Monday, February 27, 2006

Recovered Photos From the Civil Rights Movement


A Birmingham News photo intern, Alexander Cohn, has uncover 5,000 photos from 1950 - 1965. This photos were taken by numerous photographers from the Birmingham newspaper and Associated Press. This are not the typical Civil Rights Movement photos. These are photos that hopefully will encourage the reader to research the movement in more detail. Please read the below story about Alexander Cohn's discovery, then click on the attached link to view the photos. Of course, you will not be able to access the entire photo collection because there are plans to create some form of exhibit in Birmingham.

Written by COWBOY4EVER


From Negatives to Positives
Discovery in News archives leads to publication of unseen photographs tracing progress of civil rights movement through Birmingham.


Sunday, February 26, 2006

By BARNETT WRIGHT
News staff writer
Minutes after the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed on Sept. 15, 1963, Tom Self was on the scene taking pictures.
The photographs, published in The Birmingham News, were among hundreds that appeared in print during the civil rights struggle in Alabama. Self, who retired as chief photographer in 1998, remembers many of those images.
He also recalls many not published. One is a picture from inside the Sixteenth Street church moments after explosives blew the face of Jesus Christ from a stained-glass window and killed four little girls.
"I shot a picture of Jesus, and everything was intact except his face; his face was blown out," Self remembered. "It was an eerie feeling to look up there and see the whole frame of the window and just the face was gone."
Hundreds of photos from that era were lost, sold, stolen or stored in archives. Some of those pictures appear today for the first time in the newspaper, in an eight-page special section titled "Unseen. Unforgotten."
The section is the result of research by Alexander Cohn, a 30-year-old former photo intern at The News. In November 2004, Cohn went through an equipment closet at the newspaper in search of a lens and saw a cardboard box full of negatives marked, "Keep. Do Not Sell."
Cohn, who grew up in Mountain Brook and is a master's candidate at the University of Missouri, researched the images and discovered that many had never been published.
"These images were hidden in plain sight," Cohn said. "When I first started looking through this stuff, I was seeing a lot of images that I'd never seen before. I started going through everything on the subject that I could find to get a fuller picture of what was going on."
With the cooperation of The News, Cohn interviewed dozens of photographers, clergymen, elected officials, civil rights movement participants, historians and other witnesses to the events. More than 30 photos appear in today's special section, and dozens more are available on the newspaper's Web site at www.al.com/unseen.
Some of the images will appear in a special exhibition at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute beginning March 13.
Multimedia presentations featuring more pictures and interviews with the photographers and participants in the civil rights movement are also online.
In all, Cohn said, he found 5,000 images from 1950 to 1965 in the cardboard box. He examined 2,000 and estimated that most had not been published.
Why weren't more of the photos published 40 or 50 years ago?
"It was difficult for people to see," said Horace Huntley, director of oral history at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and professor of history at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. "People were embarrassed by it. The city fathers were embarrassed by it."
Eighteen years ago, in a centennial edition, The News made this observation about its coverage of the civil rights movement: "The story of The Birmingham News' coverage of race relations in the 1960s is one marked at times by mistakes and embarrassment but, in its larger outlines, by growing sensitivity and acceptance of change."
Organizations outside the state told Birmingham's story before the local media, Huntley and others said.
"More than anyone else, New York Times reporter Harrison Salisbury forced The News and the entire Birmingham white community to confront the reality of the racial conflict," according to The News' centennial special published March 13, 1988. Salisbury's profile of the city appeared in The Times on April 12, 1960, under the headline, "Fear and Hatred Grip Birmingham."
"The editors thought if you didn't publish it, much of this would go away," said Ed Jones, 81, a photographer at The News from 1942 to 1987. "Associated Press kept on wanting pictures, and The News would be slow on letting them have them, so they flooded the town with photographers. The AP started sending pictures all over, and it mushroomed."
Robert Adams, 84, a photographer who joined the newspaper in 1940 and retired in 1985, said, "I think The News as an institution did not try to inflame the situation by use of photographs or stories."
Covering the turmoil meant facing many dangers, the photographers recalled.
"Being a photographer back then wasn't the safest thing to do," said Self, 71, who joined the newspaper in 1952. "An AP photographer was up here covering the protests, and somebody shot the back window of his Volkswagen with him in it. I've had people who were on trial threaten me."
Concrete bricks would sometimes get tossed at the photographers, Jones said.
"Down by Ingram Park, people were up on the second floor of a hotel, and they started throwing half of concrete blocks at us," he said. "I was standing by another photographer and I saw it coming and I hollered, 'Watch out!' And it hit him: It fell right between us and hit him on his right ankle. His ankle was swollen twice as big as it should be in five minutes."
All of the photographers said they didn't see special significance in their photos when they were taken.
"It's an honest record," Adams said. "There were no attempts at bias. It was a record of what happened while I was there."
Catherine Burks Brooks, a Birmingham resident who was part of a group of student Freedom Riders when she attended Tennessee State University, is among those who appear in the previously unpublished photographs.
"I was very, very thrilled to see that we do have them," said Brooks, 66, a substitute teacher in the Birmingham City Schools. "I assumed that there were pictures because reporters and
photographers were around. I knew the pictures had to exist, but they were being kept somewhere."


UNSEEN PHOTOS:
http://www.al.com/unseen//


Friday, February 24, 2006

Hezekiah Walker - Is the Buzz Worth Buzzing?


The last few days I have received over twenty emails forwarded to me concerning the latest and hottest gossip on Verity Records gospel Hezekiah Walker. The subject line of the emails included things such as "Hezekiah Comes Out of the Closet", "Gay Preacher", "Hezekiah Steps Down".

I will say this concerning these emails, "we have all sinned and falling short of His glory." This couple divorced because of private matters. Leave it stay PRIVATE. What's the purpose of bringing up issues that took place about three years ago.

Is it self-gratify to take a public figures struggles and talk about it over and over again. It's amazing to me that the sins of gospel artists and preachers are held to a higher standard than the average person.

Yes, I know he's a minister.

Don't all Christians have the responsibility to minister to the world.

Yes, I know he's on television singing about God's goodness.

Don't you do tell your co-workers about the goodness of Jesus on your job.

I think the best thing we can do for Hezekiah Walker, his ex-wife Monique, and their child is to PRAY for them. The same way you pray to overcome your sins (known and UNKNOWN), they deserve that same consideration.

Satan is slick! In the last few years we (America) went from asking for continual Christian prayer during 9/11, Christian-based movies such as Passion of Christ and the Gospel, and best-selling books such as "The Purpose Driven Life", to church burnings, pulpit scandals, gospel artist revelations, and federal laws that go against everything Christians stand for.

Wise-up! Stop focusing on the latest gossip and see the BIG picture. We to pray for the Christian community altogether and stop letting the media determine who we will forgive and pray for.

Written by COWBOY4EVER

Friday, February 10, 2006

The Holy Land Experience



The city of Orlando, Florida has a new attraction. No, it's not another Disney or Universal Studios affiliated theme park. This new attraction is a living, bibical history museum.

This link ( http://www.theholylandexperience.com/homestatic.html ) will give you a virtual tour and other important information about this wonderful facility.

So for those of you that are planning trips to Disney World and other Orlando theme parks, please allow yourself a few hours to visit this attraction.


COWBOY4EVER

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Kirk Franklin's Hero Tour


KIRK FRANKLIN’S “HERO TOUR” COMING TO A CITY NEAR YOU

Grammy-Award Winning Duo Mary Mary Featured on Tour
Nationwide Tour to Support Gospel Mogul’s Latest Gold Certified CD “Hero” and Will Honor Hometown Heroes

Fo Yo Soul Entertainment/Zomba recording artist Kirk Franklin will embark on a national tour in support of his latest CD Hero, kicking off February 28 in Cleveland, New Jersey and continuing throughout the summer with stops in Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Chicago, Detroit and Washington, DC among others. Kirk, the biggest selling gospel artist in the SoundScan era, is well-known for his dynamic and energetic performances, which have included two hugely successful “Hopeville Tours” in the past few years. On the new tour, the gospel dynamo will perform selections from his sixth CD Hero, which debuted in the #1 position on two Billboard Magazine charts -- Top Gospel Album and Top Christian Albums – and continues to maintain the top positions respectively. In the spirit of the CD’s title, Franklin also plans to celebrate and honor “hometown heroes” in each market he performs in. Fellow Grammy Award-winning, platinum-selling gospel duo Mary Mary will be joining Franklin on the tour.

The year has just begun and Kirk has already received award recognition for this latest works. The multi-talented artist received a Best Gospel Performance nod from the 2006 Grammy Awards for his #1 hit single “Looking For You.” The Grammy’s will be announced live at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 8th on CBS. Additionally, he just received a 2006 NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Gospel Artist (Traditional or Contemporary) with winners being announced on the national broadcast airing March 3 on FOX.

Aside from touring and attending award shows, the community-minded side of Kirk will keep him busy this year, as well. As newly-named Ambassador to The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF), Kirk Franklin will host and star in a concert this summer to raise funds to support the work of the organization. The benefit coincides with the tenth anniversary of CDF’s “Stand for Children” to build a movement to Leave No Child Behind. Franklin will unite fellow music industry leaders in a concert at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, July 8, to provide a voice for better policy choices affecting the 37 million Americans, including 13 million children living in poverty. The proceeds will directly benefit the Children’s Defense Fund, a private, nonprofit organization that for more than 30 years has provided a strong, effective voice for all the children in America who cannot vote, lobby, or speak for themselves. Both Franklin and CDF hope to mobilize thousands to stand for justice for children and the poor through rallies and other activities planned for that weekend. Visit http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?t=a5t4osbab.0.owdapsbab.zory8zn6.107713&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.childrensdefense.org to learn more about CDF’s research, public policy initiatives, programs and outreach throughout the country.

In addition to the tour, Kirk is gearing up for numerous television appearances in 2006 following last year’s full schedule of television appearances which included “Oprah,” “Live with Regis & Kelly,” BET’s “Lift Every Voice,” “Bobby Jones Gospel,” “25th Anniversary Special” and the network’s #1 rated show, “106 & Park,” to name a few. Some of the upcoming television appearances planned to date include the 21st Annual Stellar Awards (televised in syndication from January 28 through March 5), BET’s “Celebration of Gospel” (February 23) and The Trumpet Awards (April 2006). Kirk will also handle co-hosting duties and perform for the 37th Annual Gospel Music Awards (formerly the Dove Awards) from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville on April 5 (nationally televised in syndication in April and May). Kirk (along with Rebecca St. James) will announce the nominations for the GMA Music Awards on Wednesday, February 1 at the Hilton Suites in Downtown Nashville.

Prior to departing on tour in February, Kirk will celebrate 10 years of marriage with his wife Tammy by renewing their wedding vows during a private celebration later this month. The loving twosome is featured on the current cover of Ebony Magazine’s February issue in the publications’ annual feature on the “10 Hottest Couples.”

Don’t miss what is sure to be one of the most exciting and worship-filled gospel tours of the year!

KIRK FRANKLIN 2006“HERO TOUR” DATES


February 28
Cleveland, OH
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
State Theatre
*subject to change

March 2
Cincinnati, OH
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Music Hall
*subject to change

March 3
Detroit, MI
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Fox Theater
*subject to change

March 4
Chicago, IL
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Arie Crown
*subject to change

March 5
Milwaukee, WI
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Milwawukee Theatre
*subject to change

March 7
Raleigh, NC
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Meymandi Hall
*subject to change

March 9
Columbia, SC
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Township
*subject to change

March 10
Jacksonville, FL
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Performing Arts Center
*subject to change

March 11
Lakeland, FL
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Carpenter's Church
*subject to change

March 12
Miami, FL
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
James L Knight Center
*subject to change

March 14
Columbus, GA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Coliseum Spc Evt Ct.
*subject to change

March 16
Richmond, VA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Landmark Theatre
*subject to change

March 17
Charlotte, NC
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Crickett Arena
*subject to change

March 18
Hampton, VA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Hampton Coliseum
*subject to change

March 19
Atlanta, GA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Civic Center
*subject to change

March 21
Huntsville, TX
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Johnson Coliseum
*subject to change

March 23
Beaumont, TX
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Ford Park Arena
*subject to change

March 24
Jackson, MS
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Coliseum
*subject to change

March 25
Baton Rouge, LA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Southern University
*subject to change

March 26
Austin, TX
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Frank Erwin Center
*subject to change

March 28
Phoenix, AZ
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Dodge Theatre
*subject to change

March 30
Las Vegas, NV
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Alladin Theatre
*subject to change

March 31
Los Angeles, CA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Kodak Theatre
*subject to change

April 1
Oakland, CA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Paramount Theatre
*subject to change

April 2
Sacramento, CA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Convention Center
*subject to change

April 3
San Diego, CA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Sports Arena
*subject to change

April 6
Kansas City, MO
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Music Hall
*subject to change

April 7
Indianapolis, IN
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Murat Center
*subject to change

April 8
Louisville, KY
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Byck Arena
*subject to change

April 9
Dayton, OH
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Convention Center
*subject to change

April 11
Newark, NJ
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Symphony Hall
*subject to change

April 14
Worcestor, NY
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Centrum Center
*subject to change

April 15
Buffalo, NY
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
HSBC Arena
*subject to change

April 16
Philadelphia, PA
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Academy Of Music
*subject to change

April 19
Wilmington, NC
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Coliseum
*subject to change

April 20
Washington, DC
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Constitution Hall
*subject to change

April 22
New York, NY
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Radio City Music Hall
*subject to change

April 23
Baltimore, MD
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Baltimore Arena
*subject to change

April 27
Columbus, OH
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Main Auditorium
*subject to change

April 28
Grand Rapids, MI
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Van Andel Arena
*subject to change

April 29
Chicago, IL
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Chicago Theatre
*subject to change

April 30
Detroit, MI
The HERO Tour (w/MaryMary)
Fox Theater
*subject to change

Something Every Inspiring Gospel Artist Should Know



My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee..........
Hosea 4:6

In this day and time when "evr'body" is recording or has recorded a CD, I thought it would be beneficial to share the information that I have come across the last few years. Nothing saddens me more than seeing artists (especially gospel) distraught because the money fails to materialize immediately after releasing their 1st CD. This feeling of failure could have been avoided if the artists would take the time to research the industry. Knowledge is power. I will be providing important music industry information on a monthly basis. Hopefully, this will assist the inspiring artists make an informed decision before signing their record contracts.

COWBOY4EVER


Follow the Money: Who's Really Making the Dough?
By Eric Leach and Bill Henslee

Money gets a bad rap. You've heard the clichés: money is the root of all evil, money can't buy happiness, and so on. Money itself can't be bad — it's just a thing, like a rock, a chair, or a blender. It's the pursuit of money that gets people into trouble. People who enjoy making money are often labeled as superficial, shallow, and greedy. That's why you never see “money” on the Playmate of the Month's list of favorite things. That's why professional athletes embroiled in contract disputes always claim, “It's not about the money.”

Record companies are often characterized as the ultimate embodiment of money-grubbing evil. Unfortunately for them, the Napster unpleasantness has merely exacerbated that characterization. In fact, many people think record companies are just plain bad. Why is that? Certainly, record companies exist to make a profit, but so do most companies. Perhaps it's because of the way record companies make their money: they make it from our heroes, the musical artists.

All notions of musical parasitism aside, record companies perform the critical functions that allow artists to reach the masses. That's fine, you say. The problem with the record companies is that they're too greedy. You see them selling millions of albums at $15 to $18 a pop. Where do the truckloads of cash go if not into some big-shot executive's pocket? What about artist advances and money for marketing and promotional budgets? Where does all that money come from? Who gets what along the way? In this column, we will look at how record companies work and how the money finds its way from the consumers to the artists and everyone else who works to get the music to the public.

LABELS 101
In their most basic form, record companies are like music venture capitalists with production, marketing, and distribution arms. They locate, finance, and develop new talent; oversee music production; market the music through promotion and advertising and by securing airplay; and distribute the finished product through retail outlets and online services. That is expensive stuff, and risky too: only about 5 percent of new artists even sell enough records for the record company to break even, and as few as 5 to 10 percent of a label's artists pay for all of the music released by the company.

Before looking at the math behind record deals, a brief disclaimer is in order: the following numbers are generalizations based on a mainstream artist at a major record label. Every negotiated record deal contains different terms and conditions of payment.

IT TAKES MONEY …
When a label signs an artist, the record company advances the recording budget to the artist at no risk. If the album fails to sell, the artist is not personally responsible for paying the money back. The record company recoups its investment in the album only if the public buys it. However, the artist does not see any money from the album sales until the label makes back its investment.

A typical recording budget for an artist's first album is between $250,000 and $1 million. The record company will also spend approximately $250,000 to $500,000 to market a new artist to the public. Pressing the album and shipping it to retail outlets costs from $1 to $2.25 per unit, depending on the size of the pressing (more units cost less per unit). A new artist typically receives between 12 and 16 percent of the album's suggested retail price as a royalty. In addition to those costs, the record company must pay royalties (called mechanical royalties) to the music-publishing company for every unit sold. The record company usually caps its mechanical royalty costs at $0.755 per album (10 songs at $0.0755 per song). To recoup those expenses, the record company receives a wholesale price for each unit sold by the distributor from $7.50 to $11.50 per album, depending on the genre and artist.

With those numbers in mind, we can make some assumptions and show why every record an artist releases is a risky investment for the record company. If the artist receives a $250,000 advance and the record company spends $250,000 on marketing, the record company has spent $500,000 dollars before one album has been sold. If the record company receives $10 per unit from the distributor and has to pay $1.25 for pressing and shipping and $0.75 for mechanical royalties, the record company ends up with $8 per album ($10 income minus $2 pressing, distribution, and mechanical royalties) before deducting the artist's royalties. Assuming a suggested retail price of $14.99 and an artist royalty rate of 15 percent, the record company owes the artist approximately $2.25 per unit sold. After deducting the artist's royalty, the record company's net income from the sale of the record is approximately $5.75 per unit sold. The record company must then pay for its overhead and all of the albums that don't sell well enough to pay for themselves, $5.75 at a time. For that hypothetical album, the record company must sell 86,957 units to cover its out-of-pocket costs, which do not include the everyday costs of running an international business. Although 86,957 units may not sound like many units to sell, only about 16 percent of all record releases reach that sales figure.

TO MAKE MONEY
So what about the artists? They're really raking it in, aren't they? Well, yes and no. Huge stars make lots of money, but most artists, even if moderately successful, generally struggle to make a buck. First of all, the artist won't see any royalty money until the record company recoups its advance production budget. To further complicate the math, the artist usually must pay 3 percent of the royalty to the record producer. Deduct the 3 percent from the royalty rate, and the record company recoups its $500,000 advance at $1.80 per unit sold. Therefore, the artist won't begin seeing money from sales until 277,778 units are sold, and only about 3 percent of records ever reach that sales figure.

At least he or she will have fun with the advance money, right? You've heard about the parties artists throw when their big advances come in. Actually, that $250,000 represents a relatively small cost-of-living budget, even if the album sells relatively well. Assuming that no management, attorney, or other professional fees were paid from the recording budget, which would never happen, the artist will probably spend $200,000 of the $250,000 advance on actual recording costs. That leaves $50,000 to split among the band members. If the band has five members, each member receives $10,000 to live on until the album recoups its budget, as calculated above. That time period is generally about a year to 18 months if the album sells well.
Furthermore, those calculations don't include the money that the band must pay to its legal team or management for the deal. Lawyers typically charge an hourly rate (from $175 to $350) or a percentage of the artist's total gross income (between 3 and 10 percent). Managers typically charge between 15 and 25 percent of their client's gross income. Accordingly, the manager and the lawyer could easily end up with $75,000 of the $250,000.

OTHER MEANS
Before you run out to loan Metallica some money, keep in mind that other streams of income are available for reasonably successful artists. For example, artists can earn money from touring, though most bands tour primarily to support album sales and airplay. Also, some artists can make money through endorsements and other marketing strategies. However, the best opportunity for artists to make serious money is to write their own songs. I'll never forget seeing the lead singer of a moderately successful band flying first class while the rest of the band was condemned to coach. You can guess why: he was the songwriter.

The primary source of income for artists who write their own songs is mechanical royalties. Typically, a performing songwriter owns his or her own publishing company. That company enters into a copublishing agreement with a larger publishing company whereby the two companies co-own the copyrights to the songs. Of the mechanical royalty income, the songwriter receives 50 percent, the songwriter's publishing company receives 25 percent, and the larger publishing company receives 25 percent.

Assume that all of the songs on the hypothetical album are administered by a single publishing company (in a copublishing deal with the songwriter's publishing company), and that, according to the mechanical royalty projections laid out previously, $0.755 total mechanical royalty income is generated per album sold. Of that amount, the songwriter is paid 50 percent($0.3775). Of the remaining publisher's share, the songwriter's publishing company and the larger publishing company each receive $0.18875 per album sold. In the end, the songwriter receives a total of $0.56625 per album sold ($0.3775 plus $0.18875), and the publishing company receives $0.18875 per album sold.

Furthermore, the publishing company and the songwriter make money from any public performances (for example, airplay and live cover performances) of the album's songs. Although public-performance income is difficult to hypothetically quantify, approximately $0.013 to $0.014 is generated per public performance. That money is divided among the publishing companies and the songwriters. Public performance income is generally not as significant as mechanical royalty income, but think about how many times you hear a popular song on a single radio station in a single day and multiply that by the number of similar format stations around the world.

Songwriting money can add up fast. For the songwriter, an album that sells a million copies generates $566,250 in mechanical royalties alone and added income from airplay, which is above and beyond what the band members in coach are making.

That's where the money goes. Hopefully, those figures will help you realistically assess your risks as an artist or songwriter and maybe go a little easier on the record companies.

For better or worse, selling music is and always will be a business.

Eric Leach is an intellectual property and business law attorney at the firm of Goodman and Leach. He can be contacted at eleach@goodmanleach.com.
Bill Henslee is a professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he teaches copyright and entertainment law. Contact him at
william.henslee@pepperdine.edu.

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Step In The Name of Love But Not The National Anthem


Okay, let me start by saying this commentary is not meant to HATE on R. Kelly.

Okay, I said it! Now let me continue.

On December 3, 2005 R. Kelly performed the "National Anthem" before the Bernard Hopkins vs. Jermain Taylor middleweight championship fight. When R. Kelly's name was announced to the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas and the national television audience, I started anticipating one of the memorable National Anthem performance in history. Just thinking back to the list of African American music icons that have given outstanding performances made me excited.

In 1983 there was the great Marvin "What's Going On" Gaye. In 1991, during Super Bowl 25, there was Whitney "at the top of her game" Houston. These memorable renditions have been honored by the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Although Marvin and Whitney put their own signatures on the song, the listener never questioned whether if their renditions were respectful. In fact, Marvin and Whitney's renditions has become more memorable than the actual sporting event that took place.

Now we have R. Kelly. In his pursuit of being a transetter, he turned the National Anthem into a "Steppin" exhibition. I was okay with the singing, but when the "R" had four individuals in the middle of the boxing ring "steppin", I think he went to far. In a time when our troops are fighting overseas and thousands of people being displaced because of Hurricane Katrina, the National Anthem has become extremely important.

The conversation about R. Kelly's rendition continued during the fight (and most the conversation was negative). The topics ranged from R. Kelly's past and current criminal allegations to African Americans forgiveness of musical stars. But the one thing we all seemed to agree on, R. Kelly could have left the "steppin" at home.

Check it out for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WgZaWuKsnw&search=Robert%20Kelly%20National%20Anthem

Jesus Sells -- The Real Reason for Kanye's Rap



I thought the below article was interesting. Please give me your feedback on this article.

By Nathan Tabor
eurweb.com

February 7, 2006

Kanye West's song "Jesus Walks' won him a Grammy award in 2005. In his song, he spouts his faith in Jesus, peppering his theme that 'Jesus walks with everyone' throughout his lyrics. Now, we have Kanye posing as Jesus on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. Is Kanye motivated by a devout need to bring Jesus back to the people? Is he trying to revive faith in Jesus in our youth? Not likely. Kanye West is out to sell his music, out to make as much money as he possibly can and build his own wealth.

Kanye has figured out that Jesus Sells.

Not just any Jesus, but a cool rapping sleek-clothes wearing voice that excuses all of his wrongdoing and materialistic motivation behind his Jesus lyrics. How do we know that West is not sincere? To use his own words, lets 'check the method.'

Jesus taught that you cannot serve both God and Wealth: No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. Kanye has clearly made his choice, and it doesn't appear to be God. Kanye has his own line of clothing, has sold several million records and by all standards lives a life of indulgent luxury. I've heard a lot from him about how great he is, but I haven't heard much about how to put his or anyone else's money to use in helping out the poor or unfortunate. He hadn't given a single dime to anyone devastated by the events of Katrina, but he was more than willing to put his own face on TV and benefit from the exposure. When asked to comment on illegal pirating of music, Kanye asked that we 'please not download illegal music. I need a new pool at my second home.' It seems his thoughts are elsewhere.

Jesus taught humility, and respect for others. Kanye showed a painful lack of humility when he lost after being nominated for best new artist at the American Music Awards. Complaining loudly that he 'felt he was definitely robbed', he stormed out of the show in protest. Even after losing the award, he stated to a reporter 'I was the best new artist this year, so get that other (expletive) -- out of here." Arrogant and demeaning to other nominees, his comments show that his true motive is to gain attention and accolades for himself.

Jesus gave us the golden rule, which is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Kanye writes raps that glorify violence, racism, and demeaning acts against women. The worst part is that this is not even his life experience- Kanye grew up very much middle class, with standard middle class opportunities. He was accepted into college, failed, and now aims his frustration through his lyrics at those who were successful in school. He claims the 'ghetto' as his own, but there is a strong chance Kanye has never even been in a ghetto, let alone lived in one. He is exploiting the suffering of others and selling it back to them- shameful behavior, committed shamelessly as more money rolls into his bank account.

Who is Kanye West? An imposter, an opportunist, an arrogant musician who has caught the brief attention of the American public. He can pose as Jesus, complete with his crown of thorns and tear stained cheeks. However, his true devotion to Jesus is about as real as the blood on his made-up face.

Copyright C 2006 by Nathan Tabor Nathan Tabor is a conservative political activist based in Kernersville, North Carolina. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's degree in public policy. He is a contributing editor at www.theconservativevoice.com and his 60-second commentaries are heard on over 250 stations daily. Visit www.aconservativemoment.com to hear them. You can contact him at Nathan@nathantabor.com

Gospel Music Artists Are Human Just Like You



The artist that brought us gospel hits such as "Bout A Thang", "God Has Not 4Got", and "Make Me Over" has called it quits. He announced his retirement from the gospel music scene during a on-air interview with KJLH radio, which is based in Los Angelos, California ( http://www.kjlhradio.com/tonex.htm) and through his personal blog.

Because I have personally spent time with Tonex and his wife Yvette and held in-depth conversations with them, it was quite a shock to hear this information about his sudden retirement. From an outsider, it would appear that Tonex was at the top of his game. His last three albums have been on the music charts. His concerts were in high demand. And his stature as one of the gospel industry leaders appeared to be cemented. LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING!

Below you find Tonex's official statement (from his blog) about his feelings towards the gospel music industry and his personal struggles.

After reading Tonex's message I asked myself one question. Do we think of gospel music artists and/or pastors as invincible when it comes to the trials and tribulations of life?

Tonex's story should let the consumer know that artists are "human" too. They have trials and tribulations just like we do. During the last couple of years we have seen Kirk Franklin reveal his past issues with pornography. We have seen Yolanda Adams, Fred Hammond, Hezekiah Walker get divorced. We have seen several prominent pastors involved in some form of scandal.

We have to constantly keep these artists and pastors in our prayers. Many of these artists are ministering to the consumers through their songs, but are struggling in their private lives. Tonex talks about receiving numerous Stellar and Dove awards but don't have any furniture in his house (can't afford it).

For those inspiring artists that think the money and "good life" will appear instantly after you release that first CD, please do your homework.

Written by COWBOY4EVER


TONEX RETIRES FROM THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
Salutations 2 all, After long contemplation and much financial & emotional hardship I have decided that Tonex needs go on hiatus from the music industry. I have tried very hard to endure all that I can from being misunderstodd to being down right lied on and I don't physically or emotionally have the capacity to continue on anymore under the current circumstances. My record Label ZLG (Zomba Label Group) has repeatedly ignored my requests for help and they just don't get me as an artist. But I'm not blaming them, it's hard for anyone to really get me as an artist because I am not the normal type of artist. I bow out. And I don't know when I'm coming back.Honestly I don't feel that I fit into anyone's catergory but my own, but in a world that's filled with labels, sections & catergories people can't function if they can't put you in a certain box. I don't fit totally into Gospel because I don't sing JESUS JESUS JESUS all day and I don't fit into mainstream because I don't sing SEX SEX SEX all day either. I'm at a serious crossroads right now in life. And I don't have the answers. I cried and cried and cried last night to God for help because I can't go any further.I'm not writing this so that people can feel sorry, I'm blogging my thoughts out. And I think I need to just bow out gracefully while I'm still on a fairly successful run off of OTB. I will continue to sell my projects online and things like that via YOTONEX but I think I need to just dissappear until I can find a place where I can live at least comfortably. Right now I am an 8 time Stellar Award winning , 2 time Dove award winning, Grammy nominated, Gold Selling artist with no furniture, Divorced, No chairs, No money. The label doesn't give me advances because my contract a is real wack. And they don't communicate.I don't know what else to say world.What's funny is I still have people writing to me kicking me while I'm down. So now I say y'all can have it. Tonex will be out of your way once and for all. You win. Please congratulate Ex-Ministries, some Chick from England named Alexandria and a host of other so called Christians who have literally destroyed,defamated , embarrased and fatigue my life, my family and my spirit. I'm done y'all. Really. Sorry that I let some of you down but it wasn't intentional. I don't have ANY options right now so I have to do what I have to do which is "Nothing".They don't even ask me what the real deal is but they use and twist my words for controversy sake to sell CD's DVD's and magazines. I had no idea Christians get down like this ????Now the Gospel industry can finally be at rest because the funny guy isn't around any more.Lauryn Hill said it best. " You superstar you Stupid star they hail you to nail you no matter who you are." Until I find peace and a real reason to get back in this game called the record business, I retire. I might still write for others and stuff like that but as for me and my house?, y'all take it and have it because i've been nothing but slung in through the mud. I haven't done everything right, but what I 've been expericencing here recently is wrong.My faith in Christianity is fading because I'm not understanding alot of "Christians" mentality when it comes to love. I have found nothing but anguish, lies, hatefulness and deception. I believe in the Kingdom of God and I definitely believe in Jesus. But western civilization's version of Christ is very disturbing because they have totally disconnected Him from real life. He lives in THEIR church and THEIR church only. I don't wanna hear any scriptures and I don't wanna hear any Oh, God's gonna bring you out type stuff right now. I need a miracle and I need it fast. I've still been pastoring and that's been the only thing that really brings me joy, to see others blessed. But now I'm at the point where I'm drained and I don't have the physical energy anymore to continue on. God gives me the strength to deliever a rhema word every week for others but it's crazy when you still need one yourself.I see so many Gospel Artist that literally HATE each other and when I see them celebrated like oh God is so pleased with them and I'm just being me and now I'm the ANTI CHRIST ? I'm like y'all niggaz can have this. I can't take the fakeness no more. I'm wide open and now I'm like y'all take a hit cuz I ain't got nothing to lose. I've lost everything so you really can't hurt me anymore than I've already been hurt. And that's what hurts. So many people call themselves ministers but they don't minister they COMPETE. I'm gonna tell y'all the truth what you see on TV ain't real..... because if you're "real" then you're a sinner, if you're real then you're out of the will of God. But I don't have the energy to be fake. I never have been and I never will be.Until God sends me a word through somebody for real that don't care that I'm Tonex but cares about the man of God who really needs the love of Christ to be demonstrated through a human being , I don't wanna hear it.This is not a ploy to get you to worry about me or start more rumors; so let's clarify something right now......tonex is IS NOT leaving "Gospel" to go sing the dreaded "R&B". TONEX is retiring from an industry and religion that has completly stipped and cut and scarred his heart to the point he feels there's no repair. And yes I blame CHURCH FOLKS. You have caused so much hurt and pain to so many people that needed to see the Love of a Real Christ. I'm done with Church. I'm all about kingdom now. And in my pursuit of the real Jesus I leave your fictious, vindictive country club and cancel my membership to the industry and denounce it. I don't fit in and I don't want to. Whatever my mission is for God I wanna do it with the right heart and the right spirit. But that's just it I don't have a spirit right now. I'm too bruised to know what to feel.Maybe one day someone with real discernment will know how to minister to someone like me right now. But if there was someone like that then I'm sure that Michael Jackson, Dennis Rodman, and some random heavily pierced skater on the beach would have experienced that real agape love by now. So until I find it , I've gotta get out of this matrix before I end up never wanting to sing again ever.Thanx to every person that wrote to me and I do my best to write you all back because I want you to know that I'm a real person with real feelings and a real family. I read everything.thanx to Yolanda Adams for being a real big sister to me. Kirk you really came through for me in Houston, I'm grateful. Judith McCallister thank u so much.Until you hear from me again musically. Kingdom Kulture Kool2 each His own

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

Are You Registered to Vote

Let's see!

Hotel stipends for individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina run out today. Many of these same New Orleans born residents are being given the "run-around" concerning their homes being rebuilt.

According to the United States Conference of Mayor's Hunger and Homeless Survey, the number of requests for emergency food assistance has increased 96 percent. The number of families with children requesting emergency food assistance has increased 88 percent.

This same survey states that an average of 20 percent of the demand for emergency food assistance is estimated to go UNMET.

Seventy percent of the cities surveyed (pre-Hurricane Katrina) reported an increase in request for emergency shelter.

Requests for emergency shelter by homeless families with children increased by seventy-eight (78%) in the survey cities.

If the above statistics are any indication of the blight of the United States of America, then why does our federal government leadership continue to propose budgets that set asides $493.3 billion for the military (Iraq and Afghanistan) and recommends a reduction of $2.2 billion in government operations that are unrelated to the nation's security.

Today's Washington Post stated, "Although the budget's overall shape traces the patterns Bush has drawn in past years, it contains one major new theme: curtailing expensive entitlement programs that provide a safety net for the poor, the elderly and the disabled"


I will never use this blog to influence your election vote. I will let the evidence speak for itself.

My question to you is simply, "ARE YOU REGISTERED TO VOTE." If not, shame on you!

Written by COWBOY4EVER

Please see related links to the right.

Monday, February 06, 2006

THE HISTORY OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH


As adults it's important to educate our children on the significant contributions of black people. We live in a time when our youth think the only important accomplishment for black people was the writing of the famous song, "We Shall Overcome." For the month of February, I will attempt to highlight some of the major accomplishments of black people in America.

Today, I have placed a couple of links for Carter G. Woodson, also known as, the "Father of Black History. I encourage you to print this information, then let your children read it.

If it takes a village to raise a child, it will take a village to educate them also.

Written by COWBOY4EVER

Please click on subject related links on the right:

THE TONGUE CAN BE YOUR WORSE ENEMY!

Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions in your life.
What you speak about, you can bring about.

If you keep saying you can't stand your job, you might lose your job.
If you keep saying you can't stand your body, your body can become sick.
If you keep saying you can't stand your car, your car could be stolen orjust stop operating.
If you keep saying you're broke, guess what? You'll always be broke.
If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman, you will always find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.
If you keep saying you can't find a job, you will remain unemployed.
If you keep saying you can't find someone to love you or believe in you,your very thought will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.
If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, then youmight end up with it.
Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive and power packed with faith, hope, love and action.

Don't be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.

Watch your Thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habits. Watch your Habits, they become character. Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settle for.

Thought I would share this with you. "In the search for me, I discovered truth. In the search for truth, I discovered love. In the search for ! love, I discovered God. And in God, I have found everything."

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Black History Month Remembrance

Similar Tragedy but Different Responses


On the morning of September 15, 1963, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Virgil Ware looked forward to a day of celebration and fun. A day in which singing for the church choir and riding bicycles were normal activities for children their age. These five individuals will forever be linked because of the events that took place. Their lives had many similarities and differences.

Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and Virgil Ware were all young black children. They all were born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama. And finally, they all were tragically killed on September 15, 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama.

The year of 1963 was very significant in that the United States was in the middle of the Civil Rights Movement. The civil rights activists believed that all American citizens should be treated equal no matter what race they were. Unfortunately, not everyone agreed with this assessment.

At 10:22 a.m. that morning, while attending the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley were killed by a dynamite bomb set by Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert “Dynamite” Chamliss, and Herman Cash. At 4:45 p.m. that afternoon, while riding his bicycle, Virgil Ware was killed when two white youths shot him in the chest and cheek.

The individuals responsible for bombing the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Bobby Frank Cherry, Thomas Blanton, Robert “Dynamite” Chamliss, were convicted in 1977, 2001, and 2003 respectively. Another former Klansman, Herman Cash, died without being charged.

The individuals responsible for shooting Virgil Ware was Larry Joe Sims and Michael Lee Parley. They both were sixteen years of age at the time. Each individual was charged with first-degree murder, but an all white jury convicted them of a lesser charge. The trail judge, Wallace Gibson, suspended their sentence and gave them two years probation.

As one can see, September 15, 1963 was very similar for each of these individuals, but there were stark differences in the way they are remembered. While the lives of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley are frequently recalled through newspaper articles and movies, information on Virgil Ware’s life is rarely seen. This is sad considering that collectively, these 5 individuals changed they way the world viewed the Civil Rights Movement.

Written by COWBOY4EVER

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/churches/archives1.htm

Church Burnings in Alabama


When Marvin Gaye released the hit song "What's Going On" in 1971, we all knew "What's Going On." Black people had just come through the toughest part of the civil rights movement. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was bombed. Rosa Parks refused to get up from her seat. Our beloved leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was tragically killed. And many of our brothers and sisters were being killed in the senseless Vietnam war. My parents, along with many other black people of that time, knew "What's Going On."

They knew that the black culture was under attack by certain groups in our precious United States of America. Groups that didn't hide their dislike for the black race. Groups that got pleasure from seeing a black person suffer.

That was then (YEAH, RIGHT), this is now. Today, it appears that Christians and churches as a whole are being attacked. Christians are being attacked because of their bibical views on marriage. Christians are being attacked because of their desire to celebrate CHRIST during the holiday season. Christians are being attacked because of their views on abortion. Christians are being attacked because of their political beliefs. And finally, Christians are being attacked because they are Christians.

The enemy has found out that Christians are resiliant people. With Christ on our side, we can "take a licking and keep on ticking."

So what does the enemy do. Since they can't get to us spiritually, emotionally, or physically so they resort to BURNING OUR CHURCHES. Yesterday, some cowards burned (or attempted to burn) five churches in Alabama. They think our resiliant minds and hearts will burn right along with the buildings. Yes, it hurts to see our places of worship burn to the ground, BUT our God is a REBUILDING God. What the cowards burn down, God will rebuild BIGGER, BETTER, AND MORE "FIRE" PROOF (WITH WATER SPRINKLERS IN EVERY CORNER OF THE BUILDING).

So to all the COWARDS (despite your faults), we love you in JESUS NAME!

See article from the Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/03/AR2006020301451.html

Written by COWBOY4EVER

Friday, February 03, 2006

HOW YOU CAN LOVE BY FAITH

While completing my daily research, I found this article (and study guide) . I couldn't stop reading it. I thought this would be great reading/studying material for those of you reading this blog. It's a very challenging message. Please read at your pleasure. If you have any free time, please try to complete the questions at the end of the article. The questions are meant to challenge the reader.

Please feel free to discuss the subject matter on this blog (agree or disagree).


How You Can Love by Faith
by Dr. Bill Bright

The Greatest Power Ever Known
The beautiful ballroom of the Marriott Hotel in Chicago was crowded to capacity with more than 1,300 college students and Campus Crusade staff. They seemed to hang on to every word as I explained one of the most exciting spiritual discoveries that I had ever made - how to love by faith.
For years I had spoken on the subject of love. I had a simple four-point outline:

1. God loves you unconditionally.
2. You are commanded to love others - God, your neighbors, your enemies.
3. You are incapable of loving others in your own strength.
4. You can love others with God’s love.


But, as in the case of most sermons on love, something was missing.

Then some years ago, in an early hour of the morning, I was awakened from a deep sleep. I knew that God had something to say to me. I felt impressed to get up, open my Bible and kneel to read and pray.

What I discovered during the next two hours has since enriched my life and the lives of tens of thousands of others.

I had learned how to love.

With this discovery, God gave me the command to share this wonderful truth with Christians around the world. In that life-changing time of fellowship with the Lord, I was given a fifth point for my sermon on love -

5. we love by faith.

Love is the greatest thing in the world - the greatest privilege and power known to man. Its practice in word and deed changed the course of history as the first-century Christians demonstrated a quality of life never before witnessed on this earth. The Greeks, Romans, Gentiles and Jews hated one another. The very idea of love and self-sacrifice was foreign to their thinking. When they observed Christians from many nations, with different languages and cultures, actually loving one another and sacrificing to help each other, they responded in amazement, “Look how these Christians love one another!”
I challenged the students at the conference to become part of a revolution of love.
I suggested that they make a list of all the individuals they did not like and begin to love them by faith.

Early the next morning, a young woman with face aglow said to me,
“My life was changed last night. For many years I have hated my parents. I haven’t seen them since I was seventeen and I am now twenty-two. I left home as a result of a quarrel five years ago and haven’t written or talked to them since, although they have repeatedly encouraged me to return home. I determined that I would never see them again. I hated them."
“Before becoming a Christian a few months ago,” she continued, “I had become a drug addict, a dope pusher and a prostitute. Last night you told me how to love my parents, and I could hardly wait to get out of that meeting and call them. Can you believe it? I now really love them with God’s kind of love and can hardly wait to see them!”


Everybody wants to be loved.

Most psychologists agree that man’s greatest need is to love and be loved.

No barrier can withstand the mighty force of love.

There are three Greek words translated into the one English word “love:”

Eros, which suggests sensual desire - it does not appear in the New Testament.
Phileo, which is used for friendship or love of one’s friends or relatives - it conveys a sense of loving someone because he is worthy of love.
Agape, which is God’s love: the purest, deepest kind of love - it is expressed not through mere emotions but as an act of one’s will.

Agape is God’s supernatural, unconditional love for you revealed supremely through our Lord’s death on the cross for our sins. It is the supernatural love He wants to produce in you and through you to others, by His Holy Spirit.

Agape love is given because of the character of the person loving rather than because of the worthiness of the object of that love. Sometimes it is love “in spite of” rather than “because of.”
God underscores the importance of this kind of love through the inspired writing of the apostle Paul, as recorded in 1 Corinthians 13. In this beautiful and remarkable passage of Scripture, Paul writes that, apart from love, anything that you might do for God or others is of no value.

Consider these words:
"If I had the gift of being able to speak in other languages without learning them and could speak in every language there is in all of heaven and earth, but didn’t love others, I would only be making noise.

If I had the gift of prophecy and knew all about what is going to happen in the future, knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would it do? Even if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, I would still be worth nothing at all without love.

If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn’t love others, it would be of no value whatever (1 Corinthians 13:1–3, TLB)."
In other words, no matter what you do for God and for others, it is of no value unless you are motivated by God’s love...


Five Truths About Love

But what is agape love? How does this kind of love express itself? Paul gives us an excellent description:

"Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong.

It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.

All the special gifts and powers from God will someday come to an end, but love goes on forever.
There are three things that remain - faith, hope, and love - and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:4–8,13, TLB)."

In the next chapter the apostle Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, admonishes: “Let love be your greatest aim” (1 Corinthians 14:1, TLB).
Let me share with you five vital truths about love that will help you understand the basis for loving by faith.

God Loves You Unconditionally

God loves with agape love, the love described in 1 Corinthians 13. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross for you, that you might have everlasting life. His love is not based on performance. Christ loves you so much that, while you were yet a sinner, He died for you.

God’s love for you is unconditional and undeserved. He loves you in spite of your disobedience, your weakness, your sin and your selfishness. He loves you enough to provide a way to abundant, eternal life. From the cross Christ cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). If God loved those who are sinners that much, can you imagine how much He loves you - His child through faith in Christ and who seeks to please Him?
The parable of the prodigal son, as recorded in Luke 15, illustrates God’s unconditional love for His children. A man’s younger son asked his father for his share of the estate, packed his belongings and took a trip to a distant land where he wasted all of his money on parties and prostitutes. About the time that his money was gone, a great famine swept over the land and he began to starve. He finally came to his senses and realized that his father’s hired men at least had food to eat. He decided, “I will go home to my father and say, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired man’” (Luke 15:18, TLB).

While he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming and was filled with loving compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. I think the reason he saw his son coming while he was still a long distance away was that he was praying for his son’s return and spent much time each day watching that lonely road on which his son would return.
Even as the son was making his confession, the father interrupted to instruct the servants to kill the fatted calf and prepare for a celebration - his lost son had repented; he had changed his mind and had returned to become part of the family again.

God demonstrated His love for us before we were Christians, but this story makes it obvious that God continues to love His child who has strayed far from Him. He eagerly awaits his return to the Christian family and fellowship.

Even when you are disobedient, He continues to love you, waiting for you to respond to His love and forgiveness. Paul writes:
"Since by his blood he did all this for us as sinners, how much more will he do for us now that he has declared us not guilty? Now he will save us from all of God’s wrath to come. And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of his Son, what blessings he must have for us now that we are his friends and he is living within us!" (Roman 5:9,10, TLB).
The love that God has for you is far beyond our human comprehension. Jesus prayed, “My prayer for all of them [the disciples and all future believers] is that they will be of one heart and mind, just as you and I are, Father...I in them and you in me, all being perfected into one - so that the world will know you sent me and will understand that you love them as much as you love me” (John 17:21,23, TLB).


Think of it! God loves you as much as He loves His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus. What a staggering, overwhelming truth to comprehend! You need have no fear of someone who loves you perfectly. You need never be reluctant to trust God with your entire life, for He truly loves you. And the almost unbelievable part of it is that He loves you even when you are disobedient.
Even on the human level, loving parents display such love. I loved my sons as much when they were disobedient as I did when they were good. For their sakes, because I do love them, I sometimes found it necessary to correct them. So it is in your relationship with God. When you are disobedient, He disciplines or corrects you because He loves you.Hebrews 12 teaches about the love that motivates God’s discipline:
"Have you quite forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you, his child? He said, “My son, don’t be angry when the Lord punishes you. Don’t be discouraged when he has to show you where you are wrong. For when he punishes you, it proves that he loves you....” Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does for his children. Whoever heard of a son who was never corrected?"
"Since we respect our fathers here on earth, though they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God’s training so that we can begin really to live?
Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they knew how, but God’s correction is always right and for our best good, that we may share his holiness. Being punished isn’t enjoyable while it is happening - it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character" (Hebrews 12:5–7,9–11, TLB).


Christ’s death on the cross has once and for all satisfied the wrath and justice of God for the believer’s sin. God chastens and disciplines you to help you mature spiritually.
The early Christians endured persecution, hardships and unbelievable suffering. Yet Paul wrote to them:
"Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us? When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn’t love us anymore? And if we are hungry or penniless or in danger or threatened with death, has God deserted us?

No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day - we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us enough to die for us.

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are - high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean - nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us" (Romans 8:35–39, TLB).

Such love is beyond our ability to grasp with our minds, but it is not beyond our ability to experience with our hearts.

You Are Commanded to Love
A certain lawyer asked Jesus, “Sir, which is the most important command in the laws of Moses?”
Jesus replied, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second most important is similar: ‘Love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.’ All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets stem from these two laws and are fulfilled if you obey them. Keep only these and you will find that you are obeying all the others” (Matthew 22:36–40, TLB).

At one time in my Christian life, I was troubled over the command to love God so completely. How could I ever measure up to such a high standard? Two very important considerations have helped me to desire to love and please Him completely.

First, the Holy Spirit has filled my heart with God’s love, as promised in Romans:
"We know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love" (Romans 5:5, TLB).

Second, by meditating on the attributes of God and the wonderful things He has done and is doing for me, I find my love for Him growing. I love Him because He first loved me (1 John 4:19).

How could God love me so much that He was willing to die for me? Why should God choose me to be His child? By what merit do I deserve to be His ambassador to tell this good news of His love and forgiveness to the world? On what basis do I deserve the privilege of His constant presence and His indwelling Spirit, of His promise to supply all of my needs according to His riches in glory? Why should I have the privilege - denied to most of the people of the world who do not know our Savior - of awaking each morning with a song in my heart and praise to Him on my lips for the love and joy and peace that He so generously gives to all who place their trust in His dear Son, the Lord Jesus?

I was a new Christian when I proposed to Vonette, who is now my wife. Although she had been an active church member, I discovered later that she was not a Christian at that time. Imagine her distress when, in my zeal for Christ, I explained to her that I loved God more than I loved her and that He would always be first in my life. I failed to explain, nor did I even realize at the time, that it was exactly because of my love for God that I was able to love her so much. Later, before we were married, she too experienced God’s love and forgiveness and became His child.
Through the years He has become first in her life also, and because He is now first in each of our lives, we enjoy a much deeper love relationship than we could otherwise have known. Though my responsibilities in His service take me to many parts of the world and I am often away from her and our home, we both find our joy and fulfillment in Him. The times when we are privileged to be together are all the richer because of our mutual love for Him and His love for us.

The one who has not yet learned to love God and to seek Him above all else and all others is to be pitied, for that person is missing the blessings that await all who love God with all of their heart, soul and mind.

It is natural for you to fulfill the command to love your neighbors as yourself if you truly love God with all of your heart, soul and mind. If you are properly related to God on the vertical plane, you will be properly related to others on the horizontal plane.

For example, billiard balls, rolling freely on a table, naturally bounce away from each other because of the nature of their construction. But if we tie strings to several balls and lift them perpendicular to the table, the balls will cluster together.

When individual Christians are vitally yoked to Christ and related to God and are walking in the Spirit, loving Him with all of their hearts, souls and minds, they will fulfill God’s command to love others as themselves.

The apostle Paul explains:
"If you love your neighbor as much as you love yourself you will not want to harm or cheat him, or kill him or steal from him. And you won’t sin with his wife or want what is his, or do anything else the Ten Commandments say is wrong. All ten are wrapped up in this one, to love your neighbor as you love yourself. Love does no wrong to anyone. That’s why it fully satisfies all of God’s requirements. It is the only law you need" (Romans 13:9,10, TLB).

It is love for God and for others that results in righteousness, in fruit and in glory to Christ.Also, you are commanded to love others because such love testifies to your relationship with the Father. You demonstrate that you belong to Christ by your love for others. The apostle John practically equates your salvation with the way you love others when he says that if you don’t love others, you do not know God, for He is love.

John says:
"If someone who is supposed to be a Christian has money enough to live well, and sees a brother in need, and won’t help him—how can God’s love be within him? Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions" (1 John 3:17,18, TLB).
Jesus says:
"I demand that you love each other as much as I love you" (John 15:12, TLB).
As a Christian, you should love your neighbor because your neighbor is a creature of God made in the image of God; because God loves your neighbor; and because Christ died for your neighbor. Following the example of our Lord, you should love everyone, even as Christ did. You should devote your life to helping others experience His love and forgiveness.
Jesus also said:
“There is a saying, ‘Love your friends and hate your enemies.’ But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in heaven....
“If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that” (Matthew 5:43–47, TLB).


When Christians begin to act like Christians and love God, their neighbors, their enemies and especially their Christian brothers - regardless of color, race or class - we will see in our time, as in the first century, a great transformation in the whole of society. People will marvel when they observe our love in the same way people marveled when they observed those first-century believers saying, “How they love one another.”

I counsel many students and older adults who are not able to accept themselves. Some are weighted down with guilt because of unconfessed sins; others are not reconciled to their physical handicaps. Still others feel inferior mentally or socially. My counsel to one and all is, “God loves you and accepts you as you are. You must do the same. Get your eyes off yourself! Focus your love and attention on Christ and on others. Begin to lose yourself in service for Him and for your fellow man.”

God’s kind of love is a unifying force among Christians. Paul admonishes us to “put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity” (Colossians 3:14, NASB) that our “hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love” (Colossians 2:2, NASB). Only God’s universal love can break through the troublesome barriers that are created by human differences. Only a common devotion to Christ - the source of love - can relieve tension, ease mistrust, encourage openness, bring out the best in people and enable them to serve Christ together in a more fruitful way.
One mother shared that the discovery of these principles enabled her to be more patient and kind to her husband and children. “The children were driving me out of my mind with all of their childish demands,” she confided. “I was irritable with them, and because I was so miserable, I was a critical and nagging wife. No wonder my husband found excuses to work late at the office. It is all different now - God’s love permeates our home since I learned how to love by faith.”A husband reported, “My wife and I have fallen in love all over again, and I am actually enjoying working in my office with men I couldn’t stand before I learned how to love by faith.”

You Cannot Love in Your Own Strength

Just as surely as “those who are in the flesh (the worldly, carnal person) cannot please God,” so in your own strength you cannot love as you should.

You cannot demonstrate agape love, God’s unconditional love for others, through your own efforts. How many times have you resolved to love someone? How often have you tried to manufacture some kind of positive, loving emotion toward another person for whom you felt nothing? It is impossible, isn’t it? In your own strength it is not possible to love with God’s kind of love.

By nature people are not patient and kind. We are jealous, envious and boastful. We are proud, haughty, selfish and rude, and we demand our own way. We could never love others the way God loves us!

You Can Love With God’s Love

It was God’s kind of love that brought you to Christ. It is this kind of love that is able to sustain and encourage you each day. Through His love in you, you can bring others to Christ and minister to fellow believers as God has commanded.

God’s love was supremely expressed in the life of Jesus Christ. You have a perfect, complete picture of God’s kind of love in the birth, character, teachings, life, death and resurrection of His Son.

How does this love enter your life? It becomes yours the moment you receive Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit comes to indwell your life. The Scripture says, “We feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love” (Romans 5:5, TLB). God is Spirit and the “fruit of the Spirit is love...” (Galatians 5:22). When you are controlled by the Spirit, you can love with God’s love.

When Christ comes into your life and you become a Christian, God gives you the resources to be a different kind of person. With the motivation, He also gives you the ability. He provides you with a new kind of love.

But how do you make love a practical reality in your life? How do you love? By resolutions? By self-imposed discipline? No. The only way to love is explained in my final point.

You Love By FaithEverything about the Christian life is based on faith. You love by faith just as you received Christ by faith, just as you are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith, and just as you walk by faith.

If the fruit of the Spirit is love, you may logically ask, “Is it not enough to be filled with the Spirit?” This will be true from God’s point of view, but it will not always be true in your actual experience.

Many Christians have loved with God’s love and have demonstrated the fruit of the Spirit in their lives without consciously or specifically claiming His love by faith. Yet, without being aware of the fact, they were indeed loving by faith; therefore, they did not find it necessary to claim God’s love by faith as a specific act.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Obviously there will be no demonstration of God’s love where there is no faith.

If you have difficulty in loving others, remember that Jesus has commanded, “Love each other just as much as I love you” (John 13:34, TLB). It is God’s will for you to love. He would not command you to do something that He will not enable you to do. In 1 John 5:14,15, God promises that if you ask anything according to His will, He hears and answers you. Relating this promise to God’s command, you can claim by faith the privilege of loving with His love.
God has an unending supply of His divine, supernatural, agape love for you. It is for you to claim, to grow on, to spread to others and thus to reach hundreds and thousands with the love that counts, the love that will bring them to Jesus Christ.

In order to experience and share this love, you must claim it by faith; that is, trust His promise that He will give you all that you need to do His will on the basis of His command and promise.
This truth is not new. It has been recorded in God’s Word for two thousand years. But it was a new discovery to me that early morning some years ago and, since that time, to many thousands of other Christians with whom I have shared it. When I began to practice loving by faith, I found that problems of tension with other individuals seemed to disappear, often miraculously.

In one instance, I was having a problem loving a fellow staff member. It troubled me. I wanted to love him. I knew that I was commanded to love him; yet, because of certain areas of inconsistency and personality differences, it was difficult for me to love him. But the Lord reminded me of 1 Peter 5:7, “Let him have all your worries and cares, for he is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you” (TLB). I decided to give this problem to Him and love this man by faith. When I claimed God’s love for the man by faith, my concern lifted. I knew the matter was in God’s hands.

An hour later, I found under my door a letter from that very man, who had no possible way of knowing what I had just experienced. In fact, his letter had been written the day before. The Lord had foreseen the change in me. This friend and I met together that afternoon and had the most wonderful time of prayer and fellowship we had ever experienced together. Loving with God’s love by faith has changed our relationship.

Two gifted attorneys had great professional animosity, even hatred one for the other. Even though they were distinguished members of the same firm, they were constantly criticizing and making life miserable for each other.

One of the men received Christ through our ministry and some months later came for counsel.
“I have hated and criticized my partner for years,” he said, “and he has been equally antagonistic toward me. But now that I am a Christian, I don’t feel right about continuing our warfare. What shall I do?”

“Why not ask your partner to forgive you and tell him that you love him?” I suggested.
“I could never do that!” he exclaimed. “That would be hypocritical. I don’t love him. How could I tell him I love him when I don’t?”

I explained that God commands His children to love even their enemies and that His supernatural, unconditional agape love is an expression of our will, which we exercise by faith.

For example, the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love is:
...very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him" (1 Corinthians 13:4–7, TLB).

“You will note,” I explained, “that each of these descriptions of love is not an expression of the emotions, but of the will.”

Together we knelt to pray and my friend asked God’s forgiveness for his critical attitude toward his law partner and claimed God’s love for him by faith.

Early the next morning, my friend walked into his partner’s office and announced, “Something wonderful has happened to me. I have become a Christian. And I have come to ask you to forgive me for all that I have done to hurt you in the past, and to tell you that I love you.”
His partner was so surprised and convicted of his own sin that he responded to this amazing confession by asking my friend to forgive him. Then to my friend’s surprise, his partner said, “I would like to become a Christian, too. Would you show me what I need to do?”

After my friend showed him how through the Four Spiritual Laws, they knelt together to pray. Then they both came to tell me of this marvelous miracle of God’s love.

A special assistant to a former governor of California once visited our headquarters at Arrowhead Springs, and during his visit he received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He began to discover how to love by faith. His son had recently left home after they had an argument. Contemplating the problem, this new Christian realized that he had never told his son that he loved him. On his way home, he asked the Lord to bring his son home so that he could make things right. He wanted to express his love for him. As he neared his home, his heart quickened. The upstairs light was on indicating that the son had come home! Soon, father and son embraced, became reconciled, and established a new relationship founded on God’s forgiving love.

A young college football player, who had been raised in a community where blacks are resented, had always found it impossible to love blacks. One evening he heard me talk to a group of racially mixed students about loving by faith, especially in reference to loving those of other races.

“As you prayed,” he told me later, “I claimed God’s love for black people. Then, as I left the amphitheater, the first person I saw was a black man and he was talking to a white girl. Now that is about as explosive a situation as you can imagine for a man who hates blacks. But suddenly I felt a compassion for that black man! At one time, I would have hated him and probably would have been rude and angry with him. But God heard my prayer.”
That same evening a young black couple approached me. They were radiant.
“Something wonderful happened to me tonight,” the young woman said. “I was liberated from my hatred for white people. I have hated whites since I was a little girl. I have known that as a Christian I should love white people, but I couldn’t help myself. I hated whites and wanted to get revenge. Tonight I have begun to love whites by faith, and it really works.”

The young man added, “It worked for me, too; now my hatred for whites is gone. Thank you for telling us how to love by faith.”

Whites who have hated blacks and blacks who have hated whites have discovered God’s supernatural love for each other. Christian husbands and wives who were living in conflict have claimed God’s love by faith and miracles have resulted. Parent-child struggles have been resolved and generation gaps have been bridged through loving by faith. Disputes in working situations have been resolved. Enemies cease to be enemies when you love them by faith. God’s love has a way of dissolving prejudice and breaking down barriers.

Love is the greatest power known to man. It changed the course of the first-century world, and God is using it to bring a great revolution in the twentieth century. Nothing can overcome God’s love.

In the first century there was a wedding of love and faith resulting in a great spiritual revolution throughout the known world. Then both were lost during the Dark Ages. The realization of Martin Luther and his colleagues that the “just shall live by faith” ushered in the Reformation and another mighty movement of God’s Spirit. But there was little love. It fact, there was often great conflict.

Today, God is bringing back to our remembrance the biblical wedding of the two - faith and love. Through faith, that supernatural, divine love of God will reach out where nothing else can go to capture men and women for Christ. The love which results from that faith will captivate people everywhere so that, as we live and love by faith, we will spread God’s love throughout the world. This love is contagious, attractive, and aggressive. It creates hunger for God. It is active - constantly looking for loving things to do, people to uplift, and lives to change.

Leonard is an example. The night he received Christ as his personal Savior, his heart was filled with love, and a great change came over him. Until then he had hated everyone and everything.
Often when he came home drunk at night, he would kick his dog to get him off the porch. In the process, the dog would bark, growl and try to bite him. Reeling and rocking under the influence of alcohol, Leonard would chase the dog around a table on the porch.

Soon his wife would get into the fray. They would curse each other and fight. Eventually, he would kick the dog off the porch, scattering chairs and flower pots in all directions.

“But the night I received Christ,” he relates, “I was so filled with love that I think even the dog sensed I was different. He raised himself on his belly and crawled toward me, then lay down on the same feet that had kicked him all the other nights.”

Take the Step
Agape love frequently expresses itself as a flow of compassion. Jesus said, “Rivers of living water shall flow from the inmost being of anyone who believes in me” (John 7:38, TLB). Compassion is one of these rivers. It is a gentle stream of tenderness and concern for another person’s need. Such love compelled Jesus to feed the hungry, comfort the sorrowing, heal the sick, teach the multitude and raise the dead.

Most of us at some time in our lives have experienced this flow of love toward someone.
Perhaps you felt it while washing dishes, working on the job, driving down the freeway or sitting in a classroom. You couldn’t explain it, but your impulse was to do something special for that person.

I encourage you to take the first step; start loving by faith and follow that flow. It is God’s compassion streaming toward the one in need. The tug of love within you means that He is filling you with Godly compassion and that He has chosen you to minister to that individual.
Ask God to manifest His tender compassion through you in some way today. As you pray, ask Him to lay someone on your heart. When you sense God’s love flowing through you to that individual, find out his need and begin ministering to that need. By following the leading of God’s Spirit, you can help those whom the Lord has prepared for His transforming touch, and you will become part of His miraculous provision. When God leads you to help someone, He will enable you to do what He leads you to do (Philippians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:24).

A Japanese magazine has a picture of a butterfly on one of its pages. Its color is a dull gray until warmed by one’s hand. The touch of a hand causes the special inks in the printing to react, and the dull gray is transformed into a flashing rainbow of color.

What other things can be thus changed by the warmth of your interest and agape love? Your family? Your church? Your city? This hurting world is hungry for the touch of someone who cares - who really cares! Through God’s agape kind of love, you can be that someone.

Make a List

But what about those who seem unlikable? People with whom you may have difficulty getting along? Individuals whose attitudes rub you the wrong way? I encourage you to make a list of people you do not like and begin to love them by faith. Perhaps you will place yourself on the list. Have you thought of applying the truths of 1 Corinthians 13 to yourself by faith? Ask God to help you see yourself as He sees you. You have no reason to dislike yourself when your Creator has already forgiven you and demonstrated His unconditional love by dying for you!

If Christ is in you, you are complete because Christ Himself is perfect love, perfect peace, perfect patience, perfect kindness. He is all goodness, and He is in you!

Whenever Satan tries to attack you by reminding you of sins that you have already confessed or by magnifying your weaknesses and shortcomings, claim in faith the forgiveness and righteousness of God, and thank Him that, on the authority of His Word, you do not have to be intimidated by Satan’s accusation. Thank God that you are His child and that your sins are forgiven. Thank God that Satan has no control over you except that which is allowed by God. Then cast this care on the Lord as we are commanded to do in 1 Peter 5:7.

Perhaps your boss, a fellow employee, your spouse, your children or your father or mother is on the list of those whom you will love by faith. Pray for each person. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with Christ’s love for all of them. Then, seek to meet with them as you draw upon God’s limitless, inexhaustible, overwhelming love for them by faith. Expect God to work through you! Watch Him use your smile, your words, your patience to express His love for each individual.
Love by faith every one of your “enemies” - everyone who angers you, ignores you, bores you or frustrates you. People are waiting to be loved with God’s love.

A homemaker who, through a long, cold winter, had seen her family through mumps, measles, a broken nose, three new teeth for the baby and countless other difficulties, reached the point where these pressures and demands became too much for her. Finally, on her knees, she began to protest, “Oh Lord! I have so much to do!” But imagine her surprise when she heard herself say, “Oh Lord! I have so much to love!” You will never run out of opportunities to love by faith.
Remember, the agape kind of love is an act of the will, not just an emotion. You love by faith. By faith, you can claim God’s love step by step, person by person.

“The fruit of the Spirit is love....” Like fruit, love grows. Producing fruit requires a seed, then a flower, then pollination, then warm sun and refreshing rains and even some contrary winds. Similarly in daily life, your love will be warmed by joy, watered by tears and spread by the winds of circumstances. God uses all that you experience to work His will in your life. He is the one who makes your love grow. It is a continual, ever-increasing process. As Paul says, “May the Lord make your love to grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else...” (1 Thessalonians 3:12, TLB).

Let Love Motivate You

Now, how does loving by faith motivate you to engage in aggressive personal evangelism and con­ tribute to the fulfillment of the Great Commission?

When you begin to truly love God by faith with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbors as yourself, you will begin to see people as God sees them - as individuals of great worth, as those for whom Christ died. As a result, we will be motivated by the same love that constrained the apostle Paul who said, “Everywhere we go we talk about Christ to all who will listen” (Colossians 1:28, TLB).

Love, God’s kind of love, causes the Great Commission to become a personal responsibility and privilege. When non-Christians observe believers not only saying that they love one another, but also proving it by their actions, they, like their first-century counterparts, will marvel at “how they love one another” and will be drawn to receive and worship our Savior with us.
How exciting it is to have such a dynamic, joyful force available to us! And it all comes from our loving Savior, Jesus Christ, who explicitly promises in His Word all that you need. You need not guess, nor hope, nor wish. You can claim this love by faith, right now, on the basis of God’s command to love and His promise to answer whenever you pray for anything according to His will.

Why not make this prayer your own:
Lord, You would never have commanded me to love if You had not intended to enable me to do so. Therefore, right now, on the authority of Your command for me to love and on the authority of Your promise to answer if I ask anything according to Your will, I personally claim Your love - the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love - for You, for all people and for myself. Amen.

NOTE:Remember, How You Can Love By Faith is a transferable concept. You can master it by reading it six times; then pass it on to others as our Lord commands us in Matthew 28:20, “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you” (TLB). The apostle Paul encouraged us to do the same: “The things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2).


Self-Study Guide

1. How would you explain the difference among eros, phileo and agape love?
2. What is unconditional love? How do you show this kind of love to others?
3. What does Romans 8:35–39 tell us about God’s love?
4. Is the depth of God’s love real to you? If so, what affect does that realization have on your life? If not, what can you do to increase your realization of His love?
5. How would you obey the command of John 13:34?
6. How do 1 John 3:16–18 and 4:16–21 define real love?
7. How could you express love in the following situations?
a. At home
b. At school
c. At work
d. At church
e. At a sporting event
8. Why is it important to love yourself? How do you do this? What often keeps a person from loving himself? How does this affect his love for others?
9. How and why is love powerful enough to overcome prejudice, hatred, rebellion, anger, fear, or jealousy?
10. Why do you feel love? (See Romans 5:5)
11. How can you claim God’s love? Why is faith important in love?
12. What resources can you cling to when you find it difficult to love someone?
a. 1 Peter 5:7
b. Philippians 4:13
c. Colossians 3:2,13
d. 1 Thessalonians 3:12,13
13. How can you relate the promise in 1 John 5:14,15 to claiming God’s power to love others by faith? How does it relate to your own involvement in personal evangelism?
14. Make a list of people you do not like and begin to love them by faith. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you with Christ’s love for each of them. Pray for each person. Think of ways you can demonstrate Christ’s love to them this week.

Group Discussion Questions

List and discuss the characteristics of God’s love found in 1 Corinthians 13. Name a synonym for or give a short description of each characteristic. Share what each quality means to you.

1. Discuss ways in which the church as a body of Christian believers can express its love for God and one another.
2. Have each member of your group share about a person in their lives whom they consider a “neighbor.” In what way can you show love to that person?
3. Most of us have at least one weakness in our lives that we find difficult to love. Share this concern (if appropriate) with your group. How does God’s love apply to loving yourself in this area?
4. Think of an occasion when you had to claim God’s power to love your enemy. Share what happened. If there is someone in your life now who seems unlovable, what will you do this week to change that situation?
5. What are the basic elements of the command given to believers in Matthew 22:36–40? Share what each element means to you.
6. What roles do God’s command, His promise, and your will play in loving by faith? (See 1 John 5:14,15.)
7. Loving is a growth process. Share some areas in which God is challenging you to love by faith today.