Strong Man Of God Blog

            The real fear and depth of pathos in the face of 12 year-old black American Keedron Bryant as he sings the song his mother wrote, I Just Wanna Live, overwhelmed my heart along with many others as it went viral and global in the days immediately following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis, MN police officer back on May 25^th this year.  And while I cannot speak for Keedron’s feelings, in it for me was not just the Floyd murder, but the repeated killings of black American males in the news across America since I can remember in over sixty years of living not only by the police and white citizens, but other black males in predominance as I have written about in other posts.¹

            I write to Keedron, my own progeny and every black child now, and to come in this 21^st century with a word of encouragement from the Lord!  First, Keedron, know your mother’s song expresses the heartfelt prayer our forefathers had in slavery God has already answered for those willing to believe.  For while a relative few slaves thought to liberate themselves through violent uprisings, those that had become Christians in larger numbers decided to put their faith in and wait on God who had allowed their plight and would in His timing, set them free which He did (Psalm 107:10-16).²  Their faith in God brought them and its legacy the Christians that have followed through much suffering!³

            Second, know that God in Jesus Christ, His Son, has already answered your prayer for freedom from fear of death and to live in peace in spite of what is going on all around you.  You are right to believe you should not have to live in fear and feel like prey from any source much less those of your “kind,” officers as sworn agents of God and men to uphold the law or fellow citizens.  But the one who really wants you to live in fear for your life is not human.  He is the devil, one of God’s fallen angels who hates Him and mankind.  He works through sinful persons from all walks of life to hurt and destroy as many as he can unlike Jesus (John 8:44, 10:10-11; Ephesians 6:12; 1 John 5:19).

            Making the Lord Jesus your Shepherd assures His protection on this earth to the extent He wills since out of love for Him, we as His sheep are already prepared for the slaughter; living as though we have already died in Him who raises us from the dead to live with Him forever (Psalms 23, 44:22, 118:6; Romans 6:1-8, 8:31-39)!  Also, He gives us His peace, the peace of God so that we do not have to live in fear of man or anything else of this world (Isaiah 26:3; John 14:27; Philippians 4:6-7).  Too, we are to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might;” putting on all of the “whole armor” He has given to stand while we purposely live holy (Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 John 5:18, NKJV).

            Finally, once more the Lord has already answered your emotion laden prayer in song through Israel’s king David who over three thousand years ago made many of his divinely inspired prayers Psalms for all to read in the Bible.  To those in Israel similarly oppressed, troubled by and living in worrisome fear of those doing evil, he wrote encouragement in Psalm 37:1-11 we can take hold of.  His key points are not to worry about those who do evil or practice things clearly forbidden by God because they will not long endure (vs. 1-2).  Instead, “trust,” “delight yourself also in” and “commit your way to the Lord,” (vs. 3-6, NKJV).  “Rest in” “and wait patiently for Him” as well (vs. 7, NKJV).

            Furthermore, along with ceasing from worry, do not be continually angry and bitter as are many of your “kind” that destroy themselves and others as victims or again, worry about evildoing racists with or without police badges.  God is going to deal with them, but anger, bitterness and worry harms you (vs. 8-9a, 10)!  Therefore, let these destructive emotions go through faith, forgiveness and hope in the promises of God “who cannot lie,” (Habakkuk 2:4; Ephesians 4:26-27, 31-32; Titus 1:1-3, NKJV).  Among the promises God has made to all David calls “the meek” is that we “shall inherit the earth” and enjoy an “abundance of peace,” (vs. 9b, 11, NKJV).⁴  God will take this present world away from evildoers, reverse the way it works and give it to us, His saints to rule under Christ!

            Indeed, teaching His disciples in first century Israel the Lord Jesus affirms God’s promise made a thousand years earlier through David declaring: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth,” (Matthew 5:5, NKJV).  The Lord comes to the stunning promise of future reversal in favor of those that humbly serve God now, after acknowledging how they first came from having poverty of spirit and continual grief through the wicked works of evildoers as well as their own sins (Matthew 5:3-4, NKJV).  But God begins the process of reversal right now, through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross to save us from our sins and resurrection from the dead; assuring the Kingdom we wait for comes to earth, His forgiveness and eternal life are available to all in the meantime (John 3:1-8; Acts 2:36-39).

1 See  the  August 12, 2018 post, Curtailing Gang Violence, under the category, Call To Repent and its follow up, August 19, 2018, Valuing Human Life, under the cate-

   gory, Biblical Worldview.

2 Read  the  two-part  post  beginning June 2, 2019, Message From A Redeemed Black Man, under the category, Biblical Worldview.  Be sure to also visit our Ministry’s

   Web Site dedicated to the cause of presenting a biblical worldview of the black American experience, https://fromslaverytovictory.org.

3 The legacy of faith our Christian slave forefathers left us is embodied in their simple, and deeply emotive “Spirituals” (which I Just Wanna Live harkens back to); those

   Christian black Americans thereafter in most forms of their Gospel Music to this present day!

4 To  be  meek  is  not to be weak, cowardly or an “Uncle Tom” as negatively defined by many black Americans (read the biblical worldview of this fictional character the

   Lord  led  me  to present on our From Slavery To Victory Education Project Web Site).  Meekness is the willful choice by aspiring strong men and great women of God

   to  walk  in Christ’s humility as a Lamb and His strength under control as a Lion.  I give this instruction as the Lord leads in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To

   Basics.  It is an excellent resource for godly parents to use in teaching and mentoring their children into biblical man or womanhood as they near their teen years. Get

   a print copy or digital download of the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple (digital only).  You can also

   purchase a print copy in the Strong Man Store.

            Two days after celebrating the one hundred and fifty-fifth year since the end of slavery here in America on Juneteenth and now, for Father’s Day, I write as the Lord leads to speak to the globally seen first degree murder of black American male, George Floyd, by a white male Minneapolis police officer as three other officers watched back on May 25, 2020.  All of the men have since been fired and brought up on charges in the case which is righteous.  In the meantime, violent rioting, looting and protest marches broke out in cities across America.  While the rioting and looting have calmed down, protest marches demanding the end to national systemic racism and police reform persist.¹

            I have said little publically as is typical when these all too frequent events occur since I am not my own, but the Lord’s watchman/prophet speaking what He puts in my mouth and at the time He wants it spoken (Ezekiel 33:1-9).²  What I have written in social media posts as the Lord led has been directed to black and other angry protesters calling for peaceful protest and thoughtful consideration of the fact the problems of racism and police misconduct are larger and more difficult to overcome systemically than a few changes in laws, policies, procedures and in the extreme, defunding the police which no society built on the rule of law as ordained by God can afford to do (Romans 13:1-7).

            To be sure, as with the Law of God, so, the laws of man are made not for those that are righteous, but those that are “lawless,” (1 Timothy 1:8-11, NKJV)!  To keep order, the police are hired among other reasons as agents of society to enforce its laws amid those that for whatever reasons break them.  Depending on the law, an encounter with police can occur for those that are otherwise law abiding.³  For credibility, the police are expected by God if not the governments that hire them or the people they serve to be law abiding--the same as us preachers who supposedly discipline ourselves so, after preaching to others, we are not “disqualified,” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27, NKJV).

            Without a doubt though, in only the news clips I have viewed the white police officer that kept his knee on the neck of George Floyd cold-heartedly murdered him.⁴  It was shocking, sickening and infuriating to watch as it surely has been for blacks since our forefathers as slaves began to make their inhumane voyages from West Africa to this land.  For as in those days among heartless slavers and on May 25^th, the evil eyes of that white police officer displayed utter contempt and disregard for George Floyd as a human being; the same contempt and disregard for human life that is in the thoroughly evil heart of Satan who hates all (Genesis 2:16-17, 3:1-11, 17-19; John 8:44, 13:21-30).

            It is therefore, understandable that most black Americans are outraged.  What has been new and amazing to see is the unprecedented numbers of white, other Americans of color and those around the world that have risen up in protest too.  Watching a man being murdered as he pleads that he cannot breathe while the police officer responsible and those with him ignore this, should be more than any normal human being can take without some kind of moral offense and need to act!  For this reason, I appreciate the largely peaceful uprising that has occurred in the stand many are making against systemic racism and for police reform in our society.

            I am also glad my children and grand-children old enough get to see this brief moment when all but a relative few willful white Americans that refuse, finally understand our righteous cry to end the bigoted, contempt driven mistreatment of black Americans and especially our men who have been strategically targeted since slavery.⁵  Nevertheless, I urge that all move away from the street protests for your health since God’s Coronavirus judgment remains and because you have the attention of the nation and world--changes man can make are taking place!  Keep vigilant through every legal means to hold government authorities accountable.  Lastly, check yourself too, as I have urged in social media posts--racism is an issue and evil of the human heart (Mark 7:20-23)!

            As such, not only our police officers that are guilty, but you also need what only God has the power to do and that is transform hearts.  He has made His power available to all through repentance and faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again the third day; sending His power through the Holy Spirit into the hearts of those that believe to make loving our neighbor possible--or if you are white, do you only intend to march for, but refuse to love your black neighbors (Matthew 18:1-5; John 3:1-8; Titus 3:1-7)?  This is a clarion call for authentic Christian white Americans to redeem the failure of your forefathers to be true ambassadors of reconciliation and represent biblical Christianity as God intended to all (2 Corinthians 5:17-6:2).

            Still, I must caution particularly my fellow Christian black Americans that will please God and do His will biblically not to walk again into the snare of believing we have arrived at what we have waited for so long: a widespread permanent change of heart among and acceptance by our white neighbors.⁶  Indeed, we have seen this movie before and already the call to defeat is being sounded by those who lead the Civil Rights Movement today; who make our righteous quest for racial, morally equivalent to gender and sexual justice.⁷  The dream of racial harmony well articulated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963, yet awaits the Second Coming of Jesus Christ because as He foretold, even natural human love that could get us close is diminishing as lawlessness increases (Matthew 24:12). 

1 Before I could begin to reflect good before the Lord about this post, another black male, Rayshard Brooks, was shot in the back in Atlanta, GA by another white officer

   while fleeing arrest on Friday, June 12th.  That officer was fired immediately and has since been charged with murder. 

2 See the July 29, 2018 two-part repost addressing the Trayvon Martin tragedy, The Racial Double Standard, under the category, Call To Repent.

3 I  have  had  a  few traffic violations over the course of my more than fifty years of driving, for example, and a couple of incidents that brought me into direct encounter

   with  the  police.  Most officers were professional and courteous.  But as a black male, I have also had the humiliating experience of being disrespected by a few arro-

   gant white police officers that were overbearing in wielding their authority.

4 Those that have watched the entire video time out the episode at eight minutes and forty-six seconds.

5 Read  especially part two of my 2015 Father’s Day post, Mama’s Boys, under the category, Black History that began on June 21^st.  While it is an ancient tactic of war-

   fare  to  target  men  for  death when subduing peoples because of their natural will and ability to protect their families if given the opportunity, the prolonged and cruel

   acts  of  guilty  white males from slavery to thoroughly oppress, humiliate, dominate and demoralize black males with religious sanction surely ranks high among all of

   the  evil  acts  of  mankind.  I urge all men to read my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics to understand how to handle our business in the image of Jesus

   Christ  as  God  wills.  Get a print copy or digital download of the book at major internet booksellers such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, ChristianBooks.com and Apple

   (digital only).  You can also purchase a print copy in the Strong Man Store.

6 Does  anybody  remember the 1978 Allan Bakke Affirmative Action Reverse Discrimination case and the Supreme Court decision?  Also, see the November 29, 2015

   post,  When  The  Glory Comes, under the category, Glory To God!  The counsel the Lord gave me in this post stands and will be fulfilled sooner than anyone reading

   this can imagine!  However, ‘“the just shall live by faith,’” (Hebrews 10:35-39, NKJV).  We do not wait for sinful man, but the living God!

7 A  man  I  have  deep  admiration  and respect for as one of the heroes of the Civil Rights Movement, Congressman John Lewis, expressed the politically and socially

   liberal  heart  of  today’s  leaders  and  participants in an interview on June 7^th while visiting the DC street painted “Black Lives Matter” with its Mayor and reported by

   BET.com.  Search  the  Bible from Genesis to Revelation to see if God ever sanctions racial injustice (Deuteronomy 1:17, 10:17-19), calls mortal man other than male

   or  female  (Matthew 19:1-4) or sexual perversion righteous in His sight (Romans 1:18-32).  You automatically kick the God of the Bible to the curb and assure certain

   eventual defeat when you advocate for and make coalitions with those in active rebellion against Him (Psalms 2, 33:12-22; Isaiah 31:1-3; 1 John 5:4-5).