Keeping it real. 

Been watching all the Oakland Raiders off-season hype videos representing a new team ready to take the field and conquer the 2016/15 season. I'm a Raider, and I know talk is cheap! It's long time my team ante up a winning season. Knock off the motivation speeches and let's reignite our Commitment to Excellence by kicking some ass on the football gridiron. 

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!???

LOST FAITH

The other day a good friend of mine approached me with tears in his eyes and said that as of that moment he had no faith in God. I invited him to private area, and we talked about his lack of faith. The first thing that I told him was that it's normal, absolutely normal to lose one's faith in times of despair. I did not quote scripture, I did not preach, I did not judge. Instead I simply stated that as a man looking at another man in pain my love for him is unconditional. I truly believe that love is the greatest gift of all. But another phenomenal gift is the gift of choice. You see choice is something that we face on a daily basis and the decisions we make when faced with these choices are what shape us into the people that we are. When I reflect on my past, the darkest points of my life were caused by the choices I made in the situations that I found myself in. In every case when I did not listen to my conscience telling me to do the right thing, giving me the proper choice, I failed. The result was I found myself miserable. Until I decided to do the right thing, is when I found myself with faith again. You see Faith is a tricky yet very simple aspect of everyone's life. I've noticed that when people say they've lost their faith often times they're not talking about God, on the contrary, they've lost faith in themselves. That's when the blame game begins. For me, I know that I can accomplish very little alone. Don't get it twisted, I don't blindly trust people but I do talk to several people, asking several questions, weighing ideas, and sharing opinions and experience, seeking decisions on choices that in most cases I already know the answer to. I find that most times when I'm asking people for guidance, that what I'm looking for is an easier path than the one I have already discovered on my own. Rarely do I find easier paths. My friend and I talked for less than 20 minutes, and we ended our discussion with mutual smiles of satisfaction having discovered one another's joys of life. I did not pray with him but I did pray for him because I know that though he says he has lost his faith in God, the fact of the matter is God still has faith and unconditional love for him.
None of us is perfect but we are all creations of a power much greater than ourselves. My choice is to never question my Creator’s faith in me but instead to have faith that all things will be revealed to me in my life in due time.

R.E.M. - Losing My Religion

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23.

Copyright © 2016 by Palmer Pinckney II "Thanks for reading, thanks for visiting."

I Am

I am a Christian. I am not perfect. I cuss. I fuss. I get pissed off. I pray! I do not lie. I do not cheat. I am! I remain positive in the face of stupidity. I am a Christian. I am not perfect. God made me to be perfect and placed me in an imperfect world where I adapted. I am Christian. I am not perfect. To anyone that would say otherwise, I reply, “You are WRONG!” Yeah, I said it. You trying to tell me what I am not? Then I tell you what you truly are in the sight and sound of your our unsubstantiated opinion. Wrong! I know me, forward, backward, diagonal, reverse, inside and out. You do not. I am a Christian. I am not perfect. You are you, so be you, and together we will seek to truly understand each other and dismiss all other opinions. It’s said that God doesn’t like ugly, well neither do I. I am Christian. I am not perfect. So all I ask is that you keep it positive when with me and never try to tell me what I am not based solely on your so-called intellectual understanding of whatever. My name is Palmer, and I am Christian. I am not perfect.

With Peace and Honor I end.

Your turn. 

Copyright © 2016 by Palmer Pinckney II