Introducing Jesus

At the end of Steve Harvey’s monologue, “Don’t Trip, He Ain’t Through With Me Yet”, he presents a scenario of how he would introduce Jesus. What a blessed opportunity to be able to announce the appearance of the Son of God! One could not help but experience a mixture of awe, nervousness, fear, pride and joy upon taking on this great task. Harvey’s version of this introduction started calmly but gradually increased in volume and excitement until his climatic praises was matched by the intensity of the audience’s thunderous applause. Only Jesus could get a standing ovation even before He appears on the stage.

For single Christians, we also have the opportunity to introduce Jesus. As great as He is, sometimes He can be presented through seemingly small acts of kindness or soothing whispers of concern. Many people claim to know Him, but very few really have a personal and intimate relationship with Him. But we really know Him, don’t we? Then let’s not shrink from the blessed opportunity to introduce to some and present to others this man called Jesus.

Our voices can be lifted in a passionate expression of praise as we describe our savior and friend. Our hearts may beat a little faster and our breath may get caught up in a whirlwind of emotion. Words may appear inadequate as we try to accurately portray the One responsible for saving our souls. While we recognize that we can never earn His love, we understand that we can try to live up to it. But how can we effectively introduce Jesus to a world desperately in need of His saving power?

Which version of Jesus do we portray to those we interact with?

• When we elevate our egos over the will of God, we present Jesus as our slave
• When we succumb to sexual temptation, we introduce Jesus as too weak to keep us from falling
• When we do more complaining about our circumstances than praising God for His providence, we show Jesus as being wimpy and whiny
• When we refuse to humble ourselves in a spirit of service to others, we demonstrate Jesus as being selfish
• When we are more intent on getting even than on forgiving others and turning the other cheek, we reveal Jesus as being petty
• When our behaviors our guided by worldly conventional wisdom at the expense of our spirituality, we display Jesus as being a fraud
• When we treat our ex-romantic partners as badly as they treated us, we exhibit Jesus as being vindictive
  
  

How is it that the Jesus we learned about in church is so different from the one we introduce in our daily actions, words and thoughts? Perhaps instead of presenting Him, we should apologize TO Him!

"Lord, we are sorry for portraying you in the wrong light. Please forgive us for presenting you as less than what you really are. Our lifestyles should proclaim your greatness, your graciousness, your unconditional love and your keeping power. But the things we do and the way we treat others makes you appear as somebody not worthy to be honored."

My prayer is that Christian singles will submit to God’s will and adopt the kind of lifestyle that will make for an introduction of Jesus that He would be proud of.

Solitude Is Not For Everyone

Because of God’s grace, there are some things He keeps us from having to go through that we are not able to handle. We may think we are as bad as we wanna be and nothing can get the best of us, but most of us are smart enough to know that we are not “all that”. We may never admit it, but there are some challenges or fears or people or whatever that we are no match for. Thank God for His keeping power!

I think solitude is one of those things that some people cannot handle. For those people, they would rather go to the dentist than have to deal with being alone. For these people, they will do all kinds of things to avoid the “curse” of being alone including staying in bad relationships, getting together with old boyfriends or girlfriends who they know are not good for them, wandering aimlessly around public places like the mall or clubs or joining organizations to just be around other people. Hey whatever works!

For me, I spend a lot of time by myself. I admit that it is not always something I voluntarily do, but that is the way things are for me. It’s kind of funny at times that people will not believe me when I say that I spend what I think are inordinate portions of my weekends and holidays alone. They assume that everybody has other people in their lives, but for me that has not been the case for quite some time.

Because I spend a lot of time alone, I spend much time thinking about me or more specifically, what things about me I should change or work on. I also think about what few special relationships I have and those other relationships that showed promised but never really materialized. As a writer, spending time alone has helped me to finish one more chapter, write one more essay and do more research. I thank God that although I am alone and I sometimes feel lonely (there is a difference!), I am able to stay focused on Him and on those things He wants me to do.

No, solitude is not for everyone. If that is not your struggle, then praise God. I pray that you will cherish the relationships you have with family, friends and romantic partners that keep you from being by yourself. If you struggle with solitude, my prayer is that God will help you rise above its clutches.

For all of us Christian singles, we should do what we can to help our fellow singles make it through their times of solitude. All it may take is a short email or a quick call or a genuine hug of affection or a little card sent through the mail to let someone know that they are not really secluded and that you care.

Solitude is not for everyone, but being a genuine friend can be.

Halloween Prayers

Halloween is a day that many Christians do not honor nor celebrate. But, as I was thinking about that day, I was moved to make mention of two segments of our society that often goes unnoticed.

SINGLE MOMS - Halloween is a time in which they serve as tailors, drivers, candy bag stuffers, trick or treat greeters, "Mommy, I'm sick from eating all this candy" healers, creative artists while also performing their normal duties as cook, washer, disciplinarian, etc. Let's remember all of the single moms out there everyday, not just on Halloween.

"Lord, remember all of the single moms out there who are carrying the burden of single parenthood without the support (emotional, physical and financial) of their childrens' fathers. Bless them and enable them to keep their head to the sky."

WANNABE MOMS - There are some single women who would love to become mothers. For whatever reason, motherhood has eluded them. Many of them have not given up hope, but they cannot help but wonder if becoming a mother is in the cards for them.

"Lord, bless all of the single women out there who long to become mothers and allow them to grow in their understanding of what your will is for them."