"Tests are so effective in life since they reveal the “who are” as well as the “who are not”! Make sure to let go of the “who are not” for the reason that they will hinder the ones “who are” to be in your life. Remove yourself from those that have a negative mentality. Encircle yourself with people who strive to move forward with a positive vision!" - Pastor Angel Muniz
Upon reading this post of my friend, something lit up inside of me. You can say it lit up a spark inside of me. Most of this is due to the fact that not only did it hit home when it came to my social circle but also hit me on a personal level. It hit very hard for a few reasons.
Let me first throw in the personal aspect of it. Tests tend to unveil who you are and the contrast from who you aren't. It begins to start bringing you to a situation where you are to decide and resolve but faced with choices that are and/or aren't characteristic of you. Whether it be the death of a loved one, financial issues, heartbreak, betrayal from friends and family or even the sense of being used -- each situation puts you, in better words, in mini-crossroads. There are times where you are faced with choices and sometimes they are simple but sometimes a royal pain. There is, though, another aspect to see. Sometimes, the situation will call out the possibility of who you can be that you never thought you could. It may not always be what you think is best at the very moment but it will push you stretch beyond yourself and for better term, evolve.
People who are runaways eventually either will keep running until they are done or until they learn to face the demons they run from and conquer them. People who dance in the rain will eventually grow weary and the rain will wear them down like hails made of stone -- they eventually will have to learn to be like the earth, take in the rain and grow like a plant rooted in soil. Once the storm and rain are done, the sun will come out and help balance all else for that plant to bloom and appear.
If you are constantly being broken and torn apart, learn something from physical fitness -- when you lift weights, muscle fibers are being torn to bits and broken down, hence the soreness at times. When we are broken down, the process is a means to come back stronger. Sometimes it is frustrating because the brokenness is so constant that you become numb and feel you won't get a chance to breathe. Sometimes it requires a time of reflection to breathe, take it all in and replenish. There's a reason why boys drink milk and men eat meat -- the 8g of protein won't stack up to the 25-35g you'll get from a chicken breast for your muscles to recover! In moments of brokenness, feed from it and you will return stronger. Don't sit, mope, whine and cry -- feed from it!
I feel now I should bring out how I agree with Muniz's statement from a social perspective. When things hit the fan in your life, you find yourself seeing people's true colors. You discover who are intentional users and abusers, leeches of your energy, total ingrates and those guilty of fraud. In the process, you also discover who your true friends are. You discover who will stick around at all times and not just when they need something or if they stick around because they know they will get something out of it. It is sad that many are always awaiting for something in return from the person they help instead of having the thank you and the personal sense of gratitude being enough but hey, nobody ever said that tests and trials won't unmask people. The tests will also separate the men from the boys, girls from the women, the spiritually ardent from the religious and the sheep from the wolves.
I will conclude with a personal, little experience. At one point, I was in a slightly rough patch where I was called "dead weight". For months, I had leaned into feeling that way, as the person's frustration resulted into channeling it out on someone who was actually helping them level their turmoils. Another person had reduced me from best friend to a "loser", nullifying and negating everything I had ever been to them or done for them. That can be a dung load for anyone in my shoes. My choice? Abandon them. When people do not appreciate you, that unmasks the liars, manipulators and hypocrites that they are and you are left with two options -- 1. You stick by them in false hope of them apologizing and making it right, knowing they will abuse your kindness repeatedly or 2. You cut them off and make them acknowledge that in all honestly they were the dead weight because instead of displaying gratitude, honesty and sincerity, all they saw in you was an asset, an object and a means to their personal agendas, not ever considering for five seconds about your personal needs and feelings in the process.
In the words of CM Punk, "PIPE BOMB!"
Blogs by Ron Gunz
10.28.2012
10.11.2012
The Journey Within and my desire of the Church
As I sat down this afternoon, sipping my orange black tea, nursing myself back to health from this annoying cold, I decided to reflect a little on how I've been about everything -- my life, my family, my job, my artistry in music as well as in writing, my character on and off my instruments, as well as my relationships with others. It is liberating as well as challenging what I find. Some things I will continue to view as I always viewed them while other things I am seeing them now for what I thought they were but in reality what they really are.
I will always love my family. Damn it, we can be a crazy bunch -- whether it's my dad's mid-life crisis, my mom's near-workaholic tendencies, my brother being all up and about due to work, school and a girlfriend, my sister with her schoolwork to me taking on my role as a brother, a workhorse, an artist, a lover of both the divine as well as of those close to me. These are things that I could not or ever put in a simpler way of managing until recently.
I used to always see the Church as the reflection of God's heart. Heck, if you were to look in the New Testament, through the pages of Paul's writings, you find that it is exactly what Christ wants out of the Church. The Bible shows that the Church is the Light of the World, Salt of the Earth. The Bible also says that for His name's sake they would be hated, delivered up to affliction and so forth, even unto death. Rest assured, if you were to take a look at what's going on in some (although not all) third world countries, to even have a church meeting, God forbid a building, was asking for trouble. Even the slightest attempt to speaking about the love of Jesus Christ would put you through hell -- torture, incarceration, even death. In the third world, to a degree, that hasn't changed by much.
However, here in America? Go ahead and ask people in the Village about what they think about Jesus Christ. Go anywhere in this country and ask them about their thoughts about Jesus. Much more often than not, they don't really have a single damn negative thing to say. Heck, you may get the same reaction as Gandhi, "I like your Christ". Try this afterwards -- ask them about the Church. Don't be surprised if you hear all sorts of things, some a tad far fetched and some not too far from the truth. I dare say that churches in America are too comfortable, too introverted and dare I say it, conformed to their patterns.
I'll say this -- Go Eat Popcorn. That was a phrase used by the manager of the Science Department back in FDR High School back in 2003-2004. In the middle of the Christian Fellowship meetings we had, he said this in reference to Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians. It paints the ideal and the beauty of what the Church should be like -- the ideals it is to live by and stand for. I dare even state that it reflects a family environment. Unfortunately, that is not what the Church looks like in the United States by and large, especially by majority here in New York. They are run like organizations and businesses. Let me tear it down a bit and ask this, how often do you see people decide to break bread with each other personally and develop friendships with each other without the supervision of church officials or the creating of official meetings? Almost every time, it consists of people usually walking in, going through the motions of the program, chatting a tiny bit and once the church building doors are closed, it's over. No calls, no personal messages from your fellow church "friends". It is as though you only know each other on the surface and only within the walls of a place to meet.
If the Church is to be the Heartbeat of Christ, echoing this planet, we need to break personal walls, people. How can we reflect Him when we don't even know about each other's likes, peeves, desires, dreams and ambitions? For all we know, in being so cold and distant from each other as though we're just doing business, we are missing out on something beautiful. That's why, as crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't rage over churches, synagogues, mosques, kingdom halls and so-called "sacred places" being burned or torn down. Why? Because when you take away those comfortable little confines, that is the moment you begin to discover and see who they really are. It is then you see who are the figs and thistles, the wolves in sheep clothing from the legit sheep. You begin to find out who are truly those willing to reflect light in this world and who are the two-faced slime that seek to corrupt, control and deviate.
This blog is pretty big and while I appreciate those who love my writing in regards to entertainment, politics and music but this is something that I have always been truly passionate about and it has a lot to do with who I am and my journey in this lifetime.
I am someone who was raised in a very strong Pentecostal environment and let me tell you, I personally do not agree with how things are run in many Pentecostal churches. I have yet to see a church that isn't run like a business in the place of a family environment. They put on this mask of family but everything is run as a business, with their "CEO" and their version of "Board of Directors", deciding how things are run based on how it suits them politically and only treat those within their circle as family. Relationships within the congregation? Give me a break! It is business as usual and the only non-business deal that does go on is if someone is running against the grain, striving to break from the mold and be different and dare I say, even better than what the establishment thinks. They use tongue talking as manipulative means to maintain control and throw their weight around like dictators, even if what they are doing in secret is dirtier than the person they point the finger at. You can't talk about sanctity of life to my face meanwhile assisting in paying off a need-less abortion behind closed doors. Let's also include the leaders that see a young person among them who is doing very well, dare I say even better than the CEO and the Board of Directors combined, then out of fear they try to make his/her effort in facilitating the group with a family environment go to a halt by attaching financial scandals.
I know this is a bit much but I'm going to go deeper about my experiences here. Let me talk about how you have leaders, speakers and teachers concerning themselves so much more with the physical, temporary and secondary, absolutely forsaking the importance of the all that is primary. I'm not concerned about hearing about the evils of soap operas. You shouldn't have to talk about that every other week on a sermon. I believe that it should be obvious and common sense to a Christian that putting a soap opera in higher priority over quality communication with your Creator is a problem.
The problem, however, is not in the soap opera, it is within the person. The person has something that distracts them from their reality and spiritual connection but that issue can range from anything. It may not be a soap opera, it can be the unhealthy desire to intake alcohol. I say unhealthy because while it may be fun to drink away, alcohol is a depressant and if you look into what depressants do, well there you go. Sometimes the fix can be jumping onto the weed, which while it treats glaucoma and even give your brain a quick funny trip to temporary expansion of the mind, too much can be bad. Sex can also bea bad thing in the following way -- when it is a means to solve problems. Trust me, the euphoric feeling may be great now but let's see how that feeling changes the balance of your bank account, your mortgage, bills and food in the fridge. If you're making a living off of it, power to you although my feeling on that is that in essence you are exploiting something that should be personal and intimate with a person you care about. It can also be putting either a loved one, celebrity or political figure up on a pedestal. As much as I love my dad but he's no Superman. Eventually, we all grow old, crumble and physically die. Michael Jordan, in all his basketball legacy and glory, may inspire you to be the best at what you do but he is not paying your bills or fixing your situation. Barack Obama, our President, the issue is simple -- He is the President of the United States. What's the issue? Well it's simple, he deals with federal affairs, not state affairs. He's not going to change the situation in New York. He will not adjust your city and state tax lest Congress and the President decide to give that power to the Federal government. Until then, guess who you, as a New Yorker, have to chalk up to? Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo! Guess what? They can't even guarantee anything. You still, as a human being, have to do things for yourself. These politicians and celebrities cannot and will not shape and get involved with your very intimate aspects of your life, especially the spiritual -- unless you have a personal relationship with them of which how they personally live, once known, influences you. Even family, while immediate in disposition, cannot do for you what must be done in the development of your spiritual well-being.
Your harmony with God is between you and Him. His business with every individual is unique and different. The point of fellowship with each other in the Church is to help build each other and in the process of helping and loving one another, we can all accomplish each of our callings in this lifetime -- whether it be as musicians, painters, writers, artists of all stripes, nurses, lawyers, doctors, athletes, carpenters, counselors, wrestlers, actors and so forth.
There are things that, as followers of a living God, we cannot see or really understand unless we put ourselves in the shoes of others or at least get to know them. You cannot understand or fathom how to help someone or what that person needs unless you know their story and not just tidbits -- the whole story! It is when we take that time to invest that we find ourselves understanding and in the process find wisdom and means to be Light in this World. Also in the process, we will begin to let down that iron-cast shield that this world is forcing us to have upon all of us. If we get down to it, social media, instead of bonding people together, is now keeping us all together separate. The more means to communicate, the more far apart we have become. I have almost 400 friends on Facebook and I hang out with, what, perhaps 10-15 of them? I find this to be an issue because while we are individuals, in essence, we are social beings with a purpose to bond as one to reflect something beautiful but instead we are fragmented and scattered like shattered shards of glass.
Aside from my take on the serious situation that I feel the Church in NY is going through (at least what I'm observing), I found myself thinking about other matters in regards to myself. Anyone that has an unrepentant negative influence upon my life, I am more prone to distance myself. It doesn't mean that I don't care, it just means that I do need to protect a certain degree of my identity. I have also learned to forgive people I have held grudges against and believe me, after dropping the big bomb that would be the past few paragraphs , I can safely say that I've forgiven many more because there are many that have belittled me, discouraged me, disrespected and even betrayed me. I have also discovered my lack of ability in putting up with human manipulation and the dictation of will and opinion towards me. Do not force me to see things your way simply because it is how you see it. Just let me in, help me understand and help me see your vision because you will only make an enemy out of me by forcing something down my throat proverbially. I also find myself unable to deal with leaders that have no sense of self-confidence and make everything sound like drama. Some things are in fact bad but some things simply aren't. There are also some things that aren't a deal to begin with. There are things in life of which you simply enjoy and make the most out of it. I understand that not everyone has a will of iron but that isn't be an excuse to not be stronger where you are weak. I am also finding that my spirit has become more lively as of late. Who knows, maybe it's my new girlfriend, who certainly knows how to put me in my place and vice versa.
I think I have let out as much as I can about these matters, feel free to comment, make observations and open up the discussion because I believe there is much that can be done, discussed and accomplished if we all were to engage the crucial matters that encircle us.
I will always love my family. Damn it, we can be a crazy bunch -- whether it's my dad's mid-life crisis, my mom's near-workaholic tendencies, my brother being all up and about due to work, school and a girlfriend, my sister with her schoolwork to me taking on my role as a brother, a workhorse, an artist, a lover of both the divine as well as of those close to me. These are things that I could not or ever put in a simpler way of managing until recently.
I used to always see the Church as the reflection of God's heart. Heck, if you were to look in the New Testament, through the pages of Paul's writings, you find that it is exactly what Christ wants out of the Church. The Bible shows that the Church is the Light of the World, Salt of the Earth. The Bible also says that for His name's sake they would be hated, delivered up to affliction and so forth, even unto death. Rest assured, if you were to take a look at what's going on in some (although not all) third world countries, to even have a church meeting, God forbid a building, was asking for trouble. Even the slightest attempt to speaking about the love of Jesus Christ would put you through hell -- torture, incarceration, even death. In the third world, to a degree, that hasn't changed by much.
However, here in America? Go ahead and ask people in the Village about what they think about Jesus Christ. Go anywhere in this country and ask them about their thoughts about Jesus. Much more often than not, they don't really have a single damn negative thing to say. Heck, you may get the same reaction as Gandhi, "I like your Christ". Try this afterwards -- ask them about the Church. Don't be surprised if you hear all sorts of things, some a tad far fetched and some not too far from the truth. I dare say that churches in America are too comfortable, too introverted and dare I say it, conformed to their patterns.
I'll say this -- Go Eat Popcorn. That was a phrase used by the manager of the Science Department back in FDR High School back in 2003-2004. In the middle of the Christian Fellowship meetings we had, he said this in reference to Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians. It paints the ideal and the beauty of what the Church should be like -- the ideals it is to live by and stand for. I dare even state that it reflects a family environment. Unfortunately, that is not what the Church looks like in the United States by and large, especially by majority here in New York. They are run like organizations and businesses. Let me tear it down a bit and ask this, how often do you see people decide to break bread with each other personally and develop friendships with each other without the supervision of church officials or the creating of official meetings? Almost every time, it consists of people usually walking in, going through the motions of the program, chatting a tiny bit and once the church building doors are closed, it's over. No calls, no personal messages from your fellow church "friends". It is as though you only know each other on the surface and only within the walls of a place to meet.
If the Church is to be the Heartbeat of Christ, echoing this planet, we need to break personal walls, people. How can we reflect Him when we don't even know about each other's likes, peeves, desires, dreams and ambitions? For all we know, in being so cold and distant from each other as though we're just doing business, we are missing out on something beautiful. That's why, as crazy as it sounds, I wouldn't rage over churches, synagogues, mosques, kingdom halls and so-called "sacred places" being burned or torn down. Why? Because when you take away those comfortable little confines, that is the moment you begin to discover and see who they really are. It is then you see who are the figs and thistles, the wolves in sheep clothing from the legit sheep. You begin to find out who are truly those willing to reflect light in this world and who are the two-faced slime that seek to corrupt, control and deviate.
This blog is pretty big and while I appreciate those who love my writing in regards to entertainment, politics and music but this is something that I have always been truly passionate about and it has a lot to do with who I am and my journey in this lifetime.
I am someone who was raised in a very strong Pentecostal environment and let me tell you, I personally do not agree with how things are run in many Pentecostal churches. I have yet to see a church that isn't run like a business in the place of a family environment. They put on this mask of family but everything is run as a business, with their "CEO" and their version of "Board of Directors", deciding how things are run based on how it suits them politically and only treat those within their circle as family. Relationships within the congregation? Give me a break! It is business as usual and the only non-business deal that does go on is if someone is running against the grain, striving to break from the mold and be different and dare I say, even better than what the establishment thinks. They use tongue talking as manipulative means to maintain control and throw their weight around like dictators, even if what they are doing in secret is dirtier than the person they point the finger at. You can't talk about sanctity of life to my face meanwhile assisting in paying off a need-less abortion behind closed doors. Let's also include the leaders that see a young person among them who is doing very well, dare I say even better than the CEO and the Board of Directors combined, then out of fear they try to make his/her effort in facilitating the group with a family environment go to a halt by attaching financial scandals.
I know this is a bit much but I'm going to go deeper about my experiences here. Let me talk about how you have leaders, speakers and teachers concerning themselves so much more with the physical, temporary and secondary, absolutely forsaking the importance of the all that is primary. I'm not concerned about hearing about the evils of soap operas. You shouldn't have to talk about that every other week on a sermon. I believe that it should be obvious and common sense to a Christian that putting a soap opera in higher priority over quality communication with your Creator is a problem.
The problem, however, is not in the soap opera, it is within the person. The person has something that distracts them from their reality and spiritual connection but that issue can range from anything. It may not be a soap opera, it can be the unhealthy desire to intake alcohol. I say unhealthy because while it may be fun to drink away, alcohol is a depressant and if you look into what depressants do, well there you go. Sometimes the fix can be jumping onto the weed, which while it treats glaucoma and even give your brain a quick funny trip to temporary expansion of the mind, too much can be bad. Sex can also bea bad thing in the following way -- when it is a means to solve problems. Trust me, the euphoric feeling may be great now but let's see how that feeling changes the balance of your bank account, your mortgage, bills and food in the fridge. If you're making a living off of it, power to you although my feeling on that is that in essence you are exploiting something that should be personal and intimate with a person you care about. It can also be putting either a loved one, celebrity or political figure up on a pedestal. As much as I love my dad but he's no Superman. Eventually, we all grow old, crumble and physically die. Michael Jordan, in all his basketball legacy and glory, may inspire you to be the best at what you do but he is not paying your bills or fixing your situation. Barack Obama, our President, the issue is simple -- He is the President of the United States. What's the issue? Well it's simple, he deals with federal affairs, not state affairs. He's not going to change the situation in New York. He will not adjust your city and state tax lest Congress and the President decide to give that power to the Federal government. Until then, guess who you, as a New Yorker, have to chalk up to? Michael Bloomberg and Andrew Cuomo! Guess what? They can't even guarantee anything. You still, as a human being, have to do things for yourself. These politicians and celebrities cannot and will not shape and get involved with your very intimate aspects of your life, especially the spiritual -- unless you have a personal relationship with them of which how they personally live, once known, influences you. Even family, while immediate in disposition, cannot do for you what must be done in the development of your spiritual well-being.
Your harmony with God is between you and Him. His business with every individual is unique and different. The point of fellowship with each other in the Church is to help build each other and in the process of helping and loving one another, we can all accomplish each of our callings in this lifetime -- whether it be as musicians, painters, writers, artists of all stripes, nurses, lawyers, doctors, athletes, carpenters, counselors, wrestlers, actors and so forth.
There are things that, as followers of a living God, we cannot see or really understand unless we put ourselves in the shoes of others or at least get to know them. You cannot understand or fathom how to help someone or what that person needs unless you know their story and not just tidbits -- the whole story! It is when we take that time to invest that we find ourselves understanding and in the process find wisdom and means to be Light in this World. Also in the process, we will begin to let down that iron-cast shield that this world is forcing us to have upon all of us. If we get down to it, social media, instead of bonding people together, is now keeping us all together separate. The more means to communicate, the more far apart we have become. I have almost 400 friends on Facebook and I hang out with, what, perhaps 10-15 of them? I find this to be an issue because while we are individuals, in essence, we are social beings with a purpose to bond as one to reflect something beautiful but instead we are fragmented and scattered like shattered shards of glass.
Aside from my take on the serious situation that I feel the Church in NY is going through (at least what I'm observing), I found myself thinking about other matters in regards to myself. Anyone that has an unrepentant negative influence upon my life, I am more prone to distance myself. It doesn't mean that I don't care, it just means that I do need to protect a certain degree of my identity. I have also learned to forgive people I have held grudges against and believe me, after dropping the big bomb that would be the past few paragraphs , I can safely say that I've forgiven many more because there are many that have belittled me, discouraged me, disrespected and even betrayed me. I have also discovered my lack of ability in putting up with human manipulation and the dictation of will and opinion towards me. Do not force me to see things your way simply because it is how you see it. Just let me in, help me understand and help me see your vision because you will only make an enemy out of me by forcing something down my throat proverbially. I also find myself unable to deal with leaders that have no sense of self-confidence and make everything sound like drama. Some things are in fact bad but some things simply aren't. There are also some things that aren't a deal to begin with. There are things in life of which you simply enjoy and make the most out of it. I understand that not everyone has a will of iron but that isn't be an excuse to not be stronger where you are weak. I am also finding that my spirit has become more lively as of late. Who knows, maybe it's my new girlfriend, who certainly knows how to put me in my place and vice versa.
I think I have let out as much as I can about these matters, feel free to comment, make observations and open up the discussion because I believe there is much that can be done, discussed and accomplished if we all were to engage the crucial matters that encircle us.
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