Saying Good-bye: 2014 in Posts…

Hello World,  mamajoyce

I absolutely love this time of the year: the few days after Christmas just before the dawn of a brand New Year…Maybe it’s because it’s winter or maybe it’s just in my head, but somehow the air feels crisp with excitement as the world prepares to hit biggest reset button of them all…Whatever has happened in a year – good or bad, the beginning of a New Year is an opportunity to continue to greater heights or leave pain in the past…It’s a time to reflect on all that has transpired in 365 days and wonder about what is to come…And that sentiment brings me the point of today’s blog post…If you mind, let’s take a tour of 2014 via my this blog…

January 2014 – I admitted that I do watch “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” (hiding behind my computer since you probably want to throw rocks at me 🙂 ) and was fascinated by the storyline about Mama Joyce and how she couldn’t stand that her daughter Kandi Burruss, former Xscape songstress and current song-writing millionaire was engaged Todd Tucker, a production manager. (They are now married!) I was so fascinated with the storyline that I interviewed Mama Joyce: “Mama Joyce Gets Us Straight…And Steps Back…And Keeps Stepping…(MY INTERVIEW).”

February 2014 – I celebrated my first Valentine’s Day as a married woman in my blog post “Lovapalooza: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of Love on Valentine’s Day.” Also, if you live in Georgia, remember this was the second time in just a couple of weeks that we were snowed and iced in…and this particular snowstorm/ice storm happened to fall on Valentine’s Day week…

March 2014 – Although I am a reality television show fan, I pleaded with gospel duo Mary Mary to rethink their reality show in “Why Mary Mary May Need To Get Off Reality TV…My Open Letter to Erica & Tina Campbell” as their lives seem to have unraveled for all the world to see… Mary-Mary-Season-3

April 2014 – I shared that I FINALLY completed the rough draft of my first novel in “This Novel That I’m Writing…My Modified NaNoWriMo Challenge…”  

gradrobertMay 2014– With my husband’s permission, I shared some of his testimony in “Delay is NOT denial…Celebrating My Hubby’s College Graduation!!!”

June 2014– Although the world lost “Phenomenal Woman,” Dr. Maya Angelou on May 28, I wrote about her in my June 1 blog post “Remembering The Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou…” The example of her life is a beacon that anything is possible for a black girl, a girl who once thought of herself as “a too-big Negro girl with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between my teeth that would hold a No. 2 pencil” – her words…maya

July 2014 – I wrote the blog post “Young Pastors Vs. Old Churches…” that generated a great discussion…This post was inspired by this article “Young Pastor Voted Out By Veteran Members Of Historic Baptist Church In Philadelphia” by Cherri Gregg on CBS Philly’s website.

cross2August 2014 – My husband and I celebrated our first anniversary as marrieds and I wrote about our journey together thus far in “7 Lessons Learned: Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married.'” It was the third in series of three posts I wrote about being married for a year 🙂  To read my first post, go to  “Couples’ Night – Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married’”… and my second post was “Cooking & Cleaning Oh My! – Going From ‘Single Lady’ to ‘Smug Married.’”

September 2014 – During this month, I met newly minted Soror Suzan Johnson Cook, who is not only a former pastor and current author, she also served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Her book “A New Dating Attitude” made me know that I know that I know that I truly know my husband was and is God’s best for me…I wrote about our meeting in “Making Your Divine Appointment…” sujay

October 2014 – I explored my fear of Ebola in my blog post “Seven Scriptures to Dispel F.E.A.R. About Ebola…”

November 2014 – I forced myself to separate Dr. Heathcliff “Cliff” Huxtable, America’s favorite dad, from Bill Cosby in “What Would Jesus Do About Bill Cosby?” I still don’t know what to do about these allegations…This ranks up there with finding out there is no Santa Claus and the chocolate factory in “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” is not real…

Marry-Us-For-Christmas-posterDecember 2014 – Ever since I got engaged during the Christmas season two years ago, I see Christmas as a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and celebrate the beginning of my new life with my hubby…So I was especially elated to interview Malinda Williams, who starred in the movie “Marry Us For Christmas,” which premiered on UP. Check out “‘Watch ‘Marry Us For Christmas’ Tonight/My Interview With Malinda Williams.”

One last thing:

I’ve found the best way to bring in the New Year is in church where I will be tonight…And what better way to prepare for Watch Night Service and the whole year than to pray? Join Girlfriends Pray as they begin a Pray-A-Thon today at noon EST….Details below…

prayAny thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Young Pastors Vs. Old Churches…

Hello World,  concert

Wow, in 11 more days, July will be a wrap! Hard to believe that the days are summer ticking by so swiftly…So I hope we are enjoying our summer while we can :).

So on to today’s post…I was intrigued when I came across this article “Young Pastor Voted Out By Veteran Members Of Historic Baptist Church In Philadelphia” by Cherri Gregg on CBS Philly’s website. According the reporter, with a vote of 221 to 166, long-time members of historic Zion Baptist Church in North Philadelphia fired Reverend A. Carl Prince after he had only been at the church for two years. Prince was hired to help the church, which is 132 years old, grow, but instead what the church got was “months of disagreements.” In fact, in a deacon’s report, Prince was referred to as ‘”ineffective’ and saying he had a ‘domineering spirit’ and does not ‘model The Good Shepard.'”

Apparently, Prince did not agree with the assessment of the church and filed a lawsuit! His attorney Rosalind Plummer said Prince was fired for asking the church for an audit of the church’s finances! Rev. Terrence Griffith, offered more insight as to why this rift may have occurred. “The older members will tell you, this is my church. They say, “you just got here and you’re trying to change things around,'” says Griffith, pastor of the historic First African Baptist Church and leader of the Black Clergy of Philadelphia. Griffith went on to say that “a lot of churches are dying because they really cannot keep up with the times. Younger, more progressive pastors are going to change things in a way that attract younger people. That is how older churches survive.”

And apparently Zion Baptist Church is only the only historic church in the area to have this issue. “Other historic churches, like Bright Hope Baptist Church and Salem Baptist Church, have also had turmoil between longtime members and new pastors.”

So here are my questions for you today: Which side are you on? The side of the young pastor or the old church? Do churches have to adapt to current cultural practices or die?

I think think there is room for young and old practices in a church. For example, I love the Old-Churcharchitecture of old church buildings. The architects of new church buildings seem to have traded the sacred for the modern. For example, new church buildings often don’t have any altars, crosses or steeples. Many of today’s churches can pass for the headquarters of some corporation instead of the house of God.

It seems like a lot of churches don’t sing hymns anymore either. While I don’t think hymns should dominate the praise and worship portion of the service, I think every church should incorporate hymns from time to time because they are beautifully written and connect us with Christians of the past.

I also appreciate the wisdom of older Christians, and I think, sometimes in modern society, the opinions of older people are often discounted because they come from old people. But I appreciate the opinions of older people because they come years of experience.

However, I also appreciate new practices in the church. I think the casual dress code of some churches is a way to attract more people. While I will always don my “Sunday Best,” when I step into a church, I don’t think people should be turned away because they want to wear jeans.

I also think that churches should respond to the community in which they inhabit. For some churches that may mean incorporating a variety of new ministries or ways of thinking that appeal to the community. After all in the Bible, Paul says, “I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some” in 1 Corinthians 9:22.

And while I revere the opinions of older people, I also think that young people are equally as valuable and should not be discounted because of lack of experience. In fact, in 1 Timothy 4:12, it is stated, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young.”

Any thoughts?