Posted on Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Former Christian Post Reporter Nicola A. Menzie Solicits Support for New Magazine!

nicola-menzie

Hello World,

As you may or may not know, I came of age in the 90s otherwise known as the golden age of black entertainment (although there are some shows out now that are giving me hope that black entertainment is enjoying a resurgence). One of my favorite shows back in the 90s was “Living Single,” which was about brand new adults making their way in NYC (basically a black “Friends” before there was “Friends). I watched the show just about the time that I was making my way as a brand new adult in the A.

I identified with no one character more than the others, but I did feel a certain kinship with the character Khadijah James, who was portrayed by Queen Latifah. Khadijah was the editor and publisher of the upstart Flavor magazine and as such found herself on the brink of economic disaster a few times.

Queen Latifah in Living Single.

I didn’t have the courage to start my own magazine, but as a new journalist, who couldn’t find a job for a while, I worked with a woman who started her own magazine and saw the financial challenges of doing so up close. One of the highlights of working for this new magazine was meeting Diddy who was Puffy back then. It was so much fun, but most of all, I admired the drive of the woman who launched the magazine!

Well, now, I know of another brave woman who is endeavoring to start a new magazine, and I hope that you will support her in this much needed endeavor! Below is information from Nicola A. Menzie’s Kickstarter page! She needs $15,000 to launch the magazine and has until Jan. 22 to raise the entire amount or she doesn’t get any of it!

Hello. Welcome to the Kickstarter campaign for Issue No. 1 of Faithfully Magazine.

Faithfully Magazine is a News and Lifestyle publication that advocates for, celebrates and informs Christian Communities of Color by centering the conversations, issues and events they say are important to their faith and to their lives.

My name is Nicola A. Menzie and I am the founder and editor of Faithfully Magazine (faithfullymagazine.com). I live in New York City and have been writing, blogging, tweeting (and sometimes complaining) about happenings in Evangelical Christianity for the past eight years or so (five years professionally).

I’ve long been a believer, but entering the world of Evangelical Christianity as a member of the press was eye-opening. I soon learned the names, the quirks and the controversies that really set people off (like Osteen and Bell, “sowing seeds” and the prosperity gospel).

More than anything, I learned that Christian news media is saturated with the perspectives, voices and concerns of White Evangelicalism. And very few of their publications and websites have Christians of Color in decision-making roles or who contribute to their editorial direction.

HELP US PRINT THE PREMIERE ISSUE OF FAITHFULLY MAGAZINE

Faithfully Magazine goes to press in January and we’re soliciting contributions from diverse writers, illustrations, photographers and other creatives for an impactful premiere issue. The goal right now is to publish the magazine as a quarterly, with this Kickstarter campaign being used to raise the necessary funds to produce Issue No. 1.

Some stories on deck for the full-color, 80-page premiere issue include:

Christians of Color sharing in their own words how they are moving forward under a Donald Trump presidency;

A diverse survey of responses on whether, due to the 2016 campaign, the term “Evangelical” should be dumped or redeemed;

A gripping feature on a former felon who came to faith in prison and still has to answer for his alleged crimes;

A revealing Q&A with rapper and pastor Trip Lee that includes his thoughts on the presidential election and how he cares for a faith community of both Trump and Clinton voters;

A sit-down with the husband-and-wife leaders of Crossover Church, a popular urban ministry that’s also a millennial magnet.

If you have some compelling content or story ideas, send me an email (namenzie @ gmail.com). We’re also looking to develop regular columns.

The image below is of a mock cover to give you an idea of our direction.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME

I was a staff reporter for The Christian Post for several years. Before that, I worked with companies like CBS News, AOL News and even Vibe.com — where I started out about 13 years ago as an editorial intern (yes, I love hip-hop). Most recently, I’ve written about Christians from diverse backgrounds strategizing to address police violence and African-American responses to Donald Trump. I’ve also interviewed the Christian activist who rocked a major conference and the pro-life movement with her remarks on Black Lives Matter. I also study Theology and am on course to (finally!) complete my Master of Divinity degree in 2017.

Below is a video of Nicola discussing her vision for Faithfully Magazine…

Join me in supporting Nicola! And please go to her Kickstarter page to find out how you can contribute AND what you will receive for your generous contribution!

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, March 15, 2015

Seven Scriptures to Discern God’s Attitude About Money & Giving…

Hello World,

In this GoFundMe generation in which people request money for anything from assistance with medical bills to assistance to going on vacation in Vegas, it can sometimes be difficult to discern what to support and what to shame…

This issue came to a head on Thursday when The Christian Post reported that Pastor Creflo Dollar, pastor of the megachurch World Changers Church International in College Park, Ga., and his church posted a plea for “200,000 people to give contributions of 300 US dollars” in order to replace the church’s current airplane, which was built in 1984 and had 4 million miles on it, according to the church’s fundraising page. Apparently, “recently on an overseas trip to a global conference, one of the engines failed. By the grace of God, the expert pilot, who’s flown with Creflo for almost 20 years, landed the plane safely without injury or harm to any passengers.” Specifically, the money will be used to buy a Gulfstream G650 airplane “so that Pastors Creflo and Taffi and World Changers Church International can continue to blanket the globe with the Gospel of grace.”

And then the Internet blew up with criticism of the plea stating that Pastor Dollar should opt to fly commercially or charter a bus and that airplane, which reportedly costs $65 million, itself was too much of a luxury. Kirsten West Savali of The Root said that Pastor Dollar should buy the airplane himself and outright called him a charlatan…

However, not everyone criticized Pastor Dollar and the church’s efforts…A Mark Moore, who may or may not be a member of World Changers, on Facebook said, “I am totally disgusted by the response of ministers & church leaders to Pastor Creflo Dollar’s recent pursuit of new aircraft…I’ve seen several posts from ignorant people outraged that ‘Creflo expects me to buy his jet?!’ No precious heart. ‘Creflo’ didn’t ask you to do anything. This outrage stems from a letter his ministry shared with his PARTNERS. Partners that he’s connected with over the 20+ years he’s been on international television. Partners who have decided that something he has shared has helped them enough to cause them to decide to support him.” He concluded his lengthy post mentioning Dr. Myles Munroe, who along with his wife Ruth and others, died in a jet crash in the Bahamas in November. “I’ll close by saying that it’s disheartening to see some of the same people, who wept over the TRAGIC loss of Dr. Myles Munroe and members of his team as a result of their old aircraft not being able to handle the storm, berate Pastor Dollar for being upfront and embracing “you have not because you ask not” (which is in the Bible).”

Lakeshia Poole, also via Facebook, noted that Pastor Dollar is not the only pastor in the metro Atlanta area who uses an aircraft in ministry…Poole, who was a member of Elizabeth Baptist Church in Atlanta before moving back to her hometown, noted that her former pastor, Dr. Craig L. Oliver, Sr., uses a helicopter to be transported to the churches various locations to preach on Sunday…”Once upon a time while walking to church, I spied my pastor in a helicopter. A helicopter, bro? Really? Is this what my tithes and offering paid for? I felt some type of way and yet I walked quickly into the newly-planted-5-minutes-from-my-house location vs. driving in the even-on-a-Sunday-hellacious-traffic of 285 to the main location. Did he really need a helicopter to spread the gospel? No…yes…maybe? Selfishly, I became cool with it because honestly if it wasn’t for that helicopter, I wouldn’t have that convenient connection…”

By Friday, the fundraising web page for the aircraft had been taken down although donations are still possible, according to the AJC…

As I said originally, with so many causes, campaigns and churches asking for support, it can be difficult to discern how or if one should give so I’ve decided to post seven scriptures that we can use to discern how God wants us to use the resources that we have been given from Him…

1. “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7…While it is always good to support the church through tithing and or offerings, we should not feel forced or compelled to give because if we feel forced and or compelled to give, how can we give cheerfully?

2. “Each of you must bring a gift in proportion to the way the LORD your God has blessed you.” Deuteronomy 16:17…Don’t give what you don’t have! If you have been blessed financially, you may be able to give more…However, don’t give your mortgage money to the church or to anything else if that is all that you have at the moment…

3. “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” Matthew 6:3-4…The implication is that yes, we must give to the poor…However, when we do, we don’t have to tell everyone…It is in poor taste to tell others how you are helping this organization or that person unless you are trying to get others to do the same and even then we don’t have to brag…

4.” But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” 1 Timothy 6: 6-10…We all should strive to be financially stable but desiring to be rich can lead us down a road to hell…

5. “No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” Luke 16:13-15…You have to value God over your resources, and He knows who or what we really serve…And furthermore, while someone may be praised by a lot of people does not mean that God sees that person the same way…

6. “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” 1 Timothy 6:17-19 Being rich in good deeds is way more important and valuable than being rich in money…

7. “But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” Acts 3:6 Peter, a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, had no money to offer, but what he did have to offer was healing in the powerful name of Jesus Christ…

There are many more verses in the Bible about money and giving, but these verses provide a good foundation to go fund or not…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, November 16, 2014

Submission & Stove Buying…A Newlywed Story…

Hello World,

My all-time favorite TV newlyweds…Dwayne Wayne and Whitley Gilbert Wayne from “A Different World”

I wonder how long you are a technically a newlywed…According to Psychology Today, two years is the maximum to be considered a newlywed…That’s good because although Robert and I have been married over a year now, I’m experiencing new things all the time with him and have no idea how to navigate the newness…

One area that I am ever considering is the dreaded s-word…If you are a Christian wife, you already know…I am referring to SUBMISSION (yes Jesus…the word that scares me more than a Stephen King movie…And the only reason I can sleep in complete darkness now is because I have someone sleeping with me…so I’m a scary person by nature…) Ever since my pastor, who you know is my father if you have read my blog posts for any amount of time, preached on submission this summer, I have been wondering just what it means in my marriage or any marriage…

After I got over the weirdness of thinking my father preached that sermon directly to me (since he knows firsthand that no one but God is the boss of me), I started considering just what it means to be a submitted wife…I’m still not sure, so I kinda moved on in my head…(read: relegated it to the recesses of my mind) but when I saw a FB post by FB friend and fellow author Demetria Lucas D’Oyley, also a newlywed, I began thinking about S-word again in earnest…Basically, she said was wondering about the term and noted that it was a concept that rarely came up as she consulted with various married couples leading up to when she got married and that submission seems to be only a Christian concept…She got 146 responses from that singular post…I even commented a few times…

I made a few a definitive statements probably leading people to believe that submission makes me feel like this…

But the rest-my-hand-on-the-Bible truth is that submission makes me feel like this…

I want to speak in tongues and run all up and down the church aisle because seeking guidance from God because I just don’t know what to do ~~sometimes..~~.

Case in point…Yesterday hubby and I went to stove shopping…We agreed on a budget…That part went smoothly…But the rest of it…not entirely smooth…

First point of contention…Hubby and I have known for several months that we needed a new stove so because hubby is always excited about buying new gadgets even domestic ones, he researched various stoves that he thought would be a good months ago….Me, ever the procrastinator, didn’t start researching until yesterday…that’s right the day we had designated to shop…

Second point of contention…When I did started my research, I started with Clark Howard…He represents all things good when it comes to lovable geekdom and saving more and spending less…He recommends that you should NEVER buy an extended warranty on appliances because they are basically useless as most appliances are pretty reliable nowadays…Hubby disagreed with Clark…

Third point of contention…The bells and whistles…Hubby has duly noted that I…and I hesitate to admit this…am not a domestic goddess…Cleaning anything (except my body) is usually not my first thought…Should we pay for additional bells and whistles like self-cleaning and what not? Hubby said yes…Me…see above…I’m all about that saving more and spending less even if means that I only clean the stove if I think someone will see it…

By now, you are probably wondering did hubby have his way or did I? I won’t share all of my business here but I’m happy to say we are the proud owners of a brand new stove…the first time I’ve ever bought a major appliance even…

But this morning, I’m wondering what was the submissive thing to do in this situation?…

If you are unfamiliar with the term submission, below is how it is mentioned in the Bible…

Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. ²³For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. ²⁴Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Ephesians 5:22-24

Below are a few stories, interviews and blog posts I have found about submission that I plan to read and think about…