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    jackieholness

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    My Top Seven List of Halloween Jams!

    Hello World,

    I know many Christians are against celebrating Halloween…In fact, my folks didn’t allow me and my brothers to celebrate Halloween as children…Instead we attended Hallelujah events and were given candy without the benefit of trick or treating…in a word LAME…Now that I’m an adult, I choose to partake in Halloween festivities in my own special way…To that end, I have comprised a list of Top Seven List of Halloween Jams that are sure to get you in a “boo”tiful mood….WAHAHAHAHA….my lame attempt at a Vincent Price evil laugh 🙂

    1. Speaking of Vincent Price, I have to give the top honor to the King of Pop Michael Jackson. (I still can’t believe he is gone…) If you want to be scared and get your groove on at the same time, “Thriller” is the jam for you…And this video is still one of the best music videos ever made….

    2. If you are a rap fan and came of age in the ’90s, then you’ve got to know about “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” by the Geto Boys…This song has a serious message, but the beat is so bangin’ it’s easy to ignore how truly poetic this jam is…”This year Halloween fell on a weekend, me and Geto Boys went trick or treatin'”…you know, the rest… 🙂

    3. If you wore jelly shoes and collected “The Smurfs” figurines, then you probably loved the ’80s hit movie “Ghostbusters.” From that movie came Ray Parker Jr.’s hit “Ghostbusters,” which was on the movie soundtrack…This song is my third favorite Halloween Jam…

    4. Will Smith is probably more well-known for his acting but back in the day, the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff delivered hit songs…One of their hits was “Nightmare on My Street” which is obviously their homage to the crazy scary movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”

    5. Rockwell was a one-hit wonder in my opinion as the only song I know sung by him was his jam “Somebody’s Watching Me” which came out in 1983…Just a little trivia: What blockbuster singer actually lent background vocals on this song? Michael Jackson!  Extra side note: Rockwell and Stony Jackson, the actor, may have been separated at birth they look so much alike…

    6. The Michael Myers’ theme song from the “Halloween” movies is sure to cause goosebumps…I LOVE scary movies…especially the campy ones….

    7. This song probably shouldn’t have been made, but it was…M.C. Hammer’s remake of “The Addams Family” theme song for the  1991 movie “The Addams Family” movie based on the popular television show series….Did you see the movie?

    What’s your fave Halloween Jam?

    Any thoughts?

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    Why Did You Allow This to Happen, God? A church tragedy unfolds…

    Hello World,

    By now, many of you know about the tragedy that occurred at World Changers Church International in College Park, Georgia last Wednesday? If you have not heard of it, let me fill you in. As Greg McDowell, 39, was leading a prayer service Wednesday morning, Floyd Palmer, 59, a former World Changers employee allegedly walked into the church and shot McDowell six times, according to the AJC. McDowell, a husband and father of two toddlers, died shortly thereafter.

    Later on Wednesday, Palmer, who apparently has shot a man before and spent time in a mental institution, was arrested and will likely be punished for his alleged actions. Still, whatever satisfaction McDowell’s family may feel as the alleged shooter is now in police custody,  it does not answer the question, “Why Did You Allow This to Happen, God?”

    The day following the shooting, I overheard some people at work discussing the shooting and they pondered why God would allow a man to be shot and killed as he was praying inside of a church no less. And it does seem ironic that a man who was obviously demonstrating his dependence on the Omniscient Power of the universe was not made aware of pending tragedy and spared from harm…

    I’m not even going to lie. I don’t understand. I won’t even pretend that I do. But I do think that God will comfort McDowell’s wife and children and extended family in the days to come and give them insight as they seek His guidance and care. As one pastor said at a memorial service I recently attended, we won’t always understand everything that happens which is the essence of faith, but God will see us through everything that happens. My all-time favorite writer Catherine Marshall’s husband Pastor Peter Marshall, 46, died after suffering a heart attack when she was 34 years old, and she too pondered why God would allow this happen to them? She wrote about seeking God for answers to this tragedy in one of my favorite books “To Live Again.” She writes about feeling duped by God, being angry with God and questioning her faith altogether…She got all sorts of answers that can be read about in the book, but ultimately, she claimed this verse, my absolute favorite verse in the entire Bible, for herself and her nine-year-old son as they faced life without her husband…

    And we know that in all things (good and bad) God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

    Why do think God allows tragedies to occur in the lives of Christians? This song seems appropriate this morning…

    Any thoughts?

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    Return to Banneker High School…20 years later…

    Hello World,

    I’m not ashamed to admit that 20 years ago, 1992, I graduated from Benjamin Banneker High School in College Park…I am ashamed to admit that since then I had not been back to my high school alma mater until Monday…

    As a part of Banneker’s Homecoming Week Celebration with the theme “The Rise of the Trojans,” BHS Alumni Association representative Michael Shepherd, class of 1993, invited Banneker alum to return to be a part of the homecoming festivities starting with Career Day!

    First of all, I was impressed with the brand new buildings that are now Banneker High School! Gone are the dusty trailers that were a daily part of my schedule at BHS! The new school is beautiful and looks like a mini-college campus. I’ve always loved to go to school (at least most days), but going to such a beautiful school would have definitely enhanced my high school days all those years ago now. But I will stop telling you about what I saw. Instead of I will show you what I saw…

    Isn’t this a beautiful and impressive new building?

    Alum were invited to assemble in the media center before we got started with Career Day…

    Class of 1993 member Alfred Bacon, who has a high-tech computer job, came back…

    Class of 1992 member Shaun Ware came back to show her support…We still look good 🙂

    William Arnold III, who I think is in the class of 1990, and another BHS alum showed up…

    Mike Crooms aka Mr. Collipark aka DJ Smurf, class of 1991, represented…

    Another BHS alum…

    BHS Principal Mr. William Bradley took a picture with me…Mr. Bradley was a BHS teacher when I was there…

    A new generation of BHS teachers…Looking younger than some of the the alum 🙂

    Just another view of the fabulous new media center…

    I spoke to a 10th grade language arts class taught by Ms. Marscida Kinlaw, my friend and BHS Class of 1990 alum…I love that she teaches at BHS!

    Ms. Kinlaw let me pretend to be a teacher…Unfortunately I was not able to take pics with her class, but the funniest part of my discussion with the students was trying to explain the concept of pagers to them…Communication technology has certainly evolved since 20 years ago 🙂

    Following our presentations, BHS ROTC members escorted alum to the auditorium for a Career Day assembly…

    The auditorium…Only select members of the school were allowed to attend the assembly…

    Members of the 2012 BHS Homecoming Court…

    2012 BHS Homecoming King and Queen listen to Mike Shepherd encourage BHS students…

    His words of wisdom really inspired the students…

    Mike handed out candy as a part of his presentation…

    The students were really excited about Mike throwing candy into the crowd…

    BHS alum and BHS ROTC…It was so good to come back…

    Final pics before leaving…

    On the way to my car…

    Driving off of the BHS property…It was my first time back, but it won’t be my last…I hope to see more BHS alum at the new and improved Banneker High School in the near future…

    Any thoughts?