ClydeStyle

Category: Perseverance

  • Parable of purity

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    Once upon a time a father baked a beautiful cake. He decorated it with the finest icing, and he  added extra icing to it because his cake was so sweet.

    He took his cake and placed it in a display case for safe keeping until the right person came to purchase.

    Each evening, unbeknownst to the father, some guy would reach up and take a bite out of his cake. In fact, by the time he noticed, there were more than 11 bites out of his cake.

    The father was sadden and although he still cared deeply about the cake, he wondered if the bites would hinder quality sales of the cake. The father also remembered when he used to sneak bites of cake and it saddened him more. “No one should be trying to taste cake before purchasing it!” He exclaimed.

    The interpretation of this parable is this: The cake is this man’s daughter and every bite out of it represents the daughter’s sexual experiences. The purchasers are men who would be great candidates for marriage.

    Moral of the story: No one wants to purchase a community cake. Or as the Apostle Paul wrote: “Marriage is honorable by all and the bed is undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.”

  • The power of one

    untitledIt is easy to look at this world and all of the evil there in and feel that as one person we are powerless. It seems like my voice and vote doesn’t matter and my single voice is too small.

    Well, this ideal is family to the fear and doubt that is given by the evil one. This concept has halted a lot of would be powerful movements. A wild forest fire can be started with one match and whole wars have been started with one shot.

    What if the energy that was donated to the negative thoughts were reserved for the one? The one who would dare to speak out against injustice or the one who would dare to love their spouse in spite of infidelity.

    Or the one who would dare to challenge a bully or plead for the less fortunate. Or the one who would choose to see that the glass really is half full or understand that the best dancing is done in the rain.

    Jesus made a huge impact living only 33 mortal years on earth. God has given most of us more time and the same power!

    Let’s celebrate the power of one and do something with it.

  • Unconditional marriage?

    unconditional loveSo we know that the divorce rate is really high. But it doesn’t have to be. Is it really possible that all of these divorced people just happened to marry the wrong person?

    I know that there have been some in terrible abusive relationships and for safety reasons they had to get out. But the lion share of divorces stem from unmet expectations and selfish motives.

    No one told them that unconditional love was supposed to be brought to the marriage, not generated from within.

    They didn’t know that forgiveness wasn’t optional when they said “I do” and that expectations were only conditions you place on yourself.

    They were ignorant to what things should have been the most important. It’s a bad feeling to be judged by how much money you make, how you dress, how shapely your hips are or the size of your breasts. It’s extremely shallow for someone to expect their own version of what’s perfect to be matched or exceeded by their partner.

    Of all the scriptures we take literally, no one bothered to take Jesus seriously when he said, “If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out!” Or “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off!” (Matt. 5:29-30).

    The simple fix for marriage is for each party to take a step back and really look at what they are bringing to the table. What you are bringing to the table can’t just look good to you alone. It needs to be valuable to the person you pledged to live forever with.

    If it is not, and it probably isn’t, the two of you need to talk and stop playing married and truly work at being married.

  • Thank God! Spring is here!

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    Spring symbolizes a new beginning. The death of winter is gone and all things are made new. Spring is like a second chance.

    Have you ever been in an unhealthy relationship? Or worked a dead-end job that stressed you out whenever you thought about the drive to it? Or how about a bad circumstance that needs to end? The advent of spring should be the start of a new beginning for you.

    New beginnings are symbolized in scripture by the number eight. It means the next in a new series or a new beginning. For example, when Noah was told to build the ark and warn the wicked world that God was angry, he preached about the next chapter or new beginning the world would take. You see, God was getting ready to start over and Noah and everyone who listened to him would be part of that new series.

    It is no wonder then in 1 Peter 3:20 that it says of Noah’s time that “8 souls were saved by water”. And in 2 Pet. 2:5, Noah is referred to as a preacher of righteousness and called the “eighth person”. I would’ve  thought with Noah being the head of his household, he would be number 1. This text calls him the eighth person for a reason: He represents the new beginning. He was the next in a new series.

    There are many others in scripture that could be pointed out, but the point is to show the healing power of Spring. This is your new beginning. What are you going to do with it? The rest of your year will be dictated by what you do now, today, during the spring season.

    It’s time to stop planning and making excuses. Now is the time for action! Don’t let everything around you change and become beautiful and you stay the same.

    You deserve a new beginning. God knew that and allowed you to live and see the Spring. Make the most of it! This is your season!

  • Smelling the roses

    The latest census says that those who are 85 and older are now the fastest growing population. We could learn much from these aged pill takers.

    I recently had the pleasure of talking with a few of them and in no particular order, these are the top 10 things I learned:

    1) Wake up with the sun. Too many young folks sleep the day away and are unproductive. Wake up with a purpose and enjoy the sunrise.

    2) Read twice as much as you watch TV.

    3) Deny yourself and save money.

    4) Eat healthy so that you can enjoy your golden years.

    5) Get plenty of sleep.

    6) Drink plenty of water.

    7) Get plenty of exercise.

    8) Control your use of technology; don’t let technology control you.

    9) Enjoy family.

    10) Practice loving everybody.

    I wonder what it would be like if we spent 2012 with these 10 suggestions?

    They all seem so obvious, but why don’t we do them? Who wants to wait for a degenerative disease to happen before we begin to take care of ourselves.

    This age group is far more conservative, morally intellectual, far more cultural and more responsible than the generations after them.

    Let’s accept the lessons and the responsibility that follows. If not, we might not have any roses to smell.

  • The Change has come!

    So I was reading the bible the other day and pondering the words in 1 John 3:2. Now before I go into what it says I need to set the stage a bit.

    Occasionally in hospice I come across some veterans and have the esteem pleasure of talking with them. We discuss many things, but I particularly like it when they feel like discussing the war. I’ve never been to war, but I admire those who fight for our freedoms. Most vets have a difficult time adjusting to life here in the states after experiencing war. I don’t think we will ever know the fullness of their  experiences no matter how many stories we hear.

    There is something about war that once you experience it, your life is forever changed. There is much blood shed, death, and the loss of close friends. War surrounds you with sadness and pain. Those who are fortunate enough to make it home have some horrible images burned in their minds. This is probably the worst thing you can experience in this life — to be surrounded by enemies who want you dead, while watching your comrades fall and narrowly escaping yourself.

    I wonder how much the human side of Jesus was bothered by this? Christ being 100 percent man and 100 percent God knew things that other men didn’t. When you consider this, Jesus knew that the very men he chose as apostles would all die horrible deaths (except John) and would be in a state of turmoil for the rest of their lives after meeting him. Jesus’ apostles were surrounded by enemies who wanted to introduce them to tragedy. They were well aware of the stoning of Stephen (acts 7) and all had their fair share of beatings and imprisonment. Their lives were forever changed after meeting Jesus.

    Now back to 1 John 3. This text says, ” Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” KJV. Seeing Christ now would be to experience the fullness of the Godhead bodily and when he returns, that is exactly who we will see. But for those of us who have really experienced the wonderment of Jesus Christ and the freedom that comes with that experience, have had our lives changed forever.

    We were dead and now we’re alive. There was blood shed and death here too and God be thanked for that! We live a life surrounded by sadness and pain, but Jesus fixed that! The hallelujah part of this is that as we continue to experience and learn of him, the end result is our change into his image. 2 Cor. 3:18 says it this way: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” KJV.

    Dear friends let’s lead everyone we come in contact with toward the source of our happiness and the Joy in our hearts! To God be the glory!

  • It’s February and you know what that means…

    February is Black History month and I guess I’m still stuck with asking the same question: Why?

    I mean, I guess it’s a good thing, but I would still love to see each month being dedicated to a different race. I get this idea from growing up in Detroit. In the summer time, the City of Detroit hosts a summer full of ethnic festivals each weekend and scores of people come down to the heart of the city to celebrate. There’s always music, food, people dressed in authentic clothing and lots of trinkets to buy!

    It’s always fun — no matter which festival it is — and it’s always educational. I’m sure that this social event draws most of the people because of the location and all the happenings. However, there is that side of me that wants to believe that in Detroit we are more cultured and care about and support our difference more than despising them.

    Just having Black History month seems like a quick solution to shut someone up. I mean, was this the solution to stall talks of reparations? Is this so that Blacks will have something of their own or unique to them?

    So who is celebrating Black history month exactly? It seems that many of the businesses that are supported by Blacks are doing some type of tribute whether that be in the form of a commercial or hosting some event. Now of course we’re not talking about a lot of companies here. Sales show that the number one fast food company for Blacks is McDonald’s. For whatever reason, McDonald’s has profited off Black dollars more than any other fast food chain. Johnson and Johnson sells more hair care products for Blacks than any other company. Look for these two companies to run commercials and sponsor events during this month.

    I don’t mean to put this in a negative light. I just like it better when purpose is clearly seen in what we are doing. I’m not opposed to educating the world on the contributions of Blacks in American history. I would just rather see it in the classrooms and accurately written in our history books instead of just dedicating a month to showcase a couple of folks.

    Frederick Douglass once said, “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.”  This is a powerfully true statement. All the problems we face as a country come because we have not been true to our past nor true to our present. We categorically deny all charges of wrongdoing in the past. When has the American government admitted any wrongdoing? The treatment of minorities in this country is the worst. There is not a country that has been more deceitful. This has led to many of the problems we face as we worship the almighty dollar!

    We cheat our future by lying in the present. Our government (I’m including the current and last presidents and congress over the last 12 years) has not been a good steward of our economy. There are too many lies and empty promises. The result of this is a dim future for our children.

    So I wonder what the history books will say about this era? Twenty years from now will Black history month be celebrated by talking about President Obama’s contribution to the national debt or will Black history be a thing of the past by then.

    Only time will tell.

  • Resolutions should be a way of life

    Of the 50 percent of Americans who make resolutions, 90 percent of them break their resolution by the middle of January.

    It seems that the end of a year gives us a temporary conscience. It bothers us enough to acknowledge that there are things in our lives that need fixing, but nothing about the New Year makes us want to do anything more than admit it and move on.

    We know that there are people who don’t need to be in our lives and there are things we need to just flat out stop doing. Whether that is ending a destructive relationship or maintaining a healthy blood sugar level, we need to be far more serious about this.

    Here is a practical way to keep your resolutions. Don’t do a resolution for a year; do them by the day, hour or even minute.

    A resolution is a way of admitting we’re wrong and need to be better regarding something in our life. Why not make the idea of resolving ourselves a way of life? What would be wrong with keeping the imperfection ever before us – even to the point of letting others know that you recognize the need to change in this area. Then legitimately work on it. Really commit to the change and raising the bar of expectation in your life.

    By doing this daily, I think you will find that those around you will begin to acknowledge a different you. After all, that’s what we all want anyway, right?

  • There are still some who can’t see the dream

    This week we honor a man who dared to buck the system and show the powers that be what they really looked like. A man who said he had a dream and shouted it from the mountain tops. A preacher worthy of a celebration in his honor because of what he stood for, what he taught and what he ultimately died for.

    Some believe that Martin Luther King, Jr., would have been America’s first African-American president had he not been gunned down by an assassin’s bullet. I believe that if that would have happened he would clearly have ended up being America’s fifth assassinated president. I say this because too many people still don’t see the dream.

    We can’t help where we came from and how we were raised, but King’s dream would work much better in another country than it would in ours. Sad, but true. The only thing we as American’s can agree on seems to be “gain” or “gain at someone else’s expense.”

    We profit on everything. If it can be sold and someone can make money, then so be it because, after all, that’s what we all really wanted. Right?

    Dr. King hoped that all children would have an equal opportunity to be educated and earn a living like everyone else. He wanted to see people of different races together in peace and harmony without strife. He wanted to see hate eliminated.

    What actually happened is more people have the opportunity to get into most colleges, but there is still an elite group that exists as gatekeepers. They still hire who they want. There are two places where you will always see mixed races in America together and that is the welfare line and the soup kitchen. And as for hate, it can’t be eliminated as long as love is in need of love.

    I wish there was a better message here. But in the wake of hatred spread throughout our political system, members of Congress getting shot and companies profiting on the sickness of others, clearly there are still folks who don’t get Dr. King’s dream.

  • Turning the page on another year

    2010 is on its way out.

    It ran the course it was supposed to and things happened this year as they were supposed to. So we bid farewell to this year and hopefully look to a brighter 2011.

    I find life to pass like reading the pages of a book. Life is nothing but a book, really. Each day is a page we turn. Some pages we want to linger with and others we want to turn away from right at the start.

    If we could continue this book theme for a moment, I’d like to share some things with you regarding your life.

    Our life is like an open book. We try not to let everyone read us, but sometimes those that are reading, spread the news about what they have read. We try to turn pages and allow our book to be read, and it seems that there are always people who want to turn back to pages that were uncomfortable for you. These people like to remind you of all the bad things written in your book, but they never want to talk about the good stuff.

    There are also people who are jealous of the things written in your book and they take time away from reading their own books to talking negatively about what’s in yours.

    Still there are other people who would have you skip pages in your book and not let you experience every page. Just imagine someone telling you that you were too old for something or someone.

    Not only do we have people reading things into our book, we can sometimes be are own worst enemy. How many mistakes have we repeated? I know I’ve made the same mistakes that have appeared on pages 11, 19, 33, 47, 51 and 69. Some mistakes are hard to shake.

    There are also negative things in our book that we won’t let go of. We want to sit and sulk about something in the past instead of moving forward.

    Turn the page my friend. Allow the new to replace the old and embrace the challenges of the future as you learn from the old things written in your book. So get ready to turn the page on 2010 and don’t be afraid to share your book with others. Your life story may be the only hope they have!

    Welcome, 2011!