BLACK WOMAN ENTREPRENEUR PARTNERS WITH WALGREENS, REVEALS HOW SHE SECURED $100M INVESTMENT
Monique Rodriguez launched Mielle Organics back in 2014 and instantly became a leading brand in the haircare and beauty industries. In 2021, she secured $100 million in funding from Berkshire Partners, and now her company is a global and viral sensation with orders in over 87 countries around the world.
There are so many others who need access to funding to get their ideas off the ground. What advice do you have for other Black entrepreneurs who want to raise capital? My advice would be to focus on building an attractive profitable business, that way you have more leverage to negotiate terms that work on your behalf. Also, make sure that you are aligned with your potential partners because they will be your business partners—and that is like a marriage. I would encourage them to take classes on how to pitch and how to put together pitch decks to present to investors. I think a lot of people mistakenly assume that raising that much in capital automatically qualifies a business to have its products sold by major retailers. How would you respond to entrepreneurs who have this mindset? If you have an attractive business where there is a lot of growth trajectory, you can raise money. You don’t necessarily have to be in major retail, you just have to have great top-line sales, and hopefully great profit. If you can sell on the future and show how they will get a return, there is someone waiting to invest in your business. Page 2
Tell me about your partnership with Walgreens. Why did you choose them over CVS or Rite-aid? This partnership means a lot to me, especially as Walgreens is in my backyard (Chicago!). Walgreens was always a destination drugstore growing up in Chicago, and now to have Walgreens support Mielle— another hometown brand—makes it extra special. Walgreens’ mission is to thread diversity into everything it does. When shelves are a reflection of the local community, it benefits everyone, providing customers with access to a wider selection of products and services while expanding Walgreen’s network of diverse suppliers. Walgreens’ new video series “Shelf Life” features diverse small business founders—like myself—who are open and reflective about their journey, sharing their lives from the inside out. The series showcases how founders pushed their way forward in the midst of challenges as they commit to lifting others as they climb. Walgreens is synonymous with local community support and convenience, so this was an important opportunity to provide access for the brand. When our customers started voicing their wishes to see Mielle products on Walgreens shelves, we knew it was time to make a move—and that the relationship would help us both better serve our shared customers! I’m honored to be the first founder to be featured as part of “Shelf Life” and look forward to celebrating the other brands and founders in the future. here is also a dedicated page on Walgreens.com where consumers can shop for black-owned and founded brands.
How can other entrepreneurs shoot their shot to have their products sold in Walgreens as well? I get questions from other minority-owned businesses all the time like, “what is the first step to get into a store like Walgreens? What is the process? How do the contracts look, and how do you negotiate?” Here are the top three areas of focus any diverse business should address to better position themselves for success and to get into a national retailer like Walgreens: – Focus on building a great brand: First, develop a brand and products that create a strong connection with your audience and offer solutions to your customers’ problems. – Create a community to create demand: Build a community of devoted brand advocates, then deliver a great experience so suppliers are able to maximize value and sales. – Don’t be afraid to start small: I always say ‘modify your strategy to fit your reality. So, if your reality is you have limited resources that make it harder to scale, then start small and build and grow your way up from there. It’s tempting to want to be in 9,000 stores right away, but it’s a lot harder to fund 9,000 stores than 100. Remember, your partnership with the retailer is everything, so if you can’t deliver on your obligations that partnership will be damaged.
What is your overall plan so that your brand can keep winning? Since day one, Mielle has been focused on new innovation and how we can best serve and support a diversity of consumers from day one. If we create great products with quality ingredients and fresh solutions, we’re not only bringing our customers what they want, but are also bringing more customers into retailers like Walgreens. With a store on practically every corner, Walgreens attracts such a broad cross-section of consumers, and Mielle is uniquely positioned to meet those many different customer needs and preferences.
Top 8 Black-Owned Start-Up Tech Companies to Invest in For 2022
The industries vary greatly, as well the locations and the amount of capital needed. Below, we’ve published a list of this year’s top eight Black-owned businesses to invest in. All of them are start-up tech firms, and all of them are already experiencing some level of success. 1. Calyxeum (Cannabis, Cultivation, Processing, Social Impact)
Calyxeum is an MBE/WBE business located in Detroit, MI. Calyxeum is a boutique Cannabis Cultivation and Processing operation focused on providing underrepresented populations with access to high-quality Cannabis products. Calyxeum also has a Community Impact Initiative with plans to rehabilitate abandoned homes, build community gardens, and offer workforce development programs for people of color looking to gain employment and ownership access in Legal Cannabis. Calyxeum founders have over 10 years of experience in Michigan’s burgeoning Cannabis industry and are Social Equity entrepreneurs. Within the last year, the team has successfully launched their Cannabis flower products in over 25 retail stores around the State of Michigan with the overwhelming support of the community. Detroit has recently approved Adult-Use sales and Michigan is the second-largest market in the U.S. and sales are projected to be 7.8 Billion (including Adult Use) by market maturity, invest in Michigan Cannabis. Calyxeum is currently raising 250K to expand its canopy footprint and increase production to meet high demand! You can invest in Calyxeum on Mainvest, a Crowdfunding platform that allows individuals to invest as little as $100 and receive 1.5X ROI! To become an investor and take advantage of this unique opportunity visit https://mainvest.com/b/calyxeum-detroit. To follow their journey visit Calyxeum.com or follow @Calyxeum_Detroit 2. JéGO JéGO Technologies Inc. is a Miami-based technology company that is a market maker in designing Autonomous electric vehicles for commercial use and on-the-go services founded by Frederick Akpoghene in 2021. JéGO has taken a significant step forward in driving the adoption of Sustainability by making Electric Vehicles more accessible and has commenced its E-Mobility Infrastructure development, which includes a plan for establishing a Global network of universal Smart Electric Vehicle charging stations, primarily targeting traditionally underserved communities. JèGO is definitely one of the companies disrupting the norms in technology and commerce, placing them as one of the top startups to watch out for in 2022. The company has even been able to garner traction with preorders, strategic partnerships, and secured capital from angel investors. After going through a rigorous due diligence process, the public can now invest in the company through Start Engine for a limited time. The company has partnered with an Italian manufacturer with clients such as Maserati, Ferrari & Lamborghini. And has been able to secure over $250,000 (appx $100k has been raised through crowdfunding)with a target raise of $1M. JéGO is still accepting investments in an effort to solidify its strong position in the industry as well as grow its operations, build the JéGO Pods, reach more customers, and meet the demand of the growing need for Electric Vehicle Chargers. To become a part of this innovative global solution and technological growth, visit www.startengine.com/jego. Also,
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he Bible has much to say about its own purpose and authority. Among the most famous passages in this vein is 2 Timothy 3:16–17, where Paul writes, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
For Matthew Mullins, associate professor of English and history of ideas at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, verses like these are indispensable guides for how believers should read God’s Word. But the trouble comes, he argues, from an overly narrow conception of words like teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training that can tempt us to treat the Bible purely as an instruction manual for what to believe and how to behave. For Matthew Mullins, associate professor of English and history of ideas at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, verses like these are indispensable guides for how believers should read God’s Word. But the trouble comes, he argues, from an overly narrow conception of words like teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training that can tempt us to treat the Bible purely as an instruction manual for what to believe and how to behave. In Enjoying the Bible: Literary Approaches to Loving the Scriptures, Mullins shows how the Bible’s method of instruction touches both the head and the heart. It works, in other words, much like poetry and other types of literature, informing our minds and stirring our emotions in ways that can’t be completely untangled. Jessica Hooten Wilson, an author and University
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3. touCanna touCanna is an operations management software designed to help cannabis businesses manage and scale their operations while remaining compliant and adhering to strict government regulations. With touCanna, cannabis business owners have the power to track and manage sales and inventory, empower employees through training and performance management, organize teams through scheduling and task management, and improve process adherence with SOP and Policy management. The touCanna founding team has been heavily involved in initiatives designed to help cannabis entrepreneurs of color establish their businesses and aspiring cannabis professionals secure roles in the legal cannabis market. The company has successfully launched its beta product in 2021 and is now seeking a pre-seed investment of $500,000 to execute sales/marketing efforts and continue to enhance and add functionality to the platform. touCanna is initially launching in Michigan but has plans to quickly expand to neighboring states where cannabis has recently been legalized and the market is up for grabs. For more information, please contact co-founder Cree Robinson
4. Your Green Package “Your Green Package is a leading Massachusetts-based, minority-owned cannabis delivery. We are among the first companies in the Commonwealth to receive a marijuana delivery license. Your Green Package was built on the foundation of diversity, it is important to them that every employee, customer, and stakeholder feel comfortable being their authentic selves––that being said, 72% of their staff is made up of women, POC, Veterans, or LGBTQ+. Your Green Package qualified for its license under a state-run social equity program that prioritizes applicants whose communities have been disproportionately harmed by marijuana prohibition and enforcement. In under a year, Your Green Package has established 6 delivery partnerships with dispensaries all over Massachusetts and has conducted 15,000+ deliveries. Your Green Package is also the only cannabis entity in Massachusetts that has the ability to conduct consumer and business-to-business deliveries. They also have a provisional Product Manufacturing license with the hopes of bringing unique marijuanainfused products to market in 2023. The team is actively raising their series A round and is seeking 2.5M to support the buildout and further expansion of the business. For more information, please contact the CEO Christopher Fevry at info@yourgeenpackage.com or visit www.yourgreenpackage.com 5. Umba Daima (NFTs, Web3, Art & Community) Umba Daima is an NFT studio that is strengthening and diversifying the web3 ecosystem through art and experiential programs. Umba Daima aims to build the largest and most diverse global network in Web3 with NFTs as a strategic engagement and onboarding tool. Their online events, IRL events, art exhibits, workshops, and incubators provide significant life-changing experiences for aspiring NFT creators, collectors, founders, and developers. As people onboard into NFTs through their programming, they become a part of the community where they continue to engage and collaborate with each other, the Umba Daima team, and their brand partners. Umba Daima has 3 additional brands that push the mission forward. Black NFT Art provides community and free promotion for Black creators. With 25,000 followers across Instagram and Twitter, Black NFT Art has become their most recognizable brand to date. The Unseen Gallery is a virtual art gallery in the metaverse that focuses on truly inclusive and innovative art curation. The NFT Roundtable Podcast covers everything related to NFTs, highlighting and amplifying some of the most important projects and gamechangers. CEO Iris Nevins is a former teacher, community organizer, and software engineer who is using her wide range of talents to build a multi-dimensional community network that is carving out space in web3 for diverse groups to be seen, valued, and compensated. For interest in learning more about Umba Daima email info@umbadaima.com or visit umbadaima.com
6. TRiBL TRiBL is a crypto-powered community money pooling platform for the culture. Their super app makes creating a Web3 investor club as simple as a group chat. Positioned as a Discord for DAOs, TRiBL is going after the emerging $8B DAO market scaling access to unique investment opportunities across NFTs, crypto, startups, & more. Each money pooling community has the ability to learn and earn together through an all-in-one experience that combines group messaging and crypto payments. With global partnerships with VISA, Circle (USDC), & Prime Trust, TRiBL is set to launch this summer with a focus on Black & Latin communities.” For more information, visit @jointribl or email at ikechi@thetriblnetwork.com 7. Elroi Elroi is rethinking the power dynamic between Consumers and Enterprises with a three-phased approach. First, Elroi is powered by cutting-edge AI technology that helps enterprise clients in with automated compliance with over 130 data privacy and regulatory laws. Elroi is equipped with technology to service data mapping across multiple platforms and file systems, encompassing structured, semistructured and unstructured data, including not only common pdf and nested files, but also video and audio files. Consumer Solution, as a second prong to Elroi’s ecosystem, has been developed to empower consumers with transparency and ease of requesting their data and monitoring by making appropriate decisions. Thirdly, and most important step is to enable consumers to monetize on the largest commodity they own, their private data. Elroi is led by a brilliant Privacy Attorney, Rachel Cash, who believes that Data privacy is a right. Elroi Enterprise Inc is currently seeking $2M, which will be allocated towards education and marketing of consumer products, providing services to consumers at no cost, scaling Enterprise products, and building a stronger relationship between Enterprises and Consumers by championing the equilibrium of data privacy and its consumption. To learn more about the company and/or how to invest, email rachel@elroi.ai or visit www.elroi.ai
8. NixCode
Sydney founded NixCode, formerly Tequity, a SaaS platform to provide education and software that can empower any nontechnical founder with the ability to launch their own mobile tech startup without code. Sydney launched NixCode in April 2020, with the goal to remove the hurdles associated with not having a technical co-founder. The success of the platform’s adoption over other no-code platforms is the similar development approach to WordPress. NixCode offers template design, plugin marketplaces, and product integrations that make the platform easy to use for those who lack logic programming basics. Sydney has grown NixCode to over 56,000 users with 8x year over year revenue growth organically, with the help of equity-free capital via pitch competitions. The capital wins were especially significant due to a historically high barrier to entry with Black tech founders and VC firms. Data shows that Black startup entrepreneurs still received a small sliver of the pie — only1.2% of $147 billion in venture capital invested in U.S. startups through the first half of 2021. NixCode is on a mission to help marginalized mobile tech startups get from MVP to IPO via their no-code solution, to date, 2% of the startups building with NixCode have received capital investment. NixCode is preparing for its first investment round this late summer in alignment with a new software release that will provide full CTO services via artificial intelligence and expand the platform’s capability to add crypto wallets and NFT marketplaces without code to mobile apps built on their platform. Try building your app for free at nixcodeapps.com and for partnership or investment inquiries, visit nixcodeapps.com/about/ #partnership This story first appeared on BlackBusiness.com.
Cover Story Author Sarah Dickens
Interview Author Sarah Dickens has been a Christian since she was eight years old. Her life seemed very carefree and innocent until her bipolar disorder diagnosis, which put her faith in Christ to the test and left her in a state of complete brokenness. Despite her brokenness, God was still able to use Sarah out of her pain in the midst of her struggle with bipolar disorder. This book
arah
D i c ke n s 8
Tell us a little about yourself. I am a native of Atlanta GA and the daughter of Naomi Dickens and Marvin Dickens. I have two sister Katherine Dickens, Rachel Dickens, and a brother Jonathan Dickens.
Please tell us about this amazing book., “A Victory Song: Beneath the Veil.” My book is a memoir that is written about my walk with the Lord, ranging from my early childhood years up until my twenty-eighth year of birth on this earth. It is a powerful story about the trials and tribulations, as well as life experiences, that come with being a child of God, who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I talk about a range of topics that are applicable to everyone (although my book is mainly intended to attract a young adult audience), such as seasonal friendships, an emotionallystraining relationship with my mother, and my former relationship with my ex-boyfriend, all of which have pointed me to the Lord and allowed for me to develop a deeper sense of faith in Christ. Regarding the topic of seasonal friendships, there is a part in the book of which the Lord decided to remove friends from my life and I talk about how that impacted me, as a child of God with bipolar disorder, and how that draws me closer to God as a result of this significant life experience and loss. I also talk about how the loss of these seasonal friends (I don’t want to give away too much, so I will only say this) caused me to reflect on my life mistakes and is also one of the main reasons why I decided to seek Christian counseling from my church, in the book. My relationship with my mother, as a young child, is the sole reason why I am a believer in Jesus today as well as am very strong in my faith in the King today. In my book, I talk about how her influence impacted me to become a Christian at the age of eight years old and how her influence impacted me to stay true to my faith in the Lord and not depart from it since my childhood. I can definitely say that if if were not for my mother, I would not be a Christian today, so I thank God for using her at the beginning and early stages of my life to influence my walk with Jesus. Furthermore, I elaborate on my interactions with my psychiatrist and talk about how I had to grieve the loss of my mother, from a mental health standpoint, because she developed mental illness too. In the last important topic of my book, I talk about how my relationship with my ex-boyfriend caused for me to walk away from my relationship with God for a little while, but God, with His goodness and mercy, always has His way of surprising us and drew me back to Him in the most surprising way (if you want to find out more about this, then read my book!!). What do all of these three topics of your book have in common? Grief and loss are the main focal points that unite all three of these topics together regarding in my book. As a child of God, who is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I can definitely relate to loss as I explain how grief especially plays a poignant part in loss throughout the life experiences that I share in my book.
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Whether you have a mental illness or not, I made sure that each of these three topics that I explained are as relatable to every human being possible who reads my book. Seasonal friendships are a normal part of life, but not an easy loss for every person, especially as in my case being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. I talk about in my book how I grieved the loss in my book as a result of going to Christian Counseling at my church and how that pointed me and gave me a deeper sense and awareness of my faith in Jesus. My emotionally-straining relationship with my mother taught me more about myself in terms of grieving loss in terms of mental illness. As a child of God diagnosed with bipolar disorder, I talk about the impact that my mother’s mental illness had on me, but how that drew me even closer to God and His love for me in the instances that my mother could not be there for me due to her mental illness as I grieved the loss of my mother due to her mental illness while seeing my psychiatrist in the book. I am not saying that my mother did not love me at all, but in the parts of my life that she could not be there for me due to circumstances surrounding her mental illness, I talk about the positive impact that it had on and allowed for me to gain a deeper sense of who I am, in terms of my mental illness, as well as my identity in Christ. I also had to grieve the loss of my relationship with my ex-boyfriend, but, as I said earlier, it drew me closer to God towards the end of our relationship in the most surprising way, and if you want to find out more about how, then read my book! What church do you attend currently? First Baptist Atlanta. This church is my home away form home, and family away from family because of how the Lord has used the members to impact me throughout the years. What are some of the spiritual disciplines that your Christian counselor taught you during the time you saw her and some of your favorite hobbies? Many! I mention in my book that I pray for others around me and not to focus so much on myself (although, I do think that self-care is vital for me, as a child of God with bipolar disorder, I pray for others around me so that I can be a blessing to them), I am actively involved at my church on Sundays as a greeter, and I go on missions trips abroad so that I can be a blessing to those who I serve. I write, draw, and paint not only as hobbies, but as a way for me to experience the healing power of God as I actively serve others through the hands of Christ. In the past, I ballroom danced, as a hobby, and that drew me closer to the healing power of God in that it is very therapeutic for me. A friend that I know from First Baptist Atlanta introduced me to ballroom dancing. You mentioned that you are a greeter at First Baptist Atlanta. Tell me more about that. I have currently serve as a greeter at the church. Even before the Coronavirus pandemic, for the past few years, I have had the honor of serving as a greeter at First Baptist Atlanta. As a greeter, I make sure that I smile as a way to encourage those who walk in the doors of my church because a smile can impact people, even those who carry baggage with them to church on Sunday mornings. I smile as I greet them into the church entrances and I smile as they leave. The joy of the Lord goes with me and through them as I smile at them! What would you say is the most attractive feature of yourself and why? My smile, because with it, I can be of encouragement to myself and to those around me. Whether I or others around me are having a good day or a bad day, I smile so that I can and others around me can stay encouraged as they see how God is using me to be the light of Christ to them. The light of Christ, and His joy in me, make my smile brighter as I shine for Jesus through my smile. That’s sweet reminds me of a song when I was in high school pageant. Called Sarah Smile! You also mention ballroom dancing. Tell me more about the role that ballroom dancing played on your relationship with the Lord and as a child of God diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
I will mention some, but not all of the ways that ballroom dancing has impacted me so that you will be prompted to read my book to find out more. It allowed for me to fix my focus on God and not myself, it restored my sense of self-confidence through the Holy Spirit of God and as God restored my confidence, and it played a major role in the forgiveness of a person throughout the Christian counseling process at my church (I will not mention the person, but encourage you to read my book to find out who it is that I had to forgive and the role that ballroom dancing played in the forgiveness aspect during the time I sought Christian counseling at First Baptist Atlanta). Which countries have you been to for missions trips? Lebanon, Japan, and Uganda! Which country that you have been to for missions trips is your favorite and why? Japan, because I had the honor of serving there for a period of two months and had many exciting experiences while serving there. I talk in depth, in my book, about the people that I met and the impact we had on each other as I served there. It was a very impactful missions trip with meaningful experiences, overall. What is your favorite Christian song and why? “Everything to Me,” by Avalon. Since my childhood, I have always loved this song because it has impacted my walk with the Lord throughout the years and even since my childhood. It brings back many fond memories of my experiences throughout my childhood when I first became a Christian and why I am saved. How old were you when you became a Christian? Eight years old. What is your favorite Scripture? Philippians 4:13, which is written, according to the English Standard Version, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Oh that’s one of my favorites also!
You are passionate about forgiveness. Was there ever a time you had a hard time forgiving, and how did you overcome that moment?
Absolutely! The hardest moment that I had in forgiving was when I went to visit my mother in Christmas 2016. This visit stirred up from within me undealtt resentment, anger, and unforgiveness that I had towards my mother concerning things that happened during my childhood (I talk about this more in depth in my book, "A Victory Song: Beneath the Veil") and was what prompted me to go and see a counselor at my church in 2018. The counseling process taught me to be very passionate about forgiveness and to take it seriously because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for my sins, as well as forgave me of my sins. Since Jesus forgave me of my sins, then I am obligated to forgive my mother of her past sins since Jesus forgave her of my past sins. As a result of me forgiving my mother, our interactions are mostly positive today in our mother and daughter relationship!
What are your plans for 2022? My plans for 2022 are many. I am now writing a second memoir and just finished writing the second chapter of this memoir this past weekend (follow me on my Instagram and Facebook page @sarahdickensauthor and on Twitter @sarahdauthor for more updates regarding my second memoir!). I am also finishing my last year in the Master of Arts degree program in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University online and am set to begin my practicum and internship for my coursework in August 2022. I will be graduating with the goal of becoming a counselor in the Summer 2023. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. We know that with God all things are Possible.
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Thank God I'm Free, a lifestyle and clothing brand
We want to help people embark on a unique journey that celebrates the best clothing and lifestyle practices. Every human being deserves to realize their best version and we want to make that journey easier. It is time to recognize values that interconnect humans and create a lifelong bond across all races, cultural backgrounds, and ethnicities. Thank God I’m Free is a Black owned Lifestyle and Clothing brand based in Atlanta, Georgia. The hallmark aspect of our brand is to showcase gratitude,
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He is...Father the shine in a little girl's eyes the icon of a son in the mirror a husband to his woman a provider & a leader the endearing traits of a real man personified in how He lives
He is
the strength of the family unit the shelter in a raging storm a patriarch to the ancestral tree his seed produces legacies to carry on his dynasty ...He is
stability in the midst of adversity He rules with a gentle hand teaches his daughter how to be loved to accept nothing less than a true man He instills pride in his son to be the best Man that He can be Once a year is not enough to give credit where it is due
...He is
a monumental influence to the innocence of youth a consonant pillar of masculinity without a heavy hand as proof if you had to measure A Man in all He say or do it is in the path He chooses to follow it is the fruits of his wealthy spirit that makes him so unique it is He... The unsung hero
A Father every Day of the Year!!!!!!! TODAY WE SALUTE YOU
LOVE NOTES FROM HIS HEART TO YOURS
PROMISE , PREMISES, PERFERENCES, POSSESION,
W
e can’t acquire Gods promises doing what we want to do, we’d have to build it according to kingdom design. You see all the countries in the world are running on theories because there is only on righteous way, everything is every nation is run on a theory. Hebrews 6.9 ,10 ~9 Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. 10 For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do. 11 And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, 12 so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. God is not unjust He sees everything you are doing. We know God's kingdom doesn't work on your preferences Preference is what we give in the church world called favor, meaning the way you organize the information we are receiving people and things in your life. setting a government or order in place that suits your needs, basically we organize thing that we favor. Thee divine right of preferences actually the divine responsibility of favoring things correctly ..Favoring is not just picking what you want it has to be done by a predetermined design.
For example if you want to bake a cake that has a certain flavor you have favor the right ingredient based on the person that conceived that type of cake. Life is the same way when you are preferring things your tv shows, your friends, your church, you are actually exercising your divine kingdom right of preferences things or favoring them. When God favors things, you'd be surprised he could actually lower the scale of favor on a person as well as increase the scale of favor. Favor can be turned up or turned down by you.. See Jesus increased with God in Favor amen by keeping himself in the educational process of God. He didn't step outside of the order of God, He submitted himself to His parents, so that increased the order. Getting in order with God's principles increases your favor likewise getting out of order decreases it. God's principles increases your favor likewise getting out of order decreases it. We are going to look at a few things premises. Promises and Possessions......Premises some people think about that depending on what world you are from, lets say if your in real estate you may think of premises as property. .
you may think of premises as property. Or if your in the movie industry you may think of premises as the ideal that goes into the trailer of promoting the movie you are going introduce the character the plot your going into the premise of the film, people go to watch the film based on the premise. When you think of the place your in right now you think of the premise, right now you think your in your room, car, kitchen ect. you also think your in what ever state, county city, street you live on. You also think your in the united states and that’s its in north America, which is in the western side of the world and the western side of the world is on earth. This is how we think but none of these things are places, they are preferences. See what we call America the dirt has no culture. You think you in these place but the places are in you the United States.. is not a geography the US is a preference that was constituted by a group of people who got together and said this is our preference for what we think is right, Here are our preference that constitute our right by what we say is the law to dispense our justice based on this system or ideal.
regulation in the kingdom. We been taught this your mindset and your culture is where you are . There is a unlimited capacity for God to grant His promises to you if you allow him to shift what you favor. Do you favor a location over a spiritual one. Is your mentality locked into something rather than what is suppose to be there? Ethnicity and national identity causes you to struggle to explore the kingdom. When you have a hard time exploring the spiritual realm it's because you have a hard time leaving your ethnicity. In God's kingdom you can explore everything if you would simply drop your preferences.
Truthfully if we don't start letting those things go, our setting and preferences (we have to understand we were programmed that way) It's not like you grew up and decided I'm going to learn the American way.. You were born into it you didn't understand it was programed into you by every environment, every person you met, every teacher and each parent. Our limitations seem permanent and we embrace them. God promised Abraham he was going to give him a land and his descendants You are not in America you are under America are going to be like the multitude, like the sands of preferences, they decide where you are, if you want the seashore like the stars in the sky and you would to go to the kingdom of God you don’t move there . not be able to number it. However your going to there’s no kingdom of god dirt, you don't leave the have to leave your country, your fathers house location , you have to download the environment (that’s your ethnicity) Since you want to explore Jesus said the kingdom has to be in you, because kingdom possibilities you’re going to have to leave there’s no location we can find it , Jesus said there the preferences of the place you grew up, I can't will come a day when man will worship God in get with God all things are possible ideals in you spirit and in truth in other words he will realize head when you have already been preprogramed The true place of a man is in him. you are where with the limitation you now hold dear, That’s why you think you are, where you think like location is Jesus said the one of the steps in becoming a not a thing in the kingdom like geography location citizen of the kingdom is to deny yourself....and that is a mentality, but our humanity try’s to give us a means everything you thought you were if you want location , so when you try to locate God you say to know who you really are and possess the things he's over here, no he's over there , Jesus said when you really have your going to have to shift the kingdom come they are going to deceive you by locations. saying locations. Be mindful of this!!!! Look they have you thinking all your money is in the bank, but its not in a location it inside of you. Your preference settings are not correct. Location is not a restriction or 19
you don’t live in these culture characteristics places that was made up of other people, What God is do He is redeeming people from those, He is reconciling the world to himself, until there is no other identity and everything will become like he is, so we can become like who he is, Romans 12. 8 human beings and human nature are fighting against this ideal so if you resist. what i just stated, you must realize. That is the first step to getting you beyond God wants you to explore and obtain His promises and get beyond your limitations,. Sometime we put God in the driver seat and then tell him to go this way and he constantly saying I'm not going your way you let me drive. Actually your driving but your suppose to be listening to him, he does put the wheel in your hand, but you understand the analogy. Romans 8:7 King James Version 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. God don’t always go your way your driving but he is guiding you because ethe carnal is enmity between God it's resistance toward God, the carnal mind will never receive the Kingdom. Now some things we hear we have to take it with a grain of salt for example if the teacher is of a carnal mind, then they only know their world, but if you live in that world then that’s what you follow but when you step into the kingdom a completely set of rues start applying . When they say shortage we say abundance, when the say poverty we say wealth, they say sickness we say health, if they say everybody gone get it we say not me in the name of Jesus. They say it's science yes but its carnal science. If what is being said goes against the word of God you have to dismiss it. Agree to disagree. The kingdom is the supreme and the higher elevated view . Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Human nature is to survive. Why is that important, because the way we survive, is to reject foreign ideals the clash with cultural upbringing. Your survival system is to reject foreign invaders. Your immune system works that way. The immune system is like a picture of how the kingdom works. Here’s what happens if they try to do an organ 20
transplant they have to put the immune system down because it will reject anything that’s not connected to your body. Your body has its own cells and its own identity within those cells. It will push it away or fight what’s not conne3cted to it. That’s exactly what happens when the Kingdom of God comes to your heart. Not only does the devil try to get it out of you but your cultural background, your united states background or whatever country you live in because the kingdom doesn't govern by those limitations. Every nation governs by the carnal mind and their five senses. The kingdom teaches you to walk by faith not by sight or the senses, sometime you have to stand looking at what obviously seems to be destroyed or a giant against you and you have to say there is no weapon formed against me that shall prosper, I'm not saying that because God is greater than that, I'm saying that I challenge the fact that things is even true, not saying there is a powerful enemy, because there is not, if you believe that then your a dualist...(Any person who supports dualism, the belief in absolute good and absolute evil. The Manicheans were dualists. Any person who believes in or argues for the duality of something.) You believe a thing exist without God that is evil and it has the authority to fight against God. the only thing that’s evil is what lacks Gods information the way it gets power it has to get it from you. Everything that has authority has to get it from authority and God never ever empowered evil, sin, sickness diseases or destruction to run ramped in your life, if it is there it's because our preferences have been hijacked set to allow that thing to exist. The moment you get a new ideal that thing is going to stand up and say wait a minute we have been on the premises for a long time. Remember when Jesus cast out the demons they said wait a minute we been here awhile you can't just throw us out at least let us go into the pigs. Jesus had to give them permission to go.
If you knew who you were your mentality would be completely different. and you start cleaning house today and would not tolerate any of these threats that come against you our your family, your finances your health to disrupt God's plan for your life. you would just stand up and say I don't think so and who gave you the authority to. I am in charge now you have to start coming at a thing where you know where your rights are in the kingdom, you know what’s real and what’s not you know what truth is. don’t fight it these foreign ideals are going to be conflicting because the are material and carnal in basis the bible says that contradiction is the flesh against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh they are contrary,,,,, If you have a contradiction all you have to do to have success is choose the right side to defend,. Sickness is validation that health is yours you have to have health in order to know there was a sickness. Sickness is just another word for not healthy. WE must understand that health is a reality and sickness is a suggestions waiting for your stamp, poverty is a suggestion, I don’t suggestion it, Jesus mission on the earth was very simple. The bible is the word of the king it is the constitution of the kingdom of God, Inside of it there are case studies that show how God judge certain things and matters I still have to find a place where God's judgement didn't give victory for what he rendered it for , but if you don't know those rights then the enemy can keep your stuff legally until you exercise them so we have to make sure we understand what the bible is about. It is not about a religion it is not about a denominational preference. The bible says if you teach earthy information it is sensual and demonic. James 3 chapter read it. So if i teach you a doctrine from the earth carnal self help messages then I have lined myself up with demonic teaching, oh yes it's that serious because all i have to do is make you start thinking carnally. The carnal mind the bible says leads to destruction (romans 8:67)...You don't think that means good stuff, the carnal mind is not evil with thangs. Carnal mind means I think i can support myself with all these breakthrough technology all these diets and all of this stuff, and that’s going to help me. It's graduation season life is in spirit and that’s it! A spiritual person the only thing that matters to them is what they believe. As long as your carnally minded your going to have to follow the rules of the carnally minded. read Romans 12 it says let the person who is weak in faith eat vegetables if your a vegetarian that’s fine eat it if you love it but as you graduate into God you can have a steak if you want to.
You can live your life by proving what’s in you by demonstration or go to the weight machine and try to get healthy. People that go to they gym should go because they are healthy and their to prove it. Have fun. The bible says God made everything including you and there’s no contradiction between what he made they all work in harmony. LOL so if the man eats the cow he will be fine. When did all these things like lactose intolerant ect become a problem , When it became a money making thing. Carnally minded they keep taking you down this road of it's going to get better now were going to have milk that’s not even milk its just white colored water. kingdom principles are different your gone have to graduate every time you get a revelation you can move on from that particular area Matthew 4:17 Matthew 4:17 King James Version 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It's here You live in the kingdom by taking your mind into it. Recapture your mind is not to get you to a different location, its not to get you out of the earth, it's here and you have to be educated on kingdom law. Kingdom laws applies to everything God made including the cows. Jesus say the issue is you have developed a different preference system as mentioned before is where you have promoted ideals you’ve elevated ideals above Gods ideals, So if God said you can drink any thing deadly and then you run upon a situation and you have an emergency but you believe the opposite it will harm you it won’t harm you You must understand you have a scale and a system the carnal realm has its own government made by the carnal man, its not legitimate unless you believe it. There is another world but the Kingdom of God is also here. There is a right to things you have right now if you choose to elevate or prefer these ideals, you have to choose my ideals and prefer them over your own. Proverbs 3.7-9......Proverbs 3:7-9 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.
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Don't be wise in your own eyes and you'll get healthier fear the king...evil in the Hebrew is information that is void of dependence on God (foolish) so evil can be a very good thing on the earth for people that don't know its evil but its wisdom in their own understanding. Jesus wants us to go back into the Kingdom get off of those ideals. Today mankind is still battling we don't prefer what God wants, were wise in our own eyes and set our own schedules. God is facing battles now the church use to be the bride of Christ, Jesus is coming back for her. The WORD OF God IS THE GOVEMENT THAT GIVES YOU GUIDANCE and instructions for life, but people have begun to let their own wisdom counsel them and the bride of Christ is competing with the world, with our playlist, is God on your playlist. The house of God is competing with five year old birthday parties on Sunday, football and lots of other things. The bible says when the seed of the Kingdom is sown the devil come immediately. As humans we have developed our own systems, governments ideal and argue about things where there is no argument in the Kingdom, whatever God says about lets say abortion, homosexuality, fornication etc. there is no argument, no need for a debate the word is the word selah. Jesus is trying to rearrange the way you think about life. Lets look at this if it is there its because our preferences have been hijacked rd and depart from evil. Don’t be wise in your own eyes, there is a different system fear the kingdom, get off your ideals and get kingdom ideals, we let our own wisdom guide us and not his. . Promises, Premises, and Possessions, and Preference, Most people miss the promise because of their premises.....the word pro/mise if you separate it is pro/mission. Mises means mission so pro/mission and pre/mises is pre mission, so here’s what happens whatever your pre/mission is becomes your preference and whatever your preference are determine what you posses' God had to make Abraham leave his own country because that gave him certain premises for life. Premise is defined: all of the ideals, all of the inventory included in the territory, property, the 22
laws that govern the property, the system of rights that control the property. so the premises control the possession. Pro-mission and Pre-mission is what we call keys in the kingdom or the cultural precepts...Cultural ideals that you run your life or give you access to a certain world. Now if you don't have the keys to the possession you don't get the possessions. He had to take Abraham out of that because he had the keys to his fathers house the old land and not the promise. God did that so he could give him a different set of premises. you think you are sitting on furniture in your house that’s your premise, you think you own this you posses the things in your house are on your premises but when you come into the kingdom every premise has to change in other words you think that stuff belongs to you in the kingdom all of these things are on God's premises. You can't operate on faulty premises that the world gave you trying to possess something that on Gods property. The promise is the pro-mission the premises is the pre-mission it is the system that controls the property, it is the tool by which it operates, not understanding the system of right that go with the premises or property that you were given prevents you from controlling it. . A premise is not right or wrong, ...(In the kingdom physical property does not exist) You think you have a body, but what you have is the ideal of your body and then what you see in reality is the reflection or representation of your mind, It's the same thing with God He says if the mind is pure and well the body will take the shape of that. If the eye is full of wrong ideals wrong premises you will possess the wrong property, we think we have a physical thing but in the kingdom all of the premises are ideals. Now if you want to possess something from God you have to possess the ideal of the thing not the physical thing, you possess it in the inner man first. See the ideal has to come from Gods premises, Soi what belongs to you in the Kingdom you have to go to God to posses it. You have to go into the premises to see what belongs to you and what doesn't belong to you Move your life over to God's premises, Time for the correct address. Move!!!
Your Mental Health Comes First
Self care Self care is different for everyone, but it is greatly encouraged to do it on a daily basis. I’d advise doing anything you have been wanting to do for yourself. I have been painting and learning a lot about art; it has become therapeutic for me. I have grown to love painting and don’t regret my decision. Self care can consist of creating a spa day for yourself twice a week or demanding a day for yourself without the kids. You could make a practice of limiting how much conversation about the news you have with your friends and family. Self care is important; it will help you relax, give you more energy during the week and reduce stress levels. Do what you have to do to take care of yourself.
Talk to a loved one Family and friends are essential to stay close to during these challenging times. When you need to vent and talk about what has been going on worldwide, pick up the phone and call a loved one. It will be a good way to relieve some stress and release a lot of negative energy that you have been carrying around. It is not healthy to dwell on stress alone; as much as we want to take care of things ourselves, it can be too much. We carry a lot more that we can handle because that is what we are accustomed to doing. Remember, there is always someone who has a listening ear; that person who is there for you who can listen and not respond. It’s okay to feel, cry and just blurt everything out. That is what you need, in addition to your friends and family. Take care of yourself and take care of your mental health.
Save the Children’s lead advisor for mental health and psychosocial support, my job is to ensure our programs meet children's psychosocial needs in addition to other challenges they may face. When an emergency like the war in Ukraine strikes, I make sure we address the long-term impact that conflict can have on children’s mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. With all this in mind, today I am asking you to join me and Save the Children’s sister organization, Save the Children Action Network (SCAN), in urging Congress to pass the Mental Health in International Development and Humanitarian Settings (MINDS) Act. Let me share with you why this Act is so important: Passing the MINDS Act will help secure funding for critical mental health support initiatives for children around the world like Save the Children’s Healing and Education through the Arts (HEART) program, which helps children recover from conflict by expressing themselves creatively. This critical bipartisan legislation lays the groundwork for a global mental health strategy and emphasizes the needs of vulnerable populations, including children facing crisis, those living in poverty and conflict zones, women, girls and other marginalized communities. But we need advocates like you to join SCAN now to help ensure that it passes: Please, click here to urge your lawmakers to pass the MINDS Act now. Thank you for being an ally in our fight to protect children impacted by conflict and other emergencies. Together, we can help them recover from unimaginable hardships and have the hope of a brighter future, creating change that truly will last a lifetime.
INSIDE OF CHANGE
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ife is change, growth it optional, the only permeant thing in life is change. , so when you choose, choose wisely. The greatest power that you have is to make your own choices Once you make those choices your choicesare what makes you.
The concept of change is to learn how to navigate through it by appreciating your past and acknowledging you can’t live in the past. Change is a journey you discover which embraces new sequences to your life. Once you understand that God created inside you the cazpacity to succeed your potential to grow advances. Change is hard but when new possibilities present itself to you, embrace it, allow it to build you, encourage yourself through it and make it work for you. Truly change is a supernatural act of God. It is about living to live again. As you decrease yourseld, your life becomes a legend. Change speaks the desires of His heart into yours, once you begin to commend it unto His hands, the anointing of His glory will rest upon your lips.
Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African-Americans. It is also often observed for celebrating African-American culture. Originating in Galveston, Texas, it has been celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States since 1865.