I grew up in a family of five: three boys, a mom, and a dad. I don't know what's typical in other homes, but getting dressed, fed, and out the door each morning was a bit of chore for us. We had two cars and two drivers. During the week we usually had three or four destinations and arrival times. There was a lot of running around the house to get ready. Amazingly, during these week days, we were almost never late. On Saturdays, we often stayed at home but still had things to get done. Similar to our weekday schedule, we seldom were late to whatever tasks or destinations we had those days.

Sunday mornings were a whole other story. Every Sunday we all had one place to be at 11 AM. We needed one car and one driver and we had plenty of time to get ready. Yet, somehow, at least one person was always lagging. Most of the time, it was my mom. I have countless memories of us three boys and my dad sitting in a car with the engine running in the driveway impatiently waiting for my mom. We'd all shout stuff like "Come on, mom!! Hurry up!!" with a nasty impatient tone, even though there was no way she could hear us. My dad would honk the horn a few times and us boys would eventually resort to punching each other to pass the time and to vent our frustrations. Eventually, my mom would rush out the door, still trying to apply that last bit of make-up or attaching that critical peice of jewelry. My dad would pop the clutch into gear just as she shut the car door and she'd have to buckle her seatbelt while also fighting the inertia of the accelerating car. Needless to say, by the time we were all in the car and on our way to church, we were in anything but a good mood.

[ Read more / Comment ]

I like money. I use it to buy stuff. Mostly, I buy food and gasoline. If I had more money I might buy an Apple iPad.

My son is an outfielder for a local Little League baseball team. Twice this year, we had a team party at the house of one of the coaches. I'd like to think that I am not materialistic, but as I surveyed the driveway, garage, living room, and backyard, I found myself being a little envious. A lot actually. Jacuzzi, pool, R.V., flat screen TV, ATVs, pool table, hybrid SUV. Yup, they had all that.

I kept telling myself that I didn't really want any of it, that it would be fun for a while but that the fun wouldn't last. I am sure this is true and I am sure that once the fun ran out I would just want to go and buy more stuff. Still, though, I wanted at least some of it. A taste, anyway. A better car, perhaps, would be nice. As my grandma used to put it, "Just a smidgen."

[ Read more / Comment ]

Disturbing yet so ridiculously true!

The first time I ventured out on the streets of Hollywood with Broken Hearts Ministry, I was nervous, terrified, and excited all at the same time. In many ways I can liken my emotions on that night to many of my experiences on those big roller coasters at Six Flags. They call them "thrill rides" for a reason. The second night out with Broken Hearts, I sat with several others on a sidewalk outside a laundromat as we listened to Antquan Washington preach a 15 minute sermon. In many ways I thought it all to be totally absurd. "Preaching to addicts, prostitutes, dealers... waste of time but bold nonetheless." It didn't take long though for me to see positive results from Antquan's preaching and the rest of what the Broken Hearts team was doing.

The more I witnessed positive results from the street preaching, the more I admired Antquan. Since he stood and we sat as he preached, I looked up to him more and more in both senses. Antquan had and continues to have a passion to bring the healing truth of the Gospel of Jesus to the broken and hurting. You could say he was and is on fire. Likewise, you could say that his fire spread onto me too. It wasn't long before I began considering preaching too. My gut reaction though was "Shu! ...Right! ...As if! ...Like THAT will ever happen!" I can't remember the specifics of how it came to be but after some time I gave my first street sermon, then another, and another... I'd like to think that I am pretty good at it now.

I got a gentle reminder a few months ago about how I basically sucked when I first started preaching. Antquan saw that I had a passion to preach even if I lacked the skills and natural talent. So he continued to allow me to preach despite my flaws. Unbeknownst to me at that time several people loathed my preaching. More than one person approached Antquan privately and pleaded that he would stop permitting me to preach. One person said once, with a tone that was less than enthusiastic, "What?! Jeremiah is speaking again?!". I think if I had known what was being said about me in private back then I would have been crushed and would never have spoken in public again, anywhere, ever. Knowing what I know now, I am forever grateful to Antquan for seeing what many others couldn't see.


[ Read more / Comment ]

I like pretty women and I really enjoy talking with them. Angry drunk men on the other hand are generally not quite as enjoyable for me. It should come as no surprise then that when I encountered two such drunken men last Thursday night I didn't think my evening was getting off to a good start.

When I arrived on the streets of Hollywood last Thursday to meet up with the rest of the Broken Hearts Ministry team I quickly encountered a drunken man stumbling down the sidewalk toward me. He was so wobbly that he had to use the wall of the buildings to his left to keep from falling. I made eye contact with him as we approached each other and he seemed to have enough sense to fall onto a windowsill before I passed, presumably to avoid falling on me. As I passed him we made eye contact again and I smiled but we did not exchange words. After I had passed I heard him shout something angrily at me but I could not make out his words over the sounds of the rushing cars. Seconds later I met up with the team... who was being told a thing or two by a second drunk man.


[ Read more / Comment ]

Antquan, Jeremiah, and Jorge discuss living life for yourself and what that means when life comes to an end.

When I was very young, I found a pair of very special glasses. Little did I know, at least at first, that they were magical glasses. When I wore them, I saw things... differently.

My first hint that there was something special about these glasses came when I was seven years old. I was wearing the glasses while playing baseball with my friends. Our team was losing but only needed two runs to win. With one runner on base and two outs I came up to bat. I hit a ball very deep to the outfield. I watched as the ball went over the line for a game-winning home run. No one else seemed to see it that way though. The other team insisted that their outfielder had caught the ball and that I was out. I saw a win for my team. They saw a win for their team. My teammates wanted to see it my way and so we could not agree on who won the game.

Years later, while wearing the glasses, I saw myself getting all kinds of good grades. I aced tests, turned in all my homework, and paid full attention in class. One day, my teacher took my glasses off and accused me of stealing other people's homework and cheating. The evidence was pretty clear that I did, but I didn't want to see it that way, so I put the glasses back on.


[ Read more / Comment ]

This is my first blog so I figure I would use this to tell you a little about myself. I grew up in your stereotypical southern Christian home. But I never really felt like my faith was my own. It was my parents and because of that I didn't want to have much to do with it. In high school I was a swimmer and a basketball player and got into the party scene. My weekends were spend over indulging in drinking and marijuana. I got pretty deep into smoking weed and by the time I got to college I found myself doing it everyday. But I always felt something was missing. I was made for more and I knew this. I could feel it in my gut, in my soul. God was calling me. But I didn't want him. I wanted my own selfish and fleshly desires and I was going to pursue those until I found my life in shambles.
and I did.

I have gone through a lot of hard times that I have brought upon myself these last few years, but they have also turned out to be a blessing. I am a new person. God has redeemed me and more importantly provided me with the one thing I need most in life: forgiveness.

I am not who I used to be. However that does not mean that my sinful desires do not arise in me. In fact it is quite the contrary. I fight against my flesh daily. And to be quite honest, it often wins. But the times I overcome it, it is a victory for God.

I don't know where I'm going in life, but I know God is leading me and that's all I need to know.

[ Read more / Comment ]

Last night I took a midnight trip to Skid Row with my friend Jorge and a few people I had never met before. I had been to Skid Row once before with some other friends, a couple years ago, but that was during the day.

For those that aren't familiar with Skid Row, allow me to explain, from my perspective. First, here is a (slightly modified) quote from Wikipedia: "The area contains one of the largest stable populations of homeless persons in the United States. Informal population estimates range from 7,000 to 8,000. People passing through this area immediately see cardboard boxes and camping tents lining the sidewalks." People find themselves living on Skid Row for a number of reasons, but the reasons are almost always drug-related. I was told during my first visit not to touch the walls or ground lest I catch an excrement-related disease. Needless to say, I carried hand-sanitizer with me and used it several times. While on that first trip, I witnessed one man going from woman to woman propositioning them for free and unprotected sex. He had two takers in a one-hour time span. At least they had the decency to do it in the privacy of the bathroom ONE of the two times. The other time was in plain view of everyone. Everyone and everything seemed to reek of poop and pot. The point I am trying to make is that most of these people have no respect for themselves. They have forgotten how to love themselves and how to be loved by others. Mostly, they just exist and live from one fix to the next.

[ Read more / Comment ]

A few weeks ago I was browsing my local video store when I stumbled upon a DVD entitled "The Case for a Creator" by Lee Strobel. I had never read or watched any of his work before but I had heard positive things about him, so I picked it up and took a closer look. The price was really good and the synopsis on the back of the box sounded good so I bought it. I just wasn't sure how long it would be before I got around to watching it. After all, documentaries are not exactly a Saturday night popcorn and kids kind of movie. When I got home I set the bag containing the unwrapped DVD on a shelf. That's where it sat untouched for several weeks.

[ Read more / Comment ]