Category Archives: Church

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Signs of the Times?

Hello World!

I’ve said it before, and I will say it again – I am no Biblical scholar. I’m just another Christian trying to make it in…But last week’s tsunami and earthquake in Japan combined with the ominous regular updates about those nuclear reactors has got me wondering what is God up to…

From the earthquake in Haiti to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to the unprecedented civil unrest in Arab countries, obviously something must be going on…Now this world has experienced disasters before, and some of them have been of our own making such as World War I and World War II…But that doesn’t mean that all Biblical scholars and intelligent people should not be pondering where are we in the course of world history…Here are some verses to consider…

“The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’  and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.” Matthew 16:1-4

Now in this passage, Jesus is rebuking the religious folk of the day for questioning His divinity when there were all types of signs that He was the Messiah. But I believe He also provides a framework for us to interpret what we see around us. I am notorious for carrying my umbrella with me even if I only see one cloud in the sky. Since I wear my locks in curls, and I don’t know how to maintain my locks, I refuse to be caught in the rain lest my locks lie limp until I see my stylist.  It ain’t gonna happen’!

So if I see a cloud and deduce that rain may be on the way, what in the world am I supposed to think when these last two years have brought so much pain to people here and abroad?  I’m not sure, but I’m glad I’m right with God because tomorrow is not promised…I don’t know why God allows bad things to happen to good people or natural disasters and on and on, but I believe there is no other way to survive in this world and be sane without a relationship with God…

Finally, all of this pontificating about the signs of the times doesn’t mean anything if we cannot help those around us who are suffering….If you would like to donate to Japanese relief efforts in the name of Jesus Christ, please donate to Samaritan’s Purse.

Any thoughts?

P.S. You know I had to post Prince’s song “Sign O The Times.” Man, I love Prince!

P.P.S. With all of this talk about radiation, I’m glad I decided last week to stop using microwaves to heat my food…

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Are You Ready?

Hello World! 

Yesterday, I was full in Christmas prep mode as a week from yesterday is Dec. 25! As I cleaned my house a bit and got dressed while watching “Miracle on 34th Street,” for the first time, I quickly got in the mood for some guerrilla warfare type shopping and I even enlisted R to help me navigate my designated territory – Perimeter Mall and surrounding shops.

Since R is a man, he has no real tolerance for the art of shopping…But I must admit he was a real trooper yesterday and even helped me to knock off more than half of my Christmas list by 12 a.m., which is when we left the last store of the day or night actually…After we walked through the entirety of Perimeter Mall three times, he loudly declared that it was time to go and that’s why he did not like going shopping with women anyway. I tried to explain to him that shopping has a strategy that  must be obeyed, a strategy that he thoroughly disapproves of – if a woman sees something she likes and wants to buy it, it’s not a done deal until she has visited at least three other stores. He said it’s a waste of time because inevitably a woman will buy the first thing she saw anyway and wasted time by visiting the other stores. I explained to him that a woman has to be convinced that she has the best spoils of the war if you will, and the only way it can be done is to survey the entire landscape before capturing her prey…

Still with all of our debate, it was a productive and fun day and I’m starting to really feel ready for Christmas…But my materialistic readiness for Christmas is not the only thing I am pondering as the days before Christmas slip by…I am pondering if I am spiritually ready to welcome Jesus in my heart again this year. I’ve been a Christian for several years now, but as well as know, we must periodically ask ourselves if we are progressing in our Christian walk or are we stagnant or are we even regressing….It’s definitely something that must be considered on a regular basis, particularly at this time of the year.

One of the ways that I check myself is to consider if I am truly living my life as Jesus did while he was here on earth. About a month ago around Thanksgiving, I was touched when as I returned to my car in a parking lot after work, I noticed that several people had set up a mobile restaurant outside the back of a pickup truck and were serving hot food and drinks to some of the homeless people in the area. I am sure those people appreciated the hot food and drinks as it was very cold that day.  As all Christians know, Jesus was known for His kind works to people less fortunate than Him. If I am to be like Jesus, I must make time for people who do not have what I have – materially or otherwise….Here is a verse to consider…“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40

It is also important to consider the condition of our hearts which can be off center in spite of outward acts of kindness and other good deeds. I am no doctor obviously, but I would imagine that heart surgery is much more difficult than stitching up a gash for example. I say that because inventorying the condition of your heart has to be more difficult than determining if you are making time to serve others. I mean you are even serving others or you are not. But the heart is entirely different matter altogether…I’m no minister, but I imagine that we can give ourselves a heart check by asking ourselves if we are really seeking His will for our lives or are we making living our lives according to our own plan and designs. When I was a little girl, I was scared to get baptized for a long time because I thought God would call me to be a missionary and I would be forced to live in primitive conditions with little access to modern comforts. I greatly respect missionaries but I truly thank God, He has not called me to make that particular sacrifice…But trust and believe that since God made the ultimate sacrifice of His son for our sins, a Christian life will involve some sacrifice. Another way to inventory our innards is to determine if we have allowed sin to creep into our lives. Are we trying to explain away little white lies? Are we gossiping?  Are we twisting scripture to justify wrongdoing? Here is a verse to consider…”Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” Matthew 7:22-24

Another way to inventory our readiness for Jesus is to ask ourselves are we really telling others about Him. Now that I have become an official cheap skate, I am elated when others tell me how to get a deal on ANYTHING…I was in the dollar store a while ago to buy some paper supplies. I noticed a woman choosing some paper supplies that did not seem to be as great deal as the paper supplies that I had selected. I blurted out, “Did you see this item? It has more in there for the same price as the item that you picked up.” She laughed and said, “I was just about to tell you that even though this item has less in it, it lasts much longer than the item that has more in it.” I said, “Really? I will try it.” She was right. And that is what it’s like when you have some good news, you cannot keep it to yourself! For all practical purposes, it would seem that I share about Jesus all of the time since my faith in God is the focus of this blog. And that is true to a certain degree, but I have the hardest time actually talking about what I write about…I guess because though I have known Jesus for many years, I have never seen Him…One of my new favorite Christian authors puts it this way…

I felt as if believing in God was no more rational than having an imaginary friend. They have names for people who have imaginary friends, you know. They keep them in special hospitals. Maybe my faith in God was form of insanity. Maybe I was losing my marbles. I start out believing in Christ, and the next thing you know I am having tea with the Easter Bunny or waltzing with my toaster, shouting, “The redcoats are coming! ” This is from “Blue Like Jazz” by Donald Miller

But the thing is, though I have never seen Jesus, I have experienced Him for years, and I have journal after journal to prove it. At this time of the year, I have to ask myself if I have shaken off my fear of looking like an idiot and shared the best news of my life – that my God loves me and He loves you too. Here is a verse to consider…“And then He told them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.'” Matthew 16:15

Anywho, I guess if I were a theologian, I could come up with more tests to inventory our readiness for Jesus, but I am not so I will close now…but I will say something my father, who is a theologian, likes to point out each year…On Christmas, it always exciting to tear through the wrapping paper so that we can see the gifts that our loved ones have given us. But before long, maybe even by the end of the day, our excitement will have waned and we will be as we were before…But if we have received the gift of Jesus, we will never be like what we were before and our excitement grows as we get to know Him more and more…

Jesus is the reason for the season…Are you ready?

Any thoughts?

P.S. Watch Vanessa Williams of Richard Smallwood’s group “Vision” tear up “Oh How He Loves You and Me.”

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Relationships, Inspiration & Holy Ghost Tent Revivals: NEW BOOK ALERT!

Hello World!

Jay Bakker (right) with Matt Debenedictis, Atlanta, Georgia...This is an illustration from Tess' book as she is also a gifted illustrator...

Well, I don’t know about you, but I am sick and tired of Thanksgiving food. It’s time to back away from that fattening dressing and throw them stanky collards out although I was so thankful to gather with family and friends…But now, it’s officially time to celebrate the Christmas season…YAY!

It’s time  to “make that list and check it twice.” Yes, it’s time to make that Christmas list and budget. If you’re anything like me, a good book is always a good Christmas gift, and most books are reasonably priced too..And if you are looking for some good books, consider the ones I will tell you about below…

1. Southern Cross: True Stories of miracles, visions, voodoo, snake handling, civil disobedience, and my search for existential answers along the back roads of the Bible Belt by Tess Gadwa. (Full disclosure: My friend Tess designed my blog for me, and yes, I am completely biased about her work.) This is a book chronicling Tess’ spiritual journey to various towns, locales and cities in the Southeastern part of the United States. In fact, I met Tess when she stopped in Atlanta for a convention. We were both trying to convince Anne Lamott, the featured speaker, to take a look at our works in progress, get us a book publishing deal and make us famous…Well, maybe Tess did not want that, but that was my master plan…As it turns out, as far as we know, Lamott did not even peruse our work, but it’s all good…Tess & I are friends for life…

Below is an excerpt of her interview with Jay Bakker, son of Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker…If you haven’t heard of them, a quick Google search will get you up to speed. Basically, Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker, were the quintessential televangelist and wife team of the ’80s who preached prosperity for the masses, but it all call came down due to scandals of sex and money…In spite of it all, though their son Jay lost his faith in God, he found a new faith in God and began a very different type of church than the one he grew up in….

Eventually, Jay returned to the ministry he had founded. But his anger at the church still shows.“The best is when you’re on top and they love you. They treat you well, and they care about you, and they make you feel that you’re important. And when you’re on the bottom, they kick you when you’re down,” he says with resignation.

“I’ve sat in churches and watched preachers preach against my dad, not knowing
that I was in the congregation. I went to a youth group, and this youth pastor started
making jokes about my parents, and I was just so brokenhearted, trying to give church a
chance.”

It’s easy for me to shrug and think to myself, well, your dad was a convicted
criminal. He exemplified a lot of the worst traits of Christianity. Of course other church
leaders are going to want to distance themselves. I think I first read about the PTL scandal in the Bloom County comic strip, when I was 10 years old. I remember a joke about the characters scrounging their savings to keep Tammy Faye in eyeliner a few weeks longer.

How weird would it be to have your mom and dad be the butt of these jokes? You
might not have seen too much of them back in the era of the private jets and round-the-clock
bodyguards, but they would still be your parents.
“I hate legalism, man,” Jay says. “I hate when people’s lives are hurt by the
church. And they think it’s Jesus, or they think it’s God. And that’s why I’m angry,
because I lived through it.”

You got to check out this book…and it’s free on her website! As my friend is a talented writer, this work is literally a steal…

2. 30 Days to a More Powerful You: Inspired Sistah Style by Tangie Henry. This is a daily devotional book that focuses on critical areas in self-development from self-examination to self-acceptance…A registered nurse and certified life coach, Tangie Henry is also the founder of Inspired Sistah LLC, a faith-based company dedicated to “Inspiring Women to Live on Top of the World.” Below is an excerpt from the book…

At Tangie's book release party!

From Day 29

Run Your Own Race

“…And let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” -Heb. 12:1 (KJV)

While watching an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show one day, Sean “Diddy” Combs was the guest. Their discussion led to Mr. Combs talking about running the NYC Marathon. He made a statement to Oprah that was along the lines of running as fast, in the amount of time, that she did. Her response to what he stated was that he should run his “own race,” because there would be a time where he would “hit the wall.” She was implying that essentially, he needed to have his own motivation for running.

For the rest of devotional, you must by the book. You can find and buy the book at her website.

3. And if you are a woman and ready to meet and marry the One, you need to check out Dr. Alduan Tarrt’s latest book, The Ring Formula: How To Be the Only One He Ever Needs. This is Tartt’s second relationship book  in which he further expounds on what was presented in his first book, The Ring Formula: How to Meet, Date & Marry Mr. Right. Below is an excerpt…

First, these women do not misinterpret He who findeth a wife, findeth a good thing to mean sit around and wait on a man…Here’s what I want you to do. Do some homework and strategically position yourself at places where your caliber of man is likely to frequent. Be sure to select events where the male to female ratio is almost certain to be in your favor (i.e., Chamber of Commerce meetings, business networking events, fraternity and male conferences, sports bars, political fundraisers, sporting events, men’s
ministry, etc.).

Find a reason to be there that makes you feel comfortable and initiate operation F.L.I.R.T. Why can’t a woman network and exchange business cards? You have business about yourself too. What’s wrong with volunteering at fraternity conference or two? Why can’t you watch the game, get more informed about who’s running for office in your community or become more active in the male mentoring campaign at the church?

To buy Dr. Tartt’s book, which is available in e-format and traditional format, please go here.

Any thoughts?