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Faithful Families, Louisville, KY (2026)

04/14/2026

Growing up I’ve heard this “the last shall be first” teaching from preachers saying God is about to shift some things and move you to the front of the line, etc… then people would jump, run, and shout. They’d line people up and make everyone turn around so the last person becomes first and they used it to promise financial and earthly blessings to the congregation…

That is NOT what this means.

The struggle with believers and even the workers in this parable, is our habit of looking around at what is happening with others instead of blessing God for our own opportunity to serve.

If the first workers had been paid first, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become jealous. But because they were paid last, they had time to develop biases, assumptions, and their own ideologies about what THEY thought should happen.

But it’s simple:

God does what pleases Him. (As did the owner in the parable)

What ACTUALLY happened in the story?

• Every worker was promised a wage
• Every worker received what was agreed upon
• No one was treated unjustly

The issue was never fairness…the issue was comparison. They said: “You made them equal to us…” (verse 12)

That statement reveals the heart. They weren’t upset about their pay, they were offended by someone else’s grace.

This parable exposes two systems: ⚖️ Law vs Grace

The system of law:
• You get what you deserve
• You earn your position
• You measure outcomes

The system of grace:
• God gives according to who He is
• Not according to who we are
• Not according to time, effort, or comparison

What we truly deserve is death…So anything beyond that is already undeserved mercy.

God is not unfair. He is often more generous than we expect, and that offends our flesh.

The (warning &) Danger of Watching Others

The first workers had time to:
• watch
• calculate
• assume

And that’s where their problem grew. Comparison will distort your perspective, produce offense, and make you feel cheated even when you’re blessed!

They went from gratitude to entitlement.

They weren’t offended at injustice, dishonesty, or a broken agreement; they were offended by grace.

Grace removes:
• hierarchy
• superiority
• “I earned this” thinking

And our flesh resists that.

I’m reading through Revelation and we actually see this same principle through the letters to the seven churches:
• Each church receives a different promise
• Each reward is based on what God chooses to give
• Even struggling churches are given hope and reward “He who overcomes will receive…”

What we can take from this is that God does not operate on a uniform reward system. He is just, personal, and sovereign.

“The Last Will Be First” Correct Understanding:

This is not about promotion, elevation, or getting ahead of others. It’s about the dismantling of human ranking systems! God is not measuring time served, visible effort, and comparison to others. He is instead revealing, His right to be generous as He pleases. This parable is also Jesus’s continued response to Peter who asked Him what the disciples will receive for what they have given up to serve and follow Him. (Matt. 19:27)

This parable teaches us to stop measuring grace, comparing assignments, and expecting God to operate on a wage system. And instead, be grateful you were invited into the vineyard at all.

Father,

Thank You for inviting me into Your vineyard. Not because I earned it… not because I deserved it…but because You are good.

Today I release my right to measure Your goodness.
I lay down comparison, entitlement, and every thought
that says You owe me more than You’ve already given.

God, don’t be “fair” to me, be Yourself with me! Gracious.
Not calculated… but generous.

Forgive me for the moments I’ve looked around instead of looking up. For the times I’ve compared, measured, and questioned what You’ve already called good.

Teach my heart to rejoice
not just in what You do for me…
but in who You are to everyone.

Remind me daily:
I am not owed, I am invited.

And let that truth produce gratitude, humility, and joy
every time I step into the work You’ve given me.

In Jesus name,
Amen.

04/09/2026

Since Jesus is the Son of God, I’ve always wondered why He responded the way He did to the rich young ruler. For a long time, I thought it was simply humility, but now I see that Jesus was actually challenging the man’s understanding.

When the ruler called Him “good,” Jesus responded, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.”

This wasn’t deflection, it was revelation.

The man used a word that belongs to God, yet didn’t recognize he was standing before Him. He spoke truth… but didn’t understand it.

1. The Heart of the Question: “What must I DO?”

The rich young ruler asked what he could do to inherit eternal life.

That question alone reveals the issue:

He believed eternal life could be earned, not received. And if we’re honest, many of us still live this way, trying to perform our way into God’s favor.

2. The Ten Commandments: Two Categories

When Jesus points him to the commandments, this is key:

The Ten Commandments are divided into two categories:
• Relationship with God
• Relationship with people

But Jesus only listed the ones dealing with how we treat others.

Why?

Because the man’s issue wasn’t just behavior, it was his relationship with God. And Jesus knew… he didn’t truly know Him.

3. The Two That Fulfill the Ten

Later in Matthew (ch 22) Jesus makes it plain:
• Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength
• Love your neighbor as yourself

Everything hangs on these two.

This shows us something powerful:

If you truly love God, you won’t put anything before Him. If you truly love people, you won’t harm, lie, steal, or dishonor them.

👉🏽 The Ten Commandments are not just rules, they are evidence of love rightly placed.

4. The Real Issue: What He Lacked

Even with all his confidence, the rich young ruler knew something was missing.

Jesus exposed it:
“Go, sell what you have… and follow me.”

The issue wasn’t money, it was trust.

He had already placed his security, identity, and confidence in his wealth. And when confronted with the truth, he chose what he trusted most.

5. The Warning for Us

This isn’t just about money.

It can be:
• status
• accomplishments
• degrees
• business success
• relationships

We can build lives that look “right” to people…and still be completely disconnected from God.

And that’s why this warning is so heavy:

“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord…’ and I will say, ‘I never knew you.’” (Matthew 7:22–23)

Not “you didn’t work hard enough.”
Not “you didn’t do enough good things.”

But, “I never knew you.” 🥺

6. The Real Question

The rich young ruler didn’t just lack obedience. He lacked true relationship with God.

And that’s the question for all of us:

👉🏽 Do I know God… or do I just know how to perform?

Prayer

Lord, help us.
Open the eyes of those who believe.
Forgive us and have compassion on us. Show us what we lack and give us the wisdom and the desire to choose You above everything else.

Amen.

10/21/2025

Returning to the Simplicity of Christ

Colossians 2:6-10, 16-23

Lately I’ve been feeling grieved, not angry, but deeply burdened by how far we’ve (believers) drifted from the simplicity of the gospel. Somewhere along the way, we started complicating what Jesus made complete.

Paul wrote in Colossians 2:6-7,

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Somewhere between “receive” and “continue,” we added so much extra.
New rituals. New names for spirits. New church rules.

I’ve even seen people teaching about “marine serpent spirits,” “monitoring spirits,” and all sorts of other titles that have no foundation in Scripture. The danger isn’t just the names, it’s that these teachings subtly pull our focus away from Christ’s finished work and toward endless striving for what He already gave us.

Paul warned about this in Colossians 2:8:

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

That’s what’s happening. We’re being taken captive by new traditions, not walking in the freedom of truth.

We’ve created believers who are addicted to deliverance constantly seeking another session, another breakthrough, another word, while neglecting the daily walk of sanctification and surrender.
Freedom is not something we have to keep chasing; it’s something we live out through obedience and relationship with Jesus.

Paul continues in Colossians 2:10:

“You have been brought to fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.”

That means we don’t need to chase after every teaching, rebuke every trendy “spirit,” or depend on another person to set us free. Christ has already done it.

When we keep adding to salvation, we end up with religion that looks powerful but leaves hearts unchanged. We start passing down false humility, pride, and dependence on people instead of dependence on God. We call it “honor” when it’s really idolatry, pastoral worship (or as Paul described it “angel worship”) disguised as doctrine.

Paul confronted this, too. In Colossians 2:18, he said:

“Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you.”

We’ve turned what was meant to be a relationship into a routine of fear afraid of missing a step, afraid of a “spirit” we forgot to name, afraid of being left unprotected. But fear is not faith.

The truth is simple:
•Christ alone is enough.
•The cross is still enough.
•The Word is still enough.

Let’s return to the gospel, not the glittered-up, overcomplicated version, but the real one that transforms hearts.

“Since you died with Christ… why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules? ‘Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!’ These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings.”
— Colossians 2:20-22

Lord, help us return to the simplicity of the cross! To the kind of faith that rests, obeys, and trusts. No more theatrics, no more fear, just freedom, already secured in You.

10/14/2025

As I was reading today, I started thinking about how often believers equate unity with uniformity. Sometimes we act as though being “one” means everyone must express faith in identical ways. But God, in His infinite wisdom, designed diversity so that things function properly.

In both faith and (Black) culture, there are often “codes” for belonging. In church, it often sounds like, “You have to speak in tongues to be saved.” In the Black community, it might sound like, “You have to love sweet potatoes or dislike this thing/person to really be Black.” These aren’t identical, but they run parallel, both create pressure to prove an identity that God never asked us to prove.

And yet, both tongues and Blackness are beautiful. Tongues are a powerful and sacred gift of the Spirit, but Paul makes it clear that not all believers will speak in tongues (1 Corinthians 12:30). In the same way, being Black is beautiful, but it isn’t uniform. Blackness comes in every shade, tone, and expression. God’s creativity shows up in our differences, not our duplicates.

When I think about salvation, Scripture keeps it beautifully simple:

Believe.
Have faith in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Be made new in Him and dead to your old ways. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s the essence of a transformed life. Everything else flows from these truths.

Salvation is what Jesus did on the cross, not what I do to demonstrate it. Once I believe, I am grafted into His family. It’s just like being born; there’s nothing I can do to make myself more of who I already am. I can’t earn my race or ethnicity any more than I can earn salvation. Both are received by design one biological, the other spiritual.

Reading 1 Corinthians 7 reminded me that faith doesn’t erase differences; it transforms how we live within them. 🙌🏾🔥

Paul wasn’t calling believers to conformity, but to faithfulness, to let their life in Christ speak for itself.

Unity in Christ doesn’t mean sameness, it means harmony.
Different notes, one Spirit.
Our distinctions, our gifts, expressions, and stories aren’t threats to God’s order; they’re reflections of His creativity.

These verses reminded me that belonging in Christ doesn’t require proof, performance, or comparison. It’s grace, pure and simple. My prayer is that I always rest in that truth and that others who read this will sense the same quiet freedom.

07/30/2025

During family Bible study last night, I couldn’t help but laugh at how hard Paul was warning singles in 1 Corinthians 7. 😅

We had a great family discussion about it, and it got me thinking…somewhere along the way, the Church + culture + families started teaching marriage as THE calling not A calling.

But here’s the truth:

✅ You don’t have to get married to be whole.
✅ You’re not a rib waiting to be claimed.
✅ You’re not incomplete without a spouse.

Some are called to marriage, that’s great!
Some are called to singleness even better!

And yes, if you desire s*x or children, you’re also asking for the responsibility of marriage, because those gifts were designed to flourish inside that covenant.

But singleness isn’t punishment. It’s purpose. And it comes with Spirit-led self-control, not shame. (You don’t have to tame a beast that was never awakened.)

Marriage is sacred. So is singleness.

Let’s teach truth, not pressure.
Let’s make room for freedom, not formulas.

What would your life look like if you truly believed you were already whole? 💭

07/21/2025

🛑 The internet is laughing… but all I see is pain.—What went down at that concert wasn’t just messy, it exposed something deeper. Not just about them… but about us.—Since when did we start treating broken families like punchlines?—In a world that rewards drama and clout, I’m standing on something different:👉🏾 Integrity.—I just dropped a full video on YouTube: what it says about our culture, what I’m teaching my children, and why character still counts… even when no one’s clapping.—It’s on my page right now. https://youtu.be/ezARnjCH6ro?si=B5I0VZaYj1ZBEUjf—If you care about legacy, go watch it.—

07/21/2025

I couldn’t laugh.
Not because I didn’t understand the jokes… but because I couldn’t ignore the pain.

A man got caught.
A marriage is falling apart.
And the world is calling it content.

Meanwhile, we’ve stopped asking:
What kind of people are we becoming?

In this video, I talk about the moment that went viral, not to rehash the scandal, but to ask a bigger question:

👉🏾 Do we still care about integrity?
Or are we too entertained to notice when something sacred gets broken?

I also share what I’ve been teaching my son…Because before we raise children who know what they want to do, we need to raise children who know who they want to be.

This message isn’t perfect.
But it’s real. And I pray it meets you where you are.

I challenge you to watch the full video. Then let’s talk about it: in the comments, in our homes, and in our hearts.

10/14/2024

The final episode of Faithful Families for 2024 is coming !! Let’s talk about your tactical family plan for 2025! Join us as we discuss getting our families focused, equipped, and efficient in the new year! So excited to have Michael R. Morris Realtor joining me again! This conversation is going to be enlightening and empowering mark your calendars now! 🤎🤎

08/13/2024

Such a great breakdown of this struggle that many men and women have dealt with. As believers we should be allowing Gods word and His Spirit to inform our decisions AND it is crucial that we also hear the heart of our spouses; knowing that as a part of you they are speaking with a unique perspective and wisdom related to your circumstances. You should seek, educate yourselves and decide together what to do and not do. 🤎🤎 **this knowledge should be applied to all giving of your resources and time outside home.

07/13/2024

I've received 200 reactions to my posts in the past 30 days. Thanks for your support. 🙏🤗🎉

Faithful Families

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