Salvation is as easy as A...B...C!

First of all let's just get this out there. Yes there are plenty of Christians, myself included, who don't always do a great job of representing Christ. However, what people don't realize is just because you use the inconsistencies of Christians to justify why you don't believe in Christ or why you don't believe in God, doesn't excuse you from the accountability of making a decision.

The reality is that receiving salvation is as easy as ABC. First ACCEPT the fact that God loves you. He knew you before you were born and loved you while you were, or still are, consumed with sin.

BELIEVE the gospel. The good news about the gospel of salvation, is that it doesn't cost anything. Salvation from God is a FREE GIFT; all it takes is a willingness to receive the gift. You don't have to be in the right place at the right time. There is no one time limited offer. All you have to do is believe that God came to earth clothed in human nature. He was born of a virgin, lived 33 years, was tempted at all points, yet He was without sin. In fact, His perfection made it to where we NEVER have to be. Jesus Christ took all of our past, present, and future sins to the cross and re-established the connection between us and the Father. When He died, in three days, through the power of God, he rose from the dead with all power in his hands. He died for us, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He did all the work to make sure that the gift of salvation could not be earned; only accepted.

Once you Believe that, the final step is CONFESS that Jesus is Lord. See there are those who assume that you can just think something and that is good enough. On the contrary, when you openly confess your allegiance to someone or something, you are establishing your conviction and thus are demonstrating your heartfelt sincerity that what you believe is now who you are. All you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your life, ask the Holy Spirit to dwell with you and lead you into all truth. If you truly believe in your confession, you are saved. Period! Right when you say it.

So remember it is by God's grace that we have been saved, through faith; it has nothing to do with what we have done or not done...it is the gift of God. Once you have the gift, there will be the opportunity to learn how to use it; how to display it; how to respond with it in your every day life. But there will be time for that...let's just start by receiving the gift.

You? Fancy? Huh?

There is an old adage that speaks to a certain “fine line” between confidence and arrogance; between having swagger and just being pretentious. I will admit, depending on the environment, you may even have to give credence to the idea that these lines of ambiguity have to exist in order to maintain a certain level of success. However, in light of all of that, bearing in mind that most of us deal in the realm of normal, stable, activity, people need to understand the vast difference between both sides of the proverbial “fine line.”

When I first heard Drake’s “Fancy” I thought the song jammed. However, I knew that there was a possibility that it could start a wildfire within the female population. While I do not want to begin to give the impression that this blog is about women, this song illustrates the bottom line of my rant. Just because your hair, nails, and everything else designed to make you look good is in place…doesn’t make you fancy; it may make you presentable; it may even hide certain flaws that you currently possess; but by no means does it make you “fancy”. It also should not give you this superfluous confidence that makes you proclaim to the world that you are “fancy”. If you are “fancy” believe me, we noticed. In fact, the reasons we KNOW you AREN’T “fancy” is because you have to open your mouth to let us know that you think that you are.

Not making sense yet? How about this? Just because you walk around with your Prada, Gucci, Channel, etc, doesn’t mean that you have entered into an elite world of socio-economic dominance. Or because you flaunt how much “money” you are supposed to have (shout out Real Housewives of Atlanta), doesn’t mean that you are really rolling in dough. NEWS FLASH: FILTHY RICH PEOPLE DON’T FLAUNT THAT THEY ARE RICH…THEY JUST ARE! Real rich people don’t have to talk about being rich; they don’t act snobbish and untouchable; they live their life like everyone else…they just live it on a different level (and just as an fyi…being on a different level doesn’t necessarily make it easier or makes the person happier).

One last one…just in case my point is still lost in translation. If you love the Lord, that’s good. If you do everything that you can to live by the principles set forth in your religious beliefs, I believe it communicates your commitment to it. But when every time I speak to you, or heaven forbid, ask you how things are and your first response is “Blessed and Highly Favored in the Lord…who is the Head of my Life, who said in HIS word that he would never leave me or forsake me, who oh I could just shout thinking about his goodness”…it’s going to make me not ever want to talk to you again. Beyond your words I should see the reflection of your beliefs in the life you live everyday; and here’s a secret…It should be real and tangible enough for me to notice a difference in you without you ever having to broadcast why the difference is there.

Overall, I guess what I am trying to say is stop telling us what you are, what you do and what drives you at every turn. When you have to scream it from the rooftop, especially when your comments are unsolicited, unwarranted, and completely out of place, all is does is seem like you are trying to convince me of this image your are trying to portray and more importantly, it sounds like you are trying to convince yourself.

I MAY BE WRONG...BUT I DOUBT IT!

 

Part of being a sports fan is being able to communicate various topics in the form of debate. Debates can range from: Greatest QB of All Time; Most Impactful Player of the Modern Era: etc, etc. The art of debate is essential when trying to compare players, teams and positions culminating, of course, in a winning argument.

In honor of the upcoming Championship Weekend in the NFL, the Palace will highlight and rank the NFL position groups in terms of their importance from greatest to least. What you need to keep in mind about this column is that this is not an indictment on individual talents; we are examining the importance of the position as it relates to a formula of winning. So miss me with all the, what about this guy or that guy…that’s not what we are here for. Here we go:

THE QUARTERBACK- there should be no if, and, or buts about this one. THE QB is the most essential position on the football team. They touch the ball more than any other player and if you find a QB who has all of the intangibles of greatness, you will almost always have a team that competes for championships. Now for those of you who will throw out Trent Dilfer or QBs that have been a bust…just because you play the position doesn’t mean you are a success, but without a strong QB (and please believe “managing the game” is just as important as carrying the ball club) you have no shot at greatness.

THE OFFENSIVE LINE- It doesn’t matter who your favorite player is; doesn’t matter if you can’t name 5 O-Lineman in the whole league. The fact of the matter is, the better your O-Line the more dominant your football team. Being able to open holes, protect the QB, and work as a cohesive unit on every offensive snap is paramount. 

THE DEFENSIVE LINE- NFL analyst, when it comes down to it, will all typically agree that a football game between two really good teams is won in the trenches. We highlighted the O-Line, but please believe that a hole penetrating, dominate pass rush, ability to clog running and passing lanes makes everything else on defense work to its full capacity. Just think of how much more effective your defense is when you can create the same amount of chaos with a 3 and four man rush versus always having to send the blitz.

SECONDARY- the Texans had a good team this year in all phases except the secondary. A trash secondary is like kryptonite when you can’t get a pash rush or if a QB has so much time that they can make a clock instead of watching it. As a corner/safety you are sometimes on so much of an island that if you can’t do your job…you are going to get beat with the big play…and that’s a problem. 

These 4 position groups are the MOST important groups on the field. Then you have kickers/punters because they have to be able to do their job when called upon. After them, the following are some of the most overrated positions on the field (remember in terms of groups, not individual talents).

LINEBACKERS- IN the grand scheme of things, if you have a good D-Line and your secondary is solid, how hard is it for a linebacker to make a tackle or cover someone in a two foot window. There have been great linebackers in our history (including LT) but they usually find themselves more in a pseudo D Line role; Important…but seriously overrated in terms of overall success to your football team.

RUNNING BACKS- Running backs are plentiful. You don’t have to be a great running back to be successful, because a good portion of your success comes with reading the holes that your O-Line sets up. If you have a dominant rusher like Adrian Peterson you, in theory, do better…but if he gets hurt and Toby Gerhart has to play in his place, if your O-Line is solid, you aren’t limited in what your team can do.

WIDE RECEIVER- Overall the wide receiver position is the most OVERRATED POSITION IN FOOTBALL. Do we have elite WR, absolutely, but do you need an elite WR to win football games, absolutely not (see NE Patriots, Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers). Wide receivers are hit and miss. When they make great catches they seem utter worldly, but when they drop four passes leading up to the critical 3 and 19, your realize that they can be just as unreliable. Jerry Rice, arguably the greatest football player of all time let alone WR, as unbelievable…but when he retired the 49ers just start throwing the ball to a young kid named Terrell Owens and kept it moving. Again not saying they aren’t important, but in the grand scheme of things, they are not nearly as important as one would think.

As always, I may be wrong about this…but I doubt it!

Is Seeing Really Believing?

So I couldn't figure out what I was going to write about today, but after reading this article on CNN I got inspired. Everyone has heard the phrase, "Seeing is Believing". It's supposed to underscore the idea that only physical or concrete evidence is convincing. This article I was reading highlighted the fact that there are certain resorts, and hotels that use photos to advertise their amenities in such a way that after you "see" it you are CONVINCED that it has to be as real as it looks. In relationships we tend to get drawn in by what we see, regardless of how often we have been fooled before, believing that if we see it, it has to be real; especially if we see them or what they are doing and they don't know we're watching. But Oh Contraire my friends...you can be fooled over and over again, simply by buying into first sight. The following is a breakdown of what the article claims happens and how that principle applies to relationships.

Taking a photo from a certain angle- Picture this; there is a guy/girl with great poise and presence. They command the room when they enter it, they blow us away with their charm and they are just an exquisite physical specimen. Well often times what you are witnessing is this individual at their best. They are prepared, focused and seemingly have it all together. However, upon closer review, when their comfort zone is compromised, when the external and random variables of life come crashing in on them, you could get a completely different beast. You could get a person who was once calmed is now panicked, once controlled and now scattered brained, once cool and confident now paranoid and jealous. Just because you initial vantage point of this person is positive, doesn't mean that they will remain that way in other situations.

Getting dressed up for picture day- This principle applies to the individuals who will spend their last dime just so their closet is full of closet full of Alexander McQueen, Prada, Gucci, Chanel
D&G, BCBG, Versace, Louie and BeBe. Don’t get me wrong…not saying you shouldn’t want nice things, but not to the degree where you are maxing out credit cards; it’s just not fiscally responsible and no one wants to be in relationship with that. I’m not opposed to you being put together, but when you can’t function without it….now that’s a problem.

Zooming in- “Putting your best foot forward” is something that we should all try to do.  And when that’s done, we tend to Zoom In simply on the package that is presented to us. However, when we zoom out and re-focus we usually see everything that makes this person them…more specifically the people they hang around with. We see the hating friends, the ex-boyfriend/girlfriends, we see the low lifes, losers and other riff raff that could spell doom to your relationship. When you look at the object of your affection and the people around them are pushing and challenging them to be better, are supportive but have lives of their own then you may be zooming in on a winner.

Sexy lady phenomenon- I once knew a girl who, on a normal day she was a sweats, t-shirt and ball cap type of girl; you know real unassuming. However, when it was time to step out, boy she really cleaned up. This principle doesn’t really apply to this person. Just because you look one way in one setting doesn’t mean you don’t know how to be dress appropriate for another setting. No; what this principle applies to is the girl (because mostly girls do this) who are Yackey All-Stars, draw on their eyebrows, pay for their “ass-sets” and would never let you see them “sweat”. I mean the best way to describe getting dressed up for picture day is that episode of “Fresh Prince” where Will and Tisha Campbell were trapped in the basement during an earthquake. The once attractive Campbell ended up simply being enhanced by fake nails, a wig, and stuffing in her chest area… be who you are all the time…and somebody will like it…trust me! You don’t have to become Beyonce Minaj Kardashian.

 
So what can you do to avoid a crisis in a relationship? Do your research. See how the person you are feeling responds in different environments. Ask people about them just to see what kind of impression they have perceived. Go up to the person and ask them out…and once you do that ask them all the questions you really want to know; might as well get it over with so that you don’t end up wasting your time. When all that fails, trust your instinct…and if you ended up being wrong…start again. You are bound to get it right someday!

Media Monday: The Game 2nd Quarter

Okay...maybe I was being a little too critical. I mean it's not like it was the season premiere of Martin; or the second coming of the Cosby Show or A Different World; it was The Game...on BET. Despite all of that, I, much like the rest of the black community, greatly anticipated the return of this show and was truly hoping it came out of the blocks strong. I even recall watching a few of the often aired "Game Marathons" just so I could make sure I had my story lines together; and like most I had questions and thoughts about what would happen next. However, what I saw on opening night was a team, I mean, cast that looked like they were pressing; story lines that looked forced and unimaginative; players, I mean, actors and actresses that looked completely out of position. My thoughts are as follows:

The Davis'- We all know Derwin is a smack. Always has been always will be. His character did not change...and the fact that he is the star now isn't a surprise; but Mel, what the heck? I thought her hold point of moving with Derwin was because she was in love and still wanted to and was actively pursuing medical school, I.e. The nickname "Med School" I mean maybe if there was an indication that she wanted to just be "Real Housewife" I may have bought into Tasha
Mack's assessment of Melanie in the hour special. And the cotton swab thing...really?
Look I will give you the brief promiscuous stage she went through after her and Derwin broke
up, but this current "Desperate Insecure Housewife" thing has got to change.

The Pitts'- Jason's character is dead on. Jilted former athlete, phased out because of age,
tried to salvage career with steroids, now a bitter NFL analyst...I get it...believable.  Kelly Pitts: am I really supposed to buy this Kate Gosselin reality star mold? So her daughter, who she tried to protect during the divorce, now plays second fiddle to her rage and determination to make a name for herself with her ex- husbands money...again, not believable. In two years this supportive mother, working full time, has now turned into a media horror? Not the route I would have taken.

Tasha and Malik- You know Tasha Mack is fine enough and driven enough to make the "cougar" thing work...for a little while; and I can even go for her catching feelings for a younger dude (even if it is a lame Terrance J) because she has always been sensitive beneath the tough exterior. I just hope Tasha "getting her groove back" doesn't go the entire season. Now Malik on the other hand...is a different case. We all know Malik loves having sex. We all know he is a sensitive, arrogant, egotistical teenager trapped in an adult’s body. Now with all that being said, I never would have called Malik a spiteful and vengeful individual. There may have been some when they realized the girl he was banging in the bathroom was the owner's girl, was typical Malik; but I wouldn't have thought he would go there. This was not the demeanor of a guy who was head over heels for Robin Givens or when having the opportunity to sleep with his teammate’s ex-girlfriend, he turned her advance down and told her to get out of his room. And his treatment of Te-Te; I mean Te-Te has always done Malik's bidding, but sleeping with his girl...too much for simply two years later.

Looking back on a week ago...my instant reaction of The Game was too critical. I lost by overriding my common sense and buying into the hype machine of BET. While I still think the Game has some work to do, all is not lost. While I was truly disappointed with the first quarter play...I will be rooting for a strong second quarter and a strong rest of the season.

We'll See How Long This Last

According to Merriam Webster a blog is: "a Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer." 

I guess, in an effort to satisfy my own craving for writing, I will attempt to fill this blog with random reflections that are purely focused on what I want to say and when I want to say it. I'm not sure how personal they will be, but I can personally say that the thoughts and opinions expressed in the contents of each blog that is presented, will be mine and mine alone. From Sports to Relationships, Religion to  Complete Randomness,  i plan to cover something...consistently. I'm sure that, provided that people actually follow and become slightly interested in what I have to say, will both agree and disagree...and I welcome that. Doesn't mean I will change your views and please believe it doesn't mean that you will be able to change mine, however we can probably coexist in this social media and possibly see things from each others different perspectives...I can't promise that I will always have perfect grammar, make the politically correct statement, or hit you with something everyday, but what I will promise is to give you, in small doses, a piece of my mind. 

I hope  that the above paragraph satisfies as a brief explanation of what this blog is all about, but if it doesn't...keep reading and I am positive you will catch on.