Worship the active ingredient of Masculinity

My assignment is to reunite your worship and Masculinity. In other words Connect "who you are" with "whose you are". The divorce of "who you are" from "whose you are" will flaw your navigation through life as a man,  because you have no sense of direction or purpose. It's like using a GPS system to travel but never entering a destination.

2 EFFECTS OF THE DISCONNECT

I. Without this connection there is no defenses against obvious traps. You are prone to fall for anything.

II. No Repellant against nagging parasites that suck life from you. A parasite is An organism that lives in or outside of an host and benefits from deriving nutrients from it.

     -endoparasite Live on the inside. They live off and leave their waste in you.
Therefore, the porn, sexual glutiny, gambling, stubborness, homosexuality live off the nutrients of your finance and time while leaving the waste of debit and emptiness. Brothers what endoparasite have you let inside?

I argue that, THE UNION OF WORSHIP AND MASCULINITY IS VITAL TO MEN. I have to know who I am and whose I am. MASCULINITY is found in being the image of God.

Genesis 1:26-27
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

MASCULINITY therefore is mirroring our FATHER.
Worship allows us to see the Father so we can adjust our image accordingly.
True worship is established when a man follows the direction of His Father
Idolatry is disobeying His word and in that practice we lose
- our purpose
-completeness
-and ultimately  masculinity

All this Leads then to THE CURSE TO PERFORM.
After the fall of man, Genesis 3:17-19
And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; 18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; 19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Meaning we will be driven with the desire to perform/work but never being satisfied. Worship is the only place we find the fulfillment Adam enjoyed prior to his fall. that's why no matter how hard we perform outside of His presences, we feel lack. Sex, work , relationships and even our spirituality without worship is empty.


LUKE 15 speaks of a man in this predicament. The prodigal son.
Vs. 13 A. Clause ............"And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country,"
The son decides to disconnect from the father . Decides to not follow the wishes of his father and leaves the House. He disassociates his identity to his father.

13b - 14....."and there wasted his substance with riotous living. 14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want."
WE ARE ALL IN A STATE OF WANT. DON'T BELIEVE ME CHECK THE SIN YOU. YOUR SINS ARE LANDMARKS TO YOUR LACK AND EMPTINESS. WHAT ARE YOU LACKING TONIGHT?


He suffers the 2 EFFECTS OF DISCONNECT

1. His disassociation of identity shows  No defense against traps. The B. clause states he wasted his money. He fell in a trap that sapped his resource.

2. He works for a parasite that doesn't recognize his value and is thrown to the pigs. It's scary to be comfortable with pigs. If he remembered the Son he was ....then he would not have be CONNECTED TO PIGS.
-consider your connections




Verse 17. And when he came to himself.  This means that "who he was" aligned back to "whose he was".
WHEN THE MAN REUNITES WITH THE WORSHIPPER
WHEN THE HUSBAND REUNITES WITH THE WORSHIPPER
WHEN THE SON REUNITES WITH THE WORSHIPPER

THEN LIVE IN THE HOUSE , THE PRESENCE OF GOD NOT IN THE PIG PEN

Tonight we have come to reunite masculinity and worship. This Devine alignment. The alignment is repentance.

Words from the Cross - The Horizontal Dimension

Of the many things we have mastered in church we have greatly failed in relationship.

We are "Experts" at marketing services and events. We are skilled in areas of music, industry and enterprise. We have successfully crossed our music over on secular airwaves. Corporations and government agencies will pour financial support into our buildings and missions. And multimillion dollar ministry can be erected on the charisma of a single person and present opportunity for branding and world wide prestige. Behind the pulpit people can master speaking awesome  messages yet fail the test of Relational  ministry.

In our review of the cross we can not over look the 2 dimensional figure presented before us. The vertical dimension manifested in the reconnection of God and man, can not be more important than but is equal to the horizontal dimension reconnecting man to his brother. When racial killing is done on the basis of being black, then the healing of the relational piece is missing. What has happened to the horizontal mission of the cross?

The absence of this essential ministry robs the Christian experience of its greatest life here on Earth. The fullness of life Jesus offers is completed in the relationships of incomplete people that have been redesigned according to the word of GOD.

Early church fathers took the idea of community and love very serious. In scripture consider the following. 

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (1 John 3:14 KJV)

The way we know we've been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn't love is as good as dead. (1 John 3:14 MSG) 

 

 

Loveless people are dead people. 

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1, 2 KJV)

Loveless people are worthless people. 

From the cross Jesus establishes a principle we often over look. When He looks in the crowd, he sees 2 people that He loves. And sees that they are going to be wounded due to the connection they have with Him.  

A disciple. One willing to be close to his master at the cross  even if would cost his life. John being there speaks to the devotion John had for the master. For as the others where a far off, John stayed close. He now watches the one he loves get rip violently from his life. Leaving a void that only love could fill.

A mother. She after enduring the labor pains of child that was never meant for her enjoyment, watches Him die. Did she know He would be snatched from her like this? What pain she has to endure. She too has a void only love could fill.

Jesus sees the 2 needs and as The word speaks from the cross.......... "Mother behold your son, Son behold your mother." Remember .......The fullness of life Jesus offers is completed in the relationships of incomplete people that have been redesigned according to the word of GOD. In that moment Mary's void of a son is matched with John's void and through the word the voids resolve each other. This is the miracle of this word and the one we need to rediscover. The answer to my void is in you and at His word we can find fullness in relationship with each other.

 

Like puzzle pieces that look odd when they stand alone, we are deformed when follow the desire of isolation. But when we see our selves as one body, we will discover that joining together makes our lives complete and changes puzzles into masterpieces. 

Audience Participation(Follow up to "Audience of One")

Acts 16: 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. (colors coordinated with points below)

I believe that our greatest moments in worship take place when the focus is about the One. With the technical enhancements and sophistication that we have been allowed to bring to our services, it is easy to get distracted. It all has to be about God. We have to able to strip service down to it's most simplest core, worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Therefore, when the mics go out, drums are off beat or the congregations stares at you, you can focus on the Audience.

The above text I believe gives an excellent stage for how worship can effectively flow. In the text we see how focusing on The Audience can bless the congregation.

• Power of Agreement - Matt 18:20 "Where 2 or 3 are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." - It's vital to find other people that can touch and agree in spirit with you to worship The Father. The ability to join together for corporate worship creates an atmosphere for His Spirit to dwell.

•  Who hears you? - This scripture speaks of the attendees of the service. In this case it was prisoners. Everyone was a prisoner. Everyone was in the same predicament, but the responses of these 2 worship leaders determined the posture of the jail. Think of what you walk into when you serve on any given Sunday or service. Don't get consumed in your personal life struggles because your response will be highlighted for others to see and follow suit. When you are freed, they are freed.

• Audience Participation - God is our audience. The most awesome thing is that HE responds like no other audience can. When HE claps, shackles are broken. His standing ovations shakes foundations. He responds to corporate heart felt worship; especially in restricted and uncomfortable places.

• Crowd Participation - The other great thing about this worship for our Audience, the crowd takes part in the freedom afforded to the worshipers. The crowd walks in the same liberty that worshipers experience. The crowd gets to look into our interment moment with our Father and as one we all walk away with liberation. Foundations are shaken and shackles are broken. Glory be to God!

Let us focus on the Audience so the crowd can participate and be blessed. An Audience of One equates to a blessing for many. 

B. Gregory Moore

www.bgregoryspeaks.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Love is Listening

Finish this statement......"If you love me then you would......"

Our responses to this question I'm sure would be diverse because we all have different interpretations of what love looks and feels like. Interpretations that result during our younger years when we didn't even know we were being trained on how to love and receive it. Molestation, abuse, spoiling, over-protection, media, culture, religion and other factors have been used in guiding us to discover the meaning of love in our lives. When you think of the array of factors we have individually experienced and consider the clashes of these interpretations when we try to give and receive love amongst each other, then you see how love can become war; both internal and external.

With the diversity of life's lessons, where do we find commonality to base our collective journey? For love is a needed requirement for relationships of any kind. Where do we build from? What's the safe place we all can go without defensiveness and clashes? Listening! Before you give your heart, give an ear.

Without the art of listening, our relationships are doomed to be either destroyed or distorted.

James 1:19. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

"If you love me, than you would listen to me as I listen to you"

Father helps us to LISTEN. Help us to materialize our love first in listening then in action. Helps us to be heard when we scream. Helps us to know that you are listening when no else seems to be. I pray especially for my brothers that are summed up to be just angry and all we are asking for is an ear. Protect us from the wrath of our outburst, by protecting those around from physical and emotional pain. Help us to love ourselves enough to hear the little boy that screams out.........HEAR ME. And when needed help us to hear each other. Who better to understand a man, than a man. Help us find Safe Brotherhood again.



www.bgregoryspeaks.blogspot.com

Audience of 1....Sunday Morning's Drama A Tragedy

The intoxicating tragedy of Sunday Morning is that many have mastered the major performance of the multitude, but minor in the devotion of One. The One true and Living God has watched us all week and will sit with folded arms as bodies perform with no heart and no Spirit. Bodies animated by the electrical emotionalism of the congregation. The congregation is happy but The Audience isn't clapping. In some cases we may be so caught up in acting that we haven't realized that Audience has left the building. He is waiting for you after the make up and custumes to comune with the character behind the mask; the one He saw all week. Despite the wardope, all He sees is the character; even on Sunday Morning.

When God claps, we sit! Every knee bows and we all do the same thing differently. We honor him in expressions diverse but motives collective. The tears, lifted hands and bowed downed heads all lift Him up. If that is our motive let us consider the following:

Psalms 51:16. For thou desirest not sacfrice; else would I give it: thou delightest no in a burnt offering. 17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not depise 19. Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thing altar.

Our righteousness is the performance of Character He seeks. Our Audience desires only that we live righteous or be repentive when we are unable to be right. For even in our repentance His hands applaud us with grace. Though we might be many tomorrow, don't forget its really about the audience of 1.

1 Voice 1 Sound

http://bgregoryspeaks.blogspot.com/

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Nuttin But Love! Reflection of Heavy D and 90s Music

"Nuttin But Love" was a hit of Heavy D. The song was average to me at the time though I enjoyed the video that featured Talent and Chris Tucker. The title however captures perfectly my reflections of The Overweight Lover and an era of music that played in the background of some of my most developmental stages of my life.

The song speaks of the expectation of Gold Diggin women wanting the monetary and natural benefits of a man. Though being able to provide those things, Heavy D preached I have "Nuttin But Love". Despite the message, the female voice sarcastically responds "Whatever". To me this sums up Heavy D. His life left a love that so many will miss like the vibe of the 90's musical era.

“Nuttin But Love” was acted out when Heavy made so many appearances on other people's song to drop a verse. From Veterans like Janet Jackson to rookies like Soul For Real. He was also instrumental in the success of Diddy and Usher. Usher recalls a time when he first came to NY and Heavy made him feel comfortable. He also paved the way for his cousin Pete Rock. Nuttin But Love!

This love was not only outward but was internal as well. He never ran or masked what others might have considered visual distractions. From his eye to his weight, there was enough to prevent him from being the Iconic performer he is remembered as. His obvious acceptance of his natural short comings allowed Heavy to display a man who loved life and the people around him. Both naturally and spiritually he danced with what God gave him; the abundance of love that over came any flaws in himself and ultimately in others.

Heavy D is labeled as the "ONE" that put Mount Vernon on the map. The action of one birthed a chapter in Urban Music Culture that would be further steered by Diddy producers and executives that many of us may be unfamiliar with. Yet despite the lack of public acknowledgement, no one linked to this movement would feel slighted because in 90's it was about the Love first. Wasn't about 1 out of 100, but 1 leading the way for 100. Music was love; Love for yourself, love of life and love of family. “Nuttin But Love!”

In the video of “Nuttin But Love”, Heavy D is surrounded by women that just want what his status can do for them. The other options the women have are 2 rejects played by Talent and Chris Tucker trying to flash what little they have to bait them. Despite it all Hev just stays himself. All he had to offer was Love. I'm afraid today's music has raised the question, What's love Got to do with It? I think Heavy had a lot to say to that through his life and music....Everything.

B. Gregory Moore

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Heavy Video

Very thought provoking video

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