'member?

Do you 'member? 'Member when? Have you lost a family member? Lost a relationship? Been used and abused by people? Struggled with addictions? Remember how painful that was? No really remember. That lost and lonely feeling that sat on us like a blanket.How quickly we who have been healed or found our way to God or found our way out of the muck we were once lost in forget what it is like to be there . Alone. Caught up in circumstances real or imagined. Depression,thoughts of negative self worth. Most of us have been there. But why do we not remember this pain and it's feeling when we see someone else in the middle of it? I imagine its because of the false belief that some of us have that if we avoid talking or thinking about a past pain we will never have it again. I have found this to be a falsehood that actually makes us weaker .If we acknowledge that there is pain in our lives and there always be ,because it's a natural part of life ,then we actually lesson the time we are in these "valleys". I saw a friend yesterday who is going through a separation. You know what he needed from me? Money? A couple of single lady friends digits? A friend at his "Pity Party"? A pep talk on how it was meant to be? No ,he just needed what we all need when we are in those places .He just needed to know that I cared. Compassion not pity. We spend so much time worrying these days about tomorrow and all of our rat race problems that we walk right past people without seeing that they are in a bad place . We have our faces glued to our phones or we walk by people and give them our Sunday morning church smile without really wanting to know how they are? A friend of mine told me a few years ago that "People don't care how much you know til they know how much you care" Men throughout time have said that that the light in our eyes reflect the light in our soul. Take some time away from your iPods and check out the eyes of the people you meet today.

I may be a pig but I'm sober!

You know for all the pastors that I hear preaching on the sins of a sexual nature I can't remember the time I heard more than a passing "joke " about gluttony from the pulpit .We GOSSIP on the drunks but laugh with the OBESE but God puts both their weaknesses together. "Obesity accounts for 18 percent of deaths among black and white Americans between the ages of 40 and 85," while""Women appear to be more vulnerable than men to dying from obesity. Black women had the overall highest risk of dying from obesity or being overweight at 27 percent, followed by white women at 21 percent." according to a study published online Aug. 15 in the American Journal of Public Health. According to medical stats:( (2005). "Obesity". Journal of the American Medical Association 293 (15): . Obesity nearly kills more people in this country than alcohol, drugs and std's COMBINED ! ~ LIL JOHN From a online site" Gluttony seems to be a sin that Christians like to ignore. We are often quick to label smoking and drinking as sins, but for some reason gluttony is accepted or at least tolerated. Many of the arguments used against smoking and drinking, such as health and addiction, apply equally to overeating. Many believers would not even consider having a glass of wine or smoking a cigarette but have no qualms about gorging themselves at the dinner table. This should not be! Proverbs 23:20-21 warns us, “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” Proverbs 28:7 declares, “He who keeps the law is a discerning son, but a companion of gluttons disgraces his father.” Proverbs 23:2 proclaims, “Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/gluttony-sin.html#ixzz2sHhBOWjG

Count your blessings...

I had a conversation with a brother yesterday that humbled me to the core .This friend who is a hard worker has been on his own since he was 16 and raised a 8 year old brother after they were orphaned ....he's a man who by American and worldly standards has made it ....lotsa of toys ,a successful business etc ...but as we were talking I found out his true treasure ,,,He has a 7 year old son who is severely disabled ....and as he spoke of him he thanked God for his son! No bitterness ,no anger or "why me God?" just gratitude . Man that lil boy is blessed ....My Momma used to tell me like the old hymn says "Count you blessings name them one by one ,count your many blessings and see what God has done" ,,,,I don't care who you pray to or if you pray at all but if your breathing today and walking free and unchained ...Man count yourself blessed and love someone today .In the end it's all that matters. Namaste<>< LIL JOHN

blessed

I sit here in the darkness and wonder why God has blessed me so much . All my kids are healthy bright and beautiful For all the wrongs I did to others I am a free man today. Through all my addictions I have not become totally selfish ,,, I sat with my wife in a restaurant today and I saw a older gentleman who had had a few too many drinks stand up .and as he did he dropped some cash on the floor ,Well I walked over picked it up called out to him and returned it to him .Everybody who was in the place was affected ,,,they all came up up me and shook my hand offered to buy me a drink etc ,,,,,and while a part of me was proud that I didn't have to think about not keeping the money . A part of me was saddened that this is not the norm ...Why can't we just love people where they are at and treat them all like we want to be treated.....Don't wait for the world or those around you to change ..drop that load of BS your carrying around and love people like the Light that lives in us all calls us to do ~Namaste <><, LIL JOHN