The Old Black Church

Ms. Carter has done it again! She has managed to piss off quite a few folks in the Christian community, again. On yesterday the megastar uploaded a photo of herself posing in front of a painting by Leonard DaVinci that depicted Jesus' last meal with his disciples before He went to "Golgotha Hill".   Bey is sitting in front of the Messiah’s spot in the middle of the table, wearing a lime green miniskirt and revealing yellow poster with skinny straps and orange edging.

Lord have mercy I tell you what some folks act as if being straight is the true sin. It's a doggone shame and amazing to read all the hateful and negative comments left under this one picture of  this young lady who decided to make a lifestyle change.  According to the Facebook post , the beautiful young lady in the pic goes by the name Tia M..... Who describes herself as a former STUD, who is now, a beautiful, virtuous woman of God. Her testimony is that God changed more than her appearance, he changed her heart. You can read the rest here!

Stylist J. Bolin In these last couple of days celebrity stylist J. Bolin has really made a bigger name for himself, mainly and especially among the Christian community. Most of the noise surrounding the stylist is the direct result of his styling Gospel Singer Erica Campbell in her noticeable infamous white dress. Ms. Erica Campbell I'm beginning to see, and believe that most Christians do embrace the idea that the God of our faith should and can be celebrated and represented in our fashion choice. Ms. Sarah Jakes I know looks ain't everything but they can and play a big part in the Christian every day life, especially when that Christian in the spotlight everyday.   Ms Serita Jakes I read that it's through our presentation of dressing our bodies, that we exemplify the beauty and grace that comes from the God who saved us. The Showers Ms. Tasha Cobb

Please remember in your prayers the Hour of Restoration Church of God in Christ in Memphis, Tennessee. Their doors will be closed as of December 31, 2013. As a collective body, we lift up each and every member of this church and, especially, the teenage victim. May God heal every hurt as only He can – In Jesus’ Name. Announcement Here!

Interesting article! At the 11:15 Sunday morning service at the First Baptist Church of Highland Park in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., a major focus from the pulpit was the difficulty some in the congregation are now facing with the ending of unemployment benefits for more than 1 million Americans. “We have people in our congregation who are affected by this,” said the Rev. Henry P. Davis, the pastor of the 3,200-member church. “For them, this is a tough period and it places them in a very trying situation,” Davis said, speaking with BET.com. “I think that Congress should come back and do something about this. People are being stretched to their limits and something should be done.”

According to the internet ( you can read it here ) rumors Biblical movies will be taking over the Big Screen this coming year in Hollywood. There's a stream of movies featuring the Bible's most prominent characters set to be released over the coming 12 months.  Wow! In my personal opinion Bible base ain't the same as actually telling the story as found in the Bible, I'm just saying. 

Monday night will be a night of prophetic prayer at Empowerment Temple in Baltimore, Maryland.  According to social media the church event is being billed as an all night old fashion prophetic prayer meetings with Pastor Bryant mother, Rev. Dr Cecelia W Bryant leading the charge (10pm-6am).  It's been a very long time since I heard of an all night prayer vigil. The nation does need our prayers. "The prayers of the righteous availed much" James 5:16

WOW! Katy Perry now denies all that her parents raised her to believe. I guess she fell for that belief in a higher power foolishness that most of Hollywood celebs believe in, but deny the Christ we are called to believe in. She needs much prayer. I'll leave it at that. But, her words in that article make me know she is lost: “I don’t believe in a Heaven or a Hell, or an old man sitting on a throne,” she advised the magazine. “I believe in a higher power bigger than me because that keeps me accountable. Accountability is rare to find, especially with people like myself, because nobody wants to tell you something you don’t want to hear.”   Article Here! 

Facebook If God deposits 2014 into your account, how will you invest it? Join us to talk about it, and then pray about it.

1. The real reason Detrick Haddon Divorce his wife of 15 years. 2. In My Opinion Bishop Trotter Did Nothing Wrong, He Used Bad Judgment, That's All! 3. Shame On Isaac Carree For Channeling R. Kelly On His Latest Project! 4. Did Bishop Jake's Have Book Author/Elder Escorted Out Of The Potter House Church???? 5. Jesus Take The Wheel: The Gospel from The Stripper Pole? 6 . Will The Recent Arrest Of Prophetess Juanita Bynum Destroy Her Ministry and Brand? 7. At The BET 2013 Award Show Was Meagan Good Inappropriately Dress For A Senior Pastor Wife? 8 . Sad News Out Of Macon GA: The Pastor Of A Macon Church Fatally Shot Himself Outside His Home After Sunday Morning Service! 9. After Multiple Affairs, Pastor Ron Carpenter’s Wife Seeks Psychiatric Treatment! 10. Jesus Take The Wheel: Another Gospel Artist Have A Leaked Sex Tape?!?!? 11. I Agree With Pastor Marvin Winans It's Not Appropriate For Pastors To Openly Dedicate Babies Born Out Of Wedlock?!?! 12 .

A very sad story and situation, I just can't imagine this going on much longer. This family needs to hear the voice of reason. The family of 13-year-old Jahi McMath who was declared brain dead following a tonsillectomy and other throat and nasal procedures has found a nursing home willing to care for the girl long-term, reports state.  The mother and close family are justifiably overcome with grief which is understandable. However, I don't think it's right for the rest of us to overlook the facts and logic and spreading misinformation about this case. My heart goes out to this mother but, I can't help wonder just how this mother ended up with so much misinformation? The family is now attempting to raise money to help pay for the cost of airlifting the 13-year-old from the Oakland hospital where she has been since Dec. 9 to one of two facilities that have offered to care for the teen indefinitely. ( You can read it here ) From what I can understand this

Lord have mercy the "BIG BONED" Barbie Doll has finally arrived!?!? Someone has gone and created a “Plus Size” Barbie doll with a double chin that is not set too well with the public. The controversy is brewing over a request to remake Barbie in a way contrary to the iconic image so many girls knew growing up.  When the Barbie doll was created by Mattel in 1959, nobody had a clue it would become such a huge success and stir up such controversy. According to internet rumors ( you can read here ) Barbie has become one of the top selling toys every year since its creation, selling at a rate of two dolls per minute. I seriously doubt little girls are going to gravitate to this doll. What do you think?

Personally, I don't celebrate Kwanzaa, not that it's a bad thing to celebrate. It's more about how and where I was raised . I am from LA  (lower Alabama) need I say more. So this celebration was never mentioned or practiced in my community back in the day. The only holiday we celebrated in December was Christmas. That's what I love about America, you can choose which holidays to celebrate and which religions to practice. Therefore, if you want to celebrate Kwanzaa by all means do so. It' almost impossible for us to disconnect spirituality from our culture. It  seems as if it's o­ne and the same. Kwanzaa, a nonreligious holiday created in the 1960s to celebrate African-American culture, is increasingly taking on a spiritual dimension as Christians and Muslims blend Kwanzaa traditions with aspects of their faith. Kwanzaa, is a seven-day celebration that begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan 1.  It was developed in the wake of the Watts Riots in 196

What do you get when you combine the most powerful Gospel song of the year with a Christian Rapper? According to internet rumors , a unique sound unlike anything else. I'm not familiar with this particular artist 'Gemstones' nor his music. But I am familiar with Tasha Cobbs and her award winning single 'Break Every Chain'.  I agree the artist have put a unique spin on Tasha Cobbs  "Break Every Chain."  The remix is equipped with new rap verses and  holds true to what it means to break through the chain life can hold on you. The song is available on Gemstones upcoming mixtape ‘After.’

Reader, Kwanzaa is an African-American cultural holiday which is celebrated each year from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. It roots are trace all the way back to the first harvest celebrations of Africa.

While net surfing this morning I stumbled across an article ( you can read it here ) that I think is pretty interesting. I do see what the author was  attempting to say, but I am not understanding the comparison at all? The author of the article in my opinion has compared the black church to a circus without any teaching.  Whenever I address, discuss or mention the black church on this blog it's in reference to the black church that's in every black community in every city. I'm talking about the black traditional church I grew up in.  I grew up in a very traditional, small black church, where my pastor would get excited while teaching the lesson, and sometimes he would hit a praise break while teaching. I always would walk out of there with something that I could apply to my life, if need be. I've never considered this to be a circus like atmosphere. My question what's so wrong with worshiping God in a different way? I'm going to say it once again &q

According to a press release from COGIC, Pastor Michael Bryant, who was arrested last week on charges of sexual battery has been stripped of his duties until further notice.

Merry Christmas everybody!

To all my brothers and sisters in Christ, please offer up prayers and support for this young man. If you haven't already done so please reach out to this young man. We all know his story it has played out on tv and in the news for a while. This is nothing but a cry for help. I respect his faith and his struggle but social media is not where you go to for help.  

According to internet rumors a popular New York City pastor ( you can read it here ) has made it clear he will not take a public stance on controversial issues.  Carl Lentz, who leads megachurch Hillsong NYC, told Katie Couric in an interview on her soon to be retired show that he did not believe he had a “moral imperative to speak publicly about some of these more controversial issues” because, he says, “We try to be like Jesus." Get out of here! Are we talking about the same Christ? Or maybe this pastor uses a different Bible? Because I thought most of Christ's public sermons addressed how one should act.  Now, I can agree that the overall goal of the church is to lead folks to Christ. But how can people look to the Church for guidance if the Church doesn't take a position on right and wrong behavior, how will those outside the Church know?

Very interesting! Nelson Mandela received a New Orleans send-off today complete with brass band and doves. The New Orleans South Africa Connection, in partnership with the Black Men of Labor, hosted a funeral procession to honor the former South African president and anti-apartheid leader at the Ashe Cultural Center in Central City.

According to internet rumors the people bishop, Bishop T.D. Jakes has given three main reasons pastors are committing suicide: 1). Pastors are far too overworked. 2). Pastors are underpaid. 3). Pastors are discouraged by the reactions of some of their congregation when something goes wrong. The pastor must perform many duties, according to Jakes who is a pastor of over 30,000 members. Then Jakes cites examples of the many things a pastor must do.   In my opinion I think many of today's pastors are taught to run "THEIR MINISTRY" like a corporation including goal setting, marketing, public relations and then measure their success with the worlds yard stick. In my opinion much of this is about living a worldly life. 

Americans’ rating of the honesty and ethics of the clergy has fallen to 47 percent, according to a new Gallup poll. That’s the first time this rating has dropped below 50 percent since Gallup first asked about the clergy in 1977.  Questions: Are we expecting too much from our pastors? Is it wrong for us to expect them to live honest lives? Is it wrong for us to expect them to live holy lives? We all know pastors are not perfect, but by golly shouldn't we be able to trust them? Have a handful of high-profile pastor scandals left us skeptical? Or are pastors just victims of an increasingly secularized society? According to the pollster, clergy have historically ranked near the top among professions on this measure, hitting a high rating of 67 percent in 1985.

According to internet rumors ( charismanews.com ) and the New York City medical examiner’s office. The cause and manner of death of Zachery Tims are “acute intoxication by the combined effects of cocaine and heroin,” and “the manner of death is an accident.”

According to Facebook rumors Pastor Michael Bryant pastor of The Hour of Restoration C.O.G.I.C Memphis TN, had to miss last night prayer and Bible studies because he's being held on a $1,000,000 bond for molesting his 16 year old step daughter for the past 2 years and more recently on this past Monday night. According to the same Facebook posting the child told her mother what was going on a year ago and the mother told the child that she and her husband the preacher were going to pray over it. The preacher was turned in by the aunt whom it's believed that he was also perhaps having sex with as well. There's a request for the DA to have the mother charged also.