The Spritual Battleground For The Influential

As a child I was fascinated with Michael Jackson, but often wondered what fueled the dysfunction of his own personal life. I never quite understood on one hand he could dominate in the entertainment world but do so poorly in his private life. His fame and talent was marred by accusations, divorces and family drama. As I have gotten older I have come to realize that for the influential person... the battleground is very real. Both spiritual forces (God and the devil) want to use the influence for their benefit.. and it becomes alot of pressure for the person in between. I have witnessed some people with less shine live very calm and regular lives. These same individuals go unnoticed in day to day activities, rarely have conflicts, and seldom endure crisis or hardships. Personally I always wanted to live that way, but have consistently been caught in the major battleground. Often the most talented and gifted people are the most afflicted. Hollywood is full of examples of them.... incredible actors.. incredible artists and musicians ;deeply troubled. The reason has to do with your influence of course because it can either be used to sway people for good or evil. For those of us with the 'gift' it is responsible of us to settle our demons. if not, they can be used to discount and discredit our message. A great example of this was Whitney Houston. I used to hold her in the highest esteem because absolutely no one can/could sing like her. She had beauty, talent and fame.. but due to the fact that she never settled her issues with drugs and addiction it drove her and her phenomenal talent into the ground. It always serves as a personal reminder for me that If I ever fail to order my steps... it could be a critical error in judgement that could hold heavy and in some cases even irreprehensible consequences.

Me at the University of Cambridge, U.K

Absolutely Scenic!

Let Me Vent Series: The Burden of Leaders

Do you know how it feels to live a life that is not your own? When you have to sacrifice your desires for others... when you are promoted and you don't want to be? Well that's what I want to vent about. I want to vent about people craving power when they were never designed to lead, and people made to lead that don't desire to do it. It has been my experience that God has some sort of big purpose for me. For years even complete strangers would advise me on the way I should go, but its not my personal vision for my life. Sometimes I feel like it is the reason I experience so much friction. As of late, I have decided to share my mind with the world, and It takes alot to break out of my comfort zone, However I take great relief knowing that God will never lead me somewhere that he wont sustain me. This message goes out to other leaders that are trying to avoid their rightful place as a messenger of the Lord and of truth. We cannot be afraid to fulfill the purpose God has placed on our lives. The gifts and talent we have been blessed with can make a huge impact to those surrounding us...

Accountability ; part of the leaders life.... not for everyone

Growing up with a younger sister cultivated a deep preference to only be accountable for myself. Becase i was older i would find myself getting rerimanded for her actions and i hated it. Today my Pastor called me out for being thirty minutes late to church....in many different settings.... i am forced to become accountable for those around me. It is frustrating,  yet the mark of a leader. Obviously not everyone that reads this will be able to relate. Some never will know the cost of accountability, the innate pull of leadership. Accountability strengthens the leaders validity because after all noone wants to follow someone that can not demonstrate victory in their own live. I extol all the leaders out there to remember that we are held to a different standard and that is because we are the everyday examples for those around us. There is a special reason people look to us for guidance, and it is important that we fulfill our God given, great purpose of leading in a proper way.

Black women; The Example, The leaders and the standard

I ran across a random video on Facebook of a non black twerking contest and that's when it hit me why the world is so much more critical of women of color than everyone else, it is because we are the natural born leaders . We are so innovative ,beautiful, confident, and strong. We lead in many different roles...which other races struggle to manage.  We create fashion. .. have always been creative with our hair and nails. .... and although we are consistently criticized we are seemingly emulated from our innate style down to the way we shake our assets. Lets be honest, black women innovated lively dance. Europeans were always conservative in their delicate ballets while African women shook things up. .. twerking is borne to us. Once a white broad does it....they make a big deal. Even from slavery days black women have been superior. unfortunately the credits go unnoticed. We have to learn to find the strength from within to withstand all the derogatory factors around us designed to tear us down... and we have to learn not to ingest the foolishness. Taking it in and beginning to believe it will lead to depression, low self esteem, and dissastifaction in life in general. Take it from me, I know just how frustrating it can be. Im an emotional person and it rips me to the core to see black women be copied but not given credit, but I want to encourage you to stick to your core values when the going gets tough.. Do not give up, and do not give in. Continue to innovate and create. A copy can never be as plush as the original.......  

Spiritual Maturity for Leaders

From a very young age, I learned quickly that I could not always do what others did. I was often punished harder, reprimanded more frequently and pushed to the forefront relentlessly.From childhood to young adulthood, I would constantly search for the loophole.. actually desiring to get away with scandals like what seemed 'everyone' else was doing. When I finally accepted that I was different, I was in college, however, instead of embracing it, I retreated into the shadows in order to avoid the punishment, expectations and responsibilities. However like other reluctant leaders in the Bible, God still pursued me, and never allowed me to trade my gifts. Dressed in a very handsome package, a young man I was dating was used to drawn me back to church after a few years hiatus. Immediately it began once I was back in the church, but by this time I was so weary of fighting to Lord. I decided to allow him to use me for the kingdom. This choice is what I call spiritual maturity. Its when you either get tired of fighting God or you realize you can't win, so you make choices based on God's overall plan for you, instead of what you may want. I have found that God will especially test me in the area of pleasure vs purpose. He will allow certain things or people to cross my path, and wait for my choice. If I make the wrong one, I am almost immediately reprimanded. The Lord knows my heart on some issues and wants me to become even more strong in these areas. Many critical areas of my life such as my career and marriage are purpose driven.. sometimes they are more work than pleasure, when I would certainly prefer more pleasure. However, I know the Lord is working in my life, so I must endure the process. This message is to strengthen the other leaders that may be frustrated by the challenging situations our Lord presents us with. Sometimes you may want to throw in the towel and assimilate into the worlds wayward ways, but I would tell you that beautiful things always take time to cultivate.. more likely if it is part of your divine purpose.. it will be hard. Not only are we responsible for our own fate, but we are Christian ambassadors in the public. If we choose to ignore our purpose, we put others fate in jeopardy. When you find yourself engaged in a battle in which you cant decide between what you want to do, and what you know is right, I would encourage you to draw closer to the Lord and study his word. There are countless examples of people in the Bible that had to make the tough choices to serve the Lord. First example that comes to mind is Abraham and his son Issac.. So Abraham loves this boy... it is his only son, and he waited years to even receive Issac from the Lord. One day the Lord commands Abraham to sacrifice the boy, and by all means Abraham is prepared to do it, but at the last moment, God spares Issac and sends an animal to take his place as a sacrifice. Now I can only imagine what Abraham was thinking upon this extreme request, but he proceeded in spite of his fear, and for his faith, he was rewarded. I will certainly concede that forgoing pleasure is difficult, undesirable and confusing. Everything around us promotes pleasure.. It communicates that we can do whatever we want, without any consequence.. and in all honesty... every person knows that is impossible; that everything has a cost..... I charge the leaders that struggle in the area of spiritual maturity to do more, be more, and be better... so many lives are a stake in a dying world. Consider the temporariness of this life, we have all eternity to experience pleasures without any pain.. can you imagine????

The Burden of Leadership

This article is only for the leaders. If you are a follower you may not understand.. but for my Christian warriors out there, day by day, on the grind, fighting the forces of evil in our lives and in our world… This one is for you. Some days you may wake up feeling at odds, feeling wasted, wondering why you can’t float along in life ignorance and be unaccountable like what seems to be the “V.M (or  the vast majority as my sister and I coined it)”, wondering why God directed your path in the direction that it is, why you are surrounded by ‘unreasonable’ (which our Bible warns us that we will wrestle with) people. The whole concept is heavy and worrisome, and I’m sure every true leader reading this has had a moment when they wanted to stop the war and go along with the program just to stop the friction. I’d like to offer you some comfort from the word of God as well as a story of a Christian warrior Elijah. First, some words of encouragement :

“Do not fear them, for the LORD your God is the one fighting for you” Deut 3:22.

“Am I a God who is near, declares the Lord, and not a God far off” Jer 23:23

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place” Proverbs 15:3

“Certainly I will be with you” Exo 3:12

“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail or forsake you.” Joshua 1:5

“And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of age” Matt 28:20

“Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” Isaiah 41:10

Now some words of boldness:

“And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, ‘Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city’” (Acts 18:9-10).

Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13
 

The wicked run away when no one is chasing them,
but the godly are as bold as lions.Proverbs 28:1

Now I do know that it feels very lonesome when you are in a chosen position and perhaps you are afraid or contrary. You may not even be able to find solace in your friends or family. However, I want to remind you that our Lord has placed us here for purpose, and that he never gives us a task too great. Whatever he has instructed us to do, we are more than equipped to handle it. I will close with a reminder of the prophet Elijah. Elijah was a prophet that was bold enough to question the powers of the false god Baal. He also prophesied the deaths of Ahab's & Jezebels prophets. For fear of his life, he fled to a cave. God came to him and asked why he was hiding, and Elijah replied that he was the only one left. The Lord kindly reinforced in 1 Kings19:18 " Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him"

 

We are not alone in this fight... not everyone has surrendered to the modren day 'Baal', neither should you! 

Go Fight the good fight!!!