National Baptist Convention USA Inc.

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Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on March 7, 2013 at 11:31am

I was watching a news program last night and was disturbed on what was reported.  It was reported that “Patriot” and militia groups were on the rise.  It seems that they are near the same level they were right before the Oklahoma City bombing.  What puzzles me is that a majority of them claim to have Christian underpinnings.  However their actions and words do not reflect that, they reflect fear. 

Fear keeps us from helping people who appear different than us.  Fear keeps us from relating to those that are different than us.  Fear causes us to oppress others who do not conform to our norms.  Fear forces us to live in a box thinking that the ones who are different are in a box.  If we claim to be followers of Christ then we should follow His example when encountered those that were “different”.

In those encounters Christ helped, ministered to, and delivered, those that were not Jews.  It was Christ who ministered to the Samaritan woman at the well.  Christ stopped and healed the Syrophenician woman’s daughter.  Christ was the one that delivered the crazy man in the graveyard.  Even the best known parable of Christ has a Samaritan as the hero.

The reason for all of that is to show the Will of God toward Man.  Jesus stated that He came to do the will of the Father.  That will is God is not a respecter of person.  Meaning that it does not matter who you are, where you are from, or what you look like God is concerned about you and loves you.  All of which Christ revealed through His life, death and resurrection.  If we are to be followers of the Saviour then we need to reflect Christ to all peoples.  Christ showed love, peace, joy, grace and hope to those who are different, never fear.  For the spirit of fear is not the Spirit of Christ. 

Comment by manirakiza samuel on March 5, 2013 at 8:57am

i say also thank you for your answer as my friends,may God keeps on increasing you in His amasing love.

i would like to share with you also how God changed my life and see how bad the devil had conquered my life.

this is my testimony!
As you know my name is samuel manirakiza,i am from Burundi
i was born in1988 the date of 26/10 and raised in christian familly.
i am the eldest in nine children my God has given my parents.
My father was Pastor in Anglican church as he is now and my mother was a singer in the women's choir the same how she is  now.
Neverthless,in my growth,i began to commit sins like drinking alcool,smoking cigarrate,stealing money from the house,being a talktive person in my classmates,being trouble some among the teachers.
Every day my father came to school because of my accusations from the errors i comitted.
And thereafter,when i was sixteen i began to meditate and thinking how i can give up all such sins and i ask the Lord to make me understand his ways of percepts so that i can meditate his wonderful works and i give my life to GOD.
now at church i am a singer;i play musical instruments.
the Bible says in1JOHN 1:8 that if we claim to be without sin,we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.if we confess our sins,he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrightiousness.
unless the Lord had given me help i would soon have dwelt in the silence of death.but the Lord has become my fortress,and my GOD the rock in whom i take refuge.
thanks for thinking about me!
be blessed again!

TEL:+25771529667

E-mail manirakiza_s@yahoo.fr

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on March 1, 2013 at 12:22pm

People wonder why churches today lack people in the pews and power in the community.  There are cities like my hometown of Chicago, where in the roughest neighborhoods seem to have a church on every block, but have some of the toughest problems.  There is a liquor store on every corner, a dope house on down the street, a home in the midst, and violence is the order of the day.  Many times the people doing these things are right in the church.  The problem is not the church per se, but it is some of the people in the church.  They have not seen Jesus transfigured before them. 

There are many that claim Jesus as their Saviour, but He has not been transfigured before them.  Many think that the words of Jesus and His teachings are wonderful, but He has not been transfigured before them.  Unless Jesus has been transfigured in your life one cannot see who He really is. 

When Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John it became real that He was the Christ the Son of the Living God.  Out of this revelation comes the fact the Jesus is more than a good teacher, He is God Word.  Jesus is more than a Saviour, He is King.  Jesus is more than good, He is Holy.  When Jesus is transfigured before you begin to see that it was God in the flesh that hung on the Cross, Holy blood that was shed and victory that rose out of the grave.  This allows for the Holy Spirit to empower us to show others that Jesus is who He says He is.

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 28, 2013 at 12:50pm

Why is it that we run from one relationship to another?  We dress up, go to the club, hook up, give it up, and then break up.  Does it seem that the pattern is repeated in your life?  Then in the aftermath we want to blame the other person for the failure.  There we are feeling angry, sad and lonely.

The angry and sad part of this is understandable.  We are angry because we feel that a wrong has been done to us.  We are sad because a relationship is dead.  However the lonely part should not be a part of this.  Everyone has the need for human companionship, which was proven in Genesis 2:18, but that companionship was given to someone that was complete.

Adam was complete when Eve was brought to him.  His completeness was not in what he had, nor was it in the job that he held.  Adam’s completeness came from the relationship that he had with God.  This was a relationship that filled and completed Adam to the point that he did not feel lonely.  It was God who stated that, “…It is not good that the man should be alone…”, not Adam stating he was lonely.  Before we can even think about being in a relationship with someone else we need to think about being complete in our relationship with God.  For if we don’t we will be looking for someone to complete us, which will repeat the cycle mentioned above.   

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 27, 2013 at 7:08pm

We chase after things. It does not matter what it is; a car, a house, a larger paycheck, a piece of jewelry, a companion we chase after it. There is nothing wrong with acquiring those things; the problem arises when the things that we acquire become void fillers. The sad thing is that a void filler is something like a pothole patch in winter. It is good for the moment, but after awhile the hole will come back.

We need to stop pursuing things, and start pursuing God. God is the only one who can fill the voids in our lives. The Saviour states that we should "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness..." (Matt 6:33). Before we search for things we need to search for God's Kingdom. That means that we should be seeking His government, His law, His presence, and above all God Himself. When we seek the things of God with our whole heart He will add to us the things that we desire. But in the end, all that other stuff won't matter because we will have the main thing, God.

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 26, 2013 at 1:58pm

I saw a license plate that read "I'm Holy". I then wondered what makes a person holy. Holiness, or being holy, is about being separated from that which taints one's character and soul. In light of that we are surrounded everyday by things that pollute our souls. Some of the things that we do give evidence that our inner most being as been affected by this taint. It does not matter how good we try to be there are aspects of our character that is tainted. Therefore it is not possible for a person to holy in and of themselves.

God is the only one that is Holy in and of Himself. The taint of sin can not stand before Him nor have power over Him. God desires His people to be Holy (Be ye Holy, for I am Holy). God also knows that we cannot achieve Holiness by ourselves. In order for us to obtain Holiness we must be in a relationship with His Son. It is only through Jesus' death on the cross that the taint of sin is removed from us. And it is only through His resurrection we can walk in Holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Comment by Herman Fountain on February 25, 2013 at 1:40pm

RAISE FUNDS TO PUT A NEW ROOF ON YOUR CHURCH.

Pastors, do you need a new roof on your church and are looking for a fundraiser that is attractive to congregational members. My King’s Service organization will donate $100 to your church for every referral it gets to replace a roof on homes and businesses with no money paid out of pocket. Congregation members can get the referrals by asking family and friends, “Do you need a new roof?” It is  a win-win situation. No out of pocket expense for obtaining an new roof. And the church receives money from My King’s Service for their fundraiser. Nobody ever has to pay out money. Want to know more? Contact me at hermanfountain@bellsouth.net or call (904) 757-4489.

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 25, 2013 at 12:44pm

A riot at a mall in Chicago. Violence on the rise. Uploaded videos of people getting knocked out and other stuff that will not be mentioned. Beef and business we do not need to know about on Facebook, no wonder there are people who raise their voices with urgency stating that something needs to be done. That there needs to be prayer in schools and the public square. Not only is it needed, it needs to mandated. Well there is nothing wrong with prayer, there is something wrong with it being mandated. You can have everyone pray under a mandate, but you will never get to real source of the problem, which is the heart.

God does not want people to pray, worship, or praise Him under the form of a mandate. God wants people to do that from their heart. The reason that we are seeing this stuff happen eventhough there seems to be a church on every corner is because God is not in our hearts. By rote we go to church, by rote we sing the songs, by rote we know what to do, but in the end "by rote" it does not change the heart. God is looking for us to have a relationship with Him, not a religion. Jesus states that "Behold I stand at the door and knock. Whoever opens I will come and sup (eat) with him (her)." In other words Jesus wants to enter into a relationship with the person. It does not matter where you are from, your past, ethnic background, or income. He wants a relationship with you. A relationship that changes your heart and brings love and peace to your being. A relationship that causes praise, worship and prayer to flow out of you. A relationship that can give you the power to bring change around you.

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 20, 2013 at 4:12pm

Comment by Raymond E. Watson, Jr on February 20, 2013 at 4:08pm

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