Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Have you ever asked why life throws everything that it can at you? Last night my eyes were opened. I realize why people want to hurt me. "Hurt people hurt people" by Dr. Aaron Dobynes
He told us that "Hurt is an inevitable consequence of life."
I always wanted to know why this one girl I graduated with tried to hurt me. I now have the full understanding.
Dr. Dobynes told us a story about how this white woman used to take chicken manure and dump it on her neighbor's side of the fence. Her neighbor was black. This event happened back when we as black people couldn't do anything about what the white people did to us. The white woman continued to do this until one day she got sick. The black woman brought this woman long-stemmed roses. The white woman asked her where she got them from. The black woman reminded her of all those times she had dump that chicken manure over onto her side of the fence. The black woman said that she was so angry but couldn't do anything about it. So she decided to rake it around her rose bushes. That's where the beautiful roses came from. The chicken manure fertilized the ground where her rose bushes grow.
Dr. Dobynes said that when people start dumping their stuff on your side of the fence, take a rake and raking around your rose bush. He said to pray for the people who hurt you. Don't try to hurt them back.
He also said that "What God has for you is for you." No one can do anything about it. When somebody gets in your face and start asking how you got this and how you got that, just tell them, "What God has for me, it is for me and me alone." Don't let anyone still your joy.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Dr. Dobynes said the other night that we should be proud of where we come from. He even explained to us that "The three factors of real estate are location, location, and location."
He said we need to stop pouting and start producing. He quoted another pastor saying that "God's word is so pregnant that it gives birth while you're speaking."
God will place you in "an unlikely location" around people you don't have anything in common with so that you can learn something from them.
I'm NOT Ashamed of the Gospel
We as black people should not be ashamed of the gospel because of all that we've been though. "We should be eager because we're obligated and not ashamed." by Pastor Al Sutton
Pastor Al Sutton told us about this woman who lost her family and everything. She was living in an apartment complex. She didn't have food in her cupboards nor her refrigerator, but she praised God anyway. She blessed her walls all day saying that she knows He'll bless her when He's ready. Her landlord was tired of hearing her walking up and down the halls of her apartment blessing the walls and praising her God. He was an atheist. He said that he's going to fill up her cupboards and refrigerator to shut her up and to prove that it wasn't her God who blessed her but that it was him. When the woman left home, he filled up the cupboards and refrigerator and hid so that he could not be seen when she came back. She came in the apartment blessing the walls and praising God. She opened the refrigerator, and it was filled with food. She opened her cupboards, and they were filled. She started shouting, praising, and thanking the Lord. Then her landlord jumped out from hiding and said, "Ha, it wasn't your God who blessed you it was me." She looked at him for a long time, and then she finally said, "Thank you, Lord, for blessing me, even if the Devil had to bring it."
What Pastor Sutton wants us to get out of this story is this: "God will bless you even if the Devil has to bring it."
