Category Archives: Church

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New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Holds ‘Getting To Know You’ – An Intimate Encounter Designed For You To Get To Know Dr. Jamal Bryant THIS Wednesday!

Hello World,

As of Sunday, Dr. Jamal H. Bryant, the controversial former pastor of Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Maryland is now officially charged with leading New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia! I wrote about his pending arrival in my post “Should Divorced Men Such as Dr. Jamal Bryant, Newly Named New Birth Missionary Baptist Church Pastor, Be Allowed in the Pulpit?” about two weeks ago.

The pastor who has been known for saying stuff that many pastors dare not say in a sermon such as these h**s ain’t loyal titled his inaugural sermon at New Birth yesterday “Bite Me” according to the AJC. Shelia M. Poole reported that “he warned the congregation of serpents in their midst who want to see them fail, but said they must hold on to their faith and praise God, even in the midst of adversity.”

Below is a video of the entire sermon…

Below is Candice Benbow’s lengthy opinion of about “Bite Me”…


He also announced that New Birth would be back on international television in the New Year, and that at the church’s Watch Night Service on Dec. 31, a big announcement would be made and would be broadcast live on the Word Network! He acknowledged his mother and sister, Dr. Thelma Bryant Davis, who is on OWN’s “Chad Loves Michelle” and 100 of his Kappa Alpha Psi brothers who were in the audience.  Some of my Facebook friends were there on yesterday and had good things to say about his first day on the job so to speak.

But Dr. Bryant is not waiting until next Sunday to engage his new congregation again. On Wednesday at 7 p.m., Dr. Bryant is promising an “intimate encounter” in which his new congregation will get to know the pastor outside of the pulpit. Sister Circle’s Rashan Ali is the host for the evening. I wonder if congregants will be able to ask questions to him directly.

Below is a brief video about the upcoming event…


If I attend and am allowed to ask a question, I want to know where did Dr. Bryant get that fabulous Louis Vuitton scarf he wore on V-103 two weeks ago? LOL. I loved it so much that I’m thinking of getting my husband one for Christmas. Shhh. Don’t tell him…

 

In all seriousness, I would like to know how Dr. Bryant is going to restore public trust in New Birth Missionary Baptist Church outside of the church after the scandal sullied its reputation? Even if you weren’t a member of New Birth, it was respected by a wide swath of people in the community once upon a time. And now, not many people seem to be checking for New Birth anymore. New Birth desperately needs a New Birth…

What do you want to ask him? Don’t be skurred. He may see this blog post and answer your questions!

Any thoughts?

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Should Black Men Be Responsible for Ending Sexism in the Black Church?

Hello World,

On Sunday, I read an interesting article in The New York Times entitled “It’s On Men to End Sexism in the Black Church” by Lawrence Ware, a minister in the Progressive National Baptist Convention. It intrigued me because much of what I read reminded me of the entire thrust of Season 3 of “Greenleaf.” (One of my favorite show titles from this season was “She Changes Everything.”) Lady Mae realized that she had forfeited her calling to ministry, folding herself into her husband’s calling like hers never mattered. During Season 3, she reclaimed her call to ministry which ignited a power play against her husband who struggled to see her as an independent force and not his appendage. And what compounds the dynamic is that Bishop was always able to see and acknowledge his daughter’s call to ministry but his former partner in life was treated in some respects like a pretty prop.

Below are a few excerpts from the opinion piece:

“When I was little, my favorite church services were when women took charge. This happened only a few times a year, on the fifth Sunday of a month. But it always meant that the spirit was high and the music was good. On one of those special Sundays, when I was 9, I first noticed something odd: The guest minister sat in regular pew seats, not in the seats at the front of the church reserved for the clergy. And she delivered the sermon from the lectern, a little wooden stand set apart from the congregation, not at the pastor’s sacred pulpit — the place whence God spoke.”

“If a young, unmarried woman got pregnant, the congregation would whisper about her until the child was born. When these young mothers returned after giving birth, many knelt at what was called a “mourner’s bench” after the sermon, to publicly apologize for indulging in sexual sins. To this day, I’ve never seen a man do the same.”

“For too many of my friends, even black men who identify as Christian, their awakening to the injustices women have long faced are linked to selfish concerns: namely, they must first have a daughter to hear what black women have been telling us all along. If that is what’s required for change, then too many men will continue to live in a way that does harm to women.”

If you attend a black church, have you witnessed sexism there? My church, a black church, is part of an association of mostly white Christian churches. As far as I know, women are not allowed to be pastors and or ministers at churches in this association. According to some, Scripture mandates this stance. “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” 1 Timothy 2:12-13

However, female ministers are allowed to use the pulpit to speak at my church on various special occasions. And I love female pastors/ministers I must say! That is one of the reasons why I enjoyed OWN’s “Greenleaf” from the very beginning. I love that the show began with Grace struggling in her call to ministry.

Have you witnessed sexism at your church? Do you think women should be allowed to be pastors/ministers at churches?

Below is Ware’s final thought on the matter:

The black church would not exist without black women. However, for far too long, black men have forced them to be second-class citizens. It is time for black churches to do better. Not because it is popular right now, but because it is right.

Should Black Men Be Responsible for Ending Sexism in the Black Church? To read Ware’s entire article on the issue, go HERE.

Any thoughts?

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Seven Scriptures to Remind Us that Jesus is the Real Reason for the Season…2018…

Hello World,

I don’t know about you but December always seems to fly by…Between making Christmas lists, shopping with the masses, sending out Christmas greetings via e-mail or snail mail, going to Christmas parties and other events, preparing for the New Year and regular life stuff, it seems there is never enough time to do it all and so I almost look forward to January when life is back to its regular pace…

And if you noticed, I haven’t mentioned Jesus at all…That is because with all I have to or want to do, I can forget that the birth of Jesus, God’s precious gift to mankind, is the real reason for the season…And so to prepare my heart for this season and hopefully help you prepare your heart for this season too, I have decided to list seven scriptures that take the focus off of the worldly expressions of the Christmas season and help us to focus on Jesus…

1. “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). Matthew 1:23 I just love that Immanuel means “God with us.”  Jesus was born so that God could be with us…Remember that the next time you feel alone because you are not…God is with us!

2. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 Look how much we are loved by God! He sacrificed His one and only Son! What have we sacrificed for God lately? Something to remember and act on at this time of the year…

3. “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” James 1:17 Every time I see Christmas lights, I’m going to remember that God is the father of heavenly lights and that every good and perfect gift is from Him…I’m feeling better about the Christmas season already…

4. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Although we will never be free of sin this side of Heaven, we can still accept God’s gift of eternal life with Jesus Christ who helps us not to sin…

5. “…Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have…” 1 Peter 3:15 At some point during this Christmas season, we have to know that everyone around us does not know the real reason for the season…I hope I’m ready when the opportunity arises for me to tell somebody about my Lord and Savior…

6. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4 Do  you want the desires of your heart? Of course 🙂 Then we have to delight ourselves in the Lord and His purposes…Now, this does not mean that we send up a list of what we want and then He delivers gifts like He is some Santa Claus in the sky…No, this verse means that mysteriously when we align ourselves with the Lord, His desires for us become our desires…and then we get the desires of our heart because they are His desires for us too…

7. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:14…This time of the year especially I have to make every effort to give glory to God and live at peace with others…I wish those in government would remember that…

What helps you remember the real reason for the season? This isn’t a traditional Christmas song but this song helps me to remember why Jesus left His home in Heaven on high to come to earth way below…

Merry Christmas!!!

Any thoughts?