My friend LaTosha Brown and the Obama girls…

For those of you who won’t make it to Sunday School this morning because of Daylight Savings Time (I’m opening my eyes wide right now because of that one hour), you don’t have a church home or you haven’t heard about Sunday School but want to know more, I’ve got you with a brief Sunday School lesson for you…Touch your neighbor and say, “Brief.” LOL…

In all seriousness as this subject requires, I cannot imagine living in a world in which I did not have the right to vote and yet that was essentially the case a mere eight years before I was born…Because of three marches in March 1965 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, particularly the march that occurred on March 7, known as “Bloody Sunday” because of the violence the officers unleashed on the peaceful protestors, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 became a law with the signature of President Lyndon B. Johnson…

I believe it is no coincidence that “Bloody Sunday” occurred on a Sunday…Sunday is the day that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ as he paid for the sins of humankind by shedding His blood and dying on the cross…One of the ultimate lessons in life is that without sacrifice, nothing changes…And the ultimate sacrifice is sacrificing your life or blood…

Because of the sacrifices paid by those involved in the American Civil Rights Movement, black Americans now enjoy many freedoms including the right to vote without facing discrimination although the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 2013 with it’s decision to allow several states to change their election laws without federal preclearance.

That being said, the best way to honor the sacrifices of those on “Bloody Sunday” and in the other marches is to vote in every.single.election.

And, we have to remember that sacrifice is a key tenant in change as we grapple with how to stop black boys from being targeted whether by police officers or others in this country and Christians in Africa and the Middle East from being targeted by Boko Haram and ISIS…

Because “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,“ as Dr. King said…

And as President Obama, the ultimate fruition of Dr. King’s sacrifice and dream, said yesterday in Selma at the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday…

Because Selma shows us that America is not the project of any one person. Because the single-most powerful word in our democracy is the word “We.” “We The People.” “We Shall Overcome.” “Yes We Can.” That word is owned by no one. It belongs to everyone. Oh, what a glorious task we are given, to continually try to improve this great nation of ours.

Fifty years from “Bloody Sunday,” our march is not yet finished, but we’re getting closer. Two hundred and thirty-nine years after this nation’s founding our union is not yet perfect, but we are getting closer. Our job’s easier because somebody already got us through that first mile. Somebody already got us over that bridge. When it feels the road is too hard, when the torch we’ve been passed feels too heavy, we will remember these early travelers, and draw strength from their example, and hold firmly the words of the prophet Isaiah: “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on [the] wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint.”

To read President Obama’s entire speech, go to medium.com.

So that was your brief Sunday School lesson…

I wasn’t able to be there yesterday, but my friend LaTosha Brown was there. She wrote about her conflicting emotions as she prepared to go back to Selma, her hometown, this weekend in her blog post “Selma Is More Than A Place; Selma Is A People!” on her blog Latoshalove.blogspot.com. Little did LaTosha, who is an Atlanta transplant, know that not only would she be returning to her hometown to honor a critical time in our nation’s history she would also be able to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in arms length of of first black president of the United States…LaTosha is just behind First Lady Michelle Obama and is wearing the black sweater with white hearts

And here are a few more photos of LaTosha and her experience in Selma yesterday and her commentary that I am sharing with her permission…

Yesterday I was unexpectedly selected as part of a delegation to cross the bridge with the President of the United States and his family. I actually stood directly behind the first family. I’m still very happy about the experience. I walked with The foot soldiers and the first family. Can’t get no better than this.

First Lady Michelle Obama and LaTosha…(My friend cut off Mrs.Obamas head but I still appreciated this opportunity)

Got to take a photo with former Attorney General Holder...

A familiar face…Former President Bush and LaTosha…(Guess who gladly took a selfie and cracked a joke?!)

President Obama and Congressman John Lewis, one of the protestors beaten on “Bloody Sunday”…(I asked the President for a selfie and he cracked a joke and said, “I can’t take a selfie with you because then everybody would want one.” But I did get a photo from walking across the bridge behind him while leading freedom songs with him and his family, and foot soldiers.)

Any thoughts?

The post The Sunday School Lesson of Selma’s “Bloody Sunday” 50 years later…(Pics from Selma 50 included) appeared first on After the Altar Call.

What are we willing to sacrifice for our faith? As I know that mostly Americans read my blog, I would imagine that most of you, most of us, very rarely if at all, consider true sacrifice as a part of our faith unless it’s Easter. By true sacrifice, I mean giving up something that is very costly, such our lives even, because we profess to be Christians…

However, in other countries that don’t ensure religious freedom, Christians must live in the tension of having faith in God while knowing they may be forced to give up their very lives because of their faith…

Such is the case for 27-year-old Mariam Yehya Ibrahim, a Sudanese woman who has been sentenced to death for refusing to reject her faith in Jesus Christ. According to a CNN article, Ibrahim has been in jail since January 17 and was convicted of apostasy on May 15. Complicating matters, Ibrahim was pregnant when she was jailed and gave birth to her second child, a girl, last month. In addition, her nearly two-year-old son is in jail with her. Her husband, Daniel Wani, who is Christian and an American citizen, told CNN, her case is now being considered by a Sudanese appeals court.

Although Ibrahim’s father was a Muslim, she was raised as a Christian by her mother, an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, after the father abandoned their family when she was 6 six years old. Apparently, her Muslim relatives are the ones that turned Ibrahim into authorities.

In addition to waiting on the decision of the Sudanese appellate court, Wani is also seeking assistance from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen and Kelly Ayotte from New Hampshire, his home state.

As American Christians, we need to be, at the very least, praying for for Mariam Yehya Ibrahim and Daniel Wani. And as we pray, we should also consider what are we willing to sacrifice for our faith?

As the saying goes, Jesus is not willing to bear the cross alone…If you don’t believe me, read John 15:20-21…Remember how I told you that servants are not greater than their master. So if people mistreat me, they will mistreat you. If they do what I say, they will do what you say. People will do to you exactly what they did to me. They will do it because you belong to me, and they don’t know the one who sent me.

And there are many stories in the Bible and beyond that demonstrate that some of us may have to pay for our faith with our lives…

• Stephen is Stoned to Death…
• James, brother of John, is Beheaded…
• More information about Christian martyrs from John Fox’s “Book of Martyrs”

I’m not a “gloom and doom” Christian by any means, but we have to know that having sincere faith in Jesus Christ will cost us something…

So I ask this question again: What are we willing to sacrifice for our faith?

Below is a video detailing some of this couple’s story…

Any thoughts?

The post A Sudanese Woman Awaits Appeal of Death Sentence for Her Christian Faith… appeared first on After the Altar Call.

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…

1. 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…
2. 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…
3. 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…
4. 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…
5. 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…
6. 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…
7. 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..

So where is relationship with God? This song is my on my heart this morning…”Nobody Greater” by Vashawn Mitchell?

Any thoughts?

The post Where is Your Relationship With God? A checklist… appeared first on After the Altar Call.