Raw authenticity blended with passion—his and that of his Lord. That’s what one hears when Json grabs a mic. But perhaps more importantly, that is what one sees and feels when he shares his prodigal story of redemption…

Live fast and die young. My life could have been summed up in those words. But something interrupted what everyone, including myself, figured would be my destiny. A look into the nightmare that was my life, and it’s unmistakable that I am what I am only by the grace of God.

Like many kids who grow up in the inner city, I lived in a single-parent home. My father passed when I was five years old, so the responsibility of caring for a boy and raising him to become a man fell on my mom’s shoulders. But that load proved to be too much for her to bear. Not only was she arrested on a gun charge that left me to be raised by a family friend, but even after being freed from jail, alcohol and drugs consumed her and crack became an addiction.

You are bound to become what you see, many would say. And while eventually I would realize that I had to take responsibility for my own actions, as a teenager, I just did what I saw at home and in the streets. I started selling drugs, even though I’d vowed that I wouldn’t after seeing what it was doing to my mother and feeling the effects of it. Yet, by the age of 13, not only was I selling, but I smoked weed for the first time. And after that, I got high almost every day for the next eight years.

God had put me in the hood, taken away my father, and given me a crack-addicted mom. I wrote my first song around this time, and the title pretty much captured how I felt—“My Life is [Jacked] Up.” I figured God couldn’t expect much good from me, and no one else did either. So, within the eight years years that followed, I joined a gang, started snorting heroin, and violence and crime became my way of life. Even after losing my best friend, sister and so many others, I wasn’t deterred from the path I’d chosen.

Live like you are God. I never actually said that to myself, but that’s exactly how I was living and planning to die. But fortunately, for me, my plans failed.  After getting so strung out on drugs and living so recklessly that my friends actually wanted me to get locked up, I ended up in a prison cell with nothing but a Bible and a vent. Before long, I was having Bible studies through that vent, and I knew that God wasn’t pleased with how I’d been living my life. While I did regress after being released—drinking and still dealing—Nikki (who’s now my wife) came into my life and by way of her encouragement to go to church, her refusal to continue in sin with me, and God awakening her soul, I eventually came to know Jesus as my Lord. When I was younger, I’d seen my older brother go from living wilder than me to being a completely new person, I just hadn’t fully understood why or how. But now, I had hope.

At one of the services Nikki invited me to, I saw this guy rapping about Jesus and eventually, Thi’sl (that guy) would become one of the many brothers (along with Flame and J.R.) who helped me become the man God created me to be. They even encouraged me not to dive into rapping just because I had the ability, but to really take time to get to know the Lord and minister from a heart of worship and service.

And that’s why I make music now. I know God is the only reason I am still living, and the Gospel is the only thing that can save men; so I think of my life as something to be poured out. It’s something to be given away.

Json now lives in Iowa City, IA with his wife and kids, while serving as the Co-Director of The Spot Outreach Ministry of Parkview Church.

AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE WE WILL SERVE THE LORD!

~~GO AGAINST THE FLOW~~

Psalm 68:5 – A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Submit your success stories to JustSweetAngel@gmail.com with a Biogaphy and high res photo! thank you.

]]> http://justsweetangel.com/2013/05/gods-gift/feed/ 1 http://justsweetangel.com/2013/04/flyers-upcoming-events/ http://justsweetangel.com/2013/04/flyers-upcoming-events/#comments Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:48:00 +0000 JustSweetAngel http://justsweetangel.com/?p=1128  

A BOY WITH A VOICE

Michael Coleman

@RealMicCole

Speaker Bio

Unleash your natural ability to make your mark, make the difference you were born to make, and make millions—doing YOU!

www.BeABusinessBadAss.com

Dr. Venus Opal Reese The “Defy Impossible” Expert

Inspirational Speaker, Business Bad-A$$ Entrepreneur Coach, and ‘Broke’ Millionaire Breakthrough Mentor, Dr. Venus Opal Reese has consulted O Magazine and has been featured on ABC News, CBS News, PBS, in Glamour magazine, Diversity Inc., the Associated Press and on the Tom Joyner Morning Show, which reaches 8 million daily.

Once upon a time, Dr. Venus was a walking statistic. She was living on the streets of Baltimore by the age of 16 amidst violence, drugs, and prostitution. The predictable outcome was welfare, addiction, and ultimately death. Amazingly, 14 years later she graduated with a 2nd Masters Degree and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. One of her clients used the exact same system Dr. Venus used to get off the streets and through Stanford to generate $3 million for his business.

Dr. Venus knows what it takes to breakthrough inner glass ceilings that limit performance. She teaches game-changing entrepreneurs, enterprising experts, and frustrated execs how to defy their impossible to produce immediate, unprecedented, and lasting results.

Dr. Venus is an Amazon Best Selling Co-Author with Sandra Yancey, CEO of eWomenNetwork, Succeeding in Spite of Everything, as well as Street Smarts for CEOs, Business Bad-A$$ Virtual Bootcamp and the Broke Millionaire Breakthrough Webinar Training.

Claim your FREE ‘Unleashing Your Inner Bad-A$$: Discover What it REALLY Takes to Make Your Make and Make Millions’ video training at www.BeABusinessBadAss.com and contact support@defyimpossible.com to book Dr. Venus for your next motivational keynote, leadership training, or women’s conference.

Being a Business Bad-A$$

3 Secrets from the Streets that Can Make You Gangsta Cash!

HOW MUCH ARE YOU WORTH—TO YOURSELF?

Here’s the simple truth: you will NEVER out-earn your self-image. Here’s why. Your relationship with yourself determines your destiny. It will determine how much money you attract and the ease with which you receive it. How much is your relationship with yourself costing you?

In this session you will learn:

•The difference between ‘self-esteem’ money and ‘self-worth’ money-do you realize the cost of NOT knowing the difference?

•How to identify and breakthrough YOUR inner glass ceilings that have kept you safe, stuck, and small

•The #1 secret to being a business bad-a$$.

We’ll finish this session with you discovering how YOU can identify, monetize and leverage your worth so your business makes YOUR mark and makes “Gangsta Cash!”

Nicole was born & raised in Sydney Australia.
Growing up in the Northern suburbs, Forestvile with the back yard being the Garigal National Park.
Nature & animals  just part her fond childhood. Her father was a sound engineer so for Nicole, listening to music of the highest sound quality was always the norm with the custom made sound equipment her Dad built. First word was ABBA, thanks to her mum who would always play ABBA, Olivia Newton John, Dianna Ross and The Supremes, Helen Reddy on the record player.

Music, dance, shows, exploring the bush were what Nicole & her 2 brothers did for fun. She loved to sing, write poetry,play guitar and keyboard. Nicole’s teenage years were spent socializing, racing out to get the latest new music, watching & recording Video Hits on TV every Sunday.  Her music influences were Kylie Minogue, Dannii Minogue, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Pop & House music.

Nicole loves recycling & a favorite past time is to go to the charity, opp shops, thrift shops to grab a bargain.
Nicole’s fashion style is unique in the way she can just throw an outfit together and always pull it off looking like a million dollars for next to nothing buying recycled designer clothing at a fraction of the cost.

Being the Eco friendly enthusiast that she is, Nicole makes her own Eco friendly cleaning products, saving the planet in her own way.

It’s extremely important in this day and age to recycle anything we can.
Our Future, our children’s future, our Planet’s future depends on it.
We can all make tiny changes for a better world by being eco friendly in our lives and share our knowledge with others.
One person can make a difference, but together we are #1love. NKS

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