Posted on Sunday, May 4, 2014

BRING BACK OUR GIRLS…

Hello World,

In the United States, we can get so lulled into complacency by our relative wealth and ease of life in comparison to the rest of the world…But every now and then, something so egregious happens, that while it is outside the scope of our comfortable reality, we rally together and band against the injustice…

On April 14, more than 200 Christian and Muslim Nigerian girls were stolen in the middle of the night from their boarding school in Chibok town by Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, according to various reports. The girls were allegedly stolen to be sold as brides to Islamist militants for $12 a piece…According to an article in The New York Times, the name “Boko Haram” in the Hausa language is translated “Western education is a sin.” Reportedly, the Nigerian government is doing very little to rescue the captured girls of which about 50 have thankfully escaped…

Due to a worldwide outcry, the Twitter campaign #BringBackOurGirls emerged to bring awareness to this crime, and demonstrators in Washington D.C., New York City and Los Angeles have taken the protest offline in vigorous rallies to hopefully get those in positions of authority to do what they can to bring these girls back to their devastated families…

According to the Daily Kos, U.S. Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Mary Landrieu (D-LA), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Coons (D-DE) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have responded to the outcry by crafting a resolution condemning the abduction of the girls, and Secretary of State John Kerry has pledged to do “‘everything possible’ to support the Nigerian government in returning the young women to their homes.”

Below is a video which explains more about the campaign to “bring back our girls.”

As a Christian, I also urge all God-fearing people to pray for the release of the Nigerian girls, that their parents will be strengthened as they continue to petition the government to act on behalf of these girls and that hearts of the captors of these girls will be softened so that they will be let go because “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” according to Ephesians 6:12. And we know that “the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” as noted in James 5:16.

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, October 6, 2013

Deliver Us From Hypocrisy: Senate Chaplain’s Barry Black’s Scathing Prayers in the government shutdown…

Hello World,

Like many Americans, I imagine, I am thoroughly disheartened that the people we elected cannot seem to work together to govern our country…I am reminded of when I first began as a reporter and covered school board meetings…I was shocked at how childish and petty the school board members acted. I felt like many of them either forgot or never learned the basics of good manners and appropriate behavior and instead chose to further their self interests instead of doing what was best for the children…I am not privy to all of what has transpired in the House and Senate but from my view, they are conducting themselves like children who want their way no matter what…

But thankfully, there is a voice of reason that has the unique ability to tell these so-called leaders about themselves…I learned about Senate Chaplain Barry Black from MNSBC’s Rachel Maddow…Prior to the government shutting down and throughout the government shutdown, Senate Chaplain Barry Black, who opens the meeting of the Senate each day with prayer, has used his prayers to admonish them and their shameless petulance…

On the Friday before the shutdown, Black said, “Keep us from shackling ourselves with the chains of dysfunction. Lord, deliver us from governing by crisis.”
On last Monday, Black said, “Lord, lead them away from the unfortunate dialectic of us versus them as they strive to unite for the common good of this land we love.”
On last Tuesday, Black prayed for “replacing cynicism with faith and cowardice with courage.”
And on last Wednesday, Black said, “Save us from the madness. Deliver us from the hypocrisy of attempting to sound reasonable while being unreasonable.”

He said that, didn’t he?! Go head Senate Chaplain Black! Reminds me of the scathing prayers of the Old Testament prophets! Although Senate Chaplain Black is praying for our leaders, he shouldn’t be the only one…We are commanded to pray for our leaders 1 Timothy 2:1-2…

I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Check out Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s prayers in the video below…His voice is so rich, deep and authoritative…Almost like James Earl Jones…Hopefully, his prayers combined with our prayers will be answered…

Any thoughts?

Posted on Sunday, July 21, 2013

Where is Your Relationship With God? A checklist…

Hello World,

I could discuss a million hot topics this morning from the royal baby watch to the “Justice for Trayvon” rallies in 100 cities across the U.S. But as a Christian blogger, sometimes I just have to get back to the basics…None of what happens in this world is more important than a personal relationship with God….In fact, it was so important to me, I wrote “After the “Altar Call: The Sisters’ Guide to Developing a Personal Relationship With God” because without a personal relationship with God, this life is meaningless…So I decided to compile a checklist to that will help me and you determine if our personal relationship with God is getting stronger and stronger or slowly dying or nonexistent….First of all, I have to assume that you have decided to make Jesus Christ your personal Lord and Savior…If you haven’t, the rest of this post doesn’t apply until you have made that crucial decision…and now, on to my list…

How many times this week have you set aside time to spend with God in prayer and devotion without interruption? I must admit that as I have not spent as much time with God lately as I have been planning my wedding…I have rationalized it to myself saying God understands…But the truth is, God is a jealous God and He insists on coming first no matter what the circumstance…
How often do you pause to ask God’s opinion on various matters before declaring your own? As a person with an opinion on just about anything, I often have to remind myself that my opinion is not necessarily God’s opinion…Spending time with God (as I stated above) brings my opinion in line with God’s opinion…
How often do you hear God’s guidance from the smallest of issues to the biggest of issues? I am so comfortable in my relationship with God that I feel free to ask Him about even the smallest issues in my life…It is commonplace to seek God’s guidance when facing significant issues, but most relationships are defined by the little things that happen everyday… For example, I am a discount diva but sometimes I can take it too far…I bought a $10 wedding veil online and when I received it, it looked every bit of $10 so I knew I had to get another veil…Through my relationship with God, I felt led to travel to a specific store across town where I found the perfect veil for nearly the exact amount that I designated to spend on it…In fact, I designated $65 for it, and I spent $64.19…And because I have dreadlocks, I cannot put a comb in my hair which becomes an issue when shopping for wedding veils which are typically attached to combs…A lady at the store had a wire cutter in the back and was able to remove the comb and sell it to me…No this is not world peace, but in my relationship with God, I can seek His guidance on anything…
When the last time you praised God for just being God and not asked Him about anything or for anything? As you know, there is a time for everything…While God encourages us to come to Him with all sorts of requests, there is a time when we have set ourselves aside and just praise Him for being Him…There is nothing greater than feeling the presence of God…When I praise Him, I feel His presence…It often moves me to tears and don’t let me be in my bedroom, sometimes I have to leap in the air…As the song says, there is nobody greater…
When was the last time you sacrificed for God? As Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price of sacrificing His life so that we can a right relationship with God, we are called to sacrifice from time to time…Sometimes God may have lead you to sacrifice money that you designated for one cause and give it to something else…Sometimes God may lead you to sacrifice time in His service…Since I will be getting married soon, I know there will be some sacrifice involved…On a side note, I’m grateful for the armed forces of this country that so sacrifice so much from time with their families to their very lives for our freedom…
When was the last time you did something for the “least of these?” God said in Matthew 25:40 that “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” On the face of this verse, it seems like God is instructing us to care for the poor because they have the least monetary resources…But what about the “least of these” when it comes to other resources? I’m going to tell you a secret…Sometimes, I can be a bit of a snob…Growing up, I was in the “B” or “C” crowd, but I aspired to be in the “A” crowd…As an adult, none of that foolishness really matters anymore except I still often find myself wanting to gravitate to the “cool kids” whether they are the people who are the most well known in my profession to the more affluent people in my social groups…But God wants me to treat everyone the same…So I have to make an effort sometimes to be kind to the people I find socially awkward or people that aren’t upwardly mobile…
How often do you step out on faith? In Hebrew 11:6, we are told that “without faith it is impossible to please God?” How often do you make decisions that may not make sense to those around you but make sense to you according to your relationship with God? Some years back, I wanted to know more about money and have more money, I decided to give more than my tithe on faith that God would bless me…About a year or so later, I met a financial coach who taught me how to manage the money I already had AND more money came my way…that is just one example…holla at me at jacqueline@afterthealtarcall.com if you need more examples..