2. Be careful to watch out for people who would put you down for your race, creed or color. There are ignorant people everywhere. Mark them well and avoid them. If you run into actual racism identify it as such and let people know. Use this carefully. If you become one who sees racism under every rock you lose your influence like the boy who cries wolf. There are a lot of bad people on the earth who may hate you for the wrong reasons. There are also a lot of good people on the earth who love you because you are their brother in the human race. Be careful to know the difference. Don’t lump them into the same category.
3. Just as there are good people and bad people in the general population, there are various people in authority who are judges, politicians and police, some who are good and some who are not. It is always going to be this way. It was in Jesus day. There have been evil and also good authority figures in all of history, even in the church. If you find yourself believing all authority figures including police to be evil and against you, there will be a time when you need them and won’t be able to submit to their authority. You will find yourself on the outside. Allow justice to rule when it can, and when injustice rules be careful as you approach the injustice. Use wisdom to deal with the injustice on an individual basis and not painting all authority figures with a single yellow brush. You don't want to be lumped into everything people who look like you do in society, don't do the same with authority figures.
4. Companies small and large are looking for good people to do work that needs to be done. They have invested blood and treasure to get where they are. They are more than willing to share what they have with you. It comes in the form of Dividends when you have invested, in the form of wages and salaries when you work for them. IF you do, do your diligent best. They are eager to reward people who make them money. That could be you. IF you are diligent, you can be the one hiring others some day, with investors in your business and paying wages to others. Strive to become a wage payer, not a wage earner. Reach higher than just being a hireling.
5. The dominant culture all around you sometimes seems like it is at odds with what you believe. You might think patriotism is only for other people. That honoring people and traditions that many seek to honor is not for you. You don’t have to be over the top patriotic, but you need to be respectful of the country that you live, in even when you disagree with its leaders and policies. This means when it’s time to stand up for your country you do. If you are in a foreign country and someone badmouths your nation, defend it, don't pile on. If you run across people who have served in military, express thanks and give honor where honor is due. You might not want to stand when the flag waves or the anthem is played. That your freedom of speech to do what you want to do. No one can take that from you. Think of those on your left, on your right. What influence are you making on them as you decide the stand to take? Are your furthering the cause of tolerance? Do you represent those of your culture well by doing what you do? Some will use your action or lack of it as brick in the dividing wall.. and you don’t be the one placing it there. Sometimes doing the right thing is right even against what you want to do.
6. Become more discerning than ever. There are a lot of conspiracies that someone cooks up every day. We saw that recently as the Russians during the last election put all sorts of crazy ideas in people’s heads. Be careful not to believe everything you read, see in the news, hear on the radio or read on the internet. Most of the most inflammatory things you run across are fiction and worse are designed to divide people into identity groups. Don’t fall for every strange imagination someone cooked up. God gave you discernment, refine it, dig deep, don’t trust everyone or very many. If you are going to come down on the side of a conspiracy, ask yourself how this fits into the 1 Corinthians 13 framework. Love Overlooks Much. See Everything, overlook much, correct a little. (Mother Theresa)
7. Be careful not to embrace, endorse or condone behavior that destroys people's blood and treasure. That’s the devil’s job to kill steal and destroy. Don’t be part of his work. There are some people who after a football game turn over cars, burn down buildings and loot stores while it happens. This happened after the election, this happened after injustices in cities around the USA like Baltimore and Ferguson. We have seen much of this the last few years. As I drive around our city I see it in many parts still burned to the ground after the death of Martin Luther King in 1968. There almost no recovery from those days. So when you see these excesses, don’t be part of them and don’t find yourself on the side of those who justify these actions, even if you at your heart are angry about things, the next house or car they destroy might be yours. Violence as an attack on injustice only propagates more violence, injustice and backlash. Be wise and choose sides carefully.
8. My son, when you marry and I hope you marry for life. Let your wife be your first. Don’t turn a blind eye to TV and Movies and Music that promotes immorality common and normal. Of course it has become normal, but you are better than that. The culture that seems make this all acceptable should not be one you embrace without question. You will always be able to point to others and say, they did it too. Pointing at the other kid when you were ten years old and saying "What About Him" should have stopped by the time you were 15. Look for good, look for decency, look for those who are trying to do well for you and those you love. Be careful about assuming good intentions from those who try hard to identify with you. The surest con is the guy who is about to swindle you out of a lot of money that says, “I’m a Christian, just like you”. Getting you to believe them because they identify with you in party, race, creed or even neighborhood is the gateway to deception. Being deceived by those who think like, act like, look like you will take you places you won't want to end up. Be careful and be discerning. Not every white politician is corrupt and not every black politician is above reproach. Don't judge on the outward appearance.
9. Who you become is the product of what you read, watch on TV, see on the movie screen and hear in music. They are all fantasy. There is a tendency for people to say of dystopian movies, "There's a lot of truth in that". There isn't. Sometimes we are led to believe that the world is as horrible and violent as you see or hear about in media or in the news. It’s not real. The world is a beautiful place when you see it thru eyes that expect to see it so. The song you learned as a child is still true, “Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear, for the Father up above is looking down in love so be careful little eyes and ears what you see and hear”.
10. When it comes time train up your children in the way they should go. Help them in every way possible. Help them to be able to compete well in the world they will compete in. Help them to learn to speak, read and write the language of commerce perfectly and with excellence - that would be ENGLISH. If they can learn a second language that is good too. When they pick up the phone to apply for a job, help them to speak with such perfection that a potential employer, boss or customer is able to be persuaded to act in their behalf. Don’t let them be put off by an urban dialect that reduces them in the eyes of those who could benefit them. This goes for the name you give them as their father. It is fine to use names that reflect the culture and the times, just be very cautious not to hang a moniker on your children that reduces them in the world where they must live, work and grow up in. There are plenty of good names that people use that are acceptable. A biblical name is good if it isn’t too far out there. Shear-Jashub (Isaiah 7:3) probably isn’t a great name for a child even if it IS in the Bible. Use wisdom and understanding. Acceptance is the first step to greatness many times. Don't let the bar be too high because of a strange name you give your child.
11. There are people of every stripe who think differently from you. Some who might be considered your kin by many if you stood side by side may not think like you at all. You might end up developing conservative viewpoints on the world around you and identify with Clarence Thomas, Charles Payne, Dr Ben Carson, Herman Cain or Stacey Dash. If you do you would do well not to consider all liberal people of color to be idiots and losers. They are human beings who have made a choice base on their upbringing and understanding. If on the other hand you find yourself on the more liberal side, disparaging those as noted above doesn’t do much if you call them names or consider them uncle Toms or sellouts. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, even if it disagrees with yours. Don’t be a blind follower of either side of the equation. Use your brain, you heart and your discernment. Too many people on the far extremes of the left or right follow blindly without using the brain in their head. When Trump said he could shoot someone on Fifth Ave in New York and still be loved by most of his followers, that is tragic and more true than we can believe. It happens on the left too. Many would have excused Obama of grave crimes out of loyalty. Invest your loyalty careful and don’t be a sucker for either side.
12. Beware of old wives tales, myths and legends. Most are wrong. When you hear someone talk about the origins of Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Years, Easter or even Black Friday, be careful not to be sucked into such arguments. Paul the Apostle warned his spiritual son Timothy to avoid people that spread such division and lies. It must have been a big issue then as it is now, because both letters to Timothy at Ephesus are full of warnings like these about mis-leaders:
- Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 1 Timothy 4:7
- They devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculation rather than the stewardship of God’s work, which is by faith. 1 Timothy 1:4
- reject foolish and ignorant speculation, for you know that it breeds quarreling. 2 Timothy 2:23
- So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 1 Timothy 6:4
You can look these verses up for yourself. Some of the worst propagators and perpetrators spreading these fractured fairy tales are people who call themselves men of God. They proudly wear the title Reverend, Pastor Teacher, Apostle and Prophet. They are leading people astray and will answer to Father for their misleading. They spend too much time surfing the internet to find lies they will spread. Don’t be sucked in even if they come to you as an angel of light. So does the devil. Every one of these lies and deceptions are meant to keep you in bondage. You are destined to live in Freedom, not bondage.
13. Travel my son. Get out of town. Learn to love all of this great country. Become friends one on one with people who are very different from you. The proverb says,if you would have a friend, be a friend. You can learn much by interacting without judgment with people that are most unlike you. You might find it hard at first. Stop comparing; appreciate the “Other” for who they are. Try to see things from their standpoint and try to understand. You will be enriched by learning to love people who are not like you at all for who they are. Go NOW! And as you go, make disciples. That is great mandate, but you can’t do that staying inside your doors, community or city.
14. I know some of what I say seems hard but wherever you find offense, check your heart. That’s where offense rises from. You know I want the best for you. I want you to live life to your full God given destiny. These instructions are meant to break you free from the things my generation saw as chains that held us down. We operated in more ignorance than we should have. You are better than that. Become everything God ever said to you according to his word. What would we do if we believed the Bible was true? IT IS! What great things would you do if you knew you could not fail. WHO SAID YOU WILL FAIL?
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