The Quick Scan by Mike Ramey

 

LET IT PASS

     Pastor Timothy Flemming, Sr. preached a great sermon during the wee days of 2023 entitled: “The Upward Look”.  One of the bellringers of the message concerned our frequent desire to ‘look back’ in our lives and spend an ungodly amount of time fretting over what has already been done.  “You have to let the past—pass!” Pastor Flemming urged his Atlanta, Ga. Congregation.

     This is sound wisdom. Too many of us let the past pull us back.  It doesn’t matter if it happened yesterday or forty years ago.  Friend, you can’t undo what has been done AND you can’t let those who won’t forgive what you have done attempt to set themselves up as dictators of your life.  You are NOT the same person you were when your past took a wrong turn, whether it was your fault, their fault, or everyone’s fault.  Further, IF you are in Christ, and are a Christian, your past does NOT exist in the eyes of God.  Confess the sin, repent, and move on!

     IF folk get a kick out of trying to drag you back to your ‘old you’, tell ‘em that’s not you!

     Friend, there are going to be those who will go to their graves bound and determined to try to hold you captive to the man or woman you USED to be!  They want to sucker you back to when you ‘fell short’.  Some words that will make your day a little brighter: “Forgive them and walk on without them!”  There ARE going to be those people who want to suck on the ‘Hateraide’ and want YOU to relive—either in mind, soul, or spirit—that ‘past you’.  It is up to YOU to remember and rest in the fact that your past has passed on by you, and you are in the present moving on into a victorious and successful future.

     Those young people who are classed as Millennials and Generation Z have ‘come up’ so to speak in ‘weak’ times.  If you follow social media, there is a steady diet of video markers to remind many of them about their failures and their pasts.  My young friend, no matter what you may have done in your past—I realize that this may not have been taught in your schools but learn and apply the lesson now—all of that is in your past.  You can ‘come back’ from a setback that took place ‘way back when’.  My friend, remember and walk in the fact that you are NOT the same person NOW as you were THEN.  Sure, it’s easy for young people to use the line: “Well, you just don’t know or understand how bad things were for me back then.”

     Balderdash!  Everyone has a past, no matter their age, race, or status.  The bigger issue is whether you are going to handle your past by letting it pass or have your past to handle you by ‘begging’ it to hang around you.  At the bottom line…you have that call to make.

     Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.  “The Quick Scan” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996.  To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: mgmikeramey@yahoo.com.  ©2023 Barnstorm Communications International.

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Rev. M. G. “Mike” Ramey (Retired) served as the Certified Modern Street Gangs Specialist & Media Consultant of “The Gang Line”. He had been interviewed in the U. S. and abroad on radio, television, and Internet about the dangers of Modern Street Gangs since 2007. His writings on Modern Street Gangs abound in print and online. Previously, he served as an award-winning broadcast journalist, producer, and TV/Radio talk show host. He has also served as a staff writer, section editor, and syndicated columnist. Ramey has won—or helped to win—some two dozen journalism awards and citations. He also holds a Police Citation for Citizen Bravery from the Indianapolis Police Department (1986). Ramey is also married, an Ordained Minister (Retired) and a KJV Bible Teacher.

Ramey is a Certified Modern Street Gangs Specialist with Certifications in Law Enforcement (2006), Non-Law Enforcement (2010), and Gangs & Cults Ministry (2017). He also has endorsements in K-12 Gang Issues and Transnational Gangs. He also carries Specialist Ratings in Cult/Occult Crime, and Transnational Human Trafficking. Ramey has also served with several International anti-gang ministries, including Gangstyle.com of Washington state (2004-2009), Thug Exposed Ministries of California (2010 to 2015) and Bishop Outreach Ministries of Florida (2010 to 2015).

In 2011 “The Gang Line” offered training and certification coursework for those interested in becoming certified Modern Street Gang Specialists: Training approaches the anti-gang ministry field through the combined use of spiritual (biblical principles/discipleship) and criminal (gang members and gang crime). From 2015-2017, Ramey served as an Advisory Board Member for the School of Criminal Justice at Harrison College, Indianapolis, Indiana, with a specialty of Organized Crime & Gangs. From 2017-2019, Ramey served as a Bible Teacher to at-risk detained juvenile offenders at the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center with his own Bible-based Curriculum centering upon Biblical Life Skills taught from the Book of Proverbs.

Rev. Ramey’s skill set includes having been a veteran substitute teacher (Secondary Education), a college instructor for two Bible colleges in the Indianapolis, Indiana area, a Probation Officer (Intensive/High Risk & School-Based) with the Marion County Juvenile Court, and a peer grant reviewer of anti-gang grant programs with the U.S. Department of Justice (2010). He also created, designed, and taught the course “Modern Street Gangs: Developing Urban Ministry Strategies—UM-190” at Crossroads Bible College, Indianapolis, Indiana (2009 & 2010). In 2013, Ramey served as a post-production Consultant for Chick Publications’ national anti-gang comic: “Black Angel”. It was translated into Spanish in 2014.

Ramey has written extensively on the topic of Modern Street Gangs with two Internet columns: “The Gang Line” and “The Gang Line Blogger” which abound in cyberspace. In a post-pandemic society, the motto of The Gang Line still rings true: “Spiritual Solutions for Spiritual Problems!”

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