Friday, October 24, 2014

Conform or Transform Your Choice

1. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  2.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Read this scripture this morning and I want share a few thoughts I am learning.
The Definition of Conform reads 
(of a person) behave according to socially acceptable conventions or standards.
"the pressure to conform"
synonyms:
follow convention, be conventional, fit in, adaptadjust, follow the crowd;

A lot of times we apply this to just our community and culture, but we are can be conformed to so many other things; families, friends, jobs.  All come together to form our opinions about who we choose to walk in life.  We try to fit in or conform to “our” worlds.  We do this because it becomes our norm, even though deep down inside we know we are different, and we know we are made for something greater.
In this scripture we are challenged to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  We have to purposely change the way we think and react to life’s situations.  Reading about and paying close attention and believing how God see’s situations will change how we think about things.  Soon you will see you can’t conform to the things that you have conformed to before.  It is a process and requires us to take some deep accounts of the things we are conformed to.  Some of these things are not even considered “bad” things either, but it if conforming to it leads you from God will for your life then we have to recognize it as being something that is not good for ourselves.
It is time to become a “living sacrifice” and the walking proof of God’s goodness and what can happen when we follow His perfect will for our lives!
Stay encouraged and purposefully and remember to do everything in LOVE!
Shelton
J’Agape – Jesus & Unconditional Love
For more Great Blogs, Videos, Podcast, and more visit www.jagape.com

Monday, October 20, 2014

What Happened to J'agape?

Hey everyone,
For years now, we have been walking in the vision and plan God gave us called J’agape!  It has been a wonderful yet challenging walk which has allowed us to connect with some awesome people all looking to affect the world with their Love and gifting’s in a positive manner.  J’agape has been a platform for showcasing these gifts to a “world” that in a lot of cases doesn’t even knows exists.  J’agape has brought awareness of purposeful organizations battling with things such as domestic abuse, homelessness, poverty, aids and many other community challenges.  We partner with like-minded business and organizations who put God’s agenda before all else.  Through our out of the box events, and award winning online radio show “TheReuP” we have effectively created a platform, that reaches far beyond just the churches 4 walls.  For the last two months however J’agape was placed into a “holding pattern” season. 
     After having one of our most impactful events to date “Men vs. Women”, I the visionary of J’agape and my family were hit with one of our biggest life test to-date.  I will not go into detail about the circumstances of everything but understand that this season tested everything in us.  It caused me to at times question if what God had even shared with me about J’agape would even come to past.  It put an unexpected stress on me, my family, business associates and friends.  Well as my co-host LaSonya always says diamonds are born from pressure, hence the name of her award winning radio segment “Diamond Power”.   Although the entire situation was uncomfortable and inconvenient it caused everyone close to the situation to pray more, trust more, ultimately building a stronger relationship with God.  It even allowed new kingdom connections to be made, that I believe will ultimately allow J’agape to step into its next phase of “kingdom growth”.  This processed birth new testimonies, new ideas, new associations, new favor, and most of all another revelation of who God is. 
     I am writing today to tell anyone reading this, that no matter what you are going through or dealing with, seek God’s face through it all.  Instead of going with the urge to run away and hide, seek Him and trust him all the more, and watch what he does.  Recognize that God is still in control and that He has a “good “plan for everything that we go through (good, bad or indifferent).  Embrace the process and allow yourself to gain a new revelation of who God is, what he wants you to do and how he wants you to do it.  If you are never sick, how can you see him as your healer, or as Bishop TD Jakes stated in his sermon yesterday “How can you have resurrection without crucifixion.”    
     Finally I want to announce that J’agape is still here – and we are expecting great things as we walk into the next season God has planned for us.  We know that without a doubt God will do amazing things in us and through us.  We are here to challenge you to trust God with all your heart, stay encouraged, and love one another unconditionally.  The Body of Christ has a lot to do and to make it happen we have to be Spirit Led and United.  Thank you for your continued support and prayers! 
Shelton
J’Agape – “Jesus and Unconditional Love”
www.jagape.com

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

"Church - Can't We all Just Get Along" - Part II Church Division

I had to take a break from some of my daily duties and share a little revelation with you that I received from Mark Chapter 9 this morning.  At the end of the chapter God says something that has been on my heart for a while now.  You may have heard me on my radio show and previous blogs, talk about church division and how I believe it weakens us, distracts us and hinders us from spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I hear a number of things people suggest as reasons for church ineffectiveness, such as bad doctrine, or should I say what the individual believes to be bad doctrine.  I hear things like the church is weak because we preach too much about grace, we have this so called “prosperity gospel” we are not teaching enough about the consequences, what we wear and should not wear and so on.  I normally see these come from whatever background or religion you were raised in or currently study.  Growing up, I had the experience of being a part of a number of different religions (Baptist, Pentecostal, Catholic, COGIC just to name a few).  They all read the same bible, but based off what religion you were in, the focus is normally on one aspect of the bible more than the other.  Isn’t the WHOLE Bible true?  Is one part greater than the other?  Every time I read my bible I get something new from it; even when I go back and read a scripture I may have read hundreds of times before.  This leads me to this morning’s reading of Mark 9. 
A quick synopsis Jesus in the beginning of the chapter said he wanted to spend some time with his disciples – Shares with them again what would happen to him on the cross (they still didn’t understand or get the hint) – Then as they go along their way the disciples  begin to discuss who was greater amongst them – From there Jesus tries to address that with them in a number of different ways – John questions Jesus about the man that was already casting out demons in His name – Then using what I believe to be an analogy of a little children, explains what would happen if we make them stumble(I will elaborate on this point in future blog) – Finally we get to verse 50 where he says something that sticks out to me like a sore thumb.  He starts talking about “salt” and we must be like it.  We must have its qualities and live in peace with each other.  WOW - live in peace with each other.  Keep in mind he is talking to the disciples – if you are saved that is supposed to be you and me.   Now there are a lot of things in this chapter as the old saints would say “that will preach”.   So as you read it - let it, however I had to go study more about salt and how its qualities relate in bible.  Here is something I discovered on top of some of the things I shared in a previous blog (Flava Flav).  When God speaks of salt in scriptures it normally speaks to a covenant of peace.  In verse 50 he actually tells us this.  Now keep in mind a few verses up the disciples were just talking about who was greater.  I can imagine John feeling like he loved Jesus more because he hugged Jesus a lot and was more loving, while Peter thinks he loves Jesus more because he will cut an ear of for Jesus if need be (It is funny how as people we feel that everyone expresses things the way we do, and should if they don’t).  They were so consumed with trying to figure out who was greater, they couldn’t even focus on the main thing, which was Jesus, who had just told them that He would be betrayed, die, and be resurrected in three days.   No matter what the disciples did or how they did it, or what their strength or weakness was – did it even compare to what Jesus was about to do for us all.  They were missing the point all together and at that time preoccupied with competition and disunity.  I see this same spirit in “the church body” – this spirit of competition (my doctrine is better than yours) and disunity.  Church, are we missing the point?!   Are we more consumed with proving that our doctrine is more correct than the next that we forget to share Jesus?  Isn’t the point to let the world know what Jesus did for them on the cross over 2000 years ago.  If my brother or sister is proclaiming this and encouraging people to believe it, that is what makes them my brother or sister, regardless if they believe in everything I do, or if I believe in everything they do.  Imagine if we really started acting a one body under one head, capitalizing on each other’s strengths.   We have ONE HEAD CHURCH – that is JESUS!
More to come about this subject –
Morning Manna
J’agape ~ Jesus’s Unconditional Love

For more blogs and challenging and encouraging media visit www.jagape.com

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Divide and Conquer



1 Corn 1 10-13
10 I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,[a] in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought. 11 My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12 What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas[b]”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Over the past few months it has been really pressing in my spirit to exhort the body of Christ (the church) to overcome the spirit of division.  As a church we are divided on so many things.  We are divided on things such as church size (Small Churches vs. Mega Churches), God’s Grace vs. God’s Wrath, The list goes on and on.   Now although I don’t agree with what everyone says I can’t help but to remember that we are all a work in progress.  We are all living life, and for me I can tell you that God usesdivi things in life to help us understand his word better.  I grew up believing and understanding the wrath of God, Hell is real people.  I know it is, but living life and witnessing God’s grace and mercy first hand and undeserved favor has matured me to know that the same God that can destroy the earth with a flood is the same God that will send his only begotten son to earth to die on the cross for my sins. 

I encourage my fellow brothers and sisters to meditate on the scripture above, as well as study the many other scriptures in the Bible that warns us about division.  Verse 13 really stands out to me as Paul ask the question “is Christ divided”, and then in an almost sarcastic manner he inquires about if Paul was crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul?  In essence I get an understanding that says sometimes we put too much faith in the people who deliver the word rather than the Word himself “Jesus Christ”.  If we as a church will keep Jesus the main thing always I believe we would have a lot less strife amongst each other leaving us the opportunity to focus our efforts on the real enemy.  I have heard many people give their reasons for the perceived lack of power in the church today as our culture gradually becomes more tolerant of sinful things.  I believe division is one of the biggest reasons why.  As long as Satan can continue to cause division in the church, he does not have to worry about us operating at full strength which would allow us to be more effective at reaching every lost soul on this planet.  Basic military training even agrees with this when it talks about the principle “divide and conquer” 
    
I am going to do a series of blogs pertaining to this over the next few weeks, may even discuss it on our radio show.  I want to dive into the little things Satan uses to keep us arguing amongst each other and point out Biblical principles we can use to start getting on the same page, even if we can’t agree on certain points.  Please feel free to comment, add points, ask questions and share this with other brothers and sisters.  It is time for us to get together, Church, and do what is needed to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ together.

Thanks for reading  
J’Agape – Jesus’s unconditional love

www.jagape.com
"The ReuP" Online Radio Show on www.fbrn.us (inspirational) Every Fri 7pm CST

Thursday, February 7, 2013

"Are you a Monument or a Movement?"


Morning Manna

"Are you a Monument or a Movement?"

But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.  Genesis 19:26

I am a big History Channel buff and I love the stories that try to disprove what happens in the Bible.  It is hilarious, but that is not what this is about.  The other day they were trying to determine how scientifically Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.  As they showed the Salt like pillars around the area the area that was known as Sodom and Gomorrah at one time, I began to think back about the story of Lot.  In short he decided to move his family a thriving city full of commerce and wealth, but full of debauchery.  I would invite you to read the details of what happens in this story, but in the end God sends Lot and his family a message to leave, because HE was going to destroy this City.  Leave the home you built up, the things you gathered, the memories you built up the people you had become accustom to seeing,  all to while saving YOU and YOUR family’s life.  I am paraphrasing of course, but check it out for yourself. 

I relate to this story in so many ways.  I lived “the fast” life for a while myself.  A lot of things were enticing about it.  Being able to do what you want, regardless of the consequences.  During this time I gathered a lot of things as well.  Houses, Cars, elaborate trips to Miami – (I loved my trips to Miami).  Partying with beautiful women.  On the outside many would say this life was good.  Now I am not saying that having things like these are bad in itself, but they become bad when they become your priority or  when you live everyday of your life for those things or people rather than the God who made them.  That’s a different blog for another day.  I say all this to say when God in his mercy and grace grabbed my attention and reminded me of the call he put on my life years previous to my “fast life” hiatus, it set me on a path away from many of the things I had gathered in my life and loved above.  This is where I start relating to Lots wife. 

As I move closer to this vision God gave me, I find my mind sometimes looking back at some of the things I had.  I have also found that at those moments of looking back sometimes even reaching back, momentum stops, or slows down.  Depression seeps in, sometimes becomes regret, discouragement even though the vision that God has shown me is so much more fulfilling!  I find that certain things in my surroundings trigger memory or old feelings.  Again the reaction creates a momentary lack of movement while reflecting.  Well as the scripture above illustrates Lots wife was turned into a pillar of salt, because she disobeyed and looked back. 

Part of Clark's Commentary about this scriptures says "....on this ground a pillar of salt may signify no more in this case than an everlasting monument against criminal curiosity, unbelief, and disobedience."

I believe that she is symbolic of what happens with us in life sometimes, especially if we begin to look back and feel like what we left behind is better than our destiny. 
I propose that the symbolism here is that she became a monument after looking back and longing for what she had left behind after God had told them not too.  We must keep moving forward towards the destiny God has put before us.  The steps he has ordered.  Now we go places and see monuments all the time.  They are great for leisure and reminiscing about what happened in history, but we can’t get stuck there.  We learn from them and move on.  God has a plan and purpose for your life and I am learning that his plan is far better than my plan. 

"Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. Remember Lot's wife." Luke 17:28-32.

God put this on my heart early this morning so I am sure it is not just for me.  I encourage you to keep pushing forward towards your destiny.  Follow without question God’s Holy Spirit and divine direction and don’t let the temptation of what you had once before to slow down your momentum or keep you from moving towards the mark.  Also if you have even started moving into God’s plan for your life, repent and start today.  Don’t be afraid to leave your past behind. 

I heard a pastor say before, Satan does not have the power to stop what God puts in motion, so he tries to slow you down, or keep you from moving into what God has already set in place for you.  I believe he tries to this through things like fear, doubt, discouragement, regret, and trying to make you feel like where you came from is better than were you going.  I think of Martin Luther King Jr.  who helped start a movement, although we see monuments of him everywhere, what effects our life most is that movement he helped to start.  Hearing this I hope will encourage you to take evaluation of your thoughts and to become part of the Kingdom movement and not just a monument 

Thanks for reading.  Please feel free to share with others.

Shelton Seworth
CEO of J’agape 
For more blogs visit www.jagape.com and tune into “The ReuP” every Friday @ 7pm CST on www.fbrn.us inspirational


Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Morning Manna "Eat Humble Pie"


Miriam and Aaron Oppose Moses

1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 "Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't he also spoken through us?" And the LORD heard this. 3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.) 4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, "Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you." So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, "Listen to my words: "When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. 7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?" (Numbers 12:1-8)

Here is the scripture that found me this morning. I can relate to it a lot now. Maintaining a vision like J’agape has allowed me to cross paths with lots of people. Some really see the pure purpose of J’agape and some don’t. Either way I choose to keep my focus on Gods direction for J’agape, without compromise. The key part of this verse for me however is the staying humble. Verse three says that Moses was the most humblest man on the earth). People sometime discount being humble, or mistake it for weakness. I believe that when we humble ourselves, it allows God to move freely in our lives and situations. Trust me my nature says to deal with things in a non-humble way, but I have found that God handles things better than I could ever. 

Today as you go through your day, Christians I dare you to remain humble, and watch God work. I have found a certain type of peace that comes with being humble. I think you will as well. And oh yeah, for you people who try to take advantage of peoples humbleness, be careful. If you read further into the scripture above you will find out what happens when God has to humble us.

J’Agape (Jesus’s Unconditional Love)
For more inspirational blogs, and other great media visit
 www.jagape.com
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Thursday, November 29, 2012

WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU WERE THAT....


Or better yet who didn’t tell you who you were?  I was in church yesterday serving and in my section I noticed a young man.  He was taller than me, had way more hair than me, currently cut into a box fade.  He was a young man full of energy that could not have been more than 17 years old.  That is what I saw, and then he and the young lady he was with asked me a question.  His voice came out in a soft feminine way; a tone that I must say startled me at first.  I began to notice subtleties of how he carried himself, how he held his hands how he rolled his eyes at some of the things the young lady stated to him.  My heart began to hurt as I began to see him duplicate obviously how he perceived a woman to act.  It began to make me think about the generation we are living in and question, why through-out my lifetime I had seen a shift in our culture that said it was normal even "cool" for people to feel comfortable with being something other than what God designed them to be. 

I began to pray for the young man, and along with that began to think through how this could have happened.  The question that popped in my head was who told this young man that he should act like a woman.  Then a better question popped in my spirit.  WHO DIDN’T  tell this young man that he was a man, destine to raise a son or daughter of his own and speak life into them.  In Genesis  1 the bible says he was created in Gods own image, created him as a male and a female as a female.  Who didn’t tell him that God’s first command to him and the future wife in his life was to “be fruitful and multiply”.
Now before you tune me out.  Let me say this.  My point of view is based solely on the bible.  This as you will soon read is not a homosexual thing, but a Father thing.  I believe that we are witnessing the effects of fathers not being present physically or emotionally in the home.  It causes so many conflicts in society.
I am only assuming but maybe like me there was not a father in his life, or a strong father figure in his life.  Yes, I know what assuming makes you so I will give you the facts stated from people who have studied the matter more than I have:
· “I have worked with thousands of homosexuals. I have never seen a homosexual who had a loving respectful relationship with his father.” - Dr. Joseph Nicolosi
· “Boys who grow up in father absent homes are more likely than those in father present homes to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity.” - P.L. Adams, J.R. Milner, Fatherless Children
Here are some of the other facts I found. 
  • 85% of the people incarcerated came from fatherless homes
  • 71% of the dropouts came from fatherless homes
  • 63% of the suicides came from fatherless homes. 
The list goes on and on.  So here is my point to all this.  We are living in a generation that has been effected by fathers not being in their place, and I will go as far to say that even when fathers are in the home sometimes they are not in their place. So why is it so important for men to be in the household.  I watched a movie called “Courageous” which was a very eye opening experience.  I really felt I was a good father but this movie showed me how much I could really improve.  The main thing I saw though was that it was important for fathers to speak life and purpose into their children’s life.  Throughout the bible there are examples of fathers who spoke purpose and life to their children.  The names that they gave their children would become part of their identity.  The crafts that the father took on were taught to their children.  Jesus was a carpenter, just like his earthly father Joseph.  Since the beginning God has given man the ability to call out purpose into thing he had made man covering for.  Adam named Eve woman “because she was bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh” and “because she was taken out of man” [Genesis 2:23].  The word woman designated the special gifts that every woman encompasses.  A man will never be able to do what a woman can do.  That gift has been given to every man.  We have the power to speak “life and death”.  That is what our Father in heaven has spoken into our lives. 
This is a plea to all men to as my co-host (Christian comedian) Deon Mr. Dynamite Miller says, man up.  I believe if we do a better job at getting and keeping fathers back in the homes, we will see in change in our generation for the better.  Children come from a man and a women, it is the only way they come to this earth.  With that in mind, since both male and female have contribution to making the child, should it not be obvious how important it is for both of them to impart into their children.  I met my own father at the age of 35, which really solidified this point to me.  Although I had never spent any time with him until then, I immediately notice certain things in my life that were parallel to his life.  Even though I grew up saying I would not be like my father.  I found that I was like him.  Imagine if he were there to show me how not to make the same mistakes he made.  I believe God can change the damage that has already been done, but we can start doing this fatherhood thing right.  Even if you are like me and cannot physically be in your children’s life 24/7 I challenge you to find a way to spend more time, quality time with them.  I challenge you to take the time and get yourself in line with God’s purpose for your life and then in turn speak and teach purpose in your children’s life.  Tell them who they are every day.  Don’t let the world, their friends, their community, or their own flesh tell them who they are.  Gather direction from God and give it to them.  You have the power to do that. 
Finally if you are a single mother, with sons, like I said earlier I was a product of a household that only had my mom in it.  Although growing up without a father, didn’t affect me in the same way it did the young man I mentioned earlier.  It did affect me in so many other ways.  But God!  God gave me a mom, who realized I needed a strong male role model in my life.  She introduced me to the boy’s scouts, boys clubs which help to define some of my man hood.  They could not do all of what my father was meant to do, but they helped to instill some identity in me.  So single mothers start there find positive male role models to help influence your sons, if the father in his life is not available.  More importantly, make sure he is involved in a good church home, and encourage him to read the Word of God so that his heavenly father can help impart in him, who he really is.  Offer your children back to God as Hannah did in 1 Samuel 1. 
I encourage you to make comments and share!  Thanks all for reading.  FATHERS STAND UP!
“Morning Manna” with Shelton Seworth