My initial thought about this passage? I was drawn to the word “Abba”. From what I understand, this word not only means father, but translates to an endearing term for father. For me – that’s Dad.  How awesome is it that God is such a loving, comforting God, that I (plain, regular me) can call Him MY Dad?!? Love this.

This passage is a reminder of two things.  First, I’m reminded that I have access to the Holy Spirit.  This Spirit allows me to tap into God’s strength, His comfort, and assures me that I can call on Him at any moment…simply by calling out His name. And if I want to, I don’t have to be formal. I can say, “Dad, I need you”. Wow.

Finally, I am reminded that through the Holy Spirit I am free.  With the Spirit, I can live my life fearlessly. Because of the Spirit, God has accepted me as his child.  Free, fearless, AND favored?! As I take a moment to reflect on that…I feel extremely humble…and honored…and destined for greatness! So many of us live life filled with worry, doubt, and lacking a sense of belonging. I’m so glad that I can let go of those things. Some may think – how is that possible? Because of my Dad. #grateful

Lenette Jones, #breathe

The first thing that comes to mind when I read that God breathed life into the nostrils of man is CPR and what situations make CPR necessary.  Loss of consciousness and of course loss of life is what immediately comes to mind.  But since there was no life to begin with, He (God) breathed life in to man to begin consciousness.  Interesting!

Have you seen someone in the hospital who may have stopped breathing on their own?  Once breathing resumes and consciousness is restored, most times those initial breaths are so deliberate and intentional.   Inhaling and exhaling with purpose and execution, as if to not breathe incorrectly, as if their life depends on each breath, which it does!
The same breath that was breathed into man’s shell at creation is the same breath that is going in and out of our bodies at this very moment!  God’s breath!  But more than that, He wants us to do more with each breath than just inhale and exhale and live.  He wants us to be LIVING.  He wants us to take each breath as if it was our first or might be our last.

Often people ask what would you do if this were your last day?  I’m assuming that should bring focus, clarity and intentionality to your life.  But what about living this life as if each breath is your first breath?  Living like you have not breathed the pollution filled air of fear?  Rejection?  Self-doubt?  It’s never too late to be resuscitated and to inhale God’s breath.  Breath that brings clarity, purpose and intentionality.

- Jamie Hendrix, #breathe

Dear Awakenings Movement Family,

It is hard to believe that 4 years have gone by already.  There have been so many great memories and miracles that God has allowed for us to experience in just a short window of time.  When Jameel and I moved here 4 years ago we were simply trusting God  and anticipating that what He had for us and for this new church would amaze us, and He certainly has.

I remember writing down some prayers for Awakenings before we started of how I wanted for God to bless us.  Some of the prayers included having a building to meet in around the Midtown or Downtown area,  building relationships with other churches so we can reach the city together, a strong and growing congregation that would be unabashed about living totally 100% sold out to Jesus, a strong nucleus of leaders who would live lives of character and integrity in their relationship with God , and a strong children and youth focus as we invest in the future.

I also asked for more superficial things like state of the art audio and video equipment, a budget that would allow for me to work full time for Awakenings, and for Kool and the Gang or Earth, Wind, and Fire to be our band.

God has met some of these requests, and I see Him working on some other ones.  But I must admit, confess and repent for not asking for the most important request.  I did not throw myself at the feet of God and continually ask that the Holy Spirit saturate and lead the way in all of this.   I was not adimate about asking that the power and presence of  God’s Spirit reigning and ruling in the lives our church first before  asking for a building, numbers of people, equipment, leadership teams, church partnerships, and financial resources

Honestly, to ask for anything else first for this ministry  other  than the Holy Spirit is like the tail wagging the dog.  It is out of order and will eventually lead to burn out, lack of passion, lack of direction, and ultimately lack of relationship with Jesus.  Zechariah 4:6 says, “’It is not by your strength nor by your might, but by my Spirit’, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” And I know from personal experience how true that is.

I believe that the next 4 years and beyond for Awakenings can be more amazing than the first 4 years, but the next and necessary step is for us to push all the unnecessary clutter, expectations, agendas, meetings, programming, events, and other church stuff to the side and let it all take a big back seat to the Holy Spirit lifting us, filling us, and leading us.

Acts. 3:19 says “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.”  I want to Awakenings experience that time of refreshing. It’s time for Awakenings to breathe.

With Love,

Diallo Smith

Lead Pastor and Cultural Architect of Awakenings Movement Church Detroit.

For some reason I’ve always gravitated towards science fiction movies.  I can watch movies like the Matrix, Star Wars, and Star Trek over and over again.  It’s something about that whole “Going where no man has gone before” thing that has always fascinated me.

I think what has drawn me, as well as the other millions of sci-fi fans around the globe, is this idea of experiencing something that changes your life forever.  I think about Neo and his first time realizing that he was The One. His life was never the same again.  And what about Luke Skywalker discovering how to wield the powers of The Force? His life would be changed forever after that.

Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind was another sci-fi classic.  In it an electrical lineman has an encounter with a UFO and after that everything about his life changes.  Throughout the movie you see the lives of people who had similar encounters and though people don’t believe them, they don’t need their approval to validate what they know. They KNOW they had an encounter with extra-terrestrials, and their life has been radically altered.

The Bible are full of similar kind of encounters.  But these are encounters of a God kind.  There is really no way to describe what it means for ones life to change once an encounter with God happens. But the authors of the Bible try as much as they can to describe it and compel others to seek it.

I’ve spent a large part of my adult life trying to explain to others what happened to me.  In one moment I was Diallo.  The next moment I was Diallo who encountered Jesus and from that moment everything changed.  The cool thing is that from that moment on I knew that this encounter was not just about me, but it was an encounter that everyone needs to (and can) experience.

Close Encounters of a God Kind.  Sounds like a cheesy Christian movie. But in this case it’s a real life documentary, one that is always seeking to have sequels in other lives around the world.

There was a point in time when I didn’t fully comprehend or understand who Jesus was. Well, let me be honest, even now after 14 years of following Jesus I am no where close to knowing all there is to know about him. But I do know that 14 years go there was a demarcation in time where one day I neither knew who Jesus was or that He could transform human beings from the inside out and the next moment day I did.

That moment may have not even been a fraction of a blip on the time-space continuum, but for me it was an unexplainable event that changed the contours of my life forever. Think about it, the very thought that someone can be raised from the dead is beyond comprehension. Yet since the event of Jesus being raised from the dead and the people who have since conveyed this message of a new reality with a new Kingdom and King being accesible among us, countless men and women of various creeds, cultures, and classes have placed their faith in this new King, new kingdom, and new reality.

That’s why I am in awe every time a person makes a declarative announcement through baptism that they have given their life to this resurrected King named Jesus and know that in Him and Him alone the impossible is made possible; God can forgive us and habitat in us.

Much respect and applause to all those willing to sacrifice their lives and personal agendas for a life and an agenda that is worth living for. Cudos to those who have the audacity to face the confines and barriers of human knowledge with the faith to believe that impossible is just a word because Jesus did rise from the dead. A standing ovation goes to those men and women throughout time and space who make up a new human community of the the brave, the courageous, and the baptized.

God is the most creative being in the universe. In fact He is the creator of the universe. If this is the case then why is that the the people who worship this God of unlimited creativity have an image of being non creative, boring, out of touch, and out of date?

Perhaps a big reason for this paradox is that there is a fear of doing things differently. Perhaps the fear of an ever changing world keeps us focused on doing things the way they have always been done.

Fear can get the best of all of us, but to counter that, God is calling us to be more creative. We are more open to the presence of God when we are able to expand our mind to the God-possible and break out of what’s normal. Creativity is a natural result of spirituality and in the process we can see our lives as a creative force for a creator God.

Listen to the Religion of Fear Podcast

The last last couple of months have been tough for the city of Detroit.  There have been a lot of violent crimes perpetuated against and perpetuated by young people, including a drive by that claimed the life of a 9 month old baby and a 14 year old killing his mother because he couldn’t go outside to hang with his “friends.”

I had a dark moment last week where for a second I thought, “Is what the church doing worth it?  Are any of our efforts, prayers, worship services, or community transformation efforts worth it?” But in that instance I heard God say, “They don’t know that I love them.”

I thought deep and hard about that.   How could that be in a city where there seems like there is a church on every corner?  How can that be when Detroit has such deep religious roots and Gospel music icons like The Clark Sisters, The Winans, and Aretha Franklin, all of whom have touched so many lives through there music.  How can there be any one living here that doesn’t know that God emphatically loves them, was crucified out of love for them, and miraculously rose from death out of love for them?  With a church on every corner and all of the people in all those church buildings, they surely have spread the message of hope to everyone that they see and have come in contact with.  I mean, that’s the great banner and mission of the church to share this message of faith, hope, and love that “God is dramatically in love with you!”, right?

I think the reality is that most people don’t believe that God is that way because the Church sometimes does not. Many times what is perpetuated is a religion where people are expected to be good enough to meet God’s approval. Many times what is announced is a religion that focuses more on what it is against than what it is for. Sadly, what is perpetuated in church buildings begins to its way out to the communities, streets, and blocks those church buildings are embedded in.  Although many people may never step a foot inside a church building they still hear it. They still sense it.  They still feel it. And unfortunately they believe it.  They believe that God is a God that wants us to “get right” first before coming to Him.  They believe that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell.  They believe that if things are going good then they must have done something good to earn God’s favor, and when things are going bad it’s because it’s penalty for some misdeed.  They don’t believe God loves them, they instead believe God is waiting to jump from behind the bushes and say “I caught you in the act.” The religion of “being good enough” is real for a lot of people, but it is also really wrong!

Jesus paints this amazing story of the love of God in Luke 15:11-32.  He tells a story of a God who, in spite of our misdeeds and wrong doings, is waiting with open arms to give us His best.  It’s counter intuitive to how we would think because if someone wrongs us we want to hold it against them and make them grovel for mercy.  But maybe that’s the point. That’s why God is God and we aren’t.

“They don’t know that I love them.” That was a wake up call for me not assume people know about this incredible God who loves unconditionally, and maybe in the process we can stamp out the religion of people feeling like they have to be good enough for God to accept them.

Listen to The Religion of Good Enough Podcast

Continuing with our RelationTrips theme, we had a chance to hear Scott and Denise Crownover from The Green Room in Ann Arbor talk to us about marriage.  I love Scott and Denise and their unique gifts.  My stomach was hurting because I was laughing so hard that my stomach was hurting when they talked about the difference of perspective between men and women.

Jameel and I have been married for 11 years and one thing that Scott and Denise said rung true; Marriage isn’t for the purposes of making us happy but for the purposes of making us holy.  Marriage brings us closer to God, because it exposes who we really are.

Jameel and I longed for a strong marriage and knew that our relationship with Christ was the key. What we didn’t know was that once we said “I do” and stayed in the same house, was when our true faith in Jesus would be tested and refined.  After the Honeymoon is when the real marriage would begin.

We found out quickly that our marriage was not simply for our own personal need to be happy, but for God to shine through our marriage (Matthew 5:16).  This shift in perspective may seem small but has HUGE effects.  It frees your marriage from the land of self-focus to the land of God’s focus, which is to bring healing and redemption to the world. Imagine what the world would look like if every marriage had that same focus and intention. That picture you have in your mind is the world that God dreams of.

This past Sunday Jameel and I had a chance to dive into the subject of dating.  It was fun for us because 11 years ago our first time speaking together was on the same subject.  At that time we were engaged and preparing for our wedding which was a few months away and we had a chance to share with a group of young adults how we got to that place.

If I had to give a key to our success in dating it wouldn’t be the strategies, principles, or methods first.  First and foremost we would say the grace of God was the key to our success.  We are not that smart, witty, or sophisticated enough to claim all the credit for ourselves.  Trusting God and not our “game”, charm, looks, or material stability, gave us a lot of freedom to know that whether our relationship worked out or not, it was still ok.

We had a chance to answer some questions from the stage Sunday but of course there were a lot more that we didnt have a chance to answer that I wanted to follow up  with in this blog.

Is there such a thing as too much honesty? Should I avoid some truths for the sake of peace? There is no such thing as too much truth.  Truth restores peace, the absence of truth contorts peace.  Most relationships fail because of the lack of honesty.  And when things are being concealed, truth has a way of finding its way out. John 8:32 says that the truth sets us free.  If that’s the case then what does hiding the truth do? It usually keeps us feeling that we’re not being totally honest which has a big effect on how we feel on the inside.

Why do you wait to have sex? Great question!  The best and most concise answer I can give is that God designed sex for the covenant of marriage as a premier expression of love and commitment to your spouse. It’s a way of celebrating what God has done in a couples life by leading 2 people out of 6 billion on the earth to spend the rest of their lives with one another. (1 Corinthians 7:3-5).  It’s like the cherry on top of the cake.  But it takes maturity and trust in believing that relationships are not designed to make us happy, but instead are designed to make us holy and to bring us closer to God.  Sex when misunderstood,is a way of gratifying our own desires, fantasies, and emotional needs.  Sex when properly understood is a way of loving someone who you know that God has brought into your life that you have committed yourself to under the union of marriage.

How do you know when it’s time to take the next step and get married? I don’t know if there is any one way to answer this question, because it can vary from couple to couple.  But I would add some borders that can guide the decision making process. #1 If you are not ready for God to lead you and your relationship, you may want to make that priority number one.  Every relationship has a model of what it’s supposed to be and if God isn’t the source of the model then it’s going to be based on something less than God. #2 You’re not ready to marry if you do not 100% trust the person.  Love and Trust are synonymous with one another. #3  You’re not ready to marry if you can’t have a meaningful conversation with the other person.  In the end, healthy communication (or the lack of it) will play a huge factor in the success of any relationship.

After how many years of continually dating should you get engaged? See the question above

Is it wrong for me to put off finding “the right one” to enjoy life? Of course not! In fact if you cannot feel happy by yourself, then the chances of you finding “the right one”  will be decreased.  Sometimes we are so focused on finding completion and fulfillment in a relationship that we place our trust in anyone who comes close to filling the void. I love how it says in Psalm 33:20-22 that God is the source of our fulfillment.  If you’re satisfied with Christ and where He is leading your life first, then everything else is an added extra blessing.

What do you do when it gets routine and boring? It’s hard to be bored with someone that you truly appreciate, admire, and respect as a person.  When you are with someone who raises the quality of who you are as an individual, boredom and monotony  rarely sets in. The problem comes when we focus on other parts of the relationship than we do the actually content of the persons involved.  Things such as premarital sex, where the date is going to be at, etc becomes the driving force behind the relationship and the thrill of those things will eventually wear off.

How do you encourage the woman you’re dating to be patient without being “offensive”? Honesty is crucial if it means not being with that person.  If someone wants the relationship to go in a different direction than the other then patience isn’t the issue.  The issue is two different sets of expectations.  And if two parties involved have different expectations disappointment and discontent is soon to follow. (Luke 11:17)

adfdscasercasde

asdfceasdrrcade

avadereaw