Conversation Between Anthony Lewis and Myself

Daniel:I was thinking about how to start this conversation off but that's out the window......I think I'm just going to jump right in. It seems to me that manhood nowadays has been restricted to a few things that have nothing to do with maturity level.....sexual prowess, material possessions, and the image that you portray to the outside world.....the tougher the better usually...it irks me that what really makes a man gets placed on the backburner.....such as the heart, the concern for others and the ability to build....not to mention if you mention anything that has to do with Jesus you automatically get blacklisted as a "holy roller" by most.....Anthony:I agree. The value system in America has gone down the drain. However, it is due in large part to one thing: Television. Once meant for entertainment and news, it has now become the de facto parent for our children, as well as babysitter. The outlines for being a 'man' now can all be traced to the TV/movie industry. Sexual prowess - how many times have we seen the 'cool' character get all of the women? And isn't he lauded for being able to philander and no one care? Material possessions - this is a big hit in the Black community. Rappers started showing off...women began to give them attention...the gaudiness grew, and so did the attention. Then, somewhere along the way, a notion that having material would bring droves of women was disseminated. ...I'm sure 'bling bling' had something to do with that. And on a subconscious level, the fact that most major male stars have nice bodies is telling men that their appearance is paramount. Couple that with how shallow women can be, thanks to TV and music, and you create a fixation on having a 'manly' body.Daniel:Yep. Bro it's almost like that carrot they dangle in front of a racehorse to keep it chasing and running in the cultivated belief that they can one day run it down but no matter how fast they run, the carrot is always just out of reach. It is much the same with manhood as defined by society's means. they give you a false definition of manhood and tell you to chase these things the whole time knowing that it is in fact an unattainable goal. But you see the real problem there is the parents have stopped teaching the children how to be and have instead allowed the media influence to teach them how they should seem. Too busy chasing down their own rabbits that they will never attain to teach the child that to attain their own dreams they must conquer it one step at a time instead of this breakneck pace that leads them straight to the glue factory.Anthony:Indeed. The largest problem, in my opinion, is the death of innocence, and lack of vulnerability. Innocence is the insulation that keeps a young mind warm in this cold world. It fosters dreams, imagination, it is what gives a child that sparkle in their eye. But now, children are exposed to real life at such a young age...they are jaded before they can ever know what the word means. That is why you see so many Black children acting 'grown;' they're literally acting like what they're exposed to. And since they start out ghetto like that, that's the way they'll grow, and that's how they'll stay. The lack of vulnerability is what is hurting love. No one wants to take a chance and let someone in anymore...it's all about self-preservation. People don't realize that to love is to preserve self, as you become one with another, you forge a bond that will last beyond the limits of time, a legacy that cannot be tarnished. Love is an inoculation...it can protect you from the ills of the world, for it is immensely deep. But that has been lost...it is now about instant gratification (which has been subconsciously inculcated by the Lotto and fast food), and pleasure of self (which has been inculcated by media and video games). With these two things lacking, the man cannot be himself, and the woman doesn't want to be herself.Daniel:Exactly bro. that's where you get that whole overindependent woman/shallow man concept at....a man by nature is a well rounded being but you take him away from who he is by nature and replace what should nurture with that which beats him down and what you get is a man who is half of what he ought to be. And we all know that half a man is no man at all....but to feign like he is a man, he takes what is around tells him masculinity is and attempts to blow it up and make those blown up pieces appear to be a whole man. Whereas the overindependent woman is a product of Willie Lynchism that hasn't been filtered out of our culture yet....it's even been supported, commercialized and encouraged by the mothers the whole while it's killing our family. Because if a woman can be just like a man, is there a need for the man anymore? All she needs him for then is procreation and that makes a mockery out of the man further which then pushes him to become even more of the carbon copy of false manhood because he sees that this is what draws the woman. Sexual prowess. and it destroys us from the inside out.Anthony:Yessir. A man leaves when he is not needed. (sees Black men leaving Black women to go to other races) In some cases, he will even go FIND a place to be needed. (sees White men 'saving' underprivileged Black women) Women can do many of the things that men do, but that's a credit to how amazing they are, not a suggestion that they should. But with the emasculation of the man, they feel as though the must fill those shoes. And men don't even see what's going on...they just keep feeding into this. Men support the double standard, the "I have a lot of sex, I'm cool; she does it, she's a ho." Men swear by this...so they go have a lot of sex. Sex is a connecting interaction...every time you do it, you give a piece of yourself. Men are losing themselves in the pleasure of the flesh. Women hate the standard, and attempt to beat it; they are then either chastised by society, or end up losing themselves in the quest to beat men, a quest they take up out of a perceived necessity, though it isn't. There's nothing wrong with ambition, but when unchecked, it can be a problem...all that glitters isn't gold, but glitter can be blinding, and gold be desired. So as women strive to do their best, men are mired in doing less.Daniel:yeah men lie to themselves a lot about that specific double standard.....the big problem is that the man doesn't have an actual standard for conduct because he's lost touch with self and lost touch with God in the bigger picture so he does seek to find himself in fleshly measures but by the time he figures out the more women he falls into physically the deeper he falls into spiritual depravity and so the circle closes over on itself much like a Black hole the farther you go the deeper you sink and the harder it is to find light....Women on the other hand are expected to uphold some strict moral code which obviously doesn't extend to the man...thus you have a world full of ladies and few gentleman because being a gentleman usually isn't positively encouraged by the male population. But then that creates a world of insanity because somebody has to be sleeping with these men who seek to find their masculinity in a woman's birth canal. There is no real standard anymore, just what is more or less acceptable....back in the day there were expected standards set by parents and if the male didn't meet these standards, he was instantly dismissed. But with the whole I gotta get mines generation came the neglect of raising children in the interest of providing a living.Anthony:I agree. And sadly, it's a simple formula. Men feel best with their mothers as they grow up...and so they go back from whence they came, the vagina, to feel good. Women feel best with attention, so they stick to whatever means, whoring, golddigging, etc., to feel good. Men love that intimate care of a mother...and there's nothing that makes a woman intimate like sex (in their minds), so that's how they get that feeling back. It's ephemeral and fleeting though, so it ends up become a constant need. For women, they love the attention they receive...but rather than take it in stride, some begin to feed off of it...and begin to do anything to parlay that attention into gain, be it money, material, whatever. And that's how they get caught up. They all forget that with God as your vehicle and the Universe as your guide, the trip will always lead you in the right direction. Love is Him...so to love Him is to be with Him. And the Universe flows like a river...so you are constantly being swept at the proper paces for proper situations. Neither would ever place more than one can bear. Alas, our people have forsaken love, and walked out of the river. We try to beat our own path, with no direction but what we've been shown through the media. We are lost sheep...and the TV/movie/music industries continue to herd us.Daniel:That I defintely agree with....we have forgotten how to be lovers. Real lovers. Not this synonym with sexual partners but actual real lovers. Lovers of others before we love self, to me was one of the more hard to grasp teachings of Jesus. Especially in light of the fact that ever since the fall mankind has been inclined to self-gratify.....it got so bad at one point to where God sorrowed at the iniquity committed one against another....and Jesus has pointed out that if will be as in the days of Noah.....that phrase in the days does mean that mankind will be just as evil one to another as they were in the days that God sorrowed at iniquity upon the Earth....which is definitely saying something about our level of depravity. Anything as long as it makes me feel good has become humankind's unofficial motto....it can most easily be seen in the Catholic abuse scandal where these men molest children for no other apparent reason....apparently the judgement against them from God's mouth does not register with them as enough to refrain from participating in such acts of debauchery and depravity. Yet no one wants to escape from these lying spirits which have conditioned us to accept whatever looks like it benefits us when in reality it will all too happily kill us off and the spirits smile while it happens.Anthony:Religion has become a bastion...whenever one wants an exculpatory pass from sin, they go to church and 'find' God. God is not some lost toy or plaything that you can just pick up when you want. The lack of true faith and love in reference to Him, is at the crux of our issues. If a man is a man of God, and lives as such, he will live to be what he is meant and was born to be. If a woman is a woman of God, the same will hold true. There needs to be more rigidity with that...but everything is relative. Those that fail subsequently shine a light on those of us that succeed. (leaves for work)

Servitude

Romans 12:9-21 pretty much lays out the Christian life in a nutshell. It is to lived in servitude, we are serve each other, outdo each other in giving one another honor, love without hypocrisy, to not lack diligence, with a fervent spirit serve the Lord, these things all show a person the way to servitude. They paint a picture of how we are to conduct ourselves in the body. They paint a picture of Love at its finest, in its brightest colors , a masterful depiction of proper Christian love. If we would focus on doing these things, if we would only focus on esteeming each other as Christ esteemed us as worthy of our love, despite our differences, once we show love we only see each other commonality and the dividing lines are taken down. I love the verse where it talks about showing family affection because on this Earth there is nothing that honestly shows off unconditional love quite like a united family. No matter what happens, your family will encourage and support you because they love you. No one twists their arms and forces them to love, they do it out of their hearts. It is to be much the same way with us Christians in the body, we should be eager to show how much love we have and how deeply our love runs one for another. For love does not lift you, but it lifts the other person; you never really know what someone is going thru and by you showing them love, you might be keeping them from danger, keeping them from taking their own lives, or keeping them out of depression. By our willingness to engage in servitude we not only show off Christ, but we just might change somebody's life. Servitude is more than actions, it is a way of life it is what you do and it also is who you are. It reflects in every area of your life, every place that you go and you can't just turn it off when you want to because God has truly changed the way you look at others and how you look at yourself. But remember that Love leads us to servitude, you must love to serve and serve because you love.

It's Not About You

"If I never attain what I desire I will have attained my heart's desire.....meaning if I never sell one book, never get married, never buy a house, never get a degree, never make over 30,000 a year, or anything else I might desire, God is my desire that fulfills all others, even in their absence. God-centered contentment that forsakes all human desires for heavenly desires."-Daniel JohnsonThe bottom line in this life is this: doing what pleases God. How does one please God? Quite simply by believing that He is who He says He is, that He will do what He said He will do and that His will is superior to yours. The first part of that is faith, the second part of that is submission so by faith and by submission to His Divine will we will please God. There really isn't another way. When we have faith in God we are effectively saying that hey, I realize I can't do this on my own, that my power is limited and Yours is limitless. By submission we are saying that my knowledge is incomplete, but yours Sovereign Lord is full and lacking nothing. Apart from these two elements, there is no faith to be had that is worth much of anything to God as a matter of fact I'm not too sure there is life outside of these two elements. Once you have surrendered your will to God's will you begin to open yourself up to the wisdom of God and not your own human understanding of the way things work. Once you have realized that God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do you begin to realize that nothing relies on you or what you desire but everything relies on God, God's desires, God's grace, God's mercy and God's timing.

What A Man Thinks

Alright I'ma help somebody out with this one. When a man makes an effort to know you whether it be thru texts, phone calls, or even Facebook what he's really trying to do is learn about you, understand why you do what you do, what makes you happy, sad, what drives you what you love, what you hate, to learn how he can relate. He just might be attempting to build something with you just because he cares about you, much less about what he desires from you but more about what he can give you. A lot of the times men won't just come right out and tell you that Hey, I'm kinda feeling you a lil bit. We prefer to just let you know thru our actions where our heart lies at and I promise you that if it's in the right place there will be no questions about it. You won't have to wonder "does he really love me?" or "does he even care?" But you might start questioning if you are worth all of the devotion. The truth is yes you are and you are worth more than we could possibly give. When a man buys you things, he isn't attempting to buy you, this is just all we know to do to express a sacrifice, to express our chivalry, to express our concern for your monetary well being we will give you what we don't have so that you can keep what you own. The primary driving force behind a man giving a gift is just an expression of care, the fact that you might like him a little more after it is only a bonus. We have our thank you from your appreciation. In the end that's all a man really desires from a relationship. Honestly we just want to believe that we are appreciated and respected for what we attempt to do or what we do. It's not about you being beautiful in anyone else's eyes as long as we can lay down and think "Thank You God" every night.

Independence is Dependence

the thing about reconditioning a man's mind is he's been wired for reward for things he ought be doing in the first place....and he expects it from a woman. I must be different. all I expect from a woman is a thank you and a smile for doing what I'm supposed to do in the first place. I should be treating you with respect, honor, and humility with a gracious attitude and merciful actions because that is how God treated me. it's not like I'm asking for dudes to get something ultra complicated.....you don't give a basketball player a bonus for doing what's in his job description. you give him a paycheck with his base salary. See men Black men especially have been conditioned to be rewarded for doing what men have been expected to do since the dawn of time. I don't have time to go down the list, but men have be emasculated over time by the way they were coddled by mothers who taught their sisters to be strong in every area that a man should be strong in. Thereby weakening the family structure and creating generations of physically strong, mentally inferior men. Men who cannot take setback, opposition, or even have thier own worth and value established independent of what the culture told them they should be. As this relates to God, the Willie Lynch Letter was a simple instrument of Satan used to weaken God's established family structure. This has lead to women walking away from men who have never been taught how to be men but have been taught how to seem like men. I cannot blame them one bit. A man just ought to be a man after God's own heart first, then you can really be a man. The whole independent woman mantra that has become a rallying cry of women all over the country is a flat out lie. Nobody is independent. We all depend upon God for our provision. Once you wrap your mind around that you begin to embrace this idea of interdependence. Men and Women depend equally on God for all things there is no true independence no such thing exists because whether or not you recognize God you do depend upon Him to draw your breaths and make your steps. Why do you think the functions necessary for life are not thought about with the active brain? It is the unconscious part of the mind that produces these reactions that produce life. If you were independent of God, you could rise when you thought it feasible and breathe when you desire to breathe. But since we are to lean on God for all things, this notion of independence is futile and imbecile at best. As far as male/female roles go, males are supposed to provide but it is not limited to simple physical financial needs. Men should lead the worship, men should lead the logical love......and men should lead when it comes to raising children as well. Another point. Men have stopped leading and started deferring to the women when it comes to raising children and they lack discipline as a result. Discipline should fall on both shoulders and when it falls largely on the woman's shoulders there is a imbalance there that cannot be corrected by her alone. Other men have to step in where the man has fallen short and help her pick up the pieces. I've seen it happen both ways.....but where Men do not lead, do not be surprised if Women pick up the mantle and lead. It's been happening and will continue to happen unless these "men" become Men of God.

Lucifer

Lucifer Son of the morningwill have us all in mourningif we choose to listen and act on his "advice"which is twisted truth which is only a dressed up liesure he comes in light and looks attractivebut that's just to hide his blacknesshe only has one mission and one mission aloneto steal away would be God-clonesand he hates your very soul only because he wishes God's throneand to reach it he would gladly stand atop your soul and boneanything to rob God of the glory He deserves I gotta admit though he's got some nerveto dare to be in the presence of God and say in his heart I'm more beautiful more worth glory and honorto dare stand before the universe's honorand say I am grander I am greater than my CreatorYet this same spirit inhabits Earth's inhabitantswhen we deny Christ's power and majesty confining Him to only a mere mansuch lies ought to be bannedstatements and attitudes that belittle Christ's statureought to result in you becoming bruised and batteredbut instead your soul pays the ultimate price: disconnection from Christbecause you allow Lucifer insideyou become as guilty as the man who let Christ be crucifiedJudas could have resistedbut him and Lucifer had become rather intimateto the point to where Christ the Lord spoke to Lucifer who had possessed Judasand told him that whatever he was doing to just go ahead and dobecause Jesus knew it would result in the death of him whodesired to take the throne it would in effect banish Lucifer to Hell and torment him eternallyyou see Hell was never intended for humanitybut Lucifer desires eternal companyeven of those he hates even from his inception even those he knows are shaped in God's imageand this is why he hates you like he does he sees God's reflection in our soulsand this causes him to treat us coldtell us lies and compel us to leave God aside like his side is going to winbut that's just himLucifer son of the morningwill lead you to eternal mourning

Ericka's Answer

Discrimination to racism is a sick degeneration/and the remnants poison nations/making insinuation that disgraces and spurs racial hatred/humanity is free-basing and steadily debasing/crusting over hearts and making it hard for love to penetrate/hearts break/and though my ears never heard what nobody deserves/my eyes heard/and because I love her I decided to speak out/and pierce this darkness with the light hidden in my mouth/racist actions racist phrases are out of place in the workplace/leaving everyone with such a bitter taste/testing the ability to forgive and as I live/as I breathe I offer a needed reprieve/you said it you demonstrated it to my sister/nothing makes me sicker/and I wonder why people get so stuck on race and color/do they not see that this is deeper than the colors of father and mother?/when what matters is deep within alive when this mortal body goes cold/and the heart pumps no more/there is a soul/and if it has hated in life and never asked for forgiveness/Hell awaits you be sure of this/indiscriminate hatred kills the soul of a nation/I am patiently waiting/the death of indoctrination/the death of racism