I feel like Big Meech, Larry Hoover…

Right there, in my car, in my own way – I lost it. Why? Because I saw what was happening. What was happening was… (read more)

“I put on for my city!” Okay…really, I don’t like that song much. But I do like the sentiment. Doing what I do with my city constantly in mind.

But a lot of times I feel the need to talk to my city. Share my heart with them. Share the pain I feel for them. Share the joy I have for them. Share my dream for them. A dream I believe is rooted in what God has put in me to do to serve them.

But like most bloggers, I try to talk to everyone BUT my city. I try to talk to other emcees, other ministers, frustrated Christians…yada yada yada. I still want to talk to them too because there’s some stuff that I want to say that my city won’t always connect with. But I need to talk to my city more.

So, with that said my blog will be 70-80% directed to the city of Newport, RI and the surrounding areas. This probably means that most you won’t be reading my blog anymore. Which is bittersweet because some of you I met via blogging. But its sweet because my highest blog traffic has been on my opinion on some controversial stuff and I never wanted to become a TMZ of the faith. And since most of my city knows nothing about the goofy culture of evangelicalism, I won’t be posting too much here about that kind of stuff.

So if you’ll be sticking around anyway to see what’s happening in the Kingdom on this little cul de sac of society called Newport, I look forward to seeing you here. If you wont be reading here anymore, hit me up on Twitter @stevenpatton

So cue up the Jeezy/Kanye beat because its time to put on for my city – on, on for my city!

wait…what?…its really not that bad?

Who the heck are all of these Chicken Little’s screaming about what is WRONG with everything?!?! You want to know what’s wrong with all of these things? The bloggers running around like mini-Glenn Becks talking about what’s wrong with everything. “Yeah, but I also provide a solution to what I’m talking about too!” WHO CARES!?! So what happens, if we dont listen to your opinions, its all doomed? Allow me to use my free speech to respectfully ask you to refrain from using yours for a while.

Allow me to use my free speech to tell you about what is RIGHT with the local church.

You know what’s RIGHT about the local church? The countless numbers of people who you will NEVER hear of feeding the homeless and treating them like the image bearers of God they are. The kind of loving treatment that is the hallmark of the Body of Christ. The kind of love that sends a fame through out the collective, unknown members of the city that have no homes or phones but they have each other and brag about the love they received at that local church.

What’s right about the local church is the number of unknown people that dedicate their time, talent and treasure to seeing the Gospel of Jesus Christ propelled through out their communities. What’s right about the local church is countless, nameless saints of God helping the single mom out with her daily needs because the child’s father REFUSES to pay child support and money she makes from her 3 jobs just barely covers her rent and utilities.

What’s RIGHT about the local church is the number of men who wrap their arms around the younger men to encourage them, pray for them and give them incredible, invaluable amounts of encouragement. The men who silently love their wives and children in a God honoring way so that their sons and daughters see a healthy definition of a man.

What’s right about the church is the number of untold miracles that didn’t come with a fake shake and a fall to the ground. The miracles that didn’t come with a book table and an annointed rag to purchase. But the miracles that were done in tearful prayer after the service when no one was there. The miracles done in another believer’s living room as they held an informal prayer gathering.

The countless stories of needs being met, pained people comforted by the God inspired love of their brothers and sisters in Christ, the untold salvations happening in public school cafeterias, the people dedicating their time to see illiterate youth learning to read, the people breaking free from addictions,  the people going from worship of self to the worship of the one true God, the people selling things on eBay to give to families ravaged by storms and for tents in Haiti, the people running marathons to raise awareness and funds for issues like sex slave trafficking, the people fighting to erradicate poverty- THAT’S WHAT’S RIGHT WITH THE CHURCH!

And if you don’t see it, then maybe you need a new church or maybe you need to spark a change in your own.

So share with the rest of us, what do you think is RIGHT with the church?

The solution? The Apostles told all the other disciples to pick 7 men full of good reputation, full of the Spirt and wisdom (Acts 6:3) to buss tables. Did you get that?!?! The criteria to BUSS TABLES: 1. Good Reputation 2. Full of the Spirit 3. Full of wisdom

Let’s be honest, we don’t have this kind of criteria in our churches to serve tables. Most churches BARELY have this much criteria to be ministry leaders and directors. I know youth pastors, small group leaders, worship leaders, children’s ministry directors, media directors and more that don’t meet these three benchmarks. Be honest, how many people in your church serve tables at the church pot luck or at the soup kitchen that don’t even believe in God let alone are FULL of the Spirit?

This brings me to the question: have we set the bar too low? To we allow too much to slide by under the guise of grace? To we allow lesser quality people to lead because they have a gift? Do we too often quickly fill a need with able bodies that have unable hearts? There are pastors of churches that would NOT be serving tables at the church pot luck in Acts 6. Think of the pastors with bad reputations that continue to lead churches or start new ones after they were kicked out of their last church for banging his assistant.

My question is this: have we lowered the bar in the name of “grace?”

What do you think?

Dropping a spot on the blog to let you know that after much thought and preparation, I have OFFICIALLY come up with the title of my next album and teaser projects.

The teaser project I’m working on will be a FREE project that will  be a lead up to the album. The official title for the teaser is “Bait & Switch.”

The official album which will release a couple months after Bait & Switch will be called “*The Fine Print.”

I’ll be doing some video blog posts as well as typed blog posts to explain the concept behind both the teaser and the album.

Also, to all of my pastor/youth pastor/party promoter/club manager peeps – I’m available for booking. If interested, email me @ czarmusic@gmail.com

People feel like they can’t just NOT LIKE the music.

(continue reading and join in the conversation here)

2. Because I want to make an announcement right here and I figured that this was a great place to do.

3. Cuz I felt like it!

On a serious note, I know Saturday I was BLOWING UP everyone’s Twitter feed with a conversation between me, @LionsandLiars and @DMWalking about my consideration of retiring from doing rap music. And today I’m making my official announcement: I’m going to do ONE more album. Even though @Thriceborn doesn’t believe I will only do ONE more, its true.

Why do one more album? Here are the 3 main reasons I’m going to do this last one:

1. to get this last bit of stuff off of my heart and in to music
 

2. I don’t want the last bit of creativity in the form of rap to die inside me. I’d rather let it live in infamy than to rest with me in the grave

3. my wife convinced me that I’ve been at it too long to not complete what I started

So there you have it. One more for the road. I’m working with some awesome people to make this happen and to make sure I go out with a bang.

Check back here for more musings on life, ministry, leadership, music and more.

Oh, and if you haven’t gotten my other solo release ‘ “Life Support EP” download it right here for FREE for the next 7 days!!! Looking forward to the wild ride ahead.

Dowload “Life Support EP” NOW!!!http://rcpt.yousendit.com/844598521/76f884a101fadf050623e8e794710172

I’ll post notes on Facebook but the blog is closing.

Its been over a year and its been a great run but, I think its time to close the doors. One person once asked”what would happen if you closed your doors? Would anyone notice? Would you be missed?” In the case of czarthoughts, the answer would be a resounding NO.

You can still hit me via facebook and email.

God bless – now go shake up the world.

“Out of business”

I listen to some of these TV preachers that talk about “God wants to give you everything you want” and then I read the Bible and it doesn’t line up. What about in Hebrews 11 where it says “and they died WITHOUT receiving the promise.” And this was written to say they HAD FAITH! What about us? Would we continue to honor God if He doesn’t heal our child or bless our family the way we want? What if that family member dies of cancer despite your prayers? Is He still good? What if you lose your house even though you’ve printed all of the prosperity scriptures and posted them on your mirror? Is He still sovereign? What if your situation requires a miracle or life is going to get REALLY bad? Is God still sovereign?

Too many times I’ve seen people honor God for what they think they can get. They do the Christian rituals because they think God will change their situation. And then when they don’t get the desired result- out go the Bibles, prayers, church and Christian friends. Then, without fail, they say “I tried it and it didn’t work for me” as if the Christian faith was a diet or something. As if their Bibles came with a disclaimer that said “Results may vary.” 

So what am I saying? I’m saying let’s worship, honor and recklessly and relentlessly live for God not because what we want from Him, but because of who He is. Because even if He doesn’t move on my every beck and call, I recognize He is God – and I am not. The only REAL promise I have as I live this life is “In this life you will face trials and hard times. But don’t be afraid because I have overcome the world.” He overcame this world, so my final hope is not in this life. My final hope is in HIM and the eternal life He prepared for me.