Life of a GANGSTA (part one)

This is the true story of a friend of mine, David Square founder of Saving Our Sons Ministries (Project Gang Peace)


"When I was nine years old I was drafted into what became Chicago’s bloodiest war. I am talking about young people killing each other for a piece of land not owned by them, killing each other because of a color, and/or a name. By the time I was fifteen (15) years old I had been shot nine times, stabbed several times and beaten with baseball bats. I spent 3 1⁄2 months in a coma due to a gun shot to the head, and when I came out of the coma I could not walk and could barely talk. I had to endure a year of rehabilitation and speech therapy. I prayed to my Father in Heaven for the gift of life, that I may live, but I did it for the wrong reason, I wanted to retaliate. And yes, I did retaliate against those who shot me. Afterward, I was arrested and tried as an adult and sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison. I was only 16 years old, faced with the worse time of my life – I was going to prison, what most people thought would be for life.

While in prison I have had to do things that to this day that I am ashamed of; I have had to use violence as a means to survive, in that I was not going to be someone’s punk. Because of my choices other people died, were maimed, and some couldn’t withstand the pressure and committed suicide.

At the age of 21, I decided that I wanted to be my own “Chief’, and so I secretly began to built my Nation (set), one member at a time. And that came with a price. I had become so powerful in the joint that I was considered untouchable. But my family was not untouchable. Because of my choices, two of my biological brothers were gunned down and I had to put my mother in hiding for two years in order to keep her alive. My daughter had been raped three times, and now to this day she blames me for her drug addiction and prostitution. Now mind you, the guys that I was once loyal to were now trying to eliminate my family and had done horrific things to my baby girl (my only daughter). Think about that for a minute! That’s the life of a gangster……." (to be continued)

When Christians do the right things, the wrong way.

I opened up my Thursday Night teaching with the following quote. What do you think about what this position?


"Many people come to me for counsel wanting to train their flesh, trying to break various habits. They want to train their bodies not to overeat. They want to train their minds to think the right thoughts, their wills to make strong positive decisions, and their emotions to feel good at the right time. Almost everywhere we go, those in authority teach us some method of training the flesh. We are taught to train the flesh at home, school, work, and sometimes even at church. Some years ago when I surrendered to pastoral ministry, various ministers instructed me to build up my body and train my soul that I might become the minister that God wanted me to be. I tried it, but it did not work. The problem is that we can not train the flesh to live the Christian life. Why? The Flesh can not please God. God did not create us to live the spiritual life with physical strength or soul power. When we try to do so, the result is death, opposed to life and peace. The carnal mind stands against God. It is not under the authority of the law of God. It can never be trained to perform."

-Basil Frasure, Ph.D

Romans 8:5-8

Sunday Night Reflections (on Monday)

Mondays are a little different for me. Instead of dreading another long workweek filled with mundane tasks and menial to-dos, I feel like my workweek has just finished. I read once that to speak for 45 minutes publicly it produces the emotional stress of an eight-hour workday. It’s no wonder I am so drained after speaking at both services. I can’t imagine pastors who preach five services over the weekend. Last week I meet Zhenya Kasevich from Hillsongs Church in Russia. He has four services in Kiev, Ukraine and flies to Moscow for one more! That’s crazy. It just goes to show that when God calls you to a specific task He will produce the grace needed to perform that task.

Mondays are my Saturdays. Except the kids have school, my inbox gets filled, my phone still rings and everyone else knows it’s Monday. When Monday comes around I usually breath a sigh of relief, as another long weekend comes to a close. I can reflect on the people I’ve met, counseled or prayed for. I can critique my delivery and my sermons, (usually harshly). I can remember how blessed I am to be pastor and carrier of a sacred calling. Ok, I threw that last one in there to sound more Zen but you get the idea. The truth is, I can’t wait until the day I have five services to speak at. I can imagine how those Sunday night reflections will be.