xmlns:fb='http://www.facebook.com/2008/fbml'> Thinking Out Loud : January 2011

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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

"Hail to the Chief"




Watching the State of the Union Address is one of my favorite things to do as a student of history and lover of the pomp and circumstance that is as much apart of our government as the address-itself. I enjoy watching the spectacle that is the "State of the Union Address;" the attention to detail, the adherence to protocol and tradition that was established centuries ago. I take special pride in watching our country's first African American President-Barack Obama, ascend to the platform of this historic moment and deliver what has become our nation's most popular annual address. It seems just like yesterday that Pres. Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States just two years ago. And, as we are just days away from "Black History Month," where we collectively celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of some of the best and brightest African Americans our country has ever seen, we take pride in moments like this because it seems like  our greatest dreams and aspirations as a people have become a reality.  Watching Pres. Obama walked down the aisle behind such leaders as Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina, I'm reminded of the immense struggles of the Civil Rights Movement as well as the greatest leader of the movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr articulate the merits of his dream.

 But, as much pride and optimism we may have in Pres. Obama, our ultimate faith and our trust cannot reside with him or with any man for that manner. Our faith and our trust must be in God and God alone. He is the only one that deserves our faith and utmost devotion. It is easy for us to get caught up in the loftiness of the position that our leaders hold, and the promises they make. But, at the end of the day their word can only go as far as their own humanity will allow. Many of us our guilty of making gods out of men by putting our faith and confidence in them, only to be let down time and time again. When are we going to learn that the wisest man to ever live was right when he wrote in the book of Proverbs the 3rd chapter and verse 5, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding, but in all of your ways acknowledge him. And, he shall direct your path." As wealthy and powerful as King Solomon was, even he understood at a very early age that wisdom must be the principle thing.

King Solomon's story is probably one of the most inspiring stories in the Bible. Here you have a young man becoming the successor to that of his father King David. He already had the loftiness of the position as King, but he realized that if he did not have the wisdom of God, he would ultimately fail. King Solomon was visited by God one evening, and was asked the question that every single person alive would love to hear from God, "what would you have me do for you?" And, Solomon could have asked for any number of things, fame, wealth, posterity, along with a whole host of other things. But, instead Solomon asked God for wisdom. He asked God for wisdom, "to go in and out amongst your people." And, God was so impressed with Solomon's request that not only did he give him what he asked for, but He also gave Solomon what he didnt' asked for as well. In fact, God told Solomon that he was going to be the richest, and most famous King to ever live, simply because he asked for the wisdom of God to handle the loftiness of this position of being King over Israel.

In these times of distress, these times of despair, these difficult days that Dr. King spoke of over 40yrs ago, we must put our utmost faith and trust in the only one truly qualified to be called the "Commander in Chief." Jesus Christ is the only one duly qualified to be the "Head of our lives." And, He should be the one that we defer to in times of plenty as well as in times of need. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus instructs us to "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you."  If Jesus Christ is not your "Commander in Chief," if He is not number 1 on your list of priorities, then you must ask yourself who is the leader of your life? Who are you looking to in your times of stress, in your times of despair? Who is leading your life? Is your faith tied to the politicians of this nation that say one thing today and something else tomorrow? If your commitment is tied to someone that has continuously let you down?  Or, maybe you are the one leading your life. "You are the master of your fate, you are the captain of your soul."  If any of this is true, then I can understand why nothing in your life is making any sense. Today, we must elevate our faith to someone that is incapable of failure; to someone that is incapable of error; to someone that is incapable of mistakes; and that someone is our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

We are not saying that Pres. Obama has not sought out the wisdom of God as King Solomon did in the scriptures, we certainly pray that he has. But, the goal of our writing today is to unequivocally proclaim and declare who the real Chief of not just the United States of America is, but the Chief of the entire world is and that is God-Himself. Isaiah said it very clearly and plainly in the 46th chapter of the book that bears his name, "For I am God and there is none else, I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning , and from ancient times those things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure." Our God is the only one that deserves our un-divided attention. Our God is the only one worthy to be proclaimed, "Commander in Chief!" 

God is my Chief, my question to you is simple, is He yours?

Your thoughts?

Be Blessed!

Pastor Nimmons
http://www.michaelnimmons.com/

Monday, January 17, 2011

A TRIBUTE TO DR. KING



Check out our tribute to one of the greatest inspirations in my life; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Enjoy this day! Post your thoughts on our tribute!

Pastor Nimmons

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Cross Over


Cross Over Move In Basketball

 The Cross Over move in basketball is a very powerful and even pivotal move in the game if you know what you doing. In the game of basketball is a move that can literally fool a defender into thinking you're going one way and you cross over and go in an entirely different direction. Some of the games greatest players past & even present have become masters of this move. From Michael Jordan to Kobe Bryant from Allen Iverson to Rajan Rondo, these players games are determined many times by the effectiveness of this move. But, this blog post is not about the explosiveness of this move nor is it a tribute to the games greatest players. But, today's blog is a spiritual insight into an otherwise very natural terminology.

On last evening as I was worshipping and fellowshiping at our church's New Year's Eve Service; Greater Grace Temple in Detroit where Bishop Charles H. Ellis III is the pastor, God dropped this thought in my mind as both a message as well as blog idea that I just had to post. (Actually my blogs are usually where some of my sermons are birthed.) But, this was one that I was truly excited to write about, because there are so many great spiritual treasures that God has laid on our heart to share as we have made the transition from 2010 to 2011. And, there are 3 spiritual insights I would like to share with you taken from one of  greatest stories in biblical history The Children of Israel crossing over the Red Sea.



                          Watch the Story of Moses

In Exodus the 14th chpt and vs 13 we find the Children of Israel standing at the banks of the Red Sea, after having just been released by the hard hearted infamous, narcissistic King Pharaoh of Egypt. Those familiar with story know that God had just taken Egypt through 10 plagues that ultimately led to Pharaoh letting the Children of Israel go. And, here they are after just being set free, only a short time into their journey and now confronted with their greatest test; The Red Sea. The Red Sea was not just the first challenge the Israelites faced in their journey through the wilderness to the Promised Land, but this was a pivotal moment in their spiritual development and growth as a people. Although they were physically free, they were still mentally enslaved and took that slave mentality with them out of the confines of the Egyptian rule into the hot desert of the wilderness.  Which bring us to our 1st Spiritual Insight: YOU CANNOT TAKE THE BAGGAGE OF 2010 INTO 2011. Who you were last year is not who you are going to be in the coming year. In order to be successful in this new year, we have to got to leave the past in the past. Leave the past mistakes, failures, missteps, bad attitudes, etc in 2010, and move forward.

Due to the excess baggage of the Children of Israel mental slavery, they could not see past this massive body of water in front of them. They couldn't even fathom how they were going to be able to cross over to the other side without being utterly destroyed. And, to add to this mind sight, God had hardened the heart of Pharaoh one last time and he and the Egyptian army were now in pursuit of the Children of Israel, dead set on their ultimate annihilation. Our 2nd Spiritual Insight is: GOD DIDN'T BRING YOU THIS FAR TO LEAVE YOU! God didn't allow you to see a new year for you to ultimately be destroyed. You have to believe that if God brought you TO IT, He's going to bring you THROUGH IT! Don't allow the enormity of what's in front you and the pressures of what's behind you to intimidate you and to cause you to loose faith in God. This should be the time where your faith should kick into over drive, and you should believe and have faith in God even the more. And, here's something we'll through in for free, the enemy is never going to stop pursuing you, as long as you are going somewhere you're going to always have the enemy as company. This should not be something there to discourage you, but as an indicator that you are going in the right direction.

Finally, God spoke to Moses in the midst of the Children of Israel's murmuring and complaining and told him to stretch out his rod across this massive body of water and God performed one of the greatest miracles that the world has ever seen. God parted the Red Sea, drying up the ground underneath, and the Israelites were able to walk across on dry land. Which leads us to our 3rd and final Spiritual Insight: GOD HAS GIVEN YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO CROSS OVER TO THE OTHER-SIDE.  Now is not that time to get intimidated by the situation, but now is the time to step back and watch the miracle is getting ready to wrought in your life. Use the power that God has already given you; use the gifts that God has already blessed you with to make it through this brand new year. You have everything you need within you to make it through this year. Now is the time to have BIG FAITH, which should be in direct line with your expectations for this year 2011. Your faith has got to be BIG enough to match the EXPECTATIONS you have for this coming year. You've crossed over from PAIN to POWER, from POVERTY to PROSPERITY, from DEFEAT to VICTORY, from TRAGEDY to TRIUMPH!

And, as a side note not only did the Israelites crossover to the other side, but God also defeated the Egyptians in the process. They tried to pursue to the Children of Israel and they drowned in the Red Sea. So, our final thought for this post is simply, there is victory on the other side. God has allowed you to CROSS-OVER to this New Year for a reason, and if its not for your DEFEAT then it's got to be for your VICTORY. Embrace this year and let's be glad that God allowed you to CROSS OVER!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

God Bless You!

Pastor Michael S. Nimmons
www.michaelnimmons.com