My Faith Looks Up To Thee - Draft #2

MY FAITH LOOKS UP TO THEE

Reflections Of Faith In The Current Age

Marben Bland

My Faith Looks Up To Thee Reflections Of

Faith In The Current Age

Copyright © May 2023 by Marben Bland

1.

Meditations 2. Devotions 3. Spiritual Thoughts

ISBN: (When you receive the ISBN, don’t forget to write it here)

Imprint: Published by

2The Point Theological Media Corporation

Pictures taken by Marben Bland or obtained from royalty free sources

But God Knows Who I am

If you ended up having dementia, how would you like to be treated?”

Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Today, we vote, and the will of the people will be known

The Dysfunctional Family of God

God can use anyone for anything

An Economic Odyssey: The Black/White Wealth Gap

God has given Black people the grit, the resourcefulness, and the ability to make a way out of no way

Lost In Plain Sight

God has called on each of us to search for and find the lost, especially when they are hidden in plain sight.

The Calamities of Life

God will be with us in the calamities of life

The DNA of a champion

To My Parents

It was your godly love and support that powers the legacy of the family you birthed.

Benjamin Franklin Bland (1927 - 1999)

Mary Lois Johnson Bland (1927- 2018)

God Wrote This Book

For a decade, I wrote business blogs informing readers about trends in technology, leadership, and finance along with whatever was the hot topic that would get me clicks, likes, and notices. My goal was to become a thought leader, to do a TED Talk and to write a book that would make me famous, successful and in demand.

However, a funny thing happened on the way, - the thing that happened was God. I had become a part of a new church plant in Pittsburgh. Motivated by my Pastor, Shaun Kirkland, his wife Brenda, members Cacie Cunningham Smith and Donna Taylor I started truly studying the Bible. For the first time in my life the scriptures became real, I begin to understand Jesus and His plan for my life.

Then another funny thing happened the blogs that were chock full of pearls of business advice became more faith oriented. Instead of writing about Wall Street I wrote about the Wailing Wall, instead of profiling the marketing genius of LeBron James, I was writing about the King James Version, and instead of giving my advice on how to get a raise, I was writing about how to get to Heaven. The business blog, the thing that was going to make me famous was no more, it has become a blog about faith, a blog that God was writing.

A thousand or so blogs later, God is still writing. They are called devotions now and a small number of the most resent of them are included in this book. Along the way so many people have encouraged, edited, and employed me to produce a book. Thank you, this book is possible because of your love and support.

I am forever thankful to Frenchy Hodges for not only her editing, but her genial pushers along the way.

I am especially grateful to Annie Ingram for believing in me and this book.

But let me be clear all the credit goes to God because He wrote this book.

Jesus Has A Higher Expectation Of You

With great intention Jesus went from Galilee to the Jordan River specifically to be baptized by John The Baptist. However, when Jesus got there was a big problem John The Baptist, the most famous baptizer of all time did not want to baptize Jesus because he believed he was not worthy.

JohntoldJesusin Matthew3:14“Thisisn’t proper.Iamtheonewho needstobebaptizedby you.” ThenJesussaidto John“PleasedoitforI mustdoallthatisright.” So,thenJohnbaptized Jesus,provingthatJohn wasworthy.

ThebaptismofJesusby JohntheBaptistwasnot onlythefulfillmentof prophecy,italso demonstratesthatJesus hasahigherexpectation ofyou. Jesusseesthings inyouthatyoudon’tsee. However,whenyouare ledbyfaithandtheHoly Spirityoucandogreat things.

Jesushashigher expectationsofyou.A higherexpectationtobe baptizedinlivingyourlife withalonginginspiredby Micah6:8to“DoJustice, LoveMercy,andWalk HumblywithYourGod.”

Remember:JesusHasA HigherExpectationFor You.

Reflections

What higher expectations did Jesus have of John The Baptist?

What higher expectations does Jesus have for you?

Name three people who can help in either meeting or discovering your higher expectations.

Jesus Was a Migrant Too

Christmas Tree, the Whitehouse, the Capital and the monuments from Lincoln to King are all adorned in the lively colors of the season.

On this chilly 18-degree night, 130 men, women, and children—migrants all and many wearing nothing more than a t-shirt—are deposited outside the residence of Vice-President Kamala Harris.

Churches, social service agencies and others scramble to provide aid for these unannounced, unexpected but not unwanted, visitors arriving on the eve of our Lord and Savior’s birth.

This Christmas Eve display of inhumane insensitivity is the invention of Texas Governor Gregg Abbott. The Republican Governor began sending migrants who arrived at the TexasMexico border to northern cities in April of 2022 to antagonize the Biden administration, as the President and the Congress continue to fail in reforming our broken immigration system. (More on next page)

Migrants come to this country with dreams—dreams of a better life in the United States, dreams of escaping economic distress, dreams of fleeing religious, political and personal persecution, dreams of an education for their children.

Jesus became a migrant because of a dream. Herod, the King when Jesus was born, feared the babe and wanted him killed. The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to take the child and his mother to Egypt.

Jesus, the son of God almighty, was forced to flee. And like the folks dropped off on a cold Christmas Eve night in Washington, D.C. Jesus became a migrant because of a dream.

What if Jesus were a migrant today at the Texas-Mexico border? Would he have shelter, food or clothing? Would he have medical care? Would the Governor of Texas have put him on a bus? The answer must be no because he is Jesus! The Governors of Texas and Florida are God-fearing men! They would never have put Jesus the Son of God on a bus.

The apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 13:5 says that “Jesus Christ is in you.” In asserting “Jesus Christ is in you” Paul wasn’t speaking poetically or metaphorically. He meant that Jesus Christ was literally dwelling within each of us, citizen, or migrant. Let’s be clear. With Christ indwelling each of us, we are—each of us—Jesus. (More on next page)

The migrant at the border is Jesus. The migrant on the bus is Jesus. The folks in the Congress, in the Governor’s Mansion and in the White House are Jesus. However, the folks in the Congress, the Governor’s Mansion and the White House would rather have the issue of immigration reform as a political football ripe with fundraising opportunities, Fox News talking points, and incendiary fodder angering masses of people. Such folks like doing this rather that helping the migrant people at the border or helping the migrant people who are in the country working in the shadow economy for low pay and often in perilous conditions or truly helping the migrant people put on that bus to be dumped in Washington D.C. on a cold Christmas Eve night.

The issue of immigration reform will be solved only when the folks in the Congress, the Governor’s Mansion and the White House see the migrants for what they are— children of God with Jesus in them. They have been called by a dream just as Jesus was to be migrants for only awhile, but game changing citizens and Christians forever.

WhatdoesGodcallustodowiththemigrant?

Whoarethemigrantsinoursociety?

Namethreethingsyoucandotohelpthe migrant

Let's Go Another Way

Matthew 2:1-12 describes a lone star appearing in the sky at the time of Jesus birth Seeing the star, the three wise men who knew the prophecies concerning the Messiah came to Jerusalem seeking the location of the newborn King of the Jews

News of the birth of Jesus scared Herod, the threaten King called a meeting of Jewish religious leaders. These leaders also knew prophecy and they told the King that Bethlehem was the place where Jesus was born Herod met the wise men telling them to go to Bethlehem and search for the child He added when you find him, come back, and tell me so that I can go and worship him too

However, the frighten King had no intention of worshiping the baby, he was using the wise men to confirm the location so he could have Jesus killed

When the wise men started out again the star appeared shining over Bethlehem and when they saw it their joy knew no bounds.

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Entering the house where the baby and Mary, his mother, were, the wise men threw themselves down before him in worship Then they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But when they returned to their own land, the wise men didn’t go through Jerusalem to report to Herod, for God had warned them in a dream to go home another way.

As we start a new year there will be great temptation to hitch our start to the galaxy of other stars who follow the same path. However, we need to be like the wise men taking God’s instruction to go another way For when we go another way we flee the evil of Herod and instead bask in the light of God’s lone star of rightness Let’s go another way

Reflections

What was the importance of the wise men going the other way?

Recall a time when someone you knew went the other way.

Name three things you will go the other way on.

Watchful Watchful Questions Questions

It’s New Year’s Eve and in a few hours from Time Square in New York to Main Street in Waycross, Georgia many folks are getting dressed up or going out to watch the celebration that marks the dawn of a new year.

2023 is like any new year is loaded with what I call watchful questions. Will my health hold up in this year to come? What challenges will my children and those I love face? What adventures await me as I consider a host of life changing opportunities?

Watchful questions are good things. Yes, the answer to the watchful question can be difficult, but the watchful question can—if asked and answered properly—bring serenity, satisfaction, and stability to our lives.

Matthew 11:2-11 depicts the imprisonment of John the Baptist. Receiving word of the miracles performed by Jesus, John gathers his disciples and sends them off to find Christ with this watchful question: “Are you really the one we are watching for, or shall we keep on looking?”

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John’s disciples went out and found Jesus. They asked the watchful question posed John the Baptist: “Are you really the one we are waiting for, or shall we keep on looking?” Jesus answers by simply saying “Watch me!”

The scriptural text tells us that Jesus said: “Go back to John and tell him about the miracles you have watched me do. You have watched the blind regain sight, you have watched the sick healed, you have watched the lame walk, lepers cured, deaf who now hear, and you have watched the dead be raised to life. Go back and tell John about my preaching the Good News to the poor, then give him this message: ‘Blessed are those who do not doubt me.’

If any of John’s disciples were doubting Jesus before this, they were doubters no more. For you see, John asked the watchful question not for himself but to shore up the belief of his own disciples.

So, as we enter this New Year, the watchful question for all of us is: “Are we really the Christians God is looking for,orshallHekeeponlooking?”

If God dispatched an angel to watch, you in 2022 what wouldhehaveseen?

Did the angel watch your commitment to prayer and studyingHisword?

Didtheangelwatchyourdedicationtohelpthepoor?

Did the angel watch you as you put Jesus first in your life?

Did the angel watch you spread the Lord’s gospel makingdisciplesfarandwide?

Remember Jesus said: “Blessed are those who don’t doubt me.” So, the watchful question for 2023 is “Are we really the Christians God is watching for, or shall He keeponlooking?”

HappyNewYear!

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Reflection

Jesussaid,“Blessedarethose whodon’tdoubtme.”

Makeanhonestassessment aboutyourdoubtsaboutyour relationshipwiththeLord.

Putting Real Prayer in the Phrase "Thoughts and Prayers”

Posted January 20, 2023

WeallwatchedwithhorrorasBuffaloBills’safetyDamarHamlinwentintocardiacarrestfollowinga routinetackleThelife-threateninginjury,thereactionoftheplayers,theunprecedentedcanceling ofthegameallcapturedonMondayNightFootballresonatedwiththenation.

Thephrase"thoughtsandprayers"isatrendytermusedduringtimesofnationaltrauma.Wesayit whenthereisanaturaldisaster,wesayitwhenthereisanaccidentand,weespeciallysayitwhen thereisamassshooting

Yetwhenwesaythephasethoughtsandprayers,“thoughts”mayhappenbuthowoftendo “ prayers ”reallyhappen?

FormerNFLquarterbackDanOrlovskynowESPNfootballanalystputtheprayerpartofthephrase inaction,prayingforDamarHamlinonliveTVduringanepisodeofthepopularshowNFLLive Orlovskystartedhispraysaying:"God,wecometoyouinthesemomentsthatwedon'tunderstand, thatarehard,becausewebelievethatyou'reGod,andthatcomingtoyouandprayingtoyouhas impact."

James5:16,tellsusthat“Theeffectualferventprayerofarighteouspersonhasgreatimpact.

Wehaveseentheimpactofprayerasprayerhas healedtheimpactoftheshockofwitnessingtheplay whereDamarwasinjured.

Wehaveseentheimpactofprayerthatinspiredthe BuffaloBillstoreturntheopeningkickofffora touchdownintheirfirstgamesinceDamar’sinjury.

AndwehaveseentheimpactofprayerinDamar’s miraculousrecovery.

Allofthisandmorewillhappenwhenweputreal prayerinthephasethoughtsandprayers.

TheGodlyVirtueof Honesty

In2ndKingsChapter12,wefindthisstory. ThetemplebadlyneededrepairsotheKing startedwhatamountedtoaGo-Fund-Me campaign.Achestwithanopeninginthe topwasplacedatthetempledoor,andsoon thechestwasfull.Thepriestdistributedthe moneytobuildingsuperintendentswhopaid workersandboughtthematerialsforthe temple’srepair.Beforelongthetemplehad beenrestoredtoitspastglory.

Thebuildingsuperintendentswhowerekey totherestorationofthetemplewerevirtuous people.Theyweresohonestthatscripture tellsusthatthepriestdidnotdoan accountingofthemoneygivenfromthe chestfortheyknewthesuperintendents “dealthonestly.”

“Dealinghonestly”isnotavirtueassignedtoRepresentativeGeorgeSantos,a RepublicanfromNewYork.CongressmanSantoshasbeencaughtinnumerous liesaboutthebasicfactsofhislifeincludinghiseducation,hiswealth,andthe storyofhismother.These“ball-facedlies”hasDemocratsandRepublicans callingforhisresignation.

Goddoesnotwantustolie.Proverbs6makeslyingoneofthesixthingsthatthe Lordhates.Butstill,welie.Weliesomuchthatwetellliesaboutourliescalling themlittlewhitelies liestoldwithoutconcernfortheirethicalorspiritual implications.

Yes,weareappalledbytheliesofCongressmanSantos.However,inourdismay haveweexaminedourownrelationshiptothetruth?Arewe,likethe superintendents,dealinghonestly?Isourwordgoldenintheworld?

TheLordwantsustobaskintheGodlyvirtueofhonesty.Itismyprayerforme;itis myprayerforyou;anditismyprayerforGeorgeSantos.

TheHighsAndLowsOfLife

Death @ A Championship

Posted: January 20, 2023

Last Saturday, on the campus of the University of Georgia fans gathered to celebrate the team’s second straight national championship. Happiness, fun and joy abounded as the Bulldogs enjoyed another year at the top of the college football world. The highs of life were experienced.

Then in the early hours of Sunday morning Devin Willock, a redshirt sophomore offensive lineman and Chandler LeCroy, a football recruiting analyst, died in a car crash. The lows of life were experienced.

Thehighsandlowsexperiencedinless-than twelvehoursshowsthatourlivesarecomprised ofextremeelationandextremesorrow.

TheauthorofPsalm27knowsthehighsand lowsoflife.InresponsethePsalmistmakesa dramatic,definitive,anddeclarativestatement thatanswersaquestionaboutthestatusofhis life:

“TheLORDismylightandmysalvation”isthe statement.AndthePsalmistfurtheranswers withthisrhetoricalquestion:“WhomshallI fear?”

Psalm27—thisbold,announcementaboutGod— showsthatonlyGodcangetusthroughthe highsandlowsofourlives.Acloserlookatthe PsalmrevealsthreethingsGodprovidesforus duringourhighsandourlows:

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“The LORD is my light and my salvation” is the statement. And the Psalmist further answers with this rhetorical question: “Whom shall I fear?”

Psalm 27— this bold, announcement about God— shows that only God can get us through the highs and lows of our lives. A closer look at the Psalm reveals three things God provides for us during our highs and our lows:

First, God gives us light – For it is the light that will guide us to make good decisions when we experience the euphoria of the high and the rejection of the low.

Second, God gives us salvation – For salvation is the gracious, undeserved gift of God that tempers us when we are high and full or ourselves, while giving us comfort when we are low and unsure.

Third and finally, God gives us courage – For fear is the one thing that can impede our faith through the highs and lows of life. Fear can keep us from gaining greater success when we experience the highs of life, and fear can keep us paralyzed when we experience the lows of life. So, God gives us courage to get us through both.

Today and for many days to come we will mourn the deaths of Devin and Chandler. Forever, the remembrance of the high of their lives winning back-to-back national championships will be in force. Equally the remembrance of the low of their tragic deaths is planted in our minds for eternity.

The highs and lows of our lives set the standards of our lives, but the one constant in each of our lives is our faith in knowing that: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; and with that whom shall I fear?”

We Are More Than Dust

An Ash Wednesday Devotional

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God is doing some cool things in the second chapter of Genesis. The earth, sky, and everything in them were finished in just six days. As the seventh day dawned, he blessed it making it a holy day. God made it holy not for going shopping, not for cleaning the house and not even for watching football. God made it holy for rest from all the work needed to create the world.

After the seventh day God was rested and ready to go! Water came up from the earth and spread all over the ground. Then God took the dry earth, the dust from the ground, and with it he made man. Breathing the breath of life into his nose God made man a living thing.

Job 14:1-2 tells us that life is short, and that our lives will be full of trouble. We are like a flower that grows quickly and then dies away. We are like a shadow that is here for a short time and then is gone.

On this very first day of Lent we are reminded of the dust that our bodies come from and the dust that our bodies will return to. To understand this is to understand that there is bleakness to life and that the dust that we are is short lived and faces many troubles.

On this very first day of Lent we come with a reminder of hope. Hope that because God breathed life into us, we are more that dust. We are more than dust because God made a covenant not with the dust that is short and full of trouble; rather God’s covenant is with the breath of life the very soul and essence of who we are.

YOU ARE MORE THAN DUST

God’s covenant is given to us by his son Jesus. Jesus who God sent on this earth in the form of the same dust that we are made of to live a short life, to encounter trouble as he taught the word and to die on the cross. Jesus who God sent on this earth in the form of the same dust that we are made of defeated death with the covenant message from John 14: 2-6 that “In My Father’s house there are many mansions.” But because your breath of life believes in the way, the truth and the life which is Jesus, you and I have a room in God’s mansion. Not as the dust that we are today but as the breath of life that God give us for eternity.

During Lent—these 40 days that we will experience together and on our own— is a time to focus not on the dust that we are but on the breath of life that God gave us, and on Jesus who came to save so that we can have everlasting life. So, like we are more than dust, Lent is more that giving things up. As we see in Genesis 2, we serve a God of action. Since we are like God and not dust let us resolve to use these 40 days not only to fast and to pray but to also get closer to God by being in action action by giving our time, talents, and treasure to causes that make a difference; action by performing random acts of kindness; action like taking off your shoulders the weight of grudges, slights and evil acts by people who have done you wrong and by forgiving them. And while you are forgiving others don’t forget to forgive yourself.

God is doing cool things in the second chapter of Genesis. God wants to do cool things with you during these 40 days of Lent, for with the breath of God’s life in you and in me, we are more that dust.

BuildingCapstonesOfFaith

Prayer is the most basic act of worship. Prayer is where the rejection of the world is met with the acceptance of God The sweet moment of prayer is profound; the sweet moment of prayer is lovely the sweet moment of prayer is an uninterrupted time of blessings

The Reverend Richard Allen lead church services for the black members of the mostly white Saint George’s Methodist Church in Philadelphia. As their numbers grew the black members who tithed just as the white members did were given a different time to worship separate from whites

On a Sunday in 1787 Reverend Allen and his associate the Reverend Absalom Jones along with other black worshipers were on a pew praying. Suddenly, a white official of the church grabbed Reverend Jones pulling him off his knees saying “"You must get up you must not kneel here."

Reverend Allen told the official that they would get up when they finished praying The group finished praying, got up and walked out, never again to return to Saint George’s Methodist Church.

Psalm 118 describes Jesus as the rejected stone which has now become the capstone, the most important stone in the building Lead by Richard Allen, these rejected black worshipers built a capstone of faith: The African Methodist Episcopal Church. With our 2.5 million members worldwide, the AME Church is one of the largest Methodist denominations in the world

This week we celebrate the founding of the church in conjunction with the birthday of Richard Allen who became our first Bishop In these days of remembrance, let us be inspired that rejection is not the end and with God we can all be capstones of faith.

Children

What Are We Doing With God’s Gift?

A Black History Month Thought

The book of Psalms reminds us that children are a gift from the Lord and that they are truly a reward from Him

So, the question is what are we doing with the gift that is the young, gifted, and black children that have been so graciously given to us?

Scripture gives us three answers: First, in Matthew Jesus reminds us that children should be encouraged because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to them Secondly, in Luke Jesus calls for the children to come to Him and for us not to hinder that coming. Finally, in Proverbs we are prompted to

Encouraging children, bringing children to Jesus and teaching children these things should be done always but especially during Black History month

So, in the remaining days of this Black History month, let us adults increase the encouragement of our children. Let us adults commit to bringing the Word of the Lord to our children and let us adults dedicate ourselves to teaching our children so that they will grow up knowing that they are young, gifted, and black a fact that they will take with them even when they grow old

We?

If God Can Tell Our Unpleasant History, Why Can’t

W.E.B. Du Bois the American sociologist, historian, author, editor, and activist was one the most important Black leaders in the world. He helped found the NAACP and edited The Crisis, its magazine. Educated at Fisk and at Harvard where he received his Ph.D. in 1895, Dr. Du Bois taught at the historic Atlanta University. His collection of essays The Souls of Black Folk published in 1903 continues to be a landmark of American Literature. In his 1935 book, Black Reconstruction in America, Dr. Du Bois wrote:

5.

"We have too often made deliberate attempts to change the facts of history so that the story will make pleasant reading for Americans."

The echoes of Dr. Du Bois’ words ring true today as the House Speaker has given security tapes of the January 6 uprising to a rightwing media host so that the history of that day can be made more pleasant. Governors across the nation are enacting laws restricting what teachers in kindergarten, elementary, high school and college can teach about slavery ensuring that the story of our history remains pleasant. And school boards in the north, south, east, and west are banning books all in the name of keeping anything that is unpleasant away from students.

All this suppression of facts in the name of keeping things pleasant has me wondering that if God can tell our unpleasant history, why can’t we?

The Bible, while inspiring and uplifting, is filled with unpleasant stories: The fall of humankind as Adam and Eve tumble into the devil’s scheme; The rapes of Tamar and of Bathsheba by men who used their power to take sex; God’s rapture as described in Revelation is as unpleasant as reading can get; And, there is the killing of Jesus on the cross, nails in hands, hanging from the 6th to the 9th hour—it is unpleasant.

God provides us with this unpleasant history so we can learn, so we can grow and so we can live without fear.

Dr. Du Bois reasoned that fear is the driving force behind the whitewashing of history. In Black Reconstruction in America he writes:

"Standing in the back of the writhing, yelling, cruel-eyed demons’ mobs who break, destroy, maim, and lynch and burn at the stake, people of color. There is a knot, large or small, of normal human beings, and these human beings at heart are desperately afraid of something. Of what? Of many things, but usually of losing their jobs, being declassed, degraded, or disgraced; of losing their hopes, their savings, their plans for their children; of the actual pangs of hunger, of dirt, of crime."

It is this fear that people like the Governor of Florida, the Speaker of the House and the 45th President of the United States use to wipe out the unpleasantness of history. For, with the truth, they are fearful that their power is gone.

The Bible is full of unpleasant truths – and with those truths God has not lost any of His power. And neither will humankind lose any of its power when we embrace the unpleasant truths of the Bible and the unpleasant truths of our own lives and learn from them. For, if God can tell our unpleasant history, why can’t we?

Mr. President Hello

It was the spring of 1980; I had the honor of being elected president of the Mercer University student body Student leaders nationwide had been invited to the White House for briefings about the Carter Administration proposals regarding national youth service

After a morning of briefings, we gathered in the East room and in walks the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter. No hail to the chief, no pomp, he simply greeted us saying “Thank you for taking time away from your studies and welcome to the White House.”

A receiving line was set up during which each student leader would have a moment with the president as their picture was being taken. When my time came the president looked at my name tag and said, “You are from Georgia, hello Mr. President!” He asked where I was from and then told me about folks from Gray, telling me to say hello to them. He asked about my studies, told me about folks from his home county who had attended Mercer. Finally, he asked about several people in the administration of the university to whom he wanted me to give his regards.

The photograph of our meeting has been long lost, but the memory and the significances remains Before I could say “Hello Mr President”, President Carter said “Hello Mr President” to me That is the essence of what I believe is President Carter A servant leader of Jesus, who like our Lord and savior always put those he served above himself

Hello Mr President and thank you

Billy Collins

A Lifetime of Blessing Those Who Mourn

“Blessed Are Those Who Mourn, for they Will be comforted” This is Jesus’ recognition in Matthew 5:4 that our spirits are actually lifted when we mourn which is our emotional response to sorrow.

For most of his life Billy Collins lived out this beatitude by simply being with the people of Gray and Jones counties at their most tender time, the days after the death of a loved one. Following in the footsteps of his parents Billy gave blessings to those who mourn as part of the family business—Collins Funeral Home.

Billy’s blessings expanded beyond mourning. He was a talented singer whose voice uplifted everyone at the Saint Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church where he was a lifelong member. He was an excellent cook whose dishes were enjoyed by many in our community. He was a great friend and the life of any party he graced with his presence. But above all Billy was a devoted man of faith living his life for his family especially being a caretaker to his mother —the legendary Marie Collins who lived beyond the age of 100 in part because of Billy’s great care.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted today by those who knew, loved, and were touched by the kindness, talents and professionalism of Billy Collins. We come to give comfort to his sister Janet and to his family as we honor Billy, a man who gave a lifetime of blessing those who morn.

The Conventional Mistake of Making the Unconventional Jesus Conventional

In Luke Chapter 15, the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complained that Jesus was associating with tax collectors and other notorious sinners, even eating with them.

In judging Jesus’s behavior, the Pharisees committed the same mistake we often make, that is trying to put Jesus in a conventional box. A box that we have tailored to the way we have come to believe by custom, tradition and bad teaching of the way Jesus should be.

In the parables of Luke 15, Jesus reveals that God seeks out the lost like the people Jesus ate with withholding nothing to bring the lost back, rejoicing when the lost are found and being willing to pay the price necessary for the forgiveness of the lost.

In the parables Jesus also exposes the devout church-goers, such as the Pharisees, as hypercritic sinners, showing the motivation of these pious-living people in following every law, rule, and decree of the faith to look down and put down the obvious sinner. Jesus displays the true reason for the Pharisees show of religious zeal in their ill-fated attempt to put God in a position of owing them because of their so-called choice of righteous living.

The conventional mistake of making the unconventional Jesus conventional continues today as we turn our backs on the least, the lost and the marginalized.

The conventional mistake of making the unconventional Jesus conventional continues today with demands that God’s church keep on practicing traditions, customs and rituals that turn the lost off and have nothing to do with the faith.

The conventional mistake of making the unconventional Jesus conventional continues today as church leaders have embraced political leaders who lack the competence, capability, or character to be the true servant leader that all our people need.

God gave us Jesus taking us away from the conventional thinking that has led us to a life of misery and sin. As we approach Thanksgiving Jesus wants to eat with us. He is serving up an unconventional feast of joy and salvation, so let us all go eat and enjoy.

A foodie is a person who loves and has a refined interest in food. Foodies eat food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. Jesus is a foodie because he uses meals to engage people teaching important lessons at the table.

In Jesus’ time the promised land that God had given the Jews had been taken over by the Romans. The Romans commissioned Jews to be tax collectors, and these Jews took advantage of the people collecting the taxes due plus a surcharge to line their own pockets

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Jewish tax collectors were considered outsiders and just as much of an enemy as the Roman occupiers. So, for Jesus who claimed to be the Son of God to have a meal with a tax collector would be like Volodymyr

Zelenskyy the President of Ukraine having a Big Mac with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia.

But do you know what the foodie Jesus did? He had a meal with a tax collector named Levi The Pharisees and the teachers of the law complained saying “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” The response of Jesus the foodie was, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

If you ended up having dementia, how would you like to be treated?” This question was posed by John Swinton, the Scottish theologian and author of the book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God.

Swinton answers saying he hoped to be loved and cared for just for who I am, even if who I am is difficult for me and for others to recognize.

In the book Swinton says the question of “who I am ” is complicated at the best of times and it becomes more complicated when dementia strips our ability to remember “who I am ” .

But God knows “who I am. ” Psalm 139 is a prayer of thanksgiving celebrating that the Lord knows us. It says: Lord you have searched me and known me; You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away.

Dementia strips away the cognitive functioning of thinking, remembering, and reasoning. It interferes with daily life activities rendering people unable to control their emotions. It makes caregivers out of spouses, children, and family members, rendering them captive to the challenges that dementia creates.

The cruelty of dementia can make us wonder why God has forsaken us. Psalm 139: 19 says “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, even when none of them as yet existed.” God is the writer of our lives. In his writing there were days of glory, days of despair, days of ordinary happenings and yes in the days of dementia days of forgetting “who I am. ”

But God knows “who I am ” . God knows who we all are!

If you ended up having dementia, how would you like to be treated?”

“Blessed Are the Peacemakers”

The Word of the Lord reminds us “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”

A shooting at a congressional baseball practice, the storming of the capital, an attempted murder plot against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the attack on Paul Pelosi all infused in an atmosphere of election deniers and conspiracy theorists which reminds us that in politics peacemakers are difficult to come by

Today, we vote, and the will of the people will be known.

But what about the peacemakers? Will candidates who lose cry foul, without evidence to show that the election was stolen?

But what about the peacemakers? Will political operatives, cable news talking-heads and desperate candidates whip up some of our fellow citizens to violence?

But what about the peacemakers? Will evangelical leaders refuse to denounce speech and actions that are truly ungodly without any regard to doing what Jesus would do?

As many peacemakers as are missing in action, there are as many known-peacemakers The known peacemakers are the campaign volunteers who made phone calls, knocked on doors and stuffed envelopes The known peacemakers are the candidates who ran for the school board, the water board, and the city council not for political glory but rather to be of service And the known peacemakers are the poll workers, who checked voters in, who worked the machines, who gave voters a sticker and who counted the votes They did so with no political agenda or expectation other than to see democracy alive and well in the land of free and the home of the brave

So, on this election day “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”

Children growing up in dysfunctional families tend to have an abnormal view of life and will act in nonconforming ways consistent with their upbringing.

The Jacksons are perhaps the most famous of all dysfunctional celebrity families. Joe Jackson, the patriarch, is well known for his abuse towards his children. He physically and emotionally traumatized Michael, leading to various problems the late superstar had as an adult.

The Dysfunctional Family of God

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A dysfunctional family is defined as one in which conflict, misbehavior and often child neglect or abuse happens regularly.

Dysfunctional families are also depicted in the Bible. In Genesis we meet Isaac and Rebekah, they have twin boys Esau and Jacob. Dysfunction happens in the womb as the children struggled with each other.

A concerned Rebekah goes to God and the Lord tells her that two nations are in her womb. The two sons will not act as twins sharing and caring one for the other, rather they will be divided. The younger one will be stronger, chosen by God to be the foundation of his chosen people. The older brother against Jewish law and custom will serve the younger brother.

The dysfunction in the womb will live itself out as Esau the elder son sells the birthright to inherit his father’s estate to his younger brother Jacob, against Jewish law and custom.

Isaac and Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob clearly meet the classic definition of being dysfunctional. So why is God using them?

Perhaps the dysfunction is not with people but rather with the Jewish law and custom. The Jewish law and custom assigns leadership based on birth-rank rather than ability. The Jewish law and custom that set us a zero-sum game where the oldest gets everything leaving the youngest to devise a scheme to steal a birthright that could have easily been shared. The Jewish law and custom that fails to recognize that God sets the order and what may look like dysfunction is simply God doing his thing.

God declared to Abraham the father of Isaac that he would make him the father of many nations When that promise was made his name was Abram, he was 75 with a barren wife. Abraham put his trust and faith in God and in the process, everything worked out including the dismantling of Jewish law and custom that stood in the way of God’s will.

God made the dysfunctional functional for Abraham and his family and he will do it for you and me if we trust him.

An Economic Odyssey: The Black/White Wealth Gap

The Parable of The Lost Coin (Luke 15:810) equates the joy of the woman who finds a coin that was lost with the joy realized by the angels of God over a sinner who repents

We can be certain the joy of the woman had nothing to do with the 1st Timothy 6:10 admonishment that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.

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However, it the lack of money, specifically the white-black wealth gap that has been the source of all kinds of evil. Data from the independent, nonpartisan Center for American Progress indicates that the median wealth of Black households in the states was $24,100, compared with $189,100 for white households.

The persistent Black-white wealth gap is the result of a discriminatory economic system that keeps Black households from achieving the American dream. This system has always made it difficult for Black households to acquire and keep capital, and this lack of capital has created a persistently large racial wealth disparity, as African Americans have had less wealth to pass on to the next generation than white households. (MORE

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But a lack of capital does not mean a lack of faith With faith there is hope for economic justice. With faith there is hope for the ending of predator lending practices, the elimination of student loan debt and equity in employment, housing, along with access to the ballot.

When she found the coin the woman in the parable calls her friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.” The lost coin of economic justice has eluded Black people ever since we arrived on these shores in 1619.

Nonetheless, there is joy in our economic odyssey for in our disparity we have found favor with the Lord. God has given Black people the grit, the resourcefulness, and the ability to make a way out of no way even when white people enjoy the systematic privilege that centuries of a system tilted to their advantage has given them.

Lost In Plain Sight

You are six years old at the mall with your mother and three other siblings, and the sights, the sounds, the smells are wonderful! In the happiness of wonderment, you somehow become lost. The wonderment turns into fear and the happiness has become sadness for you are lost in plain sight.

For the mother a nightmare that has come true, her child is defenseless, scared, alone and lost. Regardless of the cost, time, and effort you must find her before she is no longer lost in plain sight. However, you have three other defenseless children to care for. What will happen to them as you search for your daughter.

In the parable of the Lost Sheep

Luke 15:3-7 Jesus tells the story of a shepherd who has lost a sheep. Like the mother the shepherd has other defenseless children to care for in the form of 99 other lambs.

The shepherd makes the decision to leave his flock to search for the lost lamb. Some may argue with justification that one lost lamb is not worth endangering the flock.

However, God’s justification is that one lost sheep is worth the search for a lost lamb because it impacts the flock. Think of the cost to the flock when a young man is lost to a life of drugs. Think of the cost to the flock when a girl is lost to sex trafficking. Think of the cost to flock when an older person is not given the respect, attention and care needed because they are viewed as a burden rather than being human.

The shepherd found his lamb and the mother found her child. Both rejoiced because their flocks were whole again. God has called on each of us to search for and find the lost, especially when they are hidden in plain sight.

The Calamities of Life

In the 40 years the Israelites roamed the dessert, less than a mile from the Promised Land, they experienced many calamities.

Most of them of their own making!

In Exodus 17:1-7 they were encamped at a place where there was no water. Extremely thirsty they turned against Moses and God crying that they had been brought out of slavery in Egypt to die in the desert. In their distress they wanted to know if the Lord was with them or not.

A frustrated Moses went to God for help. God instructed Moses to strike the rock with his staff, and when he did, water came out and the Israelites were thirsty no more. The matter was settled. The Lord was with them.

We are like the Israelites, roaming around from one calamity to another, frustrated and wondering if the Lord is really with us

It is in these moments that we need to be like Moses, that we need to go to God for comfort, for guidance and for solutions.

For when we do, we can be assured that despite the calamities of life, God is truly with us.

TheDNAOfAChampion

We all watched in expectation and marveled as Serena Williams competed in, by all accounts, her last tournament as a professional on the same Arthur Ash stadium court where she had won her first major title in 1999 at the age of 17. Serena treated us to three nights of championship royalty as the six-time U.S. Open champ displayed her championship DNA before packed houses. The stars of entertainment, politics, business, and sports came to say goodbye, and were delighted to see one of the greatest athletes of all time compete.

Serena Williams competed because being a champion is in her DNA. The acronym DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid which is the fundamental and distinctive characteristic or quality of someone or something, especially when regarded as unchangeable.

In Psalm 139 we are told that God has searched for us, has found us, and knows us. God knows when we sit down; God knows when we rise up; and God can discern our thoughts from far away. Yes, God knows our DNA because God is our DNA.

Dementia strips away the cognitive function of thinking, remembering, and reasoning. It interferes with daily life activities rendering people unable to control their emotions. It makes caregivers out of spouses, children, and family members rendering them captive to the challenges that dementia creates.

Black Americans are disproportionately affected by dementia. Older black Americans are twice as likely as older whites to have Alzheimer's or another dementia. Among Black Americans ages 70 and older, 21.3% are living with Alzheimer's or another dementia.

The cruelty of dementia can make us wonder why God has forsaken us. Psalm 139:16 says, “In your book were written all the days that were formed for me, even when none of them as yet existed.”God is the writer of our lives, and in his writing there are days of glory, days of despair, days of ordinary happenings and yes, in the days of dementia, days of forgetting “who I am. ”

John Swinton, the Scottish theologian, and author of the book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God, tells this story:

An elderly lady suffering from dementia paced the corridors of the nursing home restlessly — repeating over and over just one word. The staff was concerned , but no one seemed quite sure how to calm her and put her mind at rest. In fact they were at a loss to understand the reason for her distress.

The word she repeated over and over again was “God” — and that was all she said. One day a nurse got alongside her and walked with her up and down the corridors until eventually in a flash of inspiration she asked the lady, “Are you afraid that you will forget God?” “Yes, Yes!” she replied emphatically.

The nurse was then able to say to her, “You know even if you should forget God, He will not forget you. He has promised that.” For this lady who was forgetting many things, and was aware of it, that assurance was what she needed to hear. She immediately became more peaceful, and that particular behavior ceased. She was responding positively to care which extended beyond the needs of body and mind care of the human spirit.

Yes, this story is deeply moving. Ending your days in a situation where people don’t understand the deepest things that are important to you is a frightening thought. It is both touching and disturbing to know that what has always been central to your life — God is slipping away and that you feel that you can express your distress only through bodily movements which are open to multiple interpretations.

The key that unlocked this woman’s distress came from someone who saw beyond the obvious interpretation of her situation based on the normal associations that come with her diagnosis, and asked a simple but profound question: “Are you afraid that you will forget God?”

The deep fear of forgetting is overcome by the deeper promise of being remembered. Like the plea made by the thief who hung on the cross beside Jesus—remember me when you come into your kingdom (Luke 23:42), the woman’s walking incessantly up and down the ward was a way of seeking the same thing. The response came in a compassionate act of spiritual listening which reinforced God’s promise: “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you ” (Heb. 13:5). When the woman was assured that she would be remembered by God, she became peaceful.

In her loss to Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia it became obvious that at almost 41—five years after giving birth to a lovely daughter and 27 years of championship tennis Serena Williams, playing an opponent eleven years her junior, was not the same player we all remember.

However, like the woman in the nursing home who could only say the word God, Serena Williams told us over and over again through six matched points, her one word: Champion. She said it over and over again because it is in her DNA.

God is in our DNA. Psalm 139:14 says: “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well”.

Even when the ravages of dementia rack our brains or the ravages of time diminish the skills of a tennis champion, God still cares. God knows our names in the darkest days of dementia or in the day defeat that ends the tennis career of a champion and God still cares.

Marben Bland is a multimedia storyteller embracing all forms of media including podcasting, blogging, video, print, and social media in support of the call of Jesus to teach the Gospel.

Marben earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, English, and Business from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia, and a Master of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Georgia.

An ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Marben has pastor churches in rural and urban communities.

Besides his Christian walk, Marben is the proudest of his son Chandler, his daughter in love Erika, and his five grandchildren, Nina, Elisha, Rosie, Noa, and Jack.

My Faith Looks Up To Thee

For a decade Marben Bland wrote business blogs, but as his faith grew the focus of his writing turned to matters of faith.

Some 500 blogs later My Faith Looks Up To Thee is a collection of 23 devotionals written in late 2022 and early 2023 with the timeless word of God set within the current age.

Marben Bland is a Pastor, Grandpa, Multimedia Storyteller, and Entrepreneur. Find more video, sermons, logs and podcasts at www.marbenbland.com