Walk. Don't Run.

"STOP RUNNING!  WALK!".  This is a reoccurring theme around our house these days, since we have a 4 and 2 year old in the house.  It seems like every time I turn around, you are telling them to stop running.  I wish I had a tape recorder so that we can play it instead of repeating it over and over again, however as my wife has reminded me, they are learning through repetition.

So what's the big deal with running?  Nothing at all, when it's done at the appropriate time.  When you are participating in a sport, most of the time it requires you to run. If you are in a classroom, it is probably inappropriate to run down the isles like you were on a football field!

If you'll notice, you always hear the term to "Walk With Jesus".  You never hear anything about running with Christ.  Let's think about this for a minute.   When you run, when you should be walking a few things happen:

• Your Safety Is Comprised - I know with all the corners in our house, I cringe when our children come close to hitting them.  We all know that it is only a matter of time before one of them fall into it. In the act of running everything else around you becomes a blur and you miss certain surroundings that could potentially harm you.  In this case, when running through daily life, half the time Jesus is no where on the brain, but when we walk with Him in the front, He doesn't get lost in that blur.  "He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; is faithfulness will be your shield and rampart" (Psalm 91:4).
  
  
• You Lose Patience - If you run long enough you will lose patience with everything else around you.  This is because we are so focused on the very thing after which you are running; nothing else matters.  For example, if you are going after that new manager position at your job, everything else becomes irrelevant (especially since it has nothing to do with what you're chasing).  It becomes more about you and what you are chasing.  If you aren't careful you could then fall into "...hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy..."  Patience is one of the fruits of the spirit and "[t]hose who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires" (see Galatians 5:19-24). 
  
  
• You Become the Chased - If you run after something long enough you will start to become absorbed in it.  It will start to consume you and in no time you'll find that you have become the chased.  Have you ever wanted something so bad that it started to make you feel sick?  Did it make you stay awake at night?  Would it cause you to lose your appetite sometimes?  Well, this is a case where that after which you were running have started to chase you.  This is a result of impatience.  Also, it is a case of idolatry, therefore forming a stronghold over you.  In 1 John 5:19 it says, "We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one." Nothing has power over you unless you allow it, but if you are running so fast you cannot see it happening then you become ensnared in the trap of the enemy.

When we walk with Jesus, we get to take things in slow strides and not in fast short steps.  We are privileged to see the safety hazards and temptations in order to avoid them.  While in the Word of God we learn the importance of patience and how to wait on the Lord.  Yes, walking usually takes a little longer to get to the final destination, but at least you get to smell the flowers and enjoy the scenery along the way.  Watch God work in your life and don't let a moment of it go by in a blur.

Be easy family and have a good one.

Updated: 11/20/2019


~Antoine

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Leviticus Lessons: Right on the Edge

Good Evening Family,

I hope that you are having a good day today.  It has definitely been a long one for me, but I'm here and I'm well.  I am sure that you probably can say the same thing.  Here lately, I feel like I have been crossing over into some different areas of my spiritual walk.  I cannot put my finger on yet, but when I do, I'll let you know :-).

It is like I am right on the edge of something big.  I mean I am at a point of my life where I did not see my current state of affairs coming at all.  If you asked me to open up my play book on my life, you would not be able to find this one drawn up in my book!  However, as the quote I recently shared with you goes:  "plans change, but the vision remains the same".

Right now, I am in the book of Leviticus.  I know, I know you might say that is a tough read.  Guess what? For me, the first time around it was.  It was like reading a bunch of laws over and over again.  God said to do this and do that.  It definitely wasn't reading like a story at all and it was easy to lose focus.  This time around though I see something completely different.

Essentially, the book of Leviticus is a "Preist's Manual" or How-to guide on how to perform certain rituals and sacrifice.  In addition, we have to understand the reasoning for things being spelled out they way they have been. The laws “were given as a protective umbrella or foundation for the Israelite people” (see American Bible Society).  It instructed everyone how to live together as neighbours as well as how to love and respect one another.  If you were obedient to God's law and direction then his blessings would flow to you.  If you were disobedient then you would feel his wrath (read Leviticus 26).

Something that seemed so boring before is now bringing a new life and meaning to me and I hope to be able to share it with you as well.  I really felt I was in the doldrums for a while.  I mean really this has been a doozy but I have to keep on pressing.  Many times we are always going through life when we reach the edge of a cliff.  We see the vast distance to cross and get intimidated, so rather than look for a way to get to the other side we turn back.   Many blessings have been missed by not pushing though to find a way to the other side of a situation, however, I do not plan to miss mines. I urge you to keep on pushing through yours as well and when you hit what looks like the edge, don't take no for an answer and continue on you quest.

God has something in store for all of us.  We just need to continue to listen to His voice and follow His instructions. The rest will take care of itself.

Be easy family and have a good one.

~ Antoine E. Hall

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H1N1: Big Deal or Not?

Image from CDC

H1N1 or the "swine flu".  Just what in the heck is it and why should we care? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it "is a new influenza A (H1N1) virus that has never before circulated among humans. This virus is not related to previous or current human seasonal influenza viruses."  So what does this mean for you and I?  In my opinion not too much.

Remember the Bird Flu?  Whatever happened to that?  Seems that it took a back seat and quietly went away.  Over the past 3 to 4 years, the WHO and the CDC have been talking about we are due for a Pandemic (well at least according to statistical trends).  Now we have the Swine Flu.  I think the WHO and CDC are correct in alarming the public that there is a new virus out there - after all it is their job.  However, you have to start looking at the media and drug companies for really pushing this thing and scaring folks.

People have died.  Yes, and I am sensitive to this.  However, more people die from AIDS, Cancer, etc. all the time and it never gets as much coverage as the new virus on the block.  Is it me, or do you find it amazing that from the time we first heard about H1N1 until now, there is a vaccine for it?!!  Vaccines and new drugs typically take years to clear the FDA (if ever), but this one has managed to infiltrate the markets and now they have run out!

Can you say the law of supply and demand?  You only make a little bit of the vaccine to see who "bites" and when you run out, there is a huge demand for more! Duh!  See where this is going.  I may be wrong here, but this sounds like a case for increasing the pockets of some drug companies and possibly some politicians as well.

Let's see how long this one stay in the news before the next flu comes out.  We've had the Bird Flu and the Swine Flu.....next up, Fish Flu.

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Oh Man...Oaths

Good afternoon folks,

I hope that everyone is doing well.  I am doing pretty good myself, so I can't complain.  You know, I am not going to waste too much time because today's WFTD is serious business for me.  It is probably the toughest one I have had to write thus far, but it's life so here we go.

Today I want to talk to you all about "oaths".  Yep, oaths.  Well, you may be asking why in the world would this be so tough Antoine?  We'll I'll tell you why.  It's because I had to take one to become a member of my fraternity, Iota Phi Theta.  The one I loved so dearly and cherished.  The one I stayed up for late nights and poured years of time and energy into it.  The problem is that biblically, taking oaths are just wrong.  Wrong as wrong can be.  I had heard about this before but I chose not to know or to find out because after all, when happy why ruin it right?  However, God has a way of putting you into position so that He can be heard.  It is quite a humbling way of doing things and when you're in it, its amazing how you can look back and see how He systematically brought you to this point - all the while you thought life wasn't making sense.

What is an oath?  According to TheFreeDictionary.com an oath is "[a] solemn, formal declaration or promise to fulfill a pledge, often calling on God, a god, or a sacred object as witness". We all take oaths.  Politicians take oaths while being sworn into office.  Someone about to take the stand in a trial takes an oath to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God.  Even the Pledge of Allegiance is an oath.   Fine right? WRONG!  Very, very wrong.  Just because we do it and we all have been doing it, doesn't make it right.  Let's go to Leviticus 5:4:

"Or if anyone unthinkingly swears he will do something, whether to do evil or good, whatever it may be that a man shall pronounce rashly taking an oath, then, when he becomes aware of it, he shall be guilty in either of these."

For a good example, let's jump to the New Testament.  In Mark 6:22-27, it says:

"(22) When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.   The king said to the girl, 'Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you.'  (23) And he promised her with an oath, 'Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.'   (24) She went out and said to her mother, 'What shall I ask for?' 'The head of John the Baptist,' she answered.  (25) At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: 'I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.'  (26) The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. (27) So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison,"

Go back and read the rest of Mark 6, but you'll find that Herod had no intentions of killing John the Baptist, but because he took an oath he had to do it.  He didn't know that the result would end in evil, but it did. 

Being the smart and intelligent guy that I am, I said to myself "Self, that was Old Testament stuff.  That can't possibly apply to me now."  I mean after all I had a point right?  Jesus came to fulfill the law so this couldn't possible apply to me any more right?  This is the point where the Holy Spirit says, oh really?  Let me show you something in Matthew 5:33-37.  It says:

"(33) Again, you have heard that it was said to the men of old, You shall not swear falsely, but you shall perform your oaths to the Lord [as a religious duty].  (34) But I tell you, Do not bind yourselves by an oath at all: either by heaven, for it is the throne of God; (35) Or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King.  (36) And do not swear by your head, for you are not able to make a single hair white or black. (37) Let your Yes be simply Yes, and your No be simply No; anything more than that comes from the evil one." (FYI, you can also find something similar to this in James 5:12)

Folks that is red text.  If know an inkling about the bible, then you know what this means.  It is Jesus speaking!  In the words of my wife, "you cannot argue with what's in red".  Jesus even says to  not take an oath at all, even to heaven!  I mean, really if you are a true believer and follower of Christ, then Jesus speaking means a lot.  To me, this means that I have to make a change, because ignorance of the law is not bliss.  Don't believe me, then go down the highway doing 100mph and pretend to the officer you didn't know you couldn't drive that fast. 

With that said, I have to renounce my former thrown as the King of Zamunda.  Do you hear me?  I renounce my thrown!  No in all seriousness though, I have asked for forgiveness and turned away from my sin.  Net-Net.  I have officially severed my ties with my former fraternity for the simple reason that my yes should have been my yes and my no my no.  Even though I have been inactive, for me to continue my connection with the organization would be a blatant act of disobedience and I've had too many whoopings growing up to know what it brings.

I say all this to say, this was the revelation that God has given to me and I felt the need to share it with others.  I know this will not be accepted by the majority of the folks out there, but I'm not here to be accepted by the majority.  I want acceptance only from Jesus.  If you are in a greek lettered organization and claim to be a Christian then I want to share this information that you may not act on now, but at least you cannot say you had not been informed.

Be blessed folks and have a good one!

Regards, Antoine E. Hall "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." - 2 Samuel 22:33

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My First Blog Entry

Hello Every One and Welcome to my blog.  I have been talking about creating a blog for a long time now so I've finally stop wasting time.  I hope you find something that you can use here and that it is informative and worth sharing with others.  Be easy folks and welcome!

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