Mr. Saved Ain't Always Mr. For Real

He comes to church every Sunday. He sits in the same seat in the third row on the right
side of the sanctuary every week. His big leather-bound black Bible is placed firmly in
his lap. He shouts with the rest of the congregation when it’s time to praise God,
and he lifts up both his hands when it’s time to worship Him. He hears the morning sermon,
says “Praise the Lord,” right along with the pastor, and can quote almost every
Scripture the pastor references verbatim.

Then he steps one foot inside the parking lot of the church and pulls out his pack of
Kools and smokes a cigarette. During his drive home he’s filled with road rage as he
swears and flips someone the bird who tries to cut him off at an intersection.
When he finally makes it home, he pulls out a forty from the frig and turns the
latest Fifty Cent CD up real loud until his neighbor in the adjacent apartment has to
bang on the wall to tell him to be quiet.

He plops down on the couch, pulls out his flip cell phone, scrolls through his phonebook
and decides he wants some company tonight. He sees a name he vaguely remembers – Ajanay.

He remembers her remarkable booty more than her somewhat attractive face. The last time
he saw her three weeks ago she had long jet black weave all the way down to her waist.
But he didn’t care; besides, he had made up in his mind that tonight wasn’t going to be
about running his fingers through her hair anyway.

“Hey baby,” he says after dialing her number, “This Tyrone. Whatchadoin’ tonight?
Just call me Marvin Gaye, baby, because tonight I’m in need of some of your sexual
healing.” He ends the call with a slight laugh and a smile, delighted that his request
for a night in between the sheets did not go ignored.

I’m aware that for some of you reading this scenario, a brotha you know may
immediately come to mind. He may claim salvation, and may show up in church service
every week, but behind closed doors, what is his life really like?

Is he a Christian just on Sunday morning, or is he one seven days a week?

Does he live the lifestyle of a man who is “saved,” or does he just view the title of
salvation as simply “fire insurance” protecting his soul from a burning hell?

Does he sincerely fear the Lord, obey His commandments, and desire to be more like Him,
or does he just show up at church so he can meet a good, clean church woman he can
turn out and turn into a freak of the week?

Do not be deceived, women of God.

Beware of lip service that is not coupled with like actions which line up with the Word
of God.  If he were truly a man of God, he would not force you to sleep with him to
prove your love for him, and he would not cause you to compromise your beliefs, or
your right-standing relationship with your Heavenly Father.

Even though a man may say he is saved, make sure that his proclamation is accompanied
by a lifestyle conducive to that of a Christian. Determine whether or not he is a man
after God’s own heart, a man who walks in integrity, and one who truly loves the Lord
and would never intentionally sin or disappoint God because of his genuine love for his
Heavenly Father.

Don’t get me wrong; there are some good men out there – good, saved men who love Jesus
and has made Jesus not just their Savior but also the Lord of their lives.

You just have to be careful, watch and pray, and observe his actions when he thinks
no one is watching, so you can have a better idea of whether or not his salvation
profession is sincere.

So the next time a man asks you out on a date, ladies, not only should you make sure
the brotha is saved, but also find out if he is for real.

He So Loved…So I Love

“For God so loved the world that He gave . . . “ – 9 powerful words in John 3:16 that
describe why God gave His Son, Jesus, to the world to die for mankind. God did it
because He loved the world. He didn’t just love the world, He so loved the world.
He so loved the world so much that He put action to His feelings of love.

Love, as demonstrated by Love personified, should be coupled with action. God so loved,
so He gave. Man loves, so man gives. Woman loves, so woman gives.

Love should be a selfless act of devotion demonstrated between two people who deeply
care for one another.

So many times, in relationships, people look for what they can get out of a relationship,
instead of what they can deposit into the relationship. Love is sometimes viewed as an
opportunity to receive adoration, admiration, and exaltation at the expense of the other
person having to take on the huge responsibility of being the center of one’s joy and
happiness.

The center of one’s joy and happiness should be Jesus. It is God’s love, when one
receives Jesus as his or her personal Lord and Savior, that comes to reside in the heart
of the believer. It is God’s love on the inside that gives one inner joy, inward peace,
and true contentment. It is God’s love on the inside, flowing forth on the outside, that
allows His chosen to love mankind, and to unconditionally love one’s spouse or significant
other.

1 Corinthians 13 describes it best when it describes love as being patient.

Love waits.

Love is willing to wait until marriage before it decides to consummate the relationship prematurely and outside of the perfect will of God.

Love is worth the wait. True love is knowing that the relationship is far more stronger than what it has to offer one another in the bedroom.

Love doesn’t cheat. Cheating is based on selfishness, fulfilling a fleshly appetite, and satisfying ones often hungry ego.

Love is kind and considerate. Love edifies and uplifts, and doesn’t break down.

Love is peaceful. There should be no consistent “drama” in a true love relationship. Love doesn’t create drama, but creates an atmosphere of harmony and peace.

Love realizes that everything isn’t going to be perfect all the time, and that the other person is not perfect (because a perfect person does not exist), but love chooses to love anyway.

The same way that God loved us while we were yet sinners -while we lived our lives as if He wasn’t there, and as if He wasn’t God- He still sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us anyway, because He loves us so.

Love is God, and God is Love.

Scripture References: John 3:16, Romans 10:8-10, 1 Corinthians 13, Romans 5:8

Would You Date Jesus?

Picture this:

A friend of yours sets you up on a blind date. You normally don’t do blind dates, but
since it’s been over six months since you’ve sat across a dinner table with someone of
the male persuasion other than your 11 year-old-nephew, you figure you’d give it a shot.

After doing a final once over in the mirror, the doorbell rings. Not wanting to seem
too anxious, you purposely wait for the second ring before you answer the door.

“Who is it?” you chime.

“It’s me, Jeffrey.” came the reply.

You open the door with a smile and the male figure returns with a bright grin of his own.
Relaxed by the mutual shows of kindness, you take a moment to size him up.

He’s not the finest thing in the world, definitely not a 10, more like a 6. His face is
all fuzzy with a beard that looks like it hadn’t received any attention in weeks.
You wonder why, since this man knew he was going on a date, he didn’t take the time to
even get a haircut? Also, he’s wearing name brand jeans and a striped shirt that looks
totally out of style. Still, you invite him in with a sigh.
You offer him a glass of lemonade, and he gladly accepts.

As you hand him his drink while you and he have a seat on separate chairs, the first thing
out of your mouth is, “So what do you do?”

“I’m an entrepreneur” Jeff says.

“Oh really? What’s your business?” you ask.

“I install carpet.”

“Oh,” you say with a sip of lemonade – not impressed at all.

You cell phone suddenly rings – it’s your mother so you say, “excuse me, I gotta take this,”
and head to the kitchen to take the call.

As soon as you say, “hello,” you mom replies but then the call drops as you realized you
hadn’t charged your cell phone in three days. You ask Jeffrey if you could use his cell
phone because you had something important but brief to tell your mother and Jeffrey
informs you, “I don’t have a cell phone.”

“You don’t have a cell phone?” you ask.

“No.” Jeffrey replies with a smile.

“O-kay” You say while placing your hand underneath your chin thinking, “This man can’t
afford a cell phone or a hair cut? Will I be paying for my own meal tonight, or what?”

Finally, you’ve had it, you decide you’d rather enjoy a night curled up on the couch with
your remote control and David Letterman then the possibility of going out with Jeffrey,
here, who may have you eating at some hole in the wall having to wash dishes afterwards.

You kindly ask Jeffrey to leave.

He obliges with no hesitation and you sigh a huge sigh of relief as you close the door
behind him.

Eighteen months later you get a call from your friend who tried to set you up with
Jeffrey. She says she just returned from an all-expense paid trip to Hawaii where
Jeffrey and his wife, Melinda got married.

She said they’re honeymooning in Spain and plan to live in one of his waterfront
mansions in Jacksonville, Florida. Your friend goes on and on about how Melinda is
madly in love with Jeffrey, how he showers her with love, attention, and affection -
how he is her provider and protector, so loving, kind, forgiving, and giving, and how
he is a man of integrity with a warm heart who has saved hundreds of children from
refugee camps by adopting them and caring for them and providing them all scholarships
from the Jeffrey Christos Foundation, which he founded 10 years ago from proceeds from
his business, JC Carpet Plus, which is the no. 1 carpet installation company in the world.

Dumbfounded, you stare at the phone with your mouth wide open.

“That should have been me in Spain!”

Then you hang up the phone and plop down on your old faithful couch and hide your face in
your hands and cry.

Instead of giving a brotha a chance by opting to get to know him better, as a person,
instead of getting to know his assets, you realize that you just lost out on a date and
a lifetime with Jesus Christ.

For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your
sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we
should desire him.
Isaiah 53:11