In Motivations
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Sunday Brain Dump – 8/10/14
- My family and I took a much needed vacation this weekend… so I missed church at the Heights today for the first time in quite a while. It’s always hard to leave home. I love my church so much and it’s hard to miss a Sunday, even for vacation.
- I’m grateful for two strong preachers that held it down at the Heights in my absence. It’s always easier to be absent when you know your folks are taken care of! They got a good Word at both services.
- At our 9:30 am service, our new youth minister Milton preached from the same text I preached last week… but from a different perspective. He preached about fear from Matthew 14:26-31. Social media was jumping with all the great feedback from his message.
- At the 11:30am service, Darryl preached about resisting temptation from 1 Corinthians 10:11-13.
- Audio of both messages will be up on our website soon!
- Usually when I’m away from my church on a Sunday, I try to worship at a church nearby. My family forbade me to go to church this morning because I needed the rest. It didn’t work. The boys had me up early anyway and I actually started the day in a funk that was difficult to break out of. I don’t think I was very good company for my family the first part of the day.
- I don’t just go to church because it’s my job… God created us to need the worship experience and the fellowship that church attendance provides. Make sure that worship becomes a necessary, intricate part of your life.
- Woke up this morning to the startling news of another unarmed young black male being killed. This time by police in a St. Louis suburb, running in the opposite direction. He was 18 years old and about to start college classes today. My heart hurts for Michael Brown’s family… and for our nation which clearly considers young black men something to be hunted rather than cherished.
- I try not to be too hasty in responses to situations like this because there’s always more to the story… but this one wreaks. I know enough police officers to know that they teach you on the first day of Police Academy that unless you are in immediate, grave danger, you DO NOT DISCHARGE YOUR WEAPON!!! What could have caused this police officer to shoot this young man?
- This week I made some great strides in production of my first book, Saving Our Sons: Effectively Engaging Young Men of Color. I received the final book manuscript last week and we’re finalizing artwork this week. We’re preparing for a release date of September 30th. I can’t wait to get it into your hands!
- Tragedies like Michael Brown, Trayvon Martin, and several others go to further convince me of the impact this book can have. We must find a way to engage our young men inside and outside the local church. Rather than seeing the liabilities, we must see the possibilities!
- Our vacation this week started with taking my boys to see Redskins Training Camp. After the long drive, the impossible parking and the overwhelming crowds, we saw about 20 minutes of a walk-through with the Patriots. Uhhh… maybe next time! LOL.
- We also spent some great time at the beach. This was my sons’ first time at the beach, and our first time in several years. We all had a blast. The boys didn’t want to get out of the water (although they were shivering), and neither did LaVera!
- For some reason, it’s difficult for me to enjoy vacation. It takes me a few days to get out of “grind mode” and into “vacation mode.” Y’all pray for me. I’ll try to relax more this week… We’ll see how it goes.
- Have a great week!