Chris Brown...Fan of Foe

Chris Brown graced the stage at the 10th annual BET Awards Sunday, June 27th 2010. He performed a tribute to Michael Jackson. When it was time for Chris Brown to sing Man In The Mirror, he was over come with tears to the point that he was unable to sing the song. The crowd at the viewing party I attended as well as the audience at the show seemed to embrace him.

I overheard one lady say if Chris Brown came out with an album tomorrow I will buy it. As many know or if you do not know. Chris Brown was unable to perform at the BET Awards last year after the untimely death of Michael Jackson due to the controversy surrounding him and his criminal case involving Rihanna.

It seemed at that time that everyone turned their back on Chris Brown. Friends of mine have stated he is a woman beater I don't like him.

So I ask the question after a person has served their sentence should they be forgiven and given a second chance?

Media, critics, and the general public were very hard on Chris Brown especially considering no one to this day knows exactly what happened outside of Chris Brown and Rihanna and that 3rd party called nothing but the truth.

We shall wait on pins and needles to see if Chris Brown's career has been resurrected? Are you a fan or a foe?

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

I LOVE HIM BECAUSE.....

I love Him because He first loved me.

I love Him because I was created in His image and His likeness.

I love Him because I am a part of Him.

I love Him because no matter what I do or say He is always there for me even when I am not there for myself.

I love Him because He has plans to prosper me, give me hope and a future.

I love Him because He is Love.

I love Him because His Love is Unconditional

I love Him because I know Him for myself to be

Omnipotent

Omniscient

Omnipresent

Alpha and Omega

Most High

My Source

Joy

Peace

Happiness

Ruler

Redeemer

Shepherd

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

Healer

Waymaker

Sustainer

Provider

I love Him because he knows me from the crown of my head to the tip of my pinky toe because He is my Heavenly Father!

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

The 1st Man to Show Me Real Love Part 2

I love my daddy because he first loved me. He used to tease me about how long my mom was in labor. He told me, he could've drove to New York and back and I still wouldn't have been here. Nevertheless like any expectant father he sat there and waited.

Only to find out that his baby girl was born with jaundice and air in her lungs/chest and need surgery! So my mommy had to go home from the hospital without her baby I had to stay a couple extra weeks and she was distraught about it.

Maybe my daddy loves me so much because just when he experienced having me in the world he also experienced the reality that I just might not make it. It could also be because I am the splitting image of him I am not sure.

What I do know is my daddy has an unconditional love for me. There is not anyone on the face of this earth that can tell my daddy anything about me that he would believe not no one not even my momma. If he didn't see it or hear it, I didn't do it!

I love my daddy because when word got to him that I was thinking about moving in with a man. He called me and said now Johnai I didn't raise you like that, does this man plan on marrying you? I answered my daddy's questions, he spoke his peace and let me know he didn't agree and he left the conversation alone. He didn't try to beat me over the head with his opinion after all I was grown but as my father and as a man he bestowed his wisdom and knowledge.

I love my daddy because he has always been there. I cannot remember a time when he wasn't there when I needed him EVER. I love my daddy because although he is not a devout Christian or overly spiritual he has an understanding of unconditional love, that love that the bible speaks of in 1 Corinthians 13. He embodies that in his relationship with me.

I love my daddy because he first loved me.

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

Crisis Management 101: Faith vs. Fear

Crisis Management 101: Faith vs. Fear
Deborah J. Thompson

What is the first reaction that most of us have in a crisis? That first emotion when we hear bad news?

If we are honest with ourselves, it is probably fear. Even those of us who calmly take control, call for the bandages, carefully follow the emergency procedures that we may have learned, and logically work to solve the problem still experience that initial "punched in the gut" feeling before our common sense and training take over.
And what if the crisis is a very personal one—illness, death, loss of a job, etc.? After the initial phase of fear and denial, what do you do then? How do you feel? What are your coping mechanisms?

I will honestly admit that for most of my life, fear has been the ruling emotion in a crisis. Sure, I "trusted" God, but where was he when my world was crumbling? I couldn't wait around for him to "show up" and clean up the mess. I needed answers NOW! And God wasn't speaking up when I was falling apart.

I have recently come to understand that my "trust" wasn't really genuine--that my "faith" only applied when things were going my way. And when that faith and trust were tested by the trials and tribulations of life, I wasn't turning to God for my strength and my salvation. I was relying on myself to "do" something--to fix things.

And even when I was so bruised and battered that I didn't have anywhere else to go and I finally turned to God in desperation, I really didn't completely trust and relax in God's care. I couldn't find peace in the midst of my panic. So even though I asked for God's help, I didn't get out of his way and let him work.

By continuing to worry, I wasn't demonstrating my confidence in him. I would "Let Go and Let God" momentarily, only to take my problem back again by continuing to stress over it. So basically, I was asking God to help and then telling him that I didn't really believe that he would!
Does any of this sound familiar?

The fundamental issues at the core of my worry were these:
I didn't trust God.
I didn't think he would use his power to save me.
I didn't think I was worthy and didn't understand the meaning of "Grace."
I was impatient and wanted God to answer my prayers my way.
...which led me back to #1--I didn't trust God, or his plan for my life.

1. Trust God
Really trusting God is the foundation of faith. Without complete trust and surrender of control, we will never experience the full power and blessings of our amazing God. So how do we know that we can truly Trust God? Well, scripture is full of verses and examples that should convince us.
"...If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God." ~Isaiah 50:10
"They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted him." ~ 1 Chronicles 5:20
"O my people, trust in him at all times; Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. ~ Psalm 62:8
"Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me." ~ John 14:1
"...Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God." ~ Daniel 6:23
"Let us hold firmly to the hope that we have confessed, because we can trust God to do what he promised." ~ Hebrews 10:23
And these are just a few of the places where you can find evidence that God is trustworthy. Time and time again, God shows up to save his people. Read about David, Daniel, Job, Moses, Noah, etc., etc. Look back on your own life and the lives of those around you. God keeps his promises and he promises us that he will be there for us. But we have to do our part. We have to TRUST.

2. God Uses His Power to Help Us
Our God is all-powerful. Nothing is beyond his capability. He can part the Red Sea, move mountains and destroy our enemies. He is OUR FATHER, and Fathers have a natural inclination to show up and fight our battles for us.
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." ~ Exodus 14:14
But again, we have to do our part. And one of the ways that we demonstrate our TRUST is by getting out of God's way—by being "still" and letting him work on our behalf. When we try to control the end result, we sabotage God's plan and we interfere with his approach to arrive at our best outcome.
Have you ever found yourself trying in vain to solve a problem? And even with all your efforts, it seemed that the odds were stacked against you? But when you finally stopped fighting, things seemed to just work themselves out—and the solution turned out to be better than what you were working toward? Well, you were finally "still" and allowed God's power to flow through toward HIS solution.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~ Jeremiah 29:11
In the midst of our troubles we often forget that God wants to help us! Like a parent, he uses the experiences in our lives to teach and to guide us. And when we trust him, trust his plan, and trust his power; miraculous things happen!

3. What is Grace and Who Deserves It?
Grace is "the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God." And Mercy is its forgiving counterpart. God forgives us and withholds punishment from us, while at the same time, blessing us and bringing good to us—even though we don't deserve either His Mercy or His Grace.
"Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath." ~ Psalm 78:38
So the truth is that I am NOT worthy of God's Grace or his help. None of us are. But it is God's desire and God's nature to freely offer his forgiveness, his mercy and his grace to us. Grace is pure; Grace is God's alone to give. And it is a gift, not something we can earn.
"And if they are chosen by grace, it is no longer a matter of working for it. If it were, grace wouldn't be grace anymore." ~ Romans 11:6
When we recognize the very nature of Grace itself, we are finally humbled to realize that we are dependent upon God. And it is only when we surrender to him, and stop relying on ourselves that we open ourselves up to fully receive this amazing gift.
"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ~ 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6
Therefore, part of learning to completely trust God and rely on him is to come to understand the concept of Grace and to recognize all the times when God has bestowed his Grace upon us. We must remain humble, appreciative, and fully surrender to God's will for our lives. When we do, we can be assured that God will be there for us in all our times of trouble. He did not promise us a life without problems or strife. But he did promise us that he would help us whenever we needed him.
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." ~ Hebrews 4:16

4. I Need Help and Answers and I Need Them NOW!
When in the throes of a crisis, we are desperately seeking solutions, answers, guidance and deliverance. And we are impatient; we want to see our way out as fast as possible. And therein lies the fundamental problem: we say that we trust God, but by desiring a specific and rapid resolution, we are denying God an opportunity to work, to implement his plan rather than ours.
And this reveals the basic dilemma in Crisis Management 101—until we completely, fully and totally TRUST God, we will never achieve the peace that comes from knowing that "All is Well."
When we are impatient, fearful, controlling, demanding, insecure and stressed, we reveal that we are not confident that God is on the throne and that he has a better plan for us than we can design ourselves. We deny ourselves his ultimate blessings as we seek to settle for much less than he desires for us. And we spend our days in panic, turmoil, and pain rather than in peace.
So the next time life throws you a curve and you feel that "kicked in the stomach" fear creep in, just remind yourself to TRUST God. Talk to him all throughout each day; he will not forsake you. And he just may be trying to bless you, if only you truly believed.

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." ~ James 1:2-4

Deborah J. Thompson is a writer, artist and Stephen Minister. Her articles are published by Crosswalk.com and "The Fish" family of Christian radio station websites around the country. She shares "Reflections" on Life and Marriage on her website, www.inspiredreflections.info. And she is working on her first book, Your Life, Your Choice, which gives 5 simple steps to harness the power of your choices and bring more Love, Joy and Peace into your life. Join her on Facebook and Twitter/InspireReflect.
Original publication date: June 14, 2010

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials

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The 1st Man to Show Me Real Love

I love my daddy and I am a daddy's girl and proud of it! He is the 1st man to ever love me unconditionally and has done so since the day that I was born.

I have a lot of vivid memories of my father and there is one thing that I know he has always been there (the tears are forming now).

I believe that the 1st man to love any girl/woman is her father. Unfortunately that is not always the case.

Let me take you down memory lane......

At 5 I was hit by a car. My daddy came up to the hospital every night after work right around dinner time. He would get soooo upset because I had sloppy joe like every night for dinner. He would fuss and tell me I needed to eat something else but what was I supposed to do it was hospital food and I was 5. He wouldn't press too much and of course I ended up getting my way.

When I was 9 I went to visit my mother's aunt in Minnesota. I was having a good time at first but I was ready to come home. So my daddy rounded up a couple of his friends drove to Minnesota and came to get his baby. He let me know I didn't have to stay anywhere I didn't want to be and he would come and get me.

Around that same age I thought the man had completely lost his mind. He asked me one day while riding in the car, if the house was on fire and I could only save him or my momma who would I save? I couldn't believe it and had sense enough not to answer the question. However weird it may sound my daddy wanted me to love him more than I loved anyone else (well that's how I took it).

Then at about 15 I had an epiphany. My daddy never says those 3 words....I love you. So I asked him daddy do you love me. His response was the lights are on, the heat is on, the bills are paid, there is food in the refrigerator, I pick you up from school everyday.

What my daddy was telling me loud and clear was YES I love you and that love is evident in the fact that I take care of and provide for you. At that moment I was ok and to this very day we rarely say the words I LOVE YOU but we show it to each other all the time. I love my daddy, yes I do and my daddy loves!

My daddy worked 16 hours shifts to put me through college at the University of Illinois and it was all paid for in cash! I did not take out 1 undergraduate student loan. He would drive down to Champaign just to take me and my friends out to dinner or to come and help us move into another apartment.

My daddy is the best daddy in the world in my opinion and no one can tell me differently.

Happy Father's Day Daddy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Be a blessing and be blessed,
Epiphany Essentials