Hello World,

Just like that my birthday month is over, and I have to wait a whole year to celebrate all month long again but that’s alright. Although my birthday month is over, I have a gift of sorts for you! I’m back with my monthly roundup of blog posts and or articles for black Christian women! So below is my Top 10 monthly roundup of blog posts and or magazine/newspaper articles for black Christian women for September ( 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. “Producer Angela White Makes History with A Question of Faith” by Chandra Sparks Splond

Excerpt:  Veteran producer Angela White is about to make history with the release of A Question of Faith. The film, which includes an all-star cast, is White’s first faith-based movie and the first of its kind to have been produced by an African-American woman. I recently spoke with White about A Question of Faith and the importance of pursuing your dreams.  Tell me about A Question of Faith. A Question of Faith is a beautiful story that follows three different families, who are struck by tragedy, which forces their destiny on a converging path to discover God’s love, grace, mercy and the power of forgiveness.  In “A Question of Faith,” all three families find themselves at a crossroads, questioning their faith and the higher power that guides their lives, as a result of their tragedies. As each family member deals with their issues, their worlds start to intertwine, which leads to a chain of events, which unknowingly brings the three families closer and closer together.  Further, the film deals with social issues, such as texting and driving, organ donation and the power of racial reconciliation. See more at: chandrasparkssplond.com

2.”The Subtle, Powerful Way Jordin Sparks Joined The NFL Protests” by Carol Kuruvilla

Excerpt:  Singer Jordin Sparks may not have taken the knee during Monday night’s NFL game in Arizona, but she managed to make a powerful statement nonetheless.  The “American Idol” winner was scheduled to sing the National Anthem during a game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Arizona Cardinals. The Dallas team knelt down before the anthem and stood while Sparks sang, and the Arizona players stood and linked arms.  Sparks, on the other hand, stood tall throughout her performance. But there was one small detail that could shed a light on what the 28-year-old singer was thinking. Scribbled in black on her hand were the words Prov. 31:8-9. It’s a reference from the book of Proverbs, in the Bible. See more at: huffingtonpost.com

3.”NASA Honors ‘Hidden Figures’ Heroine Katherine Johnson With a Research Building Named After Her” by Ashley Edwards Walker

Excerpt: It has been a big year for Katherine Johnson, the “human computer” who served as the brains behind NASA’s launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit. Hidden Figures, the movie based on her inspiring—though, until recently, largely unknown—career premiered in January 2017 (it sprang from the book by Margot Lee Shetterly). Taraji P. Henson portrayed Johnson onscreen, and the film won for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Even more important, the film and its portrayal of Johnson is being credited with galvanizing more young women to consider careers in science and technology. Now, in a very much overdue honor for the trailblazer, NASA has just dedicated a new facility to honor the mathematician: the Katherine G. Johnson Computational Research Facility. See more at: glamour.com

4.”Ayesha Curry is CoverGirl’s Newest Brand Ambassador”

Excerpt: The cosmetics brand made the announcement on Instagram on Wednesday writing, “Told you we had something cookin’ COVERGIRLS… So happy we don’t have to keep our lids on it anymore! See more at: blavity.com

5.”Are Smart, Educated Women Still Called to the Church Nursery?” by Nana Dolce

Excerpt: Case in point: During a recent #ThingsOnlyChristianWomenHear Twitter conversation, many stressed their concerns over the treatment of women in Christian circles. Among the tweets were stories of restrictive gender roles—women confined to traditionally nurturing positions regardless of their gifts and abilities. “You speak five languages and have a doctoral degree? Children’s ministry is your calling!” wrote one woman in sarcasm. See more at: christianitytoday.com

6.”When The Parents Are White, The Child Is Black, And The Churches Are Segregated” by Leah Donnella

Excerpt: My husband and I are white and we have one biological child (a baby) who shares many of our physical features. We also have a 4-year-old daughter, whom we adopted, who is black. I am trying to surround our daughter with a multiracial community so she is less this one black person in a sea of white. That is a struggle in a city that is still pretty segregated, but my particular question is this: Where should we go to church? See more at: npr.org

7.”50-Year-Old Virgin Called ‘Crazy’ For Saving Sex for Marriage” by Asia Henderson

Excerpt: It’s not every day that you hear about a 50-year-old virgin, but one such woman self-identified as exactly that during a recent airing of The Wendy Williams Show. “I am a 50-year-old virgin and I’m proud of it,” said Evette, shocking the host and her entire studio audience. See more at: buzz.eewmagazine.com

8.”Fantasia Serenades A Paralyzed Man In The Hospital” 

Excerpt:  While visiting her brother in the hospital, soul singer Fantasia Barrino blessed another family with her incredible vocals. According to a fan page dedicated to Barrino, a woman approached the artist and asked if she would sing a song to her husband to soothe his spirits. The man was hospitalized for paralysis after suffering injuries from an undisclosed accident. See more at: elev8.hellobeautiful.com

9.”An Austin Congregation Struggles to Put a Confederate Icon in the Past” by Joy Diaz

Excerpt: At the time, the congregation was all white. Today it’s still mostly white, but it’s surrounded by a very diverse community. The church sits in the middle of the University of Texas campus. And yet, Denise Davis was one of only three black people at All Saints. But she was not the only one offended by the window. Father Adams has learned it is offensive to others too. See more at: texasstandard.org

10.”When the Gospel Isn’t Very Good News” by Tess Holgate

Except: “But still there was that part of me that thought, in order for me to belong, I had to erase the part of me that was black, the part of me that grew up Democrat, the part of me that thought Jimmy Carter was the good guy.” Harper says this is how it was to grow up an evangelical Christian in the 1980s, a time she describes as the “rise of the religious Right.” She says the subtext of the movement said that if you’re not Republican, you’re not Christian, and that to be Christian you have to be Republican. See more at: www.eternitynews.com.au

Check out the trailer for “A Question of Faith,” the first faith-based movie produced by an African-American woman, Angela White…My cousin and I saw this movie at the Atlanta premiere last Monday, and we both enjoyed it. I loved seeing some stars that I remember from when I was growing up like Kim Fields from “The Facts of Life” and “Living Single” and C. Thomas Howell from “The Outsiders!”Also, it was nice to see “Uncle Mac,” who was recently killed on “Greenleaf,” in the land of the living LOL. I interviewed GregAlan Williams, who stars in this movie as a pastor and was at the premiere, back in August!

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 blogs 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?

The post The Top 10 Blog Posts and or Articles for Black Christian Women in September 2017 appeared first on After the Altar Call.

I don’t have to tell you it’s NYE! For all of the obvious reasons, I am reflecting on the journey that was 2010 and optimistic about the path that awaits me and you in 2011. With that in mind, indulge me as I refresh your memory about the topics that found their way to After the Altar Call in 2010!

As of January, 2010 was christened the year of the Single Black Woman with the circulation of this video….While this story originally aired on ABC in December 2009, it really started to be the topic of conversation the following month and created a year of events, books, shows, etc. all dedicated to finding husbands for single black women at all costs…Lord help us!

With a black president in the white house, Black History Month, which is celebrated in February, has taken on a new meaning for all of America’s people…In the A, we were a little shaken when the Epsilon Chapter of Zeta Tau Alpa, a white sorority, beat out members of the Divine Nine Black fraternities and sororities in the Sprite Step Off …But hey, if a black men is finally president, then white steppers can show out too…

In March, I blogged about the messages  in our dreams in Dream a little dream…(R.I.P. Corey Haim) Sadly, one of the teen idols of my youth, Corey Haim, passed away in March and so I dedicated the post to him as he starred in the movie “Dream a Little Dream” in 1989…

In April, I met Sherri Shepherd from “The View” at ABC News’  “Nightline” debate “Why Can’t a Successful Black Woman Find a Man?” This debate, which took place in the Dec (Decatur), happened due to the popularity of the aforementioned video dedicated to the plight of single black women…Did I forget to mention that Atlanta seems to be the capital of single black women?

My aspiration is to be an author, journalist and speaker so I felt particularly blessed to be chosen to be the keynote speaker at the 31st Annual Christian Women’s Retreat banquet which was held at the Westin Atlanta Airport hotel in May. My girl Latoicha from Luxe Tips did my makeup!

In June, I blogged about author Sherri Lewis’ book “The List” as I was asked to moderate a discussion on the book at  the Faith & Fiction Retreat which was held in the A this year…I could not help but post my own list…

front page of my list...yes, the back of this page is completely filled up...

I tried to avoid blogging on the plight of single black women in July, but the slant of this article, The Black Church: How Black Churches Keep African American Women Single and Lonely forced me to reckon with this topic again…We took a licking but we kept on ticking…

In August, I was saddened to hear that R&B star Fantasia Barrino, another single black woman, attempted to commit suicide  after being ”overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention”  concerning her alleged relationship with her married boyfriend Antwaun Cook, her rep told TMZ.com. Just a week or so ago, a judge declared that Barrino did not break up the Cook’s marriage as his ex-wife originally claimed in the lawsuit against Barrino…

In September, I was blessed to see “the Black Man-O-logues II” written by Jacquay Waller! R&I had a good time that night…

In October, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, my sorors of DST actually donned pink  in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk at Atlantic Station to honor our line sister Kimberly Hudson Causby, who we lost to this disease and honor those who are survivors!

In November, my girl Tess Gadwa, the designer of this blog, released her book, 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.  Again, You got to check out this book…and it’s free on her website!

As love and relationships is one of my favorite topics, this month, I blogged about marriage as The National Marriage Project, which provides research and analysis on the health of marriage in its yearly State of Our Unions Report, released its 2010 report. To read the entire report, please go here.

I also want to mention that my sorority lost two influential and beloved sorors this year – Sorors Dorothy Height & Lena Horne…I would be remiss if I did not mention them.

I thank you for taking this journey with me!!!  How was your 2010?

Any thoughts?

The post After the Altar Call: 2010 In Posts… appeared first on After the Altar Call.

If you are anything like me, you are pondering and saddened by the news that American Idol winner and The Color Purple star Fantasia Barrino is recovering after an overdose of aspirin and a sleep aid…Apparently, she took the combination after  feeling “overwhelmed by the lawsuit and the media attention”  concerning her alleged relationship with her married boyfriend Antwaun Cook, her rep told TMZ.com.

Cook’s wife Paula recently filed a lawsuit against her estranged husband in North Carolina, and Barrino is mentioned in the lawsuit. According to WCNC.com, Barrino and Cook made a sex tape and now Paula is seeking custody of their young children, child support and alimony…To me, it’s pretty obvious that Barrino and Cook were not trying to hide their alleged relationship…She has a tattoo with his last name on her shoulder and there are  pictures on the Internet of the couple cavorting all over the world it seems…

Now, the Bible thumping part of me wants to say that Barrino is dead wrong and should leave that man alone – at least until he is truly divorced…But there is another part of me that has a different opinion…Anyone that has lived longer than about 25 years knows that life is not cut and dry…Is it possible to meet your soul mate after you are married to someone else? And if it is possible, what should one do?

In the movie Walk the Line, it was clear that Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash were soul mates — but they were married to other people when they met…And although they fell quickly in love, for a time the only time they could really spend together was on stage…And it appears that at least once Johnny cheated on his first wife with June (at least that is what happened in the movie)…and the two were Christians…Roseanne Cash, the eldest daughter of Cash and his first wife, has written a memoir, Composed, which arrived in stores yesterday.

Christian singer Amy Grant has been accused of having an affair with her now husband country music star Vince Gill. The two were married for years to other people and after they divorced their former spouses, the two married. Though they deny having an affair while they were married to other people, the two admit they felt a deep connection to each other when they first met…

So what say you? What would you do? I think part of the reason that I did not want to get married in my ’20s was that I wanted to wait until I really knew myself before I made that commitment…It seems that in both of the examples that I shared, these couples originally married very early in their lives…Would they have made better decisions if they had waited until they were older? I say yes. I’m not saying that every couple that gets married at a young age is doomed and will meet people better suited for them once they get older…but I do think that when you get older you tend to make better decisions…at least it should be that way…ain’t nothin’ worse than an old fool…

As I alluded to in my title of this post, life can present some interesting conundrums if you live long enough…I’m sure we’ve all heard stories of couples remarrying after they have gotten divorced…Is that wrong or right? Is cheating really grounds for divorce?…A minister told me and a group of other people that many people should not be so quick to divorce after cheating has been revealed, and that he has counseled many that wished they would have forgiven rather divorced their spouses for this offense…

At any rate, aside from all of the philosophizing, we should all pray for Barrino as it’s obvious that this immensly talented singer is suffering right now…

Any thoughts?

The post My soul mate is married and other conundrums of life… appeared first on After the Altar Call.