This morning at 12 A.M I watched Hamilton when it made its debut on Disney Plus, it was fantastic ! I hope I get to go see it in December when it is scheduled to come to Los Angeles

The most important type of friend in my life is Not the friend who is rich or popular. It is Not the person who wins lots of awards.

The type of friend that is most important in my life is the encourager. The encourager is the person who take the time to make a phone call to say “How are you? Or just takes the time to Pray for me.

The most important type of friend in my life has always been and will always be a friend

like you.

When I was 7 years old I came home from school one day and said

Dad, I wanna play Baseball!

Thinking that I only wanted to play catch, my dad said something like,

I’ll put you in your chair in a little bit and we’ll go outside.

No Dad, I really want to play Baseball!

I handed him a broucher that I got in my box at school. It was information about the

Challenger’s Division

Of our local little league

Playing Ball on Saturday Morning was the best, and my dad turned out to be the most amazing coach.

My dad wasn’t originally our coach, but long story short, the man that was our coach let us all down and my dad was there to keep things going. He stepped in as our coach, and all was awesome again!

Our team was one team but split into two; The Dodgers and the Angels. At the end of every game we would always ask

Who won the game?

Even though no one actually kept score. My dad made up a motto for our team

He would say

What are we Here for?!

And we would yell back

To have Fun!

I played ball from the age of 7 til 13 and I was my dad’s assistant coach for a season when I was 14

It was one of the best times in my life!

20 years ago tonight I graduated from high school The journey was a long and difficult one but I did it and I want to share some of the lessons that I learned from that time in my life.

• speak up about the vision you have for your life- Don’t let anyone put limits on you because of first impressions.
• You’re going to be told no a lot so make sure you have an awesome support system that can be a soft place to fall
• You’re not required to follow a crowd, make your own path
• formal education can only take you so far, make sure you’re always learning.
• It’s ok to change your mind about what you want out of life.
• be humble, but keep yourself visable.
• When people tell you No, you say WATCH Me

One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.

Matthew 5:1‭-‬2

Memory Verse

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

Matthew 5:3

When you Think of a person who is blessed what do you think of?

• The popular idea of happiness is having the right circumstances.
• God’s idea of happiness is having the right heart.

“But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Matthew 5:20

What does it mean to be poor in sprit?

It begans with an awareness of your spiritual bankruptcy in comparison to God’s Holiness

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer : ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Luke 18:9‭-‬14 NLT

What attitude do you have?

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

Mark 2:17

How can I expirence the blessing the beatitudes promise?

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Matthew 6:33

Four commitments of first place living:

• I will give God the first part of my day

Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord . Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.

Psalms 5:3

“Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Matthew 7:24

• I will give God the first part of my week

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25

• I will give God the first part of my finances

“Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

Matthew 6:19‭-‬21

Bring this tithe to the designated place of worship—the place the Lord your God chooses for his name to be honored—and eat it there in his presence. This applies to your tithes of grain, new wine, olive oil, and the firstborn males of your flocks and herds. Doing this will teach you always to fear the Lord your God.

Deuteronomy 14:23

• I will give God the first part of my relationships

“Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:36‭-‬40

Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

1 Peter 3:15

Yesterday I spent time watching the Movie

Just Mercy

The story of Brian Stevenson, a young lawyer who worked with inmates on death row in Alabama. All of the men that he worked with were Black men, most of whome were profiled because of the color of their skin and humiliated.

The movie centers around a group of men on death row who Mr Stevenson tries to defend by getting them brand new fair trials. Many of the men featured in the movie either did not commit the crime they were accused of, which was the case for the main character that the Movie was centered around.

Another man who was put to death did commit the crime he was accused of, but did so because he was suffering from PTSD, and was given a court appointed lawyer who did nothing to assist him, or find out that he was a war vet who had seen horrific battle.

This may sound way to simple, but this movie drove home the truth that in these modern times people are still judging each other on outside appearence and it needs to

Stop!!!

On Another note I am very proud of the Accomplished actor that Michael B. Jordan has become! I had the privilege of meeting him back in 2003, when he played Reggie Montgomery on All My Children.

What role do you think the church needs to take on in this time of protesting and racism?

I believe that the church should be the most welcoming group of people. One of our group members brought up something that should be the Corner Stone of what we should be doing and how we should be carrying ourselves as followers of Christ. We need to put into action John 3:16

For God so loved the world that he Gave his only Son, that Whoever believes in him should not Parrish, but have entermal life.

The church is not a building it is a group of people that need to speak the truth about Jesus Christ in a loving manner.

I am a follower of Christ , but I will not hit you over the head with my Bible, or scream at you on a street corner, but I’ll always be ready to tell anyone who asks me about the hope that I have And how they can have it too

Why are people being so Hateful to older people?

In the midst of all the protests and mistreatment of the African American community, there has been unbelievable disrespect to the elderly.

It began with the gentleman who was pushed by a police officer on the side walk and left bleeding from his ear, in addition to that, 45, the man who is supposedly the greatest leader since Abraham Lincoln said of that man, he didn’t fall like he was pushed.

Are you freaking kidding me?!

The second incident that got under my skin happened a few days ago, when a man who was walking down the street pushed an elderly woman to the pavement.

It makes me wonder how all these people including 45 would feel if it was their grandparents were pushed.

When I was in high school I remember having an elderly gentleman as a substitute teacher for Choir on a few occasions. I also remember that some of the boys in our class used to be disrespectful to him, and when our instructor would come back, the entire class would be in for a scolding lecture in which he would say

What if that was your grandpa! Would you stand for someone treating him the way you did?

Our society has come to the point where people in leadership needs to go to finishing school