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Bible Study By Malachi: THE PROOF THAT ONE REALLY KNOWS GOD: SEVEN TESTS, PART ONE Keeping God’s Commandments, I John 2:3-6
(2:3-6)

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 8, 2013 at 1:00pm

7936053073?profile=originalHow can you tell if you really know GOD and love him? Nowadays people could care less about knowing Yah and loving Him for real.  People just want to live how they want. In an interview to support his new album Jesus Piece, The Game said he should be able to wake up and smoke a blunt, then go to church and from church go to a strip club and it’s all good. See now days people only care about material things. And that’s even leaked into the church. You have preachers and teachers that teach that you can have cars, money, houses, whatever you want as long as you are faithful in your tithing and believe GOD. They teach that that people who lack “things” lack faith. Well to be real with you, it’s like Corey Red said “There’s no more gray lines, either you’re with Jesus or you're not”. The people that are not with Him and reject Him will miss out on the real meaning and purpose of life. They will miss out on real joy, love and peace. So how can you tell of we really know and love Yah? Well one answer is very blunt and simple. Do we obey Yahweh’s commandments?

The question a Christian should ask himself constantly-Do I keep GOD’s commandments?

15 Proofs, We Know, That We Know Yahweh

 

  1. By intimate fellowship (1 John 1:3-7; 2:13)  
  2. A heart that is full of joy (1 John 1:4)
  3. Obeying His commandments (1 John 2:3; 3:22
  4. Walking as Y’Shua (Jesus real name in his language) walked (1 John 2:6)
  5. Genuine love for all brothers and sisters (1 John 2:9-11; 3:10-19, 23: 4:7-21; 5:1)
  6. Victory over Satan and the word (1 John 2:13-14 : 5:4, 18)
  7. Hates the world's system (1 John 2:15-17)
  8. Is one with other Christians (1 John 2:19)
  9. Has the anointing of The Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20-27)
  10. Always acknowledges Yahweh and Y’Shua (1 John 2:22-25)
  11. Practices righteousness (1 John 2:29; 3:7-10: 5:1-4, 18
  12. Cleansing ourselves (1 John 3:3, 1:7-9; 3:5-10)
  13. Has the permanent presence of The Holy Spirit (3:24; 4:4, 13)
  14. Faith (2:23: 5:1, 10)
  15. Confessing Y’Shua (Jesus) (4: 14-15)


You might not know this but we face a big problem. See if there really is a GOD, it would be impossible for us to know by our own logic and thinking. It doesn't matter how smart you are. The reason why is because we live in a physical and material world, and the physical world can’t cross over into the spiritual world. So GOD The Son ( Y’Shua/Jesus) came from the spiritual world into the physical world



Þ Y’Shua came to be sacrificed for us. His sacrifice gives us full life


 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).


“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).


“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).


“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).



Þ Y’Shua  said He was sent to make Yahweh known.



“And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not” (John 5:38).


“Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29).


“Then cried Jesus in the temple as he taught, saying, Ye both know me, and ye know whence I am: and I am not come of myself, but he that sent me is true, whom ye know not” (John 7:28).


“I have many things to say and to judge of you: but he that sent me is true; and I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him” (John 8:26).
 “He that seeth me seeth Him that sent me” (John 12:45).


“If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him” (John 14:7).


“All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you” (John 16:15).


So this means, if we want to know Yahweh, we have to get to know his Son, Y’Shua. See GOD revealed Himself through His Son alone so if you know Y’Shua, you will know Yahweh.

The Bible teaches:
By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
(1 John 2:3 NASB)

Ok so what are His commands?
“And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment” (1 John 3:23).



Elohim’s (אֱלֹהִ֔ים another name for GOD from the Old Testament. This name refers to the trinity) is that we believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love each. There are two points here:

1. If we want to know Yah for real, we have to believe on the name of His Son Y’Shua. Y’Shua is the Messiah. If we believe in the Son, then we  will know God, because Y’Shua came to earth to to show GOD to us.


2. To know God we have to love each other. See, you have to understand that love covers all of GOD’s commandments. Now check this out because this is what a lot of so called Christians miss. If we love our brother, we will not hurt our brother in any way. At least not on purpose. and when we notice we did hurt our brother or sister, we do what we can to make it right. When we do this, we keep all of GOD’s commandments. The Bible makes this clear.



 “Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).



A person that really knows Yahweh walks in the light (1 John 1:7). To walk in the light means to be real, honest and sincere. Now check this out, the word sincere comes from two latin words, sine and cera, that means “without wax.” Back in the day, Roman sculptures used to try to hide the mistakes in their marble sculptures by filling the cracks with wax. Nobody would know until the statute was in the hot sun. So their customers wanted to know that the art was “sincere” or “without wax”. There are people in the church whose lives cannot stand to be tested by Yah’s light. “Yahweh is light,” and when we walk in the light there is nothing we can hide.
Walking in the light means...

  1. When the light reveals our sin to us, we immediately confess it to Yah and ask for forgiveness.
  2. Obeying Yah’s Word (1 Jn 2:3-4)
  3. Spend time time daily in GOD’s word discovering His will and obeying what He told us.


Obedience to Yah's Word is proof we love Him.

So how do we know if we know Yah? Well ask yourself, do we keep His commandments? Do we give by serving Yah and loving each other with everything we have? The truth is if we are not doing these two things, we do not know Yah. No matter what your favorite rapper, actor or whoever might say. And to be real, he does not know Yah if he criticizes, grumbles, and backbites his brother and commits adultery, kills, steals, lies, covets, or does anything else against his brother or sister. A person who knows Yah for real, has passion to please Him and a hunger to know more about Him.

There are people who try to learn about Yah, and get to know Him in the wrong way. Please don't fall into this trap. Most people like to speculate about Yah. They like to dream and imagine what GOD is like and try to live by those dreams. They have dreamed up teachings, not teaching from The Bible. You have other people who try to know Yah by mystical, spiritual or emotional experiences. They try  to know the spiritual world through spiritists, astrology, seances, and magic. The only real way to know Yah is to spend time with Him in prayer meditation, Bible study and fellowship.

Now let’s talk about people who make a false profession. There are people who claim to know Yah but they really don’t. The Bible is very clear and blunt about this issue in 1 John 2:4 where it says...

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him”. 



Let me break it down to you like this. Yah gave us the scripture to tell us what to do and how to live then He sent His Son Y’Shua to teach us and show us how to live. That’s how much Yah loves us. Yes we have the written Word, but we also have the living word. GOD The Son was sent to be a sacrifice for our sins but He was also sent to live a holy life so we can see how it’s done. Y'Shua only lived like Yahweh commands man to live. My point is, anyone who says they love Yah but they just do what they want to do and don't follow Yah's commandments, is a liar. The only way you can know Yahweh is to follow His Son, and fellowship with Yah like Y'Shua did. We have to follow the perfect life of Y'shua, and walk and live like He did. Y'Shua obeyed all the commands of Yah, so He knew Yah perfectly.  That's exactly what we need to do. When we obey Yah’s commands, we end up with a deep and personal relationship with Yahweh.

It doesn't matter what type of relationship you're talking about, if you want to get to know someone, you study them and learn all about their thoughts, behavior, desires and wants. That’s how it is with Yah. The only way to know Him is to study Him and learn His wants and desires.

I can’t stress enough, that the obedient person is the person who knows Yah and obeys Him. To be real, Yahweh could care less what you claim or how religious you are, if you don’t obey Yah, you don’t know Him or love Him period!

1 John 2:6 teaches us Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
The key word in that scripture is “walk”.  The word walk  is translated from  the Greek word peripatein, which means continuous action. It basically means, walking that does not stop. To continuously walk. If a man says that he abides in Christ, that means he walked as Y’Shua walked. So how did Y’Shua walk? He walked...

  • Trusting and having full faith in Yah
  • Worshipping and praying to Yah

  • Fellowshipping and communing with Yah
  • Giving and sacrificing all He was and had to Yah
  • Seeking and following after Yah

  • Teaching and telling others about Yah
  • Loving and caring for others just as Yah said to do

  • Obeying and keeping all of GOD’s commandments



This is a solid Christian brother. A brother who lives what he says he is. If he says he knows Yah, he walks just like Y’Shua walked. He believes and trusts Yah; he worships and prays to Yah, and he does all the other things that Y’Shua did. He walks in the footsteps of Y’Shua, doing exactly what Y’Shua did. This is the person who knows Yahweh.
 There is no debate or argument here!


“Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
 


“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).


“And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour” (Ephes. 5:2).


“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).


“He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked” (1 John 2:6).

“For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).


“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5).

“For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps” (1 Peter 2:21).



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W.L.A.K. Self-Titled Debut Album Cover + Tracklisting + Promo Video Collision Records has released the album cover, the tracklisting and a prom

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 7, 2013 at 7:30pm
[news.] W.L.A.K. Self-Titled Debut Album Cover + Tracklisting + Promo Video

Ready for another super group? Well  according  to holyculture.net,  Collision Records dropped the album cover, the tracklisting and a promo video for the upcoming self-titled debut album,  W.L.A.K. (We Live As Kings). The album is scheduled for release on March 5 and is available now for pre-order on iTunes: http://itun.es/i6Jk5kn

But you know The Oracle well have it for cheaper, I'm just saying.


wlak-album-cover

Watch exclusive footage of the We Live As Kings album preview party.

 
 

Tracklist:

1. Intro — Produced by Wit and Swoope
2. Imagine ft. Christon Gray, Dre Murray, Alex Faith, & Swoope — Produced by Swoope & Wit
3. Long Way Down ft. Christon Gray & Dre Murray — Produced by Swoope
4. All In ft. Alex Faith & Dre Murray — Produced by Dirty Rice & Joseph Prielozny
5. Coward ft. Alex Faith & Christon Gray — Produced by Swoope
6. Reign Is Coming ft. Christon Gray, Swoope, Dre Murray, & Alex Faith — Produced by Wit, Joseph Prielozny & Swoope
7. YHWH ft. Swoope & Dre Murray — Produced by Dirty Rice & Swoope
8. ABNY (Marty McFly) ft. Swoope & Alex Faith — Produced by Dirty Rice, Joseph Prielozny & Swoope
9. Broken Kings ft. Alex Faith, Christon Gray, & Swoope — Produced by Dirty Rice
10. Eyes For You ft. Christon Gray — Produced by Swoope
11. WLAQ ft. Christon Gray & Swoope — Produced by Swoope
12. Arena ft. Dre Murray & Christon Gray — Produced by Wit
13. King In Me ft. Swoope & Christon Gray — Produced by Swoope

 

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‘Da’ T.R.U.T.H.’s New Album “Love, Hope, & War” Debuts at #2 On the Billboard Gospel Charts

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 7, 2013 at 6:42pm

[news.] ‘Da’ T.R.U.T.H.’s New Album “Love, Hope, & War” Debuts at #2 On the Billboard Gospel Charts

Premier Xist Music Artist Da’ T.R.U.T.H. newest project bows at #5 on the Billboard Christian Overall Rankings

Christian Hip Hop Heavyweight Da’ T.R.U.T.H. blasted onto the Billboard Gospel charts this week ,with his sixth full-length release “Love, Hope, & War”. With his second project on Xist Music, and sixth overall, “Love, Hope, & War” also landed as the #1 Christian Hip Hop Album, riding a tidal wave of attention stemming from his win of the 2013 Stellar Award for Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year. The album, featuring production from J.R. (Lecrae, Sho Baraka), Alex Medina, Sean Simmonds, and Swoope, also showcases guest appearances by notable artists Trip Lee, Flame, Christon Gray, Thi’sl, and B.Reith. Driven by the success of the smash hit anthem “J.I.F.E.” (“Jesus Is For Everybody”), it has been one of the most hotly anticipated releases of the year.”Love, Hope, & War” has recieved massive critical acclaim, and serves as a challenge to the Church to embody God’s love to all who struggle in the midst of crisis and hopelessness.

Da’ T.R.U.T.H. is currently on tour in Africa, and will begin a U.S. tour this Spriing.

About Xist Music
Xist Music is the recording label of Xist Worldwide, which produces innovative projects from our award winning artists, who are leaders in the inspirational urban music industry. XIST Worldwide was founded by Terverius Black and Sean Simmonds to become the leading producer of inspirational urban entertainment, lifestyle and media content. With properties in music, film, publishing and other lifestyle projects, Xist Worldwide acquires, produces, markets and distributes inspirational urban content. For booking information, please go to elitetalentagency.com

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WATCH: President Obama's Full Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 7, 2013 at 5:00pm

Washington Hilton

Washington, D.C.
9:03 A.M. EST
THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  Please have a seat.
Mark, thank you for that introduction.  I thought he was going to talk about my gray hair.  (Laughter.)  It is true that my daughters are gorgeous.  (Laughter.)  That's because my wife is gorgeous.  (Applause.)  And my goal is to improve my gene pool.
 
To Mark and Jeff, thank you for your wonderful work on behalf of this breakfast.  To all of those who worked so hard to put this together; to the heads of state, members of Congress, and my Cabinet, religious leaders and distinguished guests.  To our outstanding speaker.  To all the faithful who've journeyed to our capital, Michelle and I are truly honored to be with you this morning.
Before I begin, I hope people don't mind me taking a moment of personal privilege.  I want to say a quick word about a close friend of mine and yours, Joshua Dubois.  Now, some of you may not know Joshua, but Joshua has been at my side -- in work and in prayer -- for years now.  He is a young reverend, but wise in years.  He's worked on my staff.  He's done an outstanding job as the head of our Faith-Based office.
Every morning he sends me via email a daily meditation -- a snippet of Scripture for me to reflect on.  And it has meant the world to me.  And despite my pleas, tomorrow will be his last day in the White House.  So this morning I want to publically thank Joshua for all that he's done, and I know that everybody joins me in wishing him all the best in his future endeavors -- including getting married.  (Applause.)
It says something about us -- as a nation and as a people -- that every year, for 61 years now, this great prayerful tradition has endured.  It says something about us that every year, in times of triumph and in tragedy, in calm and in crisis, we come together, not as Democrats or Republicans, but as brothers and sisters, and as children of God.  Every year, in the midst of all our busy and noisy lives, we set aside one morning to gather as one community, united in prayer.
We do so because we're a nation ever humbled by our history, and we're ever attentive to our imperfections -- particularly the imperfections of our President.  We come together because we're a people of faith.  We know that faith is something that must be cultivated.  Faith is not a possession.  Faith is a process.
I was struck by the passage that was read earlier from the Book of Hebrews:  "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and He rewards those who diligently seek Him."  He rewards those who diligently seek Him -- not just for one moment, or one day, but for every moment, and every day.
As Christians, we place our faith in the nail-scarred hands of Jesus Christ.  But so many other Americans also know the close embrace of faith -- Muslims and Jews, Hindus and Sikhs.  And all Americans -- whether religious or secular -- have a deep and abiding faith in this nation.
Recently I had occasion to reflect on the power of faith.  A few weeks ago, during the inauguration, I was blessed to place my hand on the Bibles of two great Americans, two men whose faith still echoes today.  One was the Bible owned by President Abraham Lincoln, and the other, the Bible owned by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  As I prepared to take the sacred oath, I thought about these two men, and I thought of how, in times of joy and pain and uncertainty, they turned to their Bibles to seek the wisdom of God's word -- and thought of how, for as long as we've been a nation, so many of our leaders, our Presidents, and our preachers, our legislators and our jurists have done the same.  Each one faced their own challenges; each one finding in Scripture their own lessons from the Lord.
And as I was looking out on the crowd during the inauguration I thought of Dr. King.  We often think of him standing tall in front of the endless crowds, stirring the nation's conscience with a bellowing voice and a mighty dream.  But I also thought of his doubts and his fears, for those moments came as well -- the lonely moments when he was left to confront the presence of long-festering injustice and undisguised hate; imagined the darkness and the doubt that must have surrounded him when he was in that Birmingham jail, and the anger that surely rose up in him the night his house was bombed with his wife and child inside, and the grief that shook him as he eulogized those four precious girls taken from this Earth as they gathered in a house of God.
And I was reminded that, yes, Dr. King was a man of audacious hope and a man of relentless optimism.  But he was always -- he was also a man occasionally brought to his knees in fear and in doubt and in helplessness.  And in those moments, we know that he retreated alone to a quiet space so he could reflect and he could pray and he could grow his faith.
And I imagine he turned to certain verses that we now read. I imagine him reflecting on Isaiah, that we wait upon the Lord; that the Lord shall renew those who wait; that they shall mount up with wings as eagles, and they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
We know that in Scripture, Dr. King found strength; in the Bible, he found conviction.  In the words of God, he found a truth about the dignity of man that, once realized, he never relinquished.
We know Lincoln had such moments as well.  To see this country torn apart, to see his fellow citizens waging a ferocious war that pitted brother against brother, family against family -- that was as heavy a burden as any President will ever have to bear.
We know Lincoln constantly met with troops and visited the wounded and honored the dead.  And the toll mounted day after day, week after week.  And you can see in the lines of his face the toll that the war cost him.  But he did not break.  Even as he buried a beloved son, he did not break.  Even as he struggled to overcome melancholy, despair, grief, he did not break.
And we know that he surely found solace in Scripture; that he could acknowledge his own doubts, that he was humbled in the face of the Lord.  And that, I think, allowed him to become a better leader.  It's what allowed him in what may be one of the greatest speeches ever written, in his second Inaugural, to describe the Union and the Confederate soldier alike -- both reading the same Bible, both prayed to the same God, but "the prayers of both could not be answered.  That of neither has been answered fully.  The Almighty has His own purposes."
In Lincoln's eyes, the power of faith was humbling, allowing us to embrace our limits in knowing God's will.  And as a consequence, he was able to see God in those who vehemently opposed him.
Today, the divisions in this country are, thankfully, not as deep or destructive as when Lincoln led, but they are real.  The differences in how we hope to move our nation forward are less pronounced than when King marched, but they do exist.  And as we debate what is right and what is just, what is the surest way to create a more hopeful -- for our children -- how we're going to reduce our deficit, what kind of tax plans we're going to have, how we're going to make sure that every child is getting a great education -- and, Doctor, it is very encouraging to me that you turned out so well by your mom not letting you watch TV.  I'm going to tell my daughters that when they complain.  (Laughter.) In the midst of all these debates, we must keep that same humility that Dr. King and Lincoln and Washington and all our great leaders understood is at the core of true leadership.
In a democracy as big and as diverse as ours, we will encounter every opinion.  And our task as citizens -- whether we are leaders in government or business or spreading the word -- is to spend our days with open hearts and open minds; to seek out the truth that exists in an opposing view and to find the common ground that allows for us as a nation, as a people, to take real and meaningful action.  And we have to do that humbly, for no one can know the full and encompassing mind of God.  And we have to do it every day, not just at a prayer breakfast.
I have to say this is now our fifth prayer breakfast and it is always just a wonderful event.  But I do worry sometimes that as soon as we leave the prayer breakfast, everything we've been talking about the whole time at the prayer breakfast seems to be forgotten -- on the same day of the prayer breakfast.  (Laughter.)  I mean, you'd like to think that the shelf life wasn't so short.  (Laughter.)  But I go back to the Oval Office and I start watching the cable news networks and it's like we didn't pray.  (Laughter.)
And so my hope is that humility, that that carries over every day, every moment.  While God may reveal His plan to us in portions, the expanse of His plan is for God, and God alone, to understand.  "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known."  Until that moment, until we know, and are fully known, all we can do is live our lives in a Godly way and assume that those we deal with every day, including those in an opposing party, they're groping their way, doing their best, going through the same struggles we're going through.
And in that pursuit, we are blessed with guidance.  God has told us how He wishes for us to spend our days.  His Commandments are there to be followed.  Jesus is there to guide us; the Holy Spirit, to help us.  Love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  Love your neighbor as yourself.  See in everyone, even in those with whom you disagree most vehemently, the face of God.  For we are all His children.
That's what I thought of as I took the oath of office a few weeks ago and touched those Bibles -- the comfort that Scripture gave Lincoln and King and so many leaders throughout our history; the verses they cherished, and how those words of God are there for us as well, waiting to be read any day that we choose.  I thought about how their faith gave them the strength to meet the challenges of their time, just as our faith can give us the strength to meet the challenges of ours.  And most of all, I thought about their humility, and how we don't seem to live that out the way we should, every day, even when we give lip service to it.
As President, sometimes I have to search for the words to console the inconsolable.  Sometimes I search Scripture to determine how best to balance life as a President and as a husband and as a father.  I often search for Scripture to figure out how I can be a better man as well as a better President.  And I believe that we are united in these struggles.  But I also believe that we are united in the knowledge of a redeeming Savior, whose grace is sufficient for the multitude of our sins, and whose love is never failing.
And most of all, I know that all Americans -- men and women of different faiths and, yes, those of no faith that they can name -- are, nevertheless, joined together in common purpose, believing in something that is bigger than ourselves, and the ideals that lie at the heart of our nation's founding -- that as a people we are bound together.
And so this morning, let us summon the common resolve that comes from our faith.  Let us pray to God that we may be worthy of the many blessings He has bestowed upon our nation.  Let us retain that humility not just during this hour but for every hour.  And let me suggest that those of us with the most power and influence need to be the most humble.  And let us promise Him and to each other, every day as the sun rises over America that it will rise over a people who are striving to make this a more perfect union.
Thank you.  God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.  (Applause.)
END
9:21 A.M. EST
SOURCE: WhiteHouse.gov

 

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We Need More Preachers Who Are Committed to Preaching the Word of God Without Seeking Fame or Fortune

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 7, 2013 at 7:13am

files.jpgby J. Lee Grady
Ever since God called me to preach, I've battled with deep insecurity about my delivery style. I can't electrify a crowd like T.D. Jakes, pack an arena like Reinhard Bonnke or get audiences to turn sermons into trending topics on Twitter like Craig Groeschel or Steven Furtick. Those guys hit home runs when they preach. I get base hits--or strikes.

For years I felt like the reluctant Moses, who complained to God by saying, "Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent" (Ex. 4:10). For years the Lord kept pushing me out of my comfort zone, urging me to surrender my fears so that I would take the microphone willingly. Once He told me: "I didn't call you to be T.D. Jakes. I called you to be you."
On many occasions after speaking in a church or conference, I would sulk. I battled constant discouragement and wondered if my words had hit the mark. Did I preach OK? Did the message sink in? Finally I asked an older pastor if he had ever struggled with disappointment in his pulpit performance. He smiled and told me: "Son, I feel that way every Monday of my life."
I'm learning an uncomfortable secret about preaching: Those who dare to allow God to speak through them will always squirm in holy agony. Preaching the gospel is both a glorious and a horrifying responsibility. When we speak under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and impart the very truths of Christ, we get so dangerously close to Him that our pride is challenged.
This truth is revealed in the story of Jericho. God told Joshua to organize a march around the walled city for seven days. The ark of the covenant was to go first, accompanied by seven priests blowing trumpets. On the last day, the walls of Jericho fell flat after the people shouted.
We charismatics have spiritualized this story in some comical ways. Some of us thought that blowing shofars during every church service would grow our churches. (In many cases those churches got smaller because the shofar blowing was so weird!) Others assumed we should march around the church every week or stage all-night shout-a-thons.
I have nothing against shouting, marching or shofars, but please don't miss the main point of this story: It is powerful prophetic preaching that brings downs the walls of spiritual resistance. God's Word must be proclaimed. Notice these points about the Jericho story:
1. The trumpets were rams' horns. God uses the weak things of this world to confound the strong. The apostle Paul called the preaching of the gospel "foolishness" (see 1 Cor. 1:18). While it is OK to improve your speaking abilities, don't become so polished that you become an orator with nothing to say. Don't try to be sophisticated. You are just a ram's horn.
Some American preachers today wow their crowds with dramatic stories, film clips, trendy graphics and motivational hype. It sounds good initially. But sometimes, after the applause, we realize it was just a bunch of ear candy. What we need in today's pulpits is less scripted sparkle and more messy, raw, honest, tear-stained pleas from broken men and women who are aflame with the Holy Spirit. Rams' horns came from animals that had been sacrificed. Only consecrated preachers who have died to self can preach a message that will bring down a spiritual wall.
2. The trumpets were blown for seven days. We love sermons that become overnight YouTube sensations--the kind of messages that get everyone waving handkerchiefs and dancing in the aisles. But the kingdom of God is not built on one-night stands. When Paul the apostle preached, the results were not always immediate ... or positive. Sometimes there were riots--and jail time.
What God is looking for is not one big sensational sermon but a lifetime of faithful preaching. He wants consistency, not fireworks. It's great when we have the exciting, handkerchief-waving moments, but we must realize that God's Spirit is also moving on quiet days when no one shouts "Amen!" and all you hear in the audience is cell phones ringing and babies crying.
3. The trumpets were blown by unnamed men. The Bible doesn't tell us who blew the trumpets in Joshua 6. We know these guys played an important role, but their names never appear in lights. They trudged through the dry desert around Jericho for seven monotonous days, blowing their horns until their throats were dry and their lips were sore. And in the end, when the walls of the city finally collapsed, Scripture says Joshua's fame increased--not theirs (see Josh. 6:27).
Today we need preachers who are willing to faithfully speak God's Word with no hope of fame or fortune. If you truly want all the credit to go to Jesus, you won't worry about your performance or your applause. Just do your job. Preach the Word and the walls will eventually fall.
J. Lee Grady is the former editor of Charisma and the director of The Mordecai Project (themordecaiproject.org). His latest book, Fearless Daughters of the Bible, will be released in Spanish next month. You can follow him on Twitter at leegrady. 
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Documents Show that New Orleans Officials Were Worried About an Outage at the Super Bowl Months Ago

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 5, 2013 at 4:47pm


ks_superdome_blackout_020413.jpg?w=360&h=240&crop=1While authorities investigate the causes of the 34-minute Super Bowl blackout, documents show that Superdome officials were worried last fall about losing power at the big game.

Pictured: Fans and members of the Baltimore Ravens and the San Francisco 49ers wait for power to return in the Superdome.

 
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Tests on the dome's electrical feeders showed decay and "a chance of failure," state officials warned in a memo dated Oct. 15. Also, the utility that supplied the stadium with power expressed concern about the reliability of the service before the NFL championship.
Entergy New Orleans, the company that supplies the stadium with power, and the structure's engineering staff "had concerns regarding the reliability of the Dome service from Entergy's connection point to the Dome," the memo adds.
The memo - prepared for the Louisiana Stadium & Exposition District - says those concerns were due in part to "circumstances that have previously occurred with the electrical service regarding transient spikes and loads."
The memo also cited 2011 blackouts that struck Candlestick Park, where the San Francisco 49ers were playing a nationally televised Monday night football game, as a reason for ordering the tests.
Authorities later authorized spending nearly $1 million on Superdome improvements, including more than $600,000 for upgrading the dome's electrical feeder cable system.
"As discussed in previous board meetings, this enhancement is necessary to maintain both the Superdome and the New Orleans Arena as top tier facilities, and to ensure that we do not experience any electrical issues during the Super Bowl," said an LSED document dated Dec. 19.
The lights-out championship game proved an embarrassment for New Orleans just when it was hoping to show the rest of the world how far it has come since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. But many fans were forgiving, and officials expressed confidence that the episode wouldn't hurt the city's hopes of hosting the championship again.
To New Orleans' relief, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the city did a "terrific" job hosting its first pro football championship in the post-Katrina era.
"I fully expect that we will be back here for Super Bowls," he said, noting a backup power system was poised to kick in but wasn't needed once the lights came back.
Fans watching from home weren't deterred, either. An estimated 108.4 million television viewers saw the Baltimore Ravens beat the San Francisco 49ers 34-31, making it the third most-viewed program in television history. Both the 2010 and 2011 games hit the 111 million mark.
As for possible culprits, it couldn't be blamed on a case of too much demand for power.
Meters showed the 76,000-seat stadium was drawing no more electricity than it does during a typical New Orleans Saints game, according to Doug Thornton, manager of the state-owned Superdome.
He also ruled out Beyonce's electrifying halftime performance. She brought along her own generator.
Officials with the utility and the Superdome were quick to note that an NFL game, the Sugar Bowl and another bowl game were played there in recent weeks with no apparent problems.
The problem that caused the outage was believed to have happened around the spot where a line that feeds current from Entergy New Orleans connects with the Superdome's electrical system, officials said. But whether the fault lay with the utility or with the Superdome was not clear.
Determining the cause will probably take days, according to Dennis Dawsey, a vice president for distribution and transmission for Entergy. He said the makers of some of the switching gear have been brought in to help figure out what happened.
Cinthia Hedge-Morrell, chairwoman of the New Orleans City Council's Utility Committee, called an emergency committee meeting Friday with Entergy representatives and others, seeking additional information.
The blackout came after a nearly flawless week of activity for football fans in New Orleans leading up to the big game.
Mayor Mitch Landrieu told WWL-AM on Monday that the outage won't hurt the city's chances, and he joked that the game got better after the blackout: "People were leaving and the game was getting boring, so we had to do a little something to spice it up."
The city last hosted the Super Bowl in 2002, and officials were hoping this would serve as the ultimate showcase for the city's recovery since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The storm tore holes in the roof of the Superdome and caused water damage to its electrical systems, and more than $330 million was spent repairing and upgrading the stadium.
Sunday's Super Bowl was New Orleans' 10th as host, and officials plan to make a bid for an 11th in 2018.
---
Associated Press writers Beth Harpaz, Brett Martel and Barry Wilner contributed to this report.
 
SOURCE: KEVIN MCGILL AND MICHAEL KUNZELMAN 
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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Lecrae Talks About The Game's Blasphemous Song About Jesus and how his Former Self Would Call him 'a Sell-Out'

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 5, 2013 at 3:21am
 
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Lecrae was recently interviewed by Richard Clark, Editor-In-Chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and answered three standout questions.
As previously shared on ChristCultureNews.com, fans (or perhaps foes) seem to consistently search the Webs for info on whether the rapper drinks, cuss, smokes weed, etc. (see the pic below).
Unfortunately, Clark didn't ask Lecrae if he smokes weed, but he did touch on the cussing part.
Because of that Christian part of your audience, do you ever feel like there's something you want to say, but maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to say it? Like, do you ever want to say "s___"?
[Laughs] I'm always mindful that there's a large audience. I want to be able to get my point across. I respect people expressing their freedoms and their liberties and their rights, but at the same time I'm almost mindful that my freedoms can be other people's downfalls. I don't want to flash my freedoms in your face all the time, especially if they're going to be detrimental. I can get you to understand my point without going overboard, and we're cool.
Lecrae was also asked about getting in touch with rapper The Game about his ridiculously offensive "Jesus Piece" album / cover art, which the Atlanta rapper says didn't even go down like that.
I saw this thing where you had texted The Game about his Jesus Piece album, how you were dissatisfied with the message behind it?
Yeah, it didn't really go down like it was put out there. But I'm here to serve people. I'm not here to wave my finger in people's faces and point out to them how terrible they are or what I hate about them or anything along those lines. That's not my place. I'm in no position to condemn anybody. There's things I don't condone, and I talk about that, but at the same time, I would never just reach out to somebody and be like, "Yo man, I don't appreciate that," if I never met you. That's not my thing.
Finally, Clark asked Lecrae to compare his old self with his currently more mature self, and the rapper said he believes his old self would think he's a sellout who's "fallen off." But this is what he would say to his old self...
SOURCE: ChristCultureNews.com
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Dr. Marilyn Singleton says She Cannot Bear to Hear One More Person say 'I'm So Glad We Have an African-American President'

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 5, 2013 at 3:08am
 
4798Despite the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, many of us were too busy seeing patients to hear President Obama's second inaugural address. It was less painful to read the transcript.
"What binds this nation together is not the color of our skin or the tenets of our faith or the origins of our names," he stated. Then let's end the government's obsession with African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans, and Asian-Americans (but never European-Americans). We are all Americans. I feel some moral authority and passion on this subject as a black American whose family moved here from England in the 1600s. I am a full-blooded American!
I can't bear to hear one more person say, "I'm so glad we have an African-American president." How ironic: Martin Luther King, Jr., urged that we judge people by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
The head of the Congressional Black Caucus admitted that the CBC treats the President with a "deference" not accorded to a white President, and that the CBC is "hesitant" to criticize the current President. "With 14 percent unemployment [versus 6.9 percent for whites], if we had a white president, we'd be marching around the White House."
This Administration and/or its tools use race as a crutch when facing legitimate criticism, for example Susan Rice's willful or incompetent misleading of Americans about the Benghazi deaths. Rep. Jim Clyburn said calling Susan Rice "unqualified" to be Secretary of State was a racist "code word."
Curiously, "unqualified" was not a "code word" when used against Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court hearings. It was noted that he was particularly unqualified because he had served on the D.C. Circuit for only one year and four months. God forbid we should raise the same question about Elena Kagan or Thurgood Marshall (whom Thomas replaced), who were never judges at all.
And what about the other Rice? Who can forget how a former Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, was maliciously attacked as a "house slave" in the Bush Administration?
Source: Charisma News
Marilyn M. Singleton, M.D., is a board-certified anesthesiologist, professor, lawyer and Association of American Physicians and Surgeons member.
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HP Launches its First Chromebook for $330

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 5, 2013 at 2:56am
ht_hp_chromebook2_tk_130204_wg.jpgHewlett-Packard has launched its first ever Chrome OS-based laptop: the HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook.
The 14-inch device, whose existence was first confirmed in a leak last week, comes with a 1.1GHz Intel Celeron 847 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of flash storage memory, and a 1,366x768 pixel screen.
The device is quite heavy for a Chromebook: according to HP, it weighs "just under 4 pounds."
On the connectivity front, it sports three USB 2.0 sockets, Ethernet, HDMI and an SD memory card reader. Buyers also get 100GB of Google Drive space for two years.
The specifications are quite good, but the price of HP's foray into Chromebooks is high compared to the competitors: $330. For comparison, Samsung's Chromebook costs $249, but has a weaker CPU and lags behind when it comes to connectivity.
The HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook is available in the U.S. right now over at HPDirect.com.
SOURCE: STAN SCHROEDER
Mashabale

 

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Jesse Jackson Leads March in Chicago Calling on President Obama to Come Home to Address Gun Violence

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 4, 2013 at 10:43am


jesse-jackson-rainbow-push-anti-violence-march.jpeg?w=692&h=384&crop=1Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson and relatives of victims of fatal shootings in Chicago urged President Barack Obama on Saturday to come back to his hometown and address the gun violence plaguing the city. 


Before a march on the city's South Side, Jackson, a former Democratic presidential candidate, said America's third most populous city needed more help than Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police superintendent Garry McCarthy could offer.
"When the president shows up, it shows ultimate national seriousness," said Jackson, a Chicago resident. He also called for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to help patrol the streets of Chicago.
Gun violence in Chicago has been in the national spotlight over the past year, with 506 murders in 2012, an increase of 17 percent from the previous year. As of Thursday, there were 42 homicides and 157 shootings so far this year, according to Chicago police.
The issue received new urgency with the killing this week of 15-year-old Hadiya Pendleton, an honors student who performed with her high school band at Obama's inauguration on January 21.
News of her death near Obama's old home in the Kenwood neighborhood came before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee began hearings on gun control on Wednesday. Obama's spokesman, Jay Carney, has said the Obamas are praying for Pendleton's family.
Anita Crittenden, who lost a nephew to gun violence last year, said Obama, by coming to Chicago, would "get the leaders to think and step up and make some changes."
A petition posted on the White House's "We the People" website calls for Obama and his family to attend Pendleton's funeral on February 9. The petition must have at least 100,000 signatures to receive an official response from the White House.
Jackson led nearly 150 people on a march from Martin Luther King Jr. College Prep High School, where Pendleton was a student, to the park where she died a few blocks away.
"My greatest fear about the gun violence in Chicago is that we're adjusting to it," he said.
Police said Pendleton was shot to death on Tuesday as she and her friends were shielding themselves from rain under a canopy in the park. Police have called it a case of mistaken identity and are offering a $40,000 award for information leading to her killer.
Emanuel announced plans on Thursday to take 200 police officers now serving in administrative positions and deploy them on the streets.
"Hadiya wanted to make a difference in the world," said Shatira Wilks, a spokeswoman for the family, and cousin of Cleopatra Cowley, Pendleton's mother. "It's unfortunate that it would be like this, but we still hope that this can make a difference."
Not everyone participating in the march agreed that Obama should come home. Matthew McGill said the president should address the violence issue, but need not single out Chicago, "because what you see in Chicago happens in other cities as well."
(Editing by Mary Wisniewski and Peter Cooney)
SOURCE: Renita D. Young
Reuters
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Introducing new artist and Baltimore native ‘Dee Black’

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 4, 2013 at 12:25am

Dee Black_bio_pic

Davon White,( AKA Dee Black), has overcome many obstacles that artists face in the music industry.  Growing up in Baltimore City, his journey of music began at the age of 16,  and was influenced by the fame and success of close friends that were in the rap industry.  It was the foundation of past experiences that eventually led him in 2002, to turn down a major label deal.  His music is a mix of hip hop, R&B, and gospel, and has been categorized as “life” music.  Promoting more of the positivity in hip hop culture is  Blacks’ primary focus.

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New Samsung Galaxy Note Model Set To Boast An 8 Inch Display

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 4, 2013 at 12:13am
 

The first Samsung Galaxy Note device was launched back in 2011 and ever since then the range of phones has proved to be a huge success with consumers despite at first there being some reservations regarding the large screen size. We saw the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 launched last year and it seems that we will soon see another such model in the form of the Galaxy Note 8.0.

It seems that the Galaxy Note 8.0 will be the bigger sibling of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 and the name of the new device suggests that it will boast a massive 8 inch display. This new model is not likely to replace the Note 2 but it will sit along side it in the range and will be a competitor of the popular Nexus 7 and the Amazon Kindle devices. The Mobile World Congress 2013 is likely to be where we see the new Note device launched however prior to this event we have seen some leaked images. These images show us that the device will sport Samsung’s trademark bezel and that it will be made of high quality plastic which leads us to believe that these images are indeed genuine. Click here for more Samsung Galaxy Note 2 News

The leaked images of the new Note device provide us with an idea of the specification we can expect it to offer. The previous Note device the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 offered a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display which made the device more of a smartphone than a tablet device. The new Note 8.0 boasts an 8 inch 1280 x 800 resolution TFT display ensuring than it sits comfortably in tablet territory. The model also offers a 1.6Ghz quad core processing chip and users will have 2GB of RAM with a choice of 16GB or 32GB of internal storage capacity. For those users that wish to expand the storage there is a micro SD card slot. The primary camera will be 5 mega pixels and there will also be a powerful 4600mAh battery present. Check out fantastic Samsung Galaxy Note 2 offers here

The Galaxy Note family is soon to have a new member in the form of the Galaxy Note 8.0 which will sit alongside the popular Samsung Galaxy Note 2. This new tablet device will compete with rival devices as the Nexus 7 and the popular Kindle readers from Amazon.

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Apple Takes 3 Of Top 5 Spots In U.S. Mobile Phone Sales For Q4 2012, Says NPD

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 3, 2013 at 11:56pm

iphone-family

Apple has managed to nab three of the top 5 spots for the top-selling mobile phones in the U.S. during Q4 2012 according to the NPD Group, with the iPhone 5, iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 ranking first, third and fourth, respectively. Apple also retained the crown for best-selling overall smartphone maker, accounting for 39 percent of smartphone sales in Q4 2012, compared to Samsung’s 30 percent.

iPhone 4 sales rose 79 percent compared to Q3 2012, and iPhone 4S sales grew 43 percent sequentially, while the iPhone 5 accounted for 43 percent of all iPhone sales in Q4 2012, which is roughly in line with the numbers we’re seeing out of carrier data as well. It also made up nearly two-thirds of all smartphone sales on post-paid plans with a value over $200, NPD says. Samsung made considerable gains on the year, going up to 30 percent of all U.S. smartphone sales in Q4 2012 from 21 percent in the year ago quarter, but the gains were mostly at the expense of other Android OEMs, including HTC, while Apple’s overall share remained constant.

Net Applications also released its monthly report on mobile OS share, which found that Apple’s iOS increased slightly in terms of traffic, accounting for 60.56 percent of all mobile operating systems, while Android actually took a bit of a dip to 24.51 percent, continuing a decline that has occurred over the past two months from a peak high in November of 28.02 percent. It looks like Apple’s release of the iPhone 5 might have essentially begun to erase earlier gains made by the longer availability of the Samsung Galaxy S III, but Apple still has some ground to make up if it wants to climb back to its 2012 high of nearly 66 percent web traffic share among mobile devices.

Apple’s holiday quarter, which included 47.8 million iPhone sales and 22.9 million iPads, looks to have helped it in terms of remaining the leader in both smartphone and mobile device sales in the U.S., and in keeping the hold it has on mobile browsing. The strong quarter also accounts for Apple’s regaining the role of largest mobile phone maker by volume in the U.S., an honor it reclaimed according to the latest data from Strategy Analytics released earlier today.

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Marvin Winans Jr. Produces New Faith-Based Film "Dreams" (TRAILER)

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 3, 2013 at 10:19pm
 
marvin-winans-jr-as-donte-DREAMS.jpg
 
Marvin Winans Jr. as Donte Dreams. (Luke Hartley)
It's difficult to keep a dream alive while surrounded by the harsh realities of life. Still, there are those who rather than being defeated by hardships, find strength.
This is the message of "Dreams," a movie directed by Joel Kapity and produced by native Detroiter Marvin Winans Jr. Set outside of Chicago, the yet-unrated film tackles tough issues -- rape, incest and broken families who are working to reunite and repair their damaged lives.
"Sometimes those darkest secrets need someone who is brave enough to tell it in a creative form, where it can actually free people to speak about it openly," Winans says.
If you recognize his name, that might be because he is one of many gospel singers born into the renowned Winans family. His father is singer and pastor Marvin Winans Sr. of Perfecting Church in Detroit. His mother is gospel great Vickie Winans, and his brother Mario sings and produces as well.
"Dreams" will premiere Thursday night at the AMC Star Southfield 20. The cast is impressive and includes stage and screen actor Tommy Ford, R&B singer Angie Stone and "American Idol" alum Syesha Mercado. Vickie Winans plays Veronica, mother to Mercado's character Mia, and Winans Jr. plays a notorious criminal in the film.
While the plot is far from lightweight, Winans Jr. says great care was given to create a movie all audiences can enjoy. While some films may be effective, he says, there is often a lot of vulgarity that audiences have to wade through before the story's meaning comes across.
"We were able to put together a movie with a strong message, but did it in a quality form. It's not cheesy or corny," he says. "It has and delivers a strong message."
In addition to producing, Winans also composed the score. The singer/songwriter signed with Epic Records when he was just 18, but says movies have always been his passion. He calls director Steven Spielberg an inspiration.
If done right, he says, movies can have a strong effect on people.
"I saw the power of movies," he says. "I remember going to see the movie 'Se7en,' and after that movie was over, people were literally just sitting in the theater.
"I always wanted to inspire and affect people in a positive way."
Winans says he's always wanted to produce films and knew after creating his own music video, "You Never Let Me Down," with director Kapity, that the two would work together again. And then one day Kapity called about "Dreams."
But while the music business is tough, Winans says the film industry isn't anything to sneeze at.
"All respect to all recoding artists and labels, but film is at least five times more difficult. It takes so much more," he says. "When we got on set, I was ready to quit around day two. I have done music videos before, but it was like we were shooting a music video every day for 24 days straight. It was a marathon. It opened my eyes. It is a humbling process and makes you work as a team."
 
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Roland Martin says Ray Lewis and Other Christian Athletes Should Keep Letting Their Light Shine Despite Criticism

Posted by Prince Malachi The First on February 3, 2013 at 10:01pm
 
130201172031-martin-ray-lewis-story-top.jpgby Roland Martin
When President Barack Obama addressed the nation the day 20 children were killed in Newtown, Connecticut, he told the nation "that we are praying for them."
The moment "Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts announced she had to undergo a bone marrow transplant, many prayers were directed her way.
So why is it that sports fans are upset and bothered that Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis consistently invokes God and Jesus, and recites Bible scriptures?
We saw a lot of criticism toward Tim Tebow for the same thing. Criticize him aplenty for not being able to throw the football, but hating on him because of his faith? Please, sit down.
Olympian Lolo Jones was on ESPN's "First Take" Friday and she said that it's interesting that someone else will get more positive attention for releasing a sex tape while she is ridiculed for saying she'll remain a virgin until she gets married.
I'll be honest, a lot of the criticism comes from individuals in the media who see religious people as weird and kooks. No, not all members of the media, but I can say in my experience as a reporter for 21 years that I have heard a lot of anti-religious, and especially anti-Christian, stuff from my media brothers and sisters.
In individual discussions working at newspapers, radio stations, TV and online outlets, folks have ridiculed the religious for having convictions that don't line up with others' political beliefs. Yet what is so funny is that when those same individuals encountered a health crisis, had marital problems or issues with their children or were about to lose their job, they were the first ones to seek the Bible believer out for prayer.
This really shouldn't come as a shock, because that's how a lot of Americans are. When we don't think we need to have a relationship with God, we'll blow off praying or going to church. Just let the good times roll, huh?
But just wait until something bad happens. Man, we'll flock to the nearest church, mosque or synagogue; break out the prayer beads; and blow the dust off of the Bible in order to be comforted.
Remember the night of September 11, 2001? You would have been hard-pressed to find a seat in a house of worship. We were a prayer nation on that day, when nearly 3,000 of our brothers and sisters were killed in terrorist attacks.
It doesn't bother me one bit to see an athlete choose to be public with their faith. God bless 'em. And if another player makes the decision to not be as public, God bless them, too.
The ridicule with being a strong person of faith comes with the territory. Heck, if Jesus was mocked in his day, it's no shock Ray Lewis, Tim Tebow or anyone else today will be ridiculed.
But the key is to remain steadfast and strong. Jesus told his followers in Matthew 28:19 to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations."
Now before there was a Ray Lewis, there was a Reggie White. Just like Ray, Reggie was trashed for his religious convictions. He was told to just shut up and play football. But if God gave Reggie the gifts to do what he did, why not give Him the glory?
As a devout Christian, I will not bend, and will stand strong in the faith when it comes to my religious convictions. Afraid to say Jesus on TV? Nope. In fact, the first four specials I hosted on CNN in 2007 were all religious specials. We may lose jobs, money, fame and public glory, but as long as my relationship with God stays intact, I'm not bothered by the haters.
Does God want the Ravens to beat the 49ers because of Ray Lewis? No. Are you betting on the Ravens because you think Ray plays on Team Jesus? You better recognize that God is no bookie. We can all appreciate every player for what they bring to the table, and if they are believers in the faith, then God bless them. Win or lose.
Ray Lewis and other players of faith have a tremendous platform. More than 100 million people will probably be watching on Sunday. If someone makes a decision to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior because they were inspired by Ray Lewis exhortation of his faith on Super Bowl Sunday, great. If someone just wants to watch the game, no problem.
But I will be thankful that a man who is undaunted by his critics will be unapologetic in professing his faith. Ray Lewis has faced the depths of evil in his past, and like Saul he went through his own Damascus Road Experience and has been transformed.
No matter the faith or the occupation, there is nothing wrong with emerging from darkness and becoming a shining bright light.
Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for the TV One cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, "Washington Watch with Roland Martin."
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