Category Archives: Celebrities

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The Burning Bush of the U.S. Capitol Building: What is God Saying to Us Through the Presidency of Donald J. Trump?

Hello World,

I try, as much as I can, to stay away from politics because it is a such divisive topic. But after watching the U.S. Capitol Building under siege last Wednesday, I must address it here. My goal is to not share my opinions although I have strong ones. My goal is to share critical thoughts that I hope Christians can use to help us all to discern what God is saying to us.

From the moment President Trump then just reality TV star Donald J. Trump began running for office in 2015, he has caused  controversy. There were those who didn’t take him nor his campaign seriously because he was known as reality TV star with a penchant for creating publicity. Many thought he was simply running for president as a way to expand his brand. But as the presidential race continued, one by one each Republican was knocked out of the race. And what a race it was. Name calling was one of his favorite tools in his arsenal. He called Jeb Bush “Low Energy Jeb.” Ted Cruz was “Lyin’ Ted.” “Little Marco” was his choice for Marco Rubio. It was funny for some but others were appalled. Due to this behavior as well as others qualities, Republicans still didn’t take him seriously until he was actually selected as the Republican nominee for the 2016 presidential election. Still, there remained a faction who referred to “Never Trumpers” who were dedicated to not getting on the Trump Train no matter who jumped on it.

Surprisingly for some, evangelical Christians were among those who jumped on board. Despite the Two Corinthians situation and Access Hollywood tape, evangelical Christians, by and large, voted for him while many other Christians, namely black Christians, didn’t support him for a variety of reasons including his questioning the birth certificate of our nation’s first black president Barack H. Obama and other incidents in which some believe that Trump demonstrated racism. This is a chasm that continues until this very day although there have been many well-known black Christians such as Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr Martin Luther King Jr., for example, who support the president.

So I’m not going to provide an exhaustive rundown of all the controversies that have transpired in Trump presidency, but I will discuss some of the controversies that come to my memory as I write this. Think of it as a controversy highlight reel if you will…

  • While our nation is analyzing the aftermath of the U.S. Capitol Building under  siege today, it wasn’t that long ago when our nation was in an uproar about what happened in Charlottesville, Virginia in the summer of 2017, months after the president was inaugurated. Self-proclaimed white supremacists, holding their Nazi and Confederate flags and  tiki torches, took over a city in a “Unite the Right” rally.  Additionally, President Trump’s comment about “very fine people” at Charlottesville caused controversy.
  • While this was going on, the Russia investigation, in which Russia’s interference in the 2016 election was examined, unfolded like a soap opera with daily updates. The Mueller Report, as the investigation was led by special prosecutor Robert Mueller, was released and became a bestselling book although it was free!
  • And while this going on, many people were still curious about Trump’s taxes which as far as I know he still hasn’t released although various news organizations have been able to acquire some information about his taxes.
  • And let me not leave out out the firings and resignations: Michael Cohen, Kellyanne Conway, Reince Priebus, John F. Kelly, Mick Mulvaney, John Bolton, Anthony Scaramucci, Hope Hicks, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Omarosa and more…way more actually but these are just a few of the names that come to mind as I’m writing this morning.
  • What about the “perfect phone call” also known as the Trump-Ukraine scandal? The long and short of it is that Trump was impeached behind that…
  • The Coronavirus Crisis: I’ve never experienced anything like this…Have you?

Now after what happened on Wednesday, the president has been booted off of social media, he has stated that he’s skipping the inauguration of President-elect Biden and he may be impeached for a second time. Again, this is not even exhaustive list of all of the controversies that transpired during the Trump presidency…

Both those who support President Trump and those who do not have to agree that many of these controversies are unprecedented in a presidency. When the Lord wanted to get Moses’ attention in a unique way, he was presented with a burning bush in which an angel of the Lord spoke to Him from the bush. Aside from an angel being in the midst of a burning bush, it was also unique that even though it burned, it was not consumed. I’m desperately hoping that is the case for this country. We are on fire, Saints, but I pray we are not consumed. The U.S. Capitol Building under siege is a sign that no one can ignore, and I think what has happened since is an indication that many others feel this way as well. It seems like some Democrats and Republicans are coming together to figure this all out in addition to Christians in both parties, and I believe that is good. What is God saying to us through the presidency of Donald J. Trump? I have many, many, many thoughts about what I think, but I won’t reveal them right now…

What say you?

Any thoughts?

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Former Gathering Oasis Pastor Cornelius Lindsey Names Mase as the New Pastor of the Church

Hello World,

Since this blog is about pop culture and faith, I guess I have to write something about former Gathering Oasis Church pastor Cornelius Lindsey naming Mase Betha as the new pastor of the church. But I swear if you start attending that church because of Mase, you pretty much deserve what you get. Below is the video of the announcement.

In the year following the emergence of a global pandemic that still isn’t over, the last thing anyone needs is an unstable leader. Mase is a rapper one year, a pastor the next year and a rapper following year. I really can’t keep up nor do I care too anymore. Not saying that you can’t be a rapper and pastor at the same time because I think that’s possible. But see an excerpt of the last post I wrote about him, and know that I feel the exact same way years later….

Y’all betta be glad I’m not God. I woulda banished some of y’all below just because you looked like you were judging me. And that’s what I’m trying to remember this morning as I type this blog post. I’m not God and just because I interpret something as being a certain way, that may not be the truth. Only God knows the condition of the hearts of men and women. So here’s the deal. Ya man Mase, or Pastor Mase as he was known in 2014, left his church that he founded as he got caught up in the rapture of rap it seems. I was so befuddled by his departure that I wrote an open letter on UrbanFaith.com. See an excerpt below:

Dear Mason Betha aka Murder Ma$e aka S.A.N.E. Minister Mason Betha aka Pastor Betha of El Elyon International Church,

I’m trying so hard not to judge you right now, but what is you doin’ man? (I’m sayin’ this Atlanta style since that is where you have lived since 1999.) I just read on TMZ that you, the pastor of El Elyon International Church, up and dipped on your congregation and returned to the “rap game full time.” Where they do that at? I knew something was up when, while flipping through television channels last week, I saw you rappin’ on some video and cheesin’ it up with your infectious smile like you did before you left Bad Boy for the ministry back in the day. And I wasn’t the only one that was confused. In a recent interview with The Breakfast Club, rapper Ja Rule—who seems to be finding his own way to faith–was asked about your return to the rap industry. According to a Madame Noire post of that interview he said, “I’m very confused by what Mase is doing. I don’t know if that’s cool or not. I wouldn’t play with the Lord like that.” Say that! Too read the full letter, to urbanfaith.com.

And then as recently as November 2017, Fader reported Mase is still beefin’ with rapper Cam’ron.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Cam’ron and Mase stoked the flames of an old beef, trading diss tracks back and forth. On Friday, Mase shared “The Oracle” and promptly took to Genius to annotate it. Cam’ron responded on Saturday night with “Dinner Time,” in which he alleges that Mase retired from rap to run a Ponzi scheme and calling into question his roots in Harlem. See the full article at thefader.com.

Dude released a diss track in which he was cussin’ and what not. Now, I don’t believe that if a cuss word escapes your lips, you’re headed to hell, but I just don’t think that God is pleased by this particular demonstration. But hey, I could be wrong. And furthermore, it seems downright silly to be spending time on a diss track at 40 years old. The only diss I’m worried about this age is “diss”ease. I hope this “beef” was all for show because Christian or not, we too old for that…Go cut some grass or something…That’s what men do at this age…See the rest HERE.

Sooo that’s all I have to say about that…But I have more on another related topic. Last year, I wrote about Heather Lindsey and from the looks of things, my blog was among the first in various commentaries about the ministry of Heather Lindsey and her husband. I admitted in the blog post that I really didn’t know a lot about her or them so I was fascinated when all of these videos were released from various people who had a lot of negative things to say about their interactions with the Lindseys. So when Cornelius recently resigned from his position as pastor of the church, I was not particularly surprised but I still didn’t have a personal assessment of the matter because I wasn’t all that familiar with them from jump. However, I must say that if Cornelius chose Mase as his successor then I have to say the whole thing appears to be flaw. Talkin’ ’bout a gathering oasis…when it should be a gathering no basis for leadership. Maybe that was lame, but I ‘on hardly care. Spiritual discernment is essential, Saints..

And for reals this time, that’s all I have to say about that…

Any thoughts?

 

 

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The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Magazine Articles for Black Christian Women in December 2020…

Hello World,

Well, if you’re reading this, we’ve crossed over into 2021! Happy New Year! But indulge me just a little bit because  I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine articles for black Christian women. Pandemic or no pandemic, black women still did the doggone thang! Below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for December, but you don’t have be a black Christian woman to to check them out. As usual, let me know if you like my list! Enjoy and share!

1. “Black Americans Donate a Higher Share of Their Wealth than Whites” by Michelle Singletary

Excerpt: So one day, I took a handful of the anti-inflammatory pills prescribed for my arthritis, stood at the sink in the bathroom and contemplated suicide. It was at this low point that I recalled Psalm 23, from one of the many sermons at the small church I attended with my grandmother in Baltimore: “For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” I let the drugs drop down the drain. It was a moment that never repeated, because of the many ways the church sustained me. At church, I found a community of people who cared about me and checked up on me. At church, premarital counseling helped me work through trust issues that might otherwise have troubled my now-29-year marriage. At church, a women’s group taught me how to forgive my parents. See more at: washingtonpost.com.

2. “Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American woman, is Praised as Key Scientist Behind COVID-19 Vaccine” by Laura RomeroSony SalzmanKaitlyn Folmer

Excerpt: Even before Corbett took on one of the most challenging tasks of her professional career, she was a force to be reckoned with. As a student,she was selected to participate in Project SEED, a program for gifted minority students that allowed her to study chemistry in labs at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and eventually landed a full ride to the University of Maryland Baltimore County, according to The Washington Post. Corbett spent her summers at laboratories and earned a summer internship at the NIH, the very place where she would be instrumental in developing a vaccine for the coronavirus. See more at: abcnews.go.com

3. “Clayton County School Names New School for Former First Lady Michelle Obama” by WSBTV.com News Staff

Excerpt: The school, formerly known as Eddie White Elementary School, has been renamed the Michelle Obama STEM Elementary Academy. The name-change process began in May when the county was in the process of building the new STEM school that be based on the Eddie White campus. “We are so excited that the former First lady accepted our request to have her name associated with our school,” said Ms. Marcia Payton-Edwards. “We noted in our request that it was fitting that our school be represented by the name Michelle Obama due to the ancestral connection of her great, great, great grandmother, Melvinia Shields McGruder, who was enslaved on a family farm in the Clayton County community of Rex.” See more at: wsbtv.com.

4. “Statue Of Civil Rights Icon Barbara Rose Johns to Replace Robert E. Lee in US Capitol” by Charise Frazier

Excerpt: However, due to the rage over a young Black girl’s insistence on rejecting substandard conditions, her safety was compromised. She was sent to live with family in Montgomery, Alabama, after members of the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in her yard. After high school where she attended Spelman College and finished her education at  Drexel University in Philadelphia. Johns married Rev. William Powell, and raised five children while working as a librarian in the Philadelphia Public School system. She died in 1991. The removal of Lee’s statue follows a string of actions directed toward Confederate imagery and symbols, signaling a time in America where separate was not equal, but the law. And the wages of activating against the status quo, could result in death. See more at: newsone.com.

5. “Bermuda Swears in Its First Female, Black Governor” by Associated Press

Excerpt: Rena Lalgie has been sworn in as Bermuda’s governor, marking the first time that the British territory in the Atlantic has a Black woman as its leader. The event occurred on Monday, a day after Lalgie arrived in Bermuda, a wealthy financial haven and popular tourist destination. The appointment was announced in June by Queen Elizabeth II. Lalgie previously served as director of the United Kingdom’s Office of Financial Sanction Implementation. See more at: usnews.com.

6. “Miami Herald Names Monica Richardson First Black Executive Editor in Paper’s History” by David Smiley

Excerpt: Monica R. Richardson, currently the senior managing editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will join the Miami Herald Jan. 1 as its top editor, according to a McClatchy news release. “We are thrilled to welcome Monica to Miami,” Kristin Roberts, McClatchy’s senior vice president of news, said in a statement. “She has a strong record of leadership in local journalism at one of the great metro newsrooms in the country. Now, she brings her commitment to accountability journalism and a track record of successful digital innovation that serves local audiences.”  In an interview, Richardson said she is excited to lead the Miami Herald. Richardson will be the first Black executive editor in the Herald’s 117-year history. See more at: miamiherald.com.

7. “$500K Medical Missions Award Goes to OB-GYN Nun in Uganda” by Stefani McDade

Excerpt: Dr. Priscilla Busingye has a God-given passion to improve maternal health across Uganda, particularly in rural places where women often can’t get specialized care and dignified treatment. For years, Busingye would wake up before 6 a.m. for morning devotions and mass before heading to work at the maternity ward. As a nun and a physician at a rural hospital, her work was both rewarding and rigorous. She would set alarms on her phone to remind herself to pray for strength and energy throughout the day. See more at: christianitytoday.com.

8. “In Quest to Find Birth Family, Woman Makes ‘Life-Altering’ Discovery: She’s a Princess” by Char Adams

Excerpt: Culberson didn’t know much of this history when she began searching for her biological family at 28 years old. She was raised in West Virginia after being adopted by a white family, and later learned that her biological mother died when she was 11 and her father lived in a village in Sierra Leone. Her search for her birth family culminated in a call from her uncle; he delivered the news that changed Culberson’s life forever. See more at: nbcnews.com.

9. “Meet the Self-Published Author Who Negotiated a Deal With Netflix” by Lydia T. Blanco

Excerpt: In September, Booker was the only self-published author to strike and negotiate and deal with Netflix for their original series, Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices featuring Jill Scott, Common, and Tiffany Haddish. As a part of Netflix’s collaboration with the Black Caucus American Library Association and the Association for Library Services to Children, the Hey Carter! Book Brown Boy Joy was selected by the organizations for being in alignment with the social justice framework used for the show Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices. “Netflix requested that my book Brown Boy Joy be in the project because it focuses on building self-identity for children 0-5. Without formal representation, I successfully negotiated my contract with Netflix. I didn’t know I was the only self-published author on the show until after the show was released,” said Booker. See more at: forbes.com.

10. “Red Sox Hiring Bianca Smith as First Black Female Pro Baseball Coach” by Justin Tasch

Excerpt: Bianca Smith is making baseball history. The Red Sox are hiring Smith as a minor league coach, according to the Boston Globe. MLB confirmed to the Globe that Smith will be the first black woman ever to coach baseball at the professional level. See more at: nypost.com.

If you know of any black Christian women bloggers and or writers, please e-mail me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com as I’m always interested in expanding my community of black Christian women blog, magazines and websites. As I noted before, while this is a roundup of interesting blog posts and or magazine and newspaper articles for black Christian women, you don’t have to be one to appreciate these pieces  🙂.

Any thoughts?