Work Me Baby

Baby, work me

Till I want no more

Baby, work me

Till I want no more

Want you to work me, baby

You know how it'd make me feel

If you love me

Baby, I'll love you too

If you love me

Baby, I'll love you too

We'll get together, baby

Make everything alright

Junior Kimbrough

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.  Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.  For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.  "Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

Ephesians 5:22-31

Toby and Kasey, congratulations!  May the Lord bless you and keep you.  I've always wanted a little sister!

Grinnin' In Your Face

"You know they'll jump you up and down

They'll carry you all 'round and round

Just as soon as your back is turned

They'll be tryin' to crush you down"

Son House

no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil,  full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

James 3:8-10

Gossip..... The church's acceptable sin.  One of the most destructive sins in the world is also one of the most overlooked.  Let us no longer settle for the ways of the world.  Let us be transformed into the image of Christ.  Let us take captive of our thoughts and make them obedient to Christ.  Let us pray for those that we may not like or annoy us.  Let us learn to love like Christ loved.  Maybe then we'll be able to guard our tongues from destroying others.  How flippantly we are with our conversations, that we tear down people and not even realize that we've done it.  Then we immediately turn around and praise our God and Father.  How many times have we've been hurt by the words of others?  For a long time, I took what people said about me personally, which gave Satan a foothold in my life.  In crept anger and then bitterness.  Over time, I saw my faith wither away while my anger and bitterness grew.  The simple truth of the Gospel is that we will be talked about.  Christ promises us, that by following Him, we will suffer.  And in some instances, our suffering may consist of people dragging our name through the mud.  They certainly drug Christ's and Paul's name through the mud.  If we cannot handle the things people say about us, how then can we handle the other things that will come our way because we follow Christ?  So let us smile in the faces of those that talk behind our backs and let us no longer live like the world and engage in gossip.  We were redeemed and set apart.  Let us live in the light so that the world can see all our good works wrought in God!  Let's use our tongues to praise our Father and build up those around us.  

The Gallis Pole

"Mother, did you bring me silver?

Mother, did you bring me gold?

What did you bring me mother,

Keep me from the gallows pole?

What did you - what did you -

Keep me from the gallows pole?"

LeadBelly

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!

Romans 8:13-15

We all were once on the gallows pole with the hangman's noose around our neck, awaiting our just punishment for our sins. The good news of the Gospel is that, by no merit of our own, Christ paid the debt. In the song, "The Gallis Pole," Leadbelly asks if any of his family has shown up to pay the executioner for his freedom. None of his family brought silver or gold to pay his debt. But Christ paid ours! He freed us from the hangman's noose and not only that, He has given us his spirit, so that we may continue to live free! But we dont live free do we? If we were saved by grace then why do we think that we have to earn God's love now? Were these not the same works that sent us to the gallows pole in the first place? Does a son or daughter have to earn a parent's love? We have received the ultimate prize....SONSHIP. So walk in grace through faith in Christ and know, without a shadow of a doubt, that your Father loves you and has credited you righteousness through your faith in Christ. We cannot make God love us more and we cannot make him love us less. Nothing can seperate us from his love. So live free from the bondage of sin! Live free from the troubles of life! Live free from anxieties or depressions! Live free from hardships! Live free from tribulations and distress! You are a child of the Almighty and you have a seat at his table. Do not trade that seat for the gallows pole. Don't let your flesh convince you that you aren't good enough for God. Don't let Satan tempt you into thinking that you must earn God's favor. A spirit of fear leads to the gallows pole. The spirit of Christ leads to an "eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison!"

Ramblin' On My Mind

"I got ramblin
I got ramblin on my mind
I got ramblin
I got ramblin all on my mind
Hate to leave you my baby
but you treats me so unkind
I got mean things
I got mean things all on my mind
Little girl, Little girl
I got mean things all on my mind
Hate to leave you here babe
but you treats me so unkind."

Robert Johnson

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ 2 Corinthians 10:5

Often the church views sin as an act that we commit. While this notion is correct, I have rarely heard a sermon preached on the seriousness of sin and its root. I've heard what I should or shouldn't do, but behavior modification is not the purpose of the Gospel and certainly doesn't lead to a deeper understanding and love for Christ. All sin starts in the mind and sin acted out is sin that the mind has reconciled to the body and gives it permission to carry out. How many times do we go through the day and think heinous thoughts? Thoughts that we would never dream of acting out, but thoughts that consume our mind nonetheless and that without the grace of God, we would be completely capable of committing. Moreover, how many times do we go through the day and allow our minds to ramble about whatever it is that we have to do that day or any other trivial pursuit? Jesus tells us to "love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." We are not to be dullards. God gave us a mind and it expects us to use it. When I was growing up, I believed that sin was limited to things that I did, so it didn't matter that I thought negative thoughts about a person or allowed temptation to entertain me in my mind. As I grew older and came to know the Lord on a more personal level, I understood that our mind will betray us and lead us to destruction if we allow it to. But now, after all my trials, I've come to know what Paul is saying in 2 Corinthians 10:5. We, as the bride of Christ, are to take EVERY THOUGHT captive and to make it OBEDIENT TO CHRIST. So whether temptation greets you like a naughty friend or you're thinking about what to do this weekend or you are working, let every thought be made obedient to Christ, lest you allow yourself to toe the line of sin and fall away. This is what it means to have the mind of Christ.

I'd Rather Go Blind

"Oh, I would rather go blind, boy
Than to see you walk away from me, child
You see I love you so much that I don't want to watch you leave me, baby
Most of all, I just don't want to be free, no"
Etta James & Ellington Jordan

"For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."
Galatians 5:1

Do you love your sin more than you love your Savior? There have been many days where I could say, "I do." How many times do we allow sin to have a foothold in our life? Or, more importantly, how many times do we repent of our sin but toe the line between sin and righteousness? Often, I find myself not fully surrendering to Christ because of my freedoms He has given me and the pride associated with such. By doing this, I am toeing the line and the enemy is looking for a way to bring me down. If we really wanted to live a life of freedom in Christ, then why do we allow sin to slow us down, drag us through the mud, and keep us from living pure, holy, and blameless? It is because deep down, we love our sin. We want to hate it. Sometimes we do hate it. But there is a thin line between love and hate, so while we may repent for a season or two, the second we stop abiding in Christ, the enemy reminds us that we once loved our sins. My prayer is that the sins of my past, sins that disgust me, sins that I have repented from, stay in my past. Many times in life, I ran from God because I didn't want to give up my sin. I did not want to walk away from sin and I did not want to be free. And in my pursuit of pleasing myself and looking for happiness and joy in temporal things and carnal pleasures and in the esteem of others, I realized that I would never be free. You see, my desire now is to being able to sing this lyric to Christ and truly mean it. Through Christ's freedom, I want to aspire to become a slave to righteousness and daily crucify the flesh that tempts me so. For too long, I've chased lovers less wild. So let us enjoy our freedom to live a righteous life and abide in the One who gives all good things. Let us submit our whole lives to Him and Him alone.

Grown So Ugly

"Baby, this ain't me,

Baby, this ain't me.

Grown so ugly, grown so ugly.

Don't even know myself.

Don't even know myself."

Robert Pete Williams

"11And he said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12And the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.' And he divided his property between them. 13Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17"But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!"

Luke 15:11-17

I'm sure when the prodigal son decided to take his inheritance and go his own way, he left with no intention of returning, and had planned for a rich and prosperous life. How many times do we think we have it all figured out and try and go solo before we realize the futility of our efforts? I have spent so much time with the pigs because I decided my way was better. Often times, we dont even realized we've left the Father because our sin and rebellious spirit has blinded us from true communion with our Father. As time goes by, we abide less and less, til we no longer bear fruit in our daily lives and then we wake up, broken, living with the pigs, starving for that true communion that we so desperately need to survive. In my life, I had so hardened my heart, that even when I wanted to return to my Father's house, that I couldn't bring myself to do it. I reflected back on my life and I didnt even recognize myself. Praise God for his faithfulness! I made life so much harder for whatever reasons Satan had convinced me, by not returning to my Father, repenting for my sins, and abiding in Him. I believed the lies that grace couldn't possibly cover my sins, that I wasn't chosen, and that I would bear the fate of the covenant breaker. But just like the prodigal, grace came to me, mercy filled my heart, and I saw my situation for what it was. I repented for my sins, dove into the word, and God, whom had been waiting for me all along, turned whatever pain and sadness I had, into joy. If anyone who reads this is in such a situation, I implore you to run back to the Father. We may have grown so ugly. We may not even know ourselves anymore. But God knows us, and He is waiting to make us beautiful again.

Stones In My Passway

"I got stones in my passway

and all my roads seem dark at night.
I got stones in my passway
and all my roads seem dark at night.I have pains in my heart,

they have taken my appetite"

Robert Johnson


"The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him"
Nahum 1:7


Many times in life it seems as if things never work out the way we want them to. A couple of instances come to mind in my own life. The first is my current location. I have been trying to flee this city since the day I got here. Even though I was having nothing to do with God at the time of my move, He clearly brought me here. Every time I have taken it upon myself to leave, my pass way has been blocked. When we are a ship without a rudder, our pass ways will always be blocked because we are attempting to guide ourselves through the darkness instead of allowing Christ to be the one that guides us. However, there are also times when we are earnestly seeking Christ, yet we feel like darkness is all around us. As a believer in the One that gives all good things, it is at this point that we can not let Satan tempt us to stray from the path, lest we fall into that darkness and lose our way. The Good Shepherd leads his sheep. They know His voice. Continue to press on toward the prize and take your refuge in Christ. Darkness may be all around us, but Christ never promised that it would be easy. He only promised that He would be there with us.

I've Been Abused

"All my life, I've caught it hard

All of my life, I've caught it hard

I've been abused and I've been scorned

I feel so bad, it ain't gonna last

I feel so bad, this ain't gonna last"

Howlin' Wolf

"Their Redeemer is strong; the Lord of hosts is his name. He will surely plead their cause, that he may give rest to the earth, but unrest to the inhabitants of Babylon." Jeremiah 50:34

When we are in utter despair, when we are heartbroken, in disrepair, there is only one thing in this world that can give us hope and rest. His name is the Lord of the Hosts and he fights for His people that he has foreknown before their creation. I have tried many times to do things my way, to let my intelligence and fortitude be my guiding light. In every instance, I have fallen flat on my face. All my life, I've wanted to be a certain way but I cannot do it on my own. Only my God can take the broken and abused and lift them up. The weak shall be strong and the meek shall inherit the earth. The abuse that my sin has put on my psyche and my heart has left me scarred. But the good news of the Gospel is that "this ain't gonna last." Praise God for his mercy. He rescues us from the toils of sin, abuse, and bitterness. My God is bigger than my sin and the abuse that I've endured at my own hands. So when you're at the crossroads, broken and humbled from the abuse of of life, choose the righteousness of Christ. Only when we are broken can Christ lay his foundation in our life so that we are able to withstand future abuses.