Category Archives: Church

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Why It’s Okay to Doubt God…A Post Easter Post…

Hello World,

As I was out of town this weekend and separated from my beloved laptop, I was not able to post this past Easter Sunday…However, I still have some thoughts on Easter that I would like to share…

Over the weekend, I saw an Easter play about the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ from the perspective of the Apostle Thomas also known as Doubting Thomas…The play got me thinking about why Thomas’ doubt was included in the account of Jesus appearing to the disciples and others after he was resurrected…As I’m learning the art of storytelling, I am realizing that everything that is included in the story must mean something to the story…

I believe that Thomas’ expression of doubt and the response of Jesus to his doubt is a revelation of the type of relationship that God wants to have with us…If you have not read the story, please read it below…

John 20:24-29

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Below are a few conclusions I have come to as a result of this passage:

  1. God welcomes our questions. But we have to be prepared for the answers that He gives…Although Jesus chose to directly answer the questions of Thomas, it has been my experience we may not always get direct answers to our questions like what happened in the story of Job. However, I believe that when we seek God, He always responds by coming closer to us which can be more comforting than having the answers anyway…
  2. God rewards boldness. When Jesus appeared to the disciples, He addressed Thomas first! Thomas put his need out there and Jesus met that need…This story backs up Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
  3. Doubt is okay, but faith is best. Although Jesus answered Thomas’ questions, he made sure to note that while Thomas believed because Jesus proved Himself to him, people that believe without seeing are even more blessed…And the Good News for us is that while we did not see Jesus while He was on earth, we stand to be even more blessed because we believe without seeing Him!

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

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TI, T-Mo Goodie, Chuck D, Kool Moe Dee & Others Slated to Appear at Hymns & Hip Hop Conference Starting TODAY

Hello World,

The Hymns & Hip Hop Conference (H3C) is a three-day symposium ( March 28-30) hosted by the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, spiritual home of the Civil Rights trailblazer, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the location of The N.E.W. Leadership Academy.

 On the days preceding the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, it is a largely significant call to unite the two most influential sectors of urban life to start building the community…together.

The conference was founded by Minister Cassandra Henderson and Rev. Michael Wortham in an effort to bridge the Hip Hop communitiy and the church community, the younger generation and its history, the sacred and the secular.

For more information, go to hymns-hiphop.com.

Check out Ebezener Baptist Church’s Rev. Dr. Raphael G. Warnock in his Hymns & Hip-Hop Confessions!!!

Any thoughts?

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Why Mary Mary May Need To Get Off Reality TV…My Open Letter to Erica & Tina Campbell

Dear Mary Mary,

I’m a big fan of reality TV…In fact, earlier this year, I interviewed Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Mama Joyce about her increasingly volatile relationship with her daughter Kandi Burruss over her her fiance’ Todd Tucker, a production manager, whom Kandi met on the show…

I’m a big fan of Mary Mary, I interviewed the two of you at the Atlanta premiere of your reality show when the show debuted in March 2012. After watching the first show at the premiere, I was excited to see what was going to unfold…During that first episode, the two of you questioned aloud if y’all could balance two husbands, six (now seven children as Tina was pregnant then) a thriving career in the spotlight and capture it all on your new reality show…

Two years later, we all know the answer to that question is a straight up “No!” In the beginning of the show, the drama was rather benign for a reality show – drama with your manager Mitchell Solarek and your sister (their stylist Goo-Goo Atkins) over a wardrobe choice and mommy guilt over opting to perform at Macy’s Great Christmas Tree Lighting concert on Thanksgiving Day in Atlanta rather than spend the holiday with your families…But now in this season, we have learned that your husband (Tina Campbell’s husband Teddy) cheated on you. However, you take some of the responsibility for his transgression and are committed to making you marriage work…

In an interview with CNikky.com, you said, “I Tina assume full responsibility for the issues that I contributed to the relationship.  I was controlling, talked too much.  And you can never be heard over me because when I wanna talk I got the floor and ain’t nobody gonna get it from me until I give it up.  Real talk. That was the way it was and I have to work on myself. You know what I mean?  I was selfish.  When we started having children it’s like, I forget that I have a responsibility as a wife.”

I applaud you Tina for making that poignant statement because as I am learning as a new wife (seven months to be exact), you have to take care of your man and you can’t be loud-talking your man all of the time and expect him to stay around…I know some of my liberated lonely ladies are gonna show out when they read this…And if in fact, you were criticized for taking some of the responsibility for her husband’s cheating…But any woman who has been married for any length of time knows the truth I’m speaking or writing in this case…

But based on what is going to unfold in this week’s episode of “Mary Mary,” it seems that Teddy may be owning up to “countless affairs!” SCREECH…Hold up cuz I need to get off the bus…There is a difference between cheating and being a downright philanderer…And we’re supposed to watch the televised unraveling of your marriage all in the name of entertainment? Not to mention the fact that we learn in this season that you fire your manager on the show…And now he is actually suing you, claiming he is owed wages and commission…You (Erica) is recording on your own…And most grievous of all is the passing of the your father Eddie Atkins from cancer…Yes, this all makes for riveting reality television but reality TV is a ravenous beast eager to devour all in its path…sound familiar Christians? For my non-believers, check out 1 Peter 5:8…

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Yes, reality TV is a kind of devil…In the fascinating and illuminating article, “Scott’s suicide reveals tragic side of city’s glitzy scene” in the New York Post, Maureen Callahan writes about the recent suicide of Mick Jaggers’s girlfriend L’Wren Scott who was also a stylist to the stars but seemingly had no one to turn to in her despair despite the glamorous life she seemed to lead…Callahan blamed reality TV for glorifying wealth when many reality TV stars are actually struggling financially and destroying the personal lives of its stars…

“Over the franchise’s eight-year lifespan, 12 Real Housewives have filed for bankruptcy, one has been evicted on camera, several have battled substance-abuse issues, one couple has pleaded guilty to fraud in federal court, one husband has been indicted for fraud and identity theft, and one husband has committed suicide.”

Those numbers speak for themselves…As I watched the most recent episode of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta,” it was nearly painful to watch the strained relationship between Attorney Phaedra Parks and her husband Apollo Nida…She seemed to be tolerating him just for the sake of the cameras and his passive-aggressive behavior was embarrassing…Since this show was filmed before it was revealed that he was indicted for fraud and identity theft, that may have been the reason for their obvious disdain for one another… Yes, I know that reality television can provide an awesome platform…Kandi Burruss has reportedly said RHOA has enabled her to broaden her financial empire…But at what cost? Bottom line: As Christians, we cannot do things like the world and expect different results…That principle is made clear in Romans 12:2…

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you.

I’m sure you have your personal relationship with God so I’m sure that God is leading you where you should go in your lives, but as a fellow Christian on the journey to heaven, I’m just sayin’….Right now, you have something to save, but only God knows what will happen in another season…In fact, Tia and Tamara ended their reality show after three seasons…

And if you were wondering, I will always be a fan because God has obviously given you a beautiful music minstry…But I would prefer to only see Mary Mary, the gospel duo, rather than “Mary Mary,” the reality television casualty….

In Christian Love With Church Hugs 🙂 ,

Jackie