Brand new week, Brand new attitude

Good morning and Happy Sunday. Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. As we finish the month of Defending in December based on Acts the 7th chapter in the year of This Is Our/Your year I wanted to think about some of the things that did not happen this year. My business the Repair Shop, that was supposed to get off the ground this year and would have reunited Fathers with their children did not happen. My first book I Slept with the Choir did not have booming sales. My second book called I Slept With the Choir Again which was supposed to be finished is only ten chapters deep. I have grandchildren who I have only seen maybe twice. I have lost my vehicle to engine problems and am now riding the bus. I was out of work for about two months. I have not seen my parents as much as I liked. I lived in a house with no running water or heat for four months of this year. And finally my blog which used to be read by an average of 35 people p...

Good morning and Happy Friday. As we continue Defending in December I wanted to speak a little about myself. As a man I get a little emotional at times. When I see movies that are sad a tear or two will come out of my eyes. When I would argue with someone my emotions would take over and I would then cry. My Mother sings the songs that are associated with the communion and I have not heard her sing this in years but every time I hear these songs it brings a tear to my eyes. So you can imagine back in 2004 when I had been living with a woman for over ten years and she wanted me out of her house. We had built a nice home together and even though we had been mostly roommates at the time I left we still did a couple of things together. This was not the first time I had been put out of the home so I thought I would come back as usual. But this time the woman, Tonia, had enough and wanted to have peace in her life. No matter how many times I called or how much I cried I could not go back to...

Good morning and Happy Sunday. Brand New Week. Brand New Attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. Based on Acts the 7th chapter we are still Defending in December. As we come into the holiday week I want to tell a story. My Father, James A. Wesley, came from rural Mississippi. He was one of six brothers and one sister. Their parents did have much and at the time they were coming up their house did not have electricity or running water. They had to share crop on the land of someone who owned cotton which meant they had to share a percentage of whatever they picked with the landowner. According to my Dad my grandmother always had her relatives around as one my grandfather did not have much family around and even had one brother who had been sold into slavery. My Dad also told me that when him and his siblings walked places they had to hold hands and other families would laugh and mock them. What my Father and his siblings did not know at the time or even unders...

Good morning and Happy Friday. As we continue Defending in December based on Acts the 7th chapter I want to give you some insight of little about my family. I have grandparents that  are Wesley/Black heritage and Birdsong/Heard heritage. That means any one related to to either one of my grandparents, their sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents, nieces and nephews I am related to. All over the United States and even in Puerto Rico I have family members. In states such as Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Texas, Ohio and Michigan I have family. I have not met all of my family in person but I have met some through social media and its like I have known them all my life. But in all families we may not agree or get along. But I can tell you one thing for sure. You let anyone mess with a person of Wesley/Black heritage or Birdsong/Heard heritage we all circle up and became as one big unit.We do this because we are all a family unit and we are related by blood. As a ...

Brand new week. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited.  Defending in December based on Acts the 7th chapter. As we move keep it moving in the year 2012 there are is always a value on being a success at something. If I was to turn on the television there would be books on how to succeed in the business world. Looking at the newspaper their are ads on how to succeed on getting a degree in education. On the Internet there are videos on how to become an entertainer or a person who paints portraits and succeed at it. On the social medias sites there are people who have the right diet plan for you to succeed. Our ancestors no matter where they came from struggled but the found a way for us to be in a position to succeed in our families. On the radio I have heard of a plan on how to make sure your church succeeds in these hard economic times. Some of these plans that say you can succeed have failed. But when you accept that the only way to God is th...

Good morning and Happy Friday to each and everyone. As I continue with the monthly theme of Defending in December based on Acts the 7th chapter I think about a time in my life where I defended something with every ounce of my being. When I started smoking marijuana as a teen I told myself that I wanted to get high everyday the rest of my life. I enjoyed the high places in my mind where the drug took me. There was the laughter, the munchies and the feeling of belonging when I was high. The best part of smoking marijuana was that if I wanted to add other things to the mix to make my high place even better I could. I could snort cocaine, I could drink alcohol and beer, and even dip into a liquid form of PCP to get that ultimate crazy high. I also could go work high and cover it up without no one knowing I was high except the ones who knew me. But the best part was that I could attend services and worship God and no one would ever find out. And when people found out I smoked marijuana an...

Good morning and Happy Monday. Brand New Week. Brand New Attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. As I was in grammar school in Chicago which was grade Kindergarten thru 8th grade everything was fine. Even though I had some struggles in 7th grade I pulled it together and finally made it to 8th grade. In the Chicago Public School System in order to graduate from 8th grade you had to complete your mandatory courses like English and Math but you also had to have knowledge and pass a test about the Constitution of the United States of America. This test was not an easy test but it taught about how our forefathers of this country wrote a document that is the supreme for how we Americans can and should live lawfully.  In 1791 the adopted the Bill of Rights which are ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. In all there are 27 amendments to the Constitution. As I was studying to pass the Constitution I was struggling to fit in at home. My parents were the ...

Good morning and Happy Friday everyone. Growing up in Chicago I had the chance to see when the Chicago Bulls when they were winning their six titles. In the first three peat ( 1991-1993 ) they were a great bunch of guys who had Michael Jordan , Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant as their three best players. I rarely heard anything bad about this championship team and most times the focus would be on Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. But when the Bulls did a three peat again ( 1996-1998 ) Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were still on the team as well as others but the third person considered a star on that team was Dennis the Worm Rodman. When the Worm came to the Bulls those people who may have liked the Bulls before but when he came to the Bulls their opinions changed. The Worm was considered ( and actually was ) a dirty player but in order for the Bulls to get back on top they needed  the Worm. I had people who did not like Rodman and therefore they did not like the Bulls. Each...

Good Morning and Happy Sunday. Brand new month. Brand new attitude. The past is the past. The future is unlimited. As we enter the month of December we have been prepared to finish the year strong. Throughout the year I have had themes for every month. Jubilee in January ( based on Leviticus 25:47-55 ).Freedom in February ( Black Historical facts ). Gone in March ( based on Ecclesiastes 1:9-11 ). Aha in  April ( John 6:60-66 ). May Flowers ( based on Leviticus 26:3-13 ). Just June ( based on Habakkuk 2:4, Galatians 3:11 and Hebrews 10:38 ). Winning in July ( based on Joel 2:18-27 ). And I love you In August ( based on John 13:34-35 ). September of Gratitude ( based on 1st Samuel 7:9-12. All In October ( based on 2nd Kings 19:14-19 and the book of Isaiah 37:14-20 ). And Reign in November ( based on Luke 19:13-14 ). As we finish the year of This is Our/Your Year I wanted to have a theme that helped to hold on to everything we e...