Tis The Season To Be Profiling...

He stood on my right. She stood on my left. And I stood in the middle... which you probably figured out. As we walked into the Pawn Shop, She split to the other side of the store, he went right to the counter, and I glided on over to the guitars. Picture it, three people came into the store, two people already there. And who do you think the salesman chose follow? Me, the only black guy in the store. There were guys there who looked like they were ready to steal something. Shifty eyes, watching every move the salesman made, homeless, raddy clothes, etc. But he followed me.

I know the drill. I worked retail at a music store. If you think that someone is there to steal something, you go and stand by them to intimidate them. It's effective when done properly and annoying when done badly. This guy was very very very very bad at it.

So I decided to have some fun.

I began walking all over the store, very quickly. I picked up things and went to stand by other people and asked them questions. They looked at me funny because there was a salesman right next to me. But I was ignoring him. So I went up to the counter and asked the lady there. Then I began walking in a figure eight up and down a couple of aisles. This guy tried to keep up with me! I then went and sat on the floor. He stood next to me, looking rather tired. So I stood up, leaned over to him and said, "are your tired of following me yet? I can do this all day you know. And we could both use the exercise" He looked embarrased and upset. I smiled and said. "I used to have to do this too. But while you were following me around because I was black, that white guy over there looks like he might have pocketed something." He looked and me and hurried over to stand by the white guy... but continued to stare at me."

So with a spring in my step and a big huge smile on my face, I began to walk towards the door.

But before I made it all the way out of sight, I said loudly, "Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!"

I figured that I may as well give them a different reason to be upset.

Oh yeah... about the concert...

Thanks for your prayers! The concert went... well.... wonderfully! Cedar in the air, voice out of control due to allergies, guitar acting up... and the list goes on...

So I shouldn't be surprised that God did great things.

He seems to love the underdog. I think He gets a kick out of doing that thing that Joseph talked about in the Bible; taking things and people that look like they're going down the drain and turning the whole situation around!

I was struggling a bit vocally, so I switched to some of my stand up comedy that I practice everyday on the unsuspecting people that I work and worship with. It seems to really have blessed the congregation. Well, they laughed.

The speaker for the evening said more in 15 minutes than I've heard most preachers say in an hour. He was absolutely awesome in raising the awareness about abortion and its effect on our society. I know I have both pro-choice and pro-life friends who read this blog. I don't know if Clayton could convince you pro-choice people, but I know he would try, and most likely succeed with many of you.

It was a good night of emotional, mental and spiritual healing. At the end of the night, my voice came back for the last half of the concert. And God ministered in a lot of ways. It was good. I'm so glad that God chooses to use humans in His plans, and that we as humans can choose to partner with God in His purposes...

Read the previous post for more info about the last statement....

Human?

Now why did she have to say that...

Concert, Belton, TX. One of my dearest friends gets up to do the introduction. I'm feeling good, top of my game! Got it together musically, know what I want to say....

She gets up and says (paraphrasing), "I've known Brad for a long time. He's an awesome man of God, he listens to the Spirit. I know he's just human... but God uses him to do great things."

I think I'm going to write that down and put it up everywhere I go. Actually, I think I'll write a song about it. Remind myself! God already knows that I am human. He made me that way. He's been here and knows that the flesh wars against the spirit. Or in other words, the humanity in me wars against the divinity in placed in me by Him.

I forget that. For some reason, I think my flesh is always supposed to enjoy obeying God. That I'm supposed to just line up with everything He says without a word of complaint. And when I don't, I seem to be surprised. We all do. Why? One minister used to pray, "God, you know that I will fall to Your enemy if I do not stay by Your side. So let Your rod and Your staff be brought to bear on my life." That was a paraphrase too. I understand. Great Shepherd, I keep wandering off like a sheep... You already know that sheep have tendency to be led astray. We are easily distracted. That's why you have the rod and staff in the first place..."

Wait! I went from being human to being a sheep. Did I lose anyone? Maybe because it only works as an analogy. We, like sheep, have gone astray. But they are animals... we are not. They are victims of their own instincts, we are not. As humans, through the light of God, we have the ability to choose to walk in the spirit and rise above the basest parts of our nature, and follow God. As humans, we can choose to hear and obey or not. I am not an animal. I am a human being.

No, I am not some animal that is easily led astray, unless I allow myself to be. I have the law of God written on my heart and the power of God available to help me live a life of holiness. But it is a choice to follow God. I, as a human, must make that choice. And when my choice is to follow God, then God sends the Holy Spirit to help me walk the road I have chosen. The road that He has prepared for me to walk. He walks on ahead, and I follow... or not.

So, no excuses then. God does know that I am human and I may fall. I know that too. But I can't relax and say, well that's the way it is. Go figure. No. Because I am human, and infused with the Holy Spirit, I must choose sides in the battle between the flesh and the spirit. I must cling to one master and let the other one go. And when my first master tries to return, he must be seen as an invader, the enemy, the wolf. I cannot pat him on the head and smile as he seeks to deceive me again. I know his nature already. I must recognize that the longing for his old ways are based on habit and convenience, and he will use any trick he can to regain control over me. He wants me back under his sway.

I must say, "I have renounced you! You are no longer my master. I do not belong to you." I will drag him to the cross of Christ and remind him that he is powerless to stop what God is doing in me. Then I must drag him and me to the altar of God and stay there until only one of us rises. And I guarantee you, it will not be him. That's the weight of being human that many try to avoid by saying we're just animals. There is no choice to make. But being human, I must make choices daily, sometimes several times a day, if I am ever to reach the full potential of my humanity as designed by my Creator. And what is that full potential? Tell them Magdaly...

"I know he's just human... but God uses him to do great things."

Yeah... Well done thy good and faithful servant! Well done!

I'm here... or am I?

Ok, I'm back... or am I?

The phrase "I think. Therefore I am" really boils down to "I think I am."

From what I have read, Descartes, the man behind the comment was a brilliant philosopher with much to offer to the world.

But somewhere, somehow, he decided that the only thing he could be sure of was that "I am". And the only way he know that was true, was that he thought it up himself...

(Hang on! I'm going somewhere with this.... )

He thought life was just an illusion, a cosmic uncertainty of which he could only be certain of his own thoughts. So in the end, after a life of distinction, he is best known his famous phrase... a phrase that refutes itself. For if the illusion is so strong that he can't tell reality from fiction, then how can he trust his own thoughts?

(You still hanging on? We're rounding third base! Almost home now.)

Sometimes I live like life is an illusion. Sometimes I get caught in the feeling that it's too hard to trust others. What if they are going to deceive me, fail me, hurt me, hate me, and the list goes on. I laugh at Mr. Philosopher dude for coming up with such insane babbling and yet, after much thought, I realize that he really may have held up a mental mirror of my own insane thoughts.

We watch life from a distance. We don't touch! We don't feel. I sat in church the other day and realized that it was possible to walk through the doors, sit through a service, and walk right back out without ever touching another person emotionally, physically or spiritually. I know. I've done it.

("Slide! Slide man! Slide!" Sliding into home plate!)

So back to the real challenge of life, to engage. To shake off the illusion, take the pill and wake up to the harsh realities of love, pain, joy and sorrow. To live a life where love is equated with intimacy not just poetry. Engage! Stop dating so many things in my life and make some committments for life. Engage! To get in the boat and trust when the Master says, we're going to the other side. Engage! Sit next to people who may smell good or bad, but who live in the same bubble of fear of the illusion that I do. Walk up to them, and tap on the glass.

"Tap, tap, tap,?" Anybody home? I think there is, therefore there must be. Right?


(And he's SAFE!!!! - I think...)