Unglitching The Matrix

Two Pills: 1 Truth, 1 Lies | Take your pick.

Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble. (Psalm 119:165, NIV 2011 Edition)

 I wrote a blog earlier this week about color but this one is about matters that are black and white. Or for the purpose of this illustration, red and green. Basically, in life there are some things that are cut and dry, black and white, this or that... you get it. One of those things being God's truth vs. untruth. As we study the scriptures we begin to find out what God says about different things. If we are Christians who try to do right in the different areas of our lives, the Bible is a great resource for understanding what God thinks about stuff. Giving to the church, sexual purity, loving one another, greed, it's all in there and more.

The more we come to know his law, hopefully the more we begin to love it. In the same way that it's good to know that AAA is there for you in the event of an accident or locked keys in the car, David proclaims in Psalm 119 that those who love God's law have great peace and do not stumble. Is this to say that we won't be faced with hard times or difficult situations? Absolutely not! What it means is that we have a reference guide to look at in our daily walk but also in the event of temptation. Knowing God's law and falling in love with it takes the guesswork out of decision making process. Especially when it comes to temptation.

Can you think of a time where you had to make a decision without guidance and proper training? How did it make you feel? Anxious? Fearful? Cautious? Well, in the event that you are faced with a situation in life and God has said something about it, if you've studied and believe and have grown to love and agree with what was said then imagine how simple your response can be.

Enriching The Color of Your Faith

Go beyond the basic color scheme of faith.

² My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.(Colossians 2:1-3, NIV 2011 Edition)

When I was a kid, I used to draw sketches with my friends and find great pleasure in coloring different shapes and figures. We only had the small 8 count Crayola (or Rose Art - lol!) Colored Pencil kit but we made do with what we had. Of course you'd have your basic black, white, red, purple, brown, blue, green, yellow, and orange, the color scheme that let you color at least distinguish between people of different races but the complexity of the pieces were always limited because brown was brown and not mahogany... red was always red and not crimson... and purple was always purple, never lilac. We were pretty smart kids back then, and so it wasn't so much that we didn't know what we wanted to communicate, we just didn't have the complex tools to sketch and color what was in our minds and communicate it directly onto paper.

As I grew older, I stopped sketching as much but when I went back to the art back in college, I went for the large 50 count box of Crayolas. The greater selection of colors helped to create a picture that was very intentional and showed that I understood the message that I wanted to get across.

Studying God's word works the same way.

8-Count Christianity. When we're fresh in Christ or before we really dig into our word faithfully, we know a few key scriptures here and there to minister to ourselves and to others. We recite the same go-to scriptures that we've heard in church all along because we believe that it's a one sized fits all approach to any situation someone might face. These can get us by to some extent, and no doubt they are good scriptures to hold onto, but the Bible can relate to us - and we to it- in so many more ways.

50-Count Christianity. For the sake of illustration, some of the basic emotions in life are fear (black), anger (purple), peace (blue) and love (red) - among others. When you read the scriptures and read about the different men and women of the Bible, you see that they all experienced different levels of these emotions and communicated it to God and His people in different ways. Love as expressed by Solomon was very different than love as expressed by Jesus Christ. Peace for David looked different compared to the peace that Paul found in troubled times.

The beautiful thing about God's Word is that it is a living word and it was created to relate to YOU! The more you search, you'll find an answer to any problem that you might have. The scriptures go beyond the usual Sunday School verses that you've heard all along and reveal hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Are you living in a 50-count world with an 8-count pencil set?

Chasing After You

¹ I will extol the LORD at all times;    his praise will always be on my lips. ² I will glory in the LORD;    let the afflicted hear and rejoice. ³ Glorify the LORD with me;    let us exalt his name together. ⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;    he delivered me from all my fears. ⁵ Those who look to him are radiant;    their faces are never covered with shame. ⁶ This poor man called, and the LORD heard him;    he saved him out of all his troubles. ⁷ The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,    and he delivers them.Psalm 34:1-7  (NIV 2011 Edition)

Today's post is simply a call to worship God - whether in good or bad times - for all the things He has done for us and a charge to continue to chase after Him. Merriam-Websters dictionary defines the word "chase" as "an earnest or frenzied seeking of something desired."

Today I challenge you to repeat these words and allow them to permeate your heart:

"Lord, I earnestly seek You."




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Bonus Coverage: Tye Tribbett & GA - Chasing After You (Morning Song)





Each and every day
I will seek Your face
my soul is crying out for more
I want more of You
Oh, I won't be satisfied
Nor content
of where I am,woah
So I will apprehend
till I'm captured by what I'm after


And I will go from faith to faith
From glory to glory (x2)
And I'll forever be chasing after You
I'll be chasing after You (x2)


I will press toward the mark
For the prize
And I won't faint
Theres one thing I desire 
And that's what I'm going for
I can't continue life
Day by day
growing dry
I need to be with You (Jesus)
I'll seek where you are


And I will go from faith to faith
From glory to glory (x4)
And I'll forever be chasing after You
i'll be chasing after you (x7)
And I will go from faith to faith
from glory to glory (x2)
And I'll forever be chasing after You
I'll be chasing after you

God's Will, God's Way

 ^3-7 They placed the Chest of God on a brand-new oxcart and removed it from Abinadab's house on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab's sons, were driving the new cart loaded with the Chest of God, Ahio in the lead and Uzzah alongside the Chest. David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Chest of God. God blazed in anger against Uzzah and struck him hard because he had profaned the Chest. Uzzah died on the spot, right alongside the Chest. ^8-11 Then David got angry because of God's deadly outburst against Uzzah. That place is still called Perez Uzzah (The-Explosion-Against-Uzzah). David became fearful of God that day and said, "This Chest is too hot to handle. How can I ever get it back to the City of David?" He refused to take the Chest of God a step farther. Instead, David removed it off the road and to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The Chest of God stayed at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months. And God prospered Obed-Edom and his entire household. (2 Samuel 6: 3-11)

In this passage, David has assembled a group of his strongest men to help return the Ark back to his kingdom. David has just assumed leadership over the twelve tribes and this was one of his first things on his agenda. His heart was after God so much that he wanted nothing more than to return the Ark (Chest of God) back to it's rightful place in the center of his kingdom. Not only did he seek to get the Ark right away but he made sure that the cart was of the finest quality. But David, while meaning well, acted in haste and forgot to follow instructions...

And then things went downhill.

While leading the cart back to David's kingdom, Uzzah reaches out to catch the Ark from falling and God strikes him dead. As the scripture states, God was angry because the Ark was profaned. Why was it profaned?

God's will. God's way.

While it was not a problem for the Ark to be moved to David's kingdom, the problem was that David didn't follow instructions for how the Ark was to be handled. In Moses' last words before he died, he charged only the Levites with carrying the Ark. David failed to follow these instructions by employing non-Levites to carry the Ark and as a result, faced the consequences.

God's will. God's way.

In our lives we can have the best intentions and the best ambitions for the things that God loves but still be far off from His will. It's not that our hearts are in the wrong place, but maybe our actions and order of procedure is wrong. Just like with the Ark, when we do things with the right intentions but the wrong direction, God can get angry and cause our plans to breakdown.

As you seek to accomplish things in your life and seek to even "follow your heart," always ask God to guide you in the way that you should go. Refer back to the Bible and the wisdom therein so that you can be sure you are making the right steps. Also, seek God's face through prayer and conversation so that you can be sure. If you don't, you might just find yourself back at square one.

Lay Down Your Harp and Lead

"27 But God chose what the world thinks foolish to shame the wise, and God chose what the world thinks weak to shame the strong. 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, what is regarded as nothing, to set aside what is regarded as something, 29 so that no one can boast in his presence. 30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31

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The bass guitar has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I've been playing for basically half my life and some would say, and I wouldn't argue, that it is a dominant portion of what defines "me."

Through music I have been blessed to meet some amazing people, some of whom I call dear friends. I've ministered to the lives and hearts of many, travelled the united states, ministered inside the heart of a major woman's correctional facility, recorded albums, won honorable mention for a Billboard song writing award and more because of this gift.

I'm grateful, but it's time to move on.

In my current season of life, one of the men of the Bible who I've gravitated to is David. David was a shepherd boy who grew up in obscurity and was oftentimes overlooked for his physical statue and humility but would one day become one of the greatest kings of all time. He stands out because of our similarities. He too played his harp faithfully before the king and had the ability not only to groove but to soothe. David played in the kings court but little did he know that he would become one.

But that would require sacrifice.

One of the cool things about being in the presence of a king is that you pick up kingdom minded thinking. My bass playing has allowed me to sit under great biblical teaching and other kingdom minded things that I wouldn't have gotten without it. In me playing bass for God and David playing harp for Saul, we've learned kingdom leadership. But just like with David, I've realized that elevation for me might only come by laying my harp down.

New identities.

In laying my bass down effective at the end of March, I realize that I will be taking on a new identity that may not look like the old. But sometimes that's needed to grow. Comfort here on Earth to most people means living a defined niche. You may have always been known as "the [insert thing you do really well or that people admire about you] guy" to your friends so comfort is in keeping that life up even though it might not be your true calling. Who you've always been isn't necessarily who you will always be meant to be.

The next chapter.

In closing, I just want to encourage you to examine your heart and find not only where God is leading you but also where He isn't. It's a sign of disobedience to continue to operate in a mindset or skill set that God no longer wants for your life. Don't feel like you have to be ashamed about God reinventing your life and reassigning you. It will lead you closer to your purpose.

Don't be afraid to lay down your harp in order to pick up your crown.