Top 4 Most Popular Posts

Friday, February 26, 2010

Time for Change

UCSD's Compton Cookout is turning into the Chancellor Cop-out. Nice try but no takers on freedom speech and such defenses when its your campus. The incident demonstrated that racism and bigotry can be seen as a laughing matter to many on a campus where 2% of the population is ridiculed and mocked as "ghetto." The last time I checked UC had some pretty stringent standards. Time for change is upon us. It's today. Promote as much Black pride as you can muster in these last days of Black History Month. Our children and youth need to see us as leaders, not laughing stocks.
******************************
Get a daily dose of reality @ http://revbruce.wordpress.com
******************************
Try sharing with a youth.
Surely, it can prevent teen-age pregnancy and drop outs.
Visit www.mentoring.org
******************************

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Connect within Community

People are not to merely coexist. We are to do more than share air and space together. We are to connect with others as a community. I find that, with the advances of the Internet, social media, and other mobile communications, we have no excuse for not connecting beyond what we have done in the past. We should be even more connected to others than in previous times.

Look at what I said about community on my other blog. Visit http://revbruce.wordpress.com/category/community/ and discover insights and ideas about community in a modern perspective.

Check out www.give.org and www.pointsoflight.org for ways to contribute and connect within your local community. If you want to make a difference in your community, check out http://www.usaweekend.com/section/MDDAY and www.servenet.org today.

Keep up with the latest tweets from Life Path @ www.twitter.com/lifepath01/

Monday, February 22, 2010

Communities in Crisis


The people of Judah were captured and forced to go to Babylon, because they were not faithful to God. - 1 Chronicles 9:1 (NCV)

Communities are in crisis when they lose focus. When they get off track, they get so far away from their mission and purpose that they neglect the very things that allowed them to come together in the first place. We have to keep our focus in such times as these. Otherwise, we find ourselves drifting off into other territory that has nothing to do with what we are supposed to do. Unless we want to face dire consequences for going astray, we need to get together to make things right for ours and future generations where we live, work and worship.

**************************************************************************

Read more about community @ http://revbruce.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/one-accord/

*********************************

Sunday, February 7, 2010

From Rebuke to Rewards

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.- Malachi 3:8-12(NIV)
Often as misunderstood as it has been misinterpreted, the words of God in the third chapter of Malachi have been used to convict and compel men, women and even children regarding tithes and offerings for years. Most of us, as believers, have heard some part of this passage utilize to manipulate and persuade people with the fear that they could be "cursed with a curse," as the King James Version reads, if they were to "rob God" in tithes and offerings per se. Yet, when we read this final prophecy of the Old Testament, we gain new insight to what the Lord offered His people through His words in the third chapter.
Malachi paints a picture of priestly corruption that leads to a very dark period in the history of the children of Israel. What was offered to God as a sacrifice and offering was not up to par. It got so bad that the people became reluctant to give at first, and then they refused to give at all. That's when God finally steps in and shares what he has to say about the entire matter. God offers a way to move from rebuke, being cursed with a curse, to rewards, receiving an outpouring from heaven's open window. The believer is offered a reward for his or her obedience. Disobedience leads to rebuke. God wants our faithful obedience, not our opinion about who shouldn't do what or who should be able to do this or that. He wants us to live lives full of obedience. Follow His Word and receive the rewards that He has for you.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Poetic Politics of Profit

What poet can be “politically correct”
Without speaking out
Against tyranny, hypocrisy
Or even the failures of democracy?
It would seem criminal to not share a common voice
With the countless whose urban plight
It seems to have sparked suburban flight,
Flight from ghetto sanctuaries to metro mini malls.
What sort of poet pens poetic verse
That does not curse and condemn
The very system that presses down
On many with no relief
And offers little or no hope?
I would say such a poet
Would be a bond-servant of the tyrants
And tycoons who make
Their greenbacks
From those they call wetbacks
And so-called Blacks
Seeking every break from every tax.

-Bruce Jackson (2009)

Monday, February 1, 2010

Planning in Proverbs (Pro. 15:22)

Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

Plan with wise counsel to avoid plans failing. Identify those who exhibit wisdom who can serve as wise counselors to you as you plan your next venture. Let these people serve as a sounding board where you can bounce new ideas off them and see which way to go with your plans. Avoid negative people who tend to have a pessimistic view on most things. They may do more damage than good when it comes to moving forward. Allow people who have experience and expertise in a given area to share what they think about your ideas and adjust your plans when necessary.
 
Amen Me!