Melanin Within

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Around and About.

Gerrishon Sirere II August 24, 2017 0 Comments

Street photography is actually my favorite. Capturing unpredictable moments is more luck than art. Here we see a man snap a pic of two women. The adoration in his eyes makes this moment memorable.

I don't particularly like camels. They're incredibly rude. This old camel looked away as I was setting up my shot because he's rude but still I like how or came out.

The older gentleman stopped me I'm the baqaala (corner store) then requested I take his picture. His stoic, regal pose is a favorite with Arabs.

The man of the house with his younger siblings while his widowed mother looks on.

This older gentleman is an electrician. He invited me for a cup of tea inside his workshop.

Gabriel is a refugee from South Sudan. Due to his status he doesn't have official papers in Egypt. He works as a janitor a d makes about $600usd monthly. Despite his status and his meager wages, Gabriel is incredibly positive. He taught me a much needed lesson about patience and gratitude.

©Gerrishon Sirere

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Ali in a Nutshell

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

I had a lengthy chat with a man called Ali who tells me he's from Sultanate of Oman but on further interrogation I realize that he hails from South Yemen. He a very polite man but I'm astonished when I see a pic of him holding a gun. He quickly interjects and says that people from Yemen are used to the culture of carrying weapons due to insecurity and guerrilla warfare going on in the country.
South Yemen is on of the hardest hit due to militants who gang up to cause mayhem.
Ali seems to be a good man who likes poetry. He's written short poem which I'll quote albeit verbatim.

والبوارق كنها رشخت عروقي..

والسيول الجاريه دم الوريد

لا لمحت البرق يمه زاد شوقي

وانحسر والفقد للغالي يزيد

I don't read Arabic but I was able to pick up the idea of what he'd written. And there you have it. Ali in a nutshell. And as the saying goes, “Anything that can be put into a nutshell probably belongs there." Yep, He's a nut!!😂

When You Can't Do Anything

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 1 Comments

Thought for the day: 2 Corinthians 12:10 When I am weak, then I am Strong.

Ministers were discussing racial prejudice and what could be done about it, when one arose and commented: "Brothers, the real question before us today is: What can you do when you can't do anything?"
Most of us have felt the sting of that question. What can a father do when his son goes wrong? What can a mother do when a rebellious daughter refuses her counsel? What can one do when faced with an incurable disease?
Jesus was in a situation like that. His enemies thought they had him nailed hand and foot. "Now," they said, "he can't do anything. We have stopped him." But notice how Jesus' response to a hopeless situation worked out.
He took care of his mother.
He gave a repentant thief a promise of paradise.
By suffering without bitterness he convinced a centurion, " Surely this man was a Son of God."
He prayed for the forgiveness of his enemies.
He conquered sin and death.
He demonstrated how love endures hatred without hating in return.
Jesus did all this and more when it seemed he could not do anything.

©Gerrishon Sirere
As outlined by George C. Stuart
Bloomington, Illinois.

The Living Word

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Thought For Today: 2 Corinthians 3:2-3
Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts , known and read of all men... written not with ink but with the spirit of the living God.

It was my privilege to conduct a five-minute Bible reading over the radio each morning. This devotional period was called "God's Word for Today."
One morning, following the broadcast, I was shopping in a local grocery store when a young mother and get little child came in. The mother noted the presence of her pastor in the store and speaking to her youngster she asked, "Do you know who that is standing over there?"
"Yes," the child answered, "that is God's Word for Today."
You can well imagine the sense of humility which came into my soul when I heard the child's remark. We all fall far short of being "God's Word for Today."
We read for today the words of Jesus in which we are expected to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, doers of good works. Whether we realize it or not we are living examples. We are "known and read of all men." After having read, we go out into our world to be people who actually live "God's Word for Today."

©Gerrishon Sirere
As narrated by Philip.G.Graf
Bremerton, Washington

Can We Escape Reality?

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Thought for the day: Psalms 55:6
Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away and be at rest.

Why do you suppose the psalmist planned to fly away? What do you think happened to him? I have the feeling that some unusual testing experience had just happened. It almost defeated him. Perhaps a dove flew by and its peacefulness impressed him. Maybe he thought that if he could get away to some wilderness, away from the throng, away from the confusions and misunderstandings of people, he would be happy. A moment's reflection, however, revealed that his trouble was within and not without.
The person you have to live with is yourself. You will never be able to separate yourself from yourself.
I once tried to get away from my shadow. I schemed, dodged, and did everything I could think of but it always stayed with me.
One may say that is escape from life in death, but there is no escape from death. Do not try to escape but try to conquer the problems and burdens which threaten your own happiness and life.
The solution of the psalmist's situation was in his renewed trust in God. It is faith in God and the casting of ourselves upon him that enables us to become masters of our own lives. What seems to be the end may be a new beginning. We can be more than conquerors through Christ.

©Gerrishon Sirere & Sam.S.Hill
Georgetown, Kentucky

They Need Encouragement

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Thought For Today: Luke 18:1
Men ought always to pray.

I traveled through Russia with a friend who spoke their language. He told me the following story. He sat in the front seat with the driver of the sightseeing car. She was a coarse appearing woman, dressed like a man. When they reached a high point where they could look down on Yalta, all got out. The guide called attention to things of interest. One building had been a church but had been turned into a club for working men. My friend lingered saddened by the thought. Men working on the road laughed and said they used to go there to pray but now they went to drink. My friend asked the men which was better, drinking or praying? They were astonished that their remarks had been understood by a foreign tourist.
The driver, who had heard the conversation with the men on the road, asked if he believed in God. When he told her he did she said she, too, prayed to God. All the rest of the journey she talked about religion and tears flowed freely. Next day she brought a banquet and thanked him for the encouragement he had given her. There are others in Russia who secretly pray to God.
They need encouragement.

©Gerrishon Sirere
As outlined by W.O. Lewis from London, England.

We May Lose Our Godly Ways, But We Should Always Get Back Up Again

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

There is something glorious about your future God will show you, you will not need your pastor to keep preaching holiness message to you daily...

When you see a girl singing in the choir, yet, from the choir, she keeps sexual appointments, check that girl, she has not seen anything yet about her future...

When you see a young boy who dresses to church, to seduce those small girls to bed and his mates will be clapping for him, check that boy, he has a spiritual eye problem...

He hasn't seen anything about his future yet...
If you do it again and again and again, God will forgive you again and again and again...

But, while He is busy forgiving you, angels are busy searching for some one else heaven will use to replace you ...

What separates men before God is not how long they can pray or how much scriptures they know...

The value God places on people is not determined by the position they occupy in the church...
But how much they can bear for His Name sake...

Some times, He allows your salary to be delayed, to know if you will start stealing in your office...

Sometimes, He allows some lose ladies to start suggesting sex with you, to know if you have grown...

But unfortunately, you still fall again ....
Yes, He will forgive....
But, you will still remain in the same class in the school of glory...

Decision separates men...
There is an OIL that comes with separation...
The weight of a man is buried in the decisions he makes when no one is watching him ...

Many times, God allows you to be lonely so that you can be holy...

Forget this public revival messages all of us are preaching...
Many are still behind in the school of glory...

Not because they chose to, but because they still don't want to pay the price of separation...

If it takes a man to be married to be responsible, we will not have many married irresponsible men scattered all over the place who are renting houses for their girlfriends, while their wives are still at home....

When a man is due for marriage, he should get married...

But don't tell me to get married because you want me to escape fornication...
Marriage is not an escape route into a responsible life...

What you cannot control when you are single has the power to control you even when you are married ...

No matter how beautiful your wife will be, you will still see other beautiful ladies....
Teach me how to die to flesh sir...
Teach me that I can live alone in a house alone and yet, I will not think rubbish thoughts...

Joseph was not married before he ran away naked from Portipha's wife bedroom ...
It was not a marital ring on his finger that made him refuse that gesture....

But because he knew the future God has planned for Him will be messed up by a single decision....

I want to raise a generation of young boys and girls that will love God where no one is seeing them ...

I want to raise a breed that doesn't appear holy only when they see their parents or their pastors...

This holiness by dressing is sending people from choir seats to hell fire...
They are dying in secret sins, yet, they have none to cry to, because, once they confess, they will be stigmatized...

Consequently, we are raising a generation that is speaking in tongues on their way to hell...

Sister, singing in choir doesn't confer value on men before God, but decision...
Stop attaching your spiritual growth on night vigils where you go and flog enemies ...

God is waiting for you when no one is there...
If you can succeed there, you will be a commander of the supernatural...

The greatest tool against the end time church is the adulteration of the message of grace...
They teach you that God will forgive...
But they will not teach you that God will not promote you to another class...

No matter how you love your child, you will not give him your car key to use when you know he has not perfected his driving...

As long as that child is finding it hard to drive perfectly, he will keep trekking to school...

There is someone reading this posts now, heaven is saying that you are due for manifestation, but you have not made a decision yet...

You are still afraid of hunger....
You don't want to starve....
You are ashamed of what people will say when you stop sleeping with men for money to pay bills...

They have even told you that there is no young person like you that doesn't have sexual partners...
That human beings were wired by God to fall and rise again...

Several times, you have made moves to delete all those phone numbers that connect you to your vomits...
But you have been afraid of the days of loneliness...

You don't want to miss those cuddles...
You don't know if you can ever look into his eyes and tell him: "No more sex"...

Even if he accepts, you are afraid that you might never cope...

Sister, don't let weekend orgasm rob you of eternal value...

Your enemy is no more that witch in the village....

But any man that is making you comfortable in a place of rebellion with God ...

Don't be in church singing in the choir and God will go to the nearest hotel and catch a prostitute, wash her, clean her and fill her with His power...

I know you have been trying to make amends ...
You have answered altar calls several times, yet, you still fall back, even more deeper ...

Some of us were there not too long ago...
Singing in choir, leading in powerful prayer sections, yet, battling with addictions...

Worse of all we were afraid to tell anyone...
Because, people around would never have understood how much we were trying to be better ...

We bought different anointing oil, from different men of God, yet, we were not free...
We even afflicted ourselves with fastings...
Yet, nothing changed ...

Until we encountered the Word of God.....
When Jesus said that " We are made clean by the Words that I speak unto you..."

We began to read and study the Bible...
Like Job, we began to esteem God's Word above our necessary food...

Gradually, addictions began to lose its grip...
God began to change our appetites...
Until today, the darkness is past, the true Light now shineth ...

Brother, I want to recommend you to the Word of God....
The Word of God will settle that lust issue...
Don't go and rush into marriage if you are not ready, because you want to avoid temptation...

The spirit of lust does not respect wedding ring...

Especially now that our sisters who are still in Babylon even prefer having it with married men ...

There are still single guys who are serving God in spirit and in truth...
5 chapters of the bible every day and 1 hour prayers or more...

You will see that your mind will stop going to those thoughts ...
Jesus did not say it is easy...
But He said that with God all things are possible ...

Your heart is beating faster now as you are reading this...
You are wondering if you will ever get free from the things you are struggling with...

Friend, that God that did it for us, He will show up on your case...

Receive grace to feast on the Word from now....
In Jesus Name...

Look At Something Big

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Thought for the day: Matthew 5:1
Seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain.

When you see something big it lifts you out of yourself.
I always get a great blessing and a wonderful lift when I see the Rocky Mountains in Colorado or New Mexico. There is something strong and sturdy about the mountains. They give me assurance that everything is not falling into pieces.
In the summer of 1952 I spent several days at Princeton seminary in New Jersey. With some friends I made my first trip to the ocean. As we were riding the waves I could not help thinking of the unlimited power and strength of the great ocean.
As I stood on the observation roof of the National Broadcasting Company building at Rockefeller Center, New York, I was impressed with the vast extent of the vision from that vantage point.
You will remember that Jesus often slipped away from the crowds. He would get into a boat and go out on the sea. Or he would go up into the mountains to pray.
A physician gave this prescription to a patient: "Get off and look at something big." We cannot all go to the mountains or the ocean or look out across a great city but we can all "Get off and look at something big."
"Unto thee lift I up mine eyes. O thou that dwellest in the heavens."

The Godward Side

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Thought for the day: 1 Thessalonians 5:5 For you are all children of light and the children of the day.

The story of young Daniel's faith and courage in continuing to pray regularly reveals profound secret of life. Not only was his window open towards the holy city but his soul was open towards God.
Wen we take time for private devotions, quiet prayer in the chapel of the heart , or for worship in fellowship with others, we open then windows of life on the side where God is. Thus we let come in the clean air and healthful sunlight of God.
One day I attended a meeting in a large downtown church. It had lovely stained glass windows, a vaulted ceiling, many shadows and mostly artificial light. At first it seemed dark, stuffy, and somewhat oppressive. But high up on one side a little window was open and a little stream of fresh air pushed its way inside. As I watched the window , the sun, just as though waiting its opportunity, thrust a golden beam of warmth and light through the opening. Unobtrusively it made a halo around one young person and a diffused glow around others near by. To me it was a parable of how we may shut out light and air and dwell in shadows of our own making.
Open windows on the side where God is.

Love is...

Gerrishon Sirere II August 12, 2017 0 Comments

Does not boast.

Pride is the dandelion of the soul. Its root goes deep; only a little left behind sprouts again. Its seeds lodge in the tiniest encouraging cracks. And it flourishes in good soil: "The danger of pride is that it feeds on goodness"
Pride is clearly Satan's area of expertise. We must be proactive to identify any seeds of pride lurking in the cracks of our souls, waiting to sprout into self righteousness , discontentment, or an unforgiving spirit. Pride masquerades as an unwillingness to admit I'm wrong, or in thoughts like, I deserve better. "The most effective means the enemy has to keep believers from being full of the spirit is to keep us full of ourselves.". Anything that deifies self is pride, and God hates a prideful heart. We have two options when it comes to pride. We can humble ourselves (1 Peter 5:6), or God will humble opinion us (Daniel 4:37).
Pride is described in 1 Corinthians 13:4 as something that love is not, "Love...is not boastful; is not conceited." So biblical love is demonstrated by the opposite emotion of pride- humility.
"Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than others, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all. Now that's easier to read than do!
The healthy heart is one that bows down in humility and rises in praise and adoration. Note that paul grows downward in his self- descriptions as the years pass:
I am the least of the apostles. ( 1 Corinthians 15:9)
I am the least of all saints. (Ephesians 3:8)
I am the worst of them. (1 Timothy 1:15)

Monday, August 7, 2017

The Dignity of Humble Service

Gerrishon Sirere II August 07, 2017 0 Comments

Thought for today: Luke 22:27
I am among you as he that serveth.

Homer tells us that when a celestial being visited the battlefield of Troy and saw the awful gash in the bleeding foot of Patroclus she wept and turned away. Contrast that story with Jesus' story of the good Samaritan. Picture to yourself the life story of Florence Nightingale, Lord Shaftsbury or Albert Schweitzer. An angel of mercy should have bound up the wounded foot of Patroclus and stayed to give comfort. Christianity is different because it points out the glory and dignity of humble service.

An army nurse retired to Mankato, Minnesota. She had a long record of service in various army hospitals. Her last post off duty was at Fort Snelling, near her home and friends. After her so called retirement wherever there was sickness, distress or sorrow she was first to come. She became their local Florence Nightingale.
I had the privilege of officiating st her funeral. Young and old came to pay their last loving tribute to one who had been a servant wherever needed. At the near by cemetry ,when I had read the commital ritual and pronounced the benediction, spontaneously the entire group broke forth into song, "There's a land that is fairer than day, and by faith we can seen it afar."

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Thursday, August 24, 2017

Around and About.

Saturday, August 12, 2017

Ali in a Nutshell

When You Can't Do Anything

The Living Word

Can We Escape Reality?

They Need Encouragement

We May Lose Our Godly Ways, But We Should Always Get Back Up Again

Look At Something Big

The Godward Side

Love is...

Monday, August 7, 2017

The Dignity of Humble Service

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