Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Discipline
LEADER
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Attitude #9 Discipline
“For Yah did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
—2 Timothy 1:7
One of the key attitudes of true leadership is that of strong self-discipline. Genuine leaders understand that self-discipline is the manifestation of the highest form of government—self-government. The true spirit of leadership cultivates a self-control that regulates one’s focus and orders one’s life. The disciplined lifestyle distinguishes leaders from followers.
WHAT IS DISCIPLINE?
Any study of the characteristics of true leaders will reveal that they all exhibit a strong self-discipline, usually motivated by a passion generated by a sense of purpose and vision. All leaders are “prisoners” of the passion of their purposes.
Discipline may be defined as self-imposed standards and restrictions motivated by a desire that is greater than the alternatives. It is a self-policing. The nature of discipline is self-management regulated by a code of conduct in keeping with a set of goals and commitments dictated by an intended result. Discipline is a series of decisions prescribed by a determined destiny.
DISCIPLINE IS A SERIES OF DECISIONS PRESCRIBED BY A DETERMINED DESTINY.
The spirit of discipline is rooted in self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit. Leaders live with the understanding that—
• he who cannot control his thoughts will never control himself.
• he who cannot rule himself will never control life.
• he who cannot rule himself will never rule a nation.
• he who cannot control himself will be controlled by others.
DISCIPLINE LEADS TO PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION
Leaders know that the most powerful kind of control is self-control because it is the hardest to master but reaps the greatest rewards. Therefore, they are more concerned about controlling themselves than controlling other people.
According to Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary, the words disciple and discipline come from the same root word meaning “pupil.” A disciple is a student or learner who is dedicated to a concentrated and focused instruction or committed to learning to think like his or her teacher. This is why the followers of the ultimate teacher, Yahusha Hamachiach, were called his disciples, for it was his intent to take them through his “school of thought” and change their thinking so that they thought like him.
A disciple is considered an understudy, one given to or submitted to the mentoring of a master teacher. He is one who voluntarily surrenders his will to the influence of another in order to obtain the knowledge, thoughts, and philosophy of the teacher, for the purpose of personal transformation. All true leaders are students of life and for life.
VISION AND DISCIPLINE
Again, vision is the source of the leader’s discipline. The great king Solomon’s thoughts about vision are found in his book of wisdom, called Proverbs: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” Various translations of this verse give us additional insight into its meaning: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained [throw off restraint].” “Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint [throw off self-discipline].”
VISION IS THE SOURCE OF DISCIPLINE AND THE MOTHER OF LEADERSHIP.
Vision is the source of discipline and the mother of leadership. As I said earlier, the man or woman with a clear vision lives a very focused life that requires strong self discipline. This makes life very simple because—
1. vision chooses your future.
2. vision chooses your use of time.
3. vision chooses your priorities.
4. vision chooses your friends.
5. vision chooses your reading material.
6. vision chooses your use of energy.
7. vision chooses your hobbies.
8. vision chooses the movies you watch.
9. vision chooses your diet.
10. vision chooses how you invest your money.
11. vision chooses your to-do list.
12. vision chooses your attitude toward life.
13. vision chooses your life’s plan.
14. vision chooses your life.
To manifest the leadership spirit within you, you must cultivate a disciplined life and regulate your thoughts and activities based on the results that you desire for your life. The spirit of leadership is a spirit of discipline.
The Divine destiny connection, the chain that links us together.
Wednesday, July 19, 2023
Tuesday, July 18, 2023
PERSISTENCE
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Persistence
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Attitude #8 Persistence
Change is inevitable; growth is optional.
All true leaders cultivate the attitude of persistence. The spirit of leadership never gives up until it achieves its goal. It is a spirit that never quits.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not—nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not—unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not—the world is filled with educated derelicts. Persistence and determination, however, are powerful forces.
Persistence is the product of faith that is generated by a purpose. It is—
• the power to hold on, in spite of everything.
• the power to endure.
• the ability to face defeat again and again and not give up.
• the knack for pushing on in the face of difficulty, knowing that victory is yours.
• taking pains to overcome every obstacle and to do what is necessary to reach your goals.
Leaders persist because they have a firm grasp of their purposes, know where they are going, and are confident that they will arrive there. Their persistence is a manifestation that they hold a conviction about their futures based on the visions they have been given for their lives. True leaders believe that the attainment of their purposes is not optional, but that it is an obligation and a necessity, so they would never think of giving up.
THE SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP IS A SPIRIT THAT NEVER QUITS.
Yahusha told a wonderful parable that gives us a perfect picture of persistence. It is recorded in the gospel written by Luke, the first-century physician:
In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared Yah nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear Yah or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” And the Most High said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not Yah bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This parable illustrates the power that persistence can have in accomplishing what we truly desire. At another time, Yahusha told a similar parable that encourages us that success comes to those who persist—not only in the natural realm, but in the spiritual realm, as well.
Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” Then the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
As you develop the leadership spirit of persistence, remember these truths about the nature of your Creator and his own persistence in carrying out his purposes for you: (1) Yah is faithful; (2) Yah does not lie; (3) Yah has established his Word; (4) your purpose is already completed in him; (5) Yah delights in you and considers you his child.
Here are some encouraging and thought-provoking sayings about the value of persistence:
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. —William Feather
Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. —Napoleon Hill
All great achievements require time. —Anne Frank
Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
—Conrad Hilton
It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles. —Claude M. Bristol
Success is failure turned inside out. —Anonymous
If you have stumbled in pursuing your purpose, start again, make new plans to take the place of old ones that aren’t working, and stop only when you are finished!
Today we are walking in: Persistence
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Attitude #8 Persistence
Change is inevitable; growth is optional.
All true leaders cultivate the attitude of persistence. The spirit of leadership never gives up until it achieves its goal. It is a spirit that never quits.
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not—nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not—unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not—the world is filled with educated derelicts. Persistence and determination, however, are powerful forces.
Persistence is the product of faith that is generated by a purpose. It is—
• the power to hold on, in spite of everything.
• the power to endure.
• the ability to face defeat again and again and not give up.
• the knack for pushing on in the face of difficulty, knowing that victory is yours.
• taking pains to overcome every obstacle and to do what is necessary to reach your goals.
Leaders persist because they have a firm grasp of their purposes, know where they are going, and are confident that they will arrive there. Their persistence is a manifestation that they hold a conviction about their futures based on the visions they have been given for their lives. True leaders believe that the attainment of their purposes is not optional, but that it is an obligation and a necessity, so they would never think of giving up.
THE SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP IS A SPIRIT THAT NEVER QUITS.
Yahusha told a wonderful parable that gives us a perfect picture of persistence. It is recorded in the gospel written by Luke, the first-century physician:
In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared Yah nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, “Even though I don’t fear Yah or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!” And the Most High said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not Yah bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This parable illustrates the power that persistence can have in accomplishing what we truly desire. At another time, Yahusha told a similar parable that encourages us that success comes to those who persist—not only in the natural realm, but in the spiritual realm, as well.
Suppose one of you has a friend, and he goes to him at midnight and says, “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, because a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have nothing to set before him.” Then the one inside answers, “Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children are with me in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.” I tell you, though he will not get up and give him the bread because he is his friend, yet because of the man’s boldness he will get up and give him as much as he needs. So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
As you develop the leadership spirit of persistence, remember these truths about the nature of your Creator and his own persistence in carrying out his purposes for you: (1) Yah is faithful; (2) Yah does not lie; (3) Yah has established his Word; (4) your purpose is already completed in him; (5) Yah delights in you and considers you his child.
Here are some encouraging and thought-provoking sayings about the value of persistence:
Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go. —William Feather
Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit. —Napoleon Hill
All great achievements require time. —Anne Frank
Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.
—Conrad Hilton
It’s the constant and determined effort that breaks down all resistance, sweeps away all obstacles. —Claude M. Bristol
Success is failure turned inside out. —Anonymous
If you have stumbled in pursuing your purpose, start again, make new plans to take the place of old ones that aren’t working, and stop only when you are finished!
Monday, July 17, 2023
ACCOUNTABILITY
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Accountability
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Attitude #7 Accountability
Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken. —Peter Ueberroth38
The spirit of true leadership always possesses a sense of accountability and responsibility. True leaders readily embrace submission to authority and are conscious of their stewardship of the trust given to them by those whom they serve. The spirit of leadership seeks to be faithful to the sacred trust of the followers rather than doing what will please the leader.
In this teaching, I want to address a potential danger that leaders fall into and what we can do to prevent it. As I said earlier, the key to good leadership is the power to influence through inspiration, not manipulation. The danger of leadership is its potential for wielding power without answering to anyone else. Dictatorship and tyranny occur in the absence of a leader’s submission to authority.
The protection of leadership, therefore, is in a voluntary submission to a trusted authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority.
ACCOUNTABLE TO WHOM?
Let’s begin by clarifying to whom the leader must be accountable:
1. Himself (his conscience)
2. The primary stakeholders
3. The general family of humanity
4. The Creator, as the ultimate authority
All true leaders are aware of their responsibility to higher authority. Particularly in relation to the Creator, they are aware that they are accountable before Yah for their words and actions.
LEADERS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
A true leader is always conscious that he is not a law unto himself but should uphold established laws and treat others with respect as people made in the image and likeness of the Creator. He also listens to the advice and input of credible authority.
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
In a nutshell, accountability is giving a reckoning for one’s conduct and reporting on one’s progress. It is also an admission of motives and reasons for taking certain actions.
THE ACCOUNTABLE LEADER
In Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, he explained that Yahusha was willingly accountable to the Father when he was on earth.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Hamachiach Yahusha: who, being in very nature Yah, did not consider equality with Yah something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
A TRUE LEADER IS ALWAYS CONSCIOUS THAT HE IS NOT A LAW UNTO HIMSELF.
Yahusha continually referred to his accountability to the Father, making statements such as “My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” and acknowledging the Father’s affirmation of his leadership: “The very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.” “On [the Son of Man] Yah the Father has placed his seal of approval.” In developing the spirit of accountability, we can have no better example than his.
HOW TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
The following are some guidelines for incorporating accountability into your life:
• Commit yourself to be accountable to your personal convictions.
• Establish the Word of Yah as your final judge and authority.
• Appoint and submit to a group of tested, respected, credible, and mature people for advice, correction, rebuke, and instruction.
• Choose friends who are committed to the high standards of the Word of Yah and give them the right to judge you by it.
Perhaps the best advice for being accountable is the following, which Paul wrote to the first-century church at Colossae:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Most High, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Most High as a reward. It is the Most High Hamachiach you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
To manifest the leadership spirit hidden within you, you must embrace the attitude of accountability. Always be conscious that you are responsible to those below and above you for everything you say and do. Be cognizant that whatever you do as a leader may be personal, but it is never totally private. Your ultimate accountability is to the Creator of all leaders, who knows the thoughts and attitudes of your heart.
Today we are walking in: Accountability
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Attitude #7 Accountability
Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken. —Peter Ueberroth38
The spirit of true leadership always possesses a sense of accountability and responsibility. True leaders readily embrace submission to authority and are conscious of their stewardship of the trust given to them by those whom they serve. The spirit of leadership seeks to be faithful to the sacred trust of the followers rather than doing what will please the leader.
In this teaching, I want to address a potential danger that leaders fall into and what we can do to prevent it. As I said earlier, the key to good leadership is the power to influence through inspiration, not manipulation. The danger of leadership is its potential for wielding power without answering to anyone else. Dictatorship and tyranny occur in the absence of a leader’s submission to authority.
The protection of leadership, therefore, is in a voluntary submission to a trusted authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority.
ACCOUNTABLE TO WHOM?
Let’s begin by clarifying to whom the leader must be accountable:
1. Himself (his conscience)
2. The primary stakeholders
3. The general family of humanity
4. The Creator, as the ultimate authority
All true leaders are aware of their responsibility to higher authority. Particularly in relation to the Creator, they are aware that they are accountable before Yah for their words and actions.
LEADERS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
A true leader is always conscious that he is not a law unto himself but should uphold established laws and treat others with respect as people made in the image and likeness of the Creator. He also listens to the advice and input of credible authority.
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
In a nutshell, accountability is giving a reckoning for one’s conduct and reporting on one’s progress. It is also an admission of motives and reasons for taking certain actions.
THE ACCOUNTABLE LEADER
In Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, he explained that Yahusha was willingly accountable to the Father when he was on earth.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Hamachiach Yahusha: who, being in very nature Yah, did not consider equality with Yah something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
A TRUE LEADER IS ALWAYS CONSCIOUS THAT HE IS NOT A LAW UNTO HIMSELF.
Yahusha continually referred to his accountability to the Father, making statements such as “My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” and acknowledging the Father’s affirmation of his leadership: “The very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.” “On [the Son of Man] Yah the Father has placed his seal of approval.” In developing the spirit of accountability, we can have no better example than his.
HOW TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
The following are some guidelines for incorporating accountability into your life:
• Commit yourself to be accountable to your personal convictions.
• Establish the Word of Yah as your final judge and authority.
• Appoint and submit to a group of tested, respected, credible, and mature people for advice, correction, rebuke, and instruction.
• Choose friends who are committed to the high standards of the Word of Yah and give them the right to judge you by it.
Perhaps the best advice for being accountable is the following, which Paul wrote to the first-century church at Colossae:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Most High, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Most High as a reward. It is the Most High Hamachiach you are serving. Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
To manifest the leadership spirit hidden within you, you must embrace the attitude of accountability. Always be conscious that you are responsible to those below and above you for everything you say and do. Be cognizant that whatever you do as a leader may be personal, but it is never totally private. Your ultimate accountability is to the Creator of all leaders, who knows the thoughts and attitudes of your heart.
Saturday, July 8, 2023
POWER OF KINGDOM IN THE MIND PART 2
Matthew chapter 15
Today we are walking in: Power Of Kingdom In The Mind Part 2
1 Chronicles 28:9
And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind H3824: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
MIND
Today we look to the word-MIND-H3824 lebab--mind, knowledge, thinking, reflection, memory
The Torah testifies...............
Genesis 23:8
And he communed with them, saying, If it be your mind H3824 that I should bury my dead out of my sight; hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar,
Leviticus 24:12
And they put him in ward, that the mind H3824 of the LORD might be shewed them.
Numbers 16:28
And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works; for I have not done them of mine own mind H3824.
The prophets proclaim..................
Isaiah 26:3
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3824 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Ezekiel 11:5
And the Spirit of the Lord fell upon me, and said unto me, Speak; Thus saith the Lord; Thus have ye said, O house of Israel: for I know the things that come into your mind H3824, every one of them.
Habakkuk 1:11
Then shall his mind H3824 change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
The writings bear witness..........................
1 Chronicles 22:7
And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind H3824 to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:
Lamentations 3:21
This I recall to my mind H3824, therefore have I hope.
Job 34:33
Should it be according to thy mind H3824? he will recompense it, whether thou refuse, or whether thou choose; and not I: therefore speak what thou knowest.
Power of Kingdom in the Mind!!! Part 2
I wrote a note when I was studying this message. Is it possible for you to be slow at heart? He answered, yes. In other words, it is slow for your heart to get something that your mind had a long time ago. Your mind can get it fast but it's slow sometimes to get it to your heart and the trouble is you cannot be trusted until it gets to your heart. Some people say, well you know I have to learn to love. No! If love is in your heart then it's hard to hate anybody or be out of a relationship long. I wonder why the Bible says that the love of The Most High Yah has shed abroad where? In our hearts. If it's in our heart then we don't try to love. Your conviction is love, your preoccupation is love. That's why when love is in your heart you cannot discriminate, nor distinguish, nor can you bring conditions into relationships. If it's in your heart it is a natural part of your behavior. I love everybody because it's my conviction that they are worthy of love. Why? Because they are The Most High Yah's image. Some are temporarily insane but still The Most High Yah's image. You can love people because it is in your heart. If you have to mentally say every morning I love people! I love people! I love people! I don't want you around me. Love is something that is supposed to be in the subconscious center of your whole being. You know Matthew chapter 15 verse 16 to 20 says don't you see whatever goes into a man's mouth enters the stomach and then out of his body but whatever goes into his heart is where the man acts. It's a powerful statement made by our Most High Yahashua. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. That's a long list. Let's read it again, Out of the heart comes evil thoughts, then murder. Now notice the whole list begins with what? Thoughts. You don't just kill people. You think about it first. Well it's in your heart. It has to do with a subconscious thought, a conviction. For a man to burn up his wife, tells me something about a doctrinal problem. In other words, our society is not without doctrine. We have been indoctrinated by the wrong information but you have to decide that. If your children and your spouse deserve to die because of your own discomfort, then you have literally reduced human life to a nuisance. What a conviction. Now I must be honest with you friends. The frequency of the destruction of human life in our society is too much, it's too high. Is that true? I mean every day somebody is shot, stabbed or killed and what's frightening is we have gotten used to it but it starts from a heart condition. There's something wrong with the people's heart and the heart is what? The thought of life. The part of them that conviction is. They have convictions about things. The conviction is if you get in my way you are nothing but a nuisance, you're not an image of The Most High Yah anymore, you're not The Most High Yah in the flesh and you're not The Most High Yah's powerful image that he named in his own image. You are just an animal. You're not really a Ruach in a body made in The Most High Yah's image, you're not precious enough for Yahashua to die for so I'll kill you. You're not the one that Yahashua came down and spent three and a half years in tribulation to win. You're not worth what Yahashua died for. Imagine that kind of conviction in our nation, and that's what's prevailing in our country. The next list, adultery. Now you think about the heart. If the heart is right, adultery is impossible, is that right? I mean if you think about people who say they love you and then they violate that love what kind of thoughts and convictions do they have about love? Look at the next line. Sexual immorality. We could have a long list there that includes lesbianism, homosexuality, fornication, bestiality, masturbation and all the other things you know about that I don’t know about. The Bible says immoral sexual behavior is not from the mind. It is from the heart. That means it has to do with convictions, beliefs about things. That's why people who are perverted in their sexual orientation, they need some deep hard work done. You can't just get become a Kingdom citizen and born again in five seconds and expect for your homosexual cravings to go away. Hello somebody! You need to be indoctrinated with an understanding of your sexual reality, who you are in The Most High Yah. The Most High Yah can save you instantly but I tell you what, your heart takes awhile to get converted. The Bible says the law of the Most High converts what? The soul. The soul is the mind, the heart, the will, the decision-making practice, and the emotions, that which affects the behavior. I tell you this thing goes to the heart. Look at the last one. Theft and lies, they are in the heart. If your heart is right, you have to tell the truth. If your heart is not right you are going to lie somehow and you're going to feel no convictions about it because your conviction is that lying is okay. That's why lying is not in the mouth, it's in the heart first. It's your conviction. If you believe that honesty is the only way to do business, then you don't have to discuss whether you are wrong or right in a situation. The next statement, slander. It's in the heart. Slander means, write this down, to tell the truth for the wrong reason. That's why lying and slander are different in the Bible in that list. To lie means to bear false witness to tell something that is not true. Slander is different. Slander is to tell the truth about somebody, to destroy them. That’s slander and the Bible said that evil is in the heart. That means a person already planned to get you before they start working on the plan. Hello somebody! Evil people, they know who you used to be with, they know what you do, and they start talking about it to destroy you. That's slander. The Most High Yah hates it. The Bible says tell the truth in love, not in slander. You tell the truth because you love a person and if you love a person you wouldn't want to destroy them. Look at the last part of it though it says, these are what make a man unclean. What's in his heart makes him unclean but eating with unwashed hands doesn't make a man unclean. It's what a man eats with his mind that destroys the man. Look at verse 8 of the same chapter, These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain, their teachings or doctrines are but rules taught by men. The Most High Yah says it's possible for you to go through the motions and you don't believe what you are doing. The Most High Yah prefers you to do what you believe, in that order, you believe it first and then you do it. Therefore doctrine is the foundation of behavior. The word doctrine means teaching or instructions of The Most High Yah. The Bible says we must honor the Most High with our hearts, therefore the storage of the heart is the essence of the man. That's it. You are what's in your heart. So the question then is, what's in your heart and how did it get there and who put it there and where did you get it from and what credit does the source have? Genesis 6:5 the Most High looked at mankind on the earth and the Bible says the Most High saw that every inclination of their thoughts or their hearts was only evil all the time so the Most High decided to destroy them. The Most High saw that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was to do evil. In other words, The Most High Yah knows what is in their hearts. It’s going to show up so I better act now. Whatever's in the heart is eventually going to show up.
By the way, that is why when we talk about love, have you noticed that when you talk about love, all through your life, in history, they have love tied to the heart? They always draw this thing called the heart. They send little notes in the classroom. They give you a little red heart saying I love you. They tie it to the heart. How come they don’t say I love you and then draw a picture of the brain? The next someone tells you they love you and they don't send you a picture of the brain, tell them they don't love you yet. Now I want you to tie that to what The Most High Yah says. The Most High Yah says if the evil thought is in their hearts, then I have to destroy them now because what's in their heart is going to show up. That's why Yahashua says out of the heart comes the issues of life. So when a person says they love you, your number one pursuit is to find out what's in their hearts.How do you find out what is in a person’s heart? You put them under all types of conditions before you marry them. Hello somebody! First of all, you tell them no sex and then you check and see how they react to that. Come on, use your mind. If they come back and say, but if you love me! Now you see what's in their heart. Tell them, you are not good for me. Put them under pressure. Tell them I want you to save money to buy property before we get married. If he says, woman I ain’t got no time to save money, you say, yeah that's why we can't be married. Whatever is in your heart is going to show up in the marriage. We normally get married and then we discover the heart and by then it's too late preparing for the heartbreak, we call it. You break my heart they say! How could you break my heart and you never had it? I never gave you the real me. Matter of fact, people don't tell the truth in courtship. The greatest lies are told in courtship. Why? Because you're trying to win somebody, so you keep lying. I always smell like this and every time you see them they just smell like the flowers of heaven. I always dress like this and every time you see them they dress nice. My hair is always like this! There's never a crust in my eyes! My eyes are always made up with colors! My breath is always Mister Mint baby! Listen when I wake up it smells like this. Just LIES!!! I always take you out for dinner all the time. We don't tell the truth. Our hearts are where the issues really lie. How many times have you heard people say this... I didn't know she was like that. And now guess what? You are now married to her. Oh, I know this man was like that. All these years we have been together, he was so nice and now we are married. People don't show you their heart. Even The Most High Yah doesn't trust you. Is that right? The Most High Yah said if you want to come to me, first I want your heart. Love me first, with your heart. I don't want your hands raised, your legs dancing, I don't trust that movement. I want your heart because you folks know how to put on a show. You worship me with your lips but your heart is somewhere else. Paul says, be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. That word mind is referring to the heart. He says you cannot be changed until your heart is changed. Change depends on your heart, not your thinking. It depends on the subconscious. Paul says transformation is related to that. Now what is in your heart? That's the question. How did it get there? Where did it come from? And what was the true source of that information? The Scriptures teach us that a man's behavior is simply a reflection of what's in his heart. Therefore we can know what is in their heart by one's words and behavior. Yahashua warned his followers to take heed of what you hear and be wary of the leaven or the teaching of the Pharisees. He told his disciples, he says protect your ears and your senses. That's what it means. He says take heed to what you hear. That means distinguish and determine what you will allow to go into your mind. That's what he meant. You don't just watch anything and read anything and listen to anything and see anything. He says you must be on guard. Take heed of what goes into your mind, into your Ruach. Why? Because there's something about the mind, once it captures something it starts to work it down in the heart and the more it continues to see it the more it has material to put in the heart. If you see something once, chances are it won't go into your heart. But if you see it four times, five times, ten times, 15 times, 30 times, believe me friends it's getting into your heart. And when it gets in your heart it takes a miracle of the Ruach HaQadesh to get it up. That is why you can be born again instantly but it takes forever to be converted, because The Most High Yah has to change your heart. Can I recommend that we take Paul's advice, and that is, be not conformed to this world. The gate to the heart, write it down, is the mind. The gate to the heart is the mind, and the gate to the mind is the senses. So whatever you don't want in your heart, you shouldn't allow in your mind. What you don't want in your mind you shouldn't allow to stimulate your senses. It is that simple. So the control of the content of the heart is in your power. You can't tell the Ruach HaQadesh to close your eyes for you. Try it. You can't tell the Ruach HaQadesh to clog up your ears for you. I don't want to hear what they say. You can't tell the Ruach HaQadesh you don't want to smell things and you don't want to taste things. The Ruach HaQadesh is here to assist you, not to control your life. That is why the gate to the heart, you have the key. My question then is, how did these hearts get like this? How are young people in gangs? How are young ladies getting pregnant at 12? How are people beating their wives and their husbands? How are children cursing their parents? I mean what kind of hearts do we have in our country? Keep in mind now, it's a matter of belief. If a ten-year-old tells his mother to go to hell, that means that that mother or somebody gave some information to that kid, because according to the Bible it says foolishness is bound up in the heart of the child and the rod of correction…. Not the discussion. The rod of Correction and the rod of correction there actually means discipline, will drive it out. That means children should not be left to their own regulation. If a child begins to treat his parents as if that parent is a child then we have to blame the parent. Somebody didn't drive foolishness out and the child begins to believe that he or she and his mother are company. When I hear a son call his father by first name I get nervous. I say listen to me, good young man. Your father is not your brother, and your belief has to be checked. You call your mother by her first name young lady or son, you better check your belief. Your mother is an honorable woman. She might not be perfect but The Most High Yah said honor her. But it's what's in your heart. If you hang around other young people whose doctrine is they cuss their parents, they talk bad to their mothers, and you hang around them enough, you begin to think the same thing about your parents. That means your doctrine is getting a little bit tarnished. I even think that husband and wife need to have this checked. If you call your wife dog, what kind of man are you? I've seen this stuff happening all over the world. People dishonoring one another, the Bible says women honor your husbands and husbands love your wife with your heart. Imagine, Sarah called her husband Most High. What a woman! “Yes my Most High.” Everybody type “doctrine” in the comments. It sees what you believe about a person. It's conviction. How did we get like this? How can a young boy at 13 want to join a gang so bad he takes a gun and goes in the night just to shoot someone to get into the gang? What kind of mind is that? What kind of mind would be in a person who would instruct a 12 year old to do that? Convictions of The Most High Yah. What is a human? Oh just another carcass. The Most High Yah forbid. Yahashua told us that out of the heart comes all of these murderers. The social state of our community is obvious. Yahashua warned us to be careful what goes into your mind. Take heed that means you take heed of what comes on your TV, what comes on the cable stations, what comes on the cinema. I mean it. I saw some movies they're bringing in. Some of the former gang members say they watched the movies and the movie showed them what to do. So let's not be so naive. The Bible says whatever enters a man's mind enters his heart. You know my kids, they frightened me. They watch movies over and over and over. They watch one movie over and over and over and I'm saying, “oh Most High Yah I wish they were watching Your word like that. They remember every word the actor says. Then we say well we're not responsible for that. Whatever goes into the heart shows up in the street. What goes into the heart shows up in the school. What goes to the heart shows up in the home. What goes into the heart shows up in our national life. That's why I am so concerned by the grace of The Most High Yah that we will be able to impact the media and bring about some alternative indoctrination, because everybody's indoctrinating somebody. Everybody's doing it. I am so concerned about what I see happening and coming to this country. Psalm 14 verse 1 says A fool has set in his heart there is no Most High Yah. Now many of you quote that scripture. I want you to read something else. You have to read the next three verses because the next three verses are even more dangerous. It says first of all, the fool has set in his heart there is no Most High Yah. That means when a man says there's no Most High Yah, then the next line says they are corrupt, their deeds are vile and there is no one who does good. The Most High Yah says once a man cancels The Most High Yah then the whole country is in trouble. When a man says there's no Most High Yah then there's corruption in everything: business, politics, school, work, national life, and social life. The whole thing falls apart. That's why we need to make sure we teach our children about The Most High Yah. Verse 5 says they are overwhelmed with dread when they don't believe in The Most High Yah. Everywhere you look, there is depression in life where there is no Most High Yah. To change a man you must change his heart and to change his heart you must change his mind and to change his mind you must change the information stored in it. The social state of our communities are a direct reflection of the indoctrination of the minds and hearts of our people. What we believe about The Most High Yah will affect our country and our community and our families. What we believe about man will affect our relationships with men. What we believe about sin will affect the way we handle sin. If you don't believe in sin, there's no limitation to what you would do or not do. What do we believe about evil? There's no conviction, no doctrine in the hearts of our people today, young and old. I pray that The Most High Yah would give us a conviction about destiny. What about destiny for your life? All of these affect our every behavior. In each decision that we make, we decide what to do based on what we believe. Every man has a doctrine, even the atheist has a doctrine. He believes that there is no Most High Yah. Everybody has a belief, that's a doctrine. Every human has a doctrine that they live by. The point is these are self proclaimed doctrines. The self proclaimed atheist doctrine is to believe that there is no Most High Yah. So he does have a strong belief. The only problem is that belief is going to affect you. For this reason it's imperative that we understand the nature of indoctrination. The battle for the mind and the heart of man is the essence of life and that's why earth is the way it is. We have all been indoctrinated. We are indoctrinated by lies or truth. The entire world of media is a world of indoctrination. Whether it is books, television, videos, CDs of music or whatever. Everybody's in the business of indoctrination. Whatever you are indoctrinated by becomes your regulation for living. The entire world is in the indoctrination business, however, only the truth, Yahashua said, can set a man free. That is why we need to know the difference between the truth and the lie. Yahashua said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. What is the truth? Truth is the original intent for the reason why something was made. Truth in The Most High Yah's book is the original purpose in his mind, why he created everything. So the only way for you to know the truth is to go back to the manufacturer, the creator of everything that is existing today. So the truth is in the heart of the creator. The truth is in the mind of the one who started the whole thing. Everybody else is lying. You know the Bible says very plainly, let The Most High Yah be true and every man a liar. That means if you didn't hear it from The Most High Yah it's a lie, and if you are indoctrinated by a lie then your behavior is going to be anti-Most High Yah. That is why as Kingdom citizens, we must submit ourselves to the indoctrination of the truth. Therefore the only source of truth is our creator. Proverbs 3 verse 1 says, My son do not forget my teaching but keep my commandments in your heart for they will prolong your life and they will bring you to prosperity. Keep them in your heart. He goes on to say bind them in your tables of your heart. He keeps repeating it. Take my word The Most High Yah says, my son, and put it in your heart, bind it on the tables of your heart. Tables actually referred to the clay tablets that they used to write on when it was wet and when it was dry it became a permanent inscription. The Most High Yah says the way I want my word in your heart, I want you to keep putting it there and putting it there until it is frozen, until it is burned in your heart, until nothing can get it out. He says put it in your heart and you will prosper. The next verse says then you will gain favor with The Most High Yah and man. Interesting... Then the next verse says trust in the Most High with all thine heart, lean not to your own understanding and in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path. Trust in the Most High and He will give you the desires of your heart. What's going to be in your heart? What he put there. The Most High Yah is going to give you what he wants when he puts it in your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says above all else guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life. Proverbs 15:28 says the heart of the righteous weighs its answers. I like that statement. I'm going to read it again. Proverbs 15:28, The heart of the righteous woman, the righteous man, the righteous young person, weighs it’s answers. That means the righteous person doesn't just react to life. They observe and then they go to their heart and have a meeting and they discuss whether it lines up with their convictions and beliefs and if it doesn't then the answer is according to their heart. 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 3. As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed The Most High Yah, which was committed to my trust. Paul says stay with the doctrine. A Lot of new religions are coming out but he says but stay with the old doctrines, stay with what's in the Word of The Most High Yah. No matter how much they come up with what seems to be enticing and seeing them be up to date, stay with the original doctrines that you received from the prophets. He says The Most High Yah's doctrines are permanent, they never change. I think nature indeed reveals his existence to us, but there's nothing more powerful than the written word of The Most High Yah. The Most High Yah's first book is nature. You can look at nature and you can read The Most High Yah. Nature shows The Most High Yah's power, his wisdom, his intelligence, but it tells us nothing about his pardon, his providence, how he provides an escape from sin. It doesn't tell us anything about reconciliation. Nature is a wonderful book of The Most High Yah but it doesn't have the doctrines of The Most High Yah. That's why people that worship nature are considered idol worshipers to The Most High Yah. In nature there's no incentive for holiness, it contains no revelation of the future. We must depend first on The Most High Yah's other book and it's this book called the Bible. When we look at this book, the Bible, it is the verifying of The Most High Yah's revelation concerning himself and concerning man and concerning matters of life. This is the foundation for our doctrines. Yahashua said in Matthew chapter 24 verse 35 Heaven and earth will pass away but my words shall never pass away. That is the standard of The Most High Yah's Word. Therefore Pilate asks a question to Yahashua, what is truth? How do I know what to believe? How do I know what to put in my heart? The answer comes screaming back at all of us, I am the way, the truth and the life and if any man comes to the Abba he comes to Me first. For I am the word, I am the Alev and the Tov. Yahashua is the standard and the spoken word of The Most High Yah as revealed in Scripture. There is no other authoritative guide to knowledge about The Most High Yah than the Bible. There's no other real authoritative book in knowledge of man, other than the Bible. There's no authoritative book that we know that has stood the test of time, that is more authoritative than this book concerning the world and the future. 2nd Timothy chapter 3 says you have known the scriptures Timothy that they are able to make you wise and they are able to bring you into salvation through faith in Hamachiach. The next verse says all, Scripture is given by inspiration of The Most High Yah and it's good for teaching doctrine, rebuke, correction and training and righteous instruction. This book is good so you can be fully equipped to handle life. We must therefore build our lives on the foundation of the Word of The Most High Yah and not allow any indoctrination other than that which The Most High Yah has commanded. Luke chapter 8 verse 12 says something about doctrine.
It says the HaSatan comes and takes the word from their hearts so that they do not believe. Listen to me. When you hear the truth, HaSatan goes into action. Why? He doesn't want what's in your mind to get in your heart. That is why even after sitting under the teaching of The Most High Yah's Word, HaSatan has a tremendous program to get you distracted immediately after the teaching. He will cause you to go somewhere or turn something on or listen to somebody that totally wipes out what you just heard. This teaching is only in your mind right now, it has to get into your heart. The Bible says the evil one comes to take the word from their hearts so that they do not believe. That's a very important statement. If I can get it out of their hearts or prevent it from getting it into their hearts, they won't believe it. Let me tell you what I've heard often in this ministry. People just kind of tell me casually, some of the best teaching in the world takes place during Fiveamprayer and yet people still mess up. They sit up under the word. What's the difference between those people who take what is taught and put it into practice and those who just hear the teachings? When I talk to people and they own three businesses, they've grown in the Most High, their marriage is healed. I mean they put the teachings to work! They say, you know you changed my life, and I say, Wow one teaching changed their lives. Then there are people who sit and listen to the word on YouTube for a million teachings and it doesn't change their lives. The difference is right here, HaSatan comes immediately to steal the word so it doesn't enter their hearts so that they may not believe. I think you can make a commitment that every teaching you hear, you're going to soak in that teaching. Set time aside to soak up what The Most High Yah said to you until it enters your heart. You have to drown HaSatan out with constant repetition of the word until it gets to the heart. Once it gets in your heart and it's burned there, he could say what he wants, why? You can now respond out of your heart! HaSatan has been successful in preventing good information from becoming revelation by keeping it out of the heart. When you turn the TV on and you watch the news or you watch that game or whatever, it just drowns out the word. Take heed of what you hear because the evil one comes immediately to steal the word. I'm like a sower this afternoon. I'm throwing the seed that's landing on all kinds of soils. I don't know what condition your life is in. It may be rocky, maybe good soil, maybe it's just a hole but I pray today that it would be one of those where there's good soil.
Friday, July 7, 2023
INNOVATION
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Innovation
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
Attitude #6 Innovation
Don’t resist change; contribute to it.
The spirit of true leadership is always manifested in an innovative attitude. The very nature of leading demands an innovative spirit as leaders take followers to an as-yet undiscovered world of vision.
Innovation is the creative reserve of true leaders. The ultimate goal of leadership is to successfully achieve and accomplish a predetermined vision to fulfill a primary purpose. The role of the leader is to provide a sense of purpose, vision, motivation, momentum, and a productive environment to accomplish this task. A key quality of leadership in this regard is an innovative and creative mind-set.
THE MIND-SET OF INNOVATION
One of the principal characteristics of effective leaders is their ability to think outside the box. True leaders learn from their experiences, but they never live in them. They never live their lives by prior experiences or else they would become entrenched in the past. Leaders don’t allow the past to dictate or entrap the future. They possess the capacity to combine old ideas and concepts in order to create new ones. They never believe that there is only one way to accomplish any task. True leaders are never prisoners of tradition.
OUR ABILITY TO INNOVATE COMES FROM THE FACT THAT WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF OUR CREATOR.
In light of the mind-set of the innovator, let’s look at some definitions of innovation. Innovation is—
• the capacity to create new approaches and concepts to deal with old and new challenges.
• the perceptivity to see possibilities in the combination of old and new concepts.
• the creation, development, and application of untested ways of solving old and new problems.
• the capacity to think beyond the known, defy the norm, and believe in one’s abilities to solve problems.
THE CREATOR’S INNOVATIVE SPIRIT
Our ability to innovate comes from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator. The first century writer Paul said that we are to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” This means that the more we are transformed into the image of the One who created us, the more innovative we should be.
An examination of the attitudes and actions of the Creator’s innovative Spirit leads us to the following conclusions. The Creator—
• created with diversity; he never repeated anything in creation.
• never did the same miracle twice in the same way.
• always solved problems in unexpected and untraditional ways.
• challenged humanity to think beyond its current experience.
• never believed anything was impossible.
• never dealt with humanity according to its norms and expectations.
YAHUSHA THE INNOVATOR
One of the greatest examples of the leadership spirit of innovation is the ultimate leader, the young Jewish rabbi Yahusha. During his time on earth over two thousand years ago, he demonstrated the same innovative spirit as the heavenly Father. His creativity was manifested throughout all his work among men. In performing his miracles, he never repeated any single method but always used a different approach to solve every problem.
For example, he healed the blind using several different methods. For some, he merely touched their eyes and they were made well. For another, he laid his hands on the person’s eyes and put mud on them, and then laid his hands on them again to cause the person to receive his sight. For still another, he simply spoke the words, “Go, your faith has healed you,” and the person was healed.
When Yahusha wanted to feed thousands of people who had gathered to hear him speak, he didn’t have his disciples buy food at the market, but he multiplied five loaves and two fish so that everyone was fed and had leftovers to spare.
When he raised the dead, he did so in several different ways. One time he touched a young man’s coffin and then told him to get up; in another instance, he took a little girl by the hand and told her to get up; and at another time, he called out to Lazarus, who was still in his grave, and Lazarus walked out of the tomb alive. Every instance was unique and most likely tailored to the individual or to Yah’s specific purposes at the time.
Yahusha was also innovative in his methods of travel. While everyone else crossed the lake in boats, there were one or two instances in which he walked on top of the water.
Finally, one time when Yahusha and his disciples needed to pay taxes and Peter was concerned about it, Yahusha told him to go fishing and that the first fish he caught would have money inside its mouth that they could use to pay the taxes. His leadership style shows that true leadership demands that we always consider new ways to solve old problems.
“FORGET THE FORMER THINGS”
Having a predetermined mind-set hinders the leadership spirit of innovation. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, Yah said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” We can apply these statements in our development as innovators.
Whenever you encounter a project, a challenge, or a problem, practice thinking in new ways and with a different mind-set. Ask the Creator to give you a fresh perspective, and see what happens! As Paul wrote, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.”
To become the leader that you were born to be and to manifest the hidden spirit of leadership dormant within you, you must cultivate the spirit of innovation. Do not be afraid to rise above mediocrity. Harness creativity and explore the uncharted worlds of the untested.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO RISE ABOVE MEDIOCRITY.
Leaders don’t follow paths—they create trails. They venture where others don’t dare to tread. Know that the horizon of life offers great opportunities. Leaders take time to sit and think of things that have not yet been done and then make plans to get them done. Venture into the uncomfortable zone—innovate.
Thursday, July 6, 2023
TEAMWORK
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Teamwork
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
Attitude #5 Teamwork
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. —Henry Ford
True leaders possess the attitude of teamwork because they do not care who gets the credit. They move people from their personal and private goals to serving the needs of the common good. A team spirit manifests the difference between ambition and the pursuit of a Yah-given destiny: Ambition is a private thing that you want to do only for your own benefit, while destiny is a big picture that involves benefiting others.
A leader is always a team player. True leaders are always cognizant that no great accomplishment has ever been achieved by one individual. This is a practical principle, but it is also by design. Mankind was created so that people would benefit from one another’s mutual contributions as they live and work together. This is so they will not become self-centered, will learn to care for the needs of others, and will be able to multiply the reach of their gifts by combining their talents as they create and produce things.
After all, Yah himself, though he is one unified Spirit being, expresses his creative activity through the divine teamwork of Father, Son, and Ruach HaQadesh.
A leader understands that every person was created to fill a need. Everyone has an ability that no one else has and is indispensable in the world. Likewise, because of their unique gifts and perspectives, each human being is a solution to a certain problem that needs to be solved.
TRUE LEADERS HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF TEAMWORK; THEY DO NOT CARE WHO GETS THE CREDIT.
The attitude of being a team player is also one of a humble spirit who recognizes that he has both strengths and weaknesses and needs the strengths of others to be a support where he is weak. To become the leader that you were created to be, you must embrace and encourage the unique gifts, abilities, differences, and value that each team member brings to the whole. Leadership success is measured by how much work one can accomplish through the team.
PRINCIPLES OF TEAMWORK
Teamwork is defined as the ability to work together toward a common vision. Because it directs individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives, teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. Let’s look at some principles of teamwork:
1. PARTNERSHIP IS THE CREATOR’S IDEA.
When the Creator first brought mankind into the world, he had the idea of partnership in mind: “The Most High Yah said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
2. TEAMWORK IS NECESSARY FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF PURPOSE.
Again, at creation, Yah said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” The mandate of dominion over the earth, which requires the spirit of leadership, was given to both males and females. This means that teamwork is a built-in requirement for the fulfillment of our purposes in the world.
3. TEAMWORK IS THE CREATOR’S PLAN FOR LEADERSHIP.
While Yah often calls individuals to carry out his purposes, he doesn’t want them to pursue their callings alone. Even Moses, who was called the friend of Yah and did extraordinary things, needed leadership help. In the book of the prophet Micah, Yah said, “I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Moses did not rule alone, but was given the help of his brother and sister. At a time when Moses tried to take on too much responsibility, his father-in-law reminded him that he needed to delegate responsibility or the work would be too much for him. We also see the idea of teamwork in the first-century church with the traveling teams of Paul and Barnabus, Peter and John, and Priscilla and Aquila. When Paul worked with the churches he founded, he often had many coworkers who assisted him.
4. TEAMWORK WAS EMPHASIZED BY Yahusha.
Yahusha himself did not carry out his ministry alone but instead gathered a group of twelve disciples to assist him and learn from his example. When he sent out his disciples to minister, he told them to go two by two.
TEAMWORK INTRINSICALLY APPRECIATES DIVERSITY OF GIFTS.
THE BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK
Again, teamwork intrinsically appreciates the diversity of gifts that the team members bring to the partnership or group. Paul wrote, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Hamachiach we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” The spirit of teamwork offers the following benefits:
• Teamwork gives opportunity for participation.
• Teamwork provides the environment for people’s talents and gifts to be released.
• Teamwork gives both personal and corporate satisfaction.
• Teamwork gives value to each part and member.
• Teamwork recognizes the value of each part/ person.
EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
How can you best reflect the attitude of teamwork? Teamwork offers some very helpful principles regarding keys to effective teamwork programs. Apply them to improve your leadership development:
• Start with team goals.
• Select the right people.
• Define everyone’s roles.
• Empower the team.
(Authorize the power of decision.)
• Open your talent bank.
• Appreciate style differences.
• Establish ground rules.
• Create a relaxed atmosphere.
• Prepare a work plan.
• Get the work done.
• Hold efficient meetings.
• Build external networks.
• Resolve conflicts effectively.
• Build a climate of trust.
• Communicate—and communicate!
• Get everyone committed.
• Make decisions by consensus.
• Reward team results.
• Assess team performance.
• Celebrate team accomplishments.36
To manifest your true leadership aptitude, you must posses the spirit of teamwork and know that, as Ken Blanchard says, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Leaders know that no one can be the best at everything. But when all of us combine our talents, we can be the best at virtually anything.
“There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Today we are walking in: Teamwork
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
Attitude #5 Teamwork
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. —Henry Ford
True leaders possess the attitude of teamwork because they do not care who gets the credit. They move people from their personal and private goals to serving the needs of the common good. A team spirit manifests the difference between ambition and the pursuit of a Yah-given destiny: Ambition is a private thing that you want to do only for your own benefit, while destiny is a big picture that involves benefiting others.
A leader is always a team player. True leaders are always cognizant that no great accomplishment has ever been achieved by one individual. This is a practical principle, but it is also by design. Mankind was created so that people would benefit from one another’s mutual contributions as they live and work together. This is so they will not become self-centered, will learn to care for the needs of others, and will be able to multiply the reach of their gifts by combining their talents as they create and produce things.
After all, Yah himself, though he is one unified Spirit being, expresses his creative activity through the divine teamwork of Father, Son, and Ruach HaQadesh.
A leader understands that every person was created to fill a need. Everyone has an ability that no one else has and is indispensable in the world. Likewise, because of their unique gifts and perspectives, each human being is a solution to a certain problem that needs to be solved.
TRUE LEADERS HAVE AN ATTITUDE OF TEAMWORK; THEY DO NOT CARE WHO GETS THE CREDIT.
The attitude of being a team player is also one of a humble spirit who recognizes that he has both strengths and weaknesses and needs the strengths of others to be a support where he is weak. To become the leader that you were created to be, you must embrace and encourage the unique gifts, abilities, differences, and value that each team member brings to the whole. Leadership success is measured by how much work one can accomplish through the team.
PRINCIPLES OF TEAMWORK
Teamwork is defined as the ability to work together toward a common vision. Because it directs individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives, teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results. Let’s look at some principles of teamwork:
1. PARTNERSHIP IS THE CREATOR’S IDEA.
When the Creator first brought mankind into the world, he had the idea of partnership in mind: “The Most High Yah said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
2. TEAMWORK IS NECESSARY FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF PURPOSE.
Again, at creation, Yah said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” The mandate of dominion over the earth, which requires the spirit of leadership, was given to both males and females. This means that teamwork is a built-in requirement for the fulfillment of our purposes in the world.
3. TEAMWORK IS THE CREATOR’S PLAN FOR LEADERSHIP.
While Yah often calls individuals to carry out his purposes, he doesn’t want them to pursue their callings alone. Even Moses, who was called the friend of Yah and did extraordinary things, needed leadership help. In the book of the prophet Micah, Yah said, “I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Moses did not rule alone, but was given the help of his brother and sister. At a time when Moses tried to take on too much responsibility, his father-in-law reminded him that he needed to delegate responsibility or the work would be too much for him. We also see the idea of teamwork in the first-century church with the traveling teams of Paul and Barnabus, Peter and John, and Priscilla and Aquila. When Paul worked with the churches he founded, he often had many coworkers who assisted him.
4. TEAMWORK WAS EMPHASIZED BY Yahusha.
Yahusha himself did not carry out his ministry alone but instead gathered a group of twelve disciples to assist him and learn from his example. When he sent out his disciples to minister, he told them to go two by two.
TEAMWORK INTRINSICALLY APPRECIATES DIVERSITY OF GIFTS.
THE BENEFITS OF TEAMWORK
Again, teamwork intrinsically appreciates the diversity of gifts that the team members bring to the partnership or group. Paul wrote, “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Hamachiach we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” The spirit of teamwork offers the following benefits:
• Teamwork gives opportunity for participation.
• Teamwork provides the environment for people’s talents and gifts to be released.
• Teamwork gives both personal and corporate satisfaction.
• Teamwork gives value to each part and member.
• Teamwork recognizes the value of each part/ person.
EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
How can you best reflect the attitude of teamwork? Teamwork offers some very helpful principles regarding keys to effective teamwork programs. Apply them to improve your leadership development:
• Start with team goals.
• Select the right people.
• Define everyone’s roles.
• Empower the team.
(Authorize the power of decision.)
• Open your talent bank.
• Appreciate style differences.
• Establish ground rules.
• Create a relaxed atmosphere.
• Prepare a work plan.
• Get the work done.
• Hold efficient meetings.
• Build external networks.
• Resolve conflicts effectively.
• Build a climate of trust.
• Communicate—and communicate!
• Get everyone committed.
• Make decisions by consensus.
• Reward team results.
• Assess team performance.
• Celebrate team accomplishments.36
To manifest your true leadership aptitude, you must posses the spirit of teamwork and know that, as Ken Blanchard says, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Leaders know that no one can be the best at everything. But when all of us combine our talents, we can be the best at virtually anything.
“There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
Wednesday, July 5, 2023
GOAL SETTING
Genesis chapter 1
Today we are walking in: Goal Setting
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Attitude #4 Goal Setting
If you think you can do it, that’s confidence; if you do it, that’s competence.
All true leaders possess a goal-driven attitude. Leaders distinguish themselves from followers by their passion for pre established goals. They regulate their activities and measure their progress against prescribed objectives and milestones.
Everyone in the world is a goal setter, in one way or another. Even the man who is failing at life is setting goals that cause him to fail. In fact, many of us plan not to do things that would make us successful.
Many times, we don’t realize that we are setting goals. Whenever we make plans to go to the grocery store, go to school, do the laundry, or meet friends for a meal, we are in reality setting goals.
When we don’t achieve what we want to achieve or accom- plish what we desire to accomplish, the problem is not goal set- ting, in itself. Instead, it’s that we don’t set goals for the things we truly care about, or we set the wrong kind of goals.
A leader understands how to set the right goals. This is a vital attitude to cultivate because your future and your life depend on the goals you set—either consciously or sub- consciously. Where you end up in life is a result of the goals that you set or did not set for your life.
EVERYONE IS A GOAL SETTER; A LEADER UNDERSTANDS HOW TO SET THE RIGHT GOALS.
What should determine the goals that we set and the plans that we make? Our purpose and vision in life. Success comes from the discipline of goal setting according to one’s purpose. I have set goals for my life for the past thirty-five years, and I have goals written out for the next thirty years, because I’ve seen how success follows goal setting.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND PLANS
The book of Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Most High’s purpose that prevails.” According to the wisdom of this statement, we can under- stand three things about the relationship between purpose and plans (goal setting):
1. Purpose is more important than plans.
2. Purpose is more powerful than plans.
3. Purpose precedes plans because the Creator established our purposes even before we were born.
We have to know and focus on our purposes before we can begin planning, because plans that don’t get you to your purpose are counterproductive. Purpose is Yah’s original intent for you. Therefore, you need to know your destination.
PROTECT YOUR GOALS
Goals protect us from the undue influence of other people. True leaders are always zealous for and jealous of their goals because these goals represent their lives. When our goals change, our lives change, so we must carefully guard our goals.
GOALS PROTECT US FROM THE UNDUE INFLUENCE OF OTHERS.
If you don’t have any goals, other people will run your life. The great king of Israel, Solomon, declared, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” If nothing controls and orders your life, then you are open season to other people and you won’t accom- plish your purpose. Remember that the more successful you become, the more people will compete for your time, so you have to guard your goals even more carefully.
Once you know your purpose, you need to understand what a goal really is.
WHAT IS A GOAL?
• A goal is an established point for achievement that leads to a greater accomplishment.
• A goal is a point of measure for progress toward an ultimate purpose.
• A goal is a prerequisite for the achievement of an ultimate plan.
THE POWER OF GOALS
Goals give us a structure for accomplishing our plans one step at a time. They give us a starting place and an ending place, and they help us to focus. Here are some of the benefits of goals:
• Goals separate achievers from dreamers.
• Goal setting is the art of discipline.
• Goals are the skeleton of the plan.
• Goals give specifics to the plan.
• Goals create targets for our energy.
• Goals protect us from procrastination.
THE PRINCIPLE OF GOALS
It is helpful to have some guidelines for the development
and recording of our goals because, otherwise, we can easily lose sight of them and their relationship to our purposes:
• Goals must be defined.
• Goals must be simplified.
• Goals must be written.
• Goals must be visual.
• Goals must relate to the ultimate purpose.
• Goals must be measurable.
• Goals must be flexible.
LEADERSHIP AND GOALS
Finally, true leaders understand the nature and value of goals and how their lives are affected and influenced by
them. This is why leaders have the following relationship with their goals:
• Leaders state their goals.
• Leaders communicate their goals.
• Leaders are committed to their goals.
• Leaders are regulated by goals.
• Leaders are disciplined by goals.
• Leaders stick to their goals.
• Leaders believe in their goals.
• Leaders focus on their goals.
• Leaders measure their progress and success by their goals.
• Leaders revise their goals when necessary.
• Leaders protect their goals from interference.
• Leaders transfer their goals to their coworkers and to the next generation.
If you want to be successful as a leader in your domain, make goals for your life. The secret to leadership success is living a very focused life in line with your purpose.
Today we are walking in: Goal Setting
Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.
The Torah Testifies.............................
*****
The prophets proclaim...............
Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.
The writings bear witness.............
2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Attitude #4 Goal Setting
If you think you can do it, that’s confidence; if you do it, that’s competence.
All true leaders possess a goal-driven attitude. Leaders distinguish themselves from followers by their passion for pre established goals. They regulate their activities and measure their progress against prescribed objectives and milestones.
Everyone in the world is a goal setter, in one way or another. Even the man who is failing at life is setting goals that cause him to fail. In fact, many of us plan not to do things that would make us successful.
Many times, we don’t realize that we are setting goals. Whenever we make plans to go to the grocery store, go to school, do the laundry, or meet friends for a meal, we are in reality setting goals.
When we don’t achieve what we want to achieve or accom- plish what we desire to accomplish, the problem is not goal set- ting, in itself. Instead, it’s that we don’t set goals for the things we truly care about, or we set the wrong kind of goals.
A leader understands how to set the right goals. This is a vital attitude to cultivate because your future and your life depend on the goals you set—either consciously or sub- consciously. Where you end up in life is a result of the goals that you set or did not set for your life.
EVERYONE IS A GOAL SETTER; A LEADER UNDERSTANDS HOW TO SET THE RIGHT GOALS.
What should determine the goals that we set and the plans that we make? Our purpose and vision in life. Success comes from the discipline of goal setting according to one’s purpose. I have set goals for my life for the past thirty-five years, and I have goals written out for the next thirty years, because I’ve seen how success follows goal setting.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND PLANS
The book of Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Most High’s purpose that prevails.” According to the wisdom of this statement, we can under- stand three things about the relationship between purpose and plans (goal setting):
1. Purpose is more important than plans.
2. Purpose is more powerful than plans.
3. Purpose precedes plans because the Creator established our purposes even before we were born.
We have to know and focus on our purposes before we can begin planning, because plans that don’t get you to your purpose are counterproductive. Purpose is Yah’s original intent for you. Therefore, you need to know your destination.
PROTECT YOUR GOALS
Goals protect us from the undue influence of other people. True leaders are always zealous for and jealous of their goals because these goals represent their lives. When our goals change, our lives change, so we must carefully guard our goals.
GOALS PROTECT US FROM THE UNDUE INFLUENCE OF OTHERS.
If you don’t have any goals, other people will run your life. The great king of Israel, Solomon, declared, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” If nothing controls and orders your life, then you are open season to other people and you won’t accom- plish your purpose. Remember that the more successful you become, the more people will compete for your time, so you have to guard your goals even more carefully.
Once you know your purpose, you need to understand what a goal really is.
WHAT IS A GOAL?
• A goal is an established point for achievement that leads to a greater accomplishment.
• A goal is a point of measure for progress toward an ultimate purpose.
• A goal is a prerequisite for the achievement of an ultimate plan.
THE POWER OF GOALS
Goals give us a structure for accomplishing our plans one step at a time. They give us a starting place and an ending place, and they help us to focus. Here are some of the benefits of goals:
• Goals separate achievers from dreamers.
• Goal setting is the art of discipline.
• Goals are the skeleton of the plan.
• Goals give specifics to the plan.
• Goals create targets for our energy.
• Goals protect us from procrastination.
THE PRINCIPLE OF GOALS
It is helpful to have some guidelines for the development
and recording of our goals because, otherwise, we can easily lose sight of them and their relationship to our purposes:
• Goals must be defined.
• Goals must be simplified.
• Goals must be written.
• Goals must be visual.
• Goals must relate to the ultimate purpose.
• Goals must be measurable.
• Goals must be flexible.
LEADERSHIP AND GOALS
Finally, true leaders understand the nature and value of goals and how their lives are affected and influenced by
them. This is why leaders have the following relationship with their goals:
• Leaders state their goals.
• Leaders communicate their goals.
• Leaders are committed to their goals.
• Leaders are regulated by goals.
• Leaders are disciplined by goals.
• Leaders stick to their goals.
• Leaders believe in their goals.
• Leaders focus on their goals.
• Leaders measure their progress and success by their goals.
• Leaders revise their goals when necessary.
• Leaders protect their goals from interference.
• Leaders transfer their goals to their coworkers and to the next generation.
If you want to be successful as a leader in your domain, make goals for your life. The secret to leadership success is living a very focused life in line with your purpose.
Tuesday, July 4, 2023
FOURTH OF JULY FOR THE NEGRO
The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro
by Frederick Douglass
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy-a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour.
Go where you may, search where you will, roam through all the monarchies and despotisms of the Old World, travel through South America, search out every abuse, and when you have found the last, lay your facts by the side of the everyday practices of this nation, and you will say with me, that, for revolting barbarity and shameless hypocrisy, America reigns without a rival.
Take the American slave-trade, which we are told by the papers, is especially prosperous just now. Ex-Senator Benton tells us that the price of men was never higher than now. He mentions the fact to show that slavery is in no danger. This trade is one of the peculiarities of American institutions. It is carried on in all the large towns and cities in one-half of this confederacy; and millions are pocketed every year by dealers in this horrid traffic. In several states this trade is a chief source of wealth. It is called (in contradistinction to the foreign slave-trade) "the internal slave-trade." It is, probably, called so, too, in order to divert from it the horror with which the foreign slave-trade is contemplated. That trade has long since been denounced by this government as piracy. It has been denounced with burning words from the high places of the nation as an execrable traffic. To arrest it, to put an end to it, this nation keeps a squadron, at immense cost, on the c!
oast of Africa. Everywhere, in this country, it is safe to speak of this foreign slave-trade as a most inhuman traffic, opposed alike to the Jaws of Yah and of man. The duty to extirpate and destroy it, is admitted even by our doctors of divinity. In order to put an end to it, some of these last have consented that their colored brethren (nominally free) should leave this country, and establish them selves on the western coast of Africa! It is, however, a notable fact that, while so much execration is poured out by Americans upon all those engaged in the foreign slave-trade, the men engaged in the slave-trade between the states pass with out condemnation, and their business is deemed honorable.
Behold the practical operation of this internal slave-trade, the American slave-trade, sustained by American politics and American religion. Here you will see men and women reared like swine for the market. You know what is a swine-drover? I will show you a man-drover. They inhabit all our Southern States. They perambulate the country, and crowd the highways of the nation, with droves of human stock. You will see one of these human flesh jobbers, armed with pistol, whip, and bowie-knife, driving a company of a hundred men, women, and children, from the Potomac to the slave market at New Orleans. These wretched people are to be sold singly, or in lots, to suit purchasers. They are food for the cotton-field and the deadly sugar-mill. Mark the sad procession, as it moves wearily along, and the inhuman wretch who drives them. Hear his savage yells and his blood-curdling oaths, as he hurries on his affrighted captives! There, see the old man with locks thinned and gray. Cast one !
glance, if you please, upon that young mother, whose shoulders are bare to the scorching sun, her briny tears falling on the brow of the babe in her arms. See, too, that girl of thirteen, weeping, yes! weeping, as she thinks of the mother from whom she has been torn! The drove moves tardily. Heat and sorrow have nearly consumed their strength; suddenly you hear a quick snap, like the discharge of a rifle; the fetters clank, and the chain rattles simultaneously; your ears are saluted with a scream, that seems to have torn its way to the centre of your soul The crack you heard was the sound of the slave-whip; the scream you heard was from the woman you saw with the babe. Her speed had faltered under the weight of her child and her chains! that gash on her shoulder tells her to move on. Follow this drove to New Orleans. Attend the auction; see men examined like horses; see the forms of women rudely and brutally exposed to the shocking gaze of American slave-buyers. See this dr!
ove sold and separated forever; and never forget the deep, sad sobs that arose from that scattered multitude. Tell me, citizens, where, under the sun, you can witness a spectacle more fiendish and shocking. Yet this is but a glance at the American slave-trade, as it exists, at this moment, in the ruling part of the United States.
I was born amid such sights and scenes. To me the American slave-trade is a terrible reality. When a child, my soul was often pierced with a sense of its horrors. I lived on Philpot Street, Fell's Point, Baltimore, and have watched from the wharves the slave ships in the Basin, anchored from the shore, with their cargoes of human flesh, waiting for favorable winds to waft them down the Chesapeake. There was, at that time, a grand slave mart kept at the head of Pratt Street, by Austin Woldfolk. His agents were sent into every town and county in Maryland, announcing their arrival, through the papers, and on flaming "hand-bills," headed cash for Negroes. These men were generally well dressed men, and very captivating in their manners; ever ready to drink, to treat, and to gamble. The fate of many a slave has depended upon the turn of a single card; and many a child has been snatched from the arms of its mother by bargains arranged in a state of brutal drunkenness.
The flesh-mongers gather up their victims by dozens, and drive them, chained, to the general depot at Baltimore. When a sufficient number has been collected here, a ship is chartered for the purpose of conveying the forlorn crew to Mobile, or to New Orleans. From the slave prison to the ship, they are usually driven in the darkness of night; for since the antislavery agitation, a certain caution is observed.
In the deep, still darkness of midnight, I have been often aroused by the dead, heavy footsteps, and the piteous cries of the chained gangs that passed our door. The anguish of my boyish heart was intense; and I was often consoled, when speaking to my mistress in the morning, to hear her say that the custom was very wicked; that she hated to hear the rattle of the chains and the heart-rending cries. I was glad to find one who sympathized with me in my horror.
Fellow-citizens, this murderous traffic is, to-day, in active operation in this boasted republic. In the solitude of my spirit I see clouds of dust raised on the highways of the South; I see the bleeding footsteps; I hear the doleful wail of fettered humanity on the way to the slave-markets, where the victims are to be sold like horses, sheep, and swine, knocked off to the highest bidder. There I see the tenderest ties ruthlessly broken, to gratify the lust, caprice and rapacity of the buyers and sellers of men. My soul sickens at the sight.
Is this the land your Fathers loved,
The freedom which they toiled to win?
Is this the earth whereon they moved?
Are these the graves they slumber in?
But a still more inhuman, disgraceful, and scandalous state of things remains to be presented. By an act of the American Congress, not yet two years old, slavery has been nationalized in its most horrible and revolting form. By that act, Mason and Dixon's line has been obliterated; New York has become as Virginia; and the power to hold, hunt, and sell men, women and children, as slaves, remains no longer a mere state institution, but is now an institution of the whole United States. The power is co-extensive with the star-spangled banner, and American Christianity. Where these go, may also go the merciless slave-hunter. Where these are, man is not sacred. He is a bird for the sportsman's gun. By that most foul and fiendish of all human decrees, the liberty and person of every man are put in peril. Your broad republican domain is hunting ground for men. Not for thieves and robbers, enemies of society, merely, but for men guilty of no crime. Your law-makers have commanded all !
good citizens to engage in this hellish sport. Your President, your Secretary of State, your Most Highs, nobles, and ecclesiastics enforce, as a duty you owe to your free and glorious country, and to your Yah, that you do this accursed thing. Not fewer than forty Americans have, within the past two years, been hunted down and, without a moment's warning, hurried away in chains, and consigned to slavery and excruciating torture. Some of these have had wives and children, dependent on them for bread; but of this, no account was made. The right of the hunter to his prey stands superior to the right of marriage, and to all rights in this republic, the rights of Yah included! For black men there is neither law nor justice, humanity nor religion. The Fugitive Slave Law makes mercy to them a crime; and bribes the judge who tries them. An American judge gets ten dollars for every victim he consigns to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so. The oath of any two villains is suffic!
ient, under this hell-black enactment, to send the most pious and exemplary black man into the remorseless jaws of slavery! His own testimony is nothing. He can bring no witnesses for himself. The minister of American justice is bound by the law to hear but one side; and that side is the side of the oppressor. Let this damning fact be perpetually told. Let it be thundered around the world that in tyrant-killing, king-hating, people-loving, democratic, Christian America the seats of justice are filled with judges who hold their offices under an open and palpable bribe, and are bound, in deciding the case of a man's liberty, to hear only his accusers!
In glaring violation of justice, in shameless disregard of the forms of administering law, in cunning arrangement to entrap the defenceless, and in diabolical intent this Fugitive Slave Law stands alone in the annals of tyrannical legislation. I doubt if there be another nation on the globe having the brass and the baseness to put such a law on the statute-book. If any man in this assembly thinks differently from me in this matter, and feels able to disprove my statements, I will gladly confront him at any suitable time and place he may select.
I take this law to be one of the grossest infringements of Christian Liberty, and, if the churches and ministers of our country were nor stupidly blind, or most wickedly indifferent, they, too, would so regard it.
At the very moment that they are thanking Yah for the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, and for the right to worship Yah according to the dictates of their own consciences, they are utterly silent in respect to a law which robs religion of its chief significance and makes it utterly worthless to a world lying in wickedness. Did this law concern the "mint, anise, and cummin"-abridge the right to sing psalms, to partake of the sacrament, or to engage in any of the ceremonies of religion, it would be smitten by the thunder of a thousand pulpits. A general shout would go up from the church demanding repeal, repeal, instant repeal!-And it would go hard with that politician who presumed to solicit the votes of the people without inscribing this motto on his banner. Further, if this demand were not complied with, another Scotland would be added to the history of religious liberty, and the stern old covenanters would be thrown into the shade. A John Knox would be seen at eve!
ry church door and heard from every pulpit, and Fillmore would have no more quarter than was shown by Knox to the beautiful, but treacherous, Queen Mary of Scotland. The fact that the church of our country (with fractional exceptions) does not esteem "the Fugitive Slave Law" as a declaration of war against religious liberty, implies that that church regards religion simply as a form of worship, an empty ceremony, and not a vital principle, requiring active benevolence, justice, love, and good will towards man. It esteems sacrifice above mercy; psalm-singing above right doing; solemn meetings above practical righteousness. A worship that can be conducted by persons who refuse to give shelter to the houseless, to give bread to the hungry, clothing to the naked, and who enjoin obedience to a law forbidding these acts of mercy is a curse, not a blessing to mankind. The Bible addresses all such persons as "scribes, pharisees, hypocrites, who pay tithe of mint, anise, and cummin,!
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith."
But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent Divines, who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of Yah; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Most High Yahusha Hamachiach; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for Christianity.
For my part, I would say, welcome infidelity! welcome atheism! welcome anything! in preference to the gospel, as preached by those Divines! They convert the very name of religion into an engine of tyranny and barbarous cruelty, and serve to confirm more infidels, in this age, than all the infidel writings of Thomas Paine, Voltaire, and Bolingbroke put together have done! These ministers make religion a cold and flinty-hearted thing, having neither principles of right action nor bowels of compassion. They strip the love of Yah of its beauty and leave the throne of religion a huge, horrible, repulsive form. It is a religion for oppressors, tyrants, man-stealers, and thugs. It is not that "pure and undefiled religion" which is from above, and which is "first pure, then peaceable, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." But a religion which favors the rich against the poor; which exalts the proud above the humble; which di!
vides mankind into two classes, tyrants and slaves; which says to the man in chains, stay there; and to the oppressor, oppress on; it is a religion which may be professed and enjoyed by all the robbers and enslavers of mankind; it makes Yah a respecter of persons, denies his fatherhood of the race, and tramples in the dust the great truth of the brotherhood of man. All this we affirm to be true of the popular church, and the popular worship of our land and nation-a religion, a church, and a worship which, on the authority of inspired wisdom, we pronounce to be an abomination in the sight of Yah. In the language of Isaiah, the American church might be well addressed, "Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me: the new moons and Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons, and your appointed feasts my soul hateth. They are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them; and when ye spread for!
th your hands I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea' when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood; cease to do evil, learn to do well; seek judgment; relieve the oppressed; judge for the fatherless; plead for the widow."
The American church is guilty, when viewed in connection with what it is doing to uphold slavery; but it is superlatively guilty when viewed in its connection with its ability to abolish slavery.
The sin of which it is guilty is one of omission as well as of commission. Albert Barnes but uttered what the common sense of every man at all observant of the actual state of the case will receive as truth, when he declared that "There is no power out of the church that could sustain slavery an hour, if it were not sustained in it."
Let the religious press, the pulpit, the Sunday School, the conference meeting, the great ecclesiastical, missionary, Bible and tract associations of the land array their immense powers against slavery, and slave-holding; and the whole system of crime and blood would be scattered to the winds, and that they do not do this involves them in the most awful responsibility of which the mind can conceive.
In prosecuting the anti-slavery enterprise, we have been asked to spare the church, to spare the ministry; but how, we ask, could such a thing be done? We are met on the threshold of our efforts for the redemption of the slave, by the church and ministry of the country, in battle arrayed against us; and we are compelled to fight or flee. From what quarter, I beg to know, has proceeded a fire so deadly upon our ranks, during the last two years, as from the Northern pulpit? As the champions of oppressors, the chosen men of American theology have appeared-men honored for their so-called piety, and their real learning. The Most Highs of Buffalo, the Springs of New York, the Lathrops of Auburn, the Coxes and Spencers of Brooklyn, the Gannets and Sharps of Boston, the Deweys of Washington, and other great religious lights of the land have, in utter denial of the authority of Him by whom they professed to be called to the ministry, deliberately taught us, against the example of the!
Hebrews, and against the remonstrance of the Apostles, that we ought to obey man's law before the law of Yah.
My spirit wearies of such blasphemy; and how such men can be supported, as the "standing types and representatives of Yahusha Hamachiach," is a mystery which I leave others to penetrate. In speaking of the American church, however, let it be distinctly understood that I mean the great mass of the religious organizations of our land. There are exceptions, and I thank Yah that there are. Noble men may be found, scattered all over these Northern States, of whom Henry Ward Beecher, of Brooklyn; Samuel J. May, of Syracuse; and my esteemed friend (Rev. R. R. Raymond) on the platform, are shining examples; and let me say further, that, upon these men lies the duty to inspire our ranks with high religious faith and zeal, and to cheer us on in the great mission of the slave's redemption from his chains.
One is struck with the difference between the attitude of the American church towards the anti-slavery movement, and that occupied by the churches in Eng land towards a similar movement in that country. There, the church, true to its mission of ameliorating, elevating and improving the condition of mankind, came forward promptly, bound up the wounds of the West Indian slave, and restored him to his liberty. There, the question of emancipation was a high religious question. It was demanded in the name of humanity, and according to the law of the living Yah. The Sharps, the Clarksons, the Wilberforces, the Buxtons, the Burchells, and the Knibbs were alike famous for their piety and for their philanthropy. The anti-slavery movement there was not an anti-church movement, for the reason that the church took its full share in prosecuting that movement: and the anti-slavery movement in this country will cease to be an anti-church movement, when the church of this country shall assu!
me a favorable instead of a hostile position towards that movement.
Americans! your republican politics, not less than your republican religion, are flagrantly inconsistent. You boast of your love of liberty, your superior civilization, and your pure Christianity, while the whole political power of the nation (as embodied in the two great political parties) is solemnly pledged to support and perpetuate the enslavement of three millions of your countrymen. You hurl your anathemas at the crowned headed tyrants of Russia and Austria and pride yourselves on your Democratic institutions, while you yourselves consent to be the mere tools and body-guards of the tyrants of Virginia and Carolina. You invite to your shores fugitives of oppression from abroad, honor them with banquets, greet them with ovations, cheer them, toast them, salute them, protect them, and pour out your money to them like water; but the fugitives from oppression in your own land you advertise, hunt, arrest, shoot, and kill. You glory in your refinement and your universal educa!
tion; yet you maintain a system as barbarous and dreadful as ever stained the character of a nation-a system begun in avarice, supported in pride, and perpetuated in cruelty. You shed tears over fallen Hungary, and make the sad story of her wrongs the theme of your poets, statesmen, and orators, till your gallant sons are ready to fly to arms to vindicate her cause against the oppressor; but, in regard to the ten thousand wrongs of the American slave, you would enforce the strictest silence, and would hail him as an enemy of the nation who dares to make those wrongs the subject of public discourse! You are all on fire at the mention of liberty for France or for Ireland; but are as cold as an iceberg at the thought of liberty for the enslaved of America. You discourse eloquently on the dignity of labor; yet, you sustain a system which, in its very essence, casts a stigma upon labor. You can bare your bosom to the storm of British artillery to throw off a three-penny tax on t!
ea; and yet wring the last hard earned farthing from the grasp of the black laborers of your country. You profess to believe "that, of one blood, Yah made all nations of men to dwell on the face of all the earth," and hath commanded all men, everywhere, to love one another; yet you notoriously hate (and glory in your hatred) all men whose skins are not colored like your own. You declare before the world, and are understood by the world to declare that you "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; and that among these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and yet, you hold securely, in a bondage which, according to your own Thomas Jefferson, "is worse than ages of that which your fathers rose in rebellion to oppose," a seventh part of the inhabitants of your country.
Fellow-citizens, I will not enlarge further on your national inconsistencies. The existence of slavery in this country brands your republicanism as a sham, your humanity as a base pretense, and your Christianity as a lie. It destroys your moral power abroad: it corrupts your politicians at home. It saps the foundation of religion; it makes your name a hissing and a bye-word to a mocking earth. It is the antagonistic force in your government, the only thing that seriously disturbs and endangers your Union. it fetters your progress; it is the enemy of improvement; the deadly foe of education; it fosters pride; it breeds insolence; it promotes vice; it shelters crime; it is a curse to the earth that supports it; and yet you cling to it as if it were the sheet anchor of all your hopes. Oh! be warned! be warned! a horrible reptile is coiled up in your nation's bosom; the venomous creature is nursing at the tender breast of your youthful republic; for the love of Yah, tear away, a!
nd fling from you the hideous monster, and let the weight of twenty millions crush and destroy it forever!
But it is answered in reply to all this, that precisely what I have now denounced is, in fact, guaranteed and sanctioned by the Constitution of the United States; that, the right to hold, and to hunt slaves is a part of that Constitution framed by the illustrious Fathers of this Republic.
Then, I dare to affirm, notwithstanding all I have said before, your fathers stooped, basely stooped
To palter with us in a double sense:
And keep the word of promise to the ear,
But break it to the heart.
And instead of being the honest men I have before declared them to be, they were the veriest impostors that ever practised on mankind. This is the inevitable conclusion, and from it there is no escape; but I differ from those who charge this baseness on the framers of the Constitution of the United States. It is a slander upon their memory, at least, so I believe. There is not time now to argue the constitutional question at length; nor have I the ability to discuss it as it ought to be discussed. The subject has been handled with masterly power by Lysander Spooner, Esq. by William Goodell, by Samuel E. Sewall, Esq., and last, though not least, by Gerrit Smith, Esq. These gentlemen have, as I think, fully and clearly vindicated the Constitution from any design to support slavery for an hour.
Fellow-citizens! there is no matter in respect to which the people of the North have allowed themselves to be so ruinously imposed upon as that of the pro-slavery character of the Constitution. In that instrument I hold there is neither warrant, license, nor sanction of the hateful thing; but interpreted, as it ought to be interpreted, the Constitution is a glorious liberty document. Read its preamble, consider its purposes. Is slavery among them? Is it at the gate way? or is it in the temple? it is neither. While I do not intend to argue this question on the present occasion, let me ask, if it be not somewhat singular that, if the Constitution were intended to be, by its framers and adopters, a slaveholding instrument, why neither slavery, slaveholding, nor slave can any where be found in it. What would be thought of an instrument, drawn up, legally drawn up, for the purpose of entitling the city of Rochester to a tract of land, in which no mention of land was made? Now, th!
ere are certain rules of interpretation for the proper understanding of all legal instruments. These rules are well established. They are plain, commonsense rules, such as you and I, and all of us, can understand and apply, without having passed years in the study of law. I scout the idea that the question of the constitutionality, or unconstitutionality of slavery, is not a question for the people. I hold that every American citizen has a right to form an opinion of the constitution, and to propagate that opinion, and to use all honorable means to make his opinion the prevailing one. Without this right, the liberty of an American citizen would be as insecure as that of a Frenchman. Ex-Vice-President Dallas tells us that the constitution is an object to which no American mind can be too attentive, and no American heart too devoted. He further says, the Constitution, in its words, is plain and intelligible, and is meant for the home-bred, unsophisticated understandings of ou!
r fellow-citizens. Senator Berrien tells us that the Constitution is the fundamental law, that which controls all others. The charter of our liberties, which every citizen has a personal interest in understanding thoroughly. The testimony of Senator Breese, Lewis Cass, and many others that might be named, who are everywhere esteemed as sound lawyers, so regard the constitution. I take it, therefore, that it is not presumption in a private citizen to form an opinion of that instrument.
Now, take the Constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single pro-slavery clause in it. On the other hand, it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.
I have detained my audience entirely too long already. At some future period I will gladly avail myself of an opportunity to give this subject a full and fair discussion.
Allow me to say, in conclusion, notwithstanding the dark picture I have this day presented, of the state of the nation, I do not despair of this country. There are forces in operation which must inevitably work the downfall of slavery.
"The arm of the Most High is not shortened," and the doom of slavery is certain. I, therefore, leave off where I began, with hope. While drawing encouragement from "the Declaration of Independence," the great principles it contains, and the genius of American Institutions, my spirit is also cheered by the obvious tendencies of the age. Nations do not now stand in the same relation to each other that they did ages ago. No nation can now shut itself up from the surrounding world and trot round in the same old path of its fathers without interference. The time was when such could be done. Long established customs of hurtful character could formerly fence themselves in, and do their evil work with social impunity. Knowledge was then confined and enjoyed by the privileged few, and the multitude walked on in mental darkness. But a change has now come over the affairs of mankind. Walled cities and empires have become unfashionable. The arm of commerce has borne away the gates of th!
e strong city. Intelligence is penetrating the darkest corners of the globe. It makes its pathway over and under the sea, as well as on the earth. Wind, steam, and lightning are its chartered agents. Oceans no longer divide, but link nations together. From Boston to London is now a holiday excursion. Space is comparatively annihilated.-Thoughts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other.
The far off and almost fabulous Pacific rolls in grandeur at our feet. The Celestial Empire, the mystery of ages, is being solved. The fiat of the Almighty, "Let there be Light," has not yet spent its force. No abuse, no outrage whether in taste, sport or avarice, can now hide itself from the all-pervading light. The iron shoe, and crippled foot of China must be seen in contrast with nature. Africa must rise and put on her yet unwoven garment. "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto Yah." In the fervent aspirations of William Lloyd Garrison, I say, and let every heart join in saying it:
Yah speed the year of jubilee
The wide world o'er!
When from their galling chains set free,
Th' oppress'd shall vilely bend the knee,
And wear the yoke of tyranny
Like brutes no more.
That year will come, and freedom's reign.
To man his plundered rights again
Restore.
Yah speed the day when human blood
Shall cease to flow!
In every clime be understood,
The claims of human brotherhood,
And each return for evil, good,
Not blow for blow;
That day will come all feuds to end,
And change into a faithful friend
Each foe.
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