Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Birthday Post

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls. This post is for one purpose and one purpose only. And that is to wish my friend Chloee a Happy Birthday!!!!

Monday, October 17, 2011

Birthday Post

Faithful reader this post serves one purpose, and that is to wish Eliana a Happy Birthday!!!!!!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

STAND UP!!!!!!!!!

Hello Faithful Readers, Bernard would like to apologize for yet another long period without blogging. New in my life, just got hired at In-N-Out (yes my Brother and I work together), and I got my Drivers license last month (bet you I beat you to it Chloee hahaha). Other than that nothing new here. Anyway, I've been doing alot of thinking and I thought to myself something is wrong when you hear preacher after preacher after preacher talk about how lost this generation is. You know its not those that are out in the world we have to worry about because if we don't get it together on the inside how will we ever get them to do what we won't. Young people our biggest enemy is not the temptations we fight with at school or work, its not those old friends we use to have, its not our unsaved family. The enemy we have to fight the hardest right now is laziness and his close friend procrastination, it's that spirit that says I'm to tired to get up early to pray, that spirit that says God will tell me when he is ready for me to start doing whatever it is he has in store for me. You know you can pray for a job all day long but unless you take the time to apply, your prayers are in vain, likewise you can pray for God's will till your blue in the face but unless you start searching for that perfect will your prayers are in vain. Because everybody is trying to FIND the will of God but how can you find Looked for? The bible says faith without works is dead, God wants to see us show interest. God is not gonna put more on us then we can bear, see most always take that in a sense of trials but that can go both ways, if we don't show God we are ready he isn't gonna put more on us than we can bear. I know it says he will pour out a blessing we don't have room enough to receive but he ain't gonna just give it to us we gotta work for it. Our Pastor shouldn't have to lift us up every service, it was Aaron and Hur who held Moses' hands up not Moses holding up Aaron and Hur's hands. It's time for the true Apostolic young people to Stand up and say "I can't sit around any longer, I have got to be used by God" It's time for us to stop waiting for some divine sign that says "(insert you name here) I want you to do this." You see I am a basketball player and we have a saying that says "It's not how good you are it"s how bad you want it" you see it;s not how well you sing or how well you play as instrument It's how bad you want a move of God, It's how bad you want to be use by God. Don't get me wrong keep praying for his will but don't stop there show Jesus that you not all talk, show God you can back up everything your praying for. I told myself Bernard you been praying for his will for a while now time to find it. I was talking to Coco and I said what if God is waiting to give us a chance to be a part of whatever the next amazing thing he is about to do but we aren't stepping up to them game so he gives it to someone else. Young people lets not miss our opportunity to be a part of something amazing.Now is the time to answer the call, Now is the time to start doing those things for God we've never done, Now is the time to Stand Up!
(I hope this post has encouraged somebody to get on fire for Jesus and to stop wasting time.)
God Bless you all
-Bernard out

Monday, September 12, 2011

Just Passing By: A Short Story Compossed by T. Kifle

Hello Faithful Readers, was just on The Kifle Chronicles and I read this post by T. Kifle and I was compeled to post this so if you havn't read it there hear it is. Comment for part 2.

"It all happened so quickly", he thought to himself. He tried to the best of his ability to grasp the weight of the day's events. Now as he sailed across the Mediterranean towards the now ancient city of Cyrene, he couldn't help but replay the gruesome images he had seen just hours earlier. He was trying hard to sleep, he was tired, and his coat still bore a few red stains. But the images kept coming back; he even heard the voices, the wailing. He was trying to shut it all out of his mind. He couldn't. There was something he had to figureout, but where was he to start. Amidst such pain and agony, he couldn't understand why he felt so wonderful after it was all said and done.

He tried to steer his thoughts in a different direction. The Passover was great, he thought. After all, that was why he made the journey.

The images began to play again.

He reunited with his family members, and rekindled old friendships.

The voices.

The food was great, and the memories of past Passover celebrations flooded his mind.

The wailing.

He was disappointed that his two sons –Alexander and Rufus- weren't able to come.

The clanging of brass on a roman centurion.

He missed their mother – she had passed some years before.

The crowd , the commotion, the hammering.

The involuntary recollections were coming in fragments and they were hard turn off, but he was trying. He thought of home: the great city of Cyrene. Cyrene was located in northern coast of Africa, tucked into a lush valleyintheJebel akhdar uplands. It boasted a school of philosophy, founded by Arisitippus, a disciple of the great Socrates himself. The "Athens of Africa", he thought.Hewas lucky to live there; he worked hard and made it big. After all, he was an heir of the Abrhamic blessing. But something big was missing from his life.

He fell asleep. Now, he wouldn't be able to stop the images or the sounds.

He felt entirely conscious in this dream, like he was just reliving the current day from the start. It was so real. In this dream He walked down a rough, stony street . He was just passing by, on his way back home. He saw the crowd again. Hundreds, maybe even thousands. Men, women, boys and girls. Some looked angry, others wept in agony. Some were clueless – like himself."A post-Passover celebration maybe", he thought. "Maybe not". He had to find out what on earth could attract so many people after the previous night's festivities. He pushed his way through the crowd with his two pack bags providing extra bulk with which he could use to plow through tightly woven blanket of stubborn bystanders. He finally broke through the crowd. The emotion was more intense here. It seemed that those who felt more strongly about whatever was happening had made it a point to obtain front row seats. Those who wept were weeping more bitterly than ever. Those who were enraged shook their fists more vehemently, more violently. The wailing and the shouting combined made the most horrific noisehehadever heard in his life. It was deafeningly loud. But there he was, looking completely lost, and feeling very uninvited.

Everyone seemed to be looking to the left, waiting for something or someone. In this instance, it would be fine to "follow the crowd". He looked left. He thought of asking another bystander what commotion was all about. He turned to his nearest neighbor; a man red in the face from yelling what seemed to sound like obscenities. He was screaming something about a blasphemer; he couldn't make out the rest. The man was yelling with such intensity he didn't notice that the spittle that had accumulated at the sides of his mouth had now turned to white foam. "There's no asking that man", he thought. He resumed looking left, waiting for something to happen.

Finally, he saw spear tips floating high above the heads and flailing arms of the crowd. Upon this sight the crowd let up a roar of cries, some sounded joyous almost celebratory. That's awkward, he thought. He turned, and as he did, his eyes locked on a petite woman whose eyes shed tears like a fountain of water. Her eyes bloodshot, her clothes soaked with sweat and tears. She caught his gazeand he quickly looked away. He turned again to see a man who had buried his face in his hands, trying to hide the tears. But the tears found their way through narrow gaps between his gnarled fingers. The tears ran down the backs of his hands, down his wrists, and onto dirty, tattered clothes. The man could pass for a beggar, for he once was.

The roman soldiers were now in sight, and they were trying there best to control the crowd. The crowd was going to explode. He braced himself forwhathewould see next. He watched intently. Maybe it was royalty, a politicalfigure, Cesar himself maybe. Maybe not. He heard clanging of glittery armor and accessories the soldiers wore. They moved about trying to maintain the ever shrinking pathway formed by the crowd on either side of street. Another roar from the crowd. He struggled for position as the sight was made its way toward him. He braced himself once again. Finally the thought crossed his mind: what in world am I doing here. He wanted to leave, but he had already seen so much, and it would haunt him if he never discovered what was coming down the road. "I'll just stick it out until I discover the reason for strange ordeal", he said to himself.

It caught him off guard. The beam of a wooden cross leading down to the arched, bloodied back on which it rested, a trail of blood following. The crowd was so loud now he thought his ears would burst. The figure, a man, was barely recognizable as live human being. Drenched in blood from head to toe and possibly seconds from death. As the man bearing the cross neared, the curious traveler felt irresistibly drawn to the torn and bloody man. Now he was within feet. He had never seen a man so beaten and bruised. His back was striped by a vicious whipping that left loose pieces of skin to move freely and become entangled in the strings of torn clothing. And to top it all off, a thorny bush was placed atop the man's head piercing his scalp and the skin on his forehead. There was a thorn that pierced the skin right under the center of his eyebrow, exiting a hair's width above his eyelid.

The curious traveler had not realized how close he was to Jesus and his disciples who followed behind. A disciple named john approached the traveler, and motioned for him to bring his ear. John trembling and on the verge of bursting in to lamentation, asked the curious traveler his name. The curious traveler replied: "Simon, Simon of Cyrene". John then asked if Simon wouldbewillingto bearthe cross for the man named Jesus. Before Simon could answer, he was face to face with Jesus who looked up at him from under the weight of cross. He couldn't say no. as the cross lifted from off the back of Jesus, the rough grain of the wood took some flesh and blood with it. In the split second that Simon and Jesus made contact in the transferring of the cross, Simon felt an unbelievable surge power, or virtue maybe.

As he the bore the cross walking toward Calvary, Simon wondered who this man named Jesus was. Was he a criminal, a condemned political leader, was he being wrongly condemned. This man named Jesus could have done no wrong, he thought to himself. Simon didn't know why, but he felt that Jesus was righteous and innocent, even though he had never heard of Jesus. For some reason the cross felt light on Simon's back. The cross left blood stains in the patterns of wood grain on Simon's neatly clothed back. Simon gripped the cross at the same point Jesus had. Simon could feel the blood of Jesus on his hands. He kept on, with Jesus, the disciples, the soldiers, and the others convicts in tow.

What must have been ten minutes passed in what seemed likeseconds, but Simon remembered every detail as if had stopped to take notes along the way of the short journey. They reached the top of the hill, were there moreroman soldiers waiting. The soldiers tore the cross away from Simon. He wanted to bear the cross for as long as he could, he felt so good in the few minutes he bore the cross. He was confused, yet he felt peace. But what was to happen next was inevitable. The soldiers crudely thanked Simon by not cursing at him, and then they motionedfor him to leave.

The weight of what was to happen finally hit Simon like a falling mountain, he wondered again how he ended up in such a strange situation."I was just passing by", he said to himself. He wouldn't be there to see it end. He turned to take one last look at Jesus, who was already looking back at him. Without words Jesus seemed to communicating something to Simon. Simon felt that overwhelming peace and strength again. Simon nearly ran back down the hilldodgingmourners and mockers. In the distance behind him he could hear the sharp pounding of roman hammers into crudely crafted stakes, and corresponding cries of pain that echoed over hill after each strike. He ran faster.

Simon awoke slowly, not with a startle, but as usual. He thought he would be sweating or trembling but he wasn't and it wasn't a nightmare, but reality replayed in a dream. The other passengers on the vessel were sound asleep, and it was near midnight it seemed. For the first time since Simon bore the cross earlier that day he was able to peacefully put all the gruesome images into correct order. Simon new what he was to do next.

Little did he know it, but that day, Simon had altered the course of destiny for himself and his people.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Today my brother gets Married

This has been on my mind all week. my oldest brother is getting married. I am so happy for Bryan and Kaleo they have been together along time and finally they are getting married.

KALEO: We grew up together, we've. Laughed together, we fought together, we've pranked each other, and we've prayed together. If there is one thing I know it's you are the perfect person for my brother. I know I give you a hard time and mess with you all the time, I'm really happy for you. I can remember back when Bro. Kevin was teaching LCA I was mean to you all day so I made this craft out of black and red construction paper asking for you to forgive me, at the end I signed it Bernard you future brother-in-law. Everyone laughed at me (except you and Bryan of course) their exact words were "do you really think Kaleo is going to marry Bryan?" I simply smiled and said "yes I do" well all I have to say is IN THEIR FACE!!!! Haha. You have always been my friend, you were on my side back in the day when Bryan and Brandon were against me. I know I never talk to you without trying to roast you but I wan to say congratulations I am really happy for you. Love you and Welcome to the family.

BRYAN: You are my oldest brother and have always been one of my biggest role models. As a younger brother I always look up to my older brothers, I spend my days feeling insecure about my skills because I see you and Brandon are good at everything and I was just a annoying little brat that ran to mom about everything. You've done a lot for me from carrying my saxophone home because I was to weak to pause your video games because I was hungry. The little things you did for me have helped to shape me into the Man I am today. And although I gave you a hard time growing up and to this day I still give you attitude I want to say thank you for everything. Congratulations Bryan I Love You.
Sent from my BlackBerry® on the MetroPCS Network

Friday, July 1, 2011

Unexpected Surprise

Hello Faithful Readers, Family, and Friends today (technically yesterday) Bernard had a Unexpected but Awesome Surprise. It all started yesterday when my Brother Brandon say "Hey Bernard Bro White is preaching in Oakley tomorrow Coco and Abel wants us to Go." So I say "AWESOME!!!!!!!" I ask my Pastor if it's ok to go and he say "Definitely, my young people can always go to hear Bro White." So while I'm thinkin to myself "What if Bro White brings his youth? That would be AWESOME!!!!! I need to think of something mean to say so I can get Cholee before she gets me." But I'm to nice to think of anything mean. So I get to Oakley and ba-da-boom!! I see a Victory Tabernacle van outside the church and I think "I should have thought of something mean! Why do I have to be so nice??" I walk in and the firs face I recognize is Eliana I say to myself "Dude what happen to Eliana's foot? Her foot wasn't like that at camp" so the service was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bro. White's message was also AWESOME!!!!!!!!! He preached on Overcoming the Devil's Bluff it was really great afterwards we all started saying hello and when I go to say hi to Eliana she totally calls me Brandon hahaha she was super serious it took her a quick min to figure out that she called me the wrong name. Hahaha then Chloee actually talked to me for like 10 mins and only said like 2 me things (Somebody say MIRACLE!!!!! Hahahahaha) we go to In-N-Out and I was shocked and honored to be invited to eat with my friends Eliana and Chloee. That was the first time Eliana and I actually held a full conversation. It was actually really Cool Chloee was even nice (MIRACLE) hahahaha. Eliana took like a thousand pictures of me talking hahaha they were quite hilarious. It was really good to see everyone it really made my day to see my good friends and to be able to eat with Eliana and Chloee they are good friends. I enjoyed myself tonight ladies an gentlemen, faithful readers.............
-Bernard out
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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Camp 2011

I'm returning home but, my mind is constantly returning back to the awesome week I had at camp. Out of the three years I've been at camp, this year was easily my favorite. I had a amazing time all week. The preaching was AWESOME!!!!! Elder Frazier during the day and Missionary Lambeth during the night. God really showed up and touch very many lives Especially my life. I have been changed for the good just like I do every year. The fellowship was excellent but before I get into that I want to say thank you to everyone that cheered for me when I got the sportsmanship award. You all made me feel really loved, when my name was called I would've never expected that loud of a cheer. but the thanks belongs back to you because without you all I would've never got that. Without you all helping me cheer on the team, especially Nicole Wakefield and Ashlyn DeAro, you guy really helped me with your cheers and were a absolute joy to have on my team if I'm a captain again I will pick you two again. It was great to see my friends and to meet new people like The best cheerleader a team captain could ask for Nicole and The savior of the all-star basketball game Ace! He went out there and gave it his all and came through for us when we really needed him. A few amazing things happened this year 1) Chloee finally watched me play Basketball 2) Chloee actually cheered for me in Basketball 3) Cholee gave me a legit compliment on how good I did in Basketball 4) Chloee watched me play Football 5) Chloee actually cheered for me in Football 6) Chloee gave me a legit compliment on how good I played in Football 7) Chloee was nice to me for a whole day. Those who don't know me and Chloee's friendship wouldn't understand but those truly are miracles hahahaha. Being a captain was a new thing for me but I want to say thanks to Team 8 you guys were a great team to have. Special thanks to Lady 8 you girls saved us every basketball game, all I did in the dorm was brag on you ladies. Also special thanks to my favorite singer Ashlyn DeAro for singing and for keeping me calm during sports so that I can remain a fun captain, I know it wasn't easy but you did it. Also to Jonathan for being a great friend to me this week. Bernard's mind is stuck on camp and I can't wait till next year. Ladies and Gentlemen......
-Bernard out
Sent from my BlackBerry® on the MetroPCS Network