President Obama made headlines last week when he endorsed and supported homosexual marriages. Aside from the obvious, this is wrong on more levels than I have time or space to discuss.

Before I begin, I would like to reclaim the use of the word, “gay.” Homosexuality is unhappy because it is completely opposed to the Word and the will of God. “Gay” is a word that means “happy,” as in the verse  ”don we now our gay apparel…” from the holiday standard ”Deck the Halls.”

First and foremost, the President has effectively told Black voters that they have nowhere else to turn. No Black person could, in good conscience, vote for a man that says he identifies with Black people because “his ancestors owned slaves.” Now I understand the president cannot “kowtow” to Black voters but a patent snub cannot be dismissed.

Second, while the President has professed to be a Christian, taking the stance he did runs completely contrary to Biblical teaching. While Mr. Obama is, ostensibly, a liberal, his decision to support homosexual marriage has destroyed any possibility of his carrying the evangelical vote which, incidentally, is numerically greater than the homosexual vote.

Now, I could go deep scripturally but the Biblical argument has been clearly framed and proffered; I don’t need to elaborate that case any further.

The issue is not whether it is an abomination or not – sin is sin, and folks want to make homosexuality a sin of greater magnitude. The point, here, is that homosexuals are part of a small cadre of sinners who want their sin to be made legal in the sight of men (along with abortionists and corporate thieves) and now they want it to be accepted by the church.

If homosexuals want civil unions, well, okay…I don’t have to have anything to do with that. When you speak of the institution of marriage – an institution, I might add, ordained by God – it’s a slippery slope approaching the inevitable end of the state forcing the church to sanction and perform nuptials for homosexual couples. Those of you whose ministries receive faith-based-initiative money had better consider this carefully! As for me, I refuse to accept, sanction, or perform homosexual marriages. Period.

Another point to consider: if you make homosexual marriage legal, the public schools will have to teach that it is “right.” Then, other taboos such as pedophilia, bestiality, and polygamy will have to be taken into consideration. After all, they represent “behavioral choice,” as well. As a parent, I am aghast at this possibility; I will be forced to either homeschool or put them in private Christian schools.

Finally, the well-meaning but misguided minority says “live-and-let-live” and “homosexuals have the right to be unhappy in marriage as heterosexual couples.”

To that I have just two words to add: bovine effluvia! And, for the record, godly marriage is blissful, thank you very much!

Paying taxes to a man-sanctioned nation does not grant the right to pollute a God-ordained institution. I’m willing to live-and-let-live if the institution of marriage is left unsullied.

Homosexuals, as a demographic group, earn more, have more entrepreneurs, and greater net worth than much of the nation. And they are free to socialize, cohabitant, and enter into business partnerships without inhibition. The notion of homosexual marriage is an affront to Christian sensibilities and just another milestone on the route to societal decline.

Let me be clear, I love everyone and I pray that all people experience the love of Jesus and the power of His Kingdom. But, as an Ambassador of the Kingdom of God, it is illegal for me to speak anything that contradicts the Word of my King. God wants none to perish, rather that they have everlasting, abundant life in Christ. I pray that homosexuals cease to be conformed to the ways of the world but, instead, are transformed by the renewing of their minds.

 © 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

As a Christian, we are promised tribulation but we are also promised overcoming. Because the same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in every believer, we are assured victory. I take umbrage with those who emphasize the suffering, as this leads to Christians leading defeated lives in the earth realm. Jesus gave us authority over all the ability of the enemy; when we exercise that authority, we do not eliminate tribulation and suffering but we certainly mitigate them.

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

The case of Trayvon Martin is both curious and sad. The opinions on this matter fall into one of two camps: one sees Trayvon as a glaring milestone on the difficult road traveled by Black Americans; the other sees it as a man using the force at his disposal to avoid becoming a statistic of violent crime.

First, let me state emphatically that I abhor the shooting of this innocent youth. Having experienced, firsthand, the business-end of a number of weapons, I can say – without batting an eye – that Skittles and iced tea do not comprise any weapon of which I am aware. I’d like to further state, that as a Black man who is the father of Black sons, I acutely feel the pain of Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton. I cannot fathom the pain of having to bury a child – especially one, that by all accounts was a good kid.

It is because of cases like these that I over-emphasize the importance of flying “the straight-and-narrow” to my sons in all their dealings, both public and private. I teach my kids that God created us all equal in His sight but they must be acutely aware that the world does not see them as God does.

The sad part of this saga is that a human life was depreciated to zero in a relative blink of an eye. Trayvon Martin was arraigned, tried, convicted, and executed by a “yahoo” with a gun and a bad attitude. The human lust for power is one of the basest emotions known to man. And it is because of a twisted understanding of power that Trayvon Martin, and many other young Black men like him, are dying daily.

Genesis, chapter 1, verses 26-28 are what can be called God’s “dominion mandate.” It is here that God gives the charge to His children to rule and reign in the earth as He does in heaven. Unfortunately, due to the introduction of sin, and the perversion of the Word of God by the devil, the misunderstanding of power has led to a burning lust in mankind to rule and reign over one another.

Slavery, racism, homicide, rape, and abortion are all crimes against humanity, perpetrated by those who are desirous of exercising absolute power over another human being. Mankind, blinded by religion and religious teaching, has not been properly introduced to their Creator/King/Father; that is, that they were created to control the environment God created for them.

Lack of understanding of a concept invariably leads to abuse of the concept.

Jesus came to earth not to give us a ticket to heaven, but to restore His earthly Kingdom and to return mankind to its original position of authority in the earth. Jesus said that he came “to seek and to save that which was lost,” not who, whom or they. It is the persistent, errant teaching of what salvation really is that is the source of most of man’s maladies.

Salvation is the “Ellis Island” to the Kingdom of God! It is the door – a means to an end – not the end itself.

Allow me to elaborate: if mankind came to the knowledge that, by accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior and allowing the Holy Spirit to govern their hearts and minds, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Romans 8:11) abode within them, there would be no need to try to wield power over another human being. Period. Proper teaching of salvation will properly disciple God’s people and lead them into the abundant life promised by our Lord (John 10:10)

Now churches and ministries are out in force to cry out for justice. There are numerous events taking place to raise awareness of Trayvon’s murder and to bring his killer to trial. While this is a noble gesture, I think the Church can do far more every Sunday morning and every Wednesday evening.

Preach the Gospel of the Kingdom.

Re-introduce mankind to their original purpose and design. Teach folks how to represent and re-present the King of Glory to the world. Dispense with religious traditions, doctrine, and dogmas that do not reflect the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the only teaching that will make a difference. Banging the drum of the Old Covenant and traditions of men will not minister healing to this sick and dying world.

Which brings me back to my original point. It shouldn’t have mattered that Trayvon was wearing a “hoodie” on that fateful night. It shouldn’t have mattered what was in his hands. It shouldn’t have mattered what was in his hands. And it shouldn’t have mattered that he was a Black man walking in a gated neighborhood. None of these should have mattered one whit…and, yet, they did.

Moreover, shooting a defenseless child, no matter how you slice, dice, or fry it is wrong. There is no justification for ending Trayvon Martin’s life. I don’t care what is said on the part of the defendant, any chance of justifying this heinous act must range from scarce to none.

That said, until mankind is quickened to the knowledge of God’s love and God’s government – that our desire for power can only be satisfied by operating within the will of He who is the source of all power, these things will continue to matter.

Sadly, none of these words, however powerful will bring Trayvon back. Hopefully, though, these words will raise consciousness to the point where these incidents will be few.

I pray that the peace that passes all understanding rest upon Trayvon’s family in this season of mourning.

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

The church doesn’t have the luxury of discussing and debating history outside the canon of scripture when there are folks who need salvation, deliverance, healing, and prosperity.

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The Church should be an emergency room for the spiritually wounded, a therapeutic outlet for spiritual healing, and a kitchen for the spiritually hungry BEFORE it is a bastion of intellectual debate.

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In other words, FIRST THINGS FIRST! The Church should emulate what Jesus did in His earthly ministry and what the Apostles continued in the first century Church.

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If what you’re discussing doesn’t contribute to making disciples, maturing believers, and multiplying ministries, it should not be a high priority.

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© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Church history is good information, albeit as a sidebar. The more pressing issues are how to effectively reach the lost and holistically minister to the saints. To use a natural example to illustrate a spiritual truth: the surgeon, while well versed in medical history, does not have the luxury of historical retrospection when the patient is on the operating table.

Historical perspective is essential in preparation and a luxury in debriefing, but almost useless in the theatre of battle. I think two of the biggest issues facing the modern church is a tendency to contemplate history and an inflation of ecumenical protocol. I understand the point of historical study on the part of some but I think that it is overwrought by many others.

My issue is not with history, rather the application of it. History is important, to be sure, but I have concerns about so many men and women of God bogged down in history and ecumenical affairs to the point that it draws our attention from more needful matters.

When you look out and see that folks are dying – literally – from gunshots, aids, cancer, traffic accidents and so forth, how is dedicated discussion of church history pertinent to that? Folks are dying without Jesus! We need sound preaching and teaching, not history lessons.

If we get mired in historical discussions, we will invariably head down the denomination path, and God only knows where that rabbit hole will lead.

No, we need to be ministering the Gospel of the Kingdom and the full counsel of God to this sick and dying world. We need to be about what Jesus said do – healing the sick, cleansing lepers, raising the dead, and preaching the Gospel to the Poor. While we sit up in our ivory towers of learning discussing history, the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

No discussion on church fathers and church history is going to get anyone saved, healed, delivered or prospered. Again, not saying historical discussion is not meaningful, just that there are more important things to do.

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Today we observe the birthday of a great American, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is clear the nation owes him a debt of gratitude for what his accomplishments in the realm of social justice and equality. However, I would like to speak briefly regarding Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., the man of God.

Dr. King understood something the Body of Christ misses today: that if you want to change the social fabric of a nation, you must first change the hearts and minds of that nation. He understood that what plagued America was a spiritual problem and that it required a spiritual solution.

There were other civil rights pioneers that proffered solutions to racial inequalities. Booker T. Washington believed that social change would follow addressing economic disparities. W.E.B. DuBois believed the path to change lie in education and political empowerment. Rosa Parks and Bayard Rustin thought that embracing socialism was the means to that end. All of these efforts were doomed to fail because they addressed symptoms without treating the root cause.

Dr. King studied the successful employment nonviolent resistance of Mahatma Gandhi in the liberation of India. Mr. Gandhi, in turn, derived his strategy by studying the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus, while a King in command of the heavenly army, withstood insults, beatings and, ultimately, crucifixion without resistance of any kind. As a result, Jesus changed the entire world!

Today, the country (indeed, the world) is plagued with all manner of social ills. In spite of Dr. King’s efforts, racial inequality is still an issue. There are violent political disagreements. Proposed changes to the social order (e.g., homosexual “marriage”) threaten the very fabric of our nation. Hunger, poverty, and physical illness still pose serious problems. But, like Dr. King, we must come to the realization that the root of the problems are spiritual and, likewise, the change must be spiritual.

The reason why the Civil Rights Movement was successful is that it had the Church as its power-base. It was only when the Church and its leadership stepped up and stepped in that the Movement gained traction.  Similarly, it is high time that the Church steps up and asserts itself to impact the world with the will, culture and intent of the Kingdom of God. Dr. King understood the Church was the world’s  spiritual trauma center and rehabilitation facility and sought to engage it to treat and correct social injustice.

Romans 8:19 declares that “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” In other words, the whole world is waiting for God’s people — the church — to stand up and speak out against the ailments of the world. Jesus, Himself, said it best:

For verily I say unto you , That whatsoever you shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that these things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. (Mark 11:23)

The problem today is that we — the Body of Christ — are reluctant to speak up. But it is when we speak God’s Word to the situations of the day — then standing in faith that we have what we speak — that we begin to see change!

Dr. King was a mighty drum major for justice but, first, he was a mighty man of God. He understood the power of speaking to the mountain. Today, we need to pick up where he left off — see the problem and then SPEAK GOD’S WORD  to the problem!

The hallmark of a great leader is that they not only leave organizations in BETTER shape than when they arrived but they leave the PEOPLE around them in better shape!

Good leaders equip and edify; poor leaders rob and tear down (John 10:10).

Having been a leader in both corporate America and in ministry, I submit the following:

Corporate America was at its zenith between 1935 and 1985. It was eminently successful because captains of industry were tested in the battlefields of WW1, WW2, Korea, and Vietnam. These folks understood the difference between leadership and management. Today, we have precious few leaders that have any combat-tested leaders in corporate boardrooms; just a bunch of B-school grads that fawn and swoon over numbers with no regard for human capital.

Likewise, in ministry, we are seeing the advent of pulpit managers instead of preaching leaders. In ministry, we’re seeing increased attention to monetary and material management without the manifestation of the power of God or the development and discipling of men. This is not an indictment of all ministerial leaders but it is an eerily growing trend.

I think corporate America would benefit from conscripted military service; indeed, there would be a fallout-benefit to the country at large. Likewise, the church needs to start reaching out to young people, engaging them in stewardship and service; thus equipping them to be leaders. Kingdom leadership begins with service and continues with stewardship.

In both cases, the leadership paradigm should be based on Jesus, who led and taught by example and, ultimately, laid down His life for those in His charge.

That’s my $.02…

© 2012 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

Ok. Here’s the deal. If we call ourselves CHRISTIANS then we should be concerned primarily with the words and teachings of CHRIST, right? 

Here’s what Jesus has to say about “holiness:” NOTHING!

I have this – dare I say – revelation on teaching the Word of God:  the Gospels are the FOUNDATION for ALL teaching, followed by the remainder of the NT (which only ILLUMINATES the person and Word of Jesus, followed by Genesis (which is God’s MISSION STATEMENT), followed by the books of poetry (which are types and shadows of the LOVE and WISDOM of God), then the Prophets (who POINT TO Jesus and His Kingdom)’ followed by the law (what we’ve been DELIVERED FROM 
because Jesus FULFILLED IT).

That said, the Bible says “be ye holy for I (God) am oly. Here’s the bad news: YOU CAN’T BE HOLY AS GOD, NOT EVEN CLOSE. Your best efforts will frustrate you at best, and brand you as a hypocrite at worst! 

To get to the crux of this, we need to have a knowledge of what makes God, “GOD;” at least one we can wrap our peanut brains around.

Here’s one thing that we can wrap our finite minds around: one of the key attributes of God is that He and his Word are one, inseparable! 

Because the Entire universe is suspended by the Word of His Power, the moment He violates His Word, He ceases to be “GOD” and He ceases to be Holy!

So the ONLY way we can even emulate His Holiness is to emulate how He keeps His Word. We can NEVER be as good, pure, or clean as God, but we CAN be men and women of INTEGRITY; that is we say what we’ll do and do what we say IN ALIGNMENT WITH GOD.’S WORD!

Holiness does not equal righteousness. Righteousness is right standing with God made possible ONLY by the Blood of Jesus. Holiness is our conversation or LIFESTYLE. but to that end, we will never be as good as God and attempts to do so start us on a slippery slope to works, effectively nullifying grace.

Tis vain attempt to accomplish holiness trough works has resulted in the kind of religious schizophrenia that makes people run from “Christians” instead ofe running to Christ.

Y’all, this is how we BE holy. Trying to DO holy apart from this is doomed to fail.

© 2011 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)

The reality is that tithing is not commanded for New Testament Saints. Now the argument can be made that, because Abraham tithed, tithing was before the law. However, what Abraham tithed on was what could be construed as either a bonus on his income, or “hitting the lotto” (Genesis 14:16-20).

It was never stated that Abraham tithed on his income, even though he was a man of great substance (Genesis 13:2).

That said, the New Testament, Kingdom model for giving is illustrated in Luke 6:38…

Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

…Acts 2:44…

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.

…and 2 Corinthians 9:7.

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

We need to give as our hearts purpose, not out of obligation. If we compel folks to tithe, we must compel them to uphold the law, thus nullifying the work of the cross and the grace of God. It should be noted, too, that the Lord Jesus did not compel any of His followers to tithe!

Now, if anyone chooses to tithe and does so with a cheerful heart, they will enjoy the blessing that comes along with New Testament Giving. However, if someone gives 80% and treats it like a monthly bill or other obligation, well, I doubt there would be a blessing attached to it.

As for me, I would like to emulate Pastors Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, or Francis Chan – individuals who practice “reverse tithing;” that is, they keep 10 percent of their income and give away 90 percent!

It’s all about love, not obligation; relationship, not religion!

© 2011 – Derrick Day (www.derrickday.com)