Tag Archives: After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God

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Gabby Loves God and so do I!!! (VIDEO)

Hello World,

Unless you have taken a vacation from the planet the last week or so, at some point, you have watched the Summer Olympics in London! And if you have watched even a few minutes of the games, you have either heard about or seen the wonder that is 16-year-old Gabby Douglas! Her name will forever be a part of history as she won the women’s all-around gold medal in gymnastics, becoming the fourth American to do so and the first African American to achieve this feat! In addition, Gabby is the first American to win both of the individual and team events at the same Olympics! And even more importantly, she is an unabashed Christian who incorporates her faith in God in all of her astounding achievements…

Here is one of her Facebook status updates after she won her gold medals…

“Wow!!! I am still trying to grasp that I am the All-Around Olympic Gymnastic Champion and that my teammates and I won the Team Gold Medal. You all have been so great to me! I am sooooo thankful for all of your support and love! We have event finals coming up this week – starting tomorrow with Vault Finals. I would love it if you would keep my teammate MaKayla Maroney in prayer & cheer as she competes for a medal 🙂 #TeamUSA.”

Also, just after she made the Olympic team, she was interviewed at Valley Church in West Des Moines, Iowa where she has attended over a year while she trained for the Olympics. Below is a video in which she asked the church to pray for her and her teammates as they headed to London, and she shared how her faith in God helps her to excel in gymnastics. Also, Gabby revealed how her mother e-mailed Bible scriptures to her every morning that she used to inspire her, and she also e-mailed Bible scriptures to her at night that helped her fall asleep! Here are a few inspiring quotes from her interview…

“I love reading about the Word. It really helps me during gymnastics. I mean it’s very important. Whether you are really like scared of a skill, like you just have to just rely on God. He’s not given us the spirit of fear but a spirit of of peace, love and a sound mind…”

“…If we’re having problems with a skill, like I keep falling on my two and half which is like I can do this, all things are possible to Him who believes, so I just meditate and meditate, and it just builds my faith and my confidence on the floor so you have to put on the full armor of God when Satan tries to come against us we already are prepared…”

I will always have a soft spot in my heart for the Summer Olympics and Christian Olympians after my experience at the 1996 Summer Olympics which were held in the A! In fact, I wrote about my experience covering the Summer Olympics from a Christian point of view in my book “After the Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God.” In my story, I shared how although I was sent by “The Christian Index” newspaper to cover a rally for Christian Olympians at Greenforest Community Baptist Church in Decatur, I ended up rededicating my life to God that evening. Here is an excerpt from my story below…

As various athletes shared their stories, I was impressed with how muscular and lithe they looked even though they had on jogging suits. What impressed me more was the earnestness in their voices as they spoke of having a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ and how this relationship pointed them to their purpose in their lives.They spoke as if God was with them when they trained and even as they completed their events in the Olympics and other competitions. Some of them talked about how God was even with them in their losses. I was attracted to two things: the way that Jesus Christ seemed like a person they actually knew, and that God was fulfilling a purpose in each of their lives, and they knew it.

In fact, it was their stories that inspired me to develop my own personal relationship with God…I just pray that Gabby will not only inspire people through her athletic prowess but also through her personal relationship with God…And if you would like to read more about Gabby story’s before and after the Olympics, check out this article  “America’s Megawatt Sweetheart” from “The New York Times.”

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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After the Altar Call on the Move…

Hello World,

The lone writer...(get it? LOVE.THIS.PHOTO)...A pic from my book release party...

If you have visited my humble blog before, you know that my book which has the same name was released in February of this year! And since then, I have been on the move around the A as I have attempted to spread the word about a book that I truly believe will help women to develop a personal relationship with God! And God has blessed my efforts!

As of this month, my book is now available via Black Expressions Book Club! From the web site…

Black Expressions is the book club when it comes to books for and by African Americans. We’ve got bestselling books from such African American authors as Zane, Brenda Jackson, Eric Jerome Dickey and E. Lynn Harris. From new urban fiction to black romance novels and African American Christian fiction, Black Expressions truly has something for everyone. Plus, our editors love reading as much as you do and they’ll constantly keep you updated on the most-talked-about African American books on the scene.

If you are a member of Black Expressions, you can order my book for a whopping 50 cents! Truly, you cannot beat that deal anywhere sooo order it here (click on the link.).

And now that the unofficial start of summer is this weekend (Memorial Day weekend), I plan to venture out of the A and hopefully spread the good news about After the Altar Call!

This weekend I will be at the 33rd Annual Christian Women’s Retreat in the Country Music Capital of the World! Yes, that’s right, I (along with my mother and other women from our church) will be traveling up the road a piece to Nashville to fellowship with Christian women from around the country. And if you’re read my book, one the original organizers of the retreat (which was created in 1980), Ms. Susie Doswell is featured in my book. Ms. Doswell has a tremendous testimony of thriving after after teenage pregnancy and abusive marriages. The convention will be held at the Sheraton Music City Hotel so if you’re in the area, stop by and see me.

The next weekend, on June 2, I will be speaking on “Developing a Personal Relationship With God” at Central Christian Church’s 11th Annual Women’s Prayer Breakfast. The prayer breakfast begins at 10 a.m. Central Christian Church is located at 1916 Dodson Drive, Atlanta 30311…That’s right in the heart of the SWAT!!!

And a few days after that, I will be signing my book on Tuesday, June 5 at 1 p.m. and Wednesday, June 6 at 2 p.m. at the Urban Ministries Inc. bookstore  at the Hampton University Ministers’ Conference in Hampton, Virginia! From the conference web site…

The Ministers’ Conference began in 1914 when the Negro Organizational Society, the Conference for Education in the South, the Southern Education Board, and the Cooperative Education Board sought to address the growing concerns of the African-American church and its relationship to the community. With Hampton Institute carrying strong influence with each of these community organizations, it became the birth-place of the original Ministers’ Conference, then known as The Conference of Negro Ministers of Tidewater, Va.

The HU Ministers’ Conference and Choir Directors’ and Organists’ Guild has also welcomed famous individuals to the campus of Hampton University. Past attendees have included the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1962; the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker of Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York; the Rev. Jesse Jackson; the Rev. Al Sharpton; the Rev. T.D. Jakes; and in 2007, Barack Obama.

I pray this book will truly help women all around the world develop a personal relationship with God! And I’m thankful to God for enabling me to spread the word about this book, and I could use your help too…Let erebody know After the Altar Call is on the move…

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m Bout It Bout It aka Marketing & Promotion Month 6 (Book Release Party Details!)

 
Hello World,

You know what. I kinda fell off….What do I mean? This post should have been written in December as it is about my marketing and promotion activities for December, but y’all…I’ve been sooo immersed in doing it all that it was difficult to write it down….Forgive me? At any rate, I want to invite y’all to my BOOK RELEASE PARTY!!! I had originally planned it to coincide with the release of my book on February 14, but it will now be on Feb. 10!!! If you can make it, please come out…see all of the details above…

Also, if you’re a book lover as I am, you also don’t want to miss best-selling authors Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley as they will be in the A this week to promote their latest release “Sinners & Saints.” They will be signing their book at the Clark Atlanta University Bookstore, 223 James P. Brawley Drive SW, tomorrow at noon and at the Hammonds House Museum on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Below are more details about their discussion &  signing at the Hammonds House Museum….

Best-selling and award-winning novelists Victoria Christopher Murray and ReShonda Tate Billingsley bring their favorite heroines together in a novel that will delight their legions of fans. Jasmine Larson Bush and Rachel Jackson Adams are not your typical first ladies. But they’ve overcome their scandalous and drama-filled pasts to stand firmly by their husbands’ sides. When a coveted position opens up–president of the American Baptist Coalition– both women think their husbands are perfect for the job. And winning the position may require both women to get down and dirty and revert to their old tricks.

Just when Jasmine and Rachel think they’re going to have to fight to the finish, the current first lady of the coalition steps in . . . a woman bigger, badder, and more devious than either of them. Double the fun with a message of faith. “Sinners & Saints” will delight readers with two of their favorite characters from two of their favorite authors.

Your R.S.V.P is requested  – Admission Choices

$15 – Admission FREE with Pre-purchase of book ($15 savings).
$10 – Admission RSVP / general.
$5   – Admission RSVP / members of Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Kappa Alpha and
Hammonds House Museum.
FREE Admission for Persons Who Join or Renew a Membership to HHM

For more information, please go the Hammonds House Museum website.
 

Also, check out a video about their book…


 

This is all so exciting…

Any thoughts?