The Bible says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made; which suggests God has created us with gifts to help our communities thrive and flourish. Now is not the time to allow our gifts to sit dormant, we need all of our gifts to advance the kingdom of God and create a new destiny for our children. Since God has given us abilities and talents, Use them to positively impact the Next Generation! To do this we must do away with Self-Doubt, Self-Deprecation, and Self-Demotion.

How do you deny the destiny and destroy the dream of a nation? How do you sabotage their success, flatline their future, and prevent their progress? Struggles – make life hard for them, so hard that they become bitter. Slavery – put shackles on them and on their minds until they become broken. Slaughter – kill the man by slaughtering the sons until they become beaten. Oh, America, wake up! Oh, Black People, wake up! What do we see happening in America? The systematic, strategic destruction of Faith, Family and Freedom (everything that has made America BLESSED). How is Satan doing it? Same game with new twist. Struggles – keep families hurting by keeping them broke, uneducated, and dependent on handouts. Slavery – keep a nation enslaved to sensuality, immorality and addiction, where anything and everything goes using the chains of pornography, drugs and gambling. Slaughter – when all else fail just kill – the unborn baby, the innocent bystanders, the young and old with all the senseless killings. In Memphis the homicide number keep rising. Since RIGHTEOUSNESS makes a nation great, STAND UP and SPEAK UP for what is RIGHT!

How do you pass on faith in God and the favor of God to the next generation without them dropping the ball? How do we stop the trend that says that only 1/3 of our youth who grow up in church will return to the FAITH when they go off to college? First, we must Conquer the Division (or even better Cease the Division)! The church must come together and stop the pettiness, the divisiveness, the hostility and jealousy that exist within our congregations and between churches. Joseph had no animosity towards his brothers, only love, care, and generosity. Secondly, we must Continue the Dialogue!

How big is your dream? Do you just dream of possessions and prosperity, fame and fortune, of parties and prestige? Do you just want to dress clean, ride smooth and have a nice crib? How big is your dream? Is it Big Enough to make a difference in those around you? Is it Big Enough to impact future generations coming after you? As we celebrate Black History Month, I’m thankful that there were those who Dreamed BIG Enough to affect our destiny even today. Although some of us were not even alive during the Civil Rights Movement, we are enjoying the doors they opened, the walls they brought down, the opportunities they created, the faith they embodied, and the wealth they left. Since God’s purpose for your life is to change the DESTINY of others, dream BIG but BE even BIGGER!

What’s your dream? What’s your desire? What has God placed within you that you just can’t quit thinking about? What’s your passion, your pursuit? For me, at 9 years old my vision from the LORD was to preach His Gospel and pastor a church that ministered wholistic. HOW do you achieve your dream, reach your goal, arrive at your destination, solve your problems? It takes a PLAN. Proverbs 21:5. Benjamin Franklin stated, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.” Even God had a PLAN before He created this world – Ephesians 1:4-5 and God still has a PLAN for each one of us – Jeremiah 29:11. Since God fulfills our actions we commit to Him, develop a PLAN and stick to it!

Why, LORD? Why? Why is it taking so long for me to accomplish my goals, realize my dreams, reach my destiny, finish my student loans, reap riches, graduate school and college, find a job, get marry, raise my children, better my home life? Why? Have you ever asked, “Why?” Has it ever felt like that God had forgotten about you and your dreams? Then, you can understand Joseph. 13 years from Favored Son to Framed Slave. At least two years were spent in prison (could have been much longer) on trumped up charges. Genesis 40:23 describes the Cupbearer and the seemingly sad state of Joseph. What do you do? WAIT! Since it really is Worth the WAIT, don’t rush the plans and timing of God! Whether it’s 13 hours, 13 days, 13 months, or 13 years, WAIT on God! Why WAIT?

Where are you? Where have 2020 found you on life journey? Are you in a difficult place? Are you in a valley of depression, a lion’s den of haters, fiery furnace of testing, wilderness of worry, caught between a rock and a hard place, mountain high, high seas of troubled water, a dark place, a lonely place? Where are you? The pathway to realizing your dream may take you to some difficult places. It did Joseph. One moment he was in his father’s presence and then it seemed to go downhill from there – PIT, POTIPHAR, PRISON, PALACE. What’s the key to surviving the difficult places? How do I get delivered? How do I get out? Since the PLACES may change but His PROMISES don’t, learn how to dance in every place!

How do we do it? How do you raise up the next generation? How do you pass the baton on? How do you mentor the millennials and keep Generation Z in the Zone? How can we guarantee their growth, promote their potential, and ensure their success? Since MENTORING preserves the favor and protects the future, keep it 100!

I believe that REAL WORSHIP is when we take the Word of God and do the Work of God in the World around us. Too many of us want to worship only . . . with our words and not our works; . . . with our talk and not with our treasures; . . . with our coming and not our going; . . . with our showing up and not with our giving up. But true Worship compels us to Ministry! We have been called to MINISTRY, to take the worship to our workplace, to take the celebrations to our community, to do His miracles among the multitudes. MINISTRY is getting beyond these walls and making a difference in the world around us!