A Legacy Left

At this present moment I am sitting in a hospital room with my Grandmother, the most beautiful woman alive, as she recovers from a pacemaker installation procedure.  My Grandmother has been suffering from congestive heart failure - she is 89 years old,

Despite our efforts to convince her otherwise, my Grandmother choose the DNR and DNI option.  When asked why her response was "I'm old, I lived a long life and if I go I go."  My spunky Grandmother said it with a smile on her face.  Ms. Harrison is confident that she has left her mark on this earth.  

My Grandmother is not a rich woman.  Doesn't have a large savings account but she still left such a rich legacy to myself, her other grandchildren, children and great grandchildren.  Her lesson of unconditional love and commitment to God and  family has been taught to all of us and encouraged to share with others.  My Grandmother would "literally" give the shirt off her own back to a cold, shivering person.  Ina Harrison's face should be pictured in a dictionary next to the word "selfless."

I desire to be just like my Grandmother.  She is the most beautiful woman I know.  While she is still here I will learn all I can from her.  She still has so much to teach us all.  We are her legacy.

Live and Leave a Legacy. Like my Grandmother <3

#iplaymyrole

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It Takes A Team To Accomplish Greatness

Recently I posted a picture to Instagram of a good friend and team member sitting at Starbucks as she was helping plan things out with The ROLE Call.  Carrie Hood is the co-founder of a DC based company that aides with marketing and promotion called Growth Matters.  The picture spawned a comment by a beloved coworker of mine who lovingly and jokingly said to me that I was full of myself, acting like I have all these employees working for me.  We laughed it off but the truth is that the people that work alongside The ROLE Call do what they do because of the important mission ahead, some of those people including myself do it for zero compensation.

The ROLE Call is fortunate enough to have people who are dedicated to fulfilling a cause much greater than themselves.  A cause that is guaranteed to make communities of civilizations, not just in the US but all over the world, better.  This cause is to Eradicate Fatherlessness.

Andre D. Harrison may be the visionary behind this project but he is not the project.  Long after Mr. Harrison The ROLE Call will continue its effort to encourage fathers to Play Their ROLE...  So as The ROLE Call team continues to press forward The ROLE Call wishes to share gratitude to all who make The ROLE Call an effective force in the communities that has and will have a chapter.

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The Agony of Solitude - A Candid Look into My Reality

Every year I would stay up a few extra hours after my sons went to bed on Christmas eve to wrap gifts to put under the tree just to see their eyes light up when they woke up on Christmas Day.  They joy in seeing their happiness as they opened each gift with anticipation because they just knew daddy, mommy and other family got them exactly what they asked for - while the yule log played on our TV. That makes every loving parent extremely happy.

But the epidemic of families being broken has hit my doorstep almost 5 years ago and since then I had to split my children with their mother on holidays or alternating holidays.  For me, that is so hard because I desire to be with my family all the time especially on holidays but that is not a reality any longer.   NEVER would I thought I would be waking up alone on Christmas Day.  Not having my sons screaming "wake up daddy, its Christmas!".  Tears fill my eyes, a lump in my throat develops and the feeling of despair hits so hard.  ITS MY AGONY OF SOLITUDE...  But it goes even beyond that.


For years I made a decent salary as an assistant pastor able to comfortably pay all my bills.  Every year when Christmas was approaching, shopping was a manageable issue because I knew the money was there. Things are much different now.  I love what I do, I love serving families and people but I live check to check and even picked up a second job, one day a week, just to hopefully have enough for the month to cover the bills.  I refuse to work a job that does not permit me to be home with my children every night, on weekends and on holidays.  Being with my kids is more important to me than being able to afford the latest pair of Jordans or video game - but during the holidays it seems to be a different story.  Even as a published author, it does little for finances if the books aren't selling and opportunities to speak are rare.  I couldn't afford to buy the things my sons wanted.  I didn't have money to fill up the floor underneath our tree, in fact this year and last year we didn't even have a tree because of lack of space.  The picture I once took annually of the gifts overflowing our living room is, at present, a thing of the past. I spent the last two weeks thinking how not having any money during Christmas time was liberating, but that feeling quickly fades come Christmas morning. The beautiful thing is how my sons, even my six year old, understands and express love for me regardless.


10 years from now my sons will not remember what I was or wasn't able to buy them but they will remember the amount of time I spent with them.

Father, Author, Family Worker, Pastor, Mentor, Student - and I too struggle.  Life can be back breaking sometimes.  Why do I appear to be happy, because I know there is a Sovereign God who will not temp me beyond what I am capable of.  I trust in God.  I do not always smile, I am not always happy but I do have a consistent joy.  My life is not where I want it right now, but that will not get me down and it shouldn't get you or keep you down either.  I do not have it all together but I still desire to be joyful and help others.  

I wrote this because I want to encourage those on the verge of tearing their family apart to work out their issues instead of creating a situation where you too will have to split your children on holidays.  Lovingly work out your issues, recommit to one another and seek the Savior (Jesus).  His example on what it means to be a husband and a wife (as He is the husband to the church and the church a wife to Him).  My story is a real look into one of the lives of an ex-husband who shares his children with his ex-wife.

I have a couple books is in the works, one of the books will be an eye opener for married couples seeking to divorce.  God's design for family is extremely beautiful - but - you have to follow His design!!!!!  Trust me, it is worth it.

Avoid The Agony of Solitude

Ephesians 5:22-33

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife eves as Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.  In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies.  He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of His body.  "Therefore a mans shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."  This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.  However, let each on of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Jesus The Rebel!!!

Andre is at it again!!!

Was Jesus Truly A Rebel?

While Jesus lived on the earth, Jesus traveled frustrating and getting under the skin of the religious leaders and even the government.  Jesus healed the sick on the Sabbath, raised the dead, His disciples were instructed not to fast while Jesus was with them - AND EVEN FORGAVE SIN!  That was a no no.  At the time Jesus walked the earth religious rules had already been established usurping control on God's people and how they worshiped, this would definitely be cause for a rebellion.

Jesus did exactly that.  Jesus went against the views and man made regulations.  Time after time Jesus was questioned in order to catch Him in some blasphemous statement that would implicate Him. Ironically, every response was seasoned with sound teaching so finding fault in what Jesus taught was not possible.  It would appear Jesus was a rebel, wouldn't it?

Christians have to be careful with their attempts to make Jesus and the things of God cool!

SOME THINGS DO NOT NEED TO BE REDONE TO GLORIFY CHRIST
As in the words of Andy Mineo "It's Embarrassing!!!"

www.facebook.com/andymineo

That leads me to this.  We have to be careful not to "criminalize" Jesus to make Jesus look cool.  This is certainly up for debate, but after I am done with what I am trying to communicate, I believe you will understand where I am coming from.

Merriam Webster defines a rebel as opposing or taking arms against a government of ruler.  Let me go further to try to open your thinking on this matter.  Did Jesus come to rebel or to restore?
Was Jesus the rebel or did Jesus come to "save" the rebellious ones from God's wrath?  Did Jesus rebel against the religious leaders or DID THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS REBEL AGAINST GOD - hence, why Jesus had to come in the first place?

Whatever opposition Jesus faced in his time walking the earth wasn't so He can be the first in a long line of Christian rebellions against the devil and the devil's worldly system.  We put Jesus in the same category as satan when we refer to Jesus as a rebel. Why? Because, satan was the first one to "rebel" against God.

 God established an order, us humans jacked that up by rebelling against God.  Jesus came to restore that order and bring the rebellious ones (all of us) back to the right order - God's order.  Jesus was a part of the order that was established at the creation of all things.
(John 1:1)

Was Jesus A Rebel?

NO!!!

For Jesus to be a rebel, He would have had to be a subordinate of the religious leaders, the government, the devil and the devil's worldly system - and Jesus was not.  
Jesus - who established the original order- came to re-establish relationship with man who rebelled against God through Grace.

What Are Your Thoughts?

Christianity - A Narrow Religion???

Can a God who made such a variety of people truly establish one way for people to get to know Him?  It seems that the very God who created variety would also create a variety of ways to get to know Him.  However, God is not many, He is One.  There cannot possibly be multiple ways to get to One God.  That just isn't sound thinking.

We are susceptible to be led astray by our own ideas about God - this is the reason why there are so many religions today.  As humans we desire a hope.  Do you know what happens if we seek our "inner selves" for that hope?  We will make the same mistake so many have made by creating our own ideas about God according to our own philosophies that are determined by our own experiences.  When you determine your idea about God based on your experiences and philosophies you will be creating a false God.  I know I am human, I cannot begin to think that my limited mind can grasp a BIG GOD all on my own.  I cannot say, "This is who God is to me."  I need to be directed towards God.

We All Need To Be Directed Towards God.  God Gave Man Directions To Him.

There has to be a right way to get to God.  So - Is being narrow a bad thing?  Could God have revealed Himself to man exclusively through one religion?  Christianity is not the only system of belief that believes this.  Islam, Judaism and others believe that their system of belief is the only way.  The path to God has to be narrow, exclusive.  Being an exclusive belief is not a bad thing.  This society based on variety has made the idea that God would make one exclusive way to find Him a bad thing, IT'S NOT!!!

(Click Link To See Youtube Video On This Topic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bvof8egljFU

John 14:5-7 (ESV)

"Thomas said to him, 'Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?'  Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  Now one comes to the Father except through me.  If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.  From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.'"

Matthew 7:13-14 (ESV)

"Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."

Now here is the end - Read Carefully. The Narrowly Exclusive Way of Christ is available to All who desire to genuinely want to know God personally.  Yes, although the pathway to God is narrow, there is enough space for all who confess Jesus as their Lord and believe He was raised from the dead to enter through the narrow path.  How do I know this?  The same Bible that says that the way to God is exclusive also says "EVERYONE" that believes in Jesus has access to The Exclusive God.

Is Christianity Too Narrow???
A RESOUNDING YES!!!!!

Romans 10:9-13 (ESV)

"Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, 'Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.' For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.'"

Why do many people think there are so many different ways to God?

More about Author Andre D. Harrison

www.andreharrison.org

Da Truth - LOVE HOPE WAR

DA TRUTH

LOVE HOPE WAR

The culture of Hip Hop has evolved since its meager and humble beginnings.  With every passing generation, Hip Hop grows more and more.  Many may not want to admit it, but even the naysayers acknowledge the validity of the culture of Hip Hop - especially when the attempt to discredit the elements of the culture.  To discredit anything is to first know that it has a level of credibility.  President Obama even used the help of Hip Hop mogul Jay-Z in his campaign.

Now just as any other culture, there are negatives and positives in Hip Hop.  This may be up for discussion, but Hip Hop is not what you see in the rap videos today. There is so much more to the culture than the 2 Chains, Drakes, and Nicki Minaj types out there.  You also have those who rap consciously, those who make party music, and even those who have produced music with heavy religious content.  There is much depth to the music of Hip Hop.

As great of a culture Hip Hop is, it is still in need of the saving grace of God through Jesus Christ.  Today many skillful lyricists has emerged to help bring Salvation to Hip Hop, this is exactly what DA T.R.U.T.H. is doing with his music and his new Album LOVE HOPE WAR.  

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)

"For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.  To the Jews I became a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the lay I became one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings."

This Album is "FIYA"  and the content preaches God's salvation and the production is "CRAZEEEEEEE".  

After a very difficult season where DA T.R.U.T.H. faced many challenges, fell and got back up, he has been back to do what God called him to do - TO PREACH JESUS TO THE HIP HOP CULTURE.  

I highly recommend this album.  If you are a lover of hot music then go and get DA T.R.U.T.H.'s new album.  Get it on iTunes

For more info on DA T.R.U.T.H.

Go to

https://twitter.com/truthonduty

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http://www.xistmusic.com/da-truth/

Andre D. Harrison's Blog: Great Influence, The Beauty Of LEGACY

Andre D. Harrison's Blog: Great Influence, The Beauty Of LEGACY: Legacy Is A Beautiful Thing The Sierra family truly left their mark in the lives of many.  They opened their arms, without bi...