Tomatoes for Dollie

Well its harvest time. I planted, watched, weeded and watered the growth, but God gave the increase. Absolutely amazing. I’m like Adam up in here!!! I think every preacher ought to grow a garden. It is both humbling and empowering.

It’s eating time. I’m picking fruit left and right. I’ve got squash, peppers, eggplant, snow peas, jalapeños, habaneras, cucumbers, strawberries, onions, lettuce, herbs and okra. My greatest prizes though, are my tomatoes. There’s nothing like homegrown “maters”. They’ll make you want to slap your local grocer. And God blessed me to grow bunches.

I had so many tomatoes that I shared bags with my parents, my neighbors, some members and even sent some to Dollie Crenshaw of Oklahoma City. That’s right. The Brooklynite preacher sent homegrown tomatoes from NYC to the OKC. Go figure.

There are three thoughts that create joy from this event:
1. This shows those outside NYC, who only believe what they see on T.V., that Brooklyn is more than rappers, police, snow and concrete.
2. Good things come out of hard places in this world created by God.
3. When you have a heart ready to share the blessings of God, He just gives you more and more.

What are you growing in your life and what are you going to do with it when it comes to fruit?

Judge Not - Even Michael Vick?!!

Dog fighting? How dare he!! How brutal!! How Barbaric!!

Yeah right.

Wrong is wrong. Dog fighting, nudie bars, ignorance or purposelessness are all shades of evil and wickedness. So excuse me if I don't hit the roof at the latest news. In fact, if you honestly compared dog fighting to strip clubs, which do you think is more destructive? Which do you think contaminates whole generations? In whose neighborhoods will the worse be prevalent?

Michael Vick is an idiot. David Wilson is an idiot. Michael Vick is an idiot with money. That's why you never heard of David Wilson on the news. That's why I'm not swift to jump on the 'Gavel Wagon' when I hear of another’s foolishness. I too sing "Amazing Grace".

It took the death of Jesus to free me from the sins I committed while broke. Imagine if I had money. A multi-million dollar contract and an imagination like mine? This is why I thank God for deliverance from sin and prohibition from opportunities to sin. I thank Him for bringing me out of some things and for never letting me get into other things.

This is essentially what Jesus means when He says, “Judge not lest you be judged (Mat. 7:1-2).” He is not saying to show a lack of discernment. He is saying to consider your own faults and faultiness when looking at another. He is not calling for condoning but compassion. “The same measure (spoon, cup, bucket or backhoe of grace) you use to judge others will be used to judge you.”

Pharisees will take the spoon. I’ll use the backhoe.

Got Peace?

A rare, precious, priceless gift is the peace that passes all understanding. Everybody wants it but everybody can’t find it. This hustle and bustle, daily grind, buy and sell, appointments to keep, people to meet, hasty hecticness that we call life needs a big dose of peace.

Chaos is invasive. It penetrates and disrupts every aspect of our lives. Thoughts become stressful, relationships become resentful, work becomes unfruitful and sleep becomes impossible. You need peace to overcome the chaos. But you need to have the right peace.

Notice how many CVS, Walgreens and Duane Reades are around you? You know what they sell most? Pharmaceutical peace. Pill peace to help you sleep. Pink peace to ease your stomach. Powder peace to ease your mind. The thing is these quick comfort remedies don’t fix the real problem. Headache, sleep loss and diarrhea are usually symptoms of anxiety that comes from poor living.

Real close to Duane Reade, you’ll find a liquor store. They can’t give you peace either. They can only give temporary euphoria. The price though, (monetary, socially, emotionally and spiritually), is too much to pay. Plus you have to do more to get less high. (Don’t ask)

Some try to get away. Unfortunately, life is such that trouble can find you wherever you are. In fact, real life issues will go with you wherever you go. True peace is not found in vacations.

The short of it is, God gives real peace. Meaningful not momentary, systematic not symptomatic, anywhere, anytime peace. God said to His people, “If only you had paid attention to my commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea (Isa. 49:18 NIV).”

Real peace comes from following God’s Word. That truth becomes even clearer when you look at it from the back. The most anxious, stressful, sleepless, hostile chaotic moments of my life, came from disobeying God’s Word. God doesn’t tell us what to do because He’s bossy. He tells us how to live because He knows the secrets to successful, stress free, productive, happy living.

There is nothing like the peace of living Godly. How you livin?