Hello World,

Do we deserve to be judged by the best of what we accomplished in our lives or by the worst of what we did or did not do?

This is a question I’ve been asking myself since I heard V-103’s Larry Tinsley, host of Sunday Morning Praise, announce the death of Bishop Eddie L. Long while I drove to church Sunday morning. While I took part in my church’s service in which the focus was racial reconciliation and honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I knew that a corner of my mind was pondering the life and death of Bishop Eddie L. Long. And once church was over, my mind was free to organize my random thoughts about what had I heard.

For many, Bishop Eddie L. Long,  pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, a black megachurch in Decatur, Georgia that once reportedly boasted 25,000 members at its zenith was a man who not only transformed his church through his pastorate but the city of Decatur and beyond through various programs assisting prisoners, drug addicts, the homeless and more. Over the years, many of my friends and associates were once members of the church. I remember hearing him on V-103 years ago when he delivered empowering messages during the “Inspirational Vitamin” of The Frank and Wanda Morning Show, and I interviewed him once for a magazine article I wrote about domestic violence in the church.

But what about the convincing allegations of four young men who accused him of targeting them through the black church’s now defunct LongFellows Youth Academy and cultivating sexual relationships with them 7 years ago in 2010? As we all know by now, the allegations were never aired out in a courtroom but instead a settlement out of court was reached between Bishop Long and these men. A settlement does not necessarily denote guilt but given the egregious actions Bishop Long was accused of and his declaration that he was going to fight these allegations, guilt does not seem like an unlikely conclusion in this case.

So what lives matter more? All of the lives of people Bishop Eddie L. Long positively influenced during his life or the lives of the four young men whose lives will be forever linked to Bishop Eddie L. Long?

Now there will probably be some who read this blog post and say, Who are you to judge? Only God can judge? And to those I say, yes, I agree. Only God can decide if you go ascend to the glory of Heaven or sink to the abyss of hell. But there are many verses in the Bible that encourage us to make assessments and act accordingly…Below are a few…

Even small children are known by their actions, so is their conduct really pure and upright. Proverbs 20:11

By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:16

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1

I’m not putting these verses out there not to condemn Bishop Long. I’m simply putting them out there to say that God encourages us to assess and act which is a form of judgment but not the same as the judgment in which God determines our final home. Life is nothing if not a series of lessons and we would be wise to learn from those who have completed their journey ahead of us.

In pondering what I have learned from the life and death of Bishop Eddie L. Long, I have come to a few conclusions…

1. The gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to impact an entire community and beyond. As my father, who is a pastor, says, “People really do need the Lord.” There are some out there who think that what happened with Bishop Eddie L. Long is an indictment of the black church or church in general. I say to you as long as you judge (or assess) the Word of God by imperfect human beings, there will always be a reason to doubt the Word of God. Pastors are sinful people. Christians are sinful people.  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Romans 3:23…And here’s the thing, I haven’t seen sins ranked in the Bible …Anyone from a murderer to a student who cheated on a test has committed a sin and yet is still eligible for entry into Heaven if God has forgiven them. (Although we all know that some some sins naturally have more consequences than others.)Don’t get it twisted. Judge the Word of God by the Word of God. A pastor may lead you to God, but he or she is not God….
2. All lives matter. All of the people who continue to sing the praises of Bishop Long to those who cannot see past the sexual allegations of the four young men matter. The paradox of this statement is that whatever group you find yourself in or even if you are somewhere in the middle, each person is valid and should be treated as such. If you were helped by the ministry of Bishop Long, who am I tell that help did not matter. And on the other hand, you absolutely cannot disparage the young men who claim they were victimized by Bishop Long. The word of God says that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents in Luke 15:10. If we believe in the God of the Bible, we see that each and every person is valuable.
3. Bishop Eddie L. Long is dead, but you are still alive. For all of our commentaries on Bishop Eddie L. Long whether on social media or in whispered conversations, Bishop Eddie L. Long is only God’s business now. In Luke 9:60, we are told to, Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God. What I interpret that verse to mean is that if you are alive, you have to get on with your life. If you are a Christian, what are you doing to proclaim the Word of God? As my father said when we briefly discussed Bishop Eddie L. Long on Sunday, “we are only here for a brief time.”
   

So as far as the answer of my original question is concerned, I guess it is truly up to to the person who is making the judgment…What say you?

Any thoughts?

The post What We Can Learn from the Life & Death of Bishop Eddie L. Long… appeared first on After the Altar Call.

If you are a Christian, today, Easter Sunday, is the most triumphant and glorious day of the year…The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the bedrock of our faith…It is how we know that we know that we know God.loves.us…

If, by chance, you are a unfamiliar with the story – I pray that those who have never heard of the story somehow find their way to my humble space on the Internet – let me tell it to you in simple terms…

Holy God, creator of this universe, wants to have a personal relationship with us, the sinful human beings that He created…But because of our sin, which is essentially our willfulness or inclination to doing things our own way without God’s guidance, He cannot tolerate what we have done to ourselves and how we have desecrated our beings…However, he allowed his Son, Jesus Christ, a perfect being to die, to sacrifice himself on the cross and bridge the gap between us and our Holy Father…And Jesus Christ was resurrected three days later proving that God conquers death!!! If you would like  to read the official story, please see Luke 24 in the Bible…

While the Easter story is confined to a few chapters, the Easter message is scattered throughout the entire Bible from the beginning to the end…

1. “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” Genesis 50:20…This verse comes from the story of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers because they were jealous of him and his close relationship with their father.  Years later, however, Joseph, who had been given a position in the government in the country where he had been enslaved, was reunited with his brothers…

Despite what had been done to him, Joseph assured his brothers that God used their evil deed to allow Him to be in a position of authority. And that position of authority enabled him to do good for many under him…

Again, what may be negative, God can and will change it to a positive for us and many others if we would give Him the opportunity…This is what happened with Jesus on the cross…

2. “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to His face.”  Job 13:15…Job was a man who had been blessed spiritually and materially, but God allowed all of his materials blessings to be taken away to prove to the devil if Job would still serve God.

This verse was Job’s declaration that in spite of His feelings that God had deserted him, he would still trust Him…Jesus, God’s son, felt that way as well…Although He chose to die for our sins, there was a point that He felt God was not with Him because He was dying…

And yet, He went through it because His ultimate hope was in God…And we can claim the same when we are going through tough situations…In spite of whatever seemingly hopeless situation we find ourselves in, God can turn it around…He did it for Job, Jesus and He can and will do it for us…

3. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him,  and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6…Sometimes there are things that happen to us that no matter how long we think about them or who we talk to about them, we cannot make sense of what happened…But we don’t always have to understand because God can straighten it all out…Those who lived with and loved Jesus didn’t understand why Jesus had die although He tried to explain it, but three days later, they understood…and were blessed..

4. “Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes  His life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied…” Isaiah 53: 10-11  With God, suffering can have a purpose…Jesus’ suffering enables us to have life with the Father…

5. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  Romans 8:28…This verse is a testament of how God operates…God can and does take anything and bring good out of it…Death is vile…But Jesus’ death is how we are able to be reconciled to God…That is good…

6. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13…As Christians or followers of Christ, we will be tested…But even as we are tested, we can have inexplicable  joy knowing that we are being tested because we do believe in Christ….

7. “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:3-5 The ultimate message of Easter is that death is not the end of the story…And one day death as know it will be done and over with…

I wrote this Easter post because God has a track record of bringing the biggest blessing out of tragedies…I wrote this post for me, but I hope it blesses you…

Happy Easter! Jesus is Risen! Blessed be the name of Jesus!

One of my favorite gospel songs of all times…Wonderful Easter Message…

Any thoughts?

The post Seven Scriptures that Emphasize the Easter Message Outside of the Easter Story… appeared first on After the Altar Call.

Happy Easter or Happy Resurrection Day! However you choose to refer to this day, this is the day that Christians the world over celebrate the most important day in our faith! Today we celebrate that while death is a powerful foe indeed, the power of death could not and cannot compare to the indestructible power of the Lord Jesus Christ! HE IS RISEN! We no longer have to live in sin, be ruled by destructive habits and or addictions or walk through this earth alone! We have a savior and a friend in Jesus Christ! Like the Baptists, I’ve got a reason to shout! Like the Pentecostals, I’ve got a reason to get my dance on! Like the Methodists, I’ve got a reason to be in silent awe! And then do it all over again! JESUS! JESUS! JESUS! Please find yourself in somebody’s church today because the Lord has a blessing for you, and you don’t want to miss it!

And speaking of blessings, I was reading the resurrection story in Matthew 27, and I read some verses that I don’t recall reading before…Do you know that Jesus was not the only one that God rose from the dead? According to Matthew 27:51-53, “⁵¹ At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split ⁵² and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. ⁵³ They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” Many theologians have differing opinions of what this miraculous occurrence meant, and it is not mentioned if these people remained on Earth or ascended with Jesus back to heaven.

As a lay person or a regular ole Christian or maybe even as a writer, these verses are further evidence that the death and resurrection of Jesus is not just about spiritual good that is just good for Heaven, it is also a good that makes sense right here on Earth! What do I mean? Using my sanctified storyteller imagination, I imagine that one of the dead was a mother who had passed away while giving birth to a son who had never known his mother except through the stories of family and friends. On the day that Jesus rose, this child was able to meet his mother for the first time! I can also imagine that one of those dead was a beloved husband of an elderly widow that had not seen him in decades unless she dreamed about him at night. Can you imagine how elated she was when he came to her during the day? Or what about the young woman that died suddenly after a brief and mysterious illness leaving her family and friends to question why God allowed this tragedy to happen? I imagined that they wept after she confirmed that even death could not keep her from the ones she loved! I’m sure this day of resurrection was a day of overflowing joy!

So what does this mean for us today? First of all and most importantly, we have a risen savior that promises to give us eternal life with Him in heaven. And while we are here on Earth, Jesus can break the chains of sin, addiction and destructive habits and give us joy and peace that sustains us through everything! AND he can bring back to life what we thought was dead…Maybe you dreamed of launching a business but you no longer have the financial backing to get it going. Don’t worry. Just pray! He can bring this dream back to life. Maybe you’ve been set back by setback after setback. God can restore your life! Maybe you are still grieving the death of a loved one years later and have been unable to really move on, God can show you how to live and not die!

What you thought was dead can now come back to life…

Any thoughts?

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