Michel Martelly and Rene Preval: What is the difference?

Many people need to clean their optical lenses to appreciate the content of this piece. Please do not be carried by the wind of fanaticism as it will lead you to the land of stupidity. So open your eyes wide. What is the difference between Haiti’s former President Renel Preval and current President Michel Martelly?

Well, the reserved and taciturn nature of Rene Preval earned him some deep criticism during his two presidential terms. He was viewed as the enemy of the poor simply because he was not refined enough to communicate his vision to the Haitian people. He was portrayed as a “puppet” because the masses felt that he was coerced into serving the elite and the international powers. He frankly lost his sense of patriotism. Preval did not have any political, social, economic and educational agendas as Haiti deteriorated under his leadership. May God bless him now as he enjoys a great life in the land that he neglected to care for when he could! Again, may God bless him and I am being sarcastic.

Preval’s insouciance and failure led to the election of Haiti’s current President Michel Martelly, a former “konpa direk” singer, whom is viewed by many as the savior of the Haitian people in the midst of Haiti’s political and economic crises. After nearly a year and a half, let us compare the two leaders.

There is no doubt that President Martelly is flamboyant, unlike his predecessor. He connects well with his supporters (he plays dominoes with them, dancing with them, playing soccer with them etc…) When someone is down to earth like that, he/she is perceived as caring, loving, etc…The big question is: What has President Martelly done so far to help the masses?

Like his predecessor, he has done NOTHING. He has no political, social, economic and educational agendas.  He has instituted a program to increase the number of Haitian kids attending school by an additional million which, in my humble opinion, is a colossal failure. One does not need to be a rocket scientist to deduce the problem; how does a President claim to add nearly a million of students to a system without creating any new facilities? This program is a joke and that is all I am going to say. President Martelly has done nothing.

Some people may read this and strongly disagree with me; it is all good if you do but remember to check your optical lenses as they may be dirty. Maybe time will clean them up for you. Preval and Martelly are serving their international masters very well. Go figure. I was just saying.

 

Whose son or daughter are you?

This is a good question, isn’t’ it? Some of you do not even know how to answer it but the answer is quite simple; we all are the sons and daughters of Almighty God. Well, that sounds like a cliché, right? It should not. We are true children of God.

Therefore, as children, we are heirs to the kingdom of God. He is our father, remember. He created the world and everything in it: water, plants, animals, rocks, money, happiness etc…He created it all meaning that all belongs to Him. Let me break it down for you: there is nothing that we want that we cannot have because our father owns everything.

Why are we so consumed with fear of tomorrow, of the economy etc…?  Why can’t we open our eyes and acknowledge the wealth of our father? Why are we so bound by depression and sadness when our father is the king of all?

Imagine your earthly dad possessing billions of dollars and mansions all over the world! Would you complain of lack of money? Would you say that you are rich because your dad is rich? Yes you would. Therefore, we should think of ourselves as super rich, amazingly happy because our father is God. The only thing we need to do is to grow our faith to claim our inheritance. Amen. I was just saying.

 

 

Who do you want to be like?

Loaded question, is it not? This is a question that finds its answer in the sort of character you would like to build. Do you want to be a man/woman of character, great strength and moral fortitude? Do we want to be an immovable, dependable, and solid like a rock kind of man or woman? If so, the answer is to surround yourself by men and women who display those characteristics.

Believe it or not, we follow somebody (consciously or subconsciously); there is someone that influences our approaches to life. Many of us have fallen in the abyss of disgrace just because we chose to follow someone disgraceful; we do not live up to our expectations because we follow people who do not live up to their expectations; we are not strong because we follow people who display no strength; we are not rooted in our Christian faith because we follow people of poor or no faith at all.

We need to understand that there is one step that needs to be taken in building our character. It is the choice of human influence, the person we want to model after. This person must love and imitate Jesus-Christ. Undoubtedly a Christ-like person lives a genuine life, cares and will not deceive you.

Knowing the significance of following somebody, Paul, in his letters to the Thessalonians, exhorts the Church to follow him as he follows Christ. WOW…How many of us can say that to someone today? How many of us can be an authentic influence on somebody’s life? Whom do you model yourself after? Try to answer those questions in an effort to make changes for the better. I was just saying.

 

 

A little word on Prayer

The life of Jesus was heavily marked by His yearning to pray. The bible mentions that Jesus spent a lot of time in prayer. Therefore, as christians, that must be our model. We should desire to be in direct contact with God every second of the day.

Prayer is vital to our lives as a prayerless christian is spiritually dead. That is why Satan tries to discourage us from praying, from connecting with God, from growing our faith, etc…

A praying man/woman is armed to fight the spiritual battles waged by Satan. Please let us be encouraged to strenghten our prayer life to remain strong against the devil. Prayer changes everything. I was just saying.

 

The Freeh’s report, Sandusky and Paterno

In my opinion, Jerry Sandusky does not get what he deserves. He gets to spend his life in prison; he gets to eat three meals a day; he gets to ignore his victims; I am saying that Jerry is living a good life right now. Oh, by the way, let me tell you what he deserves: he deserves to be hanged. What a monster! Jerry scarred young boys for life by raping them repeatedly, forcing them to perform oral sex on him and all.

Those boys who looked up to him had their trust violated, big time. What kind of a person seeks to shatter the lives of so many kids? These kids are stained forever while Sandusky is living in a different world.

The sad part is that Jerry Sandusky was aided by other Penn State officials including the bigger than life football coach Joe Paternoe. Can you believe that Paterno draws sympathy from a lot of people? Can you believe that some people are still defending Paterno despite his failures to end Jerry Sandusky reign of horror? Joe Paterno looked the other way when Sandusky was performing evil on those boys; he (JOE Paterno) concluded that football was more important than the lives of needy young boys.

Let me help you think about that. If Joe Paternoe had stopped Jerry Sandusky back in the 90’s, many kids would have been saved. Therefore, in my opinion, Joe Paterno is as guilty as Jerry Sandusky. It does not matter if he committed the physical acts of evil a la Jerry Sandusky but he certainly is guilty of committing the evil acts of rape and molestation by looking the other way. I do not care about your love for Paterno. Looking the other way simply means that you approve. Period.

Well Joe Paternoe does not belong in the football hall of fame nor does he belong to the hall of shame; his place is in the hall of hell with Jerry Sandusky by his side. What kind of individual values football over the lives of human beings? I was just saying. Now I am going to puke.

 

Obedience will open the gates of Heaven

What must happen before we take God seriously? It is clear that our attitude towards God must change as we need to display obedience to His words. We do things based on our feelings and our own interpretation; we lean on our own understanding when the word of God clearly instructs us otherwise. We develop an attitude where we think we know more about ourselves than the Creator Himself. We keep fooling ourselves.

For some, it is their bank account that precludes them from obeying God; for others, it is their acquisition of terminal degrees thinking that they are too smart to obey God.  We balance the word of God in our mind and apply or reject according to our understanding. Folks, we need to know that if we want to soar, we must be obedient to God. His word has to direct our steps.

There are so many stories in the bible about obedience and reward. Luke 5 details the display of obedience and the great catch of fish. The bible tells us that Jesus was obedient to the father to the point of death. When we are obedient, God blesses us. John 13:17 tells us  that “If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them”. Wow, God wants to bless us; He wants to overflow our cups.

Let us open our hearts and follow Him. We do not have anything to lose, we have everything to gain. I am telling you that the gates of Heaven will open to shower us with blessings when we simply OBEY. Let us take God at His words, He never lies. I was just saying.

 

Don’t even think about doing it by yourself

Most of us still do not get that we can not do anything by ourselves; we cannot fight our battles by ourselves; we need to be mindful that God is the one who fights all the battles. Rest assured that He will not be defeated. When we are in the midst of calamities, we need to stop looking around us for others but look up to the master who is waiting to deliver us.

Do not take it for granted when He asks you and me not to fight our own battles. He said that the battle is His. Let Him fight then. I do not know about you, I believe Him and He is fighting my battles. If you are asking about what kind of battles is God talking about, He is referring to all sorts of battles (spiritual, financial, physical, emotional etc…) He is always ready when you call upon Him.

Thank you my Lord for being my commander in chief. Thank you for fighting my battles so I do not have to worry about them. I have been overjoyed just because of you. No wonder why people are asking why I am always so happy. Do not even think about doing it by yourself, you will cultivate defeat after defeat and depression will set in. Call upon the great warrior, God himself. I was just saying.

 

Forgiveness: Weapon used by Jesus

How privileged we are to have a Creator who reminds us all the time that the battle is His and not ours. We do not have to engage in duels and quarrels with anyone as He will fight our battles for us. My big problem is why do we keep on forgetting this promise as His words are always true? We take it upon ourselves to engage in personal fights while God wants us to let Him do it.

I am saying all that to talk to you about forgiveness. Big word, isn’t it? So big that it keeps us in bondage. By definition, forgiveness means to grant pardon for or remission of an offense or to cease to feel resentment against. Wow, it is easier said than done. Imagine forgiving someone who dismantled your family, who killed a family member, a husband or a wife who leaves after years of marriage for a younger person or whatever, a mother or father who abandoned you, a person who raped you, a person who caused you to lose your job etc…Wow, the first reaction is one of anger, hate and vengeance. It is payback time, baby!

Well, I am sorry to say that our flesh wants us to do all of these things that go by one name: UNFORGIVENESS. Unforgiveness takes our happiness away as it keeps us in a mode of vengeance and anger all the time. Unforgiveness breeds bad ideas that lead to our own destruction. By nature, we want those who hurt us to feel the same pain that they inflicted upon us.

Well, thanks God for His spirit of forgiveness. I am so happy that I do not have to fight anyone as God fights my battles. He asks me to simply forgive those who wrong me as He forgives my trespasses against Him. I know that it is hard to forgive but it is a direct order from God to do so. There are so many verses in the bible reminding us not to fight our battles; among them is the following verse: Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19).

Jesus, our savior, used the weapon of forgiveness at His worst moment. He said: Father, please FORGIVE them. What! He asks the Father to forgive those who crucified Him. What a great display of forgiveness. So from today on, let us not allow our enemies to control our lives. Let the hurts go. Let God be God. I know that it is easier said than done but it must be done. I love the assurance that the enemies will never, ever win as they will become our foot stools. I was just saying.

 

 

Hon, let’s have sex so I can go into labor

Lots of pregnant couples are engaged in sexual activity past their due dates. Do not ask me how I know; I just know. Their reasoning is that labor can be induced in that fashion. As we know it, it is a myth as it is unproven. Husbands, please do not tell your wives that this is a myth. You know what I am saying. I am looking out for you all.

But if your wife reads my blogs, she will find out the truth that there is no medical evidence, no literatures supporting the induction of labor following sex. I apologize in advance. To give you a little brief, labor is normally induced as a result of of the hormone oxytocin released by the posterior pituitary gland. This hormone stimulates uterine contraction. And as I said above, no research supports the link of sexual intercourse to the induction of labor.

So couples, whether it is true or not, I encourage you to keep enjoying one of the greatest gifts that God has ever given to mankind. Oh by the way, if that is any comfort, although the link is not confirmed, some women do go into labor after breast stimulation or sexual intercourse. So play on. I was just saying.

 

Are you angry? Just look up to Jesus!

How many times have we been consumed by anger? How many times that our emotions get the best out of us? How many times have we resigned to doing bad things out of anger? These five letters A-N-G-E-R have brought down mighty men and women throughout history. Murders, attempted murders, divorces, creating enemies are positively correlated with anger.

Well the big question is: Is it ok to be angry at times? The answer is yes. Anger is, by definition, a feeling of displeasure. Therefore, if we are displeased, it is fine to display some anger. Jesus, our savior, displayed some anger when He found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. So He made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market?” John 2:13-17.

Jesus was displeased with the complete disrespect in regard to His Father. He restored order. God, the father, displayed His wrath when we disobey.  Remember Sodom and Gomorrah.  So, what is the problem with anger? It is a matter of self control.  Should we let our anger become uncontrollable to the point of turning into rage? That is when we need to be careful as we may lose self control and do irrational things. That is when we need the Word of God in our hearts to shift us away from the madness. His Word can transform anger into peace.

So the antidote to uncontrollable anger is the peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace of God. Since the fruits of uncontrollable anger are sinful, let us open our hearts to receive the peace of God so we can claim victory over anger and shift away from its destructive paths. I was just saying.