I'm No Saint

You see the title and I don't want to be one, either.

Matter of fact, what does a saint mean?

one officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness

one of God's chosen and usually Christian people

one eminent for piety or virtue

Well, I'm not a "holy man, nor a "chosen man of God", nor one eminent for piety or virtue (in a religious sense)", I'm just me. A hot headed (when people rub me the wrong way), intelligent, three-tiered degree, son, husband, "VSR", friend, brother, writer, "criminal-minded", and the list goes on; homo-sapien. I'm no saint and I'm glad about it. Why? I'm being who I want to be and still, (sort of like Common), becoming a better person. I'm no longer seeking "holiness", I'm seeking wholeness. Holiness is for people to walk around town impressing people of how righteous and deep (revelatory) they are (just my opinion). It's not to give glory to God, it's to impress others just like high school kids do on the first day in school. No better way for people to feel special, blessed, and confident than taking the "holy-roller" road. I'm seeking the path of wholeness, the continual growth and maturation of self, and to make a lil' money along the way (legally of course). I believe that I have a good yet damaged heart. I believe there are good traits about me, hell, maybe like "the salt of the earth." But I'm not living my life to attain some higher level of spiritual purity. I believe that I can reach a higher level of consciousness in making better choices. But this whole spiritual purity thing, I'm not down with. I truly believe that the worst of the worst, those who lead their lives mostly like hell will beat "the righteous, holy; the saints" into heaven. Jesus said himself said (ppl love quoting Paul but never quote Jesus about this particular issue....). Remember, it's not about what you do, it's about the heart....I've tried "living right" and it only had me betray the essence of who and what I was originally intended to be. Bold, wise, loving, adventurous, inquisitive, and my favorite, crazy. These traits and various others exclude me from the "Fully Developed Saint Program" when I'm processed under strict rules of how i can talk, think, act, eat, associate with, and places to go. I'm no saint, I'm a sinner and I like it very, very much, my friends. Sainthood makes ppl believe they are something they're not. Sinner-hood bows the heart to understand God's mercy.

Til next time, David "The Big O Sinner" Womack....

Be Free To Speak

The 1st amendment of the United States of America Constitution reads:

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

To break it down Barney style, we have been given the privilege and right to speak freely on issues of any sort. I believe that in American society, there's a catch 22 or a double standard when it comes to free speech. Whenever people have addressed serious issues in our society it's frowned upon but we support a bunch of rich women on television cuss each out every Sunday night. It makes no sense. We would rather hear somebody use their free speech on some crap that has no value. However, we disdain one who's trying to address important issues that are at times swept under the rug. I believe the intention of the founding fathers in the late 1700s was to give people a voice. A voice of reason, accountability, comedy, seriousness, and thoughtfulness. So I'd like to raise that issue and say this to all those who want to express themselves (with ethical and legal behaviors) should do so. If you've got a story to tell, tell it. If you've got grievances with certain things (and people), please voice your concerns. Always be mindful of the presentation because to get somebody's attention is all about how we present it (i.e., look at how thedailybeast.com does it, it's amazing). It doesn't have to always be sophisticated, it just needs to be sincere. Use your 1st amendment right to the fullest. If the federal government can't touch you, then you shouldn't have to worry about anyone else doing anything to you. We have the liberty to write blogs, release music to the masses, record video documentaries, and write books to talk about things that matter to us. Will everybody like it? Nope but you took the chance; so you should pat yourself on the back. Anybody who knows me knows I'm not biting my tongue for nobody (and yes, dude has been demonized but that's cool, it comes with the territory). If there's something I believe in, then I will speak on it. Of course, be prepared to get crucified when people disagree with you but that's all a part of the game. Let you be you and don't change your stance for nobody, especially when it's about the unbiased truth on a matter. Don't lower your voice if people don't agree with you (we all need to learn to agree to disagree - hello somebody). It's our 1st amendment right. There are so many countries that stifle their people from speaking on social issues through imprisonment and death. We must choose this liberty and should not put to death the right to speak on things that need to be addressed. Not for fame, money, or honor (if it is, I'm like Pac, I ain't mad atcha), just to have good conversations through whatever medium of communication we use.

Til next time, dgwo...

Don't Be Perfect, Be You

For the past couple of months, I've been going through a deprogramming or detox period from religion, from my perspective, Christianity. I've always had problems with church, religion, even with the Nation of Islam of some of its racist antics (if you live in the "Piedmont" area of N.C., you know what I'm talking about). I just could never see why people gave themselves the right to judge others in the lifestyles they chose without seeing why, when, how, and why. There are others things that I can go on tangents on but we don't have all day for that, do we? One of things that I'm deprogramming from is the "perfection" complex. In my ten plus years in the religious world, I've the following cliches:

- "Mark the perfect man" (which actually comes from the Bible but is primarily twisted)
- "Fake it 'til you make it"
- You have dominion over the place you are in your life
- Being broke or wallowing in your emotions is a sin
-The emotions or sins you do are caused by "a spirit"

All this is BULLS---......

Can I get a witness for those who've heard this or seen this?

I've learned that we were not born perfect and as long as we live on planet earth, we will never be perfect. I think people use the word "perfect", which is actually listed in the Bible, in the wrong context. Men like Luke, Mark, Peter, and Paul didn't say, you have to live a sinless life. Or you must be spotless and without wrinkle (which is a passage used out of context). What these men meant was for humans to mature as life goes on. Our mind and the way we see things should always change due to an ever-changing world. And yes, to achieve this, we have to make mistakes in life. We will screw some people, even our friends and loved ones over from time to time (hopefully unintentionally). Some mistakes cost us money, time, and relationships but look at the experiences and lessons we pick up along the way. Hell, Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, didn't have a perfect life, He lived a sinless life (I know I've started a debate right there but it's the truth). Obama in all of his accomplishments is a man he himself said in his speech before starting his first term said, "I'm a just a man, I'm going to make mistakes" (I hope you heard me clear black people, how soon did we forget, very quick). George Wallace had a change of heart after a traumatic incident and admitted his views on race was "flawed." Do you get the point I'm trying to make? We are fallible, flawed, in many way, weak human beings. We are not God. Let me say it again for some of religious, narcissistic, self-reliant, rich/poor, or snooty mo-fos. We are not God. He alone is perfect, we are and will forever be imperfect. I'm sort of happy that I'm not perfect. I'm starting to relish in my weaknesses, flaws, excuses, and shortcomings I'm glad that I'm a human being, that I'm me. Why should I render my emotions to a shell to make myself look perfect? To never check somebody else when they need to be checked? When I'm feeling giddy about something that's awesome? That's stupid. God made me to have emotions, to be angry, to be sad, to be depressed, to be forgiven, to be happy, to tell weird jokes,  to be thoughtful of others. He doesn't want me to be perfect and neither does He want you to be perfect. Now, don't take my words as gold because I'm just a man, I'm just entitled to my opinion. Be you, the angel or demon that you are (it's up to you). Always look for times to mature, to become a better person, to be a solution into our society that is full of problems. The only way to do that or be that solution is to be you, with your imperfect self. Love yourself and all your flaws. In someone else's life, you might show strength and help them along away. I believe that's how God intended life to be.

Til next time, my friends......

Why Forgiveness Is Hard?

Since I can remember, I've heard many people tell me, "if somebody hurts you, you've got to let it go, pray for them, and move on." Well, to quote a "true and faithful saying" in American culture, this process is easier said than done. The amount of b.s. going on in the world and the level of people's foolish actions towards others are becoming the breeding ground for cold hearts. Not the type of cold heart that will go out and hurt other people but will do whatever in this life to never feel again. Never trust again. Never love "everyone" with open arms again. A lot of times, the wound is so deep, forgiveness is hard. In American Christian culture, a lot of people are lying to other people saying that "if God forgave you, you ought to forgive others." Wrong, dead wrong. In the Bible and in other cultures, God sometimes lost his cool when people were just screwing up and had no sorrow about it. Not saying God is like us but as I write this blog, I see where we, well I, get my short temper from (of course, when dealing with sociopaths and idiots who love to screw people). Over the past weekend while hanging with "My Honey" and friends in "Chi-Town", I got a chance to really confront these ideologies, which clearly doesn't work for me. I'm sorry, this is not the time or place in my life to put on "super intelligent and meta-physical (the other phrase for spirituality)" fronts to appease desire others want for my life. I can honestly say, forgiveness is hard, it's brutal, and it's an everyday thing. Some people super "spiritualize" Jesus' words to Peter when he asked, "Say man, how many times do I need to forgive this ----- (you fill in the blank)?" Jesus says, " Say man, 70 times 70." What did he mean by that? Every time you want to jump in the car, load up your desert eagle, and find that person that did you wrong with a bullet readily available, you may want to think about the consequences of revenge. Now, I do believe in getting revenge but as the old school crew love to say, "it's what you do it's how you do it" (ok, that's a line from Bahamadia, so work with me, work with me, my friends). What I get from this conversation is that every time those thoughts come up, the anger, the rage, the frustration, the perplexity of combined emotions, we've got to start the process of forgiveness. For some, it only takes a second. For others, years. I don't care what any preacher, monk, politician, or musical artist has to say, forgiveness is hard. Seeing those who hurt you still going on with their lives, still "jerking people", still living the same prettied up evil lives, stirs anger and unforgiveness. Every time your mind goes back to that time when you were hurt, there it is. Despite popular belief, this is going to happen until the day you die. I "receive that." My only thing is that we shouldn't live our lives in unforgiveness. I believe forgiveness is a hard road that requires the will to do it and making the time to get to that place. Now, let me say something else before I close this one out. This doesn't mean we shouldn't confront those who've done us wrong. That's condoning somebody's behavior. Well, I believe that it's for me tonite, my friends.

Til next time. "Trying To Make A Dollar Out Of 15 Cents" Overton...

When It's Time To Say Goodbye

Ending long term relationships are never an easy thing to do. It's a gut wrenching, heart aching, abnormal sweating decision that we make from time to time. Business partnerships. BFFs now turn to BFF (best foes forever). Affiliations with organizations null and void. Hell, even family relationships become nonexistent. In certain points in our life, we have to let people go, those same people we've held dear (for those who I still kick it or haven't kicked it with in a while, you know who you are, ole David won't kick you to the curb). This is a decision that I've had to make within the past few weeks. Some people I used to be tight with and see a couple of times a week, well, that situation has changed. Some of these people I used to call friends, brothers, and sisters; today, I don't regard them as such. In my life right now, there's still some unsettled beef between "some other folks" and I. The sad part about it is the people I used to regard as friends and family have sided with those that have lied about me, my family, and other good friends of mine. I used to try and talk with them, reason with them about the "aspects" of this beef the "other party" fails to acknowledge (for the sake of maintaining funds and image). The sad thing about this is that I have to cut them off. Over the weekend, a very good friend of mine expressed her mentality when I was in the same position of these people I'm cutting out of my life. She had to do it because I chose to side and enable the unhealthy nature of people that were (and still) beefing with her. Boy, I took in everything she said that day, thanks "Sims." This conversation solidified the painful decision I had to make, the cutoff. Now a new personal value has arisen. Why should I maintain relationships with people that we have nothing in common? Every time I talk about things that are true in God reality, they want to take things to the "meta-physical" or "spiritual" realm all the time. Every time I want to address some real issues about certain things, here they go condoning evil but demonizing the good. Why in the hell should I continue relationships where I'm on the highway to success and these jokers are still driving on back roads of destruction? Why should I continue being friends with folks who clearly judge me for "seeing the light" on certain issues they are willfully ignorant? Yep, it's time to cut these jokers off because we're no longer compatible like an iPhone 6 power cable to an iPhone 4s phone. It's not going to work. Some people think this decision is extreme but it's got to be done. I may not agree with everything Tyler Perry says but I'm going to quote one of his favorite sayings circa 2001. "Why do we keep things God is tearing apart?" Well, we can pass the offering plate on that one. It's going to hurt them more than it's going to hurt me because I've got goals to reach. How can I achieve them with dead weight in my life? Remember, a lot of times in life, dead weight are people and at times, we need to cast that extra cargo into the sea before our ships sinks. Do you dig the k-nowledge?

Til next time, my friends, Sea Captain Overton......

So, What's Been The Hold Up?

Well, why in the hell did I make this post's name this way, this time around? Well, for good reason. I've been having it hard for the past 3 plus weeks. Work has been almost unbearable. Still getting help and working through depression, anxiety, and anger conditions (thanks to the rampant cultish aspects of Christianity), and just life in general. Nevertheless, all of these noted (and undisclosed aspects of my life) have in various ways, kept me away from the blog scene. This has always been in the case since December 2013, which was a time I gave the verbal FU to the church system (a decision I will never regret). But there's one aspect I'd like tap on I think other blog writers and video bloggers can relate to.  Each of us has a niche. Some it's fashion, cars, technology, pranks (ie- Jack Vale), music reviews, culture, etc. I know my niche is sharing my different experiences and of course condemning the overall church system in the Black/African American community. Sometimes, we catch a lot of flack on our views and perspective takes on the topics we cover. I know within the past 10 months, I've caught a lot of flack. Sometimes, I don't care and other times, I get my cage rattled. Sometimes, some of may feel, man, I just keep talking about the same stuff over and over again. Sometimes, we may receive comments from people who say, "can't you talk about something else? Why are you being so critical other such and such? Or, the get over already in more ways than one talk." I can't speak for everyone else but these things really hold me up from writing blogs, especially about certain things that I really important to me I want to share with others. So, I 'm going to try my best step by step, day by day to post blogs. Hopefully in the future, I'd like to do video blogs, mostly to cover the mess that's going on in American cults that call themselves churches (not all of them, just most of them). There are so many topics that I'd like to discuss and yes, they're going to offend some people but hey, we live in a country that gives us the right of freedom of speech. Plus, writing blogs are therapeutic for me, a way to turn the negative energy within me into positive energy. We all need an outlet, right? Well, this is one of mine and I'm going to actively use is it for purpose. Hopefully, my friends, this post will reignite passion for something you know you're good at but have allow "life" get hold you up. I know the feeling and I'm here with you.

Well, that's all I have for tonite but stay tuned, more thoughts are sure to come.

Til next time, Recovering "Life" Addict Overton......

Ex-Ministries' War On The Hip Hop Culture

I need to write this to get some pressure off my chest. Actually, this has been a long time coming, since 2004 when a guy by the name of Craig Lewis, who I believe, is the lead pastor of Ex Ministries in Fort Worth, Texas. From 2004 (maybe earlier) to present, dude has been on a rampage against the hip hop culture, even going after Christian artists like Cross Movement and Reach Records. Now, before I get started on my tangent, I'm going to let you know, I do not listen to Christian music and to be quite honest, I don't listen to hip hop music much, either. But when I saw a post from Ex-Ministries concerning the hip hop culture, "Christian rappers", and rap in general, I got a bit heated. Now, I do agree with some of the points he shared. Yes, it is true that God can use any form of art to reach people in this crazy world. Yes, I do believe that the majority of hip hop right now (mainstream of course) is out of control in certain aspects. Yes, we shouldn't look at ourselves as gods (although a lot of Christians do! Due to their belief in the word of faith doctrine). However, I do not believe hip hop is demonic or came from the devil. Okay, so he lists "The Zulu Nation" created hip hop and says it comes from demonic roots. Well, he failed to forget about Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and a lot if unnamed guys who honed/began this art form and different "sect" of world culture sometime within the 1970s (those from NYC, will have more of an accurate time period). The thing that really pissed me off is Lewis' insistent use of demonizing the hip hop culture. This includes speech, dialect, dress, trains of thought, identity, values, beliefs, codes, relationships, and many more aspects of this culture. This also includes the different sects within the hip hop culture, which is mostly split between two categories (and within these categories innummerable categories), underground (independent) and mainstream (industry puppets). Well, this can go for every other culture in our world today from Islam, rock n roll, blues, Christian, atheism, science, sports, politics, you name it. So let me "expose" Craig Lewis' hypocritical bull---- he's been spewing for years and have led much of the younger generation he's indoctrinated to lose who they are and where they are from (as the Revolutionary a With Tattoos says, "creating another generation of coons-people who forget who they are and where they're from"). If the hip hop culture is demonic, then I guess Satan created it, matter of fact, created all cultures and the music found within them. Wrong. The last time I read the bible, it says that every good and perfect gift comes from the Father of lights (it's always been humans who "perverts it" -Phanatik of Corss Movement). To break it down, everything, even some of us a-holes/bigots in the world, are created by God. This includes hip hop. You see, Mr. Lewis fails to forget, it was hip hop from the 80s to the 90s that brought out a lot of topics the church distanced itself from. Teen pregnancy, abortion, rape, the drug game, political corruption, speaking on sex protection (AIDS/HIV), pursuing education, "fighting the powers that be" oppression towards the African American community, "friends", and even enjoying the "summertime." The list goes on. But what was the church doing? Speaking in tongues, passing the offering plates taking away hard earned money from the poor, keeping people in church 7 days a week to keep themselves from "the world", condoning child, sex, spiritual, emotional, and financial abuses/scandals, and it's favorite pastime, condemning the world (Lewis' pedigree). Mr. Lewis and all those riding his jock of his erroneous teachings, I've got two questions for you:

How can you separate rap from hip hip when they are synonymous (the same)?

If you condemn or judge one sect of culture, shouldn't we condemn ALL world cultures?

The last time I've heard, only God can judge, not us, for we have the ability to discern from the good and the bad. Mr. Lewis, stop hating on hip hop, because you're actually hating on other forms of art and life, too. Let me explain:

For hip hop comes from rock n roll, bebop, jazz, blues, country, reggae, and of the grandfather of them all is classical. I wonder what music your music ministry plays in your services, hmmmm, maybe all the musical forms I just mentioned, especially in your worship sessions. Hypocrite. And I can only say that because from time to time, I'm one too. At least I admit it. 

I'll admit, hip hop isn't what it should be, but revolution is coming again and those a part of it are going to pick you a part, line by line. As Paul states in Colossians 1:16-17 in Barney style, God will use any and everything for His purpose. I've got couple of NEW TESTAMENT scrips on deck, too about the NEW COVENANT (since you're stuck on the old, as most pimp preachers are....). 

Til next time, my friends.....

Here's the reason for my tangent @ http://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fexministries.tv%2Fa-message-to-christian-rappers%2F&h=nAQEy0lKX&s=1