It’s just the beginning
My life is slightly oxymoronic right now! Since Culture Shock released on August 2 things have been crazy!! I’ve got contracts, paper work and agreements up to my nose. Plus I have a distribution deal that is supposed to put my album in stores nationwide, but there were none even in my home city! lol Culture Shock ranked #4 on itunes on the 2nd day, but I can hardly afford to do promo dates! lol FUNNY right? NOPE it’s life! Yes, things are going great on one side, but real life stilll goes on. I’m getting emails and calls left and right from new supporters, faithful supporters and even people who didnt believe in me before (but do now), but I see when man sees what seems to be success they suddenly want to be supportive. And then there are those who just won’t support if you’re outside of their circle. It’s all pretty sad, but it charges me to evoke change. Im so inspired and encouraged by the overwhelming responses I have gotten from Culture Shock. And although it is just out, the work has just begun! I’ve done more fasting and praying these days than ever before, because I know now more than ever that I have to Proverbs 3:5-6 like crazy!! I am so excited about where God is taking me and I appreciate your support thus far…but I still need your help, because it’s just the beginning…. there’s so much more work to do.
Love eternally,
Jai-Me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” is now available in stores and iTunes NOW!http://t.co/RSHcZTN . Please visit www.justjai.com for more details and visit www.paypal.com email:jaipayments@gmail.com to sow a seed in this ministry!
Stt..Sttt…Stttt…stutterin!!
Last week I was in Miami at a conference called The Rendezvous and it blessed my socks off (http://www.thevous.com/)! I mean I got so much out of this youth conference. It’s been so long since I’ve seen teenagers and kids going hard in worship and participating during sermons! I heard a bunch of “Prreeeeach’s” and “Amen’s” and I saw hands fully extended during worship and singing praises to God at the top of their lungs, dropping massive PRAISE GRENADES on the enemies camp! Other than getting fully charged from the anointing and energy in the place, I took some major notes from the great speakers there! One question that was asked while I was there was “What are you allowing to stalk you??” …. I was like “what am I allowing to annoy and haunt me and stand in the way of doing what I am supposed to be doing?” Then God gave me a message. In Exodus, God got fed up with Egypt! He said to Moses, “I have seen the suffering of my people and heard their cries, and I am going to save them.” Then He told Moses that He was sending him to Pharaoh to lead His people out of Egypt. Moses felt inadequate like he wasn’t worthy to do this job then God answered, “It is not who you are, but who I am. I will be with you!”
Then in Exodus 4:1 Moses says, “What if the Israelites don’t believe that you have appeared to me?” God then gave Moses three signs and even after that Moses still offered one last protest: “I am not a good speaker, I stutter.” God responded, “Who makes the mouth? Is it not I? I will be with your mouth. Now go. I will give you what to say.”
Wow… while I read this I’m like “DANG MOSES… JUST DO IT!! GOD’S GOT YOU!!” Isn’t it easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize? It’s easy to see Moses’ reluctance as silly… because we know how the story ends. But it’s harder to criticize our silly decisions! We don’t have a book of the bible to read about us, that tells us what our hesitations to God’s commands will directly do to us! I quickly had to check myself because I’m going through the same thing that Moses was going through! God has told me to GO! And although He proves himself to me time and time again, I still have hesitations! “God I don’t look the part” “What if people don’tbelieve You told me to do this?” “What if they think I’m not focusing on You” “Hey, they think I’m a part of the illuminati” <—-Really??? lol “Who am I to do this task?” and God is saying to me and to you, “It is not who you are, but who I am. I will be with you!”
So…. What’s your stutter? Don’t allow your inadequacies to be your stutter, because there’s always an Aaron that God will use instead of you! Be bold! Be brave! Be a CULTURE SHOCKER!! Let’s Go!!
Love eternally,
Jai-Me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” nationally releases on August 2, 2011. Please visit www.justjai.com for more details and visit www.paypal.com email:jaipayments@gmail.com to sow a seed in this ministry!
Storm Schmorm!
Today seems so much brighter than yesterday! Literally! Yesterday I woke up at 5:30 am and had to ride in a car for an hour in a horrible storm, just to arrive at the Chicago O’Hare airport and have my flight delayed. I was stuck in that airport for about 5 hrs! Yikes! The weather was horrible. Lighting, thunder, power outages and everything to the point where I wondered if I was going to even get home yesterday. The plane that was scheduled to land and get us was in a holding pattern ABOVE the storm… just going in circles…. where it was clear! I wanted to be like, “COME AND GET US!!”, but then something snapped while I was there waiting… I heard a voice say “I’ve got you! I know what I’m doing and allowing! But in the mean time, you’ve got a lot of work you could be doing right now! You’ve got your computer!… So get to work!”. Then out of no where one of those comfy chairs WITH an OUTLET became open (somebody outta shout right there, because you know those things are hard to come by especially when flights are delayed!). So I immediately jumped off of the floor and started placing my things in this chair. And as I began to work, time started flying by! I got so much accomplished, because I stopped worrying about the circumstances and things I COULD NOT CONTROL!!! See, natural storms and spiritual storms are things we can not control. Most of the time God is using these storms to stretch us to see how we handle them and also to measure how much we trust Him! Yesterday was a true metaphor to my life right now….. I am in , what feels like a whirlwind, but in the midst of it all I have to remind myself that just as He had me in that airport, God’s got me and He’s has it all in control and He knows what He is allowing. I just have to remain calm, keep trusting Him and keep moving forward and before you know it, I’ll be flying ABOVE the storm!! Be encouraged today and trust that God’s got you…. even in and through the storms!! Be Blessed…
“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you a blaze.” Isaiah 43:2
Love eternally,
Jai-Me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” nationally releases on August 2, 2011. Please visit www.justjai.com for more details and visit www.paypal.com email:jaipayments@gmail.com to sow a seed in this ministry!
Full version of Jai’s song “Reflection” will be available on August 2, 2011 on her debut album “Culture Shock”.
HEADS UP!
I just felt it necessary to encourage my readers today!! HOLD YOUR HEAD UP! Never assume that someone is smarter than you! I know it’s easier to have an idea and then when someone asks you “What were you about to say?” you say… “never mind..”! Stop that! Don’t wait for ”someone else” to create or write what was given to you, you never know what could come of your thoughts!! God gave you a great mind! Full of wonderful ideas and inventions… think of something GREAT TODAY… then ACT…. the world is waiting! :)
2 Timothy 1:6 Wherefore I put you in remembrance that you stir up the gift of God, which is in you by the putting on of my hands.
Love Eternally,
Jai-me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” nationally releases on August 2, 2011. Please visii www.justjai.com for more details. To donate to this ministry please visit www.paypal.com (email address jaipayments@gmail.com). Be Blessed!
Going FULL term
I remember getting married at the age of 21. I was so excited about the newly wed life and about entering my final year in college! Well, after being a virgin all of my life and only 5 months of marriage, I found out that I was 8 weeks pregnant! What?? KNOCKED UP?? I JUST GOT MARRIED!! «insert shocked face» lol I didn’t even feel like I knew how to be a wife and now I’m supposed to know how to be a mom? And boy was pregnancy something!I was irritable, moody, always hungry for random foods and ready to puke at any given moment! lol But I was still so excited about the life that was growing inside of me, because I knew that God Himself must have trusted me enough to give her to me! What a privilege! Almost all of my life I was 5 even and 115 lbs and at 6 months pregnant I had only gained about 15 lbs! And I thought… What a rip off! If Imma be pregnant, I wanna look pregnant! (what a dummy, right?) People thought I was a kid and every time I’d say I was 6 months pregnant, they’d say ” AWW No you aren’t!!” ..ArRRrg! That used to make me so angry!! So I said “God I’m ready! If I’m gonna be pregnant, I want the full experience”. And as soon as that good ole 3rd trimester rolled around …SPLADOW!! I BLEW UP!! I couldn’t see my feet, my hands were swollen, my back was KILLING me, I was super irritable, I had the worse case of Braxton Hicks EVER and I went to the bathroom like every 5 minutes because I had to flush them out with TONS of water! But the funny part was although I was the most uncomfortable physically and mentally that I had ever been in my life, I was the happiest! What an oxymoron right? Knowing that this tiny little life was growing inside of me made the pain all worth it! But I still had questions though… Will she be healthy? Will I be a good mom? Will we be able to protect and provide for her?
Well, I find myself asking those same questions again! This album (bka baby) has been growing inside of me for years now. It felt like it would never come out, but just as I told God I was ready to give birth in real life… my dumb self did it again! lol and ….SPLADOW!! FULL SPEED AHEAD! The project will be nationally released on August 2, 2011! OMG! But man, this is an uncomfortable season of my life! My faith is being stretched, my finances are being stretched, my relationship with God is being stretched, my relationships with family and friends are being stretched and feelings of jealousy, loneliness and competition (bka Braxton Hicks) are constantly being intentionally flushed out by the living water. And just as Taylor, who will be 8 (the number of completion) in just 15 days, is the BEST thing that ever happened to Isiah and me, “Culture Shock” WILL BE A GREAT PROJECT THAT WILL DRAW PEOPLE TO THE CROSS! WILL ENCOURAGE A GENERATION TO RISE UP! WILL BE BLESSED and WILL REACH and BLESS THE NATIONS!! Ba-lee-dat!
Father, I pray for all of the believers that have something in their bellies that was concieved by the Holy Spirit. That you will allow it to go full term and in due season, (Your season) will birth it out of them. Please give us the patience to wait, the mind of excellence and the tenacity to endure, because we know Your plan is Awesometastical!
Galatians 6:9 “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Love eternally,
Jai-me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” nationally releases on August 2, 2011. Please visit www.justjai.com for more details and visit www.paypal.comemail:jaipayments@gmail.com to sow a seed in this ministry!
It’s toooo late
I find myself singing this line of a scripture song we sing at church that says “I will remain confident in this I will see the Goodness of the Lord…” …and then I think to myself … “Hey… I WILL!!”
I have to at this point. It’s my only option! He’s my ONLY resource. He’s the ONLY reason I’m here! He’s the ONLY reason I’m alive. He’s the ONLY reason I have a great family and He sure is the ONLY reason why I am doing this here music. He knows the plans He has for me… therefore I will trust HIM (I’m saying this to myself right now)…
So when you see “Culture Shock” on August 2, 2011, you’ll know that Jai had nothing to do with it! lol I don’t even know what God’s gonna do to get it out! lol But I know He is! I’ve written the vision. I’ve made it plain. I’m doing my best to steward it. Now HE can do the increase!
So if you’re battling to continue to have confidence about something that you KNOW God gave you…. step out on faith and trust Daddy God!! If He gave it to you… He won’t leave you to do it alone (even if it feels like it! lol)! Bishop Blake preached in St. Louis last week and said some thing so amazing, he said “God loves to show off in the ‘too late’” …what?? He said when Lazarus died He waited until the 4th day of his death to come and raise him! He also said that Jesus waited until He had 5,000 hungry people, to realize that he only had a little boys lunch to feed them.lol So if you feel like you’re in the ‘too late’… you’re in perfect position for God to show out!!
And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity]. Psalm 9: 10
Love Eternally,
Jai-me
*Jai’s debut album “Culture Shock” nationally releases on August 2, 2011. Please visit www.justjai.com for more details and visit www.paypal.comemail:jaipayments@gmail.com to sow a seed in this ministry!
Why Culture Shock?
Joey, a college bound high school senior, was working out at the gym in preparation for his football tryout at the university. He moved onto stretching and sit-ups and instantly felt dizzy, his friends saw that he didn’t look so well and immediately took him to the ER. They called his mother and by the time she made it to the ER Joey had collapsed. Because all of the Operating Rooms were occupied, the ER staff rushed into action and began performing CPR. Everyone in the ER were on pins and needles, because they weren’t getting any responses from him. His mother then screamed “please help my son! I don’t care what you have to do just…SAVE HIM!!” At that moment, an O.R. became available, they rushed him into the room and retrieved the defibrillator.
The doctor yells “CLEAR!” …. SHOCK…. beeeeep «flatline» …. again, “CLEAR!”…… SHOCK….beeep «flatline» ”We have to try something different if we want to save him. Turn up the voltage and let’s try again,” he hopefully exclaimed, ”CLEAR!” …. SHOCK….(pause).. beep…beep “We’ve got a pulse!” The entire Operating room and his mother sighed a sigh of relief, because they brought young Joey back to life by using a defibrillator and although it felt like a lifetime it was just in a few hundred seconds.
Why did I make this story up? Because a comment was made on twitter yesterday that “the world doesn’t need to be shocked, it needs to be healed!”
Well, just as the defibrillator shocked young Joey in order for him to be healed, I pray that my album does that to the CULTURE. The culture of the world who does not know Jesus, needs Christians who have their voltage turned up to go into the world and SHOCK them by using unconventional and relatable methods to turn their hearts towards the redemptive power of Jesus. Also the culture of the CHURCH, needs to be SHOCKED. We have to go into the world and preach to the NATIONS! We cannot be satisfied with singing and preaching to each other in an effort to fraternize and get “oo’s and ahhh’s” from our co-laborers in the gospel. Nor can we be satisfied with just coming to church and saying “We’re an outreach church” but your church never goes out…. STOP WAITING ON THEM TO COME IN….LET’S GO GETTEM!! :)
As the Pharisees didn’t understand Jesus’ methods, you may not understand why I have the silver suit on or dare make christian music that an unbeliever won’t mind bumping, because it doesn’t sound “churchy”. Don’t allow yourselves to be stuck. In Matthew 23:16 Jesus called these Pharisees ‘blind guides’ meaning that the Pharisees were like guides that told people how to live. I know this is the road less traveled, but it is an assignment and I need the verbal and financial support of the body as I, like Peter, walk on water in obedience to Christ!! Be Blessed.
Mark 16:15 “And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.”
*Jai’s new record label Outlet Music Group (OMG) will nationally release her debut album “Culture Shock” on August 2, 2011.
*For more information visit www.justjai.com . And to sow into this vision please visit www.paypal.com jaipayments@gmail.com
Love Eternally,
Jai-me
Gratitude
What a beautiful day!! So appreciative that God allowed me to see it!! My husband woke up this morning and said “I have such a sense of gratitude this morning”!! When he said that, it immediately connected with me. I’m grateful to God for EVERYTHING!! I’m grateful for my life, my family, my friends, my ministry, my church family, my supporters…EVERYTHING!! Throughout the day challenge yourself to combat every negative thought, disappointment, ignorant comment, rude driver etc with a comment of gratitude! Psalms 136:1-3 ” O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endures forever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for His mercy endures forever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for His mercy endures for ever.”
Be Blessed!
Love eternally,
Jai-me
*Save your money and mark your calendars: My debut album “Culture Shock” will be nationally released on August 2,2011.
Grow Expectation GROW!!
As I prepare for the release of my debut album… I recognize that the heat is on and the pressure is weighing heavy on me to complete the task. I know that it is all in Gods hands but… wht can I say yall… I’m human! And it’s easy for me to drown in all of the worry and begin to question “will it work?” “will I make these deadlines?” “will I have enough money to let the world know about this?” “will people support it?”. These types of questions and legitimate conscerns can cause one to lose the belief in promise that it WILL happen! I know that Phillipians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” is real, but it’s hard to believe it when everything seems to point in the other direction right?? RIGHT!! But thats where Im challenging my faith and expectation! If MY daddy said it would happen then, you better believe the it WILL happen!!! MY ALBUM WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT DADDY GOD WANTS IT TO!! Bulee dat! lol
Go!! SHOCK the Culture!
Be Blessed,
Jai-me
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