on a bench in front of Temptations pool hall and strip club, which along with the Circle-K convenience store and gas station anchored the little strip mall where we ran our business. “You shouldn’t talk like that,” Derrick added. “That’s like blasphemin’. Something bad’ll happen to you.”

Chachi stood up and stepped out into the parking lot, raised his hands, looked up, and spun slowly around as if he were a radar screen. “Well, if he don’t like it, he can strike me right here, right now. Bring it on!”

I shook my head. “You just stay away from me, man. I don’t want none of that. How come you don’t believe in God?”

He came back to the bench … guess I wasn’t too worried about him being close. “Look,” said Chachi, “any God who would let my best friend get murdered when we were only nine years old ain’t one I’d even want to believe in, even if he did exist.”

There wasn’t anything either Derrick or I could say to that, so we all sat there in silence, passing the forty-ounce bottle of malt liquor back and forth, thinking about who was going to have to go back into the Circle-K and steal another when that one was gone. It was a slow day for drug dealers, and I was feeling depressed. Guess that’s why I’d started thinking about God. Maybe everything was going wrong because we’d been doing so many wrong things and he was punishing us.

I leaned forward, elbows on my knees, chin in my hands. “You guys realize we’re everything they taught us in school not to be?”

“Whaddaya mean?”

“You know, those classes where they tell you not to steal or lie or sell drugs or rob people? Well, we’re all that and more. Know what I’m sayin’?”

Chachi slapped me on the back. “Yeah, so we bad! So what? Everybody does that stuff these days. It’s the only way to get ahead. You know if we like let up for even a hot minute, there’ll be Crips and GDs and Vice Lords and the Mexicans and the Cambodians all up in here tryin’ to take over our block.”

“Yeah,” said Derrick, “like most of them already think they runnin’ this trap.”

“I know, and that’s the problem,” I said. “There ain’t no getting’ ahead. This was our real estate, but now all Atlanta wants in on it.” I was talking about the thirty or more other dealers who worked our trap night and day, week in and week out. Everyone was doing the extortion thing, robbing one another, beating up the crackheads and addicts who came there to get their dope. One guy got shot in the head, blew his brains all over the garbage he was sitting beside. He stayed there all night, moaning and sobbing, calling for help until morning when he finally died. None of us helped him or even moved his body. Guess the Circle-K people finally found him and called the police. After that the cops cranked up the pressure, raids several times a week. It was crazy, crazy, crazy, like an insane scene out of a movie.

There was no peace!

I might have put up with all that considered it came with the territory but what really twisted my ulcer, was how cold and heartless I’d become. I still ran into Celia from time to time. We’d been schoolmates a while back, and I always liked her. Just that morning I’d seen her again, this time at Target when I’d dropped by for a pair of socks. Target always had a sale on ’em. You know, all you could fit in our pocket for “lifty cents”? Anyway, Celia was working the checkout and called to me as I was heading toward the door. I went over, hoping she hadn’t caught me. But she hadn’t. “Hold on, Damien,” she said. “I’m going on break as soon as I finish with this customer.”

We went outside where she could grab a smoke. I could see something was troubling her. “So, wassup? How you doin’?”

Her gaze at me turned into a squint as she took a deep drag and a tendril of smoke snaked up to burn her eyes. Or was that a tear? “It’s my dad,” she murmured, turning away to exhaled.

“So … how’s he doin’?” Though I already knew how he was doing, and I knew she probably knew I knew, so I also looked away, staring hard across the parking lot like I’d seen someone I knew walking by on the street.

Celia didn’t make a scene, but her voice was heavy with disappointed. “He’s destroying our family with the crack. It’s gonna kill him, too, if he doesn’t quit. Know what I’m sayin’?”

“Oh yeah, that’s bad stuff, bad stuff.” I knew exactly how bad it was for her dad, too, because I was his supplier. I’d seen him go from a strong, confident man with a good job when Celia and I had been schoolmates to an out-of-work junkie who’d lost his health and all his dignity. Just the week before he’d come to me begging me to extend him a little more credit because he didn’t have any money. He was desperate, but I turned him down, so he went to one of the other dealers. When he couldn’t pay, that dealer beat him up and left him face down in the middle of the parking lot. When I left the trap at 4:30 that morning, I walked right by his body and didn’t even flinch.

It was gone the next day, and the police weren’t crawling all over the place, so I figured he must have made it on his own and forgot all about him … until I saw Celia.

“If you get a chance,” she sighed, “would you say something to him, Damien? Encourage him, maybe? You know he used to like you.”

“Oh, sure. I’ll do what I can.”

Now, I sat on the bench outside Temptations with my two homies feeling as low as something I’d scrape off the bottom of my shoes. I couldn’t even tell the other guys about it because it wasn’t just the pressures of gangbanging and drug dealing that was getting to me. I could excuse all the robbing, stealing, cheating, fighting, even the people who had been killed. But how could I excuse myself? How had I become so cold and heartless?...

Book release Black Friday at 2pm. You can pre-order at ShouldaBeenDead.com.

Will "tomorrow" ever come???

This week the big story in the news was the miners in Chile who were trapped for weeks and weeks but survived and were successfully rescued. The story really is amazing, but it also made me think...

How many people are in a dark place just like those miners, except not physically, but emotionally, or spiritually. And sometimes even physically, just not in a mine.

There is a common saying that goes something like this, "there is always tomorrow", and another that says "things will work out fine tomorrow". But what do you do when it seems that "tomorrow" never comes?

I know that many people feel trapped and alone at this point in life. It's like you are 700 meters below the earth and no one can hear you. This 700 meters can be the problem in your home. Maybe you keep asking yourself when will things get better? Why do my parents always fight? Why can't I stop this bad habit? Why was I born into such a poor family? Why does no one love my? I can't even get a girlfriend/boyfriend! And so forth and so on.

It is very easy at that point to feel like, NO ONE in the world could possibly understand how you feel. Maybe you feel trapped, with no way to escape. Life is just too much and "tomorrow" isn't coming.

You are right, life is hard. And this tomorrow that people often talk about does seem to take too long to come. But what should you do? Learn a lesson from those miners. HOLD ON! Don't give up. As hard as it may seem to believe, you are not the only one going through this problem, and there actually are people who could understand you. And even if no one else can, God can understand everything you are going through. And even though sometimes it seems the rescue is taking too long, "tomorrow" will come if you just stretch out your hand toward Jesus and cry to Him for help. He is the capsule that will drop in the mine and lift you back up.

Faith is to keep believing things will change when there is absolutly no sign of change.

Hold on tight, your rescue capsule may just be on it's way!

Who's this book for anyway?

Excuses! Excuses! Excuses!

For the life of me I don't understand how people make so many excuses for the way they are. Especially young people. They love to blame the parents for the mistakes that they made. Or the father for leaving them when they were young. The fact that they grew up poor or had less than they wanted. Sometimes the excuse is that they were picked on as a child or else there is the classic "this world doesn't care nothing about me!" Whatever the excuse, whether color, culture, race, education level, or whatever, an excuse is an excuse. You can not blame the world or anyone in it for the way that you are.



Sure some people had it rougher than others money wise or in some way or another. But that does not give those who have it hard an excuse to act like animals. Some young people start selling drugs in the name of "nobody is gonna give a person like me a job" or "nobody wants to help the black man or the asian or latino, etc" But this is a load of garbage! Look around you, there are many people from "minority" groups, from broken homes, who have physical defects, and many other problems who are doing well. And there are also people from good homes, who had both parents around and everything going for them, who do stupid things and destroy their life. So circumstances do not make us. Our decisions make us. We can decide to do good or do wrong. It is in our hand. Stop looking for a scapegoat to blame for your life. It's not your parents fault, it's not the police or the government or the teachers fault or your ex-girlfriend or anyone elses fault that you are who you are or that you have done what you have done. If you are in a bad situation today, don't blame anyone but youself. It's your fault.



You have to decide to change. You have to decide to live. Decide to have better and do better. Your life is in your hands. No more excuses!!!

Don't Throw it all Away!

I read an article a few weeks back that spoke about a young basketball player that had been murdered close to his home. The thing that bothered me the most was not the fact that another youth had been murdered, but the fact that another youth didn't listen.

This young guy had a very promising future in basketball. But there was one problem, he would not stay out of the streets. He liked hanging with the drug dealers and gang members. But he had a chance to change. He had actually been warned many times to stay out of the streets before he ended up dead or in jail. But he would not listen. In the end he threw his career, and more importantly, his life away for the excitement of street life.

The sad thing is, that many other youth will make that exact same decision today, tomorrow and the next day as well. But why? Because young people like to live for the moment and not think about consequences. They don't like to listen to advice or the wisdon of others who have been through more than they have. But is that the best choice to make? Of course not. Why throw your life away for a little fun, for a little rush. Life is fragile and must be cared for. Meaning you need to think before you act. There are many things that are very exciting, but are just not good for us. There are many places that are very cool, but are just not good to hang out at.

You have to be the one to decide for yourself. But this young guy decided to choose the streets and look at what it cost him. HIS LIFE! Now what about you, are you willing to throw it all away for the sake of some excitement right now. Or do you want to be a little more careful, and maybe even be called boring, but have a good future.

You decide...