Errol K. Domingue, Pastor

ekdministries — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 14:45:32 +0000

You remember the episode about “blind” Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46-52), don’t you? We are not told the cause of this brother’s blindness; but his condition might give us some clue to his social/economic/political plight. There were quite a number of blind people in Palestine in that day not because there was some extraordinary disease in that time and space. There were a number of blind people because there were a number of poor people. The climate in Palestine at that time was arid/dry, sandy, and windy. Therefore the sand and the trash had a habit of flying into people’s eyes. Because the sand and trash flew into people’s eyes many people’s eyes became infected. Because they were poor they could not necessarily afford the salves or medicine that would have alleviated the infection. Eventually, their problem only grew worse and eventually resulted in blindness.

THIS WAS A PREVENTABLE PROBLEM. If those who had the means to provide the solution to the problem would have had enough compassion and exercised some sympathy than this problem could have been prevented. If those who could have would have intervened many people could have kept their sight. But instead we find a society with many people who are blind who don’t have to be.

Stretch your concept of blindness beyond physical eyesight and you will recognize that there are many instances of blindness that could have and should have been prevented.

When people can’t see beyond their present situation – that’s blindness.
When people can only see themselves according to the perverted perceptions of those who don’t know them – that’s blindness.
When our children can’t see themselves living past nineteen years of age…or spending time in prison to prove their manhood…or having babies in order to feel needed and love – that’s blindness
When people are deceived into believing that which is not true – that’s blindness

And it could all be avoided…

If those who know better would speak up and those who don’t know better would be quiet and listen
If those who are in the category of the have(s) would stop being so greedy and selfish and stop teaching their children to do so
If those who take oaths and pledges would care more about the people than the corporations who are bank rolling their political careers
If those who are threatened by blindness would do what they can to avoid blindness – taking the necessary precautions and avoiding unnecessary risky behavior…taking both formal education and the wisdom of the elders more seriously (too many parents are allowing their children to go blind because they don’t take education seriously enough)…looking beyond you and yours in order to recognize that you’re a part of a greater whole

I suppose what I’m trying to get you to see is that you don’t have to suffer blindness if don’t want to…

Immersed in the Promise…

ekdministries — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:40:07 +0000

You should go back and read Genesis 26. It tells of the life of the patriarch that most of us tend to forget, Isaac. It’s worth reading and accepting because it reminds us that Isaac’s life is immersed in the promise of God. As a matter of fact, he is a child of promise (God promised his parents that they would have a child even in an old age). Genesis 26 shows us that in the midst of a famine, Isaac has an experience with God and God tells him that he should not go down to Egypt…stay in this land, Gerar. It is at that moment that God transfers the promise of his family to him. The Lord promised Isaac the same thing HE promised Abraham – that HE would be with him…HE would bless him…that HE would give him land…that HE would use him to bless others. Isaac is immersed in the promised.

Because Isaac is immersed in the promises of God, he continues to grow and prosper in the middle of a famine. If we parallel contemporary situations: when the unemployment rate is high, Isaac is hiring (he’s making his own money). When there is a financial depression in the land, Isaac is growing. While the politicians haggle about who’s going to be in charge and whose going to have popular public opinion at the well; God expanded Isaac’s enterprise.

Because Isaac is immersed in the promises of God, his shortcomings and failures don’t lead to his disaster. In the story, Isaac lied, denied his “good thing,” put his wife, his family, and the whole community in danger; and God blessed him, in spite of himself. If Isaac had reaped what he sowed he would have had a debacle/crushing defeat on his hands. But God shoed him favor.

Because Isaac is immersed in the promises of God, he was able to overcome no matter what challenges he faced. Isaac was able to adapt, transcend, and transform the absurdities that are part and parcel with living in this flesh. He was given the ability to overcome those situations and circumstances that attacked his faith and did violence to his self-awareness and self-esteem. Here are the lessons we learn…

Isaac was able to make the necessary changes in attitude, behavior, and mode of operation so that he could successful navigate the his environment
Isaac was able to climb over obstacles that were meant to obstruct his progression in life. Please note that one cannot climb anything unless one clings to the object in order to scale its height. In other words, he/she/it must be engaged
Isaac was able to change the environment in which he is forced to operate with his presence. He prospered (found peace and purpose) in a famine

That’s relevant for us because the Apostle Paul teaches us that we are the spiritual descendants of Abraham (Romans 4:13-17). And since we are descendants the same promises are transferred to us. In case you didn’t know, favor is the result of HIS promise. You will grow, the charges won’t stick, and you will overcome because you’re immersed in the promise.

God’s Name (Isaiah 43:1-2)

ekdministries — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:45:25 +0000

Isaiah teaches us that here is more to the issue of God’s name than perhaps we have considered. God specifically says that it was He that executed the vision to bring into existence what heretofore was not. Please don’t miss the fact that Israel became a people when God brought them out of Egypt in the Exodus experience. They had existed as a nation for some time by the time of Isaiah’s writing. But the previous generation failed to believe God and move forward with God. That generation was more faithless than it was faithful. That generation was more habitual than it was relational.
Therefore the only One who has the insight, the authority, and the ability to create, brought forth or produce a new Israel. Not only did the Lord produce this Israel, but according to Him, He didn’t leave them as a scattered mass with no meaning, but He formed or shaped them. That is, the Lord brought uniformity and organization to their existence. And not only so, but the Word says that God Almighty put His name on this new creation. It is as if He said, “I did that; and it belongs to me…” Then He took it all one step further – not only did He put His name on them, but He gave them a name. Did you notice that the first reference is of Jacob, the trickster, the supplanter, the hustler? But the second reference is of Israel, which put simply means “God will rule.”

Perhaps we’re beginning to see the Israel in us, and the “us” in the Israel. Can you look at you and see God’s new creation? (In fact I would suggest that we are still in the process of creation. I would suggest that we have not become what He’s making of us…) I know I’m right about it because…

The old you would have never been receptive to the move of God through His Holy Spirit the way you do now

The old you would have never attempted the fearless, faithful life that you live now

The old you would have never sought the will and the way of the Lord and put God’s Kingdom first the way you do now

The old you would have never been steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord the way you do now (I Corinthians 15:58)

Sometimes it’s not how much you say, but what you say. This is one of those times…

ekdministries — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 19:08:38 +0000

The God that you believe is too much (you fill in the blank) to be restricted or limited by anything or anyone. He can’t be kept out or locked out. God is not confined to philosophy and ideology…to antiquity or the first century…to European or African images painted on canvass…to cathedrals and chapels…to the trained or the specially anointed. But in fact God is wherever his people are dealing with indignity and humiliation…wherever His people are struggling and straining…wherever His people are legitimately trying to make a dollar out of fifteen cents…wherever His people are rendered socially incapacitated and pragmatically intoxicated. God is wherever you are…wherever His people are persevering and overcoming…wherever His people are “holding on” in spite of…wherever His people refuse to give up or be pimped by dehumanizing social systems. God is where you are.

ekdministries — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 20:05:29 +0000

In Deuteronomy 30 Moses is busy calling God’s people to remember to love, obey, and commit themselves to the Lord when they reach the Promise Land. In a very real way, we can look at this example as an indication of what might have gone so terribly wrong in the African American community since the Civil Rights Movement. Maybe some of the infamous messages that assured social victories during the on-going struggle for justice and equality should have included messages about loving, obeying, and keeping our commitment to the Lord once we gained the civil rights we so eagerly pursued.

Perhaps what we are witnessing in our general society are the results of decisions to turn away from God. We may be witnessing the actions of people who have committed themselves to follow capital gains, success, and notoriety…that are pursuing the shallow living of “shine with no substance.” And to a certain degree, we have adopted a similar disposition in the Church that is supposed to be dedicated to Him. So we find ourselves dealing with generations of people who are trying to numb themselves to reality with trinkets and tokens of success…with chemicals that alter moods and state of consciousness because the people have discovered that the so-called American Dream can turn into your worst nightmare…that the rules of the game keep changing…that sometimes working twice as hard and being twice as talented doesn’t pay-off like we thought it would.

To make matters worse some among us have determined to make a profit off our brothers’ and sisters’ pain. So we have so-called holy men and women manipulating poor people with a theology of “your blessing is on the way”…and we have others who are convincing some to sale their soul with the promise of being accepted by the dominant culture, and thus gaining the whole world…and finally others who are either addicted to the chemicals or addicted to the money that they make for others from the sale of the chemicals.

We can’t have this conversation without mentioning those who have simply given up…those who don’t even try to keep the community/village safe and prosperous. So they break laws and become slaves in the prison industrial complex…decide that it is easier to live off government checks than it is to put in an honest day’s labor…fall away from any meaningful formal educational regiment to stand on corners with clothes sagging and making babies that they neither have the disposition nor the resources to care for.

Moses said when this happens God will allow His people to be overcome and captured. Don’t look now, but we as a people are in captivity – even with President Obama. We are trapped in the pathology of poverty; and those who do gain some means try to get as far away from the rest of us as they can. We are trapped in cycles of ignorance that will not allow us to see ourselves outside/beyond present conditions (as a whole, not as individuals). We have been convinced that playing the role of victim is the only way to explain our satisfaction with nothing.

The good news is that it is never too late – not with God. It is not too late to increase rates of fathers living in the homes with their children…the rates of our children graduating… the rates of people becoming and remaining gainfully employed in jobs that will lift them out of poverty. It is not too late to increase the number of people who own and operate legal, morally upstanding, profitable businesses and the number of persons who own their place of residence. It is not too late to reduce the number of persons who are going to prison…the number of babies born to unwed mothers…the number of families that are destroyed by illicit behavior…the number of suspensions, expulsions, and truancies among our children…the number of trifling, senseless deaths. Most importantly, it is not too late to get to know or re-connect with God through His son Jesus Christ.

It’s not too late because God is on our side!

“Go after you…”

ekdministries — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:13:11 +0000

I am convinced that we are not what we have gone through or what we’re going through right now. We are not our political views. We are not the title, the label, the uniform, the job, or the position. We are not the sum total of our mistakes, failures, disappointments, or frustrations. We are not the opinions of our haters or those who oppose God’s work in our lives. It that is true, who are we? And secondly, “Why” are we? After some prayerful consideration I’ve discovered some answers. Consider: We are…

Chosen to be His own special treasure (Deuteronomy 7:6)
Fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalms 139:14)
The head and not the tail; the lender and not the borrower (Deuteronomy 28)
…more than a conqueror through Him that loved us (Romans 8:37)
The forgiven of every sin which we have confessed

We are…

Those who defied the odds and made it in spite of (you fill in the blank)
Those who reared the children any way…graduated any way…got the job any way…walked out of the hospital any way
Those who kept “it” together…kept “it” moving…kept “it” from dying
Those whom God is using to change the game…create the new paradigm…set the new standard

So the Lord says, “Go after you…”

Don’t deny race, culture, heritage, likes, dislikes, etc. in the interest of assimilation and acculturation
Be obedient and faithful to the Word the Lord has declared over your life
Recognize that you have been authorized to heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils (Matthew 10:8)
Recognize that you have been equipped and empowered by God to pull down strongholds, cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:45)
Understand that God will make you what you ought to be and equip you with everything good thing so that you may carry out His will (Hebrews 13:20-21)

Stand Strong

ekdministries — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 21:43:06 +0000

Exodus 1:8 says that a new king arose in Egypt, where God’s special people were living. This new king/Pharaoh stripped God’s people of their land, and their political and social voice. He was cruel and brutal – all because he did not care about their culture or their heritage. Perhaps there are among us those who recognize that every now and then there will be a Pharaoh that arises to strike and cause distress in your life. Your Pharaoh may not be Egyptian at all; and more than likely will not even be human or tangible. But the Pharaoh and the affliction are real and restrictive nonetheless. Your Pharaoh may be some dreaded disease or illness…maybe the affects of poverty that have never been addressed….maybe an unjust decision made in the halls of injustice…maybe an untimely death that left your life and your financial status in a state of disarray…maybe the outsourcing of your job…maybe the infidelity and disloyalty of those who were supposed to be in your corner.

In a sense, your Pharaoh tries to counteract the work of God. Perhaps your Pharaoh’s earthly power has gone to his head and he/she/it has the audacity to believe that he/she/it can somehow stopped the works of God. But the Record says whole time Pharaoh worked against the plan and purposes of God, His people continued to grow and multiply (You should go back and read Exodus 1).

You can be confident today because no force or power has been imagined or created that can stand in opposition to the power of God in your life. People may stand guard, systems may be in place, and rules may be enacted but nothing or no one can prevent the Lord from blessing the works of your hands…from enlarging your territory…from exalting you in due season…from allowing peace and favor to rest on you.

Stay connected…

ekdministries — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:45:18 +0000

Jesus explained to His disciples in John 15 that it’s all about connection. The Lord is willing and able to do great things through and for His people. He’s just looking for those who are willing trust Him to remain connected to Him.

So question may not be whether we will be connected, but to whom or what we are connected. The reason so many of us are stuck and can’t move beyond “good enough” is that we’re connected to people who refuse to trust God enough to move beyond their hopeless condition.

God will reveal who can be trusted – who’s for real. He will also reveal who and what is fake…who and what can’t produce as promised. And when He does; let that relationship dry up and wither away. We have too many people in our lives that look the part, but can’t play the part. They’re pretending…

To be friends
To be teachers and role models
To be confidants
To be political allies
To be marriage material
To be ministers and pastors

To remain connected to Him is to assert that you believe God. When you believe God you will do what you have to do…you’ll keep getting up no matter how many times you get knocked down…you will let go of those habits and people that are working against what the Lord is doing in your life….you will stick to the plan/vision even when all the indicators seem to show that “it’s” not working.

Whatever you do, stay connected to Him!

Let’s Tell the Truth

ekdministries — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 22:59:08 +0000

Let’s tell the truth. We didn’t (and don’t) always get “it” right. There are times when we give no indication that we are a child of God. We take advantage of others and every now and then, they take advantage of us. We may look like and even acquire some of the habits of God’s people; but the truth is we are sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, giving in to all kinds of lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hated by others.

The danger with that kind of lifestyle is we will begin to believe and behave as if that’s the only way we should live and we will assume that’s the only way other people live. So life and living becomes “hustle or get hustled,” “Get or get got.”

And the truth is we would make it better if we could. If we could…

Our wit and our charm would have worked by now
We would have saved our money and bought “it” by now
Our friends would have hooked us up by now
We would have tested our way out of it by now

That’s why God steps in. “But – When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:4-5, NLT).
NOW THAT’S SHOUTING MATERIAL!

God is still in control

ekdministries — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 18:34:16 +0000

It seems we live in a world that is deluged with what public relations specialists call “spin.” Spin is the art of making the so-called facts say what he/she that is doing the spinning want them to say. Those who engage in this practice have the ultimate goal of making one believe that there is no truth, except their truth. The challenge for believers is that it can send the message that says God does not have anything to say. It makes the case that believers must be careful to compare the spin to the fact that this all belongs to God and God is still in control.
When you realize that this all belongs to God and God is still in control; then you realize and recognize that what “they” have to offer as the truth can’t be real. It can’t be real that you were created and destined to fail…that you’re life is only worth what others get from you…that you’re future is canceled and there’s no need to try…that life begins and ends with “their” perception of you.
And when you see that what they have to offer as the truth can’t be real it gives you the license and the power to break away from confusion and chaos…to work your way out dissatisfaction…to strive for a “not yet” realized destiny…to claim victory in battles that are yet to be fought…to reject the pathology of poverty…to break generational curses…to refuse mediocre and average.
And when you see that what they have to offer as the truth can’t be real it gives you the license and the power to denounce death and proclaim life…claim victory in battles that are yet to be fought…to strive for excellence in all things and in everything…to be holy because He is holy…to have your sins forgiven and your heart cleansed…to prosper in all that you set your heart, mind, and hands to do…to praise Him in advance.
Be careful about what you accept as the truth.