Beauty Is In the Eye of the Beholder

What YOU see is what beauty is...NOT what someone else sees

Every year, women spend billions of dollars on "beauty" products.  Our favorite celebrities are often used to pitch products to us as we sit in our living rooms and watch the boob tube.  Queen Latifah, Drew Barrymore, Beyonce and others sport the latest in make-up technology and tell us that we should wear the same stuff to make us "beautiful" just like them.  Has anyone ever stopped to think about how weird it is for you to listen to someone else regarding YOUR beauty, ladies?  The only thing that should tell you how beautiful you are is the mirror that is in front of you.  You are constantly bombarded with images that do not look anything like you that tell you "this is true beauty", "this is how you should look", "this is the perfect weight for you".


Who told you that you weren't beautiful enough already?  What do external adornments do for your self-esteem?  Absolutely nothing!  They are nothing more than fillers to fill a temporary hole in your mind.  "Make-up" only covers up your real beauty ladies.  It cannot change who you are.  WebMD published an article about cosmetics and this is what it says: "From the copper and lead ore that the ancient Egyptians used to create the world's first cosmetics to the scientifically advanced products of today that can do everything from hide pores, smooth complexions, and turn the pale green of your eyes a vivid shade of emerald, makeup has been an integral part of humankind for thousands of years. Over the centuries, women used burnt matches to darken their eyes, berries to stain their lips and young boys' urine to fade their freckles. They even swallowed ox blood in some misguided attempt to improve their complexions."  

While the ingredients may be safer now, the concept behind women  "making up" their faces is still the same.  Women feel that they must make themselves attractive either for the world around them, for a man that they are trying to get or simply because they feel that they cannot leave the house looking any old kinda way.  The truth is, true beauty comes from the inside and never from the outside.  Anyone superficial enough to believe that what's on the outside is what counts will only attract someone that feels the same way.  God set the precedent for this by judging the hearts of men rather than the external actions of men (1 Samuel 16:7, Luke 16:15, John 8:15, Proverbs 15:11).

There is biblical precedence for modesty in women's adornment.  Don't take this as me saying that men do not have to be humble as well.  There is a mandate from God for ALL Christians to be humble.  1 Peter 3:1-4 reads as follows:

In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Your adornment must not be merely external—braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God. 

Listen closely to the Apostle Peter. He is not saying that there is anything wrong with outer adornment, but don't let the outer adornment be what defines you rather let your adornment be hidden in the person of the heart. Let your beauty be from the inside out. Paul also talked about women dressing moderately and with decency. Paul and Peter would be appalled if he were to walk in many of our churches on Sunday. Men looking like pimps with multi-colored suits, pinky-rings and alligator shoes and women that look like they belong to a pimp with short dresses, maximum cleavage and enough foundation and rouge to choke a horse. What ends up happening is the church becomes a place for hidden sensuality or sometimes even open sensuality. Men and women are coming into the place where we corporately worship God with worship being the furthest thing from their minds. Women sauntering up to drop their envelopes off in the offering tray become eye-candy and fantasies for the men watching them. It can easily be said that the men shouldn't look but before the man looked, the woman looked in the mirror on the way out of the door.




Beauty that is only skin deep is really not beauty at all. God created us in his image. Our attempts to accentuate that image often end up doing more harm than good. Breast implants, butt implants, cheek implants, gobs of make-up and other "beautification" methods are not necessary. You are beautiful just the way that you are. Vanity often leads us to question that but vanity is fleeting, like a mist in the morning. Remember ladies, your beauty begins on the inside and radiates outwardly. Notice that Peter also says that your humility and gentleness also affects your mates. It contributes to them to being won over for the Lord. God bless you sisters and remember that you are beautiful, no matter what anyone says. 

Late Term Abortion

I posted an article before dealing with the right-wing's argument against abortion (Right Wing Anti-Abortion Movement) and while continuing to look into the Trayvon Martin case and those that are defending Zimmerman, mainly on the right, I had a thought.  Isn't what Zimmerman did to a defenseless, innocent young man the same thing that the right-wing abhors when it happens to the unborn?  The emphasis on the inability of the fetus to defend itself, the innocence of the fetus and the cruelty of the doctor that performs said procedure has been the mantra for the right wing's anti-abortion campaign for years.  Well, I submit that Trayvon Martin was innocent and defenseless.  Zimmerman had a 9mm, Martin had a bag of skittles.

ANYONE on the "right" that is NOT outraged at this murder  "late term abortion" better not EVER say another word about abortion, ever.  That's exactly what this is equivalent to, a late term abortion performed by George Zimmerman.  He extinguished a life that had so much potential but, to use the right's argument, because he killed Trayvon Martin, we will never know what that potential would have been.  That's their new argument against abortion, the potential of the unborn to do whatever it is that they would do had they lived.  Zimmerman aborted the life of Trayvon Martin and we may never know what Mr. Martin could have accomplished had he lived.  He could have been our next president, he could have been the person that developed the cure for cancer, he could have been the next great African-American writer or poet- we will never know thanks to Zimmerman. 

I say this in response to Fox News and the Blaze that have tried to paint Zimmerman as the victim in this case.  Zimmerman is in an indefensible position and anyone that seeks to defend him by assassinating the character of Trayvon Martin is just as sick as Zimmerman is.

A Watershed Moment

The Trayvon Martin case is tragic.  How is it that this young man has been gunned down in cold blood and his killer still roams free?  The police in Sanford Florida blew it.  The chief blew it.  The legislature blew it when they passed the "stand your ground" law.  What is this, the OK Corral?  This one can be laid in the NRA's lap and they have to accept it.  It was their lobbying for this controversial policy that probably got the initial "Castle doctrine" upgraded to where it is now (Stand Your Ground). 

I am very angry that the killer is still free.  There are reports out now that are trying to paint Trayvon Martin as a trouble maker (The Blaze, The Hoodie)!  The Blaze's article tries to call Trayvon Martin the villain and Geraldo Rivera (an ethnic minority by the way) says that martin's hoodie made him a target.  Where else in the world does the victim become the villain except for in racist America?  Let me see, if I wear a hoodie, does that give anyone with a gun that is afraid of me the right to shoot me and "stand their ground"?  How can anyone fix their mouth to defend Zimmerman?  Why don't these cowards have the guts to call this what it is, murder.  Not even on another planet can you develop a scenario that includes a bag of skittles, an iced tea and an unarmed teen running from an armed adult where the adult would be justified in taking the teen's life.  What do so-called questions about the charater of Trayvon Martin have to do with him losing his life for nothing?  How asinine is that? If God judged us based on our past deeds, we would ALL be sentenced to an eternity in hell, no questions asked. The Scripture in Romans 8:1 speaks volumes when it says, there is therefore NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus! Christian right wingers (Mormons too- Beck is a Mormom and developed the site, the Blaze) have no business saying such things at all!  This is an example of racist media outlets propagating racism and racist stereotypes and an attempt to perpetuate said stereotypes so that future self-defense cases MURDERS will not be tried in court!  

They brought up the fact that he had been suspended to make a point that he was a bad kid.  My question is this, what exactly does him getting suspended have to do with Zimmerman pulling the trigger.  This moment in time had nothing to do with the character of Trayvon Martin.  It was a senseless act of paranoia and racism.  Zimmerman was acting on a stereotype, nothing else.  He had ZERO information about Mr. Martin and made a stupid assumption that cost this young man his life.  The fact that he didn't stand down when the cops were telling him to on the phone amounts to resisting arrest or at least failure to obey an officer of the law, doesn't it?  I mean, if the cops were there and told him to drop his weapon and he didn't, they could have shot him- but they probably wouldn't have.  IF Trayvon Martin was the one holding the gun however, he would have been riddled with bullets!

Here is my main point in writing this message.  This is a watershed moment in the history of this country.  We are all angry that Trayvon Martin is dead.  We are all upset that he was killed in cold blood and nothing has been done about it.  Let's take this energy and translate it into action.  Everyday, this happens in the inner cities of America.  Young, African-American males are gunned down in cold blood every day in our urban areas.  The murder rate in cities like New Orleans and Philadelphia is astronomical and continues to increase.  The only difference is that the shooters are, oftentimes the same color as the victim!  Where is the outrage?  I'm sure that your anger simmers whenever you watch the news.  I am always incensed when I see one young black man destroy the life of another and in the process destroy his own life as well. Rarely do we do anything about it though.  We just shake our heads and flip the channel to Martin or some re-run of Sanford and Son.  We can use this moment, as a race of people, to show the insanity and senselessness of black on black crime!  If brothers and sisters, regardless of socioeconomic background, are outraged that a "white" man committed this murder, we should be doubly outraged when the triggerman is another black man.  Why don't we channel this outrage into a peace treaty between every gang in this country.  Why don't we use this to stop selling death and destruction to each other on street corners around the nation?  I'm tired of seeing young black men put into body bags over senseless quarrels, turf battles or stepping on the wrong person's shoes.  We need to see Trayvon Martin's face every time we think about pulling the trigger on another brother!  What happened to Trayvon Martin in his father's neighborhood could have easily happened to him in Miami in the Pork-n-Beans district. 

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee black America.  Every death of a young black man should be met with this same outrage.  Not fear and quivering, not a "no-snitching" code but a vehement demand for justice!  Imagine if the neighbors acted on the no-snitching code, Zimmerman may not even be a suspect.  Yes he's still a free man, but I have a strong feeling that he won't be free for long as the evidence is beginning to pile up against him.  Don't let this tragedy slip past and not learn something from it.  As sens less and maddening as it is to see Zimmerman walk, it is just as senseless and maddening to see brothers killing brothers everyday and ending up in the pen for 20 years to life.  Let's take something away from this that will help all of us.  Those of us that are already sounding the alarm that black on black crime is out of control, this is a great moment to reiterate the call to stop the violence.  If you are a one that's considered a "gangster", you are gunning down Trayvon Martin every time you point your gun at your brother or sister.  Wake up!

Where are Tavis and Cornell?

Since the Trayvon Martin case broke, there has been an eerie silence from two of our most famous and vociferous talkers.  I've seen Sharpton, he's actually in Orlando with the Martin family although his mother passed away this morning.  You already know Jesse is going to show up.  Joe Madison, of XM Radio's the Power is down there for the rally tonight in Sanford, FL.  Many luminaries are probably going to show up tonight.

In the build-up around the case, there are two voices that I have yet to hear.  Where the heck is Tavis Smiley?  Where is Rev. Cornell West?  Is this issue beneath them because the young man's father lives in a gated community and not in "poverty"?  Will they pull up in the "poverty" bus?  Does anyone else find it interesting that they criss-cross the country on a luxury bus while talking about poverty?

They have been silent.  They may rattle their cages if the Obama administration doesn't send Eric Holder down there to totally violate federal jurisdiction...which would create a severe problem, according to Melissa Harris Perry, in terms of voting and perception among southern voters that already despise "big government".

Tavis, Cornell...where are you guys?  Maybe this will be a topic at another one of the talk-a-thons forums that offer more criticism than solutions.  I'm just wondering where they are and if they have as much to say about this as they do about the President.

Kirk Cameron and the Pilgrims...Whitewashing History?

I heard a commercial the other night where Kirk Cameron (Way of the Master guru and former actor) is now telling Christians to study the Pilgrims.  He wants to study their epic journey from their homeland to the Americas and their puritan ideals.  In his own words, studying their morality will make us better Christians.  He has a new movie, "Monumental" coming out about the great, pure and Christian ways of the Pilgrims.

Pardon me for rocking the boat, but didn't the Pilgrims, or at least some of them, massacre the Native Americans when they got here?  Did they not look at them as savages?  Were they justified in the killing of Native Americans because the Native Americans were not Christians?  Would they have been better served to learn (not assimilate) the culture and find an entry point whereby Christ could be introduced?  For Paul, it was the monument to "an unknown god" on Mars Hill that he used to proclaim the gospel to the Athenians...for the Native Americans it could have been their penchant for worshipping nature that could have been used to let them know that even nature has a Creator that is supreme above all.  Instead, the Native Americans were seen as inferior and killed/stolen from.  Around the same tie that the Pilgrims were establishing Plymouth, Peter Minuit was "buying" Manhattan Island a bit further north.  Manhattan Island in New York was bought for a pittance!  Roughly $24 of goods to be exact.  It may be said that some of the goods traded were high end technology but I'd take the land and my primitive technology, which worked pretty well before we made the deal by the way, over any axe or agricultural tool.  It was a one-sided trade in every sense of the word.

Was the first Thanksgiving actually a cultural melting pot where Native Americans sat quietly with the pilgrims and ate roasted turkey?  I'd venture to say that the history books got that one wrong.  One incident that occurred when the Pilgrims arrived was an expedition that set out from the Mayflower that stole corn from a Native American burial ground and got into a battle with Native Americans indigenous to the land.  That led to fear and a move south to Plymouth Port from Provincetown.   

While their intentions as separatists were noble: to break away from the mother church that they didn't agree with, we cannot look at that as their most sterling achievement.  Nor can we say that their separatism was totally dedicated to the glory of God.  There were separate groups within the separatists but the bible says that in Christ we are all one.  The Klan is also a separatist group.  So are the NeoNazis.  If the love of Christ was truly in their hearts, there is no way that they would kill the Native Americans, rob them of their possessions or enslave them.  That is not moral or Christian, no matter what kind of spin you put on it.

Susan Bates writes the following in her "The Real Story of Thanksgiving":

For three days the Wampanoags feasted with the Pilgrims. It was a special time of friendship between two very different groups of people. A peace and friendship agreement was made between Massasoit and Miles Standish giving the Pilgrims the clearing in the forest where the old Patuxet village once stood to build their new town of Plymouth.

It would be very good to say that this friendship lasted a long time; but, unfortunately, that was not to be. More English people came to America, and they were not in need of help from the Indians as were the original Pilgrims. Many of the newcomers forgot the help the Indians had given them. Mistrust started to grow and the friendship weakened. The Pilgrims started telling their Indian neighbors that their Indian religion and Indian customs were wrong. The Pilgrims displayed an intolerance toward the Indian religion similar to the intolerance displayed toward the less popular religions in Europe. The relationship deteriorated and within a few years the children of the people who ate together at the first Thanksgiving were killing one another in what came to be called King Phillip's War.

Kirk Cameron might want to rethink this considering that the Pilgrims do not have a spotless history.  Using folklore as history is dangerous.  Whitwashing history is even more dangerous.  He might want to pay homage to the fact that everything that went on in the New Word was not sweet and cuddly.  I haven't seen the film and maybe he does address this.  It is crucial that it is addressed.  We don't need revisionist history, we need accurate history!  Atheists use things like this to discredit Christians all the time.  Whether it's Plymouth or the Crusades, we have to start answering the hard questions and not look disingenuous while doing it.  Rather than looking to the Pilgrims as the model for culture and morality, how about looking to Christ?  He set the model in the first place.

The Trojan Horse called "No Child Left Behind"

President George W. Bush was not a very effective president.  I don't really know of any of his policies that I agreed with.  From the Patriot Act to the Iraq War, he was a president that I could never fully support.  Not to mention, his credentials were less than stellar.  He dodged his military duties, his college career was based more on his family's influence than his intellectual acumen, he was a professed alcoholic, he used cocaine and he just was not "real" in my opinion.  Everything that he did was contrived and staged.  Think, "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" and then look at the body bags that are still piling up to this day, almost 9 years later.  He projected a Rovian (Karl Rove developed) image that deceived the masses and led many to believe multiple lies.  Then there is the issue of voter fraud, Diebold and other suspicious activities that took place during both of the elections that he was involved in.   Suffice it to say that this was not a president that I supported nor believed in.

His legacy, the war notwithstanding, can still be felt in the economy, in the environment and in society.  One of his most damaging policies, in my opinion, came in the form of a Trojan horse.  In Greek mythology, the story of the Trojan horse is legendary.  The Greeks presented the Trojans with a gift during the Trojan war.  A huge horse that some of the Trojans thought to be symbolic of peace and others a tribute to Athena, was rolled up to the gates of the city of Troy.  Some Trojans thought that the horse should be burned and that it was some sort of trap.  In actuality, the horse was hollowed out on the inside and contained scores of Greek soldiers that, otherwise, would not have had access to the heavily fortified city of Troy.  As the story goes, the Trojans accepted the gift and were destroyed from the inside out because they allowed the enemy to infiltrate their ranks.  The Trojan horse has become synonymous with subversive activities that are done under the guise of sincerity and good intentions.

I submit to you that the No Child Left Behind program is a Trojan horse.  On the surface, we see educational funding and support for public schools but this program is actually designed for the systematic destruction of the educational system as we know it.  This was crystallized for me this morning as I dropped my children off at school.  I noticed a sign up that was commemorative of Down Syndrome Day.  This is in no way an indictment of people with Down's Syndrome.  I actually think it is great that people with Down's Syndrome have been destigmatized over the years and we should not look at them any differently than anyone.  But it hit me that within the same classroom that "gifted" children (i.e. children that have taken an exam and showed exceptional proficiency in some area) are located, there are also children with Down's Syndrome that we know are limited in their intellectual abilities.  When I was in school, they had Special Education for students with special needs and they were instructed from a curriculum that was different than the curriculum that I followed.  What No Child Left Behind has done is place those special needs children in a no-win situation by holding them to the same academic standards that children with uncompromised cognitive abilities are held to. 

Speaking with a teacher, she was totally frustrated in that she was "preparing her children for a test that they are unable to pass."  Here is the problem with NCLB, if the special needs students are not performing, the entire school is seen as underperforming.  A larger issue stemming from that problem is this, schools that do not meet AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress) are defunded.  So, the mad scramble to make AYP and maintain funding has caused schools to falsify test scores and do other things to "prove" to the government that they deserve the few dollars in educational funds that they do receive.  This Trojan horse called NCLB has caused the prevailing sentiment in America to be that all schools are failures.  If the test scores were separated, as they should be, then we wouldn't be having this discussion.  NCLB has been a colossal failure and it has failed our children as well.  They are taught to a test and not taught to think critically.  Thank God that book companies  and educational supply companies are now beginning to realize this and produce material that encourages critical thinking.  I sit on a textbook adoption committee and the two math books that we have reviewed so far are very innovative and challenging to students.  This is critical considering the fact that we are preparing tomorrow's leaders that must compete in a global marketplace as opposed to their small town or against only those students that were educated in American school systems.

This is where we are today.  We are given a bleak picture of our schools.  The Trojan horse of NCLB has painted our teachers as pathetic (albeit some are), our students as if they are on a sinking ship and our educational system as if it is the worst in the world.  There are flaws for sure, but nothing that cannot be fixed.  But the job of NCLB was not to fix the schools in the first place.  It was cleverly designed to cause dysfunctionality in the schools in such a way that the people become disgruntled with public education and it eventually becomes obsolete.  The Trojan horse concept is this: if the schools fail badly enough, according to the test scores, then we will eventually eradicate them altogether in favor or private pay education.  By design, the standards set by NCLB would never be met because the evaluation of the schools would be based on skewed data; data that includes the scores of special needs children and the general student population both taking the same tests.  Since Americans love data and numbers, these data would then be used to justify abandoning public education.  A secondary outcome of NCLB would be the creation of a permanent underclass of intellectually dull, imperceptive simpletons that would not question the government or its practices.  I am personally fighting this outcome by teaching my children to think outside the box and exposing them to reality.  I suggest that you do the same if you have children.  Don't hide the truth from them and teach them to think.

Thank God that now schools have the ability to opt-out of the NCLB policies.  They made no sense then and they make no sense now.  That whole program needs to be scrapped.  Judging from the product, my students that I encounter every day, it has not worked.  There is an entire generation of students that was handouts for grades, promotions just because and that do NOT want to work for anything.  The limited intellectual ability can be heard in the music that they listen to, the disdain for any thing that makes them think outside of the box and the constant requests for exams that are watered down and verbatim from the lectures.  I am in agreement with the Trojan seer Laokoon that told king Priam not to accept that horse into the gates and the other citizens of Troy that wanted to burn the horse where it stood outside the gate.  NCLB should never have been allowed to be thrown onto our children.  It should have been burned where it stood.

"I'm Not There Yet..."

Oftentimes in the Christian church, we hear this familiar saying. When you talk to people and they are sort of straddling the fence, they will utter this phrase to let you know their spiritual standing. We hear it a lot and I really never understood what it meant until last night. The phrase is "I'm not there yet" and is is used by many to explain where they are in their Christian walk. Honestly, it is really more of a rationalization as to why we cannot fully follow Christ and to explain away certain behaviors that are not befitting of the Christian.

In Luke 9, Jesus talked to three men with regards to following Him and two of the three gave an excuse for why they could not follow Him. In verses 57-62, Jesus laid out the cost of discipleship. Discipleship is all or nothing. Read it here:

57As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” 58And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” 60But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” 61Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.” 62But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Jesus said to the first man that wanted to follow him, I don't have anywhere to lay my head...just to let you know. What he was saying is this, if you follow me, do not expect an easy road and don't think that this will be a cakewalk. Notice, he ASKED the next one to follow Him and that one, probably after hearing that there was nowhere for the Son of Man to lay His head gave an excuse. He said, in so many words, "I'm not there yet..." Jesus's reply was simple, do not let anything stop you from following me...let the dead bury their own dead. The next one said, "I'll follow BUT, let me go tell my folks goodbye". Then, Jesus said that you should not look back after putting your hand to the plowshare- otherwise you are not fit for the kingdom of God. This would disqualify ALL believers because we have all looked back at some point. However, the tense of the verb "looking" is present/active which indicates that while you are plowing, you are actively looking back at the same time. You cannot plow a straight line with your head actively turned backwards looking at where you came from! How can you be fit for the kingdom of God if you are still concerned with the kingdom of the air?

That's why many give the excuse, "I'm not there yet...". Many of us are actively looking back at the old kingdom. We have parts of us that we do not want to let go of. Holding on to those things hinders us from moving forward in the kingdom of God. We have traits that we see as being definitive of us and we want to hold on to that old identity because if we let go of it, we are no longer who we used to be. THAT IS PRECISELY WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO-- LET IT GO! That is the precise reason for being born again, so that our old nature can die and give way to our new nature created in Christ Jesus! So, the flesh will always tell us that we are not there yet to keep us in bondage and to stagnate our growth in Christ! As long as we hold on to the thought that we are not "there" we will never get "there". Paul said that we are to be crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) in order that we may live by the Spirit of God!

"There" is a place that NONE of us are. We are striving to get "there" but we won't reach "there" i.e. perfection until Christ comes or until we die. Even the most devout Christians are not "there" because we will always struggle with something and we will remain "sinful" until the corruptible is replaced by the incorruptible. However, the difference between those that claim not to be "there" and those that understand that they will never get "there" while in this life is this- there is a concious effort by the latter to actually submit to the Spirit of God, to live according to the word of God and to be renewed in the spirit of their minds. The former are content to rationalize away sin by telling continually themselves, "I'm not there yet...".

I submit to you my brothers and sisters that we must remove that phrase from our Christian vocabulary and focus on the journey, never on the pitstops or the bumps in the road. The Christian walk is a marathon not a sprint and the race is not given to the swift or the strong but to the one that endures until the end. In order to get "there" we must first get on our way. That may involve several sacrifices along the way but the rewards are so much greater that the sacrifices pale in comparison to them! Let's all understand that while we are not "there" and will never get "there" in this lifetime, we should stay on the path to "there" and never use not being "there" to rationalize away our misdeeds and our fleshly desires. God bless you and hopefully, one day we will see each other..."there".