The Rising is an urban retreat for the emerging generation that combines the best parts of a teaching conference with unique “hands-on” opportunities to experience and serve the city of Memphis.

You will be:

•Inspired to live a Christ-centered life.
•Surrounded by a diverse group of students and leaders.
•Connected to God through multiple styles of worship.
•Deeply impacted with gospel-focused teaching.
•Challenged to learn to live out the gospel in every dimensions of your city.
•Offered city-wide experiences that will change your outlook and probably your life.
So mark your calendar

The first thing I remember is sitting on a bench in the waiting room of what I thought to be a court house..

The doors opened and I was instructed to come in and have a seat by the defense table.

As I looked around I saw the ‘prosecutor.’

He was a villainous looking gent who snarled as he stared at me. He definitely was the most evil person I have ever seen.

I sat down and looked to my left and there sat My Attorney, a kind and gentle looking man whose appearance seemed so familiar to me, I felt I knew Him.

The corner door flew open and there appeared the Judge in full flowing robes.

He commanded an awesome presence as He moved across the room. I couldn’t take my eyes off of Him.

As He to ok His seat behind the bench, He said, ‘Let us begin.’

The prosecutor rose and said,

‘My name is Satan and I am here to show you why this man belongs in hell.’

He proceeded to tell of lies that I told, things that I stole, and In the past when I cheated others. Satan told of other horrible Perversions that were once in my life and the more he spoke, the further down in my seat I sank.

I was so embarrassed that I couldn’t look at anyone, even my own Attorney, as the Devil told of sins that even I had completely forgotten about.

As upset as I was at Satan for telling all these things about me, I was equally upset at My Attorney who sat there silently not offering any form of defense at all.

I know I had been guilty of those things, but I had done some good in my life – couldn’t that at least equal out part of the harm I’d done?

Satan finished with a fury and said, ‘This man belongs in hell, he is guilty of all that I have charged and there is not a person who can prove otherwise.’

When it was His turn, My Attorney first asked if He might approach the bench. The Judge allowed this over the strong objection of Satan, and beckoned Him to come forward.

As He got up and started walking, I was able to see Him in His full splendor and majesty.

I realized why He seemed so familiar; this was Jesus representing me, my Lord and my Savior.He stopped at the bench and softly said to the Judge, ‘Hi, Dad,’ and then He turned to address the court.

‘Satan was correct in saying that this man had sinned, I won’t deny any of these allegations. And, yes, the wages of sin is death, and this man deserves to be punished.’

Jesus took a deep breath and turned to His Father with outstretched arms and proclaimed, ‘However, I died on the cross so that this person might have eternal life and he has accepted Me as his Savior, so he is Mine.’

My Lord continued with, ‘His name is written in the Book of Life, and no one can snatch him from Me.

Satan still does not understand yet. This man is not to be given justice, but rather mercy.’

As Jesus sat down, He quietly paused, looked at His Father and said, ‘There is nothing else that needs to be done.’

‘I’ve done it all.’

The Judge lifted His mighty hand and slammed the gavel down. The following words bellowed from His lips..

‘This man is free. The penalty for him has already been paid in full. ‘Case dismissed.’

As my Lord led me away, I could hear Satan ranting and raving, ‘I won’t give up, I will win the next one.’ I asked Jesus as He gave me my instructions where to go next, ‘Have you ever lost a case?’

Christ lovingly smiled and said, ‘Everyone that has come to Me and asked Me to represent them has received the same verdict as you, ~Paid In Full~’

I encourage you to take some time today and thank God for giving the gift of Jesus and for the salvation that followed His perfect life on earth. By His resurrection we are saved!!

There are 3 ways for the word of God to get into our hearts. These are through sight, through hearing, and through speaking. When we speak the word of God out of our mouth, not only are we using the vocal gate, we are also using the hearing gate. It’s a double edged sward.

Repeat after me: Devil, I command you to leave my thoughts alone in Jesus name! I have the mind of Christ and I refuse to have you tempt me into carnality. Jesus, help me overcome this temptation.

One question you may ask yourself is this: Would you go outside with no clothes on? Well you could, but you probably wouldn’t. You wouldn’t because of the repercussions you would have, like getting arrested for indecent exposure. Tithing is similar in the fact that God never commands us to tithe. In Matthew 22:36-40, it says ‘ Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.“  What this means is the love we have for God will WANT us to abide by His law’s. God did not want to force us to give to Him, because if we can choose to give to Him, our action is a result of what is in our hearts. If our heart is right, God can bless us! It shows we are not giving simply because we desire something in return. We need to give because we love God!

If you get a chance I strongly urge you to check out this series by Creflo Dollar.

When you follow the system God has laid out for us in His scriptures and change the way we think about things, we will open the door for God’s supernatural blessings on our lives. I don’t know about you, but I want God’s supernatural blessings. I want to God to put His super on my natural!

If you dont have this CD set, you need to buy it! It will change your life. I have listened to it multiple times and it has shown me things I never knew.

For Material Needs Confess These Three Times a Day Until They’re Manifested

• Christ has redeemed me from the curse of the law. Christ has redeemed me from poverty, Christ has redeemed me from sickness, Christ has redeemed me from spiritual death. (Galatians 3:13; Deuteronomy 28)
• For poverty He has given me wealth, for sickness He has given me health, for death He has given me eternal life. (II Corinthians 8:9; Isaiah 53:5-6; John 10:10; John 5:24)
• It is true unto me according to the Word of God. (Psalms 119:25)
• I delight myself in the Lord and He gives me the desires of my heart. (Psalms 37:4)
• I have given and it is given unto me good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, men give unto my bosom.  (Luke 6:38)
• With what measure I mete, it is measured unto me, I sow bountifully, therefore I reap bountifully. I give cheerfully, and My God has made all grace abound toward me and I have all sufficiency of all things – do abound to all good works. (II Corinthians 9:6-8)
• There is no lack for my God supplieth all of my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
• The Lord is my shepherd and I DO NOT WANT. Jesus was made poor, that I through His poverty might have abundance. For He came that I might have life and have it more abundantly. (Psalms 23:1; II Corinthians 8:9; John 10:10)
• And I, having received abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness do reign as a king in life by Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
• The Lord has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant, and Abraham’s blessings are mine. (Psalms 35:27; Galatians 3:14)

Charles Capps confessions from “God’s Creative Power.”

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus said, “I give you the keys of the kingdom, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Psalms 119:89 tells us, “For ever O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven.” What God said is already established.

Now, it is up to you.

What are you going to say about it?

God will not alter what He has said. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the things that is gone out of my lips” (Psalms 89:34).

Whose words will you establish on earth?

The power of binding and loosing is on earth.

Binding is a powerful witnessing tool: What keeps a person from accepting Jesus? The god of this world, which is Satan (working through his army of demons) has blinded their minds from the light of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4:4). Jesus taught us to bind the strong man, then we can plunder his house (Mark 3:27). If you have been trying to witness to somebody, and seem to be getting nowhere, try binding the spirits of darkness that are preventing that person from seeing the light in the gospel.

With the gift of rapping and writing gospel beats, Lecrae has created a new wave of revival that has touched many lives. With the DWYL tour in the rear-view mirror and his upcoming Altered Minds Tour with Tedashii and Sho Baraka on the calendar, its clear he will continue his mission to spread the word of God as demanded in the Bible. Without further ado, here is the top 3 Lecrae songs of all time! 

3. Go Hard

Audio CD: Lecrae – Rebel
Original Release Date: September 30, 2008
Label: Reach Records

2. 26″

Audio CD: Tedashii – Identity Crisis
Original Release Date: May 26, 2009
Label: Reach Records

1. Don’t waste your life

Audio CD: Lecrae – Rebel
Original Release Date: September 30, 2008
Label: Reach Records

Give us your opinion of our list. Did we miss your favorite song? Did we include a song you don’t feel deserves to be on this list? Coment on our posts or send us an email at admin@lecrae.net.

Its funny to hear some people manipulate scripture when in comes to marriage. I have heard some people use Ephesians 5:22 (“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord) as a stand alone verse and not understand it in the context it is meant to be used. Some men think that because God states for the wife to submit to the husbands, and combine that with the scripture stating men are the head of the house, they think that the women should give up all rights to them, as it is ordained by the Bible.

Unfortunately, these marriages don’t fair well in time. They end up with strife, immoral behavior, and even divorce. If we continue reading in Ephesians 5:25, 28, and 31, you will notice they all have one thing in common, that husbands ought to love their wives. I don’t know about you, but if God repeats something in the Bible 3 times in a row, I sure take it as absolutely necessary!

What is love? If you are uncertain, check out 1 Corinthians 13. I will be making a post on this particular scripture in the near future. For now, stick with what God has spoken to us, for husbands to love their wives.

Please consider buying the book “Love The Way To Victory” HERE.

To continue our list of 10 best Lecrae songs, I have put together songs 4-6. If you missed our previous post of songs 7-10, check it out here.

6 Souled Out,

Audio CD Lecrae: Real Talk
Original Release Date: May 20, 2004
Label: Reach Records

5 Jesus Muzik

Audio CD Lecrae: After the Music Stops
Original Release Date: August 15, 2006
Label: Reach Records, LLC

4 Joyful Noise

Audio CD Flame: Our World Redeemed
Original Release Date: March 4, 2008
Label: Cross Movement Records

This is a complex issue and one that can not be fully addressed in one blog post. However I will do my best to highlight a few issues regarding this topic. For starters, the earth belongs to Satan since the fall of Adam.  When this occurred, Satan became the ruler of it and thus created a place filled with sin and doubt and pain. It says in John 10:10 that the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy, but I have come that you man have life, and have it more abundantly. Adam’s sin caused Satan to be in control of the earth (Luke 4:5-7 & 1 John 5:19). In order to let God be in control of our lives, we must submit our lives to Him and let the Holy Spirit guide us. The Holy Spirit has been put on the earth to help us till the rapture. (John 16:5-8)

The truth is, God has His own plan for our life. Sometimes His plan will line up with ours, but sometimes it won’t. There are going to be times in your life where you feel God is against you, but don’t take that bait. That is Satan trying to get into your head and convince you to turn on God. It says in James 1:17 “Every good and perfect gift comes from God.” If bad things are happening in your life, its not Gods doing, it is Satan.

Another point I would like to make is some people only call on God when they need it.  You can’t expect Him to answer our prayers if we have been living in sin and when problems arise, we call on Him. I found this article regarding this issue and encourage you to read it here.  It talks about how the prodigal son was unfaithful to his father and desired the things of the world, yet the father eagerly awaited his son’s return. God will never leave us nor forsake us, but we must make sure we are living for Him in order to reap His full plan and purpose for our lives.

In closing, Lecrae has a song entitled “Truth” on his Rebel album you must listen to. He raps and speaks on part of this message in that song. Please take the time to listen to it and to take a look into the mirror and make sure you are living for God always, and not just sometimes.