“So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone. “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.”
Acts of the Apostles 17:22-30 NLT
http://bible.com/116/act.17.22-30.nlt
I went and saw “The Black Panther” twice opening weekend. For me, it was that good. I’ve actually thought about going to see it a third time, but I may just wait to get it on DVD. LoL. Either way, if you couldn’t tell I thought the film was great. I feel like it made Black people feel good about being Black again. A deeper appreciation for who we are as a people and for our culture.
I think that is important for any race. To tap into the good things about your culture and celebrate them. Each race has its own set of stuff that’s not so good, but we all have something we can be proud of naturally in our culture. Nothing wrong with appreciation our culture or the cultures of others.
There is a snack shop at my job. The girl who runs the shop is Spanish. She blasts different styles of Latin music all day long. One day I walked in and she was playing a song and it immediately made me want to move. I told her, “I like that. It makes you want to dance.” Just saying that to say we can appreciate each other and our differences. We have more in common than what we allow to divide us.
That brings me to us. Not us, but me and you. Appreciate who you are regardless of your race, culture or gender. God made you uniquely you. He has created you for in a specific family, at specific time and in specific place. None of it is an accident. It is all the plan of God. When you look in the mirror feel a sense of pride. God made you. You are the works of His hands made in His very image and likeness.
When ladies get their hair done, put on make up or put together that bomb outfit you’re creating an image. Fellas when you get that fresh cut or a new pair of Jordans to go with that shirt you’re creating an image. We’re acting like our Heavenly Father. We’re creating an image that when we look at it we say, “It’s good.”
We spend way too much time and mental energy on what others think of us. We allow it to rule us. It becomes an idol in our lives. If we don’t get a certain number likes on a social media post or if enough people don’t compliment us on how we look or how we dress we feel less than a person. Regardless of all of that YOU HAVE VALUE. God didn’t put you together with scraps. You weren’t an after thought. He’s numbered the hairs on your head. You are fearfully and wonderfully made by the Master. In other words, YOU ARE DOPE!
Like I said, you’re not a mistake and you’re not an accident. God made you and put you here with a purpose in mind. Don’t sell yourself short. Whatever shortcomings you have don’t worry about it. God will use it for His glory. He’s going to put you on display. God loves you with an everlasting love. When He looks at you He brags to the angels in Heaven like, “That’s my child and they’re dope.”
That leads us to our Throwback Song of the Week. We’re not only going old school, but we’re going with a little bit of gospel twist. One of the greatest gospel artists of all time from Fort Worth, Texas – Kirk Franklin. This is from his 2007 release “The Fight of My Life.” He collabs with the Philly native Da’ T.R.U.T.H on a track called “I Like Me.” Need I say more? Tune into Trackstarz this week to hear DJ Jeremaya play this for the Throwback Song of the Day. Until next time…
Peace and blessings,
Damo
