Tag: Christian

The Butterfly Effect: Shedding The Old Skin…#SpiritualSundays

 

The Butterfly Effect: Shedding the Old Skin

 

#SpritualSundays

 

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. (NKJV)

butterfly hatching

Have you ever wondered how a caterpillar sheds its old skin and then becomes a butterfly? Anyone that really knows me will know that I am terrified of butterflies! I don’t know why but ever since I was a child I would run when I saw them or when they got anywhere near me. Visiting my dad just a few months ago one got close to me and I was out; he laughed and said, “you got to be kidding me; you’re still scared of them?” I almost laughed at myself but then I had to think about it; what was I afraid of and how could I move past it?

Sometimes to fully understand or comprehend something you should put on your investigative hat and do some research; so, I decided to dive in; care to join me?

First, I wanted to find out how do butterflies even come into play? I learned in elementary that caterpillars turn into butterflies (by the way I don’t care for caterpillars either or anything creepy and crawly!) and they go through stages to become a butterfly; but what were those stages?

butterfly_2

First stage: Egg

Second stage: Caterpillar or Larva (The Feeding Stage)

Third stage: Pupa (The Transition Stage)

Adult: Butterfly (The Reproductive Stage)

The whole process is called metamorphosis which in Greek means “transformation or change in shape” (The Academy of Natural Sciences: Drexel University)

And this is where scripture comes into play; let’s look at 2 Corinthians 5:17 again; you are a new creation and the old things have gone away (paraphrased). How do you become a new creation? How do you rid of the old person, old ways, old habits, old language, old reflexes, old tendencies, old temptations; and become new and improved?

caterpillar

Just like a caterpillar you enter metamorphosis and become transformed! Romans 12:2 says this “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”. (NIV)

When you were conceived you were just an egg that had to be developed; when you began to grow inside your mother’s womb; you had to be properly fed and receive proper nutrients to develop vital parts and organs (caterpillar), to be full term you are there for 9 months and protected not only by the womb but also another protective layer (pupa) due to being precious cargo. When it is time to be born (you shed the old skin and take on a new skin); you are handed to the one that carried you during the transition stages and will continue to guide you through the rest of your life (adult).

How different are our life stages from a butterfly? What do you think is going on through the pupa stages that differs from a human baby; how does that tie into being a new creation (Christian-follower of Jesus-born again)? Can you go to the club on Saturday and be in church on Sunday praising Him? Can you still be committing adultery and ushering people to their seats on Sunday morning? Can you still be going to the strip club and serving as a Youth Leader on Sundays? Can you wish harm on others and still pray for God to bless you? “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord]”. Matthew 6:24 (AMP)

Growth and change takes time; but you should be involved and committed to the full process! You can’t say you Luv God and don’t act like it! You can’t say you’re a born-again Christian and don’t fully represent Him! You can’t say touch not my anointed and you’re living like you’re from the demon family!

If you’re aspiring to be a part of the Kingdom of the Most High; then your old man/woman has to be shredded and shed! Throughout the stages of becoming a butterfly; caterpillars shed their old skin and come out beautifully and wonderfully made! Need I say anymore?

butterfly_1

So many of us are claiming to be born-again, Christian, saved, sanctified and filled with The Holy Ghost but who are you representing? Anyone that makes a statement isn’t doing so under oath and therefore how do we take it to be truth?

So as I reflected on my fear of butterflies I had to check myself! How can I claim to be a child of the Most High and fearful; not only that but fearful of something that He created? “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control]”. 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP)

believer

Copyrighted 2017 Tamara McCarthy Enterprises

References:

www.biblegateway.com

http://www.ansp.org/explore/online-exhibits/butterflies/lifecycle/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pupa

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Twas the Night Before Christmas

 

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What does this holiday season mean to you? Why do I ask? Because it means something different to the people that you talk too! Everyone will give you a different spin on it and many of you when you hear their analogy; will maybe raise an eyebrow, or two! For some; you can tell what it means without asking them; because they will show you. You see them all over the news and social media standing in these long lines; waiting to purchase material items! They will fight and curse out their neighbor because they took the last television and they really needed that television! Come on now; when did these stores only sell televisions on special occasions? Couldn’t they get that television at other time? So, you are going to make yourself look stupid and cause bodily harm to another human being for something that could possibly break the next day after you purchase it?

Gifts

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When did we get so focused on gifts? I know you have heard the saying “It is better to give than receive”; does that apply to the holiday season; or has it just been attached to this time of year? When did material things become sort of like the soul focus on this time of year? The stores start putting out holiday decorations way before it’s time; to get people to start buying them early; hence making their financial statements look mighty impressive! They beef up customer service and hire more people in retail doing this time of year; to ensure they have enough hands-on deck to handle the abundance of shoppers! They sit around in their board meetings and team meetings to see how and what they can do to get the most people in their stores; so, they can spend the most money! Only to lay off countless numbers of people after the hype has dwindled down because the holiday season is over; now you have people out of work that were only hired to fill a need of getting them in more money!

What if?

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What if there were no stores to shop at and spend all your money on gifts? What if the only thing that was available was a piece of paper and a pen/pencil and you had to actually write a note to each person in your life; maybe just the ones that matter! The same folks that you went out of your way to buy all these gifts for! What words would you use? How would you start off your first sentence? Would you talk about the past, present and future? Would your words hurt them or make them feel loved? Would you tell them how much they mean to you? How do you think they would respond; if they were giving this note during the holiday season; instead of an actual gift? Take your time and think about that one….

Something to Meditate On

floral_14 After reading this; does it change your mind? Does it make you rethink anything that you have grown accustomed to doing? Will you do anything differently going forward? Will you incorporate anything that you haven’t been doing to what you are already doing? The point here is just to give some insight, make you think; and possibly start a conversation that will expand your thought process and the thought process of those around you. Whatever this holiday season means to you; let it be filled with love, peace and kindness; that isn’t just self-centered but worldwide.

“Cussin’ – Bad Words – WTF and #*!@?” #SpiritualSundays

When I was, a kid attending Frederick J. Schulze Elementary School in Detroit Michigan, my classmates would use “Bad Words: while whispering to each other.  The “cool” kids would say these “bad words” during conversation, but even the cool kids would avoid allowing their hushed voices to be heard by the teacher.  I wonder if the grown-ups at the school ever knew that some of the kids spoke these words?

Check out the audio version of this blog here: 

Once I hit Beaubien Jr. High school, the “Bad words” evolved into cussin’ and the hushed voices grew louder and became more direct toward certain classmates.  I frequently found myself being the target of some of that language as the class bullies seemed to resent everything I wore, everything I smiled about and every “A” that I earned.  I knew that I wasn’t a B-I-T-C-H, but just having that word slung in my direction stung a bit more, each time I heard it.

I grew up attending and being blessed by memberships in two Detroit churches.  I was baptized and raised at Beth Eden Missionary Baptist Church, and at the age of twelve my spiritual growth enlarged through my membership at Hartford Memorial Baptist Church.  Now, I don’t know about other churches or other religions but I do know that EVERY BAPTIST CHURCH I have ever attended always leads you in a song that goes a little something like this:

 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer – Amen, Amen, Amen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=885otfEQ9Ug

Now, did I know that song that we sang was a scripture?  Nope!  Did I know that while singing that song in church, I was basically saying out loud that I wanted the words that came out of my mouth to be acceptable to God?  Nope!  “DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH?!” 

Once I “grew up” and lived on the college campus, I cussed “like a sailor” because I was “GROWN!” My mama wasn’t around to smack me in the mouth and everybody else on the campus of Wilberforce University was cussing’ too!  That’s when one of the professors mentioned a study that has stuck with me all these years later.  Now, don’t quote me on it but the study said something about the use of vulgar language reflecting the ignorance and poor vocabulary skills of the word cussin’.  Well, I was a communications major and I planned to have a career in radio, so I wasn’t about to reflect ignorance coming out of my mouth!  After that lesson, cuss words only flew out of my mouth during stress or frustration… and even then, I was ashamed afterwards.

These days I will see posts on social media with letters such as “WTF” or “LMFAO”.  These letters are sometimes even posted in a sentence meant to bring humor or accolades, but once I see that letter “F” or letter “A” in there, I get a little sad.  As an adult, we now refer to this language as “Profanity” and although it is no longer directed at me, I still shudder when I hear it spoken; just hearing swear words can make me sad.

 “A group of researchers from Kno.e.sis Research Center, Wright State University near Dayton Ohio studied why people swear in the online world by collecting tweets posted on Twitter. They found that cursing is associated with negative emotions such as sadness (21.83%) and anger (16.79%) thus showing people in the online world mainly use curse words to express their sadness and anger towards others.[20][21]” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity)

You see, our words reflect what is growing on the inside of us.  Kinda like if you ate something last night that doesn’t agree with your tummy, you will find yourself on the toilet by the next morning.  That mess was on the inside of you, so it came out.  Cussin’ reflects something rotten inside of you, so it falls out of your mouth just as easily as that diarrhea plopped outta your butt!

Profanity – offensive words or religious words used in a way that shows you do not respect God or holy things – http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/profanity

My mama was a holy thing when she lived on Earth.  Even though our mama cussed, I didn’t cuss around my mama (I didn’t want to get a spanking, so that motivated me to keep my mouth clean!).  My husband is a holy thing as he represents the way God loves me in this season of my life.  I don’t cuss around my husband. Just looking at him reminds me that I am loved and respected and appreciated, so I don’t have a reason to cuss him out! (lol).  I am a temple of the Lord and I invite the Lord to live inside me.  I don’t cuss around my temple…I don’t cuss around myself.  I love myself and respect myself, so I don’t cuss in my conversations or in my writings.

Wikipedia reflects that “profanity has come to mean any socially offensive language beyond that strictly religious sense, but tends to exclude any other nonverbal communication. Thus profanity in English may be synonymous with bad language, strong language, coarse language, foul language, bad words, vulgar language, lewd language, choice words or expletives“. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity

On the Sunday, November 20, 2016 ministry broadcast from Pastor Ron Carpenter, he taught that there was a lesson in the bible where a group of people had been led by Moses to a place where they were to drink water.  When the people tasted the water, they found that it tasted bitter and later, scientists tested the water and determined that the bitter taste was the result of a laxative component that would help flush your system.  Ron Carpenter offered that God led those people to the water to get that bad taste of their past slavery out of their systems. http://www.roncarpenter.com/on-demand/detox/

 

What do you need to get out of your system?  

If you don’t get it out spiritually, it will fly out of your mouth offensively.

(Thank you, Jesus!)

On the Sunday, November 20, 2016 broadcast from Pastor Jesse Duplantis, he taught on first fruits and on giving God your best.  He visually taught that God gave us HIS first fruit in that he gave us His first son.  Why don’t we give God our best language of respect, praise and gratitude and cleanse our minds and our tongues from foul language?  Why don’t we give OURSELVES our first fruit of a sweet language on our lips and not the bitter words that fly out and offend?

God gave us his best when he gives us his grace and mercy and when God spoke, he created wonders and lifestyles and an home for us!  When we speak to the waitress, she brings out the best meal that can be prepared for us.  When you hear those words “I Love You”… do you want to hear a cuss word thrown in that statement?!?

Today, let us all strive to “clean up our act” and mentally “wash our mouths out with soap”.  Listen to the lyrics of the music you are feeding into your ears.  Is it laced with profanity and sexual references?  How does that make you feel?  Do you find yourself quoting those lyrics?  Would you want someone referring to you in the way those lyrics refer to another in that song?

Today, let us all strive to replace one curse word at a time with a new vocabulary word in our speech and in our writings.  “WTF” can now be “WITW” (What In The World?” comes from my anointed daughter Jasmine…thanks Princess!)  I prefer ROTFLOL to LMFAO (why do I have to refer to myself as FAT, anyway!  Hmmph).  Today, let us be a “Shining Light of Language” (SLOL) for someone else while we are talking to them; when they realize that each word coming from your mouth is positive and encouraging… they may catch on and repeat your example!

 

 

References:

 Ron Carpenter broadcast from Sunday, November 20, 2016 – http://www.roncarpenter.com/

Jesse Duplantis broadcast from Sunday, November 20, 2016  – http://www.jdm.org/

Psalm 19:14 King James Version – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+19%3A14&version=KJV

The Brentwood Baptist Church Choir, Houston on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=885otfEQ9Ug

Quote from the 1998 film “Rush Hour” when Chris Tucker speaks to Jackie Chan – https://youtu.be/cJX1REQB12o

The definition of Profanity by Wikipedia – – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profanity

 

Evangelist Angie BEE

Call us today at 407-914-6519

www.DaQueenBee.com

2012 Female Radio Show Host of the Year 

Recognized by the global One Accord DJ Alliance

2014 Ordained as an Evangelist by

Fellowship Church of Praise of Volusia County 

2015 recipient of the Outstanding Ministry Leader Award

for our Moms-n-Ministry Workshop

Presented by the Professional Women of Excellence, Inc.

2016 recipient of the prestigious “Palm Tree (Endurance) Award”

Presented by Mary & Martha Ministries, Orlando

Author, Media Producer, Promoter & Motivational Speaker

View our past events, commercials, VIDEO NEWS segments

and TV show episodes at

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Purchase your Kindle copies of my books:

“Last Week… I Wanted To Die”

and  “Evolution of Da Queen Bee“

 

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Then I heard the Lord asking, 

“Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? 

Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” – Isaiah 6:8

 

BEE Blessed!

 

 

A House Divided: written by Tarsha L. Campbell #SpiritualSundays

spiritual-sundays

One of the greatest strategies of the enemy is to divide and conquer. Satan uses this tactic on many home fronts. He uses it in families, in businesses, in churches, in ministries, etc. The enemy knows if he can cause any entity to walk in division, he can infiltrate and overthrow it.

This stands true when it comes to you as an individual. You are the temple and house of God. You are a tri-part being, comprise of spirit, soul, and body. The enemy knows if he can get you in conflict within yourself, and in conflict with God’s will for your life, he can misalign you from your purpose and destiny. Satan is searching for opportunities to spoil your inner peace and disrupt the unity between you and God. He wants to divide and conquer by causing you to walk in confusion, fear, intimidation, and waver in constant unbelief when it comes to the promises of God concerning your life.

This month’s Next Step Coaching For Success comes to admonish you not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices lest he gains the advantage over you (II Corinthians 2:11). Be conscious of the schemes and plots of the enemy. Don’t let the evil one cause division among your members and misalign you from God’s purpose. Be determined to stay single-minded and focused on the plan of God for your life. Especially if you are in leadership, because others are following your lead.

 

Your Next Step Coaching For Success Minute:

 

  • Identify the parts of you that are in constant conflict
  • What are the root causes of the conflict?
  • Seek God for grace to overcome and to remain undivided in your members

 

© Tarsha L. Campbell, All Rights Reserved, Use only with permission

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Giving your Mind a Break


Have you ever had to do this? Take a break for your peace of mind? I had to do this recently; had lots going on and I just felt stuffy. I want to believe that it was God’s way of saying; we need to talk and I need your undivided attention! 

People, places and things many times will crowd you and overtake you if you allow it; and especially if you aren’t strong enough to step away. This can be one of the reasons people have mental breakdowns; just the overload of everything rushing them all at once.

I have been praying for clarity for sometime now and I believe I’m starting to get just that. In my hiatus I got a download in my spirit; to incorporate other bloggers, writers and lovers of the word; the bible! In this journey that I have found myself on and call it Spiritual Sunday’s. 

I didn’t know how it was going to be received or if I would get any takers but I put out the call; and some have answered!  I am excited because each one of us are unique in our own way but we all have love and passion for others; and its just going to be awesome! 

The word says that we are to ask and it will be given! I asked for clarity and this is just the beginning! Stay tuned and be on the look out for Spiritual Sunday’s starting the 21st of August..

Until next time..Peace & Blessings