Here’s What’s Been Bothering Me: a Conflict of Faiths

For weeks I’ve been bothered by this question: in what way is the black Church and the white Church united to form something of a multiracial, multicultural American Church?

I Think I'm in Love!!

No, dear, not with you.

But in my recent meeting and chatting with new people, I discovered what I thought was an odd mix: skateboarding and Christ.

No! Nothing's wrong with that. It's just that I'm from a small, Black, rural town in the South. Not much skateboarding around here. And with the media portrayal of "skateboarding," I just never considered Jesus on a half-pipe.

So anyway, I am in love. I'm in love with the idea what Jesus on a half-pipe, doing a 460.

What my new chat friend told me about church he was familiar with is that they outreach to everybody. Drug addicts. Pimps. Hos (whores).

* political break*
3 announcements
1 - Most small business will not see a tax increase under Barack Obama's plan. And if you're a small business owner making over $250K, it's only American, or, rather, fair, that you "spread the wealth," and give someone the opportunity someone else gave you. And think heard about it, someone gave you the opportunity. You didn't get where you are on your own blood, sweat, or tears.
2 - The Supreme Court has decided with Ohio against the Republicans to maintain voter fairness.
3 - The Republican National Committee is taking responsibility for the anti-Obama robo-calls that spread lies on Obama.

Okay, but to my love. Oh, and take a moment to thank my aunt for talking me into watching politics so I can keep her informed while she works. See, she's a nurse. And at first, all the nurse were allowed to watch CNN, MSNBC, you know politics. But I think an actual fist fight broke out between Obama supporters and McCain supporters or at the very least, there was a loud argument and patients weren't receiving the care they're supposed to. So, my aunt's supervisor has now forbidden any conversation concerning politics.

Thanks, Auntie!

Okay, back to my love of Jesus and skateboarding, which is not to say I don't love my aunt. True, I'm watching MSNBC cause I'm a little afraid of her, but I love her, too. She's always looked out for me.

Now, for real, back to Jesus and skateboarding. What I love so much of the description my new chat friend shared with me. Like I said, the church group he's involved in and his friends, whose website Steelroots I just added to my side bar, reach out to everyone. The so-called, "real sinners." People who're coming off drug addictions and just recently getting out of jail. I love it because those are the people Jesus would've reached out to.

Jesus wouldn't shun the gay. He'd show them the same love he shows everyone else. He wouldn't shun women who are considering or who have already had abortions. He'd reach out to them. The decision to have an abortion is never easy, and it's not one women take lightly, contrary to conservative opinion. Either Jesus would be there for the woman to help care for the child or there assure her her sins are completely forgiven, and that he still longs for her and wants the best for her.

That's what the Gospel is about. The Gospel is supposed to be Good News. It's not supposed to be about deciding whose in and whose out. We, as Christians, are to be like the farmer in one of Jesus parables, we're supposed to spread the word everywhere, regardless of what we think may happen. I haven't gotten my MDiv yet, but I would even suggest it's up to Christians to help turn bad soil into good soil. You never know what's happened in someone's life that may have hardened their heart to the Gospel. But, as you show people the love of God, his unconditional, no strings attached love, maybe you can help turn some bad soil into some good soil.

And for those of you who just ain't trying to hear the Gospel. First, let me inform you the God is asexual. You could call God Mother just as much as most folks normally call God Father. Sometimes, I even pray to Mother God. So, there that. Elohim, one of the names for God, is plural female Hebrew.

And, God loves you regardless of how you feel about God. I know most of my posts aren't that "loving," but that's because justice is also what God's about. But have no doubt, there is a God, and no matter who you are or what you've done or are doing, S/He loves you. God thinks the world of you, that's why God came down to earth to die for all our mess ups and mishaps and worse, so that we could enjoy the relationship with God that we were created to have.

"Let The Glory of the Lord Rise Among Us" Cause It's Sunday Y'all!

I could hear the song as soon as I was out of the car (thanks Ms. Gerald, for the ride). Sherika Eskridge was leading the praise team in "Let it Rise," by William Murphy. After hugging the two greeters in the lobby, I entered the sanctuary this morning for the first time for a Sunday service in months. And let me tell ya y'all, the girl can sang. I ain't mad at her at all. And I like the song. It has a good melody and a good beat.

But what I like most is that the song indicates you have to make a decision. God wants to rise in us, but we have to decide to let him. And that's the case with so many things in our lives. God wants to fix it for us, we just gotta decide to let him. So, here's what I hear first coming into the church.

Plus, Sherika and the praise team just sound plain ol' good singing the song. Our church musicians ain't no people you wanna sleep on either. Especially my little cousin on the drums.





Then Donnie Thurman, Jr sang "You Are Good," by Israel and New Breed.




After those two songs, my body wasn't exactly feeling up to speed, my spirit felt like pure gold.

Now, Pastor Smith preached about the fact that "Jesus is the God of my Storm." Which is to say, whenever you're going through something, God is still in control. The passage he came from was Matthew 14:22-27. Whenever you going through a problem or a bad situation, you need to "Look for Jesus." And if you think you see him but you're not sure, then"Listen to/for Jesus." Once you've identified Him, "Lean on Jesus." And finally, when it's all said and done, "Learn from Jesus."

Now of course, if you read the scripture and/or had heard the sermon, it makes perfect sense. But, I'll give my own testimony. Why? Because this is my blog and I can.

My favorite part of the scripture is that Paul walked out on water with Jesus. Which to me means, even in the midst of the storm, with God, we can still do the impossible. If you've read this blog regularly and know me personally, you know I've had chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome for the past 5 years. But even through the condition, I can still do something impossible. That brings joy and strength to my soul.

And that's what I've decided to do. I've decide to let God rise in me, to do something impossible. And I guess unless you know the Lord yourself, you may not understand, but the joy and comfort and relief of knowing God is with me through all things; and, that his power and anointing don't just up and leave because I'm in a tough situation causes my Spirit to overcome my broken body. In fact, the weaker I become, the stronger the Lord gets. Hallelujah! And Hallelujah! And Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! And let his glory rise among us!

In fact, the weaker I become, the stronger I get (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). And I'm determined to rescue the sheep that have been marked for slaughter (Zechariah 11:4). I'm tempted to talk junk to the enemy, because the truth of the matter is, no there's nothing that can happen that can stop me (Isaiah 54:17).

I'm going to change the world. I'm going to liberate those who have been oppressed. And I'm not just talking about my usual diatribes against racism. I'm not just talking about sexism. But something's gotta be done about capitalism and poverty and war. And I'm bound and determined to do it. I just can't see myself doing anything else. That's what I feel, and I just can't help it.

As the Lord says, "Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it" (Habakkuk 2:2). In the middle of my storm, I'm going to walk on water to. Just watch and see.

PGBC

I'm about to go into how much I love my church family. (This was initially written Wednesday morning, right after Bible study, but some trouble editing . . . )

But a quick thing about McCain/Palin: Aside from the fact that their names are John McCain and Sarah Palin, most of everything else I've heard them say is either misleading or outright lying.

Now. My church. I love it! I love my church family. I love the Spirit. I love the teaching. Don't get me wrong, it ain't perfect. "But if you're looking for a Christ-like Church, PGBS is were you can end your search!" In fact, right now I'm trying to find a way to get the young adult women going strong again as a collective group. But that's because of how much I love my church family and sisters.

I love my pastor and his family. Especially his wife. My pastor's wife is a dynamic woman. A spiritual force in her own right. I love her teaching, her encouragement. And once, before everyone became aware of the severity of my illness, I appreciated her admonishment to stop missing so much church. Her caring boldness is something I hope to emulate.

I love the assistant/children's pastor and his his family. Especially his wife. She has a humor that's kinda like mine. Very cutting. And she's apt to laugh at anything. I remember one of my visits to the emergency room at the hospital where she works. When she heard I was there, she came down and kept me company for a while. That's something I won't forget. Though, she keeps asking for stickies every though no one's given me any fried apples or the treats she makes every Christmas. (hint, hint)

I love the church secretary. I have a number of spiritual advisers but only one person who badger me about using my CPAP. She's both an adviser and a badgerer, and I love her for it.

Then, there's the other ladies of the church. Consider yourselves all included because I dare not go into names. They treat me as either a daughter, a sister, or a grandchild. I most especially love being spoiled as a grandchild. My grandmother died when I was 14, so now, anything approximating the affection and grace she had for me delights my heart.

And one lady especially encouraged my heart today. You'd have to be a strong Christian yourself to understand the exchange, so I can't go into much detail. But she believes as much as I do that I will change the world. She believes as I do, that "with Jesus on my side, things will work out fine."

And I have great respect for the men of the church. The deacons take their jobs seriously. The trustees and janitors and multimedia handlers all take the job seriously. And to them, I'm either a sister, a daughter, or a granddaughter. When it came time for a church remodel, most of it was done by the men themselves. Now, don't get it twisted. My church ain't some patriarchal haven of misogyny. I just appreciate when men do what the Bible says men 'posed ta do.

And let me not leave out the children. They treat me as a not-to-old adult. I can scold them, encourage them, and when necessary, get a piece of candy.

But, I guess what I love most about my church family is just the family for its own sake. "I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord." "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together." And that's what I love so much about my church family. When any of us are together, like this morning's Bible study where maybe only 20 or 30 people show up; or just one or two church ladies, there's a spirit there of acceptance. Of love. Or togetherness. And I delight in it so.

By the way, today's Bible study lesson was basically about the prophesies and events surrounding Christ's entering Jerusalem on a donkey's colt - which, for all of you who accuse Jesus of encouraging stealing - had been prophesied long before Jesus was born. It was about Jesus's humility in coming in on a colt rather than a stallion. We covered a number of issues. "You just oughta been there."

But what I like best is even during the Wednesday evening Bible studies, as well as the morning studies, and Sunday schools, it's more of a discussion than a lecture. I learn not just from my pastor or assistant pastor; I learn from the lady sitting closer to the front, the gentleman sitting a few pews in front of me. I even, at times, get to share a little myself.

And I love it.

But you have to understand, I didn't grow up at Palmer Grove. I grew up at Ramseur Baptist, a church named after a school that was named after my great grandfather. I have lots of memories of Ramseur, both good and bad. I grew up with me and my cousins singing in the front row of the choir with my brother play the drums set up in front us. (And my aunts thumping us on the back when we cut out of line. I can still feel the dull pain.)

But, that's why I love Palmer Grove so much. I don't feel like I left family, I feel like I gained even more family. It helped that I had known most of the congregation since I was young, but leaving a church and joining another is not an easy thing to do (hint, hint Obama-haters). Palmer Grove gave me so much love from before I even officially joined the church, they made the transition easy.

That's all I got to say. But let me give a few shout outs to the church's secretary, my Sunday school teacher, and the lady who encouraged me so today. And Sis. Liz and Min Thurman, I love you all.

God I Know, Paul I Know, but Who Are You? I

I am a Christian.

Yes. Just like it says under the title, I'm a Christian. I believe that a little over 2000 years ago that the Holy Spirit fell upon a young Jewish virgin girl and impregnated her. I believe nine months later, she gave birth to a baby boy in a manger - or, more to paint a better picture, at the ground level of the housing structure where animals are general held. There was no Motel 6 leaving the light on. It was a perhaps a three level living structure, the "inn" was probably one of the upper levels. Since everyone was returning to their town of birth for tax season, the "inn" and every other "inn" in Bethlehem probably was full.

But, continuing on. Yes, I do believe that he turned 2 fish and 5 loaves of breath into a feast for 5thousand. Yes, I do believe he turned water into wine. Yes, I do believe he held the sick, cast out demons, gave sight to the blind, you know the list.

And yes, most especially, I believe he died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world, most especially mine. And yes, I believe he arose from the dead on the third day.

You can call me crazy for that. You can say I'm believing in fairy tales. I don't care.

But let's get things straight. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm a homophobe. I'm perfectly comfortable in sexuality and really couldn't care less if a gay couple moved in across the street. Now, I don't wanna see them hugging and kissing good-bye or hello, but that has nothing to do with guy-on-guy or girl-on-girl action. That's because I hate PDA period. Holding hands, arms over the shoulder, across the waist, anything like that, I can live with. But I hate PDA, and that includes straight couples and any couples on TV.

Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm anti-abortion. I sincerely wish we lived in a world where every life was precious and safe. Where everyone had the same opportunity to live and enjoy life. But that's just not the case. There's financial and health disparities in the US. There're wars and genocide around the world. Plus, the world is getting to be overpopulated anyway. We don't really need to keep propagating.

Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm against embryonic stem cell research. Let's be honest, the embryos they used are about to be discarded. And instead of adopting a "snowflake," how about these loving couples, gay or straight, adopt a child out of the foster care system. Yes, they come with more problems and complications. Yes, there may even be problems with the child(ren)'s birth parents, but these are actually living, breath kids who need someone to love them. That embryo you're so concerned about can't feel hurt, hunger, hot, cold, abandonment or even your "love."

And that brings me to a separate but related issue, if you're a Christian, STOP USING FERTILITY TREATMENTS to have kids. Yes, that's what I said, STOP WITH THE FERTILITY TREATMENTS!! You profess to believe in God, you claim to trust him in every way - then why are you undercutting God by spending tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments that may or may not work. Clearly, God's in charge of opening and closing wombs (Genesis 30:2, if that helps). And instead of giving birth to your own child, maybe God has something else for you. And by something else, I mean trust God, what he has for you is actually better than what you think you want. And besides, all these fertility treatments is what contributing to the whole problem around embryonic stem cell research.

You know what, let me make a suggestion. We know that about 66% or more abortions are actually do the financial strain a new baby will place on the family, instead of self-righteously judging women who can't afford, or maybe just don't want to, have another child, keep your tens or thousands of dollars you're wasting on fertility treatments and adopt a child that would otherwise be aborted.

And trust me, I do have some experience with adoption. Two of my cousins are adopted. They were adopted as babies, so maybe that made things easier. But they are family. My aunt and uncle have the two they adopted and one they had on their own, and trust me, if you cross any of the three, they will bust your head till the white meat shows (RIP Bernie Mac). But that's for another post.

Christianity is more than about dos and don'ts. It's not about following a list of rules or reciting pre-written prayers or telling all your business to someone who's confessing to someone else (sorry Catholics).

Christianity is more than fear of hell and desire for heaven. I didn't accept Christ because I was afraid of dying.

Christianity is about connecting to the Higher Power that controls and guides all. Some call that power "the Universe." But it's about connecting to that Spirit that's greater and better and bigger than you. That Spirit that connects us all as human beings, having been made by the same creator. It's about the comfort and wonder, the strength and love I feel right now. Right while I'm alive. Even though things aren't really going "my way," I have a peace and serenity I would not trade for anything in the world. That's what Christianity is about. Not feeling guilty for breaking "rules" or being absolutely certain about anything besides God's love for me.

And really, when it comes to rules, there're only two biggies, and if you get these two, you're good:

1. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength.
2. Love your neighbor the way you love yourself.

That's it. That's all you need to worry about.